ABC Radio

TLC fans are getting new information about the album that Tionne T-Boz Watkins and Rozonda Chilli Thomas are working on after launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund their final album. Ron Fair, a well-known music business figure and executive producer of the project, has spilled on the direction the pair are heading in for their fan-funded project.

It's old soul music. It's '90s throwback music. It's vintage TLC and I can tell you that their vocals sound EXACTLY the way they did the last time you heard them," Fair says in a recent interview on Renman Music & Business Live.

He continues that the ladies are on top of their game. "Their artistic and vocal thing is 100 percent intact," he says. "So this is gonna become a question of what are they talking about, what are the lyrics, what are the beats they've chosen. And I'm very excited for the world to hear.

While the release is still unknown, the album also will include contributions from longtime collaborator Dallas Austin, who co-wrote their biggest hits including "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg." The set will be TLC's first studio album since the death of founding member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in 2002.

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Self-defense shootings ("justifiable homicides") almost doubled in ABQ last year. A staggering 8! I recommend locking your doors and being distrustful of anyone outside of your immediate family.

Some dummies go to trial after breaking off King Tut's beard and trying to glue it back on.

Author Eric Weiner (no relation) says if you want to make a genius, you need a city with lots of bars and coffee houses, but not too many parents. Oh. And earth-shattering catastrophes help, too.

Weather Warning: X-Files premieres tonight after more than a decade. Nerds prepare for loss of control over all bodily functions. Wear galoshes.

Roller skating is a thing in ABQ once more. It's good to know that junior-high kids will have a place to make out.

There's one thing that keeps me up at night, nursing my regret: I've never been to a Donald Trump rally on acid. Thank you, internet.

Psychiatrists at Columbia University suggest that schizophrenia can be diagnosed earlier by listening to a patient's use of language.

Authorities scramble to rescue two separate groups of lost hikers in the Sandias. Our thoughts go with them.
Ardrey Auditorium will reverberate with music by American composers this Friday when three national composers work will take the spotlight  a performance that will include one new work and rare treat of a concerto for double bass.

Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra will present Composing America, with the works of Christopher Theofanidis, Serge Koussevitsky and Howard Hanson, with Christopher Finet front and center for Koussevitzkys Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra. The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29. Ticket prices start at $20. Learn more at www.flagstaffsymphony.org.

American composer Christopher Theofanidis has been inspired by Australian aboriginal dreamtime creation myths and will be honored by the Flagstaff premier of his recent composition Dreamtime Ancestors, a collaboration with the New Music for America commissioning project.

This new work is described as a reflection of the time when each of us is connected to each other through our dreamtime ancestors in past, present and future. Theofanidis works have been performed by major orchestras around the world. He recently wrote a violin concerto for Sarah Chang, who a few years ago performed as a soloist with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.

Christopher Finet fills a dual role as principal bassist with the FSO and as a faculty member with the NAU Department of Music, where he teaches double bass and jazz improvisation and directs the School of Musics outstanding jazz ensembles. Finet will join the FSO for the Koussevitzky work.

Koussevitzky (1874-1951) is better known for his 24 years as conductor of the Boston Symphony, as a commissioner and promoter of numerous works by prominent American composers and as the founder of the prestigious Berkshire Music School in western Massachusetts.

Finet boasts an impressive resume, including not only teaching and orchestral performance, but association with many of the jazz greats of this era, as well as gigs at numerous premier jazz clubs and venues throughout the country. Koussevitzkys concerto was written for his own use in 1902 as a means of enriching the somewhat limited repertoire for double bass in a solo capacity. The work is in the Slavic tradition of the late 19th century, with rich melodic and rhythmic content that will be quite appealing to listeners.

Two works by Hanson (1896-1981) round out the American program, a brief Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevitzky and his familiar Second Symphony, subtitled The Romantic. This work has become a signature piece for the Interlochen Music Festival in Michigan where its lyrical secondary theme has become known as the Interlochen Theme and is performed each summer by student orchestras at that venerable institution.

Hanson taught for many years at the Eastman School of Music, and his numerous compositions are characterized by lyricism in a late romantic vein, and by what is considered to be accessibility for audiences who might be less in tune with the more experimental and often dissonant musical examples representing the 20th century.

Hanson jokingly referred to himself as a perfect fifth or perfect third composer, and he has been criticized  perhaps unfairly  for his avoidance of many of the modernist stylistic traits of other American composers of his generation.

The rare pleasure of a new work and rarely heard piece mixed with a strong theme of great American compositions should make it a dynamic edition to the symphonys season.
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Outside of the pure technology reasons, APIs have gained traction due to the inherent focus on simple, practical deployment. This, in turn, made it easier for technology leaders to convince their bosses that it was worth the investment, simply because it was easy to deliver tangible results very quickly. The API deployment model, that is, where and how APIs are deployed, executed, and accessed by consumers, is often referred to as microservices  decomposing the business workflow into a set of extremely fine grained services, each of which only does one thing and does it well. A microservice is typically not bigger than 100-1000 lines of code, outside of which it is time to split it into two separate services.









AI is making the biggest advances in things like speech recognition, computer vision problems and processing millions of images very fast, Baveja said. A lot of its driven by much faster processing, much cheaper processing and having much more data. Within a year, the team hopes to have an early version of the tool that students can use to receive a customized list of classes they should take based on their unique circumstances. Human advisers will remain essential, Baveja said, but humans suffer from constraints such as limited time and availability. And while human advisers are good at recognizing contextual information like a students emotional state, even the most experienced adviser doesnt have in mind a statistical overview of all student and class data enriched by concomitant patterns and trends.









Facebook AI Research (FAIR), which had already released to open source its deep-learning modules for the open source development environment Torch in Jan. 2015, last month announced another move. This time Facebook said it would release its server hardware design that's been optimized for machine learning to open source. Facebook has submitted the GPU-based system design materials to the Open Compute Project. The company said that the system is designed for greater energy and heat efficiency, as well as ease of maintenance. Digital tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon that have large data center operations have long designed their own hardware rather than use the designs from others, such as HP Enterprise and Dell. So, why the big wave of open source releases for machine learning-related development by these big companies?









Developers often have a knee-jerk response and encrypt everything everywhere. While that sounds like the safest route, there are trade-offs you should consider first. For instance, if you implement encryption in flight, you'll have to encrypt and decrypt data before you place it on the network for remote consumption, and before any of your applications can consume it. That requires processing time and imposes a performance penalty that, in the cloud, can add up to a major cost. Make sure you have clear requirements for encryption in flight and that the level of risk and potential loss, calculated in dollars, is worth the cost of using encryption in flight. Encryption at rest is the most practical to apply, because you're ensuring that the data can't be read as it sits on a cloud-based storage system.









Add the very obvious talent shortage, and you have a recipe for spiraling costs. If I learned one thing in 2015, it was that surrounding myself with good people who want to work hard is paramount, yet I ended up contracting outside the U.K. based on recommendations. If theres one reason London is awash with so many one- and two-man bands, its that the cost of finding and hiring a team is so high. Sure, you can go to Lithuania or Pakistan or Timbuktu and find someone who can get the job done, but thats no replacement for in-house talent  and without a good team, youre basically nowhere. The governments plan to loosen up visa requirements for suitably qualified candidates should help in the short and medium term, but only a greater emphasis on training will sort out the problem in the long term.









For too long have smaller companies adopted the attitude that they are too small or too low value to be targeted, and for too long has cyber-security taken a back seat. As this research shows, the outsourced approach is increasingly a viable alternative to the "go at it alone" status quo. It opens the door to a world of experienced MSPs, the best of which offer comprehensive, lightweight security solutions that are affordable, easy-to-install and provide real-time protection against modern threats. These small businesses are often targeted by advanced and persistent threats because of their partnerships with bigger fish. Without addressing these security capabilities SMBs will find it increasingly difficult to work with larger enterprises.









The daily lives that are being impacted most by these changes are those of the people responsible for running data centers and delivering those analytics services. The role of IT professional has switched from a proactive annual planning set of responsibilities, to a reactive how do I find compute and storage resources really quickly list of requirements. Its impossible to predict capacity needs, and speed is required to respond to opportunities and risks as they happen. In addition, the ability to leverage other resources on the cloud to ease the risk of predicting capacity improperly has resulted in a whole host of governance challenges. This huge amount of change has even lead to some referring to 2015 as one of the most radically disruptive and transformative periods in IT industry history.









The data scientist of 2016 has been described as part analyst, part artist. She combines an analytical mind with the ability to interpret data to spot trends in business that are otherwise unseen. This skill requires an innate sense of creativity and thinking outside of the box. A solid foundation in math, analytics, computer science, and applications, as well as computer programming, are some of the skills needed to succeed in a career in data science. The all-star hybrid data scientist jobs that are often advertised online are something to take with a pinch of salt. As with most careers in tech, it is not likely that you have had extensive experience in all areas that are required on the job spec. A recent article on the topic states that it is important to look beyond the definition of the unicorn data scientist.









The digitally-enabled platform economy is often cited as the greatest opportunity for growth, but one that is off limits to companies outside Silicon Valley. It is true that born digital companies dominate platform business models today, offering new value by bringing millions of consumers and service providers together. They can act fast because their model doesnt rely on owning assets or producing goods. However, we now see classic manufacturing companies exploiting the value of data and digital platforms to build similar ecosystems of partners and customers on top of their asset heavy business models. In healthcare, engineering, even agricultural equipment, long established brands are embracing digital disruption by creating entirely new services and streams of revenue.









The market is flooded with stolen credit card details, he said, so healthcare records attract the premium now. Investigators do not believe information from the Anthem breach has been sold on black markets. However, other hackers have targeted victims of the Anthem attack with fake emails that appear to be from Anthem or offer credit protection. Those emails aim to steal data that could be sold to criminals, people familiar with the case say. Anthem plans to spend $130m over two years to better protect its networks from breaches. The company has assured regulators that it has strengthened its system, taking steps such as changing administrator passwords every 10 hours and hiring 55 cyber security experts.









Quote for the day:
Los Lemleys are John, Julie, Maximo and Lola. We're currently living on Rokko Island in Kobe, Japan. Here we write about our happenings and share photos of our life abroad.We started blogging in 2007 when we had to keep family and friends updated on what was going on with our premature baby.Over a year later, we transitioned from the Lo Maximo blog to Los Lemleys where you'll find vignettes of our lives as we travel, move, teach, and raise our third culture kids.Disclaimer: This is NOT a cultural or literary masterpiece, nor is it intended to be. It's a way for us to document our adventures for our family and friends. It'll hopefully be something Maximo & Lola can look back on, since their baby book is a bit bare and she only has a meager folder with ultrasound photos and a legal document or two.
Highlighting Louisiana books and authors and literary events happening in the Bayou State.
News coverage from Israel is often distorted if measured against the 'Code of Ethics' guidelines of journalism. The origins of bad news about a country thus lie with numerous foreign media. This project exposes one of many methods used.Bad News from the Netherlands has raised major international interest since it appeared on the web in October 2007. Many thanks are due to all those who have contributed news, ideas and financing. Support us to expand this project.Act against the biased media: start a bad news blog about another country. If you want to use this layout, please contact us at the e-mail address below.

Do It Yourself

The "Bad News Movement" is not a franchise, but consists of

independent initiatives of which Bad News from the Netherlands is the first. Yet as the initiator of the movement, we would like to make a few suggestions to those who want to establish similar projects:



1. Always keep in mind the target of the blog: showing only negative items about a country makes its society aware of how some of their media distort the image of Israel.

2. Focus on items from leading sources such as the government, major media, well-known institutions.

3. Do not concentrate on one or a few areas. Deal with as many major aspects of the country as possible: government, politics, justice, media, culture, civil society, etc.

4. Do not exaggerate issues beyond what is mentioned. A collection of bad news is bad enough without blowing up the facts. Let the facts speak for themselves.

5. While one can draw part of the information from the more sensational papers, let them not dominate the blog.

6. Do not emphasize ethnicity of people where it is irrelevant to the issue.

7. When necessary, provide comments on issues which require it, but try to present the majority of issues without comment.


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Amit Shah on Sunday got a second consecutive term as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, in a development which was widely expected.

At exactly 1.15pm, the returning officer for the BJP's presidential election Avinash Rai Khanna declared that the 'constitutional process' for the election was over and Shah has been "unanimously" declared elected to lead the party for the next three years.

An election certificate was duly handed over to Shah with all the attached fanfare.

But it did not escape anyone's attention that seniors LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi  part of the BJP's 'Margdarshak Mandal'  were missing from the ceremony. Advani's absence, a departure from a practice that was in vogue since the Jan Sangh days, more particularly since the time the BJP was formed in 1980, raised eyebrows.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah's mentor, also didn't make it to the venue.

On the podium inside the lawns of the BJP headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road in New Delhi, high-ranking cabinet ministers, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and other senior leaders were busy celebrating. It wasn't as if there was any doubt over the outcome but for the BJP, finding occasions these days to celebrate are few and far between.

Also, "re-election" means there would be restructuring in the party with a new set of office-bearers and possibly also a cabinet reshuffle.

That Advani wasn't there to 'bless' the party president was a confirmation, if any was needed, of his total eclipse from the saffron horizon. A logical yet bitter step, perhaps, for a party stalwart who has long been marginalised under the new dispensation.

Modi's absence, though, does not lend itself to any such interpretations. The world knows that Shah is his protege and he owes his presidency to him. Also, the Prime Minister was away in Chandigarh to receive his chief guest for the Republic Day Parade, French President Francois Hollande.

Shah's second coming (technically he was serving the remainder of Rajnath Singh's term and now begins a three-year regular stint) will, however, be far more challenging.

He had begun on a high note, riding the personal and organisational buoyancy of post 2014 parliamentary elections. Shah's phenomenal year in 2014, when BJP won all the elections that they contested, was followed by a more sobering 2015 when despite being the single largest party on earth in terms of enrolled members, the BJP received a drubbing in Delhi and Bihar.

These losses took away Shah's aura of invincibility and also some sheen as a "master strategist". Perception, in politics, is everything. The BJP president has to regain that aura and build a team around himself which is seen to be functional, effective and carries some weight.

For better or for worse, Shah's task is cut out. He simply has to deliver in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the next few months.

What should take some pressure off him is that unlike in Delhi and Bihar, BJP is not the punters' favourite in these elections. In many of these states, BJP's presence is marginal and it stands to gain even if it is moderately successful. However, the stakes are never too low for BJP which seeks to expand its base and win a good number of seats to be counted as the new pan-national force replacing the Congress.

In Assam and West Bengal, the BJP has already escalated the pitch.

Shah has quite a few things going for him. He is the youngest BJP president; a man with untiring capacity to slog for long hours and live out of a suitcase. He keeps revising the target and attempts for larger numbers. The party workers are in awe of his calibre but seniors rue his inaccessibility.

The 51-year-old Shah is quite used to the ebb and tide of politics.

From being an MLA and minister of state in Gujarat to being hunted by central law enforcing agencies, including the CBI, Shah has seen it all. He has spent jail time, was debarred by the court from entering his home state only to be later exonerated. He became BJP general secretary and accepted the challenge of reviving party's fortunes in Uttar Pradesh. BJP eventually won 72 out of 80 parliamentary seats and Modi declared him the Man of the Match. After being appointed as president, Shah continued to deliver, leading BJP to wins in a series of Assembly elections.

His 'midas touch', though, deserted him when BJP slumped two consecutive big defeats. Questions suddenly began to be raised whether he was really a wizard or if it was all just hype.

As he begins his second term, Shah possesses deep knowledge of the party, its power structures, the men and women at his disposal. He also perhaps now has a better understanding of his own strengths and weaknesses. As and when he constitutes his team, it will be closely scrutinised.

BJP swept UP in 2014 but three years is a long time in politics. Things have changed. Shah, though, knows UP like the back of his hand and party leaders believe his experience of handling the elections in India's largest state would come handy when he eventually launches the campaign.

Towards the later part of 2017, Gujarat will be going to the polls and Shah needs to be at the top of his game. Many party leaders believe his presence in Gujarat is crucial. Chief Minister Anandiben Patel will turn 75 in November 2016. Going by the precedents set by the party and the RSS, she will have to relinquish her post soon after.

This brings the question will Shah last the full term of his presidency ( 2019) or leave it before or after UP elections to take up yet another challenge in his home state? After all, for Modi and Shah, Gujarat is where it all began.
New Delhi: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose died in an air crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, a Union Cabinet note 50 years later said amidst the raging controversy over the INA chiefs mysterious disappearance.

However, a full five days after the air crash, a top official of the British Raj had weighed the pros and cons of trying Netaji as a war criminal and suggested that the easiest way would be to leave him where he was and not seek his release, suggesting that he may be alive then.

This emerged from documents that form part of 100 secret files, comprising 16,600 pages which were made public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Netajis 119th birth anniversary in the capital on Saturday.

Reacting to the development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded that Bose be given the title of Leader of the Nation, and said the country has the right to know the truth about his mysterious disappearance.

The country has the right to know about the fate of Netaji. 75 years ago, Netaji left the country, but we still dont know the fact about his disappearance. People have the right to know the truth, Banerjee said at a function in Darjeeling. In Delhi, Congress made a strong pitch for declassifying all files related to Bose, but said the way Prime Minister has set about the task, raises doubts about his intentions.

Congress has already said that it would like to see all files to be declassified because attempts are being made to raise a controversy and misguide people of the country through a mischievous political campaign, partys senior spokesman Anand Sharma said.

Among the declassified documents was a Union Cabinet note of February 6, 1995, signed by then Home Secretary K Padmanabaiah, which said, There seems to be no scope for doubt that he died in the air crash of 18th August 1945 at Taihoku.

Government of India has already accepted this position. There is no evidence whatsoever to the contrary. The note further said, If a few individuals/organisations have a different view, they seem to be more guided by sentimentality rather than by any rational consideration.

The belief of these people that Netaji was alive and out of contact with any individual, but would appear when found necessary, has also lost relevance by now. The cabinet note was prepared for the government to take a stand on bringing the mortal remains of Netaji from Japan to India, kept in the Bose Academy in Tokyo.

PTI
New Delhi: French President Francois Hollande indicated on Sunday that the nearly Rs 60,000 crore Rafale jets deal is unlikely to be signed during his current visit although it is on the "right track".

"The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years. Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track", Hollande told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning today.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence "is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries."

India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.

A high-level team from France is here and carrying out last minute negotiations.

Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, "France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators."

"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism", the French President said in a written interview.

Observing that solidarity between France and India was natural, Hollande said, "I would like to thank once again President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh attacks in Paris in November. French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India.

"We engage constantly with India. The Indo-French working group on counter-terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015. That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism," he said.

Hollande, who will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday during his second State visit to India, also appreciated Prime Minister Modi "for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination. He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan."

Accompanied by a high-level delegation, the French President and Modi will hold extensive talks here tomorrow during which ways to strengthen cooperation in counter-terror, security, civil nuclear energy and trade will figure prominently.

"I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas: defence, space and civil nuclear energy. As well as education, research, culture. Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance," he said while identifying railways, smart cities, food security, higher education and cinema as areas where the two countries can further cooperate.

PTI
Commentary on Egyptian Politics and Culture by an Egyptian Citizen with a Room of Her Own
Property developers will be expected to form joint ventures with community housing groups to bid for the redevelopment projects. "We have billions of dollars worth of land with ageing public housing that no longer does the job we expect for those community members," said Mr Hazzard. "This is a really innovative way of saying we can use that old, run down, tired stock on taxpayers land to go to the private sector and say build us more, far more social housing and mix the private housing and give us better social outcomes." Mr Hazzard cited the Lend Lease redevelopment of the London council housing estate Elephant and Castle, which now includes luxury penthouses and is dominated by private dwellings, as an international example of the model. Construction and property companies had established business units to pursue social housing redevelopments, he said. Projects would be staged to provide a construction pipeline to sustain the NSW economy as the WestConnex and North Connex projects tapered off.

"The health of NSW will be enhanced by doing something that no Liberal government has ever considered  building thousands of new social homes," he said. Under the framework, families who have experienced loss of income through a sudden event such as retrenchment or illness, and young people, will be a priority for a new three-year private rental subsidy. Recipients will be required to undergo training or support programs. The strategy identifies two groups of social housing tenants: a safety net group of the frail, disabled, elderly and mentally ill who need long-term support; and another group that can be moved out of the system, with appropriate support such as TAFE training. To improve the educational outcomes of children living in social housing, $2 million will be spent building childcare centres, and a program of health worker visits for mothers and babies introduced. NSW Council of Social Service chief executive Tracy Howe said the framework was "a flexible and progressive and modern take on what needs to be done".

"It acknowledges there is a safety net cohort, and we need to ensure that is not watered down because it is a key milestone for social housing. I don't want to think there will be a group of vulnerable people who feel more vulnerable because the framework says they can be moved out of the system," she said. Ms Howe cautioned that moving people into jobs may not be easy. "The jobs aren't always going to be there. It seems there is a hope someone will be able to get out of social housing and into the private rental market. There are areas where jobs don't exist. For Aboriginal young people, it's hard to get work." Community housing providers would do "a great job" in providing services for vulnerable tenants, but need to be given long-term, 20-year contracts to provide business certainty, she said. The NSW government has asked the Commonwealth to allow rent to be automatically deducted from Centrelink payments for social housing tenants. Mr Hazzard said this would reduce the number of evictions for unpaid rent.

Ms Howe said the jury was out on rent quarantining, with some women's groups welcoming it after a Centrelink trial in Bankstown. Rental bonds will be imposed for new social housing leases in the second half of 2016 for the first time, capped at $1400. The bond, previously announced by the NSW government, can be paid over two years. Home's where the heart is after 13-year wait Charmain Lee with her daughter, Charlize, 2, at their new home. Credit:Fiona Morris Charmaine Lee was on the public housing waiting list for 13 years before finally moving her family into a new townhouse this week.

"The girls ran straight up the stairs and picked their bedrooms out," says Ms Lee, 35, a single mum with three children. The housing placement has come just in time for her eldest daughter, Natasha, 17, to sit the Higher School Certificate this year. When Ms Lee first approached Housing NSW for help, Natasha hadn't started school. An increasingly unaffordable private rental market for people on low incomes, and few vacancies as half of public housing tenants stay on for 10 years or more, has driven the public housing waiting list up to 60,000 households. For a long time, the family lived in one room at Ms Lee's parents' house. With her brother and sister also in the house, life was crowded and complicated. "Everyone was stepping on everyone else's toes," she recalls.

Ms Lee moved out to a privately rented, dilapidated property in Villawood paying $400 a week. "I didn't have any lights in the loungeroom. It was rundown and the landlord wouldn't fix anything. I'm glad to be out of there." Even getting into the private rental market was hard. "You would go to view homes for lease and have other people offer more money. It wiped you out of the private market," she says. Housing NSW knocked down old fibro cottages on quarter-acre blocks in the street in Bankstown to redevelop the land with a group of modern two-storey townhouses. More families can now move in.
The "merchandisation" of January 26 is challenged only by that of Halloween. Instead of skeletons or spiders we have lots of stuff on which the Australian flag is the defining feature.

Now the trappings of Australia Day arrive, probably around November, in a big shipping container from China.

False eyelashes in the colours of the flag anyone? Likewise fingernails, moustaches or hair bows for the ladies. Top hats, sun visors or tiaras are similarly attired. Alcohol, for some an important feature of the day, can be dispensed from a wide variety of drinking devices, suitably adorned, to enable hands-free consumption.

Cheap and tacky items abound on Australia Day.

Thirty five years ago on Australia Day you saw a bit of green and gold and that was about it.

In 1966 The Sydney Morning Herald reported that in Sydney, "the founding city", Australia Day was celebrated with speeches, songs from two soloists and a reading of the proclamation appointing Captain Arthur Phillip as the first governor.

About 1000 people saw the ceremony but the paper added: "The surrounding streets were congested with lunch-hour crowds apparently unaware that a celebration was occurring  or perhaps even that it was Australia Day."
TWIN FALLS | Those classroom pods won't look like yesterday's long hallways. And those staircases will be surprisingly wide  for a reason unrelated to reaching the second floor.

The two new Twin Falls elementary schools set to open this summer won't resemble their older counterparts around town.

New campuses will have tighter security, better organization of classrooms, more space for parents to drop off and pick up their children, and common spaces for students to gather.

Designers aimed to keep the space flexible so it "can evolve with the teaching methods, said Clint Sievers of Hummel Architects, the lead designer for Rock Creek and Pillar Falls elementary schools.

Classrooms, for example, wont have a lot of built-in features. That will allow teachers to customize the space. Storage spaces are designed with ample power to charge tablets for the entire school.

Were trying to think ahead to the future, Sievers said.

Rock Creek and Pillar Falls schools will both open in summer 2016.

At Rock Creek Elementary, in northwest Twin Falls, construction is ahead of schedule. Wallboard is up in all of the rooms, and crews are painting. Mechanical issues with the heating and cooling system arose recently but appear to be resolved.

At Pillar Falls Elementary, in the northeast part of the city, crews are putting up the skeleton of the building, and it will be enclosed soon. At South Hills Middle School, which opens in 2017 in south Twin Falls, utility work is done and crews are working on the foundation and removing rock. All three new schools are funded by a nearly $74 million bond issue voters approved in March 2014 to keep up with rapid growth in student numbers.

Each elementary school  costing about $15.4 million  will house students in kindergarten through fifth grades. Once the new schools open, Twin Falls will have 16 campuses, including nine elementary schools.

The new elementary schools will have design features that the city hasn't seen in its older elementary schools. Heres a glance at how they compare:

1. Pod Layout

Instead of the long hallways of older schools, the new two-story elementary schools will have shorter hallways with pods of classrooms.

Each grade level has its own little pod, said Brady Dickinson, director of operations for the Twin Falls School District.

Each pod will face into a common area where students can gather. Classrooms grouped together also allow teachers to more easily share children for activities.

There will be separate entrances for kindergarten and preschool programs. Those classrooms are very close to the drop-off zones, Dickinson said.

Both new schools are south-facing for energy efficiency; that orientation affects the intensity of sunlight that comes in, helping to lower air conditioning costs.

Twin Falls' older schools: At Sawtooth Elementary School  which opened in 1975  classrooms are on one level, lining long hallways.

Plus, many existing schools dont qualify for Idaho Power rebates, Dickinson said. Old schools were built when efficiency was not a concern.

2. Steel Construction

The new elementary schools will be steel-framed  unlike some older wood-framed schools.

Steel is more durable, Dickinson said, and requires less maintenance. And fewer fire doors are required to meet fire ratings.

Plus, new schools will feature more composite materials. At Rock Creek Elementary, the entryway features a material that looks like wood but is actually fiberglass.

Most of those materials are low maintenance, Dickinson said. Theyre non-combustible and dont fade over time.

But one thing you have to be careful on is materials can be more expensive, he added.

Despite high costs, the construction is using durable materials so the new schools can last 50 to 100 years, Sievers said. Thats always a challenge in todays market.

The exteriors of administration areas are in brick, while metal or cementboard siding is used on other areas.

Twin Falls' older schools: The districts oldest schools  Lincoln and Bickel elementary schools, which opened in the late 1930s  have brick exteriors.

Its beautiful, but you just dont see that anymore, Dickinson said. It would be way too expensive.

3. Big Space for Cars

The new elementary schools will have enhanced pick-up and drop-off zones.

A one-way loop  similar to Canyon Ridge High School's  will allow parents to drop off their children away from school bus traffic and continue back to the main street.

Twin Falls' older schools: At existing Twin Falls campuses, traffic flow is a huge issue, Dickinson said. It seems to be a new phenomenon.

More parents are dropping off their children at school instead of having them walk or take the school bus. And thats a problem because schools built decades ago werent designed to accommodate a lot of cars.

Traffic is particularly bad at I.B. Perrine Elementary, which opened in 1985. The drop-off loop is small, theres limited parking and its surrounded by bike paths where people arent allowed to park.

Bickel Elementary is a charming colonial-style school with a brick exterior, ornate columns and a balcony. But theres a downside: the lack of a good drop-off and pick-up areas.

Bickel doesnt really have any traffic flow, Dickinson said. Its just the street.

4. 1-Entrance Design

Security was a big consideration in designing the new schools, Dickinson said. Its become such a major issue in the last few years.

At each of the new elementary schools, one main point of entry will force visitors into a front office reception area.

It allows the office to watch whos coming in and out, Dickinson said.

Each pod of classrooms will have a set of doors that are easy to secure in case of an emergency.

Twin Falls' older schools: Theres typically a lot of doors that arent secured, Sievers said.

Older buildings were not designed at a time when access control was such a critical issue, Dickinson said. Sometimes, visitors enter through side doors and wander the hallways.

Thanks to $1.3 million in bond money for safety improvements, some upgrades are underway  including high-definition cameras and electronic key card readers  at 13 existing Twin Falls campuses.

5. Staircase Gathering Area

Before bringing a bond issue to voters, Twin Falls school officials toured schools in the Seattle area and loved a feature they saw: a staircase gathering area.

It functions like auditorium seating, Dickinson said. It will be just past the front office at each of the new elementary schools, beside a wall where presentations can be projected.

After voters passed the bond issue, Hummel Architects interviewed employees about what design features theyd like to see in the new schools.

One thing they brought up was the ability to have flexible space, Sievers said, that could be used by groups of students or community members after hours.

Twin Falls' older schools: At older elementary schools  like Lincoln  theres a stage in the cafeteria. But you dont generally have auditoriums at elementary schools, Dickinson said.

6. Plain Interior Design

At each new elementary school, the facilities are basic with not a lot of frills, Dickinson said. The design will be kept traditional  no built-in classroom features  because trends come and go. For example, the open classroom concept with movable walls was big in the 1970s, he said, but that design became problematic later.

In the cafeteria and gymnasium, words like inspiration and community will decorate the walls.

Twin Falls' older schools: Some have added similar decorations over the years.

Lincoln Elementary has smokestacks from the coal heat era. Bickel Elementary has an ornate entryway, with columns and a second-floor balcony.
TWIN FALLS  If you want your child to attend a school outside your new attendance zone, you must file a request for an in-district transfer.

Its a two-page form available on the Twin Falls School Districts website, Tfsd.k12.id.us. Click on For Parents and Students, then on Student Transfer Request and Policy.

Currently, there are about 250 in-district transfer students, or about 3 percent of the districts students. The Twin Falls School District also accepts out-of-district transfer requests from students outside Twin Falls  this year, about 100.

School principals approve or deny transfer requests depending on space.

Superintendent Wiley Dobbs said he doesnt know how many transfer requests will come in this year  as the district completes new elementary schools and redraws attendance zones  or how the number will compare with previous years.

Thats part of the reason why were going to be very careful, he said.

The districts open enrollment policy dates back at least to 1990. But now, with a statewide teacher shortage, schools have to be meticulous each spring about estimating enrollment numbers, Dobbs said.

Its nearly impossible to hire new teachers after school starts if more students show up than projected, he said. We want to ere on the side of caution.

Heres what you need to know about requesting a transfer:

When: Transfer requests for the 2016-17 school year can be made as early as Jan. 1, but the school board wont make a final decision on attendance zones until Jan. 27.

The school districts policy calls for a Jan. 1-Feb. 1 open enrollment period. But you can submit requests right up until a new school year starts in late August, Dobbs said.

You can also request mid-year transfers.

Where: A transfer request must be submitted to the front office of the school youd like your child to attend.

If you want to request a transfer to the new Rock Creek or Pillar Falls elementary schools, which are still under construction, deliver your form to elementary programs director Teresa Jones at the Twin Falls School District office, 201 Main Ave. W.

How decisions are made: School principals will consider enrollment numbers before making a decision. They consider requests in the order theyre received  so the earlier, the better.

Students are given priority for a transfer if they reside within the school district boundaries already, were enrolled at the requested school during the prior year, have a sibling at the requested school, have parents employed by the school district, or have a unique situation or extraordinary circumstances, the districts policy says.

School busing: Transportation isnt provided for students outside their attendance zone, district spokeswoman Eva Craner said.
Guest column submitted by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo

The states, not the federal government, have always had primary jurisdiction over the allocation, management and use of water. This management must remain with the states not seized by federal bureaucrats thousands of miles away and disconnected from the issues on the ground. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed legislation, previously passed by the U.S. Senate with my support, that would block the Administrations harmful attempt to exert jurisdiction over virtually all of our water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Waters of the United States Rule sets a dangerous precedent, subverts state water sovereignty and jeopardizes private property rights by significantly expanding federal authorityallowing the EPA to regulate nearly every stream, ditch, pond and puddle on state and local lands, as well as private property. The courts have repeatedly rebuked similar efforts to hand authority over virtually all of our nations waters over to the federal government. Additionally, I have helped block past legislation in the U.S. Senate to exert federal control over non-navigable waters.

Without congressionally-authorized authority, the Administration has been side-stepping Congress and the American people to seize control of our water. Congress reiterated its opposition to the Administration ignoring the will of Congress and the American people by passing S.J.Res. 22, a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the Waters of the United States Rule. The House of Representatives recent passage of the resolution by a vote of 253-166 follows the Senates November passage of the resolution by a vote of 53-44.

The Congressional Review Act provides Congress with specified procedures to overturn federal rules put forward by the Administration, and S.J.Res. 22 utilizes this authority. To block the rule from taking effect, both the Senate and the House must pass the joint resolution, and the resolution must be signed by the President, or Congress must override a presidential veto. The President should have demonstrated that he is listening to Congress and the American people by signing the resolution and discontinuing the rule, but instead he chose to veto the resolution. Therefore, work continues to stop the rule.

Passage of the joint resolution of disapproval also follows movement of legislation with similar goals in both chambers of Congress. For example, last May, the House passed legislation requiring the Administration to withdraw the rule. As a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I supported the committees passage of similar legislation. Fellow Idaho Senator Jim Risch and I are co-sponsors of S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, that would prevent implementation of the final Waters of the United States Rule and direct the EPA and Corps to redo the final rule. Any new rule must adhere to the principles that waters of the U.S. are limited to truly navigable waters.

I will continue to use every opportunity to permanently block this harmful rule, and I encourage all those interested in this federal overreach to stay engaged on this EPA overreach. Clean water remains a necessity, but EPAs jurisdictional grab of our waterways violates its statutory authority and congressional intent and must be stopped.
An Idaho judged tossed out a lawsuit last week brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against the state over its broken public defense system. But dont mistake the judges ruling for a free pass or proof the states system isnt in desperate need of reform. Fourth District Judge Samuel Hoagland dismissed the suit because the ACLUs case was overly broad, not because its arguments lacked merit.

In fact, the judge called the states public defense system problematic and said the governor and Legislature have an obligation to ensure the Constitution and laws are enforced in Idaho. Clearly, thats not happening now. Gov. C.L. Butch Otter admitted as much in his State of the State address, calling for $5 million in state money to help reform the system.

Too bad it wont be nearly enough money to truly solve the problem. Lawmakers must find a more than a half-baked solution or token funding gestures when peoples constitutional rights are at stake.

Idaho is one of just three states that do not provide funding for public defenders. In Idaho, it falls to the counties, and as a result accused criminals across the Gem State are receiving shoddy representation from public defenders who are overworked and underpaid. Some counties have adequately funded their public-defender offices; most have not. A 2010 report from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association found that accused criminals in Idaho werent getting adequate representation  problems ranged from a lack of communication between court-appointed attorneys and their clients to poor or nonexistent legal investigations to a lack of oversight over the system. In the ACLUs case, plaintiffs included people who said theyve spent months in jail without ever even talking to their public defenders.

An interim committee of lawmakers has been studying the issue and seemed likely to present a bill near the end of last week. But at the last minute, the committee said it would need to meet one more time before rolling out its plan. Lawmakers have hinted theyll craft their fix on a model developed in Michigan  where the ACLU also filed suit over public defenders  that formed a commission to oversee the states public defenders.

Whatever the fix Idaho finds, itll be costly if lawmakers aim to do it right. Idaho cant shortchange peoples constitutional rights.

In a state where politicians seem to be in a perpetual competition over who loves the Constitution more, its puzzling theyve been so blase about the repeated violations of the Sixth and 14th Amendments that guarantee due process and the right to counsel. This is an election year, and were sure to hear plenty from candidates about how dear they hold the Constitution. But lawmakers who say as much will lose all credibility if the Legislature fails to fix the public defender system this session. Fixing the public defender system will serve as a litmus test over whether the Constitution is just a buzzword politicians use to get reelected or whether it actually still means something in Idaho.

For all our sake, we hope lawmakers pass the test.
MONDAY kicked off a week of health and welfare budget presentations to the budget-setting Joint Finance Appropriation Committee. Overall, Health and Welfare is asking for a 3.9 percent bump. JFAC did get some good news on health costs  the state share of Medicaid would only go up about 2 percent, and spending on the Catastrophic Health Care Program is continuing to drop as more people get subsidized insurance through the states health-care exchange.

Speaking of health care, were still waiting to see the bills that would implement Gov. C.L. Butch Otters Primary Care Access Program, which would extend primary-care coverage to the uninsured. The Associated Press reported this week that it is going to be split into two bills  a funding one to go through House Revenue and Taxation and one on the mechanics of the program to go through Health and Welfare. Otter, who has been getting blowback from the left and the right over the idea, sent out an op-ed on Wednesday defending it as the only politically feasible way to extend some help to people in the Medicaid gap.

And Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, introduced two different Medicaid expansion bills on Friday  the cutoff for senators to introduce personal bills, which can be introduced without the committee it usually takes to get a bill printed.

Ive been working for years to get Republican support, and cant, so what the heck, Schmidt told the Spokane Spokesman-Review. At least its written down. People can look at the numbers, look at the proposals.

TUESDAY Add the Words, which got a hearing for the first time last year but was voted down in House State Affairs, came back. Sens. Grant Burgyone and Cherie Buckner-Webb, both D-Boise, introduced a version of the bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The only change from last years bill is that the terms sexual orientation and gender identity are defined in this version, which they werent in last years and which was one of the objections brought up by the measures opponents.

That a bill was introduced didnt come as a shock  a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, has been working on it quietly since last year, to try to reach some sort of compromise. The bill has been assigned to the Senate State Affairs Committee, but it remains to be seen whether or if it will get a hearing.

WEDNESDAY, Reps. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg and Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, released a first version of a bill to get rid of the need for a concealed weapons permit within city limits. It would add a line to the code saying people can carry concealed within a city outside the confines of a building, and the pro-gun rights Idaho Second Amendment Alliance said it couldnt support it.

Individual property owners (residential or business) can already request that someone carrying a gun leave their property, ISAA President Greg Pruett wrote in a news release. Under this current form of the bill, the gun owners are now forced by the government to request permission for entry or they are violating state law.

THURSDAY, the two lawmakers released a second version that would give anyone the right to carry concealed, within a city or not, but also includes a long list of people permitless carry rights wouldnt extend to  minors, felons, undocumented immigrants, the mentally ill. Nate said he released both versions to give his colleagues some options. No committee hearings have been announced on either yet.

Also on Thursday Bill Moran, who has been leading an effort to get a ballot initiative to lower college tuition by raising cigarette taxes, announced that without more money, he would have to suspend his committees efforts on Sunday. Moran said the effort had been undermined by Otters PCAP proposal, which was released after Moran started his campaign and which would rely on some of the same funding. Moran also said the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association has undermined his efforts.

Based on the joint efforts of the tobacco industry with their aforementioned partners above, this state is going to have the cheapest cigarettes in the West forever and we can just pile that dirt onto those 6,500 people who could have lived, Moran wrote.

NEXT WEEK is education week at JFAC, with one of the highlights to be when Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra presents the public schools budget on Thursday. The College of Southern Idaho is up on Tuesday.

Also next week, the Public Defense Reform Interim Committee will meet again and may come out with a final draft of a proposal to overhaul Idahos public defense system. One thing will be different next time they meet, though  the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Idahos public defense system that was hanging over the states head before was dismissed Thursday.
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Make your birthday special - by brewing a beer originally made on that date.

For a mere 25 euros, I'll create a bespoke recipe for any day of the year you like. As well as the recipe, there's a few hundred words of text describing the beer and its historical context and an image of the original brewing record.

Just click on the button below.
The inauguration of the fifth is nigh so maybe things are far enough removed from the ruling of the Supreme Court in the presidential electi...
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The blizzard dropping several feet of snow and packing hurricane-force winds to much of the East Coast continues to impact Central Florida travel.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, there were 200 total cancellations at Orlando International Airport, according to a news release sent by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.



"The numbers reflect current notifications from the airlines for the entire day," the release states.



There were 100 cancellations and dozens of delays at Orlando International Airport on Friday.

Major airlines are issuing travel waivers for passengers impacted by the winter weather over the weekend.

Officials at Orlando International Airport have offered the following tips:

If you do not need to fly to the affected areas, take advantage of the airline rebooking offers.

Before you leave home or your hotel, check your flight for delays or cancellations.

Do not come to the airport to change or rebook your flight.

If you are at the airport and your flight is canceled, call or go online to rebook your flight.

Please pack your patience.

FLIGHT TRACKING RESOURCES



Flight delays at nearby airports:

FlightAware Flight Tracker app:
Thailand has reported its second confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, detected in a 71-year-old man from Oman who arrived in Bangkok on Friday.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry announced Sunday that the man is in stable condition at an infectious disease center in Bangkok's outskirts. His children are also being quarantined. The authorities have identified 252 people the patient came into contact with, and are seeking 37 they consider at high risk for surveillance.

The World Health Organization said in early January that it had been notified of 1,626 confirmed MERS cases, including at least 586 related deaths, since the disease was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Thailand's first MERS case was a 75-year-old Omani man who was hospitalized last June and released several weeks later after recovering. In both cases, the men had first fallen ill in Oman and came to Thailand to seek diagnosis and medical treatment.

According to WHO, typical symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is common, but not always present.

Although most cases are attributed to human-to-human infections, the U.N. agency says the virus does not seem to pass easily from person to person unless there is close contact, such as when providing unprotected care to a patient.

Explore further Omani MERS patient's relatives tested for virus in Thailand

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The largest newspaper in the first caucus state backed Marco Rubio for president in the Republican primary.

The Des Moines Register, which published its endorsement Saturday evening online and Sunday in print, called the Florida senator "his party's best hope."

"Sen. Marco Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the party, and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American dream," the newspaper's editorial board wrote. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz lead Iowa polls, but neither candidate accepted the Register's invitation for an interview, though that didn't take them out of contention for the endorsement..

Rubio's campaign quickly fired off a fundraising email touting the coveted endorsement, calling the newspaper "one of the most respected voices in Iowa politics."

The Register supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race.
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Recalls how his father died and reveals why their movies are full of rituals

Nollywood star actor and comedian,John Okafor,popularly known as,Mr. Ibu, in this interview expresses his reservations on the efficacy of the current anti-corruption war even as he revealed that Enugu State has abundant latent Nollywood potentials yet untapped.

BY FRANCIS IGATA

What do you foresee for the Nollywood industry in 2016?

The picture I foresee for the Actors Guild of Nigeria,AGN,in 2016 is big. But,there is a clause. The clause there is that we should stop attacking each other. If we stop attacking each other by going to court and police every minute including washing our dirty leaning in the public, we will go far. AGN is one all over the world. Our own should not be an exception. Good administration has eluded us for so long now. We do not have people that can pilot the affairs of the AGN.

We are fighting every minute. How do we succeed in life in that kind of atmosphere? Now,I sent a proposal for Film Village to the Federal Government. Only God in Haven knows weather it has gotten to the designated point or not. The same thing was sent in to the government of Enugu State. We are conducting a poll to ascertain where will be most suitable for citing a Film Village. Enugu State scored 83%. It means that if ever we are going to have a film village, Enugu State is the most suitable nationwide. Second to Enugu is Lagos, with 53% then Owerri, Asaba, 38%,34% respectively. That is why if you watch most Nollywood films,t here locations are shot in Enugu.

So we have more advantage than any other place. We are looking forward to having that film village in Enugu. It is very important. Let government make us responsible rather than looking beggarly,going to government houses and so on. I promised myself that I will never be part of the people going to government houses seeking alms. Our people should stop piling themselves in government houses. When ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was in office,every minute they were there asking for all maner of favour. And the ex-President loved us so much that he gave them huge money. All those who diverted monies meant for AGN or Movie Makers will die because they do not know the souls they have killed. For 2016,if all these things are taken care of, AGN will do better. I am promising one thing, am not contesting anything on the AGN but, I have a lot of surprises.

Now that you said Enugu State ranks highest for citing of the Film Village, have you taken your proposal to the government?

A woman working with me has sent in the proposal. The federal or state government might not spend much because we will go ahead and get sponsors. They will come and build a five-star hotel with a big gate carrying a neon sign,AGN. All the things one may need from all accredited members of AGN will be there. We will be resident inside the village. People will come in,shoot pictures,shoot musicals among others. I have all these things inside. I equally have friend who are not Nigerians willing to come and invest.

What is your perception of the President Muhammad Buhari-led government anti-corruption war?

It is too early to fight this. I would have preferred the government to set their house in order first. Set the administration going,make the people who voted you talk good of you as you are coming in. The corrupt people know themselves. While your good work is going on,you can then start picking them one after the other. Whoever that has offended government knows he or she has done so.

Government should set its house in order first. Let the good things about this administration flow first before the arrests. Let Nigerians talk good of you first, then you can now tell them,there are people who did this and that,that need questioning. But starting with this quarrel,fighting as a new government,I do not think it will help. Many people are talking about hunger,no money,collapsed businesses among others. They would have first of all laid good foundation about their administration so that people will feel them first. The change should be seen in the peoples welfare and every other thing will follow. Thats my own idea.

Why is it that most Nollywood films tilt towards,ritual and affluence that are perceived as lacking morals?

Films are a reflection of the society. Nobody believes he is a poor person in Nigeria. We are trying to give proper interpretation of what is happening in the society. Films give back the life in the society. But,already,we have held a meeting that all things should go and give way for films dwelling on family,tragic,comedy stories. The issue is that the ritual thing cant even go in the society. My father for instance, was poisoned to death by his best friend. I was small then. When my father died,he told my mother in a dream about three weeks after, that it was his best friend that killed him. In that dream,my father told my mother,invite the man who killed me but nobody should hurt him.

My father equally instructed my mum to invite my brothers and relations inside our compound. Tell them what I said. My mother invited the man, as my father instructed and other relatives. My fathers instruction was done exactly as it came. They told the man what my father said. He denied and they said okay,you will eat the yam roasted on my fathers grave. If you did not do it,you will go home, but if you did it,you will die here. The yam was roasted on my fathers grave in the presence of the man. All the elders in my village ate the yam and said the yam was sweat and that we did not put poison in the food roasted on fathers grave. Then came the turn of the man. The elders asked him to say that if he was responsible for the death of my father,Emmanuel Okafor,let this food be the last food he will eat.

But if he did not know anything about my fathers death,let his life span be increased. The man who killed my father refused to eat it. And remember,my father had warned us in the dream,that we should not touch him. When he refused,nobody touched him and he left. That is to tell you that the rituals we are shooting is real. But the new generations coming up,they are oblivious about these concoctions. That is why we shoot films to highlight these things so that people will know and shun such evil ways.

What happened to the money,ex-President Jonathan allegedly gave to the AGN as loan?

LaughterI did not see one naira oohhhh! I do not know who processed andcollected it. If the money was released,I do not know. If they did not release it,I do not know. The people who were supposed to give us information, talking about the leadership of AGN, did not tell us anything even the first $200 million,nothing was heard of it. What am looking for is hectares of land for the Film Village,then I will leave acting.
Each week, we ask people working in the field of public policy what they would do if they were given a billion dollars to spend on projects. What policy initiatives would they fund, and how would they spend this money?

This week, we spoke to Aashish Chandorkar, director of Capgemini Consulting.

If you have your own billion-dollar plan, send it to mintonsunday@livemint.com. Selected entries will be published online.

Urbanization is Indias biggest challenge today. Creating livable cities, which encourage orderly movement from resource- and opportunities-starved hinterland, can make political destinies or mar the national one. With existing mega cities grappling for funding (the last Bengaluru budget outlay was Rs6,700 crore, while Mumbais was just over Rs31,000 crore), the hope of civilizing them in a global urban sense is on the deathbed.

But what if Rs6,500 crore were made available to a city with a population of a million people to turn it into a showcase? In todays world, where a minimum viable product" can get skyrocketing valuations for technology firms, why cant a well-planned, well-developed city become the motivation for others to look up and emulate the underlying process for success? So, lets spend a billion dollars on such a hypothetical city called Model Town. Finding an actual one for implementation of the plan wont be tough; as per the 2011 census, there were 12 cities with a population between 950,000 and 1.07 million.

The starting point should be to create a master planhow Model Town will evolve over the next five, 20, 50 years. Large Indian cities are right now running a decade or two behind their real requirements. The new ones with resources should really start to think ahead. This planning activity should cost no more than Rs100 crorepreferably outsourced to a government entity in Western Europe or Singapore.

The most neglected area of urban planning in India is mobility. We make roads to move cars, not people. So, why not change that while Model Town is small enough? Including the land acquisition cost, a dual carriageway city road cant cost more than Rs2 crore per km. In a city of a millionsay 400 sq.kmdeveloping 100km of good arterial roads inside the city is a must. Model Town should have a ring road with 100km lengthreally outside the cityat the cost of Rs8 crore per km, given the highway style features. Thats Rs1,000 crore for the road network. To ensure city roads are really useful, there have to be footpaths, signboards and directions organized properly. At twice the cost of the city roads, Rs400 crore can be allocated for this activity.

Good roads should have good buses plying on them. Ideally, a city should have one bus per 1,000 residents in India. Planning a few years ahead, Model Town should place an order for 150 buses, with a buffer to account for servicing and breakdowns. At Rs4 crore outlay per bus to purchase, appoint staff, run and maintain per year, this accounts for Rs600 crore. Buses will require parking lots to ensure proper maintenance, theft avoidance and high service yield. Twenty buses can be parked in an acre, so planning ahead, 10 acres should be acquired. Including the cost of fencing, constructing depots and equipping them, this activity takes Rs25 crore. The buses should have electronic ticketing, with a fully connected back-end for real-time occupancy monitoring. The buses should have closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) to ensure safety and infrastructure to collect and record the data. The technology infrastructure can be created for Rs25 crore.

Before the roads and footpaths are constructed, Model Town should plan for underground ducts for three important things: drinking water pipes, sewage pipes and fiber optic cables. The first two areas need to be planned as per the Master Plan, much before the city actually expands, providing a plug-and-play option for residents and buildings. The fiber network has to be built in advance or else the city will end up getting dug up all over again. Planning for a 100% population growth for water supply and sewage pipes, the allocation for these areas will be Rs1,000 crore in totalRs500 crore each for a network of 350km each. The fiber network trenching work for a similar length network will be allocated Rs25 crore for a basic network. Adding provisions for redundancies, maintenance points, signage and small patches of land acquisition for facilitating repairs and maintenance across all underground work at 10%, about Rs1,150 crore will be assigned for these areas.

The river Sacred flows through the city, bisecting it into the old and new parts. The city has been dumping its solid waste in the river without any treatment for years, and the local businesses have been dumping toxic waste in the river water. Model Town should assign Rs1,000 crore for the beautification of the river bed inside the city and modernizing sewage treatment plants, and Rs200 crore for relocating and rehabilitating people and industries from the river bed.

Model Town should invest in solar energy for all its administrative buildings and in LED lights for all its streets. The city should aspire to generate at least 100MW via solar over time, costing about Rs450 crore at the outset without any net metering. The one-time LED installation and associated infrastructure should take Rs50 crore. Another Rs200 crore will be assigned for biogas compressed natural gas (CNG) generation from urban waste, which can create capacity for the next decade for Model Town. Renewable power generation and cost-effective power usage should cost Rs700 crore.

Model Town follows Indias demographic pattern and has up to 100,000 school-going children. Of these, 50,000 opt to or are forced to study in state-run schoolsabout 100 of them. The city should completely refurbish all school buildings, construct toilets for boys and girls, create play zones, and provide study equipment. Including the one-time costs, this activity should take Rs500 crore.

The local government should provide well-equipped health centres at the local level25 such centres should be constructed with an outlay of Rs250 crore. This will include buildings, facilities, cost of doctors and staff, and stock of medicines.

A total of Rs250 crore should be allocated for civic facilities such as gardens, fire stations, public toilets, bus stops and recreational areas. Model Town should invest in creating winter shelters for the homeless and the less-privileged residents.

That still leaves Rs300 crore to be spent! Model Town should provide this amount for creating a robust technology infrastructure, which allows for near real-time monitoring of various civic functions, improved citizen interfacing, and making its operations more transparent.

A billion dollars can change a real cityif the politicians, civic authorities and the residents decide to.

Here. Take a billion dollars. So, is that enough money to do anything substantial in public policy in India? Why or why not?

When it comes to the Union Budget in India, a billion dollarslets say Rs6,500 crore to round it offisnt a lot. In fact, any government announcement under Rs1,000 crore fails the test of materiality if included in the Union Budget. But for a state or a city, Rs6,500 crore is a lot of money. Maharashtra ran the first year of Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan on a similar figure, creating 24 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water storage across 6,000 villages. The last Bengaluru budget outlay was Rs6,700 crore.

What are some areas of public policy that you really care about. Feel free to go as micro as you want.

I care about areas which have a long-lasting impact and promote the idea of sustainable growth via institutional changes. Public policy should be future-proof while creating here and now" impact. It should also not be hostage to individual discretion as much as possibleindividuals being political leaders or the bureaucratsthough no system can completely take this factor out. I care about areas which create infrastructure to jump-start ideas, jobs and individual creativity. These include financial inclusion, labour law reforms, limiting government checks and inspections through the business lifecycle, creating the right business environment for small businesses, independence of regulators like the Reserve Bank of India, and provision of public goods with positive externalities like electricity, school education and basic healthcare.

So, what is your billion-dollar public policy idea? Why is it important?

My idea is to create a model city using $1 billion. The aim is to create a city which can, in turn, become a reference point and a template for other urban areas to emulate. I believe this is an idea whose time has come because India is facing a massive urbanization challenge, and unless we systematically invest in our cities, the development potential of the country will continue to remain unfulfilled.

Broadly, what can $1 billion do for this particular area?

See the write up.

Now give us a sense of how you will spend this money? Be specific if possible.

See the write up.

What outcomes do you hope to see?

I hope to create a model city. This city will plan ahead of time and be prepared for growth and population expansion. This city will invest in infrastructure elements like transportation, waste management and connectivity, using modern technologies and sustainable drivers of infrastructure provision like solar power. The city will also create the soft infrastructure of schools, hospitals, libraries and public spaces. Ideally, this city becomes a template and a best practices repository for urban development for other cities to get inspired by.

What if I give you another billion? Would you keep spending it here?

If I had another billion, we would try other public policy interventions as controlled experiments in other geographies, creating similar templates. Once a model city is established, the incremental capital expenditure can only provide scale, not necessarily differentiation. So, the ideal situation will be to leave the model city to generate its own revenue and through citizen participation, while using new funds to solve other problems where the impact is significant and visible.

And finally, what if you had to just spend it on yourself? (Be decent.)

If I would have to spend $1 billion on ourselves, I would probably choose to keep travelling forever, sipping fine wine. The routine can go on around the world over and over again until the money is exhausted!

The views expressed here are personal.

Topics
Either we can invest in the infrastructure needed to provide for a healthy economy, or we can continue to let politics and public malaise jeopardize that investment  and, by extension, opportunities for economic growth.

Ive debated writing about infrastructure for months, worried about its lack of sex appeal and hoping to avoid the politics that surrounded the issue during the 2015 Montana Legislature.

But investments in infrastructure lay the foundation for economic growth and development. The construction of roads, bridges, power transmission lines and other improvements creates jobs. Once completed, those projects help increase wealth and improve every citizens standard of living.

Historically, improvements and advances in infrastructure underpinned Americas economic growth and prosperity. We built canals and transcontinental railroads in the 19th century, and interstate highways in the 20th. More recently, investments in telecommunication and internet networks were launch pads for our 21st century economy.

As new technologies and needs emerge, infrastructure must be maintained and modernized. The Political Economy Research Institute estimates that the United States must invest at least $87 billion annually to improve the efficiency and productivity of its infrastructure. For every $1 billion spent, the institute says, 18,000 jobs are created.

Nations that invest in infrastructure are better positioned to attract foreign investment, stimulate commerce at home and abroad, and support local businesses. The same is true for our state and community.

Given our relative distance to major markets, Montanas transportation infrastructure plays a critical role in delivering our products and raw materials to consumers.

Our roads, highways and bridges move commodities such as livestock and grains; our railroads transport Montanas abundant natural resources, including coal and timber; electric transmission lines deliver power from our generating plants to homes and businesses across the West; phone and fiber optic lines and cell towers connect Montanas small businesses to industries and customers worldwide.

Investments in public infrastructure create momentum for private investment and economic growth. Entrepreneurs, investment dollars, and existing and start-up businesses are attracted to communities with superior infrastructure and services  and a demonstrated commitment to their maintenance and expansion.

And yet the Montana Legislature ended its 2015 session without approving a $150 million measure funding infrastructure and building projects across the state. SB416 included $100 million in grants and loans for local infrastructure upgrades and $50 million for a dozen state building projects.

The political debate focused on a few of SB416s projects, particularly the renovation of a dormitory at Montana State University and construction of a new Montana Historical Society museum. The vast majority of legislators, it appeared, were supportive of the grants and loans for local infrastructure work.

Still, the entire package of projects died when SB416 couldnt muster the two-thirds majority required for consideration in the Montana Houses final minutes, leaving crucial infrastructure work unfunded for at least another two years.

As unsexy and politically charged as it is, Montanas investment in infrastructure is absolutely essential to our economic growth and development  statewide and locally. Thus, the crossroads where we find ourselves in 2016.

Every citizen of Montana has a stake in the maintenance and enhancement of our infrastructure. Doing nothing is no longer an option. We must come together now to make our voices heard if we truly want to set the stage for healthy economic growth and development.

James Grunke is president and CEO of the Missoula Economic Partnership. He writes a monthly column for the Missoulians Western Montana InBusiness section.
The Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurances Office hosted the first-ever Penny Conference: Money Matters for Montana Women on Wednesday at the University of Montana's School of Business Administration.

The free one-day financial workshop was geared specifically toward women and featured female experts on a variety of topics, from retirement planning to protection from fraud.

Laura Parvey-Connors, the communications director for the Securities and Insurance Office, said that roughly 200 women participated in the event. This was the first year of the conference, and she deemed it a success.

We do a lot of outreach for fraud prevention for people who are investing their money but we tend to do it for a lot of people in their senior years, she said. And so we thought if we could jump-start and get people of all walks of life and talk about the whole retirement spectrum and also talk about the fraud piece, it would educate women. Also, there seems to be a huge confidence gap in saving for retirement with women versus men. And so, we just wanted to develop some discussions about that and figure out why that is and hopefully make women more confident to make decisions.

State Auditor Monica Lindeen gave a talk on avoiding financial exploitation along with her chief legal counsel, Jesse Laslovich.

As part of a panel discussion on planning for retirement for those 55 and under, retired financial adviser Terry Cohea and Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration employee Patricia Davis covered a wide range of topics.

Cohea said that although the stock market isnt delivering the returns it once was, it still makes sense to invest.

For those of us who came up through the glory years of the stock market, for many people in this room your experience has been the 01 tech wreck crash and the 08 recession, so you are not excited about the stock market, she explained. That would be a huge mistake. Most of this generation will not have a pension plan. Some people say you wont have Social Security, but I don't believe that. But some say you will have to finance two-thirds of your retirement. You cant do that on bonds. You have to have the patience and knowledge to invest in stocks. Think about the world economies and what they are going to look like when you retire, not today.

Cohea said that the hot new trend is to put financial advice on note cards, and so she made a list that could fit on one.

Don't make short-term decisions, she said. Don't cash out of your retirement plan when you quit a job, dont borrow against your 401(k), and don't jump in and out of the stock market. Many of the women in this room are going to live to be 100 years old. You may be retired for as long as you worked. Plan for that. Do a midcase scenario and a worst-case scenario. Don't let day-to-day things affect you.

Cohea reiterated the save early and save often mantra that many financial advisers espouse.

If you invest $100 a month starting at age 20, by age 65 you have $1.1 million, she said.

Davis said that even she has made financial mistakes that she regrets.

We all make mistakes, she said. I would go back to when I was working at the bank and I did take out my $5,000. I put a down payment on a car but I don't have that 5K that could have grown, or the car, so those are where you learn from your mistakes.

Cohea said that during divorces, many women dont understand the future value of their husbands retirement plan. She said that often times in a settlement, the woman may get the house that has debt involved with it but the husband gets to keep his future pension earnings, a very imbalanced agreement.

Many lawyers dont understand the value of a retirement plan, she said. I have seen many cases where women were very badly served.

Cohea said that people should not be afraid to keep their money in the stock market even when it dips.

We're all excited when somethings on sale, but the stock market is the only place where when it costs more thats when we want to put our money in, she said. It's really hard to put money in the market when it's down 10 percent. If you are in the contributing stage, you are putting money into the market and you are glad when its down. The human impulse is to buy high and panic out low. But have a regular investment program. Don't panic out.
This column is more than 10 years old and I've finally gotten around to trying a little origami! Here's a poem about that, and about a good deal more than that, by Vanessa Stauffer, who teaches writing at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Lessons

To crease a sheet of paper is to change

its memory, says the origami

master: what was a field of snow

folded into flake. A crane, erect,

structured from surface. A tree

emerges from a leaf  each form undone

***

reveals the seams, pressed

with ruler's edge. Some figures take

hundreds to be shaped, crossed

& doubled over, the sheet bound

to its making  a web of scars

that maps a body out of space,

***

how I fashion memory: idling

at an intersection next to Jack Yates High,

an hour past the bell, I saw a girl

fold herself in half to slip beneath

the busted chain-link, books thrust

ahead, splayed on asphalt broiling

***

in Houston sun. What memory

will she retain? Her cindered palms,

the scraped shin? Braids brushing

the dirt? The white kite of her homework

taking flight? Finding herself

locked out, or being made

***

to break herself in.

***

We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright  2015 by Vanessa Stauffer, Lessons, from third coast, (Winter, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Vanessa Stauffer and the publisher. Introduction copyright  2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
When Elizabeth Strout was in second grade, there was a boy, very poor, with no friends and dirt behind his ears.

Our teacher said to him, You are not so hard up that you cant afford a bar of soap, and he turned deep red, the author told me. That child has stayed with me.

The title character of her slim new novel, My Name is Lucy Barton, is an homage to that boy, to these very rural families who are outcasts because they are poor, Strout said. Every town has one, and probably a lot more, now.

Strouts latest narrator grew up in a remote and stark Illinois town, where she lived in a cramped and cold garage beside her great uncles house with her parents, brother and sister.

Lucy stayed warm by staying in school long after classes ended, doing homework and reading until the janitor nudged her out.

Lonely was the first flavor I had tasted in my life, and it was always there, Lucy says, hidden inside the crevices of my mouth, reminding me.

Her studies allowed her to avoid the dysfunction at home, and it would propel her out, and away, never to return: A full scholarship to a Chicago university; marriage to a well-to-do classmate; two daughters, a writing career and a life in New York City.

But when Lucy ends up in the hospital with an infection, her husband flies her mother out  her first airplane trip  to keep her company.

They connect the usual way: gossip about the town and the people Lucy escaped long ago, but cant shake from her being.

In the pauses and allusions, the brief laughs and quiet smiles shared by mother and daughter, Strout captures the ragged and silken threads of love. The push and pull between mothers and daughters and the things we learn to live with, or around.

Its familiar ground for Strout, who made her mark with another mother-daughter novel, Amy and Isabelle, in 2000; and whose 2008 book, Olive Kitteridge won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was made into an HBO miniseries starring Frances McDormand that won four Emmys.

Strout spoke by phone from her home on Manhattans Upper East Side, where she was stretched out on her couch and mourning David Bowie (I just turned 60 the other day and I am like, Oh, God! But he went out his way. So yea for him.)

Theres a lot of Lucy Barton in her, Strout said. She grew up in rural Maine, went to college, got a law degree, married and lives in the big city as a writer.

Honestly and truly, every character I wrote, they are all me in some way, she said. They have to be, because I am the only person I know. Thats the truth of it.

As a child, Strout realized that she would never see the world, except through her own eyes.

I was so frustrated with that, she said. And so as I began to read, I remember thinking, Oh, I have had that thought. Books have always made me realize, Oh, this is what its like to be another person.

I write because I have always wanted to be another person, but I make it up from what I have observed closely about other people.

Strout has made her mark with those close observations, and for putting to the page what people dont usually say in public.

She changes gears, somewhat, in Lucy Barton, in which the characters speak in veiled ways about clear dysfunction, like a quick slideshow: Lucy, locked inside a truck, screaming. Her adult brother, reading childrens books and sleeping in a neighbors barn.

Her character makes passing mention of the Thing, when her father  a World War II veteran scarred by an experience in Germany  becomes very anxious and not in control of himself.

Her mother, who doesnt sleep much, says she can catnap, calling it something you learn to do when you dont feel safe.

Readers can fill in the blanks, Strout said.

I have always believed that everyone will bring their own story to whatever book they are reading, she said. But this book, particularly, I was aware that this was more porous than my others and that leaves more room for people to bring their own experience.

I dont want to press anybodys face into things, either, she said. I just dont want to be that kind of writer. People can do that and they do it beautifully. I am more interested in the essence of people.

***

Strout had been writing for decades before her first novel was published. There was a time when she was working as a waitress and writing, and I never got a nibble and I began to think to myself, Oh my God, I am going to be 58 and Im going to be a cocktail waitress, completely unpublished and that is going to be pathetic. 

She went to law school and got a job as a legal-aid lawyer.

I was doing what I wanted to do, but I was so bad at it, she said. I remember standing in the backyard, thinking, I can be a bad lawyer or a 58-year-old waitress who tried writing and gave it everything, and thats going to be fine.

If I am going to die, I will die knowing I tried with my whole heart.

She succeeded, and as her fifth novel is launched  and The Burgess Boys is in development by none other than Robert Redford for HBO  her worries have subsided.

Mostly.

Ive got to tell you, its a little scary, Strout said. Im sure Im going to die tomorrow.
Montanas Child and Family Services are at last getting the focused attention the troubled agency has long needed. The question is whether all this attention will result in the kind of changes that ensure Montanas most vulnerable children are safe and well-cared-for.

A recent review of child abuse and neglect investigations in Montana highlighted some deeply troubling trends, including incomplete or missing assessments, unduly delayed investigations and an overall lack of transparency.

Among the examples cited in the performance audit:

One sexual assault allegation was given a Priority Three assessment, meaning an investigation should have been initiated within 10 days. However, no investigation was begun until 18 days had passed because the worker assigned to the case was ill.

A domestic violence report was given a Priority Two assessment, meaning an investigation should have begun within 72 hours. However, the investigation was dropped because the worker assigned to the case left the agency. An investigation was completed some six months after the initial report only because a second report was received, and led to the removal of the child from the home due to "severe domestic violence."

With head-shaking evidence like that, no one is disputing that Child and Family Services could be doing a better job protecting at-risk children. The argument is whether the agency can overcome its obstacles with sufficient resources and funding, as CFS administrators maintain, or whether major systemic changes would do more to immediately resolve the agencys biggest challenges, as recommended in the Legislative Audit Division report.

While the current situation has some Montanans  including an active group of concerned grandparents, therapists and others who interact with the agency on a regular basis  wishing the entire agency could be dismantled and rebuild from the ground up, recent promising developments regarding CFS point the way to a stronger agency. Rather than use its failings to tear the agency down, Montanans should use this opportunity the build the states child welfare system into something better.

It makes the most sense to start with the systemic improvements recommended in the most recent performance audit of the agency, and indeed, the Department of Public Health and Human Resources, which oversees CFS, has already implemented some of these recommendations.

As systemic problems are resolved, it will become clearer how best to target additional resources and funding. This will most likely mean a major investment in an effective, comprehensive information recording and case tracking system, as well as incentives to keep case workers on the job longer.

***

This is a particularly opportune time to make thoughtful reforms within Child and Family Services.

Last October, Gov. Steve Bullock appointed 14 people to a newly created committee tasked with looking into the child protection system in Montana and recommending improvements. The Protect Montana Kids Commission was formed after complaints and protests from agency critics reached a fever pitch last year. A group of concerned family members and others have criticized the agency for removing children from their homes without explanation and for poor communication with those who might be able to help keep these kids in safe, stable homes.

The best defense against such criticism is a solid paper trail showing the agencys reasoning and attempts at communication; however, the agency is using a recording system all agree is antiquated and ineffective.

The Protect Montana Kids Commission includes Sarah Corbally, the director of Child and Family Services who this month repeated to the Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee a longstanding complaint of her own: that her agency lacks the funding and resources it needs to resolve its biggest problems.

However, a legislative audit released last October counters her assertion by noting that the number of child abuse and neglect reports has not increased over the past decade or so, and that the staff dedicated to investigating those reports has about the same workload. Instead, the audit identified long-term and systemic management concerns in the areas of documentation, supervisory oversight and the use of management information which the department should take steps to resolve.

A close look at the report shows that in fiscal year 2010, about 170 full-time field staff investigated 8,106 reports of child abuse or neglect. In 2014, about the same number of staff investigated 7,829 reports. Meanwhile, the number of reports received increased from more than 12,000 to nearly 16,000. And from fiscal years 2010 through 2014, the number of children in care has risen from 1,369 to 1,972.

Its important to note that the majority of CFS workers are employed for less than two years, and according to Corbally, the agency lost 77 investigators last year. She cited low pay as a major cause of high turnover, with $17.50 an hour being the starting rate.

***

Amid these challenges, the agency has worked hard to reduce the interval for filing a report from 99 days to 66 days. This is still almost a week longer than the 60 days required by law, but it shows that the agency is actively working to make improvements.

Other improvements already underway include conversion to a tracking system used by the Montana Department of Corrections and adapted to suit the unique needs of CFS. The agency has also begun monitoring performance using a new program, and is taking steps to adopt a new case management system.

All of these measures will help create that badly needed paper trail and lay the groundwork needed to resolve another major problem: transparency.

Last fall, the federal government warned Montana officials that its inability to share public information about child abuse fatalities could cost the state its child abuse prevention grant. The grant is only worth about $120,000, but the states failure to meet federal disclosure requirements is tremendously costly in a much larger sense. It keeps Montanans in the dark about the terrible crimes of child abuse and neglect, and about the activities of the public agencies we entrust to protect Montanas children.

The Protect Montana Kids Commission is due to provide recommendations for improvements to the governor by March 31. The commission will study current law, child protection systems and resources, and hopefully recommend sweeping improvements. A major overhaul of Montanas Child and Family Services is overdue.
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A high five goes out to the Missoulian editorial board for their insight on the Montana State Fund operation and the state of workers' compensation in Montana (editorial, Jan. 17). It is refreshing to see that a lot of people in high places get it.

As a person involved in this industry for over 40 years, it is great to see the State Fund on the right track with rate reductions and record dividends. We Montanans have made a lot of improvements to the system since 1988, when the fund was broken and had racked up more than $500 million in unfunded liabilities. Most of the credit for our recent success goes to a responsible management team in Helena, and a series of sensible moves made by our state legislators to help manage the way claims are paid.

This didnt happen overnight. It took over 25 years to fix. It all adds up to a big win for Montana business and the local economy.

A recent move by legislature certainly will add to this success: the State Fund will now be regulated by the state insurance commissioner, just like every other carrier in this state. But we still have work to do. We need to protect what we have built to keep those rates stable and the dividends flowing.

Insurance companies like the State Fund deal with huge amounts of money called reserves and surplus. They are there to make sure there is enough money in the pot when people have work related injury or disability claims. We must be vigilant to protect the surplus that weve built, so the money is there when our people need it the most. A few legislators see that large pot as a tempting way to balance the states budget. Lets hope we dont repeat those same mistakes we made in the '70s and '80s!

Bruce Mihelish,

Lolo
KALISPELL  Its a story that is certainly part mystery, perhaps part miracle, and had its start more than a century ago.

Maybe it would be best, however, to pick it up at the most recent turn of a century.

Thats when Leanne Goldhahn and her husband, Alan, were cleaning out a garage in Billings after Leannes father had passed away.

As the Goldhahns sorted through boxes and emptied shelves, they came across a large, dust-covered roll of canvases.

If you could have seen where they had been stored, youd be amazed, Leanne says.

Unsure what they had found, they carried the canvases out to the driveway and began unrolling them.

It was obviously something wonderful, Leanne says. There were so many of them, and they were so big.

As the Goldhahns unfurled the canvases on that driveway in Billings, a family story Leanne remembers hearing at some point came rushing back.

These were, she realized, some of the lost, and almost-lost, murals from Glacier Park Lodge.

***

Lets back up another half century or so.

Leannes grandparents, Robert and Leona Brown, had owned a grocery store in East Glacier called Brownies.

The story has it that in the 1950s, the massive Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier underwent extensive remodeling, maybe after frozen pipes had burst and damaged the building. The lobby of the hotel, built in 1913 by railroad tycoon Louis Hill, was modeled after the Forestry Building at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon.

Hill had micromanaged the design and construction of Glacier Park Lodge, just as he later would with Lake McDonald Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel. He commissioned an artist to paint murals of various Glacier Park scenes to fit in specific spaces above the wainscoting  wooden paneling that lines the lower part of walls of a room  in the hotel.

Whatever remodeling was going on 40-some years later, it apparently didnt make allowances for most of what a 1939 hotel inventory had put at 51 such murals commissioned by Hill.

And so, in the 1950s, workers cut the murals out of their built-in frames and tossed them onto the lawn outside the lodge with other scrap from the work.

***

Whether her grandparents knew this was going on and set out to rescue some of the murals, or whether they simply happened upon them, Leanne Goldhahn doesnt know.

But the Browns saved 15 original murals otherwise destined to be hauled off to the dump. Many more may have been thrown out, or maybe other people in East Glacier grabbed them  no one knows. But only a small number of the 51  ones deemed to provide needed color accents  apparently survived the remodel and remain in the lodge.

There wasnt much more the Browns could do than rescue the paintings. Some of the 4-foot-deep murals are as wide as 13 feet, so its not like they could have hung a bunch of them in their living room.

The 15 canvases, rescued from a trash heap, were rolled up and stored away in the Browns garage in East Glacier.

And years later, when Robert and Leona Brown sold Brownies, retired and moved to Kalispell, they took the murals with them. The large paintings found a new home, in a new garage.

After her grandparents died, Leanne Goldhahn says her father cleaned out the garage in Kalispell and obviously discovered the long-forgotten murals. He took them home to Laurel, and put them in his garage.

When her parents moved to Billings, the murals made another trip to another garage.

Finally, in 2000, another garage cleaning revealed them to another generation of the family.

By then, Leanne says, the paintings were in pretty bad shape. They were dirty and had water damage. But I knew I couldnt throw them away. I took them home to Bozeman, but I didnt really know what to do with them either.

***

Eventually, Leanne turned to Jim Brown, owner of Old Main Gallery and Framing in Bozeman.

When she first called, she asked if we had experience framing large paintings, Brown says. I told her we did, and she said she was going to bring some things by.

Brown says the 15 murals included three or four that were in pretty good condition, given their history, and all, in his opinion, were good, quality pieces.

But who painted them? Not a one contained an artists signature. The only writing was on the backs of the murals, which were numbered and contained their intended display spots in Glacier Park Lodge, such as dining room.

So Jim Brown set about looking for people who might help him untangle the mystery. It wasnt long before someone suggested the artist might have been John Fery, a well-known painter who Hill had hired to capture countless scenes from inside the park.

They would have been worth a small fortune if theyd been done by Fery, Brown says.

They werent, but still, the collection  even in the condition it was in  was probably worth something in the neighborhood of $50,000. Browns research eventually led him to a 2010 article in Montana: The Magazine of Western History.

Titled The Miraculous Survival of the Art of Glacier National Park, it was written by University of Montana art professor H. Rafael Chacon.

Brown contacted the professor.

***

From his description of the murals  and, later, photographs Brown took of all 15  Chacon was able to verify that all had once graced the walls of Glacier Park Lodge. He matched them up with historic photographs taken of the hotels interior prior to the 1950s-era remodeling.

There was even evidence Fery had once intended to paint the murals  he had drawn up preliminary sketches of some of the scenes  but apparently Fery had so much other Glacier work on his plate, that Hill turned to a different artist to expedite the process.

Who that was, has been lost to the ages.

They may have been done in New York City, by someone with a studio, and painted from photographs taken in the park, Brown says.

The Goldhahns had initially been interested in framing one mountain scene for themselves and selling the rest, but the more they learned about the history of the murals, the more they wanted to keep the collection together  and make them available to the public for the first time in more than half a century.

Brown and Chacon helped them find a new home for the lost murals of Glacier Park Lodge.

Make that homes. Leanne Goldhahn, who donated them to the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, loves the plan the museum came up with for the paintings her grandparents saved from a trash pile decades ago.

***

Once the Goldhahns decided they wanted to donate the murals in memory of Leannes grandparents, Brown helped find them a suitable place.

They first, Brown says, contacted the park itself, which has a museum program that was very interested in the murals  but no budget for restoring the large artwork.

That led them to the Hockaday, whose mission in part is to preserve the artistic legacy of Glacier National Park.

The Goldhahns donated 14 of the 15 murals to the Kalispell museum in 2012. The other  the mountain scene Leanne had picked out for herself  will eventually return to the collection through the Goldhahns will.

The Hockaday, communications director Brian Eklund says, is restoring the murals as money specifically for that purpose is raised. The cost is running from $3,000 to $5,000 per painting.

So far, six of the 14 have been restored by art conservator Joe Abbrescia Jr. of Kalispell, owner of Abbrescia Gallery and Fine Art Restoration Studio.

Abbrescias own father was an acclaimed painter of Glacier Park scenes.

They do look like they were all possibly done by the same hands, and they were done well, Abbrescia says. They are composed nicely. Somebody knew what they were doing. But the only markings are on the backs of the murals, where they say things like Dining Room No. 42 or Dining Room No. 27. 

The murals, done in a water-based medium, are in various conditions, he says, ranging from really bad to not so bad.

Being rolled up, they got creases and scuff marks, Abbrescia says. Theres also water damage and decades worth of dirt and grime to deal with. Abbrescia is restoring, mounting and framing the murals under plexiglass to protect them from here on out.

***

The first four that have been restored are on permanent display at the Hockaday, and include scenes from Lake McDonald and Grinnell Lake.

Short of adding a wing, however, theres really no way for the museum to display all the murals. Eklund says the museum wasnt interested in simply storing the rest of the collection, given that its already been hidden away in garages spread far and wide across Montana for decades.

So after the BNSF Foundation funded the restoration of the fifth and sixth murals  another Lake McDonald scene, and one depicting high-country glaciers  the Hockaday recently installed them at the OShaughnessy Center in Whitefish.

Thats the plan: to find public places across the region where people can enjoy the artwork that once decorated the walls of Glacier Park Lodge. Eklund says the museums board of directors will consider proposals from as far away as Missoula and Great Falls to display one or more of the murals in public places as money comes in to restore the paintings.

It could be courthouses, city halls, theaters, colleges. The challenge, Eklund says, will be in finding places with big and prominent spaces to accommodate one of the murals.

Theyre so big, they need a special place, Leanne Goldhahn says. The Hockaday could have put them in storage, but theyre really making the effort to put them back where the public can see them. I applaud what theyre doing.

The mystery of the murals  who painted them?  may never be solved.

But the miracle of the murals is now nearly complete. The paintings have gone from a lawn just steps away from Glacier National Park, to garages in East Glacier, Kalispell, Laurel, Billings and Bozeman.

At any point, they easily could have been thrown out, Leanne Goldhahn says.

Instead, the rescue mission her grandparents started in the 1950s is now in its final phases.
No scandal in recent years has hung over the art market as heavily as the Knoedler & Company forgery case.

At its heart lies a mystery. Was Knoedler, the distinguished old gallery that sold more than 30 fake paintings said to be by Pollock, de Kooning and other titans of Abstract Expressionism, in on the scam? Or were the gallery and its longtime director, Ann Freedman, cruelly hoodwinked along with collectors who together paid around $63 million for the bogus works?

This week the puzzle may start to unravel: The first trial to arise from the sales, in a lawsuit involving the 2004 purchase of a fraudulent Rothko, is to open on Monday in United States District Court in Manhattan. A parade of witnesses from the art world are to testify, just possibly including Glafira Rosales, the former Long Island dealer who, for 15 years, consigned fakes to Knoedler, passing them off as masterworks from a mysterious collection based in Zurich and Mexico City.

All of them had actually been painted by a Chinese immigrant in Queens.

Its a unique opportunity for a public hearing of the machinations of the art world, which are usually very discreet, said Nicholas M. ODonnell, an art lawyer in Boston.
Bounded by mountains of snow and slush-covered roads and sidewalks, millions of people along the Eastern Seaboard slogged to work on Monday morning, one day after one of the biggest blizzards ever recorded swept through the region, dumping more than two feet of snow in many cities.

While New York City emerged from the seasons first blizzard with relatively little damage, the toll along the Eastern Seaboard as a whole was more sobering: 29 deaths related to the storm, thousands of homes without power and serious flooding in coastal areas.

The great dig-out began with officials in New York lifting a travel ban, and airlines and commuter railroads slowly resumed service.

In separate appearances on CNN on Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said that most mass transportation services were operating normally for the morning commute, with the exception of some parts of the Long Island Rail Road, where workers were still struggling to remove snow and ice.
When I'm not tracking down monstrous imagery to share here I'm usually creating my own strange art seen at aeronalfrey.com I'm available for commissions, album art and more, contact me at evilenergy at yahoo.com for details. Limited edition prints of my artwork are available here.
Meet The Guy Who Makes $1,000 An Hour Tutoring Kids Of Fortune 500 CEOs Over Skype

Every morning Anthony Green wakes up in his Manhattan apartment and walks around the block to get a cup of coffee, and maybe an omelet from the diner that he tells me makes the "best in the East Village, maybe even New York."

Then from 7:30 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m., he's sitting at his kitchen table in front of a computer helping high-school kids master the verbal and mathematical skills they'll need if they want a shot at being admitted to the country's best colleges.

Green is one of the premier SAT and ACT tutors in New York. His company, Test Prep Authority, serves some of the richest kids in America. Using a student's PSAT, the practice exam, as a benchmark, Green promises he can help raise scores an average of 430 points on the SAT (and 7.8 points on the ACT)  "higher than any other tutor, class, or program in the country," according to his website.

That promise seems to be enough for his well-heeled clientele. And for this very small but wealthy minority, money is truly no object. Green charges $1,500 for 90 minutes of one-on-one tutoring, and he insists on a minimum of 14 90-minute sessions, with very rare exceptions.
MISSOULA  Myriad dancers, myriad styles ancient and new, all on one stage for one dance piece.

Ballet, traditional Native dance and two styles of hip-hop. All of the performers learned their techniques through different means and methods.

Louis Plant, a Kootenai member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, grew up dancing. Isiah Kim, meanwhile, learned through a more modern means. The 15-year-old Valley Christian student is self-taught.

He was one of the few competitors who entered with hip-hop styles, in his case a blend of animation and popping styles. One is a classic in the genre, the other rather new: animation adapts slow-motion, pauses, speed-ups and other cinematic tricks into the repertoire.

He's been dancing for about two years, teaching himself via YouTube videos of artists like Fik-Shun and Marquese Scott and picking up yoga-like bends and ankle-busting footwork.

"I just watch the professionals perform and try to emulate what they do," he said.

Kim was on stage at the University of Montana's Dennison Theatre for the first-ever U.S. appearance by the Vienna International Ballet Experience.

Competitions were held in three categories: open, contemporary and ballet, split into group and individual ranks and age brackets.

They were judged by a world-class panel that included Gregor Hatala, VIBE's president and chairman.

It presented a unique opportunity for Kim, who decided to enter for the experience. Outside of this week's competitions, he'd have to travel out of state to the centers of hip-hop dancing.

One of the Native dancers was Plant.

He and male fancy dancers and female eagle dress dancers, representing Navajo, Ho-Chunk, Cree, Winnebago, Shawnee and Ojibwe nations, performed in the opening ceremony and the opening competitions.

Since connecting with the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre a decade ago, Plant has performed across China three times  visiting metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai in addition to its rural areas. With the Kootenai Nation Dance Team, he went to Germany and Poland. With CSKT and Salish Kootenai College, he danced in New Zealand's Palmerston North, Missoula's sister city.

Plant began dancing when he was too young to know how many continents it would land him on.

"I've danced since I was 3. I emulated my brothers," he said.

The ballet dancers in the opening ceremony mashup of styles were RMBT students, performing original works by the company's founder, Charlene Campbell.

Set to music by all-American composer Aaron Copland and dressed in cowboy hats, jeans and vests, the students showed off a homegrown dance that they've brought to China and Vienna.

Individually, all these dancers competed in the open category, where according to organizers, "anything goes" and a sliver of the diversity of dance from around the world was on display.

Before the opening ceremony, Aidan Carberry a Los Angeles choreographer and dancer, appeared on stage alone and initially quite still. Dressed in black pants and short-sleeved black button-up shirt accompanied by ambient music, he began jutting his arms out to match a melodic sequence of bells before entering into a free-form mixture of hip-hop styles.

He was up against experienced Flamenco dancers and junior tap dancers. A 10-year-old performed a Balinese dance, with rapid movements on her tiptoes, right down to the flighty exit from the stage. Milena Oganesyan did a traditional Armenian dance.

The next day brought the contemporary category, which embodied "anything goes" in its own way.

Some groups incorporated moves from marching bands, right down to the drum sticks. Another, the Dance Syndicate of Lewistown, used four beds in their choreographer's dream-like narrative.

In a solo piece, Kiersten Miller stretched a tether across the length of the Dennison's stage. She fought against it, sometimes winning and sometimes losing ground or becoming entangled in it. She balled it up and tossed it in the air.

For "Tundra," Anja Fanslau used the foot techniques of a trained ballerina for a contemporary means. She moved skillfully on her toes while her upraised arms mimicked the swirl of wind on a snowy plain.

Validating choreographer Merce Cunningham's edict that "falling is one of the ways of moving," solo dancer Fallon Walker enacted the lyrics to Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)."

Others were more playful, such as Adriana Bosnjak's "Feeling Blue," set to bluesy guitar and percussion.

Antonio, a 12-year-old, was a whirlwind of movement set to dramatic choral music, illustrating a life and death struggle with skillful flips before a triumphant finale.

The diversity of dance was part of the goal for the VIBE appearance in Missoula, showing that it's a universal act.

"It is through cultural exchanges like VIBE USA that we can be part of a global community that wants people to connect and bridge those divides instead of deepening the divides," said Kathy Weber-Bates, who helped the RMBT organize the Missoula event.
BILLINGS  Bozeman high-tech magnate Greg Gianforte announced his candidacy for governor Wednesday in Billings, pledging to improve the Montana economy and donate his salary to scholarships, if elected.

The announcement, delivered over the cacophony of mechanics at a Peterbilt repair shop in Lockwood, was pointedly aimed at Democratic incumbent Gov. Steve Bullock and the economic challenges of eastern Montana: crumbling infrastructure, federal regulations on coal power and the out-migration of Montanas young adults.

We need new leadership in Montana, Gianforte said. On top of lost jobs, weve got a governor whos failed to deliver on essential infrastructure. In Culbertson, the water bill for a single home is already $1,200 a year. Because of the governors failed leadership, its going up 18 percent this year.

But while the governor has failed to deliver on infrastructure, hes sure grown government spending. Hes increased it by 20 percent in just three years. Imagine what he would do with another four?

Its been 16 years since Montana Republicans have won a gubernatorial election. Those packed into the upper storage mezzanine of the repair shop liked what they were hearing from Gianforte, who zeroed in job creation, his strongest political playing card.

Gianforte founded the software company RightNow Technologies in Bozeman roughly 20 years ago. RightNow software enables governments and companies to answer frequently asked questions online. The companys workforce ballooned to 1,200 before it was sold to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2012.

Oracle kept those jobs in Bozeman after the purchase. Numerous Bozeman tech startups have stemmed from the sale, as former RightNow employees with shares in the company cashed out and started businesses.

I think hes just the man that Montana needs, said Roy Brown, a former Montana legislator who ran against incumbent Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2008. Were 49th in jobs and wages. We can really make a difference with him at the helm. Its always difficult to challenge an incumbent, but the incumbent hasnt done much but make things worse.

When Brown challenged Schweitzer, the incumbent captured nearly 67 percent of the vote. Schweitzers approval rating leading up to the election was daunting.

But Bullocks numbers arent nearly as strong as his predecessors, which has Republicans liking Gianfortes chances. In 2012, Bullock was elected with 47 percent of the vote in a three-way race in which a conservative third-party candidate captured votes that Republican Rick Hill needed to be successful.

Bullocks public approval rating was roughly 50 percent in a poll released by Montana State University Billings last month. The polls 4.8 percent margin of error would place the governors support close to where it was with voters in 2012, Bullocks first gubernatorial election.

I thought the message about leadership, a vision of where we want to go, rather than just managing, having a direction to what we want to accomplish, was a hot button for me, said Donald Sterhan, who manages an equity group. I think weve got some issues that we need to deal with. We need to face reality on some things and when we cant deliver, we have to be accountable for that.

Topping the list of challenges listed by Gianforte was Montanas pending response to the federal Clean Power Plan, which demands deep reductions on carbon dioxide emissions. Montana is expected by September to develop an initial response to regulations, which could in the future shutter portions of Colstrip Power Plant.

Bullock appointed a committee earlier this month to make recommendations for complying with the Clean Power Plan.

Gianforte never mentioned his Republican primary opponent, Brad Johnson, a Public Service Commission chairman and former Montana secretary of state. Likewise, Democrats have aimed squarely at Gianforte.

Tuesday, Buzzfeed, an online publication targeting a national audience, focused on Gianfortes $1.1 million in donations to religious groups opposing nondiscrimination rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Gianfortes previously published opposition to a nondiscrimination ordinance in Bozeman was included in the article.

Monday, Gov. Bullock chose a Bozeman coffee shop as the stage for a new executive order expanding state nondiscrimination policy to include gender identity, pregnancy and military service. He told the press he was honoring the principles of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Gianfortes literal interpretation of the Bible, as well as his donations to Christian causes, have been focal points of Democrats. The candidate did not address those criticisms in his announcement.

He had not responded to questions from the Gazette about those criticisms by press time.
It was called Global Warming until it was discovered that computer modelers were changing data to yield their desired results. Now its Climate Change. But, Climate Change is a two-sided coin we should truly be concerned about. Global cooling will be far more devastating than global warming.

In my view, climate change is an agenda against burning fossil fuels, but maybe something much greater. The surrogate issue is carbon dioxide (CO2), which animals exhale and plants inhale. However, burning fossil fuels releases twice as much water vapor (H2O) as CO2, and water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas (its why cloudy nights are usually warmer). So why target CO2? Maybe it sounds more threatening. Maybe they just dont like digging coal and drilling for oil and natural gas. Whatever their agenda is, its missing two key elements, historical perspective and end-game.

The northern hemisphere has been in an ice age for 8,000,000 years. The best graphic Ive seen regarding this is in the lower left corner of a fold out for the Blue Holes of the Bahamas (National Geographic, August 2010). This graph depicts climate change as fluctuating sea levels for the last 400,000 years. During this time, the northern hemisphere has experienced four cycles, each lasting 100,000 years. Ice accumulation with lowering sea levels averaged about 90,000 years. Interglacial periods, with rising temperatures, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels averaged about 10,000 years. This explains how stalactites and stalagmites in the Blue Holes are 400 feet under water. They didnt grow under water; sea levels were 400 feet lower. This graph is the result of compilations of thousands of isotope studies and chemical analyses of ice cores, sea bottom cores, and stalactites and stalagmites from underwater caves. This is real science, not computer modeling of possible future climates, which is more like pseudoscience in my view.

Current sea levels are at or near their upper limit of the past four glacial cycles. This begs the question, are we witnessing the end of an 8,000,000 year-long northern hemisphere ice age, or will we soon begin descending into another 100,000 year ice age cycle? To me, the latter is of far greater concern, equal to another eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, another asteroid impact, or another pandemic than sea levels rising a few more feet.

So, what is the Climate Changers end game? How will they deal with either future warming or cooling? And how, after squandering $21 trillion on the Great Society and now being another $20 trillion in debt, how will we ever pay for it? What will replace fossil fuels? If global cooling is next, how will we stop ice from accumulating a mile thick at the Canadian border? Humongous amounts of energy will be needed. Forget more wind farms. With a capacity factor averaging only 33 percent, they could be stacked 10 high and still remain insufficient. Solar at 25 percent CF is barely an honorable mention.

Burning more fossil fuels would help by releasing more water vapor and CO2, but really, in my view, the only power source with sufficient potential is nuclear. Sadly, that option was taken from us by the Democrats, throttled by President Carter in 1979 and finished off by President Clinton and John Kerry (then a Senator) in 1994.

It was an epiphany for aging anti-nuclear protestors, depicted in the CNN sponsored documentary Pandoras Promise, when they realized that their nuclear power protesting after Three Mile Island only made us more dependent on fossil fuels, which the present crop of protestors rant about now. Fortunately, we can resurrect nuclear power, in spades, using Integral Fast Reactor technology.

But surely, all of this is known by those attending the recent Paris Climate Change conference. Were there any discussions on climate change history and nuclear power? What is their real agenda? Is it that we are facing another world crisis that only a world government by technocrat elitists can solve, as they did with Obamacare. Now that is truly a disturbing thought.

-- EA (Andy) Johnson, of Butte, a graduate of Montana Tech, has worked as a geologist in the mineral industry for the past 40 years.
The 2016 election season officially started Thursday  the first day Montanans could register as candidates for dozens of top state posts, ranging from governor and Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court to legislators and district judges.

In total, 124 people filed to formalize their candidacy, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said.

Opening day is an unofficial holiday for Montana pols.

Dozens of people from across the state  from Culbertson to Missoula  drove to Helena to register in person as candidates. Many incumbent legislators already were at the Capitol for a week filled with interim committee hearings.

Candidates must register before 5 p.m. March 14 to appear on the ballot for June 7 primaries. Many will wait until that deadline or announce on a different day over the next two months, in part so they do not have to share the spotlight. That might be the plan of incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock, who is expected to seek re-election, and Greg Gianforte, a presumed top Republican candidate who has said he will announce this month whether to make his exploratory campaign an official gubernatorial bid.

Legislative leaders from both parties leveraged filing day as an opportunity to tout campaign themes and priorities for the next legislative session in press conferences at the Capitol rotunda.

Sen. Robyn Driscoll of Billings touted that Democrats had gained legislative seats in the last two election cycles and pledged to do so again. She said the partys diverse legislative membership is a key reason why Democrats are better equipped to serve all Montana residents, noting more than half are women and seven are Native Americans.

Id implore you to pay attention through March to the candidates that file for each party, and I ask you to think about what a difference it makes when we have a diverse Legislature, Driscoll said, noting that fewer than 20 percent of Republican legislators are women and just one is a Native American.

Each Democratic candidate stepped to the lectern to name their promises for the 2017 legislative session: to support public education from Pre-K to college, fight privatization of public lands, protect voting rights, and invest in infrastructure.

Rep. Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said his partys priorities include simplifying the tax code, removing red tape on resource development, and lowering taxes for all Montanans.

Today we take the first official step toward delivering majorities in the Montana House and the Montana Senate  Montanans are fed up with radical Democrat policies, Knudsen said. Alluding to Gianforte, he added, Were excited about the prospect of having a successful businessman and Republican in the governors office.

Although Gianforte was in the Capitol during the Republican rally, he did not stand with legislators in the rotunda. One floor down, he sat in a subcommittee meeting on the EPAs Clean Power Plan and its potential effects on Colstrip.

Im trying to learn about the issues, he said.

The Commissioner of Political Practices also capitalized on the crowds of filers to host training sessions on the states online campaign finance reporting system. Although versions have been available for years, this is the first election cycle that candidates in state-level races must use the system and follow new, stricter disclosure rules. From the website, voters and campaign staff can instantly see reports on who donated to which campaigns and how candidates have spent the money they raise.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to be running, joked Program Supervisor Mary Baker as she led a training session.

We created some pretty weird names to test the system, explained Kym Trujillo.

The filing-day fun started early as six people waited outside the Secretary of States locked office at 7:30 a.m. to formalize their candidacy.

Its a huge honor to serve Montanans, so I decided to be first in line, Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena, said, carrying a new backpack she bought at Staples for the re-election efforts ahead. Its going to be a long campaign.

Opening day of candidate filing is one of McCullochs favorite days of the year. A flag garland hangs above the door, patriotic tinsel lines the desks, and candidates are encouraged to take a red or blue cookie before leaving. McCulloch, wearing a sparkling blue cardigan, red shirt and flag-themed scarf, sits ready to review filing documents and to give each candidate a handshake.

The decorations are, I think, a reflection of the fact you have an elementary school teacher in the Secretary of States office, said McCulloch, who is in her final term at the post. Actually, this is kind of bittersweet because, after eight years, this is my last candidate opening day.

Rep. Kathy Kelker, D- Billings, approached McCullochs desk and handed her a clipboard. The secretary of state ran her finger down the registration form, asked her to make a quick fix, then smiled as she offered a handshake.

Congratulations, McCulloch said. You are officially a candidate.
Longtime Butte-Silver Bow Commissioner Dave Palmer says he would bring an inclusive, common-sense approach to local government if elected chief executive and seek something not always hip in todays political climate  compromise.

Hes not into drama or tossing harsh claims around, either, and acknowledges that style could actually hinder his campaign.

It could, he said in an interview with The Montana Standard this week. Maybe Im a little bit quieter, but I dont care who gets the credit for something as long as it gets done. All I care about is getting stuff done. I like compromise. I think you can get a lot more done by compromising than just saying no or yes.

Palmer, a Butte native and master electrician by trade, has been a commissioner for nearly 20 years, not all of them in succession. Hes been on the school board and is a longtime supporter of Our Lady of the Rockies, serving as president of its foundation when the statue overlooking Butte turned 30 in December.

Hes among three candidates so far who are seeking the countys top government post this year. Matt Vincent announced his re-election bid in November, and Ron Sarge Rowling, who works for the countys Road Division, filed last week. The filing period ends March 14.

Palmer was among several people who ran for chief executive in 2000, but he didnt get past the primary, when only the top two vote-getters move on. Judy Jacobson defeated J.D. Lynch in that years general election.

I dont know if I didnt try hard enough or not, but this time Im going for it, Palmer said.

Palmer said Vincent is doing a pretty good job and hes not out to make the race about him.

I have nothing against Matt, Palmer said. Im running for the position so I can use my ideas to move Butte forward.

He does have some criticisms, however.

I think hes leaving too many people out of the loop, Palmer said, and that includes commissioners. He brings things to us at the last minute.

Vincents proposal for an $8.7-million pool and lazy river, which he wants residents to vote on in June, is an example, Palmer said.

His team  which is good  was working on this, but they never involved the council, he said. They gave us a presentation a few months ago, and then last week they came up and said, This is what its going to be, and its yes or no.

Palmer is all for the pool proposal, however, and is pleased it includes more than just a plain old pool.

He said a committee he pushed for several years ago talked to hundreds of pool experts, and they said amenities such as a lazy river and slides were vital to attracting more people and getting them to stay longer and spend money on concessions. That helps offset maintenance costs.

Its a good expenditure for the people of Butte, especially the youth, he said.

He also favors removal of the Parrot mine tailings but says commissioners should be part of ongoing negotiations about further environmental cleanup. By court order, the talks have been secret. Vincent and Planning Director Jon Sesso have a seat at the table, but no council members.

We are the ones who have to give a final OK, Palmer said. After all these years, if they just say, This is what we came up with and give us only a week to think about it  I think someone on the council should be on that team negotiating things.

Palmer said local government should seek more input from business leaders, too. He supported a group of them called Vision 2020 a few years ago, and they helped get the ordinance passed that prohibits open containers of alcohol on the streets from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Palmer said the ban shouldnt go beyond that, but it was a good step for the economy in Butte and Uptown. The group wanted to do other things, Palmer said, but couldnt.

They were willing to work with the county, but I think the county shut them out, he said. You cant cut off momentum like that. The NorthWestern Energy building was great momentum, too, but we didnt build off of that.

Palmer said the chief executive should be the primary driver for economic development, and that means working hard to market the city. He still thinks the county should identify a few restaurants, stores or other businesses and send a team to their headquarters to pitch Butte in person.

I think you have to be forceful and try something different  use common sense, he said. Common sense isnt so common. It should be. You dont have to have all these studies. We have plenty of intelligent people in Butte.

Palmer said providing day-to-day services such as snow removal, garbage pickup, and making sure street lights are working are also key factors in making Butte a better place.

Street crews work hard, he said, but he thinks snow removal could be done in day and night shifts. Plows could clear more snow Uptown when there arent many cars parked on the streets, he said, and more work is needed on side and residential streets.

This year it (snow) hasnt packed down; it has stayed slushy, and it has turned into ruts, and if you dont have four-wheel drive, you are in trouble, he said.

County employees should note street lights that are out and report them so they are fixed, he said.

Criminals love the dark, and I just think a well-lit city is a good thing, he said. It looks like you are open for business.

Palmer has long advocated stronger ordinances and steps to hold property owners accountable for dilapidated houses and buildings. And he thinks if commissioners enact ordinances, the chief executive should ensure they are enforced.

He said efforts should be made to ensure the Mike Mansfield Technology Center isnt taken over by the bank and sold for scrap, saying it would be a major hit to Buttes economy. And he supports moves to improve the Park Street corridor connecting Uptown to Montana Tech.

But the biggest keys to moving Butte forward, he said, are common sense and compromise.

Everything is not just black and white, Palmer said. There is a lot of gray area.

Dave and his wife Betsy have four children and seven grandchildren. He has lived in Butte all but four years, those while serving in the U.S. Army.
Editor's note: This story was corrected on Monday, Jan. 25, to say one-term governor Judy Martz chose not to run for re-election in 2004. That year Republican Bob Brown was defeated by Democrat Brian Schweitzer.

---

Greg Gianforte celebrates his status as a political outsider.

In an eight-city, two-day tour last week, the 54-year technology entrepreneur from Bozeman announced that he would seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination after traveling the state for months as an exploratory candidate. In a Friday interview with Lee Newspapers, Gianforte outlined some of his policy priorities and shrugged off criticism about his personal wealth and faith-driven donations.

Montanans want someone that has this pragmatic business experience, he said. (My opponents) are grasping at straws, attacking me for our Christianity, attacking me for our charitable giving. At the end of the day, Im focused exclusively on creating jobs so that my kids and other Montana families kids stay and thrive here in this state.

Gianforte must defeat former secretary of state Brad Johnson in the primary this June, but his campaign has largely ignored his Republican opponent to take aim at incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock, who is seeking a second term.

Prior to his candidacy, Gianforte and his wife Susan were best known for co-founding RightNow Technologies, a Bozeman-based company that created cloud-based customer service software. When global technology giant Oracle purchased RightNow for $1.8 billion in 2012, the Gianfortes controlled about a quarter of the companys stock, according to the family, which was worth more than $300 million.

Gianforte also helped create the Montana High Tech Business Alliance and contributed to several Republican legislative campaigns in recent years. Primarily through the nonprofit Gianforte Family Foundation, he has donated more than $110 million to a handful of prominent conservative advocacy groups such as the Montana Family Foundation.

He has never before run for office or worked in government. Should he win, Gianforte would be the states first Republican to take the states top post since one-term governor Judy Martz, who chose not to run for re-election in 2004. That year Republican Bob Brown was defeated by Democrat Brian Schweitzer.

Unburdened by major scandal and bolstered by agenda successes such as passing Medicaid expansion through a Republican-held Legislature, Bullock enters the early campaign season with a favorability rating of about 50 percent, said political scientist and professor Robert Saldin, referencing months-old telephone polls.

Thats a good place to be starting from if youre Steve Bullock, Saldin said. Just the basic fact hes an incumbent is huge. Incumbents usually win.

Gianforte is undeterred, zeroing in on flaws in Bullocks policy that he says have slowed the states economic growth.

Picking up traditional Republican themes, Gianforte has promised to reduce personal and business taxes in an effort to stimulate growth, reorient state agencies to focus on customer service more than enforcement by appointing someone from industry or business to lead them, and to take a stronger stance against increasing federal regulations that he thinks could be unconstitutional.

In coming weeks, his campaign will travel the state to wrangle up job-killing regulations that he promised to put out to pasture should he be elected governor. With less government in the way, Gianforte said Montanas top industries  natural resources, agriculture, manufacturing and high-tech  could prosper.

To make sure those employers have the skilled workers they need, Gianforte said he would work to realign higher education to have a stronger job-training focus, perhaps offering tax credits to businesses that sponsored apprenticeships.

In addition to supporting school choice and voucher initiatives that have faced stiff opposition from Democrats in the legislature, Gianforte proposed investing in additional science and math training for K-12 teachers and an expansion of the states Digital Academy so more kids could pursue advanced coursework. As one way to bring more computer science courses to schools, he proposed making them an alternative to fulfill foreign-language credit requirements.

In stump speeches from Sidney to Missoula, Gianforte dinged Bullock for refusing to sign tax code simplifications into law, delaying natural resource development through his leadership of state permitting agencies, and cowing to federal overreach, including the EPAs Clean Power Plan to reduce coal emissions.

Bullocks campaign manager, Eric Hyers, dismissed Gianfortes criticisms, noting that wages have grown and unemployment has shrunk since the Democrat took office.

What Mr. Gianforte has been saying is completely not true, Hyers said. And the governor has been clear that he supports the courts taking a look at (the Clean Power Plan) ... But look, it would be irresponsible to just sit back and hope the court does the right thing. We can have the feds come to Montana and write a plan for us, or we can do what hes doing and put together a commission of Montanans to come up with a Montana solution.

Gianforte said he would do more to negotiate with federal officials to reduce the 47-percent emission reduction goal set in the plan while partnering with Attorney General Tim Fox and neighboring states to fight for the reversal of the regulations. He said he is not ready to concede that the rules would be implemented as is and did not have ideas about how to help the coal industry thrive should that happen.

I dont even want to think yet about what those steps would be, Gianforte said. There would be next steps. But its an outrageous overreach.

He also suggested two ways the state could take over management of federal lands but opposed efforts to transfer ownership that he said could not win congressional approval.

I personally dont like to be engaged in battles where you cant be victorious, he said.

He said he would work to leverage a health-and-safety provision of the Farm Bill to allow state management of some forests, noting federally controlled timber land north of Whitefish that provides water for the town. He also supports proposals to contract with federal authorities to allow for state management of public forests.

He wants to make this campaign about growing the Montana economy, creating jobs, Saldin said. Democrats clearly want to focus on something else with regard to Gianforte, and thats his apparent social conservatism.

The Montana Democratic Party latched onto a Buzzfeed article published the day of Gainfortes official announcement to condemn his outside the mainstream opposition to a Bozeman nondiscrimination ordinance that would have provided protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Two days earlier, Bullock used an executive action to expand prohibitions of discrimination based on pregnancy and related medical conditions, gender expression, and military service to state jobs and contracts.

Gianforte refused to say whether he would repeal Bullocks executive action upon taking office or to comment on a bill that could expand such protections statewide, saying he would need to see the details first.

Im focused exclusively on creating jobs in the state and creating better outcomes for people, he said. Ive been very clear that discrimination is wrong. We didnt discriminate in our business, and I dont think we should do it at the state, but I dont think we need more regulations to increase the costs of business.

Saldin said the donations questioned by Democrats are not surprising for a conservative Republican and nondenominational Christian.

It does suggest hes a real social conservative and hes put a lot of money behind those causes, he said. Hes not been very eager to talk about that publicly. How he deals with that over the course of the campaign will be interesting.

James Lopach, a retired University of Montana political science professor, expected the months ahead to be heated as Gianforte works to grow his name recognition and chip away at Bullock, seen by many as a common-sense politician.

It will be hard to dislodge him from the Capitol unless personal scandal or economic catastrophe provide the leverage, he said. There's no doubt that as a Republican (Gianforte) can be elected governor. In this bipartisan-competitive state, that has happened frequently in the past and will again in the future. As things stand now, his goal seems difficult but not impossible.
BLOG Friday 22nd January 2016. Coastal Kenya.





Lencer spent the morning at the house, washing clothes, and I spent the morning traveling into Mombasa City Centre in Jay's tuk tuk, to meet up with a young Pastor, Geoffrey Koti. He is the brother of Pastor Henry, a good friend of mine who runs a Church near Nairobi, and Geoffrey was the person who had arranged for me to preach in a Church in the town of Voi, over the Christmas season, but sadly my health let me down, and I wasn't able to get there at that time. We had a good talk, over a cup of coffee, and we intend to work together soon spreading the teaching of Jesus Christ, here in Kenya.

I returned to Shanzu in Jay's tuk tuk, and enjoyed a delicious lunch cooked by Lencer, back at the house. After our meal Lencer said why don't you go for a swim? She wanted to clean the house, and of course the 3 children were all in school today, so I went to the beach on my own. Had a couple of great snorkel dives in the lagoon, and I saw a few fish. But it isn't anything like as much fun being alone on the beach as it is when the kids are around, so I was quite happy to go back to the house once the sun began to go down. Nothing for me to do in Church today, and I spent a quiet evening....

Today was rather a grey day with almost no sunshine, but I enjoyed my swim in the Indian Ocean, and it was nice to meet up with Pastor Geoffrey in town this morning!
DES MOINES -- The Iowa caucuses are moving into the ground-and-pound stage.

After months of campaigning, advertising and organizing, the final results will come down to pounding home a winning message and having the ground game to ensure hordes of energized Iowa political party activists, independents or newcomers make it to their precincts Feb. 1 and seal the deal.

So what does it take to win in Iowa in 2016?

The short answer is hard work, great timing and a fair amount of luck, said Eric Woolson, who worked for past caucus campaigns of Joe Biden, Mike Huckabee, George W. Bush, Michele Bachmann and was involved in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's ill-fated 2016 presidential bid.

It really is just building brick by brick an organization that has a very strong foundation and then catches fire at the end, said Woolson, who added that it doesnt hurt to also have a huge amount of financial backing and resources to put that infrastructure in place.

Although not a long-range forecaster by trade, Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann has posted an avalanche advisory for caucus-night turnout.

Do I feel enthusiasm? I really do, said Kaufmann. We are prepared for an absolute avalanche of people. Whether that happens, I dont know.

One factor in determining the 2016 caucus outcome most definitely will be the weather. But paramount as always will be the ability of organized armies of trained and tested campaign staffers, precinct captains and loyal volunteers to deliver boots on the ground to caucus sites in numbers that will outpace their rivals.

The state historically has rewarded retail politicking and organization, such as the 2008 Obama tidal wave of young and nontraditional Democrats, the Republican Huckaboom and the Santorum surge in 2012.

Despite social media, super PAC-fueled advertising and other campaigning advances, it will still come down next Monday to the candidates best able to mobilize supporters to show up.

If the folks that run political campaigns are trying to re-fight 2012 or even 2008, theyre guaranteed to lose, said Mack Shelley, an Iowa State professor who chairs ISUs political science department. No election is like another and youve got to be able to adapt, otherwise -- in evolutionary terms -- you either evolve or you die. As a political campaign goes, that applies just about as much as it does to species.

Both Huckabee and Santorum again have done the full Grassley of visiting all 99 Iowa counties.

Weve done the grassroots work and I think thats how you win the caucuses; you do it the old-fashioned way, said Huckabee. If there is a shortcut and somebody can figure out that you dont actually have to go out and meet voters and work that hard in Iowa, I think it could be the end of the Iowa caucuses and that would be detrimental -- not for Iowa, but for America.

Standing in the way of a Huckabee or Santorum repeat is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has Iowa Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats and Iowa Congressman Steve King within his encampment, and is working to coalesce the support of the influential tea party, evangelical, constitutional and social conservatives using an extensive network of volunteers.

Unlike primaries, Iowas caucuses are party-building functions that test presidential candidates organizing skills and, in that regard, said Vander Plaats, a successful effort requires both inspiring and uniting the base but also expanding that appeal to new participants. He said he has been impressed by Cruzs organization and is committed to making sure there is no stone unturned on caucus night.

Cruz has to be able to expand the numbers of people coming out and, if he does that, hes going to be very tough to beat, said Vander Plaats.

This environment is completely different from any environment weve ever been in, he added. You have the extraordinary Donald Trump candidacy and anybody who underestimates Donald Trumps candidacy only does so at their own peril.

You have an outsider mentality where people want to shake that system to the core right now, Vander Plaats noted, and even though Cruz is a sitting first-term senator hes only been in Washington for three years and has proven hes willing to take on both sides of the aisle and to be that outsider voice to Washington D.C. and people really appreciate that about him. He is viewed as very much an outsider.

Trumps campaign is led by Chuck Laudner, who engineered the 2012 Santorum surprise and now hopes to work that same magic this year.

I think people underestimate Trump with unlimited resources and Laudner with unlimited caucus knowledge. I just think thats a dangerous recipe to get beat on caucus night, said Vander Plaats. Also, Cruz took a one-two punch last week when Branstad hit him on the renewable fuels issue and Trump landed tea-party icon Sarah Palins endorsement in Ames.

The GOP battle for third place has become a 2016 intrigue with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio using the airwaves and ground troops to bolster his poll numbers among conservatives and establishment Republicans. Governors like Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich have also engaged with ads and organizations in Iowas stretch run, along with outsider/newcomers Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

For other candidates like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, expanding the base means pulling in thousands of youthful supporters from college campuses who agree with him on privacy and foreign policy positions, along with his liberty network that turned out in large numbers to support his dads 2012 campaign.

Sanders also is relying heavily on young Democrats to bolster his numbers in a hotly contested matchup with Hillary Clinton, but Polk County Democratic Party chairman Tom Henderson said his partys rules require candidates to have at least 15 percent backing to qualify for delegates, so its advantageous to have supporters spread out among precincts rather than concentrated in pockets.

You not only have to make sure that your folks turn out, they have to turn out in numbers large enough that you can actually get delegates awarded, he said, which may produce results different from what polling numbers may indicate based upon organizational strength.

When you start to do caucus math, if you have six delegates available in a precinct and 1,000 people show up, it really doesnt necessarily reflect your support because youre only going to get six delegates out of that particular area, Henderson said. So thats why the Obama campaign (in 2008) decided that a delegate vote in south-central Iowa was as valuable as a delegate vote in Polk County, so they decided to put field organizers throughout the entire state and that did have an impact on the actual count.

The 2008 Democratic outcome was affected when candidate Dennis Kucinich told his supporters to caucus for John Edwards, which helped propel him into second place.

A similar reshuffling could occur, Henderson said, if third-place Democrat Martin OMalleys campaign makes a deal with one of the other two camps to provide second-choice switch-over help.

The way you win caucuses doesnt change as a matter of strategy, but with regard to the political issues that are important right now, there seems to be a lot of frustration in the voter base and thats being reflected in both the Republican and the Democratic sides of the fence, Henderson said.
Best of Bogart: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre...

PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)


Bend With the Wind

by Suraya Dewing



Bend With the Wind evolves around several interwoven story lines of conflict and deep rooted prejudices. This is in direct contrast to the title  the translation of a Maori proverb advising passive resistance to aggressors. Bend With the Wind



Dewing has used a deceptively simple narrative style to relate the story of Sophie Gardners time as a first year student at Auckland University in the weeks leading up to and during the 1981 protests against the Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand.



Intrigued by the recent protest on Bastion Point (Auckland), Sophie rebels against her fiercely right-wing father. She enrols in classes in New Zealand history and is soon, with her friends Lucy and Clara, an ardent  and eventually violent  anti-racist-tour and anti-apartheid protestor. Dewings low-key development of the three young Pakeha women leaves them as seemingly shallow figures, while her treatment of Joe Ra, a young Maori policeman from rural Taranaki, is much deeper and more complex. Sophie and Joes relationship develops against the backdrop of the anti-tour protests. Sophie, Lucy and Clara seem to be swept up and along with the tide of more radical protestors, while Joe struggles with the implications of his involvement with a Pakeha girl who is free to demonstrate against the tour, while he, although innately anti-apartheid, is obliged as a policeman to concentrate all his energies on keeping the pro-tour and anti-tour demonstrators apart.



Interspersed in the chronicle of the Springbok tour, the protests and riots, are Sophie and Joes visits to his family in Parihaka in Taranaki. Even here there is conflict  not everyone in Joes family welcomes a Pakeha girl  and looming, as if it had happened in the last decade rather than a century ago, is the dark memory of the colonial taking of Maori land and the passive resistance movement against the British that was led by chiefs Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti-O-Rongomai in 1880-81.



As Bend With the Wind unfolds it becomes four distinct but interconnected stories. The anti-tour protest runs parallel to the tale of Joe and Sophies relationship. From the first chapter however there is also the 30-year jump forward in time to Joes untimely death and his tangi on the marae at Parihaka, while with ever-building tension we are taken a century back in time to colonial-era events in Parihaka. Dewing has skilfully created a unified fabric from these four threads. The intricate and poetic way in which she describes Joes death and tangi is deeply moving as is her telling of the tragedy at Parihaka in November 1881. Both these threads and descriptions of Sophie and Joes visits to his family are authenticated by frequent use of Maori, with English translations as footnotes.



Many readers will remember the 1981 Springbok rugby tour and the way New Zealand was polarised over it. Wounds that were inflicted then took a long time to heal and pro-tour readers may either be enraged by Bend With the Wind or vindicated by the descriptive scenes of mindless anti-tour violence. Anti-tour readers will doubtlessly relive those heady days under the leadership of John Minto, Trevor Richards and Syd Jackson. Supporters of New Zealands police force will be sympathetic to Joes turmoil and his suffering in the aftermath of the tour. Towards the end of the book, Sophie wonders if the tour will ever go away. For some readers the feeling may be that the tour has never gone away and that this book is a disturbing historical comment on the evolution of New Zealands society.



Bend With the Winds publication is very timely: 2016 is the 35th anniversary of the Springbok tour and the 135th anniversary of the passively resisted colonial occupation of Maori land at Parihaka. Dewings account of that event adds considerable weight to the argument that Guy Fawkes Night could perhaps be replaced now with a more significant Kiwi celebration.

A FlaxFlower Review by Carolyn McKenzie

Title: Bend With the Wind

Author: Suraya Dewing

Publisher: Rangitawa Publishing, Feilding, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9941201

Formats: Paperback

Available from: Unity Books, Amazon, Rangitawa Publishing
MUSCATINE, Iowa  A huge crowd, including from outside of the state of Iowa, packed the Muscatine High School gymnasium Sunday afternoon to see and hear from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In a one-hour address, Trump challenged his fellow GOP rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, two of the three Democrats running for president; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the current occupant of the White House, President Barack Obama.

"We're going to win again. We're going to win a lot. We are going to make our country great again. We're going to be very proud of these days. But you have to go out. You have to caucus," Trump said.

He chastised Iowa Republicans for not picking the eventual Republican nominee in the last 16 years.

"You have not had a winner in so long. I give you my word. You're going to have a winner (in me)," he said. The large crowd erupted into cheers and chants of "Trump, Trump."

He vowed to use his skills as a negotiator in business to help advance the United States.

"I'll be the greatest jobs president that God ever created," he said.

Trump pledged to lower taxes on corporations and businesses turning the U.S. from having one of the highest tax rates in the world to one of the lowest.

He supports the Keystone pipeline with the provision that the United States receive 25 percent of the profits.

"I want a piece of the deal. Doesn't that make sense?"

He called on constitutional scholars to determine if Ted Cruz is eligible to run for president having been born in Canada to American citizens. A line about Cruz being able to run for U.S. president and prime minister of Canada got big cheers from the crowd.

Continuing to attack his Republican rivals, Trump called out Jeb Bush for a series of negative ads running in Iowa.

"It's time to give up, Jeb."

Many in the crowd were waving signs with the message, "The Silent Majority stands with Trump." Some sported Trump hats. Others wore Trump T-shirts.

He saved some political venom for the Democrats seeking their party's nomination.

Trump said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders sounded like a Communist. On Former Secretary of State Clinton, he said she supported many policies of President Obama as a way of staying out of prison.

Trump was introduced by Iowa State Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann of Wilton.

"Donald Trump has brought some energy into this party,"' Kaufmann said in a raucous.

Kaufmann promised the full backing of the Iowa Republican Party regardless of which candidate wins the nomination

Jim Switzer, Williamsport, Indiana, drove four hours to see Trump in person.

"He fulfilled everything I wanted to hear. You kind of got to go along with some of it that you don't like. But that's part of it and it's for the cameras," Switzer said.

Switzer said hadn't planned to vote in 2016 and Trump has retorted in his faith in the politicial process.

Wearing a white Trump hat, Rick Levandowski, Independence, Wisconsin, is a military contractor who works overseas.

"I've been watching him for a long time and one of the biggest things that strike me is he's not beholden to anyone. I am a libertarian. Here I am," Levandowski said.

Two Illinois sisters traveled to Muscatine to see Trump.

"I wish he had talked more about the issues," said Victoria Menconi, of Bartlett, Illinois. "I would have liked to hear more of substance."

Menconi is leaning toward Trump but not sure who she will eventually vote for.

Her sister, Lisa Legorreta, Sugar Grove, Illinois said the event was exciting.

"I was very pleased to come and watch him speak in person. And to see the entire dialogue instead of just snippets that you get in the mainstream media," she said.

"I am a Trump supporter because I think he speaks for average people, working people. People like myself who work in a hospital and are watching our health care costs go through the roof and deductibles go through the roof and I think he is really the only candidate who truly means what he says."

Zach Jirak, of Muscatine, a student at Western Illinois University, brought a classmate, Matthew Hutchison, of St. Louis, Missouri, to the rally.

Jirak is a criminal justice major.

"I completely agree when he says cops are the most misunderstood people out there," Jirak said.

Hutchison also supports Trump.

"I really wanted to see him give a speech because I am really behind what he says," Hutchison said.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Horacio Lee has been promoted to business architect in the IT Department at Kent Corporation. Horacio joined Grain Processing Corporation in 2011 as a credit analyst in the finance department and completed his MBA at St. Ambrose University in 2014.

Robert Woolison recently joined Kent Corporation as QA test lead in the IT Department. He has an Associates degree in communication electronics from Kirkwood Community College. Prior work experience includes being a test lead at Honeywell Scanning and Mobility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Kent Corporation is a diversified family owned corporation with subsidiary companies developing science and nutrition-based finished food products, food and beverage ingredients, pharmaceutical and personal care applications, animal nutrition and companion animal products. The subsidiary companies consist of Grain Processing Corporation (GPC), Kent Nutrition Group, Kent Pet Group, headquartered in Muscatine Iowa, and Kent Precision Foods Group headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. www.kentww.com
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Calling all MJC/MCC Alumni and Friends of the College!! The colleges alumni association is asking for your help in raising funds to assist student activities at MCC.

The MCC Alumni Association Fundraiser will be 5 p.m.-close Monday, Feb. 1, at Boonie's on the Avenue, 214 Iowa Ave. During the that time, a percentage of sales will be donated to the alumni association to assist student activity programs.

Why a Fundraiser?

In 2002, the MJC/MCC Alumni Association began a grant program to assist student organizations at MCC. Each spring, MCC student organizations are given an application form to apply for assistance from the association to help with expenses for a specific activity or expenditure above their budgeted allocation. Since the inception of this program, more than $57,000 has been awarded to various student groups.

Some examples of these awarded grants include:

Registration and travel expenses for groups such as Business Professionals of America, Student Nurses Association, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and the Ag Tech Club to attend the national conferences of their respective organizations;

Travel expenses for music students to perform at Carnegie Hall and other locations;

Digital photo frames to showcase various drama productions on campus;

Customized canopy tent for admissions and athletic events in the community;

Outdoor inflatable movie screen for community movie nights;

Equipment for athletic programs;

Printing of summer editions of The Calumet student newspaper;

Diversity Day activities;

The Study Abroad program;

Campus Peer Tutor Program;

Intramural supplies and activities.

The Alumni Association Board members are committed to helping current students have the best possible educational experience while attending Muscatine Community College. In addition to academics, being involved in student activities is another integral part of life at MCC. The Alumni Association is dedicated to helping students have a great experience while attending MCC.

Thanks for your support and see you at Boonies!

MCC Alumni Association Board members: Don Ager, Derek Sawvell, Mindy Stark, Marv Smith, Bob Allbee, DeWayne Hopkins, Loryann Eis, Evelyn Schauland, Richard OBrien, Linda Hinman, Paul Stych, Billie DeKeyrel, Karen Diercks, Lisa Wiegel

Lisa Wiegel is assistant to the president of MCC and alumni coordinator.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Local business groups talked about the past year's successes as they addressed the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors on Thursday.

Muscatine

Greg Jenkins, president and CEO of the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, talked about the ongoing goals that benefit the city and county. He said the chamber works with existing businesses to retain them while also attracting new employers.

Jenkins noted HNI's investment in remodeling facilities in downtown Muscatine and Monsanto's commitment to add jobs as a couple of highlights from 2015.

Jenkins said the chamber also follows up on several leads of businesses looking for space to locate new facilities or relocate. He emphasized that membership with the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce helps connect GMCCI connect with leads.

"It puts us on the map," Jenkins said, adding that Muscatine has had four leads in the past two weeks.

He also said he's looking forward to the new Merrill Hotel & Conference Center coming to downtown Muscatine. Jenkins said this year many staff resources at the chamber will focus on downtown business development to prepare for the influx of visitors  to make Muscatine accommodating and help businesses make the most of the opportunity.

Jenkins said the hotel can "ignite" downtown in a way it hasn't been in a long time.

Ky Cochran, director of the Muscatine Convention and Visitors Bureau, also talked about opportunities with the new hotel. She said that will significantly help her budget and others who benefit from the hotel/motel tax.

She said this year she will be laying the groundwork to prepare for the extra visitors that the hotel is expected to bring. Cochran said she would work with others in the hospitality industry in the county to help them best capitalize on visitors as well as working with the community to bring visitors.

"Their success is our success," Cochran said.

Wilton

Becky Allgood of the Wilton Development Corporation, also highlighted successes from the year and future plans.

She noted it was the corporation's 50th anniversary in 2015 and in that year helped add to the county's tax rolls with Hy-Line egg hatchery opening a facility in Wilton.

Allgood also talked about the upcoming all-school reunion this year. She hopes that former Wilton residents who now live across the globe will return and see the positive things happening in the community  which she hopes will lead to investments by those people in their former hometown.

West Liberty

Shannon McNaul, executive director of West Liberty Economic Area Development (We Lead), was excited to announce her office may be in a new home soon and her group has new economic development tools to use.

She's hoping the Regional Learning and Cultural Center at 119 E. Third St. will be open by April. In a partnership with Muscatine Community College and Iowa State University, the building will be home to a program to offer an associate's degree. There will also be a community kitchen for people to prepare food to sell at the farmers market, classroom space, and offices for We Lead and the chamber of commerce.

"It's a pretty amazing feat for West Liberty," McNaul said, noting the $580,000 project has been in the works since 2008.

She said We Lead is growing, from three members two years ago to 17 members today. While staff was cut in the past, she's expecting to need to add a position in 2017 to accommodate those business members.

"I feel like we've come a long way in two years," McNaul said.

The We Lead board has gone through a strategic planning process and now as a three-year vision.

ISU worked with We Lead to help businesses look more welcoming.

"We're starting to become a friendlier community aesthetically," McNaul said.

She also touted that tax-increment financing and tax abatement are incentives she can offer businesses now.

"From an economic development standpoint, that's huge," McNaul said. "Now I have tools to hand people."

She also said her office has created comprehensive materials to hand out for the industrial park.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Outside Muscatine High School, Donald Trump supporters were met with jeers  and a few people trying to make a buck.

A group stood outside MHS before, during and after Trumps rally just a week and a day before the caucus, chanting things like What do we want? No hate! When do we want it? Now!

Eva McBride, of Muscatine, organized the protest. She made an event page on Facebook and shared it on the popular group Muscatine Discussion.

At first I just wanted to do it with some friends, but I got an overwhelming response from people  both supportive and people that were saying that we were stupid, saying we shouldnt be doing that, wanting to argue with us, threatening us, McBride said. I figured thats a really good reason, because if you really dont understand why we would protest  its about awareness.

McBride said that Trump has said some hateful things about Mexicans, immigrants, Syrian refugees, Muslims and women. And one that really hit home.

He made fun of a reporter with disabilities  Ive been an advocate of people with disabilities for over 20 years, McBride said.

She said that Trump is not fit to be president.

You cant represent a nation if you have alienated a large portion of it with hate speech, she said.

Jean Clark agreed. The former MHS special education, English and math teacher joined the protesters Sunday with a sign that read Fear + Hate = Trump.

I decided I really need to speak up and let people know that I do not approve of Trumps policies of hatred, bigotry, Clark said. I also really object to his language and the way he treats people and speaks about other people. As a public school teacher, that kind of language we wouldnt tolerate in a classroom. And to think that we would vote for or elect a president who talks that way is horrifying to me because I want a president that kids can look up to and emulate.

McBride said this has been a good learning experience for her children, who joined her at the protest.

We had a big discussion last night about why you would stand up to somebody like Trump, even though youve got a lot of opposition - people are threatening you. It does not always feel safe or comfortable to speak out, but its important to call people out, McBride said.

One person was forcibly removed from the rally. A man held a large sign that read Stop Hate. Trump supporters were quick to point him out.

Minutes before the rally started, a message played over the speakers stating that Trump supports the First Amendment. It also reminded the crowd that this was a private event paid for by Trump.

Some people have taken advantage of Mr. Trumps hospitality by choosing to disrupt his rallies by using them as an opportunity to promote their own political messages.

The announcement instructed supporters to hold a rally sign over their head and shout, Trump! Trump! Trump! until authorities remove the protester.

It also specifically stated to not touch or harm the protester because its peaceful rally.

Thank you for helping us make America great again, the announcement concluded.

The man removed was wearing a red turban and had a long, black beard.

There were no other apparent protests or anyone else noticeably removed from the rally that last about an hour.

The rally also drew people hoping to capitalize financially on Trumps success. Several vendors set up tables outside selling buttons, hats, T-shirts and other campaign materials.

Porscha Levi said her mother started with buttons, then hats and some T-shirts.

She saw that there was a big boon in it so she started it, Levi said.

Levi and her mother are from Michigan, they dont go to every rally but try to attend many of them.

Local residents waited in a long line to get in.

I really just want to hear him speak in general, Tim Foster, of Muscatine, said.

While in line to get in, Foster said hes undecided about who to vote for in the caucus, but appreciates Trumps bluntness.

Dick and Norma McCormac, of Columbus Junction, said they were excited to vote for Trump after the rally.

Hes really saying the right things, Norma said.

Dick agreed.

He calls a spade a spade, even if its a damn shovel, and I think thats what it takes. This political correctness has gone way too far, you cant even really say what you mean, Dick said.
HOYT, Kan.  Ronald Klerk de Reus, 82, of Hoyt, died Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at the House at Midland Care in Topeka, Kan.

Ron was born April 8, 1933, in Bandung, Indonesia, on the island of Java, the son of Rene Francois and Waleska Flohr Klerk de Reus.

As a young boy, Ron spent the World War II years in Holland. During that time, he was separated from his family without food and interned in a childrens camp. Though the war years were very difficult, he was fascinated with them, and he continued to study, learn and talk about those years until he died. He also enjoyed reminiscing about St. Nicholaas, life in Holland and his five years sailing the high seas in the kitchen onboard passenger ships from the Netherlands. Ron graduated from the Schools for Cooks and Confectioners (Banketbakkery) in Holland.

Ron was a naturalized U.S. citizen, immigrating to America in 1958. He believed strongly in American values and freedom and was very proud to be an American, always wearing a flag pin on his lapel. He sponsored his mother, and she also was able to come to America.

Ron was a certified executive chef who served such dignitaries as President Nixon and Vice President Agnew. He worked in industrial food service all around the Midwest and owned and operated the Dutch Treat Restaurant in Muscatine for 22 years. Customers remember his split pea soup, Indonesian pork sateh and the delicious chicken salad Dutch Boy sandwiches. While in the kitchen, Ron enjoyed singing along with the music, cracking jokes with his customers and listening to their problems. Rons wonderful sense of humor and cute stories will be missed. Ron died during the dinner hour on Wednesday (spaghetti day)  this would have pleased him greatly.

Ron was a nationally acclaimed benchrest precision rifle sharp shooter and the membership director for the Cast Bullet Association for 12 years. He enjoyed taking close-up photographs of people, nature and food, driving his six-wheel Argo ATV, working on his computer and being with his cats. Ron was a volunteer for Midland Care. When asked why he ended up in Kansas after such an adventuresome life, Ron answered Life-Life just happens.

Survivors include daughter, Mary Rose (Scott); son, Ron Klerk de Reus II (Laura); and grandchildren, Ron III, Kelly, Jason and Katherine.

Thank you to all the customers, co-workers and friends who enriched Rons life and special thanks to the Topeka medical community for all their care for him.

Keep the music playing.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Wounded Warriors or Helping Hands Humane Society, sent in care of Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home, 2801 SW Urish Road, Topeka KS 66614.

Condolences may be sent online to www.kevinbrennanfamily.com.
Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life!
Walmart 2.2 million

Yum! Brands 523,000

McDonald's 440,000

IBM 434,246

United Parcel Service 399,000

Target 361,000

Kroger 343,000

Home Depot 340,000

Hewlett-Packard 331,800

General Electric 305,000

Executive branch civilians 2,663,000

Uniformed military personnel 1,459,000

Legislative and judicial branch personnel 63,000

Little man so spick and span

Where were you when the $h!t hits the the fan

Arguably, the Clintons are the most Capitalistic couple who have ever been in the White House.They have accumulated a great amount of wealth after Bill left the POTUS office. They and others have set up a tax free foundation. It is my belief that our entire "tax free foundations" system is nothing more than a scam on the average American taxpayer. That is the subject for another post but the best way to hide large sums of income is to set up a tax-free foundation and hire your friends and relatives to help you administer it. I will let you Google it if you have more interest in this scheme to keep from paying taxes.I have no problem with them earning money. My concern is not envious of their ability to garner large sums for making speeches. Many ex-presidents have done that. Where I do have a problem is that there may be a nexus between donors or paid speeches and governmental action.This is not limited to Democrats or Republicans. A widespread incestuous system that has developed in our elected officials allows them to peddle influence and favors in return for laundered money in their charitable foundations, future income, or campaign funding. I am not so naive as to think that this does not go in the business world. It does and it is not a fault in the capitalist system, it is a prevalent in all forms of government including communism and the European socialism model. It is human nature act in your own interest. The rich will always have more influence in human society, but in a capitalist system, they will also provide more employment and income to the private sector.Walmart is the company that most people love to hate and also the company that most people love to buy from. They are the largest US employer with 2.2 Million employees. Here is a list of the top ten US employers.Total top Ten 3,477,046Let's compare the Federal Employment listing of employees.Total Federal personnel 4,185,000If you deduct the Military personnel from the total you end up with 2,726,000 of which the vast majority is in the executive branch.Does there appear to be something wrong with this scenario? To be fair the number of total employees has been fairly stable since 1992 ( see link above) through both Democrat and Republican presidents.I may be a bit pious in my condemnation of this practice but given the chance to make money with a wide legal interpretation of the law or tax rules, I suspect most people would weigh the cost versus the risk. If you have ever filed a 1040 long form tax then you probably fall into category that some would say were loopholes in our tax system. If you have ever taken a deduction for anything on your tax form above the standard deduction and exemption, then you are a beneficiary of a preferential tax break. We humans are always willing to point the finger towards the other fellow or company while quietly accepting any benefit we can get.The biggest complaints will always come from those that lose a special depreciation or deduction while they complain about the large corporations getting tax breaks. Our entire tax system is income based. We used to say that our Income tax was voluntary but that was never true. Filing taxes is mandatory but the voluntary part was telling the government how much you made that they could not easily track. The whole withholding from salary is to allow the government to track income and check against reported income. Every year there are more regulations instituted to allow the government to test the honesty of the taxpayers and their claimed deductions.Most liberals will say we should track and prosecute the tax cheats. If that were possible, who do you think would serve your next meal or bar drink? Why is it that we always complain about the guy who is just a little or a lot better off than us? Most of those people are "off-book" income earners. Have you ever paid cash for goods or service? You may be dealing with a tax cheat there as well. I was always amused when I went to a Chinese restaurant and the receipt was hand written instead of a cash register receipt. Reconciling the end of day sales was easy. Next time you eat at a non-franchise family restaurant or bar. Look at how they handle your payment. Credit cards must be counted since they are traceable but cash payment may not be traceable. No system of tax will be able to catch 100% of the tax cheats. But doesn't it seem like the simplest system is the one that allows the least cheaters?I doubt if many would approve of a nosey neighbor looking over your shoulder when you do your income tax. Why would you allow an overbearing Uncle Sam to do the same thing? Any system that is geared to tax based on productivity is a system that was designed to control the public not raise money.Normally this is where you would expect someone point out that the government needs to collect taxes to pay for its programs. Are you kidding me? We run a deficient every year and just add it to the total debt we pot. That is the pot at the end of the rainbow, a pile of IOUs. Others would point out that we had a surplus under President Clinton and balanced the budget. Really? See this from CNN -Bill Clinton Legacy of Mythology and Surplus . Don't fall for the trick politicians use when discussing deficit and debt.The point I am trying to make is hat under our modern system there is really no correlation between revenue collected and money spent. We continue to spend far above our collections. If that is the case, then why don't we just simplify how we collect taxes since we don't use the money to pay off any debt. If you have a balance on your credit card of $30,000 your minimum monthly payment would be somewhere around $250 per month (Using the most generous rate assumption). What if one month you have an extra $100 that you can apply to your credit card bill but you decide to have a nice dinner to celebrate your good money management. You charge the dinner on your credit card and buy $100 of lottery tickets. You now owe $30,000 plus $100. Is your budget now is balance?I contend that collection of taxes (revenue) and controlling spending (expenses) is two totally separate and distinct subjects that are no longer related to each since we have the ability to issue IOU's to anyone willing to take them. We can also print more money when needed. Printing money just devalues the money that is currently in circulation.There is a simpler way to collect taxes but it will require us to take back our government. My favorite is The Fair Tax. . Most of the criticism on this tax is the rate necessary to make it revenue neutral. That seems to me to indicate that our current level of spending is sacred and unalterable.Naturally, The Fair Tax is subject to abuse as well as our current income tax. Nevertheless, doesn't it seem reasonable that a simple system is more easily audited and regulated? A sales tax is more easily tracked and audited than an income based system. Every State in the Union has a sales tax and apparatus for collecting it. One of the other benefits is that the tax is collected locally and then sent to the Federal government instead of collected nationally and sent back to the states with strings attached.All right smarta$$, you ask, what is your solution. I don't need to have a solution to this problem. All I need is the ability to personally prepare for the time when reality meats illusion. I don't know when that will be and I don't know if it will be in my life time but I do know you can't eat paper (money) and you can't convert paper (IOUs) to food and shelter when the $h!t hit the fan. Our parents and grandparents seem to have a solution. They tried to be self-sufficient and debt free and it still did not insulate them from the failure of government to control its tendency to try and manage the economy. Today some liberal would say that they were unfairly hording food or staples that the rest of us need.Again I use my old man's basic truisms that went something like this.He always followed this up with his simple life experience.I know I should feel better after this rant but somehow, I don't.
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RALEIGH When America was a young country, the federal government had a much more prominent role to play in transportation than it does today. Federal transportation programs were heavily involved in the collaboration among the states to ensure consistent standards, interconnectivity of facilities, and sufficient investments for a national infrastructure.Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation has changed its focus, and now its priority is to promote nonhighway-centric policies such as environmental sustainability, economic expansion, and social welfare.All levels of government have historically funded transportation. The federal government, via the federal gas tax, has funded approximately 25 percent of transportation costs while states and local governments fund the rest Some states, however, rely more heavily on the federal government than others. North Carolina's Department of Transportation receives nearly $1.2 billion from the federal government, which makes up 27 percent of total funding in this state.The money the federal government disburses for transportation comes primarily from the federal gas tax, yet two out of three programs funded are not highway programs. Due to per-person driving mileage decreasing, increased construction costs, and more efficient vehicles, the gas tax is no longer sufficient to pay for all of the Highway Fund's transportation needs, especially if the money funds nonhighway transportation methods.The federal gas tax rate has not increased since 1993, and some are arguing to increase the rate. Congress has decided not to increase the excise tax on motor fuel, and in 2012, the federal legislation authorizing spending on federal highway programs also approved a General Fund transfer to fill the gap left from inadequate fuel tax revenue.In 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation warned states that they would need to delay payments to prevent the account balance of the highway and transit accounts from dipping below a required threshold. This is particularly concerning for many states, as many highway construction projects are paid for by states and then reimbursed by the federal DOT.According to Congressional Budget Office projections , the highway account will have a shortfall of $1 billion in 2016, and that shortfall will grow to $108 billion by 2025, with an additional shortfall of the transit account of $40 billion. This means the delay in payments to states should not be viewed as an anomaly; it has a strong likelihood of becoming an annual event.Since 2012, 21 states have approved plans to raise their own additional transportation revenues, including North Carolina. During the 2015 legislative session, N.C. lawmakers changed the way the gas tax was calculated in an effort to make that revenue source more sustainable.The gas tax rate was reduced from 37.5 cents to 34 cents per gallon by late 2016. However, due to a drop in fuel prices, the tax rate ultimately will be higher than it otherwise would have been before lawmakers changed the way the tax rate is calculated. Starting in January 2017, the gas tax will be adjusted automatically based on two factors: population increases (75 percent) and changes in the Consumer Price Index (25 percent).In addition to the change in the gas tax, North Carolina made another important decision to hedge the risk against the federal governments funding shortfall. During the last session, lawmakers ended a transfer from the Highway Fund into the General Fund that had been skimming hundreds of millions of dollars away from highway projects over the last few decades. Using transportation money solely for transportation-related projects is necessary if we as a state are to prepare for an eventual cut in our federal transportation allotment.The long-term solution for transportation needs in America is to shift transportation decisions and funding away from the federal government and to the states. Over the last 30 years, states have increasingly been given more discretion over how they spend federal dollars and federal discretionary programs have declined as a portion of overall funding.In the wake of Congress' continual short-term funding continuations for the Highway Trust Fund, it only makes sense for states to take over their own transportation programs and increase their sovereignty when it comes to transportation.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
The previous poll on Eastern NC NOW showcased what are many of OUR Constitutional Republic's certain obstacles to remain viable, where the top encumbrance to that continuance as a functioning Republic was the Biden /Harris Wide Open Southern Border. Understanding this overwhelming concern to real America citizens: Do you believe it important to challenge the veracity of those legislated concerns of Democratic Socialists by transporting Illegal Migrants to their Sanctuary cities, counties and states for their direct care?

Yes; test the depth of their sense of well being by giving Democratic Socialists an opportunity to enact all Sanctuary provisions in their communities to test how much they truly do care.

No; the Biden /Harris Wide Open Southern Border Project is designed to only inundate "Red States" to begin their Demographic Upheaval for the benefit of we Democratic Socialists, our politics.
Outa has changed its name to Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, and expanded its fight to challenge poor governance, maladministration, and corruption.

Outa was established in 2012, and had been focused on fighting e-tolling in Gauteng.

It is a matter which we do not intend to halt on, until the scheme has been abolished in favour of a more efficient, rational, and lowest cost option such as the fuel levy, said Outa.

Outa said there has been a call for it to expand its fight to other areas of tax abuse and corruption in South Africa.

Outa subsequently agreed to broaden its scope by investigating, engaging, and holding the authorities to account for actions which transgress South Africans constitutional rights.

We will take these matters seriously and, if needs be, spearhead litigation against corruption and blatant maladministration by individuals.

Outa will do this through a process of crowdfunding and democratic participative engagement with the public who enroll as contributing members of Outa.

The new fight: Nuclear deal, SAA, and Eskom price hikes

Some of Outas new fights include the planned nuclear procurement plan, Eskoms tariff hikes, and the constant taxpayer bailouts for SAA.

Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage said they will use their expertise to challenge unfair and poorly-executed tax policies.

He said the government often introduces new taxes, like the carbon tax and plastic bag tax, but that the intended plans for these taxes are never realised.

All we want to see is that taxation is just, rational, and not wasteful, and that the tax money does not disappear into a hole, Duvenage told Business Day TV.

Duvenage said Outa will attempt to aid the Public Protector, and that civil society action is a powerful tool in the fight against corruption.

He said South Africans cannot wait for elections to change the governments thinking, and that effective civil action is needed to hold politicians and civil servants to account.

More on Outa

E-tolls have officially collapsed: Outa

You dont owe a cent for e-tolls, says Outa

This is what the average e-toll user owes Sanral
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has said that parts of the education system are in crisis, and that the matter is a national catastrophe.

The City Press reported that Motshekga told delegates at an education lekgotla in Centurion that there are pockets of disaster in the local schooling system.

She had strong words for underperforming schools and departments, and called for:

The immediate dismissal of underperforming school principals and district directors

Action against teachers who teach for less time per day than what they should

Make sure that all textbooks are delivered on time

Motshekga bemoaned the fact that South Africas education system has two sets of standards: one system of excellence, and another which has pockets of disaster.

Lower matric pass rate

Earlier in January, Motshekga released the 2015 National Senior Certificate results  revealing a matric pass rate of 70.7%. This is down from the 75.8% achieved in 2014.

However, the official pass rate does not tell the full story. Equal Education highlighted that a large percentage of students drop out before they write the matric exams.

For broader perspective and context on the overall matric pass, one should use a cohort matric pass rate, said Equal Education.

The organisation defines the cohort matric pass rate as the percentage of learners in grade 2 who pass matric 11 years later.

Of the 1,118,690 grade 2 cohort class enrollment, only 667,925 students made it to the matric final exams. This is a dropout rate of 40%.

The 2015 cohort matric pass rate  sometimes referred to as the true pass rate  is therefore 42.2%.

For more on this story, see the City Press.

More on education

2015 matrics, please give our tablets back: Education MEC

These are the real 2015 matric numbers

Matric results from 1995 to 2015


Source: North Carolina Education Lottery

As the Powerball jackpot soared over a billion dollars, much of the discussion in the Tar Heel State turned to the North Carolina Education Lottery and what that money does for public education.The conventional wisdom says it's a pretty simple equation: more money spent on the lottery means more money for education. However, it's not that simple, especially if you look at how the money is spent as well as the other costs associated with running a billion-dollar state lottery.First, let's say the lottery is generating money for public education. Since 2007 the lottery has provided over $3 billion for public education in North Carolina. Critics will immediately say lottery funding merely supplanted existing funding and didn't add to it. That's a question for another time. In 2007-08, the lottery generated $325.5 million for public education. In 2014-15 that figure rose to about $529 million, about 4 percent of actual total spent on public education.The lottery has been controversial from the beginning. Legislation to approve the lottery only passed after two Republican senators were absent for a vote and then-Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue broke a tie vote. Although it was nine years ago, the divisions haven't healed. The lottery is still considered a controversial topic. Republicans and conservatives oppose the lottery because it encourages gambling. Democrats support the lottery because it provides revenue to the public schools and gives citizens a chance to win big prize money. What's wrong with a little fun? they ask. But how much revenue, and what does that "fun" cost?One of the ways legislators gained sufficient support to approve the lottery was to assure others that lottery money was getting into the classroom. The first lottery in 2006-07 brought in about $325 million, with $236 million going to K-12 schools. Proceeds were divided accordingly: 40 percent for school construction, 10 percent for scholarships, and 50 percent for class-size reduction, teacher salaries and pre-school programs for at-risk 4-year-olds. A quick review of the history of the lottery shows a significant amount of lottery money has always been outside K-12 classrooms on things like scholarships, capital costs, pre-K programs and other things.This past year, lawmakers included a provision in the budget bill saying $529 million in lottery money should be spent as follows: noninstructional personnel ($310 million). pre-K program ($78.2 million), Public School Building Capital Fund ($100 million), scholarships for needy students ($30.5 million), and UNC financial aid ($10.7 million).It's not difficult to see in the last few years that a higher percentage of lottery funds have been spent outside the classroom. Last year the legislature prohibited LEAs from using lottery funds to pay teachers, believing lottery funding is too unstable a source of funding. (Of course, that ducks the question of why it is OK to have unstable sources of funding for other personnel such as guidance counselors, librarians or janitors). That said, with those numbers only about 21 percent of funding is directly getting into the classroom.Yet if you look beyond the simple numbers there are other problems as well. Table I provides a chart of money for education and total annual revenue raised by the lottery, by year. If you look at recent years, payouts to education don't seem to be keeping pace with the increase in revenue. Since 2007, the prize money as a percentage of total revenue has increased from 52.2 percent to 62.3 percent. I understand the percentage is set by the legislature. Still, revenue and payouts are expanding but payouts to education are not.The lottery's mission is to maximize sales and provide as much money for education as possible. But at times, such actions work at cross-purposes. In order to keep sales strong in down years like 2013-14, the lottery has had to boost sales and increase player payouts.A recent performance audit on the North Carolina Education Lottery by the Delehanty Consulting had mixed results. On the plus side, it showed that North Carolina was the only state lottery to increase sales and profits each year of its existence. However, it also showed that five nearby states - Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia - all had higher lottery profits per capita (ranging from $51 to $90 per capita) than North Carolina ($48.59).While no one denies that the lottery distributions to education are large and growing, there is still growing unease about funding education through gambling. Such sentiments are stamped on the lottery legislation which limits NC Education Lottery budgets for advertising to 1 percent of total revenue.No amount of money can erase the underlying problem. Every time government hands out money from the lottery, it should ask: Doesn't gambling undermine the fundamental messages schools seek to instill in students: working hard, getting a good education and taking responsibility for yourself? It's also hard to ignore the reality that the majority of those that play the North Carolina Education Lottery are low-income people and that the lottery serves as a voluntary tax on those that can least afford it.I don't imagine I'm the only one uncomfortable with telling children to work hard, play by the rules, get a good education, only to turn around and have state government push the lottery's message of "hitting it big" plastered on commercials and advertisementsThe lottery has sent over $3 billion to public education in North Carolina. That's a lot of money, but it shouldn't prevent us from asking: where is the money really going and what's the real cost of the lottery? We know less and less money seems to be getting into the classroom and that encouraging gambling undermines the message of honest work. For these reasons, larger Powerball jackpots and the NC Education Lottery are still a bad bet.
I'm back, I'm back! I hope everyone is well and is having a good start into the new year. Even though I'm late in greetings, here's to wishing you a to have a fulfilling & happy year. At the beginning to 2016, I kick-started the year with a trip to Thailand (Bangkok). Instead of the usual route, we added a road trip to Khao Yai to the itinerary before settling in Bangkok for the remaining days.

Sunflower field





Khao Yai National Park

Palio Village

Primo Piazza









The Chocolate Factory

Where: Saraburi, Lopburi, SuphanburiBlossom months: November to JanuraryEntrance fees: 10 baht per paxBasking in sunshine with a backdrop full of cheery sunflowers is my dream come true! That was the leading motivation for taking two days in Khao Yai. For that to happen, our travel dates coincides the peak period (New Year's Day) which means crowds are anticipated. As Singaporeans, we're endowed withspirit, we drove out as early as 8 in the morning to reach the destination an hour later.By 9am, we've paid for our 10 baht entrance fee and all set to snap away. By the way, we were the first in the field and it definitely pays off to get up and be there early, see how I don't have random photo bombers in my photos. Totally, worth it.Entrance fee: 40 baht per paxVehicle fee: 50 bahtBefore embarking on this trip my dad sent me videos on incidences of elephants attacking vehicles at the national park, not sure if he found it amusing or did he do it just to terrorize me. But it ain't gonna stop me from visiting this UNESCO World heritage site! From the influx of traffic going into the park, it's probably gonna spook the wildlife that wanted to make an appearance. No elephants or tigers were in sight, much to our surprise we spotted a couple of monkeys and a wild deer while making our way back.For someone who has yet to set foot into Italy, inspired themed shopping places becomes a novelty. Roaming on the streets and alleyways while I dream away about getting lost and exploring in a Tuscan village.Entrance fee: 100 bahtJust like Palio Village, Primo Piazza is designed and themed to resemble Tuscany. This one has more photo spots set up in little corners for you, definitely the place for all of you fashionistas to get your outfit shots taken. The farm on the property is where the merinos, alpacas and donkeys can be found.It is by chance that I found this restaurant for our dinner on the first night. When you travel with your parents you got to always be well-planned and know where to head to next (even if you don't at least just pretend that you've got everything together).I mentioned that I found this by chance, true enough this place came to my knowledge when I was scrolling Instagram. So I just brought my family here without even reading reviews, but it turns out that all of us loved the food there and there were no complains. It takesAs the sun sets, the temperature took a dip which makes it perfect for alfresco dining. What's great ambiance without a good live band right? The sound of acoustic guitar accompanied by soothing vocals singing to classics like "Right Here Waiting " sets the mood. \
Eleven percent of all income in California went toward state and local taxes (in 2012), according to the annual State-Local Tax Burden Rankings released by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

The report highlights the state-local tax burden on taxpayers in each of the 50 states, details how much residents pay to their state and other states and illustrates tax burden trends over time and within each state.

Here is a breakdown of Californias state-local tax burden:

- State-local tax burden rank: sixth

- Percent of income in California that goes to state and local taxes: 11 percent

- Amount of taxes paid to California per capita: $4,126

- Amount of taxes paid to other states per capita: $1,111

A significant amount of taxation occurs across state lines, and that this shifting is not uniform, said a news release from the foundation.

For instance, one might pay sales taxes at their local corner store, but also pay sales taxes when on vacation in another state. This shifting should not be ignored when attempting to understand the burden faced by taxpayers within a state.

Theres an ongoing debate over how much is enough when it comes to taxes, but it isnt always informed by accurate data, said Tax Foundation Economist Nicole Kaeding.

Our study gives taxpayers a comprehensive look at where tax burdens are felt across the states, so that they can have an informed discussion on the size and reach of state and local taxes.

The studys key findings include:

- During the 2012 fiscal year, state-local tax burdens as a share of state incomes decreased on average across the U.S. Average income increased at a faster rate than tax collections, driving down state-local tax burdens on average.

- New Yorkers faced the highest burden, with 12.7 percent of income in the state going to state and local taxes. Connecticut (12.6 percent) and New Jersey (12.2 percent) followed closely behind. On the other end of the spectrum, Alaska (6.5 percent), South Dakota (7.1 percent) and Wyoming (7.1 percent) had the lowest burdens.

- On average, taxpayers pay the most taxes to their own state and local governments. In 2012, 78 percent of taxes collected were paid within the state of residence, up from 73 percent in 2011.

- State-local tax burdens are very close to one another, and slight changes in taxes or income can translate to seemingly dramatic shifts in rank. For example, Delaware (16th) and Colorado (35th) only differ in burden by just over one percentage point.

However, while burdens are clustered in the center of the distribution, states at the top and bottom can have substantially different burden percentagese.g. New York (12.6 percent) and Alaska (6.5 percent).
In honor of its broad efforts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable local residents, St. Joseph Health's Queen of the Valley Medical Center was named a finalist for the 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. It is one of the most esteemed community service honors in healthcare, said a news release.

As a finalist, Queen of the Valley will receive $10,000 to be used to support its community health initiatives.

The Foster G. McGaw Prize is sponsored by the Baxter International Foundation and the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Health Research & Educational Trust. This year marks the awards 30th anniversary. The Queen was also named a finalist for the award in 2013.

Since its beginning, Queen of the Valley has dedicated itself to serving as a catalyst in promoting and safeguarding the health of the community, said John OBrien, chairman of the Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee.

Its programs such as a mobile dental clinic for low-income children, a community-based network that provides medical and psychosocial chronic disease management for low-income, chronically ill people; school-based childhood obesity prevention, and a Parent University are having a true impact on the community.

For more than 50 years, St. Joseph Health, Queen of the Valley Medical Center has been a vital resource and integral part of the valley. As a Catholic, nonprofit, full-service acute care, 208-bed hospital, Queen of the Valley employs approximately 1,300 and is the major diagnostic and therapeutic medical center for Napa County and the surrounding region, said the news release.

Our mission calls us to care for all people, said Walt Mickens, president and CEO of Queen of the Valley Medical Center.

Through our community benefit programs, we extend our care outside of the hospital walls and into our surrounding neighborhoods. We are honored to be recognized for our dedication to promoting wellness and building a strong, healthy community.

Among other programs, Queen of the Valley was recognized for innovative community service initiatives, including the Childrens Mobile Dental Clinic, the CARE (Case management, Advocacy, Resources and Education) Network and Integrated Behavioral Health.

The 2015 winner of the $100,000 Foster G. McGaw Prize was Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

In addition to Queen of the Valley, other finalists include ThedaCare in Appleton, Wisconsin and Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
UPDATED: Conditions Improving but Caution Still Needed

News Release:



Troopers seek public's assistance to identify suspects in assault case



Raleigh, N.C. While road conditions are improving and power is being restored across much of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory urged residents to remain cautious as they venture out.



"Rising temperatures and sunshine are the best types of help we could ask for our transportation and utility crews who have worked so hard throughout this storm," said Governor McCrory. "We know people are anxious to resume their routines, but there are still slick spots out there; we want people to be careful and safe."



The latest forecast calls for clear skies and sunshine across all North Carolina Sunday with high temperatures ranging from mid 30s to mid 40s. No more precipitation is expected for the next few days, but overnight temperatures are expected to drop to down into the teens to mid 20s causing refreezing and black ice for the Monday morning commute.



Governor McCrory thanked North Carolinians for taking the storm seriously and exercising caution and good judgement. He also praised emergency management crews, law enforcement officers, first responders, utility crews and transportation workers and their families for their tireless work throughout the storm.



"My deepest gratitude goes to our first responders, National Guard members, utility workers, North Carolina Emergency Management and DOT workers for their selfless and dedicated work to keep their fellow citizens safe," Governor McCrory said.



Early Saturday morning, State Trooper RP Charubini while on patrol in China Grove was injured by two individuals driving all-terrain vehicles on a highway. When the trooper tried to warn the four wheeler operators to get off the road, they charged the officer injuring him. The trooper has been treated for his non-life threatening injuries. The North Carolina Troopers Association is offering a $1,000 cash reward for information leading directly to the capture and arrest of the two suspects. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Highway Patrol at 800-233-3151.



"This attitude and behavior towards any of our law enforcement officers or first responders is abysmal and inexcusable," said Governor McCrory. "They left their families at home and in many cases put themselves in harm's way so that we could be safe. And they deserve our respect and appreciation."



The State Highway Patrol has responded to more than 4,600 calls for assistance and investigated more than 2,400 crashes since the storm began. Six people have died since Wednesday when the winter weather began; all were the result of vehicle crashes.



Power outages continue to decline. By mid-morning, 51,000 homes still had no power with most of those in Wake, Johnston and Harnett counties. During the course of the storm, more than 472,000 have lost power, but already power has been restored to more than 419,000 homes and businesses.



Three shelters were opened overnight (one each in Wake, Johnston and Nash counties) housing a total of 66 occupants. Several other shelters were on standby and prepared to open as needed.



Since the storm began, NCDOT crews placed nearly 2.2 million gallons of salt brine in an effort to help prevent ice from bonding to the roadway. They also have used more than 52,000 tons of salt and more than 15,000 tons of salt-sand mixture to treat roads covered with snow and ice.



Law enforcement officers from NC Wildlife Resources and DMV License and Theft have been working along with National Guard soldiers in winter catch teams to help locate and assist stranded motorists. With road conditions improving, those teams will return to their normal duties today.



The latest storm response and recovery efforts can be found on ReadyNC.org (link is external) or by following NC Emergency on Facebook (link is external) and Twitter (link is external). Real-time information about weather and road conditions and other emergency preparedness actions can be found via the free ReadyNC mobile app.



Contact: Crystal Feldman

govpress@nc.gov


Candidates for local offices on the June ballot are already scooping up endorsements that they hope will turn the heads of voters and energize supporters.

Never mind that people have until March 11 to declare their candidacies for local Napa County Board of Supervisors seats, the local state Senate seat and local state Assembly seat. Latecomers will find some key endorsements already taken.

Endorsements at the local level can play an important role to signal to different groups or actors the seriousness of a candidacy, said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University.

Challengers can use endorsements to show they are viable candidates, leading to money and campaign resources, he said. Incumbents can use them to show political strength.

The signals are being sent in the District 2 Napa County supervisor race. Incumbent county Supervisor Mark Luce and challengers Ryan Gregory, James Hinton and Derek Anderson are the candidates.

Gregory has the backing of every member on the Napa City Council. He has the backing of Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

The vice-president of Napa-based RSA + civil engineer and surveying firm has been involved in such efforts as the the Highway 29 Citizens Advisory Committee and the City-County Affordable Housing Task Force. But hes never run for local office.

Endorsements for me as a first-time candidate, never-been-elected, theyve been extremely important in creating a legitimacy as a candidate, Gregory said.

He knows Thompson, and asked Thompson for an endorsement.

He interviews you and hes hard on you and he challenges you, Gregory said. And if you dont pass that test, he might not endorse you.

Thompson said he looks at the whole package, including how candidates would work with regional, state and federal officials.

Im very vested in whats happening in Napa County, Thompson said. Not only because its part of the congressional district I have the honor to represent, but its my home.

Luce, Anderson and Hinton gave no indication they are sweating over Gregorys big endorsements.

Theyre probably important to him because he really doesnt have any track record to point to, Luce said. Those are the kind of things he needs to get to bolster peoples confidence in him.

Meanwhile, Luce is running for a sixth term. He said he values the endorsements of the people he works with, such as Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht, Sheriff John Robertson, District Attorney Gary Lieberstein and local senior advocate Betty Rhodes.

These type of endorsements are important when various policy issues come up in the campaign, such as law enforcement and senior issues, Luce said.

Luce considered whether the decision of every Napa City council member to endorse Gregory rather than him might be partly due to past tensions between the city and county over Napa Pipe. Napa Pipe is a planned development with Costco and houses near the Napa River that the city is annexing in phases.

I would have to assume so, Luce said. I think we work well together on pretty much everything. Even Napa Pipe was ultimately an example of us working together, though the county pushed the envelope as the deadline passed and we needed to finalize our agreements.

Napa City Councilwoman Juliana Inman, who endorsed Luce in 2012, couldnt be reached Friday to say why she switched this election to another candidate. But she expressed her reasons for backing Gregory in a Gregory press release, saying the choice is clear.

After a 20-year incumbency, its time for the residents of the 2nd District to have a new representative to listen to their needs and craft solutions to address important city and county issues that remain to be solved, she said.

Anderson said he has the endorsement of the Napa County Republican Central Committee. But for the most part, he said, voters dont pay that much attention to endorsements.

Whats really important is what are your positions, what are you going to do for Napa, said Anderson, a technology business owner. Thats what people want to hear.

Hinton, who attends virtually every Board of Supervisors meeting, has kept his candidacy low-key so far. He noted the Napa City Council members endorsed Gregory before knowing everyone who will run.

He is talking to various groups, such as labor and the medical marijuana field, and endorsements could emerge, Hinton said.

I think most people are going to want to hear where we are on the issues, said Hinton, who listed a $15-an-hour minimum wage among his priorities. I think theres going to be a good debate.

The 2nd District includes the northernmost part of the city of Napa and extends along the west side of the city to include a portion of Browns Valley. It also includes part of central Napa.

The 4th District supervisor race pits incumbent Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza against challengers Diane Shepp and Chris Malan.

Pedroza was on the Napa City Council until December 2014, when Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to fill the seat vacated by county Supervisor Bill Dodd. Dodd had been elected to the state Assembly.

Among those endorsing Pedroza are every member of the Napa City Council, Thompson, Dodd, the mayors of all five county cities and Robertson.

I think endorsements, it just shows the relationships that you have, Pedroza said. Its part of showing you have broad-based support.

The message he hopes to send to the general public is he can reach across jurisdictions to work on the regional issues of housing, transportation and water, Pedroza said.

Shepp is a newcomer to local politics. The rural resident and founding member of Protect Rural Napa has won endorsements from Vision 2050, Get a Grip on Growth, former county Supervisor Ginny Simms and James Hickey, county planning director from 1970 to 1989, among others.

Its important for people to give you that credibility, Shepp said. They kind of vouch for you, they know who you are, they know your background.

Malan, who has worked for the county as a mental health professional for 35 years, is a longtime local environmentalist. She has been at the forefront of Napa River and watershed protection efforts.

Her list of endorsements include a letter of support from Napa County resident John Dunlap, who served eight years in the state Assembly and four years in the state Senate.

Endorsements round out a campaign and make it solid, Malan said.

It shows youre talking to people and engaging people and getting their opinions, she said. But I think it also can get carried away, listing a lot of people, it just kind of loses its meaning after awhile.

Malan and Shepp would seem to be in competition for environmental endorsements, given their viewpoints and backgrounds.

It will be interesting to see how it all comes out in the wash, as they say, Shepp said. We both do represent environmental issues  l think we both have a lot of experience in that and have been very vocal.

Malan also addressed this issue.

There are going to be people who endorse Diane and who endorse me, Malan said. I think its going to be turning on that pivot point kind of equally.

The 4th District includes parts of the northeastern city of Napa and extends east to such rural areas as Soda Canyon, Silverado, Circle Oaks, Wooden Valley and the southern tip of Lake Berryessa.

In the race for the 5th District supervisor seat, American Canyon City Councilwoman Belia Ramos has endorsements displayed on her webpage. They include Thompson, Dodd, state Sen. Lois Wolk and all five Napa County supervisors.

What she doesnt have yet is an opponent. Incumbent Supervisor Keith Caldwell has said hes not seeking reelection and that he supports Ramos.

Candidates in the 3rd District state Senate race have also been compiling endorsements. Assemblyman Dodd, D-Napa, former Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, Greg Coppes a Republican from Dixon and Gabe Griess, a Democrat from Vacaville have announced their candidacies.

Among Dodds many supporters are U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and every member of the Napa County Board of Supervisors.

McCuan said Feinstein is both an insider and hugely popular with the public. Her endorsement shows that, while Dodd has only been in Sacramento a short time, he is well regarded by many party elders and leaders.

Yamada also has a long list of backers, from the California Federation of Teachers to the National Womens Political Caucus of California to state Treasurer John Chiang. Locally, Napa Valley College Board Trustees Amy Martenson and Mary Ann Mancuso endorse her.

Dodd is a chamber-of-commerce Democrat McCuan said. Yamada will pursue activists in the Democratic core who are more liberal and more hostile to a Dodd candidacy, he said.

Coppes is endorsed by the Napa County Republican Central Committee.

The 4th District Assembly race has no Napa candidates, but Napans are giving endorsements. Dodd, county Supervisors Diane Dillon, Luce and Pedroza, Sheriff John Robertson, District Attorney Gary Lieberstein and Superintendent of Schools Barbara Nemko are among those endorsing Davis Mayor Dan Wolk.

Other candidates in the race are Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor, a Democrat; Esparto farmer Charlie Schaupp, a Republican and Winters Mayor Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat.
A 21-year-old Latina approached the microphone on the stage in a packed Des Moines, Iowa, auditorium where Hillary Clinton sat. It was the Brown and Black presidential forum, and Thalia Anguianos soft demeanor gave no hint of the hard-hitting question ahead.

Then the college student from Chicago politely asked Clinton to tell us what the term white privilege means to you, and to offer an example from your life or career when you think you have benefited from it.

Hefty applause and cheers followed, not out of disdain for a privileged white woman but out of appreciation for the acknowledgment of white privilege the question provided. Clinton responded with references to the advantages of her middle-class upbringing, which she used to attribute to luck.

Fifty-two years since the Civil Rights Act, and 48 years since the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination, the issue of race seems to be cropping up with increasing frequency in a variety of contexts. Race still separates our communities and schools, even if that divide is now dictated not by law but by economics.

Theres a racial angle to climate change, college admissions, prison growth, deportation, and rancor between the president and Congress. Anguiano, in a later interview, even spoke of colorism within minority communities like hers. Everyone identifies as Latino, but if you have dark skin, you have less chances of getting a job, said the brown-skinned young woman.

She didnt mention the two lighter-skinned Latinos, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, running for president on the Republican side. Cruz, who apparently sees no white privilege, accuses Clinton of political correctness for saying Black lives matter. On the other side, some Latinos took to Twitter to accuse Clinton of pandering to their communities by likening herself to their abuela. They compared the adversities their grandmothers faced to Clintons privileges.

These are testy times all around. Even the first black president isnt immune to criticism for his policies toward minorities. President Barack Obama is under fire for deporting more immigrants than all previous presidents  and especially, of late, mothers and young children. Still, Cruz calls the president an apologist for radical Islamic terrorism. And though he had no problem with Trumps birther claims against Obama, Cruz now finds himself forced to defend against the same from Trump.

Every time Trump scapegoats a minority group, his numbers rise  whether thats calling undocumented Latinos rapists, or pledging to bar all Muslims. So it can cost his Republican opponents to disagree, which Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich all did over his anti-Muslim stance. And after Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called on Trump (without using his name) not to follow the siren call of the angriest voices, conservative radio host Laura Ingraham called that an insane, intimidating, demonizing and lame attempt to dismantle the growing populist movement in this country. Ann Coulter tweeted that Trump should deport Nikki Haley, who is of Indian origin.

Lord Krishna! Whats going on here?

This rancor is apparently more than mild-mannered Ben Carson can take. At one point after last weeks debate, after asking to be awoken when it was his turn, Carson exclaimed: We have race wars, gender wars, income wars, religious wars, age wars. Everything you mention, we have people at each others throats ... Where did that spirit come from in America? Our strength is our unity.

Or did we ever really have it?

Certainly, police killings of unarmed black men have heightened political divisions, with Republicans frequently siding with police, and Democrats with minorities. But its only new that theyre now captured on cellphones. All the Democratic candidates have denounced police racial profiling, but not the highest-polling Republicans. Trump declares police to be the most mistreated people in this country. And Cruz pledges to them, I will have your back.

Away from the partisan rancor, people of color who turned out for a lively Putting Families First forum in Iowa, organized by the progressive Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund, shared their own anomalous situations. Board member Lori Young said being black and female has influenced my socioeconomic status and my human experience ... oftentimes beyond my control. Her sons, she said, have beaten the odds because theyre still alive at ages 30 and 24, are fully employed and have never been imprisoned.

Rod Adams of Minneapolis, a young black college graduate, spoke of his six or seven years of unemployment or minimum wage jobs, and having to choose between eating and paying rent. He said black Minnesotans have four times the unemployment rate of whites. Once you combine this atmosphere of desperation with the archaic form of policing, what youve created is a ticking time bomb, Adams said. These bombs are exploding in the form of uprisings in Ferguson, Baltimore and all over.

So last Mondays Martin Luther King holiday came amid a mixed bag of progress and regress. The candidates most likely to succeed a black president include a woman, a Jew and two Latinos. But our cities are in turmoil. Communities of color struggle disproportionately from income inequality and incarceration. And were not even having the same conversations. Where some see white privilege, others see minorities and women getting ahead at their expense. Thats reflected in the popularity of unconventional candidates Trump and Sanders, who frame the national malaise in terms, respectively, of weakness or greed.

What would King think? If nothing else, hed be encouraged by the new spirit of activism that has young people like Thalia Anguiano speaking their truths to people in power.

Rekha Basu is a columnist for the Des Moines Register.
The IRS called, threatening you with arrest unless you immediately pay the taxes you owe.

You left a check for the electric company in your mailbox for the letter carrier to take, but your bill never gets paid and someone else gets the money.

These are just a couple examples of scams discussed during the Elder Abuse Scams Panel held at Rianda House Senior Activity Center in St. Helena on Jan. 19. The panel, although geared toward seniors, provided information pertinent to everyone with an identity to protect.

As a consumer, its important for you to do your homework, said Jane Hinshaw, an investigator with the Napa County District Attorneys Office. Hinshaw receives calls about different scams at least every other day, she said during the discussion. There have been a few success stories where victims have gotten their money back, but that isnt the norm. Thats why its important for people to be careful with their information, she said.

There are a few common types of scams, many of which happen over the phone or through the Internet. (The IRS, by the way, wont call you to collect, Hinshaw said.)

Hinshaw explained that scammers are interested in collecting information about your identity and your bank account. These professional callers may sound legitimate over the phone, but many of them will use what you say against you. Be careful not to give callers that you dont know information about you or your family inadvertently, she said.

A common scam is for someone to call claiming to be a family member trapped in another country and needing financial assistance immediately. The caller will try to make the recipient of the call feel that the situation is dire. And since its an emergency, Hinshaw said, youll respond more quickly.

She calls these interactions high-pressure calls.

If you feel this pressure, she said, its a sure sign to walk away. Its not an emergency unless someone is bleeding, she said.

If you fall for one of these scams or give any information over the phone, it is likely that your information will be shared and you will be targeted again, Hinshaw said.

The same thing can happen with over-the-phone giving. If a charity solicits for money over the phone, Hinshaw said to ask them to send information through the mail. If they are legitimate, they should be happy to comply. Public services, like police and fire departments, wont raise money over the phone, she said, so dont fall for it.

Hinshaw also warned people in attendance to be careful about sending personal information through emails. A bank will never ask you to send your Social Security number through an email, she asserted.

She also said people have used Craigslist to perpetuate a couple of different scams.

One is a check scam  someone will ask you to cash their check for them, promising you a portion of the money for your trouble. The victim will end up giving money or another check to the scammer, and then the original check bounces.

Hinshaw suggested not meeting anyone from Craigslist alone  sometimes this is a scam, she said. A person may be meeting you in order to sell you something, but instead they rob you. Or, someone on Craigslist may advertise a nice item for sale, but when you get there it is substantially less valuable than suggested. And never pay cash up front, Hinshaw said.

That includes contractors. Hinshaw said that contractors in California are allowed to ask for only 10 percent up front. They should also be registered as a contractor through the state  something you should check on before you make any payments.

You need to be very, very careful and know your rights, Hinshaw said. Sign up for the Do Not Call list, monitor your credit, always empty your mailbox (and drop checks off at the post office or a post office box), and check the credentials of those in your home whether theyre contractors or caregivers, she said.

Napa County has a new caregiver ordinance that may help reduce scams, especially against seniors. By making sure your caregiver, or a family members caregiver, has a permit, you can make sure that people with criminal histories arent being invited into your home, Hinshaw said. The permit process, which includes a background check, will help ensure that you dont hire someone who is likely to steal you blind, she said.

The elderly are so vulnerable, said Catherine Singels of Calistoga. Singels said that the seniors at Rancho de Calistoga, where she lives, would definitely benefit from a discussion on scams. Recently, she said that some of the cars at the mobile home park have been burglarized. They took a copy of her registration from her vehicle.

Hinshaw said that you should never leave your car unlocked or leave valuables, even documents, in it. She also explained that seniors are sometimes more vulnerable due to their age.

At some point, our brain stops recognizing deception, she said.
From the sheer timeline, it would appear that the judiciary was waiting for the executive to prove before the legislature its commitment ...
Question -- What is the goal of this website? Why do we share different sources of information that sometimes conflicts or might even be considered disinformation?

Answer -- The primary goal of Nesaranews is to help all people become better truth-seekers in a real-time boots-on-the-ground fashion. This is for the purpose of learning to think critically, discovering the truth from withinnot just believing things blindly because it came from an "authority" or credible source. Instead of telling you what the truth is, we share information from many sources so that you can discern it for yourself. We focus on teaching you the tools to become your own authority on the truth, gaining self-mastery, sovereignty, and freedom in the process. We want each of you to become your own leaders and masters of personal discernment, and as such, all information should be vetted, analyzed and discerned at a personal level. We also encourage you to discuss your thoughts in the comments section of this site to engage in a group discernment process.





"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."  Aristotle

11
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Wild, yet reserved, the music of Klazz- Ma-Tazz will surprise you, excite you, and calm you, all in one sitting. --Fred Stal (RG Magazine)

Violinist Benjamin Sutin, and his septet Klazz-Ma-Tazz will bring their jazz/klezmer blend to New York's acclaimed music venue, The City Winery on Sunday, February 14th, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. This Valentines Day event is part of the Winery's Klezmer Brunch series. In lieu of the holiday, the musical program will feature new arrangements of love songs from around the world sang by special guest Asia Mieleszko, as well as selections from Fiddler On The Roof, a display of some of Klazz-Ma- Tazz's newest original material and selections from their debut album, Tangibility, released in September, 2015 on OneTrickDog* Records. The album, which includes several examples of Sutin's original work, has been praised for its dynamic compositions, improvisation, multi-cultural spirit and a sense of nostalgic novelty. Tracks from Tangibility are regularly being played in rotation on FM stations across the U.S. While rooted in jazz idioms, their music reflects influences from around the world, particularly from the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the group's members. Fred Stal (RG Magazine), described the sold- out CD release sets at The Cornelia Street Cafe: Going in, I knew it would be a great experience, but the performance far exceeded my expectations. This band is honest in their approach to what they do, paying an eclectic homage to their roots, which encompass a broad variety of elements and styles of music. Wild, yet reserved, the music of Klazz- Ma-Tazz will surprise you, excite you, and calm you, all in one sitting."



City Winery is located at 155 Varrick Street between Spring Street and Vandam Street. Tickets can be purchased in advance at citywinery.com. Admission is $10.00 for live music. Children 13 and under are free for music. Doors open at 10:00 am. Music to start at 11: 00 am and play to 2:00 pm with an intermission.



Klazz-Ma-Tazz was founded by violinist and composer Benjamin Sutin, in 2014. In addition to Sutin on violin, band members include: saxophonist and clarinetist Elijah Shiffer, pianist Ben Rosenblum, guitarist Grant Goldstein, bassist Mathew Muntz, drummer Matt Scarano, tabla player, Ani Challa, and current touring drummer Tim Rachbach.



Purchase Tangibility at: iTunes, Amazon.com, Bandcamp.com or CDBaby.com



Sutin, who is currently based in New York City, began his career in Philadelphia, where he studied with legendary jazz violinist, John Blake Jr. Sutin has since had the privilege of performing in venues such as NJPACs Victoria Theater, Dizzys Club Coca Cola, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Microsoft Theater, the Nassau Coliseum, Oracle Center, Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and many more. Sutin has performed with Tran-Siberian Orchestra, Arijit Singh, Larry Harlow, Bobby Sanabria, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Ronnie Burrage, Benito Gonzalez, George Burton, Diane Monroe and Tommy Byrnes. Finally, he has garnered acclaim in the jazz violin community from the likes of Jean Luc Ponty, Regina Carter, Christian Howes and Sara Caswell. On hearing Sutin, Caswell wrote, his adventurous musical lines and underlying creative energy left me feeling that I had witnessed a unique voice destined for something great.



OneTrickDog* is a small independent record label, specializing in jazz, jazz fusion, and occasional blues. The members are a loose collective of recording artists, graphic designers, sound engineers and composers. The label is affiliated with Avidon Audio Labs (which has tracked, mixed and mastered numerous jazz, classical and blues albums, and film sound tracks). Several of the members work as a production team, doing original screenplays, videography and sound work. In 2014, OneTrickDog* released three new albums (crosstalk by Andres Boiarsky, Second Row Behind the Painter by Roy Assaf Trio, and Interloper by Jonathan Parker). In the summer of 2015, they released Tangibility by Klazz-Ma-Tazz, and they look forward to the release this fall of Loving Losing, by People vs. Larsen, and When I Was A Child, by trumpeter Wayne Tucker. In 2016, they plan to release a series featuring established jazz artists with up and coming artists.

Visit Website | Purchase Tickets
2016012409:24 :economist.com

It has a long way to go. Last year Chinas manufacturers, both domestic and foreign-owned, consumed $145 billion-worth of microchips of all kinds (see chart). But the output of Chinas domestic chip industry was only one-tenth of that value. And in some types of high-value semiconductorthe processor chips that are the brains of computers, and the rugged and durable chips that are embedded in carsvirtually all of Chinas consumption is imported.

To help them achieve their dream, the authorities realise that they must buy as much foreign expertise as they can lay their hands on. In recent months, state-owned firms and various arms of government have been rushing to buy, invest in or do deals with overseas microchip firms. On January 17th the south-western province of Guizhou announced a joint venture with Qualcomm, an American chip designer, to invest around $280m in setting up a new maker of specialist chips for servers. The provinces investment fund will own 55% of the business. Two days earlier, shareholders in Powertech Technology, a Taiwanese firm that packages and tests chips, agreed to let Tsinghua Unigroup, a state-controlled firm from the mainland, buy a 25% stake for $600m.

Officials argue that developing a home-grown semiconductor industry is a strategic imperative, given the countrys excessive reliance on foreign technology. They can point to the taxpayers money that politicians in America, Europe and other parts of Asia have lavished on their domestic semiconductor industries over the years.

Chinas microchip trade gap is, by some estimates, only around half of what the raw figures suggest, since a sizeable proportion of the imported chips that Chinese factories consume go into gadgets, such as Apples iPhones and Lenovos laptops, that are then exported. Even so, a policy of promoting semiconductors fits with the governments broader policy of moving from labour-intensive manufacturing to higher-added-value, cleaner industries.

Morgan Stanley notes that profit margins for successful semiconductor firms are typically 40% or more, whereas the computers, gadgets and other hardware that they go into often have margins of less than 20%. So if Chinese firms designed and made more of the worlds chips, and one day controlled some of the underlying technical standards, as Intel does with personal-computer and server chips, China would enjoy a bigger share of the global electronics industrys profits.

In the governments earlier efforts to boost domestic manufacturing of solar panels and LED lamps, it spread its largesse among a lot of local firms, resulting in excess capacity and slumping prices. This time it seems to be concentrating its firepower on a more limited group of national champions. For instance, SMIC of Shanghai is set to be Chinas champion foundry (bulk manufacturer of chips designed by others). And HiSilicon of Shenzhen (part of Huawei, a maker of telecoms equipment) will be one of a select few champions in chip design.

Most intriguing of all, Tsinghua Unigroup, a company spun out of Tsinghua University in Beijing, has emerged in the past year or so as the chosen champion among champions, a Chinese challenger to the mighty Intel. Zhao Weiguo, the firms boss, started out herding goats and pigs in Xinjiang, a remote province in north-western China, to where his parents had been exiled in the 1950s, having been labelled as dissidents. After moving to Beijing to study at the university, Mr Zhao made a fortune in electronics, property and natural resources, before becoming chairman and second-largest shareholder (after the university itself) at Tsinghua Unigroup.

The companys emergence from obscurity began in 2013 when it spent $2.6 billion buying two Chinese chip-design firms, Spreadtrum and RDA Microelectronics. In 2014 Intel bought a 20% stake in its putative future rival, for $1.5 billion, as part of a plan for the two to work together on chips for mobile devices, an area in which Intel has lagged behind. In May last year Tsinghua spent $2.3 billion to buy a 51% stake in H3C, a Hong Kong subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard that makes data-networking equipment. And in November it announced a $13 billion share placement to finance the building of a giant memory-chip plant.

Shopping for silicon savvy

Other Chinese firms have also been splashing out. Jiangsu Changjiang, a firm that packages chips, paid $1.8 billion in 2014 to gain control of STATS ChipPac, a Singaporean outfit in the same line of business. In 2015 state-controlled JianGuang Asset Management paid a similar sum for a division of NXP of the Netherlands, which makes specialist chips for cell-phone base stations. A group led by China Resources Holdings, another state enterprise, has made a $2.5 billion takeover bid for Fairchild Semiconductor International, an American firm. But the undisputed leader of the national team buying up foreign chip know-how is Tsinghua.

Many people suspect Im a white glove for the government, Mr Zhao declared recently, but were really just a very market-oriented company. That somewhat understates the official backing that it clearly enjoys: without this, it is hard to imagine the company affording the 300 billion yuan ($45 billion) that Mr Zhao says Tsinghua plans to spend on further deals over the next five years.

Zhao: Chinese chip champion

Chinese approaches to foreign semiconductor firmsunlike its firms acquisitions of foreign consumer brandshave not always met with a warm reception. Tsinghua reportedly made a $23 billion bid last year for Micron, a big American maker of DRAMthe type of memory chips used to store data on desktop computers and servers. But the bid faltered because of political opposition. The firms overtures to SK Hynix, a South Korean maker of DRAM and flash-memory chips (as used in USB sticks and smartphones), were rebuffed in November. In December Tsinghua bought a 25% stake in Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), a Taiwanese chip packager and tester. The resulting political backlash prompted Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), a bigger Taiwanese chip packager, to launch a takeover bid for SPIL in December. Tsai Ing-wen, the main opposition candidate in Taiwans presidential election, declared Chinas investments in the islands chip firms a very big threatand on polling day, January 16th, she emerged the victor.

As to whether China will realise its ambitions, or whether it will continue to be dependent on foreign chip technology, Taiwans own experience is instructive. From the 1980s, it was highly successful in developing world-class chip foundries, such as TSMC, and in cultivating sparky designers of processor chips such as MediaTek. But in part that was because of good timing: the chip industry was moving towards a model of separating the design and the fabrication of chips, and Taiwan successfully rode that trend. But its more recent attempt to be big in memory chips was a disaster. Mark Li of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, reckons that despite $50 billion in capital expenditure during the late 1990s and 2000s, mostly financed by the government, Taiwanese firms met with en masse failure in memory.

These firms lost further fortunes chasing market share. From 2001 to 2010, the global memory-chip business made $8 billion in aggregate profitsbut subtract the two successful South Korean makers, Samsung and SK Hynix, and everyone else lost nearly $13 billion. Despite their vast outlays, reckons Mr Li, Taiwanese firms spent too little to reach the technology frontier and were expecting profits too early.

Douglas Fuller of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou argues that the maturing of the global semiconductor industry in recent years will make it harder still for China to crack. The incumbents in memory chips have become entrenched, especially after recent consolidation; and the chips themselves, with their associated software, are becoming much more complex, making it harder for Chinese firms to master them. ASEs chief operating officer, Tien Wu, adds that Taiwanese firms were entering the chip market at a time when it was enjoying heady expansion; it will be more difficult for Chinese firms to succeed at a time of slow growth.

If Chinas putative chip champions are to succeed, they must accomplish three hard things. Lee Wai Keong, head of ASM Pacific Technology, a Hong Kong-listed supplier of equipment to the industry, believes that, first, Chinese firms must shift from a culture of cost to a culture of innovation. He laughs when asked if firms like Tsinghua can buy in cutting-edge research through acquisitions, insisting there are no short cuts in semiconductors. His scepticism is justified: export controls and other policy barriers in Taiwan, South Korea and America inhibit the transfer of the latest technologies to Chinese firms.

The mainlands chip firms mostly lag far behind global leaders in invention (though HiSilicon is a notable exception). Intel alone spends about four times as much on research and development as does the entire Chinese chip industry, calculates Christopher Thomas of McKinsey, a consulting firm. Besides pumping more into research, Chinese firms also need to attract many more experienced scientists and engineers. This is not impossible, given that Silicon Valley is teeming with brilliant people of Chinese extraction. But if firms like Tsinghua are to attract them, they must learn how to innovate globally, for example by running multiple R&D centres around the world.

That points to the second challenge: the need to shift to a global frame of mind. So far Chinese firms have been mostly catering to booming local consumption. But they must prepare for demanding global markets. Even Chinese firms, especially those serving foreign markets, are unlikely to remain satisfied with subpar chips just because they are made at home.

The final challenge may be the most daunting. Investors in Chinas chip firms need to get ready for a long, hard slog. Analysis by McKinsey reveals that across the global semiconductor industry, in memory or processor chips, and in design, fabrication or packaging, the top one or two firms in each area account for all profitswith the rest losing money.

A positive example China could follow, if it wants to avoid wasting its $150 billion, is that of Samsung. It has become a semiconductor colossus by investing heavily in R&D, amassing an array of technical talent and accepting low returns for many years. Boosters argue that Chinese firms could pull this off, given that the government will be the main investor, and is in it as a strategic priority rather than for profit.

However, there is a potential contradiction in the way the government is implementing its latest plan. Burned by the poor outcome of previous efforts to promote microchips, solar panels and LEDs, officials are funnelling a large chunk of their initial investmentaround $30 billionthrough a handful of state-backed investment funds. The hope is that these intermediaries will make more market-minded investments than bureaucrats did in the past. However, managing these funds so that they achieve this objective, even though outside investors will want a profitable exit before the governments 2030 target, will be no mean feat.

Even so, Morgan Stanleys analysts think Chinese firms have a fair chance at becoming world-class in certain parts of the industry. Local chip firms may have a strong hand in product areas such as televisions, mobile phones and computers, in which China dominates both production and consumption. Regulators may be tempted to tilt the playing-field further in their favour by dictating indigenous standards or imposing local-content requirements, though the risk is that China ends up with firms that are strong at home but lack global competitiveness.

In memory chips of either the DRAM or flash variety, Chinese firms chances would be bolstered if they could persuade some of the largest foreign firms to form technology-sharing alliances, enlisting those firms to help overcome their home governments curbs on technology transfer. In this, having deep pockets will be a great help. In September an offshoot of Tsinghua agreed to pump $3.8 billion into Western Digital, an American maker of hard-disk drives. Its balance-sheet bolstered, Western Digital soon afterwards spent $19 billion buying SanDisk, another American firm, which is among the world leaders in flash memory.

Chinas efforts to develop national champions in what it calls pillar industries have a decidedly chequered record. In carmaking, its attempts to make foreign firms share their technology through compulsory joint ventures with domestic makers have only entrenched local firms dependence on their foreign partners. In commercial aircraft, a state aerospace conglomerate, COMAC, has spent years, and huge sums, developing planes that are still not ready for the market, and will be outdated by the time they arrive.

In the various parts of the microchip business, Chinese firms may eventually catch up technologically, but in the process undermine the industry worldwide, as happened in solar panels, through excessive capacity-building. As Bernsteins Mr Li puts it, China will not stop until it dominates the market, with value and economics being destroyed. Tsinghuas boss, Mr Zhao, is unabashed about his ambitions. The chip sector is entering the era of giants, with accelerating integration, he declared recently, making it clear that he intends his firm to be one of the few surviving giants. The coming shakeout will separate the sheep from the goats, which is an area in which Mr Zhao happens to have some experience.
Once a month I drop into Radio New Zealand National as the arts correspondent for the Nine to Noon programme.





The Kaldor Public Art Projects exhibition at AGNSW; Renaissance Bologna's unusual support for women artists; the Adam Art Gallery's 20th anniversary





Amsterdam Museum's decision to lose the term 'Golden Age'; the theft of Maurizio Cattelan's golden toilet





The debate over ICOM's proposed new definition of 'a museum' and Joyce Campbell at the Adam Art Gallery





Jacqueline Fahey at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery; 'The Night watch' restoration project; a new report showing women's art gaining (kind of) on the secondary market
Senator Malik has testified that Bhutto was threatened by General Musharraf at a meeting held in Dubai prior to her departure for Pakistan in 2007, reports Dawn.

Sources revealed that Malik has claimed that 'he witnessed Musharraf threatening Bhutto at the Dubai meeting that her future depended on her relationship with him'.

Sources in the prosecution claimed that the testimony of Malik would strengthen the prosecution case against General Musharraf.

The prosecution named four witnesses against General Musharraf in 2010.(ANI)
India Inc hopes to see better sales volume and improved capacity utilization in the next two quarters but does not expect any uptick in investment and corporate earnings even as the overall macro situation would change for better, according to an ASSOCHAM Bizcon Survey. The Bizcon Survey, capturing the reading of the economy as also the firms at the individual level in December, 2015, noted that 62.5 percent of the respondents felt "the state of economy would be better in the coming six months", although not much has changed in the past six months . Lack of investment appetite in the private sector in the backdrop of lower capacity utilization, excess supply and continuous pressure on profitability are the areas of concern, for the next few quarters. "In terms of the domestic investment, 58.3 percent felt that there has been no change in the investment plans at the level of individual firms. The sentiment seems to remain muted, going forward with 62.5 percent respondents of the view that January to March 2016 quarter would not see much change in the investment levels. Thus there seems to be a continuing lack of appetite for new investment in the private sector," the Bizcon Survey said. ASSOCHAM Secretary General D.S. Rawat shared the concerns brought out by the respondents in terms of pressure on profitability and lack of investment. "Global deflationary situation creeping into India in several sectors is hitting investor sentiment. The consumer confidence can return only if there are more job opportunities through higher investment into productive areas of the economy like construction, infrastructure and manufacturing. The lead has to be taken by the government which has an onerous task before itself along with financial sector regulators like Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and SEBI to ensure investor confidence in the markets which can then feed the investment climate," he said. Broadly in line with the macro picture, the Bizcon Survey also found similar state of affairs at the industry level, which is, however, maintaining a sense of hope and optimism for the short to medium terms, at least in projecting better sales volume and capacity utilization. Respondents seem to be highly optimistic with regards to their firm's future performance as 70.8 percent feel that they will be in a better position in the coming six months. As many as 41.7 percent of the respondents felt that there is a decline in the sales volume during October to December 2015 while expecting better sales volume during January to March 2016 as 45.8 percent of the respondents expect that their sales volume will increase in future. In terms of the future capacity utilization expectations, 66.7 percent share the opinion that the industry will be engaged at higher levels. In terms of cost of credit majority of the respondents (54.2 percent) said that there was no change in the cost of credit during October to December 2015. This is slightly surprising considering the fact that the monetary authority has reduced the policy rates. The possible explanation to this could be that the benefit of the rate cuts is not being passed onto the industry appropriately. However, the industry also feels there is no possibility of decline in the cost of credit as 54.2 percent believe no change in shorter horizon. Whether raw material prices have increased or not in the October to December 2015 quarter, 33.3 percent said there has been a decline in these Moving ahead as well 37.5 percent of the respondents believe that there will be decline in the raw material prices during January to March 2016 quarter. Ironically, it has not resulted in better margins and improved earnings as consumer demand remains muted. (ANI)
Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Sunday favoured more sea routes via Bangladesh to promote trade and business in India's north-eastern states. "With increased bilateral relations between both countries, there is need for utilising the proximity of sea route via Bangladesh to promote trade and business in north-eastern India," Sangma said while addressing the Bangladesh Investment & Policy Summit 2016 in Dhaka. Quoting a CNN report that Bangladesh's economy has grown at over 6 percent in the last seven years and is projected to grow as the second-fastest growing economy among the 11 developing countries, Sangma said "the positive growth story happening in Bangladesh is inseparable and it would certainly generate hope and positive growth story in the north eastern part of India too". As Meghalaya shares a 443-km border with Bangladesh, with the mighty Brahmaputra and other rivers connecting both the sides along with the presence of a number of Land Customs Stations to facilitate supply of raw materials to support industries in Bangladesh, Sangma mooted an idea to jointly invest in a "Comprehensive multi-mode transport" to promote trade and business between the two countries. He also informed how the new National Highway 127B -- which would connect North Bengal with Garo Hills region in the western part of Meghalaya across Brahmaputra with the longest bridge (17 km) -- is expected to serve as "trade corridor between Bhutan, Nepal, North East India and Bangladesh". Sangma also dwelled on the possibility of using the Sylhet International Airport for promotion of tourism in Meghalaya and also the possibility of using this facility to promote exports of the high-value flowers and horticulture products from Meghalaya. Highlighting about Meghalaya's strength of renewable natural resources that would provide immense opportunities to improve the economies on both sides, Sangma also mentioned on the unexplored renewable resources like Ramie (one of the strongest strong natural fibres indigenous to the region) can be harnessed by creating greater value for these natural resources. The chief minister also offered all possible policy support to Bangladesh businessmen for the investments in the power sector too. Some known industrialists from India also attended the Summit, including Gautam Adani, who committed investments to the tune of a few billion dollars in Bangladesh as the country is offering an encouraging policy environment for them. On the sidelines, some prospective investors met the Meghalaya delegation to explore the opportunities for harnessing the potential trade and business between Bangladesh and the Indian state of Meghalaya. --Indo-Asian News Service rrk/sd/dg ( 424 Words) 2016-01-24-21:29:34 (IANS)
The three students, who belonged to the second year, jumped into a well near the college premises and held the college management responsible for their suicide in the suicide note.

Sources also say that the students had been protesting for more than a month over the lack of infrastructure, but it was only in the last two weeks, that the protest had turned vigorous.

Meanwhile, the police arrested the son of Institute Chairman, Shokkar Verma and have started investigation in this matter. (ANI)
The Ministry of External Affairs said that both sides have discussed on the possibility of concluding pending agreements.

"Double taxation avoidance agreement is something which Bahrain would like to see happening with India," MEA's Secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa told media here.

"India would like to see an MoU on defence co-operation with Bahrain," he added.

Swaraj, who is on a two-day bilateral visit to Bahrain, met the Gulf Nation's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa after her arrival earlier today.

She also went to Srinath Ji Temple and Little India Market, and visited India Pavilion at Bahrain Air Show.

She is in Bahrain for the first ministerial meeting of the India-Arab League Cooperation Forum to deepen the country's ties with the 22-member grouping.

The India-Arab League ministerial meeting, comes over a year after the two sides held their first Senior Officials' Meeting in Bahrain in November 2014.

Bahrain is an important partner for India in the Gulf with bilateral trade in 2013-14 exceeding USD 1.3 billion. Over 350,000 Indian nationals work and contribute to the development of Bahrain. (ANI)
Pete and Maggie Bevis' travels in (and out of) a motorhome.
Despite drawing flak from several quarters for poll debacles in Delhi and Bihar, incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president is tipped to be re-elected unopposed to the top post on Sunday. As per reports, nominations for the party national president will be filed between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on the same day. Meanwhile, preparations for the election of party president are in full swing at the BJP headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road here. Almost all BJP-ruled state chief ministers, senior party leaders and union ministers are likely to join Shah during the filling of his papers. However, several posters congratulating Shah in anticipation of his unopposed election as the party president have been put up at several places. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hosted a dinner for Shah and his team on Saturday night. Shah's current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014. Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP. (ANI)
With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah set to begin his second innings as the party chief, here are his list of positives and negatives:- Shah's positive image: 1. Close confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - It surely gives him an edge as he enjoys the Prime Minister's trust. He first met Modi in 1982, 33 years ago, in the Ahmedabad RSS circles. At that time, Modi was a minor RSS pracharak, working as in-charge of youth activities in the city. 2. He is known to be a key strategist and organiser. He was one leader, who gained the most from the 'Modi-wave' during the 2014 general elections. 3. In December 2002, when Modi first beat the Congress to win a record 126 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly; Shah won by the highest margin of votes, over 1.58 lakh and even higher than Modi himself. 4. Shah can be named the architect of the party's Uttar Pradesh revival plan. The party, under Shah's leadership, took in its kitty 71 of the 80 seats in the 2014 general elections. 5. After he replaced Rajnath Singh and took over as the party president, he took over the herculean task and won the Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls. 6. During Modi's twelve-year tenure as the Gujarat chief minister, Shah emerged as one of the most powerful leaders in the state. At one time, he held 12 portfolios: Home, Law and Justice, Prison, Border Security, Civil Defence, Excise, Transport, Prohibition, Home Guards, Gram Rakshak Dal, Police Housing, and Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs. Shah's detrimental times:- 1. The BJP's recent debacle in the Delhi and Bihar polls is sure to remain a taint in Shah's presidential career. 2. One cannot ignore the criminal 'fake-encounter' case against him. In 2010, Shah was accused of having planned the killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and his criminal associate Tulsiram Prajapati. Shah was jailed for three months in Gujarat in 2010 before getting bail from the Supreme Court. 3. Shah's fellow ministers have often said that he was remote and autocratic as the Home Minister. Some also called him arrogant and accused him of not bothering to keep the best of personal relations with his colleagues. 4. Shah played an important role in convincing the Narendra Modi government to pass the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, which made religious conversions difficult in the Hindu-majority state. His opponents argued that the Act went against the rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, but Shah defended the bill, calling it a measure against forced conversions. 5. In 2013, Shah was accused of having ordered illegal surveillance on a woman in 2009, during his tenure as the Home Minister. The BJP's political opponents demanded a probe in this 'Snoopgate' case. However, in May 2014, the woman approached the Supreme Court and stated that the surveillance on her was based on a personal request. 6. Shah's name was also involved in the fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan and three others in 2004. He was, however, given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Shah's current term ended yesterday and the new term will be his first full-term lasting three years. (ANI)
Researchers at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University assessed data from the German Family Panel study involving 3,000 people, focusing on heterosexual people in committed relationships aged between 25 and 41.

The study found that sexual satisfaction rises in the first year of a relationship, but then declines from this point onwards, The Telegraph reported.

However, the evidence did not suggest that marriage and cohabitation affect sexual satisfaction and found that children also did not seem to have an effect.

Instead, arguments and domestic disagreements were the root cause, with a decline in sexual satisfaction showing links with a rise spats.

Study author Claudia Schmiedeberg said, "We did not find that having children played a major role in a couple's sexual satisfaction, which is remarkable as research has shown that sexual frequency is heavily influenced by the existence and age of children."

The study is published in the 'Archives of Sexual Behavior' journal. (ANI)
: Protests continued to rock the University of Hyderabad (UoH) as the indefinite hunger strike by seven studentsentered the fifth day today after 25-year-old research scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide. Seven more students also joined and continued their protest demanding action against Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya and University Vice-Chancellor Prof Appa rao. Former Union Minister and Leader of the congress party in Lok Sabha Mr Mallikarjuna Kharge will visit the unviersity this afternoon and interact with the protesting students. Rohith was among the five students who were expelled from the UoH hostel, as punishment for getting into a scuffle with ABVP member Susheel Kumar. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for social justice, an umbrella of 14 student groups, has also called for 'Chalo Hyderabad Central University' on January 25 and appealed to students, workers, activists, intellectuals and other progressive and democratic sections of the society to reach the university. It has decided to continue the protest till all the culprits responsible for the death of Rohith and the injustice meted out to all the five Dalit research scholars are punished. It is demanding that central minister Bandaru Dattaetreya, Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and others be punished under the SC/ST Atrocities Act. It is also seeking the sacking of the vice chancellor. Other demands include Rs.50 lakh compensation to Rohith's family and employment for one family ]member. In a bid to defuse the raging controversy, the Centre earlier had decided to set up a judicial commission to go into the dalit students suicide in Hyderabad University. The University earlier also announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 8 lakh to the family of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula who committed suicide on January 17. The announcement came a day after the university authorities revoked the suspension of four students against whom the action had been taken along with Mr Vemula for allegedly assaulting an ABVP leader in August last year.UNI KNR VV JK1215 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0415-554635.Xml
Talking to reporters at Malappuram, party politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, heading Nava Kerala Yatra launched by his party ahead of mid-May assembly poll in the state, said Chennithala at the helm of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption bureau should quit office following adverse remarks against the department by court.

Mr Chandy too has no right to continue in office as the alleged graft accepted by Mr Babu might have been shared by all.

Talking to reporters in Kozhikode, BJP state President Kummanam Rajasekharan, heading his party's Vimochana Yatra across the state, said Chief Minister Chandy and Home Minister should quit office in the wake of court observation in the case.

He also demanded a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation into the May 4, 2012 murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T P Chandrasekharan.

A CBI probe into the conspiracy angle of the murder is necessary as people wanted to know the truth in the case.

Babu tendered his resignation yesterday following Thrissur Vigilance Court direction to frame charge against him on allegation of Kerala Bar Hotels Association President Biju Ramesh that the former accepted graft to renew liquor bar licenses.

The court which ordered framing of FIR against Biju Ramesh too, directed to submit probe report in a month.UNI PCH VV JK1210

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0415-554639.Xml
The divisional administration in the Kashmir valley has decided to promote water transport in Jhelum, Dal Lake, Wullar lake and other water bodies for cargo and passenger transport and sight seeing for tourists. During pre-independence, water transport was being mainly, used in river Jhelum between south and north Kashmir besides to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The authorities introduced a boat service between Zero-Bridge to Veer Chattabal in the down town. The service was also introduced to encourage people to use water-ways instead of vehicular transport to reduce rush on roads. However, due to drop in the water level, particularly during winter, the service almost failed to bring desired results as only tourists and some locals enjoyed the boat service, mainly because of high cost. Now the divisional administration under Governor rule has again decided to encourage water transport. An official spokesman said here today that Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Dr Asghar Hassan Samoon has asked the concerned department to take necessary steps to start water transport in Jhelum, Dal, Wullar and other water bodies for the benefit of locals as well as tourists. He said Dr Samoon reviewed the modalities for water transport in the valley with the Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag, Bandipore, Baramulla, Ganderbal and Pulwama throgh via video conferencing yesterday. Dr Samoon said Kashmir has number of water bodies that can be used for transportation too. We can use the water transport for cargo transport, passenger transport and sight seeing for tourists, said Dr Samoon. This will generate new avenues of employment and help in reducing the rush on road transport system too. He said that the a plan is envisaged to start the water transport right from Khanabal to Khadanyar. He directed Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to start a cleaning drive on all the 17 ghats in Srinagar. He also directed the concerned Municipal Committees to ensure no littering along Jhelum river. The Divisional Commissioner ordered to check the feasibility of starting amphibious bus service in Srinagar. The routes discussed at the meeting included Watlab to Bandipora, Baramulla to Sopore, Sumbal to Manasbal and Ganderbal to Qamarwari. The diversion of commuter rush at Panthachowk during peak hours through Jhelum was also discussed. Before and after Independence until 70s water transport was being used for cargo service and all food-grains, including rice, atta and sugar were being dispatched to different parts of the valley by the government. However, the water transport discontinued and road transport was now being used for transportation of essentials to different parts of the valley.UNI BAS YSS SV RAI1201 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-554489.Xml
Amit Shah was on Sunday formally declared as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president for the second consecutive term. The decision in this regard was announced at the party headquarters here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states proposed Shah's name for the presidential candidature after he filed his nomination papers. Senior BJP leaders earlier in the day lauded Shah's political acumen while expressing confidence that the party would scale new heights under his steward leadership. Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar congratulated Shah for his second term as the party president and said that the latter's enthusiasm is required in order to carry on and to communicate the good governance and achievements of the NDA government. "This is second term for Amit Bhai Shah. We all congratulate him. He has led us with enthusiasm and energy. He has made the BJP as the number one party in the entire world. The energy and enthusiasm of Amit Shah is required in order to carry on and to communicate the good governance and achievements of the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said Kumar. Union Minister for Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad echoed similar sentiments and said that the party will scale new heights under his extraordinary leadership. "We all are very happy that Amit Shah ji is going to be nominated to become party president again. Under his extraordinary leadership, the BJP which has become biggest party of the world, will scale new heights," he said. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal also praised Shah and said his contribution in the development of the party will provide inspiration to all. "I got the luck to work along with Amit Shah. I have watched his work especially his miraculous work in Uttar Pradesh. His leadership of the party is very inspirational for all of us. He had done the extraordinary work of maintaining the balance among the party workers throughout the country. I am very confident that the party will continue to grow under his leadership," he said. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh also said under Shah's leadership, the organisation also witnessed its visibility in those states and in those areas where it could never have been imagined like Jammu and Kashmir and north east. "I think during the last few years that Amit Bhai Shah has become the president of the BJP, these have been some of the best times for the organisation. It was the time when party grew at such a fast pace that it became the largest party of the world," he said. "The organisation also witnessed its visibility in those states and in those areas where it could never have been imagined like Jammu and Kashmir and north east. This has been possible because of the focused approach and the hard work put in by the leadership of Amit Shah, in combination of the charisma of Narendra Modi," he added. Shah's current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014. Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP. Celebrations broke out at the BJP office today long before Shah's re-election as party president. (ANI)
The Cabinet's decision has been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his approval.

The Congress condemned the move and said that it amounted to 'trampling of democracy'.

"President's Rule in Arunanchal is trampeling of democracy & exposes Modiji's double speak of states being equal part of 'Team India'," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said in a tweet.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejrwal also expressed his shock over the decision.

"Union Cab recommending Prez rule in Arunachal shocking. Murder of Consti on Rep D eve. BJP lost elections.Now acquiring power thro back door," he said in a tweet. (ANI)
A high alert has been sounded in Uttar Pradesh ahead of Republic Day even as couple of suspected ISIS sympathisers were nabbed by the security personnel. The district authorities of Faizabad- Ayodhya, Varanasi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Agra, Allahabad and other religious places too have been alerted. Security at the Indo-Nepal Border too has been spruced up and intensive checking of the people entering from Nepal is being done thoroughly. State DGP Javeed Ahmed said here today that all the districts have been asked to be alert." We have asked the district police to be more vigil during all the Republic Day functions," he added. Earlier, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had also issued an advisory to UP and some other states for possibility of terror attack. Meanwhile, after the arrest of two youths from UP on suspicion of terrorism and their link with IS, UP police has spruced up its intelligence unit. Two youths, one from Lucknow and another from Kusinagar were apprehended by National Intelligence Agency(NIA) on Friday night. While Mohammad Aleem(24) was arrested in Lucknow, the other Rizwan was nabbed from Kushinagar. Aleem was pursuing BCom third year from a Gonda degree college. He is allegedly part of the 14-member countrywide group-under National Intelligence Agency's (NIA) -which owes allegiance to Islamic State. NIA had registered an FIR in December second week in Delhi and had been hunting down the suspects across country. As to whether Aleem was in constant touch with Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh, who is believed to be the head of Islamic State's operations in the country. Sleuths said Aleem made video calls through Skype. They found that Aleem had organised a secret meeting with seven more operatives in Indiranagar this month.UNI MB SV RAI1326 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-554525.Xml
With Amit Shah's re-election as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, senior party leaders today expressed hope and confidence that the combination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former would do wonders for the nation. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu lavished praise on 'most able person and good strategist' Shah and said that the BJP would under his leadership get success in the upcoming elections. "He is the most able person and a good strategist. Above all, he is committed to our ideology and is always on the move to take the message of the party to all the nook and corner of the society. Under his leadership, we have recorded notable leadership. In his leadership, the party will march forward and reach those states where earlier the BJP did not have influence," Naidu said. "The combination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will do wonders in the coming years. I am sure that he will get the needed success in the coming elections," he added. Echoing similar sentiments, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that Shah's able leadership would help the party in achieving new heights of success. "BJP is the only party of India wherein there is political democracy. The elections take place for the president's post after every three years. Amit Shah has been fulfilling his responsibilities for last one and a half year. This time a unanimous decision was made to elect him as the party president for the next three years," Singh said. "I am very confident that the BJP will scale new heights of success under Shah's able leadership," he added. 52-year-old Shah was on Sunday formally declared as the BJP president for the second consecutive term. The decision in this regard was announced at the party headquarters here. Prime Minister Modi, Rajnath Singh, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states proposed Shah's name for the presidential candidature after he filed his nomination papers. However, BJP veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are also the members of the party's 'margdarshak mandal', were not present at the party headquarters, thus giving an opportunity to the Opposition to target the saffron party on its internal friction. Shah's current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014. Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections. (ANI)
An Afghan official has revealed in an unofficial forum in Qatar that the Afghan Taliban wants to be removed from a United Nations blacklist before considering rejoining peace talks with the Afghan Government aimed at ending the 15 year war. Afghanistan and its neighbours are trying to get troubled negotiations back on track after months of ordeal and fighting, reports Dawn. A Taliban member conveyed that 'first remove us from the blacklist of the United Nations and allow us to freely travel around the world and then we can think about holding peace talks'. The two day meeting in Doha organised by the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs gave them an opportunity to express their views about the future of Afghanistan.(ANI)
The ill-fated truck -- carrying mostly labourers from under construction Hasdeo barrage site at Lebri --overturned last evening after its driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve near Bundeli.

Four deceased identified as Phul Kanwar (35), Kumari Jeena (18), Ravindra Kumar (14) and Abadh Kumar(12) died on the spot while the injured were hospitalised at Baikunthpur. The driver, who was reportedly drunk, is absconding.UNI SS BDG AE CS1500

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-554782.Xml
Official sources here today said that earlier the PMO had confirmed the participation of Mr Modi in the convocation and now they have given a date of February 10.

Meanwhile, Lucknow district authorities have started gearing up for the proposed visit of Mr Modi.

As the Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University is on Hardoi road on the outskirts of the state capital, there would be no inconvenience caused to local people on that day.

Mr Modi had visited Lucknow on January 22 where he attended the convocation at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, distributed e-rickshaws and paid homage to the urn of Dr Ambedkar at the Ambedkar Mahasabha.

On the same day, Mr Modi also visited his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he distributed equipment to over 9,000 'divyangs' differently abled and flagged off the Mahamana express train between Varanasi and New Delhi.

University's Vice-Chancellor Nisith Rai said here that the convocation programme would be webcast in the entire country and a special app. would be launched for the programme.

The invitation for the convocation would be also printed in braile along with english and hindi.

The dress code for the students during the convocation has also been changed to black pant, white shirt and black coat along with maroon stole for boys and for girls it would be white salwar suit along with Maroon Angvastra.

The VVIPs would wear maroon 'angvastra' along with a pagdi (turban) while other guests would wear just maroon angvastra.UNI MB SA CS1452

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-554614.Xml
BJP Jammu West District President Ayodhya Gupta and Jammu District President Baldev Singh Billwaria led the party activists to greet and extend congratulations to Mr Shah on being elected for the highest post in the party.

Party leaders said Mr Shah has been elected as the National President of the party for the second term, which is endorsement of the desire of party activists across the country to give another opportunity to him with a motive to benefit the party from his experience and further take the party to new heights in politics.

They said as far Jammu and Kashmir, the party contested the 2014 Assembly elections with Mr Shah as National President and BJP created history by winning record number of seats.

They expressed hope that the state unit of BJP shall continue to get blessings of the National leadership and it gets further strengthened and achieve more success in future elections.

UNI VBH RJ AE 1608

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Buoyed by the success in Bihar polls and victories in local body elections in other states, Congress has started selecting candidates for the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, just a year away.Congress, which has decided to contest all the 403 seats, has set out a four-stage selection process, two of which have already been completed, Party sources said here.The party has got an independent survey done of probable candidates a private agency and a report with a similar objective has also been prepared by AICC- appointed observers from other states.In the third stage, district leaders are being consulted to prepare a panel of probable candidates, with January 31 as the deadline, sources said. For the fourth stage, which will involve senior leaders recommending candidates from their regions, the deadline is February 15. The final list will be based on a comparison of these four lists.In the third stage, the AICC general secretaries in-charge of the state and the region, as well as state Congress president Nirmal Khatri, are holding one-on-one meetings with district and block presidents in each of the 403 constituencies for the past fortnight.AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, who camped in the state recently, has reportedly completed this stage for 11 constituencies in Bundelkhand region.Apart from seeking a panel of two or three probables in each constituency, the AICC is taking feedback from leaders about local caste composition and probable candidates of other parties.It is for the first time that AICC general secretaries and the state president will sit directly with district and block presidents, separately in each constituency, to prepare a panel of probable candidates.The second stage was carried out in November, when the AICC appointed 20 observers surveyed 18 to 20 constituencies each. The Congress had sent AICC observers in 2012 too, but that exercise had commenced only a few months before the elections. Block presidents were rarely consulted during selection process.Among the other political parties in the state, the BSP has identified about 80 per cent of its candidates but not announced a list yet. The BJP and Samajwadi Party have not yet started the candidate selection process yet.UNI MB JN 1526 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-554508.Xml
Allahabad High Court, one of the oldest courts to be established in the country, will celebrate 150th year of its foundation in March next year.The High Court has already drawn upon several programmes during the entire 2016 starting from March to celebrate the occasion.President Pranab Mukherjee, along with Chief Justice of India and a several Supreme Court judges, would attend the main functions here at the High Court premises on March 17, the day when it was formed, Allahabad High Court Bar Association president R K Ojha told UNI here today."President of India, Chief Justice of India and other senior judges and Union ministers would grace the occasion in March next," he said adding that the Bar Association will not hold any separate functions on the occasion.Allahabad High Court, which has maximum number of serving judges at160, the highest in India, has already announced to distribute over 10,000 booklets on the history and importance of the court.The seat of the court is at Allahabad and it maintains a permanent circuit bench at Lucknow, the administrative capital of the state. Functions would also be held at the Lucknow bench, which is also set to be shifted to its new premises in Gomti Nagar by next March to commemorate the 150th year of the court. Allahabad High Court was originally founded as the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces at Agra on March 17, 1866 by the Indian High Courts Act 1861, replacing the old Sadar Diwani Adalat.Sir Walter Morgan, Barrister-at-Law and Mr. Simpson were appointed the first Chief Justice and the first Registrar respectively of the High Court of North-Western Provinces.Allahabad became the seat of Government of North-Western Provinces and a High Court was established in 1834 but was shifted to Agra within a year. It was shifted from Agra to Allahabad in 1869 and the name was correspondingly changed to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad from March 11, 1919. The former High Court was located at the Accountant General's office at the University of Allahabad complex.On November 2,1925, the Oudh Judicial Commissioner's Court was replaced by the Oudh Chief Court at Lucknow by the Oudh Civil Courts Act of 1925, enacted by the United Provinces Legislature with the previous sanction of the Governor General the passing of this Act. On February 25 1948, the Chief Court of Oudh was amalgamated with the High Court of Allahabad.Allahabad High Court was built by Khan Saheb Nizamuddin of Loha Mandi, Agra. He also donated the water fountain to the High court.UNI MB JN1550 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-554549.Xml
Two days before deposition of witnesses into 33yrs old murder case of former Congress MLA Parimal Saha, some miscreants allegedly have threatened a key witness of dire consequence if he appears before the trial court tomorrow. Superintendent of Police (West Tripura) has provided security to the witness of the case, retired judge N C Das, following demand from Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Samrat Kar Bhowmik last night. However, Mr Kar Bhowmik today said that despite providing security coverage, Das is still not willing to appear before the court and his family became scared of the miscreants. Following instruction from the High Court of Tripura, Addl District and Sessions judge of West Tripura Udit Chowdhury took up the case for disposal by March this year. The court has fixed January 25 to start deposition of witnesses. Mean\\while, some miscreants yesterday threatened Das not to appear before the trial court for deposition. Initially, he was not agreed but at a stage Das shifted his stand and informed SPP the decision. Mr Kar Bhowmik had written to SP West and requested him of providing security to Das on urgent basis. Along with Das, three others Dr Rajat Kanti Bhattacharjee, Dr Nitya Ranjan Dutta and Mrs Soma Ghosh are scheduled to appear before the court to give deposition into the case. During review of the long pending cases last year, the Chief Justice of Tripura High Court had sought reply from the government why the murder case has not been disposed in 33 years. He asked to reply the Home Secretary, the Law Secretary and the Deputy Director of Prosecution of Tripura explaining the reasons of pendency of the case for such a long time. Later, he directed the trial court to dispose off the case within December last year. On request of the trial court, the high court fixed the timeline of the disposal of the case by March next. Congress MLA Parimal Saha was killed by some unknown assailants in April 1983 at Bishalgarh of West Tripura during block advisory committee election. The ruling left front led by Nripen Chakraborty was in power that time. When Congress led coalition government came to power in 1988, police had submitted a charge sheet against 26 accused and accordingly the trial began. The court had also recorded the statement of the witnesses. During trial investigating officer of the case Bimal Chakraborty died. Meanwhile, the then supervising police officer of the case D Goutam (now retired IGP) and another declared the prosecution hostile and asked for re-interrogation in the court. However, in 1993 assembly election when the left front led by Dasharath Dev came to power the trial could not proceed much and till date the trial was not completed in the court. UNI BB AKM ADG RK1559 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-554704.Xml
Acting on a tip-off, a team of police personnel posted at Sachivalaya police station in the state capital nabbed the youth, Mohammed Shaukat Alam under Koelwar police station in Bhojpur district.

An FIR was lodged with Sachivalaya police station in this connection.

Police were interrogating the youth to know the motive behind his unlawful activity. UNI DH AKM AE BD1557

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-554859.Xml
The search is already the largest and most expensive investigation in history and has covered more than 80,000 square kilometres of sea floor, reports News.com.au

Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014 after departing from to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on route to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew on board.

The JACC statement said weather had affected the search recently, but it would continue over the Christmas and new year.

The disappearance of the plane gripped the world with countless theories from terrorism to pilot error of what could have gone wrong.(ANI)
Ive been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for that. Sinc...

6 years ago
"Six people were brought to the police station after we received information on suspicious people seen near a Dargah," said Police Commissioner E. Radhakrishnan.

"The suspects claim that they visit the 'Dargah' every year. We will verify it with the Kurla Police Station in Mumbai and the Mumbai crime branch. Investigation is underway," he added.

He further said that the Vadodara Police would also take the help of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The suspects are being interrogated by the police. (ANI)
The Assam Rifles has decided to withdraw its notice issued to five Nagaland-based newspapers on October 24, 2015 and also agreed to contribute in strengthening the freedom of the press. A joint statement from the three Editors and Col. Rajesh Gupta on behalf of the Assam Rifles today informed that after engaging in a free and open discussion with constructive viewpoints exchanged, they jointly resolved to make efforts to resolve the issues pertaining to the Suo-motu cognizance with regard to notice to Nagaland media by Assam Rifles. This was resolved in a meeting held between the Assam Rifles and the editors of Nagaland Page, Eastern Mirror and The Morung Express T Monalisa Changkija, Witoubou Newmai and Akm Longchari in Dimapur on January 14. The meeting was held following a direction by the Press Council of India (PCI) to discuss and resolve issues between the parties concerned. The Government of Nagaland, which is also one of the stakeholders, failed to send a representative to the meeting. In the meeting, keeping in mind the broader perspectives concerning national interests, and in order to preserve the freedom of the press and to uphold democratic principles, the three newspapers resolved that they will hold themselves to the highest standards of journalistic ethics and norms, and will follow in spirit the general guidelines of the PCI, as well as Nagaland-specific guidelines for journalists, as and when prescribed by the same. The Assam Rifles and the three editors also decided not to breach the red lines as flagged in the meeting to ensure that a conducive working environment is retained. The gathering also registered disappointment at the failure of the Government of Nagaland to depute a representative to attend the meeting as agreed in the PCI meeting on December 11, 2015, thereby abdicating its responsibility towards upholding the freedom of the press. It was further felt that the state government needs to take positive steps to create conducive atmosphere that will facilitate the media in Nagaland to function responsibly as the fourth pillar of democracy without interference or pressure from inimical forces. Meanwhile, PCI Chairperson, Justice C K Prasad, while expressing concern over the apathy of the Nagaland Government over the issue, said that the Council is planning to evolve guidelines for the media and security forces on reporting in conflict situations, the statement said. UNI AS AKM ADG RK1640 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-554585.Xml
Congress leader V. Narayanasamy on Sunday dubbed the government's move to recommend President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh as a murder of democracy and violation of constitutional propriety. "It is a clear case of murder of democracy and violation of constitutional propriety. In fact, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, without the Cabinet's decision summoned the legislative assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. And the body, which met on the recommendation of the Governor, the so-called Speaker and the members, it is also being challenged before the Supreme Court. Now, the Supreme Court constitutional bench is dealing with the subject whether the Governor has the power to summon the house without the Cabinet's decision," he told ANI. Narayanasamy further said that the matter would come before the Supreme Court next week. "Meanwhile, the decision of the central Cabinet to recommend to the President to implement the President's rule is totally against the law, against the Constitution. It is a clear case of anti-federalism," he added. He also took the opportunity to lash out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the Congress would fight the recommendation 'tooth and nail'. "The Prime Minister Narendra Modi always says that the federal structure of this country has to be strengthened. This is not the way cooperative federalism has to function. Apart from that, right from day one, the Congress Government of Arunachal Pradesh is being targeted by the BJP in Delhi. We will fight it out tooth and nail. And we will ensure rule of law and constitutional scheme of things should prevail not only in Arunachal Pradesh but all over the country," he said. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier recommended President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh. (ANI)
"JD-U legislator Sarfaraj Alam was arrested at the GRP station here after he was questioned," a GRP official said.

Officials said the charges against Sarfaraj were found to be true.

The JD-U on Saturday suspended Sarfaraj, saying his conduct brought a "bad name to the party".

"Top party leadership, including JD-U president Sharad Yadav and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, met here and decided to suspend Sarfaraj for his behaviour and bad conduct. The incident has given a bad name to the party," state JD-U president Vashishtha Narain Singh told the media here.

Alam allegedly misbehaved with the couple aboard the Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad also favoured action against Alam. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is part of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar.

Inderpal Singh Bedi and his wife, in an FIR registered at Patna railway station, complained that Alam, his bodyguard and an aide misbehaved with them on the train, an official said, adding they passed vulgar comments about the couple who boarded the train from Delhi.

Patna Railways Superintendent of Police P.N. Mishra said a four-member team sent from Patna to register a formal complaint returned from Delhi after recording the statement of the couple and other witnesses.

Mishra said Alam was summoned to appear before the investigation official and present his stand on Saturday, following which the complaint against him was prima facie found to be correct.

Alam, son of former union minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, is the JD-U legislator from Jokihat in Araria district of Bihar.

--Indo-Asian News Service ik/tsb/vt

( 301 Words)

2016-01-24-17:03:34 (IANS)
The Election Commission is celebrating the Sixth National Voters' Day (NVD) across the country on January 25.The theme for the 6th National Voters' Day is 'Inclusive and Qualitative Participation'.The function, to be held here, will be presided over by President Pranab Mukherjee. Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi will release the book titled, 'Belief in the Ballot' and its first copy will be presented to the President.January 25 is the foundation day of the Commission, which came into existence on this day in 1950. The main objective of the Commission is to increase the number of eligible voters. The National Voters' Day is also aimed at spreading awareness on effective participation of voters in the electoral process.National Voters' Day celebrations will also be organised in all polling stations across the country. State level functions are organised by the Chief Electoral Officers of the states concerned.After the completion of NVD function, the Commission will inaugurate the construction of India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) campus at Dwarka, New Delhi.The Chief Guest will give away Awards for Best Electoral Practices to Chief Electoral Officers, District Electoral Officers, SPs, Officers involved in election management. Awards will also be given to Media Houses and Civil Society Organisations for best campaign in Voters' Education and Awareness.This year, a new Award has been introduced to recognise the contribution of Government department/Agencies to the efforts of EC for enhancing electoral participation. Six newly eligible electors would be given their EPICs by Mr Mukherjee.The Election Commission will be presenting a Tableau with the theme 'Inclusive and Qualitative Participation' at the Republic Day parade on January 26.UNI SY RJ AE 1750 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0093-554877.Xml
In an emailed statement sent jointly by several militant outfits, the groups have called for a general strike in the region from 0001 hours to 1800 hours on January 26.

It has kept media and essential services and religious activities from the preview of the bandh.

The strike has been called against 'imposition of colonial rule' by India.

The outfits that have called the bandh are United National Liberation of WeSA, Coordination Committee, Manipur, HNLC and GNLA.

The UNLW is a common platform of some outfits, including ULFA, NSCN- K. UNI SG AKM AE RK1750

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University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao, in the eye of the storm over the suicide of a Dalit research scholar, has gone on leave but the students continued their protest on the campus. Vipin Srivastava, the seniormost professor, will perform the duties of the vice chancellor, the university announced on Sunday. Rao was under fire for his handling of the issue relating to the suspension of five Dalit students, one of whom, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide on January 17. Demanding the vice chancellor's resignation, students continued their protest in the university. Meanwhile, the university registrar also issued orders on Sunday with regard to revocation of suspension of four students. The executive council on Thursday had decided to revoke the suspension. The students, however, continued their protest demanding the vice chancellor's ouster. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, an umbrella of student groups, has vowed to continue the protest till justice is done to Rohith's family. A day after police shifted seven students who were on an indefinite hunger strike to hospital, another batch of seven students went on fast. The JAC has also called for 'Chalo HCU' (Hyderabad Central University) on Monday to intensify the protest. It has called upon students from across the country to reach the campus for protest. The JAC is demanding arrest of central ministers Smirit Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP legislator Ramchandra Rao and the vice chancellor, blaming them for Rohith's suicide and social boycott of Dalit students. The protestors also alleged that Telangana Police was shielding the culprits. "Arrests have to be made under SC/ST Atrocities Act immediately as it is a cognizable/non-bailable offence," the JAC said. A case for abetment to suicide and for violation of Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of atrocities) Act was booked against Dattretya, the vice chancellor and two leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on January 18. Meanwhile, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, visited the university on Sunday and expressed solidarity with the students. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress leader in Telangana assembly Janardhan Reddy and other party leaders also met the students. --Indo-Asian News Service ms/mr ( 375 Words) 2016-01-24-18:13:36 (IANS)
At least three students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have gone on an indefinite hunger strike in the national capital demanding justice in the case of the suicide of Rohith Vemula- the Dalit scholar from Hyderabad University. Seven students were hospitalised yesterday on the fourth day of the stir at the Hyderbad University and another group of seven students today sat on an indefinite hunger strike. Meanwhile, the University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, whose resignation is being sought by the protesting students, has gone on leave. A note on their official website said: The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Vipin Srivastava, the Seniormost Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor w.e.f. 24-01-2016 (F.N.). Various student groups have been protesting over the issue in the national capital since last week. Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room on January 17. He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader. They were also kept out of the hostel. The suspension was revoked later. (ANI)
The 17-time Grand Slam champion demolished 15th seed Goffin 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round contest that lasted for one hour and 27 minutes.

With the win, the Swiss maestro has now set-up a quarterfinal clash with sixth seed Tomas Berdych, who battled past Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain to claim 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win.

Earlier, in the third round of the tournament, Federer recorded his 300th career Grand Slam win by claiming a four-set win over Grigor Dimitrov.(ANI)
The 88-year-old was admitted on Friday night following complaints of uneasiness after he concluded the Sangat Darshan at village Behloor Kalan.

According to reports, the Chief Minister's condition is now stable.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the city to receive French President Francois Hollande who arrived on a three-day visit and is the chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade in Delhi. (ANI)
Mr Modi while addressing the India-France Business Summit here said that despite these terror attacks the France hosted the Climate Summit in which the world leaders participated. The Prime Minister also praised France for its role in COP 21 and said terrorism is a major challenge like global warming.

Mr Modi also raised issue regarding cyber security and said it is becoming vital. The Prime Minister said skilled manpower can bring down costs and improve quality.

He said Indias skilled manpower and France innovation are the greatest assets of both the countries.MORE UNI NC VJ AE RK1910

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Mr Thakur told UNI that Congress had lost during the recent PRI polls in the constituency and during his visit to the constituency, Mr Singh had failed to deliver the goods. He alleged that the Chief Minister, instead of granting projects of development most needed by the constituency, only upgraded the police post to police stations.

He said people of his constituency were peace loving citizens so instead of getting police stations, the Chief Minister should have given developmental projects to them.

The BJP MLA said the constituency was craving for development, but the Chief Minister ignored the constituency on that front.

He alleged that Mr Singh had called the BJP MLAs as mischievous, which Mr Thakur described as 'unfortunate'.

Congress men from Rakkar area too were disappointed as Mr Singh did not address the genuine demands of the area, he alleged, adding that government neither gave a degree college to Rakkar, nor withdrew case from the apex court against opening of a degree college at Kotal Bahaid. UNI XC DB RJ AN2003

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-555295.Xml
International Working President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Pravin Togadia today said he believed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would get Sri Ram Temple constructed in Ayodhya after passing a legislation in parliament. The BJP also promised to construct the temple in its election manifesto. The BJP has majority in the Lok Sabha and like Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel who constructed Somnath temple by passing a bill in Parliament, the same would happen in case of construction Ram Temple, Mr Togadia told media after addressing the VHP activists here. Dr Togadia said if the BJP did not have majority in the Rajya Sabha, then the legislation could be made after convening a joint session. Both Ram temple and Hindu nation will be a reality, he quipped. To a query, the VHP leader said claimed that from Malwa to Jammu and Kashmir, the aggressive attitude of the Jehadis was increasing while Islamic State was spreading its network in the country. The state authorities were not geared up to combat the prevailing situation, he said adding that the government should be more alert to destroy such subversive forces.UNI XC-BDG JN AJ RK2057 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-555201.Xml
A decision to this effect was taken by all the farmers and farm labourers unions after a four-hour-long meeting held at Raike Kalan village of Muktsar district.

The BKU leader said the next mode of agitation would be decided after the meeting with the Chief Minister at Raike Kalan on January 27.

He said today's meeting was strongly critical of anti-farmers policies pursued by the state government as well as by the Modi government and added that the farmers' unions were adamant to continue their struggle until their demands were conceded.

The meeting was also critical of the state government for using the police force to suppress the agitation.

The farmers were demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for the loss of cotton crop and Rs 20,000 per acre for farm labourers and clearance of payment to sugarcane growers. UNI XC DB AE BD2017

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As many as 10,316 Panches, 95 Sarpanches and 30 Members of Panchayat Samitis have been elected unanimously during the third and final phase of fifth General Elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Haryana, which were conducted in a peaceful, free and fair manner, with the exception of isolated incidents. According to information received up to 1900 hrs, more than 86.3 per cent voters cast their ballots in the State, and the final voter turnout is likely to be higher. While giving this information here today, State Election Commissioner, Rajeev Sharma, said that counting of votes for the posts of Sarpanches and Panches began immediately after closing of polls and results of 613 posts of Sarpanch were declared up to 1900 hrs. He said that according to the reports received so far, the highest turnout was recorded in Sirsa at 91.3 per cent. Mr Sharma added that 88.6 per cent voters have cast their ballots in Yamunanagar, 87.9 per cent in Panipat, 86.3 per cent in Fatehabad, 87.7 per cent voters in district Kaithal, 87.5 per cent in Ambala, 85.9 per cent in Rohtak, 85.7 per cent in Hisar, 82 per cent in Jhajjar, 81.8 per cent in Gurgaon, 86.6 per cent in Mahendragarh, 85.6 per cent in Jind, 87.4 per cent in Karnal, 85.2 per cent in Mewat, 89.9 per cent in Kurukshetra, 76.7 per cent in Faridabad, 81.2 per cent in Sonipat, 86.9 per cent in Rewari, 82.7 per cent in Bhiwani and 82.8 per cent in Palwal. The Commissioner said that during the third phase, elections were held for 1,646 seats of Sarpanches, 16,126 seats of Panches, 781 seats of Member Panchayat Samitis and 104 seats of Member Zila Parishad. Repolling was conducted in Booths Number 116 to 120 of Gram Panchayat Indri in district Mewat and village Alieka of Taoru Block. He said that 27,30,926 voters were eligible to cast their ballots at 5,231 polling booths during the third phase. Of these, 1,021 polling booths had been identified as hyper sensitive and 1,154 as sensitive. He said that about 11,500 single post Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used for election to all seats of Sarpanch and Menber Zila Parishad.UNI NC AJ GC2107 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-555421.Xml
The meeting comes after Advani had openly criticised Shah after the Bihar debacle.

Both Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who have been critical of Shah's leadership, were absent at the party headquarters here today when the entire party leadership was celebrating the BJP chief's re-election.

However, the Congress Party mocked Shah's reappointment as a 'good omen' and said that it would provide an opportunity for the Opposition to make a comeback.

"Seeing the role played by him in the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar, his appointment will provide a good opportunity for the Opposition, including the Congress to make a comeback," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, however, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP. (ANI)
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students on Sunday stood firm on their decision of going on an indefinite hunger strike in the case of the suicide of Rohith Vemula- the Dalit scholar from Hyderabad University. "We will continue with the hunger strike until the demands of the students of the Hyderabad University is met. We will sit on indefinite hunger strike. This is our second day of hunger strike. We demand resignation, arrest of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao. Bandaru Dattatreya should also be arrested. Smriti Irani should also resign. Compensation should be given to Rohith's family," said one of the protesting students of JNU. Subhanshu Singh, a political science student also echoed similar sentiments and demanded Vice Chancellor Appa Rao's resignation. Another protestor Suchishree, demanded social justice and resignation of Appa Rao. "We want social justice. We just cannot sit like this doing nothing. Today in Tamil Nadu, three girls committed suicide because they could not pay the fees. So, this should be stopped. Appa Rao has to resign because he is the main culprit in this case," she said. At least three students of JNU have gone on an indefinite hunger strike in the national capital demanding justice in the case of the suicide of Rohith Vemula Seven students were hospitalised on the fourth day of the stir at the Hyderbad University and another group of seven students today sat on an indefinite hunger strike. Meanwhile, the University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, whose resignation is being sought by the protesting students, has gone on leave. A note on their official website said: The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Vipin Srivastava, the Seniormost Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor w.e.f. 24-01-2016 (F.N.). Various student groups have been protesting over the issue in the national capital since last week. Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room on January 17. He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader. They were also kept out of the hostel. The suspension was revoked later. (ANI)
Ahead of 67th Republic Day on Tuesday, unprecedented security has been mounted in the capital, and all public installations, including Delhi Metro, have been put on high alert.Extra security has been ensured this time in view of the IS threat and the visit of French President Francois Hollande, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on January 26. The French President arrived in the capital this evening from Chandigarh, from where he began his three-day India visit.Security agencies said there were also fears of Paris-like attack on metro cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Terror suspects have been detained in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Meerut and Roorkee. The country has already witnessed a terror attack earlier this month in the form of Pathankot airbase attack in Punjab. Six terrorists had attacked Pathankot Air Force station which resulted in the death of seven security personnel. In another instance, terror angle is not being ruled out by the police in the taxi driver murder case, in which the taxi is yet to be traced. On January 14, three men rented a taxi from Gaggal Chowk for Pathankot and allegedly strangled its driver Vijay Kumar, who was found dead by the police on January 20 in the Kangra valley.MORE UNI NY AJ 2215 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-555562.Xml
Three members of one family including two children are feared drowned in the Ulhas river this evening, the district rural police said tonight. Police said the two brothers Ayesh Sanjay Singh (10) and Ajay Sanjay Singh (12) went to the river in the evening in Mharal village on the Kalyan Murbad road and were drowned. Seeing the children getting drowned their grand father ran to their rescue and also got drowned, the police said. The police team from Kalyan rural and the firemen have rushed to the scene and a hunt is on for the trio, the police said and added that the bodies are yet to be recovered. UNI XR PY AJ AN2213 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-555479.Xml
An unemployed youth from Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), who had come to Ambala Cantonment in search of a job was robbed off by some miscreants at the Ambala Cantonment railway station. Two youths approached Sonu when he was sleeping under a abandoned rail engine installed at the entrance of the station last night and asked him to hand over the money he possessed. When he refused to oblige them, they first beat him up and then stabbed him and snatched Rs 1,200 from him. A sadhu, also sleeping besides Sonu, took him to the civil hospital in serious condition when he failed to trace any of the RPF or GRP person on the station at around 0400 hrs. He was admitted in the hospital for treatment. This is the state of security affairs at the station under an alert sounded after the Pathankot terror attack on January 2. The high officials of the RPF as well as of GRP had claimed of full security measures at the sensitive Ambala Cantonment railway station. UNI XC DB PY AJ AN2243 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-555361.Xml
US Vice President Joe Biden said that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against Islamic State in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.The latest round of Syria peace talks are planned to begin tomorrow in Geneva but were at risk of being delayed partly because of a dispute over who will comprise the opposition delegation.Syrian armed rebel groups said yesterday they held the Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of peace talks to end the country's civil war, even before negotiations were due to start."We do know it would better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared ..., if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh," Biden said at a news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Daesh is the pejorative Arabic acronym for Islamic State insurgents who hold parts of Syria.A US official later clarified that Biden was talking about a military solution to Islamic State, not Syria as a whole.The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition ruled out even indirect negotiations unless Damascus took steps including a halt to Russian air strikes.Biden said he and Davutoglu also discussed how the two NATO allies could further support Sunni Arab rebel forces fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.The United States has sent dozens of special forces soldiers to help rebels fighting Islamic State in Syria although the troops are not intended for front line combat.Along with its allies Washington is also conducting air strikes against Islamic State militants who hold large chunks of Syria and Iraq and support opposition fighters battling the group.US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday he was confident Syria peace talks would proceed, after he held talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Saudi Arabia.Kerry also met in Riyadh with Riad Hijab, chair of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee and other HNC delegates representing the Syrian opposition."They discussed the upcoming UN-sponsored negotiations regarding a political transition in Syria and all agreed on the urgent need to end the violence afflicting the Syrian people," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said.Kerry also emphasized the importance of maintaining the momentum of the International Syria Support Group, a grouping of big world and regional powers backing peace efforts, Kirby said.After his GCC talks, Kerry said all in the meeting had agreed that the Support Group should meet again immediately after completion of the first round of the Syria negotiations.DISAGREEMENT OVER SYRIAN KURDISH GROUPSaleh Muslim, co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Kurdish political grouping in Syria, said on Friday the Syria peace talks would fail if Syrian Kurds are not represented.While the United States draws a distinction between PYD, whose fighters it supports, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, Davutoglu reiterated the Turkish position that the PYD's military wing is part of and supported by the PKK.The PYD's military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG) has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State with the help of US-led strikes and declared it an autonomous administration, to Ankara's chagrin.Davutoglu said yesterday the YPG had become an increasing threat to Turkey. According to local media, on the way to Turkey from Davos he also told reporters Ankara would strike YPG in northern Syria just like it hits PKK targets in northern Iraq.Ankara has fought a decades-long insurgency against Kurdish PKK separatists which in July reignited into a violent confrontation with Turkish security forces.Biden strongly criticised the PKK which is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.In his speech following talks, Davutoglu also reiterated Turkey's respect for the territorial unity of Iraq, where it deployed troops despite Baghdad's objections.Biden went on to meet with President Tayyip Erdogan, but an expected joint statement was not issued. Presidential sources later said Erdogan re-emphasised that Turkey's operations in Bashiqa, where the troops were stationed, were for training local forces there.He called for serious efforts to clear Iraq of terror - starting with Ramadi and followed by Faluja and Mosul.SLAM OVER FREEDOM OF SPEECHOn the first day of his visit, Biden met members of the ruling AK Party, the secularist opposition CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP largely to discuss the mainly Kurdish southeast. He criticised the Turkish state for intimidating media, curtailing Internet freedom and accusing academics of treason.Yesterday, local media reported that on the flight back from Davos Davutoglu told reporters Biden had not spoken with the right people to get a clear picture of what was going on.Turkey was cited by Washington as an example for the Middle East of a functioning Islamic democracy in the early years of the AK Party, which Erdogan founded. More recently, reforms have faltered and Erdogan has adopted a more authoritarian style of rule.Last week, he denounced as "dark, nefarious and brutal" more than 1,000 signatories of a declaration that criticised Turkish military action in the southeast. Security forces briefly detained 27 academics on accusations of terrorist propaganda, while dozens face investigation by their universities.In an apparent rebuke, Erdogan told Biden yesterday that he expected sensitivity from Turkey's allies and that they should avoid statements which may equate to support for those trying to hamper Turkish efforts to fight terror, presidential sources said. REUTERS PS DS PR 0432 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-554422.Xml
A 13-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead by an Israeli security guard she tried to stab at a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli police said.Hours later, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came out against Palestinian groups he said were encouraging youth to take part in an almost four-month long surge of violence with Israel which has raised concern of wider escalation a decade after the last Palestinian uprising subsided.The fatal incident yesterday followed two stabbings this week inside settlements carried out by Palestinian teenagers, according to Israeli authorities."There are people who want them to go, this is not acceptable. This is a generation we want to build. They send him (youths) there to be wounded or killed," Abbas told reporters in Ramallah.Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said initial investigations showed the teenager killed yesterday "had fought with her family and left her home with a knife and intending to die".Holding a knife, she ran toward the security guard at the entrance to Anatot settlement and he opened fire on her, Samri said. Her father arrived at the scene shortly after the incident and was arrested, she added.Eight seconds of security camera footage aired on Israeli television showed the armed guard running through the settlement gate and a young woman running after him with an object, possibly a knife, in her hand.The family of the teenager, Ruqayya Abu Eid, confirmed her death. Her mother, Reeda Abu Eid, said there had been no trouble before her daughter left the family home, a tent in the Palestinian village Anata."Her father works in a farm and Ruqayya used to go to him. I didn't see her when she left so I expected she had gone to her father," she said. "Ruqayya is a small girl, how could she stab someone?"Since the start of October, Israeli forces have killed at least 149 Palestinians, 95 of them assailants according to authorities. Most of the others have died in violent protests. Almost daily stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians have killed 25 Israelis and one US citizen.Many of the Palestinian assailants have been teenagers.On Sunday, an Israeli mother of six was stabbed to death at her home in a West Bank settlement and a 15-year-old Palestinian was arrested for the attack. On Monday, Israeli troops shot and wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian who had stabbed and wounded a pregnant Israeli woman in a settlement.The bloodshed has been fuelled by various factors including frustration over the 2014 collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the growth of Jewish settlements on land Palestinians seek for an independent state.Palestinian leaders have said that with no breakthrough on the horizon, desperate youngsters see no future ahead. Israel says young Palestinians are being incited to violence by their leaders, including Abbas, and Islamist groups.Abbas has come under fierce criticism from rivals, including Islamist Hamas which calls for Israel's destruction, for ongoing security coordination with Israel in cracking down on militant cells.He said those actions were meant to prevent escalation. "I won't allow anyone to drag me into a battle not of my choice, I do not want a military battle," Abbas said.REUTERS PS DS PR 0508 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-554425.Xml
The leader of Indonesia's second-largest political party has said his party will lend support to President Joko Widodo's government, potentially making it easier to pass legislation by giving it a majority in the house of representatives, news Website Detik reported today.The move, which falls short of an actual agreement to join the government's minority ruling coalition, was announced by Golkar leader and powerful tycoon Aburizal Bakrie yesterday."Another problem that should be solved is our position related to the President Jokowi," Bakrie was quoted as telling a party meeting on Saturday. "As a political power, Golkar was not born to be in opposition."To side with President Jokowi's power, we participate with progressive power," he added, using Widodo's popular nickname. "Our goal is to participate."Golkar, which controls nearly 15 per cent of seats in parliament, has been embroiled in a leadership dispute for months.Bakrie, patriarch of the family-owned Bakrie Group conglomerate, backed defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in the presidential election in late 2014.Disgruntled party members mounted a bid to oust him when Golkar, the political vehicle of former authoritarian ruler Suharto, failed to make it into government for the first time ever in the last election.REUTERS SA RAI1126 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0386-554596.Xml
A piece of suspected plane wreckage found off the east coast of southern Thailand on Saturday was unlikely to belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished nearly two years ago, said aviation experts and Thai officials.A large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district, told Reuters. Villagers reported it to authorities for identification, he said."Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2 metres wide and 3 metres long ," he said.The find fuelled speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. A piece of the plane washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 but no further trace has been found.Experts said that while powerful currents sweeping the Indian Ocean could deposit debris thousands of kilometres away, wreckage was extremely unlikely to have drifted across the equator into the northern hemisphere.The location of the debris in Thailand "would appear to be inconsistent with the drift models that appeared when MH370's flaperon was discovered in Reunion last July," said Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor at Flightglobal, an industry publication."The markings, engineering, and tooling apparent in this debris strongly suggest that it is aerospace related," said Waldron. "It will need to be carefully examined, however, to determine it's exact origin."Other possible sources of aerospace debris included the launching of space rockets by India eastwards over the Bay of Bengal, he said.There has been no official confirmation from Thailand that the wreckage belongs even to a plane, never mind the missing Malayasia jet."Personally, I don't think it's MH370," Thai government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters.District head Patthikongpan said the debris "could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging from barnacles on it."A spokesman for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the Canberra-based authority which is overseeing the international search for MH370, told Reuters it was "awaiting results of the official examination of the material."The Malaysian transport ministry is in contact with Thai authorities to verify the debris, a ministry spokesman said.Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course. Most of the passengers were Chinese.Lingering uncertainty surrounding its fate has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery.The fragment found in Thailand "just doesn't look like aircraft fuselage," aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told Reuters from near Perth."It just doesn't make any sense," he said. "I don't think there's any connection with MH370 whatsoever."REUTERS SA CS1234 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0137-554651.Xml
Afghanistan's Taliban demanded the release of political prisoners among a list of conditions that they said today would need to be met before they consider rejoining peace talks aimed at ending the 15-year war.Taliban forces have stepped up their campaign in the last year to topple the Kabul government, which has struggled since most foreign troops left at the end of 2014.The Islamist insurgents are demanding the release of an unnamed list of prisoners, to be removed from a UN blacklist freezing their assets and imposing a travel ban on its leaders, and to have a political office formally recognised.These are "among the preliminary steps needed for peace," the Taliban said in a statement. "Without them, progress towards peace is not feasible."The demands came a day after representatives of the Taliban and former Afghan officials met in Qatar at a conference to resolve the war organised by the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, a Nobel peace prize-winning crisis group.The rare talks are a step toward a peace process that has proved elusive during a 15-year war that has killed tens of thousands of Afghans since the Taliban were driven from power by a 2001 U.S.-led military operation.Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States met last week to lay the ground for a negotiated end to the war and called for the Taliban to rejoin the peace process.The first formal peace talks with the Taliban since the start of the war collapsed last year after it was announced its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who sanctioned the talks, had been dead for two years, throwing the group into disarray.Despite the efforts to restart talks, the Taliban since the start of the year have ramped their campaign of violence across Afghanistan, with suicide attacks and territorial gains in Helmand province.REUTERS CJ RK1801 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-555098.Xml
The United States is scrutinising developments in Poland, the US trade czar said today when asked if Washington was concerned about the European Union's rule of law inquiry into Poland and Standard and Poor's cut to Warsaw's credit rating. "As a fellow democracy we do follow developments here very closely," US Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters during his visit to Google Campus in Warsaw. "We certainly do follow it. As a democracy, we want to make sure that Poland's democracy continues to address the issues."REUTERS PY AN2030 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-555460.Xml
The Iraqi foreign ministry said today it had summoned the Saudi ambassador over comments he made to the media a day earlier regarding Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias in Iraq. "This constitutes...a breach of diplomatic protocol and is based on inaccurate information," the ministry said in a statement about Saudi envoy Thamer al-Sabhan's remarks, in which he said the Hashid Shaabi militia should leave the fight against Islamic State militants to the Iraqi army and official security forces in order to avoid aggravating sectarian tensions. "The Hashid Shaabi are fighting terrorism and defending the country's sovereignty and acting under the umbrella and command of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces," the statement said, referring to the coalition of mainly Shi'ite paramilitary groups.REUTERS PY AN2031 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-555461.Xml
Like the Sisters of Charity who first arrived during Montana territorial days, Sister Marie Damian Glatt was a pioneer. She helped lead Catholic education in Billings, and later led a multi-state hospital organization. She was always a teacher, even in retirement.

Sister Marie Damian died on Jan. 16 at the sisters motherhouse in Leavenworth, Kan. She was 84.

When I first met her more than 20 years ago, she was a tiny, soft spoken gray-haired woman who was everyones boss at St. Vincent Healthcare and its sister hospitals in Butte, California, Colorado and Kansas.

As president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health Services Corp., Sister Marie Damian was based in Kansas. I interviewed her when she visited Billings on business at St. Vincent, and we talked about the Kansas City area where I grew up and she then lived. Billings was Sister Marie Damians hometown, so she came back to visit family, too.

During her decade as CEO, the SCL health services conducted its first comprehensive system financing, selling $207 million in bonds in 1994. A portion of the proceeds refinanced debt for St. Vincent.

A year later, Sister Marie Damian was in Miles City to meet with leadership of the Presentation Health System, owned by an order of Catholic nuns based in Aberdeen, S.D. The Presentation sisters transferred Holy Rosary Hospital to the SCL corporation on Sister Marie Damians watch. She then reorganized and regionalized top management at the three Montana SCL hospitals.

In 1991, a year before she was selected as the health services president, she was tapped to help launch a long-range planning committee for Billings Catholic Schools. Two decades earlier, she had been principal at the Fratt Memorial School. She also taught in Billings and in other Catholic schools in the West.

Because the sisters needed expertise in health care administration, Sister Marie went to work in hospitals, including St. Vincent. She earned a masters degree in health administration from the University of Colorado.

Kent Burgess, president and CEO of St. Johns Lutheran Ministries, says Sister Marie Damian was cheerleader in chief for the development of Mission Ridge and The Vista senior living on the St. Johns campus. The joint venture of St. Johns and St. Vincent began while she was the system CEO. Burgess said he was confident that it would meet the SCLs approval because Sister Marie Damian approved. I love this project, she wrote on an early draft of plans.

Mission Ridge and The Vista continue today to be operated as she envisioned, with the profits of the nonprofit venture being returned to St. Johns and St. Vincent to help cover costs of caring for indigent nursing home and hospital patients.

Sister Marie Damian moved back to Billings after retiring. She still worked part time on special projects for the health services corporation and was appointed to the board that governs Mission Ridge. As a fellow volunteer on that board, I knew Sister Marie as a patient teacher. She led us through studies of nonprofit governance and the proper role of board members. She kept us focused on our mission. I often wished that other local boards had Sister Marie Damian to show them how to get along and make the best decisions.

Sister Marie Damians successor as SCL-HSC president wasnt a nun. As the number of women entering the religious life has decreased, more lay people have been enlisted to lead the health organization. They have a tough act to follow: Selfless dedication to serving Gods people was Sister Marie Damians life.
KALISPELL  Its a story that is certainly part mystery, perhaps part miracle, and had its start more than a century ago.

Maybe it would be best, however, to pick it up at the most recent turn of a century.

Thats when Leanne Goldhahn and her husband, Alan, were cleaning out a garage in Billings after Leannes father had passed away.

As the Goldhahns sorted through boxes and emptied shelves, they came across a large, dust-covered roll of canvases.

If you could have seen where they had been stored, youd be amazed, Leanne says.

Unsure what they had found, they carried the canvases out to the driveway and began unrolling them.

It was obviously something wonderful, Leanne says. There were so many of them, and they were so big.

As the Goldhahns unfurled the canvases on that driveway in Billings, a family story Leanne remembers hearing at some point came rushing back.

These were, she realized, some of the lost, and almost-lost, murals from Glacier Park Lodge.

Remodel

Lets back up another half century or so.

Leannes grandparents, Robert and Leona Brown, had owned a grocery store in East Glacier called Brownies.

The story has it that in the 1950s, the massive Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier underwent extensive remodeling, maybe after frozen pipes had burst and damaged the building. The lobby of the hotel, built in 1913 by railroad tycoon Louis Hill, was modeled after the Forestry Building at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Ore.

Hill had micromanaged the design and construction of Glacier Park Lodge, just as he later would with Lake McDonald Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel. He commissioned an artist to paint murals of various Glacier Park scenes to fit in specific spaces above the wainscoting  wooden paneling that lines the lower part of walls of a room  in the hotel.

Whatever remodeling was going on 40-some years later, it apparently didnt make allowances for most of what a 1939 hotel inventory had put at 51 such murals commissioned by Hill.

And so, in the 1950s, workers cut the murals out of their built-in frames and tossed them onto the lawn outside the lodge with other scrap from the work.

Rescue

Whether her grandparents knew this was going on and set out to rescue some of the murals, or whether they simply happened upon them, Leanne Goldhahn doesnt know.

But the Browns saved 15 original murals otherwise destined to be hauled off to the dump. Many more may have been thrown out, or maybe other people in East Glacier grabbed them. No one knows. But only a small number of the 51  ones deemed to provide needed color accents  apparently survived the remodel and remain in the lodge.

There wasnt much more the Browns could do than rescue the paintings. Some of the 4-foot-deep murals are as wide as 13 feet, so its not like they could have hung a bunch of them in their living room.

The 15 canvases, rescued from a trash heap, were rolled up and stored away in the Browns garage in East Glacier.

And years later, when Robert and Leona Brown sold Brownies, retired and moved to Kalispell, they took the murals with them. The large paintings found a new home, in a new garage.

After her grandparents died, Leanne Goldhahn says her father cleaned out the garage in Kalispell and obviously discovered the long-forgotten murals. He took them home to Laurel, and put them in his garage.

When her parents moved to Billings, the murals made another trip to another garage.

Finally, in 2000, another garage cleaning revealed them to another generation of the family.

By then, Leanne says, the paintings were in pretty bad shape. They were dirty and had water damage. But I knew I couldnt throw them away. I took them home to Bozeman, but I didnt really know what to do with them either.

Discovery

Eventually, Leanne turned to Jim Brown, owner of Old Main Gallery and Framing in Bozeman.

When she first called, she asked if we had experience framing large paintings, Brown says. I told her we did, and she said she was going to bring some things by.

Brown says the 15 murals included three or four that were in pretty good condition, given their history, and all, in his opinion, were good, quality pieces.

But who painted them? Not a one contained an artists signature. The only writing was on the backs of the murals, which were numbered and contained their intended display spots in Glacier Park Lodge, such as dining room.

So Jim Brown set about looking for people who might help him untangle the mystery. It wasnt long before someone suggested the artist might have been John Fery, a well-known painter who Hill had hired to capture countless scenes from inside the park.

They would have been worth a small fortune if theyd been done by Fery, Brown says.

They werent, but still, the collection  even in the condition it was in  was probably worth something in the neighborhood of $50,000. Browns research eventually led him to a 2010 article in Montana: The Magazine of Western History.

Titled The Miraculous Survival of the Art of Glacier National Park, it was written by University of Montana art professor H. Rafael Chacon.

Brown contacted the professor.

From his description of the murals, and later by photographs Brown took of all 15, Chacon was able to verify that all had once graced the walls of Glacier Park Lodge. He matched them up with historic photographs taken of the hotels interior prior to the 1950s-era remodeling.

There was even evidence Fery had once intended to paint the murals  he had drawn up preliminary sketches of some of the scenes  but apparently Fery had so much other Glacier work on his plate, that Hill turned to a different artist to expedite the process.

Who that was, has been lost to the ages.

They may have been done in New York City, by someone with a studio, and painted from photographs taken in the park, Brown says.

The Goldhahns had initially been interested in framing one mountain scene for themselves and selling the rest, but the more they learned about the history of the murals, the more they wanted to keep the collection together and make them available to the public for the first time in more than half a century.

Brown and Chacon helped them find a new home for the lost murals of Glacier Park Lodge.

Make that homes. Leanne Goldhahn, who donated them to the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, loves the plan the museum came up with for the paintings her grandparents saved from a trash pile decades ago.

Damage

Once the Goldhahns decided they wanted to donate the murals in memory of Leannes grandparents, Brown helped find them a suitable place.

They first, Brown says, contacted the park itself, which has a museum program that was very interested in the murals, but no budget for restoring the large artwork.

That led them to the Hockaday, whose mission in part is to preserve the artistic legacy of Glacier National Park.

The Goldhahns donated 14 of the 15 murals to the Kalispell museum in 2012. The other  the mountain scene Leanne had picked out for herself  will eventually return to the collection through the Goldhahns will.

The Hockaday, communications director Brian Eklund says, is restoring the murals as money specifically for that purpose is raised. The cost is running from $3,000 to $5,000 per painting.

So far, six of the 14 have been restored by art conservator Joe Abbrescia Jr. of Kalispell, owner of Abbrescia Gallery and Fine Art Restoration Studio.

Abbrescias own father was an acclaimed painter of Glacier Park scenes.

They do look like they were all possibly done by the same hands, and they were done well, Abbrescia says. They are composed nicely. Somebody knew what they were doing. But the only markings are on the backs of the murals, where they say things like Dining Room No. 42 or Dining Room No. 27.

The murals, done in a water-based medium, are in various conditions, he says, ranging from really bad to not so bad.

Being rolled up, they got creases and scuff marks, Abbrescia says. Theres also water damage and decades worth of dirt and grime to deal with. Abbrescia is restoring, mounting and framing the murals under plexiglass to protect them from here on out.

Hanging up

The first four that have been restored are on permanent display at the Hockaday, and include scenes from Lake McDonald and Grinnell Lake.

Short of adding a wing, however, theres really no way for the museum to display all the murals. Eklund says the museum wasnt interested in simply storing the rest of the collection, given that its already been hidden away in garages spread far and wide across Montana for decades.

So after the BNSF Foundation funded the restoration of the fifth and sixth murals  another Lake McDonald scene, and one depicting high-country glaciers  the Hockaday recently installed them at the OShaughnessy Center in Whitefish.

Thats the plan: to find public places across the region where people can enjoy the artwork that once decorated the walls of Glacier Park Lodge. Eklund says the museums board of directors will consider proposals from as far away as Missoula and Great Falls to display one or more of the murals in public places as money comes in to restore the paintings.

It could be courthouses, city halls, theaters, colleges. The challenge, Eklund says, will be in finding places with big and prominent spaces to accommodate one of the murals.

Theyre so big, they need a special place, Leanne Goldhahn says. The Hockaday could have put them in storage, but theyre really making the effort to put them back where the public can see them. I applaud what theyre doing.

The mystery of the murals  who painted them  may never be solved.

But the miracle of the murals is now nearly complete. The paintings have gone from a lawn just steps away from Glacier National Park, to garages in East Glacier, Kalispell, Laurel, Billings and Bozeman.

At any point, they easily could have been thrown out, Leanne Goldhahn says.

Instead, the rescue mission her grandparents started in the 1950s is now in its final phases.
Blevins hired

Michael Blevins has been hired as branch manager/project estimator in the Robert Gibb & Sons Bismarck location.

Blevins has extensive experience in the construction and plumbing trades and 12 years as a licensed building inspector. He owned and operated Missouri Valley Plumbing in Washburn until 2012, when he began serving with New Tribes Mission.

Nesvig joins

Jacob Nesvig has joined American Bank Center in Bismarck as the business banking supervisor.

Nesvig most recently was the director of clinic finance at Sanford Health and has financial services industry experience.

Originally from Grand Forks, Nesvig earned an undergraduate degree in banking and financial economics and a master's degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota.

Fewson at Integra

Den Na Lee Fewson has joined Integra Realty Group Inc. as a real estate agent.

Fewson has a sales background and will specialize in residential sales in the Bismarck-Mandan area.

Leading agents

Kirstin Wilhelm was Decembers top agent for Keller Williams Realty Bismarck/Fargo in closed and listing volumes and Ann Andre led in written volume.

Promoted at bank

Christa Schwartzenberger has been promoted to personal loan officer at Gate City Banks Sunrise Town Centre location in Bismarck.

She has been with the bank since 2005, most recently as a personal loan officer at the Mandan location.

A native of Streeter, Schwartzenberger earned a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Jamestown.

Two join firm

Stephanie Scheurer and Maria Dockter are new employees at Agency MABU.

Scheurer is a communications project manager. Scheurer previously was a reporter at KX News and has experience in interviewing, writing, video production and social media management.

She earned a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of North Dakota.

Dockter is a project manager for website development and has related experience.

Dockter previously was a project coordinator at AVI Systems in Bismarck. She earned a masters degree in project management from the University of Mary and is a certified associate in project management through the Project Management Institute.

Wald achieves

David Wald, of Bismarck, has been named the 2015 adviser of the year by Securian Financial Advisors of North Dakota, based on his production and service to clients. Wald is with Securian Financial Advisors of N.D. Inc. at 1550 Burnt Boat Drive in Bismarck. He has been with the firm since 2008.

Larson hired

Roger Larson has been hired as president of the North Dakota Grocers Association, succeeding Tom Woodmansee, who is retiring.

Larson has a long history of retail grocery experience, most recently as operations manager at Millers Fresh Foods. He is a former owner of Edgeley Food Center and Larsons SuperValu in West Fargo.

He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a marketing major.

Hoffman with BNC

Brandon Hoffman has been hired as the mortgage area manager for the North Dakota markets of BNC National Bank. He will work at BNCs downtown Bismarck bank.

Hoffman has more than 15 years of mortgage banking experience, 11 of them in a management role.

Five join Kupper

Kupper Chevrolet-Subaru in Mandan has five new employees.

Rick Duguette, formerly of Bagley, Minn., brings 32 years of sales and management experience to his position as a sales and leasing consultant at Kupper Chevrolet.

Jackson Frazier, of Bismarck, works in the body shop. He gained experience from Bismarck State Colleges Auto Body Department and is ASC- and GM-certified.

Kelsey Hanson, of Bismarck, is office manager. She has experience in accounting and business administration.

Zachariah Herslip, from Deering, is a member of the sales staff at Kupper Chevrolet. Herslip has previous sales experience.

Matt Sebelius, formerly of Minnewaukan, is a metal technician in the body shop. Sebelius studied in the auto body repair and refinishing program at North Dakota State College of Science and has been doing auto body work since 2000.

Kaseman at DEI

Terri Kaseman has joined Dakota Eye Institute as an ophthalmic scribe.

She has a medical assistant degree and is originally from Jamestown.
The North Dakota Dairy Coalition is seeking state funding to research the possibility of a new milk processing plant in the region.

In order for North Dakota to increase and expand its milk production, its milk processing capacity will also need to increase and diversify, the coalition said in its application to the Agricultural Products Utilization Commission.

If approved for $82,000 in grant funding, the study would consider the combined power of South Dakotas success in growing its dairy industry and North Dakota's dairy herd growth potential in recruiting milk-processing capacity.

The proposed plant would be accessible to both North Dakota and South Dakota dairy producers.

Jennifer Holle, whose family has a dairy farm south of Mandan, said the North Dakota Dairy Coalition, of which she is a director, hasn't conducted a feasibility study in about 10 years.

"South Dakota (dairy industry) is growing at such a ridiculous rate that we're actually partnering with them," said Holle, adding that she hopes a strategically placed processing plant could benefit both states.

Holle also said that, while the number of dairies in North Dakota is decreasing, existing operations are growing. The Holles' Northern Lights Dairy milks about 600 cows and their numbers keep climbing. They are shipping directly to Dean Food's Land O' Lakes facility in Bismarck but are worried, if they keep increasing production, where they will be able to send excess milk.

Holle said knowing where potential new processing could locate may affect where any dairy operations moving into North Dakota choose to place their facilities.

The study will identify advantages and disadvantages of the region, where the processor should be located and what type of plant would make the most sense. It will also identify what steps need to be taken to attract such a plant.

Small-town processors

Blaine and Kathy Goetz started Bessys Best, processing their own dairy products near Sterling, in 2008.

The price of milk was so low, said Kathy Goetz, adding that they were getting only about $8 per hundredweight.

The Goetzes started by cutting things from their operation that they didnt absolutely need, using home remedies instead of medicines on the cattle.

We were down to 75 cows, and it was either either get out or , Kathy Goetz said, gesturing to the Bessys Best processing facility.

Kathy Goetz said their son wanted to dairy farm. He had four kids and they kept it going for him and his family.

The Goetzes got into raising dairy cattle, taking over the operation from Blaine Goetzs parents, in 1980. When they started, there were about 5,000 dairies in North Dakota, Blaine Goetz said. Now there are less than 100.

Wed be out of the dairy business (if not for Bessys Best), Blaine Goetz said.

Bessys definitely carries the farm, Kathy Goetz said.

The Goetzes get the milk from their barn with a truck, hauling it up the driveway to their processing facility, where they dump it into a vat for pasteurization.

We dont call it processing; we call it bottling, Blain Getz said. The milk is how the cows make it.

The vat acts as a double boiler, bringing the milk to a specified temperature, Kathy Goetz said. Then it is allowed to cool for half an hour.

She said larger processors dont hold their milk for cooling but, instead, run it through something like a heat exchange that takes seconds to heat and cool the product.

The Goetzes also homogenize their milk, shaking it so the cream wont separate out. Some product is pulled aside for cheese.

We never have just milk, Kathy Goetz said.

To the Goetzes knowledge, they are the only ones making cheese commercially in the state.

There are smaller vats for curds and a tank for yogurt.

The only thing is we use a different culture, she said.

Kathy Goetz said they have about 10 kinds of cheeses, along with fresh milk and yogurt, including Greek yogurt sold exclusively at the shop on the farm.

We like that its whole and natural and we give it to the public at a reasonable price, Blaine Goetz said.

A gallon of milk sells for $3.50 in the farm store.

Bessys Best is also available in SuperValu stores, some privately owned stores such as the grocery store in Hazelton and Dans Supermarket. Blaine Goetz said customers can also taste it in the foods at Peacock Alley and 40 Steak + Seafood in Bismarck.

Getting their product into grocery stores was difficult, the Goetzes said.

They started processing 60 gallons and are now up to 1,600 every other day. They used to only fill two Bossy carts. Now, their coolers are packed full. Their dairy herd is also back to around 100 cows.

Blaine Goetz said another processing facility in the region may help dairies if the price is good.

Thats half the thing right there, Kathy Goetz said, and trucking is so expensive, biting into profits.

The Goetzes said other challenges faced by dairies include labor. Its a labor intensive business and good help is hard to find. The first time the couple left the farm overnight was for their 25th wedding anniversary. They went to Medora. Theyve been married 40 years now, and they joked that their family hasnt offered to take care of the farm while theyre gone since.
Chisinau (AFP) - Some 40,000 opposition demonstrators on Sunday took to the streets of Moldova's capital Chisinau calling for early elections as a political crisis continues to rock the tiny ex-Soviet state.

The protest movement -- which includes forces from the left and right that are considered both pro-European and pro-Russian -- has stepped up demonstrations since a new government for the impoverished nation was approved on Wednesday.

Demonstrators braved sub-zero temperatures to express their anger at rampant corruption among the ruling elite and the influence of oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who is seen as being the real power behind the new administration.

"The people are with us. They do not want to support oligarchs and the criminal authorities!" opposition leader Andrei Nastase told protestors.

A rival pro-government rally that had been scheduled to take place was cancelled at the last moment after organisers said they wanted to avoid any clashes.

Moldova has been locked in political crisis over a $1-billion (925-million-euro) corruption scandal erupted early last year, triggering mass demonstrations and the arrest of former premier Vlad Filat in October.

Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova is often seen in terms of a tug-of-war between Moscow and the West, especially after it inked an historic EU association agreement in 2014 despite bitter opposition from former master Russia.

But the current protests have seen both nominally pro-Western and pro-Russian forces from the right and left temporarily put aside their differences to challenge a ruling elite they accuse of using pro-European rhetoric to cover up widespread graft.
Academy members are reacting with a range of responses  from joy to resignation to anger  to Friday's announcement that the organization plans to restrict voting privileges to "active" members in response to the lack of diversity amongst this year's Oscar nominations. Under the new rules, members who have not worked across a span of three decades after gaining membership will lose the right to cast Oscar ballots unless they've been nominated for an Oscar themselves.

Supporters have been most open with their reactions. Ava DuVernay, a member of the directors branch who controversially did not receive a directing nomination for Selma last year, tweeted: "One good step in a long, complicated journey for people of color + women artists. Shame is a helluva motivator. We've all felt shame even when we didn't believe we were wrong. It's the fact that EVERYONE ELSE thinks you're wrong. Fix it mode kicks in. Marginalized artists have advocated for Academy change for DECADES. Actual campaigns. Calls voiced FROM THE STAGE. Deaf ears. Closed minds. Whether it's shame, true feelings, or being dragged kicking + screaming, just get it done. Because the alternative isn't pretty."

However, of the wide cross section of members with whom The Hollywood Reporter spoke on Friday and Saturday, far more were displeased with the move than pleased with it, insisting that the Academy's older members were being unfairly scapegoated.

Read More: Oscars: Chris Rock Won't Boycott, Will Address #OscarsSoWhite Outrage in Monologue

"Notes from the soon-to-be-retired peanut gallery," was the subject line of an email I received from one longtime member of the writers branch whose credits all came in the 1970s. "I'm an obvious candidate," he acknowledged, "which does not bother me too much. But I have voted, often, for Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson and other people of color. And such a procedure does raise the question of the nature of the Academy: is its membership based on merit and accomplishment or in-tune-ness with all that is currently popular?"

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Some were less accepting of the news. "It's trying to clear the decks so the show can go on in February without people screaming," vented Sam Weisman, 68, of the directors branch. "As a member who has stepped partially away from the industry, it feels like someone like me is being victimized. I'm in the mentoring phase of my life  I teach  so I'm now supposed to not be relevant, even though I'm being as relevant, in working with young artists, as people who have current credits are. And, by the way, I've contributed a lot of time to the Academy as a judge for the Nicholl Fellowships and the Student Academy Awards. So basically they're saying that I don't matter anymore. It seems like this is a hastily put-together reaction to a firestorm."

Tab Hunter, 84, a member of the actors branch, concurred, calling the announcement "bullshit." He elaborated, "Obviously, it's a thinly-veiled ploy to kick out older white contributors  the backbone of the industry  to make way for younger, 'politically-correct' voters. The Academy should not cave in to media hype and change the rules without talking to or getting votes from all members first."

Documentary branch member Arnold Schwartzman, an Oscar winner for 1982's Genocide, was aggrieved on behalf of his fellow members. "I'm quite angry," he said. "I'm all right, I've got my Oscar. But what about all of those people that were elected to the Academy because they are skilled, but who never got an Oscar nomination?" He continued, "I just resent being characterized by some people as a racist. We judge films on the merits. There were some great films with white people that didn't get in that I was upset about. Race had nothing to do with any of it."

Read More: Academy Unveils Dramatic Changes to Promote Diversity

Executives branch member Marcia Nasatir, 89, who in recent decades has worked as an independent producer, asked what the word "active" even means in the eyes of the Academy. "Someone has to answer that question," she said. "It sometimes takes 10 years to get a movie made when you work on it as a producer, so what does this mean for producers?"

"Thank God I'm 'active,'" chuckled Mike Medavoy, 75, also of the executives branch. He said of the new membership requirements, "My feeling is generally that they're fair. There are a lot of members that got in because at the time they were executives. But if you haven't been active for over 10 years, then you're not 'active' and it seems to me you have to justify your membership." He questioned, though, if the changes would impact the diversity of the Academy's selections. "You can keep adding members  pack it like the Supreme Court [during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration]  but I don't think that answers the question. I also don't think that the boycott [of the Oscars ceremony called for by some] is a good idea because it diminishes the rest of the people in the Academy."

A member of the music branch who wished to remain anonymous suggested the move has far more bark than it has bite. "I don't know how many people it's actually going to affect," she said, noting that the majority of "old-timers" were invited after being nominated (although some got in under rules that used to allow people with questionable credentials to become a member upon receiving the recommendation of two other members).

Leigh Castle, an agent who, as an associate member, doesn't have voting privileges, was torn about the decision made in the name of the organization to which she has belonged for decades. "I'm kind of on the fence about it and trying to look at both sides," she said. "I go to the Academy a lot and there are some people there that shouldn't be voting  they're very elderly and they don't look as if they can really judge what's in today's market, so in that way it has some merit. But there are other people that are 90 years old or whatever and they're perfectly vibrant and very much with it and, while they may be retired, it doesn't mean they aren't functioning on all cylinders. They have earned the privilege of being in the Academy through their work and just because they're no longer active doesn't mean that they can't be a good judge of what they're looking at." (Of "the diversity business" that spurred the rule change, she said, "People were chosen on merit. I don't think it had anything in the world to do with color. I mean, I would have picked Will Smith for Concussion  I think he did a marvelous job in that and it's very topical. But the reason that didn't get anywhere is the same reason that Truth didn't get anywhere: money talks.")

Read More: Ava DuVernay, Al Sharpton Respond to Academy Diversity Changes

Veteran publicist Bruce Feldman, a member of the public relations branch, was outraged. He said that days ago, upon hearing rumors that the Academy might seek to sanction members who haven't been active in recent years, he emailed the PR branch's three representatives on the Board of Governors  Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Marvin Levy and Nancy Utley  and pleaded with them to consult the members they represent before making any changes, and that Levy and Utley acknowledged his concerns in a reply but Boone Isaacs did not. "I think that's wrong," he said. "I think they have an obligation to represent us and not to act unilaterally. As a long-standing member, I find these actions very, very discouraging. While I understand that changes are necessary, it's disappointing that the Governors never communicated what they were considering with members and never asked for feedback before they made a decision. I would like to point out that we elect members to represent us and they have very simply failed to do so."

Another member of the PR branch who wished to remain anonymous fumed, "They did a knee-jerk reaction, when in fact the issue around actors [of color not receiving nominations] is in the actors branch  they are the ones who do the nominations!" He continued, "This 30-year rule is going to hit the PR branch and executives branch the hardest. What are you going to tell Bob Iger? He got in in 2005 when he took over Disney. He leaves in a year and goes to the NFL. So is he out? He is only building the Academy Museum."

A similar point was raised by another longtime member. He asked, "Who calls Les Moonves when CBS [Films] goes down? Then Rich Ross and Gail Berman? Theyre in TV! And what about Jeff Shell and Kevin Tsujihara? Theyre not going to be active for 30 years going forward. Michael Lynton once hes fired? Beyonce and J-Lo? Are they in the movie business? Is Jada Pinkett Smith in the movie business? And by the way, there are a lot of Academy board members who aren't 'active,' like Jon Bloom or Bill Kroyer, who teaches." He continued, "I have news for you: older people who lived through the struggles for civil rights are way more sensitive to minority issues than young people who dont understand what it was all about in the first place. Its fing knee-jerk liberalism without taking into consideration what is fair. Bill Mechanic should get a special shout-out for waging a 10-year struggle to kick out older people and bragging about it in the Times. What an idiot." And, he added, "I imagine the NAACPs film group [the Image Awards] is also racist for not choosing Ava DuVernay for best director for Selma?"

A member of the documentary branch posted a bitingly sarcastic statement to Facebook: "The Motion Picture Academy, in the spirit of Affirmative Action (which has worked so well in our universities), is determined to take the Oscar vote away from the Old White Guys (including mine, possibly). Personally, I wish they'd examine their complex preferential ballot procedure which clearly isn't working right. But no, blame the Old White Guys."

Another PR branch member who is very active mused: "Their goal is to eliminate 'non-active' members, in spite of their experience, and to attract young industry members more in tune with the times. However, last I looked, these young industry members are the ones working today who are not making diverse films. What makes anyone think that having these additional members will change anything? The assumption is that minorities vote for minority projects and white members dont. I've never heard anything so absurd and, yes, racist."

Among the people whose voting privileges appear to be on the chopping block is Mother Dolores Hart, 77, who for many decades has been a nun at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Conn., but who was an actress until the age of 24, and famously gave Elvis Presley his first on-screen kiss. "I've been an Academy member since 1960 and it does mean a lot to me, it really does," said Hart, who emphasized that she diligently watches almost all of the screeners she receives. "The older I get, the more I value the films that come  and I have time to see them." She said she is not sure she'll continue to watch films "if I have no way to offer a comment about them," and feels other members moved to "emeritus" status will react the same way: "I think it's going to destroy their initiative. Why would you sit for all of those hours if you have no say in anything?"

"I really think that the Academy will miss the input of people who have wisdom and experience," continued Hart. "I live in a monastery. We have age groups from 23 to 89, and it's very interesting to see how a younger generation evaluates things. But to cut out the wisdom of another grouping? I think you lose a very important voice." She added, "It's age discrimination," and insisted that she and the Academy members she knows don't have a racist bone in their body: "I just find the whole thing so disturbing, to say the least. I used to know the president of the Academy, and unfortunately I don't now. But if I did, I would ask her to please reconsider this."
The Afghan Taliban Sunday reiterated their preconditions for the resumption of peace talks with Kabul, including their removal from international terror blacklists, at an informal meeting with lawmakers and activists in Doha.

Members of the Taliban's political office in Qatar began two days of discussions with an Afghan delegation Saturday as momentum grows for the start of a formal peace process.

The militant group emphasised a hardline stance on talks aimed at ending its 14-year insurgency, ruling out negotiations until Taliban preconditions were met.

"Before any official talks, we want names of our mujahedeen to be removed from UN and US blacklists and all bounties on their heads be cancelled," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, listing the group's demands at the Qatar conference.

"We also want our political office in Doha to be officially reopened."

The Taliban opened an office in Qatar in June 2013 as a first move towards a possible peace deal.

But it shut a month later after enraging the then Afghan president Hamid Karzai by styling itself as the unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.

Following the end of the two-day conference, the Taliban's spokesman in Qatar, Mohamed Naeem, called the talks "positive".

"I can say that there are several points (that) have been agreed upon," he told AFP.

"Firstly, removing foreign troops, but how that could be implemented has not been discussed.

"Also, everyone agreed on the establishment of an independent Islamic regime and also the majority of the participants agreed to have a formal title of the Islamic Emirate (of Afghanistan)."

The High Peace Council -- the government body tasked with negotiating with the Taliban -- has urged the militants to resume talks without preconditions.

"Any preconditions could further delay the reconciliation process," HPC official Aminuddin Muzaffari told AFP.

Afghan government officials did not attend the meeting in the Gulf emirate, which was organised by Pugwash Conferences, an international group that promotes conflict resolution.

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Professor Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, the head of Pugwash, said afterwards there could be "no military solution" to Afghanistan's problems.

The Doha talks marked a rare direct interaction between the Taliban and Afghan lawmakers and civil society members amid an international push to revive talks.

However, despite a push to restart talks, the Taliban have ramped up violence across Afghanistan.

Seven employees of popular Afghan TV channel TOLO were killed on Wednesday when a Taliban car bomber rammed into their minibus in Kabul, just months after the militants declared the network a legitimate "military target".

At least 25 other people were wounded in the bombing near the Russian embassy in downtown Kabul, in the first direct assault on an Afghan media organisation since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001.
While several of the producers taking part in the annual PGA Nominees Breakfast, which was held today, applauded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for moving to address diversity issues within that organization, they pointed out that change really has to start at the beginning of the production process and not when awards are handed out at the end of it.

I think the things the Academy has just made is a great step, Alejandro Inarritu, a nominee for The Revenant said, but the Academy really is at the end of the chain. He went on to say, Hopefully, active change, positive change, they can start at the beginning of the chain. He added, The complexity of the demographics of this country should be reflected not only at the end of the chain, noting that cinema is the mirror where we can all see ourselves.

Read More: Academy's New Voting Rules Raise Questions, Concerns and Anger Among Members

That sentiment was seconded by Sicarios Basil Iwanyk, who observed, I think that a big mistake is just to focus on how the Academy votes and not work backwards to about how movies and television are generated. As a white guy, he admitted, I dont have that experience in terms of feeling left out. But, he continued, I felt that the rage toward the Academy was justified, but that's not the problem. The problem comes much earlier in the process.

Scott Bernstein, one of the producers of Straight Outta Compton, who stood in on the panel for producer-director F. Gary Gray, who was stranded on the East Coast by the snowstorm, first told of how a white test audience was won over by the movie after watching an R-rated trailer and realizing it was about the creator of Beats by Dre and then commented that movies are not exclusive, they are inclusive. Thats what all these stories represent. And Im not saying the Academy is inclusive or exclusive. Weve all made movies up here that reflect the world. He added, This conversation has begun.

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Read More: Academy Unveils Dramatic Changes to Promote Diversity

Speaking of the responsibility that producers themselves have to address the issue in their work, The Big Shorts Dede Gardner summed it up, saying, It starts with us. Its a position of tremendous power.

PGA president Gary Lucchesi moderated the conversation, which took place at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Hollywood and which was sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter. Participating were producers from all 10 films nominated for the PGAs top film award. They also included Kristie Macosko Krieger from Bridge of Spies; Finola Dwyer, Brooklyn; Andrew Macdonald, Ex Machina; Doug Mitchell, Mad Max: Fury Road; Michael Schaefer, The Martian and Michael Sugar, Spotlight.

Much of the discussion involved the nuts-and-bolts challenges that producers face in development, financing, casting and production, with Lucchesi teasing out the commonalities among the movies.

Mitchell explained, for example, how Fury Road initially was set to shoot in the desert in Australia, but when a drought and then a subsequent flood turned that desert into a flower field, the production moved instead to Namibia. And Schaefer got a laugh when he then explained that in looking for locations for The Martian, which ultimately filmed in Budapest and Jordan, his production first scouted Australia only to stumble upon that same flower field.

Lucchesi also pointed out that when it came to casting three of the nominated movies  Brooklyn, Ex Machina and The Revenant  all cast Domhnall Gleeson. Joked Inarritu before praising the actors talent, He was very cheap by the way. The PGA Awards themselves will be held this evening at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

Read More: Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Four More Directors on the Decline of "Middle-Class Films," Facing Retirement
London (AFP) - Almost 60 investigations into British soldiers accused of unlawful killings during the war in Iraq have been dropped, defence ministry officials said Sunday.

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), set up to investigate allegations by Iraqi civilians of abuse by British soldiers between the US-led invasion in 2003 and 2009 when British combat troops left, has decided not to proceed in 57 cases.

The military's prosecuting authority stopped one additional case, the defence ministry said.

It follows an announcement by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron of proposals to stop returned soldiers "being hounded by lawyers over claims that are totally without foundation".

Cameron accused lawyers of creating "an industry trying to profit from spurious claims lodged against our brave servicemen and women who fought in Iraq" on Friday.

However Nicholas Mercer, the army's former chief legal advisor in Iraq, said 326 cases had already been settled "on merit", at a cost of A20 million ($28.5 million, 26.4 million euros), suggesting widespread problems.

"One of the allegations is that there was systemic abuse of Iraqi prisoners after they were captured," Mercer told Channel 4 news.

"Clearly this isn't just one or two bad apples, as they have been characterised, this is on a fairly large and substantial scale."

He accused Cameron's government of "hijacking this to have a go at lawyers who are bringing cases against them".

Currently, IHAT lists 1,329 vases under investigation, including allegations of ill treatment while in detention, unlawful killings and accusations of assault.

Proposals to curb lawsuits deemed "spurious" include requiring claimants to have lived in the United Kingdom for 12 months, and curtailing so-called "no win, no fee" arrangements by which lawyers are only paid if the lawsuit is successful.

In December 2012, the Ministry of Defence announced that it had paid A15.1 million ($21.5 million, 17.6 million euros) to more than 200 Iraqi people who had accused British troops of illegal detention and torture.
Tokyo (AFP) - A candidate backed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claimed victory in a mayoral election in Okinawa on Sunday, beating an opponent of a planned new US military base there.

The election was the latest episode in a long dispute about the future of the base, which has deepened mistrust between the central government and the southern island chain.

Incumbent Ginowan mayor Atsushi Sakima, 51, was certain to be re-elected with the support of Abe's ruling coalition to continue governing the island's main city, where the US Futenma air base is located, according to exit polls by major broadcasters.

The official result is expected early Monday.

Sakima edged out Keiichiro Shimura, 63, who was supported by Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga.

Onaga has vowed to prevent the central government from constructing a new US Marine air base in a remote part of the island to replace the existing Futenma base in heavily populated Ginowan, where it is widely seen as a potential danger to residents.

Many island residents want a replacement for Futenma built outside Okinawa -- either elsewhere in Japan or overseas -- saying they can no longer live with the noise, accidents and occasional crimes by US service members.

Sakima also says moving Futenma is a top priority, but has stopped short of saying if he supports the central government's planned relocation elsewhere in Okinawa.

Sakima told NHK as he declared victory that he wants the base moved as soon as possible.

Asked where it should be relocated, he said only: "I'm not in a position to comment as it's supposed be decided by the Japanese and US governments."

The victory will offset disappointments for Abe in the past two local elections, won by anti-base politicians in the island.

The southern island chain and the central government have each sued each other as part of the long-running dispute.

Tokyo is keen to keep its crucial security ally the United States satisfied, but frustration over a seven-decade American military presence is rife in Okinawa.

The island accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area but hosts about 75 percent of US military facilities in the country.

Japan and the United States first proposed moving Futenma in 1996. But they both insist the base must remain in Okinawa -- from where US troops and aircraft can respond quickly to potential conflicts throughout Asia.
Dubai (AFP) - Bahrain's prosecutor said Sunday he would not press new charges against Sheikh Ali Salman, the jailed leader of the main Shiite opposition bloc, in connection with messages posted on Twitter.

The prosecutor general summoned Salman from prison, where he is serving a sentence for inciting disobedience, for questioning about "violations" posted on his Twitter account, the official BNA news agency reported.

It later said that Salman denied any wrongdoing and that the prosecutor decided not to press charges and ordered him returned to prison to serve the rest of his sentence.

The prosecution also ordered an investigation into who was behind the tweets which, according to BNA, "incited" against the government and called for demonstrations.

Salman's Al-Wefaq bloc earlier denounced the summoning of its chief by the prosecution, saying it "violates the Bahraini constitution and national law, as well as international covenants related to freedom of opinion and expression".

The opposition chief was sentenced on June 16 to four years in jail after being convicted of inciting disobedience and hatred.

An appeals court is reviewing that conviction, but the prosecution is demanding the annulment of his acquittal on the more serious charge of plotting to overthrow the regime and seeking a tougher sentence.

A ruling on the appeal is expected on March 30.

Al-Wefaq renewed earlier calls for its leader to be released "immediately".

The group once held the most seats in parliament, but its 18 MPs walked out in 2011 in protest at violence against demonstrators during pro-democracy rallies.

Bahrain's Sunni authorities crushed Shiite-led protests a month after they erupted on February 14, 2011.

The gap has since been growing between the Sunni authorities and their mainly Shiite opponents.

Tiny but strategic Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled Bahrain is across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Last October 31, construction work also began in Bahrain on Britain's first permanent military base in the Middle East since 1971.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, BISMARCK

Monday: Turkey and gravy, soy butter and grape jelly sandwich, mashed potatoes, fruit and vegetable bar, milk.

Tuesday: Soft-shell taco, deli turkey sandwich, whole kernel corn, fruit and vegetable bar, milk.

Wednesday: Hamburger, soy butter and grape jelly sandwich, potato wedges, watermelon raisins, fruit and vegetable bar, milk.

Thursday: Chicken ranch wrap, deli chicken sandwich, mixed vegetables, fruit and vegetable bar, milk.

Friday: Garlic cheesy bread, cinnamon cream cheese bagel stick and string cheese, green beans, rice crispy treat, fruit and vegetable bar, milk.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS, BISMARCK

Monday: Fajita chicken wrap, meatball sub, green beans, pizza line, sub line, salad bar, milk.

Tuesday: Chicken chili crispitos, taco salad, whole kernel corn, Santa Fe rice, pizza line, sub line, salad bar, milk.

Wednesday: Hamburger, corn dog, crinkle-cut fries, rice crispy treat, pizza line, sub line, salad bar, milk.

Thursday: Lasagna with garlic toast, chicken patty sandwich, peas and carrots, pizza line, sub line, salad bar, milk.

Friday: Sweet and sour chicken with rice, cheesy bread sticks, steamed broccoli, pizza line, sub line, salad bar, milk.

ST. MARYS CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, BISMARCK

Monday: Cheeseburgers, french fries, apples, milk.

Tuesday: Shredded barbecue pork sandwich, coleslaw, fruit, milk.

Wednesday: Corn chip chili pie with fixings, salad, pears, milk.

Thursday: Pasta, vegetables, fruit, milk.

Friday: Egg rolls and Chinese chicken over rice, mandarin oranges, vegetables, cookie, milk.

CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT SCHOOL, BISMARCK

Monday: Chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, dinner roll, peas, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Tuesday: French dip with au jus, whole-grain chips, vegetables with dip, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Wednesday: Chimichanga, shredded lettuce, black beans, tortilla chips with salsa, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Thursday: Hamburger stroganoff over noodles, corn, dinner roll, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Friday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, romaine, garlic toast, fruit, salad bar, milk.

ST. ANNE SCHOOL, BISMARCK

Monday: Chicken strips, rice, ham sandwich, vegetable, fruit, Sunbutter and jelly sandwich, salad bar, milk.

Tuesday: Chili with corn chips, breadstick, ham sandwich, vegetable, fruit, Sunbutter and jelly sandwich, salad bar, milk.

Wednesday: Pepperoni pizza, lettuce salad, ham sandwich, vegetable, fruit, Sunbutter and jelly sandwich, salad bar, milk.

Thursday: Swiss steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, ham sandwich, vegetable, fruit, Sunbutter and jelly sandwich, salad bar, milk.

Friday: Pancakes, egg with potatoes, vegetable, fruit, Sunbutter and jelly sandwich, salad bar, milk.

ST. MARY'S GRADE SCHOOL, BISMARCK

Monday: Macaroni and cheese, sausage, vegetable, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Tuesday: Tater tot hotdish, dinner roll, vegetable, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Wednesday: Drumstick sluggers, pasta, ravioli soup, vegetable, fruit, milk.

Thursday: Hot dog on a bun, potato smiles, vegetable, fruit, salad bar, milk.

Friday: Cheese calzone, vegetable, fruit, salad bar, milk.

SHILOH SCHOOL, BISMARCK

Monday: Pizza sticks, vegetable, fruit, soup of the day, salad bar, milk.

Tuesday: Tacos, vegetable, fruit, soup of the day, salad bar, milk.

Wednesday: Hot dogs, vegetable, fruit, soup of the day, salad bar, milk.

Thursday: Pulled pork, vegetable, fruit, soup of the day, salad bar, milk.

Friday: Chicken patty on bun, vegetable, fruit, soup of the day, salad bar, milk.

MARTIN LUTHER SCHOOL, BISMARCK

Monday: Chicken breast, buttered noodles, vegetable, fruit, milk.

Tuesday: Ham, baked potato, vegetable, fruit, milk.

Wednesday: Wiener wrap, baked beans, chips, fruit, milk.

Thursday: Hamburger goulash, bread, vegetable, fruit, milk.

Friday: Hot ham and cheese, chips, vegetable, fruit, milk.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, MANDAN

Monday: Traveling taco, Sunbutter and jelly sandwich, chef salad with breadstick, corn, cauliflower, fruit, milk.

Tuesday: Chicken strips with dinner roll, sub sandwich, chef salad with breadstick, potato wedges, baby carrots, fruit, milk.

Wednesday: Crispitos with seasoned rice, turkey wrap, chef salad with breadstick, cherry tomatoes, green beans, fruit, milk.

Thursday: Macaroni and cheese, ham and cheese sandwich, chef salad with breadstick, lettuce salad with dressing, Goldfish crackers, fruit, milk.

Friday: Cheesy breadsticks, egg salad sandwich, chef salad with breadstick, celery sticks, baked beans, fruit, milk.

JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS, MANDAN

Monday: Crispitos, soft-shell taco, green beans, pizza line, deli sub line, salad bar, milk.

Tuesday: Meatballs and gravy, chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner roll, hamburger with mashed potatoes, deli sub line, salad bar, milk.

Wednesday: Shredded barbecue beef sandwich, chicken patty, candied carrots, pizza line, deli sub line, salad bar, milk.

Thursday: French toast sticks, meatball sub, hashbrown stick, hamburger with hashbrown stick, deli sub line, salad bar, milk.

Friday: Italian dunkers, popcorn chicken with breadstick, peas, pizza line, deli sub line, salad bar, milk.

CHRIST THE KING SCHOOL, MANDAN

Monday: Hamburger stroganoff, lettuce salad, baked beans, slice of bread, fruit, milk.

Tuesday: Pork roast and gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, dinner roll, chilled fruit, milk.

Wednesday: Polish sausage, macaroni and cheese, lettuce salad, peas, fruit, milk.

Thursday: Beefy nachos, black bean and corn salsa, corn chips, lettuce salad, chilled fruit, milk.

Friday: Cheesy dunkers with pizza sauce and ranch, baby carrots, lettuce salad, fruit, milk.

ST. JOSEPH SCHOOL, MANDAN

Monday: Corn dog, french fries, baked beans, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk.

Tuesday: Sweet and sour chicken, rice, corn, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk.

Wednesday: Grilled cheese, tomato soup, crackers, carrots with dip, dessert, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk.

Thursday: Chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, peas, butter bread, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk.

Friday: Sausage and cheese omelet, hashbrowns, broccoli and cheese, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk.
Managua (AFP) - Foreign tourists who survived when their ship capsized off an idyllic Caribbean island were flown to mainland Nicaragua Sunday with the bodies of fellow passengers killed in the accident.

Thirteen people drowned when the small tourist ship capsized off the coast of Little Corn Island Saturday with 32 passengers on board, including Americans, Britons and Latin Americans.

All 13 killed were from Costa Rica, which declared a day of national mourning for Monday.

Nine bodies were flown to the Nicaraguan capital Managua from Big Corn Island, where the survivors and cadavers were taken after a frantic rescue operation by the Nicaraguan navy.

The Corn Islands, which sit about 70 kilometers (45 miles) off the Nicaraguan coast, are remote outposts known for white-sand beaches and crystalline waters.

Some survivors of the accident broke down in tears on arrival at the Managua airport.

The bodies were loaded into ambulances and taken for autopsy.

Officials have not said whether the bodies of the other four victims have been recovered.

One survivor, a Costa Rican man, disputed the Nicaraguan authorities' claim that the ship's captain defied a storm alert.

"There have been false reports that the weather was bad," he said, declining to give his name.

The airlifted survivors comprised 13 Costa Ricans, two Americans, two Britons and a Brazilian woman.

Three Nicaraguans were also aboard the ship -- a passenger, the captain and his crewmate.

Media reports said the captain, who was also owner of the vessel, was arrested after being rescued, as authorities began an investigation.

The Nicaraguan government said President Daniel Ortega had ordered expedited autopsies so that the bodies could be repatriated Sunday to Costa Rica, whose relations with neighboring Nicaragua have been strained in recent months.
OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Burkina Faso has arrested four of seven members of its dissolved presidential guard who were wanted in connection with an attack two days ago on an armory near the capital Ouagadougou, the army said on Sunday. Burkina Faso is still reeling from an attack by gunmen on a hotel and restaurant on Jan. 15 that was claimed by Islamist militants and during which 30 people were killed, most of them foreigners. The arrests came hours after the landlocked West African country's armed forces published the names and images of the guards who were on the run in local media. Another guard who had also fled died after a gun battle, the army's statement said. The three men were captured when they tried to cross the border with Ghana, the army said, adding: "One among them opened fire on our intervening forces, leading to a riposte. Gravely wounded, he succumbed to his injuries during his transfer to the hospital by helicopter." Authorities are continuing to search for the two guards who remain at large. The authorities had already arrested 11 members of the disbanded elite guards in connection with Friday's raid, during which army officials said the attackers seized Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers. The elite presidential guard was disbanded after members loyal to former president Blaise Compaore mounted a six-day coup against Burkina Faso's transitional government last September in which members of the cabinet were taken hostage, before handing power back to the government under heavy international pressure. On Saturday authorities also arrested Eddie Komboigo, the president of Compaore's former ruling party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress, according to security sources. It was not immediately clear what the charges against him were but he had previously been cited in a report written by the commission investigating the September coup. Friday's raid is the first time the disbanded guard has carried out an action of this kind since its coup attempt failed. The West African country has been fragile since popular protests in 2014 ousted longtime leader Compaore, who had sought to amend the constitution to prolong his 27-year rule. Roch Marc Kabore was elected president in November, ending more than a year of transitional rule. (Reporting by Mathieu Bonkoungou; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Sandra Maler)
PRAIA (Reuters) - Cape Verde's health ministry said on Sunday concerns prompted by a U.S. travel alert were overblown and that the number of cases of the Zika virus in the West African island nation was on the decline. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) extended its travel warning on Friday to a further eight countries or territories - including Cape Verde - that pose a risk of infection with Zika, bringing the total to 22. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Caribbean and Latin America. Only about 20 percent of infected cases display symptoms, which are usually mild and include fever, joint pain and conjunctivitis. But the CDC says it can be spread from pregnant women to fetuses and has been linked to a birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and sometimes brain damage. Jorge Barreto, the representative for Cape Verde's National Directorate of Health, said the warning did not constitute a travel ban but was intended to persuade women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant to take precautions. "The Ministry of Health believes that maybe there was a misunderstanding in the interpretation of the recommendation issued by the CDC," said Barreto. "We have seen a decrease in terms of notification of Zika cases. Last week we recorded 126 cases and the week before there were 212 cases." The Cape Verde government says it believes the virus was imported from Brazil. Cape Verde reported about 4,700 suspected cases of Zika virus between the end of September and Dec. 6, the majority of cases in the capital. About 30 cases involving pregnant women are being monitored, according to the World Health Organization. The economy of Cape Verde, a tiny archipelago of islands off the coast of West Africa, is heavily reliant on tourism. (Reporting by Julio Rodrigues; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Glasgow (AFP) - Celtic manager Ronny Deila says Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven are finally settling into life at the Glasgow giants after they scored the goals that sealed a 3-1 win over St Johnstone on Saturday.

The midfield pair, who made a blistering start to their Celtic careers with goals on their debuts following their transfer from Dundee United last January, have seen their development at Celtic Park stall this season due to injuries and a loss of form.

However, a double from Mackay-Steven and a solitary strike from Armstrong saw the Hoops restore their six-point advantage over Aberdeen at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

Celtic have been reliant on the goals of top scorer Leigh Griffiths in recent games and Deila was delighted to see the midfielders get on the scoresheet and relieve some of the pressure on the Scotland striker.

"Leigh had his chances today and could have scored but it's very important that we have other players scoring goals, wingers especially," the Celtic manager said.

"You need to get into the box between the posts; that's where 90 per cent of the goals are going in from and today we had them many times in there and they got their goals.

"I think both of them played very well. Gary has been out for a while now and has played two very good matches. Stuart looks very sharp so I'm very pleased with that.

"It's tough here and we have many players who haven't played in big clubs before and are coming from smaller clubs.

"It's one thing to come in and everything is positive but then the expectation comes over you and it takes time to deal with that and everything that comes with being a part of a club like Celtic.

"When you get through that you play with more freedom and hopefully now Gary has done it and Stuart looks much better as well.

"To develop players takes time but if you work the right way you get your credit in the end."

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Armstrong's goal was his first since August and the player expressed his relief at ending his goal-drought.

"You could probably see the relief on my face when it went in. It's just nice to be back playing well and winning games as part of a good Celtic team right now," the Celtic midfielder said.

"Maybe I was thinking about it too much when my performances were a bit inconsistent but I think right now it is back to basics and concentrating on what I can do to help the team.

"I think as an attacking midfielder I always want to score goals and create goals but I've mainly been concentrating on getting my performances back to where I know they can be.

"Leigh Griffiths has done terrific over the last few months and got a lot of important goals for us at important times so it's nice to see other people chipping in with goals and of course from a personal point of view to get back on the score-sheet was important for me."

The win means Celtic, who face Ross County in the League Cup semi-final next Sunday, will hold a six-point lead over Aberdeen ahead of their top of the table clash on February 3.

However, Deila was keen to play down the significance of the tie at Pittodrie.

"It's always important to win games but it isn't finished now. It's finished in May so there are many, many games left to play," the Celtic manager said.

"We just have to keep on producing good performances and train well like we have done lately."
By sheer strength of numbers, ideologically moderate Americans should be the most potent force in politics. Since at least 1980, self-identified moderates have outnumbered both liberals and conservatives in presidential exit polls, comprising 41 percent of voters in 2012. Moderates are also a plurality in 25 states, according to 2014 data from Gallup.

Yet this moderate strength seems nowhere evident in Congress. Among House Democrats, the moderate Blue Dog and New Democratic coalitions have shrunk by nearly half since 2010. And among Republicans, the Tea Partys ascendance has purged most of the GOPs few remaining moderates. Congressional polarization today, say political scientists Christopher Hare, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal, is at its worst since Reconstruction.

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One key step toward reversing this polarization is to replenish the stable of moderates in Congress. Moderates can bridge divides, encourage bipartisanship, and check ideological excesses. And given the vast pools of moderate voters, Congress should have more moderates than it does now to reflect the share of moderates in the electorate. The current political system, however, effectively disenfranchises moderate voters.

Theres one solution that can help reverse that dismal trend: creating more at-large seats in the House of Representatives. If every state with more than two representatives allocated just one seat to an at-large member (while also redrawing its remaining seats), moderates in those states could better exercise their plurality strength as they do in other statewide elections, such as those for the Senate and the White House. And while the remaining geographically determined districts would become somewhat larger as a result, this system would also grant each voter two representatives in the House: one from the voters district, and one from the voters state.

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Recommended: The Eight Causes of Trumpism

The creation of new plurality-moderate at-large seats in many states would increase the number of competitive seats while bolstering the odds for moderate candidates. Moderates trapped in otherwise deeply red or blue districts would have an outlet for their influence and not feel that their votes are being wasted.

This approach would also guarantee that at least one House member from virtually every state hails from a district that cant be gerrymandered, which would help delegations better reflect a states overall ideological and party makeup (43 states have at least two representatives; seven states have only one congressional district). In some states, an at-large seat could help bring better partisan balance to delegations now badly skewed by gerrymandering. The potential for hyper-extremist candidates to win would also diminish, even in the deepest red, most polarized states. In Mississippi, the most conservative state in the country, conservatives still make up fewer than half of residents statewide.An ultraconservative Freedom Caucus candidate who might coast to victory in a majority-conservative district would find the going tougher in an at-large race where he or she also needs moderates to win.

Creating at-large congressional districts would require changes in both state and federal law, which is why some scholars who have considered at-large and multi-member districts in the past now believe them to be infeasible. But such a change is hardly less realistic than other critically needed reforms, such as redistricting or campaign finance reform. Many Americans are also already familiar with the concept of at-large seats, such as on city councils, which makes them potentially more achievable than other, more alien-sounding proposals, like switching to a parliamentary system. And for frustrated moderates and political independents, the possibility of a plurality-moderate district where they could have genuine influence could be an attractive alternative to supporting a doomed-to-fail third party.

Perhaps the most serious concern is the potential impact of at-large districts on minority representation, which scholars such as Thomas Schaller argue is the greatest obstacle to their adoption. Indeed, at-large and multi-member districts were fairly common in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, according to Stephen Calabrese of Carnegie Mellon University. But their use as a tactic to dilute minority representationparticularly in the Southled Congress to ban at-large districts in 1967.

Amending federal law to allow just one at-large district per state could help mitigate these concerns by preventing states from creating multiple at-large districts as a tactic to eliminate majority-minority districts. Another mitigating factor is demography. With the nation poised to become majority-minority in 2044, at-large districts could even benefit some populations approaching plurality status in the same way that they would benefit moderates.

Of course, the biggest political obstacle to this reform would be the political parties, which have a vested interest in maintaining safely partisan seats. But challenging the status quo might be an excellent and concrete opportunity to test moderate muscle. If moderate voters want to realize their power, their first step is to re-enfranchise themselves. American politics would only benefit.

This article appears courtesy of Democracy Journal.

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This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
The Republican presidential primary has been like a long distance bicycle race with a single rider leading the field while fending off occasional challenges by others who break from the trailing pack. The leader, of course has been Donald Trump, but try not to picture him in Lycra. (Oops. Sorry.)

In the summer, ever so briefly, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and then Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made runs at Trump. In the weeks following Trumps announcement that he would run, Bush surged to his high water mark of 17.8 percent in the Real Clear Politics polling average, only to fall off rapidly in July. Walker made a push later that month, coming within six points of Trump before tumbling down to single digits and an early exit from the race.

Related: Trump Looks to Gain from Carson Campaign Meltdown

In November, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson did what no other candidate had been able to do, briefly passing Trump in the polling average. Three days later, he was in second place again, and within a month, he was polling at less than half of Trumps total.

As Carson was plunging, two more contenders broke from the peloton: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Rubio flagged quickly, dropping into third place. But Cruz began gaining on Trump, both nationally and in the all-important early voting state of Iowa.

A handful of recent polls, though, suggest that both nationally and in Iowa, Cruz may have peaked like other would-be challengers to the frontrunner, Cruz just couldnt maintain the pace.

According to RCP, Cruzs polling average topped out at 20.7 in early January, and has been on a downward trajectory since, sitting at 18.8 as of Sunday.

Related: How Trump Could Run the Table If He Beats Cruz in Iowa

More importantly for Cruz though is that with eight days remaining before the Iowa caucuses, the three most recent major polls in Iowa have all shown him trailing Trump. The Texas senator had briefly taken the lead in Iowa in December and early January. There was speculation that a victory there would provide momentum he could carry into New Hampshire and South Carolina, both states where Trump has a prohibitively large advantage.



However, on Saturday, Fox News released a poll showing that Trump had surged to a 34-23 lead over Cruz in Iowa, a significant change from just two weeks prior when Cruz was ahead of Trump 27-23 in the same poll.

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Then on Sunday, CBS News released its latest finding, which showed Trump leading Cruz 39-34. Again, this was a major swing from the last time the same poll was in the field, in December. At that point in the race, Trump trailed 40-31.

The two releases came just days after CNN released its most recent Iowa result, which showed the billionaire up by a comfortable 11-point margin in the Hawkeye State.

Related: From Duck Hunter to Pawn Star, Reality TV Celebs Line Up for the GOP

Trump is plainly feeling very confident. At a rally in Iowa Saturday, he bragged that his supporters are so loyal that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldnt lose any voters.

Considering all of the invective toward women, minorities, immigrants, and others that has come out of Trumps mouth during his campaign, his assessment of his base is probably dead on.

When CBS asked Iowa voters who said they supported Trump if they would even consider voting for someone else, 67 percent said no. By comparison, only 33 percent of Cruz supporters said the same.

If Cruz really is on his way down, Trumps not above giving him a few extra kicks to send him on his way.

In a phone interview with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday, Trump said, Ted cannot get along with people. The biggest problem he has is hes a nasty guy and nobody likes him. Not one Republican senator  he works with them every day  not one Republican senator has endorsed him.

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A new design prize joins the field of established design prizes such as the Good Design and Red Dot Design Awards. The Design Intelligence Award was launched earlier this month at the Folk Art Museum in the China Academy of Art, in Hangzhou, southwest China.

Jointly organized by the China Academy of Art and the China Industrial Design Association, the award is designed as an international contest with the support of design schools and organizations, venture capital firms, financial institutions, as well as media companies. Created to boost intelligent manufacturing in China and the creation of transformative designs, the Design Intelligence Award aims to identify innovative and revolutionary industrial designs that are considered a breakthrough in development and progress.



The new award features a 5 million yuan ($750,000) prize pool and an individual award of up 1 million yuan ($150,000).



Entering a territory largely associated with the Good Design Awards program, now in its 65th year, organized by The Chicago Athenaeum, and the Red Dot Product Design competition, which got its start in 1954, the new award program accepts international applications for design concepts from a very wide range of categories and plans to display winning designs in exhibitions.



The winners and awarded works in the Intelligence Design Award will be collected in the China International Design Museum. They will also be recorded in the Design Intelligence Cloud Database with a file and be recorded in a yearbook for publication.



Works will pass through a preliminary evaluation or be nominated by experts to be able to advance to the final evaluation. The final committee will also choose 100 design projects to receive The Design Intelligence Award's Top 100 Award.



Design proposals can be submitted until February 29, 2016. The award ceremony will take place in May 2016.



For more information and registration, visit the official Design Intelligence Award website: www.di-award.org.
Keep it classy, ladies: Not quite the proviso issued by Kansas Sen. Mitch Holmes on Thursday, but close. As the Topeka Capital-Journal reported, Holmes introduced a code of conduct for witnesses testifying before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, which he chairs. The second of the legislator's proposed rules of respectability seems like a prime example of fashion used as a vehicle for sexism: "For ladies, low-cut necklines and mini-skirts are inappropriate," Holmes said. At what depth does the plunge of a neckline or the length of a skirt become distracting?

"It's one of those things that's hard to define," Holmes said, according to the Capital-Journal. "Put it out there and let people know we're really looking for you to be addressing the issue rather than trying to distract or bring eyes to yourself."

Sen. Mitch Holmes consults with Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, maintains both focus and eye contact.

So, it's a subjective ruling, one that seems likely to be tied to how attractive Holmes and the easily-distracted members of the EEC find the woman in question. In accordance with the typical trends of workplace sexism, men were deemed capable of dressing themselves professionally, without instruction, and escaped Holmes's vigilant eye. Naturally, the senator's female colleagues on both sides of the aisles had a few questions about the new conduct code.

"Oh, for crying out loud, what century is this?" Sen. Laura Kelly asked, as reported by the Capitol Journal. Another Topeka senator, Vicki Schmidt wondered who was going to police these nebulous garment measurements, and whether or not Holmes expected women in the senate to adhere to his guidelines, or just witnesses. And Carolyn McGinn said that the committee should place more value on witness testimony than on witness wardrobes.

"I am more interested in what they have to say about the direction our state should go than what they're wearing that day," she said, according to the Capitol Journal. Which is to say, more interested in doing her job than in ogling people who show up to do their civic duty.

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Anthony Hensley, the Kansas Senate Minority Leader, made a similar statement to the Associated Press. The EEC "should be more concerned about violations of campus finance law than what women wear," he said, adding that he thinks "it's important that women are supported in the choices that they make for themselves."

Is there a leggy lady witness up there, just out of frame?

The proposed code of conduct shares some parallels with the dress code debate that's recently taken hold in schools nationwide. Regulating girls' attire is about making boys feel more comfortable, opponents have said, obligating female students to cover up nearly every inch of their exposed skin so that they don't distract their male peers. Dress codes smack of unfairness to those who wonder why the boys aren't simply held to a higher standard and expected not to alienate their female, transgender and gender non-conforming counterparts on the basis of attire.

It was this brand of "subtle, institutionalized misogyny" that, in June 2014, prompted a group of middle-school girls from South Orange, New Jersey to launch the #iammorethanadistraction social media campaign. Their argument was aimed at dress codes in schools, but it holds for dress codes in state senates, too.

As one Twitter user told the Kansas legislature, "If there's an issue w/ women's attire, it's yours."
Some people cannot stand good news. It troubles their fixed view of the world. These would include Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican presidential candidate, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who were cast into a huff by the confirmed reversal of Irans nuclear program and its release of several Americans, including Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post.

Try a smile, guys. Toughness is no more than empty aggression when it will not admit to misjudgment. Diplomacy delivers.

Rezaian is coming home after a year and a half of groundless imprisonment. An American pastor and a former Marine are reunited with their families. Iran had more than 19,000 first-generation centrifuges installed; that number is now 6,104. Its advanced centrifuges have been slashed from over 1,000 to zero. Its low-enriched uranium stockpile has been cut to 660 pounds from over 19,000.

The plutonium route to a bomb has been cut off. Iran is subject to what President Barack Obama called the most comprehensive, intrusive inspection regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program. The countrys break-out time  the period needed to rush for a bomb  has been extended to a year from two to three months.

The trauma-induced Iranian-American psychosis, ongoing since the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979, has been overcome. Two tireless diplomats, Secretary of State John Kerry and the University of Denver-educated Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, speak when needed. American sailors who strayed into Iranian waters are released within 24 hours. A financial dispute outstanding since 1981 is resolved. The worlds 18th-largest economy is about to rejoin the world at a time when the sinking global economy sure could use a jolt. The nuclear deal, even in these early days, is not hermetic. It opens doors.

To all of which Rubio responds that Obama has put a price on the head of every American abroad when he should have used crippling sanctions (oh, please, not that crippled phrase again). Netanyahu actually claims that if it were not for Israel leading the way on sanctions, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon long ago. Iran, he baritones, has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons.

That may be  or not. We can all go guessing in the Iranian bazaar. Nothing comes cheaper than an Iran pontificator.

What is clear is that Iran is much further from a nuclear weapon because of the courageous diplomacy of Obama and Kerry and Zarif and the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, who all confronted hostile constituencies at home to get the deal done.

For Iran, the arrival of implementation day means the lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions and access to about $100 billion in frozen assets. A big nation is open for business again, back in the global financial system and world oil market.

Netanyahu, Rubio and their ilk believe Iran will use the windfall to do its worst. That cannot be discounted. The United States and Iran remain hostile on most fronts, from Syria to Israel. Revolutionary Guard hard-liners have not drunk the Kool-Aid at the Rouhani-Zarif school of diplomacy. Obamas imposition of mild new sanctions for banned missile tests was a reminder of differences.

But if the developments of recent days demonstrate one thing, it is that Iran, 37 years from its revolution, is delicately poised between hard-liners and reformers, neither of whom can dictate the countrys course, each of whom need the other for now. Imminent parliamentary elections may indicate which camp is ascendant. Whatever happens, it is hard to argue that greater contact with the world will be bad for the large, modernizing, highly educated younger generation. Iran is a pro-American country with a tired anti-American refrain. It has a successful diaspora community ready to help revive the country  if allowed to do so.

The breakthrough with Iran is Obamas greatest foreign policy achievement, one that may have a transformative effect on the region. The next decade will show to what degree. That potential is what has American allies from Saudi Arabia to Israel so perturbed. They preferred the status quo.

Of course it could all unravel. Predicting doomsday is easy. But with hard work, I believe the chances are greater that American-Iranian diplomatic relations will be restored within five years.

The Economist had a good summary of why Irans reintegration is so important and consequential. It noted that the prospects in a post-deal Iran are vast. The country is not an oil-soaked rentier state, like some of its neighbors, but a regional power with an industrial economy  if a grossly mismanaged one. Its population of 80 million is well-educated, its oil and gas reserves enormous. The countrys pent-up need for foreign investment may amount to $1 trillion. Iran, it concluded, is preparing for takeoff.

Try saying the word Iran without saying the word nuclear. Its time. In fact, its past time, even if good news is too much for some.

(Roger Cohen is a syndicated columnist for the New York Times.)
By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Champion Novak Djokovic was keen to forget his unconvincing victory over Gilles Simon that put the Serb through to another Australian Open quarter-final but also gave hope to his title rivals. Having come into the match without dropping a set, the world number one bashed repeatedly against the brick wall of 14th seeded Frenchman and committed exactly 100 unforced errors in the 6-3 6-7(1) 6-4 4-6 6-3 win at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. The error count was largely testament to Simon's dogged scrambling and counter-punching style, but Djokovic also shot himself in the foot repeatedly with a string of botched dropshots. A number of them fell flat during big points in the second set tiebreak and again at the close of the fourth set, and the Serb might cringe if he subjected himself to a video review. After closing out the four-hour 32-minute fourth round tie, one vocal fan in the terraces yelled at Djokovic 'no more dropshots!' "I hate to say this but you are probably right," Djokovic said in his courtside interview, raising laughter from the crowd. "I knew what to expect on the court," the Serb later told reporters after booking a quarter-final against Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori. "But I honestly didn't expect to make this many unforced errors. In terms of a level that I've played, it's the match to forget for me. "When you're playing someone like Simon, he senses that and he makes you play an extra shot. Then you're trying to cut down on the length of the rallies, go for a winner or go for a dropshot. "Sometimes you have a brain freeze, if I can call it that way. That's what happened to me many times with those dropshots." Although flustered by the Frenchman, Djokovic's iron-willed composure returned quickly in the decider and he motored to a 5-1 lead. Simon rallied with a final flourish, regaining a service break and saved two match points before holding to raise thunderous cheers from a crowd firmly in his corner. But Djokovic moved 40-0 up with an ace and sealed the match with an imperious backhand down the line, booking his 27th successive grand slam quarter-final. The 28-year-old will now face the man who beat him at the 2014 U.S. Open semi-finals but the Serb dismissed the idea that the Simon work-out might leave him with less in the tank for Nishikori. "I've had worse situations where I had much less time to recover after long matches, so I'm sure I'll be fine," the 10-times grand slam champion said. (Editing by Patrick Johnston)
Santo Domingo (AFP) - The Dominican Republic said it has 10 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the ailment suspected of causing serious birth defects in newborns.

Altagracia Guzman, the Caribbean country's health minister, said lab testing of samples sent to the United States had confirmed Zika in 10 out of 27 suspected cases.

"In light of this finding, it is imperative to adopt strict measures across the nation to prevent and contain this illness," Guzman said.

Zika has been linked to a birth defect known as microcephaly, when babies are born with malformed and abnormally small heads. It is also associated with a higher incidence of miscarriages.

Proposed measures to contain the illness include stepped-up mosquito eradication, including eliminating standing water that can be breeding grounds for the insects.
When Hillary Clinton mounted her first presidential bid in 2008, Thomas Duane was in her corner.

Then the only openly gay member of the New York State Senate, the Manhattan Democrat hadn't forgotten the time Clinton, seeking a United States Senate seat in 2000, had appeared at an Albany press conference backing Duane's legislation to combat anti-LGBT hate crimes. Her support made an impression on Duane, who joined Clinton's national LGBT steering committee in 2007.

But Duane's support for Clinton didn't come without reservations. Though she favored non-discrimination protections and civil unions for same-sex couples, Clinton didn't support marriage equality at the time, a source of consternation for Duane.

"I thought she probably was [privately] for marriage and I thought she should say it. I thought she shouldn't be afraid to say it. I didn't really like that," Duane recounted to Mic.

Of course, Clinton was hardly a Democratic outlier in opposing same-sex marriage eight years ago. Neither of her leading Democratic opponents, then-Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, backed marriage equality; only long-shot hopefuls Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel did. The New York Times reported that in California and New York  the only states that asked voters' sexual orientations  Clinton bested Obama among gay voters by 34 points and 23 points, respectively.

Much has changed since then. While Democrats carefully around issues like gay marriage in 2008  just four years after President George W. Bush wielded gay nuptials as a wedge issue in his successful 2004 re-election campaign  the country has since witnessed a cultural sea change on LGBT equality. Following activist pressure, state-level marriage victories and a cascade effect brought on by President Obama's 2012 endorsement of marriage equality, Clinton and virtually every other national Democratic figure have now evolved to full-throated support for same-sex couples' right to marry.

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Clinton may have arrived where Duane hoped she'd been eight years ago, but this go-around, he's not in her camp. Since retired from the New York State Senate, Duane is now a supporter of Clinton's chief Democratic primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), citing his long track record of support for equality and his progressive stances on a wide range of issues, including health care and income inequality.

An LGBT divide: In backing Sanders, Duane parts company with many LGBT voters, who despite tensions over policies like the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule for gays in the military and the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, have formed a longstanding bond with both Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

That relationship was underscored this week, when the Human Rights Campaign  led by former Bill Clinton aide Chad Griffin  awarded Hillary Clinton its earliest primary endorsement in the organization's history.

While Clinton's evolution on marriage equality and her call for federal civil rights protections for LGBT people have earned her plaudits among policy advocates and activists within the LGBT community, her rapport with LGBT voters isn't strictly political.

Projecting an image of steely resilience in the face of setbacks and humiliations both personal and political, Clinton has attained gay icon status. She is, to many gay fans, the Cher of American politics.

"Many gay people can see themselves in her. No matter how much people say she's inauthentic or shrill or bitchy, I know if I were to run for office I would face many of the same issues she has encountered," Michael Beyer, a senior at Louisiana State University, told Mic. "And I have to admire her for continuing to enter the ring. I don't know why she would be willing to subject herself to that kind of treatment. It just proves to me how incredibly passionate about this country she is and how deeply she cares about its future."

Even some of Sanders' gay supporters find Clinton's personal image compelling.

"I really like Hillary. She's a comforting figure. I like her being in national politics because she is a fighter. The Republican party has gone full wackadoo and everyone knows it," Adam McMahon, a doctoral student in political science at the City University of New York, told Mic. "The fact that she pushes back against their nonsense is awesome and it would be one of the main reasons why I'd support her as president."

But Noah Baron, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and fervent Sanders supporter, thinks many in the LGBT community have cut Clinton too much slack. Her prior support for policies like DOMA and DADT  both issues on which she'd distanced herself from her husband by the time of her 2008 run  "calls into question her moral judgment," Baron told Mic.

"Time and again," Baron said, "Bernie has taken the right position from the beginning  or at least come around to the right position sooner than Hillary. I trust him to protect and advance LGBT equality more than any other candidate in the race."

Baron attributed HRC's endorsement of Clinton to what he called its "wealthy, white, insider Washington, D.C." demographic. With his longstanding emphasis on economic inequality, Sanders would do far more than Clinton to improve LGBT people's lives, Baron said.

"That is why he has announced his support for legislation prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in credit and lending, among other vital areas," he told Mic.

Consistency vs. heft: Talk to Sanders' supporters in the LGBT community, and you're certain to hear them talk up his lengthy pro-equality track record. Though Sanders didn't definitively announce his support for marriage equality until 2009 (still well ahead of figures like Obama and Clinton), he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act and has long supported the right of gays to serve openly in the military.

After then-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) denigrated "homos in the military" on the House floor in 1995, Sanders, then Vermont's sole congressman, pushed back forcefully, in a moment that has since gone viral.

"You have insulted thousands of men and women who have put their lives on the line. I think you owe them an apology," Sanders fired back.

Touting Sanders as a candidate "you don't have to worry about," Duane, the former New York state senator, lauded Sanders for taking his pro-LGBT message even to decidedly unfriendly environs. Speaking at the evangelical Liberty University in September, Sanders sought to find common ground with his audience on issues like social justice and poverty but was unapologetic about where he disagreed with most of them: "I believe gay rights and gay marriage."

"He doesn't shrink from his positions based on who he's speaking to," Duane told Mic, in a not-so-subtle dig at Clinton, who's often been depicted as tailoring her message to placate her audience.

Clinton supporters like Beyer, though, find the fixation on Clinton's spotty record frustrating.

"It would be stupid of me to be mad at a progressive for changing their mind and actually progressing on an issue. I view it as the LGBT community's job to continue to push politicians to stand up for our full freedom," Beyer told Mic. "No politician is going to accomplish that unless we force them and placing all of our bets in a 'perfect politician' will easily come back to bite us."

Therein lies one of the central fears about Sanders' candidacy: that a nationally untested, self-proclaimed "socialist" is a risky bet for Democrats looking to safeguard progressive policies. For LGBT voters, Obama's executive actions protecting LGBT people from discrimination and the future of the Supreme Court weigh heavily.

Though virtually no serious observer expects a reversal of the court's 2015 ruling for marriage equality, a conservative-dominated court might, say, rule in favor of broad religious exemptions for LGBT non-discrimination policies. In recent weeks, Clinton has made the case that she's best equipped to fend off the Republicans, asking Democratic primary voters to be mindful of what's at stake if the White House returns to GOP hands.

"All the progress we have made, and all the progress, we have yet to make is at stake in this election," Human Rights Campaign spokesman Brandon Lorenz told Mic. "The Republicans running for president oppose marriage equality, they're doubling down on bills that put us at risk for more Kim Davis-like discrimination, and they treat transgender people like a punchline."

A crucial constituency: No matter who prevails in the tightening contest between Clinton and Sanders, either candidate is likely to win a solid majority of LGBT voters. In 2012, the New York Times reported, Obama won 76% of the lesbian, gay and bisexual vote to Republican Mitt Romney's 22%. Such lopsided margins may fade as marriage equality becomes the new normal and GOP resistance withers, but none of the Republican candidates for president support marriage equality, differing primarily in emphasis and tone.

What's more, like any other demographic, LGBT Americans aren't single-voters. And the concerns cited by voters like McMahon point to other hurdles for the GOP.

"I'm a millennial, I have lots of college debt and I'm worried about the social safety net being there when I'm older," McMahon told Mic. "Just because I'm a part of the LGBT community doesn't mean I vote singularly on one issue relevant to my community."
As the last of 17 detainees approved for transfer from Guantanamo this month were prepared for release from the notorious prison on Monday, one man made a surprising choice. Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir, a 35- or 36-year-old Yemeni man who had been detained for 14 years, refused to leave. Bwazir was to be relocated to an undisclosed country in which he had no family or friends, and he was frightened, The New York Times reported.

Bwazirs unusual decision to choose detention over freedom highlights a difficulty faced by many of the men who have been slowly released from Guantanamo. Pardiss Kebriaei, a senior staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents multiple current and former detainees, told TakePart she has seen her clients struggle to acclimate to life after release.

Were elated when transfers happen, but theres been no accountability for what theyve lost and what theyve been through, Kebriaei said. They land in countries they often have no familiarity with, no support system in.... Theres no real plan in place. Theyre just sort of expected to rebuild.

Having declined the resettlement after being approved for release by Guantanamos equivalent of a parole board, Bwazir must now wait until another country agrees to accept himif he receives a future offer.

I told him it was my view after all the work they did to land him a really good spot that he was likely to be there when the Obama administration leaves office next year, and God knows whats going to happen then, Bwazirs lawyer, John Chandler, told The Guardian.

Kebriaei has closely followed two of her clients, a father and son, after their release from Guantanamo in 2009. Abdul Nasser Khantumani, the father, was transferred to Cape Verde, while his son, Muhammed, was transferred to Portugal. Portugal offers more resettlement support than some countries that accept Guantanamo detainees, according to Kebriaei, but Muhammed has nevertheless had a hard time adjusting.

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Its been a struggle emotionally, she said. Hes been alone. His family in Syria was displacedhes isolated, struggling with the fear of being found out, the stigma, having to do this on his own.

Abdul has had an even harder time, trying to learn Portuguese, and is further isolated having landed on another island after his seven years at Guantanamo. Two other men Kebriaei worked with, who have been transferred to Kazakhstan, are facing similar issues.

They said they feel like they were dumped in a country, put in an apartment on their own without legal status, Kebriaei said. They have no clarity on if or when they could be reunified with their families, no meaningful mental health care. How are they supposed to be self-sufficient?

Resources available to former detainees vary after their transfer. Saudi Arabia has a rehabilitation center for former detainees, while places like Cape Verde have no such programs.

Activists and lawyers pushing for the closure of Guantanamo and the end of indefinite detention without charge have been hesitant to raise the issue of resettlement support, Kebriaei said, because the challenge of getting them released in the first place has been so daunting. Still, she said, the government should work to balance both the transfers and the post-release issues because of the real, continuing struggle and lack of accountability for the torture and years theyve lost in prison.

Related stories on TakePart:





 Guantanamo Bay Detainees Are Hunger-Striking for Change

 How Can a Farm Help Close Guantanamo?

 Fried Chicken and Feeding Tubes: Inside Guantanamo Bays Kitchen

Original article from TakePart
FLINT, Mich.  Two Michigan state patrol cars and a Penske moving truck filled with water bottles, filters and water testing kits drive slowly down Cromwell Street Saturday afternoon, stopping every few feet as uniformed National Guard officers go from house to house with arms full of supplies.



This residential area appears to have been spared the marks of economic blight that characterize so much of Flint  dilapidated houses and boarded-up buildings. But its residents have been fully exposed to the latest crisis: a chain of bureaucratic missteps that led in April 2014 to the city being provided with improperly treated river water, which corroded the plumbing system and exposed an unknown number of people to toxic levels of lead.

SLIDESHOW  Water crisis in Flint, Michigan >>>

The caravan crawling down Cromwell was one of 55 teams of National Guard, state patrol and civilian volunteers working to deliver emergency supplies to every household. So far, the state reports that between these deliveries and the five resource sites where people can also pick up free supplies themselves, more than 121,400 cases of water, 82,600 water filters and 23,400 water testing kits have been distributed.

And while residents appreciate the effort, many say what they really want is some relief from the steep utility bills they continue to pay for the contaminated water that is making them sick.

Tina Kellogg, a 33-year-old mother of two, has been enforcing a strict bottled-water-only rule in her house since the city first switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River nearly two years ago.

Flint resident Tina Kellogg talks to Yahoo News about her frustrations with the city's water system after receiving a delivery from one of the water supply teams Saturday. (Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News)





There was no way, even though it was being cycled, that we were drinking it, Kellogg told Yahoo News.

And while the image of the National Guard going door to door with water might look really good, Kellogg said shed much rather pay $2 for a case of 35 water bottles at Walmart than pay the $160 bill she receives every month for contaminated water they only use to shower.



I personally dont feel that we should be having to pay a water bill at this point in time, she said. I think that could be a break that they should give all citizens.



Kellogg said she associates the Flint River with news reports of dead bodies found at the bottom and the garbage she said shes seen floating in it. Before the switch, Kellogg and her family regularly drank and cooked with tap water, but now they only use it to bathe.



None of us have broke out in a rash, but we do watch for that, she said, noting that they also use the tap water to brush their teeth but are careful not to swallow  a routine shes worked hard to impose on her 9-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son.



Kellogg also wants to know if the city will have to replace its plumbing system, and if so will homeowners like herself have to do the same? Just finding out whether her house has lead or copper pipes will require a costly assessment.



How much money is it gonna cost each individual person to change every pipe in their house? Kellogg asked. Thats something that the state hasnt even thought about.

Story continues

Red Cross spokesman Todd James demonstrates one of the water test kits volunteers are assembling for distribution to Flint residents. (Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News)





Its those kinds of long-term infrastructural challenges that make the disaster relief effort in Flint unique, Red Cross spokesperson Todd James told Yahoo News at the bustling American Red Cross office in Flint Saturday afternoon.



Typically used for blood donations, the nondescript brick building was transformed last week into a volunteer reception center after President Obama declared the citys contaminated water crisis a federal emergency and authorized FEMA to organize a disaster relief effort.



Since then, more than 100 official Red Cross volunteers from throughout the country have joined the operation in Flint, and many more families, student organizations, church groups, and others keep pouring in. On Saturday alone, James said, the reception center registered more than 200 non-Red Cross volunteers, deeming it the single largest [Red Cross] operation in one day  in Michigan, at least.

Those who arent sent out with the water supply teams are back at the center putting together more test kits for people to assess the quality of their water at home. Among them were 21-year-old Myosha Reed, a math student at Michigans Delta College, who drove 40 minutes from Saginaw to participate in her first relief effort as a newly minted Red Cross volunteer, and 13-year-old Brendan Johnson, who came with his mom.

13-year-old Brendan Johnson helps put together water testing kits for Flint residents at the volunteer reception center that was established at the American Red Cross office in Flint, Michigan last week. (Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News)





Johnson, who lives outside the Flint city limits, said he feels really lucky that his familys water wasnt affected in the crisis, but many of the kids he goes to school with were not as fortunate.



A lot of my friends come to school late, some of them have told me they take showers with bottled water, he said. Ive invited some of my friends over to my house to take showers and stuff.



During his 10 years as a Red Cross volunteer, James has helped bring disaster relief to a number of communities reeling from natural disasters, like tornado-toppled Joplin, Mo., in 2011, the parts of New York and New Jersey soaked by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and Oso, Wash., which had a deadly mudslide in 2014.



But Flint is unique among the disaster responses he's participated in.



With a natural disaster, its fairly obvious whats happened, James said. Whats happening in Flint is still a disaster, but you cant see it.



Unlike in the aftermath of a tornado or hurricane, he continued, were not providing temporary shelter or food for people until they can return to their homes and things go back to normal.



Once Flint has solved the infrastructure problems underlying this disaster, James said, there will hopefully be a new normal. But, he added, I dont think anybody knows how long that will take.



In the meantime, he said, well be here as long as we need to be here.

A Michigan National Gaurdsman directs traffic at an emergency water station in Flint, Mich. on Friday. (Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News)






LONDON (Reuters) - A former senior British intelligence officer wants to give evidence that the country's security services knew about the torture of inmates at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, a newspaper reported. The former officer is seeking permission to present evidence to a forthcoming parliamentary inquiry that British officials saw detainees being tortured in December 2002, the Sunday Times said quoting senior security sources. Details of torture were disclosed during meetings held at the London headquarters of Britain's MI5 in 2002 and the evidence is believed to include claims that British officials witnessed inmates being chained, hooded, waterboarded and subjected to mental abuse by CIA officials, the report said. No one was immediately available to comment at Britain's interior ministry which handles media queries relating to MI5. A report by the U.S. Senate published in 2014 said the CIA used sexual threats, waterboarding and other harsh methods to interrogate terrorism suspects in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. A former British inmate at Guantanamo said last month that British security officers witnessed him being tortured by American soldiers in Afghanistan. [nL8N1420FW] Separately, a former British inmate at Guantanamo said in 2014 he underwent psychological torture included execution threats and light deprivation. The prison in Guantanamo, in Cuba, was opened in 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects but has drawn international criticism from human rights activists and many foreign governments. U.S. President Barack Obama is seeking to close it. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Impala Platinum said on Sunday that four workers were killed in an underground fire at its Rustenburg mine in South Africa. The fire began on Friday at Impala's Rustenburg 14 shaft and all but the four employees were evacuated by rescue teams. The company said those who died had been overcome by fumes while trying to find their way to safety. South Africa's mines are the deepest and among the most dangerous in the world, but safety records in the industry have improved in the last few years. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said in a statement that Impala should improve health and safety conditions, and called on the mines ministry to investigate the cause of the accident. "It is unacceptable that mine workers are denied their basic human right to work in an environment that guarantees their safety and that instead they are expected to go to work to die," said NUM heath and safety secretary Erick Gcilitshana. "We are selling our labour for the survival of our families, not our limbs and lives." Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane was to visit Impala's Rustenburg shaft on Sunday. Mining companies are required to halt operations after fatalities, according to South African law. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Trump has more words for Megyn Kelly.

The Republican presidential candidate tweeted on Saturday morning that The Kelly File Fox News anchor should not moderate the upcoming Republican presidential debate along with Bret Baier and Chris Wallace in Iowa on Jan. 28. Trump tweeted: Based on @MegynKelly's conflict of interest and bias she should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate.

Based on @MegynKelly's conflict of interest and bias she should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2016

A Fox News spokesperson responded to the tweet just hours later in a statement, "Megyn Kelly has no conflict of interest. Donald Trump is just trying to build up the audience for Thursday's debate, for which we thank him."

Trump has made critical remarks towards Kelly since their exchange when Kelly moderated an earlier Republican debate in August. Kelly asked Trump about misogynist and sexist comments he had made in the past, calling women names including fat pigs and slobs." Trump later told Don Lemon on CNN that Kelly had blood coming out of her eyes and blood coming out of her whatever, which insinuated he was talking about her menstrual cycle.

Although Trump recently expressed his comments of changing the moderator, news of Kelly returning with Baier and Wallace for the January debate was reported by the Los Angeles Times after the Aug. 6 Republican debate. The Los Angeles Times also added that Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes noted his Fox News anchors as "the best political debate team ever put on television" and at the time a Fox News representative said "there has been no discussion of making changes."

Read More: Roger Ailes Calls On Donald Trump to Apologize for Megyn Kelly Criticism

Trump's continued criticism of Kelly prompted Ailes to come to Kellys defense, calling Trumps actions unacceptable, which put Trump in an on-again, off-again relationship with the network.

Story continues

Trump sounded off on Ailes and Kelly in a Hollywood Reporter cover story where he said he believes in apologizing, but cant remember the last time he did it. He also said the controversial subject with Kelly during the debate was fun and that only a deviant would think he was talking about her menstrual cycle.

Trump has still not held back in airing how he feels about Kelly. In October, he fired off tweets insulting Kellys guests Chris Stirewalt and Marc Thiessen after the men made negative remarks about Trumps previous debate performances. Trump also retweeted viewers who blasted Kelly and her show.

Since then, Kelly had Trump's former campaign strategist Roger Stone on The Kelly File where he spoke in support of Trump while discussing the National Review's cover story on the Republican presidential candidate. Stone defended Trump as a a strong candidate with "crossover appeal."

Read More: Donald Trump Revives Megyn Kelly Feud: She's a Dumb-Person Puppeteer

Jan. 23, 2:45 p.m., updated with statement from Fox News
The prison population in North Dakota has tripled from 578 in 1995 to 1,800 in 2015 and is expected to increase to 2,985 by 2025, all at the annual cost of $43,000 per inmate.

The state corrections budget has doubled to $100 million annually in the last decade and promises to continue spiraling upward.

Our parole and probation officers have around 5,000 clients to keep on the straight and narrow, meaning that each officer has a caseload of over 70 offenders. This load will increase dramatically in the next 10 years, meaning larger legislative appropriations for more staff.

These are the facts that have forced the assembling of a 16-member state study committee to consider recommendations for the upcoming legislative session.

First of all, we put offenders in prison for one of four reasons: 1. to protect society, 2. to exact punishment, 3. to deter criminal behavior and 4. to rehabilitate wrongdoers.

Some have concluded that incarceration doesnt do much to deter criminal behavior and it is no longer in vogue to demand an eye for an eye. That leaves us with protecting society and rehabilitation.

One idea is to repeal some laws defining crimes. Then it would not be necessary to arrest, convict and incarcerate the large number of minor offenders who allegedly are not a threat to society but need rehabilitation. (That is akin to increasing the speed limit to 90 mph to reduce arrests for speeding.)

Because drug convictions are crowding the penitentiary, great emphasis is being placed on rehabilitation of these and other lesser offenders. Besides, punishment and deterrence dont seem to be working that well, although we dont have data to make any sort of judgment.

But overreliance on rehabilitation to protect society may be a stretch. After all, we are not talking about Sunday school kids caught in playground pranks.

Listen to District Judge Gail Hagerty of Bismarck who pointed out recently that judges have given offenders several chances before sending them off to prison. Prison is a last resort for judges after trying a string of warnings and sentencing alternatives.

It is not the criminal code that needs to change, she argues, but the level of services being provided to keep offenders out of jail in the first place.

Judge Hagerty is right. During my stint as secretary of the State Parole Board, I had occasion to review the rap sheets of prisoners as they appeared before the board.

It was obvious that the vast majority of those in prison did not walk into the state prison for a single offense. It required determination and multiple offenses to get enrolled.

First, they had been warned for minor offenses; then they ended up in county jail; then they were put on probation; then they were back in county jail; finally they were sent to prison. Most of them had made a lifestyle out of criminal behavior.

Because a lifestyle change will be necessary, we have underestimated what rehabilitation means in real life. Creating new behavior patterns is a long, tedious process. First, it will demand a commitment to change from the offender and then it will require more state and local assistance in housing, employment and social barriers.

The present ratio of one probation officer for 70 offenders will not do the job. So we might as well brace ourselves for six-digit expenditures for the rehabilitation of each offender, with each officer carrying only 10 or 15 clients in an intensive one-on-one program.

All of this being said, rehabilitation is one solution for prison crowding but it is long-term and will require considerable investment. Thus far, we havent measured up to the challenge  or we wouldnt be faced with overcrowding today.

(Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota lieutenant governor. His column appears Sundays.)
New Delhi (AFP) - France's President Francois Hollande said that the conclusion of a deal for New Delhi to buy 36 French fighter jets would "take time" ahead of his arrival in India Sunday for a three-day visit.

"Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track," Hollande said in an interview with the Press Trust of India news agency.

The invitation for Hollande to be the chief guest at Tuesday's Republic Day celebrations had raised hopes that the long drawn-out deal to buy the three dozen Rafale jets would finally be nailed down.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Paris last year that New Delhi had agreed to buy the jets as India looks to modernise its Soviet-era military, in part to keep up with neighbouring rivals Pakistan and China.

In his interview, Hollande said that "the Rafale is a major project for India and France" that would "pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation" for the next four decades.
Yatta (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The father of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead by an Israeli security guard after trying to stab him accused the man on Sunday of acting with disproportionate force.

Roqaya Abu-Eid left her West Bank village of Anata northeast of Jerusalem on Saturday and went to the gate of the nearby Jewish settlement of Anatot.

Video footage published by Israeli media shows her clutching a knife and running at the private security guard who then shot her dead.

Police said she had been feeling suicidal after a fight with her family, and her father, who had been searching for her, arrived too late at the scene of the attack.

He was released after questioning and was among the hundreds who attended her funeral on Sunday in Yatta, the southern Hebron hills village from where the family originated.

"She was a little girl. There's no reason in the world for her to be shot and killed," her father Eid Abu-Eid told AFP after the funeral.

"The person who shot her could have apprehended her or shot her in the leg -- he didn't have to kill her," he said by telephone.

"It was as though he issued her a death sentence."

Rights groups have called on Israel to stop using "lethal force" against attackers, and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has accused the Jewish state of carrying out "extrajudicial executions" in response to knife attacks by Palestinians.

Asked if he would seek legal redress, Abu-Eid said he had "turned to God" instead, since he trusted no court, Israeli or any other.

- 'Media incitement' -

His daughter's death brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the wave of violence since October 1 to 156, according to an AFP count. Twenty-four Israelis have also been killed.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks and many of the assailants have been young people, with Israel's Shin Bet internal agency telling AFP that Roqaya Abu-Eid was the youngest killed in the nearly four months of violence.

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Also on Sunday, the Shin Bet said that Murad Ideis, 15, arrested for stabbing to death 38-year-old Israeli nurse and mother of six Dafna Meir at her home in a West Bank settlement last Sunday, had been influenced to carry out the attack by Palestinian media.

"During the period preceding the murder, the minor had watched broadcasts on Palestinian television in which Israel was portrayed as 'killing Palestinian young people'," the agency said in a statement.

Meir's murder underscored "the severity of the threat posed by the wild incitement being carried out against the State of Israel and Jews in the Palestinian media," it said.

In a separate incident early on Sunday, a 17-year-old Palestinian named Mohammad Halabiye died in a blast which a security official said was apparently a "mistake".

A security source said border policemen at a post in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, heard an explosion and rushed to find Halabiye, who is believed to have intended to throw a device at them when it went off prematurely.
Cairo (AFP) - Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a checkpoint in Egypt Sunday, killing two policemen and a bystander, security officials said on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising.

Another two policemen were wounded in the attack near the town of Fakous in the Nile Delta province of Sharkiya north of Cairo, they said.

The identities of the attackers, who fled the scene, were not immediately known but police arrested three suspects in the area.

Sunday's shooting comes after eight people including six policemen were killed in a bomb blast on Thursday in Cairo.

The explosion in the capital's Al-Haram district, near the pyramids, came as police raided a flat suspected to be a militant hideout.

An Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State jihadist group claimed the blast.

Sunday's attack comes on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the start of the 18-day revolt that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The authorities have boosted security across the country to prevent attacks and protests, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warning against any form of demonstration on Monday.

Jihadists have regularly attacked security forces since then army chief Sisi toppled Mubarak's successor, Islamist Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013.

Jihadists say their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Morsi's supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned.
Casey Neistat saw the historic nature of Winter Storm Jonas and knew he had to make it memorable. So with a little bit of chutzpah, a snowboard, and a Jeep 44, Neistat put a plan forward to take to the streets of New York when the storm overtook the city. And this video is the final product, a snowy love letter to New York with a little bit of America peppered in there.

Neistat greets pedestrians, does a few slick moves around the streets, and doesnt seem to run into any cops until the end of the movie. The best part is when he and his crew take to Times Square, American flag in hand, and really capture what the snow stricken city looks like at its most famous point. Its fantastic.

You can check out a little bit of the prep that went into this venture below, including his concerns that there might be too much snow on the ground to actually do anything of any worth on the streets. Luckily it all worked out and we got a pretty sweet video in the process. Not a bad time at all, even if the city is likely trapped inside by now.
Budapest (AFP) - Hundreds of people rallied in Budapest on Sunday against government plans to bring in anti-terror measures including restrictions on the Internet and curfews.

"The plan would put an end to democracy once and for all," protest organiser Lajos Bokros told the crowd in front of the Hungarian parliament, estimated by an AFP reporter at around 800 strong.

According to a draft leaked to the media last week, the government wants to amend the constitution by creating a new category of emergency -- "terror threat situation" -- that if declared would enable it to issue decrees, suspend certain laws, and modify others.

Among some 30 proposed changes are controls on the Internet, deployment of the army domestically, closing of borders, and the imposition of curfews in areas affected by a terrorist threat.

Critics including several opposition parties and rights groups say an vaguely defined "terror threat" could allow the government to clamp down on civil liberties.

"It's happened in our history before, and we're afraid it will happen again, that at any given time the government can allow itself to restrict our rights," said Gyorgy Magyar, a lawyer who spoke at the rally.

The proposals will be debated in parliament next month, according to Gergely Gulyas, a lawmaker with Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling rightwing Fidesz party.

In a newspaper interview last week Gulyas said talks with opposition parties are ongoing and dismissed accusations that Fidesz wants to seize "full powers".

"The government's duty is to protect citizens from terrorism," he said.

Since coming to power in 2010 Orban's government has often been accused of dismantling democratic checks and balances.

After losing a parliamentary supermajority last February however it needs the support of at least some opposition lawmakers to pass constitutional amendments.
Doug Burgums plan to run in the primary if he doesnt get the nomination for governor at the Republican convention worries some party members. They see the potential of Democrats switching to the Republican ballot to sway the outcome of the election. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has to be considered the front-runner to get the party nomination. Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, also is seeking the nomination.

Since North Dakota doesnt have voter registration, voters can decide at the polls which party they want to vote for. They have to stick with one party; if they jump between parties their ballot is disqualified. Some fear a scenario where Democrats have no races in the primary so they vote Republican in an effort to defeat Stenehjem. The theory is that Stenehjem will be more difficult for a Democrat to defeat and should Burgum win the general election hes more compatible to the Democrats.

There are a lot of things that could change between now and the June primary. The Democrats also could face a race or races in the primary; Burgum could see so much support for one of the Republican candidates that he drops his primary plan or he gets the nomination. The big question is whether enough Democrats would want to switch to have an impact on the Republican race. Some Democrats might find it hard to vote for a Republican no matter what the circumstances.

If Burgum runs in the primary and wins, theres a good chance the party will come out as strong as ever. In 2012 Kevin Cramer bypassed the convention and defeated Brian Kalk, the party nominee for the U.S. House. Cramer went on to win the general election and was re-elected in 2014. He skipped a convention that had a large field pursuing the House nomination. He avoided the convention floor battle and accomplished his goal. He was quickly accepted by the party.

Primary challenges dont always work the way candidates hope. In 1992 Attorney General Nick Spaeth lost the Democratic nomination for governor at the convention. He challenged the nominee, Senate Majority Leader Bill Heigaard, in the primary and won. However, the Republican nominee, Ed Schafer, easily defeated Spaeth in the general election. One reason for Spaeths loss, political pundits said, was that many Democrats didnt vote because they were upset over Spaeths primary challenge.

While the political parties may see primary challenges as weakening the convention process, they can make elections more interesting for the voters. Usually when it comes to offices where the parties endorse, the primary becomes a rubber-stamping process. Primary challenges can motivate people to vote, so if Burgum doesnt get the nomination and runs in the primary, it could draw more Republicans to the polls. Choices make for more interesting elections and a healthier political climate. Candidates have a better mandate when more people vote in the primary.
By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday his government was considering an agreement with New Delhi that would clear the way for a long-awaited $9 billion sale of French-built Rafale warplanes to India. Hollande arrived in India on Sunday. During his visit he will try to close the defense deal and to push forward with nuclear and solar energy agreements, including a plan to build six French nuclear reactors in western India. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to attract French companies to India and to share high technology in defense and other fields as part of a bid to promote local industry and build a domestic manufacturing base. In the run-up to Hollande's visit, Indian and French negotiators debated the price of the 36 combat planes designed to replace ageing Indian air force jets, officials of the two nations said. "The idea we have in mind is the one of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries in order to allow the firms involved to go all the way," Hollande told journalists. "It is this intergovernmental agreement that will allow a commercial transaction," said Hollande. The French leader, speaking in Chandigarh, a city designed by French architect Le Corbusier, said such an agreement was a prerequisite for the Indian side. He did not elaborate. Hollande will be the guest of honor at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday, a sign of the deepening political and commercial ties between the two countries. NUCLEAR REACTORS During his visit, Hollande will try to kickstart negotiations on a plan for French nuclear company Areva to build six reactors in western India. The talks have recently been stuck over the price of deal, and French utility EDF's recent takeover of Areva's reactor business has also slowed progress. France and India are expected to lay out a roadmap for nuclear cooperation. India has launched a nuclear insurance pool to address nuclear suppliers' concerns over liability stemming from a 2010 Indian law. A source at Areva said the firm was waiting to see the details of the insurance cover. India will also seek French investment to upgrade of its rail system, waterways and mass transit systems planned for 50 cities, Modi said. Modi and Hollande also said countries would work together in counter-terrorism and planned to step up cooperation, including between their militaries. Formal talks will begin on Monday. (Reporting by Doug Busvine in New Delhi, Himank Sharma in New Delhi and Simon Carraud in Paris; Writing by Matthias Blamont and Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Jon Boyle and Raissa Kasolowsky)
By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday his government was considering an agreement with New Delhi that would clear the way for a long-awaited $9 billion sale of French-built Rafale warplanes to India. Hollande arrived in India on Sunday. During his visit he will try to close the defence deal and to push forward with nuclear and solar energy agreements, including a plan to build six French nuclear reactors in western India. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to attract French companies to India and to share high technology in defence and other fields as part of a bid to promote local industry and build a domestic manufacturing base. In the run-up to Hollande's visit, Indian and French negotiators debated the price of the 36 combat planes designed to replace ageing Indian air force jets, officials of the two nations said. "The idea we have in mind is the one of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries in order to allow the firms involved to go all the way," Hollande told journalists. "It is this intergovernmental agreement that will allow a commercial transaction," said Hollande. The French leader, speaking in Chandigarh, a city designed by French architect Le Corbusier, said such an agreement was a prerequisite for the Indian side. He did not elaborate. Hollande will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday, a sign of the deepening political and commercial ties between the two countries. NUCLEAR REACTORS During his visit, Hollande will try to kickstart negotiations on a plan for French nuclear company Areva to build six reactors in western India. The talks have recently been stuck over the price of deal, and French utility EDF's recent takeover of Areva's reactor business has also slowed progress. France and India are expected to lay out a roadmap for nuclear cooperation. India has launched a nuclear insurance pool to address nuclear suppliers' concerns over liability stemming from a 2010 Indian law. A source at Areva said the firm was waiting to see the details of the insurance cover. India will also seek French investment to upgrade of its rail system, waterways and mass transit systems planned for 50 cities, Modi said. Modi and Hollande also said countries would work together in counter-terrorism and planned to step up cooperation, including between their militaries. Formal talks will begin on Monday. (Reporting by Doug Busvine in New Delhi, Himank Sharma in New Delhi and Simon Carraud in Paris; Writing by Matthias Blamont and Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Jon Boyle and Raissa Kasolowsky)
JAKARTA (Reuters) - The leader of Indonesia's second-largest political party has said his party will lend support to President Joko Widodo's government, potentially making it easier to pass legislation by giving it a majority in the house of representatives, news Website Detik reported on Sunday. The move, which falls short of an actual agreement to join the government's minority ruling coalition, was announced by Golkar leader and powerful tycoon Aburizal Bakrie on Saturday. "Another problem that should be solved is our position related to the President Jokowi," Bakrie was quoted as telling a party meeting on Saturday. "As a political power, Golkar was not born to be in opposition. "To side with President Jokowi's power, we participate with progressive power," he added, using Widodo's popular nickname. "Our goal is to participate." Golkar, which controls nearly 15 percent of seats in parliament, has been embroiled in a leadership dispute for months. Bakrie, patriarch of the family-owned Bakrie Group conglomerate, backed defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in the presidential election in late 2014. Disgruntled party members mounted a bid to oust him when Golkar, the political vehicle of former authoritarian ruler Suharto, failed to make it into government for the first time ever in the last election. (Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; writing by Michael Taylor; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Washington (AFP) - On February 1, residents of the US state of Iowa will cast the first votes in the months-long 2016 race for the White House.

Instead of holding primaries, the state hosts local meetings known as caucuses, which are organized by the Democratic and Republican parties as they launch the process to determine who will be their nominees in November's general election.

The parties use distinct and different methods. Here's a look at the crucial process, which can seem like a byzantine puzzle to those not familiar with it.

- Who votes? -

In Iowa, as in many states, voters register as Democrat, Republican or independent. Among Iowa's 3.1 million inhabitants, there are currently about 584,000 active Democratic voters, 611,000 active Republican voters, and 725,000 registered under no party affiliation, according to Iowa's secretary of state.

Only Republicans can vote in Republican caucuses, and Democrats in Democratic caucuses. Voters are allowed to register on site.

Those who turn 18 by election day on November 8 are eligible to participate in the February 1 caucuses.

Turnout was about 20 percent for Republicans in 2012 and 39 percent for Democrats in 2008, an exceptional year due to the high-profile clash between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

- Where are the polls? -

Each party organizes precinct meeting locations, mostly in public places like schools, libraries and other government buildings, but also in private homes.

The Republican and Democratic caucuses are often located close to one another, sometimes just down the hall in the same building.

Democrats will host some 1,681 caucuses, and Republicans roughly the same.

There will also be a virtual "tele-caucus" for US military personnel deployed out of state or overseas, and "satellite" caucuses at locations including nursing homes, where people are not mobile.

For both parties, most meetings begin at 7:00 pm local time (0100 GMT).

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- Republican method -

Republican voters gather at the appointed time and, after some organizational formalities, candidates' representatives each make a short speech urging voters for support.

A secret ballot is then held. The polling station reports the results to the party, which aggregates the results from the precincts and announces the winner who has received the most votes at the state level.

The precinct results for Republicans -- and for Democrats too -- will be delivered via a new digital application specially developed by Microsoft, which will replace an outdated telephone system.

- Democratic method -

It's complicated. Among Democrats, there is no secret ballot, and some critics argue the process subverts the "one person, one vote" principle proclaimed by the US Supreme Court.

Following initial formalities, supporters of each candidate gather in one area of the caucus room -- backers of Hillary Clinton, say, in one corner and those favoring Bernie Sanders in another.

Candidate groups lacking a minimum of 15 percent support are eliminated, and their backers are then invited to join another preference group.

It is during this realignment that leaders try to rally supporters to their candidates.

The groups' supporters are then counted, and a candidate is attributed a certain number of delegates proportionally. Due to rounding, a stronger candidate may end up with the same number of delegates as one with fewer caucus supporters.

These delegates are technically designated for county conventions in Iowa's 99 counties.

The evening is not over yet. The party calculates a ratio by which a candidate's delegates to the state convention are determined, based on the number of county delegates a candidate receives.

The candidate who accrues the most state delegates, out of a total of 1,406, is proclaimed the winner of the party's caucuses.
Tehran (AFP) - Iran said Sunday it will buy 114 Airbus planes to revitalise its ageing fleet, in the first major commercial deal announced since the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear agreement.

Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said a deal on the purchase would be signed between national carrier Iran Air and Airbus during a visit to Paris this week by President Hassan Rouhani.

Rouhani will travel to Italy and France from Monday to Wednesday, on his first visit to Europe since the implementation of the deal curbing Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions.

Rouhani has hailed the agreement as a "new chapter" for Iran as its economy returns to global markets.

Modernising the country's air fleet and infrastructure is a top priority, with Akhoundi saying Sunday that only 150 of the country's 250 planes are operational.

"We have been negotiating for 10 months" for the purchase of planes but "there was no way to pay for them because of banking sanctions", state media quoted Akhoundi as saying.

"We need 400 long- and mid-range and 100 short-range planes," he said.

He said the first batch of new planes would arrive in Iran by March 19 but provided no financial details of the deal with Airbus.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment.

Akhoundi's deputy, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, told AFP that Iran "essentially wants to buy Airbus A320s, A321s and A330s".

"We will take delivery in 2016 and 2017 of Airbus A320s and A321s, with the A330s coming later," he said.

"From 2020, we will take delivery of Airbus A350s and A380s. We want eight A380s and 16 A350s."

The A380 is the world's largest passenger plane, a twin-deck four-engined long-haul aircraft.

On the cost of the contract, the deputy minister said the basic price had been fixed but it would be necessary to "add options for each aircraft".

Iran, with a population 79 million, has a good road network but still needs major transport upgrades, which Tehran hopes will boost tourism and trade.

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- Talks with Boeing -

Iran's airports also need $250 million (230 million euros) worth of upgrades in navigation systems, Akhoundi said.

Only nine of Iran's 67 airports are currently operational.

Iran has suffered several air crashes in recent years blamed on ageing planes, poor maintenance and a shortage of new parts.

News of the Airbus deal came as aviation industry representatives from 85 companies met in Tehran on Sunday to assess opportunities in the Islamic republic after sanctions were removed.

"It's a really exciting time, there's never been a situation like this," said Peter Harbison, the head of the CAPA consultancy which organised the conference.

"A whole array of different aviation services and new jobs obviously are going to be created," Harbison told AFP.

"Aviation is one of those industries that creates massive economic flow-on benefits, so tourism will expand, so you'll need more infrastructure growth in hotels and right across the board."

Akhoundi said Sunday Iran was also negotiating with US plane manufacturer Boeing, but provided no details.

He said Iran was in talks with the United States on the possibility of reopening direct air routes, which were cut after the 1979 hostage crisis that ended all diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Rouhani's European tour will see him seeking to restore commercial ties with Italy and France, which were among Tehran's main economic partners before the tightening of international sanctions in January 2012.

Competition to tap the Iranian market has been fierce as it emerges from international isolation.

Meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, Rouhani said the two countries aim to build up economic ties worth up to $600 billion in the next 10 years.

They signed a slew of trade agreements, including a $2 billion contract for China to electrify the railway line linking Tehran with second city Mashhad.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's parliament passed a law on Sunday defining "political offences" that would be guaranteed public trials, a measure credited by President Hassan Rouhani's pragmatic government as a step towards reform, but faulted for not going far enough. Iran's constitution provides for public trials and other legal protections for people accused of political crimes, but these have never been defined. Most people considered by human rights groups to be political prisoners in Iran are charged with security offences, which are often subject to secret tribunals. Rouhani, who was elected in 2013 in a landslide on a promise to open Iranian society, has called for more transparency in the legal code about which crimes are political and therefore entitle defendants to greater protection. The president's reform agenda won a major victory abroad this month with the lifting of international financial sanctions against Iran, in line with a deal he agreed last year to curb Iran's nuclear program. But his domestic agenda still faces strong opposition from hardliners who are powerful in parliament and among the clerical establishment, which ultimately has more authority than the president himself. Sunday's new law suggested protections for political crime suspects would be offered for offences such as insulting senior officials and spreading rumors, but not for violent crimes or attempts to overthrow the state. "Breaches of law committed against state ... bodies or internal and foreign policies of the country, as long as they are committed to achieve reforms and not intended to target the system, are considered political crimes," read one of the law's articles. In a session carried live on state radio, lawmakers backed the bill, which still need to be approved by a high clerical council before it takes effect. Majid Ansari, Rouhani's vice president for parliamentary affairs, said the government viewed the law as a positive step, but one that did not go far enough because it did not provide enough detail. "The present proposed law does not have sufficient breadth, because defining political crimes is a difficult task," Ansari told lawmakers. International rights groups often complain that constitutional safeguards on political crimes are ignored as defendants are charged with crimes against national security and tried behind closed doors. Iran rejects Western criticism of its rights record, including a high number of executions linked to drugs smuggling. It says it has lost many security personnel in skirmishes with drug traffickers in regions bordering Afghanistan, the top world opium supplier. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Sami Aboudi and Peter Graff)
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq's foreign ministry summoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Baghdad on Sunday to protest his "interference" in the country's internal affairs over remarks on militia forces fighting the Islamic State group.

Thamer al-Sabhan is the first Baghdad-based Saudi ambassador in a quarter century, but while full diplomatic relations are restored, there is still significant hostility to Riyadh in some quarters and there have already been calls for the envoy's expulsion.

The foreign ministry summoned Sabhan "to inform him of its official protest regarding his media statements that represented interference in Iraqi internal affairs," it said in a statement.

Sabhan said in interview with Al-Sumaria television that the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces, which are dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, are not wanted in Sunni Arab and Kurdish areas as "they are not accepted by the sons of Iraqi society".

Iraq turned to Shiite militia forces in 2014 to help counter an IS onslaught that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and they have played a key role in the fight against the jihadists.

But militias and their affiliates have also carried out abuses including summary executions, kidnappings and destruction of property, and many members of the Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities view them with suspicion.

The foreign ministry defended the Hashed al-Shaabi, "which is fighting terrorism and defending the sovereignty of the country, and works under the umbrella of the state."

Shiite politicians had earlier reacted angrily to the Saudi ambassador's comments, but the country's largest Sunni bloc defended him.

"The remarks of the Saudi ambassador indicate clear hostility and blatant interference in Iraqi affairs," Khalaf Abdulsamad, the head of the Dawa parliamentary list, said in a statement.

- 'Major insult' -

"His talking about the Hashed al-Shaabi in this way is considered a major insult," Abdulsamad said, calling on the foreign ministry to "preserve the dignity of the Iraqi state and summon the Saudi ambassador and expel him from Iraq."

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Alia Nasayif, an MP from the State of Law bloc, said the ambassador's remarks "included clear attempts to provoke sectarian strife".

And Hashed al-Shaabi spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi termed Sabhan an "ambassador of a state that supports terrorism" and called for Iraq to "expel this ambassador and punish him for his statements."

Among Iraqi Shiites, Saudi Arabia is widely viewed as a supporter of extremists and opponent of their community.

But Sabhan's comments were not universally panned, with the Alliance of Iraqi Forces, the main Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, describing his remarks as "very natural" and criticising the "political campaign" against him.

Sabhan's tenure in Iraq, which officially began when he presented his credentials 10 days ago, was off to a rocky start even before his recent remarks.

Saudi Arabia's execution of activist and Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr at the beginning of the month sparked widespread anti-Riyadh anger, protests and calls for Sabhan to be kicked out of Iraq.

Iraq has been plagued by years of tensions between its Shiite majority and Sunni minority, which ruled the country under Saddam Hussein, with tens of thousands killed in sectarian violence over the past decade.

The United Nations said last week that more than 18,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed in the previous two years, many due to an upsurge in violence with the rise of IS.
Constant vigilance: The motto of Harry Potter character Mad Eye Moody, and of the woman who created him  at least when it comes to Twitter. Having already taken to the social media platform to condemn Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for his worse-than-Lord-Voldemort immigration stance, J.K. Rowling has now extended the metaphor to one of Trump's minions: Katrina Pierson, national spokesperson for the GOP's leading candidate and apparent hater of mudbloods.

"Perfect," Pierson tweeted during a 2012 debate between President Barack Obama and his then-opponent, Mitt Romney. "Obama's dad born in Africa, Mitt Romney's dad born in Mexico. Any pure breeds left?"

Perfect Obama's dad born in Africa, Mitt Romney's dad born in Mexico. Any pure breeds left? #CNNDebate

"Death Eaters walk among us," Rowling replied on Sunday.

Death Eaters walk among us. https://twitter.com/katrinapierson/status/160181303680040960 ...

And, of course, Twitter quickly broke into applause at Rowling's zinger.

@say_shannon @jk_rowling This is just sad. I hope Americans will understand who's the right person to be president or we're all doomed.

@jk_rowling SLAY MY QUEEN

Pierson, 39, came under fire in late December for wearing a necklace made of bullets during a CNN appearance. Which is not an atypical move for the Texan tea party advocate who, like the candidate she supports, brings both a spotty political background and a fondness for brash, unedited statements of whatever's on her mind. "He's sort of not politically correct," she once said of her candidate, as Politico reported. "He sort of calls it like he sees it. I'm kind of that way, too."

Apparently so. Pierson was formerly attached to Ted Cruz's senatorial campaign but was drawn to Trump's camp by his views on Islam. According to AlterNet, she responded with a glib "so what, they're Muslim" when questioned about her candidate's plan to ban everyone of Islamic faith from entering the U.S.

As Rowling's army of Twitter followers will remember, it was that proposal which prompted the author to draw the parallel between Trump and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the first place. His spokesperson's racial views seem to fit neatly within that ideology. Draco Malfoy couldn't have said it better himself.
Japan's ageing Emperor Akihito travels to the Philippines this week to visit World War II memorials, his latest pacifist pilgrimage which appears increasingly at odds with the government's rightward drift.

Akihito, 82, has made honouring Japanese and non-Japanese who died in the conflict a touchstone of his near three-decade reign -- known as Heisei, or "achieving peace" -- and now in its twilight.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, wants to revise Japan's war-renouncing "peace constitution", seeing it as an embarrassing remnant of its WWII defeat and occupation by the United States.

In the Philippines, which saw some of the war's fiercest fighting, Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit the national Heroes' Cemetery and a memorial for Japanese war dead during a five day visit starting Tuesday.

"The emperor has been very consistent with the fact that Japan is apologetic about their aggression," said Richard Javad Heydarian, a political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila.

Such contrition, decades of Japanese economic aid and the Philippines' search for allies in a maritime dispute with increasingly powerful China have made Abe's nationalist lurch -- which includes strengthening his military -- palatable in Manila.

"We in the Philippines are OK with Japan becoming a normal power," Heydarian said.

Akihito is strictly limited to "symbol of the state" under Japan's constitution imposed by Washington, which aimed to prevent any return to the militarism in the early reign of his father, Hirohito.

Abe last year pushed through legislation that under certain conditions could allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since 1945, passage which came amid protests and fears the country could be dragged into conflict in support of allies, particularly the US.

Despite constitutional restraints, the soft spoken Akihito, 11-years-old when the war ended in the nuclear obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is still seen as getting his point across about the importance of cherishing Japan's postwar peace.

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"He is the emperor so he really can't speak from a political standpoint," said Fumiko Imagawa, who went to the Imperial Palace early this month to hear Akihito's brief annual New Year's message.

But she added: "His own thoughts are conveyed in each word."

- 'Profound remorse' -

Akihito has previously journeyed to other Pacific battle sites where Japanese troops and civilians made desperate last stands in his father's name.

On visits to Saipan in 2005 and Palau last year he prayed not just for the Japanese soldiers and civilians who perished, but also colonial subjects such as Koreans and troops from its wartime enemy, the US.

In remarks in August at a memorial marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's 1945 surrender, Akihito expressed "profound remorse" for the war fought in his father's name, reportedly the first time he used those words at the annual event.

Author Masayasu Hosaka says Akihito has become clearer in his pacifist comments in recent years.

"The reason is perhaps that in reflecting on his life he is looking back on what he should have done as emperor, seeing if there are things he has not spoken enough about or words he wants to leave behind," Hosaka wrote in a recently published book.

To be sure, "peace" and "remorse" are words Abe himself utters, and in August as the world watched he said Japan would stand by previous war apologies.

But other comments and actions, including having prevaricated over whether Japan's wartime aggression amounted to "invasion" and his 2013 visit to Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Class A war criminals are sanctified, have raised questions of sincerity.

In December his ruling party launched a group to review modern history amid reports it would consider issues including the 1937-38 Nanjing massacre, which Tokyo is accused of playing down.

By contrast, early last year Akihito said Japanese should "study and learn from the history" of the war "as we consider the future direction of our country".

Manila-based Heydarian says what helps Filipinos reconcile is that history weighs less heavily on them, while their government does not "peddle this narrative of historical victimhood", alluding to China, where sentiment remains bitter.

Sonny Sanchez, a retired businessman, concurs that his compatriots are not the type to hold grudges, but he also points to frequent Japanese natural disaster aid and support for Manila in its dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.

"I love the emperor and his family," he said after watching the palace New Year's greeting on a trip to Tokyo with his wife and sons.

"That's why we came here, just to take a glimpse of him for a few seconds."
Presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised embattled fellow Republican and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder for his response to a crisis unfolding in the city of Flint, where directives ordered by a Snyder-appointed emergency manager resulted in municipal water supplies turning toxic in 2014 and staying that way until now.

In an interview Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, Bush said "I admire Rick Snyder for stepping up right now. He's going to the challenge, and he's fired people and accepted responsibility to fix this," the Hill reported.

Bush clarified he was critical of the decisions that led to the crisis, but he respected Snyder for accepting responsibility for events under his control.

"No, what I'm saying though, instead of saying, 'The dog ate my homework' and, 'It's someone else's fault,' once it became clear he's taken the lead now, and that's exactly what I think leaders have to do," Bush said.

During the rest of the interview, Bush blamed too much government for the crisis, saying it had led to a situation in which no one had taken responsibility for the unsafe water.

In this instance, praising Snyder may prove to be a risky move for Bush, who has been having a tough time in the Republican primary as frontrunner Donald Trump continues a monthslong surge in the polls.

The controversy surrounding Snyder is still unfolding, and it remains unclear whether he will emerge with a tainted reputation.

Snyder's administration has been widely panned after it became clear state officials, including senior aides from his office, dismissed residents' concerns that water being pumped into their communities from the infamously polluted Flint River was not suitable for human consumption.

It also turns out the water was improperly treated and lacked cheap corrosion controls that could have prevented lead levels in the water from skyrocketing.

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In some cases, it appears Michigan health officials suppressed reports warning about the toxicity.

Snyder issued a formal apology, saying, "I'm sorry, and I will fix it," during a State of the State address last week. "Government failed you," he said. "... I'm sorry most of all that I let you down. You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know that the buck stops here with me."

Snyder declared a state of emergency Jan. 5, and on Jan. 12 he mobilized the National Guard to distribute bottled water and filters. He also committed $28 million to resolving the crisis, in addition to $5 million in emergency funds and $80 million in loans provided by President Barack Obama's administration.

While Snyder has taken the lion's share of the blame so far, like Bush he's also tried to redirect criticism toward "a huge bureaucratic problem ... part of the problem with culture in government" in other statements, reports the Detroit News.

The Washington Post's Janell Ross, among others, wrote Snyder's appointment of an emergency manager to cut costs in Flint is directly responsible for the crisis. Flint residents are continuing to receive some of the nation's highest water bills for the poisoned water.
RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday he was confident Syria peace talks would proceed, after he held talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Saudi Arabia. "We are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so those talks can get going and that the U.N. representative special envoy, Staffan De Mistura, will be convening people in an appropriate manner for the proximity talks that will be the first meeting in Geneva," he told reporters in Riyadh. The Syria peace talks are planned to begin on Jan. 25 in Geneva, but there is uncertainty around the date, partly because of a dispute over who will be part of the opposition delegation. Kerry said major countries would convene after the first round of negotiations. "I won't announce a date, but we all agreed that immediately after completion of the first round of the Syria discussions, the International Syria Support Group will convene, and that will be very shortly, because we want to keep the process moving," he said. Peace efforts face huge underlying challenges, among them disagreements over President Bashar al-Assad's future and worsening relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Tensions between the two regional rivals escalated this month after the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric. That triggered an attack by Iranian protesters on the Saudi embassy in Tehran embassy, leading the kingdom to cut diplomatic ties. "None of us are under any illusions that obstacles don't still exist to trying to seek a political settlement in Syria," Kerry said. "We know its tough. If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago." Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said his country was working with the U.S. to find ways to remove Assad from power. He downplayed any change in U.S.-Iran relations after an agreement with world powers on Iran's nuclear programmed led them to lift sanctions on Iran. "We work with our American friends on ways to remove Bashar al-Assad from Syria and move the country towards a better future," he said. "I don't see a coming together of the United States and Iran, as some of the pundits have described it. Iran remains the world's chief sponsor of terrorism." Kerry said the lifting of sanctions presented an opportunity to work together with Iran to address some of the worries Saudi Arabia and other countries had. "Now we have the ability to begin to work together to address the concerns that Saudi Arabia and other countries have and that we have," he said. Kerry met earlier in Riyadh with representatives of the six nations of the GCC, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. He is due to hold talks with Riad Hijab, chair of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee, which was formed in Riyadh last month. (This version of the story was refiled to fix reporter's byline. No change in text.) (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Maha El Dahan; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By David Brunnstrom VIENTIANE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry began a visit to Asia on Sunday in which he plans to press China to put more curbs on North Korea after its nuclear test and to urge Southeast Asia to show unity in response to Beijing's claims in the South China Sea. Kerry started what will be a three-day stay in the region in Laos, the 2016 chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He will head to Cambodia on Monday night and then on to Beijing for talks on Wednesday with the leadership there. In Beijing, Kerry is expected to stress the need for a united front in response to this month's North Korean nuclear test through additional U.N. sanctions, a senior official of the U.S. State Department said. He will also argue for a tough unilateral response from China, North Korea's main ally and neighbor. "It is very important to present a united front ... but that united front has to be a firm one, not a flaccid one," the official told journalists traveling with Kerry. It was particularly important to "cut off avenues of proliferation and retard North Korea's ability to gain the wherewithal to advance its nuclear and its missile programs," the official said, and that meant China doing more. North Korea said on Jan. 6 it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, although Washington voiced skepticism as to whether the device was actually that powerful. "North Korea is still engaged in illicit and proliferation activities," the official said. "They have very few avenues for conducting business with the international community that don't in some fashion involve transiting China. "Despite the determination and efforts of the Chinese government, clearly there is more that they can do." In Beijing Kerry plans "in depth" discussions on the South China Sea, a source of increasing tension between China and ASEAN countries and the United States due to China's building of artificial islands suitable for use as military bases, the official said. CHINESE ALLY First though in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Kerry will seek to bolster ASEAN unity and the bloc's resolve to stand up to China in the lead-up to a summit President Barack Obama has called with the bloc's leaders for Feb. 15-16 in Sunnylands, California. Laos has close political and economic ties with its giant neighbor China. The Obama administration worries that it might behave as Cambodia did when it held the ASEAN chair in 2012 and was accused of obstructing consensus in the bloc over the South China Sea. Besides its China ties, as a landlocked country Laos has less interest in the maritime disputes that several ASEAN members have with Beijing. The U.S. official said he had heard from virtually every ASEAN country that the Cambodian chairmanship had left "a black mark" on the bloc that was not to be repeated. So far, Laos was off to a good start overseeing ASEAN statements on world events, the official said, adding: "It's my expectation that the Lao will be a responsible chair for 2016." Kerry will seek to set an encouraging tone in Laos by discussing increased U.S. aid, including more funding for work to dispose of unexploded U.S. ordnance left over from the Vietnam War. During that conflict Laos became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history as the United States sought to destroy communist supply lines running through it. The main announcements, though, are expected to come when Barack Obama attends a regional summit towards the end of the year and becomes the first U.S. president ever to visit Laos. In Cambodia, Kerry will meet Hun Sen, now Asia's longest serving prime minister, and will draw attention to U.S. concerns about human rights and treatment of government critics by meeting opposition members and civil activists, the State Department official said. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Mark Trevelyan)
Riyadh (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry reassured Saudi Arabia on Sunday of the "solid relationship" between both countries, even after the lifting of sanctions on the kingdom's regional rival Iran.

"We have as solid a relationship, as clear an alliance, and as strong a friendship with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as we've ever had," Kerry said before departing Riyadh for Laos at the end of a 24-hour visit.

"Nothing has changed because we worked to eliminate a nuclear weapon with a country in the region," he added. "We will continue to work in the region with our friends and our allies."

Kerry has long sought to calm concerns among Washington's Gulf allies about the overtures to Iran, the world's leading Shiite power whose relations with Sunni rival Saudi Arabia have worsened this month.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies cut diplomatic ties with Iran after protesters there burned Riyadh's embassy in Tehran and a consulate in Mashhad city.

The violence broke out after the kingdom executed Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force behind anti-government protests, as part of a group of 47 mostly Sunni Saudis sentenced to death for "terrorism".

The kingdom and its Gulf neighbours perceive a lack of support from their traditional ally Washington, particularly in the face of what they see as Iran's "interference" in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.

The historic deal with Tehran -- backed by the United States and five other major powers -- led this month to the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters Saturday that he did not see a "coming together" of the United States and Iran.

"Iran remains the world's chief sponsor of terrorism," Jubeir said.

"Overall I think the United States is very aware of the danger of Iran's mischief and nefarious activities... I don't believe the United States is under any illusion as to what type of government Iran is."

Saudi Arabia and Iran support opposite sides in the Syria and Yemen wars.
Moscow (AFP) - To reach the gigantic statue of Vladimir Lenin that overlooks Moscow's October Square, pedestrians can stroll down streets named after the Bolshevik revolutionary's wife or mother, or cross Lenin Avenue that intersects with a road named after his brother.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since the fall of Communism but reminders of the Soviet Union's founding father Lenin -- who died on January 21, 1924 -- are still easy to find.

Yet the man himself seems increasingly to mean little to many people in Russia, the cradle of his revolution.

Lenin monuments, busts and eponymous streets commemorating the leader of the 1917 October Revolution still dot cityscapes across the country and his body still lies embalmed for tourists to visit in the mausoleum on the capital's iconic Red Square.

"On July 19, 1918, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin met in this building with the party members from factories of the Zamoskvorechye neighbourhood," reads a plaque in the centre of the Russian capital.

Down the street, another plaque reminds passersby that the Communist leader addressed workers from the Yaroslavl and Vladimir regions from a balcony above their heads.

And Moscow's sprawling subway system -- which carries an average of seven million passengers every day -- also officially bears Lenin's name.

- 'Relics from our history' -

In some other former Soviet republics, most prominently Ukraine, many statues of Lenin have been dismantled, toppled or vandalised since the fall of Communism.

But for ordinary Russians the lingering presence of the Communist leader among the advertising hoardings and shopping malls of their consumerist society appears to stir mixed opinions -- or more often just indifference.

Every year on the key Communist holidays such as May 1 or the anniversary of the revolution on November 7 dwindling groups of ageing supporters gather with portraits of Lenin at monuments to him across the country.

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But while some who are old enough to remember the Soviet epoch view these vestiges of another era with nostalgia, others look on them with resentment.

"These monuments bother me," said 60-year-old Muscovite Viktor Dzyadko, whose hostility toward the Soviet revolutionary is tangible. "They should all be sent to some museum."

For the younger generation, who have grown up outside the Soviet system, the presence of Lenin is often little more than a historical oddity.

"During the Soviet era, all these monuments had an ideological role but now they are just relics from our history," said Alexander Polyakovsky, a 20-year-old student.

"We are witnessing growing indifference," sociologist Lev Gudkov, the head of independent pollster Levada Centre, told AFP.

"Lenin does not represent anything to the young generations, who only have a vague idea that he was the founder of the Soviet state."

In a poll conducted by the Levada centre about views of Lenin in 2015 only five percent of people said they thought his ideas will influence people in the future.

- 'Atomic bomb' -

In the heady days of the early nineties during the collapse of the Soviet Union, some of the key symbolic statues of Soviet leaders -- most famously secret police founder Felix Dzerzhinsky outside the KGB headquarters -- were toppled.

But as the new country plunged into chaos, Russia's first president Boris Yeltsin -- often keen not to alienate the large chunk of the population that looked back on the Soviet era with fondness -- left most of the Lenin statues untouched.

President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent whose rule has seen the revival of Soviet traditions and controls, followed in Yeltsin's footsteps and just let Lenin be.

That includes leaving the embalmed remains of the leader on display outside the Kremlin, despite polls showing that the majority of people are in favour of finally saying goodbye Lenin and burying his body.

But that does not mean that Putin, who has surrounded himself with ex-Soviet security agents and been accused of playing down the crimes of Stalinism, is harking back to the ideals of Lenin.

"Allowing your rule to be guided by ideas is right, but only when that idea leads to the right results, not like it did with Vladimir Ilich," Putin said in a rare reference to Lenin on the anniversary of his death.

"In the end that idea led to the fall of the Soviet Union," he added.

"They planted an atomic bomb under the building called Russia and it later exploded. We did not need a global revolution."
(Reuters) - An accused murderer and two other California prisoners were still at large on Sunday after breaking out of the Orange County jail as a massive manhunt for the trio entered its third day, authorities said. Southern California and federal authorities are searching for Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, who escaped the jail in Orange County and were last seen early Friday morning, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said in a statement on Sunday. "The three escapees ... are dangerous criminals," she said. The trio cut through a steel grate inside their cell, climbed through a plumbing tunnel and up to the roof of the facility. They used bedsheets to lower themselves down four stories before disappearing, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jeff Hallock. "There were about four or five other security breaches that occurred inside the plumbing tunnels and steel that they had to cut before they got to the roof," he said. Hallock said that it is unclear how long exactly the inmates worked on their escape plan before they broke loose. "This is very apparent that this was a planned escape that could have been worked on for weeks or months," he said. "This was a very sophisticated escape." Hallock said the men could be armed, but declined to disclose what mode of transportation they may be using. He also said authorities are investigating whether the prisoners had help inside or outside the jail. The daring jailbreak recalled the escape of two convicted murderers from a maximum-security prison in upstate New York last year. A three-week manhunt for the pair ended with the fatal shooting of one of the inmates and the capture of the second a mile from the Canadian border. Nayeri, an Iranian, is one of four people accused of kidnapping and torturing a marijuana dispensary owner, the Register said. He has been held in the jail without bail since September 2014 after being arrested by the FBI in Prague. Tieu has been held at the facility since October 2013, charged with a murder that authorities believe was gang-related. Duong has been held at the jail without bail since last month, charged with attempted murder and other counts. (Reporting by Frank McGurty in New York and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)
Washington (AFP) - As the US presidential race picks up pace, the speeches and debates are full of character attacks, arguments on immigration and worries about national security.

But there is one glaring omission in the battle for the White House: serious talk about the economy.

On both the Republican and Democratic sides, the state of the world's largest economy is mentioned, of course. But the exchanges in debates have mostly been about sound bites good for rebroadcast and social media, rather than serious discussion of issues.

Why such reticence to engage on a subject crucial in the past two presidential races? Aside from the dryness of the topic, the answer comes from the relative health of the US economy.

"The economy is doing reasonably well, although not spectacularly well," said Joseph Gagnon of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

"So it's good enough for Republicans not to have an angle of attack, but it's not so good as Democrats can brag about it."

The US unemployment rate has fallen to half of its peak in 2009 and now sits at five percent, close to full employment. The economy is growing at a modest pace, and the government deficit has shrunk.

Those are reasons, Democratic President Barack Obama says, that voters should support a Democrat to succeed him.

- Wages still weak -

Certainly, the economic crisis that dominated previous presidential elections, especially in 2008 when Obama won his first term, has disappeared. And that complicates efforts by Republicans to brand Obama's record a disaster as they woo voters.

They try nevertheless to exploit weaknesses in the Obama recovery -- especially how it has not benefitted everyone.

For the Republicans, said Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute, "There's no easy target, even if there's definitely a general sense that people... haven't really benefited from the recovery."

The one issue that has voters on both sides unhappy is the weak growth in wages during the recovery, roughly half the pace that it was before the financial crisis.

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Ted Cruz, running second to Donald Trump in the race for the Republican nomination to the White House, has tried to draw support on the issue.

"If you make your money in and around Washington, things are doing great. The millionaires and billionaires are doing great under Obama," he said.

And another Republican hopeful, Marco Rubio, highlighted it as well: "The economy is not providing jobs that pay enough."

Even so, the Republicans as a group, who advocate for tax cuts and economic freedom, are not at ease with making wages a political issue. Most oppose mandated increases to the minimum wage, for example, an issue the Democrats embrace.

Republicans have also tried to chip away at Obama's record of slashing unemployment. They point to the still-high level of Americans who are unemployed and have dropped out of the workforce, which, as a percentage of the population, remains at a four-decade high.

But also grabbing this issue to make political gain is Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who argues that the real unemployment rate for Americans is over 10 percent, if one includes people forced to work part time.

Other issues pull together White House hopefuls from the two parties, making it hard for them to stand out.

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton and Trump both oppose the huge new trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, achieved late last year by Obama.

And both are against US companies being able to move their official addresses offshore to lower their taxes.

Even so, the candidates so far have stuck to criticism and complaints without offering much in the way of detailed proposals.

"Taxes too high, wages too high, we're not going to be able to compete against the world," says Trump, for example.

Barry Bosworth, of the Brookings Institution think tank, said it may take several more weeks or months for real proposals on the economy to emerge.

"Neither party has any great suggestions on how to deal with the issues of employment and income growth that seem to be the dominant economic concerns of voters," said Bosworth.

But he said their views could become clearer once the parties choose their final candidate for the November election, and that voters will pay more attention then.
Rabat (AFP) - Moroccan journalist Ali Anouzla is to stand trial next month over comments about the Western Sahara that he made to the German press, he said on Sunday.

The head of the Lakome2 website faces charges of "undermining national territorial integrity" at a trial due to begin on February 9, he told AFP.

The prosecution service opened an investigation after he mentioned the Western Sahara as one of three red lines for Moroccan journalists in an interview published last month in the German newspaper Bild, he said.

Bild reported that he listed these limits as "the monarchy, Islam and the occupied Western Sahara".

Anouzla, who faces up to five years in jail if convicted, said he never called the Western Sahara "occupied" and called the translation "inexact".

Morocco claims sovereignty over the mineral-rich territory, but the Algeria-backed Polisario Front has been campaigning for its independence since 1973.

UN efforts to organise a referendum on the territory's future have been resisted by Rabat.

The charges against Anouzla come as he faces others of defending and inciting "terrorism" in another case.

Anouzla was arrested in September 2013 after publishing a link on his website to an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb video on Morocco.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Although the temperature at parade time was 47 degrees, as predicted, the 18 mph winds which had been forecast never materialized, leaving conditions nearly perfect as the 41st annual Ocean Springs Elks Mardi Gras parade rolled through the downtown area.

Nearly 100 units, led by the Ocean Springs Police and Fire Departments and ending with the Krewe of Barry float, passed through crowds of thousands lining the streets of the parade route from Porter Avenue to Washington Avenue to Government Street.

"This is just such a great community event," said longtime resident Joe Catchot, watching the parade with his wife, Debbie Joe. "It brings everyone together -- families, friends. It's just a lot of fun and it's one of the things that puts Ocean Springs on the map.

Catchot noted he had left Ocean Springs in the late 1980s to live in Knoxville, Tenn., but returned to Ocean Springs last year.

"This is one of the events that we missed so much all those years in Tennessee," he said. "I can't begin to tell you how much we enjoyed being at the parade last year for the first time in years."

Longtime Ocean Springs High School band director Joe Cacibauda served as the parade Grand Marshal, while Louis Necaise was the Elks King and Lona Lee his queen.

"We never miss this event," said D'Iberville resident Fred McWilliams. "It's such a family-oriented parade -- everyone can enjoy it. The weather's a little chilly, but not nearly as bad as we thought it might be."

In only its second year, the Krewe Unique parade once again rolled directly behind the Elks parade, adding to the festivities.
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's ethnic minorities have rejected a constitutional amendment, dashing hopes of an end to a political crisis that has led to fuel shortages and hampered deliveries of relief materials to survivors of last year's earthquakes. More than 50 people have died since the ethnic Madhesis, backed by some other smaller ethnic groups, launched protests in the landlocked, Himalayan country's southern plains against the amendment to the constitution. Protests at the border have prevented trucks from entering from neighbouring India since September, causing fuel shortages and rationing in Nepal. Deliveries of relief supplies to communities hit by earthquakes in April and May last year have also been disrupted. The Nepalese people had hoped the charter, the country's first since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, would bring peace and stability closer after years of conflict. However, the Madhesis, who have close familial, linguistic and cultural ties with Indians across the border, say Nepalese authorities have failed to meet their aspirations for greater participation in government. The 597-member parliament voted 461-7 late on Saturday in favour of a provision of "proportionate inclusion" of minority groups in all government institutions including the army, and to carve out electoral constituencies on the basis of their population to increase their representation in parliament. The rest of the lawmakers either did not vote or walked out. The government believes that the amendment will address the problems in the Tarai and hopes that the protests will end, Law Minister Agni Prasad Kharel told parliament before the vote, referring to the lowlands bordering India in the south. Madhesi lawmakers protested and walked out of parliament, saying the changes had loopholes and were incomplete. It is a complete farce. It does not address our demands, said Hridayesh Tripathi, a leader of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, part of the Madhesi Front that is leading the protests. Nepal's giant and influential neighbour India said the changes were positive. "We hope that other outstanding issues are similarly addressed in a constructive spirit," the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. The Nepali government says a political panel will be tasked to redraw the internal boundaries of federal provinces within three months, another key demand of the Madhesis. It says other demands such as citizenship cards for foreign spouses of Nepali nationals will also be resolved through political consensus. But the Madhesis are opposed to splitting their region into more than two provinces, as the government plan envisages, saying this would scupper their chances of controlling the provincial governments. Many in Nepal blame India for quietly supporting the Madhesi protesters, a charge New Delhi denies. (Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in New Delhi; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Simon Cameron-Moore/Mark Heinrich)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would allow Jewish settlers evicted by the Israeli army from two houses in the West Bank city of Hebron to return once proper permits were in place. Israeli settlements in occupied territory, deemed illegal by most countries, are a fundamental issue in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and a factor behind a recent wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks on Israelis. About 80 settlers were removed from Hebron on Friday a day after Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon withheld his required approval of their occupancy in apartments in a city where tensions between Israelis and Palestinians run high. The settler group said it had bought the homes from Palestinian owners. But Yaalon said the settlers had failed to seek permission from Israeli authorities to move in and were trespassing. A Netanyahu aide said on Friday that the prime minister supported Yaalon's decision to evict the settlers, a step that drew criticism from members of the right-wing coalition government and threats to withhold support in parliamentary votes. But the aide said the settlers could take up residency again after completing the necessary paperwork. In public remarks at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said his government "supports the settlements" and would expedite an examination of the settlers' case. "The moment that the purchase process is authorized, we will allow the population of the two houses in Hebron," Netanyahu said, confirming his aide's remarks. (Reporting by Jeffrey Heller)
Orestiada (Grece) (AFP) - Hundreds of people protested in north-east Greece Sunday against the security fence along the Turkish border, demanding the opening of safe routes for migrants, two days after 45 died making the risky Aegean Sea crossing.

Demonstrators, some wearing life jackets as a symbol of the flow of thousands of people making the perilous sea journey from Turkey to Greece, marched from the village of Kastanies, which lies close to the frontier.

Police stopped the marchers a few hundred metres (yards) away from the border fence, located in a restricted-access military zone.

The protesters waved placards demanding the opening of borders and a group of Pakistani migrants carried a picture of drowned Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi. A picture of his body lying on a beach became a global symbol of Europe's refugee crisis.

Europe is battling to deal with its biggest migration crisis since World War II, but member states are split on what to do and despite deteriorating winter weather, thousands are attempting the risky sea passage every day.

In the latest tragedy, on Friday coastguards pulled 45 bodies including 20 children from the cold waters of the Aegean after their boats capsized while on their way to Greece.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias asked for more help from EU border agency Frontex to send migrants rejected for asylum in Europe back to Turkey.

Kotzias said Frontex should deploy about 100 boats in the narrow stretch of water separating Greece from Turkey, the main launching pad for 850,000 refugees and migrants who reached Greece's shores last year.

Long a hotspot for illegal migration, the Greece-Turkey land border was secured in 2012 with a 12.5-kilometre fence despite concerns from the European Commission.

Some campaigners have argued a corridor should be opened for migrants to enter Greece, but the authorities have rejected the idea, with other EU countries putting pressure on Athens to do more to stem the flow of people.

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"It is not a bad thing that this fence exists... Greece cannot take any more people than it is at the moment," foreign minister Nikos Kotzias said on Saturday at the end of a trip to Berlin, according to Greek news agency Ana.

Ankara reached an agreement with the EU in November to stem the flow of refugees heading to Europe, in return for financial assistance of three billion euros ($3.2 billion) in cash.

After talks with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Berlin on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said both sides signed an agreement to "do everything to reduce the number of refugees" crossing into the EU.

Sunday's protests came on the eve of a meeting in Ankara between senior EU officials and the Turkish government on further implementation of the November agreement.
By Paula Lehman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Regional air quality regulators in California voted on Saturday to require the utility responsible for a ruptured underground pipeline in the Los Angeles area to underwrite an independent study on the health effects of a huge methane leak from the site. The natural gas leak in Aliso Canyon, just outside the Los Angeles neighborhood of Porter Ranch, began on Oct. 23 and ranks as the worst ever in California. Odorized methane fumes sickened scores of people and led to the temporary relocation of thousands of residents from the northern Los Angeles community near the leaking storage field in Aliso Canyon. The 4-1 vote on Saturday by a hearing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), a regional agency, stopped short of requiring the utility to extract more gas from the crippled field than it already had pledged to siphon out, under orders from state officials. Gas extraction is designed to ease pressure on the ruptured wellhead and slow the leak. Lawyers from Southern California Gas Co, the owner of the facility, told the AQMD hearing board any requirement from them could not conflict with the orders from the state Public Utilities Commission and Governor Jerry Brown. "We're going to comply with the law, we are going to do what they've asked us to do," Robert Wyman, a lawyer for SoCalGas, told the AQMD regulators at the meeting in Los Angeles. After that, the board members required the utility to underwrite an independent study on the effects of the leak on local residents and imposed additional monitoring and reporting requirements on the utility. "We may decide in the future to take additional steps but that's no reason not to take these steps now," said David Holtzman, one member of the board who voted for the order. Los Angeles County health officials, who note that Porter Ranch residents have complained of such ailments as headaches and respiratory irrigation from an odorant in natural gas, have said past studies found only short-term health effects from the odorant. But they said continued health monitoring is needed. Even so, disgruntled residents have demanded the 3,600-acre (1,457-hectare) facility, where surplus gas is pumped underground and stored until needed, be shut down altogether. Many community members among the 300 attendees at the meeting at a Los Angeles hotel expressed displeasure at the limited scope of the AQMD's action. Some held up small signs that read "Shut it ALL down." After Wyman, the SoCalGas attorney, addressed the AQMD hearing board, spectators sighed loudly and many of them left the meeting. Tim O'Connor, director of California oil and gas for the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, said the AQMD was limited by an overlap of various government agencies. SoCal Gas, a division of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, projects it may take until late February to plug the rupture through a relief well that engineers began drilling in December. (Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis, additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Diane Craft)
Moscow (AFP) - Russia on Sunday confirmed it had shut for "security reasons" an Arctic border post with Norway to migrants being controversially returned from the Nordic country.

Norway on Saturday said it was temporarily halting its return of migrants -- mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq -- who had entered from Russia following a request from the authorities there.

Some 5,500 migrants crossed from Russia into Norway last year, on the last leg of an arduous journey through the Arctic to Europe.

But the right-wing government in Oslo has decided that migrants who had been living legally in Russia, or had entered Russia legally, should be immediately returned there, on the basis that Russia is a safe country.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told AFP that Moscow had informed Norway on Friday that it was halting the return of migrants through the Borisoglebsk-Storskog crossing in line with a 2011 bilateral agreement.

Exceptions will, however, be made for any migrants who can be shown to meet the criteria of an earlier agreement that obliges Moscow to readmit them if they do not fulfil Norwegian immigration laws and have valid Russian visas or residence permits.

"The steps taken by Russia were dictated by security reasons and based on bilateral agreements with Norway," Zakharova said.

Norwegian police returned 13 migrants by bus to Russia on Tuesday and two similar operations were scheduled for Thursday and Friday but were then cancelled, for what officials said were logistical reasons.

The foreign ministry in Norway said there would be no more returns "until further notice" and that Russian border authorities "want more coordination" in future.

Rights groups had expressed outrage at the migrants being forced to return by bike in winter, when temperatures in the far north regularly fall to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit).

They also say that Russia has a poor record on dealing with requests for asylum, with the process sometimes taking years and applicants running the risk of being arrested and expelled to their country of origin.

Norway is not within the European Union, but is a member of the Schengen passport-free zone.

Many migrants arrived in the country by bicycle as Russian authorities do not let people cross the border on foot and Norway considers people driving migrants across the border in a car or truck to be traffickers.
DUBAI (Reuters) - An initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, could be on the local or international markets but would not include Saudi energy reserves, the company's chairman told Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television. "The reserves would not be sold, but the company's ability to produce from the reserves is being studied," Khalid al-Falih told the channel in an interview from Davos, Switzerland where the annual World Economic Forum was held last week. In an interview with The Economist earlier this month, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Riyadh might sell shares in Aramco as part of a privatization drive. Aramco has crude reserves estimated at about 265 billion barrels, over 15 percent of all global oil deposits, so it could become the first listed company valued at $1 trillion or more if it went public, analysts have estimated. But several sources familiar with official thinking told Reuters that Aramco's massive size, and the confidentiality surrounding it as the main instrument of the kingdom's oil policy, pose hurdles to any listing of the parent firm. They said Saudi Arabia is considering selling shares in refining ventures with foreign oil firms. Falih said there would be legal studies to make sure that what is offered is not the kingdom's crude reserves "but the company's ability to convert the production of these reserves to a financial value that the owners can benefit from. "The economic value of Saudi Aramco as a company is what will be offered. Naturally, the primary field of Saudi Aramco's work is managing the reserves of Saudi Arabia," Falih said. "The reserves belong to the state but the company's ability to convert these reserves... into a financial value and at the same time for the company to have a portion of these profits will be part of the value of the company," he told Arabiya. (Reporting By Noah Browning, Hadeel al-Sayegh and Mostafa Hashem; Editing by Sami Aboudi and Rania El Gamal/Mark Heinrich)
London (AFP) - Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned Sunday it would be a mistake to hold Britain's European Union membership referendum in June.

British Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to finalise a renegotiation of the UK's terms of membership at the European Council meeting on February 18 and 19.

An in-or-out referendum on Britain's membership of the bloc must be held by the end of 2017, with commentators believing it could come this year.

Sturgeon said holding it in June would be "disrespectful" to the Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and London mayoral elections, which are taking place in May.

Speaking about a possible June vote, Sturgeon told BBC television: "I think it would be a mistake for David Cameron.

"Two reasons why I would not be in favour of a June referendum.

"The Scottish election is in May, indeed the Welsh, Northern Irish, London elections are in May.

"To have a referendum campaign starting in parallel would be disrespectful to those important elections.

"The second reason is I think it would be better for David Cameron... if he does get a deal at the February European Council: to leave more time between that deal and the point of decision."

Cameron wants to renegotiate Britain's terms of membership, then recommend that the UK remains in the 28-country bloc on that basis.

Sturgeon said: "One of the big problems I see for the In campaign at the moment is that as far as David Cameron is concerned it is very much focused on these narrow issues of renegotiation, when in actual fact, if the In campaign is going to prevail, this is going to have to become a positive in principle campaign about why it is better for the UK to stay within the European Union."

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has ruled out a referendum in July or August.

Cameron wants a referendum campaign lasting at least three months.
Melbourne (AFP) - World number one and defending champion Serena Williams smacked down Margarita Gasparyan to sweep into an Australian Open quarter-final against Maria Sharapova on Sunday.

The American top seed and 21-time Grand Slam winner wasted little energy in swatting aside the unseeded Russian 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes at Rod Laver Arena to set up the mouth-watering clash with her long-time rival.

Williams has won every game against Sharapova since 2004, including last year's final at Melbourne Park.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova came through an epic 7-5, 7-5 battle against 12th seed Belinda Bencic immediately before Williams came on court.

Williams, who rarely looks at the draw during a tournament, claimed she didn't know who she was facing next.

"I had no idea," she said, when told Sharapova was up next by a courtside interviewer. "I really have nothing to lose. We're both just doing the best we can. It'll be fun."

The 34-year-old had schooled another Russian, Daria Kasatkina, in the earlier round, crushing her in just 44 minutes, and now it was the 58th-ranked Gasparyan's turn.

It was a sluggish start by Williams, who was broken in the first game by the 21-year-old on her tournament debut, to gasps of shock from the crowd.

But it was a minor blip as the top seed found her range, breaking straight back as the Russian found herself on the receiving end of Williams' powerful forehand.

Williams, with the great Margaret Court in the stadium watching, held serve and broke again for a 3-1 lead.

It wasn't vintage Serena but even operating at 50 percent she was too good for Gasparyan and a rout was on the cards.

Gasparyan, who won her first WTA title last year, at Baku, gamely hung on and held serve to keep the score respectable.

But the six-time Melbourne Park winner, gunning to equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, was in full control, doing the necessary to take the set easily in 30 minutes.

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She dropped just five games in her previous two matches and surrendered only one more against Gasparyan, breaking her on the fourth and sixth games with her phenomenal serve keeping her in command.

She wrapped it up with service winner down the line, clenching her fist in victory.

"I kinda knew she liked to go for a lot, to be aggressive, so I knew I had to play strong," she said of Gasparyan, who she beat at Wimbledon last year.

Williams won three majors -- the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon -- in 2015 which took her to within one of Graf's long-time record of 22. Court holds the all-time Grand Slam record of 24.

The top seed claimed her first Australian Open title in 2003, beating sister Venus in the final, and reached her sixth last year when she toppled Sharapova.
Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure.

WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more.
Managua (AFP) - Thirteen Costa Ricans died when a small ship carrying 32 tourists from Latin America, the United States and Britain sank off Nicaragua's Little Corn Island in the Caribbean, officials said.

Nicaraguan government spokeswoman and First Lady Rosario Murillo said that "of the 32 passengers, 13 lost their lives, all of them are Costa Rican."

She said the other passengers survived and were taken to nearby Big Corn Island.

"This is a big tragedy," she said.

"They were tourists vacationing in Little Corn Island and they headed off even though, according to our navy, they were told they shouldn't."

The Corn Islands, made up of Big Corn Island and Little Corn Island, are located around 70 kilometers (45 miles) off Nicaragua's mainland. Although remote, they are becoming increasingly popular with tourists.

Most of the Costa Ricans who drowned were women according to a list from Costa Rica's foreign ministry identifying all of 13.

It said two of the Costa Ricans killed were US residents.

A ministry spokeswoman said the survivors comprised 13 Costa Ricans, two Americans, two Britons, one from Brazil and one from Nicaragua, as well as the captain and his crewmate.

Media reports said the captain, who was also owner of the vessel, was arrested after being rescued, as authorities began an investigation.
By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Gilles Simon will carry the distinction of being the first man to prise a set off Novak Djokovic at this year's Australian Open but the lion-hearted Frenchman was crushed after going down in a five-set classic on Sunday. Simon played a sublime match, returning with venom and scrambling hard for every ball before the defending champion and world number one found another gear to close it out 6-3 6-7(1) 6-4 4-6 6-3 in the twilight at Rod Laver Arena. "It's always a bad feeling when you lose in five," 31-year-old Simon told reporters. "Always like when you play so long, you feel so many things are happening on the court. "So many things could have been different. Just couldn't make it today." Djokovic racked up exactly 100 unforced errors and a video review of some of his drop-shot attempts would make painful viewing for the Serb. But the statistic was testament to Simon's counter-punching game and proof that his plan to beat Djokovic was sound, if not successful, the Frenchman said. "I know exactly what I was doing, but I won't say it. I had a plan. I mean, I know him well," he said. "We all know which player he is and how hard it is to find any solution against him, to somehow stop the fight and feel better on the court. "I think I worked on it good today. He made 100 unforced. That's a good number for me, not for him. But fortunately one more time was not enough." Although pushing the Serb, Simon was often unable to conjure the killer blows needed on the big points and admitted he was up against it without the power hitting of a player like Stan Wawrinka, who upset five-times Melbourne Park champion Djokovic on the way to the 2014 title. "I have to find my own way to do it. Like I wish I could hit like Stan, but that's far from being the case," he added. "I know a lot of players wanted me to win this match. A lot of players will feel better with Novak out of the draw. "He's improving year after year. That's terrible to say because he's already number one." (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
Tina Fey gave her fans what they were hoping for all week.

Fey returned to Saturday Night Live to once again play former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on the heels of the political commentator's endorsement of Donald Trump.

Fey appeared as Palin in the cold open alongside the GOP presidential candidate, played by fellow SNL veteran Darrell Hammond.

"I wanted to take a break from my full-time career of writing things on Facebook to fly down here and lend my support to the next president, Donald J. Trump," Fey's Palin said. "I'm here because we Americans are strugglin', we've lost our jobs at the factory or our reality show about Alaska."

Hammond's Trump called Palin the "total package -- smart, legs and yelling."

Fey's Palin then went into a long, rhyming rant, not unlike the one the actual Palin went on during her endorsement speech.

"I'm here for all you teachers and teamsters, you farmers and charmers, whether you're a mom and two broke girls or three men and a baby or a rock in roller, holy roller pushing stroller, pro bowler with an abscessed molar," she said.

Following the rant, Hammond's Trump looked dead at the camera: "She's a firecracker. She's a real pistol. She's crazy, isn't she?"

"I hope nobody's allergic to nuts, because we got a big one here," he added. "She sounds like a greeting card from a Chinese dollar store."

In an aside, the Palin character admitted Trump shouldn't be president; "I'm just here because he promised me a spot in his Cabinet. And I belong in a cabinet because I'm full of spice and I got a great rack."

Read More: Lorne Michaels Comedy 'Brothers in Atlanta' Dead at HBO
DAVOS, Switzerland  If 2015 was the year the Syrian refugee crisis entered mainstream public consciousness in the West, 2016 could be the year it unravels into a full-blown social and political catastrophe  if policymakers don't deal with the problem head on.

That's one of the core messages that came out of this year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, where global terrorism and the migration crisis took center stage.

But while refugees may have been top of mind for this year's impressive gathering of world politicians, business executives, tech entrepreneurs and media executives, concrete solutions to the crisis have been much harder to come by.

"Everyone is worried about refugees, but no one knows what to do," Ian Bremmer, author and president of the Eurasia Group, told Mic. "I'm not hearing anything about solutions."

During a plenary session on Wednesday afternoon, German President Joachim Gauck told participants that the German government is "extremely likely" to introduce measures to limit the numbers of refugees entering Germany this year, after the country accepted an estimated 1 million refugees in 2015.

While keeping refugees out of Germany may serve to temporarily stem the tide of the crisis, however, Bremmer said measures like this will do little to address the conflict's root causes.

Drawing a direct comparison to America's failed war on drugs, Bremmer emphasized that world leaders will need to adopt a more holistic approach if they are going to actually solve this crisis.

"In America, we had a war on drugs that did not accomplish a lot, because Americans were dealing with everything but the actual problem," Bremmer told Mic. "Similarly, right now, you have across the Middle East tens of millions of young, disenfranchised Islamic men who have a demand for a sense of mission. There aren't a lot of options for them. Al-Qaida, ISIS and Boko Haram have proved to be by far the most compelling. Unless that is changed, you cannot resolve the refugee problem."

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Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, is seen at the National Summit in Detroit, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

For this reason, Bremmer says there's one key to permanently solving the refugee crisis, and it rests with Arab governments.

"The regimes they are living in are unsustainable, and they must reform to provide these young men and women with careers and livelihood," Bremmer told Mic.

Toward a permanent solution: One world leader who intimately understands this dynamic is David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, who told Mic his organization is focused on both easing the short-term problem by providing emergency assistance to refugees entering Europe, while also addressing the crisis' root causes.

"You must address the root causes and deal with the symptoms," Miliband told Mic. "2016 has got to be the year when we start catching up with the problem. We're still playing catch up."

In his conversations with world leaders here in Davos, Miliband said he is emphasizing that government, business and civil society will need to collaborate more closely on four areas: protection for civilians living inside Syria; economic opportunity for refugees in neighboring Arab countries like Jordan and Lebanon; the establishment of a legal route for refugees to enter Europe; and more coordination amongst European governments.

But even then, Miliband echoed Bremmer, saying everything rests with how the war in Syria is resolved.

"People are chasing their tales," Miliband told Mic. "There has been no discussion of the war in Syria. Until there's discussion about that, we are always going to be playing catch up."

Miliband

Inaction is not an option: So what can the United States and Western governments due to address the root causes of the crisis?

For one, Bremmer says the United States and Western governments must continue to pressure Arab governments to reform. In recent months, that view seems to be falling out of fashion as politicians like Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump have stated that the world would be "100%" better if brutal dictators like Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi were still in power.

According to Bremmer, that couldn't be further from the truth. "For people who say we just want dictatorships in the Middle East, that is an extremely short term strategy," Bremmer told Mic. "You better be pressuring them as hard as possible to create sustainability, because otherwise this region is all imploding."

Miliband and Bremmer also both pressed America to do more to resolve the problem.

"The political climate [around refugees in the United States] is noxious," Miliband told Mic. "[But the existing system of] biometric testing of refugees means you cannot become a refugee resettled into the U.S. unless you can prove you are who you say you are."

Bremmer had a similar message. "The Americans have been most effective at not making this our problem, and you're going to see more of that going forward from European governments," Bremmer told Mic.

"We need to make it our problem."
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The most highly-anticipated regular season match-up in recent history is already falling short of expectations. Well, at least it is for those who foolishly counted on the San Antonio Spurs playing tomorrows game at full strength.

Tim Duncan will miss his teams road tilt against the Golden State Warriors on Monday with a sore right knee. San Antonio announced the news on Twitter early Sunday afternoon.

INJURY REPORT  Tim Duncan (soreness, right knee) is out for tomorrow's Spurs-Warriors game.  San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 24, 2016

The Spurs, of course, have made a habit of sitting key players in big games over recent years. In the most famous example, Gregg Popovich sent Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green home just hours before a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat on November 29, 2012  a decision for which San Antonio was fined $250,000.

But the league has warmed to managing the wear and tear of star players in the interim. Golden State, for instance, scratched a healthy Draymond Green from the lineup in a loss to the Denver Nuggets earlier this month, and didnt have a single player log even 33 minutes per game en route to a dominant 67-15 regular season last year.

Duncan, notching a career-low 25.9 minutes per game this season, missed his teams win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday due to rest before playing 21 minutes in an easy win over the Los Angeles Lakers one day later. Basically, its unclear whether the future Hall of Famer is actually suffering from the type of pain that would normally keep him off the floor or if the Spurs are opting to play their cards close to the vest against their likely Western Conference Finals foes.

At the same time, though, its safe to say that Duncan is feeling a fair share of discomfort. Hes 39 years old and smack in the middle of his 19th season, after all.

San Antonio and Golden State tip-off from Oakland at 10:30 EST. And despite Duncans absence, one should expect fervent intensity and top-notch play at Oracle Arena  just resist the urge to glean any big-picture takeaways from a game missing one of its most important players.
How close are Anderson Cooper and his mother Gloria Vanderbilt?

The CNN anchor offered an off-color anecdote to explain the nature of his relationship with the 91-year-old heiress turned fashion designer and artist after the Saturday premiere of the Sundance Film Festival documentary about their lives, Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper.

In relating how open and honest Vanderbilt is about her extraordinary love life, including her four marriages and relationships with Frank Sinatra and Errol Flynn, Cooper said his mother is not currently "hooking up" but "when she was about 85, she told me a story about someone she was dating who was the 'ninjutsu of cunnilingus,'" Cooper told the Marc Theater crowd, which included his CNN boss Jeff Zucker.

Cooper also told the story of Vanderbilt once flying to Los Angeles for a one-night "date" with Marlon Brando that was set up by Walter Matthau's future wife.

Despite the levity at the screening, the film, an HBO production directed by Liz Garbus, is a decidedly somber exploration of the grief that Vanderbilt and Cooper have endured despite being part of the family of storied American industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Read More: Sundance: Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper Doc Explores "Life of Privilege and Loss"

Through interviews with her son, as well as family archives and explanations of her art and poetry, Vanderbilt tells the story of the 1934 custody battle when she was 9 between her mother and aunt that was labeled the "trial of the century" in the New York media; her marriage at age 17 to an abusive Hollywood agent; her three divorces; the death of Cooper's father Wyatt Cooper; and, most traumatically for both Vanderbilt and Cooper, the suicide of her 23-year-old son Carter, which Vanderbilt witnessed as he jumped from the 14th floor of their New York apartment.

"A lot of people know the name 'Gloria Vanderbilt,' but they don't know what she has been through," Cooper said before the screening.

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Vanderbilt did not attend because her doctors advised her not to travel to the high altitude of Park City, Utah (the snowstorm in New York didn't help), according to Cooper.

To make Nothing Left Unsaid, which Cooper first pitched to HBO Documentary Films president Sheila Nevins before getting his mom on board to participate, the family offered full cooperation, including the use of extensive family archives (Cooper is an executive producer on the film.)

"We handed everything over to Liz," he said, "92 years of [family materials] from before [Vanderbilt] was even born. I learned things about my mom that I didn't know."

Garbus, speaking after the doc screened, echoed Cooper's sentiments about Vanderbilt.

"She is a model of resilience," said the filmmaker. "She's tough and vulnerable. Most of all, she's a survivor."

Read More: Anderson Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt Joke About Her Famous Dating History
Beirut (AFP) - Pro-government forces overran the last major rebel-held town in Syria's coastal Latakia province Sunday, as the United Nations prepares to host talks on ending the country's nearly five-year war.

State television said the army, working with pro-regime militia, took control of Rabia after heavy fighting with rebels.

It was the second strategic victory for pro-regime forces in Latakia in less than two weeks, after they seized the town of Salma on January 12.

"In the coming weeks, we will be able to announce that all of Latakia -- city and province -- is free from armed groups," an army commander in Latakia told AFP.

The army would now use Rabia as a launching point for ground operations against rebel-held towns to the east in adjacent Idlib province, he said.

Rabia had been held by the opposition since 2012 and was controlled by rebel groups including some made up of Syrian Turkmen, as well as Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

State news agency SANA said government forces were "combing the area to dismantle any explosive devices or mines planted by the terrorists".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Rabia fell on Sunday after regime forces surrounded the town and captured 20 villages in the area.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said senior Russian military officials oversaw the battle and that Russian air strikes "played an essential role" in the fight.

- Blocking rebel attacks -

With Rabia's capture, government forces are closing in on rebel supply routes through the Turkish border to the north, he added.

Armed opposition factions have used northern parts of Latakia province to carry out rocket and bomb attacks on the provincial capital along the coast.

Backed by Russian air power, pro-regime forces are chipping away at that territory in an attempt to secure the Assad clan's heartland.

Rabia "is at the crossroads of supply routes in this region" leading northwest towards the Turkish border and further east to other rebel strongholds, said Syria analyst Fabrice Balanche.

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"By controlling this road, the Syrian army can block rebel movements towards the south, towards Latakia, and the rebels will have a hard time getting close and firing missiles at the (coastal) airport."

Russia's air force has operated out of the Hmeimim military airport in Latakia province since September 30.

Also on Sunday, three people were killed when a bomb exploded outside an Internet cafe in a mostly Christian neighbourhood of Qamishli city in northeastern Hasakeh province.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the blast.

The latest military advance came as world powers intensify efforts to reach a political solution to Syria's war.

Representatives of the government and opposition were set to meet in Geneva on Monday as part of a UN-endorsed 18-month peace plan.

- Peace talks snags -

But sharp disagreements over the makeup of the opposition delegation, namely the inclusion of armed groups among negotiators, have slowed momentum and officials now say they expect a delay of a few days.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura was to hold a news conference Monday in Geneva to discuss preparations for the peace talks.

Opposition figure Samir Nashar said that the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee would meet on Tuesday in Riyadh to discuss who will represent the Syrian opposition in exile.

The committee "rejects the inclusion of any new name" to the delegation that would attend the peace talks, Nashar told AFP.

The Riyadh-based alliance of opposition groups, including the National Coalition, has already announced three delegates it will send to Geneva.

But it came under fire for naming Mohamed Alloush from the powerful rebel group Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) as chief negotiator.

The Syrian government considers Jaish al-Islam and other armed opponents to be "terrorist groups" with which it will not negotiate.

On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said upcoming talks should include Islamist rebels, though not "terrorists and Islamic extremists".

"Where do you expect to find moderate groups after more than five years of civil war, extreme violence and spreading brutalisation?" Steinmeier was quoted as telling the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

On the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkish authorities have detained 23 suspected IS militants who were trying to cross over illegally from Syria.

In a statement published Sunday, the army said 21 children were with the jihadists and were also being held.
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand has confirmed its second case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus on Sunday, the country's health minister said. The virus was detected in a 71-year-old Omani man traveling to Bangkok on Friday, Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn told a news conference. "After taking a taxi to a hotel, he was checked for the virus at a hospital and the MERS virus was found," he said. "This case was found quickly, so the public should not panic," he added. The health minister said 37 others were being monitored for the virus, including the man's son who traveled with him. Thailand's first MERS case was detected last year in a businessman from Oman who survived the disease. MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered China's deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). MERS was first identified in humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and the majority of cases have been in the Middle East. (Reporting Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A bomb attack claimed by Islamic State killed at least three people in the city of Qamishli in the mostly Kurdish-controlled Hasaka province of northeast Syria on Sunday, a Kurdish official and a monitoring group said. The motorcycle bomb went off in a mostly Christian area and wounded another seven people, said Redur Xelil of the Kurdish YPG militia. Islamic State claimed the attack in a statement posted online shortly after the incident. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the civil war in Syria, confirmed the blast and the casualties. Twin suicide bombings also claimed by Islamic State killed and wounded dozens of people at the end of December. The jihadist group has carried out a number of attacks in Hasaka province, including one that killed dozens of people earlier that month. The YPG is fighting IS in Hasaka province with the support of U.S.-led air strikes. It has been the most effective partner on the ground in Syria for the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS. (Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Washington (AFP) - Some are funny. Other have sparked outrage or are downright puzzling.

Here are some of the most talked-about comments US presidential candidates have made thus far on the campaign trail as Iowans prepare to cast the first votes in the nominations process on February 1:

Ban on Muslims?

"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on."

-- Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, reading from a statement at a rally in South Carolina in December.

Mexico sends 'rapists' to US

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. (...) They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

-- Trump during his presidential campaign announcement speech in June.

'Feckless' Obama

"This president's foreign policy is the most feckless in American history. It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven."

-- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on the Iran nuclear deal backed by President Barack Obama's administration, speaking on the "Breitbart News Saturday" radio show in July.

Chinese in Syria?

"You know, the Chinese are there, as well as the Russians, and you have all kinds of factions there."

-- Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, explaining the Syrian war during a debate in November.

Gun control helped Nazis?

"The likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed... There is a reason that these dictatorial people take the guns first."

-- Carson discussing gun control on CNN in October.

Sticks and stones

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"Donald, you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency. That's not going to happen."

-- Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, frequently derided by rival Trump as lacking vim and vigor, hits back in a personal fashion of his own at a debate in December.

Give Russians a bloody nose?

"It is time we punched the Russians in the nose. We need to stand up against them."

-- Ohio Governor John Kasich details how he would take on Russian President Vladimir Putin at a debate in December

Those damn emails

"Let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right. And that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!"

-- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders during a Democratic debate in October, referring to the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server to communicate about sensitive issues while serving as secretary of state. The two rivals then shook hands.

Jokes from Hillary

"You may have seen I recently launched a Snapchat account. I love it. I love it...Those messages disappear all by themselves."

-- Former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton joking about her controversial private email usage at the Iowa Wing Ding Dinner in August.

Long list of enemies

"Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians... Probably the Republicans."

-- Clinton, responding to a question about naming her enemies at a debate in October.

French work week?

"What is it, like a French work week? You get, like, three days where you have to show up?"

-- Bush, deriding the Senate work schedule in a jab at Republican rival Senator Marco Rubio's attendance record, at a debate in October.

'Not a war hero'

"He's not a war hero... He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, ok?"

-- Trump, speaking about Senator John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa in July.

Modest Donald

"I think apologizing's a great thing, but you have to be wrong. I will absolutely apologize, sometime in the hopefully distant future, if I'm ever wrong."

-- Trump on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in September

Muslims cheering on 9/11?

"I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down... And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down."

-- Trump, claiming Muslims cheered after the September 11, 2001 attacks, at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 21, 2015.
Cedar Rapids (United States) (AFP) - Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Sunday warmly welcomed a mooted run for the White House by Michael Bloomberg, saying he would "love" to go up against the fellow billionaire and former New York mayor.

The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, said Saturday that the 73-year-old Bloomberg is mulling an independent bid for the presidency and is prepared to spend $1 billion of his personal fortune.

The Republican-turned-independent sees a potential opening should Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders -- who is surging in polls -- win their parties' nominations, the sources said.

The media mogul has reportedly set a deadline for a final decision for early March.

Trump, speaking by phone to CBS News a week before the Iowa caucuses, said: "I would love it. I know Michael very well, I'd love to compete against Michael."

Trump, 69, a real-estate mogul and onetime reality TV star, said that Bloomberg "might very well get in the race."

"He's very opposite on me with guns and he's opposite on pro-life and he's opposite on a lot of things," he said, speaking to the CBS News program "Face the Nation."

"And Michael's been a friend of mine over the years -- perhaps we're not friends anymore. You know, he's wanted to do this for a long time and he never pulled the trigger."

Sanders, the leftist Vermont senator who is closing in opinion polls on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, separately told "This Week" on ABC that the possible emergence of another billionaire in the race was further proof of "what I have been saying for a long time."

"This country is moving away from democracy to oligarchy."
(Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended its travel warning to another eight countries or territories that pose a risk of infection with Zika, a mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Caribbean and Latin America. Friday's warning adds Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Cape Verde, Samoa and the island of Saint Martin to a list of 14 countries and territories. The CDC has cautioned pregnant women not to travel to these areas as Zika has been suspected to lead to birth defects. The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry the dengue, yellow fever and Chikungunya viruses. Health experts are unsure why the virus - detected in Africa in 1947 but unknown in the Americas until last year - is spreading so rapidly in Brazil and neighboring countries. There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which causes mild fevers and rashes. An estimated 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms at all. Researchers in Brazil said on Wednesday they had found new evidence linking the virus to increasing incidence of microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads. U.S. authorities confirmed on Saturday the birth of a baby with a small head in Hawaii to a mother who had been infected with the Zika virus while visiting Brazil. The agency issued an advisory last week against travel to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. (Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)
By Frank McGurty and Ian Simpson NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A travel ban for the New York area was lifted on Sunday but Washington was still at a standstill after a blizzard paralyzed the northeastern United States, killing at least 19 people. The storm was the second-biggest in New York history, with 26.8 inches (68 cm) of snow in Central Park by midnight on Saturday, just shy of the record 26.9 inches set in 2006, the National Weather Service said. Thirteen people were killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia on Saturday. One person died in Maryland and three in New York while shoveling snow. Two died of hypothermia in Virginia, officials said. By early on Sunday the storm had moved off the coast, with remnants trailing over parts of Long Island and Cape Cod. Much of the northeast was expected to see a mix of sun and clouds on Sunday with temperatures just above freezing. Washington streets were deserted early on Sunday, with major downtown arteries already cleared and lined with mounds of snow. Workers were clearing sidewalks and alleys, and Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a call for 4,000 people to help dig the city out, above the 2,000 volunteers already signed up. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which includes the second-busiest U.S. subway system, had suspended operations through Sunday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo lifted a travel ban on New York-area roads and on Long Island at 7 a.m. on Sunday. A state of emergency imposed by Cuomo was still in place. Bridges and tunnels into the city also reopened, and subways running above ground were set to restart service Sunday morning. The Long Island Rail Road was still halted, and the Metro-North railroad would be fully operational by mid-afternoon, officials said. The National Weather Service said 17.8 inches (45.2 cm) fell in Washington, tying as the fourth-largest snowfall in the city's history. Baltimore-Washington International Airport notched a record 29.2 inches (74.2 cm), and the deepest total was 42 inches (106.7 cm) fell at Glengarry, West Virginia. SHOWS, FLIGHTS CANCELED A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange said the bourse planned to open as usual on Monday. About 3,750 flights were canceled on Sunday, and 700 canceled for Monday, according FlightAware.com, the aviation data and tracking website. Flights had begun landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport and would soon start taking off from the facility, Cuomo said in a news conference. United Airlines said it would not operate at Washington-area airports on Sunday, and would gradually resume service on Monday. The airline plans to start "very limited operations" on Sunday afternoon at its Newark, New Jersey, hub. About 150,000 customers in North Carolina and 90,000 in New Jersey lost electricity during the storm. On the New Jersey shore, a region hard-hit in 2012 by Superstorm Sandy, the storm drove flooding high tides. They were expected to reach as much as 3 feet (91 cm) above normal across the New Jersey coast, said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "There's considerable danger with the tide coming up," he said. Some residents had to be evacuated along the New Jersey shore on Saturday as waters rose. In the town of Wildwood, emergency workers in inflatable boats rescued more than 100 people from homes, said Fire Chief Christopher DAmico. On Sunday, moderate coastal flooding was still a concern in Atlantic County but a change of wind direction would make the impact less problematic than on Saturday, said Linda Gilmore, a county public information officer. The storm developed along the Gulf Coast when warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean collided with cold air to form the massive winter system, meteorologists said. (Additional reporting by David Gaffen; Writing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool; Editing by Chris Michaud and Raissa Kasolowsky)
LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United full back Matteo Darmian was taken to hospital after injuring his rib and chest during the 1-0 home defeat by Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday. The Italian defender tried to prevent Shane Long getting to a cross and was hurt by the Southampton striker in an aerial challenge. "He was spitting blood," manager Louis van Gaal told reporters. "It was not nice for the players to see that." Darmian becomes the fifth United full back to join the injured list, joining Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young and Luke Shaw. United's defeat left them fifth in the table, 10 points adrift of leaders Leicester City. (Writing by Tony Jimenez; Editing by Pritha Sarkar/Andrew Both)
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was among preliminary nominations for the Communist Party's new central committee, an official said on Sunday, maintaining a possibility of him contesting a party leadership to be decided this week. Dung was among several high-profile politburo members nominated to join the powerful committee, including the current president and the national assembly chairman, Vu Ngoc Hoang, standing Deputy Director of the Central Propaganda Department, told reporters on the sidelines of the party's five-yearly congress. Though the nominations process is one of the earliest stages of the party's internal election, Dung's absence from nominations for the new central committee would have effectively closed off any path for him to become party chief, should he seek to contest the leadership. Dung, 66, has not stated publicly whether or not he will retire. Dung, who has been widely credited with driving reforms in Vietnam, was not among the four nominations for four key leadership posts that were agreed at a recent meeting, which must be endorsed by the congress, a senior official said on Sunday. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
By Martin Petty HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's progressive prime minister was among preliminary nominations for the Communist Party's central committee on Sunday, an official said, maintaining the possibility of him contesting the party leadership to be decided this week. The political future of Nguyen Tan Dung remains uncertain, however, after he was not among leadership candidates agreed by top decision-makers at a recent meeting, a surprise twist that saw the five-yearly congress of the secretive party open on Thursday under a cloud of controversy. His committee nomination at an early stage of the internal election process means he technically could still launch a bid to become party chief. Dung, 66, has not spoken publicly about his future and his absence from Sunday's preliminary nominations would have ruled him out. Dung was until recently tipped by diplomats and analysts to become the next party boss, which could have strengthened the hand of his progressive faction. He is widely seen as a modernizer and credited with driving recent economic reforms. Vu Ngoc Hoang, a senior Central Propaganda Department official, confirmed that Dung and several other politburo members were among those nominated. "But that's only a list," he told reporters. "Every person introduced gets on to the list," he said, stressing the nominations were preliminary. Dung's inclusion is likely to add to excitement and social media speculation about the possibility of a leadership showdown at what is normally considered a stale, procedural affair. To stand a chance, Dung would have to decline his preliminary nomination to the central committee. The 1,510 congress delegates could then vote to reject his withdrawal, thus keeping him in contention for further stages of the internal election. Vu Trong Kim, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, earlier on Sunday confirmed leaked reports that prior to the congress incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 71, was nominated to extend his tenure and Dung had withdrawn from the contest when the politburo was deciding its candidates. CREDIT TO COMRADES In rare comments about internal politburo procedures, Kim, a member of the outgoing central committee, praised Dung and said there was 100 percent politburo support for Trong. "I very much welcome comrade Nguyen Tan Dung and some other comrades in the politburo who voluntarily withdrew from being nominees to gather credit for comrade Nguyen Phu Trong," Kim said told some local media. An audio recording of Kim's interview was heard by Reuters. Kim confirmed the agreed nominations, besides Trong, were Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang for president, Dung's deputy, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, for premier and legislative vice-chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, to head the National Assembly. Analysts and diplomats say Dung's chances of a fightback are slim, but possible, if he calls on support he has cultivated among the wider party. Dung's office did not respond to a request by Reuters for comment. Experts say Dung is an ambitious, decisive figure and his exclusion from leadership nominations suggests concerns among the party's old guard that he could test Vietnam's traditional consensus leadership model. Edmund Malesky, an expert on Vietnamese politics at Duke University, said the congress was not scripted and key to any outcome was a central committee "way more powerful" than those of other communist states. "The question is whether Dung wants it... He's not going to come out and say it in an obvious way," he said. "He himself has benefited from the influence of the central committee, and we know that he's capable of mobilizing votes ... if he decides he wants it, then this is a real possibility." (Reporting by Martin Petty; Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Ouagadougou (AFP) - Hundreds of people dressed in white took to the streets of Ouagadougou to pay homage to the victims of a jihadist attack on a top hotel and a restaurant that left 30 dead and 70 injured, an AFP reporter said.

Dubbed a "chain of light", the silent march began at 19:40 GMT on Saturday, the exact time that Al-Qaeda-affiliated gunmen had launched their deadly attack eight days before.

It was organised over social media by music manager Walib Bara and journalist Raissa Compaore.

"This demonstration was called 'chain of light' because we know that the intention of those who waged the attacks was to plunge the country into darkness," Bara told the press.

"We came to the site of the attack to say that we will continue to drink Cappuccinos in a splendid Burkina," Bara said, using a play on words referencing two of the attack sites -- the Cappuccino cafe and the Splendid hotel, both popular with foreigners.

Marchers sang the national anthem and carried signs reading "je suis Splendid" and "je suis Cappuccino", in a move mirroring the "je suis Charlie" rallying cry used after the January 2015 Paris jihadist attacks.

People walked about a half a mile to the site of the attacks, where they placed candles in a tribute to the victims.

"I'm not afraid to come to the Kwame N'Krumah avenue because I see the government has taken security measures to protect us," Issouf Cisse, a sales agent working close to the Cappuccino cafe, said.

"Life goes on despite the attacks."

A national tribute is planned for Monday, with President Roch Marc Christian Kabore expected to attend a public ceremony.

The first such attack in Burkina Faso, it was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and came weeks after Islamists claimed an attack on a top hotel in Bamako, capital of neighbouring Mali
By Yimou Lee and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - The wife of one of five missing Hong Kong booksellers said she met with her husband in China, according to a statement released by the Hong Kong police on Sunday amid growing diplomatic pressure on Chinese authorities to clarify the fate of the men. Lee Bo, 65, an owner of a publisher and bookshop specializing in books critical of China's Communist Party leaders, vanished in late December amid widespread speculation that Chinese authorities may have abducted him in the financial hub and spirited him across to China for an investigation. Lee, who has dual Hong Kong and British citizenship, surfaced on Saturday, meeting wife at a guesthouse in mainland China, the Hong Kong police said in a statement issued after midnight on Sunday. His wife, Sophie Choi, told police that she had met with her husband at a guesthouse in China on Saturday and that he was healthy and in good spirits. The statement cited Lee's wife as saying he was "assisting in an investigation in the capacity of a witness," though she didn't give specifics on the location nor the nature of the investigation, the statement added. The Hong Kong police said they would continue to probe the case, and would put in a fresh request with police in China's southern Guangdong province to arrange a meeting with Lee Bo. Calls to the mobile phones of Lee and his wife went unanswered. The disappearances have prompted fears that mainland Chinese authorities may be using shadowy tactics that erode the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong has been governed since its return to China from British rule in 1997. One of the missing men, Gui Min-hai, a Swedish passport-holder, appeared on China state television last weekend, saying he had voluntarily turned himself in to Chinese authorities over a fatal drink-driving offense more than a decade ago. So far, Chinese authorities have not responded to multiple requests for comment from Reuters, nor have they made any substantial statements explaining Beijing's role in the disappearances nor the fate of the men. Earlier this month, thousands took to the streets of Hong Kong demanding to know the whereabouts of the men who were all linked to a publisher that was reportedly planning a new book on the private life of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A senior foreign diplomatic source in Hong Kong with direct knowledge of the matter said at least six foreign governments had now officially pressed China for information regarding the disappearances, but so far there had been a "deafening silence". The source who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the case, said the "suspicious circumstances suggested a rendition of one of the disappeared persons" by China. Publishers and book vendors in the city have also been unnerved by the mysterious disappearances, and in some cases pulled books critical of Beijing's leaders from their shelves. (Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Melbourne (AFP) - World number two Simona Halep revealed Sunday she needs nose surgery and will be out of action until at least March, missing Romania's Fed Cup tie next week.

Halep was sensationally bundled out of the Australian Open in the first round last week and revealed she had been struggling with nose, ear and stomach infections.

"The last six weeks have been extremely difficult for me, as I've been dealing with infections in my stomach, nose and ear," she said on her official Facebook page.

"This has been one of my most frustrating periods, as Ive not been able to train or stay healthy even though Ive constantly been on antibiotics to help clear the infections.

"I gave it my best shot in Australia but, with the infections still in my body, unfortunately I made things worse, as I pushed myself to compete and fight in a Grand Slam.

"Under doctors advice, I will undergo surgery to fix the ongoing problem with my nose -- and Ive been advised that this is my best option and success is highly likely."

Her loss at Melbourne Park to Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai was a huge setback for Halep, who is enjoying her highest ever ranking after a stellar 2015 in which she won titles at Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells.

She said she hoped to be back to defend her Indian Wells title in March but will miss Romania's Fed Cup tie against the Czech Republic.

"It comes with great sadness that Im announcing that I will need to miss our upcoming Fed Cup tie next week, as I will be undergoing surgery this week," she said.

"I'm hopeful that I will have recovered in time to have a chance to defend my title in Indian Wells.

"But I will take it slowly and make sure that I am back to full health before resuming training and competition."

Halep said she had also withdrawn from her title defence in Dubai next month, as well as the Qatar Open.
By Orathai Sriring BANGKOK (Reuters) - A piece of suspected plane wreckage found off the east coast of southern Thailand on Saturday was unlikely to belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished nearly two years ago, said aviation experts and Thai officials. A large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district, told Reuters. Villagers reported it to authorities for identification, he said. "Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2 meters wide and 3 meters long (6.6 by 9.8 feet)," he said. The find fueled speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. A piece of the plane washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 but no further trace has been found. Experts said that while powerful currents sweeping the Indian Ocean could deposit debris thousands of kilometers away, wreckage was extremely unlikely to have drifted across the equator into the northern hemisphere. The location of the debris in Thailand "would appear to be inconsistent with the drift models that appeared when MH370's flaperon was discovered in Reunion last July," said Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor at Flightglobal, an industry publication. "The markings, engineering, and tooling apparent in this debris strongly suggest that it is aerospace related," said Waldron. "It will need to be carefully examined, however, to determine it's exact origin." Other possible sources of aerospace debris included the launching of space rockets by India eastwards over the Bay of Bengal, he said. There has been no official confirmation from Thailand that the wreckage belongs even to a plane, never mind the missing Malayasia jet. "Personally, I don't think it's MH370," Thai government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters. District head Patthikongpan said the debris "could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging from barnacles on it." A spokesman for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the Canberra-based authority which is overseeing the international search for MH370, told Reuters it was "awaiting results of the official examination of the material." The Malaysian transport ministry is in contact with Thai authorities to verify the debris, a ministry spokesman said. Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course. Most of the passengers were Chinese. Lingering uncertainty surrounding its fate has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery. The fragment found in Thailand "just doesn't look like aircraft fuselage," aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told Reuters from near Perth. "It just doesn't make any sense," he said. "I don't think there's any connection with MH370 whatsoever." (Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Manunphattr Dhanananphorn in Bangkok, Siva Govindasamy in Singapore, Lincoln Feast and Jane Wardell in Sydney, Morag MacKinnon in Perth and Praveen Menon in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by Andrew RC Marshall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Simon Cameron-Moore)
By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of tourists visiting New York City rose to a record high in 2015 for the sixth consecutive year, with nearly 60 million people traveling to the biggest city in the United States, officials said on Thursday. The tourism boom continued apace even though last year brought also a spike in security threats, fueling concern that domestic attacks carried out by sympathizers of the militant group Islamic State were possible in New York. Following the Paris attacks in November that killed 130 as well as the December shooting in San Bernardino that killed 14, New York City officials repeatedly sought to reassure the public that the city was equipped to handle any threat. The New York City Police Departments enormous counterterrorism apparatus was out in full force for signature events like the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade and the annual New Years Eve celebration in Times Square, which drew more than 1 million people to the center of Manhattan to ring in 2016. "As the safest and most exciting big city in America, we have so many rich offerings that continue to make the five boroughs a global draw," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. The city's more than 100,000 hotel rooms saw a record number of bookings in 2015, according to the citys official tourism and marketing arm, NYC & Company. About one-fifth, or 12 million, of the out-of-town visitors were from abroad, with the highest numbers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and China. New York is the most popular destination in the United States for international travel, officials said. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Diane Craft)
Cops shoot him dead

Police shot and killed Mahadeo Sam Sonny, 45, who erupted in a fit of rage whilst under the influence of an illegal drug believed to be cocaine, after he planassed his wife then turned the cutlass on his elderly mother. The wife, Cindy, 39, ran out of the house at Temple Street, Balmain, but Sonny did not go after her. Instead, the father remained in the bedroom sharpening the cutlass while one of their children was asleep in another bedroom.

Police said yesterday that Sonny had been a known cocaine addict for the past 15 years. It was at about 10.30 pm, when Sonny arrived home to wife Cindy, and their children, Dinesh, five and Nirvan, three, who was born visually-impaired.

Sonnys 70-year-old-mother, Dyantie, lived in the house as well.

Speaking with Sunday Newsday yesterday, Cindy said her husband Sonny, walked into the house after he had gone liming with friends.

Cindy said her husband walked into the bedroom, but to her surprise, he had a cutlass and a file (tool used for sharpening) in his hand.

Cindy said Sonny suddenly shouted to her, You are my wife! He then started plannassing her, she said. Cindy wept as she spoke with Sunday Newsday while hugging Dinesh and Nirvan.

Cindy said, He just started to beat me for no reason. He planassed me with the cutlass. When I saw him getting on like that, I grab Nirvan thinking that if I hold the child he would leave me. My husband grab the baby and pelt him on a couch, then he started to beat me again. Sonny then turned the cutlass on his mother and dealt her some blows. A heart patient, Cindy said, the elderly woman began to bawl while her son was planassing her.

Cindy said she managed to grab her visually-impaired son and together with her mother-in-law, they ran to a neighbours house.

She said she was afraid to go back into the house to get Dinesh who was asleep in a bedroom.

By that time, neighbours who were alerted by the commotion, had telephoned the police. In the safety of the neighbours house, they saw Sonny with the file in his hand sharpening the cutlass.

Cindy said police officers arrived in the nick of time and they called out to her husband to come out the house.

Cindy said Sonny came out the house and he attempted to attack one of the police officers. She said, When police arrived, he did not want them to enter the property but Dinesh was still in the house.

The state Mahadeo (Sony) was in, I was frightened he would kill him.

He was in the yard and attempted to attack the police with the cutlass.

I heard gunshots. Cindy said her husband would behave normal, going about his chores and taking care of the family like any other father.

However, she said that his personality changed whenever he smoked cocaine.

I pray every night for God to either change him or take him. He was causing a lot of stress. God has him in a better place. When he was normal, he treated the children well; he loved them. I love him and I am sorry. I just could not allow myself to be killed and leave my kids. It was either, him, or me, Cindy said.
Cells at bursting point

And, well-placed sources close to the institution are calling on National Security Minister Retired Major General Edmund Dillon to urgently address the situation, which they say, is seriously affecting operations at the facility.

The sources, speaking on the condition of strict anonymity, told Sunday Newsday that although the IDC, located along the Eastern Main Road, Aripo, was constructed to accommodate a specific number of persons, the detainees currently housed there far outweigh the institutions holding capacity.

In fact, a January 2016 listing of the detainees in the IDC, a copy of which was obtained by Sunday Newsday, revealed that the male cell block, which was built to accommodate 70 persons, now has more than twice that number, at 152.

The female cell block told a similar story, sources said.

At present, some 51 women are currently housed in quarters that was built for half of that number.

As it is now, you have men and women that are sleeping on sponges on the ground inside the blocks and in the case of the men, sometimes you have between ten to 20 people in one cell.

What kind of thing is that? one source asked, claiming that one of the officers assigned to the womens cell block was moved to another section of the facility after she complained openly about the overcrowding problem.

He insisted that the management of the IDC simply did not have the will to confront the issues affecting the institution.

The source said at least two of the detainees on the listing  one a Venezuelan and the other a Nigerian  have been at the facility since 2011 while the majority came to the centre, last year.

According to the list, the majority of the detainees are nationals of Nigeria, China, Jamaica, Guyana, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

The source said the reasons for a detainees lengthy stay at the IDC varied.

Some people simply do not want to go back to the countries they came from because they may be scared to go back for political reasons or issues they may have with persons in the illegal drug trade, in some cases, he said, adding that some gave wrong addresses and simply wanted to escape poverty.

Launched in November 2009 to stem the problem of illegal immigrants in TT, the IDC was billed as a significant step in the former Patrick Manning- led PNM administrations thrust to effectively arrest the countrys illegal immigration problem.

Former National Security Minister, the late Martin Joseph had said then that strengthening the nations capacity to detain illegal immigrants and other aliens subject to deportation was a key component of the comprehensive strategy to deter illegal immigration into the country.

Prior to the establishment of the IDC, situated on the former site of the Social Development Ministrys Aripo Remand Building, prohibited immigrants were detained at the Maximum Security Prison at Golden Grove, Arouca.

Joseph said in 2009 that the IDC has the capacity to house 150 detainees, both male and female, and will be under the stewardship of the Immigration Division.

The facility is manned by retirees from the prisons and police service as well as immigration officers.

However, the officers are said to be fedup and overwhelmed.

One source reasoned that the overcrowding problem had the potential to become explosive if the appropriate checks and balances were not implemented.

If you have two shifts (7 am to 7 pm) at five officers per shift and the detainees were to get angry and uncontrollable, what would be the situation? he asked.

Then, there are times when officers may be on sick leave.

That could also exacerbate the problem. To add insult to injury, he revealed that the detainees, men and women, had only one suit of clothes to wear at any given point in time.

The women wear purple and the men wear orange.

So, there is a wash and wear situation and you could imagine the stench when that place lockdown, he said, adding that the washing machines also were not in proper working order.

He said random exercises, involving officers of the Canine Unit and others, also were carried out occasionally in the cell blocks at late hours of the night, causing further distress to the inmates.

He also told Sunday Newsday that detainees who were frequently disruptive at the facility were sent occasionally to the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre, Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Santa Rosa, as a punitive measure.

But why must you put detainees there with hardened criminals.

Any number of things can happen to them in there, he said.

Another source alleged that officers assigned to the cell blocks also were stealing the detainees cellphones.

When their relatives come to visit, the officers are supposed to keep the cellphones on the person of the inmates, not take it for themselves, he complained.

Chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) Khafra Kambon, meanwhile, yesterday described the overcrowding problem in the IDC as excessive. He said: It is a pattern that has been existing for quite some time and even though there are systematic efforts to relieve it by facilitating the departure of persons who could purchase their tickets home. But there are counter actions that are keeping up the level of overcrowding. Kambon, who has spoken out publicly about conditions at the IDC, recalled that although close to 50 detainees had been moved to the Santa Rosa Correctional Facility, last year, following a fire at a dormitory, the overcrowding problem persisted.

It eased some of the overcrowding for a short while but more continued to be brought in, he said, adding that last years controversial early morning police exercise exacerbated the problem.

Kambon told Sunday Newsday he was especially concerned about the overcrowding in the mens section.

I know for a fact that there are sleeping on the floor in dormitories and corridors. He said many of the detainees are Caribbean nationals who should be given the opportunity to return to their country.

I have written letters for Jamaicans appealing for them to be allowed to go back home, Kambon said.

Kambon argued that detainees, whom he said were not hardened criminals, should be accommodated at a minimum human standard. If you cannot do that, then what they are creating is a human catastrophe, he said.

There has to be a more aggressive policy to deal with this and we must weigh things in terms of our humanity as a society. Until we are able to resolve this thing holistically we will have a crisis on our hands.
Saving a lifeline

Gabriel is feeling the heat from a lack of funding and volunteers, and because of this the non-profit organisation has had to reduce its 24-hour hotline to about half of its omnipresence.

But she perseveres because for her and for Lifeline, one suicide is one too many.

Look at the Trinidad and Tobago picture that drives Lifelines purpose: In 2008 this country had the highest suicide rate per capita in the Caribbean and ranked 35th in the world at an estimated 13.8 per 100,000.

Four years later, in 2012, the profile was even sharper with Chairman of the North-West Regional Health Authority, Dr Edison Haq, reporting that the country had maintained its ominous standing, having the second highest rate of suicide in the Caribbean.

Gabriel reveals, that suicide is mainly among young people between the ages 15 and 35, and principally males. She finds, however, that women were catching up.

What may be totally surprising (to people) is a 24/7 concern, she said. She says that each is a unique life and that death affects a lot of people, and if their trauma is not dealt with, there is a possibility that other family members may attempt suicide themselves. It becomes a way of solving a crisis, she explained.

Last September a Barrackpore teenager, grief-stricken over her mothers suicide, tried to take her own life exactly one month after her mothers death.

Gabriel said if someone is in crisis and they have someone to talk to they can come out of it and find a way to resolve their issues until they have fully solved the problem.

But she warns, If somebody becomes suicidal when to them that becomes the only solution to their problem, and no other counts. So that is what you call a constriction of their life view. Gabriel says there can be pre-disposing factors and then a trigger event.

For some children who commit suicide they always had problems lurking in the background, and then something would happen that would trigger a crisis. She notes that if you talked to a family they would say they had no idea they were suicidal, and usually the people they are closest to are the last they would tell. For some young people they may have told friends.

Gabriel told Sunday Newsday that it is important to focus on young children in school and to teach them about suicide. She explained that their classmates may confide in them that they are thinking of committing suicide and the children do not know how to deal with it. She observed that the suicide also leaves these friends traumatised.

She pointed out that insomnia is one of the signs of suicide and suggested that any person making a call at late hours is likely to be suicidal. She noted it is an accomplishment just to get someone to go to sleep. She said in the morning the situation may not have changed but the person may have more strength to deal with their situation. Light really does come in the morning, she added.

The location of the Lifeline office is confidential and all calls and listeners are anonymous, but Gabriel can disclose that a lot of callers to the facility are in the 15-29 age range, concentrated in the major population areas  along the East West Corridor, and in South and Central Trinidad.

Calls also come from Tobago.

She feels it would be ideal to have a Lifeline location in south Trinidad, as it would be easier for the listeners (the people who take calls) from South. She said Lifeline cannot go to people, but have to wait for them to call. If a friend of someone who is suicidal calls then they can help the friend with the situation. She reported that Lifeline receives a mixture of calls from people who are actually suicidal and those who know people who are suicidal.

Speaking about the importance of having Lifeline out in the public consciousness on a daily basis, she recalled the incident of one person who kept one of the organisations informational fliers and two years later called the Lifeline, saying they never thought they would need it. She said Lifeline needs to be on the television, on smart phones and in the newspaper and be always there.

Gabriel noted that Lifeline is supposed to be a 24-hour service, and in fact was, but they have not yet been able to overcome the challenges in order for them to resume fully. She said it became quite public last year that paucity in funding and volunteers impeded full capacity.

Gabriel explained that the helpline currently runs from 8am to 3pm, and most evenings to 6pm, and also from between two and three to 10pm from Monday to Friday. They are also attempting to stretch service to weekends. For anyone believing they need help during the night, Gabriel advises them to call during the 8am to 3pm slot and they will make arrangements.

She said every time Lifeline appears in the newspaper she viewed it as go again, keep rolling that ice block up the hot hill, you cant stop. It is not a question that a person has a 100 lives, Gabriel told Newsday.

Every person is the one and only. So we have to go for every single one since one is one too many. She explained that Lifeline receives its major funding from the Government and they had not had their subvention for three years. They received the subvention in March 2015 and they had until September last year. Now were back in the same position of having to ask again, she said.

She suggested that a subvention should be for a three-year period as it takes the respective ministry so long to evaluate and investigate, and then at least a year to get monies approved, leaving Lifeline to always play catch up.

According to Gabriel, their line ministry previously was Social Development, but responsibility for their subvention has been split into three: Social Development for their help line, National Security for their work with the Youth Training Centre, and Sport and Youth Affairs for their youth outreach.

Now we have to beg three ministries, Gabriel pointed out. She noted that additionally they are scrunting for resources and volunteers. She said the ones they have are to be praised, they are never known publicly, do yeoman service and sometimes even double-up.

Gabriel said the reason they continue is because at the end of the conversation with someone they would have made a difference, and they are patriotic in the truest sense. She said if Lifeline volunteers are successful you would see nothing unusual and a man would be packing groceries and going to a fete instead of being locked up in jail on a murder charge.

She noted their listeners are not paid and the major resource is the people who are willing to be volunteers. The organisation has only two paid members of staff. To operate as they should requires 120 listeners, but currently have 30, which she noted was up from last year.

Were always optimistic. We keep going. The reason we keep going is because youre here (as the media). When you put it (on the papers) people need the service, she said.

She noted it was a shock to them that people knew about Lifeline, but also believed it should be supported. She said they are appealing to the private sector to help pay their monthly rent of $3,000.

They also have to pay for a Facebook page, phone bill and promotion in addition to their two full-time staff. She said they are accustomed stretching what they have.

Speaking about volunteers, Gabriel said when it was just the newspapers Lifeline would recruit three listeners out of every ten persons who contacted them through the media, but with the advent of social media from every 1,000 person who contacts them they would get one listener.

She noted their Facebook page has 16,000 likes, and although they have a database of 2,000 people they have less than 30 active listeners.

On every front its slow, but we have to keep working on it, she said.

The volunteers sit up at night for three to four hours and talk to people until they get to the stage where they feel they can make one more day. If the person feels better eventually they will stop calling.

She noted that while listeners are trained they require an innate quality to listen to people and be passive. She noted that if someone calls and says they are planning to commit suicide you cannot run over to them but you must sit quietly and ask them, how they got to this stage. When the person tells their story the volunteer must be prepared to listen, not judge or give the caller orders, but give the person room to say how they really feel. Gabriel said ultimately it is the caller who will decide what they will do about it, and the listener has to accept that even after they speak to someone for four months callers may still decide to kill themselves.

She stressed that they are anonymous, non-judging and non-religious. She noted there are religious groups and Lifeline does not want to duplicate their work.

Questioned about support from the private sector she said that in general  and this country is no exception  organisations that deal with the violent are the last and least funded. She noted that suicide and murder are very close. She also pointed out that because of Lifelines confidentiality there is no publicity. She said the need for the service has increased, but they need vital money to ensure they can get the listeners.

The aim is that nobody in Trinidad and Tobago would think of committing suicide without knowing we are here to help them, she added.

Gabriel stressed that Lifeline needs to be in all of the media, especially at night, and they need teams to go out to major festivals and be present so people could get a flier and get people to talk to. She added, however, that they need people to do that.

To contact Lifeline please call 645-2800 or e-mail at life@lifelinett.

com.
Starring : Mayumi Tanaka

Director : Gisaburo Sugii, Arlen Tarlofsky

Plot Synopsis

What is true happiness? For Giovanni, the answer is as far away as the stars. Mired in hardship, the young kitten faces problems that should be unknown to someone his age. At school, his classmates mock and ridicule him, and after the bell rings, Giovanni toils at a job to earn enough money for bread. Then at home, instead of being taken care of by his mother, he must take care of her. The sole bright spot is that of the Festival of Stars, where he hopes to run into Campanella, his only friend. When they finally meet up, however, it isn't while looking up at the stars, but rather traveling amongst them... as the Galactic Railroad whisks the two away for parts unknown! Night on the Galactic Railroad is adapted from the novel written by famous Japanese children's author, Kenji Miyazawa. Born in 1896, Miyazawa grew up during a tumultuous time in Japan's history, and his humanist sensibilities feature most prominently in this work. While the movie features delightful cat characters, the symbolism and deeper meaning of the film can touch the young and old alike. This story is one that every child in Japan must experience in school, and now, you can too!
300,000 people living with dementia

But unfortunately, Caricom countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, have lagged behind somewhat in terms of its current research on the debilitating illness.

According to neuropsychologist Dr Katija Khan, thats about to change. She said University of the West Indies (UWI) researchers affiliated to the Dementia Awareness Research Group of Trinidad and Tobago have been working on studies to determine more accurate rates of dementia and to calculate its economic costs. Khan told Sunday Newsday in an interview last week that she has recently received funding from the UWI for a research study in which she is collaborating with psychiatrists Prof Gerard Hutchinson, Dr James Bratt, and Dr Adetayo Akingbala to help identify more accurate ways to screen for dementia. Since there is no cure for dementia, early diagnosis is very critical and as such it is important that the tools used for screening and diagnosis are accurate, she said.

A test that is not accurate can lead to delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis or can lead to normal persons being incorrectly identified as having a problem. The research study, Khan said, will compare the most popular dementia screening measures currently being used by doctors in Trinidad but which have been developed in Europe and North America.

She said the study will evaluate which methods were most effective to use in Trinidad and Tobago.

These results can potentially help general practitioners and specialists conduct earlier and more accurate diagnoses, she added.

In the absence of concise data, Khan said the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that approximately 300,000 people across the Caribbean are living with dementia. These estimates include all types of dementia, not just Alzheimers disease, as there is not enough data to separate the subtypes.

There is also not enough data available to predict the rates of early- onset dementia which is rarer, she said. Khan said, though, that given TTs status as having one of the fastest ageing populations in the world, the likelihood of a person developing dementia was greater.

With improved medical care and standards of living compared to decades ago, people are now living longer and living to the age where they are at risk for Alzheimers disease and other diseases of ageing, she observed.

They are also delaying childbirth and having fewer children.

What this means is that a greater percentage of the population are older persons and this has implications for the demand and provision of healthcare services for older persons. President of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists, Khan has worked extensively with other psychologists at memory clinics, testing hundreds of patients in England and the Caribbean and it is always difficult when the assessment confirms that the person does indeed have a dementia.  She said younger-onset cases were particularly tough because a person in their 40s or 50s are still in the prime of their lives, physically healthy and working.

Often the toll is greatest on the family- spouse and children, she said.

Khan, who is also a lecturer in Clinical Psychology in the UWIs Psychiatry Unit, alluded to a particular case in which a man in his 40s, with a wife and young children, took time away from work because of perceived stress. She recalled that the mans family had started noticing signs that something was not quite normal.

For example, he was accustomed to doing the school runs but had started getting lost on the way home. He would stop at a traffic light on his regular familiar route and become disoriented, not knowing which way to turn. They sought help and were referred for further neuropsychological testing which helped confirm that he had early-onset Alzheimers disease.

Khan said the reality that he would not be able to resume work and that his role at home would change was difficult for the family. She referred to another early- onset case in which the personality changes were more apparent.

With no obvious physical illness, the father had become apathetic, uninterested, and at times said mean and callous things to his wife and children, she recalled.

This caused a great strain on the family relationship to the point where the mother and children had planned a family vacation without him.  Khan recalled that a neurologist had referred the patient for neuropsychological assessment which supported a diagnosis of atypical Alzheimers disease.

In this case, while the diagnosis was also difficult to receive, it was a tremendous relief to the family to have an explanation for the changes they had seen in their loved one. Khan made it clear that the details of the two case studies should not be perceived as diagnostic until a thorough medical assessment was sought.

She told Sunday Newsday that getting a diagnosis for dementia and Alzheimers disease can involve a multi-step process.

Khan, who had worked with the Translational Neuropsychology Group at the University of Sheffield, England, shared some tips for dealing with the threat of dementia and Alzheimers Disease.

STEP 1 - Visit your general practitioner/ doctor. He/she will get some background STEP 2 - See a specialist.

The specialist may be a psychiatrist or neurologist who has more specialised knowledge and experience of dementia than a general practitioner. The specialist also works with teams involving psychologists, neuropsychologists, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers.

STEP 3 - Assessment.

In the later stages of the disease, the diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease is clearer and easier to assess. However in the earlier stages, it is more difficult and several tests and assessments may be needed to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.

The assessment may take place at a clinic, hospital, office or home and may take place over several weeks. It involves getting more background information so more time will be spent talking to you, your family members and caregivers. More physical examinations and test will be carried out if they were not already done by your GP.

Neuropsychological and behaviour assessment may be done by a neuropsychologist and is used when more information is needed to confirm a diagnosis, to help identify the subtype of dementia, to determine the level of functioning of the person and what their capabilities and limitations are. This involves assessing your functioning and coping skills.

You will do a range of activities that measure skills involving memory, language, concentration and attention for example. Finally, in the assessment process, you may also be given a brain scan. There are different types: CT which uses X-rays or MRI which uses radio waves.

STEP 4 - Diagnosis.

The specialist will discuss all your test and assessment results with you. If a diagnosis of Alzheimers disease (or any other dementia) is confirmed, treatment will be planned.

Follow up visits will be necessary to monitor changes and manage the disease.
This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. It is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way.
South Korea officially kicked off its ambitious KF-X project to develop indigenous next-generation fighter jets to defend it airspace within the next decade.

Despite setbacks last year in acquiring some key technologies for the fighters from the United States, the DAPA unveiled a detailed timeline for the project in cooperation with the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the local aircraft manufacturer. KF-X stands for Korean Fighter Experimental.

The KF-X project will take a leading role in the development of our aviation industry, Chang Myoung-jin, head of the DAPA, said Thursday. As requested by our Air Force, we will make all assurances that a fighter jet with superb capabilities can be deployed in a timely manner and develop a locally-made fighter jet that all Koreans can be proud of.

In November, Indonesias government signed on to the project, agreeing to pay 20 percent of the total cost of development. It will participate in some designing and receive access to some technologies and a prototype.

The Korean government allocated some 8.5 trillion won ($6.67 billion) to develop indigenous mid-level fighter jets to replace the Air Forces antiquated F-4 and F-5 aircraft. Another 9.6 trillion won is earmarked for the production of the 4.5th generation fighters, which are expected to outperform the KF-16-class fighters, bringing the total budget for the project to 18.1 trillion won.

KAI is expected to begin production of the KF-X in 2018, finish designing by September 2019 and come up with six prototype fighters by 2021, according to the DAPA. It will spend the next four years doing flight tests to complete development by 2026.

Once development is finalized, 120 fighter jets are expected to be built by 2032.

In September 2014, the Korean government signed a 7.34 trillion won deal with Lockheed Martin to buy 40 F-35A jets and receive technical support for Koreas project to build its own next-generation fighter jet.

Korea initially asked for 25 technologies from the U.S. defense contractor. The DAPA belatedly admitted in September that Washington had rejected export licenses for four core technologies pertaining to its F-35 stealth fighter jets. There still are worries over whether the United States will transfer the remaining 21 technologies in a timely manner and some doubts whether the development and building of the fighter jets will be feasible within the tight timeframe of a little over 10 years.

SOURCES  korea joongang daily, internet photos
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As it turned out, it did not happen overnight. Work had been going on  quietly  for sometime. And while China was preoccupied with building artificial islands in the South China Sea, U.S. President Barack Obama was involved in a trilateral dialogue with Prime Minister Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye in the past two years. Obama had been trying to bring the U.S.s two Asian allies together and forge a counterbalance to an increasingly aggressive China and a trigger-happy North Korea. And the only way to keep the two communist allies in check is to establish a strong defensive line along the First Island Chain, which would prevent China from breaking out into the Western Pacific and beyond. And with the newly constructed Jeju Naval Base on South Koreas southernmost island group, which is as close as it could get to China, its geostrategic location in the East China Sea couldnt have come at a more opportune time.
The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development created a program called the Housing Development Fund Corporation, or HDFC, where residents of co-ops can take ownership from negligent landlords, after getting trained on how to run the building. According to DNAinfo, 33 of those buildings made Public Advocate Letitia James' list of the worst landlords of 2015.

"None of these buildings are supposed to be on this list," Elsia Vasquez, a housing advocate, told DNAinfo. "The fact that they are calling 311 on themselves is appalling because at the end of the day these co-ops are supposed to sustain themselves but instead they are giving themselves all of these violations."

Some say training was inadequate, leading residents to call 311 on their own building, leading to violations, leading to being on the list. HPD is considering steps to improve training. Among the Manhattan properties on the public advocate's list is the Windermere, at 400 West 57th Street. It hasn't had a tenant since 2009 and has been encased by scaffolding and netting since at least 2008.

 Public Advocate Puts 33 Self-Governing Co-ops on Worst Landlord List [DNAinfo]

 Long-Empty 57th St. Building Included on Tish James' 'Worst Landlord' List [DNAinfo]

 City's 100 Worst Landlords Identified on 2015 Watchlist [Curbed]

 Landlord Watchlist [Official]
Not to be outdone by any man or blizzard, Donald Trump came up with something newly outrageous to say at an Iowa event on Saturday, announcing to a crowd that his supporters are so devoted to him, he could gun someone down and it still wouldnt affect his popularity. Speaking at a Christian college in northwest Iowa, Trump suggested that I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldnt lose any voters, OK? Its like, incredible. The crowd of Trump supporters laughed in response, of course:

The context for the Johnny Cashlike assertion was Trump trying to differentiate himself from his rising rival, Ted Cruz, who Trump suggested had much softer support, i.e., the kind that would be horrified if you shot someone.

ABC News adds that a student volunteering for Trumps campaign at the event said the point was clear  that he would keep his supporters no matter what the media, other candidates and attack ads said about him.

Also this weekend, the influential Des Moines Register endorsed neither Trump nor Cruz, but GOP-establishment darling Marco Rubio for the upcoming Iowa caucuses. They said Rubio represents his partys best hope, though they interestingly did not indicate whether their support was conditional on Rubio not trying to murder anyone.
Every year, like clockwork, longstanding Oklahoma legislators in the state's house and senate introduce bills that try to find a way around the prohibition on teaching Biblical Creationism in American public schools.

These bills have been subjected to evolutionary pressure over the years, cross-breeding, mutating and speciating as their tactics are predated upon by courts and fellow legislators, and as such, watching each fresh crop of bills emerge is a bit like discovering a few more Galapagos finches and working out the unique environmental pressures that gave rise to them.

For five years in a row, State Senator Josh Brecheen has introduced Creatonism education bills, declaring that he wanted "every publically funded Oklahoma school to teach the debate of creation vs. evolution." The latest one, SB1322, climbs down from any explicit mention of Creationism, limiting itself to immunizing teachers who discuss the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories.

Meanwhile, Republican rep Sally Kern's HB3045, characterizes many branches of science  biology, chemistry, meteorology, bioethics, and physics  as "controversial" and allows science educators to teach any "facts" about these disciplines that they believe to be true, without regard to any kind of scientific consensus about objective reality. Although the three predecessors of this bill explicitly mentioned religion of their motivating factor, this version of the bill explicitly declaims any religious intent, and insists that it has no common ancestors with those exinct species that failed to pass evolution's tests.

The Legislature further finds that the teaching of some scientific concepts including but not limited to premises in the areas of biology, chemistry, meteorology, bioethics, and physics can cause controversy, and that some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on some subjects such as, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.

The bill responds to that uncertainty by ensuring educators can just teach whatever they want as long as they think it's science, and nobody can discipline them. Students, meanwhile, cannot be penalized if they "subscribe to a particular position on scientific theories." And the author makes sure to point out that none of this has anything to do with religion, just in case a casual reader ended up confused by its similarity to earlier bills with overtly religious motivations.

This year's first batch of anti-science education bills surface in Oklahoma

[John Timmer/Ars Technica]
Schoolgirls in South Africa. Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

According to the AP, a scholarship introduced this year in the Uthukela district of South Africa has provided 16 women with college funding for retaining their virginity.

The young women who applied for the scholarships voluntarily stayed virgins and agreed to have regular virginity tests to keep their funding, Uthukela Mayor Dudu Mazibuko told South African talk radio station 702. To us, its just to say thank you for keeping yourself and you can still keep yourself for the next three years until you get your degree or certificate, Mazibuko said.

According to Mazibuko, the scholarship was introduced because young women are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, pregnancy, and STDs. In response, advocates for gender equality have criticized the scholarship for the onus it places on women to equate virginity with intellectual integrity.
*sees that source is the Mirror*



*quietly exits this 1D post*

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Wouldn't be surprised if this is true, but where's the Louis tweets about the Mirror?

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Nothing shocks me with 1D.

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Actually the source is the Sun, lmao, the Mirror is quoting them. For some reason, they declined to publish some of the Sun's findings such as the fact that Pandora "has spoken of her love of kitsch clothing, B-movie film posters, Elvis memorabilia and Mexican crafts."

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I edited and added the pic of Pandora leaving Harry's house for non-believers out there

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How many girls is he boinking? Get em H!

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Idg how 25+ girls do it tho...she is my age it is too weird for me. Maybe because he is famous but still

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yay for STDs <3

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lol he is a mess



and The Nice Guy?! might as well just come out and ask every LA pap to come take pictures....altho we all know Kris actually did smh

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ohhh there are pictures lmaooooo



kris is going to rip him to shreds



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her sister also dated simon cowell at one point apparently, lmao. harry and simon could have been brothers!!!! smh

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whaaat which sis

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omg so bad taste can run in the family! #science

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Official according to who, Dan? Neither of them have confirmed anything,they just fucking around.

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People seriously think he and kendall together? Come on

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she kinda looks like kristina mladenovic

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omg rude

she's not that bad

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i don't think she's ugly???

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BYE i will not tolerate this disrespect to queen kiki

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this is probably the blond he was shopping with the other day, which would make sense if she's a stylist.

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Let's just get things cleared up! Pandora Lennard is a stylist and she was spotted with H most likely doing her job pic.twitter.com/wvpUOtOPnE  Update & stuff (@1D_Swiss_Team) January 24, 2016





Edited at 2016-01-24 04:19 am (UTC)

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Makes sense to have it at the nice guy, it's not like people aren't going to want pics anyway so you might as well skip the middle man and own it.

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Harry saw all the headlines Louis was getting for this birth and he was like "Damn, pay attention to me!!! Guess I have to get me a one night stand with a blonde stylist."

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Is it cheating if hendall are just fuck buddies?





Liam just landed in LA. Is he there to see baby tommo, go to Harry's bday party, or release a solo song before Zayn

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All of the above?

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mte don't underestimate liam

dj payno will also be making a special appearance behind the dj table

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I just saw larries say Liam's going to Harry's party so Louis can go to the party lol

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i wish

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And now he's supposedly going to work on some J. Lo songs.

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I can't even lie when I saw that Liam was in LA I smiled a bit. I need some Lirry birthday love. Also, 3/4 of OT4 in LA...this never happened during their small breaks, haha. Where is Niall?

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lmfao all the replies on the nice guy's twitter, like what do they expect them to do? not let ppl know they're closed and have ppl show up and try to get in like? i mean ppl r still gonna show up cuz of harry but that's different..

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Harry, the slut.

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accurate

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hmmm idk what to think abt this bc the sun is saying it's cheating but people mag definitely made it out to be casual hooking up. i kinda had a feeling they weren't serious after they didn't hang out for two weeks when they had the opportunity.



i'm surprised they papped someone outside his house tho. i thought they weren't allowed to be that close to his house after he took legal action.

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That's only in london

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This hook up took place at his house in London. She was pap'd leaving his house in Hampstead.

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this is in london

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Maybe it was a different house of his? I'm sure he has more than one. Or they used one of those creeper lenses. Or Harry set this up because he is a free bitch and wants everyone to know!!!

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incase u havent noticed harry is going full pr with the papz now for solo!harry to rise. usually he would be all fuck off looking to papz but since 1d hiatus he is super into them. THIS BOY SMRT. any publicity is good publicity, he prob sent them there



Edited at 2016-01-24 02:37 am (UTC)

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All the "sources" have implied that they weren't "official". Even Khole's comments were along those lines with the remark about not being bf/gf. At the same time this does seem like it may be a sensationalized story from the sun. Unless they have more pictures its basically a story based on a stylist being at his house right now

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why is it news that harry is a typical 22 year old guy

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i wish zayn would release his song on the day of harry's party since it's also right after louis' bb was born

or at least wait until feb 1st

the baby could wait until then as well but noooo

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it will prob "leak" Real soon (when the headlines of happenings tonight come out prob)



Edited at 2016-01-24 02:38 am (UTC)

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I have two first names, a middle name and two last names, my name is fucking long, so long that when i went to get my social security card they told me i had to wait longer because they had to ask for authorization because my name didn't fit the card or some shit like that. ugh my parents suck.

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Lol I'm trying to figure out how this works...



So like Mary Ann Claudia Thomas-McGill?



Don't ask me why I just named Babysitters Club members...

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lol i'm latina so there's a "Maria del" in there and then my middle name is my aunt's name (she told my parents that if they named me after her i would inherit all of her jewels and money. GREEDY BITCHES!) Also I have two last names because that's in my country you get your dad's last name and your mom's last name too.

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I have one first name and three surnames. Thats common in my country. I love it though, I'd hate to have only one surname.



I find it super sexist that so many countries the kids only get the father's surname.

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Almost the same, because I've 3 last names! What a joy.

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I'm a translator and we get a lot of translations from Mexico, some names are ridiculously long so I would say that's kinda the norm lol

also, why do some people repeat the last name? like, for example, Rodriguez Rodriguez. Is it because both parents have the same last name?

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I have a longish first name, two middle names (one common but spelled weirdly as it was my gma's name), and a hyphenated last name :/

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I saw some woman who had a hyphenated last name and then got married to a man with a hyphenated last name...so she started using her maiden name as her middle name and took on his last name.



something like Michelle Brown-Johnson Smith-Harper. I can't imagine.

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I relate to this 100%. I have a hyphenated first name AND a hyphenated last name. It's hell. But I want to keep using them all, despite the pressure (recently, this guy I do freelance work for told me TWICE "that really doesn't work, you gotta shorten that" - and not in a joke-y way. I really hate him, ugh). People are dumb when it comes to names tbh.



that being said I'm not having kids or getting married so that takes care of THAT headache.



super late but ETA: not that I would change my name after getting married, lol. Fuck that antiquated practice.



Edited at 2016-01-24 08:03 pm (UTC)

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Lmao i feel you, i'm half german/bolivian and my parents had the brilliant idea to name me the bolivian way while giving me a very complicated german first middle name. Filling in official government papers is a nightmare.

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"doesn't use examples of boys with girls' names (shock!)"



are there any....the only one I can think of is David Bowie's son old name being Zowie

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That's because everyone views names that are typically used for boys as being better than the ones used for girls. You're not find many people giving girly~ sounding names to boys. There isn't a trend for that and it's sadly unlikely that there will ever be one.

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Um. Ashley, Aubrey, i know those two people off the top. Though honestly they were boy names first.

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I think Zowie was just a nickname, he goes by Duncan now. Keith Richards had a son called Tara. That's all I can think of.



ETA: Cheyenne.



Edited at 2016-01-24 08:33 am (UTC)

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One of my past coworkers had the name Susan (he is a guy).

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Dana and Courtney are ones that are fairly common.

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While I know Ashley is a genderneutral name, I always thought it was a girl's name (then again, I'm not a native English speaker, so I learned this when I was around 10 and watched Sunset Beach on tv)

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There was a guy in my year at school called Shannon and another boys older brother was named Jody.

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Whichever Geldoff daughter is dead had a son named Phaedra.

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I met a boy named Artemis the other day, which was interesting since the name is so closely identified with the Greek goddess. His parents were probably influenced by the Artemis Fowl books, in which the title character is a guy.



I could see a popular male character with a traditionally female name legitimizing it enough for some people to bestow it on their sons, though in this case it surely helps that Artemis not only doesn't sound "girly", it actually sounds masculine to a lot of people - in fact, I'm pretty sure that's why it's never been a popular name for girls in Anglophone countries.

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Aubrey and Ashley are super fem and i know a male with those names.

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There are two Kendall's in my law school section. One is a guy and one is a girl.

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Laurie (my name) used to be short for Laurence. One of the characters in little women was named Laurie. I think Christian bale played him in the movie?

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I learned recently that Ashwini, which I always thought was a girl's name, can also be a boy's name. But that's only in India.

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My aunt met a man named Karen once. Apparently it was a thing in the US in the '60s.



They're out there, just nowhere near as common.

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I went to a college with a guy whose name was Kelly (which is gender neutral, just not so common), and he told me all of his siblings had gender neutral names because his parents didn't want to deal with picking out two possible names lol



as for celebs, Lynn Swann (former football player comes to mind). As does actor Stacy Keach. I know there are a ton more but for celebs those popped to mind

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Lol these types of dudes are always the MOST dramatic. Someone get the smelling salts, people are naming their kids what they want!!!!!!!

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yes i agree. so fucking dramatic

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lol mte

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seriously

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These are the same dudes who get whiny when I tell them I kept my maiden name.



It's always the same exchange:

"I'd have never married you..."

"Yeah, well, I think it's cute that you think I'd ever gone out with you in the first place."

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Lol mte

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Ikr it's not about you calm tf down

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Get with the times, Reed

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yeah Reed, relax your conservative behind, Reed!

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i love a good name wank

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It creeps me out when I see a guy with my name negl especially when its some 40 year old fat man.



hateeeeee ittttttttt



Obvs they have every right to have my name just feels weird

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Have fun with this one ONTD lol

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Gender neutral names are cute a lot of the times



I also like it when a boy is named Kelly or a girl is named Kyle etc.

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So my friend is named Kelly and she gave her daughter a "boy's" name which my friend's dad bitches about all the time, I guess. I was just like, "... does he know that Kelly was originally a "boy's" name?"

I know, I know. CSB lol

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Kelly is a boys name actually.

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"Boys name" is an agenderphobic microagression, lj user by_venom_sting. You are a bigot.

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my father's first name is Kelly and he has never, ever used it and has resented his parents his entire life for naming him that. Professionally he's known as K. Scott.

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my mom's name is Kyle (born 1953, named after an opera singer) and she gets shit ALL THE TIME like "ma'am is this your husband's credit card?" and everything addressed to Mr. Lastname

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my bff growing up's dad's name was Kim

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I didn't know about Hilary or Meredith, interesting

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Although I've been around ONTD long enough to remember people here mocking celeb baby names for pretty much the same thing and thinking it was strange it bothered people..

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Edited at 2016-01-24 08:08 am (UTC) the only problem i have with people naming children is giving them unspellable or unpronounceable names.

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Lmao @ these names.

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McKart(h)y... so your child can grow up and make blacklists in kindergarten, ostracizing kids with such boring names like Jessica and Ashley

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so much here but every time it gets posted the more I think Lakynn ain't so bad after all. Dunno why they had to have a y in every name but it just seems rood to make fun of someone's name 'cause it's hard to pronounce imo, lots of people from different backgrounds have "weird" names



Jamie Oliver and his wife got real creative with their kids, Buddy Bear is where I start to be ok with shitting on names







Edited at 2016-01-24 08:22 am (UTC) People shit on this ladymuch here but every time it gets posted the more I think Lakynn ain't so bad after all. Dunno why they had to have a y in every name but it just seems rood to make fun of someone's name 'cause it's hard to pronounce imo, lots of people from different backgrounds have "weird" namesJamie Oliver and his wife got real creative with their kids, Buddy Bear is where I start to be ok with shitting on names

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lmfao I know this lady whose last name is Rose and her daughter's name is Camellia Violet Lily Rose which is sortaaa pretty but also 4 fucking flowers in a row

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At least all the other have a normal name to go by, but poor Petal!

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How do you even pronounce Lakynn??

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I wonder what she's naming her newest baby

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http://mommyslittlesunshine.blogspot.com/2012/01/29-weeks.html The comments to the name start out okay, but then...

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I don't feel so judgmental about this person now that I know there's a kid named sturgeon on this earth. It could be so much worse.

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lakynn sounds like "but/however" in arabic...all i think whenever i see this

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She's pregnant again lol

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HORRIFIC

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as if this isnt bad enough, she went with Laikynn in the end UGHUGHGH

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I actually went to school with a Laken. I had never heard that name before, but I like it. The spelling of Lakynn is a little meh, but it's not too bad. The -ynn ending has precedent with Lynn, so I can somewhat see the reasoning there.



Another classmate named their daughter Anistyn, though, and I'm not sold on that one.



I think the wilder spellings really took hold due to the trendy names that began being everywhere. It's a way to differentiate Jayden from Jaden from Jadyn and so on.

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ahahah I've seen this picture so many times. who is she? does she know she is the go-to image for making fun of dumb names?

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Emma is a cute name just a tad bit twee for me

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of course the source is news.com.au



trash

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hey I've posted some great trash articles from news.com.au

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it's literally the most bogan 'news' website in our country i s2g

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I have a feeling it's gonna be a super old lady name like Gertrude or something bc he's like that

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Myrtle

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Edith. Old fashioned, yet used in recent pop culture enough times to have that hipster value.

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Iris, Evelyn, or Margaret are my guesses for a girl

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argyle

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Sew

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i like james for a girl

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Jaime King was more interesting when she was going by 'James'

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Omg I never knew she did that, I saw her credited as James King in Happy Campers and just thought they somehow fucked up that hard lol

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me too, my name is Jaimie, but I've always preferred going by James

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Tbilisi and Moscows negotiations over the expansion of Russian Gazproms share of the Georgian energy market heightened the political fever in the country over the last several weeks. The negotiations that started largely in secrecy in September 2015 (see EDM, October 21, 2015), have continued in January of this year.

The opposition accused the Georgian government of collaborating with Moscow by opening the door for the state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom to significantly boost its operations in Georgia and allegedly again make the country dependent on the Russian energy company (Rustavi 2 TV, Imedi TV, January 818). Some even held a protest in front of the government headquarters, in Tbilisi, demanding a stop to the negotiations (Argumenti.ge, January 16).

The Georgian government tried to justify itself, stating several times that Azerbaijani natural gas, which supplies 88 percent of Georgias needs, is not enough to satisfy Georgias increased demands (Civil Georgia, January 18). Azerbaijan, however, asserted that Baku can fully meet Georgias needs (Rezonansi, January 13). Related: Citigroup: Oil Is The Trade Of The Year

According to Georgian officials, the government is holding negotiations with Russia on two issues: first, the transit of Russian gas to Armenia via Georgia, which involves a Russian demand to pay cash as a transit fee instead of giving Georgia 10 percent of the transported gas (as it is today), and second, Tbilisis plan to fill the gap between its supply and demand by buying additional Russian gas (Channel 1 TV, Rustavi 2, January 518). The Georgian government also strongly denied the oppositions claims that it is holding negotiations in secret, instead arguing that the information was fully available to the public. The United States embassy in Georgia somewhat sided with the Georgian government on this, as well as on the entire energy negotiations. US Ambassador Ian Kelly stated that the Georgian government has been very open with the United States about the negotiations with Gazprom and further argued that as Georgia does have a short term energy need its prudent to talk to all potential energy suppliers (Civil Georgia, January 18).

Whatever the Georgian governments intentions, its stated position is only one part of the story. Fixating on it while ignoring the Russian sides goals risks offering only a simplistic explanation to the larger geopolitical strategy that is unfolding in the South Caucasus. Notably, after losing the dominant role on the European energy markets, Russia has been attempting to strengthen and cement its position across the post-Soviet space. Georgia is one important piece in this configuration. Strategically bordering every state and political entity in the wider Caucasus region, Georgia is thus of a vital importance for Russia, particularly as it attempts to reach its satellite Armenia unhindered. Related: Why Surge In Renewables Investment Is Unrelated To Oil Prices

Whether Russia somehow threatened the Georgian government to bring it to the negotiating table is another question. It feasibly could have done so, especially via some back channels. Russias large-scale military drills in occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) since mid-December 2015 to mid-January of the current year (Interpressnews.ge, December 12, 2015, January 14, 2016) are one indication that Moscow is deliberately keeping Tbilisi under pressure.

Overall, Russia is clearly playing a double game in the region. On the one hand, it tries to lock the South Caucasus states of Georgia and Armenia into joint energy projects with Moscow. For instance, in December 2015, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran signed a memorandum to cooperate in synchronizing these four countries electricity transmission systems (see EDM, January 4; Armenpress.am, December 23, 2015). Needless to say, Russia certainly would welcome the establishment of a single energy corridor stretching from the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf. Such an outcome would gain even greater significance if Russia and its client regime in Damascus prevail in the Syrian civil war, thus leaving Russian in a much stronger position in the entire Middle East.

On the other hand, Russia wants to maintain the South Caucasus market only for itself and keep Iran at bay. For instance, Moscow is trying to take control of Iranian gas deliveries to Armenia (TASS, December 10, 2015), which could ultimately undermine Georgias recent attempts to import Iranian gas via Armenia (Verelq.am, January 14). Russia may even offer Georgia natural gas at lower prices than the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) does, just to lure in Tbilisi (Armenianow.com, January 13). Related: Oil Prices Rebound Above $30. Is A Rally Finally Here?

The Russian-Georgian and Russian-Georgian-Armenian-Iranian energy negotiations certainly are a geopolitical (and economic) blessing for Yerevan. Armenia has been isolated and sidelined for a quarter of a century from any such projects because of the war over the Karabakh region and the subsequent Azerbaijani-Turkish embargo. However, the Georgian-Russian rapprochement, which now is rapidly expanding into the energy sphere and increasingly includes Armenia, is not being viewed as good news in Azerbaijan. If ultimately successful, this rapprochement and resulting joint projects would help Armenia break its regional isolation and gradually pull Georgia back under Russias economic influence. Eventually, such a reshaping of the geopolitical and geo-economic environment would most probably weaken Azerbaijans position in the region. Undoubtedly conscious of the dangers of such an outcome, Azerbaijani energy officials have repeatedly stated that their country can fully satisfy Georgias natural gas needs. On January 13, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev even visited Tbilisi and held talks with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili about this matter (Contact.az, January 14).

So far, the Russian-Georgian energy negotiations are continuing. And it looks as if Georgia may, indeed, opt to expand its natural gas trade with Gazprom, even though 20 percent of this country remains under Russian occupation since 2008. However, the negotiations between Gazprom and Georgia could have much larger geopolitical repercussions for the entire South Caucasus, gradually altering the balance of power in the region. The following years will offer a much clearer picture of what todays Russian-Georgian negotiations really mean for the volatile Caucasus.

By Vasili Rukhadze via Jamestown.org

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
When the problem [taharrush] was largely confined to Middle Eastern women it is easy to understand why it was ignored. Now that taharrush has come to Europe it is easier still. Events are being covered up because it runs counter to the Narrative peddled by the Western left. The Narrative is the source of their moral authority, the justification for their special graft.



What makes the pathological denial so catastrophic is that a vast, almost unstoppable torrent of refugees is already on the way to Germany, the fragments of collapsing Islamic countries. Cologne is but a skirmish with the vanguard. The main host is still on its way.



In belated mea culpa former senior adviser to president Obama, Dennis Ross, at last took his boss to task in an article titled: "How Obama Created a Mideast Vacuum". It's too late Dennis. What "too late" means was driven home years ago when one of the volunteer members of the Philippine Airlines cadaver recovery team described an accident which took the lives of 5 members of a university mountaineering club. The party was trekking along a dry riverbed on the lower slope of an 8,000 foot volcano in Mindoro. The weather was fine and the mountaineers were doomed. Unknown to them a squall had dumped a slug of rain on the peak high above them. The first warning they had of oncoming tons of water was a rumbling sound round the corner of the gorge. Then the flood came and only those fast enough to clamber up the riverbanks survived.



In the same way the present calm in Europe can be deceiving. Even if its leaders were somehow to reconstitute its borders, a gigantic flood from that vacuum upstream of the old continent is already rushing with irresistible force upon it. The UNHCR says refugee numbers are expected to increase in 2016. Some estimates say as many as 10 million more are on the way. From the beaches of North Africa to the overcrowded camps in Jordan and Lebanon; from every nook and cranny in MENA -- they are on the way. One way or the other a terrible smash is now in train.

I recently learned a new arabic word(h/t: The Belmont Club]. It means mass sexual harassment perpetrated by Muslim males against innocent females who dare to walk the public streets. It was foreshadowed by the attack on CBS's Lara Logan in Egypt during the so-called 'arab spring' demonstrations, and until recently, it was perpetrated by Muslim males against Muslim females in middle eastern countries. It was rarely, if ever, reported by Western media.Butmigrated along with the flood of refugees from Syria (75 percent male) and manifested in Cologne, Germany on New Year's Eve. It was evident in Sweden, Denmark and other bastions of liberal Western governancealways under-reported and never called by that name. Richard Fernandez provides an insightful analysis:The tragedy is that Barack Obama and his Team of 2s (exemplars of modern leftist thinking] helped to create the chaos in the Middle East and the resultant flood of refugees. Now, in order to protect a multicultural narrative in which the refugees can do no wrong and represent no cultural or physical threat, the Left (includingDemocratic presidential candidates) steadfastly refuses to examine things likeand acts surprised when it surfaces in Western societies. That's why news of the Cologne sexual attacks was suppressed, and that's why suggested remedies are pathetically weak.The squall is over for now, but a bigger deluge is coming. The walls of the river bed are high and sheer, and for those of us who refuse to be blinded by willful ignorance, a far-off rumbling sound will do little to protect our society when the next flood begins.
Americans are learning how municipal cost cutting led to the breakdown of the Flint, Michigan residents being exposed to irreversable lead poisoning from their public water.

Now, The New York Times reports about a dangerous tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Alabama. This infectious lung disease is not likely an isolated cluster, just in the Marion area. Often, TB is notoriously under reported. This outbreak is correlated with a breakdown in our public health prevention against the spread of infectious diseases.





"...throes of a tuberculosis outbreak so severe that it has posted an

about 100 times greater than the states and

(The New York Times)





"...January 2014, active tuberculosis has been diagnosed in 20 people, nearly all of them black; three have died..."





MARION, Alabama  When Patricia Church, a 41-year-old warehouse worker, felt sick recently, she suspected that she had a cold. But she also feared something more deadly that has been going around this small, impoverished city: tuberculosis.



I feel like I had been around someone that had it, and I might die from it if I dont find out whether I got it or not and get it treated, Ms. Church said after she learned last week that she did not have the disease. I was nervous. I was real nervous.



Marion is in the throes of a tuberculosis outbreak so severe that it has posted an  When Patricia Church, a 41-year-old warehouse worker, felt sick recently, she suspected that she had a cold. But she also feared something more deadly that has been going around this small, impoverished city: tuberculosis.I feel like I had been around someone that had it, and I might die from it if I dont find out whether I got it or not and get it treated, Ms. Church said after she learned last week that shehave the disease. I was nervous. I was real nervous.Marion is in the throes of a tuberculosis outbreak so severe that it has posted an incidence rate about 100 times greater than the states and worse than in many developing countries





Residents, local officials and medical experts said the struggle against the outbreak could be traced to generations of limited health care access, endemic poverty and mistrust  problems that are common across the rural American South.





Tuberculosis is on the increase in Alabama and the rural South

In Rural Alabama, a Longtime Mistrust of Medicine Fuels a Tuberculosis Outbreak Theres not a culture of care-seeking behavior unless youre really sick, said Dr. R. Allen Perkins, a former president of the Alabama Rural Health Association. Theres not support for local medical care, so when something like this happens, you have a health delivery system thats unprepared . Theres not a culture of care-seeking behavior unless youre really sick, said Dr. R. Allen Perkins, a former president of the Alabama Rural Health Association. Theres not support for local medical care, so when something like this happens, you have a health delivery.





In Marion Alabama, a city of fewer than 3,600 people, the toll of the slow-growing bacteria, commonly referred to as TB , is staggering.









More than two dozen others have been infected but have not shown symptoms and can be easily treated. State officials expect that figure will increase as hundreds, and possibly thousands, more people are tested.



The authorities said the outbreak had spread so widely and lasted so long because patients had been reluctant to disclose their contacts to public health officials. Some of that is linked to suspicions that the health officials will report illegal activity to law enforcement, but it is also connected to worries of being ostracized, or at least stigmatized, in a community as small as this one.



The phrase that every single case uses is, I dont want nobody knowing my business,  Pam Barrett, the state official who is leading the response, said before the state held a community meeting on Thursday at a local school. For most of us, its not too hard to come up with the main people that you hang around. But if youre doing maybe some things that you dont want other people to know about, or doing some things youre ashamed of, you dont want people in your business, and youre not going to tell me.



Others suggested that the history of medicine in Alabama, including the



There is a mistrust of government medicine, in the African-American community especially, because of Tuskegee, Dr. Perkins said. It dates back to that. We havent dealt with the damage of Tuskegee in this state at any meaningful level. Since January 2014, active tuberculosis has been diagnosed in 20 people, nearly all of them black; three have died. (Six people who live in other cities in Alabama have also received diagnoses of active tuberculosis and have been linked to the outbreak here.)More than two dozen others have been infected but have not shown symptoms and can be easily treated. State officials expect that figure will increase as hundreds, and possibly thousands, more people are tested.The authorities said the outbreak had spread so widely and lasted so long because patients had been reluctant to disclose their contacts to public health officials. Some of that is linked to suspicions that the health officials will report illegal activity to law enforcement, but it is also connected to worries of being ostracized, or at least stigmatized, in a community as small as this one.The phrase that every single case uses is, I dont want nobody knowing my business,  Pam Barrett, the state official who is leading the response, said before the state held a community meeting on Thursday at a local school. For most of us, its not too hard to come up with the main people that you hang around. But if youre doing maybe some things that you dont want other people to know about, or doing some things youre ashamed of, you dont want people in your business, and youre not going to tell me.Others suggested that the history of medicine in Alabama, including the notorious medical experimentation in Tuskegee , was hampering efforts to contain tuberculosis.There is a mistrust of government medicine, in the African-American community especially, because of Tuskegee, Dr. Perkins said. It dates back to that. We havent dealt with the damage of Tuskegee in this state at any meaningful level.





1932, the In, the United States Public Health Service began a study of untreated syphilis t hat involved 600 black men in Macon County, Ala., which includes Tuskegee. The men, many of them sharecroppers who lived in poverty, agreed to participate in the study and received certain medical services for bad blood.





But researchers failed to make complete disclosures about their work, and the men were not offered penicillin, which in 1947 became the recommended treatment for syphilis.









Many people in Marion, where about 63 percent of the residents are black, said they knew little about what had happened in Tuskegee, but they often said their wariness of medical professionals had been passed on through generations. Some said the dire nature of the tuberculosis warnings made them feel that they had little choice but to consult heath officials.



But they also said they believed that the authorities had not moved aggressively enough to contain the disease before it swelled into an outbreak in Marion.



Its a good thing that they are here to try to help us so this thing wont kill us all, Lula Clemons, 52, said after she attended the states presentation last week. But I felt like when the first case of TB came along, they should have quarantined that person .



There is even disagreement about the depth of the problem, the scale of which only recently became public. Downtown, where many storefronts are empty, there are few indications of the outbreak. Elsewhere in Marion, which drew national attention last year after a judge painted barbers pole said: WARNING! Tuberculosis (TB) Outbreak.



The TB outbreak has implicitly reinforced Marions chronic divides of race and class, particularly because of a controversial plan to compensate people if they submit to blood screenings . With money from a federal grant, health officials in Alabama are offering residents $20 for initial tuberculosis testing, $20 for a follow-up visit and another $20 for keeping an appointment for a chest In 1972, a federal panel found that the study was ethically unjustified, and the government ended it that year.Many people in Marion, where about 63 percent of the residents are black, said they knew little about what had happened in Tuskegee, but they often said their wariness of medical professionals had been passed on through generations. Some said the dire nature of the tuberculosis warnings made them feel that they had little choice but to consult heath officials.But they also said they believed that the authorities had not moved aggressively enough to contain the disease before it swelled into an outbreak in Marion.Its a good thing that they are here to try to help us so this thing wont kill us all, Lula Clemons, 52, said after she attended the states presentation last week. But I felt like when the first case of.There is even disagreement about the depth of the problem, the scale of which only recently became public. Downtown, where many storefronts are empty, there are few indications of the outbreak. Elsewhere in Marion, which drew national attention last year after a judge told defendants who could not pay fines that they could participate in a blood drive or be jailed, the warnings are more visible, if still relatively scarce. At Re Nu U Hair Designs, a state-produced sign posted next to aThe TB outbreak has implicitly reinforced. With money from a federal grant, health officials in Alabama are offering residents $20 for initial tuberculosis testing, $20 for a follow-up visit and another $20 for keeping an appointment for a chest X-ray , if one has been recommended. Anyone who is found to have been infected can receive $100 for completing treatment.



It is a big deal, dont get me wrong, because several people have it here, said Lyn Royster, 50, a florist who was invited to City Hall to be tested for tuberculosis. I just think its gone way overboard.



Some Marion residents acknowledged that they would be tested only because of the financial incentive.

I know for a fact Im clean, said Arthur Moore, 29. Im waiting to go down there and get tested myself to go get the money.



Screening incentives are not unprecedented, but they are usually tailored to far narrower groups, like people who lived in a homeless shelter at a certain time. Researchers said an offer to an entire city, no matter its size, was extraordinarily rare.





It doesnt sound like people have been panicked enough, said Dr. Richard E. Chaisson, the director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Tuberculosis Research.





Chaisson said the broad nature of the screening suggested that theres a target group here, but theyre trying to avoid mentioning who they are.



In other potential outbreaks, Dr. Chaisson said, people sometimes demanded testing, even if experts believed they had been at minimal risk for exposure.



The first days of incentivized testing brought extraordinary numbers to the squat Health Department complex, where someone had taped to the counter a piece of paper that read, in pink highlighter, TB testing sign in, above an arrow. Ms. Barrett said nearly 800 people were tested last week.



No one is certain of what will happen if the new testing effort fails. But Mayor Anthony Long said he already feared that the repercussions of the outbreak, whenever it ended, would linger.



It puts a bad damper on the city, said Mr. Long, who had not yet been tested. The city is already in a financial struggle and catching the hard times . This is another thing to help pull it down.





Cuts in public health, in protections provided through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the lack of health insurance for poor people are contributing to this regressive occurance of tuberculosis. The public health problem, like with the water system failures in Flint, Michigan, are exacerbated by the ignorance of publicly elected officials who clearly don't understand the consequences of their austerity initiatives. Lead poisoning causes irreversable health related problems and TB often becomes antiobiotic resistent and, therefore, causes increased mortality.





It's government's responsibility to protect the public and money should never be the reason for putting community health at risk.





Clearly, it a political failure for US to see tuberculosis on the rise.

Labels: Marion Alabama, The New York Times, Tuskegee Alabama
Every week in 2015 (and the first few weeks of 2016), OnMilwaukee and local design company Too Much Metal join forces to introduce the latest member of the Milwaukee All-Stars  a team of unfamiliar winners living in the city who consistently and diligently make it shine. Each week, a new member will join the team  based on your recommendations  and at the end of the year all will come together in a Rally of the Raddest Milwaukeeans. We're not sure what that means quite yet, so for now, meet 

Biju Zimmerman

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: How long have you been doing what you do?

Biju Zimmerman: Ive been involved with music for 23 years. I've been touring with Eric Benet for about seven years now, but started when I was 19 when I was hired by The Gufs to be their drum tech.

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: What is your favorite Milwaukee season?

Zimmerman: Out of the two seasons in Wisconsin  construction and winter  Ill take winter because I live in Wisconsin.

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: What neighborhood do you live in?

Zimmerman: On point in Walkers Point  "on the block."

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: What is your favorite or least favorite smell in Milwaukeee?

Zimmerman: Bradford beach mid-August is truly god awful.

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: What is your hope for Milwaukee?

Zimmerman: I'm hoping I can be a stepping stone in putting Milwaukee on the music map. Milwaukee: the next Seattle. Ha.

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: When / how did you fall in love with Milwaukee?

Zimmerman: When I was touring with my old band Camden and playing all these great cities with great bands, Milwaukee was always the "big little city" that I loved coming back to.

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: What is your one guilty pleasure?

Zimmerman: Ever get chills from a song whatever be your flavor? For that one reason. Turn it up to 11.

OnMilwaukee / Too Much Metal: If you could high five one Milwaukeean, who would it be?

Zimmerman: My brother, BJ Seidel. We've been best friends since fifth grade when I moved to Racine. We learned about music together. We taught ourselves how to play music and then played in amazing bands that toured nationally. He now owns Burnhearts and Goodkind. So stoked for him.
A few months ago it was the directive that nurses had to declare their white privilege before attending to their patients. NOW The Medical Board of Australia draft code of conduct that will apply to all Australian doctors requires doctors to be culturally safe and comply with a patients beliefs about gender identity and sexuality, with no provision given for a doctor to differ in their professional judgements. .We are concerned with the possible interpretation of culturally safe, that it should not impact on good health outcomes and good medical practice, the group has stated. We are concerned that respectful practice is significantly different to respectful of the beliefs and cultures of others and that this change also could impact on good health outcomes. Respect for a patient does not equal respecting cultural beliefs and practices that may be antithetical to good medical practice. Other possible areas of conflict rel
An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more.

But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be  and shouldnt be  bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre.

Have an interest in what youre writing about

Dont go overboard, but youll be able to let your passion for your subject show.

If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words  within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating.

Include fascinating details

Another factor that may make an essay boring maybe a dry material. Some topic areas are naturally dry, and it falls to you to form the article more interesting through your written style and by trying to seek out fascinating snippets of knowledge to incorporate, which will liven it up a small amount and make the data easier to relate to. A way of doing this with a dry subject is to create what youre talking about that seems relevant to the critical world, as this is often easier for the reader to relate to.

Emulate the fashion of writers you discover interesting

When you read lots, you subconsciously start emulating the fashion of the writers you have read. Reading benefits you a lot, as this exposes you to a spread of designs, and youll start to require the characteristics of these you discover interesting to read.

Borrow some creative writing techniques

Theres a limit to the quantity of actual story-telling youll do when youre writing an essay; in the end, essays should be objective, factual and balanced, which doesnt, initially glance, feel considerably like story-telling. However, youll apply a number of the principles of story-telling to create your writing more interesting.

consider your own opinion

Take the time to figure out what its that you think instead of regurgitating the opinions of others.

Cut the waffle

Rambling on and on is dull and almost bound to lose the interest of your reader. Youre in danger of waffling if youre not completely clear about what you wish to mention or havent thought carefully about how youre visiting structure your argument. Doing all your research correctly and writing an essay plan before you begin will help prevent this problem.

Editing is a vital part of the essay-writing process, so edit the waffle once youve done a primary draft. Read through your essay objectively and eliminate the bits that arent relevant to the argument or labor the purpose.

employing a thesaurus isnt always a decent thing

Avoid using unfamiliar words in an essay; theres too great a likelihood that youre misusing them.

You may think that employing a thesaurus to seek out more complicated words will make your writing more exciting or sound more academic, but using overly high-brow language can have the incorrect effect.

Avoid repetitive phrasing

Please avoid using the identical phrase structure again and again: its a recipe for dullness! Instead, use a variety of syntax that demonstrates your writing capabilities and makes your writing more interesting. Mix simple, compound, and complicated sentences to avoid your paper becoming predictable.

Use some figurative language

Using analogies with nature can often make concepts more accessible for readers to know.

As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts  mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy.

Employ rhetorical questions

Anticipate the questions your reader might ask.

One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration.

Proofread

Finally, you may write the top interesting essay an instructor has ever read. Still, youll undermine your good work if its plagued by errors, which distract the reader from the particular content and can probably annoy them.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
. One of the moderators from the UKDN detecting Forum (one "Puffin") decided it would be a good idea for the benefit of any met...
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
For Cuba, the scope of the election of the first non-white, non Anglo-Saxon president in the history of the United States was not derived only from the global superpower politics and had nothing to do with skin color or ethnicity. What it was unique for the island was the fact that it raised the hope that he would lead to the renunciation of the fierce hostility policy against the Cuban revolutionary project that culminated a process of struggles for independence begun 140 years ago.





Posted Yesterday by Cuba-Network in Defense of Humanity





Cubans understood, from their own experience, that the promises made by Obama which decreed the historical significance of his election if met would fatally convene a powerful counteroffensive by the powerful financial consortia embodied in Wall Street and the military-industrial complex whose grim interests would be affected.





To defend the status quo and their privileges, these forces count on the strength of their weapons, the control of the media, education and culture to manipulate consciousness and to lead large masses of people to act against their own interests and rights in the context of a legal and social order governed by money and market competition. These guarantee the domination of their resources on the natural human aspirations for peace, solidarity and equality.





Cubans had reason to harbor hope for the election of a president who had promised to open the way to a new period in the relations between Havana and Washington.





They were aware that, in order to meet almost all the promises he made to the popular movements and humble families who led him to victory, the newly elected president of the United States would have to face in his own country the same backward forces that for half a century have hampered the progress of the revolution on the island.





That equation would imply by simple arithmetic rule of three that the character of the links Cuba and the United States have had all throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first century would have to change dramatically.





And, to realize such a utopia in the Caribbean Sea, the US government would have had to renounce not only its long-term ambition of ruling the future of the island, but also its imperial global endeavors. This is because Cuba could not ignore the debt of gratitude with the peoples of the Third World and the poor in industrialized nations whose solidarity has been the main support in the resistance war that Cuba has been waging.





For example, to Obamas victory millions of African Americans contributed their vote. This ethnic group had suffered slavery legally authorized until 1865 followed by a century of harsh racial discrimination known as Jim Crow with the terrorist outrages of the Ku Klux Klan and, later, the violent repression of their struggles for civil rights in the late 60s of the twentieth century who gave remarkable leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.





The Cubans who do not vote in these elections, but who have been victims of the same cruel policy had come to appreciate that such a victory in the American nation could serve to initiate a period of peace and good neighborliness in the region, in the context of a broad democratization of international relations.





The hopes of the Cubans would come to pass if, by the will of its people, in the United States, there arose a government that would be respectful of Cubas independence.





After more than 90% of the presidential term for which he was twice elected, something has changed, at least formally, during Obamas term. Diplomatic relations were restored and there are ongoing talks about various important issues. However, the essence of the economic blockade and other humiliating manifestations of the unfair relationship remain in place. Among these are the occupation of the territory of Guantanamo by the US naval base, the persistence of the US overt and covert subversive plans, and the media campaign against Cuba.





There are only a few months in Obamas final term and there are many hopes that threaten to remain only as the unwavering hopes of the Cuban people in the bilateral relationship with the United States after the end of the term of the allegedly different President.
This Jan. 7, 2016 photo provided by The Nature Conservancy shows the San Lorenzo River overflowing around the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, Caif. The Nature Conservancy an environmental group in California is recruiting drone hobbyists to map flooding and coastal damage after El Nino storms with the idea that the images will help predict what the future coastline will look like as sea levels rise from global warming. (Matt Merrifield via AP)

Forget about selfies. In California, residents are using smartphones and drones to document the coastline's changing face.

Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in yearsand all in the name of science.

The idea is that crowd-sourced, geotagged images of storm surges and flooded beaches will give scientists a brief window into what the future holds as sea levels rise from global warming, a sort of a crystal ball for climate change.

Images from the latest drones, which can produce high-resolution 3D maps, will be particularly useful and will help scientists determine if predictive models about coastal flooding are accurate, said Matt Merrifield, the organization's chief technology officer.

"We use these projected models and they don't quite look right, but we're lacking any empirical evidence," he said. "This is essentially a way of 'ground truthing' those models."

Experts on climate change agreed that El Nino-fueled storms offer a sneak peak of the future and said the project was a novel way to raise public awareness. Because of its crowd-sourced nature, however, they cautioned the experiment might not yield all the results organizers hoped for, although any additional information is useful.

This January 20, 2015 photo provided by The Nature Conservancy shows Twin Lakes Beach in Santa Cruz, Calif. and Schwann Lagoon, the body of water on the right. The Nature Conservancy an environmental group in California is recruiting drone hobbyists to map flooding and coastal damage after El Nino storms with the idea that the images will help predict what the future coastline will look like as sea levels rise from global warming. (Matt Merrifield/The Nature Conservancy via AP)

"It's not the answer, but it's a part of the answer," said Lesley Ewing, senior coastal engineer with the California Coastal Commission. "It's a piece of the puzzle."

In California, nearly a half-million people, $100 billion in property and critical infrastructure such as schools, power plants and highways will be at risk of inundation during a major storm if sea level rises another 4.6 feeta figure that could become a reality by 2100, according to a 2009 Pacific Institute study commissioned by three state agencies.

Beaches that Californians take for granted will become much smaller or disappear altogether and El Nino-fueled storms will have a similar effect, if only temporarily, said William Patzert, a climatologist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 photo, Trent Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer who builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment, sets up a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos and videos over the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years, and all in the name of science. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

"When you get big winter storm surge like they want to document, you tend to lose a lot of beach," he said. "In a way, it's like doing a documentary on the future. It'll show you what your beaches will look like in 100 years."

What the mapping won't be able to predict is exactly which beaches will disappear and which bluffs will crumbleall things that will affect how flooding impacts coastal populations, said Ewing, the California Coastal Commission engineer.

"We're not going to capture that change," she said. "We're going to capture where the water could go to with this current landscape and that's still a very important thing to understand because it gets at those hot spots."

In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 photo, Trent Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer who builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment, controls a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos and videos over the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in yearsand all in the name of science. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

So far, project organizers aren't giving assignments to participants, although they may send out specific requests as the winter unfolds, said Merrifield.

If users wind up mapping real-time flooding events along 10 or 15 percent of California's 840-mile-long coastline the project will be a success, he said. A realistic goal is a "curated selection" of 3D maps showing flooding up and down the coast at different dates and times.

The Nature Conservancy has partnered with a San Francisco-area startup called DroneDeploy that will provide a free app to drone owners for consistency. The app will provide automated flight patterns at the touch of a screen while cloud-based technology will make managing so much data feasible, said Ian Smith, a business developer for the company.

In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 photo, Trent Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer who builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment, controls a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos and videos over the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years, and all in the name of science. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Trent Lukaczyk heard about the experiment from a posting in a Facebook group dedicated to drone enthusiasts. For the aerospace engineer, who has already used drones to map coral reefs in American Samoa, the volunteer work was appealing.

"It's a really exciting application. It's not just something to take a selfie with," he said, before heading out to collect images of beach erosion after a storm in Pacifica, California.

In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 photo, Trent Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer who builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment, creates a mission for a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos over the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years, and all in the name of science. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

This Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 drone photo provided by Trent Lukaczyk shows Rockaway Beach during a mapping flight by a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos of the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer, builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years, and all in the name of science. (Trent Lukaczyk via AP)

This Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 drone photo provided by Trent Lukaczyk shows Rockaway Beach during a mapping flight by a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos of the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer, builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years, and all in the name of science. (Trent Lukaczyk via AP)

This Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 drone photo provided by Trent Lukaczyk shows Rockaway Beach during a mapping flight by a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone to take photos of the coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Lukaczyk, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engineer, builds and flies drones to monitor changes in the ocean environment. Starting this month, The Nature Conservancy is asking tech junkies to capture the flooding and coastal erosion that come with El Nino, a weather pattern that's bringing California its wettest winter in years, and all in the name of science. (Trent Lukaczyk via AP)

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Weather officials in Hong Kong have issued a frost warning saying an "intense cold surge" is in place, coupled with chilling monsoon winds

A cold snap gripped Hong Kong on Sunday, with residents shivering as temperatures plunged to the lowest point in nearly 60 years and frost dusted the mountaintops of a city accustomed to a subtropical climate.

Weather officials issued a frost warning saying an "intense cold surge" was in place, coupled with chilling monsoon winds.

Morning temperatures dropped to 3.3 Celsius (38 Fahrenheit) in urban areas of the southern Chinese city, where most buildings lack central heating, and below freezing on the hills.

It is the coldest weather in 59 years, senior scientific officer Wong Wai-kin told AFP.

"It is the coldest day since 1957. The daily minimum dropped to 3.3 degrees Celsius, the previous record was 2.4 degrees in February of 1957," he told AFP.

While the cold snap is by no means on the scale of the weather now affecting the US and swathes of mainland China, such temperatures are a novelty for many residents.

"It is very cold and windy over Hong Kong. People are advised to put on warm clothes and to avoid prolonged exposure to wintry winds," read a note published on a city government website.

As the mercury dropped, curious residents flocked to higher ground in search of frost, according to local broadcaster Cable TV.

A woman on a viewing deck next to Victoria Harbour in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong keeps warm by wrapping herself a blanket

"It's very cold, my feet feel numb," a young visitor to Tai Mo Shan, the highest mountain in Hong Kong, told the broadcaster.

Screenshots of flakes also swamped social media but weather forecasters said the precipitation was "rain with small ice pellets" rather than snow.

About 20 participants of a cross country race were sent to hospital after experiencing symptoms associated with hypothermia, according to local media.

Conditions are not expected to warm up until the middle of the week, said weather forecasters.

According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the coldest weather occurred in January 1893, when temperatures plunged to 0 C.

Explore further Hong Kong swelters on hottest day in history

 2016 AFP
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Welcome

Welcome to Conservative Musings. The purpose of this blog is to discuss with everyone (conservatives, moderates, independents and progressives) the issues of the day in an intelligent discussion. We believe that discussion can lead to agreement or an agreement to disagree but it must be held in a mutually respectful environment. We learn nothing from name calling or argument for argument's sake therefore we will not allow that to happen here.







We will post our point of view and want a spirited discussion of the issues. Please express your opinions, hopefully we all can learn.




A South Carolina lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require all journalists who wish to work for a news outlet in the state to sign up for a "responsible journalism registry."

According to a summary of the bill, which was introduced Tuesday, the registry would include requirements that all South Carolina journalists must meet. Fees could be charged to be listed in the registry, which would be operated by the Secretary of State's Office. The bill also would authorize "fines and criminal penalties" for violating the law.

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Republican State Rep. Mike Pitts, who sponsored the bill, told the Post and Courier newspaper that the legislation is linked to press coverage of gun issues.

"It strikes me as ironic that the first question is constitutionality from a press that has no problem demonizing firearms," Pitts said. "With this statement I'm talking primarily about printed press and TV. The TV stations, the six o'clock news and the printed press has no qualms demonizing gun owners and gun ownership."

The bill, which has been referred to a committee for a debate, has virtually no chance of advancing, according to the Post and Courier. It comes days after a Democratic state representative proposed a bill making it harder for men to get access to erectile dysfunction drugs. The legislator, Mia McLeod, said the bill was intended to send a message about laws governing women's health and access to abortion.

Pitts, a former law enforcement officer, opposed an ultimately successful push last summer to remove the Confederate Flag from South Carolina's Statehouse grounds following the murders of nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

Bill Rogers, executive director of the South Carolina Press Association, said he'd lobby hard against the measure, which he said he found bizarre.

"Any registration of journalists would be unconstitutional  unless you lived in Cuba or North Korea," Rogers told The Associated Press.

Ashley Landess of the South Carolina Policy Council, whose online publication The Nerve frequently posts stories critical of state agencies and lawmakers, said she feels the measure is likely aimed at publications like hers but would affect all working journalists.

"I hope that this insane attempt at shutting up any hint of criticism finally wakes everyone up to how dangerous and how out of control our legislators are," Landess said. "The fact a lawmaker in this country thinks nothing of proposing a law to set standards for what reporters are allowed to write  are you kidding me?"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Latest News Update





U.S. commanders are considering whether to put American troops alongside Iraqi forces for a battle to retake Mosul from ISIS militants,The nation's top military officer, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said talks have begun between U.S. and Iraqi commanders and officials on how to "integrate," the Times reports."Its fair to say that we will have positions up in the north [of Iraq] that will facilitate supporting Iraqi security forces," Dunford told reporters in Paris, the Times reports.The outstanding question is "how can we be more integrated in Mosul," Dunford said, and whether U.S. advisers and trainers will embed with Iraqi forces at operational headquarters farther from the fight  or with the brigades closer to the fighting, the Times reports.U.S. forces had a training center at Al Taqqadum, an Iraqi base near the town of Habbaniya in eastern Anbar Province to help in the retaking of Ramadi last month, the Times noted.The Mosul operation is probably months away, the Times reports.American military planners also want to cut off Raqqa from the rest of the Islamic States territory in Syria, the Times reports  adding Dunford said the United States is considering a request from Turkey to train and equip "hundreds" of Syrian Arabs who've lost their homes to the Islamic State.They want to go back and take their homelands, and we want to support them in doing that," he said.The report comes as Defense Secretary Ash Carter said "boots on the ground" could be part of the strategy of U.S.-led coalition's fight to take back both Mosul and Raqqa."We need to destroy them in those two places, and I'd like to get on with that as soon as possible," Carter, speaking from Davos, Switzerland, said in an interviewHe said the coalition is using raids and bombs to take control of the routes between the two cities and cut off communication between them."That'll essentially separate the Iraqi theater from the Syrian theater," he said.Carter said more ground soldiers will probably be added to support those already there, but part of the strategy is also mobilizing local forces "rather than trying to substitute for them."Reuters contributed to this report.
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PLATTSBURGH | When Lawrence Gooley heard news reports about David Sweat and Richard Matt being the only men to escape Clinton Correctional Facility, he got increasingly annoyed.

I was listening to the newscasts, thinking Youre so far from the truth, said Gooley, author of 20 books, including Escape from Dannemora: 170 Years of Escapes, Tortures, and Infamous Inmates at New Yorks Most Notorious Prison, which was released in November.

It really is surprising to me no one has ever written the history of the prison, he said.

Gooley had long been researching the prisons history and had more than 2.5 million words of research by the time Sweat and Matt dug through the prisons infrastructure and emerged outside the wall in Dannemora in June, kicking off a three-week manhunt that ended with Matt being shot and killed and Sweat captured.

The morning the story broke, Gooley and his wife, Jill Jones, traveled to Lake Placid to participate in a two-day conference. When they arrived, they were told of the escape.

A retired editor of Publishers Weekly walked up to Gooley and said, You said youre doing a book on Dannemora, get on it right away, Gooley remembered.

Gooley put aside a book on bootlegging in the Adirondacks  a project the publisher said keeps getting held up  and focused on Escape from Dannemora.

He started working with an agent, but ultimately decided he would publish the book himself at Bloated Toe Enterprises, the print and design shop and publishing company he runs with Jones.

They were tending toward thinking an expose would sell better, he said. I understand that, but living up here, a lot of this isnt expose stuff.

Im much more interested in history.

Its a history that spans 170 years and meanders through tales of state-sanctioned torture, murder, riots, infamous characters, controversy and  as Sweat and Matt reminded the nation  intricately planned escapes.

I found between 40 and 50 of the greatest escapes ever from the prison, Gooley said, and Id say this one in 2015 is in the top five, but I dont think it would be rated No. 1.

Some of the most fantastic were, Gooley said, failed attempts.

In a 10-page chapter titled Nice Try: Attempted Escapes from Clinton, he outlines eight prison break attempts starting in 1873 and running through 1981.

One fantastic attempted escape about the time the prison went into shutdown after the riots (of 1929), the guy went over the wall, fought hand-to-hand with a guard on top of the wall, Gooley recounted.

The inmate, Bruno Montorio, had escaped from Auburn Prison before and had been shot in both legs during the big riot that changed policy at Clinton. But 72 days after the riot, Gooley wrote, Montorio climbed a light pole near the prisons main wall and started climbing.

A guard confronted him, and a second guard eventually shot the inmate in the hip, giving the first time to get his machine gun from the tower and shot and killed Montorio.

Other tries included use of dynamite, smuggled firearms and jumping out of transport trains.

Over nearly 60 pages, Dannemoras Greatest Escapes, tells incredible tales of inmates devising ingenious  or in some cases, much less clever  plans to reach freedom.

A couple of them, I think, if you read the chapter, you could make a movie on their lives, Gooley said.

Among those was John Filkins, sent to Clinton for robbing the Albany Express and shooting a messenger three times in the head.

Youd have to rate John Filkins, said Gooley, one of the very few no one knows what happened to him.

In his first nine months at Clinton, Filkins tried to escape three times. Each time, he was sent to the prisons dungeon. After the third attempt, he was a model  and closely watched  inmate for a few years, before one day simply disappearing.

It was like Elvis being seen after his death, all the reports of him being here or there, Gooley said. It was like that with Filkins.

According to Escape from Dannemora, loose evidence tied Filkins to various crimes in Canada or on the streets of Syracuse, but he was never found.

Skeletons were found on two occasions inside the prison, and some people guessed it was him, Gooley said.

Among the fantastical stories of escapes, Gooley said, was that of Henry Soapbox Hardy, who escaped more than once from Clinton Correctional.

For one, he watched a paint crew each day and, when a crew member called in, he disguised himself as one of the painters and walked out of the prison. He ended up being shot by authorities and returned to the prison for treatment for his wounded knee.

He escaped just weeks later after using torn bed clothes to make a rope and scale out of the infirmary.

He actually made it to Europe and did crimes there, Gooley said.

But even Hardy doesnt earn Gooleys top spot in escapes. That honor goes to Peter James.

Thats probably the greatest escape ever, Gooley said. He did things very similar to how the Matt and Sweat story played out, but did it manually.

They dug a tunnel, dug down low enough to connect with the sewer pipes, went through a manhole, Gooley said.

It took four years, but James and three cohorts made it out and were on the lam before being caught several miles from the prison.

The great riot of 1929 changed prison culture, Gooley said, and few escape attempts were made after security was geared up.

It was a virtual shutdown after that, he said, with very few escape attempts.

Escape from Dannemora looks beyond escape attempts and breakouts, though, and examines the history of the prison culture. He tracks back to the 1850s sanctioned torture, prisoner punishments  all kinds of really terrible things, he said.

Examining prison reports and those of watchdog groups and state inspectors, he cobbles together an at times dark past.

Its really shocking, he said.

But its subject matter that garners a lot of attention.

The book is the 20th Gooley has written, so he understands the difficulty in selling self-published books.

I know how hard it is to sell 1,000 books; if we sell 2,000, thats great, he said.

In the first month Escape from Dannemora was on shelves in local stores around the Plattsburgh area, Gooley sold 1,500 books.

Once it took off, it really did, he said.
The first meeting of the year was still in the early stages, when first-year Fort Ann Supervisor Richard Moore brought up the issue of the town's Web pages.

Yes, Web pages, as in three different "official" pages.

"I don't think we want to continue down the road of having someone else own our website," Moore said earlier this month moments after the board finished its organizational decisions for the year. "We need to do some exploring. We find ourselves without a website."

Actually, there are three Fort Ann websites, including the one which has been the main source of information for the past four years.

"The problem is, that site is owned by the former supervisor's brother," Moore said. "We do have some who will update one of the other sites to keep the agendas updated."

At the same time, the town and village of Whitehall are moving ahead on a combined website, which will include both municipalities and would be owned by both. It is an outgrowth of the decision by the town and village to share offices at the Municipal Center on Skenesborough Drive.

A growing trend

As the county moves in fits and starts toward expansion of high-speed Internet through a variety of companies that see a chance to profit from bringing Internet to rural areas, the towns in the county are either establishing or expanding their websites.

Three years ago, The Post-Star took an in-depth look at the state of municipal websites in Washington and Warren counties.

At the time, five Washington County towns did not have websites  Dresden, Putnam, Granville, White Creek and Whitehall.

All five now have sites, most on a fairly basic level, that offer contact information and other material. Some have meeting minutes, though not always current, but few have agendas in advance.

In fact, all 17 towns now have websites that at least have contact information, calendars and other details. They vary greatly depending on several factors, including budget for the site, if any, who updates the site and whether the supervisor and board feel having an up-to-date website is important for the town.

Some towns work with a public/private partnership, Digital Towpath, which offers support and templates. Others contract out.

The county, on the other hand, has enough people and the proper budget to maintain a very thorough site.

"For the county, I feel it's really important to have an up-to-date website to get information out on what government is doing," said County Administrator Chris DeBolt. "I think it is important for the towns, too."

But, he notes, the county is better positioned.

"We have a full-time IT department. They can handle the website," he said. "It's much more of a burden for the towns."

Oddly, the size of the town does not dictate the quality of the website.

In looking at the local sites, several of the best are from smaller towns, such as Putnam, Jackson and Dresden. Greenwich has a solid site as well.

But some small towns, Easton as an example, had bare-bones sites that had not been effectively updated in years. Some of Easton's material is now updated, but the most recent board minutes are from Dec. 18, 2012.

On its cooperative website, Digital Towpath lays out six steps to designing an effective website, and one of the key suggestions is to reach out to the community and ask citizens what they want in a website.

The 17 towns have a solid example in website functionality from the county website, which has been upgraded over the last several years and is one of the few sites that consistently has agendas for meetings posted in advance and also gets minutes up in a timely fashion.

That is not always the case on town websites, though it appears to be getting better.

In Warren County, each of the 11 towns, as well as the village of Lake George and the city of Glens Falls, has a website, all providing surfers with quick and easy access to recent town board minutes, upcoming agendas and contact information for elected officials and town staff. The Glens Falls and Queensbury sites, among others, are extremely up to date and unlike many other local sites have agendas up in advance. Glens Falls even includes all of the background information  sometimes up to 100 pages  that council members receive.

The Warren County website is also modernized and offers a good deal of information, including access to real-estate transactions, something Washington County does not do.

Not always available

Three months ago, the county released a report on broadband Internet. The survey was sent to every household in the county, and of the 2,856 households and businesses that replied to a countywide survey conducted earlier this year, more than half the respondents said they were dissatisfied with broadband service in the county. Twenty percent said they had no option for broadband at all.

Internet service varies greatly throughout the county, from those in heavily populated areas along Route 4 that have cable and other forms of broadband, to those who depending on satellite Internet, which does not always allow for high bandwidth transmission, to the growing number of people in towns such as Hartford and Hebron who are getting high-speed Internet through Hudson Valley Wireless and other companies.

With the growth of high-speed Internet comes a desire from people to have access to municipal sites that have clear contact information for government and other agencies, agendas and minutes, tax information, laws, property information and tax details.

Developing the site and getting the information together is one step, but it is not quite as difficult as keeping the websites updated, which is one of the main reasons for their existence. In some towns, staff members update the sites, while others contract out for updating duties.

"It's interesting how the word gets out," Moore said during the discussion about the website. "We had one person offer to build the site for $5,000 and maintain it for $1,200 a year. If we wanted more information on it, the initial cost would go to $10,000."

While those development costs may seem a little high, a good deal of time goes into acquiring accurate information. The cost of $100 for monthly maintenance is fairly standard, though some companies charge a little less.

If a town has someone in-house who can do the work, that lightens the burden and allows even better control and updating.

But when it comes to smaller towns and villages, Digital Towpath notes in its information section, In some communities no one holds a full-time position. These jobs are more volunteerism than vocation. That is for jobs in general, not just website maintenance.

With growing interest from the public in government transparency and public information laws, local websites are growing in importance, and with the growth of Internet access in the county, it becomes even more important.

In fact the Assembly and State Senate are considering a bill to require municipal websites.

As Fort Ann's Moore noted at his first meeting as supervisor, This is important, and it's something we need to do right.
WASHINGTON

Give President Obama credit. His Iran nuclear deal may be disastrous but the packaging was brilliant. The near-simultaneous prisoner exchange was meant to distract from last Saturdays official implementation of the sanctions-lifting deal. And it did. The Republicans concentrated almost all their fire on the swap sideshow.

And in denouncing the swap, they were wrong. True, we should have made the prisoner release a precondition for negotiations. But that pre-emptive concession was made long ago (among many others, such as granting Iran in advance the right to enrich uranium). The remaining question was getting our prisoners released before we gave away all our leverage upon implementation of the nuclear accord. We did.

Republicans say: We shouldnt negotiate with terror states. But we do and we should. How else do you get hostages back? And yes, of course negotiating encourages further hostage taking. But there is always something to be gained by kidnapping Americans. This swap does not affect that truth one way or the other.

And here, we didnt give away much. The seven released Iranians, none of whom has blood on his hands, were sanctions busters (and a hacker), and sanctions are essentially over now. The slate is clean.

But how unfair, say the critics. We released prisoners duly convicted in a court of law. Iran released perfectly innocent, unjustly jailed hostages.

Yes, and so what? Thats just another way of saying we have the rule of law, they dont. It doesnt mean we abandon our hostages. Natan Sharansky was a prisoner of conscience who spent eight years in the Gulag on totally phony charges. He was exchanged for two real Soviet spies. Does anyone think we should have said no?

The one valid criticism of the Iranian swap is that we left one, perhaps two, Americans behind and unaccounted for. True. But the swap itself was perfectly reasonable. And cleverly used by the administration to create a heartwarming human interest story to overshadow a rotten diplomatic deal, just as the Alan Gross release sweetened a Cuba deal that gave the store away to the Castro brothers.

The real story of Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016  Implementation Day of the Iran deal  was that it marks a historic inflection point in the geopolitics of the Middle East. In a stroke, Iran shed almost four decades of rogue-state status and was declared a citizen of good standing of the international community, open to trade, investment and diplomacy. This, without giving up, or even promising to change, its policy of subversion and aggression. This, without having forfeited its status as the worlds greatest purveyor of terrorism.

Overnight, it went not just from pariah to player but from pariah to dominant regional power, flush with $100 billion in unfrozen assets and virtually free of international sanctions. The oil trade alone will pump tens of billions of dollars into its economy. The day after Implementation Day, President Hassan Rouhani predicted 5 percent growth  versus the contracting, indeed hemorrhaging, economy in pre-negotiation 2012 and 2013.

On Saturday, the Iranian transport minister announced the purchase of 114 Airbuses from Europe. This inaugurates a rush of deals binding European companies to Iran, thoroughly undermining Obamas pipedream of snapback sanctions if Iran cheats.

Cash-rich, reconnected with global banking and commerce, and facing an Arab world collapsed into a miasma of raging civil wars, Iran has instantly become the dominant power of the Middle East. Not to worry, argued the administration. The nuclear opening will temper Iranian adventurism and empower Iranian moderates.

The opposite is happening. And its not just the ostentatious, illegal ballistic missile launches; not just Irans president reacting to the most puny retaliatory sanctions by ordering his military to accelerate the missile program; not just the videotaped and broadcast humiliation of seized U.S. sailors.

Look at what the mullahs are doing at home. Within hours of implementation, the regime disqualified 2,967 of roughly 3,000 moderate candidates from even running in parliamentary elections next month. And just to make sure we got the point, the supreme leader reiterated that Iranian policy  aggressively interventionist and immutably anti-American  continues unchanged.

In 1938, the morning after Munich, Europe woke up to Germany as the continents dominant power. Last Sunday, the Middle East woke up to Iran as the regional hegemon, with a hand  often predominant  in the future of Syria, Yemen, Iraq, the Gulf Arab states and, in time, in the very survival of Israel.

And were arguing over an asymmetric hostage swap.
A big part of my job as an editor is to be skeptical. Thanks to the Internet and social media, it is an important trait we all should adopt.

I regularly receive emails from a reader, asking me if an email he received is true. His gut tells him no, but he wants to make sure.

More often than not, the emails are political in nature and include accusations or facts that seem hard to believe.

Here is a good policy to adopt: If you find something on social media hard to believe, it is probably not true.

After a quick search, more often than not, I find the email has been the subject of one of the many fact-checking websites I use, and it is indeed false.

We all should be more skeptical, but I guess we dont have the time.

My reader friend sent me another email this week that really hit home.

In this email that was being passed around on social media, the author complained he was having trouble getting his wifes letter published in the local newspaper.

Newspapers simply wont publish letters to the editor which they either deem politically incorrect or which they do not agree with the philosophy theyre pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor should have been published, the email read.

The reader asked me if this was true.

It is not, especially not here at The Post-Star.

My goal has always been to publish as many letters as possible from our readers. We publish about 95 percent of the letters we receive. We do insist that all letters be 300 words or less, have a civil tone, be accurate and dont libel people.

For instance, this week a letter-writer called a certain politician a two-faced witch to end the letter.

We let the writer know that name-calling was not acceptable, but if that line was removed or worded in a more civil way, we would be happy to consider publishing the letter.

In most cases, the writer fixes the problem, resubmits the letter and we publish it.

Ive been in this business a long time, and Ive known a lot of editors around the country, and I have never heard one with a policy to exclude points of view that differed with the newspapers editorial board.

The reason for the opinion page is to facilitate a community conversation. I believe our letters to the editor reflects that on a daily basis.

In the case of the letter making the rounds on the Internet, it was submitted to a large California newspaper and was close to 700 words in length. That is longer than this column.

If it had been submitted to our newspaper, we would have informed the writer it needed to be 300 words or less, and if they cut it, we would be happy to review it again.

Our letters to the editors are published on poststar.com and anyone can review them. You will find letters that represent a broad spectrum of opinions, including a few that are pretty darn crazy.

There have been times we have been criticized for publishing too many letters, and not maintaining higher standards.

I disagree.

Anyone with an opinion should have a place to express that as long as they follow the basic rules of civility and accuracy.

Im happy to report that most of our letter writers do that quite well.
The most frightening movie of the year does not have a bear in it.

Like The Revenant it shows us a world that is hard to imagine, where survival and protecting our loved ones is a daily concern; only it is now, and it is real.

Cartel Land is one of five documentaries nominated for an Academy Award. That is apropos considering the presidential debates have mostly been about how scared we should be. And judging by the number of people getting pistol permits locally, there is considerable buy-in.

What has happened in some parts of rural Mexico is unimaginable if you live in a the civilized society in upstate New York where our greatest fear is the next snowstorm.

Cartel Land follows parallel stories of two vigilante groups  one American and one Mexican  fighting a war against the drug cartels who have replaced a corrupt and absentee government as the rule of law.

It is the apocalyptic story we often hear from Second Amendment advocates set on defending their right to bear arms. It is a scenario they say is possible in our country, and why they must be allowed to defend their families by any means necessary.

I watched in horror as director Matthew Heineman unflinching showed us the mass burial of a family of workers who were caught in the middle of a battle between rival gangs. Women and small children were brutally murdered while the government did nothing.

There were no arrests, no trials.

The movie does not feel like a documentary. It feels cinematic, only because it is unimaginable that the story is real, that the wailing people on the screen are not actors and that the action sequences where bullets fly are also all real.

And while the events in rural southwestern Mexico happened, it is instructive that the events are nothing like anything we have ever seen in the United States in recent times. It is the difference between a system that works and one that does not.

The violence and oppression in rural Mexico led to the rise of the Audodefensa and its charismatic leader Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles.

They armed themselves and took back town after town controlled by drug cartels. They were welcomed as heroes.

Mireles is shown addressing the people in a town square and calmly reassuring residents the Autodefensa is there for their protection because the government has failed them.

The Autodefensa go after the bad guys and when they catch them, it is not pretty. They dont need to worry about search warrants, Miranda rights or police brutality lawsuits. This is war and anything goes.

It is the people taking back their communities as a matter of last resort and you cant help cheering for them.

But soon enough the lines blur.

In one instance, a sniper targets some of the Audodefensa and the group pulls over a suspect who proclaims his innocence, yet he is dragged away from his wife and daughter and taken into custody. They handcuff him, stick a gun in his ribs and demand he confess. He is taken to a holding area, and in the background we hear the screams of those being tortured.

We cant become the criminals that we are fighting against, Mirales says to his fellow leaders at one point.

In another meeting in a town square, the residents question the Audodefensas methods and say that townspeople are being harassed and their homes randomly searched. They are scared. They want them to leave.

The Autodefensa refuses.

It is a reminder of why we have the laws that we do, and even a well-regulated militia can go too far in the name of a good cause.

It is a reminder the communities that we live in are civilized, have police departments to provide security and courts to guarantee our rights. Compared with parts of Mexico, it is a system that works remarkably well.

But maybe most of all, it is a reminder that being scared in upstate New York is not the same as being scared in rural Mexico. It is unfortunate we need to be reminded of that.
If the leadership in the New York Legislature was smart  and that is seriously open to debate at the moment  it would immediately pass the reforms suggested by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to subject the Legislature to the states freedom of information laws.

There is precedent in 23 other states where the legislatures are covered by their states freedom of information laws. New Yorks own Committee on Open Government has urged the New York Legislature to adopt these measures as well.

If you are not familiar with the Committee on Open Government and its longtime Executive Director Robert Freeman, it may be the only state agency unsullied by politics. Its reputation is squeaky-clean, and that is mind-boggling in this state. So any politician looking for a bar of soap might want to pay close attention to any advice from Freeman and his committee.

The best way to fight corruption is with a bright spotlight.

The measures proposed by Gov. Cuomo in his state-of-the state message could provide the type of illumination that will make a difference, not so much in the Legislature, but in the executive branch and the agencies that the governor controls.

Here is what the Committee on Open Government recommended in its 2015 year-end report:

For clarity, timeliness and economy, the Committee believes that FOIL should be amended to require the State Legislature to meet standards of accountability and disclosure in a manner analogous to those maintained by state and local agencies.

The committee proposes making elected officials subject to FOIL, but also amending the law to protect communications of a personal nature between state legislators and their constituents. But most importantly, the committee recommends that Executive Law be amended so that it corresponds with the goals of Article Six of the Public Officers Law (which is included here on this page).

Thats big, very big.

Its important to remember that the Legislature has already been making strides recently, and last fall passed two important pieces of legislation to strengthen freedom of information laws.

The first measure would have allowed the court to award legal fees when an agency failed to comply with FOIL and had no reasonable basis for denying access to records.

The second measure shortened the time an agency could respond to an appeal from nine months to 60 days.

Both bills were vetoed by Gov. Cuomo, who said at the time he would only consider a bill if it allowed the Legislature to be subject to FOIL, too. That is what the governor is now proposing.

He has wrapped the two bills he vetoed into one law that also makes the Legislature subject to FOI while including measures to make 911 records and public employee contracts public. The changes, if passed and signed into law by the governor, would be a significant victory for open government.

Here is the most important thing to remember. It is not the Legislature that the public is most interested in; it is the records produced by the executive branch and its agencies, which are far larger than the legislative branch.

The good-government group Reinvent Albany used this comparison: In New York City, mayoral agencies received approximately 50,000 FOIL requests a year awhile the New York City Council received 70.

Journalists around the state report regularly about the inability to get basic public information from Gov. Cuomos administration. Our own reporters experience this almost daily. They rarely get any cooperation from state agencies on information that is in the public interest. You could make an argument the governor vetoed the FOIL legislation last fall because he wanted to control the message and information coming out of his own administration.

You could also make an argument that the governor has included so much in this new proposal, that the Legislature wont support it. We hope were wrong about that.

The Legislature should immediately take up the challenge from Gov. Cuomo to make not only its own body more transparent, but all of state government. This is needed in state government more than ever and would be a great first step in combating corruption.

After all, nobody in state politics has anything to hide, right?

Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Star editorial board, which consists of Publisher Terry Coomes, Controller/Operations Director Brian Corcoran, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle and citizen representative George Nelson.
In modern-day Pakistan is a site that was once home to as many as 30,000 people of the Indus Valley civilization. We know it as Mohenjo-D...
Mr Randy Nkrumah, District Manager of the Agona Duakwa Depot of the Cocoa Merchant Company, has called on vegetable farmers to form groups in their communities, to help address specific challenges confronting them.Formation of the groups would go a long way towards enhancing productivity, he said.Mr Randy Nkrumah was addressing about 150 vegetable farmers from the Agona Duakwa Zone of the Agona West District.The meeting also discussed among other issues, how the farmers would get market for their produce. Mr Nkrumah said plans were far advanced to train the youth who wish to get into vegetable farming.He said strengthening farmers groupings in urban vegetable production systems, is seen as one of the ways of solving farmers marketing problems.Speaking to cocoa farmers who also attended the meeting, Mr Nkrumah said proper fermentation was paramount, to avert cheating by cocoa purchasing clerks.He said government was offering free fertilizers, aimed at improving the yield of cocoa farmers to enhance their income.The District Manager advised them to prone their cocoa trees, cut unwanted trees, and co-operate with the spraying gangs to ensure proper application of the insecticides.
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The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) projects to collect GHC 27.59 billion this year, Mr George Blankson, Commissioner General of the Authority, has said.The Authority exceeded its 2015 target of 21.57 billion Ghana cedis by 620 million Ghana cedis at 22.17 billion Ghana cedis, a 29.3 percent increase over that of 2014.Domestic direct tax is also expected to bring in GHC11.513 billion this year, while domestic indirect tax, and Customs are expected to bring in GHC5.916 billion and GHC10.159 respectively.Addressing this years Annual Management Retreat in Ho, Mr Blankson said though the 2016 revenue target was challenging, the Authority would do its best to achieve the stated target.He attributed the excess revenue achieved in 2015 among others to increasing number of audits, regular external visits and inspection of taxpayers businesses to retrieve outstanding taxes and roping in operators in the informal sector.Mr Blankson commended management and staff, especially the Revenue Taskforce for the achievement and charged them to do more in 2016.He said infrastructure works were progressing on some offices of the Authority and the Revenue University at Kpetoe.Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper, in a speech read on his behalf, said the Ministry had submitted proposals to the Speaker of Parliament to withdraw the one per cent tax on interest for individuals.According to him, Parliament was also to reduce to 7.5 per cent withholding tax on services, which went to 15 per cent in the new Income Tax Act, 2015, (ACT 896).This clearly shows that, this government is a listening government he said, because it was not the intention of government to unduly burden the citizenry with a plethora of taxes, but to raise the required revenue to pursue the development agenda.Mr Terkper said though payment of tax was not a pleasant experience for anybody, taxation is the price we pay to live in civilized societies.He said the attainment of middle income status meant that the country must look within to mobilize revenue as concessionary loans were becoming difficult acquire.Mr Terkper commended the GRA for exceeding its target in 2015 and urged the Authority to be more proactive in engaging the public through education on tax policies.He also called on the Authority to engage an independent think-tank to assist in the public education of some of its tax policies to achieve results.Board Chairman for the GRA, Mr Ralph Tufuor, congratulated the Authority for achievements in 2015 irrespective of challenges.Togbe Kotoku XI, Paramount Chief of Kpenoe, on behalf the Agbogbomefia Togbe Afede XIV urged the Authority to continually educate the public on their tax obligations.The three-day retreat is on the theme, The implementation Status of Strategic Plan 2015-2017 and Operational Plans-The Way Forward.Source: GNA
Although Ghanas label as Africas second most corrupt country by the Ghanaian media was a wrong interpretation of Transparency Internationals People and Corruption: Africa 2015 report, Ghanaians seem to have resigned themselves to the fate that their countrys leadership has significant challenges in curbing the practice with the speed needed.

We are aware that corruption cannot be limited to activities of the state and for that matter, a government. The willing participants in business, academia and civil society and the citizenry at large should equally be scrutinized. However, the dent high profile corruption can make to an economy can be devastating as it can be long lasting and not least when it can increase the cost of running government business which ultimately has to propped up by higher taxes.

Solutions abound in dealing with the rather amorphous subject called corruption. This publication intends to deal with the hydra headed problem in the corruption industry- Public procurement and emphasize tried and new solutions such as the creations of an Institute of Public Projects Excellence to act alongside the Procurement Authority.

Problematic Public Procurement

Public procurement simply refers to the defined rules, methods, processes and procedures by which government institutions are mandated by law to use to acquire goods, services and works using public funds.

Given the huge role public expenditure plays in our economy, and the tendency for abuse of public funds by officials, public procurement as a magnet for corruption has become a critical issuethat has to be explored in the fight against corruption. The Public Procurement Law, 2003, ACT 663 guides the process of public procurement in the public service. This law attempts to fight corruption by ensuring transparency and fairness in the procurement processes. This is to be effected through a competitive bidding process for state contracts. It is assumed that through such a process, the state can obtain the best value for public funds that are expended. This process is expected to eliminate bribery and other corrupt practices as individual firms win bids on the basis of the quality of their proposals.

Ghanas procurement law however fails to largely meet its mandate. Under the law, the procurement entity (ministry, government agency or department) is largely in charge of the process. Such entities are expected to have a procurement unit in their organization that is expected to manage and facilitate all procurement activities. It is the procurement entity that sets up its own Tender Evaluation Committee. The Public Procurement Board, which assumes some form of supervisory role, is subject to political interference by the political authority since the president makes appointments and removal from the board.

According to Transparency International (2005), every stage of the procurement process is prone to corruption. Public officials in concert with corrupt businesses, seek to bend procurement rules to ensure that preferred bidders win contracts. Even when a contract is subject to a tender process, certain bidders gain advantage through access to important information or exclusion of competitors from a pre-qualified list failing the proper value-for-money and vested interest test that must be done.

The farce that took place at the Driver and Vehicular Licensing Authority (DVLA) where a contract sum (awarded on a non-competitive basis) quoted at $3.6 million for the supply of equipment to print drivers licenses interestingly metamorphosed into $9.9 million is just one evidence in a long list of brazen abuse of public funds and the impotence of the procurement law. The DVLA boss blamed the anomaly on human error despite the fact that the state had allegedly overpaid for the contract. The state is now mulling over cancelling the contract although this has sparked fears of the possibility of a huge judgment debt for the country.

Sole Sourcing Blues

The procurement law allows the award of certain contracts without a competitive bidding process. Such processes are supposed to be the exception and not the norm. They would typically involve national security concerns, cases where specific expertise is required (which only one company possesses) or where the contract has to be expedited due to emergencies. The procurement board must however authorize such processes.

This sole-sourcing provision has turned out to be a loop-hole being exploited by public officials and businesses against the interest of the state. The procurement board does not seem to be strong enough to clamp down on the abuse of this provision as any contract can virtually be given out without a tender process. It is extremely difficult to comprehend how contracts such as the branding of buses gain approval by the board to be sole-sourced. Such processes are not transparent.

Almost every major scandal involving the state over-paying for a contract involved sole-sourcing. In a ministerial report on GYEEDA, arguably Ghanas biggest corruption scandal in recent times, it was noted that the contracts, which were all sole-sourced, were heavily lopsided towards companies owned by just two individuals. It is estimated that contract sums to these individuals and their companies were in excess of GHc 150 million.

The state is in the process of retrieving some of the monies due to the non-performance of work.

An Attorney Generals report into the bus-branding saga also showed that the state overpaid by GHc 1.9m (later reviewed to GHc 1.5m). Anti-corruption crusaders have identified this provision in the law as the biggest threat in the fight against corruption when it comes to public procurement.

Emphasizing Tried and Test Solutions

To defeat corruption in the public procurement process will require strong political will. The decision of the Auditor-General to begin surcharging heads of MMDAs (after its engagement with Occupy Ghana) identified to have misapplied funds is a step in the right direction. Punitive actions against individuals who flagrantly disregard the procurement process in the award of contracts will serve as deterrence.

Transparency is vital in the fight against corruption. It is imperative to know that even advanced countries are also battling corruption in the procurement process. Ghana can adopt some of the steps these countries are taking particularly with regard to transparency. The USA for instance passed theFederal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act that requires recipients of federal contracts and grants exceeding $25,000 to publish the names of all subcontractors they intend to hire. The information is on a public website to allow American citizens to track the chain of a federal contract to its end to know where every dollar is going. The Obama administration created a website in 2009 to track money that was spent on stimulus projects within his economic recovery programme.

Ghana has to start making progress towards such levels of transparency if we are serious about protecting the public purse. Details of contracts awarded, including sub-contracts must be public knowledge. It is also important that Ghanaians are aware of persons behind companies that win such contracts. Such level of transparency allows the public to track where every cedi of public funds isgoing and for them to raise the necessary red flags. It goes a long way to also discourage corruption.

Finding a better way- Institute of Public Projects Excellence

We also need an Institute of Public Projects Excellence to act alongside the Procurement Authority. This institute needs to have a panel, which by law will have rotating members of recognised governmental and non-governmental bodies, such as chartered organisations, research institutes, labour unions, and specialised government agencies.

To avoid capture, no member should serve on this institute for more than 6 months. All government projects costing more than 10,000 units (with a unit equivalent to 1 GHS in 2016) will require a certificate of sound value before the award of contract. A Value for Money report must accompany the certificate of sound value and should be published on a public website.

Panel hearings should be open to the public. Where the panel has no expertise in a particular project domain at hand, a call for input from external assessors should be placed on the internet and published in leading dailies. If at the end of this extended period of evaluation the expertise remains unavailable, the matter should be referred to the Auditor General for pre-project auditing. The provision of a certificate of sound value should be time-bound, perhaps 30 calendar days upon receipt of the notice of an intent to sole-source or award enter into negotiations with the winner of a public bid from the Procurement Committee of the public agency or enterprise. There should be room for extension if a referral becomes warranted as above.

The Chairman of the Institute of Public Projects Excellence should have ombudsman powers, and the panel should have the capacity to subpoena documents. This suggestion may seem politically difficult to implement, but it is quite clear that to safeguard public funds, the procurement regulations are no longer, by themselves, fit for purpose, as they provide no real means of benchmarking costs, preventing collusion among bidders, and addressing information asymmetry among bidders, due to favouritism; and, also because sole-sourcing cannot be completely abolished.
Fifty-three unregistered motorbikes have been impounded in a special operation by the Motor, Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service in the Cape Coast Metropolis.The exercise, carried out on major routes in the Metropolis between last Monday and Wednesday was aimed at checking the activities of motorbikes and tricycle riders who abuse road traffic regulations.Chief Superintendent of Police Felix Kwasi Cosmos, Regional MTTU Commander said some of the riders arrested were not wearing crash helmets thereby exposing themselves to danger in the event of accidents.According to him, 21 owners of the impounded motorbikes have been arraigned before court while the other 12 cases were still under investigation.He said the court has also issued a bench warrant for the arrest of 19 persons who failed to show up at the court. He said they were charged with offenses ranging from driving without license, Insurance and road worthy certificates from the DVLA, among others and were convicted to a fine between GHc 600.00 to Ghc 800.00.A total of GHc 11,520.00 was accrued from the fines and was in the coffers of the Government.C/Supt Cosmos said most accidents that occur in the metropolis were caused by motorbikes or tricycle riders and maintained that the Police would continue to ensure that they act in consonance with the law that regulates their activities. Even though the use of motorbikes for commercial transport, popularly called Okada, is not prevalent in the Metropolis, some individuals and organizations use them but many fail to adhere to road regulations," he said.
Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Justice Samuel Adjei has directed security agencies to deal harshly with trouble makers, as the country prepares for the November 7 polls.He said government was ready to ensure that a peaceful environment is created for the general election, and asked security agencies to stay ahead of all miscreants seeking to foment trouble.Mr Adjei said this when he inaugurated the Brong-Ahafo Regional Security Electoral Taskforce in Sunyani.The 12-member taskforce is made up of representatives from the Police, Customs, Immigration, Prisons, Fire Service and the Military as well as the Electoral Commission and the National Bureau Investigation.Mr Adjei said it is the core mandate of security agencies to protect Ghanaians and property and charged them to discharge their duties in a more professional manner.Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Maxwell Atingane, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander, said the taskforce is mandated to identify and address issues that threatened the conduct of a peaceful election.He said the taskforce would also identify emerging political hotspots to ensure that security in such areas is strengthened.DCOP Atingane appealed to the media to be circumspect in the coverage of the general election and avoid sensationalism and embellishment of stories that could threaten national security.Source: GNA
Brigadier General I. B. Quartey (Retired), the Board Chairman, said the move was to ensure that that the Authority took on some of the jobs that could be performed by its own staff instead of giving these out to third parties.

Flowing from this, he announced that, 128 additional personnel  mostly technicians were going to be employed.

This comes amid steps by the government to grant operational autonomy and wean the DVLA and other agencies that are doing well financially off its support.

Brig-Gen Quartey, addressing the opening session of a two-day workshop at Fumesua near Kumasi, said it needed to adopt a proactive approach to its operations to remain in business.

If we have to survive - to be able to pay ourselves, meet other capital and administrative expenditure, then we need to change the face of the DVLA.

The workshop, attended by national, regional and district officers from across the country is discussing the Authoritys 2016 work plan and budget.

Changing the face of DVLA towards self-sustenance and reliability of service was the theme.

Brig-Gen Quartey called for complete elimination from its system, corrupt practices and middlemen, popularly referred to as goro boys, to rake in more revenue without compromising safety.

He told the workers to adopt new work ethics to regain public confidence and warned of swift and decisive action against acts of indiscipline.

Mr. John Noble Appiah, the Chief Executive Officer, underlined its determination to invest in the human resource and technical operations to deliver quality services to the public.

He vowed to wage war on corrupt practices and encouraged the regional and district managers to show strong leadership to achieve desired results.
Ghana risks a repetition of the devastating bushfires of 1983 this year, unless collective action is taken to offset that threat, the Rural Fire Division of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has warned. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer in charge of Rural Fires, Mr Edwin Ekow Blankson gave the warning at a press briefing in Ho as he began a tour of some communities in the Volta Region notorious for bush fires, as part of a nationwide tour. He would be at Adaklu-Waya, Kpetoe and Anyirwase in the Adaklu, Kpetoe-Ziope and Ho-West Districts respectively, where he would meet chiefs and opinion leaders to drum home the message and brainstorm on how to deal with the risk.Bush fire data provided by the Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana National Fire Service indicated that by mid- January 2016 the Region had recorded 24 bush fires compared with 15 of such fires for the whole of the same month in 2014 and eight in 2015.The total number of bush fires recorded in the Region in 2014 and 2015 stood at 33 each, nine more than the 24 recorded by mid- January this year alone.Hunters of game and to some extent cattle herdsmen seeking to develop green grazing fields are noted for the menace.Some cigarette smokers and palm-wine tappers also start bush fires inadvertently.The Meteorological Agency said, the atmospheric heat being experienced in the country will continue and reach its peak in March.
Mr Ayariga after suffering a defeat to his predecessor, Dr. Edward Mahama in the PNC presidential race has formed his own party called All Peoples Congress (APC).

According to him, he was unfairly treated during their national congress, hence, his decision to contest the November polls on the ticket of his own party.

If the EC hands over the provisional license to him, it will bring the number of licensed political parties in Ghana to 26.

Meanwhile, the PNC has warned its members not to defect to the APC.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the forum, he said, Lower oil prices also mean there is some advantage.

The decline means that we are not paying any subsidies, which frees up something in the order of about $5bn (about N985bn), Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

We think with adequate governance around budget management and around expenditure management, we can do quite a bit. If we are able to do those things, we might be able to come away with under $30 a barrel oil, he also explained."

Nigeria relies mainly on fuel importation from outside the country.
According to reports, the star is currently in a critical condition with top medical experts battling to save his life.

It was further reported that his younger sister whose name was simply given as Shade confirmed the tale and urges fans and friends to pray for the aged actor.

The Maami actor is said to be in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital battling for his life as cardiac experts rally round to save him.
He made the call on Saturday at the investiture of Prof. Ezekiel Idowu as the 18th President of the Omo Aj'orosun Club, Ibadan.

"You all should be at the fore front of Ibadan progress. Irrespective of our status in the society, we are all responsible to the society, " he said.

He urged the people to shun character assassination, politics of bitterness while rallying for unity and peace among the citizenry.

In his remarks, Alhaji Sharafadeen Alli, former president of the club and one time Secretary to the Oyo State Government, stated that the club was non-political as stipulated in its constitution.

Alli said that the club had contributed immensely to the development of Ibadan and the state at large, promising that it would continue to do more.

Idowu, in his acceptance speech, assured the governor of the club's support for government policies and programmes.

He said that the new executive of the club would ensure that the spirit of team work within the club was maintained.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was attended by High Chief Soliu Adetunji, the Balogun of Ibadanland and Olubadan designate and Alhaja Aminat Abiodun, Iyalode of Ibadan land.
The Managing Director of JEDC, Mohammed Modibbo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Sunday that part of the money went into procuring customer metres and the maintenance of other facilities that had broken down.

``When we took over JEDC, we found out that most of the transformers were dilapidated; some were more than 50 years old and needed urgent replacement.

``We had to replace many of them which improved the capacity of injection sub-stations and improved power distribution,'' he said.

He assured electricity customers of an even better improvement in electricity supply ``in the next 18-24 months.  He premised this on the commitment of the Federal Government and stakeholders in the electricity supply chain to stable power supply.

Modibbo expressed happiness at the steady rise in power generated by the GENCOs, attributing this to ``a drastic drop in pipeline vandalism that had raised the capacity of the thermal power generating companies.

He, however, appealed to customers to consistently pay their bills to enable investors continue to make more investments toward improving the quality of power supply.

Modibbo identified the inaccuracy of data on assets inherited by the new owners of the distribution companies as a major challenge that had constituted a drawback to the quest for speedy progress.

``In the last 50 years, there has been poor management of the number of customers and company assets which has led to wrong assumptions in financing the critical needs of the company.

``As big as the country is, all the distribution companies currently have a customer data base of under five million today. ``Clearly, a significant majority of the population are `stealing' electricity.

``So, the JEDC has done a lot in terms of trying to get an accurate data of these customers.

``We are embarking on an aggressive customer audit exercise to enumerate all existing customers as well as those who are stealing electricity from the network and are not paying.

``We have a lot of illegal customers captured on the network and this is one abnormality of the past that we must correct,'' he said.

According to him, JEDC will capture new and illegal customers, give them meters and even expand the network.

He said that the company would share out 150,000 meters to the four states it was serving - Plateau, Benue, Gombe and Bauchi, in the next five years.

Modibbo also disclosed that 15,000 had already been shared to customers in Jos alone.

He said that the company had also embarked on aggressive maintenance of its infrastructure ``to avoid occasional breakdowns that could impede effective supply.

The official described customers' response to payment as ``very poor, but explained that the situation had improved ``with constant dialogue and improved services.

``With more interaction, we have found that many customers are willing to pay because even the power generators they fall back on are more costly,'' he explained.

He decried the massive corruption in the system, pointing out that JEDC had a potential 700,000 customer base while only 300,000 of them were legally captured.

Modibbo particularly decried the high level of indebtedness by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), noting that the debts had accumulated `` for more than 30 years.

He said that the Nigeria Army recently reduced its debt by N15 million, describing the gesture as ``very commendable, even though the liability left is still much.

``Like Plateau, we have reached out to other states and have started working out a plan for payment. `` They have made pledges and we shall follow up and ensure redemption, he said.

Modibbo said that the EDCs raised the indebtedness matter at its recent meeting with the Minister of Power and were asked to compile the actual debts by each state, MDAs and other debtors.

``We are already compiling the information; the minister has assured us that he would even work toward deducting the monies from source in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation,'' he said.

Modibbo also decried the rising incidence of customers by-passing service meters, warning that those caught would be treated as criminals and prosecuted.
Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the issue of national security should not be taken lightly.

``Pipeline vandalism is highly condemnable; this should not be allowed to happen in a civilized society, he said.

According to him, oil and gas pipeline vandalism will contribute largely to the air and water pollution of the region and reduce the revenue base of the country.

He advised the Niger-Delta militants to engage in dialogue with the Federal Government rather than confrontation in resolving issues.

He urged the Federal Government to sustain the amnesty programme as it would serve as a means of addressing some of the challenges in the region.

``I hope that the renewed blowing-up of major oil and gas pipelines is not as a result of the ongoing probe of some political leaders in the region.

`` Our call is that the government should remain focus in its fight against corruption and it should not be tired by whatever pressure.

``We also want to appreciate what the security agencies have been able to do in terms of protecting the pipelines in the region, they should put in more efforts to contain the crisis, '' Wabba said.
In a recent interview with Vanguard Newspaper, Mr Ibu said that he had once sent a proposal to build a film village to the Federal Government and is yet to get response, hence, he believes some of his colleagues have gotten money and diverted the funds.

Born John Okafor, the comic actor disclosed that while the former President, Goodluck Jonathan was in office, the Actors Guild benefited immensely from his dispensation, yet some individuals had diverted the money allocated to the industry to their personal pocket.

In his words, "When ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was in office, every minute they were there asking for all manner of favour."

Continuing, he said, 'And the ex-President loved us so much that he gave them huge money. All those who diverted monies meant for AGN or Movie Makers will die because they do not know the souls they have killed.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said members of the African Union Peace and Security Council expected leaders to endorse its proposed deployment of 5,000 troops to protect civilians, despite a rejection of the force by Burundi.

"I didn't get a sense from the African countries gathered in the room that they're going to take that as a final answer," Power told reporters after a meeting between the U.N. Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa.

"As well as the AU meeting (next weekend) to endorse it, we will need leaders to work behind the scenes to get the Burundi government to change its position," she said.

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza says the plan to send peacekeepers would constitute "an invading force". Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term last year sparked the crisis, which has raised fears of an ethnic conflict in a region where memories of neighboring Rwanda's 1994 genocide remain fresh.

The U.N. Security Council traveled to Burundi on Thursday for one night, it's second visit to the country in less than 10 months. The United Nations estimates the death toll at 439 people but says it could be higher. More than 240,000 people have fled abroad and the country's economy is in crisis.

The African Union plans to seek U.N. Security Council backing for any deployment of troops. France will draft a resolution, Deputy U.N. Ambassador Alexis Lamek said, adding that an initial priority was to send some 100 AU human rights and military observers to Burundi.

Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said the situation in Burundi appeared to be improving, but not to the point where "we can say we should put it on the back burner."

"For us it will be very difficult to oppose any resolution from the African Union because we always say that there should be African solutions to African problems," he said of any request for U.N. authorization to deploy troops. Russia is a council veto power.

"There are no signs of genocide, but there is potential for genocide ... but there is no imminent threat," he said. Iliichev said on Friday that Burundi did not need peacekeepers and instead needed help increasing its police capacity.

During a meeting with the U.N. Security Council on Friday, Nkurunziza accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting rebels by training and arming Burundian refugees recruited on Rwandan soil. Rwanda has previously dismissed the allegations.

"It is in the interests of the Burundian government to consent to having an enhanced African presence in Burundi to monitor the border, to disarm those elements outside the traditional security forces and to help stabilize the situation," Power said.
At separate stops Saturday in the Quad-City area, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders argued that despite what the other says, theyre the one who Wall Street fears the most.

The two Democratic presidential contenders spent much of the day shuttling between Clinton and Davenport for a series of campaign stops. Sanders met with volunteers and staffers at his Davenport office early in the afternoon, then hosted a town hall meeting in Clinton, just minutes away from the former secretary of state, who held her own town hall meeting at an elementary school.

Clinton then traveled to Davenport to meet with union members at Danceland Ballroom before speaking to more than 400 people at the Scott County Democratic Partys Red, White and Blue fundraising dinner at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds.

Clinton and Sanders are running neck-and-neck just a week before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, according to opinion polls. And, increasingly, theyve been critical of one another on a range of issues.

Sanders, who has made breaking up big Wall Street banks a centerpiece of his campaign, told about 700 people at a Masonic center in Clinton that the chief executive of a large private investment company said recently one of the reasons for the stock market's volatility is that Sanders is considered a viable presidential candidate.

What we have done is, I think, a very good thing. Were making Wall Street nervous, he said.

Earlier, at Eagle Heights Elementary School in Clinton, the former secretary of state told about 450 people her plan does more than just target big banks, encompassing the wider financial industry. She added that Republicans and hedge fund operators have begun financing attack ads against her, proof theyre more worried about her than Sanders.

Its not just the experts who say my plan is better. Its the people who know I will stand in their way and stop them, she said.

Theres a little more than a week to go before the first-in-the-nation caucuses, and Sanders and Clinton have been sharpening their language toward one another, including over health care.

Sanders has pushed for a single-payer plan, which he says honors the Democratic promise of securing universal coverage. But Clinton argues it is best to build on the Affordable Care Act, tackling high out of pocket and drug costs.

She said 90 percent of Americans are now covered.

My esteemed opponent, Senator Sanders, wants to start all over again, Clinton said.

Getting from zero to 100 is a lot harder than getting from 90 to 100, she said at the Red, White and Blue dinner.

Sanders, meanwhile, sought to brush aside the notion that he cant win a general election, something he said the Clinton campaign also said about Barack Obama in 2008.

He argued that the legalization of gay marriage and rising minimum wages across the country were once unthinkable  as was the election of an African-American president. But, on the latter, Iowa changed that, he said.

You made it happen. You made history, Sanders said.

Sanders supporters said it is time for a big change in the country.

We need major change, not incremental change, Duane Larson, a Sanders supporter from Princeton, said. As for questions about the practicality of Sanders approach, he said, thats the politics of cynicism. Weve seen where being practical gets us. It gets us nowhere."

Lois Schmidt took a different view after Clintons rally, particularly on health care.

She said that Clinton is more specific, and realistic, about the issue. I like that we got it now started, and I think that theres more to be done, Schmidt, of Clinton, said. She added, however, that she is worried under Sanders approach, taxes might go higher.

Martin OMalley, a former governor of Maryland, also was in the Davenport on Saturday, speaking at the Red, White and Blue dinner. He went on after Clinton had left the building.

OMalley is running a distant third, but he told reporters he is nonetheless optimistic about his chances. He said he is the candidate who can get people behind goals like going to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

I think were going to see a surprise on caucus night. I think that the people of Iowa, who Ive met over these last several months, are going to help me beat expectations. Once we do that, we can create a new dynamic in this race, OMalley said.

OMalley said the challenge is getting 15 percent of the vote in each of the states 1,681 precincts, the minimum support needed to qualify for winning delegate equivalents, which determine who wins and loses. He said his campaign is working toward that and has organized in about 600 precincts. Were gaining ground every day, he said.
Davenport police would get body cameras and Ridgeview Park in the north part of the city could be improved if items in the city's proposed capital funds budget make it into the final version of the financial plan for FY2017.

Aldermen met Saturday as part of a series of workshops to review components of the proposed budget. Aldermen also reviewed the long-range capital projects plan.

The fiscal year begins July 1.

Some 65 percent of the capital funds goes for infrastructure such as streets, sewer improvements and smaller projects such as curbs and sidewalks, Mayor Frank Klipsch said.

That's 29 percent of the entire fund, or $11.7 million for streets next year and $8.6 million for sanitary sewer improvements.

Two new streets are being constructed: West 76th Street, just south of Interstate 80 and north of Ridgeview Drive, and Veterans Memorial Parkway, in northeast Davenport.

Alderman Rick Dunn, 1st Ward, a proponent of major reconstruction on a section of Rockingham Road, gave a passionate plea for the project to be pushed up in the schedule from 2019.

"This section of road is not going to make it to 2019," Dunn said. "Let's get this done."

In the end, aldermen agreed with Dunn; $400,000 is budgeted this year to design the street and sewers, and $2.7 million to complete the project in 2018. It involves Rockingham from Birchwood Avenue to Schmidt Road.

Aldermen questioned why the city plans to repave Brady Street this year, noting that it is in better shape than many other streets. Davenport Finance Director Brandon Wright, who conducted the informational session, said Brady also is a state highway and the Iowa Department of Transportation has kicked in $3 million while the city's portion is $3.3 million.

Police Chief Paul Sikorski explained that $180,000 is budgeted for police body cameras. That expenditure would cover some 150 officers, Sikorski said, with an emphasis on police who work the streets and off-duty security jobs.

"This is wonderful" said Alderman Mike Matson, 7th Ward. "It protects everyone, just everyone."

Council members were less enthusiastic about continuing the Davenport NOW program, a incentive for new people to move into the city and improve their homes. Alderwoman Rita Rawson, 5th Ward, noted most of the funds have not been spent in the central city.

Bruce Berger, director of the office of community planning and economic development, said the program can be amended with, for example, a reduced geographical area, to save up to $500,000. It also could be eliminated, with savings estimated at $1.2 million annually.

In the parks department, aldermen saluted a development program that spreads improvements around the community. If approved, Ridgeview Park, 1819 Ridgeview Drive, would have a playground upgrade of $85,000 and staff would study a new parking plan for the area.
REINBECK, Iowa  Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee praised Iowans for ignoring the talking heads in New York, who have already decided the Iowa caucuses before the first vote has been cast.

And as the 2008 surprise caucus winner, Huckabee also urged them to make up their own minds as they have in previous cycles.

I would love for you to just shove it up the nostrils of the national media on Feb. 1, Huckabee told a crowd of about 40 people at Jack & Arnie's Steakhouse in Reinbeck on Saturday, earning amens from the audience. I like the independent, stubborn streak in Iowa farmers.

Huckabee knows better than most that 10 days before the caucus is plenty of time to make his case to Iowans, and he spent his town hall Saturday showing hes got his own independent and stubborn streak.

If there is any shortcut, Ive never found it, Huckabee said after the event as to what is key to winning over Iowans. Ive always believed that you dont win the caucus just by throwing a bunch of New York-raised money at TV and radio ads, that you have to go meet voters.

Huckabee is holding 150 events across the state in the final month before the caucus, and has so far completed about 80 of them.

He contrasted himself with the other Republicans running, without naming them, in trying to make his final pitch to voters.

He said he is one of only about three contenders who are not getting their funding from Wall Street and blamed big money influences for why Republicans have seen so few changes even after electing members of their own party.

In answering one of several questions on saving Social Security, Huckabee also criticized the U.S. senators running for the presidency, who he said have neglected doing their jobs. He proposed, to applause, that elected officials should resign their current position before running for the next one.

Its getting out of hand, Huckabee said. People use their public paycheck so they can go campaign and ask for another job. If somebody wants to be a senator, theyve asked for a six-year job; on their sixth minute in office, they turn around and start running for president, I just dont think thats fair to the taxpayers who sent them.

Republican U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul are all first-term senators who are running for the presidency.
State funding for education was the hot topic Saturday during the first of four Iowa legislative forums to be held at St. Ambrose University, Davenport.

Seven area legislators were on hand to meet with a large crowd gathered at the Rogalski Center, Questions ranged from legislation about anti-bullying, dog breeding regulations, human trafficking to death with dignity and Medicaid.

Legislators in attendance were Sens. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, and Chris Brase, D-Muscatine, and Reps. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport; Norlin Mommsen, R-DeWitt; Linda Miller, R-Bettendorf; Ross Paustian, R-Walcott; and Jim Lykam, D-Davenport.

Many audience members asked about the likelihood of funding education at a higher rate and the reason for inequities by district. For instance, Olivia Heller, 10, a fifth-grader at Harrison Elementary in Davenport, asked why the Davenport Community School District receives $175 less per pupil than surrounding districts.

I wonder why kids in Davenport do not get as much as kids in Bettendorf or Pleasant Valley, she asked.

Mommsen said part of the problem is declining enrollment. Smith said the inequities started long before your parents were born and added that there are a number of alternatives to fix the problem.

We are working on it. Give us a little more time, he said.

Davenport Superintendent Dr. Art Tate and North Scott Superintendent Joe Stutting also asked questions and voiced concerns. Stutting said his district is in the same shape as Davenport, receiving less funding per student than others.

Some of the legislators said school funding will be discussed this week in Des Moines with the goal of resolving the inequity. Brase said he expects a funding increase of between 2 and 4 percent, although other lawmakers said 2 percent is more likely.

Winckler said the state has the resources for an increase and should invest in schools.

Miller was among the majority who said she is willing to make school funding a priority.

Olivia's father, Guy Heller, said he thought some of the answers about school funding were a bit evasive.

He said Davenport receives less money per student because of an old formula of calculating and that he hopes a 4 percent increase to overall education funding would take place.

They say we do not have the funds, yet they give all those tax incentives to companies that move into the state, he said.

The forums are sponsored by the American Association of University Women, the Iowa State Education Association, the Scott County Farm Bureau, the Working Iowa Neighbors Coalition of the Quad-Cities Federation of Labor, the Business and Professional Women of Davenport and the Quad-Cities Area Realtor Association.
It wasnt so long ago that elected Republicans in Congress put out a one-sheet of guiding principles for their efforts on immigration reform. Highest among those markers for the road forward was the promise to respond to the needs of business.

The one-sheet washed away in Boehner tears and were still debating immigration reform through yet another election cycle.

But the creation of that one-sheet was, I believe, an important turning point in the debate. In an issue as complex as immigration  with so many loud and muted voices  you have to decide up front where to place the lighthouse. Even if you dont know how youre ever going to get there, if you can first decide why you are trying, you have a better shot of staying your course.

I spent time as a reporter earning the trust of undocumented workers in Colorado so they would allow me into their lives and let me follow them back to Mexico. I spent time in the passenger seat of a U.S. Border Patrol pickup driving through the desert, checking barbed wire fences and motion sensors. I visited the 25 miles wall in El Paso and the small town sheriff at the end of wall whose small department wasnt enough to deal with the hordes going around the wall. In the safehouse where people stop to rest once they make it over the border and the birthing center where women have their babies, I thought I would walk away with a binary answer. Instead, I have more questions.

Things have gotten better in some ways since then. The federal government distributed more than 200,000 H-2A temporary worker visas in 2013, up from 14,000 in 2003, largely for seasonal agricultural jobs. Orchard owners in Southern Illinois said they are now able to get positions filled with legal workers, which wasnt possible during the years of too few visas. But there is still no such thing as a year-round ag visa, so people in dairies and other year-round livestock industries arent as lucky.

In Bettendorf this week, Marco Rubio said immigration reform is about ISIS now. During a meeting with our editorial board, Ben Carson said hed build a wall like the one he saw in Arizona. Jeb Bush told our editorial board he believed in a guest worker program, driven by demand, and he supported the current move to tighten the visa waiver program, for people who have been in Iraq, Syria, Sudan or Iran.

Three men, three sentences. A thousand little pieces.

If the right approach to understanding an issue is to decide why you want to understand, then there's an opportunity on Wednesday to explore the issue from the leaders in business, law enforcement and the faith based community at the latest New Ideas Forum, Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform," sponsored in-part by the Quad-City Times. (Read more in an Op-Ed on this page in print or attached to my column online).

If we cant get our minds around immigration reform from a political or an economic angle, maybe it will help to understand it through our faiths. Maybe there will be some common ground or even some clarity, just days before the caucuses.

The event will be from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday in the Rogalski Center at St. Ambrose University.
Many political pundits seriously question whether Iowa deserves to have the first shot at selecting the next president. Iowas profile doesnt even come close to being representative of the USA. Three examples: Iowa is 96% white, Iowas population rank is 30th (Puerto Rico is larger than Iowa), and visceral comments by U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-IA, have made virtually all Americans cringe and embarrassed.

Iowas past caucus voter participation rate has been touted by experts as pathetic. Lets examine the Hawkeye states past caucus history.

Only 19 percent of card-carrying Republicans have participated in the past two Iowa caucuses; registered Democrats have averaged a 23 percent turnout. Worse yet, only 13 percent of Iowas largest group of registered voters, no-party independents (36.3 percent), participated.

Iowa has a closed caucus, which means that only declared Republicans and Democrats can participate in a caucus. No Party independents can only participate if they declare Dem. or Rep. prior to attending a caucus of that party. The No Party independents can re-declare their independent status on the day after the caucus. What a mess Iowas closed caucus has created. This may be the greatest form of hypocrisy in Iowas voting process.

The results of Iowas caucus should be highly questioned by the American public for its validity and reliability of selecting the next President.

To better understand why people shouldnt pay much attention to Iowas caucus, lets reflect on the 2008 and 2012 Presidential races. Mike Huckabee won Iowas Republican caucus in 2008. The voter numbers reveal that he attracted the support of a mere 2 percent of Iowa adults.

Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucus because he was a Christian Conservative and those Bible-thumping followers saw the caucus as similar to going to church. You know what happened to the rest of Rev. Mikes 2008 campaign.

Rick Santorum, another Christian Conservative Republican, won the 2012 Iowa caucus. The Christians flocked to the Iowa caucus like it was a Wednesday night revival. You also know the rest of the story of Santorums post-Iowa campaign.

What are the current rankings of Huckabee and Santorum in the 2016 Presidential Republican run-off? Huckabee is No. 10 and Santorum is No. 11 with only Jim Gilmore having a lower national ranking.

Dont be surprised if Christian Conservative Ted Cruz wins Iowas Feb. 1 Republican caucus. While Iowa Christian Conservatives may be the most dedicated Republicans to attend a caucus, they do not represent the majority of Iowa Republicans nor Republicans in the remaining 49 states.

Iowas first-in-the-nation closed caucus process is not warranted.

If Iowas February 1, 2016 Republican and Democratic caucus attendance record doesnt improve, Iowa should no longer have the privilege of being the first-in-the-nation Presidential selecting state.

The Democratic & Republican National Committees (DNC & RNC) must make all future caucus/primaries open to ALL registered voters regardless of their political preference.

DNC and RNC need to collaborate and agree that the state with the largest percentage of registered voters participating in the 2016 caucus/primary Presidential election will get the privilege of having the first-in-the-nation caucus/primary in 2020. The 2nd most voter participating state in 2016 gets to host the 2nd caucus/primary in 2020; and so on. And, the rate of caucus/primary voter participation per state in 2020 will determine the state-by-state order of the 2024 caucus/primary process.

Sadly, the 2020 presidential caucus/primary dance card will start on Jan. 21, 2017 one day after the 45th President is inaugurated. For future presidential selection validity and reliability purposes, calling on the DNC and RNC for significant caucus/primary reform is mandatory.
Gov. Terry Branstad's legacy can go one of two ways when it's all said and done. He could be the tough-on-crime governor of the 1990s who packed Iowa's prisons through draconian laws. Or, he could pivot and become the 21st century governor who overhauled the state's busted, costly criminal justice system.

We're hoping for the latter.

Branstad this month unveiled the first of his reform initiatives targeting a prison population that, according to state Department of Human Rights, will swell by 23 percent by 2025 if nothing changes. Branstad's proposals were largely anything but specific. He hopes to "ensure the survival" of the state's drug courts. Sealing the records of youth offenders, following release, seems like a reasonable idea. So, too, does "increasing the racial diversity" of jury pools throughout the state. But the legislative approach to attain that goal is, at best, murky.

Really, Branstad's call to save cash on inmate phone calls has the most specificity at this point. And that's only a budgetary proposal, void of the systematic overhaul needed to correct Iowa's astoundingly African-American heavy inmate population.

Mandatory minimum sentences, all the rage throughout the failed War on Drugs, are at least partly to blame for the state's unnecessarily large prison population. Drug traffickers, sentenced under mandatory minimum guidelines, spend 285 more days behind bars than those who faced a sentencing judge with actual power, says a 2011 report by the Human Rights Department. Mandatory minimums for first- and second-degree robbery convictions also merit a look, says Iowa's Department of Human Rights. The state's methamphetamine sentencing laws are particularity harsh. And the states differing guidelines for crack-cocaine and cocaine has targeted poor and minority populations for too long.

Indeed, the War on Drugs is lost. Locking up users and dealers does nothing but drive recidivism. So does saddling this often vagrant population with fees and fines upon release. Treatment is the key, here. And Branstad's cryptic nod to the importance of drug courts, which favor treatment over incarceration, is a welcome acknowledgement that the approach needs an overhaul.

But it's unclear just how far he's willing to go.

The desire to make juries more racially diverse shows Iowa's venerable governor is also aware the criminal justice system disproportionately hammers blacks. African-Americans comprise 25 percent of Iowa's inmates, but just 3 percent of the overall state population.

Race and policing has blown up at the national scale over the past two years. Riots in Missouri. A number of dead young black men and boys, killed by police, exposed the institutional racism that's overtaken a significant cohort of American police forces. The discussion in Washington has turned to "community policing," essentially transitioning urban departments from an armed war footing to something less aggressive. Just last year, researchers and Davenport officials openly questioned whether Davenport Police officers attempted to skew data that might have suggested ongoing racial profiling.

Branstad's focus on criminal justice reform is a welcome admission that the old ways aren't working, that the late-20th century approach has done little but destroy thousands of families.

Two decades ago, Branstad dove full-bore into the now-defunct arrest and punishment strategy. He's now showing signs of pulling back. But his real taste for necessary reform isn't clear. His ideas, while valid, are vague and the administration is merely "open" to ideas.

Branstad is crawling in the right direction, for sure. Hopefully, he soon finds his stride and begins to gallop.
BEIJING | More than three-fourths of American companies in China feel less welcome than in the past and 45 percent say revenue is dropping or flat, a survey released Wednesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in China indicates.

The report comes amid a slowdown in the Chinese economy, which in recent decades often had been growing at 10 percent or more annually. But official data released this week showed that the country's gross domestic product rose 6.9 percent in 2015, the slowest pace of expansion in 25 years.

Almost 500 members representing a range of industries took part in the group's 2016 business climate survey; the respondents included small, medium and large companies.

The proportion of respondents reporting profits dropped to 64 percent in 2015, from 73 percent a year earlier. Many businesses reported serious concern about rising labor costs, and shrinking margins are causing some U.S. companies to rethink their strategies in China. Companies in the agricultural, automotive, machinery and other industrial sectors reported the biggest downturns in profits.

Since its economic reforms in the 1980s, China has attracted significant foreign investment, thanks in large part to its low wages. But in the last few years, this advantage has been disappearing fast, and companies are looking to lower-cost economies such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

One in four American companies have already moved capacity out of China or plan to do so soon, according to the chamber's report. About half of those say they will move to other developing Asian economies, while a third say they intend to move capacity to North America.

Despite the slowing economy and rising labor costs, a significant amount of confidence in the Chinese market remains. More than 50 percent of respondents still rank China as one of the top three investment destinations, and most indicated they are still optimistic about China's domestic growth potential.

"Business will continue to invest in China," said James Zimmerman, chairman of the chamber, "but with more calculation and caution."

The report cited regulatory challenges as the top concern of American businesses in China, with labor costs a close second.

"Members report an environment that has not yet converged with the stated goals of the Chinese government to allow the market to play a decisive role in the economy (and) open the market equally to foreign companies," the report said.

"The issue of inconsistent regulatory interpretation and unclear laws is on everyone's mind," Zimmerman said, "and we encourage China's leadership to make changes."

Though China has opened many sectors to at least partial foreign investment, significant restrictions remain in a large number of strategically important industries such as information communication technology. China and the U.S. are currently negotiating a bilateral investment treaty that aims to reduce the number of sectors from which U.S. companies are excluded, but progress has been slow.

Meanwhile, pending legislation on foreign nongovernmental organizations and national security is drawing concern about new restrictions on U.S. entities' operations and business opportunities.

Lester Ross, the chamber's vice chairman, said his group would continue to press for what he called a "dynamic, open investment environment."

Nearly 80 percent of respondents said China's Internet censorship negatively or somewhat negatively affects their ability to conduct normal business operations, and 77 percent complained about the slowness of accessing websites outside China.

More than half the respondents also said China's severe air pollution has created difficulty in recruiting senior executives to work in the country.
With every fall and spring, people around the country wind the clocks back or forward to adjust to daylight saving time.

But one West River state senator thinks the whole back-and-forth process is, well  a waste of time.

"We don't have to change the doggone clocks twice a year," said state Sen. Betty Olson, R-Prairie City. "We don't have to adjust our lives for it."

Olson has introduced Senate Bill 60, which would keep the state on daylight saving time year-round, rejecting the concept of switching to standard time every fall.

Daylight saving time is a concept in which clocks are moved forward one hour each spring and through the summer in order to take advantage of natural light longer during summer months.

Olson, a rancher, EMT and substitute teacher, said she initially preferred to keep standard time the norm in South Dakota before she introduced the bill, but changed her approach prior to filing.

"My husband is a rancher, and they like daylight saving time better," Olson said. "So it's a compromise. But it's still better to keep it one way year-round."

She added: "Out in our neck of the woods, we don't pay as much attention to what time it is as we do to when the sun is going up and going down. That's what we adjust our lives around."

Olson said the benefit of keeping the clocks at one time would be avoiding adjusting life and time twice a year, something she says will make it easier to function.

"It gets to be a pain, and I haven't talked to anybody who likes it," Olson said. "I'd like to know where all that daylight we saved is stored."

Olson said that she models the bill after Arizona, one of the few states that are exempt from daylight saving time. The state participated in daylight saving time for one summer after the Uniform Time Act of 1966 before electing to opt out in 1968 by near-unanimous vote. Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands also opt out of the practice. Some parts of Indiana did not participate in daylight saving time until 2005.

"Arizona seems to function quite well that way, so I don't see why we wouldn't," Olson said. "I think it would be a benefit."

Olson said that the bill has been brought to the House in the past, but hadn't made it out of committee.

"I don't know that this will either, though I don't know who would oppose it," Olson said. "I can't think of a thing we'd lose."
It was still in the opening minutes of the Saturday morning crackerbarrel session that state Rep. Scott Craig, R-Rapid City, asked for a show of hands among the 150 people gathered at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

How many people, Craig asked, think South Dakota public school teachers, traditionally paid the lowest average salary in the United States, should receive a raise?

Almost every hand went up.

Then he asked: How many against?

Few, if any, raised their hands.

Those against must have stayed home, sleeping in, Craig said.

The dearth of opposition to a mass pay raise for South Dakota teachers, even among most of the all-Republican turnout of lawmakers, was the theme of the day at the first crackerbarrel of the 2016 legislative session. Crackerbarrels are a South Dakota tradition, as lawmakers journey home on weekends from their meetings and caucuses in Pierre and mingle with their constituents for a small slice of speechmaking and a large helping of question-and-answer action.

Although Republicans often are cast as monolithically opposing any increase in taxes, at least two of those participating on Saturday  state Reps. Jacqueline Sly and Jeff Partridge, both republicans of Rapid City  seemed optimistic, maybe even confident, that the state can find some combination of shifting state revenues to education and raising the sales tax to bring the states teachers out of the national salary basement.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard, in his budget message early this month, recommended several changes in policy and the increase of the state sales tax from 4 percent to 4.5 percent. The changes and the tax increase, Daugaard said, could raise average teacher pay from about $40,000 a year to $48,500. But the tax increase would raise more than $100 million, and thats more than is necessary to pay for the salary increase; the rest, Daugaard said, should go to property-tax relief.

But Partridge on Saturday said a more modest sales-tax increase, to just 4.25 percent, should suffice to improve teacher pay, provided the state makes other fiscal moves, such as repurposing some other revenue for K-12 education, limiting the amount that school districts can keep stashed in reserve accounts, loosening state restrictions on school districts capital-outlay funds and seeking efficiencies in administrative costs. Capital-outlay funds pay for construction, maintenance and other school purchases.

In his introductory remarks, Partridge left no doubt he supports the pay increase, explaining that raising salaries in the face of teacher shortage in the state is a way to help keep South Dakotas workforce competitive.

I think we can do better, he told the crackerbarrel crowd, and I think we can pay more.

After the crackerbarrel adjourned, he said, You only increase taxes you need to increase, explaining that he would eliminate the property-tax increase, thus cutting the amount of extra state revenue needed. The point, he said, is simple: We want teachers to make more and move us out of last place.

The only lawmaker to openly oppose a tax increase to raise teacher pay was state Rep. Mike Verchio, R-Hill City.

I think there is money in the system, he told the Journal. If we rank 38th giving money to the school boards, why doesnt local control pay the teachers more? He was referring to a comment from an audience member who said South Dakota ranked lowest in teacher salary, yet was 37th in spending per student.

Verchio would rather repurpose government revenue that is already in the budget and find ways for school districts to more efficiently spend their money.

Sly, R-Rapid City, who served as co-chair of Gov. Daugaards Blue Ribbon Task Force studying teacher pay, didnt endorse Partridges idea of a 4.25 sales tax. But she didnt rule it out either, saying there is no one path to solving the problem of low teacher pay.

If theres one thing Sly, Partridge and most of the other legislators agree on, its accountability. Several of them repeatedly brought up the need to ensure that the money raised in the name of increasing teacher pay would be spent on teacher pay.

However that funding is secured, Craig said, somehow we say it must be put towards teacher pay and nowhere else. The crowd greeted that statement with applause.

Both Partridge and Sly said that accountability can be required in a bill, and Sly said that any bill could include the creation of a state oversight committee to monitor whether school districts were making progress in raising teachers salaries.

Several speakers criticized the huge cash reserves some districts have built up; Daugaards plan includes limiting the size of those cash reserve funds.

Partridge and Sly endorsed more efficiency, including the use of web-based learning so that not every district needs a local teacher to teach every class. Legislators pointed out that some outlying schools lacked teachers, while others only had eight students per teacher.

And not every school district needs a large administration. Business managers, including the one employed by the Rapid City Area Schools, could serve more than one district, speakers said. Put more (money) into the classroom and out of the administration, Partridge said.

Blue Ribbon Task Force member and Rapid City School District Board member Dave Davis said there have been red herrings thrown out about the money for teacher pay. He challenged District 34 lawmakers: If all the other options are used, and still more money is needed to pay for higher teacher salaries, would they vote for a tax increase?

State Rep. Dan Dryden and Sen. Craig Tieszen, R-Rapid City, both stood up from their chairs, made their way to the lectern, and answered with one word: Yes.

Partridge grinned as he announced he had the long answer, then said that if more capital-outlay money were used for the general fund, and if the state can repurpose some revenue, he would support a 0.25 percentage point sales-tax increase.

Majority Leader Brian Gosch, R-Rapid City, pointed out the road to agreement on a tax increase is blocked by one large impediment. He said, Its going to be tough to get the votes for even a 0.25 percentage point increase because the passage of any tax law requires a 2/3 majority in the House, or 47 yes votes. In the House, Republicans enjoy a 58-12 advantage over Democrats.

Verchio pitched in an idea, which he described as controversial. Pass an income tax to pay for schools, fund the counties with property tax and let the sales tax pay for state government. Im termed out this year, he said. Im retiring  so throw all the tomatoes and rotten veggies at me you want.

He added: By the way, I have a daughter-in-law whos a teacher, who absolutely does not agree with anything that I say.

Although dominated by discussion of the proposals to increase teacher pay, the two-hour crackerbarrel also included discussion of several issues, including the bill offered by Rep. Lynne DiSanto, R-Rapid City, that would require adults who apply for welfare benefits from two food programs to submit to testing for illegal drugs. The subjects of illegal immigrants, Syrian refugees and the state board that handled the proposed Harney Peak name change were also brought to the floor.
The Oglala Lakota County Sheriff's Department is doubling its vehicle fleet as the Rapid City Council has approved giving away two Police Department patrol cars that were headed for retirement followed by demolition.

Before the donation, Oglala Lakota County Sheriff Rex Conroy was getting by with two Chevrolet Tahoes, both of which have logged more than 100,000 miles. One of the Tahoes was a donation from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Conroy said.

Conroy drives hundreds of miles a week as part of his job as his county's sole full-time law officer covering more than 2,000 square miles. When Conroy was elected sheriff in 2015, county officials assumed his office would be his car. He eventually found office space at the Justice Center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, but he spends a lot of time in his vehicle.

The bulk of the reservation is in Oglala Lakota County, and all of the county land is in the reservation. A sizable portion of the reservation is in Jackson County, which is north and east of Oglala Lakota County.

Oglala Sioux Tribe police handle tribal offenders on the reservation; Conroy handles all non-tribal law-enforcement matters in the county.

Oglala Lakota County is one of only two counties in South Dakota that do not have county seats; the other is Todd County. The county contracts with Fall River County for its auditor, treasurer, director of equalization, states attorney and registrar of deeds.

While Fall River County prosecutes and jails Oglala Lakota County male offenders, there are no facilities for incarcerating women.

Conroy and his volunteer deputy make several trips a month to Pennington County to drop off female offenders at the Pennington County Jail. But Fall River County is still in charge of prosecuting offenders, so Conroy has to travel back to Pennington County to pick up offenders for trials, only to have to turn around and drop them back off in Pennington County after the court sessions.

Such back-and-forth treks pummel Conroy's small fleet, so he said he looks for ways to prolong his vehicles' lives.

"We dont have very many taxpayers in the county," he said. "Our resources are really limited, and we have to be creative in what we do.

The day after Christmas last year, Conroy wrote a letter to Rapid City Police Chief Karl Jegeris requesting two vehicles.

In the letter Conroy said, "Oglala Lakota County does not have the resources to purchase new vehicles for its required duty to provide Law Enforcement Services to Oglala Lakota County, however, the County does have adequate resources to insure, maintain and operate required patrol vehicles."

The letter started a chain of activity.

Rapid City had two cars with high mileage and correspondingly high maintenance bills. Both were Chevy Impalas purchased in 2009 and pulled out of service last October. According to a memo written by Rapid City Police Lieutenant Mark Eisenbraun, the vehicles have become increasingly expensive to maintain.

At a Jan. 13 meeting of the City Council's Legal and Finance Committee, Alderman Steve Laurenti requested a valuation of the vehicles before a vote on the donation by the full council.

On Jan. 14, Eisenbraun produced a valuation memo to Jegeris that said over the last two years, one Impala cost $8,869 to maintain and the other $15,383. The costs included parts and labor.

Before the proposition from Oglala Lakota County, Eisenbraun was planning on crushing both and selling the scrap metal, which would have netted the city a total of $122.

Eisenbraun also checked the National Automobile Dealers Association for the value of the Impalas. The report said the one with 115,000 miles was worth $2,425, and the one with 133,000 miles was worth $1,600. Eisenbraun challenged those estimates as too high, considering neither car would start and both had several holes drilled throughout to accommodate patrol equipment inside.

Normally, the Police Department gives retired patrol cars to the Emergency Vehicle Operator Course team, which trains officers on driving police vehicles. In this case, the team did not want them because they are the last two front-wheel drive vehicles in the patrol fleet. All other vehicles are are either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. Because front-wheel drive vehicles handle differently from the other fleet vehicles, they have less training value.

So at their meeting last Monday, Rapid City Council members voted unanimously to give the cars to Oglala Lakota County. There was no debate.

The city also will donate equipment that came with the cars, including the light bars on their roofs, the partitions and center consoles, and the radar units. The equipment donated is either not worth reusing or incompatible with current equipment, according to Eisenbraun.

On Friday, Conroy, his deputy and another volunteer drove to Rapid City to pick up the vehicles. Rapid City Police had revived the previously dead cars, so they were in good enough working condition to travel to their new home in Oglala Lakota County.

Conroy was pleased with the condition of the patrol cars and amazed at how easy the process was, saying, "It only took a letter."

Once the patrol cars are back in Oglala Lakota County, Conway will fix them up and install the radio systems necessary for the job.

The Impalas, once destined for the scrap yard, will keep his department mobile for the foreseeable future.

Conroy was grateful: "I think (the cars) will really benefit my department, and I really appreciate the Rapid City Police Department for doing this for us."
Overnight bags filled the lobby at the AmericInn Lodge & Suites last week in preparation for the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run group to arrive in Belle Fourche.

Upon their arrival, runners were given a spaghetti dinner and a place to sleep at the AmericInn on Jan. 12. Runners were also reminded during their stop in Belle Fourche of the importance of respect, patience, tolerance and challenging themselves.

Were encouraging you to keep going and affect change, said run founder Phillip Whiteman Jr.

He founded the run in 1996. Whiteman is a Northern Cheyenne who achieved international fame as a rodeo saddle bronc champion, horse trainer and cultural consultant.

The program was begun as a way for the tribes younger members to commemorate the escape from Fort Robinson, and to understand the sacrifices of their elders.

The run originally was 76-mile trek around the reservation.

In 1999, it expanded to the actual 400-mile journey.

The management and organization of the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run is done by volunteers coordinated by Whiteman and his wife, Lynette M. Two Bulls, from their home in Lame Deer, Mont.

The route retraces the Northern Cheyenne 1879 trek from an Oklahoma reservation to their home territory in Montana. Part of the band were held at Fort Robinson and imprisoned when they refused to return to the southern reservation that had claimed so many tribal members lives from disease and starvation.

This year was particularly important, said Lynette Two Bulls, because its the 20th anniversary of the run, which was also recognized by the South Dakota Legislature.

Greeting the runners upon their arrival, Belle Fourche Mayor Gloria Landphere said the tradition and to keep going for such a long time, was the most impressive feat for her.

Devils Tower National Monument representatives Drew Gilmour and Nancy Stimson also spoke to the runners, stating the Cheyenne will always be welcome at the national monument in Wyoming.

The arrival came on a day no other than hosts Greg and Stacey Raisanens 25th wedding anniversary.
Already a convicted sexual offender, Richard W. Melanson was only days away from being released from a state prison after serving 2-1/2 years of a 10-year sentence for possession of child pornography.

But a painstaking six-year investigation and a multinational effort by investigators from South Dakota and the federal government, who worked in concert with police in the small impoverished Central American nation of Guatemala, kept the Spearfish man locked up for what now is likely to be a life sentence or very close to it.

Melanson, 53, was given a 30-year prison term after an emotional sentencing in a Rapid City court this month after he had pleaded guilty to international sex charges.

The lurid tourism-for-sex case of Melanson is a story of international intrigue, interagency cooperation, solid police work and a healthy portion of good luck.

But most of all, its a tale of courage from two of his victims, young men who risked adding public embarrassment to their long-suppressed private humiliation of being coerced to commit sex acts for the promise of money from Melanson, who had traveled from South Dakota to Central America three times since 2007 to commit and photograph or videotape sex acts with the boys.

If any of them had walked away, Richard Melanson would be a free man today, said Brent Gromer, a South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation special agent and commander of the states Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Gromer, Department of Homeland Security special agent Michael Diaz, of Rapid City, and Sarah B. Collins, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota, traveled the 2,000 miles to Guatemala in March of 2014, as part of a long investigation into videos and photographs found on Melansons computer after he was initially arrested and charged in state court in 2011.

When Melanson, originally from Connecticut, was convicted on 10 counts of possession of child pornography in Lawrence County in 2012, evidence found on his computer included videos of Spanish-speaking young males and photos appearing to have been taken in Central or South America.

Department of Homeland Security investigators, charged with looking into child exploitation and human trafficking crimes along with counter-terrorism activities, took up the case. They worked with Guatemalan authorities to find what amounted to a human needle in a haystack  the victims of Melansons alleged crimes, who were in a rural area in one of the world's most poor and undeveloped countries.

Their only tool: photographs and videos of the sex acts taken from Melansons computer.

Gromer said the photos numbered in the thousands. The massive collection ranged from pornographic still shots and videos that included the victims, to ordinary images of scenery taken during trips to Guatemala in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Investigators were able to group photos by date and time to determine Melansons location.

We were able to narrow it down to some locations. The photos of the victims were interspersed in those groups of photos, Gromer said.

Collins said the investigation nearly stalled when there were doubts of proving that the victims involved were indeed minors. And finding anyone in Guatemala, especially years after the acts portrayed in the photos took place, proved to be a daunting task.

I liken it to somebody sending me a picture of a kid at Mount Rushmore and saying can you find this kid in Rapid City? Gromer said. Thats a monumental task.

Diaz said a Guatemalan national, Juan Estuardo Tereta Campa of the National Police special investigations unit, was able to track down and identify five males, now adult men, whose images had appeared in Melanson's photos or videos.

Some of the victims were initially identified after open interviews on the street, but they were hesitant to cooperate because of a distrust of their home government and a fear of being exposed as a victim of a sexual crime. A Homeland Security Investigations forensic interviewer from Chicago, Alexandra Levi, helped open the door, Diaz said.

Levi was fluent in Spanish and was able to gain the men's trust by initially engaging them in conversation and eventually offering a neutral site for interviews.

Instead of just meeting with them and starting off interviews, she kind of just talked to them first, Diaz said. The way she progressed everything really helped the case. She was able to build a rapport with them and they opened up to a lot of the horrific acts.

Collins said one of the five victims had died in the years after the crimes were committed. Another had suffered from acute drug addiction and was incapable of cooperating with investigators.

Two of the victims, identified in court proceedings only by their initials, M.G.P.G. and D.A.P.M, eventually agreed to work with American investigators.

A third man, identified as B.T.R., had helped investigators, but declined to come to the United States because he was afraid, she said.

In a plea agreement, Melanson pleaded guilty to a charge of traveling outside the U.S. with intent to engage in illicit sexual acts. Two other charges, production of and possession of child pornography, were dismissed as part of the deal.

The guilty plea could have resulted in Melanson receiving a minimum of 10 years prison followed by five years of supervised release.

But on Jan. 11, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken sentenced Melanson to the maximum 30-year sentence in a federal prison, followed by strict federal supervision for the remainder of his life after the sentence is completed.

The testimony of the victims likely helped push the court to the maximum sentence.

The pair provided powerful testimony in graphic detail at the day-long sentencing hearing in Rapid City. On the stand, they spoke through interpreters and told of being coerced by Melanson to pose naked and face down on a bed while being whipped with a leather belt and a makeshift cat-o-nine-tails fashioned from leather boot laces. The boys were also forced to perform other sex acts in exchange for money.

M.G.P.G was only 15 when the crimes occurred in 2008 in a cabin along the shore of a lagoon in San Pedro La Laguna. D.A.P.M was 17 in 2010 when he was assaulted in a motel room in Santiago Lac Atitlan.

Melanson paid the boys both for the whipping videos and other sex acts, and prosecutors said he also threatened to post photos and videos online and publicly in both towns.

M.G.P.G. told Viken he feared humiliation from family and friends if the images and videos had been made public.

If those photos had been published in my home town, it would have been terrible, he testified in Spanish.

Collins said the sight of both men walking into Vikens courtroom at the Andrew Bogue Federal Building was the culmination of a long, arduous journey.

Since the time we all had met them in Guatemala, we had been living for that moment, Collins said. They were going to finally have the power to come in and confront him. He had had the power over them when he was in Guatemala.

It was one of the most moving moments of my prosecutorial career, she said.

She said their testimony, which included a cross-examination by a defense attorney, and seeing Melanson in person for the first time since he left Guatemala, helped secure a long prison sentence.

I truly believe that impacted the sentence the defendant got, Collins said.

Diaz said both men had never traveled far from their home villages. Going to Guatemala City to obtain passports, then flying for the first time to a foreign country, took a lot of courage on their part, he said.

When they got off the airplane they were taking pictures of each other with the snow, because they had never touched snow, he said.

Gromer said seeing the men in court after the years of pouring over the photos and video was surreal.

To get on that plane with nothing in their pocket but faith, and to travel this far was remarkable, he said.

It was one of the most interesting cases Ive worked just in the amount of computer forensics that went into linking all of those pictures, documents and dates, he said.

Collins said the investigative team's travels to Guatemala also helped build the mens willingness to cooperate in the case.

Had we not gone down there and had they not trusted us, they wouldnt have come up here. It was based on that relationship building, Collins said. I think in the end they were truly moved in how much we cared and how much we poured our hearts into this.
PIERRE | South Dakotas 66 county governments would receive $14,204.55 apiece and divvy $2,812,500 according to population under a plan in the Legislature.

As it stands now, Pennington County could land about $360,000 a year in new revenue, while other area counties would receive a lesser share, such as about $100,000 a year in Meade, $60,000 in Oglala Lakota and even $18,000 for sparsely populated Harding.

Lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would shift 25 percent of alcohol tax revenues to counties on a permanent basis. Currently municipalities get 25 percent and state government keeps 75 percent.

The proposed 25 percent share for counties would come from the states share. It would be a transfer of an estimated $3,750,000.

Many county officials, including Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom, say the new revenue is needed because counties are responsible for jail services and have few options to raise new revenues to cover rapidly rising costs.

Gov. Dennis Daugaards administration appears to be the only opponent to the plan.

Counties want the money to help them address their expenses for county sheriff department conducting law enforcement and for prosecuting alcohol-related crimes, providing security at county courthouses and operating county and regional jails.

The first major vote on the matter is scheduled for Monday afternoon in the state Senate.

The measure, Senate Bill 2, came from the Legislatures interim committee that studied county government finances last year. The panel's chairman was Rep. Kristin Conzet, R-Rapid City. She is among the co-sponsors of SB 2.

The original version of the legislation sought to give one-third of the alcohol tax revenues to the counties, the cities and state government.

The plans backers, led by Sen. Bob Ewing, R-Spearfish, a former county commissioner, amended it last week to the proposed 25-25-50 split between the cities, the counties and state government.

There is an estimated $15 million annually from the alcohol tax revenue.

The Senate Local Government Committee endorsed the amended version 7-0.

The plan includes a distribution formula for the counties. Each county would receive an equal base amount of $14,204.55.

The remaining $2,812,500 would be distributed at $3.45 per person using 2012 population estimates.

Consequently counties with large populations would receive the most revenue under the plan, according to a printout from the South Dakota Association of County Commissioners.

Minnehaha would get $599,614.10; Pennington $362,918.90; Lincoln $169,058.20; Brown $140,397.08; Brookings $124,624.31; Codington $108,257.38; Meade $102,063.65; Lawrence $97,445.12; Yankton $91,714.28; Davison $81,579.08; Beadle $74,304.12; Hughes $73,005.27; Union $63,944.39; Clay $62,096.29; and Oglala Lakota $61,135.97.

In comparison to those 15 largest counties, the amounts received by smaller-population counties would be considerably smaller.

The lowest would be Jones $17,679.67; Harding $18,539.81; Sully $18,947.43; Hyde $19,109.79; and Campbell $19,268.69.

The proposal doesnt offer a method to compensate state government for the $3,750,000 that would be shifted away to counties.
Every American should be glad that American hostages have been freed by the tyrannical Iranian regime and are being reunited with family, friends and co-workers.

Less satisfying is the return of Iran's $400 million trust fund, used to buy military equipment (plus what President Obama called "appropriate interest" of $1.3 billion), which was frozen in 1979, along with its diplomatic relations with the U.S., all returned to what the U.S. State Department branded the world's "preeminent sponsor of terrorism."

While President Obama praised himself and his "diplomatic team" for concluding the Iranian nuclear deal, which he claims will ensure that Iran "is never allowed to build a nuclear weapon," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's world view has not changed one iota. "In (implementing) the deal," Rouhani said, "all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the U.S. The rest are happy."

This is a regime that allowed the beating of Christian missionary Saeed Abedini in an attempt to force him to renounce his faith and convert to Islam. We are repeatedly told by clueless Western political leaders that Islam is a "religion of peace" and that the Koran prohibits "coercion" in matters of faith (Surah 2:256).

In a brazen display of chutzpah, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that when it comes to the nuke deal, it's the U.S. that needs monitoring because it simply cannot be trusted. Skeptics are right to believe their program continues out of sight, despite President Obama's assurances that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will catch any violation. Iran has barred IAEA inspectors from sites the government wanted to be kept secret.

Pleasurable outcomes do not always validate policy and our enemies in Iran, and among the various terrorist groups it supports, are bound to receive the message that if they can just grab Americans and hold them hostage long enough, America will give them what they want. The kidnapping of three American contractors in Iraq may be an indication that terrorist groups have received that message.

What a contrast to Iran's 1981 release of 52 American hostages, all held for 444 days. It came on the day of President Ronald Reagan's Inauguration, an obvious indictment of the Carter administration's weakness. Commentators at the time said they thought the Ayatollah Khomeini believed Reagan was a "cowboy" and might actually drop a nuclear bomb on Iran if the Americans were not freed. That and Reagan's subsequent hardline approach to the Soviet Union came to be known as "peace through strength."

This time around, in addition to the money, Tehran receives clemency for seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the U.S. for sanctions violations. Clemency is certainly within a president's authority, though official U.S. policy over several administrations has been that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists ... only terrorist regimes, apparently.
This week we continue our examination of the impact of trade agreements on agriculture as well as the US balance of trade by looking at the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). This trade agreement includes the U.S., El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.U.S. domestic exports to El Salvador as a percent of imports for consumption increased from 113.0 percent to 126.3 percent between 2006 and 2014 (numbers above 100 percent indicate that U.S. exports are greater than US imports while numbers less than 100 percent indicate the opposite). U.S. exports of crops increased by $124 million from $139 million in 2005, the year before CAFTA-DR began to come into effect, to $263 million in 2014.Over that period, El Salvador exports of crops to the U.S. increased by $4 million. The U.S. balance of trade increased from -$204 million in 2005 to $630 million in 2014.The largest U.S. economic sectors seeing an increase in net exports over the period were the manufacturing of petroleum and coal products ($746 million) and the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and chemicals ($208 million).The net imports of manufactured apparel products and accessories from El Salvador showed an increase from $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion. The change in the balance of trade with El Salvador from 2005, the year before CAFTA-DR went into implementation for most participating countries, to 2014 was $834 million.Like El Salvador, U.S. domestic exports to Guatemala as a percent of imports increased between 2005 and 2014  106.3 percent to 134.3 percent. In crop agriculture, imports increased faster than exports over the period, leaving a net change in the balance of trade of -$579 million. The net exports of manufactured food and kindred products to Guatemala increased by $280 million between 2005 and 2014. The largest increase in net exports to Guatemala came from manufactured petroleum and coal products ($1.4 billion). The U.S. experienced an increase in the U.S. balance of trade with Guatemala of $1.9 billion since the inception of CAFTA-DR.The U.S. increased its domestic exports to Honduras faster than its imports for consumption between 2005 and 2014. As a result U.S. domestic exports to Honduras as a percent of imports for consumption increased from 95.6 percent to 126.7 percent. Net agricultural crop exports to Honduras declined by $93 million while net exports of manufactured food and kindred products increased by $247 million.Once again the largest increase in net exports to Honduras came from the manufacturing of petroleum and coal products ($1.3 billion). Overall the balance of trade with Honduras changed from negative to positive, increasing by $1.8 billion between 2005 and 2014.U.S. domestic exports to Nicaragua as a percent of imports for consumption declined from 46.2 percent to 29.9 percent. Net exports of agricultural products declined by $222 million while the manufacture of food and kindred products decreased by $103 million. The largest change in net exports came in the manufacturing of apparel and accessories (-$790 million). The change in the U.S. balance of trade with Nicaragua was -$1.6 billion between 2005 and 2014.US domestic exports from Dominican Republic as a percent of imports for consumption increased rapidly from 110.9 percent in 2006 to 159.2 percent in 2008 and has been on a plateau since then with the 2014 percentage coming in at 161.4. Between 2005 and 2014, net exports of agricultural products increased by $91 million while the net exports of manufactured food and kindred products increased by $557 million. The U.S. balance of trade with Dominican Republic increased by $3.0 billion between 2005 and 2014.While the other countries of CAFTA-DR implemented the agreement some time in 2006 or early 2007 (thus we analyzed them using 2005 as the base year before the agreement went into implementation), Costa Rica did not implement the agreement until Jan. 1, 2009 so we have used 2008 as the base year for making comparisons. Like with Nicaragua, U.S. domestic exports to Costa Rica increased more slowly than U.S. imports for consumption from Costa Rica.As a result, U.S. exports as a percent of imports from Costa Rica declined from 77.6 percent in 2009 to 65.6 percent in 2014. As a result, the U.S. balance of trade with Costa Rica, which had been $1.1 billion in 2008, declined to ?$3.3 billion in 2014. For crop production net exports declined by $391 million while manufactured food and kindred products declined by $42 million. The largest decline in net exports came in electronics (-$5.2 billion).The implementation date for Costa Rica, which was so different from the other 5 countries, complicates comparisons across time because for some countries the gains came early in the period while for others it came later on. Just looking at 2014, we see that the balance of trade with all CAFTA-DR countries for crop agriculture was -$2.0 billion, while manufacturing of food and kindred products had a balance of trade of $1.1 billion. The overall balance of trade with these countries was $553 million in 2014.For the 6 years since Costa Rica implemented the agreement, the balance of trade for all export and import commodities for the CAFTA-DR countries was -$6.2 billion; for all agriculture that number was -$12.6 billion. For the 6 years between 2000 and 2005, inclusive, the balance of trade for agriculture for all CAFTA-DR countries was -$7.1 billion. U.S. agriculture does benefit from some trade agreements but the historical data suggest that U.S. agriculture, especially crop agriculture, is not a consistent winner in trade agreement sweepstakes.(Harwood D. Schaffer is a Research Assistant Professor in the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, Institute of Agriculture, University of Tennessee. Daryll E. Ray is Emeritus Professor, Institute of Agriculture, University of Tennessee, and is the former Director of the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center (APAC). (865) 974-3666; Fax: (865) 974-7298; hdschaffer@utk.edu and dray@utk.edu; http://www.agpolicy.org.)
Hamilton resident John T. Jack Barber designed the Panaflex camera that won Academy Awards and Oscars. He raised his family in Los Angles, intertwined with Hollywood and big movie productions.

From high school in 1953, Barber served two years in the Navy Reserve and six years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Then, he went to a technical school on the G.I. Bill to become a machinist.

In 1960, he was hired by Panavision Inc. when there were just 12 people in the company, including the office staff and the owners. He created essential and intricate changes to the camera as film industry needs evolved.

Exodus (1960) was the first movie filmed with the hand-held 65-millimeter camera he designed.

We were working around the clock because the studio had a start date to ship everything overseas, Barber said. This small group of machinists took care of the project working 80 to 90 hours a week. I was taught how to build lenses and hung in there. As the company grew, I moved up into different positions of management.

The Exodus camera was next used on Lawrence of Arabia with specialty lenses built specifically for that production. For Westside Story, Barber created the first 65 mm lens with a manual zoom that was used for the opening shot from the helicopter where they zoomed in to the kids snapping their fingers on the playground. After Westside Story, zoom lenses were motorized for 65 mm lens and later for 35 mm lenses.

Barber has many exciting stories to tell about the fast-paced manufacturing and design changes.

Other big movies include My Fair Lady, Grand Prix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, How the West was Won, Mutiny on the Bounty (for which he created an underwater camera), Its a Mad, Mad, Mad World and more. He was often called to the filming scene and worked with James Garner, Michael Landon and other top stars.

Between 1960 and 1973, his camera design and modifications were used to make 471 films. He designed the reflex camera. He talks about an exciting day of filming with 200 extras when the camera malfunctioned and the entire day had to be reshot. In the 1970s, Panavision designed cameras to be held-held, recording sight and sound simultaneously.

Barber moved up the ladder of Panavision  in 1985 he was Panavisions executive vice president.

According to Barber, Panavision cameras were used for more than 80 percent of prime-time television shows recorded on film and nearly 75 percent of the quality motion pictures. When Barber retired, 27 years after starting with Panavision, he was executive vice president of manufacturing and director of operations.

Barber is writing a book of the history of Panavision. After 200 incredible pages of amazing stories he is up to 1980 and will continue writing the dramatic story of the company to his retirement in 1987.

The industry has changed tremendously  and everything is digital, Barber said.

When the Panavision Company got rid of all his cameras, it presented Barber one of them made into a statue with a plaque thanking him for his work. He keeps it prominently displayed in his home.

For Quenten Tarantinos film, The Hateful Eight, the cinematographer revived lenses from the 1960s.

Its nice to see they were using some of the lenses that I made in the early 60s, Barber said. What they didnt know is most were made for MGMs, Mutiny on the Bounty.

After his retirement from Panavision in 1987, Barber moved his family to the Bitterroot Valley. Friday, he said he loved his career and traveling to countries like Japan, England, and China. He had a business in Corvallis that sold cameras all over the world. He has kept in touch with his Panavision crew over the years but many have passed on. Barber is one of the last of the original Panavision crew that started with the company from its infancy with the late Robert Gottschalk.

Barber and his wife, LaRue, have three children. Their son, Jamie, started in the lowest ranks and now is a director for major motion pictures. Their daughters, Shannon McFadden, works for a local hospital and Stefnie lives in Nevada.

Barber and his wife, LaRue, have three children. Their son, Jamie, started in the lowest ranks and now is a director for major motion pictures. They have two daughters - Stefnie lives in Nevada, and Shannon McFadden, works for a local hospital. McFaddens daughter, Annie Carrol, thrilled the audience in her role as Christine in Phantom of the Opera at Hamilton High School last year.

Despite the thrilling life full of adventure, the Barbers said they prefer living in Montana. Jack Barber proudly displays the ribbons he won for his baking entered in the Ravalli County Fair  quite a change for a machinist who helped create the golden age of Panavision.
BILLINGS  Opening more roads on federal lands will probably not significantly increase Montana elk hunters success and decrease elk populations in places where they are over management objectives, based on the findings of a recent report to the Environmental Quality Council.

The report doesnt specifically state such a finding, but here is an accumulation of some of the facts that the report highlights that could lead to such a conclusion.

 In 2014, about half of the 25,000 elk taken during the hunting season were killed on public land.

 The highest hunter success rates were on private land where access was controlled, either through outfitting, an access fee or allowing only family and friends access.

 The majority of public land in the state that cannot be accessed by the public  about 4,870 square miles  are in isolated sections owned by the state and Bureau of Land Management in eastern Montana. Of these 3.1 million acres, less than one-third are considered elk habitat.

 The lowest elk harvest rates are in northwestern Montana, but elk in those hunting districts are also at or below population objectives.

These facts are just some of the many provided to the Environmental Quality Council last week in a report and interactive map created by legislative environmental analyst Joe Kolman. The report was written at the behest of last years Legislature following the passage of House Joint Resolution 13, sponsored by Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman.

In part, HJ-13 seeks a specific emphasis on identifying reduced hunter opportunity in areas where roads have been closed on federal land or where there are large landlocked areas.

Blaming low elk harvest on the closure of roads on federal lands ignores the real problems, said Mark Lambrecht of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, in testifying before the EQC. He pointed to increasing development in elk habitat, elk herds concentrating on private lands to avoid hunters and the increase in the number of predators on federal lands as three of the biggest issues.

Quentin Kujala, wildlife bureau coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said although road access can affect hunter success and elk distribution to some degree, there are many other factors involved, including available public land forage, the amount of security habitat for elk, nearby private land forage, the amount of hunting pressure during the archery and rifle seasons and hunting regulations and their effect on hunter traffic.

While it is clear some level of access is necessary to get hunters to elk for harvest and retrieval ... its just as clear that road access can reach a point where elk are distributed out of the area, effectively removing them from harvest, Kujala said.

The goal is to try and find some balance in that equation, Kujala said, providing access for hunters without pushing elk off public lands.

Attracting elk and other wildlife to stay on public land is no easy task, he said, although his agency is on the front edge of understanding what the drivers are to wildlife distribution by collaborating on and leading new studies.

Some of FWPs own biologists partnered on a 2013 study that said in part that traditional concepts of elk security habitat which consisted of large tracts of heavily timbered and low road density public lands may need to be refined to include private lands that prohibit or restrict hunter access.

Also referred to as wildlife harboring, private lands holding large wildlife populations have grown to be a big challenge for FWP, with no easy answer available since private property rights are often invoked. Targeting federal lands may therefore seem like an easier political target.

According to Kolmans report, almost 6,000 miles of forest roads have been decommissioned in the past 10 years, mainly in western Montana. The Kootenai National Forest has closed almost 4,000 miles of road to public use, but also has another 4,000 miles of roadway still open to the public.

Overall, we have things pretty good in Montana, said Nick Gevock of the Montana Wildlife Federation. Theres broad satisfaction with what the Forest Service is doing.

Eric Johnston, representing the U.S. Forest Services Region 1 headquarters in Missoula, said the agency is a strong advocate for access to public land but has to try to balance the wishes of people who want different experiences  such as hikers versus off-highway vehicle riders. Even elk hunters have different wants, he pointed out.

White has been an outspoken critic of federal road closures to motorized use and formed a pro-motorized user group  Citizens for Balanced Use  in 2004 to fight the Gallatin National Forests travel plan. Hes also introduced and supported legislation to study the return of federal lands to state management, even though hes said such a transfer is too technically complex a task to undertake.

Neither Kolmans report nor officials on hand could answer some of Whites questions about whether road closures have led to wildlife returning to those affected public lands or if predator pressure has kept that from happening.

I know predators have a definite impact in my district, White said. Its huge.

He also noted that a 2013 University of Montana study found that 58 percent of off-highway vehicle owners said the most important issue facing OHV recreation is access to trails. In that year, there were more than 77,000 registered off-highway vehicles in Montana.

No matter where elk hunters fall on the debate over road access, Kolmans report and map provide a wealth of information.

For example, the hunting district with the highest success rate over the past 10 years is HD 455, a small area in the Big Belt Mountains north of Helena which is part of the Devils Kitchen management unit. Two out of every five elk hunters filled their tag in that district. The district has no inaccessible public land.

For deer hunters, in 2013 more than three out of every five hunters shot a mule deer in District 680, which is bordered on the south by the Missouri River and includes portions of Chouteau and Blaine counties. The best success for whitetail hunters was in HD 260, the Bitterroot Valley, where three out of every five hunters filled their tags in 2013 even though almost 90 percent of the land is privately owned.

The map and report can be found online at the EQCs website.
The Ravalli County 911 Dispatch and Detention Center is hosting a fundraising event to support one of their own on Wednesday.

Area emergency responders and the community will enjoy a dinner, bake sale and silent auction at Hamilton City Hall.

Loren Hochhalter, a sergeant with Ravalli County sheriff department, and his family have had a very rough month. His daughter, Taryn, age 6, is home now after being hospitalized for 22 days with group A strep, sepsis, bone infection and surgery. She still has a long road to recovery.

Loren Hochhalter and his wife Sam have a family with two 18-year-olds, 6-year-old Taryn, and a toddler, who is nearly three.

According to Sam Hochhalter, her daughter went from being completely healthy to a fight for her life that began with a fever on Dec. 11.

Taryn received her yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do just the Wednesday before, Sam Hochhalter said. I cant explain the amount of stuff she went through, but God was totally watching over us. On Wednesday before Christmas Eve when things were so grim I got on my knees and didnt ask God why  he didnt create the bad  I was thanking him for the six years she was given to us.

Sam Hochhalter said it is critical to trust your instincts about your child and be an advocate for them. She believes her insistence on blood draws and procedures saved her daughters life.

Ive not worried about anything  I say that because we are Christians and I am so thankful for that  I honestly feel it was God leading us through everything, she said. All the things I pushed for as a mom. Honestly, God was with her the whole time. It was God watching over our family the whole time.

Sam Hochhalter said the communitys support and love was overwhelming. Friends stepped in to help, co-workers came to the hospital and Taryns kindergarten classmates drew pictures for the walls of her room in the intensive care unit.

My husband got a text about the fundraiser when we were in the hospital, Sam Hochhalter said. At first I had a difficult time with it, but it is awesome of them and what they are putting together is so very generous.

Coworkers Ashley Albright and Erica Alberda stepped up to create Team Taryn and coordinate the fundraiser.

Loren and Sam have given a lot to the community as a deputy and a 911 dispatcher, Albright said. There have been so many inquiries from community members and the fundraiser gives them a chance to help and give back.

Alberda said they planned a huge community gathering fundraiser for the Hochhalters.

So many people in the valley have donated items for the silent auction  including Huey Lewis donating dinner for four with him at the Mission Bistro in Stevensville, Alberda said. Fire fighters and law enforcement of Hamilton, Stevensville and Corvallis have come together and pretty much everyone in the valley that owns a business has donated something.

Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said, The sheriffs office is a family and as soon as they found out that Taryn was sick they stepped up.

This community always steps up when there is a need and we were getting so many inquiries it seemed like it made sense to make a way for people to help, Hoffman said. I wasnt surprised because Ive seen the community do it over and over again but it is neat watching this crew. When the chips are down this group of people will pull together every time.

Loren and Sam Hochhalter said they value the community support.

It is unexpected and were very thankful and appreciative, Loren Hochhalter said.

The Ravalli County 911 Dispatch and Detention Center fundraising dinner, bake sale and silent auction begins at 5 p.m. on Jan. 27 at the Hamilton City Hall Banquet Room, 223 S. Second St. in Hamilton.
Think before signing Montanans for Trap Free Public Lands petition

We Montanans may be approached at the post office, college campuses, and other venues, by paid volunteers representing an organization called Montanans for Trap Free Public Lands. They will ask us to sign a petition which would abolish an important wildlife management tool (leghold traps) on the public lands of Montana.

We need to know that this organization represents out-of-state special interests, whose ultimate goal is to abolish any consumptive use of wildlife across the state. This is their often stated goal.

If trapping is outlawed in Montana, then hunting is next, and yes even fishing (hooks hurt the fish you know.). Case in point, just look to California and whats happened in that state.

Hopefully all true Montanans will see through the charade that Montanans for Trap Free Public Lands is putting forth. Prior to signing anything, I would ask that you think of think before you sign.

Would you like your name to appear with those who:

Resort to sophistry, fear-mongering and demonizing in an effort to impose their will on others?

Are under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for abuse of their 501(c)3 status?

Are under investigation by the Montana Attorney Generals office?

Are under federal investigation for alleged violation of the Hatch Act?

Perhaps your good name and advocacy efforts would be better served by choosing to support ending childhood hunger, curing breast cancer or another cause of your choice which would actually serve humanity?

J.L. Rader

Bozeman
U.S. shouldnt allow refugees into country

Anyone believing that bringing Muslims into this country is a good idea then youre not looking at whats happening in Europe. Europeans are horrified at rapes occurring by Muslim men against innocent women in their countries. Islamic law states that seizure of infidel women and their use as sex slaves is sanctioned.

In Germany on New Years day 1,000 Muslim men committed mass sex assaults on women and this is going on all over Europe. Its not safe for women to walk down streets or be alone. Gay men are being beaten and its such a huge problem that police say they are giving up because of so many cases.

One of the main reasons rapes occur is Europeans have no way to protect themselves. Not only guns are banned but bear spray as well. How does one protect themselves against assault if protection is illegal?

This religion forces others to convert or be killed and they have no respect for women. These are not the kind of people I want living in my country.

Taking away guns is no answer. I dont want what is going on in Europe to happen here.

What is this attitude we have to adapt to them? They are the interloper and must adapt to us.

Donna Gibney

Hamilton
Our nation has a serious problem in how we fund wildland firefighting. As a former fire lookout and wildfire dispatcher, I have seen friends and colleagues work endless hours in a dangerous job to defend local communities time and time again. I believe they deserve better support from the U.S. Congress.

Despite widespread agreement on the seriousness of the fire funding problem  and the solution  some members of Congress are playing politics by making extreme demands that would block public involvement in the management of our national forests.

Decades of fuel loading, combined with an ever-warming climate, have left our forests prone to uncontrollable wildfires and have resulted in more and more large fire events. The cost of fighting these fires is staggering: in 2015, federal agencies spent well over $1.5 billion. That number grows every year.

For the first time, firefighting will consume over half of the Forest Service budget. In another decade, over two-thirds of the agencys budget will be spent on suppression of large fires.

The solution is clear: fund firefighting for the most extreme fires the same way we fund all other natural disasters. This way, we provide the support fire managers and firefighters need, while ensuring that the Forest Service has the tools it needs to manage our forests for the benefit of the American people.

Thats what the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act does. It allows money that the Forest Service allocates to various departments  including timber management  to receive funding while fire season is in full swing.

Every year, the Forest Service borrows funding from other departments during fire season, sidelining regular forest management practices like trail maintenance and fuels reduction. This bill will fix that problem, allowing the Forest Service to return to the work of managing our forests.

One of the most bipartisan bills in Congress, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act has incredible support: 146 members of the House of Representatives and 21 members of the Senate have co-sponsored legislation to treat fires like other natural disasters.

Simple enough, right? Not quite. Members of the House, aided by a handful of senators, decided to take the fire funding legislation hostage. Their demands for freeing it include radical changes in forest management that many Montanans dont support.

To make matters worse, Montanas junior senator, Steve Daines, joined a congressman from Arkansas and other House extremists and their demands to put logging above all other forest uses and cut off public involvement in forest management at the knees. Its irresponsible and a missed opportunity to only address funding issues without reform, Sen. Daines said.

Montanans disagree. What is irresponsible is withholding vital fire funding for a program that desperately needs it. Instead of stopping at realistic, balanced forest management, Daines wants to swing the pendulum to another extreme  one where timber harvesting is first and all other uses, including recreation and fire prevention, are a distant second. Daines argues that the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act does not address the root of the problem, but he is wrong. How to better prevent large wildfires than allow the Forest Service to focus on fuels reduction and defensible space?

Rapidly rising wildfire funding costs have led to drastic cuts in funding for forest and watershed restoration  22 percent in 15 years, maintenance of recreation sites has been slashed by two-thirds, and road maintenance has been cut in half.

Here in Montana, these costs are real. In southwestern Montana, plans for a popular Hyalite Loop Trail were scrapped, and road maintenance was delayed. In western Montana, prescriptive forest thinning for fuel reduction was cut in the Bitterroot, and larch regeneration plans were upended in the Kootenai.

Back in D.C., Congress adjourned for 2015 failing to fix this major funding problem that threatens our communities and our outdoor way of life.

Please, Sen. Daines, for the sake of our forests and all of us who enjoy them, stand up for our wildland firefighters. Support a clean, bipartisan solution to our wildfire-funding problem.

Playing politics with our forests isnt good for any of us.

Allison Linville lives in Missoula and has worked as a firefighter and studied fire management policies for six years.




Rick Moran

This is exactly what the US needs in these troubled times; a president who will downsize our soda cups.

Former New York city Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a trial balloon yesterday to see if there was any interest in him running for president as an independent. Most GOP politicos heaped scorn on the idea with many advising the billionaire to save his money and stay home.

Politico:

Republicans campaigning in New Hampshire said they thought Bloomberg's entry into the race would only help the GOP in the general election.

"Gun control's not that popular in our country, so I think it'll be probably splitting some of the Democrat vote if that's one of his key issues to run on," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-K.Y.) as he left the New Hampshire GOP's First in the Nation Town Hall Nashua, N.H. "That seems to be what's activated in and inspired him in recent elections - gun control. So if he splits the Democrat vote and goes for gun control, that might be good for Republicans."

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who made an unsuccessful run for a New Hampshire Senate seat in 2014, said he believes Bloomberg could also take votes away from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

"That's great," Brown said of a potential Bloomberg run. "He's just so liberal and out of touch with Main Street America."

Carly Fiorina, who spoke at the same forum in Nashua, invoked Bloomberg's name in dismissing liberal calls to focus on climate change.

"With all due respect, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - and Michael Bloomberg for that matter - climate change is not our greatest threat," she said.

Bloomberg's trial balloon comes as no shock to Iowa insiders, who have been inundated with Republican and Democratic presidential candidates for the past several months and have had a front row seat to the Trump-and-Cruz show.

"A move like that from Michael Bloomberg shouldn't surprise anyone, given what's happened to date in this cycle," said David Oman, an Iowa Republican supporting Jeb Bush and a former chief of staff to Gov. Terry Branstad. "The phrase 'Come on in, the water's fine' may be relevant."

But even if Bloomberg's "dream scenario" of Cruz as the Republican nominee and Sanders as the Democrat came to pass, Oman remarked, there are many weeks to go before the two major parties decide. "It's way early. No one's cast a ballot. We'll see in a week in Iowa."

While the American people tell pollsters they want someone else to vote for, there is no great clamor for an independent to enter the race. But just for the sake of argument, what happens if Bloomberg takes the plunge, who would he hurt more in a general election?

Most political experts are coming around to the idea that general elections are base elections. The candidate who can mobilize the base and get them to the polls on election day will be the winner. President Obama's 2012 campaign will be studied closely for years. It's emphasis was on social media to identify supporters, target them, and then use a sophisticated get out the vote operation to make sure they got to the polls. It's a data driven process and the GOP is hopelessly outmatched.

In a base election, Bloomberg is even more irrelevant than he would be otherwise. His pro choice, pro gun control, pro gay marriage, pro big government stances will attract far more Democrats than Republicans, so the notion that because Bloomberg ran as a New York city Republican, he will attract Republican votes is absurd.

Bloomberg wouldn't hurt anybody in the presidential race. His trial balloon popped almost as soon as he let it go.
Dirgha Raj Prasai

We all know-Nepalese rulers under the patronage of foreign forces by instigating fear and with the threat of weapons have been institutionalizing anarchy and draining the state coffer. Due to the culprit political elements, the Nepalese nationality, royal institution and democracy is wounded, sovereignty is in peril. Three so called big three party Congress, UML, Maoist's Bahun leaders are imposing autocratic regime to Nepal. The traitors (Congress, UMLs, and Maoists) are going to exercise in futility. They are playing the dangerous role to destroy the sovereign identities of the constitutional monarchy and world Hindu kingdom of Nepal. Nepal is the pious Hindu country in the lapse of the Himalayas, which is beautiful, quiet, the birth place of Buddha and origin of Hinduism. Besides being the country of Everest it is equally popular with its diverse cultural values. This is the land where civilization began and is also known as the country of 'SANGRILA.' Nepal is as holy place to Hindus & Buddhists, as Mecca for Muslims and Jerusalem to Jews and Christians.

Nepal is a country sandwiched between China and India. Because of its geo-political situation, Nepal's sovereignty has always been very sensitive. Nepal is rich culturally and naturally. Our successful foreign policy would be to maintain our culture, traditions and indigenous identities to balance between China and India. Actually, Nepal is a paradise which provides calmness and rejuvenation to the mind. This lovely place is also said as the potpourri of ethnicity and has many cultural landscapes. This land of bio-diversity has so many cultural and religious landmarks that give a soothing experience to everyone. Nepal is a rich and complex mix of different cultures and traditions, melded over thousands of years into a unique whole.

It is a matter of grief that the Nepalese Maoists are the followers of Christianity. Sandhya Jain writes- Daily Pioneer Indian newspaper- 'Sonia Gandhi's Christian lobby and Nepali Maoists have become hotbeds of Christian activities, While second-in-command Baburam Bhattarai and his Family are openly Christian, Prachanda does not proclaim his religious affiliations but his wife's entire family is Christian. His guru, Chandra Pradesh Gajurel, was a Christian preacher. Sources estimate that the 42,000-strong Maoist army would be 30 per cent Christian, but the cadre is kept in the dark that the top leadership is predominantly Christian." The question is, how did Nepal's news media miss this undoubtedly a big story?'-06 Sep 2007 http://www.dailypioneer.com

'Another regretful matter is that; India is a predominantly Hindu nation. The Indian population is 83% of Hindus. India is the only country in the world where the Hindu majority population had ruled by the other 17% minority communities. Sonia Gandhi, the former President of Congress Party which was practiced Catholic Christian. Her son Rahul Gandhi is also a Christian. Sonia's daughter Priyanka Vadera and her husband are also Christians. India's Defense Minister is A. K. Anthony, a Christian. Sonia's closest advisors are: Margaret Alva Oscar Fernandez, Ambika Soni, all Christians. (Yes, despite Ambika' s Hindu sounding name, she is a Christian)'.

The religious structure of Nepalese society is formally Hindu; but here and only here the interplay of peoples and their religious traditions has produced a rich fusion of Hindu and Buddhist faiths. It is common for both Hindus and Buddhists to worship at the same shrine, for many gods and saints are cross-over, often known by a different name but holding the same attributes. The original inhabitants of the valley were animists, a tradition which survives in the multitude of spirits, demons, local deities, and stones which receive dutiful worship to this day. Hindu and Buddhist traditions adapted from the pre-existing animist practices and from each other. Indeed, in the medieval period, when both religions' practice adopted mystical, Tantric traditions, they were almost indistinguishable from each other.

Nepal's History and Religions Nepal is a rich and complex mix of different cultures and traditions, melded over thousands of years into a unique whole. For the western traveler there is much that is familiar, and many surprises. Family and religion are of paramount importance, and are constantly reflected throughout the culture. Nepal moves to a different rhythm than the West. The notes here are meant only to tantalize you into visiting this amazing place.

Prithvi Narayan Shah had already unified (1768) 54 small fiefdoms-the Hindu states to build a large, expanded and greater Nepal-the only one glorious Hindu Kingdom in the world. But after the movement of April 2006 and the party leaders Congress, UML and Maoists came to power they smashed the statue of the great King, contempt and insulted him and called off the birth anniversary of the late king as a day of national unity. Why? The Secularism (terrorism), Republic (anarchism), Federalism (feudalism) is the agendas of RAW, CIA and Christian Mission but not the agendas of Congress, UNL Maoist. They are the puppets of RAW & CIA. They declared secularism, republic and federalism following the agendas of RAW and EU in 3rd Ashoj 2072 BS (20th Sep. 2015 AD) to terrorize Nepal. But, Congress (I) and its regime chased away in the 2014 election of India and the BJP could captured the regime. When the Congress, UML and Maoist declared the secularism and republic in Nepal, the Hindu nationalist Party BJP and Modi Govt furious and started to blockade in Nepal's boarder. That is becoming the great problem in Nepal.

A country's existence and prestige can gradually be eroded by finishing off its faith and belief tradition and culture and the creator of nation. If anyone wants the assurance of integrity and lasting peace in this country, one must not be confused about the country's century's old customs and religion prestige as well as the builder of nationality and unity.

Having diverse cohesive communities, Nepal has built up as a nation in a long historical process. Nepal was worthy to be bowed down by Hindus all over the world. This is the highest honor Nepal could receive from the international community. Nepal's prestige and honor would elevate further if this country is declared as "Hindu and Buddhist" country, instead of a secular state.

But, at present why the peaceful country where Lord Buddha was born has become the venue of confrontations? The main causes of the crisis is the abolishing our culture and traditions. Some are going to abolish the creations of Prithbinarayan Shah and to destroy his statute. Hindu and Buddha both are the original assets of Nepal. In the evolutionary process of the world's civilization, Hindu philosophy is taken as liberal, simple and tolerant. A Nepali Scholar former minister Dinbandhu Aryal explains'Hinduism is the sum and substance of the traditional humane cordiality. The African leader late Nelson Mandella was impressed from Vedas, legends and Upanishads. He wanted to be converted Hindu for that purpose he wanted to perform penance or provide donation if necessary. He would be gratified and feel fortunate'

Hinduism is the most liberal and tolerant of religions. How can the oldest and most liberal of religions be thrown away just like that? No religion (and certainly not Hinduism & Buddhism) should be made a political issue. Because of this unique heritage and culture, Nepal has been contributing an ingenuity of resolving its conflicts and differences. Why the culprit leaders of (Congress, UML & Maoists) party didn't try to understand the sentiments of the people? It is the main duty for all the leaders to care the basic norms and values of the nation. But, by declaring Nepal a secular state & republic, the visionless party leaders have done just that: tried to put together the unmixable, which could be dangerous for the stabilized Nepali society.

No one has right to trample believe and conviction of the people rights. A prominent editor of Peoples Review Pushpa Raj Pradhan writes- 'During the Indra Jatra festival, the Newar community was agitated when they were faced with the budget cut for marking the festival. The Maoist leaders are seen reluctant in preserving our own identity.' The Hindus have the freedom to pursue their own way of observing the religion. If Nepal is to be declared a secular country, all countries, which call themselves as Christian or Muslim countries should also be declared secular countries. If they want Nepal to become a secular country, then they should also be willing to shun their 'Cross' of the Christians, 'sign of David of the Jews and 'Kava' of Muslims. However, it needs to be pondered that even if Nepal was a Hindu Kingdom, its nature was like a secular country as Hindus have never done anything that would harass or trouble other religions.

The Hindus and the Buddhists are more than three billions. It is a scared land for more than a billion Hindus and Buddhists. So, it is our request not to exercise in ineffectiveness. In the name of transforming the country into New Nepal this is not the way to destroy our culture and traditions. 'OM' is a symbol of Vedic Knowledge. Hindus, Buddhist's Mantra. It provides a fine example of Symbolism. Symbolism is needed in all fields of human knowledge like science, religion and politics. Spoken sounds of words are expressed as Alphabets and Numbers with Symbols by writing. 'OM' and 'OM Mani Padme Hum' is a language of Sanskrit. It is universe.

So, we should have to think independently and have to come to our own conclusion. Nepalese nationalism has evolved and been consolidated more through social and cultural exchanges than conflicts. Nepalese monarchy has been offering balance role among the miscellaneous communities, castes and religions. So, to keep intact our sovereignty, indigenous cultural assets, there should have to reinstate the Hindu kingdom and constitutional monarchy to maintain harmonious relation with BJP- the Hindu nationalist party (BJP) of India including the Hindus in all over the world.

Email: dirgharajprasai@gmail.com
Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003.
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Day 7 - our last day in Italy - and there were a lot of places we haven't visited! Tough decision but since it's our last day, we...
The Times of India

Queer movement has to look beyond LGBT rights

Arun Dev | TNN | Oct 24, 2015, 04.40 AM IST

BENGALURU: "The LGBT community should have been out on the streets after two dalit boys were killed or a dalit man was burned for entering a temple. Sexuality is just part of the movement, there is much more to do," said Sumathi Murthy, a musician and LGBT activist.

Murthy was speaking at a modest community hall on Infantry Road, where the LGBT community had gathered on Friday to look back at the movement in the city - In the name of pride. They felt they could no longer restrain themselves to the cause of LGBT rights.

"Why is it important for the LGBT community to look beyond itself? Because the notion of unnatural in our country is broader than just sexuality," said Arvind Narrain, the Geneva director of ARC International and founder-member, Alternative Law Forum. "In India when we talk about the idea of what is against the order of nature, its not just sexuality. Even inter-caste and inter-religious relationships are under attack. A persons right to love is under attack," he said.

Although not in favour of the LGBT community, the 2013 Supreme Court verdict is an opportunity. "In the early 2000s, section 377 was something only law students spoke about, in fact it was hardly discussed. But now, after the verdict, people are talking about section 377," said Akkai Padmashal, a prominent LGBT activist.

"Cynicism is a sin for the movement," said Arvind, adding that if they had been fighting for civil rights, they would have achieved their goal by now.

"We have laws to curb atroc ities against women and kids. But that hasnt ended their plight. Our fight will continue," added Sumathi.
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Greetings! I am a political scientist , specializing in International Relations , my research and teaching focus on ethnic conflict and civil-military relations . I watch way too much TV, and I like movies as well so I tend to write about both and find IR stuff in pop culture. I rant alot about American politics and sometimes about Canadian politics. I like to take ideas I once learned a long time ago and apply them to whatever strikes my fancy.


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Jan-23-2016 21:42 TweetFollow @OregonNews Silence of the Arab Regimes in the Destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque The silence of Arab nations is leading to large numbers of indigenous Muslim and Christian Palestinians packing up and moving away from Palestine.

Sheikh Nimr

Photo courtesy: el-akhbar.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - The efforts to destroy Al-Aqsa mosque in the Holy City of Jerusalem will not stop; the current confrontation in Palestine is the most vital evidence of that fact and it adds to the gravity of the situation every day. For many years, political leaders from Arab nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, (a country that claims to have a leadership of the Muslim world) have remained silent over the Palestine issue. The attitude of casual dismissal goes well beyond Palestine too, to countries like Iran. Just a few days ago, Saudi Arabia launched psychological warfare against Iran over a suspicious fire at the Saudi embassy. However, standards dictate that it is not proper to discuss this act, that is contrary to Islamic standards. Nowhere is the impact of this behavior and disregard more negative than in Palestine, a nation that lives under the boot heel of Zionist Israel. Why do the supporters of Saudi Arabia stand silent against the Zionists? Why do the countries like UAE, Qatar, Somalia, Kuwait, Sudan, Djibouti and other countries, as I am shying saying them country, not defend the rights of Muslims in Palestine, which has been occupied for more than 60 years or even protest for it? The only answer is that the Saudi-based Wahhabi rulers continue to ignore their ties to the holy city and work with the Zionist regime of Israel, for financial reward and political gain. In the process, they cut their ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. These countries that are so far behind Iran in terms of population, culture, land area and even in terms of democracy, have no use for Iran's ongoing criticism of Saudi Arabia's continual human rights violations and shameful and vastly unpopular war against Yemen. Of course the puppet authorities in these countries do not want to see themselves against the Quds, this leaves a bad impression. At the same time, they don't want to speak out against the occupying regime and the US, because their interests will be in danger. In the past few years, large scale attacks and plots include the burning of Al-Aqsa mosque, and contaminating the area of the mosque by Ariel Sharon in 2000. The silence of Arab nations is leading to large numbers of indigenous Muslim and Christian Palestinians packing up and moving away. Each family that leaves is a victory for the Zionists so intent on possessing and controlling the area that is indescribably sacred to all of the monotheistic faiths. Zionists are constantly trying to Judaize the city. These actions are taking place with little to no reaction from Arabic countries. Their dead silence is proof that the issues regarding the most treasured and celebrated mosque in the world and the constant suffering of Palestinians, are not matters of interest to these countries At this critical moment, there is no doubt that these sold-out kings have come up short against the arrogance and lies of the Zionist regime. it is as if they have dedicated Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Zionist regime with their own hands. It seems that the way to deal with the offensive Zionist regime and reactionary Arab regimes like Saudi Wahhabism is resistance and steadfastness of brave hearts like martyr Nimr who demonstrated with his enlightenment and insight that the only way to deal with this unjust verdict is exposing these tyrants dangerous role in the Islamic world. _________________________________________

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Jan-23-2016 22:06 TweetFollow @OregonNews Criminal Tendencies of Masrur Barzani, Son of Kurdish President One story about Masrour Barzani that has mostly stayed off the radar, involves a failed relationship with a 19-year-old girl who was murdered in October 2012.

Masrur Barzani, photo: swedenkurd.wordpress.com



(SALEM, Ore.) - Masrur Barzani, son of Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, may fill his father's role someday, even though he is a criminal in nations like Austria where he has been charged with Murder. Human rights organizations say the spy agency he runs is ruthless and known for things like torture and suppressing journalists. A 2008 article from the blog MusingsonIraq (http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2008/08/son-of-kurdistan-president-goes-on.html) explains how the son of Kurdistan's President ended up in big trouble, "In August 2008 Masrur Barzani, son of Kurdistan regional President Masoud Barzani, went on trial in Austria for attempted murder. In February, the younger Barzani was arrested along with five of his bodyguards in Vienna for shooting Kurdish opposition writer Dr. Kamal Sayid Qadir. Qadir was seriously injured in the incident. He is an international law expert and professor in Austria, and a critic of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Kurdish officials originally denied that Masrur was even in the country, but he is now on trial for the attack." The article states that after his release in December 2006, Dr. Qadir filed a lawsuit against Masrur Barzani and four other KDP officials in Austria. "The suit charged them with kidnapping and torture. Qadir also continued to write critically about Kurdish rule. In a June 2007 piece for the Middle East Quarterly, he charged the Kurdish authorities of corruption, nepotism, torture, political assassinations, and other abuses. Its these actions that probably led to his shooting in Vienna in February 2008 by Masrurs men." With regard to Kurdistan leader's illegal actions against its own citizens, Amnesty International (AI) wrote, "Since 2000, thousands of people have been detained arbitrarily and held without charge or trial in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in some cases for more than seven years. "The vast majority were suspected members or supporters of local Islamist organizations, including both armed groups and legal political parties that do not use or advocate violence as part of their political platform. Some were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention." AI reports that politically motivated arrests are carried out by members of the Parastin, the intelligence agency of the KDP. The Parastin is headed by Masrour Barzani, son of the KRGs President. Their report explains that the Parastin are reported to have committed serious human rights abuses in the secret detention facilities that they run. "They are also reported to have threatened journalists, writers and academics who have spoken out against alleged corruption within the KDP". One story about Masrour Barzani that has mostly stayed off the radar, involves a failed relationship with a 19-year-old girl who was murdered in October 2012. According to a source that requested not to be named, the girl, who was Lebanese, was raped and murdered by the son of Kurdistan's President after her family rejected his involvement with her. Sources say that on the day of the girl's murder, Masoud Barzani took an unexpected trip to Italy's capital, Rome, where he was able to settle the matter and cover up another big scandal for his family. _________________________________________

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Judge denies conspiracy-laden effort to stop Kansas ballot drop boxes

A federal judge in Kansas Wednesday denied a conspiracy-laden effort to stop the use of ballot drop boxes and electronic voting machines.
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 New Jersey appeals court upholds parole board's monitoring of sex offenders using lie detector machines | Main | Lots of notable new year marijuana reform developments via Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform 

January 24, 2016

Making a pitch for judicial second looks while asking "Did I Sentence a Murderer or a Cooperative Witness?"

The question in the second half of the title of this post is the headline of this New York Times commentary authored by Stefan Underhill, a federal district judge in Connecticut. But the headline does not reflect what thus commentary is really about: it makes a pitch for creating a significant new judicial second-look mechanism in federal sentencing. I recommend this commentary in full, and here are excerpts:

In 2006, I sentenced a man to 18 years in prison. I have been wrestling with that decision ever since. As a federal district judge, Ive sentenced hundreds of people, but Ive rarely agonized as much as I did over this mans fate. He was the enforcer for a brutal gang of drug dealers in Bridgeport, Conn., known as the Terminators, and had sold heroin, assaulted rival dealers and murdered a potential witness. But after a falling-out with the head of the gang, he turned over a stash house to the police and fled the state. When captured in 2001, he immediately confessed to the murder and later testified as a star witness for the prosecution. Thus arose my problem: He had committed horrible crimes, but he also seemed to be making an unusually sincere effort to atone for them. So which man was I sentencing? The murderer or the remorseful cooperator? The prosecutor rewarded his cooperation by filing a socalled 5K motion, which allowed me to ignore the mandatory life sentence he otherwise would have faced. Still, after weighing the seriousness of his crimes, I sentenced him to 18 years, which was more time than even the prosecutor wanted.... In the years that followed, I often wondered whether his remorse was strong enough to overcome his past. In 2012, I had the chance to find out. While attending a conference on sentencing issues, I learned that he was serving time in a prison nearby. I wanted to know whether he had become a better citizen or a better criminal. So I asked a prison staffer if I could meet with him in private. That the warden felt no need to post a guard was my first clue that he had changed for the better. He was working in his first real job at the prison industries factory and had been promoted to supervisor. He showed me recommendations from prison employees for good jobs on the outside. He brought a folder full of certificates he had earned for attending classes. He talked lovingly about his girlfriend and daughter, with whom he planned to live as a family after his release. The meeting made me proud of his accomplishments, but sad that I had not been more confident in him. He still had several years left on his sentence, but it was clear that he had served enough time. After I returned to my office, I contacted the prosecutor and his lawyer and encouraged them to find a way to get him released early. But they told me there was no straightforward way to shorten a federal inmates sentence, even if prison officials acknowledge that more jail time is a waste of time and money. So he had to stay in prison, at an annual cost of $30,000 to taxpayers. The tragedy of mass incarceration has recently focused much attention on the need to reform three-strikes laws, mandatory minimums and the federal sentencing guidelines, which often direct judges to impose excessive sentences. We also need a mechanism for judges to reevaluate the sentences theyve imposed. Its true that federal prisoners can earn up to 15 percent off the length of their sentences if they stay out of trouble. But this doesnt incentivize prisoners to take advantage of work or study opportunities. Instead, Congress should enact legislation that would allow every sentenced defendant one opportunity to petition his sentencing court for a reduction based on extraordinarily good conduct and rehabilitation in prison. This second-look review should be available only to prisoners who are supported by their wardens. To minimize the increased workload on busy federal judges, each prisoner should be allowed only a single opportunity to seek early release and do so only after serving at least half of the sentence imposed (or two-thirds of a mandatory minimum sentence). Factors in support of an early release should include more than just clean disciplinary records in prison. Job readiness, success with drug treatment, completion of vocational and educational training and extraordinary family or health circumstances should count as well.... I dont advocate for a return to the flawed federal parole system that was essentially abolished in the 1980s. In that system, a judge who believed that a defendant should spend three years locked up would impose a nineyear sentence because parole was likely to be granted after he served one-third of it. But if that defendants parole was delayed or denied, the judges original intent was impeded. In contrast, my proposal would give the sentencing judge control. This makes sense because judges know whether a particular defendant got a break at sentencing or not and can best gauge the extent of positive change in a person.... A second look to adjust sentences would give inmates an incentive to prepare themselves for productive lives on the outside, and allow judges like me to correct sentences that turn out, in hindsight, to be unnecessarily long. This would improve the fairness of our criminal justice system and increase the publics confidence in our courts.

UPDATE : Intriguingly, since I posted this piece, the New York Times changed its on-line headline to "Did the Man I Sentenced to 18 Years Deserve It?". And, echoing my own gut instincts, it seems that more than a few commentors think that someone who murdered a potential witness deserves at least 18 years in prison. In light of that view, I think the most notable aspect of this sentencing story is fact that the initial 18-year prison sentence "was more time than even the prosecutor wanted."

January 24, 2016 at 11:01 AM | Permalink

Comments

The first question I would be asking is: After his flight from the gang did he actually cease criminal activity? Or was it instead simply ceasing association with the old gang.

He would, of course, be far more sympathetic in the former case than the latter but the article doesn't provide an answer. Or perhaps there wasn't enough time between flight and capture to tell.

I forget the case name, but I recall one of the SCOTUS decisions that anchored the ability of the district court judge to vary from the already advisory guidelines featured a defendant who had made a serious effort at going clean, that he had made the financially painful choice to give up his lucrative role in the conspiracy.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Jan 24, 2016 2:12:51 PM

He still killed someone, so the idea that incarcerating him for the full 18 years is a waste is silly.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 24, 2016 2:33:04 PM

I think the idea of a second look on the conditions set out by the judge is excellent.

Posted by: Dave from Texas | Jan 24, 2016 7:22:41 PM

Judge Underhill is troubled that he only mitigated the sentence of an admitted heroin dealer and murderer to 18 years? From the starting point of a mandatory term of life? And in a case involving the murder of a witness, which also strikes at the heart of the judicial process?

Good golly. I'm fine with 18 years in light of defendant's cooperation. But to wring our hands that it is too much is to devalue human life and the terror of violence on communities.

Posted by: USPO | Jan 24, 2016 7:49:23 PM

USPO has a point, but "more time than even the prosecutor wanted" should be tossed in there. Guy is not up there on the sympathy meter though encouraging good behavior and change in prison makes the proposal worthwhile.

Posted by: Joe | Jan 24, 2016 9:19:39 PM

USPO has a point, but "more time than even the prosecutor wanted" should be tossed in there. Guy is not up there on the sympathy meter though encouraging good behavior and change in prison makes the proposal worthwhile.

Posted by: Joe | Jan 24, 2016 9:19:39 PM

Just the sort of situation the federal clemency process was envisaged to correct - if only it worked! But I agree with the judge's recommendation for reform. The danger, as he expressed himself, is that some judges might be prone to over-sentence in the first place however. The need for a working system of clemency (in the absence of a radical reform of sentencing to reduce the tendency for excessive prison terms) remains.

Posted by: peter | Jan 25, 2016 8:44:56 AM

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Despite being issued a cease-and-desist from a Utah Sheriff's Department, Uber will continue to use their helicopter service at the Sundance Film Festival.

As reported earlier this week, Uber has teamed up with the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus to transport Sundance Film Festival-goers in H125 and H130 helicopters from the Salt Lake City Airport to Park City. According to The Hollywood Reporter, rides on the "UberChopper" cost $200 trips (the rate increases to $300 for night trips), and also includes complete Uber SUV service to locations around Park City from the town's helicopter pads. Hey, it's cheaper than trying to Uber from Outside Lands.

But the Associated Press writes, the local sheriff's department isn't down. As Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez told the AP that he has grounds to ticket or arrest pilots, because Uber and Airbus failed to get the proper permits to land in fields. "I don't want to arrest people and take them to jail," Martinez said. "But that is an option available to me."

Hundreds of residents complained about the helicopter landings. "It was the people who came storming into Sundance, started flying their helicopters and landing them," said prosecutor Robert Hilder, who sought a restraining order against the choppers.

Meanwhile, Uber and Airbus say there was no permit to apply for anyway, according to Business Insider. On Friday, Judge Kara Pettit ruled that prosecutors against Uber and Airbus didn't have enough evidence against a restraining order, but would revisit the case on Monday. But by then, it'll be too late anyway, because that's when the chopper service ends.

"This is an interesting case," Hilder told the AP. "It deals with a lot that's happened in the world and happened very quickly. You essentially have a revolution in transportation."


Last week I brought you the first in a series of posts on the treasure trove of San Francisco images of the last century from the archive of Indiana University, and the collection of late hobbyist photographer Charles W. Cushman. Cushman traveled for his job with Standard & Poor's, and clearly seems to have had a special love for our city, which he visited many times between 1938 and his death in 1972, taking some of the first color images of the Golden Gate Bridge in the process  he was an early adopter of Kodak's Kodachrome slide film, which he used throughout his life.

You can read more about Cushman in this great multi-media package from NPR, and this week we're looking at photos he took over a week-long trip to SF in March 1952.

You see him wander Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Chinatown, Presidio Heights, Sutro Heights, and the Mission, and there's a particularly shocking image of a rundown Victorian sitting at what's now a pretty posh corner at 21st and Church, approximately a block away from Zuckerberg's new palace.

Included among this collection are photos of the then brand new Russell House at the corner of Washington and Maple Streets in Presidio Heights. Built by Levi Strauss heiress Madeleine Haas Russell and designed by German architect Erich Mendelsohn, the modern masterpiece is Mendelsohn's only residential project in the US, and Cushman referred to it in his notes as "The very last word in San Francisco dwellings." Curbed SF talked about the house here, and below you can see what it looks like now, obscured by trees but minus the power lines that are now underground, via Google Street View.


This site was created by Larry Shively who is researching the history of the Shively families. The goal is to have a site where all Shively researchers can share and ask questions in regards to their Shively lines. The largest majority of the Shively family records are located in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. There are early records of Shively's also in Virginia and Kentucky. There are not many established Shively lineages back to Europe. There are documented lineages to Switzerland and Germany. Through the sharing of information from all of our research it is desired that all can learn about our Shively families.
I Miss my Husband very much! Todd was simply all about loving God, County, Family and People. My love , My husband is with Jesus in Heaven. He enjoyed communicating with each of you on Sierra Dragon's Breath. Todd was a Great, Loving, Kind man and will be Missed. Love you honey! Till wee meet again.
Wayne State College Professor of Life Science Barbara Hayford is among 10 co-principal investigators awarded a five-year, $4.2-million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which will enable researchers from the U.S. and Mongolia to develop wide-ranging scientific knowledge of river systems spanning two continents. Dr. James Thorp, University of Kansas professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and senior scientist with the Kansas Biological Survey, serves as the lead principal investigator on the new grant.

The research team wants to provide research experiences for under-represented participants, particularly rural and Native American students, Hayford said. We will use our project to stimulate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program recruitment in Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, and South Dakota, all states that are largely underrepresented in science, and we want to use funds to support faculty and student research at primarily undergraduate institutions.

Thorp said he and his co-investigators are interested in the importance to ecological processes of different spatial scales  ecoregions down to valley-scale patches within rivers, dubbed Functional Process Zones  and how they interact. For example, what are the appropriate scales to study system metabolism, food webs and biodiversity traits within macrosystems? he said.

Researchers will sample nine rivers in the U.S. Great Plains, Great Basin and Mountain Steppes. These include the Platte, Niobrara, Humboldt, Bear and Snake rivers, among others. In Mongolia, theyll investigate nine rivers within similar ecoregions as those in the U.S. Thorp said that studies of each continent could reveal the future of the other: North American river systems, with their dams and presence of non-native fauna, could foreshadow the future of rivers in Mongolia; in turn Mongolia, which has one of the strongest warming signals in the North Temperate Zone could indicate changes U.S. rivers will undergo in a future of boosted temperatures.

This project builds on my past success with NSF-funded projects mentoring undergraduate researchers in aquatic ecology and biodiversity studies, Hayford said. All seven of the WSC students who worked in Mongolia or Nebraska with me since 2008 have gone on to careers in environmental education and outreach or have continued their studies at graduate school. Some have done both.

WSC undergraduate researchers are hired as research assistants, Hayford continued. They are part of a team of international experts in large river ecology and biodiversity, and they will work in the field and the lab with some of the most successful and influential aquatic ecologists and biodiversity experts in the world. This type of experience is extremely valuable for the next generation of ecological researchers, to help them learn methods and to see how the science is done.

National Science Foundations Macrosystem Biology program in the Division of Environmental Biology is supporting this work. KU provided a vital grant of more than $20,000 for a February 2014 workshop that brought together scientists from the U.S., Mongolia and France to develop the ideas for this proposal.

The Department of Life Sciences at Wayne State has always been very supportive of undergraduate research in terms of work space, supplies, and mentoring, Hayford said. We have seen that WSC students become interested in research when they see their peers working in the lab or the field, analyzing data, and presenting their results at meetings. Word spreads, and through peer-interactions we increase the scope of undergraduate research in the Life Sciences and at WSC.

Wayne State undergraduate researchers who participated in this type of NSF-funded research in the past have presented their studies at national and international meetings, Hayford said. We expect the new undergraduate researchers to also have these opportunities. I will hire two students per summer over about three summers. I also may have the chance to hire students to work in the lab at WSC. Our students will be working on some of the most spectacular and interesting rivers in the central and western U.S.

Co-principal investigators on the project are: Mark Pyron, Ball State University; Jon Gelhaus and Alain Maasri, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia; Walter Dodds, Kansas State University; Bazartseren Boldgiv, National University of Mongolia; Olaf Jensen, Rutgers University; Scott Kenner, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Dan Reuman, University of Kansas; and Sudeep Chandra, University of Nevada Reno.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | Within minutes, the revelry of New Year's Eve in Dubai turned to horror as those gathered for fireworks downtown watched flames race up the side of one of the glistening city's most prominent luxury hotels.

But the fire at the 63-story The Address Downtown Dubai wasn't the first, second or even third blaze to spread swiftly along the exterior of skyscrapers that have risen from the desert at a torrid pace in and around Dubai over the past two decades.

It was at least the eighth such fire in the Emirates alone, and similar blazes have struck major cities across the world, killing dozens of people, according to an Associated Press survey.

The reason, building and safety experts say, is the material used for the buildings' sidings, called aluminum composite panel cladding. While types of cladding can be made with fire-resistant material, experts say those that have caught fire in Dubai and elsewhere weren't designed to meet stricter safety standards and often were put onto buildings without any breaks to slow or halt a possible blaze.

While new regulations are now in place for construction in Dubai and other cities, experts acknowledge they have no idea how many skyscrapers have the potentially combustible paneling and are at risk of similar fast-moving fires.

"It's like a wildfire going up the sides of the building," said Thom Bohlen, chief technical officer at the Middle East Center for Sustainable Development in Dubai. "It's very difficult to control and it's very fast. It happens extremely fast."

Cladding came into vogue over a decade ago, as Dubai's building boom was well underway. Developers use it because it offers a modern finish to buildings, allows dust to wash off during rains, and is relatively simple and cheap to install.

Dubai has since burgeoned into a cosmopolitan business hub of more than 2 million people. As in other Emirati cities, foreign residents far outnumber the local population. Expatriate professionals in particular are drawn to the ear-popping apartments the city's hundreds of high-rises offer, and skyscraper hotels accommodate millions of guests each year. The city-state aims to attract 20 million visitors annually by the time it hosts the World Expo in 2020.

That means the risk of high-rise fires touches people from all over the world.

Typically, the cladding is a half-millimeter (0.02-inch) thick piece of aluminum attached to a foam core that is sandwiched to another similar skin. The panels are then affixed to the side of a building, one piece after another.

The biggest problem lies with panel cores that are all or mostly polyethylene, a common type of plastic, said Andy Dean, the Mideast head of facades at the engineering consultancy WSP Global.

"The ones with 100-percent polyethylene core can burn quiet readily," Dean said. "Some of the older, even fire-rated materials, still have quite a lot of polymer in them."

The panels themselves don't spark the fires, and the risks can be lessened if they are installed with breaks between them to curb a fire's spread. The panels' flammability can be significantly reduced by replacing some of the plastic inside the panels with material that doesn't burn so easily.

However, when installed uninterrupted row after row, more flammable types of cladding provide a straight line of kindling up the side of a tower.

That was the case in 2012 when a spate of fires struck Dubai and the neighboring emirate of Sharjah. Blaze after blaze, though some ignited differently, behaved the same way: fire rushed up and down the sides of the buildings, fueled by the external panels.

The day after an April 2012 fire at a 40-story building in Sharjah, Dubai issued new building regulations barring the use of cladding constructed with flammable material. Officials elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates followed suit, though by that time, the building boom had subsided in the wake of a global recession.

But the rules did not call for retrofitting buildings with flammable cladding already installed  nor is there any clear idea of how many of these buildings stand in Dubai or the UAE's other six emirates.

Local experts have suggested as many as 70 percent of the towers in the Dubai may contain the material, though they acknowledge the figure is only an estimate as there are apparently no official records.

"There's an exposure because there's a lot of them and unfortunately they don't come with an 'X' on the building to know which ones they are," said Sami Sayegh, global property executive in the Middle East and North Africa for insurance giant American International Group, Inc.

Emaar Properties, which developed The Address Downtown and nearby properties including the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, said authorities are still investigating the New Year's Eve fire. It has hired an outside contractor to assess and restore the damaged tower, and it plans to reopen the hotel, based on orders from Dubai's ruler himself. It has not released specific details about the type of cladding used.

However, The National, a state-owned newspaper in Abu Dhabi, has reported that the cladding used on The Address Downtown was the fire-prone type seen in other blazes.

Lt. Col. Jamal Ahmed Ibrahim, director of preventive safety for Dubai Civil Defense, said authorities take the issue of cladding fires seriously and are committed to "finding solutions and stopping these accidents from happening."

A nationwide survey of existing buildings has been ordered in the wake of The Address fire, and additional guidelines will be put in place in March to ensure new buildings are constructed to a higher standard, he said.

However, Ibrahim insisted that the type of cladding that was involved in previous tower fires appears to have been used on only a small number of all buildings in the emirate  a figure he suggested could be as little as 5 percent. But he acknowledged that officials don't know how many buildings are at risk.

"Without (doing) the survey or something, we can't say the number exactly," he said.

The problem is not Dubai's alone  cladding fires have struck elsewhere in the world.

In 2010, a similar fire at a Shanghai high-rise killed at least 58 people. An apartment fire in May in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, killed 16. Another dramatic blaze hit Beijing's TV Cultural Center in February 2009, killing a firefighter.

All bore similarities to the Dubai fires, with flames racing up the sides of the building, and experts attributed each fire's speed to the cladding.

Peter Rau, the chief officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Melbourne, Australia, knows firsthand how dangerous such fires can be. In November 2014, a fire erupted at a 23-story apartment building in Melbourne and raced up more than 20 stories in just six minutes as flaming debris rained down below. While no one was injured, the fast-moving blaze did millions of dollars' worth of damage to the building.

In the aftermath of the blaze, fire officials discovered some 170 other buildings in the Melbourne area had similar, flammable siding, Rau said.

"You know you've only got to step back a little bit further and say: 'What does it mean for Australia and what does it mean (when) you're talking to me from Dubai?'" Rau said. "This is a significant issue worldwide, I would suggest... There is no question this is a game changer."
PORTLAND, Maine | A start-up company in Maine is developing a children's bandage coated with a substance extracted from crushed lobster shells that would promote blood-clotting and is resistant to bacterial infection.

The company, Lobster Tough LLC, shipped Maine lobster shells to a processor in Iceland for testing, and so far, the results are promising, said Thor Sigfusson, an Icelandic investor in the company.

Lobster shells usually end up in landfills after the meat is removed, he said. Using lobster shells to create a medical product would create more value for lobsters and boost the industry in Maine, he said.

"My dream will be to use the massive amounts of lobster shells that are being thrown into dumpsters," he said.

Chitosan, the blood-clotting compound, is currently produced industrially by crushing shrimp shells and washing the solids with acids to remove inorganic materials and proteins. The U.S. Army has used field bandages treated with chitosan processed from shrimp shells.

The Maine lobster shells would be shipped from Portland to Iceland for processing.

The goal is to introduce the bandages to the U.S. market in 2017, he said.

The bandages would be the first commercial product developed through the New England Ocean Cluster, a new business incubator in Portland.
WASHINGTON | Did you donate a car to a charitable organization in 2015, or some clothing to the church thrift shop? Maybe you made a cash contribution to your alma mater or in memory of a loved one.

If you want to take a deduction for the donation, you have to itemize on your tax return. But there's more to it than that.

First, you have to make sure the organization to which you're donating is a qualified charity. And the money can't be targeted to a particular individual, even if it's going through that charity, said Dave Du Val, vice president for consumer advocacy at taxaudit.com.

He uses this example: Say you're driving to Goodwill to drop off some clothes and you see a homeless man in the street. You give him one of the coats that you were planning to donate. "It suits (you) well in the next life, but it's not a deduction," he said.

Similarly, if your neighbors' house burns down and your church starts a fund to help them rebuild, a contribution to the fund isn't deductible, Du Val said. However, if the church has a fund to help people in need, but not specifically your neighbor, you could take the deduction.

For a cash contribution, you need proof that you made the donation. That could be a canceled check or an itemized line on your credit card statement. So, Du Val said, if you put a $10 bill in the bucket of a Salvation Army bell ringer, that's not deductible. But if you wrote out a check to the Salvation Army and put that in the bucket, it is.

If the contribution is more than $250, you also will need a receipt from the organization.

The Internal Revenue Service makes clear, "If you get something in return for your donation, your donation is limited. You can only deduct the amount of your gift that is more than the value of what you got in return."

The IRS lists possible items received for donations, including meals, merchandise or tickets. Charitable organizations often will include on your receipt the amount that is deductible.

Congress, as part of the tax extender bill passed late last year, made permanent the ability of people 70 years old or older to roll over up to $100,000 from their IRA to a charity tax-free. Those who take advantage of that provision won't have to count the distribution from the IRA as income. But there's no double-dipping. If you make the direct donation, you can't also deduct it on your return.

Du Val said taxpayers who want to donate are "generally better off" if they don't have to deal with the extra income and the resulting taxes. He said the distribution also counts toward the required minimum distribution that IRA holders have to start taking at that age.

What about deductions for contributions of clothing and other property?

You can only deduct the fair market value of an item  what it would sell for at a thrift store, for example. "Even if the shirt is new and still has the tag on it, people aren't going to go into the thrift store and pay $100 for it," Du Val said.

And there's no deduction for sentimental value.

If the non-cash donation is more than $500, you must fill out Section A of Form 8283 and file it with your return. If it's more than $5,000, Section B also is required. You'll also need a valid appraisal of the item in hand when you file your taxes, Du Val said.

If you donate a car, the deduction is not the fair value of the car but what the charitable organization sells it for, according to Du Val. However, there is an exception: If the organization gives the car to a needy family, for example, or uses it for an ambulance, you can take the fair market value, he said. In either case, you have to substantiate the vehicle's value.

Don't forget that if you're delivering the donation or doing other work for a charitable organization, you can deduct the mileage. The rate for 2015 was 14 cents a mile for using your car for charitable work.

As the presidential campaign moves toward the first primaries and caucuses, taxpayers should be aware that donations to political candidates are not deductible. Neither the candidates nor the political parties themselves are charitable organizations.
DES MOINES | A new outbreak of avian influenza in Indiana drives home the need for Iowa to take proactive steps, said state Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

Iowa needs to be able to deal quickly and appropriately with future animal health emergencies after last years deadly bird flu losses, he said.

Northey made a pitch to the House Agriculture Committee last week for a $500,000 state appropriation to aid in preparing for and potentially responding to a foreign animal disease outbreak, such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

The requested funds -- which Gov. Terry Branstad did not include in his $7.412 billion fiscal 2017 state budget proposal -- would be used to increase the capacity of the animal industry bureau, and provide resources to better equip and prepare for future responses.

Northey said Iowa was among the states hit hard by an avian flu outbreak that federal officials consider to be the worst animal health emergency in U.S. history.

Since animal agriculture plays a critical economic role in Iowa, Northey, a Spirit Lake farmer, said the requested funds would help his agency prepare for another animal disease situation.

If anything, Indiana shows us that it can happen again. We hope that it doesnt, but we have to be prepared, he said.

In Iowa, 77 premises in 17 counties and 31.5 million birds were affected by the disease last year, including 35 commercial turkey flocks, 22 commercial egg production flocks, 13 pullet flocks, one chicken breeding flock, one mail-order hatchery and six backyard flocks.

The bulk of the state's commercial poultry losses occurred in Northwest Iowa. Sioux County was one of the hardest-hit counties in the state, with 16 confirmed cases at commercial egg-layer facilities. The virus also was found on farms in Buena Vista, Cherokee, Lyon, O'Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Clay and Sac counties.

Gretta Irwin, of the Iowa Turkey Federation, said Iowas affected turkey farms have been repopulated. Randy Olson, an official with the Iowa Egg Council and the Iowa Poultry Association, told committee members the affected Iowa egg-laying operations would be repopulated by mid-2017.

Were going to be steadily ramping up through 2016, Olson said.

Irwin and Olson said a federal indemnification fund helped affected Iowa producers and businesses cover about 80 percent or more of their disposal, cleanup and disinfection costs. Northey said the federal indemnification payout for Iowas bird flu outbreak was north of $500 million.

No new cases of bird flu have been reported in Iowa since last June; the final quarantine order was lifted Dec. 1. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship also recently lifted an order canceling all live bird exhibitions at county fairs, the Iowa State Fair, livestock auction markets, swap meets, exotic sales and other gatherings of birds due to avian influenza.

USDA confirmed last week a new strain has been found in several turkey flocks in Indiana.

With euthanasia still the preferred method of dealing with avian influenza, further spread of the highly pathogenic virus will impact egg and poultry prices.

We would view the overall impact as somewhat bearish, although that is for the most part speculative at this point, economists Steve Meyer and Len Steiner said in their Daily Livestock Report Jan. 18.

The reason we view this as somewhat bearish for livestock markets is because the supply impact from this outbreak is quite limited, affecting a small number of farms and a very small portion of the turkey supply.

Avian influenza outbreaks could also affect the export markets. Meyer and Steiner said delays could occur as broiler markets are reopened.

Chicken supplies are burdensome at this point and the industry needs all the help it can get to normalize export demand, they said.

Iowa Farmer Today staff writer Jeff DeYoung contributed to this story.
Bradley Cooper has had a string of successes in recent years. He was no less prolific in 2015, but most of the films landed with a thud.

Case in point: "Burnt."

Playing a hot shot chef gunning for his third Michelin star, Cooper looked like he was reheating leftovers. Earlier in his career, he went down the same road with "Kitchen Confidential."

This time out, he has a temper, an abusive past and an employment gap that prevents him from nabbing the prize immediately. Theres an ex-girlfriend, too, and a couple of thugs who lurk frequently but, really, this is about the food and what hes capable of cooking.

Landing a gig at The Langham in London, Coopers Adam Jones quickly assembles a crack team (filled with similar screw-ups) and a kitchen both Williams and Sonoma would die for. Money, apparently, is no object so hes constantly tossing food in the garbage, breaking plates and, generally, showing just how bad he can be.

Theres a fellow chef (Sienna Miller) who bears watching. But when she asks if she can get the day off to celebrate her daughters birthday, he clamps down and this is just another nasty episode in Gordon Ramsays TV franchise.

Director John Wells lavishes plenty of attention on the plating but doesnt get the salivary glands juicing because the portions are oh-so-small. (Chef handled this much better.) The restaurant, managed by the owners son (Daniel Bruhl), looks good but its never more than an extension of the operating room in back.

There, Cooper moves like an ER doctor, assessing cases with life-or-death intensity. He brushes off the folks who make him a culinary rock star and fails to pay attention when it matters most.

Still, Burnt has so many situations that happen without explanation its hard to get worked up about that Michelin star. For good measure, theres a rival (Matthew Rhys, whos even more hot-tempered) and a mentor who could save Jones life at the most critical time.

Emma Thompson is in here, as well, but shes merely an expositional sounding board. She takes his blood regularly just to make sure hes not using drugs. In the process, she delivers Yoda-like pronouncements that hardly move the needle.

Of the cast, Bruhl is best, largely because he has his own agenda and an unlimited expense account. Uma Thurman is listed in the same breath as Thompson but she barely grazes the film.

The star is Cooper who should have done more than glare and show a facility with French. Burnt isnt well done, just a little fried around the edges.
SEATTLE | Things can get complicated when trying to do the right thing, like helping a homeless person.

Lets say youre the Brandy and Steve Boyd family of Ephrata, Washington, local high-school sweethearts, with four kids ages 10 to 17.

Earlier this month, they hauled a tiny house they had all built all the way  about 170 miles  to Seattle.

At 4-by-8 feet, it really is a tiny house. You cant even stand up in it as the angular roof is only 5 1/2 feet at its peak.

The Boyds plan was to give it to a down-and-out person in Seattle.

At noon today my family and I will be changing a mans life, Brandy posted Saturday morning on a Facebook page she created about the project.

And then they drove 170 miles and gave a homeless man the house.

They found him through Richard McAdams, who leads the homeless outreach program for the Union Gospel Mission.

I think its amazing what they did, McAdams says about the Boyds.

Initially, the Boyds had even considered driving around and finding someone and giving it to them. They wanted this to be a person-to-person gesture.

Sawhorse Revolution, one Seattle group that has built tiny homes for the homeless, turned down the Boyds gift as too small for a shelter.

Nickelsville said itd take the tiny house, but the Boyds say they werent sure if itd be used for storage or what.

But McAdams knew a guy who has been homeless for 10 years and lives in a tent near the Interstate 5 columns in the South End.

He is Ian Boote, 45, and he said that sure, hed love to have the Boyds gift.

If you look carefully, you can spot the tiny house, painted white, on vacant land just across a railroad track along Airport Way South near South Snoqualmie Street. Its by a fenced-off storage yard for the city. You might mistake the tiny house for an equipment shed.

Other homeless people also live here in this stretch of grass, bushes and dirt, in tents further uphill.

But now, well, now about the complications.

After a couple of nights in the tiny house, Boote says hes going back to his tent.

He tries to be diplomatic.

Its a good prototype, he says about the tiny house. It just needs some fine tuning.

Like maybe a bit more headroom.

I got a little claustrophobic, says Boyd, although the two small windows helped some.

The Boyds were nice enough to equip the tiny house with a mattress, a sleeping bag and pillows. But it basically takes up the entire floor space. So you have to crawl in.

Boote says hell find some other homeless person who might want it. Hes sure there will be takers among the 50 or so people living in that hillside tract.

Now about the second complication.

As they say in real estate, its about location, location, location.

The tiny house was plunked down on state land.

Not surprisingly, the state is leery about encampments along the I-5 corridor.

Theyre in close proximity to traffic. Weve had folks fall off retaining walls, says Travis Phelps, spokesman for the states Department of Transportation.

Still, no government bureaucrat wants to be accused of being callous about the homeless.

Phelps says his agency has to figure out whats our stance about tiny houses. He says the obvious, This is more than a little tent.

Already, the freeway encampments do present problems.

Like the 30 tons of garbage that the state collects each month in Seattle from homeless camps on Department of Transportation rights of way.

The city of Seattle, meanwhile, also has weighed in, saying tiny houses should be put in legal and permitted encampment sites such as Nickelsville.

The city of Seattle has declared a state of emergency on homelessness, citing One Night Count figures that more than 2,300 people sleep in cars or on the streets.

Brandy Boyd says that with tents already in that area, she doesnt see a problem with a tiny house.

But thats why it has wheels, in case it needs to be moved.

Boote does suggest bigger wheels as the house, tiny as it is, does weigh 500 pounds and gets stuck in the mud in this kind of weather.

The tiny-house concept has become a crusade for Brandy.

For her 40th birthday on Nov. 19, Boyd told her family about stories she had read about people in other cities building tiny houses. She wanted to do the same. Thatd be her birthday gift.

She wrote on her Facebook page, I want to challenge you and all your friends and family to build a tiny house for a homeless person. It doesnt have to be fancy or expensive, remember anything beats sleeping on the ground under a bridge!!

Although never homeless herself, Brandy says, she can relate.

I had a dysfunctional family. We were very poor. My family moved all the time, living in travel trailers, she says. Through eighth grade, she says, I went to something like 13, 14 schools.

Both she and her husband are familiar with the sight of the homeless in this city.

Steve Boyd is a truck driver who makes daily roundtrips between the Columbia Basin and Seattle, usually frozen fries going from potato land to terminals.

Brandy knows Seattle because all their children were born here as premature babies.

Driving around Seattle, you see tent after tent, she says. Were not a wealthy family. But in this whole experience, we got more than we gave.

Steve did a lot of the major work, figuring he spent $400 to $500 on everything from plywood to battery-powered tap lights.

The kids helped paint, and the entire family drove to Seattle to deliver the tiny house.

We fully intend on building more houses, says Brandy. She says theyll make some refinements such as using lighter materials, but the basic tiny-ness will stay the same.

As for Boote, hell go back to his tent, which he shares with a stray cat he adopted around Halloween and so named Bu. For him, the tent just feels more open.

He doesnt mind talking about his homelessness.

Yes, hes got a history with the law that includes felony theft, burglary, forgery, assault, possession of a controlled substance.

Yes, he says, hes been depressed for a long time. No, he says, hes not on medication although I probably should be.

He gets $197 a month from the state and food stamps, collects scrap metal he finds and sells it, cooks on a little camp stove.

He does manage to scramble up $35 a month for a Virgin smartphone connection. He has no radio but spends many of his hours reading, mostly history books.

Boote says that, OK, maybe there were a few complications with Brandy and Steves little house.

But seeing even the kids bring the tiny house over to give to him?

The thought is there, he says. They did something. It gives me hope. Everybody else just  

He uses an expletive to describe how he thinks most of us think of people like him.
If you haven't updated your bedroom in a while, you may find that some key elements have changed while you've been sleeping.

You may have bedroom furniture that's so old -- because high quality furniture lasts a long time, and that's a good thing -- that it's not being sold in sets anymore, at least not at Ethan Allen. The look is more eclectic, says Katie Small, design center manager at the Wichita, Kan. store.

And no longer do people sleep under heavy down comforters, even as we head into the coldest days of winter. Most people kick the duvet off the bed, says Brenda Cody of Ferguson-Phillips.

January is the ideal time to assess your bedroom and take steps to refresh it, which in turn should refresh you. Redoing the bedroom according to current sensibilities will take into consideration not only decor, but health and perhaps even some elements of feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of harmonizing the elements of the environment. Here are four key ways to re-feather your nest.

UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARD

If your furniture is still serving you well but you want to "feel fresh and new, the best way you can do that is to change the headboard," Small says. "You don't have to match."

The vast majority of headboards sold these days are upholstered rather than made in plain wood, Cody says. Either way, a headboard adds the first layer of color or texture to what you're creating visually on the bed. Small says it also adds much-needed height.

Free-standing headboards with a bed skirt are no longer in fashion, Cody says. Instead, beds either have head and footboards, or a headboard with a platform rather than a footboard.

Beyond design, if you're one of those people who don't have a headboard, you might consider one for another reason.

"As Americans, we're focused on the mattress and getting a good night's sleep," Cody says. "If you don't have the structure, you don't have as much support. I think it makes a big difference."

Having a sturdy headboard is considered good support for your body during sleep, just as a chairback supports you when you're seated, according to the principles of feng shui.

"The bed is the No. 1 piece of furniture that makes the most impact on your life in terms of where it's placed, and the headboard for sure," says Robyn Stevens of Robyn Stevens Feng Shui in Kansas City, Mo. "You want it to be solid wood" -- or an upholstered headboard that's solid -- "and when you're laying down, the headboard needs to be above your head. You know, some of the modern ones are shorter."

"Our subconscious needs to feel safe when we're sleeping, and the best way is to make sure the head is protected," Stevens adds. That also includes putting the bed in the proper place.

"Ideally you want your headboard against a wall. You want it facing the door. You don't want it in the door, but you want to be able to see the door. ... Think about Tony Soprano: Nobody is ever going to sneak up on that guy," she says.

Storage under the bed is considered bad feng shui, because it hinders the movement of energy around the body. But it doesn't take feng shui to know that too much stuff around us does not make for a restful feeling.

COOL AND EASY-CARE FABRIC

Many people are discovering that sleeping cool is one of the ingredients for sleeping better. And even while the dictates of design call for dressing the bed in layers -- sheets, a light blanket or coverlet, then a duvet or other throw at the bottom of the bed -- Cody says that most people sleep under only the sheet and coverlet.

"What we find the majority of the time is even when people have this many layers, they never pull up the duvet. Nobody likes to be hot."

Ferguson-Phillips no longer sells heavy down comforters. "A lot of our companies are doing much lighter-weight duvets," Cody says. People also like the lighter down blankets, which also can be placed into duvet covers.

No matter what the weight of the coverings, Cody says, look for lots of texture in them, and in shams and throw pillows that add more icing on the cake. In addition to natural fibers, look for new fabrics that are easier to care for.

"I think most companies now are taking into consideration the feel and the care of the fabric. ... We're even getting synthetic silks and polyester silks that are washable," she says.

Because of allergy concerns, some people like to regularly wash bedding in hot water and dry it on a hot setting. Such people should stick with cotton, Cody says. As far as fabrics for sheets, high-end cottons are still the choice; microfiber is too hot.

WARMING IT UP

People may like to sleep cool, but they also like to turn down the thermostat to save on energy. That can leave the bedroom too cold for comfort.

One way to warm it up is with an electric fireplace. You can find them in modern lines or traditional looks, in free-standing hearths, hanging on walls and even recessed behind a wall of rock, tile or stone.

"You're not locked into just having the cabinet appearance," says Jeannie Herpolsheimer of Warming Trends in Wichita.

Electric fireplaces are like a space heater but with ambiance, she says. Or, in one option that a real fire doesn't have, if the air is warm enough, you can have the ambiance of the flames without the heat.

The fireplaces come with remotes and some with timers. You can adjust not only the level of heat, but also the height of the flames and the intensity of the embers. A free-standing fireplace takes no installation.

"It's plug and play. You take it home and plug it in," Herpolsheimer says. "One thing I like for a bedroom application is a downlight feature that you can use as a nightlight without the flame."

For a unit that hangs on the wall, like a long vertical cabinet, it's best to have an electrician put a plug behind the unit to avoid a hanging electrical cord, Herpolsheimer says.

Most units will heat a 14-by-14-foot room. Recessed models can provide more heat. Smaller electric stoves also can be found at some home stores.

Another heating element is an electric blanket or mattress pad. If you wake up stiff in the morning from arthritis, the Arthritis Foundation recommends cranking up the blanket or mattress pad before you get up. The warmth will help you roll out of bed more limber. And you don't have to sleep warm the whole night for the benefits.

To improve allergies, and therefore sleep, try dusting the bedroom more often and washing your bedding in hot water, which kills dust mites. Dust mites love humidity, and according to WebMD, an electric blanket can reduce humidity on bed surfaces.

But be sure you don't have a health condition that precludes an electric blanket. Also keep the blanket from bunching up, as it produces a safety hazard.

Additionally, when you use any type of electrical heater, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions to avoid a fire, and be aware of any overload it puts on your electrical system, says Stuart Bevis, battalion chief of fire prevention for the Wichita Fire Department.

Overheated electrical wires from too many space heaters caused a fire in Wichita on Dec. 21. Space heaters should not be placed any closer than 3 feet to any combustibles, and they should be plugged into a power strip or electrical outlet, not an extension cord.

PUTTING COLOR TO IT

Bedroom looks this year are romantic but also streamlined, Small says. A French provincial look at Ethan Allen, for example, has a Scandinavian sensibility that gives it cleaner, more modern lines. "It's very light and fresh," Small says. And while monochromatic looks have been big for a while, new ones are more elevated and gilded.

Caramel is a big bedroom color, Small says. Although, the more traditional blue and white never goes out of style. Gray is still big, a neutral that accentuates a pop of color such as a soft celadon.

And if you want a calming feel as well? Add some pink to your bedroom, one of Pantone's colors of the year (along with blue). Coral and salmon are considered pinks.

"Pink and tones of coral are the most soothing," Small says. "It's amazing how a little bit here and there elevates the calmness of a room."

Mix patterns and pay attention to scale while building your layers. "The most crucial decor element is layers. It's like dressing ourselves," Small says.

And lest you feel like you can't afford to always keep up with trends, they do transition cleanly from year to year so that you can build in new things, like a rug or bedding, without having to redo everything, Small says.
Jumping headfirst into the latest bathroom tile trend runs the risk of falling out of vogue, leaving the bathroom looking dated.

Since tile lasts 20 to 30 years -- longer than bathtub surrounds or vinyl flooring -- homeowners don't need to update as often, says Carlos Martinez, first officer of C-Bek Tile & Stone Design in North Hollywood, California. So homeowners should consider a trend's staying power when planning a bathroom remodel.

Tile color trends

Despite the number of flashy colors available, the standards still reign supreme. Minimizing tile colors doesn't minimize options, says Kevin McDaniel, director of product design and development for The Tile Shop in Minneapolis.

"Grey, white and 'greige' colors continue to grow in popularity," he says. "Low-contrast palettes with minimum coloration are still the predominant trend."

Trendy porcelain tiles gain popularity

Porcelain tile catches the eye with its good looks and relatively low cost. Larry Bushner, owner of Masterpiece Tile & Grout in Arlington, Texas, has noticed more homeowners requesting porcelain tile.

"This can look like stone without the additional costs of installation, purchase price and maintenance," he says, adding porcelain tile costs slightly more than ceramic tile.

Porcelain faces no shortage of style either, Martinez says. Besides the stone look, manufacturers are creating contemporary and classic product lines in porcelain, which doesn't stain like other tile types, he says.

"They're getting so good at (manufacturing) porcelain," Martinez says. "That's why it's popping right now."

McDaniel says The Tile Shop has seen increased demand for porcelain, and the company will release a line of Travertine Ivory porcelain tile early next year. However, with stone's classic appeal and certain glazing techniques only possible with ceramic tile, those two won't disappear, he says.

Trendy glass tile becomes a staple

Glass tile has proved its staying power, becoming a timeless classic in its own rite, according to McDaniel. Now, designs that combine glass with other materials are gaining momentum, he says.

"Newer water-jet technology allows for unique shapes, sizing and combination of materials that was unthinkable a few years ago," he says.

Angie's List member A. Weiss of Skokie, Illinois, chose 3-by-9-inch blue glass tile for the top half of her bathroom walls to accent the main 12-by-24-inch porcelain tile.

Weiss researched a plethora of tile options online before beginning the modernizing master bathroom remodel, which features a large corner tub and shower with glass walls. She and her husband needed to replace moldy, flaking-beyond-help slate tile in the shower, installed before they bought the house.

"We have a transitional/modern style for the most part, so we wanted clean lines and a bit of a spa feel," Weiss says. "Having done a lot of research online, we decided on a glass and porcelain look."

Weiss visited showrooms and consulted with the in-house designer for her contractor, Neighborhood Remodelers in Park Ridge, Illinois. Not counting labor, the tile materials, including grout and caulk, cost $1,775.

Installing faux wood tile on shower walls has recently grown into a popular bathroom tile trend, according to McDaniel.

"The thought of having wood inside of a wet area is a completely novel idea, and homeowners and designers are widely embracing it," he says.

One trend McDaniel debunked is the death of multi-tile patterns. Patterns offer a classic, traditional look, he says, even if they don't fit some homeowners' modern tastes.

"As some homeowners embrace a more contemporary look, designs have become cleaner, with more emphasis placed on the use of a single material throughout one or more spaces," he said. "Accents, if used, tend to be limited to one dramatic focal point.
Not everyone who rents a room at the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, stays the night.

About once a month, someone leaves, says John Moss, owner of the Spanish-moss-draped antebellum home thats billed as one of the most haunted places in America. People absolutely get freaked out.

Sometimes staffers hear footsteps quickly retreating down the stairs and gravel slinging in the driveway as overnight guests beat a hasty escape. Other times, they find rooms empty, the beds disheveled and the room key tossed to the floor.

But hauntings can be good for business, especially when you run an old plantation as a tourist destination and bed and breakfast. You have a lot more people come on account of the hauntings than leave on account of them, Moss says.

I visited the plantation recently, when the Myrtles hosted a special evening mystery tour. I also booked a room in the main house for the night. Then I did a quick online search, which turned up all kinds of spooky reports about the Myrtles, including the alarming news that 10 murders had occurred there since it was built in 1796.

But first, some history.

The plantation was originally built by Gen. David Bradford, aka Whiskey Dave from the Whiskey Rebellion, who obtained a 650-acre land grant near Bayou Sarah and built his home on the property. In 1820, the home was sold to Bradfords son-in-law; it changed hands several times after that.

Most of the hauntings date to the time that an attorney named William Winter lived at the plantation. When his 3-year-old daughter became ill, he called in a slave named Chloe from a neighboring plantation who was reputedly a voodoo princess to try to heal her. As the story goes, the little girl died anyway, and in retaliation Winter had Chloe hanged from a tree.

Winter himself died a few years later, when a rider approached the house and called out his name. When Winter stepped outside, he was shot in what is the only officially corroborated murder on the grounds. He staggered back indoors, where he crawled to the 17th step of the main staircase, then died in his wifes arms.

Guests say they still hear his footsteps.

Moss says when he and his wife purchased the home in 1992, they figured the tales of hauntings were simply that  stories. He chuckled at the comments of an old woman whod grown up in the area and told him that the old houses around St. Francisville all have spirits.

Theyll let you know in the first 90 days if you can stay, Moss says the woman told him. If its OK, things will settle down. If not, youll move on.

It didnt take long before Moss changed his mind. He heard voices calling his wifes name and became convinced that spirits visited his son, who was a toddler at the time. He believes in the homes haunting, but says theres nothing vile, evil or sinister about it.

We tell people we dont have ghosts  we have guardian angels, he says.

The gray-green moss that drips from tree branches out front sets a slightly creepy mood as you roll up the driveway. A 125-foot porch with ornate wrought iron railings stretches across the front of the house. Magnolias, crepe myrtles and live oaks grow alongside a 100-foot well dug by slaves and a cistern where plantation occupants reportedly stashed valuables during the Civil War.

Staffers are quick to show off photos taken on the grounds that purportedly show ghosts  usually Chloe or two little Victorian girls  peering out of windows or lingering in the background. Guests say theyve felt something tugging on their legs when they sleep in a room where a soldier had his foot amputated.

Some say a little girl snuggles next to them in another. Dolls move around one room, and guests luggage gets rearranged. More than one visitor has reported that ghost-like shadows have appeared in photographs  weeks after the pictures were snapped.

All kinds of things are odd and different, Moss says.

The producers of the television programs Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters have had some pretty weird experiences here, too: creepy noises, voices, a moving lamp and a ball that inexplicably rolled down the staircase when they asked for a sign from any of the resident spirits.

So, yes, even though I dont really believe in ghosts, I was a little creeped out when I unlocked the door to the William Winter room, where the girl supposedly died at the hands of the voodoo priestess.

Accommodations are comfortable but in need of sprucing up. The bright pink bathroom definitely needed a remodel. Guests should come with a sense of adventure.

In the end, Im proud to say I survived the night. No one so much as tickled my toes, rearranged the sheets or tapped on the wall  but Im still checking to see if anything suspicious is going to appear in the photos I took.
SIOUX CITY | Every time a presidential candidate makes a stop at a cafe, school or business, it is an opportunity to drive more people to support their campaign.

With that simple principle as the driving point, presidential candidates have visited Northwest Iowa in large numbers over the last 10 months. It began with a trickle in March 2015 and turned into a flurry this month, as they try to drum up support for the all-important, first-in-the-nation, Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1.

"Everybody has had a wealth of opportunities to see somebody if they wanted to," Sioux County Republican Party Chairman Mark Lundberg said.

A review of campaign stops through Saturday showed 139 events had been held by the existing 15 candidates -- three Democrats and 12 Republicans -- in 15 Northwest Iowa counties. Other candidates, such as Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Jim Webb and Scott Walker, held campaign events before dropping out.

Over the last 11 months, candidates have stumped in Sioux City and throughout Northwest Iowa, as far north as the Minnesota border, as far east as Sac County and as far south as Monona and Crawford counties.

Northwest Iowa is rich Republican turf, and the overwhelming number of candidate stops have been by Republicans, with 120 events. The three Democratic candidates -- Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley -- have combined for 19 events.

The candidates campaigning the most in Siouxland have been Republicans Rick Santorum with 29 events, Mike Huckabee, 25, and Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina, with 17 each. But a large number of campaign stops in the area hasn't necessarily resulted in big results, at least as shown by Iowa polls. Of the four, only Cruz is among the top-polling Republicans in Iowa. The Texas senator is locked in a tight fight with Donald Trump, the national front-runner in the GOP race. Santorum, Huckabee and Fiorina have been mired in low single digits in most polls.

On Thursday in Sioux City, Huckabee said there are no short-cuts to doing well in Iowa, so numerous retail campaign stops are needed. Buena Vista University Professor Bradley Best said that old Iowa campaign saw is being tested, since Trump, who has "global celebrity status," has made only four stops in Northwest Iowa, including a rally Saturday in Sioux Center.

"A couple of the candidates who have struggled so badly on the Republican side have nonetheless made a very large number of campaign stops in Northwest Iowa. What that demonstrates is that frequency of on-the-ground campaign stops does not ensure success in the polls and, conversely, failure to engage in frequent campaign stops -- Donald Trump would be an example of this -- does not doom one to failure or to a low ranking in polls," Best said.

Among the dozens of trips, there have been some surprising decisions by some Republicans to essentially bypass Northwest Iowa. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a son of one president and the brother of another, made one stop in Sioux City in July but hasn't been back in Siouxland since. Ohio Gov. John Kasich also has only visited Siouxland once, while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has held three events. Republican Jim Gilmore is the other announced candidate who has not traveled to the area at all.

Gov. Terry Branstad said he's personally advised Bush to campaign more heavily in Iowa, since "the more time you spend, the more people you see, the better you do."

"I've never lost an election. I think I know this state pretty well, and I think those people who have chosen not to come to Northwest Iowa have made a huge mistake," Branstad said.

The governor noted in his past general election races, he captured more than 90 percent of the vote in Sioux County, the most Republican of Iowa's 99 counties.

Best said candidates make very strategic choices on where they will campaign, to help their chances to win the overall nomination by the time of the summer national party conventions. For some, Iowa has a diminished role in that quest, as some candidates focused more on New Hampshire, which has a primary on Feb. 9.

"Many of them believe or suspect that they will not suffer badly for de-emphasizing Iowa and shifting their energies and their efforts in the direction of New Hampshire and South Carolina, subsequent primaries," Best said, echoing a point Branstad also made.

Among Democrats, former Maryland Governor O'Malley leads the way with eight stops in Northwest Iowa, followed by U.S. Sen. Sanders with seven and Clinton with four. All four of the former secretary of state's stops have been in Sioux City, while Sanders and O'Malley have visited Sioux City and some smaller cities in the area.

Buena Vista County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Eliason, of Storm Lake, said he was grateful Sanders and O'Malley took time to travel to Storm Lake, home to Buena Vista University. He said people prize the ability to see a person in their midst.

"We would have liked to have seen (Clinton) out here. Is it disappointing? A little," Eliason said.

There were months with just a sparse few candidate events in the region -- back in March, April, May as things got started, and later in September, had just four or fewer campaign stops. The bigger months were July, August and October, then the final surge came with 21 in December and 42 in January (as of Jan. 18 announcements).

The candidates have primarily stopped in Sioux City, with 41 events, but many surrounding towns also have been visited with frequency. The list with a half-dozen or more includes Sioux Center (11), Storm Lake (10), Orange City (nine), Le Mars (eight), Denison (eight), and Sheldon, Spencer and Rock Rapids with six each.

"They are just going to where they think the most friendlies are," Lundberg said.

Best said those events outside Sioux City show the candidates recognize they know where to go to tap places largely populated with Protestant evangelical voters.

"(Evangelical voters) are seen as a lever that has to be pulled in their favor in order to win the nomination," Best said.

The smallest town to host a candidate was Cushing, when Fiorina spoke to more people in the fire hall than live in the Woodbury County town of 220 people. Cruz visited Pierson, population 366, another Woodbury County town. He spoke at a picnic where he formally received the endorsement of state Sen. Bill Anderson, R-Pierson.
DES MOINES | The route for the 44th annual RAGBRAI was announced Saturday night, with Glenwood in southwest Iowa as the starting point on July 23.

The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa will then move east as it makes its way to the Mississippi River. The trail will have overnight stops in Shenandoah, Creston, Leon, Centerville, Ottumwa and Washington before ending in Muscatine on July 30.

The total distance includes 420 miles, making it the third shortest route in the event's history. A total climb of 18,000 feet makes it the 24th flattest route.

It is the seventh time RAGBRAI will have come to Glenwood, for the first time in five years.

The ride started in Sioux City last year.
SPENCER, Iowa | Just two weeks into the 2016 legislative session, with no floor activity yet, three Northwest Iowa legislators agree the House and Senate are already in panic mode.

State Reps. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, and John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, were speaking Saturday, along with Iowa Sen. David Johnson, R-Ocheyedan, at the Spencer Chamber of Commerce-sponsored Eggs & Issues session with taxpayers.

The perceived panic involves not only the legislators, but lobbyists and constituents, Jones said. Im not sure why that is. But it is unnecessarily so. Jones also said there are only two bills on the House calendar, both of which are education legislation. That sets a clear priority.

Johnson joked about the blame for the panic mode being the Iowa caucuses, before noting that, our Medicaid system is consuming the budget. And in order to address that, the governor initiated moving out the Medicaid system to managed care.

While Johnson said he sees Medicaid as a vital role of government to provide for those who cannot help themselves, he said he's skeptical about the savings involved if it means people being removed from the health care providers they want. But with a projected $51 million savings in the conversion at a time when every dollar counts, the senator expressed his concern that delaying the program will create a reduction in any savings, placing this entire budget in question.

Wills also said income projections have led to doubt about meeting the state budget, because we spent more than our actual revenues have brought in. If our economy continues to slow down, where is our budget really going to be?

For major issues facing lawmakers this sessin, Wills said, If we could accomplish water quality, education and the budget, I think it (the legislative session) would be a success.

Two education segments were represented at Saturdays meeting, both seeking continued and increased funding for education. Linda Linn, of the Prairie Lakes Area Education Association, complained that 14 speech communications staff members were cut in the last week. And the guillotine is going to continue to fall, unfortunately, she said.

Some $15 million has been taken from AEA budgets overall, she said. As an AEA, we cannot raise taxes. We cannot have a bond issue. And our monies are continuing to be cut.

Iowa Lakes Community College President Valerie Newhouse introduced GAP (workforce training) participant Brandon Hinckley, who after not being content with a minimum-wage job, earned a GED at Iowa Lakes, then continued short-term course work for a Commercial Drivers License (CDL). Hinckley said he is now has a $50,000-$60,000 per year job.

Thats your taxpayer dollars at work, Newhouse said, urging continued support for workforce training programs at the community college level that address local workforce needs.

Iowa Lakes has campuses in Algona, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Spencer and Spirit Lake.

Spencers next Eggs & Issues session will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 in the City Council Chambers.
Todays top picks from our online calendar. Find more events at siouxcityjournal.com/calendar.

President Thomas Jefferson exhibit inauguration: The new animatronic exhibit will be inaugurated with a kids history challenge at 12:30 p.m. and a drop-in cookie-decorating activity from 1 to 3 p.m. the Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center/Betty Strong Encounter Center, 900 Larsen Park Road. Admission will be free. Visit www.siouxcitylcic.com or call 712-224-5242 for more information.

Iowa Junior Duck Stamp: Winners of the Iowa Junior Duck Stamp competition will be on display at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, 4500 Sioux River Road, during open hours through Jan. 24. Visit www.woodburyparks.com or call 712-258-0838 of more information.

From the Store Window to the Gallery: The Legacy of T.S. Martin is captured in this exhibit at Sioux City Art Center, 225 Nebraska St., through Jan. 31. Visit www.siouxcityartcenter.org or call 712-279-6272 for more information. This is a free event.
WHITING, Iowa | A Louisiana man died Saturday night after suffering injuries in a snowmobile accident, according to authorities.

The Monona and Woodbury County Sheriffs Offices responded at 10:29 p.m. to a report of a man injured in a field east of 130th Street and K42 Road, northwest of Whiting.

Law enforcement said David Daigle, 46, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was driving a snowmobile when he attempted to cut across a field and unknowingly struck an irrigation pivot.

Fellow snowmobilers found Daigle and called for help, and he was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, where he was pronounced dead.

The Monona County Sheriffs Office is conducting an investigation. They were assisted on scene by Woodbury County Emergency Services, Sloan Ambulance and the Whiting Police Department.
Editor's note: Every other Sunday through the conclusion of this year's session of the Iowa Legislature, our local lawmakers will share their Statehouse views.

Sen. Bill Anderson, R-Pierson

I am working with colleagues this year to introduce legislation which will extend and expand support to the renewable fuels industry. Iowa is the nations leader in renewable fuels production. You may also have heard the Renewable Fuels Standard is set to expire in 2022. With that, it is imperative the Iowa Legislature take action to pass policies supporting our renewable fuels industry. According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa has 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing more than 3.8 billion gallons annually, including 22 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity. Iowa also has 12 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce nearly 315 million gallons annually.

The legislation we are proposing will extend a tax credit to retailers who have built infrastructure to support the sale of ethanol blends E15 and E85, and biodiesel blends. The tax credits are claimed by retailers based on the total number of gallons of renewable fuel sold. There will be an extension of the production credit for biodiesel blends of B5 and more. Retailers across Iowa are making the investment in renewable fuels and these tax credits assist their efforts and increase the market share of renewables.

Additionally, I will be supporting the governors proposed $2.4 million from the infrastructure budget for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program. The program supports installing pumps which accommodate higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel.

I am passionate about supporting agriculture and Iowa farmers. This legislation is a good start, but there is more we can do.

Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City

As the ceremonial smiles, hugs, and pleasantries of the new session begin to fade, the subtle signs of individual legislative agendas begin to surface. As a vocal supporter of the Second Amendment I have made it very clear that one of my legislative priorities is to strengthen our individual right to protect our families without the fear of unjust civil liability. This past year I led the attempt to pass a Stand Your Ground bill out of the democratically controlled Senate.

All 24 Senate Republicans locked up in co-sponsorship support of Stand your Ground," while all 26 Democrats locked up in opposition to this Second Amendment-strengthening legislation, hence killing the bill. As I have written about in the past, and yes this is partisan, there is a clear difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to protecting the Second Amendment, life and personal freedoms.

This year my plan is to execute a procedural maneuver and file a discharge petition which would force an up-or-down vote on this critical legislation. I need one Democrat, one, to execute this process. Sadly, I am confident that not one sheep will step forward in support.

Please be confident that my priorities in Des Moines are, and will always continue to be, job creation and strengthening the business climate in Northwest Iowa, but I will continue to point out to all my lifelong Democratic friends that the modern-day Democratic Party is not the party we all grew up with.

Rep. David Dawson, D-Sioux City

Governor Terry Branstads Condition of the State included two priorities which I support: workforce development and criminal justice reform.

In 1973, only 28 percent of jobs required education beyond high school. By 2025, almost 66 percent of jobs are projected to require additional education or training. The governor established a Future Ready Iowa goal for 70 percent of Iowas workforce to have training beyond high school by 2025. This goal was set after Iowa received a National Governors Association grant in 2014 for up to $170,000 to develop strategies to improve educational and training attainment of its citizens and align degrees and credentials with employer demand. This project includes assessing areas of demand and aligning programming to ensure Iowans have the skills necessary to obtain employment in high-wage jobs, which drive economic growth.

While he discussed workforce development, the governors proposed budget failed to adequately fund community colleges. For FY17, he recommended an increase of just $3.1 million after he voted $2.5 million for community colleges last year. Without adequate funding for these important public institutions, workforce education and training will not be attainable for many Iowans as tuition costs continue to rise.

The governor also proposed criminal justice reform. Last week I co-sponsored a bill, House File 2064, which would require a minimum sentence of 35 years for the crime of child endangerment resulting in death of a child. Such a crime warrants a more severe punishment than is provided under current law, where no mandatory minimum prison time is required.

Rep. Chris Hall, D-Sioux City

Human trafficking is receiving greater attention from policymakers, law enforcement and the non-profit community.

Though many would expect Iowa to be immune to sex or labor trafficking, the nation's major highways and interstate commerce routes place our state directly in the path of traffickers. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking routes generally track the same routes used for drug trafficking. In Iowa's case, this means routes run eastward from Denver, westward from Chicago, and north from Texas to Kansas City and Minneapolis.

Recently, the Iowa Legislature has considered what steps we can take to strengthen policy as a state and as part of a regional effort to combat trafficking. The statewide strategy is based on the ability of law enforcement to investigate the crimes. Because the crime itself thrives in a hidden network, this requires greater training for law enforcement to recognize a case that may otherwise appear normal. And because the crime inherently crosses state borders, it requires greater partnership amongst law enforcement agencies.

Public awareness also plays a key role. Recognizing the signs of trafficking can assist in identifying victims, moving forward with investigation and disrupting trafficking networks internally. The state and federal government are also providing resources in greater amount to assist victims, to begin the healing process and to help victims regain their voice and dignity. Locally, the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking has led this effort. Their work is important. Through partnership with Avery Brothers and others, public awareness efforts are under way.

Rep. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City

During this week, committees began meeting, hearing presentations and assigning bills. In an effort to come to a quick resolution on school funding the education committee approved a 2 percent supplemental state aid increase. The bill will now be debated on the House floor next week and sent to the Senate. Most likely, a conference committee will be formed to determine an agreed-upon rate for FY 17.

House Republicans are also working on a bill to extend the sunset date on the statewide penny sales tax used for school infrastructure. The current sunset date is 2029 and the proposal would extend this to 2049. The extension would generate an additional $100 million (not considering growth) for Sioux City which could be used for infrastructure and/or property tax relief. This could conceptually provide the funds needed to complete the replacement of our old elementary schools and provide needed improvements to our three high schools. Remaining funds could then be used to reduce property taxes. The school funding inequities issue may also be part of this extension bill. Districts that are inequitably treated may have more flexibility on the use of some of these funds to help address the inequity.

During this session my education goals are to set school aid in a timely manner, allowing districts proper planning time; extend the statewide penny sunset date; address the funding inequality problem; and also find state resources for summer school reading programs and implementing a statewide assessment program.
As the new year began, 14 states gave their lowest wage earners a pay raise by increasing their states minimum wage, including neighboring Nebraska which now sets a minimum of $9 per hour and South Dakota at $8.55.

As it becomes painfully obvious that a Republican Congress will never pass an increase in the federal minimum wage, states, municipalities and even counties are acting on their own to assure that work means something more than a starvation wage.

Currently, 29 states and D.C. have minimum wages higher than the $7.25 federal rate. San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles are slated to boost their minimum to $15 per hour with many other cities passing more modest increases.

It is shameful that the federal minimum wage has become a starvation wage, forcing families to turn to food stamps, energy assistance and subsidized housing to make ends meet even though many work more than one job. You know the Iowa and federal minimum wage is a joke when temporary employment agencies on the Iowa side of the river are asking for an increase.

It didnt used to be that way. The minimum wage had its highest purchasing power in 1968 when it was $1.60/hour (about $11/hour in 2016 dollars). In those days, many families could actually live on that wage, many with stay-at-home moms. But since 1984 the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage has decreased to the point where it is pathetic, obviously the reason why states and localities are taking action on their own. Evidently, these people are invisible to Republican presidential candidates who never mention the issue but cannot wait to flaunt their tax proposals, all of which benefit the wealthiest Americans, who have never had it better.

There is no question an increase in the minimum wage would benefit all workers, due to the ripple effect, but especially those at the bottom. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2014 that if the minimum wage were raised to $10.10/hour it would reduce the number of persons below the poverty level by 900,000. Dont we want people to work their way out of poverty?

A common argument from opponents against a hike in the minimum wage is that it will hurt the very people it is meant to help due to job losses (like most of the opponents really care about these people anyway). Well, not according to 600 economists, including seven Nobel Prize winners.

In a letter to President Obama from over a year ago these economic scholars declared the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of the minimum wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. In fact, the economists cited research that suggests a minimum wage increase would actually stimulate the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional money.

Opponents often try to marginalize the significance of a minimum wage increase by claiming that any increase would go mostly to high school students (as if they dont deserve equal pay for equal work). Not true. If the federal minimum wage were increased to $12 per hour, for example, 90 percent of those who would benefit would be 20 years of age or older, and 56 percent would be women.

What is particularly bothersome to me is that Iowa is one of the few states that is doing nothing to help our minimum wage earners. All other surrounding states (except Wisconsin) have passed state minimum wages higher than the federal minimum, a sad and embarrassing fact and not consistent with our more progressive tradition. Historically, Iowa has treated its low-wage earners better. Democratic-controlled legislatures in the 1980s and in 2007 passed minimum wage increases respectably higher than the federal minimum.

The obstacle in Iowa is the Republican-controlled Iowa House of Representatives. Senate Democrats passed a bill to increase the minimum to $8.75 last year with only one Republican senator voting for the bill (Sioux City Sen. Rick Bertrand, thank you). Republicans in the House refused to allow even a debate on the bill.

If the feds and state refuse to do the right thing, more counties in Iowa will do what Johnson County did - pass their own minimum wage - in this case a top minimum of $10.10. This could easily be a legitimate issue for the city of Sioux City or the Woodbury County board to consider, especially since we are surrounded by states with significantly higher minimum wages. The county system brings a number of issues into play such as which, if any cities within the county border may want to opt in or opt out.

The state of Iowa would be much better off if House Republicans would do the right thing and pass a higher minimum wage.

Next week: Linda Holub

A Sioux City resident and local attorney, Al Sturgeon is a former Democratic state representative and senator. He is the father of six children.
America faces no shortage of challenges as Iowans prepare to cast the first votes of the 2016 campaign for president.

At home, fears of terrorism grow; costs and consequences of the Affordable Care Act frustrate and anger; our southern border remains unsecured and the problem of what to do about millions of illegal immigrants already in our country remains unsolved; potential for a future Social Security crisis threatens; White House executive actions raise constitutional questions; federal debt nears $19 trillion with no end to red ink in sight; gun violence rages; and talk about a looming recession percolates.

Overseas, the Middle East roils; Iraq teeters and Afghanistan deteriorates; ISIS expands its reach; Russian President Vladimir Putin flexes; unstable Kim Jong-un of North Korea menaces; Israel worries; and Europe wrestles with a refugee crisis unrivaled since World War II.

Exacerbating the nation's angst is polarized Washington, D.C. According to a September 2015 Gallup Poll, Americans believe dissatisfaction with government is the most important problem facing our country today.

Within this turbulence and following months of unrivaled, up-close-and-personal interaction with candidates, Iowans on Feb. 1 will gather in private homes, schools and other public buildings to caucus for the man or woman they believe should occupy the White House for the next four years.

The nation's eyes will be watching.

In our view, decisions by Republicans and Democrats shouldn't be based on who shouts and insults loudest and shouldn't be swayed by who boasts the most impossible promises. Remember, the American president isn't a CEO who simply barks orders; he or she doesn't spend money, write laws or govern other countries.

The president must be possessed not only of plans and strategies, but requisite political and personal instincts and skills and a capacity to lead, influence, and unite conflicting positions and principles. The individual who will assume the most powerful office in the world in less than one year and, we hope, lead America to better days should combine experience, pragmatism, intellect, reason, and a calm, steady demeanor.

In our opinion, Marco Rubio - U.S. senator from Florida - and Democrat Hillary Clinton - former first lady, United States senator and secretary of state - are, within their respective political parties, the 2016 presidential candidates who embody the biggest share of those qualities and attributes and who represent the best choices to face off for election in the fall.

Today, The Journal endorses the candidacies of Rubio and Clinton in Iowa's leadoff caucuses.

In our view, the two political parties and the nation as a whole would be well-served by what we believe would be a spirited Rubio-vs.-Clinton contest of contrasting philosophies and visions in which both candidates could appeal to the political middle and draw crossover support because neither is positioned at the political fringe.

Each is, we believe, capable of winning the general election.

------

MARCO RUBIO

In our view, the 44-year-old Rubio represents one of the brightest lights within today's Republican Party.

Articulate, informed and personable, Rubio delivers winning performances on the campaign trail and in GOP candidate debates. For us, his rise from humble roots inspires and his optimistic, positive message resonates.

Take, for example, this quote from Rubio's book, "American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone":

"There is no time in our history I would rather live in than right here, right now. For we are on the eve of a new American Century. The most prosperous and secure era in our nation's history is within our reach. All that is required of us has to do with what those who came before us did: confront our challenges and embrace our opportunities. And when we do, we will leave for our children what our parents left for us: the most exceptional nation in all of human history.

From life to the Second Amendment to smaller government and less government spending to Obamacare to border security to national security, Rubio meets the conservative test. The Heritage Action for America conservative scorecard, in fact, gives him a 94 percent rating. At the same time, he takes what we believe is a realistic approach to issues such as tax reform, immigration reform and trade with China.

As a U.S. senator and multiple-term member of the Florida Legislature where he served as speaker, majority leader and majority whip, Rubio appreciates and practices the need to, on occasion, work with the other side of the political aisle. In a time of intransigence and paralysis in Washington, an ability to bridge political divides appeals to us.

Finally, we believe Rubio is positioned better than any GOP candidate in the 2016 field to expand the Republican base and draw a diversity of voters from across the political spectrum.

Among GOP candidates who seek the White House this year, Rubio rises to the top as the strongest choice for Republicans.

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HILLARY CLINTON

Without question, the 68-year-old Clinton possesses a breadth of experiences in public life unmatched by her Democratic opponents. In the "arena" at the fulcrum of national and international events since the '90s, Clinton requires no on-the-job training. She understands issues and knows leaders, both domestic and foreign, and appreciates the processes and peculiarities of the federal government from the perspective of both the legislative and executive branches.

From children to families to health care to human rights, including women's rights, to marriage equality, Clinton champions issues and positions true to traditional Democratic principles. She bolsters her domestic credentials with foreign policy experience as America's chief diplomat.

Overall, we view her positions as closer to the political center than, certainly, the "democratic socialism" advocated by her most-formidable opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose "revolution" of a dramatic increase in the size of government and spending is far too revolutionary for our taste and, we believe, for the taste of most Americans.

Do not diminish, we might add, the value to her candidacy of having husband Bill, a popular former president, as an adviser and campaigner.

We are not without concerns about Clinton.

We do not believe, for example, all email questions have been answered by Clinton and won't be surprised if fresh, deeper email problems emerge for her as the FBI investigation proceeds.

For today, though, we believe Clinton remains the strongest choice for Democrats within their field of presidential candidates.
DES MOINES | The crowded 2016 Republican presidential campaign in Iowa and elsewhere has become a rough-and-tumble political slugfest that would be the envy of any professional fight promoter.

Heading into crunchtime in the state that launches the presidential nominating process, GOP candidate Rand Pauls Iowa campaign strategist Steve Grubbs  a former state lawmaker and state Republican Party leader  predicted Iowas stretch run would resemble a professional wrestling royal rumble where all the combatants get in the ring together and wrangle until all but one  the winner  are tossed out.

That prediction has held form as the race has broken into subplots of Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz at the front of the pack, Marco Rubio versus Chris Christie, Trump versus Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson versus Trump, Jeb Bush versus Rubio, Rubio versus Cruz, Paul versus Christie and, to a certain degree, all the field versus Trump, with Bush taking the establishment lead in challenging the New York billionaires anger-driven insurgency.

The combative nature of the 2016 race was evident during the Jan. 15 debate in South Carolina when Cruz and Trump took swings at each other over citizenship and New York values, while Cruz and Rubio tangled over immigration policy and Senate votes, and Rubio and Christie clashed over being absent from their respective duties due to campaigning and who is the true conservative.

It is kind of the death match in the cage, throwing people over, said Council Bluffs Republican Brent Siegrist, a former Iowa House speaker who is supporting Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Thats an apt description  throwing people overboard. The question is Who remains standing at the end?

LEAVE-TAKINGS

The political landscape already is littered with GOP contestants who sparred for a time but failed to have staying power: former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Still in the race and competing in Iowa are:

-- Donald Trump, a New York businessman and entrepreneur.

-- Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas.

-- Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida.

-- Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon.

-- Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.

-- Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey.

-- John Kasich, governor of Ohio.

-- Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky.

-- Carly Fiorina, a businesswoman and former CEO.

-- Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.

-- Mike Huckabee, former governor Arkansas.

Gone are the days when GOP candidates lived by Ronald Reagans 11th commandment  thou shall not speak ill of any fellow Republican  although Christie told a Marshalltown crowd recently he thought whoever wins the nomination will stand a better chance of unifying the party if you havent been beating the bejesus out of everybody.

The days leading up to the departures of Perry and Jindal were marked by scathing criticisms of Trump and his unorthodox campaign style, with Jindal calling the New York billionaire a narcissist and egomaniac, while Perry warned that Trump was a cancer on conservatism who threatens to destroy the GOP.

But Trump has succeeded in counterpunching his rivals and even bested Graham, who called him out publicly as a jackass, by reading the senators personal cellphone number on live TV.

ATTACK, UNIFY

Trump and Cruz generally had avoided confronting each other until they found themselves battling for the top spot in Iowa and the gloves came off during the sixth televised GOP debate in South Carolina.

Its no surprise that the elbows are getting pretty sharp right about now, said Tim Hagle, a University of Iowa associate professor of political science. It usually happens about this time, if not even earlier, in a campaign when people are starting to get into crunch time and some people arent doing as well as they want and still think that they have a chance. If it wasnt close, you probably wouldnt be seeing the sharp elbows that were seeing now.

Some of those sharp blows are being delivered by candidates and some are being delivered by TV ads paid for by candidates or super PACs working in support of campaigns.

These attack ads are going to be part of life, Bush said at this months debate.

Everybody just needs to get used to it. Everybodys records going to be scrutinized. And, at the end of the day, we need to unite behind the winner so we can defeat Hillary Clinton because she is a disaster, Bush said. Everybody needs to discount some of the things youre going to hear in these ads and discount ... the back-and-forth here because every person here is better than Hillary Clinton.

STRATEGIES

Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University, said the GOP caucuses have become a two-person race between Trump and Cruz. The remaining order of finishers is up for grabs as the race divides among those competing in the party establishment track, such as Bush, Christie and Rubio, and those competing in the populist/evangelical/social conservative track, such as Cruz, Huckabee and Santorum.

Everybodys jockeying to be better-than-expected, said Goldford, who qualified his statements with what he called the Santorum caveat that leaves open the possibility of an unexpected, late-charging surge such as the one that propelled the Pennsylvania senator to an upset Iowa caucus win in 2012.

David Redlawsk  a political science professor who directs Rutgers Universitys Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and has spent a number of months in Iowa tracking the 2016 presidential race  said Trumps meteoric rise was unpredicted and unprecedented, partly because his celebrity status and his mastery of traditional and social media has taken the oxygen away from everyone else.

But now that Trump sits atop the field, things are unfolding as political observers might expect.

Cruz can no longer sit back and let Trump be there without criticism, and Trump has clearly turned his sights on Cruz, Redlawsk noted. Also Bush has gone directly after Trump, in part because any association with Trump has a spillover attention benefit for a candidate who otherwise is struggling to get traction.

It would put him in the category of a presumably viable candidate if Trump is bothering to go after him, Redlawsk said.

THE OTHERS

Goldford said Bushs lackluster performance in the campaign has been a little surprising, but, on the other hand, Republicans as well have Bush fatigue. He just never took off.

Huckabee and Santorum are trying to re-create past victories, while Iowa voters are looking for something new, Goldford noted.

He said Fiorina remains a long shot and Christie really hasnt shown in Iowa, partly due to a distrust among tea party, evangelical and social conservatives of a Republican governor who has won in a blue state like New Jersey.

One of the royal rumble encounters came during a debate when Christie and Paul clashed over foreign policy and national security concerns as those issues rose to the top of 2016 voter concerns.

Paul has touted that his Iowa grass-roots effort has the support of more than 1,000 precinct captains  spread among nearly 1,700 precincts statewide  heading into the Feb. 1 caucuses. But, Goldford said, Paul is the wrong guy to show up in a time of national security and terrorism threats because the Republican brand is being tough and interventionist ... so that undercuts him.

ODD YEAR

Siegrist called 2016 an odd year on the Republican side and that may be because the large number of candidates has made it difficult for Iowans to focus.

You look at Rubio, who is a Republican Barack Obama  not that much experience but a great speaker, very eloquent, a good guy, and hes getting some traction, Siegrist said. Cruz is just appealing to the red-meat crowd to a degree, but not much experience there either. And then you have the governors who have some experience, and they seem to be downgraded for having the experience.

The last rumble before Iowas caucuses comes when the GOP candidates debate in Des Moines on Thursday  a high-stakes encounter that potentially could move poll numbers, depending on how well or how poorly a candidate performs, he said.

Theres still, he said, a lot of volatility.
DES MOINES | The Iowa caucuses are moving into the ground and pound stage.

After months of campaigning, advertising and organizing, the final results will come down to pounding home a winning message and having the ground game to ensure hordes of energized Iowa political party activists, independents or newcomers make it to their precincts Feb. 1 and seal the deal.

So what does it take to win in Iowa in 2016?

The short answer is hard work, great timing and a fair amount of luck, said Eric Woolson, who worked for past caucus campaigns of Joe Biden, Mike Huckabee, George W. Bush, Michele Bachmann and was involved in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's ill-fated 2016 presidential bid.

It really is just building brick by brick an organization that has a very strong foundation and then catches fire at the end, noted Woolson, who added that it doesnt hurt to also have a huge amount of financial backing and resources to put that infrastructure in place.

Although not a long-range forecaster by trade, Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann has posted an avalanche advisory for caucus-night turnout.

Unprecedented intensity and a slew of candidates who have been wooing Iowans for months could translate into record participation when Republicans and Democrats assemble at schools, fire stations, libraries and a host of other venues in 1,681 precincts where campaigns hope to bear the fruits of their organizational labors, according to experts like Kaufmann, Gov. Terry Branstad and others.

Do I feel enthusiasm? I really do, said Kaufmann. We are prepared for an absolute avalanche of people. Whether that happens, I dont know.

One factor in determining the 2016 caucus outcome most definitely will be the weather. But paramount as always will be the ability of organized armies of trained and tested campaign staffers, precinct captains and loyal volunteers to deliver boots on the ground to caucus sites in numbers that will outpace their rivals.

With this years rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, political experts believe Iowa may be on the verge of again rewriting the political manual on how to win in a state that historically has rewarded retail politicking and organization -- with 2008s Obama tidal wave of young and nontraditional Democrats and Republicans Huckaboom followed by the Santorum surge in 2012.

Yet with new social media and technology tools, super PAC-fueled advertising and other campaigning advances, it will still come down next Monday to the candidates best able to mobilize supporters at their appointed 7 p.m. rounds to register their support as a worldwide audience and media horde look on.

If the folks that run political campaigns are trying to refight 2012 or even 2008, theyre guaranteed to lose, said Mack Shelley, an Iowa State professor who chairs ISUs political science department. No election is like another and youve got to be able to adapt, otherwise -- in evolutionary terms -- you either evolve or you die. As a political campaign goes, that applies just about as much as it does to species.

Both Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum again have done the full Grassley of visiting all 99 Iowa counties in working to put the old band back together for 2016.

Weve done the grassroots work and I think thats how you win the caucuses, you do it the old-fashioned way, said Huckabee. If there is a shortcut and somebody can figure out that you dont actually have to go out and meet voters and work that hard in Iowa, I think it could be the end of the Iowa caucuses and that would be detrimental  not for Iowa, but for America.

But standing in the way of a Huckabee or Santorum repeat is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has Iowa Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats and Iowa Congressman Steve King, among others, within his encampment. He's been working to coalesce the support of the influential tea party, evangelical, constitutional and social conservatives using an impressive network of volunteers to mobilize supporters.

Unlike primaries, Iowas caucuses are party-building functions that test presidential candidates organizing skills and, in that regard, said Vander Plaats, a successful effort requires both inspiring and uniting the base but also expanding that appeal to new participants. He said he has been impressed by Cruzs organization and is committed to making sure there is no stone unturned on caucus night.

Cruz has to be able to expand the numbers of people coming out and, if he does that, hes going to be very tough to beat, said Vander Plaats.

This environment is completely different from any environment weve ever been in, he added. You have the extraordinary Donald Trump candidacy and anybody who underestimates Donald Trumps candidacy only does so at their own peril.

You have an outsider mentality where people want to shake that system to the core right now, Vander Plaats noted, and even though Cruz is a sitting first-term senator hes only been in Washington for three years and has proven hes willing to take on both sides of the aisle and to be that outsider voice to Washington, D.C,. and people really appreciate that about him. He is viewed as very much an outsider.

Trumps campaign is led by Chuck Laudner, who engineered the 2012 Santorum surprise and now hopes to work that same magic this year by turning large crowds who show up for the New York billionaires rallies into caucus attendees on Feb. 1.

The GOP battle for third place also has become a 2016 intrigue with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio using the airwaves and ground troops to bolster his poll numbers among conservatives and establishment Republicans but governors like Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich have also engaged with ads and organizations in Iowas stretch run, along with outsider/newcomers Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

For other candidates, like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, expanding the base means pulling in thousands of youthful supporters from college campuses who agree with him on privacy and foreign policy positions along with his liberty network that turned out in large numbers to support his dads 2012 campaign.

Sanders also is relying heavily on young Democrats to bolster his numbers in a hotly contested matchup with Hillary Clinton, but Polk County Democratic Party chairman Tom Henderson said his partys rules require candidates to have at least 15 percent backing to qualify for delegates so its advantageous to have supporters spread out among precincts rather than concentrated in pockets.

You not only have to make sure that your folks turn out, they have to turn out in numbers large enough that you can actually get delegates awarded, he said, which may produce results different from what polling numbers may indicate based upon organizational strength.

When you start to do caucus math, if you have six delegates available in a precinct and 1,000 people show up, it really doesnt necessarily reflect your support because youre only going to get six delegates out of that particular area, Henderson said. So thats why the Obama campaign (in 2008) decided that a delegate vote in south-central Iowa was as valuable as a delegate vote in Polk County, so they decided to put field organizers throughout the entire state and that did have an impact on the actual count.

The 2008 Democratic outcome was affected when candidate Dennis Kucinich told his supporters to caucus for John Edwards, which helped propel him into second place.

A similar reshuffling could occur, Henderson said, if third-place Democrat Martin OMalleys campaign makes a deal with one of the other two camps to provide second-choice switch-over help to enable a candidate to reach the 15 percent delegate viability threshold if the OMalley contingent at a caucus site is not viable with the proviso that the other campaign would do the same if it doesnt adversely affect that candidates delegate count.

The way you win caucuses doesnt change as a matter of strategy, but with regard to the political issues that are important right now, there seems to be a lot of frustration in the voter base and thats being reflected in both the Republican and the Democratic sides of the fence, Henderson noted.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa | Donald Trump wasnt afraid to brag about his lead in the polls or call out his opponents at a packed house at Dordt College Saturday.

I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldnt lose anyone, the Republican presidential candidate said, complete with a gun shooting gesture. Thats how loyal they are, he said about his supporters.

Jabbing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Trump listed what he thought were their flaws.

Bush, Trump said, had wasted $100 million in campaign spending and is in last place among Republican presidential hopefuls. He said the money should have been given to wounded war veterans instead, a comment that drew enormous applause from the Sioux Center crowd.

Cruz, he said, could run for prime minister of Canada because he was born in Canada to American citizens. Trump questioned his eligibility for president and said Cruz could be sued if he wins the nomination.

While more than a dozen protesters held signs near the B.J. Haan Auditorium, more than 2,000 braved the freezing weather to attend. About 1,600 were able to make it into the auditorium, and officials set up a second site at the rec center to the north, for about 400 more people. There, the speech was live-streamed.

After speaking in the auditorium, Trump spoke to supporters at the rec center for about 10 minutes.

Outside, one of the protesters, Kim Van Es, chair of the Sioux County Democrats, said a number of people in the area are concerned with comments Trump has made on immigrants, minorities, Muslims and women.

"I feel he's really lowered the meter on what public civility is in this campaign," Van Es said. "We want people to know there are alternatives to him and his message."

Inside, Trump said if he had talked about a ban on Christians, he would have met with less criticism.

"I would have had less difficulty," Trump said. "As a group, as Christians, we're becoming less powerful as a force."

Trump then promised, if elected, department stores would be saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays," again.

"Christianity is under siege," Trump said. "(President Barack Obama) doesn't want to say 'radical Islamic terror,' like it doesn't exist.

"I'm a true believer; is everyone a true believer in this room?" Trump asked the packed, loud crowd inside the auditorium. Dordt is a private, Christian college.

Trump also took several minutes to insult various people, including Glenn Beck, a conservative political commentator who recently endorsed Cruz, whom Trump called a stone cold loser, the staff of the National Review, the Washington Post, which he called a tax scam, political analyst Bill Kristol, the media in general and others.

Bush, however, was a particular target. I dont think this guy is a smart person, Trump said. He also mocked U.S. Sen. Lindsey Grahams endorsement of Bush before deriding an ad featuring former first lady Barbara Bush.

Get out there yourself. Low energy. Weak. Pathetic, Trump said of Bush.

At one point, Trump motioned to several military veterans sitting in the crowd and said the support he's gained from them is great.

"I love you people," Trump said to the veterans. "Our veterans are being treated worse than illegal immigrants in this country. It's true."

Trump finished with statements on how he would rebuild the military. He exited, shaking hands with the crowd before his next scheduled appearance in Pella, Iowa, where he was introduced by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. In a parting note, he implored those present to attend their caucus events Feb. 1.

"You gotta go out and do your thing. We will make America great again," he said.
There's no magic pill or product that will keep your child safe and disease-free this school year, but local doctors, who also hold the title of mom and dad, offered some tips that might help keep kids healthier.

Amanda Dannenbring, a family practice physician at Family Health Care of Siouxland Dakota Dunes Clinic, is already seeing cases of strep throat that causes fever, swollen glands and headache in addition to sore throat. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease, a viral infection that causes sores in the mouth and on the hands and feet, was another illness sickening Dannenbring's young patients during the summer.

Dannenbring, who will send her 5-year-old daughter to pre-kindergarten this month, said students missed the first day of school because of strep throat, a contagious bacterial infection.

"I had a little guy the other day who was so upset. He wanted to go to science class; and he wasn't able to go to science class," she said. "I felt really bad, but he had a pretty good fever."

Dannenbring said children need to be fever-free for at least 24 hours before returning to school to prevent the spread of the illness.

Parents, Dannenbring said, should be sure to schedule a back-to-school physical if they haven't with their child's doctor to take care of any chronic conditions such as asthma and catch up on immunizations. Inoculations to protect against influenza, diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus are a must.

According to Steven Joyce, a physician with Mercy Medical Center Internal Medicine & Pediatrics, practicing good hand-washing in school is of utmost importance.

"That's how kids get sick. They're around a whole bunch of other kids more than they are in the summertime. They are exposed to lots more germs, so they need to wash their hands with soap and water and good technique," he said. "It seems like kids get sick a lot more at the beginning of school because they do."

Joyce has a daughter going off to college this fall for the first time. College students, he said, should have a Meningococcal vaccine to protect against meningitis, a rare but potentially deadly bacterial infection that poses a greater risk to students living in close quarters.

"The meningitis vaccine is probably the most important one because in college you're exposed to a lot of people in a close vicinity.," he said. "You're living with them. Those are the risk factors."

Aimee Lorenz, a pediatrician at Prairie Pediatrics in Sioux City, echoes Joyce's hand-washing advice. She's equipping her 11-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter with a bottle of hand sanitizer.

While wiping down desks and tables with wet wipes is a good way to reduce bacteria and virus transmission from surfaces, Lorenz said following good handwashing with a little hand sanitizer also reduces the spread of diseases.

Getting an adequate amount of sleep (her kids aim for 9.5 hours), Lorenz said is key to keep students of all ages healthy. Teens trying to balance school with extracurricular activities and part-time jobs, she said, struggle to get enough sleep. Lorenz recommends they to shoot for around 10 hours a night.

"Poor sleeping habits will decrease their ability to fight off infections," she said. "Falling asleep at school is a sign they're not getting enough sleep."

Red eyes, dark circles under the eyes and irritable behavior, she said, also indicate the need for an earlier bedtime.

"I think they won't go to bed nearly as early when they're exhausted," Lorenz said of her kids. "They'll still try to push the limit to stay up late."
There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to
LA PLATA, Md.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://so.md/expungeme.

(Jan. 23, 2016)The Charles County Sheriff's Office released the following incident and arrest reports.CHARLES COUNTY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH THEFT: Charles County Sheriffs investigators assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division have charged Eric Bernard Riley, 51, of Hughesville in connection with the theft of more than $10,000 worth of cleaning products and supplies while he was serving as the Custodial Superintendent of Charles County facilities. In June 2015, Charles County Government officials notified the CCSO about a possible theft scheme involving Mr. Riley. An immediate investigation was launched and detectives subsequently determined Riley had been stealing cleaning products. Investigators established Riley altered purchase orders by slightly increasing the number of items needed at each facility or by switching out the types of products listed on the purchase order for items he could sell at discounted prices from his home. During the investigation, detectives set up surveillance and perused thousands of documents. On Aug. 5, 2015 a search warrant was conducted at Rileys house in the 14000 block of Shelwick Place in Hughesville. Cases of cleaning supplies, toilet paper, dish soap, and laundry detergent were recovered. On January 13, a criminal summons was issued charging Riley with theft over $10,000. No other county employees were involved in the thefts. Det. E. Clark investigated.THEFTS FROM AUTOS: On Jan. 19, during the overnight hours, unknown suspect(s) entered several unlocked cars parked in the 7800 block of King Arthur Court in White Plains. Money and sunglasses were stolen from one car; it is unclear if anything was stolen from the other vehicles. Officer J. A. Wilson is investigating.ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY: On Jan. 19 at 2:13 p.m., two suspects approached a 17-year-old male as he was walking in the area of Tipperary Avenue and Sunset Ridge Place in Waldorf. The suspects displayed knives and demanded the victims shoes. The victim refused and was able to flee. He went home and later called police. PFC R. Snyder is investigating.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY: During the overnight hours of Jan. 17Jan. 18, unknown suspect(s) damaged 12 mailboxes in the 9000 block of Tayloes Neck Road in Nanjemoy. Master Cpl. R. Cadrette is investigating.
To round out my 2012 travels and push my Delta miles beyond the Diamond threshold, I dashed off on a quick weekend mistake fare trip to Madrid (where I stayed in the hotel nearly the entire time ordering room service while I was bogged down with work and studying), enjoyed another weekend spa getaway to Las Vegas (lounged by the pool most of the time and sampled some of the high end restaurants on the strip), and then ventured into Turkey for a long weekend.





This was my second trip to Turkey and so on the first day, I set about revisiting all the spots in Istanbul I'd fallen in love with on the last trip . That meant, of course, a visit to Cemberlitas Hamami on the European side of Istanbul (not far from the Blue Mosque) for a relaxing scrub and massage. This little slice of heaven is, hands down, my favorite place in Istanbul to recharge after a long flight from the Americas. I also spent some quality time in the spice market, picking up more Turkish Delight than is probably necessary as well as apple tea and other goodies.





Having found a stay in the historic section of old Istanbul a bit inconvenient (not many good restaurants nearby and no nightlife) and overpriced on my last visit, I opted to stay at the Doubletree Modena in Kadikoy this time around. It's on the Asian side of Istanbul and very modern. It boasts a fantastic breakfast spread, affordable hotel pricing, and a dozen or more tasty restaurants in the surrounding neighborhood. It's become my go-to place to stay whenever I'm in the city. To get to the hotel you just take the tram from the airport down to the Sirkeci stop and then cross the street and take the ferry (1 Turkish Lira) from Eminonu to Kadikoy. It's an easy 15 minute ferry ride.





I popped in and out a handful or gourmet shops in Kadikoy (picked up some rose petal jam!) before I took a flight into Izmir. Izmir is a bustling, touristy seaside town but it's relatively quiet in the winter. I was only in the city to pick up a rental car and transfer to Ephesus so I didn't do much exploring beyond grabbing a bite to eat.





I was so excited to take in the ruins of Ephesus. It's a city of key importance in Christian history and its first inhabitants date back to the Bronze Age. It's location has moved around within the region a few times (due to geographical/weather troubles, disease, and politics) but it's always been a notable community. The city rose to become one of the wealthiest Greek communities and the Temple of Artemis (Greek goddess) was constructed within it during that time of prosperity. The city passed to Persian rule, then was liberated and ruled by Alexander the Great's men, before coming under Roman rule through a bequest of a will. As we know from biblical accounts, Ephesus was visited by Christian missionaries many many times in its last chapter of vibrancy. What you may not know from those accounts is that the strong and successful campaign to convert the community to Christianity is what ultimately led to its descent into ruin. Prior to conversion, the city's educated townspeople (both men and women enjoyed freedom to learn) made a handsome living off the sale of worship paraphernalia associated with Artemis. Once Christianity took hold (and took hold in a big way as Paul spent three years here, Ephesus was designated the head of the seven churches in Asia minor, the city hosted Christian councils in the 5th century, and the gospel of John is thought to have been written here), the making of craven images was banned, the beautiful temple of Artemis was destroyed by Christian activists, and the revenue from the Artemis worship tourism industry dried up. At the same time, the advances in women's rights the city could previously boast of were rolled back as women were barred from working independently or teaching men. The city's only saving grace toward maintaining its prominence outside of Christian theology was its role as a sea port and when the river silted up in the 14th century that came to an end as well. Thus is the history of the spectacular city brought to its knees by Christianity.





Here's a visual tour of my favorite buildings.





The stadium where the silversmiths were led into a near riot over the potential loss of idol making revenue as described in Acts 19:23-41.





23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.

28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Pauls traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: Fellow Ephesians, doesnt all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it. 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.









Hadrian's Temple









Main Street









Beautiful arches





The Library of Celsus
Soo Shim Kwan 

Soo Shim Kwan is a Korean martial arts association, headed by Dr. Sanko Lewis, with members in South Korea, South Africa and elsewhere, with appropriate affiliations in ITF Taekwon-Do, Hapkido and Taekkyeon.



Soo Shim Kwan  /  can be translated as House of the Calm Mind: Soo  is understood as water, clear and calm, and Shim  as heart or mind. The name Soo Shim  can therefore be interpreted in various ways, e.g. "to be like water"; "to have a calm mind"; "to have a clear conscience", etc.



With our main dojang connected to a university (North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa) we consider ourselves an academic association and enjoy exploring the science and philosophy behind Taekwon-Do and the martial arts.


He added that one of the current mayors rivals in Sundays elections, Keiichi Shimura, was against the construction of a new US air base on the island, and that Sundays vote would seriously impact the upcoming elections to the upper house of parliament in July.

In December 2015 Atsushi Sakima met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga who said the government supported the mayors efforts to open a Disney park at the site of the base.

Kantoku Teruya dismissed the Ginowan mayors desire to transform the Futenma air base into a Disney-themed resort as a populist, vote-winning gesture.

The whole idea of building a Disneyland in place of the Futenma base is absolutely unreal and intended to attract voter attention. On January 19 I received a formal answer from the government which said that the idea to build a Disneyland had been proposed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Minister Aiko Shimajiri, but not the Cabinet of Ministers as such, he emphasized.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Oriental Land Company, which oversees the construction of Disney parks in Japan, told Sputnik that they were considering a pertinent proposal by the city of Genowan.

When asked if the political backing the idea had received from Tokyo would affect the final decision, the official said he would not comment on that.


One of the factors to influence oil prices is the removal of sanctions against Iran, although experts believe its importance is exaggerated.

On January 16, the European Union and the United States lifted oil and financial sanctions imposed on Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency verified Tehrans compliance with the nuclear agreement. Japan followed suit earlier on Friday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif expressed hope that oil prices should adjust after Tehran returns to the market as sanctions are lifted.

"I believe we have a share in the market which was removed from us. Now we have to return our share and the market has to adjust," Zarif told Sputnik on the sidelines of the forum.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's Chief of Staff Mohammad Nahavandian said that Tehran may contribute to the energy security of the European Union.

"Iran has the world's largest oil and gas resources. These resources can be beneficial for energy security, especially in Europe. In particular, new opportunities open for the development of gas projects, LNG projects," Nahavandian told Sputnik.

A number of forum participants predicted a rise in oil prices and the establishment of what they called a fair price.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that $60-70 a barrel would be an optimal price for both companies and for governments.
"I have a strong gut feeling that there is something very big, very dramatic building in world oil markets over the coming several months, something most of the world doesn't expect," Engdahl noted. "Everything tells me that the world is in for another big oil shock."

If this assessment is true, this shock will not take place straight away, because US shale oil industry is still afloat, even though it "is hanging by its fingernails on the edge of a cliff of massive bankruptcies," as the analyst described it.

"The shale oil industry in the US today is dominated by what BP or Exxon refer to as 'the cowboys,' mid-sized aggressive oil companies, not the majors," the analyst explained. "Wall Street banks like JP Morgan Chase or Citigroup who historically finance Big Oil, as well as Big Oil itself, clearly would shed no tears at this point were the shale boom to bust, leaving them again in control of the world's most important market."
Ahead of the imminent rise in Iran's exports, oil prices dropped below $30 a barrel on January 15, for the first time in 12 years. WTI and Brent crude took this year's losses to more than 20 percent, the most dramatic two-week decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

According to forecasts, the implementation of the Iranian deal was expected to add at least 500,000 barrels per day to the oil market. For Tehran, increasing oil production is a way to compensate the financial losses the country sustained when it was under the sanctions.

Iran is now expected to target India, Asias fastest-growing oil marker, as well as its old partners it worked with before the sanctions were imposed.

The removal of sanctions may also trigger at least $50 billion a year in foreign investments in the country economy.

"Our country can absorb a great deal of foreign investment, considering its potential. I think more than $50 billion per year isnt far-fetched," central bank governor Valiollah Seif said in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Iran has already received some benefits from the implementation of the nuclear deal. About $32 billion of oil revenues previously frozen in overseas accounts are now unblocked, and will be used to buy commodities.

According to Seif, Iranian growth is still caped, and is expected to be three percent this year. However, he said growth could accelerate between five and six percent in the next year.
KIRKENES (Sputnik)  "The Norwegian side told me, that they have compiled a list of 280 people. About 80 of them are in a camp in the town of Kirkenes [bordering Russia], and the rest are in other centers, but can be transported to Kirkenes at any time, from where they will be deported to Russia," the director said.

The exact date of the deportation remains unknown, the source added.

"There is a lack of coordination between the Norwegian and Russian sides. At some time, there is no permission, then it turns out there are not enough supervisors on the border to process this number of refugees, then the computers got stuck," the director said.
The life for many people in Europe is miserable with this level of immigrants. This is not only for Jews but for Christians as well. If we take the year 2015 we will see that Christians were the most prosecuted religious group. Jews are targeted as an ethnic group in Europe by some of these new immigrants, not all of course, but it would be fair to say that some people have been influenced by ISIS. The influence of ISIS is very strong today.

Eskin went on to say that Daesh's influence does not have organizational infrastructure but an ideological masculine message to these immigrants from Iraq and Syria.

If we take Germany the danger is obvious. On one hand there is a wave of hatred brought with some immigrants who do not find their place in Europe and feel uncomfortable as they cant find their home there. On the other hand there is the extreme right wing in Germany which is a very worrisome factor in itself.

Eskin spoke about how Hitlers autobiography book Mein Kampf was recently sold for 1000 euros in Europe and people were buying it although it was banned for so many years. According to Eskin, They buy it to touch it, to smell it and some of them I am afraid want to implement it.

The analyst also talked about the constant threat that Jews encounter in Europe just for being Jewish. There were stabbing cases in Paris and in some cases there were terrorist encounters also and all of this makes life in Europe miserable.

He said that because of this danger that Jews experience the number of people going to Israel is rising. In 2015 there were over 10, 000 Jews who moved to Israel from Western Europe and this year it will be up to 50 if not up to 100,000.
If it's straightforward in regards to Daesh  they're the bad guys and airstrikes against them are legitimate  the problem arises when it comes to other terrorist groups, such as al-Nusra Front. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar openly support al-Nusra Front, which is in fact no different from Daesh, Chomsky said.

"The Kurds have to defend them [the Yazidis] against al-Nusra Front too," Chomsky said, pointing out that the Turkish government openly supports al-Nusra Front, which creates a big problem.

Turkey, the US ally in the Middle East, has been brutally suppressing the Kurds. Chomsky said that if the United States is truly interested in defeating Daesh and protecting the Yazidis, it should tell Ankara to stop attacking the PKK.

"If you want to defend the Kurds you cannot be attacking the Kurds," Chomsky explained in a straightforward manner.

When asked whether the United States and its allies can fight Daesh, forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other terrorist groups in the country all at the same time, Chomsky said that it's essential that the US government and its allies need to set their priorities straight and concentrate on Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria to effectively solve the crisis.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg previously argued that the US wants to avoid getting "dragged into an arms race" and going back to the Cold War days when America had some 300,000 service personnel stationed in Europe.

Certain member countries appear to have an especially hard time compromising due to Poland's obsession with the idea of a "persistent" NATO military presence in the east becoming "permanent".

The United Kingdom currently refrains from openly criticizing the Polish government as London relies on its support in negotiations aimed at keeping Britain in the European Union ahead of a referendum on "Brexit" in June. Poland has offered to help David Cameron limit the rights of EU migrants if the prime minister in return drops his opposition to a permanent base of NATO troops on Polish territory.

Meanwhile, the US doesn't want to aggravate tensions with Russia by breaching the 1997 Founding Act with NATO which bans the permanent stationing of significant forces and equipment in former Warsaw Pact states.

At a Thursday joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Warsaw, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski complained that NATO's current efforts are not enough.

"A few years ago, it was assumed that [the eastern flank's security] could be guaranteed through a support mechanism, a spearhead," he said. "Today, this position is evolving and is starting to head in the direction of security guarantees being fulfilled through a presence of allied troops."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said Thursday that the new facility will give logistical support to China's fleet that performs escort duties in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.

Since May 2015, there were reports on possible talks between Djiboutis President Ismail Omar Guelleh with the Chinese over a possible military base. Chinas Foreign Ministry confirmed the negotiations for the first time in November of last year.

China and Djibouti consulted with each other and reached consensus on building logistical facilities in Djibouti, which will enable the Chinese troops to better fulfill escort missions and make new contributions to regional peace and stability, The Diplomat reported Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei as saying on Thursday.
In an article published by the PLA Daily on WeChat, Yin Zhuo, director of the PLA Navy's Expert Consultation Committee, said the Strategic Support Force's mission is to make sure that the PLA's military superiority is maintained in space and on the Internet.

To be specific, the service's responsibilities include targeted reconnaissance and tracking, global positioning operations and space assets management, as well as defense against electronic warfare and hostile activities in cyberspace, he said. These are all major factors that will decide whether we can win a future war.

In an interview with Sputnik, Vasily Kashin of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies described the ongoing large-scale reform of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) as an unprecedented event in the country's history.

In the past few years, China has faced many challenges, including growing US activity in the South China Sea, which is why Beijing should respond in kind to all this.

Judging by the full-fledged military reform proposed by President Xi Jinping, the response will be very serious, Kashin said.

He added that even though such a military transformation will probably result in a negative reaction from an array of political and military figures in China, Beijing should redouble its efforts to implement the reform.
Washington does not seem to share this sentiment. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has recently said that the US-led coalition will send boots on the ground in Syria and Iraq, but he did not specify what country will supply them.

The British analyst does not believe that Carter was talking about conventional US troops. "I think that what [Carter] is referring to is an increase in the American special forces (and probably other Western special forces) operating in Iraq and Syria against [Daesh]," the expert observed.

Papadopoulos pointed out that Carter's statement also "demonstrates the contradictory nature of American foreign policy when it comes to the Middle East." After all, Barack Obama was propelled to office by an anti-war sentiment. He pledged to withdraw tens of thousands of US troops from the Middle East and to some extent delivered on that promise, before sending them back to the region.

"But then we had other American officials, military and non-military, say that the US is seriously considering deploying troops to fight [Daesh] in Iraq and Syria," the analyst noted. "Reality is of course that Obama has as much blood on his hands as does Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in particular in Syria which the Americans had played a leading role in creating."
Meanwhile, Turkish-German ties currently are marred by the Kurdish issue. Ahead of the meeting, Davutoglu underscored at the forum in Davos that Turkey is against the participation of Kurdish groups in the Syrian peace talks . Supporting the Kurds, Russia is hampering the negotiations, he added.

This might have sounded like a hint to Berlin. Germany maintains close ties with the Kurds in Iraq. According to Die Welt, before the meeting between Davutoglu and Merkel, the German government had to end criticism of Ankaras policy toward Kurds. This concession proves that the Kurdish issue is not that important for Merkels cabinet which is losing popularity amid the ongoing migrant crisis.

Both Russia and Germany consider Kurds an important force taking part in the fight against Daesh. Kurdish Peshmerga militia forces have proved their efficiency in fighting Daesh, not on a sectarian or political basis, but rather for territorial disputes.

Daesh has been trying to establish a "caliphate" across Syria, Turkey and Iraq which has been claimed by Kurds as their own land  Kurdistan, which in their long-term perspective should be an independent state. For Russia and Germany, the Kurds push for independence does not constitute a problem, however, for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he wants to save the southern part of the country by any means possible.

This is why weakening Kurdish militants in Iraq or Syria is one the main goals of Turkeys policy in the region, Vladimir Evseyev, an analyst at the Institute of CIS Countries, told Gazeta.Ru.

German has officially supplied weapons to Iraqi Kurdistan. In addition to EU-made firearms, Kurdish fighters in Iraq use Franco-German MILAN anti-tank systems against Daesh. Media also has reported that Kurds sell some of these German weapons, so it is impossible to control who would receive European weapons.

"There have been reports that Russia is supplying weapons to Kurds in Syria," the analyst said. "But even if they are true Russia is delivering only small amounts of arms to Kurds. Moscow knows that Ankara can take measures in response, including destabilizing situation in Nagorny Karabakh or escalating the Tatarian issue in Crimea."

Nevertheless, Russian airstrikes launched in September 2015 already have foiled Turkeys ambitious anti-Kurdish initiative. Before the operation started Ankara was planning a "safe zone" in northern parts of Syria. It was planned that pro-Turkish militants would receive support and regroup there. Unlike the US, Russia could not guarantee observing the safe zone so Ankara finally abandoned the idea.
There is not very much known about the MiG-41 because everything about this plane, just like with all top modern military projects, remains classified.

All we know is that the Mikoyan bureau has been working on the design of a long-range interceptor, based on their MiG-31, since 2013 as part of a plan to replace the ageing fleet of MiG-31 fighter jets whose active service life expires in 2028.

Even though the MiG-31 is the fastest military aircraft around, it will eventually have to make way for newer and more advanced types of aircraft.
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WASHINGTON  When President Obama secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to begin arming Syria s embattled rebels in 2013, the spy agency knew it would have a willing partner to help pay for the covert operation. It was the same partner the C.I.A. has relied on for decades for money and discretion in far-off conflicts: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Since then, the C.I.A. and its Saudi counterpart have maintained an unusual arrangement for the rebel-training mission, which the Americans have code-named Timber Sycamore. Under the deal, current and former administration officials said, the Saudis contribute both weapons and large sums of money, and the C.I.A takes the lead in training the rebels on AK-47 assault rifles and tank-destroying missiles.

The support for the Syrian rebels is only the latest chapter in the decadeslong relationship between the spy services of Saudi Arabia and the United States, an alliance that has endured through the Iran-contra scandal, support for the mujahedeen against the Soviets in Afghanistan and proxy fights in Africa. Sometimes, as in Syria , the two countries have worked in concert. In others, Saudi Arabia has simply written checks underwriting American covert activities.

Continue reading the main story Secrets of the Kingdom Decades of Discreet Cooperation

The joint arming and training program, which other Middle East nations contribute money to, continues as Americas relations with Saudi Arabia  and the kingdoms place in the region  are in flux. The old ties of cheap oil and geopolitics that have long bound the countries together have loosened as Americas dependence on foreign oil declines and the Obama administration tiptoes toward a diplomatic rapprochement with Iran.

And yet the alliance persists, kept afloat on a sea of Saudi money and a recognition of mutual self-interest. In addition to Saudi Arabias vast oil reserves and role as the spiritual anchor of the Sunni Muslim world, the long intelligence relationship helps explain why the United States has been reluctant to openly criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights abuses, its treatment of women and its support for the extreme strain of Islam, Wahhabism , that has inspired many of the very terrorist groups the United States is fighting. The Obama administration did not publicly condemn Saudi Arabias beheading this month of a dissident Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had challenged the royal family.

Although the Saudis have been public about their help arming rebel groups in Syria, the extent of their partnership with the C.I.A.s covert action campaign and their direct financial support had not been disclosed. Details were pieced together in interviews with a half-dozen current and former American officials and sources from several Persian Gulf countries. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the program.

From the moment the C.I.A. operation was started, Saudi money supported it.

They understand that they have to have us, and we understand that we have to have them, said Mike Rogers, the former Republican congressman from Michigan who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when the C.I.A. operation began. Mr. Rogers declined to discuss details of the classified program.

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American officials have not disclosed the amount of the Saudi contribution, which is by far the largest from another nation to the program to arm the rebels against President Bashar al-Assads military. But estimates have put the total cost of the arming and training effort at several billion dollars.

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The White House has embraced the covert financing from Saudi Arabia  and from Qatar, Jordan and Turkey  at a time when Mr. Obama has pushed gulf nations to take a greater security role in the region.

Spokesmen for both the C.I.A. and the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment.

When Mr. Obama signed off on arming the rebels in the spring of 2013, it was partly to try to gain control of the apparent free-for-all in the region. The Qataris and the Saudis had been funneling weapons into Syria for more than a year. The Qataris had even smuggled in shipments of Chinese-made FN-6 shoulder-fired missiles over the border from Turkey.

The Saudi efforts were led by the flamboyant Prince Bandar bin Sultan, at the time the intelligence chief, who directed Saudi spies to buy thousands of AK-47s and millions of rounds of ammunition in Eastern Europe for the Syrian rebels. The C.I.A. helped arrange some of the arms purchases for the Saudis, including a large deal in Croatia in 2012.

By the summer of 2012, a freewheeling feel had taken hold along Turkeys border with Syria as the gulf nations funneled cash and weapons to rebel groups  even some that American officials were concerned had ties to radical groups like Al Qaeda.

The C.I.A. was mostly on the sidelines during this period, authorized by the White House under the Timber Sycamore training program to deliver nonlethal aid to the rebels but not weapons. In late 2012, according to two former senior American officials, David H. Petraeus, then the C.I.A. director, delivered a stern lecture to intelligence officials of several gulf nations at a meeting near the Dead Sea in Jordan. He chastised them for sending arms into Syria without coordinating with one another or with C.I.A. officers in Jordan and Turkey.

Months later, Mr. Obama gave his approval for the C.I.A. to begin directly arming and training the rebels from a base in Jordan, amending the Timber Sycamore program to allow lethal assistance. Under the new arrangement, the C.I.A. took the lead in training, while Saudi Arabias intelligence agency, the General Intelligence Directorate, provided money and weapons, including TOW anti-tank missiles.

The Qataris have also helped finance the training and allowed a Qatari base to be used as an additional training location. But American officials said Saudi Arabia was by far the largest contributor to the operation.

While the Obama administration saw this coalition as a selling point in Congress, some, including Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, raised questions about why the C.I.A. needed Saudi money for the operation, according to one former American official. Mr. Wyden declined to be interviewed, but his office released a statement calling for more transparency. Senior officials have said publicly that the U.S. is trying to build up the battlefield capabilities of the anti-Assad opposition, but they havent provided the public with details about how this is being done, which U.S. agencies are involved, or which foreign partners those agencies are working with, the statement said.

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When relations among the countries involved in the training program are strained, it often falls to the United States to broker solutions. As the host, Jordan expects regular payments from the Saudis and the Americans. When the Saudis pay late, according to a former senior intelligence official, the Jordanians complain to C.I.A. officials.

While the Saudis have financed previous C.I.A. missions with no strings attached, the money for Syria comes with expectations, current and former officials said. They want a seat at the table, and a say in what the agenda of the table is going to be, said Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution

The C.I.A. training program is separate from another program to arm Syrian rebels, one the Pentagon ran that has since ended. That program was designed to train rebels to combat Islamic State fighters in Syria, unlike the C.I.A.s program, which focuses on rebel groups fighting the Syrian military.

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While the intelligence alliance is central to the Syria fight and has been important in the war against Al Qaeda, a constant irritant in American-Saudi relations is just how much Saudi citizens continue to support terrorist groups, analysts said.

The more that the argument becomes, We need them as a counterterrorism partner, the less persuasive it is, said William McCants, a former State Department counterterrorism adviser and the author of a book on the Islamic State . If this is purely a conversation about counterterrorism cooperation, and if the Saudis are a big part of the problem in creating terrorism in the first place, then how persuasive of an argument is it?

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In the near term, the alliance remains solid, strengthened by a bond between spy masters. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi interior minister who took over the effort to arm the Syrian rebels from Prince Bandar, has known the C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan, from the time Mr. Brennan was the agencys Riyadh station chief in the 1990s. Former colleagues say the two men remain close, and Prince Mohammed has won friends in Washington with his aggressive moves to dismantle terrorist groups like Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The job Mr. Brennan once held in Riyadh is, more than the ambassadors, the true locus of American power in the kingdom. Former diplomats recall that the most important discussions always flowed through the C.I.A. station chief.

Current and former intelligence officials say there is a benefit to this communication channel: The Saudis are far more responsive to American criticism when it is done in private, and this secret channel has done more to steer Saudi behavior toward Americas interests than any public chastising could have.

The roots of the relationship run deep. In the late 1970s, the Saudis organized what was known as the Safari Club  a coalition of nations including Morocco, Egypt and France  that ran covert operations around Africa at a time when Congress had clipped the C.I.A.s wings over years of abuses.

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And so the kingdom, with these countries, helped in some way, I believe, to keep the world safe at a time when the United States was not able to do that, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former head of Saudi intelligence, recalled in a speech at Georgetown University in 2002.

In the 1980s, the Saudis helped finance C.I.A. operations in Angola, where the United States backed rebels against the Soviet-allied government. While the Saudis were staunchly anticommunist, Riyadhs primary incentive seemed to be to solidify its C.I.A. ties. They were buying good will, recalled one former senior intelligence officer who was involved in the operation.

In perhaps the most consequential episode, the Saudis helped arm the mujahedeen rebels to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. The United States committed hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the mission, and the Saudis matched it, dollar for dollar.

The money flowed through a C.I.A.-run Swiss bank account. In the book  Charlie Wilsons War , the journalist George Crile III describes how the C.I.A. arranged for the account to earn no interest, in keeping with the Islamic ban on usury.

In 1984, when the Reagan administration sought help with its secret plan to sell arms to Iran to finance the contra rebels in Nicaragua, Robert C. McFarlane, the national security adviser, met with Prince Bandar, who was the Saudi ambassador to Washington at the time. The White House made it clear that the Saudis would gain a considerable amount of favor by cooperating, Mr. McFarlane later recalled.

Prince Bandar pledged $1 million per month to help fund the contras, in recognition of the administrations past support to the Saudis. The contributions continued after Congress cut off funding to the contras. By the end, the Saudis had contributed $32 million, paid through a Cayman Islands bank account.

When the Iran-contra scandal broke, and questions arose about the Saudi role, the kingdom kept its secrets. Prince Bandar refused to cooperate with the investigation led by Lawrence E. Walsh , the independent counsel.

In a letter, the prince declined to testify, explaining that his countrys confidences and commitments, like our friendship, are given not just for the moment but the long run.
In Britain the Royal Navy has a shortage of experience sailors essential to operating some of its warships. The need is most acute in technical fields. That is sailors with the skills and experience to make repairs at sea. The shortage arose because over the last few years the Royal Navy suffered such heavy budget cuts that they could not afford to new recruits needed to replace the experienced sailors retiring. So in an increasingly common move Britain asked the United States for help, offering to pay all costs and expenses to entice American sailors to serve on Royal Navy ships. The U.S. Coast Guard stepped up and found 36 sailors who had the qualifications and were willing to move to Britain with their families for a few years and serve on Type 23 frigates.

This sort of thing is nothing new, especially among English speaking countries. Back in 2010, noting that Britain was downsizing its armed forces, and cutting loose a lot of experienced personnel, the Australian Navy sent recruiting officers to Britain to see if there would be interest among some of these former (or soon-to-be former) British sailors in joining the Australian Navy. The Australians were particularly interested in obtaining personnel with technical skills. Years of low unemployment in Australia (partly because China was buying so many raw materials) caused a shortage of engineering and technical specialists in the navy. The mining companies were luring away a lot of technical personnel with higher pay and better working conditions. As a result, for example, the navy only has crews for three of its six submarines.

Australia has long been recruiting foreigners who possess needed technical skills and speak English. Australia is a nation of immigrants and the navy points out that recruiting a foreigner is cheaper than training an Australian to do these tasks. But sending recruiters to foreign countries was a new angle. Australia also offered navy jobs to sailors from Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. All four foreign nations share a common language and, in general, culture with Australia. Moreover, sailors from these foreign nations have gone through similar security vetting. The recruiting offers were sweetened with quick granting of Australian citizenship after less than a year of service.

Australia is not the only nation seeking foreigners for its military. Russia, for example, has a fundamental problem with few Russian men willing to join, even at good pay rates. Efforts to recruit women and foreigners have not made up for this. The Russian military has an image problem that just won't go away. This resulted in the period of service for conscripts being lowered to one year (from two) in 2008. That was partly to placate the growing number of parents who were encouraging, and assisting, their kids in avoiding military service.

Nevertheless, Russia kept making it easier for foreigners to join. Recruits still must be able to speak Russian, have no criminal record, and meet physical and educational standards but other than that, anyone is welcome to sign up for five years as a contract (non-conscript) soldier. This didn't bring in a lot of new people but every little bit helps. The navy and air force are particularly short of technically qualified personnel and don't care if the new guys speak with an accent. At its peak this program had less than a thousand foreigners serving, most from countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union. But there were also a few from Germany and Israel (where a lot of Russians had immigrated to in the past 30 years).

Before the U.S. military began downsizing in 2012 they had about 50,000 non-citizens in service (out of some 2.2 million active duty and reserve troops). The navy, not the army, usually has the largest number (nearly half). That's something of a navy tradition, as hiring foreigners to serve on U.S. warships is a custom that goes back over a century. Currently, the proportion of foreigners (about two percent) in the U.S. military is historically low. It's been much higher in the past, often reaching 25 percent or more. This caused alarm, then as now, but there were never a lot of problems with uncertain loyalties.

After 2001 senior American officers urged more efforts to recruit foreigners. Not just non-citizens with green cards but foreigners who were not residents of the United States. This brought forth protests from those opposed to, well, whatever. Historically, the American military has usually had more foreigners in the ranks than it does now. During the American Civil War about twenty percent of the Union Army was foreign born troops. There were entire divisions of Irish, Germans, or Scandinavians. For the rest of the 20th century, the all-volunteer military continued to have a higher (than today) percentage of foreigners. Recruiting foreigners would enable the army to get more highly capable recruits and ones with needed foreign language and cultural awareness skills. Naturally, they would have to speak acceptable English, just as resident foreigners in the United States or citizens from Puerto Rico must. While American military pay and benefits are competitive with U.S. civilian occupations to most foreigners these pay levels are astronomical. The risk is low, as only about one in a thousand foreign born volunteers died in Iraq or Afghanistan. All that and you get to become a citizen of the United States after your four year enlistment is up. The only question was which line would be longer at American embassies, the one for visas, or the one for military recruiting?

And then there is Britain. In the early 19th century Gurkhas were first recruited into the British Indian army, not the British army. After India became independent in 1947 they too recruited Gurkhas for Indian infantry units. But service in the British army was considered a better deal. Britain has long recruited foreigners into its army and navy because there has always been a shortage of British citizens willing to serve.

Then there is the French Foreign Legion, which is supposed to be nothing but foreigners (except for the officers). But many French join, claiming to be from the French speaking parts of Belgium. No matter, if otherwise qualified, the "Belgians" are signed up. In Italy, the Vatican (a small part of Rome that is an independent country controlled by the Roman Catholic Church) gets most of its security forces from Catholic areas of Switzerland. This is the Swiss Guard. While the French Foreign Legion dates from the 19th century, Swiss have been serving as foreign mercenaries since the 15th century. But these contingents disappeared as better economic opportunities developed in Switzerland and mercenaries became less popular.
The purpose of this blog is for me to publish not-quite-daily updates on my continuing research on the English Reformation and its aftermath, especially for Catholics until Emancipation in 1829; I'll particularly highlight the stories of the Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales, especially those beatified and canonized by the Holy See. I will also highlight promotional events for Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation.If you like my blog, you might like my book, available from these retailers , on Kindle , and Nook ! [If you want a signed copy, please contact me via email: englishreform(at)cox(dot)net].Comment moderation is turned on; please be patient with me logging in to approve comments.
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
This is a blog of the sailing adventures of SV Fortuitous, and some of our land adventures too. The oldest, from 2004, are at the bottom of the list. Please feel free to leave a comment. Click on the word comment, at the bottom of the posting, and add yours. Leave your comment under anonymous or name and URL and you can use your own email account. I hope you enjoy our journey. If you are a regular follower, it would be great to know that, so please sign up in that spot.
News and Views About Wine and The Good Life in Southern California, and Beyond.
In a 100-year-old photo, a young woman holds a gun in one hand and a cross in the other. The image is of Anahid Arakelians great-grandmother Khatoun.

The photograph served as Khatouns statement about the Armenian genocide sweeping the country at the time, Arakelian explained: Khatoun would rely on her faith to get her through it alive, but she would also fight to the death.

The old photo, found randomly inside a book, brought Arakelian, of Newport Beach, Calif., and her cousins together when she contacted them excitedly about finding it. That initial encounter created a launching pad for their relationship: Now the cousins contact one another regularly and make plans to meet in person. (Her cousins, incidentally, are as close as Pasadena, Calif., and as far afield as Uruguay.)

Cousins are important because they share blood, no matter if they are first or distant cousins, Arakelian says. Going forward, they are legacies of ancestors who set the course for the future and remind us of our perseverance, will, strength and courage.

According to a report by the popular genealogy website Ancestry.com, searches of family trees now branch into the present as well as the past. Cousins are looking for one another. The website report says the 46 percent of people across the countries it studied discovered living relatives they never knew about.

As Arakelian discovered, cousins matter.

Cousins, extended family, allow psychological distance that immediate family cannot, says Providence, R.I., relationship therapist Larry Shushansky. Relationships with cousins afford a certain space, a certain independence, that allows us to have different kinds of experiences with them.

They can be a source of balance  affording the closeness and common bond that exists in families, as well as the psychological distance that is one step removed from the dependency that causes anxiety and conflict within immediate (family members).

From that distance, cousins can become friends, acquaintances, mentors, people we bond with. They can be partners in crime at family functions, close or distant, advisers, long lost or newly found. They add dimension to a family.

Forging emotional bonds

Cousins can be the glue that helps hold families together on an intergenerational level simply by telling stories about other family members when they get together. Some know family history that others dont, about places people have lived, experiences people have had. A cousin can tell you something about your parents that you never knew.

They can also offer an invaluable combination of familial bond and emotional distance.

Ive seen clients who had issues with their siblings that were mediated or bridged by cousins who had warm ties with both, says Kathy McCoy, a Sun City, Calif., psychotherapist and author who specializes in family relationships.

She remembers one instance in which two sisters were estranged, but a cousin convinced both that life was too short for their calculated Cold War.

They couldnt have heard that from one another or even from another sibling, McCoy says. But somehow a cousin  close but a little removed from the family-of-origin dynamic  was able to help.

Melissa Benhaims father is one of 10 children, and for that reason she has 30 first cousins and shes as close to some of them as she is to her sister. Growing up, many lived close by, so they would have sleepovers and go on vacations together.

Many of her childhood memories are full of exploits with her cousins, she says.

Two years ago, she moved to Florida without close connections, but she had two sets of cousins she didnt know well but with whom shes since grown close.

I can safely say that, without having my cousins here, my move would have been a lot harder, as the rest of my family is in the Northeast, and I really value the relationships we have, she says. Although I might jokingly complain about the (sheer) volume of cousins and having to see everyone when I come home and answer all their questions, I cant imagine my life without them.

Just as some people have a lot of siblings, Benhaim has a lot of cousins, and they also come in handy.

She came down with a stomach virus on the way home from a road trip and was very sick driving home, so she stopped at her cousins house. She ended up staying there for several days as they took care of me the way my parents would have, she says. I cant imagine how those several days would have been had I not had my cousins there, as I live alone.

Understanding what others dont

For Surabhi Surendra, of New Delhi, who blogs on her site, www.womanatics.com

Her father, for instance, always focused on simple living that has included eating on the floor. Her thoroughly modernized friends might not understand, but her cousins do because they stayed at one anothers houses as children for months at a time. In India, thats not uncommon at all.

When the cousins stayed at her house, they ate food on the floor. They get it. Since their mother and her father are siblings, the cousins share some ideologies, and this helps immensely in fostering healthy and lifelong relationships, Surendra says.

Another advantage, she adds, is the ability to talk about my family weaknesses with cousins. Friends who do not come from a similar background may never understand my feelings about my family, or they may get judgmental about them. But my cousins always understand because they have also lived those (experiences) with me.

Like Surendra, McCoy has strengthened her family bonds by reaching out to a cousin.

My father was both charming and abusive, kind and cruel, McCoy says. Up close I experienced him in all ways, but somehow, years after his death, his negative traits stood out more in my memory. But a cousin who spent summers with her family told McCoy that what she remembered most was his kindness, his sense of humor and his gift as a storyteller.

Thanks to her, I started to remember him in a different way, not forgetting the difficult times but appreciating anew what a gifted and loved, though complicated, person he was, McCoy says. And I felt more at peace with my past, thanks to my cousin.

Shushansky, who is writing a book titled Independent Enough that explores the relationship theory of cousins, says cousins help pass down traditions, values, heritage and valuable stories that might have been lost.

Simple stories, he says, allow other cousins to know and understand different generations, new layers of relationships and personalities about people they didnt really know.

All in all, he adds, cousins are very important to families in a lot of ways. We just dont give them enough credit.
As promised in my last column, this list comprises the top 10 books I read in 2015.

It was a big year in publishing, with the printing of Harper Lees previously unpublished book she wrote before her classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

Without further ado, here are numbers 10 through 1 of my favorite books from 2015. You can find all of them at the Longview Public Library.

And, remember, The Fire it Up! Adult Winter Reading program begins soon. Join Cowlitz County public libraries in promoting reading and literacy (and win some awesome prizes at the same time) by participating in the program and show everyone how important literacy is not only for you and your family, but for the entire community. Happy reading.

10. Jade Mountain Dragon by Elsa Hart.

First-time novelist Hart has written a fascinating mystery set in 18th-century China that I loved. Disgraced Imperial librarian (How often do you get to use disgraced and librarian in the same sentence?) Li Du is a wandering scholar and is drawn into helping the local magistrate uncover the person who murdered a visiting Jesuit astronomer at the time of the Emperors arrival.

9. Purity by Jonathan Franzen.

Franzen came to the attention of the literary world with his massive bestselling, and National Book Award winner, The Corrections. In this excellent novel, he explores the ideas of identity and the search for truth in todays morally complex world, which, in many ways is more open and transparent, but in others is even more secretive and unknown.

8. Big Seven by Jim Harrison.

When I read Harrison, Im often reminded of one of my favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway. Big Seven is the follow-up to Great Leader, another great book by Harrison. Detective Sunderson, now retired, is back with an interesting mystery and meditations on all of his many imperfections (and there are plenty). Its not his best work, but even a less-than-great work by Harrison is still worth reading.

7. Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny.

Penny is another writer who seems to almost always make my list, or is one of the last titles I scratch from the list. She writes intelligent mysteries about people who are not only real and interesting, but with whom you always enjoy becoming reacquainted.

6. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

While I wouldnt say this is a monumental work of literary merit, it is a page-turners page-turner. If you like your books fast and furious (think Gone Girl), youll have a good time with this excellent thriller.

5. Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig.

I was saddened when I learned Doig died. He is another of my favorite authors and he doesnt disappoint in this last, beautifully written work. This semi-autobiographical novel is a coming of age story about a young boy who is sent to live with his aunt in Wisconsin after his grandmother in Montana has surgery, the memorable characters he meets along his way, and how he finds his way home again.

4. Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell.

Russell continues the story of Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers she began in Doc. You may think you know the story of the OK Corral, but until I read this book, I never really felt I fully understood the situation, the men involved and the tragedy that occurred that fateful day. Russell writes well-crafted stories with fascinating characters and I heartily recommend anything she has written.

3. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee.

The people I have spoken to about this discovered treasure usually seem to love it or hate it. I fall on the love it side. Its a fascinating coming of age story about Scout Finch, and a captivating portrayal of the South in the mid-20th century. It certainly paints Atticus in a slightly different, and more complex, light, but perhaps thats not such a bad thing.

2. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George.

This wonderful, beautifully penned novel has me written all over it. What more could one want than a bookseller who sells books on a boat in the Seine in Paris. He has the knack (ability) to prescribe the perfect book to help his customers with whatever spiritual malady seems to be afflicting them. Its a tale of books, and food, and friendship, and, most importantly, love.

1. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain.

Almost every years number one choice is difficult, but the story of famed aviator and renowned racehorse trainer Beryl Markham was a clear winner in 2015. This coming of age story (and beyond) set in the wilds of Kenya (which is as much a character as any other) is a wonderfully written and captivating tale by the author of The Paris Wife, another fantastic fictional biography. Markham was a fascinating and fiercely independent woman, in an era where the norm was just the opposite, and McLain does a wonderful job of bringing this extraordinary woman, and the place she called home, to life. If you enjoy books that truly take you away to a different time and place, this is one of those books.

For Chris Skaugsets top 11-20 reads of 2015, visit http://bit.ly/1TiGU4p
On the same day Steve Kern started at Cowlitz PUD last week, crude oil prices slid under $28 a barrel  less than the cost of two large pizzas. Thats bad news for utilities, such as the PUD, that depend on high energy prices to churn a profit on sales of surplus electricity.

As Cowlitz PUDs new general manager, Kern is faced with guiding the utility at a time when its profits are pinched and its costs are rising. Its losing $1 million a month on its Central Washington wind farms. Its saddled with $214 million worth of debt and the unpopularity of rising residential rates, which have crept up 50 percent during the last decade. And the utility is still rebuilding its image after the controversies of the 2013 ouster of former General Manager Brian Skeahan and the failed campaign to recall Commissioner Ned Piper.

This is the world Steve Kern entered as he took the helm from Don McMaster. Kern, 59, grew up on a Central Washington cattle ranch, yet its his big-city experience at PNGC Power in Portland, Seattle City Light, Duke Energy and Avista Energy in Spokane that he says will prepare him for the role. Cowlitz PUD commissioners say his 35 years of experience in the power industry are needed to face the utilitys challenges.

I knew he had a good reputation and was very knowledgeable about power, said PUD Commissioner Ned Piper. Hes been in all phases of the power industry  investor utilities, municipalities, public power.

With clear blue eyes and white mustache, Kern has been described as a creative and analytical person who likes to talk out loud when solving problems or planning. He comes across as cautious leader ready to make incremental changes rather than someone who likes sudden, bold changes.

I view myself somewhat as a pretty conservative leader. I wont be taking a large risk on behalf of our customers, he said, laughing.

Kerns background

Kern studied geological sciences and hydrology at the University of Washington, and said hes worked in all four corners of the state for a range of private and public utilities, ending up most recently as a private consultant in Ridgefield.

Although he had worked for Seattle City Light as a consultant with Land Energy, it wasnt until 2007 that he was hired as a full-time employee managing power supply and environmental affairs. There, Kern said he oversaw a staff and budget that were three times the size of Cowlitz PUDs 164 employees. In 2011, Kern made $214,175 at City Light, the third highest paid employee in the city that year, according to The Seattle Times. That compares to his base salary at Cowlitz PUD of $200,000 annually, not including benefits.

Kern worked at City Light during the controversial tenure of superintendent Jorge Carrasco, who pushed for debt reduction and cost controls. Some employees said Carrasco hammered morale when he fired most of the utilitys upper-level management and encouraged the retirements of dozens more employees, later replacing them with outside talent and consultants, reported The Seattle Weekly.

So not everyone was happy with upper management. One now retired Seattle City Light employee, Karen Lebens, said that Kern was spectacular in his ignorance of technical matters and his total lack of managerial skills. Lebens said that Kern oversaw a reorganization of the Skagit River hydroelectric dam complex that resulted in City Light losing millions of taxpayer money. Lebens also accused Kern of failing to listen to senior employees warning about safety problems.

Piper said he contacted Kern after hearing those complaints to hear his side of the story, and was satisfied with his explanation of challenges with that particular employee.

Dena Diamond-Ott, Cowlitz PUD commission president, added that based on what Ive heard from Mr. Kern, Slavin Management (a head hunting agency) and his references during the hiring process and to date, I am very confident that Mr. Kern has the ability and experience to lead our district into the future efficiently and effectively.

Kern defended his five-year tenure at City Light, saying he takes safety seriously and worked to improve efficiencies there. I think most people in Seattle would say there was a need in the utility to reduce costs, and that doesnt always make everyone happy, he said. I understand there was a lot of strife  but I think the utility is in a better place than it was 10 years ago.

Throughout his three decades working in the utility industry in the Northwest, hes had various roles with the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, a 70-year-old group of public and private utilities that advocates for the industry and assists in planning and analysis of the regions energy needs.

He thoroughly understands the river operations of the (Pacific Northwest hydroelectic system) and knowing how that all that works is going to bode very well for Cowlitz PUD, said Shauna McReynolds, executive director of PNUCC.

McReynolds and others emphasized Kerns understanding of regional challenges facing Northwest utilities.

We dont operate on an island as a utility, said Bob Geddes, general manager at Lewis County PUD, where Kern worked for five to six months filling an interim role. Steve (Kern) has an ability to work well with the other utilities and communicate the needs of the utility hes working for.

Elliot Mainzer, administrator of Bonneville Power Administration, described Kern as a very creative and very direct person. Several years ago, when more Northwest utilities started moving into wind energy, Mainzer said Kern was influential in raising awareness of the need to plan around the unpredictability of wind energy.

Diamond-Ott said she specifically appreciated Kerns experience managing hydroelectric operations, wind farms and working with the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that markets power from dams in the Columbia River basin.

Future challenges

Cowlitz PUD buys 90 percent of its power from Bonneville, so when Bonneville raises its rates that means the PUD has to pay more for power. That was one major reason behind the 7.5 rate hike for residential customers last fall.

The escalating cost of power will be the number one challenge for Northwest utilities, Kern said.

Its in the forefront. It is a question, What are the long-term power supply sources for this utility? and How do we structure that in a way to protect our customers, meaning from a cost a standpoint? Kern asked.

Yet any changes to the PUDs power source likely wont change anytime soon, because its contract with Bonneville doesnt expire until 2028.

We were going to be looking at longer-term supply portfolio strategy here in the next several months, he added. (But) our ability to manage and do something  is really beyond 2028.

Bonnevilles costs are rising as it is faced with the need to pay for upgrading antiquated power grids and taking steps to protect fish and wildlife, among other factors. At the same time, its making less money from the sales of its surplus power, forcing it to recoup the losses by raising rates for its wholesale customers, such as Cowlitz PUD.

Kern expects to be involved in BPAs evaluation of its costs and rates and, in the long run, he expects Bonnevilles electric rates to remain competitive compared to other sources.

Cowlitz PUD will have a challenge controlling costs, he said, especially as federal regulations for increased cybersecurity kick in. Kern said the utility must make 30 to 50 significant changes, some of which have cost other utilities millions.

Another challenge is meeting terms of the voter-approved Initiative 937, which mandates public utilities to obtain at least 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020 (hydropower from dams doesnt count). The utility shelled out $130 million building wind farms, which will put it in compliance with the law until at least 2027. But the once lucrative wind market (the PUD has little or no need for the power itself) has shriveled up. The utility says its losing $1 million a month on the wind farms.

I hate to say, It is what it is, but today we (are in that) position. So how do we make the most out of it? How do we get the most value out of it? How do we reduce our costs? Kern asked. The utility will have to answer those questions, and figure out how to minimize losses or else reduce costs, he said.

A potential state carbon tax to combat climate change also has commissioners on edge. None or little of the energy the PUD uses releases carbon emissions, but that does not necessarily mean the PUD wont be affected somehow.

Kern is stepping into the top administrative post of an organization slammed by personnel controversies over the past three years. He said employees have told him they are happy to see a fresh face.

I really work well with people. I get the job done. I think people will see that, and hopefully we can keep moving on, he said, adding that his entire job is focused on one core question: How do we bring the best value to our customers, whether its managing risk or keeping our costs down? Im committed to that.
For 30 years, Daphne Kraabell weathered the highs and lows of meth addiction.

Shed walk around with $20,000 to $30,000 in her pocket, the earnings of the drug deals that supported her addiction. But she faced prison time twice for those same deals  nearly two years the first time and four years the second time.

Now several years removed from her last prison stint, Kraabells life looks much different. Shes in her fifth quarter at Lower Columbia College, where she studies chemical dependency. Kraabell, 51, regularly makes the colleges presidents list, and she hopes to someday become an advocate for people like herself who have struggled with addiction.

But she couldnt have turned her life around, she said, without the help of a local nonprofit  Been There, Done That.

Without this program, I wouldnt be here today, Krabbell said, referring to her successes at college. I havent looked back since, and I dont ever plan on looking back.

The nonprofit guides felons returning to Cowlitz County after they finish their jail or prison sentences. Joel Whiteside, 34, has worked with 47 former felons since the organization gained its nonprofit status in 2014.

Whiteside himself served two prison stints  a 28-month sentence when he was 17 years old for assault and a three-year sentence in 2008 for violating a no-contact order.

The organizations top priority is helping felons develop a release plan that details where theyre going to live and what theyre going to do once theyre released. Whiteside guides them through the process of finding a job or applying for college. In some cases, he helps reunite them with children and other family members.

I believe if (the felons) dont have a release plan prior to release, the likelihood of them returning to criminal activity  is a lot more likely, he said. History shows that without a plan, individuals will repeat the same mistakes and same choices (they made) prior to incarceration.

Kraabell had just finished chemical dependency treatment at the time she met Whiteside. She had goals for her life post-prison, and Whiteside helped her accomplish them.

He helped her sign up for financial aid and walked her through the steps of writing her first college paper, she said. When she needed advice, she said Whiteside was only a phone call away.

When I told him my story, he told me his story, and I knew that there was hope, she explained. Hed been to prison, too. He changed his life. He went to college. He got a degree, and hes this amazing guy.

I wanted that, she added. I wanted what he had, and he said, You can have it. You can have everything I have.

Nate Richardson had a similar story.

Richardson, 43, got out of prison in June 2015 after a 20-month sentence for delivering meth. He said hes lost count how many times hes been to jail.

But it was the prison stint that evoked change, he said. He knew the first day of his prison sentence that he wanted something different.

My neighbor (in prison) was doing life in prison for murder, and ... reality set in that this isnt what I want, he said.

Before he was incarcerated, he said he had a semi-normal life, punctuated by periods of drug abuse. However, the abuse worsened after a divorce, and he sold meth to pay for his habit. Once incarcerated, he began thinking about life after his release.

My life started over as soon as I got to prison, not as soon as I got out.

Richardson met Whiteside at a narcotics anonymous meeting during a work release in April. Through working with Whiteside and going to NA, Richardson said he began working toward getting into LCC, where he plans to study mechanical or civil engineering. Without the help of Whitesides organization, he said he likely wouldnt attempt earning a college degree.

There would have been a greater chance (of giving up) because of all the road blocks that I ran into on each goal that I set, he said. Joel kind of was like, OK, what are we going to do? Whats next? And he made sure that I had what I needed to do it.

Richardson added that its been helpful meeting others through the nonprofit who have overcome the same hardships, a sentiment shared by Kraabell.

Kraabell said meeting people with similar pasts has helped her shed the guilt and shame she felt after leaving prison.

Youre clean and sober. You look at yourself, and you think Ive wasted my life, she said. Youre drowning.

She credits the organizations help  particularly that of Whiteside  for helping her move past that.

Whats going to change peoples lives is Been There, Done That, she said. Because thats what people need to see and hear is thats its OK  Ive been. Ive done that. Youre not the only person.
Letters to the Editor

Control the hysteria

Anyone with a computer or a smart phone can quickly check the truth of what Ken Spring (TDN Letters to the Editor, Jan. 22) said about guns in Australia. Including Mr. Spring. And he is completely wrong. A mass shooting in 1996 led to much stronger gun laws but, today, there are still over 800,000 licensed gun owners and up to 5 million registered firearms and an estimated 6 million illegal guns in Australia. Australia has had two gun buy-back programs, one in 1996 and another in 2003. Also, 660,959 rifles and shotguns were bought  not confiscated  in 96 and 50,000 handguns in 2003. Pro-gun people need to get their facts straight and control their hysteria.

Linda and Bill Standal

Longview

Up in flames

Washington state lawmakers are pushing to raise the legal smoking age to 21. Dont we have bigger problems to worry about?

You can enlist in the military at 18, be disabled or die for your country, but you wont be able to have a cigarette at 18.

How are you going to enforce it?

I have a great idea. Lets have term limits. Discuss that!

Bob Dashiell

Longview

Shameful

Last night I watched a one of the newly released movies. The movie is based on a true story, the people involved in the real event were technical advisors for the film, ensuring the accuracy of the movie.

The film I experienced was 13 Hours. Its the true version of the Benghazi attack told by the people who survived. The news told the American people a story of what happened, that was provided by White House as a talking point. Of course when the truth came out, the media completly covered it up by not reporting it.

Please, I beg each of you to go see this movie. I left the theater ashamed, ashamed, ashamed that Americans could do that to other Americans. Not just any Americans, but this countrys current administration. If you remember the White House released the story that the reason for the attack was outraged Arabs over a video that an American released disrespecting them some how.

After you watch the movie keep in mind what Hillary said about the attacks when she was secretary of state. At the funeral of one of the men killed in the attack, his father has stated Hillary came up to him, shook his hand and to his face stated we will get this guy who made that video.

Ive never been so ashamed of our leaders as I am now after watching this movie. If after you watch this movie and you still vote Hillary into office, you need to take a look at yourself. Dont just listen to your friends on who to vote for, think for yourself.

D.D. George

Kelso

Healthful practices

Good health is a valuable asset, and one that Americans cannot afford to waste. You cant usually see the sun on a cloudy day, yet we believe that the sun is there, behind those clouds. Bacteria are mighty small, yet though we cant see them on bathroom door handles, you can bet that the tiny organisms are hanging around on them.

For that reason, I have considered public restrooms that place paper towel dispensers and waste baskets near the bathroom door, to be an example of thoughtful stewardship. (The practice makes it possible to use a clean towel to open the bacteria infested door.) Some public restrooms place a sign on the wall that explains why a person ought to wash their hands after using the facility. I have seen men walk out of public restrooms without washing their hands, and the sight of that is unsettling.

The problem is one of education. I think that we can do better. Every public restroom ought to display these signs that explain the need to scrub your hands after using the facility. A paper towel dispenser and a waste basket should be placed near the door, in order to achieve optimum sanitation. Considerate citizens, take note. Act now, to change this situation.

David Doerr

Rainier
Between January 2003 and September 2006, out of 138 letters to the editor that I sent to the Financial Times before I placed them on this blog they published these 15 . Not bad! Thank you FT!Unfortunately, since then and until the very last day of the decade, out of some 1.000 letters that you can find here, FT published none, zero, zilch. Of course FT is under no obligation whatsoever to publish any of my letters and of course one should not exclude the possibilities that my letters might have quite dramatically gone from bad to worse yet one wonders.My usual suspects are:1. Someone in FT with a delicate ego feels his or her importance diminished by giving voice to a lowly non PhD from a developing country daring to opine on many issues of developed countries.2. That FT has some sort of conflict of interest with the credit rating agencies that makes it hard for them to give too much relevance to someone who considers they have been given too much powers.3. The FT establishment had perhaps decided there were only macro economic problems and not any financial regulation problems, and wanted to hear no monothematic contradictions on that.4. That FT feels slightly embarrassed when someone repeatedly asks the emperor-is-naked type question of what is the purpose of the banks and realizing this was something FT should have itself asked a long time ago.5. It is way too much oversight for FT to handle.6. Or am I just supposed to be a living example of one half of the Financial Times motto, namely that of "without favour"Which one do you believe is closest to the truth?
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China is planning a supercomputer 1,000 times more powerful than its groundbreaking Tianhe-1A within two years as it faces rising demand for next-generation computing.

The National Supercomputer Centre in Tianjin will release a prototype in 2017 or 2018 of an "exascale" computer - one capable of at least a billion billion calculations per second, Meng Xiangfei, head of the applications department, said on Friday.

Exascale computing is considered the next frontier in the development of supercomputers and it would represent a significant achievement in computer engineering.

Tianhe-1A was recognised as the world's fastest computing system in 2010. Though it has since been superseded by Tianhe-2, Tianhe-1A is being more widely used.

Computer scientists are finding it challenging to run contemporary applications at their optimum on faster supercomputers.

With its uses including oil exploration data management, animation and video effects, biomedical data processing and high-end equipment manufacturing, Tianhe-1A's capacity is being stretched, Meng was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

It is carrying out more than 1,400 computing tasks and serving about 1,000 users per day. The exascale computer will be wholly independently developed by the National Supercomputer Centre, according to Meng.

About a seventh of Tianhe-1A's CPU chips are Chinese.

PTI
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Google Inc paid Apple Inc $1 billion in 2014 to keep its search bar on the iPhone, Bloomberg reported, citing a transcript of court proceedings related to a copyright lawsuit filed by Oracle Corp against the search giant.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, gives Apple a percentage of the revenue it generates through the iPhone but details of the arrangement have never been made public.

In a portion of the document reviewed by Reuters, an Oracle attorney also claimed that Android had generated revenue of about $31 billion and profit of $22 billion since its release.

While the transcript did not give a date, the first commercial version of Android was released in September 2008.

"Assuming Android has only generated material revenue since 2010, then these figures would constitute about 10 percent of Google's revenue and 15 percent of its gross profit since that time," Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell told Reuters.

"This makes sense given mobile is probably about 40 percent of Google's revenue today, having ramped up from close to zero over the last 5-6 years, with this split between iOS and Android," Cordwell added.

Both revelations offer a rare peek into the financial details of Android, a critical product for Google as users shift their search efforts from desktop PCs to mobile devices.

When Oracle's attorney discussed details about Google's relationship with Apple at the Jan. 14 hearing, Google's attorney objected and argued that information should be sealed. Five days later, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu denied Google's request.

Google asked Ryu to reconsider her ruling on Thursday, which has not yet been decided. However, a copy of the transcript became available at the courthouse on Thursday.

The court removed it from public view a few hours after posting it as a Reuters reporter was reviewing it, presumably to allow Google to litigate its request to rehear the secrecy issue.

A court official was not immediately available for comment.

In its story, Bloomberg reported that a Google witness had revealed that the revenue share between Google and Apple was 34 percent at one point.

However, it was not clear whether that percentage represented the amount kept by Google or paid to Apple, the report said.

In its lawsuit, Oracle accused Google of using its Java software without paying for it to develop Android.

Google and Apple did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Reuters
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space transportation company, Blue Origin, successfully launched and landed a suborbital rocket for a second time, a key step in its quest to develop reusable boosters, the company said on Friday.

The New Shepard rocket and capsule, which is designed to carry six passengers, blasted off from a launch site in West Texas at 11:22 a.m. CST (1722 GMT) and landed itself minutes later back on the launch pad, the company said in a statement.

The rocket that flew on Friday was the same vehicle that made a successful test launch and landing two months ago, demonstrating reuse, Bezos said in a statement posted on Blue Origins website 10 hours after the flight.

Im a huge fan of rocket-powered vertical landing, Bezos wrote. To achieve our vision of millions of people living and working in space, we will need to build very large rocket boosters. And the vertical landing (system) scales extraordinarily well.

Fellow tech titan Elon Musks SpaceX in December successfully returned a rocket to a landing pad in Florida after it blasted off on a satellite-delivery mission.

Blue Origin and SpaceX are among a handful of companies working to develop rockets that can fly themselves back to Earth so they can be refurbished and flown again, potentially slashing launch costs.

SpaceX on Sunday attempted to land a rocket on a platform floating in the Pacific Ocean, but one of the boosters four landing legs gave way and the rocket keeled over and exploded.

For now, Blue Origin is flying suborbital rockets, which do not have the speed to put spacecraft into orbit around Earth. The company is working on a more powerful rocket engine, with testing slated to begin this year, Bezos said.

Reuters
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Dutch electronics giant Philips said on Friday a planned $2.8-billion (roughly Rs. 18,936 crores) majority share sale of its Lumileds lighting unit to Beijing-based GO Scale Capital has been cancelled because of US regulatory concerns.

Both companies failed to convince the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to clear the deal, Philips said, adding it is seeking another buyer.

"We will now engage with other parties that have expressed an interest in exploring strategic options for Lumileds," Philips chief executive Frans van Houten said in a statement.

"I am very disappointed about this outcome as this was a very good deal for both Lumileds and the Go Scale Capital-led consortium," Van Houten said.

Philips and GO Scale have now withdrawn their CFIUS filing, the Dutch company said, calling the US regulatory concerns "unforeseen".

Lumileds has research and development and production facilities in California's Silicon Valley.

Philips will continue to report the Lumileds business as "discontinued operations", the company added.

Amsterdam-based Philips in October announced that the sale of an 80.1 majority share stake was in doubt because of unspecified CFIUS concerns, but at the time it said they would be addressed.

GO Scale Capital said had the transaction gone through it "would have combined Lumileds' world-leading technology and know-how with the highly competitive LED manufacturing industrial base in China."

"Unfortunately all such efforts fell short of addressing unexplained (US) government concerns," it said in a statement.

'Trade politics'

"The decision by the CFIUS is a pure piece of trade politics," said Jos Versteeg, analyst at the Amsterdam-based Theodoor Gilissen private bank.

"It's clear that the Americans don't want the technology to go to China," said Versteeg.

"However, the deal will eventually go through, but with another buyer," he told AFP, adding the setback was unlikely to impact on Philips' strategy of moving away from lighting in the healthcare-lifestyle sector.

"It's unlikely though that Philips will get the same price as was offered by GO Scale Capital," he added.

Philips in 2014 announced it would split in two, separating its healthcare-lifestyle arm from its historic lighting section in a move to streamline operations.

The split is expected to be completed some time this year, with analysts predicting that Philips could eventually sell off Lighting, one of its core businesses for many years.

Philips, which sold its first light bulb a few years after it was founded in 1891, has for the past dozen years focused on medical equipment, which now accounts for more than 40 percent of sales.

Lumileds has operations in more than 30 countries and employs around 8,800 workers world-wide.

GO Scale Capital is a new investment fund sponsored by GSR Ventures and Oak Investment Partners with offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Silicon Valley.

Its current investments include US-based Boston Power, which makes electric vehicle batteries, and China-based Xin Da Yang which produces electric vehicles.

Originally founded in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, Philips employs 112,000 people worldwide.

AFP
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India's telecom sector, which is growing at 15 percent annually, will require 4.16 million skilled workforce by 2022, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Friday.

Stressing on the need to train people, he said India should develop an architecture whereby it becomes the supplier of skilled workforce everywhere.

To train people, the Department of Telecom (DoT) and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) Friday signed an MoU to develop and implement National Action Plan for Skill Development in telecom sector.

Prasad said the growth rate of telecom sector between 2013-2017 would be around 15 percent and currently, the sector contributes 3 percent of the country's GDP.

"The requirement of workforce in this field was about 2.8 million in 2013, it will reach 4.16 million by 2022. So you require a minimum 20 lakh trained manpower," Prasad said.

The minister also announced that an audit will be done to check spare space in public sector units (PSUs) under DoT, that can be utilised to a skill development centres.

MSDE and DoT together have agreed to make concerted joint efforts towards skill development by facilitating mobilisation of financial support for various activities for development of telecom skills.

Under the partnership, the two ministries will also make coordinated efforts to utilise old telephone exchanges of PSUs under DoT which are no longer in use or exchanges which have ceased to occupy major space in telecom sector, for skill development initiatives and upgrade the same on need basis.

PSUs under DoT will also utilise at least 20 percent of their CSR funds for skilling purposes.

Prasad also asked private telecom operators to play a role in skill development. "You (private players) also have an obligation to skill Indians," Prasad said.

Speaking during the occasion, Union Minister for Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the government is trying to strengthen the sector skills councils and efforts are being made to integrate the skilling system.

"In next 6-12 months we will expand the Kaushal Vikas Yojana to provide training to unskilled Indians in remote areas," Rudy said.

On the mobile skill vans launch, Rudy said: "The pilot demonstration of mobile training labs for hard skills has been launched and based on its success we will take the campaign forward".

Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg said there is special thrust on telecom sector in 'Make in India' programme as every section of the economy need telecom services.

PTI
Pennsylvania HSR is a blog that addresses restoring rail passenger service and creation of high speed rail passenger service for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and other states. Of great interest is the Keystone Corridor West (Pittsburgh to Harrisburg) and the Keystone Corridor East (Harrisburg to Philadelphia). This is the former mainline of the defunct Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) now owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railroad Company (NS) west and Amtrak east.
Norway temporarily suspends return of migrants from Russia

AFP, Oslo :

Norway on Saturday announced it was temporarily suspending its controversial return of migrants from Arctic Russia, following a request from Moscow.

"The Russian foreign affairs minister was in contact yesterday (Friday) with the Norwegian authorities on the subject of the return of asylum seekers via Storskog," the foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to the Storskog border crossing, 400 kilometres (about 250 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

"Until further notice, there will not be any more returns via Storskog. The Russian border authorities want more coordination over these returns," the statement added.

Speaking in Davos to Norwegian television channel NRK, Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Borge Brende said the Russians had made the request citing "security reasons".

Some 5,500 migrants -- mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran -- crossed from Russia into Norway last year, on the last leg of an arduous journey through the Arctic to Europe.

Norway is not within the European Union, but is a member of the Schengen passport-free zone.

Many migrants arrived by bicycle as Russian authorities do not let people cross the border on foot and Norway considers people driving migrants across the border in a car or truck to be traffickers.

In November 2015, its right-wing government decided that migrants who had been living legally in Russia, or had entered Russia legally, should be immediately returned there, on the basis that Russia is a safe country.

Police police returned 13 migrants by bus to Russia on Tuesday.

Two similar operations were scheduled for Thursday and Friday but were then cancelled, for what officials said were logistical reasons.

Several dozen migrants had been taken to the border town of Kirkenes ahead of their expulsion, but several fled and three were given shelter in a church.

Rights groups had expressed outrage at the migrants being forced to return by bike in winter, when temperatures in the far north regularly fall to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit).

They also say that Russia has a poor record on dealing with requests for asylum.
French president in India to strengthen strategic ties

French President Francois Hollande, left, receives flowers from India\'s Haryana state Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, second right, as Haryana state Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, second left, and Indian lawmaker Kirron Kher, right, join in receiving

AP, New Delhi :

French President Francois Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy.

Hollande landed in the northern city of Chandigarh where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to join him at official engagements.

Designed in the 1950s by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, Chandigarh is one of three places that France has pledged to help develop as so-called "smart cities" - with clean water supplies, efficient sewage disposal and public transportation.

In Chandigarh, Hollande and French business leaders will meet with Indian counterparts to boost bilateral trade, which in 2014 stood at $8.6 billion. New Delhi is also trying to encourage French companies to tap into India's economic boom.

Hollande is accompanied by a high-profile delegation including the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, economy and culture and dozens of top corporate leaders.

Hollande will travel to the Indian capital later Sunday. He will hold talks with Indian leaders on Monday and be a guest of honor on Tuesday at India's Republic Day parade, celebrating 66 years since the country adopted its constitution.

High on the agenda is India's desire to purchase 36 Rafale combat planes for its air force, which Modi had announced during a visit to Paris in April, touching off several rounds of negotiations over pricing, offsets and servicing.

In an interview with the Press Trust of India news agency, Hollande hinted it might take some more time to sign the deal.

"Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track," PTI quoted Hollande as saying.

France has also promised support for India's clean-energy quest, including a solar energy alliance launched last month during the global climate talks held in Paris.

"Our bilateral relationship with France is very comprehensive. It covers number of sectors such as defense, civil nuclear cooperation, railways, smart cities, science and research, space and culture. In all these areas we expect some forward progress during the French president's visit," said Vikas Swarup, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman, last week.

The two sides are also expected to touch on anti-terrorism efforts including speeding up extradition requests and cracking down on money laundering used to fund militant activities.

Swarup noted that both countries had been hit by militants recently, with 130 people killed across Paris on Nov. 13 and a four-day siege against the north Indian air force base of Pathankot this month in which seven Indian soldiers were killed.
River vessel workers to go on strike from Jan 27

Chittagong Bureau :

Bangladesh's River Vessel Workers' Federation (an alliance of six trade unions) has threatened to go on an in definite strike from Jan 27, if their demands are not fulfilled.

The federation is asking to raise the minimum wage of Tk 10,000 per month for those who work on river vessels and providing adequate security on vessels plying the rivers. "The minimum wage for our workers was last raised in 2013 to Tk 4100 a month, but with rising costs, that is hardly enough," said Mohammed Shah Alam, president of the River Vessel Workers' Federation .

He told that the strike will be conitunued for indefinite period. A river vessel worker who has been in this trade for twenty years told on condition of anonymity.
BD fetches Tk 98,466m from foreign tourists in 5 years



The country earned foreign currencies equivalent to Taka 98,466.57 million from foreign tourists, who traveled Bangladesh over the last five fiscal years.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon informed the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday in reply to a question raised by treasury bench member M Abdul Latif.

The minister said Bangladesh earned Taka 5,938.66 million in 2010-11 fiscal, Tk 7,435.45 million in 2011-12, Tk 8475.65 million in 2012-13, Tk 10,995.27 million in 2013-14 and Tk 11,621.54 million in 2014-15 fiscal years. Responding to another question from the same lawmaker, Menon said Bangladesh Biman made a profit of Taka 272.23 crore in 2014-15 fiscal year.

The minister said the national flag carrier counted a total loss of Taka 1,435.63 crore in the previous five fiscal years. Bangladesh Biman, he said, incurred a loss of Tk 285.61 crore in 2013-14 fiscal year, Tk 285.63 crore in 2012-13, Tk 594.21 crore in 2011-12, Tk 224.16 crore in 2010-11 and Tk 46.02 crore in 2009-10 fiscal years.
Cold wave hits life in northern dists

Make-shift shop-owners now busy in selling winter clothes including blankets as the cold wave sweeping the country. This photo was taken from Baitul Mukarram Mosque area on Sunday.

BSS, Dhaka :

The entire country has reeled under severe cold weather during the past few days with mercury hovering well below normal level in most areas, particularly in the northern region as cold wave is sweeping over different regions, affecting normal life.

With prevailing of foggy weather, the minimum temperature in most areas dropped to several notches below normal, disrupting normal life in rural areas, residents and officials told BSS.

Bone-chilling cold and thick fog hit the people hard, especially in the north, yesterday forcing the people stay indoors. While visiting this correspondent in northern district of Rajshahi, biting cold almost paralyzed life of the people as farmers and day-laborers are struggling to continue their daily activities with intolerable cold weather. Usual look is not seen in local market places because of little presence of people.

Residents in different remote areas of the region told the news agency that intensity of cold has sharply increased following rainfall occurred past week. With sweeping of cold wave, a cover of thick engulfed different northern parts, which is delaying appearance of sunlight, they added.

A private TV Channel sources said a good number people mostly children and elderly people admitted to the health complex centres due to cold related diseases and got treatment from there. In Cox's Bazar and some northern district, hundreds, mostly children and the elderly, are suffering from different cold-related diseases because of the current spell of cold wave. Physicians advised general people to avoid cool wind as it mainly causes cold-related diseases.

In Rangpur, chilling cold forced thousands to stay indoors as it grasped a large part of the northwestern region 24 hours ago along with thick fog that kept transports off the road.

The mercury level dropped at most places during the past 24 hours ending at 4 pm, reducing the gap between the maximum and minimum temperatures causing the bone-chilling cold and exposing the poorer and elderly people as well as minor children to extreme miseries prompting local authorities to seek extra government allocation of warm clothes.

Residents and reports said the weather dulled the businesses causing thin presence in offices while the extreme weather aggravated sufferings of those living particularly on the sandy char areas in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Nilphamari and other adjoining districts on the Brahmaputra basin further mounted yesterday.

Doctors said, they continued to treat higher number of people with cough, fever, asthma and other cold and climate change related diseases during the past couple of days.
Int`l standard security at HSIA planned

Airport Emergency Exercise begins at HSIA runway on Sunday was conducted by Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) to ensure International Standard Security.

Badrul Ahsan :The government has taken a set of extra security measures to ensure international standard security at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the face of global aviation safety concern, CAAB sources said. Besides, the government also planned to form a Specialized Aviation Security Force along with deploying additional security personnel from Air Force, Police and Ansar to tighten the security.The security measures include, restricting entrance of companionship of passengers, checking photo ID of every passenger at the entrance of the airport, introducing explosive detector and deploying dog squad."We are in critical situation regarding aviation security globally. I believe, we will surely maintain international standard security at our airports," Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said while inaugurating "Airport Emergency Exercise" on the runway of HSIA on Sunday. The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) conducted the drill yesterday as per the requirement of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The ICAO made the emergency exercise mandatory for all international airports across the globe for at least once in two years. Replying to question regarding restricting entrance of companionship of passengers at the airport, the minister said the initiative has been taken considering the security aspect. "I know people are facing difficulties when they come to the airport for seeing off or receive their dear ones. But we have to accept this. There is no alternative," he said.Menon said the CAAB conducts such kind of emergency exercise once in a year though the ICAO's requirement is one in two years. "None of us wants to see air crash. But we have to be prepared to face it. This kind of emergency exercise will be conducted in the country's other international airports soon," he said. Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Khorshed Alam Chowdhury, CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Sanaul Huq and CAAB member (Director and Planning) Air Commodore M Mustafizur Rahman also spoke on the occasion. CAAB Chairman Sanaul Huq told The New Nation that they had taken extra security measures at HSIA not due to threat but as a part of the global aviation security concern. "It's not that something unusual is going on in Bangladesh. The entire global aviation arena is passing through critical situation due to security threat. We have taken extra measures as part of global aviation security practice," he said. The CAAB Chairman said the government is going to form a Specialized Aviation Security Force to ensure the airports safety as of international standard. In the meantime, the government has deployed additional 250 security personnel from Air Force, Police and Ansar to tighten the security at HISA, one of the KPIs (Key Point Installations) of the country, Huq informed. However, raising issues of security and international standard of services at airport, the United States of America and the United Kingdom in separate statements, have cautioned the Bangladesh government of halting direct flight of Bangladesh Biman to their countries.Concern authorities of the two countries also on several times expressed their concern over the present 'frazil' security system at HSIA. Meanwhile, during the drill, a dummy aircraft was set on fire as it was pretended to get crash landing due to technical difficulties beside the taxiway of the airport. Fire brigade and rescue team along with the medical support held the exercise to control the fire and do the rescue operation of the passengers.
CHT Peace Deal to be implemented fully: Gowher

UNB, Dhaka :

Urging the hill people to have patience a little bit more, Prime Minister's international affairs adviser Dr

Gowher Rizvi on Sunday assured that the government will fully implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Treaty of 1997 soon.

"Our Prime Minister has signed the peace accord, and she's now going ahead with her strong commitment and courage to implement it. I only request the people of CHT to have

patience a little bit more as we're going to fully implement the treaty very soon," he said. He came up with the assurance while addressing a programme celebrating Bangladesh-ICIMOD Partnership Day 2016 at a city hotel.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Ministry jointly arranged the programme to strengthen the organisation's engagement in Bangladesh.

Gowher Rizvi said, the government made a tremendous progress in implementing the CHT peace accord over the last 6-7 years. "We've all most completed the peace treaty that our Prime Minister had signed in 1997. But, we couldn't fully implement it as the land dispute there is yet to be resolved."

He further said, "There's good news that the draft of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution (amendment) Bill is ready to table in parliament. We hope it'll be placed and passed soon."
Vessel workers plan non-stop strike

UNB, Dhaka :Vessel workers on Sunday threatened to start a non-stop strike from midnight on Monday if a 15-point charter of demands, including announcement of Tk 10,000 as minimum wage, was not met before the deadline.Motor-run passenger ferries, fishing trawlers, cargo trawlers would stopoperating as part of the nationwide strike. Leaders of the Bangladesh Noujan Sramik Federation (BNSF) formally announced their plans at a news conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Sunday.The leaders said, they repeatedly pushed their demands for nod from the authorities, but they failed to get any effective response to their "legitimate demands" for better perks and workplace safety.BNSF president Md Shah Ali Bhuiyan and general secretary Chowdhury Ashikul Alam said they had no other choices but to go with the strike plan to ensure the welfare of the vessel workers.Their other demands include stopping corruption in issuing certificate of launch drivers, masters and other technicians, announcing a well-clarified wage structure for riverine transport workers, ensuring full security of water vehicles in their routes and taking measures for better navigability.
Sedition case against Khaleda ready

Approval given as per law, says Kamal: Her statement timely; BNP to include it in it's electoral manifesto, says Mahbub

Sagar Biswas :

The government has given clearance to file a sedition case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia for her adverse comments on the number of martyrs who had sacrificed their lives during the Liberation War in 1971.

The case is likely to be filed today [Monday] with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka under Sections 123 A and 124 B of the Penal Code. Former General Secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi is the plaintiff of the case.

Meanwhile, BNP chairperson's adviser Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said, "Khaleda's remark did not constitute sedition. It is a timely one. We must have accurate information about the number of martyrs."

On filing case, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Sunday said, "We had received an application from the

plaintiff on this issue. It was sent to my ministry for getting a formal approval in line with the existing law."

The Home Minister said, "Following the submission by Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi, we have given approval and issued a guideline in this regard."

When asked whether Khaleda Zia would be arrested after the case was filed, the Home Minister said, "Everything will be done in accordance with the law."

On December 21 last year, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia while speaking at a discussion expressed doubts about the Awami League government's claims that nearly three million people died during the Liberation War 1971.

She said, "Freedom fighters fought the war on the battlefield. Today, it is said that some hundreds of thousands were martyred. There is a debate about how many hundreds of thousands were martyred in the Liberation War. Different books give different accounts."

Without mentioning Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's name, Khaleda further said, "He did not want independence of Bangladesh, he [Bangabandhu] wanted to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liberation War would not take place if Ziaur Rahman did not declare independence."

Khaleda's comments drew widespread criticism among pro-liberation forces while many slammed her, terming an "agent of Pakistan".

Referring the issue, plaintiff Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi said, "I will move the petition to CMM Court of Dhaka on Monday to ensure that the court takes the case in cognizance."

"I had served a legal notice on December 23 on BNP chairperson, asking her to issue an unconditional apology within seven days or face legal consequences. Getting no reply, I filed a petition last week with the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking clearance to file a sedition case. It was approved on January 21," Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi said.

It is the second sedition case against Khaleda Zia. Another case was filed with a Dhaka court on December 27 last year for same type of comments against martyrs. The court had asked Officer-in-Charge of Shahbagh Police Station to take legal action against Khaleda after investigating the allegation brought against her.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Atiqur Rahman passed the order after Moshiur Malek, founding president of Bangabandhu Foundation, had lodged the sedition charge. In the complaint, Malek alleged that Khaleda at a programme, organised by Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal to mark the 45th Victory Day, said, "There are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War".

Just after two days, a Supreme Court lawyer on December 23 served a legal notice on Khaleda, asking her to apologise to the nation within seven days or face legal consequences.

Not only that, a Dhaka court on January 5 ordered a probe into a defamation allegation against BNP Chief Khaleda Zia and the party's senior leader Goyeshwar Chandra Roy for their derogatory comments on the Liberation War martyrs.

Taking cognizance of the allegation, Metropolitan Magistrate Md Aminul Haque directed Officer-in-Charge (investigation) of Shahbagh police to investigate the complaint and submit a report to the court on February 7.

Meanwhile, BNP chief's adviser Khandker Mahbub Hossain Sunday claimed that Khaleda's remarks did not constitute sedition.

"So far as I think, Khaleda Zia's statement is a timely one. Since independence, we have been saying that three million people have died, but we do not have any information on them. It's an unfortunate thing for the nation. We must have accurate information about the number of martyrs," he said.

Explaining section 124 [A] of Penal Code, Khandker Mahbub said, " Khaleda Zia's statement does not match as per the clarification given in this section. According to the section, it will be treated as sedition if anyone conducts militant activities to overthrow the government."

"It is still not decided what will be exact number of martyrs. The accurate number is also needed to provide assistance to the families of the martyrs. We will include the issue with BNP's electoral manifesto," he said.

Legal experts have said the sedition law deals with the offence against the State. As per the law, if anyone tells anything in speech or in writing, against the creation of Bangladesh and its sovereignty, he would be sued. The maximum punishment for the offence is 10 years' rigorous imprisonment along with a fat amount of fine.


DU draws flak for Islami Bank sponsorship

bdnews24.com :The social media has been abuzz with criticisms over the sponsoring of a Dhaka University Alumni Association programme by the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited.The bank is said to have links to the Jamaat-e-Islami, some of whose leaders have been convicted as 1971 war criminals. The bank, in association with SAHCO International Ltd and National Bank Ltd, sponsored a reunion styled 'Hironmoy Alumni Melbondhon' on Saturday. DU Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, former minister Dilip Barua, chiefs of Bangladesh Police and RAB, among other dignitaries, attended the event.On the Intellectual Martyrs Day last December, the university severed ties with all Pakistani academic institutions.Jamaat has been described as a 'criminal organisation' by a special war crimes tribunal for the involvement of its leaders in crimes against humanity to thwart the birth of Bangladesh in 1971. The Islami Bank has always been run by Jamaat leaders or people who subscribe to its ideology.Former chairman of the bank Abu Nasser Mohammad Abduz Zaher was allegedly a leader of the pro-Pakistan militia Al-Badr in Chittagong during the Liberation War.
Higher study or cheating!

60 DU teachers face music for drawing salary while living abroad violating rules

M M Jasim/Abir Rayhan :

Dhaka University is contemplating taking legal action against 60 teachers who were earlier sacked for staying abroad after completing higher studies. They were also served notices to return the money they owed to the varsity, but did not respond. So the legal actions are being considered.

They went abroad for higher studies and pledged that they would come back after attaining degrees. Dhaka University also believed them and provided all kinds of support including financial support as they would be asset of the university on return. But they hurt the university as they never came back and even did not return the loan which they took from the university.

The number of the teachers is 60. They went abroad in different years and they now collectively owe the university a total of Tk 4.38 crore.

Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor AAMS Areifn Siddique told The New Nation on Sunday that they would take legal action to recover the money.

"We gave them enough time to send back the money. But they did not respond. So we have no option but to go to the court," the VC said.

He said the rate of interest would increase continuously until the teachers would pay the money back.

He also claimed that the teachers received the salary in violation of service rules.

Dhaka University sources said that the varsity authorities requested the teachers several times to come back to the university, but they did not replay.

The authorities also warned, if the teachers do not come back the DU would sack them from the university. They defied the warning.

The DU also published advertisement in several national newspapers in this regard earlier.

Ultimately, the DU sacked them and closed all the doors of the university for them. The University also failed to recover money, which it provided to the sacked teachers as loan.

When a permanent teacher goes abroad on education leave; he gets salary for the first four years. Next two years, he doesn't get salary. Once in abroad, most of these teachers either did not maintain any communication with the university, or submitted resignations after four years.'

Meanwhile, academicians have termed it unethical and cheating with university as well as the country. They also said that the teachers have no patriotism.

Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Chowdhury told The New Nation on Sunday evening, "The teachers who were sacked recently from the DU have no morality. They also have no patriotism. They went to abroad for higher degrees and after attaining they stayed there. They never thought that they should come back to the university to serve the country. They are just cheater," he said.

Serajul Islam Chowdhury said that the DU should take legal action against the teachers as early as possible.

Professor Syed Anwar Hossain of History Department of Dhaka University said, no teacher who has minimum morality can swindle the university's money. The university gave them privileges to go abroad for higher studies, but they cheated which is unexpected and undesirable.

"They have no feelings to serve the country. That is why they are staying in the abroad. They just want money, otherwise nothing. It is happening due to lack of patriotism also," he said.

Top 20 defaulting teachers, among the 60, are former Bengali Department teacher Aminur Rahman (Tk 38,12,244), Electrical and Electronics Engineering teacher Sheikh Mohammad Ali (Tk 30,44,182), Arabic Department teacher Mahmud Bin Sayed (Tk 10,22,884), Information Science and Library Management teacher Hanif Uddin (Tk 10,95,082), Accounting and Information System teachers Arifur Rahman (Tk 14,21,103) and Mohammad Nurul Huq (TK 11,38,307), Molecular Science teacher Alamgir Rahaman (Tk 12,48,082), Anthropology teacher Tania Sharmin (Tk 10,10,941), Geography and Environment teachers Mostaim Billah (Tk 12,46,083) and Nasrin Islam Khan (Tk 8,93,091), Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering teacher Aminul Islam Mollik (Tk 15,84,287), Mathematics teacher Kazi Aminur Rahman (Tk 10,00,172), Health Economics Institute teachers Hosne Ara Begum (Tk 15,20,310) and Sheikh Mohammad Shahid Uddin Eskander (Tk 8,97,457), Economics teacher Khondokar Mohammad Istiak (Tk 13,02,985), Law teacher Tanzim Afroz (Tk 10,23,352), English teacher Monoy Zafar (Tk 9,34,268), Public Administration teacher Mohammad Eisan (Tk 9,04,689), Institution of Education and Research teacher Shaila Banu (Tk 8,95,783) and Computer Science and Engineering teacher Shahed Anwar (Tk 8,30,212).


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Monet rahapelien ystavat ovat viime vuosina loytaneet netticasinot ja olleet ihmeissaan. Verrattuna kotimaisen Veikkauksen kivijalkarahapeleihin puhutaan aivan eri tason palautusprosenteista ja lisaksi pelaaminen on aarimmaisen helppoa ja turvallista. Netticasinoiden maara on tana paivana todella suuri ja niita loytyy jokaiseen lahtoon, suurin ongelma aloittelevalla pelaajalla onkin tehda valinta siita, minka netticasinon valitsee. Kaikkien netticasinoiden mainospuheet naet lupaavat kauniita asioita ja niiden lapinakeminen on tietysti tarkeaa. Nyrkkisaantona voidaan kuitenkin jo kattelyssa todeta, etta jos valitsemasi netticasino on lisensoitu ETA-alueella, sen kanssa ei tule olemaan ongelmia, ellei niita itse jarjesta. Kay tutustumassa parhaisiin netticasinoihin osoitteessa www.ilmaiskierroksia.info!

Ensimmainen nyrkkisaanto on siis varmistaa, etta valitsemallasi netticasinolla on ETA-alueen lisenssi. Suurimmassa osassa tapauksista se on Maltan eli MGA:n lisenssi. Myos Viron, Englannin ja Gibraltarin lisensseja nakyy ja naissa valvonta on jopa Maltaa tiukempaa. Lopputulema on kuitenkin se, etta ETA-alueen lisenssi takaa suomalaisille verovapaat voitot seka sen, etta niita valvotaan kontrolloidusti. Maailmalla on iso nippu Curacaon lisenssilla toimivia netticasinoita ja niistakin suurin osa on laadukkaita. Ne eivat kuitenkaan ole suomalaisille asiakkaille verovapaita, joten emme suosittele niita.

Tana paivana markkinoille on ilmaantunut paljon ETA-alueella toimiva netticasinoita ilman rekisteroitymista. Jos tarkoitus on vain pelata yksittaisia pelikertoja, on varsin helppo suositella naita. Netticasinot ilman rekisteroitymista tarjoavat palvelun tunnistautumisen verkkopankin avainlukulistan avulla ja saman palvelun kautta tapahtuvat talletukset ja mahdolliset voittojen nostot silmanrapayksessa. Normaaleihin netticasinoihin pitaa asiakkaan rekisteroitya, tehda talletukset ja tunnistautua dokumenttien avulla. Tama on lisenssiehtojen mukainen kaytanto, eika kovinkaan monimutkainen, mutta silti monet asiakkaat haluavat yksinkertaista ja nopeaa palvelua. Toki normaalit netticasinot tarjoavat usein asiakkailleen laadukkaita talletusbonuksia ja erilaisia kampanjoita, joten kannattaa tarkkaan punnita, kumman ratkaisun valitsee. Kannattaa myos muistaa, etta tunnistautuminen tehdaan vain kerran, joten mikaan jatkuva riippakivi se ei ole.

Suomalaiset asiakkaat ovat netticasinoille tarkeita, joten kaikilla vahankin laadukkailla netticasinoilla on suomenkieliset sivut seka suomenkielinen asiakaspalvelu  suomenkielisyys kannattaakin ottaa netticasinoa valittaessa nyrkkisaannoksi. Vaikka tana paivana englanninkielisyys on harvoille ongelma, on suomenkielisten netticasinoiden maara niin valtava, etta suosittelemme niiden kayttoa. Rahansiirrot ovat tana paivana niin hyvassa mallissa, etta niiden kanssa tuskin tulee mitaan ongelmia. Kolme tarkeinta segmenttia: Suomalaiset verkkopankit, luottokortit (Visa, Mastercard) seka nettilompakot (Skrill, Neteller) loytyvat jokaisesta laadukkaasta netticasinosta. Viime vuosien trendiksi noussut verkkokauppa on kehittanyt rahansiirrot niin laadukkaiksi ja nopeiksi, etta niiden suhteen ei ole enaa vuosiin ollut ongelmia. Luonnollisesti netticasinot kayttavat naita samoja palveluita ja hyotyvat kehityksesta.

Naiden isojen linjojen jalkeen netticasinon valintaan vaikuttavat luonnollisesti tarjottavat tervetuliaisbonukset  uudet asiakkaat saavat tana paivana kovan kilpailun myota merkittavia etuja netticasinoilta ja niita kannattaa luonnollisesti vertailla. Erilaiset talletusbonukset, ilmaiskierrokset seka ilmaiset pelirahat tuovat suuriakin rahanarvoisia etuja ja niiden vertailu on ehdottomasti kannattavaa. Myoskaan useampien tilien avaaminen ja tervetuliaistarjousten kayttaminen ei missaan nimessa ole huono idea.

Kun edella mainitut asiat ovat mieleisia ja vaihtoehtoja on vielakin jaljella, mennaan jo nyansseihin. Toki pelivalikoima on yksi kriteeri, mutta taman paivan netticasinoissa tamakin asia on paasaantoisesti varsin samanlainen. Toki useamman samantasoisen netticasinon vertailussa kannattaa yleensa valita se, jossa on eniten peleja tarjolla. Vaikka omat suosikit loytyisivatkin useammasta, voi tulevaisuudessa mielenkiinto nousta joihinkin muihin peleihin ja silloin on tietysti mukavampaa, etta ne loytyvat valikoimista. Viimeisena voidaan nostaa esiin kaytettavyys  joidenkin netticasinoiden sivut ovat vilkkuvia, valkkyvia ja epakaytannollisia. Omaan silmaan ja kaytettavyyteen sopiva sivusto on luonnollisesti aina se paras valinta. Tarjonta netticasinoissa on tana paivana valtava ja jokaiselle loytyy varmasti se oma netticasino  onnea matkaan!
Former IRA volunteer and ex-prisoner, spent 18 years in Long Kesh , 4 years on the blanket and no-wash/no work protests which led to the hunger strikes of the 80s . Completed PhD at Queens upon release from prison. Left the Republican Movement at the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement, and went on to become a journalist. Co-founder of The Blanket , an online magazine that critically analyzed the Irish peace process. Lead researcher for the Belfast Project , an oral history of the Troubles.
KSN&C is intended to be a place for well-reasoned civil discourse...not to suggest that we dont appreciate the witty retort or pithy observation. Have at it. But we do not invite the anonymous flaming too often found in social media these days. This is a destination for folks to state your name and speak your piece.

It is important to note that, while the Moderator serves as Faculty Regent for Eastern Kentucky University, all comments offered by the Moderator on KSN&C are his own opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board of Regents, the university administration, faculty, or any members of the university community.

On KSN&C, all authors are responsible for their own comments. See full disclaimer at the bottom of the page.
The S.P.D. Murder of John T. Williams

On a sunny, warm Seattle August day in 2010, Native American wood carver John T. Williams was murdered by the Seattle Police Department as he walked down the crowded downtown streets while on his normal daily routine of carving small totem poles with a small pen knife, then selling them to the tourists that flock by the Seattle Public Market.

Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk noticed Mr. Williams walking down the city streets and deemed him a threat, do in major part I believe - simply because he was Native American. Williams was one of many homeless Native Americans who roam downtown Seattle. These people are usually dismissed and overlooked by Seattles daily bustle of businessmen, the working class, and tourists.



When the officer approached Williams from behind, and then ordered him to freeze and drop his small carving knife and a stick of carving wood he was carrying, Williams was hard of hearing in one ear, and failed to hear the police officer over the traffic and pedestrians, thus did not immediately comply; officer Birk then instantly felt that this gave him the right to use lethal force against John T. Williams.

No threat was ever given by the homeless woodcarver. Officer Ian Birk coldly gunned down John T. Williams from behind, murdering him in the streets of Seattle, Wash, right in front of many horrified citizens who later professed that they felt no threat from the homeless Native American man whatsoever.



The officer was fired  thats it, and was allowed to live his life somewhere else, work a steady job, live in a nice house, somewhere out of media sight, and out of the publics mind; smug in the fact that he got away with legal murder with just a slap on the wrist. We must all remember that this type of legal homicide happens every day all over this nation of ours, by those sworn to Serve and Protect us. And that this violent tragedy can happen to anyone, or anybodys family members, especially if they are citizens of color. This makes it everybodys problem who believes in justice, personal safety from unwarranted persecution, and true American freedom in the society they live in. Let us still remember John T Williams, and never forget the fact that he was ruthlessly murdered by the S.P.D.






















































The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
WEST FRANKFORT  Mayor Tom Jordan is reinvesting in his city, and rolling the dice on revitalizing his hometown.

Jordan, who served as a firefighter for several years, was elected as mayor of West Frankfort five years ago. In 2015, he put his legacy on the line by purchasing the West Frankfort Outlet Mall in hopes of spurring economic development just off Interstate 57.

I am the mayor that bought the mall, he said. One day they will talk about how great of an idea that was, or they will say that didnt work out.

West Frankfort ramps up efforts for new business WEST FRANKFORT  With the holidays over, West Frankfort officials are ratcheting up their pl

Jordan feels like it was "100 percent" the right thing to do, because he needed to show good faith in the city, so others will feel the same.

If the city isnt willing to invest in itself, how can I ask a developers for millions of their money, he asked.

Jordan said owning the mall and the surrounding land also gives the city the opportunity to speak directly with developers, instead of being the middle man. He said the mall is almost breaking even on expenses from the rent from Vanity Fair, and the city is aggressively looking for tenants to fill the additional space.

He said there is about 40,000 square feet available.

Outside of the 20-acre mall, Jordan said there are about six to eight acres in front of the mall and another five to six acres on the east side.

Our goal is to find something to entice you to pull off the interstate, he said. Our first thought was a nice restaurant that is not in the area. But we are not limited to just that.

West Frankfort city officials, park board battle over community park WEST FRANKFORT  When vandals arrive at Frankfort Community Park nearly every weekend, park 

The outlet mall area is also covered by a Tax Increment District and an Enterprise Zone, so developers have incentives to come in and build, while offsetting some costs.

The city has also taken steps to work on its downtown. It has invested money into a facade repair program for downtown businesses, Jordan said. He said in an efforts to make the area look better, the city will match up to $2,500 any business that wants to fix or update its facade.

Jordan said the city is also looking to put benches, flowers, trash cans and anything to beautify the area, making it more attractive to visitors.

We want the downtown to look like a downtown, he said.

Morthland College has been a big help in the way of shooting some energy into West Frankfort  Jordan called the liberal arts Christian college a lightning rod. He said the college is committed to being downtown, and it has been very active.

Morthland College unveils its first dorms WEST FRANKFORT  Sarah Ferro and Elizabeth Trevizo walked around the living room of their ne

I want to help them anyway I can, Jordan said.

Tim Morthland, president and founder of Morthland College, said from the colleges inception, it has made a commitment to work with the community leadership.

A college is a strong economic engine as a stand-alone enterprise, he said in a written statement. However, when a college embraces an entrepreneurial outreach, the impact on community development can be far reaching.

In the case of Morthland College, we are now seeing the impact of additional economic development in health services, in commercial development, and job creation.

Stephanie Parton, vice president of campus development at Morthland, said through recent expansions, the college employs more than 100 people.

She said the college has plans to construct more academic buildings, starting with a library in its next phase of development.

West Frankfort is also home to a few longtime businesses, including Dixie Cream Donuts on West Main Street.

Sue Forgatch of Dixie Cream said her husband, Gene, started the business in 1955 by himself, and the business has managed to stay in the family.

She said the mayor is trying to create change with the times.

Change is evitable, Forgatch said. If we do not adapt and adopt, we will sink.

She said West Frankfort is made up of good people and good families, and even though the town has declined since the days when coal mines were a big industry, there are still good things to look forward to.
MURPHYSBORO  Saturday would have been a good day for Karla Drave's grandmother.

She'd be happy that Jackson County was again acknowledging the contributions of her great-great-grandfather Conrad Will, by unveiling yet another historical marker in his honor in the county. One erected back in 1974 somehow came up missing and was later found in a dorm room at Southern Illinois University, relatives said Saturday.

"So today is really special for me," said Draves, Will's great-great-great-great-granddaughter.

On Saturday afternoon, Draves, her brother, Dane Jensen, her father, Kurt Jensen, and cousin Gerald Ripley peeled off the plastic and tape that covered one of two new historical markers erected in front of the Jackson County Courthouse.

The one they unveiled pays homage to Will, a physician and entrepreneur who is called the "father of Jackson County." At the county's founding back in 1816, Will donated a portion of his property for the county's first seat, in Brownsville.

Will was not just a doctor, but also operated a grist mill, a tannery and salt works. He moved to Illinois in 1813, coming from Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1779. Will was also a Jackson County representative at the First Illinois Constitutional Convention and served in the General Assembly from 1818 until his death in 1835, according to a news release from the Murphysboro Tourism Commission.

A second plaque, covered up in plastic held down by tape, was a few feet away, awaiting its unveiling by some Jackson County Board members. Both plaques are in front of the Jackson County Courthouse, which recently was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Stu Fliege, vice president of the Illinois State Historical Society and chairman of the Historical Markers Committee, was on hand at Saturday's event as a representative. Fliege said he'd discovered that people do take time to read the historical markers. He said the markers cost about $3,200 each, a cost born by those supporting it and other donors.

Looking on were a host of local, county and state representatives, including U.S. Rep. Mike Bost and State Rep. Terry Bryant, R-Murphysboro, Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens and others. The coordinator of this event was Mike Jones, chair of the Murphysboro Tourism Commission and director of the John A. Logan Museum.

A few feet away from the Conrad Will marker was another one, this one paying tribute to the county, which celebrates its bicentennial this year. Jackson County Board members Julie Peterson, Andrew Erbes and others unveiled that to the public.

Afterward, Peterson said she liked that the area was taking the time to document its own history to share with others. She compared it to places like Sante Fe, New Mexico, which has its own Historic Preservation Division. About 20 percent of the city and some 6,000 buildings makes up its five historic districts, focused on preserving buildings, artifacts, landmarks and landscapes, according to the Historic Preservation Division website.

"I think it's important to preserve what we have in the county," Peterson said. "To me, knowing what your history is and being able to share it with people goes right along with that "
CARBONDALE  Days before Chicago State University officials announced the school will be broke by March without an appropriation from the state  and as other Illinois public colleges and universities struggled to stay afloat  Gov. Bruce Rauner made it clear that state funding wont come without significant compromise.

In a Jan. 13 letter addressed to members of the General Assembly, Rauner aide Richard Goldberg set out a series of examples of what he described as waste and cronyism within the states public higher-education system, and called on legislators to tie funding to spending reductions.

Funding higher education without a balanced budget in place or enacting any structural reforms would present a significant cash-flow crisis for the state and further erode our ability to pay for other social services, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a statement Friday.

Thanks to budget stalemate in Springfield, the states 12 public universities and 48 community colleges have been without any state funding for nearly seven months.

The letter left some state legislators and university officials crying foul.

Its easy to throw stones at something you dont know anything about, said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Harrisburg democrat. At the end of the day, all I know is we need to quit this political rhetoric and get a budget.

(Higher education) has taken a lot of hits over the years, said state Sen. David Luechtefeld, an Okawville Republican whose district includes Southern Illinois University. So if there is fact there, I think you have to prove that to me. You have to show it to me. I dont necessarily see a lot of unnecessary spending.

In a letter of response, Illinoiss nine university presidents said if state funding is not appropriated soon, the system will be damaged beyond repair, and the consequences for the state will be severe.

And on Wednesday, a group of students, alumni, business and labor leaders calling itself the Illinois Coalition to Invest in Higher Education lobbied Springfield to take action soon.

In Carbondale, SIU system President Randy Dunn said the letter felt like a smack upside the head to all of us in higher education.

I had an emotional reaction at first, but given a couple of days to think about it, I understand that its one more piece of the political theatric thats going on, he said.

Still, Dunn said he understands the need for some reform. Although the number of administrators at SIU has remained steady over the past 10 years, Dunn said theres room to consider paring those positions down statewide. He agrees that tuition has ballooned too much and competition for enrollment has led to an arms race among universities.

The memo specifically highlighted eight examples of overspending in public higher education.

Since 2001, the letter notes, tuition at Illinoiss public universities has increased by more than 200 percent while the number of administrative staffers at public universities have jumped by 31.1 percent.

In some cases, university executives receive country club memberships, performance bonuses, annuities and retirement packages on top of six-figure salaries. The memo called out so-called golden parachutes, the use of a private jet by SIU administrators and increased spending on board meetings, among other things.

As you can see, there is a need for a healthy and high-minded debate on how the university system spends the money the state provides and, more importantly, how it spends the money Illinois families are paying in tuition, the memo reads.

At SIU, tuition has increased 285 percent since fall 2001, from $3,102 to $8,835 for in-state students. Mandatory fees have jumped 354 percent, topping out at $3,132, and optional student insurance fees have ballooned 437 percent, to $1,170.

But Dunn said thats not the full story. The letter fails to mention that in the same time period, Illinois has disinvested in the state university system, cutting its support to the tune of $26 million annually on the Carbondale campus alone.

Fixed costs and regulatory mandates also have increased, further taxing universities.

Rauner has proposed slashing higher-education spending 31.5 percent this fiscal year, resulting in another $32.7 million cut for SIU.

It would take a huge increase in tuition to make up for the lost state money at that level, and we cant do it, Dunn said. We just cant do it.

If SIU goes without an appropriation this year, as many educators and legislators fear will happen, and takes a 31.5 percent cut next year, the results, Dunn said, would be devastating.

The university would remain open, but it will be a very different-looking place, he said.

A lot of the things that people are used to seeing that are SIU just wont be there. Theyll be closed," Dunn said. "We wont be doing a wide variety of programs and services that have been part of SIU for literally generations.

Programs that offer regional support, such as business development services and cultural events, would be gone. Academic departments could shutter. The impact to Southern Illinois, which benefits economically from SIU to the tune of $900 million per year, could be catastrophic.

The transformation would strip the university down to a bare-bones state, he said.

Still, Dunn remains hopeful.

In the end, Im optimistic that people recognize that and will come to our defense, to those who want to kind of whittle us away to nothing.
In his first State of the State address last year, newly elected Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner told a joint session of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly that voters dont want partisan bickering, political infighting or personal conflict to get in the way of serving the needs of the families of Illinois.

As Rauner prepares to deliver his second address Wednesday, the state is about to enter its eighth month without a budget, most of his ambitious pro-business, union-weakening turnaround agenda remains unachieved, and he has moved to have an impasse declared in contract negotiations with the largest state employee union.

After a year characterized by the bickering and conflict Rauner said he wanted to avoid (particularly between the governor and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago), lawmakers from both parties say they hope the governors speech focuses on resolving the budget standoff.

Im hopeful that the governor will address a concrete fiscal path for the state, Republican Rep. Adam Brown of Champaign said, adding that residents and businesses are looking for a light at the end of tunnel.

However, Brown said he believes Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, a fellow Chicago Democrat, are the real roadblocks to a budget deal, and he doesnt see a problem with Rauner focusing on other issues as long as they dont cost the state more money.

His House colleague Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Harrisburg Democrat, sees things differently.

Put everything aside, and lets talk about a budget so we wont hurt anybody else, Phelps said, noting that former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar has urged Rauner to do the same.

The governor needs to quit playing politics, Phelps said.

He noted that at a news conference Thursday in Chicago, Rauner, who has nearly $20 million in his campaign fund, spoke of lawmakers needing to be called out and responded, You watch, when asked how that would happen.

Right now, he is just governing by fear, Phelps said.

Democratic Sen. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill said that a year ago, he was optimistic about the start of Rauners term.

The tone was positive, Manar said. I think there was a general sense in the Legislature, based on personal meetings with the governor, personal conversations, that there was an opportunity to really begin to solve problems that had been facing the state for quite some time.

Instead, he said, Rauner has focused on issues, such as curtailing collective bargaining rights, on which there is unlikely to be much common ground, making agreements more difficult to reach.

It could change in an instant if the governor walked into the House chamber (and) struck a different tone that would send a clear message that hes here to compromise with Democrats, Manar said.

But Kim Clarke Maisch, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said Rauner has already indicated a willingness support a tax increase if Democrats back some of his agenda items. Those items include making workers compensation laws more favorable to employers, a key issue for members of Maischs organization.

She said that if the governor signs off on raising taxes without securing pieces of his agenda, he may not get another shot at enacting changes that would help businesses and the Illinois economy.

I would anticipate the governor will double down on his agenda items, Maisch said. I think the governor has been very clear that he ... came to Springfield for a reason, and the biggest reason being we want to turn the state around from an economic standpoint. And I dont anticipate him backing down from that.

The governors office didnt respond to a request for comment on his plans for the speech.

Chris Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, said Rauner has amped up his rhetoric since the start of the year.

In the past week, Rauner and Republican legislative leaders proposed a state takeover of the financially ailing Chicago Public Schools, and he used a news conference intended to announce an agreement with Cullerton on pension reform to call for removing salary increases from collective bargaining for state workers, though his staff later said he misspoke.

And earlier this month, Rauner hinted at a plan to get out of court orders and consent decrees that are driving much of the states spending during the budget impasse.

Its more rather than less of things that feed into the current stalemate, Mooney said.
When a video of a fight between two students in Murphysboro made the rounds on social media, it was quickly identified as bullying in those posts.

Chris Grode, superintendent of Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186, pointed out that bullying is a long-term issue that carries over into the school. A fight has a beginning and an end. Jackson County States Attorney Mike Carr said bullying also has a specific legal definition.

The Illinois legislature defines bullying, which includes cyber-bullying, as, any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student or students that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following: (1) placing the student or students in reasonable fear of harm to the student's or students' person or property; (2) causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student's or students' physical or mental health; (3) substantially interfering with the student's or students' academic performance; or (4) substantially interfering with the student's or students' ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. 105 ILCS 5/27-3.7(b)

But how do schools distinguish between bullying and a short-term disagreement?

Keith Hagene, superintendent of Pinckneyville Community High School, said bullying is repeated verbal or physical treatment of a person that impairs his or her educational opportunities.

I think it is that repeated act. We try to identify that aggressively, if it is brought to our attention, Hagene said. If someone is going out of his or her way to make you miserable, it is bullying.

When bullying is suspected, PCHS staff evaluates the situation, has conversations with those involved and takes disciplinary action, if necessary. They also try to educate all parties involved.

If someone is treating another poorly, we look at it like a teachable moment and try to educate them, as well as discipline them, Hagene said.

PCHS uses an app-based tool called STOPit to help respond to bullying. The app allows students to log-in anonymously to report suspected bullying. The district is trying to get students empowered to help each other.

It allows them to have a tool to help others stand up for themselves, Hagene said. Our kids are using it.

Having that tool in place seems to be a good deterrent for bullying.

We care about our kids. We care about them a lot, and we will do everything we can to make sure they are not mistreated, Hagene said.

Jay Goble, superintendent of Benton School District 47, said the issue comes up quite a bit.

If someone does something one time, they are not necessarily bullying. They are being rude, Goble said.

Benton teacher and administrators talk about bullying with students a lot. They show students examples of bullying behavior, so they will understand it. They use posters, discussion and insert the discussion into the curriculum. They also stress that students and parents should report potential bullying.

Well find out about an incident that has been going on a week. Children are upset; parents are mad, Goble said. Unless we are made aware of it, we cannot do anything about it. We are always vigilant.

Steve Murphy, superintendent of Carbondale Community High School, said they look for a couple things before labeling an incident as bullying. They are an imbalance of power and acts that are severe, purposeful and repeated. It has to have both an imbalance of power and pervasiveness.

CCHS has a bullying prevention specialist on campus. The have staff training every year and review the preceding years cases.

Murphy said sometimes there is teasing between friends that is not bullying, but they take every complaint seriously and always investigate.

The school offers counseling services for the person being bullied, and also for the bullies.

Looking in a handbook and giving them [a bully] a suspension wont cut it. You have to deal with the issues behind it, Murphy said.
John Pfeifer John Pfeifer is the editor and publisher of The Southern Illinoisan. Follow John Pfeifer Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

I usually love it when one of our stories is quoted or picked up by someone else. Usually.

I'm usually suspicious when a government agency or politician quotes a story of ours. No, make that always. When used by a politician our story snippets are either truncated or ripped entirely out of context. Always, and on purpose.

Such is certainly the case with item No. 4 of Gov. Bruce Rauner's eight treatises sent last week to state legislators. It uses the sub-headline Private Jets and begins, According to the Southern with the clear implication that we thought something done by SIU was either illegal, immoral or excessive. Not so fast. Yes, we reported that SIU administrators spent $180,000 over a two-year period on in-house chartered flights. And yes, we reported that one flight used to transport legislators to a budget hearing in Carbondale cost $1,745.60. But theres so much more to the story.

Like the fact that SIUs two twin-engine planes are used by the schools award-winning aviation program that provides on-the-job instruction. Like the fact that chartered flights often save not only time but hotel and meal costs.

Pfeifer: The Phone interview I've flown from Chicago to Austin, Texas, for a job interview. And from Chicago to Twin Fall

In other words, send an aviation student up with just an instructor and its merely a program cost. But prudently using that flight time to shuttle administrators to and from Springfield and suddenly theres a specific cost broken out and rightly charged to administration.

We originally ran the story in July of last year because we thought it was interesting. We reported information provided by the university and gave SIU folks a chance to respond. We ran a follow-up story by our Springfield reporter the following day. Story reported. Situation explained. No expose. No scathing editorial. Not even a thumbs-down.

Except, of course, six months later from the governors office in an attempt to paint state universities as careless, out-of-control spendthrifts. All from the person who campaigned for office as the friend to higher education. Some friend.

The inclusion of one specific flight on April 8 of last year is also interesting. We reported that the flight brought legislators to a meeting at SIU at which (SIU President) Dunn lobbied against Gov. Bruce Rauners proposal to slash 30 percent from higher-education budgets. Last weeks letter from Rauners office characterized the April 8 meeting as one in which SIU officials opposed the Governors proposed budget savings.

We reported that SIU lobbied against a 30 percent higher-ed budget cut.

The Governors office infers that we reported SIU opposition to overall frugality. Not true.

Which brings me to the curious use of the figure $1,745.60 in the letter. It seems so inconsequential. In the midst of millions and billions scattered throughout the document, and with no other number being less than six figures, why use a number less than two grand?

Well, the beauty of the number resides with the 60 cents. Report a cost of $1,745 and its no big deal. Insert the 60 cents to make the number $1,745.60 and place it next to a bunch of other six-figure numbers and you hope that legislators  and Illinois residents  roll them all together and conclude that SIU spent a boatload and that they did it while opposing budget savings. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Am I saying the letter from the governor inserted the 60 cents to make the number look bigger? Yes, I am.

Am I saying the letter distorted The Southerns story on private jet costs at SIU? Yes, I am.

Am I saying that both were done on purpose in order to distort and deceive? Yes, I am.

Business as usual in Springfield I suppose. But I could have sworn I heard the governor rail against business as usual in last years inaugural address. But then again, I also thought I heard him support higher education funding. My bad.
Thomas Jefferson often argued that an educated public was crucial for the survival of self-government. We now live in an age in which education takes place mostly through new platforms. Social networks  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  are the main mechanisms by which people receive and share facts, ideas and opinions. But what if these new technologies encourage misinformation, rumors and lies?

In a comprehensive new study of Facebook  analyzing posts made between 2010 and 2014  a group of scholars found that people mainly share information that confirms their prejudices, paying little attention to facts and veracity. (Hat tip to Cass Sunstein, the leading expert on this topic.)The result, they conclude, is the proliferation of biased narratives fomented by unsubstantiated rumors, mistrust and paranoia. The authors specifically studied trolling  the creation of highly provocative, often false information, with the hope of spreading it widely. They write that many mechanisms cause false information to gain acceptance, which in turn cause false beliefs that, once adopted, are highly resistant to correction.

As it happens, in recent weeks I was the target of a trolling campaign and saw exactly how it works. It started when an obscure website published a post titled, CNN host Fareed Zakaria calls for jihad rape of white women. The story claimed that in my private blog I had urged the use of American women as sex slaves to depopulate the white race. The posting further claimed that on my Twitter account, I had written the following line: Every death of a white person brings tears of joy to my eyes.

Disgusting. So much so that the item would collapse of its own weightlessness, right? Wrong. Here is what happened next. Hundreds of people began linking to it, tweeting and retweeting it, adding their comments, which are too vulgar or racist to repeat. A few ultra-right-wing websites reprinted the story as fact. With each new cycle, the levels of hysteria rose, and people started demanding that I be fired, deported or killed. For a few days the digital intimidation veered out into the real world. Some people called my house late one night and woke up and threatened my daughters, who are 7 and 12.

It would have taken a minute to click on the link and see that the original post was on a fake news site, one that claims to be satirical (though not very prominently). It would have taken simple common sense to realize the absurdity of the charge. But none of this mattered. The people spreading this story were not interested in the facts; they were interested in feeding prejudice. The original story was cleverly written to provide conspiracy theorists with enough ammunition to ignore evidence. It claimed that I took down the post after a few hours when I realized it receive[d] negative attention. So, when the occasional debunker would point out that there was no evidence of the post anywhere, it made little difference. When confronted with evidence that the story was utterly false, it only convinced many that there was a conspiracy and cover-up.

In my own experience, the conversation on Facebook is somewhat more civil, because people generally have to reveal their actual identities. But on Twitter and in other places  the comments section of the Washington Post  people can be anonymous or have pseudonyms. And that is where bile and venom flow freely. The Posts Dana Milbank recently quoted a tweet about a column of his that said, Lets not mince words: Milbank is an anti-white parasite and a bigoted kike supremacist. The comments about me were often nastier.

Elizabeth Kolbert, writing in The New Yorker, recalled an experiment performed by two psychologists in 1970. They divided students into two groups based on their answers to a questionnaire: high prejudice and low prejudice. Each group was told to discuss controversial issues like school busing and integrated housing. Then the questions were asked again. The surveys revealed a striking pattern, Kolbert notes. Simply by talking to one another, the bigoted students had become more bigoted and the tolerant more tolerant. This group polarization is now taking place at hyper speed, around the world. It is how radicalization happens and extremism spreads.

I love social media. But somehow we have to help create better mechanisms in it to distinguish between fact and falsehood. No matter how passionate people are, no matter how cleverly they can blog or tweet or troll, no matter how viral things get, lies are still lies.
During the campaign in 2014, Bruce Rauner described himself as a friend of higher education. He recognized that the state had reduced funding to state universities in recent years, and he vowed to stop the bleeding.

On Oct. 1 of that year in Bloomington, he said he would increase state support for higher education: Weve been cutting it for years; thats pushed tuition costs up.

But theres nothing like winning an election to change a mans perspective.

Only two weeks after the election  two months before his inauguration  he sent a message to the Illinois Board of Higher Education warning state universities that their budgets would be drastically reduced. At that time, he was talking about a 20 percent cut. Further, he advised those institutions to store up a spending reserve for the coming storm.

Was he anticipating the virtual shutdown of the government even before he took office? Was he girding for the gridlock of July? Was he planning?

At that time, Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn and IBHE Executive Director James Applegate were holding out hope. Dunn said he thought a 20 percent cut would be the worst case scenario. Applegate said, It is a long way until February and we are hopeful that the ultimate results will be less dire.

But things were more dire by February, when Rauner delivered his proposed budget to the General Assembly. The proposed budget for SIU represented a cut of more than 30 percent.

With the legislature and the governor not able to reach agreement, and with the funding freeze in place, universities began feeling the squeeze. Just last week, Chicago State University started tolling the bell. It would be out of money by March. Looks like an early summer vacation in Chicago.

Other universities, those that had the ability to heed the governor-elects advice in November to stock up spending reserves, were able to weather the storm. At least they have to date, but this is far from being over.

Now, as if we needed any more evidence that the governor had unfriended higher education, we get a new memo coming out of his office. And this one feels almost punitive.

It is addressed to Members of the General Assembly, and it comes from Richard Goldberg, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs, on Gov. Rauners letterhead. (It is printed above, and available online at www.thesouthern.com.) It asks legislators to look more closely at state university Income Funds, and to seek ways to pressure universities for reforms to cut waste, root out cronyism, improve outcomes and achieve savings of taxpayers money.

So what do we make of this memo? Not much. It is full of campaign rhetoric, twisted facts and misguided directives. It is very clear why Rauner has chosen to go hard after higher education, because anyone with half an education can see this memo is a feeble attempt to flex a gubernatorial muscle.

Lets look at the memo:

 It says college tuition has risen 200 percent in the last 14 years. Thats true, but the primary cause for tuition increases is a lack of state support. Remember what you said in the heat of the campaign, Governor? The states been cutting funding to universities for years, and thats pushed tuition costs up.

 It decries the lack of oversight for universities Income Funds. What exactly are these mysterious Income Funds? He makes them sound like some sort of nefarious Slush Funds. But we suspect that the governor is referring to this thing everyone else knows simply as revenue. The implication, though, is that the governor is asking the legislature to take greater control over university budgets. Will the paperclips have to be counted? Whatever happened to the Republican fear of government overreach?

 The litany of bulleted items are taken out of context, and judging from the one in which The Southern is used as attribution, they all twist the truth.

 Then comes this doozy: It warns that if university spending reductions arent made, it could trigger a cash flow crisis in Illinois. Hello? Hasnt that trigger been pulled already? Have you not heard the cries from Chicago State University? And hasnt the cash stopped flowing because the governor put a plug in?

But other than those points  and the sickening rhetoric of campaign jargon that infuses this memo  theres absolutely nothing wrong with it. As a matter of fact, theres nothing to it at all. The best thing we can say about this memo is that there are no typos.

Yet, for its utter lack of substance, this memo is incredibly heavy. Because it confirms once and for all that the governor is about to declare an all-out war on higher education.

Some friend.
The emergency medical director at The Regional Medical Center is now a nationally recognized Patriotic Employer.

Dr. Daniel Avosso has been recognized as a Patriotic Employer by the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

The award was presented by Tom Sanders, chair and military outreach director of the South Carolina Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in Americas National Guard and Reserve Force.

Avosso was nominated by Lt. Col. Gordon Weigle, M.D., U.S. Army Reserve. Weigle is employed at RMC Urgent Care-Bamberg.

We congratulate Dr. Avosso on receiving this prestigious award. Dr. Avosso has consistently demonstrated the values of the Regional Medical Center in his leadership of the Emergency Department, the Healthy Living Center and the RMC Urgent Care Centers in Bamberg and Santee, RMC President and CEO Tom Dandridge said. We also appreciate Dr. Weigle for nominating Dr. Avosso, but most importantly, RMC is grateful for Dr. Weigles service to our country.

In conjunction with the presentation of Avossos Patriotic Employer award, Dandridge signed a statement of support pledging RMCs continued commitment to the National Guard and reserve forces from all branches of the military.

According to the ESGR, the nations reserve components comprise approximately 48 percent of the nations available military manpower. When away from the workplace, reserve forces spend their time defending the nation, supporting a demanding operations tempo and training to maintain their mission readiness.

The ESGR is a Department of Defense agency that seeks to promote a culture in which all American employers support and value military service of their employees.
COLUMBIA  One of the most daunting tasks facing anyone applying for college is filling out the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FASFA). But help is available.

The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education is pleased to announce College Goal South Carolina 2016.

Throughout February, 43 post-secondary institutions and high schools across the state will host events to assist students and their families/guardians with the second step of the college application process, filling out the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FASFA).

College Goal South Carolina offers an opportunity for all college bound students and their families/guardians to receive free one-on-one assistance with completing the FAFSA as well as guidance on navigating financial aid. Dedicated and knowledgeable financial aid personnel from local colleges along with community volunteers and business leaders assist in this statewide event.

A listing of College Goal SC 2016 events is attached. For more information regarding each individual event, including information on how to volunteer at a specific location, and updates, please visit http://sccango.org/college-goal-event-info-and-sign-up/.
Orangeburg Consolidated School District Four is rolling out new technology devices across the district as it continues to implement its new digital initiative.

Director Julie Christopher recently reported at the school board's January meeting that 233 computers had been installed in all the district's labs and media centers as well as in the offices of guidance counselors, bookkeepers, secretaries, attendance clerks and nurses.

She said the network cable had been laid at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler and Goodlife Communications began installing interactive projectors there on Jan. 13.

Once they finish at HKT, theyll move on to Edisto Primary School where installation of cable network is scheduled to be underway by Jan. 19. Following completion at EPS, work will begin at the Branchville attendance area.

Ident-a-Kid identification of visitors is expected to be installed at all schools by Jan. 22, Christopher said. Each school will receive a kiosk that will scan visitors drivers licenses and print visitor badges. Should the process identify a sex offender, the school administration will be notified, she said.

This years initiative is part of a $4.4 million, four-year technology update. Its being paid for from a combination of Title 1, bond and South Carolina Technology Initiative funds, Christopher noted earlier. Additionally, in September 2015, trustees voted to allow the district to borrow almost $3 million to help pay for the technology.

Trustees also approved first reading of a calendar for 2016-17 with the understanding that changes will probably be made before the second vote.

Trustee Mary Brant opposed the motion.

Trustee Dr. William OQuinn raised several concerns about the calendar, including scheduling school days after graduation on May 26, 2017 and the possibility of classes running into June.

School is scheduled for students on May 29 and 31. Additionally, inclement weather makeup days are scheduled for June 1 and 2, and teachers have a workday on June 5.

OQuinn questioned whether it would be fair to teachers, who might have plans for June, to have to wait until after June 5 to carry them out.

He said he had heard a number of comments from people who want school to be finished by the end of May.

Also during the meeting, the district recognized OQuinn for 35 years of service on the school board. Superintendent Dr. Tim Newman presented him with a pin and a certificate from the S.C. School Boards Association.

Newman also recognized second-grader Halle Felder of Edisto Primary School for winning the District Christmas Card Contest for 2015. Felder's design was incorporated on all the districts Christmas cards.

Travis Ard, Edisto High School agriculture and Future Farmers of America advisor, reported the district had received a $10,000 grant from Monsanto.

He said the grant will be used to implement the diversified agriculture program in which students are exposed to science concepts through hands-on experiences in agriculture. Theyll be responsible for raising tilapia, rabbits and various vegetables, etc.
No one will say this, so I will: Islam is a religion that needs to be reformed so that it can better benefit believers in a modern and competitive global society that is trending toward individual achievement.

An examination of the reformation of the Christian Church will aid in the understanding of what I mean. The official Christian Church was developed under the leadership of Emperor Constantine in 315 A.D. and was organized top down in authority. Eventually, the pope gained the ultimate power of life or death for heresy, prevention of admittance into heaven (excommunication) and the command of international war waged by the countries of Europe (Crusades).

During the Renaissance, the church was reformed with the emphasis being placed on the individual's relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The pope could get no one into heaven with the exception of himself. Thousands of people were killed in wars between protestants and Catholics during this time. The founding fathers of the United States were well aware of this for they designed a government based on individual freedom instead of one particular religion.

Also, your understanding will be aided if you examine the similarities of other religions. Sometimes we are so immersed in our religion we cannot see beyond the central power of our religion. Almost all religions are designed around the individual's understanding and interpretation of the concepts of good and evil. For this examination, the most important thing is to place the emphasis on the individual and not the central power.

In comparison to other religions, Islam was developed with Mohammed as the prophet. Mohammed believed the best way to rid the city of Mecca of false religious leaders was through military force. An effective military force requires a strong leader and loyal soldiers. Therefore, the religion was organized top down with the power centered in the religious leaders.

Islam is still top-down organized today. The emphasis is placed on the conformity of the population to a highly structured lifestyle which, in some ways, cripples individual development. Also, Sharia Law forbids half of the population from participation in the workforce as well as in many facets of social life. For these reasons and without large deposits of valuable resources, it is very hard if not impossible for an Islamic country to compete in today's global economy.

Jihad refers to imperfect believing men judging the life or death of imperfect unbelieving men. In this case, all men are imperfect. What if the imperfect unbelieving men would have become believers if given just one more day to think about it? This may have been very effective in the intimidation of warfare in the past but is ill-suited for the modern global society of today.

History suggests that the reformation of Islam should center on the individual. This could be accomplished by changing the meaning of jihad. This change can only be carried out by Muslims themselves. If jihad referred not to the struggle between the believer and non-believer, but to the inner struggle within each individual between the concepts of good and evil, then the religion would be as acceptable as other religions in the modern world. Also, the reformed version would not in any way support the radical version of Islam, which is resulting in the slaughter of innocent people.

All I know is that man has the capacity to kill himself and others. Only God, by any name and under the pretense of any religion, can save souls.

-- Albert Watson, Orangeburg
This was not good. I was worried that the fire was on the verge of getting out of control. There had been practically no wind, but the flames were roaring now, and the fire seemed to be creating its own wind.

Suddenly, a violently rotating vortex of flame rose like a twister or tornado into the sky -- 20, 30, 40 feet or more high. It was a monster, and seemed to have a life of its own. I had never seen anything like this, and I didnt know what would happen. My mind was racing. Would it jump my firebreak? What could I do to stop it?

I had bush hogged this section of power line in Saluda County, which was a little more than an acre, about a week before. It was summer and the cuttings had dried out on this gentle hillside. My brother Matt and I had come back to prep this area for a client that wanted a wildlife food plot established here. We decided to burn the area to remove the accumulated debris before plowing. I called Forestry Commission, gave them the burn plan and got the go ahead before we started.

I plowed a wide firebreak down both sides of the power line for about 500 feet and another across at the bottom of the hill about 100 feet wide. I used the sandy road at the top of the hill as a natural break to the targeted area.

Matt and I set the fire along the road. There was just a slight breeze coming up the hill and the little backfire moved slowly down the hill against the wind. We went down each side setting little fires that connected with the main line, moving down the hill and creating an arc of fire across the power line. When our sideline fires were set all the way to the end, the arc of fire was about halfway down the power line. Everything looked good, so I decided to go ahead and set the headwind fire across the bottom. I let Matt set that line and I walked back up to the tractor at the top of the hill.

Sitting on the tractor watching the burn, I became alarmed as the fire intensified coming up the hill. I realized that maybe we had set the headwind line too soon, and I had probably underestimated the amount of fuel on the ground. I also didnt realize that the fire when pushed uphill by a small breeze could pull in more oxygen and create its own wind.

The result was a briefly raging inferno that created a whirlwind of flame. That tornado of fire came roaring up the hillside, but almost as suddenly as it formed, it fizzled and went out. Its fuel was gone when it met the backfire. Only white smoke rose now from the blackened earth.

I was shaken, and just as a precaution, I plowed around the burned area again, looking for any errant live embers or sparks. Matt was walking down one side of the power line with a shovel, looking for the same thing. We stopped at the bottom of the hill and talked excitedly about the burn. We had never seen a fire tornado and hadnt expected to see one here. We had been surprised by the intensity of the relatively small fire.

I had been doing controlled, or prescribed, burns for years. Starting out on my uncles farm, we burned pastures and small woodlots every winter to improve grazing. Used as a tool, prescribed fires are a good thing. Eventually, I acquired a lease on a tract of hunting land in Sumter County and was able to conduct cool-season burns there, with the owners permission. The burns were done in January and February to keep the land in an early successional stage. Occasionally we burned an area to establish a food plot.

But that incident in Saluda County made me realize I needed to learn more about prescribed burns, and I contacted the South Carolina Forestry Commission for help. The Forestry Commission offers a Prescribed Fire Managers course to land managers, professional contractors and service providers.

This is not a course for beginners and requires a minimum of five years of verifiable experience. I signed up for the course, studied the manuals, passed the exam and received certification as a Prescribed Fire Manager.

The certification is not required to conduct controlled burns but offers some protection from liability in the event of a problem  as long as the fire manager has conducted the burn properly. I even learned that burns behave a little differently in hill country, and hopefully I can avoid fire tornadoes in the future.

-----

 T&D outdoors columnist Dan Geddings is a native of Clarendon County currently residing in Sumter. He is founder and president of Rut and Strut Hunting Club in Clarendon County and a member of Buckhead Hunting Club in Colleton County.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
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An increase in the use of drones in the Middle East calls for enhanced security surveillance, according to a former London police official.



Bahrain could provide an extra layer of security to its strategic locations with the help of surveillance and counter-surveillance equipment, Eskan Electronics executive director Andy Williams. He was speaking to the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, on the sidelines of Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS) 2016 which concluded yesterday at Sakhir Airbase.

To read more, please visit GDNonline.






Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's signalled on Friday that oil-exporting countries face fresh downgrades as crude prices fall further and that it could repeat last year's move when it made a big group of cuts all at once.



The plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 has brought a blizzard of downgrades, including for Russia and Brazil, which have been stripped of investment grade, number one producer Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, where the oil rout has raised fears of a sovereign default.



But a further 20 percent slump since the start of the year which few had foreseen could mean another batch of cuts is imminent, S&P's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) head of sovereign ratings Moritz Kraemer, told Reuters.



"This is not the run-of-the-mill commodities swing, this is something different altogether," Kraemer said.



"We had an important number of downgrades last year in Africa, the Middle East and the CIS, and if our outlooks continue to perform as an indicator of where the ratings may next go, more might be coming up this year."



S&P currently has Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Oman, Russia, and Saudi Arabia on negative outlook in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region, as well as Brazil and Venezuela in Latin America.



Nigeria, another oil-dependent emerging market giant, has a stable outlook, but pressure is mounting almost everywhere as governments see their revenues bleed away.



"There is a big overhang of negative outlooks and a rapidly growing negative overhang," Kraemer said. "A large number of them are commodity exporters, specifically oil exporters, so that tells you pretty strongly that the balance is tilting to downgrades."



Azerbaijan, one of the few big oil countries to escape a rating downgrade last year - although its outlook was cut - could potentially be the first to fall when its bottom-of-investment-grade BBB- rating is reviewed on January 29.



Under European Union rules introduced after the global financial crisis, S&P publishes its rating reviews according to a schedule although it can make ad hoc changes in special circumstances.



It did so last February, when it cut ratings for oil-exporting Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Oman, Venezuela and Congo all at once and changed outlooks on Saudi Arabia and Nigeria to negative before downgrading them later in the year.



Kraemer said the latest dive in oil prices might mean that kind of mass downgrade is seen again.



"The last leg down (in oil) has been pretty significant," he said. "So what we have to do is, if you remember last year we brought some reviews forward, quite a number actually, we have to decide whether we do that again. We come to that decision by looking at the new reality."-Reuters
Egypt has signed contracts with Chinese electrical engineering companies to build two coal-fired power plants and develop a transmission grid, a report said.



Dongfang Electric Corporation plans to build six units producing 660 megawatts each with the first phase of the power plant beginning with three units at a combined capacity of 1,980 MW for a cost of almost $2 billion, added Ahram Online.



Shanghai Electric will construct four units at a combined capacity of 2,640 megawatts for a cost of $2.24 billion for the foreign components and LE3.1 billion ($396 million) for the domestic components.



State-Grid Corporation of China signed a $650 million deal to develop the transmission grid to link three under-construction Siemens power plants, the report said.
Iran is set to begin talks with western countries for cooperation to build seven or eight nuclear power plants nuclear power plants, a top official said.



Iran has signed about 30 deals with the Russia for the last two years for construction of new nuclear power plants, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), was quoted as saying by Trend News Agency, which cited Mehr news agency.



Groundbreaking ceremony of the two new nuclear power plants will be held in coming weeks, said Kamalvandi.



Construction of the first power plant will take about two years and then the second plant will be constructed, he added.



The new power plants will be similar to the Bushehr nuclear power plant, with some new specifications, Kamalvandi said.



He also added that after building fifth, sixth and seventh power plants Iran plans to construct new power plants with its own experts.



Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the AEOI said that construction of two 1000-MW power plants will start soon.



We will build two other small power plants too in cooperation with China, Salehi said, adding that certain European and Asian states, including China, Japan and South Korea, are ready for cooperation.
The Gulf regions Mice industry is poised for vigorous growth as the collapse in the price of oil has pushed the Middle East states to intensify efforts to diversify their economies, says Shinu Pillai, exhibition manager, ibtm arabia, writes in the following article.

The future of Mice Travel in the Gulf and wider Middle East region is bright; the rapid expansion of infrastructure, commerce and tourism in the UAE has outpaced every other destination in the world, with Qatar not far behind and Oman entering the arena.



Dr Rob Davidson, managing director of MICE Knowledge, presented his Industry Trends Report at ibtm world at the end of last year and noted that the collapse in the price of oil that resulted in a significant drop in oil export receipts and fiscal income for many Middle East nations has pushed the Middle East to intensify efforts to diversify their economies. As a result the Middle East is focusing more on meetings and events as potential sources of revenue and employment, and this is predicted to continue.



A decade ago, incentives in Abu Dhabi were largely absent from a wider landscape that lacked the resort and attractions infrastructure to support them, and large-scale meetings simply couldnt be supported as the venues were not yet built. Today, Abu Dhabi has a number of venues to offer Mice planners, including ADNEC and the Al Ain Convention Centre which can host large-scale conferences and exhibitions, and a large number of hotels and resorts which are perfect for more intimate occasions. Additionally, the growth of inter-continental travel going east to west and vice-versa, as well as the expansion of regional airline capacity, means that 90 per cent of the world is now both well served and within nine hours of flying time.



With headline attractions, stunning new resorts, a re-energised commitment to service and delivery excellence, the destination has entered a new era of maturity.



In lieu of these developments, the GCCs Mice industry has undergone enormous growth. Dubai now stands as the worlds fourth largest visitor market (ranked by international overnight visitors), outshining destinations such as Istanbul, New York and Singapore. Dubai jumped 19 places in ICCAs rankings from 2013 to 2014 to rank 44th in the world, while Abu Dhabi broke into the top 100 for the first time in 2012, compared to being placed 234th the year before. A report from Alpen Capital suggests that international association meetings in the Middle East have more than tripled over the past 10 years.



Guy Hutchinson, COO of Rotana, said: The strong infrastructure network, air accessibility and abundance of hotel options in Abu Dhabi make it an ideal choice for international meetings. Abu Dhabi has established a considerable reputation as an exceptional destination for meetings and conferences and has hosted some impressive international events.



The UAE has also managed to attract international suitors within the Mice industry; European source markets, new markets in Eastern Europe, South America, and the Far East, are now focusing on placing business in the UAE.



Interest from the international Mice industry is much a result of events like ibtm arabia, which was the first such event to help establish and build the industry in the Gulf region. Each year ibtm arabia provides a platform for the meetings industry in the Middle East to connect with the world whilst also placing a global spotlight on the city of Abu Dhabi and positioning it as a key meetings destination to potential business prospects.



Mohammed AlAoui, public relations manager, Emirates Palace, has said: ibtm arabia is one of the major events where Mice specialists, major events organisers, hotels, airlines and travel services agents from all over the world come to develop new business. Its an opportunity for hotels to meet with the major international and regional Mice agents and a great way to strengthen their relationship with existing contacts and to establish relations with the new tour operators and DMCs.



Leading industry experts predict that this growth trend is set to continue. For example, the last Amadeus report shows the GCC Mice industry is seeing continuous growth and that the Middle East is set to expand even further while attracting high-profile global events and state-of-the-art infrastructural investments. Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) suggested that the Mice sector is currently generating $1.4 billion per annum for Abu Dhabi and is expected to reach $2.4 billion by 2020. MICE visitors to Dubai currently equate to 0.9 million, this is estimated to double to between 1.7 and 1.9 million by 2020.



The new Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC), opening in 2016 is set to position the sultanate as a serious contender to host international and regional congresses and exhibitions. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has developed Centres of Excellence in a number of cities, focusing on specific economic activities, and the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar have also invested in developing competitive positions in sectors such as finance, tourism, and education. Recently Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau fought off competitive bids from both Rio de Janeiro and St Petersburg to host the 2019 World Energy Congress (WEC), one of the worlds most important energy forums.



The Gulf regions Mice industry is certainly poised for vigorous growth, with a bright future, and we are pleased to be one of the first shows to kick-start 2016 which promises to be one of many great years.
UAEs Etihad Airways has been forced to cancel a number of flights to the US due to the continued adverse weather conditions caused by winter storm Jonas and the residual effect it has left on Washington Dulles airport.

Flights EY131 and EY130 flying the Abu Dhabi-Washington DC route have been cancelled whereas flights EY130 and EY102 flying the Abu Dhabi - New York JFK route are experiencing significant delays to their departures.

Etihad Airways airport teams are assisting guests affected by the cancellation of these flights, the airline said in a statement.

Guests booked to travel on Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi to and from New York and Washington DC have been urged to call the Etihad Airways Contact Centre for updated information on +971 (0) 2599 0000, or toll free on +1877 690 0767 if calling from the US, or can visit www.etihad.com, it said.  TradeArabia News Service
Iran's transport minister urged foreign companies on Sunday to invest in the country's aviation sector and declared a zero-tolerance policy for corruption as it reopens for business after sanctions.



"I hold your hands in friendship," Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi told an audience of 300 aviation executives in Tehran, warning them that anyone who approached them claiming to represent the government in negotiations would be "lying".



With sanctions lifted, Iranian officials, determined to get full control of Iran's international trade, have said that no tolerance will be shown for middlemen to get involved in the country's international purchases.



Akhoondi, who last week announced plans to buy 114 passenger jets from European planemaker Airbus, also urged its US competitor Boeing to enter similar negotiations.



"All companies can work in Iran," he told the first major post-sanctions business gathering in Tehran, the Capa Aviation Summit. "It is a pity that we haven't been able to communicate for a long time but we would like to revive this friendship. There is no barrier for anyone," he said. - Reuters
Iran has struck a provisional deal with Europe's Airbus to buy 127 aircraft, including eight A-380 superjumbo planes, the country's deputy transport minister told Reuters on Sunday.



The deal, which Iran hopes to complete this week, also includes 16 A350 jets, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, said in an interview on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Tehran.



Planes will begin to be delivered from March and the A380s will be delivered from 2019.



He also said Iran was interested in regional aircraft including Mitsubishi's MRJ and Canada's Bombardier CSeries and has had some contact with both companies.



Private Iranian airlines are also talking to Brazil's Embraer and Russia's Sukhoi.



The republic could need as many as 500 new planes over the next three years, lawmaker Mahdi Hashemi, the chairman of the parliament's Development Commission, said at Tehran's the conference.



Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi told journalists Tehran would discuss details with Airbus next week and was also interested in negotiating with US plane maker Boeing for aircraft.



Tehran has long said it will need to revamp an aging fleet, hit by a shortage of parts because of trade bans imposed by Washington and other Western powers.



Its planes fleet have suffered several fatal crashes in recent years



He also urged international investors and airlines to move quickly into Iran after the lifting of sanctions.



"Come with your proposals. We would like to have new contracts and serve them immediately and make up for the losses that we suffered from in the past," Hashemi said.



Iran emerged from years of economic isolation when world powers last week lifted crippling sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.



The deal also released billions of dollars worth of frozen Iranian assets and opened the door for global companies that have been barred from doing business in Iran. - Reuters
Ramada Corniche Abu Dhabi Hotel, a leading hotel in the UAE capital, is set to launch the Silk Route Festival on January 25 and will include four key countries involved in that historical routeTurkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China.

The festival will include cultural and heritage events and it will start with Turkey, said the general manager, Julien Pechey.

He said Turkish artists and chefs would take part in the festival and that 12 of them have already arrived in Abu Dhabi.

The Uzbekistan cuisine night, focused on traditional Samarkand food will be held in February while the Tajikistan and China events will take place in March, April and May respectively.

This is the first time the hotel hosts such an event, which reflects our keenness to promote dialogue among cultures and civilisations and to highlight the heritage and cultures of the Silk Route countries, he said.  TradeArabia News Service
Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it is the saying. I'll go one step further and say this goes beyond just knowing about something happening but also in comprehending the events in the past. In 1986, Lyndon LaRouche led Proposition 64 which was asking to quarantine addicts, homosexuals, as well as sex workers on an island in order to create a quarantine process for HIV/AIDS. Speaking as someone who has seen how the system treats each of these communities  the last thing I wanted to see happen was a law being passed allowing anyone to put sex workers on some island somewhere. First of all, I resented the implication that all sex workers were possibly infected with the virus. Second, too many sex workers were disappearing in Los Angeles at this time without the police following up on any of these cases. The last thing I wanted to see was for us to be cut off from family, and friends, as well as the media and the public eye, and then trust these same people who clearly didn't care about us one bit then being in complete control over my safety and well-being.





So I fought back against this proposition with everything that I had. Thankfully it didn't pass but it didn't change the fact the world at this time was viewing addicts, homosexuals, and sex workers, as someone they could even consider treating us like we were back in Nazi Germany times. Because I viewed it as a Final Solution in that planting us on an island somewhere would be essentially removing us from the best health care that was vitally needed if someone was infected. On top of removing us from access to the best doctors, the latest research, etc., - this would also have blocked us from support groups and our emotional support system that was so needed should one find they were infected. While HIV/AIDS is a horrible thing for anyone to contract  it was especially horrible back then for women. Because of our hormonal cycles, most of the medications available then didn't work for us. Most research on the virus wasn't done on women either. Meaning if you were a woman back then who contracted the virus  you were usually dead within 18 months once the virus took hold.





While the gay community was rallying and connecting in order to get the latest information out to it's community with respect to the latest research, the best medications, cutting edge doctors, and taking real self-responsibility with respect to spreading information about protection, getting tested, and also banding together to get political action taken with respect to the virus and the LGBT community  this was not the case with the sex industry. You have to keep in mind that this was before we had the internet, social media, free long distance on computers, and other current methods to obtain the latest information, as well as to connect to others with a similar interest.





The civil rights movement was plotted out by people connecting to each other through the African American churches. By connecting with the young through the colleges, and the older generation through the church - a movement was able to be planned and executed. When HIV/AIDS started gaining speed in this country, the LGBT community was able to connect to each other pre-internet days through the gay nightclub scene. However, because much of the sex industry is illegal how was sex workers supposed to connect to each other in order to also learn the latest research on how the virus was contracted, thus learn prevention, and when infected keep connected into a network that could provide the latest information on the virus, as well as new medications.





Granted, COYOTE, Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics, was created in the 1970's by Margo St. James. This connected together a lot of female sex workers who were engaging in illegal prostitution across the country. But this still wasn't quite grabbing the connections of the strippers, the porn performers, as well as those who worked out of massage parlors. While there were a few states where the police would bust someone for simply being gay and arrest them for gathering in a club  it didn't compare with how admitting one was a sex worker would get you arrested. While I wasn't hearing of many gays being arrested for walking down the street and appearing gay - I was hearing all the time this happening to sex workers. I was even seeing cases where judges were locking up prostitutes in jail to prevent them from prostituting seemingly oblivious to the idea of this being unconstitutional. Yet again here's this proposition now discussing rounding us up and carting us off to an island somewhere where in my opinion abuse of us was going to be even more prevalent than it is now by men in uniform.





COYOTE was also not connecting in to the male sex workers, nor those who were working at the lower ends of the sex industry such as street walkers, or those who were working at peep shows, live sex show theaters, studios where guys could come and take photos of nude girls (where usually the cameras didn't even have film in them), nor some of the underground sex clubs I knew that operated in California, Nevada, and New York.





HIV/AIDS testing was further complicated by the fact that many sex workers felt testing would be a form of self-incrimination. Especially in states where to work in the sex industry after they could prove you were aware you were positive was a felony. Add into this that pimps were forcing some to continue prostituting after a positive diagnosis because they could care less about the health of their victim, nor the public health  in a world that didn't even believe sex trafficking existed. There was no SWOP at this time, nor any type of magazine for the sex worker community universally read like how the LGBT community has The Advocate. Nor even a politician who could speak for us like some of the gay politicians the LGBT community has.





Now you see the challenge presented in trying to get information about the HIV/AIDS virus out to the sex worker community in the 1980's which was compounded in difficulty by the fact sex work is illegal in the USA except for a few tiny counties in Nevada. The absolute only thing I saw connecting the sex industry across the board with each other was in the fact the police were arresting us. From the street walker, to the top madams, as well as strippers and porn stars  the one common thing that seemed to be a connecting point for all of us was that we were being targeted by law enforcement as criminals.





I further found it almost offensive that a drunk driver could get out of jail time by being court ordered to attend AA meetings  but even in situations where we were being forced to prostitute ourselves because of a pimp that we were thrown in jail as criminals without the court taking into consideration any of our extenuating circumstances. Even for those who were prostituting themselves because of a mental illness. Halle Barry for example played a character who had multiple personality disorder and when one of those personalities would take over  she'd actually prostitute. Believe it or not, I've also spoken to women with DID who have told me they've got alters, or other personalities, who when they slip into these roles they also prostitute themselves. So the alcoholic can get out of jail time claiming he's suffering from a disease and the court will allow them to seek medical treatment  but for someone who is in sex work we get no such loop holes.





These are some of the reasons why I formed Prostitutes Anonymous in 1987 (now called Sex Workers Anonymous). Once the hotline, and program were launched  I then connected to Tom Bradley, who was the Mayor of Los Angeles, along with Chief Gates, who was friends with Norma Ashby back then (a madam who had been arrested in the 1970's), and Sheriff Block. They put together a commission where someone from each department was represented  from the police, to probation, social services, mental health, the CDC, criminal justice, etc. I was also on this board and the first alternative to sentencing was launched in Los Angeles, California also in 1987.





What this program allowed the criminal justice system to do that hadn't been done before was to allow those convicted of prostitution a way out of jail time, even in cases where the law called for mandatory incarceration, because of laws grandfathered in by Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Prostitutes Anonymous even allowed those in jail currently to be released early into our program. Another thing this 12 step program, and hotline, allowed us to do again pre-internet days, was to be a point of connection within the sex industry as a whole to also get out information with respect to HIV/AIDS about the latest research, prevention, education, testing, and even up-to-date information on treatments, medications, doctors, etc.





One of the things this committee allowed us to do was to find a way to have the police put down their weapon of criminalization for a time. We explained to them that we couldn't be expecting this community to practice safe sex if the condoms were also going to be considered evidence of prostitution and used against them in court. Many massage parlors, bath houses, and even sex clubs were not allowing condoms even on their premises because police would photograph their presence, call it evidence of prostitution and then start arresting people and shutting things down. The same for street prostitutes. Condoms found in their purse was being used as the sole grounds to cart them off to jail  calling the condom evidence of prostitution. So to get the condoms and spermicides out there being used  the police, the DA, the judges, etc., had to agree to stop arresting prostitutes, and to further stop even considering condoms as evidence. This extended to testing also. One couldn't be asking for the truth about one's sexual history if to do so would incriminate the sex worker.





Bradley, working together with the CDC and UCLA, set up a special test site in Los Angeles where not only could the sex workers come in for free anonymous, and non-incriminating testing and education about HIV/AIDS, but also the place was set up physically so if they had a pimp forcing them to work we could extract them from their grip. But even this couldn't be done if we didn't have anywhere to put them once we did. They were being asked to walk away with nothing but the clothes on their backs and also being HIV/AIDS positive on top of it. Meaning we had to be able to offer them food, housing, medical insurance, clothing, and job retraining if they asked for help in getting away from the pimp.





This was when we started partnering with HUD, state vocational rehabilitation (who previously hadn't considered sex work a real job), Medi-cal, local therapists, etc. But one also can't ask a sex worker to simply close up shop once they're found positive without providing them with some kind of alternative work either. Research grants were set up which allowed us to hire sex workers who had been diagnosed as positive for HIV/AIDS as outreach workers as well as educators. They served as walking billboards in a sense when they would go into strip clubs, introduce themselves as an ex-sex worker who was now HIV positive, and also said that life went on after a positive diagnosis. Harmony Dust was an example of one of those who started using their own HIV positive status as a means to reach back into the sex industry to try and get more testing done, education distributed, and also help those who were positive find other work that didn't expose anyone else to the virus.





One huge problem still remained in that sex workers just generally don't trust non-sex workers with sensitive information about their lifestyle. It was found to be invaluable to have outreach workers, as well as educators, to be ex-sex workers to make this connection. But we had no medical doctors the community could turn to that was retired from the industry. At least not any that would admit it openly anyway. This is when a porn performer, Sharon Mitchell, stepped up. A special type of medical license was issued for her which allowed her to perform STD testing on sex workers  without her having to go through the standard years and years of training those wanting to be a doctor normally had to go through.





The AIM Clinic was born. While the press talked a lot about how AIM was used as the primary source of testing for the porn industry  the truth is that it was used by many within any part of the sex industry. This recognized the fact that many who worked in porn also stripped, also prostituted, and sometimes just used porn as a platform to promote their work in prostitution. Anyone going there for testing knew information on who their sexual partners were, their clients, and also their personal lives were going to not only be safe there, but also wasn't going to be turned over to the police in a manner to be incriminating.





The AIM Clinic was shut down because of accusations Dr. Mitchell took a bribe. I might think that was true if not for some of the other things that happened to them that brought about the demise of the clinic. One of the things I felt most proud about with AIM was that not only was this clinic founded and ran by an ex-sex worker who was open about having been in the porn industry at one time and now she was a doctor running this important company  but also that it was being run by a woman. Many people don't remember what a difficult time women had getting their voices heard with respect to HIV/AIDS testing, medications, etc. When men were able to get these cocktails over in Canada that was making them almost without any symptoms of the virus at all  women were still pretty much dropping dead about 18 months after their diagnosis. Research wasn't being done on women that recognized we had monthly cycles the men didn't have to contend with. Many circles were even acting like women, especially lesbians, had nothing to worry about at all like we never were even at risk of contracting the virus.





Think about HIV/AIDS during the 1980's and you immediately think about men like Larry Kramer, and groups like ACT UP. Now think about a straight female with respect to this disease and tell me if any name, or name of a group, pops up immediately to mind. Because heterosexual women were being completely ignored by many of the politics, and the medical community, going on with respect to the virus back in the 1980's  the light wasn't even put onto the fact heterosexual women were affected until a demonstration at Shea Stadium in 1988. http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/Radhistory/radical%20history%20articles/Act%20Up%20and%20AIDS%20Activism.pdf





But here the AIM Clinic is now a connecting point of everyone within the sex industry, especially the porn industry, which is being run by not only an ex-sex worker, but a woman. I'd like to point out briefly here that while Dr. Mitchell did run this clinic  not only was any outbreaks contained within almost 24 hours within the industry  but that this country was seeing us gaining against the virus.





The AIM clinic has been shut down for about 10 years now. Since it's closing, this country is now seeing another HIV/AIDS epidemic just like we saw back in the 1980's. It's been confirmed in Kansas, Indiana, Tijuana and China as reaching epidemic proportion. I think AIM could have fought back against the bribery accusations and continued to stay open if not for the events that happened shortly after this news broke out. What I mean by that is when all of her clients' medical records were leaked to the Porn Wikileaks site. http://gawker.com/5787392/porn-star-hiv-test-database-leaked Porn performers real names, their home addresses, information on their family and children, other jobs they might be holding, were all leaked online. That was the nail on the clinic's coffin. Some had to be behind that leak and the timing was very telling that someone wanted AIM shut down. It was shut down in December of 2010, with the file leaking happening about March of 2011.





The person who has been trying to take AIM's place since day one is Michael Weinstein of AHF. There's information that's come out that a man who worked for the AIM Clinic, is now working for the AHF. Some insiders feel he was working against the clinic to get it shut down so AHF could take over the empty hole left by it's closing. I don't know if it's true  but I do know this. When most people who were working within the sex industry were going to her clinic for testing, and when those who told the clinic that they wanted help to leave the industry were then referred to our program for assistance, as well those who were being pimped and trafficked, we were a tight knit network within the sex industry that many people besides Michael Weinstein wanted to see disrupted.





My biggest complaint right now with the whole anti-trafficking community that's sprouted up since federal recognition we helped to get passed has now meant that there's money available that wasn't before to try and help sex workers. Our hotline has always averaged calls that amount to maybe about 5 % of those seeking help to leave sex work are doing so because of being sex trafficking victims. This means there's 95 % left over who are not victims but who are wanting to quit the business for other reasons. Maybe they're HIV/AIDS positive, gotten pregnant, their knees are making it too hard to dance around the pole every night anymore, maybe they've been beaten horribly by an ex-boyfriend like we saw with Christy Mack making it so she can't do any porn shoots for who knows how long.





Meaning with all these billboards going up talking about sex trafficking - the conversation about HIV/AIDS virtually stopped once the Trafficking Act of 2000 was passed. This was impounded even deeper when the TVRA of 2003 was passed. When this revision was passed, making it so any money to help this community was only to be distributed to faith based groups for one thing. For another, only to groups who were anti-prostitution. Meaning that only religious groups who are against the industry, and the workers, are the ones getting the money. So no it's not a surprise to read AIM was also being shut down because of a lack of money. AIM, like our program was not against the industry anymore than Alcoholics Anonymous is for prohibition or against the welfare of the alcoholic.





So I'm not surprised that the AHF has risen to power on top of AIM's ashes because they show a complete lack of any regard or concern whatsoever for the sex worker. From the day they opened until recently, I've knocked on their door to open discussions about how to EFFECTIVELY do outreach where it's needed within the sex industry. I've tried to open up discussions about how trafficking victims with HIV/AIDS infections are unable to leave without assistance to escape their pimps to no avail. I mean let's face it  someone who is working in mainstream porn as a performer is probably going to be HIV negative. They're not the ones who need to be found, tested, and extracted from sex work because they're exposing huge numbers of the public with unprotected sex.





I'll tell you who is the one I'm most concerned about with respect to the HIV/AIDS virus = and that's the victims of the Asian trafficking rings. I've been getting calls from women who are being brought over from China where there is already a confirmed HIV/IDS virus to this country through LAX. They are brought over on either marriage contracts or work permits to work in nail salons and/or restaurants. Once here, they're put to work in massage parlors where they're having as many as five to ten sexual contacts a day without protection. They aren't being tested and many of them don't speak English. Because of not speaking English  they're reading and watching materials in Mandarin on Asian programming. The doctors they do see are Chinese doctors who are seeing them off the books as well as the johns who don't want their tests showing up on records their boss or wife might see.





THAT'S who I'm the most worried about with respect to carrying this virus, second only to those who are being trafficked by the Mexican Cartel being that there's also another HIV epidemic confirmed out of Tijuana. The cartel brings them across the border also as drug mules where they're sleeping with the border patrol to get into this country without being searched. The women are then trafficked like cattle from city to city across the USA to other Hispanic men. Again, the media they're watching isn't American English speaking programming  but shows that are primarily in Spanish. It doesn't help that Telemundo's new CEO is Steve Sassa. A man not known for caring much about the sex workers since he was fired from Hearst Media after being blackmailed by a pimp.





After having Mr. Weinstein refuse to even speak to me about the condom law with respect to the porn industry, and that being something I had a hand in back in the 1980's where we had obtained the cooperation of the porn industry to incorporate safe sex into their product  it was clear to me this man didn't care at all what happened to sex workers and something else was at work here with him. That's when I went back to the Ryan White people who remembered my work with this virus in the 1980's and let them know about his refusal to even return my phone calls, let alone try and work with me with respect to HIV and the sex industry. Their response was to deny him a $3.8 million dollar grant that year. I thought that would at least get his attention  but no such response happened.





I no longer have the backing of politicians in office we once had in the 1980's. While the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is talking about how to get addicts out of the jails and into counseling  they won't even allow me to speak at many of these events about what to do about allowing this same help to prostitutes. If anything, it looks like for every addict they're going to lose their per diem while they're incarcerated the system is intending on making up by putting as many prostitutes into custody as they can. Oh excuse me, we don't call them that anymore. The system only recognizes trafficking victims as real and says there's no such thing as a prostitute anymore. That's why in 2015 the LAPD has published a big fat zero in the number of prostitutes arrested. The problem with that is this has eliminated all the mandatory HIV testing of those who were branded prostitutes.





Without any idea how many prostitutes are infected with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles  I ask you how we're supposed to get any money out here for this same community? What this no such thing campaign did essentially was wipe out any money being set aside to help prostitutes infected with HIV/AIDS because the statistics of those infected now reads zero. I've again tried to speak to AHF about this fact  and of course got no response again. If the man won't even acknowledge that Sex Workers Anonymous exists  then I'm not surprised he doesn't want to talk about what's happening to the sex workers calling my hotline reporting they're infected in the same numbers as we used to see in the 1980's.





Yes there are sites that will test sex workers for free in cities like Los Angeles, California. I've even set up a system where once a week we're providing transportation to sex workers to get tested who can't get there on their own. But I'm worried about those in other cities where we don't have members who can coordinate such rides there. I'm also worried about the fact I've gone into random strip clubs, massage parlors, and even places like the Paris House which has been around since the 1970's, and the men and women working there not only don't have a clue about HIV/AIDS prevention, they're not using protection, and they have never even HEARD of a vaccine.





I wrote a letter asking the AVN if I might be able to set up some kind of booth to get more information out there at their shows not for those who would be there exhibiting, speaking, or taking awards  but for those watching the AVN at home. I got a strange response about them not being sure how to not offend people with such a booth and then was blown off. I found it even more interesting however they did bring in a hospitality booth from the Cupcake Girls to be at a hospitality suite giving away cupcakes and make-overs.





People  giving away cupcakes and make-overs is not what needs to be done at the AVN. From where I stand, these events are the closet thing we have to connecting the industry as a whole we've got right now. Those who aren't there involved  are watching the event from home. Our clients are people who have walked away from the sex industry. Meaning those with money usually won't even acknowledge their past in the industry while those who do are those who are broke. So no I don't have the funds to pay for a booth to help us get information out there. So I'm asking you readers  any ideas? The AHF is not being run by a sex worker  retired or active. Polaris is also another male run group run by a man who never was a sex worker. When James Deen took over the APAC  we were excluded from any contact with the members. I didn't know why at the time  but now I think I know why we weren't allowed to be brought into the loop when they were having discussions about sex trafficking or leaving the sex industry. One of the largest drug treatment centers in Los Angeles was recently in the press for using the female clients who were sex workers as the founders' personal harem. One woman who couldn't get clean because of this man being in charge of her treatment died even. Dennis Hof has told me he has invested too much money into recruiting to allow us to post our flyers up in the legal brothels.





I'm seeing the Hunt Foundation donate millions of dollars to prosecutors across this country to put up billboards offering help to trafficking victims by calling the National Trafficking Hotline. So all of the community outreach materials are talking about trafficking  which means not talking about the spread of HIV/AIDS virus right now in the industry. I got a call last week from a man who has been working in porn for the last year. He tells me not a month has gone by he's not infected with something. Los Angeles for January's Human Trafficking month had all kinds of walkathons, parades, conferences, etc. all over the country about sex trafficking. We were denied even five minutes of time, any type of flyers posted, anything about HIV/AIDS within the sex industry or our hotline which offers help to anyone wanting to leave the industry for any reason. We were denied because they say by calling the sex industry an industry and not rape that we're legitimizing the industry and therefore are no better than the traffickers.





I have no idea when simply offering help to anyone leaving the sex industry became such a political hot potato. I have no idea when the idea of distributing HIV/AIDS education to those new to sex work became such a hot potato issue either that the AVN nor APAC even want to talk about it by simply allowing us to get our hotline # out there to those who might need help. But while everyone is out there fighting out all these issues like what to call us, whether this is promoting something or not, and all this other ideological debates are going on  the calls of to our hotline of those who are diagnosed as positive is increasing daily.





And I don't know what to do about it anymore. If you have any suggestions  please call us at (702) 468-4529.





Jody Williams




Confession time, before our trip to Spain I barely gave Malaga a second thought. I knew it was in the south of Spain, in Costa del Sol, but that was the extent of it. It wasnt calling out to me like Barcelona or Madrid (the typical spots to visit). But being a research junkie, especially when it comes to my travels, Malaga started screaming out to me, finally I decided to spend one week in the area (more time than Madrid).

As usual, I contact the tourism office (Malaga Turismo  Plaza de La Marina, 11, Malaga, 29001, Malaga). Margarita and I started to plan my time in Malaga. As always, the tourism people are full of great information and advice. This is always my top recommendation to get the know-how and what of each place by going to the source.

With my time being limited I decided to do one major day of visiting the most iconic spots, like La Rosaleda, Malagas football stadium!. In our family, even while traveling, we like to have play dates with each of our boys. This gives us a chance to connect with them better in many ways. For this day, I had the honor of sharing it with my youngest boy, while my oldest son and husband went climbing (their priority for visiting this country).

What To Do In Malaga  A Day Tour

In all honesty, coming up with a fun, educational day with a five year old was somewhat of a challenge. Mainly because there is so much to see, but not everything is going to totally get my sons attention and help him remember the cool things.

After lots of deliberation and consulting with Margarita, we came up with a great plan that would work for all ages and allow everyone to have a great time.

This is a perfect way to get around the city, see the main places to visit, learn about it all and also get the kids excited.

The double decker bus is 80 minutes all around, if you do the full tour. You get to to hop on/hop off 14 different stops.

I decided to do 30 minutes of touring (picking the best spots to hop on and off) and then walking down back to our hotel through the two most iconic landmarks in Malaga. Ending up in the historic district where you can get lost in the windy streets with plenty for adults and kids to see, do and taste.

1. Castillo de Gibralfaro (Gibralfaro Castle)

The castle is at the highest point of Malaga overlooking the entire city and onto the Mediterranean Sea. And the perfect spot to ride up to, with amazing views and then slowly walk our way down to the other attractions.

This Castle was built in the 14th century to house troops and protect the Alcazaba.

It is one of the most visited monuments in Malaga.

From its walls you can see spectacular views of the city.

It was named after the lighthouse at its peak (Jabal-Faruk, the light mountain).

It was used by the Phoenicians and Romans, in 1340.

Then the Nasrid King Yusuf I made the place into a fortress.

During the reconquest (i.e. the Reconquista), in the summer of 1487, it was besieged by the Catholic Monarchs.

Ferdinand the Catholic made it his temporary residence after the victory. In addition, he designated the castle as a symbol on the coat of arms of the city.

It was considered the most impregnable fortress on the Iberian peninsula for a time.

It has two lines of walls and eight towers.

Gibralfaro and Alcazaba are united by underground tunnels.

The Castle is divided into two parts. The upper part is called the main courtyard, and houses the Main Tower (Torre Mayor), 17 metres high, the Phoenician well and the baths.

The lower part, or courtyard, held the troop barracks and stables, the watchtower or White Tower (Torre Blanca), a water tank, auxiliary buildings and storerooms.

2. Alcazaba (Fortress)

This leads you all the way down to the historic center of Malaga. The trail from the Castle to the fortress is, without a doubt, one of the most scenic in Malaga and is highly recommended to do. You can go up as well, but I prefer the easy route.

This old Arab fortress is one of the most iconic buildings and monuments of the city.

It was built between 1057 and 1063 by the arab king Badis of Granada.

It has an Arab style that mixes the defense qualities on the outside with gorgeous gardens on the inside.

It is one of the most important muslim fortresses from the old days of Spain. It is complete with dungeons and towers.

During its best days it was surrounded by a pretty advanced town for its time that even had indoor plumbing in most homes. The town has disappeared completely.

The fortress went through two reconstructions during the XX century.

Get to your hotels using Malaga Airport transfers.

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The Wyoming Legislature should consider fewer education bills this year, according to Jillian Balow.

The superintendent of public instruction said her staff and the Wyoming Department of Education have worked hard to streamline legislation related to K-12 education. Data security, privacy and scholarships are just a few of the subjects that will be debated.

With the 2016 legislative session just a few weeks away, the Casper Star-Tribune spoke with Balow to see which bills the superintendent is following.

HB 15 would create a statewide safety and security plan and install a new tip line. Whats your opinion on the Safe2Talk/Safe2Say tip line that lawmakers say is preferable to the current one, WeTip?

Ive been generally supportive of this bill in terms of what it accomplishes, and anytime we can have an infrastructure that creates a culture of prevention, and especially provides an opportunity for students to make anonymous tips, to remain anonymous when they are reporting different issues and concerns they may have, its a good thing. And anytime that can be followed up on its even better.

What was the issue with WeTip  why did it not achieve what we hoped it would? Is it a good idea to put the tip line in the hands of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation instead of the Department of Education?

Were just allotted a very small amount of money to put that forward. With the issues that would come through on the tip line, the Department of Education is perhaps not the best entity to field those calls. To have this in partnership with DCI, to have this in partnership with Homeland Security, obviously makes it a more robust tip line where we can offer more support to those students.

The bottom line is this that its time for that type of structure to grow beyond a call-in service. We know that our kids communicate in a lot of different ways, and its typically not picking up the phone and making a phone call. So the Safe2Tell/Safe2Say also has the social media component.

Senate File 14 would protect students online profiles like Facebook and Instagram from teachers and school administrators. Is that a bill you support?

There are very few discipline issues today that take place in schools that dont have a social media component to them. So, we always need to not necessarily have an invasive way to take care of that, but as parents and teachers and school administrators it is our job to constantly be teaching kids how to be responsible on social media.

Does the bill strike a good balance?

I think this is a good starting point. The wonderful thing about our legislative process is that it will have public debate. It will have debate on the floor if its introduced and that is where we will see that debate.

Theres an interesting change regarding testing in 11th and 12th grades. We still have the mandatory college preparatory test for eleventh graders. But we also have the addition of a career readiness examination in House Bill 19. What is that, and do you support that addition?

I support the concept that within our accountability bill we have some options for career readiness. However, Im not sure that we hit the mark on that. And Im not sure that we are going to right now. So, this is a good place to start. But, as I always say, education is about continuous improvement. I think we need to find better ways to ensure that our kids are ready for the next steps in life, whether that be college or career or some other kind of work force training. We want to make sure that they have the executive skills, the employability skills, the technical skills and the academic skills to succeed and there is no one assessment that can catch all of that.

In more general terms, what will you be watching closely in Cheyenne?

A couple of things. Since this is a budget session, of course recalibration is going to be on the front burner. As is funding for every single thing in our state. Ill continue to advocate for our current or increased funding

There is a bill right now that increases the Hathaway Award, very incrementally and at a very small amount, and I am very supportive of that.

The Hathaway Scholarship Program is almost a decade old and weve made very few changes, and I think that that is a wise path so far. We needed to really get a good base line on who, what, when, where and how on the Hathaway. Its time for the Hathaway to grow and evolve a bit.

At one time (last legislative session) we counted 40 pieces of education-related legislation, not all of those obviously were introduced. But, we were at a point in Wyoming history where a lot of people felt they needed to step in and provide solutions to some pretty significant issues in education.

This last year, we have really spend a lot of time and energy working with legislative committees and working with our stakeholders across the state to kind of boil it down to these really important bills. Its a much different look to where we were a year ago.

The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
DENVER  Snowpack in the mountains that feed the Colorado River was slightly above the long-term average on Wednesday  welcome news in the drought-stricken Southwest.

But water and weather experts said its too early to predict how deep the snow will get or how much of it will make its way into the river and on to Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona, one of two major reservoirs on the Colorado.

We are cautiously optimistic, but nature has a way of doing what it wants, said Chris Watt, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the water in Lake Powell.

The Colorado River serves about 40 million people and 6,300 square miles of farmland in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Mexico is also entitled to a share of the water.

Lake Powell, behind the 580-foot-high Glen Canyon Dam, has a key role in regulating and distributing the river.

Some people worry there wont be enough water in the river to go around in the future because of protracted drought, climate change and unrealistic estimates about how much water was available in the first place. Lake Powell is only about half full after multiple dry years.

April is the key time for predicting how much water will flow into the lake from the annual spring snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains, Watt said. The bulk of the snow has fallen by then, and the runoff has begun.

As of Wednesday, the accumulated snowfall was 104 percent of normal in the Upper Colorado River Basin, which includes the western half of Colorado, the eastern half of Utah and smaller portions of Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona.

The river begins near the Continental Divide in Colorado, inside Rocky Mountain National Park.

Most forecasts call for average or above-average water flow in the upper Colorado River and other waterways in the state, Colorado state climatologist Nolan Doesken said, but the snow season is only about half over and the picture could change quickly.

We havent gotten so much snow that were assured of an average or above-average runoff, Doesken said. It could turn on us.

The El Nino weather pattern is likely a factor in the healthy snowpack so far this winter, Doesken said.

Theres clearly been a much better flow of Pacific moisture this year than in the last few (years) in terms of the midwinter time period, and thats sort of consistent with El Nino, he said.

Klaus Wolter, a research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, said the states snowpack could fall below average during the second half of winter, but the moisture will likely rebound in the spring.

Most of Colorados east-facing mountain slopes, which feed the Platte and Arkansas rivers as well as the Rio Grande, ranged from 98 to 112 percent of the long-term average.
Water is Wyomings most important natural resource, wrote Gov. Matt Mead in Leading the Charge: Wyoming Water Strategy. That publication says Wyoming has spent $1.2 billion on water development projects since the Wyoming Water Development Commission was formed in 1975.

The state of Wyoming has indeed gone to great lengths to develop our water resources and ensure our communities have sufficient clean water. Some examples are:

the 72-mile Shoshone Municipal Pipeline, delivering surface water to Cody, Frannie and Lovell in the Big Horn Basin;

the 90-mile Bighorn Regional Supply Pipeline, delivering deep Madison aquifer well water to Greybull and Kirby in the Bighorn Basin;

the 53-mile Gillette Madison Pipeline, delivering water to Gillette from deep Madison aquifer Formation wells near the South Dakota border;

the 30-mile water pipeline to Rawlins, from North Park Formation springs and Nugget Formation wells; and

the 80-mile Cheyenne pipeline, moving surface water across the Laramie Basin to the capitol city.

Yet, even with these investments, and with his oft-repeated claims to value clean water so highly, our governor, as Chair of the Oil and Gas Commission, appears poised to vote in favor of a proposal to allow an out-of-state oil and gas company to pollute one of Wyomings most important aquifers  the Madison.

Aethon Energy recently purchased Encanas holdings in the Moneta Divide oil and gas field east of Shoshoni in the Wind River Basin. They are proposing to inject 365 million barrels of drilling and fracking waste and salty produced brine deep into the Madison aquifer. Approval of this disposal well by the Oil and Gas Commission would permit not only disposal of millions of barrels of oil and gas wastewater into the Madison formation, but also remove this portion of the aquifer from Safe Drinking Water Act protections forever, by granting an aquifer exemption. This could throw open the door to many more waste injection wells in the Madison formation and allow hundreds of millions of barrels more of drilling, fracking and produced waste to enter a potential water supply.

The two geologists on the Oil and Gas Commission, Commissioners Drean and Doelger, are skeptical of this proposal and oppose the injection well and the aquifer exemption. They have voted against it in the past and indicate they will vote against it again when it comes up for another vote on Feb. 9. They  along with other hydrologists and independent scientists  do not believe waste injected into this formation will stay confined within the exempted area or at the injected depth and are concerned that injected oil and gas waste will rise and spread to shallower locations further from the injection well.

On the other hand, Mead and State Lands Director Hill have indicated they believe Atheons claim that the Madison aquifer in this area is too deep and remote to ever be used for other purposes. Meanwhile, Commissioner Fitzsimmons, a petroleum engineer, has not indicated how he will vote. This means the vote will be close, and Fitzsimmons could be the tiebreaker.

While there may be no immediate economic demand to access this deep clean groundwater today, it is highly likely that this aquifer will be critical to satisfying water demands in the future. Given the hundreds of millions of public dollars weve already invested getting water to Wyoming communities, protecting the Madison aquifer for future use is clearly a prudent investment.

Water emergencies, like new technologies, tend to surprise us over time. The Wyoming State Climate Office ranks Wyoming the fifth-driest state in the nation, and we have endured moderate to severe drought conditions since 1999. The Madison aquifer in the Wind and Bighorn River Basins is identified by the WWDC as the highest yielding aquifer in the planning area with excellent water qualities. A Wyoming Geological Survey report notes that the Madison aquifer in this area has significant potential for developing high yields for future water use. In fact, the Wyoming Whiskey distillery at Kirby (ironically owned by the Mead family) unblushingly brags on the fact that Your whiskey is as good as your water. And our water is unrivaled. A mile below us lays the Madison Formation, which includes a massive limestone aquifer from where we source our water. Access to this pure water resource is an important reason why our distillery is where it is.

We hope Mead and the other commissioners follow the wisdom of the U.S. Geological Surveys famed chief hydrologist Luna Leopold, who said, Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our childrens lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land.
Heres a too-rare example of how government and citizens could work together for the common good.

Casper-area motorcycle enthusiasts have come up with a campaign aimed at keeping vehicle noise down on city streets as well as encouraging motorcyclists to drive respectfully on city streets. If they have their way, people dining outdoors or chatting over the back fence wont have to halt their conversation for an ear-splitting racket thats far more suitable for Wyomings relatively quiet highways. They want to ask drivers to avoid revving their engines and showboating in Casper.

Theres a time and place for it, and in towns not it, Paul Paad, legislative liaison for the group, said. Paad said the effort is aimed at showing the community that the motorcycle group hears and respects concerns about noise.

To achieve this, Central Wyoming ABATE (it stands for A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments) wants to kick-start an effort that includes TV and radio advertisements as well as the placement of signs on city property. The group is asking Casper City Council for $5,000 to help with those signs.

This is an investment worth making, and we were heartened to see that Council members were receptive to the pitch. This group is working to police itself and make our community a more pleasant place to live, play and do business. People are going out of their way to invest in their city. Thats a far better option than a punitive noise ordinance  especially because the Council rejected such an ordinance in September after hundreds of people demonstrated in opposition to a rule that would have introduced decibel level guidelines and clearer rules. In fact, opponents staged a show on how this process shouldnt work: They successfully drowned out people with whom they didnt agree.

We hope that the Council decides this particular idea is worth supporting, but more than that, we hope this can serve as an example of something bigger  of how a group of residents can come together in response to community concerns and make Casper a better place.

Were glad motorcyclists love our wide open spaces and are willing to respect more confined ones. We should match their investment in our city with one of our own.
Editor:

I usually enjoy reading Ann Coulters columns thanks to her acerbic wit and gutsy grit. But, being human, she has flaws, among which is a penchant to suspend rationality when advocating for her flavor of the year in Republican presidential candidates. In past years, it was Chris Christie and Mitt Romney. Now, thanks mainly to his tough stance on immigration, its Donald Trump.

This infatuation has caused her to write some ridiculous things about the eligibility of Ted Cruz for the presidency. Her use of the term naturalization is, frankly, unworthy of her status as a law school graduate. A recently published article from the Harvard Law Review holds that: All the sources routinely used to interpret the Constitution confirm that the phrase natural born citizen has a specific meaning  namely, someone who is a U.S. citizen at birth with no need to go through a naturalization proceeding at some later time. Cruz meets this requirement.

There are only two paths to citizenship: automatically at birth, or after ones birth through some legal process such as immigration and naturalization. The plain meaning of natural born citizen is understood to be a person who was a citizen naturally by reason of birth, as differentiated from obtaining citizenship later in life. In 1790, the First Congress passed a law providing, And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens.

Newton Schwartz, an 85-year-old lawyer, has filed a lawsuit in a federal district court in Texas challenging Cruz eligibility. Schwartz told Bloomberg News that, while he's not linked to any particular presidential campaign, he will probably support Democrat/Socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Nice company youre in, Annie!

Legally, this man has no standing to file this action. Only another presidential candidate could do so. If Trump actually thinks Cruz is ineligible, let him file suit and request expedited consideration which, along with any subsequent appeals, would surely be decided on an emergency basis. Otherwise, lets move on to real issues!
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Majestic wild elk once roamed most of Minnesota before hunters killed them off. Now the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe hopes to bring them back to the tribe's ancestral territory in northeastern Minnesota.

The Ojibwe name for elk is "omashkoozoog," or "prairie moose." Tribal officials and other supporters say restoring them could open up new opportunities for nature tourism, since they're looking at an area that's only a couple hours' drive north of the Twin Cities. Success also could allow for elk hunting eventually. That's important to a tribe with a heritage of subsistence hunting, but tribal officials envision even non-Indians eventually getting the chance to hunt the elk, too.

"It's restoring not just a part of the band's wildlife heritage but everybody's wildlife heritage," said Mike Schrage, a wildlife biologist with the tribe. "We used to have thousands of elk in the state and we're down to 130."

Minnesota's few wild elk are limited to three herds in the far northwestern corner of the state. Their numbers have been deliberately kept low to reduce conflicts with farmers, who regularly complain about the animals eating their crops and knocking down their fences.

The University of Minnesota is asking the Legislature for $300,000 to study the feasibility of restoring elk to a territory that includes southern St. Louis, Carlton and northern Pine counties. The tribe and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation would contribute a combined $45,000.

James Forester, an elk researcher at the university who would lead the study, said researchers would search out the best habitat and determine how many animals it could sustain. They'll also survey people to gauge public support. That should help them identify specific areas that could support a fairly large herd without too many negative impacts on human activities, he said.

Schrage said the area could be better elk territory than northwestern Minnesota because it doesn't have much agriculture. Much of it is public land and the timber industry leaves a lot of young aspen stands, providing good food supplies. The few farms are mostly small livestock and hay operations.

The Department of Natural Resources supports the research, said John Williams, the DNR's northwest regional wildlife manager. Williams thinks it would be good to evaluate the entire state eventually. He said he believes Minnesota has the potential to support a substantial elk population, just not where they currently live or in other heavily agricultural areas.

Elk once roamed most of the U.S. and the success of other states in restoring them is encouraging, Schrage said. Wisconsin re-established a herd near Clam Lake about 20 years ago and just started a second near Black River Falls. Michigan now has 600 to 700 elk after bringing them back in 1918. Kentucky, which started restoration in 1997, now has around 10,000. Elk have thrived in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina since their 2001 reintroduction. Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Virginia and Ontario also have brought them back.

"Most eastern states that have restored elk populations have found a real economic boost to local communities through elk tourism," Schrage said. For example, he said, the Clam Lake area estimates it gets a $200,000 annual bump from elk-watchers.

Conservation groups are enthusiastic. As people come to understand wildlife, they become passionate about ensuring it's there for their children and grandchildren, said Rich Staffon, president of the Duluth chapter of the Izaak Walton League.

The study would begin this summer, but Schrage it could take around 10 years and another $3 million to $5 million before any elk are released on the landscape. They'd have to develop a management plan and find a source herd, he said. But the crucial factor will be public attitudes.

"What's going to drive the success of elk restoration is whether people want them and are willing to put up with elk," Schrage said.

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Follow Steve Karnowski on Twitter at https://twitter.com/skarnowski and check out some of his other work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steve-karnowski .
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HSL Properties has added a fifth Tucson hotel to its portfolio and a high-rise apartment complex in downtown Phoenix.

Plans are to fully renovate the five-story, 299-room Radisson Suites at 6555 E. Speedway.

Not counting its shuttered Hotel Arizona downtown, HSL owns more than 900 hotel rooms in the Tucson area.

Since the Great Recession, its a great time to be buying hotels, said Humberto S. Lopez, chairman of the board.

Founded in 1975, HSL owns and operates more than 10,000 apartments in Tucson and Phoenix.

A new luxury complex is under construction near Shannon and Cortaro roads that will feature a theater, resort-style pool and cabanas.

Apartments is our forte, Lopez said, noting his recent purchase of the 34-story 44 Monroe complex in downtown Phoenix.

His planned acquisitions for 2016 include any good opportunity, he said. But, as for hotels, Lopez plans to only operate in the Tucson market.

Renovations to the Radisson are expected to begin soon.

The companys four other hotels are Doubletree Suites by Hilton, Hilton El Conquistador Resort, Best Western Plus Tucson Airport and La Quinta Inn & Suite Tucson - Reid Park Hotel.
A Tucson-based cancer drug company is looking to raise $29 million in an initial public offering of stock, and continues to raise private funding and form key partnerships.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals Inc.  whose leading drug candidate is based on technology developed partly at the University of Arizona  is waiting for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to declare its stock registration statement effective, after which it will be priced and issued.

In the meantime, the company is in a required quiet period ahead of the effective date of its offering, during which it cant publicly disclose or discuss most company affairs.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, which is in advanced clinical trials with a drug to prevent colon cancer, also recently entered into a multimillion-dollar pre-licensing agreement with a Maryland-based drug company.

The company is in a Phase III clinical trial of the drug for use in preventing a rare, teenage-onset disease called familial adenomatous polyposis, which often leads to colon cancer. Along with the National Cancer Institute and SWOG (formerly Southwest Oncology Group), the company also is co-sponsoring a large clinical trial of the drug combination to see if it helps colon-cancer survivors avoid relapse.

And the company is involved in other, early-stage trials for the drugs use to ward off relapses of neuroblastoma (a childhood cancer), and in treatment of gastric cancer and early-onset Type 1 diabetes.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals recently agreed to an option to buy an exclusive license to commercialize the local companys flagship drug combination product, CPP-1X/sulindac, in North America.

Under the agreement with Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, the Maryland company will invest $5 million in Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals in the form of a convertible note  short-term debt that converts to stock  and make an additional $5 million equity investment.

If Sucampo exercises its license option, it would pay Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals up to $190 million over time as the company meets certain clinical development and sales milestones.

Sucampo and Cancer Prevention would split any profits from future sales, according to a Sucampo news release.

We believe that this product represents a substantial market opportunity and, given clinical results to date, could be a valuable asset for Sucampo that leverages our gastrointestinal expertise and strategic focus, said Peter Greenleaf, chairman and CEO of Sucampo.

While Sucampos development option covers North America, Cancer Prevention about a year ago inked an exclusive licensing agreement with a Swiss drug company for European and Japanese rights to develop and commercialize the CPP-1X/sulindac combination for treatment of familial adenomatous polyposis and other gastrointestinal ailments.

The local company could get payments of more than $100 million over time for hitting drug development and sales milestones, as part of its agreement with Tillotts Pharma AG, part of Tokyo-based Zeria Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals Chairman and CEO Jeff Jacob declined to comment, citing the IPO quiet period.

In its registration filing, the company is seeking a listing on the New York Stock Exchanges small-cap market, NYSE MKT, under the ticker symbol CPP. Proceeds would go to advance the companys clinical trials and other corporate purposes. The underwriter for the stock offering is Aegis Capital Corp.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals licensed its drug technology from the UA and the University of California-Irvine. The company was co-founded by retired University of Arizona professor and Arizona Cancer Center member Eugene Gerner and Dr. Frank Meyskens Jr., an oncologist and former Arizona Cancer Center member who is now associate vice chancellor of health sciences at the University of California-Irvine.

Jacob is a UA engineering alum and former executive with Research Corporation Technologies and the Critical Path Institute, a Tucson-based nonprofit that collaborates with industry and regulators on drug-research testing and standards.
With apprehensions and drug seizures down in the Tucson sector, new Border Patrol Chief Paul Beeson has a new focus: security and enforcing the law.

Last year the sector, which until recently was the busiest in the nation, made 63,000 apprehensions  the fewest since 1991.

The sector also seized less than 750,000 pounds of marijuana, after years of surpassing 1 million pounds each year.

Next-busiest was the Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas, with about 500,000 pounds of marijuana seized in fiscal 2015.

The Tucson sector covers 262 miles of the border and has about 4,000 Border Patrol agents.

The Arizona Daily Star talked with Beeson about border security and the sector. Below are excerpts from the interview:

Whats the state of the Tucson sector?

There are still some challenges along the border. We still have some areas where activity occurs but we are seeing, overall, a decrease in the activity  last year, about 63,000 arrests throughout the entire fiscal year for the sector, which is a tremendous reduction over years in the past.

Whats your focus going forward?

We want to make sure we are continuing to enforce the law and that we do so fairly and professionally, respectful of everyones constitutional rights.

What does a secure border look like to you?

When I think about a secure border, I think of one that is a border that is low risk, where we have good situational awareness and have the ability to respond and interdict anything that comes across the border.

Does the Tucson sector fit that definition?

We have areas of low risk, we have some areas of moderate risk, and those are going to fluctuate too. When you look at areas where we have a good layout of the technology, of personnel, things like that where activity is low, I would classify that as a low-risk area. But there are some areas we are still working on and we will continue to work on.

Where are some of those areas in this sector?

If youve been out along the border in Arizona its phenomenal in terms of the ruggedness of the terrain, the vastness of the area, and so those areas with more difficult terrain continue to be areas that we remain concerned about and its still that west desert area.

What needs to happen for Tucsons numbers to remain where they are now, if not even lower?

We are going to continue to focus on our mission. When you look at the traffic here  narcotics, people  they dont smuggle themselves. There are networks engaged in that activity that are smuggling the people, that are smuggling the narcotics. So for us to further enhance the border security situation here, we need to focus on those networks.

From where you sit right now, how can you make sure that the agents who are under you value human life and act professionally, responsibly and all the other qualities that you mention?

I go back to what this workforce is comprised of  men and women who are professional in their approach, they act with integrity, they do value human life. We do a lot of work with them to make sure we continue to reinforce those principles.

They know how to do their job and they do their job. If theres an instance where that has not occurred, we will take the appropriate action that will get that corrected.

The agency as a whole has been widely criticized for use-of-force incidents. Any proactive measures you can take, especially as you get new agents?

We have new technology we are utilizing such as the VirTra (virtual training simulator) ... Its one of those things to reinforce the use-of-force principles for us and provides the agents the opportunity, in a safe environment, to experience a use-of-force situation and then make those judgments that they would need to make. Then they have the opportunity to review that decision and look at whether or not it was the right or wrong decision.

Of the times Ive been there, Ive seen that they make the right decision.

Use of force is something we discuss frequently. When we have to qualify quarterly with our weapons, use of force is discussed then. Its reviewed throughout the employees work life.

Whats the role of local and state agencies in the overall Border Patrol mission?

Clearly, it is an expectation of the American public that these borders be secure. Its our primary responsibility, but its not just a Border Patrol concern. The immigration stuff, we are going to take care of, but the other border security issues  the narcotic trafficking, the human trafficking, the weapon smuggling, those other things that occur along the border  there are other agencies that have the ability to engage with us in attacking the networks that engage in those activities, and we are going to work with them.

Partnership for us is critical. Ive been doing this job all across the Southwest border  Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California  and every place Ive been, when we have strong partnerships with the state and local law enforcement agencies, and the tribal law enforcement agencies, we are much more effective at getting an area under control.

What role do humanitarian agencies play?

I think there are things we can work on together and I look forward to the opportunity.
We have some teens in the Tucson area getting extra education in veterinary science, others studying engineering, and still others going into cosmetology and physical therapy.

Theyre among dozens of specialized, career-oriented fields of study offered by the Pima County Joint Technical Education District, a concept Arizona voters embraced in 2006. Some of the programs are intended to lead directly from high school to jobs; others give students a head-start on college. In Pima County, more than 15,000 students are enrolled.

Students in these programs have a fantastic graduation rate: 98 percent statewide for JTED students, compared to 76 percent for all high school students.

This is an immensely popular program, funded largely by taxes we pay to the state, but also by property taxes. And it is in danger of dying, thanks to changes in the way the program is funded, changes passed in the middle of the night by the Legislature last year.

They would cut about $30 million starting next school year but also create what some have called a death spiral of lower funding leading to fewer students, leading to still lower funding.

Now, legislators are lining up to correct that: Sen. Don Shooter, a Yuma Republican, has got 72 of the states 90 legislators to support the idea of reversing the changes. Even before Gov. Doug Duceys budget came out Monday, Republican legislators like Tucsons Rep. Chris Ackerley were introducing bills to fully restore funding and fix the formula.

But in an unexpected twist, Ducey said in his proposed budget that he doesnt want to restore that funding. He has his own idea, putting him at odds even with some of his most devoted supporters.

On Monday, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to all legislators, signed by more than 30 chambers of commerce, as well as statewide education groups, asking for the funding to be restored. Thats something, because the Arizona Chamber has been almost sycophantic in its support of the Republican governor.

Duceys budget does make reference to $30 million for JTED, as the program is called. But thats actually a $10-million-a-year grant program, as the governors top budget adviser, Lorenzo Romero, explained this past week.

The recommendation is a new program, he said in an answer to Sen. Steve Farley, a Tucson Democrat. It is a $30 million one-time appropriated program. Its not restoring those cuts.

Its not just that Ducey does not want to restore the cuts thats disturbing. Its also this: The money would be handed out by the Governors Office on Education. In other words, Duceys people would pick who wins and who loses these grants.

Then theres this: The grants would go to JTEDs that work to partner with business and industry to produce graduates in high-demand employment sectors that will most benefit the local region.

This is a matching program, in which a JTED would be required to get buy-in from businesses or industry groups in order to win a grant from the governor.

Via email I asked some questions about the governors approach of Dawn Wallace, Duceys education policy advisor. She said the governor believes targeted investment maximizes into career and technical education programs that serve the highest demand employment sector is key.

The idea, she went on, is to encourage business and industry to partner with career and technical education programs to fill the vacant high- to mid-skill positions needed for industries such as manufacturing, technology, allied health, energy, etc.

Businesses could offer money or in-kind contributions in order to match state grants, she said.

An argument for this kind of arrangement, I imagine, would be that the students entering the grant-winning programs would have more direct job prospects in fields that also benefit local business more directly. A real win-win, as people say.

I understand the intention of what hes trying to do, Ackerley said in an interview. However, the reality is that I dont think there will be many instances where somebody else outside of the school systems is going to foot half the cost of these programs.

Other downsides are also apparent.

One is  why should we give this power to the Governors Office? Not only that  why should there be a Governors Office on Education at all? As Farley pointed out to me, the state Board of Education and Education Department already have a hard time getting along, without a new statewide education overseer getting involved.

Wallace, by the way, said the governors education office is not new, is similar to offices in other states, and works well with existing state education entities.

But most important, perhaps, theres this: The $10 million per year Ducey proposes does not fix the downward spiral the Legislature put in place last year.

The funding formula problem is complex enough that its tough to grasp. But the key parts are that the home schools of students who also attend JTED classes would no longer get as much money for those students and would be able to supplant the funding that would otherwise go to the JTED programs.

The upshot: It discourages schools from participating in JTED programs.

The JTEDs have to scale back their programs, which causes them to lose enrollment, which causes them to lose funding, Ackerley said.

Thats the problem that needs to be solved, as almost everybody agrees, from right to left. There is plenty of money to solve it  simply doing the smart thing and dropping the governors $31 million border strike force would more than pay to save the JTED system.

How the problem is resolved will say a lot about who holds the power in Phoenix and Arizona  and what they really want to use it for.
A Tucson man who shot and killed a local cabdriver to get money to bail a friend out of jail was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Ruben Archunde, 22, was also sentenced to 34 years in prison for armed robbery and aggravated robbery, but those terms are to be served concurrently with the life sentence.

Archunde pleaded guilty two months ago to killing Timothy Royce, 27, but rather than have a jury sentence him, he agreed to have Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields decide if he should be sentenced to life in prison or receive the death penalty.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent several days presenting aggravating and mitigating evidence to help Fields decide the appropriate sentence.

The judge decided prosecutors proved "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Archunde shot Royce for money and that he did so shortly after being released from jail to the county's Pretrial Services Division on a car-theft charge.

Prosecutors did not, however, prove that the slaying was "especially cruel, heinous or depraved," Fields said.

The judge sentenced Archunde to natural life, in part because Archunde "was subjected to a hell on Earth childhood" and was only 20 at the time of the March 2008 slaying.

"The family oral history and rumor is rife with physical, emotional and sexual abuse of a level incomprehensible to most," Fields said. "Additionally, drug and alcohol abuse appeared commonplace among Mr. Archunde's primary caregivers."

Authorities say Archunde, Marisela Pacheco and Jessica Gallegos needed money to bail Archunde's "street brother" out of jail. The man was also Pacheco's boyfriend.

Royce's body was found near his car in an alley near the University of Arizona. The defendants were arrested within a week.

Margaret DiFrank, a mitigation specialist hired by Archunde's attorneys, David Basham and James Fullin, spent months collecting information on Archunde's background. She found that:

 Archunde's mother gave birth to five children between the ages of 14 and 21. Archunde was the second-eldest.

 Archunde attended four schools in kindergarten alone, the longest for three months.

 Archunde's father was sent to prison when Archunde was 6, for child molestation.

 Archunde's mother moved to New Mexico when Archunde was 8, leaving her children behind with a grandmother.

 Archunde became a ward of the state at the age of 12 and made his first suicide attempt.

In sentencing Archunde, Fields said Archunde "was abused and abandoned more than anyone would wish upon their least favorite creature," and that led to his creating "street families" to fill the void.

Gallegos, 17 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced in April 2009 to seven years in prison. Pacheco, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery. She is serving a 22-year prison sentence.

Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
Dianna Barsotti is racked with guilt.

It has been 19 months since her son, Timothy Royce, was shot to death and she still cannot sleep without help.

"I'm haunted by images of my son dying alone in an alley with two bullets in his back, lying in the dark with no one to help him," Barsotti sobbed. "Did he know what happened? Did he have time to be frightened? Did he call for help?"

It is a mother's job to comfort her children and she was not there, Barsotti said.

Barsotti was in Pima County Superior Court Monday to attend the sentencing hearing for one of three people charged with first-degree murder in her son's death.

Marisela N. Pacheco, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery.

Her 22-year prison sentence for murder (every day of which must be served) was agreed to ahead of time. Judge Richard Fields had to decide what to give Pacheco on the armed robbery charge and whether to run it concurrently or consecutively with the murder sentence.

After listening to Royce's loved ones, attorneys on both sides and Pacheco, Fields gave her the maximum sentence of 21 years but ran it concurrently.

Prosecutors say the evidence shows Pacheco, Jessica Gallegos and Ruben Archunde needed money to bail Pacheco's boyfriend (Archunde's brother) out of jail and decided to rob Royce, a driver for Yellow Cab.

Authorities believe Archunde shot Royce once through the seat of his car and another time outside the car.

Royce's body was found near his Yellow Cab in an alley near the University of Arizona and the defendants were arrested within a week and charged with first-degree murder and other felony counts.

Gallegos, 17 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced to seven years in prison in April.

As Fields watched a slide show of Royce's life, Barsotti told the judge her son was a happy, outgoing man who was full of hope for the future. He had just earned an associate's degree from Pima County Community College and was engaged to his girlfriend, who was four months pregnant with their son.

She now goes through life looking away from taxicabs driving by or young families  anything that might remind her of what she has lost.

"Everyday occurrences are land mines threatening to explode and take me further" into depression, Barsotti said.

Royce's fiancee, Melissa, who took his name after he died, said she would give anything for their 13-month-old son to be able to touch his father and say "Da-Da." He only has pictures now, though.

Melissa Royce said she was taught good things happen to good people, but she does not feel as though she can teach her son that "in good conscience."

Prosecutor Rick Unklesbay asked for the armed robbery sentence to be run consecutively. He said the day after Royce died, Pacheco and Archunde went to the jail to show her boyfriend the Arizona Daily Star's article on the slaying so he could know what they had done for him.

Unklesbay showed Fields a digital recording of the meeting, during which Pacheco can be heard loudly proclaiming "I was there too!"

By the time Pacheco went to the jail, she knew Royce was an expectant father, Unklesbay said. They had found a book on pregnancy with Royce's belongings.

The plan was for Pacheco to bond her boyfriend out of jail, kidnap her child from her parents and flee to Mexico, Unklesbay said.

Defense attorney Rick Lougee extended his condolences to Royce's family, saying it is clear he was a "good and decent" man who did not deserve what happened to him.

But, Lougee said, Pacheco was not the one who planned the robbery or shot Royce.

In fact, tests show Pacheco, with an IQ of 61, is mentally retarded, Lougee said.

Pacheco is so cognitively impaired she does not have the ability to plan and execute a robbery, Lougee said.

As for the jail visit, it clearly shows she was unable to "process" what had happened, Lougee said.

Pacheco is a mentally challenged substance abuser who went along with an abusive man, as she has all of her life, Lougee said.

Lougee argued that the law does not allow the government to execute mentally retarded people and to sentence her to consecutive sentences would also be wrong.

When Pacheco is released from prison she will be 53 years old and no danger to anyone, Lougee said.

When given an opportunity to speak, Pacheco looked at Royce's family and said, "I'm sorry for what I done."

Archunde, 22, is awaiting trial. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.
Three residents of neighborhoods near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base have filed for an injunction in federal court, seeking to require the Air Force to conduct a more detailed analysis of how increased training flights from the base will affect the community.

Rita Ornelas, Gary Hunter and Anita Scales filed the complaint Friday with the U.S. District Court of Arizona, saying that the Air Force failed to follow federal guidelines when it approved a plan last year to increase the number of operations.

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, a nonprofit firm that focuses on government accountability, is representing the plaintiffs.

In May 2015, the Air Force approved an updated plan for the Total Force Training Mission for Visiting Units at D-M, which, according to the neighbors complaint, would almost quadruple the number of flight operations from visiting jets.

The plan would increase the number of sorties, a complete flight operation from takeoff to landing, to 2,326, the complaint says. That number would be the maximum and could be smaller, the Air Force has said.

The plaintiffs say the Air Force failed to comply with National Environmental Policy Act regulations, including an environmental-impact study of the increased operations. The plaintiffs want the court to declare the Air Force's environmental assessment inadequate and order it to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement. The lawsuit does not seek a "cessation of the TFT program."

Capt. Casey Osborne, chief of public affairs for the 355th Fighter Wing at D-M, responded Saturday: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base fully complied with all applicable laws when conducting its Total Force Training Environmental Assessment.

At this time the Air Force will not comment on the specifics of pending litigation.

Our airmen are privileged to be members of the local community and we pride ourselves on the strong positive relationships we share with all of our Tucson partners, Osborne continued.

The Environmental Assessment places a cap on the total number of annual Total Force Training flights. It should be noted that even if we reach that cap, all Total Force Training flights combined would represent less than 6 percent of the total annual D-M air field operations numbers.

In May 2015, the Air Force Air Combat Command issued a final environmental report on the proposed expansion of visiting-plane training at Davis-Monthan, finding that raising the number of annual sorties up to 65 percent will pose no significant environmental issues.

In their court filing, the plaintiffs say the Air Force didnt follow its own guidelines and provide proper notification to the communities that would be affected by the increased operations.

The environmental-assessment report prepared by the Air Force detailing the impact of the additional operations wasnt distributed to all of the affected neighborhoods and wasnt made readily available in Spanish, despite a high number of Spanish-speaking residents in the area, the complaint says.

The (Air Force) relied almost exclusively on internet notifications and the (D-M) website, even though low income minority communities are less likely to have internet access, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs are alleging that the flight traffic has negatively impacted the value of their homes, located in the Julia Keen, Blenman-Elm and Broadmoor neighborhoods.

Theyre also claiming emotional and physical injuries that they say the noise has caused.
Room C121 is divided into three conjoined areas: a kitchen, traditional classroom and a dining area with several wooden chairs and tables.

Its designed to teach everything a student would need to learn to get into the culinary industry, including safety, sanitation, business planning and, of course, cooking.

When students, ranging from sophomores to seniors, filed into the Sahuarita High School classroom Friday, the room smelled overwhelmingly of sweet bread. Thats because it was cake day, said Esther Skinner, the schools culinary teacher.

The classroom is a place of discipline, as required in any professional kitchen, Skinner said. They understand whats expected of them.

But on this day, she might allow the students to take it a little easy, as some of them have just finished competing in the 2016 Southwest Gas Arizona ProStart Invitational in Flagstaff, a state-level qualifier tournament for a national competition.

ProStart is a two-year nationwide culinary program that reaches nearly 120,000 students, said Tracie Carmel, the ProStart coordinator at the Arizona Restaurant Association. It helps provide support and curriculum to participating schools to help their students come out of school industry-ready.

Sahuarita High Schools program piloted the restaurant management portion of the competition with students Justin Barnes, Carlos Gomez, Gabriella Noriega and Connie Rasmussen, who won first place.

The Sahuarita students presentation on a business plan for an appetizer-only restaurant impressed the judges, Carmel, of the Arizona Restaurant Association, said. Those students will head to Dallas in late April to represent Arizona and compete nationally.

With their success, Carmel said she hopes the restaurant management competition would be in full swing with more schools participating.

Sahuaritas culinary team brought home a second-place trophy, bested only by Mountain View High Schools team.

That team, comprising Emilio Castro, Austin Hommel, Jazmin Ochoa and Gregory Strode, crafted a three-meal course that included Italian smoked salmon roll with Sriracha-mayo sauce, pork saltimbocca and butterscotch rum crumble with mint chocolate pecan ball.

Im sure the employers would be really impressed with our kids, Skinner said.

A lot of preparation went into gearing up for the invitational, she said. Her wildly popular culinary classes, which are divided into three levels, have a total of 145 students, though more than 400 have signed up to get in.

Any student can join the competition-level teams, but they have to show the utmost commitment, including participating in after-school practices, she said.

The restaurant management team spent countless hours coming up with its winning business plan, the students said. They spoke to a number of restaurant managers, chefs and other professionals to develop the best plan.

The teams proposed name for the restaurant is The Sampler, as it would only serve appetizers. The menu was developed with the team members favorite appetizer dishes, such as sliders, wings and flatbread.

Its our interpretation of appetizer and American cuisine, said Noriega, 17.

The theme of the proposed restaurants interior is retro-modern, maplewood, stainless steel and navy blue, said Barnes, 16. We wanted it to be a comfortable setting.

The students didnt just randomly choose the color blue. They chose it because, according to a psychology website, that color represents trust, he said.

The biggest challenge was not the actual business plan, but rather getting in front of people and presenting it, the team said. To practice, the students presented to several classes and groups of parents and teachers.

Judges at the competition in Flagstaff asked hard-hitting questions about their marketing tactics. At first, they completely tore us apart, Rasmussen, 17, said of the judges. But that only served as motivation to make their plan better.

The Sahuarita High School restaurant management teams strategy for the upcoming national competition is to bring an Arizona feel to the national stage, Barnes said.

With their great teamwork  Noriega said they just have to look at one another to know what the others are is thinking about  they hope to bring home the win.

While some other members were more timid about their chances of taking nationals, Gomez, a 17-year-old senior, was not. Im not trying to be cocky, but I think were going to win, he said.

All four students said they have ambitions to continue studying restaurant management.

Rasmussen was accepted into Northern Arizona Universitys hotel restaurant management program. Gomez is also considering NAU, though that would have to wait, since hes already enlisted in the Navy. Noriega is considering the New England Culinary Institute, and Barnes wants to go to the Culinary Institute of America.

As for the culinary team members, they have their eyes on the prize for next years competition. Though they did not make nationals this year, competing was a huge learning experience, said Castro and Strode, who are both juniors.

Our teacher helped us a lot, Castro said. She taught us how to do our cuts, showed us examples.

Shes the one who made our team, Strode said.

Both students said they would carry on with their culinary studies and are considering going to the New England Culinary Institute.

For their work at the invitational, Sahuarita High Schools students earned scholarships to continue their education in culinary arts and restaurant management. The New England Culinary Institute, which many students said they were considering, is one of the schools offering the scholarships.

The culinary program at Sahuarita is designed to help prepare students for their careers in the restaurant industry, Skinner said. Students can obtain their national certification through the program, which would give them advantage in finding employment.

The ultimate goal of the culinary program is to give students a chance to fall in love with the industry, she said. The teacher wants to provide whatever she can to do that.

Not everyone is made for college, she said. I just want to open doors for them.
WASHINGTON  Heres how Arizona senators voted on major issues in the week ending Jan. 22. The House was in recess.

SENATE

SCREENING IRAQI, SYRIAN REFUGEES

Voting 55 for and 43 against, the Senate on Jan. 20 failed to reach 60 votes for advancing a bill (HR 4038) to impose additional security screening on refugee applicants from Iraq and Syria. The bill requires the secretary of Homeland Security, FBI director and director of national intelligence to clear each applicant from the two countries before they can enter the U.S. This would add layers to an existing two-year-long process that requires clearances by seven departments and agencies. The administration plans to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in coming months in addition to the nearly 2,000 admitted over the past four years on humanitarian grounds. Applicants are first screened by a United Nations agency and then drawn from refugee camps in the Middle East.

A yes vote was to advance the bill to full debate.

Voting yes: John McCain, R, Jeff Flake, R

CLEAN WATER ACT, PRESIDENTIAL VETO

Voting 52 for and 40 against, the Senate on Jan. 21 failed to advance to a direct vote on President Obamas veto of a bill concerning the 1972 Clean Water Act. Supporters needed 60 votes to start debate on their bid to override the veto. This ended long-running GOP-led opposition (SJ Res 22) to a new Environmental Protection Agency rule designed to protect the quality of headwaters, wetlands and other waters upstream of navigable waters. Critics called the EPA rule a federal power grab, while backers said it would protect waters used for drinking, recreation and other purposes.

A yes vote was in opposition to the EPAs new headwaters rule.

Yes: McCain, Flake

FEDERAL JUDGE WILHELMINA WRIGHT

By a vote of 58 for and 36 against, the Senate on Jan. 19 confirmed Wilhelmina Marie Wright as a federal judge for the District of Minnesota. The vote occurred nine months after her nomination by President Obama. Wright, 52, had been a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court since 2012, the first African-American woman to serve on that court. She previously served on lower courts in Minnesota and as a federal prosecutor there.

Yes: Flake

No: McCain
In the future, the size of your water bill may depend less than it does today on how much water you use.

But an overhaul of the citys water rate structure to that effect could still very well result in your bill going higher, regardless of your usage.

Tucsonans conserve so well that their usage  and Tucson Waters revenue  has plummeted over the years, and thats something the utilitys new director wants to fix. A specific proposal is a year away, but a new rate structure likely would reduce the utilitys dependence on revenue coming from monthly charges based on how much water a home or business uses. Under a scenario outlined by newly hired Tucson Water Director Timothy Thomure, a greater portion of customers bills would shift to the utilitys fixed charges, which stay the same regardless of how much water people use.

Another possibility would be to raise system development fees charged to homebuilders to cover the cost of water hookups for new homes, he said.

The idea behind a new rate structure would be to fix a longstanding problem in Tucson Waters eyes. As total water use has dropped since 2002, first slowly and then more rapidly, the utilitys revenues have dropped accordingly. The utilitys rate structure that has been in place since 1976 has sought to encourage conservation by charging higher rates to use more  and it has worked.

Declining revenues along with higher costs for electricity and other things typically prompts Tucson Water to seek  and generally receive  annual rate increases from the City Council. That keeps the 496-employee utility whole, but it has made some homeowners feel penalized for conserving water.

Thomure is interested in starting to decouple water rates from use. That would make the utilitys financial health less dependent on how much water people use.

But the idea of decoupling rates from usage is itself controversial. It has stirred concerns among some conservationists and a City Council member that such a proposal could reduce customers incentive to conserve water and penalize poor people.

Councilman Steve Kozachik, a longtime Tucson Water critic, agrees proposals like Thomures would give the utility stability. But increasing fixed costs has a regressive effect, putting more burden on low and fixed-income families, he said. Charging a higher fixed rate no matter how much water you use also serves as a disincentive to conserve, he said.

Shifting the water rate burden to fixed charges can be done without raising a customers total water bill, Thomure said. But if the utility costs keep going up for electricity and other things, regular monthly rates would probably have to keep rising, too. That would mean a customers total water charge would keep going up, he said.

The need for increasing total revenues is there, he said, because the ability to deliver water gets more expensive year after year.

Kozachik takes a dim view in general of Thomures commitment to conservation, after having read the new directors resume, heard his interview comments second-hand from the Star and after one of his staffers attended a meet and greet that Thomure and two other director candidates had with the general public before City Manager Michael Ortega made his choice.

They made it pretty clear they view the whole notion of conservation as verbal eye candy, not to be taken seriously, not as serious as I do, anyway, Kozachik said of the three candidates. When I read these guys resumes, I didnt see the word conservation on any of them.

Thomure says hes very interested in conservation, particular with the need to conserve water to keep Lake Mead falling so much that shortages in Central Arizona Project water deliveries are declared. But he says hes not alarmed by Lake Meads ongoing decline because he believes Tucson can handle future shortages.

Tucson Water is hardly alone in the West in facing declining revenues due to conservation, observed University of Arizona law professor Robert Glennon, who has written two books about water. In California, particularly, state-imposed conservation measures due to the 2015 drought have hit utilities hard.

There was an enormous push across the state to use less water, Glennon said. Now that consequence is becoming painfully obvious.
Help India!

On Indias independence day we remember a forgotten hero from our history

By Asma Khan for TwoCircles.net

Support TwoCircles



Bakht Khan: Winner of a lost battle

Second of July 1857, a hot humid day some one hundred and fifty-five summers ago, a contingent of about 250 men in their Bareilly regiment uniforms arrives in Dilli of the time, the world renowned Red Fort to be precise. Mounted on their horses, they march past the Laal Purdah [1][entrance to the private chambers of the last Mughal King]. The General of the regiment marches too albeit without the customary bowing down of his head; much to the outrage of those present at the court. But what happens next would seem rather more sacrilegious. That unbending commander of the arriving regiment, a tall and corpulent man of Rohilla stock appears least caring about the sensation he creates and the protest that comes his way, he moves forward and salaams the King as if he is an equal.[2] But the King, Zille Sub-haani, Khaleefatur Rehmani, Khudawand e Majaazi, Hazrat Abul Zafar Sirajuddin Bahadur Shah Zafar is helpless.

The man in the eye of this little storm was General Bakht Khan, Commander of the Neemuch brigade, of the Army of East India Company, among the true heroes of 1857, who had arrived to make a fight against the Company which till now he had served.



General Bakht Khans bust in Red Fort museum.

He was described as a much garlanded and battle hardened veteran of Afghan wars, with huge handlebar moustache and sprouting sideburns. Known personally to several of the British officers [3] His reputation as an able administrator and a shrewd military strategist had reached Delhi much before his arrival.

The poor Mughal King, after much reluctance, decides to award the just landed General ,a royal sword and a buckle but Bakht Khan still refuses to present the nazar (a mandatory monetary gift to be offered to the King) when meeting him. Soon after, this Khan then begins to give a piece of his mind to the king, he begins, Your good for nothing princes [sons] enjoy full powers over your military. Give all the power to me as no one else but I know the norms of the English army, who knows them better than me? This was blunt and undiplomatic at its best, but the man in question, meant business. He was duly appointed the Governor General of the army, effectively displacing Mirza Mughal the headstrong son of Zafar.

Reading literature about 1857 revolution became quite an obsession with me since a teenager, our shared history of the sub-continent, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. A familiar heritage we possess, a common thread running through our past. History is journalism with hindsight and this special journalism about 1857 period transports us to a novel world inducing in us a sense of deja vu. It was through these readings that I discovered, Bakht Khan. But it was not love at first sight; I must tell you, what with his being a man with a pot belly that did not make him a fine horseman! Add to it the derision he was subjected to contemptuously for the reason of his being a Wahabi. But more surprising were the contradictions that I began noticing in various descriptions about him. A few, mostly historians from the east, respected him as one of the bravest soldiers and the real hero of 1857 Ghadar while the rest seem to scorn him just for being a Wahabi. This term in itself is quite controversial, even today, just as it was in those days.

Wahabism is the name given to Islamic philosophy instituted by Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab Najdi[1703-1792] in 7th Century Arabia; the intention was to practice Islam it in its purity just as Prophet Muhommad (peace be upon him) did. William Dalrymple elaborates General Bakht Khans Wahabism thus, Like a Wahabi , he says, Bakht Khan disdained earthly rulers, whom he regarded as unIslamic, and longed instead for a properly Islamic regime. [4] He cites his Wahabist thoughts to be a cause of his failure. Interestingly , Bakht Khan fought under a king who was the embodiment of everything a true Wahabi abhors.

What is astonishing is that in almost every account about the man, his being a Wahabi is essentially stressed, perhaps to draw attention to his real or imagined fanaticism. Some of the earlier prominent revolutionary figures like Syed Ahmed Shaheed and Shah Ismaeel Shaheed were self-proclaimed Wahabis. Lets see what Bakht Khans Wahabism was like.

His Wahabism was said to have been inspired by his spiritual mentor, Moulvi Srafaraz Ali, a master teacher of Algebra and Geometry and with a thorough knowledge of Tafseer[Quranic interpretations] and Hadeeth [Prophet Muhammads sayings]. Moulvi Sarfaraz Ali was entitled as Imam of Mujahideen and his orations exhorted people to join this revolution. It was he who had motivated his initially reluctant disciple Bakht Khan to join this momentous struggle. In the pre- revolution time, Moulvi Sarfaraz Ali was regarded as one of the brightest jewels in Delhis intellectual crown, by no less than Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan himself. So it was Moulvi Sarfaraz Ali who urged Bakht Khan to fight against the infidel Christians for the honor of his country. Interestingly this accusation of his being a Wahabi also betrays probable renaissance Islamic nature of the revolution of 1857.

Being a Wahabi, Bakht Khan was against the veneration of Sufi shrines, which was/is quite a rampant practice among a large section of the Indian Muslims. The Wahabis disapprove of it as being nearer to idol worship and a tendency picked up from their Hindu brothers. What is important to be noted and not to be overlooked is; this Wahabism of Bakht Khan and his mentor Moulvi Sarfaraz Ali was borrowed not from Abdul Wahab Najdi of Saudi Arab but from Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehalvi [1703-1762], the father of Islamic reform movement in India. This reform movement aimed at eliminating all non-Islamic innovations and practices from the religion and restoring a strict Islamic monotheism, among Indian Muslims. Shah Waliullah, was the first one to translate Quran into Persian and anticipated many modern, social, economic and political thoughts, such as social reform, equal rights, labour protection, and welfare entitlement of all.



Where is Indian account of 1857 war of freedom?

P.C. Joshi in his work, Inquilab 1857 makes a significant observation about this term, Wahabi. He says that, The use of the term Wahabi is not at all correct, because the political ambitions and social views of allegedly Indian Wahabis , were not based on Abdul Wahab of Najad but on the man who came before him. He was Shah Waliullah [died:1762]. Thats the reason, some supporters of Islamic renaissance like, Ubaidullah Sindhi [1861-1948], Ghulam Sarvar and [Hakeem]Ajmal Khan have preferred to call themselves as Waliullahi or the followers of Shah Waliullah. But I have maintained this word due to its popular use and historical importance. [6] His Wahabism thus had Indian roots. Hence despising the Rohella Subedar as a Wahabi is to belittle the efforts he made for a unified fight against our former rulers. It is unfair to the man in question who is among the real heroes of the mutiny. Noted historian Irfan Habib too condemns the practice of labeling and cornering him as a Wahabi and describes Bakht Khan as, the republican minded commanderin-chief in Delhi, who is most unfairly portrayed as a Wahabi in some modern accounts. [7]. Wahabi or not, what is important to notice, is that he struggled for unity among the different religious sects and led the Fauj-e-Hindustani and fought for a unified and free India. Barun De admires this General of Bareilly for providing the quintessential unity that was severely lacking among the ranks of the rebels. He terms Bakht Khan a true leader and lauds his efforts at unifying different forces of the time, as worth studying. [8]

My attempt here is to present a brief sketch of this Great General as a figure who, till his last struggled for the dream of a Free and Unified India where harmony among the different ethnic groups was his top priority.

His Origins:

Bakht Khan was of Rohilla [Afghan] stock. His grandfather Ghulam Qadir Khan came to Lucknow to make a living. His father Abdullah Khan, said to be a very handsome man, was married to an Awadh Princess. Bakht Khan was formerly a Subedar in the 8th Foot Artillery at Bareilly and had served the British for over forty years and fought bravely in Afghan wars. He had progressed quite rapidly and was appointed in a high-ranking position there. Interesting to note, is his close friendship with many British officers, under whom he had served and imbibed the art of war. Colonel George Bourcheir was educated in Persian by him, and who describes his tutor as, very fond of English society ..[and] a most intelligent character.[9] But quite a few disagreed and called him, a fat guy, socially ambitious and an incompetent horseman, probably the worst insult for a soldier, in those times. His commanding officer, Captain Waddy [BHA], describes him thus,  He is sixty years of age and is said to have served the Company for forty years; his height 5 feet 10 inches; 44 inches round the chest ; a very bad rider owing to a large stomach and thick thighs but clever and a good drill [10] When the revolution began he was already in his native town of Bareilly and his fame as a fine administrator and a brave and especially able army commander had spread in the country. He had arrived in Delhi with a huge contingent of 7000 [according to another source, 14000] cavalry and hundreds of infantry and a treasure from Bareilly.

Bakht Khan as an Administrator:

It is indeed quite fascinating to know Bakht Khans efforts in trying to enforce some kind of sense and sensibility, onto the madness of loot, plunder and sheer chaos of the Delhi of 1857 uprising. He tried every trick in the book to restore law and order amid that disturbing pandemonium .Munshi Jeevan Lal, [11] the overweight Mir Munshi [Chief Assistant] of Resident of Delhi, Sir Thomas Metcalfe [who was working as a British spy, describes how General Bakht Khan went about restoring order amidst that unprecedented anarchy spread after the arrival of the rebels, in the capital. Its a human thing to love admiration; but when it comes from the enemy, it becomes doubly significant.

Munshi Jiwan Lal in the notes to his British Masters appreciates measures taken by Bakht Khan. There were to be no taxes on salt and sugar, looting [by the just arrived rebel soldiers]had to be stopped else their plundering hands would be cut off, shopkeepers were to be given full protection and even encouraged to use weapons[if they had none, then would be duly provided from the state armory], soldiers were to be removed from the Dilli bazaars as it created difficulties for the general public and relocated in camps outside Delhi gate, their salaries were to be restored and promises of jagirs were made to them in return of their services to the army. He further informs that the Generals men had also killed three spies working for the British [M.Baqar Ali, father of Muhammad Husain Azad, the famous Urdu writer, too, had complained in his first report that, he is followed by the spies of Bakht Khan wherever he goes,[12]

The Metcalfes Munshi tells his masters that General Bakht Khan was soft spoken to his men but also remained firm that, they should not cross their line of duty even in the smallest measure. Impressive army parades were conducted by him from Delhi Gate to Ajmeri Gate. Many important petitions from various kings, Nawabs, Rajas, and officials of courts, were forwarded to the King and replies were received through the office of Governor General Bakht Khan; chief among them were, Qudratulla Khan, Risaldar of Awadh, Khan Bahdur Khan, Rao Tula Ram. A ruqqah was also addressed to the Patiala Rajah, conveying pardon of the King for his faults, many other such instances of accessing the King through the General can be found in different accounts of history. [13] Here he was playing the role of a keen diplomat. His honest and sincere attempts at running the administrative affairs efficiently at court and his diplomacy with the men of importance are discernible from these accounts. The steps he took to restore a sense of sanity in those insane times are evidently commendable but somehow go unnoticed by his critics.

Bakht Khan as a military strategist:

The General was a shrewd military strategist. What he achieved at the battle field of Delhi becomes more significant considering the dire circumstances he worked in. He had little support from his own army factions and was constantly attacked and maligned by some hostile elements from within. His strategies on the battle field, his trying to sabotage the passages that took supplies to their camp, invention of rota system and his playing the mind games with the enemy, all are indeed splendid. Richard Barter gives tribute to this great man thus: Thanks to the system organized by Bakht Khan..We were scarcely able to stand. [14] He was speaking, worn out at the battle ground along with his soldiers, thanks to the new Generals machinations. Their frustration grew to the extent that some of the British soldiers seeing no sign of relief wanted to kill themselves on purpose, and some even did.

Be it propelling a contingent to Alipore or setting up a new rota system intended to engage the British forces on a daily basis, and which meant leaving them no respite from the combat, General Bakht Khan always worked on new strategies to defeat his enemy. Soon after his arrival, on the ninth of July he made a massive attempt to destroy the British forces and one of his strategies was to clothe his men in British white uniforms. This took the opponents by surprise and a deep access was gained into their camp. Such regular expeditions by Bakht Khan frustrated the enemy to the extent that, they began losing all hope of capturing Delhi again. He succeeded as he knew the British tactics inside out .His long service to them had at last, paid off.



Mutineers or Freedom fighters?: Museum at Red Fort continues to insult our heroes by calling them mutineers.

But unfortunately the fact that Bakht Khans attempts had been gaining success went unreported, unrealized at Delhi court due to the absence of a parallel intelligence system like their adversary had. The British had knit an intricate network of spies throughout the city and at the Red Fort. Reports about every single move of the King, the parleys held at the court, the movements of the rebel forces and their strategies planned for the future attacks, reached the British ears without fail. Many prominent and respected people were on their payroll. But sad to say, no such system was in place, at the other end of the battle camp. W. Dalrymple observes sharply, The lack of intelligence reaching the city meant that no one among the rebels realized how successful Bakht Khans tactics were proving [15] They didnt know how fragile the British forces had become and what a tremendous pressure Bakht Khans tactics had put on them. Unfortunately this ignorance about his success was perceived to be his seeming failure and this set his detractors buzzing. Mirza Mughal had nursed a grudge since the General caused his removal from the military affairs. Bakht Khans undiplomatic ways too didnt help. He was ruthless enough to ask the princes to keep away from military and administrative affairs as he believed everyone knew that they were good for nothing fellows. It was but an ugly truth.

Bakht Khan informed the king that Prince Khizar and others were stashing away the taxes collected from the city traders and due to this salaries of the army could not be paid. Prince Khizar was asked to return the booty. The commoners were pleased with him while the Mughal princes vowed vengeance. Undoubtedly Bakht Khan was a man of the world but he was not at all, worldly. He frequently failed to decipher his detractors nasty plans and eventually became a victim to their malice.

The Neemuch brigade-his force- was well-known for its valor; but the two of its generals Ghaus Khan and General Sidhari Singh [supporter of Mirza Mughal] parted ways, from Bakht Khan, as they couldnt digest the fact that, an officer of the similar rank as theirs should get so much importance from the King. During the battles he was left alone to fend for himself. A most ridiculous charge of his being a British spy also came along. All this put him under great pressure and he had to issue a statement denying all these charges. Whether it was failure to capture the army bastions at Alipur, Manali Bridges and the Ridge and almost all the failures were wrongly attributed to the General. Zafar too now was infected with doubt and the devious designs of his foes resulted in Bakht Khans removal as Governor General by the end of July. A Court of Administration was established to run the affairs of the Mughal Darbar. The General and his Bareilly brigade kept their distance from it but their assaults grew weaker and the tremendous pressure that he was able to put on the British began to diminish. Dalrymple remarks, the end of Bakht Khans military system brought instant relief to the British on the ridge. [16]. It is indeed saddening that such lowly games of selfishness and rivalry did the good General in and ultimately caused the struggle for freedom, a catastrophic damage, giving a boost to the enemy. Richard Barter joyously announced that, And so, when we were scarcely able to stand, the attacks ceased, as if by a dispensation of Providence, and gave our force the repose they so much needed.[17]. The one man who possessed the potential for defeating the enemy was thus, rendered impotent.

As no intelligence about the success of the good Generals methods reached the court and Delhites, it led to huge misgivings about his military forays. Resentments, against this good soldier soon began to build up. As mentioned earlier, he was accused of being a British stooge himself. His own colleague from the Neemuch Brigade Sidhari Singh accused him thus. Other former co-workers too were not far behind. Gauri Shankar [who was himself a British spy] and Talyar Khan, on 20th August, arranged for a Sikh to proclaim that Bakht Khan provides all information about the court happenings to the enemy. But the truth was found out and the witness was rejected for his false claims. The General himself issued a public statement denying this in the presence of Mirza Mughal and other army generals.

The ever eternal quintessential factors of jealousy envy and contempt did this great warrior in. Quite perceptibly his disenchantment began to grow. He became more cautious but continued to be at the forefront of the war and the biggest headache for the British. He marched towards Najaf Garh separate from the Neemuch brigade as his own soldiers refused to take orders from him (and resultantly was smashed by their rivals). Like before, the General was unjustly blamed for this fiasco, as well. Nevertheless Bakht Khan still remained defiant. He was unrelenting and rejected Zafars suggestion of opening the gates of Delhi, if the British could not be defeated. He elaborated on some new strategies and it was quickly reported by the spies present at the court to the Gora Sahibs. Needless to add this rendered his plans useless. His failures thus began mounting up. Yet he succeeded in defeating the opponents at the Delhi Gate even in those final hours, and kept a strong vigil at the Ajmeri Gate till the last moments of the war.

Despite his failures, more due to the non co-operation of his team than his own faults, what he did achieve was the delay in recapturing of Delhi by the British, as long as he could. The erstwhile Dilli would have been rounded up, quite early in the day, had it not been for the efforts of General Bakht Khan Rohilla.



Memorial for British soldiers at Delhi Ridge. No memorial for Indian soldiers though.

His military achievements despite the hostilities he faced were amazing; be it capturing three hundreds of British horses taking supplies to their masters, or one of his final determined attacks with his Bareilly and Neemuch troops, which forced the British to make a hasty retreat, from Hindu Raos house. Bakht Khans advance up to the house of Hindu Rao was no mean achievement; it threatened to cut off the British troops from their camp.[18] Had he been supported efficiently by his own people at the time, his success rate would have been much higher. Miyan Muhommad Shafi , in his famous work, Pehli Jang-e-Azadi-Waaqeyaat wa Haqaayeq, blames this sorry state of affairs on the conspiracies hatched against Bakht Khan by the unfortunate and unreasonable Mughal Princes, who conspired against him, unaware of their approaching terrible end. He says, The courtiers created havoc each and every time and put blame on him for everything going wrong, without providing him with any kind of general support. All this and the corruption at the court and among the army rank and noncompliance of the troops, disheartened this most able of the fighters, Bakht Khan and after being relieved from his various significant positions , he got reduced to taking care of his own original regiments alone. This turn of events and colossal difference of opinions, among the different elements at the court, led eventually to the downfall of Delhi, the arrest of Zafar and slaughtering of his sons, not to mention hundreds and thousands of Delhites being butchered and displaced, forever.[19] But in the mayhem of 1857 mutiny what was more tragic perhaps, was the ruin of Shehar e Dilli and its uniquely rich Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb. It died forever.

It was but for Bakht Khans efforts that the rebel forces cold hold on for a longer period. It is an irony that they all blamed him; his enemies could be found easily on both sides of the divide. When the scene grew bleaker and the British forces entered the city gates, he continued persuading Zafar to join him in the inevitable retreat as the area outside Delhi was still under the rebel control and help could be at hand. The former Subedar in his last ditch attempt, insisted to Zafar, that, the name and status of Mughal King would surely bring victory to the Indians. Never say die spirit of Bakht Khan is here for all of us to see. The fragile eighty year old King Zafar, last descendant of the Timuri lineage had even agreed initially. But schemers like Hakeem Ahsanullah Khan, the court physician and Mirza Ilahi Bakhsh, father in law of Zafars deceased heir Mirza Fakhru, superseded the Khan one more time, eventually leading the last Timur to be a hapless royal British prisoner.

At this juncture, Bakht Khan speculated on the reasons of their defeat. He explicated that, their choosing of Delhi as their bastion of the battle was erroneous from the day one. He also faulted the princes and especially Mirza Mughal whos imprudent handling of the affairs at the battle field did greater damage to the cause. This Prince was the one who possessed no experience of any war and had taken up the cudgels only for bragging about his bravery.[20]

Bakht Khans administrative skills added to his superb military zeal had proved to be a deadly combination for the enemy. Alas, his spirit was broken by his own men and he had to retreat and disappeared. There are different theories about his departure. It is said he went to Awadh and fought against the British, one more time. A few others opine that he was killed in a battle and a few more say he escaped to Nepal, never to be seen again. This last version seems more authentic.

The Hindu-Muslim equation of the time and Bakht Khans role in it:

In his legendary fight at Delhi of 1857, Bakht Khans zealous efforts at maintaining Hindu-Muslim unity are outstanding. More so as he is accused of being a Wahabi; this becomes doubly significant.

A general peace had always prevailed among the Hindus and Muslims of Delhi. Turmoil seemed to brew when Hindu sepoys killed five butchers for slaughtering some cows. The fear of inter-communal clashes strengthened the already existing general disillusionment among the Delhi masses [especially among the Ashraaf or high class people] about the rebellion and the uncouth rebels, popularly called, Purabiya or Tilanga. The British were sitting with their fingers crossed, hoping for a bloody game to begin on the day of approaching Baqrid. They expected violence, as Muslims would slaughter the cow which would anger Hindus as it is deemed holy in their religion. But to the disappointment of the British, Bahadur Shah Zafar himself assured a group of Hindu generals about his intention of banning the practice of sacrificing a cow, with immediate effect. Bakht Khan through his order of 30th July saw to it that this order was strictly implemented. He thundered that whoever was found guilty of slaughtering cow, ox, or buffalo, would be considered an enemy of the state and of the king respectively, and would be punished with death![21]

He didnt stop at that. He sent out a written proclamation to Delhis Kotwal on 31st July and 2nd of August 1857 to the effect that, every morning and evening, it should be announced to the people that this order against cow slaughter should be strictly followed, and anyone found guilty would be severely punished. He also saw to it that an alleged fanatic Moulvi Muhammad Sayyed found enticing people for jihad was reined in. The restraining of the fanatic elements and banning cow slaughter were big steps towards restoring communal peace and harmony, at the time and proved a great boost to restoring trust. Hindu Muslim enmity had to be avoided at any cost, so as not to allow the enemy to make a profit out of it. Bakht Khan made it the central point of his fight and this is admirable.

However the Good General is also blamed for drawing together Delhi ulemas [supposedly against the wishes of King Zafar ]and making them sign a fatwa to urge the Muslims to fight against the British, taking it to be their religious duty. But it must be noted that, it was a call for a mutual struggle, for the honor of the motherland. Barun De makes a valid point, when he articulates, All listened to the call of dharma or deen. In this sense, Christianity was the symbol of intrusive colonialism, seen as a bourgeois crusade for market globalization, much as it is being seen by neoconservatives today [22) This was something quite remarkable about the 1857 revolution. We can call it a golden period of proverbial Hindu-Muslim harmony.

1857, Ghadar

Here in lies an amazing story of the people, fighting an enemy hundred times stronger than them. These people were the poor, the workers, the weavers, the peasants; all joined hands together to resist the injustice they were subjected to, since last hundred years or so. More admirable is the fact that, despite huge caste disparities, clan conflicts, geo-ethnic varieties and most of all those bona fide religious differences, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs became united for the cause of India/Hindostan. Esteemed historian Irfan Habib finds this assimilation exceptional. The astonishing fact, he says is that, on many occasions largely Hindu contingents elected Muslim officers and, similarly, contingents with a largely Muslim composition chose Hindus as their officers. The fact that this was not anywhere done consciously makes it a particularly notable example of inter-religious solidarity among the Bengal Army sepoys. [23]

This message of unity in diversity is indeed the most outstanding lesson; we get to learn from 1857 uprising. The little armies from all over India grouping in Delhi to fight under the leadership of a Muslim King, is a grand testimonial in itself. This Muslim King had been a titular figurehead of the erstwhile India, for quite some time, but still thought to be a figure of authority. It was a matter of belief, of faith, for the Indians. They still believed or wished to believe in Bhadur Shah Zafar being Baadshah-e-Hindostan.

At the risk of digression, allow me to drift and explore this phenomenon a bit more. It was a fact that all army contingents, from all over the erstwhile British Raj territories, moved towards Delhi and gathered at the Lal Qilaa to win blessings from a Muslim king. Today this may seem beyond belief but back then, in 1857; it came most naturally to the Indians of the time. William Dalrymple astutely remarks that, The rip in the closely woven fabric of Delhis composite culture, opened in 1857, slowly widened into a great gash, and at Partition in 1947 finally broke into two. As the Indian Muslim elite emigrated en masse to Pakistan, the time would soon come when it would be almost impossible to imagine that Hindu sepoys could ever have rallied to the Red Fort and the standard of a Muslim emperor, joining with their Muslim brothers in an attempt to revive the Mughal Empire. [24]

It was due to the unmistakable aura that surrounded the Mughal Empire. Bahadur Shah Zafar possessed that unique trait of being a Benevolent Baadshaah who alone had the power of rendering a sense of strong unity among the varied regions and natives of India.

Now coming back to our General, he proved to be a perfect foil to Bahadur Shah Zafar. H.L.O.Garret, keeper of the records of the government of Punjab, in his 1933 account of the rebellion enlightens us that Bahadur Shah Zafar was only a nominal ruler of a dying Delhi; he duly informs, The actual military operations were directed by Bakht Khan, on whom a royal decree conferred the title of Commander-in Chief. [25] C.T. Metcalfe notes that despite Bakht Khans removal from his post at the Delhi Durbar, King Zafar trusted him all along and used to urge him to put up a brave fight as before.[26] Bakht Khans endeavors in executing the commands of his king at putting up a unified front against the colonizers, is something fascinating. But strangely enough we do not find many mentions to him in our history books.

The year 1857 strikes a resonance in our hearts even after one hundred and fifty five years. We identify with this first war of independence. The Mughal authority had eroded long before this date; but many critics say, what died in 1857 was hope; hope for freedom, for unity. After 1857, India could never be the same again. The unique aura of Mughal Mystique died too in September of 1857. This aura symbolized a most beautiful land, varied and various in so many ways yet presenting an amalgamation so unique so endearingly rich that the world still fails to offer another such prototype. Bahadur Shah Zafar was an unwilling and hesitant hero standing at complete disparity with the General. The General believed in action. It is this action that makes General Bakht Khan Rohilla a True Hero and those among us who wish to dismiss him as just a sundry character, for them let me quote T.S.Eliot here,

They know and do not know, what it is to act or suffer,

They know and do not know, that action is suffering,

And suffering is action.

It is action, our striving for it and the resultant suffering that teaches us the ways of surviving/winning life. It is our action, our Karma that makes our destiny.

In this regard Bakht Khan became a winner of the war, despite losing the battle.



Asma Anjum Khan is Assistant Professor of English in Maharashtra

Bibliography:

1-Lal Purdah- the Red colored curtain at the doorway to the Mughal kings private chambers.

2-Memoirs of Hakeem Ahsanullah Khan-p.8

From:The Last Mughal- William Dalrymple, 284

3-Bourchier, Eight Months,44n],from: The Last Mughal, William Dalrymple,285

4-Ibid-286

5-ibid-285

6-Inquilab 1857, P.C.Joshi, Urdu Translation, pub: Taraqqi Urdu Taraqqi Urdu Bureau ,secondedition1983,105[References]

7-Irfan Habib, History from Below- Frontline, issue dated, June 29,2007,pg.16

8-Baun De ,Frontline issue dated ,June 29,2007,Pg 9 (Scholars Iqbal Husain and Rajat Kanta Roy too endorse his views.)

9-Bourchier-Eight Months,44,[quoted in Last Mughal,285]

10- H.L.O. Garret, The Trial of Bahdur Shah Zafar,King by Committee,8[ quoted in Gimlettes post script to the Indian Mutiny]

11Metcalfe,Two Native Narratives, Narrative of Munshi Jeevan Lal

12-William.Dalrymple,The Last Mughal,302

13-H.L.O.Garret, The Trial of Bhadur Shah Zafar, The Physicians Testimony ,[Hakeem Ahsanullah Khan was the royal physician]

14-Barter Richard, The Siege of Delhi,36, The Last Mughal.

15-William Dalrymple-The Last Mughal,292

16-Ibid,294

17- Barter Richard, The Siege of Delhi ,[from:William.Dalrymple, The Last Mughal, 294]

18-William Dalrymple, The Last Mughal,357

19-Miyan Muhommad Shafi,Pehli Jang e Azadi Waqyaat wa Haqaayeq,Urdu,288-89, edition,2007

20- Ameer Ahmad Alavi,Bahadur Shah Zafar,[Urdu]Lucknow, 1955,138-9,[ through [P.C.Joshi, Inquilab 1857-112-114,Urdu , ed.1983,Taraqqi Urdu Bureau ]

21-Press List of Mutiny Papers, no.120/143, 7 Zilhaj,21-RY,29 July 1857

and

Press List of Mutiny Papers, no.111,[c] 332,8 Zilhajj 21 RY,30 July,Spear,pg.207 [from Iqbal Husain]

22-Barun De, The Call of 1857,Frontline ,issue dated, June 29,2007,pg.8-9

23-Irfan Habib, History from below ,Frontline issue dated June 29,2007,pg.14

24-William Dalrymple, The Last Mughal, 484

25-H.L.O.Garret, the Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar, King by Committee, 7

26-C.T.Metcalfe, Two Native Narratives of the Mutiny in Delhi,[1974] 213

The following books helped too in making of this essay:

1-1857 ke chashm e deed Halaat[Almaroof Daastaan e Ghadar]-Syed Zaheeruddin Dehalvi.ed:2006

2-The Other Side of Medal by Edward Thompson, translated by Shaikh Hassamuddin, first edition,1982,Urdu Academy New Delhi Publication

3-Bakht Khan [Marathi]by Iqbal Husain,2008, National Book Trust ,edition 2010]
Help India!

Patna: A day after Bihars ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) suspended its legislator for allegedly misbehaving with a couple on a running train, the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested him on Sunday, police said.

JD-U legislator Sarfaraj Alam was arrested at the GRP station here after he was questioned, a GRP official said.

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Officials said the charges against Sarfaraj were found to be true.

The JD-U on Saturday suspended Sarfaraj, saying his conduct brought a bad name to the party.

Top party leadership, including JD-U president Sharad Yadav and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, met here and decided to suspend Sarfaraj for his behaviour and bad conduct. The incident has given a bad name to the party, state JD-U president Vashishtha Narain Singh told the media here.

Alam allegedly misbehaved with the couple aboard the Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad also favoured action against Alam. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is part of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar.

Inderpal Singh Bedi and his wife, in an FIR registered at Patna railway station, complained that Alam, his bodyguard and an aide misbehaved with them on the train, an official said, adding they passed vulgar comments about the couple who boarded the train from Delhi.

Patna Railways Superintendent of Police P.N. Mishra said a four-member team sent from Patna to register a formal complaint returned from Delhi after recording the statement of the couple and other witnesses.

Mishra said Alam was summoned to appear before the investigation official and present his stand on Saturday, following which the complaint against him was prima facie found to be correct.

Alam, son of former union minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, is the JD-U legislator from Jokihat in Araria district of Bihar.


Minnesota GreenStep Cities is a voluntary challenge, assistance and recognition program to help cities achieve their sustainability and quality-of-life goals. This free continuous improvement program, managed by a public-private partnership, is based upon 29 best practices. Each best practice can be implemented by completing one or more actions at a 1, 2 or 3-star level, from a list of four to eight actions. These actions are tailored to all Minnesota cities, focus on cost savings and energy use reduction, and encourage civic innovation.

Came across this website, which provides support for the sustainability efforts of local governments across the State of Minnesota.-- Minnesota GreenStep Cities From the homepage:The website is focused on cities/government agencies as the prime actors. The 29 best practices are organized according to five categories:-- Buildings & Lighting-- Land Use-- Transportation-- Environmental Management-- Economic and Community DevelopmentThe participating cities are organized into three tranches, based on the level of sustainability achieved.

Labels: energy, green-environment-urban, sanitation and solid waste, sustainable land use and resource planning




Have you done your number one Bucket List of all time? Me? Check!



I've always dreamed of flying. For sure everyone shares the same childhood dream. I literally have dreams about it but in the midst of taking off, I can't seem to find my wings. It always ends up with me falling and deeper into the pit of nothingness. But this time around I'll make sure I'm wide awake and flying. Let's go!





Let me just share something before going through my skydive experience. It took me a while to update my Blogspot for a valid, confusing reason, let just say I lose the momentum of writing and sharing my experiences. How it happened and what contributed to that feeling is still unknown to me. The last trip I had was in Korea, all the details about that travel were left unattended on my laptop. Mind you my solo trip for 5 days in Korea was terrific while the succeeding 5 amazing days were spent hanging along with my sister. Right after that, I flew to the Philippines. The adventure didn't stop here, even though I planned the whole vacation to be just about relaxation, I went chasing waterfalls, booked a suite room in a lovely resort, and of course went sky diving. After all the exciting things I did the feeling of not wanting to write a single word overpowered me. It took some time for me to start writing again, it may sound so lame but I'm taking baby steps now, more importantly, is that I'm writing again. Moreover, jumping off the plane kinda restarted my whole internal wanderlust system. Thank goodness for that. Hopefully, I don't need to do that again or else I'll be living in a cave soon, maybe next year will be fine (evil laugh). So here I am sitting at a thousand feet up in the air, as I reminisced my skydive experience on that bright, sunny day in Bantayan Island.





The skydive in Bantayan Island started in 2014. The skydive instructor and owner is Brad Vancina, a certified USPA ( United States Parachute Association) Tandem Instructor. It gained its popularity mainly through its Facebook page. My brother and cousin informed me about the good news the moment they knew about it. I haven't really planned to execute my ultimate bucket list this year yet I've thought about it, like all the time. However, never in my wildest dream have I thought that it could happen in the Philippines. My visions were in other countries like maybe in the United States, Australia, or even Dubai. I'm glad it was in my country it clearly shows that it's more fun in the Philippines. I started my research through the website and read a few reviews of successful dives in their Facebook account. The span of time I needed to convince myself to go sky diving didn't last a minute. Most especially when they advertise this year's first batch of skydivers will be given a discount. In split seconds I was typing like a mad person, now I know how hacking feels like or maybe closer to it. Slots were filling out fast so after persuading a friend to join my crazy quest for adrenaline rush we booked for our date. We got their first day of operation as our mark, where I believe things can still go wrong yet where all the equipment is perfectly checked.





How to get there:



From the Mactan-Cebu International Airport: You can take a cab to go to the North bus terminal. The estimated fare is 250-350 PHP, depending on traffic. Or you can take it straight to Hagnaya port, but we try for the cheapest travel method, which is by bus.



Alternatively, if you're familiar with Uber and/or Lyft, then you can download and use the mobile app, Grab, to book your transportation.



From the North bus terminal: take the Ceres Bus or the "V-Hire" (van for hire)





Bus Fare/ V-hire : less than 200 PHP Bus Route/ V-Hire Route: from Cebu to Hagnaya Port

Drop off: Hagnaya Port, San Remigio, Cebu Travel time (bus/private car): 3-5 hours



Prices may have changed.



From Hagnaya Port: Take Super Shuttle Ferry or Island Shipping



Boat Fare: less than 200 PHP, T erminal fee: less than 20 PHP

Boat Route: Hagnaya Port to Sante Fe Port



From Sante Fe Port, Bantayan Island:

Head to the Tourism office by following the covered walk.

Ecological Fee: less than 40 PHP



Lastly, You can take the tricycle to your resort, Tricycle Fare: less than 30 PHP or you can simply pre-arrange a resort pick up from the Port.





Tips

- Power outlets: are commonly type A, with standard voltage 220 V and frequency 60 Hz. Be sure to bring a universal plug adapter!

- Money matters: We recommend getting your currency exchanged via Western Union (WU) since you'll get a better rate than at the airport. You can send your travel budget to yourself and pick up the exchanged amount at the local WU.



Survival Terms

- CR is the term for the toilet

- Salamat means "thank you"







We arrived on the island past 9:30 am, we were then greeted by habal-habal/ motorcycle drivers and tricycle drivers asking our itinerary for the day. A few of them offered packages for island hopping, with a kind smile waved off the offer. We asked one tricycle driver for Kota Beach and Ogtong Cave Resorts location and details. He recommended for Ogtong Cave Resort, we agreed with it besides we need a safe place for our things during our swim. The resort offers a white sand beach, a swimming pool, and a dip inside Ogtong Cave. Our scheduled skydive was still around 2 in the afternoon, so we got plenty of time to spend on the beach before they picked us to go to the drop zone. Keep the skydiving staff informed of your arranged location and time for convenience.





My friend and I really didn't talk about the skydive for the time being inside the resort. Another friend of mine who came along for moral support, at the same to see the beautiful island of Bantayan. As the clock strikes closer to our scheduled time the agitation was more visible. Telling ridiculous jokes was the only way to keep our minds tame from the excitement. The pick-up time was pushed through an hour which made the waiting more agonizing. When a small blue vehicle van stopped in front of us with the Skydive Cebu sign pasted on its side we momentarily jumped for joy. I tried to clear my mind to keep my composure but the moment we arrived at the airport, I was laughing like a lunatic and that's due to my excitement. A brief orientation about the equipment, body positions and questions were entertained for clarification. I don't need to explain further that you'll learn everything you need to know in that orientation. Our skydivers were father and son, Brad Vancina and Cody Vancina. We signed up for a Tandem Skydive, where we will be harnessed to a Tandem Instructor as we jump off the plane, free fall and land together on the drop zone.







I was paired with Brad while my friend got to skydive with Cody. They were informative, professional and I strongly believe one of the coolest people on the planet. I really want what they're doing maybe next year I'm going for a skydiving course, let's see how that plan goes- laughing like Goofy, his a close friend of Mickey Mouse for those who are not familiar with him. Moreover, having a conversation with Brad was easy, he was funny, down to earth, and such an outgoing guy. The moment you see him and have a little chit chat with him gives you the security you needed for the skydive, I don't know for others but it was all good for me.



The pieces of equipment were then tied to us: the weight was bearable, it was a bit loose to provide comfort and movement and we looked like real skydivers. The smile on my face was all over the place, I guess that's because it's one of the most exciting and amazing days of my life. I've already felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins before we've even boarded the plane. However, I have this calm feeling, like a silent rush and stillness inside of me when I'm in the air. I've felt the same stillness when I went paragliding last year.







The plane descends up in the sky until we reached 10,000 feet which took maybe around 20 minutes. Brad then signaled that we're good to go. My heart was racing, the stillness I'm talking about was not there anymore, as the excitement grew stronger and I had to scream my lungs out to let it out. The moment we jump was very liberating, I'm astonished how Brad does it without having the urge to scream. He had made plenty of jumps throughout his life, maybe his vocal cords are already tired of doing the same thing with every jump, and now it's calm like a falling leaf. I can't really recall what happened next after jumping off from the plane, I remember the strong gush of the wind, the sky was clear blue, a few glimpses of white puff clouds, and some faint sound of my scream.



Then suddenly in split seconds, Brad was tapping my shoulder to signal that I can let go and just spread my arms for our free fall. Free Falling a thousand feet up in the air is mind-blowing, the only thing you can do up there is to scream and scream. One more thing just let it out, scream at the top of your lungs because if you don't scream you'll find it hard to breathe. After a few more seconds, Brad pulled out the parachute as we drift through with the wind, we had a brief conversation about how cool his job and he then showed me the borders of Bantayan Island and pointed beside it the small island of Malapascua.







We had the most perfect day for a skydive experience, the sky was crystal blue with a few clouds scattered around and below us, the sea had all the lovely colors at different contrast and hues of blue, indigo, and green. What made it more exciting was when Brad allowed me to maneuver the parachute, his hands were still there of course, and the feeling of holding on to it and the power that you can change to course of direction with a little pull from here and there made me feel empowered. I have a feeling that I can do it and I can be a skydiver just like him, I'm laughing like a lunatic right now - sometimes I tend to daydream even in my blog post. Anyways, w e landed perfectly back in the airport, I gave Brad a bear hug to thank him for such a wonderful experience.



I sat back in the chair inside their office while waiting for the videos and pictures mesmerized, feeling nostalgic about the childhood dream coming true at last. I actually celebrated my birthday(wohooo!) a few days before my skydive, I can definitely say this is the ultimate and grandest birthday gift I've ever rewarded myself with and I feel really blessed. In addition to that my family too gave me a surprise flight too, a midnight birthday call wherein they woke me up and sang me my birthday song, something they've never done before. I feel so grateful, the start of this year is totally tickling my soul. Anyways, getting back to the skydiving experience. Some people may find this crazy and dangerous but for us adrenaline junkies and other brave souls out there this is the ultimate Bucket List. I share with you my experience, hopefully, you will have that same butterflies in the stomach as much I did, millions of it add in some fireflies, dragonflies and even cockroaches which hunted me for days. Then release that fella's when you get out of the plane. Wow! what a great idea for my painting session next time, I might consider that thought for my new artwork.







Here are a few things you should know before signing up for your Tandem Skydive Experience:

1. You must be 18 years of age or older ( valid photo ID/drivers license or passport),

2. Weight limit of 250 lbs .

3. Be Physically Fit. For any special medical concerns, please contact your doctor.

4. Tandem Skydive Fee: 18,000 PHP - 20,000 PHP. I had a discounted rate for being one of the first batches to skydive this year. Weehoo!





For a hassle-free trip, the skydive team provides transportation from Mactan International Airport all the way to Bantayan Island. For 1-3 person = 2000 Php (Vios Taxi) one way excluding ferry fare. For 4-10 persons = 4000 Php (Toyota Hi-Ace Van) one way excluding ferry fare.





For High-Class Passenger you can take the Private Airplane. Flight time is 45 minutes. It will be in the General Aviation Area (opposite side of the Mactan Airport Terminal), Lapu-Lapu City. For 1-3 persons = 15,000 Php (Cessna 172) and For 4-5 persons = 25,000 Php (Cessna 206).





Rates may vary and subject to change please contact Skydive Cebu for more information.





Before the skydive, we were advised to w ear rubber shoes, keep the shoelaces tight as you don't want to land with only one shoe left. Preferably comfortable clothes or Long breathable long sleeves as the temperature gets really cold up there. Brad kept me warm by blocking the air with his leg. Lastly, don't ever forget to b ring at least 4 gigabytes of the flash drive for your pictures and videos.





Skydiving was and will always be my number one bucket list of all time. Experience the fun and Conquer your Fear!





For more details:

Address: Santa Fe Airport, Bantayan Island, Cebu, Philippines

Phone: +63 923 875 1689 (Look for Boyd)

Email: skydive_cebu@yahoo.com
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Claiming that there is "hardly any mystery" about the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen today said instead of getting excited by "speculations", focus should be on his message of secularism and democracy.

Sen said, "right now in the country, there is a sense of division which has often been cultivated along communal lines so much so that the word secularism is often used as a bad word... We are waiting for the day when democracy and liberty would be used as a bad word too."



"We are looking for a word to describe the harmony between different communities teaching them not just tolerance but respect and giving them the kind of liberty and freedom that they need... All Indians and all humans need," Sen said.

"And I think if there are forces against that,....... They have to go through Subhas Chandra Bose's writings," Sen said.

The Nobel laureate said that after Independence, successive governments had failed to pursue the demand of equity and justice and the present government had also failed in that.

"I don't think since Independence, India has pursued the demand of equity and justice and the present government is doing even less. And I think we are in a situation where the inspiring vision of Subhas Chandra Bose is very needed in all spheres of life," he added.

Sen said, "it'll be hard to think that he is alive. I don't see much mystery about it (death of Netaji). If there is any mystery, it would be nice to know it (through the releasing of the files). But I do not think it would have any profound influence on Netaji's vision," Sen said while speaking at Bose's 119th birth anniversary celebrations at the Netaji Bhawan here.

"You have to concentrate on the big thing and not get excited on the wrong thing (speculations whether Netaji was dead or alive).. And not concentrating on the peculiar circumstances of his death, ignoring his message of unity, secularism, democracy will be a big mistake," Sen said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made public digital copies of 100 secret files relating to Bose, which could throw some light on the controversy over his death.

Describing Netaji as a pragmatic and radical leader, who was not only seeking Independence from the British but also had a vision to change society, Sen said it was "unfortunately not realised".

"The relevance of his ideas remain extraordinary today and does apply to justice, to equity. He was not seeking just Independence of India. On the other hand, what we are doing here is to construct a society where there are inequities which Netaji was the first to see, analyse, investigate, condemn and want to change... So that vision remains unrealised unfortunately," Sen said.
France will help India develop Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry as smart cities. Agence Francaise de Developpement (French Development Agency) signed memoranda of understanding with the government of Union territory of Chandigarh, and government of Union territory of Puducherry and the Maharashtra government here on Sunday in the presence of French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chandigarh, designed by the French architect Le Corbusier half a century ago as a model city, is spread across 114 sq km and the urban infrastructure and green belt of the city provide it a distinguished status among India's planned cities.

On January 26, Modi is set to announce the official list of 20 smart cities to be developed in the first phase.

A delegation of 26 CEOs from France travelled to Chandigarh with Hollande and had discussions on CEO forums to explore partnerships in renewable energy, defence, information technology and aerospace.

Modi said French companies can exploit India's trained and affordable manpower to expand their manufacturing operations in the country. The French president committed annual investment to the tune of 1 billion to strengthen business relations with India.

An agreement between Airbus and Mahindra was also inked under Indo-French cooperation to manufacture helicopters within the Make in India initiative.

French companies will also collaborate with public sector firm Engineering Projects India to provide integrated railways solutions. The railway stations of Ambala and Ludhiana will also be redeveloped with French partnership.

The French delegation evinced interest in the areas of renewable energy, infrastructure, transport, defence, and water treatment.
Nine months after the new foreign trade policy (FTP) was introduced, garment exporters have called for changing key operational mechanisms in the export process.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has asked the textiles ministry to simplify the policys authorisation, inspection and classification norms.

Among their requests is to withdraw the need for a landing certificate for exported goods, required as proof to claim benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). Introduced in April 2015, the scheme aims to boost sagging exports, covering tariff lines for 5,012 items that earn duty credits.

Exporters have said getting the documents to show proof of landing at the destination country entails cost and delay. AEPC says electronic shipping bills should be sufficient for declaration of intent. While filing the said bills, exporters are required to declare they are claiming rewards under MEIS and to mark Y in the reward item box. Recently, many had complained of inefficient Customs house agents inadvertently ticking N. Thus, though the item in many cases was eligible, once an N had been ticked, such shipping bills were not transmitted to the online system run by the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT).

To help exporters claim MEIS benefits in such cases, DGFT has allowed them to give physical copies of the shipping bills after filing an MEIS application to its regional authorities. However, this relaxation is restricted to exports made in April and May in 2015. An extension on this has been demanded.

Though the country's cumulative export in apparel was about $12.1 billion for the current financial year till December 2015, the industry has been spooked by Vietnam securing zero-duty access to the European Union market from 2017. Vietnam has already ousted India as the worlds third largest garment exporter. Indian products face restrictions such as a 9.6 per cent import duty, as an India-EU broad-based trade and investment agreement (BTIA) has yet to be finalised.

Also worrying is that the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement allows export opportunities by Vietnam to the US with 17-30 per cent export duty relief. The US has accounted for 22-30 per cent of Indias garment exports in recent years. Indian exporters have to pay duty in the range of 14-32 per cent.

Analysts have warned some Indian companies might shift base to Vietnam, as they did some years ago to Bangladesh to grab a duty advantage in export and in lower labour cost.

AEPC Chairman Ashok G Rajani has called for a stimulus from the government, saying the garment export industry has the potential to generate 2,200 jobs on every investment of Rs 30 crore.

To facilitate easier transportation and to avoid corruption, the government has been requested to learn from long-term rival Bangladesh, allowing vehicles carrying finished export merchandise and headed towards exit points like sea ports, airports and rail heads to display On Export Duty signage. So, too, for vehicles carrying input material for production of export merchandise, with a signage of On Export Processing Duty.

Calls for proper identification and classification of goods have also been requested, from the current challan system followed by the government.

To boost competitiveness, AEPC also wants the norms for advance authorisation for annual requirement be relaxed. Required for all duty exemption schemes, it has asked the authorisation be allowed for garment exporters only based on past performance.
Were on our own: Flood levee divides Victorian town Residents on the wrong side of Echuca's "great wall" have voiced their frustrations about being left "on our own" as the Victorian town braces for rising flood levels.

Palaszczuk responds to review into Australias COVID-19 response Speaking at the Housing Summit in Brisbane on Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk was asked to weigh in on the independent review into Australias COVID-19 response.

Went too far: Dutton takes aim at Andrews in response to damning COVID-19 report The Opposition Leader has defended the former government's actions in Australia's coronavirus pandemic response while taking aim at Victoria for its lockdowns, which led to Melbourne being the longest locked down city in the world.

Fossil fuel opponents want Indigenous woman with mining links taken off festival board Activists want the NT Minerals Council chief executive kicked off the board of the Darwin Festival because she previously worked for gas company Santos.
Happiness Books

I'm on a mini new year's knowledge quest for happiness. I first read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, which was very earnest. What I came away with is that happy is a verb. It's a frame of mind and action that you choose. You choose to act happy. Also you should try to be a good person and help people. It's been a couple weeks since I finished the book and these are the two points I remember.



Next I read The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. He is a NPR journalist who travels to The Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova, Thailand, Great Britan, India, and back home to America to learn about how people in these different places think about happiness. This was a much more enjoyable read. According to him, we need trust, gratitude, social connection, and nature to feel content. We shouldn't think too much about being happy, because doing so makes it hard to be happy. Flow is good. Having a culture is good.



My next book is Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford. I'll post my thoughts about it.



I have decided to take more pictures. Real pictures, with a real camera. That was something I loved doing in high school and I still find very satisfying. Last weekend I went to a bellydance hafla and took pictures of the dancers and then shared them with them on their facebook group. I got good reactions- they liked seeing the pictures and it made me feel connected to the evening. One dancer made my shot her profile pic. I also felt generous sharing the pictures because when I perform I really like seeing the pictures afterward. I think taking pictures of things actually helps me be more present in the situation. However the key is using a real camera and not my phone. The phone removes me again and drives my thoughts to sharing crap on social media. This is not satisfactory. No throw away pictures.



I am also trying to organize my pictures into memories using Shutterfly. Another thing that can connect me to people. A few days ago I spent an hour with my dad labeling scanned pictures of his childhood on my Shutterfly page, which we then shared with his brother and cousin. My father is in poor health and I find that these pictures are the key to finally understanding his past. Less successfully, I compiled all the pictures I could find of my dance troupe's performances over the past three years and shared the albums with them. I got no feedback on that, but it was enjoyable for me.



I want to read real books this year and have given myself a goodreads challenge of 18 books this year.



So- I am using all sorts of social media to pursue my goals! And returning to this ancient blog to attempt to digest it all.
Nothing can be done contrary to what could or would be done in actual war.'

- From 'The Rules of the Naval War Game' by Fred T Jane
Scott Miller

CEDAR FALLS  Scott Miller is retiring from John Deere after 45-plus years of service with an open house from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, at the Waterloo Engine and Tractor Museum.

Scott joined the company in 1970 as a University of Illinois ag engineering co-op student at the John Deere Des Moines Works. After multiple assignments at Des Moines he was appointed manager, manufacturing engineering. In 1989, Scott relocated to Ottumwa Works where he was the operation manager.

In 1995, Scott transferred to Waterloo where he progressed through multiple key positions, including operations manager at first drivetrain operations and later at tractor and cab assembly operations. When the company transitioned to the global operation model in 2009, Scott was assigned director, manufacturing engineering shared services leader, global ag and turf division. His most recent assignment has been leading the U.S. Enterprise Facilities engineering services team.
Bloomberg eyeing White House bid

NEW YORK (AP)  Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking early steps toward launching an independent campaign for president, seeing a potential path to the White House amid the rise of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders.

Bloomberg has retained advisers and plans to conduct a poll after the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary to assess the state of the race and judge whether there is an opening for him to mount an independent campaign, according to three people familiar with his thinking.

He has set a March deadline to decide on whether to enter the race, to ensure his access to the ballot in all 50 states.

The billionaire media executive, who served three terms as mayor of New York, is said to be concerned by Trumps lasting hold on the Republican field and is worried about the impact of Sanders campaign on Hillary Clintons bid for the Democratic nomination.

Bloombergs efforts underscore the unsettled nature of the presidential race a little more than a week before the first round of primary voting.

Airstrikes kill 47 civilians in Syria

BEIRUT (TNS)  At least 47 civilians were killed Saturday in airstrikes targeting areas under the control of Islamic State in eastern Syria, a monitoring group said.

Jets, believed to be Russian, struck the area of Khsham on the eastern outskirts of the province of Deir al-Zour, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel- Rahman.

Those deaths bring to at least 91 the number of civilians killed since Friday in airstrikes in the province, according to the Britain-based observatory.

Rancher rips up grazing contract

BURNS, Ore. (AP)  A rancher from New Mexico renounced his U.S. Forest Service grazing contract at an event held by an armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge in Oregon to protest federal land use policies.

Adrian Sewell of Grant County, N.M., took the action at the event attended by about 120 people at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. A group led by Ammon Bundy began occupying the area in eastern Oregons high desert on Jan. 2.

Bundy has said the federal government has no authority to enforce federal grazing contracts with ranchers.

Bundy, who had previously met with local ranchers urging them to tear up their federal contracts, also said he wasnt disappointed Sewell was the only one to take him up on his idea.

Wisconsin boy, 5, dies in road attack

BELOIT, Wis. (AP)  A 5-year-old boy riding in the back seat of his fathers car in southern Wisconsin was killed after an SUV pulled up alongside them and someone opened fire.

Police were searching Saturday for the person responsible for the attack Friday night in Beloit, a city 65 miles southwest of Milwaukee along the Illinois border. The boy, who the Rock County medical examiners office identified Saturday as Austin Ramos Jr., was shot at least once in the abdomen and died at a hospital.

Interim Police Chief David Zibolski said the sport utility vehicle had been following the fathers car. He didnt know how long the SUV had pursued the car or if the father was the intended target, but added the father was cooperating with authorities.
One in a series of periodic stories this month looking at the upcoming Iowa caucuses.

DES MOINES  The crowded 2016 Republican presidential campaign in Iowa has become a rough-and-tumble political slugfest that would be the envy of any professional wrestling promoter.

Its crunch time in the state that launches the presidential nominating process Feb. 1. Steve Grubbs  a former lawmaker and state Republican Party leader who works for candidate Rand Paul  predicted Iowas stretch run will be a battle royal: All the combatants get tossed in the ring together until all but one is tossed out.

The race has broken into subplots of Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz at the front of the pack, Marco Rubio versus Chris Christie, Trump versus Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson versus Trump, Jeb Bush versus Rubio, Rubio versus Cruz, Paul versus Christie and, to a certain degree, the field versus Trump, with Bush taking the establishment lead in challenging the New York billionaires anger-driven insurgency.

The combative nature of the 2016 race was evident during the Jan. 15 debate in South Carolina. Cruz and Trump took swings at each other over citizenship and New York values. Cruz and Rubio tangled over immigration policy and Senate votes. Rubio and Christie clashed over being absent from their respective duties due to campaigning and who is the true conservative.

It is kind of the death match in the cage, throwing people over, said Council Bluffs Republican Brent Siegrist, a former Iowa House speaker who supports Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Thats an apt description  throwing people overboard. The question is who remains standing at the end?

Gone

The political landscape already is littered with GOP contestants who sparred for a time but failed to have staying power: former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Still in the race and competing in Iowa are:

Donald Trump, a New York businessman and entrepreneur.

Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas.

Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida.

Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon.

Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.

Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey.

John Kasich, governor of Ohio.

Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky.

Carly Fiorina, a businesswoman and former CEO.

Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.

Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor.

Gone are the days when GOP candidates lived by Ronald Reagans 11th commandment  thou shall not speak ill of any fellow Republican. Christie told a Marshalltown crowd recently he thought whoever wins the nomination will stand a better chance of unifying the party, if you havent been beating the bejesus out of everybody.

The days leading up to the departures of Perry and Jindal were marked by Jindal calling Trump a narcissist and egomaniac, while Perry warned the New York billionaire was a cancer on conservatism who threatens to destroy the GOP.

But Trump has succeeded in counterpunching his rivals and even bested Graham, who called him out publicly as a jackass, by reading the senators personal cellphone number on live TV.

Attack, unify

Trump and Cruz generally avoided confronting each other until they found themselves battling for the top spot in Iowa. The gloves came off during the South Carolina debate.

Its no surprise the elbows are getting pretty sharp right about now, said Tim Hagle, an associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa. It usually happens about this time, if not even earlier, in a campaign when people are starting to get into crunch time and some people arent doing as well as they want and still think that they have a chance. If it wasnt close you probably wouldnt be seeing the sharp elbows that were seeing now.

Some of those blows are being delivered by TV ads paid for by candidates or super PACs working in support of campaigns.

These attack ads are going to be part of life, Bush said at this months debate.

Everybody just needs to get used to it. Everybodys record is going to be scrutinized. And at the end of the day we need to unite behind the winner so we can defeat Hillary Clinton because she is a disaster, Bush said. Everybody needs to discount some of the things youre going to hear in these ads, and discount ... the back-and-forth here, because every person here is better than Hillary Clinton.

Strategies

Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University, said the GOP caucuses have become a two-person race between Trump and Cruz. The remaining order of finishers is up for grabs.

Everybodys jockeying to be better than expected, said Goldford. He qualified his statements with what he called the Santorum caveat  the possibility of an unexpected, late-charging surge such as the one that propelled the Pennsylvania senator to an upset caucus win in 2012.

David Redlawsk  a political science professor who directs Rutgers Universitys Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and has spent a number of months in Iowa  said Trumps meteoric rise is unprecedented. His celebrity status and mastery of traditional and social media has taken the oxygen away from everyone else.

But now that Trump sits atop the field, things are unfolding as political observers might expect.

Cruz can no longer sit back and let Trump be there without criticism, and Trump has clearly turned his sights on Cruz, Redlawsk noted. Also Bush has gone directly after Trump, in part because any association with Trump has a spillover attention benefit for a candidate who otherwise is struggling to get traction.

It would put him in the category of a presumably viable candidate if Trump is bothering to go after him, Redlawsk said.

The others

Goldford said Bushs lackluster performance in the campaign has been a little surprising, but on the other hand Republicans as well have Bush fatigue. He just never took off.

Huckabee and Santorum are trying to recreate past victories, while Iowa voters are looking for something new, Goldford noted.

He said Fiorina remains a long shot and Christie really hasnt shown in Iowa, partly due to a distrust among social conservatives of a Republican governor from a blue state like New Jersey.

Paul has touted his grass-roots effort has the support of more than 1,000 precinct captains  spread among nearly 1,700 precincts statewide  heading into the Feb. 1 caucuses. But, Goldford said, Paul is the wrong guy to show up in a time of national security and terrorism threats because the Republican brand is being tough and interventionist ... so that undercuts him.

Odd year

Siegrist called 2016 an odd year on the Republican side. The large number of candidates has made it difficult for Iowans to focus.

You look at Rubio, who is a Republican Barack Obama  not that much experience but a great speaker, very eloquent, a good guy, and hes getting some traction, Siegrist said. Cruz is just appealing to the red-meat crowd to a degree, but not much experience there either. And then you have the governors who have some experience, and they seem to be downgraded for having the experience.

The last rumble before Iowas caucuses comes when the GOP candidates debate in Des Moines on Thursday  a high-stakes encounter that potentially could move poll numbers, depending on how well or how poorly a candidate performs, he said.

Theres still a lot of volatility, Siegrist said.
REINBECK  Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee praised Iowans for ignoring the talking heads in New York, who have already decided the Iowa caucuses before the first vote has been cast.

And as the 2008 surprise winner in the Iowa caucuses, Huckabee also urged them to make up their own minds as they have in previous cycles.

I would love for you to just shove it up the nostrils of the national media on Feb. 1, Huckabee told a crowd of about 40 people at Jack & Arnies Steakhouse in Reinbeck on Saturday, earning amens from the audience. I like the independent, stubborn streak in Iowa farmers.

Huckabee knows better than most that 10 days before the caucus is plenty of time to make his case to Iowans, and he spent his town hall Saturday showing hes got his own independent and stubborn streak.

If there is any short cut, Ive never found it, Huckabee told The Courier after the event about winning over Iowans. Ive always believed that you dont win the caucus just by throwing a bunch of New York-raised money at TV and radio ads, that you have to go meet voters.

Its a strategy that has worked before, particularly in Grundy County, where Huckabee won all seven precincts eight years ago as part of his 2008 win.

Amanda Aswegan, an organizer in Grundy County for Huckabee now and in 2008, said shes hoping for a repeat again in 10 days.

Weve seen a lot of repeat support, but we certainly dont take it for granted, because there are a lot of candidates running this time, Aswegan said. Its a week out; this is when were starting to be serious about making a decision, so the timing of this event is great.

Huckabee is holding 150 events across the state in the final month before the caucus and has so far completed about 80 of them.

Huckabee contrasted himself with the other Republicans running, without naming them, in trying to make his final pitch to voters.

He said he is one of only about three contenders who are not getting their funding from Wall Street and blamed big money influences for why Republicans have seen so few changes even after electing members of their own party.

I think its time to say that big money in politics has really corrupted our system, Huckabee said. Folks, theres a bunch of politicians that have been bought and paid for by the same check writers.

In answering one of several questions on saving Social Security, Huckabee also criticized the United States senators running for the presidency who he said have neglected doing their jobs. He proposed, to applause, that elected officials should resign their current position before running for the next one.

Its getting out of hand, Huckabee said. People use their public paycheck so they can go campaign and ask for another job. If somebody wants to be a senator, theyve asked for a six-year job; on their sixth minute in office, they turn around and start running for president, I just dont think thats fair to the taxpayers who sent them.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul are all first-term senators who are running for the presidency.

Donna Cannon of Reinbeck said she likes Huckabee because of his experience and would like him to be, if not the president, the vice president. Cannon said some of the other younger candidates are brilliant but could use a mentor like Huckabee before theyre ready for the presidency.

Hes got the heart. Hes really got a good heart, Cannon said of Huckabee. We need somebody like that.
DECORAH  Emily Fazzinos bathtub will figure prominently in her husbands trial for first-degree murder, scheduled to begin next month in Winneshiek County.

Authorities allege Alexander Fazzino, 41, killed his wife four years ago in the couples home in Boone. Emily Fazzino died Jan. 29, 2012.

The 32-year-old woman was either the victim of an accidental drowning  as defense attorneys contend  or of asphyxiation caused by neck compressions and/or drowning  as prosecutors will attempt to prove.

Thomas Brady, a witness at a recent hearing, crystallized an all-important question in Emily Fazzinos death.

The issue is: How did she get under the water? Brady asked.

The trial will start Feb. 22 and may last up to three weeks.

Jurors will hear from investigators and other witnesses, analyze suggested scenarios and consider physical evidence, including photos of a bath caddy. Investigators found the wire basket, meant to hold soap, shampoo and bath items, across the tubs midsection.

Boone County Attorney Daniel Kolacia at a hearing Jan. 15 revealed the photos relevance concerning Emily Fazzino.

The big question is, if she fell, how did she get under the bath caddy? Kolacia asked.

Emily Fazzino is the daughter of Richard and Cynthia Beckwith. Richard Beckwith is board chairman of Fareway Stores, and his grandfather founded the grocery store chain. The company is based in Boone.

Because of widespread awareness of the case and the Beckwith family in Boone, Judge Michael Moon moved the trial to Decorah.

Fazzinos defense attorneys are William Kutmus and Trever Hook of Des Moines. Prosecutors are Kolacia and Scott Brown, an assistant Iowa attorney general.

The court initially set Fazzinos bond at $1.5 million. Moon later reduced the amount to $500,000, which Fazzino posted using a bail bond agent.

A conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole.

Jurors may also weigh competing expert testimony.

The state intends to call Andrea Zaferes of Shokan, N.Y., described in court documents as an aquatic death expert with particular knowledge about bodies found in bathtubs.

Zaferes worked with investigators and Boone County sheriffs deputy Andrew Godzicki, who constructed a replica of the Fazzinos bathroom. Zaferes then used the case agents  including Donald Schnitker with the Division of Criminal Investigation  police officers and one of their wives to re-enact events outlined by Fazzino in earlier statements.

(Zaferes) will testify that based on her experience with bodies found in water cases, Emily Fazzinos death is inconsistent with an accident or suicide and is consistent with a homicide, Brown wrote in court documents.

Authorities video recorded multiple trials simulating Alex Fazzino pulling Emily Fazzino out of the water.

At a hearing Jan. 15 in Story County, Kutmus called his own expert, Thomas Brady, to challenge Zaferes credentials, methodology and opinions.

Brady is a former senior forensic consultant and special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. He teaches now and works with a private forensic consulting firm in Jacksonville, Fla. He may also appear at Fazzinos trial.

Brady specializes in crime scene reconstruction and testified Zaferes video productions followed an improper protocol and amounted to little more than a rudimentary academic exercise.

This doesnt appear to be valid on any level with the word forensic attached to it, Brady said.

Brady also found fault with specific instructions Zaferes offered her re-enactors.

You cannot have people fake dead, Brady testified, adding a corpse behaves completely different than a living, breathing human being.

From my seat, it doesnt appear that mock Emily is doing a very good job of being dead, he added.

Though hired at roughly $250 per hour by Fazzinos lawyers, Brady said his primary interest is defending the standards of crime scene reconstruction and seeking the truth.

If it doesnt work for one side or the other, I dont care, Brady said.

Emily deserves an objective inquiry. It needs to be done right, wherever it leads, he added later.

On cross examination, Brady conceded the set for the videos seemed quite accurate compared to the actual space in Fazzinos house.

I would submit to you that was probably the best work they did, was replicating the bathroom, Brady said.

Kutmus at the hearing urged the judge to discount Zaferes videos and to bar her from testifying at the trial.

Her supposed crime scene reconstruction  she calls site study  is none other than an exhibition of confirmation bias, bloviated by the pollution of language that only Zaferes can filter and understand, Kutmus said.

Kolacia countered Zaferes is, indeed, a qualified expert and Fazzinos lawyers only object to her conclusion that the case represents homicide.

They just have an issue with the opinion she came up with, Kolacia told the judge.

Kutmus strongly disagreed.

Ms. Zaferes opinions ... should also be scrapped as junk science and buried on some lunar-scaped crater somewhere far from our solar system, Kutmus said.

Experience

The trial will feature four experienced attorneys.

Brown has taken the lead in many prominent cases. In 2011, he prosecuted several parents and grandparents in Black Hawk County accused of submitting false addresses in order to enroll children at Price Lab School in Cedar Falls.

More recently, Brown and a colleague, Douglas Hammerand, convinced jurors in March that Casey Frederiksen had sexually abused and then murdered 5-year-old Evelyn Miller. The little girl was killed a decade earlier in Floyd County.

Kutmus and Hook are familiar with high-profile, high-stakes criminal cases, too. The pair in 2010 represented Matthias Saunders of Minneapolis, a filmmaker accused of fraudulently obtaining state film tax credits.

Kutmus and Hook also defended Noah Crooks of Osage, a 13-year-old charged with murdering his mother in 2012 in Mitchell County. And in 2015, the pair defended Joe Franz of Clive, a hunter cited with four counts of hunting over bait. Franz bagged Palmer, a trophy whitetail buck that attracted national attention, as did Franz legal problems.
WATERLOO  A local developer is working with the city to demolish the blighted Logan Plaza and replace it with new medical buildings and retail businesses.

Waterloo City Council members are expected Monday to vote on a development agreement with Ben Stroh to spearhead the project on the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 63 and East Donald Street.

Im excited and I think the entire community is going to be happy with this, said Mayor Quentin Hart. Its the perfect time, and we have a trusted developer thats from this community.

While the neighborhood often dubbed the north end has seen development in recent years, including a new Hy-Vee grocery store, the original Logan Plaza strip mall has deteriorated rapidly.

This is long overdue, Hart said. Its an area thats ready for retail, ready for opportunity and ready for change.

Stroh, who is successfully developing Crossing Point Plaza at the former Kmart plaza near Crossroads Center, would buy and raze the vacant strip mall, out buildings and a former bank.

He would also purchase more than 50 acres of land northeast of Logan Plaza from Menards, which acquired the site for a home improvement store but chose instead to build elsewhere. The Menards land would be given to the city for future development.

The city would grant the developer $8 million  $1 million per year in tax-increment financing funds for eight years  to offset the estimated land acquisition and site development costs.

Meanwhile, Stroh would erect at least $9.5 million in new buildings on the Logan Plaza site by the end of 2019 for which he would receive 50 percent property tax rebates over 10 years. Those projects include two medical office buildings, a convenience store and restaurant.

Additional retail and office development is projected on both the Logan Plaza property and the Menards land but are not detailed in the development agreement.

A conceptual site plan included with the agreement shows a potential hotel on the former strip mall property, but it is not part of the contract itself.

Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said the structure of the development agreement has Stroh fronting the initial cost of buying, clearing and preparing the site for future growth.

The city, which merged its airport and Logan Plaza TIF districts last month, will have enough TIF revenue generated in the combined district to reimburse Stroh over time without the city having to borrow money for the work.

Tenants of the medical clinic were not immediately identified, although Anderson noted UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital is a key partner in the project.

This agreement works to help them increase their capabilities in Waterloo and spur additional medical and retail investment in the Logan Plaza area, he said.

UnityPoint officials were not able to comment Saturday on the project.

Stroh, reached by email, said the project would be great for the community but wanted to reserve further comment until later in the week.

Council members are expected to vote on the agreement at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the council chambers on the second floor of City Hall.
DES MOINES  A southern route has been chosen for the RAGBRAI XLIV cross-state bike ride July 24-31.

It will start July 24 in Glenwood in western Iowa, heading east to Muscatine on the Mississippi River on July 31.

Overnight stops, from west to east, will be in Shenendoah, Creston, Leon, Centerville, Ottumwa and Washington.

The route and overnight stops were announced at a launch party in Des Moines on Saturday night.

Organizers also announced a fund drive to build a statue in downtown Des Moines to John Karras and Donald Kaul, journalists who conceived the idea for the ride when they were columnists for The Des Moines Register. RAGBRAI is an acronym for the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

Karras attended Saturdays launch party, as well as representatives of various communities along the route. Also attending were members of several longtime riding teams, including a team from the Cedar Valley that includes state Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls.

Northern routes had been selected over the past two years, with overnight stops in Waverly and Independence in 2014 and Cedar Falls in 2015.

Correction added 01/25/16: Iowa Rep. Bob Kressig's party affiliation was incorrectly identified. He is a Democrat.
There was a mirrored symmetry to the news last week that reflects badly  but not unfairly  on American agriculture.

On Jan. 18, Farm Futures Magazine released its updated presidential surveys among farmers for both the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus and the overall United States. The clear leaders among farmers who said theyd vote GOP in either Republican contest were billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Its not too surprising 66 percent of Iowas farmers and 59 percent of all U.S. farmers surveyed by the magazine chose two, largely untested political ideologues with little-to-no record in American farm and food policy.

Poll after poll, after all, shows the nations Republicans collectively favor Trump and Cruz by as much or more than all the other GOP candidates combined.

The reason, say political pros, is this years GOP presidential race is being framed as a fight between simple and complex. Cruz and Trump offer simple solutions  build a wall; bomb till the desert glows  to costly, complex problems like illegal immigration and terrorism. The other candidates offer government  complex, costly ideas.

The electorate prefers simple and cheap because, say the pundits, it understands simple and cheap.

Farmers and ranchers are often the same. Sure, almost all are far more deeply involved in government (crop insurance, soil and water conservation, federal grain standards, food safety laws) than other Americans, but, hey, they like simple and cheap, too.

So Trump and Cruzs simple is solid in farm country.

Simple also describes how Big Ag votes for U.S. presidents. Farm Futures explained it this way: (Our) survey is dominated by commercial-sized, full-time farmers where about 85 percent or more of these growers typically vote for Republican candidates at the presidential level.

Wow, if elections in farm country really are that simple  virtually every GOP candidate is A-OK in Big Ags eyes  would any candidate know the difference between, say, coffee and CAFOs or ethanol and your neighbor Ethel when one party already has 85 out of 100 votes in its pocket without needing to know, well, anything?

This simple, sad electoral fact explains why most farm and food policy discussions are over before they begin: Theres simply nothing to talk about because no one needs to know anything about farming and food to be elected.

That lack of public discourse, however, has created a policy vacuum that Big Ag is very happy to fill. Today, more than ever before, just a handful of farm and commodity groups drive nearly all policy discussions at the local, state, and federal level.

By design, however, this narrow policy base delivers narrow-minded policies. For example, despite overwhelming consumer support to label the origin of meat and poultry sold in the U.S.  Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL  a few farm and commodity groups successfully held it at arms length until they finally strangled it with global trading rules.

Some of those same groups worked to ditch the Waters of the U.S. rule even as consumer anger over water quality rises to a fever pitch. Others continue to fight any state effort to label food content, and a few even continue to claim that climate change is either a hoax or conspiracy or both.

None of these simple solutions solves any of the underlying problems farmers and ranchers face now or down the road. Consumers will always want to know where their food comes from and will always want its ingredients labeled. Moreover, ditching any clean water effort by any government or public interest group only invites more consumer anger and more costly court fights.

In the end, farmers and ranchers will lose on every one of these issues because, as they well know, the market  consumers, voters, eaters  is always right.

Until then, however, well continue to believe that our illegal immigration problem will be solved by building a wall that theyll pay for and well end todays brutal terrorism by carpet bombing somewhere, maybe everywhere, until we find out if sand can glow in the dark.

Sure, thatll work.
They can only do this if there is an "immediate danger or immediate risk of danger to persons in any school premises". There is no evidence that schools will be any colder than homes. This is not New York, and the Government has panicked and gone beyond its statutory powers.

Government freezes out kindy, primary classes



After the coldest day in HK in 59 years (according to the Observatory), the HK Government's Education Bureau has ordered a territory-wide "suspension of classes" at kindergartens and primary schools tomorrow, Monday 25-Jan-2016. Can they actually do that? The answer lies in Section 83(1A) of the Education Ordinance, which says:

"(1A) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if it appears to the Permanent Secretary that there is any immediate danger or immediate risk of danger to persons in any school premises due to bad weather, he may, by making public announcements on radio, television or newspapers or by such other means as he thinks fit, suspend the operation of the school in the school premises." (our underline).

Let's get real. Yes, it is just about freezing on high ground, which is exciting for some young HK citizens who have never seen frost, but this is not New York. We are not struggling under 2 feet of snow. There is no "immediate danger" (or "immediate risk of danger", if you like tautologies) of people being unable to get to school or facing blizzards on the way. There is no evidence that classrooms will be colder than homes. If there was, then secondary schools would have to close too. The Government has, once again, panicked and gone beyond its statutory powers, as it did during occupy Central, when it ordered the closure of all schools in Wanchai District and Central & Western District, an area which includes The Peak and schools far removed from the protests in Admiralty.

 Webb-site.com, 2016

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Via Caracas Chronicles: The UN has told Venezuela that it must pay its annual contribution or it can't vote.



This is an especially big deal for the Venezuelan government, which has always seen the UN as an important venue. Who can forget Hugo Chavez flamboyant denunciation of George W. Bush? Or the intense maneuvering to gain one of the rotating seats on the Security Council (which they finally got in 2014)?



But that was then, this is now. It is a stark reminder about what has changed over the past decade. Symbolically, it's a blow. Obviously, though, Nicolas Maduro has more important things to worry about.


By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 22, 2016 | 04:31 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Community members of all ages can use West Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges Community Education Catalog to find out about a variety of classes such as digital photography, social media marketing, arts and design, defense tactics and much more.The catalog has been an excellent tool for showcasing the numerous community education classes we are offering at WKCTC because it provides community members with one convenient place to find a class or classes they want to sign up for each month, said Kevin ONeill, WKCTC community education director.February classes are listed as follows.Computer Offerings"Smile: Have fun with photographs using Word"February 2, 1:30 pm  8:00 pmEmerging Technology Center, Room 112Age: AdultLearn to easily take a good snapshot and include it in a Word document, use Word 2010 and 2013 to edit the image and apply all sorts of styles and special effects to make it look better in a few simple steps. Helpful hints for the advanced beginners. First part of class taught by a professional photographer. Bring a digital camera or phone and learn the secrets behind taking outstanding photos. The class meets two sessions in one day, three hours at a time. Cost: $115.Windows 8.1February 4 and 16, 9:00 am  4:00 pmEmerging Technology CenterAge: AdultThis hands-on course takes a unique approach to teaching the skills necessary to navigate and use the Windows 8.1 operating system. Designed for both home and business users, this course will cover the start screen, keyboard shortcuts, basic commands, computer maintenance and more. Basic PC navigation skills highly recommended. Class meets two sessions in one day for three hours at a time. Cost: $100.Microsoft Excel 2013February 9-11, 6:00 pm  9:00 pmFebruary 11, Noon  6:00 pmEmerging Technology CenterAge: AdultIndividuals who enjoy working with computers and numbers or need a refresher course in the basics of Microsoft Excel should register for this class. The class will help participants with shortcuts, hands-on training and help with personal support from an experienced instructor. Learn the fundamentals of setting up worksheets quickly and efficiently. Cost: $100.Basic PCFebruary 9, 10:00 am  4:30 pmEmerging Technology CenterAge: AdultLearn quick tips for getting around in a computer environment, file management, smarter ways to surf and shop online and how to share photos via a PC. Class will cover understanding hardware and software, turning a computer on, parts of a computer, measuring memory networks, the Internet and much more. Class meets two sessions in one day for three hours at a time. Cost: $100.Paducah School of Art and Design Community OfferingsIntroduction to Oil PaintingFebruary 3, 10, and 172D and Graphic Design Building, Room 201905 Harrison Street, Downtown PaducahAge: AdultThis class provides basic instruction in oil painting for beginners with PSAD Associate Professor of Art BiLan Liao. Working from still life, participants will learn how to set up the palette, color mixing, brush selection and oil painting techniques. Participants should wear appropriate clothing for painting with oils and a shop apron. Cost: $110.Photoshop  Digital ManipulationFebruary 2, 9, 16, and 23, 6:30 pm  9:30 pm2D and Graphic Design Building, Room 112905 Harrison Street, Downtown PaducahAge: AdultParticipants will learn to use Adobe Photoshop to manipulate images, create composite images and retouch photographs. This course is the perfect introduction to the power of Photoshop for beginners or to add the basic skills with the software. Students must be computer literate. Cost: $125, which includes $15 for studio supplies.S.T.E.A.M. (Junior Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) OfferingsBrick Pi RoboticsFebruary 4  March 10, 4:00 pm  5:30 pmEmerging Technology Center, Room 223Age: High School StudentsThe S.T.E.A.M. Team Club provides students robotic experiences using a Raspberry Pi interface. Students will get a primer in advance programming language so they can provide robotic instructions to the Brick Pi Robot. They will learn to create robotic arms, robotic cars, and use their own imagination to explore the possibilities with the open robotics environment. Sessions meet six consecutive Thursday afternoons. A light snack is provided at each session. Cost: $150.More catalog offerings will be offered later in February. Registrations for summer camps are now being taken. Download a full listing of summer camps and upcoming community education classes at http://issuu.com/jblythe0001/docs/communityeducation/1 Preregistration is required for all classes and early registration is encouraged. The registration deadline is seven days prior to class starting date. Classes may be cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Register online at http://ws.kctcs.edu/westkentucky/category/category.aspx or by calling 270-534-3335. For more information about the Community Education Catalog or upcoming offerings, contact Kevin ONeill at kevin.oneill@kctcs.edu r 270-534-3206.

West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) has been recognized three consecutive times by The Aspen Institute as an Aspen Prize Top 10 Community College and twice as a Finalist with Distinction for providing students with strong job training and continuing higher education opportunity, for achieving high completion and transfer rates, and for providing strong employment results for its graduates.
The Nazis are possibly the most infamous political party in history, as the ruling party of Germany during World War II. In power from 1933 until their defeat by Allied Forces in 1945, the Nazi Party has become notorious for its involvement in some of the most inhumane, cruel practices ever committed by an organised group. Racism was a key part of the Nazi Party's regime, believing that the Nordic race were the master race. In particular, Adolf Hitler and his party had a hatred for the Jewish people, who were widely murdered and persecuted during the Nazi reign. It was in the aftermath of World War II that the full extent of the Nazi's crimes against humanity became apparent. Famously, the Nuremberg trials were conducted to convict the surviving officials responsible for ordering the many atrocities. It wasn't only Nazi officials that were made to answer for what they'd done. The Nazi party were also behind a number of chilling human experiments, and several of the doctors involved were convicted in a series of trials for their war crimes. This list takes a look at some of the most shocking of these Nazi experiments, that resulted in the death, mutilation and psychological torture of millions of people. Please note that the majority of these entries contain some highly disturbing text and imagery, so read ahead with caution.
Now available: the 2nd edition of CAMELOGUE!





(The camels migrated from here to
History of where is machu picchu - in peru

Machu Picchus Inca Past

Did You Know?

Machu Picchu is made up of more than 150 buildings ranging from baths and houses to temples and sanctuaries.

Machu Picchus Discovery by Hiram Bingham

The Site of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Today

Historians believe Machu Picchu was built at the height of the Inca Empire, which dominated western South America in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was abandoned an estimated 100 years after its construction, probably around the time the Spanish began their conquest of the mighty pre-Columbian civilization in the 1530s. There is no evidence that the conquistadors ever attacked or even reached the mountaintop citadel, however; for this reason, some have suggested that the residents desertion occurred because of a smallpox epidemic.Many modern-day archaeologists now believe that Machu Picchu served as a royal estate for Inca emperors and nobles. Others have theorized that it was a religious site, pointing to its proximity to mountains and other geographical features that the Incas held sacred. Dozens of alternate hypotheses have cropped up in the years since Machu Picchu was first unveiled to the world, with scholars variously interpreting it as a prison, a trade hub, a station for testing new crops, a womens retreat or a city devoted to the coronation of kings, among many examples.In the summer of 1911 the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham arrived in Peru with a small team of explorers hoping to find Vilcabamba, the last Inca stronghold to fall to the Spanish. Traveling on foot and by mule, Bingham and his team made their way from Cuzco into the Urubamba Valley, where a local farmer told them of some ruins located at the top of a nearby mountain. The farmer called the mountain Machu Picchu, which translates to old peak in the native Quechua language. On July 24, after a tough climb to the mountains ridge in cold and drizzly weather, Bingham met a small group of peasants who showed him the rest of the way. Led by an 11-year-old boy, Bingham got his first glimpse of the intricate network of stone terraces marking the entrance to Machu Picchu.The excited Bingham spread the word about his discovery in a best-selling book, The Lost City of the Incas, sending hordes of eager tourists flocking to Peru to follow in his footsteps up the formerly obscure Inca Trail. He also excavated artifacts from Machu Picchu and took them to Yale University for further inspection, igniting a custody dispute that lasted nearly 100 years. It was not until the Peruvian government filed a lawsuit and lobbied President Barack Obama for the return of the items that Yale agreed to complete their repatriation.Although he is credited with making Machu Picchu known to the worldindeed, the highway tour buses use to reach it bears his nameit is not certain that Bingham was the first outsider to visit it. There is evidence that missionaries and other explorers reached the site during the 19th and early 20th centuries but were simply less vocal about what they uncovered there.In the midst of a tropical mountain forest on the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchus walls, terraces, stairways and ramps blend seamlessly into its natural setting. The sites finely crafted stonework, terraced fields and sophisticated irrigation system bear witness to the Inca civilizations architectural, agricultural and engineering prowess. Its central buildings are prime examples of a masonry technique mastered by the Incas in which stones were cut to fit together without mortar.Archaeologists have identified several distinct sectors that together comprise the city, including a farming zone, a residential neighborhood, a royal district and a sacred area. Machu Picchus most distinct and famous structures include the Temple of the Sun and the Intihuatana stone, a sculpted granite rock that is believed to have functioned as a solar clock or calendar.A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983 and designated one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, Machu Picchu is Perus most visited attraction and South Americas most famous ruins, welcoming hundreds of thousands of people a year. Increased tourism, the development of nearby towns and environmental degradation continue to take their toll on the site, which is also home to several endangered species. As a result, the Peruvian government has taken steps to protect the ruins and prevent erosion of the mountainside in recent years.
Youve got a decent hand. Youre sure of it, but you dont want to bet everything on it because you know the game and know that youll lose. What do you do? That depends in part upon how strong your hand is (or isnt). For example, if you have an ace low flush, you might be tempted to fold, knowing you probably wont make money betting with it. On the other hand, if you hold a pocket pair, you may have enough confidence in the strength of your hand to bet all-in, hoping for a full house or better. In order to get the most from your hand, you need to understand what the odds are against each possible outcome. Heres how you can figure out whether or not you should push your luck with a particular hand.

The decision of the player to do the okbet login will provide him good return in the future. This is the platform that is considered as the reliable option. It provides the players with the high stake of the winning. Even a representative is there who will work to serve the people.

The Value of A Pair

Lets assume weve just dealt two cards and one player has three suited cards and another has four. If the first player bets, then hes going to win about half the time (assuming everyone else folds), so his expected return is 50 percent. The second player has a much tougher time. Hell have a good chance of winning only when he gets three of a kind, which happens 1/4th of the time. So he has a 25 percent chance of winning. When he makes the call, the third player has a 55 percent chance of winning. His expected return is 45 percent. Of course, if the first player loses, then the chances of the third player winning go way up  about 80 percent. All of these percentages are based on the assumption that all players will fold.

The value of the hand is calculated by taking the probability of winning times the amount you would win if you did win. This gives us a number between zero and 100. Well use $5 as our basic unit for calculating the value of the hands. If you had 10 chips and could choose any five, what would you pick? Well, wed obviously take the top hand, which is worth $50. The second best hand is a little bit worse  $45  since youre giving up some equity for the opportunity to win more. So now lets calculate the value of the remaining hands.

If the second player chooses a third card, his expected gain is $25, which represents the difference between the two hands. A fourth card increases the expectation to $30, while adding a fifth card drops it back down to $20. Since there are no sixth cards, the value of the hand is equal to the average of the five cards, which is $24.60.

The value of a suit

We can also figure out the value of a suit by looking at the value of each individual card within that suit. Lets say were dealing a standard deck of 52 cards. One person holds a KQ; the next person has a 7D; and the third has a 2S. Each person has a 20% chance of winning. What is the expected return of having this group of cards? Well, the KQ has a 5% chance of winning, the 7D has a 4% chance, and the 2S has a 3% chance. So the total expected return is 25%. The same logic applies to the other suits, where the probability of winning goes up as the value of the card decreases. For instance, the Aces have a 9% chance of winning, Kings have 8%, Queens have 7%, Jacks have 6%, and Tens have 5%. So the expected returns add up to 36%.

Now lets add all of these numbers together to get an estimate of the value of a hand. Assuming that each hand was equally likely to come up, our total would be 60 percent. But we know thats wrong! Not every hand is created equal. It turns out that a royal flush beats the rest of the pack pretty consistently. So were going to adjust our calculations to reflect this fact.

Royal Flushes

So far, weve assumed that all of the cards were equally likely to come up. Actually, most poker players believe that Royal Flushes are extremely unlikely. In fact, many experts estimate their frequency at less than 0.1 percent. To account for this, lets increase the probability of winning for each card in a Royal Flush by 10 percent. Now when we calculate the value of a Royal Flush, well find that its actually worth 62.5 percent of what it used to be. The value of the cards in each rank will still add up to 100, but theyre now weighted differently.

So what does this mean for you? Well, if you hold a Royal Flush, youre probably going to win about 75 percent of the time. And if you hold a hand like QJT, youll win about 75 percent of the time too. And if you hold a straight, youll win nearly 70 percent of the time. In short, the bigger your hand, the more likely you are to win. Of course, even though youre getting a higher hit rate, youll also tend to lose more often. So if you hold a straight, youre almost guaranteed to lose. But if you hold a Royal Flush, youre going to win about one-quarter of the time, and youll win about twice as much money. So youre almost certain to profit from such a hand, but youll also take a lot of losses.

Now, I mentioned that youll lose money on any hand. In fact, youll lose money roughly half the time. So if you hold a straight, youll lose about 25 percent of the time. If you hold a flush, youll lose about 40 percent of the time. And if you hold a pair, youll lose 35 percent of the time. In addition, if you hold a set  one of the two highest ranks  youll lose 35 percent of the time. Finally, if you hold a high card in the lowest rank, youll lose 30 percent of the time.

But the interesting thing is that youll lose less money on those losing hands than you do on winning hands. Why is that? Well, suppose you hold a straight. Theres a 65 percent chance youll win. But suppose you hold a pair instead. Theres a 65 percent chance youll win. But you lost on your last hand. So theres now a 75 percent chance that youll lose again. On the other hand, if you hold a straight and lose, theres still a 65 percent chance youll win again. So youre only losing about 15 percent of the time.

This means that you can minimize your losses by playing only hands that are reasonably likely to win. So if you hold a straight, youll probably lose around 25 percent of the time. But if you hold a flush, youll probably lose around 40 percent of the time. And if you hold a pair, youll probably lose around 35 percent of the time. And if you hold a set, youll probably lose around 35 percent of the time. But if you hold a high card in the lowest rank, youll probably lose around 30 percent of the time.

In summary, the higher the probability that youll win, the lower your loss percentage will be. And the lower the probability youll win, the higher your loss percentage will be. So the optimal strategy is to play only hands whose probability of winning exceeds your expected return. If you hold a straight, theres a 65 percent chance of winning, so youll lose around 25 percent of the time. If you hold a flush, theres a 65 percent chance of winning, so youll lose around 40 percent of the time. And if you hold a pair, theres a 65 percent chance of winning, so youll lose around 35 percent of the time. But if you hold a set, theres a 65 percent chance of winning, so youll lose around 35 percent of the time. And if you hold a high card in the lowest rank, theres a 65 percent chance of winning, so youll lose around 30 percent of the time.

Of course, you shouldnt ignore your opponents actions entirely. You should always give them credit for being smart, making decisions, and doing whatever it takes to beat you. But just remember that youre being punished for having a decent hand.
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Ken Roth at Human Rights Watch:

The warring parties in Syria are to resume talks in Geneva on January 25 with the aim of ending a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians and displaced millions. What will it take for the talks to succeed?

In October in Vienna, the main foreign actors in the war, including Russia, adopted guiding principles for the talks. They speak of the eventual defeat of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist groups, maintenance of Syrias prewar borders, and the protection of minority groups and state institutions.

Yet major points of dispute remain, and the Vienna principles outline no plan to build the trust among the warring parties needed to facilitate difficult compromises. Diplomacy will not be enough if the warring parties continue the attacks on civilians and other atrocities that are driving Syrians apart.

The war has continued for so long in part because both the Syrian government and the armed groups aligned against it believed that they could prevail militarily. Russias entry into the war may have helped to dispel those illusions. Its airpower has been enough to bolster the Syrian government against collapse but not to make significant progress against the opposition. Meanwhile, the rise of ISIS and its demonstrated ability to attack in Europe, as well as the mass exodus of Syrian refugees, have led many external actors to renew their push for a political compromise. They hope to encourage their Syrian allies to fight ISIS and other extremist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra rather than each other.

More here.
Mohammed Hanif in the New York Times:

According to our security analysts, the massacre of students and teachers at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on Wednesday proves that we are winning against terrorism.

A month before that, Pakistan marked the first anniversary of the Army Public School attacks in Peshawar, where more than 140 people, the vast majority of them students, were slaughtered by the Taliban. Most were in their early teens. Never again, we said then. Parliament gave the military all the powers it wanted, and Pakistanis vowed to eliminate the killers of our children.

We marked the anniversary by honoring the dead and giving memorial shields to their parents. We put lots of flowers and candles around the young students pictures. Newscasters on television dressed up in the schools uniform to express solidarity. The Pakistani Armys public relations department released a music video with students waving flags and raising fists. The singing students pledged not only to defeat the Taliban, but also to educate the enemys children in revenge.

The army, however, did not answer the one question the parents of the dead students have been asking for more than a year: Who is responsible for the security of the children in a school managed by the army itself? Instead it released slickly edited music videos.

This year was declared the year that terror will end. Safe havens have been bombed into oblivion. Terrorists have been hanged and the rest are waiting for their turn, we are told. Hours after the attack in Charsadda, the Pakistani Armys spokesman told the nation that Operation Zarb-e-Azb, its sweeping antiterrorism campaign, has been a success and the results are there for everyone to see.

Security experts, a group likely to find a silver lining in hell, say that the Taliban are targeting schools because these are soft targets  and that this is proof the Taliban have been weakened and can no longer attack cantonments or airports. Apparently, we are supposed to take solace in the slaughter of our children because our cantonments and airports are safe.

More here.
Women activist Shamina Shafiq on Sunday dubbed the suicide committed by three female students of a medical college in Tamil Nadu as shocking and demanded a thorough probe so that the truth behind the unfortunate incident comes to the fore.

It is shocking that three students of the same college have committed suicide. There must have been a very serious issue that these girls took such a step. It is very unfortunate, Shafiq said.

The former NCW member further said two angles must be looked into this unfortunate incident to get to the bottom of this case.

A proper investigation should be carried out to find out the exact cause. Why they decided to end their lives in such a sad manner? With the increase in suicide cases in the colleges, it is necessary for the institutes to have proper psychological counselling to which the students can look upon in case they face any kind of mental trauma, said Shamina.

There are various angles, which need to be looked upon. First, whether there was any psychological counselling? It is very necessary for the colleges to have such counselling as to where the students can go and look upon when they are facing any kind of mental trauma. Second, it is necessary to find whether there was any kind of sexual harassment with those students? she added.

Meanwhile, former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh shifted the blame on the BJP-led NDA Government, saying that the HRD Ministry has been under controversies ever since the saffron party has come to power.

Recently, a student from Hyderabad University committed suicide and now these three girls in Tamil Nadu. What is the ministry doing? Shukla asked.

The (HRD) Ministry should refrain from politics and must focus on students as it is a question of their future. It is very unfortunate that the students are forced to end up their lives in such a manner, she added.

Three second-year students of Svs Medical College of Yoga and Naturopathy and Research Institute at Kallakurichi near Viluppuram in Tamil Nadu committed suicide on Saturday evening, accusing the administration of charging excess fees and torture and blaming college chairman Vasuki Subramanian for their death.

The three girls namely E. Saranya and V. Priyanka (both 18 years) and T. Monisha (19 years) in a two-page suicide note said that the students had filed several complaints against Subramanian but to no avail. Citing torture by the management, the girls hoped that their suicide would finally force the authorities to take action against the chairman.
Amit Shah was elected unopposed as the Bharatiya Janata Party chief for the second time and his tenure will end in 2019. Union Ministers, senior party leaders and workers attended the ceremony at the BJP headquarter in the national capital on Sunday.

However, BJP veterans were conspicuous by their absence. LK Advani, MM Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha gave ceremony a miss, thus raising many questions.

As many as 17 nominations proposing the 51-year-old leaders name were filed during the three-hour exercise, party vice president Avinash Rai Khanna said.

However, senior leaders LK Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi stayed away from the event.

As Shah was the only leader in the fray, his re-election was widely seen as a formality. Even before he arrived at the party headquarters in New Delhi to file his nomination papers, several congratulatory posters anticipating his unopposed election as party president cropped up at several places.

Reacting to the development, Modi congratulated Shah through a tweet and stated that the party would scale newer heights under his leadership. Congratulations to Shri @AmitShah on being elected BJP president. I am confident the party will scale newer heights under his leadership, Modi said on Twitter.

Amit Bhai combines grassroot-level work and rich organisational experience which will benefit the party immensely, Modi said in another tweet.

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu described Shah as the most capable person in the party. He has organisational abilities, good strategies and, above all, a commitment

to our ideology, he said.

Congratulating Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, I have full faith that under his leadership, our party will achieve great success.

Shahs name for the post was proposed by Modi, a bevy of Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states. Among others who have proposed Shahs name are Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Anant Kumar and JP Nadda, M Venkaiah Naidu, besides BJP chief ministers Vasundhara Raje, Raghubar Das, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and others.
There were receiving instructions from Baghdadis close aide to spread terror across the country.

The arrested terror module which had plotted terror attacks on Republic Day at various locations of the country was constantly in touch with Islamic State Group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They were receiving instructions from Baghdadis close aide to spread terror across the country. NIA along with state police forces had conducted raids in four states of Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh as 13 people had formed a group named Janood-ul-Khalifa-e-Hind a terror group which is following the ideologies similar to ISIS. Mumbra resident Muddabir Mushtaq Shaikh was arrested in a joint operation carried out by sleuths from Maharashtra ATS and National Investigation Agency (NIA). Mushtaq who is in his early thirties has designated himself as Ameer of the organisations while Rizwan Ali, a resident of Kushi Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was its Naib-Ameer (deputy Chief). Mohammed Nafees Khan of Bihar, who was arrested from Hyderabad, was the groups Ameer-e-Wyulat (head of finance). Shaikh is an unemployed youth residing in Amrut Nagar, Mumbra and he was active on social networking sites.

Meanwhile Rizwan Ali has been remanded to police custody till January, 30. ATS has also sought his custody for further investigations

The 23-year-old was presented before a holiday magistrate here who remanded him in police custody till January 30, an ATS official said.

The ATS sleuths suspect that he allegedly radicalised and guided Ayaz Sultan who left the country reportedly to join ISIS last month.

The NIA had registered a case in 2015 after credible information was received that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Dawlah-al Islamiyah fil-Iraq wa-sh Sham (DAISH), has been engaged in radicalising Indian youth and motivating them to join the terrorist organisation.

The alleged Islamic State member, Mohammed Hussain Jamil Khan, arrested on Friday night from Mazgaon area, confessed about his involvement with the terror outfit in front of the National Investigating Agency court.

Khan, a businessman by profession lives in Mazgaon area with two wives and four daughters. He is the 15th suspect arrested by the NIA in a nationwide sweep carried out by the agency before Republic Day. He was in touch with Muddabir Mushtaq Shaikh.

Khan had regrets about being involved in the crime. When Judge NK More asked him whether he wanted to say anything about his arrested he replied, Mujhse galti hogayee, Sir I have committed a mistake, Sir.

On the other hand, Khans lawyer Shabnam Shaikh alleged that her client made a confession under the pressure of probing agency. The court granted three days transit remand for Khan and he will be produced before Patiala Court in New Delhi.

Khalid who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for allegedly recruiting boys from suburban Malwani for terror outfit ISIS was remanded to police custody till January 30 by the court. He was nabbed from Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh and was active on social media.
A special MCOCA court in Mumbai granted CBI permission to interrogate gangster Chhota Rajan, who is the prime accused in journalist Jyotirmoy Deys murder case. Chhota Rajan was allegedly upset with two articles written by Dey and therefore ordered his killing. Journalist Jigna Vora who is now out on bail, had allegedly instigated Rajan, owing to her own professional rivalry with Dey.

Vora is accused of passing on key information like the number plate of the slain journalists motorcycle and his address to the fugitive don. The police had arrested her on November 2011 and she was granted bail in July 2012.

Rajan, who was produced via video link from Delhis Tihar Jail told the court that he has received the chargesheet and needs time to go through it. Rajan, a former key aide and lieutenant of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25 after he arrived from Australia, and was later deported to India. He is facing around 70 cases in Maharashtra, which includes the J Dey murder case. Dey was shot dead in Powai by motor-cycle borne shooters on June 11, 2011 allegedly at the behest of Rajan. Four persons on two motorbikes fired at least four to five rounds at Dey, who was also riding a bike, from behind near Spectra Building at D Mart in Hiranandani area of Powai.

After the attack, he was rushed to nearby Hiranandani Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Police had claimed the shooters fled the spot after firing. The first charge sheet in 2011 names arrested accused Satiah Kaliya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia.

The sensational J. Dey murder case has brought to the fore the nexus more clearly than all earlier occasions. Having covered the crime beat for around three decades, Dey had naturally developed affiliations in legitimate as well as illegitimate walks of life. Bootleggers, matka-den operators are regular paymasters of crime reporters residing in respective areas. Visionless and routine crime reporters thrive on their money and retire peacefully.

The police told the sessions court in Mumbai that journalist Jigna Vora, an accused in J Dey murder case, had fuelled the dispute between gangster Chhota Rajan and the slain journalist, which likely led to the killing. Crime Branch, which is investigating the Dey murder case, has opposed Voras bail application before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court. Vora was aware of the issues between Rajan and Dey, a senior journalist with city-based tabloid who covered crime, and therefore she added fuel to the fire. This is utter bullshit, the reason so far Mumbai police could not produce any substantial evidences against Vora.

During J Dey murder investigations, media made police authorities life miserable and Home department was always on radar. There how all its began, police traced all those reporters having spoken to Chhota Rajan and any underworld criminal, based on their own published interviews and reports, caught them and called for investigations. Reporters gave lots of excuses, but police made smart stand stating their duty and arrested few one by one and asked them to give explanation in court. Thats how reporters came in control before making any sort of statement about police and home department. Finally, Jigna became victim of circumstances, and got in police clutches, police department is very well aware that she is not 100% at fault. However, she was made scapegoat to control the nuisance of media, surprisingly when Jigna got arrested, no media came forward to protest against her. Rather J Deys news took a back seat.

Actually looking at flashback and real story behind the murder, media should strip Mumbai police and rip them apart for planting conspiracy against Jigna Vora. Right from the day one, our newspaper was firm in support of victimized journalist Vora and slain senior journalist J Dey.

The police claimed that Vora had called Chhota Rajan 36 times before J Deys murder. The chargesheet shows that there were only three calls between Chhota Rajan and Vora, all made for an interview that Rajan gave to The Asian Age. Police has accused that Vora had sent emails to Rajan containing the photographs and residential address of Dey and the registration number of his motorcycle. The charge sheet does not mention any such emails. Police requested Google to provide her inbox details but under privacy act Google refused to obey. Crime Branch officers told the media that Vora abruptly booked tickets to Sikkim on June 2011 and took off without a sanctioned leave, knowing well that Dey was to be murdered. Vora had travelled to Sikkim along with six friends. All tickets were booked in the first week of April. She had also given an advance notice of leave to her editor. However, police didnt include these records in the chargesheet.

The police claimed that there was professional rivalry between Dey and Vora and that was her motive to get him killed. Dey wrote that Dawood had left Pakistan. Vora wrote that Dawood was hiding in Pakistan. Bizarrely, the police have used these two stories to argue that there was rivalry between the two journalists. The smear campaign against Vora went to the extent of accusing her of being an extortionist. The papers reported (of course, basing it on police sources) that she was in the business of mediating in property disputes between builders and charged a hefty sum for negotiating a deal. Nobody asked that in a city like Mumbai, where gangsters and politicians are involved in every property dispute, who would pay money to a female reporter for reaching settlements? In the final chargesheet, the police have not mentioned a word on any such mediation activities.

To support this theory, the police have recorded the statement of a crime journalist who has claimed that in May 2010 (a year before the murder), Vora had sent Dey an SMS that roughly translated as, Do you think that you are very smart? But the police dont have the actual text of the SMS. The journalist has claimed that Dey had shown him this SMS at the time. But while Dey was alive, he never told anyone that Vora and he were rivals or for that matter Vora had ever threatened him. In fact, S Hussain Zaidi, under whom Vora was working, was Deys mentor and friend. If Vora had ever misbehaved with Dey, it is logical to assume that Dey would have complained to Zaidi about his reporters misbehaviour.

Jigna Vora was pursuing a course in journalism from Somaiya College, Mumbai, when she got an opportunity to work with the Free Press Journal as a reporter. In 2006, she joined Mumbai Mirror as a senior correspondent. In 2008, she joined the Mumbai edition of The Asian Age and soon rose to become Deputy Bureau Chief.

Using the media as their proxy, the police built a narrative that Rajan got Dey bumped off because he had provided the Dawood gang crucial information on Rajan. The police didnt elaborate as to what information Dey might have provided to Iqbal Mirchi or any other D Company member that could have been harmful to Rajan. The media didnt bother asking what information a journalist could provide on Rajan whose whereabouts are not known even to the police. Reporters didnt even ask their police sources if there was any evidence to indicate that Dey had met Iqbal Mirchi in London at all. The media even cooked up an imaginary estrangement between Dey and his wife.

Rajan feared that Deys story would lead to a family feud. After Deys death, some gang members informed a few senior Mumbai Police officials that Rajan tried to convince Dey to not write the story but he didnt listen. And thats when he decided to call a hit. This was one of the first credible leads that the police had received after Deys death. Why didnt the police pursue it to get to the bottom of the truth? Clearly, Deys killing is the result of a diabolical conspiracy and the case warrants an urgent intervention by the higher courts.

Even today, after so many years of murder, police failed to establish motto and there is no evidence against Jigna Vora. However, now its Chhota Rajans turns, lets see what happens next.
The prosecution is likely to introduce Pakistan former minister Senator Rehman Malik as an additional witness before the court in Benazir murder case against the former President Pervez Musharraf.

Senator Malik has testified that Bhutto was threatened by General Musharraf at a meeting held in Dubai prior to her departure for Pakistan in 2007, reports Dawn.

Sources revealed that Malik has claimed that he witnessed Musharraf threatening Bhutto at the Dubai meeting that her future depended on her relationship with him.

Sources in the prosecution claimed that the testimony of Malik would strengthen the prosecution case against General Musharraf.

The prosecution named four witnesses against General Musharraf in 2010.
Thank you so much for your support for TJ and our family over the past few challenging years. You asked us to write about placing TJ in a group home situation. As TJ is asleep right now, I will take to let you know why I feel that placement in a group home setting is in the best interests of TJ and our family.

Janes letter took the longest to write, and she went to bed quite a few nights in tears before it was completed. Finally, since it was to be addressed to our social worker of many years, she was able to write it as if to a friend, and included the following excerpts:

They are forced to make choices other families never even consider: Can we go to church? Will we be invited to a family Thanksgiving celebration? Can I stop for a gallon of milk? And often, the answer leads to another burden: they can do those things, but separately. Except for the times when Ive been in their house, Ive never once in eight years seen Bob and Jane together in public.

Bob and Jane believe TJ is often happy. Ive seen him happy. But their family is forced to struggle with the very definition of happiness: what it is, how to maintain it. I have three children, and until I met TJ, I took the understanding of happiness for granted. I assumed I understood it. We know that we cant always be happy, and that happiness comes from surprising directions. But Bob and Jane must constantly rework the definition of happiness for TJ. Ive seen them agonize over this question. Is he in pain? Is he angry? Is he hungry? While the rest of us blithely go about our business, Bob and Jane constantly question the very basis of the relationship between parent and child  That takes a great toll.

Ive seen my parents struggle with just about everything from financial problems, political issues, to family brawls. Ive watched my friends faces as they listen to the sounds of my brother throwing a terrible fit, their eyes not only showing confusion and fear, but also of concern and wonder about how a family can keep control in a life of chaos.

Our son Jim had a very difficult time writing his letter. It rambled somewhat, indicating to us that even Jim had a reluctance to also admit that it was time for TJ to be placed. But in his letter, he vividly describes the issues:

Attendance at extended family events has been extremely limited. Unfortunately, not all family members fully comprehend the meaning and extent of TJs autism. This has led to at worst, the family not feeling welcome at many family functions, or at best, dividing the events and either Jane or Bob would remain at home with TJ so the other could attend. For example, imagine having to attend the funeral of a family member without your spouse there to offer support or going to a family wedding while half your family has to stay at home because there is no safe place for TJ.

First, let me say I have never known a more loving and devoted family. It is their strength and faith which is an inspiration to me.  Tirelessly, Bob and Jane have sought answers to never-ending litany of questions as to what had happened, how best to help TJ, and how to maximize TJs potential. Together, they educated themselves with all aspects of autism, became respected voices in the autism community, and all the while maintaining as normal a family-life as possible. However, this has been a constant struggle.

After his visits, she would often laugh about taking a week or two to find something he had played with and hidden in a secret spot. Lately though, his visits have been much harder on my mother. She would not tell Bob and Jane how it was affecting her because she knew they needed to visit and get away themselves. TJ has become more aggressive and two times he has been unhappy with something mom did and hit her. He did come back to rub her arm to let her know he was sorry. She would not tell Bob this because she knows the stress they are all under. After his last visit, she was so nervous she had trouble sleeping.

This is the second and final part of this series written by Bob and Jane Smith about their 13 year old son TJ. Read Part 1 Autism and an Out of Home Placement HERE. (Names changed to protect the family.)

The main reason I feel that TJs placement should be a group home is sheer exhaustion on our familys mental and physical capacities, especially Bob and me. While TJs 15 year old brother Jim has grown up and accepted more responsibilities than most children his age, Bobs and my preoccupation with TJs needs has taken away from Jims social friendships and school activities that parents should attend.

As you know, TJs challenging behaviors began in the fall of 2007. At that time, TJ became self-injurious (putting his hand through windows at least 7 times) as well as violent toward the school personnel, his caretakers and his family. The violent outbursts coincided with the development of his stomach and bowel issues. TJs severe self-injurious behaviors began in October of 2007 (as well as his long tantrums and violent outbursts). By November 2007, the school gave up trying to teach TJ and just tried to get by day to day, more of a babysitter than anything. We lost caregivers at home as well, leaving only David (our one remaining caregiver), Bob and me to deal with TJ. We could not take TJ on outings for fear of him striking out against strangers. On multiple occasions, he has attacked me as I tried to drive the car. Many times I have sent TJs older brother Jim to stay with his friends for a week or so at a time, for fear of injury to Jim.

With hindsight being 20 / 20, I can see now that I should have been a more forceful advocate for TJ with this doctor or switched doctors earlier. TJs stomach and bowel issues were ignored by this doctor in favor of stronger and stronger doses of behavior medications. TJ not only continued to strike out, but learned that violence or the threat of violence would get him what ever he wanted, because everyone was either afraid of him or wanted to avoid escalation of behaviors. The school allowed him to choose all his own activities to avoid confrontations. We pulled him from school because this doctor had no idea how his body would react to the stronger and stronger doses of medications. After months of increasing dosages, it became apparent that the medications did not work and we again requested a referral to a GI doctor. She again refused.

We then decided to take TJ to the GI doctor most recommended by our friends with children on the spectrum and GI issues, completely out of pocket. It was the best thing we ever could have done for TJ. We discovered that he had severe acid reflux, very low motility causing his severe constipation and inflammatory bowel disease. When TJ was in pain, he would strike out.

Unfortunately, the last two years have been spent trials of different drugs to control pain, some of which cannot be used long term and the pain returns. We are still trying to find the best combination of drugs for TJ. When drugs fail or his condition worsens, TJ strikes out again. The attached pictures show some of the damage to our home. We have replaced 6 toilets in the last year; we have lost 12 kitchen and dining room chairs, 8 televisions and 6 VCR / DVD players; most of the cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathrooms are beyond repair. The holes in the walls and doors are numerous and TJ has been putting food in them, creating issues with bugs. We will need to pull the drywall in almost every room. We no longer have the resources to pay anyone to fix our home and we do not have the time to do so.

As for being a family Jane later added:

Our family is constantly split. It has been three years since we have been able to take TJ to one of Jims swimming meets to watch together. We have never been able to take TJ to Jims band concerts, so Bob and I split who gets to go. It is the same with parent teacher conferences for Jim. I missed three of my uncles funerals this past year; I made it to two by myself. Bob takes care of TJ so I can celebrate Christmas with my family; I take care of TJ so Bob can celebrate with his family. We used to stay at my mother in laws house, but at age 77, she is too frail for us to bring TJ anymore. He hit her at our last visit and went out of control breaking and throwing things.

Bob and I are bone weary and exhausted and this is not conducive to helping TJ learn that even if he is in pain, he does not need to hurt himself or others, there are alternative ways to tell others and to deal with pain. Right now we are doing what we need to get by without getting hurt or having TJ hurt himself. We no longer have the energy to repair the walls, the plumbing, the electrical as well as maintain the cleanliness and appearance of our home. It has been three years since I had the time to clean out the cupboards, over a year since I had the time to clean out dresser drawers and closets. I am averaging 5 hours of sleep per night and not functioning well during the day. It is a similar situation for Bob. Even when TJ sleeps 8-10 hours, we still need to get up for work or cleaning or cooking.

Jane ended her letter with the message that TJ did not simply have autism:

TJ never means to hurt anyone  after he hits us or himself he rubs the areas so sweetly and apologetically. He is so cute when he has just gotten his hair cut, you would not think there were any issues with him.

But his medical issues are numerous:

Severe Autism

Mental Retardation

Apraxia of Speech

Failure to Thrive X3

Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Absorption Issues

Acid Reflux

Inflammatory Bowel Disease including bouts of severe diarrhea

Severe Constipation due to low motility

Urinary Incontinence Issues

Severe Allergies

We love him with all our hearts. This is the hardest thing for me to do, to request out of home placement. In my mind I know it is the right thing and the best for everyone, but my heart is breaking.

Epilogue

TJ moved to his new home on April 1st, 2011. He seems to be adjusting well, in great part because our caregiver is so devoted to his friend, TJ. His plans changed so he decided to take a job with the group home (at a lower wage) because he wanted to see a successful transition. Although he works with the other children in the home as well, he is there to help others best be with TJ and continues to lookout for his best interests.

Jane and I get to be husband and wife again, as opposed to full time caregivers. We have not missed going to see TJ a couple times a week, and have had him home a few times as well. Is it working out perfectly? Of course not, and we never expected it to. There is also that little feeling in the pit of our stomach to deal with. I suspect that those who have had to put their elderly parents in a nursing home experience the same feelings, but we have come to realize that we really did do the right thing for all of us, especially TJ. We wrote this piece in order to help others understand that while it is never going to be easy, the transition to out of home care IS going to happen for most of our children. We only hope that it will inspire confidence and optimism, replacing the hopelessness that many of us have felt on our darkest days.

---------------

Bob and Jane live in the United States and their story is likely the same as many thousands of other families around the world living with a child with severe autism and untreated inflammatory bowel disease. They wonder what our childrens lives would be like if someone would have listened to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and researched the most effective treatments, instead of attacking him those many years ago.
Assyrian Refugees Claim ISIS Militants Living Among Them in Germany

Christian refugees from Syria claim they saw a former Islamic State member living in Frankfurt, and that this is not an isolated case. Police investigated but refused to file charges because the alleged terrorist has done nothing criminal in Germany. On his last visit to the Saarland region of Germany, on the border with France, RT's Peter Oliver met with a group of Assyrian Christians who had been held hostage by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). They recalled that while being held in IS captivity, the only thing they prayed for was to be shot instead of being beheaded. The same community, now living in the city of Saarlouis, say the horrors of that experience have followed them all the way to Germany, after they found out that a man they say had ties to Islamic State is living among them. A refugee, who only agreed to speak to RT on condition of anonymity, said he is positive the man living in his town is the same member of IS he encountered in Syria. "He stopped me many times at the checkpoint near our village; we were even able to find him on Facebook, I go to the web page and there's this guy again," the refugee said. When the man first saw the jihadist in Germany, his reaction was that of panic. "I was very scared that this terrorist is in a democratic state like Germany just living here," the refugee told RT, adding that he does not understand how those who kept whole families hostage now have Syrian refugee status in Germany. The Assyrian community now feels very insecure as "this was not the first case" a former IS member had been recognized, the man said. He added that some people are even considering leaving Germany, but do not know where to run to. Community leaders say that once they were convinced the 'refugee' was in fact a former jihadist, they went straight to the police. "The police have taken this very seriously, but we worry that the law cannot back this up with a strong case. They have to wait until this person does something criminal here," Charlie Kanoun, the chairman of the Assyrian Culture Association, told RT. "But those people were killers in Syria and fly the ISIS flag here even. Such people should have no place in Germany," Kanoun said. Police confirmed that an investigation is underway, but no charges relating to terrorism or any other crime have been brought. As the investigation continues, and with the influx of refugees showing no signs of slowing, the question is being asked as to who exactly is coming to Europe. "This is a very difficult point for our community here. Those victims of kidnapping were brought here for safety and security, and then these terrorists are here," Kanoun said, adding that the German authorities "are being very gentle with them," reiterating that his compatriots might have to flee again. "This is tragic that we will again be forced to be refugees, this time in a Christian state that cannot protect us," Kanoun said. Last February, Islamic State kidnapped around 250 Assyrian Christians and demanded ransoms of $100,000 per person. Some have since been released but many remain in captivity. "ISIS came to our village, they devastated our fields, burnt our churches, tore apart our lives. They kidnapped us, murdered us. We have an unbearable feeling of loss," a former hostage told RT. He recalled that while in captivity, he overheard a conversation between his captors, saying that "the West will belong to us and we will conquer it through Islamization." One of the IS militants holding Assyrian Christians captive was a German who had converted to radical Islam, the former hostage said. The German security services are currently preparing findings on more than 790 German Islamists who have traveled to Syria, the National Police Bureau of Saarland reported. Germany has seen increasing tensions over the migrant issue. Recently scuffles broke out between police and a group of protesters who were attempting to disrupt a right-wing rally near Berlin. The Alternative for Germany Party was demonstrating in the city of Potsdam in support of women's rights, following the mass sex attacks in Cologne on New Year's Eve. They were confronted by a counter-protest claiming the assaults are being used to incite hatred towards migrants.
Christian Refugees in Turkey Live in Fear

Left: A memorial in France commemorating the 1915 Assyrian Genocide in Turkey. Right: An Islamic State member destroys a Christian tombstone in Mosul, Iraq, in April 2015. Around 45,000 Armenian and Assyrian Christians (also known as Syriac and Chaldean) who fled Syria and Iraq and have settled in small Anatolian cities in Turkey, are forced to hide their religious identity, according to the Hurriyet daily newspaper. Since the Islamic State (ISIS) invaded Iraqi and Syrian cities, Christians and Yazidis have become the group's main target, facing another possible genocide at the hands of Muslims. Anonis Alis Salciyan, an Armenian who fled Iraq for Turkey, told Hurriyet that in public, they pretend to be Muslim. "My husband and I fled [Iraq] with our two children one year ago with around 20 other families. There was pressure on us in Iraq," Salciyan said, recalling that her husband, who ran a jewelry shop in Iraq, is now unemployed. "We have relatives in Europe. Only thanks to their support are we getting by. Our children cannot go to school here; they cannot speak Turkish." What makes the plight of Christian refugees in Turkey even more tragic is that the ancestors of some of those refugees were driven out of Anatolia by the Ottoman authorities and local Muslims a century ago, during what are known as the Armenian Genocide and Assyrian Genocide of 1915. Another family, Linda and Vahan Markaryan, also fled to Turkey with their two children. Their home in Baghdad had been raided by ISIS jihadists. "My daughter, Nu?ik, seven, stopped talking that day. She has not spoken since. We are working hard to provide her treatment, but she still will not speak," Linda Markaryan said, adding that it was hard for them to practice their religion. "We have to conduct our prayers at home." Islamic jihadist armies invaded Middle Eastern and North African lands starting in the 7th century. The indigenous, non-Muslim, peoples of those lands have doubtless forgotten what safety, security and religious freedom mean. In every country that is now majority-Muslim, there are horror stories of violent subjugation, rapes, slavery and murder of the non-Muslim people at the hands of jihadists. Christians have existed in Syria since the earliest days of Christianity; today, after the raids of ISIS, they are fleeing for their lives. Muslim invasions of Byzantine Syria occurred under Muhammad's successors, the Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khattab in the 7th century. In 634, Damascus, then mostly Christian, became the first major city of the Byzantine Empire to fall to the Rashidun Caliphate. Damascus subsequently became the capital of the Ummayad Caliphate, the second of the four major Islamic caliphates, and Arabic became the official state language. In Iraq, where many Christian refugees in Turkey also come from, there has also been a campaign of Islamization. Muslim Arabs captured what is today termed "Iraq" from the Persian Sassanid Empire in 636. They burned Zoroastrian scriptures, executed priests, pillaged cities and seized slaves -- just as ISIS does today. When Muslim armies captured non-Muslim lands, the Christians and Jews were given the choice of either converting, being killed, or living as "dhimmis": third-class, barely "tolerated" people in their dispossessed land, and having to pay a tax (the jizya) in exchange for so-called "protection."[1] Now, in the 21st century, Christians in Turkey say they still live in fear. On December 28, 2012, for instance, 85-year-old Maritsa Kucuk, an Armenian woman, was beaten and stabbed to death in her home in the neighborhood of Samatya (one of the largest Armenian communities in Istanbul), where she lived alone. Her son, Zadig Kucuk, who found her dead body at home, said that a cross had been carved on her chest. In December 2012, also in Samatya, another woman, T.A., 87, was attacked, beaten, and choked in her home. She lost an eye. "The press, the police, politicians, and authorities have not focused on this issue," wrote Rober Koptas, the then chief editor of the Armenian bilingual weekly newspaper, Agos. "They prefer to stay silent as if these attacks never took place. It increases the uneasiness of all Armenians living in Turkey." In January, 2013, Ilker Sahin, 40, a teacher working at an Armenian school in Istanbul, was beheaded in his home. In 2011, a Turkish taxi driver in Istanbul punched an Armenian customer. "Your accent is bad," he told her. "You are a kafir [infidel]." In the eyes of many devout Muslims, tolerance seems to be a one-way street. Many Muslims have apparently still not learned to treat other people with respect. Non-Muslims all around the "Muslim world" are either murdered or forced to live in fear. Many Muslims evidently still think that non-Muslims are their dhimmis, and that they can treat them as terribly as they would like. In Western countries, Muslims are equal citizens with equal rights. But some of them often demand more "rights" -- privileges from their governments -- such as Islamic sharia courts with a parallel legal system. If their demands are not met, they accuse people of "Islamophobia" or "racism." In majority-Muslim countries, including Turkey, non-Muslims are continually insulted, threatened or even murdered -- and most Muslims, including state authorities, do not seem to care. "The relation between Islam and the rest of the world is marked by asymmetry," wrote the author Jacob Thomas,

"Muslims may and do enjoy all kinds of freedoms and privileges in the lands of the Kuffar [infidels]; however non-Muslims are not granted the same rights and privileges when they live in Daru'l Islam ["the home of Islam", countries governed by Muslim governments]. Western politicians don't seem to notice this anomaly; while most Western academicians don't appear concerned about this lack of quid pro quo in the Islamic world. In our globalized world, this state of affairs should not continue."

Unfortunately, hatred of Christians has become a norm in Muslim countries, and this norm will not soon go away. This means that Christians in the Middle East will continue suffering or even being murdered, and will eventually become extinct in the Middle East if the civilized world does not help them. As Linda Markaryan, the Christian refugee who fled ISIS in Iraq and is now living in Turkey, said: "We do not have a future here. Everything in our lives is uncertain. Our only wish is to provide a better future for our children in a place where they are safe and secure." "We are only working in temporary jobs in places like construction sites," her husband, Vahan Markaryan, said. "The other workers [Turkish citizens] are paid around 100 Turkish liras a day but we are only paid 25 liras a day for the same work. We cannot demand our rights." Hurriyet also reported that Christian refugees in Turkey have applied to the United Nations to be able to go to the U.S., Canada or Austria; they have been granted residency in Turkey only until 2023. All Western states should give priority to Christians from Muslim countries when granting refugee status to people. The West, coming as it does from the Judeo-Christian culture of love and compassion, would seem to have a moral responsibility to help first the Christians, these most beleaguered and most benign of immigrants.
January 22, 2016

DAMASCUS, Syria  There is no glimmer of hope for a solution to the Syrian crisis, even with the Geneva III peace talks planned for Jan. 25 between delegations of the regime and the opposition. As if the process weren't fragile enough, Army of Islam (Jaish al-Islam) political leader Mohammed Alloush was named chief negotiator for the opposition. The Russian and the Syrian governments consider the Army of Islam a terrorist organization.

Two years ago, the Geneva II Conference did not bring anything new to the table in terms of reaching a solution. The governments delegation refused to even discuss the possibility that President Bashar al-Assad would step down and a transitional governing body would be formed. Instead, the delegation focused only on combating terrorism  a topic the regime uses to evade other subjects. The opposition and regime delegations did discuss humanitarian issues and the provision of aid to the besieged areas, but the only ensuing agreement that was ever implemented was the Madaya-Kefraya al-Fua Agreement  and action on that came only recently.

This is the general climate prevailing in Damascus regarding the third Geneva conference amid intensified international efforts to ensure the conference is held on schedule.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy to Syria, and the US State Department stressed the need for both sides to head to Geneva without setting preconditions for the peace talks, such as a cease-fire, providing humanitarian aid to the besieged regions, the need for another opposition delegation or the regimes refusal to allow representatives of armed factions in the delegation. Yet what is happening on the ground does not reflect de Mistura's request at all. The peace talks are linked to the execution of UN conventions.

Russia had proposed creating a mixed delegation of representatives of various Syrian opposition factions to be composed of the delegation emanating from the Syria Supreme Commission for Negotiations formed at the Riyadh Conference last month and the delegation determined by Russia.

However, Moscow abandoned that proposal following a Jan. 15 meeting between Gennady M. Gatilov, Russia's deputy minister of foreign affairs, and his US counterpart, where they stressed the need for a third delegation whose members did not participate in the Riyadh conference.

This third delegation would be composed of Syrian opposition members favored by Russia. It would have the same number of members, vested with the same powers, as the Riyadh delegation in the hopes that this conference would not fail like Geneva II, where the opposition delegation was limited to members of the Syrian Coalition.

Media outlets, such as the website all4syria.info, published Jan. 15 the names of the 15 members of the delegation proposed by Moscow, including Qadri Jamil, head of the People's Will Party residing in Russia; Haytham Manna, head of the Qamh Movement; Randa Kassis, leader of the Movement for a Pluralistic Society; Amina Ossi, deputy foreign minister of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Syria; Samir Aita, head of the Democratic Platform; and Rim Turkmani, the president of the Madani organization. Turkmani, however, refused to participate.

Turkmani told Al-Monitor, I completely reject the idea of having two opposition delegations. I refuse to participate in such an assortment. My name was included in these lists to divert attention from the names of other members who are more influential in terms of negotiation.  I have no influence over forces and parties on the ground. To make this clear, I sent a letter to the UN envoy and to the Russians clarifying my desire to stay away from this polarization.

She told Al-Monitor that the civil society sector should also be represented at the negotiations as an unaffiliated observer.

In line with Turkmanis position, Aita told all4Syria.info on Jan. 20 that he refuses to be part of an opposition delegation negotiating against another opposition delegation, preferring to avoid any new conflict among the factions. He also cited rumors about the possibility of a fourth delegation representing the civil society sector.

It should be noted that the Supreme Commission refuses the idea of a third delegation and calls on Assads regime to take actions proving its good intentions. These actions include implementing the articles of Resolution No. 2254, which was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on Dec. 18 and calls for achieving a cease-fire, lifting the siege on Syrian cities and allowing access to humanitarian aid.

Riad Hijab, head of the Supreme Commission and former Syrian prime minister, said at a press conference Jan. 21 in Riyadh, We cannot negotiate while our people starve to death and suffer shelling by internationally prohibited weapons.

He added, We do not want to repeat the 2014 negotiations, which lasted for two weeks, following which the regime refused to negotiate on the political transition clause. Now we focus on a clear agenda for the negotiations based on political transition, and we will only go to Geneva if the negotiations are genuine.

The Supreme Commission announced Jan. 20 the list of members of the opposition delegation heading to Geneva. Asaad al-Zoghbi, a defected brigadier general of Assads regime, was appointed head of the delegation. Alloush, the representative of Jaish al-Islam, was named chief negotiator, which adds to the obstacles hindering the conference.

The Syrian news agency SANA reported Jan. 20 that Russia rejects allowing armed opposition factions to be represented at the Geneva conference. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that day, in a press conference following his meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry in Zurich, We still believe the Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham movements are terrorist organizations. Jaish al-Islam has bombed residential areas in Damascus more than once.

A Syrian diplomatic source told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, The Syrian government is serious in its quest to find political solutions to the crisis, but this cannot be disassociated from its determination to fight terrorism. We cannot negotiate with terrorists.

Disagreements on the upcoming peace talks are not limited to disputes over the makeup of the opposition delegation. Internal disagreements within the Supreme Commission emerged Jan. 5 following the resignation of one of its most prominent members, Louay Hussein, president of the Building the Syrian State political movement, which seeks a democratic civil state in Syria.

Hussein spoke to Al-Monitor about his resignation. The commission was formed on the basis of partisan quotas rather than through direct election of the members by the Riyadh conference. Each group chose its members in accordance with its special interests. This weakened the Supreme Commission, and my powers in this commission were significantly undermined. Mr. Riad Hijab, the commission coordinator, is issuing statements without referring to us, he said.

Hussein tacitly voiced his objection to a statement by Hijab in which Hijab expressed condolences to Jaish al-Islam for the killing of its commander, Zahran Alloush.

Regarding the existence of a third opposition delegation, Hussein said, The opposition should not be represented by two delegations. This will turn [the peace talks] into meetings for the exchange of views and positions.

He stressed that the regimes progress in Syria following the intervention of Russian forces affects the overall political process and not only the negotiations, because expectations have long been based on the balance of military forces.

Some opposition forces in Syria denounced their exclusion from the Geneva negotiations. Mahmoud Marai, head of the National Democratic Action Commission, told Al-Monitor, Geneva II was held with the participation of the National Syrian Coalition only and it was a failure. Any meeting that excludes the various spectra of the opposition inside Syria is bound to fail.

Majd Niazi, secretary-general of the Syria Homeland Party, denounced the composition of the opposition delegation and mocked it on her Facebook page Jan. 21. Niazi posted, The chief negotiator of the delegation of the Syrian opposition abroad is Sheikh Mohammad Alloush (may God protect him) and he is a member of the political body of Jaish al-Islam. He will work hard (God willing) to turn Syria into the civil, secular, pluralistic and democratic state we dream of.

These developments unfold as de Mistura announced that the negotiations may not be starting on schedule on Jan. 25. However, his office is proceeding as if they will and started to make hotel reservations for delegation members.
January 22, 2016

Baghdad  The city of Ramadi was liberated on Dec. 28, and Iraqi security troops accompanied by the Tribal Mobilization Forces, which are affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units, advanced toward the remaining cities of Anbar province that were overrun by the Islamic State (IS) in May 2015.

Despite this, fears remain that political and tribal conflicts would erupt as a result of the sharp divisions that exist between the various components of the province, leading to some political factions warning about the futility of liberating cities without instituting a plan for the post-military operations phase.

Other pressing problems exist, the solutions to which require reaching political understandings and agreements between tribes and forces with influence on the ground. These issues include the fate of volunteer tribesmen, the reconstruction of the province and the return of refugees.

As proof of these problems, political disagreements have already taken shape. Local Anbar government member Mezher al-Mulla told Al-Monitor, Some political blocs are trying to fish in troubled waters by demanding the dissolution of the Anbar provincial council [and the holding of elections for a new provincial council] with the aim of attaining posts that they failed to reach through [past] elections.

Mulla was alluding to attempts by members of parliament from the al-Wafaa lil Anbar (Faithful to Anbar) parliamentary bloc  led by former Anbar governor and current Minister of Electricity Qassim Fahdawi  to have the new governor, Suhaib al-Rawi, removed from office. They did not succeed.

Meanwhile, Iraqi parliamentarians representing Anbar deemed the provincial council unqualified to oversee reconstruction and the repatriation of refugees, with further demands being made that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi dissolve the current provincial council.

Yet, Mulla assured Al-Monitor that the head of the central government lacked the legal authority to dissolve the Anbar provincial council. He said, The absence of oversight by the council and the lack of a fiscal budget render unrealistic any demands for a solution. The Anbar post-IS period is replete with great problems and challenges that we must all address and give priority to. Most important among them are reconstruction and the return of refugees.

Mulla added, Based on estimates from the Anbar local government, the governorate is 80% destroyed, which shall hinder the repatriation of refugees. In addition, the roads leading to the governorate are dangerous due to the presence of armed militias and gangs that might target the returnees.

Mulla further affirmed that Anbars government had plans to completely redraw the province as its infrastructure was destroyed, pending financial disbursements from donors and the central government.

In that context, Hamid al-Mutlaq, member of parliament for Anbar province, called for the holding of early elections in Anbar and the formation of a new local administration, while barring the corrupt from holding office.

In a telephone call with Al-Monitor, Mutlaq said, Many factions, particularly the local government, bear responsibility for the security collapse in Anbar last year and its subsequent occupation by IS. They, therefore, must be held accountable.

Since 2003, Anbars tribes have been divided, with some backing and working with the central government, while others remained hostile to the Iraqi political process as a whole. Furthermore, regarding the positions toward IS and al-Qaeda, some accuse certain tribes of harboring extremists or joining their ranks and liquidating pro-Iraqi government factions, as was the case in November 2014 with the infamous Albu Nimr massacre during which more than 500 members of the Albu Nimr tribe were killed by IS.

The head of Anbars tribal council, Sheikh Rafi al-Fahdawi, talked to Al-Monitor about the councils opinion concerning the future of militant tribesmen. He said, Most of Anbars clans have agreed to disavow and permit the killing of all tribesmen belonging to IS; any retaliation and revenge not associated therewith shall be condemned by all. The governorate does not currently need reconciliation efforts, but we do fear political squabbles as factions aim to outdo one another, steal the glory of victory and appropriate a share of the reconstruction pie.

Fahdawi added that the real post-liberation problem revolves around how to maintain security in the province, due to its large surface area and location on Iraqs western border.

The Tribal Mobilization Forces must be maintained, either by keeping them under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Units or by converting them into an Anbar National Guard force  keeping in mind that the National Guard law remains pending in Iraqs parliament, he said.

The Iraqi government had started to assist US forces in training tribe members in Anbar in summer 2015. In September 2015, the Tribal Mobilization Forces were established, with the aim of fighting IS alongside the official Iraqi forces.

Fahdawi expressed concern about a repeat of the Sahwa experience, which suffered from neglect with most of their members relegated to civilian duties leading to the governorate losing the services of those truly capable of maintaining security. We do not mind receiving international cooperation to protect Anbars security, but any such coordination must be temporary, for, in the long term, no one can protect Anbar but its tribesmen.

Anbar militants are estimated to number more than 10,000 individuals, equipped and armed by the central government and trained by US special forces units. Tribal Mobilization Forces, currently battling IS in Sunni cities, face a fate similar to that of former Sahwa forces. These forces had fought al-Qaeda before some of them formed political parties that partook in local and general elections. Many members of the Sahwa were ultimately awarded posts by the central government in various ministries.
January 21, 2016

The Palestinian Maan News Agency published an article on Jan. 4 titled Palestine after Abbas by Ramzy Baroud. This is a clear indication that the prospect of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas resigning is a realistic possibility.

The rumor mill in Ramallah is working overtime as to the various scenarios for Abbas departure from power. Abbas represents the old guard of the Tunis leadership who, under Yasser Arafat, created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its a leadership that placed the Palestinian cause on the international agenda  first through the armed terrorist struggle against Israel and later with the Oslo Accord. This leadership succeeded in focusing world attention on the occupied territories and brought about the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA), generating hope for independence and statehood. And it is on that hope that this leadership, and especially Abbas, disappointed the Palestinian people.

In the eyes of most Palestinians, the failed strategy of negotiation and diplomacy expresses a betrayal by the current leadership of the Palestinian national cause. According to a Dec. 14 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, two-thirds of Palestinians are in favor of replacing Abbas.

A senior PA official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that there is no certainty that Abbas will indeed leave his post; moreover, Abbas actually has no intention of doing so. Nevertheless, the source admitted that the political situation of the president is unstable. Abbas is 81 years old and people want a changing of the guard. Armed struggle is more popular today in the Palestinian street than diplomacy. The economy suffers from a deep crisis given the security situation and the fatigue of the donor community.

The PA official, who is part of the presidents circle, blames the international community and part of the Arab world for letting Abbas down. He said, International passivity is a kiss of death to Palestinian moderation.

According to the source, the Palestinian leadership's future could be played out in various scenarios. The most likely scenario, he believes, is that Abbas will stay in power. While criticized across the board, Abbas is still viewed as the leader who enjoys the best relations with the international and Arab donor community. A second possibility would be that of changing leadership at a later stage (where Abbas stays only for the short-term). In that case, the security authorities might take over, with a possible new figurehead as president.

The PA official noted that the only outside party with a role in this possible future power struggle could be Egypt. The Egyptians may want to see an Abdel Fattah al-Sisi-like regime (led by a general) in the West Bank in order to counter Hamas.

Altogether, the PA official claimed that, in the long run, the old guard  Tunis PLO  regime would probably come to an end. A new leadership will emerge from Fatah grassroots in the West Bank. These new leaders would be young people who fought in the past intifadas  a leadership that would be more militant, more nationalistic, and in favor of a two-state solution without any concession to Israel. It would be an effective leadership, but with little love lost for liberal democracy.

For Israel, that would be bad news. This would most probably mean that continuation of the security cooperation would be conditioned on a short, realistic process toward a two-state solution. A personal confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed very sharp criticism of Abbas. He described Abbas as a double-faced and weak person. To the world, the source claimed, Abbas speaks in a moderate language about a two-state solution. In reality, he is inciting violence by glorifying the individual terror acts. He attempts to prevent an intifada only out of self-interest. Netanyahu, he argued, sees in Abbas a rejectionist who refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and a weak leader who will sooner or later be overthrown by the fundamentalists.

Despite this blatant criticism, the official admitted that Abbas is still the Israeli governments preferred option and that the prime ministers office is concerned about the possibility of Abbas being overthrown. Asked how the Netanyahu government would deal with an alternative leadership, he said that it would present to this new leadership the same conditions it had presented to Abbas: Without the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and an acceptance of Israels basic security arrangement demands, there would be no two-state solution.

Indeed, it is clear that the Netanyahu government is faced with a dichotomy: on one side, it wants a weak Abbas; on the other, it wants him to stay in power.

Netanyahu did his utmost to weaken Abbas, refusing a realistic two-state solution by significantly expanding settlement construction, releasing Hamas prisoners and not prisoners of Fatah and launching a worldwide communication campaign to depict Abbas as a terror instigator. But at the same time, privately, in the confidence of his close associates, Netanyahu prays for Abbas political survival.

Israel will probably soon find out that it does not work both ways.
January 22, 2016

Following the Jan. 2 execution of the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi Arabia, Shiite leaders from around the world issued statements of condolence and protest. Among the collection of stances expressed, a clear distinction could be seen between those reflecting the position of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and those following the thinking of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, leader of the Najaf Hawza. This distinction has been of consequence to the Saudi regime and will perhaps increase in importance with implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal and the public opposition to Nimr's execution.

Khamenei issued a statement Jan. 3 that not only condemned the execution of Nimr and hurled accusations at the Saudi regime, but also went so far as to portend its demise. The oppressed martyrs blood will leave its mark, and divine vengeance shall strike down Saudi politicians for their conduct in his regard, wrote Khamenei. In contrast, Sistani avoided attacking the Saudi regime, and instead expressed solidarity with the families of the 47 people executed  four Shiites (including Nimr) and the rest Sunnis, most of them affiliated with al-Qaeda. Sistani simply stated, We condemn and denounce what occurred and express our condolences and sympathy to their bereaved families for this great loss.

The different approaches of the two ayatollahs reflect a divergence between two distinct Shiite philosophies with an effect on Shiite minorities living in majority-Sunni worlds. The dichotomy is also reflective of the positions taken by Khamenei and Sistani over the years in their religious capacities.

Khamenei, the political and religious leader of the largest Shiite country in the region (and the world), considers himself to be the custodian of all Muslims, not just Shiites. On his official website, he describes himself as the Guardian of Muslims, a characterization justified by his view that the guardianship of Muslims is a divinely mandated post, about which Muslims have no say irrespective of whether they actually accept him as their guardian.

Meanwhile, Sistani does not consider himself to be the guardian of Shiites in Iraq or anywhere else in the world. He views all Muslims as brothers. In an August 2014 meeting with Shiites from the Gulf, a question arose about professing loyalty to him. Sistani responded, Do not sanctify anyone and refrain from giving anyone importance beyond their status or rank. Concerning Shiite relations with other segments of society, he said, Do not attack or criticize the sanctities and symbols of others. Let mutual respect reign between all. In addition, Sistani criticized the revolutionary movements of the Arab Spring, considering them seditious and the cause of sectarianism, resulting in heinous crimes.

After Nimrs execution, official websites affiliated with Khamenei were filled with sharp criticism, similar to his, targeting the Saudi regime, prophesying its imminent demise. Khamenei had also earlier criticized the Saudi regime in various speeches as the Iranian-Saudi conflict intensified in the region.

Sistani, however, has been more balanced when discussing the Saudis. In Nimr's case, Sistani chose first to focus his efforts on preventing Saudi Arabia from actually carrying out the death penalty against Nimr. In doing so, he avoided escalating and inflaming the political-sectarian conflict with the Saudi regime.

According to Saudi Shiite cleric Musa Abu Khamseen, the majority of Saudi Shiites follow Sistani and do not espouse the revolutionary approach advocated by Khamenei. They include the movement represented by Nimr, who belonged to the Shirazi school of thought, known for its religiously motivated opposition to the approach of Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini based on political Shiism and revolutionary Islam, mixed with anti-Saudi inclinations. Nimrs rhetoric focused on civic demands, although the lack of any meaningful redress by the Saudi regime ultimately compelled him to escalate his position and rhetoric. Saudi security forces arrested him after a speech he delivered in June 2012 and charged him with sowing sedition among Shiites.

Iran, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, began spreading its philosophy to Saudi Arabia, giving rise to a strong anti-Saud opposition movement there, mainly through Hezbollah al-Hejaz, established in 1987. The latter initially attracted supporters from the kingdoms predominantly Shiite Eastern Province, but collapsed in 1993 when its leadership  including Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar, known for his moderation and contacts with the Saudi regime  entered into negotiations and ultimately signed agreements with the regime concerning the return of exiled Shiite leaders.

In another sign that Shiites in eastern Saudi Arabia are not necessarily hostile toward the regime, Nimrs brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, despite strongly condemning his brothers execution, also condemned the storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran on the same day.

Sistanis moderate stance and influence among Shiites is an important opportunity that the Saudi regime could take advantage of to provide equal civil rights to its Shiite minority and help defend against the rise of Iran-backed revolutionary movements. With the implementation of the deal on Iran's nuclear program, the balance of power is shifting in Iran's favor, making such a step urgent if it is to be taken. To strengthen its society against foreign powers, the regime must support all its components and integrate them in a united Saudi Arabia.
Our Little Kitchen gumbo

A cup of Our Little Kitchen's gumbo. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)

EAT

It's about a seven hour drive to New Orleans from Huntsville. Which makes Pinhook Provisions Street Food Park's Cajun Takeover event a time-efficient substitute for a Big Easy sojourn. Beads. King cakes. Crawfish. Beignets. Dixieland music. Gumbo. They're all part of the plan. Huntsville area food trucks scheduled include Fire & Spice, Our Little Kitchen, Flat Top Burgers, Honeypie Bakery, Sugar Belle Cupcakes, HotBox and Food Fighters. In addition, collections will be made at the event for Blount Hospitality House, which provides lodging and supportive accommodations for families of critically ill patients seeking treatment at area hospitals. Visit Pinhook's Facebook page for a list of needed items.

Cajun Takeover, 5 - 9 p.m. Jan. 30, free to attend, Pinhook Provisions Street Food Park, 2315 Bob Wallace Ave. S.W., 256-489-4441,facebook.com/pinhookstreetfood

PLAY

The Google Calendar description says it all, fantasy gaming buffs: "Join us as we battle against the Tyranny of Dragons." This Dungeons and Dragons 5.0 Adventurer's League is held at local comic book shop The Deep.

D&D Adventurer's League, 7 - 9 p.m. Jan. 27, The Deep Comics & Games, 2310 Memorial Pkwy. S.W., 256- 532-1292, deepcomics.com

DRINK

A statewide Alabama Brewers Guild collaboration, Badlun Brothers Imperial Porter was brewed as a tribute to siblings James and William Badlun's 1819-founded Huntsville brewery, the state's first. "This is a robust and complex porter with a large amount of molasses, dark malt and English hops," guild executive director Dan Roberts says. "We decided to make a porter since Alabama's first brewery created a porter." Every brewery belonging to Alabama Brewers Guild, stretching from Fairhope to Huntsville, contributed something to the brewing even if it was just a bag of grain. Badlun Brothers Imperial Porter is part of a series of collaboration guild beers building up to Alabama's bicentennial in 2019. A portion of sales proceeds will be donated to the Alabama Constitution Village's Bicentennial Restoration Fund.

Badlun Brothers Imperial Porter, about $10 for a 22-ounce bottle, 9 percent ABV (alcohol by volume), available approximately Jan. 30 at Huntsville-area craft-beer retailers including Liquor Express (1812 University Drive), Old Town Beer Exchange (301 Holmes Ave. E.) and Wish You Were Beer (7407 Hwy 72 W., Madison), albeer.org

LIVE MUSIC

Nashville quintet Stone Senate brings a hard-rock edge to their post-Skynyrd material, such as "Hell I Waited" and "Right Side Up." This is music made to soundtrack Saturday night carousing.

Stone Senate, Humphrey's Bar & Grill, 10 p.m. Jan. 30, no cover, 103 Washington St. N.E., humphreysdowntown.com, stonesenate.com

BRUNCH

Creme Brulee French Toast sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it? Particularly if it's on the new Sunday brunch menu served at premier Jones Valley restaurant Mezza Luna. Other times offered include Chicken & Waffles, Crab, Leek & Provolone Omelet, Mediterranean Skillet and Ricotta Cheese Doughnuts.

Brunch, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Sundays, most items $8 - $18, Mezza Luna 2724 Carl T. Jones Drive S.E., 256-650-2514, mezzalunahuntsville.com
An Anniston man was killed following an Saturday afternoon domestic dispute.

The Anniston Star reported Michael Clark, 30, was shot multiple times at the Country Court Inn off U.S. Highway 78. He died at Regional Medical Center.

Clark was in a dispute with Daphne Fuester at the motel, police told the newspaper.

Police said a 22-year-old man, the son of Fuester, was being interviewed by investigators.

"He wound up involving himself in the situation in defense of his mother," Police Chief Shane Denham said. "He wound up shooting Mr. Clark multiple times."
Amy Young and her family moved to Oregon because the medicine her daughter needs is illegal in Alabama.

State Rep. Mike Ball said he plans to introduce a bill next month to change that. And he's confident it's going to pass.

"The people I've talked to about it seem very receptive to it," said Ball, R-Madison. "It's nothing like it was a couple of years ago when I started on Carly's Law. This is a whole different dynamic."

In 2014, Carly's Law passed the legislature without dissent once it stipulated that the University of Alabama at Birmingham would maintain control over the study and distribution of CBD oil - a derivative of the marijuana plant that has proven effective in cases of reducing seizures and does not yield an intoxicating high.

Young said her daughter, Leni, applied to be a part of the UAB study but she did not meet FDA qualifications. Without access to the CBD oil at UAB, the Young family left their home in Wetumpka for Oregon, where it's legal.

What happened when Leni, who is now 4, began getting doses of cannabis oil, according to her mother, was nothing short of a miracle.

"I prayed and hoped that it would help. But I had no idea that the changes would be this profound. She's doing things we were told beyond her realm...ever," Young told AL.com. "It has given our little girl her life. She is a happy, sweet, opinionated little girl.

"Every moment is just such a gift."

Ball is calling his bill "Leni's Law."

"I woke up a few months ago in the middle of the night - I couldn't sleep - and Amy had posted a video on Facebook of Leni after she had just started taking it and it's like she had changed a life," Ball said. "And I knew what I had to do. And even though they are not here - they're refugees -- there are other families (in Alabama) and we don't need people leaving to try to help their families.

"I think it's time to take this step and I'm going to do everything I can to get it done. I think a lot of folks are going to come out of the woodwork to help me."

Leni had a "pretty catastrophic stroke" before she was born, her mother said.

"(The stroke) destroyed all of her brain except for a small strip of frontal lobe and her brain stem," her mother said. "We had a pretty grim prognosis for her. When she was 7-months-old, her seizures began and immediately they were pretty life threatening."

The seizures - dozens a day, Amy said - were so frequent that Amy said she and her husband didn't even count the small ones.

After moving to Oregon and starting a regimen of cannabis oil - which does not contain THC, which creates the intoxicating high, but does include THCA, which does not create a high - Leni's seizures have dropped to about one every four-to-six weeks.

Her other pharmaceutical drugs have been reduced by 20 percent as well, Leni's mom said.

"Her oil does not get her stoned," Amy said.

Leni has progressed to the point to where she can sit up almost independently and watch the Disney movie "Frozen." Her parents now have to spell "ice cream" because she's learned what it means "and she wants it all the time," her mom said.

"This Christmas was the first Christmas we could buy toys with that she could actually play with," Amy said. "Every day, there's something new."

Even on a Facebook video, Ball could tell the difference. He got to know Leni and her family when he helped push Carly's Law through the legislature.

"So if you weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks of doing this, it's a no-brainer," Ball said.

He also cited the research ongoing at UAB that's he said revealed the benefits of the marijuana oil - giving scientific backing to what had largely been anecdotal evidence of effectiveness. UAB spokesman Bob Shepard said in an email to AL.com that the school was not in a position to discuss their findings at this time.

Researchers at UAB will be submitting their findings for publication in a peer-reviewed journal in the near future, Shepard said. He said the investigators are "encouraged by what they are seeing."

"We've got more understanding of it than we had a couple of years ago," Ball said, referring to the UAB study. "But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence and I will say this: I haven't found any evidence of any negative side effects. The drug stores are full of over-the-counter things that have more side effects than that stuff does."

For the Youngs, who now live near Portland, the bill becoming law would be a lifeline to their home state. Because Leni is dependent on the cannabis oil, they cannot bring her to Alabama without breaking the law. And Leni's big sister is on track to graduate from Auburn University in December and a bevy of grandparents are in Alabama, too.

"The difference in her is beyond anything we could have dreamed for and hoped for," Amy said of Leni. "From this point, I'm not putting any limits on her. I'm never going to say she's not going to talk. I'm never going to say she's not going to walk. At this point, I'm not sure."
One man was killed and another was injured in an early Sunday morning shooting in DeKalb County.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office told WHNT that Barry White was fatally shot after attempting to give a ride to a woman who had gotten into an argument with another man in the Higdon community.

The woman went to a neighbor's house to call for a ride after getting into a dispute with Cody Wade, authorities say. The relationship between the woman and Wade wasn't released.

Two men, including White, picked the woman up on a nearby roadway. Police said Wade also tried to get in the vehicle and got into a dispute with the men.

According to the sheriff's office, Wade fired multiple shots at the moving vehicle. At least one of the bullets struck and killed White.

Wade was arrested. His charges weren't immediately available.
Few details are being released in a Saturday morning shooting that left a northwest Florida couple and another man dead.

The triple homicide occurred in a quiet subdivision in Crestview, Fla.

Kevin T. McGrath, 47, and Shanna L. McGrath, 42, were found shot to death inside their home in the Sandy Ridge subdivision, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported.

Another man, Elbert L. Merrick III of Milton, 22, was found dead outside the residence.

A fourth person, Jacob R. Langston, 22, a resident of the same subdivision, suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds.

The McGraths' pet Weimaraner dog, suffered three gunshot wounds during the incident and is currently in stable condition. The dog will require surgery.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene speculated the dog was trying to protect someone and was shot.

The motive behind the homicides remains under investigation.

Crestwood police are attempting to stop a rumor that the shootings were a murder-suicide attempt.

"The Crestview Police Department will be the only source of information being released in this case and we encourage everyone to be patient as the investigation continues," the department stated.
A Raisin in the Sun makes history with an almost entirely black cast and raises questions about race in Sweden.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore 

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over 

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Harlem by Langston Hughes

When Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun  the first Broadway play written by an African American woman  premiered in New York in 1959, it was as thought-provoking, controversial and inspiring as the poem from which it borrowed its title.

Set at the start of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, it centres on an African American family, the Youngers, as they dream of a better life but encounter the harsh realities of American racism.

It became a Broadway classic and is once again making history  this time in Sweden, in Swedish, where it is due to premiere for the first time in Scandinavia on February 5th, the National Touring Theatre of Sweden, Riksteatern.

It will be the first time that a play has featured an all-black lead cast in Sweden. In fact, all the roles but one are played by black actors.

Many of our actors and actresses went through a personal journey of self-discovery and reckoning with their reality as black Swedes, explains the plays director, Josette Bushell-Mingo.

Bushell-Mingo  who is also the artistic director of the Riksteatern Tyst Teater, a chairperson for CINEMAFRICA, and chairperson for TRYCK, the Afro-Swedish organisation for culture workers  is on a mission to bring more African voices to the forefront of Swedish arts and theatre.

And it comes, she believes, at an important time for Sweden.

Race hate crimes

A recent government-sponsored report has revealed that black Swedes  or Afro-Swedes as they are commonly called in Sweden  particularly male Afro-Swedes  are more likely to be victims of racist attacks than any other minority in the country.

Since 2008, when Swedens Crime Preventing Body (Brottsforebygganderadet  BRA) began keeping statistics, the number of recorded hate crimes against blacks has increased at an alarming rate.

Bushell-Mingo draws parallels between the experiences of the plays Younger family in segregated 1950s Chicago, its psychological consequences and the experiences of many black Swedes today.

And while the circumstances they encounter are by no means equal, there are certain similarities she says the public, especially black and minority audiences, can relate to. Its a feeling of discrimination that can only be understood by people that go through it in their daily life.

RELATED: Racist murder sparks Swedens Black Lives Matter

Culture as a form of power and a tool for change

Sweden is currently home to an estimated 180,000 black Swedes, around 90 percent of whom have roots in sub-Saharan Africa. Forty percent of these were born in Sweden.

But Bushell-Mingo, who moved to Sweden from the UK in 2004, believes black Swedes, along with other minority groups, struggle to find representation in the countrys cultural and artistic scene. And this is important, she says, because culture is a tool for political change.

Culture creates environments for people to express and understand themselves, as well as empower and inspire. Theatre and culture speak more directly to the people 

Bushell-Mingo draws connections between the findings of the report on racism towards black Swedes and the discussions about representation in Sweden.

She points to two particular examples: The first is that of the artist Makode Linde naming his art exhibition Return of the n***** king  which he later changed after protests emerged from the public through newspaper debates in articles and social media. The second is the controversial poster for the Swedish Royal Opera House which in expressing and emotional aspect of the production showed a white foot pressing on the face of a black male dancer, which was again met with ferocious arguments in newspapers and social media.

We need to discuss what this means. We need to discuss and examine what  makes it OK to use the n-word . What the word means in Sweden. Do we know what that word came from  the pain, the struggle? says Bushell-Mingo.

The opera poster incident was PR mistake. What was being discussed during the meeting where that decision was made ? Bushell-Mingo asks. That is what is distressing but also politically challenging.

Bushell-Mingo believes that culture and art are crucial to challenging these questions, to showing the evil of racism, as well as encouraging Afro-Swedes to be proud and embrace all aspects of their heritage.

READ MORE: Somali childrens magazine launched in Sweden

Telling our own stories

In order for us to move forward, we need to understand where we have come from, also as a diaspora, Bushell-Mingo says.

That is why doing the play A Raisin in the Sun is so important on so many levels. It is not the only play out there, and there are many more to be done.

Afro-Swedish plays must be written, too. So this play, she believes, can be part of the cultural journey for Afro-Swedes as they deal with more racism, more debate, questions of class, more pride  a journey, like the Younger family, that will be tough, scary and, in the end, triumphant

Great art is like that, she says. Its like a mirror that is there, constantly looking back at us.

In the future, Bushell-Mingo would like to see the creation of an African-Swede theatre company that produces African diaspora plays.

WATCH: No such thing as race in Sweden?

She quotes the award-winning African American playwright, August Wilson: Its important to tell our stories, because we do it differently. We need to find our stories again to remind us where we come from and to give us the strength to carry on, she adds.

She considers the play a form of activism for her children and for future generations.

A Raisin in The Sun  also shows us that we are not alone. We, as black people, have the humanity, dignity and grace. We are part of a great spiritual lineage, and our souls have been here forever  and our diverse history strengthens us.

You can follow Fatma Naib on Twitter @FatmaNaib
Sinaloa cartel rivalries present an omnipresent risk of extortion, kidnapping and death for migrants travelling through.

Altar, Mexico  One single road cuts through drowsy Altar, an hours drive south of the American border at Sasabe, Arizona. At first glance, the town seems a sleepy outpost. But this look is deceiving.

Foot soldiers of the drug cartels, young, tough-looking men on bikes, patrol the blocks. Men in pick-up trucks with fully tinted windows and no licence plates drive up and down the one main road menacingly.

A migrant pulls his jacket over his head and trots into a shop. But his attempt to make himself invisible is of little use. No one gets in  or out  of Altar without the permission of the cartels.

The migrant hub

You cant trust anyone here, says Juan, a 38-year-old migrant who hopes to find work in the US. He is a widower and father of six children from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, staying at a church-run shelter for migrants. The shelter offers a safe place to stay and a meal for migrants whove undertaken a difficult and dangerous journey.

After the US tightened border security controls following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Altar was transformed into a hub for migrants seeking to enter the country illegally through remote desert routes.

In this small town the shops, exclusively geared towards migrants, offer everything from coyotes  as the human traffickers here are known  to camouflage, sand-coloured clothing and anti-snakebite kits.

But these days, the little town plaza is no longer crowded. Local authorities and shop owners say up to 3,000 people once arrived here every day from all over the world in the hope of reaching their American dream.

Today, however, the flow of people is reduced significantly. Yet everyone here agrees that dangers lurk at every corner for the few migrants who take the risk to travel through this town.

The drug cartels, locally referred to as la mafia, control an extensive network of human traffickers and informants. They extort for money, kidnap and kill migrants at will. The locals think they have infiltrated the local branches of the police and government structures.

The ongoing conflict over trafficking routes between two rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel, Los Memos and Los Salazar, means that there is increased competition over the migrants that do arrive.

Pay or be killed

To cross the Sasabe desert and go on to Arizona, migrants are told they must pay about $4,500 to the coyote, who is appointed by the cartels. They are also forced to pay an additional $700 in a separate tax to the criminal groups themselves.

At the church-run shelter, there were rumours that the week before, two Honduran migrants were murdered after they took the fatal decision to embark on the journey north without paying.

Juan, the migrant from the south of Mexico, is left without any money after his long and perilous journey through the country.

Now he has been offered to get over the border mochilando  as a drug mule, carrying a backpack filled with at least 30kg of marijuana.

But Juan is hesitant and well aware of the stories about how migrants are killed once the merchandise is delivered.

Im afraid. Every single day I try to come up with something else. But if I dont send any money home soon, my children will die of hunger, he says, his eyes filled with tears.

Decreased crossings

Figures of the number of those apprehended by the US border patrol indicate that fewer and fewer migrants are risking the crossing than in previous years.

According to US Border Control data, from 1983 through 2006, more than one million migrants were detained trying to cross the US-Mexico border. But the number has come down significantly in recent years, with only 337,117 apprehensions in 2015, the lowest since 1971.

Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the US immigration programme at the Migration Policy Institute, attributed this decrease to the stricter border security policies in the US.

And this decrease is having a significant effect on the small town that depends on the commerce of migrants.

Pretty much all the stores geared towards the migrants have had to close.The same thing goes for the hotels and flophouses. Almost 60 percent of Altar are without work, says the newly appointed mayor, Everardo Martinez, from Mexicos governing party the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Martinez rejects the notion that Altar is dangerous and that drug cartels still pose a problem here.

Extortions, kidnappings and killings of migrants are not an issue anymore. Its something that belongs to the past, he says.

Weddings for security

Prisciliano Peraza, a catholic priest and a well-known activist for migrant rights, laughs at the denial presented by the mayor. What does he know? he says. Peraza thinks the mayor is downplaying the influence of the criminal networks because he is involved in them.

The mayor may have a new job, but he hasnt given up drug and human trafficking, Pereza says.

As a part of his routine, Pereza travels around the villages surrounding Altar to conduct weddings, baptisms and religious services for la mafia and their loved ones.

He speeds through the unforgiving desert landscape just a few kilometres from the American border in his Chevy pick-up truck every weekend. I do this for my own security, says the priest.

Although they sell drugs and kill people at will, theyre still concerned about being in the good graces of God, he says hiding his gaze behind aviator sunglasses and a cowboy hat.

Human trafficking accounts for an increasing part of the income for the cartels. It is a safer way of making money, according to the priest.

The sentences are shorter, and no matter what, the migrants will always pay, Peraza says.

Not afraid of death

When you know the kind of life you can have in the US, its worth risking your life to obtain it, says Dagoberto, a migrant from Honduras, a country plagued with gang violence.

The 53-year old had already lived in the US twice previously. He has two grown children who live in Washington DC. But, he was deported during his last stay there. This time, he plans to head to Atlanta, Georgia.

He has spent a month and a half traversing Central America and Mexico. He recounts that on his journey, he has been robbed by criminals and has been extorted for money and his clothes by the police.

When the blisters on his feet heal, he will once again try to cross the border. But without money, he may have to take the potentially fatal risk of a backpack stuffed with narcotics on his back.

But he says he does not fear death.

Ive had a long life. If its my turn to go, the time will be right.
The initiative aims at promoting the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in India.

From begging at the traffic lights of Mumbai to now being trained as a driver for Indias first cab service operated by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Sanjeevani Chauhans life has come full circle.

When you see a transgender or a gay person driving a cab in Mumbai, the other transgenders who are begging on the streets will definitely want to be a part of this change, said Ganesh Somwanshi, project director for Wings Rainbow, Indias first cab service to employ LGBT drivers.

Wings Travel, along with Humsafar Trust, a Mumbai-based NGO that works to promote the rights of Indias gay community, launched the pilot phase of the Wings Rainbow initiative by enrolling Chauhan and four others.

They hope to expand to at least 1,500 taxis by the end of this year.



Witness  Powerless in India

There are so many of us who are in the sex trade or begging on the streets, Chauhan, who has been working as a counsellor for Humsafar for nearly three years, told Al Jazeera.

Working as a cab driver will not only give us a job and security but also a different kind of respect and acceptance within the society.

According to government figures, there are 2.5 million gays in India.

Even though India legally recognises transgenders, the LGBT community is heavily marginalised, suffering from intolerance and few opportunities for social integration.

It took us nearly two months to get everyone on board, said Somwanshi.

We did our research and spoke to gays, lesbians and transgenders to find out if they were ready for a project like this.

They had their apprehensions and werent sure if they would get enough customers, if people would take them seriously and what if customers refuse to pay for the ride.

In 2014, Indias Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment recognising the third gender and granted them equal rights to education, jobs and driving licences.

However, India still functions under the rules of the British colonial era that criminalises homosexuality as a punishable offence.

READ MORE: India LGBT group parades for their rights

After the NALSA judgment, constitutionally LGBTs were given all the rights, but we had to figure out how to implement this on a grassroots level, Pallav Patankar, director of programmes at Humsafar, told Al Jazeera.

Patankar explained that, as a gay man in India, he completely understood the challenges and obstacles Wings Rainbow will face.

He has been working for almost 20 years advocating for the rights of the LGBT community and empowering them through vocational training, computer literacy classes and convincing corporations to invest in jobs for the LGBT.

They have a right to work and live like everyone else, Patankar said, adding that We need to build their capacity but also sensitise the general public towards accepting them in such roles.

Chauhan expects to make around $200 per month as a cab driver and is quite confident of getting customers easily when compared to other drivers.

I am not sure about the men but many women in Mumbai will be more comfortable being driven by us instead of the male drivers because they would feel a lot more safer with us, Chauhan said.

It will take nearly a year until the taxis hit the Mumbai roads but we can see the realities slowly changing on the ground for the LGBTs in India.

Follow Zainab Sultan on Twitter: @ZainabSultan
The re-solidification of an authoritarian order and the impending uprising in Egypt.

Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Egypts January 25, 2011 uprising is history, and  depending on how upcoming five-year anniversary protests play out  so may be the uprisings aspirations for bread, freedom, and social justice.

Following the February 2011 ousting of dictator Hosni Mubarak, Egypt entered into a promising  albeit tenuous and difficult  democratic transition. Although the old political order maintained its essential character, several democratic elections and referendums, a new constitution, and unprecedented political inclusion and participation threatened Egypts 60-year military dictatorship. The June 2012 election of a civilian president  the Muslim Brotherhoods Mohamed Morsi  was a significant achievement.

But Egypts most deeply entrenched state institutions  the military, police, judiciary, and media  were never onboard with the 2011 uprising. Each institution worked to derail the democratic transition, aided at times by clumsy transitional governance by the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that swept Egypts 2011-2012 election season, and an arguably anti-democratic liberal opposition.





On July 3, 2013  and with the support of large anti-Morsi protests  the Egyptian military, led by Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, carried out a military coup, arresting Morsi and assuming formal control of the state. Roughly one year after the coup, Sisi was elected president in a sham election.

Now five years removed from a democratic uprising, Egypt finds itself once again mired in authoritarianism. Perhaps remarkably, the state has managed to control public discontent enough to prevent the kind of mass protests that could put Sisi at risk.

How has Sisi managed to re-solidify an authoritarian order? How has he managed to subdue a motivated citizenry that has, in the past, appeared willing to die for freedom? Finally, how long will he be able to survive amid growing discontent?

Brute force

Sisi has governed Egypt with a proverbial iron fist, intimidating, jailing and killing dissenters and manufacturing loyalty through fear. The police, military, judiciary and media have all played key roles.

ALSO READ: Egypts revolutionary conundrum

Egypts security forces, embarrassed during the countrys 2011 uprising, seem to have taken one important lesson from their experiences  that the force they employed to protect Mubarak wasnt enough.

Following the 2013 coup, security forces arrested more than 40,000 people and committed several mass killings, killing more than 2,500 people in all. by

Following the 2013 coup, security forces arrested more than 40,000 people and committed several mass killings, killing more than 2,500 people in all.

The violence seems to have worked  fear has reduced the size and frequency of anti-coup protests. Even when protests have been launched, security forces have set up security walls to prevent dissenters from gathering in large squares, and the government has effectively banned television coverage of marches. These measures ensure that a spectacle  the kind that galvanised the opposition in 2011  doesnt take place.

The state has also used forced disappearance and torture as methods of intimidation. Amnesty International says torture has been rampant since the coup, while more than 300 cases of forced disappearance were documented over a recent two-month period.

Rather than investigate police and military abuses, the state has appeased both entities. Sisi has given multiple pay raises to military and police officers; erected a statue honouring police at Cairos Rabaa Square, the site of the largest police-perpetrated massacre; and awarded the military a multi-billion dollar business contract.

The state has also unleashed a fierce hyper-nationalist propaganda campaign that frames police and military as victims, heroes and protectors.

Egypt has also passed dozens of draconian laws, including a law that criminalises protests. A new rubber-stamp parliamenthas already pledged loyalty to Sisi and the judiciary has aided Sisi at nearly every step. Judges have issued several mass death sentences, including one sentence against 529 people for the alleged killing of a single policeman.

Upcoming anniversary protests

Sisi has successfully crushed dissent in the short-term, but it is doubtful that his brand of governance can completely subdue opposition in the long-term.

Harsh brands of authoritarianism tend to give rise to violent resistance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, terrorist attacks have increased dramatically in the Sisi era and Egypt is now an ISIL recruiting ground.

There are signs that Egyptians are growing increasingly discontent. Although the state projects the president as universally popular, polls show Morsis popularity on par with Sisis, and that about half of Egyptians disapprove of the 2013 military takeover.

ALSO READ: Revisiting Egypts 2013 military takeover

Sisis government is clearly concerned about upcoming protests planned for January 25. An Egyptian security official told Reuters that the government has taken several measures to ensure activists dont have breathing space and are unable to gather.

The government has recently arrested several dozen Facebook page administrators for allegedly inciting protests, and sent directives to religious leaders to deliver sermons about patriotism and security. The security forces have also raided random homes to check Facebook accounts for signs of dissent.

Sisi is likely safe for now, but for how long? History and political science both suggest that another uprising is a matter of when, not if.

Mohamad Elmasry is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications at the University of North Alabama.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Five years after the Arab Spring, analysts say the conditions are in place for another uprising in Egypt.

In a speech marking the Prophet Muhammads birthday last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned critics not to hold protests on January 25, the fifth anniversary on the 2011 popular uprising, saying a new revolt could destroy the country.

Why am I hearing calls for another revolution? Why do you want to ruin [Egypt]? I came by your will and your choice, and not despite it, Sisi told the hand-picked audience of politicians, media pundits and members of Egypts newly elected parliament.

Sisis words, greeted by a roar of applause, revealed the regimes fears that another popular uprising may be brewing.





As Egypt nears the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended three decades of Hosni Mubaraks rule, analysts and activists say the regime is imposing a reign of terror to deter people from marking the day. Security forces have stepped up their crackdown on activists: On January 7, police arrested three administrators of Facebook pages allegedly promoting anti-government protests on January 25. Four journalists, along with members of the April 6 Youth Movement, have also been arrested.

In addition, earlier this week, security forces conducted mass searches of flats, primarily in downtown Cairo near Tahrir Square, the heart of the 2011 protests. Hundreds of Egyptian revolutionaries and regime opponents are already behind bars, and the religious establishment has described those calling for a new round of January 25 protests as weak believers who carry extremist ideas.

The spirit of the January uprising continues to pose a threat to the regime, despite the fact that none of the known revolutionary forces actually called for protests, to my knowledge, Khalil al-Anani, a political science professor at the Doha Institute, told Al Jazeera.

OPINION: Arabs in the eye of history

While it is difficult to predict when uprisings will take place and in what form, the regimes concerns do not seem entirely imaginary, analysts say.

There is likely just as much support today for an uprising as there was on January 25, 2011, Wael Haddara, a former adviser to Egypts deposed President Mohamed Morsi, told Al Jazeera. The social and economic grievances that led to the 2011 uprising are present in ways quite similar to 2010, Haddara added.

Other analysts concurred, citing a raft or problems in Egypt today: a worse dictatorship than before the 2011 uprising, brutal police practices, the targeting of activists and journalists by security forces, a deteriorating economic situation, and a newly elected parliament that is dominated by pro-government figures.

The very fact that there is widespread speculation about the likelihood of a popular uprising tell us how unstable Egypt is. by Wael Haddara, former adviser to Egypt's deposed President Mohamed Morsi

While the Egyptian state of 2010 was brutal in some ways, that of 2015 is far more so, said Michele Dunn, the director and a senior associate with the Middle East programme at the Carnegie Endowment. The government has succeeded to some extent in rebuilding the wall of fear between citizens and the state, Dunn told Al Jazeera.

But with a spate of industrial actions picking up steam in recent weeks, coupled with an increase in the mass of unemployed and simmering popular discontent over the widening gap between what Egyptians were promised and what has been delivered to them, analysts say the regime has reason to worry.

The conditions are certainly in place for another wave of popular uprising, Haddara said. The very fact that there is widespread speculation about the likelihood of a popular uprising tells us how unstable Egypt is.

Although street protests have all but dried up in Egypt since an anti-protest law was passed in November 2013, popular unrest has not completely burned out.

Last August, thousands of public sector workers took to the streets in one of the biggest street actions since July 2013, when a military coup led by Sisi deposed Morsi. The workers were protesting against the civil service law issued last March, which they say negatively affects up to seven million civil servants by decreasing their income, increasing the managerial powers of administrators and introducing regulations that threaten basic workers rights.

Gilbert Achqar, author of the book The People Want, noted that Egypts 2011 uprising came after five years of significant developments in the struggle of Egyptian workers. The wave of labour strikes was instrumental in precipitating Mubaraks downfall. Whether Sisi will face the same fate is a big question, Achqar told Al Jazeera.

On January 9, Democracy Meter, an NGO that monitors the Egyptian labour movement, issued its annual report on Egyptian industrial actions, citing 1,117 labour protests throughout 2015  an average of around three each day.

Another cause of concern for the regime is the wave of public anger that has followed a number of recent deaths in police stations. Over the past two months, thousands of citizens have taken to the streets in Luxor and Ismailia governorates to protest against the killings of Talaat Shabib and Afify Hosny, reportedly tortured to death by police. Incidents of police brutality and the ensuing lack of accountability were among the driving forces behind the 2011 uprising.

The simmering unrest in Egypt today indicates that the public sphere has yet to be brought completely under military and police control, analysts say.

Securing popular support, or at least ending widespread discontent, is necessary for the construction of a military-backed regime under Sisi, said Amr Adly, a senior researcher at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center.

OPINION: Egypts hollow parliament

Some observers, however, prescribe caution, suggesting that fears of a repeat of 2011 are overblown. While the anniversary of the uprising remains an open wound in the view of many Egyptians, the fissures and schisms that divide the disparate factions, whose unity once made history in Tahrir Square, appear beyond mending, as they still suffer from a lack of leadership and vision.

It is unlikely that the generals dominance will be met with the kind of unified challenge that toppled Mubarak, one analyst told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

Still, there are continuing calls for another revolution.

Late last year, an unknown group of activists issued a call for demonstrations on the revolutions anniversary through a Facebook event, to which at least 50,000 people registered their attendance. Another group advocating an uprising against the Sisi regime initiated the hashtag #WeAreBackToTheSquare, while others have used the hashtag #IParticipatedInTheJanuary25Revolution.

If public opinion turns against Sisi after two years of his rule without economic improvements, more turmoil in the form of another popular uprising and another military coup could well be in the cards. by Michele Dunn, director and senior associate with the Middle East programme at the Carnegie Endowment

An organiser of the Facebook event told a local news website that reclaiming the revolution was among the groups goals. But other activists were sceptical, saying they did not expect this anniversary to be any different from the last one, and predicting that it would be mainly characterised by demonstrations of small numbers of people and random arrests.

The problem with calls for another revolution is that they are abstract and not based on any political organisation, Khaled Abdel Hamid, a leftist activist who participated in January 25 uprising, told the local website Mada Masr.

Revolutionary groups need to organise themselves, learn lessons from previous years, and reach a consensus on the form, methods and the slogans necessary to face the counter-revolution, which is a difficult matter and needs time, he said.

ANALYSIS: Egypt economy entered a vicious circle

Egypts shift from a full revolution to the nearly complete restitution of the pre-revolutionary regime is Mubarakism without Mubarak, Adly noted.

The old state-dominated system with the same socioeconomic biases and autocratic leaning has been reborn under the guise of a new military-supported dictatorship, Adly said in a study of the economics of Egypts rising authoritarian order. How successful that is will depend in large part on the economic policies that Sisis government enacts.

While the economic situation in Egypt today is crucial, there are other factors at play. The reconstitution of Mubarak-style rule is unlikely to be durable for many years, considering Egypts restive youthful population and the dim economic outlook, Dunn said.

If public opinion turns against Sisi after two years of his rule without economic improvements, more turmoil in the form of another popular uprising and another military coup could well be in the cards, Dunn said.

According to Haddara, the two barriers that fell during the 2011 uprising were fear and expectations of violent repression.

In 2015, those same elements [fear and violent repression] will determine whether an uprising happens, he said. Will a critical mass of Egyptians overcome the psychological fear of brutalisation, and if so, will the army respond with mass violence?
Representatives of the group say they can participate in the peace talks only if their conditions are met.

The Afghan Taliban will participate in the ongoing peace talks only if their conditions, which include the removal of their members from a UN blacklist, are met, the armed groups representatives have said.

Taliban representatives met with people close to the Afghan government on Saturday and Sunday, in a two-day unofficial meeting hosted in Qatars capital Doha. The conference was organised by Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, an international crisis group.

The Doha meeting is not a part of the official peace process, which restarted earlier this month between officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US aiming to chart a roadmap to peace in Afghanistan.

Some preliminary steps should be taken prior to starting peace because without that, progress towards peace is not feasible, the Taliban said in a statement on Sunday.

READ MORE: Afghanistan peace talks held in Pakistan

The conditions as set by the Taliban included the establishment of official venue for the Islamic Emirate; removal of blacklist and prize list; release of prisoners and ending poisonous propaganda.

Individuals on the UN blacklist are subject to asset freeze, travel and arms bans.

A senior Taliban commander, who is not part of the conference, told Al Jazeera that the conditions presented by our representatives in the conference are not meant to express our disagreement with the peace process.

To even start mapping out peace in Afghanistan, it is important that we are involved in it, but only if our conditions are met, because we cannot trust any agreements at this point, he said.

The first attempt to initiate peace talks were cancelled in July after news emerged that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.

READ MORE: Afghanistan and the Taliban need Pakistan for peace

It was expected that the Taliban would present their conditions because we know that any kind of peace talks between any government officials will not work if the Taliban are not a part of it, Faizullah Zaland, an Afghan political analyst, who was a part of the Pugwash conference, told Al Jazeera.

An effective roadmap to peace would be if people on both sides of the table reach an agreement. The Taliban have set their conditions, but some of them might not be feasible for all the government officials to agree upon, which means this might mount pressure on the Afghan government.

There has to be a strong mechanism between both sides to make these peace talks successful.

The Taliban opened a political office in Qatar in 2013 to facilitate peace talks with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yet, the office closed soon after Taliban representatives raised the flag of their regime, in a move that angered Afghanistans government

The Taliban intensified their attacks across Afghanistan after the foreign troops officially concluded their combat operations in December 2014.

US President Barack Obama announced in October that thousands of US troops would remain in Afghanistan past 2016, keeping the current force of 9,800 troops, amid a surge in Taliban attacks.
Womens rights activists have criticised a South African municipality for a scholarship programme that funds studies for young women if they can prove they are virgins.

On Friday, the uThekela municipality, in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), announced that 113 students would receive scholarships to pursue higher education in the country.

Sixteen scholarships were specifically designated for sexually inactive students, as part of a programme called Maidens Bursary Awards. The programme started in January 2015, but it is unclear how many students were awarded the scholarship in 2015.

Sisonke Msimang, a policy development and advocacy consultant for the Sonke Gender Justice project in Johannesburg, said the municipalitys decision was a terrible idea [that] had so many layers of ridiculousness.

Being sexually active and seeking an education have nothing to do with each other, Msimang told Al Jazeera.

Msimang described the programme as being an embodiment of level upon level of patriarchal nonsense, unconstitutional misogyny and mixed-up madness.

Pure and inactive

We don't support anything that undermines the rights of women, be it cultural or not. If these details are true, we will definitely find it objectionable, and engage with the municipality to resolve it. by Department of Women

Jabulani Mkhonza, spokesperson for the municipality, described the scholarships for virgins as a way to encourage girls to keep themselves pure and inactive from sexual activity and focus on their studies.

Those children who have been awarded bursaries will be checked whenever they come back for holidays. The bursary will be taken away if they lose their virginity, Mkhonza told AFP news agency.

Reacting to the news, the Department of Women told Al Jazeera they were aware of reports of the scholarship programme, and would be investigating the matter.

We dont support anything that undermines the rights of women. If these details are true, we would definitely find it objectionable, and engage with the municipality to resolve it, Charlotte Lobe, media liaison officer at the department of women said.

Mkhonza, the spokesperson for the municipality, told Al Jazeera he was not authorised to respond to the criticism, and directed all inquiries to Mayor Dudu Mazibuko. Al Jazeera was not able to reach her.

Activists argued that not only did the scholarship undermine civil liberties, it was also counter-productive and short-sighted in the larger struggle against HIV/AIDS in the country.

South Africa is home to 6.4 million HIV positive people, the highest in the world. In 2014, Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) said 25.2 percent of KZNs adult population was HIV positive, compared to the national average of 17.9 percent. Women in KZN were also disproportionately affected by the virus, MSF said.

Another activist, Jennifer Thorpe, said the scholarship programme implied that discouraging women from sex would reduce the spread of HIV, a strategy she said silences conversation around safe sex, consent, and importantly HIV medication and treatment.

What is needed is dialogue, information, and the provision of free contraception. This would be a more strategic line of policy for the municipality to pursue, Thorpe wrote in the South African publication Mail & Guardian.

Only young women and girls are subjected to this practice. Boys are not tested, and hence are not stigmatised or rewarded for their virginity.

One recipient of the award told News24 she did not mind the two check-ups she needed to take in order to apply for the scholarship. The 22-year-old second year pharmacy student said an elderly woman examined her in June and July.

They open the vagina and look, but they dont insert anything in it. I have never heard of them getting it wrong.

Msimang said criticising the conditions of the scholarship should not be understood as an attempt to thwart proposals that back abstinence.

The longer a young person, particularly a girl, abstains from sex, the better, so this is not about suggesting that abstinence is a bad idea. But this type of programme ignores the fact that sexual behaviour of young women is often not on their terms.

Many young women dont have sex because they feel for it. These are often choices out of their hands, Msigmang added.

The municipalitys decision to award these scholarships comes at a time of extreme turmoil in higher education in South Africa.

Since October, students across the country, under the banner of the social media campaign #FeesMustFall, have demanded that the government scrap university fees across the board. Student activists argue that almost 22 years after apartheid ended, exorbitant fees were now excluding the majority of from accessing higher education.

Thorpe said the purity discourse distracts from the point that these girls simply want access to affordable education.

Follow Azad Essa on Twitter.
Ten members of unit loyal to former president Blaise Compaore held as new leader continues to face security challenges.

Ten soldiers from a disbanded elite unite loyal to Burkina Fasos former president have been arrested over a raid on an armoury outside the capital Ouagadougou, the army said.

The pre-dawn raid on Friday at the weapons warehouse underscored the challenges facing new President Roch March Christian Kabore, a week after al-Qaeda fighters attacked a hotel and cafe in the capital, killing at least 30 people.

Army officials said that kalashnikov rifles and rocket launchers taken in the raid were not loaded and that no ammunition had been stolen. Officials have not specified how many weapons were seized.

The arrested soldiers come from Burkina Fasos former presidential guard (the RSP), which was also behind a brief, failed coup last September.

Willy Yameogo, director of communications for the army, said that one civilian was also arrested in connection with the raid. He described that person as a religious figure but did not provide details.

Burkina Faso is emerging from a fragile transition period following the ousting of long-time president Blaise Compaore in October 2014. A year later, Compaores former spy chief General Gilbert Diendere tried to use the RSP to overthrow an interim government, just a week before presidential elections.

Diendere was jailed for treason and the presidential guard  which had been a pillar of Compaores rule  was quickly dissolved, although some of its members disappeared.

Col. Gaoussou Coulibaly, head of the army operations unit, called the raid an act of revenge by some of the former guards who are not happy with thier new situation.
Envoy says presence of Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraqs fight against ISIL is exacerbating sectarian tensions.

Iraqs foreign ministry has summoned Saudi Arabias ambassador in Baghdad over accusations of meddling in Iraqs domestic affairs, a statement by the ministry said.

The Saudi ambassador, who was recently installed, had said that the presence of Iranian-backed Shia militias in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group was exacerbating sectarian tensions in Iraq.

Enmity between Sunnis and Shias in the Middle East has flared recently as regional conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen deepen long-standing rifts.

Saudi Arabia executed a Shia religious leader this month, infuriating Shias around the region and arch foe Iran.

Iraqs Shia militias asked to fight ISIL in Ramadi

In an interview with Iraqs al-Sumaria TV on Saturday, Saudi Ambassador Thamer al-Sabhan said the Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Front), a coalition of mostly Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary groups set up in 2014 to fight ISIL, should leave the fight against the group to Iraqs army and official security forces in order to avoid aggravating sectarian tensions.

The reopening in December of the Saudi embassy in Baghdad, closed in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait, was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against ISIL, which controls territory in Iraq and in Syria and has claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.

At least 40 people were killed earlier this month and nine Sunni mosques firebombed in the eastern Iraqi town of Muqdadiya in apparent retaliation for two blasts there targeting Shia militia fighters, which left 23 people dead.

Interference in the Hashid Shaabi, speaking about Muqdadiya, and other issues  its not his business he must respect diplomatic customs, said Khalid al-Assadi, a member of parliaments foreign affairs panel.

The rise of Sunni ISIL has worsened sectarian conflict in Iraq, which is majority Shia.

Assadi said he had asked the foreign ministry to summon Sabhan to express politicians objections.

If such interference is repeated there will be calls to announce the ambassador persona non grata and demand the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia replace him, Assadi said by phone.

Local media published similar comments from other Shia MPs.

He should be expelled immediately or else he could meet dire consequences, Awatef Nemah from the ruling Shia bloc told al-Sumaria, without elaborating.
Justice ministry says it accepted 27 asylum seekers out of record 7,586 applications last year.

Japan rejected 99 per cent of asylum applications last year, accepting only 27 refugees, government figures have shown.

The countrys justice ministry said on Saturday it received a record 7,586 asylum applications in 2015, up 50 percent compared to the year before.

Asylum seekers from Nepal topped the list of those arriving in 2015, with 1,768 submissions.

The accepted applicants included six from Afghanistan, three Syrians, three Ethiopians and three Sri Lankans.

Calls for swift action

Japan, which faces a demographic problem due to an ageing population and declining birthrates, is the worlds third largest economy and runs the tightest refugee recognition system among industrialised economies.

In 2014, it granted refugee status to just 11 people, out of 5,000 applicants.

Saori Fujita, an official for the Immigration Bureau of Japan, was quoted by the Japan Times website as saying that 2015s increase was due to a rise in the number of Indonesian applicants.

Fujita said 17 Indonesians applied in 2014, compared to 969 last year.

The Japan Association for Refugees said despite the progress in recent years, more applicants should be accepted.

We hope that (Japan) will hold discussions with UNHCR and NGOs and swiftly consider measures to certify refugees in line with international standards, it said.

READ MORE: Concern grows over Japans ageing population

Japans Refugee Recognition Act does not include war refugees in its narrow interpretation of the International Refugee Convention.

On Wednesday, Japans parliament approved $350m in humanitarian aid for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, which is to complement a $810m package approved last year, according to Deutsche Welle.

Asked by reporters at the UN General Assembly last September whether Japan would join other countries in accepting Syrian refugees, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe replied that his country needed to boost its own workforce first by empowering more women and older people to work.

As an issue of demography, I would say that before accepting immigrants or refugees, we need to have more activities by women, by elderly people and we must raise [the] birthrate, he said, according to the official translation of his comments.

There are many things that we should do before accepting immigrants.
Law professor and TV pundit Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tipped to win in key election closely watched in Brussels.

Voters in Portugal are heading to the polls to choose their next president in an election being closely watched in Brussels as the country recovers from a $85bn bailout.

Although the post is largely ceremonial, the president has make-or-break power over the countrys fragile ruling alliance and the power to dissolve parliament in the event of a crisis.

Since inconclusive elections in October, Portugals minority Socialist government has been relying on a delicate coalition with the extreme-left to run the country.

READ MORE: Portugals government ousted by anti-austerity alliance

The overwhelming favourite to win Sundays vote is law professor and TV pundit Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Known as Professor Marcelo to his fans, he comes into the race with a popularity that has been built thanks to decades in the public eye.

The 67-year-old, who made his debut as a political analyst on TV in the early 2000s, is widely expected to break the 50 percent mark for an outright win in Sundays voting.

A long-time conservative, de Sousa has the backing of right-wing parties but claims total independence.

He insists he will not be partisan but will seek to rule above the fray.

If none of the 10 candidates breaches this threshold, a runoff will be held on February 14.

Polling booths opened at 0800 GMT and were to close at 1900 GMT, save for the mid-Atlantic Azores archipelago, where they open and close one hour later.

Around 9.7 million people are registered to vote, but the turnout rate in presidential elections is traditionally poor. In 2011, just one voter in two bothered to cast their ballot.
Monitoring group says at least 63 people killed in Khasham town near Deir Az Zor, which is mostly controlled by ISIL.

At least 63 people, including nine children, have died in air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes on a town in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

The raids on Khasham near the city of Deir Az Zor on Saturday were among a series of strikes that also hit two other towns in the past 48 hours, killing scores of people, the monitoring group said on Sunday.

Russian jets have been bombing around Deir Az Zor as Syrian pro-government forces clash with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters, who control most of the province.

The group has besieged remaining government-held areas of the city since last March and last week launched new attacks.

Rabiya advance

The strikes on Deir Az Zor come as forces belonging to President Bashar al-Assads troops, backed by Russian strikes, recaptured a town from a loose coalition of rebels in the western coastal province of Latakia on Sunday.

The advance in Rabiya, reported by both government media and opposition activists, paves the way for a push by pro-government forces right up to the Turkish border.

READ MORE: ISIL massacre reported in Syrias Deir Az Zor

Warplanes have also hit ISILs de facto capital of Raqqa over the past two days, killing at least 44 people in the city, the Observatory said on Sunday, raising its toll from Saturday after many of the wounded died of their injuries.

Russia, an ally of Assad, launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015, saying its targets were ISIL and other terrorist groups operating there.

Separately, the US has been leading an air campaign in the war-torn country since September 2014.

At least 4,272 people, including 315 civilians, have since been killed in air strikes in Syria, the Observatory said.

More than 250,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Syrias conflict since it started with peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran never trusted the West, as Beijing and Tehran agree to expand 10-year trade to $600bn.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised China for standing by Tehran while it was under international sanctions, saying the Islamic Republic never trusted the West.

Khameneis comments on Saturday came as the two countries agreed to increase bilateral trade to $600bn over the next decade after a visit to Tehran by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Iran was keen to expand ties with more independent countries, Khamenei told Xi, adding the US was not honest in the fight against armed groups in the region.

The Islamic Republic will never forget Chinas cooperation during the sanctions era, he said.

Westerners have never obtained the trust of the Iranian nation. The government and nation of Iran have always sought expanding relations with independent and trustful countries like China.

New chapter

Iran emerged from years of economic isolation this month when the United Nations nuclear watchdog ruled it had curbed its nuclear programme, clearing the way for the lifting of UN, US and European Union sanctions.

Xi, whose three-nation regional tour has already taken him to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Irans regional rival, became the first Chinese leader to visit the Islamic Republic in 14 years.

The China-Iran friendship  has stood the test of the vicissitudes of the international landscape, Xi said, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Following a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also on Saturday, Xi said he hoped to open a new chapter in relations with Iran in the post-sanctions era.

In cooperation with the Iranian side and by benefiting from the current favourable conditions, China is ready to upgrade the level of bilateral relations and cooperation so that a new chapter will start in bilateral relations, Xi said according to Iranian state TV.

Cautious approach

China is Irans biggest trade partner and had continued buying oil from Iran after nuclear-related sanctions were tightened in 2012, despite US pressure.

Trade between the two countries stood at some $52bn in 2014, but that figure dropped last year due to plunging oil prices.

Officials from Iran and China signed 17 documents and letters of intent to broaden bilateral cooperation in energy, industry, transportation, railways, ports, new technology, tourism and the environment.

READ MORE: Chinas vision of the Middle East

Mohsen Milani, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies and professor of politics at the University of South Florida, said it was not surprising that Xi visited Tehran after the opening of Iranian markets.

China has been a good friend of the Islamic Republic during the times that crippling sanctions were imposed on Iran, he told Al Jazeera.

And because China is a trusted friend of Iran, the Chinese president is trying to take advantage of the opening of the markets and make huge investments in Iran  and Iran is willing to also cooperate with China.

China depends on Iran for 10-15 percent of its energy needs, Milani added. Therefore, it is extremely important for Beijing to maintain good ties with Tehran.

But China is very careful, very cautious not to allow the cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia to become an obstacle for China to have a good relationship both with the Islamic Republic of Iran and with Saudi Arabia, and I think from a Chinese national interest perspective this is a very sound and logical policy to have.

Regional rivalry

Also on Saturday, Rouhani said the two countries had agreed to cooperate on terrorism and extremism in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.

READ MORE: Chinas Xi calls for creation of Palestinian state

His comments came after China signalled its support for Yemens government, which is fighting Houthi rebels said to be backed by Iran, during Xis visit to Riyadh earlier this week  but Milani said this will not affect its ties with Tehran.

China has tried to separate its economic policies from political policies, and, therefore, what they are doing in Yemen is not surprising, and I dont think its going to have any impact whatsoever on its good relationship with Iran and its good relationship with Saudi Arabia, he said.
We look at Britains controversial surveillance reform and its impact on journalism.

The British government is in the midst of rewriting the countrys laws on surveillance and national security through a piece of legislation called the Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB)  and journalists have a big stake in this story.

Over the last decade and a half, ever since the 9/11 attacks, the UK parliament has invoked more than 65 different laws and measures, to be used ostensibly to fight crime or terrorism.

But the ramifications for British reporters have included stop-and-search requests while on the job, mining of their digital data, secret monitoring of their communications, and evidence that some reporters have somehow ended up on police databases used to track extremists.

This is all now coming to a head as parliament debates the IPB  referred to by its critics as the Snoopers Charter  its designed to pull together all laws governing how the government, police and intelligence services can spy on citizens, including those in the media.

The Listening Posts Flo Phillips reports on surveillance measures in the UK and the relationship between the security state and the journalists who dare to challenge it.
We head to the rural American city of Chattanooga to learn how citizens secured the fastest Internet in the country.

TechKnow visits the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to explore how the city came to have the fastest Internet in the country.

The municipal power company, the Electric Power Board (EPB) set up The Gig fibre optic network in 2010 to enable a smart electricity grid, which also brought ultra high-speed Internet to Chattanoogas citizens.

But to get this fibre-optic service, Chattanooga had to go up against Comcast, the countrys largest cable company, and the state cable association, which sued the EPB twice to try and stop them from going ahead with The Gig.

State senator Janice Bowling is fighting a legislative battle to bring high-speed Internet to the rest of the state. Its a fight that has pitted her against the legacy providers through lobbyists representing, for instance, Comcast.

The city has reinvented itself into a tech hub, with start-ups such as 3D OPS which makes 3-D printed models of organs from medical scans like MRIs to allow surgeons to practice procedures, and has attracted businesses like Amazon and Volkswagen.

But beyond the city limits, and the 72,000 homes and businesses benefitting from The Gig, its a different story.

A few miles from 1-gig speed Internet in Chattanooga we meet the Van Hook family who only have access to painfully slow satellite Internet. No cable provider will provide service to their street. And while the EPB wants to provide them with service and dont mind laying the cable, state law prevents them from doing so

The Van Hooks are lobbying against this. Others who are similarly outside EPBs area of service have started grassroots fights.

We meet students who attend school in Chattanooga yet only have satellite Internet at home. Bad weather can affect their connections, and students must resort to doing homework at school or finding spaces in the city where they can work like the church.

Digital access is divided across the United States: 19 million people dont have access to fixed broadband and in cities like Miami, New Orleans and Dallas, over one-third of people do not have access to high-speed Internet.

In this TechKnow episode, we also meet Working Dogs for Conservation in Montana which trains dogs to sniff out endangered species and also locate invasive ones. We see one dog detect invasive mussels, which clog industrial pipes in Montana. The dogs have been deployed to 18 states and 13 countries. The next stop for one trained dog is Zambia, where it will work at a checkpoint to stop vehicles transporting ivory.
One former journalist has renounced his Australian citizenship and is creating an independent indigenous nation.

Three years ago, Jeremy Geia was a well-paid political journalist reporting from Australias capital.

But he doesnt exist anymore.

Murrumu Walubara, as he is now known, has taken a tribal name, renounced Australian citizenship and abandoned two decades worth of savings.

He has returned to his ancestral land in northeast Australia, where he has set about creating an indigenous nation with its own laws and institutions.

Witness follows Murrumu during his impassioned weekly radio broadcast to promote the newly announced state, at citizen swearing-in ceremonies, and travelling to Canberra to lobby Australian ministers and foreign embassies for recognition.

Will he be greeted as a publicity-seeking activist or will his calls for independence be taken seriously?

FILMMAKERS VIEW

By Yaara Bou Melhem

Every year, on January 26, Australia celebrates its national day.

While it will see widespread community celebrations, the welcoming of new citizens and the release of the Australia Day honours, its also a day mired with controversy.

The date is tied to the arrival of the first fleet of British ships in 1788. And many Aboriginal advocates and community leaders have already argued why Australia Days date should be changed to allow a more inclusive celebration of national identity that is not tied to colonisation.

Its especially poignant now as Australia considers whether to amend the constitution to recognise its First Nations people.

But the Aboriginal Sovereign Yidindji Government believes questions of recognition and inclusivity are a non-sequitur, as the very nature of white settlement has meant original peoples and Australia have always been separate entities  and that Aboriginal tribes should take advantage of that.

Creating a Nation puts explores an alternative viewpoint to the issues of recognition and sovereignty that are currently being discussed in Australia.

The film follows Murrumu, the foreign affairs and trade minister for his government, as he lobbies the Australian government and international community for a treaty.

As there was, and still is, no treaty between Australia and its original inhabitants, the Sovereign Yidindji Government says it then follows that sovereignty was never rescinded so just needs to be asserted.

The government is barely in its infancy but is gaining recognition and legitimacy. This is in part because Murrumu is not only personable and charismatic, but he can also call upon a vast network of national and international contacts to help achieve the governments goals.

The most significant endorsement so far is from the chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous and Peoples, Megan Davis. She reportedly said theres nothing stopping the Commonwealth of Australia from entering into a treaty with the Sovereign Yidindji Government.

The Yidindji arent counting on pressure from within Australia alone to get a treaty, theyre making sure other powerful nations are aware of the countrys lack of consent.

There is currently no significant movement or public discourse arguing for a treaty between Australia with any of its indigenous peoples. The country is still grappling with other basic issues, including whether to put to referendum amending the Australian constitution to recognise its original inhabitants.

But one of the primary goals of the Sovereign Yidindji Government is to sign a treaty with the Commonwealth of Australia. It believes it can correct the error at law of establishing Australia without the consent of its First Nations peoples.

The Sovereign Yidindji Government has a long way to go before it can reach its goals of a treaty. Before then, it has a lot to nut out about its governance and how, or if, it should marry its ancient tribal laws and customs with todays norms. But its just getting started.

For now, if it simply sparks a national conversation about a treaty, then it will have already proven itself a success.
We love a splurge as much as the next girl, but sometimes the drugstore is just as good as a department store. Ahead, nine of the best drugstore anti-aging products that top dermatologists always recommend to their patients.

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum. "It has retinol, which helps with fine lines and exfoliation, and it's gentle, so it won't cause the same irritation and dryness as some prescription retinoids can." Sandra Kopp, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City

Garnier Ultra-Lift Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream. "The combination of retinol and rice protein peptides in the glycerin base work together to stimulate collagen production while hydrating your skin." Francesca Fusco, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and an assistant attending dermatologist at Mount Sinai in New York City

Olay Regenerist Regenerating Serum. "It contains a peptide complex proven to stimulate collagen production." Vivian Bucay, a dermatologist and the founder of Bucay Center for Dermatology and Aesthetics in San Antonio

RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum. "A lot of my patients love this retinol. It helps to soften and smooth skin and fix sun damage." Jason Emer, a cosmetic dermatologist and aesthetic surgeon in Mountain View, California

L'Oreal Paris Revitalift Triple PowerSerum "Skin feels smoother and softer almost instantly, and very well hydratedso much so that depending on your skin type, there may be no need to follow with a moisturizer." Karen Hammerman, a dermatologist with Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City

Avene Ystheal Anti-Wrinkle Cream. This cream is formulated with 0.05 percent retinaldehyde, a non-irritating form of vitamin A, which makes the formula gentle enough for sensitive skin yet still effective enough to optimize cell renewal and boost collagen and elastin production." Jeannette Graf, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel. "It's a true hydrating moisturizer with a high content of hyaluronic acid, therefore it will hold the water inside the skin, giving it a plumper, smoother appearance. It's also very well tolerated by all types of skin." Leyda Bowes, a dermatologist in Miami

Women's Rogaine Hair Regrowth Treatment 5% Minoxidil. "Keeping a full head of hair is another way to address anti-aging." Bucay
           2005     ..        
Al Jazeera Media Network calls for the immediate release of the Al Jazeera Arabic news team who are believed to have been kidnapped in the city of Taiz, Yemen.



Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent, Hamdi Al-Bokari, and his crew Abdulaziz Al-Sabri and Moneer Al-Sabai were last seen on Monday night.



Commenting on the abduction of the Al Jazeera three, Dr Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network, says: "We call on the immediate release of our colleagues Hamdi Al-Bokari, Abdulaziz Al-Sabri and Moneer Al-Sabai. They were covering events in the besieged city of Taiz, reporting on the human cost to the conflict. Our colleagues were simply doing their job of reporting the story and informing the world on what is taking place in Yemen. Al Jazeera holds their abductors responsible for their safety and security".



Souag added: It is tragic to see that in times of conflict, news organisations continue to be targeted. Journalists should have the freedom to do their work without the fear of intimidation, abduction or unlawful arrest.





Al Jazeera is in contact with related parties in Taiz to secure the release of Al-Bokari, Al-Sabri and Al-Sabai.
[In the days just before the Messiah] a mans enemies will be the members of his household . Sotah 49b (quoting Micah 7.6)

Among the many difficulties confronting Jews who are comfortable calling themselves Zionists is the phenomenon of Jew-washing.[1] Inspired by expressions such as whitewashing and pinkwashing, the idea is that if someone can count Jews among those endorsing his beliefs or behavior then his beliefs or behavior cannot be deemed antisemitic. Indeed if he can count Jews among his personal friends, if some of his best friends are Jews, then he cannot be deemed an antisemite. The problem for Zionists is clear: the fact that so many Jews are comfortable calling themselves anti-Zionists means that the underlying antisemitic nature of most forms of anti-Zionism is easily obscured.

The aim of this essay is to demonstrate what has sorely needed demonstrating for a long time: that Jew-washing simply doesnt work. In fact it obviously doesnt work, once you think about it even a little.

Its commonly assumed that racism has a general nature: to be a racist is to display a certain negative attitude or behaviors toward all members of the targeted group. This assumption is reasonably grounded in the paradigmatic manifestations of racism throughout history. When medieval Christians hated Jews on the basis of religion, for example, they hated all Jews (we usually think), until they converted. When the Nazis hated Jews on the basis of race, they hated all Jews (we think) no matter what their creed, even those Jews who had converted and assimilated.

It makes sense: if youre a Jew-hater, then you hate all Jews.

Except that it simply isnt true.

Neither empirically, nor theoretically.

Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazis S.S., famously complained that the Nazis fatal efficiency was often compromised because everyone had his favorite A-1 Jew.[2] There were very dedicated Nazis, filled with Jew-hatred, who still found room in their hearts not to hate some particular Jew or another, for whatever the reason. Those exceptions didnt mean they werent Jew-haters, of course. But sometimes other considerations overrode their general hatred.

So a bona fide Jew-hater is capable of not hating every single Jew.

But now, can a Jew-hater have quite a few A-1 Jews? Can someone find even the majority of Jews to be A-1 Jews, yet still be a Jew-hater? Or put in reverse, if someone does not hate most Jews, if someone perhaps even likes most Jews, does that mean that he isnt a Jew-hater, an antisemite?

Suppose that someone is anti-Zionist in that hostile way that falls under the U.S. State Departments definition of antisemitism, itself adopting Natan Sharanksys definition: anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism when it operates by means of any of the 3Ds, namely when it Demonizes, applies Double Standards to, or Delegitimizes the State of Israel. Its hardly any secret that Jews are among the many who display this sort of behavior, particularly those who identify as progressives or liberals. Many other individuals then invoke those Jews for Jew-washing purposes, to deny the charge of antisemitism by noting both that some of their best friends are Jews and that many prominent Jews share their anti-Zionism (Noam Chomsky, Judith Butler, Tony Judt, etc).

But now notice that both these forms of exoneration rely on the assumption that being an antisemite requires hating all (or at least most) Jews. If antisemitism were actually consistent with not hating even most Jews, then an antisemite could still have plenty of Jewish friends. Moreover, the fact that a Jew (presumably) does not hate all (or most) other Jews wouldnt exclude her counting as an antisemite either, and her adopting some belief wouldnt exonerate the belief from being antisemitic.

Its this assumption that racism is general in nature that is specifically overdue for retirement. It has actually been quietly on the decline for quite some time. In fact what Phyllis Chesler (among others) insightfully calls the new antisemitism reflects that decline.

For if theres one thing we know about Jews, its that they are a divisive bunch. Not every Jew is the same type of Jew. In the typical Jew-washers metaphysics there are good Jews and bad Jews, the righteous Jews and the Afrikaners Jews (to use John Mearsheimers phrases), the A-1 Jews he is fine with and the other Jews he is not. And it doesnt take much scratching beneath the surface before you discover that the Jew-washer quite seriously dislikes those other Jewsthe Zionist Jews, of coursein a manner that typically manifests itself in that Sharansky 3-D antisemitic way.

But waitthe Jew-washer might objectits not because they are Jewish that I dislike them. The proof is that there are many other Jews, the good Jews, that I do like. Its because they are Zionists that I dont like them. Its not themits their ideas, their ideology, their behavior. It is anti-Zionism, not antisemitism. And of course its okay to object to, be hostile toward, an ideology!

But again: this response only works if antisemitism requires hating all Jews. If Jews come in many typesif there are many different ways in which individuals manifest their Jewishnessthen its perfectly clear how an antisemite might not hate all Jews.

The crucial question for an antisemite isnt whether he hates all Jews, in other words.

Its whether the people he hates, he hates for their Jewishness.

Imagine the medieval Church rejecting the charge of antisemitism. We dont hate all Jews, they might say, only those Jews with a certain ideology and behavior. When Jewish people change theseand convert to Catholicismthey are A-1 by us!

The flaw in this defense is obvious: the ideology and behavior the Church rejected was the very essence of those individuals Jewishness. They may not hate the individuals who are Jews (once they convert), but they hate Jewishness. They then absurdly claim not to hate Jews, because they dont hate those people who are no longer Jewish by the relevant criteria.

But now Zionism, too, is intimately or essentially related to many Jews self-conception and identity. Not every Jews, obviouslymany Jews even claim their anti-Zionism is a manifestation of their Jewishness. (Well come back to that shortly.) But there are many (perhaps many more) Jews for whom their Zionism, in any of its many forms, is an essential part of their Jewishness. To hate them for their Zionism just is to hate them for their (form of) Jewishness. You may have a lot of A-1 Jews among your friends, but that doesnt exonerate you from hating the Jews you do hate for their Jewishness.

The treatment above is coarse, of course, and needs to be properly refined. As currently formulated, for example, it may turn many of the divisions within the Jewish people into antisemites against each other. If it counts as antisemitic to hate Zionist Jews for their Zionist Jewishness, after all, it would count as antisemitic to hate anti-Zionist Jews who ground their anti-Zionism in their form of Jewishness.[3] Similarly, when this treatment is generalized it may turn almost any objection to any groups ideology or practices into a form of objectionable hatred or racism. To hate members of ISIS for their ideology might have to count as a form of Islamophobia, since presumably their form of Islam is essential to their ideology, and so on.

Whats needed to prevent these consequences is at least two things: (1) careful articulation of just when and where certain beliefs and practices become essential to individuals identities (thus yielding a distinction between ideologies toward which it is acceptable to be hostile v. people and their identities toward which it is generally not acceptable to be hostile), and (2) a close look at the specific contents of the beliefs and practices that compose peoples identities.

Fortunately we can make a start on this at least with respect to Jew-washing.

Many Jewish anti-Zionists are what we might call JIGOs: Jews in Genes Only. Their commitment to Jewishness is skin-deep, pretty literally: its only biological, and does not include any particular Jewish ideological component and indeed often explicitly rejects such.[4] When a JIGO says, As a Jew, I am an anti-Zionist, she is saying little more than As someone with a certain molecular or genetic structure  Since ones biology cannot exonerate ones beliefs from being antisemitic, JIGOs cannot successfully serve for Jew-washing purposes.

More relevant are the many Jews whose anti-Zionism can be said to be based in something more than biological Jewishness. There are plenty of Jews who find the essence of Jewishness, their Jewishness, to be in Judaisms important emphases on compassion, social justice, tikkun olam, universal ethics, and so on. When such a person, speaking as a Jew, displays even 3-D anti-Zionism, then theres something to be said for the position. For if genuine Jewishness (they will argue) militates against Zionism, then anti-Zionism surely cant be antisemitic.

Yes, we can now respondbut speaking as what kind of Jew?

What you will typically find in the Jewishness espoused by these Jews is the universal: the compassion, the justice, the ethics. Those are all wonderful things, and Judaism is all the more wonderful for emphasizing them. But whats more important is what is left out from this list, namely everything particular: the unique people, the nation, with its unique history, religion, and ties to a specific land. Whats left out, in other words, is everything that distinguishes Jews from other people.

When such people say, As a Jew, I am an anti-Zionist, what they are really saying is something like, As a human being who believes in compassion, justice, universal ethics, etc., I am an anti-Zionist. Fair enough, and admirable enough, if thats where their reasoning leads them. But such a person cannot do the work of a Jew-washer, because there is nothing specifically and distinctively Jewish about their position.

To Jew-wash with them, I think, would be roughly akin to the medieval Church saying, We are not antisemites because many converted Jews share our negative views about (unconverted) Jews. The flaw here, too, is clear. That someone who has rejected Jewishness (or otherwise distances himself from what is distinctively Jewish) adopts a doctrine cannot serve as a proof that the doctrine is not antisemitic. That is not an exoneration of antisemitism at all.

It is a non-sequitor.

Or worse, it is further evidence for the doctrines antisemitism.

To see this, lets look more closely at the contents of the relevant beliefs. Imagine, for a moment, someone in the United States circa 1860 saying, I dont hate Black people. I just hate those Blacks who demand their freedom. Perhaps at that time only a small subset of Blacks were able to stand up for their freedom. But to hate those Blacks just is to reject the basic dignity, the basic rights, of all Blacks. If that isnt racism, even if directed only to a small subset of the relevant population, then what is?

So, too, some people only hate some Jews. Which Jews? Those Jews who stand up for the rights of Jews. Those Jews who believe that Jews have the same dignity and basic rights enjoyed by all other peoples. Those Jews who believe that Jews have the right of self-determination in that one little sliver of earth that is their ancient homeland.

Those Jews who reject their Jewish particularism for whatever good reasons they may have just are rejecting for Jews qua Jews the same basic dignity and rights that all other peoples enjoy.

And that just is antisemitism.

So the next time someone crosses that line, when their anti-Zionism becomes 3-D and by virtue of those criteria counts as antisemitic, call the speaker out on it. When she denies she is antisemitic because she herself is Jewish, or because many Jews share her position, ask her to specify just which type of Jew she is referring to. And when she answers, remind her: being antisemitic doesnt require being against all Jews. It only requires being against people because of their Jewishness, and because their Jewishness is the kind that specifically stands up for the rights of Jews.

Since this type of antisemitism, this new antisemitism, is relatively recent, it is easily conflated with older forms of antisemitism. In fact that conflation is what allows Jew-washing to work in the first place: because the new antisemitism (aimed at particularist Jews) is distinct from the old antisemitism (aimed at all Jews), the Jew-washer can in fact justifiably deny her (old) antisemitism and deny she is antisemitic. She is (correctly) not a general antisemite, but she is (after all) a particularist antisemite, with her animosity directed specifically at Zionist Jews.

To minimize this conflation and thus to deflate that strategy more thoroughly, it might be better to refer to the new antisemitism as Zionophobia, a term from Judea Pearl that helps distinguish it from the old general antisemitism. A major point of this paper is that Zionophobia is just as pernicious as any other form of racism, even if it targets only a subset of Jews.

I dont hate Jews, the Zionophobe says. Just Zionists.

Just, in other words, those Jews whose Jewishness entails standing up for the dignity and rights of Jews.[5]

So if your A-1 Jews are only those who dont identify with the Jews, who dont identify with a particularist Jewish history or religion, or who arent interested in standing up for the rights of Jewsthen you, the Zionophobe, may be an antisemite after all.[6]

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Quran (33:50) - "O Prophet! We have made lawful to  those (slaves) whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee" Quran (23:5-6) - "..who abstain from sex, except  (the captives) whom their right hands possess..." Quran (4:24) - "And all married women (are forbidden) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess." Quran (8:69) - "But (now) enjoy what ye took in war, lawful and good" (because) "Allah gave you mastery over them."

If weve learned anything in the last eight years its that supposedly smart people can be suicidally stupid, and that idiot savants can easily rationalize sabotaging their own nations.

Obama isnt the only elite messiah who favors national suicide for past sins, though he is certainly the blindest, most self-righteous and willfully destructive one in American history.

Then there is Frau Angela Merkel -- the Chancellor and Chief Guilt-Tripper of Germany. Frau Merkel shares Obamas fantasy world, where only the Good People rule and the rest follow orders. The EU even has a slogan for it: its called the democracy deficit -- meaning that ordinary voters have no power whatsoever. Yes, the EU is spreading love and peace all over, but -- shucks -- theres still a ways to go.

The EUs seemingly suicidal policy deliberately aims to dilute the percentage of ethnic Europeans in their native countries, to empower the new Franco-German capital in Brussels. This is exactly what Otto von Bismarck did in the 1800s to destroy the provincial capitals of German-speaking Europe, and to centralize all power in one Reich in the Prussian capital of Berlin. Fanatical German nationalism, xenophobia and militarism in the 20th century were a direct product of Bismarcks imperial unification policy.

Which is why the EUs kleptocracy can actually destroy the economy of southern Europe without triggering a voter revolt. The elite has knowingly imported more than 50 million Muslims from the tribal backwaters of Pakistan and the Middle East, to serve as welfare voters for Eurosocialist parties, especially in capital cities like Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin. The EU has also imposed the mass-media cult fantasy of Political Correctness over its colonial peoples; and it has been nice enough to export PC to the United States by way of our Eurosocialist universities.

By now normal voters in Europe are so far removed from the center of power that theyve basically given up. They are utterly powerless, because they will be scapegoated as Nazis if they ever rebel against the new Ruling Class. By now they are used to following orders, just like the olden times.

So a few weeks ago Frau Merkel could order the opening of Europes borders to hundreds of thousands of fraudulent Syrian rapefugees, mostly young men who are even now marauding through Europes formerly civilized cities. You can see them viciously beating up young women on YouTube; and Europes present will certainly be our future, if the IslamoLeft has its way.

Two German judges have now declared Frau Merkels open borders actions to be unconstitutional -- but hey, whos gonna do anything about it? By now those ravening invaders have gone to ground, dumped their fake Syrian passports, signed up to vote for Islamo-Left parties, and applied for welfare asylum as persecuted victims.

You dont need a crystal ball to see whats next: See the rape epidemic in Norway and Sweden for starters. Or, as Frau Merkel charmingly put it, Germany will have to live with a higher number of criminals. Were pretty sure that Obama believes the same thing, but he hasnt actually said it yet. Same policy, same ideology, same suicidal outcome.

Frau Merkel has learned from Obama that you can spread disaster in your wake and still blame your own voters, and that, in the mass-media-cult of the Islamo-Left, nobody will hold you responsible. On the contrary.

The newest Left-Fascist alliance will cheer on your sabotage of your own people because they know that ordinary folks cant be trusted to know whats best.

Obama has a lifelong mission to punish America for the long-ago sin of slavery. In jihadist slang the same thing is called Darb al Harb, or the House of War. It means that you and I are their targeted enemy, like it or not, just as Saul Alinsky wrote in his little book.

Napoleon Chagnon is the most important scientific anthropologist of our time, because he has exposed the true nature of primitive tribal warfare. (See his 1988 Science article called Life history, blood revenge, and warfare in a tribal population.)

For a hundred years field anthropologists have watched tribal warfare going on, year after year, but they were not allowed to publish the truth. Leading anthropologists like Margaret Mead and Ashley Montagu simply lied about the violent tribes they knew about.

In reality, as we now know from Chagnon and many others, group aggression is the norm among human clans all over the world. Gang warfare isnt just happening in inner city Chicago. Up to a third of adult males in traditional tribes die as a result of group or individual violence.

After a lifetime of field work with the hyper-aggressive Yanamamo Indians of Venezuela, Chagnon has made a compelling scientific case that warfare is almost universal in human tribes, and that the clearly understood goal of group violence is to kidnap and rape women, kill adult males, take loot and slaves, and run away for more of the same.

If up to a third of males are violently killed every generation, with another third in the next and so on, in time, human genes will favor preparedness for war.

And yet -- warlike tribes also make peace among accepted in-groups, while reserving their aggression for out-groups. The fact is that humans are prepared both for war and peace.

And that is indeed what anthropologists report about the warrior tribes of New Guinea, South and North America, the Vikings, the Mongols, the Khoi San of Africa, the Middle East and all the rest.

Now get this: The great Arabian Desert has long been populated by war-making tribes, just like the ones Napoleon Chagnon studied in the field. Mohammed was a desert raider (and occasional trader) who talked to the Archangel Gabriel in his dreams, and who naturally produced a holy book that reflected his own tribal culture.

(A good source on all this is Lawrence of Arabias story of his time in the Arabian Desert in WW1, which included being raped by one of his allies. Lawrence never went back.)

In primitive tribal warfare, women belong to the victorious male or gang of males by right of conquest, as the divinely ordained spoils of war, along with male slaves and loot. According to Chagnon, Yanamamo men freely boast about the sexual benefits of warfare. Raping the daughters of an enemy clan is glorified. To a warrior every raped woman means both a practical and genetic victory over an enemy clan, in the everlasting Hobbesian violence of the primitive world.

Rape is a crime in more civilized cultures, and a major cause for shame, guilt and punishment. But to primitive tribal males, it is the greatest sign of victory, as long as rape is committed against an enemy clan.

Therefore, what Angela Merkel recently did, in the eyes of the invading refugees, is to signal tribal surrender to an essentially primitive war cult.

You may want to read that sentence again, and maybe check Chagnons historic Science article for evidence. The web is the biggest scientific library in history, and there is enough good anthropology to balance the usual lies from the usual suspects.

In Quranic warfare, killing, looting and rape are justified and even commanded.

The rules of holy warfare have been debated by various priesthoods since the early caliphates, and they are now enshrined in written codes of conduct in the name of Allah. Muslim imams and mullahs are not shy about glorifying Mohammeds life as a tribal warrior, and as a model for all men. Islam has simply incorporated the tactics of ancient tribal warfare into its holy books.

Last year the Saudi Wahhabi priesthood publicly declared that ISIS is religiously justified in its endless bloody crimes, especially if the victims are Shiites, Christians, Yazidis, atheist Europeans like Frau Merkel, and all the rest. If you dont worship Allah in the Wahhabi way, youre on the plate for dinner. Their enemy Shiites believe the same thing about the Wahhabis, of course.

If you go back far in human history, this is part of standard human misbehavior -- just as peace making is also based in human nature. We are not doomed to kill each other forever. We can, and often we have actually learned to be better, as pointed out by good scientific sources like Harvards Steven Pinker and science journalist Nicholas Wade.

Globally, humanity has learned to reduce our tendency to glorify fighting and war. That is why civilizing law codes are so profoundly important in our history, from the Code of Hammurabi to the Mosaic Ten Commandments and the many legal codes of genuinely civilized societies. Humans can certainly be evil, yes, but we also have a capacity for good.

What Chagnon has taught us is that rape is often the most important motivation for tribal war. In cruel Darwinian terms, rape is a way for one clan to spread its genes to others, thereby passing on a genetic preparedness for sexually-motivated violence to future generations.

The tragedy of Islam is to be enormously successful in its conquests since the 7th century, and to fail miserably, time and time again, in building genuine civilization.

That is why we are seeing a resurgent jihadist Islam today, after seventy years of modernism. It is another reactionary fallback to the tribal past.

Persia had a glorious culture before it was conquered by Arab Muslims. The Byzantine Empire was one of the two apostolic sources of Orthodox Christianity, before it was stamped out by Muslim Berbers, Tuaregs, and Turks in Northern Africa. The Buddhist monasteries of Northern India were massacred by the Ghurid Muslims around the year 1200, so that today there are not many Buddhists left in India, where Gautama Buddha first taught. Islam is profoundly reactionary, the most violent and reactionary belief system on earth. Check the facts if you doubt it.

When Stalins Soviet armies conquered East Germany at the end of WW II, they committed mass rape, like the Imperial Japanese in Nanking. The Japanese practiced kidnapping women as sex slaves. No doubt some Allied troops committed rape as well -- but rape was a crime by the military codes of conduct of the Allied armies. It was not glorified but punished.

The difference between civilized and primitive war is in the codes of conduct that are actually enforced, often with the death penalty.

Civilization is all about rational codes of conduct and their enforcement. That is why the Laws of Hammurabi, the Ten Commandments, and Blackstone on English Common Law are so historically important.

Angela Merkel is a Eurosocialist who was brought up in Marxist East Germany. Merkel was deeply indoctrinated in Political Correctness, the most recent political mythology of the European Union.

But the Muslim code of conduct is the Quran, which emerged out of the universal tribal warfare of the Arabian Desert of the 7th th century. Mohammed was a tribal chief who transformed that culture into Islam.

Islam means submission, -- not peace -- and a Muslim is one who submits. As in obeying military orders, just like the goose-stepping armies of Europe in World War I.

Nazi soldiers used to yell Zum Befehl! (By your Order!) to their officers when they were told to commit some fresh horror. Every two-bit corporal could speak in the name of Hitler, who had absolute power. In Islam your local imam or tribal emir has absolutely power to order life and death, in lieu of direct orders from above. That belief gives mere human beings divine and absolute justification to do their worst.

Allah commands war against the infidel to his believers. Slave taking, killing, robbing, and general mayhem are commanded in the Quran.

Merkel and Obama either know those facts already, and are working in collusion with jihad, or they are so mentally fixated in goofy leftism that they will never learn the truth.

Either way they send out constant signals of surrender to every jihad-indoctrinated male in the world.

Over the centuries Europe has always fallen for wave after wave of delusional beliefs, all liable to explode into major wars. The wars of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation had scarcely stopped smoking when Frederick the Great invented nationalistic militarism in Prussia, while the French invented the guillotine, to ensure universal liberty, equality, and brotherhood. Which then kicked off the Napoleonic Wars, then the Franco-Prussian War of revenge, then WW1 and 2, followed by the Soviet Empire, which also acquired its Marxist cult from Germany.

Each international slaughter came after years of media-driven indoctrination into some world-saving, self-aggrandizing ideology, first religious, then imperialistic and militaristic, then Napoleonic, followed by German campaigns of revenge against France, then two compulsive replays in the two world wars, then Soviet imperialism, and now the European Union.

The grand new EU claims to have the answer to war and peace forever. Its not a secret that the EU wants to run the world through international institutions like the UN, the most corrupt collection of thugs, genociders and rapists on earth.

The EU is of course a messianic cult like all the others, with the difference that previous European delusions killed foreigners; but this time the ruling class has declared war on its own peoples.

Frau Merkel may not look like a black Chicago Machine politician, but in their hearts they are twin souls.
We live in a very neo-Romantic age, in which feelings are considered more significant than facts. This is why a man can claim to be a woman just because he feels like one and be taken seriously, even held up as a hero, despite the obvious biological evidence to the contrary. The Achilles heel of this mindset is that feelings often lie, especially self-centered ones. Unfortunately, this mentality has also spilled over into the religious world, where it has given rise to self-absorbed spirituality that can best be called religious narcissism.

In Altar to an Unknown Love, Beasley remarks that this trend "has been a longstanding development of subjective religion here in America: a kind of modernized emotion-based-existentialism which subjugates everything beneath the thoughts, feelings, intentions, and imaginations of the worshipper." The foundation for this was probably laid by the pietistic brand of Christianity that became increasingly popular in the nineteenth century in the U.S., the U.K., and Europe.

While theological declarations of faith predominate over personal emotions and experiences in older hymns, nineteenth-century hymns often tend to be moralistic, sentimental, and subjective, with the pronoun "I" appearing in many lines. This religiosity received new impetus with the advent of psychotherapism and the New Age movement. Though they denigrated traditional Judeo-Christian monotheism, humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow recommended Eastern mysticism as a means of self-realization. Since it is a religious outlook making few absolute moral demands, the New Age approach appealed to a free-wheeling, morally liberated youth culture, as Melanie Phillips observes. However, many of the Eastern societies where such religions flourish have been conspicuous more for their conformity and groupism than for individuality and self-actualization.

Subsequently, this therapeutic New Age outlook has given rise to a self-centered, highly emotional brand of religion, even among Christians. Contemporary religious writers such as John Eldredge and Sarah Young are cases in point, since both come from psychological, counseling backgrounds. Unsurprisingly, the Jesus who mystically speaks to them sometimes sounds a lot more like a pop psychologist or a New Age guru than the Jesus of the New Testament.

Many others today also seem discontent with simply reading their Bibles; they have to be Bibles. Consulting their inner spiritual impressions and psychic wounds, modern believers frequently look to God mainly for therapeutic benefits and pleasurable, drug-free feelings, along with greater self-esteem. Riding the pop psychological wave, church leaders such as Joel Osteen and Rick Warren have become purveyors of self-esteem, self-help, and self-actualization by means of religion. Even before their popularity, pastor and best-selling author Robert Schullerhad recommended abolishing the traditional concept of sin, replacing it with self-esteem and "possibility thinking." Showing their obvious self-esteem, many modern religious writers and speakers make unabashed, liberal use of the self-centered pronoun "I." Full-blown religious narcissism took the stage when Victoria Osteen brazenly declared that we practice a life of faith not for God, but for ourselves.

Following the lead of such people, scores of religious leaders today preach therapeutic, motivational messages rather than expounding the text of any scripture. Subjective, postmodern religiosity has allowed skepticism into the evangelical movement, which was originally committed to biblical authority as the objective standard of faith.

Insightful critics of this phenomenon have come from both secular and religious backgrounds. For example, in regard to a pop psychologist telling people that "God wants you to have it all," Justman moans that this approach results in the "stripping of transcendence and sublimity from religion."

Long ago, the American theologian Jonathan Edwards discoursed at length on the problem of religious narcissism, which he considered the essence of hypocrisy. Many others have also been convinced that the Bible prophetically warns about this type of religion in passages such as 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NASB): "... difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness[.]" The Apostle Paul is speaking here of the religious world, not the secular world.

Self-centered religion goes hand-in-hand with shallow sentimentality, irrational mysticism, and moral laxity, especially toward sins like arrogance and selfishness.

Gleaning any helpful moral guidance from self-centered religion poses a real problem. Of course, religious narcissists may choose to assume a moral pose, especially when it enhances their social standing in line with the current groupthink, a recent example being the viral video "I'm Christian, But I'm Not..." On top of that, it is hard to derive any incentive to worship such a deity, since the god of the religious narcissist is inevitably a small one, who exists only to gratify the believer. Therefore, the best remedy for religious narcissism is allegiance to a transcendent deity with a written, rational revelation not so easily susceptible to misuse and manipulation. Faith in such an ultimate reality leads people away from the delusion that subjective feelings are what really define them. Rather than plunging down the rabbit hole of introspection for direction and fulfillment, they should be looking outward and upward.

Bruce W. Davidson is a professor at Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo, Japan, and a board member of the Jonathan Edwards Center, Japan.
You wont see Democrat candidates for President concern themselves with national security. There will be no questions at the Democrat debates regarding the safety of the nation, the guarding of our borders or the guarding of our intelligence secrets.

In fact we get quite the opposite. Bernie Sanders announces that the email scandal is not up for discussion. The importance of the topic seems to be lost on Democrats. It must be an inconveniently complicated topic sans any emotion, that oh so necessary element for any Democrat issue.

To watch a historically accurate movie or read about the lengths and efforts that our and the allied intelligence communities have exerted in the past to procure valuable information from our unfriendlies yields a stark contrast to the reckless treatment of our nations sensitive and classified materials by Hillary Clinton.

Our President announces troop withdrawals or deployment schedules for his political purposes, but the same also serves as a convenience for our enemies. Our troops are hamstrung by rules of engagement, restrictions fully played upon by the opposition.

The Japanese Naval Code of WWII was broken by the efforsts of Joseph J. Rochefort and others. Reading about the Pacific War or watching an accurate movie such as Midway reminds us of the importance of intelligence gathering and intelligence protecting. This information can win wars and save lives.

Likewise, in the movie The Imitation Game Alan Turing and others at Bletchley Park are recalled as breaking and then protecting information garnered from Nazi transmissions via the Enigma code machine. Both incidents remind us of the massive efforts, the brilliant work, and the exhausting exertions by very smart people.

Now compare and contrast the cavalier and sloppy handling of our national top secret materials by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in which her personal convenience trumped national security. No smart people here. No regard for national security, only narcissistic decision making by the Secretary. She embodies a diametrically opposite attitude regarding the importance and concern for national security than that possessed by the code breakers of WWII.

We can speak in cliches about the greatest generation. However, there can be no doubt that the resolve, the intelligence, the ability to grasp the gravity of the situation has been lost on the likes of Hillary and Obama. They seem to consider themselves to be that which is important. Just ask them.
Austin, Texas is supposed to be capital of coolness, the hippest place to be for a certain kind of people. SXSW and all that. But city officials there did not take it well when a municipal employee enlivened a 45 page presentation by using a satirical map of the city to demonstrate a point about a street. Tony Plohetski reports in the Austin Statesman:

An Austin city employee is on leave, and the director of the citys Transportation Department has formally apologized to a city commission, after a map used in a presentation labeled Austin neighborhoods North Mexico and South Mexico and blacks resisting gentrification. The map, which the staffer apparently downloaded from the Internet, made the rounds months ago on social media as Judgmental Austin and features derogatory labels for our city, City Manager Marc Ott told the mayor and City Council in a memo late Wednesday. Using this backdrop was completely inappropriate.

The actual presentation and meeting sound deadly dull, in desperate need of a little humor to keep people awake:

The objectionable map was part of a meeting of the citys zoning and platting commission focused on street connectivity and strategic mobile initiatives, Otts memo said. It was used to emphasize the point that a street traverses many places.

But no humor is allowed, when the targets are the rich diversity groups that Austin loves to tout.

Here is the map the unidentified employee used, with the street in question highlighted:

And here is the original map, which pokes fun at the citys various neighborhoods.

Let's just say that the city oficials lost their cool.

Hat tip: David Paulin
There has been a significant erosion of private property rights that predates the Obama administration and eminent domain is one of the major cultprits. The problem has accelerated over the last decade thanks to a Supreme Court decision in the matter of Kelo vs. New London, CT. In that case, the court ruled that eminent domain could be used to transfer private property from one private citizen to another. A group of homeowners whose property was being condemned by the city of New London to make way for a redvelopment scheme claimed that the use of eminent domain in this case violated the 5th and 14th. The high court disagreed and private property rights received a significant blow.

But Donald Trump doesn't see much wrong with that, and came out in favor of the practice at a rally yesterday.

Washington Free Beacon:

With only eight days until voting, the Republican Party front-runner continued to back eminent domain -- the power of taking private land for public use -- before a crowd interspersed with locals from Pella and Oskaloosa as the two cities continue to push to build a regional airport by using the practice. Twice during the speech, Trump called the practice a "positive thing" while talking up the necessity of its use. "I'm not in love with eminent domain, but eminent domain is a good thing. It's necessary," Trump said, adding later that "eminent domain is something that's a positive thing  not a negative thing. Yeah, sometimes cities will use it in order to do business." "Let's say a person has a house or a person has a backyard and they're going to build a factory that's going to employ 5,000 people, and sometimes the city will use the power," Trump said. "And by the way, if you don't get that property, they're going to go to another city, and they're going to spend millions of dollars and they're going to build a factory there, they're going to employ 5,000 people  but not in your city. Eminent domain is a positive thing. It's got to be used judiciously." "Without it, you wouldn't have any highways, you wouldn't have laws," Trump continued. "Did anyone know that that's how you build roads and thats how you build schools and that's how you build other things?" Bob Owens, a 61-year-old resident of Pella, agreed partly with Trump's points, stating, "yeah, you've got to think about progress, and you've got to think about things that [Trump] was talking about. But when it gets to actual personal and talking about taking away your farm, then it gets to be a little bit of a different deal [who's against the airport.] We have a good airport. We have an airport that's functional. I just personally don't think there's a need for it."

Trump is using two different justifications to support eminent domain. Condemning someon'e property to build a road or a school is one thing. That clearly justifies the practice because the end result is for public use.

But what happens when a private contractor - a crony of a local politician - uses the practice of eminent domain to seize someone's land where the end result is to develop the land for personal profit? Does it matter that the development will create thousands of jobs, or pump significant income into a community? Many Americans would say "yes" - except for those whose property was in the gunsights of local government.

Clearly, eminent domain was intended by the founders to better the community as a whole. Whether that includes condemning property so that jobs and wealth are created while the principle of private property is eroded depends on your point of view.
The marriage between Islamic supremacism and Western dhimmitude does not appear headed for divorce any time soon. The rise of Islam and the collapse of the West continue apace. With the exception of one or two stories from earlier in the week, noted below is a sampling from the past 72 hours that exposes the madness that is washing over the West without relent.

Austria: An organization formed called Fortified Austria to beat back the Muslim invasion and the founders include military officers, both retired and those currently serving. (here)

Belgium: A fourteen-year-old girl fell victim to human trafficking by Muslim invaders. (here)

Canada: The husband of one of the Canadians who was slaughtered in the Burkina Faso terror attack hung up on P.M. Trudeau after Trudeau called him to offer his condolences. An imam told his congregants to hire Muslims only and to only do business with Muslims. (here and here)

The Czech Republic: Speaking about the Islamic invasion of Europe, the former president stated that [i]t is a war on our whole continent. (here)

Finland: A 500-strong vigilante patrol to protect women and girls is at risk of being banned by the government. Nearly 70% of asylum seekers would rather return to their home country than deal with the cold weather. (here and here)

France: An Islamic convert was arrested after he recruited his girlfriend to become a jihadist. Refugees stormed the port of Calais and forced their way onto a British ferry. (here and here)

Germany: The country lost track of nearly half (600,000) of the colonizers they admitted last year, with many suspected to be in other countries by now. A 16-year-old girl recorded a scathing video that exposed the insanity of the government and the dangerous climate across the country. A man who came to the aid of two women being attacked by Muslims was brutally beaten by same. A Muslim group blamed women for being raped and suggests Germany stop selling alcohol as the solution to the problem. An imam claimed that girls who drink beer deserve to be groped. The list of female victims of the New Years Eve mass sexual assaults reached 1,000, with more than 125 gang rapes, and so far only two assailants are in jail. An Islamic State jihadi storm trooper who hunted down spies and defectors to be tortured and beheaded and who returned to Germany in January will go on trial. A Syrian jihadi was arrested for a suspected war crime. After importing hordes of Muslim invaders, Merkel observed that anti-Semitism is worse than imagined. (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)

Spain: The Islamic State vowed to re-take control of Spain and threatened terror attacks. (here)

Sweden: A Muslim spit on, punched, and kicked a woman with her two young children on the subway stairs. A court decided that migrants can drive without having a license. (here, here, and here)

United Kingdom: Open Borders activists hosted a welcome party for migrants. The Bishop of London stated that Vicars should grow beards as a gesture of outreach to Muslims. The media continued to uphold double standards, publishing a story of a Buddhist monk who slashed tires which they ascribed to his religious beliefs while avoiding making similar connections between Muslim acts of violence. Reports emerged that after countless Muslim children were forced to watch beheading videos with their family, 2,000 such children have been referred to de-radicalization programs over the past four years. A 9-year-old girl was rescued from being sent to Afghanistan to be married to her 18-year-old cousin. A Muslim family that owns many gas stations refused to sell alcohol while claiming their decision has nothing to do with Islamic law. A European group that supports held a training course on lobbing and advocacy. A petition is circulating to ban Sharia law in the UK.amH (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)

United States: The Obama administration eased visa rules for Europeans who have traveled to terror hot spots in the Middle East and Africa. The administration also released Al-Qeadas top explosives expert from Guantanamo. A Seattle man accused of murdering four people was on the terror watch list. John Kerry admits some of the sanctions relief money going to Iran will fund terrorists. The wife of a terror suspect in Houston who may have been a child bride when they entered the country. Tennessee moved to stop Islamic religious indoctrination in public schools. None of the seven recently released Iranian prisoners have returned to Iran and some or all may still be in the United States. An employer dealing with Muslims on the production line wanting the entire line shut down for prayers tells CAIR to butt out of the dispute. An American female member of the Islamic State expressed joy that she finally got her suicide belt and can kill non-believers. A mosque with ties to terror got gun training. The former president of Doctors without Borders claimed that when Jewish men wear kippas they are announcing allegiance to Israel and are therefore fair game for Muslim violence. Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers arrived in the United States for anti-Sisi rallies. A Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice spoke at a mosque with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)

This short overview is by no means exhaustive and it does not include events that have been covered up and obviously excludes the many egregious acts that occurred but were not reported. It also does not include the hourly advance of the Muslim Brotherhood across America, the daily threat of mosques that preach jihad, refugee resettlement, or countless other insidious ways Islam makes inroads and tears down whole nations.

While I usually would offer commentary on information I share, I feel none is needed here. The Islamic advance speaks for itself and the Wests cowardice, complicity, and voluntary dhimmitude is on full display. There are glimmers of hope here and there, but as long as Western countries continue to import Muslims from Islamic lands, attempts to maintain law, order, and cultural identity will, in my view, remain hopelessly inadequate.

Huge hat tips to sites that post multiple reports on Islamic supremacy around the world, day in and day out: Memri, Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch, Religion of Peace, Creeping Sharia, Counterjihad Report, Investigative Project on Terrorism, Gates of Vienna, and Global MB Watch. Addition hat tips: Breitbart, Associated Press, Daily Mail, The Canadian Press, UK Express, Daily Star, Reuters, Mail Online, Fox News, American Thinker, The Washington Times, Seattle Times, CNN, GOP USA, and Front Page Magazine
Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, also known as Serthar Buddhist Institute, sits in the Larung Valley at an elevation of 4,000 meters, about 15 km from the town Sertar, in Sertar County, Garze Prefecture in the traditional Tibetan region of Kham. The academy was founded in 1980 in an entirely uninhabited valley by Jigme Phuntsok, an influential lama of the Nyingma tradition. Despite its remote location, Larung Gar grew from a handful of disciples to be one of the largest and most influential centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. Today it is home to over 40,000 monks, nuns and lay-students.

The campus of Larung Gar is enormous. Houses for monks and nuns sprawl all over the valley and up the surrounding mountains. A huge wall through the middle of Larung Gar separates the monk side from the nun side. Monks and nuns are not allowed out of their designated areas except in front of the main monastery assembly hall which is common to both nuns and monks. The houses are all built in a wood style that is traditionally found in this region, and built so close together that they appear almost on top of each other.

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One of the most surprising elements of Serthar is that more than half of those who come to study are women. Entry into the relatively small number of nunneries that exist in other areas of Tibet is limited, but Serthar was open to virtually anyone who genuinely sought to become a student of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsoks ecumenical vision. Another surprise at Serthar is that it attracts ethnic Chinese students as well as students from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, who attend separate classes taught in Mandarin, while larger classes are taught in Tibetan.

Reaching Larung Gar is not an easy task. It is quite remote and the nearest large city is Chengdu, which is 650 kilometers away and takes 13 to 15 hours to reach by vehicle. Sertar is also a sensitive area that is often closed to foreign travelers.

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Nuns wash clothes at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 4, 2006 in Serthar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A nun holds sutras and a portable stereo as she prepares to listen to the lecture of a master at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 4, 2006 in Serthar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Lamas listen to a master as they study sutra at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 11, 2007 in the Tibetan autonomous region of China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A nun puts her shoes on a shelf before she enters a Buddhist hall at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 11, 2007 in the Tibetan autonomous region of China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Nuns buy goods outside a store at the Serthar Wuming Buddhist Study Institute on November 11, 2007 in Serthar County of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Sources: China Trekking, The Land of Snow, Avax News
Cute warning: police help sloth cross the road

Police in Ecuador found a sloth stuck in the middle of a busy road. The animal was hugging a metal pillar.

Israel Bustamante, lieutenant of the CTE, explains: He was lazy and checked by a veterinarian and was in excellent condition to return to his natural habitat. In Cutesville.

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Posted: 24th, January 2016 | In: In Pictures, Strange But True Comment | TrackBack | Permalink


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Bahrains minister of transportation and telecommunications Kamal bin Ahemd Mohammed (centre) joined the CEO of Baharain Airport Company (BAC) Mohammed AlBinfalah (right) as the Bahrain air show (BIAS) drew to a close, to make the announcement..

"The airport modernisation programme is one of the most important strategic projects for the Kingdom of Bahrain, as the Airport serves all economic sectors and is a gateway for Bahrain to the rest of the world. Once completed, it will increase the Airports capacity to 14 million passengers annually, the minister said.

The project is being finianced by the Abu Dhabi Fund with additional finance from the Bahraini government.

The Aramco/TAV deal includes the construction of the new passenger terminal building, the main services building and aircraft bay. Other contracts signed during the air show included a contract with CIMC from China for the passenger airbridges; a contract for the baggage handling system with Vanderlande from the Netherlands; a contract with L3 Communications from the USA for security screening equipment; and finally a contract with Kone from Finland for the horizontal and vertical transfer systems.

In addition, a contract was also signed on the sidelines of BIAS with SETEC from France for the design of an MRO facility which, when built, will contribute to job creation for Bahrainis.

Albinfalah said: "The signings completed at BIAS 2016 are a historical milestone in the progress of the programme. This is the largest infrastructure project for the Bahrain International Airport in over 30 years and is being executed in line with the highest standards of safety, security, technology and environmental standards. In order to keep up with the rapid pace of progress in the aviation industry.

We are expecting to complete the project in 2019, and expect to see a three-fold increase in direct flights and numbers of airlines using the new passenger terminal building as a result."


The chairman of Bakers & McKenzie spoke recently at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to set out his vision for a legal profession facing changes. Eduardo Leite said that change in the profession is nothing new; he highlighted the relatively recent need to adapt brought about by the internet and also cited historic changes for the profession by the various industrial and technical revolutions.Leite spoke of how the future of law may draw the best of both Civil and Common law practices. He said that while he comes from a background of Civil law and believes it to be more stable and fairer, the flexibility of Common law is better at dealing with rapid, technological change without the need for often slow, government intervention.Leites outlook is for a system which is better in tune with cross-border operation with laws that fit better with an increasingly globalised society. In his speech he called for all institutions around the world to modernize and meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.This years LawWithoutWalls programme has been launched to help lawyers and business professionals partner to solve the issues that arise at the intersection of law, business, technology and innovation. The programme has been running since 2010 and this year is being supported by Eversheds as its sole global law firm partner.At a launch event in Spain, attended by over 200 law students, lawyers, academics and experts from the corporate world, Eversheds head of innovation James Batham acknowledged the need for law firms to adapt with a generation of lawyers that are great legal brains, but are commercial, innovative, digitally-savvy and global thinkers.Domestic law firms in Korea are concerned about the impact of the countrys liberalisation of the legal profession. Koreas domestic law market will be opened up to trade agreements with the European Union and the US. The EU deal comes into effect this July with the US one coming in 2017. Figures from the Bank of Korea shows a deficit of $490 million in the first 11 months of 2015 for Korean legal services offices.Meanwhile, the Korea Joongang Daily reports that filings to the Korea tax office showed that international law firm Clifford Chance has become the first foreign firm to exceed 10 billion won in annual billings (2014 figures) and local firms are fearful of the effect of greater competition.
Zadesky has been with the Cupertino giant for 16 years, and reports have him at the helm of the electric car project for the last two years. According to The Wall Street Journal , Zadesky informed his colleagues of his upcoming departure motivated by personal reasons, but he still works for the American company.Over the years, Steve Zadesky has had his name on several US patents and documents, including the one for Liquid Metal, a special malleable alloy which Apple owns the exclusive rights to, Macrumors informs.However, the departure of such an employee from Apple will undoubtedly bring setbacks for the Cupertino giant on several fields, including their supposed electric car project. The company has not confirmed its work on such a design, but industry analysts estimate Apple could launch a car in 2020. Rumors announce the future Apple vehicle is electric, but other reports show the possibility of developing an autonomous vehicle. Who knows, maybe Apple is doing both under the same roof.Even without official confirmation from Apple about a current car-related project, it is safe to say the company is up to something in the automotive field. After all, Apple has been headhunting engineers from General Motors, Ford, Tesla, A123 Systems, Samsung, Nvidia, and others.Since A123 Systems is a supplier of batteries for electric vehicles, and Nvidia has developed technology for autonomous cars, it is obvious that Apple has some plans in both directions.When we look at the recruitment of employees from carmakers, one can only connect the dots and make an estimate of what the alleged "Project Titan" is about. Apple made everyone's guessing work even easier when it registered the domains apple.car, apple.cars, and apple.auto The company has serious money on its hands and has historically reshaped some industries along its existence, so there's a significant chance Apple has a few ideas on changing cars with the Project Titan in the same way it changed the world of cell phones when it introduced the iPhone.
TDI

Initially, Volkswagen officials stated that they had no idea about the existence of special software hidden in the ECUs ofengines, which worked to trick emission testing. Eventually, company executives admitted to having known of this software, and voices from the industry blamed the group's corporate mentality for it.From the initially stated small group of rogue employees who decided to trick emission testing, the list of people in Volkswagen's top brass who knew about the existence and purpose of the defeat device grew larger. A report from German Sueddeutsche Zeitung reveals that many managers of the company were aware of the project since as early as 2006.The story was then picked up and developed by German regional broadcasters such as NDR and WDR. The story was investigated even further, and information from the internal probe on Volkswagen disclosed the fact that the defeat device was an open secret in the company's engine development department and even got further than that.One of the team members involved in the situation decided to notify a senior manager outside the department in 2011, the German media reports, but the contacted official did not react. The employee ultimately decided to be a whistleblower for the investigators who set their eyes on Volkswagen.Depending on the inspector's findings, the executives who denied knowledge about the device and who are proven guilty of the manipulation could end up being fired and face criminal charges in Germany.Volkswagen initiated an amnesty program last year that allowed employees to come clean on the Dieselgate situation without losing their jobs. Several employees came forward for the investigation, and the results of the inquiry will be presented at the company's annual shareholder's meeting, held in April.The gravity of the Dieselgate scandal is severe, but it sadly isn't the only cover-up scandal in the automotive industry, having equivalents like the Takata airbag recall and GM's ignition switch recall.
24 January 2016 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani parliamentarians Govhar Bakhshaliyeva and Mirkazim Kazimov will attend the 11th session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States to be held in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Azertag state news agency reported.

The two-day event will discuss a number of issues, including fight against terrorism and extremism, recent events in Palestine, current situation in Syria, political situation in Sudan, Somalia, Mali and Chad, problems of migration and refugees.

The session will also look through the occupation of Azerbaijan`s Nagorno-Karabakh region by Armenia.

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24 January 2016 15:40 (UTC+04:00)

Two Azerbaijan-related reports are on the agenda of the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe due to take place in Strasbourg from January 24-30, Azertag state news agency reported.

Reports on "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan" and on "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water" will be debated by PACE parliamentarians.

Europe's migration and refugee crisis, international terrorism and the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland will take center-stage at the session.

The migration crisis will be addressed with reports on "The Mediterranean Sea: a front door to irregular migration" and on "Organised crime and migrants".

With regard to international terrorism, reports on "Foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq" and "Combating international terrorism while protecting Council of Europe standards and values"* will be the focus of discussions.

The Assembly will also elect its President for a one-year term, renewable once.

Parliamentarians will also be called upon to decide whether to grant the request for partner for democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly submitted by the Parliament of Jordan.

Among the personalities who will be addressing the Assembly are the President of Bulgaria Rossen Plevneliev and the Captains Regent of San Marino Lorella Stefanelli and Nicola Renzi. Daniel Mitov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, will address the Assembly in his capacity as Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland will make his annual statement.

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24 January 2016 17:45 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's introduction of capital controls does not automatically have consequences for its 'BBB-'/Stable sovereign rating, Fitch Ratings says.

Low debt and substantial external assets still support the rating, although the capital controls could damage the sovereign's credit profile through their impact on growth and financial stability, the statement said.

The move reflects the challenge of dual policy goals - preserving the value of State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) assets, and supporting the currency to maintain price and social stability, the statement said.

The measures will support the manat and reduce the pressure on buffers, which are a key strength of Azerbaijan's credit profile. But this may be offset by the impact of devaluation, capital controls, and low oil prices on the economy, budget, and banking sector.

Azerbaijan's external balance sheet is strong. SOFAZ assets were nearly USD35bn, 16 months of the country's total imports, at end-3Q15, but the government may be reluctant to use them to defend the manat as SOFAZ finances around half of the state budget and is also meant as a fund for future generations, the statement said.

The CBA has used regulatory forbearance to support the sector again following December's devaluation, lowering minimum regulatory capital adequacy requirements for Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios. This may bring some banks that breached ratios last month back into formal compliance, without changing their core economic capital position.

A mandatory fee of 20 percent on remittances for sending money abroad, which exceeds $50,000 during a year, was introduced in Azerbaijan, according to the amendments to the Law on currency regulation adopted by the parliament.

This charge does not apply to transfers abroad in relation to the cost of medical treatment, education, execution of court decisions and law enforcement agencies outside of Azerbaijan.

Currency exported as direct investment for the purchase of securities, real estate and land, as well as for the maintenance of Azerbaijani companies foreign missions also will be taxed with a mandatory fee of 20 percent.

This charge does not apply to legal entities, the state share in capital of which exceeds 50 percent.

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24 January 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

The first test train on Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China route has arrived in a ferry terminal of Baku International Sea Trade Port in Alat, Azertag state news agency reported.

The test train consisting of ten cars and twenty forty-foot containers departed from the Ukrainian Ilichevsk sea port on January 15. The container train reached the Georgian port of Poti on January 20.

From Azerbaijan the train will travel across the Caspian sea to Kazakhstan and then to China.

Representatives of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine signed a Protocol on the establishment of competitive preferential tariffs for cargo transportation via the TRANS-Caspian international transport route at a quadrilateral meeting held in Baku on January 14 .

Trans-Caspian International Transport Route enjoys an opportunity to become attractive and profitable for consignors from European countries.

This route will transport approximately 300,000-400,000 containers by 2020, bringing hundreds of millions of manats in profit to Azerbaijan.

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24 January 2016 16:50 (UTC+04:00)

The Azerbaijani government intends to allocate $600 million to the International Bank of Azerbaijan in 2016, Fitch Ratings said.

"This shows the government's support for the country's largest bank, the statement said. A small banking sector allows the government to support the bank. But the direct support of the banking sector can lead to the countrys additional expenditure.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan was founded in 1992.

The main shareholder of the bank is the Finance Ministry on behalf of the Azerbaijani government, having 51.07 percent of stake in the banks capital, while the rest part  physical and legal entities.

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24 January 2016 11:20 (UTC+04:00)

Oil and gas industry should revise investment plans at the current oil prices, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told journalists Saturday.

"At the current oil prices and floating exchange rate, oil and gas sector should increase efficiency, keep costs down and one more time revise their investment plans," he said.

The Minister also said that the Russian government will support the fuel-and-energy complex in reducing administrative barriers and simplification of administrative procedures, TASS reported.

"As for any additional support, it will not be financial, but more in the field of simplifying administrative procedures related to business activities, administrative barriers," he said.

At the same time, the Russian Energy Ministry prepares proposals to improve efficiency of the fuel-and-energy complex in tight economy.

"We prepare the overall government plan of priority development measures. And we too, for our part, participate in preparing proposals that will be primarily related to improving efficiency of the industry in tight economy," the Minister said.

On January 22, the price of Brent crude oil soared by 7%, surpassing the mark of $31 per barrel.

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24 January 2016 11:00 (UTC+04:00)

Trade Promotion Organization of Iran banned Iranian merchants from re-exporting Turkish products to Russia from Iran, IRNA reported.

TPOI Deputy Director Mohammad Reza Movadvadi said on Saturday that according to a decree issued by the Iranian Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, re-export of Turkish products to Russia from Iran's soil is forbidden.

Re-export of Turkish goods to Russia by Iranian merchants is against Iran's general export policies, he added.

Referring to the political tensions between Turkey and Russia, Movadvadi noted that such measures can have a very negative impact on Tehran-Moscow ties.

Russians may adopt difficult rules for export of Iranian products to Russia, if Iranian merchants continue to re-export Turkish goods to Russia from Iran's soil, the official added.

He noted that Iranian merchants should use the opportunity of good political ties between Tehran and Moscow for export of Iranian goods, there.

Russia imposed import sanctions on Turkey and canceled major investment projects as the spat between the two countries over the downed Su-24 fighter jet continues.

The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said punitive steps could include halting joint economic projects, restricting financial and trade transactions and changing customs duties.

Already, the Russias tourist board has suspended all tours to Turkey, a move that it estimated would cost the Turkish economy $10b (6.6b) reports the Guardian.

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24 January 2016 16:26 (UTC+04:00)

Iran is holding talks with the US to re-launch direct flights between the two countries, Abbas Akhoundi, the Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development said.

Iran Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has started negotiations with the US on the issue, Akhoundi said, Irans Tasnim news agency reported Jan. 24.

Referring to the negotiations on direct Iran-US flights, Farhad Parvaresh, Chairman and Managing Director of Iran Air, the Iranian flag carrier said that daily flights to New York used to take place before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and they will hopefully get resumed in near future.

Following the implementation of the nuclear deal in Jan. 16 Iran is now looking into the possibility of resuming direct flights to the United States in light of the removal of sanctions that have prohibited the country from doing so.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pledged at the 68th session of the UN general assembly in New York in 2013 to facilitate travel to homeland for Iranian expatriates residing in the US.

The US, and Los Angeles in particular, is home to hundreds of thousands of Iranian expatriates.

Travelers between Iran and the US currently have to change flights in a third country, usually in Europe or the Persian Gulf states.

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An arrest warrant has been issued for a third suspect in a Polk County triple homicide earlier this month, detectives said Saturday.

Jamaal John Smith, 25, has a Polk County warrant for his arrest for three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of armed burglary.

David Washington, 24; Eneida "Stacy" Branch, 31; and Angelica Castro, 23, were shot and killed Jan. 6 at a home on East Magnolia Drive in unincorporated Lakeland. A fourth person, Felix Campos, 18, was shot in the face.

Smith's last known address is 35 N.W. 44th St. in Miami. Smith is believed to be in the South Florida area.

Anyone with information about the case who wants to remain anonymous is asked to call 800-266-TIPS (8477) or log onto www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com.


Fun Facts, Startling Science of Cannon Beach, Oregon Coast

Published 01/23/2016 at 10:21 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon)  As one of Oregon's top travel destinations, Cannon Beach is among its most famous features. There's plenty to gawk at here, and much that is right out in the open and obvious. But even these attractive aspects have multiple layers. Aside from the lovely lodgings and awesome eateries, the natural world in this hotspot is full of deep pockets of fascinating finds. (PHoto above: Cannon Beach's Haystack Rock).

Haystack Rock. The big, looming legend of town is one of the most photographed features in all of Oregon. How it came to be, however, is a bit of a scary tale.

Some 45 million years ago or so, there was a massive hole in the Earth's crust in what is now Idaho which created lava flows so enormous they sizzled their way across 300 miles to the ocean and beyond, sometimes tens of feet high. The coastline was then some 75 miles inland, but these lava flows were so powerful they plunged into sediment far offshore and then literally re-erupted at another location.

Called invasives, Haystack Rock was once part of a larger structure that came from this action. The rest of it eroded away, leaving the rock and its Needles. Still creepy to this day: that same hole is where Yellowstone National Park is now, and it will likely one day erupt as a super volcano.

In case you didn't know: there are indeed three Haystack Rocks on Oregon's coast. The other biggie is in Pacific City and there's yet another in Bandon.





Silver Point Above and Below. One of the most famous viewpoints on the Oregon coast is that of Silver Point. Below is where the real wonders lie, however. There's a trippy sea cave inside the mini-stack of basalt found here, which is almost never accessible (although sometimes sea kayakers and surfers get inside). The reef in this places does odd things to the waves, creating a spot where the breakers will move north to south (instead of coming in towards the beach), looking like some mysterious creature darting back and forth in the ocean.

Geologically, this spot is a bit mind-blowing. Look at those huge grooves carved in the cliff face and you may think Ice Age movement. No, say local geologists. This area was once at the bottom of the sea, and those grooves come from currents ripping down it, like an underwater waterfall.

Lewis and Clark and Cannon Beach's First Review. It's fairly well known Clark and a few of the Corps of Discovery journeyed from their ruddy temporary home of Fort Clatsop down to Ecola Creek in January of 1806 to try and obtain some whale blubber from local tribes. There's a statue dedicated to this downtown at Whale Park.

What isn't so talked about is their leg cramp-inducing hike across Tillamook Head to its top, and what is now Bald Mountain. There was no trail then, and Clark had to pause for a moment to take in the scope of this march, feeling quite overwhelmed. But once he made it to the top, he was the first to document the soaring beauty of this spot that hikers for the last 100 years have relished so.

Clark raved about it, noting he could see the headland of Cape Disappointment (which the Corps named), and saying he "looked down with estonishment" at waves that crashed with ferocity. It was the Cannon Beach / Seaside area's first tourist review.

The Bunnies of Cannon Beach. One aspect noted by many visitors is that Cannon Beach has bundles of bunnies. They're everywhere. Clearly, they breed like, well, like rabbits. They're especially prolific on the southern edges of town, but also found in abundance at Arch Cape.

So, why so many bunnies in Cannon Beach? No one seems to know for sure, but one bit of lore that keeps getting passed around is that it had something to do with a local woman decades ago who apparently just let a bunch of them loose.

One thing is for sure: the city is adamant you don't feed them. They're existing fine on their own in the wild.

Some locals have made pets of them. This presents some care issues because they are all so inbred their teeth grow extra long and have to be shaved down periodically or they're unable to eat.

Puffins of Cannon Beach. (Photo above courtesy Seaside Aquarium). A favorite aspect of the north Oregon coast town is the yearly influx of tufted puffins. They begin their four-month stay in April, with July being a highlight because they are at their most visible after giving birth to their young. After making their nests on top of Haystack Rock, one of the pair emerges into plain sight while the other goes off hunting for food.

Before that time, it takes patience to spot one, as they're hiding in the nests with their eggs. They do come and go, however. Haystack Awareness volunteers are at the base of the rock most days of the high season to help you spot them and other fun stuff there.

The return of the puffins is the centerpiece to the Twelve Days of Earth Day celebrated every April in Cannon Beach. Because of the puffins  and the designation of Haystack Rock as a wildlife refuge in general  fireworks celebrations for Independence Day has not been allowed for decades.





Red Towers, Ghost Forests. Some of the most amazing finds of all the Oregon coast sometimes  indeed rarely  occur at Hug Point and Arch Cape. If sand levels have been scraped low enough in winter, these spots will reveal these freaky geologic specimens.

Ghost forest stumps  about 4,000 years old  come from forest stands that were fairly suddenly immersed in sand and sediment, and thus cut off from the decaying effects of oxygen. Red Towers are wildly surreal structures that are formed when some chunks of sand harden beneath the surface and then oxidize into striking colors and shapes. They don't last long once exposed.





Tsunami Created the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest. Normally, there isn't much good that comes from a tsunami. But one of the biggest festivals on the entire Oregon coast can be traced back to the otherwise tragic tsunami of 1964, which hit some parts of these beaches harder than others. It washed out the bridge in this town (while it killed four children in Newport). This left Cannon Beach cut off from the rest of the world for a time.

Locals made do by amusing themselves with a sand castle contest. They decided to hold another the following year, and after that it snowballed quickly. By the late 60's, it was a huge attraction. You could still drive on this beach at the time, and many visitors came to the festival that way. Cannon Beach Hotels in this area - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour

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Oregon Coast Scientists Worry About Some Gray Whale Populations

Published 01/23/2016 at 4:23 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Newport, Oregon)  Scientists from Oregon State University in Corvallis and its Newport facility the Hatfield Marine Science Center say one segment of the gray whale population in the Pacific Ocean is not doing well. (Photo above: a whale near Russia, courtesy OSU).

Gray whales are divided into two segments: the eastern gray whale commonly known along the Oregon coast, and the western gray whale that inhabits the waters of north Asia. The western gray whale, according to local scientists, is not faring as well as its Oregon counterpart, after both at least started to recover from whaling after the 1970's.

Researchers believe that a lack of prey is hurting the recovery of the Asia-dwelling population. Only about 200 of them reside in their feeding area near Russia, and it's theorized a small crustacean called Ampelisca eschrichtii that is their biggest food source is much of the problem.

A recent study by Hatfield scientists came up with a few twists and turns, especially with the Sakhalin Shelf area of Russia, where the eastern grays feed.

The Sakhalin Shelf could be the richest gray whale feeding area in the world, said John Chapman, a co-author of the study who works at Oregon State Universitys Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. But this discovery includes some surprises, still surrounded by mystery.

Scientists found that on one hand the food source was too abundant to be over-consumed by the whales, yet the species was not rebounding after restrictions on whaling were put into place 40 years ago.

Chapman believes it's possible that access to the food is somehow restricted, perhaps because it is too deep or that its mixed with sediments that make them unsuitable. Plus, the distance that it takes to reach this feeding area costs more energy for the whales than they can healthily sustain.

Such extreme migration between the feeding grounds on the Sakhalin shelf and the breeding grounds in Baja California and back may be too energetically costly to pay for the trip, Chapman said.

Another issue may be the ice sheets of the Sakhalin Shelf, which must recede in order for the eastern grays to graze.

The whales cant get to this prey until the ice recedes each summer, Chapman pointed out. But if the ice-free areas expand too far, or persist too long, the production of these crustaceans could decrease significantly. Oregon Coast Lodging in this area - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

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Whale photos below courtesy Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium













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Daniel Radcliffe's latest role did not impress everyone at premiere

Daniel Radcliffe movie Swiss Army Man prompted some audience members to walk out during its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Harry Potter star plays a farting corpse with an erection in the independent feature directed by music video duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

Swiss Army Man also stars US actor Paul Dano, who can currently be seen as Pierre Bezukhov in BBC One's adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.

In Swiss Army Man, Dano's character Hank is stranded on a tiny deserted island.

He befriends a dead body (played by Radcliffe) that has washed ashore and embraces the opportunity as his last to escape certain death.

Hank muses over topics such as life and the human condition with the deceased before eventually riding the corpse across the sea, propelled by the power of the farts emanating from the dead man.

Scheinart said Swiss Army Man originated with an idea of "how a man riding a farting corpse could be a feature ... about mortality and big ideas, but with fart jokes".

The film divided moviegoers and critics when it made its debut at the famous Utah film festival.

A steady stream of viewers walked out.

"I get what they were trying to do, but it just seemed pointless," one person who left early told Deadline afterwards.

Meanwhile, Esquire called it "the longest fart joke in film history".

The Swiss Army Man cast and crew talked about the challenges at the film's premiere.

"How can I look dead and look slightly embarrassed at the same time or, you know, what does that look like?'" Radcliffe said.

"So there was a lot of that to be worked out, but 90% of that came from being in the room with Paul and the directors."

"We had a good time," recalled Dano. "When you see it, we get to do some fun stuff, we get to do some silly stuff and, yeah. I spent like five weeks carrying Dan around.

"And that's the thing," added Radcliffe. "I feel like there will be a lot of shots in the movie where people are like, 'Oh, that's obviously a dummy because Paul Dano wouldn't have schlepped him around like that, but he did'."
Eton and Cambridge educated actor Tom Hiddleston says the debate about class in the acting profession has become "socially divisive".

Hiddleston, best-known for his role as Loki in the Marvel films, attended public boarding school Eton before going to university and then studying at Rada.

In an interview with the Observer magazine, he objected to the idea that the industry was dominated by Eton alumni.

"There are so many successful actors who didn't go there," he said. "Like Michael Fassbender and Daniel Craig and Domhnall Gleeson and Luke Evans and Gemma Arterton and Andrea Riseborough. There's so many, the list goes on and on and on. Idris Elba."

Acknowledging the issue of inequality of opportunity, he said the debate itself could be divisive.

He explained: " It's socially divisive in a way it shouldn't be, because I think wherever you are from you should be able to follow your passion.

"Wherever you went to school, if you have something authentic to contribute, you should be allowed to. There is an acknowledged problem of access and inequality of opportunity - I don't know how to remedy that.

"But yeah, I'm on everyone's side; I'm on the side of the actors. I'm not there to divide the world into pieces."

On his own boarding school experience, he said: "I was very vulnerable when I first went. I went to boarding school when I was seven and then I sort of learned how to deal with it. So I must have somehow got more independent through that experience.

"I don't think it was ... I've never sort of had analysis about this or anything, so I have no idea, but ... You just kind of move on.

"It wasn't damaging, but I'm sure it made me independent."
First Minister Arlene Foster and William Irwin MLA joined politicians, clergy and families of the bereaved at a service of remembrance for the 40th anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre where 10 Protestant workmen were shot dead by the IRA. Picture By: Arthur Allison.

First Minister Arlene Foster has attended an interdemoninational service to mark the 40th anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre where 10 Protestant workmen were shot dead by the IRA.

Afterwards she described the murders of the men as "one of the cruelest and cold blooded acts of terrorism during the Troubles."

She added: "Those who try to rewrite the past by telling us that the men and women of PIRA were involved in some kind of noble battle need to explain what was noble about Kingsmills. It was an act of barbarism."

She joined with politicians, clergy and families of the victims at the service from 3pm Sunday at Bessbrook Town Hall.

Justice Minister David Ford, Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt and Jim Allister, leader of the TUV were also there.

The murder of the ten men - mainly textile workers - was one of the most heinous crimes in the Troubles.

They were shot dead by the IRA after they were taken off their work minibus close to the Co Armagh village of Kingsmill in January 5, 1976.

They were John Bryans, Robert Chambers, Reginald Chapman, Walter Chapman, Robert Freeburn, Joseph Lemmon, John McConville, James McWhirter, Robert Samuel Walker and Kenneth Worton.

The only survivor - Alan Black - was only survivor also attended. He was left seriously wounded and spent months in hospital recuperating.

The IRA gang allowed one man to leave unharmed after they found out he was a Catholic.

The event was organised by the Kingsmill Memorial Committee.

A memorial service was also held earlier this mark to mark the anniversary where families of the victims gathered at the spot where they died for a religious service.

Clergy men and women from the local Presbyterian Church, Church of Ireland and Methodist Church - Rev Keith McIntyre, Rev Will McCracken, Dreaning along Rev Frank Gibson took the prayer service while Tullyvallen Silver Band led the Praise.

The service was followed by the relatives' visiting the nearby memorial where they laid wreaths.

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Lake St in Lurgan where a security alert was investigated on January 24, 2016 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

The train line near Lake Street, Lurgan has been closed again on Sunday following a new report of a suspicious device being left along the track.

News from police that they had received another report came just after 2pm - two hours after police reported that the line had been reopened following the earlier security alert.

The closure of the rail near a rail crossing has caused Translink to cancel some services and organise bus substitution services between Portadown and Belfast.

The Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin is experiencing delays of up to one hour.

It's the third security alert to have impacted on the the railway crossing n less than a fortnight, causing train delays and cancellations of services.

Police were called to the Lake Street area of the town on Sunday morning following reports of a suspicious object being found.

The alert caused significant delays on the line.

Translink had to cancel several train services and provide bus substitution services.

Thousands of passengers were affected by the earlier security alert on January 13 - mainly on the Belfast to Dublin Enterprise - in what police described afterwards as "an elaborate hoax".
The flight was diverted to Shannon airport

A transatlantic airliner diverted to Shannon airport due to a bomb alert has resumed its journey after searches found nothing untoward.

The aircraft was forced to land at Shannon on Sunday morning after crew apparently found a note making a threat.

The Irish Defence Forces' Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit and gardai searched the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777.

The flight carrying 209 passengers from Houston, Texas to Istanbul landed safely at Shannon around 11am.

The emergency services assembled at the airport ahead of the landing.

Passengers were taken off the plane and transported to the terminal.

The aircraft was kept in a secure zone of the airfield while the searches were carried out. The flight took off again around 6.45pm on Sunday.

A Turkish Airlines spokeswoman said the incident was a "false alert".

"The plane has continued its flight after the termination of necessary procedures," she added.
Tributes have flooded social media for Alex Ryan, an 18-year-old student who died yesterday after taking a psychoactive drug at a party in Cork.

Video clips posted on his Facebook page were of a handsome, strong and healthy young man, fun-loving and popular.

"The last thing I wanted to hear today! You did not deserve this. I will miss you so much buddy, R.I.P xxx," wrote one of his friends. Another posted photos of happy times with Alex: "An angel was gained in heaven today."

Alex, who is from Millstreet, north Cork, was one of six people between the ages of 18 and 37 who were rushed to hospital in the early hours of last Tuesday morning after taking 2C1. The other five appear to have escaped the excesses of the drug.

The events that unfolded in the house were later vividly and shockingly described by an eyewitness, Gerard Banks; blood on the walls, violent abandon and wild oblivion. According to garda sources, at one point the students cut themselves with broken glass from a mirror.

Banks was an innocent passer-by who found himself plunged into a nightmare on Pouladuff Road.

Read more: At risk - teenagers and drugs: Blood on the walls, insanity on the street

He was still reeling from what he witnessed when he heard the news yesterday of Alex's death in a private Facebook message from his sister. She thanked Banks for what he had tried to do for her brother.

"I am looking at this like we need to learn from this. I have seen how these people lost control of themselves and that is the scary thing," he said.

Banks was with his friend, a Polish man, in the Greenmount area, walking along Pouladuff Road and past a row of houses called St Patrick's terrace.

They heard screaming and shouting coming from one of the houses. But it wasn't the usual roars of drunken teenagers.

The noise was so "crazy", Banks later recalled, so loud and so piercing that he and his pal peered through the window to see what was going on.

What they saw was "like a scene from CSI". "The bedroom was covered in blood, curtains, floor. It was destroyed, it was everywhere," he later told Neil Prendeville's Red FM radio show in a graphic interview.

"We started yelling in the window, is everything okay, what's going on? A guy came to the window. You could see that he was on drugs and off his head. He wasn't as bad as the rest of them but at least he had the cop on to leave us in and have a look."

As soon as they crossed the threshold, events became surreal. Blood was everywhere, covering the walls and floor. Roars and screams came from the front room. They walked inside to see a young man standing there naked. He was covered in blood. His face was cut and bruised - "as though he'd had a smack on the head".

Read more: 'N-bomb' partygoers thought they'd bought different drug

Beyond him, a girl covered in blood was dancing naked on the couch. "I didn't know if it was her blood or someone else's blood. There were such large quantities of blood there," Banks said.

On the floor a young man lay on his back, apparently struggling to breathe and his body "jittering and shaking". This was Alex Ryan.

The others were "completely out of it", according to Banks, and therefore oblivious to their critically ill friend: "They didn't know they were covered in blood. They didn't know they were hurt. They didn't know that there was a guy on the ground who looked like he was in cardiac arrest."

In all there were four young people in the house, all clearly drugged. Banks and his Polish friend luckily were able to keep their cool and tried to help. Banks' Polish friend learned first aid at school. Banks is involved in positive mental health and teaches yoga.

"The first thing my friend did was ran to the guy who was on the ground because he looked like he was going to stop breathing any moment soon," he said.

"I started controlling the room them, and just calming everyone down to keep my friend safe, but also to try to calm these people down. The guy who was there who was naked, even when he was jumping around, there was a bike on the ground, and he was cutting himself and he didn't even realise this. He was cutting himself and he didn't even realise..."

Unknown to Banks and his friend, neighbours had already called the guards.

Banks opened the door to them. As the two gardai took in the blood on the walls, the shouting, they seemed to him to be shocked. Soon after that the paramedics came.

Everyone was in a heightened state of shock, and growing concerned for the clearly critically ill young man. Remembering the scene last Wednesday, he said at one point, "we didn't know if he was going to survive or not".

All that time, the other three had "no idea what they were doing", according to Banks.

"That was the scariest thing. They didn't feel anything. They didn't know what they were doing. They were dancing and it was as if the party was great and they were having a great time even though your man was on the ground and there was blood everywhere."

The four young people were taken in ambulances to hospital. They were not the only young people on that drug.

The crew of emergency vehicles and flashing lights on St Patrick's Terrace attracted attention, and, according to Banks, other people emerged from a nearby house who had also taken the same drug.

Six were taken to hospital, five were discharged but tragically Alex remained in a critical condition.

The drug that killed Alex has been circulating in Ireland for a while. It is 2C1 - a form of psychedelic phenethylamine - that had been circulating in the city, and goes by the street name NBOM. It is sold in liquid, powder and tablet form. The stuff in circulation in Cork that night was in a powder. The drug is said to be more lethal when it is snorted, rather than ingested.

The HSE later issued a public health warning about the 2C family of drugs. The side effects included paranoia, hallucinations, gastrointestinal effects and kidney problems, and there are also problems with purity and contaminants.

The World Health Organisation has reported a number of deaths from the drug in other countries, including Australian, Britain and the United States.

Last week, gardai in Cork arrested a 28-year-old man who is suspected of dealing the drug. He was later released without charge. The garda investigation may take a different turn following the death of Alex Ryan.

Fr John Fitzgerald, the Millstreet parish priest, said the community were shocked and saddened by Alex's death. "It's very, very sad news. There was a lot of uncertainty in the town last night, people were just waiting to hear.

"There will be a lot of shock and sadness among his peers. It's such a tragic loss of a precious young life," he said, adding that Alex was a student at Millstreet Community School.

Fr Fitzgerald said he intended to make contact with the family and intended to visit them this week to offer them his support.

According to Gerard Banks, the story of how the drugs affected those young people that night was "shocking" but "it is story that needs to be told to actually prevent other people getting into the same situation".

Right now, Alex's family are grieving their tragic loss and they have asked for privacy.

Source: Sunday Independent
Chair of the BBC Trust Rona Fairhead said some programmes will be affected by cost-cutting

Rolling news coverage on the BBC is at risk of being axed as part of widespread cost cutting measures at the corporation, the Trust's chairman has indicated.

Programmes and some services will be affected as a result of a "tough" financial settlement, Rona Fairhead said.

But Scotland could be given its own television channel as part of a shake up of services, she suggested.

Pressed over whether the BBC's news channel is facing the axe, Ms Fairhead said "nothing is off the table".

She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "Everything is being looked at. Nothing is off the table. It's a tough settlement but the executive will work out what it is that they need to cut, the efficiencies will be put, the priority will be on making sure the programmes, stations that people listen to will be protected as much as possible.

"I can't say that anything is off the table, it's not."

She added: "We have been very clear from the start, that everything will be done to improve efficiency but that it is likely that some programmes and potentially some services will be affected."

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for more Scottish programming and a dedicated Scottish channel.

Asked about the possibility, Ms Fairhead replied: " It think we are looking at all options right now."

Earlier this week a draft report into the sexual assaults carried out by broadcaster Jimmy Savile condemned the BBC a "deferential" culture towards its stars.

Ms Fairhead she was "absolutely horrified" by the abuse that had taken place at the corporation but insisted that any recommendations made in the final report "will be done."
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has added to calls for Lord Bramall to receive a "proper apology" for his treatment during a Metropolitan Police child sex probe.

He said the former armed forces chief had been subject to "maximum pain" as a result of the mishandling of an investigation into claims he was part of a ring of high-profile child abusers.

The allegations against the 92-year-old were dropped due to a lack of evidence, and critics blame the Met for putting the D-Day veteran through the trauma of a nine-month inquiry.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Fallon said: "Somebody, somewhere owes Lord Bramall a proper apology for a case that clearly was badly handed... Clearly he was mistreated extremely badly.

"The case itself it seems to have been handled very clumsily to cause maximum pain to the field marshal, and somebody somewhere owes him an apology."

Last week Scotland Yard refused to apologise to Field Marshal Lord Bramall, days after his son, Nicholas Bramall, called for his father's anonymous accuser to be investigated.

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph he said the key witness, known as Nick, had been "peddling unsubstantiated and uncorroborated information" that had left father's distinguished reputation "tainted with the stench of abuse".

Earlier this month David Cameron refused to join the chorus of calls for an apology, saying it would be wrong for a prime minister to seek to put pressure on independent police and prosecutors.

During the course of the investigation by the Operation Midland inquiry team, Lord Bramall's home was raided by up to 20 officers while he had breakfast with his terminally-ill wife and his name was widely reported in the media.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said that while much of the ensuing criticism of the police had been misplaced, Lord Bramall now deserved a proper apology for his treatment.

Writing in his Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson said: "It is pretty clear that Field Marshal Lord Bramall is owed a full and heartfelt apology."

Journalist Sir Max Hastings, a close friend of the veteran's, has also said Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has a "clear responsibility" to apologise.

However, while Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan expressed her regret at the distress caused by the probe, she insisted police would be put off investigating claims if they had to apologise when inquiries did not end with a suspect being charged.

Operation Midland, a probe into allegations of historic abuse by senior public figures, was launched after claims were made by a man called known as "Nick" who has been granted anonymity.

However the collapse in the case against Lord Bramall has led to questions over the veracity of his claims.

According to an investigation by The Sunday Times the allegations made by Nick bear striking similarities to an account by a male accuser of Jimmy Savile.

The man, known as Stephen, appeared in a 2014 documentary where he described abuse by the BBC star, but did not mention abuse by the other high profile figures that later sparked Operation Midland.
Around 50 migrants reportedly made their way on to a ferry, causing a 'security incident'.

France has outlined its commitment to maintaining law and order after migrants stormed a UK-bound ferry in another bout of chaos in Calais.

Security forces were drafted in on Saturday after 350 migrants blocked Calais port and some boarded P&O's Spirit Of Britain passenger ship.

Pictures posted on social media showed hundreds of people running towards the port and water cannon reportedly being fired to get migrants to disembark.

Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Interior Minister, said 35 people, including 26 migrants and nine activists, were arrested. Fifteen were taken into custody, he added.

Trouble flared after hundreds of people marched towards the Port of Calais from the Jungle site where some 4,000 migrants and refugees are camped.

Amid fresh calls for the French military to be deployed in the port city, Mr Cazeneuve said the country's government had a total determination to maintain law and order.

In a statement, he said mobile forces, including CRS and squadrons of gendarmes, supported by territorial units and border police, had been mobilised for several months.

And he said significant work had been done around the Channel Tunnel and Calais port with the help of the British authorities to prevent disorder.

Humanitarian solutions had also been implemented, including accelerated asylum procedures, which had helped reduce migrant numbers at Calais to 4,000 from 6,000 in recent months, Mr Cazeneuve went on.

The trouble broke out on the same day Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited the Jungle and the Grande-Synthe migrant and refugee camp near Dunkirk.

In ankle-deep mud, he toured Grande-Synthe, where around 2,500 mainly Kurds are sleeping rough in the cold in flimsy tents, and said the conditions were a "disgrace".

The Road Haulage Association's (RHA) chief executive Richard Burnett said the problems facing British truckers in Calais were routine as he called for urgent action.

He said: "This shocking breach of security clearly shows that the migrant mayhem in and around Calais is not being tackled.

"This latest episode has made the headlines, but the many incidents of attacks and intimidation faced by our British drivers on a daily basis are going unreported as, depressingly, they are now being regarded as routine.

"It is now time for the authorities to acknowledge and meet our demand for the French military be deployed to secure the port and its approaches."

Mr Burnett said immediate action was necessary, warning that it is "only a matter of time before our worst fears become a reality and a UK-bound truck driver is killed".

A statement from the Port of Dover said the Port of Calais reopened more than two hours after experiencing "migrant activity" which disrupted cross-Channel services.
Ministers have faced calls for 3,000 refugee children living alone in Europe to be resettled in the UK

The Government is "looking at whether we can do more" in relation to unaccompanied children amid Europe's migrant crisis, International Development Secretary Justine Greening has said.

Ms Greening told Sky News's Murnaghan programme: "We've steadily evolved our approach as this crisis has evolved, we've been right at the forefront frankly of helping children who've been affected by this crisis and will continue to look at how we can do that over the coming days and weeks."

David Cameron earlier told the Commons that on the issue of unaccompanied children the Government would "look very carefully at this", adding that "we're looking at the 3,000 in good faith"

Ministers have faced calls led by the charity Save the Children for 3,000 refugee children living alone in Europe to be resettled in the UK. The campaign has also been backed by Lib Dem leader Tim Farron.

Ms Greening rejected accusations the Government was not doing enough to tackle the wider migration crisis.

She said: "I thoroughly reject that. No country in Europe has done more to help Syrian refugees. The UK has been there since day one. Worldwide we're the second biggest bilateral donor helping refugees on the ground and our focus has very much been on meeting refugees' first choice....The refugees that I talk to want to stay close to home, they want to stay in the region that they are familiar with."

Ms Greening said coming to Europe was a "last resort, not a first resort" for many refugees.

She added: "We've said that over the course of this Parliament we will resettle 20,000 refugees. We're going to do that in a safe, and measured and a managed way, working with UN agencies taking them directly from the region, it means we can focus on the most vulnerable people including children who otherwise would have no chance to make the kind of journey that we've seen other refugees make.

"And of course we've been helping on the ground in Europe too, so the UK has been working with the UNHCR on registering migrants as they arrive."

She said: "So we are playing our role, we are looking at whether we can do more in relation to...unaccompanied children because children have always been from day one at the heart of our response in the region."

Earlier this month a committee of MPs, the International Development Committee said Britain should welcome thousands of lone children from Europe on top of the Syrian refugee resettlement programme.

Asked if there could be a Government announcement, Mr Farron told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics: "I very strongly hope so."

He added: "I hope he (Mr Cameron) is moving in that direction, and it looks like there may be some signs that he is. I think it the right thing to do on a humanitarian level."

Mr Farron went on: "I do say that it's the least it can do, the least the Government can do."

He added: "There's a real sense that the UK is not engaging with the refugee crisis in Europe at all. I'm not saying we should open our borders completely, but I think that it is very, very strange that at a time that David Cameron is trying to make a case for Britain in Europe, he's not not making much of a case for Britain with the rest of Europe."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for Britain to join a pan-European effort to help ease the migrant crisis as he visited camps in northern France to see the squalid conditions people are living in after fleeing war, poverty and persecution.

Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of Labour's refugee taskforce said: "It's good news that the Government seems to be responding to the call by Save the Children with cross party support to help 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children. But we are hearing some concern that the Government may only be planning to help children within camps near Syria, and excluding those alone in Europe."

Ms Cooper warned thousands of children alone in Europe were at "terrible risk of abuse and harm".

She added: "Providing refuge to 3,000 of these children in Europe is what Save the Children have called for and is what the amendment by Labour's Alf Dubs in the House of Lords would put into effect. Any action by the Government must help children in Europe. I hope the Government will heed these calls and announce help for child refugees alone in Europe this week."

Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham, claimed Mr Cameron had "left Britain looking blinkered and selfish".

He said: "Just miles from our own doorstep, there are hundreds of refugee children in makeshift French camps living alone in abhorrent conditions. Britain can, and should, be doing more to give those kids a place of safety and I believe the vast majority of people here would support it."

He added: "If Britain were to show willing and work with other European countries to address this crisis, the Prime Minister would most probably get a better hearing from EU partners on his demands on free movement in advance of the referendum."

Alex Fraser, head of British Red Cross refugee services, said: "Further announcements of resettlement for vulnerable refugees from the Government would be very welcome, and we hope the Government will respond positively to this humanitarian crisis.

"It's important the Government ensure unaccompanied children who may benefit from a new scheme, and who have parents that may also have been displaced, have the right to be reunited with them in the UK.

"Any new scheme should fix this anomaly - child refugees should be able to sponsor their parents to join them."
More teachers should be trained to teach schoolchildren about the Holocaust, a report by MPs says

More teachers should be trained to educate schoolchildren about the Holocaust, a cross-party of group of MPs has said.

The topic is a key part of pupils' education, and should extend beyond history lessons, according to a new report by the Commons education select committee.

The study, which comes ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, warns that with a rising number of schools opting to become academies, and taking control of their own curriculum, there is a need to make sure education about the genocide does not become "patchy".

Figures from the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education show more than 6,000 teachers have take part in its training programmes,

But there could be 30,000 history teachers in 4,000 secondary schools teaching about the Holocaust, as well as tens of thousands more religious education, citizenship, English and other teachers, the committee said.

The report concludes: "Too few teachers - particularly history teachers - are being trained to teach the Holocaust.

"While much of the training for teachers is of a high standard, more needs to be done to extend its reach to subjects other than history.

"The Holocaust should remain part of the core history curriculum, and we believe that the teaching of the Holocaust would be strengthened by the adoption of a deliberately cross-curricular approach."

The committee urges the Department for Education (DfE) to support the organisations it funds to help them provide training for more history teachers and look at how the training it funds could be extended to other subject teachers.

In addition, it says a growing number of pupils are being taught at schools that are not required to teach the Holocaust and that while many will do so, the Government should take steps to ensure that Holocaust education "does not become inadvertently patchy".

Committee chairman Neil Carmichael said: "During our evidence we heard of some excellent and engaging teaching which serves to deepen young people's understanding and knowledge of the Holocaust.

"However, too few teachers, particularly history teachers, are being trained to teach the Holocaust and our report calls on the Government to act. We expect the DfE to ensure the support it gives to Holocaust education is as effective as possible."

A DfE spokesman said: "Every young person should learn about the Holocaust and the lessons it teaches us today, which is why it is unique in being the only subject named as a compulsory part of the history curriculum."

Over 1.5 million has been given each year to the Holocaust Education Trust, he said, along with 500,000 to Centre for Holocaust Education to improve teacher knowledge and training.

He added: "All schools must teach a broad and balanced curriculum, academies are required to do so through their funding agreements. We know that good schools will include a significant event like the Holocaust in their history lessons, without being told to do so by government."

Earlier this month, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said learning about the Holocaust can help to protect children from extremism and it can help them to understand "the dangers of prejudice, bigotry and intolerance".

Around six million Jewish men, women and children died in the Holocaust, perishing at the hands of the Nazis in ghettos, mass-shootings and in concentration and extermination camps.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan wants to make sure all pupils are aware of apprenticeships

The Education Secretary has pledged to tackle "outdated snobbery" towards apprenticeships through the introduction of a new law requiring schools to allow access to apprentice providers and colleges.

Nicky Morgan said the Government wanted to "level the playing field" making sure young people were "aware of all the options open to them".

Under the plans to end the 'second class' perception of technical and professional education, schools would be required to give equal airtime to the non-academic routes pupils can take post-16, the Department for Education said.

Ministers have expressed concerns over a "two tiered system" of careers advice, with some schools unwilling to recommend apprenticeships or other technical and professional routes to any but the lowest-achieving pupils, the DfE added.

Ms Morgan said: "As part of our commitment to extend opportunity to all young people, we want to level the playing field - making sure they are aware of all the options open to them and are able to make the right choice for them.

"For many young people going to university will be the right choice, and we are committed to continuing to expand access to Higher Education, but for other young people the technical education provided by apprenticeships will suit them better.

"That's why I'm determined to tackle the minority of schools that perpetuate an outdated snobbery towards apprenticeships by requiring those schools to give young people the chance to hear about the fantastic opportunities apprenticeships and technical education offer."

The new legislation would require schools by law to collaborate with training providers, university technical colleges and colleges to make sure students were aware of all the paths open to them through apprenticeships, including Higher and Degree Apprenticeships.

The DfE said the Government would look to bring in the legislation "at the earliest opportunity", with more details to be set out in the careers strategy.

Apprenticeship providers and staff from colleges would visit schools as part of careers advice from early secondary school under the plans.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: "To make informed choices for the future, young people need high quality, impartial careers information about all post-16 education and training options, including apprenticeships and technical and professional education.

"We have long been calling for an improvement to the system and welcome the changes outlined. Colleges recognise the critical nature of good careers education and will be very keen to continue to work together with their local schools. This announcement will make that a reality."
MPs have complained of the behaviour they are subjected to by constituents.

MPs must be given greater protection from the public, it has been claimed, after a study found four out of five respondents had been victims of intrusive or aggressive behaviour.

Abuse has left 36 politicians afraid to go out in public, put marriages under strain and led to some being treated for depression and anxiety, experts found.

Researchers reported tha t 192 MPs who had experienced problems half had been targeted in their own homes.

The report states: "One MP described how his marriage was close to breakdown, as his wife blamed him for the persistent amorous intrusions of a female constituent."

Labour MP Stephen Timms , who was stabbed twice in the stomach in 2010 by a woman who tried to murder him for voting for the Iraq war, suggested it would be difficult to ramp up security.

He told The Observer . "After what happened to me I was offered a knife arch for my surgeries, but I refused because that just makes it more difficult for people to come and see you.

"It isn't the MP I want to be."

Some 239 MPs took part in the survey and 43 said they had been subject to attack or attempted attacks, 101 said they had received threats to harm them and 52 had faced threats of property damage.

The research was carried out by s even psychiatrists, including Dr David James, founder of the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) that assesses threats for high profile figures such as the royal family, and was published in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology.

Comments from the MPs who took part included: "Pulled a knife on me in the surgery"; "repeatedly punched me in the face"; "came at me with a hammer"; "hit with a brick"; "shot with air rifle".

The statements continued: " There were numerous reports of death threats, both in person and by mail, and of bomb threats", ''you'd better keep an eye on your children"; "threat to kill me by telephone at home - call taken by my seven-year-old daughter", "wife received phone calls saying 'I am going to kill you or one of your family'", "petrol poured through letter box".

The Metropolitan Police run the FTAC alongside the Department of Health, with the Home Office sharing its funding. The report was commissioned independently of the Home Office, a spokeswoman said.
The Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to affected British nationals

A British couple rescued from a sinking tourist boat in the Caribbean are said to be "ok" after the ordeal that claimed the lives of 13 others.

Edward and Charlotte Beckett were reportedly aboard the Reina del Caribe, Spanish for "Caribbean Queen", when the boat got into difficulty.

Poor weather and high winds caused the craft to capsize whilst travelling between the Corn Islands, a popular tourist destination - 13 female Costa Rican nationals were killed.

A family member confirmed the newly-married pair had been on the stricken vessel, adding "they're ok."

They were reportedly rescued with two American tourists, three Nicaraguans and 12 Costa Ricans. It is understood the boat had been sailing between two islands around 43 miles off the coast of south-eastern Nicaragua when it got into trouble.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the sinking of a passenger boat between Corn Island and Little Corn Island in the Caribbean Sea on January 23.

"We are in touch with the local authorities and providing consular assistance to affected British nationals."

The Foreign Office declined to comment further.

Both the boat's captain and owner have been detained on suspicion of breaking a ban on operating while stormy weather hit the region.

Mario Berrios, the Nicaraguan navy's commander for the southern Caribbean region, said the boat's captain and owner were detained because the vessel was not permitted to sail.

Local authorities had reportedly suspended boat launches in the area due to high wind speeds that reached 25 to 30 knots (29 to 35 mph) after several days of stormy weather around the remote islands.

Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo told the official media portal El 19 Digital the incident had been "a great tragedy."
Zayn Malik has said he would consider a One Direction reunion "if the time was right and that was the right thing to do".

Malik quit One Direction in March last year, shortly before the band announced a "two year hiatus", and is now set to release his first solo single, Pillow Talk.

When asked about the band's "inevitable reunion" in an interview with the Sunday Times Culture magazine, he said: "Who knows?"

The 23-year-old added: "I don't know. If the time was right and that was the thing to do, then I would make that decision when it came around."

Having previously said he was not in contact with his former band mates, he hinted that he had now "got an email" from one of the boys - but "I don't even wanna say names".

He added: "I have no beef."

Malik also revealed his hopes of continuing his education, which was cut short when he left sixth form halfway through to join the band in 2010.

He said: "You know what, to educate yourself isn't that hard these days. You can do it at home. You can go to lectures - just sit there, which hopefully, at some point, I can do - like, just sit and listen to a lecture."

The musician, who had originally planned to read English at university, said that going back to his studies would be "something that is only, solely for me, you know what I mean?

"And when my kids ask me, in the future, and I try to tell them to go to school, they can't turn around and say to me, 'F*** off, Dad, you were in a band!' I can turn around and say, 'Excuse me, I went back to school and got my degree. So you definitely have to do your schoolwork!'"

On his first album, due in March, he promised to "let people know what's really going on".

But he added: "I don't want to make it black and white for people. I just want it to be creative, still, and artistic. Know what I mean?"

On Pillow Talk, he will sing about something "so pure, so dirty and raw".

"I think I'm pretty black and white what it's about," he said.

"Everybody has sex, and it's something people wanna hear about. It's part of everybody's life, a very BIG part of life! And you don't wanna sweep it under the carpet. It has to be talked about."
John Degenkolb and Warren Barguil were among six Giant-Alpecin cyclists taken to hospital on Saturday after being hit by a car while training in Spain, the German team said.

All the riders are in stable condition after being taken to two local hospitals, Giant-Alpecin said.

The other four riders involved in the incident near the Spanish town of Calpe were German Max Walscheid, American Chad Haga, Swede Fredrik Ludvigsson, and Ramon Sinkeldam of the Netherlands.

The team said that while training "a car coming the other direction rode into the group of riders head on".

Team doctor Anko Boelens told the team website that "everyone is conscious, stable and approachable".

The emergency services for the Mediterranean region of Valencia said on a Twitter account that an "English woman driving a car ran over six cyclists" of Giant-Alpecin after allegedly "driving into on-coming traffic".

The 27-year-old Degenkolb of Germany has won 10 stages at the Spanish Vuelta, and several one-day races, including the Paris-Roubaix and the Milan-San Remo in 2015.

France's Barguil, 24, finished the 2015 Tour de France 14th in the general classification, and was eighth in the 2014 Vuelta. He also won two stage at the 2013 Vuelta.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake-prone region.

But there were no immediate reports of injuries.

The earthquake struck about 1.30am Alaska time and was centred 53 miles west of Anchor Point in the Kenai Peninsula, which is about 160 miles south west of Anchorage, according to the US Geological Survey. About two hours later, a magnitude-4.3 aftershock hit the Cook Inlet, the agency said. A slightly stronger aftershock - magnitude-4.7 -hit the Cook Inlet at 5.29am.

The possibility of a gas leak led to the evacuation of more than a dozen homes in Kenai.

The earthquake was widely felt by residents of Anchorage. But the Anchorage and Valdez police departments said they have not received any reports of injuries or significant damage.

Vincent Nusunginya, 34, of Kenai said he was at his girlfriend's house when the earthquake hit.

"It started out as a shaking and it seemed very much like a normal earthquake. But then it started to feel like a normal swaying, like a very smooth side-to-side swaying," said Mr Nusunginya, director of audience at the Peninsula Clarion newspaper. "It was unsettling. Some things got knocked over, but there was no damage."

There were reports of scattered power outages from the Matanuska Electric Association and Chugach Electric in the Anchorage area. The Homer Electric Association reported on its website that about 4,800 customers were without power early Sunday in the Kenai Peninsula.

The Alaska Department of Transportation reported on its Facebook page that there was road damage near the community of Kasilof, on the Kenai Peninsula.

Andrew Sayers, 26, of Kasilof was watching television when the quake struck.

"The house started to shake violently. The TV we were watching fell over, stuff fell off the walls," he said. "Dishes were crashing, and we sprinted toward the doorway."

Later, he was driving to his mother's home when he came across a stretch of K-Beach road that was damaged in the quake.

"We launched over this crack in the road. It's a miracle we didn't bust our tyres on it," he said.

Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl said 22 homes were evacuated in the community over the possibility of a gas leak. Mr Sandahl said early Sunday morning that the fire department and gas company were investigating at the scene.

A dispatcher for the Homer police department, who declined to identify herself, said no one called to report broken gas lines there or any significant damage, but many called to report feeling the strong quake.

The hashtag #akquake was trending early Sunday on Twitter, where people were sharing their experiences of the quake and posting photos of items that had fallen off walls and shelves.

A tsunami is not expected as a result of the earthquake, the National Weather Service said.
Shimon Peres pictured during a meeting with David Cameron

Israel's former president Shimon Peres has been rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pains, his personal assistant said.

Ayelet Frisch said medics treated the 92-year-old at his home on Sunday night and detected a "light irregular heart rate".

She said the doctors decided he should spend the night in hospital for observation.

Mr Peres was discharged from hospital last week after suffering a mild heart attack.

Mr Peres completed his seven-year term as president in 2014. He remains active through his non-governmental Peres Centre for Peace, which promotes coexistence between Arabs and Jews.

In a seven-decade political career, Mr Peres served three stints as prime minister.

Mr Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 following the signing of the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians.
A protester wearing a mask of missing bookseller Lee Bo during a protest against his disappearance in Hong Kong on January 10 (AP)

The wife of a missing editor of a publisher specialising in books banned in mainland China has said she has been able to visit him on the mainland, Hong Kong police said.

It is the latest twist in the disappearances of British citizen Lee Bo and four of his colleagues that have intensified fears that Beijing is clamping down on Hong Kong's freedom of speech.

Mr Lee has previously written that he returned voluntarily to mainland China in letters to his wife, but his supporters believe he was kidnapped and smuggled to the mainland.

Hong Kong police said Mr Lee's wife had told them she had met him on Saturday afternoon at a guesthouse on the mainland.

She said he was healthy and in good spirits, and that he was assisting in an investigation as a witness, and handed over a letter from him addressed to Hong Kong police, who said its content was similar to his previous letters.

The latest development raises more questions than it answers.

It is still unclear where Mr Lee and the other four men linked to Hong Kong publishing company Mighty Current and its Causeway Bay Bookshop are exactly, what the investigation involves, and whether he is detained or there voluntarily, as he has purportedly said in his letters.

Hong Kong police said they are continuing to investigate Mr Lee's case and had again asked police in Guangdong province, over the mainland border, to assist in arranging a meeting with him.

The circumstances of Mr Lee's case have led many to suspect Chinese security agents crossed into Hong Kong to abduct him, in breach of the "one country, two systems" principle Beijing promised to uphold after taking control of the city from Britain in 1997.

According to local news reports, he was last seen at his company's warehouse on December 30 and did not have his mainland travel permit, but days after he went missing he called his wife to say he was in Guangdong.

The other four men have disappeared since October from mainland China or Thailand.

Mighty Current specialised in racy but thinly sourced titles on Chinese political intrigue and scandals and other topics Beijing deemed off limits for mainland Chinese publishers.
A protester sets tyres alight after it was announced that Haiti's run-off presidential election had been postponed (AP)

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators took to the streets of Haiti's capital after a presidential run-off was put on hold indefinitely.

A day after protesters set fires and smashed windows in Port-au-Prince, young men again threw rocks and set tyre barricades on fire in the centre of the city, sending black smoke billowing into the air.

Many called for new elections and the immediate removal of President Michel Martelly, as they protested on Saturday.

"He cannot stay a second longer," said Frantzo Nepha, an unemployed 24-year-old.

T he international community appealed for calm, as t he UN, international election observers and foreign governments urged the volatile Caribbean country's feuding politicians to find a solution to an electoral impasse that threatens to become a constitutional crisis.

Haiti's charter requires a new government to take power on February 7, but election authorities say there is now no chance the country will meet the deadline to pick the next president.

It is unclear whether an interim government will be set up.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Haitians to work toward "peaceful completion of the electoral process without delay".

Government officials have not addressed the impasse publicly since Friday afternoon, when the Provisional Electoral Council postponed the run-off a second time without naming a new date for the vote.

The council cited a "deteriorating security environment" to explain its decision, but there has also been widespread opposition to the vote. The opposition presidential candidate had promised to boycott the run-off.

Ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise said he was mystified that electoral authorities would again postpone the run-off without immediately providing a new date. The vote was originally supposed to be held on December 27.

Mr Moise, whose top finish in the first round prompted allegations of vote-rigging, told reporters he believes he is the people's choice and called for the run-off to be held soon and peacefully.

"Our generation has a responsibility to show other countries in the world that we are a civilized nation," he said.

Many Haitians are exasperated by the political infighting and disruptive protests.

"It seems like politicians want to drag the Haitian people backward," said Karine Fenelon, as she picked out oranges at a roadside fruit stall.

Some blame the election mess on the international community and especially Washington, which they believe is far too involved in Haitian affairs.

"All of these so-called friends of Haiti are stopping us from moving forward," mechanic Patrick Augustin said. "Martelly's government is always taking dictation from the US."
The New York Skyline is seen from Exchange Place on January 24, 2016 in Jersey City. A massive blizzard that claimed at least 16 lives in the eastern United States finally appeared to be winding down Sunday, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out. / AFP / KENA BETANCURKENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images

Visitors to New York's Central Park pass the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in the wake of a storm that dumped heavy snow along the East Coast. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

The Spring Street salt shed is filled with salt before an upcoming snowstorm on January 21, 2016 in New York, NY. Winter Storm Jonas was expected to hit New York City between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and the National Weather Service recently included New York City on a blizzard watch. (Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images)

The clear up continues in New York City following yesterday's record-setting snowfall which left at least 18 people dead and brought much of the US East Coast to an icy standstill. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Ronnie Esplin/PA Wire

Snow-covered cars are seen on a residential street in the northwest of Washington, DC on January 24, 2016. A massive blizzard that claimed at least 16 lives in the eastern United States finally appeared to be winding down Sunday, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out. / AFP / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 23: A woman walks in strong winds and heavy snow fall in Central Park on January 23, 2016 in New York City. A major Nor'easter is hitting much of the East Coast and parts of the South as forecasts warn of up to two feet of snow in some areas. (Photo by Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)

A worker clears snow off the driveway of a car wash on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC on January 24, 2016. A massive blizzard that claimed at least 16 lives in the eastern United States finally appeared to be winding down on January 24, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out. / AFP / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

People participate in a giant snowball fights in Dupont Circle in Washington on January 24, 2016. Snowball fights have become a tradition after every major snow storm in the Nation's Capital. A massive blizzard that claimed at least 16 lives in the eastern United States finally appeared to be winding down Sunday, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out. /AFP / Olivier DoulieryOLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images

People participate in a giant snowball fights in Dupont Circle in Washington on January 24, 2016. Snowball fights have become a tradition after every major snow storm in the Nation's Capital. A massive blizzard that claimed at least 16 lives in the eastern United States finally appeared to be winding down Sunday, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out. AFP / Olivier DoulieryOLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images

People walk on Pennsylvania Avenue in near whiteout conditions in Washington on January 23, 2016. A deadly blizzard walloped the eastern United States on Saturday, paralyzing Washington and New York under a heavy blanket of snow as officials warned millions of people to remain indoors until the storm eases up. / AFP / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: A snowplow clears snow in front of the U.S. Capitol on January 24, 2016 in Washington, DC. The blizzard that has brought massive snowfall and a standstill to the East Coast and the Mid Atlantic region has stopped. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

USA: A bulldozer clears snow on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol January 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Heavy snow continued to fall in the Mid-Atlantic region causing "life-threatening blizzard conditions" and affecting millions of people. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Snowmageddon: Washington DC and New York in the white-out Close

At least 19 people have died in the US as the historic Storm Jonas continues to wreak havoc across the east coast.

The blizzard has brought more than 2ft (60cm) of snow, causing 11 states to declare a state of emergency.

Heavy snow caused Washington DC to declare a "snow emergency", closing its transport system over the weekend, and New York City banned all road travel, cancelled bus services and shut overground parts of the subway.

In Washington, 22.2 inches of snow were recorded, with 26.8 inches recorded in New York City - just 0.1 inches short of the 2006 record.

Thirteen people were killed in weather-related car crashes, four while shoveling snow, and two died of hypothermia.

Later New York's governor Andrew Cuomo said a travel ban instituted during a massive snowstorm had been lifted.

The travel ban had covered all state and local roads in New York City, the Long Island Expressway and Northern State Parkway and the Port Authority's Hudson River crossings.

Warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean collided with cold air to form the massive weather system.

According to FlightAware.com, 3,283 flights within, into or out of the United States have been cancelled today.

More than 130,000 people are without power across the south east.

There are fears the weather system causing the blizzard could head to Britain, albeit in a much milder form.

Although the low pressure system will be extremely modified by the time it reaches British shores, the Met Office has issued 9 yellow "be aware" warnings over Tuesday and Wednesday.

The warnings have been issued across parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern England.

Rain is expected to be persistent and at times heavy, leading to localised river flooding, the Met Office has warned.

Many parts of the warning areas could see between 50 and 100mm of rain, with the most exposed upland parts of north Wales, north-west England and south-West Scotland potentially seeing between 150 and 200mm.

Helen Roberts, a meteorologist at the Met Office said: The same low pressure weather system will affect weather in the UK and remnants of that storm will travel across the Atlantic, although it will be extremely modified.

The weather is expected to be pretty mild, although heavy rain is expected over a two-day period next week, which may also bring some sleet and snow in higher areas.

Source: The Independent
President Bashar Assad's family has governed Syria for more than four decades

The Syrian government will not make any new concessions in future peace talks, a senior official has insisted.

Hilal al-Hilal, a senior official in Syrian President Bashar Assad's ruling Baath party, made the comments to state media ahead of scheduled peace talks in Geneva to work on ending Syria's nearly five-year conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people.

The talks, which were to begin on Monday but will likely be delayed, are part of a UN plan that envisions an 18-month timetable for a political transition.

The Syrian opposition says Assad should have no role in Syria's future, even during a transitional period. Assad, whose family has governed Syria for more than four decades, has said he will only step down if voted out.
More than 15,000 people have gathered in the Moldovan capital Sunday to protest against the government and demand early elections in the impoverished East European nation.

Protesters shouted "We want the country back!" and "Unity, citizens!" in Romanian and Russian as the temperature fell to -10 Celsius (14 F).The rally in Chisinau was organised by two pro-Russian parties and the civic group Dignity and Truth.

Protesters later began a march toward the Constitutional Court.

The demonstrators are angry about falling living standards in the impoverished country where the average monthly salary is just 220 euros (168). They say pro-European parties, which have been in power since 2009, have failed to carry out reforms and want Parliament dissolved and early elections. They are also calling for a full inquiry into the disappearance of up to 1.5 billion dollars (1.1bn) from three banks prior to parliamentary elections in 2014.

Sunday's protest came after demonstrators stormed Parliament last week as lawmakers approved a new pro-European government. Thousands demonstrated for three days running.

Moldova has been mired in instability since 2014 and has had five prime ministers in the last year. Parliament would have been dissolved if it had failed to approve a government by January 29.
One of seven suspects allegedly linked to the Islamic State arrested since Friday is taken into custody by Malaysian police.

One day before counterterror officials from 19 states meet in Kuala Lumpur to devise a strategy to counter the Islamic State (IS), Royal Malaysia Police said they arrested seven militants who were plotting attacks.

Police did not release the names of the suspects but said they were linked Bahrun Naim, the man identified as the mastermind behind the attack that left four civilians and four attackers dead in the Jan. 14 attack in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Police Inspector General Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects, between the ages of 26 and 50, apparently planned attacks throughout the country, according to the state-run news agency Bernama. Suspects were arrested Kedah, Johor, Pahang, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor beginning Friday.

Khalid said police seized 30 rounds of ammunition, jihad books and videos and an IS flag.

One of those arrested had been in communication with Indonesian extremist Bahrun Naim, Khalid said in the statement. Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavian named Naim as the force behind the attack.

One day later, Malaysian police arrested a man they said confessed to planning an IS-ordered suicide attack. The 28-year-old Malaysian was arrested at a train station in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 15, Khalid said in a statement.

P. Sundramoorthy, a criminologist and associate professor at the University of Science Malaysia in Penang, said because the country is smaller, police intelligence has the upper hand in detecting the movement of suspected IS militants and supporters compared to neighbors Indonesia and Thailand.

It does not mean that the police have detected every single IS supporter, but so far they are doing a good job and hope they will maintain high level of efficiency in dealing with the threats, Sundramoorthy said. He said the focus should be on taking down terror groups rather than politicizing the effort.

Details of latest arrests

Two of the seven Malaysian suspects were arrested in Johor, including an assistant manager in the housekeeping division of a hotel in Nusajaya who is from Sabah. Khalid identified one suspect, a 31-year-old, as the chief of the cell, and the other as a 33-year-old factory supervisor, according to Bernama.



In Kedah, police arrested a 50-year-old cendol seller and his 26-year-old assistant. The older suspect allegedly raised funds for Malaysians wishing to join IS in Syria, including the assistant.

Khalid said three arrested in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang, were between the ages of 30 and 33.

All three were involved in planning to launch terrorist attacks in Malaysia, Khalid said, according to Bernama.

Deradicalization and Countering Violent Extremism

The two-day conference starting Monday in Kuala Lumpur will be held under tight security following the Jakarta attack and Malaysia arrests over the last couple of weeks. The Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs said the main objective is to increase cooperation among security agencies throughout the world.

Expected attendees include Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministers in charge of fighting extremist militant threats and strategic partners the United States, France, Australia, Britain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Japan, China and Italy.

Two main sessions, one to devise a joint ministerial statement on deradicalization, and one where the ministers will explain the deradicalization programs of their respective countries are planned.

S. Adie Zul contributed to this report.


For Immediate Release, January 23, 2016 Contact: Michael Robinson (575) 313-7017, michaelr@biologicaldiversity.org New Mexico Rancher to Bring Bundy Militia Terror Home SILVER CITY, N.M. In the wake of failed attempts to spark revolution against the federal government with its occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, the Bundy-led militia in a signing ceremony today recruited another rancher, Adrian Sewell, from Silver City, N.M. Todays agreement formalizes a plot in which another rancher agrees to illegally stop paying federal grazing fees and armed militia commit to meet resulting federal law enforcement with the threat of violence. Recruiting this New Mexico rancher threatens to up-end civil society and frighten and enrage people in Silver City, just as has occurred in Burns, Ore.



Southern New Mexico rejects coercion of forest rangers and privatization of public lands, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. Silver City welcomes visitors who want to share the wonderful Gila National Forest, but we dont need armed bigots brutalizing our community. While their failure to recruit more than a single new rancher into its scheme is notable, the specter of more armed Bundy-militia standoffs in the West  complete with closed schools, shuttered government services and terrorized civilians  is nonetheless troubling.



Today's agreement moves signers and the Bundy militia members from an illegal seizure of federal property to establishing and coordinating an active terrorist network whose aim is to overthrow the federal government. Kieran Suckling, the executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, is at the Malheur refuge and photographed todays signing ceremony.



New Mexico rancher Adrian Sewell will not be thanked for bringing to New Mexico communities the same emotional, physical, economic, cultural and environmental terror that Harney County, Oregon residents continue to suffer during the Malheur refuge occupation, Robinson said. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 990,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Right wing extremists from 14 countries met near Prague to organize Europe-wide anti-refugee demonstrations

24. 1. 2016

cas cteni 2 minuty





Antiislamic and anti-refugee activists from 14 countries met in Roztoky, Czech Republic, a town outside Prague, to organise a series of coordinated anti-refugee demonstrations in 14 different countries in Europe. The demonstrations will take place on Saturday 6th February and they will be linked by giant video screens. The demonstrations are planned for Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Switzerland and other countries. The primary organiser of the demonstrations is the German anti-refugee movement Pegida, which has now coordinated its activities with Czech right wing extremists Tomio Okamura from "Dawn - National Coalition", and Martin Konvicka from "The Anti-Islamic Bloc". Konvicka is being prosecuted in the Czech Republic for hate speech. The Roztoky meeting was attended by Tatiana Festerling, a Pegida leader, who told journalists in the Czech Republic that the policy of the German government towards the refugees is "a catastrophe".

Marek Cernoch, the Deputy Chair of "Dawn - National Coalition" told the Czech newspaper Lidove noviny that he expects "thousands" of people to take part in the anti-refugee demonstration in Prague and "tens of thousands" to take part in the anti-refugee demonstrations in other European cities "because the citizens are very angry with what some Europen politicians, such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are doing".

In connection with the Roztoky meeting, "Dawn - National Coalition" has published a declaration:

"We are aware of the fact that European civilisation, which has lasted for a thousand years, could be soon destroyed if islam conquers Europe. We are also aware that the European elites have betrayed us. This is why we say:

- We will not give up Europe to its enemies. We will fight political islam, the extreme islamic regimes and their European collaborators.

- We will not obey the centralist government of Europe. The rule of Brussels and of the global elites has brought us poverty, unemployment, corruption, chaos and moral disintegration. It is high time to do away with it.

- We regard it as an inalienable right of the citizens of every European country to defend their borders and to decide which immigrants to accept or reject on the territory of their country."

Martin Konvicka told journalists that the organisers of the demonstrations "are people who want to protect Europe from a vicious mediaeval ideology which is incompatible with the values of freedom, democracy and human dignity. They want to defend civic, human and political rights which the Europeans have won for themselves during the past thousand years."

Source in Czech HERE

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CHICAGO  The headwinds for Chicago Public Schools intensified as the system prepared to sell bonds next week, as one of its ratings sank deeper into junk territory and the state's minority Republican leaders mounted a takeover effort backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Fitch Ratings Wednesday socked the Chicago Board of Education's credit with a three-notch downgrade, dropping its rating on $6.1 billion of debt and its planned $875 million general obligation issue to B-plus from BB-plus. That leaves it at the same ratings level as Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.

The board plans to sell $795 million of tax-exempt securities and $89 million of taxable paper late next week. JPMorgan is running the books and Barclays is a co-senior manager.

Moody's, which is no longer asked to rate CPS' new issues, has the credit under review for a downgrade. Standard & Poor's lowered its rating last week two notches and has it on watch with negative implications. Fitch assigned a negative outlook. Kroll Bond Rating Agency late Tuesday assigned a BBB and negative outlook to the new bond issue based on legal reviews of the structure.

The fresh credit blow underscores the severity of the near-term stress CPS faces as its pleas for an additional $480 million in state pension help to balance its current $5.6 billion budget go unanswered. Without its short-term credit lines the district would run out of cash to pay its bills and keep schools open.

The district also faces a $1 billion deficit in its next budget as it's relied on one-time maneuvers like debt restructuring, reserve use, and a partial pension holiday to paper over operations in recent years. District leaders, who have warned of layoffs that will hurt academic strides if they don't get fiscal help, face the threat of a teachers strike as CPS chief executive officer pushes teachers to make fiscal concessions in contract negotiations.

"The downgrade reflects the limited progress Chicago Public Schools has made in addressing a structural budget gap approximating 20% of spending for the current fiscal year," Fitch wrote. "Following substantial drawdowns in fiscal years 2013-2015, reserves will likely be fully depleted by the end of fiscal 2017."

Fitch considers a rating at the single B level to be "highly speculative" compared to a "speculative" label on a BB rating. The single B indicates "that material default risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is vulnerable to deterioration in the business and economic environment," Fitch said.

CPS' request for help from leaders at the capital is caught in the state's own political quagmire. Gov. Bruce Rauner has offered some forms of greater fiscal assistance, but only if Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel expends his own political capital to push Rauner's turnaround agenda with the General Assembly's Democratic leadership. Their opposition to the GOP governor's worker's compensation and tort reforms, term limits, and local government union curbs have driven a seven-month-old impasse on adoption of a fiscal 2016 budget.

GOP leaders  backed by Rauner  added to the district's headline risk Wednesday in announcing legislation that would extend existing statutes allowing for a state takeover of troubled districts to include CPS.

One market participant said the legislation may be dead on arrival given Democratic control, but it still poses negative headline risks and is a distraction from efforts to arrive at some compromise that could help the district.

The GOP proposal would allow the State Board of Education to strip control of the district from the Chicago Board of Education, whose members are appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with the state superintendent appointing independent members of a special oversight board.

Separate legislation expected soon would provide a path for the district to seek a restructuring under Chapter 9, which is not currently permitted under existing state statutes, if oversight doesn't resolve the district's fiscal woes. Eventually, an elected board would run CPS.

The legislative sponsors labeled the takeover a "lifeline" that won't offer a bailout, so it doesn't appear that the legislation offers any near-term help to avert a CPS fiscal collapse.

"We are throwing Chicago and CPS a lifeline," said House minority leader Rep. Jim Durkin. "The Chicago Public Schools are facing massive layoffs and a possible teachers' strike and despite credit downgrades to junk status CPS is now looking to long term bonds to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars in short term operating expenses."

The state would not be responsible for CPS debts under a takeover. "This is not a bailout," Durkin said at a news conference with co-sponsor Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno.

Durkin said the city and CPS both face a fiscal crisis that could have been averted and both are due in part to their pension tabs. The bankruptcy legislation would allow both to pursue a Chapter 9. "The goal here is to provide the tools to right the ship," he said. Chicago Public Schools has $9 billion of unfunded liabilities and Chicago is saddled with $20 billion.

The proposals were slammed by Emanuel, Democratic legislative leaders, CPS, and the Chicago Teacher's Union. Critics view the move as another attempt by Rauner to curb union powers, as the bankruptcy provision would allow CPS to restructure employee benefits and to pressure Democrats to support his turnaround agenda as a means to avert a CPS collapse. Rauner has backed legislation that would establish a Chapter 9 statute for local units of governments, but it's gone nowhere with Democratic leaders.

"This is not going to happen. It's mean spirited and evidence of their total lack of knowledge of the real problems facing Chicago Public Schools," Senate President John Cullerton said in a statement. "This ridiculous idea only serves as a distraction from the state's problems that these two state leaders should be focusing on."

Schools' chief Forrest Claypool went on the attack. "Instead of offering a reckless smokescreen that distracts from the real financial problems facing CPS, the governor should pass a state budget that treats CPS students equally with the rest of the state," he said.

Backers acknowledged the opposition of Democratic leaders, but suggested some downstate Democrats might be more open to the proposals. "I think there is definitely a crisis in confidence in the leadership" of Chicago, Radogno said.

When asked about Democratic opposition, Durkin said "it is to their peril" for lawmakers to maintain the "status quo." Democrats enjoy a super majority in both chambers.

An oversight panel wouldn't be empowered to break any existing contract, although it would have power to negotiate new ones. CPS and the CTU are currently negotiating a new contract. Under Chapter 9, any existing contract could be renegotiated.

The two leaders dispute CPS' assertion of a disparity in general state aid, arguing that an additional $600 million in grant block funds makes up for it. Backers of the takeover plan sought to stress that it simply extends to CPS state oversight that can be imposed on the state's more than 800 districts. Seven districts have come under oversight since 2002.

CPS collapsed financially in the late 1970s, when it was locked out of the market for failing to disclose that a planned issuance would repay outstanding notes, leading to the state's creation of the Chicago School Finance Authority. A consortium of local banks came together to purchase the district's debt and keep it afloat. The state passed reform legislation in the mid-1990s handing control of the district back to then Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

The Fitch report from primary CPS analyst Arlene Bohner highlights some of the struggles CPS is grappling with that are difficult to fix absent new powers -- which an oversight panel would lack without additional changes in state law. The district has a relatively inflexible expenditure profile and little to no independent ability to raise revenues as it bumps up against property tax caps.

"Substantial changes are necessary to support ongoing operating and fixed cost spending," analysts said. "Most options for relief are dependent on actions by the state, which is plagued by political disagreements and its own challenged financial position."

Fitch said it's monitoring access to external liquidity as the district relies more heavily on short term borrowing to finance on-going operations. The district anticipates a narrow $33 million when it closes the books June 30 after making a $675 million pension payment. The ending balance projection assumes no additional state help is forthcoming and the use of short term lines.

The city's economic strength is a key credit strength and the district's reduction in its floating-rate exposure to 13.5% from 40% in recent years is a positive.

The district's issue is secured by its general obligation, unlimited tax pledge which serves as the backup to the primary pledge of unrestricted general state aid. "Fitch believes that the mechanics of the GSA pledge do not insulate bondholders from the issuer's general credit," analysts wrote.

About $393 million of the bond proceeds will fund capital projects; $135 million will refund variable-rate debt that is being shifted to a fixed rate; $86 million will retire short-term debt used to cover swap termination payments; and $206 million represents a scoop-and-toss restructuring in which the district borrows to pay off maturing bonds. The rest will cover capitalized interest and issuance costs.

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan also fired back. "Seven months into a new fiscal year, the state still has no budget under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, and it's because he's more interested in driving down the wages and standard of living of middle-class families than working together to solve our state's problems," Madigan said in a statement. "Gov. Rauner hopes to use a crisis to impose his anti-middle class agenda. Republicans' ultimate plans include allowing cities throughout the state to file for bankruptcy protection."
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/01/2016 (2462 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Crown has detailed a frightening attack in which its alleged a man tried to hit his girlfriend with a crowbar.

The woman told police she believed that if she hadnt avoided the blow aimed at her head, she would have been dead.

This woman was fearing for her life, Crown attorney Yaso Mathu said during a bail hearing in Brandon provincial court on Friday. I think there but for the grace of God, she wasnt more seriously injured.

Mathu said that on Thursday afternoon, police were called by a woman who said her boyfriend had assaulted her the night before.

Officers attended her room at the Casa Blanca Motor Lodge to find feathers strewn everywhere.

The upset woman said she had been assaulted throughout the night by her boyfriend.

Hed tried to strike her in the head with a crowbar, she said, but she managed to avoid the blow.

Instead, he struck the wall, a night stand and the TV stand with the weapon. Police could see the damage done, and there was an 18-inch crowbar on the floor.

She reported that the boyfriend had also slapped, punched and strangled her to the point that she ripped off her nails during her attempt to stop him.

Mathu said the woman had a bruise from being thrown to the floor, a bruise on her leg where shed been kicked, other bruising, a scratched neck, two black eyes and a cut mouth.

At one point, the woman told police, her boyfriend had used a razor blade to cut open pillows  hence the feathers around the room.

Police found the suspect at the Redwood Motor Inn and arrested him.

In court, defence lawyer Ryan Fawcett said the accused strongly denies the allegations.

James Clayton Walker, 41, of Brandon is charged with assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and mischief.

He was released on bail on Friday and his next court date is in early February.

The charges against the accused havent been proven and hes presumed innocent.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @IanHitchen
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A Winnipeg woman has been released on bail for a drug charge and other offences after getting caught with a bag of morphine while allegedly shoplifting.

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The Environment Minister Alan Kelly is to bring proposed schemes on affordable rent and social housing before the Cabinet this week.

Under one scheme the government would pay 30% of the rent for low earners.
Daniel McConnell, Political Editor

The Health Service Executive's claims that it apologised directly to the victim of the most savage rape and physical abuse in a foster home in the South East have been strongly contested.

Fresh testimony obtained by the Irish Examiner newspaper, relating to the handling of the case involving the disabled victim, between 1989 and 2009, roundly rejects claims by the HSE that such an apology was given.

One of the whistleblowers involved in the case, said they attended a meeting with the HSE in early December, but was adamant no apology was offered.

There was no apology made by the HSE to my client for the HSEs failings in her care nor was there any admission of HSE failings in this case expressed to my client, said the whistleblower.

My client was merely informed that recommendations from a report into her care had been released that day.

This was the purpose of the meeting and once this had taken place, the meeting ended.

It was a very brief meeting lasting less than 10 minutes, the whistleblower added.

Last week, the Irish Examiner revealed how the HSE finally accepted liability for failings in standards of care involving the woman who suffered horrendous abuse at the foster home.

The HSE has attempted to claim both to this newspaper and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that an apology was given, but this has been strongly contested by not one but two separate sources close to the victim.

PAC vice-chair John Deasy has accused the HSE of concocting a version of what happened.

He said he had been made aware of the exact the tenor and content of the meetings.

It didnt occur. Ive had it checked out, he said, claiming the HSE has concocted a version of what happened.

It is understood that one of the social workers involved has made a statement to the Gardai accusing HSE employees of criminal negligence for the leaving the victim in the home for 13 years after fears of abuse were first raised.

This warning followed a raising of alarm from UK authorities that another former resident in the house alleged sexual assualt by one of the foster parents.

Last Thursday, the PAC referred the matter to the office of the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan and the office of Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has already decided against pressing charges in relation to five garda investigation files dealing with alleged negligence and abuse in the home.

One of the foster parents was alleged to have raped victims, who were unable to speak, with instruments.

Over two decades the individual, it is alleged, suffered savage sexual, physical and financial abuse including being sexually assaulted with a blunt instrument resulting in damage to her internal organs, living in a cubby hole under the stairs and trained to assume sexual positions when certain words were spoken.

Between 2010 and 2014 the HSE commissioned three investigations costing almost 300,000, while the Department of Health last year commissioned a senior counsel review.

The HSE has repeatedly said it cannot publish its investigations  including which managers were responsible and what if any disciplinary actions took place  due to ongoing Garda investigations, hampered by the fact the alleged victim cannot speak.
At least 47 people, including nine children, are reported to have died in air strikes in Eastern Syria.

Human rights group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights believes that Russian jets carried out the raids near the city of Deir al-Zor.
Lorry drivers are renewing calls for the military to guard the port of Calais.

It is after further disruption to services last night when dozens of migrants stormed a ferry there.
LAHORE: While there is no let up in the spread of dengue, the Punjab government has increased the number of beds for...
Global insurance giant Prudential has poured $US350 million ($500.6 million) into LeapFrog Investments, a fund focused on selling financial services in Africa and Asia especially via mobile phones.

LeapFrog is a private equity and alternative investments manager with a portfolio in insurance and the burgeoning financial services technology, or "fintech", space. The fund is domiciled in Mauritius, but led by co-founder and chief executive Andy Kuper from a small office in Sydney.

Leapfrog Investments chief Andy Kuper takes time out for coffee following the announcement of a $500 million investment by Prudential. Credit:Peter Braig

The Prudential deal means LeapFrog has raised a total of $US1.09 billion ($1.55 billion) since it was started seven years ago by Dr Kuper and his business partner Jim Roth.

Backed by big names such as US billionaire fund manager George Soros and eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar and major global insurance companies, LeapFrog has also started to attract investment from Australian superannuation funds.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has pledged Australians will be "winners" when the Turnbull government finally reveals its election-year tax reform package, while effectively ruling out imposing the GST on health or education.

In a pitch to households and the Liberals' core small business constituency, Mr Morrison said the government would seek a strong mandate for tax reforms that are likely to include changes which reduce personal and business tax rates to drive economic growth.

Treasurer Scott Morrison says the government is committed shutting down tax avoidance strategies used by multinationals. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

And in a sign the federal government will attempt to limit the scope of direct compensation paid to households arising from any tax changes, as recommended in modelling leaked to Fairfax Media last year, Mr Morrison pointed out the carbon tax compensation package put in place by Labor had been kept by the Coalition, despite the repeal of the tax, and therefore a "lag compensation" was already in the system.

"I think people will be winners as a result [of tax reform]," he said on Sunday in an interview with Sky News.
Indigenous journalist Stan Grant has declared racism is "killing the Australian dream", in an impassioned speech that has gone viral on social media.

The powerful speech, delivered at the IQ2 Racism Debate in October, emerged online last week, with journalist Mike Carlton describing it as a "Martin Luther King moment" on Twitter.

Declaring the Australian dream as "rooted in racism", Grant said the legacy of Australia's dark past continues today, citing the lower life expectancy and higher rates of incarceration still experienced by indigenous Australians.
A Turkish Airlines flight from Houston, Texas, to Istanbul was diverted to Ireland on Sunday after officials discovered a handwritten bomb threat.

The Boeing 777, bound for Turkey's largest city, was diverted after a piece of paper with "bomb" written on it was discovered in the toilet, a spokesman for Turkish Airlines said.

A Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul was diverted to Ireland after a bomb threat. Credit:Lisi Niesner

Nothing was found in the search of the aircraft in Shannon, on the west coast of Ireland, the Turkish Airlines spokesman said, adding that the plane would take off again to Istanbul.

An airport spokesman said the plane touched down without incident and all 209 passengers, plus crew, disembarked safely.
In late July 1942 Japanese Navy flying boats made three unsuccessful raids on Townsville.

Most of the bombs fell harmlessly in the water, with the only land damage being to a palm plantation in south Townsville.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk meets with Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill to discuss the future for QLD Nickel workers. Credit:Twitter

Last week Clive Palmer dropped a metaphorical bomb on Townsville, doing far more damage than the Japanese Imperial Navy ever did, when his Yabulu nickel refining operation imploded.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, her ministers and top bureaucrats, quickly deployed to Townsville, ostensibly in support of the sacked workers. The premier's compassion for the sacked workers is unquestioned.
But even Abosch, better known for taking portraits of celebrities including Johnny Depp, Bob Geldoff and Steven Spielberg, acknowledges that some might find the price tag for the photograph, entitled Potato #345, a little "absurd".

It should be noted that it's an organic spud, from the spiritual home of the potato, Ireland, so you'd expect it to be a bit pricier per kilogram than the dirt-cheap variety.

He recently sold this photograph of a potato for 750,000 ($1.5 million). Really.

The chips certainly aren't down for photographer Kevin Abosch.

The Kevin Abosch photo Potato #345 which has sold for $1.5 million. Credit:Kevin Abosch

Abosch's explanation of how the sale came about suggests wine might have had something to do with the transaction.

Abosch, who is based in France and Ireland, was having dinner with an unnamed European businessman at his home when his guest saw the photograph hanging on the wall, The Sunday Times in London reported.

Abosch had photographed the potato in 2010, after it was delivered to his home in a batch of organic vegetables.

"We had two glasses of wine and he [the businessman] said, 'I really like that.' Two more glasses of wine and he said: 'I really want that,' " Abosch said
A defiant Tony Abbott has resisted calls for him to quit politics and will recontest his seat of Warringah at the next federal election.

The decision, announced on Sunday evening on his personal website, means the former prime minister will look to extend his 22 years in politics and potentially creates a political headache for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The move had been widely expected within the Liberal Party and ends months of speculation which was approaching fever pitch after preselections opened for the NSW branch of the Liberal Party last week.

The decision comes after he lost the leadership last September, and after a summer spent consulting with his family and political confidantes about his future.
A man has been charged after allegedly attacking a woman with an axe during a domestic dispute in Brisbane's south-east on Sunday night.

The 38-year-old woman suffered a deep cut to her arm and was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment after allegedly being attacked by a 51-year-old man.

A man will appear in court on Monday morning, charged over an axe attack on a 38-year-old woman in a domestic dispute.

Police were called to the pair's home at Marina Place in Wishart, about 14 kilometres south-east of Brisbane's CBD, about 9.15pm, where they found the wounded woman.

They will allege a fight erupted between the pair and the man left the house briefly, before returning with the axe, which he allegedly then used to attack the woman.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has joined her counterparts in every other state and territory, bar Western Australia, to sign a declaration calling for Australia to become a republic.

The declaration, released by the Australian Republican Movement the day before Australia Day, called for constitutional change to allow an Australian head of state.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has joined other state and territory leaders to call for an Australian republic. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

The only state leader not to sign the charter was West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, although he has long been on the record as a republican.

"I firmly believe Australia is ready to have an Australian as our head of state," Ms Palaszczuk said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she is seeking answers following the deaths of four elderly patients at a Far North Queensland aged care hospital last week.

A further eight patients at the Herberton Hospital, south-west of Cairns, had fallen ill, along with 15 staff members.

Herberton Hospital, near Cairns, where four patients died after a virus outbreak last week. Credit:Queensland Health

The long-stay facility, which provided inpatient aged care, respite and palliative care, had 36 residents.

The viral outbreak had been confirmed as human metapneumovirus, of which the elderly and frail were particularly susceptible.
A 19-year-old Brisbane man is feared drowned after being dragged out to sea in treacherous surf on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

Water police and rescue helicopters have resumed their search for the teenager, who was swimming with a friend when he got caught in a rip at Noosa North Shore about 2.30pm on Sunday.

Lifesavers search for Josh Carter, who went missing off a beach north of Noosa. Credit:Surf Life Saving Queensland

A search was launched immediately but failed to find him before light faded on Sunday night.
The state's anti-corruption commission will pursue two Ballarat police officers accused of excessive force against vulnerable women in their custody despite Victoria Police internal investigators finding no evidence of criminal conduct.

The two officers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have had their suspensions lifted after a review of the allegations by the police Professional Standards Command.

IBAC is investigating claims of excessive force by Ballarat police officers. Credit:Rob Gunstone

The force watchdog found in December that the alleged conduct of the officers, a man and a woman, was not criminal.

The finding may put Victoria Police at odds with the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission, which says its investigation into the allegations is ongoing.
Residents who lost their homes in the Wye River bushfire say they are not convinced by an investigation that cleared authorities of any wrongdoing and are now demanding an independent inquiry into the fire.

The Emergency Management report found the Surf Coast destruction was not caused by back burning and that ire authorities had taken the appropriate actions while fighting the blaze. Credit:Tom Jacobs

Inspector-General for Emergency Management Tony Pearce handed the findings of an interim report to the Emergency Services minister on Saturday, two days after the Wye River fire was finally brought under control.

The report found the destruction along Victoria's Surf Coast last month, including the loss of 116 homes, was not caused by back burning and fire authorities had taken the appropriate actions while fighting the blaze.
Do your bit - don't give thieves and burglars a free kick by leaving doors or windows open - that's the essence of a new advertising campaign launched by WA police minister Liza Harvey on Sunday.

But the state opposition leader believes the government is trying to shift the blame while the real problem is out-of-control crime, police resourcing and weak laws.

Mrs Harvey told Radio 6PR that police were looking for a partnership with the community to help crackdown on opportunity break-ins.

"We're doing our bit - we're getting more police on the streets, we've got tougher laws," she said.
Looking for the big games to watch in Week 9? We have them right here.
The Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) has asked the Union health ministry to reconsider its proposal on raising fees for product registration, inspection and clinical trials.

Though we appreciate the need to increase fees for import of bulk drugs to protect the local industry, we are not in favour of any hike for domestic manufacture of bulk drugs or formulations, said IDMA President S V Veerramani during the associations 54th annual function in Mumbai on Saturday.

According to Veerramani, the fees will increase five to 10 times, and small and medium enterprises will be impacted the most. We understand that fees have not been revised for the past fifteen years. But, the increase should not happen in one go. We want the government to reconsider the proposal, he added. The central governments approval is required for new molecules and fixed-dose combination drugs while state drug controllers grant approvals for established drugs, on payment of fees. IDMA will also be conducting courses on quality assurance for executives of pharmaceutical firms in the wake of scrutiny and warning letters from the US drug regulator.

During the occasion, Ciplas Chairperson Y K Hamied was felicitated with a lifetime achievement award. bs reporter



The course will be carried out in partnership with UK agency NSF and will cover topics such as good manufacturing practices, data integrity and quality management system, amongst others.
Online restaurant search, rating and food ordering company, Zomato, which was in the in 2015 for laying off about 300 employees, shutting down regional centres, and unmet financial targets, is aiming for operational profit this year.

Co-founder Pankaj Chaddah told Business Standard in an interaction that "the pain for us has been over for a while now", but not for the industry. "Yes, there is a bubble," he said when asked where the tech start-up universe, specifically the food app companies, was headed.

FACT SHEET Launched in 2008 as online restaurant search firm

Targets break-even by May, and operational profit this year

To increase staff strength from 2,600 to 4,000

Raised $223 million till now; not looking at fresh funds

May acquire new company if it adds value

95% revenue from search, 5% from online food ordering

Zomato average order value at Rs 550-660, industry average Rs 200-300

Zomato would go for acquisition when there's a potential target, but right now it's watching the space going through turmoil. At least three such firms would be on the block this year, one of which may just fade away, Chaddah crystal-gazed.

"We have restructured and shut down verticals in the past seven years, we have done a lot of that before. But, it has never happened at such a scale. This is what caught everyone's attention," Chaddah, who's managing the online ordering business, said. The company realised that the investment made in collecting information through walk-ins at high-street restaurants around the world was not adding value, as most of the content was available online. That resulted in lay-offs, primarily in content operation, he said.

Having begun in 2008, Zomato is targeting break-even by May and operational profit subsequently. From 2,600 employees now, it's targeting to increase the numbers to 4,000 by end of the year.

Chaddah claimed the firm was not looking at fundraising as they "have ample money in the bank". So far, the company has raised $223 million, with the last funding in 2015. Investors include Info Edge, Sequoia India, Vy Capital and Temasek.

Chaddah didn't want to comment on whether Zomato was valued at below or more than $1 billion - the unicorn mark that every tech start-up wants to reach as quickly as possible. In value terms, Zomato is the market leader, while in volume terms two players are ahead of it, according to industry estimates.

Stressing that consolidation is waiting to happen in the food tech space, Chaddah said one of Zomato's rivals could be wiped out completely and two others were likely to be up for sale.

"In terms of consumption, a lot of players, who grew quickly in the beginning, did a good job of educating the users with discounts Sadly, it did not work, as they were creating unsustainable businesses. As a consequence of that, I see a couple of businesses folding up soon. My guess is one out of three will fold up, and the others might get acquired," Chaddah said. When asked if any of these would be acquired by Zomato, Chaddah said it would depend of the value that has been created by them.

At present, Zomato is pushing its online food ordering business. While 95 per cent revenues for the group comes from search and discovery operations, five per cent comes from food ordering. "Search and discovery is growing at a fast pace, almost 10-15 per cent month-on-month. The online ordering business is growing at 30-40 per cent month-on-month. Overall, in two years, I think online ordering revenue contribution would grow to 20 per cent." It plans to spend $40 million in two years in establishing itself in new markets across the globe.

Agreeing there is a bubble in the start-up space, Chaddah said, "Certain industries will correct themselves, some others will get more funding and blow the bubble further. I think a lot depends on investors when they figure out what is good business and what is unsustainable. There has been a bloodbath in the e-commerce space for a long time, as too many people have been running on negative."



On Zomato co-founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal's letter to the sales team a few months ago, asking them to shape up or ship out as investors' financial targets were not being met, Chaddah said: "That's how sales people are inspired to perform in most organisations." He added that there has been no issue between Zomato and its investors.

Is there any truth in Chinese search company Baidu being in talks with Zomato? "Investors keep talking in the past five years, close to 40 of them must have spoken," said Chaddah.

Would it like to be known as the Amazon of the food tech world or an Uber? "While we can be compared to Amazon at one end, we are like Google on the other... But we want to be known as the Zomato of the food world."
Not many were surprised when Subhash Chandra, 65-year-old chairman of the Zee Group, joined Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the time, at an election rally in Kurukshetra on April 3, 2014.

Zee News, a television channel of the Zee Group, faced a criminal charge filed by coal tycoon Naveen Jindal, also Congress MP from Kurukshetra. With barely a week for polling, Chandra appealed to the crowd to support the BJP in the elections. It was an appeal he repeated during the Haryana Assembly polls some months later in August and even expressed a wish to contest on the party ticket from Hisar.

Chandras love for the BJP, it would seem, stemmed from an association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) when younger. Actually, the real reason, as he writes in his recently published memoirs, was his targeting by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government against him and his company. The autobiography, The Z Factor, which Prime Minister Modi unveiled this Wednesday at his official bungalow, has several anecdotes about Chandra's close association with powerful politicians.

Chandra has dabbled in several businesses. He has owned a packaging company, has even tried to lock horns with the Indian cricket board by promoting the Indian Cricket League and in the early 1990s, launched Indias first privately owned entertainment channel. His big money had come by exporting rice to the erstwhile Soviet Union in the early 1980s.

Chandra had cultivated Sanjay Gandhi during the time the Congress was out of power in the late 1970s. It was a generosity, Chandra says, that the Gandhi family didn't forget even after Sanjay's death. Chandra says he was helped with the rice export deal by Indira Gandhis yoga teacher, Dhirendra Brahmchari. Chandra says Brahmchari was a magnetic personality, always surrounded by half a dozen women.

It was Brahmachari's excessive greed that led to the yoga practitioner's downfall. He says Brahmchari, initially a partner, floated his own company for rice export. The yoga guru conveyed to Chandra, then only 32, that not only would there be no more export contracts but that he wouldnt return Rs 2 crore he owed the latter. Word reached Indira Gandhi through son Rajiv, then a general secretary of the Congress. Chandra appeared before the PM, with Brahmchari sitting by her side, and told her the amount of money her yoga teacher owed him. Chandra says from that day, Brahmcharis downfall began.

Chandra says he ran the rice export trade from 1981 to 1984. He claims to have shared the profits for the first two years with Brahmachari and the next two years with then Congress party treasurer Sitaram Kesri. Many years later, after Rajiv was assassinated, I was told the Gandhi family believed much of the profits from the rice trade were siphoned away by Arun Nehru, he writes.

He claims how at the time he also became a messenger for requests for meetings between Rajiv Gandhi and the Soviets. The code name we had for Rajiv with the Soviets was White Trousers, says Chandra.

In the early 1990s, the businessman launched an entertainment channel, Zee TV, which also broadcast a news bulletin. I said to myself, Subhash, this box has given you a different profile. You should not think that you have created the Zee network. Rather, you should think that the Zee network has created a new you."



Chandra has written in some detail about his run-in with NewsCorp's Rupert Murdoch and others on direct-to-home (DTH) television. Murdoch had a monopoly on DTH and Chandra wanted to launch Zees similar service in India. During the prime ministerial tenure of I K Gujral some domestic TV industry players and modern-day turncoats also began lobbying for foreign DTH players in India. These were similar to Indian rulers who had helped the British establish their rule in India. I believe Gujral was persuaded by a prominent TV production house owner, who later became a broadcaster, to allow Murdoch to launch DTH operations. This producer was already selling content to STAR channels.



He says Gujral started to get convinced but his information and broadcasting minister, S Jaipal Reddy, checked and found the Telegraph Act did not allow such services. He and Cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian issued a notification clarifying the issue and to remove any doubt about the status of DTH. The notification disallowed DTH services without proper permission or licence, stymying the efforts of Murdoch and others.

Later, Chandra says he lobbied against the campaign by NewsCorp and other foreign groups to increase the cap on foreign holdings in media companies from 26 per cent to 74 per cent. He says he met RSS chief Rajju Bhaiya (Rajendra Singh) in Nagpur and his deputy, K S Sudarshan. I think they convinced the Vajpayee government to limit FDI in the media, says Chandra.

Chandra writes the Vajpayee government was in power while his company was negotiating STAR's exit (from India). He says a section in the government and the BJP felt if STAR exited/merged with Zee, then the Zee Group and I would become too powerful. He claims his detractors were prominent business groups. I got a call from Murdoch, who said, "You don't seem to have good relations with the Indian government." He then told me that Sushma Swaraj had met him in New York and told him the Indian government was not in favour of the STAR-Zee deal. She had apparently promised support to NewsCorp for their businesses in India, Chandra writes.

Chandra says he was informed by a friend in the Vajpayee government that while the official reason for Swaraj going to New York was to attend the UN general assembly, meeting Murdoch was also an important objective of the trip. No surprise, then, that STAR TV decided to oblige the Vajpayee government and stayed on in India. I don't know why Swaraj was made to do this, says Chandra, suggesting this was done at the behest of someone plotting against him.
Days after Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan warned bank defaulters against flaunting their wealth, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy on Sunday appeared to suggest that "flaunting" of riches should not be of much concern.

Debroy said assets and liabilities of an enterprise can be delinked from those of individuals, which is entirely a limited liability concept.

"I think wealth creation is good for society and wealth creation is good for everyone. You make tonnes of money and you go and flaunt it. It's none of my business," he told NDTV.

Both were asked to respond to Rajan's warning.

When the question was put to Subramanian, the chief economic advisor said: "I have no views on flaunting. We address owing the money problem, not flaunting... Flaunting, I agree with Bibek (Debroy)." To deal with the problem of debt, he said the country needs legislations like the bankruptcy law, which has been introduced in Parliament, and other mechanisms for "fairly apportioning the cost of decisions made in past" among all stakeholders. "This is a private matter," Subramanian said when asked if he was saying how people spend their money is their own business even if they are in debt.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley is yet to name a chairman for the Empowered Group of State Finance Ministers (ECSFM) on the proposed national goods and services tax (GST), even two months after Kerala finance minister K M Mani stepped down.

This is despite the Union government also making fresh efforts to enable the taxs rollout, including pushing for passage of constitutional amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha session starting next month.

The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill, stalled in the other House for want of majority support. After the passage, a Bill of the GST itself would come before Parliament and all state legislatures. Then, rules will be framed. The absence of a ECSFM chairman has derailed its meetings, needed to discuss key issues on the proposed laws and rules.

DEADLOCK The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill, but stalled in the other House for want of majority support



Since K M Mani resigned as finance minister of Kerala over corruption charges in November, only one meeting of the committee has taken place



A committee headed by the governments chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanian, recommended a standard GST rate of 17-18 per cent



It had also suggested a lower rate of 12 per cent for certain commodities and a sin tax of 40 per cent for items like aerated drinks and tobacco

There has been no communication from the finance minister. He has probably been keeping busy on account of budget preparations. We are still waiting, said a member.

After Mani resigned as finance minister of Kerala over corruption charges in November, only one meeting of the committee has taken place. In November, Delhi finance minister Manish Sisodia was selected to chair a meeting for a day. It had decided on a sub-panel to decide on the issue of a threshold, as states were divided on whether GST should kick in from Rs 10 lakh or Rs 25 lakh of annual turnover.

The next round was to take place in December but did not happen. The committee was to draft a GST law and business processes for payments, refunds and returns filing.

The constitution amendment Bill could not be cleared in the previous session of Parliament, too. The Congress party stood stern on its demand to fix the proposed rates in the legislation itself. The Centre has staunchly opposed this, saying this would limit flexibility of the proposed GST Council to change these.

In between, a committee headed by the governments chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanian, recommended a standard GST rate of 17-18 per cent, with a lower rate of 12 per cent for certain commodities and a sin tax of 40 per cent for items like aerated drinks and tobacco.

In the proposed GST Council, the Centre is to have a third of the members and states together the other two-third. The consensus so far is that a decision requires a three-fourth majority.

There were some signs of the Congress diluting its position over fixing the GST rate in the constitution amendment Bill. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, party leader Kamal Nath had said, I hope they (the government) do say that I accept the cap but lets not have it in the constitution.



Jaitley had noted the GST was originally a Congress initiative. By insisting on inclusion of GST rates in the constitution amendment bill, it is demanding something it hadnt proposed when the party was in power.

GST was originally proposed to be implemented from April 2010. Several deadlines were missed due to differences between Centre and states. The current deadline is April 2016, also set to be missed.
Preparations for the week-long Make In India event in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) are in full swing with 500-odd workers working round the clock. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event on February 13. The events theme is innovation, design and sustainability.

Ten air-conditioned pavilions-cum-exhibition halls are being constructed over 100,000 sq mt land possessed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The land is being provided free of cost by MMRDA as Maharahstra is the host state for the mega event where 1,000 companies and delegates from around 60 countries are expected to be present. About 500 exhibitors will display their products and 42 seminars and parallel discussions are being planned.

Make In Indias logo - a lion made of cogs, a symbol of industry - is visible at the event site and also on the inter-connecting roads and highways. Besides, the auspicious lamp Laman Diva or Nanda Deep, which is specially prepared by the state government, is being prominently displayed at the venue and in different parts of the metropolis.

Barricades have been installed with no entry signs on some of the roads adjacent to the venue.

Maharashtra will showcase its pre-eminence in attracting investments in a pavilion spread over 1,000 sq mt. State undertaking Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation will exhibit the model of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, while other agencies including MMRDA and City and Industrial Development Corporation would display models of ongoing and proposed infrastructure projects in the states.

Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana will also display their strengths as investment destinations in separate pavilions. These states will also put up miniatures of different models at the venue, while auto major Mercedes Benz proposes to install an assembly unit.

Maharashtra welcomes the World' is one among the many advertisements displayed on the roads leading up to BKC, while a massive makeover of boundary walls and electric polls is underway. Advertisement campaigns will be stepped up from February 1.

The Confederation of Indian Industry is the lead partner, while advertisement and public relations agency Rediffusion and event management firm Wizcraft are closely engaged with the various state and Central government agencies in. About Rs 100 crore will be spent jointly by the Centre and the state government on media blitzkrieg and event management.

Bhushan Gagrani, chief executive of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, told Business Standard, State industries secretary Apurva Chandra is supervising the preparations while Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion secretary Amitabh Kant is holding review meetings. State and sector seminars are being planned.



He said opportunities in various sectors including automobiles, defence, aerospace, food processing, chemicals, electronics, information technology, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and infrastructure will be showcased at the event through seminars and discussions among major stake holders.
President Barack Obama on Sunday promised to look at export controls to make sure Indian firms have the same access to American technologies as closest allies and expressed the hope that the new year would see deals for the US companies to build nuclear reactors in India.

Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modis efforts to cut red tape and make it easier for doing business in India, he said both countries can do even more to increase the trade and investment that creates jobs for people in both nations.

He said the bilateral trade is still just a fraction of what it could be and both countries can do more. Annual bilateral trade between India and the US is now around $100 billion - rising five-fold in the last decade. Obama and Modi have set a goal of taking it to $500 billion in the next few years.

Under our civil nuclear agreement, were hopeful that this year will see deals for US companies to build new reactors, which will mean more reliable electricity for Indians... For our part, the United States continues to look at our export controls to make sure Indian companies have the same access to American technology as our closest allies, Obama told PTI in wide-ranging interview.

Terming the Pathankot terror strike as another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long, Obama demanded of Pakistan that it delegitimise, disrupt and dismantle terrorist networks that operate from its territory. In a tough message, Obama said Pakistan can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups based there, emphasising that "there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice. Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks, Obama told PTI in an interview here during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

Obama gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the Pathankot attack and said, both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region.



Voicing his belief that the Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century, Obama said that Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and "we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices".

Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, "Absolutely not." "I believe there's still so much more we can be doing together to realise the full potential of our partnership in the three areas I identified last year."



NGOs should not be stifled, says Obama



In an apparent criticism of the Indian government's crackdown on certain NGOs, US President Barack Obama said civil society groups that strengthen communities need to be supported and not stifled. The US has been critical of the Indian government's action against NGOs, particularly Greenpeace which was barred from receiving foreign funds and whose registration was cancelled in last September . Washington had expressed worries about the potentially chilling effects of such actions.

Obama made a reference to the civil society groups in the course of an interview to PTI.

The President emphasised that there was much more that the US and India can do together and went on to say "India can be a strong voice in support of the universal rights and dignity of all people, regardless of background or religion. We need to support, not stifle, the civil society groups that strengthen communities".
MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TO LAUNCH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN UNDER VEERGATHA SERIES . .

Shri Manohar Parrikar, Union Minister of Defence will release a set of first five illustrated books for children, under Veergatha Series in English and Hindi each on 25 January 2016 in New Delhi. Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Human Resource Development will preside over the function. General Dalbir Singh (PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC), the Chief of Army Staff will also be present on the occasion. .

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The new series of illustrated books for children, under Veergatha Series is being launched by the National Book Trust, India, an apex body of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, as part of the Republic Day celebrations. .

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The five books being released on the occasion illustrate the saga of bravery of Param Veer Chakra awardees including Major Somnath Sharma (1947 war), Major Shaitan Singh (1962 war), CQMH Abdul Hamid (1965 war), Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (1971 war) and Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey (1999 Kargil war). The books have been developed with the support of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. All the five scripts have been prepared by Gaurav Sawant and illustrated by Fajruddin, Dheeraj Bhatia, Animesh Debnath, Nipen Bhuyan and Samudra Kajal Saikia. .

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Veergatha series seeks to introduce the great acts of bravery of the Param Veer Chakra awardees to instil a sense of inspiration and patriotism in children at an early age. The Param Veer Chakra (PVC) is the highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour in the presence of the enemy. .

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GG/RT/DS/ veer gatha
PM addresses India-France Business Summit in Chandigarh. 16 Agreements exchanged

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed the India-France Business Summit in Chandigarh today. .

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The Prime Minister appreciated France for the manner in which it coordinated the CoP 21 negotiations. He recalled that President Hollande had spoken to him over phone and had shared the outline of the proposed agreement, shortly before it was announced. .

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The Prime Minister recalled the deadly terror attack in Paris a few days before the CoP-21 meeting, and said France has shown the way to combat terrorism without deviating from its core principles. He said India will stand shoulder to shoulder with France in the fight against terrorism. .

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The Prime Minister spoke at length about the complementarities between India and France, and said both countries are in fact made for each other. Speaking about the security and defence sector, the Prime Minister said Indian talent and French manufacturing capability can together make the world a more secure place. In this context, he mentioned cyber-security as well. .

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The Prime Minister said French companies are well invested in India. He asserted that retrospective tax was a thing of the past, and a closed chapter. He mentioned the initiatives of Mission Innovation, involving India, US and France, and the International Solar Alliance. .

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16 MoUs and Agreements were exchanged at the Summit. .

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PM welcomes French President Fran?ois Hollande, on his arrival in India; looks forward to meet him in Chandigarh and Delhi

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has warmly welcomed French President, Mr. Fran?ois Hollande, on his arrival in India. The Prime Minister will meet President Fran?ois Hollande in Chandigarh and Delhi. .

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"A warm welcome to French President Fran?ois Hollande. We are honoured and delighted to have him as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations. .

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President Fran?ois Hollande and I will meet in Chandigarh and Delhi. We will build on the ground covered during our previous interactions", the Prime Minister tweeted. .

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Quick Resolution of Disputes Is One of the Important Ways to Reduce Grievances of Tax Payers, Says President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee . . Platinum Jubilee of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (Itat) Celebrated . .

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee calls for speedy and transparent justice delivery by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). .

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Addressing a gathering of the All India Members Conference of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal held in New Delhi today to mark the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations Shri Pranab Mukherjee said the Indian Economy has undergone structural changes over the years, The collection of Direct Taxes in 1860-61 was Rs. 30 lakhs, when income tax was introduced in India on 24th July, 1860. For the current year, the estimate for direct tax collection is Rs.7.98 lakh crores. This indicates the rising importance of direct taxation in India since introduction of Income tax and also the challenges and opportunities in the matter of direct Taxes. The growth and expansion of direct taxation has put an extra responsibility on the Income tax appellate tribunal, he added . .

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ITAT is the final fact finding authority in the direct taxes litigation system. The appeal after the order of ITAT can only be filed before the High Courts and Supreme Court on the substantial questions of law. This put enormous responsibility on ITAT to appreciate, decide and deliver the judgment. The independence of Tribunal through its arms length relationship with taxpayers and the administration provides freedom to deliver orders, which are based on the principles of natural justice and global best practices. The president expressed happiness in noting that ITAT has lived up to these expectations. He said the rising trends in tax disputes and the quantum involved in tax litigations calls for an innovative tax litigation management system. Today we have 63 benches which operate from 27 stations. .

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Shri Pranab Mukherjee said the complexity and challenges of the taxation system may lead to grievances and the quick resolution of disputes is one of the important ways to reduce grievances of the tax payers. Speedy justice requires a high degree of legal, technical and technological expertise in the organization. It also requires continuous updating of knowledge in the fast changing legal and economic eco-system. He also expressed his happiness on the recognition given by UNDP to ITAT for its work and in assisting the tax judiciaries of developing countries like Ghana and Nigeria. He said I would like to see ITAT in playing a lead role in tax jurisdiction where Litigation Management System is in a nascent Stage. .

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Shri Mukherjee said transfer pricing, international taxation and taxation of digital economy are the frontier areas of taxation, which require special skill sets. Over the year taxation department has responded to meet the challenges through capacity development. The rising disputes in these areas call for trained manpower in both the tax department as well as in tax judiciary to keep India globally competitive in tax judiciary system. He said in todays technical session three important areas of taxation relating to (i) Tax Jurisprudance in Cross-border transactions, (ii) Emergence of Technology in Justice Delivery System and (iii) Tax Litigation viz-a-viz Ease of Doing Business in India have been discussed. He said these three are critical components of taxation policy and litigation management system for providing a stable, fair and equitable tax regime. The President complimented the organizers for selecting these important topics for deliberations. .

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Due to technology, the speed of business has increased considerably; the tech savvy entrepreneurs and global Indians demand justice delivery system in line with the best global practices. Meeting the expectations of these twenty-first century entrepreneurs is a challenging job. He hoped that members of ITAT family and the Ministry of Law and Justice will respond to these challenges pro-actively. .

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The tax dispute resolution system is an integral component of the eco-system for promoting investments and attracting business. As India looks forward to be an attractive business destination, you all have to play a very important role in this eco-system. Through speedy justice, consistent orders, fair approach and business oriented litigation management system, you can contribute to the growth story of India which is unfolding to the world, Shri Mukherjee added. .

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The initiatives of E-courts, through which members of the Tribunals are disposing cases from smaller stations through video-conferencing model, is laudable. The example set up by two members of ITAT at Ahmedabad by disposing 300 appeals at Rajkot in a month, is an indication of willingness on part of the members to adopt new processes and procedures, which are technology based. He said you need to replicate such kinds of practices all over the country and become a true symbol of bringing tax justice at the doorsteps of the tax payers. .

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Shri Mukherjee said 75 years is an important milestone in the life of an organization. Through these years, ITAT has established itself as an organization which follows the best practices and is always committed to evolve. He hoped that ITAT and members of its family will continue to excel in their area of work and contribute to the growth and development of the country. .

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In his key note address Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister for Law and Justice said this Tribunal is the oldest quasi-judicial Tribunal set-up prior to our date of tryst with destiny, rightly termed as Mother of all Tribunals". However, ever since the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT"), was set up in 1941 to decide Income Tax cases under the Income Tax Act, 1922, the process of tribunalisation of the justice system has slowly, but inexorably, grown to cover more and more areas of dispute resolution. .

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Shri Sadanada Gowda said, the hallmark of any Institution depends upon the reputation which it builds up over a period and the litmus test is in maintaining consistency of it being fair and judicious, apart from rendering speedy justice. In this regard, I must say that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has steadily but consistently built up its reputation. I have noticed that the Tribunal has a backlog of less than one lakh cases but a close examination of the details reveals that broadly the appeals, except the cases which are delayed on account of litigants, are disposed of within six months to one year from the date of institution. .

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All of you are aware that the income tax law is a complex piece of legislation where there have been frequent amendments year after year. Even for an expert body like ITAT, there is a strong need for the Members and practitioners to constantly update their knowledge to perform the functions assigned to them in an effective manner. I would be glad to offer any assistance if the Tribunal as an institution feels any necessity to upgrade skills of its Members and comes up with a firm proposal in this regard. .

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The law minister said that the Departmental representatives too need to extend their co-operation so that the appeals are disposed of within the time frame. The practice of seeking adjournments except when it becomes critical and vital must be curbed. The system of Pre-trial hearings which is gaining popularity in developed economies should be put to use immediately. A major reform can be undertaken with Digitalisation of documents and setting up of e-courts. We must get rid of non-eco-friendly habit of using paper. We must move in the direction of e-governance to provide litigants better services not only for case management, but also for introducing effectiveness and efficiency in the litigation cycle. ITAT must conduct an internal evaluation of its procedures and adopt suitable modifications for quick and time bound disposal, Shri Gowda added. .

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The Minister for Law and Justice pointed out that courts have observed time and again that the Government is the biggest litigant and is hampering speedy justice in genuine cases. Our Government has an objective of converting the Government into a responsible litigant. A number of measures are being taken to reduce the litigation from Government side. Recently the CBDT issued a circular directing their officers to withdraw all appeals from the Tribunal where the tax effect is less than Rs. ten lakhs. I am sure CBDT would come up with many more measures where the litigation can be reduced, including by not filing appeals in small and routine matters. .

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I am conscious of the fact that the Tribunal is facing shortage of staff and Members and for most of the time; it functioned with 20% shortage as compared to its sanctioned strength of Members. Despite that, the Tribunal has tried to maintain a healthy ratio between institution and disposal of appeals. .

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I am also given to understand that more than 80% of the judgments rendered by the Tribunal are accepted by the litigants and even with regard to matters which are carried in appeal to the higher forums; orders of the Tribunal are confirmed, barring in a few instances. This indicates that the Tribunal has maintained its rich tradition of rendering judicious, speaking and well-reasoned orders. .

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The minister congratulated the entire team of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal for striving to come up to the expectations of its stake holders and maintaining the high standards and wished the institution all the best on the occasion of its platinum jubilee. .

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Justice Shri T.S.Thakur, Chief Justice of India on this occasion also emphasized the need for fully aware tech savvy members at the ITAT benches so that a speedy and fair justice could be given to the litigants. He said technical upgradation is the need of hour and we must work in this regard. .

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The welcome address was delivered by Justice D.D.Sood, Chairman ITAT while the vote of Thanks was given by Justice G.D.Aggrawal, Vice-Chairman ITAT. .

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On this occasion a commemorative Postal stamp costing Rs. 5 was also released. .

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Visit of PM and French President Francois Hollande to the Museum in Chandigarh for display of Archaeological findings

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and President Mr. Francois Hollande paid a joint visit to the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, as part of their engagements during the State Visit of President Hollande to India on 24 January 2016. .

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The two Leaders viewed the displays of archaeological findings from the foothills of the Himalayas which suggest human activity possibly dating back to 2.6 million years ago, making them among the oldest known remnants of human existence. This significant discovery is the result of seven years of extensive research and collaboration between the Prehistory Department of the National Museum of Natural History of France and the Society of Archaeological and Anthropological Research of Chandigarh undertaken under the auspices of an Agreement of Collaboration between Society for Archaeological & Anthropological Research, India and French National Museum of Natural History". .

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The archaeological discovery comprises about 1500 fossil finds, including 200 quartzite tools collected from several locations spread over 50 acres of area in Masol region near Chandigarh. The research work relating to this archaeological discovery is being published in the form of articles in the Palevol Review. .

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The Prime Minister and President Hollande congratulated the Indo-French team for their joint research work leading to this discovery. They underlined that this example of successful bilateral collaboration illustrated the long-standing cultural ties and enduring collaboration between India and France in rediscovering, preserving and promoting our shared cultural heritage. They hoped that such discoveries would lend further momentum for more joint endeavours in the future. .

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China and Iran mapped out a wide-ranging 25-year plan to broaden relations and expand trade during the first visit by a Chinese leader to the Islamic republic in 14 years. President Xi Jinping met with his counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Saturday, a week after the lifting of international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The Chinese leader is the first head of state of the six-country bloc that negotiated the historic deal to visit Iran. Rouhani said the meeting marked "the beginning of an important era" in Iran-China relations, the official Islamic Republic News ...
A travel ban for the New York area was lifted on Sunday but Washington was still at a standstill after a blizzard paralysed the northeastern United States, killing at least 19 people.

The storm was the second-biggest in New York history, with 26.8 inches (68 cm) of snow in Central Park by midnight on Saturday, just shy of the record 26.9 inches set in 2006, the National Weather Service said.

Thirteen people were killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia on Saturday. One person died in Maryland and three in New York while shoveling snow. Two died of hypothermia in Virginia, officials said.

FREEZING US Washington mayor calls for volunteers to shovel snow

New York state of emergency still in place

19 people killed during blizzard

Flooding hits New Jersey

Wall Street to open on Monday as usual

Earlier Bloomberg said 13,000 flights were cancelled in four days

By early on Sunday the storm had moved off the coast, with remnants trailing over parts of Long Island and Cape Cod. Much of the northeast was expected to see a mix of sun and clouds on Sunday with temperatures just above freezing.

Washington streets were deserted early on Sunday, with major downtown arteries already cleared and lined with mounds of snow. Workers were clearing sidewalks and alleys, and Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a call for 4,000 people to help dig the city out, above the 2,000 volunteers already signed up.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which includes the second-busiest US subway system, had suspended operations through Sunday.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo lifted a travel ban on New York-area roads and on Long Island at 7 am on Sunday. A state of emergency imposed by Cuomo was still in place.

Bridges and tunnels into the city also reopened, and subways running above ground were set to restart service Sunday morning. The Long Island Rail Road was still halted, and the Metro-North railroad would be fully operational by mid-afternoon, officials said.

The National Weather Service said 17.8 inches (45.2 cm) fell in Washington, tying as the fourth-largest snowfall in the city's history.

Baltimore-Washington Airport notched a record 29.2 inches (74.2 cm), and the deepest total was 42 inches (106.7 cm) fell at Glengarry, West Virginia.

A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange said the bourse planned to open as usual on Monday.

About 3,750 flights were cancelled on Sunday, and 700 cancelled for Monday, according FlightAware.com, the aviation data and tracking website.

Flights had begun landing at John F Kennedy Airport and would soon start taking off from the facility, Cuomo said in a news conference.

United Airlines said it would not operate at Washington-area airports on Sunday, and would gradually resume service on Monday. The airline plans to start "very limited operations" on Sunday afternoon at its Newark, New Jersey, hub.

About 150,000 customers in North Carolina and 90,000 in New Jersey lost electricity during the storm.

On the New Jersey shore, a region hard-hit in 2012 by Superstorm Sandy, the storm drove flooding high tides.

They were expected to reach as much as 3 feet (91 cm) above normal across the New Jersey coast, said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"There's considerable danger with the tide coming up," he said. Some residents had to be evacuated along the New Jersey shore on Saturday as waters rose. In the town of Wildwood, emergency workers in inflatable boats rescued more than 100 people from homes, said Fire Chief Christopher D'Amico.

On Sunday, moderate coastal flooding was still a concern in Atlantic County but a change of wind direction would make the impact less problematic than on Saturday, said Linda Gilmore, a county public information officer.

The storm developed along the Gulf Coast when warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean collided with cold air to form the massive winter system, meteorologists said.
Customers are indulging heavily in local activities that are opening up a wide array of experiences and unique things to do within city limits, Samyukth Sridharan tells Alokananda Chakraborty



What are the few things every traveller looks for when she is browsing online sites?



Travellers are more discerning now than they have ever been. With the proliferation of technology and smartphone-driven convenience, they have been exposed to the best online/mobile experiences available globally and are now expecting the same cutting-edge experience in their interactions. Some things have not changed, however: the expectation that the pricing is transparent and honest, that content is comprehensive, recommendations are genuine and that there is a helpful hand taking care of them in case something goes awry.

Online travel is an industry in which size counts. The scale of Expedia, TripAdvisor and Makemytrip means they can sign up more hotels, and negotiate better prices, than their smaller rivals. What does Cleartrip offer its consumers that others don't?



I don't entirely subscribe to that view. In our opinion, keeping our efforts focused on meeting the ever-evolving customer behaviour and their needs will build a business that they will trust and value far more than just focusing on scale. So, while we continue to focus on delivering a refreshingly simple approach to travel through our mobile and desktop solutions, we also continue to evolve, pushing to solve hitherto unsolved problems in the area of aggregation and discoverability of "are there some interesting things for me to do around here?"



In an increasingly mobile-dominated world, consumers are not just looking at where they can travel to, but are also spending time on what they can do around their location when they are not travelling. It is this insight that led us to launch Cleartrip Activities, a first-of-its-kind aggregation of experiences and things to do in your city and in numerous destinations across the country. This feature allows users to browse and book interesting experiences on the Cleartrip app, from a collection of over 8,000 activities across 50 cities spanning both metros and tourist destinations. This hyper-local approach to experiences will give consumers the choice that they are looking for.

To stay ahead, the big OTAs are having to follow their customers as they switch from desktop computers to smartphones and tablets. How is Cleartrip meeting this challenge?



We were geared up for this challenge much before it even came to be known as a "challenge". Our passion to solve customer problems and obsession to keep it simple has meant that we have been at the forefront of several innovations in the online travel space.

In 2012, Cleartrip was the first OTA in the world to invent the unique split-screen search that showed both onward and return flights on the same screen, at once, making the Cleartrip app the easiest way to select flights and see the total price, all on one screen.

Again that same year, Cleartrip became the first OTA in the country to launch Expressway - one-touch bookings for travel. Later that year, Cleartrip was the industry forerunner in launching Quickeys - the first exclusive hotel deals finder for last-minute hotel bookings from the mobile. During 2013, Cleartrip was the one and only Indian OTA to go paperless with passbook support where all Cleartrip itineraries were supported on a passbook.

E-commerce in India has had trouble dealing with customer complaints, and travel is an industry in which the customer demands are high because normal service can be disrupted by all kinds of things. How does Cleartrip deal with this problem?



Cleartrip has always upheld integrity and transparency as important foundational values of our brand. Embracing these values has made it incredibly easy for us to engage with our customers actively across numerous social media channels. We use our social media touch points to engage with customers, gather feedback and improve products, provide troubleshooting and offer customer service. We have multiple cases where extremely irate customers have been vocal on their blogs or Twitter and we've successfully reached out to them, taken care of their problems and turned them from complainers to evangelists.

What would you rate as the biggest breakthrough in the online travel sector and why? What are the biggest problems facing online travel agents right now? Are you prepared to deal with the challenge?



Online travel has evolved considerably in the last couple of years. A major trend was the rapid convergence of the "local" and "travel leisure" consumers, who led us to the development of Cleartrip Activities. Besides that, we've also seen a few breakthrough trends emerge, very distinctly in the travel sector. First, travellers have started to prefer unbundled itineraries to pre-fixed, boxed itineraries. Localisation is a key ask from travellers looking to indulge in more in-city local activities and experiences. Online hotel adoption has seen a considerable jump (from an almost sub-eight per cent to marginally over 15 per cent).

Also, there has been a definite blurring of lines between the local and leisure consumer. Their trip durations have shrunk from taking just one long vacation a year, to enjoying one short vacation every quarter. Customers are also indulging heavily in local activities that are opening up a wide array of experiences and unique things to do within city limits.
I can smell an imminent turnaround in loss-making Mumbai-based Mercator. The company has been underperforming for years. There was a time when the firm quoted a market capitalisation in excess of a couple of thousand crores; it is now down to around Rs 500 crore.

This destruction of stakeholders' wealth was the result of capital misallocation. A few years ago, the company created a Singapore subsidiary to engage in the dry bulk vessel business. This business pulled the company down, enlarged debt to around Rs 1,000 crore and sucked out precious profit of the company. A company that was making robust profits - Rs 467 crore at peak, 2008-09 - started turning in losses.

So, what is the fresh twist in the Mercator story? Just one. The company has expressed its intent to divest its dry bulk vessels. When this happens (presumably soon), it will probably make a one-time $30-million investment write-off, plug the cash drain and turn around.

So, let us take a landscape perspective of Mercator's many businesses.

One, the company is engaged in the tanker business, which is profitable at the moment. This business is marked by enduring relationships with large downstream customers. The result is an annuity-like revenue predictability and business stability. Two, the firm owns a coal mine and a logistics support business in Indonesia. While coal prospects are nothing to write to bankers about, the ability to provide a logistics-based solution using the company's captive infrastructure makes it possible to more than break-even. Three, Mercator is engaged in oil drilling and exploration in Cambay and owns a mobile operating process unit. While the prevailing environment is not comfortable, the company has not bet its house on this business.

Four, the firm is engaged in the dredging business in which Mercator is arguably the second largest in India. This business generates a decent annual profit and, going ahead, holds out attractive prospects. Even as the country is the fastest growing global economy and the seventh largest economy (by nominal gross domestic product), its port investment per capita is among the lowest. India's coastline spans 7,517 km, the 16th largest in the world; yet, the country possesses only 12 major ports. India's cargo traffic was 1,052 million tonnes (mt) in 2015; the National Maritime Agenda intends to create a port capacity of around 3,200 mt by 2020. Besides, the Indian government has stipulated a minimum 14-metre depth across 12 nationalised ports, a large improvement over the prevailing depth of 9-12 metres, which will enable the entry of the latest generation of containers, tankers and dry bulk ships. The National Waterways Policy estimates a dredging requirement of around 75 million cubic metres. Besides, the central government plans to assimilate 101 rivers into the National Waterways network. Dredging opportunities also exist in areas such as rivers, dams, lakes, captive jetties and beaches, among others.

Assuming the company breaks even (and attractively so), the profit and depreciation (estimated at Rs 115 crore-plus pre-divestment) would translate into attractive cash in a defensive market.

And, if the equity revive and the company can dilute some of its equity to pare debt, then what a story this could be!



The author is a stock market writer, tracking corporate earnings and investor psychology to gauge where are not headed
With preparations on for Amit Shah's second term as the BJP president at the party headquarters here, here is what the BJP leaders had to say

 Ananth Kumar - This is second term for Amit Bhai Shah. We all congratulate him. He has led us with enthusiasm and energy. He has made the BJP as the number one party in the entire world. And under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra bhai Modi to carry on and to communicate the good governance and achievements of the NDA government. The energy and enthusiasm of Amit Shah is required.

 Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi -We have once again proposed his name for the BJP president. We are confident that the party will move ahead with vigour and enthusiasm and achieve victory in all spheres.

 Ravi Shankar Prasad - We all are very happy that Amit Shah ji is going to be nominated to become party president again. Under his extraordinary leadership, the BJP which has become biggest party of the world, will scale new heights.

 Anandiben Patel - Today, we have gathered here to make Gujarat's young Amit Shah ji the president. Amit Bhai Shah started off of a normal worker of the party. He also kept working in the ABVP. And after working slowly and steadily, he has become the party president. I have come to extend my support to him from Gujarat. One has to face a lot of problems as a party president. I am proud that both the party president and the Prime Minsiter Narendra bhai Modi ji are from Gujarat.

 Laxmikant Parsekar - We have come to Delhi to witness the nomination of Amit Shah ji as party president for the second time. Mr. Amit ji has rose from a simple worker to the highest position in the organisation. He has worked as the Yuva Morcha leader and during the last term of past three years he had been heading the party organisation. During his term, he has taken the party to great heights. And I am proud to make a mention here that he has been unanimously re-elected for the same position once again for the next term of three years. I wish him best luck and I hope that during his second term, the party will further broaden its base across the country.

 Piyush Goyal - I got the luck to work along with Amit Shah. I have watched his work especially his miraculous work in Uttar Pradesh. His leadership of the party is very inspirational for all of us. He had done the extraordinary work of maintaining the balance among the party workers throughout the country. I am very confident that the party will continue to grow under his leadership.

 Jitendra Singh - I think during the last few years that Amit Bhai Shah has become the president of the BJP, these have been some of the best times for the organisation. It was the time when party grew at such a fast pace that it became the largest party of the world. The organisation also witnessed its visibility in those states and in those areas where it could never have been imagined like Jammu and Kashmir and north east. This has been possible because of the focused approach and the hard work put in by the leadership of Amit Shah, in combination of the charisma of Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trusted lieutenant Amit Shah is only third after Lal Krishna Advani and Rajnath Singh to get a second term as the BJP president.

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Rajnath, presently the Union Home Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet, served as the BJP president from January 1-November 26, 2006; and November 26-December 31, 2009.

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In his first term as the BJP president, Rajnath laid emphasis on issues of public interest like growing prices of essential commodities and farmers' grievances.

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His charismatic performance and mass outreach led him to become the Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, in 2009.

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As the BJP president, Rajnath led from the front to ensure harmony in the BJP despite organisational disorders.

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He struck a perfect balance between the old and the new, with no clear winners or losers in the party.

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Rajnath also elevated younger leaders like Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ravi Shankar Prasad and first time MPs Dharmendra Pradhan and Kiren Rijiju during his tenure.

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The MP from Ghaziabad was forced to step down from the post to make way for Nitin Gadkari after the BJP faced a humiliating defeat in the 2009 general elections.

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Gadkari, who was then the BJP's Maharashtra unit chief, replaced Rajnath to the party's top post. Gadkari, who took charge on December 19, 2009, became the party's youngest-ever president.

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Considered close to the RSS, Gadkari continued in the post till January 22, 2013, as he was forced to step down after his name surfaced in a controversy related to the Purti Group.

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Gadkari wanted a second term as the president, but many senior leaders, including Yashwant Sinha, were against his re-election.

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"I have committed no wrong or any impropriety either directly or indirectly. I do not wish that this should in any way adversely affect the interest of the BJP. I have, therefore, decided not to seek a second term as the president of the BJP," he said then in a statement.

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The BJP yet again imposed its faith on Rajnath, who took charge as the party president on January 23, 2013, after Gadkari's resignation.

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Rajnath's second term turned the tables for the BJP on the front - the media termed him as a 'Doctor for nation's ills', who prescribed 'Modicine'.

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"The country is buffeted by ailments. You take Anacin for headache and Crocin for fever. I present you with 'Modicine' for problems ailing the country," Singh said referring to Modi in a rally.

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Rajnath in his second term announced his team of 76 office bearers. The parliamentary board, to which Modi returned after six years, included Lal Krishna Advani, Leader of the Opposition in both houses of Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, and former party presidents M.M. Joshi, M. Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari.

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Rajnath stepped down as the BJP president on July 9, 2014, after the party's splendid victory in the Lok Sabha polls.

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BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani became the president for the second time on October 27, 2004, after the dismal show in the general elections which depleted the NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha from 304 to 186.

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'The responsibility for the defeat was collective and there was no question of pinning the blame on any individual', Advani wrote in his book 'My Country My Life'.

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Advani, who succeeded Naidu after the latter resigned for 'personal reasons' taking 'full responsibility' for the defeat, continued in the post till December 31, 2006.

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Advani had then contended that he had no desire to become the BJP president again after the 2004 defeat and said finding a successor to Naidu was an 'excruciating task'.
Despite drawing flak from several quarters for poll debacles in Delhi and Bihar, incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president is tipped to be re-elected unopposed to the top post on Sunday.

As per reports, nominations for the party president will be filed between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on the same day.

Meanwhile, preparations for the election of party president are in full swing at the BJP headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road here.

Almost all BJP-ruled state chief ministers, senior party leaders and union ministers are likely to join Shah during the filling of his papers. However, several posters congratulating Shah in anticipation of his unopposed election as the party president have been put up at several places.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hosted a dinner for Shah and his team on Saturday night.

Shah's current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014.

Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP.
Maintaining his stand, arrested Janata Dal (United) MLA Sarfaraz Alam on Sunday said the charges of molestation that have been made against him are completely false and baseless.

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"I still maintain that the allegations made against me are baseless," Alam told the media here.

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The Patna Railway Police on Sunday arrested Sarfaraz Alam, who allegedly misbehaved with a woman on the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.

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"Sarfaraz Alam has been arrested, interrogation is underway," said District Superintendent of Police A.S. Thakur.

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An FIR was registered on Monday against Alam for harassing a couple onboard Rajdhani train.

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He has also been charged with misbehaving with the woman passenger.

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A case has been filed against the JD (U) MLA at GRP Police Station at Patna junction and he has been booked under Sections 341, 323, 290, 504 and 354A of the IPC.

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Earlier too, Alam denied the charges, saying he didn't even board the train.

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"These allegations are baseless. I did not even travel by that train. There is politics behind this to tarnish my image. I will initiate legal action," Alam said.

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"I was in Patna and I went by road and came back. The development work is underway in full swing in Bihar and some people do not like it," he added.
Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya who has been booked in the case of a Dalit scholar's suicide, announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will join hands in the upcoming local polls here.

The BJP-TDP alliance released the vision document highlighting their schemes for the state in the upcoming elections.

"The BJP TDP alliance will fight the municipal elections together and we released the vision document today. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, we will highlight Hyderabad's presence on the world's map even more," Dattatreya told ANI here.

Stressing on the main agenda set by the alliance, he added that the focus will be on 'clean, corrupt-free and secure' Hyderabad.

The Congress along with the protesting student faction have been demanding Dattatreya's resignation, saying he abetted the suicide of Rohith Vemula.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Amit Shah on being re-elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and said that his grassroot-level work and rich organisational experience will benefit the party immensely.

"Congratulations to Shri @AmitShah on being elected BJP president. I am confident the Party will scale newer heights under his leadership," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

"Amit Bhai combines grassroot-level work & rich organisational experience which will benefit the Party immensely. @AmitShah," he said in another tweet.

52-year-old Shah was on Sunday formally declared as the BJP president for the second consecutive term. The decision in this regard was announced at the party headquarters here.

Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states proposed Shah's name for the presidential candidature after he filed his nomination papers.

However, BJP veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are also the members of the party's 'margdarshak mandal', were not present at the party headquarters, thus giving an opportunity to the Opposition to target the saffron party on its internal friction.

Shah's current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014.

Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections.
The Congress Party on Sunday criticised the BJP-led NDA Government after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan advocated a "rethink" on caste-based reservations in the country and alleged that it reflected the anti-Dalit mindset of the ruling dispensation.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal branded the government as 'anti-Dalit' while asserting that they have always voiced their support for the people of upper caste.

"Actually, the RSS has been from day one, 1947 and before, anti-Dalit. It was anti-Dalit, it is anti-Dalit and it will be anti-Dalit," Sibal told the media here.

"It's not in their DNA to be pro-Dalit because they are people of 'Savarna Jati' and cannot be in favour of Dalits," he added.

Another Congress leader Manish Tewari cited the article mentioned in the Constitution of India to prove his point.

"The Constitution talks about reservation for socially and educationally backward classes, if you read the article 15 or 16 of Constitution of India. So, fundamentally what requires the revisit is the question whether a class which is what the Constitution mandated is equivalent to caste," Tewari told ANI.

The Lok Sabha Speaker had yesterday advocated a 'rethink' on caste-based reservations in the country while asserting that even Father of the Indian Constitution Babasaheb Ambedkar had supported the same.

"Ambedkarji had said, 'Give reservations for 10 years and after 10 years, do a rethink. Bring them to that stage'. We have done nothing. Even I am guilty of this. We have not thought about it. We do not contemplate why this (a rethink) has not happened," she said while addressing officials and representatives of local bodies at an event on smart cities in Ahmedabad.
At least three students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have gone on an indefinite hunger strike in the capital demanding justice in the case of the suicide of Rohith Vemula- the Dalit scholar from Hyderabad University.

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Seven students were hospitalised yesterday on the fourth day of the stir at the Hyderbad University and another group of seven students today sat on an indefinite hunger strike.

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Meanwhile, the University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, whose resignation is being sought by the protesting students, has gone on leave.

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A note on their official website said: The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Vipin Srivastava, the Seniormost Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor w.e.f. 24-01-2016 (F.N.).

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Various student groups have been protesting over the issue in the capital since last week.

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Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room on January 17.

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He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader. They were also kept out of the hostel.

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The suspension was revoked later.
World number one Novak Djokovic overcame a dogged challenge from Gilles Simon in a five-set thriller to progress through to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday.

The Serbian defending champion produced an error-strewn performance as he made a remarkable 100 unforced errors during his 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Simon of France. The match lasted over four hours and a half hours at Rod Laver Arena.

With the win, Djokovic has now set up a quarterfinal clash with seventh-seed Kei Nishikori, who claimed 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the fourth round.

Meanwhile, third-seed Roger Federer will also aim to seal his quarterfinal-berth when he will take on his Belgium opponent David Goffin.
The Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre(JICC) informed that the Federal Government has placed a date on the underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in June 2016.

The search is already the largest and most expensive investigation in history and has covered more than 80,000 square kilometres of sea floor, reports News.com.au

Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014 after departing from to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on route to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew on board.

The JACC statement said weather had affected the search recently, but it would continue over the Christmas and new year.

The disappearance of the plane gripped the with countless theories from terrorism to pilot error of what could have gone wrong.
A senior Pakistani official has claimed that the country's foreign secretary will hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart in February.

According to the Dawn, the official said that its dates had not been finalised.

The January 15 meeting, which had to decide the timetable and modalities of the resumed peace dialogue, was postponed after a terrorist attack on an airbase in Pathankot.

Senior officials from both sides have been in touch with each other for rescheduling the meeting.

After a series of high-level contacts starting with an ice-breaking meeting in Paris between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and climaxing with the latter's surprise trip to Lahore, Pakistan and India had agreed last month to resume the bilateral dialogue after a hiatus of two years because of tensions along the Line of Control and Working Boundary.

The resumed dialogue was named Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue and it was agreed that the foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet on January 15 to decide about the timetable and modalities of the process.
The government has modified the (GMS) after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a master direction on the scheme on January 21.

The modification comes in wake of the suggestions received to make the scheme easier for the customers to participate.

Accordingly, the RBI has in consultation with the government issued a master direction on GMS on January 21, 2016, which amends the master direction dated October 22, 2015, earlier issued by the RBI on GMS.

The changes made in the scheme are as follows:-

1). Premature redemption under Medium and Long Term Government Deposits (MLTGD): Any Medium Term Deposit will be allowed to be withdrawn after three years and any Long Term Deposit after five years. These will be subject to a reduction in the interest payable.

2). Fees to be paid to Banks for their services i.e. gold purity testing charges, refining, storage and transportation charges etc. on Medium and Long Term Gold Deposits. Effectively the banks would be getting a 2.5 percent commission for the scheme which will include the charges payable to the Collection and Purity Testing Centres/Refiners.

3). Gold depositors can also give their gold directly to the refiner rather than only through the Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTCs). This will encourage the bulk depositors including Institutions to participate in the scheme.

4). Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has modified the licensing condition for refiners already having National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation from the existing three years refining experience to one year refining experience. This is likely to increase the number of licensed refiners.

5). BIS has published an Expression of Interest (EOI) on its website inviting applications from the more than 13,000 licensed jewellers to act as a CPTC in the scheme, provided they have tie-up with BIS's licensed refiners.

6). The quantity of gold collected under the scheme will be expressed up to three decimals of a gram. This will give the consumer better value for the gold deposited.

7). Gold to be deposited with the CPTCs/Refineries can be of any purity. The CPTC/Refiner will test the gold and determine its purity which will be basis on which the deposit certificate will be issued.

8). Banks are free to hedge their positions in the case of short-term deposits.

9). Issues like the method of interest calculation and mechanism for taking loans against GMS deposits have also been clarified.

Indian Banks Association (IBA) will communicate the list of the BIS licensed CPTCs and refiners to the banks.

To increase awareness among depositors, the government had continued the media campaign in AIR and FM radio. Print media and Mobile SMS campaign is also being undertaken.

The government has also launched the dedicated website www.finmin.nic.in/swarnabharat and toll free number 18001800000, which provide all the information of the schemes.

As on January 20, 2016, a total of 900.087 kilo grams of gold have been mobilized through the scheme.

It is expected that the above modifications will make the scheme more attractive for potential depositors.
The visiting French President, Francois Hollande, today said one of the main agenda of his visit is to foster ties between Paris and New Delhi to tackle terrorism as both sides are affected by the menace.

Hollande, who arrived in Chandigarh today on a three-day visit to India, said India and France beyond the strategic partnership have had over the years the willingness to work in the same direction.

"I will talk about two issues: First security, because we are affected by regional crisis and also terrorism. Both countries have been hit, so together we will increase our exchanges, cooperation between services and act to reinforce our military equipment. It is part of the agenda for this trip," he said.



Talking about his second priority, he said, "Following the success of COP 21 in Paris in December, we are going to translate our common drive to implement as fast as possible the Paris agreement in launching here the Solar Alliance."

"It is an epic adventure, where our companies, which are numerous here, will be welcomed in India first in line. Besides, numerous job opportunities are also in line during this trip on top of the diplomatic, political and military agenda," he added.

He said this trip is special to him because he has been invited to celebrate the Republic Day with French troops joining the military parade.

"It is the best symbol to illustrate the relations between France and India," he added.
Following the maiden India, Saudi Arabia ministerial meeting in Bahrain, both nations adopted the Manama Declaration in which they have condemned terrorism in all its forms and rejected associating terrorism with religion while called for an urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council.

The first ministerial meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum took place in Manama today during the visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bahrain, the two sides recalled the historic and civilizational ties that exist between the Arab and India and underlined the contribution of the commercial and cultural ties in binding the two sides together.

They confirmed their commitment to maintain international peace and security and to achieve sustainable development and expressed their commitment to work together to tackle political and economic challenges through closer consultation, cooperation and coordination in various fields.

Strongly condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejecting associating terrorism with any religion, both nations emphasized the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organized cross-border crime.

The sides called for an urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council through expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership to reflect contemporary reality.

They agreed that the current structure of the UN Security Council was not 'representative of a majority of the people of the but continued to perpetuate a system that was anachronistic'.

The Arab side expressed hope for an effective Indian role, in cooperation with Arab States, to enhance peace and security at the regional and international level.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons in an irreversible manner and agreed to strengthen collaboration to achieve this important objective according to relevant UN Resolutions.

They agreed that nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a practical step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework.

The two sides expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the Kingdom of Bahrain for hosting the first India-Arab Ministerial Meeting and for the warm and gracious hospitality extended to all the delegations and for the good preparations which contributed to the success of this meeting.

They also welcomed holding the second India-Arab ministerial meeting of the forum in India.
The prosecution is likely to introduce Pakistan former minister Senator Rehman Malik as an additional witness before the court in Benazir murder case against the former President Pervez Musharraf.

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Senator Malik has testified that Bhutto was threatened by General Musharraf at a meeting held in Dubai prior to her departure for Pakistan in 2007, reports Dawn.

Sources revealed that Malik has claimed that 'he witnessed Musharraf threatening Bhutto at the Dubai meeting that her future depended on her relationship with him'.

Sources in the prosecution claimed that the testimony of Malik would strengthen the prosecution case against General Musharraf.

The prosecution named four witnesses against General Musharraf in 2010.
The Congress Party on Sunday alleged that it is the mentality of an 'orthodox and regressive' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to abolish reservation.

"The RSS wants the reservation should be over. It is a part of the BJP mentality to abolish reservation. They have been orthodox and regressive," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI.

"Till we are equal in all rights, I think that the reservation should continue. Earlier when the reservation was made, it was believed that after 10-12 years the situation will come that everyone would have equal rights and after that there will be no need of reservation. It was believed that we will have equal education and competition but that will be possible after a long time," he added.

"However the experience shows that we have to go very far to make all classes equal. That is why all the thinkers, theorists, educationists and the likeminded think that time has not yet come to abolish reservation," he further said.

The Lok Sabha Speaker had yesterday advocated a 'rethink' on caste-based reservations in the country while asserting that even Father of the Indian Constitution Babasaheb Ambedkar had supported the same.

"Ambedkar ji had said, 'Give reservations for 10 years and after 10 years, do a rethink. Bring them to that stage'. We have done nothing. Even I am guilty of this. We have not thought about it. We do not contemplate why this (a rethink) has not happened," she said while addressing officials and representatives of local bodies at an event on smart cities in Ahmedabad.
Pakistan's Supreme Court will soon take up two contempt petitions against the country's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for not notifying Urdu as the national language despite explicit court orders.

The three judge apex court bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam will hear the petitions on January 28, reports The Express Tribune.

The premier has been dragged to court for violating its September 8, 2015, verdict and delivering official speeches in the English language on several occasions.

Last September, the Supreme Court had asked the government to consider and implement Urdu as the official language within three months.

The review petition, however, states it is practically impossible to adhere to the time span of three months suggested by the top court for the translation of laws from English to Urdu, considering the vast reservoir of laws on different subjects.

The court has stated that if subsequent to this judgement, any public bodies or public officials continued to violate the constitutional commands of 'Article 251', citizens who suffer a tangible loss directly and resulting from such violation shall be entitled to enforce any civil rights.
French President Francois Hollande, who arrived here this afternoon on a three-day visit to India, said further discussions were needed on a prior inter-governmental agreement for the Rafale jets deal.

The French President, who will be the chief guest at this year's Republic Day celebrations, after his arrival said the idea is to have an inter-governmental agreement between both countries so that the relevant companies are able to get to the end of the process.

"The contract can only be signed after the inter-governmental agreement. It was the wish of our Indian friends that will allow the commercial agreement. The inter-governmental agreement is going to be discussed on this trip," he said when asked whether the deal would be signed during his visit.

The French President said the talks with regard to the nearly Rs. 60,000 crore Rafale deal was progressing.



"It goes in the direction, we all hope, of India acquiring 36 Rafales because India needs them and France demonstrated that they were the best planes in the world," Hollande said.

"You do know that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Paris, he announced himself the order of 36 planes, but with certain conditions," he added.

During his Paris visit last year, Prime Minister Modi had announced that India would buy 36 Rafales in flyaway condition, but after commercial negotiations with the manufacturer Dassault Aviation collapsed, both leaders ordered government-to-government talks.
The Congress Party on Sunday dubbed Amit Shah's reappointment as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president a 'good omen' and said that it would provide an opportunity for the Opposition to make a comeback.

"There has been an internal friction and feeling of resentment within the BJP over Amit Shah. It is a good omen for the Congress and other opposition parties that a person like Amit Shah is reappointed as the president of the BJP," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

"Seeing the role played by him in the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar, his appointment will provide a good opportunity for the Opposition, including the Congress to make a comeback," he added.

Despite drawing flak from several quarters for poll debacles in Delhi and Bihar, the incumbent BJP president is tipped to be re-elected unopposed to the top post today.

Almost all BJP-ruled state chief ministers, senior party leaders and union ministers are likely to join Shah during the filling of his papers. However, several posters congratulating Shah in anticipation of his unopposed election as the party president have been put up at several places.

Shah's current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014.

Under Shah's leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP.
The Vadodara Police on Sunday detained at least six suspects after they were seen roaming around a Dargah.

"Six people were brought to the police station after we received information on suspicious people seen near a Dargah," said Police Commissioner E. Radhakrishnan.

"The suspects claim that they visit the 'Dargah' every year. We will verify it with the Kurla Police Station in Mumbai and the Mumbai crime branch. Investigation is underway," he added.

He further said that the Vadodara Police would also take the help of the Investigation Agency (NIA).

The suspects are being interrogated by the police.
An Afghan official has revealed in an unofficial forum in Qatar that the Afghan Taliban wants to be removed from a United Nations blacklist before considering rejoining peace talks with the Afghan Government aimed at ending the 15 year war.

Afghanistan and its neighbours are trying to get troubled negotiations back on track after months of ordeal and fighting, reports Dawn.

A Taliban member conveyed that 'first remove us from the blacklist of the United Nations and allow us to freely travel around the and then we can think about holding peace talks'.

The two day meeting in Doha organised by the Pugwash Conferences on Science and Affairs gave them an opportunity to express their views about the future of Afghanistan.
In a fresh development in the case of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, the University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, whose resignation is being sought by the protesting students, has gone on leave.

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A note on their official website said: The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Vipin Srivastava, the Seniormost Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor w.e.f. 24-01-2016 (F.N.).

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Rao was under fire for his handling of the suspension of the five Dalit students, one of whom, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide on January 17.

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Demanding the Vice Chancellor's resignation, the students continued their protest on the campus.

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On Thursday, the university revoked the suspension of Rohith's comrades, hours after many Dalit teachers resigned accusing Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani of distorting the facts related to the suicide.
Will Smith's former wife, Sheree Fletcher, has slammed transgender actress Alexis Arquette for dubbing the 'Focus' star as "gay."

Fletcher was outraged by the 46-year-old transgender actress's comments and posted a video on Facebook, saying, "Alexis Arquette, let's be clear. I don't know you, you don't know me. So for you to claim to have first-hand information as to why my marriage didn't work out is completely out of line," reports News.com.au.

Arquette claimed the 'Focus' actor paid off his former wife to remain silent after she caught him in bed with producer and talent manager Benny Medina.

As a reply to this, Smith's ex wife revealed the real reason behind their divorce. She even clarified that the marriage did not end over any infidelity and that she did not find him on bed with any man or any woman; it was because of the complexities at a very young age that separated them.

The video has already had almost 64,000 views and Arquette has not yet responded to Fletcher's tirade.
The hysteria for Maruti's new offering Baleno has helped it in dislodging Hyundais i20 from the spot of top selling premium hatchback. Indo-Japanese carmaker was able to sell 10,572 units of Baleno in December 2015 as compared to 10,379 units of Hyundais i20. Maruti is ready with its lineup for the 2016 Expo. One of the three cars to be displayed at the automobile event is Baleno RS which comes with sportier looks. Other two automobiles to be showcased by the company are Vitara Brezza and Ignis Concept.

Baleno was launched three months ago with two engine options viz. 1.3L diesel and 1.2L petrol. While the carmaker was praised for introducing refreshed looks and new interiors, it faced criticism for alleged underpowered mills. 1.3L diesel delivers a maximum power of 74 bhp with 1.2L petrol capable of 83 bhp. Working on the feedback received, the automaker is now working on a more powerful engine of capacity 1.0 litre which will be able to churn out a maximum power of 110 bhp with 170 Nm torque. Baleno RS is expected to run on this engine. The car is being sold through Nexa showroom channel along with S-Cross to give customers a unique experience. Although Baleno has been able to remove i20 from the top spot for a while, chances are high that Hyundais vehicle will bounce back. i20 has ruled the premium hatchback segment for long and it looks less likely that the South Korean automaker will give up this spot easily.

Also Read: Maruti Baleno BoosterJet Might be Launched this Year Post-IAE 2016 Showcase

Source : CarDekho
As many as 32 people who attended an eye camp in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district last month have complained that they have lost their vision, prompting the local administration here to order a probe into the incident.

The eye check-up camp was held on December 29 at a trust-run Sadguru Eye Hospital in the district during which the patients were administered an injection in their retinas. Satna is some 440 km from state capital Bhopal.

Within hours, some of the patients started complaining that they were not able to see. They were reinjected and asked to wait for some time. But it has been almost three weeks and their sight hasn't returned.

They were briefly admitted to hospital. But they were later discharged and told that the problem had occurred after the operation.

A three-member expert team will now investigate the matter to check the affected patients' condition and available facilities at the hospital, District Officer Santosh Mishra told IANS on Sunday.

The latest incident has come two months after 65 patients lost their sight after undergoing cataract operation in the state's Badwani district and five patients lost their vision in Sheopur district in a separate incident at a government hospital.
Afghan Taliban wants to be removed from a UN blacklist before it can consider rejoining peace talks aimed at ending its 15-year war, a senior group member said as its political wing met activists at an unofficial forum in Qatar.

After months of worsening fighting, Afghanistan was trying to get the troubled negotiations back on track, Dawn online reported on Sunday.

Prospects of the Taliban, having an increasingly strong presence on the battlefield since the withdrawal of most international troops in 2014, joining any talks had appeared slim, it said.

But a Taliban member said the group could participate if the UN Security Council cancelled a resolution freezing its assets and limiting travel of its senior figures.

"We conveyed them to first remove us from the blacklist of the UN and allow us to freely travel around the world and then we can think about holding peace talks," said the Taliban member.

Malalai Shinwari, adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and former ministers met Taliban representatives in Doha on Saturday morning.

"The meeting is providing us an opportunity to express our views about the future of Afghanistan," said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban group.

The Afghan government did not send any serving officials but the president's adviser Malalai Shinwari and the country's former interior minister Umer Daudzai and former finance minister Anwar Ahady.

Ahady said the Taliban had not yet shown any willingness to engage in direct talks.

"So far they have not proposed any concrete ideas about how to move forward. Hopefully by tomorrow we will know if they want peace, and if so what their conditions are," he said.
Amit Shah, a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Sunday elected the BJP president for a full three-year term, retaining the post he has held since the party took power in India in 2014.

Shah, 51, who took charge of the party from now Home Minister Rajnath Singh, was elected unopposed at an event at the BJP headquarters attended by virtually all party leaders.

"Amit Shah has been elected unopposed," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Avinash Rai Khanna told the media as hundreds of party activists cheered Shah and raised slogans hailing him and the party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who flew to Chandigarh to receive French President Francois Hollande, was not present. But he congratulated Shah, and said he was confident the party "will scale newer heights under his leadership".

"Amit bhai combines grassroot-level work and rich organizational experience which will benefit the party immensely," said Modi, who is said to count Shah as one of his most trusted aides.

Rajnath Singh added: "He (Shah) has been an extremely successful party president. I am confident the BJP will continue its forward march under Shah's stewardship and reach newer heights of success and glory."

Besides Modi, the two other notable absentees from the BJP event were former party presidents L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are known to be unhappy with Shah's style of functioning.

But the stage erected at the party office was crowded with visibly happy BJP leaders including another former president, M. Venkaiah Naidu. Many garlanded Shah and offered him bouquets. So did numerous party activists.

Shah did not address the gathering or speak to the media.

A science graduate, Shah rose to fame when he, as the party in-charge in Uttar Pradesh, led the BJP to a grand victory in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha battle where it won 71 of the 80 seats -- a record.

It was the Lok Sabha election where he and Modi combined to lead the party to a spectacular victory, ending 10 long years of Congress rule. The Congress was routed.

Shah came to be associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in Gujarat in his young days. He met Modi in 1982, and the two have remained close since then.

He joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the RSS student wing, in 1983 and the BJP in 1986 -- a year before Modi became a BJP member. Shah switched over to the BJP's student wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, in 1987.

A four-time legislator in Gujarat, Shah was a former home minister in the state.

His reputation as a strategic organiser took a beating when the Aam Aadmi Party routed the BJP in the Delhi assembly election in February last year -- the first popularity contest after the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP was again defeated in the Bihar assembly election in November 2015. It was the Bihar defeat that triggered a revolt by some BJP veterans

including Advani and Joshi against Shah's working style.
Amit Shah, a close confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Sunday elected the BJP president for a full three-year term, retaining the post he has held since the party took power in the country in 2014.

Shah, 51, who took charge of the party in August 2014 from now Home Minister Rajnath Singh, was elected unanimously at a glittering event at the BJP headquarters attended by virtually all senior party leaders.

As Bharatiya Janata Party leader Avinash Rai Khanna made the announcement that Shah has got the top post again, the packed hall erupted with joy, with young men repeatedly blowing conch shells and others raining flower petals on him.

Hundreds of party activists cheered Shah and raised slogans hailing him and the BJP. Many garlanded or presented bouquets to Shah, who is seen as the most powerful man in the party after Modi.

Modi was not present as he had to go to Chandigarh to meet French President Francois Hollande.

But he congratulated Shah and said he was confident the BJP "will scale newer heights under his leadership".

"Amit bhai combines grassroots-level work and rich organisational experience which will benefit the party immensely," said Modi, who is said to count Shah as one of his most trusted aides.

Shah took hold of the BJP's reins from Rajnath Singh after the latter became the home minister in the Modi cabinet. There was no election then.

Rajnath Singh said: "He (Shah) has been an extremely successful party president. I am confident the BJP will continue its forward march under Shah's stewardship and reach newer heights of success and glory."

Another former BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said: "He is the most capable person. He has organisational ability, is a good strategist and is committed to (our) ideology."

Besides Modi, the two other notable absentees from the event were former party presidents L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who are known to be unhappy with Shah's style of functioning.

Shah, who did not address the gathering or speak to the media, leaves on Monday to address a public meeting in Howrah in West Bengal, where the BJP will face a stiff challenge in its bid for power this year.

The Congress was sarcastic. After pointing out the absence of Advani and Joshi from the event, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said: "Congratulations on his election, and congratulations on his future defeats."

A science graduate, Shah -- the son of a businessman -- rose to fame when he, as the party in-charge in Uttar Pradesh, led the BJP to a grand victory in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha battle where it won 71 of the 80 seats. An ally won two more seats.

It was the general election where he and Modi combined to lead the party to a spectacular victory, ending 10 long years of Congress rule.

Shah moved towards the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in Gujarat in his young days, and later took to student .

He met Modi in 1982, and the two have remained close since then.

He joined the BJP in 1986 -- a year before Modi did. A four-time legislator in Gujarat, Shah was a home minister in the state when he was embroiled in a fake encounter case.

He was one of those who helped the BJP grow and grow in Gujarat, reducing the Congress to a pale shadow of its original self.

But his reputation as a strategic organiser took a beating when the Aam Aadmi Party routed the BJP in the Delhi assembly election in February last year -- the first popularity test after the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP was again defeated in the Bihar assembly election in November 2015. It was the Bihar defeat that triggered a revolt by some BJP veterans including Advani and Joshi against Shah's working style.
The union cabinet's decision to recommend President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh is a "murder of constitution", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.

The decision was "shocking", the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader tweeted, calling it a "murder of constitution" on the eve of Republic Day on January 26.

"BJP lost elections (in the state). Now acquiring power (through) back door," he said.

Arunachal Pradesh had a Congress government but the governor has been accused of engineering a split in the ruling party. The Supreme Court is hearing a host of petitions related to Arunachal Pradesh.
The BJP-led central government is trying to destabilise the democratically elected Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, and the union cabinet's recommendation to impose President's Rule in the state was akin to "murder" of democracy, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said on Sunday.

Tuki criticised the union cabinet's recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee, saying the matter was "sub-judice".

"How can they (union cabinet) make such recommendation to impose President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, especially when they are aware that the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court," Tuki told IANS.

"It is a sub-judice matter and the BJP government has been trying to destabilise this democratically elected government (in Arunachal)... They (BJP) have murdered democracy," he said.

On January 18, the Supreme Court constitution bench said it would examine whether Governor J.P. Rajkhowa's decision of advancing the assembly session to December 16 to take up the resolution for the removal of Speaker Nabam Rebia was valid or not.

Rebia was removed as speaker by 14 rebel Congress legislators backed by 11 BJP legislators and two Independent legislators on December 16 in an assembly session held in a community hall in Itanagar that was presided over by Deputy Speaker Tsering Norbu Thongdok.

The 14 rebel Congress legislators were earlier disqualified by Rebia.

The deputy speaker, before moving the motion removing Rebia as speaker, restored the membership of the 14 rebel Congress legislators and later elected rebel Congress legislator Kalikho Pul as the new 'chief minister' in the absence of 26 Congress legislators including Tuki.

Claiming that he still enjoys majority in the house, Tuki, the first Christian to hold the office of Arunachal chief minister, said: "With the disqualification of 16 legislators, the effective strength of the house is only 44. Of these, 26 MLAs are with me and my government. Therefore, I am still enjoying majority."

Meanwhile, welcoming the union cabinet's decision, BJP's Arunachal Pradesh unit president Tai Tagak said: "President's Rule was indeed the need of the hour because of the prolonged constitutional crisis emanating from the infighting within the Congress legislature party.

"The people at large have welcomed this decision as they are fed up with the political unrest which has affected the development of this state," he added.

Rubbishing the Congress's allegation against the BJP for "masterminding" the ouster of the Tuki government, Tagak said: "The BJP has nothing to do with their (Congress) internal squabbling but they are accusing the BJP after they failed to resolve it among themselves."

Meanwhile, state Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi said he was yet to receive any official communication from Rashtrapati Bhavan or the union home ministry to impose President's Rule.

"We have not received any communication but we have heard it only from the media about the union cabinet's recommendation to impose President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh," Negi told IANS.

"As of now, Tuki is still the chief minister, but once we receive an official communication, he will be removed, and the governor will function as the chief administrator of the state," he added.

Negi also said that the Arunachal Pradesh Police was geared up to prevent any law and order situation.

"We have enough forces to tackle any situation and the Centre recently sanctioned 10 more additional companies of central forces," he said.
Dubai, Jan 24 (IANS/WAM) Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, has released its first dedicated postage stamp to mark its sixth anniversary.

The commemorative stamp, launched in partnership with Emirates Post, depicts the 830-metre Burj Khalifa towering majestically above Dubai at sunset in all its resplendent glory.

Ahmad Al Falasi, executive director of Emaar Properties -- developers of the iconic tower, said: "Burj Khalifa is a global icon and the pride of our nation... one of the world's most visited tourist attractions.

"It is also a compelling testament to the can-do ability of Dubai and the city's focus on promoting global partnerships. An architectural marvel that pushes the boundaries of engineering and construction, Burj Khalifa has become one of the most photographed building in the past six years."

"The launch of the commemorative stamp is a fitting tribute to the vision behind Burj Khalifa and the years of hard work by thousands of professionals around the world that went into building it," Falasi said.

Fahad Al Hosani, acting CEO of Emirates Post Group, said: "Emirates Post Group is delighted to issue stamps on Burj Khalifa, which is a symbol of pride and the pinnacle of international achievement for the UAE."

"For six years, Burj Khalifa has been in the international spotlight and we are very happy to commemorate the sixth anniversary of its opening through these beautiful stamps."

The stamp, now officially released, will also be on sale at retail kiosks at 'At the Top' -- Burj Khalifa's observation deck. They have been issued in denomination of AED 3, along with a souvenir sheet and First Day cover.

--IANS/WAM

py/dg
The union cabinet on Sunday recommended imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, informed sources here said.

Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa by his December 9, 2015, message had advanced the date of the convening of the assembly session. The move was criticised by the Congress and party leader Kapil Sibal had said the governor could not have acted on a resolution by the opposition BJP legislators and two independents.

On January 18, the Supreme Court said that it would examine whether Rajkhowa's decision of advancing the assembly session to December 16 to take up the resolution for the removal of Speaker Nabam Rebia was valid or not.

Rebia was removed as speaker by 14 rebel Congress legislators backed by BJP lawmakers on December 16 in an assembly session held in a community hall in Itanagar that was presided over by the deputy speaker.

The 14 rebel Congress lawmakers were earlier disqualified by Rebia.

The deputy speaker, before moving the motion removing Rebia as speaker, restored the membership of the 14 MLAs.
French President Francois Hollande on Sunday began the economic leg of his three-day visit to India, offering his country's assistance in the development of at least three smart cities -- Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur.

The announcement came during two back-to-back meetings which the visiting head of state, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held here with the corporate leaderships of the two countries. The first meeting was with the Indo-French CEOs Forum.

Following the first economic engagement, the two leaders then attended the larger India-France Business Summit hosted by India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The businesses of the two sides also signed 16 pacts mainly in urban development and clean energy, but also covering one agreement on aerospace between the French giant Airbus and India's Mahindras.

Addressing the meeting with the Indo-French CEO's Forum, Prime Minister Modi said India today presented immense opportunities to the global investing community both as a market and a hub for manufacturing.

"India is the fastest growing economy in the world. We have the labour and the market for your products," Modi said. "India is also a source of hope and confidence for the entire world community," he said adding that the investment climate had also improved considerably.

Modi, who recalled having met the French president five times last year, also said that France's greatest strength has been innovation, which can fit well with India's talent. "This kind of partnership can achieve a lot."

Hollande, on his part, said his visit here had two main goals -- consolidating the strategic partnership with India in a host of areas, including security, and implementing the climate change goals that were set forth in the global conference in Paris last year.

"Without the intervention of Prime Minister Modi on climate justice, there would have been no agreement," the French president said referring to what is formally called a meeting of the Conference of Parties under UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"France will contribute in the development of Indian smart cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry," the French president said. He had already declared a $2.25-billion line of credit for the "Smart Cities" project of Prime Minister Modi.

Chandigargh already has a French connection, having been planned by noted French architect Le Corbusier. Puducherry has been a former French enclave. And in Nagpur, the French are also interested in the city's metro and the upcoming strategic industry in its vicinity.

Big French firms like Alstom, Dassault, Egis, Lumiplan, RATP Transdev and Schneider are interested in the Smart Cities Mission. High-profile visits have already been made last year to Puducherry (September 10), Chandigarh (October 12) and Nagpur (December 16-17).

Some 30 business leaders from the two sides attended the half-hour meeting of the Indo-French CEO's Forum, which was formed in 2009 to identify new avenues to push bilateral economic ties between the two countries.

The agenda for discussions included defence, green economy, smart cities, infrastructure, transportation, water and financial sector. Hollande is in India as this year's chief guest for its Republic Day on January 26.

Besides talks with the Indian leadership, his engagement includes the inauguration of the International Solar Alliance secretariat at National Institute of Solar Energy at Gwal Pahari, on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, along with Modi.

The alliance of 122 nations was announced by Modi and Hollande in Paris on November 30.

According to the available data, French investments in India total around $19 billion, giving jobs to 280,000 jobs, while the stock of Indian investments in France is some $700 million with 7,000 jobs. The bilateral trade is around $8 billion, skewed in India's favour.
Less than half a dozen cities, almost all ports, of the British Empire are enough to give a vivid idea of character, rise and fall over two centuries, says British politician, historian and writer Tristram Hunt.

It was the handover of Hong Kong back to Chinese rule in 1997 that finally brought down the curtains on the empire on which the "sun never set" but even with the last vestiges of the imperial project having dissipated, its legacy continues and can be seen in these 10 cities, he said at a session titled "Cities of the Empire" at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Saturday.

These cities, in six countries on four continents, tell the imperial story and its changing character through the urban form as brought out in styles of architecture, street names and fortifications and so, says Hunt, who in "Ten Cities That Made an Empire", has chronicled its changing, and sometimes conflicting ideologies - mercantilism/free trade and righteous exploitation/(and after slavery's abolition) selfless crusade for liberty.

"And it is the very complexity of this urban past which allows us to go beyond the 'good' and 'bad' cul-de-sac of so much imperial debate," he maintains.

Hunt starts from Boston, which till the late 18th century, was a quintessential British city until a string of repressive taxes culminated in the celebrated "Tea Party" transformed it from a royal, loyal city to the hotbed of revolt that saw a key part of Britain's first empire go its own way.

Quipping tea needs sugar, he then moves to Bridgetown in Barbados, the centre of sugar cane industry that came up a huge cost of African slave labour but furnished the funds needed for the rise of the British empire. The next is Dublin, which was among Britain's first colonies but wasn't thought of a colonial city, as it displayed a curious dichotomy of being colonised while benefiting from colonialism elsewhere.

Hunt notes this was also one of the colonial cities that sought to repudiate its past with a considerable part of the colonial-era buildings demolished in the 1950s.

The three cities of the Atlantic are followed by Cape Town, known as the "Brothel and Tavern of the Two Oceans", needed for expansion into the east, but which the British were content to leave in the hands of the Dutch until the country was invaded and conquered by Napoleonic France, when they made haste to occupy it.

Then comes (the then) Calcutta, which signified Britain's evolution from a naval empire to a land empire and the city's construction reflected it, he says. Opium from Bengal was shipped further eastwards to China, but British merchants needed a place to land and hence Hong Kong came in to the imperial orbit, and became the "Scotland of the East", thanks to the Scottish merchants who flourished there.

Mumbai was next, and rose to become the first industrial city of the empire and its municipal architecture displayed the power of the industrialised, urban civilisation., said Hunt, adding on the other hand, Melbourne was a typical suburban city, mirroring the trend back home in Britain, But it was not only a celebration of the suburban aesthetic but also exemplified the racist idea of the "White Empire", comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

The penultimate was New Delhi, the only non-port city and which is difficult to comprehend what it meant to the British, coming up as the empire was in decline but displaying imperial hubris to the full in its design which was imperial architecture, neither indigenous or British (and had stone bells in its main buildings so that the knell for the empire could not be tolled), he said.

Finally, it was Liverpool, which was made and unmade by imperialism and collapsed when the empire ended virtually in the 1960s.

Hunt said the colonial legacy differs - somewhere the contemporary municipal leaders like it and elsewhere it evokes anger and fury but the advanced way is to treat British rule in the cities which had prior existence as a small part of a long and vibrant history.

"I believe in adding to history, not taking away," he said.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
Cuba won the right to Havana Club brand in the US this week, boosting the chance for Cuba's most famous brand to enter the North American market.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted the brand to Cuba export earlier in the week in a case that was contested by Bacardi, Xinhua reported.

While Bacardi was born in Cuba, it has been based in Bermuda since abandoning the island in 1959.

With most Cuban products banned from being sold in the US, Bacardi has marketed a Puerto Rico-made rum under the Havana Club name.

The decision by the USPTO will allow Cuba export to register the brand in the US, after January 27 when the current 10 year brand registration period finishes.

The company has already applied to register the brand from 2016 to 2026, according to Olivier Cavil, a spokesperson from France's Pernod Ricard.

Pernod Ricard and Cuba export jointly own the Havana Club international company.

However, Bacardi is still waited for a ruling by the Columbia district court, where it is also contesting the rights to the Havana Club brand in the US.

When asked about the impact of the USPTO decision, Cavil said "it is not highly significant... as the embargo remains in place."

Cuban products are still banned from the US due to the economic blockade in force since 1962.
The death of three girl students of a naturopathy college in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district is shrouded in mystery, with police registering a case of suicide and parents calling it murder.

The bodies T. Monisha, A. Saranya and V. Priyanka -- all students of SVS Naturopathy and Yoga College -- were taken out of a farm well near the college on Saturday evening.

Villupuram is located around 170 km from here.

According to police, a case of suicide has been registered as the students decided to end their lives after the college management demanded high fees although the college lacked basic facilities.

The latest deaths occurred nearly four months after some students of the same college attempted suicide in front of the Villupuram Collectorate.

The authorities have sealed the college following the death of the three girl students.

Police said four people have been picked up for interrogation.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijayabhaskar told reporters that a probe would be conducted.

Expressing shock and grief over the triple deaths, PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Sunday said the college students have been protesting against lack of basic facilities for a long time.

He said despite a complaint to the district collector, no action was taken and some students attempted suicide earlier.

Ramadoss urged the Tamil Nadu government to pay a compensation of Rs.25 lakh to the families of the three students and admit the other students in a government-run college.

Communist Party of India leader R. Mutharasan asked the police to register a case of mysterious death. He also sought action against police and district officials for not acting on complaints against the college.
Keeping in mind the Pathankot airbase attack and the arrest of a dozen terror suspects, 1,000 snipers along with 49,000 paramilitary personnel under the close watch of 15,000 CCTV cameras will guard the capital on the Republic Day to ensure a safe visit of the chief guest, French President Francois Hollande.

The National Security Guard snipers will maintain hawk-eye vigil from high-rise buildings within a two-km radius of Rajpath, the spacious central vista of the capital from where the French president along with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be watching the parade.

Hollande will be the fifth French president to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi over the decades.

Police said the 49,000 security personnel -- around 15,000 from the paramilitary forces and 34,000 from Delhi Police -- will be deployed on the streets of the capital starting at 5 a.m. on January 26.

Sources said the central, north and New Delhi districts will be manned by over 20,000 security personnel.

Around 20,000 personnel have already been deployed at specific locations from Sunday to provide impenetrable security to the French president, who arrived here on a three-day official visit.

Around 15,000 newly-installed CCTV cameras will be used to keep watch over the parade route starting from Vijay Chowk at the foot of the Raisina Hill, atop which the Central Secretariat complex sits, to the 17th century Red Fort through Rajpath, India Gate, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhash Marg.

The parade will start at 9.50 a.m. and last till 12.30 p.m. on January 26.

Rajpath, the three-km stretch which is the main venue of the parade, has nearly 160 CCTV cameras. One camera has been installed every 18 metres.

Officials said that as part of heightened security arrangements, the city will be declared a no-fly zone, covering a radius of nearly 300 km, for civilian aircraft during the parade.

A seven-layer security ring will guard the enclosure that would be used by Hollande, Mukherjee and Modi.

India Gate and Rajpath have already been shut to people and the area is under constant guard by security personnel.

The airspace over the capital will be monitored by special radars, the officials added.

Vehicle movement from Vijay Chowk to India Gate on Rajpath will be restricted from 3 p.m. on Monday till the parade is over on Tuesday (January 26) afternoon.

Traffic on some major arterial roads in New Delhi like Rafi Marg, Janpath, Man Singh Road will be stopped from 11 p.m. on Monday till the end of the parade.

Vehicles, barring those with control and duty lables, will not be permitted to ply in some other New Delhi area, including South Avenue, Thyag Raj Marg, K. Kamraj Marg, Sunheri Masjid, Maulana Azad Road, Akbar Road between Man Singh Road and C-Hexagon, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, Red Cross Road, Sansad Marg, Imtiaz Khan Road, Rakab Ganj Road, Pt. Pant Marg and Church Road.

Only labelled vehicles of the invitees and vehicles of bona-fide residents of the restricted area shall be permitted to enter.

Delhi Metro rail service will remain available for commuters at all stations during the parade.

The entry and exit at Patel Chowk and Race Course stations, however, will remain closed from 8.45 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., and the Central Secretariat station will only be used for interchange of passengers.

Entry and exit at the Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan stations will remain closed from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. on January 26, officials said.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday made a strong pitch to delink terrorism from religion as India and the Arab League member states condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"As the spectre of terrorism and religious hatred raises its ugly head across the world, particularly in those cherished cities of history, it is time once again to reach back in time and redeem the essence of our civilisational spirit," Sushma Swaraj said as she addressed the first ever ministerial-level meeting of the India-Arab Partnership Conference here that was attended by the foreign ministers of the 22 Arab League countries.

The Arab League comprises Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

"We must pledge to halt the physical violence that has spread like a plague," Sushma Swaraj said.

She said this must be recognised that it cannot be done "without equally addressing the violence in our minds, a poison that has been spread by terror groups, harnessing the power of modern technology and social media platforms to infect our youth - those ideologies and beliefs that regard one's own brother as a stranger, one's own mother as accursed".

"Equally, we must delink religion from terror," Sushma Swaraj said.

"The only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths," she said.

"Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them."

Stating that one cannot afford to ignore the dangers of radicalisation and indoctrination, she said that India's model of unity in diversity offers an example for the world. We in India have citizens who belong to every existing faith.

"Our Constitution is committed to the fundamental principle of faith-equality: the equality of all faiths not just before the law but also in daily behaviour," she said.

Stating that terrorism did not respect national borders, the Indian minister said: "But not only do we need to condemn all acts of terrorism but we need to join hands regionally and globally to remove the scourge of terrorism completely."

On India-Arab ties, she said these now covered a whole host of sectors.

"We have substantial common interests in the fields of trade and investment, energy and security, culture and Diaspora. Today the Arab world is collectively India's largest trading partner with bilateral trade crossing $180 billion," she said.

"We source 60 percent of our oil and gas requirements from West Asia, making this region a pillar of our energy security. The Maghreb region is a major source of phosphates and other fertilisers which contributes significantly towards our food security," Sushma Swaraj stated, adding that new and emerging areas of cooperation include agricultural research, dry land farming, irrigation and environmental protection.

Among other areas for partnership she mentioned were information and communication technologies, automobiles and small and medium enterprises, biotechnology and space.

Following the meeting, India and the Arab nations adopted the Manama Declaration condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism.

"The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejecting associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group, emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime," the declaration reads.

The Arab side also aspired "to an effective Indian role, in cooperation with Arab states, to enhance peace and security at the regional and international level".

Both the sides also called for urgent reforms of the UN Security Council through expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership to reflect contemporary reality.

India and the Arab regional grouping also hoped to strengthen future cooperation in economic, trade and investment.

The two sides also expressed hope to reach a memorandum of understanding in the field of energy, especially in the field of renewable energy.

After Sunday's meeting, Sushma Swaraj called on Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa in Manama.

On Saturday, after arriving in Manama, she called on Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa.

She also held bilateral discussions with her Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Al Khalifa following which the two sides signed an agreement to exchange their citizens lodged in the prisons of each other's country.
At least eight militants were killed and several others injured in an airstrike by Pakistani military in the country's northwest North Waziristan region on Sunday, officials said.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement that Pakistani Air Force jets pounded several hideouts of suspected militants in Datta Khel and Shawal towns of North Waziristan, a semi-autonomous tribal area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The identities of the militants were not revealed in the statement. However, it was reported that the killed insurgents included both local and foreign terrorists.

The airstrike was part of the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan area which has so far killed over 3,000 militants.

According to an earlier statement by the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relation, the army's media wing, operation in Shawal town is the last push against militants as the nearly 18-month-long offensive has entered its final phase after most of the areas in North Waziristan have been cleared of the militants.
Eliminating nuclear weapons in the region is his country's strategic priority, the US Secretary of State John Kerry said here.

He said that his country was concerned about the activities carried out by Iran in some other countries, Xinhua cited Kerry as saying on Saturday.

"We have also concerns about the support received by some terrorists groups, like Hezbollah, or Iran's self-support for its missiles programme," he said.

Kerry on Saturday also met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during a meeting in Riyadh.

He underscored the importance of the partnership between the US and the GCC countries.

Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said their meeting discussed the Iranian interference in the region's affairs.
French President Francois Hollande arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit during which he will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Punjabi bhangra dancers performed to drum beats as Hollande stepped out of the aircraft. Kaptan Singh Solanki, the governor of Punjab and Haryana, received him formally along with other officials.

Moments earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was "honoured and delighted" to welcome Hollande.

"A warm welcome to Hollande. We are honoured and delighted to have him as the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations," Modi tweeted.

"Hollande and I will meet in Chandigarh and Delhi," Modi added. "We will build on the ground covered during our previous interactions."

Chandigarh was under maximum security cover ahead of Hollande's arrival.
Much on the toxic memories and legacies around Partition in 1947, which continue to create bad blood even seven decades later arise out of misconceptions about its reasons, dynamics, and processes and its important to clarify these so both India and Pakistan move beyond assigning blame to healing, say some historians of the event.

It was also contended that Partition was not necessarily inevitable, the violence it entailed doesn't seem to have been elaborately planned and even shocked leaders on both sides though they had contributed to it with their careless, and inflammatory statements, while there are many aspects that have not received the level of attention they should, such as the effect on people outside the three major communities and the areas like Punjab and Bengal that are usually focussed upon.

At a session titled "The Great Partition" at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday, Pakistani-American historian Ayesha Jalal, who has argued Partition was one of the possible outcomes being negotiated, said the Muslim League's March 23, 1940 resolution calling for a separate homeland, was part of its movement to settle the question of minority rights but noted it ended up aggravating the issue instead of solving it.

"Minority rights is a legacy of Partition, and it is an issue in all three nations," she said.

Writer and journalist Nisid Hajari contended that the genocide of Partition was either triggered by being misguided by a political figure, or falling prey to madness but in either instance, people could not fully explain their actions, and nobody admitted responsibility.

British historian Yasmin Khan noted the demand for Pakistan has been conflated with the violence that followed.

"They've been put on the same track... disentangling both is difficult but important," she maintained.

US-based history professor Venkat Dhulipala noted the event had seen emergence of a "hostage population" theory or that minority rights can be ensured by a certain terror and such rhetoric was widespread then, as was talks about transfers of populations, made by people like Mohammad Ali Jinnah and even B.R. Ambedkar.

"The violence can be understood by the incendiary and passionate statements made in the public sphere," he said.

But Jalal noted that most of the violence was not about religion as is commonly thought, but about property or its forcible seizure from those who could not resist it.

Intervening here, publisher and writer Urvashi Butalia highlighted how patriarchal Indian society enabled violence and as families were already violent towards their women, it was just the degree and the targets of violence that changed during Partition.

She also suggested that it was a mistake to define minorities in purely religious terms during Partition, since many other minorities were also affected, including Dalits, hijras and women, or even inmates of mental asylums.

On the responsibility for Partition, Hajari said even Mahatma Gandhi did not have political power to stop it though he had tried to tamp down on the violence.

"I hesitate to assign percentages but the Congress made several mistakes and could have been more generous politically."

Khan said it should be known that the leaders then were also human and faced many pressures and compulsions and that is why they couldn't compromise. "There were everal missed opportunities. The Cabinet Mission Plan was one...," she said.

Jalal, however, maintained it was imperative "to go beyond finger-pointing to healing".

She noted that a recent poll in Pakistan had 39 percent of respondents saying they were helped by a Hindu or a Sikh during the Partition,but these stories have not come into the mainstream narrative yet. "Without them, the unimaginable violence would have been unconscionable."

Hajari also said literature and art can also approach the matter better than straightforward histories, while Butalia also suggested that these break away from traditional historical narratives and allow for interpretations of the Partition story through a multitude of perspectives.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
India and the Arab League countries on Sunday condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"The #ManamaDeclaration condemns terrorism in all its forms and rejects associating terrorism with any religion," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The declaration was adopted after the first ever ministerial-level meeting of the India-Arab Partnership Conference in Bahrain's capital on Sunday, which was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
India and the Arab League member states on Sunday condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and also called for urgent reforms in the UN Security Council.

"The #ManamaDeclaration condemns terrorism in all its forms and rejects associating terrorism with any religion," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The declaration was adopted after the first ever ministerial-level meeting of the India-Arab Partnership Conference in Bahrain's capital Manama on Sunday, which was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The Arab League comprises 22 countries in Middle East and northern Africa - Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The relationship between India and the Arab countries has been taken to the next level called India-Arab Partnership Conference, four meetings of which have already been held with New Delhi hosting the last one in 2014 and the next conference scheduled to be held in Oman in May this year.

"The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejecting associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group, emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime," the Manama Declaration reads.

"They supported the efforts of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), at the earliest," it states.

The Arab side also aspired "to an effective Indian role, in cooperation with Arab states, to enhance peace and security at the regional and international level".

The declaration assumes significance as India is concerned over the deepening sectarian divide in the region and the growing footprint of terror groups like the Islamic State.

After Saudi Arabia executed a Shia cleric on charges of terrorism earlier this month, its missions in Iran came under attack and subsequently diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran were cut off.

According to the Manama Declaration, the two sides recalled the historic and civilisational ties that exist between the Arab world and India and underlined the contribution of the commercial and cultural ties in binding the two sides together.

"They hailed the strong foundation, great potential and wide-ranging prospects for the Arab-Indian co-operation and the role this forum can play to advance Arab-India relations towards capacious horizons," it states.

"They confirmed their commitment to maintain international peace and security and to achieve sustainable development and expressed their commitment to work together to tackle political and economic challenges through closer consultation, cooperation and coordination in various fields."

Both the sides also called for urgent reforms of the UN Security Council through expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership to reflect contemporary reality.

"They agreed that the current structure of the UN Security Council was not representative of a majority of the people of the world but continued to perpetuate a system that was anachronistic," the declaration states.

India and the Arab countries reaffirmed their commitment to verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mas destruction (WMDs) in an irreversible manner and agreed to strengthen collaboration to achieve this important objective according to relevant UN resolutions.

On the bilateral front, both sides recognised the need to hold more people-to-people interactions between the two sides, particularly exchanging youth delegations to share experiences and ideas about each other's culture and traditions.

"It was also agreed to promote exchange of women's delegations with a view to promote women empowerment," the declaration states.

India and the Arab regional grouping also hoped to strengthen future cooperation in economic, trade and investment, within the framework of the existing mechanisms and further developing these mechanisms.

"In view of the great importance the two sides attach to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of energy, they expressed hope to reach a memorandum of understanding in the field of energy in order to enhance cooperation in this field, especially in the field of renewable Energy," it states.

"Both the sides desire to strengthen cooperation in the fields of science and technology, information and communication technology (ICT), environment, agriculture and food security, tourism, health and establishing the necessary mechanisms to enforce cooperation in these fields to achieve common interest of India and Arab countries," the declaration reads.

On regional issues, the two sides expressed deep concern over the situation in Syria and called on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian "Arab" territories it seized in 1967.
India on Sunday hailed the two amendments to the newly adopted constitution passed by Nepal's parliament as "positive developments".

"We regard the two amendments passed yesterday (on Saturday) by the Nepali parliament as positive developments," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said.

"We hope that other outstanding issues are similarly addressed in a constructive spirit," he tweeted.

The Nepali parliament approved the first ever amendment to the country's new constitution to address the agitating Madhesis' demands for proportionate representation and allocation of seats in parliament on the basis of population.

The amendment proposal was approved on Saturday night by a majority vote amid slogan-shouting by lawmakers from the agitating Madhes-based parties.

As many as 461 of the 468 lawmakers participating in the process voted in favour of the first constitutional amendment bill while seven voted against.

The Madhesh-based parties, under the banner of the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) or the Madhesi Morcha, as it is more commonly known, are agitating in the southern Tarai plains adjoining India since after the new constitution came into force on September 20 last year. They did not participate in the voting.

"Though the step is progressive, it is not enough to meet our demands," the Madhesi Morcha said in its initial reaction.

Madhesi Morcha leader Upendra Yadav told IANS that the constitutional amendment will not work because they were not consulted.

The leaders of the Madhesis told IANS that they would hold a meeting on Sunday and come up with an official position on amendment to the constitution undertaken by the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, UCPN-Maoist and other fringe parties.

According to the amendment, ethnic clusters in Nepal have been decreased to 15 from an earlier 17.

A delineation commission will be formed to determine the boundaries of constituencies for the House of Representatives on the primary basis of population while geography will be a secondary factor.

The Madhes region sprawling from the east to west of southern plains holds over 51 percent of the Nepal population.

At least 60 people were killed in the last five months as the Madhesi Morcha launched the agitation. Nepal faces a severe short supply of essential commodities, fuel and medicines due to blockade of major Nepal-India entry points.

Now, the Nepal government is bracing to take up the Madhesis' demand for a change in boundaries of the seven provinces.

Nepal's Constituent Assembly in September 2015 approved the new constitution that split the country into seven federal provinces.
India's Republic Day on Tuesday (January 26) will be celebrated with traditional pageantry and the citizen gets a panoramic view of the country's military capability. Intelligence inputs warn that it will be yet another test for the national security apparatus. However, it provides an opportune occasion to objectively review how India has dealt with its complex security challenges. Regrettably in India's National Security 'Hall of Shame' we can now add, 'Pathankot 2016' after 'Kandahar 1999', 'Parakram 2002' and 'Mumbai 2008.'

Given that India is a nuclear weapon state, which fields one of the world's largest armed forces and spends upwards of $40 billion annually on defence, one cringes at accounts of our seemingly inept handling of yet another terrorist attack. Equally disheartening is the fact that, eight years after 26/11, we lack the ability to deter the architects of this attack, and the will to punish its perpetrators.

It is a matter of sheer good fortune that the cross-border terrorists who managed to enter the Pathankot air base failed to target aircraft, helicopters and missiles as well as the huge bomb-dump and fuel-storage facilities. We overlook the fact that some of our air bases, adjuncts to the nuclear deterrent, may also house nuclear warhead components. So, while cautioning the world about the dangers of Pakistani warheads falling into jihadist hands, we need to ensure that a similar fate does not befall our own.

The calibre of a nation's leadership is tested by a crisis. Whether it is floods, an aircraft hijacking or a terror strike, India's response to any crisis has followed a depressingly familiar sequence. Regardless of intelligence inputs, the onset of a crisis finds multiple agencies pulling in different directions, lacking unitary leadership, coordination and, above all, a cohesive strategy. Ad-hoc and sequential damage-control measures eventually bring the situation under control, with loss of life and national self-esteem. After a free-wheeling blame-game, the state apparatus relapses into its comatose state - till the next disaster.

From the media discourse, it appears that this template was faithfully followed in the Pathankot episode. While the military has due processes for learning from its mistakes and dealing with incompetence, one is not sure about the rest of our security system.

Whether or not India-Pakistan peace talks are resumed, the Pakistani 'deep state' has many more 'Pathankots' in store for India. For Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), cross-border terrorism is an inexpensive method of keeping India off-balance. The strategy of plausible deniability and threat of nuclear 'first-use' assures them of impunity from retribution. Such situations call for all components of India's national security, military, intelligence, bureaucracy, central and state police forces to work in the closest synergy and coordination. Regrettably, civil-military relations have, of late, been deeply vitiated and the resultant dissonance could have adverse consequences for the nation's security.

What is worse; civil-military recriminations, so far, confined within the walls of South Block, seem to be proliferating. Post-Pathankot, the constabulary has jumped into the fray and, if an intemperately-worded newspaper article (Indian Express, January 13) by a serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer is an indicator, civil-military relations may be entering a downward spiral. This outburst should compel the political leadership to undertake a re-appraisal of the prevailing civil-military equation which contains many anomalies; one of them being the role of the police forces.

Worldwide, an unmistakable distinction is maintained between the appearance and functions of the military and civilian police, the latter being charged with the maintenance of law and order, crime prevention/investigation and traffic regulation et al. India's unique security compulsions have seen the Indian Police Service (IPS) not only retaining the colonial legacy of sporting army rank badges and star plates but also garnering unusual influence in national security matters over the years.

Many of our Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have blurred the distinction between police and military; terming themselves 'para-militaries', with constables wearing military style combat fatigues and being addressed as 'jawans'. There are only three, duly constituted, para-military forces in India: the Coast Guard, Assam Rifles and the Special Frontier Force; all headed by armed forces officers. The five CAPFs, namely BSF, CRPF, ITBP, CISF and SSB - cumulatively over a million strong - are headed by IPS officers.

The deployment of CAPFs in border-guarding as well as counter-insurgency roles calls for military (read infantry) skills; for which neither the police constables nor officers receive adequate training. This lack of training and motivation as well as a leadership deficit has manifested itself in: (a) these forces repeatedly suffering heavy casualties (confined only to constables) in Maoist ambushes; and (b) recurring instances of infiltration taking place across borders guarded by CAPFs.

In the case of the anti-terrorist National Security Guard (NSG), its combat capability comes from the army; yet, by government mandate, it is headed by a police officer. The fact that this elite force has seen 28 directors general in 31 years makes one wonder if round holes are being filled by square pegs.

A second anomaly in the civil-military matrix pertains to the fact that the Government of India Rules of Business have designated the civilian secretary heading the defence ministry as the functionary responsible "for the defence of India and for the armed forces". Since no military officer, including the three chiefs, finds mention in the Business Rules, the Service HQs are subaltern to a 100 percent civilian ministry. Every major decision - whether it pertains to finance, acquisition, manpower or organization - requires a ministry nod which can take decades.

A false and dangerous belief prevails on Raisina Hill that civil-military relations constitute a zero-sum game in which 'civilian control' is best retained by boosting the bureaucracy and police at the expense of the military. Post-independence, the civil-military balance has been steadily skewed by pushing the military officer well below his civilian counterparts with the same years of service. This has caused deep resentment in the military, and the resultant hierarchical distortion could lead to a civil-military logjam - the last thing the nation needs at this juncture.

It is high time the Indian politician shed his traditional indifference to national security issues and took tangible measures to ensure a stable and equitable civil-military paradigm - one which ensures a say for the military in matters impinging on the nation's safety and security. Until that happens, the Republic Day parade will remain a vainglorious display of hardware and pageantry - and the nation's security in parlous straits.

(24.01.2016 - Admiral Prakash is a former Indain Navy chief and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee. The views expressed are perssonal. He can be contacted at arunp2810@yahoo.com)
The Indian government in 1967 refrained from setting up an India-Japanese joint probe team to investigate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death, as requested by retired Japanese army officer General Iwaichi Fujiwara, a declassified file said.

Fujiwara, a former liaison officer between the Indian National Army and Imperial Japanese Army in east Asia, arrived in Kolkata (then Calcutta) to hand over Netaji's sword to the Netaji Museum in the city on March 19, 1967.

During his Calcutta tour, he said at a press conference that "the governments of India and Japan should hold a joint inquiry to resolve the mystery".

According to a file (C/551/4/67) - declassified by the Narendra Modi government on Netaji's 119th birth anniversary on Saturday - the then central government (headed by prime minister Indira Gandhi) was aware of Fujiwara's statement on the joint probe.

In a reply to the Lok Sabha (reply scheduled for April 3, 1967) the then minister for external affair M.C. Chagla said that the government did not propose to take the initiative of setting up joint probe teams.

The reasons for dismissing Fujiwara's request, according to Chagla, was that the central government was "convinced" of the accuracy of the Shah Nawaz Committee report in 1956.

The official inquiry committee was appointed in 1956 to investigate the facts relating to the Bose's reported death. After examining all evidence, it presented a report that established that Netaji had died in an air accident in 1945.

"The government is convinced that the report is accurate and there is no need for further inquiry. Lt. General Fujiwara has not come out with any new facts."

Further, a ministry of external affairs document (east Asia division), argues that India shouldn't shift from its "present position" (1945 plane crash theory) in the absence of any "concrete" evidence shown by Fujiwara to "justify his demand".

"Without knowing more about Fujiwara's reasons, it would not be proper on our part to agree to change the attitude which we have been taking for such a long time. Unless Fujiwara brings forward concrete evidence to justify his demand, it does not seem necessary for us to change the present position."

In the likelihood of India being on the same page with Fujiwara, the MEA document says diplomatic conversations between India and Japan would be necessitated.

"Even if Fujiwara is able to convince the government of India that there are grounds for re-opening the question, and that there are mysterious aspects of Netaji's death, government will still have to conduct diplomatic conversations with the government of Japan before any decision is reached."

The file also clarifies Fujiwara's visit to India and the presentation "have all been done on his private initiative" and the government of Japan did not take any "official interest in the matter".

It also raised a "pertinent" point: "Fujiwara does not seem to have come forward as a witness before the Shah Nawaz Enquiry Committee and has also been silent on the subject for so long."

"We do not know, therefore, whether at this moment, he is merely playing to the gallery or whether he is making a serious suggestion."

"For the immediate present we could continue to maintain that the General's statement does not contain anything new and that a new enquiry is not called for."

However, it also considers the possibility of revision of the decision, given the political scenario in then West Bengal.
Baghdad on Sunday summoned the Saudi envoy to protest his comments on Shiite militia forces fighting the Islamic State group, which were deemed as an interference in Iraq's internal affairs.

An Iraqi foreign ministry statement said that the government-backed paramilitary Shiite units, known as Hashd Shaabi, are fighting terrorism and defending the country's sovereignty, and works under the government umbrella as they are led by the Commander-in-Chief of Iraqi armed forces, Xinhua reported.

The ambassador's remarks "represent interference in Iraq's internal affairs and are based on inaccurate information," Ahmed Jamal, spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying.

Saudi Ambassador Thamer al-Sabhan told al-Sumaria TV in an interview on Saturday night that "Kurds and Anbar residents reject the presence of Hashd Shaabi on their territories, which shows that the (Shiite) units are not accepted by the Iraqi society."

"Do the Iraqi government accept the presence of Suni units like the current Shiite ones with the same arming? And why only the Hashd Shaabi can take up arms?" he wondered.

He also said that the militias that carried out mass killings and bombed Sunni mosques in the town of Maqdadiyah in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala "are no different from Daesh (IS in Arabic) organisation."
Indo-British raptress Taran Kaur Dhillon, popularly known as Hard Kaur, says surviving in a "very male dominated industry" in this country is difficult as there are "too many double standards".

Launched in 2007, her debut single "Ek glassy" was hot on the charts and also a party favourite for long. It proved that even women could rap with ease and beat men in the genre. Despite her success story, the genre is still dominated by rappers like Yo Yo Honey Singh, Raftaar and Badshah. So, what keeps most women away from rapping?

"It's a very male dominated industry and it's very difficult for girls to get into it and actually maintain to survive. It's a boys club and there are so many issues to deal with including a lot of sexism. There's a lot of hypocrisy in India regarding women and what they are able to do. Too many double standards," Kaur told IANS in an email interview from London.

Wouldn't she like to start a label to promote more raptress?

"No thanks! I've tried helping girls before and they are never serious about work. Some of them do it for a couple of days and then quit, wasting my time, effort and money. They make stupid excuses to quit like 'My boyfriend doesn't want me to do it' or 'I can't handle boys being competition' or 'I'm getting married so I shouldn't. What will my parents-in-law say?'

"You got to have a thick skin and be very strong to survive in this game," said the "Move your body" hitmaker.

While she is a pro at it, actress Sonakshi Sinha tried her hand at the genre last month with her first single titled "Aaj mood ishqholic hai".

"I didn't like the song that she did, but I think it's great that she tried and it gives a lot of inspiration to girls out there," said Kaur, who has unveiled a new single "Aise karte hai party".

How the catchy number was made is quite interesting!

"It was super fun working on this song. It's actually inspired from a time when Sonny Ravan (co-writer) and I met in a club. I was asking the DJ to change the music and he wasn't listening to me.

"So, Sonny and I thought it would be fun to write a song about what all we do when we ask the DJ to change a track. He came up with the line 'Are DJ gana band kar' (DJ stop the song) and we started writing in the club," said Kaur.

The song's video features known names like ace choreographer Saroj Khan, actor Punit Issar, actor-host Manish Paul and TV anchor-comedian Cyrus Broacha.

"Times Music came up with the idea of having celebs in the video playing characters, so they asked me to invite as many of my celeb friends for it. I fitted in as many as I could in the 12 hours that we shot. Everybody was so supportive," said the former "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa" contestant.

"Saroj Khan is a legend and it was a brilliant surprise for the dancers. She was one of the judges on (dance reality show) 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa' when I was in it. She gave me so much love and we've stayed friends ever since. I always wanted to work with her and this was the perfect chance," she added.

It's not just music that's keeping her busy these days, the "Patiala House" actress is also looking forward to her next film.

"I'm starring in an upcoming movie, 'Ticket to Bollywood', as a villain. Finally, I will get to play a character that I've always wanted," she said.

What about Punjabi movies?

"I love to make music for all types of movies including down south. I love the Punjabi industry as they've always given me so much love for my work and as a fellow Punjabi, I would love to do something back for them," she said.

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)
Malaysia will contact the Thai authorities over the suspected "plane wreckage" found off the coast of southern Thailand, which is not confirmed to be from the missing Malaysian Airline MH370, the media reported on Sunday.

"It is still speculation right now," Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said.

Lai has instructed the civil aviation department to contact its Thai counterpart for verification, Xinhua reported.

The minister called on the public not to spread unverified news in case that it would hurt the victims' family members.

Local villagers living off the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand were reported on Saturday to have discovered a two-metre wide and three-metre long metal object, which was suspected to be a piece of plane wreckage.

It prompted speculation that the debris might belong to MH370, which disappeared on its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.

Malaysian state news agency Bernama said the Thai authorities will bring aviation experts to inspect the suspected wreckage.

The flight of MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with a total of 239 passengers on board, most of them Chinese.

The Malaysian government confirmed in August 2015 that an aircraft flaperon found on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion belonged to the missing flight.
As the Odisha government is all set to start its big cat count in the first week of February, the authorities are likely to skip the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary that has of late turned into a hot-bed for the Maoist.

The tiger census in the sanctuary, in Nuapada district, has not been conducted since 2004 after it became a part of the Red Corridor. The sanctuary, accorded in-principle status as tiger reserve by the centre in 2014, is spread over 600 sq km but has still failed to attract wildlife enthusiasts and tourists due to the fear of ultras, who have killed several people, including forest guards and police officers in and around the reserve.

The government is however hopeful of conducting a census this time, with the presence of central security forces to combat the Maoist menace.

"We are hopeful of conducting the tiger census this time. There is presence of central forces besides police forces. If any untoward incidents occur, we may skip the counting. But as of now, we are certain to go for the counting," Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) S.S. Srivastav told IANS.

Prior to the 2004 census, Sunabeda was home to 32 tigers and 36 leopards, according to the 2004 tiger census. Their current numbers are not known since there was no count in 2010. In 2014 too, no census was conducted even though the Wildlife Institute of India had done so in the Similipal and Satkosia tiger reserves.

Initially declared a sanctuary in 1983, Sunabeda is also home to hyenas, barking deer, chital, gaur, sambar, sloth bear, hill myna, pea fowl, partridge and a number of reptilian species.

Officials admit the funds allotted for the preservation of the big cats is not being utilised properly due to the fear of the ultras.

Forest department sources said the presence of Maoists in the sanctuary first came to light in 2008 when the rebels started holding motivational meetings in villages of the region. In subsequent years, they started targeting local leaders, wildlife and forest officials.

The guerrillas have also destroyed government infrastructure. Sources revealed that the first major violence by the guerrillas was reported in May 2012 when they ambushed a police party and killed nine policemen, including an additional superintendent of police, inside the sanctuary.

At present, the CRPF troopers and Cobra (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) personnel have been deployed at Barkot, Jamgaon, Sunabeda and Soseng villages in the region.

Sources in the forest department also said the number of visitors has drastically reduced owing to the Maoist menace. The department recorded 22,000 footfalls between 2001 and 2005. The figure dipped to 2009 between 2006 and 2009. In 2010 and 2011, only 815 tourists visited the place. No tourist has visited the area since 2012.

The All India Tiger Estimation Report-2014 put the number of tigers in the state at just 28, which the Odisha forest department refused to buy and decided to conduct its own counting, hoping to find 60 animals in the state.

"We do not accept the report which put the number of tigers at 28. The report was only based on the data from the Similipal National Park. It did not take into account the tigers in other forests like Atgarh and Kuldhia. The number of big cats in the state would be around 60," said Srivastava.

(Chinmaya Dehury can be contacted at chinmaya.d@ians.in)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Amit Shah's election as the BJP president on Sunday, saying the party "will scale newer heights under his leadership".

"Congratulations to Amit Shah on being elected BJP president," Modi tweeted. "I am confident the party will scale newer heights under his leadership.

"Amit bhai combines grassroot-level work and rich organizational experience which will benefit the party immensely," Modi added.
Actress Tabu says it is a "myth" that filmmakers feel she will not accept a role that is anything less than the best one.

"They think that if they come to me with less than the best role in the film, she will not do it, whether it's comedy or whatever. They feel, 'give her the best role in the film or she will refuse it'.

"So that's the myth they have about me," the "Chandni Bar" actress said here when asked on the roles that pass her by possibly because certain filmmakers feel she prefers intellectual characters.

The National Award winner said she was okay with the labels people ascribe her with.

"People will put a tag that is convenient to put on you rather than what you are. I am happy being who I am," she said at the Kolkata Literary Meet.
The Nepal Parliament has approved the first ever amendment to the country's new constitution to address the agitating Madhesis' demands for proportionate representation and allocation of seats in parliament on the basis of population.

The amendment proposal was approved on Saturday night by a majority vote amid slogan-shouting by lawmakers of the agitating Madhes-based parties.

As many as 461 of the 468 lawmakers participating in the voting voted in favour of the first constitutional amendment bill while seven voted against.

The Madhesh-based parties, who are agitating in the southern Tarai plains adjoining India after the new constitution came into force on September 20 last year did not participate in the voting.

"Though the step is progressive, it is not enough to meet our demands," the morcha said in its initial reaction.

Madhesi Morcha leader Upendra Yadav told IANS that the constitutional amendment will not work because they were not consulted.

The leaders of the Madhesis told IANS that they will hold a meeting on Sunday and come up with official position on amendment in constitution undertaken by the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML,UCPN(Maoist) and other fringe parties.

As per the amendment, ethnic clusters in Nepal have been decreased to 15 from earlier 17.

A delineation commission will be formed to determine the boundaries of constituencies for the House of Representatives on the primary basis of population while geography will be a secondary factor.

The Madhes region sprawling from the east to west of southern plains holds over 51 percent of the Nepal population.

At least 60 people were killed in the last five month as the Madhesi Morcha launched the agitation. Nepal faces a severe short supply of essential commodities, fuel and medicines due to blockade of major Nepal-India entry points.

Now, the Nepal government is bracing to take up the Madhesis' demand for a change in boundaries of the seven provinces.

Nepal's Constituent Assembly in September 2015 approved the new constitution that split the country into seven federal provinces.
Nepal's parliament has voted to amend the country's new constitution after its promulgation four months ago, on Saturday night.

Speaker of the parliament Onsari Gharti Magar announced endorsement of the first amendment to the Constitution of Nepal at a house session in Kathmandu, Xinhua reported.

Three articles of the Constitution -- Article 42, Article 84 and Article 286 -- were amended aimed at addressing 11-point demands raised by the Madhesi parties.

Two-thirds majority of the 601-member parliament endorsed the bill on the first amendment of the new constitution in view of addressing the key demands of the Madhesi parties who have been running anti-constitution protests in the Terai region of Nepal bordering India for the past four months.

When put to vote, the bill garnered 468 votes while seven lawmakers voted against it.

The amendment has ensured higher representation in the government bodies on the basis of proportional inclusion of the Madhesis, as well as other marginalised communities.

However, the lawmakers of agitating Madhesi parties have shunned the voting saying the constitution amendment failed to address their core demand of fresh demarcation of provincial boundaries.

Lawmakers from Madhesi parties walked out from the house when the lawmakers voted for the Constitution Amendment Bill.

Over 50 protesters including 10 police personnel were killed in the violent clashes during the agitation launched by the Madhesi parties.

Madhesi fringe parties, under the banner of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), will continue the protests against the constitution, leaders said.

A prominent leader of the agitating Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party Sarbendra Nath Sukla said they will continue protests against the constitution since their demands were not addressed by the first amendment.

In an effort to resolve the prevailing unrest in the Madhes region, major political parties had tabled a bill a month ago to amend the constitution and increase the Madhesi presence in government bodies through proportional representation.

Nepal issued the new constitution on September 20 last year after it became secular republic in 2008 with the overthrow of the 240-year Monarchy.
The charisma of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose made people equally inquisitive about the revolutionary leader's personal life, often producing strong and divisive views.

Files declassified by the Narendra Modi government reveal that serious objections were raised about Emilie Schenkl being acknowledged as Netaji's wife and Anita Bose Pfaff as his daughter.

According to one document, the home ministry, on February 6, 1980, wrote to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the external affairs ministry and the Research and Analysis Wing saying it had "no records of Netaji's marriage" or "birth of a female child".

"The ministry (has) no records pertaining to Netaji's reported marriage to a foreign lady or birth of a female child by that marriage. Intelligence bureau has also been consulted, and they have no record in this regard," reads the letter signed by Vinay Vasistha, under secretary in the government.

The move from the home ministry came after then West Bengal Governor T.N. Singh enquired about the identity of Anita Pfaff whom he met at the Raj Bhavan.

Singh made the enquiry following a letter by Arun Ghose, a member of the All India Freedom Fighters' Samity, raising serious doubts about Netaji's marriage.

Incidentally, according to another document, the PMO in 1978 had affirmed Emilie Schenkl to be the widow and Anita Schenkl to be the daughter of Netaji.

A cursory glance of the file reveals the following:

- It had been acknowledged that Emilie Schenkl was the widow of Subhas Chandra Bose and Anita Schenkl his daughter.

- The family members of Subhas Chandra Bose had also accepted this.

- Anita Bose visited India in 1960 and was staying in the prime minister's house for some time.

- All India Congress Committee has been sending Rs.6,000 annually to Anita upto 1964, reads the PMO document.

The PMO's reply was made after Justice G.D. Khosla, who headed the enquiry commission to probe the disappearance of Netaji, sought to examine the panel's report after he was sued for defamation on his claims in his book that Anita was Netaji's daughter.

In another letter dated November 1963, bearing his stamped signature, then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru said he was aware that Netaji had married.

"I had this knowledge that either in Germany or Austria he had married and had a daughter who two-three years back visited India and met Subhas Babu's family in Kolkata," reads the letter in Hindi.

There is another document wherein one Hari Pada Bose in March 1962 had written to Nehru enquiring if there existed any official record of Emilie Schenkl's marriage to Netaji and the birth certificate of his daughter.

In the memorandum attached to the letter bearing the sign of prime minister's private secretary M.L. Bazaz, it has been stated that Hari Pada Bose's letter was "not acknowledged".
With less than 48 hours left for the Republic Day celebrations to start off, four militant outfits operating in north-east India on Sunday called for their boycott on January 26.

The United Liberation Front of WESEA (UNLFW), Coordination Committee (CorCom) of Manipur, Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) and the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) called for the shutdown in the region from 12.01 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

In a joint statement issued here, these organisations, however, said emergency services, media and religious activities have been kept out of the shutdown's purview.

"We call upon the citizens to put out a strong, clear message and protest against the imposed celebration of the Republic day in our West Eastern South East Asia (WESEA). We call for a total shutdown of our region from 00.01 hrs to 18 hrs of January 26," the statement mailed to the media said.
The controversial pesticide endosulfan, widely used by Indian farmers, not only induces male infertility but also exerts damage on the liver and lungs, says a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru who have obtained conclusive evidence from animal studies.

Sathees C. Raghavan, associate professor in the department of biochemistry, and Robin Sebastian, a research scholar, recorded significant cell death in the testes, the organ that produces sperm, in mice that were exposed to endosulfan.

The research, published recently in the journal "Cell Death Discovery," found that endosulfan treatment significantly affected the complete cycle of sperm formation, causing the testes to waste away (testicular atrophy).

In Kasargod district in northern Kerala, endosulfan was regularly sprayed on cashew plantations for over two decades starting in 1976. Subsequently, inhabitants started developing diseases like cancer, birth defects and deformations which were thought to be due to excessive endosulfan use.

"As northern Keralites, we always had first-hand experience on the political and social phases of the endosulfan issue and we were quite intrigued to test and methodologically evaluate the mechanistic aspects of endosulfan action", Raghavan told IANS.

Raghavan recently spoke at the session on "Genetic dissection of complex diseases" during the 103rd Indian Science Congress in Bengaluru where he shared the study findings with the gathering at a packed auditorium.

The precise mechanism by which endosulfan exerts its effect, however, remains largely unclear. For the study carried out in mice, the researchers chose an endosulfan concentration of 3mg/kg of body weight -- comparable to what has been detected in the blood serum of human subjects living in areas of endosulfan exposure. The mice were treated with four doses of endosulfan, spanning eight days.

Liver function tests showed decreased levels of essential enzymes (as compared to untreated control) and tissue analyses after first day of treatment completion showed that liver, testes and lungs were maximally affected upon endosulfan treatment whereas brain, intestine and kidney showed no sign of toxicity.

The levels of red blood cells and platelets also went down as opposed to normal levels, the report said.

"Immediately after endosulfan exposure, the DNA integrity of the sperm was significantly perturbed," Raghavan said. "This effect was transient and found to be mediated through high levels of particular molecules called Reactive Oxygen Species levels, which may interact with and damage the genetic material DNA, causing genomic instability within sperms," he said.

Although the morphology of sperms remained normal, there was a dramatic reduction in sperm count and motility after the endosulfan treatment. To test the implications of this effect on fertility in mice, the researchers conducted mating experiments and found that about a third of the males treated with endosulfan were infertile.

Raghavan said that because of the growing concerns about health hazards of endosulfan, "the molecular insights behind changes induced by endosulfan" are currently under investigation in his laboratory.

"The study could be further extended to other types of pesticides with possible side effects in health. This would be a first step towards a more rationalised usage of pesticides," he noted.

(K.S. Jayaraman can be contacted at killugudi@hotmail.com)
Over 100 inmates escaped from a prison in Brazil's Recife city and two prisoners died in a shootout with police, the media reported.

The inmates escaped from the Frei Damiao de Bozanno prison on Saturday when one of the walls was destroyed by explosives, Xinhua news agency reported citing Brazilian newspaper Diario de Pernambuco's report.

By early evening, military police had managed to recapture at least 40 prisoners.

The latest prison break occurred only three days after 53 inmates broke out of Professor Barreto Campelo jail in Itamaraca, in the metropolitan area of Recife.

However, all the prisoners were recaptured.
Police are hunting for 60 of over 100 inmates who escaped on Sunday after using explosives to break down a wall of a prison in Brazil's Pernambuco state, the media reported.

Police are hunting for the inmates in shops and homes near the prison in Brazilian city of Recife, Efe news agency reported.

Two of the escapees died while 40 were recaptured by the military police immediately after fleeing, said officials of the Union of Agents and Servers in the Penitentiary System (SINDASP).

The inmates are hiding in shops and homes near the prison, forcing police to scour neighbourhoods in the vicinity of the jail for them, said the media.

The SINDASP published on its website a document that claims to have warned the Pernambuco's ministry of justice and human rights on January 8 of the escape plan at the unit.

The report informed authorities that "a jailbreak will occur by detainees who have not yet been unidentified, by the outer wall between the posts 05 and 06, are using explosive devices".

But the letter stated that the escape would take place "between January 9-10".

The incident comes just days after 53 prisoners escaped from the prison Professor Barreto Campelo of Itamaraca, in the metropolitan area of Recife.

All 53 of the fugitives have now been recaptured. When questioned by the media, police denied any link between the two events.
The Congress on Sunday said the central government's decision to impose President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh reflects a "travesty of Constitutional mandate, subjugation of federalism and trampling of democracy".

The union cabinet on Sunday recommended imposition of President's Rule in the northeastern state.

"Modi-ji's double speak of respect for federalism and states being equal part of 'Team India' stands exposed," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"It also shows a scant disregard of the Supreme Court by the Modi government, particularly when the entire issue of BJP-engineered coercive defections is being heard by a constitution bench (of the Supreme Court)," he added.

Surjewala said the Congress would decisively fight "undermining of elected mandate by autocratic attempts of the government".

Party leader Kapil Sibal, meanwhile, said the Congress would challenge the imposition of President's Rule in the state.

"They are trying to bypass a matter which is sub-judice and we'll challenge the imposition of President's Rule," Sibal said.

"This is a wrong decision taken by the government. At one end, the governor through his actions has already embarrassed himself and now its seems even the government wants to embarrass itself with this decision.

"This is an unfortunate political step of the government," he added.

"This government knows it very well that they don't have majority in the Rajya Sabha and that this particular recommendation can never pass because it is politically motivated.

"But they still want to destabilise a border state, whose border is with China. They want to create instability in that state. This is the political wisdom that this government has," Sibal said.

"This is an act of political intolerance. This is also their idea of cooperative federalism. Instead of trying to strengthen a border state, they are destabilising it," he added.

"There is evidence of the fact that they tried to manipulate a majority in Arunachal Pradesh by supporting the dissidents and there is a tape-recording to the effect that the dissidents were actually wanting money.

"While the matter is pending in the Supreme COurt, they must have realised what if the matter goes against them. So it's better to intervene and try and manipulate the majority in yet another way. This decision is going to cost them heavily," Sibal said.
President Pranab Mukherjee will address the nation on Monday on the eve of 67th Republic Day, an official statement said.

The address will be telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in English and Hindi from 7 p.m. and would also be broadcast on the national network of All India Radio (AIR).

Following English and Hindi, the President's message will also be broadcast in regional languages by Doordarshan's regional channels. AIR will broadcast regional language versions from 9.30 p.m. onwards, the statement added.
Kannada superstar Shivrajkumar on Sunday said he is glad that southern filmdom, which he considers even bigger than Bollywood, is getting its due at all major film awards.

"South film industry plays a pivotal role in Indian cinema from all angles. In my opinion, it's even bigger than Bollywood. In south, in Chennai, is where even Hindi cinema started," Shivrajkumar told reporters here on the sidelines of the first edition of IIFA Utsavam.

The two-day event is celebrating and honouring talent from the south film market.

After 16 years of its inception, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) is debuting in the southern market with Utsavam.

"It's been a long wait, nevertheless I'm glad we are getting some exclusivity," he said.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday called on Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa in Manama.

"After meeting the King & the Foreign Minister, EAM also called on PM Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa in Manama," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Sushma Swaraj met the prime minister after attending the first ever ministerial meeting of the India-Arab Partnership Conference in the Bahraini capital which was attended by foreign ministers of the 22 Arab League member states.

On Saturday, after arriving in Manama, she called on Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa in Manama.

She also held bilateral talks with her Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Al Khalifa on Saturday following which an agreement to exchange their citizens lodged in the prisons of each other's country was signed.

Nearly 300,000 Indians form the largest expatriate community in Bahrain. A majority of them are blue-collar workers.

The erstwhile ministry of overseas Indian affairs, now merged with the external affairs ministry, had started the process of exchange of prisoners, according to which Indians lodged in jails in the Gulf countries could complete the rest of their prison terms in Indian jails and vice-versa.

On Sunday, prior to leaving Bahrain, Sushma Swaraj also met her Saudi counterpart Adel el Jubeir, Swarup said in another tweet.
A day after Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) suspended its legislator for allegedly misbehaving with a couple on a running train, the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested him on Sunday, police said.

"JD-U legislator Sarfaraj Alam was arrested at the GRP station here after he was questioned," a GRP official said.

Officials said the charges against Sarfaraj were found to be true.

The JD-U on Saturday suspended Sarfaraj, saying his conduct brought a "bad name to the party".

"Top party leadership, including JD-U president Sharad Yadav and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, met here and decided to suspend Sarfaraj for his behaviour and bad conduct. The incident has given a bad name to the party," state JD-U president Vashishtha Narain Singh told the media here.

Alam allegedly misbehaved with the couple aboard the Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad also favoured action against Alam. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is part of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar.

Inderpal Singh Bedi and his wife, in an FIR registered at Patna railway station, complained that Alam, his bodyguard and an aide misbehaved with them on the train, an official said, adding they passed vulgar comments about the couple who boarded the train from Delhi.

Patna Railways Superintendent of Police P.N. Mishra said a four-member team sent from Patna to register a formal complaint returned from Delhi after recording the statement of the couple and other witnesses.

Mishra said Alam was summoned to appear before the investigation official and present his stand on Saturday, following which the complaint against him was prima facie found to be correct.

Alam, son of former union minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, is the JD-U legislator from Jokihat in Araria district of Bihar.
It is not enough for Pakistan to take "symbolic" action against the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) after its attack on the IAF base in Pathankot, a Pakistani daily said on Sunday.

The Dawn also said that the talks between the two security advisers "cannot and should not become a replacement for (a) true dialogue" between the two countries.

The daily was critical of the action - or the lack of it - by Islamabad against the JeM since it was accused by India of carrying out an audacious terror attack on the Indian Air Force station on January 2.



"In Pakistan, the symbolic closure of some centres and madrassas affiliated with the outlawed JeM is simply not enough," it said.

"Had the Pathankot attackers been able to kill or injure more individuals or had aircraft been damaged, the crisis would have been of far greater magnitude. It is evident that spectacular carnage was the militants' real intention."

The Dawn urged Pakistan to pay urgent attention to spoilers who have emerged in recent days.

"Syed Salahuddin, the head of the United Jihad Council, appears determined to make a comeback in the public eye," it said.

"This week, he condemned the partial crackdown on JeM - a condemnation that followed the UJC's claim of responsibility for the Pathankot attack.

"What is the state doing to address the trouble that Syed Salahuddin is seeking to stir up?

"Surely, the time has come when public assertions of responsibility for terrorist attacks in another country can no longer be tolerated," it said.

It added: "The security adviser channel or secret communications between the Pakistani establishment and Indian intelligence cannot and should not become a replacement for true dialogue.

"Dialogue between Pakistan and India should be able to proceed in a climate free of intimidation and fear."

Pakistani terrorists sneaked into India and raided the IAF station killing seven Indian security personnel. Security forces killed all six attackers.

Pakistan has promised to act against the terrorists.
Syrian government troops and allied fighters on Thursday recaptured Bani Zaid in Aleppo city from the rebels.

Bani Zaid was once a staging ground for rebel attacks on government-held Aleppo, Xinhua news agency reported.

In July, over 70 persons were killed in Aleppo in rebel shelling from Bani Zaid.

Over the past week, the Syrian Army effectively cut off the Castello road, the last rebel supply route connecting rebel-held areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo with the eastern districts.

On Wednesday, military helicopters dropped tens of thousands of leaflets on Aleppo, urging the rebels to surrender and the civilians to cooperate with the Syrian Army.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared an amnesty on Thursday, offering pardon for rebels who surrender within three months and kidnappers who release their victims within a month.

Aleppo, located near the borders with Turkey, has been a focal point of clashes between the Syrian Army and the rebels.

--IANS

sm/lok/mr
Turkey has detained 23 suspected Islamic State (IS) militants as they were trying to enter Turkey through Syria, an official said here on Sunday.

The suspects, whose nationalities were not disclosed, were captured on January 23 (Saturday) as they attempted to enter Elbeyli, a district in the southeastern province of Kilis, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The 23 suspects believed to be members of the Daesh terrorist group were caught," a statement released by the Turkish General Staff said on its website, with no further details.

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS, commonly used by Turkish officials to refer to IS.
Two Maoist rebels were killed in a gun battle with security personnel on Sunday in Odisha's Angul-Deogarh area, police said.

Self-styled Kalinganagar divisional committee secretary Susil Lingo and his wife Sony were killed in the gunfight with the Special Operations Group and Odisha Police.

"Susil, who belongs to Telangana, is involved in 78 cases including 30 murder cases. He had a bounty of Rs.20 lakh on his head while his wife had a bounty of Rs.5 lakh. They were involved in violence in Angul, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Gajapati districts," said Director General of Police K.B. Singh.

Susil's wife was the 'second in command' in the divisional committee.

Police recovered a large cache of ammunition, a rifle and literature during the operation.
Amit Shah, elected the BJP president for a full three years on Sunday, faces an uphill task as four major states go to the polls this year - and he will have to prove that the electoral setbacks of 2015 were an aberration.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's rout in Delhi and defeat in Bihar last year are widely seen as having dented the image of Shah, 51 -- as a general who always leads his army to victory.

Shah, who took charge of the party in August 2014 from now Home Minister Rajnath Singh, was widely lauded for the way he oversaw the BJP's massive win in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha election.

He was also credited for the BJP wins in the later Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.

But the Bihar defeat ignited a revolt against Shah's working style by BJP veterans including L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who on Sunday kept away from the event where he was elected the party president.

BJP leaders who have worked with him closely say Shah, a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has his strengths and weaknesses.

"Undoubtedly, Amit Shah is a master strategist and has a long term vision for the party. But he will have to change his working style. Rather than neglecting senior leaders, he will have to re-engage with them," one party leader told IANS on the conditions of anonymity.

Shah's real test will come when West Bengal, Pudduchery, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala elect new assemblies in 2016. Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are set for elections in 2017.

In Assam, the BJP is making a determined bid to snatch power from a weakened Congress. But the saffron party does not seem to have much of an appeal in the other four places.

But Shah is determined to make a mark in West Bengal and open the BJP's account in Kerala, the only major state where it has never won either an assembly or a Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP does have a following in Tamil Nadu but is unlikely to upset its relationship with Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. Puducherry is not viewed as a major state politically.

To win in 2016, Shah, credited with making the BJP the world's largest political party with over 11 crore members, will have to re-energize party cadres after the morale-shattering defeats of Delhi and Bihar.

While Shah is said to have a perfect equation with Modi and senior party leaders, BJP sources say this is not so with many others, particularly the second-rung leadership.

"His manner of speaking can at times put off those used to the more suave Advani and Rajnath Singh," another party leader said.

There was a time when the BJP -- "the party with a difference" -- prided on knowing what people felt because of its cadre strength. Under Shah's leadership, some complain the BJP is run more like a corporate.

Modi had handpicked Shah to take charge of Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Modi himself contested both from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat, won from both, but retained the Varanasi seat.

Shah picked candidates in Uttar Pradesh with a determination to win. In the end, the party got a whopping 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. Ally Apna Dal got two more seats.

After that, Shah, anointed the BJP president, led it to victory in Maharashtra even after snapping ties with long-time ally Shiv Sena. It was swept to power in Haryana though it had never won even 10 seats. Jharkhand fell into the BJP kitty, and it took office in Jammu and Kashmir - though as a junior ally - in the country's only Muslim-majority state.

2016 will show if Shah still has his winning credentials in tact.
The WHO has cautioned the Southeast Asian nations against risks of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome corona virus (MERS CoV), after Thailand confirmed a fresh case on Sunday.

"The new case of MERS CoV is a reminder of the continued risk of importation of the disease from countries where it still persists," said World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region's regional director Poonam Khetrapal.

"There is a need for all Southeast Asian countries to further enhance surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections, focus on early diagnosis, and step up infection prevention and control procedures in healthcare facilities to rapidly detect any case of importation and effectively prevent its spread."

On Sunday, the Thailand government confirmed that a 71-year-old Oman national was suffering from MERS CoV, days after he arrived in the capital Bangkok for treatment.

According to the WHO, the patient has been transferred to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute in Thailand, and measures were being taken to trace all those who could have been in his contact during his journey.

MERS is a dreaded viral disease caused by a novel corona virus that was first detected in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Experts say that in 40 percent of the cases, the patients do not survive.

This was the second MERS CoV case in Thailand and in the WHO Southeast Asia region.

On June 18, last year, another Omani national, who reached Bangkok for treatment, was tested positive for MERS CoV.
The Supreme Court last week set aside a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana high court which had quashed notifications acquiring land from real estate major Eros City Developers. The state government wanted integral development of the area where the internationally famous Surajkund fair is held annually, near Delhi. The firm argued it had a sanctioned plan for a luxury hotel on the acquired land. It moved the high court, which held there was no public purpose in the acquisition. The government appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled that there was a public purpose in the acquisition which was for expansion and systematic development of Surajkund tourist complex. It included development of parking area adjacent to the tourist complex near the site of the annual fair. The judgment also noted the firm had not started or completed the hotel project within the time prescribed under state development rules.

Losing money in films not deductible



Donations to an ashram cannot be exempted from income tax if the necessary certificate showing that it had complied with the conditions subject to which registration was granted to it under Section 35(2A) of the Income Tax Act was not produced. In this appeal case, Ganapathy & Co vs CIT, the income tax appellate tribunal took the view that those conditions were not material. On the other hand, the Karnataka high court ruled that those conditions were necessary to the grant of statutory registration. The firm had also claimed deduction on the ground of loss in film business. That was also disallowed by the Supreme Court last week upholding the observation of the high court that the entire transaction of purported investment and loss in the film industry was a "sham transaction and a calculated device to avoid tax liability."



Salt farm must give way to SEZ



The Supreme Court last week set aside a judgment of the Gujarat high court in a claim for 1,500 acres in Mundra village in Kutch district for salt production. The authorities rejected the claim on the ground that the area was earmarked for a special economic zone (SEZ). Though the first application was made by Shree Ratnagar Enterprise in 1993 and got rejected, it repeatedly renewed its request at intervals. Meanwhile, several salt manufacturers in the proposed SEZ surrendered their land. However, the firm continued its legal fight. The high court allowed its appeal and blamed the state government for delay of over two decades. It asked the government to allot land for the firm within three months. The government appealed to the Supreme Court which accepted the argument of the state that the SEZ has come up and there was no land now available in the village.

Heady litigation over whisky brand



In the decade-old trade mark dispute over the whisky brand Blenders Pride, the Supreme Court last week dismissed the appeal of Jagajit Industries Ltd against the ruling of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board and the Delhi high court. Both Jagajit Industries and Seagram India claimed the trade mark. Seagram, which is an Indian arm of Austin Nichols of the US and Pernord Ricard S.A., claimed that the parent companies coined and adopted the trade mark in 1973 which has world-wide reputation. The whisky was marketed in India since 1995.Though the dispute took several twists and turns in various courts over the years, this time it was over the procedures for rectification of register under Section 125 of the Trade Marks Act and the power of the Registrar of Trade Marks. Interpreting the law, the Supreme Court clarified that the registrar has power to rectify the registrar on his own. This power was given to him under law "to maintain the purity of the register," the judgment said.

Ruling on place to sue in trademark case



The Delhi High Court last week ruled in a trademark case that if a Delhi company starts a hotel in Jharkhand with its name, and there is a dispute over the name, the company should file a petition there and not in Delhi. The high court has no territorial jurisdiction to try the case. The ruling was delivered in the case, Ultra Home Constructions vs Purushottam Kumar. The Delhi firm, known as the Amrapali group, is in the business of colonising and promoting residential, commercial buildings, cinema houses, amusement parks, hotels and deals in all kinds of immovable properties. It has a hotel at Deogarh, Jharkhand, in association with Clark-Inn hotel group. Its name is Amrapali Clark-Inn. It alleged that the opposite party has launched a residential project at Deogarh under a "deceptively similar" name - Ambapali Green. The high court ruled that "because the cause of action has allegedly arisen in Deogarh, Jharkhand, and not in Delhi, the firm cannot sue the opposite party in DelhiThis court does not have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the suit."



Reliance to pay farmers for bad seeds



The National Consumer Commission has dismissed the appeal of Reliance Life Sciences Ltd against the order of the Maharashtra consumer commission and directed the Ambani company to compensate farmers who bought defective banana plantlets from its agent. The farmers' complaint was that M/s Surana Irrigators, who is agent of Reliance, persuaded them to purchase Tissue Culture Banana Plantlets representing that they would be earning Rs 240 per banana plant within a year. However, when they planted them, some plantlets did not grow, whereas some other got damaged. No relief was provided to them, though the District Seeds Grievance Redressal Committee confirmed that the plantlets were defective. They moved the consumer forum which ordered compensation to the farmers. On appeal, Reliance argued that the plantlets were imported from Israel and it was not liable for the loss. It assailed the procedure followed by the authorities, which was not according to the Seeds Act. But the commission rejected all the contentions and upheld the order of compensation.

Service conditions after merger



The Odisha high court last week declared that NTPC is an industrial unit, which must follow the Factories Act in the matter of working conditions. Employees of erstwhile Talcher thermal power plant and state electricity board wanted the working hours and other regulations beneficial to them to be followed by NTPC in which they merged in 1995. They complained that NTPC altered the conditions to their disadvantage. While allowing some of the benefits to continue, the high court stated that service conditions against the Act cannot stand as the nature of work has changed.
Philips' thwarted attempt to sell 80.1 per cent of its speciality lighting arm makes pending Chinese bids involving US tech assets look less certain. The Dutch group on Friday abandoned its agreement to hawk the stake in its so-called Lumileds unit - which manufactures LED components and lights for cars - to Chinese fund GO Scale Capital for $2.8 billion. The reason, according to the thwarted buyer: "unspecified concerns" raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an obscure branch of the US Department of the Treasury.

It's a face-palm moment for Philips, which touted GO Scale's long-term outlook and lighting knowhow when it agreed to the acquisition last year, despite the relatively limited track record of those involved. Now Philips Chief Executive Frans van Houten, who wants to shift the business away from lighting to focus on health care technology and consumer electronics, may have to go back to a host of private equity bidders like Carlyle, KKR and CVC he previously turned down.

The opacity of the deal approval process is a mitigating factor for Philips' management - for now, at least. CFIUS's mandate is to block deals only if the United States' national security is at risk. In a speech back in 2011, former deputy treasury secretary Neal Wolin said the office's processes were transparent and fair. But CFIUS has said nothing publicly in relation to the Lumileds deal. True, the business has a manufacturing facility in California as well as cutting-edge tech. But neither would seem to be enough cause for a rejection.

More worryingly for Chinese predators, Uncle Sam may instead be tensing its protectionist muscle. Bidders that may be fretting include Tsinghua Unisplendour, which has an agreed $3.8-billion investment in US data storage company Western Digital in the works, and Haier Group, which wants to buy General Electric's appliance business for $5.4 billion.

There may have been reasonable grounds to block GO Scale's bid. But CFIUS has overstepped the mark before: in 2014, Ralls Corp forced the U.S. government to explain the veto of the Chinese company's wind-farm project, with the parties finally settling their legal dispute in October last year. Either way, Philips' failed lighting deal has put other Chinese bidders more in the dark.
George Orwell famously said: "All writers are vain, selfish and lazy". He could have said this for almost the entire human race. There are many altruistic people, and most of us sometimes do not fit this characterisation, but these are undoubtedly our default traits. Anybody who tries to persuade the public to behave in a certain manner must accept them or risk failure; or at the very least, be prepared for a long hard slog. The tech industry has understood this very well and created billion-dollar businesses that millions of people use daily for a cab ride (Uber), purchases (Amazon), information (Google) or other social purposes (Facebook, Twitter). Can intelligent policymakers and well-meaning politicians, who try to persuade millions to either clean up garbage, follow traffic rules, stop taking or giving bribes, learn from them? Lets first look at these characteristics.

We are lazy because we do not want to spend time and effort to learn something new. As is it, life takes a heavy toll on us: Long hours of travel to and from office, and often, regimented and boring work usually leaves us with less time to do what we really want to do - spend time with family, follow our hobbies, travel and so on. Hence, when forced to deal something new, we quickly assess how much time it requires to complete. Our first instinct is to shun anything that requires effort unless, of course, it promises clear, immediate and substantial gratification. If you buy a new product, you are impatient to use it. You certainly do not enjoy protracted unpacking, reading detailed instructions and a complicated set up process.

Product designers know this and try to make things 'plug and play'. If they achieve it, products can be wildly successful. If not, they fail. A US study shows that half the gadgets returned to stores are in good working order, but sent back because customers can't figure out how to operate them. Assuming 'users are lazy' is the first principle in software, apps and websites that expect you to take some action. If it weren't for a couple of taps to get connected, a service like Whatsapp would not have the same success.

Then comes vanity. The explosive growth of social media - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and so on, - owe their success to our vanity. We are keenly aware of how we come across to others and are eager to express ourselves. We need to know that we are looking good to others. The 'Like' icon of Facebook exemplifies this so wonderfully that it was copied by Instagram and Twitter. It is a very powerful form of engagement because it appeals to our ego. Whether it is online or offline, vanity dominates our actions, often quite unconsciously.

Most importantly, we are selfish. We care most for ourselves, at least during the initial stage of our interaction with anything. The study of 'incentives' is central to the study of economics, both for individual decision-making and cooperation and competition among institutions. When we evaluate a product, service or idea, we are really evaluating what our immediate return from it is and whether it will offer a higher return than the cost or time we are asked to spend on it. In his Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi castigated us for always approaching everything from our selfish perspective. "What's in its for me" (mera kya) is our usual response to things, he lamented. He appealed to the people of India to stop thinking only about themselves. A noble appeal, but the PM was really up against human nature. Indeed, if policymaking is based on appeals to the goodness of our hearts, they will fail miserably. This is probably why the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan has not taken off so far.

While the tech sector, which dominates our working life, has figured this out and tries to make our lives frictionless, government policies that dictate the other half of our lives, only create friction. If you want to sign up for a mutual fund account, stock investment account or even a bank account, you will have to go through extensive sign-up processes and repeated Know Your Customer formalities that put you off completely. Every single interaction between the state and its citizens is fraught with friction such as repeated visits, triplicate copies, delays, lack of transparency or needless run around. If Swachch Bharat has to succeed, it will have to assume that people are lazy and so they need a garbage bin at arm's length and will not go a few metres looking for it just because the PM has appealed to them or Hema Malini has waved a broom.

Policymakers in some countries have understood this. The UK set up the "Nudge Unit" inside 10 Downing Street to make public services more cost-effective and easier to use, and to improve outcomes by introducing a more realistic model of human behaviour to policy. It has morphed into a social purpose company called The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) which is jointly owned by the UK government, Nesta (the innovation charity) and its employees. BIT tests its ideas before they are scaled up, exactly the way websites test their approaches. This enables it to understand what works and (importantly) what does not work. Why not include this sensible approach in Indian policymaking based on the three human traits?

The writer is the editor of www.moneylife.in

Twitter: @Moneylifers
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs last week laid out a road map for implementation of the new Indian Accounting Standards (known as Ind-AS) for scheduled commercial banks, insurance companies and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). As the banking sector gets its act in place to clean up the non-performing assets from the balance sheets, it would simultaneously have to prepare a loan risk assessment policy within the next two years in keeping with the requirements of the new accounting standards.

According to the roadmap suggested by the ministry - in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority - commercial banks, insurance companies and NBFCs with net worth of Rs 500 crore or more will have to compulsorily implement the new accounting standards from 2018-19. They also have to prepare comparative information for FY17-18.

Accounting and audit experts say one of the foremost challenges before the financial sector players would come from implementing provisions under Ind-AS 109. These require the recognition of expected credit losses based on forward-looking information, not just incurred losses. Today, there are no accounting norms for the losses incurred by the banks. These are provisioned for according to the existing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. "Ind-AS 109 requires an expected credit loss mechanism to determine the provision of losses, or expected losses in future. There is a specific guidance in the accounting standards that banks have to comply with," says Pankaj Chadha, partner in Indian member firm of EY Global.

Further, any loan loss provision will not only take into consideration past credit deterioration or events, but also future likelihood of default, such as risks arising out of non-recoverability, or any delay in contractual payments. "Estimation of expected credit loss will require development of complex model and data points. The beauty of this accounting norm (Ind-AS 109) is that the banks would have to make extensive disclosures as to what mechanisms they are following while doing credit-risk assessments," adds Chadha.

Sai Venkateshwaran, partner and head of accounting advisory services, KPMG in India, says the roadmap applicable for banks and NBFCs in India closely follows the timelines for the global adoption of the new standard on financial instruments (IFRS-9), in particular the new expected loss model for impairment of financial assets (loan loss provisioning), which is slated for 2018. "This will ensure that Indian banks and NBFCs will not be far behind their global counterparts, while having the benefit of learning from the global experience," he says. IFRS-9 is the equivalent of Ind-AS 109 in international financial reporting standards.

Ashish Gupta, partner, Walker Chandiok & Co LLP, notes that the new accounting requirements for classification, measurement and impairment of financial assets are not only judgmental and complex, but will also require significant investments in processes and IT systems.

Within the next two years, the sector regulators - RBI and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) - will have to adopt these standards and issue guidelines and circulars to avoid confusion among the financial sector players. "How quickly these regulators align these new accounting norms to their own standards, and issue circulars and notifications, would be quite important," points out Chadha.

The roadmap does not permit the entities to implement the new accounting norms before the prescribed time. "If they permit voluntary adoption, it will be difficult to regulate the entities as different banks may use different accounting basis. That would make it difficult for the regulator to monitor those entities," he says.

Experts are of the view that implementing Ind-AS is likely to impact key performance metrics and will require more thoughtful communication with the board of directors, shareholders and other stakeholders. The financial sector players would also have to assess the impact of the new accounting standards on the entity's processes, systems, controls, income taxes and contractual arrangements. "Successful Ind-AS implementation will require a thorough strategic assessment, a robust step-by-step plan, alignment of resources and training, strong project management and, finally smooth integration of various changes into normal business operations," says a recent note prepared by PwC for its clients.
At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated his government's commitment to economic reforms. India could defy the global economic slowdown by continuing reforms and responsible economic planning, Mr Jaitley said. The statement could not have come a day too soon. It is reassuring that, just five weeks before the Budget, the government's earlier ambivalence towards reforms has given way to categorical assertions that they are needed to fight an impending economic slowdown. This is no time to just rue the legislative logjam in Parliament, where Opposition political parties, in particular the Congress, have stalled the passage of key reform bills. Hopefully, the government will realise that quite apart from the need to build political consensus over reforms envisaged through legislation like the launch of the goods and services tax regime or the bankruptcy code, there are a host of other measures that could be pushed through executive action and by persuading states to undertake reforms in areas to help improve the ease of doing business.

One area that needs urgent attention is the financial sector, which is weighed down by non-performing assets and the need to increase banks' capital adequacy in accordance with the Basel-III norms. The finance minister has talked about fresh allocation of resources for recapitalisation of the stressed banks over and above what has been provided in the current year's Budget. Prudence demands that recapitalisation be linked to their financial performance and measures to pare down bad debts through credible action. Allocation of capital without performance-linked conditionality will be a short-term palliative and should be avoided. Simultaneously, public sector banks should be encouraged to access capital markets to beef up their equity base. This will reduce the strain on government finances, without requiring any legislative change.

There are two other areas where reforms could be expedited. The finance ministry is now in its possession a set of recommendations made by the Expenditure Management Commission, whose formation was announced by Mr Jaitley in his first Budget in 2014. The ministry would do well to make the report of the Commission public so that the recommendations therein can be debated and the ministry could finalise those that need to be implemented. Reforms of expenditure on subsidies and centrally sponsored schemes need to be undertaken so that the Budget for 2016-17 can rein in its revenue spend and give a boost to capital expenditure. Tax reforms is the other area that must get a fillip in the coming Budget. The Eswaran Committee has made many sensible suggestions on streamlining the procedures on tax deduction at source, among many other things. Implementing its recommendations would be a good start for a government that had promised an end to tax "terrorism".

The government's legislative obstacles in reforming land and labour laws are understandable. But it is now time the Centre persuaded more states to reform labour laws to facilitate easy exits for companies. Also, if an exit policy could be announced for start-ups, the government could surely consider extending the same policy for all companies and encourage states to follow suit. Similarly, the government must expedite the proposed land leasing law to facilitate use of farm land for agricultural and non-agricultural use. States will have to be asked to frame relevant laws so that the stringent tenancy rules do not come in the way of land leasing. The government must recognise that one of the goals of reform is to improve the ease of doing business.
Normally, mid-cap stocks rise faster than large-caps during a bull run and fall harder in a bear market. Mid-caps did outperform large-caps in the post-election rally. However, they have remained more expensive than large-caps in the ensuing bear run, though the gap has narrowed in recent weeks (see table: Large-caps trading at a discount). Should investors put their money in large-caps now, given their more attractive valuations?



Why have mid-caps outperformed?

The earnings growth of many mid-cap companies has been far better than in several large-cap names. Mid-cap companies in India also tend to be exposed more to the domestic market, while many large-cap ones derive a considerable part of their revenue from global markets. Examples are Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Bharti Airtel. Says Taher Badshah, co-head of equities, Motilal Oswal AMC: "Since growth-related challenges have been higher in the global markets, Nifty companies have grown at a weaker pace than mid-caps."



In the latter part of 2015, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were continuously paring their exposure to emerging market exchange-traded funds (ETFs). India gets a large part of its foreign inflows by virtue of being a part of these ETFs. Though FIIs were selling primarily to avoid exposure to countries affected by the commodity slump, such as Brazil, Russia and China, Indian stocks also got sold, being part of the ETF basket. ETFs tend to have greater exposure to large-cap stocks. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) like mutual funds (MFs), on the other hand, have been investing heavily in the equity market. They have been willing to take exposure wherever they see higher earning prospects, including mid-caps. Says Sachin Shah, fund manager and head, Emkay PMS: "A lot of the inflows that MFs received were in their mid- and small-cap funds, so their mandate led them to invest in these stocks. The impact cost in this space also tends to be higher."





With the markets correcting steeply, experts see value emerging across the board. "Financials, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas - today, there is value across the market," says Gopal Agrawal, chief investment officer at Mirae Asset Global (India). In his view, businesses that cater to urban consumers are a great buy. In the infrastructure space, he suggests betting on segments that could benefit from a rise in government spending (owing to the massive saving on the oil import bill and revenue gains from the increase in excise duty). Those that will benefit from reduction in power transmission and distribution losses are also a good bet, says Agrawal.

Shah suggests investing in private sector banks and non-bank finance companies, automobiles and select power utilities in the large-cap space. In the mid-cap segment, he likes companies in the defence, leisure holidays and water sectors, and those that will benefit from opportunities in the railways sector. He emphasises the need to be selective in the mid-cap space.

What should you avoid?

Due to global deflationary pressures, some sectors of the market are under pressure, such as metals and minerals, and the banks that have lent to these. Avoid these.

After the recent correction, investors should not buy a stock only because its price has become attractive. "Go with companies where there has been a price correction but whose earnings visibility has not been affected significantly. Check the underlying fundamentals and look for sustainability of growth," says Badshah.

Investors should also avoid getting into richly-valued stocks. In the past few years, valuations have got polarised. The market has rewarded some sectors and stocks highly, as they continued to perform even during the downturn. A recent report from Antique Stock Broking warns that a tipping point might have been reached. Any bad news or earnings disappointments could result in a sharp fall in such stocks, as the recent examples of Nestle, Dr Reddy's and Motherson Sumi demonstrate. Finally, don't exit in panic. "With the fall, more opportunities will emerge. Avoid buying at one go and instead spread out your investments," says Shrey Jain, founder, SAS Online, a Delhi-based discount broking entity.
Two years back - in January 2013 - when direct plans in mutual funds were introduced with a lot of fanfare by the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), there were expectations that retail investors will rush to take advantage of this measure.

But as a chief executive of a fund house admits, there has been a subdued response from the target audience - the retail investor. Instead, investors in direct plans are pre-dominantly institutions in debt funds and high networth individuals in equity plans.

Direct mutual fund (MF) plans offer investors the option of investing directly with a fund house, instead of going through an intermediary like a bank or distributor. (ADVANTAGE DIRECT PLANS)



In these plans, fund houses do not charge distributor commission or trail fees. Due to this, expense ratios are lower by 50-100 basis points as compared to regular plans, leading to higher net asset value (NAV) for direct plans.

Operational problems

Despite the obvious advantages, why have retail investors not gone for them? The cumbersome Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure is one of the main reasons. When Ghaziabad-based Sebi-registered investment advisor (RIA) Jitendra Solanki's clients started switching over to direct plans, it took them four to five days to complete the procedure. They had to update their KYC, create portfolios and do the in-person verification with fund houses. In some cases, it took up to a month, as the client was pressed for time. Yet, Solanki convinced his clients to complete the process and invest in direct plans.

"These are initial hurdles. The higher returns will translate into a significant amount over a 15-20 year period. So, I advise investors to invest in direct plans, even if the investment is as low as Rs 1,000 a month," Solanki says.

The numbers reflect this. Say, you are investing Rs 10,000 through a systematic investment plan (SIP) per month, or Rs 1.2 lakh per year, and planning to use the corpus for a foreign trip after five years. Assuming an annualised rate of return of 10.5 per for a direct plan, the corpus in will grow to Rs 10.36 lakh. On the other hand, the same investment in a regular plan, returning 100 bps less (9.5 per cent) due to higher expenses, will grow to Rs 10.02 lakh. The difference is Rs 34,966, or around $500, a significant amount if you are travelling abroad.

Now, let us assume you are saving the same amount, that is Rs 1.2 lakh per annum, for your child's education 15 years later. The corpus in the direct plan will grow to Rs 49.76 lakh, while the corpus in the regular plan will grow to Rs 45.25 lakh. The difference this time is Rs 4.5 lakh.

KYC is a one-time hurdle, after which investing directly is very easy, agrees Dhirendra Kumar, chief executive officer, Value Research. "All those who can invest by themselves are better off doing so in direct plans because the benefits start from day zero. Ideally, the difference between direct and regular plans should be at least 75 bps. In many cases it is lower because while Sebi mandates regular plans, there is no guideline for the expense ratio of direct plans. So, many fund houses earn higher margins on these," he says.

Growth of direct plans can be aided by streamlining of service procedures like redemption, change of address or bank mandate, initiating a SIP or Systematic Transfer Plan, etc, across fund houses and making more services available online, Kumar adds.

Traditionally, retail investors have preferred to invest through advisors because they lack knowledge on which funds to choose, how much to invest, etc. So, they don't mind paying the higher expenses ratio, as long as they get advice. And, investing through an advisor is operationally easier and investors can get services like consolidated portfolio statements, etc, points out Kaustubh Belapurkar, Director of fund research, Morningstar Investment Adviser India.

"For an informed investor who likes to do research about funds' returns, portfolios, investment philosophy, etc, the direct route is the way to go. On an average, the NAVs of direct plans are higher by 50-90 bps than regular plans, across debt and equity funds. And, with mechanisms like CDSL (Central Depositories Services), from where investors can get consolidated statements on their own, direct plans are definitely more beneficial. But, operationally, it is still a challenge,'' he says.

Regulatory push for direct plans

However, that is being corrected. Recently, the MF Utility platform, a single window and allowing investors to invest across fund houses with only one KYC, started offering direct plans as well. Sebi also directed fund houses to share feeds of direct plans with RIAs. These steps should encourage more retail investors to choose direct plans over regular ones.

"Earlier, I used to ask clients to provide statements of their portfolios, so that I could monitor the investment. Now, I can directly access their portfolios. Other than MF Utility, three more transaction platforms are likely to start operations in 2016. That is why this year we will see more investors switching over to direct plans,'' says Solanki.

Direct plans are as well-managed as regular ones, with the same accounting policies in place, says Gurgaon-based RIA Amit Kukreja's. The only hurdle was the cumbersome procedure to start investing and the paperwork. "For instance, if I recommended a multi-cap fund from 'A' fund house, a large-cap fund from 'B' fund house and a debt fund from 'C' fund house, the client had to submit documents at each of these separately,'' Kukreja says.

This bottleneck can be resolved using platforms like iFast (for distributors) and MF Utility (for investors). Such platforms allow single-window investing across fund houses.

If you are invested in regular plans and want to switch to direct plans, the easiest way is to redeem your money after one year in the case of equity funds or three years in the case of debt funds and invest afresh in direct plans. Otherwise, you could end up paying taxes or exit loads.

"Commissions and new fund launches have drastically come down due to the regulator's push. In the next two to three years, we will see more investors moving to direct plans,'' Kukreja says.

Kumar of Value Research says there is plenty of room for both direct and regular plans to grow. "Still, a lot of people have to be initiated into mutual funds. They are the kind of investors who might feel the need for help from distributors,'' he says.

With the regulator considering allowing the selling of certain kinds of funds through e-commerce portals, investors will have one more investment mode of distribution to choose from. It needs to be seen if this will mean a third kind of NAV, as the expense or commissions in this case could be somewhere between direct and regular plans.

Gurgaon-based Alok Singh, who works in the consumer goods sector, has been investing in mutual funds for eight years. He has investments in eight .

A year before, he switched to direct funds. The KYC process was only a one-time procedure and he had to sign additional documents for a couple of fund houses. "My advisor showed me through calculations that even in the short term, that is two to three years, there is a material benefit from switching to direct plans. So, I was convinced that over a longer period, the benefits would be substantial. There is also a confidence that I am dealing with the fund house directly. It is more direct and transparent,'' he says.

Alok Singh

Employee in FMCG sector
Manesar is a rapidly growing industrial town in Haryana's Gurgaon district and is also a part of the National Capital Region. Once considered a distant and sleepy village, Manesar has transformed into one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the country. Proximity to the political nerve centre, Delhi, has worked in favour of this micro market, with the government establishing several headquarters and institutes of national importance, such as the National Security Guards and National Brain Research Centre.

Strategically located on NH 8, Manesar is well-connected with Delhi, Dharuhera, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, which also leads to Mumbai. Manesar is only 32 km away from the Delhi international airport and has one of the best urban infrastructures in northern India. Planned as a modern township, it has a blend of residential and commercial asset classes, with many industries, factories, offices, hotels and educational institutes. Being considered an extension of Gurgaon, the area has been earmarked for development under the Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex Master Plan-2031.

Being an industrial township, Manesar has workforce of around 100,000 people flocking from the adjoining areas every day. According to the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan, this rapidly-growing industrial centre will have a population of 3.7 million by 2021.

While remaining a peripheral commercial destination, Manesar has not seen too many residential launches. However, it is right within the residential corridor designated as New Gurgaon, primary hub of new residential launches and frenetic construction activity across projects in the Gurgaon housing market. The supply of residential projects in Manesar is limited, with a very few reputed developers offering quality housing, such as DLF, ABW and Anant Raj. The DLF and Anant Raj projects are nearing completion and in terms of pricing are at a discount of 20-25 per cent to the average in the New Gurgaon corridor.

The area of Manesar has a distinct industrial character and, hence, only limited land is under residential development. There definitely is scope for more housing projects in this location, especially in the affordable category, given the employees working across the industries here.

As of date, buyers and investors have more choices in the New Gurgaon corridor, largely spread across sectors 76 to 95, with options across high-rise and low-rise apartments, plots, villas, etc. However, Manesar offers lower price points. Further launches here would likely be in the price range of Rs 4,500-5,000 a sq ft, making it slightly less expensive while offering nearly the same benefits of connectivity through NH-8, upcoming enhanced connectivity through the KMP (Kundli-Manesar- Palwal) Expressway and Dwarka Expressway, and the proposed metro rail extension of the Delhi-Gurgaon line all the way till Manesar.

The author is CEO - Operations & International Director, JLL India
Recently, the Bengaluru police arrested a gang of seven for hacking bank accounts and mobile wallets, having stolen lakhs from gullible account holders. The gang had hacked Axis Bank's mobile wallet app, LIME, and State Bank of India's Buddy app. A deputy manager at the former was among those arrested, being charged with having passed on customer information.

By presenting fake documents of bank customers, the accused obtained duplicate SIM cards of mobile numbers registered with the bank. Once they had access to the number, the money was transferred using mobile banking to different mobile wallets and then withdrawn from ATMs.

Srinivas Nidugondi, head of mobile financial solutions at Mahindra Comviva, says hackers and fraudsters are targeting wallets as there's minimum Know Your Customer compliance if the user holds up to Rs 10,000 in these. In such a case, the mobile wallet company only needs to know the mobile number and e-mail address of the customer. Also, if hackers have stolen credit card information, they transfer the money to a wallet at one go and later use it for multiple transactions. This saves them from procuring a one-time password (OTP) for each transaction.

DONT FALL PREY Dont reveal any information to strangers

Keep strong passwords

Avoid using public Wi-Fi

Keep a security app in your phone

Dont download unauthorised apps

Dont open attachments from unknown sources

Keep your phone protected using a PIN or pattern lock

Do your research and pick a wallet service thats credible

Responding to all this, wallet companies have started putting more security to curtail misuse. Sunil Kulkarni, deputy managing director of Oxigen Services, says cyber crimes can happen because of a malicious app or a weak password or loopholes in the system. It's not possible for any digital company to avoid hackers completely anywhere in the world. Serious players in this space have to catch up with criminals and introduce new security to avoid such instances.

When wallets lack security

When a person is doing the transaction, the mobile phone interacts with servers of the wallet company and data is exchanged. Nidugondi says he has come across a few wallet apps that don't follow basic rules like encrypting the data when a transaction is taking place.

Sidharth Bhansali, a tech blogger and e-marketing consultant, lost the money kept in his wallet because of a security glitch. A user in a different city could access Bhansali's wallet and transact on it and vice versa. The person used the money from Bhansali's wallet to order pizzas. Bhansali saved the screenshots and took the matter up with the wallet company. After fighting with it for a few months, the wallet company relented, apologised and offered compensation.

Action: If you can capture the security issue, preserve the proof; there are chances of recourse. However, if it's something you cannot identify, like a wallet's data which is not encrypted during transactions, there's little you can do. That's because if the transaction happens using all the correct credentials, the wallet company will not assume any responsibility. However, do approach the cyber crime cell in your city and file a complaint.

Precaution: It's difficult to know the security measures a wallet is using. So, there's little precaution you can take to avoid falling prey to attackers. The only option is to research on your own and opt for one that you find more reliable.

When hackers attack

This can be as complex as in the Bengaluru cyber crime and as simple as someone stealing your credentials by using malware. Rishi Ranjan Sharma, technology lead, corporate business (India & Saarc) at F-Secure, says the most common attack is termed social engineering. In this, cyber criminals make the person reveal confidential information by interacting with them. Say, someone pretending to be from your wallet company calls and says they're upgrading all systems and would like to cross-check your credentials.

Then, there's brute-force attack. In this, hackers systematically check all possible keys and passwords until they find the correct one. Those with weak or common passwords fall prey. There are also instances when hackers can control a public Wi-Fi. Any data that passes through the Wi-Fi, such as password or card number, can be captured and misused.

The most common way a person's credential is compromised is malware. This can get into your mobile through an e-mail attachment or when you download an unauthorised app. In rare cases, even apps from Google Play Store get installed in your mobile. According to mobile security firm Lookout, in October 2015 it found a malware called Brain Test in 13 apps, written by the same developers on Google Play Store. They contacted Google, which promptly removed those. The app transmits all your data to the attacker, including keystrokes.

Action: If your account is compromised, immediately call the wallet company and bank to block services. If you lose your phone, Sharma says one should erase all the information using the Device Manager in Play Store. For a phone affected by malware, Lookout says a simple factory reset is not enough. The best option for most users would be to re-flash a ROM supplied by the device's manufacturer.

Precaution: Don't reveal any information to strangers. Keep passwords that are strong with letters, numbers and characters. Avoid using public Wi-Fi. Keep a security app in your phone. Don't download an unauthorised app or open attachments from strangers. Also, keep your phone protected, using a PIN or pattern.

Many cyber criminals also steal card details, sign up on a wallet service instantly and transfer money to it. Wallet companies have started putting security against such frauds. FreeCharge, for example, does not allow transfer of money to a bank for 72 hours after a person puts the money in their wallet, says Govind Rajan, its head if operations. He says 99 per cent of card users complain within 24 hours in case of fraud. Oxigen has the same feature.

Virender Gupta, head of PayUmoney Checkout & Wallet, says they do device fingerprinting. When a person changes a SIM card but retains the same phone, the technology checks whether the device is the same as was used for earlier transactions. FreeCharge also uses the technology. Both the companies also have velocity checks, wherein they track a person's usage pattern and in case of anything suspicious, they block the transaction.

Wallet companies are also looking for newer and more secure technologies. Somit Somani, deputy general manager at Paytm, says the company is evaluating features such as face and sound recognition.

One of the wallets I was using started redirecting me to someone else's account. And instead of showing my wallet details, it showed details of another user - even exposed few digits of his credit card. This went on for weeks. At that time my wallet had Rs 1,000 or so. Finally, I called up the company and explained the issue. I was told my phone number was linked to two accounts. So, they blocked the account of the user, whose details were visible to me. Thereafter, I was able to smoothly use my wallet. But soon after, I received an SMS, which said that pizzas were ordered using my wallet. When I checked, Rs 914 was deducted from my wallet. I went to the company's Twitter page and complained. And, noticed there were many like me, complaining their accounts were hacked. The reply from the company said that because all correct credentials were used they cannot do anything about the transaction. It was after I posted my experience on a few websites with screenshots of the glitch, the company changed its stance and offered a refund.



Sidharth Bhansali

E-marketing consultant


The expelled AIADMK leader Sasikala has said that she is ready to face all enquiries against her over the death of former Tamil Nadu chief ...
Around this time last year, President Barack Obama, chief guest at the Republic Day parade of 2015, while addressing a meeting of Members of Parliament of the two houses, said India had opted for the harder options in all spheres and become a model for the world. On Indian democracy, he said: "Instead of being lured by the false notion that progress must come at the expense of freedom, you built the institutions upon which true democracy depends - free and fair elections, which enable citizens to choose their own leaders without recourse to arms, an independent judiciary and the rule of law, which allows people to address their grievances; and a thriving free press and vibrant civil society which allows every voice to be heard. This year, as India marks 60 years with a strong and democratic constitution, the lesson is clear: India has succeeded, not in spite of democracy; India has succeeded because of democracy." Obviously all this was music to the ears of those in Parliament's Central Hall, where the speech was delivered:. Maybe not for the first time, MPs might have reflected on a system that, on the face of it, makes no caste, class or identity distinction in actualising democracy.

That's the irony. Indian democracy lives and thrives because of the party system. Political parties are what sustains the (largely) representative system. And, yet, two tendencies jostle each other in all political parties barring the Left. One, to democratise themselves, so that the best talent is allowed to be showcased by the parties in elections but the second, mimicking Indian society, to create systems that ensure perpetration of families and dynasties, interest groups and kitchen cabinets.

Political parties don't want internal political systems to be scrutinised. Although the demand for change is growing, they are fighting to ensure the status quo stays. This does make you wonder whether India is really as democratic as everyone says it is. For, if a vehicle that carries democracy forward is itself undemocratic, how can it serve the interests of the people it claims to represent?



Tenure

Amit Shah was this week re-elected president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a second three-year term. It was an uncontested poll; nobody stood against him. The BJP describes itself as "one of the few parties in India to have a popular-based governing structure, where workers and leaders at the local level have a great say in much of the decision-making". In fact, the President is an all-powerful individual and all office bearers - all of whom are appointed by him - serve a term concurrent with his.

The president is powerful because he can initiate a change in the party constitution - it is not a process that can begin from the lower reaches of the party. When Nitin Gadkari was president of the party (2009), he got the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to sign off on a proposal to extend the president's tenure to consecutive terms. This had never happened before and, understandably, the brass in the BJP saw this as a way to bend the will of the party to the will of the president. At a council meeting, senior leader Rajnath Singh moved the resolution to amend Article 21 of the BJP's constitution seconded by Venkaiah Naidu, former president. Members of the Council approved the resolution unanimously. The amendment was passed by the BJP at its national executive and even as the amendment was being ratified by it, Naidu explained, almost parenthetically, that the passage did not mean the incumbent would automatically get a second term - it was only an enabling provision.

The first time the party constitution was amended was in similar circumstances, and also related to tenure of the party president. In 2006, an amendment became necessary because the RSS wanted Rajnath Singh to continue in office for three years instead of the constitutional two. This was not the result of a move to democratise the party but because of political exigencies: Rajnath Singh had to take over as president from L K Advani, removed from office midway through his term because of his statements about Jinnah on a Pakistan visit. Singh was asked to take charge for the remaining year of Advani's original tenure and later made president in January 2006. The BJP then decided all its presidents should have a three-year term. You could argue that changing the party constitution to extend or reduce a president's term is hardly a factor in internal democracy, especially when there are parties like the Congress around where organisational elections are - largely - a farce. That's another story.

CONGRESS: DEMOCRACY UNBOUND  IN THEORY



The primary committee is the basic unit in the party. This corresponds to a polling booth in a Lok Sabha constituency. It elects its own president, vice- president, treasurer and an executive committee

Each primary committee sends a delegate to a Block Congress Committee. This could be the president of the primary committee or someone else

Each block committee elects six members to the District Congress Committee (DCC) through secret ballot.

The block committee also elects a delegate to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).

All PCC members are members of the All India Congress Committee.

AICC is a huge organisation, with representation from all sections of the party, including frontal organizations like the Mahila Congress. This is the body that formally elects the president of the Indian National Congress. BJP: BOTTOM-UP, ON PAPER Local Committees: The lowest units to have elections are 'local committees', which have a minimum of 25 members.

The lowest units to have elections are 'local committees', which have a minimum of 25 members. Mandal Committees: The president and members of the 'mandal' are elected, not nominated, by presidents of the local committees.

The president and members of the 'mandal' are elected, not nominated, by presidents of the local committees. District Committees: For the president of the district committee, members of mandal committees elect a 'mandal pratinidhi'. The presidents of all mandal committees and 'mandal pratinidhis' elect the district president. The district president nominates members to the district executive.

For the president of the district committee, members of mandal committees elect a 'mandal pratinidhi'. The presidents of all mandal committees and 'mandal pratinidhis' elect the district president. The district president nominates members to the district executive. State Council comprises members of district executives, some of the MLAs and MPs. The state president is elected by members of the state council. He then forms his state executive.

National Council: State councils elect members for this body. It also comprises former party presidents, all state presidents and MPs.

State councils elect members for this body. It also comprises former party presidents, all state presidents and MPs. The BJP's national president is then elected by an electoral college, which comprises members of the National Council, elected state councils, and 10 per cent of party MPs, elected by all party MPs.

In 2013, Rahul Gandhi was 'elected' vice-president of the Congress at a meeting of the party in Jaipur. Before that, he was general secretary. In his speech Gandhi spoke powerfully about how he wanted to change the party. "Until we start to respect and empower people for their knowledge and understanding, we can't change anything in this country," he said. "All our public systems-administration, justice, education, political systems-are designed to keep people with knowledge out. They are all closed systems."But, before that, in the run-up to organisational elections, messages flew between Gandhi's lieutenants and state leaders about who should be candidates. In Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhi's team member Jitendra Singh spoke to Congress strongman Ajit Jogi's son, Amit (since expelled from the party), to dissuade him from contesting the elections. Though 'Team Rahul' managed to prevent Amit from contesting, it could do nothing about the post being won by his supporter, Uttam Kumar Vasudeo. In Jharkhand, Manas Sinha, a youth leader who had the support of Subodh Kant Sahay (then a cabinet minister), became president. Priyavrat Singh, a supporter of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh was elected in Madhya Pradesh. "Only those who have a corpus of Rs 5-10 lakh can aspire to win the Assembly-level Youth Congress elections," said a YC functionary from Bihar, who did not want to be named.

The Congress has a hoary tradition of not holding organisational elections. These were suspended from 1973 because Indira Gandhi, who had fought the so-called Syndicate after her father's death and had managed to crush the traditional leadership of the party, wanted the organisation to be fashioned after her will.

The Gandhi family's influence endured even when it was not directly in . After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar threw his hat in the ring for the prime ministership against P V Narasimha Rao. Rao became PM and much later installed Sitaram Kesri as party president. In December 1997, Sonia Gandhi indicated she wanted to play a more active role in Congress . It took the party less than three months to throw out Kesri, and put Gandhi in his place.

AAP, too

The latest kid on the block, the Aam Aadmi Party, has gone through a celebrated break-up. Whether the expulsion of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav was constitutional or not is a secondary matter. The fact is that elements who are seen as loyal to them continue to be targeted.

Party MLA Pankaj Pushkar, was suspended from the Delhi Assembly in November last year, he suspects because he opposed the party's action against Yadav and Bhushan. "I wanted to raise the issue of EWS (poorer sections) category admissions in schools and creches on Delhi Development Authority land in the capital under the calling attention provision. The government could just have stated whether it was being complied with or not...instead, I was suspended from the House. The Speaker's step tends towards being dictatorial," Pushkar said. This issue is now being heard in the high court.

Right to Information

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is currently fighting a case in the Supreme Court that political parties be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The argument is based on the legal premise that political parties are defined as 'public authorities' and Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act extends to them. This is based on a ruling to this effect by the Chief Information Commissioner in 2013. However, all political parties dispute this and say the RTI does not extend to them.

As a result, ADR went to the SC. Its petition, filed in November 2015, asks the court to direct "national and regional political parties to disclose for public scrutiny complete details of their income, expenditure, donations and funding including details of donors making donations to these political parties and their electoral trusts". Once funding issues become public, the result will be internal elections that are more democratic, without fudging voters' lists (in the Congress) and minus the caprices of the top leadership (BJP).
India-France relations will be in focus as French President Francois Hollande visits India as chief guest for the 67th Republic Day. Hollande visited Chandigarh on Sunday - whether he will go to former French colony Puducherry is not certain - and energy and defence purchases are on top of the agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been to France twice in 2015, on a bilateral visit in April and for the Climate Change Summit in November. Besides, Indian and French leaders have taken time out for bilateral discussions at practically all multilateral events, such as the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September and the G20 meet in Antalya, Turkey, in November. This will be Hollande's second visit to India, the earlier one being two years ago.

On his first visit to France, Modi sprung a surprise at a joint press conference with Hollande in Palais Elysee and announced India would buy 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in fly-away condition, saying the terms of this deal would be finalised shortly. The announcement came as a big relief to Dassault, which was on the verge of closing down the Rafale assembly line as it had no firm orders on hand from anywhere.

Hopes are high that the deal would be sealed during Hollande's visit with clear timetables for delivery of the aircraft and setting the scene for a bigger defence deal between the two sides.

Ansari to visit Brunei and Thailand

On February 1 to 5, Vice-President Hamid Ansari will visit Brunei and Thailand. This will by the fist visit by an Indian Vice-President to Thailand in about 50 years. No Vice-President has ever been to Brunei. In Brunei (February 1-3), Ansari will meet Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Brunei has become an important partner and ally for India in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), especially as India-Asean coordinator from 2013 to 2015. Brunei supports India's stand on Jammu & Kashmir and has endorsed India's candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Also, a part of India's requirements of crude and gas can be met from Brunei. The volume of annual trade is only about $1 billion, which is likely to be scaled up with the visit. Brunei has an expatriate Indian population of about 10,000 - mostly doctors, health professionals and teachers. Ansari will be in Thailand from February 3 to 5. Although domestic in that country is in a bit of a flux, Ansari will hold discussions with Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayut Chan-o-cha and will have an audience with Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is a Sanskrit scholar.

J&K government might be formed this week

Will a government in Jammu & Kashmir be formed this week? The candidate for chief minister from the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, is likely to hold out as long as possible to convey the impression that the PDP is not a bunch of power-hungry politicians. The state government was to present its Budget on January 12. That is long gone. Now, everyone is waiting for a chief minister.
University of Hyderabad research scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide has reignited the opposition campaign against the alleged political interference in university affairs, with Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya's letter being presented as evidence. Street protests in Delhi, Hyderabad and elsewhere have led a stream of political leaders to Hyderabad, many demanding the resignation of Dattatreya. He'd written to the ministry of human resource development (HRD) action be taken against Rohith and four others for allegedly assaulting a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a body close to his political party. The rustication of these four and Rohith, and their expulsion from the hostel and suspension of Rohith's fellowship, it is alleged, led him to take the extreme step.

University authorities received five letters from the HRD ministry in a matter of two and half months starting September 3, 2015, all seeking to know what action had been taken on the issue raised by Dattatreya.

Never in his long political career, twice as Union minister, would Dattatreya, 70, have received this kind of attention. In Andhra Pradesh, he is better known for his simplicity and easy access to people and party cadre. Dattatreya started as a pracharak (full-time worker) in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his younger days. While working as state joint secretary of the Loka Sangarsha Samiti, he was jailed during the 1975-77 emergency period. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980 and has held various senior positions in it, including the state president, beside being a four-time MP.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Secunderabad constituency for the first time in 1991. He was re-elected in 1998 and served as Union minister of state (MoS) for urban development. He won the election a third time from Secunderabad in 1999 and was again inducted in the Vajpayee government, first as MoS for urban development till 2001 and then as MoS for railways (2001-2003).

In the 2014 elections, he again won from Seconderabad and was inducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as minister of labour and employment, an MoS but with independent charge. The sole representative in the Union Cabinet from Telangana, he has preferred to spend most of his time in Hyderabad, taking part in local activities.

His elevation in the party was largely on account of cordial relations with senior colleagues from the state, such as Venkaiah Naidu. He also maintained good relations with leaders of other parties, particularly with N Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party, which was and continues to be a BJP ally.

As the controversy grew, Dattatreya put out his side of the story - that all he had done was forward complaints he had got from locals about the behavior of Rohith and others. The subtext is the need for the BJP to grow its political capital, both through the party structure and via student . The move is seen as having backfired, as Dalits are now questioning the BJP's commitment to their empowerment.
Thirteen people were arrested from different places today for allegedly leaking the question papers of Rajasthan Jail Warder examination, which was conducted across the state, senior police officials said.

Jaipur Commissioner of police Srinivas Rao Janga said eight people have been arrested in connection of leaking question papers of Rajasthan Jail Warder examination, which was held today, and recovered Rs 1.60 lakh in cash and also eight mobile phones from them.

Five persons were arrested from Kota.

According to Kota Superintendent of Police, five persons were arrested by Bhimganjmandi police in the district, for helping the candidates in the clearing the examination by leaking the question papers.

Police has also recovered several mobile handsets and Rs 44,000 in cash, he added.

Around 7.5 lakh candidates appeared in the examination.
Swine flu has killed at least 19 people in the last one week in Pakistan's Punjab province with Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan districts being the most affected by the H1N1 influenza, health officials said today.

"The death-toll from a swine flu outbreak in Punjab has now climbed to 19 as 64 more are being treated in different hospitals," Punjab Health Services Director General Doctor Amjad Shehzad told reporters.

"We have alerted the hospitals to make arrangements to cater to the rising swine flu patients. All possible measures are being taken to control the disease," he said.

Shehzad cautioned the public to use masks at public places and said Swine flu is a contagious disease as its germs can be transmitted through infected person's sneeze or cough.

It infects with ease to those whose immune system is weak. Swine flu also affects children more than adults.
In a shocking incident, three girl students of a private college near here allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well, owing to the 'exorbitant' college fees collected from them.

The incident that happened yesterday comes after the recent protests by students alleging collection of exorbitant fee by the Yoga and Naturopathy college at Chinna Salem near here.

There were also complaints of lack of amenities, police said.

The deceased girls have been identified as second year students, V Priyanka, T Monisha and E Saranya.

The girls had allegedly tied themselves together with a dupatta and had later jumped into a farm well near the college.

The bodies were retrieved by police and fire brigade personnel and sent to a government hospital for autopsy, police said.

Anxiety and tension prevailed in the area as residents, students and parents gathered at the spot of the incident. They protested against the college and paid respects to the dead students.

Police added they were probing the case but declined to comment if a suicide note was found.
Six alleged hunters were arrested at Balmiki Nagar tiger reserve area on Indo-Nepal boarder in Bihar's West Champaran district late last night, a forest officer said today.

Acting on a tip-off, a group of forest officials raided Balmiki tiger reserved area and arrested six hunters who were on search of wild animals in the forest, Madanpur Forest ranger Anand Kumar said.

Those arrested hailed from Sirisia Pahari tola and Jarlahiya village under Naurangia police station of the district, he added.

The three have been sent to judicial custody, the Forest officer said.

Three Nets have been recovered from the arrested hunters, he added.
Seven suspected Islamic State (IS) militants, who had been plotting attacks on strategic locations in Malaysia, were arrested during a series of raids across the country, police said today.

One of the arrested militants was in contact with an extremist blamed for the deadly Jakarta attack.

The suspected IS militants, aged between 26 and 50, were detained in Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Kedah, Pahang and Selangor by the Special Branch police during in multiple swoops nationwide since Friday, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said.

The police chief in a statement said the suspects were planning attacks on strategic locations in the country.

One of those arrested had been in communication with Indonesian extremist Bahrom Naim, who is believed to be the founding member of a Southeast Asian offshoot of the Islamic State group.

Indonesian police claim that Naim orchestrated from IS-held territory in Syria the gun and bomb attack in Jakarta on January 14 that killed eight people, including the four attackers.

Of the seven arrested, one was working as a hotel assistant manager while the other was a store caretaker at a factory.

Another 50-year-old suspect arrested from Kedah was a sweet seller and responsible for acquiring funds to cover expenses for those intending to join the IS.

"The money was also for funding attacks in Malaysia. The other suspect nabbed was his assistant," he said.

During the raids, police also seized 30 bullets of different calibres, books on jihad, IS flags and a propaganda video.
AAP today accused Uttarakhand's Congress government of trying to benefit real estate companies by constructing smart city on tea estates.

AAP workers also held a demonstration at the proposed site yesterday to protest the state government's move.

Leading the protest demonstration, AAP leader Anoop Nautiyal alleged that the state government's decision was aimed at helping corporate giants.

Nautiyal claimed he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to reject the state's smart city proposal.

The proposed Smart City project on the tea estate land has already drawn opposition from the BJP and environmentalists besides the locals and plantation workers.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat had earlier made it clear that the 'Smart City' project would be taken up on the tea estates due to non-availability of suitable land elsewhere.

However, Rawat had assured welfare of the workers and residents of the area would be ensured and a major part of the proposed Smart City will be left as 'green cover'.
At least four persons including an Afghan seminary teacher and a child were today injured in a roadside bomb blast here in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

The remote-controlled blast, triggered through an improvised explosive device, hit the vehicle of Qari Salahuddin, an Afghan national who runs a madrassa here, they said.

His two associates who were travelling in the vehicle and a child in the proximity were also injured in the blast that took place near Chamkani vegetable market.

All the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors said their injuries were not life-threatening.

Salahuddin's vehicle was nearly 10 kilometres away from an Afghan refugee camp when it was targeted, police said, adding that investigators arrived at the scene and collected evidences.

There was no information immediately available about the attackers.
The Afghan Taliban today reiterated their pre-conditions for the resumption of peace talks with Kabul, including their removal from international terror blacklists, at an informal meeting with lawmakers and activists in Doha.

Members of the Taliban's political office in Qatar launched two days of discussion with an Afghan delegation yesterday as momentum grows for the start of a formal peace process. The militant group emphasised its hardline stance on talks aimed at ending their 14-year insurgency, ruling out negotiations until their preconditions were met.

"Before any official talks, we want names of our mujahideen to be removed from UN and US blacklists and all bounties on their heads be cancelled," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, listing the group's demands at the Qatar conference. "We also want our political office in Doha to be officially re-opened."



The Taliban opened an office in Qatar in June 2013 as a first move towards a possible peace deal. But it shut a month later after enraging then Afghan president Hamid Karzai by styling itself as the unofficial embassy for a government-in- exile.

Afghan government officials are not attending the meeting in the Gulf emirate, which is organised by Pugwash Conferences, an international group that promotes conflict resolution. But it marks a rare direct interaction between the Taliban and Afghan lawmakers and civil society members amid an international push to revive talks.

The meeting comes after delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States convened in Kabul last Monday for a second round of talks seeking a negotiated end to the insurgency.

The first round of the so-called "roadmap" talks was held in Islamabad earlier this month in a bid to lay the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the Islamist group.

Taliban representatives were notably absent in both rounds and analysts caution that any substantive talks are still a long way off. Despite the push to restart talks, the Taliban have ramped up violence across Afghanistan.

Seven employees of popular Afghan TV channel TOLO were killed on Wednesday when a Taliban car bomber rammed into their minibus in Kabul, just months after the militants declared the network a legitimate "military target".

At least 25 other people were wounded in the bombing near the Russian embassy in downtown Kabul, in the first direct assault on an Afghan media organisation since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001.
Air India plans to lease out 17,000 sq ft of commercial space at its erstwhile headquarters in Mumbai, which could fetch the state-owned carrier an additional Rs 5 crore revenues annually.

The state-owned airline, which is surviving on government funds as part of a long-term turnaround plan, already rakes in more than Rs 80 crore annually from leasing out of floors in that building.

As many as 16 floors of this 23-storey iconic building located in South Mumbai and opened in 1974 have been leased out.

The airline has already rented out most of the 4,49,000 sq ft space of the iconic Air India Tower facing the Arabian Sea in the country's financial capital.

Air India is hoping to mop up an additional amount of up to Rs 5 crore annually by way of leasing out an additional 17,297 sq ft of space, a senior airline official told PTI.

"We are expecting a premium considering the location of the property. We are hopeful of leasing out the proposed space for an up to Rs 300 sq ft per month," the official said.

The airline plans to lease out the additional space for a period of up to nine years, the official noted. They would be at the ground and first floors as well as part of the eighth floor.

Some commercial space at the building have already been leased out to State Bank of India, Mahila Bank, Income Tax and Service Tax Departments.

With regard to leasing out more space at Air India Tower building, the airline recently invited bids from government institutions and reputed private companies.

The carrier is looking to lease out the vacant premises in the building to large corporates, government organisations and international banks, among others.

As part of the airline's asset monetisation plan, the government last month approved an Air India proposal to sell its plot of land in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) Ltd for Rs 19.81 crore.

The asset monetisation plan, approved along with its turnaround plan by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs in April 2012, took off after a delay of nearly three years in 2015.

In November 2015 also, the loss-making carrier was allowed to sell four residential flats in Mumbai to public sector lender SBI for about Rs 90 crore.

Under the asset monetisation plan, Air India has to mop up Rs 5,000 crore over 10 years, starting from fiscal 2013-14, in its bid to bridge the widening mismatch in its revenue and expenditure.

The assets being considered under the plan are spread across Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, among other places.

Grappling with a heavy debt burden, the airline has been exploring various options to raise money to meet its funding requirements.

Air India is surviving on a Rs 30,231 crore bailout package extended by the previous UPA government in 2012. Under the Turnaround Plan (TAP), which runs till March 2021, it has already received Rs 22,280 crore.
Elected unanimously as BJP President today, Amit Shah will be meeting L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to seek the "blessings" of the veterans, who were conspicuous by their absence at the party headquarters during the elections.

Shah, who has been elected for a three-year term, also will be meeting ailing former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday, party sources said.

Shah will be meeting Advani tonight, a party source said.

His meeting with Joshi is scheduled for Tuesday after his return from West Bengal where he will be on a day-long trip tomorrow.

Advani and Joshi, who have been critical of Shah's leadership, were conspicuous by their absence at the party headquarters here today when the entire party leadership was celebrating the BJP chief's re-election.

They have been upset ever since they were made members of 'Margdarshak Mandal', which is seen by many as an indication that they have been rendered irrelevant in the party's affairs.
Arab nations are looking to Chinese visitors to revive their tourism sectors, battered by security fears, and also need to develop homegrown tourism as a lifeline, ministers from the region say.

Bookings to nations in North Africa and the Middle East, which had been recovering after the Arab spring unrest, fell last year following deadly attacks claimed by Islamic extremists in Tunisia and Egypt that caused foreigners to shun beaches and historic sites across the region.

But visitor numbers from China to Egypt soared last year despite a series of security blows to the country's key tourism sector in 2015 because the government began to allow charter flights from the Asian country, Egyptian Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said.

The number of Chinese visitors to Egypt more than doubled from 60,000 in 2014 to 135,000 in 2015, "in a year in which we suffered a lot", he said at a conference on tourism policies in Arab nations at the Madrid international tourism fair Fitur.

In September eight Mexican tourists were mistakenly killed by Egyptian security forces in the vast Western Desert.

The following month a Russian airliner crashed in the Sinai desert shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.

The Islamic State jihadist group said it downed the aircraft and tens of thousands of foreign tourists, including some 80,000 Russians and 20,000 Britons, were stranded in the resort after flights were cancelled for security reasons.

Egypt has also boosted promotion efforts in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations, leading to a sharp increase in the number of visitors from those nations and is doing more to promote domestic tourism, Zaazou said.

The country is banking on the short memory of global travellers who have been scared off and returned to the country before, most vividly after the Luxor massacre in 1997 in which over 60 people were killed, mostly Swiss and Japanese, he added.

"I believe 2016 will be the year tourists come back to Egypt and our part of the world," the minister said.

Like Egypt, Morocco has stepped up its efforts to develop its domestic tourism market to help offset fluctuations in the arrival of foreigners, Morocco's Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad said.

The domestic market now accounts for 33 per cent of the nation's total tourism activity, up from 25 per cent in 2012.
In the second such incident in the capital region, car of an army officer was stolen from a south Delhi area today, sending alarm bells ringing here ahead of the Republic Day parade which will be attended by top Indian leaders and French President Francois Hollande.

The capital is already on high alert as security remains beefed up ahead of Republic Day celebrations following inputs regarding the presence of key members of several terror outfits here. The inputs were received immediately after the Pathankot attack.

Around 2.30 p.m today, the Santro car of a Colonel rank army officer, who is presently pursuing a medical course at AIIMS, went missing from near the post office in Lodhi Colony, police said.

There are two stickers on the windshield of the car, one pertaining to a premier medical institute and the other of an Army Officers' club in Dhaula Kuan. The car has a Haryana registration number.

"A case has been registered under relevant sections of the law and probe is underway," DCP (South) Prem Nath said.

Following the incident, an alert was issued in all police stations and picketings were intensified, police said.

This comes close on the heels of a similar incident wherein the car of an IG rank officer with a central security force was stolen from his residence in Noida Sector 23. The vehicle has not been tracked down yet.

On Friday, Delhi Police had issued an alert about a cab whose driver was killed and the vehicle robbed of from Pathankot, reminiscent of the Pathankot attack. The body of the driver was found at a bridge in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district, police said.

Security was taken a notch higher with the arrival of Hollande, who is the chief guest in this year's Republic Day celebrations, in the capital today.

At least 10 major heavily-guarded pickets were set up in each police district and commandos were fanned across the city with emphasis on popular markets and vital installations, a senior official said.

Police duty in the city borders has also been intensified and police in UP and Haryana have been informed about the stealing of the army officer's car.
The Upadhyay community here has threatened to boycott the assembly by-election for Muzaffarnagar seat if their demand for a Rs 30 lakh compensation to the family of a health worker who was gangraped is not met.

The president of the state Upadhyay Samaj, N R Upadhyay, said the government should provide a compensation of Rs 30 lakh to the victim's family and a job to one of her family members.

Failing which the community members would boycott the election slated for February 13, he said here last evening.

A Panchayat of the community would be convened at Chapra village on February 13 to decide the further course of action, Upadhyay said.

A 40-year-old married ASHA health worker at Chapra village was allegedly raped by four persons, who also circulated her objectionable video on social media, leading her to commit suicide on January 13.
Manmohan Singh government in 2006 had accepted that ashes in Renkoji Temple in Japan were those of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

It even instructed Indian ambassador to work out modalities to shift the mortal remains of the freedom fighter to newly constructed building of Indian Embassy there when the temple's priest indicated that the remains of Netaji could not be preserved with respect, according to the declassified files on Netaji, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday.

The points were made in a reply by Ministry of External Affairs to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who instructed the ministry to examine the issue of bringing back the last remains of Bose, it showed.

Singh had asked the MEA to examine the issue after he received a representation on December 7, 2006 from Subrata Bose, then Lok Sabha MP, who had stated that "countless Indians" were of the firm view that ashes in the Japanese temple were "not those of Netaji" and any decision of the government to take over the remains of Netaji from temple would be opposed "tooth and nail".

In its reply, Ministry of External Affairs had said that the Government of India has accepted that the ashes in the Renkoji Temple are those of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.

"The Head Priest of the Renkoji Temple has indicated that he may no longer be in a position to ensure preservations of the remains with due respect and honour.

"EAM has decided in principle that the remains of Netaji will be relocated to a suitable place in a new building of the Indian Embassy being constructed in Tokyo," the External Affairs Ministry pointed out.

It also said "Ambassador of India has been instructed to work out appropriate modalities for shifting the remains to the newly constructed building."



Ministry of External Affairs, which was under pressure from the Japanese government and the temple authorities, had reminded the Singh's government earlier as well about the issue of bringing back the ashes of Netaji.
Every Friday, a Muslim cleric tells a congregation assembled for prayers at an Osmanabad mosque about how harmful ISIS is.

Maulana Ismail Khari, who leads prayer at a mosque at Osmanabad in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, warns the youth against sympathising with the terror outfit as he has made it a mission to spread awareness among them about ISIS.

"What the Maulana is doing is praiseworthy and should be emulated by others," Maharashtra Police chief Praveen Dixit told PTI.

The Osmanabad police has recently felicitated Khari for his efforts.

Congress councillor from Osmanabad Khalil Syed said he had approached the cleric to help dissuade Muslim youths from joining ISIS in the backdrop of reports about some of them getting influenced by the terror organisation.

"Every Friday, before the sermon, the Maulana tells the congregation how harmful it will be for the youth getting influenced by ISIS," Syed told PTI.

"Principles of true Islam need to be told to the youth and that is what we are doing. The results were seen in Mumbai, Thane recently when students protested against ISIS," he said.

Syed, who is district unit minority cell president of Congress, said the anti-ISIS preachings began soon after Diwali, following which there have been queries from towns like Amravati, Beed, Parli and Dhule to start such teaching centres there as well.
Firm over not taking back her Sahitya Akademi award, noted writer Nayantara Sahgal today said the 'Award Wapasi' campaign has been a big success and that the writers' protest against intolerance continues.

In a letter to Sahitya Akademi secretary K Sreenivasarao, Sahgal said, "Let me make it clear that I have in no way 'reconsidered' my decision (to take back the award). My protest and that of other writers continues against the continuing attacks on freedom of expression".

The 88-year-old niece of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had spearheaded the 'Award Wapasi' campaign in October, 2015.

Asked by PTI about how successful the writers have been in getting their voices heard, Sahgal said, "It has already yielded huge results because the whole country is responding - not only writers. Historians, scientists, sociologists, filmstars, filmmakers, everybody is responding."



"It is only the government which is not responding. Because the government is a Hindutva government which has banned all disagreement. They (government) can't ban it (free speech) because we will speak, but they will punish us," said the author who spoke on intolerance at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet (TSKLM).

In the letter she reminded the literary body that she had returned the award in protest against the "Akademi's silence over the murder of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and earlier of Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare in Maharashtra."



She said it is Sahitya Akademi which seems to have done some reconsidering since its letter says that the Akademi has no policy of accepting returned awards.

"It is a pity that the Akademi has taken so many months to make this statement of policy. The cheque I sent you in October is in any case no longer valid," the letter reads.

The author said if they are returning the now invalid cheque the decision was theirs and not hers.

The Akademi had earlier said they are returning the cheques as there was no provision in its constitution to take back any honour once conferred upon a writer.

Asked about the timing of the decision, she said, "I think it has a lot to do with Rohith's suicide (in Hyderabad Central University) which I call murder. It is as good as murder. Technically suicide, but he was driven to murder.
For the first time, a cargo train loaded with over 1,000 tonnes of beer of a major Chinese brand has left for Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region ahead of a major festival, the state media reported.

The freight train departed the east China coastal city of Qingdao for the remote Lhasa city in southwest China on Friday night, the Ji'nan Railway Bureau said.

The train will spend seven days traveling more than 4,000 km, said Xing Fangmin, head of the Jiaozhou Railway Station, where the train started its journey.

Traffic on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway has been suspended due to snow, making the railroad a good way to transport goods to the plateau region.

It is also the first special cargo train to transport beer from Qingdao to Tibet, Xing was quoted as saying by Xinhua agency.

The beer shipment is intended to fulfill demand during the Spring Festival in Tibet. All of the packages and bottles are printed in Tibetan characters, according to sources with the Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of the beer.
"Empire" actor Malik Yoba has joined the debate over the lack of diversity at the upcoming Oscars, saying, getting nominated at the Oscars should not be considered a "birthright" by people.

Yoba, 48, becomes the latest celebrity to openly slam the "So-white" Oscars after stars like George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon and Will Smith criticised the academy for ignoring artists of colour despite acclaimed performances.

Posting on Instagram a photo of the New York Post front page story, whose headline read "This weekend will be... Whiter than the Oscars."



Yoba wrote, "Only in NY will this happen. Such an interesting time we're living in. The more things change the more things stay the same. A function of living inauthentically and disconnected from the eternal truth that God is love and we were all made in His image.

Praising the protests by his colleagues, he added, "From atheist to believers one thing is certain, everybody wants to feel loved, honoured, included, acknowledged and feel the support of their peers. Working in a business that doesn't always see the big picture is a challenge but being included is not a given or a birthright.

"All we can do as individuals is continue to honour our gifts and work toward building our own pathways to get our stories out to the masses. None of this is easy and every little bit counts including the protestations. Happy Friday Fam!! It's a great day to be alive as we take nothing from granted #truth #honor #oscars #hollywood #america #actor #blessing #pop #popculture.
BJP candidate Zankhana Patel today won the by-election of Choryasi Assembly seat in Surat by defeating Congress candidate Dhansukh Rajput with a comfortable margin of more than 43,000 votes.

Zankhana Patel (35) received 90,089 votes while Rajput got 46,651 votes, as per the final figures released by election officials after counting ended here this afternoon.

Out of the total 1.48 votes polled on January 21, 1,254 went in favour of NOTA (None Of The Above).

Thirty-eight per cent voter turnout was recorded during the polling to Choryasi Assembly seat, as around 1.48 lakh voters out of total 3.91 lakh registered voters exercised their franchise during the by-election.

The election was necessitated after sitting BJP MLA Rajendra Patel (60), popularly known as Raja Patel, died of dengue at a hospital in Mumbai in August last year.

In total, 26 candidates were in fray, including one each from main political parties - BJP and Congress - and 24 independents.

Gujarat BJP selected Raja Patel's daughter Zankhana Patel as party's candidate for the by-election, while Congress gave ticket to 57-year-old Dhansukh Rajput.
BJP chief Amit Shah travelled an average 495 km per day and visited 32 states and Union territories in his 18-month first term in his bid to strengthen the organisation, the party said today as he started his second term at the helm.

Under Shah, the party became the world's "largest political party" as its membership grew from less than 3 crore to more than 11 crore and won in four of the six states where it fought the assembly elections.

Though he has faced flak for the crushing defeats the party suffered in Delhi and Bihar, BJP said that it was not in power in any of the six states and it succeeded in having its chief ministers in Maharashtra and Haryana for the first time.

"BJP, which had failed to cross double digits in Haryana, won majority on its own and formed its first government in the state. The party registered its best electoral performance in Jammu and Kashmir. It may not have won in Delhi and Bihar but it retained its vote share in the capital city and significantly increased the same in Bihar," it said in a statement.

"In the last 18 months, Shah travelled an average of more than 495 km every single day and covered 2,65,600 km across the length and breadth of the country," it said.

After taking charge in August 2014, he got down to the task of establishing contact with party leaders and workers and the first and third Mondays of the month were designated for his 'Jan-Samwad' (dialouge with public) where both workers and leaders could meet him without appointment.

51-year-old Shah also started direct contact with party



leaders at district level to listen to their issues, boost their morale and solve their problems. "He participated in over 16 such public interactions where he met more than 6,000 people."



Under his tenure, training camps were held for workers for the first time on a grand scale at national, state, district and block levels, the party said, noting that while earlier only 3500 workers on an average participated in these camps annually, more than 725000 workers joined the camps in 2015 due to his "perseverance".

The statement said that as part of measures to ensure best practices in the party, he "discouraged" use of private planes for travel, other than during elections and also followed it.

"He encouraged party officials and workers to stay in state government guest houses and not in expensive hotels during their travel. He set an example by observing the same," it said.

He held as many as 176 rallies.

The membership drive, which was driven by optimum use of information technology, ensured "complete transparency" and fake membership was weeded out.

"During the membership drive, special attention was paid to seven states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal where BJP has been traditionally weak. The response to membership drive from these states was encouraging, which indicates towards party's bright future," it said.
Black Death, the historical plague pandemic in the mid-fourteenth century, may have been hiding in Europe for more than 400 years, a new study has found.

Black Death is undoubtedly the most famous historical pandemic. Within only five years it killed 30-50 per cent of the European population, researchers said.

Unfortunately it did not stop there. Plague resurged throughout Europe leading to continued high mortality and social unrest over the next three centuries.

With its nearly worldwide distribution today, the once omnipresent threat of plague is all but absent in Western Europe, the researchers said.

Scientists led by members of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for the Science of Human History in Germany, have taken one important step forward to understanding the European plagues of our not-so-distant past.

They report the reconstruction of complete pathogen genomes from victims of the Great Plague of Marseille (1720-1722), which is conventionally assumed to be the last outbreak of medieval plague in Europe.

Using teeth from plague pits in Marseille, the team was able to access tiny fragments of DNA that had been preserved for hundreds of years.

"We faced a significant challenge in reconstructing these ancient genomes," said Alexander Herbig.

"To our surprise, the 18th century plague seems to be a form that is no longer circulating, and it descends directly from the disease that entered Europe during the Black Death, several centuries earlier," Herbig said.

Being distinct from all modern forms of plague, the scientists believe they have identified an extinct form of the disease.

Lead author Kirsten Bos cautioned that the geographical source of the disease cannot be identified yet.

Marseille was a big hub of trade in the Mediterranean, so the Great Plague of Marseille could have been imported from any number of places by ship and cargo. However, she said that it equally could have been close to home.

"Our results suggest that the disease was hiding somewhere in Europe for several hundred years," Bos said.

"It's a chilling thought that plague might have once been hiding right around the corner throughout Europe, living in a host which is not known to us yet," said Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the MPI.

The study was published in the journal eLife.
Foreign tourists who survived when their ship capsized off an idyllic Caribbean island were flown to mainland Nicaragua with the bodies of fellow passengers killed in the accident.

Thirteen people drowned when the small tourist ship capsized yesterday off the coast of Little Corn Island Saturday with 32 passengers on board, including Americans, Britons and Latin Americans.

All 13 killed were from Costa Rica, which declared a day of national mourning for today.

Nine bodies were flown to the Nicaraguan capital Managua from Big Corn Island, where the survivors and cadavers were taken after a frantic rescue operation by the Nicaraguan navy.

The Corn Islands, which sit about 70 kilometers (45 miles) off the Nicaraguan coast, are remote outposts known for white-sand beaches and crystalline waters.

Some survivors of the accident broke down in tears on arrival at the Managua airport.

The bodies were loaded into ambulances and taken for autopsy.

Officials have not said whether the bodies of the other four victims have been recovered.

One survivor, a Costa Rican man, disputed the Nicaraguan authorities' claim that the ship's captain defied a storm alert.

"There have been false reports that the weather was bad," he said, declining to give his name.

The airlifted survivors comprised 13 Costa Ricans, two Americans, two Britons and a Brazilian woman.

Three Nicaraguans were also aboard the ship - a passenger, the captain and his crewmate.

Media reports said the captain, who was also owner of the vessel, was arrested after being rescued, as authorities began an investigation.

The Nicaraguan government said President Daniel Ortega had ordered expedited autopsies so that the bodies could be repatriated yesterday to Costa Rica, whose relations with neighboring Nicaragua have been strained in recent months.
Burials have begun for the 10 Burkina Faso nationals killed in last week's attack on a cafe and hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, highlighting the local toll suffered in the latest West African country targeted by Islamic extremists.

Three burial services were held Friday and more were expected over the weekend, as Burkina Faso remains fearful of further violence.

For many in Ouagadougou, the attack "the first of its kind in Burkina Faso" points to the need for more stringent security measures to help the country rebound from a period of unrest, including the toppling of the longtime President Blaise Compaore in 2014 and a brief, failed coup last September.

"We are asking our authorities to ensure security and we wish these measures to be visible," said Celestin Pierre Zoungrana, chairman of the hotel and restaurant owners' association in Burkina Faso. "We thought the economy was back on track and we could revamp but we made a mistake and set down our arms, and the terrorists proved us wrong."



Security worries were further heightened on Friday, when soldiers who belonged to Burkina Faso's former presidential guard attacked an armoury west of the country's capital. The elite force, loyal to Compaore, was behind last year's coup attempt and was later disbanded. Officials said last night 10 soldiers and one civilian had been arrested in connection with the armoury raid.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was inaugurated as president at the end of last year and named his cabinet just days before the Jan 15 violence. The new team must respond to the changing security situation, said Cynthia Ohayon, West Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group. "They will have to reorganise the guards, their equipment and their know-how," she said.

According to the latest government figures, the extremist attack killed 30 people: 10 from Burkina Faso, six Canadians, three Ukrainians, one Italian, one Libyan, two Swiss, one Dutch, one Portuguese, two French nationals, one American, one French-Moroccan and one who has yet to be identified.

The government offered a mass memorial service for the local victims, but the families decided to have private burials.

Kabore attended a ceremony Friday at Ouagadougou's Catholic cathedral for Jean-Pascal Kinda, a former Olympic official who was killed.
An army official says 10 soldiers have been arrested in Burkina Faso in connection with a raid on an armoury outside the capital.

Willy Yameogo, director of communications for the army, said yesterday that all 10 were former members of Burkina Faso's presidential guard, a unit loyal to longtime President Blaise Compaore who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014.

The presidential guard was disbanded after members staged a brief, failed coup last September.

The Friday morning raid on the weapons warehouse outside Ouagadougou came just one week after Islamic extremists attacked a cafe and hotel in the capital, killing at least 30 people.

Yameogo said one civilian was also arrested. He described this person as a "religious" figure but did not provide any details. He said more arrests were expected.
The Union Cabinet today recommended imposition of President's Rule in Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh, which is rocked by political turmoil that broke out last month.

Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet at an unscheduled meeting this morning took the decision to recommend imposition of President's rule in the northeast state, official sources said in Delhi.

It is learnt that the Cabinet also recommended that the state Assembly be kept under suspended animation.

The recommendation drew stinging condemnation from the opposition with Congress alleging democracy was being trampled and that Modi was "fountainhead" of political intolerance while a shocked Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said such a decision in a sensitive border state was "unprecedented" and "unacceptable".

Accusing the Modi government of trying to destabilize a state bordering China, the Congress also said that it will challenge in court the Cabinet decision if it gets presidential assent.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed "shock" over the Cabinet decision, saying it is "murder" of the country's Constitution.

"This is really shocking as the Centre did not consult the state government before taking such a harsh decision. Arunachal is absolutely peaceful without even a single case of law and order breakdown reported in the last month," Tuki told PTI in Itanagar.

Governor Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa recommended President Rule without consulting the state cabinet at a time when several cases are sub-judice in the Supreme Court, he said.

"There is no Constitutional crisis in the state as recommended by the governor. Whatever crisis is there it is his (Governor's) creation," Tuki said, adding he enjoyed full support from all the cabinet ministers.

"With only a day left for Republic Day celebration, such decision will dampen the democratic spirit of the state's people who are zealously guarding the border with China."



Arunachal Pradesh was rocked by a political crisis on December 16 last year as 21 rebel Congress MLAs joined hands with 11 of BJP and two independents to 'impeach' Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia at a makeshift venue, in a move branded as "illegal and unconstitutional" by the Speaker.

Up in arms against Tuki, 21 rebel party MLAs, including 14



disqualified a day before, with the help of BJP and independent legislators, congregated at a community hall after the state Assembly complex was 'sealed' by the local administration, and 'impeached' Rebia in an impromptu session chaired by Deputy Speaker T Norbu Thongdok.

27 MLAs in 60-member Assembly, including the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues, boycotted the proceedings.

A day later, in a bizarre turn of events, opposition BJP and rebel Congress MLAs congregated in a local hotel to "vote out" Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and to "elect" a rebel Congress MLA in his place but the Gauhati High Court intervened to keep in "abeyance" decisions taken at the rebel "session".

A "no confidence" motion moved by BJP MLAs and Independent MLAs was "adopted" with Deputy Speaker T Norbu Thongdok, who is also a rebel Congressman, in the Chair. A total of 33 members in the 60-member house, including 20 dissident Congress MLAs, later "elected" another dissident Congressman Kalikho Pul as the new "chief minister" of the state. The Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and his 26 supporting MLAs boycotted the proceedings terming them as "illegal and unconstitutional".

The Chief Minister later wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking their intervention to "uphold" the Constitution in the face of the "unprecedented murder" of democracy and "bypassing" of a democratically-elected government by Governor Rajkhowa.

Angry over the Governor's action in calling a session of the Assembly bypassing the government, the Congress had paralysed the Rajya Sabha for two days during the winter session.

In the High Court, Justice Hrishikesh Roy observed prima facie the Governor's decision to advance the Assembly session to December 16, 2015 for taking up the impeachment proceedings against the Speaker was in "violation of Article 174 and 175 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has referred a batch of petitions on the Arunachal Pradesh crisis to a Constitution Bench.
Best-selling author Amish Tripathi today said the prevalent caste system has become a "disgusting corruption" of ancient times when society was not segregated according to one's birth.

"The caste system in the country today is a disgusting corruption of what it once was. In ancient times, most of the evidence points to the fact that the caste system was actually not rigid. It was not based on birth," Tripathi said.

The author of the bestselling Shiva trilogy was participating in the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here.

The banker-turned author said he chooses not to write his surname on the cover of his books as it served as a reminder of his caste.

Amish also said there was an ideological battle between two groups in the country over two extreme viewpoints on the history of India.

"There is one group of extremists that likes to believe that India was never a country, we did not have that much greatness, that the British came and civilised us. There is another group which believes that we are the only great country, and everyone else were barbarians.

"The truth is obviously somewhere in the middle. We were a great country, other countries were great as well. So both India and the world had an impact on each other's voice," he said.

The writer also stressed on the importance of taking pride in one's culture.

"Openness and liberalism does not mean that you will go on deriding your own culture. You have to be open to other cultures, but with a deep sense of pride," he said.

After penning the Shiva trilogy novels -- 'The Immortals of Meluha', 'The Secret of the Nagas' and 'The Oath of the Vayuputras' novels of the Shiva trilogy, the 41-year-old author has written "Scion of Ikshvaku" the first book in the Ram Chandra series, his interpretation of the epic Ramayana.
Firing a fresh salvo at the Centre, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today accused it of "creating hurdles unsparingly" before the Delhi government and asserted he stood as a "wall" between his ministers and the Modi dispensation.

"Centre has been unsparing in creating hurdles for us in carrying out our work. They have created so much trouble for us ('Centre ne adchane adane mey koi kasar nahin chhodi hay. Hamari aisi ki taisi karne mey koi kasar nahin chhodi hay," he alleged.

The chief minister was speaking at the inauguration of the third-phase of the over 23 km-long Vikaspuri-Wazirabad signal-free elevated corridor from Madhuban Chowk to Mukarba Chowk in outer Delhi.

Kejriwal asserted he stood as "wall" between Delhi government and the Centre.

"I have not kept any portfolios with myself. I am standing like a wall between my ministers and the central government. And, I won't let my ministers be troubled by the Centre. I'll take care of it all by myself ('Sab sambhal loong akela')," he said.

The AAP-led Delhi dispensation and the Centre have engaged in bitter political battles in the past over several issues including control over administration and the city police.

"I feel sad...And, if the Centre had shown positive attitude and supported us, we (Delhi government) would have done ten times more work than what we have done so far," he said.

"So, I hope the Centre will open their eyes now and see the reality," he said.

The 3.8 km-long stretch was built in 30 months at a cost of Rs 300 crore against the sanctioned Rs 421.79 crore. The Vikaspuri-Wazirabad corridor project was an initiative of the Sheila Dikshit dispensation.

The AAP leader said, "Our PWD engineers and officials must be applauded and awarded for carrying out this project in lesser time and for bringing down the construction cost by Rs 120 crore."



A section of Congress workers led by a former MLA protested near the flyover, waved black flags and shouted anti-Kejriwal slogans, accusing him of "taking credit" for the work that was done by the Sheila Dikshit government.

"Kejriwal claims that nearly Rs 350 crore has been saved in this corridor project, spanning three phases. We want to ask him how was that. The chief minister claims that amount has been saved by using innovative techniques, but I did not get any such information when I sought it under the RTI," former Badli Congress MLA Devendra Yadav alleged.
The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry will bring out books on the contributions and sacrifices of freedom fighters from the North East.

HRD minister Smriti Irani said this at an event organised by the RSS-linked body Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram to commemorate the birth centenary year of Rani Gaidinliu, a Manipuri political leader, who led a revolt against British rule in India.

"Whether it is Rani Gaidinliu or Kanaklataji, all people from North East who sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle, the HRD ministry will bring out books on them through the National Book Trust to ensure they do not get lost from the pages of history," Irani said at the event where Nagaland CM T R Zeliang was also present.

The HRD minister said she would travel to the North East to launch them, beginning with the book on Gaidinliu.

These books will be available in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, besides several tribal and other Indian languages, she said.

Irani, in her speech, said she felt "pained" when somebody from the North East referred to the rest of the country as "mainland".

She said she was as much the daughter of India as any daughter from the North East.

Earlier speaking at the event, Zeliang said such events would lead to better understanding of the contribution of freedom fighter Gaidinliu's contribution to the freedom struggle and better integration of North East region with that of mainland India.

Referring to the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which primarily works in tribal areas, Irani said her maternal grandfather had been associated with it for a long time.
Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) has undertaken a computer training project for the Scheduled Caste (ST) youth in tribal pockets of the state who often bear the brunt of the left wing extremism.

"The project 'Capacity Building in IT Skills of ST Candidates in Chhattisgarh' focuses on training STs, including students from backward areas where the basic infrastructure and training facilities lack the most," Chief Executive Officer of CHiPS, Saurabh Kumar, told PTI.

The training is aimed at helping ST community members to achieve confidence for setting up business in IT domains, thus providing sustainable employment generation in and around the district, he added.

The Centre's Department of Electronics & IT sponsored project is being implemented by CHiPS with the support of Centre for Advance Computing (CDAC), Chennai.

"Around 3,300 ST candidates would be imparted job oriented training on the use of computers and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in a period of two years under the programme," Kumar said.

Under the project, ICT centres for ST empowerment to suit varied information needs of rural tribal population will be set up.

So far three state-of-art IT training centres (with 25 seats capacity) equipped with necessary infrastructures including computers (desktop and laptop), printers, projectors and other stuffs, have been developed each at Jagdalpur, Rajnandgaon and Ambikapur district headquarters, he said.

All the 3 training centres were inaugurated during the Digital India Week last year and since then 329 candidates have been trained in Rajnandgaon, Ambikapur, Jagdalpur under basic computer and advance computer courses, he said.

Moreover, the project also incorporates scope for entrepreneurship development to enable business model enhancement among entrepreneurs including self-help groups.

No fee is being charged from ST candidates, Kumar said,adding that candidates with annual family income upto Rs 3 lakh per annum will be eligible to attend the course.
Chris Pratt may be funny person to be with, but the actor is a "strict" dad to three-year-old son Jack.

Anna Faris, wife of the "Jurrasic World" star, revealed his parenting tactics saying he is equally loving, reported HuffPost.

"He's strict, which I love. But he's also incredibly fun, incredibly loving," she said.

"Sometimes, from what I hear, a baby will bond a little bit more with the mother in the first year and a half of life, (but) Chris and Jack were instant. They just love each other so much. It's so amazing to see that moment when Chris comes home from work and Jack is like, 'Daddy!'," she added.

Pratt and Faris got married in Bali on July 9, 2009. They welcome their son Jack in August, 2012.
: For the second successive year Chief Minister N Ranasamy will unfurl the tricolour and take salute on Republic day.

The Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lt General (Retired) A K Singh, who holds additional charge of the gubernatorial post since July 17, 2014 (after his predecessor Virendra Kataria was removed from office on July 12 that year) has to be in Port Blair to participate in the Republic day celebrations and hence the CM hasbeen assigned the task.

Puducherry does not have a regular Lt Governor.

Rangasamy has also extended an invitation for the 'at home reception', slated to be held on Jan 26 at Rajnivas.

Government has extended invitations confirming the unfurling of the flag by the Chief Minister and also his holding of the reception in Rajnivas on January 26.
Congress MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh who revolted against Chief Minister Nabam Tuki today welcomed the Union Cabinet recommendation for imposition of President's rule in the state and said they were ready to form an alternative government with the support of BJP and others.

"We welcome the Centre's decision as there was complete breakdown of Constitution. Nabam Tuki constitutionally, democratically and morally has no right to rule. He should have resigned long ago," MLA and spokesman of the rebel group, Pasang Dorjee, told PTI tonight.

Dorjee said the rebel Congress group has 21 MLAs and they were supported by 11 BJP legislators and two independent MLAs while Tuki has support of just 26 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.

"We have 34 MLAs and we are ready to form the government," he said.

Asked whether they would support a BJP-led government, Dorjee said that question does not arise at all as the rebel Congress group has more MLAs than the BJP.

"We are still in Congress and we want a Congress-led government, not BJP-led government. We are against Nabam Tuki but not against Congress party," he said.

The Union Cabinet today has recommended imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh but suggested for keeping the Assembly under suspended animation.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju asserted that the Cabinet recommendation was in accordance with the Constitution as the Assembly did not hold its session for more than six months.

"And this year on the 21st January, the six months time has completed. President's Rule could have been imposed immediately but since the matter is sub-judice and the decision is pending in the Supreme Court. But the time frame of six months has exceeded.

"We do not have any role in the recommendation of President's Rule because it is a constitutional process," the minister said.

Asked whether BJP would support a Congress-led government as claimed by him, Dorjee said for the interest of Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP would be ready to support the Congress rebel group.

"We are for development of Arunachal Pradesh. The BJP is also for development of Arunachal Pradesh. So, why will not they support us," he said.

Dorjee said they have already projected former Minister and veteran state Congress leader Kalikho Pul as the next Chief Minister of the state.
Congress today said it will challenge in court Cabinet's recommendation for imposing President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh if it gets presidential assent, as the party lashed out at Narendra Modi government accusing it of "trampling" on democracy.

The "very wrong" step has exposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "double-speak" on federalism, the party alleged and warned the government that it will pay a "heavy price" for it.

"Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh reflects travesty of Constitutional mandate, subjugation of federalism and trampling of democracy," AICC Communication Department Chief Randeep Surjewala said



"Modiji's double speak of respect for federalism and states being equal part of 'Team India' stands exposed," he said.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the party will move court and alleged that the step shows that Modi is "fountain head" of political intolerance.

"We will challenge it.... This bypassing the matter which is being heard by the Supreme Court. President is Constitutional head he will apply his mind and will take appropriate decision," Sibal told reporters.

He was asked whether the party will challenge in court the decision taken by the government on imposition of President's rule in Congress-ruled Arunachal.

"Government has taken a very wrong step. There cannot be possibly any wrong step than this. The Governor had embarrassed himself and now the government is embarrassing itself. They will pay a heavy price," he remarked.

The reaction came after Union Cabinet today recommended imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh which is facing political turmoil.

Sibal, a former Law Minister and a noted lawyer, claimed that that government has taken the step apprehending that they are not going to succeed in the Supreme Court.

"They have taken the step despite knowing well the decision on President's rule cannot get approval of Parliament as they do not have majority in the Rajya Sabha," Sibal said.

"This is an act of political intolerance by government which talks of cooperative federalism," he said



He lamented that the Modi dispensation was resorting to such tactics in a border-state like Arunachal Pradesh.

"They are trying to destabilize a state bordering China," he alleged.

Surjewala said it shows 'scant regard' of Supreme Court



by Modi government.

"It shows scant regard of Supreme Court by Modi government, particularly when the entire issue of BJP engineered coercive defections is being heard by a Constitution Bench," he said.

The party said it will oppose the decision. "Congress party will decisively fight undermining of elected mandate by autocratic attempts of BJP's union government," he said.

Drawing a parallel between the step and the dismissal of Congress governments in nine states in the 1970s by the then Janata party dispensation, Surjewala, "Is BJP attempting a repeat of 1977 when Janata Party government had dismissed nine Congress ruled state governments. Congress party will decisively fight these."



Last month, the state's Congress government lost a "no trust motion" passed by a group of rebel Congress and BJP lawmakers at an assembly "session" held on December 16-17 at a hotel.

Of the 47 Congress lawmakers in the 60-member assembly, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has the support of 26. Tuki has alleged that Governor Rajkhowa, acting as a "BJP agent", helped the rebel Congress lawmakers in their bid to topple his government by convening the assembly session ahead of time.

On January 14, the Gauhati High Court cancelled its earlier order keeping in abeyance the decisions made by the two-day session, during which Speaker Nabam Rebia had been "impeached" as well. The Assembly sessions were held at other venues after the government sealed the Assembly building.

The Supreme Court has referred a bunch of petitions on the Arunachal Pradesh crisis to a Constitution Bench.
Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge today said that his party would raise the issue of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide in Parliament, while its student wing NSUI has decided to hold a one-day hunger strike across all state capitals tomorrow.

Kharge, the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, visited the HCU campus today along with Telangana party unit leaders.

"The Vice-Chancellor and the (NDA) government have killed the scholar and they have denied human rights, that is why we want to take this to Parliament and tell the entire country how injustice is being done in the HCU," Kharge said.

"Definitely we will take this issue, but at the same time we will formulate strategy (on this issue) for the session, because we have to consult with other political parties also. This is not only in the interest of this university, but in the interest of entire Dalit community and also in the interest of the country," he said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "always gives emotional and attractive speeches according to the situation".

"Modi is not practical and does not want to look towards the poor people," he said.

Meanwhile, demanding removal of HCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile and Rs 50 lakh compensation to Vemula's deceased's family, a fresh batch of seven students resumed the indefinite hunger strike today.

Earlier, NSUI president Roji M John, who visited the agitating students on the campus, said the organisation would hold one-day hunger strike in all the state capitals tomorrow in support of the ongoing agitation of the HCU students.

"The BJP government is targeting educational institutions of the country. The autonomy of the educational institutions is under attack. The student community of this country is raising voice against it and there are protests happening all over the country," John said.

"We are taking this forward. Tomorrow, students in all state capitals will sit on one-day hunger strike in solidarity with the students sitting here," the NSUI president said.

Commission for Scheduled Castes member P A Kamalamma, who also visited the HCU today, said that the Commission, soon after the suicide of Rohith Vemula, issued five recommendations to the university authorities and the state government to be implemented within 10 days.

The Commission will wait for 10 days for the response from the Telangana government and the university authorities, she said.

The security personnel of the HCU had last evening admitted the seven fasting students to a hospital after their health condition worsened even as another batch of seven students resumed their strike today.

The student leaders announced that the indefinite hunger strike and other protests would continue until their five demands are met.

Vemula's body was found hanging in a hostel room on HCU campus on January 17.

The students have been demanding arrest of Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, VC Appa Rao and others who were named in the FIR lodged in connection with the case.

They have also asked the government to provide Rs 50 lakh compensation to Vemula's family, besides providing a job to one of the family members.

The students association has also demanded that the suspension of facilities to four students should be revoked.

"We want all the cases filed (on earlier occasions) against the four research scholars to be dropped," they said.
The Delhi government today urged the people to provide assistance to the homeless only through night shelters and refrain from giving roadside donations as it will encourage the vagrants to spend the night in the lodgings.

"All those who want to give donations to the homeless can either contact the 24x7 control room of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) or do so by going to the nearest night shelter.

"People should abstain from doing charity on roads like donating blankets, food and other aids for the homeless as it encourages the people not to go to the night shelter and remain in the open which is harmful for the person," said VK Jain, CEO of DUSIB.

He also sought participation of the community to ensure no homeless spends night in the open and clarified that DUSIB can only persuade, not "force" a homeless person to shift to a night shelter.

"A lot of people ask us why despite arrangements, people are seen spending night on roads. But I want to clarify that there is no provision in the Constitution by which we can force a homeless person to shift to night shelters. We can only persuade them and we are doing that," Jain said.

Reacting to the data released by an NGO Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), which put the number of deaths of homeless between January 19 and 20 at seven, Jain said there is no clarity as to what caused these deaths.

"There can be several reasons behind death. There can a crime angle, drug addiction factor, illness etc," Jain said.

The shelter management agencies and NGOs are operating 20



rescue teams, which till yesterday, shifted 6,002 homeless people staying in the open to nearby night shelters. 813 others, however, refused to avail the facility.

The government has also launched an app developed by DUSIB that enables people to click pictures of the homeless sleeping out in the night so they could be rescued and sheltered.

"We have rescued 312 homeless people through this app and 114 people with the help of calls made to our control room," Jain said.

At present, there are 260 night shelters having a capacity for 18,928 people. These include 84 permanent night shelters, 115 porta cabins, 59 tents 2 set by DMRC.

Of the 260, there are 20 shelters for women, 12 for families, 12 for children and 3 for drug addicts.

"The occupancy of all the shelters is being monitored daily online. As per reports available about 10,507 people stayed in the night shelters yesterday," Jain said, adding that each shelter is equipped with sufficient number of blankets, durries, mats, toilets and drinking water, first aid box.

10 medical teams of the Delhi government also visit them regularly.
In a clear signal to China, US President Barack Obama today said all countries should play by the same rules in international law including freedom of navigation in the South China Sea while India can be an anchor of stability in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region.

He also said India and US will continue to expand their military exercises and maritime cooperation so that the two forces become "interoperable".

Obama said during his visit to India last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he agreed to a new joint vision for the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region.

"It's rooted in our shared interests in a region that's peaceful and prosperous and where all countries play by the same rules, in accordance with international law and norms, including freedom of navigation," Obama said in an interview to PTI.

The Asia Pacific region has witnessed tension after China flexed its military muscle in the resource-rich South China Sea.

The South China Sea is also a major shipping lane. Over half of the world's commercial shipping passes through the Indo-Pacific waterways.

China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with several other Asian nations like Vietnam and the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

They accuse China of illegally reclaiming land in contested areas to create artificial islands with facilities that could potentially be for military use.

The US has criticised Beijing for building artificial islands in the disputed sea, and has flown a B-52 bomber and sailed a guided-missile destroyer near some of the constructions China has made in recent months.

Obama also said the US recognises that the Indian Ocean is vital to the security of the region and the global economy.

"Our vision recognises that the Indian Ocean is vital to



the security of the region and the global economy. And it welcomes India's determination to 'Act East' with stronger security and economic partnerships across the region," the US President said.

He was replying to a question as to what role he sees for India in the emerging security situation in the Asia Pacific given what is happening and the nuclear tests by North Korea.

"We have elevated our trilateral cooperation with Japan, including on disaster response and humanitarian assistance. And we very much welcome India's increased ties with the region.

"It's clear that India can be an anchor of stability and security in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region, and the United States looks forward to the work we can do together," Obama said.

He said "we continue to expand our military exercises and maritime cooperation so that our forces become inter operable. We are increasing our defence trade, and we're collaborating more closely to jointly develop defence technologies."



Obama said as President he has worked to renew American leadership in the Asia Pacific because the security and prosperity of the region is critical to its own and that of the world.

"I am proud that, even as we continue to meet pressing challenges elsewhere in the world, we've rebalanced our foreign policy and are now playing a larger role in the region."



Obama said the US has strengthened alliances, modernised its defence posture, worked to build constructive relationship with China, helped strengthened regional institutions like ASEAN and East Asia Summit and expanded cooperation with emerging powers including India.
RPI leader Prakash Ambedkar has demanded that Unions ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya, and Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao should be booked for the abetment of suicide by Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

"A central university is an autonomous body and the HRD Minister had no right to control it. By repeatedly writing letters to the Vice Chancellor to initiate action against five Dalit scholars, Irani had clearly exceeded her brief," he alleged.

"So all those involved in the action against the students which led to Vemula's suicide, should face charges of abetment to suicide," he demanded while talking to reporters here yesterday.

The Dalit leader also defended Vemula and the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) in the Hyderabad varsity for having protested against 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Menon's hanging.

"That Yakub was wrongly hanged can be a matter of a debate in a democracy. I personally feel that there was no need to hang him," the RPI leader said.

On the Pathankot airbase terror attack, he said the Narendra Modi government and his party were "not serious" about the handling of internal security or protecting the nation.

"The attack on IAF base was a grave security breach and it definitely involved lots of insiders and Indians. But even after so many days, the government has failed to unravel the whole episode," Ambedkar said.
Filmmaker Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film "Labyrinth" starring David Bowie is getting a reboot.

TriStar has signed a deal with The Jim Henson Company to produce a new film.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" co-writer Nicole Perlman will pen the script, said The Hollywood Reporter.

The original musical fantasy movie, starred a 15-year-old Jennifer Connelly as the protagonist who has to navigate a maze to save her infant brother, who had been kidnapped by a goblin king - played by David Bowie, who recorded five songs for the film.

Most of the characters in the original were played by puppets produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Budget accomodation aggregator Deyor Rooms will expand to 15 more cities to offer access to over 800 properties by the end of this fiscal, as it competes with the likes of Oyo Rooms, RedDoorz and WudStay to tap into the multi-billion dollar hospitality industry.

Aiming to deliver a "predictable staying experience", Deyor Rooms is also focussing at tapping into traveller segments like pilgrims and backpackers.

Its portfolio is currently spread across 500 hotels in over 65 cities.

"We are a six-month old Gurgaon based start-up but are already cashflow positive. We are looking at a revenue of Rs 4 crore (March 2016). That's a 3X growth in the second quarter (January-March) from the first one when we had topline of Rs 1 crore.

"Unlike our competitors, we are consistently showing how to build great customer experiences and trust without spending hundreds of crores," Deyor Rooms co-founder Aakaar Gandhi told PTI.

There is a heavy focus on acquiring a consistent cashflow from corporate clients and Deyor is already working with over 20 companies and has 80 partnerships in the pipeline, he said.

"An important focus area for us is providing quality accommodation experiences in pilgrimage cities and we are in dominant positions in markets like Shirdi and Vrindavan. We are also tapping into backpacker trips, weddings and special events... We are targetting a revenue of Rs 20 crore for FY17 leading to 5X revenue growth in second year," he added.

Deyor, co-led by Gandhi, Hinah Maheshwari and Chirag Gupta, has raised two rounds of USD 500,000 each (seed in July and bridge in September last year).

The rounds saw participation from Dheeraj Jain (Redcliffe Capital), Deep Gupta, marquee individuals from the Indian hospitality industry and bankers from UK.

The company is in talks to raise a new round of USD 10 million from a Chinese family office. However, Gandhi did not disclose further details.

The budget hotels aggregation market has been gaining traction in the country with startups receiving investor funding. Many of these are targetting niche segments like last minute hotel bookings, boutique tourist accommodations like houseboats and old havelis in Rajasthan to differentiate themselves and offer unique stay experiences.

Asked how the company plans to take on competition, especially the SoftBank-backed Oyo Rooms, Gandhi said Deyor is not a mere aggregator, but more like a branded budget hotel chain.

"Our brand and its underlying budget hotel experience that has given a sense of predictability has been receiving good response from our customers. We are driven by need to provide predictable experiences and not over commit. We pick hotels after long diligence process," he said.

Gandhi said an internal analysis showed that its top 50 properties witnessed an increase of 20 per cent in business.
Ahead of the Budget, domestic tyre manufacturers have called for imposition of anti-dumping duty and hiking of customs duty on cheap bus and truck radials from China, saying existing investments in the sector have been seriously threatened.

In order to cut imports from China, the domestic industry also wants strict adherence to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark on tyre products, especially those made by Chinese companies.

In view of the unhindered growth of cheap imports, the future investments in tyre manufacturing will be discouraged. While India is seeking new investments, existing and ongoing investments are seriously threatened in view of dumping tyres in the country," Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association (ATMS) said in a paper.

According to the paper titled 'Should Indian Truck and Bus tyre manufacturing be held hostage to indiscriminate Chinese imports? measures like imposition of anti-dumping duty and increase in customs duty on tyres to 30 % is necessary to safeguard the domestic industry.

The ongoing and recently concluded investments in tyre manufacturing in India by domestic and multinationals are to the tune of Rs 36,000 crore.

Commenting on the issue, ATMS Chairman Raghupati Singhania said, As the present government sharpens focus on manufacturing, sadly enough, tyre industry is grappling with a pernicious challenge that has the potential to not only undermine Make in India but also make the industry unviable with the onslaught of cheap imports and dumping from China.

The paper said "anti-dumping duty needs to be imposed on truck and bus radial tyres from China on top priority. Besides, BIS needs to be strictly adhered to."

Moreover, free trade agreements (FTAs) need to be revisited so that tyres and natural rubber are accorded the same treatment, it added.

"As a corrective measure, customs duty on tyres need to be increased from 10% to 30% with a view to correct inverted duty between tyres and natural rubber," it said.

Currently, India offers a ready and growing market with very low import tariffs on tyres. As against basic import duty of 10 %, tyres can be imported at much lower duties under various trade agreements.

On the other hand, Chinese government continues to provide multiple direct and indirect subsidies to push exports. Therefore, import prices from China continue to be much lower than from other countries.

Besides, huge surplus capacities in China are abetting dumping of tyres in India, the paper said.
The Dominican Republic said it has 10 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the ailment suspected of causing serious birth defects in newborns.

Altagracia Guzman, the Caribbean country's health minister, said yesterday lab testing of samples sent to the United States had confirmed Zika in 10 out of 27 suspected cases.

"In light of this finding, it is imperative to adopt strict measures across the nation to prevent and contain this illness," Guzman said.

Zika has been linked to a birth defect known as microcephaly, when babies are born with malformed and abnormally small heads. It is also associated with a higher incidence of miscarriages.

Proposed measures to contain the illness include stepped-up mosquito eradication, including eliminating standing water that can be breeding grounds for the insects.
The Eastern states, led by West Bengal, have the potential to become a USD 3 trillion regional economy and account for over a quarter of the national GDP by 2035, says a report.

A report by domestic rating agency Smera Ratings says the critical location of Bengal makes it the potential business hub of a USD 3 trillion regional economy by 2035, when the size of national GDP is likely to touch USD 11.34 trillion.

The agency believes that the fortunes of the Eastern region, comprising West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam and the seven North-Eastern states, are directly connected with the development of West Bengal since the state is the node for the entire Eastern region.

Bengal currently contributes 40 per cent of the region's GDP, and is also home to the most developed metropolitan area in East India, Kolkata.

"As of last fiscal year, the Eastern region contributes the maximum in terms of locomotive equipment output at 63.5 per cent, out of which West Bengal alone chips in with 46 per cent share, almost the entire (99.2 per cent) jute production output of which over 79 per cent comes from West Bengal alone, and over 82 per cent of the country's tea production," the report said, quoting data from the India Brand Equity Forum and other industry bodies.

The region also contributes to over 25 per cent of leather production, 21.5 per cent of steel output and 44.1 per cent of mining and quarrying, 28.7 per cent of crude oil output and 10.4 per cent of chemicals and chemical products, the report said.

"Due to these factors, West Bengal is at the cusp of a trans-regional economic crossroad given the 'Act East' policy of the government. The Eastern region, home to 27 per cent of the country's population, contributes 16.5 per cent to its GDP," the agency's economist Karan Mehrishi said.

He expects the region to contribute at least 25 per cent of national GDP by 2035 and create nearly USD 1 trillion of incremental value.

The Eastern region has direct influence over 30 per cent of IIP and 57 per cent of core industries. Depending on the level of growth in the next two decades, the GDP contribution from the region can be USD 2.8-3 trillion, it said.

The 'Act East' policy can give a big leg-up to the country's bilateral trade with the ASEAN countries, particularly Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which in turn will add further impetus to the Eastern region.

The Indo-ASEAN trade is already valued at over USD 80 billion.

Currently, the GDP of West Bengal is USD 136 billion, or 6.6 per cent of national GDP, which although is not even half of that of Mumbai, is growing at an average rate of 7 per cent, the report said.

The Kolkata region saw a 200 per cent jump in FDI inflows in the first half of FY16, while rest of the region saw a decline.
With the government deciding to roll out the food security law, former Food Minister and senior Congress MP K V Thomas today said encouraging Genetically Modified (GM) crops is the only way the country can feed its growing population.

Thomas, who piloted the National Food Security Bill in Parliament before it became law during his tenure in the Food Ministry in 2013, slammed environmentalists for opposing GM food, citing "flimsy reasons".

"We don't have a way out. We should not unnecessarily oppose GM without any scientific reasons. How are you going to feed such a huge population? That is the big question. Our production and productivity is slow," Thomas told PTI.

The senior leader's support to GM crops is expected to kick up a debate in Congress, as many of his party colleagues, including former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, are its strong opponents.

"If a discussion takes place in my party, definitely I will put forward my argument. Every country is doing it. China has GM wheat. It has already come to India. I do not look at it negatively," he said.

To a question on whether the government is facing stiff opposition from some RSS-linked groups in taking a decision in favour of GM crops, he said, "I am not taking any political angle."



"I am also a Chemistry professor. I am looking at it with the angle of a scientist. It took years for them to come out with a successful product. And without any base, some people just oppose it," he said.

Thomas, who is also the chairman of Public Accounts Committee, said he as a parliamentarian supports GM food, but favoured an awareness campaign to clear whatever doubts people have about it.

"Some of our environmentalists, some groups... They are opposing without any scientific reasons," Thomas said.

Observing that the presence of seed giants like Monsanto is the reason for opposition from certain quarters, he said India should utilise its facilities like Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to carry out research and experiments in the area.

"We have got eminent scientists. Make use of their services," he said.

His remarks come days after Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the National Food Security Law would be implemented in all states and Union Territories, barring Tamil Nadu, by April this year.

Till now, 25 states and Union territories have rolled out the law while 11 are in the process of doing so, he had said.

The law was passed by Parliament in 2013 and state governments were given one year to implement it.

Since then, the deadline has been extended thrice till September 2015.
In a veiled attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), former Chief Justice of India A M Ahmadi today asked Muslims to not vote under "intimidation" of those who wear half-pants and carry lathis", the conventional dress code of the organisation.

"Do not get frightened from those who come out on roads wearing half-pants and carrying lathis in their hands. They come out during elections only to inject fear among people. It is part of the election process," Ahmadi said without taking name of RSS while addressing a function organised by state Congress here in the Muslim-dominated Sarkhej on the outskirts of the city.

Ahmadi requested Muslims not to vote out of fear.

"After elections get over, they disappear. But, in between that election process do not get intimidated by them. It will be a problem if you give your vote out of fear," said Ahmadi who had served as CJI from October 1994 till March 1997.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel and state unit Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki were present during the function.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Patel slammed the BJP-ruled state government on the issue of education and employment opportunities.

"The focus should be on quality of education. Setting up new factories and schools is not a solution. Government needs to focus on filling up vacant posts of teachers. In Gujarat, there is not a single teacher in 60 schools while there is only one teacher each in more than 800 schools," he alleged.

On Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's statement yesterday that Parliament keeps on extending the reservations for another ten years despite Babasaheb Ambedkar initially putting the cap on quota for ten years, Patel said it was the prerogative of Parliament to review the reservation system and give extension if needed.

"Parliament, that is Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, regularly review this decision (reservation) and grant extensions. There cannot be any other review. There is no institution superior than the Parliament," he added.
A day after he resigned as minister from Oommen Chandy cabinet over bar bribery scandal, Congress leader K Babu today targeted CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan, saying the opposition leader should withdraw from his ongoing march against corruption as he is an accused in a graft case.

Noting that the SNC-Lavalin graft case in which Vijayan is an accused is pending before court, he said the CPI(M) leader has no moral right to make any statement against him and lead a campaign against corruption.

Saying that he resigned holding high moral ground after the Thrissur Vigilance Court ordered registering a case against him in the bar bribery case, Babu said, "if Pinarayi believes in morality in politics, he should back off from his Nava Kerala yatra. He is an accused in the SNC-Lavalin case".

The CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram had in November 2013 discharged Vijayan and six others in the graft case. Kerala government had earlier this month moved the High Court seeking urgent hearing of a revision petition filed against the CBI court verdict.

The case pertains to an agreement with Canadian firm SNC Lavalin to renovate three hydro electric power projects which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 374.50 crore to the exchequer.

The final agreement with the firm was signed when Vijayan was power minister in the 1990s in the LDF ministry.

Vijayan's state-wide yatra began at Kasargod on Jan 15 raising the slogan of 'secular, corruption free and developed Kerala'. It will culminate at Thiruvananthapuram on Feb 14.

Babu, who is reportedly unhappy over the way KPCC chief V M Sudheeran dealt with his case, also justified his decision not to meet him ahead of submitting his resignation to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Babu said he was not aware of the fact that the KPCC Chief was staying in Ernakulam Guest House where he met Chandy to submit his resignation.

"There was no need to meet the KPCC President. The minister's resignation should be given to the Chief Minister, not to the KPCC President," the former Excise Minister said.

Babu's resignation came two months after the resignation of Kerala Congress(M) supremo K M Mani as Finance Minister following Kerala High Court making some stinging observations against him over the bar scam.

The resignations have rattled the Congress-led UDF Government in Kerala just months ahead of the Assembly polls.

Working President of Kerala Bar Owners Association Biju Ramesh had alleged that Babu was given Rs 10 crore as bribe for renewal of licences of liquor bars, a charge rubbished by the Congress leader.
Exports of half of the sectors out of the 30 closely monitored by the Commerce Ministry were in the negative zone in December due to a fall in global prices and demand.

Outbound shipments of as many as 15 key sectors, including petroleum, engineering and leather, dipped last month, according to the ministry data.

Exporters' body FIEO said that although the pace of fall has moderated in December, the government should take steps in the Budget to boost the shipments.

India's exports declined about 15 per cent in December to $22.2 billion, pushing up the trade deficit to $11.66 billion, highest in the last four months.

In November, it declined by 24.43 per cent.

The continuous decline in exports is expected to impact jobs and put pressure on the current account deficit.

"The government should address the inverted duty structure in many sectors in the Budget besides exempting exports from service tax and create a export development fund," Federation of Indian Export Organisations President S C Ralhan said.

During the month, top two sectors -- engineering and petroleum products -- contracted 15.68 per cent and 47.69 per cent, respectively in December 2015.

Gems and Jewellery exports too shrank by about 7.75 per cent to $2.46 billion in the last month.

These three sectors make up about 55 per cent of the country's total exports in 2014-15, when it stood at $310.5 billion.

Agri-products, which constitute over 10 per cent of the country's total shipments, too recorded a negative growth during the month under review.

Overall, seven out of 13 main agriculture products slipped into negative territory.

Exports of rice, cashew and oil meals fell 35.58 per cent, 15.38 per cent and 83 per cent, respectively.

Other products that have reported a negative growth include cereals, oil seeds, fruits and vegetables, marine products and iron ore.

Decline in these exports has been instrumental in dragging down India's overall merchandise exports. Due to continuous dip, the total merchandise shipments are expected to reach a figure of $270 billion in 2015-16.

India has aimed at taking exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020 and raising the country's share in world exports to 3.5 per cent from 2 per cent.

The exports in the past four financial years have been hovering at around $300 billion.

On the other hand, exports of pharmaceuticals, textiles, plastic, carpet, chemicals, tea and coffee have recorded positive growth in December 2015.
Four miners have died in an underground fire in a platinum mine near South Africa's main city Johannesburg, the Impala group said in a statement.

The fire broke out on Friday at a mine near Rustenburg, about 120 kilometres from Johannesburg, the owners said in a statement.

"The four employees were overcome by fumes while they were trying to find their way to safety," Impala said.

Minister for Mines Mosebenzi Zwani today said he was "very saddened by this tragic incident," adding: "The health and safety of workers is of paramount importance and should continue to be a priority in all operations."



South Africa possesses rich mineral reserves and has several gold, platinum, diamond and coal pits but has been dogged by several mining accidents in the recent past.

The National Union of Mineworkers, the main union body representing the sector, today said it was "deeply concerned about these fatalities happening at Impala Platinum."



Fourteen gold miners died at the start of 2014 in an explosion and in 2009 nine workers at a platinum mine were crushed by falling rocks.

But there are many more accidents involving illegal miners. South Africa has approximately 6,000 mines that companies have abandoned in the face of falling profits.

The mines attract thousands who descend into the ageing shafts and wells, sometimes living for months underground digging for nuggets of gold.
The Finance Ministry is considering infusing more than the announced Rs 70,000 crore in public sector banks to help strengthen their balance sheets.

"We are assessing the capital requirement position of each bank depending on their bad loans and, if need be, we may have to expand the capital infusion programme," said a ministry official.

An announcement to this effect could be made next month by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the 2016-17 if the government decides to expand the capital infusion programme, sources said, adding that the plan is at a preliminary stage and no decision has been taken so far.

What has made things difficult for the cash-starved public sector banks is a bearish market which has scuttled their fund-raising plans this year.

The ministry has already sought business plans and capital requirements from some of them and others will be called in during the course of the year.

The government last year announced a revamp plan, 'Indradhanush', to infuse Rs 70,000 crore in state-owned banks over four years, while they will have to raise a further Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their capital requirements in line with global risk norms Basel III.

As per the capital infusion road map, PSU banks will get Rs 25,000 crore this fiscal and as well as the next fiscal and Rs 10,000 crore each in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Out of Rs 25,000 crore set for the current fiscal, the government has infused about Rs 20,088 crore in 13 public sector banks.

The rest of the amount is expected to be infused this quarter after the passage of third supplementary demands for grants likely next month.

The fund infusion this quarter will be based on banks registering improvement in terms NPA, stressed asset and in terms of their restructuring.

"Interest in equity market has dwindled. We are seeing low retail participation and also foreign investors are not very keen. In such a scenario, raising money from market is not a good idea. We need support from the government," a senior public sector banker told PTI.

Recently, chairman of the largest lender SBI, Arundhati Bhattacharya had expressed scepticism about launching the proposed Rs 12,000-crore follow-on public offer plan this year.

"At this point of time, I don't think we have any clear plans to go to the market with a QIP issue. I don't think it will happen this year, but then let's see," she had said last week.

RBI has taken a very strong position on stressed asset, saying lenders must come out with a programme of liquidating some of the debt.

Last month, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan had said steps taken by the central bank and the government should help lenders clean up their balance sheets by March 2017.

Banks' need for capital is expected to go up after RBI asked them to classify 150 top troubled corporate accounts as NPAs and make provisions accordingly, which would eat into their profitability.

"Due to this additional provisioning, our capital adequacy will be impacted and to maintain it, we will require capital from the government," said another banker.

According to rating agency Icra, this will be a need for an additional Rs 1.3 trillion to meet the shortfall between 2015-16 and 2018-19.

Non-performing assets have become a big concern both for the government and RBI.

Rajan had said banks had been given more powers and flexibility to deal with the bad loans, which have crossed 6 per cent as of June quarter.

The gross NPAs of the public sector banks rose to 6.03 per cent as of June 2015, from 5.20 per cent in March 2015.

Rajan is hopeful that "going forward, these additional powers... Will help clean up the balance sheet in a significant way so that banks would be in a position to grow and lend.
An Israel-type highly secured fencing may come up along the Indo-Pak border to check infiltration from across the border as the government is exploring the possibility of installing such a barrier in the sensitive frontiers of Punjab and Jammu.

In the wake of Pathankot terror attack, which was carried out by the Pakistan-based JeM terrorists after crossing the border, the issue of ensuring zero infiltration along the Indo-Pak border was discussed in several meetings attended by top government functionaries, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval.

"In one of these meetings, they discussed whether India can adopt an Israel-type border guarding mechanism along the western frontier," a Home Ministry official said.

Interestingly, in November 2014, the Home Minister had visited one of the border outposts in Gaza and was "greatly impressed" by the technology used in the highly sophisticated border security system of Israel which includes high-quality long-range day cameras along with night observation systems employing third generation thermal imagers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly told Singh that Israel was "ready and willing" to share with India its technology for border protection.

Israel is hailed to have the best border protection system in the world, and depends more on technology than humans to protect its border.

The technology includes high-quality long-range day cameras along with night observation systems, third generation thermal imagers, long-range detection radars, electronic touch and motion sensors on the fence as well as underground sensors to detect any tunnelling attempts.

The Israeli border fencing along West Bank, Gaza and Egypt



also consists of latticed steel, topped and edged with razor wire, extending at least two metres below ground and in some sections reaching seven metres above the ground.

Ditches and observation posts with cameras and antennae will line the route.

An electronic pulse will run through the fence, setting off an alarm on contact that will allow security guards to locate the exact spot of attempted infiltration.

A sandy tracking path shows the footprints of infiltrators and an military patrol road gives unhindered access to army units.

Singh was also given a detailed briefing by the Israeli Army about the border-guarding mechanism put in place.

The Home Minister was told that in certain "dark areas" where fencing was not possible, like on India-Pakistan border as well, Israel had used small UAVs for security coverage.

Besides, every border post on the Israel border is a self-sufficient unit.

Recently, Hungary and Bulgaria have turned to Israel for advice on building a fence modelled on the one set up on the southern Israeli border with Egypt to stop influx of refugees.

The US, India and other countries have sent delegations to Israel in the past to examine the innovations involved in the barrier.
The Centre's green panel has given environment clearance to Reliance Gas Pipeline Ltd (RGPL) for its Rs 1,428 crore project to build a 486-km long pipeline through Gujarat and Maharashtra for transportation of liquid ethane.

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Environment Ministry in its recent meeting has recommended giving environment clearance to RGPL, wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, for the Dahej pipeline project, sources said.

The EAC recommended the ministry to stipulate specific conditions while giving the final clearance, they added.

As per the proposal, a 486 km dedicated pipeline network named as 'Dahej Nagothane Ethane Pipeline (DNEPL)' will be built to transport liquid Ethane to the tune of 1.25 million metric tonnes per annum (MMPA) made available from RIL's Dahej manufacturing division to Hazira manufacturing unit and to RIL's Nagothane manufacturing facility.

Total cost of the project is pegged at Rs 1,428 crore. DNEPL will originate from Dahej in Gujarat and terminate at Nagothane in Maharashtra. About 256 km of the pipeline would pass through Gujarat and 230 km would pass through Maharashtra, sources said.

In Maharashtra, about 26 km will pass through Dahanu Taluka which has been declared as ecologically fragile area where the development activities are monitored by Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA), they said.

Gujarat Coastal Regulatory Zone and Maharashtra Coastal Regulatory Zone have recommended granting CRZ clearance. RGPL has obtained stage-I forest clearance for diversion of over 25 hectare forest land, they added.
Investment platform GREX expects to channelise funding of Rs 150 crore to start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country this year, a top company official said.

Also, by March this year, the company is hopeful of helping about 10-12 start-ups and SMEs raise Rs 20-25 crore.

"There are a large number of high net worth individuals (HNIs) who want to put their money into start up firms. There is a huge latent demand of potential investors to invest in start-up firms.

"We will be able to help the start-up companies raise about Rs 150 crore in 2016", GREX Chief Financial Officer Sameer Gupta told PTI.

GREX helps unlisted companies, having potential of giving smart returns, to connect with angel investors, HNIs to get private placement funding.

The company's SME business head Ranjan Singh said: "We are close to finalise deals for about 10-12 start-up firms to raise about Rs 20-25 crore by March this year".

Singh said a huge potential has been seen in the field of solar energy, business to business (B2B) segment as well as knowledge and skill based firms where the start-up firms will be foraying into.

The financial services start up firms are going to catch up, but also there will be consolidation, Gupta said.

GREX, which also participated at the Start-Up India launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a week ago, has been getting good response from new age firms, he added.
The attorney for one of six former Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought refuge in Uruguay says his client was released after a judge found insufficient evidence against him in a domestic violence case.

Attorney Mauricio Pigola said yesterday his client, Omar Abdelhadi Faraj, was freed after appearing in court. The case remains open.

He is a Syrian who arrived in Uruguay in December 2014 with five other ex-prisoners once held with terror suspects at the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba. Then-President Jose Mujica agreed to accept them.

Faraj was detained on Friday after his Uruguayan partner accused him of domestic violence. The couple was married in an Islamic ceremony. The wife has said they did not wed in a civil marriage, the only one valid in Uruguay.
Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a checkpoint in Egypt today, killing two policemen and a bystander, security officials said on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising.

Another two policemen were wounded in the attack near the town of Fakous in the Nile Delta province of Sharkiya north of Cairo, they said.

The identities of the attackers, who fled the scene, were not immediately known but police arrested three suspects in the area.

Today's shooting comes after eight people including six policemen were killed in a bomb blast on Thursday in Cairo.

The explosion in the capital's Al-Haram district, near the pyramids, came as police raided a flat suspected to be a militant hideout.

An Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State jihadist group claimed the blast.

Today's attack comes on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the start of the 18-day revolt that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The authorities have boosted security across the country to prevent attacks and protests, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warning against any form of demonstration on Monday.

Jihadists have regularly attacked security forces since then army chief Sisi toppled Mubarak's successor, Islamist Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013.

Jihadists say their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Morsi's supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned.
The Delhi High Court has sought city government's reply on the plea by former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala, serving 10-year jail term in teachers' recruitment scam case, seeking parole for medical treatment.

Justice Pratibha Rani asked the Delhi government to file their status report before January 29 on the additional application of Chautalas whose appeal against the high court verdict convicting them and sentencing them to 10 years in jail was dismissed by the Supreme Court on August 3 last year.

Initially 82-year-old senior Chautala has sought 60 days' parole for treatment of some problem in his polio-afflicted legs. Ajay sought twelve weeks' parole for enabling him "to get treatment and to maintain social ties".

On this the court had already sought police's response by January 29.

However, both of them moved a fresh application stating that "additional circumstances has arisen subsequent to the pending of the parole petition".

Advocate Amit Sahni, appearing for Chautalas said the two have to attend weddings in their family, which are scheduled in February.

"Their presence in the aforesaid function is required for customary and religious rituals prevalent in their family," the additional application stated.

The high court had on March 5, 2015, upheld the 10 year jail term awarded to Chautalas and three others, saying, "the overwhelming evidence showed the shocking and spine-chilling state of affairs in the country."



Chautalas and 53 others, including two IAS officers, were convicted on January 16, 2013 by the trial court for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in Haryana in 2000.

Besides Chautalas and two IAS officers, the high court had also awarded 10-year prison term to Sher Singh Badshami, then an MLA and political adviser to Chautala senior.

The high court, however, had modified the trial court's order on the quantum of sentence and awarded two-year jail term to 50 other convicts.
Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has received a big boost a week ahead of the primary season with Iowa Caucus as she was endorsed by a major newspaper of the Midwestern state.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is currently positioned third after front runner Donald Trump and runner up Ted Cruz, was also endorsed by Des Moines Register - an influential Iowan newspaper - ahead of the February 1 Iowa Caucus.

Trump and Cruz did not seek endorsement from the daily.

"While we may disagree on key points, we still believe they would do a better job for our country than their opponents," the newspaper said in an editorial last night.

"The presidency is not an entry-level position. Whoever is sworn into office next January must demonstrate not only a deep understanding of the issues facing America, but also possess the diplomatic skills that enable presidents to forge alliances to get things done," the daily wrote.

Noting that Democrats have, by the above measure, one "outstanding" candidate in the form of Hillary Clinton, the daily said no other candidate can match the depth or breadth of Clinton's knowledge and experience.

"Clinton has demonstrated that she is a thoughtful, hardworking public servant who has earned the respect of leaders at home and abroad. She stands ready to take on the most demanding job in the world," it said.

The editorial board said Republicans had the opportunity to define their party's future in this election.

They could choose anger, pessimism and fear. Or they could take a different path, it observed.

"Senator Marco Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the party, and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American dream. We endorse him because he represents his party's best hope," it said.

Des Moines Register is the largest and most influential newspaper in Iowa, which traditionally kicks off the primary presidential race.

However, in recent years, its endorsements have not won Iowa Caucus. In 2008 it endorsed Clinton, who lost to Barack Obama.

In 2004 it endorsed John Edwards, who lost to John Kerry and in 2000 it endorsed Bill Bradley, who lost to Al Gore.
Four convicts undergoing sentence would walk free while 398 others would get remission of seven to 45 days in their sentence in Himachal Pradesh from the Republic Day.

The state government today announced remission in sentence of these convicts, which would be effective from the Republic Day on January 26.

The convicts undergoing life imprisonment or sentence of more than ten years would get 45 days remission, subject to good conduct while convicts sentenced for more than five years and between three to five years would get remission of 30 days and 21 days respectively.

The convicts undergoing imprisonment of one to three years and between three months and one year would get remission of 15 days and one week respectively.
Over 20,000 Hindus in Singapore today celebrated the colourful Thaipusam festival, thronging the streets for an annual religious procession to fulfil vows and offer prayers to the deity Murugan, with live music being allowed throughout the route for the first time in 40 years.

The Tamil Hindus in Singapore, who have maintained the tradition of observing Thaipusam, were joined by a number of Chinese on a four-kilometre journey from Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Little India precinct to Sri Thendayuthapani Temple on Tank Road on the outskirts of central business district.

The devotees, with leads bearing elaborately decorated home-made frames called "kavadis" and milk pots, formed part of the procession batches in the day-long event to mark the festival when goddess Parvati gave her son Murugan - the Hindu God of War - a Vel "spear" to vanquish evil demon Soorapadman.

Kavadi, meaning "sacrifice at every step", can weigh as much as 100 kilogramme and are typically affixed to a person's body using sharp metal spikes.

The Kavadi Attam (Burden Dance), is a ceremonial sacrifice and offering performed by devotees to worship Murugan.

Singapore's Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, who attended the event, noted a number of non-Indians participating in the procession.

"You look at the number of Chinese who are involved -- it is quite amazing," Shanmugam told reporters.

A live religious music by temple musicians at dedicated places and loud-speakers in other public places created an atmosphere of carnival as devotees along with tourists and foreign workers watched the colourful procession.

Live music at Thaipusam processions had been banned due to concerns over unruly behaviour in the past, but regulations were relaxed this year with three live music points and seven music-transmission points being allowed along the route for the first time in 40 years.

The Hindu Endowment Board, which manages the temples, has spent SGD250,000 and nine months to organise Singapore's biggest religious procession event.
Three US Air Force airmen have been stripped of their nuclear certifications after a "mishap" caused nearly USD 1.8 million in damage to an intercontinental nuclear ballistic missile in 2014, officials said.

The incident occurred when the Minuteman III nuclear missile, assigned to the 90th Missile Wing at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, became "non-operational" during a diagnostic test on May 16, 2014, according to a statement released by the US Air Force.

While troubleshooting the issue, the maintenance team chief "mistakenly performed an action not directed by the technical guidance," the statement said.

Air Force officials did not specifically address whether or not radiological material was released when the missile was damaged, but said the incident did not result in any injuries or threaten public safety.

Further details as to the nature of the "mishap" remain murky, as the full report from the military's Accident Investigation Board remains classified, CNN reported.

The Air Force insists that the maintenance team chief was properly trained for the task he was performing but made a mistake that resulted in damage to the missile.

In response to the incident, the Air Force said it has "strengthened technical guidance, modified training curriculum, and shared information with the other missile wings regarding the conditions that led to the mishap.

The Minuteman III is the only land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system used by the United States and is one component of its nuclear triad.

The other two parts of the triad include the Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile and nuclear weapons carried by long-range strategic bombers.

First deployed in the 1960s as part of the US nuclear deterrent programme, the Minuteman system's effectiveness is largely tied to the idea that missiles can be launched quickly and at any time.

Missiles are dispersed in hardened silos and connected to an underground launch control where crews are on standby around-the-clock.

The US currently has 450 Minutemen III missiles at Warren AFB in Wyoming, Malmstrom AFB in Montana, and Minot AFB in North Dakota.
"Bigg Boss Nau" winner Prince Narula has confirmed he is seeing his co-contestant, Moroccan beauty Nora Fatehi.

Prince, who first proposed to Nora on the show, said he wants to take their relationship ahead after coming out of the "Bigg Boss" house.

"I am with Nora. We are dating each other and trying to know each other more... She is similar to me and she came on the show at a time when I was feeling low. She boosted my confidence and supported me. In such a house, when someone is nice to you, it is easy to get attracted," Prince told PTI after his win.

"I said 'I love you' to her, which meant I love the person she is. I also told her in private that unlike other reality show couples, I want to carry our relationship even outside the house. So, now we are spending time with each other and we are seeing how good we are for each other."



Nora, however, was not the first girl Prince confessed his feelings for.

Known for his closeness with different girls on youth-based show "Splitsvilla", the young star, before Nora, proposed to actress Yuvika Choudhary on "Bigg Boss".

Many termed it a gimmick by him to survive on the show but Prince insisted his feelings for her were "genuine".

"I had seen relationships in my previous show ('Splitsvilla'), so, I was clear I won't make any on 'Bigg Boss' because such relations don't last. But, I liked Yuvika and also told her about my feelings.

"It was one sided as she was sure she was not ready then. Just three days after my feelings for her developed, she got eliminated. So, it did not materialise into anything. Today we are great friends."



Before entering the Bigg Boss house, Prince had claimed he wanted to be the reality show 'king' by winning the popular show. Now that he has emerged as the winner, the star wants to try his hand at fiction.

"No more reality shows for me now. I want to do fiction on TV. I had signed two fiction shows before entering 'Bigg Boss' so I will be doing that now. Both the shows are in the romantic genre. I can't reveal much about them right now."



Prince defeated Rishabh Sinha, Mandana Karimi and Rochelle Rao in the grand finale of "Bigg Boss".

While Rishabh stood second, Mandana came third and Rochelle settled at the fourth position.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has sought Law Ministry's opinion on Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel's proposal for setting up a channel on the lines of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV.

Officials said in the past the ministry has received requests from several state governments for allowing them to have TV channels but permission was not granted.

"This particular matter relates to setting up of a channel by a state Assembly and the ministry has decided to seek the Law Ministry's opinion in this regard," an official said.

Earlier, in a letter to I&B Ministry, Goel had sought permission to set up an exclusive channel on the lines of the two Parliament channels to telecast assembly proceedings live. The channel may also showcase other programmes of public relevance.

It was learnt that the Speaker was contemplating hiring a consultant to work out the feasibility and modalities of the television project.

Under the existing guidelines, governments are not allowed to run their own TV channels, an official said.

The two Parliament channels - Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV are allowed. Doordarshan channels are run by Prasar Bharati, an autonomous body.

The quantum of and current affairs programme is also



proposed to be enhanced with particular emphasis on and happenings in the subcontinent and on issues relating to the two countries.

All India Radio had started a special Bengali service in the wake of the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971 and played a historic role during the war. It continued to be very popular till April, 2010 when it was discontinued due to decommissioning of the Super Power Transmitter at Chinsurah, in West Bengal.

Akashvani Maitree channel will be launched from a state-of-the-art high power 1000 Kw DRM transmitter installed at Chinsurah in West Bengal with a capacity to cover the entire Bangladesh.

The duration of the broadcast of the channel has been increased from 6 hrs 30 minutes to 16 hrs per day.

Akashvani Maitree channel will also be available to listeners in Bangladesh, India and the Bengali diaspora world over through its multimedia website airworldservice.Org and mobile apps which will have live-streaming, text and video content.

Efforts are also being made to work out arrangements with local FM Stations in Bangladesh to relay/re-broadcast Akashvani Maitree programmes to ensure better listening in hinterland Bangladesh.
Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) has trimmed its net debt by about Rs 550 crore in the first nine months of this fiscal, while the company achieved sales bookings of Rs 733 crore in the quarter ended December.

According to an investor presentation, IBREL's net debt reduced by Rs 225 crore to Rs 4,928 crore at the end of the December quarter of this fiscal.

"Net debt reduced by Rs 225 crore in the last quarter, total reduction in net debt during the first nine months of FY16 is Rs 552 crore," it said.

IBREL is reducing the debt with the help of internal accruals as the company is generating positive cash-flow.

The company said it would further reduce the net debt by about Rs 130 crore in the current quarter.

Further, net debt reduction of Rs 130 crore planned and expected in last quarter of current financial year, to achieve the target net debt of Rs 4,800 crore as on 31st March, 2016," the presentation said.

The Mumbai-based developer has set a target of Rs 1,500 crore reduction in net debt to Rs 3,300 crore by March 2017.

The company plans to launch two new projects, having a total saleable area of 7.29 million sq ft.

"5.06 million sq ft of saleable residential area and 2.23 million sq ft of saleable commercial area in NCR," the presentation said.

Last week, IBREL reported a 2 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 80.44 crore for the December quarter against Rs 78.75 crore in the year ago period.

Income from operations rose to Rs 664.36 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 652.11 crore in the corresponding period.

However, total income declined to Rs 681.48 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 728.79 crore in the year-ago period. The other income fell to Rs 17.11 crore from Rs 76.67 crore during the period under review.

IBREL is currently developing 11 projects in India with total saleable area of 30.51 million sq ft. It has presence in Mumbai, NCR and Chennai.

The company has entered the London market through acquisition of 22, Hanover Square in Mayfair, Central London, a 87,444 sq ft commercial property.
Congress, which has been demanding immediate sacking of Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya in connection with the dalit scholar suicide case, today said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi "was sensitive", he would have dismissed a number of persons.

"If Mr Modi was sensitive, he should have dismissed a number of persons," Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters when asked whether at least Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao should have been removed in view of the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula.

Congress has been demanding immediate sacking of Irani and Dattatreya in connection with the case.

Sibal, who is a former HRD Minister, said he believed that the Prime Minister will not take action against anybody despite so many demands.

Asked about Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's remarks calling for a rethink of the reservation policy, he said the problem is that RSS is not for dalits. "It is not in their DNA to be pro-dalit," he said.

Taking a dig at Amit Shah who was re-elected as the BJP president, Sibal said that under his leadership, BJP will face one failure after another. "They have lost in Bihar and now they will lose in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and other states," he remarked.
India and the Arab League today vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a strategy to "eliminate" its sources and its funding as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.

While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab- India Cooperation Forum here in the Bahraini capital, she also warned that those who "silently sponsor" terror groups could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.

"Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them," Swaraj told some 14 Foreign Ministers of the 22-member Arab League grouping, with its Secretary General Nabil El Araby in attendance.

She said that today's meeting marks a "turning point" for India-Arab relations while pointing out that "we are also at a major turning point in history when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to our cities, our people and our very social fabric".

"Equally, we must delink religion from terror. The only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths," said Swaraj, who arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit.

The meeting, which was opened by Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, culminated with the two sides issuing a joint statement -- the Manama Declaration.

The two sides discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the Palestinian issue, developments in the Arab region and in South Asia, as well as counter-terrorism, Security Council reforms and nuclear disarmament.

The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejected associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group.

They emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime, the Declaration stated.

In this context, the two sides affirmed their respect to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and non-interference in its internal affairs and rejecting infringement of such principles, strongly condemned crimes committed by all terrorist organisations, especially those committed by ISIS.

They urged the international community to lend to the Iraqi government support on its war against terrorism.
India and the Arab League today vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a strategy to "eliminate" its sources and extremism including its funding as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.

While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab- India Cooperation Forum here in the Bahraini capital, she also warned that those who "silently sponsor" terror groups could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.

"Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them," Swaraj told some 14 Foreign Ministers of the 22-member Arab League grouping, with its Secretary General Nabil El Araby in attendance.

She said that today's meeting marks a "turning point" for India-Arab relations while pointing out that "we are also at a major turning point in history when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to our cities, our people and our very social fabric".

"Equally, we must delink religion from terror. The only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths," said Swaraj, who arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit.

The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejected associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group.

They emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime.

In the 'Manama Declaration', the countries affirmed the need to achieve a "comprehensive and permanent solution" to the Palestine issue and called for implementation of the two-state principle on the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestine State with East Jerusalem as its capital, living peace side by side with Israel.

She cited "India's model of unity in diversity" as an example for the world to counter indoctrination and radicalisation.

Her reference to India's religious and cultural diversity at the world stage assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the intolerance debate that had raged recently in the country, with many writers, artists and civil society members expressing alarm over the issue.

"We in India have citizens who belong to every existing faith. Our Constitution is committed to the fundamental principle of faith-equality: the equality of all faiths not just before the law but also in daily behaviour.

"In every corner of my country, the music of the azaan



welcomes the dawn, followed by the chime of a Hanuman temple's bells, followed by the melody of the Guru Granth Sahib being recited by priests in a gurdwara, followed by the peal of church bells every Sunday," she said.

"This philosophy is not just a construct of our Constitution, adopted in 1950; it is the essence of our ancient belief that the world is family," she asserted.

Swaraj, in her speech, also quoted from the Quran, saying that faith harmony is the message of the Holy Quran as well.

"I will quote only two verses: La ikra fi al deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion) and La qum deen o qum wa il ya deen (Your faith for you, and my faith for me)," she said in her address to the key Arab nations.

She stressed that dangers of radicalisation and indoctrination cannot be ignored.

"We have seen repeatedly that terrorism does not respect national borders. It seeks to subvert societies through its pernicious doctrine of a clash of civilisations," Swaraj said.

"The only antidote to this violent philosophy is the path of peace, tolerance and harmony, a path that was illustrated centuries ago by Buddha and Mahavira and which was taken into the modern age by the Father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi. As he famously said, 'an eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind'," she said.

Before wrapping up her second visit to Bahrain as the External Affairs Minister, Swaraj also called on Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

She also held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and discussed an entire gamut of bilateral ties.

During the ministerial, the countries condemned the attacks against Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran, and its Consulate General in Mashhad in Iran, which resulted in "intrusions into the diplomatic and consular premises, causing serious damage, with Iranian authorities bearing full responsibility for not protecting the diplomatic premises".

Swaraj's strong push for anti-terror cooperation comes at a time when there have been a spate of terror attacks across the globe from the Paris carnage and the Pathankot airbase assault to the blasts in Indonesia as terrorism has risen as one of the most significant challenges of the world.

"As the spectre of terrorism and religious hatred raises its ugly head across the world, particularly in those cherished cities of history, it is time once again to reach back in time and redeem the essence of our civilisational spirit. We must pledge to halt the physical violence that has spread like a plague," Swaraj said.

She stressed on the need for equally addressing the violence in "our minds, a poison that has been spread by terror groups, harnessing the power of modern technology and social media platforms to infect our youth - those ideologies and beliefs that regard one's own brother as a stranger, one's own mother as accursed".
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"I have received fresh leads from India on the Pathankot attack and we will look and examine those evidences given by India. We could have hidden it or forgotten it but we asserted that we have received the evidences," Sharif said on a day when US President Barack Obama termed the Pathankot terror strike as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long".

"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks," Obama said in an interview.

"We are probing and verifying that. Once we are done with that we would definitely bring the facts forward. Along with that, we have also formed a special investigating team, they would go to India and collect more evidence," Sharif said here on his arrival from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum.

"I had a word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he had offered every help possible from their side in bringing the perpetrators to justice. We are going on the right lines and I hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon," said Sharif who promised further Pakistani action to combat militants but conceded that progress had often been slow.

India gave "specific and actionable information" to Pakistan soon after the Pathankot attack reportedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 that killed seven Indian soldiers.

Pakistani National Security Advisor Lt Gen Naseer Khan Janjua on January 5 called up his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval during which they discussed "specific and actionable information" related to the Pathankot terror strike.

Doval and Janjua talked about various information and leads, like the Pakistani numbers which the attackers had called and their intercepts with India asserting that an effective action on part of Pakistan was important.

Sharif was speaking days after a deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on a university near Peshawar killed 21 people.

The attack bore a chilling resemblance to the December, 2014 Peshawar school attack in which over 150 people, mostly children, were killed, prompting the government to launch a National Action Plan (NAP) cracking down on militancy.

Sharif said Pakistan would continue the fight against militants. "We will fulfil this responsibility," he said.
An Indian-origin lawyer has claimed that corruption within Scotland Yard was covered up, saying a police officer, who was involved in a money laundering inquiry against a billionaire Nigerian politician, was bribed, a media report said today.

Bhadresh Gohil claimed a former police officer probing the money laundering case of James Ibori had received corrupt payments from a private detective agency RISC Management which worked for Ibori.

Last week, Gohil, who was accused of leaking fabricated documents to media organisations and MPs, was cleared after the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) withdrew a charge of perverting the course of justice against him. The documents claimed a police officer involved in the inquiry of Ibori had received corrupt payments from RISC Management.

According to The Sunday Times, the decision to prosecute Gohil backfired as the CPS was accused of withholding key documents which could have proved police corruption.

Ibori, a former governor of Nigeria's oil-rich Delta State, had pleaded guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud in the UK. He is now serving a 13-year prison sentence.

Gohil, who was Ibori's lawyer, had pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering in 2012 in connection with the case. The Metropolitan began a probe against the lawyer after he alleged in a submission sent to the home affairs select committee from prison that RISC had paid bribes to Met officers.

Gohil, who was freed from jail last year, may now challenge his previous conviction, the newspaper said.

In representations to the judge, Stephen Kamlish, Gohil's defence team accused the CPS of "positively misleading the court and the parties as part of their deliberate cover-up of discloseable material".

In response, the judge said, "The crown has offered no evidence for one or both of the following reasons. One, that the allegations of corruption made by Mr Gohil are true, and not false. The second is that the crown has suppressed material both in this court and in other proceedings, including the trial of Ibori.

"The crown offering no evidence can only mean the crown is not prepared themselves to explain their decision, either for the abuse of the court in bad faith or for the police corruption. In those circumstance, it is our duty to our client to raise these matters and this brings into question the safety of these convictions."



A Met police intelligence report seen by the paper suggests an RISC employee telephoned a police officer working on the Ibori investigation in 2007 and allegedly told him his inquiries were "on the right track". Separate documents shown to Gohil's defence team are said to reveal the existence of 19 cash deposits into the same officer's bank account. The CPS had allegedly denied the existence of the documents.
An agreement between Airbus Group and Mahindra for manufacture of helicopters and three MoUs under the 'Smart City' theme were among the 16 pacts signed between India and France here today.

The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), which cover a wide range of sectors like urban development, urban transport, water and waste treatment and solar energy, were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit from here today.

As part of 'Make in India' initiative, an agreement was signed between Airbus Group and Mahindra to manufacture helicopters here.

From the French side, the agreement for "cooperation" to manufacture the helicopters was signed by Pieree De Bausset, President and Managing Direcor Airbus Group India, while from the Indian side, it was inked by Prakash Shukla, the Group President of Mahindra Aerospace.

Besides, three MoUs were signed under the 'Smart city' theme for city-specific urban development between French Development Agency (AFD) with the state governments for the cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

The aim of the MoUs is to provide specific technical assistance on urban development experts from the French government's programme.

Urban Development Experts from the French public sector will be based in each city, CII President Sumit Mazumder said on the occassion.

Under the MoU, expert in the fields of urban transport, water and waste treatment, solar energy, urban planning and architecture and heritage they will assist the three cities with their smart city development plans.

A joint Venture between Indian SITAC group and EDF Energie Nouvelles was signed to acquire 50 per cent stake in its renewable energy business in Gujarat.

This JV investment is worth 155 Million Euros in 2016 and would generate 142 MW power. Its objective is to produce one gigawatts wind energy in five years period.

A letter of intent between CEA (the French Alternative



Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and CG (Crompton Greaves) was also signed during the business summit.

Both the companies wished to explore opportunities of collaborations in Solar PV with storage function for Indian airports.

The final goal of the collaboration for CG is to set up manufacturing facilities using its infrastructure and expertise in India and technology knowhow of CEA, which is a center for technological research in new energy and storage technologies.

Another Letter of Intent was signed between CEA and Green Ventures. The CEA will work on off grid solar photovoltaic projects in the Indian rural areas with the aim to deliver tangible climate change benefits.

Besides, nine French companies signed MoUs with Engineering Projects India (EPI) Ltd, a public sector company fully owned by the government of India.

The French companies are Alstom Transport, CAN, Dassault, EDF Energies Nouvelles, Egis, Lumiplan, Pomagalski, Schneider Electric and Thales.

The MoUs between the nine companies and the EPI are in the field of new and cutting edge French technologies for smart and sustainable cities.
The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are expected to meet next month and the two sides are in touch for finalising the new dates amid some "forward movement", a senior Pakistani official said today.

A senior official of the Foreign Office said on anonymity that there was some "forward movement" and the foreign secretaries are expected to meet in February.

"The two sides are in touch over the issue of the talks and dates would be announced after mutual agreement," he said.

India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary level talks, scheduled for January 15 here, were deferred by both the countries mutually in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack.

India has blamed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for the attack and has been seeking action against the terror outfit and its chief Masood Azhar.

India had sought action by Pakistan on the evidence provided for apprehending the JeM terrorists suspected to have been involved in the January 2 attack. India has linked the fate of the talks to action by Pakistan.

After internal deliberations, the Pakistan government initiated a crackdown on JeM and reportedly held Azhar, believed to be the mastermind behind the attack, besides shutting down several seminaries associated with the outlawed group. The Pakistan government has however not confirmed Azhar's detention.

It also formed a team to investigate the evidence provided by India about JeM's alleged involvement.

In a pre-dawn attack, a group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists, believed to be belonging to JeM, attacked the Pathankot air base on January 2 killing seven security personnel.

Asserting that as per the 1991 agreement, essential



information concerning the nature of cargo and passengers is required to be furnished in respect of military aircraft, Swarup said requests for overflight clearance from the Government of Pakistan were received in a couple of cases without that.

"Despite several reminders, including in a meeting between Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner and Joint Secretary (in-charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) in New Delhi on 9 November 2016, Pakistan did not provide the information. Our expectation is that Pakistan will respect the requirements mutually agreed in bilateral agreements," he said.

He also noted that in another recent case, when Pakistan had provided all necessary information for Gulfstream aircraft of Pakistan Air Force proposing to carry a VIP delegation from Lahore to Colombo and back the overflight permission was provided expeditiously.

On ceasefire violations by Pakistan, Swarup said when the Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner was summoned yesterday, he was told that despite calls for restraint, Pakistani forces committed 27 ceasefire violations between 16 and 21 November, 2016, by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement of 2003, he said.

"The government also protested the deliberate targeting by the Pakistan army of 18 villages along the Line of Control during the period 16 to 21 November, 2016 which has resulted in a non-fatal casualty besides causing extensive damage to public and private property and the displacement of civilian population," he added.

The government reaffirmed its concerns about the safety and well-being of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan who had inadvertently crossed over to the Pakistani side more than seven weeks back, Swarup said.

"We expect early repatriation and safe return of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan back to India," he said.
Iran has arrested around 100 people over the attack on Saudi Arabia's embassy that led to Riyadh cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran, a judiciary spokesman said today.

"Since the attack, about 100 people have been arrested, of whom some have been released," Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie was quoted as saying by the official IRNA agency.

The ransacking of the embassy earlier this month "has been condemned by all authorities and we have taken immediate and serious action," he added.

One individual was also arrested "abroad" and returned to Iran, he said.

"He had given orders to certain individuals who entered the embassy," Ejeie added, without providing further details.

Demonstrators stormed and burned Riyadh's embassy in Tehran and its consulate in second city Mashhad on January 2 to protest against the execution of a prominent cleric from Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority.

The Gulf kingdom and some of its allies the next day severed diplomatic relations with Iran over the incidents.

The Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday condemned the attack.

"Like the British embassy attack before it, this was against the country (Iran) and Islam, and I didn't like it," he said, referring to a mob ransacking Britain's embassy in Tehran in 2011.

President Hassan Rouhani also condemned the attacks as "totally unjustifiable" and called on the judiciary to put on trial those accused of being involved.

Iran previously said it had arrested 40 people over the embassy attack in Tehran, and another four after the consulate was torched in Mashhad.
Iran will sign a contract this week to buy 114 Airbus planes from France, during a visit to Paris by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran's transport minister said today.

Abbas Akhoundi, quoted by Iranian media, said the deal "will be signed between Iran Air and Airbus" when Rouhani is in Paris on Wednesday on the final day of his first official European visit.

Rouhani's trip follows the implementation of a nuclear deal with world powers that curbs Tehran's atomic activities in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions.

Iran desperately needs to modernise its ageing passenger plane fleet, which has only 150 operational planes out of more than 250, according to Akhoundi.

"We have been negotiating for 10 months" for the purchase of planes but "there was no way to pay for them because of banking sanctions," Iranian state media quoted Akhoundi as saying.

"We need 400 long- and mid-range and 100 short-range planes," he added.

The first batch of new planes will arrive in the country by March 21, he said.

Iran, with a population 79 million, has a good road network but still needs major transport upgrades, which Tehran hopes will aid tourism.

Rouhani is to visit Italy and France on January 25-27 to boost Iran's economic ties with Europe.

Iran currently has no deals in place with American manufacturer Boeing "because of problems with negotiating with the US," according to Akhoundi.

State television said the US Treasury had not yet permitted Boeing to enter talks with Iran, "but we will definitely negotiate with this company too," the minister added.

Apart from new planes, Iran's airports also need USD 250 million worth of upgrades, he said.

Only nine of Iran's 67 airports are currently operational.

The Islamic republic yesterday signed a USD 2 billion contract with China to electrify the railway line linking Tehran with second city Mashhad, Akhoundi said.
Iraq's foreign ministry summoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Baghdad today to protest his "interference" in the country's internal affairs over remarks on militia forces fighting the Islamic State group.

Thamer al-Sabhan is the first Baghdad-based Saudi ambassador in a quarter century, but while full diplomatic relations are restored, there is still significant hostility to Riyadh in some quarters and there have already been calls for the envoy's expulsion.

The foreign ministry summoned Sabhan "to inform him of its official protest regarding his media statements that represented interference in Iraqi internal affairs," it said in a statement.

Sabhan said in interview with Al-Sumaria television that the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces, which are dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, are not wanted in Sunni Arab and Kurdish areas as "they are not accepted by the sons of Iraqi society".

Iraq turned to Shiite militia forces in 2014 to help counter an IS onslaught that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and they have played a key role in the fight against the jihadists.

But militias and their affiliates have also carried out abuses including summary executions, kidnappings and destruction of property, and many members of the Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities view them with suspicion.

The foreign ministry defended the Hashed al-Shaabi, "which is fighting terrorism and defending the sovereignty of the country, and works under the umbrella of the state."



Shiite politicians had earlier reacted angrily to the Saudi ambassador's comments, but the country's largest Sunni bloc defended him.

"The remarks of the Saudi ambassador indicate clear hostility and blatant interference in Iraqi affairs," Khalaf Abdulsamad, the head of the Dawa parliamentary list, said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Israel's former President Shimon Peres says the 92-year-old is being rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pains.

Ayelet Frisch said medics treated him at his home today night and detected a "light irregular heart rate." She said the doctors decided he should spend the night in hospital for observation.

Peres was discharged from hospital last week after suffering a mild heart attack.

Peres completed his seven-year term as president in 2014. He remains active through his non-governmental Peres Center for Peace, which promotes coexistence between Arabs and Jews. In a seven-decade political career, Peres served three stints as prime minister.

Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 following the signing of the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians.
The delay in government formation in Jammu and Kashmir seems to have a lot to do with PDP President Mehbooba Mufti trying to ensure that the reins of power within her party remains with the Mufti family.

While officially the PDP maintains that it is reviewing the implementation of the Agenda of Alliance during the 10-month coalition government with BJP, Mehbooba has devoted her energies over the past week to introducing her younger brother to the politics of the state in the aftermath of their father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's death on January 7.

The PDP president is keen that Tassaduq Hussain -- an ace cinematographer of 'Omkara' fame -- shoulders some responsibilities of managing the party.

The 44-year-old only son of the late chief minister made a silent appearance at the meeting of the PDP Core Group last Sunday where Mehbooba was authorised to take the final call with regard to government formation in the state.

"He had been reluctant to even think about politics while Mufti sahib was alive, but of late he has shown some inclination towards joining active politics," a senior PDP leader said on the condition of anonymity.

Given the powers enjoyed by a party president in Jammu and Kashmir under its stringent anti-defection law, Mehbooba wants to hand over the reins to somebody close and Tassaduq seems to have emerged as the ideal choice.

The state anti-defection law, passed by the Assembly in 2007, does not provide for any defection -- not even if the number of defectors are one-third, or more, of a party's strength of MLAs as provided in the national Act.

Former Advocate General Mohammad Ishaq Qadri feels that the state anti-defection law makes the post of party president very powerful.

"When the House is in session, the MLAs are bound to follow the whips of their respective parties or face disqualification," he said.

While there was no official word on Tassaduq taking the political plunge, the circumstances might force him to play a more active role, at least within the party.

"The PDP president has not only lost her father and mentor but her pillar of strength as well.

"There are many able leaders to guide her on the political front, but she can do with some advice and counsel on matters which might not be out and out political in nature," the PDP leader said.

Tassaduq further fueled speculation about him joining



active politics when he spoke at an informal meeting of PDP leaders at Mehbooba's residence to mark the 15th day of Sayeed's death.

PDP insiders believe that Tassaduq was making a soft entry into politics as he chose to speak about environment, rather than politics, at the meeting.

"He did not talk politics. His speech was focused on the environment and the need to preserve it," said a PDP MLA who was present at the meeting.

The MLA asserted that if there is any government in the state, it will be that of the PDP-BJP coalition.

"I do not think anyone is ready for an early election, be it from PDP or the BJP. There are some issues but these will be ironed out in the coming days," he said.

As Mehbooba met a group of young entrepreneurs at her residence on Friday, the presence of Tassaduq there was not lost on anyone.

Some of those who attended the meeting spoke highly about the cinematographer, who might be adding some colour to the state's political landscape in the coming days.

"He (Tassaduq) seems to be aware of issues -- both political and otherwise. He had encouraging words for us and even cited some success stories from the entrepreneurial world during the discussion," one of the budding entrepreneurs said.

While the Muftis are tight-lipped about the developments, a source in the PDP president's residence said Tassaduq left for Mumbai soon after the meeting with the entrepreneurs.

"It might be related to his work, we have no idea," the source said.
Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, today urged advocates not to consider judges as rivals or enemies andmake all efforts to conduct their cases in the best possible manner so that justice could be upheld or delivered.

Inaugurating the the Third state level Law seminar, organised by the Madurai district advocates association here, he said "Judiciary is not the enemy of the advocates."



Advocates should make all efforts to uphold justice, he added.

Referring to disciplinary proceedings against some lawyers, he said "such action has to be taken against some advocates."



The objective of the court was to maintain the purity of the judiciary and the advocates who represented the public should remain disciplined, he said.

Claiming that lakhs of cases were being decided in various courts across the state, he said advocates and judges should work together in expediting the cases andreducing the pendency.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in communist-controlled Laos today in a rare high-level visit by an American diplomat to Washington's former wartime foe.

The visit comes ahead of a key summit between President Barack Obama and leaders of the ASEAN bloc in the US next month -- and a landmark trip by the American leader to the tiny, landlocked Southeast Asian nation later this year.

The Communist Party has ruled impoverished Laos since 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, which spilt the country and saw it blanketed by bombs in a secret war led by the CIA.

But relations between the two countries have improved with Obama courting the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) as a diplomatic counterweight to regional power China.

Laos is chair of the 10-member ASEAN this year and will see a flurry of diplomatic meetings that will open the cloistered, tightly-controlled nation to greater scrutiny.

"After decades of a very difficult relationship between Laos and the US -- a period of estrangement, a period of mutual suspicion -- there has been increasingly a real transformation in the bilateral relationship," a US State Department official told reporters ahead of the visit.

The US has reached out to its former wartime foe with help clearing unexploded bombs, an issue "that resulted from our actions in the Vietnam War," the official said, as well as through health and education schemes.

In turn, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, has shown "a real interest in diversifying their diplomacy as well as their economy".

US warplanes dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos from 1964 to 1973 in some 580,000 bombing missions aimed at cutting North Vietnam supply lines through the neighbouring country.

An estimated 30 per cent of the ordnance failed to detonate and 50,000 people have been killed by the explosives since the end of the war.

Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, becomes only the second Secretary of State to visit Laos since the mid-1950s, after his predecessor Hillary Clinton visited in 2012.

Human rights remain a sticking point between the two nations, in particular the disappearance of prominent community activist Sombath Somphone in 2012.

Kerry arrived from Saudi Arabia where he reassured his hosts over the enduring strength of their relationship despite the US warming of ties with Iran.

After spending the day in sleepy Laos capital Vientiane, Kerry will travel to neighbouring Cambodia.

Both Laos and Cambodia are heavily under the influence of China which provides trade and diplomatic ballast to their authoritarian regimes.

In that context, experts say Kerry's trip to two nations with small populations but strong growth rates is laden with symbolism.
Secretary of State John Kerry today said that the US friendship with Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever and that the two will work together to try to end wars in Syria and Yemen.

"We have as solid a relationship, as clear an alliance and as strong a friendship with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as we have ever had, and nothing has changed because we worked to eliminate a nuclear weapon with a country in the region," he said, referring to the Iran nuclear deal.

Kerry delivered the remarks to US Embassy employees a day after meeting with Saudi and other Gulf officials on a visit aimed at reassuring US allies who are skeptical about the agreement.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have long viewed Iran as a regional menace, and Riyadh and Tehran back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen.

The nuclear deal, which was implemented a week ago after the UN certified that Iran had curbed its nuclear activities, lifted crippling sanctions on Tehran and unfroze billions of dollars in assets.

"Doing an agreement to get rid of a nuclear weapon doesn't do away with the other issues that are still of concern, so we will continue to work in the region with our friends and our allies," Kerry said.

He said he had discussed "new ideas" to bring peace to Yemen, where the Saudi-backed government is battling Iran-supported Shiite rebels.

He added that Saudi Arabia is "committed to work with us in the efforts to try to stabilize Syria and calm down this hyped-up, exploited division between Sunni and Shia."



Saudi Arabia backs the Sunni-dominated Syrian rebellion against President Bashar Assad, a close ally of Iran who hails from Syria's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Amidst growing dog ownership in the US, residential buildings, including affordable ones here are increasingly providing luxury pet amenities in a bid to entice renters and buyers devoted to the four-legged members of their families.

When 'pet spas' were introduced in high-end residential buildings nearly a decade ago, they might have seemed like another flash-in-the-pan perk. But they've not only hung on like a dog with a bone, they've also evolved, The New York Times reported.

Slop sinks for pet washdowns have been replaced by gleaming professional-grade tubs. Closet-size spaces have expanded into sprawling facilities where pooches enjoy 'cage- free' day care and work off paunches on treadmills, not to mention getting dolled up in the latest hairdos.

While these facilities are still most often associated with upscale developments, they are beginning to show up in affordable housing, too, the report said.

"First they didn't exist; then they existed; now they're more thoughtfully designed," said Rachel MacCleery, a senior vice president of the Urban Land Institute, a research organisation, which has tracked the pet amenities trend.

Pet amenities first began cropping up around the United States in the early 2000s, she said, and proliferated as the real estate industry recovered after the recession.

Nationwide, dog ownership is climbing, fueled in part by millennials who are postponing marriage and child-rearing - and getting a pet instead.

The American Pet Products Association found in its most recent pet-owner study that 44 per cent of American households, or more than 54 million, own at least one dog, up from 38 per cent, or 35 million, in 1990.

Elaine Tross, an associate broker at Halstead Property who runs a website called Pet-Friendly Manhattan Real Estate, estimated that about 50 per cent of residential buildings in New York today allow dogs, with condominiums and co-ops generally more pet-friendly than rentals.

Buildings often apply restrictions on breed and weight and charge pet fees, which MacCleery, of the Urban Land Institute, calls a new revenue source for buildings. Some real estate companies are not only allowing pets, they're catering to them.

The Related Companies, after experimenting with small, unstaffed grooming stations in a couple of its buildings in New York about a decade ago, has been rolling out its own proprietary programme, called Dog City, in its properties, offering day care, training and weekly visits from groomers and veterinarians.

"It's a way of showing residents we understand their lifestyle," the paper quoted Daria P. Salusbury, the senior vice president in charge of the company's luxury residential leasing operations as saying.
Nepal's agitating Madhesis today rejected a constitutional amendment passed by the Parliament to resolve the ongoing political crisis and blockade of key trade border points with India, calling it "incomplete" as it did not address their concerns over redrawing federal boundaries.

The amendment, endorsed with a two-thirds majority yesterday, addresses two key demands of the Madhesis - proportionate representation to the minority community largely of Indian-origin and seat allocation in the Parliament on the basis of population.

The lawmakers of the agitating parties had boycotted the voting, saying the amendment was "incomplete", as it fell short of addressing their concerns, including redrawing of federal boundaries.

Rajendra Shrestha, co-chair of the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal - one of the constituents of the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM), said that the proposal by Nepali Congress leaders Minendra Rijal and Farmullah Mansoor was progressive than the original bill that was filed in Parliament on December 15.

As many as 24 proposals were filed by more than 100 lawmakers of different parties, seeking to amend the bill, which was endorsed in the House after incorporating the proposal registered by Rijal and Mansoor.

The agitating Madhes-based parties said the revision proposal, in line with which the Constitution Amendment Bill was endorsed, was "incomplete" despite being progressive, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Morcha leaders said that they would make further comments after thoroughly "studying the text".

"But it will be too early to make any comment, as we are yet to go through the amendment proposal," Shrestha said, adding that Morcha's protests would continue unless "there is an agreement on redrawing federal boundaries".

Madhesis, who are inhabitants of the Terai region, are opposed to the new Constitution that divides their ancestral homeland under the seven-province structure and have led an ongoing blockade of key border trade points with India.

The agitating community that shares strong cultural and family bonds with India is demanding demarcation of provinces, fixing of electoral constituencies on the basis of population and proportional representation, and have launched a protest for months that has claimed at least 55 lives.
Aiming for a Guinness World Record, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan is planning to organise world's largest eye checkup camp in Jalgaon district in about two months' time.

The minister had organised a mega health camp in Jalgaon, his home district, two weeks ago, in which a team of top surgeons in the state conducted a whopping 4,500 angioplasty operations in different private hospitals.

"The eye checkup camp will be a milestone in the state's medical history. We will conduct not only cataract operations but also eye replacement surgeries. Yes, a world record is on my mind," he said.

The thought of setting the Guinness World Record occurred to Mahajan after the mega camp elicited a very good response.

The 55-year-old minister, however, refuted the charge that he is resorting to populism and not pursuing development.

"The rural people cannot afford heavy expenses for good medical services. Not each of them can travel to big cities like Mumbai for better treatment. What is the harm if the medical treatment is made available to them at their doorstep?" he said.

"I have been helping the poor in medical treatment since we won the Lok Sabha elections (in May, 2014). I have deployed five state-of-the-art medical vans to ferry poor patients from Jalgaon to Mumbai," the minister asserted.

"The doctors in Mumbai can monitor the patient's condition through satellite images while he is on the way to the hospital. We charge the patients only for the fuel. People had elected me even when I was not doing this," said Mahajan, a fifth time legislator from Jamner in Jalgaon.

"I have funded treatment for at least 120 physically impaired children. Such is the response that I am planning to buy a bus to carry the patients to Mumbai," he apprised.

The minister said he plans to route his initiatives through a Trust.

"Of course, I am planning to institutionalise the initiative through a Trust. The procedure to register 'G M Foundation' is under way. It will become a reality soon," he said.

A BJP leader said Mahajan is trying to establish himself as a decision maker before the Zila Parishad elections in the state scheduled in early 2017. "He knows he can have a say in the decision making if his popularity is at its peak," he said.

(Reopens CES10)



Stating that one of the highest priorities of the US is promotion of human rights, Hall said ensuring women's rights are a very big part of their efforts to promote human rights around the world.

"And we are very happy at the partnership developing with the Government of India and the people of the India to share our interests in promoting and educating human rights, including women's rights," he said.

The Hackathon, he said, was all about finding solution to strengthen the rule of law to prevent gender-based bias and then solution for helping women and girls who have become victims of gender-based violence.

Stating that the conclave on combating human trafficking held in Ranchi in March last year, Hall said it had a very positive change and the government and people of Ranchi and Jharkhand had made great efforts to combat not only human trafficking but also raising awareness on the issue and putting in place methods to prevent human trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence.
"The Avengers" star Mark Ruffalo has found his lost wallet and phone with the help of Twitter.

The 48-year-old actor had lost his belongings in New York, and it didn't take long for them to be found, thanks to the micro-blogging site, reported Ace Showbiz.

"APB out for a cell phone in a wallet case out on the streets of NYC in a blizzard," Ruffalo tweeted.

"My drivers license is in there. Reward and signed pic."



He was overwhelmed by his followers' reactions, writing, "Wow, thanks for all the tips and help for my lost phone ...Really appreciated."



A couple of minutes later, he updated his status to announce that the phone and the wallet had been found.

"OMG It was just found! That was freaking fast. Thanks for helping me find it!!" he tweeted.

The actor apparently fetched his belongings a few hours later and met the good Samaritans.

"Thank Amenaide and Catherine Brown for finding my Phone and wallet! Thanks Brown family for your decency," he tweeted along with a picture of two young girls.

This is the second time Ruffalo had lost his wallet. A man named Ross McHale found it inside a cab in Chicago in July 2014.

The actor also sought help via Twitter and when it was found, he wrote, "Thank you! Wow! Another point for the decency in people ...
The new Miss Universe, back in the Philippines after an epic televised blunder surrounding her crowning, said today she would use the attention the incident attracted to campaign for HIV awareness, especially in her home country.

In front of an estimated one billion television viewers worldwide last December, pageant host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, as Miss Universe before correcting himself minutes later.

The diamond and sapphire crown was removed from the head of a sobbing and humiliated Gutierrez and transferred to Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines.

Wurtzbach, speaking to reporters about her plans, said she would undergo a "public testing" for HIV when she returns to the United States where the Miss Universe Organization is based, to erase the stigma surrounding the disease.

"It's about time someone like me should step up and hopefully others would follow suit as well," Wurtzbach, 26, told AFP.

"I think in the Philippines, there's a bit of a stigma because we're a conservative country."



The Philippines reported a 22 per cent increase in HIV infections year-on-year in September last year. Four in ten of the new cases were reported in the capital Manila.

The nation of 100 million people, on whom 80 per cent are Catholic, is heavily influenced by the church which frowns on contraceptive use. Testing for HIV is also considered taboo.

In the very few minutes she stood at the back of the Las Vegas stage at the end of the pageant, Wurtzbach said she accepted being first runner-up as a huge crowd of disappointed but proud fans in the audience waved Filipino flags.

"I told myself, I fell short, what a waste. But it's okay. I did everything I could and the most important thing is everybody is proud of me," she said.

That was until Harvey admitted his unprecedented gaffe.

"I was so happy. I was so excited. I couldn't describe it. It was something the Philippines has been waiting for for a long time."



Wurtzbach said she stood by her statement during the pageant's interview question, that Filipinos welcomed the return of US soldiers to their former bases in the Philippines.

"The Americans have always been our friend, we've always worked with them... I don't think there's anything wrong with asking for help when we need it," she said.

Beauty pageants like Miss Universe have cult followings in the Philippines and former titleholders go on to lucrative careers in movies and modelling.

It was the Philippines' first title in 42 years and the third since the pageant started in the 1950s.
The Union Cabinet's recommendation for imposing President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh today drew stinging condemnation from the opposition with Congress alleging democracy was being trampled and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "fountainhead" of political intolerance.

Accusing the Modi government of trying to destabilize a state bordering China, the Congress, which is in power in Arunachal Pradesh, also said that it will challenge in court the Cabinet decision if it gets presidential assent.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed "shock" over the Cabinet decision, saying it is "murder" of the country's Constitution.

"Union Cab recommending Prez rule in Arunachal shocking. Murder of Consti on Rep D eve. BJP lost elections.Now acquiring power thro back door," Kejriwal said in a tweet.

The "very wrong" step has exposed Modi's "double-speak" on federalism, the Congress alleged and warned the government that it will pay a "heavy price" for it.

"Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh reflects travesty of Constitutional mandate, subjugation of federalism and trampling of democracy," AICC Communication Department Chief Randeep Surjewala said.

"Modiji's double speak of respect for federalism and states being equal part of 'Team India' stands exposed."



Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the party will move court and alleged that the step shows that Modi is "fountainhead" of political intolerance.

"We will challenge it.... This bypassing the matter which is being heard by the Supreme Court.... President is Constitutional head he will apply his mind and will take appropriate decision," Sibal told reporters.

He was asked whether the party will challenge in court the decision taken by the Cabinet decision.

"Government has taken a very wrong step. There cannot be possibly any wrong step than this. The Governor had embarrassed himself and now the government is embarrassing itself. They will pay a heavy price," he remarked.

Sibal, a former Law Minister and a noted lawyer, claimed that that government has taken the step apprehending that they are not going to succeed in the Supreme Court.

"They have taken the step despite knowing well the decision on President's rule cannot get approval of Parliament as they do not have majority in the Rajya Sabha," Sibal said.

"This is an act of political intolerance by government which talks of cooperative federalism," he said.

He lamented that the Modi dispensation was resorting to such tactics in a border-state like Arunachal Pradesh.

"They are trying to destabilize a state bordering China," he alleged.
Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal, who has refused to accept her literary award back, today wrote to the Sahitya Akademi saying her protest against intolerance continues.

"Let me make it clear that I have in no way 'reconsidered' my decision. My protest and that of other writers continues against the continuing attacks on freedom of expression," Sahgal said in a letter to the secretary of the Akademi.

She reminded the literature body that she had returned the award in protest against the "Akademi's silence over the murder of the Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and earlier of Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare in Maharashtra".

She said it is the literature body which seems to have done some reconsidering since its letter says that the Akademi has no policy of accepting returned awards.

"It is a pity that the Akademi has taken so many months to make this statement of policy. The cheque I sent you in October is in any case no longer valid," the letter reads.

She said if they are returning the now invalid cheque the decision was their's and not hers.
With the last two sessions of Parliament witnessing near washout, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien has pitched for laws to deny salary and allowances to members who do not allow the Houses to function.

Expressing concern that Parliament is "failing" in discharging its duties because of such obstructions, Kurien also said Parliament and Assembly secretariats should inform people through media about names of the members who disrupt proceedings.

The Constitution needs to be amended to ensure Parliament sits for at least 120 days and state Assemblies 60 days in a year, Kurien said.

According to a statement by the Rajya Sabha secretariat, Kurien's hard-hitting remarks came almost a month after the winter session of Parliament was marred by frequent disruptions with the opposition cornering the government over a number of issues as a result of which the legislative agenda particularly of Rajya Sabha, could not be completed.

The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman was addressing the two-day 78th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies, which concluded in Gandhinagar yesterday.

Kurien said although India is in the forefront of parliamentary democracy in the world, its Parliament is failing in discharging its duties.

"Because of continuous disruptions, the Parliament is often not functioning properly. As a result, the Parliament is unable to hold the government accountable and also to remind the government about its responsibilities," he said.

He said laws should be framed to "deny salary and allowances to those members who do not allow Parliament to function through disruptions".

Kurien lamented that said the number of sittings of Parliament and state Assemblies has been decreasing every year.

There should be a solution to this problem, he said,



adding that legislative bodies in other democratic countries such as England, Canada and the US work more than 130 days a year on an average.

"In our Constitution, there is no stipulation that Parliament should sit for a given number of days every year. So, the Constitution needs to be amended suitably, to ensure at least 120 days of sittings for the Parliament and 60 days of sittings for the State Assemblies in a year," he said.

Kurien added that media often ignores good speeches made by members who speak after thorough preparation and homework, while giving more coverage to activities of those who indulge in indiscipline and disruptions.

Such journalism discourages those members who work diligently, he said.

"Media should give emphasis on positive reporting. He said the Speakers and Presiding Officers of Legislative bodies should play an important role in guiding the media about how to project the important House proceedings before the public in a positive way," he said.
Aam Aadmi party today said that the purportedletter by Jawaharlal Nehru allegedly calling Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose a 'war criminal' is "fake."



Addressing a press Conference, AAP leaders Ashutosh and Sanjay Singh seconded the Congress' claims about the letter calling it rubbish and forged.

The AAP leaders said the letter that has surreptitiously been circulating on the internet was a part of "conspiracy in which few people were trying to portray one leader as greater than the other.

They alleged earlier it was tried to glorify Sardar Patel as bigger than any other leader in the country.

The AAP leaders said that people "who have no association with country's freedom struggle are trying to belittle Nehru and Gandhi."



They also criticised the NDA government for declassifying secret files relating to Bose in parts.

The duo said that the government should declassify all the files together instead of making it part-wise such as 25 files every month.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made public digital copies of 100 secret files relating to Bose on his 119th birth anniversary, which could throw some light on the controversy over his death.

The files were declassified and put on digital display at the National Archives of India (NAI). The NAI also plans to release digital copies of 25 declassified files on Bose in the public domain every month.

The AAP also targeted the Samjawadi party government for "jungle raj" in the state, and said law and order has been paralysed with loot and murder taking place frequently.

The duo also questioned BSP chief Mayawati's "silence" over the suicide of aDalit student Rohith Vemula.

Thy alleged that money and muscle power was used to win the Zila Panchayat elections, which the SP government openly supported.

They also urged the election commission to hold the Zila Panchayat chief elections directly on public voting system instead of the voting by few elected Panchayat members.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed strong support today for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as he faced pressure from hardline right-wing members of his coalition over an incident in Hebron.

Netanyahu heads a coalition with only a one-seat majority in parliament, making him especially vulnerable to the demands of religious nationalists in his cabinet regarding settlements, which much of the international community opposes.

His comments came at a time of sharp criticism internationally on Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, including from the United States and European Union.

"The government supports settlement at any time, especially now when it is under terrorist assault and is taking a courageous and determined stand in the face of terrorist attacks," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting, according to his office.

On Friday, Israeli security forces evicted dozens of Jewish settlers from two homes in the heart of the West Bank city of Hebron a day after they occupied them. Their arrival had sparked clashes with Palestinians.

The buildings stand near a religious site known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Hebron is a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with several hundred Jewish settlers living in the heart of the city under heavy military guard among around 200,000 Palestinians.

Clashes and protests have regularly broken out in Hebron. A large number of the Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that began in October have also occurred in and around the city.

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the Jewish "squatters" were evicted because they had not followed legal procedures.

But Netanyahu said that "as soon as the procedures regarding the purchase are approved, we will allow the two homes in Hebron to be populated, as indeed occurred in similar instances in the past."



"The process of checking is starting today," he said at the cabinet meeting. "We will do it as quickly as possible. If, in any case, it is not completed within a week, I will see to it that the cabinet receives a status report."



Criticising the evictions, three right-wing members of Netanyahu's coalition had threatened to not vote with the government over the issue.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they take up land Palestinians see as part of their future state.
A Dubai-based Indian business tycoon has dismissed the negative sentiments about economic slowdown as a "temporary phenomena", but said that the next two years would be crucial for his Lulu Group as the firm embarks on new markets while strengthening its presence in the GCC and India.

"These are just temporary phenomena and I am quite confident that economy will rebound on the back of long-term visions of Arab governments and strong fundamentals of its diversified income sources," chairman Yusuff Ali said.

Ali dismissed all negative sentiments in the markets with reference to economic slowdown.

In the past few months, the retail major has been on an aggressive investment and expansion phase announcing large investments in Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia to the tune of almost USD 1.7 billion.

"Next two years are very crucial for us as we embark on new markets of Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia while strengthening our presence in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and India," Ali said.

He was talking about the announced investment plans on the sidelines of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Lulu, which currently operates 121 stores across the Middle East and India, has been strengthening its sourcing operations around the globe by setting up its own sourcing offices in the UK, Brazil and the US.

Globally, Lulu Group employs more than 35,000 people.

"To maintain highest quality level, uninterrupted supply and to be competitive in the market, we have been setting up our own sourcing offices around the globe including Far East, China, Africa, Europe and now Americas," Ali said.

"This will give competitive advantage in our current as well future business," he said.

With a net worth of USD 3.4 billion, Ali was ranked 24th on Forbes' list of India's richest 100 people last year. He hit the headlines last July for the USD 170 million purchase of the iconic Scotland Yard building in London.

The group has also invested in India's retail market with a mega mall in Kochi, Kerala.
In apparent criticism of the Indian government's crackdown on certain NGOs, US President Barack Obama said today that civil society groups that strengthen communities need to be supported and not "stifled".

The US has been critical of the Indian government's action against NGOs particularly Greenpeace which was barred from receiving foreign funds and whose registration was cancelled in September last.

Washington had expressed worries about the "potentially chilling effects of such actions".

Obama made a reference to the civil society groups in the course of an interview to PTI while answering a question on his goals for the India-US relationship in the last year of his presidency.

He outlined the areas in which the ties could be put on a "new trajectory for years to come" and "lock in our gains" so far.

The President emphasised that there was much more that the US and India can do together and went on to say "India can be a strong voice in support of the universal rights and dignity of all people, regardless of background or religion.

"We need to support, not stifle, the civil society groups that strengthen communities", he remarked cryptically.
The National Green Tribunal has taken strong exception to UP government's non-compliance of the Supreme Court order directing eviction of residents from colonies of Kalagarh, which lie within the most sensitive core area of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

The apex court, in December 2013, had directed the UP Irrigation department to vacate residential colonies in Kalagarh and hand it over to Uttarakhand government within six months.

"Despite specific order of the Supreme Court of India which was passed in furtherance to report submitted by the Central Empowered Committee before that court on April 30, 2004, there is practically no progress and there is clear non-compliance to the orders and directions. Such behaviour is not expected from the state administration.

"The conduct of the state authority only exhibits apathy towards compliance to directions. Besides, non-implementation of the orders of Supreme Court of India, it will have adverse impact on the ecology, environment and wildlife in one of the most prestigious park of the country," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

The green panel also constituted a committee comprising Director, Tiger Corbett Reserve, senior official from environment ministry, officials from Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and irrigation department of UP and Uttarakhand and directed it to conduct a survey in the area and submit report within two weeks.

It asked the committee to indicate in its report the number of existing structures in the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Kalagarh, status of these structures and the area which is to be marked as ecosensitive zone beyond the limits of the park.

The committee would also inform the Tribunal about utility of any of the existing structure for development of forest activity.

"The Director of the Corbett Tiger Reserve shall be the Nodal Officer for compliance of this direction. All the authorities in the state administration shall provide due coordination and cooperation to the Committee for compliance of this order," the bench said.

In its December 2013 judgement, the Supreme Court had



upheld the 2004 report of its Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to return the encroached New Kalagarh irrigation colony to the Corbett Tiger Reserve and set a six-month deadline for the state government to ensure compliance.

In August 1966, the Forest Department of undivided Uttar Pradesh handed over around 9,000 hectares of Corbett National Park to the Irrigation Department for the Ramganga hydel project.

The houses were built for people at the site during the construction of the Ram Ganga Dam also known as the Kalagarh Dam, which was completed in 1974.

The Supreme Court has now handed this case over to the National Green Tribunal which will now hear the matter on February 8.
Parents, take note! Night-time texting habits of teenagers may be to blame for their falling grades and increased yawning in school, a new study has found.

Researchers from Rutgers University in US distributed survey to three New Jersey high schools and evaluated the 1,537 responses contrasting grades, sexes, messaging duration and whether the texting occurred before or after lights out.

They found that students who turned off their devices or who messaged for less than 30 minutes after lights out performed significantly better in school than those who messaged for more than 30 minutes after lights out.

Students who texted longer in the dark also slept fewer hours and were sleepier during the day than those who stopped messaging when they went to bed. Texting before lights out did not affect academic performance, the study found.

"Students tend to go to sleep late and get up late. When we go against that natural rhythm, students become less efficient," said Xue Ming from Rutgers University.

Although females reported more messaging overall and more daytime sleepiness, they had better academic performance than males.

"I attribute this to the fact that the girls texted primarily before turning off the light," Ming said.

"The effects of 'blue light' emitted from smartphones and tablets are intensified when viewed in a dark room," she said.

This short wavelength light can have a strong impact on daytime sleepiness symptoms since it can delay melatonin release, making it more difficult to fall asleep - even when seen through closed eyelids, she said.

"When we turn the lights off, it should be to make a gradual transition from wakefulness to sleep. If a person keeps getting text messages with alerts and light emission, that also can disrupt his circadian rhythm," Ming said.

"Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is the period during sleep most important to learning, memory consolidation and social adjustment in adolescents. When falling asleep is delayed but rising time is not, REM sleep will be cut short, which can affect learning and memory," she said.

The findings were published in the Journal of Child Neurology.
Thai police today said that they have no information about a Chinese journalist who is feared to have been forcibly taken back to China after he fled the country and travelled to India and then Thailand claiming that he was fed up with a life as a government informant.

The journalist, Li Xin, formerly a website editor for a Chinese media group, reportedly fled last October to India, where he told media that he could no longer bear working as a secret informant for the Chinese government.

He later travelled to Thailand. Li's wife, He Fangmei, claimed that he was planning to seek asylum before he went missing in Thailand on January 11.

The wife said that she last spoke to her husband when he was riding a train from Bangkok to Nong Khai in northeastern Thailand. She said she fears her husband was taken back to China, raising concerns that he might have been abducted by Chinese agents.

Thai Police spokesman Dejnarong Suthicharnbancha today said that they have no information about the Chinese journalist and will only look into the case if his wife files a missing complaint.

Police said that the wife could file a complaint with police if she believed her husband had disappeared, the Bangkok Post reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee said the ministry had yet to obtain any information regarding the disappearance of the Chinese journalist.
Norway has announced it was temporarily suspending its controversial return of migrants from Arctic Russia, following a request from Moscow.

"The Russian foreign affairs minister was in contact on Friday with the Norwegian authorities on the subject of the return of asylum seekers via Storskog," the foreign ministry said in a statement yesterday, referring to the Storskog border crossing, 400 kilometres (about 250 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

"Until further notice, there will not be any more returns via Storskog. The Russian border authorities want more coordination over these returns," the statement added.

Speaking in Davos to Norwegian television channel NRK, Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Borge Brende said the Russians had made the request citing "security reasons".

Some 5,500 migrants - mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran - crossed from Russia into Norway last year, on the last leg of an arduous journey through the Arctic to Europe.

Norway is not within the European Union, but is a member of the Schengen passport-free zone.

Many migrants arrived by bicycle as Russian authorities do not let people cross the border on foot and Norway considers people driving migrants across the border in a car or truck to be traffickers.

In November 2015, its right-wing government decided that migrants who had been living legally in Russia, or had entered Russia legally, should be immediately returned there, on the basis that Russia is a safe country.

Police police returned 13 migrants by bus to Russia on Tuesday.

Two similar operations were scheduled for Thursday and Friday but were then cancelled, for what officials said were logistical reasons.

Several dozen migrants had been taken to the border town of Kirkenes ahead of their expulsion, but several fled and three were given shelter in a church.

Rights groups had expressed outrage at the migrants being forced to return by bike in winter, when temperatures in the far north regularly fall to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit).

They also say that Russia has a poor record on dealing with requests for asylum.
National Students Union of India (NSUI) today dismissed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's claim that it was behind the attack on ABVP office at Matunga in central Mumbai.

"ABVP should first tell us why did they claim that the attack was by dalit activists and began blaming us only after BJP leaders visited their office," NSUI leader Suraj Thakur said here.

"NSUI abides by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and not the violent path preached by RSS and its outfits," Thakur said.

"We should know what prompted ABVP to first allege dalit workers attacked their office and later on, pass the blame to us," he said.

The ABVP office was vandalised by around six men, in which one of the members of the BJP-affiliated student union got injured, police had said.

The incident came in the wake of alleged suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar pursuing PhD in Hyderabad Central University, who had earlier faced varsity's action for allegedly assaulting an ABVP leader.

ABVP state organising secretary (Konkan region), Yadunath Deshpande had ruled out the possibility of any Dalit organisation being behind the incident, and alleged that the attack was done at the behest of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

"This attack has been carried out by NSUI at the behest of Rahul Gandhi, as he is only interested in taking political mileage out of the suicide incident in Hyderabad," he had alleged.
As he began his three-day India trip, French President Francois Hollande today said the objective of his visit was to consolidate strategic partnership between the two nations.

He affirmed his commitment to help India in building Smart Cities, an ambitious project of Modi government.

"My visit has two main objectives: consolidate our strategic partnership, in particular for our security, with more cooperation and implement decisions taken during PM Modi's visit in France during COP21," Hollande said addressing the business summit.

Terming his visit to India as "exceptional", he said France and India were committed to take forawrd all the promises agreed upon between the two nations.

"India has launched a programme to create 100 Smart Cities. France will contribute in 3 cities with AFD France," the President said.

Hailing the Prime Minister, he said "without Modi's intervention on climate justice, there would not have been any agreement."



Impressed by Chandigarh, he said "I wish that the work of Le Corbusier, that can be admired in Chandigarh, be recognised by UNESCO."



"France wants to build with India a post-carbon world," he said referring to global worming. I trust the relationship established with Modi. We agree, our cooperation must move even faster," he said.

"France thinks that it is in India that new innovations are conceived with its young and well trained population," he said.

Noting that India is a major democracy, he said exchange of military equipment and cyber security programmes are need for protecting both India and France.

"Both India and France need to protect world from terrorism," he said adding that for the safety and security of the world the trust between the two countries must exist.

He expressed concern over the level of pollution in the world and said that it is disasterous.

He said that 1000 French companies are doing business in India and France is third in the list of investing in India.
A 71-year-old Omani man has tested positive for deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Thailand, becoming the second confirmed case in the country as authorities launched an urgent search to trace several others who had contact with the patient, health officials said today.

Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said the patient had been quarantined at an infectious diseases centre on the outskirts of Bangkok and wasin stable condition on respiratory machine.

The Diseases Control Department is now looking for more than 250 people the patient had direct contact with. Of them, 37 are considered at "high risk" of contracting the deadly virus, the Health Ministry said, without giving more details.

The 37 persons, include 13 Thais, who are medical staffs, hotel staffs and a taxi driver.

They will be monitored for possible infection for at least 14 days, the ministry said.

Thailand's first MERS case was a 75-year-old man, also from Oman, who was hospitalized last June. He, however, was released weeks later after being declared free of the virus, considered deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds of people when it appeared in Asia in 2003.

In both cases, the men had first fallen ill in Oman and came to Thailand to seek diagnosis and medical treatment.

People from the Middle East frequently come to Thailand for medical care.

The World Health Organisation said early this month that it had been notified of 1,626 confirmed MERS cases, including at least 586 related deaths, since the disease first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

South Korea was hit hard by an outbreak last year which killed 36 people and triggered panic across Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The typical symptoms of the virus include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to WHO.
A BJP MP today slammed opposition parties for their outcry over a dalit scholar's suicide, saying they express solidarity with dalits only when one of them dies but do not come forward to stand for their rights.

"Why people (opposition) show their solidarity with dalits only when a dalit dies, but remain quiet when dalits stand for their rights and development? Where does their solidarity disappear then?" BJP MP and dalit leader Udit Raj asked while speaking to reporters here.

Accusing opposition parties of being selective regarding which issues to raise, he said, "This is not the only case of dalit discrimination, it happens everyday and everywhere."



We see upper caste children not having their mid-day meals with their dalit classmates and a dalit PHD scholar being harassed just because of his caste, Raj added.

On being asked if he too holds Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya responsible for Rohith's death, he said, "I don't hold anyone responsible for this unfortunate incident before any inquiry and probe has been made."



Like others, the dalit leader, said he also wants a "strict" probe into Rohith Vemula's suicide case. "We have demanded a strict probe into the matter. Those responsible for Rohith's death should be punished."



Rohith who committed suicide on January 17, was among five research scholars suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on a student leader. They were also kept out of the hostel.
To scale up its offensive against the Modi government on the issue of minority status to AMU and JMI, opposition parties have decided to approach some NDA allies, who were earlier constituents of the United Front, as they plan to corner the government in Parliament during the Budget Session.

MPs from Congress, Trinamool Congress, JD(U), RJD, NCP, CPI, CPI(M) and AAP had on Friday issued a joint statement condemning the government's move to "strip" Aligarh Muslim University and Jamila Millia Islamia of their minority status.

They will now seek to forge a larger unity on the issue in Parliament when the Budget Session convenes next month.

"We will try to take on board some of the NDA allies like Akali Dal, TDP, AGP, PDP and TRS. Many of them were with us during the United Front days and share the same view on such issues," JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi told PTI.

Tyagi said efforts are on to ensure the issue is raised in a big way during the Budget Session so as to "prevent" the government from "taking away" the minority status of JMI and AMU.

A meeting of MPs sharing a common view on this matter will also be held before the Budget Session to chalk out the strategy, the JD(U) leader said.

Tyagi said that apart from MPs from the eight parties, which have signed the joint statement, "Indian National Lok Dal has also decided to support us. We will now try to reach out to some NDA allies".

He said the issue is a "larger one" and "not confined only to the minority status of JMI and AMU."



Linking the recent outrage and political protests over the



suicide of a Dalit student in Hyderabad University to it, Tyagi said the issue is about the autonomy of institutions.

"Be it Jamia or Aligarh Muslim University or for that matter the issue of appointment of Vice Chancellors in Delhi University and JNU, the government has reflected the same attitude. It is up to usurp their autonomy.

"The sad outcome of it is the Hyderabad incident. We will oppose such a tendency tooth and nail," said the JD(U) MP.

"We will meet President Pranab Mukherjee on the issue of AMU and Jamia during Budget session itself and submit him a list of signatures against the governments' move. We will carry out a signature campaign during the Budget Session itself," he added.

Tyagi had earlier this month written to the President and



Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding scrapping of the search committee set up to recommend names for the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, alleging "high-handedness" and "serious violations" of norms and procedures.

He had also submitted a note on "violations of the statutes of Delhi University and JNU in the appointment of the Vice Chancellor" and termed it a "challenge to the autonomy" of institutes of higher learning.

In the joint statement on the issue of minority status for AMU and Jamia, MPs had expressed their "displeasure and deep concern" against the "nasty" move of the central government to "strip" them of their minority status.

The MPs had also condemned the statement of the Attorney General Mukhul Rohtagi that the two are not minority institutions.

In the joint statement, they had pledged to raise the issue in the forthcoming session of Parliament and "fight" for the basic rights of minorities as enshrined and guaranteed in the Constitution of India," and decided to reach out to "all secular-minded political parties".

The Attorney General has told the government that Delhi-based Jamia Millia Islamia is not a minority institution as it was created by an Act of Parliament, days after he told the Supreme Court that the legislature never intended the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to be a minority institution.

The HRD Ministry had approached the Law Ministry seeking an opinion on the issue. The Law Ministry had then asked the AG for his legal opinion.

Rohatgi had also told the apex court around a fortnight back that in the opinion of the government, AMU was not a minority institution. He said the government cannot be seen as setting up a minority institution in a secular state.
"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe says the threat of boycotting Oscars is already changing Hollywood.

"I suppose in a way it's already been effective because there has been a reaction in terms of the Academy working on changing their policy," the 26-year-old star said at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of his new indie drama "Swiss Army Man".

"It's the start of a conversation that feels like we shouldn't need anymore because particularly in this industry, we think of ourselves as being liberal (and) very progressive. We need to put our money where our mouth is."



Earlier this week, Spike Lee, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith said they weren't going to attend this year's Oscars because of the lack of diversity among the nominees.

The #OscarsSoWhite controversy erupted again after the nominations were announced on January 14. All of the 20 acting nominees are white.
The United National Liberation Front of WESEA (UNLFW)- a conglomerate of Coordination Committee (CorCom), Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), and other insurgent outfits - have called for boycotting the Republic Day celebrations in the region (north-east).

A statement issued by UNLFW also called for a total shutdown in the region from midnight January 25 till 6 PM on January 26 and imposing sanctions on all official and non-official programmes.

The call exempted emergency services, media from the purview.

The outfits alleged the union government was pursuing a hegemonic colonial policy in the region to assimilate all the distinct culture, people and territories and called for protecting the indigenous identity of the people of the region, including Manipur.

The outfits also included Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), Maoist Communist party (MCP-M), Kangleipak Communist Party and Poirei Metitei Lup (KCP-PML).

A government spokesman said any move to disrupt the Republic Day celebration will be foiled and the police and forces were alert.
: Over one lakh devotees from all India and abroad today offered worship at the flame in Satya Gnana Sabha temple, founded by 19th century saint Ramalinga Swamigal.

The darshan was held from 6.00 AM to 10 AM today.

The practice of providing food free of cost to devotees was done this year also.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation alone gave free food to 50,000 people, temple sources said.

The temple does not have an idol. The sanctum santorum has seven screens and a big mirror. After the screens are opened, the flame is projected on the mirror, which devotees worship.
In a strong message, US President Barack Obama told Pakistan today that it "can and must" take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil by "delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling" terror networks there.

Describing the terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long", Obama gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the attack.

"Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region," said Obama in an interview during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

Voicing his belief that the Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century, Obama said that Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and "we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices".

Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, "Absolutely not."



On the Pathankot attack, Obama said, "We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to prevent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families.

"Tragedies like this also underscore why the US and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism."



Obama was of the view that Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region. After the December, 2014 school massacre in Peshawar he had vowed to target all militants, regardless of their agenda or affiliation.

"That is the right policy. Since then, we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups. We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in north west Pakistan."



The President said that he still believed that "Pakistan can and must" take more effective action against terrorist groups that operate from its territory.

"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terrorist networks. In the region and around the world, there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice," he asserted in this third interview to PTI.

Referring to bilateral ties with India, Obama said his visit last year reflected how the ties between the two countries have been transformed.

"Since I took office, I have worked to deepen our cooperation with India across the board and I continue to believe that the relationship between India and the United States can be one of the defining partnerships of this century.

"However, common values--two democracies, two innovative economies, two diverse societies--make us natural partners. We are linked by the ties of family--millions of Indian Americans," the US President said.

He said his hope was that his visit could help spark a new era of cooperation between the two countries and "I believe it did".

"The past 12 months have been a year of progress across the three priorities that I identified in my speech to the Indian people at Siri Fort.

"We're deepening our partnerships to promote the development that lifts up our people, including rural Indians- helping farmers, boost their yields and working expanding access to electricity and clean water," Obama said.

He said both the countries continue to expand the economic partnerships that help reduce poverty and create opportunity, pushing bilateral trade to a record levels, expanding hi-tech collaborations and increasing students exchanges, including for girls and women who deserve the same education and opportunities and boys and men.

Obama said the two countries were doing even more as global partners including more military exercises, greater cooperation in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region and working together to confront climate change.

"I continue to believe that America can be India's best partner. So I hope future generations can look back at this moment and see that this was the time when the world's largest democracy became true global partners.

"In my final year as President, continuing to deepen our ties will continue to be one of my foreign policy priorities," Obama said.
Terming the Pathankot terror strike as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism



That



India has endured for too long", US President Barack Obama today demanded of Pakistan that it "delegitimise, disrupt and dismantle" terrorist networks that operate from its territory.

In a tough message, Obama said that Pakistan "can and must" take more effective action against terrorist groups based there, emphasising that "there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice."



"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks", Obama told PTI in an interview here during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

Obama gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the Pathankot attack and said, "both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region."



Voicing his belief that the Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century, Obama said that Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and "we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices".

Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, "Absolutely not."



On the Pathankot attack, Obama said, "We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to prevent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families.

"Tragedies like this also underscore why the US and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism."



Obama was of the view that Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region. After the December, 2014 school massacre in Peshawar he had vowed to target all militants, regardless of their agenda or affiliation.

"That is the right policy. Since then, we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups. We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in north west Pakistan."



The President said that he still believed that "Pakistan can and must" take more effective action against terrorist groups that operate from its territory.

"In the region and around the world, there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice," he asserted in this third interview to PTI.

Referring to bilateral ties with India, Obama said his



visit last year reflected how the ties between the two countries have been transformed.

"Since I took office, I have worked to deepen our cooperation with India across the board and I continue to believe that the relationship between India and the United States can be one of the defining partnerships of this century.

"However, common values--two democracies, two innovative economies, two diverse societies--make us natural partners. We are linked by the ties of family--millions of Indian Americans," the US President said.

He said his hope was that his visit could help spark a new era of cooperation between the two countries and "I believe it did".

"The past 12 months have been a year of progress across the three priorities that I identified in my speech to the Indian people at Siri Fort.

"We're deepening our partnerships to promote the development that lifts up our people, including rural Indians- helping farmers, boost their yields and working expanding access to electricity and clean water," Obama said.

He said both the countries continue to expand the economic partnerships that help reduce poverty and create opportunity, pushing bilateral trade to a record levels, expanding hi-tech collaborations and increasing students exchanges, including for girls and women who deserve the same education and opportunities and boys and men.

Obama said the two countries were doing even more as global partners including more military exercises, greater cooperation in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region and working together to confront climate change.

"I continue to believe that America can be India's best partner. So I hope future generations can look back at this moment and see that this was the time when the world's largest democracy became true global partners.

"In my final year as President, continuing to deepen our ties will continue to be one of my foreign policy priorities," Obama said.
An association of ex-paramilitary forces' officials has registered its protest against non-inclusion of ITBP, CISF, SSB marching contingents from the Republic Day parade and alleged "discrimination"



The confederation of ex-paramilitary forces welfare associations has expressed its dissatisfaction over "throwing out" of the squads of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) from the annual national event held at the historic Rajpath in central Delhi here.

"One can feel the pain of the paramilitary forces where they used to display their strength, status and achievement while marching on Rajpath and at the same time they used to celebrate their glorious historical achievements also," the association said in a statement.

The association claims to have support of paramilitary forces veterans from across the country and had also staged protests last year demanding One Rank One Pension and other service benefits for the personnel of these forces which also include the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF).

The Republic Day parade this year has undergone many first-time changes like introduction of the army dogs squad after many years, a maiden marching contingent of French soldiers, replacement of CRPF male marching team by their womens' personnel unit, first-ever air display by the military chopper 'RUDRA' and reduction in the number of tableaus and cultural pageants.

The BSF camel contingent was also called in the last moment to practice for the event and be a part of the parade.

The about 8-lakh strong paramilitary forces, also called the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), are deployed to guard Indian borders and carry out a variety of internal security duties including conducting anti-Naxal operations, guarding VVIPs and securing vital installations like civil airports and agencies working in the nuclear power and aerospace domain.

French President Francois Hollande will be the chief guest of the event with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other dignitaries and common people in attendance at Rajpath.
A picnicker was feared



drowned in river Ganga at Phuleswar in Howrah district today.

Police said the 32-year old youth Amit Saha, member of a picnic party, suddenly dived into the river while other picnic party members were celebrating on the river bank.

He lost balance and could not be seen after few seconds.

Alarmed picnic party members alerted the administration and local fishermen and search was still on.
Seeking to address concerns of investors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that the controversial Retrospective taxation is "a thing of the past" and this chapter will never be opened again as his government was putting in place a predictable tax regime.

He also announced that France would immediately start investing USD 1 billion in India annually which will be scaled up later. The two sides also signed 16 MoUs, including one for manufacture of helicopters in India.

Addressing business leaders of the two countries here in presence of French President Francois Hollande, Modi said his government wants to ensure that foreign investors are clear about tax systems that will prevail in India over the next 15 years.

"I am for stable governance and predictable taxation system. The government is taking various steps to ensure this stability. This government is known for stable and predictable tax regime," he said.

In this context he referred to the Retrospective tax imposed in 2012 through amendments in the Income Tax Act, a step which had led to an outcry and anxiety among the investors, particularly the foreign ones.

"Retrospective tax is a matter of past. That chapter will not be opened again. We are ensuring that neither this government nor the future governments can open this chapter," Modi told the India-France Business Summit.

"Whosoever makes investment in the country should know about the taxation system in the country over the next five years, 10 years, 15 years," he said.

The amendments in the I-T Act were brought to undo the Supreme Court judgement on British telecom major Vodafone's tax liability case which was to the tune of Rs 11,000 crore.

Hollande, who began his three-day India visit from here today, is accompanied by a large delegation of CEOs.

Modi, who also attended the bilateral CEOs forum along with Hollande, said the French President informed him that his country will immediately invest over USD 1 billion annually in India and scale up the amount later.

Hollande said France has full trust on growth of Indian economy and the two countries can work in areas like solar energy, technology transfer, transport, roads, space industry, health, agro, and nuclear energy.

He said the agreements signed should be implemented and turned into reality.

While promising stable regime and predictable tax system, Modi said over 400 French companies are already in India and more than 1,000 firms linked to them are also operational.

"A big investment of France is in India. There are many big activities that India and France are jointly doing. Their experience has been very positive," the Prime Minister said.

Describing India as a source of hope and confidence for the entire world as it is the "fastest growing economy", Modi invited French firms, especially in the defence sector to manufacture in India and take advantage of low costs involved.

"India wants to enter the field of defence manufacturing. ... I assure French companies present here, especially in the field of defence manufacturing that we can do a lot in the area of defence manufacturing."



The CEOs forum discussed issues like defence, green economy, Smart Cities, infrastructure, transportation, water and financial sector.

Modi said France has decided to contribute to smart cities project in Nagpur, Puducherry and Chandigarh.

"We are working towards improving quality of life. We are working on good governance. These are the two initiatives that world is attracted towards," he said.

India has witnesssed 40 per cent increase in foreign direct investments and established itself as an important destination for foreign capital, he said.

The Prime Minister said India's ranking in the 'Ease of Doing Business' has improved by 12 points in a short span of time after his government took over.

He said there are many opportunities to work on different fields between India and France. "It is like 'made for each other'. What you (France) have is our requirement and what you need is the market which we have," he said.

Seeking French assistance in improving infrastructure, rail network and innovation, Modi said, "Our development model requires the expertise of France. We have to move forward in infrastructure, rail, maritime, even waterways."



He said India also wants to play a significant role in a fight against global warming. "We want to reduce carbon foot print and move towards waterways," he said.

Modi said his government was in the process of switching over railways from diesel to electric mode and wants infrastructure to be set up at 50 stations for which French capability will be required.

Noting that Innovation was France's biggest strength, he said both India and France could work in this field. He talked about collaboration in the field of cyber security, defence by clubbing expertise and manufacturing capability of France with skill available in India.

"Defence is also a very important matter. And now, it is not only about the battlefield, cyber security is becoming vital. Sitting in a room, a class 12 student can also create problem anywhere... India has young talents in the field of IT. France has manufacturing capability," Modi said.

Modi also made a remark that France has an "umbilical" link with Chandigarh as the city was designed by French architect Le Corbusier.
Portuguese voters go to the polls today to choose their president, in an election being closely watched in Brussels as the country recovers from a 78-billion-euro (USD 85-billion) bailout.

Although the post is largely ceremonial, the president has make-or-break power over the nation's fragile ruling alliance and the power to dissolve parliament in the event of a crisis.

Since inconclusive elections in October, Portugal's minority Socialist government has been relying on a delicate coalition with the extreme-left to run the country of 10.4 million people.

The overwhelming favourite for the next head of state is a TV pundit, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Known as "professor Marcelo" to his fans, he comes into the race with a popularity that has been built thanks to decades in the public eye.

The 67-year-old law professor has been involved in Portuguese politics and media since his youth, co-founding a weekly newspaper in his 20s and helping to establish the centre-right Social Democratic Party.

Starting in the early 2000s he made his debut as a political analyst on TV, delivering clever commentary to a viewership that quickly grew.

"People love Marcelo because he is entertaining," said Rebelo de Sousa biographer Vitor Matos.

His popularity is widely expected to help him break the 50-per cent mark for an outright win in today's voting. If none of the 10 candidates breaches this threshold, a run-off will be held on February 14.

The centre-right bloc of former conservative prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho won the most seats in the October ballot, but lost the absolute majority it had enjoyed since 2011.

The government of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa has promised to implement a moderate programme that upholds European Union budget commitments.

But it is forced to count on the support in parliament of a bloc of communists and greens that has not renounced its critical stance towards European budgetary rules and Portugal's membership of NATO.

Rebelo de Sousa is a long-time conservative who has the backing of right wing parties but who claims total independence.

He would succeed Anibal Cavaco Silva, a conservative who has served two consecutive five-year terms and who had been reluctant to hand power to a leftist coalition he viewed as "incoherent".
Portuguese voters began voting today to choose their president, in an election being closely watched in Brussels as the country recovers from a 78-billion- euro (USD 85-billion) bailout.

Although the post is largely ceremonial, the president has make-or-break power over the nation's fragile ruling alliance and the power to dissolve parliament in the event of a crisis.

Since inconclusive elections in October, Portugal's minority Socialist government has been relying on a delicate coalition with the extreme-left to run the country of 10.4 million people.

The overwhelming favourite for the next head of state is a TV pundit, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Known as "professor Marcelo" to his fans, he comes into the race with a popularity that has been built thanks to decades in the public eye.

"I voted for professor Marcelo. I have been seeing him on television for years and I know his political beliefs," said Mario Machado, a 72-year-old pensioner, speaking in a posh Lisbon quarter.

The 67-year-old law professor has been involved in Portuguese politics and media since his youth, co-founding a weekly newspaper in his 20s and helping to establish the centre-right Social Democratic Party.

Starting in the early 2000s he made his debut as a political analyst on TV, delivering clever commentary to a viewership that quickly grew.

"People love Marcelo because he is entertaining," said Rebelo de Sousa biographer Vitor Matos.

His popularity is widely expected to help him break the 50-per cent mark for an outright win in today's voting. If none of the 10 candidates breaches this threshold, a run-off will be held on February 14.

The centre-right bloc of former conservative prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho won the most seats in the October ballot, but lost the absolute majority it had enjoyed since 2011. The government of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa has promised to implement a moderate programme that upholds European Union budget commitments.

But it is forced to count on the support in parliament of a bloc of communists and greens that has not renounced its critical stance towards European budgetary rules and Portugal's membership of NATO.

Rebelo de Sousa is a long-time conservative who has the backing of right wing parties but who claims total independence.
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan has informed the Bombay High Court that disciplinary inquiry is being conducted against two doctors of its hospital for alleged malpractices.

This was stated in an affidavit filed by the Shirdi Saibaba Trust recently on a public interest litigation alleging malpractices committed by doctors and demanding action against them.

The trust also assured that if found guilty, civil and criminal action would be taken against the doctors.

Accordingly, Justices Indira Jain and A V Nirgude of the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court recently disposed of the PIL filed by activist Sanjay Kale seeking action against the doctors.

The PIL alleged that Dr Harish Bajaj and Dr Gaurav Verma had allegedly obtained illegal gratification in purchase of cardiological materials like stents, balloons and other devices supplied by Heart Beat Pvt Ltd.

In the affidavit, the Sansthan's Chief Executive Officer Bajirao Valmik Shinde, in response to the allegations, said it had come to the notice of the authorities that both the doctors were allegedly following unlawful practice of accepting bribe in the form of commission from Heart Beat Pvt Ltd.

"Both the doctors had allegedly acted contrary to the decision of the Sansthan taken in a meeting held on April 17, 2013, for financial gains," the affidavit said.

The Maharashtra government also said in an affidavit that on November 27 last year, the Deputy CEO of Sansthan had informed Shirdi Police Station that on inquiry, prima facie it was found that both the doctors had committed misconduct, misappropriation and medical negligence.

The police station would take cognisance once proper complaint was received from the Shirdi trust and legal action would be taken against them, the government said in the affidavit.
Qatar received a record nearly three million tourists last year with 13 per cent of them being Indians, its tourism authority said today.

Indian provided more than 375,000 visitors to the energy- rich Gulf country, Qatar Agency quoted Qatar Tourism Authority.

The country received 2.93 million visitors in 2015, a 3.7 per cent more than it received in 2014.

The report noted that the Qatari tourism sector grew in 2015 despite global events that had a big impact on the patterns for travel destinations worldwide.

The tourism sector in Qatar have been growing 11.5 per cent annually since 2010.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) visitors increased 16 per cent year-on-year. African countries (Non-Arab) were up five per cent. Visitors from Europe and the Americas were up five per cent and one per cent respectively.

Nationalities that visited Qatar the most in 2015 were GCC nationals (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) with 44 per cent.

Indians came second with 13 per cent of the total. Followed by British, US citizens and Egyptians who combined represented 10.8 per cent of the visitors, the report said.
World number one and defending champion Serena Williams smacked down Margarita Gasparyan to sweep into an Australian Open quarter-final against Maria Sharapova today.

The American top seed and 21-time Grand Slam winner wasted little energy in swatting aside the unseeded Russian 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes at Rod Laver Arena to set up the mouth-watering clash with her long-time rival.

Williams has won every game against Sharapova since 2004, including last year's final at Melbourne Park.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova came through an epic 7-5, 7-5 battle against 12th seed Belinda Bencic immediately before Williams came on court.

Williams, who rarely looks at the draw during a tournament, claimed she didn't know who she was facing next.

"I had no idea," she said, when told Sharapova was up next by a courtside interviewer. "I really have nothing to lose. We're both just doing the best we can. It'll be fun."



The 34-year-old had schooled another Russian, Daria Kasatkina, in the earlier round, crushing her in just 44 minutes, and now it was the 58th-ranked Gasparyan's turn.

It was a sluggish start by Williams, who was broken in the first game by the 21-year-old on her tournament debut, to gasps of shock from the crowd.

But it was a minor blip as the top seed found her range, breaking straight back as the Russian found herself on the receiving end of Williams' powerful forehand.

Williams, with the great Margaret Court in the stadium watching, held serve and broke again for a 3-1 lead.

It wasn't vintage Serena but even operating at 50 percent she was too good for Gasparyan and a rout was on the cards.

Gasparyan, who won her first WTA title last year, at Baku, gamely hung on and held serve to keep the score respectable.

But the six-time Melbourne Park winner, gunning to equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, was in full control, doing the necessary to take the set easily in 30 minutes.

She dropped just five games in her previous two matches and surrendered only one more against Gasparyan, breaking her on the fourth and sixth games with her phenomenal serve keeping her in command.

She wrapped it up with service winner down the line, clenching her fist in victory.

"I kinda knew she liked to go for a lot, to be aggressive, so I knew I had to play strong," she said of Gasparyan, who she beat at Wimbledon last year.

Williams won three majors -- the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon -- in 2015 which took her to within one of Graf's long-time record of 22. Court holds the all-time Grand Slam record of 24.

The top seed claimed her first Australian Open title in 2003, beating sister Venus in the final, and reached her sixth last year when she toppled Sharapova.
Amid a high alert around the country ahead of the Republic Day, police today detained six persons, in Vadodara after local residents told authorities about their alleged "suspicious" movements.

They were picked up from a dargah (shrine) in a communally-sensitive Yakutpura area of Gujarat's commercial city, about 100km from here.

Primary investigation revealed all are residents of Mumbai and came to the city this morning by train, Vadodara Police Commissioner E Radhakrishnan said.

They were detained from Shafi Saiyad Dada dargah at around 7.30 am after some locals called the police control room and reported about their "suspicious" movements.

Though police have not recovered anything suspicious from them, Radhakrishnan said a police team has been sent to Mumbai to ascertain the claims made by these youths.

They were identified as Mohammad Salim (28), Mohammad Ahmed Raza (22), Shaikh Mohammad Shabid (22), Mohammad Jamil (28), Mohammad Saiyad Rehan and Samadhan Kakade (34).

"One of them is a press reporter (Mohammad Salim) and showed his press ID card to us after detention. These men claimed that they came here by train to offer their prayers at the dargah.

"Till now, we have not found any suspicious motive behind their visit. They told us they just wanted to offer prayers at this sacred dargah. They were supposed to leave the city tonight. We will keep them under detention till we are 100 per cent sure about their motive," said Radhakrishnan.

"To ascertain the claims made by them, we have sent a team to Mumbai. As of now, we have not found anything which can establish they are associated with any terror group or came here with a malicious motive," the Commissioner added.
Delhi Police have set up a wireless integrated public address (WIPA) system to enhance security at crowded places and popular markets in the city amid a high security alert ahead of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations.

"WIPA is a centralised public address system now installed at 31 crowded places and markets in Delhi, and also in 13 major metro stations.

"Through this system, announcements can be made centrally from the police control room to be heard at all the places simultaneously, or even selectively, with a provision to make announcements if the situation warrants," a senior Delhi Police official said.

The present WIPA network includes popular markets at Lajpat Nagar, INA Market, South Extension, Nehru Place and M-Block in Greater Kailash, metro stations like Mandi House, Inderlok, Welcome and Netaji Subhash Place, besides other crowded areas that include Ajmeri Gate, Ballimaran, Red Fort, Azadpur, Bhogal, Seelampur market and Tilak Nagar.

Police have also been conducting a series of mock drills to check their preparedness in dealing with terror situations. This week, two massive drills were conducted jointly with NSG commandos at south Delhi's Hauz Khas village and Khan Market in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, all police stations, offices of the assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners have been instructed to keep one emergency team in reserve. The teams shall comprise specially trained personnel who shall only act in cases of emergency and not engage in routine law and order affairs till January 26, the official said.

Crime mapping for the entire city was recently conducted by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police, who have been tasked with keeping an eye on criminal elements, especially the ones associated with small-time gangs in Delhi-NCR or with previous involvement in gunrunning, said the official.

Also, the Special Cell has been asked to keep an eye out for operatives of terror outfits and their movements.

The national capital was put on high alert following inputs about the presence of some terrorists after the Pathankot incident.

Delhi police this week arrested four youths with alleged IS links from Haridwar district in Uttarakhand. They had allegedly planned to attack Haridwar-bound trains and strategic locations in the national capital.
French President Francois Hollande indicated today that the nearly Rs 60,000 crore Rafale jets deal is unlikely to be signed during his current visit although it is on the "right track".

"The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years.

"Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track", Hollande told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning today.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence "is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries."



India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.

A high-level team from France is here and carrying out last minute negotiations.

Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, "France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators."



"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism", the French President said in a written interview.

Observing that solidarity between France and India was natural, Hollande said, "I would like to thank once again President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh attacks in Paris in November. French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India.

"We engage constantly with India. The Indo-French working group on counter-terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015. That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism," he said.

Hollande, who will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday during his second State visit to India, also appreciated Prime Minister Modi "for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination. He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan."



Accompanied by a high-level delegation, the French President and Modi will hold extensive talks here tomorrow during which ways to strengthen cooperation in counter-terror, security, civil nuclear energy and trade will figure prominently.

"I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas: defence, space and civil nuclear energy. As well as education, research, culture. Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance," he said while identifying railways, smart cities, food security, higher education and cinema as areas where the two countries can further cooperate.
French President Francois Hollande today affirmed that the Rs 60,000 crore Rafale fighter jets deal with India was "on the right track" and that it would pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological bilateral cooperation for the next 40 years.

There has been speculation whether the final deal for India to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets would be inked during Hollande's State Visit, which commenced with his arrival in Chandigarh today.

The deal was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France last April.

Asked if he hoped to see the final deal inked during his current visit, Hollande told PTI in a interview that "we are on the right track" but agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence "is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries."



Answering a question on the Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, "France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators."



"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism.

Following is the transcript of the interview with



President Hollande:



Q: Mr President, you will be the record fifth French Head of State to be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day parade later this month. That reflects growing strategic ties between India and France.

Ans: I am on a State Visit to India for the second time and I am very proud to be the Chief Guest of the Republic Day. The Indo-French relationship is based on shared values: freedom, democracy, progress.

A French contingent will march along Indian forces on Rajpath. This is historic. The 35th Infantry was created in 1604. These last weeks, it took part in a counter-terrorism exercise with the Indian Army in Rajasthan. I would like to add that it also fought in India against the troops of the East India Company in the 1780s along with the troops of the ruler of Mysore. I received Prime Minister Modi in Paris, less than a year ago. We have established a relationship of trust. And further raised the level of our partnership.

Q: Do you think that these ties have reached their full potential or is there room for doing more? If yes, what are the areas in which you would like greater cooperation between the two countries?



Ans: I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas: defense, space and civil nuclear energy. As well as education, research, culture. Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance. And India has contributed to the success of the Paris climate conference. There we launched the Solar Alliance and committed to concrete programs - in renewable energies, energy storage, urban development. My visit will enable us to conclude a series of new agreements and take a step towards the implementation of the agreements we signed last April in Paris. I am thinking of railways, smart cities, food security, higher education. As well as cinema. The variety of subjects reflects the density of what France and India can do together.

Q: France is a major defence supplier to India and the



Rafale fighter jet deal announced during Prime Minister Modi's visit last year is a reflection of that. Do you hope to see the final deal inked during your stay in India?



Ans: Our cooperation on defense is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries.

The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years. Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track.

Q: India has further opened up its markets to foreign investment and has improved the ease of doing business in this country. What do you hear from the French industry about these Indian reforms? Do French investors want India to take more steps for them to be comfortable in investing in India?



Ans: I am accompanied by a large business delegation. French companies invest a lot in India. The stock is now over 20 billion euros. French companies offer 300,000 qualified jobs and invest in professional training. Almost 1,000 French companies are present in India and they are successful.

Let me give you a few examples: Cap Gemini IT will reach 100,000 jobs in India, a thousand times more than the 100 people employed 15 years ago. Safran Morphodeveloped, for India, the biometric technology that made it possible to register one billion Indians for the ID program Aadhaar. Alstom Transport recently signed a contract for the production of 800 electric locomotives and will invest in a production unit 'Make in India' in Bihar.

Following the rise of foreign direct investment's cap from 26 to 49 per cent, AXA made a major investment to increase its share in Bharti group. There are dozens of such examples. SANOFI will soon launch brand new vaccine production units near Hyderabad for India and for export.

Q: Paris suffered the terrible terror attack in November



last. India, as you know, has been targeted by terrorists for long now. Most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan where some of the biggest terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) etc. Are based, the United States and the United Nations have for long been pressing Pakistan to take action against these networks. What would you like to tell Pakistan in this regard?



Ans: India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism.

France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators. I congratulate Prime Minister Modi for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination. He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan.

Solidarity between France and India is natural. I would like to thank once again President Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh (ISIS) attacks in Paris in November. French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India. I think in particular of a paper banner 24m long bearing the signatures and drawings of thousands of school children. The flow of Indian tourists and visitors continued to increase this winter, helping Paris to remain the Paris we love. They are warmly welcome, more than ever.

We engage constantly with India. The Indo-French working group on counter-terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015. That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that the controversial retrospective taxation is a thing of the past and this chapter will never be opened again in India, a statement aimed at addressing the concerns of foreign investors over predictability in the tax regime.

Addressing the business leaders of France and India here in presence of French President Francois Hollande, Modi said his government wants to ensure that foreign investors are clear about tax systems that will prevail in India over the next 15 years.

"I am for stable governance and predictable taxation system. The government is taking various steps to ensure this stability. This government is known for stable and predictable tax regime," he said.

In this context he referred to the Retrospective tax imposed in 2012 through amendments in the Income Tax Act, a step which had led to an outcry and anxiety among the investors, particularly the foreign ones.

"Retrospective tax is a matter of past. That chapter will not be opened again. We are ensuring that neither this government nor the future governments can open this chapter," Modi told the India-France Business Summit.

"Whosoever makes investment in the country should know about the taxation system in the country over the next five years, 10 years, 15 years," he said.

The French President, who began his three-day visit from here today, is accompanied by a large delegation of CEOs.

Inviting French companies, especially those in the defence sector to manufacture in India and take advantage of low costs involved, the Prime Minister said India provides huge business opportunity for them.

"India wants to enter the field of defence manufacturing. I assure French companies present here, especially in the field of defence manufacturing that we can do a lot in the area of defence manufacturing.

"We are working towards improving quality of life. We are working on good governance. These are the two initiatives that world is attracted towards," Modi said.

India has witnesssed 40% increase in foreign direct investments and established itself as an important destination for foreign capital, he said.

The Prime Minister said India's ranking in the 'Ease of Doing Business' has improved by 12 points in a short span of time after his government took over.

"The inflow of 40% FDI in short period of time is a proof that the world has recognizes India as important destination," he said.

He said there are many opportunities to work on different fields between India and France. "It is like 'made for each other'. What you (France) have is our requirement and what you need is the market which we have," he said.

Seeking the assistance of France in improving country's infrastructure, rail network and innovation, Modi said, "Our development model requires the expertise of France. We have to move forward in infrastructure, rail, maritime, even waterways."



He said India also wants to play a significant role in a fight against global warming. "We want to reduce carbon foot print and move towards waterways," he said.

Modi added that his government was in the process of shifting its railways from diesel to electric mode.

"We want to strengthen the rail infrastructure. For 50 metro stations, we want to set up infrastructure and France has the capability (to do it)," he said.

Noting that Innovation was France's biggest strength, Modi said both India and France could work in this field.

Sharing the France President's concern over terrorism, Modi said that terrorism was a challenge for mankind and it has to be fought collectively by the world.

"You (Hollande) expressed concern that the way global warming poses problem for mankind. The same way terrorism poses a big challenge. France has shown the way to the world that terror attack which killed innocent people should not affect the development within days of terror attack (in Paris in September last), France hosted several world leaders for the Paris climate summit which was a brave act," he said.

He also appreciated the response of France's public and media in the aftermath of terror strike and said lessons needed to be learnt from it.
Actor Robbie Coltrane has a challenging new TV role lined up as a comedian accused of historic sex abuse.

"This Is England" writer Jack Thorne's new Channel 4 series "National Treasure" will dramatise the fallout of a Yewtree-style investigation, reported Digital Spy.

The four-part National Treasure examines the fall of fictional comedian Paul Finchley, with Adrian Edmondson in talks to play Finchley's on-stage partner.

Finchley's life comes crashing down when police come to his door with accusations of sexual assault dating back to the 1970s.

"What I've always loved about Channel 4 is that it's a place to discuss big ideas. National Treasure is a piece about doubt, about the smell of abuse, about how we as a society live in Yewtree times," writer Jack Thorne said.

"Paul is a man who could be innocent or guilty. We're going to examine him from all sides and ask that big question - how well do we know the people closest to us?"



Coltrane is famous for his recurring roles in the James Bond and Harry Potter films, as well as the hit TV series "Cracker".

"National Treasure" is expected to debut on Channel 4 later in 2016.
Filmmaker Sam Raimi is in early talks to direct the remake of "A Prophet" for Sony Pictures.

Dennis Lehane has adapted the script with Neal H Moritz on board as producer, reported Variety.

The original starring Tahar Rahim, followed an Arab man who is sent to a French prison and soon becomes a Mafia kingpin among the prisoners.

The movie went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for best foreign film at the 2010 Academy Awards.

Raimi's last directorial venture was "Oz the Great and Powerful".
Iraqi Shiite lawmakers responded angrily today to the Saudi ambassador's criticism of militia forces in the country, with some calling for his expulsion less than a month after he arrived.

Thamer al-Sabhan is the first Baghdad-based Saudi ambassador in a quarter century, but while full diplomatic relations are restored, many Iraqi Shiites view Riyadh as a supporter of jihadist groups and an enemy of their community.

Sabhan said in interview with Al-Sumaria television that the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces, which are dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, are not wanted in Sunni Arab and Kurdish areas as "they are not accepted by the sons of Iraqi society".

Iraq turned to Shiite militia forces in 2014 to help counter the Islamic State jihadist group's onslaught, which had overrun large areas north and west of Baghdad.

While they have been a key part of the anti-IS fight and are widely supported by Iraqi Shiites, many members of the Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities view at least some of the Hashed al-Shaabi's main forces as hostile.

"The remarks of the Saudi ambassador indicate clear hostility and blatant interference in Iraqi affairs (and) his talking about the Hashed al-Shaabi in this way is considered a major insult," Khalaf Abdulsamad, the head of the Dawa parliamentary list, said in a statement.

The foreign ministry should "preserve the dignity of the Iraqi state and summon the Saudi ambassador and expel him from Iraq," he said.

Alia Nasayif, an MP from the State of Law bloc, said the ambassador's remarks "included clear attempts to provoke sectarian strife".

And Hashed al-Shaabi spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi termed Sabhan an "ambassador of a state that supports terrorism" and called for Iraq to "expel this ambassador and punish him for his statements."



But Sabhan's comments were not universally panned, with the Alliance of Iraqi Forces, the main Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, describing his remarks as "very natural" and criticising the "political campaign" against him.

Sabhan's tenure in Iraq, which officially began when he presented his credentials 10 days ago, was off to a rocky start even before his recent remarks.

Saudi Arabia's execution of activist and Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr at the beginning of the month sparked widespread anti-Riyadh anger, protests and calls for Sabhan to be kicked out of Iraq.

Iraq has been plagued by years of tensions between its Shiite majority and Sunni minority, which ruled the country under Saddam Hussein, with thousands killed in sectarian violence.

The United Nations said last week that more 18,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed in the previous two years, many due to an upsurge in violence with the rise of IS.
Amid growing outrage over the alleged suicide of a Hyderabad Central University (HCU) Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, students of Jawaharlal Nehru University today launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding justice for him.

Three students of the varsity -- Suchishree, Lenin Kumar and Shubhanshu -- have decided to sit on the fast to express solidarity with the seven students who were on an indefinite hunger strike at Hyderabad University. They were forcibly hospitalised yesterday on the fourth day of the stir. A group of another seven students today sat on an indefinite hunger strike there.

Other students from JNU will join the trio for a relay hunger strike over the issue, said Lenin Kumar, former president of JNU's students union.

"The environment in which Rohith was forced to kill himself is faced by millions of Dalit students who manage to reach higher education with great difficulty in our country. His suicide note will remain a powerful testimony to how our higher education system has institutionalized discrimination and hardships for Dalits," he said.

Suchishree, who has also written an open letter to the government, said, "The only political motive that I have as a political individual is that no more institutional murders should take place in this country. This indefinite hunger strike, I do not see as an appeal to the state, but as a mean to regain from the state the basic human dignity that is rightfully ours."



Various student groups have been protesting over the issue in the national capital since last week.

26-year-old Vemula Rohit, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room on January 17.

He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader. They were also kept out of the hostel. The suspension was revoked later.

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor were named in an FIR over the death of the scholar, which triggered massive protests and demands for their removal from their posts.

The issue also took a political turn with allegations that the extreme action was a result of discrimination against Dalit students after Dattatreya had written a letter to Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani seeking action against their "anti-national acts".

In a bid to defuse the raging controversy, the Centre had last week decided to set up a judicial commission to go into the dalit student's suicide in Hyderabad University, which announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.8 lakh to his family but protests continued.

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence and expressed grief over the death of Vemula, the students are demanding the removal of Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya and the Vice Chancellor.
Security has been beefed up across Jammu and Kashmir, including a tight vigil on Jammu-Pathankot national highway, to thwart any plans of militants to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations.

Police and paramilitary CRPF personnel have been deployed in the two regions of the state to keep an eye on any suspicious activity.

"Security apparatus has been tightened in all the places in Jammu and round the clock security has been provided to all the venues for the R-Day celebration," Deputy Inspector General of Police Jammu-Kathua Range Ashook Wani told PTI.

Police personnel were maintaining a strict vigil on all the main roads especially on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway, Wani said.

Meanwhile in Kashmir, barricades have been set up at many places to carry out random searches of vehicles entering the city, an official said.

Police personnel have been carrying out area domination exercises in the areas around Bakshi Stadium, where the Valley's main parade will be held on Tuesday, and around the venues at district headquarters, he said.

The official said the security agencies are on a heightened alert in view of the recent attack on an Air base in Pathankot in neighbouring Punjab.

The security forces have adopted a proactive approach over the past week, arresting seven militants from various places in the valley.

While two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were arrested from south Kashmir's Shopian district, five cadres of Harkatul Mujahideen were nabbed from Baramulla district in north Kashmir.

In the absence of an elected government, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir will preside over the Republic Day function at Bakshi Stadium for second consecutive year.

While the state was under Governor's Rule last year as PDP and BJP were thrashing out the Agenda of Alliance, the state is again under the Governor's rule as PDP did not stake claim to form government after Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away on January 7.

"All the vehicles entering or leaving the city are being frisked, suspicious activities are being monitored and additional QRTs (Quick Reaction Teams) have been deployed on all the vulnerable routes," DIG Wani said.

In the wake of this month's terrorist attack on an Air Force base in Pathankot, the Border Security Force (BSF) has beefed up its security apparatus along the International Border (IB) in Jammu region.

"Nothing has been left on chance, full arrangements have been kept all along the border to foil any nefarious designs. Though we never let our vigil along the IB down, but special arrangements are always kept in place whenever some important event takes place," a BSF official said.

The Jammu and Kashmir police has also sought the cooperation of the people attending the Republic Day function in Jammu to avoid any inconvenience.

In a statement issued here today, Senior Superintendent of Police, Security Jammu, has urged the people not to carry items including cameras, arms, ammunitions, sharp-edged weapons, hand and polythene bags, ladies purse, lunch boxes, stop watches, pens, any inflammable material, cigarettes, match boxes, and other such objectionable items to the venue.

The people have been asked to immediately inform the police on duty in case any suspicious item is noticed lying unattended.

The statement has urged people to extend full cooperation to the frisking and checking teams deployed at different gates of MA Stadium and ensure their presence at the venue well in time so that they are seated comfortably and don't cause any inconvenience to others.
Two days ahead of the Republic Day, security has been beefed up across Kashmir Valley to thwart any plans of militants to disrupt the celebrations.

Police and paramilitary CRPF personnel have been deployed in the city and at entry points to the summer capital of the state, a police official said.

Security forces have set up barricades at many places to carry out random searches of vehicles entering the city, the official said.

Police personnel have been carrying out area domination exercises in the areas around Bakshi Stadium, where the Valley's main parade will be held on Tuesday, and around the venues at district headquarters, he said.

Policemen have also been deployed in civil uniform around the Republic Day function venue to keep an eye on any suspicious person, the official said.

Similar security arrangements have been put in place in all district headquarters of the Valley, he added.

"There are no specific inputs about any militant attacks ahead of the Republic Day in the Valley but we are not taking any chances," the official said.

He said security agencies are on a heightened alert in view of the recent attack on an Air base in Pathankot in neighbouring Punjab.

The security forces have adopted a proactive approach over the past week, arresting seven militants from various places in the valley.

While two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were arrested from south Kashmir's Shopian district, five cadres of Harkatul Mujahideen were nabbed from Baramulla district in north Kashmir.

Meanwhile, full dress rehearsal of the Republic Day parade was held at Bakshi Stadium today amidst tight security.

In the absence of an elected government, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir will preside over the Republic Day function at Bakshi Stadium for second consecutive year.

While the state was under Governor's Rule last year as PDP and BJP were thrashing out the Agenda of Alliance, the state is again under the Governor's rule as PDP did not stake claim to form government after Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away on January 7.
Seven PMK activists, including the party's district Secretary Arumugam have been seriously injured in an attack, reportedly by activists of a fringe outfit at nearby Keezhkollai and have been hospitalised.

Police said Arumugam and his supporters were waylaid by the gang in three cars and attacked with sickles and iron rods, leaving them seriously injured.

They have been hospitalised and their condition is stated to be serious.

Police said seven persons, suspected to be activists of Tamizhar Vazhvuirmai Katchi, have been arrested and cases registered against 50 others.

The incident triggered tension in various parts of the district today. Shops in Kunnanchavadi remained closed to protest against the attack.

Police said armed police personnel had been deployed in the area to monitor the situation, which they said was under control, even as PMK workers staged a demonstration, demanding the arrest of those responsible for the attack.

Police suspect the attack could be linked to the bomb attack on the car of a dalit leader recently near Villipuram.
BJP President Amit Shah, who is credited with taking the party's membership to a new high and leading it to power in four states, was today elected unopposed for a new term with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading party bigwigs in his endorsement.

Modi, a number of his cabinet colleagues, including Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari besides BJP chief ministers among others proposed Shah's name during the nomination process in which no other leader joined the fray.

Party veterans, including L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who have in past expressed their unhappiness with 51-year-old Shah's stewardship, were conspicuous by their absence at its headquarters as its almost entire top national and state leaders lined up to greet him.

Shah's unanimous election for a three-year term is in line with the party's tradition of choosing its president with a consensus, an outcome virtually guaranteed after Modi and RSS, the party's ideological mentor which has always had a say in the matter, threw their weight behind his continuance.

Modi, who was not present during the exercise due to official engagements, will attend the parliamentary board meeting, likely on January 28, to welcome Shah in his new innings.

Modi congratulated Shah on his re-election and voiced confidence that the party will scale newer heights under his leadership.

"Congratulations to Shri @AmitShah on being elected BJP president. I am confident the Party will scale newer heights under his leadership," Modi tweeted.

"Amit Bhai combines grassroot-level work & rich organisational experience which will benefit the Party immensely," Modi said in another post.

Altogether, 17 nominations were filed proposing the Gujarat leader's name during the three-hour nomination exercise, party vice president Avinash Rai Khanna, who was the chief electoral officer, said as he announced his unopposed election.

All BJP chief ministers, barring the one from Haryana, who was busy in an official engagement, and its state party presidents were present, reflecting the virtually total support Shah commanded.

This will be the first full three-year term for the Gujarat leader, seen to have full backing of Modi, as he had taken over as the party chief in May 2014 after his predecessor Rajnath Singh joined the government.

Seen as a close confidante of Modi, he pushed BJP's primary membership to beyond 11 crore from the earlier less than three crore, according to official party figures, and led its emergence as the biggest political force in Maharashtra and Haryana for the first time. It is in power in both the states.

He also led the party to victory in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir but some of the sheen of his leadership wore off after it suffered crushing defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, sparking some rumblings within.

However, his aides have argued that he remains the best bet for the party as it faces elections in five states this year and the crucial Uttar Pradesh polls next.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today visited a former LTTE nerve centre for the first time and pledged more opportunities for the deprived northern Tamil youth.

The president inaugurated a garment factory at Puthukuduyrippu (PTK), one of the most deprived areas in the northern province where the LTTE during their three-decade- long fight with the troops had established its military capital.

The fall of PTK in January 2009 signalled the end of the LTTE resistance and four-months later they were completely crushed by the government troops.

"I have been told of many problems faced by these youth. They complained of disappeared people, poor education facilities, lack of lands and release of long held prisoners. It is my intention to address all these problems," Sirisena said.

Sirisena's government has eased some of the tough living and security conditions faced by the northern Tamils under the former regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The government has released lands held for military purposes, lifted travel restrictions to the northand released some of the Tamils detained for a long period of time.

Tamils however complain that more needs to be done to give them relief including the de-escalation of the military presence in the former war battered regions.

A larger proportion of the Tamil minority backed Sirisena in the presidential election held in 2015 that ended Rajapaksa's decade-long rule.
A monster blizzard has paralysed the entire US East Coast with hurricane-force winds and record snow, killing at least 18 people and hitting some 85 million others, prompting up to 10 states to declare a state of emergency.

Called 'Snowzilla', the blizzard propelled by tropical- storm-force winds that brought much of US Northeast to a standstill and left as much as three feet of snow, paralysing transport links in New York and Washington DC.

The monster snowstorm has affected some 85 million people and cutting power to 200,000 people. Thousands of flights have been cancelled, stranding thousands of passengers.

At least 18 people were killed in incidents blamed on the weather - from car crashes, shoveling snow and hypothermia as the blizzard dumped between 15-25 inches of snow across the region.

Cities like New York City issued a travel ban for cars and stopped over ground metro services.

The New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned drivers of non-emergency vehicles that they would be subject to arrest if they violated the travel ban.

"New Yorkers should head home now. We need cars off the road so that our equipment can do its work and keep streets passable for emergency vehicles. Travel conditions are dangerous, and we want to keep all New Yorkers safe until this storm passes," Blasio said.

Metro services in Washington DC have also been stopped over the weekend.

Jason Pellegrini woke up yesterday morning at his home in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, expecting to see flooding.

But when he looked outside, he saw none.

"Then no more than 15 minutes later, I heard commotion out my window and I looked and I saw the raging water," he said. "It came in to the low-lying areas and it rushed fast, and it was like a tsunami."



Ocean City in New Jersey reported coastal flooding as a result of the blizzard. The New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has declared a State of Emergency.

Authorities across the East Coast have asked people to stay inside or at a safe place.

Officials said it would take them several days to remove snow from the roads and to restore normalcy.

"This will be a rare event for the region as there are not many storms that bring a foot or more of snow over such a large area and last more than 24 hours," said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams.

Police officials across the region said they responded to several thousand car accidents.

The National Weather Service said a powerful low pressure system will bring heavy snow and blizzard conditions from the Middle Atlantic Region all the way through southern New England.

The storm has lessened in intensity and was heading for the Atlantic Ocean.
Mines Ministry has told Finance Ministry that selling government's stake in Vedanta-controlled Hindustan Zinc (HZL) is not a "wise move" as it is the only firm in India controlling production of the metal, considered strategic due to its large scale industrial utility.

In 2002-03, the government sold its 64.92 per cent stake in HZL to NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vednata Resources, while retaining 29.54 per cent. In 2012, Agarwal offered about USD 2.57 billion to buy the government's remaining stake.

In a letter to the Finance Ministry, last month, Mines Ministry said that any plans to offload government's stake in HZL would not be "a wise move as zinc is a strategic mineral", a government official in know of the development said.

The letter explained that HZL is the only player in India producing zinc and controlling its known reserves located in Bhilwara, Udaipur and Rajsamand districts in Rajasthan.

"Considering the situation that HZL controls almost all the known reserves of the metal and is the only big player in India, it is not advisable for the government to sell its stake in the firm keeping in mind the industrial importance that zinc holds," the Mines Ministry said.

Considered the fourth most widely used metal after Iron, Aluminium and Copper, Zinc is most commonly used as an anti corrosion agent for galvanisation -- a process of coating it on iron and steel for protection against corrosion.

It is also used for making LPG regulators, automobile components, dry cell batteries and paints. Another important use of zinc is in making alloys such as brass, nickel silver, typewriter metal, bronze, German silver and aluminum solder.

Besides HZL, the Braj Binani Group is the other player that through its firm Edayar Zinc Ltd produces around 14,000 tonnes per annum of the metal.

Even the Supreme Court, last week, had questioned the government move towards showing "hurry" in selling its shares in HZL which deals with "strategic minerals".

The apex court also restrained the government from going ahead with any further disinvestment of its stake in the firm.

The move is considered as a setback to government's plans for meeting its disinvestment target of Rs 69,500 crore for 2015-16, against which it has so far garnered Rs 12,700 crore.

Confirming the development, another official said the government gets a "healthy" dividend from HZL - which in the coming years is expected to increase further, considering the "strong indications" that industrial activity in India will pick up thereby increasing the consumption of Zinc.

In its 2014-15 annual report, HZL said the total outgo on dividend, including tax on dividend, will be Rs 2,207 crore during FY15 from Rs 1,730 crore in 2013-14.

Vedanta Ltd holds 64.92 per cent stake and the government controls 29.54 per cent, with rest of the shareholders having less than 1 per cent stake in the company.

HZL was incorporated in January 1966 as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) after the takeover of the erstwhile Metal Corporation of India Ltd.
The stranger-than-fiction story about a famous South Korean film director and a glamorous actress abducted by North Korea's movie-obsessed Kim Jong-il has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

"The Lovers and the Despot," a documentary by British filmmakers Ross Adam and Robert Cannan, traces the bizarre tale of director Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee, the golden couple of South Korean cinema in the 1960s.

"We approached this project with an open mind but, like most people, when you first hear the story, it does seem too fantastic to be true," Cannan said. "Essentially our opinion shifted that way and this way as we made the film."



The famous couple were married and the toast of the town with their two adopted children until their divorce over Chin's affair with another woman. They eventually fell from grace in their country and ended up bankrupt.

As they struggled to revive their careers, both were kidnapped on orders of movie-mad Kim Jong-il, who was bent on using them to make films that could compete on the international stage.

At the time, Kim had not yet succeeded his father as North Korea's leader.

Choi was the first to be abducted in 1977, while on a trip to Hong Kong where she was lured to discuss a movie deal.

Shin was snatched soon after when he traveled to Hong Kong in search of his ex-wife, with whom he had remained close. He was held in a North Korean prison for four years before being reunited with Choi.

Realizing their predicament, the couple cooperated with Kim, producing a series of movies and winning his trust.
Switzerland is "extremely keen" on greater cooperation in India's fight against suspected black money stashed in Swiss banks and is putting in place a new law on automatic information exchange that will take about a year to come into force, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

Till the time the new law comes into force, the Swiss government will continue to provide account details as per the evidence provided by the Indian authorities under an existing arrangement, he added.

Jaitley, who held a bilateral meeting with Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer during his visit here for the WEF Annual Meeting, said they discussed various issues of mutual concern and Switzerland was very keen on greater cooperation in the fight against black money.

"Swiss are extremely keen on this. They are part of the global efforts against unaccounted money," Jaitley told PTI here in an interview.

"They are in the process of framing a new legislation on international cooperation. They say it will take one year. Till that time, the arrangement entered between India and Switzerland in October 2014 will continue," he said.

Earlier, Maurer had said Switzerland's cooperation on tax matters in terms of sharing information on suspected black money cases would continue at "a good level".

"We have already agreed on more cooperation and this is working well and should continue. We will continue the cooperation at a good level," Maurer had said after meeting Jaitley here.

In the past few months, both countries have been working closely on mutual administrative assistance.

Switzerland, in recent months, has disclosed names of more than a dozen Indians about whom information has been sought by the Indian government amid suspicion that their Swiss bank accounts were being used for stashing illicit funds.

Swiss banks, known for their banking secrecy practices, have come under global pressure as countries, including India, are stepping up efforts to crack down on the black money menace.
Syrian regime forces today overran the last major rebel-held town in the coastal Latakia province, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, state television reported.

Citing a military source, state television said Syria's "armed forces, in coordination with the popular defence (militia), seized control of the town of Rabia."



The town had been held by the opposition since 2012 and was controlled by a range of rebel groups including some made up of Syrian Turkmen, as well as Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rabia fell today after a steady regime advance that left the town surrounded.

"In the past 48 hours, regime forces surrounded the town from three sides -- the south, west, and north -- by capturing 20 villages," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Abdel Rahman said senior Russian military officials were overseeing the battle for Rabia, and that Russian air strikes "played an essential role" in the fight.

With the capture of Rabia, government troops are closing in on rebel supply routes through the Turkish border to the north, he added.

Rabia's fall comes after government troops seized the strategic town of Salma on January 12, following months of operations to capture it from rebels who had held it since 2012.
The US Consulate, Kolkata, is organising a three-day 'technology camp' here beginning tomorrow to combat gender violence using technology.

The camp titled 'The Hackathon to Combat Gender Based Violence' is being organised in partnership with the US-based 'Geeks without Bounds' and Bangalore-based 'The Bachchao Project, US Consul General Craig Hall told a press conference here today.

Besides the US and Bangalore organisations, the 'Hackathon' would also be attended by 60 young people from all over the country, working together to find how software and technology could be used to combat gender-based violence, he said.
Against the backdrop of major terror strikes in France and India recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Francois Hollande today shared concern over the menace, with the Indian leader pitching for a collective fight to defeat the global challenge.

Addressing India-France Business Summit here after Hollande spoke, Modi said the French President "is correct" in saying that terrorism is a challenge just like global warming.

"Fighting against challenge of terrorism is the work for humanity. All those who believe in humanity, they will have to collectively fight against terrorism. India and France believe in humankind. We together along with other countries will eliminate terror forces and terrorism," Modi said.

He assured Hollande that India is will stand with France in fight against terrorism.

The comments came against the backdrop of two major terror attacks in India and France in the recent times. While Paris was attacked by ISIS in November, Pathankot in India was struck by Pakistani terrorists on January one.

Modi used the occasion to hail the French government, people and media of that country for continuing their development agenda even after the dastardly terror attack in Paris last November.

"France has shown the way to the world...Just few days after the attack, France hosted leaders of all countries (for climate summit). This is a brave act. I congratulate the citizens of France, especially the media there, that they supported the their government during the time of crisis," he said, adding said India needs to learn lessons from it.

About 130 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in a coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015.

The Prime Minister also said the "trust and friendship" with France is an asset for India.

(Reopen DEL99)



Modi, while addressing the business forum meet, said he had decided to invite Hollande as Republic Day Chief Guest the day terrorists attacked Paris.

"We want to work with France for development. The day terrorists attacked Paris, that day I decided that the Chief Guest on our Republic day would be from France. He has come here and I am very thankful to him," he said.

He also told the CEOs of two nations who participated in Business Summit here that development was his only 'mantra'.
Thailand today said the plane wreckage found on the country's southern coast will be examined by the air force to see if it is from the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370, which disappeared in 2014 with 239 people on board.

The metal wreckage, measuring two metres wide and three metres long suspected to be part of a plane, was washed ashore yesterday on the southeast coast to Bangkok, triggering speculation it could be from the missing plane.

Police official Paijit Pongkaew told Malaysian state-owned Bernama news agency that the suspected wreckage would be brought to the Pak Phanang district police station for the experts from the aviation sector and the country's air force to inspect it.

"We are in the process of contacting the relevant authorities, especially from the aviation sector and also the air force, to enable them to better inspect the suspected wreckage of the plane," he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai appealed to the media not to speculate on the plane wreckage, as it would put more undue pressure on the families and relatives of the missing plane passengers.

"At present there is no official word on whether the wreckage is from MH370, but the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has been instructed to check with their Thai counterparts," he said.

Yesterday, local villagers living off the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand, had reported the discovery of a large metal object, suspected to be part of a plane.

The MH370 plane vanished on March 8, 2014 while on a regular flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Thousands of devotees thronged temples dedicated to Lord Subramania at Palani, Tiruchendur, Tiruparankunram and Solai Malai to offer worship on the auspicious Thaipoosam day today.

Officials had made elaborate arrangements for the devotees who gathered in lakhs in Palani.

The devotees were bearing different types of "kavadis" to offer to the Lord Muruga from the foot hill.

The temple officials said that the crowd in the Muruga temples was huge, but they had made arrangements foreasy worship with the help of police and private security.

Thai Poosam is one of the few festivals exclusively celebrated by the Tamils.

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Meanwhile, Dingigul SP Saravanan said for the first time police was using Heli-cam that would monitor the devotees.

He said that CCTVs had been installed in 100 places along the route by which the devotees come to the temple by foot.

Special buses were being operated to carry the devotees to Palani from various places, officials said.
The laws in several states of the country are unsupportive of women who wish to take up bartending as a profession, a noted industry member said.

"There is no gender equality in bartending profession. The law has changed only in Delhi, but in states like Maharashtra it has not changed. In Karnataka, women cannot work in bars," Shatbhi Basu, one among the country's first woman bar tenders and a promoter of Stir Academy of Bartending, Mumbai, told PTI.

Basu was in Goa as a keynote speaker for a meet of stakeholders of Feni production in the state.

The event was inaugurated yesterday by the state Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar here.

Lamenting that the outlook towards the bartending profession hasn't changed in the last few decades, Basu claimed the country's law states that women cannot work in bars after 9 PM.

"I became a bar tender in 1981, but I came from a family which was very evolved, educated and well-travelled. They knew that what I was doing is a skilled profession," she said.

"Many in my age-group will never encourage their daughter to go into bartending. We say in metro cities, we are nuclear families but we are not that nuclear, we are still connected to the extended family.

"So, what the grandmother will say, or grandfather will say, aunt will say, or in-laws will say, will be accepted," she said.

Many girls are choosing this profession today, which indicates that the scenario is changing.

"I don't see equality happening in bartending, it will take many years. Since I started teaching in 1997, I have trained only 30 girls, out of whom only a few continued working fully fledged. It is a proud profession abroad," she added.
Police today seized a truck carrying 20 tons of explosives and arrested two persons, at a village in this district of Rajasthan, an official said.

Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted the vehicle which was on its way from Udaipur to Barmer at a check post in Nosar village, SHO of Bayut Thana Manoj Mudh said.

About 405 bags of ammonium nitrate were seized and the truck driver, Panchuram Rajpurohit, and a trader Ishraram Jat were arrested, he said.

Further investigation was on.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki today expressed surprise over the Union Cabinet's recommendation for imposing President's rule in the state.

"This is really shocking as the Centre did not consult the state government before taking such a harsh decision. Arunachal is absolutely peaceful without even a single case of law and order breakdown reported in the last month," Tuki told PTI here.

Governor Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa recommended President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh without consulting the state Cabinet at a time when several related cases are sub-judice in the Supreme Court, he said.

"There is no Constitutional crisis in the state as recommended by the governor. Whatever crisis is there it is his (Governor's) creation," Tuki said, adding that he enjoyed full support from all the cabinet ministers.

"With only a day left for Republic Day celebrations, such a decision will dampen the democratic spirit of the state's people who are zealously guarding the border with China," Tuki said.

Congress, he asserted, will protest against the decision if President Pranab Mukherjee gives assent to the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.
Turkish forces have detained 23 suspected Islamic State (IS) jihadists along with 21 children who were trying to illegally cross over from Syria, the army said today.

The suspects, whose nationalities were not disclosed, were captured yesterday as they tried enter the Elbeyli district of Turkey's southern Kilis province.

"Twenty-three people suspected of being Daesh (IS) terror group members, together with 21 children, were caught," said the army in a statement, without giving any other details.

Turkey has over the last year been told by its Western allies to urgently step up efforts to stop the flow of jihadists across its borders to and from Syria.

After a string of deadly attacks inside Turkey blamed on IS in the last months, Ankara has intensified efforts to improve border security, with the army reporting the capture of IS militants almost daily.

The army reported yesterday that it had on Friday also captured six IS suspects, along with eight children, who were trying to cross illegally from Syria to Turkey in the same area.
A Turkish Airlines jet flying from Houston to Istanbul has landed safely in Ireland after a security scare.

A handwritten threat was discovered on board Turkish Airlines Flight 34 as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean overnight, according to the BBC and the Guardian newspaper.

Airport officials in Shannon, Ireland, say 209 passengers and the crew were able to disembark safely today after the plane landed there.

They say Irish police are investigating the Boeing 777, which was taken to a remote taxiway.

Officials have not said if the flight to Istanbul will resume or if the passengers will be placed on other aircraft.
Two NSCN(IM) cadres were arrested during a joint operation by security forces in Dima Hasao district, an army spokesman said here today.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the 43rd Assam Rifle and police made the arrest from Kashipur and Lodi villages while they were carrying out extortion activities in the area yesterday, he said.

A pistol along with seven rounds of live ammunition were recovered from their possession.

The militants were later handed over to the Haflong police station, he said.
A terror plot to attack four cities across Britain was foiled by the authorities after they intercepted two foreign airline pilots, believed to be sympathisers of ISIS, discussing the targets, a week after the Paris terror attacks.

The two commercial airline pilots, one of whom was flying for an airline on an intelligence service watchlist, were intercepted talking about the plot and the information passed on to Britain's spies at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

The intercept took place in the week after the Paris terror attacks last November, the Sunday Express reported.

Although they used coded messages from the cockpits of their passenger jets, GCHQ used the Arabic transcripts to established they were talking about attacks on London, Bath, Brighton and Ipswich.

The uncovering of the plan raised the terror alert in the UK and was one factor which led to Operation Templer, involving 10,000 soldiers being deployed to support police on Britain's streets in the wake of the Paris attacks on November 13 last year which claimed 138 lives.

"The areas we believed these attacks might take place were given extra surveillance. Troops were on several hours notice to deploy as part of Operation Templer," a senior intelligence source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"Alarm bells rang after several communications in code involving overseas airline pilots were picked up by chance. We can only assume that they considered it safer to use this frequency than other modes of communication".

"We immediately passed these to the security services who then asked us to monitor certain airlines entering UK airspace," the source said.

The conversation was intercepted by Royal Air Force (RAF) operators based at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) Control Centre in Hampshire, on the southern coast of England.

The pilots, who were unknown to the authorities but believed to be sympathetic to Islamic State (ISIS), were using the emergency "Mayday" channel in the belief they were not being monitored.

They coded their language with musical references, often referring to "hits".

It is thought the pilots were preparing to smuggle in explosive devices or chemical weapons. The messages were intercepted as they flew from a European airport, thought to be Schiphol, in Amsterdam, to Middle Eastern destinations.

They were unaware that Channel 121, the Mayday channel used to broadcast emergencies, was being monitored. Neither aircraft was intercepted and the pilots were allowed to fly on to their destinations.

It is not known where they are now but their identities are known to security services and it is understood they are now high-profile, watchlist targets.
An Islamic school here in the UK is under investigation for suspending a teenager for conversing with a member of opposite sex on its premises.

The pupil, whose identity and gender are not being disclosed for legal reasons, studied at Al-Khair secondary school in Croydon, south London.

The parent of the pupil has attacked the policy of the private Islamic school as "nonsense", saying it meant students were not being prepared for life in British society.

"How are these kids going to integrate in the wider shape of society when they have to work in the same places that [people of the opposite sex] are working? This is totally nonsense," the parent told 'The Sunday Times'.

The UK Department for Education (DfE) launched an investigation into the incident amid concerns that the school's policy may be in breach of the Equality Act or the independent schools standards that operate in fee-paying schools.

These require schools to teach pupils to live by British values, including respect for the law, democracy and the right of women to be treated on a par with men.

The behaviour policy at Al-Khair secondary, which charges annual fees of 4,900 pounds per student, prohibits interaction "through any medium [eg: verbal, email, messaging, etc]" between male and female students who are considered "non-mahrams" (not close relatives).

While male and female students at the school are based in the same building, they are taught in separate classes.

Under a section of the policy outlining "high-level" offences that could lead to an exclusion, "free-mixing" is listed alongside "drug dealing, stealing, extortion, racism and arson".

While schools inspectorate Ofsted reviewed the school's behaviour policy during a snap inspection last September, the regulator failed to address the issue that relates to "free-mixing", or interaction between male and female pupils.

A spokesperson for the DfE said: "We are clear that gender segregation of this type has no place in our schools and that boys and girls must be allowed to communicate.

"The secretary of state has asked Ofsted to urgently investigate this incident. If the school has breached its duties under the Equality Act or the independent school standards, we will not hesitate to take immediate action.
Under attack over Rohith Vemula's suicide, Hyderabad University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile today went on leave but it sparked more protests as dalit faculty members alleged that the professor given interim charge too had "deep involvement" in the case and in the death of another student from the community.

A day after the students sitting on a hunger strike were hospitalised, a fresh batch of seven students today resumed the strike to press their demands, including sacking of Podile who has been named in the FIR on charges of abetment of suicide and and under relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in connection with Rohith's case.

The university put a notice on its website saying, "The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Vipin Srivastava, the senior most Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor wef 24-01-2016." It did not mention the period of leave.

When contacted, Podile said he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse" in the wake of student's agiation.

"There is no pressure from anybody. It is my concern for my University. We want to resolve the issue now. There is an impasse now and to break that impasse we need to have some mechanism where I am advised to be little away from campus and somebody has to be there to be in command. We have a provision to ask a senior Professor to be in-charge and that's what we have done," he told PTI.

Asked whether he would take charge once normalcy returns in the university, he replied in positive.

However, the SC/ST Faculty Forum and SC/ST Officers Forum expressed "shock" over the decision to appoint Srivastava as officiating Vice-Chancellor and said it was disappointed that Podile was not dismissed.

They alleged that Srivastava was one of the "accused" in the suicide of another Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

"We are shocked and dismayed at Dr Vipin Srivastava, assuming the office of Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University. Prof Srivastava has been accused in the suicide of a Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

"More recently he headed the Executive Council Sub- Committee which has been responsible for the death of Rohith Vemula Chakravarti," the Forums said in a joint statement.

The Sub-Committee had recommended disciplinary action against Rohith and four other scholars in connection with an assault case.

In the light of his "deep involvement" in both suicide cases, he may be asked to immediately step down from the Vice-Chancellor's office, it said.

The development came on the eve of 'Chalo HCU' protest march called by agitating students to press for their demands, which include removal of the VC from his post and Rs 50 lakh compensation to the deceased's family.

Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge today visited the campus and said that his party would raise the issue of Rohith's suicide in Parliament, while its student wing NSUI has decided to hold a one-day hunger strike across all state capitals tomorrow.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had yesterday said



if Prime Minister Narendra Modi getting "emotional" while expressing grief over the suicide by Dalit scholar Rohith is for real, he should remove the Vice Chancellor.

Kharge, the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, today said, "The Vice-Chancellor and the (NDA) government have killed the scholar and they have denied human rights, that is why we want to take this to Parliament and tell the entire country how injustice is being done in HCU."



"Definitely we will take this issue, but at the same time we will formulate strategy (on this issue) for the session, because we have to consult with other political parties also. This is not only in the interest of this university, but in the interest of entire Dalit community and also in the interest of the country," he said.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes member P A Kamalamma, who also visited the HCU today, said that the Commission, soon after the suicide of Rohith Vemula, issued five recommendations to the university authorities and the state government to be implemented within 10 days.

The Commission will wait for 10 days for the response from the Telangana government and the university authorities, she said.

The Dalit scholar's body was found hanging in a hostel room on HCU campus on January 17.

On January 18, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Podile, BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao and two others were named in an FIR on charges of abetment of suicide and and under relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Rohith was among the five research scholars suspended by HCU in September last year for allegedly attacking an ABVP leader. He also one of the accused in the case of alleged assault on ABVP leader Susheel Kumar.

Congress has been demanding sacking of Union Mnisters Dattatreya and Smriti Irani.

Party leader Kapil Sibal today said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi "was sensitive", he would have dismissed a number of persons.

"If Mr Modi was sensitive, he should have dismissed a number of persons," he told reporters in Delhi.

Podile asserted that the University "has not asked me to



go on leave. The (HRD) ministry has also not asked".

"Firstly we want to have academic classes started very soon because all our students are losing their time and then we also have to address the concerns of the group who are raising their voice in the campus.

"A commission would decide that who is responsible for Rohith's death, I can't pass a judgment on that. I have to wait for the proper judicial process to be completed. It is premature to say anything. I have neither gone on a long leave nor have I resigned. We are working towards a solution for the problem," he said.
Delta Foxtrot Romeo is no ordinary aircraft as it carries not only the legacy of legendary JRD Tata but also has the distinction of being India's oldest flyable aircraft.

Claimed to be the "oldest flyable aircraft" not only in India but but all of Asia, VT-DFR, as the call sign of the Piper Super Cub PA 18 says, was imported in the late 1940s and had joined the fleet of The Bombay Flying Club (BFC) in 1951 after registration.

Still owned by the BFC, the oldest flying school in the country, VT-DFR's legacy includes being flown by the iconic JRD Tata, who was also the first commercial pilot of India, besides serving as a training aircraft to hundreds of aviators who went on to serve various airlines and flying academies.

"Altogether there were six Piper Super Cub PA-18 aircraft which were imported here in the 1940s. This particular aircraft was one of the favourites of JRD Tata and was therefore registered with the call sign DFR where R is for Romeo," says BFC president Capt Mihir Bhagwati, president BFC.

Weighing 480 kgs, the 125 bhp Lycoming engine aircraft flaunts wooden propellers and seats two pilots in tandem (one behind the other). It remained continuously in service until the late 1990s following which it was briefly taken off duty due to airworthiness issues, only to be brought back in a restored condition a few years later.

"Of the total six PA-18 which were imported, two crashed while two others were sold out in late 80s. Other is still with us and we are planning to restore that one also.

"VT-DFR, however, continued to fly till late 90s before it was taken off service due to airworthiness issues. It was then fully restored from 2003 to 2010 according to new specifications and is now again put to use," Capt Bhagwati, who last flew the machine on December 15, told PTI.

This aircraft has in total clocked six to seven thousand flying hours and 120 hours in the last five years, Capt Bhagwati said, adding "this is not only the oldest flyable aircraft in India but entire Asia."



"Now we don't use VT-DFR for commercial purpose, it is though sometimes used for hobby flying or licence renewal flying" he said, adding "this is a historic aircraft, we want to maintain its legacy".

Narrating an anecdote, Captain J P Sharma, the Chief



Flying Instructor at the Bombay Flying Club, says on October 15, 1932 JRD Tata flew India's first commercial flight for the Tata Airlines, which later became Air India. He had flown with 25 kgs of mails from Karachi to Juhu airport in Mumbai, then known as Bombay, on de Havilland Puss Moth (the aircraft).

"Thirty years later, in commemoration of the country's first commercial flight, JRD Tata had recreated the same flight on the same route on VT-DFR," Capt Sharma said.

Senior technician Eric Lobo has been working on the 125 bhp Lycoming engine aircraft for the past 60 years now.

"She (the aircraft) came here in 1951 and I had joined BFC in 1956 as an apprentice," says Lobo, who will turn 80 this October.

"So many pilots have flown DFR including JRD Tata. Romeo, as we call it here, is world famous like the Romeo of Shakespeare," he adds.

Lobo adds that a lot of things, especially technology, has changed since the time he first worked on DFR as an apprentice. "Two years after my first brush with Romeo, I got my first salary of Rs 110 in 1958," says the proud technician of the tail-wing aircraft.

Already in its 65th year of service, VT-DFR is now sparingly put to use for training purpose.

"This aircraft is part of the legacy of the Bombay Flying Club. We have to maintain the legacy," Capt Sharma said.
A Maoist couple, who together carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh on their heads, was today killed in a gun battle with security forces in a forest on the border of Angul and Deogarh districts in Odisha, police said.

Director General of Police (DGP) K B Singh told PTI over phone that the chief of Kalinganagar division of Maoists and his wife were killed during a special operation conducted by security personnel in the area following intelligence inputs.

Sushil carried a reward of Rs 20 lakh on his head, while his wife carried Rs 5 lakh reward, Singh said.

An INSAS rifle, carbine, some explosives, Maoist literatures and other materials were recovered from the site after the operation conducted by Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel and other agencies, the DGP said.

Sushil had been actively involved in Maoist activities in the region for a long time and had a large number of criminal cases against him, police said.

Combing operation and patrolling has been intensified in the area after the encounter, the police added.
Strongly pitching for delinking terrorism from religion, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said India and the Arab world must join hands to eliminate the menace as she warned that those who silently sponsor terror groups could end up being used by them.

"Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them," Swaraj told the Foreign Ministers of Arab League states.

Speaking at the first First Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum which she described as a "turning point" in India's ties with the Arab world, she made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism, saying the only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not.

"Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths," said Swaraj, who arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit.

She cited "India's model of unity in diversity" as an example for the world to counter indoctrination and radicalisation.

Swaraj's citing of India's religious and cultural diversity at the world stage assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the intolerance debate that had raged recently in the country with many writers, artists and civil society members expressing alarm over the issue.

"We in India have citizens who belong to every existing faith. Our Constitution is committed to the fundamental principle of faith-equality: the equality of all faiths not just before the law but also in daily behaviour.

"In every corner of my country, the music of the azaan welcomes the dawn, followed by the chime of a Hanuman temple's bells, followed by the melody of the Guru Granth Sahib being recited by priests in a gurdwara, followed by the peal of church bells every Sunday," she said.

"This philosophy is not just a construct of our Constitution, adopted in 1950; it is the essence of our ancient belief that the world is family," she asserted.

Swaraj, in her speech, also quoted from the Quran, saying that faith harmony is the message of the Holy Quran as well.

"I will quote only two verses: La ikra fi al deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion) and La qum deen o qum wa il ya deen (Your faith for you, and my faith for me)," she said in her address to the key Arab nations.

She stressed that dangers of radicalisation and indoctrination cannot be ignored.

"We have seen repeatedly that terrorism does not respect borders. It seeks to subvert societies through its pernicious doctrine of a clash of civilisations," Swaraj said.

"The only antidote to this violent philosophy is the path of peace, tolerance and harmony, a path that was illustrated centuries ago by Buddha and Mahavira and which was taken into the modern age by the Father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi. As he famously said, 'an eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind'," she said.

Swaraj's strong push for anti-terror cooperation comes at



a time when there have been a spate of terror attacks across the globe from the Paris carnage and the Pathankot airbase assault to the blasts in Indonesia as terrorism has risen as one of the most significant challenges of the world.

"As the spectre of terrorism and religious hatred raises its ugly head across the world, particularly in those cherished cities of history, it is time once again to reach back in time and redeem the essence of our civilisational spirit. We must pledge to halt the physical violence that has spread like a plague," Swaraj said.

She stressed on the need for equally addressing the violence in "our minds, a poison that has been spread by terror groups, harnessing the power of modern technology and social media platforms to infect our youth - those ideologies and beliefs that regard one's own brother as a stranger, one's own mother as accurssed."



"We should not underestimate the power of this illusion, clothed in a false interpretation of faith," she asserted.

Swaraj also highlighted the importance of the passage of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations, saying it will remove a "significant lacuna" in the global community's fight against this menace.

"We, who represent the stable and civilised world, must meet the challenge, or we risk destroying the most precious inheritance of our forefathers," Swaraj said.

"But not only do we need to condemn all acts of terrorism but we need to join hands regionally and globally to remove the scourge of terrorism completely," she said.

Stating that today's meeting marked a "turning point" for India-Arab relations, she said that nations were experiencing a major turning point in history as well when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to cities, people and the very social fabric.

"Ever since the NDA government assumed office in 2014, we have paid special attention to our ties with the Arab world and we have also had extensive engagements with various high level visits," she said and referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "path-breaking" visit to the UAE, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in 34 years.

"For so long, the ties that bind India and the Arab world have provided prosperity, enhanced wisdom and enriched our civilisations. It is therefore imperative more than ever before that we stand together and recognise the danger to our world for what it is," Swaraj said.

Swaraj said the ministerial meeting was aimed at giving a new shape, direction and energy to the centuries-old relations between India and the Arab world.

"Today, we have the opportunity of translating the vision of India-Arab solidarity into concrete avenues of cooperation," she said.

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Noting that beyond facing the common challenge of



terrorism, India-Arab ties now cover a whole host of sectors, Swaraj said, "we have substantial common interests in the fields of trade and investment, energy and security, culture and Diaspora. Today the Arab world is collectively India's largest trading partner with bilateral trade crossing USD 180 billion. We source 60% of our oil and gas requirements from West Asia, making this region a pillar of our energy security."



The new and emerging areas of our cooperation include agricultural research, dry land farming, irrigation and environmental protection. "In all of these we would be happy to share our experience with our Arab partners," the minister said.

Swaraj also highlighted that over the last six decades India has made rapid strides in economic development which has placed it at the forefront of the global revolution in information technology, pharmaceuticals, and cutting edge research in the areas of nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Asserting that at a time of global economic slowdown, India has emerged as a bright spot for the world economy, she said India is the fastest growing major economy in the world.

The next India-Arab Partnership Conference in Oman this year can be a real game changer in terms of deepening the economic partnership between the two sides, she said.

Swaraj also highlighted the strong bonds shared between the peoples of India and the Arab world.

"Over 7 million Indians reside in this region and there are 700 flights a week between India and UAE alone! A vast number of people in the Arab world enjoy our films, listen to our music and relish our cuisine," she said.

In her address, Swaraj also evoked the civilizational links between India and the Arab world.

She concluded with the words of famous Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawky, a friend of Rabindranth Tagore, who once remarked that "the revolution of souls severs our chains, and that the revolution of minds removes mountains. Through the friendship of our civilizations, through the partnership of our nations, I am confident that we can move mountains in our common quest for a safer and more prosperous world."



The Arab League comprises of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Algeria, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Somalia, Palestine, Djibouti, and Comoros.
With Thailand confirming a second case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) disease, WHO today cautioned other member states in its South-East Asia Region against the continuing risk and urged them to remain vigilant.

"The new case of MERS-CoV is a reminder of the continued risk of importation of the disease from countries where it still persists," said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region.

"All countries need to further enhance surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections, focus on early diagnosis, and step up infection prevention and control procedures in health care facilities to rapidly detect any case of importation and effectively prevent its spread," she said.

A 71-year-old Oman national, who arrived in Bangkok, Thailand for treatment on January 22, and was admitted to a private hospital, tested positive for MERS-CoV.

He has since been transferred to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute. Measures are being taken to trace all those who could have been in his contact during his journey to Thailand, and within Bangkok.

This is the second MERS-CoV case in Thailand and in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Earlier, on June 18, 2015 another Oman national, who arrived in Bangkok for treatment, was tested positive for MERS-CoV.

In the recent past, countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region have been reviewing and strengthening preparedness to respond to MERS-CoV.

WHO has been strongly advocating for strengthening of health systems and ensuring that strict infection control measures are in place in countries to respond to infectious diseases such as MERS-CoV.

In the Region, WHO is supporting Ministries of Health to build capacities and strengthen preparedness as required under the International Health Regulations (2005) to effectively detect and respond to outbreaks and other hazards.

MERS-CoV is caused by a virus. Typical symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is common but not always present. Gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea, have also been reported.
A 28-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her paramour, who was later arrested by the police, a senior officer said here today.

The accused, Raju Pal (22), resident of Bihar, allegedly stabbed Vandana Wankhade to death last night, he said.

The accused was working in a juice stall run by victim's husband, Santosh, and used to stay with the couple in a shanty near Mumbai Central.

Pal had allegedly developed an affair with Wankhede. When her husband came to know about their illicit relationship, he threw Raju out of their house a few days ago.

Last night, Pal barged into couple's house in an inebriated state and stabbed the duo, the officer said.

According to police, while Vandana got killed, her husband sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital.

The accused then tried to escape but was arrested by our point duty staff, who were informed by neighbours, at Mumbai Central station, he said.

Pal has been booked under section 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder), the officer said, adding investigations are underway.
A 42-year-old woman was beaten to death allegedly by her husband's friend and his wife at a village in Chhattisgarh's Raipur district on suspicion that she practised 'witchcraft', police said today.

The accused, identified as Kalyan Tandon (50) and his wife Madhu (45), were arrested for allegedly killing Kamla Bai Sahu at Chandi village under Abhanpur police station limits last evening, SHO Abhanpur police station GC Pati told PTI.

"As per the statement of the accused, Kamla allegedly practised witchcraft due to which Madhu had a miscarriage three years ago," he said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Kamla's husband Gorelal Sahu and Kalyan, both working as labourers, were good friends and their wives often visits each other houses.

While Kaylan was staying at Chandi, Gorelal was living in Abhanpur, he said.

When Kalyan's wife had a miscarriage three year ago, the couple thought that Kamla had played some 'black magic' due to which they lost their child before birth.

Subsequently, Madhu failed to conceive another child and holding Kamla responsible for it, they decided to kill her, the SHO said.

Last evening, Kamla had gone to the accused's place where they had consumed liquor together and an altercation broke out between them over the issue (miscarriage of the first child).

Meanwhile, the couple thrashed her badly with club leading to her death on the spot, the SHO said.

On hearing the victim's screams, some locals informed the village head following which police was contacted, Pati added.

A case under IPC section 302 (murder), besides provisions of the Chhattisgarh WitchcraftAtrocities (Prevention) Act, 2005, was registered against the accused, the officer said, adding investigations were underway.
Geared up for the Rio Olympics this August, Beijing Olympic Games gold-medalist Abhinav Bindra today said he was hopeful of a medal once again.

"I am working hard. Leaving for Germany in a couple of days. I would be competing there," Bindra told PTI on the sidelines of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet (TSKLM) here.

He said the tournament in Germany, where he had gone to train himself last year, would help him prepare for Rio.

"I am preparing well and in a good space at the moment. I am putting my best foot forward," said Bindra who has already written his autobiography, 'A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold'.

When asked whether he is hopeful of a medal in Rio, he replied in the affirmative.

Bindra had struck gold in the 10 meter Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has returned from his annual month-long holiday and returned to work today, state media said, following rumours that he had collapsed and died in Asia.

Mugabe, who turns 92 next month, met Equatorial Guinea's President Theodore Obiang Nguema for over three hours today in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, state-run newspaper The Herald said.

"President Mugabe and the First Lady Grace Mugabe arrived home last night (Friday), quashing false media reports that (he) had suffered a heart attack while on his annual leave in the Far East," The Herald said.

Harare last week denied rumours that Mugabe, the world's oldest national leader who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, had collapsed and died while on holiday.

Despite his age, Mugabe continues to give long speeches in public, but speculation over his health grew last year when he tripped and fell down some steps at a televised ceremony.

He also read a speech to parliament in September apparently unaware that he had delivered the same address a month earlier.

WikiLeaks released a 2008 US diplomatic cable in 2011 saying that Mugabe was reported to have prostate cancer and had less than five years to live.

His regime is accused of systematic human rights abuses and overseeing Zimbabwe's dire economic decline.

After meeting in Harare, Mugabe and Nguema told reporters they had discussed relations between their countries as well as security and terrorism in Africa.

While Mugabe refused to answer questions about his holiday, he told reporters they should "report (on) us (African leaders) better than they have been doing all along".
France will sign an intergovernmental agreement with India to clear the way for a long-awaited $9 billion deal to sell French-built Rafale warplanes to India, French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to attract French companies to India and to share high technology in defence and other fields as part of a bid to promote local industry and build a domestic manufacturing base.

In the run-up to Hollande's visit, Indian and French negotiators on Friday debated the price of 36 combat planes designed to replace ageing Indian air force jets, officials of the two nations said.

"The idea we have in mind is one of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries in order to allow the firms involved to go all the way," Hollande told journalists.

"It is this intergovernmental agreement that will allow a commercial transaction," said Hollande.

The French leader, speaking in Chandigarh on the first day of a state visit to India, said such an agreement was a prerequisite for the Indian side. He did not elaborate.

Hollande will be the guest of honor at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday, a sign of the deepening political and commercial ties between the two countries.

India and France are also discussing a plan by French nuclear company Areva to build six reactors in western India, as part of a push to ramp up nuclear capacity.
By Bernardo Vizcaino and Carolyn Cohn

SYDNEY/LONDON (Reuters) - Global insurance firms are circling Iran for business opportunities following the lifting of sanctions - and the first test of their appetite could come in March when some Iranian companies seek new cover.

Insurers, the reinsurers that share their risk and the brokers that forge deals are exploring ways to tap a market worth $7.4 billion in premiums after a nuclear accord between world powers and Tehran led to the removal of restrictions on financial dealings with Iran this month.

Allianz, Zurich Insurance, Hannover Re and RSA, for example, said in recent days that they would evaluate potential opportunities in the country.

Insurance and reinsurance specialists regard the marine and energy sectors as among those offering the best opportunities in oil-producing Iran. Alongside commercial cover, life insurance is a potential growth area as it represents less than a tenth of overall Iranian premiums, compared with more than half globally.

At first international companies are likely to link up with Iranian firms to capitalise on their local knowledge and to reinsure local insurance in the international market, according to industry experts, with international brokers helping foreign firms get that business.

American insurance industry players are still banned from doing business in Iran, however, due to separate U.S. sanctions that remain in place.

The insurance contracts of some Iranian companies expire when the Persian calendar year ends in late March - similar to the January renewal season in Western countries - and they will be looking to strike new agreements. This could include insurance firms themselves seeking new reinsurance cover.

Mohammad Asoudeh, vice chairman and managing director of Iranian Reinsurance Co, told he had already been contacted by foreign insurance players looking to forge tie-ups with his company and enter the market.

"They have been waiting for Implementation Day," said the 30-year industry veteran, referring to the day this month when the U.N. atomic agency confirmed Tehran had met its commitments under the nuclear deal. "We have had enough visits (from foreign firms)... resuming business could be quick but will depend on the terms and conditions they offer us."

"There are some market renewal dates in two months' time. This will be a good point to start."

Sasan Soltani, regional business development manager at Dubai-based but majority Iranian-owned Iran Insurance Company, said his firm had also been approached about tie-ups by British and Japanese brokers and insurers.

HURDLES REMAIN

Foreign players have been awaiting the lifting of sanctions for months; eight out of 11 established Western and Middle East insurance and reinsurance firms who responded to questions last year said Iran was an attractive market, especially in the marine and energy sectors.

However despite the lifting of sanctions, hurdles still remain which are making companies cautious about a speedy entry.

The U.S. curbs still in place exclude American nationals, banks and insurance industry players from trading with Iran including dollar business, so concerns remain on whether other foreign insurers can transact without the risk of penalties.

London-headquartered United Insurance Brokers (UIB) said it was active in Iranian reinsurance before the imposition of international sanctions and planned to reopen its Tehran office "as soon as we can", according to chairman Bassem Kabban.

"Under the sanctions we ceased to operate, but we have maintained the salaries of our people there for the past five-and-a-half years," said Kabban, adding that firms could be wary due to concerns about having U.S. shareholders or subsidiaries.

"People will be very careful what to do. If they are not sure, they would rather not do it."

He said, though, that French and Japanese players were likely to be quickest off the blocks in providing reinsurance as they had large presences in Iran in the past, adding that sectors such as aviation, power generation and energy would require large amounts of cover.

Reinsurers help insurers shoulder the burden of large losses in return for a proportion of the premiums.

Another London-based broker said his firm had decided against opening an office in Tehran for now, preferring not to take the risk of being a "frontrunner".

While Iran has 27 direct insurance companies and two reinsurance firms, most established in the last 10 years, they lack international credit ratings because they have been shut out of markets.

This could also deter foreign firms and their penalty-wary compliance departments from doing business with them.

Iranian Reinsurance Co. is now working to obtain a rating and has held discussions with two rating agencies for this purpose, said Asoudeh, declining to name them.

"Because of sanctions they couldn't price it, so this is first in our agenda. Several insurance companies in Iran are also waiting to be rated."

Currently around 4 percent of total Iranian insurance premiums are ceded to reinsurers, which would amount to an estimated $300 million of reinsurance business in the country, said Asoudeh. Reinsurance volumes are expected to pick up with wider access to foreign players, he added.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Gould; Editing by Pravin Char)
By Tim Hepher

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran unveiled an expanded shopping list for more than 160 European planes - including 8 superjumbos - and dangled another big order in front of Boeing at Tehran's first major post-sanctions business gathering on Sunday.

In a sign of Tehran's determination to compete with established carriers across the Gulf, Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi said Iran's emergence from isolation would restore a "natural balance" in the region and urged foreigners to invest.

"I hold your hands in friendship," he told an audience of 300 airlines, suppliers, lessors and bankers at an aviation conference in Tehran.

World powers last week lifted crippling sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.

The deal also released billions of dollars worth of frozen Iranian assets and opened the door for global companies that have been barred from doing business in Iran.

Akhoondi vowed to banish the middlemen who many say have profited from helping Iran evade sanctions by buying parts, and even whole aircraft, on the black market.

He told investors that anyone who approached them claiming to represent the government in negotiations would be "lying".

A stampede of investors at the CAPA Iran Aviation Summit illustrated the potential for suppliers to Iran at a time when the industry faces concerns over the global economy.

It also paved the way for a potential battle between domestic and foreign carriers to serve Iran's markets, bolstered by tourists and investors touting for business.

Akhoondi told in an interview that Iran did not fear competition from foreign carriers and enjoyed competitive advantages because of its geography.

"I think it is a very natural position for Iran," he said.

Iran said it would give priority to developing flag carrier Iranair, but would also support private carriers.

GROWING LIST

The number of potential plane orders rose during the first day of the conference, with a senior official telling delegates that Iran was closing on a deal for 127 jets from Airbus, compared with earlier estimates of 114 aircraft.

Added to the growing list were 40 European ATR turboprops.

Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told that Iran had provisionally agreed to buy eight Airbus A380 superjumbos, to be delivered from 2019.

It also intends to buy 16 A350s, Europe's newest long-distance jetliner, he said.

Another Iranian official said the talks, which appear to have accelerated as President Hassan Rouhani prepares to visit Europe this week, included about 45 short-haul A320s and as many as 40 of its A330 wide-body jets.

If confirmed, a deal on that scale would be worth more than $20 billion at list prices, though Iran is sure to receive hefty discounts since its purchase includes a mixture of new jets and end-of-the-run models available for bargains, financiers said.

Due to long waiting times for new jets, Iran is also looking at buying four out-of-production long-haul A340s on the second-hand market, which can be placed into service without delay.

Airbus said it was ready to hold negotiations in compliance with international laws and declined further comment.

CALLING BOEING

Delegates said Sunday's barrage of announcements appeared designed not only to underscore Iran's economic potential but also to encourage U.S. planemaker Boeing, whose executives were absent from the Tehran conference, to enter formal negotiations.

Kashan told that Iran was ready to buy at least 100 jets from the world's largest planemaker.

Boeing said it was assessing the steps needed to deal with Iran, which remains subject to a number of U.S. restrictions.

Industry observers have said Boeing and other U.S. suppliers are partly worried about how to handle opposition to the Iran nuclear deal in Congress and from U.S. allies in the Gulf.

Tehran has long said it will need to revamp an ageing fleet, hit by a shortage of parts because of trade bans imposed by Washington and other Western powers.

But the sheer volume of commercial, technical and legal detail took some of the foreign delegates by surprise.

"Things are going faster than we expected," said Bertrand Grabowski, a managing director at Germany's DVB Bank, adding Iran had set out a regulatory regime comparable to Europe's.

Several airline bosses, however, warned that the growth plans depended on building new infrastructure and boosting training. Akhoondi said Tehran plans to award a contract soon for the expansion of Tehran's international airport.

(Writing by Nadia Saleem; editing by Andrew Heavens and David Clarke)
As Tarun Gogoi gets set to fight for a fourth term as Assam chief minister, he will be remembered for undermining his own government's achievements on literacy.

In 2012, Gogoi asserted that Muslims outnumbered Hindus in the state not because of illegal Bangladeshi immigration but because they were illiterate, and as a result, bore more children. "Most Muslims are illiterate. Every family has six to 10 children," said Gogoi.

But, in fact, the literacy rate is going up in Assam, including in Muslim majority areas. For instance, the rate in Hailakandi, which, according to the 2001 Census, has the third highest Muslim population of 57.6 per cent in the state, rose from 59.6 per cent in 2001 to 75.3 per cent in 2011.

Literacy in the state also increased 8.9 per cent to 72.2 per cent in 2011, from 63.3 per cent in 2001 but it has failed to touch the national average of 73 per cent. According to the Census, a person aged seven and above is considered literate if he or she can read and write, with understanding in any language. Assam has also succeeded in lowering it's the gender gap in literacy rate (literacy rate of male minus that of female). It is 11.5 per cent in Assam, compared to the national average of 16.3 per cent.
Here is a quote from an NPR article this morning: $1.22 A Gallon: Cheap Gas Raises Fears Of Urban Sprawl



"With the fall of gas prices, in a place like Columbus and most Midwestern cities, it really is going to encourage more sprawl," [Cleve Ricksecker, directs two Downtown Columbus Special Improvement Districts] says.



Sprawl can mean more traffic jams and air pollution. But he says only a spike in the price of gas would change the equation when people are making decisions about where to live and work.

I remember visiting a friend in Temecula about 3 years ago. We were standing in his front yard, and he started telling me what his neighbors did for a living. "A mortgage broker lives there. A real estate agent there. That guy is in construction. Another mortgage broker there" ... and on and on. Over half of the households on his block were dependent on the housing market in way or another.



So it is no surprise that the housing bust is hitting Temecula hard.



But look at Temecula on this map. San Diego is far to the south - living in Escondido is a tough enough commute to work in San Diego. And Orange County is an even more difficult drive to the west. Imagine what $5 gasoline will do.

Lower gasoline prices make exurbia more attractive (people have short memories), and we might see a shift to people buying homes with longer commutes.In 2008, I wrote a post: Temecula: 15% of homes REO or in Foreclosure . I noted that Temecula was being hit hard by both the housing bust and high gasoline prices:Here is that map. Now times are good in exurbia. The housing bust is over and gasoline prices are below $2 per gallon:
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Legends Barber Shop opens on Southside

Marc Mungia decided to follow in his father's footstep's and open a barber shop.

Mungia hosted the Legends Barber Shop ribbon cutting Wednesday. The shop offers haircuts for men and nail service in a comfortable environment surrounded by HD TVs, officials said.

Legends Barber Shop is located at 5922 Yorktown Blvd.

Credit union opens Calallen branch

NavyArmy Community Credit Union hosted a ribbon cutting for its newest branch in Calallen, officials said.

The new branch opened Wednesday and it is located at 3801 Farm-to-Market Road 1889, Calallen. NavyArmy is a full financial institution offering auto and real estate loans, checking, savings, investment accounts, mobile banking, online banking and business accounts.

Information: www.navyarmyccu.com.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
SHARE Curtis

Texas Farm Credit promotes Curtis

Texas Farm Credit veteran Jolene Curtis was promoted to chief operating officer of the Robstown-based rural lending cooperative, officials said.

Curtis began her Farm Credit career as a loan officer trainee in 2004, was the co-op's vice president of operations, focusing on employee and business development. In this role, she also oversaw the marketing and crop insurance functions, and provided leadership to the Texas Farm Credit rural home loan department.

Curtis is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Before joining Farm Credit, she worked for Dow AgroSciences, where she was employed as a chemical sales representative in Southern California and later was promoted to market research manager at Dow's Indianapolis headquarters, officials said.

Texas Farm Credit finances agricultural operations, agribusiness, recreational property and other rural real estate. It is headquartered in Robstown and has lending offices in Athens, Bandera, Beaumont, Bonham, Brenham, Clarksville, Fairfield, Gainesville, Hebbronville, Nacogdoches, Paris, Pleasanton, Raymondville, Robstown, San Antonio, Sulphur Springs, The Woodlands, Tyler, Uvalde and Weslaco.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
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TUESDAY

Social media seminar offered

The Small Business Administration will host a free seminar from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the best ways to help small business manage social media at the Alice Chamber of Commerce, 612 E. Main St. Information: 361-879-0017, ext. 301 or elizabeth.soliz@sba.gov.

THURSDAY

Learn about surety bonds in seminar

Del Mar College Procurement Technical Assistance Center and the Small Business Administration will host a seminar from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Del Mar College Center for Economic Development, 3209 S. Staples St. The seminar will focus on how to obtain secure bonding needed for a business. Free. Information: 361-879-0017, ext. 301 or ext. 303 or email elizabeth.soliz@sba.gov.

FRIDAY

SBA to present on federal contracting

Learn a step-by-step approach for becoming a federal contractor or subcontractor at a seminar from 9-10:30 a.m. at the SBA Office, 2820 S. Padre Island Drive, Suite 108. Information: 361-879-0017, Ext. 301 or 303 or email elizabeth.soliz@sba.gov.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Randi and Steven Carroll started Driftwood Coffee after coming home from a mission trip to Kazakhstan. The companys core value are rooted in their Christian faith, and they will work only with businesses that have fair labor and ecological practices.

SHARE COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Driftwood Coffees beans are sourced from Brazil. The companys owners Randi and Steven Carroll recommend a French press for brewing. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Driftwood Coffees beans are sourced from Brazil. The companys owners Randi and Steven Carroll recommend a French press for brewing. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Driftwood Coffee Co. supplies beans to Green Light Coffee in Uptown and Eleanors Coffee Bar and Market on South Alameda Street. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Buy locally roasted coffee beans and grind them with a coffee grinder, Driftwood Coffee Co. owners Randi and Steven Carroll suggest. If you are using ground coffee make sure to brew it in 14 days.

By Julie Garcia of the Caller-Times

The Carrolls have two passions: a love for Christ and coffee.

In their local roasting business, Driftwood Coffee Co., the young couple taps into the principles they strive to live by every day as Christians.

"As (Jesus Christ) will cast a shadow over all the other desires of our hearts, we feel like we need to do all things with justice, fairness, responsibility and good stewardship. All the things that Jesus models and teaches for us," said Steven Carroll, owner of Driftwood Coffee. "For coffee, that looks like saying no to the practice of slavery and refusing to buy a coffee bean that has been produced by slave labor."

Steven and his wife, Randi, have been roasting coffee for six years, but only started their Corpus Christi-based business in December 2013, a few months after returning from a yearlong trip in Kazakhstan to minister.

"It started as a hobby, just loving coffee and wanting to get it as fresh as possible and also to get coffee that has been responsibly sourced," Randi Carroll said. "So we learned how to do it from a friend, and we just did it for our family."

A friend and local philanthropist changed everything for them.

Hollie Schaub, owner of Fed by Bread, a bake-to-order bakery that donates most of its proceeds to feeding schoolchildren in Rwanda, asked them to partner for holiday gift baskets.

"I knew they had just been roasting coffee for their own personal benefit, and I wanted to do something special together," Schaub said. "I introduced them to a bunch of our clients. It's been fun to watch their business take off."

Those gift baskets of baked goods and locally roasted coffee gave way to several customers and contracts with local coffee shops, Green Light Coffee and Eleanor's Coffee Bar and Market. They are in talks with Coffee Waves and Stinger's Coffee for future "cuppings," where they teach the coffee bars' baristas how to prepare their coffee.

"Being able to partner with someone who already has a market was a huge jolt, a jump-start, for us," Steven Carroll said. "We felt like we were invited to start selling our product and improve our product. It's been a blessing to feel that  to not have to fight the tide, to really go where we feel we're being invited."

The search to find a coffee producer that upheld their values was a struggle. Not only do they care about the plight of laborers in other countries, they are concerned with funding eco-friendly farmers.

After much research, the Carrolls stumbled upon Invalsa, which has coffee farms in Africa, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica.

"They take frequent trips to the farms to make sure the producers are being treated well, and all the labor laws of the country are being abided by," Randi Carroll said. "They also cup the coffee while they're there and make sure it's above an 80-point cupping score, which is when it's considered 'specialty coffee.' "

It's about fair treatment and valuing every business partner, big or small, Steven Carroll said.

"We want the producers of our coffee to enjoy each morning, and we want those producers to feel free, to love what they do, and to invest in what they do," he said. "They get incentivized on producing a better crop. It's not a bulk thing."

The use of fair and just labor practices and finding a company that pays workers more for better quality beans translates to the customers, he said.

"Their conscience is clean, and they're drinking a better cup. It's a win-win," he said. "They're drinking a better cup than your standard cup of coffee that you find in bulk quantities at low prices at the grocery stores."

The key to a good cup of coffee is more than just buying a fancy bag of coffee. And the Carrolls are here to help their customers through the transition.

"You can't just give people a bag of beans," Randi Carroll said. "A lot of people are new and learning, and we want to be part of texting them in the morning. They text us and say 'My coffee pot is overflowing, what do I do?' "

The couple recommends a few tips in going from K-Cups and a Keurig to enjoying a cup of locally roasted coffee.

"The easiest and cheapest way is to start with a French press; ditch the coffee pot," Steven Carroll said. "Extraction isn't ideal with a coffee pot. It's not even and doesn't result in a balanced cup."

Next, buy locally roasted coffee beans and grind them with a coffee grinder. If buying already ground coffee, make sure to brew it in its prime-time window of 14 days, Randi Carroll said.

"If all those grounds are still in the bean, it hasn't been touched by air yet, and it will last a whole lot longer," Steven Carroll said. "If you grind it fresh before you brew it, you can smell that ground coffee. It starts to wake up the senses. When you're in the process of brewing coffee, your brain already begins to react to coffee and caffeine you're about to ingest."

If that sounds like a lot of work for the early morning hours, the local coffee shops will be glad to indulge.

Jordan and Sarah Hans, owners of Green Light Coffee in Uptown, wanted to create a platform for Corpus Christi roasters when they opened a year ago.

"The key benefit of using someone local is that it's in the coffee machine the next day," Jordan Hans said. "It's a much deeper flavor."

With a roastery in the works on Port Avenue, the Carrolls are working to expand their shipments to coffee shops and better serving their local audience.

"Coffee has been a huge blessing," Randi Carroll said. "We get to do what we love and people are in need of this product and are interested in learning about it. We feel like we're walking through the doors that seem to open and are really walking by faith, and where we think the Lord is leading us to.

"It's been a great adventure."

THE GRIND

YOUR BEST CUP OF COFFEE

Tips from local roasters

Buy locally roasted coffee beans.

Get a coffee grinder and grind those beans.

Ditch the coffee pot and get a French press.

Get ready for a much deeper, fuller roast.

Don't wait too long after grinding the beans to roast the coffee; oxygenation will cause it to go stale faster.

The shelf life of ground coffee is five weeks, but the first 14 days are prime for drinking.

WHERE TO FIND DRIFTWOOD COFFEE

Green Light Coffee, 600 Leopard St., Suite 100

Eleanor's Coffee Bar and Market, 4231 S. Alameda St.

Order directly at dwcoffeeco.com

WHERE DRIFTWOOD COFFEE BEANS ARE SOURCED

Invalsa Coffee, which has farms in Bolivia, Africa, Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica. Driftwood gets beans sourced from Brazil mostly. "They take frequent trips to the farms to make sure the producers are being treated well, and all the labor laws of the country are being abided by," said Driftwood Coffee owner Randi Carroll. "They also cup the coffee while they're there and make sure it's above an 80-point cupping score, which is when it's considered 'specialty coffee.' "

Twitter: @Caller_Jules
Contributed photos TOP-LEFT: The only image we have of Henry Kinneys home is the Seth Eastman sketch. TOP-RIGHT: Eastman, an army officer, sketched Kinneys homestead on the bluff in 1849. The Southwestern Bell telephone building was erected on the Kinney site. BOTTOM-LEFT: Forbes Brittons home, known as Centennial House, shown in 1935, was built in 1849. BOTTOM-RIGHT: Mifflin Kenedys mansion was built in 1885 and dismantled in 1937.

If there was ever a center of Corpus Christi, it was on Upper Broadway at the corner of Blucher, what used to be Chatham Street. This was where Henry Kinney built his home in 1839.

J. Williamson Moses, an old ranger, told of the time when an unruly mob of filibusters called "buffalo hunters" camped on Padre Island in 1848. They planned to invade Mexico to set up a republic. Their plans fell apart and they decided to rob Kinney.

As Moses tells it, they heard Kinney had $10,000 at his house on the bluff. When they marched to his place, they were met by rangers commanded by Capt. John Sutton. The "buffalo hunters" were persuaded to leave quietly. About this time, Kinney brought in a well-digger from Alabama, J.M. Cooper, who lived in Kinney's house while digging wells on Kinney's ranches.

When Kinney hosted the Lone Star Fair in 1852, he brought in a band from New Orleans that played every night in front of his house, as guests sipped cocktails and listened to the music. Kinney was shot to death in Matamoros in 1862 on a midnight visit to his former mistress. After his death, his home on the bluff sat vacant. On Jan. 9, 1874, the City Council discussed "the unsightly and dangerous old Kinney house." It was dismantled not long afterward.

Hamilton Bee, a Confederate general known more for retreating than for fighting, built a home on that site. Anna Moore Schwien, a former slave, said Bee lived there until he moved the family to San Antonio. Behind the Bee home was Charles Lovenskiold's place on North Carancahua.

Alice Lovenskiold Rankin said, "East of us was where Kinney lived. The Bees built a house on that corner. It was brick in the lower part and lumber in the upper." She recalled a high brick wall between their house and the Bee place. Some thought it had been built in Kinney's time, but she thought it was put up by Bee.

John S. Givens, an attorney (no relation to me), bought the place and added a second story. Givens came from Oakville. He was the prosecutor in the Chipita Rodriguez trial, in which she was found guilty of killing a horse trader and hanged. Givens sold the home to Atlee McCampbell. Coleman McCampbell, author of a history of Corpus Christi, was born here. It was turned into an apartment house then torn down to make way for the Southwestern Bell Telephone building.

Next to the Kinney site was Forbes Britton's house, built in 1848-1849. After Britton graduated from West Point in 1834 he was assigned to move Indians from their ancestral homes in Georgia and Alabama to Indian Territory on the "Trail of Tears."

Britton was at Corpus Christi with Zachary Taylor and fought in the Mexico War. One of his friends was war correspondent George Wilkins Kendall. They would drink warm champagne from a tin cup. Britton returned to Corpus Christi after the war and engaged in the wool, hide and commission business.

In an interview in 1939, Anna Moore Schwien said her mother told her that when she arrived as a slave on Jan. 1, 1849, Britton's house was being built. Britton, elected to the Texas Senate, went to Austin for a special session in February 1861. He died of pneumonia on Feb. 14, 1861.

The Britton home passed through several owners. In 1949, they started calling it the Centennial House. It is still there, a lone survivor.

North of Britton's was a house owned by the Cook family. Anna Moore Schwien recalled that "Mrs. Cook died there and soon after Mr. Cook died, leaving two children, Cora and Jack. These two children were taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Power, who lived across the street and had no children of their own. Cora Cook taught school here after the Civil War."

The old Cook property was bought by Daniel Dowd, who sold it to Mifflin Kenedy. It was said that Kenedy wanted to build his home at the corner of Leopard and Broadway, but the owners wouldn't sell for what Kenedy wanted to pay. So he bought the old Cook/Dowd property at Lipan and Broadway.

Kenedy built his home in 1885. It was described as an Italianate villa painted in three shades of olive green. It had a 65-foot tower above the roof line. It was designed by an English architect, Alfred Giles. The house, as described, had alternating projections and recesses of porches and bay windows to reflect patterns of light and shadow at different times of the day.

The interior was finished with walnut, oak, mahogany, cherry and cypress. The trim on the grand stairway was polished mesquite that came from the Kenedy ranch. Acetylene gas was produced in a small building in the back for the 200 gas lights in the mansion. The Caller in an article on March 8, 1885, said, "The residence is one of the most complete in the state, and is furnished with all the modern improvements that can make a home comfortable."

The house was completed three weeks before Mifflin's wife Petra died in 1885. After her death, his adopted daughter, Carmen Morell Kenedy moved into the mansion and kept house for him.

Kenedy died in the mansion in 1895, following a heart attack. After Carmen Morell Kenedy died in 1899, Mifflin Kenedy's daughter, Sarah Josephine, and her husband, Dr. Arthur Spohn, moved into the house.

There must have been a few stray cattle roaming around. Dr. Spohn, it was said, had the trees wrapped in barbed wire to keep cattle from rubbing up against them. I guess that's true. Another resident once recalled that a young man, dressed up for a dance, bumped into a cow on a dark downtown street. Several families kept milk cows pastured near the old Fullerton house, where the First Presbyterian Church is now.

The Mifflin Kenedy mansion was torn down in 1938 and the salvaged materials taken to the Kenedy ranch at Sarita.

(This is the first of three columns on Upper Broadway, from Blucher to Buffalo.)
SHARE Victor E. Garcia and Krystal Valdez picked up donations for the Womens Shelter of South Texas outreach office in San Patricio County. Camden employees Sabrina DeLaGarza (from left) and Ruby Rocha presented a basketful of mens and womens socks to Bryan Hartman and LaKendra Frederickson, assistant community relations director, at the Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center. Lilliana Konoval and Christian Konoval Camden employees Sabrina DeLaGarza (from left) and Ruby Rocha presented a basketful of mens and womens socks to Bryan Hartman and LaKendra Frederickson, assistant community relations director, at the Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center.

Portland siblings shine at judo meet

Portland siblings Christian Konoval, 12, and Lilliana Konoval, 8, competed in the Ruben Martin Open Judo tournament Jan. 9 in Joshua. The siblings started the 2016 judo season with a bang by both entering new weight divisions and capturing medals. Christian placed first in the Newaza division (ground fighting) and got the gold medal. He went on to establish his presence in his new division by beating his opponents in his early matches and took silver in the final match. Christian also made his debut in the adult division and placed second, snagging another silver medal.

Lilliana mirrored her brother's performance by dominating her opponents in the Newaza division taking gold, and winning silver in the final match of her division. Both the siblings train under Sensei Louis Lopez of Lopez Judo Academy in Corpus Christi.

Garcia, Valdez collect for Women's Shelter

Victor E. Garcia and Krystal Valdez picked up donations Jan. 11 collected at Ingleside United Methodist Church for the Women's Shelter of South Texas' San Patricio County outreach office in Sinton. Valdez picked up a another car full Jan. 7. The church will continue to collect donations for the Women's Shelter of South Texas for two more weeks. Items may be left at the church office Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon or 1-3 p.m. Items may also be left in the church foyer on Sunday mornings from 8:30-11:45 a.m.

Items needed include:

Kitchenware.

Household cleaners and supplies.

Laundry detergents, bleach, dryer sheets or fabric softener.

Bedding.

Curtains.

Bath supplies.

Hygiene supplies.

Diapers.

Feminine hygiene products.

Apply for Miss Corpus Christi Texas Latina

Enter the Miss Corpus Christi Texas Latina pageant by applying at www.cctxlatina.com.The pageant will be March 26.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
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By Beatriz Alvarado of the Caller-Times

CCISD's special education students are struggling academically, according to a state report, and if the performance continues, the state could assign a monitor to oversee programming.

The district's special education program struggled to meet standards, district officials said, after the state stopped offering a modified assessment in 2014 that almost 30 percent of special education students qualified to take.

"It was a huge shift in the state," said Corpus Christi ISD special education supervisor Jennifer Arismendi. "Before spring 2014, students who were served under the umbrella of special education had an option, if they met criteria, to take the (STAAR Modified) test. Last year was the first time the test was no longer available to students with disabilities. They had to take a regular test. It's more challenging."

The modified test had fewer answer choices, chunked reading passages and an easier readability level.

According to the Texas Education Agency's 2014-15 Texas Academic Performance Report released in December, Corpus Christi Independent School District's special education determination status was deemed "needs intervention," which is the second worst among four statuses.

"It's a big deal, as it should be," Arismendi said. "We recognize that our special education students are struggling with state assessments. It's not an innate struggle to Corpus (Christi), but yes, it's a struggle. We want our students to perform the best they can and meet the state standards."

TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said 28 percent of Texas schools districts this year did not meet special education requirements.

She said the 2015 determination status methodology is different from what was used in the past, so it's hard to say if all school districts were affected in a similar way as Corpus Christi. But the agency "built in as many accommodations as possible to help those students."

Intervention from the state varies, but Culbertson said consecutive "needs intervention" statuses could lead to the state assigning a monitor to oversee special education programming at the district.

CCISD official don't expect that to happen.

Ada M. Besinaiz, CCISD's executive director for instructional support, said the district took swift action when the state's decision to pull the modified test materialized.

For the first time, general education content specialists were partnered with special education teachers to write a robust curriculum for all students, she said.

"Curriculum writing is now a collaborative effort," she said. "Now you have the language arts elementary specialist sitting right by the special education and bilingual educator speaking to a group of principals asking 'What do you have at your campus that's working? What assistance do you need?' It's an entire team approach."

Arismendi said as per the Texas Accountability Intervention System, improvement plans to reduce large academic gaps for students with disabilities are in motion. Weekly and monthly monitoring, walk-throughs to collect data for action plans and targeted training for special education teachers started last year.

She said December benchmark tests showed promising growth in math, but acknowledged there is still a lot of work to do.

Twitter: @CallerBetty

COMPARISON

Corpus Christi ISD comparison to region and state

SPECIAL EDUCATION STAAR GRADES 3-8 PASSING RATE AVERAGE

CCISD: 32.4

Region 2: 32.14

Texas: 34.04

SPECIAL EDUCATION STAAR HIGH SCHOOL PASSING RATE AVERAGE

CCISD: 47.2

Region 2: 42.25

Texas: 46.4

Of note: Averages include scores from STAAR A, an accommodated version of STAAR offered as an online assessment

Source: Corpus Christi ISD

ENROLLMENT

CCISD student enrollment for 2014-15

3,479

Special education population

38,698

All students

Source: Texas Education Agency

SPECIAL EDUCATION ELIGIBILITIES

Auditory impairment

Autism

Deaf-blindness

Emotional disturbance

Intellectual disability

Multiple disabilities

Orthopedic impairment

Other health impairment

Specific learning disability

Speech impairment

Traumatic brain injury

Visual impairment

Noncategorical early childhood

Source: Corpus Christi ISD
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES

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By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

Corpus Christi police SWAT and Hostage Negotiations teams responded to a suicide call Sunday at a home on Lyons Street.

About 9:20 a.m. a 32-year-old man's girlfriend called police and alerted her boyfriend was trying to kill himself, Senior Officer Travis Pace said. When officers arrived at the home in the 6500 block of Lyons Street they tried to make contact with him from outside and heard a single gunshot a few minutes later.

The Hostage Negotiations Team was called to the home since it was unclear if anyone else was in the house with the man. Police told neighbors to stay inside, Pace said. After several attempts to make contact, the SWAT team entered the home and found the 32-year-old man dead.

There was no one else in the house, Pace said. Pace did not have information about where the man had shot himself and said officers continue to investigate.

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Girl Scout Allison Ames from Troop 9653 pulls her wagon filled with Girl Scout cookies after visiting a neighbor Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Corpus Christi.

SHARE GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Girl Scout Allison Ames (left) from Troop 9653 and her mother Cindy Ames prepare to load their vehicle with Girl Scout cookies Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Corpus Christi. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Cookie mom Cherie Chenault (top) and Jeff Davis (right) load a small rental truck with Girl Scout cookies as they prepare to distribute boxes to Troop 9653 on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Corpus Christi. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Girl Scout Allison Ames from Troop 9653 sells Girl Scout cookies to Robert Hanus on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Corpus Christi. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Girl Scout Bella Martinez from Troop 9653 carries a box of Girl Scout cookies as she prepares to sell them Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Corpus Christi. Related Photos Cookie Time

By Esther Hackleman

Seven-year-old Allison Ames squinted under her thick blonde bangs, pressed her index finger on her neighbor's doorbell and let loose her pitch for the first time since last March.

"Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" she asked.

Allison, one of 25 members of Girl Scout Troop 9653, received her first batch of cookies Saturday morning as the Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas started the 2016 cookie season.

The two-month annual cookie sale is a tradition of teaching girls entrepreneurial spirit while unleashing tasty treats.

Cookie mom Cherie Chenault sees the value of that legacy through the development of her own daughters and the girls of Troop 9653.

The troop's cookie mom wore a navy and green shirt with the words "Cookie Boss" imprinted over her heart as she and other troop leaders unloaded a rental van of cookies for the second consecutive year. Last year, Troop 9653 learned that the demand for cookies exceeded the carrying capacity of four pickup trucks. So they upped their game.

The troop leaders hauled 5,700 boxes, the largest order of cookies in the area, into Chenault's driveway for scouts to pickup and distribute.

"It's cookie time," the third-generation former Girl Scout said. "It teaches (the girls) that what they sell goes directly back to them."

Last year, the Girl Scouts in the Corpus Christi area sold 20,200 cases, or 242,400 boxes, of cookies. As those sales climb, each girl learns where the money she raises goes. Younger girls learn the value of sales and rewards through immediate results. Girls can unlock different levels of patches to pin on their uniform and prizes that range from decorative door hangers to a Go Pro camera.

In addition to the prizes won, troops also budget funds for group outings, but the value of a sale goes a lot farther than the immediate results.

"The best part is when we raise money to help people," said 9-year-old Ellen Morrill, Chenault's daughter.

Each year, Troop 9653 purchases any leftover cookies and gives them to a charity to create awareness in the community.

"(Cookie season) teaches the girls to be aware of the world around them," troop leader Kacy Webster said.

The entrepreneurial experience balances education with competition as each girl heads to houses and booths, striving to do better than her previous year.

That friendly competition is alive and well for Scarlet Fling, who was crowned the Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas cookie princess for 2015. The 7-year-old, who sold more than 2,200 boxes last year, has simple advice to other girls looking to accomplish their cookie goals: sell more and have fun and be polite.

"Talk to everyone you meet to (get them to) think all about cookies, work every booth you can, be polite and say thank you even if they don't buy anything."

Twitter:@Caller_Esther

Girl Scout facts

The top five cookie varieties sold throughout the Coastal Bend in 2015 were, in order, Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Lemonades, and Shortbread.

If you're looking for a place to purchase cookies, download the Girl Scout Cookie Finder app on your phone for updated locations.

Girl Scouts offer four vegan options: Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, Lemonades and Thanks-A-Lot.

Cookie season ends March 20.
SHARE Contributed photo Timothy Lee Thiel

By Esther Hackleman

A 58-year-old Corpus Christi man who was arrested Friday after Aransas County sheriff's deputies said they found guns and drugs in his van during a traffic stop was identified Saturday as Timothy Lee Thiel.

Deputies were called at about 12:30 p.m. Friday to check on a man who appeared to be under the influence of a substance in a van near Farm-to-Market Road 136.

When deputies checked his vehicle, they said they found a loaded revolver, marijuana and crack cocaine in plain view. They said they also found a large box that was locked, according to the incident report.

Once deputies obtained a warrant to search the box, they said they found four handguns, high capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Thiel was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and theft of a firearm Friday. He remained in the Aransas County Jail on Saturday on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with bail set at $10,000.

Fares Sabawi contributed to this report. Twitter:@Caller_Esther
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Gov. Greg Abbott's 2016-2017 budget plan praises the state's "unparalleled" successes in leading the nation in both job creation and economic opportunity. Likewise, President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address reflected on how the U.S. economy stabilized and grew during his two terms as president.

Despite this mostly rosy economic news, middle-income households are struggling and will continue to face significant economic challenges.

The good economic news is that the U.S. unemployment rate remains at 5 percent, and more than a quarter of all states raised their minimum wage for 2016. The Texas unemployment rate has been lower than national averages for about nine years, and unemployment rates in cities such as Austin and Dallas are at historic lows.

Despite lower unemployment rates and minimum wages that should help lift more people out of poverty, middle-income households are not getting ahead.

A recent Pew Research Center report shows that for the first time in almost 45 years, middle-income households (who earn between $42,000 and $126,000) are now less than 50 percent of total U.S. households.

Perhaps more disconcerting is the fact that rich Americans are flourishing financially at the expense of middle- and lower-income workers. That is, rich households received 49 percent of total income in 2014. That is a dramatic jump from 29 percent that they earned in 1970. During this same period, the share of total income for middle-income households dropped from 62 percent to 43 percent.

This trend probably will continue. Most job growth will come from occupations that pay relatively low wages, according to recent data assembled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Many jobs that have helped propel workers into the middle class, such as postal clerks, and middle-income jobs that involve routine or repetitive tasks, such as executive secretaries, bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks, will continue to shrink during the next 10 years. On the other hand, jobs that pay low wages, such as home health aides or retail and fast food workers, will proliferate.

What does this mean? It means that the dwindling of middle-income jobs along with the proliferation of lower-income jobs has gutted the middle class. It is creating an economically polarized society. And this polarization can be found in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio  four of the 10 most economically segregated large cities in the country. In fact, Houston now has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the nation. This is not something Texans should be proud of.

Houston's employment picture typifies the economic plight of the middle class. Data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas show that the unemployment rate in Houston is below national levels, but that the city lost jobs in the professional, scientific and technical services industries. Whereas the number high-wage jobs such as those for lawyers and engineers decreased, jobs in the lower-wage leisure and hospitality, food services and retail sectors are booming.

Ironically, many lower- and middle-income Americans may appear to be better off now than they were in the 1980s because the relative cost of small-dollar items (such as clothing, cellphones, TVs and computers) has dropped. Despite relatively lower prices for these mass-produced products, costs for the services workers need to attain and remain in the middle class  such as college, health care and child care  have soared.

So what should Texas do? State officials have implemented economic development plans that have encouraged businesses to create more jobs for Texas workers. But if Texans want to maintain a middle class, we will need more than jobs that pay at or slightly above the minimum wage. To help Texas workers achieve the middle-class goal, Texas businesses must provide middle-income jobs. Texas politicians must be willing to support policies that provide affordable housing  rented or owned  for middle-income households. Politicians need to keep college affordable and help workers find safe and affordable child care. Until Texans can afford to pay for the services that will help them become and remain members of the middle class, middle-income workers will continue to fall behind.

Mechele Dickerson is the Arthur L. Moller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
| BY Ricki Green |

Canadian Club has announced the launch of its new campaign, continuing to position themselves as a refreshing alternative to beer, like a snowball in the face from a sexy person.

Featuring two TVCs that take place in typical beer drinking environments, the latest campaign celebrates Canadian Club as a refreshing alternative as well as the fact that Canadian Club Draught is available on tap, continuing its advance into traditional beer territory.

This campaign, A Refreshing Wake Up Call is the latest instalment in the highly successful Over Beer? strategy that has contributed to massive YoY +30% growth for the beverage. Canadian Club is the first brand in a decade to make the top 10 RTD brands, and is now ranked the fourth-largest premix spirit brand in Australia after Jim Beam, Bundaberg Rum and Jack Daniels.[1]

The TVCs will air in 30 second and 15 second versions from 1st May and will be supported by radio, out of home, digital and a limited edition themed 24 pack cube.

Trent Chapman, marketing director  Beam Global Australia says the snowball campaign was the logical next step for Canadian Club.

Says Chapman: Canadian Club is continuing to grow at a phenomenal rate, achieving double digit growth for the 5th year running in 2013. Its clear that Australians are looking for an alternative to beer and we want to continue to redefine the role of dark spirits and bring new consumers into the category.

Damian Pincus, creative partner and founder, The Works Sydney says the new TVCs represent a shift away from presenting the problem of being over beer to celebrating Canadian Club as the solution.

Says Pincus: We know theres plenty of people out there who are bored with beer, its time to put Canadian Club front and centre. Getting hit in the face by a snowball from a sexy person was one of the few feelings we felt was on the same level as having a Canadian Club after years of slavish beer drinking.

Canadian Club continues to diversify its offering with Canadian Club Draught available on 500 taps nationally and the launch of Canadian Club in an aluminium bottle as a premium alternative to cans and thats suitable for non-glass venues.

Beam Global Australia

Marketing Director  Core Brands: Trent Chapman

Marketing Manager  Canadian Club: Tiffany Madsen

The Works Sydney:

Creative Lead: Kevin MacMillan

Creative Project Manager: Magdaline Diles

Producer: Craig Bolles

Production Company: Jungle Boys

Director: Al Morrow

Media Agency: Unity

Public Relations: Adhesive PR
Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 4:24PM

A new leak by Evan Blass (@evleaks on Twitter) says the US will be seeing the new Galaxy flagship device on March 11th. Blass, who has a mixed track record when it comes to releasing accurate leaks, didnt provide any additional details. There isnt any word yet from Samsung either if there will be a press launch anytime soon. But Samsungs known to release a new Galaxy flagship around this time. Well keep you posted for any updates.

Some of the previously rumoured information include the release of a Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, which will have 5.1-inch and 5.5-inch screens, respectively. There will be Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 processors, 4GB of RAM, 32/64GB of storage with microSD support, a 12-megapixel rear camera alongside a 5-megapixel front camera, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow will power the new Galaxy devices.

Source: Evan Blass (@evleaks) | Via: Android Central
Meanwhile loyal readers (if only we could give you frequent reader points!) will know that lately the column has been loitering in the Canberra of January 1939. The highest temperature ever recorded in Canberra was the 42.5 Centigrade of Wednesday, January 11, 1939. This January's heatwaves have goaded climate change sceptics into arguing that the world cannot be getting hotter every day because some Australian temperature records were set in 1939. History-minded, we have been visiting the Canberra of that scorching January of 1939.
"I think we've just gone too much overboard to be politically correct and not offend anybody and we are frightened to fly our own flag in our own country and I think that is a shame," he said.
The approval would require a notifiable instrument in the Legislative Assembly and conditions, including that operators of autonomous vehicles holds current licences, that the operator is in the driver's seat, the vehicle has a mechanism to engage and disengage during driving and that the car can be turned to manual if a failure of the autonomous system or other emergency takes place.
"I saw a man walking in the opposite direction saying 'Don't let him in, he doesn't have an ID'. It didn't bother me, I just walked past but then when he said 'darkie' I realised he was talking to me and I was the subject of his ranting.
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Modified On Jan 25, 2016 03:19 PM By Sumit for Maruti Baleno 2015-2022

The hysteria for Maruti's new offering Baleno has helped it in dislodging Hyundais i20 from the spot of top selling premium hatchback. Indo-Japanese carmaker was able to sell 10,572 units of Baleno in December 2015 as compared to 10,379 units of Hyundais i20. Maruti is ready with its lineup for the 2016 Auto Expo. One of the three cars to be displayed at the automobile event is Baleno RS which comes with sportier looks. Other two automobiles to be showcased by the company are Vitara Brezza and Ignis Concept.

Baleno was launched three months ago with two engine options viz. 1.3L diesel and 1.2L petrol. While the carmaker was praised for introducing refreshed looks and new interiors, it faced criticism for alleged underpowered mills. 1.3L diesel delivers a maximum power of 74 bhp with 1.2L petrol capable of 83 bhp. Working on the feedback received, the automaker is now working on a more powerful engine of capacity 1.0 litre which will be able to churn out a maximum power of 110 bhp with 170 Nm torque. Baleno RS is expected to run on this engine. The car is being sold through Nexa showroom channel along with S-Cross to give customers a unique experience. Although Baleno has been able to remove i20 from the top spot for a while, chances are high that Hyundais vehicle will bounce back. i20 has ruled the premium hatchback segment for long and it looks less likely that the South Korean automaker will give up this spot easily.

Watch First Drive of Maruti Baleno

Also Read: Maruti Baleno BoosterJet Might be Launched this Year Post-IAE 2016 Showcase

Read More on : Baleno review
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

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The verbal and physical tirade of a neurology resident on an Uber driver in the United States has gone viral.



The woman in the video, Anjali Ramkissoon, is a fourth-year resident at Jackson Health System and in the video, can be seen hitting an Uber driver in the face before verbally abusing him and demanding a ride.

When the Uber driver refused, she jumped in the car and started throwing the drivers personal items, including papers and scissors, out of the car. While police attended the scene, no official report was taken and the driver apparently accepted a settlement and agreed not to press charges.

Following the emergence of the footage, Jackson Health System confirmed that the Ramkinssoon has been place on administrative leave and removed from all clinical duties.

The health facility has also launched an internal investigation into the matter, to decide if and what disciplinary action will be taken.

Story references: Miami Herald

Warning: The following video contains offensive language

VIDEO
Last year, Land Rover introduced the Discovery Sport and turned its popular Discovery full-size SUV into a two-model lineup. Now, the British automaker is working on an all-new generation of the Discovery, as seen in these spy shots of a heavily camouflaged prototype.

The current Discovery has been around for too long and will soon be replaced with the fifth-generation model that has been previewed in the form of the Discovery Vision concept. The new generation model will be built using Land Rovers aluminium platform that underpins the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport. This lightweight new platform will allow for significant weight savings over the existing Discovery which, as we know, is one of the heaviest vehicles in the market.

Under the hood, the new Discovery will be powered by four or six-cylinder engine options, depending on the market. The SUV will also have a hybrid option as well as Land Rovers new Ingenium engine range.

While the Discovery Sport currently competes with the likes of BMW X3 and the Audi Q5, this new generation of the full-size Discovery will take on the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Audi Q7.
Photo: Contributed

Four years ago, three tech lovers combined forces to open a new store to help Kelownians with all their tech needs  now they are opening their fourth location, and they show no signs of slowing down.

William Walczak, Hayley Moffatt and Jordan Moffatt are young entrepreneurs who started the company in 2009 with the goal of becoming the first national repair store in Canada based out of Kelowna.

Now called Repair Express (formerly Fix My Touch), Walczak is optimistic about the company's future as it has grown from a home startup to a thriving business with four storefronts in the Okanagan.

Within a very short period of time we have managed to get really good growth and we started thinking why aren't we templating this, why arent we opening more stores, so that is what we did, says Walczak.

We opened up the store in Vernon a year ago and it went extremely well, within a month we were profitable and within three months we were really, really profitable. So, we starting looking at the next store.

By the end of the 2015 summer they opened another location in West Kelowna, and just this month their fourth location is opening its doors in Penticton.

He says part of their success is their partners in each store, like Dallas Teale in Vernon.

He is fantastic, he has managed to get some fantastic reviews. He is nominated for entrepreneur of the year in Vernon, says Walczak, who explains that the partners own a portion of each location.

We want to get more people who want to be operating partners who are passionate about technology and want to have a repair store.

Walczak attributes their success to their passion for what they do  and their local partners.

We want to fix a lot of devices not only because it saves a lot of money and it is good for the environment, but also we want to help people use their phones, we want to help people use their technology, say Walczak.

We have a fantastic local marketing team here (Hiilite) and that has been a catalyst to our success. We are in front of the right people, on the right channels, with the right message and then tracking and converting them into clients and friends.

He jokes that he definitely didn't expect it to be the success it has become.

No definitely not, he laughs. We were hoping it would go well, but not quite as well as it has been going.

Walczak says they are hoping to double their locations in 2016 alone, with their interest set on locations in other parts of the Okanagan, Kamloops and Prince George.

2015 was great and I think 2016 will be even better.

For more information check out its website here.
Kelowna

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Photo: Contributed

Two people have died in an apparent industrial accident at a lumber yard in the Metro Vancouver area.

Spokeswoman Barb McLintock says British Columbia's Coroners Service was called on Saturday afternoon to the lumber yard in New Westminster.

She says there were two workers who were dead in what appeared to be an industrial accident.

McLintock didn't provide the names of the workers, nor did she have the name of the lumber yard.

The province's workplace investigations agency says it's aware an incident occurred and has investigators standing by.

Trish Knight Chernecki of WorkSafeBC says investigators are waiting to gain access to the scene from New Westminster Police.
"If you think back to the '50s or '60s when there was much more company loyalty, people thought, 'I want to go to company X and work there and retire there, and they'll take care of me,'" Lissy said. "I think that was followed by a period of time where children of people in that generation looked at their parents getting laid off and sort of lost faith in the organizational security that generation had always aspired to. So they came to look at themselves more as free agents. Now I think it's a bit of a return. Not a full return, because people are still very much focused on driving their own careers.
In our iPhone-typing, VPN-accessing, laptop-toting work world, a "snow day" just isn't what it used to be.

Employers may tell us to stay off the roads. They may urge us to use our judgment about whether to trek to the office. But the expectation, of course, is that if we're home on a snow day, we're working, just as efficiently as we'd be on any of the other increasingly common days people spend working away from the office.

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Of course, this is not actually how it works. When extreme weather hits, road warriors get trapped in airports, foiled by cancelled flights. Schools get cancelled, and parents have cabin-fever kids needing lunch made and snow men built and iPads charged and fights broken up. And all too often, those lucky enough to be sitting at a quiet desk in a home office actually spend the day worrying whether their boss really thinks they should have come in -- or trying to locate all the other people coping with kids at home or travel chaos or snarled commutes.

So here's an interesting -- if improbable -- proposal. What if, every once in a while, employers offered up a real snow day? A bona fide, morning surprise, get-out-of-jail-free-card snow day. Put away your laptops and go out and make that snow angel. Cancel the conference call and drink hot chocolate with your kids. Turn your phone off for a while and read a book by a roaring fire.

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I know, I know, it's about as likely as getting out of this weekend's storm without it earning this year's version of a #snowmaggedon hashtag. Even kids apparently aren't getting real snow days anymore -- sent home with packets of work to do when snow disrupts school.

"You'd see a loss of revenue, an increase in expenses and that all works to hit the bottom line," says Bruce Elliott, the head of compensation and benefits for the Society for Human Resource Management. "O rganizations are going to be very, very reluctant to say 'snow day' without any guidance from what other organizations or larger employers are doing."

But I'm going to venture that it's not entirely crazy -- at least for employees who don't have jobs that are mission-critical. Sure, it may hit the bottom line a bit, but it's also likely to bring about a longer-term upside: loyalty to the company and good P.R. for the business. Imagine all the goodwill and free word-of-mouth a company would get for trying to revive the joy of our school-age selves, sending around a morning email with the subject line "SNOW DAY!"

Businesses, after all, are doling out all kinds of cushy perks these days, from unlimited vacation policies to extended family leaves. As benefits increasingly replace raises -- which have grown more meager while companies use more perks to attract workers -- why not offer a random, surprise snow day once or twice a year?

It could also help cut down on risk. After all, some employees do get real snow days: Some work can be done remotely, and some work cannot. Employers are increasingly cautious about severe weather days for people who work outside or have to commute to a location to do on-site work, said Mark Lies, a partner in the labor and employment practice of Seyfarth Shaw. They are driven by fear of safety hazards, road conditions and cold temperatures that could lead to lawsuits, higher health care costs and bad publicity.

In the past couple of years, he said, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has started focusing on making sure employers have programs for protecting workers against excessively hot or cold temperatures.

"An employer has an obligation to protect employees not only from extreme heat but extreme cold," Lies said. "When there's health hazards or safety hazards, employers are becoming much more attuned to that."

Employers don't have the obligation, however, to pay some of these workers if there's a shut down for inclement weather. Salaried, professional workers generally are paid when a workplace closes for bad weather -- though they may be docked a vacation or personal day. But hourly paid workers, or those who qualify for overtime, aren't required to be paid if they're told to stay home due to snow, even though many typically do.

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So maybe working from home on a snowy day -- even if kids are underfoot or half your colleagues can't jump on the Skype call because their airport wifi isn't working -- isn't so bad. Maybe the least we can ask for is an enlightened approach from employers when handling extreme weather.

At Alexandria, Va.-based The Motley Fool, that means telling workers early this week that they were strongly urged to work from home and setting aside time to make sure everyone's remote access was working well. Since it offers an unlimited vacation policy, says Shannon McLendon, the company's operations and events lead, there's always flexibility for workers to take the day off if they need to. "If you can't focus at home, we're okay with that," she said.

At other companies, a reasonable approach means not docking people a vacation or personal day if the workplace is shut down for inclement weather -- even if it's legally acceptable. It means giving out clear instructions for whether to come in, rather than taking the passive-aggressive approach and leaving it up to the employee to decide. Some will inevitably think they need to when they shouldn't.

Most of all, it means being practical, patient and considerate about workers' safety and needs. "Are you really going to make someone slog out in the middle of a snowstorm to balance a P&L for that day or that week?" Elliott says. Maybe in today's work-anywhere world, hoping for a bona fide snow day is far-fetched. But we can at least hope for common sense.
Q: My 2013 Ford Escape had a safety recall regarding the restraints control module developing a short circuit over time. My local Ford dealer replaced the control module and a sensor for the air bag. Within several days the air bag light would come on and off. I returned to the dealer and they wanted to charge me a diagnostic fee to find the problem. I explained I did not have a problem until they serviced the vehicle for the recall. I feel they should have corrected the problem without an additional fee. Is this related to the safety recall work, or is it a separate issue? I am willing to pay for the repairs if it is a separate issue, but I feel it is recall related and the dealer should stand behind their work.
He may as well have been direct-tweeting Charlotte Rampling. The Oscar-nominated star of the new drama "45 Years" may not have led the pack in the best actress race (Brie Larson's likely to win, for "Room"). But you could hear Rampling's Oscar chances gurgling down the nearest drain, after telling a French radio interviewer Jan. 22 that the pushback following the lack of black Oscar nominees was "racist to white people." Soon enough Rampling rewound that opinion and told CBS News: "I regret that my comments could have been misinterpreted. I simply meant to say that in an ideal world every performance will be given equal opportunities for consideration."
Resurrections of old franchises have colonized pop culture with the ruthless efficiency of an alien invasion, from Netflix's "Fuller House" to the movie box-office conquest by "The Force Awakens."

But while most of these projects feel driven mostly by the profit motive, "The X-Files," which returns to Fox on Sunday as a miniseries, has perhaps slightly more claim than its peers to contemporary relevance. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are coming back to television at a time when conspiratorial thinking has a fresh hold on the American imagination.

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Jacob Clifton, in a great column in the Austin Chronicle about how TV has gotten better and braver about naming specific people and ideas for contemporary problems, pointed out that a key characteristic of the series has aged less well at a moment when shows such as "Billions" and "Mr. Robot" are attacking real institutions and technological developments rather than vague and sinister forces.

"The truth: out 'there.' Advertising: evil. Naomi Klein: very upset about something. The bad guys? The real, actual, vile bad guys? Still not sure. It involved bees, I know that much. Goo, of various colors and consistencies, may have been to blame," Clifton writes.

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"So when 'The X-Files' returns, will it be a Bernie Sanders: transparent, fire and brimstone, no-nonsense, utopian? A Hillary Clinton: all emojis and abuelas? A Vape-Smoking Man on a hoverboard like Fisher Stevens in 'Hackers'? Or will it be a Donald Trump: red-faced, spooky, xenophobic, and babbling? I can see it going any way. What I don't want to see is a return to the safe arms of a faceless conspiracy, with no financial interests and an unknown agenda, because we did that, and it didn't work, and we know who the bad guys are."

But if the elusive nature of the conspiracy in "The X-Files" indicated a lack of political courage, Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever suggests that the ability to project anything you wanted to onto the show was part of its appeal.

"The motto of 'The X-Files,' 'the truth is out there,' first sounded like a clarion call to skeptics, scientists and kooks alike, who, it was assumed, could agree to disagree, so long as the result was the unearthing of fact," he wrote in his review of the new series. "Today, in a world of birthers and truthers and other conspiracy wackos who find remarkable amplitude with the Internet, 'the truth is out there' sounds like a taunt to a people who can no longer agree on what to disagree about. Everyone is spooked by the very real notion that the most outlandish possibilities and rumors could very well be true."

I've seen three episodes of the new run of "The X-Files." The first lays out a new theory of alien activity and alien technology on Earth before the show scampers off to the sort of monster-of-the-week episodes it executed so deftly during its original stint on television. And while the third episode in particular is better than the first, "The X-Files" manages to make an oddly compelling case for the appeal of conspiratorial thinking.

In that first episode, we learn that Scully is now doing reconstructive surgeries for children born without ears, while Mulder has gone mostly off the grid and become a scruffy recluse. They're brought back together by Tad O'Malley ("Community" star Joel McHale), an Alex Jones-like figure who wants to enlist them as he goes public with his theories about the relationship between the military-industrial complex and the existence of aliens.

At first, Scully and Mulder are suspicious of O'Malley - "Conspiracy sells. It pays for bullet-proof limousines," Mulder tells O'Malley, a charge that also applies to everyone involved in resurrecting "The X-Files." But after meeting a woman with mysterious scars (Annet Mahendru, used less well here than on "The Americans") and seeing some very shiny hardware, they're back on the trail of the paranormal.

Watching O'Malley and Mulder trying to convince Scully - drawing connections among hydrogen bomb testing, the Tuskeegee syphilis study and Henrietta Lacks, or among police militarization, conspiracy theories about Federal Emergency Management camps and a scenario in which banks collude to seize all our money - "The X-Files" makes a case for how emotionally reassuring it might be to find a theory that connects all sorts of seemingly disparate attempts.

Conspiracy theories may be a product of deep unreason. But in Mulder and O'Malley's case, they've turned to conspiratorial thinking as a way to rationalize the world, to make connections between seemingly disparate events and to suggest that something ties the chaos of the world together. Conspiracy theories often lead to dark places, but they're a way to avoid facing the much more terrifying chaos of the universe.

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And more than that, they often suggest that our problems are fixable. O'Malley proves himself to Mulder by revealing the existence of a clean, free-energy technology that he says the U.S. government has known about since the 1940s. Ideas like this suggest that the solutions to humankind's gravest calamities are either within our grasp or known to us already. It's the venality of other people we have to overcome, not our own ignorance or situations that may be fundamentally unfixable.

Once again, the ideas may be grim - it's bad enough to think that we fought wars for oil, but even worse to believe that we did so even though we could have been freed from our oil addiction decades ago - but the impulses are fundamentally optimistic to naivete. It's much more frightening to think that some of our problems can't be conquered at all than to think bad men are trying to keep us from obvious advances that would improve our quality of life.

In a way, the boldest thing "The X-Files" could do wouldn't be to prove any of Mulder's wildest theories, but to debunk them entirely, and force Mulder and Scully to simply accept that some things are mysteries, and some pain is unending. If Mulder's sister, Samantha, was abducted first by aliens and then the government, that gives her disappearance and Mulder's agony meaning in the way her simple vanishment and death would not.

If William, Scully and Mulder's child, is chosen, rather than merely gone, that gives him significance that acts as a kind of tonic. "I want to believe," Mulder says over and over again. But that desire can be a way to hide from the truth, rather than confront it directly.
The Alaska Highway descends into the Muskwa River Valley, British Columbia. Because travelers are crossing borders, they need to have their passports with them (including passports or IDs for minors). (David Skidmore / Chicago Tribune)

Traveling the roughly 1,400 miles of the Alaska Highway is not as risky since paving was completed in 1992, but a road trip on the northland artery (also known as the Alcan) still requires planning beyond programming the route into your mobile device.

Your first decision is picking a route, or routes, including getting to the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, or the western alternate, the Cassiar, which begins at Kitwanga, B.C. Though the Cassiar saves the traveler about 130 miles over the Alcan, getting to the Cassiar adds several hundred miles to the trip. The Cassiar is also narrower and more buckled from frost heaves than the Alcan (particularly on the northern half), and services are further apart. On the flip side, it offers a more sublime wilderness experience.

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Essential guide: Having driven both routes, beginning in 1975 and most recently in 2014 with our truck and fifth wheel trailer, I have a pretty good idea of the essentials, one being The Milepost travel guide. Just like the title says, this annual guide to northland travel  Alaska and western Canada  provides a mile-by-mile log of the principal routes and secondary highways leading from the U.S.-Canada border and into and around Alaska. Every scenic vista, historic site, town, village, campground, wayside, side road, river crossing, service station, inn, and whatnot is listed, matched to both the northbound and southbound mileposts. It includes extensive travel planning tips such as vehicle preparation, RV rentals, ferry systems, hunting and fishing, and Canadian and U.S. customs regulations.

Two handy features are a metric conversion chart, and a chart for comparing Canadian gas pump prices per liter to U.S. prices per gallon. If you purchase the print edition (Amazon, or www.themilepost.com) you can register for a digital edition, via downloadable apps from iTunes, Google Play or Amazon.

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Border crossing: Because another country, Canada, separates our 49th state from the Lower 48 (an expression you will hear frequently in Alaska), travelers will need to have their passports with them (including passports or IDs for minors) when they cross borders. In addition, you will need rabies and health certificates for pets, proof of motor vehicle liability insurance, and firearms declarations (Canada has strict firearms importation laws).

I have found U.S. customs officials to be more vigorous (for example, confiscating fruits and vegetables even if purchased in the U.S.) and more prone to pull aside vehicles for a close inspection. Canadian customs officials have mostly been concerned about firewood, firearms and alcohol. Neither country's customs office has yet asked to see our pet health certificates. But they could.

Vehicle prep: Headlight protectors and radiator screens are no longer essential on the main routes but are helpful on secondary highways that are mostly gravel like the Deh Cho route in Northwest Territories; the Campbell, Klondike Loop and Dempster in Yukon Territory; and the Steese, Elliott, Denali, and Dalton in Alaska. Extra caution, particularly for RVs, is needed on these gravel highways because of steep grades and soft shoulders.

Weather and availability of services can be unpredictable, so pack for a range of conditions (fall arrives the third week of August in interior Alaska and Yukon Territory) and carry a full-size spare tire, tow strap, emergency reflectors, blankets or sleeping bags, and maps. Cellphone coverage can be spotty and your GPS may not work, hence the need for printed maps (or The Milepost). If traveling in two vehicles, two-way radios can be handy for coordinating stops. Don't count on a gas station or inn being open; some close after Labor Day, and some have gone out of business since the guide's publication. Our general rule is to never get below half a tank before refueling.

Because the highway is the main transportation artery between the Lower 48 and Alaska (not to mention for western Canada, too), it has to be kept open and maintained year-round. I have driven it in April and October as well as summer months and have never had a problem. In some ways winter driving is easier, as there is no road construction and fewer vehicles. Lodging is more scarce, as some inns are seasonal, but there are enough options for the distance of a day's drive.

For those traveling by RV, carry at least one spare tire for your motor home and for both your trailer and tow vehicle (our only flat in 2014 occurred to our pickup truck halfway up the Dalton Highway in Coldfoot, one of just three gas station/roadhouses on the 415-mile road to the Arctic Slope oil fields). Also consider a portable generator, spare gas container, power cable extension, and converter plugs for your electrical hookup (few RV parks in northwest Canada offer 50 amp service, which means a 30 amp converter is needed for large trailers and motor homes). For quick repairs, bring lap sealant and duct tape.

Protection from predators: Mosquitoes and black flies are prevalent through August so include repellent with DEET. Your chances for a run-in with a bear are slim, but if you plan on extensive hiking consider bringing pepper spray (though you will have to declare it when crossing into Canada). In eight years of living in Alaska and four later trips, I have never encountered a black or brown bear that posed a threat. The important thing is to be aware of your surroundings and make your presence known.

Money and reservations: Credit cards are accepted throughout Alaska and Canada, but you should carry some cash in both currencies. ATMs are common in cities and most towns. Reservations are not essential for Alaska lodging and attractions, except for lodging, tours and campgrounds in Denali National Park and on the Kenai Peninsula. If you plan on touring Southeast Alaska on the Alaska Marine Highway System with a car or RV you should secure space well ahead of your trip.

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Surfing toward Alaska: These websites will provide helpful information for travelers ready to explore Alaska:

 www.themilepost.com

www.travelalaska.com

www.hellobc.com

www.spectacularnwt.com

www.travelyukon.com

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www.alaskastateparks.org

www.bcparks.ca

www.yukonparks.ca

www.nps.gov/dena

www.ferryalaska.com

www.greatalaskanholidays.com

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www.cruisecanada.com

David Skidmore is a freelance reporter.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday that a Chicago native once passed over for top cop will return to help guide civil rights reforms in the Chicago Police Department.

Recently retired Philadelphia police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, an architect of the Chicago department's community policing program, will return to advise city leaders on policies, training and accountability when it comes to the use of force, interactions with people with mental illness and community policing, the city said in a statement Sunday. Ramsey lost bids in 1992 and 1998 to become police superintendent in Chicago.

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"Hopefully, we will begin to make progress, make inroads, in many communities where relationships are strained," said Ramsey, who grew up in Englewood.

Ramsey, 65, said he believes Emanuel and police commanders "have a sense of urgency" about making improvements.

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"I wouldn't be a part of this if I didn't think their efforts were sincere," Ramsey said.

Ramsey will be paid $350 per hour as a consultant, the mayor's office said. He plans to begin work Monday, participating in a conference call with officials in Chicago. Ramsey, who lives in Philadelphia, also plans to frequently travel to Chicago to work with police officers, community members and the U.S. Justice Department, which announced a review of the department in December in the wake of the release of the Laquan McDonald video.

"Commissioner Ramsey is not only a national leader in urban policing who has led two major police departments through civil rights reforms  he is also a native Chicagoan who knows our Police Department and our communities," Emanuel said in a statement. "With roots in Englewood, he has a unique understanding of the important role community relationships play in making our city safer."

Ramsey said he was not interested in the open Chicago police superintendent job, instead preferring to focus his attention helping police departments work on rebuilding trust with communities. He also recently was hired as a consultant in Wilmington, Del.

The Justice Department will be reviewing the Police Department's practices in Chicago, the type of investigation that has led to federal court oversight and sweeping reforms in other troubled big-city police departments throughout the country. Emanuel initially called the idea "misguided," then reversed his opposition to align with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, both of whom already had called for the Justice Department to act.

"We're going to make sure we enforce the changes that they'll recommend," Ramsey said.

As a chief in Washington, D.C., and later Philadelphia, Ramsey requested federal probes of his own police departments while he was at the helm.

Michael Nutter, the former mayor of Philadelphia who hired Ramsey as that city's police commissioner, spoke highly of Ramsey's ability to establish trust between the Police Department and residents, calling him one of the best police chiefs in the country. He said Ramsey's call for the Justice Department to investigate the Philadelphia force showed his willingness to address issues of concern for residents by obtaining an outside view of officers' behavior.

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"He's demonstrated time and time and time again that he would not accept corruption or misconduct by officers," said Nutter, who left office on Jan. 4 after serving the maximum permitted two terms as Philadelphia mayor. " I think he established a level of trust with the city when if a bad thing happened, people knew there would be a full-fledged investigation, and it would be legitimate and it would be thorough, and at the end we'd let the chips fall where they may."

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As Philadelphia commissioner, Ramsey, who has a son on the police force there, hosted a podcast from his neighborhood barbershop as another way to help establish a dialogue with community members.

"I'd talk to people there because barbershops, especially in the African-American community, tend to be a place where people gather and talk about issues," Ramsey said. "People aren't shy about their opinions."

Ramsey began his law enforcement career in 1968 as a Chicago police cadet. Over the next 30 years, he held various positions with the CPD, including commander of the narcotics division, deputy chief of the patrol division and deputy superintendent, a role he held from 1994 to 1998, the year Mayor Richard M. Daley chose Terry Hillard to serve as his new police superintendent. Ramsey, a finalist, who also had been a contender in 1992, had said he would shake up the department. Hillard offered relative stability for subordinates who revered him.

Later that year, Ramsey was named top cop in Washington, D.C., where he served until early 2007 before becoming Philadelphia's police commissioner. He retired from that post on Jan. 7. In January 2015, President Barack Obama tapped Ramsey to help lead the White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing, a group of leaders who counsel local and state governments on community relations.

"Commissioner Ramsey's return to the Chicago Police Department is an opportunity to build on the important work we are undertaking to restore trust between the department and Chicago's residents," acting police Superintendent John Escalante said in a statement. "I look forward to relying on his counsel and leadership."

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Twitter @pmocwriter
Chicago police investigate a shooting in the 9600 block of South Calumet Avenue that wounded two men late Jan. 23, 2016. (Alexandra Chachkevitch / Chicago Tribune)

A man was killed and at least 10 other people were wounded in shootings since Saturday afternoon, according to Chicago police.

Most recently, a 20-year-old woman was wounded in a shooting near Navy Pier around 12:35 a.m. Sunday in the Gold Coast neighborhood downtown, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a police spokesman.

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The woman was sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle traveling north on Lake Shore Drive when someone in another vehicle pulled alongside and fired shots in the 500 block of East Grand Avenue, Alfaro said.

The woman was shot at least twice in the left calf, Alfaro said. She was driven to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where her condition stabilized, Alfaro said.

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No description of the attacker's vehicle was immediately available.

Late Saturday night, a 31-year-old man walked into St. Francis Hospital in Evanston with a gunshot wound to the hand, saying he had been shot in Chicago earlier on Saturday, said Officer Ana Pacheco, a police spokeswoman. He told investigators he had been shot in the 1600 block of North Homan Avenue.

About 10:45 p.m. Saturday, a 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old man were shot in the 9600 block of South Calumet Avenue in the Rosemoor neighborhood on the South Side, Alfaro said.

The two men were sitting in a parked vehicle when a male attacker got out of a dark sedan and fired shots, Alfaro said.

The 26-year-old was shot in the back of the head and in the left arm. The 21-year-old was shot in the buttocks.

A friend drove both men to Roseland Community Hospital for treatment, Alfaro said.

The 26-year-old was listed in critical condition, and the younger man's condition stabilized, Alfaro said.

The 26-year-old man was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at Stroger Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which identified him as Orlando McArther, of the 9600 block of South Forest Avenue.

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Police cordoned off about half a block of Calumet Avenue south of 96th Street with red and yellow crime tape. At least four evidence markers, indicating shell casings, lay in the middle of Calumet near a parked white car.

Officers shone flashlights on the ground and the nearby cars and homes lining the street. Detectives knocked on doors of nearby houses.

A woman in a dark jacket walked out onto the porch of her white, two-story house and watched police officers as they worked. Yellow crime tape prevented her from stepping outside her house's metal fence.

"It was like boom, boom, boom, boom," she said to a detective who walked up to her after a few moments to see if she witnessed anything. "I was in my basement when it happened."

No one was in custody as a result of the shooting early Sunday morning.

About 9:30 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was seriously hurt in a shooting in the Lithuanian Plaza neighborhood on the South Side, Alfaro said.

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Police responded to a call of a person shot in the 6900 block of South Washtenaw Avenue and found the boy lying on the ground, Alfaro said.

The teen was shot in the back of the neck, right thigh and right foot. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition, Alfaro said.

About 6:05 p.m., a 23-year-old woman was shot in the 6900 block of North Greenview Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a police spokeswoman.

The woman was walking to her car when an offender walked up to her and shot her in the hip, abdomen and arm before she managed to get herself to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where her condition stabilized, Tannehill said. The offender fled in a dark vehicle, police said. It is believed that the woman and the offender had contact prior to the shooting, police said.

Earlier, at 5:27 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the 11400 block of South Church Street in the Morgan Park neighborhood, Tannehill said.

The man was shot in the ankle and was taken to Metro South Medical Center in good condition, she said.

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About two hours earlier, 17-year-old boy was shot shortly before 3:30 p.m. in the 3100 block of West Madison Street in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, police said.

The boy was sitting in a parked car when two other vehicles pulled up and the occupants began firing in his direction. The boy suffered a leg wound and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.

Shortly after 2 p.m., a 28-year-old man was shot in the left arm in the Englewood neighborhood. The man took himself to St. Bernard Hospital and told authorities he was wounded in the 7200 block of South Bishop Street, police said.

He was listed in good condition at the hospital. Police believe the Englewood shooting was gang-related.

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About 1:33 p.m., a 39-year-old man was wounded in a shooting in the South Austin neighborhood on the West Side, Alfaro said.

The man was standing on the sidewalk in the 5500 block of West Harrison Street when he heard gunshots and realized he was struck, Alfaro said.

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He was shot in the foot and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in good condition, Alfaro said.

About 1:30 p.m., a 17-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side, Alfaro said.

The teen was walking in the 7600 block of South South Chicago Avenue when an attacker got out of a green sedan and fired shots in his direction, Alfaro said.

The teen was shot in the shoulder, back and buttocks and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition stabilized.

Chicago Tribune's Megan Crepeau contributed.
A Loyola University student shot in Rogers Park on Friday night is recovering from her injuries, her family and school officials said.

Chicago police said the 19-year-old woman was walking with friends in the 6700 block of North Clark Street about 9:15 p.m. when someone in a passing car fired shots at the group. The woman was struck in the lower back.

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The area of the shooting is about 1 mile northwest of the Loyola campus.

Reached by the Tribune on Sunday, the woman's mother said her daughter is improving and should be able to leave the hospital in about a week. She declined further comment.

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Presence St. Francis Hospital spokesman Jim O'Connell said as of 11 a.m. she remains in the intensive care unit where her condition has stabilized.

Police said the woman was the unintended target of the attack, and witnesses saw a gray Nissan Altima fleeing the scene. The woman was initally taken to Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition.

Loyola officials alerted students to the shooting and urged anyone with information to either contact 911 or campus security at (773) 508-6039. University officials also said personnel from the Wellness Center, Campus Ministry and Student Development are being made available to students wanting to discuss their concerns about the shooting.

"Please do not hesitate to reach out to a staff or faculty member if you are in need of services of any kind," Jane Neufeld, vice president for student development, wrote in the message. "Please keep this student, and her family, in your thoughts and prayers."

Some visitors to the university's Facebook page said they felt unnerved by the shooting. One man noted the fatal shooting of student Mutahir Rauf in December 2014. Rauf, a 23-year-old student from Pakistan, was gunned down one block off campus during an attempted robbery.

"There must be a heightened and permanent LUC and CPD presence!" the commenter wrote. "The crime in our city is unacceptable. Not one more student should suffer. Loyola University, what immediate steps are you going to take to stop this horrendous violence? How are the students expected to protect themselves?"

"As parents we are rethinking our decision to send our son to Loyola," wrote another man, who said he was a Loyola alumnus.
The six refugee women stood in line holding short, round flower vases, waiting to stuff foam inside and pour water over the top before filling them with greens and blooms.



The instructor, floral designer Natalie Pappas, wore a short-sleeve shirt spotted with giant sunflowers and explained how to fill the foam with silver-leafed dusty miller and shiny salal greenery to build a base for the tulips and ornamental kale to come.



The training was part of the West Town floral shop Flowers for Dreams' support for RefugeeOne, a 34-year old Uptown organization that helps thousands of refugees each year as they arrive from all over the world and acclimate to life in the Windy City.



With Valentine's Day around the corner, "about every floral shop in the area will be hiring seasonal workers," Pappas said. Many will need extra staff to prep vases with greenery.



"A lot of times that's how people get into the floral industry," Pappas said. "That's how I started."



Flowers for Dreams donates 25 percent of profits to a local nonprofit each month, and RefugeeOne is its January recipient. Its support has grown from writing a check to offering the free design class to asking customers to sponsor bouquets welcoming refugee families when they arrive in Chicago.



Last month, staff greeted a Syrian family of seven after their airplane landed at O'Hare International Airport.



"That's one of the coolest things we've ever done, even if we had to wait four hours for them to get through customs," said Steve Dyme, Flowers for Dreams' co-founder and CEO.



Most in Saturday's floral design class said they had been in the country for a few months and were looking for jobs, primarily in hospitality.



The afternoon training focused on basic floral skills: arranging a boutonniere, a tied bouquet and a vase of cut flowers.

There was no goofing off in this class. The women were focused and quiet as they pieced their creations together.



"I'm feeling very happy to have the experience," said Odette Osheli, 24. She arrived in Chicago from Congo about five months ago with her husband and their son, 4, and daughter, 2. She's studying English and hospitality, looking for a job and enduring her first Midwest winter.



"In Africa we didn't see the snow," Osheli chuckled.



She grew serious when asked why she left her home country: "Here you can have a job and survive. There it's not easy."



Classmate Muna Mahmud, 26, arrived with her 7-year old daughter about four months ago after spending five years as a refugee in Egypt from her home country of Eritrea in Africa. She, too, is looking for a hospitality job.



"I want to learn how to use flowers," said, Mahmud, a petite woman with warm brown eyes, easy smile and a shimmery gray headscarf. "I love to give nice, beautiful flowers."
Romeoville trustees have signed off on a planned unit development for two new warehouses in the 20000 block of West Airport Road, formerly known as the Mostyn farm site.

Panattoni Development Co. plans to build a 787,200-square-foot office/warehouse building and is considering constructing an adjacent 388,000-square-foot warehouse.

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Documents indicate that the first warehouse will have parking spots for 284 cars and 162 trailer stalls. The proposed smaller warehouse would have 100 car parking spots and 87 trailer stalls. A dry detention pond will be constructed and a creek area on the property may be left natural and undeveloped.

Village officials said they are excited about the project because the developers will extend a portion of Pinnacle Drive in the business park area. The goal is to have other developers eventually extend Pinnacle Drive to Renwick Road.

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"Pinnacle Drive is a huge goal of the village," Village Manager Steve Gulden] recently told the board. "The master plan for the village has the road going all the way down to Renwick (Road). We want to relieve truck traffic from Weber (Road) so we can free Weber up for shoppers."

Gulden said the developer will pay between $3 million and $4 million for the Pinnacle Drive extension project. The village, in return, is reducing basic permit fees by 25 percent or about $250,000, Gulden said.

Trustees also approved annexing the 80-acre warehouse site into the village and changed the zoning from agriculture to planned business, P-B.

Village officials have annexed more than 400 acres in the last year, including some 300 acres of forest preserve land. That land, in collaboration with the Will County Forest Preserve District, will be used to improve the Centennial Trail parking lot and access to the trail and the Des Plaines River near 135th Street. The forest preserve and the trail are located on the far east side of the village and connects to other various trails in nearby Cook and DuPage counties.

Joseph Ruzich is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

triblocaltips@tribune.com

Twitter: @TribLocal
Construction of an internationally-branded hotel, a chain restaurant, 24-hour gas station with a food court and car wash on a long-vacant parcel of city-owned land in Des Plaines may begin as early as June if city officials and a developer agree to move forward with the project.

A proposed purchase and sale agreement between the city and Pearlshire/Bask Development Group was presented at a City Council meeting last week. Rehan Zaid, representing the developer, said construction could potentially be completed within the first quarter of next year if the necessary approvals are granted in four to five months. Aldermen deferred a vote on the agreement to their next meeting on Feb. 1.

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A vote also is expected then on a purchase option agreement with Pearlshire/Bask for an adjoining 3.78-acre property at Higgins Road and Orchard Place. The city is buying the land from the Rosemont Park District for $600,000.

City staff members have spent the last several months negotiating the sale of the 4.5-acre parcel at 2985-3003 Mannheim Road, located in the seventh tax increment financing district near the corner of Higgins Road. City Manager Michael Bartholomew said the decade-long effort to develop the parcel has "had a number of false starts" due to the economic downturn in 2008 and subsequent accumulation of millions of dollars worth of debt in the sixth tax increment financing district

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A request for proposals was issued earlier this year in the hopes of finally attracting a developer. Four responses were received and council members considered three during closed door sessions. They eventually authorized staff to enter into negotiations with Pearlshire/Bask, according to a city memo.

Per the proposed agreement, the city will sell the land to the developer for $1.5 million with the stipulation Pearlshire/Bask build, own and operate a five-story hotel with 120-150 guest rooms, a, free-standing sit-down restaurant, a 24-hour gas station with approximately 24 fueling points, including diesel and compressed natural gas, a convenience store with two quick-service restaurants. The total estimated construction cost is $28 million with all operation expected to generate in excess of $39 million in property, fuel, hotel, food and beverage tax revenue for the city through 2038. The agreement also includes a total of $7.5 million in property, sales and hotel tax incentives for Pearlshire/Bask through the same time period.

With the incentives taken into account, Bartholomew said the city will receive enough tax revenue to pay off $20 million in debt in its sixth tax increment financing district with about $12 million left over.

Bartholomew said staff and the developer have agreed that including a portion or all of the Higgins Road/Orchard Place property would benefit the project. The purchase option up for consideration would allow for the sale of the land located north of Willow Creek for $311,000 and the property south of the creek for $289,000, according to a city memo.

Fifth Ward Alderman James Brookman questioned why the city would agree to the tax incentives outlined in the purchase and sale agreement.

"If this (development) in fact requires a $7.5 million subsidy, then it's not a viable project," Brookman said.

When pressed further on the tax incentive issue by Ald. Don Smith, 7th, Zaid said the incentives are needed to generate a "reasonable return" on his company's investment.

"It's safe to assume it would be very tough to essentially build a hotel here without the incentives," he said.

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Brookman also took issue with a lack of specifics on the number of rooms or brand of hotel. Zaid said his company is in talks with two globally-branded hospitality companies and nationally- branded chains regarding the hotel and free-standing restaurant. He specifically named Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Outback Steakhouse and Portillo's as examples of the types of brands that have expressed interest. Any final agreement between his company and any of these corporations would require that Pearlshire/Bask control the property, he said.

Bartholomew said the details of the development will be presented to aldermen during the planned unit development process.

Owners of nearby businesses, including Cafe la Cave and Royal Touch Carwash, expressed concern that the development may cut into their business. Zaid said it was his company's intention to generate consumer demand rather than eat into what already exists. He also agreed to collaborate with area businesses.

If the purchase and sale agreement is approved, the developer will obtain necessary zoning, subdivision and regulatory approvals, including permits from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District over the next 120 days, according to a city memo.

At the end of that period, the developer will determine whether to move forward with the project, Bartholomew said. He said it's unlikely Pearlshire/Bask would back out at that point.
China's leading home appliance maker Haier said its profits jumped 20 percent year on year to 18 billion yuan (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, despite falling global sales.

Haier's global sales reached 188.7 billion yuan last year, down six percent year on year, due to global economic downturn and business adjustment of the company, said Zhou Yunjie, rotating president of Haier, in the company's annual meeting on Saturday.

Haier is dismantling its traditional corporate structure in favor of building an open platform where people can bring in their own ideas and resources to develop new products and services, said Zhang Ruimin, chairman of Haier.

Over the past decade, Haier got rid of 20,000 middle managers, hoping to transform into an incubator for innovators, according to Zhang.

Haier accounts for over 10 percent of worldwide home appliance sales, according to a 2014 survey by Euromonitor. Earlier this month, the company announced its purchase of U.S. conglomerate GE's appliances business.
China is still one of the biggest market for Siemens AG, a German multinational conglomerate, and the company remains optimistic about the country's future, a management board member and chief technology officer (CTO) of the company has said.

China's GDP growth rate, which stood at 6.9 percent in 2015, is still one of the fastest in the world, Siegfried Russwurm said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Considering the growth rate and size of its economy, China is still one of the biggest market globally, said Russwurm, adding he believed the Chinese market, where Siemens had witnessed rapid growth, still had a great prospect.

Russwurm also spoke highly of the growth pattern of China.

China is not only a user but also a contributor to the development of Industry 4.0, which is considered by many as the fourth industrial revolution, according to the expert.

As one of the pioneers in the promotion and use of smart technologies, also referred to as Industry 4.0 in Germany, Siemens is one of the first companies to set up smart factories in China.

Russwurm said the electronic product company of Siemens in Shenzhen in southern China is typically taken as "the icon of the factory of the future."

The CTO said Siemens had a strong research and development team in China, which contributed to the global concept of the fourth industrial revolution.

China has become a big part of the global economy, and China would be treated the same as other markets in a digital and global world, said Russwurm.

"We have to learn as a global company not to treat China and Chinese companies differently from customers somewhere else on the globe." he added.

According to him, Siemens factories in China is no different from its factories in Germany.

Russwurm also talked about labor costs in prosperous Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, which he said had surged to a level similar to those in Mexico and East Europe.

Russwurm, who is also a governing body member of the Industry 4.0 platform, also praised the collaboration between German platform and its Chinese counterparts on the Industry 4.0 initiative.
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On January 21, accompanied by the Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabya and Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismai, President Xi Jinping had delivered a keynote address at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo entitled, "Work together for a bright future of China-Arab relations."

President Xi's Middle East visit: Guiding China and Arab revival [CNTV]

Xi promoted pragmatic cooperation in the four-point initiative, outlining a new blueprint for China-Arab cooperation, which received a warm response from the Middle East media.

His speech focused on the Arab world and explained Beijing's diplomatic policy on the region that depicted a beautiful portrayal of China-Arab cooperation.

The four-point initiative conveys far-reaching significance and demonstrates China will be a firm builder of peace and development in the Middle East. Beijing would boost regional industrialization, support regional stability and be a good envoy of communications between the Chinese and Arab peoples.

Xi's Speech demonstrated Chinese wisdom, reflecting the style of a large country and highlighting China's responsibility to guide the revival of the Chinese and Egyptian peoples.

The constant applause in the Arab League headquarters had proven how Xi's speech would mark an impressive chapter in the history of China-Arab relations.

(The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com.)
Crew members of the first flight pose for photos in the cabin on Jan 21, 2016. [Photo/chinanews.com]

URUMQI -- The first direct flight linking northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and a southeastern Asian country, has been launched, sources with the Urumqi international airport announced.

The flight is operated by China Southern Airlines between Urumqi and and Bangkok of Thailand, the airport said in a statement.

Flights are arranged on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday each week, with a stopover at Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu province.

The direct flight shortens the travel time between the two places to around six hours from the previous more than 10 hours when passengers used to transit via Beijing and Shanghai to travel to Bangkok.

In 2015, the Urumqi airport saw the transit of 280,000 passengers, up 35.34 percent year on year.
Financial coopetative agreement signed between Qingdao and BOC [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As an emerging center of wealth management, eastern China's Qingdao city is expected to get a new boost by enhancing cooperation with financial institutions based in Shanghai, China's financial center.

Over a dozen financial institutions from Qingdao signed agreements with their counterparts in Shanghai at a celebration ceremony held on Jan 15, 2016. Participating institutions included Qingdao Bank, Qingdao.

"The development of the Qingdao wealth management zone will require support from top notch financial players from international financial centers like Shanghai, who in turn could generate dramatic growth from the opportunities of the zone's buildup process," said Li Qun, Party chief of Qingdao.

Qingdao was approved by the State Council in February 2014 to hold the Qingdao Wealth Management Financial Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area, the country's only wealth management financial zone.

Li said the city hopes to deepen cooperation with relative institutions in areas including innovative financial service reforms, deepen supply side structure reform, major infrastructure development, and social welfare projects, talent development and leverage the opportunity of Qingdao becoming the national wealth management financial reform zone to achieve mutual success.

Liu Xinyi, president of the SPD Bank, said they would actively facilitate the cooperation with Qingdao and strive to meet development demands of the city in capital supply and assets allocation.

"The city's financial strength has increased rapidly in recent years," said Li.

It is estimated that profits generated from Qingdao financial sector would reach 57 billion yuan in 2015, accounting for 6 percent of the city's gross domestic product. The financial sector profits are now 2.4 times higher than that of 2010.

By the end of 2015, there were 221 financial institutions operating in Qingdao, 1.5 times higher than 2010. In the meanwhile, the number of financial companies reached 500, doubling the number from five years ago.

"The city has enhanced cooperation with top-notch educational and R&D institutes to develop the talent crucial to success in wealth management," Li said.

The China Finance 40 Forum, a leading financial think-tank, is now making plans to build a financial academy in Qingdao. Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Shandong University are setting up wealth management-related majors and research institutes.

International cooperation is also a key focus for Qingdao in building its wealth management zone, which features the trading of Korean won in Qingdao, with a surge of over-counter cash transactions in won-yuan exchange.
Passengers get off a train at Muping station in Yantai, Shandong province, on Sunday, which marked the start of the 40-day Spring Festival travel period. SUN WENTAN / FOR CHINA DAILY

In freezing weather on Sunday morning, Wei Guojian began his journey home for a Spring Festival family reunion.

It will take him nearly 24 hours to travel from Foshan in Guangdong province, where he has worked as a truck driver for eight years, to his hometown in Guizhou province.

"It was really difficult to buy a train ticket," Wei said.

The journey by motorcycle would normally cost Wei, who is traveling with his wife, about 300 yuan ($45) in fuel and road tolls for a one-way trip.

In contrast, it would cost double this amount to travel by high-speed train.

To provide motorcyclists with safe and warm homeward journeys, Sinopec Guangdong Oil Products has teamed up with the Guangdong Youth Volunteers Committee to offer free gas and other packages to the first 10,000 riders.

A total of 218 gas stations in Guangdong and Hunan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region will provide the service for riders, the company said.

It is the fourth year that Sinopec has operated the free service. This year, it has been extended to include 1,000 minivan drivers, according to Chen Chengmin, general manager of Sinopec's Guangdong branch.

Wei is well used to motorcycle travel. In previous years, he has made the trip home with most of his friends from Guizhou.

"You not only need to beat the cold weather, but also the waiting time if you want to buy train tickets," he said.

Several high-speed rail lines have been opened to connect most interior areas with Guangdong, which has attracted millions of migrant workers over the years to its manufacturing industry.
Restrictions on who can apply for permanent residency in cities are to be relaxed for selected workers, including those from the countryside, to encourage a new form of urbanization, the State Council said over the weekend.

In a statement released after a meeting on Friday, the nation's highest executive body said revisions to the registration system, known as hukou, would further encourage the integration of migrant workers in cities, as well as drive investment and domestic consumption.

The State Council said it will relax the rules on permanent residency in most cities for university graduates, skilled technicians and those returning after receiving an education overseas, as well as the restrictions on rural workers.

The executive body also called on provincial authorities to fully implement a new residency permit that became available on Jan 1. The permit, which runs alongside hukou, entitles holders to free education, healthcare, employment and legal services in the city in which they live.

In addition, the government will provide more policy support for improving shantytown dwellings and dangerous homes, and expand policy coverage to more townships, the statement said.

The State Council also encouraged the investment of more social capital into constructing city facilities, such as underground pipelines, and for urban areas to adopt the national Internet Plus strategy to build smart cities.

Trials for new urbanization practices will be expanded to more cities, while the government will also improve land and housing policies, and encourage local authorities to set up urbanization development funds with social and financial capital, the statement said.

During the meeting, officials also stressed the State Council's goal in tackling overcapacity in the iron, steel and coal industries. China plans to cut 100 million to 150 million metric tons of crude steel production and has said it will strictly control new industrial capacity.

Xu Hongcai, director of economic research at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the measures announced over the weekend will help stimulate effective investment of social capital in cities.

"This new type of urbanization put the focus on the people instead of industrialization or real estate investment. Encouraging a larger migrant population to settle in cities will be a driving force for economic development, as it will encourage more social capital in public services and infrastructure," he said, adding that it will also encourage domestic consumption.
The 800-year-old courier station in North China's Hebei province. [Photo/IC]

The renovation of an 800-year-old courier station has been finished in North China's Hebei province, a local official said Friday.

Liu Zhimin, an official with the provincial cultural relics department, said repairs to the station's 22 ancient temples, shops and residential homes have been completed recently in the 2022 Winter Olympics co-host city of Zhangjiakou.

Jiming dak, over 100 kilometers from Beijing, originally served for letter carriers to change horses and rest when carrying imperial decrees from Beijing's Forbidden City to northwestern regions. It later developed into a town now known as Jimingyi, home to more than 1,000 residents.

The repair of the town wall was finished in 2011. Renovation work started in 2009 with an expected cost of 500 million yuan (around $81 million).

Jiming Courier Station was built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and continued to function until 1913, when the then government abandoned all courier stations in favor of modern post offices.

"The station represents Zhangjiakou's role as a traffic hub in the past, and the renovation will bring more tourists to the city," said Wu Zhengshan, 70, a local tourist guide.

The station was put on the country's national relics protection list in 2001.
A resident walks as a boy looks at a car that was burnt during a demonstration against the electoral process in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 22, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday said he was concerned about the recent postponement of the elections in Haiti, urging all stakeholders to work towards the peaceful completion of the electoral process "without delay".

Haiti's electoral authority on Friday announced a decision to postpone presidential elections slated for Sunday due to security reasons. It said serious incidents happened in five Haitian departments, including attacks on at least two polling stations, led to the decision.

The Secretary-General urged the completion of the electoral process "through the forging of a consensual solution that will allow the people of Haiti to exercise their right to vote for the election of a new President and the remaining representatives of the new Parliament," said a statement released by Ban's spokesperson. "The Secretary-General urges all political actors to reject all forms of violence and intimidation and refrain from any action that can further disrupt the democratic process and stability in the country."

The Secretary-General reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations to continue supporting the consolidation of democracy and stabilization in Haiti.

Haiti, with a population of 10 million, held the first round of legislative elections on Aug 9, followed by the first round of presidential elections and second round of legislative polls on Oct 25.

After the first round of presidential elections in October 2015, the opposition candidate Jude Celestin claimed that the government of President Michel Martelly had been manipulating results in favor of its candidate.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right, front) shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, Jan 23, 2016. [Photo by Wang Ye/Xinhua]

Observers have expressed high hopes for China's role in helping Iran reinvigorate its economy, which has been weakened by three decades of international sanctions.

President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, agreed to upgrade their countries' two-way relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during talks in Teheran on Saturday.

Iran was the final stop on Xi's three-nation Middle East trip, with the president arriving back in Beijing on Sunday. It was the first visit to the country by a Chinese leader for 14 years.

The talks on Saturday were followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on production capacity, minerals and investment cooperation, as well as an agreement to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative, a trans-Eurasia strategy to boost trade and connectivity.

Other aspects covered by the documents include finance, communications, culture, science and technology, and climate change.

Xi said the nations had enjoyed friendly exchanges and sincere cooperation for as many as 2,000 years thanks to the Silk Road. He said China hopes the Iran nuclear deal  the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  can be implemented smoothly.

Rouhani said the Chinese president was the first foreign leader to visit his country after the action plan was reached, which "mirrors the level" of the friendly ties. "Iran values China's role in international affairs, and we remember China's longtime support and help," he said.

After the lifting of the sanctions on Iran, Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, has predicted "there will be a surge of economic demand". He said: "Iran now needs all-out, full-flung infrastructure construction, and it needs to restore its crude oil production capacity. There is a lack of investment in its energy sectors, including the gas sector."

The agreements signed in Teheran will "help rebuild the energy sector infrastructure and further boost Iran's exports", Wu said.

A joint statement issued after the presidential talks in Teheran said China and Iran had agreed to set up an annual meeting mechanism for their foreign ministers.

The statement also said China supports Iran's application for full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Iran is one of six observer nations of the SCO, which was founded in 2001. The six full members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Pang Sen, the Chinese ambassador to Iran, said Iran is an important hub along the Belt and Road routes because it is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel, and the port at Bandar Abbas, one of the largest in the Gulf region.

Hua Liming, a former Chinese ambassador to Iran and now a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said Iran "made a great, proactive response" to the Chinese-proposed initiative and that the nations' friendship "has survived tests" since diplomatic relations were established in 1971.

Many Chinese enterprises "have for a long time been investing and operating in Iran", which has laid a foundation for collaboration, he said.

China has been Iran's largest trading partner for seven consecutive years and is Iran's largest crude oil market. Annual bilateral trade reached a record $51.8 billion in 2014.
VIENTIANE - Two Chinese nationals were killed and another injured in a suspected bomb attack in Xaysomboun province of Laos on Sunday.

The Chinese embassy confirmed the incident, saying it took place at 8:00 am local time when the victims, one of whom was an employee of a mining company from China's Yunnan province, were on board of a vehicle.

Laos military personnel rushed to the scene and the injured, surnamed Zhou, has been shifted to a hospital in capital Vientiane for treatment.

The Chinese embassy officials visited the injured person and required for prompt investigation into the attack.

Xaysomboun province is located in central Laos with a population of some 82,000. The mountainous area has been seeing rise in violence recently.
On January 21, accompanied by the Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabya and Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismai, President Xi Jinping had delivered a keynote address at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo entitled, "Work together for a bright future of China-Arab relations."

Xi promoted pragmatic cooperation in the four-point initiative, outlining a new blueprint for China-Arab cooperation, which received a warm response from the Middle East media.

His speech focused on the Arab world and explained Beijing's diplomatic policy on the region that depicted a beautiful portrayal of China-Arab cooperation.

The four-point initiative conveys far-reaching significance and demonstrates China will be a firm builder of peace and development in the Middle East. Beijing would boost regional industrialization, support regional stability and be a good envoy of communications between the Chinese and Arab peoples.

Xi's Speech demonstrated Chinese wisdom, reflecting the style of a large country and highlighting China's responsibility to guide the revival of the Chinese and Egyptian peoples.

The constant applause in the Arab League headquarters had proven how Xi's speech would mark an impressive chapter in the history of China-Arab relations.

( The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com. )

Comments by Xu Xiujun, associate researcher with the Institute of World Economy and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; comics drawn by Chi Ying


BEIJING -- The Chinese vision for the Middle East unveiled by President Xi Jinping in his three-nation tour offers a fresh approach to the conflict-torn region's thorny issues by highlighting dialogue and development as the core solution.

The Middle East has been haunted by persistent turbulence and bloodshed that have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced many others.

Addressing an audience at the Cairo-based Arab League headquarters, Xi said the key to resolving differences in the Middle East is to enhance dialogue, while the key to overcoming difficulties is to promote development, and the key to choosing the right path is ensuring it suits the national conditions.

The roots of the problems in the Middle East are complicated, with prolonged sectarian rifts, national contradictions, weak development and Western intervention all playing a part and dragging the region into crisis.

A study of history shows that force is never the right solution to problems, and zero-sum or winner-takes-all logic is inconsistent with the call of the times.

The surest way to find maximum overlap among the interests of different parties is to seek consensus and be understanding and accommodating.

China advocates resolving regional conflict through political dialogue rather than confrontation. The country has played a unique and constructive role by actively mediating between parties on regional topics such as the Iran nuclear issue.

The Chinese leader is trying to convey to the Mideast the Chinese experience of resolving issues through development.

During his trip, Xi said China supports the Arab world to solve its problems on its own through development and dialogue, adding that the process of dialogue might be long but will yield the most sustainable results.

This has been proved by China's successful experience over the past 30 years, while Western interventions in the region based on selfish agendas have provided counterevidence.

Having achieved rapid economic and social development along an independent path with Chinese characteristics, China knows the importance of stability and a suitable path to fast growth, which are two elements critical to the development of the Middle East.

Middle Eastern countries, which are currently undergoing reform and change, urgently need guaranteed political stability and dynamic economic growth.

Identifying development as the core solution to the Middle East turmoil, Xi showed that China is a supportive and cooperative partner with the announcement of several moves to promote development in the region.

They include cooperation projects in industrial capacity, infrastructure and energy with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran under the Belt and Road Initiative framework, and hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in assistance to people in Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen who are suffering conflict and war.

Meanwhile, the Chinese leader made it clear that his country is not looking for proxies or trying to fill any "vacuum" in the Middle East, but aspiring to build "a network of mutually beneficial partnerships."

It is hopeful that the wisdom of China, which is trusted by Middle Eastern countries as a non-interfering country, could serve as an effective remedy for problems and herald a brighter future for the region.
RAMALLAH -- A recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Middle East is so important for the Palestinian cause and will boost the historical ties between the Arab nations and China, Palestinian analysts and observers have agreed.

In his speech at the Arab League in Cairo, President Xi made clear his country's stance towards finding a fair solution to the Palestinian cause, the analysts said.

"The Palestinian cause is a basic issue for peace in the Middle East. If the international community wants calm and an end to the conflict, it must help resume the peace talks, implement peace agreements and be committed to achieving fairness and justice," Xi said in Cairo.

He urged the international community to take more powerful measures to reactivate the stalled peace talks and support the process of the economic reconstruction that would enable the Palestinians to see a light of hope, stressing that his country backs the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Nabil Abu Rdineh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, praised President Xi's remarks, saying that "it is another historic position of China that backs the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people."

Abu Rdineh told Xinhua that China has been backing the Palestinian cause at all levels.

"China backs the Palestinian people politically and financially, and always stands on the side of the Palestinian legitimate rights in all international bodies and agencies," he said, adding that the Palestinian ties with China have always been strong, firm and clear.

Ahmed Awad, a political science professor at Birzeit University in the West Bank, told Xinhua that China supports the legitimate rights and struggle of the Palestinian people.

He went on saying that China was one of the first great countries recognizing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

It also was the first country that allowed the opening of a PLO office on its lands, he added.

"The Palestinians and the Arabs call for the resumption of peace talks within the framework of an international peace conference and not through useless bilateral negotiations," Hani al-Masri, director of Ramallah-based Badil Center for Studies, told Xinhua, referring to 20 years of bilateral talks which achieved no notable progress.

He also said so far there is no opportunity for achieving peace in the region, "because Israel is unready for peace. It doesn't want a peaceful settlement but to keep dictating the Palestinians and the Arabs."
Nations agree to upgrade ties and work together on Belt and Road Initiative

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right, front) shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, Jan 23, 2016. [Photo by Wang Ye/Xinhua]

Observers have expressed high hopes for China's role in helping Iran reinvigorate its economy, which has been weakened by three decades of international sanctions.

President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, agreed to upgrade their countries' two-way relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during talks in Teheran on Saturday.

Iran was the final stop on Xi's three-nation Middle East trip, with the president arriving back in Beijing on Sunday. It was the first visit to the country by a Chinese leader for 14 years.

The talks on Saturday were followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on production capacity, minerals and investment cooperation, as well as an agreement to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative, a trans-Eurasia strategy to boost trade and connectivity.

Other aspects covered by the documents include finance, communications, culture, science and technology, and climate change.

Xi said the nations had enjoyed friendly exchanges and sincere cooperation for as many as 2,000 years thanks to the Silk Road. He said China hopes the Iran nuclear deal  the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  can be implemented smoothly.

Rouhani said the Chinese president was the first foreign leader to visit his country after the action plan was secured, which "mirrors the level" of the friendly ties. "Iran values China's role in international affairs, and we remember China's longtime support and help," he said.

After the lifting of the sanctions on Iran, Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, has predicted "there will be a surge of economic demand". He said: "Iran now needs all-out, full-flung infrastructure construction, and it needs to restore its crude oil production capacity. There is a lack of investment in its energy sectors, including the gas sector."

The agreements signed in Teheran will "help rebuild the energy sector infrastructure and further boost Iran's exports", Wu said.
Chinas Relations With the West: Straight Line Decline

There are those who believe China's ongoing Party Congress will bode well for companies that do business in or with China. I am firmly convinced that the opposite is true and that it will used as yet another opportunity by China to show that it will not be cowered by the declining relations and sanctions/counter-sanctions between the United States / EU / Australia / Japan on the one hand, and China on the other. I see China using this Congress to let the world (domestic and external) know that it fully intends to fight back and fight back hard. In other words, this Party Congress will lead to China's decoupling from much of the world accelerating, not slowing down.
(Photo : GETTY IMAGES) China and the United States do not have an extradition treaty, but Hong Kong and the US does.

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A Chinese national suspected of killing his two teenage nephews in Los Angeles was arrested in a Hong Kong airport on Saturday morning as he tried to flee to mainland China.



FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said that the 44-year-old suspect was taken into custody and transferred to Tung Chung police station after a check-up. The man allegedly killed his two teenage nephews, 15-year-old Anthony Lim and 16-year old William Lin.



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Double crime



Shi Deyun, a resident at the Los Angeles county of La Canada Flintridge, attacked his wife with an ax on Thursday night after she told him that she wanted a divorce. Police said that the wife suffered severe, but not life-threatening injuries.



The parents of the teenage victims visited Shi's wife on Thursday, leaving their two sons at home in Arcadia. Police suspect that this was when Shi entered the couple's house and killed Anthony and William. The victims' father is Shi's brother. Previous reports had identified him as the brother of Shi's wife.



The parents did not see anything amiss when they came home at 5 am on Friday. Only after the father has left for work did the mother see her two sons' bodies on different levels of their house.



According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, a woman called 911 on Friday saying she found her two sons suffering from head trauma. The victims were pronounced dead by the time police arrived at the scene.



Police said that there were signs of forced entry and that the teens were killed by a blunt force to the head.



Shi's car was found at the Los Angeles International Airport where he boarded a plane to China on Friday.



China and the United States do not have an extradition treaty, but Hong Kong and the US does. It is unclear if the Chinese government has been notified of the case.



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TagsShi Deyun, teenage killing in Los Angeles, Double Murder
(Photo : GETTY IMAGES) The still-unnamed Taiwanese pilot was flying an F-16 Fighting Falcon on Thursday morning and was in an air-to-air combat training with an instructor when his aircraft crashed at around 8:45 am.

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The remains of a Taiwanese student pilot, whose plane crashed in Arizona on Thursday, has been found.



The still-unnamed Taiwanese pilot was flying an F-16 Fighting Falcon on Thursday morning and was in an air-to-air combat training with an instructor when his aircraft crashed at around 8:45 am. The F-16 plane that he was flying solo came from Taiwan.



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The reason for the accident is still under investigation.



The victim is reported to have been training at the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona for six months. The base is internationally-recognized for its exceptional pilot training for the US Air Force and foreign military services.



Four hours after the crash, a rescue helicopter from the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office spotted a plume of smoke and alerted the base. Dwight D'Evelyn, a spokesman for the local Sheriff's Office, said in a phone interview with ABC that the crash site was about 5 miles southwest of Bagdad in a very hilly area.



"The evidence leads me to believe that the pilot did not survive the crash and is therefore presume dead. I have directed the Airmen on the scene at the crash site to transition from search and rescue to recovery operations," Brigadier General Scott Pleus said in a statement.



The Taiwanese government has already been notified about the accident.



The Luke Air Force Base currently houses F-16 training squadrons from Singapore and Taiwan military.



"Our thoughts go out to the family, friends, and members of the 21st Fighter Squadron," Pleus said.



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TagsF-16, Taiwan student pilot, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona plane crash
(Photo : GETTY IMAGES) Those taken into police custody included seven male and 15 female Chinese, and 16 male and six female Taiwanese aged between 20 to 40 years old.

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A syndicate comprised of Taiwanese and Chinese nationals, who extorted money from their fellow Chinese by posing as bank representatives, was nabbed on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur's Klang Valley area in Malaysia.



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A raid conducted by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) around Klang Valley proved fruitful as they arrested 44 members of the syndicate, according to Deputy Supt. Hong Ken Hock.



"We raided a three-storey bungalow in Taman Duta and other simultaneous raids around Klang Valley after the department received a tip-off from authorities in the Jiangsu province recently," Hock said.



Those taken into police custody included seven male and 15 female Chinese, and 16 male and six female Taiwanese aged between 20 to 40 years old.



The group has been reportedly operating from the bungalow for three months.



"Initial investigations revealed that they would pose as officers from the national bank in China and instruct their victims to settle their so-called debts with the bank," Hock said.



More than 100 Chinese in the eastern province of Jiangsu have been victimized. The group would even send the victims letters from "court" that would make them believable. The scam has already extorted approximately 3.5 million ($530,000).



The suspects would also contact the victims through social media and offer them gifts.



"They would ask their victims to claim the gifts, but they were asked to pay certain Customs tax and duty for the gifts," Hock said. "This scam has even caused dispute among the victims' family members. One person was cheated of 1 million ($150,000)."



Further investigations are being held to find out other accomplices.



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Tagssyndicate, scam, Chinese scam, Jiangsu province, Kuala Lumpur
Snow beer, the best-selling beer brand in China

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A decade ago, Mr. Jin Xin began selling imported premium beers, and within a few years, his business started to pick up.



Today, NBeerPub, one of Jin's bars located in Beijing, is usually jam packed with Chinese customers ordering imported beers like Brewdog Punk IPA, Delirium Tremens, and Lindemans Framboise.



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Customers regularly come for European beers. Chinese customers' beer taste is changing. Before, consumers preferred local mass-produced beers, but nowadays, they choose to chug down imports and local craft beers.



Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the most prominent brewing companies worldwide, recently made a deal to buy another brewing company, SABMiller. The deal is worth $106 billion. China's change of beer preference is a big factor in the making of Anheuser-Busch InBev's deal. The two major brewing companies were among the first to venture into China in 1990s and originally teamed with local brewers. Anheuser-Busch InBev bought out two local beer brands - Harbin and Sedrin. Meanwhile, SABMiller entered a joint venture to produce Snow. Snow is known as the best-selling brand of beer in China.



As the two giant companies dominate the brewing industry in China, and as they pursue a plan of integrating, they are set to reduce their selection of products in China to continue making the regulators pleased.



Several analysts believe that they can validate the sale of a major domestic brand like Snow because the market is opting for premium brands. Beijing has about half a dozen small breweries, and others are still emerging from other areas in China. Additionally, home-produced craft beers are getting favor.



Nonetheless, imported beers have increased in sales from 335 million renminbi in 2009 to 1.4 billion renminbi in 2013. This shows that the Chinese middle class are eager to spend more money on brands, and experienced travelers are trying to taste various beers from other countries.



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TagsBeer, consumers, snow
(Photo : Getty Images) Newly-elected Tsai-Ing Wen faces a great challenge as all cabinet members left their position on Monday.

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The newly elected president of Taiwan faces a great challenge as the entire members of the country's cabinet resigned last week Monday. In an apparent move to force the newly-elected president to assume responsibility, all 44 members of the cabinet left their positions.



Tsai Ing-wen, who won the election on Saturday, Jan. 16, got her first test in managing a crisis after the resignation of all cabinet members on Monday, Jan. 18. Tsai will be inaugurated on May 20. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also won the legislative majority.



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According to South China Morning Post, outgoing Premier Mao Chi-kuo led the cabinet members to leave their posts. President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang Party (KMT) has rejected Mao's resignation, however, the latter vowed not to remain in his post.



As one of the island's major ally, the United States sent former deputy secretary of state William Burns to meet Tsai. Washington is also planning to send Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing soon.



With the resignation of the entire cabinet, Taiwan is in danger of going into a government collapse. However, Tsai assured Burns that she would assume the responsibility of maintaining peace and stability, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. This may be an overt reference to how her administration would manage relations with the mainland.



Tsai added that her administration will continue to maintain the island's good relations with the United States with the intention of establishing cooperation with Washington in terms of economic and industrial matters.



When the cabinet members left their posts following the resignation of Mao on Monday, Vice-Premier Simon Chang San-cheng assumed the responsibility of Premier under Taiwanese law. With the resignation of former Premier Mao, Vice-Premier Simon Chang uneasily holds the reigns while waiting for developments. It still unclear how long Chang will hold the position given that he has his own career plans.



Taiwan may face months without a functional Executive branch.



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TagsTaiwan, Premier Mao Chi-kuo, Tsai Ing-wen, democratic progressive party, Vice-Premier Simon Chang San-cheng
(Photo : Reuters) With the extreme cold weather expected to linger this week, electric companies are coming up with different emergency plans for the potential upsurge of electrical heating demand as well as for challenging scenarios.

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With cold breeze expected to continue sweeping across China this week, electrical companies are coming up with emergency tactics to cope the potentially growing demand for electrical heat.



According to Wang Hailong, deputy chief engineer of Harbin's State Grid Heilongjiang Electricity Power Company, demand for electrical heating increases annually during winter. Thus, the establishment is bracing itself for the upsurge of requests. He claimed that stations have been inspected and workers deployed in every station in case of an emergency.



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Wang revealed that the greatest challenge during cold season is liquefying gas. He explained that a temperature of negative 40 degrees Celcius can only result in device malfunction and it needs to be operated in an insulated condition.



However, Wang expressed confidence that shortage of electricity is unlikely even under extreme conditions. Over 3000 electricians have reportedly been mobilized for repairs in case there is power interruption. In 2008, most regions in southern China had to bear with electricity shortage amid the winter season.



Meanwhile, Zhejiang power company reportedly replaced 13 power lines that did not meet the standards under critical cold scenarios by the end of 2015.



Meteorologists have predicted that the southern parts will suffer from a decrease of temperature by 14 degrees Celcius, with cities including Shanghai and Changsha experiencing its lowest drop after three decades. On Tuesday, Shanghai has reported its winter high record of power usage at 28.83 million kilowatts. And it is forecast to increase by nearly 24 million kilowatts in the coming week.



To prepare for the icy cold weather, the Chinese government has suspended classes, temporarily closed highways and put emergency teams on standby as cold from the south is predicted to travel along Yangtze River, bringing up to 30 mm of snow.



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Tagswinter, cold season, china, Electricity, power supply
(Photo : Getty Imagea) President of China Xi Jinping (Left) and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani (Right) During a press conference at the Sadabad Complex in Tehran, on Saturday, 23rd January, 2016.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani early Saturday morning in the historic Sa'dabad palace in northern Tehran, officially commencing his one-day state level visit to Iran.



"We are happy that President Xi visited Iran after the lifting of sanctions ... Iran and China have agreed to increase trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years," Rouhani said at a press conference.



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Currently, Trade between both countries is not more than $30 billion. Both countries did not outline the details as to how to they will seek to increase bilateral trade to whopping to $600 billion in the next decade.



Both countries, however, signed nearly 17 accords, including a strategic cooperation agreement as well as an agreement on a revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route. To foster their ties further, both presidents also issued a joint statement outlining a long-term "comprehensive strategic partnership."



The joint statement outlines the key economic areas in which both countries would seek to enhance their cooperation in coming years.



The Iranian President stated that both countries mutually agreed to resolve contentious issues of "terrorism and extremism in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen."



Chinese leader is also expected to meet Iran's religious Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later on Saturday.



Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with three deputy prime ministers and six ministers, arrived in Iran on Friday night to commence the final leg of his historic Middle East tour. Earlier, he had visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt.



The Chinese President was greeted by Iran's Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on his arrival at Tehran airport, according to Iran's state media.



"China is seeking to improve bilateral ties with Iran to start a new season of comprehensive, long-term and sustainable relations with the Islamic Republic," President Xi os quoted as saying by Iran's state news agency, IRNA, on his arrival in Tehran on Friday night.



Xi Jinping is first Chinese President to visit Iran in 14 years and also the first important world leader to visit Iran since the lifting of international sanctions last year.



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TagsXi Jinping, Hassan Rouhani, Iran, china
(Photo : Getty Images/Alex Wong) US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter (L) says China's aggressive stance in the South China sea is "self-isolating."

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Claiming the United States seeks no conflict with China, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has said the world's most populous nation is nevertheless starting to lose allies among its neighbors in the South China Sea.



Carter made the comment last Friday during a panel discussion at the World Economic (WE) Forum in Davos, Switzerland.



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"I've been to India, Vietnam recently," Carter said. "We want to have good relations with them and we are not asking people to take sides."



Referring to diplomatic tensions over China's reliance on military -- rather than diplomatic -- measures to assert its claims in the disputed territories of the South China Sea, Carter said the US, like India, wants as much as possible to maintain a neutral position.



"I think their position is basically right, which is we want everybody to keep being able to do what they are doing. We don't want to have to pick sides," said Carter. "America doesn't want to pick sides, either."



Self-isolating Steps



The US defense secretary admitted, however, that a growing number of governments in the region have begun to look to the US for military support in the face of China's aggressive posture.



"Why is that?" Carter said. "It is because China is taking some steps that I think are self-isolating, driving people towards a result that none of us wants."



Carter -- a former physicist and university professor -- said he does not believe a conflict between China and the US is imminent. He asserted that the stabilizing presence of the US in the Asia Pacific has helped to make China's economic progress possible.



"I'm not one of those people who believes conflict between the United States and China is inevitable, it's certainly not desirable," he said. "I don't think it's likely."



Rising Military Powers



Carter was one of four panelists in a session organized to discuss the global security outlook at the annual WE Forum gathering.



The other three panelists were NATO chief John Stoltenberg, Afghanistan's President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tharman Shanmugatnam. Espen Barth Eide, managing director of the World Economic Forum, oversaw the panel's discussion as the session's chairman.



Responding to a question that touched on the overall military situation in the Asia Pacific, Carter remarked that China is not the only nation in the region that is building its military capabilities.



"India is a rising military power. Japan, if you haven't noticed, is a rising military power, and there are others who are doing things," Carter said, adding that Vietnam and the Philippines have also begun to address their respective national defense requirements.



Carter stressed the importance of peace and stability in the South China Sea, and said the US opposes the militarization of the territory.



"We oppose all of that," he said. "And for our part, we have said everybody -- not just China, but everybody who is doing that -- should stop and not militarize."



Speaking about Washington's plans for the contentious region, Carter said the US will continue to do what it has always done.



"We will fly, we will sail, we will operate everywhere international law permits in the South China Sea," said Carter.



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TagsTerritorial disputes in the South China Sea, World Economic Forum, ashton carter
(Photo : Reuters/Brian Snyder) US Secretary of State John Kerry is off to a three-day trip to East Asia with a stop in China to discuss with Chinese leaders about North Korea and the South China Sea issue

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US Secretary of State John Kerry will embark on a three-day trip to East Asia on Sunday with a significant stop in China on Wednesday to talk to Chinese leaders about reining in North Korea after the latter's nuclear test as well as the South China Sea dispute.



Tough unilateral action



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Kerry is expected to press China to take a tough unilateral action against North Korea's nuclear test this month as well as push for a united front in dealing with the North's nuclear weapons program through additional UN sanctions.



"It is very important to present a united front ... but that united front has to be a firm one, not a flaccid one," a senior official of the US State Department said.



Security situation



China, North Korea's main ally and neighbor, has openly declared that it will not be pressured by the international community to mete out punishment on North Korea saying to do so will result in the destabilization of security situation in the region.



Kerry is expected to convince Beijing to do more to curb North Korea's development of a nuclear arsenal by cutting off Pyongyang's financial sources and slowing down its ability to gain access to nuclear weapons and missiles.



The official said North Korea has turned to illicit means to purchase nuclear equipment and missiles due to the few avenues it has to do business with the international community except China.



"Despite the determination and efforts of the Chinese government, clearly there is more that they can do," the official said.



Military bases



While in Beijing, Kerry will also hold 'in depth' discussions with Chinese leaders about the ongoing dispute with other claimant-countries on the South China Sea issue.



The dispute has created increasing tension among China, the ASEAN countries and the United States due to Beijing's construction of artificial islands and facilities on these islands - which the US fears may be transformed into military bases.



In Laos, Kerry is expected to strengthen ASEAN unity and support the bloc's resolve to stand up to China regarding the issue of the South China Sea.



Summit



The meeting will be a prelude to a summit President Barack Obama called with the bloc's leaders on February 15-16 in California to thresh out concerns of South China Sea claimant-countries, who are part of ASEAN.



Kerry kicks off his East Asia tour with a three-day stay in Laos, which is the 2016 head of ASEAN, and will then head to Cambodia on Monday and then next to Beijing for talks on Wednesday.



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TagsUS Secretary of State John Kerry, East Asia Trip, South China Sea Dispute, US President Barack OBama, North Korea
(Photo : youtube.com) The suspect, a 44 years old man named Deyun Shi, is confirmed to have fled the country on a flight to Beijing.

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A resident of La Canada Flintrige is suspected of attacking his wife and murdering his two nephews in their Arcadia home, according to an investigator at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.



The apparent murder scene was discovered by the mother of the two boys, aged 15 and 16. The woman reportedly found her 15 years old son lifeless in the living room before finding her 16 years old son lifeless in his third-floor bedroom. Both boys suffered blunt-force traumas to their upper torsos and were pronounced dead at the scene of the crime.



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The suspect, a 44 years old man named Deyun Shi, is confirmed to have fled the country on a flight to Beijing. He is currently wanted on suspicion of the murder of his teenage nephews and the attempted murder of his wife.



Shi reportedly went on rampage after finding out that his wife wanted to file for divorce. She had apparently filed a restraining order against him on Thursday. But, on Friday, Shi decided to break into the home he formerly shared with his wife.



Early on Friday morning, the boys' parents left the home to visit their father's sister. When they returned at 5am, they did not notice anything unusual. But, a few hours later, the mother found her sons lifeless.



The victims' names were not released due to the fact that the two boys are still considered minors in The United States, but it was confirmed that both boys were born in the United States and are of Chinese descent.



Sheriff's Homicide Bureau Lt. Eddie Hernandez spoke to the media and said that apprehending the suspect will be a lot of work because The United States currently does not have any extradition treaty with China.



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TagsArcadia Murder, World News, Murder Case
(Photo : Christianity Daily)

Korean American pastors and leaders from the greater Los Angeles Area gathered to celebrate Christianity Daily's 12th anniversary.

Christianity Daily celebrated its 12th anniversary, and the English edition's 2nd anniversary, on Friday with a commemoration and dedication service at a hotel in Los Angeles with some 100 Korean American pastors and leaders in the greater Los Angeles community.

Over the years since its establishment on January 23, 2004, Christianity Daily has continued its growth through various initiatives such as opening new branches throughout the nation, by broadcasting the news through Radio Korea, and starting the English edition in 2010, said CEO John Lee. Many of those who were invited to share congratulatory remarks or a word of encouragement emphasized the newspaper's English edition as a significant aspect that differentiates it from other Korean Christian newspapers in the community.

"The fact that the newspaper publishes articles in English is hugely significant," said Rev. Amos Park, the senior pastor of All Nations Church in Inland, "because not only can our second generation Korean Americans read them, but anyone from any ethnic background who can read English has access to them."

"This publication is an important part of our Korean American community and has been used by God to inform, instruct, encourage, and empower so many people including myself," said Dr. Benjamin Shin of Biola University's Talbot School of Theology.

(Photo : Christianity Daily)

Speakers at the gathering holding the cake-cutting pose.

Rev. Michael Lee said having such a newspaper for the Korean American community is "quite rare," and makes the resource all the more valuable.

"What Christianity Daily is doing is so beneficial and helping so many people," Lee said.

Rev. John I. Moon, senior pastor of Hanwoory Presbyterian Church, lauded the fact that Christianity Daily "has the vision to build up the next generation of leaders" through the English publication.

Rev. John S. Min, the president of the Council of Korean Churches in Orange County, and Rev. Jung Myung Song, the president of World Mission University, were also among those who gave remarks during the event - a line up which included two 'first generation' speakers, two '1.5 generation' speakers, and two 'second generation' speakers. Rev. Yu Chul Chin, the senior pastor of LA Full Gospel Church, preached during the gathering on John 1:6-8, and encouraged the newspaper's staff to be united under their identity within Christ - and assured that when that identity is sure, all other needs will be taken care of.

The gathering of some 100 pastors and leaders included both first, '1.5,' and second generation Korean Americans from the greater Los Angeles area. Rev. Ezra Kang, the president of Jesus Awakening Movement for America; Rev. Hee Min Park, former senior pastor of Young Nak Presbyterian Church; Rev. Steve Chang, senior pastor of Living Hope Community Church; Dr. Young Lee Hertig, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity; Hyepin Im, the president of Korean Churches for Community Development; Rev. Ronnie Park, lead pastor of Good Stewards Church's English ministry; Rev. Sam Koh, the lead pastor of Los Angeles Christian Presbyterian Church's English ministry; Rev. Young Lee, the lead pastor of Berendo Street Baptist Church's English ministry; Rev. Woogie Kim, the lead pastor of Shalom Presbyterian Church's English ministry; Pastor David Park, college pastor of Christ Central of Southern California; and Pastor James Kwak, the lead pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Orange County's English ministry, were among those who attended.

Christianity Daily CEO John Lee asked those in the gathering to continue to support and pray for the newspaper, and said, "This isn't something that we [the staff] are doing on our own, but it is a newspaper that comes to fruition through the community."

"I'm excited to see God's power revealed through this newspaper to unite and revive Korean churches," he added, "and to bring about reconciliation between denominations, cultures, and generations by the power of the Holy Spirit."

(Photo : Christianity Daily)

The newspaper's anniversary and dedication service took place at the JJ Grand Hotel in Los Angeles.

    press@cdaily.co.kr



- Copyright ,    

# # # #
Marijuana offered at wedding reception open bar Editorial Staff | 28 August, 2015 by Joni B. Hannigan

WEST LINN, Ore. (Christian Examiner)  While many wedding planners opt for photo booths, food bars and fondant  guests at an Oregon wedding this past summer "were thrilled" to find ready-to-smoke marijuana.

The weed bar with 13 different strains of psychoactive drug was a "life changing event" for guests who have been texting him 15-20 times a day since the wedding, according to John Elledge, the happy groom, who is a professional marijuana grower in California.

"The oldest person in the tent was a 81-year-old woman who hadn't smoked weed since the sixties," he said in a news report. "She loved it."

A spokesperson from Oregon's Liquor Control Commission said weed bars are not allowed in businesses operated by someone who has a liquor license, but can be operated at a private residence where alcohol is also being served.

A caterer, however, cannot be both a bartender and a budtender, the spokesperson said, in a news report.

The budtender at the Oregon wedding assisted people in finding just the right strain, and also made sure wedding-goers didn't inhale over the legal limit.

"We were shocked, utterly shocked at the response  people loved it," Elledge said of the weed bar.

WEDDING POT

A 2014 New York Times article, "A Toast? How About a Toke," explores the growing popularity of cannabis use in wedding flowers and arrangements, and as an alternative to alcohol.

"Many pot enthusiasts think of alcohol as an old-fashioned, old-school toxin whose overuse can inflame family tensions and cause people to say horrible things, especially at weddings," the article reads. "In comparison, marijuana, they contend, is more like a tonic that calms people down and makes them like each other more rather than less  perfect for a wedding, they say."

The article also discusses the use of edible marijuana at weddings, pointing to "cakes and pies with cannabis baked in," by at least one baker who laments it is illegal to offer anything but "medibles," that which Is considered for medical use  and is still not offered on a menu.

Another baker said they would not make a cannabis cake because marijuana ruins the flavor and might ruin a wedding. "I can divide a room as much as pull it together," he said.

The NYT article said most edibles can also be tempting for children because they look like lollipops, chocolates and caramels  but did not add that edibles can be dangerous, or even deadly.

Children's hospital in Colorado has published data on its website pointing to a surge in marijuana overdosing in children since the legalization of marijuana in that state, according to a news report, and while 23 states so far have approved the use of medical marijuana, only Colorado and Washington have approved recreational marijuana for adults.

MARIJUANA AT THE OREGON WEDDING BAR

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission currently regulates licenses, a spokesperson to that office told Christian Examiner, but has no interest in the August wedding since the laws are rapidly changing and it would be speculation to understand more about how the weed bar was legally organized.

It is unknown how the "budtender" was able to amass the amount of marijuana necessary to set up a weed bar in a state that currently allows its residents to carry only very small amounts of the drug for their own use  and does not allow for the sale of marijuana outside of medicinal use, the spokesperson said.

The possession of marijuana was made legal in July, but the sale of marijuana for recreational use in Oregon has still not been authorized and is a "gray area," according to the spokesperson and to a popular site for marijuana growers and users.

Much has been said about Elledge being employed in California as a medical marijuana grower, but it remains a federal offense to transport cannabis across state lines.

A law enforcement officer was quoted in the article saying those buying or selling marijuana without a license are still subject to arrest, but, that police will look at situations involving large amounts of weed.

The bottom line is that as Oregon looks at "innovative approaches being adapted by people in the hospitality industry" using cannabis, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, a public agency, will focus on "education as opposed to enforcement," the spokesperson said.

"We will learn about it and provide guidance as whether it is legal or not," he continued.
Pastor Saeed Abedini at Billy Graham's Cove; prayers needed for family restoration 24 January, 2016 by Tobin Perry , |

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Christian Examiner)Idaho pastor Saeed Abedini landed on American soil and is recuperating and reconnecting with family at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. Samaritan's Purse has released a video of Abedini's tearful reunion with his parents and sister upon his long-anticipated arrival last week.

Yes, Lord, we worship You. We thank you, Lord, for this beautiful time. You are awesome. You are faithful. Thank you, Lord. You are wonderful. We worship You. Thank you, Jesus.

The video shows Abedini, who had been imprisoned in Iran for three-and-a-half years before being released last Sunday, hugging and praying with family members and Franklin Graham.

'Yes, Lord, we worship You," 35-year-old Abedini prayed during the reunion. "We thank you, Lord, for this beautiful time. You are awesome. You are faithful. Thank you, Lord. You are wonderful. We worship You. Thank you, Jesus."

The prayer came three-and-half years after Iranian authorities detained Iranian-born Abedini in July 2012 while he visited family in the Iranian capital of Tehran. On Sept. 26 of 2012, the Revolutionary Guard took him from his parents' home. In January of 2013 the Iranian government sentenced him to eight years in prison on charges that he threatened national security by planting house churches in Iran years earlier.

Since his 2012 imprisonment, Abedini's story has become one of the most well-circulated of Christian persecution in the Middle East in recent memory. Abedini was released last weekend along with four other American prisoners in a controversial deal that some suggest amounts to the United States paying for hostages.

Missing from Abedini's North Carolina arrival was his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In a Baptist Press interview with Naghmeh released Jan. 22, the pastor's wife said she was planning to meet her husband in Germany, where he received medical treatment after his release, but she changed plans after the couple "determined they needed more time to heal psychologically."

Strains in the relationship began to surface in November of 2015 when she says an email she wrote to close friends asking for prayer was leaked to the media. The email, which then became public, mentioned ongoing "physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse (through Saeed's addiction to pornography)" since the early days of their marriage.

Naghmeh has since said she regrets sending the email, even to close friends.

For three and a half years Naghmeh became the public face of Abedini's struggle for freedom. She traveled to churches throughout the United Statesand even to the White Houseto advocate for his release.

In a Jan. 21 Reuters article Naghmeh expressed hope that the couple can reconcile.

"I have hope that we can work through all the issues and we can restore our marriage," Naghmeh told Reuters. "My Christian faith does give me a lot of hope in that."

Atash Pejman*, an Iranian-born church planter serving now in a large U.S. city, expressed frustration at the public nature of Naghmeh's commentsparticularly as it appeared that he may be nearing a release.

"The problem was there, but my big question is why she publically started talking about it before he was released," Pejman said. "Why now?"

Pejman, who was himself abused and imprisoned by the Iranian government before leaving the country of his birth, admits he has more questions about the situation than answers. He suggested that her comments may have been used by the government to humiliate Abedini. He wonders about accountability. He also wonders whether Naghmeh will continue to advocate for Christians unjustly detained by Iran once her husband is safe at home.

Naghmeh, after a month of rest and refocus following her revelations about her relationship with her husband, said she had experienced a renewed dependence upon Christ after the turmoil.

"A month ago, the Lord asked me to stop and sit," Naghmeh wrote in a Dec. 7 Facebook post. "It took another step of faith to stop everything and just sit at the feet of Jesus and to hear from Him. It was freeing to see that by Grace of God none of the fame and attention or praises of men had gotten to me and that I could drop everything the moment my Savior told me to drop it and to go back to being a single mom in Boise, Idaho. It was freeing to let go of the false sense of security that money was bringing into my life (through speaking engagements) and to know that the only thing that all I desperately needed was Jesus. That my true security rests in Jesus. That Jesus is my day to day provider. [sic]"

Naghmeh told Baptist Press that God has taught her to forgive her husband while still setting boundaries in the relationship. She also told Reuters that she will continue to promote religious freedom and bring attention to Christian persecution.

*Name has been changed.
Christianity Daily celebrated its 12th anniversary, and the English editions 2nd anniversary, on Friday with a commemoration and dedication service at a hotel in Los Angeles with some 100 Korean American pastors and leaders in the greater Los Angeles community.

Over the years since its establishment on January 23, 2004, Christianity Daily has continued its growth through various initiatives such as opening new branches throughout the nation, by broadcasting the news through Radio Korea, and starting the English edition in 2010, said CEO John Lee. Many of those who were invited to share congratulatory remarks or a word of encouragement emphasized the newspapers English edition as a significant aspect that differentiates it from other Korean Christian newspapers in the community.

The fact that the newspaper publishes articles in English is hugely significant, said Rev. Amos Park, the senior pastor of All Nations Church in Inland, because not only can our second generation Korean Americans read them, but anyone from any ethnic background who can read English has access to them.

This publication is an important part of our Korean American community and has been used by God to inform, instruct, encourage, and empower so many people including myself, said Dr. Benjamin Shin of Biola University's Talbot School of Theology.

Rev. Michael Lee said having such a newspaper for the Korean American community is quite rare, and makes the resource all the more valuable.

What Christianity Daily is doing is so beneficial and helping so many people, Lee said.

Rev. John I. Moon, senior pastor of Hanwoory Presbyterian Church, lauded the fact that Christianity Daily has the vision to build up the next generation of leaders through the English publication.

Rev. John S. Min, the president of the Council of Korean Churches in Orange County, and Rev. Jung Myung Song, the president of World Mission University, were also among those who gave remarks during the event  a line up which included two first generation speakers, two 1.5 generation speakers, and two second generation speakers. Rev. Yu Chul Chin, the senior pastor of LA Full Gospel Church, preached during the gathering on John 1:6-8, and encouraged the newspapers staff to be united under their identity within Christ  and assured that when that identity is sure, all other needs will be taken care of.

The gathering of some 100 pastors and leaders included both first, '1.5,' and second generation Korean Americans from the greater Los Angeles area. Rev. Ezra Kang, the president of Jesus Awakening Movement for America; Rev. Hee Min Park, former senior pastor of Young Nak Presbyterian Church; Rev. Steve Chang, senior pastor of Living Hope Community Church; Dr. Young Lee Hertig, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity; Hyepin Im, the president of Korean Churches for Community Development; Rev. Ronnie Park, lead pastor of Good Stewards Churchs English ministry; Rev. Sam Koh, the lead pastor of Los Angeles Christian Presbyterian Churchs English ministry; Rev. Young Lee, the lead pastor of Berendo Street Baptist Church's English ministry; Rev. Woogie Kim, the lead pastor of Shalom Presbyterian Church's English ministry; Pastor David Park, college pastor of Christ Central of Southern California; and Pastor James Kwak, the lead pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Orange Countys English ministry, were among those who attended.

Christianity Daily CEO John Lee asked those in the gathering to continue to support and pray for the newspaper, and said, This isnt something that we [the staff] are doing on our own, but it is a newspaper that comes to fruition through the community.

Im excited to see Gods power revealed through this newspaper to unite and revive Korean churches, he added, and to bring about reconciliation between denominations, cultures, and generations by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Colorado school district supports Christian 'purity' training programme for young girls after receiving complaint

A school district in Colorado has come out in support of a Christian event that uses Bible lessons to encourage girls as young as 11 to stay "pure" while looking for a husband.

The Mesa Valley School District 51 made its views known after receiving complaints from some parents who reported that they received fliers for an event called "Wake Up Sleeping Beauty: Worship At His Feet" from June Fellhauer's Wake Up Ministries, Raw Story reported.

The flier includes the silhouette of a girl's face with a Bible verse from Luke 7:38.

"As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them," the flier reads.

The complaining parents said they were disturbed by the imagery from the flier.

"The idea of a woman or girl crying at a man's feet, then using her hair to wash his feet, then kissing his feet, seems pretty demeaning to me," one parent said. "Apparently the irony of this imagery used to promote an event which purports to strengthen or support girls/women is lost on all involved."

However, the school district quickly dismissed the complaint.

"We do not find that the flyer promotes a religious organisation or demeans a person or group on the basis of gender," District 51 Communications Specialist Jeannie Smith told the parent in an email.

A video posted to the Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Facebook page encourages fathers to "protect the purity" of their daughters as it shows a father watching over his daughter as she puts on makeup.

In promotional videos on the Wake Up Ministries website, Fellhauer warns girls about the "gag reflex" caused by kissing with your tongue.

"I think 'Wake Up Sleeping Beauty' is an amazing programme," one girl declares in the video. "Especially going through the time that I was, being cheated on. That was really hard for me but it also made me realise a lot that I needed to forgive him and he didn't have the qualities I was looking for in a husband."

Over the past 26 years, Fellhauer has been counselling women seeking abortions. She founded Wake Up, Ministries in 2004 when her daughter, Jerrilyn, requested her to teach her friends who were in unhealthy relationships.

That prompted Fellhauer to embark on a ministry to teach young women about the love of God. She later produced Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty "Finding True Love's Kiss" a seven-session, interactive DVD series, that "awakens and empowers girls to make healthy choices when it comes to dating, sex, and relationships."

Her courses have empowered hundreds of women to gain and maintain their dignity and personal strength.
Microsoft Lumia X release date coming soon?

A slip up by Microsoft's China headquarters left hints to fans about another possible Microsoft Lumia phone in the making, the Microsoft Lumia XL.

A video was posted by Microsoft China in Chinese website BiliBili where the pros and cons of the upcoming Windows Continuum. Under the video was a reference where Microsoft had a slip-up and mentioned the Lumia X phone possibly implying that the Redmond-based tech company will be working on a Lumia X handset soon.

"Note: This feature requires a compatible mobile device is intended for use, for example Lumia 950/XL, Lumia Phone X and Acer Jade Primo," the note under the video said.

That note however has been revised at this moment removing the Lumia X from the caption, signaling that the listed phone model was most possibly an error or that Microsoft doesn't want to give out hints to early.

For the time being, Microsoft fans are left to speculate although Techno Buffalo's Todd Haselton believes that the posting was most probably an error and the Lumia X will not be happening. Haselton instead believes that Microsoft will most likely discontinue the Lumia phone line to focus on creating the Microsoft Surface Phone instead.

According to Windows Central, Panos Panay and the team of engineers behind the Surface devices- the Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface Book- have been given the green light to create a Surface Phone, which is slated for a release in the second half of this year. This follows the cancellation of Microsoft's plans to release an Intel-powered Windows 10 phone set to release in May 2016.

The video that contained the hint of the Lumia X was a promotional video for the upcoming Windows 10 Mobile version of Continuum. The feature is a function that allows for phones to be connected to larger monitors, including PC monitor screens and television sets, and be used for presentations.
Microsoft Surface Phone release date: Microsoft China hints at unannounced Lumia X

Details about the existence of the purported Microsoft Surface Phone continue to surface, often from the Redmond-based software giant itself. This time, the company's Chinese subsidiary may have accidentally revealed what the new Windows phone's name will be.

A video shared on YouTube by Microsoft China regarding the Continuum feature (that basically turns a capable Windows phone into a desktop) came with a description that stated the said feature is available to other handsets such as a certain Lumia X.

The description was edited not long after to have "Lumia X" removed but Phone Arena believes that this action just makes it seem more like the device is actually an existent one, just not released or officially announced.

This had media outlets under the impression that this handset could very well be the Microsoft Surface Phone. While it is also possible that it only pertains to another device yet to be given a proper name and number, there's belief that it is also a smartphone from a whole new lineup.

There are rumors, however, that Microsoft is dropping the Lumia moniker, which came from Nokia, so as to make the next devices they release completely their own. It won't make sense using "Lumia" in the name of the device unless these previous reports aren't accurate.

Furthermore, the Microsoft Surface Phone was always reported to act as a counterpart to other Surface products, which will make it likely and logical for the handset to have "Surface" in its name.

For the longest time, the device was dubbed Microsoft Surface Phone and there was no hint of a different naming scheme until the video turned up. This suggests that Lumia X is an entirely different device.

It is being said that the so-called Lumia 650 will be released soon and that it will apparently be the final from Microsoft under the Lumia clan. This speculation is either incorrect or Lumia X is actually a follow-up to it and a predecessor to Microsoft Surface Phone.
Tennessee House panel rejects bill voiding U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage

A Tennessee House panel has rejected a bill that sought to defy the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalising same-sex marriage last June and defend natural marriage between a woman and a man.

State Republican Rep. Mark Pody and Sen. Mae Beavers earlier filed H.B. 1412 to amend the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defence Act in the legislature last September to defend the constitutional amendment approved by 81 percent of voters in 2006, according to Christian News Network.

The bill said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges is a "lawless opinion with no basis in American law or history, purporting to overturn natural marriage and find a 'right' to same-sex 'marriage' in the United States Constitution and the fourteenth amendment."

"Whereas, not all orders claiming authority under color of law are in fact lawful," the bill reads. "Whereas, unlawful orders, no matter their sourcewhether from a military commander, a federal judge, or the United States Supreme Courtare and remain unlawful, and should be resisted."

It added, "Natural marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman as recognised by the people of Tennessee remains the law in Tennessee, regardless of any court decision to the contrary. Any court decision purporting to strike down natural marriage, including [Obergefell v. Hodges], is unauthoritative, void, and of no effect."

The bill quoted Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Common Law" which states that natural law is the "law of nature, being coeval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in any obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe in all countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this."

The state House Civil Justice subcommittee heard 90 minutes of testimonies last Wednesday from area pastors, attorneys and former lawmakers from both sides, reported The Tennessean.

"I can tell you as a student of the Constitution ... that there is nothing in federal law ever, ever, ever that gives the federal courts or the federal government constitutional jurisdiction in the field of marriage," lawyer Jeff Cobble told at the hearing.

Those who supported the bill suggested that nullification is not the best solution and preferred a lawsuit in court. David Fowler of the Family Action Council of Tennessee said he will file a lawsuit to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The committee then decided to reject the bill with only Republican Chairman Jim Coley, who identifies as Church of Christ, favouring it.

State Democrat Rep. Sherry Jones said the bill would fail partly because the federal government could retaliate by withdrawing $8.5 billion in funding for state programmes.

"When the Supreme Court sends down a ruling, that's what we do. Trying to go through our committee system to change that is not going to work," she said.

The bill's authors have not given up and have filed a new bill that "prohibits state and local governments from enforcing, administering, or cooperating with the implementation, regulation, or enforcement of any federal executive order or U.S. Supreme Court opinion unless the general assembly first expressly implements it as the public policy of the state."
Traditionalist bishop announces support for female ordination

A leading traditionalist bishop has changed his mind on the ordination of women in a volte face that will astonish clergy and laity on both sides of the debate.

The Bishop of Horsham , whose area as a suffragan covers much of West Sussex, has decided to accept the sacramental ministry of all women and men ordained as deacon, priest and bishop "after much prayer and soul searching".

He has as a result resigned as a member of the Council of Bishops of the Society, the body set up in 2010 to promote and maintain Catholic teaching and practice within the Church of England. It also provides episcopal oversight for parishes that do not wish to accept the ministry of a woman priest or bishop.

Bishop Sowerby's change of mind came after a period of "strenuous theological reflection".

In a letter to the Bishop of Wakefield, chair of the Society's council, he said: "It is only after a deal of soul-searching and with a measure of personal pain, that I am writing to tender my resignation as a member of The Society's Council of Bishops."

Bishop of Chichester Dr Martin Warner said: "Bishop Mark's shift in theological outlook on the ordination of women priests and bishops is a costly one. All who know and respect him will understand the serious struggle with conscience that will have led to his decision. We respect his honesty and applaud his courage. For some of those he serves it will be a development that they cannot follow, and that will be painful. For others, this news will be greeted with relief and considerable rejoicing."

Bishop Mark will continue in his ministry at Horsham. Traditionalists who have looked to him for sacramental ministry will now seek the pastoral care and oversight of the diocesan bishop. He will not now lay hands on episcopal candidates from the Catholic wing at future consecrations in the Chichester diocese, for many decades a heartland of opposition to women's ordination.

Dr Warner said: "Within the household of faith, we are committed to the trust and respect for theological conscience that undergirds the Five Guiding Principles of the House of Bishops' Declaration. We seek the greatest degree of communion possible in our apostolic life of faith, of hope and of love. We ask for God's continued blessing on Bishop Mark in proclaiming and nurturing the call to know, love, follow Jesus."

Bishop of Wakefield Tony Robinson said: "It is with great regret that I have received the Bishop of Horsham's resignation from the Council of Bishops of the Society. I acknowledge the pain he feels in taking this step, and his regret at the pain it will cause for others. Part of the Society's purpose is to continue within the Church of England a tradition of sacramental theology and ministry that accords with the mind and practice of the great churches of East and West.

"We see this as our contribution both to the breadth and diversity of the Church of England and to the quest for the full visible unity of Christ's Church. As a member of the council of bishops, the Bishop of Chichester will continue to provide pastoral and sacramental ministry and oversight under the House of Bishops' declaration to the clergy and people of the Society in his diocese. We send Bishop Mark our good wishes for his future ministry."
U.S. Senate Democrats block bill aimed at cracking down on Syrian, Iraqi refugees

Democrats in the U.S. Senate succeeded in blocking a bill that would have cracked down on Syrian and Iraqi refugees coming to the United States as the measure became a referendum for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Senate Democrats were seeking to force an election-year vote on the issue as Trump has advocated barring Muslims from entering the U.S.

The measure was voted 55-43, short of the needed three-fifths vote to move ahead, according to the Associated Press.

The House version of the bill would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three high-ranking federal officials before any refugee from Syria or Iraq is allowed to enter the U.S.

The American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act was passed in the House last November after the Paris terrorist attacks, getting 289 votes, a veto-proof margin despite opposition from President Barack Obama.

Democrat leader Sen. Harry Reid said, "This bill is just another step in the absolute wrong direction, the direction of Donald Trump. The Democrats are committed to opposing the hateful views of Trump and his Republican enablers."

Senate Republicans who supported the bill said it is difficult to check immigrants from Syria and Iraq because of poor or non-existent record keeping.

"So it is any wonder that the citizens we represent are concerned?" said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "No wonder dozens of Democrats joined with Republicans to pass this balanced bill with a veto-proof majority over in the House."

Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky left campaign and returned to Washington to vote for the measure.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina missed the vote.

The report said opposing the bill may put Democrats in a tight spot in rejecting a measure that many consider as reasonable anti-terror bill.

Reid said Democrats wanted to propose an increase in anti-terrorism fund for local police forces and airport security and banning the sale of guns and explosives to people on federal terrorism watch lists.

Reid said the House bill "scapegoats refugees who are fleeing war and torture instead of creating real solutions to keep Americans safe."

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the bill is a security test, not a religious one.

While Republicans said the measure does not have religious tests, Cruz and Jeb Bush have suggested giving preferences to Christians.

Obama told politicians in November that they were raising worries over refugees.

"Apparently, they're scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America," Obama quipped.
James Bond Spectre  the auction

This February, Christies is to celebrate the release of the 24th Bond film with charity auctions, live in London and online. Here, we share highlights  including an Aston Martin DB10 and Qs laptop  and how you can bid

The 24th film in the James Bond series, Spectre, is to be released on Digital HD, Blue-ray and DVD on 9 February in the US and on 22 February in the UK. To mark the occasion, Christies is to present a unique opportunity to acquire memorabilia from the film  with 24 lots straight from the archives of EON Productions , as well as donations from Daniel Craig, director Sam Mendes, actor Jesper Christensen (Mr White in Spectre, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace), Bond producers Michael G.Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and artist Sam Smith, who co-wrote the official award-winning Spectre theme song. All proceeds will benefit Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), other charitable organisations, and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

Spectre Aston Martin DB10 . Vin/Reg: 'SCFEABEL2FPX88010. 6 speed manual. Colour: Spectre Silver. Engine: 4.7-litre V8 petrol. Estimate: 1,000,000-1,500,000. This lot is offered in James Bond Spectre  The Auction on 18 February at Christies in London

The live auction on 18 February is led by an Aston Martin DB10, one of the series of DB10s designed and engineered by Aston Martin exclusively for James Bond, Spectre, illustrated above. Most of the DB10s were modified for use in the filming of Spectre, but two of those produced were kept back as show cars, for display purposes only, and this is one of them. The car is expected to realise between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 and is to date the only DB10 to be released for public sale by Aston Martin and EON Productions. This is the only car that includes a special plaque signed by Daniel Craig and was displayed at the world premiere of Spectre at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Aston Martin has been associated with the James Bond franchise for over 50 years, with the DB10 model featuring in the latest Bond film, Spectre.

Omega Seamaster 300 watch worn by Daniel Craig as James Bond . Estimate: 15,000-20,000. This lot is offered in James Bond Spectre  The Auction on 18 February at Christies in London

Additional highlights of the live sale include the Omega Seamaster 300 watch that was worn by Daniel Craig as James Bond, estimated at 15,000-20,000, while our online-only sale is to feature the laptop used by actor Ben Whishshaw as Q, estimated at 4,000-6,000, and a pair of Tom Ford Snowdon sunglasses, worn by Daniel Craig as James Bond, estimated at 4,000-6,000.

Q (Ben Whishaw) using his laptop on set . To be offered in Spectre  The Online Auction, 16-23 February

Worn by Daniel Craig in the opening scene of Spectre, James Bonds blue JB Tom Ford cufflinks are to be offered in the live auction, along with the Spectre Blu-ray, signed by Daniel Craig , estimated at 3,000-5,000. The live auction and online sale take place in the same month that Spectre is released on Digital HD, Blue-ray and DVD in the US (9 February) and UK (22 February).

Commenting on the sale, David Linley, Honorary Chairman, Christies EMERI, said: As a life-long James Bond fan it gives me great pleasure for Christies to be part of this James Bond Spectre charity auction, celebrating the 24th film in the franchise. All proceeds of the auction will benefit Medecins Sans Frontieres and other charitable organisations. We are proud to continue Cubby Broccolis philosophy of giving something back.

Spectre is released on Digital HD, Blue-ray and DVD on 9 February in the US and 22 February in the UK

The online-only sale is to feature 14 of the 24 lots available, with bidding open from Tuesday 16 to Tuesday 23 February at christies.com/spectreonline. The remaining 10 lots will be presented in a live auction, held at Christies London on 18 February. Although the live auction is invitation-only, internet and telephone bids will be open to anyone who wishes to take part in the sale.

SPECTRE  2015 Danjaq, MGM, CPII. SPECTRE, 007 and related James Bond Trademarks, TM Danjaq.  2016 Danjaq and MGM. All Rights Reserved.
Monday

Job Search 101: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Looscan Neighborhood Library, 2510 Willowick.

Topic: Interview preparation.

Cost:Free.

Registration: http://js101.org; 713-866-4002; js101info@gmail.com.

Individual Tax Update: Seminar sponsored by the Houston TSCPA Foundation. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 777 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 500.

Speaker: Blaise C. Bender, JD, CPA.

Cost: $225-$275.

Information: 713-622-7733.

Online: www.houstoncpa.org.

Tuesday

Houston Entrepreneurs' Forum: Monthly breakfast meeting. 7-8:30 a.m., Ouisie's Table, 3939 San Felipe.

Speaker: Loren Steffy, managing director, 30 Point Strategies.

Presentation: The writing entrepreneur in the Internet age.

Cost: $27 for members; $35 for guests.

Information: Tracy Park, 713-822-7260, or Tracyspark@aol.com.

Business Tax Update: Seminar sponsored by the Houston TSCPA Foundation. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 777 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 500.

Speaker: Blaise C. Bender, JD, CPA.

Cost: $225-$275.

Information: 713-622-7733. Online: www.houstoncpa.org.

Wednesday

The Women's Excellence in Business: Luncheon series hosted by Houston West Chamber of Commerce. 11:15-11:45 a.m. networking, noon lunch, Vallone's, 947 Gessner.

Speaker: Carolyn Faulk, president of A&C Plastics.

Cost: $60 members; $70 non-members.

Information: 713-785-4922 or Kirsten@hwcoc.org. Online: www.hwcoc.org.

Thursday

Agile Leadership Network: Houston Chapter meeting. 6 p.m., Sysco, 1390 Enclave Parkway.

Speaker: Sanjiv Augustine, president of LitheSpeed.

Program: Scaling Agile - A Guide for the Perplexed.

Registration:www.alnhouston.org.

Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure Division: Breakfast. 7:30-9 a.m., Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, 445 Commerce Green Blvd., Sugar Land.

Speaker: Brenda Mainwaring, regional vice president of public affairs for Union Pacific.

Topic: How Union Pacific supports economic development in Texas.

Cost: $25 members; $35 prospective members.

Registration:www.FortBendChamber.com.

Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce: Business luncheon. 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m., Sheraton Brookhollow Hotel, 3000 North Loop West.

Speaker: Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business.

Topic: Economic forecast.

Cost: $65.

Information: 713-861-6735.

Online:www.heightschamber.com.
A Houston researcher took to Twitter to share details of his experience on a Turkish Airlines flight that was diverted Sunday morning after a bomb scare.

Erez Lieberman Aiden was among the 209 passengers, including two infants, on Turkish Airlines Flight TK34 destined for Istanbul, which departed from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 9:05 p.m. Saturday. The flight landed at Ireland's Shannon Airport at 11:02 a.m. local time Sunday after a napkin with the word "bomb" written on it was found in one of the bathrooms, the airline told NBC News.

Aiden, who holds assistant teaching positions at both Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University in Houston, was quick to provide updates online about the situbation. In a series of 19 tweets, Aiden reported that flight crew awoke passengers in the middle of the night so they could help conduct searches of seats and carry-on luggage as part of a "security event."

To get a better grasp on what was happening, Aiden said he purchased in-flight Internet service and discovered the flight was under a bomb threat. Once it was clear the plane was no longer headed to Istanbul, he said the captain told passengers to expect to see fuel "get ejected" prior to landing in Shannon.

Though Aiden characterized flight crew and the captain as "clearly well meaning," he noted they were unprepared for the situation.

"Asking passengers to search their own bags for bombs is not a good plan," he said in one tweet.

Still, Aiden said he was grateful for the crew's efforts.

"I am grateful to the crew of Turkish Airlines for getting the flight safely to Shannon," he concluded.

By Sunday afternoon, the flight was once again en route to Turkey after an extensive explosives sweep of the Boeing 777 was completed, CNN reports. The flight status tracker on the airline's website listed the flight's expected arrival time as 4:45 p.m.

This isn't the first time Turkish Airlines diverted a flight destined for Istanbul due to a bomb threat. In November, the airline diverted another flight to Canada after receiving an anonymous phone threat once the flight had departed from New York City. The plane, carrying 256 passengers, landed at the airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Even before the Fort Bend ISD voted this month to lengthen the school day for next year, Meghan Scoggins was concerned about the effect that the extra classroom time would have on her daughter, a freshman at Clements High School in Sugar Land.

"It's only 20 minutes, but it's still another 20 minutes every single day," Scoggins said, noting that her daughter already spends about five hours after school every day on band practice and homework. "She doesn't have enough time to begin with."

But Fort Bend ISD officials said they had no choice but to increase school time because of a law passed last summer by the Texas Legislature.

House Bill 2610 changed the way of calculating how much time students must be in school from days to minutes. Students must now be in school at least 75,600 minutes, instead of the equivalent 180 days.

The bill's intent was to give districts more flexibility in scheduling instructional time lost due to bad weather. But the bill has sparked confusion across Houston-area school districts about what counts as instructional time and what doesn't, prompting many to revisit their school calendars for next year.

Much of the confusion boils down to whether districts could count waivers granted by the Texas Education Agency for staff development days toward the state's required instructional time, as they have in the past.

Previously, districts could apply for up to five staff development-day waivers, reducing the actual number of days that students were in school to as few as 175.

Staff development

TEA spokeswoman Lauren Callahan said the agency would continue to count staff development-day waivers granted as instructional minutes, but some Houston-area districts crafted their calendars around agency guidelines issued last fall.

The guidelines advised districts to create two calendars, one with waivers and one without, because the TEA had not yet decided if staff development waivers would continue to count towards instructional minutes.

The Fort Bend ISD's calendar committee,however, did not include minutes from staff development waivers.

As a result, the Fort Bend ISD's board of trustees voted on Jan. 19 to approve a calendar that increased the length of the district's school days to 7 hours and 20 minutes and that converted one staff-development day into an instructional day.

But just before district trustees voted to approve the calendar last Tuesday, Fort Bend ISD Deputy Superintendent Christie Whitbeck told them for the first time that staff development days counted as instructional minutes.

'Transition year'

That's because the TEA committed to approving three professional development-day waivers for Fort Bend ISD for 2016-2017.

Trustees approved the calendar anyway, primarily because it made the number of minutes students would be in school more consistent with other Houston-area districts, and because Whitbeck expressed concerns about continuing to get professional development-day waivers in future years.

"I tried to do the math; I just get more confused," Fort Bend ISD trustee Jason Burdine said. "So I respect the process, and I respect the (district's calendar) committee."

The Fort Bend ISD community had been divided about increasing the length of the school day, with 39 percent of respondents to an online survey positive about the revised calendar and 38 percent negative, citing concerns about over-scheduled students.

Around the Houston area, some districts are approving school calendars that include time from staff-development days as instructional time that counts toward the 75,600-minute requirement and some are not.

"This year really is a transition year so I think it'll get smoother and more universally understood in future years," TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said. "But they had to start building these calendars for next year without a whole lot of guidance and information about how to interpret the law."

Like Fort Bend, Spring ISD has proposed 2016-2017 calendars that do not count waivers for professional development in its instructional time. However, this year, its students are in class for 435 minutes a day for 175 days, putting the district over the required 75,600.

'More flexibility'

Conroe ISD did count professional development-day waivers as instructional time. So Conroe ISD will not change the length of its school day or number of class days. The district's students are in school for 178 days for at least seven hours daily, depending on grade level.

The TEA's guidelines permit districts to proactively embed enough minutes (840) for two bad-weather makeup days, eliminating the need to schedule extra school days should classes be canceled because of weather.

Houston ISD increased the length of its school day by five minutes for the 2016-2017 school year to do so. Fort Bend ISD included the two seven-hour days in its calendar as well.

But neither a lengthened school day nor embedding bad-weather minutes into a calendar was what state Rep. Ken King intended when he authored House Bill 2610, said King's chief of staff, Cheryl Lively.

Said Lively: "Its intent was strictly to give districts more flexibility."
Violent gangs and drug traffickers in the Houston area are growing stronger and more international, spreading into the suburbs as they bulk up on newfound connections with Mexico's lucrative and brazen organized crime syndicates.

The region is home to far more gang members than anywhere in Texas, according to the National Gang Threat Assessment.

As of this year, there were 225 documented gangs roaming the area, according to intelligence reports, the biggest being the "Houstones," with at least 2,233 members that have been confirmed by police.

Their soldiers alone equate to about 43 percent of the number of Houston police officers.

"Due to their sheer numbers, they (gangs) have a propensity to create a large number and wide variety of criminal acts," according to a report reviewed by the Houston Chronicle and compiled by the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a coalition of law-enforcement agencies that stretches from here to the coastal counties, an area that includes 6 million people.

Those criminal acts include home invasions, robbery, kidnapping, murder, extortion, money laundering and drug trafficking at a level alarming even to law enforcement.

"As gang members and drug traffickers become more violent and brazen, they pose a rising threat to law enforcement now and in the future," notes the report, which states that gang recruitment is at an all-time high.

"Gangs now have a younger, more violent membership."

There are at least 10,000 "documented" gang members in Houston and the surrounding counties, according to Houston Police.

The total, which authorities concede is conservative, is drawn from criminals caught by law enforcement and identified as gangsters. Their profiles are pumped into a database shared by multiple agencies trying to fight them.

"It is a national trend that they are moving from the inner cities to suburbs to rural areas," said Capt. Dale Brown, commander of the Houston Police Department's gang division. "There is virtually no part of Houston or the surrounding area that doesn't have some kind of gang presence."

Drugs going wholesale

Authorities say gangs working with international drug traffickers have shifted to selling drugs at the wholesale level, instead of street corners.

That has meant more cash and better access to weapons.

A homemade grenade thought to belong to Mexico's La Familia cartel was found in Harris County, according to the report, and a gang member in Kleberg County was caught with a grenade launcher.

The narco ties are thick. About 50 percent of gangsters who are arrested are caught on drug charges, according to the HPD.

Authorities liken them to marauding pirates, spreading mayhem as they fly the flags of crews like the "Southwest Cholos," the "59 Bounty Hunters," "Treetop Bloods" and the area's second-largest gang, the "52 Hoover Crips."

Last year, for the first time in the region that stretches from Houston to the Mexican border, 10 ranking members and associates of the notorious "Texas Syndicate" were sent to prison after being collectively prosecuted for multiple murders, robberies and other crimes under a law created a generation ago to battle New York organized crime.

They took orders from Texas Syndicate general Francisco "Butcher" Nuncio Jr., who is covered in tattoos, including a huge "TS" on his back.

Nuncio pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years, but the Bureau of Prisons has no public record of his whereabouts.

Indictments being felt

The Texas Syndicate, like some other top-tier gangs, has officers, secret meetings, rules and a death penalty for members who betray them.

One unsolved gang murder involves a former Houston captain for the Hermanidad de Pistoleros Latinos, Spanish for "Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen." His butchered torso was found floating in a trunk in Galveston Bay in 2006.

He reportedly skimmed drug profits from the gang.

"They are all committing crimes," said Brian Ritchie, head of the FBI Houston Division's task force on violent crimes and gangs.

"I would not say they are getting more violent. I would not say (gang crime) is going down  home invasions, rip-offs of other crooks, innocent business owners."

Authorities do, however, note that for the first time in a decade, there has been a "noticeable disruption" of the operations of some top-tier gangs, such as the Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen and the Texas Syndicate, as a result of a wave of indictments.

Keeping lower profile

That does not include the Houstones, who are known for wearing Astros-type emblems and sporting local area codes and are seen as posing the greatest local threat. They continue to grow in strength and numbers, according to the intelligence reports.

"The gang threat is very real," said Brown, of HPD. "They generate a lot of crime, and they create a lot of fear."

Brown cautioned that it is impossible to know how many gang members are out there and that the numbers are probably conservative, as they only note those who have been caught.

And as the gangs have expanded their international connections and moved more into higher-level drug-dealing, some are keeping a lower profile, he said.

"You are actually seeing less violence and less open conflict between these gangs because it is not good for business," Brown said. "As you see them more involved in drugs, you'll see them less involved in conflict.

"They don't want to draw any more attention to themselves."

Informing the public

Local gangs whose members know the streets have enabled organized crime groups from outside the United States to more efficiently move drugs farther into the country as well as to ship cash proceeds and weapons south of the border, contends the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"There is no doubt about it; local gangs in Houston are connected to cartels in Mexico," said Wendell Campbell, a spokesman for the DEA's Houston Division. "They are in position; they have the influence and the connections."

Some of the gangs' crimes are random, such as carjackings, but others are well-planned missions, such as hitting the home of a rival trafficker who may be rumored to have cash or stash.

"They may by design have somebody go in and buy 2 or 3 ounces, all the while knowing there is another 2 or 3 kilos, and they are back at night to kick in the door," Campbell said. "And they don't call the cops unless somebody gets hurt in the process."

He pointed to a new website, stophoustongangs.org, which was launched last month by state and local officials to get better information to the public about how to spot gangsters and offer a way to give tips to cops about crime.

Councilman James Rodriguez, who grew up on the city's East End, said he and others continue to push back on gang activity in the community by trying to keep kids from being pulled into the gang lifestyle.

"I'm told old gang-bangers are starting to get out," Rodriguez said of veteran criminals who went to prison during a crackdown in the 1990s. "It is a constant challenge, always ongoing.

"I think one gang member is too many."

dane.schiller@chron.com
When a 28-year-old Houston man was detained at the Canadian border with a small amount of marijuana and a damaged front fender last week, authorities were suspicious.

Matthew Putterman had driven the 1,473 miles to get his car fixed, he said.

After he was detained for drug smuggling on Jan. 14, Canadian authorities saw eyebrow raising texts that he had been in a wreck, but he didn't think the victim had died, according to court records.

When police in Houston could not find any reports matching the crash he described, a wider dragnet went out and Putterman became a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run case in the Montrose area on Jan. 8.

Witnesses had seen a dark-colored, four-door vehicle mow down 21-year-old Michael Hill about 12:30 a.m.

Looking at Putterman's dark blue Hyundai Sonata with a damaged front-end, the pieces seemed to fit and he was charged with failure to stop and render aid, a felony.

On Thursday, police saw surveillance video shows that the car was not damaged 12 hours after the late-night wreck, and the Harris County district attorney's office dropped the charges. Within hours, he walked out of jail the North Dakota jail. Neither he nor family members could be reached for comment.

In a lengthy arrest affidavit, authorities outline that Putterman was acting suspicious and that the text messages were concerning: he said he didn't think he killed anyone.

That admission, and the damage to his car, led authorities in North Dakota to detain him on charges of tampering with evidence. He was later charged in Harris County failure to stop and render aid, the legal charge for fleeing a hit and run.

After his parents told local media outlets that video cleared Putterman, Houston police officers reviewed the tape and dismissed the charges.

Jeff McShan, the spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney's office, said the investigation continues into Hill's death.

Witnesses told police the driver didn't slow down for a red light in the 400 block of Westheimer and failed to yield to Hill, who had the right-of-way as he walked across the intersection.

The witnesses couldn't give police the license plate number or a description of the driver.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
Kenneth Kiesler to Lead 20th International Masterclass for Orchestral and Choir Conductors

For aspiring conductors in the Berlin region (or with the means to travel), an opportunity to learn from the best in the business is around the corner. American conductor Kenneth Kiesler will be leading the 20th International Masterclass for Orchestral and Choir Conductors in May 2016, with applications now being accepted. An icon in the world of conducting, Maestro Kiesler's orchestra credits are too long to list. As director of the IMB program (International Masterclasses Berlin), the Grammy-nominated conductor and recipient of the 2011 American Prize in Conducting will be arriving at the St. Lukas Church, Berlin in May to extend his years of experience to a lucky few, in a public context. The repertoire will focus on Handel and Mozart.

Apart from Kenneth Kiesler's reputation as the long-serving musical director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra---along with a laundry list of American & world philharmonic conducting credits---Kiesler is also known as the premiere instructor in his field. Ever since his tenure with the ISO, he has set up numerous initiatives such as founding the Illinois Symphony Chorus & Illinois Chamber Orchestra, while directing for the Conductors Retreat at Medomak, the Conductors Programme of Canadas National Arts Centre, and the Vendome International Academy of Orchestral Conducting in France. His experience in rearing young conductors makes his upcoming 20th International Masterclass for Orchestral and Choir Conductors an even more desirable event.

The IMB (International Masterclasses Berlin) team is composed of professional musicians (including Kenneth Kiesler), and claims to team up with revered local institutions, offering the "best atmosphere for learning and the highest level of conducting training and experience". Priding themselves on a high-caliber learning environment, the 20th International Masterclass for Orchestral and Choir Conductors, which will be held in St. Lukas Church in Berlin, was initially available to only 15 participants, but has since been expanded to accept more students. Specific numbers have not yet been cited, but smaller numbers make for a focused and immersive learning environment in the presence of the Berlin Sinfonietta and The English Choir Berlin, which have cooperated with the IMB and the International Masterclass for Orchestral and Choir Conductors to make this event a reality.

The masterclasses will last from May 23rd-28th, focusing on excerpts from Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Requiem in D minor. The event will be held "primarily in English (and secondarily in Germany)" and recordings of the event will be issued to all participants on a 16 GB flash drive. Applications are still being accepted and can be filled out here.

To get a taste of Kenneth Kiesler's teaching style, check out this clip from his work at the Conductors Retreat at Medomak:

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsKenneth Kiesler, master class, Handel, Mozart, St. Lukas Church
Rare Beethoven Sketch Leaf of the 'King Stephan Overture' Discovered in Connecticut

The signature of German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) on a letter dated September 1820. (Photo : Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The handwriting of Beethoven can be indentified by its furious and sloppy appearance. Hardly meant for future generations to admire, notation was an inconvenience to Beethoven---a means to capture music as quickly as it came to him. To composers and appraisers like Brendan Ryan, Beethoven's handwriting is, as he put it, "unmistakable", but for homeowners who might not know the value of their basement treasure troves, his handwriting could easily be dismissed as worthless chicken scratch. In the case of a Greenwich, Connecticut homeowner, who had originally hired Ryan to appraise furniture and miscellaneous items, fortune stumbled their way as Ryan unexpectedly glanced upon a Beethoven sketch leaf of the King Stephan Overture (Konig Stephan) hanging on their wall.

The sketch, discovered in Connecticut, was sold in November to Butterscotch Auctioneers (whom Brendan Ryan represents) for a price of $120,000, but not before a rigorous verification process conducted by Ryan on behalf of the owner. According to the The Journal News, the Beethoven sketch leaf had been in the homeowner's family for 100 years; meanwhile, only a vague suspicion had surfaced that the barely legible piece of music was indeed Beethoven's.

The ultimate value of the Beethoven sketch leaf had depended on a number of factors, from authenticity to which specific piece. The Journal News quoted Ryan as hoping it to be the Ninth Symphony, but instead the sketch leaf was determined to be a first draft of King Stephan Overture, showing the earliest stages of the opening cello/bassoon motif. The notes are seen to be rushed, sloppy, and fickle; many ideas are crossed out entirely and many ideas in pencil were later replaced with ink---all on the same single-sheet draft.

Brendan Ryan also reported his personal feelings on the find: Its certainly one of the highlights of my career. For me personally, Beethoven is an idol of mine. Its like seeing pages by your favourite author in the flesh.

Ryan can be seen demonstrating the contents of the King Stephan Overture sketch leaf, which was discovered in Connecticut, in more detail in the video below---also assembled by The Journal News.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsBeethoven, King Stephan Overture, Auction, History
Broadway League Cancels Sat Shows After Disney Pulls 'Lion King' & 'Aladdin' From Heavy Snow

The old saying goes, the show must go on, but unfortunately that saying doesnt hold up to heavy snow. The Great White Way is being shut down by a the great white cold stuff this weekend. First Disney shut down all Saturday, Jan 23 performances of Disneys The Lion King and Aladdin, and now the rest of Broadway has followed their lead. The Broadway League has annoused that all evening and matinee shows have been canceled for the safety of crews, performances and audiences. All performances are expected to resume on Sunday, Jan 24.

The Broadway League issued a statement about the cancellation (via Broadway World):

"As a result of the ban on travel in New York and suspension of public transportation by government authorities and additional safety precautions implemented due to severe weather, all Broadway matinee and evening performances on Saturday, January 23rd, will be cancelled. Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, stated, 'Now that the snowstorm has arrived, I'd like to reiterate that the safety and security of theatregoers and employees is everyone's primary concern. As a result of the ban on travel in New York and the suspension of public transportation by government authorities and other safety precautions implemented on behalf of the weather, evening performances will be cancelled tonight, January 23rd. We expect normal operations to resume for tomorrow's Sunday matinees.'"

What do you think about the cancellation? Would you feel safe attending a show this weekend? Did you have tickets for any Sat shows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsBroadway League, Snow Day, broadway, League, Cancels, Sat 23, Shows, disney, Lion King, Aladdin, Heavy, Snow, Threat
Michael Tilson Thomas Keeping Score Program Available Online

For the first time in history, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony's educational TV series, Keeping Score, is available for digital rental or purchase through popular online content providers. The program is designed to introduce people of all age and backgrounds to classical music by pairing documentaries about well-known composers with concerts of Tilson Thomas and the Symphony performing their most famous works.

It has just recently been announced that for the first time since the television series debuted on PBS back in 2006, that Keeping Score is being made available through major online retailers.

According to the San Francisco Symphony's press release, the Tilson Thomas hosted docuseries is going to not only be available in North America but the world over:

"Michael Tilson Thomas and the SF Symphony's full-length Keeping Score programs are available for digital rental or purchase through iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and other online content providers.

"With this new offering, the programs are available for the first time to viewers in more than 65 countries."

For his part in continuing the education of classical artist, Wilson Thomas recently commented on his ongoing professional relationship with popular pianist, Yuja Wang --telling KQED that he tried to make young musicians comfortable above all else:

"It's my responsibility to make the soloist comfortable because that will create a situation in which they can make the most brilliant and delightful contribution for the listeners.

"What was so different about [Wang], she simply appeared...She said, 'Hi. I'm here! What do we do?'"

For more information on Michael Tilson, the San Francisco Symphony or the Keeping Score series be sure to check out their official website.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsMichael Tilson Thomas, Keeping Score, online, San Francisco Symphony
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Allergies can be a diners' worst nightmare. Between unknown sauces and secret ingredients, diners with an allergy have to be extra cautious. 6Sensor Labs' is looking to change that with their product Nima, the latest to enter the food sensing space. Nima is a portable gluten detector. How it works: A sample of food or drink is dropped into a disposable cartridge that is then inserted into the device, and in about two minutes you get a result.

A frown or smiley face light up along the side of the device to indicate if the meal is safe to eat. It pairs with an iOS app via Bluetooth, uploading test results and allowing users to search for more information about restaurants where food may have already been tested.

For the gluten intolerant this device could be a game changer. Its estimated there are about 18 million Americans with a gluten intolerant or full blown Celiac disease. CEO Shireen Yates is sensitive to gluten herself.



Nima, Portable Gluten Sensor Source: 6SensorLabs

"The idea itself came to me at a wedding," said Yates, who asked the waitress if the appetizers were gluten free. "[The waitress] responded  how allergic are you? I thought, I'd really like to be able to take a sample and know. This inspired Yates in her grad school years at MIT to create a device that was not only portable, but could generate quick results and quantify exactly how much gluten was in something.

Other products on the market have also successfully tested food, of course, including EZ Gluten, TellSpec or SCiO. TellSpec and Consumer Physic's SCiO  which are both pre-launch  share similarities in their use of spectroscopy technology, and their scan results detect more than just gluten. What makes 6Sensor different is the technology  it uses a custom chemical process to identify gluten, rather than spectroscopy. The folks at 6Sensor believe that using a specific protein that only searches for gluten will yield more accurate results. "We wanted to be able to detect at one part per million of a protein, to say confidently that a sample had something or not. The only way to do this is through chemistry detection," said Yates.

Spectroscopy, in this case, uses light to identify both the amount and types of chemicals present in a sample the device is pointed at. The use of this technology yields results that detect calories, fats, proteins, sugars and other components of the food. TellSpec CEO Isabel Hoffman was inspired by her daughter, who has Celiac, and says that those suffering from the disease often suffer from other health concerns like pre-diabetes and thyroid issues. This is why TellSpec focuses on scanning for more than just gluten.

"Spectroscopy lets you get molecular information about what you scan. We have detection for gluten right now and it is 97 percent accurate. Could we bring it up to the 99.8 percent accuracy that Nima is using? Yes," said TellSpec CEO Isabel Hoffman. "We're using machine learning. The more scans we have, the more information we have."

Nima, Portable Gluten Sensor Source: 6SensorLabs
Iran has struck a provisional deal with Europe's Airbus to buy eight A-380 superjumbo planes to be delivered from 2019, the deputy transport minister told Reuters on Sunday.

A deal for 127, mainly new, aircraft which it hopes to complete this week also includes 16 A350 jets, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, deputy transport minister said in an interview on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Tehran.

He also said Iran was interested in regional aircraft including Mitsubishi's MRJ and Canada's Bombardier CSeries and has had some contact with both companies.

Private Iranian airlines are also talking to Brazil's Embraer and Russia's Sukhoi.
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In a major executive upheaval, two of Twitter's top executives  media head Katie Jacobs Stanton and product head Kevin Weil  are departing the company, according to sources close to the situation. Neither has immediate plans to go to another company, added sources, but are expected to. Right now, the jobs of both Weil and Stanton will be filled with interim replacements. In what is shaping up to be a big executive upheaval tomorrow, Twitter engineering head Alex Roetter is also departing the company, according to sources. Twitter's director of product Jason Toff is also leaving the company, he said in a tweet. Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night and then day and then day after that. Also the day after that. You get the idea of the tumult about to pummel the San Francisco social communications company, from both inside and outside. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment.

There have been rumblings of the changes for weeks now inside the San Francisco social communications company. Sources said Twitter is planning to announce the shuffle tomorrow, along with the hire of a prominent CMO.

Sources said she was a well-known exec from a big brand company, but Re/code could not determine who that is. (We have some good guesses, but Re/code tries hard not to guess.) In any case, we'll know tomorrow, along with how Twitter is planning on positioning the pair of key departures. In the past, unlike other companies, it has sometimes been publicly rough on those leaving, such as communications head Gabriel Stricker and Ali Rowghani.

Both Stanton (who has worked in big media jobs at both Google and Yahoo before coming to Twitter) and Weil (who came from CoolIris in 2009) are well-regarded both inside and outside the company.

Stanton took over from Chloe Sladden in 2014, after a stint as international head; Weil was given his job in the same year, the third product head in that time frame.

Stanton has been under a lot of pressure to remake the media org, as it has tried to shift its strategy with publishers and compete with rivals like Snapchat and Facebook, which have increased their efforts there.

More from Re/Code: Gilt Groupe Is a Cautionary Tale for Startup Employees

Google's Secret Numbers, (Possibly) Revealed by Oracle

Apple TV Designer Ben Keighran Is Leaving

And Weil, in particular, had his role diminished especially after layoffs in October. His biggest product rollout of late has been Moments, the much-hyped content product that Twitter released in the fall. It's still unclear whether that has worked.

In addition, Weil now works for the Twitter inventor, CEO Jack Dorsey, who has become the de facto product head, said sources.

In general, it has been a very hard time for all top execs there, as Twitter has struggled to regain its growth among users and momentum with investors. Along with that, the company's stock has plummeted recently to well below its offering price. That has prompted speculation as to whether it might get bought. So far, that is not happening, but all the continued changes at the company have not helped its prospects. More changes are likely, including an expected turnover on its board in the next quarter. Sources said that at least one was a well known media personality. Also coming soon, a new head of PR, a job now being done by general counsel Vijay Gadde. The timing of the exec changes is interesting, too, since Twitter is set to hold an executive retreat this week in San Francisco with the company's top brass. (Re/code is not invited, presumably, but will be reporting what happens there anyways.)
Visit these 9 enduring favorites over Homecoming weekend

Here are just nine of Columbia's true cultural and culinary institutions, all worth visiting this weekend.
Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) board president Reid Dulberger listens during a video presentation Thursday by retailer IKEA during an EDGE meeting.

When an Electrolux, Ikea or International Paper wants local tax breaks to help pay for a relocation or expansion, they wind up Downtown on Main Street near Beale in the Peabody Place building, home office of the EDGE board.

Just about once each month lawyers for a PILOT applicant troop into the office.

But Reid Dulberger, head of the city-county EDGE board, saw a disturbing sign last year.

You may not know Dulberger, but if you do, you'll find he gets on point quickly and precisely.

"One year does not make a trend," Dulberger said. "But we as a community don't want to and will find it difficult to absorb more years like 2015."

What caught his attention was this number: $178.7 million.

It's the amount businesses getting PILOTs in 2015 pledged to spend on buildings and equipment in Memphis and Shelby County.

While it's a lot of money, it is far less than PILOT-related investments the year before, $463 million, or the year before that, $483 million, or the year before that, $660 million.

In a city starved for good jobs, EDGE board tax cuts are meant to attract industry and create jobs. Indeed, the bigger the investment the bigger the tax break. But PILOT investments have ebbed each year, a disturbing sign because low investment can signal slow job growth.

Why have investment dollars declined?

Just as many lawyers file into Dulberger's office as ever, although their projects tend to be relatively small.

Big factories and 1 million-square-foot distribution centers now are springing up over the state line in Mississippi.

"There was a time when if you wanted to be in the Mid-South, you had to certainly be in Shelby County if not Memphis. That's where you'd find the workforce," Dulberger said. "That's where you'd find the infrastructure."

No longer. Today, Memphis and its suburbs compete.

Dulberger was in the audience a week ago when Federal Reserve economist James Bullard addressed the Economic Club of Memphis. Although the economy appears slower than in the summer, Bullard doubted a recession awaits the United States this year.

Later I asked Dulberger whether he sensed the industrial downturn will cause PILOT applications to taper off. Dulberger, an economic development professional who earlier worked in Syracuse, New York, and Youngstown, Ohio, after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, sided with Bullard, but expressed concern.

"Consumer expenditures are still strong" throughout the country, and that likely will cause more industrial expansion, said Dulberger, chief executive of the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County. "The question is how strong Memphis and Shelby County will be."

It was the first time I had heard him question the resiliency of the city and county, the economic core of the region, home to 722,000 of the 1,020,000 people considered working age (16 years and up) living in the nine-county Memphis metropolitan area. I asked him to explain.

Dulberger pointed out the EDGE board likely will approve 10 to 12 PILOT applications in 2016, just as it did in 2015 and every other year since the agency was recast in 2011 from the old Industrial Development Board.

Since 2011, the agency has cut $284 million worth of taxes for 41 companies that in turn pledged to invest a total of $2.2 billion and employ more than 9,900 people in Memphis and Shelby County. Those 41 companies in turn are forecast to pay $741.7 million in property taxes over the life of their tax breaks. PILOTs, short for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, usually last nine years.

Fewer big projects, however, such as Nike's new $301 million north-side distribution center, are landing in the city. Last year, home furnishings merchant Ikea accounted for the largest PILOT investment, $64 million, after the EDGE board altered rules to accommodate large retailers.

Congested highways clog the city's industrial districts and the available land for new distribution centers remains slight, while suburban Mississippi has drawn new industry to what had been relatively inexpensive rural land. In four years, the Byhalia area in Marshall County, Mississippi, has drawn 750 new jobs and $320 million worth of investment in factories and warehouses, including a Rockwool insulation plant and Volvo truck parts distribution center.

"Our share of the number of these projects is falling,'' Dulberger said.

Dulberger insists Memphis isn't fading away.

An urban renaissance and the cash infusion in the Medical District, a concentration of 17,000 employees in five major hospitals and the state medical school, is energizing the city, he said.

Repowering the Medical District are almost $2 billion worth of projects unfolding at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare and nearly completed at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Nearby, there's tourism and nightlife in Downtown and Midtown supported by the new $105 million Bass Pro at The Pyramid, long-running Beale Street and the revived Overton Square.

Asked if Memphis officials should scale back EDGE's mission  expanding the industrial sector in the city and county  as the city economy re-orients around science and tourism, Dulberger pointed out industrial jobs are crucial.

"It can't be an urban reawakening that will exclude a chunk of our population," Dulberger said. "We have to provide jobs for folks of limited education or skills."

What's the remedy?

PILOT tax breaks alone are not enough.

Tennessee's economic development arm must muscle up to compete with Mississippi, Dulberger said.

A 2016 legislative agenda supported by the EDGE board and the Greater Memphis Chamber touts incentives able to counter Mississippi as well as retention aid for companies that consider relocating.

"We need to do a number of things to be successful," Dulberger said. "It takes a lot to move an economy of our size."

Ted Evanoff, business editor of The Commercial Appeal, can be reached at evanoff@commercialappeal.com and 901-529-2292.
<p>In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, Steve Tuttle, vice president of communications for Taser International, demonstrates one of the company's body cameras for The Associated Press during a company-sponsored conference hosted by Taser at the California Highway Patrol Headquarters in Sacramento, Calif. A A review by The Associated Press shows Taser is covering airfare and hotel stays for police chiefs who travel to speak at the company's marketing conferences. It is also hiring some recently retired chiefs as consultants, sometimes months after their cities signed contracts with Taser.</p>

By Ryan Poe and Jacinthia Jones of The Commercial Appeal

Fifteen days before the Oct. 8 mayoral election, then-Memphis Mayor A C Wharton called a press conference to show off 500 of the city's new police body cameras, the first installment in an order of 2,000.

By then, Wharton knew from the polls that he was losing, and badly, to Jim Strickland, who had hammered on public safety issues throughout the campaign. Wharton needed a win on public safety, and the rollout of body cameras would have been a big one.

"By early October, we should have the infrastructure in place to allow us (to fully implement) our body camera project," Police Director Toney Armstrong said at the Sept. 23 news conference.

But months later, police still don't have body cameras, and the newly sworn-in Mayor Strickland called another news conference Jan. 15 to say the rollout had been suspended indefinitely because the process was "rushed" and the implementation wasn't "carefully thought out."

The delay has raised questions about how such a large project  $9.4 million if the city extends the contract across the full five-year term  could go so wrong. And, like many problems in city government, the answer seems to boil down to communication.

Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich said her office wasn't included in the talks about the timing of the rollout, although it had been involved in talks about the technology. She only realized the problem in September because of Wharton's conference.

"That was news to us," she said. "We had not been at that table where that decision was made."

After that, Weirich said her office sprang into high-gear trying to train attorneys and write policies with Jan. 1 as the new target date for the rollout.

Armstrong, who championed getting the cameras, on Thursday dismissed concerns about the delays, which he said are normal on large projects.

"We're on the right track now," he said. "When you have a project that's this massive, it's not a matter of something went wrong or if someone did something inappropriate or wrong. It's a matter of everybody communicating, and continuing to communicate and move the project forward."

Following the fatal, July 17 shooting of black 19-year-old Darrius Stewart by white Memphis police officer Connor Schilling, Wharton's administration was under pressure to head off a public outcry, like what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting death of black teen Michael Brown.

Wharton's chief administrative officer Jack Sammons said the months after Stewart's shooting were a "scary" time for the administration, which was worried about "anti-police" sentiments.

In late September, shortly after the contract for the body cameras was signed, the public was still waiting to see the state's findings on the Stewart shooting. The report was under review by the Shelby County District Attorney's office.

Asked if politics was responsible for the delay, Sammons replied, "Not at all.

"There was just intense interest in the community following the tragic deaths of officer Sean Bolton and Darrius Stewart," Sammons said.

He added: "We were trying to keep peace in the community."

The Commercial Appeal obtained emails about the Taser contract last year that showed the enormous top-down pressure at City Hall to get the body cameras contract signed.

In just one example, Deputy CAO Demar Roberts, wrote this email to Purchasing Agent Eric Mayse on Sept. 3, the day after the contract was signed: "Please confirm with Taser ASAP what they need. Chief Sammons wants this done by noon, whatever it takes."

The emails showed that one of the hang-ups to the deal was the lack of minority participation. That problem was temporarily solved when Taser hired the company of Wharton's campaign manager, Deidre Malone, to advertise the rollout. The subcontract was canceled days before the election, part of the political fallout.

Taser said it hadn't known about Malone's connection to Wharton's campaign, and Wharton said he hadn't had previous knowledge and hadn't approved Taser's subcontract with Malone.

Wharton didn't respond to requests to address questions about whether the process was rushed and why, but he released the following statement about the delay:

"I respect and understand the recent decisions with regard to the continued deployment and use of body cameras by the MPD and the criminal justice system. In my opinion, the right approach is being pursued and it will keep the focus on safety and justice for all. Nothing should divert our attention from that goal."

Strickland said in a statement Thursday that he met with Weirich, Armstrong and incoming Interim Police Director Michael Rallings to talk about the hurdles to the rollout. His next step, he said, is to present information Feb. 2 to the Memphis City Council  a presentation that will likely include a request for ordinances establishing body camera policies.

"We will continue to meet and find solutions until we're confident that our rollout can be carried out correctly," he said in the statement.

Council chairman Kemp Conrad said Thursday that he supported that approach, and said he's "glad we are measuring twice and then only cutting once."

"We move forward and play the hand we are dealt," he said.

Weirich said the delay has helped put the process back on track, and her office is now meeting weekly with police command staff to work out the policy kinks.

"So those weekly meetings have been a great opportunity for us to come to the officers, to the command staff to say, 'These are the mistakes that we are seeing. These are the things that are not happening on the ground,'" she said. "And then they take that back to the department and they try to fix those issues."
Delbert Hosemann

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By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann last week proposed some significant updates to the state's election laws, and the proposal drew praise from those on both sides of the political divide for encouraging greater voter participation.

Among the key elements of Hosemann's proposal to legislators were provisions to allow online voter registration and, for the first time, a form of early voting.

Party leaders in DeSoto County, both the Republican and Democrat, said each of those measures could help increase the chronically abysmally low turnout among the county's roughly 97,000 registered voters. And that, they say, is hard to argue against.

Even the American Civil Liberties Union, not often a friend to Republican elected officials such as Hosemann, stepped up to support the plan.

"The ACLU of Mississippi applauds Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's push for legislation that encourages greater voter participation," the ACLU said in a statement days after Hosemann unveiled his plan on Tuesday. "Secretary Hosemann's proposal to allow early voting and online voter registration increases our right to engage in the political process."

Jennifer Riley-Collins, the Mississippi ACLU's executive director, was on the 51-member study group that examined election practices for Hosemann.

Measures like online registration and early voting  Hosemann's plan would allow voting up to 21 days before election day at the county courthouse  will be greeted with skepticism by some who suspect an agenda behind anything that brings new voters to the polls.

It would appear, however, that Hosemann's plan is a good-faith effort to bring Mississippi's voter laws into the 21st Century, and his effort deserves the benefit of the doubt.

To panic or not to panic

DeSoto County officials were caught in the same no-win situation as their counterparts throughout the Mid-South last week when it came to preparing for the blizzard that never happened.

Amid ominous forecasts that called for blizzard-like conditions Friday, with 6-8 inches of snow and winds of 35-40 mph, what could any conscientious public official to do except for prepare for an icy apocalypse?

And when it doesn't happen, what are those officials to do with the inevitable comments about having overreacted?

My vote would be they simply say, as most do, that they were prudent. It's easier to put up with snide comments and lost revenue, as was the case with many businesses that closed or opened late, than to take the bad publicity or possible legal consequences that would have come from not being prepared.

Bottom line: Overreacting is seldom worse than not reacting at all.

New spelling bee date

And speaking of the weather, the DeSoto County District Spelling Bee was a casualty.

The annual event, which is a qualifier for the Mid-South Spelling Bee, was scheduled for this past Saturday at DeSoto County Schools headquarters in Hernando. Because of the forecast of snow, school officials late in the week moved the spelling bee to this coming Saturday, Jan. 30.

The event begins at 10 a.m., and participants are asked to arrive by 9:40. The school district office is at 5 East South Street in Hernando.

Crossing the Line is compiled by Ron Maxey, suburban team editor for The Commercial Appeal. You also can find it on commercialappeal.com and our mobile apps. To suggest DeSoto stories, you can contact Ron at ronald.maxey@commercialappeal.com, 901-333-2019 and follow him on Twitter @rmaxey1.
January 22, 2015 - DeSoto Schools Supt. Cory Uselton, who replaced three-term superintendent Milton Kuykendall on January 4, says hes beginning to realize just how different it is managing Mississippis largest public school district, more than 33,000 students on 42 campuses countywide, as opposed to a single high school. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal

It was a trial run in more ways than one.

Not only did preparations for last week's blizzard-that-wasn't give new DeSoto Schools Supt. Cory Uselton a chance to warm to the system's inclement weather drill, it also, in a larger sense, helped him see the scope of the job he's undertaken.

"Through this, we both saw the enormity of the work that goes into our district," Uselton said of himself and wife Amanda, who was up with him at 3 a.m. several nights in a row to monitor weather reports and coordinate possible school closings in the event of winter weather.

Uselton, who replaced three-term superintendent Milton Kuykendall Jan. 4, says he's beginning to realize just how different it is managing Mississippi's largest public school district, more than 33,000 students on 42 campuses countywide, as opposed to a single high school.

As principal of Southaven's DeSoto Central High, Uselton oversaw one of the state's largest high schools before being elected superintendent last November. Still, that was a different animal from balancing the needs of 42 schools ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade.

"As we saw with the weather, you have to look at the individual situations of 42 schools and balance how to deal with each," he said. "It's a matter of getting used to the scope."

But Uselton, who just turned 47, said he's excited about the challenges of the $170,000-a-year job.

"I like looking for opportunities where we can help our students, teachers and administrators," he said.

To that end, he's been hard at work during his first three weeks on the job prioritizing needs as work progresses on the budget for the coming school year. Until weather issues took center stage temporarily last week, budget planning had been at the top of his list.

Budgeting is a challenging process, as Uselton has learned, given the chronic funding shortfalls from the state that continue to bedevil the district. Kuykendall had hoped the state funding issue would be addressed before he left office through a state constitutional amendment forcing the Legislature to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. The effort, however, was defeated by voters in November.

Uselton said he's communicated regularly with the county's legislative delegation about the ongoing funding debate.

"They (legislators) have sort of been on a holding pattern so far because of the contested elections," he said, referring to some disputed November election results from other parts of the state that legislators have had to sort out during the early part of their session.

"They're still waiting to get committee assignments, but we'll be talking about school needs. If the topic needs to be revisited, that's fine but it will still come down to ensuring students are receiving the funding they deserve."

Uselton also wants to engage teachers in district decisions. He's visited all 42 schools in the district and has started a teacher advisory council. The plan is to have a teacher from each school on the council, which will hold periodic meetings.

"That way, teachers in each school will know they have someone who has the ear of the superintendent," Uselton said.

The new superintendent got high marks from his predecessor.

"I think we could have conducted a nationwide search and wouldn't have come up with a better choice," Kuykendall said.

The closest thing to criticism he's drawn were questions about experience among some school board members during the debate over his salary. Some members noted that, if the superintendent were appointed rather than elected, the district probably would not have selected a candidate who had not served as a superintendent to head a district so large.

Most Mississippi school districts, like most other districts nationwide, have appointed superintendents chosen by the school board. DeSoto is among the minority of districts that elect their superintendents.

Uselton said he just wants the public to know he's giving the job everything he's got.

"I promised I'd be the hardest-working superintendent in America," he said, "and I hope people know I'm living up to that promise.

"I don't have any hobbies right now. This job is it."
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By Jay Dickey and Mark Rosenberg

Twenty years ago, one of us was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, supporting research to build an evidence base to advance the science of gun-violence prevention.

The other of us was a Republican representative from Arkansas determined to dismantle that effort because conservatives had concluded it was aimed at gun control, not gun violence.

Ultimately, the House of Representatives inserted language into the CDC's appropriations bill that succeeded in prompting the CDC to halt gun-violence research. The law said no CDC funds "may be used to advocate or promote gun control." One of us subsequently was fired because of his commitment to gun-violence prevention research. The other saw the CDC's abandonment of its commitment to this research as a successful effort to protect the Second Amendment.

When we met, at a congressional appropriations hearing in 1996, we fiercely opposed each other's positions. But over years of communicating, we came to see that, while we had differences, we also shared values. We became colleagues, and we became friends. We have argued with each other and learned much from each other. We both belong to the National Rifle Association, and we both believe in the Second Amendment.

We have also come to see that gun-violence research can be created, organized and conducted with two objectives: first, to preserve the rights of law-abiding citizens and legal gun owners and, second, to make our homes and communities safer. Well-structured research can be conducted to develop technologies and identify ways to achieve both objectives. We can get there only by research.

Our nation does not have to choose between reducing gun-violence injuries and safeguarding gun ownership. Indeed, scientific research helped reduce the U.S. motor vehicle death rate and save hundreds of thousands of lives  all without getting rid of cars. We can do the same with respect to firearm-related deaths, reducing their numbers while preserving the rights of gun owners.

If we are to be successful, those of us on opposite sides of this issue will have to do a better job of respecting, understanding and working with each other. In the area of firearms injuries, collaboration has a special meaning. It will require real partnership on the design of the research we do because while we often hear about "common-sense gun laws," common sense is not enough to both keep us safe and to protect the Second Amendment.

There is urgency to our task. We now believe strongly that federal funding for research into gun-violence prevention should be dramatically increased. But the language accompanying this appropriation should mirror the language already in the law: "No funds shall be used to advocate or promote gun control." This prohibition can help to reassure supporters of the Second Amendment that the CDC will use the money for important research and not to advocate gun control. However, it is also important for all to understand that this wording does not constitute an outright ban on federal gun-violence prevention research. It is critical that the appropriation contain enough money to let science thrive and help us determine what works.

So both sides need to give quite a bit to get to the heart of this problem. If we yield to fatalism and say nothing will work, we will continue to watch the problem of gun violence grow and grow. We can't afford to not even try. We have too much riding on this  all of us do.

Jay Dickey, a Republican, represented Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2000. Mark Rosenberg, president and chief executive of the Task Force for Global Health, was director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1994 to 1999.
Sebastian Widmann/Washington Post files Ernst Mauch displays an iP1 in 2014 at Armatixs headquarters in Unterfohring, Germany. Mauch designed the iP1 as a gun that can only be fired if its rightful owner is wearing a special watch connected wirelessly to the weapon.

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By Jon Stokes

The gun control movement's latest hobby horse is the smart gun. President Barack Obama included federal support for smart-gun research in his recent executive orders, delighting activists who insist a locking mechanism capable of preventing criminals from firing stolen weapons would surely be popular with gun buyers  if only the gun industry would drop its opposition.

The bad news for anyone looking to smart guns as a technological quick fix for gun violence is that, absent a government mandate requiring all guns to be "smart," a robust market is unlikely to materialize. And even if new laws were to require that all new firearms have smart-gun tech, many proposed smart systems would actually make us less safe.

The main objection U.S. gun buyers have to smart guns is that any integrated electronic locking mechanism will necessarily decrease a gun's reliability by introducing more points of failure. Smart-gun backers dismiss these concerns as overblown, but they don't seem to grasp how all-important reliability is to gun buyers, or how hard it is for even premium gun makers to mass-produce weapons that will work smoothly in the most adverse conditions.

Every gun owner who has put enough rounds down range has had his favorite firearm fail to fire. These failures can happen to the very best semiautomatic weapons in the final round of a competition, in the heat of battle, or when a trophy buck is in a hunter's sights. Weapon malfunctions are such a widely acknowledged reality that basic training courses typically explain how to rapidly troubleshoot such failures during a gunfight.

Gun owners are terrified of anything that might make their guns less reliable. And when they consider the frequency with which their $700 smartphone's fingerprint scanner fails when presented with a clean, dry, perfectly positioned thumb, they rightly conclude that putting any type of electronic lock on their Glock will likely make them less secure, not more.

For the sake of argument, however, let's say the reliability objection has been definitively addressed, and there exists an electronically lockable gun that's flying off the shelves. Such technology would not dependably stop unauthorized users from firing stolen weapons, for the simple fact that every piece of locked-down consumer technology that has ever been introduced  from the DRM schemes that encrypt Blu-ray disks to software locks intended to keep users from installing illicit software on their iPhones  has been broken and can be defeated by anyone with a little time and access to YouTube.

As impossible as sealed electronic gadgets are to secure against tampering, guns are even more hopeless, because firearms are mechanical devices that are designed to be disassembled for regular cleaning and repair. Once a gun has been broken down, any component that prevents it from firing can be filed off, taped over, replaced or otherwise circumvented. Smith & Wesson users, for instance, routinely remove the integrated mechanical locks the Clinton administration persuaded the gunmaker to add to its popular family of revolvers.

Smart-gun technology can and will be broken, but that isn't even the worst consequence of this particular "safety" trend. The bigger problem lies with smart guns that are designed to connect to another device, either to obtain permission to fire or to alert authorized users to the gun's location.

Tech companies warn that if they create a "back door" in their encryption products for government agents, they're also creating a possible "back door" for criminals. Just so, any capability we give authorized gun users can and will be exploited by unauthorized users.

With this in mind, a gun like the one proposed by the president, which can broadcast its location when stolen, seems like a spectacularly bad idea. If the authorities can locate or disable a firearm remotely, then the bad guys can, too. Imagine a criminal with a laptop casing a crowd or a row of homes, looking for the tell-tale wireless signature of a hidden gun. Even if the gun doesn't connect to a network and is instead secured by RFID technology, it's hardly invulnerable. The same tools identity thieves use to remotely read RFID chips embedded in newer credit cards can be repurposed to target hidden weapons for theft.

Genuine improvements in firearm safety are always welcomed by American gun owners, who know exactly how dangerous guns are in the wrong hands. Electronic locks that are likely to backfire on gun users, and that are vulnerable to exploitation by criminals, will be rejected by the market and, ultimately, by Congress.

Jon Stokes is a founder of Ars Technica and the author of "Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture."
Elaine Thompson/Associated Press Samantha Nixon (left) and her husband, Beau Nixon, huddle against the rain at a Jan. 15 gun-rights rally in Olympia, Wash. Lawmakers and others spoke at the rally, which drew about 100 people, emphasizing legislative priorities and speaking against gun-related policies of President Barack Obama.

SHARE President Barack Obama watches the replay of his emotional speech during a Jan. 7 town hall meeting at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Pablo Martinez Monsivais Associated Press Associated Press file photo In 2013, demonstrators favoring gun control marched in Washington. In 2014, the journal Preventive Medicine published research indicating gunfire deaths have held steady at around 32,000 a year; nearly half occur in the South. About 60 percent of firearm deaths are suicides. Associated Press file photo Jimmie Johnson fires blanks from a pair of revolvers as he celebrates his win following the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at the Texas Motor Speedway, in Fort Worth, Texas.

By Ken White

I enjoy unproductive talk. Bloviating, berating, snarking and swearing about politics are all pleasures, and not even particularly guilty ones. Most of the time, I remember that my self-indulgence doesn't accomplish much. It pleases me, it entertains like-minded people and it reaffirms whatever my "team" already believes. But it doesn't persuade. It neither seeks nor finds common ground.

Much of our modern American dialogue about gun rights and gun control is like that. We yell, we signal to the like-minded, we circle our wagons, we take shots at opponents.

Imagine that we wanted to have a productive conversation. Imagine that we wanted to identify our irreducible philosophical and practical differences, seek areas of agreement and change some minds. What might we do?

First, we could stop culture-bundling. We culture-bundle when we use one political issue as shorthand for a big group of cultural and social values. Our unproductive talk about guns is rife with this. Gun control advocates don't just attack support for guns; they attack conservative, Republican, rural and religious values. Second Amendment advocates don't just attack gun control advocates; they attack liberal, Democratic, urban and secular values. The gun control argument gets portrayed as the struggle against Bible-thumping, gay-bashing, NASCAR-watching hicks, and the gun rights argument gets portrayed as a struggle against godless, elitist, kale-chewing socialists.

That's great for rallying the base, I guess, but that's about all. When you culture-bundle guns, your opponents don't hear "I'm concerned about this limitation on rights" or "I think this restriction is constitutional and necessary." They hear "I hate your flyover-country daddy who taught you to shoot in the woods behind the house when you were 12" and "Your gay friends' getting married would ruin America and must be stopped." That's unlikely to create consensus.

Second, we could recognize that accurate firearms terminology actually matters to the debate. Confused gun control advocates may suggest a ban on "semiautomatic weapons," believing that means automatic rifles, when it actually refers to nearly every modern weapon other than bolt-action rifles and shotguns. Such linguistic flimsiness drives the perception that mainstream gun control advocates want to take away all guns.

If you think precision doesn't matter, forget about guns for a second. Imagine I'm concerned about dangerous pit bulls, and I'm explaining my views to you, a dog trainer  but I have no grasp of dog terminology.

Me: I don't want to take away dog owners' rights, but we need to do something about pit bulls. We need restrictions on owning an attack dog.

You: Wait. What's an "attack dog"?

Me: You know what I mean. Like military dogs.

You: Huh? Pit bulls aren't military dogs. In fact "military dogs" isn't a thing. You mean like German Shepherds?

Me: Don't be ridiculous. Nobody's trying to take away your German Shepherds. But civilians shouldn't own fighting dogs.

You: I have no idea what dogs you're talking about now.

Me: You're being both picky and obtuse. You know I mean hounds.

You: Hounds? Seriously?

Me: OK, maybe not actually "hounds." Maybe I have the terminology wrong. I'm not obsessed with violent dogs the way you are. But we can identify breeds that civilians just don't need to own.

You: Apparently not.

Third, and perhaps most important, we can't debate gun rights when we're terrible at talking about rights in general.

The Second Amendment debate is full of assertions like "My right not to be shot outweighs your right to own a gun" and "I have an absolute right to own any gun I want." How can we evaluate these assertions, except on a visceral level?

When it comes to rights, we've lost the plot, particularly since 9/11. We don't know where rights come from, we don't know or care from whom they protect us, we don't know how to analyze proposed restrictions on them, and brick by brick we've built a fear-based culture that scorns them in the face of both real and imagined risks. We've become a nation of civic illiterates, mystified by the relationship between individuals and the government.

It is therefore inevitable that talk about gun rights will be met with scorn or shrugs, and that discussions of what restrictions are permissible will be mushy and undisciplined. Unless we approach all rights in a principled manner  whether it's the right to free speech in the face of offense, or the right to due process in the face of the war on terrorism  we're not going to have a productive debate about any of them.

I know. Productive debates sound like hard work. Unproductive debates are more fun. But can we leave those to Facebook?

Ken White is an attorney in Los Angeles. He writes about free speech and criminal justice at Popehat.com. He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.
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State Rep. Antonio Parkinson of Memphis is on a mission to get the Achievement School District out of this city, even if it means killing what is probably the state's most innovative school reform effort.

Parkinson, a Democrat, has teamed with state Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, to file bills in the House and Senate to abolish the ASD, questioning what Parkinson calls its lack of accountability in its failure to improve student performance as rapidly as the Shelby County Schools' Innovation Zone.

But is that a reason to kill a program that has created a competitive atmosphere that has benefitted children attending both ASD and iZone schools?

It is not, and Parkinson, we feel, is doing a disservice to his constituents by trying to end the ASD.

The ASD was created by the legislature in 2010 as an appendage of the State Department of Education to take over schools whose students rank in the lowest 5 percent statewide in terms of academic achievement and move them into the top 25 percent.

The ASD currently runs 29 schools  27 of which are in Shelby County  through charter school management companies under contract with the ASD.

There are myriad reasons for the significant resistance to the ASD in Memphis.

The ASD targeted Memphis for a major effort because of the dozens of failing schools here, nearly all in inner-city neighborhoods where poverty produces conditions that affect how well students perform academically.

Standardized tests in core subjects verified the depth of the problem.

From the beginning, some parents objected to outsiders taking over their schools. Never mind that children attending those schools were performing abysmally on the tests.

Some SCS board members did not like the idea that the ASD could arbitrarily take over a failing school.

Layered on top of that is concern about the $8,500-per-pupil in state education funding the district is losing to ASD takeovers. That funding is being lost while the district's operations overhead remains basically the same.

The ASD is trying to collaborate more with SCS and with parents on the takeovers.

Critics of the ASD are using a study published by Vanderbilt University last month that compared gains in student achievement at schools under the ASD's control and those in the Shelby County Schools' iZone. Both were established in the same year. Through their first three years of operation, the study found student achievement improved faster in the SCS iZone.

While acknowledging that fact, ASD supporters said the faster gains could be attributed to SCS working with students longer and, because of that, the ASD should be given more to time improve student gains.

Student academic progress has been achieved at schools in both the ASD and iZone, but those gains show there still is a long way to go to make sure nearly all children are learning at grade level.

Parkinson has used some over-the-top rhetoric in his attacks on the ASD, on one occasion calling ASD "the new slave trade."

That kind of inflammatory remark unfairly makes this a racial issue and unnecessarily detracts from the real issue:

The children who attend these failing schools are African-Americans who deserve a chance to receive a great education so they can escape the family and neighborhood conditions that portend academic failure and unsuccessful adulthood.

The ASD and iZone schools are using innovative strategies to make that happen, and the competition between the two has benefitted students.
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By Nathan Nascimento

Many Tennesseans rightly blame Washington for rising costs and fewer choices in health care.

But outdated state laws and regulations also contribute to this troubling trend, including Tennessee's decades old certificate of need (CON) laws. These certificates slow progress in local physicians' offices and reduce the quality of patients' care. With state legislators in session, repealing this unnecessary law should be their top priority.

The certificate of need process is the epitome of government red tape. Adopted in 1973, it requires Tennessee health care providers to obtain permission from the state Department of Health before adding new medical equipment, opening a new facility, expanding a current practice, or even relocating.

In practice, certificate of need laws drive up costs and deprive people of more health care choices. It requires reams of paperwork  forcing health care providers to satisfy bureaucrats over their patients. This is all in addition to other licenses and training requirements physicians face.

Although 14 states have repealed their own versions of these laws, Tennesseans continue to deal with the negative impact of this red tape.

Just applying for a CON often costs physicians thousands of dollars and many hours of time that should be reserved for their patients. Approval is hardly guaranteed, and yearslong appeals are not uncommon. For example, a Virginia physician spent five years and $175,000 just trying to get permission to add one MRI machine. Tennessee's certificate of need imposes similar obstacles.

Meanwhile, patients lose access to critical health care advances lost in bureaucratic limbo.

This bureaucracy ultimately limits the health care options available in Tennessee. Research from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University found that CON laws resulted in 8,500 fewer hospital beds across the state, for example. Many other kinds of medical technology are also less available for the people who need it.

The results of this are harmful on every level. Ambulatory surgical centers, for example, provide specialized care  often at significantly lower prices than traditional hospitals  yet are frequently denied CON approval.

For communities with limited medical facilities, state bureaucrats' denial of a certificate could easily mean locals have to travel far out of the way for more expensive treatment.

Unsurprising, the bureaucratic CON process drives up the cost of health care. A study by the Mackinac Policy Institute found per capita health care spending was 9 percent higher in certificate of need states. Even the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission publicly oppose certificate requirements.

In a 2014 report, they urged states to reconsider these laws, noting CONs "can actually lead to increased prices." The agencies also warned that these certificates could prevent higher quality and more innovative medical services from making it to the market.

Although these laws are obstacles to physicians seeking to help more patients, large hospitals and other established health care companies frequently support this bureaucratic nightmare. They see these CONs as legalized protection against competition. As the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission note, these laws allow some to exploit the process "to forestall the entry of competitors in their markets."

When health care providers submit their applications for a certificate, competitors are often invited to weigh in, and frequently succeed in blocking the certificate from being granted. In fact, practicing physicians and hospital representatives even sit on many state CON boards, regulating the very industry in which they work.

With lives at stake every day, there's no industry where quality and competition are more important than health care. The certificate of need puts both in bureaucrats' hands. For the sake of Tennesseans, all of whom deserve access to the best and most affordable health care, state legislators in Nashville should start 2016 by cutting the red tape blocking the door to the doctor's office.

Nathan Nascimento is director of state initiatives at Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.
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Yesterday, the Prime Minister had a meeting:

The Prime Minister welcomed the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, to Downing Street this morning. Following his release from prison, Mr Nasheed thanked the Prime Minister for the role the UK had played by continuing to raise his case, including with other countries at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting last November. They agreed that while Mr Nasheeds release was a positive step, more needed to be done and it was important for the Maldivian government to maintain momentum, which was necessary if real change is to be delivered. Looking ahead to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group visit to the Maldives next month, the Prime Minister and Mr Nasheed agreed this was an opportunity for all Commonwealth members to send a consistently strong message on the need for the Maldivian government to engage in open political dialogue and free all remaining political prisoners swiftly. Finally, the Prime Minister told Mr Nasheed that the UK would continue to raise concerns about the erosion of democracy and wider situation in the Maldives and it would also continue to discuss the situation with international partners, including how best the international community can make its concerns clear to the Maldivian government.

Quite a lot of the media coverage focused on the legal adviser present, Amal Clooney, but the real person of interest here is Nasheed (pictured). By my records the first time he appeared on ConservativeHome was in a report from the 2007 Party Conference, and his case has been repeatedly taken up on the site in the eight and a half years since then. Indeed, he himself has written for ConHome.

Its encouraging, therefore, to see his campaign for democracy in the Maldives being taken seriously in Downing Street. The above statement contains various comments about the international community and the Commonwealth, but I wonder how many of the tens of thousands of British holidaymakers who go there each year are aware that their trip to a sun, sea and sand paradise is helping to fund the islands brutal, islamist-linked government? The British Government could do worse than to make the reality of the Maldives clear to Brits looking for somewhere nice to visit.
Before the last election, Business for Britain listed ten EU renegotiation aims which David Cameron has championed (see the video above)  ending ever-closer union for Britain (we would be much more comfortable if the treaty specifically said so), cutting red tape, returning social and employment laws, protecting the city and financial services, protecting Britain from Eurozone meddling, fast-track international trade deals, cutting the EU budget, applying UK transparency laws, getting what Britain needs on free movement and restoring power to national parliaments.

Over time, the Prime Minister has dropped one of these aims outright (returning social and employment laws), has clearly backed off on another  since reforming welfare benefits alone will not get what Britain needs by halting the pace of immigration from the EU into Britain  and is debatably doing so on a third, since whether he is succeeding or failing in his aim of seeing the EU budget cut is arguable either way. His position now seems to be as explained to the Commons in the wake of Januarys European summit:

I have set out the four areas where Britain is seeking significant and far-reaching reforms: on sovereignty and subsidiarity, where Britain must not be part of an ever-closer union and where we want a greater role for national Parliaments; on competitiveness, where the EU must add to our competitiveness, rather than detract from it, by signing new trade deals, cutting regulation and completing the single market; on fairness for countries inside and outside the eurozone, where the EU must protect the integrity of the single market and ensure there is no disadvantage, discrimination or additional costs for a country like Britain, which is not in the euro and which in my view is never going to join the euro; and on migration, where we need to tackle abuses of the right to free movement, and deliver changes that ensure that our welfare system is not an artificial draw for people to come to Britain.

So Cameron still seems to be promising the delivery of the remaining seven aims  ending ever-closer union for Britain, protecting Britain from Eurozone meddling, protecting financial services, fast-tracking international trade deals, cutting red tape, more transparency and restoring power to national parliaments. But as he himself has intimated, delivering the first three at least (including George Osbornes brake) requires treaty change. Without such change, the European Court of Justice can still force ever-closer union, plus Eurozone and City meddling, on Britain.

The 40 or so Conservative MPs who want to meet the Prime Minister to discuss his renegotiation  the Sunday Telegraph reports their request today  know all this very well. They and others understand that only treaty change itself  rather than a mere promise of it  is bankable, since any leaders of other EU countries who promise to deliver it may not be around when the time for delivery comes, or may later find reasons for evading their commitment, and cannot commit the EU institutions to treaty change in any event.

Furthermore, as this site keeps pointing out, three EU countries must hold referendums on any proposed treaty change for it to be effected: France, the Netherlands and Spain. As we put it last year, any pledge of treaty change that Cameron gains must win the consent of voters in Kerry North-West Limerick, Friesland, Pyrenees-Atlantiques and so on to be made real. In addition, those 40, many other Tory MPs, most Party members and such senior Ministers as Michael Gove and Sajid Javid would set more ambitious reform aims in the first place.

It may be that the Prime Minister pulls a rabbit out of his hat: last weekends Sunday Times () floated a change in the law to make it clear that Parliament is sovereign. But the drift of his policy to date has been unmistakable: to Cameron, EU policy is primarily a matter of Party management. A magisterial article in yesterdays Financial Times detailed how he has both reduced and changed his demands over time: so, for example, proposals to cut access to migrant benefits are focus group-driven (and didnt even feature in his original EU reform speech at Bloomberg).

Those Tory MPs and Ministers thus face a clear choice. Of course Cameron should see any group of Conservative Parliamentarians who want to see him: thats part of what being a leader is all about. But any attempt to persuade him to undertake a fundamental renegotiation of our EU membership is a waste of time  theirs, his, everyones. He doesnt want to hold one. And the Conservative Manifesto  on which he won an election last year  doesnt commit him to. The choice is back him  and EU membership on roughly the present terms  or back Brexit. Now decide.
The Suicide Of A Hero

By M C Raj

24 January, 2016

Countercurrents.org

The suicide of Rohith Vemula has stirred the nations conscience and develop new paradigms of inclusive development. His suicide has brought a grim reminder to the rulers that they cannot develop India excluding Adijans (Dalits) from the portals of development. He has generated a new national discourse on the act of suicide forcing even the Prime Minister to call this as a loss to Mother India. However political this statement may be, that the PM has been compelled to make such a public statement speaks of the level of protest and new assertion on the part of the Adijans in India. I must confess that I know Rohith personally. During my visit to Hyderabad University a few years ago to address the Ambedkar Students Association that was still in the offing, Rohith was one of the young students who was in the leadership along with my friend Prem to make arrangements for my lecture. I do not dare to delve deep into the psyche of Rohit and imagine what would have gone on in his mind paving the path to his ultimate decision to kill himself.

That it is his decision is what has brought the Adijan politics in India live in an unprecedented manner. Even those who generally condemn suicide as a cowardly act are compelled now to sit back and re-examine their assumptions. Thus Rohit is maintaining his role alive even after death. His role was to challenge the oppressive system of which he had become an ultimate victim and he is still challenging conventional assumptions. Only some in history can do this.

He remains a living challenge to the caste system and its agents in India who have developed a sickening hatred to Adijans. Such an attitude is deeply ensconced in the systems of education in India. But then this is nothing new to a country that has a myth of their prime role model, Rama, chopping of the head of Shambuka, a Shudra, only because he dared to be educated. The caste forces in India would wish much that the rest of the world believed that caste discrimination is their past glory. Rohits institutional murder, as my friends call it, has brought to the fore very powerfully that caste discrimination is alive and kicking in India.

This suicide has reasserted what Manmohan Singh said immediately after assuming the office the PM that caste discrimination was worse than the Apartheid in South Africa. In his death Rohit has become alive to remind the international community all over the world that it has a prime responsibility to abolish all such bigotry, intolerance and apartheid in India.

India has the queer ploy of escaping into legalism when issues of discrimination are raised in the UN and other International forum. It takes shelter under the easy excuse of enactment of laws. Rohits suicide is reminding the world alive that the recent enactment of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 2015 replacing the same Act of 1989 can only be a farce. The agents of implementation of such laws are the same who want caste discrimination to continue and actively exercise caste discrimination in the institutions to which they belong.

Rohit is a victim of such institutions and their agents. That this country will take a long time to come to its senses is evident from the way ManusmritiIrani went about legitimizing the illegal steps of the immoral VC and Hostel Warden of the Hyderabad University. It is the strange combination that Rohit has brought to light in his suicide that the illegal and the immoral dwell together when it comes to caste in India. What belong to the so-called legal institutions also belong to the immoral upholders of caste. This makes it impossible for international communities to understand the quagmire of caste in India. Even it they understand, it is not possible for them to act as they have no time and power to extricate the illegal from the immoral.

In his suicide, Rohith has brought alive the dormant upsurge among the Adijans and their supporters that waited for such a chance to come out. This is one of the greatest achievements of this hero that his death brought alive the latent strength of the student community. Their protests have made him become the son of Mother India in his death from being an antinational when he was alive. If Adijan leadership goes into a snooze from here, as it usually does, it will not be able to sustain the tempo of being the sons of Mother India. It should continuously keep the rulers on their toe without waiting for the murder or suicide of another Rohith.

This will demand development of new discourses from where Rohit has left. Rohit has withdrawn from life. Its a grim reminder to the living Adijans that reacting to the system is not adequate. Rohit has explicitly state that he wants to reach the stars. There is a deeper meaning to this statement than meets the eyes. It has something to do with indigenous cultures all over the world. New Adijan discourses have to be developed not as a reaction to anything but as spontaneous eruptions of the history and culture of Adijans. It will mean development of new philosophical paradigms. It will mean delving deep into the cultural intricacies of the Adijans and posing them as meaningful alternatives to caste system. This is what research is all about.

Such researches will not be effective if they are done within the premises and parameters of the institutions that uphold caste system. The arena of battle has to shift to demanding Adijan Research institutions to he headed and guided by Adijans. Such a step would be a fitting tribute to the research scholar who could not be a living witness to the utter uselessness of caste institutions and of the Brahminic education system in India. His suicide will serve as a living reminder that Adijans should take a new institutional path. When this is done they will become not just Mother Indias sons but will be worthy children of their ancestors who are perched as starts in the limitless sky.

M C Raj is an Author of 22 published books including 7 fictions. He writes on philosophy, psychology and social issues. He is a social reformer working for Proportional Representation system in India. He also has initiated the Adijan Panchayat Movement in Karnataka.






FIR Registered By women Of Nendra village, Bijapur, Against Security Forces For Gang Rape And Loot

By Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)

24 January, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Mob threatens rape survivors tells them to return to village and not lodge an FIR against forces

After four trying days of chasing and pressuring authorities, the determination and resolve of the women of Bellam- Lendra (Nendra) village, Block Usur, Thana Basaguda, has finally paid off. An FIR has been registered against police and security forces by the Bijapur thana for sexual violence including gang rape, dacoity, and for plundering and looting the village.

The FIR registered by the women was in reference to an incident of large-scale violence that was meted out by the police and security forces during a search and combing operation carried out between the 11th and 14th of January in their village. With the help of human rights groups, the aggrieved women from Nendra reached Bijapur on the 18th and immediately petitioned both the Collector and the police authorities to register their complaint. With blatant disregard for the law and in clear violation of Supreme Court orders, the police needlessly stalled the registration of an FIR until the 4th day of the women's determined pressure.

In their statements recorded before the police and the SDM, the women identified some members of the forces by name, all of whom are surrendered militants. The women also testified to at least 13 gang rapes inflicted by the troops. Security forces consumed livestock, food rations and looted belongings, including money. They also tore up sheets and clothes and killed livestock that they did not eat  clearly reflecting an intention to make survival difficult for people. Threats of burning down houses with children inside were repeatedly made.

In a chance meeting, a three-member team of the National Commission of Women (NCW) present in Bijapur was able to meet with nine of the complainants and the WSS team accompanying them on the 22nd of January. On the 21st however, the administration and police made every effort to keep reports of this incident from reaching the NCW and attempted to prevent the women from meeting them. Finally, the team managed to file a complaint before the NCW carrying details of the incident.

On a troubling note however, while waiting to meet the NCW delegation, a mob of individuals identifying themselves as victims of Maoist violence appeared on the scene. They engaged in a discussion with some of the activists who were part of the team, hurling allegations at them of being Maoist supporters for taking up issues that pertained to violence by the forces but not violence by the Maoists. Some mob members questioned the women directly for registering an FIR against the forces and even threatened them, demanding that they leave Bijapur immediately. This altercation was extremely upsetting and intimidating for the 12 complainants, including 8 rape survivors.

The group, that included some ex-Salwa Judum members, seems to have the complete support of the police. They were ferried in what appeared to be police vehicles. Their sudden appearance on the seen, unrestricted by the police in anyway, indicates prior knowledge of the presence and objectives of the team. They followed the team from the meeting with the NCW to the thana (where some paper-work had to be completed for the medical examinations). They continued to blindly defend security forces despite the teams efforts to argue that as victims of violence, people should stand together rather than apart.

The required medical exams were completed on the 22nd, and the women have now returned to their village. In the next few days, another round of testimonies will have to be completed and the police insists on taking them, even though they have already been recorded once by the police and the SDM. Given that the women had already spent five days in Bijapur having left their homes and children, the police have said that they would travel to the village to record testimonies. However as has happened in the past, investigation conducted in the village is carried out by the police who go there accompanied by a convoy of security forces. Given that the accused are the security forces themselves, it is inconceivable that the survivors of violence will be able to participate in such a process free from fear and intimidation. Investigations must be sensitive to the survivors and have to be carried out with care and empathy. Under Section 157 of CrPC, investigations in case of rape must take place at a place of the survivors choosing. Given recent developments, we are concerned for the safety of the women and demand that further investigation take place in an atmosphere of security and comfort for the women. They must be assured that they will be free from intimidation from any source  the police or private groups. In addition we demand that investigation in such cases, and in particular this case, be moved from the accused police to an independent investigating agency, in order to ensure fairness and transparency.

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) is a non funded network of womens rights, dalit rights, human rights and civil liberties organizations and individuals across India. For more information visit wssnet.org Contact 9425600382/8435442650




ERIN McCRACKEN / Courier & Press Donna Marvel, a chemical engineer at Alcoa, checks the pits of the Ring furnace where she audits the quality of the carbon anodes being processed on Thursday, August 19, 2010. Marvel has been with Alcoa for 26 years, is the only woman in a department of nine colleagues, all who are men.

SHARE ERIN McCRACKEN / Courier & Press Donna Marvel, a chemical engineer at Alcoa, checks the pits of the Ring furnace where she audits the quality of the carbon anodes being processed on Thursday, August 19, 2010. Marvel has been with Alcoa for 26 years, is the only woman in a department of nine colleagues, all who are men. COURTESY ALCOA 1966 packship: - In this 1966 picture, employees prepare giant coils of aluminum for shipment to customers for use in aluminum beverage cans. Courtesy Alcoa Aerial - Located along the Ohio River near Yankeetown, Warrick Operations is celebrating 50 years of continuous operation in this community in 2010. This aerial picture is facing eastward. Alcoa Archives 1957 smelter construction: In 1957, construction began on the 150,000 ton-per-year smelter in Warrick County. Here, employees are paving the courtyard between two potlines. Today, Warrick Operations has five operating potlines with an annual capacity of 270 metric tons per year. Related Coverage End of an era: Alcoa Warrick smelter shuts down

By Susan Orr of the Courier and Press

This much seems certain: Alcoa Warrick Operations will shut down its aluminum smelter by the end of March, reducing its workforce by about a third.

It also seems certain that the smelter shutdown will have an economic impact on the Tri-State. Alcoa is a major employer, and also a major taxpayer. Any big change at Alcoa is bound to have ripple effects.

The smelter shutdown will reduce Alcoa's workforce by 600 jobs. The plant's rolling mill and power plant, which employ 1,235 people between them, will remain in operation.

But exactly how that impact is felt remains to be seen.

Most of the hourly workers at Alcoa are members of United Steelworker Local 104. Union representatives began meeting with Alcoa last week to work out details of the shutdown, including who loses their job as well as transfer opportunities.

No one would argue that a layoff, especially one of this size, is a positive development.

"It certainly makes us have pause. We're concerned about the 600 people that (will lose) their jobs," said Larry Taylor, executive director of economic development organization Success Warrick County.

But Taylor, and others, say they're optimistic that the displaced workers will rebound.

"I think we'll be able to place most of these people  I hate to jinx myself, but  fairly easily," said Jim Heck, executive director of Grow Southwest Indiana Workforce. The organization, which works with both job-seekers and area employers, is part of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

In just the first few days after the Alcoa news broke, Heck said his office already received inquiries from at least 15 other companies.

"There are a lot of employers that are very interested in these workers," Heck said.

Part of this interest, Heck said, is because manufacturers have a lot of job openings right now.

"This group of employees has the work ethic that employers are looking for," Heck said. "They've worked in pretty hard conditions, and they've worked many hours."

Notable milestones at Alcoa Warrick Operations

One concern, Heck said, is that the displaced workers might not find a job that matches their current pay.

"Alcoa tends to pay better than other employers in the area."

Local 104 members at Alcoa generally earn between $19 and $28 per hour, said Local 104 President David Willett.

Workers might also have to go through some skill-specific training to qualify for their next job, Heck said.

Alcoa's smelter shutdown will also impact workers outside of the operation.

The plant's power plant includes four coal-fired generating units, three of which are dedicated to powering Alcoa's plant.

After the smelter shuts down, the Alcoa plant won't need as much electricity, said company spokesman Jim Beck.

That means Alcoa won't need as much coal to fire its plants, Beck said.

Alcoa gets its coal from the Friendsville Mine in Wabash County, Illinois, and from the Liberty Mine in Warrick County. Both mines are operated by Evansville-based Vigo Coal.

On Tuesday, Vigo notified state officials that it will be laying off 66 employees by March 26 or within two weeks after that.

Vigo did not name Alcoa in the notification letter it sent the state. But Vigo did say the layoff was because of "its customer's decision to idle part of its operations resulting in a significant reduction in the amount of coal it will purchase from Vigo."

Tax Impact

Tax impact is another issue to consider.

Alcoa has been a major Warrick County taxpayer for decades.

In 1957, while Alcoa was still building its Warrick County plant, the county was already excited about the project's tax implications.

Warrick County Treasurer Woodrow Holder told the Evansville Press in August 1957 that Alcoa's arrival had put the county "in better financial shape than ever before."

"We're pretty well sitting on top of the earth," Holder said.

And in 1967, when Alcoa made a $758,265 tax payment, the news made headlines. A Nov. 9, 1967 Evansville Press story called Alcoa's payment the "biggest single tax payment in the 154-year history of Warrick County."

As Alcoa has grown, so have its tax payments.

Last year, Warrick County received $5.8 million in tax payments from Alcoa, said Warrick County Treasurer Pat Brooks.

Tax payments include taxes paid on real property  real estate  and on personal property  the equipment inside the buildings.

Brooks said the smelter shutdown will probably impact Alcoa's county tax payments, but the issue is complex.

"It's not an easy question to answer," Brooks said.

Alcoa owns more than 500 parcels of taxable property in Warrick County. Some of these parcels are part of the aluminum plant. Other parcels include buffer property near the plant; or coal mines.

To get a sense of the tax impact, Brooks said, you have to know which parcels will specifically be affected by the smelter shutdown. And that, she said, will take some analysis.

"How do you take it apart?"

Alcoa Warrick Operations spokesman Jim Beck said the plant will remove some property and equipment after the smelter shuts down.

"We are assessing the tax impact of that and we'll make sure we communicate that promptly to local officials," Beck said.

But Alcoa will also bring in some new equipment. Though it will no longer create aluminum through smelting, the plant will need to melt finished aluminum for use in its rolling mill.

That melting equipment will be newer than the smelting equipment, economic developer Taylor said. That means taxes paid on the new equipment will be higher because it hasn't fully depreciated.

"It could be a wash," Taylor said of the personal property tax impact.

Whatever the impact is, it won't show up for a while yet.

Warrick County Assessor Sarah Redman said any change in Alcoa's tax bill will show next year. And that tax bill isn't payable until 2018.

What's Next

Looking ahead, Taylor said he prefers to take a "glass half full" view on Alcoa's future prospects.

Fluctuating aluminum prices  something outside of Alcoa's control  caused the smelter shutdown, Taylor said.

But the remaining part of Alcoa Warrick Operations, its rolling mill, will be less sensitive to the metals market.

"Your destiny is somewhat within your own control. And if you have a group of resourceful people like I know they have at Alcoa Warrick, I kind of like those odds."
Holiday ballgame Charlie and Becky Sparrenberger visited their son and his family in Palo Alto, California, over the Christmas holiday. Under the tree were tickets to the Golden State Warriors/Cleveland Cavaliers NBA game on Christmas Day in Oakland, California, at the Oracle Center. Here we see Charlie and Becky during halftime.

Hamilton Former Evansville resident and 1994 Day School Grad Sarah Dill Upton got up close and personal with Broadway star Daveed Diggs. Mr. Diggs stars in the role of Thomas Jefferson in the mega hit Hamilton, showing in the Richard Rogers Theatre in Manhattan, New York.

Grand opening Commonwealth Engineers recently hosted their new location in the downtown Evansville area known as the Gateway to the Downtown Business District. Participating in the ribbon-cutting are from left Vince Sommers, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, Eric Parsley, David Hynes and City Council President Missy Mosby.
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By Megan Erbacher of the Courier and Press

Many career options don't require a four-year degree.

To help high school students understand this, the Indiana Youth Institute is hosting a seminar in Gibson County to teach educators and community members about job options students have after high school and skills that are needed.

In Gibson County, more than a third of all jobs are in the manufacturing sector, but positions across Southwestern Indiana go unfilled because of unqualified or a lack of applicants. Those jobs can pay on average $63,000 annually.

The Road to Automotive Careers is 7:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on February 10 at the Toyota Indiana Visitor's Center, 400 S. Tulip Tree Drive in Princeton. The event will include a tour of the Toyota Manufacturing Indiana facility.

Participants will learn, through panel discussions, presentations and group networking, how to educate and train students to pursue automotive careers in Gibson County and around the state. Speakers include Steven Braun, commission for the department of workforce development; and Leah Curry, vice president of manufacturing for Toyota Indiana.

Dave Turpin, plant manager at Futaba Indiana of America, Inc. in Vincennes, will be part of the workforce panel. Turpin said he hopes the event gives educators a better understanding of manufacturing as a whole.

The event is focused on making sure students know the jobs available, and how school and community partnerships can connect graduates to those jobs. Jobs available at Toyota will be discussed, and ways students can prepare for those jobs.

Many people assume, according to Turpin, that manufacturing means working on an assembly line. But there is more, he said, including robotic maintenance, tooling machinists and engineering.

"The automotive market continues to be very strong at this time and the future forecasts continue to look very promising," Turpin said. "Over the past several years, it has become extremely difficult to find enough qualified workers to fill the many positions available within the industry."

Anyone can attend the seminar, which costs $10. Those interested must register at iyi.org through the calendar section and click on the Postsecondary Pathways link.

The deadline for online registration is Feb. 8. If there are still open spaces, on-site registration will be an option.

A similar event, hosted by Indiana Youth Institute, is scheduled for Feb. 24 in Dubois County, focusing on general skill jobs in that area.
Photos by JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS Julie Benson of Evansville looks at the new What Happened Here science and history exhibit while pushing her 5 month-old son Halen at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science after it was introduced as part of the museums permanent collection in Evansville Saturday.

SHARE Viktoria Manion, 4, of Evansville feels some volcanic rocks that is part of the new What Happened Here science and history exhibit at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science after it was introduced as part of the museums permanent collection in Evansville Saturday.

By Robert Shipman

Locals can now expand their knowledge of Evansville history by about 15 billion years.

The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science on Saturday revealed the addition of a new science and history exhibition to its permanent collection.

"What Happened Here" is a timeline that presents a significantly abridged version of more than 15 billion years of geological and biological changes that occurred in Southwestern Indiana and, more specifically, Evansville.

Walking into the museum, guests are greeted with bold orange and brown shapes that represent an earth-forming volcano mid-eruption.

The timeline takes viewers though Pre-Cambrian Evansville up to the arrival of European settlers.

"What we wanted to do was create something that starts at the formation of the Earth and tell the story of this part of the world," Matt Wagner said.

The Evansville-based designer, along with Rachel Wameach and Dana Samples, designed the cartoon-like walk through time.

Wagner and Wameach previously worked on the museum's brand together, including the children's hands-on science section where the timeline begins.

"You're supposed to be able touch this (timeline). It's supposed to be tactile and interesting," he said.

Matt's favorite interactive feature is the replica of a mammoth's tooth. When handed the tooth, people think the sharp end is the crown. But it's actually the root and the display shows how it would sit in a mammoth's mouth.

"We really wanted to create something more fun so that when people come to it they're engaged in a different way," Wagner said. "It's got bright colors that tie to the colors on the other side and a lot of the shapes and imagery that we use are very simple forms."

The wall's illustrations were designed to reflect that of a children's book to make the timeline understandable for all ages.

"This is more in our wheelhouse, this style of illustration, because we are more designers than painters, or artists," said Wameach, a local designer. "We also wanted to create a balance between realism and too abstract, so we kept it more fun and illustrative."

Following the exhibition's unveiling, the museum hosted its monthly family day, Super Saturday, that consisted of activities that tied into the ice age portion of the timeline.

Children made cave art and learned about the destructive power of glaciers.

The timeline is part of a $200,000 gift from Toyota to the museum's capital campaign and the process took around 18 months to complete.

Over the past 18 years, Toyota has donated more than $550,000 to the Evansville Museum and recently donated a grant of $25,000 to support the Evansville Museum's Super Saturday programming and an upcoming exhibition to be revealed next fall about Tennessee slave owners.

Evansville Museum curators Karen Malone and Tom Lonnberg contributed to the historical aspect of the timeline.

Malone said they wove limestone and coal formation into the timeline because of their impact on the local economy and the hardwood forest that connects to the Reitz Home.

Historical data for the timeline came from collaboration with Angel Mounds State Historic Site, and the University of Southern Indiana's Department of Geology & Physics and Department of History.

"We really wanted to make sure that (the timeline) was very regional oriented  Evansville as well as the Southwestern Indiana region," said Malone, who has a background in geology. "We were trying to really tell the story of why our geology connects to the city of Evansville and why we have a very unique place."
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By Robert L. Koch Ii

A lot has changed since my great grandfather established the George Koch Tin Shop in Evansville in 1873. Leadership has transferred through five generations and our once small family business has grown into Koch Enterprises with seven operating businesses. While many other companies have come and gone in the past 140-plus years, we've found success by focusing on steady and consistent growth.

As a board member of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, I see these values I hold as a business owner emulated by Gov. Mike Pence and the state of Indiana. Since its establishment in 2005, the IEDC and the state have committed to improving our economy and ensuring quality jobs for all Hoosiers across the state. Much like a business, the key is persistence.

These constant efforts to advance Indiana as the best place for business have resulted in dramatic achievements. Since January 2013, unemployment in Indiana has dropped from 8.4 percent to 4.4  a 14-year low. And just last year, we surpassed the state's all-time employment record, which was last set in 2000. Today, more Hoosiers are going to work than at any time in Indiana's history. That's a true testament to the state's efforts to support job creation and to the resiliency and dedication of Indiana business owners.

But the real success, the real winners in this are the hardworking Hoosiers. Employees are much more than just that. At Koch, we are a team and a family. This is the backbone of our success. We take our time when hiring because we demand top talent with the knowledge, skill and dedication to contribute to a growing business. In turn, we invest in not only those we hire, but in the communities and schools shaping future applicants.

And I'm not alone. Job creators across Indiana are improving employee wages, as nearly 60 percent of the 138,800 private sector jobs created in the past two years have been above the state's average wage. At the IEDC, average wages of committed jobs are not only above the Indiana average but have increased by 14 percent  to $24.87 per hour  from 2014.

As Indiana forges ahead toward full employment, this trend will only continue as the pool of job applicants decreases. In order to land and retain top talent, employers will have to bid to compete. Consider Lincoln, Nebraska, where unemployment has dipped to 2.3 percent. According to The Wall Street Journal, wages there have surged by about 10 percent in just one year's time and job creators are offering hiring bonuses and other benefits to attract employees.

A recent article in The Times ("Indiana income lags further and further behind") notes that Indiana's average income remains below the American average, but it fails to consider the true value of Hoosier wages. In Indiana, we enjoy not only the lowest cost of living in the Midwest but we boast the third-lowest cost of living in the nation. According to the Tax Foundation, $100 in the United States is worth $109 here in the Hoosier State.

Each dollar earned in Indiana goes further here than in other states, contributing more to groceries, housing, health care and transportation costs. While I proudly share this with any non-Hoosier I meet, Indiana has refused to settle. That's why the state is taking further action: Cutting taxes to reduce overhead costs for employers, making unprecedented investments in education, vocational training and workforce development, and igniting a plan to improve culture and livability through the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative to attract top talent.

These efforts are not isolated. Each move contributes to improving the quality of jobs for Hoosiers. It is a long-term commitment that requires strategy and persistence. Jobs are up, unemployment is down and Hoosier wages are on the rise because Indiana is taking the lead in providing a climate in which businesses can grow and succeed.

Robert L. Koch II is chairman of Evansville-based Koch Enterprises and a director with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
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As First Lady of the world's most famous space club, Shelly had duties that reportedly included handling Tom Cruise, trying to reign in his crazy and allegedly handpicking Katie Holmes to be his bride. She oversaw the renovations to Cruise's mansion, and even ran the Church itself while David was away on other business. For a woman of such a high profile, it seems awfully strange that no one has seen or heard from Shelly since August ... of 2007.

It Gets Weirder:

For one thing, no one can actually prove that Shelly is missing.

When Mrs. Miscavige failed to turn up for the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes back in 2006, actress Leah Remini committed the unthinkable crime of asking where she was. The harassment that followed was so extreme that Remini decided "fuck this whole Scientology thing" and left the Church.

Tony Ortega

Keep in mind, this is a woman with the pain tolerance to survive nine seasons of making King Of Queens.

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Remini later decided to file a missing persons report on Miscavige, but after a suspiciously lax investigation, the LAPD concluded that Shelly was perfectly fine. Scientology's official stance on the matter is that she's simply so damn busy with the Church's "special projects" that she hasn't had time to step outside her room. For almost ten years. Just, like, so busy, you guys.
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"So, um, nice visit. Say hi to dad for me."

Heather had the same one for years: "I would stare at the wall, which was white, and it would swell like a marshmallow into my mouth and down my throat until it was choking me."

Think that sounds horrifying? What would you do if you woke up to find dozens of hyper-evolved pigs circling your bed? Kevin knows exactly what he would do: "One time, I had been dreaming about pigs and evolution and screwing up the pig's evolutionary cycle to get ahead, and when my father woke me up, there were pigs running around the room with spears on their backs. I run and jump in the shower as soon as I can before the pigs can come in and stab me with the spears, but as soon as I came out of the shower I realized, oh, that was just a dream."

jacquesdurocher/iStock/Getty Images

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"Yes ... a dream ..."

This shit really messes with your waking life. Sure, it's not hard to tell yourself that the murderous pig-men weren't real, but what about something more mundane? The dreams and hallucinations are so vivid that "sometimes I'll have to think hard about whether something really happened or if I dreamed it," Kevin says. "It can be conversations I had a week ago."

There's also sleep paralysis, which you've likely experienced yourself once or twice. But if not: "You're fully awake, but you can't move, you can't speak," Lexi says. "It's pretty terrifying. It can last anywhere from one to 20 minutes." Heather adds, "A normal, healthy person might have sleep paralysis a few times in their lives, but I might have 15-20 episodes of sleep paralysis in a single night. It sucks, a lot."


D.H. Lawrence in Studies in Classic American Literature.

Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper function of the critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it.
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Greenwich Avenue is the place to be for shops of all sizes.

But with demand comes a price too high to pay for retailers barely breaking even, and as a result a constant turnover on Greenwich Avenue has changed the face of the illustrious street from a haven for local business to a nationally known corridor for luxury retail.

Rent prices on the so-called 50-yard line of Greenwich Avenue  the blocks between Lewis and Bruce streets  range from about $120 to $150 per square foot, according to Cory Gubner, president, CEO and founder of Stamford-based RHYS Commercial Real Estate. RHYS has played a part in leases and sales of several locations on the avenue this past year.

Its a natural thing to see a lot of movement on Greenwich Avenue, Gubner said. In most years, theres always a lot of moving pieces. When you have high rents like that, not everyone can make it. You have to be the type of retailer that can, whether youre local or national.

At least six Greenwich Avenue properties are transitioning to a new tenant, and several more are expected to come available in the next few months as construction on various properties  including Pickwick Plaza at the top of Greenwich Avenue  wraps up.

At 283 Greenwich Ave., trendy New York City clothier Scoop has closed to make way for COS, a luxury brand owned by Swedish retail giant H&M. Casablanca is relocating from 113 Greenwich Ave., which will become the new home of Allen Edmonds. Locally owned toy store and childrens hair salon Grahams is closing at 60 Greenwich Ave.

Comptoir des Cotonniers is subletting 271 Greenwich Ave. to luxury clothing store Velvet, and 352 Greenwich Ave., the former home of Beame and Barre, will become Athleta.

At the end of 2015, Sharis Place signed a lease for the prime retail space at 117 Greenwich Ave., the former home of Betteridge Jewelers, which moved to a larger space at 239 Greenwich Ave.

Ron Brien, principal and managing director at Alliance Commercial Property, said this time of year is often when businesses that have been on the verge of closing will choose to move ahead with it.

A lot of stores which are contemplating closing or relocating like to make it through the holiday season, because usually from Thanksgiving through New Years are their biggest sales for the year, Brien said. So depending how the Christmas season goes has a significant impact on whether or not the store continues to stay open. It is common in January for stores in general to make that decision.

Shelley Steinberg, owner of Grahams on Greenwich Avenue for the past 13 years, cited rising rents as a big reason for the stores closure, which will happen at the end of the month.

The rents are not sustainable for small businesses, Steinberg said.

Gubner said the right type of business and the right location can make Greenwich Avenue a prime location for local retailers or national and global chains.

Theres actually bargains on the street for those local businesses that cant afford the 50-yard line, Gubner said. Theres opportunity for small businesses to get in. ... The top of the avenue has several vacancies for well under $100 per square foot, and the same with the bottom of the street.

Gubner said luxury retailers, particularly on-trend womens clothing, jewelry stores and restaurants, are the most likely locally owned businesses to succeed on Greenwich Avenue.

Despite high turnover, vacancy rates have fallen substantially, according to RHYS, to about 3 percent from almost 5 percent in 2013.

Brien cited high demand for space on Greenwich Avenue as the reason for low vacancy rates.

A lot of times, people will see a sign or a business close and think theres another vacant space on Greenwich Avenue, when in reality that space has already been leased to the next tenant, Brien said. I know of half a dozen national stores that are looking to open on the avenue. The good news for Greenwich Avenue is when someone closes, theres always a line of stores that want the location. There are exceptions, but generally its relatively easy to fill a vacant space in Greenwich than in other towns across the country because it is a high-demand retail street. Theres already someone new around the corner that wants to open in Greenwich.

KKrasselt@scni.com; 203-625-4411; Twitter: @kaitlynkrasselt
There is no doubt that big data plays a crucial role for marketing departments in todays insight-driven campaigns. However, the data that marketers need to pay much closer attention to reflects the buying patterns and preferences of the multicultural population.

After all, this group, which will represent 138 million members of the total U.S. population by 2020, will greatly outspend white non-Hispanic households throughout their lifetimes. To be exact, currently active Asian and Hispanic households on average will out-spend white non-Hispanic households by more than $800,000 and $300,000, respectively, during the remainder of their lifetimes.

Related: You Don't Need Much Cash to Implement These 5 Essential Marketing Strategies

To understand the multicultural customer poses a unique challenge to marketers, as each demographic group is more complex and diverse than race alone. Preferences depend on the countries that customers emigrate from and where they put down roots, and purchasing decisions vary based on the amount of time that they have spent in the U.S. These factors contribute to buying history and preferences, of which marketers must have a deep understanding to attract the attention and dollars of this powerful consumer pool.

With an eye towards more granular, data-driven multicultural campaigns, here are three multicultural marketing metrics that truly matter to brand success.

1. Country of origin

Simply put, consumers from two different countries are likely not purchasing the same products. It is crucial that marketers use data on these buyers to sort them based on country of origin. Doing this allows marketers to analyze what people from each country prefer, how much of it they buy, when they buy it, and how much they are willing to spend.

Consider the following example: Alex from Mexico has moved to New York City. Simultaneously, Marie from Honduras has also moved to New York City. They live in the same neighborhood and shop at the same grocery store. The marketer whose surface-level data reveals that both consumers are from Latin America, but does not offer insight on their specific countries of origin, will create a generic advertisement, assuming the preferences of Latin American customers.

Conversely, the marketer whose granular multicultural data reveals the countries of origin of these two buyers will experience greater marketing success due to his ability to understand more deeply what Alex and Marie want, thus enabling him to create targeted marketing messages for both consumers.

2. Neighborhood-level demographic insights

Two consumers living in the same state -- or even the same city  does not mean that the same marketing strategies will attract them both. It is essential to have specific data on exactly where buyers live and shop on a neighborhood level to build informed and personalized campaigns that speak to each customer.

If we return to Alex from Mexico and Marie from Honduras, lets imagine that the two have both moved to New York City but live in different neighborhoods. Alex lives in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, while Marie lives in a neighborhood heavily-populated by Hondurans. Both are likely to shop at stores closer to their homes.

Now envision that a convenience store is considering opening a location in New York CIty. It will be essential that the stores marketing team be aware of which ethnic group occupies each neighborhood in order to stock the shelves accordingly.

Related: 3 Millennial Marketing Tips From Taylor Swift

3. Acculturation level

Acculturation is the level of which multiculturals retain their native cultures while incorporating elements of the new culture that they have joined. In the past, many immigrants sought to rid themselves of their native cultures to blend in with American culture, seeking acceptance. Today, this has changed drastically -- immigrants to the U.S. want to retain their cultures, share it with those around them, and also integrate elements of their new culture.

Marketers must understand how acculturated consumers are in order to develop the best product messaging, place merchandise in the right locations and price goods to attract the right customer, which in turn will maximize consumer spending.

Lets examine another case: Rosa and Gabriela moved to Texas from Peru. Rosa has been in the state for 12 years, while Gabriela arrived just four months ago and is getting accustomed to the American lifestyle. These two women walk into a large grocery store shopping for food, however, they will not have the same items in mind. Gabriela may shop for groceries that remind her of her culture, while Rosa is more acculturated to the American way and is less focused on buying foods that remind her of the culture that she came from.

The marketer who has data on Rosa and Gabrielas different levels of acculturation is able to connect with them on personal level, marketing the right food products to the right buyer.

4. Buying history and preferences

Both country of origin and acculturation level contribute to the buying preferences of multicultural consumers. As these consumers spend more time and money in the U.S., marketers collect more and more data about their buying history, creating personas for each unique buyer. With these personas in mind, marketers are empowered to create marketing campaigns that connect with each persona.

To continue our previous example, Gabriela, who is highly acculturated from Peru and is familiar with American brands of clothing has her specific buying preferences. In contrast, Rosas unfamiliarity may cause her to be hesitant to try new brands and styles. The only way to truly differentiate between both consumers is to examine their buying history.

Without granular multicultural data, marketers ineffectively attempt to sell their products to those who do not yet understand them or feel compelled to buy them. They waste money and time developing campaigns that few consumers will connect with. Acquiring a deep appreciation for the differences that make multicultural consumers unique pays off in the long term, allowing marketers to cultivate lasting relationships with customers.

Related: Want to Learn More About Marketing? Check Out These 43 Websites.

Related:

Multicultural Marketing Is All About the Metrics

5 Marketing and Branding Tips to Scale Your Online Business

4 Ways to Dramatically Increase Email Subscriptions



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Double murder trial day 4: A star witness for the prosecution backed out in the courtroom
State Board of Education lays down law on race, gender teachings

School boards will have to follow new requirements for notifying parents about policies involving access to bathrooms and locker rooms.
Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of Will Smith, has announced the couple (pictured at the Oscars in 2014) will boycott next month's ceremony because not a single black actor has been shortlisted for an award

Being a teenage cub reporter on Tyneside wasn't easy. Blokes in uniform from the emergency services talked only to other blokes. Men who should have known better, barristers and the like, worked on the assumption you knew nothing of the law.

Off the top of my head I can remember a senior detective driving me to a remote country pub for a 'briefing' and trying to get me into bed (I had to call my dad from the payphone in the bar, and ask him to come and fetch me), and the subject of a story who told me: 'I'm going to open your pretty face.'

Later in my career, there was the day my first Fleet Street boss arrived in Manchester from London and asked me to put the kettle on because he'd never seen me in the flesh and assumed anyone with big hair and a small skirt was the tea girl.

I'm (mostly) good at what I do, and being a miner's daughter, grit and optimism run through me like a coal seam. I never complained or cried; I just figured they were a bunch of misogynist losers and one day, when I'd got to wherever it was I was going, I'd embarrass the lot of them in a column. You know who you are, you hairy-toed old knuckle-draggers.

It wasn't completely fair, no. I could have had a sweeter start but then I didn't have to chain myself to railings or throw myself under the King's horse to make progress in my life as a working woman either.

Sexism is grim but there are sensible, practical ways of dealing with it, and then there's the nuclear-strike option which claims victims on both sides. The same goes for other kinds of discrimination, which brings me to the massive racism row over this year's Oscars.

Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of actor Will Smith, has announced the power couple will boycott next month's big night because, for the second year running, not a single black actor has been shortlisted for an award.

Charlotte Rampling has described this as 'anti-white racism' and suggested: 'Maybe the black actors don't deserve to be on the final stretch.'

Sir Michael Caine has similarly said: 'You can't vote for an actor because he's black. You've got to give a good performance.'

Boom. Social media meltdown. Tinseltown in uproar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences urgently committed to 'doubling the number of women and diverse members' by 2020. Five weeks out from Oscar night on February 28 and Alfred Hitchcock himself could not have created more sinister atmospherics. And still the threat of a black boycott, a nightmare in the city of dreams.

This year Dame Maggie Smith, 81, was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Lady In The Van

What's true and telling is the nominees are picked by an Academy which is 93 per cent white, according to the LA Times. It's also 77 per cent male, and 85 per cent are aged 50 and over, so not very diverse. It's easy to see why black Hollywood feels it's been snubbed. But what to do about it?

One suggested remedy is mandatory diversity  Oscar quotas in other words  the kind of politically correct plan which creates discrimination of a different sort even while it's trying to level the playing field. We know all about that from modern feminism, from women-only shortlists in politics, and certainty that the occasional plum job in public life will be given to a woman because the time is right.

But what's the point of a glittering prize if it's not 24-carat, merely gold plate? If I'd been a shoo-in for a job because my chromosomes are XX and not XY, I'd always know I was a fake and so would you. Worse still, a genuinely worthy man would have been deprived.

So as far as the Oscar row is concerned I'm with young black actor O'Shea Jackson Jr, who plays his father, the rapper Ice Cube, in Straight Outta Compton. 'All we can do,' he said, 'is sharpen up our tools and give them something that they definitely can't deny.' In other words acknowledge that racism exists and it won't be eradicated by quotas; don't demand an ugly, politicised boycott but be so dazzlingly brilliant you can't fail. Wise and inspiring words.

Actually if you look to Hollywood you'll see another discriminated against minority group who've already done as he suggests: older women.

After decades of controversy about their treatment in the film industry, this year Dame Maggie Smith, 81, was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Lady In The Van, while Charlotte Rampling, 69, is up for an Oscar for her film, 45 Years.

Dame Helen Mirren, 70, was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award, and could win a Screen Actors Guild Award for the movie Trumbo, while Jane Fonda, 78, was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Hollywood Film Award for Youth.

Lily Tomlin, 76, and enjoying her first lead role for 27 years in Grandma, was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Clever girls. They've overcome the very real discrimination they faced  ageism  with their work. Jada Pinkett Smith, a mere 44 and utterly rubbish in her last film, Magic Mike XXL, could take a masterclass from them. And I don't just mean in acting.

This time next year we'll be watching the inauguration of the next US President. Michelle Obama, out of a job as FLOTUS, has revealed that one of the things she is most looking forward to is being allowed to open a window without getting security clearance. If the Trumpa-Loompas manage to get The Donald into the White House, that's not a problem his wife Melania is ever going to have. I can't imagine he's let a rogue breeze rustle through his combover for quite some time.

God, Mariah... I wish I had a ring as vulgar as yours

The diamond engagement ring given to Mariah Carey, left, by billionaire businessman James Packer is worth up to 8 million and is 35 carats, two carats bigger than the Krupp diamond Richard Burton gave Liz Taylor. That's super-size vulgar  and big enough to concuss a hippo at close quarters. I so wish it were mine.

The diamond engagement ring given to Mariah Carey, pictured, by billionaire businessman James Packer is worth up to 8 million

How come in our increasingly paperless society there's more and more paperwork to do? What used to be just admin when I was single turned into wedmin (wedding admin), then with the arrival of children fadmin (family admin). It's driving me bonkers  madmin, surely?  and above all making me miss doing things I really want to do. Sadmin.

The Archers has gone for one of its tricky social realism storylines again. Stuff the milk quotas or whether the Village Hall will be open in time for Easter  it's all about the dastardly Rob Titchener and the domestic abuse he's perpetrating against his wife Helen, nee Archer. Check out his avatar on the Twitter page of Ambridge Synthetics, which recreates scenes from the drama using Playmobil-style plastic toys. Rob is, quite rightly, a vampire.
Time was when the Chancellor would blag a ride home from Davos on a donor-funded private jet.

But last week Austerity George whisked in and out in the same modest style as the poorer visitors to the Swiss mountain resort  your columnist included.

When a deep-pocketed major businessman offered him a lift home in jet-set style, Osborne joked that he had to keep his feet on the ground.

George Osborne turned down a private jet trip home from Swiss resort Davos, according to Anne McElvoy

In part, that is because he has been chastened by the recent revelation that he took a helicopter, paid for by a wealthy property developer, to a constituency dinner.

But these days, Osborne eschews the late-night company of Davos party host Nat Rothschild, his old chum with whom he once hobnobbed on a yacht alongside Peter Mandelson.

Rakish Rothschild held his annual bash in a private chalet near the resort on Friday night  complete with lithe Russian dancers and bucketloads of champagne. But Osborne made his excuses in favour of a quiet dinner.

What lies behind the more low-key approach, I can reveal, is an ambitious new business plan for Osborne Plc, moving him closer to succeeding David Cameron.

An important part of that, Im told by sources close to the Chancellor, is showing off his command of complex global economics and their impact on Britain. Brand George, jokes a City supporter, is undergoing global expansion.

Not long ago, stiff George ranked as the more saturnine sidekick to amiable Cameron. Now he gives confident, sweeping speeches at international events such as Davos, alongside International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde and American Secretary of State John Kerry.

Talk does not cook rice, said Osborne, showing off his devotion to Chinese proverbs, at a select lunch hosted at Davos by the Confederation of British Industry  a star billing for Osbo.

After the speech, I can confirm that he admitted for the first time that the period in 2012  when even senior Tories were calling for a Plan B on austerity  had been personally testing.

And as he set out his personal economic credo, Osborne also took credit for proposing Lagarde, the chiselled French glamazon, to head the IMF. And I have just done so again, he said pointedly.

Given that Lagarde is embroiled in a messy court case about the business affairs of a controversial French tycoon when she was finance minister, the Chancellor has stuck his neck out for a friend in need.

But Georges support for Lagarde has not been without payback. The IMF, once critical of his austerity imposition, has become a lot more positive about the Chancellors economic policies.

Lagarde also gave a stirring speech at Davos supporting Cameron and Osborne on the necessity of an In vote on Brexit.

True, some of those in the audience found Georges tone a tad smug, given the propensity of finance ministers to end up at the mercy of events.

The release of The Big Short, a film starring Brad Pitt which excavates the 2007-08 financial crash, is a reminder of just how far governments can lag behind world-shaking events.

One outspoken British financial media boss, now based in America, dubbed the speech a wonderful me performance. But it did deftly showcase the Chancellors economic outlook.

George prophesied global gloom  bad for us, but not so much for him, as it offers him a ready-made excuse if growth and some sluggish trade figures do not improve.

Osborne's own austerity measures are part of a plan to move him closer to No. 10 Downing Street and David Cmaeron's (pictured) job

Any gloom, Osborne claimed, is offset by opportunities for Britain as a trading centre in Indian bonds and he put up a punchy defence of his cosying up to the Chinese (its a long-term investment, apparently).

He teased the well-fed audience that he didnt have to be nice to them, given that there was not a lot of competition for the business vote back home.

Jeremy Corbyn, he noted, has threatened to interfere with their dividends and supported the return of disruptive secondary pickets. And thats just in a week!

Sir Martin Sorrell, the advertising mogul, stood up to joke that George was moving surely up the political equivalent of the corporate ladder.

I noticed Georges main Cabinet loyalist, Sajid Javid, applauding vigorously, and the Chancellor blushed, while allowing himself a small smirk at the prediction of the top job.

Fortune favours the brave, he told the entrepreneurs. Id say, buoyant Global George is feeling pretty bold himself  just as long as those global headwinds dont smash too hard into UK Plc.

Jeremy Corbyns private office has never been the most tranquil of places.

But a clear victor has emerged from the recent ructions within Team Corbyn  Seumas Milne.

The ex-Guardian journalist, left  known as Chairman Milne  has smoothed over the potentially damaging resignation of Neale Coleman, an ally of Ken Livingstone, from his role of head of policy and rebuttal.

I understand that Coleman will be kept on side with a more limited role, overseeing a constitutional overhaul of local authority powers.

Seumas Milne, pictured right, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, left

All this will deepen the anxieties of Labour moderates about powers being granted to Left-leaning local councils.

Jeremy hates conflict on his team, says an MP close to Jezza. He blames his Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for stirring up discord.

But the net effect of peace talks this week, my source says, is that Milnes team will be extended  giving him a bigger power base.

Another Livingstone ally Simon Fletcher will, for now, remain as the Labour leaders Chief of Staff.

But Jeremys team will end up considerably smaller than Seumass expanding army, predicts the MP.

Most guests at the World Economic Forum have long stopped counting the cost of the exorbitant prices for accommodation.

A modest two-bed chalet goes for 6,500 during the conference. But a top-ranker at a Silicon Valley tech company tells me that he got a shock when his company secured a meeting with the president of Estonia and needed a private place to talk.

He was offered a hastily converted luggage room at the Hotel Belvedere.

The price for the shortish meeting? 6,000. I hear that the presidents wife eyed up a bottle of burgundy left on the table as a freebie and suggested that they might as well drink it.

A jolly expensive tipple  even for Davos.

Davos is a magnet for discarded politicians. David Miliband was there drumming up help for refugees in his role as head of the International Rescue Committee.

I bumped into Gordon Brown in a corridor, still bashing away at his favourite topic of infrastructure improvement.

A greying Tony Blair was busy on the main stage giving David Cameron lessons on how to win the EU referendum.

And over late-night pizza, Rachel Whetstone reminisced with friendly Blairites about how she went into battle for her old boss, former Tory leader Michael Howard. Ah, those glory days
The police are too powerful. They are also too feeble. Unless we put both these things right very soon, this will become a very dangerous country.

We are all less free than we used to be. We have to be careful what we say, especially if we work in the public sector. We are under constant surveillance, from CCTV cameras, and thanks to snoopers who monitor our calls and internet use. If, for some reason, the authorities take against us we can be plunged, in an instant, into an unexpected underworld of highly publicised suspicion that can last for years and ruin us with legal fees, even if at the end they sullenly drop the charges.

Nobody is safe from this. If a field marshal in his 90s can be raided at home by 20 officers at breakfast time, and subjected to questioning and searches on the basis of the wild fantasies of an unhappy nobody, then so can you. And though the police themselves will insist they have not released your name, dont be surprised if this Trial By Plod somehow becomes very public, very quickly.

The police are too powerful. They are also too feeble. Unless we put both these things right very soon, this will become a very dangerous country

Yet, at the same time, ordinary crime and bad behaviour  the things the law now regards as trivial  grow unchecked around us. Who now lives in a town free of graffiti and vandalism, or one where Friday night has not become menacing, drunken and loud?

Years ago, when I first noticed that something had gone badly wrong with the police, readers would write in and chide me for being rude about a force they still trusted. I get very little of that now. Respect for the police has largely disappeared among the law-abiding classes, and seldom survives any actual contact with them. Now I brace myself for apparently organised abuse from police officers themselves. I should warn them that this behaviour only helps to make my point.

Their Im all right Jack mentality and refusal to accept just criticism is as bad as anything trade unionists used to do and say back in the 1970s.

I have to say, because I hope it is true, that not all police officers have this mentality, but a distressing number do.

Ordinary crime and bad behaviour grow unchecked around us. Who now lives in a town free of graffiti and vandalism, or one where Friday night has not become menacing, drunken and loud?

The police have been subjected to a 30-year inquisition and revolution, in which old-fashioned coppers have been pushed aside (and into retirement) by commissars of equality and diversity. Deprived of their proper occupation, preventive patrolling on foot (long ago abolished), they have become officious paramilitary social workers. These new police are obsessed with the supposed secret sins of the middle class, and indifferent to the cruel and callous activities of the criminal class.

They are also in the grip of a dogma that excuses ordinary crime by blaming it on bad housing and poverty (in one of the worlds most advanced welfare states).

Only a small part of this crime even reaches the courts any more. Much of it is dealt with, if at all, by empty cautions and laughable restorative justice. The police can then concentrate on what really bothers them. Yet when they turn sternly on the middle classes, they act like continental examining magistrates, who assume everyone is guilty before trial (and sometimes even say so) and demand that suspects co-operate in their own prosecution.

We are under constant surveillance, from CCTV cameras, and thanks to snoopers who monitor our calls and internet use

They can arrest, noisily and in large numbers and at miserable times of day, to punish people who have never been found guilty of anything. In most cases, these people would have come willingly to an interview. They can seize property vital to peoples livelihoods, and hang on to it for months. They can grant supposed police bail, so allowing them to keep their chosen victims under suspicion for years.

When these things mysteriously become public, they can deny responsibility, and who can prove otherwise?

This is oppressive, dangerous and scandalous. The treatment of Lord Bramall may be the last warning we get that it has gone too far, and the best chance to turn the police back into the friends of the public, and the enemies of crime and disorder.

Picking a fight we cannot win

Do you really think the Russian deep state couldnt have murdered Alexander Litvinenko secretly, in such a way that we could never have traced it to them?

The oddest thing about this case is the use of a violently radioactive, totally traceable poison, and the conduct of the two alleged killers, whose revolting deed was mismanaged in a way that would be comic if a man had not died as a result.

Meanwhile, the two suspects prance about in public (I once met a smirking Andrei Lugovoi in Moscow, as he strolled through an expensive hotel).

Do you really think the Russian deep state couldnt have murdered Alexander Litvinenko (pictured on his deathbed) secretly, in such a way that we could never have traced it to them?

This is surely a gesture of angry contempt, against which Moscow knows we are more or less powerless to react effectively. We might wonder why. Maybe it has something to do with our courts refusing to extradite people such as the Chechen leader Akhmed Zakayev, regarded in Moscow as terrorists, and then giving them political asylum.

Whether this decision was right or wrong (and I dont know enough to say), you can see why it might annoy them. Despite being an increasingly insignificant country, we have got ourselves involved with some big and nasty people in a rather rough neighbourhood. I hope its worth it.

At least poor Leo's not the 6.22 from Paddington

Theres one good reason to see the overrated new film The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Its not as good as they say. I longed for subtitles and the only character whose dialogue I clearly understood was the grizzly bear. She said Grrrrrr as if she meant it.

But if you are a regular railway commuter, this immensely long movie will reconcile you to your lot. After what seems like about nine hours, unable to get to the lavatory, confronted with incessant cold, revolting meals of raw offal, charmless travelling companions, your uncomfortable journey frequently interrupted by unexplained disasters or pure spite, the 6.22 from Paddington begins to seem like paradise. Even when, as recently happened to me, you are turned out of the train by Great Western on to a freezing platform halfway through your journey home and told it is for your own good.

Theres one good reason to see the overrated new film The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. If you are a regular railway commuter, this immensely long movie will reconcile you to your lot.

The Government wants you to support the renewal of the absurdly elaborate and huge Trident missile system. I see that the Defence Ministry organised, as a complete coincidence, a press trip to show off the red Scalextric-type nuclear trigger I was allowed to play with aboard HMS Repulse 30 years ago. Well, Israel, a more fearsome nuclear power than us, facing a greater danger, doesnt waste its money on such a luxury item.

Spending 100billion on Trident, and neglecting your conventional forces as a result, is like spending so much on insuring yourself against abduction by aliens that you cant afford cover for fire and theft.

My thanks to all of you who remembered my friend Jason Rezaian, unjustly imprisoned in Iran, in your thoughts and prayers, and who wrote to the Iranian authorities urging his release. After more than 500 days in a Tehran prison, and some nervous final hours as diplomats ensured his wife was able to leave the country with him, Jason is now free again, and recovering in a US military hospital. I am sure that you played your part in securing his release.
It is hard to express the shock that reasonable people will feel when they see pictures of small children arrayed as jihadi fanatics, posing with swords in front of Islamic black flags.

Remember, these are British children, living behind the ordinary front door of an ordinary British suburban house in an ordinary British town.

The children themselves could not possibly have understood the disgraceful use that was being made of them. But at least one adult did. And it is that adults state of mind that is so disturbing.

It is hard to express the shock that reasonable people will feel when they see pictures of small children arrayed as jihadi fanatics, posing with swords in front of Islamic black flag

The children themselves (including this little girl, left) could not possibly have understood the disgraceful use that was being made of them. But at least one adult - Muslim convert Ibrahim Anderson (right) - did

He is Ibrahim Anderson, a British-born convert to Islam, convicted last week of inviting support for a proscribed organisation and possessing information useful to a person committing or preparing a terrorist act.

How can a free country deal with citizens so fanatical that they dress up their children in the garb of a death cult and who use their liberty to endorse movements of violent, even murderous hatred?

The most encouraging thing about this case is that the authorities found out about it thanks to the public spirit of two Muslim sisters, who first confronted two aggressive Islamic zealots in a London street, and then  when they were met with abuse  reported them repeatedly to the police.

This makes clear the huge distinction between the great majority of law-abiding, integrated and peaceable British Muslims and the militant minority.

In devising a strategy to confront, isolate and defeat violent fanaticism, this country must fully mobilise this majority of our Muslim citizens, whose level-headed vigilance and reasonable faith will be our best safeguard.

The death of Labour

When things go wrong, it is often the attempt to cover up the mess that makes them go really wrong. Labours absurd Beckett report into its Election defeat is now exposed as just such a cover-up, by the far franker secret report which The Mail on Sunday has uncovered.

The Labour Partys inability to look the truth in the face has led its members into a world of delusion, choosing a leader made in their own image, who cannot conceivably win the next Election.

This is irresponsible self-indulgence. The Labour Party has a duty and a responsibility to be a credible Opposition, for the sake of the country.

Labour has already all but died in Scotland, a collapse that happened with amazing speed. Its position in the rest of Britain is far from secure. If it prefers to be a Utopian sect, it may well find itself swept aside and replaced by a new force, more quickly than it thinks. It is as serious as that.

The Labour Partys inability to look the truth in the face has led its members into a world of delusion, choosing a leader made in their own image, who cannot conceivably win the next Election

A charitable gesture

A House of Commons committee is tomorrow expected to praise The Mail on Sunday for its role in investigating unacceptable fundraising methods used by major charities.

Such praise is not frequently given, and this newspaper is glad to have earned it in such a good cause. Those in the charity industry who have sought to attack our investigations should take note.

Hope for Alzheimers

There are few scourges more dreaded than Alzheimers, and few harder to predict. We have barely begun to understand it. Prevention and cure seem very distant.

Any step towards a solution is greatly welcome. The discoveries we report today must at least give encouragement that the goal is in sight.
There is more to Bali than the lure of poolside bars and orange sunsets.

Entrepreneurs looking to reduce their overheads and maximise profits are moving to the holiday destination en masse to set up shop.

Fashion designers, restaurateurs and skin care companies have established themselves on the Indonesian island, with many choosing to split their time between there and Australia.

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Bali business: Australian entrepreneurs are heading to Bali to launch their businesses

Island life: The Indonesian island offers a laid-back lifestyle and reduced business running costs

MICHAEL AND LINDY KLIM: MILK & CO

Leading the pack is former Olympian Michael Klim and his wife Lindy, who moved with their three young children to Bali.

The couple own skin care line Milk & Co, and split their time between Melbourne and Bali to run the business.

Their products line supermarket shelves, chemists and pharmacies.

Family business: Michael Klim, his wife Lindy and their children Stella, Rocco and Frankie live in Bali

But behind the successful brand Milk & Co is a company that combines the best of both worlds.

Former Olympian Michael Klim was already splitting his time between Australia and Bali - where he lives with his wife Lindy and three children Stella, Rocco and Frankie - when he founded the successful skin care line.

While he regularly travels to Melbourne for business, time spent on the tropical island is not wasted.

'It's not like we come here and disappear. But we run our own hours. I can sit by the pool and do my emails while the kids play,' Michael previously told In Style magazine.

Work and play: Lindy Klim posts a number of glamorous photos of her Bali lifestyle on social media

Finding balance: Klim splits his time between Australia and Melbourne to run Milk & Co, and said 'Bali is much more relaxed'

Sydney Morning Herald reported MIlk & Co has more than 12 staff, turns over more than $5 million a year and is available in 13 countries.

'It requires a fair bit of commuting but ultimately for me it creates a really good work-life balance,' Klim told SMH.

'I've got a really great team here in Australia and I feel confident that I can go away and things will still run well.

'Living in Australia you can be time poor trying to fit everything in and the natural pace in Bali is much more relaxed.'

GAIL ELLIOT: LITTLE JOE WOMAN

Changing direction: Gail Elliot moved from Sydney to Bali and brought her business, Little Joe Woman, with her

Like most people, supermodel and designer Gail Elliot fell in love with Bali's rugged landscape and culture.

When she moved from Sydney she brought her business with her, and wrote on her blog running a business in Bali has it's ups and downs, but overall things were going great.

She has opened a store in Bali's Seminyak in addition to her Sydney Paddington store.

Her Little Joe Woman designs are also available in select Myer stores and online.

Island time: 'The most challenging aspects of living and working in Bali is adjusting from city life to island life,' she said

'We decided to move ourselves and operation to Bali for at least a few years as it's the epicentre of Asia and we wanted the take the opportunity to show our brand here,' she wrote on her blog.

'The most challenging aspects of living and working in Bali is adjusting from city life to island life.

'Concepts of time, schedules, deadlines and urgency are all much less important.

'But life here is beautiful and once you get used to the slower pace, you learn to deal with it.

Slowing down: She said once you adjust to the slower pace, you learn to deal with any negatives

'I am also travelling far more since living in Bali than I had when living in Sydney so I get to experience a little of both worlds.

'Most people are under the impression clothing in general and the quality of clothing is very cheap in Bali but that has changed considerably.

'There are fashion brands here that design, produce and sell beautiful, on-trend pieces that you will enjoy wearing whilst on holiday and will also be proud to wear at home.'

ZOE WATSON: BLISS SANCTUARY FOR WOMEN

Needing a change: Former media and marketing executive Zoe Watson traveled to Bali solo in 2010

When a hectic corporate life became too much for Zoe Watson, she packed her bags and headed on a solo trip to Bali.

There the former media and marketing executive discovered she was not the only woman who struggled with feelings of disconnection.

She realised she needed to make a change, but she also wanted to help other women.

It was then that she founded the Bliss Sanctuary For Women in Bali's Seminyak.

Overcoming obstacles: She said the hardest part of starting a business in Bali was finding staff

'I am passionate about empowering women and providing space for women to follow their bliss. It's so simple, yet so important,' she said.

In 2012 she celebrated two years of business, and reflected on the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur in Bali.

She said the hardest part was finding staff, especially while learning a new cultural value system, but the reward was the women she helped.

She now splits her time between Australia and Bali.

SAM STEVENSON: PARED EYEWEAR

Business insight: Moving to Bali was a way to ease the financial burden for designer and Pared founder Samantha Stevenson

Pared was founded by designer Samantha Stevenson and her partner, Edward Baker in Sydney in 2011.

Launching a business in Australia was tough, and Ms Stevenson worked as a full-time nanny while she designed her first range.

The move to Bali was made to ease financial pressures.

'Starting out it was just me so you have to sacrifice a lot of financial things,' she told Insights and Ideas Studio.

Making it work: 'Starting out it was just me so you have to sacrifice a lot of financial things,' she told Insights and Ideas Studio

'So much time and effort goes into having your own brand.

'I haven't been able to do as many things as I want, like travel, or social things, and spending money hasn't been my biggest focus.'

The brand, which has a strong following in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the US, has gone on to collaborate with Australian labels Emma Mulholland and Ginger & Smart.

NATASHA WELSH: NATASHA

From Bondi to Bali: Natasha Welsh runs Natasha the fashion label and splits her time between Bondi and Bali

Inspiration: Natasha captioned this photo: 'My office for the day.... Working on new range'

Natasha Welsh splits her time between Bondi and Bali, where she works with a team of designers on her collections.

On her website, it said 'Bali's natural beauty, along with the rich culture and creative pulse amongst the Balinese people' inspired her designs.

She has a retail store in Bali, and her designs are are stocked in various boutiques across Australia.

Natasha also has an online store.

In love: 'The smells, the people, the culture, the beauty, the craziness and the grace, it's cast a spell on me and hasn't let me go,' she said

She told The Joye she first fell in love with Bali in the late '80s.

'The smells, the people, the culture, the beauty, the craziness and the grace, it's cast a spell on me and hasn't let me go.

'I feel more experimental with what I wear and create here  I wear more colour, expose more skin, mix things together more and the bohemian gypset style that my label is associated with is perfect for Bali; The climate is always balmythere's never-ending possibility.'

ADRIAN REED AND ADAM HALL: MOTEL MEXICOLA

Better business: Motel Mexicola co-owner Adrian Reed said: ''I'm here for purely the lifestyle, to surf, to do less work, and to make a s***load of money'

It's not just designers heading to Bali to start up shop, but restaurateurs.

Co-owner of Motel Mexicola Adrian Reed, near Bali's tourist hotspot Petitenget Beach, told The Guardian Indonesia offered a better lifestyle than Australia.

'I'm here for purely the lifestyle, to surf, to do less work, and to make a s***load of money,' Mr Reed said.

Pros and cons: Bali allows them to maximise their profit, but construction work takes longer and is less efficient

'Everyone in the hospitality business in Australia is struggling to make money, to pay rent, to pay wages.

'In Australia you're doing brilliantly if you make 10 percent profit. Here, we're making 40 percent profit.'

Despite the financial appeal, co-owner Adam Hall said construction work in Bali, while cheaper, took longer and was less efficient.

ASRI KERTHYASA: IBAH HOTEL

Fairytale beginning: Australian-born Asri Kerthyasa married a Balinese prince and opened the tea lounge and restaurant Biku in Bali

While she said business in Bali is not always easy, Asri Kerthyasa has had more of a fairytale run than most.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Australian-born entrepreneur married Balinese prince Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa after moving to Bali in 1977, and together they opened the luxurious Ibah Hotel.

She has since opened a second business Biku, a tea lounge and restaurant, in Seminyak with her son.

Time for tea: She said many foreign entrepreneurs have 'unrealistic expectations' when coming to Bali

Because of her husband's government and commercial connections, Asri told SMH she is able to run her businesses without making the 'facilitation' payments which keeps costs down.

'Foreigners who come here also have unrealistic expectations and think they don't have to follow the rules or pay tax,' she told SMH.

'But you need to follow regulations as you would in any other place.'

PENNY PINKSTER - MIST

Work and play: Penny Pinkster and her husband, Warren, run fashion brand Mist in Bali

Australian designer Penny Pinkster launched her brand Mist 10 years ago in Bali after travelling to the tourist hot spot for the last 30 years with her family.

There she found inspiration, and today her line of kaftans and beach wear are available in Bali, Australia and internationally.

In Bali she has three retail stores, and runs the wholesale side of the business with her husband Warren, who still has time to surf.

She also has a team of Balinese staff.
Australian Fernanda Ly is the international fashion star you have probably never heard of.

The 20-year-old from Sydney has taken the fashion world by storm, stealing the Louis Vuitton fashion show and featuring on the cover of Vogue in three countries.

Despite her success, the pink-haired beauty remains a mystery.

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Fernanda Ly, 20, was finishing high school in Sydney when she was discovered by a modeling scout while shopping with her mum

For one thing, she has a barely-there social media presence - something highly unusual in the look-at-me world of fashion,

Ly was finishing her last year of high school when she was discovered at a shopping center with her mother, according to Teen Vogue.

Just a few years later, she is strutting runways all over the world, including New York and Paris.

Not a big fan of social media, Ms Ly is known for being confident and flying under the radar

Ms Ly (right) travels between New York and Paris for photoshoots and runway shows

Ly, whose parents are Chinese, was an honours student and art fanatic who planned on goingn to university after high school, and was reluctant when a scout asked if she was interested in modelling.

I was like, this sounds nice. Im just going to send in my photos and see, she said.

In the following year, Ms Ly began was balancing work across Australia with university when one of the industrys top casting agents, Ashley Brokaw, offered her the opportunity of a lifetime.

She (pictured bottom) has been featured on Vogue covers from three different countries - including Vogue Italia

Ms Ly, whose parents are of Chinese heritage, could become Australia's first nonwhite model to have international stardom if her success continues

I was like, this sounds nice. Im just going to send in my photos and see, she said of being approached by a scout

I thought she was so unique, Ms Brokaw said.

Heres a girl with confidence who doesnt look like anyone else.

Ms Ly decided to defer university for the time being and travel to New York to meet with Ms Brokaw.

Within days she was meeting with the artistic director of Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquiere, and was booked in her first runway show in the fashion brands fall 2015 show.

In the following year, Ms Ly (pictured) began was balancing gigs across Australia and university when one of the industrys top casting agents, Ashley Brokaw, offered her the opportunity of a lifetime

I thought she was so unique, Ms Brokaw said of Ms Ly (right). Heres a girl with confidence who doesnt look like anyone else

Ms Ly decided to defer university for the time being and travel to New York to meet with Ms Brokaw

She packed a bag and left Sydney for Europe for an eight-week trip that soon turned into a six-month long fashion excursion.

The whole time I was there, I was thinking this is so weird  what is going on? And then everything worked out really well.

She has since been featured on the covers of Vogue Italia, Vogue Japan, Vogue Australia and Teen Vogue, as well as numerous other features in international magazines and fashion campaigns.

She also recently walked in Louis Vuittons spring show.
The Queen and Prince Philip were joined by their son Prince Andrew and granddaughter Princess Eugenie at church this morning.

Her Majesty, who wore a pale pink window pane-checked coat and matching hat, attended her usual Sunday service at St Mary Magdalene Church on her Norfolk estate this morning.

The monarch then shared her car with Eugenie, 25, who was dressed to impress in a statement hat, as they returned to Sandringham.

Her Majesty was pictured leaving the St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate this morning where she's spending her winter break

Princess Eugenie also attended the service in a smart ensemble, teaming a white coat with a vibrant pink hat

Prince Andrew, 55, accompanied his father, 94, as they walked to and from the service dressed in dark wool coats.

With Beatrice living in New York - where it has been reported she has a new job in a fashion investment company - Eugenie attended the service without her sister.

The princess recently returned to the UK from New York where she was working in the art world to London where she has a job at art auction house Paddle8.

She certainly glammed up for the service teaming an elegant white coat with the fuchsia cocktail hat designed by Juliette Botterill, black leather gloves and black high-heeled court shoes.

Andrew was more practically dressed with a long umbrella in his hand in case the overcast conditions turned to rain.

Prince Andrew and Prince Philip were pictured leaving the church by foot with Andrew ready for all weathers with a large umbrella

The Queen attended a WI meeting at Sandringham on Friday, which she appears at annually at the end of her winter break at the Norfolk estate

Her Majesty sported a floral-topped hat in a pale pink and wore black gloves to keep warm in the winter weather, Eugenie was seen leaving in the Queen's car

On Friday, Elizabeth II enjoyed tea and cake with members of the Women's Institute as she made her annual visit to the Sandringham branch.

The Queen who is patron of the WI, joins members at West Newton village hall for a post-Christmas meeting every year towards the end of her annual winter break.

She wore royal blue and she was greeted by the National Anthem sung by 25 members as she arrived in a green Range Rover.

The queen paired her blue coat with gloves to keep out the winter chill and accessorised with a jewelled brooch and pearl earrings.

Eugenie and Prince Philip walk down to the church together with Eugenie teaming her winter coat with a clutch and heels with her fuchsia hat

Eugenie and the Duke of Edinburgh are all smiles as they walk down to the church and appear to share a joke

After the meeting, the Queen appeared to leave with a gift from the members.

Along with her sister, Princess Eugenie is known for her regular travels and has racked up an enviable total of eight holidays in just 15 months.

Her latest jaunt was a sun-kissed trip to Burma where she saw in the New Year with a group of friends. It also marked the Princess's eighth holiday since November 2014.

She spent the weekend with her grandparents who spend their winter break at the Norfolk estate, which is a private home rather than a royal palace.

Eugenie, who is now working at London-based art auction house Paddle8 leaves in the Queen's Bentley

A police office salutes as Andrew and his father Philip walk down the path from the church with Andrew wearing a smart navy coat

Andrew overtakes his father on the walk back but appears to wait for him as Philip, wearing along green coat, makes his way on the path the road

Each year the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh take the train to and from the 20,000 acre estate.

It's long been a favourite of the family and the Queen's father George VI died in his sleep there in 1952.
A couple who met by chance when a delayed flight they were on was grounded have announced that they're getting married.

Toronto-born Kristen Adamson, 26, met Darren Ashcroft, 33, from Wickford, Essex, in the departure lounge at Toronto Airport in June 2014 when she was en route to Kenya, via Heathrow.

The pair, who were both waiting for the same British Airways flight, told the Sunday Mirror how they sat next to each other on the plane and ended talking throughout the night on the red eye flight.

Kristen Adamson, 26, met Darren Ashcroft, 33, from Wickford, Essex, in the departure lounge at Toronto Airport in June 2014 when she was en route to Kenya, via Heathrow

Darren proposed in August last year with a picnic, pictured Kristen showing her engagement ring on the beach. Canadian Kristen moved to England to be with Darren

Marketing executive Kristen told the Mirror: 'It was all very fast but very natural. Everything just seemed right.'

She had been waiting to fly at the airport after a delayed flight had been grounded.

But she became concerned when other passengers left and thought she might have missed the plane while wearing headphones so approached Darren, an engineering supervisor, and his friend.

Kristen continued to speak to them and once they boarded a seat was free next to Darren.

Kristen told the Mirror: 'We shared our life stories and exchanged details but I thought I'd never see him again.'

Kristen was concerned at the airport when other passengers left and thought she might have missed the plane while wearing headphones so approached Darren and his friend

The couple continued to chat at Toronto airport, pictured, and then sat next to each other on the plane. They stayed in touch

She went to Kenya to volunteer at a orphanage and continued to message Darren over the month she spent there.

Kristen had crowdfunded her trip to Kenya and raised $450 to work with children.

She wrote on her IndieGoGo page that aged 20, she had been diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) and informed that she had a zero to 5 per cent chance of naturally conceiving.

This was as a result of being hit by a car in in November 2007 and she sustained serious injuries.

She wrote: 'My life changed drastically. Life, as I knew it, was over for me.'

On Kristen's flight back from Kenya, she was delayed at Heathrow again and spent time with Darren. They met several more times and the couple said their relationship 'happened for a reason'

Then on her flight back the plane was delayed again at Heathrow so the pair met up.

The connection between the pair was so strong that Kristen applied for a British visa and was successful.

In August last year, Darren proposed while the couple had a picnic on the beach.

Kristen announced their engagement on Facebook by writing: 'Best day ever! Can't wait to marry my best friend.'

Darren told The Mirror: 'Proposing to Kristen was one of the easiest decisions of my life.'

The couple, who bought a house together in October, wrote on their engagement website: 'Many of you know the general story of how we met (the Toronto Airport departure lounge), but some of you may not know just how many amazing, and highly coincidental, events happened along the way in order to help bring us together.

'Our union truly happened for a reason.'
They say twins have an unbreakable intuitive bond - but Stefan and Gareth Kershaw have a link that stretches to the other side of the world.

When Gareths wife Kate went into labour they never imagined that just hours later, Stefans wife Katie would find herself in the delivery room too.

But amazingly, the twins have beaten odds of 150,000 to one by both welcoming their babies on the same day - despite being 10,000 miles apart.

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Stefan Kershaw, pictured with wife Katie and daughter Imogen, is celebrating after becoming a father on the exact same day as his twin brother Gareth, who lives 10,000 miles away in Australia

Gareth's wife Kate, right, with baby Harvey, went into labour in Australia on the same day as her sister-in-law

Stefan, 33, who lives in Bollington, Cheshire, said: Gareth and I have been really close growing up. And even though he lives in Australia, we are still really close and keep in touch all the time.

'When we knew that both our wives had given birth on the same day, we couldn't believe it. All the family were flabbergasted.

For our wives to give birth on the same day, even though we are on the other side of the world to each other really is incredible. The twins were in separate classes at school growing up, although they used their identical looks to play pranks.

Stefan, who works as a coffee machine trainer, said: People would always mistake us for each other. I once cheated on a girlfriend and kissed another girl, but I blamed it on Gareth.

We both worked at a restaurant in Newbury for 10 years, where Gareth was the head chef and I was the manager.

Identical twins Gareth and Stefan were very close growing up, and despite living 10,000 miles apart they are now looking forward to meeting up in May to introduce their children, Imogen and Harvey, to each other

Close bond: twins Gareth, second left, and Stefan, second right, pictured with their wives Kate and Katie

'Customers would wave at him in the street and then complain to me that Id been rude and ignored them, because they hadnt realised that I had an identical twin brother.

When Gareth moved to Australia with his Australian wife Kate, 34, three years ago, the twins have kept in touch daily through Skype.

Stefan said: We actually see more of each other now through Skype than we did when we were both living over here in the UK.

It was in February last year that Gareth broke the news to Stefan that his wife was pregnant. The following morning, Stefans wife Katie also did a positive pregnancy test.

Stefan (pictured with wife Katie and baby Imogen), said he was 'shocked' when he learnt of Katie's pregnancy just one day after hearing his brother's news. The two families are now planning a reunion in May

Despite having a different due date to her sister-in-law, Katie, pictured, went into labour at the same time

Stefan said: We were so shocked. We had been thrilled at Gareths news as they had been trying for a brother or sister for their son Finlay, now one. But we hadnt been trying.

But Katie had been feeling off colour, so when we heard Gareths news, she decided that she would do a pregnancy test anyway. When it came up positive we were so shocked. We coulldnt believe that both our wives were pregnant at the same time.

Gareth and Kate were given a due date of the 7th October for their arrival, whilst Stefan and Katie had been given a due date of the 10th October.

Stefan said: When we were given due dates of just three days apart, that was shocking enough. We never imagined that they would actually be born on the same day.

Stefan and Katie's daughter, Imogen, arrived on the same day as her cousin Harvey in Australia

Baby Imogen is now three months old and will soon be meeting her cousin Harvey, who has the same birthday

Kate and Katie were texting each other to say that they had both gone into labour. But then Katies labour pains subsided, whilst Kate went to hospital and delivered baby Harvey.

She was disappointed that her pains seemed to have stopped. But then a few hours after Harveys delivery her pains started again.

The couple rushed to Macclesfield General Hospital where Katie delivered baby daughter Imogen just just an hour later. Baby Harvey had arrived 15 minutes after midnight on October 13th and his cousin Imogen arrived at 11.15pm that day.

Stefan said: 'When [Harvey] and Imogen are old enough we will tell them about their extraordinary arrival'

Katie, pictured with baby Imogen, became a mother on exactly the same day as her sister-in-law Kate

Stefan said: They only just made it on the same day. If Harvey had been born 20 minutes earlier then his birthday would have been the previous day. And Imogen just made it on the 13th October in the nick of time.

When all the family knew that they had been born on the same day - thousands of miles apart - no-one could quite believe it.

The couples are planning to meet up in May, when Gareth and Kate are expected to travel to the UK to show the family their new addition.
Women who test positive for the 'Jolie gene' are being refused cover for preventative surgery by private healthcare insurers.

The so-called BRCA gene - named after actress Angelina Jolie, who has herself undergone a preventative mastectomy and hysterectomy - can indicate whether a woman has a higher risk of developing cancer.

Currently, relatives of patients diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer are offered genetic testing by the NHS if there are indications of a family history of the disease.

Not covered: Private healthcare firms are refusing to pay preventative surgery for women with the BRCA gene

It is thought one in eight women will develop breast cancer, while up to ten per cent are caused by faulty genes.

The NHS also offers preventative surgery, which can reduce the risk to just five per cent.

But private health insurers, including Bupa UK, Axa PPP Healtchcare, Vitality Health and Aviva UK Life, will only fund surgery when patients are already displaying symptoms of tumours.

Donna Pearce, 53, from Essex, tested positive for the BRCA2 gene last year after her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her mother had also suffered from breast and ovarian cancer.

However, she was told by Bupa that the company would not pay for her surgery - even if she had a strong family history of developing the disease herself.

Ms Pearce told The Sunday Telegraph: 'It seems cruel and ridiculous that they are effectively saying to me, "Come back when you have got cancer."'

Raising awareness: Actress Angelina Jolie has spoken publicly about her preventative cancer surgeries

She has since had a hysterectomy on the NHS, but has been told it may be another year before she can have a mastectomy.

Paula Franklin, medical director for Bupa UK, said: 'As with all private medical insurers in the UK, we do not pay for screening in people who have no symptoms.'

Hollywood star Angelina, 40, who is married to actor Brad Pitt, first went under the knife in 2013 after being told she had an 87 per cent chance of developing breast cancer and a 50 per cent chance of ovarian cancer.

She has since become an advocate for preventative surgery and raising awareness of both ovarian and breast cancer.
Twitter these days has introduced a poll feature.

You pose a question and give options for others to click.

At most times, it is at best a fun tool to play with when you are bored.

Members of NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, protest against Dalit student Rohith Vemulas suicide in Hyderabad

But on the rare occasion, it reveals something deeper, something to think about.

With all the intrigue, opportunism and cacophony around Dalit student activist Rohith Vemulas suicide, I held a little poll with the poser: Hindu society must work towards

The options were scrap caste, keep caste but unite, lower castes overthrow upper castes and no change, all is well.

Of the 896 tweeple who voted, 66 per cent voted for scrapping caste and just one per cent for lower caste supremacy over upper castes.

What is disturbing is that 33 per cent were fine with caste.

Of them, 28 per cent felt castes must stay but unite, and five per cent felt there was no need for a change at all.

Social media is used by educated, mostly young Indians.

Although this is a small sample, that one in three would be fine with castes although the devices they used for voting recognise no such division is telling.

Many argue that the oppressive aspects of caste were later distortions of the idea of varna vyavastha.

RSS leaders argue that they are against casteism, but not against caste.

This logic, in the face of the immensity of the problem and daily caste humiliation across large parts of the nation, whittles down to mere semantics.

The idea of broad divisions based on work is far from essential.

And it invariably creates entrenched hierarchies, whether one theoretically accepts it or not.

Caste must go. It is easier said.

No less than Guru Nanak, Acharya Ramanuja, Dayananda Saraswati, Narayana Guru, Vinayak Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi and several others had tirelessly tried, but failed to root it out.

But there needs to have a massive and united social, religious, cultural and educational movement to outcast caste in Hindu society.

Spiritual leaders, politicians, corporate India, academics people from every stratum need to be involved in drawing up an intense, grassroots campaign.

At the Vishwa Hindu Sammelan in Udipi in 1969 represented by various sects and their heads, a resolution was passed to banish untouchability.

But it fizzled out.

Today, we have the technology and communication systems to take the message to the people far more effectively.

The RSS, trusted by a large number of Hindus, should stop pussyfooting and go back to what their Guruji had to say.

At the root of untouchability lies the belief that it is part of dharma, and transgressing it would be a grave sin. This religious perversion is the chief reason why this pernicious practice has continued to stick to the popular mind, ideologue and former RSS chief MS Golwalkar wrote in his Bunch of Thoughts.

Nor did our dharma gurus condemn such practices because even they mistook the custom for dharma.

Deendayal Upadhyaya was more circumvent and while he did not wholly dismiss varna vyavastha, he wrote: Through several social upheavals during several centuries, several perversions have crept into the system and they will have to be removed.

British colonisers exploited three main fault lines in Indian society - religion, caste and the north-south rift - to divide and rule.

There are intellectuals and political parties with a sinister agenda to keep the issue burning while making it all look like progressive discourse.

Hinduism does not have unchangeable edicts.

As you peel off layers of rituals that exemplify everyday Hindu practice, you realise that none of it is designed as a final, unalterable route, writes Hindol Sengupta in his new book Being Hindu.

Caste has no use whatsoever in this time.

It must die. It must be taken out by mature, mass action.

Hindu society has shown the strength to reform itself again and again, wave after wave.
Stephen Fry shared anecdotes of Harry Potter audio book recording

The written word, in all its forms, was dominant during British actor and writer Stephen Frys session on day three of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.

Perhaps the most interesting anecdote he shared in this regard was one to do with Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

Fry, who has done the audio book version of the entire series, described how Rowling refused to bail him out during a particularly problematic incident.

In the third book, there was a phrase - Harry pocketed it - that I was having trouble saying.

I kept saying Harry pocketededed it.

So at lunch time, I called up JK Rowling and said: Im having problem with the phrase Harry pocketededed it. I know these books are unabridged and they have to be read exactly as they have been written. But, I wondered if I could say, Harry put it in his pocket.

She said no. Not only that, she used the phrase Harry pocketed it in the next four novels, he said.

He carried on with his Rowling tales by recounting the events of a book signing session she had attended after writing the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Visitors at the Diggi Palace during the Jaipur Literature Festival

He said:When she had written three books, it was becoming clear that it was more than just a successful series for children. It was a literary phenomenon of unprecedented proportions. At one book signing event, she was sitting among a pile of books when someone came to her and presented her with an envelope. Before JK could take it, one of her people snatched it away. She thought it was a bit rude. This continued for quite a while.

When she reached the end of the signing, she asked her team about it and they explained that those people had come with their own storylines for subsequent Harry Potter novels.

If she were to write something similar to what they had written, they would sue her for millions of dollars.

But because your fingerprints are not on it, a person from her team said, I can write back to them saying F*** off, you mad b****. Sure enough, thats what happened. She got lots and lots of letters trying to sue her, said Fry.

Apart from the world of Harry Potter, Fry also spoke about his work with fellow actor Hugh Laurie as a comedy act and on shows such as Blackadder and A Bit of Fry & Laurie.

Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde, who has had a great influence on his life and whom Fry portrayed in the 1997 film Wilde, was also a feature in his session.

From the long form of writing to its shortest form, Fry also weighed on his views about Twitter.

He said:We have these awful encounters about hot button issues on social media, and that is just dispiriting, upsetting and annoying. It makes you think that perhaps we need to get back to a more civilised (if thats the word) time when people could sit together and talk in a symposium sort of environment. The important thing to remember is that its called Twitter, which implies and suggests a total inconsequentiality. It is trivial.

He further gave the example of British magazines in the 18th century, which were had Idler, Rambler or Spectator as titles.

The names themselves suggested a disengaged stance.

Being a writer is a very lonely job

By Srijani Ganguly

Kajol addressed the audience at Ashwin Sanghi's book launch

There were terms and conditions for Ajay Devgn when he proposed marriage to Kajol.

When Ajay asked me to marry him, I said Ill get married only if you give me the library from Beauty and the Beast. He said, I promise you, baby. After the honeymoon Ill give you such a library, the actor divulged during a session on author Ashwin Sanghis book launch.

Kajol, who is said to be a voracious reader, was given Sanghis novel The Rozabal Line by her mother.

She revealed that she absolutely loved it, and simply adored Chanakyas Chant.

She also added that it was her mother, Tanuja, who inculcated the habit of reading in her.

I dont remember a time when there werent books in the loo, on the table and stacked up all around the house. Above her bed, there were close to 400 books. At my own home now, I have three rooms that have been turned into libraries.

Although she loves to read and even carries books to film sets, she is not yet ready to become a writer herself.
Though majority of the Indian population follows vegetarianism, the number of slaughterhouses in the country are more than milk processing factories and liquid milk plants combined.

While India has 1,623 registered slaughterhouses, there are only 213 registered milk processing factories and 793 liquid milk plants.

The data was revealed in an RTI reply from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

The country has more slaughterhouses than milk processing units

Interestingly, Maharashtra, where ban on meat caused a political storm last year has the maximum number of slaughterhouses - 316 followed by Uttar Pradesh (285) and Tamil Nadu (130).

Indian meat industry involves trading live animals and slaughtering animals like buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, bullocks, poultry and cows.

The country recently witnessed a heightened political backlash over cow slaughter due to the religious importance of the animal.

In many cases, when meat, other than that of cow, held sacred by the Hindus and a matter of conflict between the community and others, hassled to several altercations and even riots.

In Haryana, locals apprehended trucks when meat other than cow was being transported leading to law and order situations.

The BJP also tried to make cow slaughter an emotive issue to appeal to Hindu sentiments during the Bihar elections.

However, it came as a surprise that the country has more meat producing units than milk producing units.

"The government seems more interested in issuing licences to more slaughterhouses and lesser milk production units," said Ramesh Verma, who filed the RTI.

According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, despite big potential because of large livestock population, the meat industry has not taken its due share on account of negative perceptions.

Although India has acquired number one status in the world, contributing 13 per cent (117 million tonnes) of the worlds total milk production, the meat production which jibes well with dairying is still lagging behind and is at fifth position (6.3 million tonnes).

The number which the government has provided is not even half the actual number of slaughterhouses being run in the country. There are thousands of illegal and unregistered slaughterhouses and the meat which most of the people consume is sold through these units, said Dr Avinash Srivastava, veterinary expert and technical head, Wellcon Animal Health.

This is very concerning because the meat they provide is very unhealthy as there is no government regulation in these units. They may sell diseased animals or animals fed on antibiotics which may cause serious ill effects on the human body, he said.

24 out of the 29 states in India currently have various regulations prohibiting either the slaughter or sale of cows.

Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim are the states where there is no restriction on cow slaughter.

Even these states have slaughterhouses Kerala (55), West Bengal (11), Sikkim (4) and Mizoram (2) where cows can be slaughtered legally.
Mrs J.B.writes: I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the ongoing fiasco involving student finance and the university from which my daughter obtained her degree. I would be extremely grateful for advice on how to resolve this.

Your daughter attended Glasgow Caledonian University until last summer, and applied through Student Finance England for financial help from the Student Loans Company to cover living costs.

Because she was studying for a health professional qualification, tuition fees were met by the National Health Service.

Expensive business: After almost six months of to-ing and fro-ing, the SLC added that it needed your daughters bank account details, which it did not have, Tony Hetherington says

In March last year, your daughter asked SFE how much she owed, and was told the amount was 11,476 plus interest.

You agreed to pay this off, but your daughter was then asked for 12,393 because of outstanding tuition fees. She tried to stop your payment for this higher sum, but it was too late.

Since then you have been trying to get an explanation of why the debt suddenly shot up, why it included tuition fees and how far back miscalculations might go.

The SLC confirmed that last year it had paid over 900 to the university towards your daughters tuition, but nobody seemed to accept responsibility for repaying this. Everyone seemed to be waiting for information from someone else, or needed to consult their boss, and meanwhile you were sinking deeper into a mire.

I asked Glasgow Caledonian University to comment. It said it had asked the SLC repeatedly since last June to reclaim overpaid loan funds and then return the money to your daughter, but it had not done so and had refused to accept a direct payment from the university.

After almost six months of to-ing and fro-ing, the SLC added that it needed your daughters bank account details, which it did not have.

Result: Happily, the university has now sent the money back to the SLC, and the loans company has transferred a total of more than 1,400 to your daughters account, which you have accepted

The university told me: We fully appreciate the distress and frustration that was caused by this situation.

The SLC blamed your daughter, saying that she had mistakenly applied for a loan to cover tuition fees that the NHS was paying.

But it admitted that when she asked for a refund, she was given incorrect information about how to do this. An SLC official told me: We regret the time it has taken to resolve this matter.

Apparently the refund has had to go through the same banking channels and computer systems that it went through in the first place, though this time in reverse of course. Some of those involved seem to have had trouble with this.

Happily, the university has now sent the money back to the SLC, and the loans company has transferred a total of more than 1,400 to your daughters account, which you have accepted.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Global stock exchanges plunged into bear market territory last week as fears grew over the health of the world economy.

The UK, French and Japanese markets all fell to levels 20 per cent below their 2015 highs  the common definition of a bear market.

More volatility is forecast as growth in China, the worlds economic engine, stumbles and commodity prices keep sliding.

Disciplined: Bosses Dominic Neary (left) and James Dow (right)

Some equity analysts, such as the much respected Andrew Roberts at Royal Bank of Scotland, have already warned that 2016 will be a cataclysmic year and that equities have become very dangerous. Roberts advice is sell mostly everything.

For those with money tied up in investment funds  held inside an Isa or a self-invested personal pension  these are worrying times. James Dow, who with Dominic Neary and Toby Ross at Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford runs investment trust Scottish American, fully understands these concerns. But he implores investors to think long-term and, if possible, to avoid the white noise.

Its a discipline that underpins the running of Scottish American, a global fund with 80 per cent equity exposure.

The rest of the portfolio is in fixed-interest stocks and direct property holdings. The 70-odd stocks in the equity part of the trust have been bought on the basis that they will deliver long-term dividend growth. The trusts prime focus is on generating a growing income  a goal it has achieved for the past 35 years.

At a glance: Scottish American Investment Company

Dow says: We are trying to invest in companies across the globe that are growth businesses and have a commitment to paying attractive dividends. They are companies that will perform well through thick and thin because of the resilience of their dividend.

The approach means the managers avoid many traditional dividend-friendly firms  those in the utility and telecoms sectors, for example  on the grounds that they are not long-term growth businesses. It also involves them casting their net far and wide.

Research in the past few days by equity analysts at investment bank Stifel identified Scottish American as one of 21 investment trusts that have yields of more than six per cent

We wont invest in a company until we are convinced about the dependency of their dividend stream, says Dow. That means crawling over balance sheets and reviewing the boards attitude towards dividends. It makes for a portfolio much differentiated from rival equity income trusts.

Among its top ten holdings is Kimberly-Clark De Mexico, which makes household and personal hygiene products, such as nappies. Its not a capital intensive firm, says Dow, which means its happy to pay out most of its earnings in dividends. It fits our bill nicely.

The trust, often referred to as Saints, is meticulously managed. No stock is allowed to provide more than five per cent of the trusts income, so limiting the effect of a holding unexpectedly cutting its dividend. Also, no firm can account for more than six per cent of the trusts assets. The biggest holding now is British advertising giant WPP, which stands at 2.3 per cent. Trust dividends are paid quarterly.

Research in the past few days by equity analysts at investment bank Stifel identified Scottish American as one of 21 investment trusts that have yields of more than six per cent. Of these, six, including Scottish American, have provided more than 20 years of consecutive annual dividend rises.
It is crunch time for investors in BG Group. Last April, it unveiled a recommended 47billion takeover by Royal Dutch Shell. This week, more than nine months later, both firms are asking shareholders to approve the deal.

It has been an eventful gestation period. The oil price has virtually halved and Shell shares have moved in tandem, sliding from 2208p to 1388p.

The slump is important because the Shell offer is a mix of cash and stock  383p in cash and 0.4454 Shell B shares for every BG share.

Crunch time: Last April, BG unveiled a recommended 47billion takeover by Royal Dutch Shell

In April, this was worth 1350p. Today, the offer is worth 1001p. Normally, the price of a company about to be taken over would be almost exactly in line with the offer price.

On Friday the gap began to narrow and BG closed 2 per cent below the current value of the offer at 980p.

The lower the Shell share price, the more expensive this transaction is on a pro-rata basis and some investors believe the Anglo-Dutch company should walk away. However, most large shareholders own both Shell and BG stock and are likely to support the deal.

For BGs shareholders, hundreds of thousands of whom have held the stock since British Gas was privatised 30 years ago, there are now six possible courses of action.

They can reject the offer; accept it as is; ask entirely for cash; ask entirely for shares; ask for Shell A shares rather than Shell B shares; or opt out of the Shell nominee service.

Look ahead: Opting entirely for new Shell shares would indicate serious optimism about oil markets, while the cash and stock combination seems an effective compromise

It is hardly surprising that many investors find this plethora of choices confusing.

First, they should accept the offer. If the transaction falls through, BG shares will tumble and, though the company is perfectly able to carry on alone, it will certainly benefit from joining forces with Shell.

Shareholders should also accept the cash and B shares mix. Shell shares have been hit hard, so investors opting for cash would be selling out at or near the bottom  rarely the best time to exit.

Opting entirely for new Shell shares would indicate serious optimism about oil markets, while the cash and stock combination seems an effective compromise.

The B shares are also the most tax efficient for UK shareholders and the nominee service is the simplest option for all investors with access to the internet.

Midas verdict: Midas recommended BG shares in October 2006, when the price was 665p. Investors have gained more than 60 per cent since then, including dividend payments, although the stock has waxed and waned in the intervening years, in line with the oil price.
We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. This week, Midas says China-based gas producer Green Dragon is a buy, and the Sunday Times tips property companies.

MAIL ON SUNDAY

Oil prices have been tumbling and the latest data from China suggests the country is growing at its slowest pace for 25 years.

Green Dragon Gas is a China-based gas producer, so it might seem counter-intuitive to recommend the shares in the current environment.

But the company is expected to produce soaring sales and profits over the next few years and the stock, now 205p, should rise in sync.

Green Dragon is the brainchild of Randeep Grewal, an engineer turned entrepreneur, who has spent the past three decades in the oil and gas industry.

Grewal went to China in 1992, when the country was just opening its doors to foreign investment. After several years of negotiation with the Chinese, he acquired the rights to explore two million acres of land  roughly the size of Devon and Cornwall combined.

Today, the company has drilled almost 2,000 wells and by the end of 2015 its rate of production was equivalent to 12 billion cu ft of gas a year  enough to power 2.3 million Chinese homes.

So far, only 15 per cent of Green Dragons wells are connected to Chinas gas pipes, but construction is ongoing and the company is expected to produce about 50 billion cu ft of gas a year by 2018.

Green Dragon joined AIM in 2006 and moved to the main market last summer. Some large shareholders have criticised Grewals dominant role, as he is chairman and chief executive and owns 55 per cent of the shares. But all this may change over the coming year or so.

Midas verdict: Green Dragon shares were more than 800p in 2011, but the row with Chinese energy companies hit the stock hard and ever since that was resolved the shares have suffered from the falling oil price. This is unjustified.

Gas prices have been relatively stable recently, even as oil has plummeted, and Chinese gas prices are further protected by a government determined to wean its people off coal. Green Dragon is an obvious beneficiary of this strategy and the shares should begin to rebound this year. As the biggest shareholder, Grewal is also incentivised to make the business work. Buy.

>> Read the full Midas column

SUNDAY TIMES

The bosses of British Land, Great Portland Estates and Kennedy Wilson Europe shared a podium at an evening event in the British Museum this month. Between them they represent a fair swathe of the property industry.

Apart from how long will the cycle run?, the question most pelted at the panellists was: What can you do to stop your shares trading at a discount? The answer  to paraphrase crudely  was: Not very much.

Despite a run of steady results and decent demand from tenants, shares in property companies have dived below the value of their underlying assets in recent months.

The reasons seem to lie with China and Opec rather than any absence of media companies wanting to rent space in Fitzrovia.

Turmoil prompted by muddling in Beijing and cheap oil has dragged the FTSE 100 down by more than 5% since the start of the year. Listed property tends to move with the market  and stocks such as Land Securities and British Land are very liquid, meaning they are easy to buy and sell.

The danger would be if the stock market slump started to affect real businesses.
Metro Bank, the first of Britains challenger banks, will this week defy stock market turmoil and launch a 2billion flotation.

The float comes just over five years after Metro became the first new bank to launch in Britain for more than 100 years. In five years it has attracted customer deposits worth almost 2.9billion.

City banks advising Metro are thought to be aiming to sell a 300 million slice of the business and a formal intention-to-float document is expected within days.

Flotation: Metro Bank, the first of Britains challenger banks, will this week defy stock market turmoil and launch a 2billion listing

Current shareholders have already said they want to take 500 million worth of shares so the existing demand would allow Metros advisers to squeeze up the price of the stock.

Metros American chairman and founder Vernon Hill is said to be eager to show he can match or better his achievements at Commerce Bank, which grew at a breakneck pace after he launched it in the US. By the time Hill sold Commerce Bank it was worth $8.5 billion (6 billion at todays exchange rate).

The most recent figures show Metro made a loss of 38.9million in 2014, slightly lower than the previous year. It has 40 branches and plans to extend that to 200 by 2020.

Metro set out to disrupt traditional UK retail banking, preferring to call its premises stores rather than branches and trumpeting its dog-friendly policy.

American investors who have backed Hill in the UK are looking for growth rather than immediate profits and are expected to end up taking up much of the flotation allocation.

Some big potential UK investors are sceptical about the hefty price tag for Metro.

The 2billion listing would value the bank at three times its book value  a calculation of the banks net assets that is commonly used to gauge value. At current prices Virgin Money is valued at its book value.

Challenger: The float comes just over five years after Metro became the first new bank to launch in Britain for more than 100 years. In five years it has attracted customer deposits worth almost 2.9 billion

Trevor Green, director and head of UK institutional funds at Aviva Investors, which controls 260 billion in assets, said investors would calculate what they were prepared to pay by comparing with other challenger banks. The question will be is Metro really that different from the other challengers, he added.

Another investor said: Two to three times book value is an extraordinary number.

Ian Gordon, a banking analyst at broker Investec, said Metro was similar to other challenger banks in most respects, but it had a safe deposit business unlike its rivals.

The stock market volatility of recent weeks has failed to dent enthusiasm for a string of planned company listings.

National Australia Banks sale of a 25 per cent stake in Clydesdale is to go ahead in the next ten days with a valuation of at least 1.6 billion.

Sources say there is already enough demand to guarantee a successful sale.
Fears are growing that if the European Union grants China prized market economy status then cheap Chinese imports of everything from cement to roof tiles will devastate Britains homegrown industries  as they have with steel.

The European Commission is on the brink of accepting that Beijing no longer supports its industry. This would effectively rule out tariffs on Chinese goods. A decision could come as soon as next month.

Cheap Chinese imports have already been blamed as a key reason behind the job losses that have devastated the steel industry with Tata Steel announcing last week that 1,000 jobs would go, mainly at its Port Talbot plant in Wales. Last year SSI UK closed its giant plant at Redcar, in Teesside.

Decision pending: Fears are growing that if the European Union grants China prized market economy status then cheap Chinese imports of everything from cement to roof tiles will devastate Britains homegrown industries  as they have with steel

Now British manufacturers fear that the slowdown in growth of the Chinese economy will hit a range of heavy industries, as China uses less of its own products and seeks markets for them overseas instead.

A spokesman for the Energy Intensive Users Group, which represents the UKs heavy industries, said: Our concern is that the damage done to the steel industry by imports will spread to other energy intensive industries.

Some 18 per cent of the cement used in this country is imported and that figure is rising. Its the same with heavy clay products  such as roof tiles  where 25 per cent of the market is now imports.

The UK is now the worlds largest importer of paper, after four big British paper mills closed last year. The British Government supports Chinas attempt to gain market economy status from the EU, though some countries, such as Italy, oppose it.

Dumping of products such as steel involves offering the commodity at a level that is far below market prices.

Gareth Stace, director of the trade body Steel UK, said: We need the Government to take the lead in making the EU speed up investigations into steel dumping from nine months to six months and in modernising the tariff system.
Stock exchanges reeling from a collapse in emerging market growth will face renewed pressure this week as figures show Britains own economic recovery has slowed.

Fears of a downturn have swept markets worldwide since the start of the year, wiping hundreds of billions of pounds off the value of shares.

But the panic has yet to dent economists optimism about British and developed market growth  meaning signs of a slowdown here could ring new alarm bells.

Unsteady: Stock exchanges reeling from a collapse in emerging market growth will face renewed pressure this week as figures show Britains own economic recovery has slowed

Official figures will show that economic growth in the UK was just 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, say forecasters from IHS Global Insight.

That would put year-on-year growth at 1.8 per cent, still decent, but the lowest figure since Britains recovery took off in 2013.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS, also said the consultancy had trimmed its forecast for this year to 2.1 per cent, just below the Treasurys 2.2 per cent forecast.

This week will also see growth figures from the US. The worlds biggest economy is likely to say that growth stood at an annual rate of 1 per cent in the final quarter of 2015.

Investors are nursing big losses this weekend with the Footsie in bear market territory  having fallen more than 20 per cent from its 7,104 peak in April last year.

While it recovered slightly on Thursday and Friday, the question buzzing around the City is whether the chaos in financial markets is just panic among traders and investors, or whether it heralds a real economic slowdown or even recession.

Analysts at Coutts, the Queens bank, argued that economic fundamentals were strong, making recent market falls a buying opportunity for investors.

Gloomy: Investors are nursing big losses this weekend with the Footsie in bear market territory  having fallen more than 20 per cent from its 7,104 closing peak in April last year

It said in a note to clients: Global markets are reacting to fears of a sharp economic slowdown, but without any solid evidence that such a slowdown is actually happening or is imminent.

We have carefully reviewed all of our underlying assumptions and carried out a thorough search for any fundamental factor we may have overlooked. Our conclusion remains that growth looks fine and fears of a slowdown are exaggerated.

Others are slightly less optimistic. Alan Hudson, head of restructuring at EY, the accountancy firm previously called Ernst & Young, said the markets turbulence could itself overwhelm economic confidence.

Most businesses are standing up to the test, but the New Year brought new twists on familiar challenges. Geopolitical tensions are rising.

Chinas economic path has clouded further, with uncertainty feeding into global markets. Low oil prices should be more of a blessing than a curse, but rising market tension threatens to swamp the benefits, he said.

He added that a failure in confidence is still a serious risk. CBI president Paul Drechsler told The Mail on Sunday that he believed the slump in markets was an overreaction, saying: We may be overreacting and maybe should calm down a bit, not panic. In the context of the longer term we have had a bit of volatility. But its not dramatic.

US performance: This week will also see key data from the US, with the worlds biggest economy is likely to say that growth stood at an annual rate of 1 per cent in the final quarter of 2015

However, others point to fundamental signs of real global economic slowdown. Figures from the Netherlands Bureau for Policy Analysis on Friday showed world trade shrank by 0.1 per cent in November.

Another key measure is the Baltic Dry index. Little known outside the City, the index measures the cost of shipping dry commodities such as coal and steel. It fell to an all-time low last week, suggesting a drop off in trade of such commodities.

Those fears are being fuelled by China, where economic growth, though strong by Western standards, is at a 25-year low of 6.9 per cent.

Chinas appetite for raw materials to fuel its growth has been a vital force globally in recent years. But some experts believe the 6.9 per cent figure is due to the optimism of Chinese state statisticians.

Slowing growth: Chinas appetite for raw materials to fuel its growth has been a vital force globally in recent years, but it is feared demand is drying up

Others take the view that the economy is nevertheless shrugging off the risk of a hard landing. Julian Evans-Pritchard, a China economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said he believed Beijings actions to boost its economy are already bearing fruit. He said: There are signs that policy support is now helping the economy to turn a corner.

He said Chinas GDP figures show a pick-up in construction growth and a stabilisation of the industrial sector, adding: This is likely to reflect stronger government spending on infrastructure projects.

The consultancys own measure of Chinese growth suggests a similar pick-up. The key now is whether international trade starts to decline significantly or whether it can stabilise or even get back to recovery.

Raoul Leering, at ING Bank, said: The recovery in trade at the start of the summer in 2015 has become stuck. But even if trade hardly grows, as long as it will not shrink as it did in the first five months of 2015, then growth figures will be better this year than in 2015.
Grocery delivery firm Ocado has been besieged in the past week by hedge funds placing huge bets on a share price fall at the online company.

The rush to short-sell Ocado shares follows an unexpected spike in their price after rumours emerged that the company would soon receive a takeover bid from online giant Amazon.

But the number of short-selling positions in the stock has increased dramatically in the past month and shot up again last week.

Rumours: Grocery delivery firm Ocado has been besieged in the past week by hedge funds placing huge bets on a share price fall at the online company

About 275 million is now being staked on a share price fall, which may happen if a bid does not materialise soon.

To short a company, investors borrow shares in it from another investor and sell them. If the shares fall in price, they can buy them back at a lower price at a later date to make a profit. The amount of shares on loan, which is recorded by City watchdogs, is a clear indicator of how many investors are shorting a company.

The swoop at Ocado takes the total stock on loan to 17 per cent and makes the firm the fourth most shorted stock in the FTSE 350 index. The figure is up from 15 per cent at the start of last week and just 12 per cent a month ago.

Shares in Ocado have risen 14 per cent since Tuesday following rumours that the company may be the subject of a bid from Amazon.

Clive Black, an analyst at stockbroker Shore Capital, said it would be quite staggering if the Takeover Panel had not approached both firms. He said he concluded that the lack of any statement meant there must have been no contact between the two company boards.

Construction firm Carillion is the most shorted stock in the FTSE 350, with a quarter of its shares on loan. That is followed by supermarket group Morrisons at 20 per cent and rival Sainsburys, the most shorted FTSE 100 stock, at 17.7 per cent.

Short positions in Tesco are at an all-time high at 6.2 per cent, according to financial data firm Markit, which provided the figures.

Sainsburys is expected to make a bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group over the next week as a February 2 deadline imposed by the Takeover Panel looms.

The company wants an opportunity to discuss the financial rationale for a takeover with its major shareholders and sources said this would not be possible until an official bid is tabled.

Swooping? Shares in Ocado have risen 14 per cent since Tuesday following rumours that the company may be the subject of a bid from Amazon

Last week Home Retail agreed a deal to sell its Homebase business to Australian retail group Wesfarmers, clearing a path for a Sainsburys bid. But Home Retail boss John Walden has insisted Argos can survive and prosper without a sale to the supermarket giant.

Sainsburys has been canvassing shareholders but wants an opportunity to hold more meaningful talks.
Funds: Swiss entrepreneurs on a mission to revive a 19th Century watch brand have turned to UK crowdfunding platform Crowd for Angels

Swiss entrepreneurs on a mission to revive a 19th Century watch brand whose timepieces were worn by Emperor Napoleon III of France have turned to UK crowdfunding platform Crowd for Angels to raise 759,000.

The brand ended with the death of the founder, Francois Czapek, a Czech-born Polish watchmaker, but was re-established in 2013 by entrepreneurs Harry Guhl and Xavier de Roquemaurel.

The company, Czapek & Cie, raised SF500,000 (344,000) last year to fund the first of its new watches, based on an 1850 design.

Only 250 will be made with prices ranging from 9,500 (7,170) to 26,300 (19,925) for one in rose gold with fleur de lys hands.

About 500,000 of the target has been raised so far from 14 investors. The minimum investment is 33 and there is a week left to subscribe.

Chief executive de Roquemaurel said: Czapek deserves to be revived.

'He was one of the greatest watchmakers of the 19th Century, who brilliantly combined precision mechanics with refined aesthetics.
Government policy is failing to keep up with the rise in home-based businesses in the UK, a report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has warned.

Michael Izza, chief executive of the ICAEW, which advises 1.5 million companies across the UK, has said in the accountancy bodys Tomorrows Enterprise study on the changing state of business: There are now over 5.4 million businesses, a million more than there were before the financial crisis.

In 2015 alone, close to 600,000 were created. This has coincided with the biggest self-employment boom in 40 years.

Growing trend: Government policy is failing to keep up with the rise in home-based businesses in the UK, a report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has warned

However, while companies are being created at a rate of more than one a minute and there are now more being created than people going into full-time jobs, Izza urged the Government to make the survival and growth of new businesses a matter of national priority.

The UK is now widely considered Europes capital of enterprise, but Izza said all too often the ambitious plans of entrepreneurs are not realised.

He said: For every ten new businesses created, six existing ones are dissolved. Business failure is a natural part of a competitive economy. However, the excessively high instance of business failure is a problem and one we believe the Government, in partnership with the private sector, can help fix.

Meanwhile, Emma Jones, the founder of fast-growing small business network Enterprise Nation, who was recently appointed a Business Ambassador by Prime Minister David Cameron, said in the report: Tomorrows Enterprise does not call for an increase in small business support programmes funded by the Government  a sensible reality in an age of budget cuts that have seen schemes such as Growth Accelerator and Manufacturing Advisory Service abolished.
Forced from his train seat by armed bandits in Mexico and robbed of all his money by a 'visa official' on the Hungarian border - incidents which are all in a day's travel for arguably Australia's most prolific tourist.

Ron Scott, 67, from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, travels 'every week of the year'. He has covered more than three million kilometres and visited 520 cities in less than eight years.

But his wanderlust has come with a fair share of close shaves and surreal moments - including being driven around Cuba by one of Fidel Castro's top spies.

Ron Scott from the Sunshine Coast is arguably Australia's most well travelled man. He's covered 3 million kilometres in less than a decade including 520 cities

Shaken: Lynn Scotts mother and a friend pictured just after being told by machine-gun toting Mexican bandits to move on from their seats in the bullet hole riddled train they travelled on through the Copper Canyon

The Chihuahua al Pacifica Railway train on which the Scotts were confronted by armed bandits on its way through the Copper Canyon

A worse-for-wear green-coloured 'classic 50s American car' greeted Mr Scott on his first trip to Havana. He was told by the driver Nestor Gracia Iturbe that he was once Fidel Castro's top spy

Former Castro spy Nestor Garcia Iturbe pictured with Ron Scott in Havana. After complaining about the old car which picked them up from the airport they were later transported in this black limousine

'He was looking for lunch', alligator watch in America as the Scotts get up close and personal

Ron Scott learning to rid a horse by the rim of Copper Canyon in Mexico, 'it was pretty scary', he said

Majestic sight: The Scotts follow their group as they ride through the Copper Canyon in Mexico

'Whenever you fly it is a calculated risk, the more you fly or travel the odds are against you, but I am addicted to it, maybe I was born a gypsy,' he said.

'I see mostly the good things in travel but there's been a few moments.'

Those 'moments' include border control visa official as he left Austria bound for Budapest in Hungary.

'I got to the border and the first thing the guy said was "how much money do you have", I thought it was just a check to see if I had enough for my plans.

'I had $950, he took it and said "thank you" and after a couple of hours turning the car inside out and rechecking every bit of paper I had, they asked me to stand against the wall and they pulled out a huge machine.

'I thought it was a machine gun and and that was the end of me but it turned out to be an old camera and they just wanted to put a photo on my application

'Never did get my $950 back and nor was I brave enough to ask for it, all I wanted was a visa to go into Budapest for two days, most expensive visa I have ever paid for.'

Taming the tapir in Peru: Ron Scott and wife Lynn pat the wild animal after it emerged from the forest

One place traveller Ron Scott cant get enough of is Clarksdale (home of the Crossroads) in Mississippi, US. 'Its just a small town but they have some amazing music festivals and they are so different to the big events'

Cuba: 'This is a typical plane used by the (Cuban) air force in previous years' according to Mr Scott

Mr Scott has just won the top reviewer award on TripAdvisor for the second year.

His trevails have thrust him into unique situations.

'In Cuba I had booked a personal guide booked,' he said.

The man's name was Nestor Garcia Iturbe.

'We started talking politics and history and we went to Che Guevara mausoluem and he is naming every single person in there.

'There was a picture of Fidel (Castro) and Raul (his brother) and he named the third brother (Ramon) as a good mate of his.

'He told me he was the ex-head of the DGI (Castro's spy agency).'

Mr Scott decided to test his driver's bona fides.

'We were picked up at the airport in a 54 model classic American car but like most of them, ours was woefully maintained,' he said.

'Halfway into town, the heavens opened up and the water leaked through every pore of the car and then it broke down.

'(When) we got to town I said we didnt want the same car to take us to the airport on the return trip and jokingly, I then asked seeing he knew Fidel so wel) could we borrow his car to take us back.

'Didnt think any more about it until the last day when this huge Russian built black limo turned up.'

Ron in Moscow: He has travelled over three million kilometres, hes visited more than 520 cities across 46 countries and with more than 3,500 reviews under his belt hes one of Australias top TripAdvisor contributors

Sunshine Coast residents Ron and Lynn Scott at Macchu Picchu in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Mr Scott has been named Australias Review Contributor of the Year by holiday website TripAdvisor again

'Here I am being romanced by a rare white peacock in a chateau in France' said Mr Scott

When he gets back to Australia, Mr Scott does not slow down and makes a point of travelling still, even competing in the Targa Tasmania

In Mexico, he and wife Lynn were taking in the impressive Copper Canyon, along with a couple of friends.

'We were having a wonderful time until we boarded a train to finish the trip and found several people with guns in our allocated seats,' he recalled.

'I was about to ask why they were in our seats when Lynn prompted me to look at all the bullet holes by all the seats.

'A few days previously, a group of bandidos had ridden down from the hills and took over the train.

'Many of the train guests apparently thought they were in a movie and played along - they didnt all live to tell the story and those who did lost jewellery, so Lynn and I became very meek for the rest of the trip.'

His travels have not all been about close shaves and anxious moments.

In Peru, he says locals were stunned to see he had 'tamed' a wild tapir.

A tapir is a large snouted animal which resemble anteaters and are most common to South American forests.

While in New York celebrating Christmas Eve at Bouleys, one of the city's fashionable restaurants, a diner at the next table suddenly broke into song with a young girl.
Among the 100 classified Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the freedom fighters 119th birth anniversary is one file that examines a question about whether the patriot, who raised an army to fight the British, was ever a war criminal.

The issue is moot because scholars who have questioned his demise in the August 19, 1945 air crash in Taiwan, have said Bose vanished from the public eye only because he was a war criminal wanted by the Allies, and who risked trial and execution if captured.

The British had briefly examined labeling Bose a war criminal in the closing stages of war, but swiftly given it up.

Family of Netaji Subhash Chandra with the Prime Minister.

Narendra Modi pays tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose on his 119th birth anniversary

The matter was laid to rest when a British military inquiry in 1946 concluded that Bose had indeed died after sustaining injuries in an air crash in August 1945.

The theory that Netaji had been declared a war criminal surfaced once again during the Khosla Commission of Inquiry in 1971 that probed the disappearance of the freedom fighter.

One important deposition was one of Shyam Lal Jain, Pandit Nehrus stenographer, who claimed to have taken down a dictation from Nehru in December 1945.

Jain claimed that the letter was addressed to then British Prime Minister Clement Atlee.

The deposition of Shyam Lal Jain finds mention in the declassified file Disappearance/ Death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose 915/11/C/6/96-Pol from the Prime Ministers Office.

This file encloses a 10-page explanatory note on Netaji by author Pradip Bose, in which he reproduces Jains recollection of the letter that Nehru purportedly wrote to Atlee.

I understand from a reliable source that Subhas Chandra Bose, your war criminal, has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is clear treachery and a betrayal of faith by the Russians. As Russia has been an ally of the British- Americans, it should not have been done. Please take note of it and do as you consider proper and fit.

However, the Congress claimed the letter was fake and called its release is a diversionary tactic by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

Students take part in a procession to mark Netaji Subhash Chadra Boseis birth anniversary in Dhanbad

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) File number W1/ 125/ 25/ 98-EW mentions the correspondence between Indias foreign affairs ministry and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The correspondence was initiated in 1998 based on an order of the Orissa High Court which responded to a public interest litigation filed by a former MP.

MEA request British historians from the Imperial War Museum responded to the MEAs request by saying that a list of war criminals was only drawn up only for German and Japanese nationals.

British authorities regarded Netaji as a traitor and a political figure, but, not a war criminal, a historian from the Imperial War Museum said. Boses fate as the ally of a defeated Axis power, formed part of the deliberations of the British government in 1945 in the declassified Transfer of Power papers, Vol. VI, (Pages 138-139).

The treatment of Subhas Bose, Viceroy of India Lord Wavells Indian viceroy noted, would be among the most difficult questions that will confront the home department.

On 11 August 1945, just two days after a second atomic bomb leveled the Japanese city of Nagasaki, Sir EM Jenkins, the Personal Secretary to Viceroy, and Governor-General of India Wavell suggested Bose be declared a war criminal.

He said this in a letter to RF Mudie, a member of Wavells Home Department. Mudie replied on August 23 explaining the difficulties involved.

The leaders influence on the thousands of Indian National Army (INA) men and on politics in Bengal was substantial, Mudie noted, suggesting five options for the British - to bring him back and try him as an enemy agent, try him in a court in Burma or Malaya for waging war against the King, try him in a military court in India.

They concluded that intern him either in India or in a British territory like Seychelles, or, leave him where he is and not ask for his surrender was the best course of action.

Congress claims the letter as 'fake'

The Congress on Friday claimed the letter was fake and called its release is a diversionary tactic by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

The party also pitched for declassifying all files related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, but said the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set about the task, raises doubts about his intentions.
12 people killed and several others wounded in the border incident

Jordanian border guards opened fire on three dozen suspected infiltrators from Syria, killing 12 and wounding several others.

The border command has said it frequently intercepts smugglers trying to cross into Jordan. Saturday's shooting was the deadliest such incident in the border area in recent memory.

The military's website says border guards confiscated more than 2 million narcotics pills during the incident. It says some of the infiltrators were armed and that several returned to Syria.

Jordanian border guards opened fire on three dozen suspected infiltrators from Syria, killing 12 and wounding several others

Much of Jordan's border with Syria runs through remote desert. The military did not say where along the border the shooting took place.

The eastern part of the border is the main crossing route for Syrian refugees. Some 17,000 are stranded in the border area, awaiting entry to Jordan.

The news comes after US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter reiterated calls for Turkey to bolster its fight against ISIS.

Turkey has been allowing the United States to use Incirlik, a geographically vital air base in the south, to strike ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria.

However Carter said Ankara needs to do more to secure its lengthy border with Syria.

'Turkey is a long-time friend of ours,' he said during a Davos question-and-answer session.

But 'the reality is, it has a porous border for foreign fighters going in both directions. So I think the Turks could do more.'

The border command has said it frequently intercepts smugglers trying to cross into Jordan. Saturday's shooting was the deadliest such incident in the border area in recent memory

Some Arab and Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia are nominally part of the coalition, but are now more focused on fighting Iran-backed forces in Yemen.

The United States has carried out the bulk of the nearly 9,800 air strikes launched in Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014.

But despite calls for additional help, Carter insists the coalition has the jihadists on a back foot, especially since the recapture of the Iraqi city of Ramadi and the targeting of their financial and illicit oil-selling capabilities.

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris in November that left 130 dead, France and Britain joined efforts in Syria.

Some of the other nations to have conducted strikes in Iraq or Syria include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Jordan, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The first white British youth to join ISIS in Syria was a 'class clown' who was turned to Islam by his Muslim school friends, MailOnline can reveal.

Jack Letts, who now goes by the name Ibrahim or Abu Muhammed, is living in Iraq after fleeing the UK when he was 18.

The middle-class 20-year-old son of an organic farmer from Oxford told his parents that he was going to study Arabic in Kuwait before secretly travelling to Syria, arriving in September 2014.

Jack Letts, who now goes by the name Ibrahim or Abu Muhammed, is living in Iraq after fleeing the UK when he was 18

Jack's life as a jihadi is a far cry from his comfortable upbringing at the hands of Canadian father, John (pictured right), an organic farmer and archaeobotanist and his mother, Sally (pictured left), a books editor

Expert: John Letts is seen on Countryfile with presenter Matt Baker, left

MailOnline understands 'Jihadi Jack' is now a frontline fighter for the brutal terror group and lives with his Iraqi wife and his son Muhammed after moving to the Iraqi city of Fallujah from Raqqa.

It is a far cry from his comfortable upbringing at the hands of Canadian father, John, an organic farmer and archaeobotanist and his mother, Sally, a books editor.

John won a grant from Prince Charless Countryside Fund for his company Heritage Harvest, which helps farmers grow cereals for thatch and grain, and once appeared on the BBCs Countryfile chatting with presenter Matt Baker.

Friends today said he was a 'class clown' who converted to Islam after being egged on by his Muslim classmates.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, one friend - who asked to remain anonymous - said: ' I feel like he has been exploited. No one wants to fight in ISIS unless they've been brainwashed. It's really alarming how powerfully he has changed.

'He was always an atheist, pretty liberal, typical middle class kid. At school he was the class clown but didn't take it too far, he was still smart and got fair grades.

'Then he started befriending a group of Muslim boys at the school and that exposed him to Islam. I noticed he started becoming very preachy and was using Arabic, which was strange because I only ever saw him as a typical Oxford boy.

'Then he started growing a beard, becoming more reserved, deleting his photos on Facebook, he sort of disappeared into a world where he only associated with like-minded people.

'His parents were always kind and nice, very loving and providing, they lived a good life and Jack had a good upbringing.

Jack Letts (circled, middle), who now goes by the name Ibrahim or Abu Muhammed, is living in Iraq after fleeing the UK when he was 18. Friends today said he was a 'class clown' who converted to Islam after being egged on by his Muslim classmates (pictured in 2012)

Now Jihadi Jack, 20, claims he is a frontline fighter for the brutal jihadi group and lives with his Iraqi wife and his son Muhammed in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. (pictured at home in Iraq)

The Oxford born extremist posted this photograph online, telling a friend he was 'travelling' in May last year

'He did talk passionately about ISIS, but I always assumed he meant he opposed them, not that he would join them.'

Letts attended Cherwell School in Oxford, where peers said he was a keen sportsman and avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club.

Before he converted to Islam, he drank alcohol and occasionally smoked cannabis with his friends. He was also a fan of graffiti art, specifically Banksy, friends said.

'He was liked by a lot of the students. That's why this whole thing of him going to live in Syria and join Isis doesn't make any sense,' a pal told The Sunday Times.

It is thought Letts began to take an interest in the Middle East during the Arab Spring in 2011. Prior to converting to Islam, he was an atheist and appeared to have little interest in religion despite being christened as a child.

He went to start learning Arabic and attended the Madina Masjid, a mosque near his home in Oxford, changing his name to Ibrahim - the Arabic version of his original middle name, Abraham.

He did talk passionately about ISIS, but I always assumed he meant he opposed them, not that he would join them. School friend

Several of his friends have claimed that the 20-year-old was radicalised in a private prayer meetings and the mosque was not responsible for the hardening of his views.

One said: 'His conversion to Islam was slow but happened quickly when it did.

'There is a massive Muslim influence around here, which is great actually, I believe a lot of the youth are more tolerant and open minded.

'He converted and was slowly groomed online by Islamic extremists. He went to a local mosque and when other people there knew what he was planning they tried to stop him, telling him it was against God and told his parents but he did not listen and went anyway.

'He has contacted his parents and others since but there are no signs of him coming back any time soon.'

Upon leaving for Syria, Letts lied to his parents and told them he was moving to Kuwait. Unknown to his family, he had already made contact with a ISIS recruiter over social media.

The MailOnline understands that upon reaching Syria, he met fellow British ISIS fighter, Omar Hussain, also known as the supermarket jihadi.

Despite his care in trying to hide his identity, he posted several photos of himself posing with weapons, thought have been taken near the Tabqa dam in Syria.

The transition from Oxford schoolboy to ISIS jihadist has shocked his old friends from school, some of whom have nicknamed him 'Jihadi Jack'.

The transition from Oxford schoolboy to ISIS jihadist has shocked his old friends from school, some of whom have nicknamed him 'Jihadi Jack'

Before he converted to Islam, Jack (left) drank alcohol and occasionally smoked cannabis with his friends

His family - who live in a red-brick terraced house in the centre of Oxford - refused to comment when approached.

However, neighbours spoke of their 'utter sadness' at his decision to join the blood-thirsty terror organisation.

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, spoke of her concern when she first discovered Jack had converted to Islam.

She said: 'One day I came out of my house and I saw him sat on the pavement, in the cold. I approached him and asked what was wrong. He told me he had forgotten a key and could not enter his house, so I invited him in and made him a cup of tea and gave him some biscuits.

'When we were inside, he suddenly asked me, 'can I pray?' I told him that he could of course pray, but it was unusual because his family were not Muslim.

'As we were talking, he said to me, 'I am going to Saudi Arabia after school. I want to go there to further my education.'

Friends today said Letts converted to Islam in a short period of time, became 'very preachy' and started using Arabic

'This made me very worried. He told me he had started visiting a mosque. I believe he started going there with his classmates.

'I spoke with his father who became very worried. I sat with him and told him not to worry, that Islam means peace. I told him to pray that his son follows the good path, not the bad one.

'To hear that he has gone away to Syria brings me utter sadness. I feel very depressed, and I feel bad for him.

'His father was very depressed when we last spoke, it must be terrifying for him to have a son going into a war zone. I have not heard from his father for many months now.'

The neighbour added: 'What they are doing out there is awful, it is not Jihad, it is killing. They have been brainwashing children and telling them if they do not kill they will go to hell.

'I fear Jack has been brainwashed and has followed the wrong path along with some of his class fellows.

Upon reaching Syria, Letts met fellow British ISIS fighter, Omar Hussain (pictured), dubbed the Supermarket jihadi due to his former job as a security guard at Morrisons supermarket

'The family are very nice, but they have been very unlucky.'

Another neighbour, who also asked to remain anonymous, said: '[Jack's] father is a very good man, but now he is depressed because of all of this.

'He grows unusual varieties of rye experimentally and breaks it down into flour in a mill, which he sells on to health food shops.

I fear Jack has been brainwashed and has followed the wrong path along with some of his class fellows. Letts family neighbour

'I believe he used to grow the wheat in Burford and in fields just south of Oxford, but I couldn't be sure where.

'John would sell the bread from his house, so quite often I would see people knocking on his door and buying bread right on the doorstep.

'I know he would often use old school methods in the fields, cutting the crop with scythes and piling the wheatsheaf up.

'We barely see the family now. I know with his line of work he can quite often work night and day, but the family don't seem to come out of their home as much as they used to.

'It must be terribly worrying for the family. Iraq is a country of war.'

A close family member, believed to be Jack's father but not confirmed, spoke out against the circulation of information in the media about the young lad.

'There has been an avalanche of misinformation', the family member, who did not share his name, said.

'We don't want to comment on all of this, but what I will say is that 95 per cent of what has been published is incorrect, it is desperately wrong.

'The only truth is that Jack is a Muslim and he is overseas.'
At work: Camerawoman Maaike Engels

It was 9am on a Friday morning in the Calais refugee camp known as The Jungle. The sun was up, but the sprawling camp was eerily quiet  most refugees were still sleeping after another night of cat-and-mouse with police as they attempt to reach Britain.

My colleague Teun Voeten and I were filming a documentary for Dutch TV. I had just pressed record on my camera when I heard Teun cry out for help.

I swung around, still filming, to see three young refugees in hoodies viciously push him to the ground at the side of a tent. I rushed towards him but on my left I heard a hiss  pepper spray aimed at my eyes.

From my right  and just in time  I glimpsed a knife coming towards me. I kicked and lost my balance, my camera almost sliding off my shoulder. Teun shouted out. I tried to regain my balance and again was hit with pepper spray.

You might have seen the attack  my video footage went round the world. Fortunately, two African refugees rushed to our aid.

For a couple of seconds, our muggers seemed confused. I looked at their faces and noticed their eyes were glassy and hollow  heroin and crystal meth are rife in the camp  before they ran off, dropping Teuns snatched notebook when they realised it was not a wallet.

At the time, the attack seemed to go on for ages. But when I played back the video, it took only 45 seconds. We posted the footage on YouTube and within hours it went viral, attracting more than 600,000 viewers and being picked up by TV news channels.

The film evoked a wild array of responses from both sides of the immigration debate. We were accused of being Right-wing, pro-Muslim Lefties, rank incompetents and even hoaxers.

But we are far from naive amateurs. Teun has spent 25 years working in conflict zones and we had been filming in Calais for months.

Since September, when we began our project, we have both noticed a huge deterioration in the camp, with increased disease, drug-taking, overcrowding and violence.

Scroll down for video

Lawless: The attack on Teun Voeten was caught on camera by his colleague, camerawoman Maaike Engels

Our documentary, Calais: Welcome To The Jungle, aims to give an accurate reflection of the good, the bad and the ugly  and we certainly found plenty of the latter.

The Jungle is a filthy, anarchic slum, expanding uncontrollably on the edge on an industrial zone, misery as far as the eye can see.

During our time there, we saw that tension and violence were dramatically increasing  a toxic state of affairs made worse by the increasing presence of drugs.

Two weeks before we were attacked, a Narcotics Anonymous volunteer from London told me crystal meth and heroin use in The Jungle were on the rise. Perhaps that explains the aggression and sheer audacity of our attackers.

And there is another factor, too: the growing number of British anarchists living among the refugees. They say they have come to advise and show solidarity, although that solidarity clearly does not extend to sleeping in tents  they have their own caravans.

They pretend to represent some sort of European moral conscience and represent all Calais migrants and the principle of freedom of movement  that is to say, movement into Britain. The truth, though, is that they are bent on spreading tension in The Jungle  and violence.

The main group is the predominantly British No Borders Network. They even have a website, though how they expect the denizens of the Jungle to see it is unclear. It is full of declarations using radical Marxist rhetoric to rail at the enemy  the authorities, the people of Calais and journalists who do not subscribe to their radical agenda.

The moment Teun Voeten was attacked and pushed to the ground by the three young men (left), and British activists in The Jungle (right)

You may think they would be keen on publicity for their cause. But that could not be further from their minds. One said: We need the press to bear witness to extreme police violence, yet they refuse to give interviews.

Many observers believe they are exploiting the refugee crisis to further their own agenda radicalising refugees, provoking the police and inciting panic and disorder in the camp.

As the deputy mayor of Calais, Philippe Mignonet, told us: They are obsessed with increasing tensions and setting the migrants up against the authorities.

Earlier this month, the French authorities attempted to give some order to the Jungles chaos by building a container camp offering shelter to 1,000 migrants.

We went down with our cameras, only to find the No Borders Network stirring up dissent. Their leaflets warned of a hidden agenda, claiming: They [the French authorities] veil their threats of eviction with the sweetness of compassion, they begin by offering limited sleeping space in a camp designed to trap people and rob them of their freedom.

Hardly helpful to homeless migrants seeking shelter from the bitter January cold.

After an attempt to close down part of the Jungle, their website read: The next time they come to take a piece of the Jungle, they can only expect one thing, a fight! And last week, parts of the camp did indeed erupt in flames ahead of the planned demolition.

After the anarchists turned down repeated interview requests, we went to their stronghold on the periphery of the camp. Behind a couple of deserted caravans plastered with posters sat a circle of young white adults.

One of the youngsters was clutching a large knife (pictured right) during the attempted mugging in The Jungle

One of them strolled over to us. We dont have journalists here, he mumbled. Perhaps they do not want people to know their true motivation.

Despite the French governments active policy of discouragement, the camps population has grown from 600 at the start of last year to 6,000.

At night, the atmosphere is grim and seedy. Women stay inside for fear of being raped. Tensions between ethnic groups run high and can escalate into fighting. Scabies, intestinal and pulmonary infections are widespread and the first cases of TB have been diagnosed.

After seeing first-hand the violence, Teun and I know better than most that something needs to be done. And fast. It is clear there should be no place for criminal behaviour or for people who are not genuine refugees. Europe needs to act with compassion and firmness, before it is too late.

It should also be made clear to the inhabitants of the Jungle that entering Britain illegally is no longer an option due to increased security at the port and the Eurotunnel complex, and the unwillingness of the UK to accept them. And yes, Britain clearly has a responsibility, but has shifted its problem on to French territory.

The migrants should be clearly told they have only two options: start asylum procedures in continental Europe or return to their home countries. Leaving thousands of migrants stranded in a legal limbo in the festering Jungle is not only inhumane, but it undermines European society.
Investigation: British man Ben Gleave, 28, was made to take a DNA test in Canada to prove that he wasn't missing boy Ben Neeham

Police in Canada forced a British man to undergo a DNA test because they believed he was missing Ben Needham  only for the crucial sample to disappear for nine years.

Ben Gleave, 28, who has never before been named publicly in connection with the case, believed he had been ruled out when he heard nothing back from detectives.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that no one contacted him because of a sequence of extraordinary blunders by police here and abroad.

His DNA swab went missing after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police inexplicably posted it to a private investigator in Wales. It has not been recovered to this day.

Last night the RCMP declined to say why they had not sent the DNA to British detectives.

And despite being told about Ben Gleave years ago, South Yorkshire police failed to follow up the lead. In fact, they only began searching for the swab and Mr Gleave last week.

The new lead emerged after police were criticised by Bens mother Kerry for spending millions on the Madeleine McCann inquiry when other missing children arent getting as much attention.

Her plea helped South Yorkshire police secure 700,000 from the Home Office to continue investigating Bens disappearance. He was 21 months old when he went missing while on a family holiday on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.

Emails leaked to this newspaper show police were seeking information about Mr Gleave last week. In one, to private investigator Ian Crosby, a detective asked: Where is it [the DNA sample] now and may we have it so it can be tested against Ben Needhams DNA? This would comprehensively conclude whether Ben Gleave is Ben Needham.

Mr Crosby could not help because the swab disappeared after council officials raided his home during an animal welfare investigation.

But on Friday, The Mail on Sunday traced Mr Gleave to Co Down, Northern Ireland. He moved there from Canada eight years ago.

He offered proof he wasnt Ben Needham and said he was stunned to learn his sample had gone missing. Volunteering to take another test, he added: Ive got nothing to hide.

Mr Gleave said he was accused of being Ben by a vindictive neighbour. At the time, he lived with his family on Isle Madame, off the southern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Lost: Mr Gleave (pictured left, aged 11) was believed to be the missing British boy Ben Needham (right, a Photofit) who vanished while on a family holiday on the Greek island of Kos in 1991

His birth fathers name was Stockdale but his mother married Canadian Wayne Gleave when he was five.

The family moved to Canada when Ben was 16 but two years later, in 2006, he was dragged into one of Britains most baffling missing child cases.

Mr Gleave explained: My mum had a friend who she fell out with who took it upon herself to make our familys life hell. She called the RCMP and told them I might be Ben Needham. It was a malicious thing to do.

The RCMP and South Yorkshire Police declined to comment further.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last night suggested Britain should take in similar numbers of refugees to the hundreds of thousands entering Germany  and said the Government should admit unaccompanied children immediately.

His call came on a mud-spattered tour of two migrant camps in Dunkirk and Calais, as he claimed that most people in Britain would happily accept more immigrants.

The Government is taking in 25,000 over five years... its got to be much more than that, thats a tiny figure, he declared as he struggled to push through the throng of people at Dunkirks Grande-Synthe camp, which houses 3,000 migrants.

Corbyn's guide... the Calais protester: Alongside Corbyn was Maddie Harris, who denies being an anarchist or part of the Calais Migrant Solidarity Campaign - but was spotted on their demo last month

Mr Corbyn was led through the camp by Maddie Harris, an activist from Bristol who has spent four months living there and has been pictured at an anarchist protests in Calais supporting migrants rights.

Criticising British policy, Mr Corbyn said: Germany is taking several hundred thousand people and I think we should have been part of the European programme from the very beginning in 2013. We are a big country but we cant solve the problem on our own  no one country can. Together we have got to do a lot better than this. This is a disgrace. Its disgraceful this camp.

The conditions are truly grim in the camp, a rat-infested quagmire with ankle-deep mud fringed by open sewers. Families huddle in thin plastic tents with no protection from the cold.

We have to do more, declared Mr Corbyn. As a matter of urgency, David Cameron should act to give refuge to unaccompanied refugee children now in Europe  as we did with Jewish Kindertransport children escaping from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s.

Last night there were reports that Mr Cameron was considering accepting unaccompanied refugee children into Britain, but The Mail on Sunday understands it would likely amount to hundreds, not thousands of young people, and they would probably come from camps in Syria rather than in France.

Asked if people in Britain believed too many migrants had already been admitted, Mr Corbyn said: If you talk to people at a human level about fellow human beings real suffering, you get a different response... Not everyone is that cold-hearted.

Ms Harris, 30, said she was an independent volunteer, not an anarchist or a member of the Calais Migrant Solidarity Campaign, although she admitted being photographed holding a banner at a New Years Eve demo they organised.

Ms Harris, 30, admitted being photographed holding a banner at a New Years Eve demo the Calais Migrant Solidarity Campaign organised

I was supporting the cause, not the group, she said. People are being detained illegally and I was protesting against that. There are no anarchists here stirring up trouble or violence. We are not encouraging people to come to these camps.

I am here for humanitarian reasons, not political ones.

While Mr Corbyn received a largely warm reception, many of those applauding him clearly had no idea who he was.

One man at the Dunkirk camp who spoke to Mr Corbyn was British citizen Saman Sharif, 29, who arrived in Britain from Iraq 12 years ago, but whose wife, 29, and their four children  including five-month-old son Lawnad  are stranded in the camp.

I come here every weekend from Birmingham, said factory worker Mr Sharif. I have a British passport, but it makes no difference, they are caught in the red tape. I asked Mr Corbyn to help reunite me with my family, and he has said he will do what he can about my case.

Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox was critical of Mr Corbyns proposal, telling The Mail on Sunday: It sounds like a knee-jerk reaction to a media visit which, like everything else from Corbyn, is ill thought-out.
Australia has increased its efforts to protect unique native species and has already started by wiping out 2 million feral cats.

Figures have shown that the country has lost 29 native species to a population of more than 20 million cats since 1788.

Sixteen threatened species were also added to the list of animals that need to be taken into priority due to their risk of extinction.

The eastern barred bandicoot (stock) is also under threat and will be protected by a program training dogs to stop threats to the species in Victoria

Australia has increased its efforts to protect unique native species and has already started by wiping out 2 million feral cats (stock). Figures show the country has lost 29 native species to feral cats since 1788

The Commonwealths threatened species strategy added the mahogany glider, eastern quoll, western ringtail possum, woylie, black-footed rock-wallaby, Gilberts potoroo, northern hopping-mouse and Christmas Island flying-fox to a list of 20 mammals under threat, reported The Herald.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt told The Herald: It is our duty to care for them, so our bilbies, numbats, quolls and other unique fauna and flora remain a living part of our culture.

As any international visitor will tell you, we are truly lucky to share this continent with so many wonderful and distinctly Australian plants and animals, he added.

Sixteen threatened species including the eastern quoll (stock) were also added to the list of animals that need to be taken into priority due to their risk of extinction

The Federal government will commit more than $130 million in funding to target feral cats and try and help with species such as the Christmas Island fruit bats (stock) recovery by 2020

The Federal government will commit more than $130 million in funding to target feral cats and try and help with species recovery by 2020.

Improving habitats and helping with 500 programs that already help with emergency intervention to create safe environments for the animals can be seen across the country.

Scientists are also working close with government officials to help the leadbeater possums found in the Toolangi Forest in the North of Melbourne.

Improving habitats of animals such as the bettong (stock) and helping with 500 programs that already help with emergency intervention to create safe environments for the animals can be seen across the country

The Commonwealths threatened species strategy added northern hopping-mouse (stock) among other species to a list of 20 mammals being prioritised by the countries program

Meanwhile the cassowary, swift parrot, eastern curlew, Australasian bittern, Mallee fowl, red-tailed black cockatoo, white-throated grass wren and golden-shouldered parrot have been added to a list of priority bird species under threat.

Funding to help treat beak and feather disease have also been increased.

Mr Hunt will announce plans during a visit to Werribee Zoo, where dogs are being trained to help protect eastern barred bandicoots in Victoria.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt Hunt will announce plans during a visit to Werribee Zoo, where dogs such as Banjo and Mackinnion (pictured) are being trained to help protect the bandicoots
Rock has been teasing his audience on Twitter with a few racially charged jokes such as, The #Oscars. The White BET Awards'

It was revealed that Rock he re-wrote his monologue last week after Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith spearheaded a lack of diversity boycott

that Chris Rock will still host the Oscars

Chris Rock is still on board to host the Oscars after there was speculation he may step down following the recent lack of diversity boycott.

Academy Awards producer Reginald Hudlin spoke at the 47th NAACP Image Awards Nominee Luncheon on Saturday in Los Angeles where he told ET that Rock, 50, will follow through with his duties on February 28 at 8:30 ET/5:30 PT on ABC.

The comedian will likely host with a bang and not a whimper as it was revealed that he re-wrote his monologue last week after black entertainers like Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will Smith spearheaded a boycott due to the lack of black actors and filmmakers nominated for awards.

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Your host: Chris Rock is still on board to host the Oscars after there was speculation he may step down following the recent lack of diversity boycott

'Chris is hard at work. He and his writing staff locked themselves in a room,' Hudlin told ET.

'As things got a little provocative and exciting, he said, "I'm throwing out the show I wrote and writing a new show."'

'Chris is that thorough,' Hudlin added. 'He's that brilliant, and I have 1000 percent confidence that he will deliver something that people will be talking about for weeks.'

Rock has been teasing his audience on Twitter with a few racially charged jokes such as, The #Oscars. The White BET Awards.'

This isn't Rock's first stint hosting Hollywood's most coveted event. He also took the stage back in 2005.

Whoopi Goldberg, Lupita Nyong'o, Stacey dash, and Viola Davis are also among the entertainers who say the Oscars doesn't recognize enough black talent.

Message: The comedian will likely host with a bang and not a whimper as it was revealed that he re-wrote his monologue last week after Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith spearheaded a boycott due to the lack of black actors and filmmakers nominated for awards

Sneak preview: Rock has been teasing his audience on Twitter with a few racially charged jokes such as, The #Oscars. The White BET Awards'

Viola Davis told ET that Tyrese suggested that Rock pull out of the Oscars, though she said that the lack of diversity at the award show is just a symptom of another problem.

'Like I said, the Oscars are not really the issue,' she said.

'It's a symptom of a much greater disease. But if he does [host], I hope he takes it as an opportunity to make a statement, a social statement about change. It's 2016.'

Other actors like Clint Eastwood have opposing views on the Oscars and said that it's difficult to win an Oscar whether someone is white or black, according to TMZ.

The 85-year-old then added: 'All I know is there's thousands of people in the Academy and a lot of them, the majority of them, haven't won Oscars.'

Pushing for change: Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith spearheaded a boycott due to the lack of black actors and filmmakers nominated for awards

Family support: Jada Pinkett Smith has been outspoken about the Oscars with her husband Will, who was nominated for an Oscar twice

Eastwood isn't one of the majority, however, having won four Academy Awards during his lengthy career - Best Director and Best Picture in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby and Best Director and Best Picture in 1993 for Unforgiven.

But he slammed those calling for a boycott of the ceremony after no non-white actors were nominated in the acting categories for the second year in a row, adding: 'A lot of people are crying, I guess.'

Bitish actress Charlotte Rampling, nominated for a best actress Oscar this year, said on Friday that black US director Spike Lee was 'racist to whites' for his stance over this year's all-white nominations lineup. Lee has been very outspoken on the matter.

Lee said he would skip the Academy Awards and go to the Knicks game instead.

Courtside seats: Spike Lee said he would skip the Academy Awards and go to the Knicks game instead

'My wife and I will be in my courtside seats,' he said.

'It's in the other direction, it's racist... to whites,' Rampling, nominated for her role in Andrew Haigh's romantic drama "45 Years",' told French radio.

'You can never know for sure, but maybe black actors did not deserve to be in the final selection,'Rampling, 69, said in French on Europe 1 radio.

Ms Rampling's entrance into the row was notable as she is one of this year's nominees and is shortlisted for Best Actress for her role in 45 Years.

But she released a statement on Friday evening however saying that her comments had been 'misinterpreted.'

Speaking on Europe 1 radio station in Paris, where she now lives, Ms Rampling said: Its anti-white racism. Maybe black actors dont deserve to be on the final stretch?Rampling, who first made her name in classic films including Georgy Girl in the 1960s, said she was also opposed to quotas being introduced to promote black actors.

Opposite view: Bitish actress Charlotte Rampling, nominated for a best actress Oscar this year, said Friday that black US director Spike Lee was 'racist to whites' for his stance over this year's all-white nominations lineup
But Laing said Butler told 'tissue of lies', as Commons race row is growing

The Labour MP said Laing struck her name off a debate on doctor's strike

The Deputy Speaker has hit back at a Labour MPs claims that she is a racist who picked on ethnic minority MPs.

Conservative Eleanor Laing told friends that Dawn Butler had told a tissue of lies about her. Her comments were disclosed after signs that the race row is growing. Witnesses claimed Shadow Cabinet member Diane Abbott snubbed Ms Laing in a Commons tearoom.

The dispute started earlier this month after Ms Laing told Labour MP Tulip Siddiq she had breached Commons protocol by leaving the chamber straight after making a speech.

A dispute started earlier this month after deputy speaker Eleanor Laing (pictured) told Labour MP Tulip Siddiq she had breached Commons protocol by leaving the chamber straight after making a speech

Dawn Butler (pictured) then accused Ms Laing of racism. She claimed Ms Laing had taken her name off a list of speakers for a doctors strike debate, and she had only managed to make one speech since the Election

Ms Butler, whose parents come from Jamaica, waded in, accusing Ms Laing of racism. She claimed Ms Laing had taken her name off a list of speakers for a debate on the doctors strike, and that she had only managed to make one speech since the Election.

But Epping MP Ms Laing has been backed by Speaker John Bercow, and told friends: These allegations are nonsense. To claim I am racist or anti-women is false and offensive. I initiated a Commons debate on International Womens Day and have worked flat out to help minorities in my constituency.

Tory MP James Cleverly, whose mother is from Sierra Leone, said: Ms Butler should apologise to Eleanor for her crass claims.

Bystanders said that when Ms Laing greeted Ms Abbott in the Commons Pugin tearoom on Wednesday, she pointedly turned her back.

It is not the first sign of tension between them: during a debate last year, when Ms Laing pointed out Ms Abbott had exceeded her allotted speaking time, the Labour MP called her punctilious. The rift between Ms Laing and Ms Butler was initially sparked when the Labour MP referred to the PM as David Cameron. Ms Laing told her it was customary to refer to him in debates as Prime Minister, adding: The Honourable Lady is new, but not that new.
A flight attendant whose plane managed to get out of snowbound Washington D.C. just in the nick of time was so happy she danced around the plane to the perfect song, Pharrell William's Happy.

With both major Washington D.C.-area airports closed until Sunday, those who made it out before Jonas kicked into high gear dumping up to 25 inches on the city, were no doubt ecstatic.

But possibly no one showed it in such an infectious way as this Southwest Airlines attendant, who bounced around to the beat as Happy played over the loudspeakers.

ABC7 reporter Marc Cota-Robles tweeted out the charming video.

The flight left Reagan National Airport on Friday afternoon, just before the storm began dumping snow around 3pm, and was bound for the warmer weather of Dallas.

The record snowfall is expected to taper off later this evening.

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The flight attendant, along to others in the background, closed overhead bins and checked seats, but did it all with a peppy little dance

The flight left in the early afternoon to Dallas - mere hours before blizzard Jones slammed the area and both airports shut down

The crew was so happy they played the only song they could - Pharrell Williams' 'Happy'
It sounded like a welcome return to the classics  teachers turning to Homer to add substance to lessons.

But to the dismay of critics, far from introducing pupils to the rigours of the Ancient Greek poet behind The Odyssey, they are instead illustrating weighty GCSE topics with the help of a far less intellectual figure  Homer Simpson.

The patriarch of the dysfunctional family in American TV cartoon series The Simpsons features in model lesson plans being used by teachers to engage students in subjects ranging from science versus religion and the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in Religious Education, to the intricacies of the perfect tense in Spanish.

Homer-work: Part of the history lesson. The American TV cartoon series features in model lesson plans being used by teachers to engage students

Critics claim teachers are trivialising classes by using The Simpsons to provide bogus relevance  an echo of an attack made three years ago by then Education Secretary Michael Gove on an infantile lesson plan that used Mr Men characters to illustrate Hitlers regime.

Former Government adviser Chris McGovern, of the Campaign For Real Education, said: Resorting to The Simpsons is a cop-out and a flag of surrender to pupils looking for an easy time.

Youngsters need to have their sights raised, not lowered by this patronising and dumbed-down approach.

'If we are ever to compete with the best education systems in the world, we need to expect a lot more from our children.

Despite Homer Simpsons less than intellectual approach to life, summed up by his catchphrase Doh!, more than 900 plans involving The Simpsons  including 700 aimed at 11- to 16-year-olds preparing for GCSEs  are available on the respected Times Educational Supplement website.

Examples devised by teachers that can be downloaded and used by colleagues include a history plan for the Weimar Republic, the regime that emerged in Germany after the First World War.

It asks students to imagine that The Simpsons, renamed Ze Zimpsons, have gone back in time and transported to Zpringfield in Germanys Rhineland, and speculate how they would have been affected.

The activity sheet reads: Homer would have been involved in fighting in the war. He would have returned from war disappointed and disheartened. He is now hoping to return to his job in the Ruhr region.

Bart and his dad in the TV show. The characters are also being used to illustrate Shakespeare plays

Other characters include power-plant owner Montgomery Burns, described as a huge fan of the Kaiser  and even Krusty the Clown.

Simpsons characters are also used to illustrate Shakespeare plays, George Orwells Animal Farm, and in RE topics such as the nature of God, for which pupils are expected to watch the cartoon.

National Union of Teachers chief Christine Blower said: It is a matter of the teachers professional judgment on how best to align materials with the content and skill to be taught.
Pressure grew on Conservative chairman Lord Feldman to resign last night after his former co-chairman Grant Shapps criticised the way the party had handled the Tatler Tory scandal.

Mr Shapps, who resigned as International Development Minister after the suicide of Conservative activist Elliott Johnson, said the party had let down Elliotts parents by its tin ear and slow response to the tragedy.

And in an apparent sideswipe at Lord Feldman, he said the suicide last September was not on my watch  highlighting the fact that the peer had been sole party chairman for four months by then.

Pressure grew on Conservative chairman Lord Feldman (right) to resign last night after his former co-chairman Grant Shapps (left) criticised the way the party had handled the Tatler Tory scandal

Elliott killed himself after alleged bullying by so-called Tatler Tory Mark Clarke, who ran David Camerons Road Trip General Election campaign.

Mr Shapps repeated his criticism of Tory HQ in a phone call yesterday to Elliotts parents, Ray and Alison. It won him praise from Mr Johnson who lambasted arrogant Lord Feldman for failing to show the same degree of sympathy.

Mr Johnson said he was very disappointed that Lord Feldman had not once spoken to him and his wife directly since the death of their son.

Mr Shapps said he resigned because he just couldnt accept the way the Conservative Party were treating us, said Mr Johnson.

I gave him credit for doing the decent thing in resigning and contacting us after it happened  and again today.

I told him that while he had indirect responsibility for what happened to Elliott as co-chairman during the Election, direct responsibility lay with Feldman.

Elliott Johnson (left) killed himself after alleged bullying by so-called Tatler Tory Mark Clarke, who ran David Camerons Road Trip General Election campaign

He was sole chairman when Elliott was bullied, menaced and eventually took his own life over the summer. By then, Mr Shapps had left party headquarters.

Feldman could have taken stronger action against Clarke before it was too late and had the decency to speak to us since Elliott died. He has done neither.

In an interview in The Daily Telegraph yesterday, Mr Shapps explained why he was convinced he was right to resign.

It didnt happen under my watch, this is true, he said. But he decided: I dont like being part of something that looks like no one understands and is not prepared to apologise or take any responsibility  any kind of responsibility.

I just think [resigning] was the decent thing to do. I didnt feel comfortable for the Johnson family to feel that no one appeared to understand. As soon as he resigned he telephoned the family to let them know there was no tin ear to what was going on.

PARTY PAID 3,000 EXPENSES TO THE MISTRESS OF TATLER TORY Conservative chiefs paid nearly 3,000 to the mistress of Tatler Tory Mark Clarke. The money was paid to India Brummitt, the long-term lover of married Clarke, the man accused of bullying activist Elliott Johnson before his suicide. Conservatives supporters were shocked by the way Clarke flaunted her on his Road Trip Election campaign, when they openly shared hotel rooms. Ms Brummitt, right, with fellow activist Ellie Vesey-Thompson and Baroness Emma Pidding, chairman of the Road Trip Payments of 2,761 to Ms Brummitt, 25, are revealed in the Conservatives campaign accounts published by the Electoral Commission. It was paid in two instalments in April for overheads and general administration. It is believed the money was for her helping to organise Conservative battlebus visits to target seats. The Road Trips, with free booze paid for by Tory HQ, became known for wild behaviour. There were also claims that Clarke sexually harassed young female activists. His relationship with Ms Brummitt has long been the source of scandalous allegations. Clarkes friends say he boasted they had sex on a pub pool table in Tooting, South London, where Clarke was a Tory Parliamentary candidate in 2010. The disclosure led to Ms Brummitts resignation as a Commons aide to Tory Minister Claire Perry, who advises David Cameron on the sexualisation of children. It has also been claimed that Ms Brummitt sustained a broken jaw when Clarke slapped her during consensual sex  and that when she went to a hospital A&E for treatment she told medics it was a netball injury. There is no suggestion the Tory payments to Ms Brummitt were improper. She was unavailable for comment last night. The Conservative Party declined to give further details about the payments. Advertisement

Mr Shapps said Lord Feldman doesnt have to resign, adding: People have to make their own decisions. He had no regrets about his own decision to abandon his ministerial career because in the end I signed a piece of paper  the key decision to make Clarke a Tory director and back his Road Trip campaign.

Mr Shapps took part in several Road Trip events with Clarke, nicknamed the Tatler Tory after the society magazine tipped him for Cabinet stardom.

Clarke was banned for life by the Conservatives after details emerged of the way Elliott was bullied and allegations of sexual misconduct, blackmail and boozing involving his Road Trips.

Law firm Clifford Chance has been appointed to carry out an investigation into the scandal and is expected to give the Tory Party Board a progress report this week.

The inquest into Elliotts suicide is due to take place on March 2.
Jeremy Corbyn told Argentinian diplomats he backs a Northern Ireland-style power sharing deal on the Falklands it has emerged - just days after he sparked outrage with interventions on the islands.

The Labour leader first had conversations with the diplomats while an obscure backbencher.

But his remarks a week ago that it was time to reach a 'reasonable accommodation' with Argentina over the South Atlantic territory provoked a new shadow cabinet row this week.

Argentina's outgoing British ambassador has said Mr Corbyn, right on a visit to Calais this weekend, is 'one of us' amid reports he is keen for a Northern Ireland-style power sharing deal for the Falklands

In 2013, a referendum of the people on the Falkland Islands said 99.8 per cent wanted to remain British and both the island's government and David Cameron have insisted the 3,000 strong population have an absolute right of self determination.

The Daily Telegraph said today Labour sources indicated Mr Corbyn remained keen for talks with Argentina.

And the Labour leader's remarks prompted Alicia Castro, Argentina's outgoing ambassador to back Mr Corbyn as 'one of ours'.

In an interview on the Argentine embassy's website, Ms Castro described Mr Corbyn as 'friendly and humorous' and 'a good listener'.

She continued: 'He is saying that dialogue [is] possible and that attitudes are beginning to change, that what was achieved in Northern Ireland can be achieved also here.

'His decisive leadership can guide the British public opinion to promote dialogue between the governments of the United Kingdom and Argentina.'

She added: 'Invariably he has spoken in favour of a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the sovereignty dispute, which can be seen in his parliamentary speeches.'

Mr Corbyn's remarks to the BBC last week provoked shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant to mount a revolt.

At a private meeting of the Shadow Cabinet last week, ex-Foreign Office Minister Mr Bryant demanded to know if Mr Corbyn had ditched Labour's official policy of giving Falklands residents the final say over the fate of the South Atlantic islands.

Shadow Commons Leader Chris Bryant (left) demanded answers from Corbyn in a meeting and he was supported by Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn (right), it is understood

Shadow Commons Leader Mr Bryant surprised colleagues by saying: 'You can't make policy up on the hoof over the Falklands.'

The Mail on Sunday understands that Mr Bryant was supported by Hilary Benn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary.

A source said: 'Hilary just tapped the table firmly and said, 'We have not changed our policy on the Falklands.'

'It was a clear rebuke to Corbyn from both Bryant and Benn, who both actually know something about a sensible foreign policy.'

Mr Benn recently survived attempts to demote him after he humiliated Mr Corbyn last year with a barnstorming Commons speech in favour of air strikes on Syria  military action to which his leader was fiercely opposed.

Mr Corbyn, who made the call for talks with Argentina last weekend, did not respond to the challenges at the meeting, sources said.

At the same gathering, Shadow Health Secretary Heidi Alexander is understood to have aimed a thinly veiled rebuke at Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for joining striking doctors on a picket line. Speaking before the latest strike was postponed, moderate Ms Alexander said: 'I hope we won't be seeing any colleagues on the picket line this week.'

Frontbenchers have launched a revolt against Labour leader Corbyn after he suggested last week on the Andrew Marr show that Britain should open talks with Argentina over the Falklands

Last night Labour said Shadow Cabinet meetings were private but insisted policy on the Falklands was still to give islanders 'the right to determine their own future'. Mr Bryant, Mr Benn and Ms Alexander were unavailable.

Last week, Mr Corbyn told the BBC: 'I think there has to be a discussion about how you can bring about some reasonable accommodation with Argentina.

'It seems to me ridiculous that in the 21st Century we would be getting into some enormous conflict with Argentina about some islands just off it.

'Yes, of course the islanders have an enormous say in it but let's bring about some sensible dialogue.
A bombshell leaked Labour report on its Election fiasco reveals how the party tried to cover up the scale of the disaster in a separate report by former Foreign Secretary Dame Margaret Beckett.

The Beckett dossier, published last week, praised Ed Miliband and his policies, said the Conservatives spent their way to victory, and denied Labour had been abandoned by Middle England.

But a separate report, entitled What Happened?, also commissioned by party chiefs  the key contents of which The Mail on Sunday can disclose  blows Becketts report out of the water and reveals the truth.

The Beckett dossier, published last week, praised Ed Miliband (pictured) and his policies, said the Conservatives spent their way to victory, and denied Labour had been abandoned by Middle England. But a separate report, entitled What Happened?, reveals how voters never trusted Miliband

It says voters never trusted Miliband, and that they thought he would be bossed around by Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon if he became Prime Minister.

Labour also struggled to prove economic credibility, Tory Election guru Lynton Crosby ran the best campaign, the middle classes turned on Labour, and the rise of Ukip hurt the party more than the Tories.

The damning findings are contained in a secret report drawn up by senior Labour aides for party general secretary Iain McNicol.

This newspaper has also been given a second confidential internal Labour report which shows how former Labour voters who switched to other parties in 2015 held Mr Miliband in near total contempt. The report, by highly respected Labour pollster Deborah Mattinson, has also been given to party leaders.

Miliband (left) and Clegg (middle) stand solemnly to pay their respects on the 70th Anniversary of VR Day after Cameron's emphatic win in 2015

The view of a typical focus group was that Labour was downtrodden, in thrall to the undeserving, in denial about their appalling record  personified by Miliband.

The existence of What Happened? was first revealed by Philip Cowley and Dennis Kavanagh in their book, The British General Election of 2015. As with the Mattinson focus group report, copies were given only to close allies of Jeremy Corbyn and Mr McNicol.

A source close to Mr Corbyn said the report vindicated his decision to order a major overhaul of policies: Ed Miliband did his best, but anyone who reads the report can see our approach in 2015 failed and Jeremy is right to ring the changes.

Ed Miliband and his wife Justine following his resignation as leader after a dramatic election night where his party was virtually wiped out

What Happened? flatly contradicts many of the key aspects of Dame Margarets account. She defended courageous Mr Miliband and said he was the victim of unjustified personal attacks in the media. But the What Happened? version makes less effort to spare his blushes, saying the doubts about his fitness for No 10 were a constant factor.

His ratings were always behind those of David Cameron, and by the time they improved slightly as the General Election neared, it was too late, the report argues.

Dame Margaret said Tory claims that Mr Miliband would be bullied by Ms Sturgeon and the SNP if Labour won were Tory scaremongering. But What Happened? says it was hard to give a credible riposte to such claims.

Similarly, it does not repeat Dame Margarets claim that the Tories were to blame for the crash myth about Labours spending record before the financial crash in 2008.

Historical perceptions meant we struggled with economic credibility, says the leaked report.

And it points out Labour was not helped by the infamous theres no money left Treasury note left for his Coalition successors by Labour Finance Minister Liam Byrne in 2010. The leaked report says there are grounds for believing that the damning remark by Mr Milibands American adviser David Axelrod  that Labours feeble Election offer amounted to Vote Labour and win a microwave  was true.

It contrasts the way that Mr Camerons strategist Lynton Crosby successfully focused on Labours poor track record on the economy against Tory competence. And What Happened? rejects Dame Margarets assertion that the Ukip surge hit the Tories worse than Labour: the reverse is true, it states.
A St. Bernard would have frozen to death on Friday had it not been plucked out of a glacial Virginia lake.

St. Bernard's are usually known for being skilled rescue dogs but on Friday Milo needed a team of people to get him out of icy waters in Fairfax County. Milo reportedly wandered into the lake while his owners were tubing down a hill, according to ABC.

The family, who has not been identified, called 911 and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were able to get Milo out of the 21-degree weather and into a warm and safe environment.

Bundled up: St. Bernard's are usually known for being skilled rescue dogs but on Friday Milo needed a team of people to get him out of icy waters in Fairfax County

'Our crew donned ice-rescue suits, slid out to where the dog was and pulled him out,' Chuck Ryan, deputy chief of the departments special-operations unit, told The New York Post.

'(Milo) assisted the rescuers once he had some leverage and they got him out and put warm blankets on him in less than 10 minutes,' he said. 'He was very wet, very cold, but responsive. Otherwise, he was happy-go-lucky.'

Ryan said the family did the right thing by calling the authorities instead of trying to get the dog by themselves.

'That usually doesnt end well,' he told The New York Post.

'Its a bit ironic. These dogs are usually the rescuers - usually in the mountains - but this guy got in a bit of trouble on some thin ice,' Ryan quipped.

St. Bernards have accomplished great feats in the past including saving avalanche victims in the Swiss Alps.

Milo was able to go home just 30 minutes after being rescued and showed no signs of distress or injury.
Muslims for loyalty are handing out half a million leaflets across the country in early Australia Day celebrations to end extremism and prejudice.

Love for all, hatred for none is the motto the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association are hoping to share with fellow Aussies this year, through leaflets adorned with the national flag.

The intention of the Loyalty to Homeland leaflets is to profess the Ahmadiyya movements love of Australia, with the Holy Prophet Muhammads declaration that: Love of ones country of residence is part of faith.

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Muslims for loyalty are handing out half a million leaflets across the country in early Australia Day celebrations to end extremism and prejudice (pictured)

National spokesperson Mirza Ramzan Sharif said the leaflets were intended for both Muslim Australians and those of different faiths, to educate the community for their message of peace

The intention of the Loyalty to Homeland leaflets is to profess the Ahmadiyya movements love of Australia, with the Holy Prophet Muhammads declaration that: Love of ones country of residence is part of faith

The idea [behind the leaflets] is to instil in the hearts and minds of the children that love of a country of residence, their homeland, is part of their faith,' Mirza Ramzan Sharif, a national Ahmadiyya spokesperson, told Daily Mail Australia.

He said the community had been celebrating Australia Day for more than a decade, and that loving ones place of residence had been part of their faith for 1,400 years.

Mr Sharif said the leaflets were intended for both Muslim Australians and those of different faiths, to educate the community for this message of peace.

Identifying ourselves with the identity of this country, was another driving force behind the leaflets, he said.

The idea [behind the leaflets] is to instil in the hearts and minds of the children that love of a country of residence, their homeland, is part of their faith, Mirza Ramzan Sharif, a national spokesperson for the community told Daily Mail Australia

Identifying ourselves with the identity of this country, was another driving force behind the Muslims for Loyalty leaflets, to join the rest of Australia in celebrating the nation, Mr Sharif said

He said the Ahmadiyya community had been celebrating Australia Day for more than a decade, and that loving ones place of residence had been part of their faith for 1,400 years (pictured with Australia Day paraphernalia ahead of the national holiday)

In the last few years there is heightened things happening across different parts of the world, and I think education and information is much needed during this time, Mr Sharif told Daily Mail Australia.

Anti-Islamic sentiment has grown in Australia over the past year, with the rise of Islamic State attacks and the shooting death of police accountant Curtis Cheng, killed outside Parramatta Police Headquarters by radicalised 15-year-old Farhad Jabar.

In the wake of those attacks, far-right fringe groups, such as Reclaim Australia, have held rallies across the country to denounce Islam.

As with many Australians, the Ahmadiyya faithful will be hosting barbeques and raising the flag at Mosques across the country on Tuesday the 26th, and will be joining other community events to share the remainder of their 500,000 leaflets.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association has invited the community to the Baitul Huda Mosque in Marsden Park, western Sydney, on Australia Day to participate in their celebrations from 10am.

'Let us celebrate our national day with a new commitment to serve and protect this beautiful country and help make it one of the greatest countries of the world,' National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Association Australia, Inamul Haq Kauser, said.

The intention of the Loyalty to Homeland leaflets is to profess the Ahmadiyya movements love of Australia, with the Holy Prophet Muhammads declaration that: Love of ones country of residence is part of faith

The Ahmadiyya faithful will be hosting barbeques and raising the flag at Mosques across the country on Tuesday the 26th, and will be joining other community events

The Ahmadiyya community has been sharing images of themselves with the 'Muslims for loyalty' leaflets

Love for all, hatred for none is the motto the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association are hoping to share with fellow Aussies this year, through leaflets adorned with the national flag

Half a million leaflets titled 'Muslims for loyalty' are being handed out across the country for Australia Day
As the East Coast is hit with one of the most powerful storms in recent years, the West Coast is continuing to be slammed with storms thanks to El Nino.

The city of Pacifica in northern California declared a state of emergency Friday after continuous El Nino storms slammed into the city's coastline,KNTV reported.

A sinkhole and a severely damaged sea wall are part of the destruction in the city from the wild winter weather.

'El Nino is hitting the city's coastline very hard and creating almost daily reports of impacts to both public and private property,' City Manager Lorie Tinfow told KNTV.

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Huge waves batter the coast on Beach Boulevard in Pacifica, California, on Saturday, January 23, 2016

The city of Pacific in northern California declared a state of emergency Friday after continuous El Nino storms slammed into the city's coastline

Christophe Pouchard and his son, Lucas, 4, of San Francisco, are sprayed with water as huge waves crash over the seawall on Beach Boulevard in Pacifica, California, on Saturday, January 23, 2016

Officials say the Pacifica Pier, the Milagra Watershed Outfall and the sea wall along Beach Boulevard near the intersection of Santa Maria Avenue have all been damaged.

It's uncertain where the funding for repairs to the structures will come from.

'We need state and federal assistance to respond to the growing list of failing public infrastructure,' Tinfow told KNTV.

In addition, several private properties have also been affected by storms.

KNTV reported that owners of two properties were notified that their buildings were not safe to inhabit.

There is also a significant loss of bluff top as well along other areas of the cliff.

'We hope all property owners along the City's coastline are aware of how fluid the weather situation is and take appropriate precautions,' Tinfow told KNTV.

Officials say the Pacifica Pier, the Milagra Watershed Outfall and the sea wall along Beach Boulevard near the intersection of Santa Maria Avenue have all been damaged

It's uncertain where the funding for repairs to the structures will come from. In addition, several private properties have also been affected by storms

Officials said the damage from El Nino started in mid-December, as the emergency declaration is the beginning step towards getting both state and federal assistance to help pay for the costly repairs

Officials said the damage from El Nino started in mid-December, as the emergency declaration is the beginning step towards getting both state and federal assistance to help pay for the costly repairs.

Despite the somewhat constant storms in the state, the drought continues, as officials estimate that it will end some time next year, KTXL reported.

'The good news is the snow-pack is significantly better than it was last year,' Shane Hunt with the Bureau of Reclamation told KTXL.

'[Precipitation] continues to fall, forecast continue to show that is going to keep happening, so conditions aren't at least deteriorating at this point.'

Federal officials announced Friday that they've only seen a slight increase to the water levels in the state's reservoirs.

'It's still likely to be a pretty tough year for many of our agricultural water users,' Hunt told KTXL.

Despite the somewhat constant storms in the state, the drought continues, as officials estimate that it will end some time next year

Federal officials announced Friday that they've only seen a slight increase to the water levels in the state's reservoirs. Above houseboats at Bidwell Canyon Marina are rising with the lake levels at Lake Oroville

Compared with 47 percent on October 1, the federally operated reservoirs that supply cities and farms throughout the central valley in the state are now 49 percent full.

According to KTXL, all of the rainfall so far in the state has soaked into the barren landscape that has suffered from four years of extremely dry conditions.

In addition, the snow-pack in the Sierra has grown, but has not yet melted.

'It's going to take more than one year of average, or slightly above average precipitation to completely erase the four years of drought we've just been through,' Hunt explained to KTXL.
An impassioned speech by indigenous journalist and TV presenter Stan Grant where he labelled the Australian dream 'racist' has been hailed on the one hand as the country's 'Martin King moment' but on the other has generated a storm of criticism suggesting that Mr Grant himself is racist.

Mr Grant attended a debate in October 2015 where he delivered an eloquent and deeply personal speech about his experiences of what he described as racism in his home country.

In a video of the speech, which was only posted Sunday morning, Mr Grant declared the nation's history was 'rooted in racism'.

Stan Grant delivered a powerful speech about racism in Australia during a debate in 2015

'It is the very foundation of the dream. It is there at the birth of the nation,' he said.

'The Australian dream - we sing of it and we recite it in verse: 'Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free',' he said.

'But my people die young in this country - we die 10 years younger than average Australians - and we are far from free.'

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The footage of his impassioned speech has emerged online and quickly gone viral, having been watched about 750,000 times in less than a week

Mr Grant opened his speech by discussing the booing of indigenous AFL player Adam Goodes by football crowds last season.

'Such an event, in a place 'holy and sacred' to Australia - the sporting field - made the country ask itself 'Who are we? What sort of country do we want to be?,' he said.

Mr Grant said that, to indigenous people, the booing was a 'howl of humiliation that echoed across two centuries of dispossession, injustice, suffering and survival. We heard the howl of the Australian dream and it said to us again that you're not welcome.'

Some people thanked Mr Grant for his views on Australian society, with journalist Mike Carlton saying the eight-minute speech would one day be viewed as a Martin Luther King moment.

However, not everyone agreed and within hours of the video appearing online numerous people had slammed the speech, saying that Mr Grant himself was racist.

I worry for the collective intelligence of this nation when emotional ranting like this is considered powerful. It is full of self-entitlement, self-absorbed historical projection, and the glorification of professional victims, one commentator wrote.

What am I supposed to get from this? All I hear is a bitter man lamenting that for some reason race is important to him. Sorry Stan, you are a racist another said.

Not everyone agreed with Mr Grant's comments and many viewers took to social media to vent their outrage (pictured)

During his speech, the emotion in Mr Grant's voice could be heard as he spoke to the large crowd

That wasnt a denunciation of racism, that was a denunciation of Australians, another wrote on Facebook.

Mr Grant was just reiterating a point that had been discussed for years, another social media user said.

Why keep bringing up the past. Its people like you that incite racism. Can I have my 8 minutes back. BTW have a great Australia Day and my the lamb chops be with you all.

Numerous viewers slammed Mr Grants discussion, arguing that they have nothing to feel guilty about and claiming that Mr Grant himself was racist

Journalist Mike Carlton said Mr Grant's speech would be the most moving to be heard this Australia Day

But he went further than that, comparing Mr Grant's speech to those made by famous American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr

Mr Grant also spoke emotionally about the injustices that he said indigenous people had suffered and was particularly stirring as he discussed the homeland of his people, the Wiradjuri, from inland New South Wales, and their history at the hands of settlers.

'My people were killed on those plains, we were shot on those plains, disease ravaged us on those plains. I come from those plains. I come from the people west of the Blue Mountains, the Wiradjuri people, where in the 1820s the soldiers and settlers waged a war of extermination against my people'.

Footage of his incredible delivery has gone viral, being viewed about 750,000 times, shared more than 25,000 times and 'liked' almost 12,000 times

Possibly the most powerful part of his speech came when he discussed the homeland of his people, the Wiradjuri, from inland New South Wales, and their history at the hands of settlers ad soldiers

Mr Grant said Australia was 'better than this' and that being a journalist had shown him the worst of the world. Australia was an extraordinary place, but had much to improve on, he said.

For example, every time an Aboriginal personal was 'drawn into the light' they were 'mugged by the darkness of this country's history,' he said.

Mr Grant credited his success to his family and ancestors who had suffered to provide him with a better life

Racism was the root and foundation of the Australian dream, Mr Grant told the crowd assembled to listen

'One day I want to stand here and be able to say as proudly and sing as loudly as anyone in this room, 'Australians all let us rejoice'.'

The video was released a week before Australia Day, often seen by indigenous Australians as the anniversary of British invasion.

The footage of the speech was viewed about 750,000 times, shared more than 25,000 times and 'liked' almost 12,000 times by Sunday afternoon.

He urged Australian's to be better than racism, and make it a country all could be proud of

Stan Grant hosting the first broadcast of the launch of National Indigenous Television in Uluru in 2012
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's attempt to seize moral high ground in his feud with Donald Trump hit a snag Saturday night in Iowa as two high-profile endorsers carried his mud for him.

'In the past couple of weeks, Mr. Trump has decided to unleash a load of invective and insults,' Cruz told a packed convention center in Waterloo, Iowa.

'That's his prerogative. I have no intention of responding in kind.'

But the tea party champion, who trailed the billionaire in six of the 10 statewide Republican primary polls published this year, sent Iowa Rep. Steve King and radio host Glenn Beck on stage before him to lob rhetorical fireballs over the campaign parapets.

King, a king-maker in Hawkeye State conservative politics, described the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses as 'a binary choice' between Cruz and Trump.

Then he lowered the boom, saying Trump 'wants to appoint his partial-birth-abortion-supporting sister to the Supreme Court.'

BROMANCE: Radio host Glenn Beck (right) endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (left) on Saturday, and attacked Donald Trump as a man with an 'ego of Biblical proportions'

JAB: Tea party congressman Steve King of Iowa claimed Donald Trump would appoint his 'partial-birth-abortion-loving sister' to the Supreme Court if he were elected president

CONTROVERSIAL: Maryanne Trump Barry (right, in 2008) is a federal appeals court judge who once struck down a New Jersey law banning so-called 'partial birth' abortions; Trump has said he would rule out appointing her to the bench and that he would only name pro-life justices

That sister, 78-year-old Maryanne Trump Barry, is a senior judge on the Third Circuit federal appeals court, appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

Trump said in an August interview with Bloomberg that Barry would make a 'phenomenal' Supreme Court justice, but said he 'will have to rule that out.'

Trump's elder sister is infamous in conservative political circles for authoring an appeals court decision that temporarily green-lighted so-called 'partial birth' abortions, those that terminate the life of a fetus as it's being delivered.

Barry wrote that a New Jersey statute banning the practice was a 'desperate attempt' to undermine federal law, since the government shouldn't draw a distinction based on whether a fetus was still inside its mother when it 'expired.'

State legislators, she ruled, had based their law on 'an obvious attempt to inflame public opinion instead of logic or medical evidence.'

A Trump spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Saturday night that 'Mr. Trump doesn't know his sister's views' on abortion, 'but he is pro-life and would only appoint pro-life judges.'

The spokesperson also jabbed at King for supporting Cruz even though the senator 'is anti-ethanol and weak on illegal immigration.'

HIGH ROAD: By having high-profile surrogates on the road with him, Cruz can keep his promise hot to level ad hominem attacks on Trump

RALLIES: Cruz attracted about 1,500 people to each of two campaign stops on Saturday

The ethanol issue is a quadrennial pressure-cooker in Iowa politics, requiring presidential hopefuls to declare whether they support continuing a federal mandate for mixing corn-based biofuels into the nation's supply of refined gasoline.

Trump supports it; Cruz has risked alienating Iowans  in corn country  by opposing the mandate.

Following King at the event, sponsored by the Cruz-linked 'Keep the Promise' super PAC, was influential broadcaster Glenn Beck, who announced his endorsement earlier in the day.

Beck urged an audience of more than 1,500 to caucus for Cruz in nine days' time, painting the stakes in his trademark apocalyptic terms.

'If you make a choice and it allows, quite honestly, Donald Trump to steamroll through,' he said, 'it will be over by the time it gets to Texas  and I believe my children's future will be lost.'

Beck noted Trump's recent barbs fired in his direction  The Donald called him 'a whack job,' a 'serious loser' and a constantly crying 'sad sack' on Saturday  and claimed the billionaire had bough ads on Facebook 'to smear me today.'

Beck started the feud Friday night, writing in a special anti-Trump issue of National Review that 'Trumps potential primary victory would provide Hillary Clinton with the easiest imaginable path to the White House.'

On Saturday, as expected, he mixed politics and religion, saying Cruz demonstrated 'faith in God, not the kind of faith that you might get from just reading Second Corinthians.'

The chuckling audience was in on the joke: Trump had embarrassed himself last week at evangelical Liberty University by citing a passage from 'Two Corinthians'  a gaffe that indicated his lack of familiarity with the subject.

BANG: Trump said Saturday morning that his supporters are so loyal that they wouldn't even abandon him even if he were to 'stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody'

TWITTER FIGHT: Trump responded to Beck's endorsement of Cruz by dredging up a 2009 interview in which the radio host said Sen. John McCain would have made a worse president than Hillary Clinton

Ultimately, Beck predicted, 'the press and the [Republican] establishment will steamroll Trump into the general and then pick him apart,' making Hillary Clinton the next president.

Trump, he predicted, would bring an ego 'of Biblical proportions' and fall for the ruse.

A confident Trump had suggested Saturday morning that his loyal supporters would forgive anything, including a firearms spree.

'I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay? It's like  incredible!' the Republican front-runner said in Sioux Center, Iowa.

He hedged that statement hours later in the town of Pella, advising: 'If I do something bad, say "Bye-bye Mr. Trump".'

Beck was outraged, saying 'the arrogance is beyond imagination!'

He also blasted Trump for his decades of bankrolling New York's politically liberal establishment, a well-worn business tactic.

'That man, for what he has done, should ask America's forgiveness ... for giving money to prop up Anthony Weiner, of all people, Nancy Pelosi, and Rahm Emanuel!' he said.

HE HAS HIS OWN BACKERS: Trump drew legendary Iowa senator Chuck Grassley to speak at a Saturday rally, even as Cruz visited his home town 100 miles to the north to curry favor

And he claimed that unlike Cruz, Trump would shore up the Affordable Care Act and expand it.

'Bernie Sanders at least comes out and says "I'm an LSD-flashback '60s socialist guy! I'm the old hippie that's still kicking!"' Beck said, hinting that The Donald is a stealth liberal.

Cruz pledged that 'not only will I not insult Donald Trump, I will sing his praises personally.'

'But I do think policy is fair game. And if he is going to advocate that the government should pay for the health care for all Americans  full socialized healthcare, just like Bernie Sanders  then I am obliged to point out that that is exactly the opposite of where I stand on the issue.'

'If I am elected president, we will repeal every word of Obamacare.'

He also repeated a Trumpian promise  which he has been making since his 2012 U.S. Senate campaign  to wall off America's southern border with Mexico in a bid to stem the tide of illegal immigrants crossing into California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Convicted murderer Steven Avery has written a letter from behind bars maintaining his innocence.

'The real killer is still out there. Who is he stalking now? I am really innocent of this case and that is the truth!!! The truth will set me free!!!!!!!,' said Avery in a letter to Milwaukee news reporter Colleen Henry of WISN- the first communication since the release of the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer.

Avery also wrote a similar letter saying that he is innocent to Ted Perry of Fox news.

Avery, 53, a Wisconsin native, spent 18 years behind bars for a sexual assault he did not commit.

Communication: Convicted murderer Steven Avery has written a letter to a Milwaukee reporter from behind bars maintaining his innocence

Convicted: Steven Avery (pictured left in 2007) was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach (right). Avery, 53, a Wisconsin native, spent 18 years behind bars for a sexual assault he did not commit prior to the murder conviction

He was released in 2003 after DNA evidence proved his innocence but he was convicted in 2007 of killing photographer Teresa Halbach, according to ABC.

Avery pleaded not guilty and he and his attorneys are fighting for his freedom following the release of the documentary.

The film has captivated viewers around the world since it began streaming on Netflix on December 18 last year.

It details the prosecution of Avery after Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer, is murdered in 2005.

Her last known whereabouts was at the Avery familys auto salvage yard in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, where she had gone to photograph a minivan for Auto Trader magazine.

First communication: I am really innocent of this case and that is the truth!!! The truth will set me free!!!!!!!,' said Avery in the letter- his first communication since the release of the documentary 'making a Murderer' in December

Shortly before he was arrested for Halbachs murder, he had filed a $36million federal lawsuit against the county, its former sheriff and district attorney for the wrongful conviction in his sexual assault case.

The case was settled for $400,000 after Avery was charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the murder of Halbach.

Averys defense attorneys Dean Strang and Jerry Buting argued that Manitow County officers, who were in the middle of being deposed in the lawsuit, were also involved in the gathering of evidence in the Halbach case and may have planted evidence to frame him.

But Averys nephew Brendan Dassey, who was 16 at the time, then confessed to sexually assaulting Halbach and cutting her throat on his uncles orders - but later said the confession had been coerced by investigators.

Referred to his ex: Steven Averys former fiancee said recently that she's convinced he is guilty of Teresa Halbach's murder because she says he once tied her to the bed for sex. In his letter, Avery asked how much money his ex Jodi was offered to speaking badly about him

Steven Averys former fiancee said recently that she's convinced he is guilty of Teresa Halbach's murder because she says he once tied her to the bed for sex.

Jodi Stachowski says Avery once restrained her to a bedpost with ropes and wanted to videotape their sexual encounter - but she adamantly refused to go through with it.

Because of this incident, she told TMZ she believes Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey's account of Halbach's rape and murder.

And in an interview with Nancy Grace two weeks ago, she claimed Avery had repeatedly physically abused her and insisted that she was never in love with him.

And in an interview with Nancy Grace weeks ago, she claimed Avery had repeatedly physically abused her and insisted that she was never in love with him.

I ate two boxes of rat poison just so I could go to the hospital and get away from him and ask them to get the police to help me, she told HLNs Natisha Lance.

Avery (pictured in his 1985 mugshot) initially served 18 years in prison for a rape he did not commit

Avery got the news about his ex's interview saying she thinks he is guilty and referenced it in the letter. This comes after his ex maintained his innocence in the documentary. She has since changed her stance.

'How much money Jodi get to talk bad!' he wrote, according to Fox.

Avery also wrote: 'Why would Jodi now made accusations contrary to what she said on my 10-hour documentary unless Jodi was threatened in some way by the state of Wisconsin,' he said.

'I am really innocent of this case, and that is the truth. This is from Steven A. Avery. The truth will set me free,' concluded the letter.

Avery said that he is willing to be interviewed but is barred from doing so by the Department of Corrections.

Steven Avery appears in a Calumet County courtroom during the opening day in his murder trial in 2007. Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, are currently behind bars for murder

Avery's lawyers think he deserves a new trial because it was revealed that his property was illegally searched and that a juror was pressured into voting guilty.

Avery, 53, and Dassey, now 26, were both convicted in March 2007 and remain in prison.

Avery was sentenced to life in prison without parole but Dassey, who is also serving a life sentence, has a chance for early release in 2048.

The documentary on Avery questioned the handling of his case and the motivation of Manitowoc County law enforcement officials.

It suggests authorities planted evidence against the men, a claim that has been rejected by Robert Hermann, the current sheriff of Manitowoc County.

'I am really innocent of this case, and that is the truth. This is from Steven A. Avery. The truth will set me free,' concluded the letter.

Both men continue to protest their innocence but despite the Netflix series casting doubt on their convictions, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has ruled out any chance of a pardon.

Meanwhile, authorities involved in the case insist the series is biased and omits crucial facts that led to Avery and Dassey being found guilty of Halbachs murder in 2007.

Ken Kratz, the former Calumet County district attorney who prosecuted Avery, is one of the series critics, saying Netflix should not have billed the series as a documentary.

He said evidence that was excluded from the series included that Avery had called Halbachs workplace to specifically ask for her the day she disappeared, that he had called her three times that day and that he once greeted her wearing only a trial.

Kratz also claimed that when Avery first served time in prison, he told an inmate that he was planning on building a 'torture chamber' on his release so he could rape, torture and kill young women.

'This is not a documentary at all. It's still a defense advocacy piece,' Kratz said.

'Their bias, their outcome, where they want the viewers to go with this, what they spoon feed the viewers, what they pick and choose by way of facts, what they leave out, importantly, causes only one reaction and only one conclusion: that Mr. Avery was innocent, and that he was the subject of planted evidence,' he added.
The skipper of a tourist boat which capsized off the coast of Nicaragua killing 13 people is a convicted drugs trafficker, it has emerged.

Newlywed British couple Charlotte and Edward Beckett narrowly escaped death after the boat was overturned by a huge wave on Saturday afternoon near the Corn Islands, a popular tourist destination.

The couple, from Hampstead, north London, were among 21 people pulled alive from the sea. But 13 Costa Rican tourists perished in the tragedy.

Boat skipper Roger Hilario Blandon, 53, who is also its owner, has been arrested for manslaughter along with his assistant Eliot Absalon Prats Carter, 30, after it emerged they had ignored a warning not to leave port because of bad weather conditions.

Arrest: This is the first picture of Roger Hilario Blandon (centre), the skipper of a tourist boat that sank off the coast of Nicaragua in bad weather on Saturday, killing 13 people. In the photograph, he is being arrested in 2003 for drugs trafficking, for which he served five years in prison

Trafficker: Roger Hilario Blandon (pictured, centre), the skipper of a boat which sank off the coast of Nicaragua killing 13 people, previously served a five-year prison sentence for drug trafficking

British couple: Edward and Charlotte Beckett, who survived the tragedy, pictured on their wedding day

Boat launches had reportedly been suspended in the area due to high wind speeds that reached up to 30 knots after several days of stormy weather around the remote islands, with waves reaching heights of up to 2 metres.

But it is not the first time Blandon has been arrested.

Authorities in Nicaraguan announced today that he was previously sentenced to five years in prison in 2003 for drugs trafficking.

He also had to pay a fine of $100,000 after being caught on Little Corn island with 58kilos of cocaine, according to local media. He served his sentence in Bluefields Jail on Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast.

It is not known if the boat involved in the tragedy, La Reina del Caribe or Caribbean Queen, was linked to his crimes.

News of his conviction emerged as survivors spoke for the first time about the moment the vessel overturned and how they cheated death.

Return: A survivor of the shipwreck cries as he arrived at the Augusto C. Sandino airport in Managua, on January 24

Relief: Relatives welcome their loved ones as they arrive back in Costa Rica, at Juan Santamaria airport in Alajuela on January 24

Homecoming: Tearful relatives embrace the Costa Rican survivors of the shipwreck off the coast of Nicaragua, which left 13 Costa Ricans dead

Florence Castro, who was travelling alone, said: 'The waves were huge, around four to five feet high.

'The boat was crashing down into a sort of hollow which formed between the waves and in one of those it overturned.

'It overturned as everyone went to one side of the boat and they all fell into the water.

'I pushed myself with my feet and fell about six feet on the other side when I saw it was going to overturn.

'Some people were trapped under the vessel and weren't able to come back up to the surface.'

Alice Fonseca, whose mother Zita Mairena died in the tragedy, said: 'It's a very difficult situation. Seeing and hearing people crying and screaming is very hard.'

Disaster: The tourist boat was travelling between Corn Island and Little Corn Island, off the coast of Nicaragua, when it was capsized by a powerful wave

Family: A survivor of the shipwreck is welcomed by his family as he returns to his home country following the tragedy. The Nicaraguan navy's Admiral Marvin Corrales confirmed that, although the search for the four missing people was called off overnight, it will be continued

Safe: Survivors of the shipwreck arrive at the Augusto C. Sandino airport in Managua on January 24, where they were taken to an undisclosed location

She had travelled to Costa Rica's Juan Santamaria International Airport where her mother's body was repatriated along with those of other victims.

The bodies of four of the 13 people declared dead are yet to be found. Admiral Marvin Corrales, head of the Nicaraguan navy, confirmed that, although the searches were called off throughout the night, they will be continued.

Some 25 of the 34 people on the boat were from Costa Rica and the rest from Britain, the U.S., Brazil and Nicaragua.

The weather was very rough, and had been forecast to be so for a week in advance, a local on Corn Island told MailOnline.

They should not have been travelling in that weather.'

Mr and Mrs Beckett have been flown to the Nicaraguan capital Managua from Corn Island with other survivors, including 13 Costa Ricans, two Americans and a Brazilian.

They were taken to a bus and driven to an undisclosed location after arriving at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport.

Grief: Costa Rican police officers carry a coffin containing the body of a victim upon arrival at Juan Santamaria airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on January 24, after a boat sank near Little Corn Island, off the coast of Nicaragua

Lost: Nine of the 13 bodies of those who died in the tragedy were returned to the victims' home country of Nicaragua last night. The search for four missing passengers was called off overnight, but will be continued

Mourning: Costa Rican police officers carry a coffin countaining the body of one of the people killed in the accident in Nicaragua upon arrival at the Juan Santa Maria airport in Alajuela

The British couple married in Monemvasia, Greece, last August in front of guests including the retail expert Mary Portas and were on a delayed honeymoon.

Edward, 30, and 28-year-old lawyer Charlotte were last night said to be 'okay' by a relative.

The couple recently relocated temporarily to Boston in the States where Oxford-educated Mr Beckett is studying for a Masters in Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Charlotte's father Martin Rainsford, from Gospel Oak, north London, said they had spoken to the couple since the tragedy and that they were uninjured.

He said: 'We got a call at midnight last night from the both of them to say they were okay.

'We didn't know anything was wrong so it was a shock but we are very relieved. They were on their way home anyway so they will be heading back to Boston as soon as possible.

Tragedy: Men carry the body of one of 13 Costa Ricans who died when a boat capsized in the Caribbean

Members of the National Police and the Navy pictured on Corn Island, Nicaragua, where the bodies of those who died are being taken

The British couple were reportedly rescued with two American tourists, three Nicaraguans and 12 Costa Ricans, but 13 people lost their lives

'We were really shocked and concerned for them.'

He explained that lawyer Mrs Beckett and Harvard student Mr Beckett were left with only the clothes on their backs after the accident.

Mr Rainsford added: 'They lost their passports and everything that was in their cases. All they have was what they were wearing at the time.

'They didn't have any injures. We are mighty relieved and so sad for the other people who died.'

Nicaragua government spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo said: 'We are talking about 21 people who have been rescued alive and 13 people dead.

'This is the dimension of this tragedy which causes us tremendous pain because our Costa Rican brothers and sisters were holidaying in Nicaraguan Caribbean waters.

'Navy chiefs have told us there was an alert out warning ships not to leave port.

'We feel heartbroken about what has happened and we have to ensure there is no repeat and the people responsible for this tragedy are held accountable.

Probe: Forensic experts transfer the bodies of Costa Ricans who died in a boating accident, from the Augusto C. Sandino airport to the forensic medicine building in Managua on January 24

Investigation: The bodies of those who died arrive at the Augusto C. Sandino airport in Managua on January 24, to be returned to their home country of Costa Rica. Both the boat's skipper and his assistant are facing manslaughter charges following the tragedy

'They are in jail on Corn Island but they are to be tried.

'President Daniel Ortega has instructed the head of the Army, Julio Cesar Aviles, to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

'We have to be a lot stricter with regards to the control of the boats sailing in our seas.'

Nicaraguan police chief General Francisco Diaz, confirming the arrests of the boat skipper and his assistant, said: 'Both are under arrest and will be tried for the crimes of manslaughter and exposing people to danger.'

Guillermo Gonzales, Co-Director of the National System of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, added: 'They put the lives of people at risk believing everything would be okay and now we're lamenting the loss of life in this clear case of negligence.'

Local reports said an unnamed Costa Rican survivor, the only one to speak, contradicted the official version of the incident, which said the vessel had overturned in high winds after being hit by a wave.

Paradise: The boat sank while it was travelling between Corn Island and Little Corn Island (pictured)

The witness was quoted as saying: 'The weather was good. Everyone used their life jackets.'

Costa Rican President Guillermo Solis announced there would be a day of national mourning in his country on Monday.

He said: 'I share the profound grief of the families of the people who died.'

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are aware of the sinking of a passenger boat between Corn Island and Little Corn Island in the Caribbean Sea on January 23.

'We are in touch with the local authorities and providing consular assistance to affected British nationals.'

The Corn Islands, 43 miles from Nicaragua, are a popular tourist destination for snorkelling and scuba diving.

They were a British protectorate from 1655 to 1860, a period when the region was called the Mosquito Coast.
Tina Fey returned to SNL on Saturday night to reprise her legendary role as Sarah Palin and was joined by Darrell Hammond who played Republican hopeful Donald Trump.

The skit took place at the Iowa rally where Trump, played by Hammond, was proud to announce an endorsement from Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

Palin, played by Fey, told the crowd she was happy to leave her full time job 'posting things on Facebook' to endorse 'the next President of the United States.'

The parody poked fun at Palin's rambling Iowa endorsement, her stance on immigration, her frequent comments about her home town of Alaska, and her rhetoric.

At one point Fey says she belongs in the future President's cabinet because she 'has a great rack' and 'is full of spice.'

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Iowa rally: The skit took place at the Iowa rally where Trump, played by Darrell Hammond, was proud to announce an endorsement from Alaska governor Sarah Palin played by Tina Fey

Immigration stance: We turn on the news every morning and are shocked to see we're not even on it, because we've been replaced by immigrants like Geraldo Rivera,' said Palin, alluding to the Fox News anchor

'I'm here because America is struggling. So many of us have lost our jobs at the factory or our reality shows about Alaska. We've seen our own children targeted by the police for no reason other than they committed some crimes. We turn on the news every morning and are shocked to see we're not even on it, because we've been replaced by immigrants like Geraldo Rivera,' said Palin, bizarrely referring to the Fox News anchor.

In the skit, Fey as Palin wore an almost identical shiny bolero to the $700 one sported by Palin at the Iowa rally on Tuesday.

The parody also made references to Palin's penchant for talking and her attempt at connecting with the American people.

'I'm here for all you teachers and teamsters. You farmers and charmers. Whether you're a mom or two broke girls or three men and a baby, or a rock 'N roller, holy, ' Fey as Palin says in the sketch.

'She's a firecracker. She's a real pistol. She's crazy, isn't she?,' Hammond as Trump says in response.

Crazy: 'Yikes. I hope nobody is allergic to nuts, 'cause we got a big one here. She's two Corinthians short of a bible. The worst part is I'm pretty sure she wrote this all out ahead of time and thought it was okay,' says Trump making fun of Palin's rhetoric

Fey as Palin continues to ramble on in the sketch in an almost incoherent way.

'Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka! Is what the mainstream media is spinnin'. Heads are spinnin'. They say trump and his trumpeters are right wingin', bitter clingin', proud of clinergs of our guns. But he can kick ISIS ass, because he commands fire,' Palin says in the sketch.

Trump was happy to announce Palin at first but later points out to the audience at the rally that the Alaska governor is off of her rocker.

'Yikes. I hope nobody is allergic to nuts, 'cause we got a big one here. She's two Corinthians short of a bible. The worst part is I'm pretty sure she wrote this all out ahead of time and thought it was okay,' says Trump making fun of Palin's rhetoric.

Blessing: 'Thank you, Iowa, and god bless some of the United States of America!,' Palin says. Trump seemed to have trouble understanding what Palin was saying during his endorsement

Pictured together on Tuesday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorses Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Iowa State University

Palin pledging her support to Trump in Iowa above, which provided him with a potentially significant boost to his campaign

Palin continues to support Trump by lewdly criticizing Obama's efforts to fight against Isis.

'They stomp on our necks and say, "Oh, what's the big deal? Just take a chill pill, Jill." But we're mad. We've been had and we're not so glad, quoth the Lorax,' Palin rambles on, randomly making mention of a fictional story by Dr. Seuss.

Trump then continues to talk about how it's impossible to understand anything that Palin is saying.

'She's a firecracker. She's a real pistol. She's crazy, isn't she?,' Hammond as Trump said during the skit

The duo embrace: 'Thank you, Iowa, and god bless some of the United States of America!,' Palin says

'She sounds like a greeting card from a Chinese dollar store. Wait, should I be learning something from this? Is this like a scrooge and the three ghost situation? Because I'm not buying it. I'm richer than scrooge, folks love me, and I would never give my goose to a tiny Tim type. Gimme a break,' says Trump before Palin goes on to bless only some of the American people.

'Thank you, Iowa, and god bless some of the United States of America!,' Palin says.

Despite endorsing Trump moments before in the sketch, Palin later says she doesnt really think the wealthy businessman belongs in the oval office.

Mocking the Oscars: In a fictitious awards show called the Screen Guild Awards a handful of white actors are nominated for awards despite having marginal roles in films with primarily black talent or with a racially driven story line

One such parody nomination was for the film 'Thurgood' about Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court Justice. A white guy in the film with just one line is nominated for the award instead of the black actors who are central to the film's narrative

'Guess what, America, I don't really think this guy should be president. I'm just here, 'cause he's promised me a spot in his cabinet. And I belong in a cabinet, 'cause I'm full of spice and I've got a great rack,' Fey as Palin says in her final pitch perfect joke.

SNL this week also poked fun at the fact that there were no black actors nominated for any Oscars this year.

In a fictitious awards show called the Screen Guild Awards a handful of white actors are nominated for awards despite having marginal roles in films with primarily black talent or with a racially driven story line.

Five way tie: At the end of all the movie presentations, the award show announcer says that there's a five way tie for the best actor award. 'It's a five-way tie  all the white guys!' says the announcer, mocking the Oscar Committee's choice to nominate all white actors for awards

One such parody nomination was for the film 'Thurgood' about Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court Justice.

'I can't wait forever, Marshall. Do you love me, or your books?, says a fake movie character played by SNL actress Leslie Jones.

'LIV, if I'm going to make it as a lawyer, I got to work ten times as hard as these white folk. It's the only way it's going to work,' says SNL actor Michael Che.

'Hey, guys, we close in five minutes,' says the white actor played by Beck Bennett who is nominated for the highly coveted award.

At the end of all the movie presentations, the award show announcer says that there's a five way tie for the best actor award.
After overcoming horrific flooding due to Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey battled even more Saturday as winter storm Jonas battered the East coast with 'life-threatening' blizzard conditions.

Thousands who live in the coastal communities in New Jersey and Delaware are being affected by tides higher than when Hurricane Sandy occurred thanks to the blizzard.

National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick O'Hara said tides higher than those caused by the horrific storm three years ago pushed water on to roads along the Jersey Shore and Delaware coast and set records in Cape May, New Jersey, and Lewes, Delaware.

For coastal communities in New York and New Jersey, the powerful snowstorm brought with it widespread flooding - an added danger beyond freezing temperatures, power outages and slippery roads.

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Tragic: The flood water on 96th Street and Third Avenue in Stone Harbor, New Jersey is pictured above Saturday night during the winter storm Jonas

A car is stranded on Third Avenue in Stone Harbor, New Jersey Saturday night after the major snowstorm hit the East Coast during the weekend

The Stone Harbor Fire and Rescue bring Phil Lazenby, from Stone Harbor, to the Reeds Hotel after evacuating him from his home Saturday night. The storm left many in Cape May and Atlantic Counties in New Jersey without power

Jim Hand, owner of Fred's Tavern and Liquor Store, lets water out of his store after it flooded during the blizzard January 23, 2016 in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

Coastal flooding was reported in New Jersey as 100,000 homes were left without power earlier in the day on Saturday and New Jersey Transit had to be temporarily shut down.

According to WCBS, officials said that Saturday night and Sunday morning's tidal flooding isn't expected to be as severe as Saturday morning's.

'So it's a lower high tide than what we had before and we don't think and nor do the mayors down there think that there is any need for mandatory evacuation,' Governor Chris Christie told WCBS.

The storm's arrival coincides with a full moon, meaning strong winds will combine with a high tide to cause significant flooding.

The flood warning came as many communities are still struggling to recover from the massive devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago.

Although officials have said they were nevertheless prepared for anything  and have said the storm is expected to be one of the worst to ever hit the region.

A North Wildwood firefighter helps local resident Joe Tolomeo from his flooded home on 12th Avenue in North Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday

Water floods New Jersey Avenue in North Wildwood, New Jersey at the height of a storm on Saturday. The winter storm created near record high tides along the Jersey Shore, surpassing the tide of Hurricane Sandy officials said

Water with chuncks of ice floating in it floods closed businesses on New Jersey Avenue near 12th Ave in North Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday

A floating dock sits on the sidewalk following flooding during a blizzard January 23, 2016 in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

Firefighters at the Beach Haven Volunteer Fire Company house had about a foot of water inside around 9pm on Saturday, NJ.com reported.

Located at South Bay Avenue, the water filled the fire house after they opened the main door.

'It's not Sandy high yet, but it's definitely up,' Chief Matt Letts said of the flooding on Beach Haven, which is on the southern end of Long Beach Island.

Under the weight of heavy snow, the roof of the downtown Westfield Trader Joe's collapsed Saturday, authorities said.

Around 2pm, most of the roof at the store fell in, causing the front and side walls of the structure to buckle, fire Chief David J. Kelly told NJ.com

About an hour after high tide in Sea Isle City, cold water quickly covered the streets around 8.45pm, WCBS reported.

Mayor Len Desiderio spent the day worrying about his residents and called the 'storm full of wind, snow and water worse than Sandy,' WCBS reported.

'I think it's worse than Sandy because of the weather,' he told the television station. 'It's cold, it's snowy, it's raining.'

New York and New Jersey had been warned that rising tides would cause widespread flooding. Above a group of homes off of Route 10 in Cape May, New Jersey are flooded

New Jersey experienced coastal flooding, including along Beach Avenue in Cape May, New Jersey

The flood warning comes as many communities are still struggling to recover from the massive devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago. Pictured, water covers Third Avenue in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

'There's a small portion of the roof in the rear of the building that did not collapse, but a significant part of the roof collapsed,' he said.

Luckily, the store was closed due to the storm, and no one was injured, Kelly said.

The beach resort town of Seaside Heights in New Jersey currently has a population of about 1,000, a far cry from the 3,000 year-round residents it had before Sandy, according to borough administrator Christopher Vaz. Many residents are still unable to return to homes destroyed by the floodwater.

Vaz said officials encouraged elderly and sick residents to consider leaving low-lying areas. The flooding is 'absolutely' more of a concern than the snow, Vaz said.

'We can handle six or 12 inches of snow,' he said.

Water surrounds a house on Stone Harbor Boulevard in Middle Township, New Jersey during a blizzard on Saturday

Despite low tide, a number of streets remained flooded during a blizzard in North Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday

The awning of a Knights of Columbus building lays on the ground during a blizzard in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

Coastal flooding from a winter snowstorm inundates houses along New York Avenue, in North Wildwood, New Jersey

The powerful storm brought with it widespread flooding - an added danger beyond freezing temperatures, power outages and slippery roads

In Ocean City, just south of Atlantic City, crews used bulldozers to block beach access points with sand in an effort to slow down any storm surge.

A number of vehicles, including re-purposed military trucks, were available in case evacuations are needed.

Frank Donato, who heads the Ocean City's emergency management office, said the latest forecasts were calling for as much as an eight-foot tide on Saturday night.

'This is pretty typical for a strong nor'easter,' Donato said.

Officials said the years since Sandy had seen infrastructure improvements and hundreds of homes elevated above flood levels, though much of the work remains unfinished.

'Not everyone is raised,' said Paul Daley, the emergency management coordinator for the New Jersey shore community Toms River. 'Some are still destroyed. Some are still in the design phase.'

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie urged people to find shelter and remain indoors. Pictured, flooding in North Wildwood, New Jersey

Officials said the years since Sandy had seen infrastructure improvements and hundreds of homes elevated above flood levels, though much of the work remains unfinished

'Not everyone is raised,' said Paul Daley, the emergency management coordinator for the New Jersey shore community Toms River. 'Some are still destroyed. Some are still in the design phase'

The storm's arrival coincided with a full moon, meaning strong winds combined with a high tide caused significant flooding. Pictured, waves crash on the beach in Cape May, New Jersey on Saturday

Flooding hit Beach Avenue in Cape May, New Jersey as as tidal storm surges compounded the misery caused by storm Jonas

New Jersey residents were warned that rising tides will cause flooding and make winter storm Jonas even worse. Pictured, flooding along New York Avenue in North Wildwood, New Jersey

Daley said crews have been out for days shoring up dunes on the beach using bulldozers.

'We're expecting the worst and hoping for the best,' Daley said.

On Saturday morning, New Jersey governor Chris Christie urged residents to stay off the roads and remain indoors during the storm.

In an update later in the morning, he confirmed that significant flooding had been reported in the state.

He said there were about 90,000 power outages at that time. Governor Christie urged people to shelter in the home of a friend or family member  or to go to an emergency shelter if they have nowhere nearby to go.

'Don't stay in the cold,' he said. 'We have shelters open in every county in the state. They will keep you warm, get you fed.'

A van drives through a flooded street as ice and snow prevent drainage in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Most of the state was facing a blizzard warning from Friday evening until Sunday

The flood warning comes as many communities are still struggling to recover from the massive devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy

Ice surrounds water pools close to the dunes in Cape May, New Jersey. More than 90,000 homes were without power across the state Saturday

New Jersey Govenor Chris Christie listens to a briefing on a snowstorm during a visit to the New Jersey Department of Transportation Traffic Management and Technology Center on Saturday

He said people should call their local police department if they have trouble getting to a shelter.

'This is my 17th snow emergency in six years,' he added. 'We know how to do this.'

The looming storm prompted Christie, who had initially said he would continue to campaign in New Hampshire for the Republican presidential nomination, to reverse course and head back to his state on Friday evening.

Christie made headlines in 2012 when he toured communities devastated by Sandy with President Barack Obama.

While he drew praise for his response from many state residents, he also endured criticism from conservatives when he commended Obama's response, just days before the Democratic president was re-elected for a second term.

And speaking to CNN Saturday morning, Governor Christie, who continued to travel around the state throughout the day, said: 'We are ready to get the National Guard out for evacuations if necessary and we have shelters in every county in the state.

The winter storm mixed with high tide caused flooding in a group of homes off of Route 10 on January 23 in Cape May, New Jersey

A woman tries to help her friend free her stuck car early on Saturday morning in Ventnor, New Jersey

'People should stay inside, not only is the weather incredibly nasty but it is helping us keep roads passable. We have two to three inches falling an hour. Please stay inside, please don't drive today.'

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service said the winter storm could rank near the top 10 to ever hit the region. They issued a blizzard warning for all of New York City until 7am on Sunday.

'It does have the potential to be an extremely dangerous storm that can affect more than 50 million people,' said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather service, adding that it could easily cause more than $1billion in damage.

A state of emergency has been declared in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York and parts of other states.

Blizzard warnings or watches were in effect along the storm's path, from Arkansas through Tennessee and Kentucky to the mid-Atlantic states and as far north as New York.

The National Weather Service said the winter storm could rank near the top 10 to ever hit the region. Pictured, a police officer blocks a street near flooding during a storm in Atlantic City

A police cruiser drives through a flooded street early on Saturday morning in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Danny Stalworth holds onto his hood during fierce winds as he tries to clear his sidewalk early on Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey

A motorist shovels snow to free up a vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike during the snowstorm in Port Reading, New Jersey on Saturday
Police arrested Johnson after he was chased and held down by witnesses

He has chipped teeth, facial cuts, a swollen jaw and a bleed on the brain

Mr Ceccato, 23, did not see the attack coming and fell face first on the floor

Brent Robert Johnson, 21, has been charged over the knock-out punch

A man who was knocked unconscious in an alleged one-punch attack woke up with a swollen jaw, battered face, bleeding on his brain and a mouthful of broken teeth.

Tristan Ceccato, 23, was allegedly punched in the back of the head by a man he had never spoken to as he walked through the courtyard of Perth's Amplifier Bar at around 12.20am on Saturday.

Police said Mr Ceccato did not react when his attacker Brent Robert Johnson, 21, intentionally bumped into him before the alleged assault and had no idea he was about to deliver the knock out punch.

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Tristan Ceccato, 23, who was knocked unconscious in an alleged one-punch attack woke with a swollen jaw, battered face, bleeding on his brain and a mouthful of broken teeth

'The next thing I remember is waking up with ambulance and paramedics around me, friends, and getting teeth out of my mouth,' he told the West Australian.

The 23-year-old fell and hit his head on a table and then landed face first on the brick pavement where he remain unconscious for several minutes as Johnson attempted to flee the Perth bar.

Other patrons who witnessed the unprovoked attack chased after the 21-year-old from Nollamara and held him down with the assistance of security guards until police arrived.

Mr Ceccato was taken to the Royal Perth Hospital to be treated for his injuries and was released on Saturday.

The 23-year-old was allegedly punched in the back of the head by a man he had never spoken to as he walked through the courtyard of the Perth bar

He fell and hit his head on a table and then landed face first on the brick pavement where he remain unconscious for several minutes as Johnson attempted to flee the Perth bar

Mr Ceccato has three chipped teeth, an extremely swollen jaw, several stitches on his head and will need to be monitored for a bleed on his brain

The 23-year-old, who is about to move to Canberra, posted a picture to social media from his hospital holding up a peace sign despite sporting a nasty head gash and facial grazes.

'Let's stop punching people for no reason please,' Mr Ceccato posted to Facebook on Saturday.

Mr Ceccato, a health economist, has three chipped teeth, an extremely swollen jaw, several stitches on his head and will need to be monitored for a bleed on his brain.

He said the severity of the incident, which was caught on CCTV, only really started to sink in once he got to speak to his parents.

Police allege that Mr Ceccato was struck in the courtyard of Amplifier Bar at around 12.20am on Saturday

'I spoke to my parents on the phone ... that's when it hit me, how shocked and scared they were,' Mr Ceccato told the West Australian.

He said he never thought about how 'vulnerable' he was to such a 'disgusting' attack, ABC News reported.

His 23-year-old alleged attacker was charged with causing grievous bodily harm and was remanded in custody after he appeared at Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday.
A Muslim faith school which was rated 'outstanding' by the education watchdog Ofsted has suspended a teenage pupil who is accused of breaching its behaviour policy after he interacted with a female student in a way which amounted to harassment.

Al-Khair secondary school in Croydon, south London, considers 'free mixing' between male and female students who are considered 'non-mahrams' (not close relatives) to be a 'high level offence'.

But a spokesperson denied that the school has a blanket ban on boys and girls talking to each other.

The parent of one pupil told The Sunday Times that the policy of the private school, which won praise by Ofsted for promoting pupils' personal development, was 'nonsense', and that students were not being prepared to integrate in British society.

Al-Khair school in Croydon won praise by the education watchdog Ofsted for promoting pupils' personal development

Parents of suspended pupil said called the behaviour policy 'nonsense' and said students were not prepared for life in British society (stock photo)

'How are these kids going to integrate in the wider shape of society when they have to work in the same places that [people of the opposite sex] are working? This is totally nonsense,' the parent said.

'To me, as a Muslim parent, if my daughter or son goes to a Muslim school and she or he speaks in good manner to any boy or girl, regardless of what background, it doesn't matter, because I believe this is not against my religion. What is this nonsense policy? I cannot understand it.'

Al-Khair was set up 13 years ago in a Croydon converted warehouse after a local imam, Qasim Ahmad, pledged to educate five children excluded by the school system.

After its inspection in September, Ofsted praised staff, saying they 'effectively model the values they believe in, and any inequalities or prejudice are not tolerated'. It was rated oustanding for its approach to personal development, behaviour and welfare and good in every other category.

Headteacher Aisha Chaudhry told the Evening Standard at the time that the school wanted pupils 'to be honest, fair, polite and good role models of the Muslim community'.

'We cannot be represented by idiots going around doing barbaric things,' Chaudhry said.

'It is trying to break the mould and stereotypes  and a lot of those come form our own culture.

'They say, 'Girls can't do this or that', so the only careers they should go into is doctor, lawyer, engineer and I'm trying to be a little bit different.'

The 5,000-a-year Al-Khair describes itself on its website as a 'unique Islamic school which provides an exceptional standard of education . . . to produce well-balanced, confident and articulate individuals who will take the initiative to better their communities and surroundings'.

Boys and girls are based in the same school but they are taught in separate classes and any interaction is prohibited. 'Free-mixing' is listed among the 'high-level' offences that could lead to an exclusion, alongside 'drug dealing, stealing, extortion, racism and arson.

The school accepts Christian pupils and has a teacher-pupil ratio of 1 to 16 and offers activities including archery, fencing and scuba-diving.

Last year, America's ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun, held a workshop with pupils.

The Sunday Times reported that the Department for Education (DfE) is investigating the incident and that the school may be in breach of the Equality Act. Standards in fee-paying school require them to teach pupils to live by British values, including respect for the law, democracy and the right of women to be treated on a par with man.

Public-relations consultant Mark Thomas, a former editor of The People newspaper, who is representing the school, said the policy had been discussed with Ofsted inspectors.

'The school's policy is clearly published and parents send their children [to the school] in the full knowledge of the code, which only prohibits communication not conducive to the educational environment we promote,' he said.
Women, both in their mid-20s, left several extremists dead before escaping

Two female soldiers who travelled from Britain to fight ISIS in Iraq survived a deadly shoot-out when terror chiefs closed in on discovering their identities (stock photograph)

Two female soldiers who travelled from Britain to fight ISIS in Iraq survived a deadly shoot-out when terror chiefs closed in on discovering their identities.

The pair - who are working alongside the SAS as officers in the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) - were travelling with locally recruited spies when they were pulled over at an Islamic State checkpoint near the Syrian border.

When their inquisitors' suspicions grew, the women claim to have become embroiled in a gun fight, leaving several extremists dead before escaping with their vehicle almost completely destroyed.

A defence source told the Daily Star: 'These women are probably the most deadly in the armed forces.

'They are extremely fit, intelligent and very professional. They handled themselves really well and have proved to be just as good as the men in every respect.

'They were really up for the fight once they were compromised.'

The two women - both in their mid-20s - have been in the war-torn region for months, putting their lives at serious risk drafting local women to help with their intelligence led operations.

Earlier this month they were travelling to meet a potential recruit as part of an SAS convoy when ISIS fighters stopped them in their tracks.

Seconds from being exposed, the women, armed with pistols and submachine guns, began shooting their way out of trouble, leaving a number of their attackers dead.

Both escaped unharmed but their car was left peppered in bullet holes.

Since arriving in the country, the intelligence the women have received has helped British, US and French forces target the terror network's leaders in air strikes by drones and jets.

The pair were travelling with locally recruited spies when they were pulled over at an Islamic State checkpoint near the Syrian border. When their inquisitors' suspicions grew, the women claim to have become embroiled in a gun fight, leaving several extremists dead before escaping with their vehicle almost completely destroyed

The defence source added: 'They sometimes get a hard time from their male colleagues and the banter can get a bit fruity but there is a great deal of mutual respect and they give as good as they get.'

The SRR was formed in 2005. It recruits men and women from all three armed services with only the toughest making it through a gruelling six month recruitment process.
Landlords are charging would-be tenants to view their properties and demanding payment for inviting friends to stay - or even cook and do the laundry - as demand for rental properties continues to soar.

With first-time buyers priced out of the market and wealthier people preferring to rent rather than buy amid plans to increase stamp duty, the rental market has enjoyed a boom over recent months.

But now landlords have been accused of maximising the situation by including additional charges for having visitors to stay or using the facilities to carry out domestic tasks like cooking and washing clothes.

Traditional letting agents are not legally allowed to charge people viewing properties if they already, charge the landlord.

Paying extras: Tenants are being charged additional fees by landlords to wash clothes, cook or have visitors

However a number of companies, including EasyLets UK, Spacelet and Flatland, bill themselves as 'appointment-making agents' and charge potential tenants rather than the landlords.

Cypriot-born graduate Gloria Orphanidou told The Guardian that she paid EasyLets 110 to help her find a suitable property for her 500-a-month budget.

She was told all bills were included in the rents advertised, but when she approached landlords on the list, one told her she would be charged every time she cooked or did laundry.

'The other two were properties living with landlords, where I was not allowed to have any visitors unless I paid them 10 every time someone came to see me.'

Dan Wilson Craw, policy officer at campaign group Generation Rent, said: 'Paying an upfront fee before seeing a single property, let alone agreeing a tenancy, is full of risk.

'To learn that you might then be asked to pay extra for everyday behaviour like having a partner stay over or cooking a meal is shocking.'

The situation in the rental market is also putting pressure on people hoping to eventually buy their first home.

More than half of a private renter's salary goes on accommodation every month compared to less than a fifth of those who own a home with a mortgage, according to the latest housing report from Savills.

The number of those renting has swelled in recent years amid rising house prices, meaning the amount of cash first-time buyers need to save for a deposit has grown.

It has left increasing numbers locked out of the property market and forced to rent longer than they had anticipated.

A recent survey suggests more than half of a private renter's salary goes on accommodation every month

Neal Hudson, of Savills research, said: 'The unaffordability of buying due to deposit constraints means that there is massive competition for homes in the private rented sector, particularly in London.'

Matt Hutchinson, director of flatshare site spareroom.co.uk, said: 'We've reached the point where a generation is starting to give up on the idea of owning their own homes, especially in London where fierce demand and limited supply has pushed prices further out of the reach of first time buyers.'

While the typical age of a first-time buyer has remained at the same level for the past five years, hovering around 29 to 30 years old, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the numbers within this pool has diminished.

There were 311,700 first-time buyer mortgages approved last year, compared to 403,800 in 2006, the year before the credit crisis struck.

Real life inspiration: The cast of Channel 4's new sitcom, Crashing, based on the idea of property guardianship

Meanwhile, renters have been coming up with more ingenious ways of finding affordable housing.

There has been an upsurge in popularity of 'flatmating' events - like speed dating, where you can find someone to share a property with - as well as property guardianship, where tenants pay minimal rent to look after a property for the owner.
Hundreds of MPs have told Home Office psychiatrists they face campaigns of violence and abuse, prompting calls for more personal security for politicians.

The study found 192 and 239 MPs who responded - out of a total of 650 - reported aggressive or intrusive behaviour from voters.

Half of the MPs who replied said they had been targeted in their homes and the response rate was said to be 'unusually good' for an internal Commons survey.

Stephen Timms, a Labour MP pictured left, was stabbed by a constituent in 2010 but has turned down additional security. Tim Loughton, a Tory MP pictured right, has spoken out against the abuse he has received from some individuals in his constituency

Of the 101 MPs which reported threats, many detailed death threats while others said they had been told to 'keep an eye on your children'.

Stephen Timms, the Labour MP for East Ham, was stabbed at a constituency surgery in 2010.

In 2000, then Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones was attacked by a man wielding a samurai sword in an attack which left a staff member dead.

The report said campaigns of abuse has left 36 politicians afraid to go out in public, put marriages under strain and led to some being treated for depression and anxiety, experts found.

Researchers reported that 192 MPs who had experienced problems half had been targeted in their own homes.

The report said: 'One MP described how his marriage was close to breakdown, as his wife blamed him for the persistent amorous intrusions of a female constituent.'

Mr Timms told the The Observer, which revealed the study today, that he had turned down greater security.

He said: 'After what happened to me I was offered a knife arch for my surgeries, but I refused because that just makes it more difficult for people to come and see you.

'It isn't the MP I want to be.'

But Conservative Tim Loughton, who made a Commons speech highlighting a campaign of abuse against him, said the protection for MPs was 'woefully inadequate'.

Writing in The Observer, he said: 'MPs get no added security.

'The one time there was a security threat when I was a minister was when the Fathers4Justice mob took issue with something I had done and we had intelligence that they might well install themselves on the roof of my house.

'I rang the police and they said: 'If you see anything, give us a ring.''

He added: 'Just because we have lots of police with guns in Westminster doesnt mean we are safe wherever we go.'

The Commons Serjeant at Arms dubbed the response rate 'unusually good', the Observer said/

MPs - pictured at last week's Prime Minister's Questions - reported campaigns of harassment and abuse by members of the public

Some 239 MPs took part in the survey and 43 said they had been subject to attack or attempted attacks, 101 said they had received threats to harm them and 52 had faced threats of property damage.

The research was carried out by seven psychiatrists, including Dr David James, founder of the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) that assesses threats for high profile figures such as the royal family, and was published in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology.

Comments from the MPs who took part included: 'Pulled a knife on me in the surgery'; 'repeatedly punched me in the face'; 'came at me with a hammer'; 'hit with a brick'; 'shot with air rifle'.

The statements continued: 'There were numerous reports of death threats, both in person and by mail, and of bomb threats', 'you'd better keep an eye on your children'; 'threat to kill me by telephone at home - call taken by my seven-year-old daughter', 'wife received phone calls saying 'I am going to kill you or one of your family'', 'petrol poured through letter box'.

The Metropolitan Police run the FTAC alongside the Department of Health, with the Home Office sharing its funding.

The report was commissioned independently of the Home Office, a spokeswoman said.

Several MPs reported abuse and intimidation in the wake of the Commons vote to bomb ISIS in Syria with one - Labour's Neil Coyle - reporting a Twitter death threat to the police.

During the general election campaign Tory Charlotte Leslie revealed her and her parent's cars had been targeted by vandals.
A British man convicted of killing his American wife and their baby daughter who always claimed he was not in the house at the time of their deaths has finally admitted he was present during the crime.

Almost exactly ten years after the horrific event which became known as the 'Entwistle slayings' it has emerged that Neil Entwistle told a prison pen friend that he was in the house during the deaths.

Entwistle, 37, a former IT consultant originally from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, is currently serving a life sentence in an American prison for the double murder of his wife and child in Boston in 2006.

In the letter Entwistle claims he watched his wife shoot their baby before turning the gun on herself - despite maintaining throughout his murder trial that he was 'running errands' at the time of their deaths.

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Neil Entwistle, 37, (pictured left) originally from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, is currently serving a life sentence in an American prison for the double murder of his wife, Rachel, and child Lillian (both right) in Boston in 2006

During the trial he claimed he went into a 'trance' after discovering the bloodied bodies and booked himself a one-way ticket to Britain without notifying anyone of the deaths.

The bodies were found by police two days later and Entwistle was extradited back the U.S to face trial.

Just last week Entwistle's parents protested their son's innocence, claiming their daughter-in-law shot nine-month-old Lillian before killing herself.

But it has now emerged that in one of a series of letters to his prison pen friend Heather Standaelt, he admits that not only was he in the house, but he was also in the bedroom at the time of the shooting.

The Mirror reports the letter said: 'When I think back, I still wonder what went through Lilly's mind, nine-months old though she was, as she yelled out in pain. Was she calling for her daddy to come and help?

'Even Rachel, as her eyes met mine before she fired that fatal shot, she seemed to be saying something, though she uttered not a word.'

Neil Entwistle pictured leaving Framingham district court following his arraignment for the murders

But in 2006 he told US investigators in a taped phone call from Britain that he found his wife and baby dead after returning from a shopping trip.

Mother-of-two Heather, 44, told the newspaper she began writing to Entwistle because she thought he might be innocent - but following his admission she now believes he is guilty.

She said: 'He is a murderer. I know he is a murderer. The letter just proved he had lied all along.'

The bodies of 27-year-old Rachel and baby Lillian were found on January 22, 2006 in the master bedroom of the family's rented home in Massachusetts where they had been living for just ten days.

Autopsy results showed that Rachel died of a gunshot wound to the head and Lillian of a gunshot wound to the torso.

During the trial it emerged the family was in massive debt and Entwistle had been looking online to embark upon an extramarital affair.

But his parents have always maintained that their son is not guilty.

Cliff Entwistle said last week: 'There is no way on God's Earth that my son would murder his wife and child. He was not given a fair trial, key evidence that proves his innocence was swept under the carpet and people are finally beginning to realise this.'

Mr Entwistle has now recruited Australian detective turned crime author Duncan McNab to look into the case and the pair believe that Entwistle had 'no chance' even before his trial began.

Mr Entwistle said: 'A book which portrayed Neil as a cold-blooded killer was given the go ahead to be published on the day of the trial.

'Members of the jury would have seen that book everywhere and would, of course, been influenced by it.

'That just goes to show what kind of environment my son was tried in.'

Mr Entwistle claims that other crucial factors including Rachel's state of mind at the time of the killings and the fact she had gunshot residue on both sides of her hands went unnoted by the judge.

Mr Entwistle said: 'Rachel had post-natal depression and I just don't understand why this wasn't brought up in court at all.

'I remember one occurrence when Yvonne and I were speaking to her on the phone and she asked if we had received photos of Lillian from Christmas that she had posted over.

'When we replied that we hadn't, she put the phone down and, according to Neil, ran upstairs sobbing.

'She had been having problems since Lillian was born. This is what should have been addressed.'

Rachel Entwistle and Neil Entwistle with their baby daughter Lillian Entwistle in an image posted on the Entwistle family website. The bodies of Rachel and her 9 month-old daughter were found in a bed at their home

Mr Entwistle said: 'Inevitably, the finger was pointed at Neil when he got on a plane and rushed home to Worksop.

'But why wouldn't he have done? Have you ever been through a traumatic incident? The natural instinct is to go home to your family.

'It would have been the same wherever he was in the world.

'He didn't go off running to Bolivia and shack himself up somewhere- he came home because he simply didn't know what else to do.'

When Entwistle returned home, his father said he knew immediately that his son was 100 per cent innocent.

Mr Entwistle said: 'He was in a state of shock - we all were. I telephoned Rachel's parents immediately.'

Mr Entwistle has criticised the British Government for ignoring the family's requests for legal help and for instead turning Entwistle over to the American Embassy.

Both of the bodies were found on a bed in this rented home in Hopkinton on January 22, 2006

Mr Entwistle is angry that his family had nobody.

He said: 'In America it was easy for them to jump to the conclusion that this British man had killed his family before hopping on a plane back to England.

'Imagine being alone in a situation like that- what do you do?'

Author Duncan Mcnab is now hoping to publish a book on the 'reasonable doubt' surrounding Entwistle's conviction and Mr Entiwistle has said this has finally given the family 'some hope'.

Mr Entwistle said: 'We won't stop until we have a re-trial. We will continue to stand by the fact that our son is completely innocent.'

His wife explained that she and Mr Entwistle fly over to America once a year to see their son.

She said: 'Not a day goes by where we don't think of Neil, or of our granddaughter, Lillian.

'I miss them every day. Every birthday and Christmas goes by and all I feel is emptiness. But I will never give up fighting.'
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has confirmed he will recontest the seat of Warringah at the next election.

Mr Abbott was ousted as leader of the Liberal Party in September last year, losing his position as prime minister to then Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull.

After speculation that he would recontest his seat in a bid to regain the Prime Ministership, the 58-year-old has confirmed that his future in politics is not yet over.

'I have been heartened by the support and encouragement I've received to continue to serve the country as a member of parliament,' he said in a statement on Sunday night.

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Former prime minister Tony Abbott has confirmed he will recontest the seat of Warringah at the next election

'Therefore, I am renominating to represent the people of Warringah for another term as their Liberal MP.'

Some have suggested that Mr Abbott, who has held his seat in Warringah, on Sydney's northern beaches, for the last 22 years, still has his heart set on the top job, with this being his first step toward regaining the Prime Ministership.

Mr Abbott was reportedly coaxed by his former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin to recontest the seat of Warringah and hopes to make a similar comeback to past Liberal leaders John Howard and Sir Robert Menzies.

Mr Abbott is understood to be 'in mourning' over his leadership loss, but does not wish to accept a diplomatic posting as he is 'quite bitter and resentful,' according to The Daily Telegraph.

Tony Abbott (left) was reportedly coaxed by his former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin (right) to recontest the seat of Warringah and hopes to become Prime Minister for a second time

TONY ABBOTT'S FULL STATEMENT 'After leaving the prime ministership, I said that I would spend some time talking to family, trusted colleagues and local Liberals about my future. I have been heartened by the support and encouragement I've received to continue to serve the country as a member of parliament. Therefore, I am renominating to represent the people of Warringah for another term as their Liberal MP. I am proud of my work to establish the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust that has done so much to improve the amenity of former military land on North Head, Middle Head and Georges Heights. Should I be renominated and elected, I am looking forward to working with Premier Mike Baird to ensure that the Warringah Peninsula gets better transport links to the rest of Sydney. It has been a great honour to serve the people of Warringah for 22 years and I hope to retain their trust and confidence.' Advertisement

One Liberal MP said it was difficult 'to find a (private sector) job for a former Prime Minister so young,' and therefore he had a chance at regaining a ministry job or even the top spot for a second time.

A spokesman for Mr Abbott told the Sydney Morning Herald the former prime minister was 'still considering his future'.

On being asked whether he had provided any form of advice to Mr Abbott, former Prime Minister John Howard told the Telegraph he 'didn't care' to comment.

Pre-selections opened in the Liberal-held seats on Tuesday and Mr Abbott along with other MPs have until February 19 to make the decision on their future.

Controversial Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop is also expected to contest her Mackellar seat in New South Wales at the next federal election.

It is understood Mr Abbott (pictured main, in front of Ms Credlin) is 'in mourning,' over his leadership loss, but does not wish to accept a diplomatic posting as he is reportedly 'quite bitter and resentful'

Mr Abbott hopes to make a similar comeback to past Liberal leaders John Howard (left) and Sir Robert Menzies (right)

A spokesman for the 73-year-old confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald she would contest her seat.

Ms Bishop resigned from her position in August amid growing controversy surrounding her use of parliamentary entitlements.

This allegedly included spending more than $5,000 to charter a helicopter ride from Melbourne to Geelong so she could attend a Liberal Party fundraiser.

Former federal Liberal leader John Hewson has strongly criticised Ms Bishop's decision to run again.

'You'll probably have to carry her out in a box,' he said, The ABC reported.

'She doesn't think she's done anything wrong, she doesn't see that she's been totally discredited or [will] probably go down in history as a poor minister and the most biased speaker of all time.'

Controversial Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop (pictured) is also expected to contest her Mackellar seat in New South Wales at the next federal election
PM is due back on the renegotiation trail with Demark and Sweden visits

Tory splits on Europe widened today as scores of backbenchers protested the Prime Minister was ignoring their concerns and a former leadership contender said it was 'sad' to see David Cameron 'begging' around EU capitals.

Liam Fox, who appeared on stage with Ukip leader Nigel Farage at a Leave campaign rally, criticised suggestions Mr Cameron could end up changing UK welfare rules to make his renegotiation work.

Senior backbencher John Baron said Mr Cameron was ignoring his party's concerns and warned the renegotiation was a 'great opportunity missed'.

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Liam Fox, right with Ukip leader Nigel Farage at last night's Leave campaign event, said the Prime Minister should not be 'begging' his EU partners for a deal

In his first speech of the Leave campaign, pictured, Dr Fox said he was 'angry' and 'sad' to see Mr Cameron pleading for concessions

Speaking in Kettering last night, Dr Fox warned: 'The very best that the Prime Minister can get in this renegotiation is better membership of the wrong club.

'It is not worthless but it is not a reason to stay in the European Union.'

The former defence secretary continued: 'If you cannot make your own laws, if you cannot control your own borders, you are not an independent, sovereign nation and I want to live in an independent sovereign nation.'

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Baron warned the House of Commons would remain on track toward being 'nothing more than a political chamber of the European Parliament'.

Mr Baron said Mr Cameron was 'tinkering' on welfare reforms instead of tackling the big issues.

He warned: 'The refusal to engage with his own backbenchers contradicts those of us who campaigned in the last parliament for a referendum in this - believing time was needed for a meaningful discussion and renegotiation and then for the subsequent debate.

'Instead, No 10 ignores contributions - what could it be afraid of? Such an approach epitomises the EU's democratic deficit, but we had not expected it of our own government.'

Elsewhere today, Scottish first minster Nicola Sturgeon warned on the BBC One Andrew Marr programme David Cameron risked losing the EU referendum if he repeated the 'Project Fear' tactics used by the Better Together campaign in the 2014 independence referendum.

She said: 'In the referendum on Europe, the two campaigns are much closer to start with.

'If the In campaign falls into the trap of the No campaign, I fear it will lose.'

Senior eurosceptic Bernard Jenkin derided what was on offer by the Prime Minister.

He told Radio 4's World This Weekend: "We are so obviously in a panic period now trying to dress up the outcome of this renegotiation as something when it is likely to be virtually nothing.

"Whatever is decided at this renegotiation because there is going to be no treaty change that is binding upon the other member states, the law of the European Union will not actually have changed.

"And, once we have voted in a referendum to remain, if we do, there is absolutely nothing to stop the European Union tearing up whatever's agreed and going back to what there was before."

Nicola Sturgeon, left on today's Andrew Marr programme, warned against the In campaign mimicking the 'negative' Better Together campaign. Elsewhere, Chancellor George Osborne - right in Davos last week - is reportedly working on a 'permanent brake' on new EU laws

Mr Cameron is due to return to the renegotiation trail this week with visits to Denmark and Sweden.

The latest visits come ahead of next month's EU summit - which Mr Cameron has targeted to conclude the renegotiation.

The Sunday Times reported Chancellor George Osborne was closing in on a deal for 'permanent handbrake' on the extension of EU laws.

One version of the proposal is to cut the level at which countries can halt new laws to nations representing 20 per cent of European populations - potentially meaning Britain and Poland alone could halt new rules.

At the moment EU rules say a grouping of 35 per cent of the population can halt proposals - more than all those outside the eurozone.

A senior government source told the Sunday Times: 'People talk about an emergency brake on immigration but this is a permanent brake.

'This isn't one part of the renegotiation, it is the main part of the renegotiation. George can't say this publicly but he thinks this is the only bit that matters.'

Mr Cameron's talks have come under greater pressure as the migrant crisis re-emerged in public view. Pictured: A line of migrants snakes along a street as they cross the Slovenian-Austrian border as European leaders admitted the EU's porous borders could cause it to collapse under the pressure

The new exchanges comes as Mr Cameron stepped closer to dropping his key demand for a four-year ban on benefits for migrants in his fight to stay in the EU.

On Friday, The Prime Minister visited Prague for talks with Czech leader Bohuslav Sobotka who revealed the pair had been discussing an 'emergency brake' instead.

Mr Cameron believes he needs to secure a 'win' on limiting migrant benefits if he is to keep the UK in the EU in a referendum to be held as early as June.

But the Czech leader admitted the four-year benefits ban may not fair on EU citizens but hinted he could back the 'emergency brake'.

The policy would allow Britain and other EU states to cut off the flow of benefits to migrants if there was 'immense pressure on its social welfare system', he said.

He added: 'The UK has introduced their proposal... we discussed other possible alternatives to meet the same objective... make it possible for the UK government to respond to the mass influx of workers'.

He said: 'It is very important for us that any solution that is adopted on a European level does not discriminate.'

Mr Cameron - pictured on Friday with Czech leader Bohuslav Sobotka - is due to continue his renegotiation tour this week with visits to Denmark and Sweden

The brake would be controversial Britain would probably have to prove there were difficulties in its labour market or economy before Brussels would allow the brake to be applied.

A blanket four-year ban would give Mr Cameron the control he wants over benefits.

At a joint press conference Mr Cameron said he had not dumped his four-year rule - a key plank of his renogiation - but admitted he was a 'practical man' and 'welcomed' alternatives.

He said any other deal would have to have the same effect.

Last month his four-year wish looked dead in the water after EU President Donald Tusk said the four-year plan 'seems unacceptable' - and Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker sai: 'The commission is ready to look for other options.'

Today Mr Cameron said he would not rush an agreement if it was not 'available' in time for the Brussels summit on February 18.

But he indicated he still thought a deal was possible by then, pointing to the 'goodwill' of other states.

'I firmly believe there is a pathway to an agreement. I am confident that with the help of European partners and with goodwill we will be able to get there and find mutually satisfactory conclusions,' he said.

It came as French prime minister Manuel Valls warned the huge influx of migrants from Syria and Iraq is putting the future of the European Union in 'grave danger'.

He said the UK was 'happy to do more' to strengthen external EU border controls, even though it is not part of the Schengen border-free zone which covers most of the continent.
A former Mi5 officer is reportedly ready to give MPs proof the agency knew about torture at Guantanamo Bay, file picture, in the aftermath of 9/11

A former Mi5 officer is set to offer proof to MPs that the agency knew about torture at Guantanamo Bay in the aftermath of 9/11, it emerged today.

The unnamed officer is seeking official permission to present his evidence to the Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament.

If the evidence goes ahead, the Sunday Times said it would be the first time it has been proven Mi5 knew of systematic abuse and torture at the camp.

Intelligence sources have told the paper details of the torture were disclosed during meetings with the then director general Stephen Lander handed over to his successor, Eliza Manningham-Buller.

Other high ranking officials held meetings on torture during 2002, the sources said.

The evidence would confirm Mi5 officials had witnessed inmates at Guantanamo being chained, hooded, waterboarded and subject to mental abuse.

Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general who chairs the ISC, said: 'We will pursue leads wherever they go. We want to hear from relevant people.'

An intelligence source told the Sunday Times: 'There was a great deal of discomfort within MI5 around the 2002 period that the agency was receiving intelligence obtained via either torture or severe abuse.

'The view among many officers, although it was by no mean unanimous, was that Britain should have nothing to do with intelligence obtained by torture or abuse  call it what you will.

'But there were also those people within MI5 who adopted a very hardcore approach  it was a case of 'we have to find out where the next attack is coming from by whatever means'  and saw torture as a tool.'

Last year, Shaker Aamer - the last British resident to be released from Guanatanomo Bay - said British officers had been present when he was tortured.

Mr Aamer says his head was repeatedly slammed against a wall while a British officer was in the room.

On another occasion, a young British officer in a red beret visited him in a 'cage'. Both alleged incidents took place on US bases in Afghanistan shortly after his 2001 capture.

In October, The US released Mr Aamer on condition the British would guarantee he posed no threat.

Given British residency in 1996, Mr Aamer was described in US military files as a 'close associate of Osama Bin Laden' who fought in the battle of Tora Bora. He insists he was working as a charity worker in Afghanistan when he was kidnapped and handed over to US forces in 2001.
Jihadi John contemplate suicide four years before launching his gruesome beheading campaign in Syria, emails have revealed.

The former ISIS executioner wanted to kill himself after becoming paranoid by MI5's investigations into him as he accelerated his descent into Islamic extremism.

In an email written to a journalist in 2010, Mohammed Emwazi - who was killed by a US missile strike in November - said he planned to take 'as many pills as I can' to escape what he believed was his own personal persecution at the hands of the secret service. xxx

Jihadi John (pictured) contemplate suicide four years before launching his gruesome beheading campaign in Syria, his own private correspondence has revealed. The former ISIS executioner wanted to kill himself after becoming paranoid by MI5's investigations into him as his descent into Islamic extremism accelerated

The then 22-year-old complained that he felt 'like a dead man walking' after being repeatedly scrutinised by counter terrorism officers who probed all aspects of his lifestyle - including his family and girlfriends - and subsequently banned him from leaving Britain.

He claimed at the time to have no interest in Islamic extremism, arguing that he was just an innocent victim of a snooping police state - a lie thoroughly shattered by his role as ISIS chief executioner and short-term poster boy.

The state surveillance made him anxious - something made abundantly clear in an email he sent to journalist Robert Verkaik, printed today by the Sunday Times, after he sold an old laptop on Gumtree.

Emwazi advertised the computer using only his surname. However, when the transaction was carried out at a tube stop close to his Maida Vale home, he claims the buyer concluded by saying: 'Nice doing business with you, Mohammed.'

He was convinced it had been bought by MI5 for examination.

In an email written to a journalist in 2010, Mohammed Emwazi - who was killed by a US missile strike in November - said he planned to take 'as many pills as I can' to escape what he believed was his own personal persecution at the hands of the secret service

The then 22-year-old complained that he felt 'like a dead man walking' after being repeatedly scrutinised by counter terrorism officers who probed all aspects of his lifestyle - including his home (pictured), family and girlfriends - and subsequently banned him from leaving Britain

In his email following the incident, he stressed that the interest both MI5 and Scotland Yard were showing in him was bringing him close to taking his own life.

He wrote: 'I knew it was them [MI5].

'Sometimes I feel like I'm a dead man walking, not fearing they may kill me. Rather, fearing that one day I'll take as many pills as I can so that I can sleep forever.

'I just want to get away from these people.'

Emwazi's brother Omar experienced the would-be executioner's downward spiral first hand.

He said: 'Let's say there was something across the road that he had to get and there was a very busy road. He wouldn't think about getting hit...because he had no life any more.

'He was rejected from his work, from his marriage and from his community. Even from travelling. That hurt him a lot.'

Despite a ban prohibiting him from leaving the country, Emwazi first escaped Britain in 2011, when he headed to Lisbon.

He returned a short time later but successfully evaded border control again to leave for good in 2012.

After making it to Syria, he became ISIS executioner in chief, filmed on sickening propaganda videos beheading five western hostages - American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, former Manchester taxi driver Alan Henning, and US soldier turned aid worker, Peter Kassig.

Dressed in all black tunics, Emwazi - by that time known as Jihadi John - became the word's most wanted man.

He was eventually killed on November 12 after US intelligence had established where his wife and child were living.

He was 'evaporated' by a drone strike as he left the premises in Raqqa.
Universal credit is to be phased in by 2021

That amounts to 317.83 a month for each wife in polygamous household

Polygamous marriages are only recognised in Britain if they took place in countries where they are legal

Men with more than one wife will qualify for extra benefits under the new welfare system, according to official House of Commons research.

Under the universal credit welfare system, which is not expected to be fully introduced until 2021, polygamous households will be rewarded with higher benefits, The Sunday Times reports.

In the UK, it is illegal to marry more than one person.

Polygamous marriages, largely confined to Muslim families, are only recognised in Britain if they took place in countries where they are legal, such as Middle Eastern states, Pakistan and Zambia.

There no official figures but it is estimated that there may be as many as 20,000 polygamous marriages in the British Muslim community.

Currently, a husband and his first wife are paid up to 114.85 a week. Subsequent spouses living under the same roof receive around 40 each.

Under the new system of Universal Credit, which is not expected to be fully introduced until 2021, polygamous marriages will not be recognised at all.

The standard allowance is about 498.89 a month for couples, but single people can claim about 317.83.

That means the husband and his first wife will be able to claim the married couples' allowance and subsequent wives will be able to claim a single person's allowance.

A briefing paper by the House of Commons library read:

'The 2010 Government decided that the UC [Universal Credit] rules will not recognise additional partners in polygamous relationships.'

'This could potentially result in some polygamous households receiving more under UC than under the current benefit and tax credit system.'

It pointed out that a wife in a polygamous marriage 'does not generally have the right to a state pension on the basis of her spouse's contributions'.

Philip Hollobone, Tory MP for Kettering, said the government should ensure that such households are not rewarded.

'[Polygamous marriage] is illegal and should be prosecuted as such, and there should be no advantage to polygamy through the pensions and benefits system,' he said.
Sigrid Rausing, 53, said her family tried everything to help her brother Hans Kristian, one of Britain's richest men, overcome his demons before his wife Eva died from cocaine abuse in 2012

The heiress to the 4.3billion Tetra Pak fortune has revealed she self-harmed and ended up in the same rehab centre as her brother after she became 'entangled' in his drug addiction.

Philanthropist Sigrid Rausing, 53, said her family tried everything to help her brother Hans Kristian, one of Britain's richest men, overcome his demons before his wife Eva died from cocaine abuse in 2012.

The Swedish billionaire hit the headlines after his wife was discovered in a fly-filled bedroom of their home in London's exclusive Belgravia, hidden under a pile of bedding.

When police raided his house, 48-year-old Mrs Rausing was so badly decomposed that she had to be identified from a fingerprint and the serial number on her heart pacemaker.

The couple met in a rehabilitation centre in America and married in 1992, going on to have four children, but both struggled with their addictions throughout their relationship.

Following Eva's death, Mr Rausing moved out of his Belgravia house to undergo a rehabilitation programme at a private clinic, living at the private hospital for two years.

His sister described the moment they found out about Eva's death as 'surreal' and a 'huge shock', on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Ms Rausing, the granddaughter of Tetra Pak founder Ruben Rausing and the publisher of Granta Books, told presenter Kirsty Young she had a history of depression that had started in her late teens.

Her second bout of depression had been triggered by her brother coming to stay at her home in Islington, north London, when she was in her twenties.

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Swedish billionaire Hans hit the headlines after the body of his wife Eva (both pictured) was discovered in a fly-filled bedroom of their home in London's exclusive Belgravia, hidden under a pile of bedding in 2012

She revealed Mr Rausing could not be helped out of his drug problem even by addiction experts specialising in rich people.

She said: 'Your life, your fate becomes entangled in somebody else's and, you know, I think that was very true for me and my brother.

Hans Kristian Rausing is pictured at the Frieze Art Fair preview day, London, in October 2014

'I was very entangled in his addiction. You get into this co-dependent thing. I ended up going myself as a family member to that same rehab he was in. I cut my arms.'

She said her brother exhausted multiple attempts to help him with his drug problem.

She said: 'We had the best people in the world. We went through all the addiction experts - American experts specialising in wealthy families.

'I know that whole landscape so well, and what I can say about it is it doesn't help very much.'

The philanthropist, whose charitable trust has given away around 230 million to human rights causes, said her interest in human rights had been sparked by hearing her parents talk about the Holocaust.

But she revealed that her grandparents had received kidnap threats for her and her siblings around the same time John Paul Getty III - son of billionaire philanthropist Sir Paul Getty - was kidnapped and held for ransom in the 1970s.

Her track choices included kd lang's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Chopin's Etude in C Major and The Last Goodbye by The Kills because it reminded her of Eva Rausing.
A woman who accused police of brutally attacking her has recalled the moment she lay in the street 'choking on her own blood' - but officers are adamant she injured herself as she resisted arrest.

Elisha Sherwood was driving in Frankston, a south-east suburb of Melbourne, with her partner Daniel French at around 1.30am on Friday when local police pulled her over and asked to search the car for weapons.

Ms Sherwood, 34, claims that she questioned police about the early morning routine search and was subsequently 'tackled to the ground'.

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Elisha Sherwood, 34, claims that she was assaulted by police after she was pulled over and asked if officers could search the car for weapons

'My nose and face were smashed into the ground and I was handcuffed,' she told Seven News.

She said officers reported her for spitting at them but she insists she had been bleeding and struggling to breathe.

'They were saying I was spitting at them. I was actually choking on my blood,' Ms Sherwood said.

Police deny the claims of brutality, stating that the couple jumped out of the car and approached officers in an 'aggressive manner' and injured three officers before they were restrained.

Ms Sherwood said she was provoked and that she only became aggressive once police started 'beating' her

The 34-year-old claims that she questioned police about the early morning routine search and was subsequently 'tackled to the ground'

'My nose and face were smashed into the ground and I was handcuffed,' she said

Police deny the claims of brutality, stating that the couple jumped out of the car and approached officers in an 'aggressive manner' and injured three officers before they were restrained

After the alleged attack, Ms Sherwood, who said she is seeking legal representation, posted several pictures of herself in a hospital bed with a grazed face and neck brace

'The woman was treated for minor injuries after injuring herself while resisting arrest,' Victoria Police said in a statement.

Ms Sherwood said she was provoked and that she only became aggressive once police started 'beating' her.

After the alleged attack, Ms Sherwood, who said she is seeking legal representation, posted several pictures of herself in a hospital bed with a grazed face and neck brace with the caption: 'Police brutality at its finest. .. because I questioned what they were doing'.

In the following days images of her swollen and bruised face also appeared on social media, along with a photograph of a pool of blood that she alleges formed on the street after the attack.

In the following days images of her swollen and bruised face also appeared on social media this image was 36 hours after the incident

A photograph of a pool of blood that she alleges formed on the street after the attack was posted online

Ms Sherwood has been charged with nine offences including resisting, hindering, assaulting and kicking police as well as aggravated assault.
See more news on North Korea at www.dailymail.co.uk/northkorea

New book also claims Kim Jong-il wanted to end the hereditary system of rule which made his son, the current leader Kim Jong-un , his successor

Gave inner circle silver plated guns to carry out the deed after his death

Kim il-Sung gave orders for Kim Jong-il to be assassinated if he tried

A new book claims Kim il-Sung (pictured), the father of Kim Jong-Il and grandfather of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, ordered officials to shoot his son if he ever tried to reform the country

The founder of North Korea gave each member of his inner circle a silver-plated pistol and told them to murder his son if he ever tried to reform the country following his father's death.

A new book claims Kim il-Sung, the father of Kim Jong-il and grandfather of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, ordered officials to shoot his successor if he ever tried to lead the country away from its Stalinist system.

Ra Jong-yil, the former head of South Korea's national intelligence service, claims he was told about Kim il-Sung's plan by a Pyongyang insider, who described how the inner circle were handed the guns and ordered to assasinate Kim Jong-il if he tried to change how the country is run.

Mr Ra told the Sunday Telegraph: 'Kim Il-sung had seen by the experiences of the Soviet Union what would happen if you start reforming or meddling with a dysfunctional system.

'The whole system inevitably collapses. He could not let that happen'.

Mr Ra's new book, The Path Taken by Jang Song-thack: A Rebellous Outsider, also claims Kim Jong-il wanted to end the hereditary system of rule which made Kim Jong-un his successor.

Instead, the book argues, he wanted the country to be ruled by a committee of 10, but because he died in 2011 before he could set the wheels in motion, his plans never came to fruition.

If they had the hermit nation could look very different today.

Mr Ra added: 'He said he most rational solution was a 10-strong leadership committee and for the Kim family to become the figurehead of the nation, a symbol and object of honour and respect but with no control over the day-to-day running of the country.'

The book is named after Mr Jang, the uncle who helped Kim Jong-un through the first months of his dictatorship after the death of his father.

Mr Jang was executed in December 2013 on charges including 'gnawing at the unity and cohesion of the party' and 'dreaming different dreams'.

Just two days ago MailOnline reported a UN investigator said Kim Jong-un and his dictatorial regime should face a crimes against humanity probe over 'Nazi-style atrocities' committed two years ago.

The founder of North Korea Kim il_sung (left) gave each member of his inner circle a silver-plated pistol with orders to murder his son Kim Jong-il (right) if he ever tried to reform the country

The new book, The Path Taken by Jang Song-thack: A Rebellous Outsider, also claims Kim Jong-il (pictured left) wanted to end the hereditery system of rule which made son Kim Jong-un (right) his successor

An investigation, commissioned in 2014 has concluded that North Korean security chiefs and possibly leader Kim Jong-un should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings.

Marzuki Darusman, the UN's special rapporteur on North Korea said: 'In addition to continuing political pressure to exhort the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to improve human rights, it is also now imperative to pursue criminal responsibility of the DPRK leadership.'

The 2014 report prompted the U.N. General Assembly to urge the UN Security Council to consider referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Only the 15-member Security Council can refer the situation in North Korea to the ICC, but diplomats say China, North Korea's main benefactor, would likely veto such a move.

The book's revelations come as Kim Jong-un was spotted inspecting the Gold Cup athletes comprehensive food factory in Pyongyang.

The book's revelations come as Kim Jong-un was pictured inspecting the Gold Cup athletes comprehensive food factory in Pyongyang

Kim Jong-un appeared to thoroughly enjoy his trip to the food factory and was spotted laughing and smiling
She will feature in a social media campaign to raise alcoholism awareness

A serious car accident in 2012 was the start of several relapses and rehabs

Sophia Nash knew she had reached rock bottom when she woke up in a mangled wreck of the car that crashed into a house with a gash on her head and the taste of champagne in her mouth.

That night in 2012 marked the start of the fashion model and aspiring entrepreneur's long and slow battle with alcoholism.

Ms Nash, 27, from Auckland, New Zealand, would often drink up to seven bottles of wine in a night out. Now sober, she has she shared her story for the first time to help others deal with crippling alcohol addition - especially young women.

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Sophia Nash's downward spiral into alcoholism began when she woke up with a serious head wound and a strong taste of expensive champagne in her mouth

The 27-year-old was involved in a serious car accident in 2012 and was spelled the beginning of her rocky road to sobriety

Ms Nash and her ex-partner had finished a boozy dinner, before she decided to get into the passenger seat of his car instead of catching a taxi home

Rock bottom: Sophia Nash was rushed to hospital and spent two days under watch for concussion

Ms Nash recounted the horror crash, when she chose to get into the passenger seat of her ex-partner's car after a boozy dinner, instead of catching a taxi home.

It all happened really quickly', Ms Nash told Daily Mail Australia, 'I just remember feeling really panicked because I couldnt get out of the car as the door wouldnt physically open.

I also remember looking around and seeing all these people and in my drunken state I was thinking to myself what are you all looking at? Its just a minor accident.

The 27-year-old was rushed to hospital and spent two days under watch for concussion

Sophia made the decision to get sober. But after eight months of sobriety, she decided to have three glasses of wine before getting into the driver's seat of her new car.

The model, who has an extensive portfolio of work with high-end fashion brands, spiraled out of control and found herself in a six by eight foot prison cell

She made the decision to get sober. But after eight months of sobriety in May 2014, she decided to have three glasses of wine, before getting into the driver's seat of her new car.

'I woke up and thought, what's everybody doing here, what's everyone worried about, it's totally fine, I just smacked into something. That was not the case: I'd completely written off my car,' Ms Nash told Fairfax.

The model, who has an extensive portfolio of work with high-end fashion brands, was taken back to an Auckland police station and was charged with drink-driving and breaching her bail conditions. She was sentenced to two weeks in prison.

That was a huge wake-up call, I remember walking into the prison and someone yelled out my name... it was a girl I met when I was first put in the cells for detox a few months ago.

Ms Nash hopes her story will break down the a quiet stigma around alcoholism in Australia and New Zealand

'Thats when I thought wow, Im actually really here now.

Now sober, Ms Nash hopes her story will break down a 'quiet stigma' around alcoholism in New Zealand.

'For me having a secret, makes me feel guilty, so the more open and honest I am, the better chance I have of truly being free, she said.

She will feature alongside other well-known New Zealanders in a series of five minute video clips, produced by a local charity, Community Action Youth and Drugs, to help raise awareness of addiction harm.

'I hope that by sharing my story that I can inspire even one person to judge less, empathise more or treat themselves with more kindness and less shame. I shouldn't have to be ashamed of having alcoholism, it is a fatal disease like any other and it kills with no borders.'
Britain is looking at whether it can 'do more' to help thousands of unaccompanied children fleeing to Europe but Justine Greening today warned the journey was a 'last resort' and millions more people need help in the region.

The International Development Secretary said Britain had been at the forefront of work to help refugees displaced by the fierce fighting in Syria but repeated the Government view it is better to help people still in the region.

David Cameron has come under growing pressure to relocate unaccompanied children in Europe to Britain - particularly those in the Balkans where the winter weather has taken a freezing turn for the worse.

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Thousands of migrants, including many children pictured today on the freezing Macedonia-Serbia border, are still travelling to get into Europe - despite freezing conditions in the Balkans

David Cameron is reportedly considering demands for Britain to take in thousands of unaccompanied children, pictured today near the Serbian village of Miratovic, who are making the journey alone

Hot soup is being provided for migrants who reach a transit centre for refugees near the northern Macedonia village of Tabanovce

Ms Greening told Sky News Britain's approached had 'evolved' and confirmed Britain was reviewing its response to what Save the Children has calculated are 3,000 children in Europe travelling without their parents.

She said: 'So we are playing our role, we are looking at whether we can do more in relation to...unaccompanied children because children have always been from day one at the heart of our response in the region.'

Ms Greening rejected accusations the Government was not doing enough to tackle the wider migration crisis.

She said: 'I thoroughly reject that. No country in Europe has done more to help Syrian refugees. The UK has been there since day one.

'Worldwide we're the second biggest bilateral donor helping refugees on the ground and our focus has very much been on meeting refugees' first choice....The refugees that I talk to want to stay close to home, they want to stay in the region that they are familiar with.'

Ms Greening said coming to Europe was a 'last resort, not a first resort' for many refugees.

Charities, led by Save the Children, have pressed the Government for months to do more for thousands of children, most from Syria and Afghanistan, many of whom have reached Europe.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn raised the pressure for Government action on a visit to 'The Jungle' camp in Calais.

The Observer said today an announcement from ministers was 'imminent'.

Whitehall sources downplayed the report - suggesting any change would mirror work already ongoing to bring refugees directly from refugee camps in the Middle East rather than those already in Europe.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening, pictured today on Sky News, said Britain's approach to the refugee crisis was 'evolving'

Temperatures have plunged in eastern Europe, where thousands of travelling migrants are camped.

So far, Mr Cameron has insisted the Government is right to go to refugee camps and rescue those most in need directly - announcing last year 20,000 highlighted by the United Nations would be brought to Britain by 2020.

He has argued moving people around Europe once they are already safe will only act a draw for more people.

Speaking in Calais yesterday, Mr Corbyn said: 'Along with other EU states, Britain needs to accept its share of refugees from the conflicts on Europe's borders, including the horrific civil war in Syria.

'We have to do more. As a matter of urgency, David Cameron should act to give refuge to unaccompanied refugee children now in Europe  as we did with Jewish Kindertransport children escaping from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s.

'And the government must provide the resources needed for those areas accepting refugees  including in housing and education  rather than dumping them in some of Britain's poorest communities.'

Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham today added: 'David Cameron has been found guilty of a real lack of judgement and leadership during this refugee crisis. He has been pursuing his own individual demands on EU migration while the rest of Europe has been grappling with the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. He has left Britain looking blinkered and selfish.

'Just miles from our own doorstep, there are hundreds of refugee children in makeshift French camps living alone in abhorrent conditions. Britain can, and should, be doing more to give those kids a place of safety and I believe the vast majority of people here would support it.

'As we approach Holocaust Memorial Day, the Government should act in the best traditions of our country's past.

Thousands of people are still trekking across the icy Balkans, pictured today on the Macedonia-Serbia border, in a desperate bid to reach the European Union

Refugees which reach the transit centre at Tabanovce have a brief opportunity to warm up before continuing their frozen journey

The refugees have wrapped up in whatever they could find to try and keep warm as they walk towards the EU border, today near Miratovic, Serbia

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: 'I have repeatedly called for the UK to take in 3,000 unaccompanied refugee orphans and the government must now move from 'looking' at the issue to actually rolling out a plan to offer these youngsters a home.

'Those who have made it to European shores now face cold winters, harsh conditions and are vulnerable to traffickers and those who want to exploit them.

'Every moment longer the Prime Minister takes to decide leaves a child alone, without protection and without a future.

'We must open our hearts to those in need and I will keep pressing at this for as long as it takes. We can and must help.'

Save the Children worker Valentia Bollenback, who is currently in Presevo, said last week: 'Instead of focusing on closing their borders, Europe's government should be doing more to give people fleeing war a dignified and humane reception.'

Asked by Mr Farron about unaccompanied children in the Commons in October, Mr Cameron said: 'We have taken the decision as a country to take 20,000 refugees and we think that it is better to take them from the camps instead of from inside Europe.

'I repeat today that we will achieve 1,000 refugees brought to Britain and housed, clothed and fed before Christmas.

'On his specific question about the 3,000 children and the proposal made by Save the Children, I have looked at the issue very carefully and other NGOs and experts point to the real danger of separating children from their broader families.

'That is why to date we have not taken that decision.'
The golden mask of Tutankhamun (pictured) was damaged after its 'beard' was stuck on with glue

Eight people involved in a botched glue repair of the famed golden burial mask of King Tutankhamun have been referred to trial for 'gross negligence'.

Prosecutors say the 3,300-year old mask, whose beard was accidentally knocked off and hastily glued on with epoxy in 2014, was scratched and damaged as a result.

And although it was corrected last month by a team of German-Egyptian specialists, it's alleged officials dealt 'recklessly' with the artifact.

The patch-up job was fixed when the team removed the epoxy and reattached the beard using beeswax, which is often used as an adhesive for antiquities.

Restoration specialist Christian Eckmann said a year ago that the cause of a scratch discovered on the mask had had not been determined, but that it could have been recent.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where the burial mask is kept, is one of the city's main tourist sites.

However, in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi lay unprotected from the public, while pharaonic burial shrouds mounted on walls crumble behind open glass cases.

Tutankhamun's mask, over 3,300 years old, and other contents of his tomb are the museum's top exhibits.

It was reported a year ago that three of the museum's curators reached by telephone gave differing accounts of when the incident occurred in 2014.

They also could not agree whether the beard was knocked off by accident while the mask's case was being cleaned or if was removed because it was loose.

They did agree, however, that orders came from above to fix it quickly and that an inappropriate adhesive was used.

All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals.

'Unfortunately he used a very irreversible material - epoxy has a very high property for attaching and is used on metal or stone but I think it wasn't suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamun's golden mask,' one curator said.

'The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying, irreversible material,' they added.

German restorer Christian Eckmann begins restoration work on the mask in October 2015 after the beard was broken off and hastily glued back on using epoxy

The curator said that the mask now shows a gap between the face and the beard, whereas before it was directly attached: 'Now you can see a layer of transparent yellow.'

Another museum curator, who was present at the time of the repair, said that epoxy had dried on the face of the boy king's mask and that a colleague used a spatula to remove it, leaving scratches.

The first curator, who inspects the artifact regularly, confirmed the scratches and said it was clear that they had been made by a tool used to scrape off the epoxy.

Egypt's tourist industry, once a pillar of the economy, has yet to recover from three years of tumult following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Museums and the opening of new tombs are part of plans to revive the industry.

But authorities have made no significant improvements to the Egyptian Museum since its construction in 1902, and plans to move the Tutankhamun exhibit to its new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum scheduled to open in 2018 have yet to be divulged.

The burial mask, discovered by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert in 1922, triggered worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt when it was unearthed along with Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb.

The burial mask is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (pictured), which is one of the city's main tourist sites
Cristina Carta Villa is suing her husband Gabriel Villa (pictured) after he secretly divorced her to protect his assets, she claims

A woman is suing her husband of 20 years after he secretly divorced her months after they were married to protect his assets, she says.

Cristina Carta Villa, 59, married Gabriel Villa, 90, in 1994  and they have since raised a son, Lorenzo and shared their time between their homes in New York and France.

But she is now suing him to nullify a divorce she says she was never aware of and to stop him from selling their Manhattan apartment.

According to the New York Post, she has filed a lawsuit to nullify the divorce her husband secretly arranged in the Dominican Republic four months after they wed.

She branded it a fraud and claims she never knew about it or gave her consent for the divorce, which was not registered in New York.

In a suit filed at the Manhattan Supreme Court, Villa says her husband filed to dissolve their marriage in the Caribbean nation, even though neither live there.

She says the divorce is not legal as she does not remember giving permission for it to proceed  and because neither spouse was in court for it.

Gabriel hired lawyers to act on behalf of the pair and cited an incompatibility of temperaments as the reason for the split, the suit alleges.

Meanwhile, the couple had bought a condo on West 55th Street, after she left her job teaching at Boston College to be with her older partner, who Villa describes as a very charismatic and intelligent man.

He was absolutely charming and despite our age difference, it was love at first sight, she told the New York Post. It was and somehow its still a great love.

Their relationship was so strong, that when he became ill, she was always at his side, she said. He had her make his healthcare decisions and gave her power of attorney, she claims.

But she added: I realize now that during all these years of joy and happiness, and of difficult moments we shared together, my husband lied to me and had the Dominican divorce on the back of his mind. Its what is hurting me the most.

Villa says her husband is using the 'illegal and fraudulent' divorce to rob her of her share of their Manhattan apartment on West 55th Street in a building (pictured) where condos sell for $1.4million

She says she only found out about the existence of the divorce in November when a tax bill arrived at her home and her name was not on it.

When she hired a lawyer to get to the bottom of it, she discovered her husband had tried to remove her name from the deed  using the divorce as proof she was not the propertys owner.

She believes her husband wants to sell the apartment, in a building where condos go for around $1.4million, according to the Post, to his daughter Marina.
Golabek's brother said: 'My feeling was like, I can't believe it'

Gorecki Maciej, 32, who lives close by has been arrested on numerous charges including manslaughter and weapons charges

paramedics, who could do nothing to help him

He was declared dead by

Zdzislaw Golabek, 37, was playing the deadly game in an apartment in Brooklyn when the New York blizzard was at its peak

A 32-year-old New York man has been arrested on homicide charges after a 37-year-old man was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head.

Zdzislaw Golabek was with his friend Gorecki Maciej, 32, at around 8pm on Saturday evening when the fatal shot was fired.

Maciej has now been arrested on numerous charges including one of manslaughter. He told police that the pair were playing Russian roulette in the moments before the shooting occurred.

Paramedics were called and arrived on scene, despite two-feet of snow blighting conditions across the city

The incident happened in an apartment on 45th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Golabek lives in the building but not in the apartment where he died.

The suspect, Maciej, lived just a short distance away.

Andrzej Golabek, Zdzislaw's brother, told the New York Post that he heard about the fatal accident through his brother's wife, Bozena.

'My feeling was like, I can't believe it,' said Golabek, 37, who lives in Kensington, Brooklyn. 'I still can't believe it.

'He was really quiet,' he added. 'He never got into trouble.'

Killed: Cops say the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in this Brooklyn apartment building

NYPD gather outside the scene of the death. The weapon that was used has been recovered by cops

Paramedics were called and arrived on scene, despite two-feet of snow blighting conditions across the city. Upon arrival, they found the situation to be futile and there was nothing they could do.

Golabek's friend, Maciej, remained at the scene of the accident and the weapon used was recovered by police.

Maciej has now been arrested and charged with manslaughter according to the NYPD. He has also been brought up on a charge of criminal possession of a weapon.

The game of Russian roulette works by placing a single bullet in a random chamber out of six, before daring to hold the loaded gun to ones temple before pulling on the trigger.
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This is the spectacular moment an older hippo asserted its dominance by battling a younger rival who attempted to take over territory.

The stunning pictures were taken by nature guide Stacey Farrell during a safari in Northern Kwazulu, South Africa.

The elder set upon the new male at iSimangaliso Wetland Park after the latter took over the pod.

After constant probing by the younger bull, the elder hippo decided to retaliate.

They were both pictured thrashing in the water and snarling at each other in a brutal fight over territory

Tour guide, Stacey, 30, said: 'This is usually a very playful and relaxed family with many youngsters.

'A new male has taken over the pod and he is not tolerate of the youngsters and we often find him attacking them with absolutely no reason.

'It is rather common for male hippos to attack offspring, especially males, as they see them as a threat to their family.'

Although it is not an uncommon occurrence for adult hippos to attack youngsters, these attacks can often be so serious that the youngsters are killed.

Stacey has spent the last 14 years working at the heritage site and often spends hours a day with the African mammals.

She said: 'We are very fortunate in St Lucia, where the heritage site is based, that our first three families of hippo have been very tolerant of the boats and allow us to get very close.

'We are able to witness behaviour that wouldn't be normally shown to us by typical hippo families.

'The hippos live in family units know as pods or rafts. They are rather nervous animals, laying very close together.

'Unfortunately they have very short tempers so fights break out very quickly and with big males having tusks reaching close to 60cm in length, fights can often end very badly.'

Stunning pictures taken at iSimangaliso Wetland Park show two hippos fighting tooth-to-tooh in violent battle for dominance

The fight started after a new male took over the pod. As we can see from this picture, he is not tolerate of the other hippos

Both hippos, who weigh around 1.5 tonnes each, got engaged in a brutal fight to assert dominance

The older hippo wants to teach a lesson to the much younger male

It is rather common for males to attack offspring as they see them as a threat to their family

These attacks can often be so serious that the youngsters are killed. Big males have tusks reaching close to 60cm in length

The two heavyweight hippos are locked in a brutal fight, but the older one seems to prevail

Stacey Farrell has spent the last 14 years working at the heritage site and often spends hours a day with the African mammals
Ejector seats in the new 100million British fighter jets reportedly only work safely if the pilots weigh more than 9st 10lbs.

The design flaw in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealths mean anyone lighter than that could break their necks if they need to release themselves.

The U.S. has banned pilots who weigh less than 9st 10lbs after their dummy tests showed that 98 per cent of humans below that weight will be killed during ejections at a low speed, which would only take place during take offs and landings.

Ejector seats in the new 100million British fighter jets reportedly only work safely if the pilots weigh more than 9st 10lbs. (file photo)

The design flaw in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealths mean anyone lighter than 136lbs could break their necks if they need to release themselves

According to the Sunday People, an unnamed US Air Force official has warned that "pilots between 136 and 199lbs are at serious level risk too" but such a claim has been strongly denied.

Defence minister Philip Dunne said: 'A temporary weight restriction has been imposed for UK pilots.

'A range of design solutions is now being developed and these are expected to be in place before this aircraft enters UK service.'

USAF chief of staff General Mark A Welsh said: 'We will not cut corners. The restriction on weight is an interim fix and the expectation is for industry to reach a solution.'

It is understood that no current F35 pilots are affected by the restriction.

The aircraft is the worlds most advanced stealth fighter jet, which will soon fly secret missions blitzing enemy strongholds.

Britain has so far bought eight F-35b Lightning II jets which are set to fly off two UK aircraft carriers, along with American jets, by 2020.

But the testing of the new jets have not gone without problems, on both sides of the Atlantic.

In March last year, RAF pilots were banned from flying the new Lightning II fighter jets in a storm over fears the aircraft could explode if struck by lightning.

The Ministry or Defence said that the stealth F35-B could not be flown within 28 miles of a thunderstorm.

Named Lightning II, it was even at risk of its namesake while on the ground with pilots told to move it under cover if less than 11 miles away from a storm.

Earlier that month, in America, a design flaw left the fighter jet incapable of carrying the military's most highly advanced bombs.

The F-35B's internal weapons bay was too small for a Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) load, according to an Inside Defense report.

Billed as the worlds most sophisticated jet  at the cost of 100million  the state-of-the-art cockpit system enables the pilot to tell friendly jets from foe. His screen also includes real-time information from other F-35s flying for friendly foreign nations.

Between them at any moment they will be covering tens of miles, with a 360-degree picture of what is going on around them both in the air and on the ground.

The Lockheed Martin jet has the ability to evade enemy air defences by having the lowest possible radar signature.

The Joint Strike Fighter stealth jet uses radar-absorbent coatings, as well as flat surfaces, sharp edges and fibre mats to deflect radar signals, allowing it to strike the enemy before they even know the aircraft is nearby.

Experts say this technology can make it invisible to the high-frequency radars used in modern air-defence systems. It is expected to be the backbone of Allied air power for the next 50 years.

Lockheed Martins Steve Over sees the F-35 fighter jet fighting wars in the Middle East and against Russia in the next decade. Speaking at a demonstration of the capabilities of the jet in London, he said the aircraft would make the UK a formidable power in the battlefield against Vladimir Putin and Islamic State.
Almost all state and territory leaders have joined forces to call for an Australian head of state in a declaration hatched by the Australian Republican Movement.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is a founding member of the ARM, said his 'commitment to Australia having Australian as head of state is undiminished,' but believes it should not happen until the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, according to The Herald Sun.

Australian Republican Movement chair Peter FitzSimons said it was a clear declaration of desired independence by almost all the country's state and territory leaders.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is a founding member of the ARM, said his 'commitment to Australia having Australian as head of state is undiminished.' He is pictured here meeting the Queen for the first time in November

Mr Turnbull (pictured with his wife Lucy) believes the move should not happen until the end of the Queen's reign

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have both supported the move to a republic.

'It's time to stand on our own two feet  on paper and in practice. We're ready,' Mr Andrews said.

A change.org petition calling for Australia to become a republic has attracted 3500 signatures since Friday.

'Never before have the stars of the Southern Cross been so aligned in pointing to the dawn of a new republican age for Australia,' Mr FitzSimons said in a statement.

Only Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett refused to sign the declaration.

Mr Turnbull came face-to-face with the Queen for the first time since he was elected head of state in November of last year.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (left) and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (right) have both supported the move to a republic

In 1999 Mr Turnbull was the driving force behind Australia's republic referendum which was comfortably defeated with a 54.8 per cent majority

In 1999 Mr Turnbull was the driving force behind Australia's republic referendum which was comfortably defeated with a 54.8 per cent majority electing to remain a monarchy.

When the referendum failed, Mr Turnbull accused the then-Prime Minister and staunch monarchist John Howard of 'breaking the nation's hearts.'

However in September upon becoming prime minister, he swore becoming a republic is not on the cabinet's agenda.

Mr Turnbull insisted there were far more important political issues the government will focus on under his leadership.

Australian Republican Movement chair Peter FitzSimons said it was a clear declaration of desired independence by almost all the country's state and territory leaders

In September upon becoming prime minister, Mr Turnbull swore becoming a republic is not on the cabinet's agenda.

'The republic issues cannot belong to a politician, it's got to be a genuine popular movement,' Turnbull said according to The Australian Financial Review.

'My own view for what it it worth...is that the next occasion for the republic referendum to come up is going to be after the end of the Queens reign.

'While I am a republican there are much more immediate issues [such as the economy],' he said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk believes it's time for Australia to be led by one of its own while her South Australian counterpart Jay Weatherill thinks becoming a sovereign nation would profoundly change Australian mindsets.
as she tried to backflip on Tuesday

People are flinging themselves off of a popular Victoria cliff-diving spot with the hope of capturing a stunning photograph to post on social media.

But officials have warned the practice is potentially deadly and young people are ignoring the risks for the sake of a picture.

The Pillars near St Martha, about an hour south of Melbourne, has become an attraction during summer but is more dangerous than people think, Life Saving Club officials told The Leader.

A young woman was knocked unconscious on Tuesday as she attempted to backflip into the water around 7:30pm.

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People are flocking to the Pillars (pictured) near St Martha to cliff-dive during the hot summer months

People are jumping into the waters with the hope of getting a photo for social media

Officials are warning that diving from the rocky cliffs (pictured) is more hazardous than people realise

Young adults and even children (pictured) have been seen hauling themselves off the cliffs

The Pillars 9pictured) is located about an hour south of Melbourne, Victoria

Ally Xu received treatment at the hospital and later posted on Facebook urging people to be careful when jumping in the area.

'The people visiting have no knowledge about the area and don't understand the risks,' said Mt Martha Life Saving Club president John Harvey.

In the past week there have been three accidents at the Pillars, including two jet-skis than ran into each other.

A young woman (not pictured) was knocked unconscious on Tuesday as she attempted to backflip into the water around 7:30pm

Ally Xu received treatment at the hospital and later posted on Facebook urging people to be careful

'The people visiting have no knowledge about the area and don't understand the risks,' said Mt Martha Life Saving Club president John Harvey

In the past week, there have been three accidents in the area, including two jetskis that ran into each other

'Two jet skis collided there on [January 17], probably because they were watching the kids jumping instead of looking where they were going,' he said.

Another woman hit her knee or ankle on the bottom.

Despite the safety concerns, young adults and even children have been pictured on social media hauling themselves into the water.

Blocking access to the area would be too difficult, Mr Harvey said.

'People would find a way, even if it meant swimming in from a boat.'

Another woman (not pictured) hit her knee or ankle on the bottom rocks when jumping into the water

Despite the safety concerns, young adults and even children have been pictured on social media hauling themselves into the water
A Turkish Airlines flight has been diverted to Shannon airport in Ireland where it made an emergency landing after officials discovered a handwritten bomb threat.

The Istanbul-bound Boeing 777, which was carrying 209 passengers, landed safely at Shannon at around 11am.

The diversion came after a handwritten note containing a 'bomb threat' was found on board and all passengers were allegedly told to search their own bags.

The Boeing 777 landed safely at Shannon airport in Ireland at around 11am

Erez Lieberman Aiden said the passengers were woken up in the middle of the night by crew and asked to search their own bags

An image of the Turkish Airlines plane from Shannon airport

All the passengers, including two infants, disembarked safely and were moved to a secure part of the airport while officials swept the plane.

A spokesman for Turkish Airlines said the Boeing 777 was found to have no explosive devices on board and would take off to Istanbul on Sunday evening.

A passenger who was on the plane named Erez Lieberman Aiden said they were woken up in the middle of the night by crew and asked to search their own bags.

Then, the crew had the passengers get in the aisles and started stripping the cushions off the chairs.

'The crew were clearly well meaning. I am grateful to them for remaining composed,' he tweeted. 'At the same time, they obviously were not prepared for this scenario. Asking passengers to search their own bags is not a good plan.'

The man said that the only official word they received, until several hours post-landing, was that there was a 'security event'.

After the search, he noticed that the plane had changed course from Istanbul.

'So I paid $15 for internet and started googling for info,' Aiden, who is assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine & Rice University in Houston, tweeted.

'I realized that Turkish Airlines has had several recent bomb threats. Eventually, I started to get information from google indicating a bomb threat on our flight.'

'The Shannon staff rumor is that there was a napkin with "bomb" and maybe other writing found in the rear restroom,' he said.

The emergency services assembled at the airport ahead of the landing.

The plane had departed from Houston, Texas at 9.07pm local time Saturday (3.07am GMT Sunday).

It was was due in Istanbul, Turkey at around 4.45pm GMT.

A spokeswoman for Shannon airport said Garda were investigating the 'security issue'.

'The aircraft landed safely at 11.02am and all passengers have now disembarked from the aircraft,' she said.
The Tomb of the Unknowns was still being guarded during the dangerous winter storm that swept across much of the East Coast.

3d U.S. Infantry Regiment Tomb Sentinels kept watch over the historic site in Arlington National Cemetery, located in Arlington, Virginia.

An image showing a Sentinel out in the snow was posted online captioned: 'Our first shot from the Tomb during Jonas! #thestormawakens #stormjonas #blizzard2016 #snowdayomb.'

The Tomb of the Unknowns remained guarded during the blizzard that swept across much of the East Coast. This photo was captioned on Twitter 'Our first shot from the Tomb during Jonas! #thestormawakens #stormjonas #blizzard2016 #snowdayomb'

The Tomb of the Unknown Solider, located in Arlington National Cemetery, is seen covered in snow

On Saturday, it posted a photo showing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier covered in snow.

'As night falls on Washington's record breaking snowfall the Sentinels maintain their vigil. #Blizzard2016,' the accompanying tweet said.

Old Guard spokesman Maj. Russell Fox told ABC News in a report published Friday: 'The Sentinels are an amazing group of soldiers.

'Their dedication to duty is unparalleled.

'As the rest of Washington, D.C., slept last night the Sentinels continued to maintain a vigil guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.'

Fox told the news outlet sentinels had been standing near the plaza in a enclosure called 'the box.'

For two hours at a time, they're able to be in there, ABC News reported.

Committed: Old Guard spokesman Maj. Russell Fox has said sentinels had been standing in a enclosure called 'the box' near the plaza to remain on guard

Working hard: Fox told ABC News ''The Sentinels are an amazing group of soldiers. Their dedication to duty is unparalleled'

The 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) official Facebook page says: 'It's the oldest active-duty infantry regiment in the Army.'

The page explains: 'The unit received its unique name from Gen. Winfield Scott during a victory parade at Mexico City in 1847 following its valorous performance in the Mexican War.

'Fifty campaign streamers attest to the 3rd Infantry's long history of service, which spans from the Battle of Fallen Timbers to World War II and Vietnam.'

'The Tomb sarcophagus was placed above the grave of the Unknown Soldier of World War I,' Arlington National Cemetery says on its website.

According to the cemetery, unknown WWII and Korean War soldiers have been buried at the plaza.
The Duchess of Sussex has spoken to Variety about a wide-range of issues including 'misconceptions' about her since she married her royal husband in 2018 - especially after the Oprah interview - and claiming their 'love story' had inspired the world because 'people love love'. Meghan took part in a glamorous photo and video shoot for the magazine where she wore a 4,657 Jason Wu dress and spoke about her recent trip to the UK with Harry where their pseudo-royal tour was interrupted by Her Majesty's death aged 96 on September 8. But in a hint that her death had been troublesome for Harry, who reportedly found out about the passing of his grandmother the just five minutes before the rest of the world, she said of the days and weeks afterwards: ' It's been a complicated time, but my husband, ever the optimist, said: "Now she's reunited with her husband".' Harry had looked heartbroken as he arrived at Balmoral after learning the Queen had died on a private jet travelling alone without his wife. He stayed for 12 hours, apparently refused to have dinner with King Charles and Prince William and also took a backseat at the funeral where he was not allowed to salute irrespective of his military service. But despite claims that she and Harry have set out to damage the Royal Family since emigrating in 2020, Meghan told Variety that she remains 'proud' of her relationship with Queen and had a 'nice warmth' with her, calling Her Majesty a 'matriarch'. She said: 'There's been such an outpouring of love and support. I'm really grateful that I was able to be with my husband to support him, especially during that time. What's so beautiful is to look at the legacy that his grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts. Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like. I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her'.
Pakistan's security forces today paraded four men accused of facilitating a deadly attack at a university in the country's northwest region, which claimed 21 lives.

Appearing in handcuffs, the suspects are charged with helping the men who attacked Bacha Khan university in Charsadda on January 20 by providing them with shelter, transport and weapons.

Yesterday, the Pakistan army announced that five suspects have so far been arrested following the attack by Islamic militants, which triggered a gun battle that lasted for hours.

Military spokesman Lt Gen Asim Salim Bajwa said another three suspects are still at large - a man and his wife and niece.

Accused: These four men are accused of helping the Islamic militants who attacked Bacha Khan university

The women are accused of buying weapons for the attackers from a weapons market in the tribal region of Dara Adam Khel, he said.

'The two women took advantage of the culture and used their veils to bring out the purchased weapons from the tribal region.'

He said the four attackers, all killed in clashes with security forces in the university, crossed through the Torkham border point from Afghanistan and that the attack appeared to be coordinated from inside Afghanistan.

Once inside Pakistan, the attackers received 10 phone calls from individuals in Afghanistan.

Bajwa also clarified that his government was not blaming the Afghan government.

A splinter faction of the Taliban, led by a man calling himself Khalifa Umar Mansoor, has claimed responsibility and has threatened similar attacks.

However the main Taliban organization denied any involvement.

Among those killed in Wednesday's deadly campus attack was 32-year-old assistant chemistry professor Syed Hamid Husain, who died saving his students by firing back at Taliban militants.

The assault echoed a horrifying Taliban massacre on a nearby army-run school and previous attacks against girls' education, notably the failed assassination attempt of Malala Yusufzai in 2012 in the same province.

It is also believed the school may have been targeted because it is named after Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a towering secular figure in Pakistani politics and ally of Mahatma Gandhi.

Father-of-two Husain opened fire, giving his students time to flee before he was cut down by gunfire as male and female students ran for their lives.

He was known to his pupils as 'The Protector' because he was a keen hunter and kept a 9mm pistol at school, possibly in light of previous militant attacks.

In the wake of the Bacha Klan attack, a debate has arisen over whether teachers should be armed in Pakistan

In the aftermath of the attack, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said: 'We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland.'

Teachers in northwest Pakistan were given permission to carry firearms in the classroom after Taliban militants massacred more than 150 people, the majority of them children, at a school in the city of Peshawar in 2014.

The attack on an army-run school in the city, some 30 miles from Charsadda, was the deadliest in Pakistani history, and saw armed militants go from room to room slaughtering students and staff.

Teachers' associations had objected to arming staff, saying it was not their job to fight off militants.

Pakistan's Jinnah Institute said in a report released Tuesday that the National Action Plan (NAP) helped curb extremist violence last year, although targeted attacks against religious minorities spiked in the Muslim nation of some 200 million people.

School safety: Pakistani headmaster Naveed Gul checks his gun at a primary school in Peshawar

The debate over arming teachers has now surged in Pakistan once more.

Provincial spokesman Shaukat Yousafzai said that with 68,000 schools and just 55,000 policemen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government cannot provide security, so it gave in to the teachers' demand they be allowed to carry weapons.

'There is no harm in using them in case of an attack,' Yousafzai said.

But Peshawar-based analyst and retired brigadier Saad Khan said arming teachers is 'stupid'.

'These are young men,' he said. 'If a fight breaks out, you know, the rush of blood, and if somebody has a gun.'

Instead of killing attackers on the spot, Khan called for rooting out the long-term causes of militancy, echoing critics of a national crackdown on extremism who say it has failed to go far enough.

'Let them become men of books,' he said.
The Shoreham air disaster pilot has been spotted driving a Porsche just five months after his aircraft crashed and killed 11 people.

Andy Hill, who miraculously survived the incident in West Sussex, was seen behind the wheel of a blue 40,000 Porsche Boxster on the same day it was announced that this year's show was cancelled.

The 51-year-old pilot, who was pictured driving on rural roads in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, is said to be in lockdown since the crash on August 22, 2015, and reportedly never speaks about what happened in fear of getting into trouble.

On the day that it was announced the Shoreham Airshow will be scrapped this year air disaster pilot, Andy Hill, is seen behind the wheel of his Porsche in Hertfordshire

He is said to be in lockdown since the crash on August 22, 2015, and never speaks about what happened in fear of getting into trouble

The 51-year-old was flying a vintage jet when it crashed at the Shoreham Airshow in August last year

The pilot survived the high speed crash and spent several weeks in an induced coma. Police interviewed Mr Hill before Christmas about his recollection of the crash.

Meanwhile, it emerged today that the families of the victims could face a two-year wait for answers.

Jim Morris, of lawyers Irwin Mitchell, who represent survivors of the crash, told the Sunday Mirror: 'There have been two AAIB special bulletins and they are updating families when they can.

'But families of victims want answers and they look forward to the final report.'

The decision to cancel the annual display was taken out of respect for those affected by the crash, but also in view of the probe into the incident, the organisers said.

The aircraft was was being flown by the former RAF pilot when it crashed in a fireball on the A27 in Sussex, smashing into several cars.

The aircraft's owners Canfield Hunter Ltd have already settled one claim for compensation.

Mr Mitchell is representing some of the 15 people who were injured and earlier this month he said the total compensation figure is likely to run into millions of pounds.

Investigators have also examined two cockpit cameras which recorded events leading up to the tragedy.

The pilot survived the high speed crash and spent several weeks in an induced coma. Police interviewed Mr Hill before Christmas about his recollection of the crash

Andy Hill, who miraculously survived the incident in West Sussex, was seen behind the wheel of a blue 40,000 Porsche Boxster on the same day it was announced that this year's show was cancelled

The Shoreham air disaster pilot, Andy Hill, has been spotted driving a Porsche just five months after his aircraft crashed and killed 11 people

Andy Hill is seen behind the wheel of the 40,000 Porsche Boxster last week

Shoreham Airshow Ltd said it remained 'fully committed' to the investigation and there had been 'careful consultation and consideration' given to whether any display should go ahead this year.

The organisers said: 'The decision has been taken primarily out of respect for all those affected by last August's tragedy and also in view of the ongoing Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigation - and any review of their regulations that the Civil Aviation Authority may subsequently undertake.

'We understand that this decision may be disappointing for many who have been part of the extended Shoreham Airshow family over the years.

'We would like to thank everyone who has supported the air show for the last 26 years, particularly local volunteers and the surrounding community.'

Shoreham Airshow Ltd said it remained 'fully committed' to the investigation and there had been 'careful consultation and consideration' given to whether any display should go ahead this year

Victims injured in the incident are likely to receive compensation payments of up to seven figures

The Hawker Hunter jet, pictured here moments before the crash, was manufactured in 1955 to train RAF pilots

The company said it would consider if an event should take place in 2017 'when and if it is appropriate to do so'.

It continued: 'In the meantime, we continue to be fully committed to assisting the Air Accidents Investigation Branch with their ongoing investigation.

'The thoughts and deepest condolences of everyone at Shoreham Airshow Ltd remain with all of the victims of the tragedy.'

The disaster was the deadliest at a British airshow since the 1952 Farnborough crash when a de Havilland DH.110 hit spectators, killing 31.

New rules covering vintage aircraft were brought in by the Civil Aviation Authority following the Shoreham air crash in August but these only relate to air display

Mr Hill was voluntarily interviewed under caution by officers from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team in connection with last year's accident, but not arrested.
Asylum seekers in Cardiff are being forced to wear brightly coloured wristbands, including Zekaryas Eyob of Eritrea (pictured)

Asylum seekers who are being handed free food and housing claim they are being 'stigmatised' by brightly coloured wristbands they need to wear to collect meals.

Refugees in Cardiff claim they are being forced to wear the bands that identify them as refugees or else they are refused food, making them 'an easy target for abuse and harassment'.

Those behind the scheme say it is the only way to ensure asylum seekers receive food or a weekly allowance in the form of supermarket vouchers.

But the move has sparked outrage amongst the migrant community, many of whom are being put up in Lynx House - a B&B now so overrun by refugees the entire road has now been dubbed 'Asylum Street'.

Those given accommodation by Clearsprings Ready Homes, sub-contracted by the Government, are told to wear the silver, red and blue wristbands at all times.

They say they are unable to get jobs yet because of their refugee status, but if they opt not to wear the bands, they will not be fed.

Eric Ngalle, 36, told The Guardian he had spent a month there after arriving in Britain, where he was told he must wear the band at all times.

He said: 'I hated wearing the wristbands and sometimes refused to wear them and was turned away from food.

'If we refused we were told we would be reported to the Home Office.

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The asylum seekers in Cardiff (pictured) are being denied food and water unless they are wearing the wristbands, and they claim it could lead to them being targeted

Kurdish asylum seeker Himan Selam Khalid who has been in Britain for 4 months. He is among the migrants forced to wear a wristband

Those given accommodation by Clearsprings Ready Homes, sub-contracted by the Government to put up asylum seekers in the likes of Lynx House (pictured), are told to wear the wristbands at all times

'Sometimes drivers would see our wristbands, start honking their horns and shout out of the window, "Go back to your country." Some people made terrible remarks to us.

'Labelling them on a daily basis serves as a reminder that they are still wearing the garments of an outcast.'

As asylum seekers it is illegal for any of the men and women to work. They also receive no Government hand-outs.

The wristband is the only way they are guaranteed food. Its wearing grants each person three meals a day.

Refugees are provided with initial accommodation on their arrival in the country by the Home Office, most often hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Another man - Maher, 41 - said: 'We feel we are not equal with this community. All the time I tried to hide the band so people could not see it.'

Coming just days after it was revealed desperate refugee families in Middlesbrough were being housed in homes with red doors, the Home Office is now under fresh fire as those seeking asylum in the Welsh capital say the bands make them an easy target for abuse and harassment

The move has sparked outrage amongst the migrant community, many of whom are being put up in Lynx House (pictured) - a B&B now so overrun by refugees the entire road has now been dubbed 'Asylum Street'

The news comes fresh from the Middlesbrough red door scandal - in which it was revealed refugee families are being identified by the colour of their front door.

Security company G4S were blasted last week after it emerged many asylum seekers in accommodation provided by subcontractor Jomast believed they were being targeted by local racists because of their homes' red doors.

Those living behind them said they had been targeted as a result, with one woman claiming that yobs shouted: 'F*** you dirty women. Get out of our country.'

Another said a National Front logo was carved in their red front door.

Lynx House has been putting up largely single young men from Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia in recent months.

Security company G4S were blasted last week after it emerged asylum seekers were having their doors marked in red paint so employees of subcontractors Jomast knew which were occupied by refugees

Those living behind them said they had been targeted as a result, with one woman claiming that yobs shouted: 'F*** you dirty women. Get out of our country'

The B&B made up out of the six houses was taken over by Clearsprings on behalf of the Home Office to house migrants while their asylum applications are being processed.

These wristbands mark asylum seekers out and further stigmatises them in an already very hostile environment Chloe Marong, coordinator of the Trinity Centre

But neighbours quickly came to refer to it as 'Asylum Street' or 'Immigration Alley' - even posting spoof reviews on Tripadvisor.

Chloe Marong, coordinator of the Trinity Centre in Cardiff, which supports asylum seekers and refugees, expressed concern about the wristbands.

She said: 'These wristbands mark asylum seekers out and further stigmatises them in an already very hostile environment.'

An operations director for Clearsprings said: 'Those clients in the self-catering units receive a weekly allowance in the form of supermarket vouchers and those in full-board accommodation are issued with a coloured wristband that bears no other logo or text identifying its use or origin.

'Full-board clients are required to show their wristbands in order to receive meals in the restaurant.'
Embattled MP Simon Danczuk today said he would refund money to the expenses watchdog if they demanded it

Simon Danczuk has admitted he may have to repay expense claims he has made for his older children.

The embattled MP, who was suspended from Labour over allegations he had been sexting with a teenager, said he had not read the rules in detail.

The Sunday Mirror said the Rochdale MP may have broken rules by claiming allowances intended to cover the cost of children staying with politicians while they are in their London homes.

Mr Danczuk said he had verbally checked with the expenses watchdog IPSA but said he would pay back any money if it the organisation demanded it.

IPSA said any allegations made would be investigated.

The Mirror said in 2014-15, Mr Danczuk claimed 28,466.58 which included allowances for four children - including two he had with his first wife and who the paper said he rarely sees.

He told the paper: 'If they insist I will pay it back. But I stayed within the rules.'

He added: 'I spoke to IPSA about this and they said it was my decision. I explained that I pay maintenance for four dependants.

'They never said children have to reside with me.

'I have never read the rules. I took guidance from them and that's what they told me.'

Parliamentary rules allow MPs a basic annual allowance of 20,600 for accommodation in London.

They can get an extra 2,425 per year for each dependant that stays with them.

IPSA's records show that in 2014-15 he claimed 28,466.58 and declared four dependants. In 2013-14 it was 27,587.46, and in 2012-13 it was 29,261.62.

A spokesman for IPSA compliance officer Peter Davies said: 'He will consider any complaints and decide whether to launch an investigation.'

The MP said a 'drink problem' led him to send sexts to Sophena Houlihan when she was 17 and that he felt 'awful' about the lewd messages.

Miss Houlihan, who is now 18, said Mr Danczuk sent her numerous messages, including one asking if she wanted a 'spanking' after she contacted him about a job.

He has been suspended from the Labour Party while an investigation takes place into his conduct, for which he has apologised 'unreservedly'.

Earlier this month, Lancashire Police confirmed they were also looking into a rape allegation against Mr Danczuk dating from 2006.

Mr Danczuk attended Rossendale Police Station to be interviewed on January 12. He denies the allegations against him.

The MP has rarely been out of the headlines since splitting with his second wife, Karen last year.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday this month, Mr Danczuk's first wife Sonia Rossington, 39, claimed the MP  who she divorced in 2010  had driven her into therapy with drug and alcohol-fuelled bullying and his obsessive demands for sex.

She said that he tried to get her interested in sado-masochism; drank up to a bottle of whisky a day; was a regular drug user and persistently belittled her in front of others.

On the subject of sex, Mrs Rossington, the mother of two of Danczuks children, said: When he came to bed he would have sex with me, interrupting my sleep.

According to Mrs Rossington, when she confronted her husband he told her: Listen Sonia. This is the deal. You are my wife and its expected from a wife to give her husband sex whenever he wants it. If you dont give it to me when I want it I will look elsewhere.

Mrs Rossington added: I didnt feel I could fight back. He was an 18st man and I weighed around 8st.

Earlier this month, Mr Danczuk's Selfie Queen second wife Karen told ITV's Loose Women that she would 'take complete control' over her ex-husband's life.
It was one of the most brutal blizzards to batter the East Coast in a century.

But it wasn't enough to deter these besotted couples who traipsed through the snow to say their vows.

Ashley Burlage had to take the subway to her wedding to fiance Casey in New York City, battling 60mph winds and fierce snowfall in Ugg boots.

In Philadelphia, Christen Donovan waded through the streets to make it to the church to marry Jeffrey Regan in front of 200 hardy guests on Saturday.

In Washington, D.C., Jenna Karstens and Nate McMaster were determined to defy the crippling weather conditions after coming all the way from sunny Seattle to marry close to family.

In sickness, health, and blizzard snow! Jenna Karstens and Nate McMaster were determined to defy the crippling weather conditions after coming all the way from Seattle to marry close to family in Washington, D.C.

Jenna was wearing peep-toe shoes as she posed for portraits but the smitten pair seemed not to care

Another couple in Washington, D.C. - Felicia Sam and David Nartey - even braced the blizzard to capture engagement photos after David popped the question.

And so, while millions of Americans were holed up in their living rooms, Christen and Jeffrey, Ashley and Casey, Jenna and Nate, and Felicia and David had more important things on their minds than a traffic ban or where to buy a sled.

'It was just a lot of fun, our pictures are going to be next level,' newly-married Ashley Burlage told Fox News outside her wedding in New York on Saturday.

Incredibly more than 100 of their 200 invited guests made it through the treacherous conditions to see Ashley and now-husband Casey, of Huntington, Long Island, tie the knot.

Afterwards, they had to cancel their limousine due to the city-wide travel ban which was enforced at 2.30pm.

Instead, they took the subway home.

Ashley Burlage had to take the subway to her wedding to fiance Casey in New York City, battling 60mph winds and fierce snowfall in Ugg boots

Incredibly more than 100 of their 200 invited guests made it through the treacherous conditions to see Ashley and now-husband Casey, of Huntington, Long Island, tie the knot

Finally inside the New York City church, Ashley and Casey could exchange vows in the warmth

The couple from Huntington, Long Island, celebrated their wedding with 100 guests - some from far away

Triumphant! 'It was just a lot of fun, our pictures are going to be next level,' newly-married Ashley said

The couple had to cancel their limousine and get the subway instead because of the travel ban

Ashley laughed: 'We partied with a lot of strangers chanting 'subway wedding'!'

Casey added: 'I can't say thank you enough to our family and friends who made it because it made our day.'

Over in Philadelphia, Christen Donovan beamed as she bumped into Eyewitness News outside the church.

'I'm very excited,' she said, with her bridesmaids holding up her dress out of the snow.

Donovan's aunt Fran Tomlinson told Philly.com: 'We did a lot of walking and thank God for Uber for the people that needed some assistance. A lot of advance planning.'

Felicia Sam and David Nartey giggled as they threw snow at each other to celebrate their engagement

Felicia, 27, and David, 31, got engaged in October but always wanted to mark it with a snow photoshoot

They drove from Washington, D.C., to Fort Meade, Maryland, despite the intense weather conditions

She added: 'Thank God it wasn't raining.'

Seattle-based newlyweds Jenna and Nate McMaster tied the knot in the eye of the storm: Washington, D.C.

It was one of the worst storms the capital has seen in 94 years, dumping 17.8 inches of snow on the city.

As a result, most of the McMasters' wedding party had no way of getting to the LDS Temple in Kensington, Maryland - including some of the bridal party.

But judging by the couple's smitten wedding photos, that didn't seem to be too much of an issue.

And Jenna was even wearing peep-toe shoes as she posed for portraits in the ice-cold snow outside.

In Philadelphia, Christen Donovan waded through the streets to make it to the church to marry Jeffrey Regan in front of 200 hardy guests on Saturday

'I'm very excited,' Christen said, with her bridesmaids holding up her dress out of the snow

'I think they're just so happy that they're married that they're taking things in stride,' wedding photographer Camille Arneberg, of Camille Catherine Photography, told the Washingtonian.

'It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I'm glad they'll have keepsakes from this crazy weekend.'

Nearby, Felicia Sam and David Nartey giggled as they threw snow at each other to celebrate their engagement by posing for photographer Dotun Ayodeji.

'We were like kids playing in the snow,' Felicia told ABC News. 'We threw snow balls at each other. We actually had a lot of fun.'

She added that she's excited to hear the reaction to Ayodeji's photos from her family in Ghana.
A new episode of Saturday Night Live aired over the weekend, as New York City faced a huge snowstorm.

SNL's Michael Che cracked a joke during the show's Weekend Update segment that his boss, executive producer Lorne Michaels, had ignored New York City travel warnings.

The comedian said: 'As a result of the massive blizzard that has hit the East Coast, officials have banned cars from the road, shut down half the subway lines and advised everyone to remain at home.

'The one guy ignoring these warnings - my boss. Yay.'

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SNL's Michael Che cracked a joke during the Weekend Update segment that his boss, executive producer Lorne Michaels, ignored warnings about travel in New York City -- including a travel ban for cars

All smiles: Che said 'The one guy ignoring these warnings - my boss' during the comedy bit

UFC fighter Ronda Rousey hosted the comedy sketch show on Saturday evening

On screen, an image of Michaels popped up next to Che during the comedy bit.

UFC fighter Ronda Rousey hosted the comedy sketch show, and Selena Gomez performed songs.

During her opening monologue, Rousey also joked about the weather.

She said: 'So what's up with this winter storm, huh? I haven't seen this many flakes since I joined Tinder.'

The show earlier announced online that a new episode would be airing.

It tweeted a photo Saturday showing the NBC Studios entrance sign outside 30 Rockefeller Center, where the show is filmed, covered in snow.

'What blizzard? See you tonight. #SNL,' it tweeted.

Saturday Night Live tweeted a photo Saturday showing the NBC Studios entrance sign outside 30 Rockefeller Center, where the show is filmed, covered in snow

In a video on SNL's Twitter, actress Leslie Jones said: 'You think a storm named Jonas is going to stop a girl named Leslie? No! You hear that Jonas? That's all you got?!'

It also posted a video showing SNL actress Leslie Jones bundled up out in the snow, with loud winds heard in the background.

Jones said in the clip: 'Hi, I'm Leslie Jones! From SNL!

'Hey! We still goin' live at 11:30, man!

'You think a storm named Jonas is going to stop a girl named Leslie? No!

'You hear that Jonas?! That's all you got?!'

On social media, SNL actors Aidy Bryant and Pete Davidson had also shared videos of themselves wrapped up and out in the snow.

Bryant was seen in her video covered in snow, with her hair blowing in the wind.

'Just trying to get to work right now. Very chill environment,' Bryant joked in the clip.
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An ancient castle which is more than one thousand years and has survived the War of the Roses and multiple sieges is in danger of crumbling into a river.

Cockermouth Castle, originally built as a motte and bailey castle by the Normans with stone sourced from a Roman site, is balanced precariously on a hill beside the junction of the Rivers Cocker and Derwent in Cumbria.

But due to the floods which ravaged the town of Cockermouth over the festive period the castle's foundations have been damaged and there are fears the medieval structure may collapse.

The raging water triggered a landslide washing away all the vegetation under the grade one listed building which dates back to 1134.

Cockermouth Castle, built by the Normans with stone sourced from a Roman site, is balanced precariously on a hill beside the junction of the Rivers Cocker and Derwent in Cumbria. It has been left in a particularly precarious position after flooding washed away its foundations

The ancient castle is more than one thousand years and has survived the War of the Roses - but is in danger of crumbling into the river

Architect Darren Ward, of the Cockermouth Civic Trust, said: 'The castle is the reason why Cockermouth exists. The town grew up around the castle.

'The Normans, when they invaded, decided to have a seat of power. They built a castle on the highest hill, the most convenient place, and then trade built up around it, and Cockermouth resulted as a consequence.

'If the castle does collapse into the river then it will change the course of the river, and if it changes the course of the river then it could create a greater risk to the rest of the town.

'Cockermouth has suffered flooding throughout its history and the castle has never suffered so much damage until the last one. So to lose it on our watch would be bad form.'

Due to the floods which ravaged the town of Cockermouth over the festive period the castle's foundations have been badly damaged

The raging water triggered a landslide washing away all the vegetation under the Grade I listed building, which dates back to 1134

In December businesses and homes in Cockermouth were deluged by flood water after Storm Desmond hit the town. The defences along the river Derwent were overwhelmed and Cockermouth was flooded.

The castle played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses, and in the Civil War, when it was badly damaged.

It is owned by Leconfield Estate, which is in the process of trying to prevent the ancient castle from toppling into the river.

In a statement, the estate said: 'The castle embankment was damaged by the storm and heavy flooding last month.

'Remedial work has been undertaken to stabilise the bank involving the installation of rock armour. Further consideration is now been given as to what additional remedial work is required.'

Earlier this month the Queen's neighbour at Balmoral had to leave his historic 450-year-old castle as it was threatened by rising flood waters.

John Seton Howard Gordon, whose 11,687-acre Abergeldie estate is enclosed by Balmoral on three sides, had to flee the castle as it was 'teetering on the brink'.

It sits alongside the River Dee which was turned into a raging torrent after Storm Frank battered Scotland. As the river burst its banks, it left the castle just feet away from the water's edge.
A top selling author is locked in a planning row with a multi-millionaire businessman over a car park at a picturesque beauty spot on England's Riviera.

Lesley Pearse, who has sold more than 10 million books worldwide, is objecting to an application by a company run by the wife of Peter de Savary to build a new car park at The Cary Arms Hotel, in Babbacombe, Devon.

Havana West Ltd, the project arm of the tycoon's business empire, is currently building what has been dubbed the most expensive 'beach huts' in Britain as part of a 2million development, which will also see a luxury spa and plunge pool created at the boutique hotel.

Lesley Pearse pictured at her home in Devon looking over the site proposed to become a car park

A company run by the wife of Peter de Savary wants to build the car park as part of a 2million 'beach hut' development at the Cary Arms Hotel in Babbacombe, Devon

The plans include turning a piece of waste ground below the author's home into a dedicated parking area for hotel guests.

Ms Pearse, 70, whose best-selling books include The Promise and Belle, lives above the former Glen Hotel and has written to Torbay Council objecting to the planning application - citing concerns about traffic and safety on a steep road.

'What we are hoping is if we can stop this car park he'll have to revert back and put his cars in the spot where he is planning to build his town houses,' she said.

'Everything hinges on this car park. I said we should have a battle cry song of 'They take paradise and put up a parking lot ...'

The firm building the development in Devon is part of multi-millionaire Peter de Savary's empire, pictured

The hotel, pictured, will offer luxury cottages complete with a pool, TV lounge and a spa

'The road was built for horse and cart. You can't reverse up it, it's a nightmare. Beach Road probably has the steepest roads in Devon and there are only a couple of passing places and bringing all this extra traffic in, it's ludicrous.

'We could have a rock fall along that road and someone could be killed.

'In the summer it is going to be hell with people coming down this road thinking it leads to the beach, getting stuck at the bottom of my house.'

Ms Pearse added: 'I am still not against anything being on this car park really.

'At the moment I have got 101 dumper trucks and everything in front of my house and it's absolutely hideous. I don't really mind about that because they are going in May.

'Where it concerns me is that I went ahead and bought this house with heart overruling head. I was probably crazy buying it at my age and I fully accept responsibility for things that have come up since then.

Ms Pearse said traffic going to the car park would be at risk on this narrow road which would provide access

'The Cary Arms Hotel is basically now a place for yuppies from London with their big Range Rovers. It is 350 a night to stay in the hotel and it really rules out ordinary people.

'People are passionate about the area and they hate the fact it is gradually being altered. Soon it won't be accessible to anyone.'

But not everyone agrees with the author, with local traders writing to Torbay Council in support.

Mr de Savary, 71, said the advantages of the scheme were 'huge' to the local area.

'The planning application is on a small piece of unkempt waste ground where in order to alleviate the use by hotel guests of the public car park at the beach, my wife wishes to build a private car park for the residents,' he said.

'This application has been considered very carefully by the local authority and they have made us go through sensible, logical hoops to make sure the whole scheme is suitable.

'Personally I am surprised to hear of some objections because if anybody takes the time to call the press they must have some major concerns.

Detailed plans, pictured, for the luxury development have been submitted to Torbay Council

Many local traders are in favour of the plans, pictured, because they would bring in more people to the area

'I do think this is from a couple of people who would love it if that public road was their own private driveway.

'That's not the reality of life - it's a public road. In Devon there are very many narrow roads and this road is characteristic of the nature of the county.

'We generally felt that we were doing a positive thing, rather than a negative thing, because we need to think about the community and not just our individual selves.

'There is zero impact upon the conservation area. This is not a car park that is going to be asphalt and tarmac and will turn what is an unsightly mess into something that is very naturally landscaped and appropriate for the area.'

Mr de Savary added: 'I find it difficult to see their concerns as valid.

'I think we are talking about a very small handful of people who probably don't like anything to change but this is change for the better and for the greater good.

'I can't honestly see what the negative impact will be for the two or three houses that can see it.'
The NHS spent more 17 million on agency midwives in a single year  enough to employ 511 full-time staff, it has emerged.

The Royal College of Midwives warned that wasteful practice was being exacerbated by hospitals failing to provide their regular staff with flexible or part-time hours.

This has led to the ridiculous situation in which midwives are forced to resign, only to go back to work in the same hospital as an agency worker.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust paid out almost 4.5m on agency midwives. The trust was found guilty of a lethal mix of failures which led to the deaths of 11 babies and one mother at Furness General Hospital in Cumbria (pictured)

In other cases, agency midwives are being put to work without being properly briefed on policies and procedures.

Freedom of Information requests showed spending on agency midwives in English hospitals almost doubled in just two years - rising from 10,159,099 in 2012 to 17,849,767 in 2014.

Eleven trusts spent more than 1milllion on agency midwives over the three year period.

One, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, paid out almost 4.5million.

The trust was recently found guilty of a lethal mix of failures which led to the deaths of 11 babies and one mother at Furness General Hospital in Cumbria.

Freedom of Information requests showed spending on agency midwives in English hospitals almost doubled in just two years - rising from 10,159,099 in 2012 to 17,849,767 in 2014 (stock image)

Findings of the independent inquiry included that the maternity unit had been dysfunctional with substandard care provided by staff deficient in skills and knowledge.

The new research, from the Royal College of Midwives, found agency midwives cost 49.01 an hour - almost three times the rate paid to permanent staff  with much of the extra cash going on fees.

The RCM said staff shortages could be plugged by employing more midwives, allowing more flexible working and paying existing staff overtime.

Director of policy, Jon Skewes, said: The costs of agency staff are spiralling out of control year after year.

The best solution to this problem is to eliminate the shortage of midwives by training and employing more midwives and retaining existing midwives by treating them fairly and valuing them.

Women deserve high quality and safe care and the way for trusts to provide this is to ensure their units are staffed correctly and funding for maternity services pays directly for the services rather than going to employment agencies.

Other recent research said staff shortages had contributed to half of maternity units turning away women in labour.

Shadow public health minister Andrew Gwynne said: Across England, too many maternity units are operating without enough staff, forcing some to turn women away because they are unable to cope.

Tory ministers cannot keep ignoring these warning signs. They need to set out how they intend to tackle staff shortages in the NHS and ensure expectant mothers get the care and support they need.
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Punters had better take cover this Australia Day, with thunderstorms, rain and grey skies predicted to cast a shadow over celebrations across the nation.

Sunshine will be a rare treat across all capital cities, with showers likely in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart.

Thunderstorms will strike in Perth and Darwin, and cloudy skies in Melbourne and Adelaide are predicted.

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Punters better take cover this Australia Day as thunderstorms, rain and grey skies are predicted to cast a shadow over this year's celebrations across the nation. Above is last year's Australia Day

Lightning strikes over the city of Perth on Monday morning, ahead of Australia Day on Tuesday

A photograph shared on Reddit by a Brisbane resident of lightning striking over the city at the weekend

The wet weather is expected to continue for the rest of the week, according to forecasters. Clouds roll over the Sydney Harbour on Saturday

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dmitry Danchuk told Daily Mail Australia that showers and thunderstorms are expected across the east coast on a daily basis until the end of the week.

'We have slow moving low pressure trough over NSW. This trough is stretching from western Queensland and across central and western parts of NSW into the far south-east of the state, the West Gippsland and Victoria,' Mr Danchuk said.

'It doesn't appear to be a clear break we'll have showers and thunderstorms during the week, including the weekend. It's looks to be the same area with small variations.

'Maybe we will see decrease of thunderstorms on the weekend, but the [weekdays] the showers and thunderstorms will be persistent. It [the weather] will not change much during the next few days or the week.'

Predicted rainfall at 2pm AEDT on Australia Day. Showers are concentrated over the coastal areas of the nation

Ominous clouds roll over a shopping centre car park in Sydney on Saturday

Clouds and light showers rained on Melbourne's parade on Sunday as the city braces for more grey skies and wet weather

The day is already looking grim for Canberra as the city is most likely to get storms

Teenagers Tarra Penton and Catherine Talbot made the most of last year's grey Australia Day

Despite the wet weather, Australia Day will still be a warm one - with temperatures tipped to reach 27 degrees celsius in Sydney, 29 degrees in Brisbane, and 26 degrees in both Melbourne and Canberra.

It will be even warmer in Darwin, Perth and Adelaide, where the mercury will top 33, 33 and 31 degrees respectively.

The predicted rain and thunderstorms are the perfect lie-in weather for large numbers of people expected to call in sick on Monday in the lead up to the public holiday.

But the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged employees not to be tempted to take an unscheduled day off.

'The number of "sickies" taken on Monday could be as high as 180,000. This costs employers about $62 million nationwide, and the headache of unexpectedly absent staff affects colleagues, customers and business owners,' the chamber's chief executive Kate Carnell said.

'Monday is a work day like any other. Businesses need to open, work needs to be done and rosters need to be properly staffed.'

The wild weather has already wreaked havoc in South Australia, where a man was killed in the Adelaide Hills after he was struck by lightning, the ABC reported.

THREE-DAY FORECAST AS THE NATION GEARS UP TO CELEBRATE AUSTRALIA DAY Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth Adelaide Canberra Hobart Darwin Monday

Max 24

High chance of

showers, thunderstorm Monday

Max 22

Cloudy, medium

chance of drizzle Monday

Max 31

Partly cloudy, medium

chance of showers Monday

Max 33

Partly cloudy, high

chance of showers Monday

Max 29

Mostly sunny, no

chance of rain Monday

Max 25

Cloudy, chance of

thunderstorm Monday

Max 17

Cloudy, slight

chance of a shower Monday

Max 33

Partly cloudy, medium

chance of showers Australia Day

Max 27

Partly cloudy, medium

chance of showers Australia Day

Max 26

Medium chance of

drizzle in the morning Australia Day

Max 29

Partly cloudy, high

chance of showers Australia Day

Max 31

Partly cloudy, slight

chance of a shower Australia Day

Max 31

Partly cloudy, no

chance of rain Australia Day

Max 26

Cloudy, medium

chance of showers Australia Day

Max 20

Cloudy, slight chance

of a shower Australia Day

Max 33

Partly cloudy, medium

chance of showers Wednesday

Max 26

Cloudy, medium

chance of showers Wednesday

Max 27

Partly cloudy, high

chance of showers Wednesday

Max 29

Partly cloudy, medium

chance of showers Wednesday

Max 31

Partly cloudy, with

no chance of rain Wednesday

Max 32

Partly cloudy, no

chance of rain Wednesday

Max 24

Cloudy, medium

chance of showers Wednesday

Max 20

Partly cloudy, medium

chance of showers Wednesday

Max 33

Partly cloudy, slight

chance of a shower Source: The Bureau of Meteorology

People gathered at Sydney Harbour to celebrate last year's Australia Day and this year's forecast looks to be no different

The wet weather has already kicked off in Melbourne. One Instagrammer snapped this photo of clouds over the city

This photo is of the coastal suburb of Malabar on Sunday when storm clouds rolled in

Pastor Kris Guglielmucci, 39, was at a Christian retreat when lightning hit him just after 2.30pm.

A second victim, 19, was also struck by lightning at Cornerstone College at Mount Barker, also in the Adelaide Hills.

But the woman survived and was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious leg injuries.
A major search operation is underway to find a 12-year-old boy who was swept into a sewer by a torrent of floodwater more than 24 hours ago.

The boy, named only as Antoine, was pulled into a drain in the Belgian city of Huy after a stream called 'L'homme sauvage', or the Wild Man, burst its banks while he was taking part in a youth camp on Saturday afternoon.

His group leader, Edwige Wiliquet, 22, was also swept underground as she tried to help but was found 10 hours later after passersby heard screaming coming from a manhole cover.

Search: A boy named Antoine, 12, was swept away with a group leader while taking part in a youth camp on Saturday. Pictured, two workers stand next to the manhole cover where the youth worker was found yesterday

Desperate: A cordon is set up around the manhole last night, the last place that Antoine was seen before being swept away by floodwater. A senior police officer warned people needed to be 'realistic' about the outcome

She later revealed she had held Antoine's hand but was forced to let go after growing tired and cold.

Specialist rescue teams are now focusing their search for Antoine on the Meuse river, where the sewer overflows. A helicopter equipped with a heat-seeking camera has also been deployed.

Earlier today a jacket, believed to belong to the young boy, was discovered in the river but police have since confirmed it was a false alarm.

A senior officer in the city also warned people to be 'realistic' about what to expect from the search.

Last hope: The search is now focused on the Meuse River, pictured, where the sewer overruns

He told one local news site the child might still be alive if he has been able to cling to a rail inside the sewer, stopping himself from being washed into the river.

However water temperatures in the sewer remain at around two or three degrees, he said, making hypothermia a very real possibility.

Police have appealed to those walking along the river to remain vigilant for any sign of Antoine.
A Westpac senior financial planner is suing the bank for $1 million after his regional manager allegedly told him her rich clients did not want 'another Indian'.

Vikram Chopra filed a claim in the federal circuit court against the bank, as well as his Adelaide regional manager Kristen Greber, arguing that Westpac back-tracked on their decision to promote him due to his race.

Court documents revealed Ms Greber told Mr Chopra during a meeting in 2014 that she would not allow him to manage some of her clients as they didn't want 'another Indian planner', the Australian Financial Review reported.

Vikram Chopra has filed a $1 million race discrimination lawsuit against Westpac bank

Mr Chopra also claimed in his race discrimination lawsuit that in 2012 he was promoted to executive financial adviser, replacing colleague Anil Thuso - who is also of Indian descent.

Westpac then overturned this decision. Later when he moved roles in 2014, Ms Greber told Mr Chopra she would not allow him to meet with some of her clients as they had a futile relationship with his predecessor.

The regional manager then told him she had at least four clients who would have an issue with his race, because they were very rich and 'feel they can say and do whatever they want', court documents revealed.

She then said to Mr Chopra it was not her that was racist, it was her clients. However an internal investigation found Ms Greber made racially discriminatory comments and she was forced to make a formal apology.

Despite Ms Greber also being issued a formal warning, Mr Chopra was not given the promotion he was denied in 2012.

He claimed by missing out on this role he had also been denied a $300,000 pay rise.

Court documents show that in 2014 his regional manager Kristen Greber told him her rich clients didn't want 'another Indian planner'

Mr Chopra is suing the bank for $1 million: $900,000 of those for loss of earnings and $40,000 for emotional pain and suffering, and his legal costs.

Internal emails revealed that Mr Chopra was so upset by the events he would avoid catching a lift that passed Ms Greber's floor so he wouldn't bump into her.

He said in another email he was concerned the events would have an impact on his future career as the banking sector in Adelaide is a 'small market'.

A Westpac Group spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the case as the matter is currently before the courts.

'As a general comment, we have policies and protocols in place to ensure employees can raise any concerns, and complaints are thoroughly investigated,' the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Chris Christie didn't find a joke Marco Rubio made about this weekend's snowstorm to be very funny.

Rubio had said that the upside of this weekend's snowstorm, which dumped about two feet of snow on Washington, D.C., was that it would freeze President Obama's veto pen.

'And that shows a real immaturity from Senator Rubio to be joking as families were freezing in the cold, losing power, and some of them [were] losing their loved ones,' Christie noted on CNN's State of the Union this morning to host Jake Tapper.

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Chris Christie didn't find a joke Marco Rubio made about this weekend's snowstorm to be very funny - mostly because people died in car accidents and shoveling incidents related to the storm

Marco Rubio had joked that the upside to this weekend's blizzard, which drowned Washington, D.C. in two feet of snow, was that it would freeze President Obama's veto pen

Christie noted the death toll from the snowstorm, which hit a wide swath of the east coast including New Jersey.

It currently stands at 19.

'That's a difference between a United States senator who has never been responsible for anything and a governor who is responsible for everything that goes on in your state,' Christie continued.

Rubio, Christie said 'never had to make a decision of any consequence at all that he's had to be held accountable for.'

'Voting yes or no in the United States Senate every day, sitting where they tell you to sit, coming when they tell you to come, leaving when they tell you to leave,' Christie said

'It sounds like school to me, and not like the kind of job that the presidency is,' he added.

Christie has used the 44-year-old senator's youth against him in recent weeks.

When Rubio called out Christie for being 'supportive' of President Obama's liberal judicial pick Sonia Sotomayor, the New Jersey governor hit back hard.

'This is a first term senator who still is learning where the men's room is in the Senate let alone figuring out how to lead a country,' Christie said on Fox News last week.

Chris Christie mocked Marco Rubio on Jake Tapper's show this morning, saying that the Florida senator 'has never been responsible for anything'

Again, Christie put his executive experience over Rubio's legislative experience, suggesting it was typical of a U.S. senator not to be able to understand nuance.

'They talk and talk and obfuscate and make sure that people don't understand the full context of things because they never have to be accountable for anything,' Christie said.

'That's the difference between senators and governors,' Christie added.

Christie had said Sotomayor wasn't his 'kind of judge,' but thought she deserved a straight up or down vote in the Senate.

The governor is trying to elbow other establishment candidates like Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, out of the way in hopes that after the New Hampshire primary  if Christie has a strong showing  he can concentrate support to be a formidable rival against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and conservative favorite Ted Cruz.

Christie is currently sitting in the middle of the pack in New Hampshire, receiving an average of 7.8 percent support to Rubio's 11.2 percent.

Talking to Tapper, the governor made one final slap at Rubio.
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It was a bloody and brutal battle for freedom that left tens of thousands of soldiers dead on both sides.

Hundreds of actors dressed up as fighters for both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany to reenact one of the final battles which ended the Siege of Leningrad in 1944.

They donned uniforms and were equipped with realistic looking weapons and equipment to clash in the snow near the town of Volosovo.

The siege began in 1941, three months after Hitler commenced Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.

More than one million people were killed during the 872-day campaign at the city, now St Petersburg, with the Russians finally ending it on January 27, 1944.

This reenactment of the attack led by Lieutenant Colonel Vladislav Khrustitsky's 30th tank brigade was arranged to mark the anniversary and remember those who fought and died for their countries.

It also involved dogs, military vehicles, trucks, cars, and motorcycles of the era to make the experience as authentic as possible, although it did not stop the actors popping into shops in full uniform to grab a snack.

Some kept to the script however, drinking coffee out of metal cups and eating tinned food that would have been rationed among troops during the Second World War.

Some 76,000 Red Army troops were either killed or were missing after the fighting stopped, while almost 25,000 German soldiers were slain or left for dead.

The number of men wounded brought the total amount of casualties in the battle to almost 500,000.

Taking Leningrad was a strategic part of Adolf Hitler's ultimately failed plan to eliminate the Soviet Union as a threat to German domination of Europe.

The assault is considered one of the most devastating sieges in history, with German commanders calculating that starvation would be their most effective weapon.

Hundreds of actors dressed as Red Army and Nazi Germany soldiers (pictured) to reenact the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad

They wore historically-correct uniforms and replica equipment and weapons to make the battle as authentic as possible

Soviet 'soldiers', pictured, rush forward as they lead the offensive in Volosovo to free Leningrad after a three-year siege by the Nazis

The offensive began in mid-January 1944 and the number of casualties suffered on both sides came to almost 500,000

More than one million people died during the siege after food supplies were cut off and bread rations were cut to 0.2lbs per day

The Russians finally lifted the siege on January 27, 1944 at a cost of 76,000 soldiers killed or missing and presumed dead

German soldiers, pictured, began the siege in September 1941, three months after Hitler commenced Operation Barbarossa

In keeping with the history of the battle, the actors cooked food using battlefield equipment, pictured

THE SIEGE OF LENINGRAD - THE THREE-YEAR FIGHT THAT CLAIMED THE LIVES OF MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE On 8 September 1941, German troops surrounded Leningrad - modern-day St Petersburg - and blockaded the city. More than 3 million residents were trapped and food supplies were cut. On 12 September, authorities estimated that the city had enough flour to last just 35 days, cereals for 30 days, meat for 33 days and sugar for 60. Soldiers evacuate wounded civilians who have been shot by Nazi forces during the Siege of Leningrad, pictured By the end of the first month, oil and coal supplies ran out causing water pipes to freeze, effectively shutting off water supplies. By November, rations were said to have been as low as one third of the daily recommended amount for adults and reports suggest animals, including rats and crows as well as family pets, were used as food. In some cases bread rations were limited to just 0.2lbs (125g), people were getting just 200 calories a day, and 100,000 people were dying a month. There were even reports of cannibalism. Nazi troops pictured walking through the devastated city after the siege began in September 1941 Although the Red Army was able to break the siege in January 1943, it took a full year to finally lift it through a series of attacks around the city, beginning on January 13, 1944. After more than 200,000 shells were fired onto German lines over three days, troops moved in from January 16 and began pushing the Nazis back, with Josef Stalin announcing the city had been relieved on January 27. The siege lasted 872 days and as many as 1.5 million people reportedly starved to death. Advertisement

Actors dressed as German troops are pictured checking their guns and ammunition before defending their lines against the Russians

The actors enjoyed recreating history and kept to character, dressing in real uniforms and eating tinned food, pictured right and left

German lines were shelled for three days in mid January 1944 before the Russians mounted an offensive, driving them away

Even dogs were brought in to make the reenactment of the ending of the Siege of Leningrad, now St Petersburg, more realistic

Military vehicles from the time were also used by the actors dressed as high ranking officers directing the battle

German soldiers would likely have preferred these 'sandbags' - which are actually filled with coffee beans from Papua New Guinea

The Russian winters are well known for their severity and an actor is pictured warming himself over a fire on the battlefield

If they didn't have jeeps or motorcycles available, German troops would use dog sleds to move around the snowy terrain

Almost 25,000 German soldiers were slain or left for dead in the attack, which drove them almost 100 miles away from Leningrad

An actor dressed as a Russian soldier is pictured enjoying an authentic hot drink out of a metal cup

This particular reenactment from the ending of the siege recreated Lieutenant Colonel Vladislav Khrustitsky's 30th tank brigade's efforts

Battle plans are drawn up on the Nazi side, pictured, but the end of this battle has already been decided by history
The 10 US sailors who were detained in Iranian waters at gunpoint have returned to their base in San Diego.

Nine men and one woman were held overnight on Farsi Island, Iran on January 12 after 'drifting' into the Middle Eastern country's territory.

On Saturday, the U.S. Navy announced their return to the United States as an investigation into the incident continues.

'All of the Sailors are in good health and each will complete the final phase of reintegration,' a spokesman said in a statement.

Returned: Captain Gary Leigh (speaking, center right) greets the 10 U.S. Navy Sailors as they returned to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego before they were reunited with their families

'During this phase, which can last several days, Sailors reunite with their families, continue debriefings, and receive any ongoing medical care and support as necessary.'

There is still no word on whether the sailor who apologized on Iranian TV will be reprimanded. Military protocol prevents service men and women from going off-message.

It is still unclear exactly what happened.

The military gave its first official account of the seizure and subsequent release of the sailors last week - but it was vague and left many questions unanswered.

Iranian soldiers held the nine American men and one woman at gunpoint and had a 'verbal exchange' before they were released, according to the account released by U.S. Central Command last Monday.

The only items found missing from their recovered boats were SIM cards for two satellite phones, the account said.

Though it is the most comprehensive official timeline since the incident on Tuesday, key questions remain unanswered, such as why the sailors had deviated from their planned route to enter Iranian territorial waters. Navy officials have so far been vague on the topic, saying they 'misnavigated'.

The account also omits any details about the verbal exchange between the sailors and Iranians.

And there is no word on whether charges will be brought against the sailor who apologized for the incident on Iranian TV - a move which violates U.S. military protocol.

Iranian soldiers held the nine American men and one woman (pictured) at gunpoint and had a 'verbal exchange' before they were released, according to the account released by U.S. Central Command on Monday

The only items missing from their recovered boats were SIM cards for two satellite phones, the account said

US Central Command officials insist more details will emerge once a more in-depth investigation has been completed.

The investigation will focus on the U.S. sailors' treatment while in custody, including any interrogation by Iranian personnel, the command said.

It comes as John Kerry said he was 'furious' about footage of the American sailors on their knees which was screened on Iranian television.

Speaking to Fox News last Monday, the Secretary of State said 'I was furious about it, and I immediately contacted my counterpart. And we indicated our disgust.'

He added: 'It was very, very unfortunate, inappropriate. And as a former sailor, and member of the military, I was infuriated by it and I expressed that very directly to my counterpart.'

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said last week while visiting Central Command headquarters in Florida that the boat crews had 'misnavigated.'

He did not say how that mistake happened or provide other substantial details about an episode that posed a potential complication to efforts by Washington and Tehran to establish better relations.

The boat seizure happened just hours before President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address and just days before implementation of the Iran nuclear deal with the West. The implementation triggered the end of crippling international sanctions on Iran and a U.S.-Iran prisoner exchange.

The timeline released last Monday said the U.S. sailors were not mistreated during approximately 15 hours in Iranian hands. It said a post-recovery inventory of the boats found that all weapons, ammunition and communications gear was accounted for, minus two SIM cards apparently removed from two hand-held satellite phones.

The sailors were traveling in small armed vessels known as riverine command boats, headed from Kuwait to Bahrain, which is the location of the Navy's 5th Fleet.

'The planned transit path for the mission was down the middle of the Gulf and not through the territorial waters of any country other than Kuwait and Bahrain,' the account said. The boats were seized by Iran and escorted at gunpoint to Farsi Island, which is in the middle of the Gulf and home to an Iranian military facility.

Iran captured these two Riverine patrol boats yesterday afternoon near Farsi Island after accusing them of trying to spy on their operations, though the U.S. maintains a technical fault was to blame

John Kerry, who had a hurried series of telephone conversations with Iranian officials after the boats were captured, also insisted that he did not apologize - and was backed up by Joe Biden

Along the approximately 50-mile journey they were to have refueled by linking up with a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, the Monomoy, in international waters. The timeline said that approximately 10 minutes after the scheduled refueling, Central Command's naval headquarters at Bahrain received a report that the boats were being questioned by Iranians. The account does not explain who sent this report or whether it included other details.

About 19 minutes later, the naval headquarters 'was advised of degraded communications with' the two boats, the account added. After an additional 26 minutes, the naval headquarters was notified of a total loss of communications with the boats. It does not explain who advised the headquarters of this problem or its apparent cause.

A large-scale search-and-rescue mission was undertaken at that point, but it is not clear whether the Americans had by this time already been taken ashore on Farsi Island. Aircraft from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, which was operating 45 miles southeast of Farsi Island, participated in the search, along with Air Force planes and vessels of the U.S. Coast Guard, the British Royal Navy and other U.S. Navy vessels.

Central Command's naval headquarters at Bahrain attempted to contact Iranian military units operating near Farsi Island by using marine radio to broadcast information about the search-and-rescue operation. Separately, the U.S. notified Iranian coast guard units via telephone. Some hours later, about four hours after the U.S. first heard that the sailors were being questioned by Iranians, the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Anzio received word from the Iranians that the sailors were in Iranian custody. The Iranians described the 10 as 'safe and healthy,' according to the U.S. account.

According to the Navy Code of Conduct, prisoners are required to give their name, rank, service number and date of birth, but should 'evade answering further questions to the utmost of [their] ability'

In the hours after the seizure of the Americans became public on Jan. 12, there were conflicting reports about what caused the sailors to stray off their intended course. Monday's official account did not explain the reason. It said only that the crews 'deviated' from their planned course. It made no reference to the navigation error cited by Carter last week.

'At some point one (of the two boats) had indications of a mechanical issue in a diesel engine which caused the crews to stop . and begin troubleshooting,' the account said. Because the boats were traveling together, the other boat also stopped. At this point they were in Iranian territorial waters, 'although it's not clear the crew was aware of their exact location,' it added.

While the boats were stopped and the crew was trying to assess the mechanical problem, Iranian boats approached. First to arrive were two small Iranian craft with armed personnel aboard. Soon after, they were joined by two more Iranian military vessels. A verbal exchange ensued between the Iranians and Americans, but there was no gunfire.

Armed Iranian military personnel then boarded the U.S. boats while other Iranian personnel aboard other armed vessels monitored the situation. At gunpoint the U.S. boats and their crews were escorted to a small port facility on Farsi Island, where the Americans went ashore and were detained, the account said.

The sailors were released the following morning aboard their boats.
Germans only lost 2,551 - but never challenged Britain on the waves again

To celebrate, the Museum of the Royal Navy is

The 100th anniversary of the sea battle in which thousands of British sailors died is being hailed as the fight which 'won the First World War' in a major exhibition.

The Battle of Jutland, which took place over the course of 36 hours in the North Sea at the end of May 1916, was technically a German victory.

Britain lost 6,094 seamen compared to the 2,551 Germans lost - but the new display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) will argue that it was this 36-hour fight which would see Britain and its allies come out of the war victorious.

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The Battle of Jutland reaches its 100th anniversary this year, and the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) is to open a new exhibition to mark the centenary, arguing this was the battle which won the war

This is despite Britain losing 6,094 seamen to Germany's 2,551 during the 36-hour battle in the North Sea

The exhibition, in Portsmouth, will highlight how the British fleet maintained numerical supremacy at the end of the battle on June 1, as only two of its dreadnoughts were damaged, leaving 23 dreadnoughts and four battlecruisers still able to fight.

The Germans had only 10 dreadnoughts.

A NMRN spokeswoman explained: 'Most British losses were tactically insignificant, with the exception of HMS Queen Mary, and the Grand Fleet was ready for action again the next day.

'One month after the battle the Grand Fleet was stronger than it had been before sailing to Jutland. By contrast, so shaken were the Germans by the weight of the British response that they never again seriously challenged British control of the North Sea.'

The exhibition, which will open on May 12, will include personal effects of those involved, including the diary of a naval sister on board the hospital ship PLASSY.

Also on show is a lifebelt belonging to William Loftus Jones, English recipient of the Victoria Cross and commander of HMS Shark which sunk during the battle.

The large gun from German destroyer B98, and two smaller deck guns from HMS Opal and HMS Narbourgh, which are usually on display at Orkney Islands Council's Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum at Lyness, will also be on show.

The exhibition, in Portsmouth, will highlight how the British fleet maintained numerical supremacy at the end

Only two of Britain's dreadnoughts were damaged, leaving 23 dreadnoughts and four battlecruisers still able to fight. In comparison, the Germans had only 10 dreadnoughts. They never engaged the Royal Navy again

As part of the exhibition, people will be able to see the large gun from German destroyer B98, which usually lives on the Orkney Islands, as well as the personal effects of some of those on-board the ships

And this isn't the only move by the museum to mark the important anniversary.

The exhibition launch coincides with the NMRNs other major contribution to the Jutland centenary, the opening of the only ship which fought that day still in existence, HMS Caroline, in Belfast.

Professor Dominic Tweddle, director general of the NMRN, said: 'One hundred years after the fleets of the Imperial German and Royal Navies fought the defining naval battle of the First World War, it is essential that we mark and commemorate the incredible sacrifice made.'

Diane Lees, director-general of Imperial War Museums, said: 'The Battle of Jutland had a huge impact on the war; never again during this landmark conflict did the Germans challenge British control of the North Sea.

'Yet it is one of the lesser-known battles to be commemorated this year.'
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My girlfriend collapsed onto the padded bench in a window alcove, where she was surrounded by decades-old books as the wind howled outside, with a thump and a look of pure joy.

We had been at Ashford Castle for less than a full day and, after exploring the sprawling (but soggy) grounds, we retreated to its stunning Oak Room thanks to a typically Irish November day.

In such a jaw-dropping setting, where refined luxury meets old-world charm, being forced indoors by the wet and blustery weather is a welcome problem - and it only helped to lift our spirits.

Nestled comfortably in the alcove, my girlfriend said in a soft, gentle voice: Everything about this place is perfect.

She wasnt far off. Most guests who stay in the cavernous rooms at this grand 13th century castle, which was recently voted the best hotel in the world, probably will never spend the night in a more extravagant place.

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Ireland's stunning Ashford Castle, founded by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family in 1228, is set on 350 acres on Lough Corrib

Located next to the lobby, the Oak Room is an incredible space where guests can play chess or relax in the glow of a chandelier

The upper level of the Oak Room is home to a library and window alcoves with padded benches for those seeking peace and quiet

The five-star hotel's staterooms are a blend of traditional elegance and comfort, with spacious living areas that aren't focused on a TV

With antique furniture, each stateroom is located in the oldest part of the castle, dating back to the 13th and 17th centuries

Deluxe rooms have antiques such as a German Baroque stumpwork silk-decorated tester bed made in the late 17th century

Ashford Castle's extravagant presidential suite is named for Ronald Reagan, a former guest who visited while he was US president

With stone towers, turrets and 350 acres of manicured grounds and wooded paths, the five-star hotel overlooking rugged Lough Corrib is the stuff of fairy tales, fantasy and romance.

It was my first stay in a castle (Im from Canada, where the only castles are of the bouncy variety) and it didnt disappoint, thanks to its stunning detail, warm hospitality, history and seemingly endless list of activities.

Two nights provided enough time to explore (and get lost in) the castle and partake in a few activities, including a brand new spa and Irelands oldest falconry school, but there was so much more to and see (from archery and clay shooting to a traditional boat trip and afternoon tea).

Every inch of the hotel oozes history - from the first stone walls that were built in the 1200s to the Hollywood celebrities and US presidents who are among the famous guests to spend the night (there are multiple walls with autographed portraits and letters of thanks).

At the back of the castle, guests can explore well-manicured grounds and walk along the banks of rugged Lough Corrib

Ashford Castle's grounds are an oasis for hotel guests and for members of the public, who can pay a small fee to access them

The hotel offers a range of activities for guests and visitors, including fly fishing lessons on half- and full-day trips

While every room is impressive, one of the most stunning is the George V Dining Room, which was built by the castles former owners, the Guinness family (yes, that Guinness family), in honour of the kings visit in 1906, when he was the Prince of Wales.

It was an extremely beautiful setting for dinner, with panelled walls and Waterford Crystal chandeliers hanging over tables where servers brought scallops and chorizo, butternut squash soup, Angus rib of beef and creme brulee.

It is one of several dining options at the lakefront castle. The following night, we opted for casual fare such as grilled salmon and fish and chips at Cullens at the Cottage, just a short walk over a stone bridge above the River Cong.

The George V Dining Room was built by the castles former owners, the Guinness family, in honour of the kings visit in 1906

Cullen's at the Cottage, located a short walk across the River Cong, is a traditional thatched cottage that offers casual dining

With incredible detail, the Connaught Room has floor-to-ceiling windows, a Donegal Crystal chandelier and a hand-carved fireplace

Built in the late 1800s, the bar is named for the Prince of Wales, who visited in 1905 and subsequently became George V of England

Following a 50million refurbishment, Ashford Castle has introduced a spacious billiards room with comfy chairs, newspapers and books

Every night, the five-star hotel in western Ireland shows a classic film or a recent release in its new 32-seat cinema

IMPORTANT DATES IN ASHFORD CASTLE HISTORY 1228: Founded by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family as their principal stronghold after their defeat of the native OConnors of Connaught. 1589: The castle passed into the hands of Sir Richard Bingham, Lord President of Connaught, following a battle with the de Burgos forces. 1715: The Browne family established the Ashford estate and added a French-style chateau. 1852: Ashford is purchased by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, who extends the estate to 26,000 acres and adds two large Victorian-style extensions. 1868: The castle is bequeathed to Guinness son, Lord Ardilaun, who develops the woodlands and rebuilds the castles west wing. 1915: Ashford is retained by the Iveagh Trust until it is purchased by hotelier Noel Huggard in 1939 and established as a high-end hotel. 1970: After businessman John Mulcahy bought the castle, it is completely restored and doubled in size. A golf course is added and the grounds and gardens are developed. 1985: A group of Irish-American investors purchased the castle. 2013: Ashford Castle is purchased by Red Carnation Hotels, its current owner, and undergoes a major 50million refurbishment, including the addition of a spa. Source: Ashford Castle Advertisement

My favourite room in the castle proved to be the Connaught Room, where the tradition of afternoon tea has been preserved since 1868 when the medieval castle was home to Lord and Lady Ardilaun.

A place where time seems to stand still, the Connaught Room offers incredible detail, floor-to-ceiling windows with stunning views of Lough Corrib, a Donegal Crystal chandelier and a hand-carved fireplace.

Located an hour south-west of Knock airport, the hotel reopened in May 2015 after it was purchased by Red Carnation Hotels and underwent a massive 50million overhaul.

The company refurbished all 82 guest rooms, the stonework, windows and roofs, and added a spa and fitness centre to make Ashford Castle the ultimate retreat.

After the hotel was purchased by Red Carnation Hotels, a spa and fitness centre were added to make Ashford Castle the ultimate retreat

There are five treatment rooms, including a couple's room that has large windows with views of the grounds and Lough Corrib

Other features inside the spa include a Turkish hammam, a steam room and a terrace area with serene views over the lake

After being pampered with treatments that use Voya organic seaweed beauty products, spa guests can retreat to a relaxation room

Months after its reopening, the hotel was named the best in the world by Virtuoso, a network of international travel agents.

At the spa, I was pampered with a Voya detox herbal bag massage, a signature treatment.

Warm muslin bags containing herbs and seaweed are massaged into the body to soothe aches and pains and exfoliate the skin. The seaweed gel is meant to increase the bodys metabolism.

When the hour was finally up, I retreated to the relaxation room and threw myself onto a comfortable lounge chair as rain pelted the window and high winds caused the trees outside to sway.

My girlfriend was right. Weather be damned, everything about this place is perfect.
As mother-in-law to the future king, Carole Middleton is often praised for her ability to win over the royal family, with many laying at least part of the credit at the door of her British Airways flight attendant training as a young woman.

During the six weeks that men and women learn to become a steward, they are subjected to rigorous training that covers everything from how to evacuate a smoke-filled cabin or deliver a baby to what make-up to wear and how to resuscitate someone.

The training now all takes place at a new state-of-the-art Global Learning Academy in Heathrow, a giant nine-storey building where 40,000 flight attendants and pilots are put through their paces every year in either complete courses or refresher training.

But just how tough is the course? MailOnline sent Caroline McGuire down to the academy to find out just what the Middleton matriarch went through...

High-flyer: MailOnline travel writer Caroline McGuire got dressed up as a flight attendant and spent the day training at BA's Global Learning Academy

Looking the part

At the academy, the first pit stop for all new trainees is the presentation room - an area akin to a theatre dressing room where attendants are taught how to wear the uniform, do their hair and choose their make-up.

Mark Mannering-Smith, Head Of Cabin Crew Safety, said: 'We start with looks because that is the first impression people get and most people judge a book by its cover.

'The cabin crew are often the first member of BA staff that a passenger will see, so it is important to exude understated style and elegance.'

The navy uniform is designed by Julien MacDonald and staff must always have the blazer done up completely, the cravat tie correctly, their wings badge on straight and the right shade of hosiery.

Caroline talks to the pilot in a fake plane inside the learning academy at Heathrow

An attendant's hair should never touch their collar and their make-up should be understated. There are trainers on hand to advise on the best shade of eye shadow, foundation and lipstick for the complexion.

On my training day, I am handed a BA uniform and my hair is pinned back in a French twist, with a sophisticated shade of plum lipstick used to finish off my look. I can't help but be taken aback when I look in the mirror - it feels like another person staring back.

As I head out of the changing rooms, I notice that I am standing taller and walking more smoothly than I usually do. It is amazing the effect that the uniform can have.

Service with a smile

Unsurprisingly, service is a key part of the cabin crew training at BA, with a large chunk of the six-week course dedicated to hospitality.

Trainees are taught about what it means to be British and BA's heritage as it is a big part of the customer's expectation when they fly with the company.

One of the most important aspects of training is in assertiveness - the women and men are taught how to command authority in a calm manner, which is crucial in emergencies when stewards need to convince panicking passengers to obey their commands.

Caroline indicates the closest emergency exits as part of her training as a flight attendant

They also get training in how to manage difficult customers.

Victoria Fry, a former cabin crew member who is now the learning and development manager, said: 'You also get training on challenging customers - how to adapt and influence and challenge mindsets in a polite manner.

'For instance, if you had a customer who didn't want to put on their seat belt, you'd have training in how to influence and negotiate with that customer with a service mindset.'

Those working in Club and first class fine-tune their service skills even further.

Mark Mannering-Smith said: 'Club is all about precision and excellence and technique.

'With first class it is more now about recognition these days, so guests feel like they are returning home. So you'd say to a guest, we know your last flight was delayed, so here's a glass of champagne as a sorry, or something like that.'

Evacuation procedures - what to do in an emergency

While it is the side of cabin stewards no one will ever hopefully see, evacuation is the most important part of cabin crew training.

In our training, I go through the main procedures for getting passengers ready for a crash landing and out of the plane.

Caroline listens closely during the training for the emergency evacuation

For this, I head inside the centre section of a plane, which has been built as an exact replica of a BA plane inside the learning academy, featuring everything from the televisions on the walls to the safety pamphlets in the back of the seats and the toilet cubicles.

Being on board is very strange because it even smells like a plane.

I go through the drill for an emergency landing, which starts with a phone call from the captain or an alarm bell to notify the team that there is a problem.

First, I run all of the passengers through what the brace position is and check that they know how to undo their seat belts.

Then, once the landing has started, I strap myself into a seat and shout 'brace, brace!' at the top of my voice, to get passengers into the brace position. This has to be loud so that it shocks passengers into following the instructions.

Opening the door during an emergency and inflating the slide is a crucial part of the training

After the landing, I open the door and pull the chord to inflate the emergency slide, while shouting for the passengers to make their way to the door and form two queues, ready to slide down.

Stewards can often be looking after 20 rows at a time in planes and all of the passengers have to be evacuated within 90 seconds, so staff have extensive training on how to be assertive in an emergency.

Even going through a practice drill gives a real sense of the huge responsibility stewards have in emergencies.

Letting it all slide - now comes the scary bit

After the evacuation drill, I am taken to the emergency slides to experience what it is really like to go down one.

Before climbing up, I am given an overall to wear over my clothes to prevent them from ripping - the slides are extremely steep, similar to the gradient of the stairs that lead to the cabin in aeroplanes, and as a result there are abrasive strips near the bottom that slow passengers down.

These are so rough that they have caused multiple holes in the heavy duty overalls. Something I'll be bearing in mind the next time I consider wearing shorts on a plane.

Like many other passengers, I have wanted to go on one of these slides for years, without actually going through an emergency landing, and my chance has finally arrived.

Caroline tests out the emergency slide. The black strips towards the end help to slow the passenger down

But as I sit at the top, my excitement morphs into fear - it really is incredible steep. I am told to hold on to my collar to prevent me putting my hands down on the slide and risking grazing them on the abrasive strips.

On the way down, I pick up a terrifying speed, desperately leaning forward in an attempt to slow myself down and trying to remember to do a running leap at the end instead of landing on my bum.

This last part would be key if it was a real evacuation as there would be passengers hurtling down the slide every few seconds, so getting out of the way would be crucial.

Next to me, a group of BA trainees have dismantled their slide and are using it as a life raft, going through the procedure for what happens if stranded at sea.

First aid - how to save lives and deliver babies

While emergency landings are a crucial part of training, one of the more likely problems staff will come across during a flight is the need to give medical assistance to a passenger.

This can range from CPR on a stroke victim to delivering a baby.

I learn how to do CPR on a mannequin called a Resusci Anne, doing chest compressions in time with a metronome.

There is a defibrillator on each plane that has a monitor the steward can attach to the chest of the victim and the machine tells them whether to speed up compressions, stop them, do them harder, and so on.

A trainer teaches Caroline how to do CPR on a mannequin called a Resusci Anne

In the worst case scenario, the team contact the Med Link, a tele-medicine service based in a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, and get them to give advice on what to do and whether to divert the plane.

Attendants also learn the basics of many other aspects of medical training including how to stop someone from choking to how to deliver a baby and cut the umbilical chord, in case it should happen. It did in 2014.

Medical emergencies involving the heart are more common - in some years BA can have six heart incidents and in other years there are 20.

The most common cause for medical illness on a flight is fainting though.

AT THE CONTROLS IN BA'S A380 SIMULATOR (AND IT'S LUCKY THERE'S AN EXPERT THERE TO STRAIGHTEN-UP THE TAKE OFF) Caroline at the controls in BA's A380 simulator There are 15 full motion simulators in the global learning academy where pilots learn to fly, before taking to the skies. I am taken into one of the A380 simulators and taught how to take off and land a BA plane. I wait on the runway at 'San Francisco' airport before revving up the engines and rolling to the runway. Fortunately, there is a real-life pilot in the cockpit - Captain Dave Thomas - next to me to temporarily take control as I immediately start to veer off the runway. Eventually I get up into the skies and it feels incredible. The virtual reality system is so realistic that I genuinely feel like I am flying and even start to get a bit of motion sickness... even though the simulator isn't actually moving. After a while, I get the plane ready for landing (with a lot of help) and complete a shaky landing back at the airport. I already have an enormous respect for pilots, but this experience makes me even more in awe of the job they have to do, in often much trickier weather conditions than a balmy afternoon in California. Advertisement

Sleepy stewards - how to deal with jet lag

The earliest flight leaving Heathrow involves being at the airport at 5am, but that can be earlier in other countries, and staff always have to be completely alert, so they are taught several ways of helping with jet lag.

Attendants and pilots are always given accommodation in top hotels by BA when abroad, to make sure they have a good night's sleep. But they are also given fatigue management training.

Some of the best ways to induce sleep include eating Brazil nuts, always diving under a sheet or duvet in bed as the body is covered in light receptors and bringing a personal pair of pyjamas.

One member of staff even takes their own bed sheets for the sake of continuity.
Kim Kardashian certainly did not mind showing off her ample assets when she was pregnant with her son Saint.

In a clip from the next episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which will air on Sunday evening, the 35-year-old let her chest spill out while sitting on a white sofa.

The wife of Kanye West looked unimpressed as she was being berated by mother Kris Jenner.

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Two good: Kim Kardashian certainly did not mind showing off her ample assets when she was pregnant with her son Saint. In a clip from the next episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which will air on Sunday evening, the 35-year-old let her chest spill out while sitting on a sofa

Why even wear a top at all? The Vogue cover star wore a black top that was so low cut it not only exposed her cleavage, but also her black bra and even part of her stomach

Hmmm: The wife of Kanye West looked unimpressed as she was being berated by mother Kris Jenner

The Vogue cover star wore a black top that was so low cut it not only exposed her cleavage, but also her black bra and even part of her stomach.

It is not known how far along she was in her second pregnancy, but it appeared the clip was shot in the fall.

The E! queen also wore her long black locks down and had flattering makeup on as she sat next to sister Khloe.

See Kim Kardashian news as she shows her bosom while being berated by Kris Jenner

Sitting pretty: The E! queen also wore her long black locks down and had flattering makeup on as she sat next to sister Khloe

Kris, 60, was getting mad at Kim, as well as Khloe and Kourtney, for looking at their cell phones too often.

'We're always being ... on our phones,' Jenner said.

Kim continued to text on her phone.

Say it mama: Kris, 60, was getting mad at Kim, as well as Khloe and Kourtney, for looking at their cell phones too often. 'We're always being ... on our phones,' Jenner said

Not mincing words: 'You're never not on your phone,' said the ex-wife of Bruce Jenner

The Selfish author then took a break and looked up with an annoyed expression on her face.

'We're meeting about always being on our phones?' Kim asked.

'You're never not on your phone,' said the ex-wife of Bruce Jenner, 66.

Not having any of it: Khloe seemed confused then said, 'I'm always the one who tells you, "Put your phone down. We're at dinner"'

Pretty as a princess: The 31-year-old looked gorgeous with her blonde locks worn down

Khloe seemed confused then said, 'I'm always the one who tells you, "Put your phone down. We're at dinner."'

Kris then said they can meet with a communications expert. 'If this girl can help talk some sense into you, your sisters and your brother, then hallelujah!'

The new episode of KUWTK airs on E! Sunday, January 24, at 9 p.m. EST.

Also on Friday, Kris shared a photo of Kendall and Kylie modeling their new designs.
She began carving out her acting career as the young Kate Ramsay, on long-running soap Neighbours.

But since saying goodbye to Erinsborough in 2014 to star in The Bold And The Beautiful, Stateside, it seems Ashleigh Brewer has undergone quite the makeover.

Gone are the now 25-year-old's hazelnut locks and bare-faced complexion in favour of a much more Hollywood look.

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How she's changed: Ashleigh Brewer has undergone quite the makeover since leaving the set of Neighbours (left) in 2014

Ashleigh's hair is a good few shades darker now and recently underwent a significant chop, while her makeup has also changed to match her maturing look.

Pillowy pink lips, bold brows and lashings of dark mascara have become her beauty go-tos.

In 2013 Ashleigh said she wouldn't rule out going under the knife to alter her appearance if she felt the desire, tellingExpress: 'If you're at the stage in your life where changing something will enhance your confidence in your own body then I'm all for it.'

The Brisbane-born beauty announced in May 2014 that she would be joining the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful as Ivy Forrester, the Australian niece of long-time character Eric Forrester.

New look: Margot Robbie underwent a similar transformation after she left Neighbours

Glammed up: Ashleigh attended the Daytime Emmy awards in April last year

Open to the idea: In 2013 Ashleigh said she wouldn't rule out going under the knife to alter her appearance if she felt the desire

Barely recognisable: Kylie Minogue, who also found her start on the Australian soap, has likewise transformed her look

In an excited Twitter post at the time she wrote: 'IT'S OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL'.

Ashleigh attended the Daytime Emmy awards in April last year but already has a Logie under her belt after winning Most Popular New Female Talent in 2010, for her role on Neighbours.

After five years on the Australian soap, Ashley told Digital Spy: 'the time is right to close this chapter and open the next exciting one.'

She follows in the footsteps of fellow former Neighbours stars Kylie Minogue and Margot Robbie who also underwent glam transformations as they shifted into life in Hollywood.

Fresh cut: The brunette has recently chopped her locks into a shorter bob look
It looked very much as though James Tobin was still on holidays when he returned to work on Weekend Sunrise on Saturday.

Sporting a scruffy beard and wearing a grey hoodie for his first day back as weather reporter, he was far from the sharply dressed man that rubbed shoulders with his now rumoured love Lady Kitty Spencer at the Melbourne Cup.

But just a day later it seems the presenter has spent some time scrubbing up.

Not royally approved? James Tobin scrubs up after returning to work on Weekend Sunrise in a hoodie and sporting a holiday beard on Saturday

Ditching his holiday hair, James appeared clean shaven and in a neatly pressed collared shirt for his live broadcast on Sunday morning.

The 35-year-old's return to television comes after he was believed to have been spending time with Princess Diana's niece Lady Kitty.

The cousin of Princes William and Harry was a bridesmaid at an extravagant wedding in South Africa, and James also attended.

Both James and Lady Kitty posted snaps of the stunning event on their respective Instagram accounts.

Rubbing shoulders with royals: The presenter has returned from holidays in which he attend a wedding with rumoured girlfriend Lady Kitty Spencer

Dressed up: James was looking dapper when he attended the Melbourne Cup in November (left), Lady Kitty was also at the event in a pretty white frock (right)

New Idea recently reported that Kitty and James may be romantically involved after friends revealed they met during the Melbourne Cup racing carnival and spend time together on Oaks Day that same week.

The magazine quoted a source who allegedly said: 'It's early days, but they're crazy about each other.

'James loves Kitty's sharp wit and bubbly personality, and also that she's not a stick insect like so many women he meets'.

Lady Kitty had previously been dating Niccolo Barattieri di San Pietro, 44, since June last year, however, their current relationship status is unknown.

But the property tycoon, who is 20 years her senior and has three children with his first wife, was nowhere to be seen during the socialite's three-week trip Down Under in November last year.

Globetrotter: The popular presenter has been travelling the world on his days off
Her new movie How To Be Single will hit cinemas screens next month.

So a visit to a hair salon became a top priority for funnywoman Rebel Wilson who was suffering from a hair emergency on Saturday.

The 35-year-old was spotted making her way to the famed Nine One Zero Salon in West Hollywood in the hopes of taming her frizzy blonde locks into a sleek hairstyle.

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Mane attraction: Rebel Wilson, 35, took to Nine One Zero Salon in West Hollywood on Saturday to fix her frizzy blonde hair

The star entered the salon in head-to-toe black including skin-tight jeans, a leather jacket and a pair of ballet flats.

As she made her way to the famed salon, the funny woman kept a low profile in a pair of dark shades.

The Australian beauty wore minimal makeup for her beauty trip just adding enough to highlight her natural undertones.

She carried a bright orange and pink handbag which added a pop of colour to her plain off-duty outfit.

Much better! A few hours later and the Hollywood star emerged from the salon sporting a sleeker and much more glossier do

Before and after: The 35-year-old Australian starlet needed professional help to fight the frizz

A few hours later and the Hollywood star emerged from the salon sporting a sleeker and much more glossier do, as well as a bag full of HAIR products.

Rebel's hair glistened in the sunlight and bounced with body as she made her way back to her car.

The actress appeared to be in much better spirits after being pampered and sported a subtle smile across her face.

Happier mood: The actress appeared to be in much better spirits after her hair touch-up

Days earlier, Rebel joined Australia's Got Talent Judge Kelly Osbourne at a Jennifer Lopez concert in Las Vegas where the pair persuaded Justin Bieber to take them out afterwards.

Sharing a photograph of a note they wrote to the Sorry hitmaker on Instagram, she told followers: 'This is how to pick up Justin Bieber at the J-Lo concert.'

In the photograph the star held a note which read: 'Dear Justin, My name is Kelly Osbourne and my name is Rebel Wilson. We think you should take our sexy hot a**** out after the show (nothing weird).'

Antics: Rebel and Kelly Osborne pleaded with Justin Bieber to be taken out after the Jennifer Lopez concert in Las Vegas on Wednesday, sharing this photograph of their request on social media

Beneath their message were two boxes, one titled 'Yes' and the other 'No'.

Their tactic clearly impressed the Canadian crooner, with the trio later appearing in blurry selfies posted on Rebel's Instagram account.

Sharing the first with fans, Rebel wrote: 'Successful mission,' accompanied with the hashtag 'How To Be Single', in reference to her forthcoming film.

Rebel will star alongside 50 Shades of Grey actress Dakota Johnson in the comedy which will open in Australian cinemas from February 11.
We are used to seeing Zilda Williams baring her ample cleavage on the red carpet in an array of plunging ensembles.

And onlookers were given more of the same on Sunday when the former Bachelor contestant put on a busty display as she attended the Bondi Sands Australia Day Long Weekend Harbour Cruise in Sydney.

Proudly revealing her cleavage a tie-up bandeau top and skirt ensembleby Suzi Rose Designs, Zilda appeared to be having the time of her life as she beamed and posed in front of a media wall.

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Confident: Zilda Willliams put on a busty display as she attended the Bondi Sands Australia Day Long Weekend Harbour Cruise in Sydney

She completed her outfit with a white shoulder bag and nude platform heels, while her bleach-blonde hair was swept up into a chic bun.

The busty model kept her make-up flirty and feminine with a set of fanned-out faux lashes and a dusting of peach blush on her high cheekbones.

Zilda famously underwent a breast reduction last year in a bid to downsize her surgically enhanced FF bust to a size DD.

Classy details: She completed her outfit with a white shoulder bag, while her bleach-blonde hair was swept up into a chic bun

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail Australia last week about her controversial reduction, Zilda said: 'I no longer get stared at and men are seeing me for who I really am.'

She added: 'It's fantastic not waking up with back pain anymore and I can't wait to exercise properly once I am healed.'

Elsewhere Lana Jeavons-Fellows graced the clad event wearing a breezy romper by Australian designer Suboo, which featured a paisley print and ruffle detailing on its torso.

Primped: She kept her makeup flirty and feminine with a set of fanned-out faux lashes and a dusting of peach blush on her high cheekbones

A new chapter: Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail Australia last week about her recent breast reduction, Zilda said: 'I no longer get stared at and men are seeing me for who I really am'

Displaying her slim pins in the breezy ensemble, the bronzed brunette clutched a monogrammed leather pouch clutch and elongated her frame with a pair of patent nude pumps.

Her make-up was kept fresh and understated, with just a hint of shimmery blush and a sweeping of mascara.

Also attending the bash was former Bachelor contestant Bec Chin and her new beau Dean Ve.

Laid-back beauty: Also attending the star-studded cruise on Sunday was Lana Jeavons-Fellows, who graced the clad event wearing a breezy romper

Chic: Her makeup was kept fresh and understated, with just a hint of shimmery blush and a sweeping of mascara

Bronzed to perfection, Bec was all smiles as she flaunted her athletic frame in a slinky black romper and strappy heeled sandals.

The brunette beauty was the ninth to leave the Bachelor house in season three, with Sam Wood sending her home at the end of their date and not into a rose ceremony.

It was a blessing for her, however, as fellow Bachelor co-star, Zilda Williams played matchmaker for Bec and Dean, who have been inseparable since.

It's a bachelor reunion! Also attending the bash was former Bachelor contestant Bec Chin
She's been embroiled in numerous financial troubles as of late.

So an outing to watch some motocross racing was probably a great way to relieve some stress for Tori Spelling and her family on Saturday.

The 42-year-old fashion-conscious actress looked fit and glowing as she posed with family in front of a dirt bike at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.

Living on the edge: Tori Spellling posed with family in front of a dirt bike at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California

As it was a cooler night in southern California, the former 90210 star opted for a long-sleeve white blouse with some delicately embroidered panels.

On the bottom she wore some figure-hugging jeans and a pair of knee-high brown leather boots.

A brown leather shoulder bag with a playful fringe rounded out the chic but functional ensemble.

Family fun: Husband Dean McDermott, 49, looked like he dressed for the event specifically, as he donned a black leather motorcycle-style jacket for the spectacle

A leg up! The actress turned reality star sported knee high boots

McDreamy! Patrick Dempsey arrive in all black

Far out boy! Pete Wentz looked rocker chic as he arrived

As usual, her bright blonde tresses were on full display as they fell just past her shoulders.

Some rouge and a slick of bright crimson lipstick added just a dash of color to the otherwise muted look.

Husband Dean McDermott, 49, looked like he dressed for the event specifically, as he donned a black leather motorcycle-style jacket for the spectacle.

Kids Liam, Fin, and Hattie chose relatively casual looks, while daughter Stella, decided to go for a moodier look and imitate her father.

She wore her own leather motorcycle jacket with black leggings and silver sandals.

Enough is enough: Candy Spelling (R) says she has been helping daughter Tori out financially with the necessities, but she won't pay for the actress's 'extravagance'

Meanwhile, it looks as though Tori is going to have to find her own way to shell out almost $38,000 for a lawsuit over an unpaid American Express bill.

Her mother Candy told TMZ on Tuesday that while she is more than happy to help the actress out with the necessities, she draws the line at 'extravagance'.

The publication asked the 70-year-old widow of producer Aaron Spelling if she'd be willing to help out, and she brusquely replied that she already has been.

'Ive been helping out and Im paying all her bills now,' Candy said. 'Im not paying extras like that. Im not paying any back payments  just for the house and the kids school and the food. Thats all.'

TMZ then asked how Tori had managed to rack up such a large credit card bill, and she quipped: 'I dont know. Extravagance I guess.'

Beverly Hills, 90210 star Tori, 42, who shares four children with husband Dean McDermott, is yet to comment on the lawsuit.

Money matters: Tori famously received just $800,000 of her father's multi-million dollar fortune when he died, with the rest going to Candy. Mother and daughter are pictured here in June 2015

American Express are allegedly suing her for $37,981.97 - the full amount of her balance, which includes interest.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, Tori last tried to pay off the debt on June 26 with a payment of $1,070. However, the payment bounced.

Tori famously received just $800,000 of her father's multi-million dollar fortune when he died, with Candy inheriting $600million.

And Candy - who famously has a room just for gift wrapping in her home, and had three in Spelling Manor - revealed why when promoting her memoir Candy At Last in 2014.

'I've been helping out': Candy says she pays for Tori's house and food, and for her children's schooling. Tori and husband Dean McDermott are seen with Finn, Liam, Hattie and Stella last month

She told The New York Times: 'She would close a store and drop $50,000 to $60,000. I never did anything like that. She just went crazy.'

Tori and Dean have made no secret of their financial struggles, which were documented on the Mystery Girls star's reality show True Tori.

'I feel so responsible for so many people and I can't do it,' she said during an October 2014 episode. '[I can't handle] the responsibility of having to take care of so many people financially, the fear of that. [It] doesn't matter.

Lawsuit: Tori, seen here with Dean last week, is being sued by American Express for $37,981.97 - the balance of her credit card, which includes interest

'I know people look at me and they're like, "Oh, poor you." Like, "Boohoo, you have so many problems."'

In her 2013 book Spelling It Like It Is, she wrote: 'It's not my fault I'm an uptown girl stuck in a midtown life. I was raised in opulence. My standards are ridiculously high. We can't afford that lifestyle, but when you grow up silver spoon it's hard to go plastic.

'It's no mystery why I have money problems. I grew up rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. I never knew anything else. Even when I try to embrace a simpler lifestyle, I can't seem to let go of my expensive tastes.

Sharing her struggle: On a 2014 episode of her reality show True Tori, the 42-year-old broke down in tears as she discussed her financial problems

'Even when my tastes aren't fancy, they're still costly. I moved houses to simplify my life, but lost almost a million dollars along the way.'

Tori has recently filming a Lifetime remake of her 1996 TV movie Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?, which James Franco wrote and is executive producing.

The actress played the central character Laurel, whose mother realises that her teenage daughter's boyfriend is a murderer and a psychopath.

This time around, Tori is portraying the mother. The film will air on Lifetime later this year.
He has been getting plenty of Oscar buzz.

And Sylvester Stallone already looked like a winner on his latest outing.

The legendary 69-year-old actor looked stylish while enjoying an outing with a few male chums in the Beverly Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles on Saturday.

Dapper: Sylvester Stallone was spotted out in the Beverly Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles on Saturday

The actor flashed a sly smile as he looked ever so hunky in a checked purple, grey and brown blazer while hanging out with pals Richie Palmer and Giuseppe Franco.

Stallone wore the patterned jacket over a grey shirt, powder blue trousers and red leather dress shoes.

He had his hair elegantly combed to the side as he accessorised with designer shades and a silver watch.

Looking good: The 69-year-old actor sported a grey, purple and brown checked blazer

Out and about: he also wore a heather grey top, powder blue trousers and red dress shoes

In a recent interview the action man talked about tapping into the painful death of his son, Sage, for his role in Creed.

'Every time you can vent emotions that are real, I think thats very helpful,' Sly told Closer.

'Most importantly, I want to respect his memory. I think we did, so it was good.'

When he was approached about making the film by director Ryan Coogler, the talented actor definitely had his own reservations as he explained: 'It took a while.

Guys' day out: He was joined by Richie Palmer (left) and Giuseppe Franco (right)

'I really didnt want to do it  I swear to you. Its just too painful. Its rough. There is no closure. There is nothing.

'The wonderful thing about acting is that its a release. I can take some solace in that.'

On July 13, 2012, Sage suffered a heart attack caused by heart disease. He was just 36 at the time of his passing.

Heartbreaking: He has been pretty open about tapping into the painful death of his son Sage - pictured together in 2001 - for his award-winning role in Creed

He has previously talked about the tough subject as shortly after accepting the Golden Globes earlier this month, he talked to People about his son's impact on his career as he said: 'Wow, that's a very heavy question.

'Any time you can do things that are real, I think it's very, very helpful. And with my son, I want to respect his memory, and I think we did so.'

The late actor joined his father as his son Rocky Balboa Jr in Rocky V, released in 1990, in addition to 1996 film Daylight.

In the movie Creed, he appeared on a still image and his character was said to have moved to Vancouver.
Magic Mike XXL star Andie MacDowell ran into some trouble while trying to fly from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach on Friday with her rescue dog.

Tweeting about her experience as it was happening, the 57-year-old actress received mostly positive support from fans, who also used the incident to vent about their frustrating airline experiences.

Travel nightmare: Magic Mike XXL star Andie MacDowell ran into some trouble while trying to fly from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach on Friday with her rescue dog

The trouble apparently began when an airline employee, who was later determined to be a 'bad egg' by the Ground Hog Day star, demoted her from First Class to coach, because there was no room for her dog in the first row of the plane.

Once she took her new seat, she took several selfies with fans, before posting one of them with the caption, '@AmericanAir HELP I paid for first class & they put me in tourist because of my dog that I pre-booked & paid for.'

Things then turned slightly ugly, as the Twittersphere responded that her use of 'tourist' was derogatory. This led to some heated back and forth.

Andie explained, '@AmericanAir there was no excuse why the guy would not just let me ask someone to change seats he had a power trip.'

Shots fired: Things then turned slightly ugly, as the Twittersphere responded that her use of 'tourist' was derogatory. This led to some heated back and forth

'@AmericanAir he said take the seat or don't get on my plane I was there early to ask for help and from the moment I met him he was rude.'

Many did sympathize with the point that she was simply asking for what she had already paid for, while some others said she was complaining about a 'first world problem.'

Though she did admit she wanted a refund for the second half of her trip, she quickly assuaged critics, promising that she would give the money to charity.

Everything was alright: She walked back her comments in a later tweet, saying that 'tourist' class had more legroom than first

'@AmericanAir it was one bad egg who just didn't want to help...let's give it to charity this trip is about giving will send that info.'

She later posted that the donation would be earmarked for Charleston volunteers for literacy & College of Charleston department of education.

It wasn't all anger however, as she did take the opportunity to preach a bit about how kindness needs to be more widespread.

'Kindness always wins, in the end it's all that matters,' she proclaimed, before informing her fans that she was moving on from the incident.

Why be mean? It wasn't all anger however, as she did take the opportunity to preach a bit about how kindness needs to be more widespread




It was time to meet the parents, as Kendall Jenner and Harry Styles enjoyed a date night on Saturday.

Kendall brought along her mother Kris Jenner, while Harry's stepdad Robin completed the foursome as the pair attended music manager Jeff Azoff's birthday party in West Hollywood.

While careful to not be photographed together, the pair looked the perfect match in their rocker inspired looks as they arrived to famed music venue the Troubadour separately.

See more of the latest Harry Styles updates as he spends time with Kendall Jenner

Party time: Kendall Jenner and Harry Styles were spotted partying the night away in West Hollywood, California, on Saturday night for music manager Jeff Azoff

Kris is good friends with Jeff's parents Shelly and Irving Azoff.

But the momager has a prior habit of crashing Kendall and Harry's romantic fun having also holidayed on the same yacht in St Barths over New Years that the model and the 21-year-old pop star spent their days smooching in the sun.

Harry is certainly a lucky man, as Kendall looked amazing as she walked into the venue.

Mom approved: Also turning out to celebrate with her 20-year-old daughter was Kris Jenner, who is good friends with Jeff's parents Shelly and Irving Azoff

Double date? It was time to meet the parents, with Harry's stepdad Robin completing the party

The catwalk star showed just why she is in such demand in the fashion world walking in wearing a pair of high waisted trousers.

The pants highlighted the reality star's slender physique but she was not done there, as she wore the trousers with a black cropped top which showcased her flat stomach.

While Los Angeles has escaped the blizzard bearing down on the East Coast, it is far from warm, so the model donned a fluffy fur jacket.

Dare to bare: The catwalk star showed just why she is in such demand in the fashion world walking in wearing a pair of high waisted trousers and a cropped top

Fur-real: While Los Angeles has escaped the blizzard bearing down on the East Coast, it is far from warm, so the model donned a fluffy fur jacket

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star then accessorized her look with a pair of intricate cage-style heels and ported a Givenchy Lucrezia Duffel Bag.

Kendall - who also wore a black choker around her neck - left her long black locks our and flowing in messy small waves that had a bed head feel.

She finished her look off with a burst of bright red lip colour.

Perfect match: The model's Seventies rocker edge was very fitting considering Harry appeared to be channeling Mick Jagger

The ensemble looked very I'm With The Band but in a glamorous way.

Her Seventies rocker edge was very fitting considering Harry appeared to be channeling Mick Jagger.

For the big celebratory night, Harry looked ready to rock in a pair of black skinny leg jeans and a matching shirt which he left unbuttoned so low that his chest tattoo was visible.

Rocked it: Ensuring he made a statement, Harry donned one of his favourites, a three-quarter length Saint Laurent Classic Wide Striped Coat

Hairy harry: The singer allowed his long locks to flow out in half up, half down 'do and threw some sunglasses atop of his head

Swift exit: Ever the superstar, Harry took the emergency exit out of the club when it was time to call it a night

Fierce: Harry rocked his on-trend look as he left The Troubadour after his star-studded night out

Well-heeled: Harry finished off his look with a pair of the fashion house's light suede Chelsea boots

Ensuring he made a statement, Harry donned one of his favourites, a three-quarter length Saint Laurent Classic Wide Striped Coat.

He finished off his look with a pair of the fashion house's light suede Chelsea boots.

The singer allowed his long locks to flow out in half up, half down 'do and threw some sunglasses atop of his head.

Smooth: With no time to waste, Harry was out the fire exit to avoid all the commotion at the front

Lady in Black: Kris dressed for cool leather wearing a simple black top with tight leggings and a slightly shiny trench coat

Getting her kicks: The star - who arrived without toy boy Corey Gamble - rocked a pair Balmain Eagle Ranger combat boots

Changing it up: The 60-year-old broke with her colour scheme and carried a big white Hermes bag

Kris Jenner certainly seemed to be happy to be hitting the town with the young ones as she smiled away as she headed into the venue in an all-black ensemble.

The 60-year-old dressed for cool leather wearing a simple black top with tight leggings and a slightly shiny trench coat.

Kris - who arrived without toy boy Corey Gamble - rocked a pair Balmain Eagle Ranger combat boots and ported a large white Hermes bag, braking from her all-black colour scheme.

Planning some karaoke? Also helping Jeff celebrate was talk show host James Corden

Matching pair: The host was joined by supermodel Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, both of whom were decked out in black

But the Jenners were not the only ones present for the birthday bash.

Also helping Jeff celebrate was talk show host James Corden.

The host was joined by supermodel Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, both of whom were decked out in black.

Who knew? Harry and Rande are apparently quite close as the pair were seen lunching earlier in the day

The birthday boy: Jeff (seen here in October with Glenne Christiaansen) turned 30 and thanks to his father and his own work in thew music business has a lot of famous pals

Harry and Rande are apparently quite close as the pair were seen lunching earlier in the day.

The businessman was seen loading up Harry's car with his and George Cloney's tequila Casamigos.

While Kendall has grown up with birthday boy Jeff, the music manager and Harry are best friends.

So if fell on the IiD star to 'roast' the music management prodigy with Jeff sitting on stage as Harry relieved his most embarrassing moments.
They're currently taking a break from their acting commitments to enjoy a winter break in Austria.

And Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Patrick were wasting no time in embracing the spirit of the Austrian mountain's as they attended the Hummer Party at the Kitzhof hotel in Kitzbuehel.

Clearly enjoying his time back in the homeland, 68-year-old Arnold looked in fine form as he spent the evening with his girlfriend Heather Milligan, 40, and his 22-year-old son, on Saturday.

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Back in the homeland: Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Patrick were wasting no time in embracing the spirit of the Austrian mountain's as they attended the Hummer Party at the Kitzhof hotel in Kitzbuehel

Clearly relishing the chance to get back to his roots in his homeland, the Terminator star - who was born in Thal - looked relaxed and at home as he soaked up the atmosphere at the bash.

Opting for a smart casual look, Arnold threw on a suede and leather blazer which he wore over a black lightweight sweater.

Rounding his look off with a pair of denim jeans and black boots, the Hollywood star looked at home in the confines of the chalet-style hotel.

Sporting his signature coiffed do, the Predator star wore his thick brown locks oiled back.

Getting to know his roots: Clearly enjoying his time back in the homeland, 68-year-old Arnold looked in fine form as he spent the evening with his girlfriend Heather Milligan, 40, and his 22-year-old son, on Saturday

His girlfriend Heather, a physiotherapist, opted for a chic and casual laid-back look - teaming a colour-block jumper with a pair of black fitted trousers.

Rounding her look off with a pair of ankle boots, the pretty blonde also clasped a black blazer in her hand.

She accessorised her ensemble with a large tan leather handbag and earring, while she wore her blonde hair swept back off of her face.

Meanwhile Arnold's eldest son Patrick channelled a relaxed yet dapper look, throwing on a dark blazer jacket which he teamed with black skinny jeans and boots.

Sporting a layer of stubble over his jaw, the model and actor looked more than a passing resemblance to his father.
She is known for not being afraid to show off her super taunt figure.

And on Saturday Lynzey Murphy left heads turning as she performed a range of gymnastic poses along Bondi Beach in Sydney's east.

While switching around her movements the 24-year-old displayed her toned torso as she dressed in a woollen crop top and tight denim short-shorts.

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How does she do it! Lynzey Murphy performed a range of gymnastic poses along Bondi Beach in Sydney's east on Saturday

The former My Kitchen Rules contestant tied her brunette locks back into a high ponytail, giving a clear view of her blemish free face.

She couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she practised her moves with on-off boyfriend Fred Nunes and a group of male pals.

In one shot Lynzey is pictured performing a handstand with her toned legs spread apart while balancing on a male companion's hands and feet as he laid across the ground.

Flawless: The 24-year-old displayed her toned torso as she dressed in a woollen crop top and tight denim short-shorts

Natural: The former My Kitchen Rules tied her brunette locks back into a high ponytail, giving a clear view of her blemish free face

Talent: In one shot from her outing Lynzey is pictured performing a handstand with her legs spread apart while balancing on a male companion's hands and feet as he laid across the ground

Lending hand: In another the unknown male friend assisted the beauty and lifted her high to the bars

Assistance: While he held onto her back she performed a range of chin ups

Fooling around: The reality TV star later hung from the bar as her male pals watched on

In another image the unknown male friend assisted the beauty and lifted her high to the bars as she attempted to swing between them.

The beauty took to social media to share a glimpse of their outdoor workout where she was lifted high in the air by her waistline by Fred.

She captioned the shot 'It's a bird? It's a plane  ? It's superman. An @acronuts high bird with Evan down at the Bondi bars.'

'Cloudy day down in Bondi today!! Couldn't resist some air time,' she wrote alongside another image which was shared with her 15.3 thousand followers.

Team work: She later assisted a male perform a handstand while balancing on another individual's hands

Stretch: Lynzy soon after stretched her toned legs out while leaning forward

Team work: A male later assistant her perform a hands stand while she clutched onto two melt bars

Break: Her workout comes a week after she revealed she had taken several weeks off her usual regime

Working hard: The break occurred because the health and fitness industry was beginning to have a 'negative' effect on her

Last week the reality TV star revealed to Daily Mail Australia that she took several weeks off her usual regime because the health and fitness industry was beginning to have a 'negative' effect on her.

'I went through a stage of feeling demotivated and training was beginning to have a negative connotation attached with it for me,' she said.

'With today's stance of who has the bigger butt, the nicer arms or the more ripped abs, I started to grow tired of the health and fitness industry and the vanity that is associated with it these days,' she added.

However, she said that after a short break her feelings had changed.

Opening up: She explained the DMA: 'I went through a stage of feeling demotivated and training was beginning to have a negative connotation attached with it for me'

Back at it: Her break from working out was only short lived over the Christmas period

Top: She explained: 'My personal perception of it is training for aesthetics is not a sustainable goal'

Fun and games: The reality TV star admitted she trains to 'be healthy, fit and active'

Over sharing? She regularly uploaded images of herself working out and her healthy diet across her social media accounts

'Now I feel comfortable and relaxed about that aspect. My personal perception of it is training for aesthetics is not a sustainable goal.

'Training to be healthy, fit and active and making me feel good about myself is more important,' she continued.

'I'm anticipating the four-month break will help me to build more strength in a new training program. I've come back to training feeling mentally and physically refreshed.'

The health and fitness professional also provided a refreshing viewpoint on the negative effect social media can have on those trying to attain what is often an unrealistic health pursuit.

'It's really interesting to highlight the negatives of social media in that it can deceive users, as people may only portray aspects of their lives that ooze perfection,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Touching: She said social media 'can deceive users' because 'people may only portray aspects of their lives that ooze perfection'
Earlier this month they enjoyed mingling with the Who's Who of Hollywood after attending the Golden Globes together.

But on Saturday Mel Gibson and his younger girlfriend Rosalind Ross put on a much more casual display as they arrived at swanky Sydney hotel The Darling.

The pair's latest appearance comes one week after Devon Maitozo, a close friend of 24-year-old Rosalind, told the Daily Mail Online that the brunette has grown sick of the 'negative attention' surrounding her relationship with the 60-year-old star.

Happy couple: On Saturday Mel Gibson and his much younger girlfriend Rosalind Ross put on a casual display as they arrived at swanky Sydney hotel The Darling

The Academy Award winner decided to dress down as he arrived to the 5-star hotel.

He sported a pair of flip-flops and black pants with a loose white shirt that he left unbuttoned near the top.

Meanwhile Rosalind put on a more stylish display in a pair of skinny jeans and beige wedge boots.

She added a matching beige shirt on top, while her long black hair was straightened and loose.

Keep it casual: The Academy Award winner decided to dress down as he arrived to the 5-star hotel

Texting: The 60-year-old seemed to be engrossed on his mobile phone

Last week close friend and former vaulting partner Devon Maitozo told the Daily Mail Online that the 'private' Rosalind has found dealing with the 'negative attention' that has accompanied her new relationship difficult and now just wants to 'get on with her life'.

'There's been a lot of very not very nice media that's been written about her. Sifting through it has not been very pleasant at all,' said Devon.

'Sensationalizing her because of her relationships is not what she's looking for.

Looking good: The 24-year-old put on a more stylish display in a pair of skinny jeans and beige wedge boots

Last week Rosaling's close friend Devon Maitozo told the Daily Mail Online that the 'private' 24-year-old has found dealing with the 'negative attention' that has accompanied her new relationship difficult

'She would probably enjoy it if it was about her and her career instead of her being the girlfriend of a celebrity but it's not and so she'd like to keep her life private.

'She's just a young girl and wants to get on with her life without all the attention.'

Ross and Gibson are believed to have met last spring when she applied for a job at his production company Icon.

'There's been a lot of very not very nice media that's been written about her. Sifting through it has not been very pleasant at all,' said Devon

'She would probably enjoy it if it was about her and her career instead of her being the girlfriend of a celebrity but it's not and so she'd like to keep her life private'

According to Radar Online, love blossomed during a visit to the 60-year-old's 500-acre Costa Rica ranch.

'They started their romantic getaway in Costa Rica, hiding out in Playa Barrigona, where he owns a 500-acre tropical sanctuary in the middle of the jungle, before heading to Panama. It's clear the two of them are really happy together,' a source told the website.

Since then, the two have been virtually inseparable, with Ross joining the actor on vacation in Sydney last August and visiting him on the set of Hacksaw Ridge  a World War II drama  in November.
Steven Tyler is no weatherman but it didn't stop him from crashing a live snow storm report.

The 67-year-old rocker was walking through New York City on Saturday with his daughter Mia, 37, when they appeared on a live CNN report at about 3.15pm Eastern Time.

Im from New York City and Im down here to see my daughters and grandson Milo, Tyler told CNN journalist Poppy Harlow, after she asked why he was visiting from Boston.

And he took the opportunity to give his grandson a shout out: How you doing, Milo!

See the latest updates on CNN as Steven Tyler crashes live CNN snow report

Live report! Steven Tyler and his daughter Mia crashed a CNN snow storm report on Saturday afternoon while walking through New York City

Bundled up in beanies, scarfs, gloves and heavy winter jackets, the Aerosmith frontman shared he wouldnt be flying anytime soon.

I got a funny feeling the storm is going to keep us here a couple extra days, he said, adding he was preparing to go on Howard Sterns NYC-based radio show on Monday.

When asked if he had any advice to New Yorkers who were braving Winter Storm Jonah, he said to stay home and drink hot chocolate.

Bundled up: The 67-year-old said he was in NYC to visit his daughters and promote his new country album

His daughter Mia said she was happy to have her father visit despite the record-breaking snowfall.

I like playing in the snow  so Im kind of happy about this, she said. We grew up playing in the snow and doing snow angels and snow things because hes a big kid.

When asked her favorite album to ring in the winter storm, she couldnt help but promote her famous dad.

Favorite album? The 37-year-old Mia described her father as a 'big kid' who loved playing in the snow when she was growing up

I listen to metal, so you guys probably dont want to hear that, she laughed. But Id like to say Id probably like to listen to my dads new album.

A day earlier, the singer appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Friday to promote his new country album, Red, White and You.

When Colbert asked Tyler why he was only recording his first solo album now, he responded: Why not?

New album: Tyler appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Friday to promote his new country album, Red, White and You

Why not? The singer grew up listening to the Everly brothers, which inspired him to record a country album

I mean I cant ever stand still, he said. You can take the country out of rock, but you cant take the rock out of the country.

He said he had always loved country music, especially growing up listening to the Everly brothers.

Asked if it was hard for him to transition from singing rock to country, he said no.

I just went down and rubbed noses with a bunch of good ol country boys, he joked.
She's in Paris for the tres chic city's couture fashion shows.

And on Sunday Gigi Hadid posted a throwback snap of herself with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

She captioned it: 'Couture shows start today! Throwback to #pfw a few seasons ago x.'

Throwback snap: Gigi Hadid is in France for Paris Fashion Week and on Sunday she shared this picture with the Eiffel Tower in background, captioned, 'Couture shows start today! Throwback to #pfw a few seasons ago'

In the black and white image the beautiful blonde revealed her cleavage in a plunging bra worn underneath a jacket and trousers.

Gigi, 20, has been in the city of light for a few days and was spotted hanging out with her sister Bella, 19, who is also a model, the day before.

And on Friday they were joined by Gigi's best friend, fellow model Kendall Jenner, also 20.

They are all in town for Paris Fashion Week, which kicks off with men's couture.

See more of the latest on Gigi Hadid as she models at the Versace show in Paris

Runway ready: The 20-year-old looked suitably chic in a split skirt and long black coat as she went to meet her best friend Kendall Jenner on Friday in the rainy city.

So cute: Gigi wore her KenGi name plate necklace, a custom piece that unites the besties' first names

Kendall caught the overnight flight out of Los Angeles on Thursday, arriving on Friday.

The same day she braved the rainy weather to meet Gigi at a private residence.

And they were already channelling Paris chic, wearing sophisticated outfits.

Gigi donned a mustard-coloured skirt with safety pins closing the thigh-high split, a black top that revealed her cleavage and tummy and a long black coat.

She also wore her gold KenGi name plate necklace, a custom piece that unites the besties' first names.

Kendall kept it simple in a long, form-fitting black dress under a cream satin coat.

The friends are facing the most hectic time of year as designers put on their Autumn/Winter shows in London, Paris, New York and Milan in coming weeks.
star Nishikori into Open quarters with Tsonga win

Japanese star Kei Nishikori produced his best tennis of the tournament to breeze past former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.

Seventh seed Nishikori won 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in just over two hours on Hisense Arena and will face either world number one Novak Djokovic or French 14th seed Gilles Simon in the last eight.

"Today was one of the best matches I've had this week. Played good tennis, through in three sets," Nishikori beamed.

Japan's Kei Nishikori returns against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during their men's singles on day seven of the 2016 of the Australian Open Greg Wood (AFP)

"I'm surprised that I broke him early every set. I was returning well today, so that made it tough for him to have a good serve all the time.

"It seems like he didn't have many first serves in today. That made it easy to return. Yeah, today was very good tactics for me."

It is Nishikori's third Australian Open quarter-final and fifth overall in Grand Slams, one less than the Japanese record of six held by Jiro Satoh, who died in 1934.

Nishikori's previous Slam encounters with the 2008 Australian finalist had both lasted five sets, but Tsonga was well beaten this time.

The lively Nishikori pounded the off-key Tsonga with five service breaks in their third Grand Slam meeting. The French ninth seed served eight double-faults and made 36 unforced errors in a flat performance.

Tsonga had a running battle with the chair umpire Fergus Murphy over the timing of a challenge and at one stage yelled out: "Hey, I'm talking to you. Just respect me!"

He explained later: "I will say I was not really happy because I just want to challenge and didn't want it, because he said it's too late. Nothing to say about it. It's like this. Anyway, we have to play."

Nishikori's service was more effective than Tsonga, winning 74 percent of the first serve points and sweeping up 64 percent of the points on his second serve. He hit 31 winners, 16 off his strong forehand.

It took Nishikori's record over the Frenchman to 5-2 and improved his Australian Open record to 20-6.

It also equalled Nishikoris best result at the Australian Open after reaching the last eight in 2012 and last year.

Nishikori became the first Asian man to play in a Grand Slam final when he was runner-up to Marin Cilic at the 2014 US Open, defeating Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka along the way.

Nishikori trails Djokovic 2-5 in their overall head-to-head, and he has never faced Simon.
France's Hollande says jet deal with India will 'take time'

France's President Francois Hollande said that the conclusion of a deal for New Delhi to buy 36 French fighter jets would "take time" ahead of his arrival in India Sunday for a three-day visit.

"Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track," Hollande said in an interview with the Press Trust of India news agency.

The invitation for Hollande to be the chief guest at Tuesday's Republic Day celebrations had raised hopes that the long drawn-out deal to buy the three dozen Rafale jets would finally be nailed down.

Women soldiers from the Indian Army take part in a full dress rehearsal for the upcoming Indian Republic Day parade on Rajpath in New Delhi Prakash Singh (AFP)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Paris last year that New Delhi had agreed to buy the jets as India looks to modernise its Soviet-era military, in part to keep up with neighbouring rivals Pakistan and China.
Iran to buy 114 Airbuses to revamp ageing fleet

Iran said Sunday it will buy 114 Airbus planes to revitalise its ageing fleet, in the first major commercial deal announced since the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear agreement.

Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said a deal on the purchase would be signed between national carrier Iran Air and Airbus during a visit to Paris this week by President Hassan Rouhani.

Rouhani will travel to Italy and France from Monday to Wednesday, on his first visit to Europe since the implementation of the deal curbing Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions.

Passengers disembark from an Emirates Airline Airbus A380-800 at Tehran's IKA airport on September 30, 2014 Behrouz Mehri (AFP)

Rouhani has hailed the agreement as a "new chapter" for Iran as its economy returns to global markets.

Modernising the country's air fleet and infrastructure is a top priority, with Akhoundi saying Sunday that only 150 of the country's 250 planes are operational.

"We have been negotiating for 10 months" for the purchase of planes but "there was no way to pay for them because of banking sanctions", state media quoted Akhoundi as saying.

"We need 400 long- and mid-range and 100 short-range planes," he said.

He said the first batch of new planes would arrive in Iran by March 19 but provided no financial details of the deal with Airbus.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment.

Akhoundi's deputy, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, told AFP that Iran "essentially wants to buy Airbus A320s, A321s and A330s".

"We will take delivery in 2016 and 2017 of Airbus A320s and A321s, with the A330s coming later," he said.

"From 2020, we will take delivery of Airbus A350s and A380s. We want eight A380s and 16 A350s."

The A380 is the world's largest passenger plane, a twin-deck four-engined long-haul aircraft.

On the cost of the contract, the deputy minister said the basic price had been fixed but it would be necessary to "add options for each aircraft".

Iran, with a population 79 million, has a good road network but still needs major transport upgrades, which Tehran hopes will boost tourism and trade.

- Talks with Boeing -

Iran's airports also need $250 million (230 million euros) worth of upgrades in navigation systems, Akhoundi said.

Only nine of Iran's 67 airports are currently operational.

Iran has suffered several air crashes in recent years blamed on ageing planes, poor maintenance and a shortage of new parts.

News of the Airbus deal came as aviation industry representatives from 85 companies met in Tehran on Sunday to assess opportunities in the Islamic republic after sanctions were removed.

"It's a really exciting time, there's never been a situation like this," said Peter Harbison, the head of the CAPA consultancy which organised the conference.

"A whole array of different aviation services and new jobs obviously are going to be created," Harbison told AFP.

"Aviation is one of those industries that creates massive economic flow-on benefits, so tourism will expand, so you'll need more infrastructure growth in hotels and right across the board."

Akhoundi said Sunday Iran was also negotiating with US plane manufacturer Boeing, but provided no details.

He said Iran was in talks with the United States on the possibility of reopening direct air routes, which were cut after the 1979 hostage crisis that ended all diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Rouhani's European tour will see him seeking to restore commercial ties with Italy and France, which were among Tehran's main economic partners before the tightening of international sanctions in January 2012.

Competition to tap the Iranian market has been fierce as it emerges from international isolation.

Meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, Rouhani said the two countries aim to build up economic ties worth up to $600 billion in the next 10 years.

They signed a slew of trade agreements, including a $2 billion contract for China to electrify the railway line linking Tehran with second city Mashhad.

A plane prepares to land at Mehrabad airport in Tehran on January 18, 2016 Atta Kenare (AFP)
Morocco journalist faces trial for Western Sahara comments

Moroccan journalist Ali Anouzla is to stand trial next month over comments about the Western Sahara that he made to the German press, he said on Sunday.

The head of the Lakome2 website faces charges of "undermining national territorial integrity" at a trial due to begin on February 9, he told AFP.

The prosecution service opened an investigation after he mentioned the Western Sahara as one of three red lines for Moroccan journalists in an interview published last month in the German newspaper Bild, he said.

Journalist Ali Anouzla, pictured on February 18, 2014, faces charges of "undermining national territorial integrity" at a trial due to begin on February 9, 2016 Fadel Senna (AFP/File)

Bild reported that he listed these limits as "the monarchy, Islam and the occupied Western Sahara".

Anouzla, who faces up to five years in jail if convicted, said he never called the Western Sahara "occupied" and called the translation "inexact".

Morocco claims sovereignty over the mineral-rich territory, but the Algeria-backed Polisario Front has been campaigning for its independence since 1973.

UN efforts to organise a referendum on the territory's future have been resisted by Rabat.

The charges against Anouzla come as he faces others of defending and inciting "terrorism" in another case.
Bahrain questions opposition chief over tweets

Bahrain's prosecutor said Sunday he would not press new charges against Sheikh Ali Salman, the jailed leader of the main Shiite opposition bloc, in connection with messages posted on Twitter.

The prosecutor general summoned Salman from prison, where he is serving a sentence for inciting disobedience, for questioning about "violations" posted on his Twitter account, the official BNA news agency reported.

It later said that Salman denied any wrongdoing and that the prosecutor decided not to press charges and ordered him returned to prison to serve the rest of his sentence.

Bahraini protesters hold portraits of Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Shiite opposition movement Al-Wefaq, during a demonstration against his arrest, in the village of Diraz on October 9, 2015 Mohammed al-Shaikh (AFP/File)

The prosecution also ordered an investigation into who was behind the tweets which, according to BNA, "incited" against the government and called for demonstrations.

Salman's Al-Wefaq bloc earlier denounced the summoning of its chief by the prosecution, saying it "violates the Bahraini constitution and national law, as well as international covenants related to freedom of opinion and expression".

The opposition chief was sentenced on June 16 to four years in jail after being convicted of inciting disobedience and hatred.

An appeals court is reviewing that conviction, but the prosecution is demanding the annulment of his acquittal on the more serious charge of plotting to overthrow the regime and seeking a tougher sentence.

A ruling on the appeal is expected on March 30.

Al-Wefaq renewed earlier calls for its leader to be released "immediately".

The group once held the most seats in parliament, but its 18 MPs walked out in 2011 in protest at violence against demonstrators during pro-democracy rallies.

Bahrain's Sunni authorities crushed Shiite-led protests a month after they erupted on February 14, 2011.

The gap has since been growing between the Sunni authorities and their mainly Shiite opponents.

Tiny but strategic Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled Bahrain is across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and home to the US Fifth Fleet.
Grieving Palestinian father of shot girl says guard went too far

The father of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead by an Israeli security guard after trying to stab him accused the man on Sunday of acting with disproportionate force.

Roqaya Abu-Eid left her West Bank village of Anata northeast of Jerusalem on Saturday and went to the gate of the nearby Jewish settlement of Anatot.

Video footage published by Israeli media shows her clutching a knife and running at the private security guard who then shot her dead.

Palestinian security forces carry the body of Roqaya Abu-Eid, a Palestinian teenager who was shot dead following a stabbing attack, during her funeral on January 24, 2016 in the southern West Bank village of Yatta, south of Hebron Hazem Bader (AFP)

Police said she had been feeling suicidal after a fight with her family, and her father, who had been searching for her, arrived too late at the scene of the attack.

He was released after questioning and was among the hundreds who attended her funeral on Sunday in Yatta, the southern Hebron hills village from where the family originated.

"She was a little girl. There's no reason in the world for her to be shot and killed," her father Eid Abu-Eid told AFP after the funeral.

"The person who shot her could have apprehended her or shot her in the leg -- he didn't have to kill her," he said by telephone.

"It was as though he issued her a death sentence."

Rights groups have called on Israel to stop using "lethal force" against attackers, and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has accused the Jewish state of carrying out "extrajudicial executions" in response to knife attacks by Palestinians.

Asked if he would seek legal redress, Abu-Eid said he had "turned to God" instead, since he trusted no court, Israeli or any other.

- 'Media incitement' -

His daughter's death brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the wave of violence since October 1 to 156, according to an AFP count. Twenty-four Israelis have also been killed.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks and many of the assailants have been young people, with Israel's Shin Bet internal agency telling AFP that Roqaya Abu-Eid was the youngest killed in the nearly four months of violence.

Also on Sunday, the Shin Bet said that Murad Ideis, 15, arrested for stabbing to death 38-year-old Israeli nurse and mother of six Dafna Meir at her home in a West Bank settlement last Sunday, had been influenced to carry out the attack by Palestinian media.

"During the period preceding the murder, the minor had watched broadcasts on Palestinian television in which Israel was portrayed as 'killing Palestinian young people'," the agency said in a statement.

Meir's murder underscored "the severity of the threat posed by the wild incitement being carried out against the State of Israel and Jews in the Palestinian media," it said.

In a separate incident early on Sunday, a 17-year-old Palestinian named Mohammad Halabiye died in a blast which a security official said was apparently a "mistake".

A security source said border policemen at a post in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, heard an explosion and rushed to find Halabiye, who is believed to have intended to throw a device at them when it went off prematurely.

Raida, the mother of Roqaya Abu-Eid, a Palestinian teenager who was shot dead following a stabbing attack, mourns next to her daughter's body during her funeral on January 24, 2016 in the southern West Bank village of Yatta, south of Hebron Hazem Bader (AFP)
Murray guns for seventh Aussie quarter-final

Andy Murray will be looking to put a medical drama involving father-in-law Nigel Sears behind him as he aims for a seventh consecutive Australian Open quarter-final on Monday.

The British second seed rushed to see Sears in hospital after he collapsed mid-match collapse late Saturday while watching Ana Ivanovic, who he coaches.

Murray, whose wife Kim Sears is heavily pregnant, was playing on the neighbouring Margaret Court Arena unaware of the emergency.

Britain's Andy Murray plays a backhand return during his men's singles match against Portugal's Joao Sousa on day six of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2016 Peter Parks (AFP/File)

The four-time finalist was back on the practice courts on Monday as Sears was given the all-clear, and preparing for his night match on Rod Laver Arena against Australian Bernard Tomic.

"I'm sure it will have no effect for him when he plays on Monday," said Tomic, while offering sympathies to the Scot.

With Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova safely into the tournament last eight, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka will be keen to join them when she squares off against Czech Barbora Strycova.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I'm playing. I just want to still keep improving from match to match, because it's only getting harder from here," said the Belarusian, seeded 14.

Strycova will be a tough test after she sent third seed Garbine Mururuza packing in the last round.

Angelique Kerber faces compatriot Annika Beck in another fourth round clash, with at least one German assured of a quarter-final berth.

Other women's action sees Johanna Konta, the first British woman to reach this stage at the Australian Open in 29 years, against Russian 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova.

Meanwhile Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai aims to keep her giant-killing run going against American 15th seed Madison Keys.

"I really want to win one day. I really want to win a Grand Slam," said Zhang, who has the belief that she can go all the way in Melbourne this year.

Stan Wawrinka will have his work cut out against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, who has been extra intensity by his grief over a Canadian high school shooting on Friday.

Wawrinka, who won his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne two years ago, admitted it will not be easy despite leading their head-to-head 4-0.

"He's a tough player. I've never lost, but always been some tough matches," he said. "I still think it depends a lot on my game. I always find some solution to break his serve, even if it's really tough. We'll see."

France's Gael Monfils takes on Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, and 10th seed John Isner is up against eighth seed David Ferrer in the other men's fourth-round matches.

Medical staff use a stretcher to carry Ana Ivanovic's coach Nigel Sears from the stadium during the women's singles match between Ana Ivanovic and Madison Keys on day six of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2016 Peter Parks (AFP/File)
China seeks 'new chapter' with Iran after sanctions end

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday he hopes to open a "new chapter" in relations with Iran after the lifting of international sanctions under a historic nuclear deal, as he paid the first visit by a Chinese leader to the Islamic Republic in 14 years.

"In cooperation with the Iranian side and by benefiting from the current favorable conditions, China is ready to upgrade the level of bilateral relations and cooperation so that a new chapter will start in bilateral relations," Xi said after meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, according to Iranian state TV.

Trade between the two countries stood at some $52 billion in 2014, but that figure dropped last year due to plunging oil prices. China is Iran's biggest trade partner, and continued purchasing oil from Iran after nuclear-related sanctions were tightened in 2012, despite U.S. pressure.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center right, shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as they pose for a photo in an official arrival ceremony, at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

"China has always stood by the side of the Iranian nation during hard days," Rouhani said, in comments posted on his official website.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, told Jinping later Saturday that Iran will continue its policy of bolstering ties with the "East." He praised China's "independent" stance in global issues, saying it helps deepen strategic ties with Tehran.

"Westerners have never obtained the trust of the Iranian nation," he said. "The government and nation of Iran have always sought expanding relations with independent and trustful countries like China."

Khamenei said Iran won't forget China's support at the time of sanctions.

"The Islamic Republic will never forget China's cooperation during the sanctions era," state TV quoted Khamenei as saying.

Officials from the two countries signed 17 documents and letters of intent to broaden bilateral cooperation in industry, transportation, railways, ports, new technology, tourism, the environment and energy.

China is one of six world powers  along with the U.S., Germany, France, Britain and Russia  that reached a landmark agreement with Iran last summer to lift international sanctions in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear program. The deal was implemented a week ago after the U.N. nuclear watchdog certified that Iran had fulfilled all its commitments.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in an official arrival ceremony, at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, fourth left, reviews an honor guard as he is welcomed by his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, second left, in an official arrival ceremony at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, reviews an honor guard as he is welcomed by his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, left, in an official arrival ceremony at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, is welcomed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during his official arrival ceremony at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center right, shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as they pose for a photograph in an official arrival ceremony, at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, is welcomed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during his official arrival ceremony at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, fourth left, reviews an honor guards as he is welcomed by his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, second left, in an official arrival ceremony at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

In this Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tehran, Iran. A portrait of late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini hangs on the wall. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

In this Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in Tehran, Iran. Xi Jinping, visiting Iran just days after the lifting of international sanctions under a historic nuclear deal, said he hopes for a "new chapter" in relations. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani prepare to shake hands at the conclusion of their joint press conference at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping after their meeting at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
As Bloomberg weighs White House run, Iowa voters ask, 'Who?'

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP)  Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's latest flirtation with a White House run set the political world aflutter Saturday.

But in Iowa, some people wondered, who?

"I don't know anything about him," said Leslie McCreery, a 70-year-old Hillary Clinton supporter.

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2015, file photo, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks during the C40 cities awards ceremony, in Paris. Bloomberg is taking some early steps toward launching a potential independent campaign for president. That's according to three people familiar with the billionaire media executive's plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly for Bloomberg. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Asked whether she was familiar with the three-term New York mayor, Clinton supporter Beverly Williams, 55, said, "No, I'm not."

Bloomberg's standing with politically savvy Iowans, who are used to getting attention from presidential candidates during both the primaries and general election  underscore one of his biggest challenges if he were to make a late entrance into the race. While the prospect of Bloomberg launching a third-party presidential campaign has been speculated about for years, he's largely unknown to many Americans and would be entering the race well after his rivals started introducing themselves to voters.

"Eighty percent of us in Iowa have probably made up our minds," said Angela Lambertz, a 42-year-old from Iowa City, who attended an event Saturday for Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate.

Bloomberg, a longtime Democrat who became a Republican, then switched to independent, is said to be strongly considering a bid if the general election becomes a contest between Sanders and Donald Trump.

Among Iowa voters attending campaign events Saturday, there were few Bloomberg fans.

"The communist? The anti-2nd Amendment mayor?" asked Claudia Springer, 63, of Bloomfield, Iowa, who was attending a rally for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a leading candidate in the Republican race.

Among those who identify with the Democratic race, Jeff Mussman, 59, of Camanche, Iowa, said he was aware of Bloomberg's post-mayoral efforts to promote tighter gun control laws, an effort he opposes.

"You can live in a big city and yeah, you might have to have gun control, but we're living here in the country," said Mussman, who plans to vote either for Clinton or Sanders (despite their support for stricter gun laws).

Bloomberg took hits from small-government conservatives when he tried to ban sales of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin mocked him at a conservative forum in 2013, taking the stage with a "Big Gulp" soda.

"He's the Big Gulp guy," said Garren Bugh, 42, of Ankeny, Iowa, who also attended the Cruz event. "He's all about, 'I know better than you do.' It's the antithesis of America when we get down to micromanaging what people are drinking."

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Associated Press writers Steve Peoples and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report from Iowa.

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3 inmates held on violent crimes escape California jail

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Southern California authorities launched a frantic manhunt Saturday after three inmates charged with violent crimes, including torture and murder, escaped an Orange County jail.

The inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. Friday at the Orange County Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. They could have escaped any time between then and late Friday night, Lt. Jeff Hallock, a spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, said Saturday.

Hallock said investigators believe they know how the three men escaped the 900-inmate jail, but for now, he wouldn't release those details. He said it's the first escape from the facility in at least the past 20 years and could be the first-ever breakout from the jail.

This image provided by the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, shows three jail inmates charged with violent crimes who escaped from the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men from left are, 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who is charged with murder, and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. on Friday and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP)

The inmates include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who had been held on a $1 million bond since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.

Hossein Nayeri, 37, had been held without bond since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. Nayeri and three other men are accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012. They drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then cut off his penis, authorities said.

After the crime, Nayeri fled the U.S. to his native Iran, where he remained for several months. He was arrested in Prague in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.

The third escaped inmate, 43-year-old Bac Duong, was being held without bond since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.

Orange County sheriff's deputies and a search dog investigate early Saturday morning, Jan. 23, 2016, after three jail inmates charged with violent crimes escaped from Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who is charged with murder; 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. Friday morning and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (AP Photo/Kevin Warn)

Orange County sheriff's deputies investigate early Saturday morning, Jan. 23, 2016, after three jail inmates charged with violent crimes escaped from Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who is charged with murder; 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. Friday morning and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (AP Photo/Kevin Warn)

This undated booking photo provided by the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, shows 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, one of three jail inmates charged with violent crimes, who escaped from the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men include Tieu, who is charged with murder; 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP)

This undated booking photo provided by the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, shows 37-year-old Hossein Nayeri, one of three jail inmates charged with violent crimes, who escaped from the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. The men include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who is charged with murder; Nayeri, charged with kidnapping and torture; and 43-year-old Bac Duong, charged with attempted murder. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said Saturday that the inmates were last seen at 5 a.m. and could have escaped anytime between then and late Friday night. (Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP)
Longtime rivals: A look at complex Vietnam-China ties

BEIJING (AP)  Divided opinions within Vietnam's Communist Party on how to relate to giant neighbor and one-time ally China are among key factors in play at an eight-day congress to choose new leadership. A look at the countries' shared history and some of the most recent ups and downs in relations.

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LONGTIME RIVALS

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2015 file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong wave at well-wishers as they leave a welcome ceremony at the presidential palace for the headquarters of the Vietnamese Communist Party for official talks in Hanoi. Divided opinions within Vietnams Communist Party on how to relate to giant neighbor and one-time ally China are among key factors in play at an eight-day congress to choose new leadership. During Xi's visit to Vietnam, Xi and Trong agree to limit their differences and maintain peace and stability. (Hoang Dinh Nam/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Vietnam and China have a complex relationship going back more than 2,000 years, including several periods of Chinese imperial occupation that were ended by Vietnamese uprisings. Despite its early support for the Vietnamese Communist Party, China invaded in 1979 in retaliation for Hanoi's overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Diplomatic ties were restored in 1991, but tensions have risen in recent years due to competing claims to islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

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KEEPING WATCH

China is closely observing the party congress and has emphasized the importance of China-Vietnam relations, including $90 billion in bilateral trade last year. "As a good neighbor, friend, comrade and partner to Vietnam, we wish to advance the overall strategic relationship into a new stage on the basis of long-term stability, forward thinking and good neighborliness," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Friday. "We also wish to work with Vietnam to appropriately control maritime disputes with Vietnam so as to safeguard the maritime stability."

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OIL RIG DISPUTE

In May 2014, China parked a huge oil drilling platform off the Vietnamese coast in an area where the two countries' exclusive economic zones overlap. Vietnam furiously denounced the move and sent fishing boats and coast guard vessels to harass the rig and nearby Chinese vessels. Skirmishes led to collisions and the capsizing of at least one Vietnamese boat, while in Vietnam anti-Chinese rioting and the looting of Chinese and other foreign-owned factories left at least four Chinese citizens dead.

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CHINA'S OUTREACH

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visited Vietnam in June 2014 to try to contain the oil rig dispute. Despite receiving a frosty reception from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, escalation was avoided. More significantly, the oil rig incident nudged Vietnam closer to its old enemy the United States, which later that year partially lifted an arms embargo specifically to help improve Vietnam's maritime security.

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COMPETING CLAIMS

China withdrew the rig in July 2014, one month ahead of schedule, saying it had completed its mission. The confrontation is widely seen as part of a Chinese strategy to strengthen its footprint in the South China Sea, all or part of which is also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The incident also focuses renewed attention on a perceived split within the Vietnamese Communist Party between pro- and anti-China factions.

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VIETNAM VISITS

Following a prolonged chill, Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong (pronounced NEW-yen FOO CHONG) led a delegation to Beijing in April 2015 and was greeted by President Xi Jinping with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People. Though little of substance resulted from the four-day trip visit, it is seen as helping get relations back on track.

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MENDING TIES

China's Xi made a state visit to Vietnam in November 2015, during which he and Trong agree to limit their differences and maintain peace and stability. Xi said China will "strive together with Vietnam to control differences at sea." Trong proposed that neither side take actions that increase tensions. During the visit, about 30 people protested briefly in front of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi. Xi also addressed Vietnam's National Assembly, but avoided mentioning the South China Sea and the 1979 war.

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TENSIONS RENEWED

Vietnam protested to China in January over a test flight to a new airstrip on one of Beijing's man-made island in the disputed Spratly Islands. Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh demanded an end to such flights, saying they violate Vietnam's sovereignty and hurt bilateral relations. China responded that the flights fall "completely within China's sovereignty." Days later, China conducted two more test flights. The South China Sea dispute looks only to grow more complex as China completes infrastructure on its newly created islands and boosts its maritime defense forces beyond anything its rival claimants can muster.

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2016, file photo, Communist Pioneers' league members play music to welcome delegates during the opening ceremony of the Communist Party of Vietnam's 12th Congress in Hanoi, Vietnam. Divided opinions within Vietnams Communist Party on how to relate to giant neighbor and one-time ally China are among key factors in play at an eight-day congress to choose new leadership. (Hoang Dinh Nam/Pool Photo via AP, File)
French president in India to strengthen strategic ties

NEW DELHI (AP)  French President Francois Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy.

Hollande landed in the northern city of Chandigarh where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined him at official engagements and lauded France's decision to invest $1 billion every year in India in various sectors.

Chandigarh was designed in the 1950s by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and is one of three places France has pledged to help develop as so-called "smart cities" - with clean water supplies, efficient sewage disposal and public transportation.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right and French President Francois Hollande wave to the media at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Hollande and French business leaders met with their Indian counterparts to boost bilateral trade, which in 2014 was $8.6 billion. New Delhi is also trying to encourage French companies to tap into India's economic boom.

Modi in his speech said India was looking forward to French expertise in defense production, developing railways and waterways, and fighting global warming and terrorism.

Hollande is accompanied by the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, economy and culture and dozens of top corporate leaders.

On Sunday, Airbus Helicopters and India's Mahindra Defense, a private company, signed a "statement of intent" in the presence of the two leaders to produce military helicopters in India as a joint venture.

"Mahindra India and Airbus Helicopters have agreed on a blueprint that can put India on the world map for military helicopter manufacturing," said Pierre de Bausset, president of the Airbus Group India. Details were not immediately known.

Hollande will hold talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi on Monday and be a guest of honor on Tuesday at India's Republic Day parade, celebrating 66 years since the country adopted its constitution.

High on the agenda is India's desire to purchase 36 Rafale combat planes for its air force, which Modi had announced during a visit to Paris in April, touching off several rounds of negotiations over pricing, offsets and servicing.

In an interview with the Press Trust of India news agency, Hollande hinted it might take some more time to sign the deal.

"Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track," PTI quoted Hollande as saying.

France has also promised support for India's clean-energy quest, including a solar energy alliance launched last month during the global climate talks held in Paris.

"Our bilateral relationship with France is very comprehensive. It covers a number of sectors such as defense, civil nuclear cooperation, railways, smart cities, science and research, space and culture. In all these areas we expect some forward progress during the French president's visit," Vikas Swarup, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman, said last week.

The two sides are also expected to touch on anti-terrorism efforts including speeding up extradition requests and cracking down on money laundering used to fund militant activities.

Swarup noted that both countries had been hit by militants recently, with 130 people killed across Paris on Nov. 13 and a four-day siege against the north Indian air force base of Pathankot earlier this month in which seven Indian soldiers were killed.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right and French President Francois Hollande pose for the media at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, watches as French President Francois Hollande waves to the media at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left and French President Francois Hollande greet each other at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

French President Francois Hollande, center left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center right, pose for a group photo with Indian folk dancers at the government museum and art gallery in Chandigarh, India, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy. (Manvender Vashist/Press Trust of India via AP) INDIA OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO ARCHIVE
Kerry says US-Saudi friendship stronger than ever

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)  Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the U.S. friendship with Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever and that the two will work together to try to end wars in Syria and Yemen.

"We have as solid a relationship, as clear an alliance and as strong a friendship with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as we have ever had, and nothing has changed because we worked to eliminate a nuclear weapon with a country in the region," he said, referring to the Iran nuclear deal.

Kerry delivered the remarks to U.S. Embassy employees a day after meeting with Saudi and other Gulf officials on a visit aimed at reassuring U.S. allies who are skeptical about the agreement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to U.S. Embassy staff in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, before leaving Saudi Arabia. Kerry is in Saudi Arabia on the second leg of his latest round-the-world diplomatic mission, which will also take him to Laos, Cambodia and China. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have long viewed Iran as a regional menace, and Riyadh and Tehran back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen.

The nuclear deal, which was implemented a week ago after the U.N. certified that Iran had curbed its nuclear activities, lifted crippling sanctions on Tehran and unfroze billions of dollars in assets.

"Doing an agreement to get rid of a nuclear weapon doesn't do away with the other issues that are still of concern, so we will continue to work in the region with our friends and our allies," Kerry said.

He said he had discussed "new ideas" to bring peace to Yemen, where the Saudi-backed government is battling Iran-supported Shiite rebels.

He added that Saudi Arabia is "committed to work with us in the efforts to try to stabilize Syria and calm down this hyped-up, exploited division between Sunni and Shia."

Saudi Arabia backs the Sunni-dominated Syrian rebellion against President Bashar Assad, a close ally of Iran who hails from Syria's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves as he holds 7-month-old Zaiden Azar, whose mother is a foreign service officer, while surrounded by children of Embassy staff during his visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, before leaving Saudi Arabia. Kerry is in Saudi Arabia on the second leg of his latest round-the-world diplomatic mission, which will also take him to Laos, Cambodia and China. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Embassy staff watch U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speak, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, before leaving Saudi Arabia. Kerry is in Saudi Arabia on the second leg of his latest round-the-world diplomatic mission, which will also take him to Laos, Cambodia and China. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Malaysia detains 7 suspected IS members plotting attacks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Malaysian police have detained seven men suspected of being an Islamic State militant cell that was plotting attacks, authorities said Sunday.

The seven Malaysians were detained over the past three days in a follow-up operation after the Jan. 15 detention of a man who was planning a suicide attack in Kuala Lumpur, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

Among the items seized were 30 types of bullets, jihad books and Islamic State flags and videos, he said.

"All the suspects are members of the same (terror) cell, which is responsible for planning to launch terror attacks in strategic locations across Malaysia," Khalid said in a statement.

The suspect thought to be the cell leader is a 31-year-old assistant housekeeping manager at a hotel in southern Johor state, Khalid said. He said one of the suspects, whom he didn't identify, received orders from Bahrom Naim, an Indonesian based in Syria who had a role in planning the Jakarta attacks.

Malaysia raised its security alert level following the attacks Jan. 14 in neighboring Indonesia.
The Latest: Norway, Russia to talk on migrant deportations

ORESTIADA, Greece (AP)  The latest developments in Europe's immigration crisis (all times local):

7:50 p.m.

Norway says it will hold talks with Moscow on Monday to discuss the deportation of asylum-seekers to Russia who have arrived in the Scandinavian country across their northern border.

Shop owners and local business people hold a banner reading "My port is beautiful, My city is beautiful" during a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

Ann-Magrit Austena, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Organization for Asylum-Seekers, says the meeting comes after Russia announced it would discontinue accepting the return of asylum-seekers at the Storskog border post for "security reasons." So far, Norway has returned 230 migrants at the Arctic frontier post but stopped the deportations last week, citing a lack of buses and staff on the Russian side of the border.

Austena said Sunday that police had released 82 asylum-seekers who had been detained for fear they might flee but they were ordered not to leave an asylum-center near the border. Three other asylum-seekers are seeking refuge in a church in the far northern city of Kirkenes.

Last year, some 5,500 people crossed from Russia at the remote Arctic border post, many on bicycles. Officials said many of the migrants had permits to stay in Russia, where they had been living for years, and did not qualify for asylum.

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7:15 p.m.

Shop owners and business people have demonstrated in the northern French city of Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy.

Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions. Periodically the migrants wreak havoc on service at the Calais port and nearby rail facilities.

Local official Jean-Marc Puissesseau estimated that passenger numbers in the port have fallen by 40,000 compared to a year ago. Shops and restaurants also complain about losses due to the migrant crisis.

Up to 2,000 people took park in Sunday's demonstration, waving "I love Calais" flags and flying a banner reading "My port is beautiful, my city is beautiful."

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5:30 p.m.

A British official says the government is considering whether to let unaccompanied minors settle in Britain.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening spoke Sunday as the U.K. faced mounting calls to do more to help migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. Greening indicated the government may decide to let several thousand child migrants into the country.

No decision has yet been made.

British charities and the leaders of opposition parties urged the government to let 3,000 more children start a new life in Britain.

Britain has said so far it will allow 20,000 Syrian refugees to settle in the next five years. In contrast, last year over 1 million asylum-seekers entered Germany.

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3:25 p.m.

A protest in northern Greece calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees across the land border to Turkey has ended.

The rally was attended by about 700 people and stopped about 200 meters from the Turkish border.

Human rights groups and local activists say the fence and police patrols along Greece's 200-kilometer border are forcing asylum-seekers from Syria and other conflict areas to pay hefty sums to smugglers and risk their lives to reach Europe by sea.

Police allowed a small delegation of protesters to walk to a border point Sunday and hang up a protest banner.

At end of rally, lead organizer Petros Constantinou said: "We will never accept this policy being dictated by Europe's politicians ... who close borders to refugees and force them to risk their lives."

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2:50 p.m.

Police in northern Greece have blocked protesters from reaching a border post on the Greek-Turkish frontier.

Riot police set up the blockade in the border village of Kastanies, where several hundred activists burned a European Union flag and chanted "open the borders."

The demonstrators from Athens and elsewhere in Greece are rallying for a second day in the border region, in the wake of more migrant deaths in the eastern Aegean Sea.

They are demanding that Greece ease transit restrictions at the border, where access is blocked by a 10.5-kilometer (6 1/2-mile) fence.

Protest organizer Petros Constantinou said: "We have every right to go to the border post and demonstrate. We have given authorities ample notification."

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2:00 p.m.

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says the country's newly introduced cap on the number of refugees allowed into the country will likely be reached in a few months.

Mikl-Leitner has told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that the maximum number of 37,500 refugees would probably be reached before the summer.

The Austrian minister said Sunday that once the cap had been reached the country would either refuse to accept further asylum application or reject refugees on the border.

More than 1 million people from countries like Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan entered Europe last year in the biggest migration to the continent since World War II. They mostly went to Germany and other wealthy EU nations.

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1:50 p.m.

Demonstrators have gathered for a second day near Greece's border with Turkey, calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees at the frontier.

Several hundred protesters traveled to the border town of Orestiada, near a 10.5-kilometer (6 1/2-mile) border fence.

Human rights groups and local activists say the fence and police patrols along Greece's 200-kilometer border are forcing asylum-seekers from Syria and other conflict areas, to pay hefty sums to smugglers and risk their lives to reach Europe by sea.

Two migrant boats sunk in the eastern Aegean Sea earlier this week, killing at least 46 people, including more than a dozen children.

The protesters chanting "Pull down the fence. Open the borders," are planning to travel in a bus convoy to the edge of a military area that includes the border fence, and onto a nearby border crossing point.

A protester wears a life jacket during a rally at the northeastern border town of Orestiada, Greece, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Demonstrators have gathered for a second day near Greece's border with Turkey, calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees at the frontier. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Protesters shout slogans during a rally at the border town of Orestiada, northeastern Greece, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Demonstrators have gathered for a second day near Greece's border with Turkey, calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees at the frontier. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A protester walks behind a banner that reads ''Evros,'' a northeastern border region of Greece with Turkey, during a rally at the town of Orestiada Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Demonstrators have gathered for a second day near Greece's border with Turkey, calling on the government to grant safe passage to refugees at the frontier. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A man holds a banner amid shop owners and local business people during a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

Refugees and migrants go to embark in police and military vans on a highway near the northeastern Greek village of Thourio, at the Greek-Turkish border on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. The migrants told police they were part of a group of 130 who crossed the Evros river between Greece and Turkey overnight without the assistance of a trafficker. They spent the night cold and wet after crossing on foot. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A woman holds a banner amid shop owners and local business people during a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

Shop owners and local business people attend a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

A woman holds a banner amid shop owners and local business people during a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

Refugees and migrants wait to embark in police and military vans on a highway near the northeastern Greek village of Thourio, at the Greek-Turkish border on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. The migrants told police they were part of a group of 130 who crossed the Evros river between Greece and Turkey overnight without the assistance of a trafficker. They spent the night cold and wet after crossing on foot. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Shop owners and local business people attend a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

Shop owners and local business people march in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, during a demonstration in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

A refugee makes the victory sign inside a military van on a highway near the northeastern Greek village of Thourio, at the Greek-Turkish border on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. The migrants told police they were part of a group of 130 who crossed the Evros river between Greece and Turkey overnight without the assistance of a trafficker. They spent the night cold and wet after crossing on foot. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Refugees and migrants embark in a police van as policemen patrol on a highway near the northeastern Greek village of Thourio, at the Greek-Turkish border on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. The migrants told police they were part of a group of 130 who crossed the Evros river between Greece and Turkey overnight without the assistance of a trafficker. They spent the night cold and wet after crossing on foot. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Shop owners and local business people attend a demonstration in Calais to call attention to the impact that Europe's migrant crisis is having on their town's local economy, in Calais, northern France, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Calais has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis as thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Britain camp out in squalid conditions and periodically wreak havoc on service at the port and nearby rail facilities. (Photo/Michel Spingler)

Refugees try to warm themselves up in a tent at the transit center for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, before continuing their journey to Serbia, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor that starts in Greece, are only letting in people whose stated final destination is Germany or Austria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A man holds a baby as refugees and migrants wait to enmbark a military van, on a highway near the northeastern Greek village of Thourio, at the Greek-Turkish border on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. The migrants told police they were part of a group of 130 who crossed the Evros river between Greece and Turkey overnight without the assistance of a trafficker. They spent the night cold and wet after crossing on foot. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Refugees and migrants wait to embark a military van, on a highway near the northeastern Greek village of Thourio, at the Greek-Turkish border on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. The migrants told police they were part of a group of 130 who crossed the Evros river between Greece and Turkey overnight without the assistance of a trafficker. They spent the night cold and wet after crossing on foot. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Refugees eat bread on the arrival at the transit center for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, before continuing their journey to Serbia, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor that starts in Greece, are only letting in people whose stated final destination is Germany or Austria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

The Turkish flag is seen at the Ipsala border gate with Greece, in Turkeys northwestern province of Edirne, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Academicians, NGO representatives and human right activists from Turkey and Greece demonstrated at the crossing to make a call for opening the borders for the asylum seekers. More than 850,000 asylum-seekers traveled to Greek islands in 2015 on their journey to central and northern Europe, in the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A refugee woman holds her baby wrapped in blankets while seating outside a tent in the transit center for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, before heading to the border with Serbia, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor that starts in Greece, are only letting in people whose stated final destination is Germany or Austria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A group of Greek and Turkish protesters hold a demonstration in front of the Ipsala border gate with Greece, in Turkeys northwestern province of Edirne, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Academicians, NGO representatives and human right activists from Turkey and Greece demonstrated to make a call for opening the borders for the asylum seekers. More than 850,000 asylum-seekers traveled to Greek islands in 2015 on their journey to central and northern Europe, in the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A group of Greek and Turkish protesters hold a demonstration in front of the Ipsala border gate with Greece, in Turkeys northwestern province of Edirne, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Academicians, NGO representatives and human right activists from Turkey and Greece demonstrated to make a call for opening the borders for the asylum seekers. More than 850,000 asylum-seekers traveled to Greek islands in 2015 on their journey to central and northern Europe, in the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The Turkish flag is seen at the Ipsala border gate with Greece, in Turkeys northwestern province of Edirne, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Academicians, NGO representatives and human right activists from Turkey and Greece demonstrated at the crossing to make a call for opening the borders for the asylum seekers. More than 850,000 asylum-seekers traveled to Greek islands in 2015 on their journey to central and northern Europe, in the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Refugees walk towards the border with Serbia, from the transit center for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor that starts in Greece, are only letting in people whose stated final destination is Germany or Austria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Refugees walk towards the border with Serbia, from the transit center for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor that starts in Greece, are only letting in people whose stated final destination is Germany or Austria. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
Miss Universe winner says next dream is to be a Bond girl

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  The reigning Miss Universe has her eyes set on her next big dream: being a Bond girl.

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach returned home to the Philippines for the first time since her crowning  and that awkward moment when host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Colombia as the winner instead of her. She said Sunday she's using the intense attention she got after that controversy to focus on her causes like fighting HIV and AIDS.

"I'm using the attention to talk about my causes. Now, I have everybody's attention," she said.

Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach shows her crown during a news conference Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Wurtzbach returned home to the Philippines for the first time since her crowning  and that awkward moment when host Steve Harvey mistakenly crowned Miss Colombia instead of her. Wurtzbach said her next dream is to become a "Bond Girl." (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

She told a news conference that she plans to be tested for HIV publicly in New York to encourage other people to be tested, including in the Philippines, where HIV cases have risen alarmingly in recent years.

Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was briefly crowned Miss Universe at the pageant in Las Vegas last month before Harvey returned to center stage to apologize and announced he misread the card, which had Miss Philippines as the winner and Colombia as the first runner-up.

Asked about her plans after her reign, Wurtzbach said she would consider possible job offers in the United States, adding: "I might be the next Bond girl, who knows? So, we'll see, that's the next dream."

Many international actresses have been cast alongside actors playing British agent James Bond and are popularly known as "Bond girls."

Wurtzbach, 26, has worked as an actress and model in the Philippines before winning the crown. The Miss Universe pageant is a big deal in the Philippines, where two other women have brought home the crown before her, with the last one winning in 1973.

On Monday, Wurtzbach will meet President Benigno Aquino III, a bachelor who is rumored to have gone on a date with her before. She'll receive a citation from the Senate for her victory then join a motorcade around Manila that will end with a fireworks show.

Wurtzbach told reporters she was so overwhelmed with her triumph that she constantly checked on her crown in the initial days and even took a nap beside it but decided not to do that again because she might break it.

"God forbid that would happen, the Filipinos are gonna kill me. I haven't even done my homecoming yet," she said, repeatedly touching the diamond-studded crown.

Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is greeted by friends following a news conference at suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Wurtzbach was crowned Miss Universe on Dec. 20, 2015 but not before pageant host Steve Harvey incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is greeted by friends following a news conference at suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Wurtzbach was crowned Miss Universe on Dec. 20, 2015 but not before pageant host Steve Harvey incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach listens to a question during a news conference at suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Wurtzbach was crowned Miss Universe on Dec. 20, 2015 but not before pageant host Steve Harvey incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach addresses the media during a news conference Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Wurtzbach returned home to the Philippines for the first time since her crowning  and that awkward moment when host Steve Harvey mistakenly crowned Miss Colombia instead of her. Wurtzbach said her next dream is to become a "Bond Girl." (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach poses for the media following a news conference Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 Newly crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach shows her crown during a news conference Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Wurtzbach returned home to the Philippines for the first time since her crowning  and that awkward moment when host Steve Harvey mistakenly crowned Miss Colombia instead of her. Wurtzbach said her next dream is to become a "Bond Girl." (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
S. African mayor awards scholarships to virgin women

JOHANNESBURG (AP)  A South African mayor has awarded college scholarships to 16 young women for remaining virgins to encourage others to be "pure and focus on school," her spokesman said Sunday.

The scholarship was introduced this year and has been awarded to young women from the Uthukela district in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, mayoral spokesman Jabulani Mkhonza said. Each year the mayor's office awards scholarships to more than 100 promising high school and university students from the area, he said.

The young women who applied for the scholarships voluntarily stayed virgins and agreed to have regular virginity tests to keep their funding, Uthukela Mayor Dudu Mazibuko told South African talk radio station 702.

"To us, it's just to say thank you for keeping yourself and you can still keep yourself for the next three years until you get your degree or certificate," Mazibuko said.

The grants will be renewed "as long as the child can produce a certificate that she is still a virgin," she said. The scholarships focus on young women because they are more vulnerable to exploitation, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, she said.

South Africa's department of basic education recorded about 20,000 pregnancies among girls and young women in schools in 2014, with 223 pregnant girls still in primary school, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation. A household survey conducted by Statistics South Africa found that 5.6 percent of South African females aged 14 to 19 were pregnant in 2013.

"I think the intentions of the mayor are great but what we don't agree with is giving bursaries for virginity," said chairman for the Commission for Gender Equality Mfanozelwe Shozi. "There is an issue around discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, virginity and even against boys. This is going too far."

Virginity testing is not against South Africa's constitution but it is essential that it is done with consent, said Shozi.

Some activists have called for the banning of virginity testing in South Africa, describing it as sexist and invasive. Those defending the cultural practice say it preserves tradition and has been modernized to teach girls about their reproductive health and HIV and AIDS.

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Magnitude-7.1 quake jolts Alaska; 4 homes lost

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  A magnitude-7.1 quake knocked items off shelves and walls in Alaska early Sunday morning, jolting the nerves of residents in this earthquake-prone region. There were no reports of injuries, but four homes were lost to explosions or fire following the quake.

Alaska's state seismologist, Michael West, called it the strongest earthquake in the state's south-central region in decades. Alaska often has larger or more powerful earthquakes, such as a 7.9 last year in the remote Aleutian Islands.

"However, last night's earthquake is significant because it was close enough to Alaska's population centers," West said, adding that aftershocks could continue for weeks.

In this photo provided by Vincent Nusunginya, items fallen from the shelves litter the aisles inside a Safeway grocery store following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Kenai Peninsula on Sunday Jan. 24, 2016, in south-central Alaska. The quake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake prone region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. (Vincent Nusunginya via the AP)

The earthquake was widely felt by Anchorage residents. But the Anchorage and Valdez police departments said they hadn't received any reports of injury or significant damage.

The earthquake struck at about 1:30 a.m. Alaska time and was centered 53 miles west of Anchor Point in the Kenai Peninsula, which is about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Vincent Nusunginya, 34, of Kenai said he was at his girlfriend's house when the quake hit.

"It started out as a shaking and it seemed very much like a normal earthquake. But then it started to feel like a normal swaying, like a very smooth side-to-side swaying," said Nusunginya, director of audience at the Peninsula Clarion newspaper. "It was unsettling. Some things got knocked over, but there was no damage."

Two homes in Kenai were destroyed in gas leak explosions and the other two were fully engulfed before firefighters determined it was safe enough from gas for them to enter the homes, Kenai battalion chief Tony Prior said. He said firefighters focused on keeping the flames from those homes from spreading to nearby houses.

"No injuries. Thank God," he said. "The second one was a major explosion. We're fortunate that no one was hurt."

About 30 homes were evacuated, and some people took shelter at the Kenai National Guard Armory.

Workers with the gas utility were examining the remaining homes Sunday afternoon with the goal of getting displaced residents back in their homes later in the day.

The USGS initially reported the quake as a magnitude-7.1, but downgraded shortly afterward to magnitude-6.8 before raising it back to 7.1.

"Some earthquakes have challenges associated with them, they are unusual or hard to monitor," West said. "This is neither of them. Southern Alaska is well instrumented, and this earthquake is of the style and type that we would expect in this area."

The biggest aftershock Sunday was 4.7, and West said a magnitude-5 or magnitude-6 aftershock is possible.

There were reports of scattered power outages from the Matanuska Electric Association and Chugach Electric in the Anchorage area. The Homer Electric Association reported on its website that about 4,800 customers were without power early Sunday in the Kenai Peninsula.

The Alaska Department of Transportation reported on its Facebook page that there was road damage near the community of Kasilof, on the Kenai Peninsula.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said in a statement Sunday that he was relieved there wasn't more damage. He urged all Alaskans to have a response plan for when a major natural disaster takes place.

The hashtag #akquake trended early Sunday on Twitter as people shared their experiences and posted photos of items that had fallen off walls and shelves.

Andrea Conter, 50, of Anchorage, said she was surprised by the quake's strength.

"This was a wild one," the former Southern California resident said. "I looked at the closed-circuit cameras at work and it lasted over 50 seconds and that is considerable for an earthquake."

"When I bought my house in Anchorage I had a geological map that shows what are the sturdiest parts of town and there were a few where I said, 'If there's an earthquake, that house is toast,'" Conter said. "That's how I chose my house. Literally. Drove my real estate agent nuts. But, I didn't have one thing fall in my house. It was kind of clutch."

Andrew Sayers, 26, of Kasilof was watching television when the quake struck.

"The house started to shake violently. The TV we were watching fell over, stuff fell off the walls," he said. "Dishes were crashing, and we sprinted toward the doorway."

Later, he was driving to his mother's home when he came across a stretch of road that was damaged in the quake.

"We launched over this crack in the road. It's a miracle we didn't bust our tires on it," he said.

After reaching his mother's house, Sayers checked on his grandparents, who live about a mile away.

"No damage, except their Christmas tree fell over," he said.

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Associated Press writers Rashah McChesney in Juneau and Michelle A. Monroe and Tarek Hamada in Phoenix contributed to this report.

In this photo provided by Vincent Nusunginya, items fallen from the shelves litter the aisles inside a Safeway grocery store following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Kenai Peninsula on Sunday Jan. 24, 2016, in south-central Alaska. The quake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake prone region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. (Vincent Nusunginya via the AP)

In this photo provided by Vincent Nusunginya, items fallen from the shelves litter the aisles inside a Safeway grocery store following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Kenai Peninsula on Sunday Jan. 24, 2016, in south-central Alaska. The quake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake prone region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. (Vincent Nusunginya via the AP)

In this photo provided by Vincent Nusunginya, boxes of cereal and bottles of juice lie on the floor of a Safeway grocery store following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Kenai Peninsula on Sunday Jan. 24, 2016, in south-central Alaska. The quake knocked items off shelves and walls in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in this earthquake prone region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. (Vincent Nusunginya via the AP)
Billionaire donors helped Cruz rise in GOP presidential bid

WASHINGTON (AP)  Four of America's wealthiest businessmen laid the foundation for Ted Cruz's now-surging Republican presidential campaign and have redefined the role of political donors.

With just over a week until voters get their first say, the 45-year-old Texas senator known as a conservative warrior has been ascendant. The $36 million committed last year by these donor families is now going toward television, radio and online advertisements, along with direct mailings and get-out-the-vote efforts in early primary states.

The donors' super political action committees sponsored rallies Saturday in Iowa featuring Cruz and conservative personality Glenn Beck. The state holds the leadoff caucuses on Feb. 1.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, is welcomed to the stage by radio and television personality Glenn Beck, right, at a rally at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The long-believing benefactors are New York hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, Texas natural gas billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks, and private-equity partner Toby Neugebauer. They honed their plan to help Cruz before he began his steady rise in polls  even before he announced his presidential bid in March.

"No one wants to lose," Neugebauer told The Associated Press when asked why he and others bet big on Cruz. "We didn't miss that an outsider would win. I think we've nailed it."

Voters will soon start determining whether he is right.

The groundwork laid by Neugebauer and other major donors began roughly two years ago, first in a casual conversation with Cruz at a donor's home in Palm Beach, Florida, and then in a more formal way over the 2014 Labor Day weekend at Neugebauer's ranch in East Texas.

That October, big-data firm Cambridge Analytica  in which Mercer is an investor  began working to identify potential Cruz voters and develop messages that would motivate them. Alexander Nix, the company's chief executive officer, said the importance of this early work cannot be overstated. He credits Cruz for understanding this.

"Money never buys you time," Nix said, drawing from his experiences with campaigns worldwide. "Too often clients will come to you just before an election and expect you to work miracles. But you cannot roll back the clock."

Key donors soon came up with a novel arrangement: Each family would control its own super PAC, but the groups would work together as a single entity called Keep the Promise. They keep in touch through weekly strategy phone calls.

That's not how super PACs usually work. More typically, multiple donors turn over their money and leave the political decisions to professional strategists. For example, Jeb Bush's super PAC counts more than two dozen million-dollar donors.

For Cruz, the pool of really big donors is far more concentrated: Mercer gave $11 million, Neugebauer gave $10 million, and the Wilks brothers and their wives together gave $15 million.

That level of support has opened Cruz to criticism that donors are influencing his policies, whether on abortion, energy or the gold standard.

Ethanol advocates point to his oil and gas donors as the reason he wants to discontinue that government subsidy for the corn-based fuel. Cruz and the donors have dismissed that as nonsense. His campaign cites as evidence Cruz's desire to end handouts to all parts of the energy industry.

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A GOLDMAN SACHS INTRODUCTION

Neugebauer said his belief in the candidate is both personal and pragmatic. "My heart and my mind told me he's the one," he said.

Mercer and the Wilks brothers declined to be interviewed.

Neugebauer, 45, said he met Cruz years ago through Cruz's wife Heidi, then a manager at Goldman Sachs. He said he wants nothing in return if Cruz wins the presidency.

"I don't need. Bob Mercer doesn't need. The Wilkses don't need," he said. "That's not what this is about. We do not want our children and grandchildren to grow up in a bankrupt country."

Neugebauer co-founded Quantum Energy Partners, a private equity firm based in Houston. It invested heavily in shale development, which became lucrative with the advent of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking.

His father, Randy, is a Republican congressman from Texas.

In 2014, the younger Neugebauer moved his legal residency to Puerto Rico, saying he had done so primarily to expose his children to Spanish and become more worldly. The U.S. territory also provides key tax breaks that the mainland does not.

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FATHER AND DAUGHTER

The Mercer family has followed Cruz's rise in politics for years.

Fundraising records show that Mercer's daughter, Rebekah Mercer, took an early interest in Cruz's 2012 underdog campaign for the Senate. Her money arrived as Cruz was preparing to take on the state's lieutenant governor and well-funded Republican Party favorite, David Dewhurst, in the May primary.

The elder Mercer, 69, is a former computer programmer and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, one of the country's largest hedge funds. Mercer, who lives on New York's Long Island, is intensely private. A review of his political investments provides some clues as to his policy interests.

He is a major donor to Republican groups, according to fundraising records, including entities run by the billionaire Koch brothers and Club for Growth, a Washington conservative economic group that backed Cruz's 2012 campaign. Mercer has attended conferences promoting a return to the gold standard in monetary policy, which Cruz advocates.

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THE BROTHERS

The Wilkses met and became fond of Cruz after his election to the Senate, and Neugebauer persuaded them over barbecue in the first months of 2015 to participate in the Keep the Promise plan.

Farris and Dan Wilks made their fortune in fracking, producing drilling equipment when few were in that business. They sold their company in 2011 and have since become the country's 15th biggest land owners, according to The Land Report magazine.

Farris Wilks is a pastor at a small church called Assembly of Yahweh, 7th Day, where his parents were founding members. Both brothers are fervently against abortion rights and gay marriage and say the country needs to embrace Christianity.

Cruz has pledged "outlaw" abortion and said the Supreme Court erred last year in making gay marriage the law of the land. The candidate and hundreds of religious leaders gathered last month at Farris Wilks' central Texas ranch, an event hosted by Keep the Promise.

Farris Wilks has said his investment in the Cruz super PAC is helping "educate" voters.

"He's not afraid to stand against some of his own party even and say things that need to be said," he said in a November interview with KTXS, a television station near their tiny hometown of Cisco, Texas.

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THE MONEY FLOW

Although these donors set aside their millions for Cruz 10 months ago, it's only now that the money is flowing into the 2016 race in a major way.

Since mid-December, the Keep the Promise super PACs have documented about $4 million in independent expenditures to help Cruz or attack other candidates  most often Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, federal election records show.

The super PACs have been identifying and connecting with Cruz voters through digital ads and door-knocking, and recently began a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign. A Keep the Promise van tailed the Cruz campaign bus as it made its way through Iowa last week. Super PAC workers handed out thousands of "Choose Cruz" yard signs.

For the megadonors, it's no surprise that Cruz seems to be well-positioned heading into the primaries. In mid-July, Keep the Promise posted on its website a slide-show presentation called "Can He Win?" The document predicted it would be "very difficult for Establishment to destroy the conservative challenger."

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Follow Julie Bykowicz on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/bykowicz

FILE - In this Dec. 29, 2015, file photo, Farris Wilks watches Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speak in the community center named after his mother in Cisco, Texas. The "Reigniting the Promise Community Rally" was sponsored by the Keep the Promise Super PAC and held at the Myrtle Wilks Community Center in Cisco. Four of Americas wealthiest businessmen, including Texas natural gas billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks, laid the foundation for Ted Cruzs now-surging Republican presidential campaign and have redefined the role of political donors. (Ronald W. Erdrich/Abilene Reporter-News via AP)

David Cole IV, 1, gets a kiss from his mother Katie, of Waterloo, Iowa, as he wears a sticker on his forehead before Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Glenn Beck, host a rally at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Despite patrols, sealing Greek sea border is near impossible

CHIOS, Greece (AP)  In the inky nighttime blackness, a small red dot appears on the radar screen, moving fast.

"That's a smuggler," the captain of the coast guard's lifeboat says, swinging the vessel around and opening up the throttle, the boat cutting through the water on a frigid January night.

But the lifeboat, designed for search-and-rescue operations rather than high-speed chases, is no match for the smuggler's speedboat. The smuggler ignores the searchlight, the shouts and the warning shots fired by the Greek coast guard, deftly navigating his small white vessel onto a tiny patch of beach among rocks.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, a Frontex speedboat with a Dutch crew transfers about 25 refugees and migrants from the deserted Greek island of Pasas to the nearby island of Oinousses, near Chios island. Chios, second in the number of arrivals after Lesbos, has three coast guard vessels as well as Frontex reinforcements. Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrol and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands - the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

There he disgorges his human cargo  men, women and children risking their lives in a quest for safety and a better future in Europe. They use ropes to scramble up a cliff, heading toward a lighthouse on an island they are soon to discover is deserted save for an army outpost. They will spend a cold, wet, uncomfortable night there until the coast guard can send boats in the morning.

Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrols and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Union's border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey. They are on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands  the front line of Europe's massive refugee crisis.

Although smugglers are often arrested, the task is mainly a search-and-rescue role. Hours spent on patrol shows the near-impossibility of sealing Europe's sea borders as some have demanded of Greece, whose islands so near to Turkey are the most popular gateway into Europe.

Some European countries  notably Hungary and Slovakia  have blasted Greece for being unable to secure its border, which also forms part of the external limits of Europe's borderless Schengen area.

"We have been saying all along that if the Greeks are unable to protect the borders of their country, we should jointly go down south and protect them," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in November, with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico echoing the thought.

But such calls ignore the realities at sea.

No matter how many patrol boats are out in Greek waters, attempting to force a vessel of asylum-seekers back into Turkish waters is both illegal and dangerous, even in calm seas. So unless a Turkish patrol stops a migrant boat and returns it to Turkey, there is little Greek or Frontex patrols can do once it has entered Greek territorial waters but arrest the smugglers and pick up the passengers or escort the vessel safely to land.

"Greece is guarding the national and European borders," Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Nikos Xydakis said in a statement Sunday. "What it cannot do and will not do ... is to sink boats and drown women and children, because international and European treaties and the values of our culture forbid it."

The sheer numbers have been overwhelming.

More than 850,000 people, most fleeing conflict in Syria and Afghanistan, entered Greece by sea in 2015, according to the UNHCR. Already in 2016, 35,455 people have arrived despite plunging winter temperatures and days of stormy weather.

The Greek island of Chios, second in the number of arrivals after the island of Lesbos, has three coast guard vessels and Frontex reinforcements.

"But when you have 50 or 60 (migrant) boats daily, you understand that these vessels can't cope," said Chios coast guard deputy head Commander Christos Fragias. "Both the crews and the vessels are strained from the overwork."

Those reaching Chios have been lucky. The island has seen few deaths  about four or five, Fragias said, out of 118,000 arrivals in 2015.

Others have not fared so well. Two smuggling boats sank Friday off the tiny Greek islets of Kalolimnos and Farmakonissi, drowning at least 42 people, including 17 children. In all, more than 700 people have died or gone missing in the Aegean Sea, in both Greek and Turkish territorial waters, since the start of 2015.

The crew of Chios' lifeboat has performed dozens of rescues.

"We make superhuman efforts. The five of us pick up 50, 60 people in 10 minutes," says its captain. Last year, they rescued nearly 3,000 people, he said. Coast guard crews cannot be cited by name as they are not authorized to speak on the record.

Racing across choppy seas to check on a dinghy sighting as the weather turns for the worse, the captain of one of the island's patrol boats described dramatic scenes of plucking struggling refugees out of stormy seas, where waves can hide victims from sight and maneuvering a pitching vessel in a sea full of people becomes precarious.

"It's very difficult to save people in bad weather," he said. "If there are incidents at sea, we only have a limited capacity, so we have to prioritize which boats are in danger."

The dinghy he was called on to check arrived safely on a beach on southern Chios, so the captain turned the patrol boat north, heading to the deserted island that the smuggler was ferrying passengers to the previous night. By morning, 283 people, including dozens of children, a disabled elderly woman and an amputee await rescue. They will be transported to Chios, which will have received 1,026 people by the end of the day.

The patrol vessel and a Dutch Frontex speedboat take turns ferrying people in batches of about 25 to the nearby island of Oinousses, from where a large privately owned tug converted into a rescue boat will take them to Chios.

Among the new arrivals was Faysal, a middle-aged man from Damascus who would only give his first name after fleeing Syria following kidnapping threats.

"It was a horrible, horrible trip," he said of the boat ride from Turkey, crouching on the patrol boat's deck, his hood pulled up to ward off the rain. "They told us it would take 15 minutes, but it took 2  hours."

The smuggler waited at sea for an hour to evade a coast guard boat, Faysal said. "We have no sea in Damascus, we are not used to this. We were all sick, and the boat was full of water."

Once on land they lit fires, burning their lifejackets to keep warm. Next to him, tears of pain trickled down the soot-blackened face of a woman who had hurt her leg on the rocks getting off the smuggler's boat.

Faysal ran a successful heating business in Damascus, but said he no longer had the option of staying.

"There is no safety. I left everything behind; my business, my home," he said.

He hopes to reach Holland, where his sister lives. But the onward journey will have to wait a day or two.

"We have no strength to go on tonight," he says. "We have to have some rest."

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Pablo Gorondi in Budapest and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, Syrian refugees sit on a Greek Coast Guard vessel during a rescue operation near the Greek island of Chios. Already in 2016, more than 35,000 people have reached Greece by sea despite plunging winter temperatures and days of stormy weather. Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrol and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands - the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, refugees and migrants who have arrived from Turkey at the shore of the deserted Greek island of Pasas wait the for the Coast Guard to transport them to Oinousses island. By morning, 283 people, including dozens of children, a disabled elderly woman and an amputee await rescue. Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrol and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands - the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, a Greek coast guard officer gives instructions to refugees and migrants who are traveling from the deserted Greek island of Pasas to Oinousses island by Greek Coats Guard and European Unions border agency Frontex vessels. By morning, 283 people, including dozens of children, a disabled elderly woman and an amputee await rescue. Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrol and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands - the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, an Afghan boy asks for help to climb a rock leading to the main road, after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the Greek island of Chios. Refugees and Migrants are risking their lives in a quest for safety and a better future in Europe. Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrol and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands - the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, a group of newly arrived refugees and migrants wait at the dock of the Greek deserted island of Pasas as a Frontex speedboat with a Dutch crew approach to transfer them to the nearby island of Oinousses, near Chios island. Chios, second in the number of arrivals after Lesbos, has three coast guard vessels as well as Frontex reinforcements. Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrol and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands - the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, a Greek Coast Guard officer looks through night vision binoculars during a patrol at the Aegean sea near the Greek island of Chios. Greek coast guard patrol vessels and lifeboats reinforced by the European Unions border agency Frontex ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey, on the lookout for people being smuggled onto Greek islands, the frontline of Europes massive refugee crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, newly arrived migrants and refugees use ropes to scramble up a hill from a tiny beach on the deserted Greek island of Pasas they were driven by a smuggler. Thousand of people continue to reach Greece's shores despite the winter weather. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, Greek Coast Guard officers approach the Geek island of Pasas as migrants and refugees disembark on a tiny beach by a speed boat driven by a smuggler. The smuggler ignored the searchlight, the shouts and the warning shots fired in the air by the coast guard, deftly navigating his small white vessel onto a tiny patch of beach among rocks. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, an elderly woman lies on the dock as she waits to be transferred to a nearby island after she arrived with others from Turkey to the deserted island of Papas , near Chios island. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, a Syrian woman hags a child in front of a man holding a crutch after they arrived from Turkey to the Greek deserted island of Pasas near Chios. Already in 2016, more than 35,000 people have reached Greece by sea despite plunging winter temperatures and days of stormy weather.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, a Syrian woman with her children takes a shelter in a iron box during a rainfall, after they arrived from Turkey to the Greek deserted island of Pasas near Chios. Thousands of migrants and refugees continue to reach Greece's shores despite the winter weather.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Ex-Wisconsin cop accused of killing 2 women to stand trial

MILWAUKEE (AP)  A former Wisconsin police officer accused of killing an Oregon woman and another from Minnesota and ditching their bodies in suitcases along a highway is set to stand trial this week in the first woman's death. Here's what you need to know:

THE CHARGES

Steven Zelich, 54, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in the August 2012 death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon. He is also charged with murder in the killing of 37-year-old Laura Simonson the following year, but she died in Minnesota, so the charges were filed there. That case is on hold pending the conclusion of the Wisconsin proceedings, which will take place in Kenosha County, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee, and which begins Monday with jury selection. At the trial over Gamez's death, the judge has allowed prosecutors to tell jurors about Simonson's death.

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2014 file photo Steven Zelich appears in court in Kenosha, Wis. Jury selection for the former police officer accused of choking to death Jenny Gamez, an Oregon college student, and then stuffing her in a suitcase and leaving it on a rural highway is scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 25, 2015, in Wisconsin. (Sean Krajacic/Kenosha News via AP, File)

HOW DOES ZELICH EXPLAIN THEIR DEATHS?

According to court records and testimony, Zelich met Gamez online and invited her to Wisconsin. He picked her up at the Milwaukee airport and they drove to a Kenosha hotel, where they spent several days. Zelich told investigators they played a sexual game in which he would choke Gamez. On the last day, he lost control and choked Gamez until she died, according to the criminal complaint.

Zelich told investigators that he put Gamez in her suitcase and took it to his West Allis apartment and stashed her body in his refrigerator.

Simonson, of Farmington, Minnesota, died in similar circumstances in November 2013. According to court documents, Zelich said he met her online and killed her while playing the same choking game at a Rochester, Minnesota, hotel. He drove home to Wisconsin with her body and later put both bodies in suitcases in his car's trunk. When they began to smell, he dumped them on the roadside, where highway workers mowing grass found them in June 2014.

Zelich's attorney, Jonathan Smith, declined to discuss his trial strategy, saying the arguments were best left to the courtroom. He also wouldn't say whether Zelich would testify.

"It's been maintained that this was a non-intentional act," he said.

THE PROSECUTION'S CASE

Prosecutors plan to argue that Zelich intended to kill the women. They will allege that he searched for victims whose disappearances would not be unusual, helped them prepare to disappear with little suspicion, killed them in ways that would be difficult to investigate and then felt compelled to keep their bodies.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Graveley said the prosecution will assert that Zelich's police experience helped him plan and execute the crimes and then only make a "strategic, selective confession" in which he only divulged what he needed to in order to confirm what he believed investigators already knew. He said Zelich targeted the women in similar manners and tried to cover up their deaths similarly, which shows it was intentional.

He expects the judge to allow jurors to decide on lesser charges of negligence. The punishment for conviction on a first-degree intentional homicide charge is life in prison.

WAS HE A POLICE OFFICER AT THE TIME OF THE DEATHS?

No. Zelich worked for a suburban Milwaukee police department from February 1989 until his resignation in August 2001, following an internal investigation that found he stalked women while on duty and used his position to get access to their personal information. His resignation allowed him to avoid discipline and pass state background checks for a private security officer's license.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THIS?

In Minnesota, Zelich is charged with first-degree murder, intentional murder in the second degree and unintentional murder in the second degree while committing a felony offense.

He also faces two hiding-a-corpse felonies in Walworth County, Wisconsin, where the bodies were found. A status conference for that case is scheduled for Feb. 12.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Kenosha County is south of Milwaukee, not north of it.
Bahrain officials open new case against jailed Shiite leader

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP)  Bahraini authorities have launched a new criminal case against the country's top Shiite opposition figure over comments posted on his Twitter account while he is behind bars.

The official Bahrain News Agency reported Sunday that the case against Sheikh Ali Salman has been referred to the Public Prosecution office "following violations posted on his Twitter account." It did not elaborate.

Salman is the secretary-general of the al-Wefaq Shiite political opposition group and was a key figure in the 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising against the Sunni monarchy. He was sentenced to four years in prison in June after being found guilty on charges that included incitement and insulting the Interior Ministry.
Philadelphia's former police chief to advise Chicago force

CHICAGO (AP)  A former deputy superintendent of the Chicago Police who left to head departments in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia is returning to the city to help reform a force that's trying to regain public trust in the wake of a video showing a white officer fatally shooting a black teenager, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office announced Sunday.

Charles Ramsey, one of the nation's most respected law enforcement figures, has twice  first in Washington and then in Philadelphia  invited federal reviews of those agencies similar to the civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department that the Justice Department announced last month. He has said that police-involved shootings in both of those cities subsequently declined.

Ramsey, an African-American from the city's South Side, returns to Chicago amid protests that have called for Emanuel to resign over the release two months ago of the video of Laquan McDonald's shooting death by Officer Jason Van Dyke. The video sparked the biggest crisis of Emanuel's administration and cost Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy his job.

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2015, file photo, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, center, refers to the Justice Department's six-month assessment report in his hand as Mayor Michael Nutter, right, and Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross, left, listen during a news conference in Philadelphia. Ramsey returns to Chicago to help amid protests that have called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign, Emanuel's office announced Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

"The situation in Chicago is not unlike many cities across the country, but the people of Chicago should know that their leaders are working hard to restore trust where it has been lost," Ramsey said in a statement.

What kind of recommendations he will make is unclear, but last month he said that he wanted state police in Pennsylvania to head investigations of police-involved shootings in Philadelphia.

The 65-year-old Ramsey joined the Chicago Police Department as a cadet in 1968, rose through the ranks over three decades and had a key role in the establishment of community policing in Chicago. Since he left in 1998 to head Washington's force, his name has come up repeatedly as a candidate for Chicago superintendent. He has applied a number of times, including in 2011, before Emanuel selected McCarthy.

Ramsey retired this month as Philadelphia's police commissioner, and following Emanuel's firing of McCarthy in the wake of the McDonald video's release, had said he was not interested in the job. In fact, earlier this month, the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, announced that Ramsey had been hired as a public safety consultant.

Dashcam video released Nov. 24 of the shooting more than a year earlier shows Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times as he walks away from police officers with a knife at his side. Van Dyke is charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty.

The shooting has turned a spotlight on longstanding concerns about a "code of silence" in the Chicago Police Department, in which officers stay quiet about or even cover up possible misconduct by colleagues. Police Board President Lori Lightfoot has said the 39 applicants for the superintendent job will be asked for "creative solutions" to motivate officers to come forward when they see misconduct.
Real-life drama playing out in fight radio pioneer's fortune

Himan Brown might have titled it: "The Brouhaha Over the $100 Million Estate."

A lawsuit claims the late creator of such legendary radio dramas as "Dick Tracy" and "The Adventures of the Thin Man" was duped into putting the bulk of his $100 million fortune into a charitable trust controlled solely by his longtime lawyer.

Brown, a radio producer who died in New York City in 2010 at the age of 99, instead wanted the money go to an organization he founded to promote radio theater, according to court papers.

FILE - In this August 1943 file photo, Himan Brown, right, works in a CBS radio studio in New York. Brown, a radio producer who lived in New York City and died in 2010 at age 99, put the bulk of his $100 million estate into a charitable trust controlled solely by his longtime lawyer, who some claim uses the money "for his personal benefit, in disregard of the express intent of Brown's will and prior estate plan." A lawsuit filed on behalf of Radio Drama Network, Inc., a private foundation started by Brown in 1984, is challenging the attorneys control in Manhattan Surrogate's court. (AP Photo, File)

It claims attorney Richard L. Kay exploited Brown, who was 94 when he signed documents now being contested in Manhattan surrogate's court. It says Kay used the trust "for his personal benefit, in disregard of the express intent of Mr. Brown's will and prior estate plan."

The lawsuit was filed by Radio Drama Network, Inc., a private foundation started by Brown in 1984 to foster his love and appreciation for the radio serials that popularized the airwaves in the 1930s and 1940s. Several members of his family serve on its board of directors.

Kay's attorney, Michael B. Kramer, disputed that Brown was hoodwinked by anyone, and said the lawsuit is the latest in a series of court challenges by members of the Brown family over the fortune. He insisted Brown was mentally sharp in October 2004 when he signed papers for the newly created Himan Brown Charitable Trust, rather than leave it to the Radio Drama Network.

"He was beyond sharp as a tack," Kramer said. "The last thing he was was mentally frail."

Kay is the sole trustee of the Himan Brown Charitable Trust. The lawsuit claims that as trustee he has made donations to entities with no connections to Brown, including $3 million to the 92nd Street Y, where Kay is a member of the board of directors, and over $1 million to Cornell University, as well as gifts to the University of Michigan Law School, from which he graduated, and a Montessori school where Kay's grandchild attended.

"While arguably worthy recipients, none of these has any particular connection to Mr. Brown or his interests during his lifetime," the lawsuit claims. "Kay has been motivated by the personal benefits, access and preferential treatment that accrue from leadership positions at charitable institutions."

Kramer said Brown also had donated to charities and entities having nothing to do with the radio industry.

Pamela A. Mann, a lawyer for Radio Drama Network, did not challenge whether Brown, who attended law school, was capable of signing. But she insists: "He was tricked, he was defrauded." A family spokesman said none of Brown's relatives wanted to comment on the case, citing the pending litigation where they potentially could testify as witnesses.

The lawsuit, which was filed in December and made public last week, is next scheduled for a March 1 court date, but it could be years before it goes to trial.

Brown produced more than 30,000 radio shows in a career that spanned from the 1930s into the 1980s. He studied law at Brooklyn College but never practiced, instead using his education to secure the radio rights to such characters as Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon and the Thin Man.

Other notable Brown productions included "Grand Central Station," and "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" and the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater." He worked with performers including Orson Welles, Helen Hayes, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Frank Sinatra and Gregory Peck.

Ron Simon, curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media, calls Brown "one of radio's great storytellers." He was well-known for using sound effects such as a creaking door and a steam engine to enthrall listeners during the golden age of radio.

"I am firmly convinced that nothing visual can touch audio," Brown said in a 2003 interview with The New York Times. "I don't need 200 orchestra players doing the "Ride of the Valkyries." I don't need car chases. I don't need mayhem. All I need to do is creak the door open, and visually your head begins to go. The magic word is imagination."

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Associated Press researcher Barbara Sambriski contributed to this report. Eltman reported from Mineola, New York.
Larger-than-life Nashville politician Hooker dead at 85

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A family friend said larger-than-life Nashville political figure John Jay Hooker Jr., who spent his last days fighting to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Tennessee, died on Sunday at 85.

Political strategist Tom Ingram said he received a message from one of Hooker's daughters that Hooker had died in hospice. He had been suffering from metastatic melanoma.

Hooker had brilliant successes early in life as an attorney. Tapped in 1958 to prosecute the impeachment of a Chattanooga judge accused of accepting bribes from racketeers, he fell into the orbit of Robert Kennedy, who was investigating the Teamsters union. Hooker later worked as special counsel to Kennedy after he became U.S. attorney general, even living in Kennedy's house for a time.

CHANGES YEAR TO 2016 NOT 2015 - FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2015 file photo, John Jay Hooker sits outside his retirement home apartment in Nashville, Tenn. Hooker, a large figure in Tennessee politics who once worked as special counsel to Robert Kennedy, spent his last days fighting to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Tennessee. Hooker died Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Nashville. He was 85. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Hooker was one of the original investors in Hospital Corporation of America, a chairman of STP Corp., part-owner and publisher of the Nashville Banner, and briefly chairman of wire service United Press International.

He was also a socialite once named to an international list of the best dressed men in the world.

Hooker was a serious Democratic contender for governor in 1966 and the party's nominee for governor in the 1970 and 1998 races. Many in Nashville remember him for the spectacular success and sudden failure of his Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken franchise. The company's demise was used against him in the 1970 campaign, and Hooker was bothered for the rest of his life by the idea that some people thought fraud played a role in the company's downfall.

Hooker, who had aspirations to become president, always blamed President Richard Nixon for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's scrutiny of his business.

In the 1990s, Hooker earned the moniker "gadfly" in the press after he began running repeatedly for political office as a platform to file lawsuits challenging campaign financing. He also began filing suits that challenged judicial appointments, keeping at it for nearly two decades despite losing battle after battle. He eventually earned a 30-day suspension of his law license for "frivolous litigation."

Last year, Hooker was diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live. He said the diagnosis was a jolt that transformed his life and gave him a new sense of purpose when he took up the cause of physician-assisted suicide. He pursued the fight to make it legal both in the Legislature and in the courts but did not succeed before his death.

Former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown, who was co-owner and CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken, was also Hooker's good friend. Speaking of Hooker on Sunday, Brown said, "I think John, in so many ways, lived a life of regret. But at the same time, he had a tremendous impact on the people who came his way. He had a terrific talent and a very imaginative vibe. ... He was a man always chasing whatever the next dream was."

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Erik Schelzig contributed to this report.

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2015, file photo, John Jay Hooker sits in his retirement home apartment in Nashville, Tenn. Hooker, a large figure in Tennessee politics who once worked as special counsel to Robert Kennedy, spent his last days fighting to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Tennessee. Hooker died Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Nashville. He was 85. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

CHANGES YEAR TO 2016 NOT 2015 - FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2015 file photo, John Jay Hooker, right, talks with technician Steve Bell as Bell hooks up an IV during a cancer treatment for Hooker in Nashville, Tenn. Hooker, a large figure in Tennessee politics who once worked as special counsel to Robert Kennedy, spent his last days fighting to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Tennessee. Hooker died Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Nashville. He was 85. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Trump visits Iowa church: gets a lesson in humility

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP)  On the second-to-last Sunday before the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump settled into a fifth row pew of an Iowa church for a lesson in humility.

"I don't know if that was aimed at me ... perhaps," Trump said after the hourlong service at the First Presbyterian Church.

Religious voters are a major factor in the opening contest on the presidential nominating calendar, and Trump has been working hard to build his appeal among them. His chief challenger in the Republican race is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a conservative preacher's son who's made deep inroads with evangelicals.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs an autograph as he arrives for service at First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Trump will be holding a rally at Muscatine High School in the afternoon. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The service, which Trump's campaign invited several reporters to observe, included hymns, readings and a performance by the children's choir. Cream-colored stained glass in the window cast a golden glow.

At one point, Trump shared a prayer book with Debra Whitaker, an Iowa supporter seated to his right. She put her hand gently around Trump's waist as the congregation sang Hymn 409, "God is Here!" Trump could be seen by some mouthing the words of the hymn.

At one point, as church-goers offered each other wishes of peace, Trump received warm greetings from those around him.

When it was time to offer tithes, Trump was seen digging into his pants' pocket. Two folded $50 bills were later spotted in a collection plate that was passed down his pew.

One reading during the service, about the importance of humility, included a reference that caught Trump's ear.

"Can you imagine eye telling hand, 'Get lost, I don't need you' or hearing the head telling the foot, 'You're fired, your job has been phased out?'" the reader said. "You're fired!" was Trump's signature catchphrase when he hosted "The Apprentice" television show.

"I heard that," Trump later told reporters, when asked about the reference. "I wondered if that was for me. They didn't even know I was coming, so I doubt it. But it's an appropriate phrase."

In her sermon, the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Pamela Saturnia, also made several references with resonance for the 2016 race.

"Jesus is teaching us today that he has come for those who are outside of the church," she said, preaching a message of healing and acceptance for "those who are the most unloved, the most discriminated against, the most forgotten in our community and in our world."

Among those she cited were "the Syrian refugees" and "the Mexican migrants." Trump has advocated barring all Syrian refugees from entering the country because of potential security risks and deporting all of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally. He's said he wants to create a safe zone for refugees instead.

As a candidate, the thrice-married New Yorker has worked to foster relationships with Christian leaders. He received a glowing introduction last week from Jerry Falwell Jr., president of one of the country's most prominent evangelical Christian universities, and on Saturday he campaigned with the Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas, a megachurch.

At times, Trump has appeared to struggle to affirm his Christian credentials. He often feels compelled to remind Christian audiences that he was raised as a Presbyterian. And he has waved a copy of his childhood Bible and a photo of his confirmation at some events as evidence of his upbringing.

"Well I'm proud of it. I mean I'm very proud of it," Trump said when asked about the practice. "And I do remind people, not often, but I do remind people when people ask."

Asked whether he thinks people are aware of his religion, he said. "I think they know now. I think they didn't know at all at the beginning... it took a while."

But Trump has also made what have been seen as several minor missteps on religion during the campaign, mistakenly referring to Second Corinthians as "two Corinthians" during a speech last week at Falwell's school, Liberty University in Virginia, and saying in an interview that he had never sought forgiveness from God.

Trump capped off the visit with a rally in Muscatine, where he was introduced by Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann  another sign that the Republican establishment is beginning to accept a potential Trump candidacy.

"I want to win Iowa, I want to really win it," Trump said before that rally. "I have a tremendous bond with the people of Iowa. We've struck a chord with evangelicals, the Tea Party. And I think we have a good chance."

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Follow Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump give a thumbs up as he arrives for service at First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Trump will be holding a rally at Muscatine High School in the afternoon. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, speaks with a woman as he arrives for service at First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Trump will be holding a rally at Muscatine High School in the afternoon. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends service at First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Trump will be holding a rally at Muscatine High School in the afternoon. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks with Rev. Dr. Pamela Saturnia as he arrives for service at First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Trump will be holding a rally at Muscatine High School in the afternoon. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Billionaire donors helped Cruz rise in Republican race

WASHINGTON (AP)  Four of America's wealthiest businessmen laid the foundation for Ted Cruz's now-surging Republican presidential campaign and have redefined the role of political donors.

With just over a week until voters get their first say, the 45-year-old Texas senator known as a conservative warrior has been ascendant. The $36 million committed last year by these donor families is now going toward broadcast and online advertisements, direct mailings and get-out-the-vote efforts in early voting states.

The donors' super political action committees sponsored Saturday rallies in Iowa featuring Cruz and conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Iowa's caucuses on Feb. 1 lead off the state-by-state nominating contests.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, is welcomed to the stage by radio and television personality Glenn Beck, right, at a rally at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The long-believing benefactors are New York hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, Texas natural gas billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks, and private-equity partner Toby Neugebauer. They honed their plan to help Cruz before he began his steady rise in polls  before he even announced his presidential bid in March.

"No one wants to lose," Neugebauer told The Associated Press when asked why he and others bet big on Cruz. "We didn't miss that an outsider would win. I think we've nailed it."

The groundwork laid by Neugebauer and other major donors began roughly two years ago, first in a casual conversation with Cruz at a donor's home in Palm Beach, Florida, then in a more formal way over the 2014 Labor Day holiday weekend at Neugebauer's ranch in East Texas.

That October, big-data firm Cambridge Analytica  in which Mercer is an investor  began working to identify potential Cruz voters and develop messages that would motivate them. Alexander Nix, the company's chief executive officer, said the importance of this early work cannot be overstated. He credits Cruz for understanding this.

"Money never buys you time," Nix said, drawing from his experiences with campaigns worldwide. "Too often clients will come to you just before an election and expect you to work miracles. But you cannot roll back the clock."

Key donors soon came up with a novel arrangement: Each family would control its own super political action committee, but the groups would work together as a single entity called Keep the Promise. They keep in touch through weekly strategy phone calls.

That's not how super PACs usually work. More typically, multiple donors turn over their money and leave the political decisions to professional strategists. For example, Jeb Bush's super PAC counts more than two dozen million-dollar donors.

For Cruz, the pool of really big donors is far more concentrated: Mercer gave $11 million, Neugebauer gave $10 million, and the Wilks brothers and their wives together gave $15 million.

That level of support has opened Cruz to criticism that donors are influencing his policies, whether on abortion, energy or the gold standard.

Ethanol advocates point to his oil and gas donors as the reason he wants to discontinue that government subsidy for the corn-based fuel. Cruz and the donors have dismissed that as nonsense. His campaign cites as evidence Cruz's desire to end handouts to all parts of the energy industry.

Neugebauer, whose private equity investment firm has investments in shale, moved to Puerto Rico in 2014. He said he relocated for his children's education, but there are tax breaks as well.

Mercer is a former computer programmer and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, one of the country's largest hedge funds. The Wilks brothers are relative newcomers to the world of political donations, having made billions in 2011 by selling their company, which manufactures equipment for the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas.

Although these donors set aside their millions for Cruz 10 months ago, it's only now that the money is making its way into the 2016 race in a major way.

Since mid-December, the Keep the Promise super PACs have documented about $4 million in independent expenditures to help Cruz or attack other candidates  most often Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, federal election records show.

The super PACs have been identifying and connecting with Cruz voters through digital ads and door-knocking, and recently began a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign. A Keep the Promise van tailed the Cruz campaign bus as it made its way through Iowa last week. Super PAC workers handed out thousands of "Choose Cruz" yard signs.

FILE - In this Dec. 29, 2015, file photo, Farris Wilks watches Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speak in the community center named after his mother in Cisco, Texas. The "Reigniting the Promise Community Rally" was sponsored by the Keep the Promise Super PAC and held at the Myrtle Wilks Community Center in Cisco. Four of Americas wealthiest businessmen, including Texas natural gas billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks, laid the foundation for Ted Cruzs now-surging Republican presidential campaign and have redefined the role of political donors. (Ronald W. Erdrich/Abilene Reporter-News via AP)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife Heidi swing their daughter Caroline, 7, as their younger daughter Catherine, 4, right, waves to members of the audience after Cruz spoke at a rally at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Guantanamo refugee in Uruguay released on domestic violence

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP)  The attorney for one of six former Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought refuge in Uruguay says his client was released after a judge found insufficient evidence against him in a domestic violence case.

Attorney Mauricio Pigola said Sunday his client, Omar Abdelhadi Faraj, was freed after appearing in court. The case remains open.

He is a Syrian who arrived in Uruguay in December 2014 with five other ex-prisoners once held with terror suspects at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba. Then-President Jose Mujica agreed to accept them.

FILE - In this May 6, 2015 file photo, Omar Abdelhadi Faraj drinks tea in front of his tent outside the U.S. embassy as a form of protest in Montevideo, Uruguay. Faraj's attorney Mauricio Pigola said Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 that his client was released after a judge found insufficient evidence against him in a domestic violence case. Faraj is a Syrian who arrived to Uruguay in December 2014 with five other ex-prisoners once held with terror suspects at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
Clinton, Sanders take different lessons from Obama's '08 win

MARION, Iowa (AP)  To Bernie Sanders, President Barack Obama's improbable victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses was a testament to the power of an inspirational underdog. To Hillary Clinton, Obama's win over her eight years ago proved the importance of a robust and refined political apparatus.

The Democratic presidential candidates' theories are driven in part by necessity  Sanders' has undeniable energy heading into the final week of campaigning in Iowa, while Clinton has a massive field operation that's been on the ground for nearly a year. But they also reflect their competing visions of what Democratic voters are seeking in the 2016 election.

Sanders is running on a pledge of political revolution, one that builds on what he sees as the country's great moments of change: the rise of trade unions, the legalization of gay marriage, and yes, Obama's unexpected victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., second from left, and wife, Jane, arrive at a campaign event on the campus of Luther College Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Decorah, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

"Eight years ago, all over this country people said an African-American becoming president of the United States, you're nuts, that can't happen, too much racism in America," Sanders said during a campaign stop Saturday. "And you think he's going to win in a very white state? Ain't going to happen. You made it happen. You made history."

Clinton believes Democrats are looking less for another big moment of change and more for a steady hand who can build on Obama's progress, but perhaps be more adept at managing Washington's grinding gridlock.

"I believe I have the experience, the judgment and the vision to get us back moving, further than we got with President Obama," Clinton said Sunday during an event in Marion.

Later Sunday at a rally in West Des Moines, Clinton appeared to take a page out of Sanders' playbook, telling voters: "We are going to form a great political movement that will make it clear what's at stake."

Of course, Obama was successful in 2008 because he had both an inspirational message and a top-notch political organization. The Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses will be the first test of whether voters want Sanders or Clinton to follow him.

In a year when voters appear eager to abandon the political elite, Clinton  a former first lady, senator and secretary of state  has embraced her standing as the favored candidate of the Democratic establishment.

Several senators were campaigning in Iowa on her behalf, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who introduced Clinton at an event in Marion Sunday. The heads of Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest gay rights organizations, also joined Clinton on the campaign trail Sunday.

While Obama was an underdog in the 2008 race, he did have significant support among state and national officials. Sanders has not been endorsed by any of his fellow senators, nor does he have the backing of any prominent Iowa officials.

Asked whether the backing of Democratic officials matter, Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said: "People matter."

The people that matter most to the Sanders campaign are the same ones who backed Obama in 2008. His campaign is banking on a similar coalition of young people, independents and first time caucus-goers to propel Sanders to victory.

Larry Kilburg, 64, of Bellevue, Iowa, said he planned to caucus for the first time for Sanders. "I think this year there's going to be a lot of newbies," he said.

In a direct appeal to Obama's Iowa coalition, Sanders says the same attacks Clinton is levying on him were tried on the president, too.

"Eight years ago Obama was being attacked. He was unrealistic. His ideas were pie in the sky. He did not have the experience that was needed," Sanders said. "But you know what, people of Iowa saw through those attacks then and they're going to see through those attacks again."

Fueled by his robust fundraising, Sanders has built a large organization in Iowa, with 103 paid staffers on the ground, as well as 15,000 volunteers, according to his campaign. But he got his foothold in the state later than Clinton, who has had professional staff in the state since last spring.

The Clinton campaign has not offered an official staffing number in the state in several months, but it is now well above the 78 paid people they said they had back in September. And the Clinton staff has been diligently knocking doors and organizing in cities and small towns.

Still, Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said he was confident in the "enthusiastic workers and volunteers." A YouTube video released by Sanders' Iowa organization on how to caucus  with participants explaining the rules and acting out a mock caucus  has had over 61,000 views since Thursday.

Clinton and Sanders planned to spend most of the week leading up to the caucuses in Iowa, eager to parlay a win here into momentum heading into New Hampshire's primary. Sanders has built a solid lead in New Hampshire, while Clinton's campaign is banking on strong showings as the race heads toward states like South Carolina and Nevada that have more racially diverse populations.

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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Catherine Lucey at http://twitter.com/catherine_lucey

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, chats with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., at Riley's Cafe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a campaign event on the campus of Luther College Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Decorah, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets diners at Riley's Cafe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The crowd listens to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a campaign event on the campus of Luther College Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Decorah, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Toll of being an MP shown as politicians reveal threats from the public

MPs must be given greater protection from the public, it has been claimed, after a study found four out of five respondents had been victims of intrusive or aggressive behaviour.

Abuse has left 36 politicians afraid to go out in public, put marriages under strain and led to some being treated for depression and anxiety, experts found.

Researchers reported tha t 192 MPs who had experienced problems half had been targeted in their own homes.

MPs have complained of the behaviour they are subjected to by constituents

The report states: "One MP described how his marriage was close to breakdown, as his wife blamed him for the persistent amorous intrusions of a female constituent."

Labour MP Stephen Timms , who was stabbed twice in the stomach in 2010 by a woman who tried to murder him for voting for the Iraq war, suggested it would be difficult to ramp up security.

He told The Observer . "After what happened to me I was offered a knife arch for my surgeries, but I refused because that just makes it more difficult for people to come and see you.

"It isn't the MP I want to be."

Some 239 MPs took part in the survey and 43 said they had been subject to attack or attempted attacks, 101 said they had received threats to harm them and 52 had faced threats of property damage.

The research was carried out by s even psychiatrists, including Dr David James, founder of the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) that assesses threats for high profile figures such as the royal family, and was published in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology.

Comments from the MPs who took part included: "Pulled a knife on me in the surgery"; "repeatedly punched me in the face"; "came at me with a hammer"; "hit with a brick"; "shot with air rifle".

The statements continued: " There were numerous reports of death threats, both in person and by mail, and of bomb threats", ''you'd better keep an eye on your children"; "threat to kill me by telephone at home - call taken by my seven-year-old daughter", "wife received phone calls saying 'I am going to kill you or one of your family'", "petrol poured through letter box".
Battle of Jutland centenary to be marked with major exhibition in Portsmouth

The 100th anniversary of the most important sea battle of the First World War is to be marked with a major exhibition.

The Battle of Jutland, in which more than 8,500 men died, is being remembered as "the battle that won the war" for the display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The exhibition launch coincides with the NMRN's other major contribution to the Jutland centenary, the opening of the battle's only survivor HMS Caroline, in Belfast.

HMS Caroline is due to go on display in Belfast as part of the Battle of Jutland commemorations

Fought over 36 hours from May 31 to June 1 1916, Jutland is often considered a German victory because the British lost 6,094 seamen compared to the 2,551 Germans who died during the battle.

But the exhibition will highlight how the British fleet maintained numerical supremacy at the end of the battle as only two of its dreadnoughts were damaged, leaving 23 dreadnoughts and four battlecruisers still able to fight, whilst the Germans had only 10 dreadnoughts.

A NMRN spokeswoman said: "Most British losses were tactically insignificant, with the exception of HMS Queen Mary, and the Grand Fleet was ready for action again the next day.

"One month after the battle the Grand Fleet was stronger than it had been before sailing to Jutland. By contrast, so shaken were the Germans by the weight of the British response that they never again seriously challenged British control of the North Sea."

The exhibition, which will open on May 12, will include personal effects of those involved including the diary of a naval sister on board the hospital ship PLASSY as well as a lifebelt belonging to William Loftus Jones, English recipient of the Victoria Cross and commander of HMS Shark which sunk during the battle.

A lso on display will be the large gun from German destroyer B98, and two smaller deck guns from HMS Opal and HMS Narbourgh, which are usually on display at Orkney Islands Council's Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum at Lyness, and which will undergo conservation work as part of the loan arrangement.

Professor Dominic Tweddle, director general of the NMRN, said: "One hundred years after the fleets of the Imperial German and Royal Navies fought the defining naval battle of the First World War, it is essential that we mark and commemorate the incredible sacrifice made."

Diane Lees, director-general of Imperial War Museums, said: "The Battle of Jutland had a huge impact on the war; never again during this landmark conflict did the Germans challenge British control of the North Sea.
Defence Secretary adds to calls for police apology to Lord Bramall

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has added to calls for Lord Bramall to receive a "proper apology" for his treatment during a Metropolitan Police child sex probe.

He said the former armed forces chief had been subject to "maximum pain" as a result of the mishandling of an investigation into claims he was part of a ring of high-profile child abusers.

The allegations against the 92-year-old were dropped due to a lack of evidence, and critics blame the Met for putting the D-Day veteran through the trauma of a nine-month inquiry.

Lord Bramall faced an investigation into claims of historic child sex abuse

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Fallon said: "Somebody, somewhere owes Lord Bramall a proper apology for a case that clearly was badly handed... Clearly he was mistreated extremely badly.

"The case itself it seems to have been handled very clumsily to cause maximum pain to the field marshal, and somebody somewhere owes him an apology."

Last week Scotland Yard refused to apologise to Field Marshal Lord Bramall, days after his son, Nicholas Bramall, called for his father's anonymous accuser to be investigated.

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph he said the key witness, known as Nick, had been "peddling unsubstantiated and uncorroborated information" that had left father's distinguished reputation "tainted with the stench of abuse".

Earlier this month David Cameron refused to join the chorus of calls for an apology, saying it would be wrong for a prime minister to seek to put pressure on independent police and prosecutors.

During the course of the investigation by the Operation Midland inquiry team, Lord Bramall's home was raided by up to 20 officers while he had breakfast with his terminally-ill wife and his name was widely reported in the media.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said that while much of the ensuing criticism of the police had been misplaced, Lord Bramall now deserved a proper apology for his treatment.

Writing in his Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson said: "It is pretty clear that Field Marshal Lord Bramall is owed a full and heartfelt apology."

Journalist Sir Max Hastings, a close friend of the veteran's, has also said Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has a "clear responsibility" to apologise.

However, while Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan expressed her regret at the distress caused by the probe, she insisted police would be put off investigating claims if they had to apologise when inquiries did not end with a suspect being charged.

Operation Midland, a probe into allegations of historic abuse by senior public figures, was launched after claims were made by a man called known as "Nick" who has been granted anonymity.

However the collapse in the case against Lord Bramall has led to questions over the veracity of his claims.

According to an investigation by The Sunday Times the allegations made by Nick bear striking similarities to an account by a male accuser of Jimmy Savile.
Burkina Faso arrests 11 ex-presidential guards over armoury raid

OUAGADOUGOU, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso has arrested 11 members of the dissolved presidential guard, a pillar of deposed President Blaise Compaore's regime, in connection with the raid of an armoury near the capital this week, the army said on Saturday.

Friday's raid of the Yimbdi armoury came less than a week after al Qaeda fighters killed 30 people, including many foreigners, in attacks on the capital Ouagadougou, underscoring the security challenges for new President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

"Since yesterday, we have arrested a total of 11 from the RSP (presidential guard)," said Mahamadi Bonkoungou, head of the army operations unit, adding that they were still pursuing other perpetrators thought to be on the run.

Army officials sought to play down the quantity of weapons seized during the raid, saying that the kalashnikovs and the rocket launchers taken were not loaded. They said the aim of the attack was to strike a military base, without giving details.

The former French colony is emerging from a fragile transition period following the ousting of long-ruling Compaore in October 2014. A year later, Compaore's former spy chief General Gilbert Diendere sought to use the RSP to overthrow an interim government, just a week before presidential elections.
White House raises concerns about harm to civilians in Yemen

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday said it was deeply concerned about reports of harm to civilians amid escalating violence in Yemen, and called on all sides involved in the conflict to resume peace talks.

"The United States takes all credible accounts of civilian deaths seriously and we again call on all sides of the conflict in Yemen to do their utmost to avoid harm to civilians," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price in a statement.

Price noted recent attacks that killed an ambulance driver associated with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Dahyan, a freelance journalist near Sana'a, and civilians in Sana'a and at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Kerry to press China over N. Korea, urge ASEAN unity over South China Sea

By David Brunnstrom

RIYADH, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry begins a visit to East Asia on Sunday in which he plans to press China to put more curbs on North Korea after its nuclear test and to urge Southeast Asia to show unity in response to China's claims in the South China Sea.

Kerry starts what will be a three-day stay in the region in Laos, the 2016 chair the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), after attending the Davos summit in Switzerland and a stop in Saudi Arabia.

He will head to Cambodia on Monday night and then on to Beijing for talks on Wednesday with the leadership there.

In Beijing, Kerry is expected to stress the need for a united front in response to this month's North Korean nuclear test through additional U.N. sanctions and for a tough unilateral response from China, North Korea's main ally and neighbor, a senior official of the U.S. state Department said.

"It is very important to present a united front ... but that united front has to be a firm one, not a flaccid one," the official told journalists traveling with Kerry.

It was particularly important to "cut off avenues of proliferation and retard North Korea's ability to gain the wherewithal to advance its nuclear and its missile programs," the official said, and that meant China doing more.

"North Korea is still engaged in illicit and proliferation activities," he said. "They have very few avenues for conducting business with the international community that don't in some fashion involve transiting China.

"Despite the determination and efforts of the Chinese government, clearly there is more that they can do."

In Beijing Kerry plans "in depth" discussions on the South China Sea, a source of increasing tension between China and ASEAN countries and the United States due to China's building of artificial islands suitable for use as military bases, the official said.

First though in Vientiane, Kerry will seek to bolster ASEAN unity and the bloc's resolve to stand up to China in the lead up to a summit President Barack Obama has called with the bloc's leaders for Feb. 15-16 in Sunnylands, California.

Laos has close political and economic ties with its giant neighbor China, worrying the Obama administration that Vientiane might behave like Cambodia did it held the ASEAN chair in 2012, and was accused of obstructing consensus in the bloc over the South China Sea.

Besides its China ties, as a landlocked country Laos has less interest in the maritime disputes that several ASEAN members have with Beijing.

The U.S. official said he had heard from virtually every ASEAN country that the Cambodian chairmanship had left "a black mark" on the bloc that was not to be repeated.

So far, Laos was off to a good start overseeing ASEAN statements on world events, the official said, adding: "It's my expectation that the Lao will be a responsible chair for 2016."

Kerry will seek to set an encouraging tone in Laos by discussing increased U.S. aid, including more funding for work to dispose of unexploded U.S. ordnance left over from the Vietnam War, when Laos became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history as the United States sought to destroy communist supply lines running through it.

The main actual announcements are expected though to come when Barack Obama becomes the first U.S. president ever to visit the country when he attends a regional summit towards the end of the year.
Haiti protesters stoke political crisis while powers seek consensus

By Joseph Guyler Delva and Frank Jack Daniel

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Stone-throwing protesters stoked Haiti's political crisis on Saturday, a day after they forced the Caribbean nation to call off a presidential election and despite calls for consensus from global powers.

Haiti was due to choose a replacement for President Michel Martelly in a runoff vote on Sunday, but the two-man race was postponed indefinitely after opposition candidate Jude Celestin refused to participate on alleged fraud that spread anti-government protests and violence nationally.

Martelly says the fraud claims are unfounded but critics believe he unfairly favoured his chosen successor, banana exporter Jovenel Moise, and some are demanding that Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, start its $100 million election again from scratch.

Striking a defiant note, Moise criticized the election council for postponing a vote he was confident of winning, and said he was ready to stand whenever a new date was set.

The United Nations joined the United States and other major powers that had supported the election in denouncing the violence and calling for a negotiated solution that leads to a new vote.

About a thousand protesters snaked through capital Port-au-Prince's downtown, a district still largely in ruins after a devastating 2010 earthquake. Some flung rocks and burnt tires, others beat a man alleged to be a thief.

Soldiers from Haiti's U.N. peacekeeping mission patrolled the streets in white armoured vehicles at sundown.

Martelly is due to leave office in two weeks and Haiti may need an interim body to see the country through to the next election, but he and different opposition leaders will struggle to agree on the contours of such an administration.

Haiti has been unable to build a stable democracy since the overthrow of the 1957-1986 dictatorship of the Duvalier family and ensuing military coups and election fraud.

Drawn from the capital's poorest neighbourhoods, the protesters deeply oppose Martelly's business-friendly reign, which they say was artificially propped-up by foreign powers.

They believe that with him out the way, there will be a better chance of electing a president who will champion the poor.

"We demand the departure of Martelly before Feb. 7," said Volcy Assad, a protest leader and an aide of Moise Jean-Charles, the third-place candidate in the October round who believes he was cheated of victory.

"We want a transitional government to set up an investigation commission that will determine the sincerity of the elections," Assad said.

Assad's Platform Pitit Dessalines party and others with links to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's left-wing movement are prepared to see both rounds of the election annulled, giving themselves another shot at the presidency.

Second-place Celestin, on the other hand, is likely to want to maintain his advantage and quickly organise a clean runoff vote.

"We are very encouraged by the decision to postpone the election. We hope that everything will be put in place to have credible elections as soon as possible," campaign manager Gerald Germain told Reuters.

Opposition leaders of all stripes said the protests would continue.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned this weeks' violence and was concerned by the delay to the election. His comments were echoed by the U.S. government, which has supported the fraught election to the tune of $30 million.
Singapore says supports IMF's Lagarde for second term

SINGAPORE, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Sunday it supported the nomination of the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Christine Lagarde, for a second term.

Lagarde launched her campaign for her second term on Friday with ringing endorsements from a host of major economies that looked past a court case against her in her native France. Her first term ends on July 4 and the IMF has said it wants to wrap up the selection process by March 3.
Wreckage found in Thailand unlikely to come from missing Malaysian jet

By Orathai Sriring

BANGKOK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A piece of suspected plane wreckage found off the east coast of southern Thailand on Saturday was unlikely to belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished nearly two years ago, said aviation experts and Thai officials.

A large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district, told Reuters. Villagers reported it to authorities for identification, he said.

"Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2 metres wide and 3 metres long (6.6 by 9.8 feet)," he said.

The find fuelled speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. A piece of the plane washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 but no further trace has been found.

Experts said that while powerful currents sweeping the Indian Ocean could deposit debris thousands of kilometres away, wreckage was extremely unlikely to have drifted across the equator into the northern hemisphere.

The location of the debris in Thailand "would appear to be inconsistent with the drift models that appeared when MH370's flaperon was discovered in Reunion last July," said Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor at Flightglobal, an industry publication.

"The markings, engineering, and tooling apparent in this debris strongly suggest that it is aerospace related," said Waldron. "It will need to be carefully examined, however, to determine it's exact origin."

Other possible sources of aerospace debris included the launching of space rockets by India eastwards over the Bay of Bengal, he said.

There has been no official confirmation from Thailand that the wreckage belongs even to a plane, never mind the missing Malayasia jet.

"Personally, I don't think it's MH370," Thai government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters.

District head Patthikongpan said the debris "could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging from barnacles on it."

A spokesman for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the Canberra-based authority which is overseeing the international search for MH370, told Reuters it was "awaiting results of the official examination of the material."

The Malaysian transport ministry is in contact with Thai authorities to verify the debris, a ministry spokesman said.

Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course. Most of the passengers were Chinese.

Lingering uncertainty surrounding its fate has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery.

The fragment found in Thailand "just doesn't look like aircraft fuselage," aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told Reuters from near Perth.
Nepal's crisis drags on as ethnic minorities reject charter amendment

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Nepal's ethnic minorities have rejected a constitutional amendment, dashing hopes of an end to a political crisis that has also led to fuel shortages, and hampered deliveries of relief materials to survivors of last year's earthquakes.

More than 50 people have died since the ethnic Madhesis, backed by some other smaller ethnic groups, launched protests in the country's southern plains against the amendment to the constitution.

Protests at the border have prevented trucks from entering from neighbouring India since September, leading to fuel shortages and rationing in the landlocked country. Deliveries of relief supplies to communities hit by earthquakes in April and May last year have also been disrupted.

The people of the Himalayan nation had hoped that the charter, the country's first since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, would bring bring peace and stability closer after years of conflict.

However, ethnic Madhesis, who have close familial, linguistic and cultural ties with Indians across the border, say it has failed to meet their aspirations for greater participation in government.

The 597-member parliament voted 461 in favour and seven against late on Saturday on a provision of "proportionate inclusion" of minority groups in all government institutions including the army and to carve out electoral constituencies on the basis of their population to increase their representation in parliament.

The rest of the lawmakers either did not vote or walked out.

"The government believes that the amendment will address the problems in the Tarai and hopes that the protests will end," Law Minister Agni Prasad Kharel told the parliament before the vote referring to the lowlands bordering India in the south.

Madhesi lawmakers protested the plan and walked out of the parliament saying the changes had loopholes and were incomplete.

"It is a complete farce. It does not address our demands," said Hridayesh Tripathi, a leader of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, which is part of the Madhesi Front that is leading the protests.

The government says a political panel will be tasked to redraw internal boundaries of federal provinces within three months, another key demand of the Madhesis.

But the Madhesis are opposed to splitting their region into more than two provinces, as the government plan envisages, saying it will scupper their chances of controlling the provincial governments.
Syrian pro-government forces retake key town in west ahead of planned talks

By John Davison

BEIRUT, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Syrian pro-government forces recaptured a key rebel-held town in coastal Latakia province on Sunday, building on battlefield advances in the area ahead of planned peace talks this week in Geneva between Damascus and Syria's opposition.

Government troops and militiamen, supported by Moscow's air power and joined on the ground by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces, have pressed offensives in the west and northwest of the country in recent months, seeking to reverse gains made by insurgents last year.

The latest advance comes ahead of peace talks originally set for Monday but which now look likely to be delayed, partly due to a dispute over the opposition negotiating team's composition. The opposition has also said Russia must stop bombing civilian areas and Damascus must lift sieges before it will join talks.

The recapture of the town of Rabiya in Latakia province has paved the way for an advance up to the border with Turkey, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state television confirmed Rabiya's capture.

Turkey supports insurgents battling the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, who has the backing of Russia and Iran.

The Observatory described Rabiya as the "second most important base for (rebel) fighters in the northern Latakia countryside" after the town of Salma, which pro-government forces seized earlier this month in one of the most significant advances since Russia joined the fight.

TALKS DEADLINE APPROACHING

The United States has said it is confident the talks in Geneva will go ahead this week despite continued disagreements.

Lead opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush said Kerry had put pressure on them to attend the Geneva talks in order to negotiate a halt to Russian bombardments, the lifting of blockades and the release of detainees - measures it has insisted must be implemented before any negotiations go ahead.

"Kerry came to pressure us to give up our humanitarian rights," Alloush, a politburo member of rebel group Jaysh al-Islam (Islam Army), told Reuters.

"There will be a big response to these pressures," he told Reuters, without elaborating.

Asked about the chances of negotiations going ahead, he said: "We leave this to the coming hours."

Earlier a Western diplomat said talks would be unlikely to begin before Wednesday, with the opposition negotiating team formed after a conference in Saudi Arabia last month taking stock in Riyadh until Tuesday.

The United Nations has said it would not issue invitations to talks until major powers reach agreement on which rebel representatives should attend. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura had been expected to issue invitations on Sunday.

Syrian armed rebel groups said on Saturday they held the Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of talks.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against Islamic State in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

Washington is waging an air campaign against the jihadists in areas they control in northern and eastern Syria.

Russia is separately striking Islamic State, including in Deir al-Zor province, where the Syrian Observatory said on Sunday raids believed to be carried out by Russian jets killed 63 people.
Merkel's party, sliding in polls, weighs German "border centres"

By Paul Carrel and Thorsten Severin

BERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A senior figure in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party has proposed setting up "border centres" along the frontier with Austria to speed up the repatriation of those asylum seekers deemed unqualified to stay.

Julia Kloeckner, leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, was careful to style her proposal as a "Plan A2" rather than a "Plan B", adding that the chancellor's push for a European solution to a large influx of asylum seekers into the continent was still right.

"We want to complement it," she wrote in a paper setting out her position, a copy of which Reuters obtained. In the paper, Kloeckner proposed that: "On the German-Austrian border, border centres will be set up."

The proposal, endorsed by the Christian Democrats' (CDU) secretary general, highlights the frustration in Merkel's party with the slow progress in achieving a European Union-wide solution to the refugee crisis, which is straining the infrastructure of many German municipalities.

Germany attracted 1.1 million asylum seekers last year, leading to calls from across the political spectrum for a change in its handling of the number of refugees coming to Europe to escape war and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Growing concern about Germany's ability to cope with the influx and worries about crime and security after assaults on women at New Year in Cologne are weighing on support for the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

An Emnid poll for the newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed support for the CDU/CSU bloc down 2 percentage points at 36 percent from the previous week. The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) gained 1 point to 10 percent. Merkel's coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), gained a point to 25 percent.

"CAMPS" CONTROVERSY

Merkel, despite appearing increasingly isolated over her open-door policy on refugees, has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx, or to close Germany's borders.

Instead, she has tried to convince other European countries to take in quotas of refugees, pushed for reception centres to be built on Europe's external borders, and led an EU campaign to convince Turkey to keep refugees from entering the bloc. But progress has been slow.

CDU Secretary General Peter Tauber presented Kloeckner's proposals as underscoring the government's course thus far.

"The proposed border centres are a development of existing structures," he said in a statement. "The ball is now with the Social Democrats: they can't always say what doesn't work, and must fulfil their responsibility as a governing party."

Last year, Merkel's conservatives met fierce resistance from the Social Democrats over plans for transit zones at border crossings to process refugees' asylum requests, and had to deny such centres would resemble concentration camps.

Kloeckner, who has quietly positioned herself as a leading candidate to replace Merkel when she finally leaves office, also called for Germany to support Italy, Greece and Turkey in processing asylum applications at registration centres there.

These beefed-up registration centres and the border centres along the frontier with Austria would deal with the repatriation of unsuccessful asylum applicants, easing pressure on German municipalities, she said in her position paper.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, a CDU member, said German police were turning away 100 to 200 people at the border each day who do not quality for asylum.

"We are offering security and protection to those people who are fleeing war and persecution," he told the Bild am Sonntag. "But that also means that those who are not seeking this protection will be turned away at the border."
France's Hollande pushes for fighter deal in India

By Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI, Jan 24 (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday his government was considering an agreement with New Delhi that would clear the way for a long-awaited $9 billion sale of French-built Rafale warplanes to India.

Hollande arrived in India on Sunday. During his visit he will try to close the defence deal and to push forward with nuclear and solar energy agreements, including a plan to build six French nuclear reactors in western India.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to attract French companies to India and to share high technology in defence and other fields as part of a bid to promote local industry and build a domestic manufacturing base.

In the run-up to Hollande's visit, Indian and French negotiators debated the price of the 36 combat planes designed to replace ageing Indian air force jets, officials of the two nations said.

"The idea we have in mind is the one of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries in order to allow the firms involved to go all the way," Hollande told journalists.

"It is this intergovernmental agreement that will allow a commercial transaction," said Hollande.

The French leader, speaking in Chandigarh, a city designed by French architect Le Corbusier, said such an agreement was a prerequisite for the Indian side. He did not elaborate.

Hollande will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday, a sign of the deepening political and commercial ties between the two countries.

NUCLEAR REACTORS

During his visit, Hollande will try to kickstart negotiations on a plan for French nuclear company Areva to build six reactors in western India.

The talks have recently been stuck over the price of deal, and French utility EDF's recent takeover of Areva's reactor business has also slowed progress.

France and India are expected to lay out a roadmap for nuclear cooperation. India has launched a nuclear insurance pool to address nuclear suppliers' concerns over liability stemming from a 2010 Indian law.

A source at Areva said the firm was waiting to see the details of the insurance cover.

India will also seek French investment to upgrade of its rail system, waterways and mass transit systems planned for 50 cities, Modi said.

Modi and Hollande also said countries would work together in counter-terrorism and planned to step up cooperation, including between their militaries.
Bahrain accuses jailed opposition leader of incitement

DUBAI, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A Shi'ite opposition leader already serving a four-year jail sentence in Bahrain has been accused of three more offences including "public incitement against the constitutional order of the country", his lawyer said on Sunday.

The public prosecutor's office said it was investigating content on the social media account of Ali Salman, who was convicted last year of inciting unrest, and had questioned him in the presence of three lawyers.

The charges also include not complying with laws and calling for unauthorised marches. "The public prosecution formally charged him with these accusations," one of Salman's lawyers, Hassan Radhi, said, adding that the charges carried sentences of six months to three years.

The Sunni Muslim-led island kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has experienced sporadic unrest since mass protests in 2011 led by majority Shi'ites demanding reforms and a bigger role in government. The government denies opposition charges it discriminates against Shi'ites.

The prosecutor's office said Salman, the most senior jailed figure in the Shi'ite opposition, had denied the charges. It was not immediately clear who was running his Twitter account while he was in prison.
Merkel's party, sliding in polls, weighs German "border centres"

By Paul Carrel and Thorsten Severin

BERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A senior figure in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party has proposed setting up "border centres" along the frontier with Austria to speed up the repatriation of those asylum seekers deemed unqualified to stay.

Julia Kloeckner, leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said she thought the chancellor's push for a European solution to a large influx of asylum seekers into Europe was still the right decision, adding that her proposal was meant to "complement it".

"On the German-Austrian border, border centres will be set up," Kloeckner wrote in the paper, a copy of which Reuters obtained. It has been endorsed by the Christian Democrats' (CDU) secretary-general.

The proposal highlights the frustration in Merkel's party with the slow progress in achieving a European Union-wide solution to the refugee crisis, which is straining the infrastructure of many German municipalities.

Germany attracted 1.1 million asylum seekers last year, leading to calls from across the political spectrum for a change in its handling of the number of refugees coming to Europe to escape war and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Growing concern about Germany's ability to cope with the influx and worries about crime and security after assaults on women at New Year in Cologne are weighing on support for the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

An Emnid poll for the newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed support for the CDU/CSU bloc down 2 percentage points at 36 percent from last week. The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) gained 1 point to 10 percent. Merkel's coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), gained a point to 25 percent.

RESISTING PRESSURE

Merkel, despite appearing increasingly isolated over her open-door policy on refugees, has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx, or to close Germany's borders.

Instead, she has tried to convince other European countries to take in quotas of refugees, pushed for reception centres to be built on Europe's external borders, and led an EU campaign to convince Turkey to keep refugees from entering the bloc. But progress has been slow.

Neighbouring Austria said last week it would cap the number of refugees it allows in this year at 37,500 and risks bumping up against that limit in just months.

"That will probably be the case before the summer," Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Kloeckner, who has quietly positioned herself as a leading candidate to replace Merkel when she finally leaves office, also called for Germany to support Italy, Greece and Turkey in processing asylum applications at registration centres there.

These beefed-up registration centres and the border centres along the frontier with Austria would deal with the repatriation of unsuccessful asylum applicants, easing pressure on German municipalities, she said in her position paper.
U.S. calls for anyone promoting election violence in Haiti to be held accountable

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday called for accountability for any violence related to Haiti's delayed presidential election, saying electoral intimidation and destruction of property were "unacceptable."

"As in the past, the United States is taking great interest in how elections in Haiti are unfolding and expects that persons responsible for organizing, financing, or participating in electoral intimidation and violence will be held accountable in accordance with Haitian law," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said in a statement.
Ex-Haiti coup leader says to fight "anarchists," unrest spreads

By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A former Haitian coup leader wanted by the United States for smuggling cocaine called on his supporters on Sunday to resist "anarchists" who forced a presidential election to be cancelled, in a sign of deep polarization that could lead to more unrest.

The former rebel, Guy Philippe, called for counter protests and said he would not recognize any transitional government put in place when outgoing President Michel Martelly leaves office on Feb. 7 unless it was representative of the provinces.

"We are ready for war," Philippe said. "We will divide the country."

It was not clear how much support Philippe can muster, but he remains popular in his southern stronghold of Grande-Anse and the tone of his remarks points to the depth of polarization over the political crisis.

Haiti was due to choose Martelly's replacement on Sunday, but the two-man race was postponed indefinitely after opposition candidate Jude Celestin refused to participate over alleged fraud that sparked anti-government protests and violence.

Given the short timeline, some form of interim government is likely to be formed to oversee the election process.

Martelly says the fraud claims are unfounded, but critics believe he unfairly favoured his chosen successor, banana exporter Jovenel Moise, who came first in the first round of voting in October.

On Sunday, Moise supporters in favor of holding the election protested for the first time, using trucks to block a northern highway that is a major trade route with the neighbouring Dominican Republic, regional police chief Charles Nazaire Noel said.

They brandished voting registration cards, demanding that the election go ahead, Noel said.

Haiti has been unable to build a stable democracy since the overthrow of the 1957-1986 dictatorship of the Duvalier family and ensuing military coups and election fraud.

A former police officer accused by Human Rights Watch of overseeing extra-judicial killings, Philippe in 2004 led bands of former soldiers to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and overthrew the chaotic government of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Activists with roots in Aristide's movement make up the bulk of the protesters who forced the election commission to cancel Sunday's presidential vote.

The protests have continued despite that victory, with leaders calling for a neutral interim government to take Martelly's place and oversee fresh elections.

COCAINE CHARGES

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has a long-standing arrest warrant against Philippe for alleged cocaine trafficking and money laundering. The DEA has tried to capture him twice.

Philippe denies the accusations and said the United States has no legal authorisation to make arrests on Haitian soil. In November, the DEA participated in the arrest on cocaine charges of two men in Haiti related to Venezuelan first lady Celia Flores.

Philippe is running for a seat in the senate, a race he is seen as having a good chance of winning.

He said he would come to the capital with a security detail to be sworn in as a senator if he won.
Think of a country where a woman is demonised merely for saying "children should not die". Think of country where academicians are labelled as traitors, and even detained, just for urging the government to bring about a political solution to an ongoing military conflict. Imagine a country where hospitals and education institutions are closed simply because they belong to the opponents of the ruling party. Imagine a country where in university departments like political science and international relations, political theories that are not in line with those of the government are hardly discussed. Think of a country where high school students are expelled because of their parents' affiliation to a social movement which is critical of the government. And also think of a country where the president of the republic cites Hitler's Germany as a model for what he wants in his own country.

These are the facts not of a Cold War era pariah state but of a 21st century permanent member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a crucial ally of the United States and a country hoping to integrate into the European Union (EU) - Turkey.

Turkey's problems are alarming and seemingly intractable. However, all the aforementioned facts, despite being deplorable, are not the real problems Turkey is facing today; they are merely the symptoms of a chronic and grave crisis. The crisis is real and at the very heart of Turkish democracy. The country risks becoming a dictatorial, rogue and a failed state, if it has already not become so.

And these problems are extremely difficult to deal with in the country as the majority of the Turkish population don't consider them as problems - at least the last general elections suggested so. One wonders why people would support demonising someone who calls for peace, jailing of academicians, closing of schools and hospitals, restrictions on freedom of thought and speech, arbitrary expulsion of students from public schools, and so on.

True, no one in his/her right mind would endorse such acts in normal circumstances but in extraordinary circumstances many would and do endorse them. In extraordinary war-like situations many would buy the government's argument of the need for such actions.

And if you believe the current political dispensation in Ankara, many Turkish citizens, in collaboration with unspecified international players, have declared war on the Turkish state. These citizens include many prominent journalists, highly qualified academicians, experienced lawyers and judges and also some very talented high school and university students.

What puts them at "war" with the government is their critical stance and unwillingness to toe the government's line on every issue.

According to the government, these people are traitors who want to oust it by undemocratic means, seize control of the Turkish state and divide the country. All these claims, despite being backed by no real evidence, have been effectively disseminated among the uncritical masses through a large network of media outlets that serve not as a check on the government but as a mouthpiece of the ruling party.

It must be noted that almost 90 per cent of the mainstream Turkish media is directly or indirectly controlled by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

It is true that in an electoral democracy, the majority rules and its choices must be respected. But nevertheless, given the cliched fact that Hitler too was a democratically elected leader provides a valid ground for a qualified criticism of electoral democracy - especially when his despotic model of governance continues to inspire a leader in the 21st century (Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan).

Silence of the international community

It is interesting to see that Turkey, despite all its faults, remains a crucial ally of both the US and EU. Last year in November, the EU reached a deal with Turkey in which the later was provided with $3.2 billion. This deal was to curb the flow of refugees from the Middle East to Europe as many of them transit through Turkey.

The EU also promised closer ties with Turkey as part of this deal. Meanwhile, the US also continues to disregard the egregious violations of human rights and democracy in Turkey in return for access to an airbase in the southern part of the country. Since July 2015, Turkey is allowing the US to use its Incirlik airbase to bomb the Islamic State (ISIS).

Unfortunately, the EU and US' need of Turkey to deal with the chaotic refugee crisis in Europe and the menace of the ISIS have trumped all the democratic values they are supposed to promote in Turkey.

There are two hypothetical circumstances in which the despicable state of Turkish democracy may improve. First that there is a change in the leadership of the country and a pro-democracy and reformist government comes into power.

Second that the EU and the US manoeuvre to influence change in policymaking in Ankara which they are certainly capable of doing given Turkey's willingness to join the EU and its permanent membership of the NATO.

But unfortunately, both of these possibilities are highly unlikely to become realities under the present circumstances. The leadership of the country is not going to change as Turkey has recently concluded both of its important elections (presidential and general elections) and the next elections in the country are not due until 2019.

And the EU and the US cannot be expected to anger the Turkish government by interfering in its internal affairs until the refugee crisis and the ISIS problem is properly dealt with.
SEOUL, South Korea  A retired U.S. ambassador who used his connections to help negotiate the release of an American held by North Korea in 2014 said he doesn't expect to be involved in any talks with the country over a detained American student.

Tony Hall, a former diplomat and Ohio congressman, played a role in the release of Jeffrey Fowle, who was held by North Korea for nearly six months.

Hall told The Dayton Daily News that he does not anticipate being called on this time to lobby the North Korean government to release University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier.

Warmbier and Fowle are from southwest Ohio. Warmbier is from the Cincinnati area, and Fowle lives about 40 miles north in Miamisburg.

Hall said previously he got involved at the request of Fowle's family, Fowle's attorney and the U.S. Department of State, which led the push for Fowle's release.

In remarks published late Friday in the Dayton newspaper, Hall said the North Koreans don't give an inch.

"They are very, very tough people, and you've really got to understand them and their culture and the fact that they are a sovereign nation, and that's important to understand," he said.

Hall said the United States has little leverage with North Korea.

"One of the problems is we don't have a lot of leverage with North Korea because we don't have a relationship with them to speak of that's good," he said.

North Korea announced on Friday it arrested Warmbier for committing a "hostile act" orchestrated by the U.S.

Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a presidential candidate, has said North Korea should provide evidence against Warmbier or let him go.

A China-based travel agency said Saturday that Warmbier was being held over an unspecified incident at his hotel before he was scheduled to board a flight for Beijing.

The CEO of Young Pioneer Tours, Gareth Johnson, confirmed via email Saturday that Warmbier had been staying at Pyongyang's Yanggakdo International Hotel and was not with other tourists when the incident occurred. The company statement said Warmbier was detained at the Pyongyang Airport on Jan. 2, but it didn't explain what happened at the hotel.

The company said an airport official told one of its guides after Warmbier was detained that he had been taken to a hospital. The guide attempted to go back to see him but was unable to as airport staff ushered her through immigration, the company said.

The U.S. and South Korea have been pushing for tough sanctions against the North over its latest nuclear test on Jan. 6. North Korea has detained a few Americans, South Koreans and other foreigners in recent years, accusing them of anti-North activities in what analysts say are attempts to wrest outside concessions.
EDINBURGH - Scotland - As predicted accurately by the Daily Squib, the Scots will put an end to any victory if the English vote Out during the EU Referendum earmarked for June of this year.

As the Daily Squib accurately predicted in 2012, the Scots would hold Britain to ransom in the event of a succesful Out vote in the upcoming EU Referendum.

Speaking to Andrew Marr on Sunday, the Scottish first minister, who also said a second Scottish independence vote would be highly likely in the event of a leave vote, said project fear would scare voters into an EU exit that would be bad for the country.

If the English vote Out, the Scots will vote In after their second referendum bringing complete autonomy to Scotland who will then vote to stay in the EU. That would certainly be a divisive catch 22 situation within a divided island. Thanks to the Scots Britain is most certainly fucked.

We also accurately predicted the emergence of an EU army in 2012, and as predicted in 2015, Jean Claude Juncker was calling for an EU army. Something that would be a grotesque misuse of European powers as well as a major defeat for British sovereignty.

We leave you with words from the founder of the European Union, Jean Monnet, who said this on 30 April 1952:

Europes nations should be guided towards the super-state without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation.
Toshiba to sell part of it's chip oerations to recover from a $1.3 accounting scandal.

Tokyo: Japan's Toshiba plans to sell part of its chip business as it aims to recover from a $1.3 billion accounting scandal, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

The electronics conglomerate has started accepting bids, with early interest shown by the Development Bank of Japan, said the sources, who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

The state-owned bank has already invested in Seiko Holdings Corp's semiconductor operations.

The sale would exclude Toshiba's mainstay NAND flash memory operations, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter and one person familiar with the discussions.

On the block are businesses that handle system LSI and discrete chips, which are widely used in cars, home appliances and industrial machinery. The loss-making operations posted sales of 330 billion yen ($2.78 billion) in the year ended March 2015.

A Toshiba spokesman told Reuters the company hasn't made a decision yet on the sale of its chip operations, while a spokeswoman at the Development Bank of Japan declined to comment.

Following the accounting scandal, Toshiba has been focusing on nuclear and other energy operations, as well as its storage business, which centers on NAND flash memory chips used in smart phones.

The Tokyo-based company, which is selling off non-core chip operations, plans to invest heavily in its flash memory production capacity in Japan to better compete with South Korea's Samsung Electronics.
Hyderabad: The cry seeking justice for Rohith Vemula, the UoH scholar who committed suicide on January 17, is reverberating across universities in the US, Britain, South Africa and even Hungary.

Condolence meetings held in several universities in Boston, San Francisco and Pennsylvania in the US and Johannesburg in South Africa, with students holding placards with the posters of Rohith and Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Candlelight vigils are to be held in London on January 25.

Ignoring the record snowfall, Dalit activists participated in the protest demanding justice for Rohith in US universities. Ambedkar International Centre of the United States said Rohiths death was a sad day for the Dalit movement and claimed that potential talent and leaders were being targeted by people of the high caste in India.

We in the AIC are trying to mobilise our people in America to make a significant force so that we can deal with such situations with an iron hand, said an AIC statement.

Ms Diksha Dhar, a Fulbright research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, said a condolence meeting was held in solidarity with the UoH students.

Prof. Ramanarayan Rawat, Dalit studies scholar, headed a discussion followed by a screening of Death of Merit. The students lit candles for Rohith Vemula and put up posters on the Library board, she said in a comment on her FB page.

Down Down Brahminism! Resist Saffronisation! We will not let the minority voices suffocate under the Saffron State! Jai Bheem! were the slogans raised.

At the UoH itself, graffiti appeared on the campus protesting Rohiths suicide and depicting V-C prof. Appa Rao Podile as a monster.
US Vice President Joe Biden poses for photographers with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to their meeting at Yildiz Mabeyn Palace in Istanbul. (Photo: AP)

Istanbul: US Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against ISIS in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

The latest round of Syria peace talks are planned to begin on Monday in Geneva but were at risk of being delayed partly because of a dispute over who will comprise the opposition delegation.

Syrian armed rebel groups said on Saturday they held the Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of peace talks to end the country's civil war, even before negotiations were due to start.

"We do know it would better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared, if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh," Biden said at a news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Daesh is the pejorative Arabic acronym for ISIS terrorists who hold parts of Syria.

A US official later clarified that Biden was talking about a military solution to ISIS, not Syria as a whole.

The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition ruled out even indirect negotiations unless Damascus took steps including a halt to Russian air strikes.

Biden said he and Davutoglu also discussed how the two NATO allies could further support Sunni Arab rebel forces fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States has sent dozens of special forces soldiers to help rebels fighting ISIS in Syria although the troops are not intended for front line combat.

Along with its allies Washington is also conducting air strikes against ISIS militants who hold large chunks of Syria and Iraq and support opposition fighters battling the group.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday he was confident Syria peace talks would proceed, after he held talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Saudi Arabia.

Disagreement Over Syrian Kurdish Group

Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Kurdish political grouping in Syria, said on Friday the Syria peace talks would fail if Syrian Kurds are not represented.

While the United States draws a distinction between PYD, whose fighters it supports, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, Davutoglu reiterated the Turkish position that the PYD's military wing is part of and supported by the PKK.

The PYD's military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG) has seized swathes of Syria from ISIS with the help of US-led strikes and declared it an autonomous administration, to Ankara's chagrin.

Davutoglu said on Saturday the YPG had become an increasing threat to Turkey. According to local media, on the way to Turkey from Davos, he also told reporters Ankara would strike YPG in northern Syria just like it hits PKK targets in northern Iraq.

Ankara has fought a decades-long insurgency against Kurdish PKK separatists which in July reignited into a violent confrontation with Turkish security forces.

Biden strongly criticised the PKK which is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.

In his speech following talks, Davutoglu also reiterated the Turkey's respect for the territorial unity of Iraq, where it deployed troops despite Baghdad's objections.

The prime minister's office later released a statement saying the US and Turkey had reconciled on the question of Bashiqa camp in Iraq, where the Turkish troops are stationed.

Biden went on to meet with President Tayyip Erdogan, but an expected joint statement did not go ahead.
Chartered Accountant turned business woman, Nidhi Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Delhi-based womens apparel brand Kaaryah. Agarwal launched Kaaryah in September 2013. A two-year old startup, it now serves as many as 3,500 orders monthly. As a part of the startup movement herself, Agarwal shared her insights with Mamta Bharadwaj of Deccan Herald. Excerpts:



What is your take on Action Plan for Startup India Stand Up India?



The policy that has been announced is extremely well rounded, whether you look at it from an investment point of view, financial implementation point of view or even a knowledge protection point of view. As a startup founder myself, I am very curious to see how it is operationalised.



Among all the announcements made, which do you think is integral and will be most effective in boosting the startup ecosystem in India?



The two announcements that I think may add to operational efficiency almost immediately are: a) Self Certification and Registration: Incorporation and compliance becomes easier to manage; b) No inspection for three years: Entrepreneurs like us are under the purview of The Factories Act etc. Compliance validation and related certification is a nightmare in the current environment. Removing this obstruction to operations will go a long way for us.



What is your take on the three-year tax exemption for a startup, especially considering it takes much longer for a startup to become profitable?



Most startups require a period of five to eight years to be able to start thinking of earnings before tax. In many cases like eCommerce, this period is even longer. Even Myntra, Jabong etc, these guys are all talking about unit economics positive, they are not even talking about profits, and they are so much older.



In any case, a startup, initially, is expected to function under Minimum Alternate Tax Act and Section 79 of the Income Tax Act, where they will carry forward the losses. I am sure the policy considers the impact of the above, and the fine print will articulate how this additional rebate is expected to make a difference. Also, indirect taxes are almost five per cent of my cash flows.



How can it be ensured that the initiative does not falter? Can the government monitor without intrusion?



To sustain this, it is important that the government articulates the policy quickly so that there is clarity about its nuances. Secondly, the government needs to ensure that both at the state and central levels the policy operationalises very quickly. It is also important that all government officials who will be a part of implementing the new policy are educated about the policy to ensure flawless implementation.




Aam Aadmi Party government on Saturday shot off letters urging its border-sharing states to divert non-Delhi bound trucks away from the Capital.



The government wants to curb vehicular pollution in the outlying areas of Delhi, according to the letter.



Delhi government has been claiming that pollution reduced by 20-25 per cent in inner parts of Delhi due to the 15-day odd-even rationing of road space that concluded last week.



The main contributor of this pollution in peripheral areas has been found to be the diesel driven trucks, which cross for destinations other than the Capital city. Honble Supreme Court has already expressed its concerns and has imposed Environment Compensation Cess (ECC) on such non-destined vehicles, Transport Minister Gopal Rai said in his recent letter to Haryana Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar and Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Transport Yasar Shah.



Transport Minister Gopal Rai also thanked Centre for laying the foundation stone of East and Western Peripheral Expressway.



He said it will help non-destined diesel-fumed trucks to keep away from polluting Delhis air.



I request you to monitor these projects and give priority to the progress of these projects, so that these are completed before the scheduled time as this will help in reducing the pollution and also prove to be life-saver for the citizens of Delhi, Rai said in a separate letter to the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday.



Meanwhile, in its submission before the Delhi government, the Delhi Transport Corporation on Saturday reported a spike in collection from sale of tickets during the odd-even days.



Delhi government had asked DTC to report on how it faired during the odd-even drive. The government plans to resolve concerns surrounding reimplementation of the odd-even scheme, which includes enhancing the efficiency of public transport.


A 20-year-old woman and her 12-year-old sister, found dead at their east Delhi house on Friday, were murdered by the elder sisters jilted lover. Police have arrested a 28-year-old autorickshaw driver.





The younger girl was killed only because she happened to be awake and witnessed her sisters murder.



Their bodies were found by the womans friend who had gone to meet her at around 10.45 am. On being questioned, the family members had told police that the woman was being stalked by Tahir for the past few months.



Tahir was arrested with the help of technical surveillance and local intelligence. During interrogation, Tahir confessed to have killed them, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Bhairon Singh Gurjar.



Police do not suspect sexual assault as there were no other visible injury marks on the body apart from strangulation marks.



The initial probe indicated strangulation as the cause of death, but poisoning was also not ruled out as the sisters had froth on their mouths. Tahir has denied it and police are waiting for the post-mortem reports before coming to a conclusion.



The woman used to work at a call centre in Laxmi Nagar, while the girl studied in a government school in Kalyanpuri.



In March 2015, Tahir had proposed to the woman, but she refused. Tahir had allegedly threatened to kill her after that.



The family claims that they had approached local police to complain about stalking by Tahir. Police, however, said that they did not receive any complaint.



Police said that while they were still probing the stalking allegations, Tahir has told them that he was in a relationship with her for several months.



When the woman recently learnt that Tahir had been married for the last four years, she broke up with him. That had left Tahir seething with anger and he regularly threatened her, another police officer said.



Tahir told police that he had recently seen her with another man. He was unable to bear that sight and warned her to stay away from that person. When she told Tahir to stay away, he decided to kill her, the officer added.



Their father works as a security guard at an apartment complex in Mayur Vihar, while the mother works with a factory producing sunglasses in Kalyanpuri. They were not at home when the incident occurred.



Aware that the two sisters slept late after their parents left for work, Tahir had gained a friendly entry into the house at 10.30 am.



He then shut the door from inside and attempted to strangulate the woman. A scuffle ensued, causing a plate of macaroni to fall on the floor, waking up the 12-year-old girl.



Tahir did not want to leave any eyewitness, so he decided to kill both of them, the officer said.


A Maruti WagonR car was set on fire over an alleged parking dispute in east Delhis Kalyanpuri on Wednesday. The cars owner claims there was a parking dispute, but police have registered a case of mischief.





According to police, the case was filed on the basis of the statement by Laxman, a resident of Trilokpuri in Kalyanpuri area. The 22-year-olds car  DL 3CAZ 5345  was hired by parents of some schoolchildren in east Delhi.



Six cars were parked at the spot, but only Laxmans car was targeted. Laxman identified a group of people in the neighbourhood who, he alleged, have illegally taken possession of a building and argue over cars parked in the neighbourhood.



Laxman told police that he had parked the car outside his house at around 11 pm on Tuesday. He then went to sleep.



I heard locals shouting outside my house at around 12.30 am. When I went outside, I saw my car burning, Laxman told Deccan Herald.



Laxman made a Police Control Room call and a fire tender was also sent. We had doused the flames before the fire tender reached. The car was completely burnt, Laxman added.



A case under section 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage) of the IPC has been filed with Kalyanpuri police station. The incident was not captured on any CCTV camera. No arrest has been made so far, said a police officer.



Laxman told Deccan Herald that the suspects are alcoholics and drug addicts. They argue with locals over petty issues. The women in their families have also filed fake rape cases in the past, he alleged.
A man has been arrested for killing his wife at their house in northeast Delhis Seelampur last week. Chand Mohammad, 33, along with his second wife Deepa and eight-year-old daughter had left the house after the murder, police said on Saturday.





The second wife and daughter were traced and nabbed at New Delhi railway station on the same day. Police arrested Chand in West Bengal after being on his trail for six days, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Veenu Bansal.



On January 13, Chands wife Firoza was found dead at her house with injury marks on her left eye, chin and neck.



The family had been living there for the past three-four months. It was suspicious as Chand, Deepa and their daughter were found missing from the house, Bansal said.



Police found that Chand was a permanent resident of West Bengals Nadia district and might have escaped on Sampark Kranti Express train from New Delhi railway station.



A police team was immediately sent to the station.

Deepa and their daughter were traced at the railway station. They were brought back to the police station, Bansal said.



The girl told police that Chand killed Firoza after a heated argument.

Later that day, Chands location was detected at Kanhai village in Gurgaon.



The girl said that Chands cousin lived in Gurgaon. Police located the house, but Chands cousin told them that the man had left for his native village by Kalka Mail.



Chands movement was being tracked through electronic surveillance. His location was later found at Sikandrabad in Uttar Pradeshs Bulandshahr district. We contacted senior officers of Railway Protection Force and sent Chands photograph through WhatsApp, Bansal added.



The Railway Protection Force searched Kalka Mail train thoroughly at Allahabad, but Chand was not found.



A police team then left for Kolkata by air late on January 14. After reaching Kolkata, they immediately left for Barddhaman Junction railway station.



We covered all the gates of the station with the help of the local RPF staff. Chand, however, got down at outer signal and the efforts went in vain, Bansal said.



The team went to Chands village and stayed on the outskirts in anticipation that he would come there. Chand did not visit the village, but contacted his mother on her mobile phone. Both of them then went to Murshidabad district.



The team followed them to Murshidabad. Local enquiry revealed that Chands sister lived there.



Chand was finally arrested in Murshidabad. His transit remand was obtained from a local court, Bansal added.
Just three year after the trifurcation of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the move is being blamed for the severe funds crunch faced by two of the three corporations. The split means that the financially stable south Delhi no longer subsidises services elsewhere in the capital.





The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has supported the claim that the three civic bodies should be reunified as two of them are on the verge of bankruptcy. But the move cannot be seen in isolation as the civic agencies are heading for elections in 2017.



At present, all the three municipal corporations are run by the Bharatiya Janata Party: the party would want to retain control over them and reunification may seem the most convenient option to tackle opposition parties, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.



The corporations have been blaming Delhis AAP government for not releasing the funds due to civic agencies. Instead of giving grants-in-aid to help corporations tide over their financial crunch, the AAP government had set up a committee to scrutinise their accounts. It has directed the fact-finding committee to submit its report within a week.



The city government may be buying time to divert the attention of the employees who have threatened to go on an indefinite strike starting January 27 over unpaid salaries.



One manifestation of the crisis was seen on January 14 when employees of the East and North Corporations took to streets demanding salaries, clearance of arrears and regularisation of contractual posts.



The three mayors met Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Friday and told him that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has no legal right to set up a committee to audit corporations accounts.



North Delhi Mayor Ravinder Gupta, East Delhi Mayor Harsh Malhotra and South Delhi Mayor Subhash Arya, said that accounts of municipal corporations are already audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.



Ravinder Gupta has also written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking implementation of the January 7 orders of the court which directed the Delhi government to release the funds due to the civic agencies. He argued that withholding funds was contempt of court by the Delhi government and the Chief

Minister.



The mayors reminded the LG that the corporations were struggling to pay salaries to their staff, pensions to the beneficiaries and carrying out development work.

They wanted the LG to persuade the Delhi government to pay funds as per the Third Delhi Finance Commission and also implement the recommendations of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission.



On Wednesday, the three mayors and Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhayay also met President Pranab Mukherjee and asked him to direct the city government to release the funds to the corporations.



Satish Upadhyay, who is also a councillor, says that the AAP government has to accept responsibility of providing funds to the BJP-run corporations as pointed out by the Delhi High Court. He says the Fifth Finance Commission should be set up within eight weeks as directed by the court.



Pensions

Delhi High Court recently asked the Aam Aadmi Party government to revise the cap it has put on the number of pensioners under its jurisdiction. At present, over four lakh people get a pension from the city government.



The direction may help the three corporations. Among themselves, they are supposed to give pensions to over two lakh beneficiaries of their welfare scheme.

But, as a senior official with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation says, around 80,000 beneficiaries have not been given pensions for over two and a half years. Similarly, East Corporation has not been able to give pensions to over 30,000 people for the past three years.



The trifurcation in 2012 might have been an astute political move by the then

Congress government to make inroads into the BJP -run MCD, but the councillors now say it was not in the public interest.



At that time, as the MCD was being split, the Delhi government promised to provide adequate financial aid to the three new civic agencies.



And during the tabling of the recent 2016-17 Budget, the chairman of the standing committee of North Corporation Mohan Bhardwaj said that as per the recommendations of the Fourth Finance Commission, Delhi government owed Rs 729 crore to the civic agency.



The courts order for payment of these funds gives testimony to this claim. Had Delhi government paid the corporation its due funds, the civic agencys budget loss would have been Rs 538 crore instead of Rs 1,750 crore, he said.



While the North and East Corporations are pressed for cash, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is self-sufficient. The North civic agency needs Rs 171 crore a month to pay salaries to its over 70,000 employees - that's nearly Rs 2,100 crore annually. The East Corporation requires over Rs 100 crore month to pay salaries and pensions to its over 30,000 employees.



It's not just that the city government is reluctant to release funds to the three corporations. Some Delhi government departments have also been conveniently evading property tax  a major source of revenue for the MCDs.



Shared blame



But the municipal corporations cannot lay the entire blame on the city government as underperformance in revenue generation by the municipalities is one of the main causes for their present predicament. They need to put their own house in order.



Not only have they failed to bring more properties under the tax net, they have also not been able to generate sufficient revenue from their own resources  like advertisements, licensing, and renting out banquet halls and community centres.



And they are inefficient in collecting property tax. For example, there are over 10 lakh properties within the North Delhi Municipal Corporation limits, but only 3.5 lakh

pay property tax, says a senior official.



The North and East Corporations have prepared a list of government departments and real estate developers who are major property tax and service charge defaulters, owing crores to the civic agencies.



According to the corporations, Unique Property Identification Code (UPIC) is the way out as it aims to streamline database of properties under the jurisdiction of civic agencies.



At present around 35 per cent property owners of North Delhi pay property tax and with the UPIC system more properties will fall under the ambit of property tax, says an official. Experts say that the trifurcation has led to an increase in the expenditure for carrying out development work, but the delivery of services has not improved.



The expenditure has risen but the revenue has not increased, says a North Corporation official. They say that reunification of the civic agencies is the only way out to extricate them from their financial troubles.



The trifurcation was an illogical move because the number of zones under the three civic agencies remained the same as they were under the unified MCD - 12 zones. Instead of the trifurcation of the unified MCD, the city government should have increased the number of zones for greater division of labour, says a senior North Corporation official.




Ramesh Kumar, 35, doesnt need an alarm to get up at around 5 am, be it a hot summer day or a biting cold morning. He has been going to work sharp at 6 am for the past 15 years.





More often than not, he sweeps the Ghonda area under the East Corporations Shahdara Zone before the roads gets busy. But for the past few months he has not been paid salary. We are forced to work on an empty stomach. We have not been getting salaries on time for six to eight months. How are we supposed to work? says Kumar in despair.



Every months we look forward to receiving our salaries but it never happens, he adds.

Sanitation workers under the North and East Corporations have either not been getting salaries in time or at all for the past four months. Its the story of almost every department under the North and East civic agencies as they have been facing acute shortage of funds for quite some time now.



The East Delhi Municipal Corporation requires over Rs 100 crore a month to pay salaries and other benefits to its over 32,000 employees. Even the North Corporation is in the red and it requires Rs 171 crore a month to pay salaries and other benefits to over 70,000 employees.



Officials with the municipal corporations say that some departments, including sanitation workers, have not given salary for over three months now.



The civic agencies are not able to pay salary to some departments in the past couple of months, but they have been demanding funds from the city government. The moment the corporations get the funds, they will disburse the salaries, says a senior official.



We make the city clean for others but we are not paid in return. Why should we even consider working. You tell me, will you work if you know you are not going to get paid. I earn hand to mouth and I am not able to provide for my family if I dont get salary, says Kumar.



If we dont report to work we are cursed by the general public. Why dont they see our suffering? Why has the government become so apathetic about us, he adds.



Safai karamcharis have been forced to shift their children from private schools to government schools. With no salary how can we afford quality education for our children. My children used to go to private schools, I got them admitted to a corporation school, says Kumar, who has two children.



Sanitation workers unions have been staging protests demanding salaries, clearance of arrears and regularisation of contractual posts. We took out a token march on January 14 when employees from all departments came out on the streets, as they have also not been getting paid for the past couple of months, says Rajender Mewati, general secretary of United Front of MCD Employees.



Sanitation workers plan to go on an indefinite strike starting January 27.

Even those who have been regularised in 2004, have not been given their arrears. We have not been given our arrears. The East Corporation owes me around Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh since 2004, says Kumar.



Sanitation workers are required to report on duty at 7 am, and remain available till 3 pm. Most of us finish our job even before the roll call. We sweep our area before 7 am, he adds.



Workers unions said unification of the three corporations is the only way out.



According to the notice given to the municipal corporations, the main reason for staging a dharna at the Civic Centre is delay in the payment of salaries. Safai karamcharis feel that trifurcation of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 2012 is the cause of North and East Corporations being bankrupt today, as all the sources of income have gone to South Corporation, adds Mewati.




An Israel-type highly secured fencing may come up along the Indo-Pak border to check infiltration from across the border as the government is exploring the possibility of installing such a barrier in the sensitive frontiers of Punjab and Jammu.





In the wake of Pathankot terror attack, which was carried out by the Pakistan-based JeM terrorists after crossing the border, the issue of ensuring zero infiltration along the Indo-Pak border was discussed in several meetings attended by top government functionaries, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval.



"In one of these meetings, they discussed whether India can adopt an Israel-type border guarding mechanism along the western frontier," a Home Ministry official said.



Interestingly, in November 2014, the Home Minister had visited one of the border outposts in Gaza and was "greatly impressed" by the technology used in the highly sophisticated border security system of Israel which includes high-quality long-range day cameras along with night observation systems employing third generation thermal imagers.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly told Singh that Israel was "ready and willing" to share with India its technology for border protection.



Israel is hailed to have the best border protection system in the world, and depends more on technology than humans to protect its border.



The technology includes high-quality long-range day cameras along with night observation systems, third generation thermal imagers, long-range detection radars, electronic touch and motion sensors on the fence as well as underground sensors to detect any tunnelling attempts.



The Israeli border fencing along West Bank, Gaza and Egypt also consists of latticed steel, topped and edged with razor wire, extending at least two metres below ground and in some sections reaching seven metres above the ground.



Ditches and observation posts with cameras and antennae will line the route.

An electronic pulse will run through the fence, setting off an alarm on contact that will allow security guards to locate the exact spot of attempted infiltration.



A sandy tracking path shows the footprints of infiltrators and an military patrol road gives unhindered access to army units.



Singh was also given a detailed briefing by the Israeli Army about the border-guarding mechanism put in place.



The Home Minister was told that in certain "dark areas" where fencing was not possible, like on India-Pakistan border as well, Israel had used small UAVs for security coverage.



Besides, every border post on the Israel border is a self-sufficient unit.

Recently, Hungary and Bulgaria have turned to Israel for advice on building a fence modelled on the one set up on the southern Israeli border with Egypt to stop influx of refugees.



The US, India and other countries have sent delegations to Israel in the past to examine the innovations involved in the barrier.
Terror attacks grab headlines but their prevention does not get as much attention, feels Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu who wants curbing of the ideology and motivation that lead a person to become a terrorist.





"The ideology and motivation that manifests individuals have to be curbed. And the source need not be within the country. It could be outside the country. That is why we have to ensure prevention of terrorism," Prabhu told a gathering here yesterday.



He was delivering a talk 'Role of good governance in national security', organised by Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS), a local NGO.



Prabhu said a terror attack gets media headlines, but prevention of such attacks due to timely action does not get so much into the public domain.



"The Paris attack caught the headlines of the media all over, but after that on the eve of New Year (in Paris) there were threats of terror attack which were prevented," he pointed out.



The Minister also said that a stronger economy is required for a secure nation.

"'Make in India' policy would turn around the country from being the largest importer of the defence material to the largest exporter of it," Prabhu claimed.



He also said that the concept of security has changed over the time.

"From securing only borders with the help of defence forces to the internal security to securing water and food, there has been a change," he said.
BJP President Amit Shah, who is credited with taking the party's membership to a new high and leading it to power in four states, was today elected unopposed for a new term with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading party bigwigs in his endorsement.



Modi, a number of his cabinet colleagues, including Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari besides BJP chief ministers among others proposed Shah's name during the nomination process in which no other leader joined the fray.



Party veterans, including L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who have in past expressed their unhappiness with 51-year-old Shah's stewardship, were conspicuous by their absence at its headquarters as its almost entire top national and state leaders lined up to greet him.



Shah's unanimous election for a three-year term is in line with the party's tradition of choosing its president with a consensus, an outcome virtually guaranteed after Modi and RSS, the party's ideological mentor which has always had a say in the matter, threw their weight behind his continuance.



Modi, who was not present during the exercise due to official engagements, will attend the parliamentary board meeting, likely on January 28, to welcome Shah in his new innings.



Modi congratulated Shah on his re-election and voiced confidence that the party will scale newer heights under his leadership.



"Congratulations to Shri @AmitShah on being elected BJP president. I am confident the Party will scale newer heights under his leadership," Modi tweeted.



"Amit Bhai combines grassroot-level work & rich organisational experience which will benefit the Party immensely," Modi said in another post.



Altogether, 17 nominations were filed proposing the Gujarat leader's name during the three-hour nomination exercise, party vice president Avinash Rai Khanna, who was the chief electoral officer, said as he announced his unopposed election.



All BJP chief ministers, barring the one from Haryana, who was busy in an official engagement, and its state party presidents were present, reflecting the virtually total support Shah commanded.



This will be the first full three-year term for the Gujarat leader, seen to have full backing of Modi, as he had taken over as the party chief in May 2014 after his predecessor Rajnath Singh joined the government.



Seen as a close confidante of Modi, he pushed BJP's primary membership to beyond 11 crore from the earlier less than three crore, according to official party figures, and led its emergence as the biggest political force in Maharashtra and Haryana for the first time. It is in power in both the states.



He also led the party to victory in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir but some of the sheen of his leadership wore off after it suffered crushing defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, sparking some rumblings within.



However, his aides have argued that he remains the best bet for the party as it faces elections in five states this year and the crucial Uttar Pradesh polls next.
Switzerland is "extremely keen" on greater cooperation in India's fight against suspected black money stashed in Swiss banks and is putting in place a new law on automatic information exchange that will take about a year to come into force, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.





Till the time the new law comes into force, the Swiss government will continue to provide account details as per the evidence provided by the Indian authorities under an existing arrangement, he added.



Jaitley, who held a bilateral meeting with Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer during his visit here for the WEF Annual Meeting, said they discussed various issues of mutual concern and Switzerland was very keen on greater cooperation in the fight against black money.



"Swiss are extremely keen on this. They are part of the global efforts against unaccounted money," Jaitley told PTI here in an interview.



"They are in the process of framing a new legislation on international cooperation. They say it will take one year. Till that time, the arrangement entered between India and Switzerland in October 2014 will continue," he said.



Earlier, Maurer had said Switzerland's cooperation on tax matters in terms of sharing information on suspected black money cases would continue at "a good level".



"We have already agreed on more cooperation and this is working well and should continue. We will continue the cooperation at a good level," Maurer had said after meeting Jaitley here.



In the past few months, both countries have been working closely on mutual administrative assistance.



Switzerland, in recent months, has disclosed names of more than a dozen Indians about whom information has been sought by the Indian government amid suspicion that their Swiss bank accounts were being used for stashing illicit funds.



Swiss banks, known for their banking secrecy practices, have come under global pressure as countries, including India, are stepping up efforts to crack down on the black money menace.


President Barack Obama today promised to "look at" export controls to make sure Indian firms have the same access to American technologies as "closest allies" and expressed the hope that the new year will see deals for the US companies to build new reactors in India.





Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to cut red tape and make it easier for doing business in India, he said both countries can do even more to increase the trade and investment that creates jobs for people in both nations.



He said the bilateral trade "is still just a fraction of what it could be" and both countries can do more.



Bilateral trade between India and the US is now around USD 100 billion - rising five-fold in the last decade.



Obama and Modi have set a goal of taking it to USD 500 billion in the next few years.

"Under our civil nuclear agreement, we're hopeful that this year will see deals for US companies to build new reactors, which will mean more reliable electricity for Indians...

"For our part, the United States continues to look at our export controls to make sure Indian companies have the same access to American technology as our closest allies," Obama told PTI in wide-ranging interview.



The US, he said, continued to welcome trade arrangements that meet high standards as well as reforms to protect intellectual property and promote a predictable and a consistent business environment that truly welcomes investments.



Asked how he would like India-US relationship to be remembered as and the things he would like to achieve in the last year of his Presidency, Obama said there is much more that the two countries can do as global partners.



"As leaders in science and technology, we can expand our efforts to combat disease and promote public health in Africa and beyond.



"With collaborations like Mission Innovation, we can be leaders in clean energy and spare our people the worst effects of climate change. As members of the G20, we can work together to boost global growth. By moving ahead with our joint vision, we can ensure the security, prosperity and dignity of people across the Asia Pacific," he said.



Given the momentum of the past year, Obama said the new year is an opportunity to lock in the gains and put the US- India relationship on a new trajectory for years to come.



"I believe there's still so much more we can be doing together to realise the full potential of our partnership in the three areas I identified last year," he said.


Facing students' protest over the death of Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula, Hyderabad Central University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile today proceeded on leave, saying he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse".



"The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Vipin Srivastava, the senior most Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor wef 24-01-2016," the HCU said on its website.



However, it did not mention the period of leave. The development came a day before the 'Chalo HCU' protest march called by agitating students to press for their demands, which included removal of the VC from his post, in the wake of suicide by Rohit.



When contacted, Podile confirmed the development and said there was no pressure on him to go on leave.



"There is no pressure from anybody. It is my concern for my University. We want to resolve the issue now. There is an impasse now and to break that impasse we need to have some mechanism where I am advised to be little away from campus and somebody has to be there to be in command. We have a provision to ask a senior Professor to be In-charge and that's what we have done," he told PTI.



Asked whether he would take charge once normalcy returns in the university, he replied in positive.



Meanwhile, a section of the university administration opposed the decision to appoint Srivastava as officiating Vice -Chancellor and expressed "shock" over the move. It also expressed disappointment over Podile not being dismissed.



The SC/ST Faculty Forum and SC/ST Officers Forum alleged that Srivastava was one of the "accused" in the suicide of another Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.



"We are shocked and dismayed at Dr Vipin Srivastava, assuming the office of Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University. Prof Srivastava has been accused in the suicide of a Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.



"More recently he headed the Executive Council Sub- Committee which has been responsible for the death of Rohit Vemula Chakravarti," the Forums said in a joint statement.



The Sub-Committee had recommended disciplinary action against Rohit and four other scholars in connection with an assault case.



In the light of his "deep involvement" in both suicide cases, he may be asked to immediately step down from the Vice-Chancellor's office, the release said.



The Forums condemned the decision of HCU Executive Council to appoint Srivastava as interim Vice-Chancellor.



"We also express our disappointment with the decision of the authorities not to dismiss Prof Appa Rao Podile," it said.



Earlier, Podile had criticised attempts to "politicise" the issue of Rohit's suicide and trashed talks about being a "BJP man". He had also refused to step down.



The Dalit scholar's body was found hanging in a hostel room on HCU campus on January 17. On January 18, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Podile, BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao and two others were named in an FIR on charges of abetment of suicide and and under relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.



Rohit was among the five research scholars suspended by HCU in September last year for allegedly attacking an ABVP leader. He also one of the accused in the case of alleged assault on ABVP leader Susheel Kumar.


The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are expected to meet next month and the two sides are in touch for finalising the new dates amid some "forward movement", a senior Pakistani official said today.





A senior official of the Foreign Office said on anonymity that there was some "forward movement" and the foreign secretaries are expected to meet in February.



"The two sides are in touch over the issue of the talks and dates would be announced after mutual agreement," he said.



India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary level talks, scheduled for January 15 here, were deferred by both the countries mutually in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack.



India has blamed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for the attack and has been seeking action against the terror outfit and its chief Masood Azhar.



India had sought action by Pakistan on the evidence provided for apprehending the JeM terrorists suspected to have been involved in the January 2 attack. India has linked the fate of the talks to action by Pakistan.



After internal deliberations, the Pakistan government initiated a crackdown on JeM and reportedly held Azhar, believed to be the mastermind behind the attack, besides shutting down several seminaries associated with the outlawed group. The Pakistan government has however not confirmed Azhar's detention.



It also formed a team to investigate the evidence provided by India about JeM's alleged involvement.



In a pre-dawn attack, a group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists, believed to be belonging to JeM, attacked the Pathankot air base on January 2 killing seven security personnel.
Against the backdrop of major terror strikes in France and India recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Francois Hollande today shared concern over the menace, with the Indian leader pitching for a collective fight to defeat the global challenge.





Addressing India-France Business Summit here after Hollande spoke, Modi said the French President "is correct" in saying that terrorism is a challenge just like global warming.



"Fighting against challenge of terrorism is the work for humanity. All those who believe in humanity, they will have to collectively fight against terrorism. India and France believe in humankind. We together along with other countries will eliminate terror forces and terrorism," Modi said.



He assured Hollande that India is will stand with France in fight against terrorism.The comments came against the backdrop of two major terror attacks in India and France in the recent times. While Paris was attacked by ISIS in November, Pathankot in India was struck by Pakistani terrorists on January one.



Modi used the occasion to hail the French government, people and media of that country for continuing their development agenda even after the dastardly terror attack in Paris last November.



"France has shown the way to the world...Just few days after the attack, France hosted leaders of all countries (for climate summit). This is a brave act. I congratulate the citizens of France, especially the media there, that they supported the their government during the time of crisis," he said, adding said India needs to learn lessons from it.



About 130 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in a coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015. The Prime Minister also said the "trust and friendship" with France is an asset for India.
The Indian machine tool industry, the mother industry for the entire manufacturing sector, is recovering from a slump seen in the past three years.



With the recent Make in India initiative announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, there will be increased competition in the machine tool, and as well as, manufacturing industry to attract more business.



In such a scenario, manufacturing and utilising innovative machines is the only way that one can stay ahead in the competition, say leading machine tool manufacturers.



Deccan Herald spoke to varied players at the Imtex Forming and Tooltech 2016 in Bengaluru, to understand the nuance of the industry.



Ace Designers Managing Director Shrinivas G Shirgurkar said, The machine tool industry is the mother industry to all other industries. Any industry requires components, then they have to be produced using machine tools to the shape and dimension from raw materials. Hence, any growth in any industry leads to the use and demand for machine tools.



Shirgurkar added, As investment happens in auto, auto components industry, defence production and infrastructure development will lead to creation of manufacturing capacity and demand for machine tools. On challenges, the industry says, right now, it is facing the challenges of demand . From the past three years, the business has been coming down. Hopefully, the demand will improve in the coming years.



Of course, it is a cycle; the peak was in 2011-12. Since, we are large scale manufacturers, we are quite dependent on variations and demand factor. The capacities are there, but fulfilling them is reduced. Though there are many initiatives the government has taken, on ground level, nothing has happened, an industrialist rued.



Agreed, Yuken India Managing Director C P Rangachar, said. Many of the reforms that were on the anvil have not come on the ground level. Manufacturing has to lead GDP growth, and for manufacturing to grow, the machine tool industry has to grow, he added.



Even though the size of the industry is not big, the impact it has on the economy is huge. There is large demand for development of basic infrastructure, power, railways, defence, housing, transport, mining, offset business, and aerospace.



The Budget is not going to make much difference. However, GST (Goods and Services Tax) will ultimately reduce the cost of acquisition of capital goods, which will create demand. GST is the biggest hope among machine tool players.



Shirgurkar reiterated that since the capacities are built in various places, unless there is increase in overall capacity utilisation, the demand will not increase. Smaller industries have not invested in the last 2-3 years. About 50-60 per cent of machine tools are bought by these small-scale industries depending on different products. Machining centres are bought by corporates. However, CNC lathes are bought by smaller industries, which are very sensitive to the market dynamics.



The Make in India initiative has ushered in positive sentiments, and hopefully, more business is expected in the coming two years. The industry is currently expecting 10-15 per cent growth per annum, recovering from a 40 per cent collapse in 2012. Industry players reiterate that Germany and Japan are still strong in manufacturing, because they are ably supported by strong machine tool industries.



The United Kingdom, for instance, was a pioneer in manufacturing machine tools, 30 years ago, but has since, lost its manufacturing competitiveness. There is no manufacturing left there, owing to machine tool production being ceased. They are entirely services driven. Similarly, countries which have stopped machine tool manufacturing, will also lose their manufacturing competitiveness sooner or later. When asked about the forecast for the next three years, Rangachar said, I am born optimistic. But, having had three bad years, I do think the end of the tunnel should not be very far away. If things like GST, land reforms, labour reforms and making India investment-friendly can be a game changer.



Many manufacturing firms are introducing numerous innovations for the development of the metal forming segment. Companies in India are offering hydraulic and mechanical presses with servo drive options (hydraulic or electric).



Immense development is taking place in the area of automation of machine tools, using robots, gantry loading and unloading systems to run unmanned machines and realise better productivity. Another trend is to complete machining in one setup to ensure accuracy, and lower leadtime to produce. Multi-tasking machines, 5-axis machines, special equipment for aerospace, defence, power and heavy engineering industries are the new developments.



Size of the machine tool industry



Last financial year, the machine tool industrys production was pegged at Rs 4,300 crore. In the current year, as of first half year, the growth has been flat. The next financial year is expected to see a growth possibility of 10-15 per cent. The production of metal forming machines touched Rs 462 crore during 2014-15, while the metal forming machine consumption in India during 2014-15 touched Rs 1,369 crore. The machine tool export is between 5-7 per cent of production, and domestic consumption is around 90-95 per cent.



According to former IMTMA President Shailesh R Sheth, There are several key initiatives under the Make in India campaign, like encouraging FDI, Defence Offset Policy, high Budgetary allocations for infrastructure, particularly roads, solar energy and railways. All these would demand investment in creating productive capacity. Here is where machine tools will feel a direct impact. The challenge for the industry is to be able to offer the right type of machines that the said sectors require.



The sectors that Make in India will directly impact are relatively new, sunrise segments like defence, aerospace, and precision engineering. The Indian machine tool industry has not developed such machines so far, as it was economically not viable. So, initially, the benefit may go more for foreign suppliers. But in time to come, this situation will get rectified as machine tool makers will come forward to seize the opportunity. We have to recognise that not everyone can afford to import. Particularly tier II and III of the value chain, the MSMEs of the country, will look more to buy from India. So, if Indian makers develop products specifically for these sectors and target MSME segments, it could prove to be a huge opportunity, Sheth said.



Overall, the technology development seems to have plateaued somewhat. One does not see highly disruptive or game changing developments hitting the market anytime soon. However, there are many incremental step-up technologies doing the rounds such as 3D printing, additive manufacturing, free form fabrication, and thixoforming, just to name a few. Thus, this is the right time for the industry to engage heavily in R&D. There is lot of space and hunger for breakthrough developments. The machine tool industrys R&D spend is woefully inadequate, despite plenty of incentives going around. The industry is content to be in its comfort zone. It needs to wake up and seize this opportunity, and the first step is to invest in R&D, Sheth reiterates.



Major policies



The IMTMA was able to achieve three major policy initiatives for the machine tool industry in the last financial year. The first is the creation of an Advanced Centre of Excellence for R&D and Technology Development with IIT-Madras.



The second is the creation of a fund under the Technology Acquisition Fund Programme, in order to help the capital goods industry to acquire and assimilate specific technologies for achieving global standards and competitiveness, in a short span of time.



The third is the establishment of integrated industrial infrastructure facilities for machine tool industry, with a basic objective of making the machine tool sector more competitive by providing an ecosystem for production. Establishment of a machine tool park (500-acre facility at Tumakuru, Karnataka), will be a step forward in making the sector cost-effective, produce hi-tech machine tools, enhanced export capability and attract more investment.



If the said three measures of the industry and government were to materialise, it would enable to catapult the Indian machine tool industry to become a dominant player in the home market by 2025, from the current market share of around 40 per cent.



Many reforms initiated over the past year, such as gradual reduction in corporate tax and putting on hold the provisions of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) have reduced uncertainties and ushered in positive sentiments to pave way for manufacturing growth. We expect the demand for metal forming machine tools to grow at a healthy rate in the medium to long-term.

P G Jadeja, IMTMA President



IMTMA Export Development Cell has been constituted with members from machine tool OEMs and accessory manufacturers with the objective of boosting the export efforts of the machine tool industry and thus enhances the Brand India image in overseas markets.

V Anbu, IMTMA Director General



Global ranking



India ranks 14th in production and 10th in consumption of machine tools, according to the World Machine Tool Output and Consumption Survey by Gardner and Research. The demand is likely to grow by 15% year-on-year, and may reach about $3 billion by the year 2020.



Machine tools in India (Rupees in crore)



Year Production Import Consumption % Share*

2010 - 11 3,623 6,703 10,191 36 %

2011 - 12 4,299 7,645 11,764 37 %

2012 - 13 3,885 7598 11,269 33 %

2013 - 14 3,481 4,672 7,906 44 %

2014 - 15 4,230 5,318 9,267 46 %

2014 - 15+ 2,075 2,482 4,421 47 %

2015 - 16+ 2,179 2,681 4,717 46 %



*Indigenous manufacturers in total Indian consumption; +First half








In a shocking incident, three girl students of a nearby private college allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a farm well after harassment by the management demanding 'exorbitant' fees, following which four persons have been detained and are being questioned.





"Four separate teams are on the job, we have detained four persons till now. After completion of questioning, all those who are involved will be taken to court and remanded,"a senior Villupuram Range Police official told PTI, adding probe is on.



Superintendent of Police Narendra Nair said cases under several provisions of the IPC and Women Harassment Act are being filed. Asked if a suicide note was recovered, he said "we will let you know at the appropriate time after the probe is complete."



The suicides that occurred yesterday comes after recent protests by students alleging collection of exorbitant fees by a Yoga and Naturopathy college at Kallakurichi, close to nearby Chinna Salem.



Police said there were also other complaints from students, including of lack of amenities. The deceased girls have been identified as second year students -- V Priyanka, T Monisha and E Saranya.



The girls allegedly tied themselves together with a dupatta and later jumped into a farm well near the college. The bodies were retrieved by police and fire brigade personnel and sent to a government hospital for autopsy.



Expressing serious doubts about the claim of suicide, Tamilarasan, father of Monisha said "I cannot believe this...a few hours after she reached the hostel, they (college authorities) say she was found dead in a nearby well along with two of her friends."



He alleged that his daughter was victimised by college authorities like the two other girls as they had complained to district authorities over collection of exorbitant fees.



Villupuram district Collector M Lakshmi said the students had alleged that the college had collected exorbitant fees to the tune of several lakhs of Rupees over and above the fee structure determined by the government.



She said the students have demanded arrest of some key management personnel, including one Vasuki, over the deaths and to be transferred to another college due to lack of amenities.



They had also requested for Rs 10 lakh as financial aid to the next of the kin of each victim, the collector said. Meanwhile, district revenue authorities sealed the college premises. The post-mortem is currently underway.



Pressing for their demands, the college students resorted to a brief road roko on the Tiruchirappalli-Chennai highway. Asked about the charges of exorbitant fees being levied, Dr S Geethalakshmi, Vice Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, to which the private college is affiliated, said an inquiry would be held.



"Right now, I can only tell you that all appropriate action is being taken, allegations will be inquired into fully," she told PTI. Meanwhile, PMK chief Ramadoss demanded closure of the college and transfer of students to a State-run institution.



Alleging that the college students are constantly subjected to harassment, he demanded a proper probe into the suicide of the three girls and stern action against those responsible.



MDMK chief Vaiko too echoed similar views and demanded tough action against "those who are behind the suicides." CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan demanded a CB-CID inquiry into the deaths.



"The deaths should be registered as cases of murder. Action should be taken against district and police officials who did not take appropriate action against the college despite complaints from students," he said. He also demanded a solatium of Rs 15 lakh to the families of the dead students.
In 2001, after a colourful journey with several media houses including, Fox, Universal, MTV, Nickelodeon and Parmount, among others, in the United Kingdom, Lisa Srao moved to Bengaluru in 2003.



Talking to Mamta Bhardwaj of Deccan Herald, Srao took a trip down memory lane to talk about her arrival in the Indian spirits space, while I Brands, a company that she founded and is the Chairman and Managing Director of, is ready to take things to the next level.



What encouraged you to launch I Brands?



When I first moved to Bengaluru in 2003, I realised that international quality products arent available here, which is really upsetting because people have money to spend. Finding a good packet of biscuits was difficult. That is when I started analysing the market, and I thought why dont I bring in liquor. My father launched the Double Dutch beer in the UK, and I first wanted to introduce that. But, bringing it here wasnt possible because of the duties etc. Hence, I created an international quality brand  I brands.



What was the launch roadmap?



In India, each state is like a separate country. I realised I cant bring a product just like that, what with the differences in language, food, clothing and cultures. I looked more carefully into the spirits business, and I found that the mass market premium segment, as you would call it, is really underutilised i.e. there arent many competitors in that space. When I say mass market premium, Ill give you examples: there is Royal Stag, so I launched Granton Whisky; Blenders Pride, I launched Three Royals; Old Monk, I came up with Rum 99; and Mansion House, I launched Granton Brandy.



How did the market accept I Brands?



Uttarakhand was where I did the pilot project in August 2010. With the test market, I realised very quickly that the blend was too smooth for the regional taste.You have to be very specific to the market that you are in. Here, it was about the blend in that price segment. Customers in the Rs 285-565 price segment wanted a stronger taste. I had to change the blend to introduce the strong mouthfeel. So, I relaunched it. The blend was tweaked to suit the preferences of the target audience.



What were the challenges for I Brands?



Each state was like a different country to venture into. Expansion is a very capital-intensive and complicated with separate label registrations and excise duties. We are small, and hence, we are able to adapt to be the best products in the segment. We are working on gaining momentum in the market share.



How far has I Brands come now?



It is a very exciting time for I Brands. Not only have we expanded, but we have consolidated four brands. I Brands is now in 13 states and 6,000 outlets across India. Recently, we set foot in the South, having launched in about 700 retail outlets in Andhra Pradesh. Next, launches in Delhi, Mizoram and Telangana, have been consolidated for this fiscal. We are expanding internationally as well. Weve got these brands, were consolidated, and were ready to take it to the next level now.



What is the next level?



Now is the right time for I Brands, which has outgrown the startup phase, to have a good alliance. I Brand is a brand-specific company, and what I really want in 2016, is to form alliances. I am looking at international or Indian liquor companies to link our brands with, as I am looking at increasing distribution.



So far, how has the expansion excercise shaped up?



I have already got my investors. We are expanding slowly and steadily in Cambodia. The spirits have arrived there and are being shelved as we speak. While targetting 200 bars and 75 retail outlets there, I am also looking at expanding into Vietnam and Laos in South East Asia, and that is why I am looking at alliances now to give me that leg-up in distribution.



Is the production facility ready to take on the expansion?



I Brands bottling plant is located in Dera Bassi in Punjab. The plant is well-equiped to cater to the market in the North. Post the launch in Telangana, as the market in the South picks up, the company will set up its second plant in either Andhra Pradesh or Telangana.



How different are the markets in the North and South from each other?



In the North, the dominant liquor is whisky, whereas in the South its brandy specifically. However, the thing about the Indian market is that 95 per cent is consumed by brown spirits. Whisky takes up 60 per cent, brandy 17 per cent, rum 13 per cent, and only 7-8 per cent is white spirits.



Finally, how do you view I Brands positioned in the Indian market?



For I Brands, product is king. The three key elements for the company are blend, packaging and price. I Brands products look great on the shelf, and are easy on the pocket. And, as for my own journey, it has been one hell of a four-year ride, from people rubbishing a women entrepreneur in the spirits business to winning the Most Dynamic Leader in the Women Category at the Spiritz 2015 Awards. I cant wait for whats next.




Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.





"I have received fresh leads from India on the Pathankot attack and we will look and examine those evidences given by India. We could have hidden it or forgotten it but we asserted that we have received the evidences," Sharif said on a day when US President Barack Obama termed the Pathankot terror strike as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long".



"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks," Obama told PTI in an interview.



"We are probing and verifying that. Once we are done with that we would definitely bring the facts forward. Along with that, we have also formed a special investigating team, they would go to India and collect more evidence," Sharif said here on his arrival from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum.



"I had a word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he had offered every help possible from their side in bringing the perpetrators to justice. We are going on the right lines and I hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon," said Sharif who promised further Pakistani action to combat militants but conceded that progress had often been slow.



India gave "specific and actionable information" to Pakistan soon after the Pathankot attack reportedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 that killed seven Indian soldiers.



Pakistani National Security Advisor Lt Gen Naseer Khan Janjua on January 5 called up his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval during which they discussed "specific and actionable information" related to the Pathankot terror strike.



Doval and Janjua talked about various information and leads, like the Pakistani numbers which the attackers had called and their intercepts with India asserting that an effective action on part of Pakistan was important.



Sharif was speaking days after a deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on a university near Peshawar killed 21 people.



The attack bore a chilling resemblance to the December, 2014 Peshawar school attack in which over 150 people, mostly children, were killed, prompting the government to launch a National Action Plan (NAP) cracking down on militancy.



Sharif said Pakistan would continue the fight against militants. "We will fulfil this responsibility," he said.
Air India plans to lease out 17,297 sq ft of commercial space at its erstwhile headquarters in Mumbai, which could fetch the state-owned carrier an additional Rs 5 crore revenues annually.





We are hopeful of leasing out the proposed space for an up to Rs 300 sq ft per month, an official said. The airline, which is surviving on government funds as part of a long-term turnaround plan, already rakes in more than Rs 80 crore annually from leasing out of floors in that building.



As many as 16 floors of this 23-storey iconic building located in South Mumbai, which was opened in 1974, have been leased out. The airline has already rented out most of the 4,49,000 sq ft space of the Air India Tower facing the Arabian Sea in the countrys financial capital.
Uber is rapidly expanding its ride-hailing operations across the globe. But in the city of Frankfurt of 690,000  less than the population of San Francisco, Ubers hometown  the company recently did something unusual: It retreated.



In early November, Uber shut its small office in Frankfurts centuries-old city centre after just 18 months of operation, mothballing the online platform that had let people in the city hail rides through a smartphone app. The pullback was spurred in part by drivers like Hasan Kurt, the owner of a local licensed taxi business, who had refused to work with the US service.



With more than 20 years of experience as a taxi operator, Kurt said he disliked how Uber barreled into Frankfurt in early 2014, using primarily unlicensed drivers who had not passed the same exams and health checks required of licensed drivers. That low-cost service, UberPop, which is similar to UberX in the United States, faced legal challenges and was eventually outlawed by German regulators last March.



Uber then tried to recruit licensed operators like Kurt to build its service within the letter of the law. But Kurt would not budge. Its not part of the German culture to do something like what Uber did, Kurt, 45, said over a cup of tea last month during a break in his busy holiday schedule. We dont like it, the government doesnt like it, and our customers dont like it.



Ubers withdrawal from Frankfurt is just one of a multitude of retreats by the company  now valued at $62.5 billion  across Europe in recent months. In November, Uber also pulled out of Hamburg and Duesseldorf after less than two years of operating in each of those German cities. In Amsterdam, Uber recently stopped offering UberPop.



And in other European cities, Uber faces the prospect of being beaten back  or at least contained. In Paris and Madrid, Uber has been confronted by often violent opposition from existing taxi operators, while in London, local regulators are mulling changes that could significantly hamper Ubers ambitions there.



Frankfurt offers a case study of what can cause Uber to draw back in one place even as it expands elsewhere.



With a thriving financial centre and cosmopolitan population, the city seemed like an ideal place for Uber to operate and grow. Yet the company was forced out by a mix of cultural and legal missteps.



Specifically, it miscalculated how best to gain the support of skeptical locals unaccustomed to its win-at-all-costs tactics, and it underestimated the regulatory hurdles of doing business in Europes largest economy.



If you want to be successful in Germany, you have to understand the regulation, said Martin Fassnacht, a professor at the Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany. Uber should have taken that more seriously.



Uber has not completely withdrawn from Germany. It still operates licensed services in Berlin and Munich, and company executives say there is pent-up demand from passengers frustrated with current taxi services. The company has argued it can add thousands of new jobs in Germany if it is allowed to operate freely, though a spokesman declined to say how many German drivers are active on its platform.



Uber has also asked the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, to intervene, and an official European investigation into Germanys ban on UberPop  along with similar rulings in France and Spain  is expected to be completed sometime this year.



Have we made mistakes? Absolutely, said Mark MacGann, Ubers head of European policy. But the current system in Germany artificially protects incumbents who think they have the right to own the market.



To understand why Uber expanded to Frankfurt in May 2014, you have only to visit the citys bustling main train station. Throngs of passengers move through the station on their way to Frankfurts many banks and its central shopping district.



And as in many German cities, the number of licensed taxis in Frankfurt is capped, at just over 1,700 cars, which means that at peak times, there is often more demand for rides than there are available taxis.



After Uber arrived, unlicensed drivers for UberPop soon began showing up near the main entrance of the train station, enticing potential passengers with discounted rates that were roughly one-third cheaper than those of the citys licensed operators, according to Frankfurts taxi unions.



Such fares quickly set off opposition. Thomas Gratz, head of the Taxi and Rental Car Association, a German trade body, said Ubers unlicensed drivers had not passed the same lengthy exams and were not subject to similar costs like professional drivers insurance required by the citys traditional operators. Uber said its drivers were properly vetted and had appropriate insurance.



Confronted with a growing number of UberPop competitors, Taxi Deutschland, another German trade association, filed a legal challenge against Uber in mid-2014, claiming the companys drivers did not have licenses to operate nationwide. That led to a long court odyssey of rulings and appeals.



As the legal tension mounted, Ubers small Frankfurt team tried to drum up interest from locals, many of whom had never booked a taxi through a smartphone app or used a credit card to pay for a taxi. Unlike the United States and other European countries, Germany still has a low level of credit card use, according to industry statistics.



Lure of free rides



To change those habits, Uber began offering free rides and other incentives to new customers. That helped draw in people like Dan Miner, a 32-year-old US researcher in Frankfurt who signed up for the service after first hearing about it from friends in New York.



For Miner, hailing a taxi through a smartphone app, particularly late at night, was easier than flagging down a licensed taxi that charged for extras like using the trunk. More than anything, Uber was cheaper, Miner said.



Any momentum was short lived. In March 2015, a Frankfurt judge ruled that all Uber drivers must hold official permits to operate. Despite the decision, Uber continued to offer its low-cost service  for a while. Then in May, the company shut down UberPop nationwide in favour of only offering licensed services. (Uber had also been offering a luxury chauffeur service in Frankfurt since early 2014.)



That was where the alienation of taxi operators like Kurt hurt Uber. Since the company had already antagonised local taxi operators by prioritising its low-cost service, Uber could not persuade enough licensed drivers to sign up, even after it offered to pay for licenses and help with other regulatory costs that totaled as much as $400 for new drivers, according to several local taxi groups and policymakers.



Ubers aggressive tactics also turned off potential customers like Andreas Mueller, a financial analyst who tried the companys Frankfurt service after first using Uber on a business trip in Chicago.



Mueller said he liked the convenience of paying through his smartphone, but soon turned against the company after reading that it had continued operating in violation of court orders and did not directly employ its drivers, who are independent contractors.



That might work in the US, but thats not how things are done here in Germany, said Mueller, 37. Everyone must respect the rules.




A section of the residents of Vijayashripura, near Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah following the recent Supreme Court order to evict them.





According to the distraught residents, a majority of them women, they have been residing in the locality for the past 30 years after building houses, besides legalising the same under Akrama Sakrama scheme. However, the recent apex court order has left them rattled.



According to them, land was purchased from farmers five decades ago, before developing a layout on the same. Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) was remitted Rs 44 lakh as Akrama Sakrama fee, a few years ago. The locality is well connected by road, has underground drainage, drinking water and electricity among other basic amenities.



The dwellers are regularly paying water and electricity cess. Despite this, the recent court order has come as a shock to over 650 households.



Tara, a teacher and resident of the same locality explained to chief minister that, Most of the households belong to middle class and economically weaker sections.

Some among them are still working as daily wagers.Though the issue was brought to the notice of governments earlier, there was little help from authorities concerned. Now, the same MUDA officials are ready to evict the dwellers. The issue should be sorted out in the interest of the residents.



SImilar was the plea of another group of 50 women from Mandakalli, who had come to see chief minister. According to them, they have built houses at survey number 65 at Mandakalli and have been living there for the past four to five decades. They said that some unidentified miscreants were harassing them to vacate the locality and had also disconnected power lines, a year ago.



Kodava Samaj



Representatives of Kodava Samaj submitted a memorandum to the chief minister against the proposed electric crematorium at the burial ground, next to Cauvery School, at Kuvempunagar. If allowed, the crematorium may create problems for both the students and localites, alleged former VC Prof K C Belliappa and advocate and All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa, who were among the representatives, who met the chief minister.



Aspirants galore



Ticket aspirants for elections to Taluk and Zilla Panchayat polls thronged the TK Layout residence of the chief minister earlier in the day. Siddaramaiah, who gave a patient hearing to most of the aspirants, later left for Bengaluru.



JD(S) leader joins Cong



Swamy alias Lorry Swamy, a former Zilla Panchayat member from Yelwal, quit Janata Dal (Secular) party and joined Congress in the presence of the chief minister.
Karnataka Rajya Kabbu Belegarara Sangha will stage a protest against the Union government for neglecting the farming sector in front of the Parliament in New Delhi on March 10, Sangha President Kuruboor Shanthakumar said.





Briefing mediapersons in the city, he expressed concern over increase in farmers suicide cases and weakening of farming sector. The loans borrowed by the farmers from all the banks should be waived and the government should implement Dr M S Swaminathan report on farm products, he said.



He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a bold decision to take over 20,000 tonne gold in the temples across the country and use it for the welfare of the farmers.



Shanthakumar said the government should reduce the interference of the politicians in the forthcoming taluk and zilla panchayat elections. CCTV cameras should be installed in all the checkposts to check illegal activities.



To solve the problems of Kannadigas in Kasargod, the jurisdiction of in-charge minister for the MaharashtraKarnataka boundary dispute should be extended to Dakshina Kannada border as well. The government should solve the problems of coconut growers and Neera producers, he added.



The State government should emphasise on constituting farm producers company in the coastal district. The Brahmavar sugar factory should be revived and handed over to the farmers to maintain it and the pending arrears for the farmers from the factory should be released at the earliest, he said.



He called upon the farmers to form private companies with the help of Nabard and Horticulture Department to help coconut, rubber and arecanut growers. Last year, Raithamitra Farmers Producer Company Limited was set up with a share capital of Rs. 25,00,000, he said.
Elaborate security has been arranged to prevent any untoward incidents during the 67th Republic Day celebrations to be held at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground, Cubbon Road, at 9 am on Tuesday.





City Police Commissioner NS Megharik told reporters after inspecting arrangements on Sunday that security has been strengthened and 40 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed at all the gates and around the ground.



For the first time, Garuda Commando Force and Armys metal detector squad would patrol the Parade Grounds and surroundings. A dog squad and armed forces from Maharashtra will participate in the Republic Day parade, he informed.



Police personnel deputed



The top cop added that over 2,000 police personnel including nine Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP), 16 Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP), 48 inspectors, 101 sub-inspectors, 13 women sub-inspectors, 77 assistant sub-inspectors, 182 head constables, 459 constables, 99 women police personnel, 152 officers in plainclothes, six State Reserve Police as well as two Rapid Action Force (RAF) teams have been deputed to bandobast duty.



Megarikh said flying of unmanned aerial objects, including drones, balloons, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems etc in the limits of Bengaluru City Police Commissionerate would be banned on Tuesday.



Meanwhile, BBMP Commissioner G Kumar Naik said Governor Vajubhai Vala would unfurl the tri-colour at the 67th Republic Day celebrations at 9 am and inspect the ceremonial parade before addressing the crowd.



About 2,100 personnel from the police department, Scouts and Guides, National Cadet Corps, Sevadal and school students would participate in the parade while about 2,550 students would take part in the cultural programme, he said.



Seating for 11k people



As many as 28 persons from Bengaluru South zone NCP Centre would perform bike stunts on the occasion, he said adding that seating arrangements have been made for as many as 11,000 people.



Deputy Commissioner V Shankar and Additional Commissioner of Police MA Saleem were present.
The State could soon have a modern database of local medicinal plants and knowledge pertaining to traditional healthcare practices created using Geographical Information System (GIS).





The Health department has evinced keen interest in a project recommended by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC) that proposes to develop a local medicinal plant herbal pharmacopeia on an Information Communication Technology (ICT) platform.



In its recommendation - the latest to be submitted to the State government by the commission headed by renowned scientist K Kasturirangan - the panel has suggested the creation of an inventory of herbal medicines and traditional procedure-based therapies using satellite images and GIS.



We are losing out on our traditional knowledge of medicine. By using the latest technology to create a database, we will be integrating traditional community health knowledge and practices with modern science, KKC member secretary Mukund Rao said. He said the challenge is to ensure that traditional medicine is used properly.



The knowledge needs to be documented and standardised. The best practices can then be shared among healthcare workers, Rao said.



While there are hundreds of local herbal remedies, some commonly used include: Drinking fresh juice from Giloya shoot with honey, said to provide relief from acidity; Having decoction of dry ginger, pippali and amla twice a day, said to provide relief from cold and cough. The proposal is to create taluk-level database and documentation.



To start with, medicinal plant pharmacopeia for Heggadadevana Kote (HD Kote) taluk in Mysuru district, has been proposed. Later, it will be extended to other taluks. HD Kote is estimated to be home to 500 medicinal plants in the forest areas of Nagarahole National Park, Bandipur National Park, Karigala, Kalbetta, Kakanakote forest range, among others.



Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khader said he will convene a meeting soon to discuss the implementation of the project. Household and traditional medicine can be safely used for preventive care. For instance, there are several herbal remedies used in different parts of the State for preventing diabetes, the minister pointed out.



In a bid to provide a roadmap for the State government to implement the project, the KKC has come out with a 92-page document prepared in association with Institute of Trans-Disciplinary Health Science and Technology, Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre and Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, HD Kote. Once completed the database would be hosted online for public access, Khader said.



Local remedies



Taluk-level inventory of medicinal plants and knowledge proposed

Knowledge commission has proposed that the project be launched taking HD Kote taluk as the pilot

Health Minister U T Khader to convene meeting soon to discuss implementation

Once complete, database to be hosted online for public access




The Centre on Sunday recommended imposition of the Presidents rule in Arunachal Pradesh which has been facing a huge political crisis since the ruling Congress MLAs switched sides and tried to form the government with the Opposition BJP.





The Cabinet also recommended that the state Assembly be kept under suspended animation. The decision to recommend imposition of Presidents rule was taken by the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, official sources said.



The Congress reacted sharply soon after the news about Cabinets decision came, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of making efforts to destablize a state bordering China. Protesting the Centres decision, it also threatened to challenge it in court if it gets the Presidents assent.



The party will decisively fight undermining of elected mandate by autocratic attempts of BJP government, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.



The Congress also expressed confidence in getting the governments recommendation for the Presidents rule in Arunachal Pradesh defeated in Parliament when it comes for its passage in the Rajya Sabha.



The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came in support of the Congress on the issue with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressing shock at the Cabinets recommendation and tweeted describing the move as murder of the Constitution.



I am afraid its a very unfortunate political decision that the government has taken. It has taken such a step knowing well the decision on the President's rule cannot get approval of Parliament because its politically motivated and they (NDA) do not have majority in the Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.



When asked if the party would eventually challenge the governments decision on the issue in the court, Sibal said replied in affirmative.



We will challenge it. This is an act of political intolerance by the government which talks of cooperative federalism. They (BJP) are trying to destabilize a state bordering China, he said. Sibal, however, suggested that the Congress will wait for President Pranab Mukherjees decision on the governments recommendation.
The High Court of Karnataka has ruled that the student from Iran who has not completed BDS even after 14 years cannot claim extension of visa period as a matter of right.





The court recently said, Just because Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has granted permission to a foreign student to appear for fourth year examination in the 14th year of the students studies of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course, the student cannot claim extension of visa period as a matter of right.



Alireza Hikematnia, 39, has approached the court seeking directions to the Foreign Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) to extend his stay visa till he completes his study.



Alirezas counsel Shivakumar said that the RGUHS issued the hall ticket and permitted him to appear for the fourth year of the course.



Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) Krishna S Dixit, appearing for FRRO, argued that Alireza has not disclosed as to why he has not completed his BDS course even after 14 years, though BDS course is only for four-and-half to five years.



He said that the student took four years to complete first year, three years each to complete his second and third year and is doing his fourth year for the past four-and-half years. FRRO had extended his visa on five occasions to enable him to complete his course.



The ASG submitted that the student is a foreigner and has overstayed after the expiry of visa period and has become an offender in the eyes of law. Under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the student is liable to be imprisoned for five years.

While disposing of the petition, Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri said that there is no cogent explanation as to why the student has not completed the course even after 14 years.



The bench said that it is open to the student to make appropriate application for grant of exit visa and up to the FRRO to consider the same in accordance with law.



It is for the FRRO to take a call to prosecute the student for overstaying depending on his conduct, background and antecedents. There was no reason why the authorities should resort to prosecution just at the drop of the hat, the bench observed.
Controversy shrouded the death of three girl students of a private naturopathy college in Tamil Nadu, with the police registering a case of suicide and the victims parents alleging foul play by the college management.





Police sources here said the bodies of three second year students of SVS Naturopathy and Yoga College at Bangaram near Chinna Salem in Villupuram district of the state, were fished out from an open farm well located near the college campus on Saturday night.



The victims have been identified as T Monisha (19) of Chennai, A Saranya (19) of Kancheepuram and V Priyanka (19) of Tiruvarur.



A two-page suicide note, which was left near the well, said the victims took the extreme step following harassment by the college authorities, including collection of exorbitant fees.



However, since the hands and legs of the girls were tied and the bodies sustained injuries, it was suspected that they might have been murdered.



Soon after the incident, parents of the victims alleged that the girls were murdered by the authorities for questioning the lack of basic facilities and demanded the arrest of the college officials.



Authorities have sealed the college following the incident. Though police have not arrested anyone related to incident, they have picked up four persons from the college for interrogation.



The incident comes barely four months after six students of the same college allegedly attempted suicide by drinking poison in front of the Villupuram Collector office in October 2015 to protest against the management for not taking any action on their complaints.



Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar said a complete investigation has been ordered into the incident to ascertain the reason for the death of the students.



Meanwhile, various leaders of political parties, including the MDMK, PMK and the Left parties condemned the incident and demanded a detailed probe into it, besides payment of compensation to their families.
The six terror suspects who were picked up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) during Fridays raids, were flown to Delhi in the early hours of Sunday after the NIA obtained their in-transit custody for four days.





The six were taken in different vehicles to the Kempegowda International Airport. The NIA formed six special teams and each suspect was taken on a different flight to avoid any problems midair. Taking all the six suspects on a single aircraft would have been risky, said a police officer.



It has also been learnt that around four months ago, the suspects held a meeting in a dense forest near Tumakuru. The NIA is planning to visit the forest and is trying to gather information about the meeting, added the source. NIA officials have clarified that the arrest of Javeed Rafiq from Vinayakanagar near Parappana Agrahara on Saturday evening, is not related to the recent arrest of terror suspects and they are gathering more information about him.



Police said Rafiq stabbed a policeman with a knife while he was being arrested by the Telangana Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). It is suspected that he was a member of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) and was involved in the Ahmedabad-Surat terror attack in 2008. On Saturday evening, after stabbing a policeman, he tried to commit suicide by swallowing a pebble. He was rushed to a hospital and is undergoing treatment. The Telangana ATS have registered an assault complaint at Parappana Agrahara police station, added the police.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad Prof Appa Rao Podile has gone on indefinite leave owing to personal reasons. Appa Rao was under fire for his alleged role in the suspension of five Dalit research scholars and the subsequent suicide of Vemula Rohith.





A note from the office of University of Hyderabad (UoH) Registrar on their official website reads The vice-chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the vice-chancellor, Dr Vipin Srivastava, the senior most professor, shall perform the duties of the vice-chancellor.



However, Dr Vipin who is the Dean of Physics has headed the very sub-committee that looked into the scuffle between members of Ambedkar Students Association and ABVP students. Students expressed dismay over the sudden development and said they can not welcome Dr Vipin who has played a crucial role in the suspension of the students.



We are shocked to note that Prof Vipin will be the in charge. It is like the outgoing vice-chancellor has taken a revenge on us. There are many more senior professors in UoH, Devi Prasad a Sociology Research Scholar who is on indefinite fast said.



On the other hand the in charge vice-chancellor reacting on his additional responsibility has said that the rules of the university stipulates the senior most professor to take over whenever the vice-chancellor is out on leave even for a short while.



It is my responsibility now as the vice-chancellor is on leave, Vipin told the media. He said his first responsibility will be to speak to his colleagues, the dean and the members of executive committee about the ways to establish a line of communication with the agitating students.



The scholarships, salaries of class 4 employees, research and experiments in laboratories are all in suspended animation and we have to set the wheel rolling. We have to create a conducive atmosphere in the campus for the judicial probe on circumstances that led to Rohiths suicide, he added.



The in charge vice-chancellor will also have to deal with the massive Chalo-HCU rally on Monday, in response to a call given by various students unions in Telangana.
Terming the Pathankot terror strike another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long, US President Barack Obama on Sunday demanded that Pakistan must delegitimise, disrupt and dismantle terrorist networks that operate from its territory.





In a tough message, Obama said that Pakistan can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups based there, emphasising that there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice.



Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks, Obama told PTI in an interview here. Obama also gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the Pathankot attack.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday advised BJP leaders to mind their tongue, as language denotes personality of the speaker.





Siddaramaiah came out with the advice while reacting to a statement made by BJP leader Subramanian Swami on All India Congress Committee chairperson, Sonia Gandhi. Swami, during the media briefing held on Saturday, had called Sonia brigand, liar and thief.



Let them make allegations against the party and nobody will object to it. However, one should be cautious about his or her language while making allegations against Sonia Gandhi, the chief minister said while speaking to mediapersons at his house in Mysuru.

To a query, he said the party had already sent the list of candidates for byelections to three Assembly constituencies in the State to the high command.



The list is expected to be finalised in a day or two. Besides, the list of candidates for zilla and taluk panchayat elections too are being prepared, he added.




French President Francois Hollande on Sunday affirmed that the Rs 60,000-crore Rafale fighter jets deal with India was on the right track and that it would pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological bilateral cooperation for the next 40 years.





There has been speculation whether the final deal for India to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets will be inked during Hollandes state visit, which commenced with his arrival in Chandigarh on Sunday.



The deal was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France last April.



Asked if he hoped to see the final deal inked during his current visit, Hollande told PTI in a interview that we are on the right track but agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time.



He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both countries.



Answering a question on the Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said: France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators.



India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism.
Free Wi-Fi from Google now available at Mumbai Central station, aimed to cover 100 stations by end of 2016

RailWire launched its first public Wi-Fi service with Googles help at Mumbai Central station. RailWire was brought to life thanks to Airtels Internet services on RailTels infrastructure with Google providing technical assistance. Rajan Anandan, Managing Director South-East Asia and India along with Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, current Railway Minister of India inaugurated the services for the public. As of now, the service is free of cost but restrictions will soon make their way onto the service as the government plans to make this service self-sustainable in the long run.

We do not want to put out any numbers regarding the speed or bandwidth or the number of users the network can handle but want to be more focused towards providing the users a seamless Wi-Fi experience where in they would be able to stream high definition videos and save them as well on the go said Gulzar Azad, head of access programs at Google India whos been supervising the project closely. Regarding the pricing of this service, there was no clarification as to what revenue model will be followed to make the service self-sufficient. Thus, it is more likely that users might have to pay for the service after a certain time. The government is also mulling whether to let the consumers useWi-Fi service free of charge but with ads.

Connecting to the internet via this service is fairly easy, all you have to do is connect to the RailWire Wi-Fi network, go to the browser, enter your mobile number to register. After that, you will be sent a One Time Password (OTP) that you have to fill in and you will be connected to the internet.

While using the RailWire Wi-Fi service to live stream the event we noticed fluctuations in the transfer speed and confirmed so by running speed tests. We observed a peak speed of 6.31 Mbps but as more and more people sign-on for the service wed like to see how the network scales to handle the load that a congested station like Mumbai Central experiences on a daily basis.

In coming weeks, stations such as Allahabad, Patna, Jaipur and Ranchi are scheduled to see the public Wi-Fi service being implemented. By the end of the year, the government plans to touch 10 million users by launching it at various major stations. The infrastructure is claimed to be ready to stream high definition videos as well as provide download at high speeds.

(With inputs from Ashish Panigrahi)
The current state of high street banking IT systems is not up to scratch and the chief executives of Royal Bank of Scotland , HSBC and Barclays , as well as the heads of the Bank of England's regulatory arms, have been told to urgently begin addressing the matter from board level downwards.

MP Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commons' Treasury Committee, said Andrew Bailey, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and chief executive the bank's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) should lead official efforts to enforce banks to bring their computer systems up to scratch.

The downing of the HSBC online bank earlier January follows a similar system failure at Barclays in October, while RBS was fined 56m by the BoE just over a year ago for computer failures that hit more than over 6.5m UK customers for several weeks.

Every few months we have yet another IT failure at a major bank," Tyrie said on Sunday. "These IT blunders and weaknesses are exposing millions of people to uncertainty, disruption and sometimes distress. Businesses suffer, too. We cant carry on like this."

The Committee has written 21 letters between June and November 2015, including to Martin Wheatley, then chief executive of the FCA, to ask questions on reports that some RBS customer payments had gone missing; to Barclays chairman John McFarlane for further detail on the problems facing customers trying to access banking services in October; to HSBC CEO to Antonio Simoes, about delayed payments to customers last year.

Tyre added: Bank IT systems dont appear to be up to the job. This brings with it not just conduct risk, but also systemic risk. Someone - probably the head of the PRA, needs to assume a leadership role, bring together those most involved among regulators and government agencies, and ensure that there are improvements at the banks.

"Until these are made, the public will remain more exposed than necessary to the risks of banking failures, including delays in paying bills, an inability to obtain their own money, and unauthorised access to their accounts.
In the wake of Google' s 130m tax settlement with the UK taxman, other giant US corporations are close to shaking hands on their own deals. HM Revenue & Customs officials have confirmed to the Sunday Times that Amazon , Facebook , Microsoft and McDonald's are all close to agreements that would swell the national coffers but are likely to land the office in hot water after Google was felt to have got of lightly.

Ahead of looming lending deadlines, Tesco has begun working on restructuring 1.4bn of its 17.5bn debt mountain. The grocer aims to repay 1.4bn in the next few months, the Sunday Telegraph said, as the risk of default on its borrowings climbed to the highest on record.

With its own deadline of 2 February, Sainsbury's is under pressure from major investors to up its bid for Argos owner Home Retail but not over-pay for the deal. With Home Retail shareholders wanting around 220p a share, Sainsburys management have been frustrated in their efforts to drum up support from their own backers due to wildly different views on valuation, according to sources cited by the Sunday Telegraph.

Meanwhile, some of the pressure has dissipated in Shell's 36bn takeover of BG Group after news that a Brazil no longer plans to hike taxes on the oil sector. Fear of such a hike had led some institutional investors to plan to vote against the deal this Thursday, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Activist investor Och-Ziff Capital has taken a stake in GlaxoSmithKline and is understood to have been adding to the heat on the drug group to replace chief executive Andrew Witty. The Sunday Times reported that the Manhattan firm's London arm has spoken to GS chairman Sir Philip Hampton, adding to pressure on Witty and finance director Simon Dingemans.

The current state of high street banking IT systems is not up to scratch and the chief executives of Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays, as well as the heads of the Bank of England's regulatory arms, have been told to urgently begin addressing the matter from board level downwards. MP Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commons' Treasury Committee, said Andrew Bailey, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and chief executive the bank's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) should lead official efforts to enforce banks to bring their computer systems up to scratch, the Sunday Times reported.

Standard Chartered has found it difficult to find a suitable person to replace Sir John Peace as chairman. Major shareholders, cited by the Sunday Times, admitted the modest salary was a problem as "very few people who would take on the risk of being the chairman of a bank these days", heightened by regulations intended to make executives more accountable for scandals.

Deutsche Bank may need to raise cash through a bond sale, or sale of its Postbank subsidiary, after analysts identified a 7bn capital hole in its accounts that will need to be filled by the end of next year. The lenders new chief executive, John Cryan, is looking to conserve cash by stopping the banks dividend for the next two years, the Sunday Times said.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, a pair of banks from Iran are in talks with UK regulators about reopening their doors to British businesses after lifting of sanctions against the Middle Eastern country, the Sunday Times revealed. Melli Bank and Persia International Bank have been given their license back by the Bank of England, while international banks around the world are preparing to re-establish links with Iranian counterparts using the Swift payments system.

Profit warnings have soared to a post-crisis peak, according to figures compiled by Ernst & Young cited by the Sunday Telegraph. Data showed UK-listed companies have issued 313 downgrades over the past year, the most since 2008.

Online grocer Ocado has attracted even more interest from short-selling hedge funds. Now the second most shorted company in the FTSE 350, Ocado's share price tumble was arrested by rumours of a takeover bid from online giant Amazon, but this has only served to dramatically increase short interest in the last week, said the Mail on Sunday.

Imagination Technologies is poised to begin a major restructuring, including radical cost-cutting and the sale of its Pure digital radio arm. After a round of crisis talks with top institutional shareholders, chairman Bert Nordberg revealed plans to dispose of loss-making divisions as well as the possible sale of its corporate headquarters, the Sunday Times reported.

Metro Bank will join its fellow UK challenger banks on the public markets with a 2bn initial public offer that flies in the face of the month's stock market turmoil. Metro, which in 2010 became the first new bank to launch in Britain for more than 100 years, has drawn up plans with its advisers to float 300m of its shares, the Mail on Sunday said, with a formal intention-to-float document expected this week.

Mountain Warehouse could join it with its own 200m flotation, according to the Sunday Times. The retailer, which would be the first to IPO in London for almost a year, has appointed Rothschild to examine the move.

Watkins Jones, the Welsh building and property management firm, has also begun working on a flotation with advisers at Zeus Capital. The company, which has an impressive client list and specialises in building student halls of residence, could be worth up to 300m, the Sunday Times said.
Green Dragon Gas was a 'buy' tip for Midas in the Mail on Sunday. Yes, oil prices is tumbling and China's growth is slowing, but gas prices are more stable and this Chinese gas producer is expected to enjoyed rocketing revenues and profits in the coming years from its gigantic acreage of exploration property. Focused on a chemical-fee extraction of coal-bed methane, Green Dragon won a battle with state-owned giants in 2014, with Beijing confirming the London fully listed company's rights to the licences.

By the end of last year, the company's well were generating at at an annual rate of 12bn cubic feet but less than a fifth of them were connected to the national gas pipe network. By 2018, Green Dragon is forecast to generate roughly 50bn cubic feet a year. China's government incentives for domestic producers, plus an extra premium for coal-bed methane extraction, mean the price the company receives for its gas is way above the cost of production. In 2016 it is expected to break even for the first time, with profits of around $23m.

Shares in listed property companies such as Land Securities, British Land, Great Portland Estates and Workspace, look cheap, according to the Sunday Times' Inside the City column. Most of them have sizeable discounts to their portfolio valuations. Several of the company chiefs have admitted they cannot do much to prevent this discount, which has arisen despite robust financial results, solid demand for their buildings - perhaps more to do with global macroeconomic worries such as about oil and a hard landing for the Chinese economy.

Discounts have stretched to around 20% even for the largest and best diversified as the wider market angst has knocked the FTSE 100 for six since 2016 began. Listed real estate companies generally are jostled about as the market moves, with high liquidity of shares in Land Securities and British Land adding to the volatility. Only if a stock market correction turned into a crash and caused repercussions in the economy would it create real problems for these companies.

Braemar Shipping shares are worth buying, said Questor in the Sunday Telegraph. British shipbrokers are reeling from China's slowdown, which proves a major drag on global trade. The Baltic Dry index, measuring shipping rates for dry commodities and watched as a proxy for Chinese demand, capsized to a 30-year low on Friday of 354. While dark days for ship brokers, the dry bulk business represented only 5% of Braemar's turnover in the first half of the year.

The oil price may have collapsed but the ending of the US oil export embargo and Iran's emergence has raised demand for oil tankers, and hence also prices and profits for Braemar's tanker broking arm, which by revenue is a quarter of the group. Profit more than doubled in the first year on sales up by almost a quarter, which is expected to just about continue in the second half, helped by a 56m order book.





Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.




Why expats leave Cuenca Ecuador has been overdone; its like a sirloin steak that was left to char on the grill and subsequently has lost its flavor? Planning to move to Cuenca Ecuador or not to move to Cuenca on the whim of what other people do, is a bad reason to make a life-long change to live abroad.

Just saying, dont look at the reasons why some expats have left. The point is, were still here and a lot of other expats we know personally are still here as well and no one has any plans to move anywhere. So then the question is, Why do some expats stay?



Were guessing but we think about half of the expats that move to Cuenca stay in Cuenca or move to other areas abroad. The reasons for staying are many and we compiled these reasons from talking with expats over the years who still live here and from our own experiences of life in Cuenca Ecuador. Enjoy!



1. No GMO foods  This issue is important to many people who care about their health. If you have done the study on what Genetically Modified Organisms do to your body you would know that genetically modified foods (GMFs) can radically change a persons overall health, for the worst. GMOs in the food you eat actually mutate the cells in your body, transforming your genes. Its disgusting. Source: Collective Evolution  This issue is important to many people who care about their health. If you have done the study on what Genetically Modified Organisms do to your body you would know that genetically modified foods (GMFs) can radically change a persons overall health, for the worst. GMOs in the food you eat actually mutate the cells in your body, transforming your genes. Its disgusting. Source:

2. Abundance and variety of fresh (some organic) produce at reasonable prices  We have talked a lot on the blog and in our videos about all the variety and abundance available of fruits and vegetables in Cuenca Ecuador; this is just one of the reasons why we chose to move our family here.



3. Dont want to live in the U.S  We have been told by several different expat couples, Well never move back! Everyone has their own personal reasons why they dont want to live in the United States, but if the reason is strong enough and people are convicted they will make living abroad work for them and quite frankly, if folks set something in their mind, they will do it regardless of obstacles.



Moving abroad is sort of like a marriage; if you are not committed to it then it probably wont work out. But if you set it in your heart to commit yourself, and know that moving back to the U.S is not an option then we are much more apt to make it work.



4. They brought their family with them abroad and have nothing to go back to the states for. Perhaps they might visit an elderly parent(s) or they may go back because of sickness or death of a parent but if they have their own family in Ecuador with them then whats the pull to go back for? Skippy Peanut butter, beef hot dogs, apple pie filling? You can make your own or move to a country that has them.



5. Liberty and freedom to walk on the streets and be who you are. In Ecuador you can preach the gospel and pass out pamphlets on the street! In the U.S children cant wear t-shirts to school that say, I love God. How oppressive is that!!

Parents must vaccinate their children or they can't attend school.

In the U.S homeowners cant grow a garden in their own yard! In Ecuador they welcome farmers to farm and eat from their garden for sustenance.

In Ecuador you can buy unpasteurized milk from the goat farmers. In the U.S they shut down all the milk farmers who were selling unpasteurized milk to its members.

In Ecuador you are free to be who you are as long as you are not harming another human being and thats the way it should be!

Ecuador allows people to make their own choices of how they will live; and in the U.S, they make choices for you. We could make such comparisons to write a whole book, but you get the drift.

6. Mild weather  Just yesterday we were talking with an expat and I said the weather was one reason why expats like Cuenca and she said, Oh, the weather is terrible here, I cant stand it! I explained again to her that the weather is mild, meaning it never gets too cold or too hot, which for some people is actually ideal. If you are a walker, the weather here is perfect for that.



7. Low cost and good health care  Thousands of expats have used the medical services in Cuenca Ecuador and were still waiting for a bad review. Everyone raves on the professionalism, the U.S standard facilities, and the inexpensive cost of medical and dental. So, it must be good, even if they're not really paying local rates.



8. Inexpensive cost of living  Some people like to call Cuenca cheap but Cuenca is nothing but. We try not to use the word cheap for Cuenca because nothing is ever cheap ; its all very subjective. However, in most respects it is inexpensive to live here (although prices are going up on everything) but if you go local it is even more inexpensive.



9. Good transportation options - Getting rid of the burden of car ownership is a plus for many folks. Half of all expats that move to Cuenca never drive; its easier to take a taxi, bus or walk where you need to go. You absolutely do not need to own a car in Cuencathe public modes of transportation are that good.



10. They adapt  believe it or not some people adapt to living in other countries and actually like it better than where they came from. It depends a lot on how a person was raised and how set they are in their ways. Some folks are just good at adjusting to change and they simply adapt and love it! Children are also good at change in environment.



11. Safe for expats  Cuenca is fast becoming one of the safest cities of its size in Latin Americathanks to the ramped up security/tourist police and expat awareness! Thank you City of Cuenca!



12. Cuenca is a very livable city  family oriented culture and the friendly people and the traditional culture make Cuenca a likable city. There are many restaurants, bakeries, small shops, and nice grocery stores to choose from; and lets not forget the free symphonies and concerts; oh and the infrastructure. Cuenca has basically (mo st of the time) good Internet, good roads, bike paths, nice parks and its a very clean, safe city for walking around in, even off the beaten path. Now, that doesnt mean you can get lax about your personal safety but it means you are quite safe during the day in Cuenca Ecuador, it wasnt always that way.



Until we write again

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Ohio statewide, congressional candidates disputed 2020 election

U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance is among a slate of Ohio officials who cast doubt on the 2020 election results amid false claims of systemic fraud.
Avon Kenneth Bosarge passed away Saturday, January 23, 2016, at SE Alabama Medical Center. He was 84. Mr. Bosarge retired from the US Army after 23 years service. He worked at Flowers Hospital, ESJC, and volunteered with the Enterprise Rescue Squad. He was also an official with the AHSAA for many years. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM, Wednesday, January 27, 2016, at Searcy Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain Stephen Alsleben officiating. Burial with military honors will follow in Meadowlawn Cemetery with Searcy Funeral Home and Crematory directing. The Enterprise Rescue Squad members will serve as pallbearers. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday from 10:00 AM until service time. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Enterprise Rescue Squad, PO Box 311190, Enterprise, AL 36331. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Emiko Kasago Bosarge, Enterprise, AL; a son, Alvin K. Bosarge (Gloria M.), San Antonio, TX; 2 grandsons, Eric Bosarge, Dallas, TX, Justin Avery Dosser (Michelle), San Diego, CA; great-grandson, Sebastian Issac Bosarge, San Antonio, TX; 5 brothers, Warren Bosarge, Coden, AL, Keith Bosarge (Sylvia), Mobile, AL, Charlie Bosarge (Gracie), Ovett, MS, Allen Bosarge, Mobile, AL, Marshall Bosarge, Mobile, AL. Searcy Funeral Home and Crematory 334-393-2273, is in charge of arrangements. Send condolences to the family at www.searcyfuneralhome.com. Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com.
It appears the business case for the Ford Fiesta RS is dead and buried.

Ford this week re-affirmed comments it will not pursue a younger sibling to the Focus RS for the foreseeable future, despite persistent speculation and spy photos purporting to be the new model in recent weeks.

Speaking with Drive at the launch of the Focus RS in Spain, chief engineer Tyrone Johnson hosed down speculation that a Fiesta equivalent was in the works. Johnson, who orchestrated the existing Fiesta ST for Ford's performance division, said a flagship junior model was unlikely to form one of 12 planned performance variants promised by Ford before 2020.

"We don't speak about any future programs at all, but having said that, our senior manager has gone on the record saying there will not be a Fiesta RS," he said.

Asked why the Fiesta was given the bullet, Johnson replied: "I don't know".

There has been growing public interest in a potential Fiesta RS after multiple reports suggested the project would materialise in 2017. Some outlets said it would employ the same 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine as the ST, albeit with outputs raised from 147kW to about 170kW.

"Expect to see suspension upgrades, bigger brakes and additions such as a front axle limited-slip diff," one publication suggested.

Johnson said Ford needed to be as resourceful as possible in developing its 12 performance models, utilising existing engines and architectures to save untenable R&D costs. That theory seemingly bodes well for the Fiesta RS, though there are other roadblocks, namely price. It would have presumably squeezed between the regular Fiesta ST and the more practical Focus ST on price, at about $30,000  a premium that may have restricted appeal.

Ford last offered a Fiesta RS with the Mark IV variant during the 1990s.
Renault has defended its record following police raids at its French facilities.

The French government launched an investigation into vehicle emissions last year, following revelations Volkswagen used hidden software to help some diesel-powered cars to cheat through emissions tests.

It organised tests of 100 new cars from a variety of manufacturers to ensure cars meet stated emissions figures. Some models reportedly fell short of allowable emissions levels.

Investigators then took material, including computers, from three Renault sites.

Renault shares dropped by more than 20 per cent following reports last week that the carmaker was facing increased scrutiny, before recovering to finish around 10 per cent lower than they started on Thursday.

French Energy minister Segolene Royal told reporters that Renault has not engineered software to cheat through emissions regulations, saying "there is no fraud at Renault. Shareholders and employees should be reassured".

Royal says a wider examination of vehicle emissions data found some cars on sale in France exceeded limits for carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides, though she did not name which brands were responsible.

Renault says the French government's investigation "would not reveal the presence of a defeat device on Renault's vehicles". It told Reuters there was "no evidence of a defeat device equipping Renault vehicles".

Renault Australia spokeswoman Emily Ambrosy says Renault is not under local investigation.

French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron told Agence France-Presse that the examination of Renault data was "not in any way a comparable situation" to Volkswagen's emissions scandal.

-

With wire services
Households underestimate annual bills by 39 billion

As many British households feel the squeeze ahead of the January pay day and look to review their finances for the year ahead, new research from Santander Current Accounts reveals bill payers underestimated their main expenses  council tax, utilities and TV, phone and broadband - by an average of 1,459 last year. Thats equivalent to almost 39 billion across the UK as a whole.

The findings show that whilst bill payers estimated their annual household bill costs to be 2,528, in reality, they spent an average of 3,987. Of all the bills, TV, phone and broadband outgoings were the most significantly underestimated with households estimating annual spend to be 53% lower than actual costs.

The research also highlights that many households are struggling to cover the cost of their household bills. 34% say they can only just make ends meet, one in four (25%) admit to borrowing money or raiding their savings in order to pay their bills and 6% claim they often do not have enough or never have enough to pay their bills.

Matt Hall, Director of Banking at Santander, said: It can be difficult to keep track of bills and price changes. In winter months, when bills may rise, its even more important to make your money go further.

At a time when many households are reviewing their annual expenditure and trying to cut costs, its worth remembering that its often cheaper to pay your household bills by direct debit. Santanders 1|2|3 Current Account gives up to 3% cashback on household bills paid by direct debit, such as telecoms, gas, electricity, water, council tax, and Santander mortgages. This cashback combined with up to 3% interest on the account balance is a simple way to ease the pressure on household costs.

Santanders research does suggest that households are taking proactive steps to monitor energy consumption and reduce costs, as one in eight (12%) have a smart meter or plan to install one.

One reason why estimated and actual bill spend differs may be a lack of attention to bill statements. Almost a third (30%) of bill payers admit they do not read their statements thoroughly, while 5% do not even open their statements.

The 1|2|3 Current Account offers great value with up to 3% cashback on household bills and interest of up to 3% on account balances for a monthly fee of 5. The account can be opened online at santander.co.uk.
After-dark activities in La Plagne

For many, completing the last run of the day leads to a well-deserved apres-ski drink and a bit of a boogie in the local bar. However, as the sky darkens in the French ski resort of La Plagne, a selection of other possibilities come to light. Whether it be sliding down the slopes wearing head-torches, flying through the mountains on zip wires, cosying up in the Hot Igloo, or tucking into delicious Savoyard-style food at altitude, take a look at these exciting after-dark activities

Slide down the slopes on a Superluge sledge

When the last skier has left the mountain, don a head lamp, board a Superluge sledge and, with an instructor, head downhill from Plagne Aime, at 2,000 m, to La Roche at 1,550 m  a 1.5 hour, 5 km descent  for an unforgettable apres-ski sledge ride. At the end, enjoy a warming mug of chocolat chaud or a smooth vin chaud. The Superluge experience is available from Tuesday to Saturday throughout the winter season, and costs from 27 / 20 pp for the 90-minute descent, starting at 5 pm (minimum age 14). For more information, visit la-plagne.com.

Fly through the mountains on new zip wires

Eightnew zip wires, from 50 m to 200 m in length, have been installed and run from Belle Plagne to Plagne-Bellecote, two of La Plagne's high-altitude villages. Make the most of this new area, which comes complete with spider nets, wooden bridges and a final nine-metre base jump. The wires will be open all winter and offer a fun, new slope-side activity, and a different take on traditional apres-ski events. Open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, a 90-minute session on the zip wires costs from 19 / 14 per child and 27 / 20 per adult (minimum height 1m 30). For more information, visit elpro.fr.

Cosy up in a Hot Igloo

Fancy a change of scenery? Spend the night in a 'Hot Igloo', in La Plagne's Igloo Village (situated at over 2,100 m). Designed for those who prefer warmth to ice, the Hot Igloo is an insulated and spacious white bubble tent, with a double bed and a wood burner. Enjoy an indulgent fondue before snuggling up under the stars, appreciating the captivating views over majestic Mont Blanc. Dinner, bed and breakfast in the Hot Igloo costs from 199 / 152 pp per night. For more information, visit blacksheep-igloo.com.

Tuck into a different type of cheesecake

Known for its first-class Savoyard-style cuisine, and delicious Tartiflette cake, head to Le Forperet  an altitude restaurant in Plagne Montalbert  for a night to remember. Tuck into a selection of tasty treats throughout the evening, before donning head torches and returning to the village by 'snakegliss' (a series of sledges that fit together to form a snake, designed to seat groups of families or friends) with an instructor. The evening costs from 45 / 34 pp and includes free transport to Le Forperet, dinner, and return by 'snakegliss' (minimum height 1m 30). Experience on demand, minimum of six people needed. For more information, visit forperet.com/.

Looking for a traditional experience? Better make it Bar La Mine

For an 'old-fashioned' apres-ski session, saunter off the slopes and into this impressive underground lair in Plagne 1800. True to its name, Bar La Mine comes complete with mining carts for tables and multiple mining props, including an array of excavating tools and a fake train track, all of which add to its character. Open from 4 pm on weekdays and from 2 pm at weekends, make the most of the two happy hours (4-6:30 pm and 8:30-9:30 pm) and varied live music performances. Enjoy a glass of white wine, or an ice-cold beer, from 3 / 2.20 pp. For more information, visit bar-lamine.fr/.

One week's self-catering accommodation in La Plagne costs from 215 pp / 164 pp (four sharing) including a six-day lift pass. Return flights (London-Geneva) currently cost from approx. 38 pp with easyJet. Call La Plagne on +33 (0)4 79 09 79 79 (la-plagne.com) for accommodation bookings and advice.


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POMFRET -- A Lockport man is in FBI custody after being arrested early Saturday morning by New York State Police.According to NYSP, Troopers from the Dunkirk barracks came upon a disabled vehicle on I-90 eastbound around 12:25 a.m. The vehicle operator, identified as David E. Foltz, stated that his rental car had run out of gas.A file check revealed tha the FBI-Buffalo Office had issued an arrest warrant for Foltz, charging him with bank robbery. Police say Foltz is suspected of robbing several banks throughout the state.Foltz was subsequently turned over to the FBI, who are continuing their investigation.
(Flickr/Neeta Lind)

Vitamin D supplements are ineffective in improving mobility among the senior population and may even actually pose health risks, a recently published study shows.

As people age, the bones become weaker and more brittle. This causes the elderly to be more prone to falling and fractures. This is why doctors have been recommending Vitamin D supplements to help slow down bone deterioration.

In the aforementioned study, though, the researchers found out that higher doses of the said vitamin can possibly translate to more falls. The currently recommended amount is 800 International Unit (IU) a day.

Dr. Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, chair of geriatrics and aging research at the University Hospital Zurich, and his team recruited 200 people in Switzerland who are 70 years old and older and had experienced falling over the previous year. Additionally, about 58 percent of them were suffering from Vitamin D deficiency.

The participants were divided into three groups and given vitamin D supplements in different doses: 800 IU, a vitamin D product called calcidiol plus the recommended daily dose of 800 IU, and 2000 IU.

"We expected that we would see more benefit by going to the higher doses of vitamin D," said Bischoff-Ferrari, as reported by Time.

After a year of tracking them, the researchers found out that two-thirds of the two latter groups experienced falls while only 48 percent of those on the lowest dose did. Moreover, the people on the lowest-dose group showed the best improvement in terms of leg function.

The published article stated: "The higher doses had no effect on lower extremity physical performance and increased the risk of falls."

While the direct cause-and-effect relationship between the high amount of Vitamin D and the frequency of falls among seniors is yet to be established, the researchers still recommend getting enough vitamin D from food (e.g. salmon, sardines, fortified milk, shrimp and egg yolk) and sunlight exposure. Daily supplements at the recommended amount can be taken if deficiency is evident.
(Photo: Peter Williams / WCC)On 18-19 January 2016, some 80 leaders from governments, UN agencies, faith-related as well as non-religious civil society organizations from countries affected by the current refugee crisis in Europe, Middle East, and Africa met at a conference hosted by the World Council of Churches in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to discern how they can proactively influence and shape coordinated collective practical responses.

20 January 2016

A World Council of Churches/UN high level conference on the refugee crisis in Europe, took place at the Ecumenical Center Geneva on Jan. 18-19. Afterwards they issued a joint statement entitled "Europe's Response to the Refuge Crisis, From Origin to Transit, Reception and Refuge, A Call for Shared Responsibility and Coordinated Action."

The statement was issued jointly by the World Council of Churches; UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund; UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund; and UNHCR, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It reads as follows:

On 18-19 January 2016 representatives of governments, UN agencies and civil society organizations, including churches and faith-based organizations, met at a high-level conference on the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, and co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNFPA and UNHCR. The conference aimed to promote principled, human rights-based and coordinated responses to refugees and migrants in Europe and to the root causes of their displacement. The conference provided an opportunity for participating faith-based organizations to apply faith principles (especially the belief that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God) in putting at the centre of the responses the human dignity and rights of all those affected.

In 2015, more than 1 million refugees and migrants arrived in Europe by land and sea. Arrivals include people fleeing from many other situations of danger and despair, especially in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The refugee and migrant crisis has rapidly become a children's crisis, as children currently account for one in three of all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe. All children, no matter where they are or where they come from, whether they are refugees or migrants, are entitled to care and protection of their dignity, rights and well-being.

PREDOMINANTLY IN EUROPE

The conference focused on responses to the crises, predominantly in Europe but also in the wider context of the 60 million people displaced globally. It examined the entire trajectory of forced displacement, from origin through transit to destination, and acknowledged the challenges that European governments and societies are facing in meeting legal obligations under international refugee, humanitarian and human rights laws while at the same time addressing political, security and economic concerns.

The conference participants call for stronger collective engagement by the international community in seeking political solutions to conflict, violence, inequality and exclusion that are root causes of the current unprecedented global crisis of forced displacement. In particular, we appeal to all those with capacity to help stop the fighting and to alleviate the intolerable suffering in Syria to put aside their political differences and to join in common action for peace now. Protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation, and their access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health services, are essential components of a humanitarian response to the crisis, and are critical investments in future recovery and resilience. In addition, countries neighboring the conflicts from which the refugees are fleeing, and which carry a disproportionately heavy burden of hosting the majority of refugees, must be acknowledged and better supported.

The conference participants concur that alleviating the suffering of people affected by displacement is a shared responsibility, not only in Europe but also elsewhere.

It is vital that governments, civil society, international agencies and others work together in a consistent and coordinated manner to provide a safe and humane environment for refugees and migrants, and to meet the immediate needs of people escaping war, generalized violence and oppression -- and over the longer term to facilitate social inclusion and integration.

It is of urgent importance that safe and legal passage for refugees coming to Europe be expanded and facilitated. Closing national borders to refugees is not a solution because it only shifts the responsibility to the next country.

The conference participants call for better coordination and cooperation of Europe's response to the refugee and migrant crisis. Implementing, strengthening and improving the common EU asylum system is urgently needed. Strengthened coordination in the European response is required to meet the needs of refugees and migrants, including protection against sexual and gender-based violence, education for children and adolescents, and the specific health, nutrition and protection needs of children, adolescents and women, the elderly and people with disabilities. It is essential to uphold principles of international law in the context of the crisis.

All people fleeing from conflict and persecution are entitled to seek protection under international refugee law. Access to a fair asylum process must not be limited on the grounds of nationality, ethnicity, religion, health status or any criterion other than need. Cooperation is also urgently required to oppose xenophobic, racist and Islamophobic statements and actions, and political exploitation of the crisis. And it is essential immediately to begin implementing measures to help refugees and migrants integrate into their new societies. In addition to considering the legal obligations and moral principles that require a compassionate and welcoming response to people in need, it is to be noted that the contributions made by refugees and migrants through their labor, skills and creative capacities can be of great value to their host communities.

Civil society, including faith-based organizations, has a unique and substantial role in responding to humanitarian crises.

Better coordination of their actions with those of governments and international agencies, as well as stronger inter-religious cooperation that brings in the voices and capabilities of other faiths, are essential to maximize efforts at ensuring the survival, rights and dignity of refugees and migrants.

We call for these intentions to be translated into action, and for the voices and views of refugees and migrants to be heard and taken into account to the maximum extent possible.

This will entail defining roles and responsibilities, sharing information and knowledge, resources and activities, building on each other's comparative strengths and advantages, and holding each other to account.

It will require concrete mechanisms for strategic planning, implementation and accountability, and a plan of action to set specific, measurable, achievable and time-bound goals.

To this end, the conference participants call on the co-sponsoring organizations to work together to strengthen participation and contributions of faith-based organizations in responses to the refugee and migrant crisis at country and regional levels, building on existing initiatives already underway, and on a quarterly basis to review and share progress in addressing issues raised at this conference.
Re: Has EF been taken over by the SVP/UDC and supporters/members? Quote:



I do notice that no-one has commented on the very real link Vertigo posted confirming what I was saying about business people here being truly concerned about the effect of the Expulsion initiative on exports and ... business. Not all truths can always be 'linked' in the real world. The link given is however very clear. Here it is again for you to discuss



J Marple - think about it actually. I do believe and know, that many expats who go back to their own country of birth after a lifetime abroad, can truly feel like fish out of water in their own country. Because that country has changed, and so have they. Not sure how long you've been here, and where 'back home' is- but I am pretty sure someone who has lived in several countries for most of their life would find it hard to feel totally integrated 'back home' - a point which has oftened been made here on EF by many- who don't even feel comfortable when going back just for holidays, and find they have little in common with relatives and old friends. No? And as such not being or feeling 'totally integrated', yes, in their very own country.



Strangely enough, my part of the world seems to attract many back in retirement. I have many friends here from childhood, who worked all their lives in Africa, Asia, the USA, Canana, South America... and are also now back. They are totally integrated, and yet- they also look upon many things quite differently to those who never left. For all sorts of reasons- partly because they left because they had idfferent aspirations and curiosities and thererore character and temperament- but also because of the many experiences they've had abroad. I also know several Brits here who have been here for as long as I lived in the UK- same applies to them- and they all say they could never go back to the UK now. Would you? Could you? I totally agree and my comment was clearly tongue and cheek. This comment was in response to Parnell asking for links and saying my 'evidence' was anecdotal- eg via real contacts her with real people.I do notice that no-one has commented on the very real link Vertigo posted confirming what I was saying about business people here being truly concerned about the effect of the Expulsion initiative on exports and ... business. Not all truths can always be 'linked' in the real world. The link given is however very clear. Here it is again for you to discuss EconomieSuisse clearly voiced J Marple - think about it actually. I do believe and know, that many expats who go back to their own country of birth after a lifetime abroad, can truly feel like fish out of water in their own country. Because that country has changed, and so have they. Not sure how long you've been here, and where 'back home' is- but I am pretty sure someone who has lived in several countries for most of their life would find it hard to feel totally integrated 'back home' - a point which has oftened been made here on EF by many- who don't even feel comfortable when going back just for holidays, and find they have little in common with relatives and old friends. No? And as such not being or feeling 'totally integrated', yes, in their very own country.Strangely enough, my part of the world seems to attract many back in retirement. I have many friends here from childhood, who worked all their lives in Africa, Asia, the USA, Canana, South America... and are also now back. They are totally integrated, and yet- they also look upon many things quite differently to those who never left. For all sorts of reasons- partly because they left because they had idfferent aspirations and curiosities and thererore character and temperament- but also because of the many experiences they've had abroad. I also know several Brits here who have been here for as long as I lived in the UK- same applies to them- and they all say they could never go back to the UK now. Would you? Could you? Also the Economie Suisse position is in facebook here
Re: how to find a job as cleaner or nanny Quote: Medea Fleecestealer Without more info from you Cathy we simply can't help. Looking back through your other posts, I see your husband was/is looking for a job too so what is his nationality? If EU then you should be okay workwise once you find a job as your permit is dependent on his and will have work permission as well. But if he's non-EU then I'm afraid you simply can't work here as a cleaner or nanny as no employer will go to the time/expense of applying on your behalf for a permit. Hiring of non-EU nationals is highly restricted as priority is given to Swiss/EU nationals. Unless you/he are highly qualifed with several years' experience to back up your qualifications you can forget it.



https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home...zulassung.html



Given that you've been here since November your time for finding employment as non-EU nationals - if that's what you both are - is running out. Even if he gets a last minute job offer you'll have to leave Switzerland and wait in your home country to find out if he'll be granted a permit or not, plus you'll both need to apply there as well for a Type D visa to enter Switzerland long term assuming the permit application is successful. thank you very much for your informations,he is swiss ,because of me he quitted his last job and came to china with me ,3 monthes ago we returned back to switzerland,now we both do not have job,so i really want to find a job as cleaner or nanny to help my family,i can speak english,but i can not speak good french,it is not easy to find a job because of language,while in china i was doing international business sales,I sell duct forming machines;as to this experience is nothing help for me here in switzerland,as to i am already a mother ,i have a son 11 year old ,i was experience on taking care of kids and doing household,so i think cleaner or nanny is ok for me ,i am living in puidoux
Re: Repartitionswert nach BdBSt )



So the inclusion of your UK property may well have no impact on your tax payable, which is very low anyway (around 0.7%, canton-dependent -- i.e. CHF 700 per CHF 100,000 of net assessed assets). Don't stress too much about it.



Say your CH property is really worth CHF 1 million and you have a loan of CHF 800,000 on it. The tax authorities here value your property (for tax purposes) at, say, CHF 500,000 (very high, for many cantons). They gross this up to 145% to take your UK property into account, so now they want to tax CHF 725,00. But you owe CHF 800,000, so your net property assets are CHF 75,000 in the red, as far as the taxman is concerned. No wealth tax to pay on your property and nothing to feel sick about.



By the way, any negative wealth re. property offsets other assets you own (reducing or totally nullifying any wealth tax you may have to pay), but can't be carried forward to following years' tax returns. So your Swiss property is now valued at 145%... of what? The value at 100% is usually way lower than the real market value of your house (for example, the tax valuation of my house is less than one quarter of its actual sales value). Debts reduce your total taxable assets, but at 100% of the real value of your debt, so often you end up with negative assets in the eyes of the tax office and therefore no wealth tax to pay (no, they don't pay YOU if you have negative assessed wealth!So the inclusion of your UK property may well have no impact on your tax payable, which is very low anyway (around 0.7%, canton-dependent -- i.e. CHF 700 per CHF 100,000 of net assessed assets). Don't stress too much about it.Say your CH property is really worth CHF 1 million and you have a loan of CHF 800,000 on it. The tax authorities here value your property (for tax purposes) at, say, CHF 500,000 (very high, for many cantons). They gross this up to 145% to take your UK property into account, so now they want to tax CHF 725,00. But you owe CHF 800,000, so your net property assets are CHF 75,000 in the red, as far as the taxman is concerned. No wealth tax to pay on your property and nothing to feel sick about.By the way, any negative wealth re. property offsets other assets you own (reducing or totally nullifying any wealth tax you may have to pay), but can't be carried forward to following years' tax returns.
Re: DFS (UK) sofas ship to switzerland Quote: deanobennetto I called DFS (the UK sofa store) and have ordered one from them..sadly no four years interest free BUT they do manage the VAT (20% now) back process for you and arrange shipping. I paid a crazy price of 1000 GBP flat delivery fee including admin for vat back etc..but on my 2000 GBP sofa set the vat back nearly covers the delivery charge plus even if it didnt it is still less than the 70000chf comparable sofa set i was looking at here..

almost cancel out the additional 1000 delivery charge ....



Then the Swiss customs .. do you know how that works ... do you receive a bill or do you have to go to declare it or what?



As I say, it sounds like a great idea and as we are in the market for a sofa, will definitely be looking into it (and visiting DFS along with everybody else this Bank Holiday Easter Monday .... ) This sounds like a brilliant idea, but for the sake of my not so bright brain, please could you run the numbers by me again ... 20% back on 2000, but then add on a 1000 fee for delivery, admin etc? (which could be reduced if one follows the tips in this thread as I understand) Its just that I can't make 20% of 2000the additional 1000 delivery charge ....Then the Swiss customs .. do you know how that works ... do you receive a bill or do you have to go to declare it or what?As I say, it sounds like a great idea and as we are in the market for a sofa, will definitely be looking into it (and visiting DFS along with everybody else this Bank Holiday Easter Monday ....
While there's no doubt that Hollywood is a very small world, who knew it was this small. Apparently, Madonna's son Rocco Ritchie and David and Victoria's son Brooklyn Beckham are so close that they act like "surrogate big brothers" to each other. And that's why 16-year-old Brooklyn is offering his support to 15-year-old Rocco, who is in the middle of a nasty international custody battle between his mother and his father, British director Guy Ritchie.

Madonna Makes One Her Most Controversial Statements EVER Talking About ISIS

According to Xpose on Saturday, Rocco is spending a lot of time with his British circle of friends - which includes Brooklyn - as he is refusing to go home to New York City to be with his mother. The young teenager has been living with his father in London ever since he refused to board a plane back to the Big Apple for the holidays last month.

And now it looks like Rocco wants to completely uproot his life to London, as he prefers the company of his British friends, including Brooklyn, than his American ones back home.

Sean Penn Is Suing Lee Daniels For Comparing Him To Terrence Howard's Legal Troubles

A source said, "The boys have been friends for years and Brooklyn's always acted like a surrogate big brother for Rocco, who idolizes him in return.''

Unfortunately though, it doesn't look like Rocco will be able to live peacefully with his father in London as his mother Madonna is willing to fight with tooth and nail to get her son to come back home. And the pop star's strained relationship with her ex-husband is surely not helping matters, either.

The insider added, "This is far beyond a situation about Rocco - it's about a situation between Madonna and Guy. They don't have a good relationship; it's more of a power fight between them and if he can one-up her. This is the best way he can do it.''

Stay tuned with Enstars for all the latest updates on Rocco Ritchie right here.
Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

Rev. Jay Voorhees, Executive Editor of the United Methodist Reporter, has published a short report on his churchs ban on intelligent design. As readers will know, the UMC barred Discovery Institute from having an information table at the upcoming General Conference in Portland, Oregon. See here for our coverage of the matter so far.

They have offered a variety of rationales for the action, none that makes much sense, and in the article Rev. Voorhees quotes the secretary of the General Conference, who circles back to this:

The concern, said Fitzgerald Reist, secretary of the General Conference, is that the Discovery Institutes stated mission is at odds with Resolution 5052 in The 2012 United Methodist Book of Resolutions. This resolution states that the General Conference of The United Methodist Church go on record as opposing the introduction of any faith-based theories such as Creationism or Intelligent Design into the science curriculum of our public schools. We are bound to follow the social teachings of our church, said Reist.

Just following the rules, he says? We told UMC officials back in December, when the issue first came up, that we are on board with them about not pushing ID into public schools. We have consistently opposed such a move, and did so, very explicitly, in the context of Dover case. When we informed UMC staff of this, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. In addition, ID is a science- not a faith-based idea.

Whats more, if the UMC hierarchy is so concerned about following the social teachings of our church, then why do they embrace Home Depot and Staples? As Donald McLaughlin pointed out, those two businesses endorse a view marriage that, whatever its merits considered independently, runs straight up against the churchs clear doctrinal standards, a weightier thing than a mere resolution. The appearance of a double standard or opportunistic vetting is unavoidable.

Wouldnt it be fascinating to receive a comment from Fitzgerald Reist on these points?

Image: Statue of John Wesley, Savannah, Georgia, via Wikicommons.
A fatal Tuesday in Fayetteville: Two killed in two separate shootings
We got the opportunity to chat to drums and guitar player Andrew Plain of duo Right Hand Left Hand all about the group, upcoming album and more - read on to find out what he had to say...

Right Hand Left Hand

For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?

We always find this a tricky one to answer! We tend to sum it up as 'experimental rock' - equal parts noise, melody and rhythm. We use a lot of loops in our music, so it gets loud and sprawling, but never without focus... We hope!

What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?

Well, there are no shortages of sharks and vultures in the music industry! We've been doing it long enough to have an idea of who to trust and who to avoid. So, like so many things in life, the biggest challenge is 'other people'!

How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?

Very. We've long given up on the idea of doing this as a career, it happens around day jobs - which we enjoy, fortunately. As long as we can continue recording and gigging then we're happy.

How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?

Completely necessary. We're at a small enough level for us to do exactly what we want anyway, so we can't see ourselves getting into a situation where we'd have to compromise what we do.

Right Hand Left Hand is a product of the collaboration between the two of us - and Charlie Francis, our producer, when we record - so what comes out is a completely natural end result. Trying to meddle with that will ruin everything!

Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?

From wherever we can - we're always trying new things. We're inspired by great music, so we try to do great music ourselves! We're also into our history and weird real life stories. Most of the songs are named after people or historical episodes we think are interesting.

If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?

Well, this could be a huge list. We'd love to collaborate with some of our heroes - Scott Walker or Trans Am in particular. But there are plenty of very talented people in and around Cardiff we need to work with first!

Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.

We spent a summer working as lumberjacks in Canada when we were 19. It wasn't for us.

Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?

Just to be able to keep doing it, without losing too much money, and to carry on enjoying it! And to out do ourselves with each new song we write. We're always trying to do something different and to approach our music from another angle!

Where do you hope to be by this time next year?

Who knows where this will take us? If things go well with this record we'd like to be in a similar place working on/releasing another album. And, seeing as Rhodri has two young children, he'd like to be less tired, too.

What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?

The album is out on February 12 and we'll be playing plenty of gigs in support of it, with an album launch show in Cardiff at Clwb Ifor Bach on February 20.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Thus, NCOPs challenge is to be the leading agency to champion the dignity, rights and wellbeing of our senior citizens. The justification of why we need to do what is being planned and the need for its implementation is very clear. NCOP aims to strengthen partnership between the Government, Non-Government Organisations, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector in creating an inclusive, protective, healthy and supportive environment for older persons; and represent the rights and interests of older persons in Fiji at all levels, Minister Akbar said.

The senior citizens in Fiji will have increased opportunities to age care services and this will be possible through the Fijian Governments commitment to create an inclusive and supportive environment for the elderly.This was reiterated by the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Rosy Akbar while officially opening the National Council for Older Persons (NCOP) meeting held at the Ministrys headquarters in Suva, yesterday. Present among the meeting has been the NCOP representatives from Samabula Old Peoples Home, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health, Chanel Home of Compassion, Suva Relief Trust Fund- Pearce Home, Saint Vincent De Paul, Father Law Home, National Council for Disable Person, Fiji Council of Social Services and UNFPA.Minister Akbar emphasized on the importance of NCOP to tackle the challenges of the ageing population.Fijis elderly population has increased over the past two decades with a further increase expected in the next 50 years. According to the last 2007 National Census Fijis total population was recorded at 837,271. Older persons (60 years and above) comprise 7.5 percent of Fijis population with a registered total of 62,940.The Fijian Governments commitment to older persons is protected under Fijis 2013 Constitution, through the Bill of Rights which provides every Fijian with socio-economic rights that include rights to education, to economic participation, to work and just minimum wage, to reasonable access to transportation, to housing and sanitation, to adequate food and water, to social security schemes, to health, freedom from arbitrary evictions and to environmental rights. Governments major objective is to improve the living standards of all Fijians. This is attainable through fair and efficient delivery of social services, Minister Akbar elaborated.The Council plans to use a multisectoral approach to increase its reach out to the senior citizens.As of this year, the Ministry will look after the administration of the three senior citizens homes in Fiji. Apart from the administration of these age care homes, the Ministry will also be responsible for the care and protection of the senior citizens who are accommodated within these 3 institutions, as well as the rights and interests of older persons in communities.
The bags together with stationeries will be distributed to needy children throughout the country.

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Hon. Rosy Akbar yesterday presented 250 bags to disadvantaged school children.The Ministrys efforts to assist the children was supported by Janty Kanvan Limited who made the donation that will be disbursed to children who come under the welfare programme and others requiring assistance.Minister Akbar said, Displays of such generous acts that allows us to fulfil the needs of those who genuinely need our assistance.While working in my role as the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation for the last 16 months, I have come to the conclusion that in order for us to assist the underprivileged of our community in the best possible way is a collaborative effort with our corporate partners, she said.A few students together with their parents and guardians turned up to receive the assistance that will join the other forms of relief including tuition fee free education, free text books initiative and Free Milk Program for Year 1 students.During the presentation, Minister Akbar emphasised the importance of education to uplifting the living standards as these children come from mainly impoverished backgrounds.The Fijian Government will continue to provide a holistic, inclusive and empowered education system in an effort to lift the standard of education to the next level.Governments level of commitment to ensure we have an education nation is reflected in the significant increase in the education budget for 2016, Minister Akbar said.She reminded the parents that their input was essential in terms of making the Governments Education Framework a success.Single parent, Sneh Gopal, mother of Year 11 student Shanal Gopal, thanked the ministry for the assistance and the Government as a whole.Without all the assistance they provide, the free education and the social welfare assistance I receive, I would not have been able to educate my son to this level. So yes, I am very grateful, she said.
A Credit Suisse advisor who managed $2.2 billion in client assets left the firm to join J.P. Morgan Securities, a spokeswoman said.

Elaine Meyers, an industry veteran, joined J.P. Morgan in San Francisco, where she reports to Regional Director Robert Spawn, On Wall Street reports exclusively.

She is the latest advisor to depart Credit Suisse, which plans to exit the U.S. wealth management market. Late last year, the Swiss firm made a deal with Wells Fargo, giving the wirehouse the inside track on recruiting its U.S.-based advisors. Wells Fargo offered Credit Suisse advisors a bonus of up to 300% of their trailing production to transition their books of businesses, according to someone familiar with the matter.

However, some advisors balked at terms of the deal, which included a 13 year contract, which is longer than the industry average. Credit Suisse advisors have been making moves to rivals such as J.P. Morgan and UBS. So many moved to the latter, that Credit Suisse filed a raiding claim in arbitration against its Swiss rival.



Credit Suisse has lost approximately a third of its 270 advisors since announcing the deal, according to On Wall Street reporting and people familiar with the departures.

Meyers said she made the move to J.P. Morgan for its boutique wealth management model, which she believes best fits her clients' needs.

"I am especially eager to leverage the alternatives and lending capabilities, which are two areas that I believe many of my clients will greatly benefit from," she said.

Meyers, who serves ultrawealthy clients, spent ten years at Credit Suisse's Private Banking Group.

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PRAG (dpa-AFX) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded its sovereign rating for Greece as it expects the nation to meet the conditions attached to EUR 86 billion bailout package. The agency lifted the ratings to 'B-' from 'CCC+' with stable outlook. The Greek government has recapitalized the country's systemic banks, and put into place budgetary consolidation measures since last summer, the rating agency noted. Moreover, the economy proved more resilient that previously expected despite multiple shocks. The rating agency expects Greece to meet the conditionality attached to the bailout package, opening the way for discussions on official debt relief. Net general government debt will increase significantly again to 187.4 percent of gross domestic product, mainly because of nil nominal growth estimated for this year. The primary surplus is seen at 0.4 percent of GDP in 2016, before increasing to close to 2 percent by 2019, S&P said. Regardless of what government is in power, Greece will largely comply with the terms of the Eurogroup support program, the agency said. S&P also retained its ratings for the Czech Republic with 'stable' outlook on Friday. The economy is experiencing a period of relatively strong economic expansion and improving public finances, S&P noted. Nonetheless, its aging population poses future fiscal risks, it said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
ROME (dpa-AFX) - Tens of thousands of people held protests and marches in cities across Italy, demanding a bill that would allow legal recognition for same-sex couples and their children. Protesters also said their parental rights should also be enshrined in law. Meanwhile, lawmakers are set to debate the deeply divisive issue next week. The opponents of the bill, who are unwilling to accept this principle in the Catholic nation, are likely to hold their own demonstration next Saturday. Italy is the last western European nation that is yet to offer any legal rights for civil partnerships or gay marriage. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The People's Bank of China plans to broaden the pilot program that helps companies to tap cross border resources. Accordingly, the central bank will permit 27 financial institutions registered in the free-trade zones of Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Fujian to conduct cross-border financing in both yuan and foreign currencies up to a limit linked to their assets or net assets. These institutions will not require prior approval for borrowing from abroad, the bank said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - January 22, 2016) - Roberts Liardon and the missionary teams he leads are able to touch the lives of countless people throughout the nation and across the globe, a goal has been realized with Roberts Liardon Ministries' Home2Home Projects. Liardon is known worldwide for his life-changing books, inspiring public speaking engagements, and as the founder of a number of beloved ministries and a highly-respected Bible college. However, to many around the world, he is best known as a great humanitarian. As a child, Roberts worked to improve the lives of those in his community. Even with all he has accomplished in the humanitarian sphere, he has remained driven to find the most practical and effective way to bring help to those in need as quickly as possible.

Roberts Liardon has long used his ministries as a base for Apostolic work and all manner of humanitarian efforts. Food, clothing, spiritual teachings and other types of assistance have been provided to countries throughout the world, with some of his and his ministries' greatest successes being in some of the planet's neediest countries. In Namibia, Liardon provided the desperately needed education to the local people in order to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. He is currently in the process of training missionaries to do the same in the Philippines. Even with scores of similarly successful efforts under his belt, however, Liardon is particularly excited about the simplicity and instant effects of the Home2Home programs.

Designed to give directly to individuals in need in the most tangible ways possible, Roberts Liardon Ministries' Home2Home Projects' tagline clearly lays out their goals -- "Changing the world -- ONE person at a time". The current Home2Home project in Malawi, East Africa perfectly illustrates this: Funds gathered go towards taking care of orphans, abandoned children, widows, and the elderly. As one of the world's least developed countries, Malawi suffers from a low life expectancy and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. While many look at this as a challenge too big to take on, Liardon sees it as an opportunity to help the neediest of God's children, one at a time. Those that have joined him in this vision have provided new roofs, building supplies, and even entire homes for many homeless individuals. Great steps have been made in larger undertakings such as building wells for villages and even entire dormitories along with school supplies for young children. With the word spreading about the successes of Roberts Liardon Ministries' Home2Home projects, Liardon foresees an increased ability to make a difference in 2016 and reminds us of God's directions with one of his favorite Bible quotes: "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy." Psalm 82:3-4

Founder of Roberts Liardon Ministries, spiritual leader, and author, Roberts Liardon preserves a busy speaking schedule by speaking to communities all over the world. His career in the ministry and as a public speaker began at the young age of 13 with his first address after meeting God as a young child. Since then, he has blossomed into one of the Pentecostal Church's most respected spiritual leaders -- adding author, church historian and humanitarian to his list of callings. His best selling book "I Saw Heaven," was published when he was only 17 and has sold an impressive 1.5 million copies. He has since become one of the 20th century's most inspiring Christian authors. Determined to spread the word of God, he first founded Roberts Liardon Ministries now based in Sarasota, Florida, and later established California's Spirit Life Bible College. He is well recognized for his humanitarian and ministerial efforts, and continues to provide assistance and spiritual guidance to the poor and needy around the world.

Roberts Liardon -- Spiritual Leader and Author: http://www.robertsliardonnews.com

Amazon.com: Roberts Liardon -- Books, Biography, Blog: http://www.amazon.com/Roberts-Liardon/e/B001HMMS0K

Roberts Liardon -- Offers Guidance on How to Remove Disappointment in Healthy Minds: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/roberts-liardon-offers-guidance-remove-180226002.html

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/1/22/11G079871/Images/Roberts_Liardon_--_Makes_a_Difference_Across_the_G-7a815a9056d980a3aa09c7505fc42143.jpg

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armk7cN13Ek

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Second Home, a London, UK-based co-working space startup, raised 7.5m (approximately $10.7m) in funding.

Backers included Index Ventures, Yuri Milner, and Martin Lau (Tencent).

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations starting from the opening of a Lisbon, Portugal-based office.

Founded by Rohan Silva and Sam Aldenton, Second Home operates a co-working space and community dedicated to host entrepreneurs and creative businesses.

The company offers memberships with access to 2GB/s wireless broadband, showers and towels, meeting rooms with video conferencing and audio-visual equipment, invitations to its cultural events programme, and unlimited printing and scanning facilities.

FinSMEs

24/01/2016
Airlift is Argo with a split personality, songs and questionable fidelity to facts.

Raja Krishna Menons film is loosely based on the true story of how Indians were evacuated from Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion in 1990. When the going is good, the film is very good, but it is intermittently confusing, as though two directors made it: the first one understood that this subject required realistic treatment slightly removed from the conventional Bollywood film; the second entered the picture after it was completed and spoilt the tone in places by adding loud songs, needlessly heightened the pitch of the romance between the hero and his wife, and ended with a splash of stretched-out, flag-waving patriotism.

These add-ons qualitatively diminish an otherwise well-handled film that is unusual on the Bollywood firmament, the sort rarely headlined by a star of Akshay Kumars stature in this industry. Our hypothetical Director 2 should have respected the audiences intellect a little more.

Airlift draws on an episode in our history that most other countries would have tomtommed from the rooftops if it had been their success story. Not so in India where filmmakers dread touching recent history because of the national penchant for bans and violence towards creative works we disagree with. According to a 2014 report on Scroll, after Saddam Husseins forces overran Kuwait in August 1990, the Indian government evacuated more than 110,000 citizens from Iraq and Kuwait via an airlift that included nearly 500 flights. The operation is the largest civilian evacuation in history Eventually, Air India would fly 488 flights over 59 days, carrying 111,711 passengers. The film puts it at 1.7 lakh Indians in a joint operation between Air India, Indian Airlines and the Indian Air Force in coordination with  and this is the films big flaw  a single fictional Indian bureaucrat and a single fictional Kuwait-based Indian.

For the most part, Airlift is a focused, no-nonsense narrative. Imagine a life of wealth and comfort being destroyed in one day because a foreign army invades the foreign country you have chosen to call home. Thats what happens to Ranjit Katiyal (Akshay), a construction tycoon living with his wife Amrita (Nimrat Kaur) and little daughter in Kuwait when Saddams forces drive into the streets, bombing buildings and randomly firing their weapons.

We discover early on that money is Ranjits preferred language, that he views India with disdain and calls himself a Kuwaiti. He is not, however, a superficial or entirely cold-hearted character as a more formulaic writer might have made him out to be  he may be a tough-as-nails businessman who barely knows his companys employees, but he dotes on Amrita and their kid and has a warm equation with his driver Nair. At some point, he becomes the moving force behind the effort to get all his fellow Indians out of Kuwait.

The dominant tone of Airlift is realistic, and thats what makes it work. Ranjit and Amrita are believable characters. His transformation from a me-centric chap to a fellow caring for strangers does not come through a melodramatic turning point. We just witness a natural, convincing progression towards that person. Amritas initial cynicism about his newly discovered heroism could have been used to paint a stereotype of the wicked witch of the marital world, the evil wife holding back a golden-hearted man, but the film gives her too shades of grey.

Equally subtle is Airlifts take on NRIs. They are not all Mr Bharats from the Manoj Kumar School of Hyper-Nationalism, nor are they exaggerated, hyper-westernised cardboard cut-outs of the kind Saira Banu played opposite him in Purab aur Pachhim (1970). These are real Indians, rich, poor and middle-class, that you will actually bump into in the Middle East.

Akshay delivers a controlled performance for the most part. When he does raise his pitch it is in those over-stated moments which are a departure from the films otherwise under-stated nature. Such as that song at the opening party or that scene in which Ranjit suddenly acquires a vintage Akshay Kumar swagger before breaking into Bhangra with a horde of desis on getting their first bit of good news about a possible evacuation.

Uff.

Nimrat is excellent, keeping herself in check even when the director has Amrita gazing at Ranjit in loverly fashion while walking in slow motion with a lurve song playing in the background.

Compensation comes in the form of their on-screen compatibility and Akshays hotness in a beard. After SRK in Dilwale last month, it is such a pleasure once again to see a senior male star acknowledging his age with visible lines and gray hairs showing on his face. Akshay in Airlift even briefly takes off his shirt to uncharacteristically reveal a thick mop on his chest  and whaddyaknow, its salt n pepper. There is a time and a place and a certain kind of film for flashing muscles and a smooth, nicely shaven chest; this film is not that place.

Mind you, Akshay is still acting with a woman 15 years his junior, but going by Bollywoods standards of sexist ageism, it is a small mercy that that figure is not 20 or 25. Equally a relief is that this fantastic actress from The Lunchbox has not been relegated to the sidelines as Akshays heroines usually are. Nimrats is certainly not an equal role to his (when will that day come, Mr Kumar?) but it is substantial and significant.

In a film filled with interesting satellite actors and interesting characters, Inaamulhaq sticks out like a sore thumb playing an Iraqi major. This is an artiste who was so memorable as a Pakistani smuggler of pirated Hindi film CDs in 2014s Filmistaan. In Airlift though, his character is one-dimensional, his acting caricaturish.

The stand-out performance among the supporting cast comes from Purab Kohli as Ibrahim, a man desperate to find the bride he lost in the melee of the war. He is restrained, intense, likeable and  this I have not thought of him so far  sexy. What is it with some men and beards?

Kumud Mishra too leaves a lasting impression as Sanjeev Kohli, an initially indifferent joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs who later becomes Ranjits greatest ally in India.

The treatment of characters like Kohli is Airlifts strength  the films babus and refugees are at no point tarred with one brush, either as saints or simpering idiots or satan.

Airlift is somewhat ungracious though towards the actual characters in the real-life drama that took place in 1990. The then foreign minister in the United Front government, IK Gujral, had received a lot of flak for a meeting he held with Saddam after the invasion of Kuwait which culminated in that now infamous photograph of a hug between the two leaders. Politics and diplomacy are always tricky ground and while Saddams actions were no doubt condemnable, the fact is that Gujrals visit paved the way for the evacuation detailed in Airlift. The film, however, shows a minister involved expressing helplessness due to his governments instability. This injustice to the Central Government of the time is inexplicable.

There is also the question of why Airlift does not model its protagonist/s specifically on one of the actual people in that entire episode. Those mentioned in various articles include MP Mascarenhas described by Scroll as the person who organised the operation, as the airlines (Air Indias) regional director in the Gulf & Middle East. The text on screen at the end of the film mentions a couple of individuals involved, namely a Mathunny Matthews and a Vedi (thats right, not even the courtesy of a full name given) without explaining who they were or what exactly they did at the time. Why create a fiction when you could bow to real-life heroes? Why conjure up a name if theirs could have been used? Could it be because a Ranjit Katiyal is who Akshay can play; or because the normative Indian in Bollywoods eyes is a dashing, upper-class, upper-caste, Punjabi Hindu male, the rest  women included  being exceptions?

This would have been a better film if it had been fairer to the people whose story it was telling.

Still, with all its flaws, Airlift is head and shoulders, eyebrows and hairline above the last film in which Akshay ventured into Indias foreign affairs, the amateurishly written Baby. This one manages to build up a sense of urgency around the evacuation effort, gets us to feel for its characters and reminds us that the worst of times can bring out the best in ordinary folk. It would be great to see Akshay backing more films like Airlift and Special 26 (2013). This is the best that he has ever been.
Dear Akshay Kumar,

You really are the Baap of all Khiladis.

I say this after nearly watching Airlift, a film that you have so successfully sold us as a biopic of Ranjit Katyal, a messianic figure who 'saved' nearly 1,70,000 Indians from the marauding armies of Saddam Hussein.

By convincing us of the heroics of a non-existent saviour of us Indians, you have proved to be the greatest actor of your generation  hence the epithet of the Baap of all Khiladis  and pulled off a great con job on the entire country.

Take a bow Ajay of Special 26 for your heist this 26 January. As the unforgettable Shanti ji says in that film: Sir ji, asli film to aap bana rahe hain. Baaki sab to apni...

'Thats true but I cannot talk about him (Katyal). Hes still alive and a big businessman today, living in Kuwait. But I didnt meet him. Raja Menon (the director) met him and spoke to him over the phone. But my character isnt completely based on one person. There were three or four people like him, who were involved in the operation. Weve combined all their stories for the character but Ranjit Katyal was the main guy. Weve changed his name in the film. I should bring to your notice that in 1990, he was a multimillionaire but he lost everything, got everybody back to India from Kuwait and today, hes a multimillionaire again. Hes earned back all his money,' Kumar says in an interview when asked about Katyal.

So, a few years ago, Ek Tha Tiger. And now, Ek Tha Ranjit Katyal!

If that be the case, this Mr Katyal should get the credit for inventing an invisibility cloak much before JK Rowling thought of it. Unless he was wearing one while pottering around to arrange finances and transport millions of Indians from Kuwait to Jordan; simultaneously throwing a few punches at Saddam's soldiers and delivering rousing speeches and one-liners, there is no reason why nobody should have seen him.

But, this, exactly, seems to be the problem. There is absolutely no evidence that such a man existed. "The truth is, no NRI helped us evacuate Indians from Kuwait. The entire operation was financed and executed by the Indian government," says Sureshmal Mathur, the Indian second secretary in the Indian embassy in Kuwait during Saddam's invasion, in an interview with a prominent Hindi daily.

Mathur may not be there in your film, but he was there till the last Indian was airlifted from Kuwait. So, he should know a thing or two about the rescue operation.

In 1990, when the crisis began, India and Iraq were not enemies. In fact, Saddam was considered a friend in Delhi and during the Gulf crisis, the Indian government was actually slammed for its pro-Iraq tilt during the Gulf crisis.

To maintain its diplomatic ties with Iraq, the erstwhile VP Singh government sent foreign minister IK Gujral to meet Saddam, whose embrace of the Iraqi dictator actually turned India into a laughing stock for the world.

Initially, India refused to support the US attack on Iraq. But under immense pressure from Washington and the rest of the world, it allowed US fighters to refuel in India, only to revoke the decision two weeks later.

The short point is this: Evacuating Indians from Kuwait was a huge logistical problem. But the Indian government was not exactly racing against time to save Indians in Kuwait from the advancing army of a dictator bent on killing them.

So, jingoistic chest thumping, fist pumping and flag hoisting could be riveting cinema, but it certainly isn't authentic history. Much of your Airlift is, obviously, fuelled by just gas. It could be a great film, but don't mislead us by saying it is based on the real heroics of a non-existent Messiah.

The real story of the evacuation is this: After the invasion, Gujral reached Kuwait (he was the first foreign leader allowed to do so) and promised Indians eager to leave that the government will evacuate them and the operation would be financed by the treasury.

Since operating flights from a potential war zone was difficult, Air India decided to fly Indians to Mumbai from Jordan. For taking Indians from Kuwait to Jordan, the Indian government hired an Iraqi bus operator. And the entire operation was coordinated by MP Mascarenhas, the AI head in the Gulf who was later on promoted to the post of the carrier's Managing Director, and the Indian diplomats in the region.

The story of Ranjit Katyal is just balderdash. In his interview, Mathur says some people had come forward to help the Indian embassy compile lists of people to be put on buses to Amman. One of them had given the staff his house to use as temporary office.

Everything else is a well-timed marketing con to make Indians brimming with R-Day inspired deshbhakti pay for their credulity by saluting a hero that never existed and ignoring those who were the real force behind the operation.

So, congratulations for the gigantic success of the sequel to Special 26 and for making us all victims of your PR heist.

Your audacious attempt at selling it as the story of a real man really tickles our funny bones.
Now that Twilight and the Hunger Games movies have depleted, it seems like Hollywood needed to start something new in the Young Adult space. Enter The Fifth Wave, a movie that mashes together the silly thrills of an alien invasion movie and the uber seriousness of a Young Adult dystopian sci fi film. The mashup is predictably not very good.

The film is based on Rick Yancey's 2013 YA book and doesnt have any particular subtext or deeper meaning of great science fiction movies like Alien, nor does it have the popcorn thrills of a commercial entertainer like Independence Day. The only interesting aspect of the film is the explanation of the waves - in the first wave the power goes out and cars dont work; floods and earthquakes arrive in the second wave; a plague occurs in the third; the aliens come to Earth in the fourth and take over human bodies in the fifth.

The problem is the concept of the fifth wave has already been done before in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and its numerous remakes. Also the body invasion was treated like a metaphor for class distinction in the 70s America which made for deeper subtext than cheap thrills of gory special effects. In the case of The Fifth Wave the plot is only used as a vehicle to peddle teenagers yet again fighting a dystopian war to save humanity, while being caught in relationships.

The concept of aliens taking over human bodies isnt the least bit scary  the only heft of the plot point is how distrustful one can be of another person. We also never get to know how the aliens take over the bodies  it just occurs in the film as a happenstance.

When none of the major ingredients are working, director J Blakeson relies on emotional heft  but even that is mostly surface level. The protagonist Cassie (Chloe Moretz) either looks sad when her parents die in the invasion or looks scared when being chased by the aliens. When neither of those things are happening she looks wide eyed at the hunky Evan (Alex Roe), as if a handsome man is the only thing needed to save humanity.

It certainly offsets any heroic aspect to Cassies character, and it only makes the central character bland. This is strange coming from the director of The Disappearance of Alice Creed where the female character holds her own despite being kidnapped by two men. The secondary characters in the film are equally uninteresting  Liev Schreiber plays a standard issue military leader given the task of rendering pep talks and Maria Bello plays a sergeant with seriousness that borders on unintentional hilarity.

The whole concept of the world training children in army camps to battle the aliens is reminiscent of Enders Game, albeit without the charm or sense of adventure of that book. Even the action sequences, which are few and far and between dont really have the spectacle needed to portray the devastation of an alien invasion. The worrisome aspect is that The Fifth Wave is set up as the first of a franchise, and if the quality doesnt improve in the next installment were in for a few more years of Young Adult mediocrity.
NEW DELHI French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday his government was considering an agreement with New Delhi that would clear the way for a long-awaited $9 billion sale of French-built Rafale warplanes to India.

Hollande arrived in India on Sunday. During his visit he will try to close the defence deal and to push forward with nuclear and solar energy agreements, including a plan to build six French nuclear reactors in western India.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to attract French companies to India and to share high technology in defence and other fields as part of a bid to promote local industry and build a domestic manufacturing base.

In the run-up to Hollande's visit, Indian and French negotiators debated the price of the 36 combat planes designed to replace ageing Indian air force jets, officials of the two nations said.

"The idea we have in mind is the one of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries in order to allow the firms involved to go all the way," Hollande told journalists.

"It is this intergovernmental agreement that will allow a commercial transaction," said Hollande.

The French leader, speaking in Chandigarh, a city designed by French architect Le Corbusier, said such an agreement was a prerequisite for the Indian side. He did not elaborate.

Hollande will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday, a sign of the deepening political and commercial ties between the two countries.

NUCLEAR REACTORS

During his visit, Hollande will try to kickstart negotiations on a plan for French nuclear company Areva to build six reactors in western India.

The talks have recently been stuck over the price of deal, and French utility EDF's recent takeover of Areva's reactor business has also slowed progress.

France and India are expected to lay out a roadmap for nuclear cooperation. India has launched a nuclear insurance pool to address nuclear suppliers' concerns over liability stemming from a 2010 Indian law.

A source at Areva said the firm was waiting to see the details of the insurance cover.

India will also seek French investment to upgrade of its rail system, waterways and mass transit systems planned for 50 cities, Modi said.

Modi and Hollande also said countries would work together in counter-terrorism and planned to step up cooperation, including between their militaries.

Formal talks will begin on Monday.

(Reporting by Doug Busvine in New Delhi, Himank Sharma in New Delhi and Simon Carraud in Paris; Writing by Matthias Blamont and Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Jon Boyle and Raissa Kasolowsky)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Chandigarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed French President Francois Hollande at Chandigarh's popular Rock Garden on Sunday afternoon.

Modi and Hollande greeted each other with a warm handshake and a hug on a wintry afternoon.

Both leaders took a round of a section of the Rock Garden which has been created entirely from waste material by its founder, Nek Chand.

They then proceeded towards the Capital Complex and will visit the Government Museum and Art Gallery later in the day.

The French president arrived on Sunday on a three-day visit to India. He will be the chief guest at the 67th Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Hollande was received earlier at the Chandigarh airport by Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, besides senior officers.

"A warm welcome to French President Hollande. We are honoured and delighted to have him as chief guest for Republic Day celebrations," Modi tweeted.

"Hollande and I will meet in Chandigarh and Delhi," Modi said. "We will build on the ground covered during our previous interactions," he added.

Hollande was given a colourful welcome at the airport by traditional 'Gidda' and 'Bhangra' dancers of Punjab.

The French president headed from the airport to Hotel Taj, where he will stay during his five-hour stopover in the city.

Chandigarh was put under maximum security cover ahead of the arrival of the French president.

Hollande and Modi will meet and address CEOs of French and Indian companies at a business summit to be held here later during the day.

IANS
Hyderabad: Facing students' protests over the death of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, Hyderabad Central University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile on Sunday proceeded on leave, saying he was "advised to be away from campus" to break the current "impasse".

"The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Vipin Srivastava, the seniormost professor, shall perform the duties of the vice-chancellor with effect from 24-01-2016," the HCU said on its website.

However, it did not mention the period of leave.

The development came a day before the 'Chalo HCU' protest march called by agitating students to press for their demands, which included removal of the VC from his post, in the wake of the suicide by Rohith.

When contacted, Podile confirmed the development and said there was no pressure on him to go on leave.

"There is no pressure from anybody. It is my concern for my University. We want to resolve the issue now. There is an impasse now and to break that impasse we need to have some mechanism where I am advised to be a little away from campus and somebody has to be there to be in command. We have a provision to ask a senior professor to be in-charge and that's what we have done," he said.

Asked whether he would take charge once normalcy returns in the university, he replied in the affirmative.

Meanwhile, a section of the university administration opposed the decision to appoint Srivastava as officiating Vice -Chancellor and expressed "shock" over the move. It also expressed disappointment over Podile not being dismissed.

The SC/ST Faculty Forum and SC/ST Officers Forum alleged that Srivastava was one of the "accused" in the suicide of another Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

PTI
Theres something incurably romantic about fighters pursuing a cause, even if the cause is a bit dubious. For example, the Spanish Civil War attracted idealistic Europeans, and they have been immortalized by Ernest Hemingway and the remarkable image of a dying soldier by photographer Robert Capa. More problematically, Che Guevara, with his signature beret and flowing locks, is an icon, although there is considerable debate about his extremism and legacy.

A visit to the Gadar Memorial in San Francisco, with its photos of glaring, long-dead men, leaves its mark on any Indian. The most heartbreaking, the most dashing, the most revered of all our fighters is undoubtedly Bhagat Singh, hanged at the age of 23 along with Rajguru and Sukhdev, although I find Kartar Singh Sarabha, of UC Berkeley and the Gadar Party, hanged at the age of 19, equally tragic.

Of all the major figures in Indias independence struggle, none captures the imagination as much as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose does, in his military uniform, with his Indian National Army that almost managed to free India from the British yoke, with Japanese help. In one of those sad, if only scenarios, we imagine that that an INA, supported by the Japanese army, would have been a much better bet than the brutal British imperialists, and then the Nehruvians, although that is debatable.

What is not debatable is that Gandhi and Nehru and the Congress Party treated Bose shabbily, in effect exiling him and refusing to support his legitimate struggles, and in retrospect, erasing him from memory. So far as I know, there is not a single Indian institution of importance named after Bose (compared to literally thousands forced to bear Nehru dynasty names). This patriot, flawed though he may have been, was treated like something the cat dragged in: offensive, but necessary to deal with.

This itself is reason enough to support Bose. Beyond that, there is the very real possibility  some are now articulating it after decades of being too afraid to consider it  that, contrary to the mythology, it wasnt Gandhis pacifism and satyagraha that persuaded the British to leave, but a combination of post-war penury, and the very real danger that there would be an armed insurrection that would put their lives, and their embedded assets in positions of power, in serious jeopardy.

The fact that the INA managed to attract large numbers of Indians from Southeast Asia when Japan overran those territories, and that there was a naval mutiny in Mumbai, must have weighed on the British planners minds. The memory of the 1857 First War, in which the British took some serious casualties, as well as Chauri Chaura and other acts of violence, probably indicated that Indians were not always going to be meek and pacifist.

And anyway, it was clear that Britain was finished as a global power at the end of WW2: it was too puny, and too dependent on America. To give credit where it is due, Americans were not altogether enamored of the oppressed colonies the British maintained (although later they too decided theyd like to have colonies of their own, but I digress), and Roosevelt may have put some pressure on the British to depart.

How India would have turned out if we had Bose in an equal relationship with Gandhi and Nehru (and with the support of the Japanese) is a moot question. Growing up, perhaps because of Keralas leftist slant, it was generally accepted that Bose was a hero  I am not sure how it was for people growing up elsewhere in India. I had no idea of Boses political views, other than that I had heard vaguely about the All-India Forward Bloc, by then a spent force in Kerala.

Later, a friends father, a Bengali professor at IISc, gave me the monumental Brothers against the Raj, about Subhas Bose and his brother Sarat. I found the professor, and pretty much all other Bengalis I knew, to be staunch admirers of Netaji. But I must confess that I was unable to make much headway with the book, and returned it, half-read. I too was still very enamored of the dashing Bose, and there was the family story of the very distant relative Captain Lakshmi who was prominent in the INA.

It was only later that I began to realize that Bose was a leftist. Perhaps leftism was fashionable and even appeared plausible at that time. This sits awkwardly with suggestions that he found Swami Vivekananda and the Gita to be his inspiration: I suspect he was in fact an atheist. Bhagat Singh was a leftist too, though a problematic one: even though he was radical, he eschewed the violence and terrorism that todays leftists espouse. Perhaps Bose too was leftist only in the sense of rejecting the dominant hegemonic imperialists of the day. But the Forward Bloc, true to his ideas so far as I can tell, was rendered impotent by more doctrinaire Communists, which may have been Boses fate as well.

The Bose family has also been noticeably dubious (excluding his German wife and daughter). There is one guy, a grand-nephew, I think, a professor somewhere in the US, who can be counted upon to support any anti-national project. Similarly, others in the family have been in the forefront of what I consider damaging attacks on India.

In keeping with general leftist principles, Bose was also an appeaser of Muslims. Perhaps it was inevitable given the demographics of united Bengal Province (which later hived off East Pakistan). Nevertheless, he exhibited the same unthinking preference for Muslim ideas that Nehru later because so infamous for: an example is the very name of the Indian National Army, as Azad Hind Fauj, all three Urdu words, when alternatives existed: Swatantra Bharata Sena, perhaps. Even Jai Hind, which he popularized, eclipses Jai Bharat Mata, which has existed for long. Another slogan, baffling to this Southerner, was Ittefaq, Etemad, Qurbani. No Sanskrit equivalents for Unity, Agreement, Sacrifice? I also read somewhere that Bose favored the use of Roman script rather than Devanagari for Hindi/Urdu.

So it is unclear if a Bose-run India would have been altogether different from the Nehruvian Stalinist state we have endured. The very flag of the Forward Bloc is telling: the usual hammer and sickle inn a corner, and a leaping Bengal tiger on a red background. Other than the tiger theres nothing Indic about the whole thing, even after it has been demonstrated rather clearly that Communism is a cruel myth.

Why, then, is Bose interesting? To put it bluntly, to make Nehruvian Stalinists squirm. There is something very suspicious about the fact that the Bose stories never did add up. There is the letter that has surfaced that Nehru wrote to British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, calling Bose a war criminal. Several obviously fake versions, photoshopped, begun circulating suspiciously just when 100 files were declassified on January 23rd, and the sworn testimony of the stenographer who actually typed the letter was brought out. (Congress dirty tricks department up to its usual damage control?)

The impugned letter shows Nehru  as if we needed confirmation  to be an arrogant, self-important man. The unsaid sub-text is even more disturbing, because it suggests there was some sort of collusion between Nehru and the British. Many have had the unsettling realization that the British were happy to leave Nehru in charge of India  for they realized both that he thought of himself as a brown saheb, and that he could be manipulated to keep India enslaved. They must have felt vindicated when he rushed to the UN in 1948 instead of letting his troops push the tribal invaders out of Kashmir and relieve Gilgit-Baltistan that a low-level British officer had unilaterally and illegally gifted to Pakistan.



There must be more skeletons in the closet, as a detailed analysis by historians of the trove of papers will show. The story about Bose dying in a plane crash in Taiwan is almost certainly a fake, and it is likely that he ended his days in a Soviet gulag, as many have surmised. The treasure that he was carrying  a lot of money made up of small donations from millions of Indians  was grabbed by someone: Nehru, or the British, or the Soviets.

The fact that it has taken seventy years for the Bose papers to be released is almost certain proof that it has material that damages the Nehru dynasty. L K Advani said on the 23rd that when he was in charge, there was tremendous pressure (which he obviously succumbed to) to not publish these papers. Earlier, it was said that releasing these papers would damage relations with a friendly country. Now what could that country be: Britain (which doesnt count any more), Russia (whom we cant any more accuse of being the Soviets)? Or was it just an excuse?

For once, there is a genuine story in the headlines, that the MSM cannot ignore: the betrayal of Bose (See UKs secret talks imply Netaji survived crash, The Pioneer, 24 Jan 2016). Whether this will have much of an impact in a discourse where #PathankotAttack and #MaldaRiots have vanished without trace in the wake of the (manufactured) outrage over Rohith Vemula is unclear. However, it does bring up some serious questions about the clay feet of Nehruvian idols, and about the extent to which they were complicit in the subsequent ruin of the country and its inability to follow the East Asians to prosperity, mostly because Nehruvians may have actively sabotaged Indias rise.

Yes, after all these years, Netaji matters, mostly as a symbol of how badly the country has treated its own, simply to ensure the rule of the Nehru dynasty, which the #deepstate is heavily invested in. It also shows you what happens to those who defy it: you are erased from history and liquidated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had better beware.

1650 words, 24 January 2016
Amit Shah, widely perceived as being close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Sunday re-elected as the president of the Bhartiya Janata Party, news reports said.

Though Shah was elected unopposed to the post at the BJP's office with 17 nominations, party veterans LK Advani, Yashwant Sinha and Murli Manohar Joshi were not present, CNN-IBN reported. Advani and MM Joshi are members of the BJP's 'margdarshak mandal.'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and virtually the entire top party brass, including a number of Union ministers and chief ministers, proposed his name during the nomination process in which no other leader joined the fray.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated Shah on his re-election and said he was sure the party will reach "newer heights of success" under him.

"Heartiest congratulations to Amit Shah on his re-election as the BJP national president," the former Bharatiya Janata Party president tweeted.

"He has been an extremely successful party president," he said of Amit Shah.

Heartiest congratulations to Shri Amit Shah on his reelection as BJP National President. He has been an extremely successful party president  Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) January 24, 2016

Shah's skills will soon be put to test as the BJP faces electoral battles in several key states, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Amit Shah had achieved a major success in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won 71 out of 80 seats with Shah heading the party's state unit.

However, reacting to the news of his re-appointment as BJP president, the Congress pointed out that under him, BJP lost elections in Delhi and Bihar.

Amit Shah will now be the party chief until the year 2019. This will be the first full term for him, as till now, he was completing the remaining term of Rajnath Singh, who was the party chief prior to the Lok Sabha elections.

With inputs from agencies
Amid the 100 files pertaining to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that the centre put up in the public domain on Saturday, the one that stole the show was not even part of the declassified documents.

A mysterious, scanned facsimile widely circulated on Saturday in social media, websites and electronic media, and carried in the Sunday edition of major newspapers is a letter, purportedly written by Jawaharlal Nehru in December 1945 to then British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, referring to Bose as a "war criminal."

The purported letter reads:

"Dear Mr Attlee, I understand from reliable sources that Subhas Chandra Bose, your war criminal, has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is a clear treachery and betrayal of faith by the Russians as Russia has been an ally of the British-Americans, which she should not have done. Please take note of it and do what you consider proper and fit." The missive bears no cursive signature, just "Yours Sincerely, Jawaharlal Nehru," in printed lines.

Curiously, different publications reported several versions of this ostensibly same facsimile.

For instance, the one carried by The Times of India shows 26 December as the date on which it was written. It also has the spelling of 'Jawaharlal' spelt wrongly as 'Jwaharlal.'

The one carried by DNA carries the correct spelling of Jawaharlal, but it is dated 27 December.

The one carried by website opindia.com carries a version where the spelling of Attlee is wrong, though the date matches with that of the one carried by DNA.

The text in all these versions is similar, but all versions have either typographical, grammatical or factual errors. And they do not bear the National Archives of India watermark.

The letter could have been dismissed as a poor attempt at malicious forgery to whip up passions on the contentious issue of Subhas Chandra Bose's death, a line taken by the Congress party, as expected.

Former Union minister and Congress leader Anand Sharma has blasted the "fake letter", taking offence at the way "a lie was circulated." Historian Ram Guha has also called it "inauthentic".

The letter certainly wasn't part of the declassified documents released on Saturday. It has long been a part of the social media folklore, mysteriously appearing at different times and then vanishing from public memory.

But if it was totally fake, why did it gain so much currency prompting a reaction from the Congress? They could have simply ignored it.

One of the reasons could be that the declassified documents confirm the existence of a sworn affidavit of stenographer Shyam Lal Jain who had told the Khosla Commission set up in 1970 to investigate Netaji's death that he had indeed had typed such a letter dictated by Nehru in December 1945.

The deposition finds mention in the declassified file 'Disappearance/Death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose 915/11/C/6/96-Pol' from the Prime Minister's Office.

The Khosla commission, which concurs with the theory that Netaji died in a plane crash theory, for reasons yet unknown, did not take note of Jain's testimony.

If the testimony is true, it means Nehru did not believe Netaji had died in the Taihoku air crash but thought had escaped to Russia.

As Opindia has pointed out, the letter also finds mention in a book called Judgement: No Aircrash, No Death (2010) written by Lt. Manwati Arya, who was born in Burma and joined the INAs womens wing.

Moreover, declassified documents (Page 408) also point to a statement from Associated Press on 29 August 1945 which seems to suggest that Nehru believed Bose did not die in a crash and that he should be treated as a war criminal. But the statement could also be interpreted as the AP correspondent saying it.

Whether or not the letter is authentic, it has served to further polarize the already charged political atmosphere.
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON A blizzard that has paralyzed much of the U.S. East Coast intensified on Saturday, bringing the nation's capital to a standstill and forcing the closure of roads, bridges and tunnels into New York, the largest city in the country.

At least 13 people have been killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. One person died in Maryland and three in New York while shoveling snow.

After dumping nearly two feet (60 cm) of snow on the Washington area overnight, the storm unexpectedly gathered strength as it spun northward and headed into the New York metropolitan area, home to about 20 million people.

With the storm persisting through the night, accumulations of between 24 and 28 inches (60 to 71 cm) of snow are expected in New York City, northern New Jersey and western Long Island, with winds gusting to 45 mph (72 kph), the National Weather Service said. Visibility is expected to be one-quarter of a mile or less.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the accumulation could be two feet or more "when all is said and done, making it in the top five of storms to hit New York City."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency as 10 other state governors have done. He also announced a ban on all travel on New York City area roads and on Long Island, except for emergency vehicles, as of 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT). All bridges and tunnels into the city from New Jersey were also closed and would be until the early hours of Sunday, de Blasio said.

Subways running above ground and trains operated by the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North halted service at 4 p.m. EST because snow falling at a rate of 3 inches (8 cm) per hour proved too much for plows on roads and railways, Cuomo said.

The impact of the travel ban on the New York's financial services industry is seen as minimal over the weekend, and it was too soon to tell how much the heavy snow will affect Wall Street's reopening on Monday.

On Broadway, however, the impact was immediate. Theaters canceled Saturday matinee and evening performances at the urging of the mayor.

"We're loving it. We definitely want to come back," said Michelle Jones, 46, a mortgage company controller from Atlanta who had tickets to see "The Phantom of Opera" with her daughter.

While authorities in New York and New Jersey halted public transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority took the rare step of suspending operations through Sunday in the capital city.

"The forecasts suggest that the snow will wrap up late tonight or in the very early hours of the morning," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference. "But it doesn't make it any less dangerous. We expect continued high winds throughout the area which will continue to make the conditions and visibility very poor."

More than 10,200 U.S. flights were canceled from Friday through Monday, according to transportation officials the aviation data and tracking website FlightAware.com.

United Airlines said on Saturday that it would not operate at Washington-area airports Saturday and Sunday, and would gradually resume service on Monday. The airline plans to start "very limited operations" on Sunday afternoon at its Newark, New Jersey, hub and other New York area airports.

The brunt of the blizzard reached the New York City area after battering Washington, where snow had piled up outside the White House and across the U.S. capital.

Some residents said they just could not resist seeing famous monuments frosted with snow.

"We haven't made snow angels yet, but we're looking forward to doing that in front of the White House," said Robert Bella Hernandez, 38. "We're just going to walk around, see some snow covered D.C. landmarks. And then when it's unsafe, maybe go back in for a minute."

The record high of 28 inches of snow in Washington was set in 1922 and the deepest recent snowfall was 17.8 inches in 2010.

HIGHER TIDES THAN DURING SANDY

High winds battered the entire East Coast, from North Carolina to New York, reaching 70 mph in Wallops Island, Virginia, late on Friday, whipping up the tides and causing coastal flooding, said meteorologist Greg Gallina of the National Weather Service.

Tides higher than those caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago pushed water on to roads along the Jersey Shore and Delaware coast and set records in Cape May, New Jersey, and Lewes, Delaware, said NWS meteorologist Patrick OHara.

A high tide of 8.98 feet (2.74 m) was recorded at 7:51 a.m. EST on Saturday at Cape May - slightly higher than the record of 8.9 feet previously set by Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012. A high tide of 9.27 feet was recorded at Lewes, higher than the 9.2 feet high tide recorded in March 1962.

Even so, there were only a few evacuations reported along the New Jersey Shore, where thousands of residents had to abandon their homes during the devastating 2012 storm.

The barrier islands near Atlantic City were experiencing significant tidal flooding, said Linda Gilmore, the county's public information officer.

Officials in the coastal counties of Ocean and Monmouth issued voluntary evacuation notices for some communities and a mandatory order for some homes in the beach town of Barnegat.

The next high tide, due at about 7 p.m. EST, is expected to be higher than usual because of the full moon.

About 150,000 customers in North Carolina and 90,000 homes in New Jersey lost electricity in the storm on Saturday.

The Pennsylvania National Guard has been called in to help clear I-76 in the western part of the state and ensure stranded people have food, water, and fuel for their cars.

The storm developed along the Gulf Coast, dropping snow over Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky on Friday. On the coast, warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean collided with cold air to form the massive winter system, meteorologists said.

It was forecast to move offshore in southern New England early next week.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles, Barbara Goldberg, Frank McGurty, and Robert MacMillan in New York, Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Writing by Grant McCool; editing by Marguerita Choy and G Crosse)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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If you've ever seen the documentary Food, then you know the kind of power Monsanto (MON) has in the agricultural industry. You probably also know that It's not the most beloved company in the world.

So, despite its size and influence, things look uncertain for Monsanto. There was the failed merger with Syngenta, which saw Monsanto throw in the towel after Sygenta rejected a sweetened offer in late 2015. Then there's the report of lower revenue and net income in Q1 2016 versus the same period a year prior. These difficulties are just the tip of the iceberg, and Monsanto's stock is down 22% over the past 12 months. Which of course begs the question, is there a margin of safety at current levels? Let's take a closer look.

The near term

Monsanto is in the middle of a restructuring plan that calls for the reduction of 2,600 jobs and the closure of its Brazilian sugarcane operations over the next two years. The sugarcane closure is meant to focus the company on its core competencies in seed and crop protection products, and the restructuring is intended to help optimize the business and generate substantial cash flow in the coming years.

Aided by its restructuring efforts, MON continues to return a generous amount of capital back to shareholders and is still at the forefront of innovation in its space. The company continues to invest in its business, and its leading innovation in the sector represents a major component in its success for the long term. Regardless of the recent uncertainty surrounding the company, it has wide-ranging R&D resources and priceless mountains of data that give them a tremendous advantage over the competition in developing next-generation products.

Farming in the 21st Century

Monsanto has been at the forefront of genetically modified seeds since 1982. The company helps farmers improve productivity and reduces expenses with its herbicides, biotechnology traits, and precision agriculture. The company operates through two segments: Seeds & Genomics, which produces genetically and naturally modified crops and vegetable seeds; and Agricultural Productivity, which consists of branded herbicide Roundup. The Seeds & Genomics segment will be the driver of future growth, as the Agricultural Productivity segment has come under pressure of late because of competition and an increase of supply on the market. The increased competition is expected to weigh on earnings and margins.

However, Monsanto's extensive patent portfolio, specifically the crop- and function-specific trait patents, gives the company a strong competitive advantage. The company has done very well in the past by having customers go through an upgrade cycle to new product versions with new patents before the old patents expire.

Labeling intellectual property as a sustainable competitive advantage is something that should be done with care. However, if Monsanto can continue to develop next-generation products through its extensive R&D budget of $1.5 billion per year, that's an enormous competitive advantage that many competitors simply cannot replicate.

Depressed commodity environment and PR challenges

Recent commodity headwinds have forced the company to get more aggressive on the cost-cutting side of the ledger. Management expects forex volatility and a depressed commodity environment to drive down acres for growing crops. In response, the company is going to rein in operating spending, which is expected to save $500 million by 2018.

As I mentioned, Monsanto also has a less than stellar public reputation. Developed countries in the West have already begun to shun GMOs foods for organic options. That's something to be aware of, especially in terms of how attitudes will progress around the globe.

Also, the recent merger attempt of Monsanto's acquisition of rival Syngenta points to the difficulty of finding growth in the marketplace. The merger could still happen someday, but the fact that it was attempted could be a warning sign that the big players are having a hard time growing organically -- no pun intended. The merger would have created a dominant global player in the agricultural space, strengthening it to do battle with rivals DuPont (DD), Dow Chemical (DOW), BASF, and Bayer.

Long-term growth wave

Population and GDP growth around the globe position Monsanto well over the long term through increased food demand. Limited land and the decline in the number of farmers makes this an incredibly valuable company in feeding the world. Continued yield maximization is at the forefront of what it's trying to achieve through both research and development and its current products. Its patent-protected portfolio gives it a big leg up over the competition.

The company is positioned well for growth from strategic advancement and operational discipline. Growth from Seeds & Genomics is set to play a significant role in this growth strategy, as Monsanto expects to hit mid- to high-single-digit growth in gross profit from new corn hybrids globally, soybean penetration, and licensing opportunities. The growth initiatives, combined with a new $3 billion share repurchase program, should accelerate earnings growth to more than two times its current figure by 2019.

Management team

Monsanto has generated over $7 billion of free cash flow in the past four years. It's been able to accomplish this level of success through managing working capital at a highly disciplined level, by managing receivables and inventories within a similar percentage over the past three years. Its capex discipline has helped it focus on reinvesting on things that drive the growth of the business.

Management has been extremely shareholder friendly, having returned $11.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends ($2.6 billion) and share repurchases ($9 billion) since 2013. It recently completed a $6 billion buyback program and just initiated another $3 billion program. Overall, management has repurchased 15% of the shares outstanding since 2013. In addition, management has been able to generate returns on capital of over 22% the past three years, which shows its ability to allocate capital effectively.

Bottom line

Monsanto has been at the forefront of genetically modified seeds since 1982. Competition appears to be increasing, as we can see with the recent merger attempt with Syngenta. Despite the constant litigation and scrutiny, the company continues to do well. It may not be well-loved, but all evidence suggests that Monsanto is a high-quality company in a consolidated industry, with good growth prospects and a strong competitive position. Shares may not look overly appealing right now, with an FCF yield of 5.27%, an EV/EBIT of 15.56, and a dividend yield of 2.3%. However, if the company can execute on its strategy of doubling earnings by 2019, shares at current levels could be a home run, and certainly worthy of consideration by Foolish investors.
In a lot of ways, Williams Companies' (WMB 1.45%) future is up in the air. It's currently in the process of merging with Energy Transfer Equity (ET 0.76%); however, the market is concerned that the deal might not go through. That uncertainty, when combined with some standalone issues at Williams, makes it a less-than-ideal choice for income investors. Here's what's wrong with Williams, and three better options.

The Williams Companies' red flags

An investor approaching Williams Companies today is facing two potential futures. It could very well close its merger with Energy Transfer Equity and become part of that large energy infrastructure family. There are a lot of positives to that move, including increased diversification, cost savings, and potentially faster dividend growth. But there are negatives as well, including the $6 billion in debt the companies will take on to complete the deal. That debt is a concern, because Williams Companies' credit rating was recently downgraded to BB+, which is below investment grade and is due largely to its outsized exposure to a troubled natural gas producer.

That exposure, whereby that one company supplies nearly 20% of Williams' gathering and processing revenue, is an even greater concern if the Energy Transfer Equity deal were to fall apart, because worries that the customer could go bankrupt if commodity prices don't improve will weigh heavily on Williams. In addition to that risk, over the past year Williams Companies has maintained a 1.01 distribution coverage ratio, meaning that it pays out nearly every penny that comes in. Worse yet, that ratio has been eroding over the course of this year and was just 0.91 last quarter. All this is to say there are better dividend options than Williams Companies, given all its uncertainty and issues.

1. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD -1.14%)

Topping that list, in my opinion, is Enterprise Products Partners. That's because it has the three legs needed to support a solid dividend:

More than 85% of its gross margin is backed by fee-based contracts.

Its credit rating of BBB+ is one of the highest credit ratings among MLPs.

At 1.4, it boasts a very conservative distribution coverage ratio.

In not paying out every penny to investors, Enterprise Products Partners has had cash left over to invest in new projects, which has reduced its reliance on the debt and equity markets. Those new projects have steadily added to its cash flow, which enables it to continue to raise its distribution. If fact, with nearly $6 billion in projects currently under construction and projected to come online in the near term, Enterprise Products Partners expects to grow its distribution by 5.2% in 2016.

2. Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP -1.83%)

In a lot of ways, Magellan Midstream Partners is a mirror image of Enterprise Products Partners, except its main focus is on crude oil and refined products pipelines, while Enterprise Product Partners' focus is on NGLs. Other than that, it, too, maintains a strong BBB+ credit rating, 85% of its gross margin is backed by fee-based contracts, and its current distribution coverage ratio is 1.35. That provides a lot of security for its distribution, while its $1.5 billion project backlog will provide plenty of growth. Add it up, and Magellan Midstream Partners is another solid choice over Williams.

3. Phillips 66 Partners (PSXP)

As far as the metrics go, Phillips 66 Partners is very similar to the other two on this list:

The coverage ratio started last year at 1.14 but was 1.4 last quarter.

The credit rating is currently BBB.

Nearly all of its cash flow is derived from long-term fee-based contracts.

The only thing that's different about Phillips 66 Partners is its approach to growth, which is driven almost entirely by drop-down transactions from its parent company. In fact, that parent expects to drop down enough assets through 2018 to drive 30% compound annual distribution growth at Phillips 66 Partners, while it still plans to maintain a coverage ratio above 1.1 and a strong credit rating. That robust growth, when combined with its more conservative financial metrics, makes it a far better choice than Williams.

Investor takeaway

There's a lot of uncertainty surrounding Williams Companies' future. Not only that, but it's also paying out everything it makes, and its credit rating is weak. That's why income investors might be better off forgetting about Williams and instead take a closer look at Enterprise Products Partners, Magellan Midstream Partners, or Phillips 66 Partners.
The recent weakness in oil and gas prices has put the squeeze on energy businesses, and Chevron (CVX 3.25%), one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, is no exception. Chevron recently reported a big earnings miss, with its worst quarterly profit in 13 years. As you can imagine, questions were raised about the entire sector and the sustainability of dividend yields.

What about Chevron's dividend? Let's examine how safe it may be in this challenging environment.



The payout

Chevron has increased dividend payments for 28 straight years, and it's paying out around $8 billion per year to shareholders as of late. Back on Oct. 30, management stated its goal to continue to grow the quarterly dividend. The company will do everything in its power to make that happen. We've seen this already with capital spending cuts and debt issuances. Alas, the company has no control over oil and gas prices. The longer oil prices stay down at these levels, the more difficult it will be for Chevron to continue paying the current dividend.

Before 2013, the company was able to cover the dividend from free cash flow. However, the company currently generates no free cash flow to speak of in this low-priced commodity environment.

The company has $13.2 billion in cash, so theoretically it could cover the dividend for another 1.65 years. Of course, this assumes no cash coming out to cover losses from a depressed commodity environment. However, it's unlikely to part ways with that cash as a buffer against a potential liquidity crunch. Over the past three years, the company has been able to issue debt of $17.66 billion to help pay for the $22.42 billion in dividends. This strategy usually works until it doesn't, and then it ends all at once.

Long-term debt has more than doubled in the last three years. As you can imagine, this increase will put a further strain on cash flow that will need to be used for interest payments to pay off the debt burden of $1.1 billion by 2019. Long-term debt coming due by 2019 stands at about $18 billion, but they are expected to refinance those debt burdens.

However, management states that a healthy dividend is its No. 1 priority, and it says it's "committed" to covering the payout from free cash flow in 2017. That feels to me as if management is trying to buy time for commodity prices to turn around. Picking the future of energy prices is not an easy game. Any projects coming online will have a difficult time making money in this depressed commodity environment, so it's important to have an understanding on future of oil and gas prices.

The future of oil and gas prices

To have any outlook on the future of the dividend payout, we need to understanding where the underlying commodity environment will be in the future. The company could probably issue dividends for another two to three years through cash and additional debt issuance, and asset sales. However, the issuance of dividends will become exceedingly more difficult in a continued low-price environment. Management is well aware and is focused on maintaining the dividend and growing it as cash flow permits.

The goal is to balance cash by reining in current projects and reducing capital spending and operating expenses. It will also continue to sell assets where it's getting good value. Upstream earnings have taken a hit in this low-priced commodity environment, and the market has seen an influx of production in the past few years that has outpaced demand. However, the market is beginning to show signs of a rebalancing, with rig counts coming down and worldwide liquid supply and demand coming back in line.

The increase in production from Saudi Arabia and increased shale production in the U.S. produced a glut of supply in late 2014 that the market has been trying to work off ever since. But global energy demand is expected to grow by about 35% by 2040, so the drop in supply and increase in demand should help to forgive a multitude of sins and provide a wave of future demand growth to stabilize prices.

The call

As much as long-term investors will hate to hear this, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that these companies should probably cut their dividends. Many have room right now to cut dividends in half. Initiating dividend cuts without suspending the payouts will allow the companies to remain in their various income funds while still paying decent dividend payouts to investors. Also, the cutbacks will help stabilize the balance sheets. These companies aren't getting a premium for issuing a dividend right now.

It will be much easier for a company such as BP to cut dividends because it's done so in the past. Companies such as Exxon and Chevron have an untarnished dividend history, and that will make it harder for them to cut. That still doesn't mean they shouldn't do it.

Bottom line

In general, oil and gas companies have dividend payouts that are unsustainable in this low-priced commodity environment. Some companies, including Chesapeake Energy (CHKA.Q), have scrapped their payouts altogether. But just because these companies should cut their dividends to some degree doesn't mean they will.

Chevron is a different breed because of its integrated business model -- it's one of a handful of companies with the potential to ride out the storm without cutting its payout. The company will do everything in its power to keep its dividend intact, and it should be able to do so through cost-cutting initiatives, asset sales, and debt issuance, as well as paring back the share-buyback program. It won't be pretty, though. Everything ultimately depends on how long we remain at these depressed oil and gas prices, but I expect Chevron to keep dividend payments consistent with today's payouts, even with energy prices at current levels.

Oil and gas prices should recover from depressed levels as production levels off and demand increases because of lower prices. Ultimately, this situation will allow the cash flow and subsequent dividend payouts to come back into balance. As is usually the case, the timing is always less sure. The longer prices stay in a sub- $30-$40 range, the more worried I will be. However, Chevron's 5.25% dividend yield appears to be safe -- for right now.
Bernie Sanders, the longtime Vermont senator and current presidential hopeful, has been labeled many things in his career, including a socialist, and while he has attempted to push back against that label by advocating for what he describes as democratic socialism, the term still evokes images of '70s college sit-ins, bell-bottom pants, and bongs. Although no one can know for certain what Sanders would do if he were to win the presidency, his recent comments and actions suggest he could become the most pro-pot president in history.

Gaining momentum

After delivering important political wins in Alaska and Oregon in 2014, the pro-marijuana movement is picking up steam ahead of the 2016 elections. Legal marijuana legislation could be on the ballot in 10 states in November.

California is the biggest state that could take up the issue this fall, but voters could also turn marijuana laws on their ear in other notable states including Nevada, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Florida (where medical marijuana laws will likely be on the agenda).

The chance for success in those states may be better than ever because the majority of Americans have favored the concept of marijuana legalization for three consecutive years, according to Gallup. In October, 58% of respondents to Gallup's poll said marijuana should be legal, up from just 23% in the mid '80s, and that ties for the largest percentage in favor yet.

Given growing support among average Americans, subtle support from a future commander in chief could push the ball over the goal line and usher in an era in which marijuana is made, sold, and taxed similarly to alcohol and tobacco.

Sanders' stance

Sanders' home state of Vermont could soon join the ranks of states with pro-marijuana laws on the books. The state's laws require that legal marijuana legislation goes through legislature, rather than voters, and its state government is currently considering a pro-pot bill that industry watchers think will pass.

Optimism for passage stems from the fact that medical marijuana has been allowed in Vermont for over a decade, marijuana possession decriminalization laws were passed there in 2013, and Vermont's governor and speaker of the House both voiced support for pro-marijuana laws last year.

Vermont's legislature may also follow Sanders' lead.

In November, Sanders introduced legislation that would end the federal ban on marijuana, effectively removing marijuana from the DEA's list of "most dangerous" drugs that lumps marijuana in with heroin. The bill proposed by Sanders would also remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, which in turn, could give states more freedom to make their own decisions on the plant.

That bill follows various pro-marijuana statements made by Sanders on the campaign trail that would seem to support more widespread marijuana legalization.

In October, Sanders said at a George Mason University gathering that "we have 2.2 million people in jail today, more than any other country. And we're spending $80 billion a year to lock people up. We need major changes in our criminal justice system -- including changes in drug laws."

Sanders offered up tacit support of legal marijuana at the first Democratic presidential debate, too. In that debate, when he was asked if he would vote in favor of proposed recreational marijuana in Nevada, he responded "yes,"

Pot profits

As legal marijuana spreads to more states and time goes by, it's becoming increasingly difficult to argue against the potential benefit of taxing cannabis.

For example, Colorado legalized marijuana in 2012 and the state levies a 10% marijuana special tax, 15% excise tax, and a 2.9% sales tax on it. The state also charges a variety of fees and combined, state revenue from taxes and fees grew 64% year over year in December to $12.2 million.

In Oregon, legal sales of marijuana began last fall and applications for retail dispensaries are being filed this year with the goal of retail stores replacing medical marijuana dispensaries as the source of recreational marijuana by 2017. Beginning this year, Oregonians will pay a 25% sales tax on recreational marijuana and prior to marijuana legalization, estimates pegged the annual contribution to the state from marijuana taxes at north of $40 million.

Looking ahead

The influential Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) gives Sanders an "A" rating for his policy stance on marijuana, and his comments and actions suggest that if elected, he could prove to be a big supporter of the pro-marijuana movement. If so, it wouldn't be surprising if a Sanders win leads to even more states taking up pro-marijuana legislation in 2018.
In December, J. Walter Thompson Intelligence published The Future 100, a report on 100 trends to watch in 2016. Were already seeing a number of key trends play out in the health sector: new natural beauty, a revolution in feminine care, and a growing affinity between exercise and drinking that we call healthonism.

New natural beauty

Consumers are seeking out product information online and are becoming increasingly skeptical about mainstream brands. The health and beauty landscape is responding to concern about industrial pollutants and toxins, and new boutique brands are tapping into natural branding and messaging.

U.K. brand Liha makes beauty products based on African recipes in small batches. For example, Haeckels, which is based in the U.K. seaside town of Margate, sources natural ingredients like seaweed and uses pre-industrial techniques to create its line. Brands such as Yuli employ advanced skin technology and botanic research to ensure products can compete in efficacy as well as ethics. Mother Dirt is a range of cleansers, shampoos and mists that contain beneficial bacteria.

This shift in attitude points to a self-confident, engaged and sophisticated consumer who questions the norm and scrutinizes the messaging presented by mainstream brands. Consumers holistic view of beauty products is telling they view products through the lens of their physical wellbeing as well as that of the environment.

Feminine care revolution

Tampons are getting a makeover moving from unmentionable necessity to celebrated cool-girl staple. Look no further than The 5th Wave, a new Hollywood thriller in which its heroine, Cassie, takes a break from the action to pick up some tampons at a convenience store.

The politics of feminine care have made headlines recently over issues related to access and gender equality. In 2015, social media began erupting with outrage over tax regulations that designate feminine care products as a luxury in the European Union. In the United States, the California state legislature recently introduced a bill that would classify feminine hygiene products as medical necessities, making them tax free.

While mega-brands Tampax, Kotex and Playtex have long dominated the feminine hygiene industry, direct-to-consumer newcomer Lola, founded by Dartmouth College grads Jordana Kier and Alex Friedman, represents a new approach. Lola manufactures its own hypoallergenic cotton tampons, which are free of additives, synthetics, chemicals and dyes, and, unlike mainstream brands, contain no artificial fibers such as polyester and rayon. Lola is committed to transparency and convenience. Other features include minimalist branding and an intuitive subscription model with options for delivery customization.

New alternatives to traditional pads and tampons are also emerging. Looncup is a smart menstrual cup that aims to redefine menstruation it communicates with an app to track and analyze menstrual patterns.

Healthonism

Some health-conscious millennials are offsetting consumption of alcohol with antioxidants and healthy mixers mashing up exercise with hedonism, and flocking to a growing number of exercise-meets-drinking events.

Earlier this year, Londons House of Voga, which combines yoga with the expressive vogueing dance style of the 80s, co-hosted a party with Mayfair nightclub Bonbonniere. Voga Bonbonniere began with a one-hour voga class before proceeding to drinks and dancing into the early hours. Fitness club Equinoxs London Kensington location hosts quarterly After Dark events for members and their guests, who are treated to a range of different yoga classes, guest instructors, DJ sets and cocktails courtesy of Mahiki.

A 2015 study published in the journal Health Psychology found that people tend to drink more than usual on the same days that they engage in more physical activity than usual, according to the authors.

The trend can also be seen in some new beverage products, with nutritious cold-pressed juices becoming a popular vehicle for healthier cocktails. Cold-pressed, non-alcoholic juices by U.S. brand CleanDrinking are all-natural, low-calorie cocktail mixers designed to support a balanced lifestyle of mindful drinking. Flavors include Hotamelon Tequila Cleanse and RaspberryAddict Vodka Cleanse.

Consumers are engaging in health and wellbeing in a contradictory, divergent, have-it-all way, putting healthy habits alongside fun.

Among Lucie Greenes credentials, she is the worldwide director of the Innovation Group, J. Walter Thompsons trend forecasting, consultancy and innovation unit. She is also a public speaker, and has appeared as a trend expert on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, as well as in print publications such as The New York Times and The Guardian. She has a decade of experience contributing to publications like The Financial Times and Vogue UK as an editor and writer. She is also a thought leadership columnist for CampaignLive.
Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday will make a new push with Turkish leaders for more coordinated strategy for fighting the Islamic State and sealing Turkey's border, after months of following different plans that have led to complaints from both countries.

Biden's meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erodgan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu comes after months in which the two countries have pursued different plans for curbing the refugee flow to Turkey, and preventing Islamic State militants from using the Turkey-Syria border as a thoroughfare for Islamic State fighters, black market goods and war materials.

The differing agendas have led to complaints from Turkey that Russia is being given free reign in the region.

The two countries also have different views on how to prioritize the Islamic State and Syria. Turkey views the terrorist group as a threat, especially after one of its fighters blew himself up in a crowded public square in Istanbul earlier this month. But Ankara is far more concerned about pushing for the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, while Washington wants Turkey's military to focus on the war against the Islamic State, most immediately to close its porous border.

Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com
strong>CONCORD, N.H.  Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton told voters in New Hampshire Friday that there is "no more important issue than reproductive rights."

"We want to get the economy working for everybody, not just those at the top, [and] we want to get incomes rising," Clinton told attendees of the National Abortion Rights Action League's annual Pro-choice Roe v. Wade Dinner in New Hampshire.

"But those of us in this room also know that human rights, civil rights [and] women's rights matter and there is no more important issue than reproductive rights," she added.

Clinton continued, "Among the many issues that I put at the top of the list, that will be decided by whoever the next president will be, women's rights and reproductive rights are as high a priority as any of them."

Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Marco Rubio each won a key endorsement Saturday from the Des Moines Register newspaper, eight days before the state holds its first-in-the nation voting caucus for president.

"If theres one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on this year, its the fact that the next president will face enormous challenges," the paper's editorial board said in endorsing the Democratic front-runner and Florida GOP senator.

The paper, Iowa's biggest daily, said the next president must work with Congress in confronting a host of issues including immigration, health care, gun control and the growing national security threat.

And he or she must "on the world stage" work with foreign leaders in stopping the Islamic State and other terrorists, North Korea and Iran's nuclear threat and the Russian incursions in Ukraine.

The paper said Clinton was "not a perfect candidate" but that no other can "match the depth or breadth of her knowledge and experience."

Board members said Republicans have the opportunity to define their partys future in this election by choosing anger, pessimism and fear. Or it could be the party in which Rubio the son of an immigrant bartender and maid could become president, they said.

Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the party, and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American dream. We endorse him because he represents his partys best hope, the board said in an apparent rejection of the political rhetoric of front-running Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who are in a close race to win the Iowa GOP caucus.

Neither Cruz nor Trump sought the endorsement.

The Clinton endorsement comes ahead of the Feb. 1 caucus in which Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders trails Clinton 42-to-48, according to the RealClearPolitics poll average.

The board argued Sanders was "an honorable and formidable campaigner" but said even Sanders' acknowledges that essentially all of his reform plans have no chance of being approved by a GOP-heavy Congress.



The editorial board acknowledged concerns about how Clinton handled the furor over her private email server" and argued that she has yet to realize that "when she makes a mistake, she should just say so."

The Democratic and Republican candidates met twice with the board in question-and-answer sessions.

Its been a long time since the Republican Party has had an agenda that talks to students, the board said after Rubios meetings.

While calling Rubio whip smart, the board also suggested that he and some of his plans, including one to replace ObamaCare, remain a work in progress.

Trump and others, the board suggested, have responded to the publics anger and frustration with Washington by trying to demonize government and resorting to the cheap demagoguery.
Businessman Donald Trump hinted Saturday he might decide to sue rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over the legality of his U.S. citizenship.

Ted has a lot of problems  number one Canada. He could run for the Prime Minister of Canada and I wouldnt even complain because he was born in Canada, its a serious thing, Trump told a few thousand supporters at a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa.

He said Democrats would look to sue Cruz if he became the Republican nominee. There are already two lawsuits filed, but they dont have standing, I have standing to sue (as a candidate), can you imagine if I did it? Should I do it just for fun?

Though Trump went on to explain hes confident on winning the GOP nomination, thus I dont really think its going to matter, thats probably why I want to save the legal fees  maybe I would do it, maybe I wont either.

Cruz pushed back earlier this month during the Fox Business debate on claims made against him. You know, back in September, my friend Donald said that he had had his lawyers look at this from every which way, and there was no issue there. There was nothing to this birther issue.

He added, the facts and the law here are really quite clear. Under longstanding U.S. law, the child of a U.S. citizen born abroad is a natural-born citizen.

Cruz did become a Canadian citizen at birth due to thats country legal system, which the senator didnt realize until 2013. He formally renounced his Canadian citizenship in May 2014.

While there is debate over what defines American citizenship, the Supreme Court has never ruled directly on the criteria for presidential office holders.

In 2008, then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain faced questions over his own citizenship since he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, a U.S. territory at the time. Attempts to further the debate over his status didnt pan out.

McCain did tell Phoenix radio station 550 KFYI in early January that his situation was different. The Arizona senator said that he didnt know about Cruzs eligibility to run for president and added, its worth looking into.
Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday the U.S. and Turkey are prepared for a military solution against ISIS in Syria should the Syrian government and rebel-opposition forces fail to reach a peace agreement during its upcoming meeting in Geneva.

The next round of Syrian peace talks are scheduled to take place Monday, but are at risk of being postponed over a dispute over who will comprise the opposition delegation, according to Reuters. Syrian rebels said they hold the Syrian government and Russia responsible should the peace talks fail to bring an end to the civil war that has torn the country completely apart.

"We do know it would better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared ..., if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh," Biden said at a news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

A U.S. official later told Reuters that Bidens comment was talking about a military solution to defeating Islamic State, not Syria as a whole. Biden said he and Dabutoglu have also discussed how both the U.S. and Turkey can support Sunni Arab forces fighting to force out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He also met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, capping a two-day visit to Istanbul focused on boosting the fight against ISIS militants and trying to resolve the Syrian crisis.

U.S. has backed Syrian rebels with Special Forces soldiers to help train them. Washington is also conducting air strikes against ISIS, which holds large swaths of Syria and Iraq.

Secretary of State John Kerry also said Saturday he was confident Syria peace talks would proceed. Kerry met with Riad Hijab, chair of the Syrian oppositions High Negotiations Committee and other delegates representing the Syrian opposition.

"They discussed the upcoming U.N.-sponsored negotiations regarding a political transition in Syria and all agreed on the urgent need to end the violence afflicting the Syrian people," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Kerry emphasized how important it is to maintain the momentum of the International Syria Support Group, a group of big world and regional powers backing peace efforts in the war-torn nation, Kirby said.

Biden also offered his condolences over a Jan. 12 terror attack that killed 12 German tourists in Istanbul. The Turkish authorities say the suicide bomber was linked to the Islamic State.

"We have a robust operation and commitment to defeat ISIL," said Biden, crediting Turkey for increasing efforts to secure its 550-mile border with Syria, as well as allowing anti-IS coalition aircraft to use Turkish bases for bombing runs against IS targets.

Biden also acknowledged the threat that Kurdish militants pose to Turkey, calling the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, "a terrorist group plain and simple." Ankara views its war on terror as a two-prong effort focused on Kurdish militants and IS jihadists who have established cells in Turkey and use the country as a gateway to Syria.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Reuters.
Top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence warned Sunday that the inspector general of the intelligence community has to be careful he isn't being 'used' by Republicans looking to bring down Hillary Clinton.

The IG sent a letter to Intelligence Committee Republicans that said information on Clinton's private email server had information on it that was classified above "top secret." The leak outraged Democrats, who said the information was designed to damage Clinton's campaign.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, argued IG Charles McCullough was allowing himself to be "used" by Republican leaders in Congress.

"You've got several Republican chairs who are actively campaigning against Hillary Clinton" and investigating her in the House and Senate at the same time, Schiff said on "Fox News Sunday." "I think the inspector general has to be very careful not to allow himself to be used by one political party against the other in a presidential race."

Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com
With just over a week until the first 2016 election contest, Donald Trump takes the lead in Iowa -- and maintains his big advantage in New Hampshire.

Thats according to the latest round of Fox News state polls on the Republican presidential nomination contest.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE IOWA POLL RESULTS

CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEW HAMPSHIRE POLL RESULTS

Trump bests Ted Cruz in Iowa and now receives 34 percent support among Republican caucus-goers. Trump was at 23 percent in the Fox News Poll two weeks ago (January 4-7).

Cruz is second with 23 percent -- down a touch from 27 percent. Marco Rubio comes in third with 12 percent, down from 15 percent. No others garner double-digit support.

Among caucus-goers who identify as very conservative, Cruz was up by 18 points over Trump earlier this month. Now they each receive about a third among this group (Cruz 34 percent vs. Trump 33 percent).

Theres been a similar shift among white evangelical Christians. Cruzs 14-point advantage is now down to a 2-point edge.

A lot has happened in the intervening two weeks. Fox Business Network hosted a Republican debate where Trump questioned Cruzs eligibility to be president, and Cruz attacked Trumps liberal New York values. On Tuesday, Gov. Terry Branstad urged his fellow Iowans to vote against Cruz because of his opposition to ethanol -- and former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Trump.

Republican pollster Daron Shaw says, We tend to over-interpret every little thing in a presidential race, but here we actually have solid evidence Trump didn't just win last week in Iowa -- he won it by enough to put some distance between himself and Cruz. Shaw conducts the Fox News Poll with Democratic pollster Chris Anderson.

But a lot can change before Iowans caucus February 1.

A third of Republican caucus-goers say they may change their mind (33 percent). Even one in four Trump supporters says they may ultimately go with another candidate (25 percent).

Cruz tops the list when GOP caucus-goers are asked their second-choice candidate. When first and second-choice preferences are combined, its extremely tight between Trump (48 percent) and Cruz (45 percent).

Thats because 20 percent of Iowa Republican caucus-goers are so negative on Trump they say they would refuse to vote for him over the Democrat in November, while fewer say the same of Cruz (11 percent). Another 14 percent say they would stay home if the nominee is Jeb Bush.

Heres how the rest of the field stands: Ben Carson is at 7 percent, Rand Paul is at 6 percent, Bush and Chris Christie each get 4 percent, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich and Rick Santorum tie at 2 percent, and Carly Fiorina gets 1 percent.

More than a third who say they will attend a Republican caucus this year have never gone before (38 percent). Many of these first-time attendees, 43 percent, are supporting Trump, while 19 percent favor Cruz and 14 percent Rubio. The poll cant predict how many from this group will actually show up.

Among just those Republicans who have caucused before, its a 3-point race: Trump 28 percent vs. Cruz 25 percent. Another 10 percent go for Rubio.

True conservative values is the top characteristic GOP caucus-goers want in their partys nominee (27 percent), closely followed by telling it like it is (24 percent) and being a strong leader (23 percent). Those traits outrank nominating someone who can win in November (9 percent) or has the right experience (7 percent).

New Hampshire

Unlike Iowa, there has been little movement in the New Hampshire Republican race. Trump continues to garner more than twice the support of his nearest competitors.

The Fox News poll shows Trump at 31 percent (down 2 points), Cruz at 14 percent (up 2 points) and Rubio at 13 percent (down 2 points).

Kasich is at 9 percent, Bush and Christie each receive 7 percent, Carson and Paul tie at 5 percent, while Fiorina gets 3 percent, and Huckabee 1 percent.

Despite dominating the NH race, Trump also tops the list as the nominee who would make Republicans stay home in November: 26 percent say they would refuse to vote for Trump against the Democrat. Fifteen percent say the same of Bush, 14 percent feel that way about Cruz, and 12 percent about Rubio.

Over half of likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State say they are certain to vote for their candidate, while 36 percent could still shift their support.

Granite Staters also want slightly different traits in their nominee than their Iowa counterparts. NH GOP primary voters want a strong leader (27 percent) and someone who tells it like it is (21 percent) more than a nominee who has true conservative values (15 percent), is electable (13 percent), or has the right experience (12 percent).

The Fox News Poll is conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). These polls were conducted January 18-21, 2016, by telephone (landline and cellphone) with live interviewers.

The New Hampshire poll was among a sample of 801 registered voters selected from a statewide voter file. Results based on the sample of 401 Republican primary voters have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus five percentage points.

In Iowa, the poll was among a sample of 801 registered voters selected from a statewide voter file. Results based on the sample of 378 Republican caucus-goers have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus five percentage points.
The winter storm that has buried Washington under record-breaking snow has forced Congress to change plans, including the cancellation of key House votes on ObamaCare and Iran sanctions.

The announcement was made Sunday by California GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy, whose duties as House majority leader is to set the chambers voting schedule.

As the storm approached late last week, McCarthy cancelled scheduled votes for Monday. But he has now told chamber members not to "expect" votes on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the severity of the winter storm."

He also said the next scheduled vote is for the night of Feb. 1.

The Senate is still scheduled to return to work Tuesday morning. However, the confirmation vote for John Vazquez to be federal judge in New Jersey has been postponed until Wednesday night.

Roughly 22 inches of snow landed in downtown Washington, according to an unofficial National Weather Service report Sunday.

The walkways that connect the Rotunda and the office buildings on the Capitol grounds are essentially clear, but Washingtons transit system remains closed.

And flights to the surrounding airports are still cancelled, which means many members of Congress cannot return to Capitol Hill until later this week.

The storm and McCarthys announcement likely means the House will hold no votes this week because chamber Democrats are holding a retreat in Baltimore on Thursday and Friday, when President Obama is slated to speak.

The House was scheduled to take a re-vote this week on a bill to impose sanctions on Iran. Two weeks ago, the GOP-controlled House briefly passed the bill. But the House then moved to nullify the vote because 137 members missed the roll call.

The House was also scheduled to attempt an override of President Obama's veto of the special budget reconciliation measure that would repealed ObamaCare and defunded Planned Parenthood.

Successful veto overrides require a two-thirds vote in both chambers. That equals roughly 280 to 290 yeas in the House, depending on how many members cast ballots.

The chamber appears nowhere close to that number, but GOP leadership said it will nevertheless forge ahead with the vote.
GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Sunday that his recent endorsement from Iowas biggest newspaper proves he has momentum and is an affirmation that his campaign is serious, just days before the state holds the first primary in the White House race.

Its an affirmation that our campaign is a serious campaign about solving serious problems, the Florida senator told Fox News Sunday.

The Des Moines Register, Iowas biggest newspaper, endorsed Rubio late Saturday, days before the states Feb. 1 caucus.

Rubio trails overall GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has a three-point lead in Iowa, according to the RealClearPolitics polls average.

Im happy to have the endorsement, Rubio said Sunday, pointing out that Iowa caucus-goers traditionally dont decide on a candidate until the final days.

Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the party, and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American Dream, the papers editorial board wrote. We endorse him because he represents his partys best hope.

Rubio also argued Sunday that being a primary target in ads sponsored by the so-called Republican establishment further proves his campaign has momentum and that he is not part of insider Washington.

You only attack somebody if you think they are a threat, he said.

Rubio also said that when he announced his 2010 Senate bid, the Republican establishment told him, Its not your turn.

He also disagreed with the argument that his campaign changing its plan on TV ads, from 60-second to 30-second spots in early primary states, suggests his campaign is struggling.

Rubio said the move was strategic, which included negotiating for cheaper rates, and based on redeploying resources for the length of the campaign.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg potentially entering the White House race shows that the wealthy are too controlling of American politics, offering perhaps the most critical assessment within the 2016 field of a Bloomberg bid.

What I have been saying for a long time is that this country is moving away from democracy to oligarchy, that billionaires are the people who are controlling our political life, he said on ABCs This Week.

Still, Sanders, whose campaign is a champion for the middle class and poor, expressed confidence about winning the presidency in a matchup with billionaire Donald Trump as the Republican nominee and billionaire Bloomberg as a third-party candidate.

That is not what, to my view, American democracy is supposed to be about -- a contest between billionaires, the Vermont Independent senator said. If that takes place, I am confident that we will win it.

Bloomberg, an Independent and successful businessman, has asked advisers to draft a game plan. And he plans to commission a poll after the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries in early February before deciding on a run, as reported first by The New York Times.

Bloomberg seems to suggest hed enter the race only if Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton loses the party nomination to Sanders. And he has reportedly told associates that he would spend $1 billion of his own money on the race.

Im going to relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesnt have to, Clinton said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Trump said on the same show: "I would love to have Michael Bloomberg run. I would love that competition. I think I'd do very well against it."

Also on Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio largely dismissed a Bloomberg candidacy.

Right now, hes just a public citizen who owns a company, said Rubio, who implied he has no problem with Bloombergs wealth, then retold his personal journey. I think this is a great country where the son of a bartender and a maid can be running for the same office and have the same opportunity as the son of a millionaire.  I want America to remain that kind of country.

GOP candidate Jeb Bush, raised in an affluent family and whose father was president, called Bloomberg a great mayor, despite have different political views.

Look, hes a good man, Bush also said on ABCs This Week. Hes much more liberal than I am, but hes a good person.

Bush also predicted that the 73-year-old Bloomberg wont get into the race unless the general election features the front-running Trump and Sanders, who is second behind Clinton in the Democratic primary race.
Donald Trump is making a bold prediction about black voters.

In an interview airing Sunday on Foxs Media Buzz, Trump told me there is already great affection for him in the black community.

Look, the African Americans love me because they know I am going to bring back jobs, he told me at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Okay, a pretty standard Trumpian boast. But then he said this:

They are going to like me better than they like Obama. The truth is Obama has done nothing for them.

The statement was so audacious that it took me a split-second to react.

Did you just say, I interrupted, African-Americans are going to like you better than the first African-American president.

The billionaire didnt back off.

I think that relatively speaking - I mean he does have a slight advantage in all fairness- but I think relatively speaking when I am finished I think they will absolutely love Donald Trump, he said.

Keep in mind that most blacks routinely vote for Democrats. Ronald Reagan once got 14 percent of the African-American vote and it was considered a triumph.

There was one poll last fall that showed Trump with 25 percent support among blacks, but it would be a shocker if those numbers held up.

In the interview, Trump told me he has cut back his attacks on members of the media as losers and idiots because the press is treating him with more respect, mentioning the Wall Street Journal editorial page and a recent Time cover story.

Soon after we wrapped the interview, though, National Review attacked Trump as a menace to American conservatism, and he responded by calling it a failing publication with little influence. It was as if things had suddenly returned to normal.
A previously unpublished letter by Amelia Earhart advises a 13-year-old aspiring female pilot that the girl might consider following the aviation pioneers path by working clerical jobs to get her foot in the door.

The typed, one-page letter, dated August 14, 1933, and signed by Earhart, was addressed to June Pierson, a Detroit teenager, who wrote to Earhart about her dream of getting into aviation and seeking advice.



The letter is being sold by The Raab Collection for $15,000.

Earhart offered hope to June, but careful to impart how difficult the path to becoming a pilot could be.



In part, she wrote:  . . . However, if you are really determined to fly, and are willing to make the sacrifices necessary, I should certainly not discourage you from the attempt.



. . . There are many positions in aviation open to women, not only in the clerical field but in the factories. There are air hostesses and a number of specialized jobs.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE LETTER.

Amelia Earhart was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean; she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for her achievement -- the first ever given to a woman. At the ceremony, Vice President Charles Curtis praised her courage, saying she displayed "heroic courage and skill as a navigator at the risk of her life." On January 11, 1935, she became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif.

She disappeared in 1937 while making a flight around the world.
Students and the principal of a suburban Phoenix high school are under fire after a photo of students wearing T-shirts spelling out a racial slur went viral.

Tempe Union High School District spokeswoman Jill Hanks said Friday that the discipline process remains ongoing but six girls will be punished in accordance with district policies. Hanks said the Desert Vista High School students were wearing the shirts as part of a larger picture spelling out BEST*YOUVE*EVER*SEEN*CLASS*OF*2016" for a yearbook photo.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OFFENDING PHOTO.



Hanks said the girls were off on their own when they took a photo and used their shirts to spell out the n-word. Someone shared the photo online, prompting calls to the principal. The Arizona Republic reported the photo was taken on Snapchat, where photos disappear after a certain amount of time.

However, some feel as though a punishment is not harsh enough for the girls and principal Christine Barela. A Change.org petition calling for the expulsion of the students and the resignation of Parela has already garnered more than 25,000 signatures.

The six girls in question need to be expelled from the high school and its district to understand the gravity of their actions to the fullest. These expressions of racism will not be tolerated any longer, the petition said.

Hanks said officials are "absolutely outraged and disappointed" and the students' actions do not represent the student body.

Phoenix-area civil rights activist the Rev. Jarrett Maupin says he and other activists plan to meet Monday with the district's superintendent.

"The racist images and discriminatory behavior created and exhibited by Desert Vista high school students is shocking, outrageous, and should give everyone cause for concern," Maupin said.

Desert Vista had scheduled a sensitivity workshop Monday that aims to provides teens and adults with tools to tear down walls of separation, and inspires participants to live, study and work in an encouraging environment of acceptance of love and respect, according to the schools website.

The workshop was scheduled prior to the shirt incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from The Arizona Republic.
A former Wisconsin police officer accused of killing women from Oregon woman and Minnesota and ditching their two bodies in suitcases along a highway is set to stand trial this week in the first woman's death.

Steven Zelich (ZEHL'-ich) is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in the 2012 death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon. The 54-year-old also is also charged with murder in Minnesota in the 2013 killing of 37-year-old Laura Simonson. That case is on hold pending the conclusion of the Wisconsin cases.

Jury selection starts Monday in Gamez's death. The judge has allowed prosecutors to tell jurors about both women's deaths.

According to court records, Zelich admitted to killing the women during rough sex but claimed it was accidental.
Authorities believe a Los Angeles-area man killed his teenage nephews before fleeing to China because he was upset his wife wanted a divorce.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says a woman called 911 on Friday reporting she had found her two sons suffering from head trauma in their Arcadia home. The 15- and 16-year-old boys were pronounced dead when police arrived.

Investigators believe the boys' uncle, 44-year-old Deyun Shi, is responsible and say he fled to China. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says Shi was taken into custody in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Police issued a statement Sunday saying a 44-year-old man was arrested in connection with the slayings. The man is in custody and is expected to appear at court hearing in Hong Kong on Monday, police said.

On Thursday night, investigators say Shi assaulted his wife after learning she wanted a divorce. Shi's wife is the sister of the dead teens' father. Investigators believe the boys were killed while their parents visited Shi's wife in the hospital.
Authorities hunting three dangerous escapees from a maximum-security jail in Southern California called on the public's help to find them Sunday, offering $50,000 in rewards and saying they still don't have all the details of the elaborate escape plan.

"We're exhausting every lead that we currently have," Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said at an afternoon news conference.

The three men, including an alleged killer, cut and climbed their way out of the Orange County Men's Central Jail in Santa Ana, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles, sometime after the 5 a.m. Friday head count, authorities said. They weren't discovered missing for some 16 hours.

The men managed to get hold of some tools and cut through a quarter-inch-thick metal screen in a wall between some bunks in a dormitory they shared with more than 60 men, then used plumbing tunnels, cutting through additional half-inch steel bars, before making it to an unguarded area of the roof of the four-story building, removing some razor wire and rappelling down using ropes braided from linens, authorities said.

Photos and surveillance video released by the Sheriff's Department showed the cut dormitory screen, one of the ropes, and vague video of a flickering light on the roof that's believed to be from at least one inmate preparing to rappel down the building, Hallock said.

A fight involving other inmates may have been staged to delay the usual 8 p.m. head count and the escape wasn't noticed until 9 p.m., authorities said.

The inmates include 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, who had been held on a $1 million bond since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.

On Sunday, his mother and sister said they hadn't heard from him and tearfully pleaded for him to surrender.

"I miss you... I want my son back," his mother, Lu Ann Nguyen of Santa Ana, told KABC-TV.

"I for sure know he wasn't the one who orchestrated this. I feel he was manipulated or tricked into doing this," said his sister, Tiffany Tieu.

"Just turn in yourself in. Don't let (it) drag on," she said.

While catching the men was the priority, a separate probe was underway to determine how they got out and whether any other prisoners or jail employees were involved, Hallock said.

"What I can assure you is that the compromises in security have been shored up," he said.

Earlier in the day, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said it wasn't possible to conduct earlier head counts during the day.

"We are handicapped in that this is a jail where a lot of movement occurs," she said. "We have people going to court, we have people going for medical treatment, and you can't leave them locked down 24 hours a day. There are requirements that they get out and exercise from time to time."

Prosecutors and others involved in their cases have been notified of the escape and measures taken to protect them, authorities said.

It was the first escape in more than 20 years from the facility, which was built in 1968 and has about 900 inmates. Two other escapes took place decades ago.

"I've been in law enforcement for 37 years, always working for sheriff's departments that manage jails. And escapes do occur from time to time," Hutchens said. "We try and limit that. We learn from the mistakes. I can tell you that this is a very sophisticated-looking operation. People in jail have a lot of time to sit around and think about ways to defeat our systems."

She said people should consider the men armed and dangerous and people shouldn't try to approach them.

The U.S. Marshals Service offered a $30,000 reward on top of $20,000 offered by the FBI for information leading to the trio's capture.

Another escaped inmate is Hossein Nayeri, 37. He had been held without bond since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. Nayeri and three other men are accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012. They drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then cut off his penis, authorities said.

After the crime, Nayeri fled the U.S. to his native Iran, where he remained for several months. He was arrested in Prague in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.

The third escaped inmate, 43-year-old Bac Duong, was being held without bond since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.
A Nebraska police dog was shot and killed after a mentally troubled man who was armed barricaded himself in a home and kept cops at bay for 25 hours, officials said Sunday.

The dog, Kobus, was killed when he was sent into the home during the standoff to check on the whereabouts of Mark LHeureux, 59, around 4 p.m. Saturday, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

LHeureux eventually surrendered.

Kobus was a hero, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said, according to WOWT-TV. He provided a great service at the scene of the dangerous standoff.

Kobus was a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois who had served with the Omaha Police Department since 2008, according to Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer. The dog was set to retire in a few months.

The loss of our K-9 brings great sadness to the department, Schmaderer said, according to WOWT.

LHeureux barricaded himself in the basement after Douglas County Sheriff deputies tried to serve him with a warrant for a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation about 5:30 p.m. Friday, the World-Herald reported.

On Friday night, L'Heureux fired sven shots at deputies when they attempted to dislodge a camera-equipped robot that had become stuck inside the house. Two of the bullets bounced off a deputys ballistic shield, the paper reported.

Kobus was sent in when authorities thought LHeureux had been disoriented by a flash-bang device, the paper reported.

The standoff ended about 6:45 p.m. Saturday after firefighters flooded the basement with water.

He was tired of being wet and cold, Chief Deputy Tom Wheeler said, according to the World-Herald.

L'Heureux was taken to a psychiatric hospital. Charges are pending.



Two weeks ago an Ohio police dog died after being shot several times foiling a burglary.
This Saint Bernard could have used a Saint Bernard.

Instead, emergency responders in Virginia assumed the role of the famous rescue breed  pulling the plucky pooch out of an icy lake.

Milo fell into a frozen lake in Fairfax Station.Photo: Twitter

Milos family had been tobogganing down a hill toward Woodglen Lake in Fairfax Station on Friday evening when the dog walked out onto the lake about 30 feet from shore and fell in.

The family quickly called 911 and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responded in the 21-degree weather with a wind chill of 8 degrees.

Our crew donned ice-rescue suits, slid out to where the dog was and pulled him out, Chuck Ryan, deputy chief of the departments special-operations unit, told The Post.

(Milo) assisted the rescuers once he had some leverage and they got him out and put warm blankets on him in less than 10 minutes, he said. He was very wet, very cold, but responsive. Otherwise, he was happy-go-lucky.

Click here for more from the New York Post.
Egypt's president, speaking ahead of next week's anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, vowed on Saturday to unleash a firm response to any unrest and to press ahead with the fight against the country's Islamic militants.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi spoke at a ceremony marking Police Day, which falls on Jan. 25, the day the uprising began five years ago.

He posthumously decorated nearly 40 policemen killed in militant attacks, including eight generals and three colonels. Most of the widows who received the medals were accompanied by their children, including infants. El-Sissi, his eyes frequently welling up, carried the infants, hugged and kissed older children and posed with them for photos. He allowed several family members, including a boy no older than 12, to briefly address the large gathering.

Addressing the nation, el-Sissi said of those killed in terror attacks: "Don't let their blood go in vain and, by the way, we will not allow that ourselves, and I am saying that so everyone listens and takes note," he said.

"The security and stability of nations are not to be toyed with," he said, adding that the security of Egypt was the responsibility of all Egyptians, not just the police and the army. El-Sissi delivered his 30-minute address standing in the middle of the families of the policemen killed in terror attacks, with the sound of crying babies occasionally heard in the background.

El-Sissi, who as military chief overthrew in 2013 Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of Islamists and scores of secular, pro-democracy activists who fuelled the 2011 uprising. He was elected to office in 2014 with a landslide.

El-Sissi made no mention of the January 2011 uprising in his comments. He has in the past paid tribute to the uprising, just as he has done to the so-called "June 30 revolution," the day in 2013 when millions of Egyptians demonstrated on the streets against the rule of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. However, some of el-Sissi's supporters in the media and in politics have taken to publicly vilifying the 2011 uprising as an attempt by foreign powers to weaken Egypt through local saboteurs.

The nearly two-hour ceremony, with its many emotional moments and high praise for police, confirmed the president's panache for populism, but also appeared to send a multitude of political messages. Foremost among these is that el-Sissi has endorsed the nation's highly militarized police force, paying no heed to growing complaints by rights activists that it has gone back to Mubarak-era practices like torture, random arrests and the use of excessive force.

The high praise of the police for their role in the fight against the militants and securing stability also signal the complete return of respectability to a force that melted away in the face of the 2011 uprising's protesters and took at least two years to fully shoulder its responsibilities again.

The posthumous decorations also offered a rare insight into the heavy toll endured by the police in the fight against the militants. Hundreds of army soldiers have been killed by the militants too, but the military has been secretive recently about its losses.

Egypt has been battling Islamic militants in Sinai for years, but attacks against security forces have significantly increased in frequency after Morsi's ouster and later spread to the mainland, with assassinations and bombings. The latest of these came Thursday when a bomb killed six people, including three policemen, in Cairo's twin city of Giza. The Egyptian affiliate of the extremist Islamic Group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The president spoke a day after the army said it would beef up security measures to safeguard vital installations and "confront any attempt to violate the law, impact the nation's security and stability." The announcement came amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent ahead of Monday's anniversary. Authorities have visited and searched as many as 5,000 apartments in the past 10 days, primarily in central Cairo, seeking to prevent protests. The administrators of several Facebook pages suspected of links to the Brotherhood have been detained and accused of using social media to call for protests.

Most secular and liberal pro-democracy activists are not expected to take to the streets on Monday to mark the anniversary, with many saying that doing so would only add to the number of protesters killed or detained by police. Morsi supporters, however, have been calling for protests, but these are likely to be restricted to neighborhoods where they maintain a heavy presence, not landmark squares or main streets.

Police have shown zero tolerance for anti-government street demonstrations since Morsi's ouster and, in view of el-Sissi's comments Saturday, are not likely to change that policy on Monday. However, there are fears that militants might take advantage of the anniversary to stage attacks against security forces.
A large chunk of metal that could be from an aircraft washed ashore in southern Thailand, but Malaysian authorities on Sunday cautioned against speculation of a link to a Malaysia Airlines flight missing almost two years.

Flight MH370 lost communications and made a sharp turn away from its Beijing destination before disappearing in March 2014. It is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, and only one piece of debris has been identified as coming from the plane, a slab of wing that washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean last July.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said he instructed Malaysian civil aviation officials to contact Thailand about the newly found wreckage, a curved piece of metal measuring about 2 meters by 3 meters (6  feet by 10 feet) with electrical wires hanging from it and numbers stamped on it in several places.

"I urge the media and the public not to speculate because it will give undue pressure to the loved ones of the victims of MH370," he said.

Thailand's Transportation Ministry said four Malaysian officials and two Thai experts will visit the site Monday.

Liow said the search for the missing jet, which carried 239 people, is ongoing in the southern Indian Ocean and that its second phase is expected to be completed by June. Australia has led a multinational search that has so far cost more than $120 million.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman Dan O'Malley said the agency was awaiting results of an official examination of the debris.

The debris was found on the eastern coast of southern Thailand's Nakkon Si Thammarat province, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) south of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand.

While debris can drift thousands of miles (kilometers) on ocean currents, that location would be a surprise based on the data from Flight MH370.

The plane was tracked by radar flying over the South China Sea then making a sharp turn west for unknown reasons. It crossed the Malay Peninsula and Straits of Malacca, which would put it off Thailand's west coast.

Radar contact was lost shortly after the plane entered the airspace over the Indian Ocean. Analysis of exchanges between its engine and a satellite determined the plane flew south on a straight path for hours, leading authorities to believe it flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the water.
The influx of refugees into Europe and how countries can deal with the crisis was a major topic at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

Still, the grand plan remains elusive.

David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, speaking at the annual forum of the rich and powerful at the Swiss mountain village, said, "my biggest takeaway is that people are scratching their heads, saying what would be our plan. My answer would be: you've got to deal with the symptoms and not just the causes."



To that end, Germany's Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schauble, suggested a Marshall Plan for the countries seeing the huge exodus.



Billionaire investor George Soros said such a plan is essential, as the European Union is facing an "existential crisis." He described the migrant and refugee situation as akin to a "fire in a cinema without exit signs."



Meanwhile, the man who sets monetary policy for a Europe already besieged with economic problems, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, said it is important not to pre-judge the impact of the vast new migration to Europe. He said, "What refugees are for Europe is a challenge, and an opportunity." Draghi added that challenge will be lost if fear prevails. He continued that government expenditure on refugee programs could be the large public investment project we have been speaking of for years.



Miliband, addressing the fears of security concerns around immigration, from terrorism to criminality, and speaking about refugees coming from places like Syria, said: "They know terror. They are less likely to become terrorists. These people are the victims of terror so they are not in the least bit attracted by it."



Miliband added that the U.S. has an organized pipeline, which is certified by successive Homeland Security secretaries, that says this is a safe way to bring people in.



At another Davos panel, lively debate took place, with one side arguing growth in Europe cannot be sustained without migration, that migration greases the wheels of capitalism, and another cautioning that if Europe takes in more than it can digest, a political crisis incubates. But how much is too much? It was argued that a continent with more than 500 million people can surely absorb another million annually.



Most everyone agrees that integration is key. As one panelist pointed out, "most of the 'foreign fighters' Europe sends to Iraq and Syria are the children and grandchildren of migrants. We have to ask, 'where did we go wrong?' in terms of integration."



Miliband said the best thing that people can do for the refugees arriving in Europe and the United States is to mentor them. He said that while there has been some "toxic rhetoric" around the refugee issue, he also has witnessed many individual acts of kindness on behalf of Americans welcoming refugees to the United States.






Eleven banks have agreed to pay a total of $63 million to settle allegations they defrauded the Virginia Retirement System during the real estate bubble that led the nation into an economic recession.

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herrings office announced the settlement Friday and said it was the largest non-health care-related recovery ever obtained in a suit alleging violations of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.

This case breaks new ground for Virginia, recovering millions for Virginia taxpayers from banks that we alleged had misrepresented the products they sold to the commonwealth, Herring said in a statement.

The state sought to recover $383 million in damages, including $250.66 million of realized losses for the Virginia Retirement System when it was forced to sell toxic mortgage-backed securities.

The state had alleged that the banks misrepresented the quality of those residential mortgage-backed securities, which had been sold to VRS starting in 2004.

The VRS generates about two-thirds of its funds from investment income.

The state claimed an additional $133 million in lost profits and interest, for a total of $383 million in alleged damages.

The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed against the banks in 2014 by a whistle-blower  a company called Integra, a financial analysis and modeling firm in Texas. The state attorney generals office subsequently intervened and took over the case on behalf of the state and the VRS.

In settling, the banks admitted no liability, and the state has dismissed the claims against them.

The whistle blower will receive 25 percent of the settlement. The VRS will get the remaining amount after paying legal fees, a spokesman for Herring said Friday.

The banks and their settlement amounts are:

Countrywide Securities Corp. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (combined): $19.5 million in total;

RBS Securities Inc.: $10 million;

Barclays Capital Inc.: $9 million;

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: $6.9 million;

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.: $5.62 million;

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.: $4.75 million;

Goldman, Sachs & Co.: $2.9 million;

HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.: $2.5 million;

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC: $1.2 million; and

UBS Securities LLC: $850,000.
John Stewart Bryan III, who spent more than 50 years as the fourth and final generation of his family to work in the media business, died Saturday.

Mr. Bryan, longtime chairman of Media General Inc. and former publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, suffered a fall at his home on Jan. 15 and had been hospitalized at Bon Secours St. Marys Hospital since then.

His death came at a time when Media General is in the middle of a sale. A bidding contest has emerged between Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. and Iowa-based Meredith Corp. to merge with Media General.

Standing up to state and local governments and businesses trying to thwart the publics right to know was a hallmark of Mr. Bryans career.

If I have made any contribution, it has been being part of a newspaper that was trying to provide the right information for people to make up their own minds in the city of Richmond and central Virginia, Mr. Bryan said in an interview in October.

From 1978 to 2004, he served as publisher of The Times-Dispatch, the newspaper his great-grandfather acquired in 1887 and the one his father also served as publisher at for more than three decades.

Mr. Bryan, 77, took the reins of Media General in 1990 and grew the publicly traded company that his father had created in 1969 into a multimillion-dollar corporation that now only owns 71 television stations, including WRIC in Richmond. Media General exited the publishing business in 2012 when it sold its newspapers, including The Times-Dispatch, to a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

We have kept an eye on government, Mr. Bryan said about the role that his newspapers and television stations have played. I think the press has played an enormous role in the history of the United States. I have been a proud part of it.

Mr. Bryan served as Media Generals board chairman since 1990 and was its CEO from 1990 to 2005. He had held a seat on the Richmond-based companys board since 1974.

Marshall N. Morton, Media Generals former president and CEO, said Mr. Bryan believed media companies have an obligation to serve the public.

It was fun working for a man who felt he had a duty to his company as opposed to someone who just worked for it, Morton said.

He was so easy to work with that he drew people to him. People enjoyed the opportunity to bounce ideas off him. He created an atmosphere of collegiality. He stimulated a lot of fresh thinking. He was a great mentor.

Thomas A. Silvestri, president and publisher of The Times-Dispatch, said Mr. Bryans death is a sad time for employees, retirees and readers of the newspaper.

Mr. Bryan was an unabashedly strong supporter of the RTD and its journalists, said Silvestri, who succeeded Mr. Bryan as publisher in 2004. Also, his personal connections to our diverse workforce, especially those employees who spent their entire careers at The Times-Dispatch, were deep. Ive also lost a valued mentor whose lessons will never be forgotten and always appreciated.

The ever-so-genteel Southern gentleman known for his assortment of bow ties, Mr. Bryan said he felt he had been a newspaperman at heart his entire life.

I did what I did because it was fun and it was unmitigated fun for the first 40 years, but the last 10 to 15 years, it is questionable about the fun portion, Mr. Bryan said in the October interview, noting that newspapers across the country have struggled in the past decade with declining advertising revenue brought on by the digital revolution, the recession and ensuing slow economy.

***

Mr. Bryan launched his career with summer jobs in the mailing room and circulation departments at the now-closed Richmond News Leader from 1954 to 1957.

After earning a bachelors degree from the University of Virginia in 1960, he served active duty as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps and returned to his alma mater for one year of law school.

Uncertain that he wanted to follow his father and grandfather in the newspaper business, Mr. Bryan decided to find out in unfamiliar territory by taking a job as an advertising salesman for The Burlington Free Press in Vermont in 1963.

Two years later, he joined The Tampa Tribune, a newspaper that his fathers company owned, as a reporter. Mr. Bryan covered the state legislature in Florida in the mid-1960s and the Virginia House of Delegates during the 1968 session for The Times-Dispatch.

Being a reporter covering state politics was the best job  and the most fun  Mr. Bryan had in the newspaper business, he said.

He returned to Tampa in 1968 as vice president of The Tribune Co., which owned the The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Times. He became its publisher in June 1976.

While in Florida in 1969, his father, D. Tennant Bryan, created Media General as a holding company for his familys growing number of newspaper and television properties in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina. Media General shares were publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange in 1970.

Mr. Bryan was named president and publisher of The Times-Dispatch and The News Leader on Jan. 1, 1978, succeeding his father.

He took on the role of chief operating officer at Media General in 1989. In 1990, he was elected chairman, president and CEO of Media General, when the company owned a handful of newspapers and television stations.

Mr. Bryan grew the company during his tenure as CEO. When he stepped down as the companys top executive in 2005, Media General owned 25 daily newspapers, 26 television stations, interactive media and part of a newsprint business.

While he remained chairman of Media General until his death, he retired as an employee of Media General in 2008, marking the first time in decades that a member of his family had not held a high-ranking role as an executive employee of the company.

But he still came to work his corner office in the Media General building on East Franklin Street nearly every day.

Striving to produce honest and accurate journalism was Mr. Bryans hallmark during his career in the newspaper business. During his career, Mr. Bryan faced tough decisions about whether to print particular articles. Publishing news or an opinion wasnt always easy for him, he had said, because those decisions sometimes created enemies among his friends.

But he said he stood steadfast because the issues were important ones for the public to know.

While publisher of The Tampa Tribune, for instance, Mr. Bryan said he received a phone call from the top executive of a major corporation threatening that several companies would pull their advertising if the newspaper ran a story about possible corruption at a local nonprofit.

After consulting with editors, Mr. Bryan determined the story was too important to be kept out of the newspaper. The threat never materialized.

Mr. Bryan received numerous awards during his career. He was named in December to the inaugural Hall of Fame class of distinguished Richmonders as part of the RTD Person of the Year program. He was inducted into the Greater Richmond Business Hall of Fame in 2003.

He was honored in 2012 as the recipient of the George Mason Award for his significant contributions to the advancement of journalism in Virginia. The award, presented annually by the Virginia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, cited his long-term support for open government.

The peoples business should be held in public, Mr. Bryan said in the October interview.

Over the years, Mr. Bryan had been involved in the community in many ways. He served as campaign chairman for the United Way operations in the Richmond and Tampa areas. He has served on a number of nonprofit boards, including being chairman of what is now Goodwill of Central & Coastal Virginia and Junior Achievement of Central Virginia.

When a governor nominated him to serve on the board of visitors of a state university, he turned it down. I felt a newspaperman should not be involved.

Survivors include his wife, Lisa-Margaret Lissy Stevenson Bryan; two daughters, Talbott Bryan Maxey and Anna Bryan Sullivan; and five grandchildren.
Brian Ramsey is general manager of Theme Park Connection, a 16,500-square-foot business stocked with all manner of attractions merchandise, souvenirs and memorabilia for sale and resale. The company gets items from estates, studios, worldwide online auctions and from the parks themselves, Ramsey said. He talked with Orlando Sentinel theme parks reporter Dewayne Bevil.

What always goes fast from the warehouse?

The most popular item that comes in is anything with Figment, which we just got a huge estate of (dragon character) Figment collectibles in. Haunted Mansion items and mostly the newest movies that are out like Jurassic World, or any of the ones that are really popular hit movies, will be the stuff that comes in and out the fastest. Or any attraction thats shutting down or theres something major happening that we get items from, those will be the fastest ones out the door. Weve been doing a lot of stuff with the Disney movie props and have done very well with them. And weve also found that theres a huge market for the movie collectibles and the movie props. Last year, we did the Hunger Games auction where we auctioned off all the Hunger Games wardrobe. We still do a lot of the Disney movies. ... It fits really well with what we already do.

Have online and eBay elements changed since you opened?

The eBay line has dropped dramatically. We do have our own online store now with a couple of thousand items on there, which weve gone for more. We have started putting stuff on Amazon, which seems to be growing because people want that quicker shipping and they dont want to wait seven days for the auction.

Whats the most unusual item you have now?

Weve got the back of the Black Pearlthe top part of the ship that came from the (Pirates of the Caribbean) movie production. Weve got all sorts of character items and figurines in the store right now. Weve got a lot of rare art work and concept art thats on display. ... We had a bunch of Star Wars figuresthe Han Solo stuff and the stormtroopers stuffbut those sold with a week of the movie coming out.

Do you have park merchandise in your home?

Personally, in my own house, I have a lot of stuff from the Cars movie and the Cars Land (at Disney California Adventure).

What would be your dream item to have in stock?

Our dream item is really to find what people are looking for and get it for them. In our way, thats kind of like our dream thing, to be able to find those rare itemsor even the simplest item like a certain pin or a certain park brochureand be able to meet what they want for their collection.
The debate over whether to give birth at home or in a hospital just got thornier.

New research indicates that the risk of death for the baby was twice as high when mothers planned to deliver outside a hospital. That being said, the overall risk still is rather low, according to a study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. And there were health benefits to the mothers who gave birth at home.

While the overwhelming majority of American women plan to deliver their babies at a hospital, home births have become increasingly popular. In 2012, the most recent year in which national birth numbers were available, nearly 54,000 babies were born at home.

For the study comparing the safety of home vs. hospital births, scientists from Oregon Health and Science University looked at more than 75,000 low-risk births in that state in 2012 and 2013.

Out of every 1,000 babies whose mothers planned to deliver at home or at a birthing center, 3.9 died just before, during or in the month after labor, the study found. In comparison, only 1.8 out of every 1,000 babies died when a hospital birth was planned.

On the other hand, mothers delivering at home had fewer Caesarean procedures and were much less likely to use labor-inducing drugs or forceps to aid the birth.
BALTIMORE  Soon after John OMalley began working as a hospice nurse he was checking on a patient who told him he thought it was time. The mans family wasnt there, so OMalley pulled up a chair, joined him in a prayer and kept hold of his hand until he died.

He wasnt alone, and what a privilege it was that I was the one there, said OMalley. I knew I was where I belonged.

Hospice care is about providing comfort at the end of life, and OMalley knows that what he does helps ease the suffering of his patients and the burdens of their families. It wasnt that long ago that he was on the receiving end of that comfort and support when his wife was in the end stages of cancer. The nurses at Gilchrist Hospice Cares Towson, Md., inpatient center not only attended to her physical and emotional needs, they cared for him and helped him prepare for her dying.

He was so impressed and inspired by the experience that he began taking classes to become a nurse two months after his wife died in late 2010.

Five years later, OMalley is dispensing the same compassionate care to dying patients and their families that he received; easing pains both literal and figurative, transforming death from a dark and frightening experience into a peaceful and even spiritual one.

BEGINNING NEW CAREERS

Many people like OMalley have been moved by the illness of friends or family to make nursing a career, and many do it as a late or second career, say observers and administrators in the profession. Even so, OMalley stands out. At 66, hes been on the job less than two years.

OMalley had a decades-long career as a high-ranking federal immigration official and retired a year after his wife was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. When she died he told his grown children he planned to return to school.

He already had a bachelors degree in biology from Fordham University in New York, and had made it most of the way through a doctorate when the pressures of family life led him to take his government job in immigration for a steady paycheck. Retired and with no particular hobbies, he went back to school in early 2011 at Howard County Community College, where seniors attend classes for free. He began a year and a half of prerequisites and then entered a two-year nursing program. He never wanted to work anywhere but at Gilchrist, where his wife, also a nurse, spent her last days.

A tall, robust man with a thatch of curly silver hair, OMalley said he found course work a bit easier the second time around, and after working as a nursing aide at Gilchrists smaller hospice in Columbia while still a student, he landed a job when a nurse retired.

National statistics on the number of people who have followed similar career paths and become nurses later in life are tough to come by. Available data suggest its out of the ordinary.

The average age of nurses nationally is 50, according to the 2013 National Workforce Survey of RNs conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. The average age at graduation has remained steady for years at about 31, but the workforce as a whole aged as nurses worked longer and younger women, who still dominate the field, chose other professions, said Christine Kovner, professor of geriatric nursing in New York Universitys College of Nursing.

Kovner spent years studying the nursing profession and said the decline began reversing slightly in the last five years as the recession made some students reconsider nursing as a stable profession. Flexible work hours and meaningful work also have drawn people back to nursing, she said.

Many turn to nursing after having worked as home health aides or in related positions, she said. Often men, who still make up just 10 percent of the workforce, become nurses after first working as police officers, emergency medical technicians or military medics.

HOSPICE CARE IS A CALLING

Kerry Avant, clinical manager at Gilchrists Howard center, said nurses there tend to be in the 30s, 40s and 50s, and they all feel some kind of calling to hospice care because of a personal or professional experience. She typically doesnt hire nurses directly from nursing school, rather she prefers them to get a bit of technical experience in a hospital first before choosing a specialty.

OMalley brought certain traits to the table, such as his commitment to hospice care and life experiences.

Richard Gottal has been a patient of OMalleys since his Nov. 24 hospital discharge.

Hes more comfortable here because his pain is managed better here, said Pat Gottal, Richards sister, who has shared their family home in Pigtown with him since their birth. He really likes it here. He thinks the world of John.

She said OMalley talks to her brother about New York and common Irish heritage. Even Sweetie Pie, the Gottals Maltese, who spends her days curled up in the hospice bed, is warming up.

Richard Gottal called OMalley an excellent nurse, and said its a shame he cant be on for 24 hours.

OMalley said sometimes its tempting to stay past his shift. He normally works three 12-hour shifts a week, and has a short commute from his home in Ellicott City, Md. He said becoming a nurse was always in the back of his mind, perhaps because he was married to one for 38 years. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native also briefly worked as a politician and a cab driver.

So far, hes not regretted abandoning retirementeven on his first day at Gilchrist, when he went to visit his first patient and felt no pulse. He thought hed done something wrong, then he realized the patient had died. On Day 1, he was faced with telling a family.

His goal is to make everyone in the room feel more comfortable, even patients who are only briefly there.

He said he usually doesnt volunteer that his wife died at Gilchrists center in Towson, but if they need to know, I can tell them how comfortable the reclining chair is because Ive slept in it.

When he leaves the job for the day, he said he always feels like he did something good. When the time comes to leave the job for good, he said, itll be because they have a bed here for me.
Olympus Corp. said it will voluntarily recall and redesign a troubled medical scope that has been linked to scores of potentially deadly patient infections around the world.

The company, which sells about 85 percent of the duodenoscopes used in the United States, said it will redesign an internal mechanism in the device that had been almost impossible to effectively disinfect.

A Senate report released last week said investigators had found 25 superbug outbreaks linked to the scopes. The devices were made by Olympus and two other manufacturers. It is unclear whether the other manufacturers will redesign their scopes.

From 201215, investigators said, at least 141 patients in nine U.S. cities were infected.

A series of Los Angeles Times stories last year reported that Olympus knew of the potential flaws in the scope but failed to alert American hospitals or regulators.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the steps announced Jan. 15, Olympus said.

A lawmaker behind the Senate investigation praised the move and urged further action.

These devices exposed far too many patients and their families to unacceptable risks, and I am pleased to see that the FDA and manufacturers have taken additional actions to protect patients in the future, said Sen. Patty Murray, DWash., who initiated the investigation after dozens of patients were sickened at a Seattle hospital.

The steps taken today are important, but there is much more we need to do to make sure the FDA can respond quickly and appropriately when problems with medical devices occur, she said in a statement.

The reportwritten by the minority staff of the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions and released Jan. 13cited repeated failures by manufacturers, regulators and hospitals to report outbreaks. That oversight allowed patients to remain at risk with life-threatening consequences, investigators determined.

Rep. Ted Lieu, DCalif., who serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, greeted the Jan. 15 announcement with a more scathing tone.

Had Olympus initiated this recall sooner, he said in a statement, numerous patients would not have been infected with antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Olympus decision needs to be monitored to determine its effectiveness since previous claims of effectiveness by Olympus have proven not to work, he said. I also urge Pentax and Fuji, the other major duodenoscope manufacturers, to fix their design problems and recall their duodenoscopes.

The duodenoscope is used in a procedure known as ERCP, or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Doctors thread the flexible scope down a patients throat and into the digestive tract to diagnose and treat cancers, gallstones and other conditions.

Olympus had redesigned its $40,000 duodenoscope in 2010 to seal a narrow internal channel and keep out blood and other infectious material. The change was intended to make the scope easier to clean.

But three independent investigationsthe first in 2012found that the design could allow bacteria to remain inside the scope even after it was cleaned according to Olympus instructions.

The Senate report backed up those findings, noting it is now evident that such models can trap and transmit bacteria even after cleaning.
TOKYO  Large brooches have attracted a lot of attention. Wearing shining brooches can add a fancy and individualized touch to simple clothes.

Stylist Junko Ishida said many large brooches have been presented in fashion shows overseas recently.

If you wear ones that are [2 inches] or more in diameter, youll find they add to your fashion a gorgeous feel and a vigor, said Ishida, who has authored books on fashion.

At Isetan Shinjuku department store in Tokyo, one brooch by accessory brand GRANDMATIC is about 7 centimeters in diameter. The brooch, priced at $320, is made of black resin and other materials embedded in the ground metal in gold color.

When wearing the brooch on a shirt, fasten all buttons of the shirt and wear the brooch at the center of the neckline. This creates an elegant, sophisticated image, said Ishida. Wearing a black brooch on a black shirt is also fashionable, she added.

If you attach a large and a small brooch to a pearl necklace, you can create a gorgeous feel without making holes in your clothes, said Yukari Sukegawa, a styling coordinator.

Wearing a few brooches in large and small sizes around the bosom on a coat is in fashion now, too, according to Sukegawa. When you wear two, place them diagonally. When you wear three, arrange them in a triangle, she suggested.

To create one brooch, Ishida used beads in black, green and other colors sewn to a round felt base. Another one is in the shape of the Eiffel tower with pearl-type beads similarly sewn onto a felt base.

Its easy and more fun than you think. Why dont you make one by yourself? Ishida said.
BY RICK STEELHAMMER

The Charleston GazetteMail

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

The West Virginia State Capitol Complexs newest buildings dont require clearing a security checkpoint and being scanned by a metal detector to enteryou just have to be able to climb a tree and squeeze through a 2-inch hole.

Earlier this month, Boy Scouts from Charlestons Troop 31 installed 10 new squirrel nest boxes to provide enhanced shelter for the Capitol grounds most visible and best-fed wildlife species as part of troop member Breece Ferrells Eagle Scout project.

I live two blocks from the Capitol, and growing up, the Statehouse lawn has been like my own yard, Ferrell said. During recent visits to the Capitol grounds you could see some squirrel houses kind of hidden up in the trees, but all of them had rotted out, bottom-first. Since I was looking for a more unique Eagle project, replacing these boxes seemed like a good idea.

Ferrells initial offer to replace the dilapidated squirrel condos was declined, without explanation, by the General Services Administration, the agency in charge of maintaining the Capitol grounds.

Undeterred, the Eagle Scout candidate consulted with Scott Warner, with the wildlife resources of the West Virginia DNR, who supplied him with design drawings for a prototype squirrel box, and made a few modifications on his own, then resubmitted his plans and his intentions for them. This time, GSA chief Greg Melton, himself the father of an Eagle Scout, approved the project.

Since the floors of the boxes had rotted out, I decided to use corrosion-resistant wire laths instead, Ferrell said. Ferrell also opted to top the wooden roofs of the nest boxes with sheets of aluminum to further prevent weathering, and to paint the boxes with nontoxic, food-grade paint, since squirrels tend to gnaw their own surroundings.

A final design change was the addition of the fleur-de-lis Boy Scout emblem on the fronts of the boxes, which were secured to selected oak trees with rust-resistant cable.

Ferrell pre-cut wood to form the walls, roof and backing of the nest boxes, and with help from other members of Troop 31, assembled the units in their headquarters in the basement of the Baptist Temple at Quarrier and Morris streets on Wednesday night. Lowes and Home Depot donated the wood, while Charleston Re-Store supplied the hardware.

Ferrell used an aluminum ladder to reach and remove the dilapidated squirrel boxes that had been installed, as it turned out after researching Gazette-Mail files, by another Eagle Scout candidate, Mike Evans, of Sissonville, back in 1994. Ferrell then looped rust-resistant cable around the tree and through eyelets attached to the new boxes, and then ratcheted them securely to trunks and limbs.

Eastern gray squirrels like those living on the Statehouse grounds often make use of second and even third homes, using one nest as a home base and one or two auxiliary nests for temporary shelter when foraging for food when vittles get scarce near their primary domiciles. Squirrels make use of both leaf nests attached to tree branches and cavity nests in tree trunks and larger limbs. Ferrells nest boxes replicate cavity nests, which allow squirrels to conserve energy and better survive winters.

Breece had a good idea for his Eagle project and having to work a little more to get permission to do it was part of the process, said Troop 31 Scoutmaster Jim Porter. He will be the 83rd Eagle Scout from this troop since it started in 1917.

Ferrell, who turns 18 on Jan. 20, is a senior at Capital High School. He is the son of Mark and Ingrid Ferrell.
RICHMOND  Longtime Virginia plow driver Robin Coleman said the current blizzard ranks in the top three storms he's seen in nearly 40 years.

Coleman was working a 12-hour shift Saturday as Virginia Department of Transportation crews and contractors worked across the state to plow the state's roads.

Coleman said a storm in the 80s and one in 1996 probably were worse. He's worked at VDOT for 38 years.

Asked what his pet peeves were as a plow driver, Coleman said it was people unnecessarily leaving their cars parked in the street and reckless drivers in vehicles ill-equipped for snow storms.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is appealing residents to stay off the roads, even after a fierce winter storm has moved on.

McAuliffe told a news briefing in Richmond on Saturday he was pleased that many Virginians heeded the message to stay at home so road crews could clear highways.

But he said even though sun is in the forecast on Sunday, he wants residents to keep their vehicles parked at home. He said it's costing the state $2 million to $3 million an hour to battle the storm.

McAuliffe said the storm had left a foot of snow in Roanoke and could blanket parts of northern Virginia with up to 3 feet.

He said more than 4,600 electric customers are without power.

Virginia State Police said high winds are drifting snow across state highways, making slick roads even more treacherous.

For a second day, they were urging motorists to avoid travel if possible Saturday as a winter storm continues to grip the state. In northern Virginia, winds are reportedly gusting to 40 mph.

From midnight to 6 a.m. Saturday, Virginia troopers responded to 145 traffic crashes and 229 disabled vehicles across the state. Most of those occurred in Northern Virginia.

Friday, state police responded to a total 1,032 traffic crashes and 879 disabled vehicles statewide.

Virginia's largest power company was reporting more than 8,000 outages from the winter storm.

Most of those power failures are in the southeastern part of the state, according to Dominion Virginia Power's website.

Customers numbering in the hundreds are without power in the greater Richmond area and the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula area.

Appalachian Power Co. reports no major outages its Virginia service area.

The Virginia Department of Transportation was asking motorists to stay off the roads to make room for plows and sanders.

VDOT said Saturday the massive East Coast storm has already blanketed some parts of the state with 18 inches of snow. Up to 3 feet could pile up before the storm leaves the state.

Crews say intense wind gusts have complicated the cleanup, with snow being blown back over just-plowed road surfaces.

VDOT rates the conditions of most roads from moderate to severe.

VDOT has approximately 2,500 workers and more than 13,000 pieces of equipment in the statewide snow-removal battle.

Virginia State Police say they responded to nearly 1,000 traffic crashes as a fearsome storm blanketed the state with snow.

From midnight through 10 p.m. Friday, troopers responded to 989 crashes and 793 disabled vehicles. All told, state police dispatch centers fielded 3,471 calls during that period.

Spokeswoman Corinne Geller says the majority of the crashes involve damage to vehicles. Virginia recorded one storm-related death Friday in Chesapeake.

A trooper was injured Friday night while assisting a disabled vehicle on Interstate 64 in New Kent County. Geller said Trooper M.D. Jester is being treated for minor injuries in a Richmond hospital.

And once the snow stops, snowball fights are being planned for the District of Columbia and areas nearby .

The Washington DC Snowball Fight Association, which has organized previous snowball fights in the city, said on its Facebook page that a snowball fight would be held at Dupont Circle beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday and likely continue for hours and hours. Organizers were calling the event Snow Wars: The Snowball Strikes Back! and encouraging participants to dress as characters from Star Wars.

The groups Facebook page also listed about half a dozen snowball fights scheduled for Sunday in the area.
ANNAPOLIS, Md.  At the top of a pole behind Paul Wiedorn was a Maryland flag, flapping in the wind.

To shield himself from the bitter cold in Annapolis last week, he slung a wool scarf around his neck.

It was as if the twothe flag and Wiedorns plaid winter accessorywere cut from the same cloth.

That was the look he was going for.

Wiedorn, a Severna Park resident, loves the flag and Celtic culture so much he has combined those interests and created a Scottish tartan based on the flags color scheme. Hes not a fashion designer by tradejust a high school technology education teacher who has a penchant for civics.

Besides having nice colors and everything, its a proper flag, Wiedorn said of his textiles inspiration.

But its not enough that he learned how to create an original tartan, with criss-crossed shafts of red, yellow, black and white, evoking the Calvert family arms. Its not enough that he copyrighted the design and had a weaver produce a dozen yards of it. Hes thinking more grandiose: a designation for the pattern as the official state tartan.

Wiedorn can see it now: A modern kilt for him, made from the custom plaid; University of Maryland students wearing college gear made with tartan prints.

Sen. Ed Reilly, R-Crofton, is trying to help Wiedorn fulfill that dream. The lawmaker has filed a bill in the Maryland legislature that would adopt Wiedorns tartan as an official symbol of the state.

In a year when 1,600 bills and counting have been filed, Reilly describes this as a fun one that helps promote Maryland pride.

Whats in it for Wiedorn isnt money, he says. Hes already promised to turn over the copyright to the state if the government endorses his design as an official symbol.

At the age of 60 and his three children now adults, hes thinking more about a legacy.

Whats going to go on the tombstone, right? Weidorn said. Designer of the Maryland tartanthat would be nice in an obituary, wouldnt it?

The state flag was adopted in 1904, followed by the Black-eyed Susan as the state flower 14 years later. Since then, Maryland has accrued myriad other official symbols, from the state cat (Calico) to the folk dance (square).

Though these may seem like trivial decisions for policy makers to consider, the designations tend to matter a lot to certain constituents. About half of all states have named milk their official drink to support dairy industries. Marylands horse is the Thoroughbred, likely to back breeders.

Many states, such as Massachusetts and North Carolina, have adopted an official tartan, either by a governors proclamation or legislation, but just how many depends on the source. Reilly believes 28 states have plaids already.

Though traditional, tartans still thrive in contemporary fashion. David Hart, a designer who grew up in Severna Park and now lives in New York, has incorporated scores of tartans in his line over the years. Hes used traditional clan patterns for neckwear.

Ive always loved plaid. My grandfather used to dress my dad in plaid, and my dad hated it, Hart said. Plaid is such a classical element in menswear, I naturally gravitated toward it. The colors are just incredible.

The Scottish Parliament got involved in cataloging tartans in 2008 when it launched the Scottish Register of Tartans. The intent of the registry was to protect and preserve the tartan tradition. In order to qualify as an official tartan, the designer must show the agency he has created a unique pattern as well as receive approval from the highest-ranking authority of that state, district or entity it would represent.

Thats where Reillys bill comes in. If it passes, Gov. Larry Hogans signature is what Wiedorn needs.

This isnt the first time the Severna Park man has tried to get a governor to sign the dotted line. Wiedorn wrote a letter to former governor Martin OMalley. Then, he tried a bill last year. It had a hearing but never made it out of the Senate committee.

He clearly hasnt given up. When the governor and first lady had a recent open house at the mansion, he gave them a tartan necktie and stole respectively, made from his tartan. Couldnt hurt.

But hes also realistic. In a year when the General Assembly is considering serious issues, such as how to prevent police brutality and balance the state budget, he knows plaids arent on most lawmakers minds.
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. sang the praises of visiting GOP presidential primary candidate Donald Trump at Libertys convocation Monday. Now Trump is broadcasting that praise in a new radio campaign advertisement.

Falwell was quick to point out Friday he has not endorsed Trump.

Trump debuted the ad Friday. Its the most recent to begin airing in Iowa and South Carolina, according to Trumps campaign.

The minute-long ad posted to the candidates website consists almost entirely of excerpts from Falwells introduction of Trump before he spoke to Liberty Universitys undergraduate student body and other guests Monday in the universitys Vines Center.

I see a lot of parallels between my father and Donald Trump, Falwell said in convocation, as quoted in the radio spot. Like Mr. Trump, dad would speak his mind. He would make statements that were politically incorrect.

The spot also uses several other parts of the introduction, including Falwell referencing Matthew 7:16, By their fruits ye shall know them.

Donald Trumps life has borne fruit, fruit that has provided multitudes of jobs to multitudes of people ... Falwell said at convocation as excerpted in the campaign ad.

The Iowa caucus is Feb. 1 and the South Carolina Republican primary is Feb. 20.

Falwell said the university gave general permission for the campaign to use Falwells remarks from Monday however the campaign wanted, but he didnt know of the advertisement until Friday morning.

I was very, very careful to make it clear that I was not endorsing him and that Liberty is not endorsing him, Falwell said of his remarks on Monday. He said he has often praised political speakers at Liberty.

During his remarks at convocation, Falwell also praised Trumps friendship and generosity.

He said after Trumps visit to Liberty University in 2012, he called Trump to seek help funding the project of a friend who leads a well-known Christian ministry in another state.

Trump donated $100,000, Falwell said he learned later.

Falwell declined to identify the friend on Friday, because he said he didnt know whether the person was comfortable with him sharing the information.

Falwell said Trump has not contributed to Liberty University.

Falwell and his family held his sons wedding at Trumps Charlottesville vineyard this fall, but Falwell said the family paid fair market value for the wedding expenses, including use of the venue.

He has never given us any gifts, not one penny, he said.

Trump shared a statement about Falwell in the news release announcing the new ad.

It was a great honor to be introduced by the legendary Jerry Falwell Jr., he said. He has built a tremendous institution and is a really terrific person with a beautiful family. We have always had a wonderful relationship and I am proud to share his kind words with the people of Iowa and South Carolina.
SEOUL, South Korea  A China-based travel agency said Saturday an American university student recently detained by North Korea is being held over an unspecified incident at his hotel before he was scheduled to board a flight for Beijing.

North Korea announced his detention on Friday in a media report accusing Otto Warmbier of committing a hostile act orchestrated by the U.S.

Warmbier is from Wyoming, Ohio, and was studying finance at the University of Virginia.

Gareth Johnson, the CEO of Young Pioneer Tours, confirmed via email Saturday that Warmbier had been staying at Pyongyangs Yanggakdo International Hotel and was not with other tourists when the incident occurred. The company statement said Warmbier was detained at the Pyongyang Airport on Jan. 2, but didnt explain what exactly happened at the hotel.

The company said in its statement that an airport official told one of Young Pioneers guides after Warmbier was detained that he had been taken to a hospital. The guide attempted to go back to see him, but was unable to as airport staff ushered her through immigration, the company said.

The company later learned there had been an incident, according to the statement.
Washington Avenue is a nationally designated historic district, one of two historic districts in Fredericksburg.

In recent weeks, The Free LanceStar has published a couple of articles about our neighborhood petition objecting to the planting of more than 50 trees on the Washington Avenue Mall, and the citys intention to plant another 20 trees there.

These trees have begun to obstruct the public views of historic monuments and homes. Most of these trees will grow to be massively larger and further obscure the views within this popular tourist attraction.

To understand our concerns, it is important to understand the history of the mall and how it came to be designated as an historic district.

In 1891, local property owners donated land for a 150-foot-wide ceremonial approach to Mary Washingtons gravesite and the Fredericksburg City Council established Washington Avenue Mall as a grass plot to provide a commemorative approach to the Washington grave and monument.

The best analogy is the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which has 2.1 miles of unobstructed sight lines designed to showcase monuments and the U.S. Capitol. The same concept and intent are why the Washington Avenue Mall was created and exists today.

Its viewscape was designed to display the Mary Washington monument, and subsequent monuments were added. This display is part of the honor that the city chose to bestow on Mary Washington, Hugh Mercer, George Rogers Clark and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

Over the years, in addition to their monuments, the views of historic homes along Washington Avenue, including Kenmore, have become a tourist attraction that the city promotes. Trolleys, horse-drawn carriages and walking tours visit Washington Avenue every day to view its memorials and period homes.

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Interior added Washington Avenue to the National Register of Historic places. That listing describes it as an avenue consisting of a series of grassy medians and memorials that are sited to take advantage of sight lines and topography.

The viewshed with open sight lines and streetscape is an essential element, if not the essential element, of Washington Avenues historical significance.

In 2015, the Comprehensive Plan approved by the City Council designated the mall as a historic preservation area consisting of Open medians w/ monuments.

Section 7212 of the citys Uniform Development Ordinance is intended to ensure that projects are in harmony with the Comprehensive Plan and to protect against destruction of or encroachment upon historic areas.

In addition, the citys 2010 Historic Preservation Plan directs city agencies to determine in advance whether an undertaking could have an adverse impact to a historic property, including visual obstruction of a viewshed. For historic preservation purposes, the preservation plan defines viewshed as: The visual area of potential effect of a historic property that contributes to its setting, feeling and association, including its landscape and streetscape. The viewshed of historic properties often extends well beyond their boundaries and is often an important contributing element to their historic significance.

It is undeniable that the dense tree planting that has been going on within the Washington Avenue Mall will fundamentally alter the setting, feeling and association of the property and compromise the integrity of its historical significance.

We believe that the tree planting is inconsistent with both the citys 2010 Historic Preservation Plan and the Comprehensive Plan.

To be clear, we support planting trees in the right locations within the city. In fact, there are 58 trees planted in the utility strips in the four blocks of Washington Avenue Historic District; and many more trees planted in the front and side yards of its homes, as well as trees along the inside of the sidewalks at Kenmore and Mary Ball Park. We do not object to those treesthis is solely an issue of preserving sight lines within the historic mall.

This year, 2016, marks the 125th anniversary of the date when the Washington Avenue Mall was dedicated by the City Council as a venue for displaying monuments commemorating Fredericksburgs history.

Its appropriate for city staff and residents to carefully consider the impact of of the tree plantings on the malls sight lines. The city plans a community meeting on the issue Monday in the Dorothy Hart Community Center, 408 Canal St. (check fredericksburgva.gov for snow-cancellation updates).

Although we started this effort with a petition from neighborhood people who are most aware of what has been happening to this historic property, we have received letters and comments of support from people throughout the city who share our desire to preserve Fredericksburgs heritage and this tourist attraction.

Steve Gaske resides on Washington Avenue and helped organize the petition drive to preserve sight lines on the mall.
After reading a headline [Generals greatest fear that military might lower standards for women] in the Jan. 15 issue of Stars and Stripes inserted in The Free LanceStar, I shared it with my wife, who replied, Equality means equality!

I turned to Page 4 of Stars and Stripes and was greeted with a picture of two male Marines with high-and-tight haircuts flanking a female Marine with her hair pulled back into a bun. They were performing basic marksmanship training at the infantry training battalion at Camp Geiger, N.C.

All things being equal, why was the female Marine allowed to keep her hair and pull it back in a bun?

On the other hand, why couldnt the male Marines wear their hair long, just pulled back in a bun?

Gen. Kelly, all I had to do was turn to Page 4 to see the answer to your greatest fear.

Gary Teates

Locust Grove
DFW Best Roofing of Fort Worth Awarded Best Of Houzz 2016

DFW Best Roofing was awarded by the Houzz community which has been doing roofing services in Dallas & Fort Worth Area for almost a decade. Houzz was chosen by more than 35 million users that comprise the Houzz community.

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Over 35 Million Monthly Unique Users Nominated Best Home Building, Remodeling and Design Professionals in North America and Around the World

North Richland Hills, January X, 2016 - DFW Best Roofing in North Richland Hills has won "Best Of Customer Service on Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The Roofing Company in DFW Metroplex has been doing roofing services in Dallas & Fort Worth which been doing roofing services for almost a decade was chosen by the more than 35 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than one million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design award winners' work was the most popular among the more than 35 million monthly users on Houzz. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2015. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award. A "Best Of Houzz 2016? badge will appear winners' profiles, as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area in DFW area.

"When we say The Customer is king; we mean it", said Justin Stanfield the CEO of the Company.

"We want to create a culture of service not business", said Omar Baloch, the President of the Company.

"Anyone building, remodeling or decorating looks to Houzz for the most talented and service-oriented professionals" said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. "We're so pleased to recognize DFW Best Roofing, voted one of our "Best Of Houzz" professionals by our enormous community of homeowners and design enthusiasts actively remodeling and decorating their homes."

Follow DFW Best Roofing on Houzz

About DFW Best Roofing

DFW Best Roofing is an expert professional roofing company in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. DFW Best Roofing is uniquely qualified to install roofing systems that can not only last for years, they can add value to the clients home, and when installed with the proper ventilation system it will save money on heating and air conditioning bills. DFW Best Roofing is a "full service" DFW Roofing contractor. DFW Best Roofing will handle everything from a new roof installation, roof restoration and roof maintenance to re-roofs and roof repairs. All with the assurance that can solely come with years of experience. Every home owner is treated with the "personal touch". Building a successful relationship with the clients is just as important as knowing how to build a quality roof. Dedication to customer satisfaction has been the key to DFW Best Roofing. For affordable, high quality -- Dallas & Fort Worth Roofing contractors DFW Best Roofing is DFW areas first choice.

About Houzz

Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.dfwbestroofing.com

Contact Info:

Name: Omar Baloch

Organization: DFW Best Roofing

Address: 6709 Starnes Rd

Phone: 8173816855

Release ID: 101819

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Law Firm - Hoffenberg and Block LLC - Named to 2016 Illinois Super Lawyers

Hoffenberg and Block LLC announces Alan D. Hoffenberg and Gloria E. Block have been awarded the prestigious designation of Illinois Super Lawyers for 2016

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The Chicago Family Law Firm of Hoffenberg and Block LLC is pleased to announce that founding partners, Alan D. Hoffenberg and Gloria E. Block, have been awarded the prestigious designation of Illinois Super Lawyers for 2016. They are both are recognized for their exceptional work in matters related to family law and divorce. This is the 12th consecutive year for which the founding partners of Hoffenberg and Block have been honored in this fashion as Illinois Super Lawyers, a testament to their ongoing commitment of being one of the best Chicago Divorce Law Firms, and always serving the best interests of their clients as completely and successfully as possible.

To compile the annual Super Lawyers listing, researchers with Thomson Reuters' legal division solicit nominations from more than 60,000 attorneys across Illinois. A panel chosen by Illinois Super Lawyers editors assists with final selections, and fewer than 5 percent of Illinois attorneys are recognized each year.

Mr. Hoffenberg and Ms. Block have dedicated their practice exclusively to cases related to family law, including divorce, legal separation, child custody and visitation, spousal support and maintenance, paternity, child removal and relocation, prenuptial agreements and modification and enforcement of existing judgments.

Mr. Hoffenberg is a 1967 graduate of John Marshall Law School while Ms. Block earned her degree from Loyola University Law School in 1980.

With more than 100 years of combined legal experience, the skilled team of professionals at Hoffenberg and Block LLC is prepared to advocate for clients in even the most difficult of circumstances. They operate according to the firm's philosophy - that if a case is prepared properly, it can be resolved favorably. They are also realistic and understand that sometimes cases cannot be settled. In that event, they are dynamic trial attorneys who will provide aggressive representation in the courtroom.

For more information about Hoffenberg and Block LLC and the services they provide, visit them online at ChicagoFamilyLawyer.com. Prospective clients can also call: 312-853-8000 to schedule a no obligation case evaluation.

About Hoffenberg and Block LLC - The Chicago Family Lawyers

Hoffenberg and Block LLC is a full-service Chicago Family Law Firm serving clients from Cook, Lake, DuPage and McHenry counties in Illinois for over 45 years. The firm dedicates its practice exclusively to matters of family law, such as Divorce, Child Custody and Visitation, Spousal and Child Support, Prenuptial Agreements and Modification and Enforcement of existing judgments. A no obligation case evaluation is available to all new clients. Hoffenberg and Block LLC can be reached directly by calling 312-853-8000, or visiting ChicagoFamilyLawyer.com, where more information on their services and attorneys is available.

Hoffenberg and Block LLC 30 N. LaSalle Suite 3250 Chicago, IL 60602 Phone: (312) 853-8000 Fax: (312) 853-8008 www.chicagofamilylawyer.com

For more information about us, please visit http://chicagofamilylawyer.com/

Contact Info:

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Limousin bull rankings will look different in the spring following the introduction of a new genomic breeding value (GBV) for carcass traits.

This is according to Alison Glasgow, technical manager at the society, who told Farmers Weekly that new data from ABP carcass evaluations would provide much sharper scrutiny of progeny performance for the breed.

Limousin members are being encouraged to send off blood and hair samples for genotyping to predict breeding merit for key products including: age at slaughter, silverside, rump, striploin, topside, knuckle and fillet.

Mrs Glasgow said she expected different bull rankings as a result of the new information and some interesting results.

See also: Top tips for selecting bulls by estimated breeding values (EBVs)

This will highlight the animals that have been producing calves that grow well to 200 and then 400 days and then continue performing well all the way to slaughter, she explained.

Previously we havent had the ability to take it beyond this stage of the 400-day weight logged as part of performance recording. The GBV table will be different to the EBV table.

The first run of genomic results is due in mid-March, although early testing commenced on stock marketed at Carlisle and Stirling last October.

And Mrs Glasgow stressed that while the GBV can be used to select for more muscular animals, the value could inform other important considerations such as abattoir weight specification.

She added: If animals lack in loin then this can be addressed by choosing bulls rated highly for that trait but the GBVs can also be used to tailor areas where cattle are overdelivering, such as where cattle are too heavy.

Either way, these values are shortening the distance between breeding and the end market and will capture financial benefits.
Muck and slurry equipment is rapidly growing in size in a bid to keep up with the prodigious outputs of many farm contractors, particularly those shifting digestate from AD plants.

We have picked out five of the most eye-catching new faces at Lamma, which include the first German-built Hawe muckspreader to reach the UK, galvanised slurry tankers from Belgian maker Dezwaef and a 4,500 gal machine from HiSpec.

See also: Lamma 2016: 7 big kit highlights from the ag machinery show

Hawe muckspreader

Suffolk Farm Machinery was showing the first German-built Hawe muckspreader to arrive on UK shores.

Models range from 12t capacity up to contractor-style 30-tonners and come Isobus ready and with the option of applying variable rate muck.

Hawes design uses three rear beaters and tri-axle versions come with a rear steering axle and hydraulically sprung drawbar.

Theres also the option of removing the muckspreader body and fitting a grain chaser or ejector section to keep the rig busy year-round.

Zunhammer tankers

Agrifac UK was showing its German import at the show  Zunhammers slurry and digestate haulage kit.

The new agreement means Agrifac now has a complete set of spreading kit in its repertoire, including store-to-field and spreading tankers for use on tractors units such as the Holmer TerraVariant and Claas Xerion.

On-stand was a full-spec tandem-axle tanker, as well as a liquid system designed to hitch a ride on a Holmer tractor unit. The latter has a tank volume of 21cu m and will apply up to 25cu m/ha through a Vogelsang X-till injector.

Features include a filling system that can function fully with the engine idling to reduce fuel consumption. Most of the key functions are dealt with via the in-cab joystick and the Isobus control automatically regulates spreading volume.

Claas Xerion muckspreader

Contractors serious about muckspreading will have been kicking the tyres of Claas forward-controlled Xerion Saddletrac, which can now be fitted with a purpose-built body that turns it into a self-propelled muckspreader.

The demount spreader  built by German maker Tebbe  has a total capacity of 13.2cu m and is built with 3mm steel plate.

Two hydraulically driven conveyor belts transport the muck to the rear of the spreader, where there is a slurry door and two chain-driven horizontal beaters.

After the muck passes through the beaters it drops on to two 1m-diameter spreading discs. These are shaft-driven with overload protection and have four vanes to give an even spread.

The spreader fits on Claas Xerion 4000 Saddletrac, which has the cab positioned at the very front of the machine to give a large rear deck. Maximum power output is 435hp and this drives a CVT transmission with a top speed of 50kph.

Dezwaef tanker

Wiltshire-based importer HVM Agri is now bringing in galvanised slurry tankers from Belgian maker Dezwaef.

So far one machine has been sold to a UK farmer  a 2,500 gal model  and it has a twin-axle 3,500-litre demonstrator running this season.

This is fitted with a steering rear axle, 7m trailing shoe mounted off a hydraulic three-point linkage and front-mounted turbo filler that slices 40% off the filling time.

To help iron out the bumps the tanker also has air-suspended axles and hydraulic suspension on the drawbar. This apparently gives a smoother ride than a standard sprung drawbar.

The fully specced machine on show at Lamma has a list price of about 50,000 and a prices for the twin-axle 2,500 gal model start at 25,000.

HiSpec 4,500 gal tanker

Whopping tri-axle tankers were out in force at this years Lamma show, including this one from County Carlow based HiSpec.

The 4,500 gal machine is destined to deal with digestate from AD plants and comes with an auto top-fill attachment so that the spreader can draw directly from it.

Theres also an 8in auto filler at the front for faster filling.

To help get it round corners it as steering front and rear axles and its got leaf springs all round as well as a sprung drawbar.

ABS brakes are available, but theyre not fitted on this particular model. The list price for this machine is 42,000.
The East of England Showground was the place to see the latest developments in the world of chaser bins and haulage trailers. Manufacturers came in force from across Europe  and some from closer to home  to show their new machines, including Hawe, Staines, Jones, Herron and NC Engineering.

Hawe RUW 4000

Last years Lamma saw Hawes range of chasers debut on the JPM stand, but a mid-season switch around saw Suffolk Farm Machinery take on the import job.

The company is offering both grain and beet chasers to shuffle crop from the harvester to the edge of the field to fill waiting trailers.

The beet version is available on tandem axles with a 25cu m capacity, or a tri-axle arrangement that is beefy enough to carry 40cu m of crop. A wide discharge web means unloading the 30t of beet can be finished in two minutes.

Most of the big machines will be specced with front and rear wheel steer, but because the front axle is positioned well forward the body the trailer takes less pulling than usual. A 230hp tractor should suffice in most conditions.

The chaser comes with its own on-board hydraulic system that can pump out 150 litres/min, but the tractors pto dictates the speed of the discharge web.

The big appeal of Hawes trailers is the ability to mount different bodies on the same chassis. The switch takes just 15 minutes and it means one trailer can be kept busy with muck spreading and silage carting, as well as hauling beet or grain, throughout the year.

The asking price is 85,000, but heavily depends on how carried away you get with the options list.

Staines dump trailer

Staines Trailers has been making steady progress in recent years, increasing its range of silage, dump and bale trailers and upping output from its Devon factory since its Lamma debut in 2013.

The companys latest creation is a tri-axle setup designed for shifting heavy loads of concrete and hardcore. The load luggers have a 22t/9cu m capacity and come with Irish-made Granning axles and tough Hardox bodies.

The top-spec setup also comes with air and oil load-sensing brakes, and you can expect to get one on-farm for about 19,000. Lower spec versions made with lesser grade materials can be yours for closer to 16,000.

Jones Engineering roots chaser

To help tackle the perennial problem of trailers dragging mud on to the road, Doncaster maker Jones Engineering has come up with this novel-looking roots chaser.

The model on display at this years Lamma show was designed specifically to tackle challenging Northern Irish conditions and it sits on four chunky 710/50 R26.5 tyres.

It is designed to replace the use of standard trailers and can unload a total of 8.5t from the harvester. This is then transported to bulker lorries waiting at the headlands.

For unloading, theres a full-width belt at the bottom of the main hopper that feeds into a webbed cleaning elevator. This shakes soil off the crop before it Is loaded into the lorry. The surplus crud is then jettisoned back into the field using an elevator.

All components are hydraulically driven via the tractors hydraulic circuit, but a separate pto-powered pump can be added if more oomph is required.

Shell out around 55,000 and its yours.

Herron 16T trailer

When the time comes to upgrade the old grain or silage trailer, UK farmers are already spoilt for choice.

But now theres yet another name creeping in from Northern Ireland. Herron trailers are built in County Down and already have a big following in their home market, Scotland and, bizarrely, New Zealand.

At this years Lamma show the firm was looking to expand its presence in England by recruiting new dealers.

One of the trailers on show was a 16-tonner with up-and-over hydraulic tailgate, sprung drawbar and commercial high-speed axles. It also comes with a single tipping ram three-quarter-inch pipes for speedy tipping.

List price is 18,400.

NC dump trailer

Irish manufacturer NC has come up with a clever take on the dump trailer that allows it to safely carry plant equipment as well as soil and rubble.

At the rear of the dumper theres a hydraulic tailgate that lowers and a purpose-built set of ramps that lock securely on to the back of the trailer.

To improve stability while loading machines into the trailer, the maker has also added a pair of support jacks.

Tough Hardox steel has been used in the floor and there are protected anchor points for lashing down any machines that are loaded in the back.

The trailer is available in three sizes  12t, 14t and 16t  and the 14t version on show at Lamma had an on-farm price of 13,600.
When a whale is found on an Oregon beach, the first call goes out to Oregon State Universitys stranding network. The stranding networks first call goes to Bruce Mate, director of OSUs Marine Mammal Institute in Newport.

But even Mate, considered one of the worlds leading experts on whales, was shocked when he heard that a dead blue whale had come ashore on Oregons Gold Beach in November. After all, the last time a blue whale beached itself on the Oregon coast, Lewis and Clark were the ones who found it.

In November, Mate and nearly 30 OSU graduate students and volunteers headed just north of Gold Beach on the coast to where a fully grown 78-foot blue whale had washed ashore. Researchers spent 10 days on the beach removing blubber  a process known as flensing  to extract the skeleton with two goals in mind: First, figure out what killed the largest animal on the planet. And second, to salvage the bones and preserve them for future generations.

Were trying to save for posterity some semblance of awe around its presence on the Earth. Its something that most people would never get a chance to see, Mate said.

Thanks to researchers and the workers who extracted the bones, the plan is for many more to see the skeleton for a planned articulation display set to open at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport in 2018. Its expected to take two years because each of the 189 harvested bones removed in November will need to be transported, cleaned, preserved and reassembled back into a skeleton for the display.

Were not just salvaging the bones, Mate said. Were salvaging some value out of its life so that sense of awe we felt will carry on for generations.

'Life-changing moment'

Mate said he'll never forget the moment he first came upon the great beast on the morning of Nov. 4. He had just stepped out of his truck after driving 175 miles down the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway from Newport when the smell hit him.

This is a 78-foot, 100-ton animal just cooking in the sun," Mate said. You could smell it well before seeing it. And you could see it from the highway from a mile away.

Mate breathed shallowly as he unpacked gloves, a pair of green waterproof bib overalls and flensing gear from his truck. But as he turned toward the sea, Mate got a good look at the animal for the first time.

The emotional impact of seeing such a large whale dead hit me hard and Ive seen this kind of thing elsewhere around the world, Mate said. But people seeing this for the first time around me immediately broke down in tears. Its a life-changing moment.

Natalie Mastick, a graduate research assistant who has assisted Mate in tagging live blue whales off the California coast, said all her work didnt prepare her for the moment she saw the whale on the beach for the first time.

On the water you can only see a tiny bit of the whale at a time. So really, this was the first time I was seeing the entire whale in front of me. And it is a lot bigger than I thought it would be, she said. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. But what really got me was realizing that by being a part of this project, I was helping create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for everyone else whos going to get to see the skeleton when its on display.

After the "oohs" and "aahs"  and the plugging of the noses  Mate and the researchers went to work.

Cut to the bone

Removing the blubber was the easy part, Mate said. The hard part was removing the hundreds of pounds of meat and organs to get to the bones.

The whale's heart was the size of a small car. Its tongue weighed the same as three full-grown African elephants. A school bus would fit in its mouth. And all of those pieces needed to be removed quickly as the crew also had to contend with Mother Nature.

We were fighting the tides that would wash up onto us while we worked, Mate said. Then, just digging it out of the sand would take hours.

Mastick said she was happy to volunteer, but there were times when she thought the tremendous labor would be too much for the small crew.

For the first couple of days I worked on the tail and I never saw my friend who was working on the head, she said. We worked straight until sunset every day. Because of the smell its not exactly the most appetizing situation, so we wouldnt stop to eat lunch or anything. Then wed get a late dinner, spend an hour cleaning ourselves off, go to bed and get back up and start again.

Each day brought with it new challenges.

Every morning wed get there, the whale was covered by water. So wed have to wait for the tides to go out. But then it would be half-buried in sand so we would spend an hour clearing it out, she said. Every time wed leave at night there was a feeling of dread and hopelessness. What if it gets buried or carried away?

And as crew members removed the muscle and tissue piece by piece, Mate also was trying to figure out what could have killed the enormous animal.

The necropsy

For humans, post-mortem examination is known as an autopsy. But in the animal kingdom the process is more often called a necropsy. The U.S. Coast Guard first discovered the blue whale from the sky as it drifted toward the beach a few days before it came ashore. Mate said the level of rot, combined with several other factors, lead experts to believe the whale had been dead for at least two weeks before it hit land.

One of the first things we noticed is that there was not a lot of blubber on this animal. It was not doing well at all long before it died, Mate said. November is a time when the animal should have a thick blubber layer and be ready to head down the coast to breed.

In 2013, researchers discovered what came to be known as the warm blob  a mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that was expected to end in 2016. Authorities arent certain what might be causing the warm blob, but Mate is hopeful that by studying what killed the whale, it might lead to a greater understanding of that phenomenon.

We dont have a good understanding of whats going on but its obvious its hurting the krill population, which is this animals food source, Mate said. Im sure people will want to tie it to global warming, but the warm blob is an example of the kind of thing that isnt connected directly  at least that we know of. In the past, weve studied these animals when things were going well. Now were making an emphasis on when theyre doing poorly.

After studying the whale for weeks, Mate said he is confident that the whale was emaciated and weakened for several months before it died. But there may have been other factors that actually killed it.

There were some shark bites around the blow hole and from a puncture wound in that area we can tell that it was hit by a ship, Mate said. Its hard to tell if it was pre- or post-mortem. It looks to me like this animal was in a very weak condition, got hit by a ship, sharks attacked the spot where the ship hit, and it crushed the skull and it bled out.

Mate said that killer whale and great white shark bites were spotted all over the whale and that its possible the animal was hunted by a group of killer whales tracking the blood from an initial bite or wounding from a ship.

Disease couldve been a factor, but it was too far gone when it came ashore to ever know that for sure, he said. Well need to study it further. Im one of the worlds authorities on these animals and the last record I can find of a blue whale washing up in Oregon was during the Lewis and Clark expedition. Thats more rare than once-in-a-lifetime.

Humongous puzzle

After 10 days and more than 1,000 man-hours put into the job, the crew was ready to face the next monumental step: removing the bones  the lightest one weighing more than 100 pounds and the heaviest weighing in at three tons.

We needed cranes to actually remove most of the bones, Mate said. We had to carry them in big rig trucks one or two at a time.

Over the next several months, crews from the Marine Mammal Institute will work in conjunction with other groups around the state to preserve the bones and prepare them for the skeletal articulation display.

This isnt like putting puzzle pieces together on your dining room table, Mate said. All the bones require a heat and chemical treatment to get oil out of them. These animals store a lot of oil in their bones. If we dont get that out, and its inside a building, it would become rancid and stink to high heaven.

Currently, Mate and other experts in the field are planning out the process as each bone requires its own prescribed treatment. Most of the bones are set to go through some combination of several processes, including a soak in salt water, pressure washing, boiling in stock tanks, steam cleaning and sun bleaching.

It will take months to get the oil out of some of them, maybe even a year, Mate said. Were still making preparations for what were going to do with them here. The bones we have (in Newport) weigh three tons, so just moving them takes a lot of work and planning.

Before each bone is cleaned, researchers must do a complete inventory of each of the animals 189 bones for the planned articulation. In addition, several injuries to the whale itself went all the way to the bones  cracking the skull and some vertebrae. Mate said those bones will be cleaned carefully and later supplemented with plaster.

Many details surrounding the project  including where each of the bones will be prepared and cleaned  are being kept under wraps for security purposes. Mate even checks to make sure the road is clear when leaving the Marine Mammal Institute before he heads out to the site where some of the bones are being kept.

We dont want people to come and pick up some souvenirs, Mate said. Wed never get them back. Theres no replacing them.

All told, the entire project is set to cost the team more than $100,000. But for Mate, Mastick and dozens of others who have taken part, the experience has been priceless.

When its actually hanging up in Hatfield, every person who walks into the entrance is going to feel the same sense of awe and wonder that I felt when walking up on the beach, Mastick said. You cant measure that experience. Its being a part of a project that people will find inspiring for years to come. Its not hard to see why people break down and cry when they see something like that.
Two Forest Grove residents pleaded not guilty to murder charges Tuesday in connection to Friday nights fatal shooting outside Sharis Restaurant in Corvallis.

Michael A. Deyette II, 43, and Brooklyn Shepard, 35, entered the pleas during separate arraignments Tuesday afternoon in front of Judge Locke Williams in Benton County Circuit Court. Deyette was arrested Monday afternoon outside a house in Forest Grove on a Benton County warrant issued in connection with the killing of 29-year-old Jason Scott Williams of Corvallis.

Shepard, who was wounded in the shooting, was arrested Monday evening.

Deyette pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon against another, and second-degree criminal mischief. His security was set at $1 million. Court-appointed defense attorney Mike Flinn is representing Deyette II in the case. Chief Deputy District Attorney Ryan Joslin is representing the state in the case. Amie Matusko, assistant district attorney for Benton County, sat in for Joslin Tuesday.

Flinn did not request a release for Deyette Tuesday, but told Williams that he may request to file motions at a later time.

Shepard pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Her security was set at $1 million. Court-appointed defense attorney John Rich and attorney Holly Allen are representing Shepard in the case. Matusko is representing the state.

Rich asked Judge Williams during the arraignment to release Shepard on her own recognizance, noting that she was shot in the incident, has four children and a mother in the area who was recently diagnosed with cancer. But Matusko argued against the release.

The proof is evident, Matusko said during the arraignment, adding that Shepard had a previous warrant for her arrest due to failure to appear. Court records regarding the previous case were not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.

Deyette II and Shepard remained in Benton County Jail Tuesday and are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon for bail review hearings.

In murder cases, often theres no bail and no release opportunity, Joslin said Tuesday following the arraignments. The court in these cases initially set security at $1 million and the state has a right to ask for no bail, which we have asked. The court has to make a finding that the proof is evident or the presumption of guilt is strong.

Investigative reports, including the probable cause affidavits for both Deyette II and Shepard, have been sealed in the case. Joslin said the District Attorneys office requested the documents be sealed to the public, citing an ongoing investigation.

Its fairly common in more serious cases where the facts continue to develop and unfold to seal those, Joslin said Tuesday. Theres still some continuing investigation; you dont want to jeopardize that by making those facts public at this point.

According to previous statements from the Corvallis Police Department, Shepard was arrested Monday evening on one count of murder on the theory that she may have aided and abetted in Williams killing.

Shepard and Deyette are neighbors and are romantically involved, the Police Department said on Monday.

In an earlier statement, the department said that Shepard and Williams were acquaintances and had been at the restaurant together before the shooting.

Williams was shot to death about 7:45 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of the restaurant at 1117 N.W. Ninth St.

Northwest Ninth Street was blocked off in front of the restaurant for most of the night as police interviewed witnesses and processed the crime scene while Williams body lay on the sidewalk, covered by a sheet.

Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Corvallis Police Department, Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police, responded to the incident. Officers and at least one police dog searched the area Friday night.

Lt. Cord Wood, a spokesman for the Corvallis Police Department, said at the time there was no reason to believe there was an immediate threat to the public.

The Williams killing is the 14th homicide in Corvallis since 1990.

Before Fridays incident, the most recent homicide in the city was the killing of Kimberly Hakes. Hakes, 42, was found dead on Feb. 15 at a camp for homeless people in Alan Berg Park, across the Willamette River from downtown. No arrest has been made in that case.
China planning new supercomputer News oi -GizBot Bureau

China is planning a supercomputer 1,000 times more powerful than its ground-breaking Tianhe-1A as it faces rising demand for next-generation computing.

Meng Xiangfei, head of the applications department of the National Supercomputer Centre, said on Friday that the centre will release a prototype in 2017 or 2018 of an "exascale" computer -- one capable of at least a billion calculations per second, Xinhua reported.

SEE ALSO: Nokia Coming Back With Android Smartphone: Specs, Design, Release Date And Concept [Rumor Roundup]

Exascale computing is considered the next frontier in the development of supercomputers. Tianhe-1A was recognised as the world's fastest computing system in 2010. Though it has since been superseded by Tianhe-2, Tianhe-1A was being more widely used.

Computer scientists are finding it challenging to run contemporary applications at their optimum on faster supercomputers. With its uses including oil exploration data management, animation and video effects, biomedical data processing and high-end equipment manufacturing, Tianhe-1A's capacity is being stretched, said Meng.

SEE ALSO: Coolpad Note 3 Lite: 10 Groundbreaking Features of the Successor

It is carrying out more than 1,400 computing tasks and serving about 1,000 users per day. The exascale computer will be wholly independently developed by the National Supercomputer Center, according to Meng. About a seventh of Tianhe-1A's CPU chips are Chinese.

Source IANS

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How Involved Are US Special Forces in Fight Against Islamic State?

by Carla Babb January 22, 2016

As Defense Secretary Ash Carter calls for continued U.S. 'boots on the ground' in Iraq and Syria to defeat the Islamic State (IS) group, the public is still trying to figure out the current role of U.S. troops deployed there.

The United States currently has about 3,550 service members in Iraq, with about 2,750 of those aiding Iraqi security forces as trainers, advisers or support staff, according to U.S. Central Command data released to VOA.

Some 100 of these are special forces, according to defense officials. There are also 50 U.S. special operations forces in Syria.

'The front lines'

Last week, Carter told service members at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that U.S. special operators have unique capabilities, from intelligence gathering to 'the ability to provide advice and assistance, or accompany local forces to the front lines.'

Despite assertions from the Obama administration that the U.S. is 'not in a combat role' in Iraq and Syria, some officials appear mixed as to whether special forces are on the front lines in the war against the Islamic State.

'The SOF [special operations forces] in Syria are going to have to get to the front lines to get the best situational awareness of what's there,' a U.S. official who wished to remain anonymous told VOA.

'To truly understand  do they need more weapons? Do they need more ammunition? Who are the right partners? They've got to go out there and see it for themselves,' he added.

Another U.S. official told VOA that 'the guys in Syria aren't hanging out on a base,' but he wasn't aware of them going to the front lines. They were 'advising and assisting' local fighters, he said.

But the so-called advise-and-assist role sometimes glosses over what's really going on with special forces, according to Michael Weiss, the author of the book ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.

'I don't think special forces are sent in to advise anything. They're sent in to kill people, to offer backup to somewhat reliable and trustworthy militant proxies,' Weiss told VOA.

Even if the military wanted to discuss the activities of the approximately 7,500 special operations forces deployed to at least 85 countries on any given week, the work done by those elite teams is often shielded from the public.

'Most of it is classified,' said Ken McGraw, the spokesman for U.S. Special Operations Command.

'Incredibly important' in fighting IS

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told VOA that the role of the approximately 150 U.S. special forces in Iraq and Syria is 'incredibly important to the fight' against IS militants.

Carter and others have said publicly that special forces soldiers have taken part  and will continue to take part  in action targeting IS. Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, said in December, 'Make no mistake about it, these forces, along with their Iraqi partners  will be conducting raids.'

Special forces conducted at least two raids in Syria: a failed rescue attempt and the raid in eastern Syria last May that killed IS commander Abu Sayyaf. They also participated in an October raid in Hawijah, Iraq, that freed 70 hostages held by IS. A Delta Force soldier, 39-year-old Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, was killed during that mission.

The May 2015 raid on Abu Sayyaf also provided a treasure trove of intelligence materials that led to several operations targeting Islamic State's financial network.

Airstrips and eyewitnesses

Recent imagery and eyewitness accounts in Syria and Iraq appear to support increased involvement by U.S. special forces.

According to the global intelligence company Stratfor, low-resolution satellite imagery taken December 28, 2015, shows construction to extend the runway at an airfield in Syria's al-Hasaka province. The extension would allow the airfield to accommodate larger aircraft.

And Peshmerga sources in Iraq interviewed by The Guardian said the U.S. has been involved in a several front-line fights with IS fighters. As The Guardian reports:

* On April 20, U.S. forces played a role in an operation to retake Dawus al Aloka village southwest of Kirkuk, in which they fired about 47 mortars at Isis positions.

* They were also involved in two attempts to retake the villages of Wastana and Saddam settlement southwest of Kirkuk on June 11 and August 26.

* On September 11, special forces troops participated in the successful operation to retake Wastana.

The Pentagon denied involvement in these fights, but an increase in special operations assistance to fighters and special forces raids could play into the hand of a president who might be willing to take more risks his last year in office than he took in the first 18 months of the campaign against IS, according to Weiss.

'For a president who doesn't want to deploy American troops, but who does fancy what we call 'dirty war' or covert ops such as the Abbottabad raid on Osama bin Laden, this makes perfect sense,' Weiss said.

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, January 23, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Fighter and attack aircraft conducted four strikes in Syria:

-- Near Ayn Isa, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Manbij, one strike cratered two ISIL-used roads.

-- Near Washiyah, one strike struck an ISIL headquarters.

-- Near Hawl, one strike destroyed an ISIL bunker.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Kisik, six strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units, destroying 11 ISIL rockets, three ISIL vehicles and five ISIL assembly areas and suppressing an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Makhmur, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, one strike struck an ISIL improvised explosive device factory.

-- Near Ramadi, six strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units, and destroying an ISIL front end loader, two ISIL vehicle-borne IEDs, an ISIL staging area, three ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL heavy machine gun positions, an ISIL building and an ISIL vehicle and denying ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Sinjar, four strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed five ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL mortar tube and two ISIL light machine gun positions.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Tal Afar, one strike suppressed an ISIL light machine gun position.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Carter: U.S. Welcomes Rise in Power of Asia-Pacific Nations

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, January 23, 2016  China as a rising power is a major factor in Asia and the South China Sea that's welcomed by the United States in almost every way, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday.

The secretary spoke in the forum's global security panel with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam of Singapore.

While Carter said he does not believe conflict between the United States and China is inevitable, he added, "It's certainly not desirable. I don't think it's likely."

More Nations on the Rise

China's rise is not the only one going on in Asia, he said, noting that India and Japan also are rising military powers, while other nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines also are expanding.

"The U.S. point of view is the same one we've had long-standing, which is we welcome that," Carter said. "I think we were the pivotal factor in making [an environment] in which over seven decades essentially everybody could follow their own destiny towards prosperity."

Carter said the United States has "never tried to obstruct China's economic rise and the lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty."

"We've welcomed that," he added.

At the same time, the United States wants the region to maintain a system of peace and stability, the secretary said. "We are not separate, we are not dividing the region, [and] we don't seek to ask people to take sides," he told the forum audience. "We do know people are coming to us increasingly,  because China is taking some steps that I think are self-isolating [and] driving people toward us."

U.S. Firmly Against Claims, Outposts

The United States has said nations in the Asia-Pacific region should not militarize, Carter said. "To be clear," he added, "China is not the only one making claims we do not agree with, and they are not the only ones [with] military outposts. We oppose all of that."

The United States will continue on the same path it's taken in the Asia-Pacific region, the secretary said.

"We will fly, sail, operate everywhere international law permits in the South China Sea, [and] we will make investments that are intended to sustain our military position, despite these developments," Carter said.

The United States helps countries in the region who seek assistance with maritime security, he said, adding that U.S. alliances are continuing to strengthen with nations that include Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India and Vietnam.

Dialogue is Key With China

"It's not our preferred course to see self-isolating behavior by China, and yes, dialogue is the way  [toward] good results," Carter said.

"I look forward to working with all my colleagues in the region, including the Chinese, to get an outcome that's win-win-win-win for everybody," he said. "That's what we've always stood for. Everybody rises. That's our philosophy."

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US admits civilian deaths, says Daesh bears responsibility

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:45PM

The US military has acknowledged that its airstrikes in Syria and Iraq killed two more civilians and injured some others, but said the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group bears responsibility.

The Pentagon announced Friday that its airstrikes near the Syrian city of Raqqah last year had killed two civilians and injured four others in separate incidents last July.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees operations in the Middle East said 'the preponderance of evidence' indicated the five separate US strikes had 'likely resulted in the death of two civilians.' According to CENTCOM, the civilian deaths came during four US airstrikes in Syria and one in Iraq.

One of the civilians had been killed in airstrikes carried out in July 4 and the other in July 11. The first hit a truck and trailer, the second a vehicle crossing a bridge.

The casualties bring to 16, the total number of civilians the US-led coalition has acknowledged killing in the two countries since August 2014.

CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Pat Ryder said Washington regretted the loss of life, but said Daesh bore responsibility.

'It's worth mentioning ISIL's (Daesh) culpability as they continue to operate and hide among innocent civilians and populated areas in an attempt to avoid being targeted,' Ryder said.

He praised the ongoing aerial bombardment as the 'most precise air campaign in history,' saying the US has so far dropped some 35,000 guided bombs in Iraq and Syria in nearly 9,800 airstrikes.

The US launched its airstrikes purportedly against Daesh inside Syria in August 2014, without any authorization from Damascus or the UN. It has also been carrying out airstrikes in Iraq since June 2014 allegedly targeting Daesh terrorists in north and west of the country.

'While we do our best to minimize civilian casualties through our careful targeting process and our use of precise weapons systems, we also operate in a dynamic environment and unfortunately we cannot guarantee zero civilian casualties in an armed conflict such as this one,' said Ryder.

Last week, the Pentagon admitted the death of eight other civilians in airstrikes carried out from April to July of last year in Iraq and Syria. It said three civilians were also injured.

Reports, however, pointed to more civilian casualties than the Pentagon has admitted. Airwars, a group of independent journalists, reported in August that the airstrikes had killed "many hundreds' of civilians in Iraq and Syria.

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US considering military presence in Iraq over Daesh

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:27PM

The US is considering military presence in Iraqi bases ahead of an imminent battle against Daesh (ISIL) militants in the Arab country.

Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the country's top military officer, said discussions between American and Iraqi commanders and officials had begun on how American forces would "integrate" with Iraqi military units to take back Mosul from ISIL, the New York Times reported on Friday.

"It's fair to say that we will have positions up in the north that will facilitate supporting Iraqi security forces," General Dunford told reporters traveling with him in Paris.

One of the crucial questions to be answered, General Dunford said, is just how closely American trainers and advisers will work with the Iraqi military and with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces as they try to take back Mosul from the terrorist group.

American forces established a training hub at Al Taqqadum, an Iraqi base near the town of Habbaniya in eastern Anbar Province, to aid in the retaking of the city of Ramadi last month.

Iraqi and US military leaders must decide whether the American trainers and advisers will embed with Iraqi forces at the operational headquarters, farther from the fight, or with the brigades, closer to the fighting.

General Dunford said the question is "how can we be more integrated in Mosul?"

Dunford also said the United States was considering a request from Turkey to train and equip "hundreds" of Syrian Arabs who have lost their homes to the ISIL. "They want to go back and take their homelands, and we want to support them in doing that," he said.

As of November 3, the US has reportedly conducted 3,586 airstrikes in Iraq and 2,578 in Syria against the terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since ISIL Takfiri militants began their march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014.

The heavily-armed terrorists took control of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country's heartland.

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Four more Saudi soldiers killed in Yemen reprisal attacks

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:12PM

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah fighters and military units have carried out new retaliatory attacks against Saudi positions where four more Saudi soldiers were killed.

Yemen's official news agency Saba said on Saturday that three Saudi soldiers were targeted by snipers in Borj ul-Dud military camp in the al-Tawwal district of Saudi Arabia's southern province of Jizan.

The report said one more Saudi officer was killed while on duty in al-Ramadhah camp in the same region.

Houthis say the attacks on the Saudi military positions are in reprisal for Riyadh's airstrikes on Yemen.

The deadly Saudi campaign against Yemen has killed nearly 8,300 people since March 26, 2015.

Dozens of Saudi soldiers and high-ranking officers have been killed in the retaliatory attacks over the past months. Yemeni forces have also clashed with troops from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as mercenaries Riyadh has recruited.

Saba said Yemeni forces also launched rocket attacks on Saturday on military positions south of Saudi Arabia, including on a number of bases in the provinces of Najran and Jizan.

Yemenis also fired Zelzal missiles on other posts, with no immediate reports available on the potential casualties among the Saudis, the report said.

The Saudi airstrikes have been meant to undermine Ansarullah and bring Yemen's fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.

The Saudi campaign has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen's infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories across the impoverished country.

Saudi warplanes carried out a combat sortie against Yemen's northwestern province of Sa'ada on Saturday. Nearly a dozen civilians were injured. Saudi jets also hit a number of residential neighborhoods in the Dhahyan district of the same province.

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Russia, Pakistan to hold first ever joint military exercise

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:31AM

Russia says it is set to hold its first ever drills with Pakistan this year as part of Moscow's efforts to reinforce its army amid NATO's increased military build-up at the Russian doorstep.

Russian Army Commander-in-Chief Oleg Salyukov announced that the joint Moscow-Islamabad maneuver would be one of the seven military exercises planned to be held in 2016 "as part of interaction with our foreign colleagues."

He did not give details on the exact location of the drills, but said they would take place on mountainous terrain.

The senior military official said Moscow planned to create four new military divisions this year in the western and central regions of the country.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a document that declared NATO a threat to the country's national security. The document is a response to a rising military presence by NATO countries in Eastern Europe and the Baltics.

Last September, Russia launched its largest military drill of 2015, involving 7,000 items of military equipment and some 95,000 infantry, navy and air force units.

Relations between Russia and the Western military alliance sharply cooled after Crimea's separation from Ukraine and reunification with the Russia following a referendum in March 2014.

Moscow-West ties hit a new low after Ukraine launched military operations in April 2014 to silence pro-Russia protests in the mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse the Kremlin of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and backing pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia has resolutely denied the claims.

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11 civilians hurt as Saudi warplanes hit northwest Yemen

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:20AM

Nearly a dozen civilians have sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets carried out an airstrike in Yemen's northwestern province of Sa'ada.

Saudi military aircraft bombarded a pedestrian crossing in the al-Safra district of the province, located 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital, Sana'a, on Saturday morning, leaving eleven people injured, Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Ahed news website reported.

Saudi warplanes also launched four aerial attacks against a number of residential neighborhoods in the Dhahyan district of the same Yemeni province. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

The development came only two days after at least 32 people, including 14 members of a family, lost their lives in two separate air raids against Dhahyan.

Additionally, Saudi jets targeted a government building and police headquarters in the central Yemeni city of al-Bayda, located about 210 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Sana'a, on Saturday, though no reports of casualties were available.

Saudi warplanes also struck al-Mafraq district of Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf, but there were no reports of casualties.

Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March last year. The Saudi military strikes were launched to supposedly undermine the Ansarullah movement and bring fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power.

At least 8,278 people, among them 2,236 children, have reportedly been killed and 16,015 others injured, since March. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

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Unity government formation delayed in South Sudan

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:56AM

South Sudan's warring parties have missed a key deadline to form a unity government as rebels rebuffed President Salva Kiir's establishment of new states in the country.

The rival sides were due to forge a unity government by January 22, but the rebel faction insisted that Kiir's nearly tripling of the number of regional states last month undermined a key pillar of a power-sharing pact.

A spokesman for the rebel side, Mabior Garang, slammed the "anti-peace hardliners within the government," saying the basis of the negotiations should be on the old system of 10 states rather than the current 28.

Garang also emphasized that his side was "fully committed to peace and shall not entertain a return to war."

Major advocates of the peace process  Britain, Norway and the US, referred to as the Troika, as well as the European Union  said this week the talks remained "deadlocked."

The bloody civil war in South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, began in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against him. The two sides have been involved in a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the impoverished country along ethnic lines.

Despite the August peace deal, battles persist across the country. There are numerous militia forces that do not abide by peace agreements and are driven by local agendas.

Earlier this wee, UN rights monitors offered details about a long list of horrific abuses in the destructive war.

A joint report by the UN peacekeeping mission, UNMISS, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) cited "gross violations" of human rights, including "gang-rape, sexual slavery and forced abortion,' by the warring sides.

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Carter: Some anti-ISIL coalition partners doing 'nothing at all'

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:43AM

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has criticized some members of the so-called coalition against Daesh (ISIL) for doing "nothing at all" to destroy the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

"Many of them are not doing enough, or are doing nothing at all," Carter said Friday in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We can do a lot ourselves  (but) we are looking for other people to play their part," he added, without naming any country.

In a separate interview with Bloomberg Television, Carter reiterated the Pentagon's frustration with some coalition partners, particularly Sunni Arab countries.

'We need others to carry their weight,' he said. 'There should be no free riders.'

Members of the US-led coalition will meet in Brussels in three weeks to galvanize efforts in the fight against Daesh terrorists.

Saudi Arabia and some of its Persian Gulf Arab neighbors initially contributed to the air campaign against Daesh, but their participation waned as they concentrated on the war in Yemen.

In a speech at the forum, Carter singled out Turkey as a country the US wants to see play a more effective role, especially by tightening its border.

'Turkey is a longtime friend of ours. It's a NATO ally. We're strongly in support of it. We stand with it in terms of defense of its own territory,' Carter said.

'But the reality is it shares a big border with Iraq and Syria, which border has been porous to foreign fighters going in both directions and I think the Turks could do more,' he added.

Turkey has been allowing the United States to use Incirlik, a strategic airfield in the south, to strike Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria.

Carter has spent the past week in Europe, primarily in Paris, where he urged allies to step up the fight against Daesh.

The United States has carried out the bulk of nearly 9,800 airstrikes launched against purported Daesh positions in Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014.

The US and its regional allies - especially Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar - have been arming and training what they call "moderate" militants in Syria fighting against the government there.

Some of those militants have joined the Daesh group.

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Pentagon Chief: Some Anti-IS Coalition Members Do 'Nothing At All'

January 23, 2016

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says several members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria are doing 'nothing at all' to help defeat the extremist group.

'Many of them are not doing enough, or are doing nothing at all,' Carter told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in a January 22 interview.

Carter did not single any country out, but his comments mark a departure from Washington's typical characterization of the 65-member coalition, whose slogan reads: 'One mission, many nations.'

He told Bloomberg TV in a separate interview that 'we need others to carry their weight; there should be no free riders.'

Carter told Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a Friday meeting in Davos that the United States will intensify the fight against IS militants.

He met with defense officials from six nations -- mainly European -- this week, laying out broad plans for the campaign in the year ahead.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ash-carter-anti-islamic-state- coalition-partners-do-nothing-at-all/27506060.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Anger, Rumors Spread as Aid Shifts for Palestinian Refugees

by John Owens January 23, 2016

As he tries to scrape funds together to treat his daughter's life-threatening condition, Fouad Abu Khaled is fearful, not just for the future of his family, but for the entire Palestinian diaspora.

Recent changes in medical support offered by UNRWA  the U.N. body created to support Palestinian refugees  have left him, and many other Palestinians living in Lebanon, angry and uncertain.

"I'm sure they will stop the funding," Abu Khaled told VOA, referring to the financial aid given by UNRWA to help 26-year-old Wafaa, who suffers from a hereditary blood condition called Thalassemia.

"It hasn't happened yet as we've not gone to the hospital, but they will," he said, his voice rising. "And then, soon, all UNRWA services will stop."

There are many Palestinians in Lebanon who share Abu Khaled's fears.

Shifts, not cuts

At the start of this month, UNRWA shifted the way it offers medical support for Palestinians in the country.

The response was swift; and desperate.

In the latest of many such protests, UNRWA's Beirut headquarters were besieged Friday by demonstrators who believe that medical aid is set to be reduced, or wiped out entirely.

Recently, Mohammad Omar Khodeir, who also suffers from Thalassemia, set himself on fire in response to the changes.

UNRWA contends the changes are just that  shifts in where the cash in being spent, rather than an overall cut in the top-line budget.

"We did not do this to save money," claimed Zizette Darkazally, a spokeswoman for UNRWA in Lebanon who was equally emphatic to dismiss any fears about the imminent demise of UNRWA.

She told VOA the medical aid budget for 2016 in Lebanon remained unchanged from last year at $10 million.

But now funding has been shifted to offer greater support for specialist care and for those suffering long-term conditions, like cancer. Funding for medicines remains unchanged.

Tensions easily stoked

Many will still be hurt by the shift in funds.

Palestinians who previously enjoyed free care must now pay 20 percent of costs for visits to private hospitals, 15 percent for care at government hospitals and five percent for care at hospitals run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

In a country where, according to UNRWA's own figures, more than half the registered Palestinians live below the poverty line and 80 percent are unemployed, reliance on aid is high.

"Palestinians in Lebanon, in particular, cannot access the labor market, or a welfare state, or a range of other services," said Rex Brynan, professor of political sciences at the McGill University, and author of several books about Palestinian refugees.

"That's why, in Lebanon, when the UNRWA sneezes, Palestinians catch a cold," he said.

In this context, when it comes to aid, tensions are easily stoked.

Darkazally argued the changes had been "misrepresented" and politicized, with rumors replacing facts as Palestinian political factions sought to drum up popularity.

Abu Khaled, for one, is convinced that he will have to pay the full $200 a month to help treat his daughter's condition, rather than the $100 he used to pay.

The reality, however, is that the cost of his daughter's treatment is likely to remain funded.

The idea that some will benefit from the changes has not filtered through, Darkazally added.

"People are in despair and hanging on to every word."

Growing costs

A critical lack of funding for other provisions has exacerbated this despair, fueling the rumors currently swirling through the Palestinian community.

Though donations to UNRWA marginally increased last year, they have not kept up with growing costs.

Last year, the $100 a month cash assistance for housing the estimated 42,000 Palestinian refugees who escaped Syria for Lebanon - a system that helped Abu Khaled and his family who fled in 2012 - was cut.

Shortly before the start of the school term last summer, the future of UNRWA's extensive network of schools across the region also came under question amid a $110 million cash shortfall.

The crisis was averted and the cash raised, but many Palestinians do not see it that way.

Twenty-one-year-old Islam Durani heard about the change in medical funding from her friends and neighbors, though she's unsure exactly what's being cut.

"I'm sure they have the funds," she said, "and I'm sure they just want to put pressure on Palestinians. I can't think of another reason," she told VOA.

A voice for the Palestinians

Yet for all the cynicism, once the protesters take their placards home, it is upon UNRWA that many will remain dependent  a dependency that stretches well beyond the provision of day-to-day basics.

"Palestinians see UNRWA as an international representative of their rights and they're constantly worried about those rights being eroded," said Brynan.

"That's why anything that is a deviation from the status quo is seen as an attempt to liquidate the refugee issue."

Meanwhile, Abu Khaled has vowed to keep attending the protests, and not just for the sake of his daughter.

"I'm fighting for my bread, for my family," he said. "But the bigger goal is to show people that we are human beings. No one will listen to us unless we show that we will fight for this right."

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UN Security Council Considers Burundi Options

by Margaret Besheer January 23, 2016

The U.N. Security Council departed Africa on Saturday, considering its options to help quell political violence in Burundi.

Council members had a disappointing meeting with President Pierre Nkurunziza on Friday, in which he showed no sign of softening his rejection of an African Union peacekeeping force or engaging in a substantive and inclusive dialogue with the opposition.

"The African Union has to work through what its next move is, now that the force it authorized is rejected," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told reporters after meeting with the AU Peace and Security Council for more than two hours Saturday here in Ethiopia's capital.

African heads of state will hold their annual summit next week, and diplomats said they would be watching to see what comes out of the gathering.

'AU must decide'



"They need to decide how to respond to the Burundian block of the deployment of the mission," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said of the African leaders, "and really work out what their input will be into the mediation that will ensure the dialogue happens."

Last month the African Union announced it would deploy a 5,000-strong "prevention and protection" force to Burundi, in response to election-related violence that has killed at least 439 people since April and caused 220,000 others to flee the country amid growing human rights violations. Nkurunziza has rejected the AU proposal, however, and the peacekeeping plan is stalled.

The AU also authorized sending 100 human-rights observers to Burundi, but so far only 10 have arrived in Bujumbura, the capital. Members of the rights team are camped out in a hotel, unable to begin work because a memorandum of understanding with the government has not yet been agreed.

As reports of abuses grow, so do doubts that the contingent is adequate in size to do its work effectively.

In July, the East African Community (EAC) regional bloc appointed Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to mediate an inclusive dialogue between the Burundian government and opposition.

"The mediation obviously is at the center of what the international community can do to put end to this crisis," said France's deputy U.N. Ambassador Alexis Lamek. "Because without mediation there will be no political process, there will be no inclusive and unconditional dialogue."

No progress on dialogue

Some diplomats have expressed frustration with Museveni's lack of progress in getting the parties to the table, in part because he is preoccupied with his own re-election campaign.

Burundi's political crisis began in April, when President Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term despite a constitutional limit of two terms for the head of state.

Critics said Nkurunziza, a former Hutu rebel, also was violating the peace agreement that ended 12 years of civil war between Burundi's Hutu majority and its Tutsi minority. Violent clashes soon erupted between protesters and forces loyal to the ruling party. A failed coup d'etat escalated the violence in May, as large numbers of Burundians left the country.

Nkurunziza carried on with his re-election plan and won what was described as a landslide victory in July, but the violence has continued.

The U.N. secretary-general has appointed a special adviser on Burundi, Jamal Benomar, and with the council's approval he has been assembling a team to expand the U.N.'s political presence in Bujumbura.

UN options

This week's two-day visit is the second time the Security Council has come to see the situation in Burundi in less than a year, a clear indication of its growing concern.

As the envoys head back to New York, they will consider the council's options in light of what they have seen and heard in their meetings with the president, political parties, civil society, religious leaders and independent media.

Some council members have expressed support for the proposed AU force, hoping it can help stabilize the country and foster a climate for dialogue.

Others, like Russia's deputy ambassador Petr Iliichev, say violent clashes have taken place only in three or four neighborhoods in the capital, making a police force a good option. "If we have trainers that are going to upgrade not only the skills of policemen and the perception of what's required  human rights, due process  then we are going to improve the situation," he said.

Egyptian ambassador Amr Aboulatta recommends an incremental approach. "You begin step by step: begin by observers, and then police force and then full force," he said.

Whatever the Council's ultimate decision, it could have repercussions, not only for Burundi but for the wider region.

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US, Saudis Back Regional Initiatives, Despite Iran

by Pamela Dockins January 23, 2016

Despite claims that a perceived warming of relations between the U.S. and Iran has left U.S. ally Saudi Arabia feeling betrayed, there were no outward indications of a rift, on Saturday, as Secretary of State John Kerry met with Saudi and other Gulf officials.

The meetings, in Riyadh, have come on the heels of a flurry of Iran-related activity including implementation of the nuclear deal, Tehran's temporary detention and release of 10 U.S. sailors and a negotiated swap that resulted in freedom for four Americans jailed in Iran. A fifth American was released by Tehran around the same time, last week.

In spite of these developments, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said, "I don't see a coming together of the United States and Iran."

Jubeir commented as he and Kerry sat side-by-side in a Saturday news conference.

"I don't believe the United States is under any illusion as to what type of government Iran is," he added.

Although implementation has brought Iran relief from nuclear-related sanctions, it is still under U.S. penalties for activities including human rights violations and support of terrorist groups. Also, shortly after implementation of the nuclear deal, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program.

Sanctions

But some say the sanctions relief from implementation that, according to U.S. estimates, gives Tehran direct access to at least $55 billion in previously frozen assets, could empower Iran.

"Iranians feel confident that they are being brought back into the international community and that their role in the region and the world will be better recognizes, particularly by the U.S. and Europe, said Atlantic Council Middle East analyst Nabeel Khoury.

"This bothers Saudi Arabia because they don't trust Iran," he said.

In an interview with CNN, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed a similar sentiment.

"We believe that Iran and Saudi Arabia can be two important players who can accommodate each other," in the region, he said.

But he added, "Unfortunately, the Saudis have had the illusion that backed by their Western allies, they could push Iran out of the equation in the region."

Tensions heightened between Saudi Arabia, the dominant Sunni country in the region, and Shi'ite-led Iran following this month's Saudi execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite cleric. Protesters responded by storming Saudi missions in Tehran  a move that prompted Saudi Arabia to cut ties with Iran.

Saudi Arabia may have been trying to send out a broader message by executing the cleric, said Jonathan Schanzer, a Middle Eastern studies scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"We [the United States] have made it worse," said Schanzer. "The Saudis feel less secure and now they are taking matters into their own hands," he said.

In a Friday briefing, a senior State Department official said the U.S. understands "the Saudi anger over the attack on their facilities in Iran."

Regional tensions

The official said lessening tensions is an important objective for the U.S. and for the region.

There has been ongoing concern that tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia could hamper progress on other regional issues of concern for the U.S., such as the crisis in Syria.

The U.S., Saudi Arabia and Iran are part of the International Syria Support Group, which is backing next week's planned launch of talks on a political transition in Syria.

In his Saturday news conference with the Saudi foreign minister, Kerry indicated there was a way forward for the U.S. and its Gulf allies, in spite of lingering concerns about Iran.

The relationship between the U.S. and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, is built on "mutual interest," and "mutual defense," said Kerry.



He added, there was "no doubt" among GGC countries that the U.S. would "stand with them against any external threat and defend them, if necessary."

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National Guard Aids Civil Authorities as Blizzard Pounds East Coast

By Steve Marshall National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., January 23, 2016  As much of the East Coast hunkered down today in the midst of a ferocious winter storm, National Guard citizen-soldiers and citizen-airmen were poised to assist local and state emergency agencies.

National Guard Bureau officials said more than 2,200 National Guard personnel from 12 states are supporting state and local authorities affected by the storm.

Governors in at least 11 states declared states of emergency, which enabled resources to be positioned to assist when the snow and high winds struck. Those states include: Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

National Guard soldiers are assisting Virginia State Police troopers and local emergency organizations in getting through heavy snow to respond to vehicle crashes and to evacuate residents who need medical assistance, and they also have helped to get equipment to a house fire.

400 Personnel Staged and Ready in Virginia

As of this morning, the Virginia Guard had about 400 personnel staged and ready in various portions of the state.

'I am extremely proud of how well our personnel are working as part of the commonwealth's multi-agency response team,' said Army Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, Virginia's adjutant general. "After we received the authorization from Governor [Terry] McAuliffe, we aggressively moved our forces into place so they would be ready to go when needed. It is great to see how the skills, experience and resources of our soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force are able to assist the statewide effort to protect the citizens of the commonwealth.'

The Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is providing mission command for the response operations in the field and is working almost 25 mission requests from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to provide support to several localities as well as the Virginia State Police in Northern Virginia and along the I-81 and US 29 corridors.

'The Virginia State Police is fortunate to have the National Guard as an additional resource to aid us in our storm response efforts,' said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent. 'When every second counts in an emergency situation, having the ability to respond as swiftly and safely as possible is essential for our troopers.'

The Virginia National Guard also has soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force on duty in Richmond, Sandston and Fort Pickett, where they are providing mission command, administrative and logistical support for the overall mission.

McAuliffe authorized up to 500 personnel for state active duty in his initial emergency declaration, and then he increased that number to 700. The Guard could bring additional personnel on duty if needed, officials said.

The Nation's Capital, Delaware, New York

In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was emphatic to residents: 'It has life and death implications, and (people) should treat it that way,' she said. 'People should hunker down, shelter in place and stay off the roads.' The National Guard deployed 100 personnel in 30 Humvees to transport essential employees throughout the nation's capital.

Further north in Delaware, soldiers and airmen were busy with storm response.

'We are in constant communication with [the Delaware Emergency Management Agency] and all first responders in the state,' said Army Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, Delaware's adjutant general. 'Pre-positioning our soldiers, airmen and vehicles allowed us to be the ready and reliable force we are.'

The Delaware National Guard has about 200 soldiers and airmen positioned around the state to support the citizens of Delaware throughout the storm. In coordination with DEMA, they conduct support missions ensuring that Delawareans are transported to safety and first responders and medical workers arrive to work safely.

The New York National Guard has pre-positioned 40 vehicles and 95 soldiers and airmen in the New York City and Long Island areas who are available to respond to aid local governments if directed by the governor.

Arkansas Response Winds Down

Guard personnel in Arkansas wound down their storm response yesterday. Initially, the Arkansas National Guard deployed six truck teams and three command and control support cells for 27 Humvees and 54 personnel.

Yesterday's mission closures sent truck teams back to their readiness centers. The next step for these Guard members is to refuel, resupply and prepare the equipment to stand ready for the next mission.

Each truck team consists of four Humvee vehicles and eight National Guard service members.

During the early hours of the winter storm, the Arkansas Guard truck teams reported treacherous road conditions as sleet and snow rapidly began to accumulate across the central and southeastern regions of the state. The overnight roving patrols logged over 1,000 miles and located 18 abandoned vehicles, transported three stranded motorists to local gas stations, transported three state troopers and worked several accidents involving 18-wheelers.

(The Delaware, New York and Virginia National Guard contributed to this report.)

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French president seeks longer state of emergency

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:37AM

French President Francois Hollande is set to call on the parliament to extend by another three months the state of emergency put in place after the deadly 2015 Paris attacks.

"Given the terrorist threat, the government would present ... a bill extending the state of emergency for a period of three months," Hollande's office said in a Friday statement.

The bill would be submitted to the French legislative chamber on February 3, according to the statement.

The measure was adopted after the terror attacks in and around Paris on November 15, 2015. Some 130 People lost their lives and 350 others injured in the assaults claimed by the Daesh Takfiri group.

The state of emergency was initially introduced for 12 days, but it was later extended for three months through an accelerated legislative process. The current state of emergency is due to expire on February 26.

The exceptional measures adopted under the state of emergency give French authorities extra powers to keep people in their homes without trial, search houses without judicial approval and block suspicious websites.

The new measures also include a ban on mass public gatherings and allow officials to dissolve groups inciting any acts that seriously affect public order in France.

In a similar stance, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the BBC on Friday the country would seek to keep the state of emergency in place until the end of what he called the "global war" against Daesh elements.

The French government's plan to extend the state of emergency has drawn criticisms from several civil liberties groups.

Earlier this week, the Human Rights League, a Paris-based rights organization, said it had lodged a complaint with France's highest administrative court to halt the state of emergency.

Furthermore, a group of four United Nations human rights experts said the emergency measures impose "excessive and disproportionate restrictions" on the basic rights of people, urging the French government to protect fundamental freedoms in its anti-terror battle.

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New combat support branch to play vital role

People's Daily Online

(China Daily) 09:28, January 23, 2016

The newly-established Strategic Support Force of the People's Liberation Army will take charge of the military's space, cyberspace and electronic warfare operations, according to a senior PLA expert.

In an article published by the PLA Daily on WeChat, Yin Zhuo, director of the PLA Navy's Expert Consultation Committee, said the Strategic Support Force's mission is to ensure that the PLA's military superiority is maintained in space and on the Internet.

'To be specific, the service's responsibilities include targeted reconnaissance and tracking, global positioning operations and space assets management, as well as defense against electronic warfare and hostile activities in cyberspace,' he said. 'These are all major factors that will decide whether we can win a future war.'

The Strategic Support Force will form an essential part of the PLA's future joint operations, Yin said, as it will provide reconnaissance, early warning, communications and battlefield command and control for combat units, in addition to helping government departments protect China's interests on the Internet.

Shao Yongling, a military strategy professor at PLA Rocket Force Command College in Hubei's Wuhan, told China Daily that in the past each branch of the PLA had its own combat support unit, resulting in overlapping functions and repeat investment.

By handing these responsibilities to the Strategic Support Force, the military can avoid such redundancies, become better integrated and improve joint operation capabilities, she said.

President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, announced the establishment of the Strategic Support Force on Dec 31 as a key part of the ongoing overhaul of the PLA, which started in September when he declared that China will cut troop numbers by 300,000.

He described the new branch as a 'new-type combat force' and tasked it with boosting integration among the PLA's support systems and between civilian and defense sectors.

The PLA Daily also reported that researchers with the Strategic Support Force were focusing on cutting-edge technologies such as big data applications, cloud computing, 3D printing and nanomaterials. It quoted an unidentified researcher as saying that members of the Strategic Support Force should always prepare for 'tomorrow's warfare'.

Vasily Kashin, a senior analyst at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told Russia's Sputnik news agency that the PLA Strategic Support Force's 'unique structure' will bring together the Chinese military's whole scope of capacities in waging 'special operations and information warfare'.

The expert speculated that the Strategic Support Force would be responsible for technical reconnaissance, human and technical intelligence, electronic warfare and psychological operations.

Such an unparalleled concentration of intelligence and information warfare units in one branch will allow the PLA to exploit every resource to its maximum capacity, he said.



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China's leader seeks 'new chapter' in ties with Iran

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:52AM

Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first head of state visiting Iran since sanctions were lifted on Tehran, is poised to sign letters of intent with the Islamic Republic for a new chapter in strategic economic cooperation.

Xi, who arrived in Tehran on Friday night, was officially welcomed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday.

The Chinese leader, who made great contribution to the signature of Iran's landmark deal with world powers last July, hopes to further boost his country's traditional friendship and economic engagement with Iran.

China, a top oil consumer, has been a top buyer of Iran's crude. Even after international sanctions targeted Tehran's energy sector, China continued its cooperation with Iran by purchasing oil and developing energy projects.

Upon arrival in Tehran, Xi said that Iran and China, whose friendship dates back to 2,000 years ago, have made important contribution to human progress.

He said establishment of political relations between Iran and China has resulted in important achievements in the political, economic and cultural sectors.

Iran and China signed 17 documents for cooperation in economic, industrial, cultural and judicial fields in the presence of the two countries' presidents.

The documents included one signed between Iranian and Chinese nuclear chiefs for peaceful energy cooperation.

Others involved documents for environmental cooperation, financing of a bullet train railway and banking cooperation.

The Chinese president's trip to Tehran is the last leg of his three-nation tour which has also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The value of trade transactions between Tehran and Beijing stood at some $52 billion in 2014. However, the figure dropped in 2015 due to decreasing oil prices.

'New chapter'

Xi said, "In cooperation with the Iranian side and by benefiting from the current favorable conditions, China is ready to upgrade the level of bilateral relations and cooperation so that a new chapter will start in bilateral relations in the long term."

He noted that the two countries have been on the same wavelength with regard to regional and international affairs.

During his visit, Xi is scheduled to hold talks with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

China remains Iran's top trade partner. According to China's Commerce Department, during the first 11 months of 2015, China imported 24.36 million tons of crude oil from Iran, or 8 percent of its total imports.

China's oil companies have also been increasing investment in oil projects overseas.

The North Azadegan Oil Field, located along Iran-Iraq border, is one example of cooperation projects led by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Following the recent removal of sanctions, Iran is once again open to global business, which makes the market more competitive as many global companies are already moving to resume trade with Iran.

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President Xi's visit to Iran historic event: Rouhani

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:4AM

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to Iran marks a 'historic' event in relations between Tehran and Beijing.

"The important visit by  President Xi Jinpingmarks an important historic event and I am sure that a new chapter has started in relations between Iran and China," Rouhani said alongside Xi in Tehran on Saturday.

Rouhani said that the Islamic Republic welcomes stronger ties with China particularly after the recent lifting of international sanctions on Iran.

He also said Iran and China have agreed on more cooperation to "combat regional terrorism."

He said he and his Chinese counterpart discussed cooperation for "creating stability and security in the Middle East and helping countries plagued by terrorism, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and providing intellectual and intelligence assistance in the fight on terrorism."

For his part, Xi said he has traveled to Iran to prepare the ground for a new "prospect in relations between the two countries.'

He noted that Iran-China strong cooperation will not only benefit the governments and nations of the two countries, but also would serve "regional and global peace."

Xi said he seeks "strategic ties with Iran", particularly in energy market.

China, a top oil consumer, has been a top buyer of Iran's crude. Even after international sanctions targeted Tehran's energy sector, China continued its cooperation with Iran by purchasing oil and developing energy projects.

Iran and China signed 17 documents for cooperation in economic, industrial, cultural and judicial fields in the presence of the two countries' presidents.

The documents included one signed between Iranian and Chinese nuclear chiefs for peaceful energy cooperation.

Others involved documents for environmental cooperation, financing of a bullet train railway and banking cooperation.

The Chinese president's trip to Tehran is the last leg of his three-nation tour which has also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The value of trade transactions between Tehran and Beijing stood at some $52 billion in 2014. However, the figure dropped in 2015 due to decreasing oil prices.

China remains Iran's top trade partner. According to China's Commerce Department, during the first 11 months of 2015, China imported 24.36 million tons of crude oil from Iran, or 8 percent of its total imports.

China's oil companies have also been increasing investment in oil projects overseas.

Following the recent removal of sanctions, Iran is once again open to global business, which makes the market more competitive as many global companies are already moving to resume trade with Iran.

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Larijani: Majlis supports development of ties with China

Iran Press TV

Tehran, Jan 23, IRNA -- Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani on Saturday called for expansion of economic ties between Iran and China in the fields of oil, gas, railway and transfer of modern technology and knowledge.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Larijani said that expansion of ties in all fields with China is very important for Iran and will cause deepening of ties between the two countries.

He underlined cooperation in the field of power plants, especially on Arak heavy water issue and said that such cooperation is surely under support of Iran's parliament.

Majlis Speaker Larijani expressed deep concern about deterioration of security situation in the region, saying that unfortunately a number of western powers by their presence in the region pushed it to the verge of explosion.

President Xi Jinping expressed pleasure with his effective meeting with Majlis Speaker three years ago, saying that China has strategic and comprehensive relations with Iran.

President Xi said that China is willing to have a more effective role in Iran's development in the field of finance, calling for more works to be done for the joint belt on Silk Road and in the fields of water resources, energy and nuclear power plant the two sides should have more constructive cooperation.

The Chinese president said that the two sides should coordinate views in international organizations, including the UN and Shanghai Cooperation Organization and on the humanitarian crises created by terrorism in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

He called implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as an appropriate opportunity for more cooperation and said that Iran's parliament played an important role in implementation of JCPOA.

President Xi called negotiations between Iran and Group 5+1 as a successful experience, saying that the experience may be used for settlement of world problems and for stability in the region.

He said that China is ready for cooperation with Iran in the field of regional problem and fight against terrorism.

President Xi said that parliaments relations are very important and have effective role in bilateral ties, so we support expansion of parliamentary relations between the two countries.

President Xi Jinping arrived in Tehran on Friday evening on the head of high ranking politico-economic delegation.

Iran and China has signed 17 documents and Memorandums of Understanding on Saturday.

1391**1416

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Iran, China Agree To $600 Billion Trade Deal After Sanctions Lifted

January 23, 2016

by RFE/RL

Iranian President Hassan Rohani says Iran and China have agreed to expand bilateral relations and boost trade to $600 billion over the next 10 years.

Rohani made the announcement following January 23 talks in Tehran with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first major world leader to visit the Islamic republic since the easing of international sanctions on January 16 under a deal between Tehran and global powers aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program.

Xi met later with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was quoted as saying that 'Tehran seeks cooperation with more independent countries' because 'Iranians never trusted the West.'

At a news conference with Xi broadcast live on state television, Rohani said that 'Iran and China have agreed to increase trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years.'

He added that the two countries 'have agreed on forming strategic relations [as] reflected in a 25-year comprehensive document.'

Khamenei praised the agreements and lambasted the United States in comments on Twitter.

'Agreement on '25-year strategic ties' between #Iran and #China is correct and wise, must become effective with follow-up of both sides,' one tweet said.

'Among western countries, U.S. policies toward Iran are worse & more hostile; it makes Iran pursue development of ties with independent states,' said another.

Iran and China signed 17 accords on January 23, including on nuclear cooperation and reviving the ancient Silk Road trade route, known in China as One Belt, One Road.

China is the top buyer of Iranian oil. Trade between the countries was valued at $52 billion in 2014, but fell slightly last year due to declining global energy prices.

Xi is the second major world leader to visit Iran since Tehran signed the nuclear deal with world powers in July. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Islamic republic in November.

Xi also became the first Chinese leader to visit Iran in 14 years. He visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt prior to arriving in Tehran.

Following his meeting with Rohani, Xi met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian state TV quoted Xi as saying: 'In cooperation with the Iranian side and by benefiting from the current favorable conditions, China is ready to upgrade the level of bilateral relations and cooperation so that a new chapter will start in bilateral relations.'

In comments posted on his official website, Rohani said that China 'has always stood by the side of the Iranian nation during hard days.'

China is among the world powers -- along with the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, and Russia -- that signed a landmark deal with Iran in July in Vienna to lift international sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program.

The deal was implemented last week after the UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran had fulfilled its commitments under the agreement.

U.S. and other sanctions that were not imposed due to Iran's nuclear actvities remain in place, and Khamenei has stressed that the deal does not mean ties with the United States will improve.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/china- president-iran-visit/27506325.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Khamenei: Iran Never Trusted West, Seeks Closer Ties with China

by Nike Ching, William Gallo January 23, 2016

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling for closer economic and security ties with China, saying Iran has 'never trusted the West.'

Khamenei told Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting Saturday that Tehran was seeking to expand ties with 'more independent countries' like China.

Xi is the first head of state from the group of global powers that negotiated the historic nuclear deal with Iran to meet with Khamenei. The Chinese leader arrived in Iran late Friday on a tour of the Middle East.

Prior to meeting with Khamenei on Saturday, he met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the president's residence, where the two leaders oversaw the signing of 17 agreements aimed at expanding diplomatic and economic cooperation.

The two countries also agreed to boost mutual trade.

'Today, we discussed strategic relations between the two countries, regulating and signing a comprehensive 25-year document and also upgrading bilateral ties in the coming 10 years. We decided to increase mutual trade up to $600 billion," Rouhani said.

Strategic partnership

Xi, who is making the first trip to Iran by a Chinese president in 14 years, said the two sides agreed to form a comprehensive strategic partnership.

'We decided to turn mutual relations into relations that would turn into strategic relations, and also issues that joined us. A statement on both sides should also take this opportunity in order to further upgrade mutual exchanges at different levels and further boost the political trust between the two countries," Xi said.

China was a top consumer of Iranian oil even during the three years of international sanctions that targeted Iran's nuclear program. Now that the sanctions are lifted and Iran is ramping up oil production, that relationship could grow further.

China played a key role in international efforts to roll back sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran scaling back its nuclear program.

Ahead of the visit, the U.S. said it hoped Beijing would continue to work with Washington to ensure Iran does not reconstitute its nuclear capabilities.

Nuclear issue

'We're certainly not trying to stop [China's] economic or diplomatic engagement with Iran. We would just hope that, just as China has played a very constructive role throughout this process, that China will continue to play that role in all of its engagement with the Iranian government," said U.S. Ambassador Stephan Mull, lead coordinator for Iran nuclear implementation at the State Department.

The U.S. and China are co-chairing a working group to oversee the new design of Iran's heavy-water reactor at Arak so that it will not produce weapons-grade plutonium.

"We expect strong cooperation to continue as we all work together to ensure Iran's continued compliance with the [nuclear agreement]," Anna Richey-Allen, a spokeswoman from the State Department's East Asia and Pacific Bureau, said Friday.

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

China is among the world powers that reached the agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran last July. In that nuclear pact, Tehran pledged to scale back its uranium-enriching activities and submit to inspection, in exchange for lifting sanctions.

In an op-ed article appearing in an Iranian newspaper and quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Xi said: "China appreciates Iran's assurance of not intending to develop nuclear weapons, supports Iran in upholding its legitimate rights and interests, and fully recognizes Iran's contribution to the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action."

China has been Iran's biggest trading partner in the past six years, according to Xi. Bilateral trade in 2014 was around $52 billion, but dropped off last year because of falling oil prices, according to Iranian officials.

Seeking a new international order

But a key analyst says ties between the two counties go beyond economic benefits. Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said both countries share the goal of "reshaping the international order in a way that excludes us more."

Singh, who served as senior director of Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council from 2005 to 2008, testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. He said that China "really sees Iran as its main strategic partner by virtue of its geographic location, by virtue of the fact that it's really the only major power in the region which isn't allied with the United States."

Chinese Xi's visit to Iran came after a stop in Saudi Arabia earlier in the week during that country's heightened tensions with Iran.

A State Department official told VOA the U.S. anticipates that "China will join us and others in encouraging all parties to avoid actions that escalate sectarian tensions in the region."

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Abadi hints at Turkey 'plot' to control Nineveh

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 7:55AM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has renewed his call on Turkey to withdraw its troops from northern Iraq, saying he hoped Ankara would help Baghdad fight Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

"I appeal to the Turkish government to help us, and withdraw their forces," Abadi said Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos.

The prime minister said the Turkish government has failed to provide an answer to the question why its soldiers are on the Iraqi soil. "We have to have an answer."

"We in Iraq want very good neighborly relations with Turkey, we hope Turkey will help us to fight Daesh," Abadi added.

Last month, Turkey deployed some 150 soldiers, equipped with heavy weapons and backed by 20 to 25 tanks, to the outskirts of Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern Nineveh Province.

Ankara claimed the deployment was part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the anti-Daesh fight, but Baghdad denounced the uncoordinated move as a violation of Iraq's national sovereignty.

"I don't know what their aim is. Is it an expansionist plot to control part of Nineveh?" Abadi noted. "I hope not ... If they truly want to fight against Daesh, well, they can train our forces.  They can supply us with equipment and weapons.  They didn't send it."

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh mounted an offensive in the Arab country in June 2014.

Abadi said the violence perpetrated by Daesh in Iraq has left four million internal refugees.

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Gadhafi Cousin Promotes Return of the Old Guard

by Jamie Dettmer January 23, 2016

Is Libya ready for a leading political figure who looks like Moammar Gadhafi?

Ahmed Mohmamed Gaddaf al-Dam, the late dictator's cousin, is seen by some observers as a man to watch. From exile in Cairo, he calls for the remnants of the ousted government to be included in a political settlement the United Nations is advocating.

And he says that without them, a U.N.-brokered unity government struggling to get off the ground will fail and the turmoil engulfing the country will persist.

Gaddaf al-Dam 's regular appearances on Egyptian television outlining his proposals for ending the chaos in Libya, combating the threat of Islamic State militants and resolving the standoff between the country's two rival parliaments, the General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli and House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk, are resonating with powerful tribes in eastern and southern Libya, say observers.

"He is a moderate figure and influential with some of the tribes who see him almost as a head of state," said Hafed al-Ghwell, a fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

Gaddaf al-Dam, who bears an uncanny resemblance to a youthful version of his late cousin, has been meeting regularly with tribal leaders along the Libyan-Egyptian border.

Islamists reject his efforts

His political work, though, elicits sneers and threats from the mainly Islamist politicians in the Libyan capital, some of whom were exiled during the Gadhafi dictatorship. They say they will never work with anyone from the ousted government.

That hasn't prevented Gaddaf al-Dam from continuing to promote the idea of reconciliation between Libyan revolutionaries and the old guard.

In a phone interview with VOA, the dictator's onetime trusted international fixer insists he harbors no political ambitions. "What we are trying to say is, 'Let's save our country,'" he said. "We are not struggling to lead the country. We are struggling to keep our country in peace because it might not exist tomorrow.'

Since the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of Moammar Gadhafi, most media attention has focused on the late dictator's children when a possible revival of Gadhafi family fortunes are discussed. Three of the dictator's sons were killed in the uprising and three sons are in jail  two in Libya and one in Lebanon. Only the strongman's daughter, Ayesha, and one son, Muhammad, remain at liberty, in Oman.

Increasingly it is Gaddaf al-Dam who is emerging as the Gadhafi clan's standard bearer. He is the official spokesman of the Gadhafi tribe, a branch of the large Berber tribe known as Houara, whose members are spread across North Africa. He also is related to leaders of the Awlad Ali tribe, which dominates parts of Libya's Sahara, as well as western Egypt and eastern Libya. He enjoys close ties to Egypt's ruler Abdel Fattah el-Sisi  they trained at the same military academy in Egypt  as well as Saudi royals.

Gaddaff Al-Dam was a highly trusted member of the Moammar Gadhafi's inner circle. He was one of five top loyalists, including Abdullah al-Senussi, the dictator's brother-in-law and intelligence chief, tasked with countering exiled dissidents overseas. They targeted specifically opposition groups like the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which they were convinced had the backing of the CIA and British security services.

Break with Gadhafi

But Gaddaf al-Dam broke with Gadhafi in the first few days of the 2001 rebellion, disagreeing with the government's harsh repression of the uprising and fleeing to Cairo. "I was not against him but I did not agree with the way the protesters were treated in the first few days of the uprising. I wanted a different way of dealing with it and the new generation needed to be talked to in a different way," he said.

He said the popular protest movement did not at first amount to a revolution but that NATO's intervention, which he said was ill-advised, transformed it into one.

Gaddaf al-Dam's critics maintain he broke with the dictator because he realized the regime was finished and he wanted to avoid the consequences of remaining by his side.

Since Gadhafi's fall, Libya has splintered. In December, United Nations diplomats and Western leaders announced the creation of a Government of Naitonal Accord, but the House of Representatives still hasn't recognized it.

Gaddaf al-Dam told VOA he supports the idea of the U.N.-brokered unity government but that his backing is conditional on the release of jailed Libyans. "We have more than 30,000 people in jails for five years without even going before courts. We have 2 million refugees inside and outside Libya,' he said. 'Let's forget about the past and get together and solve the mess and stop the bloodshed we see every day."

The priority, he argues, is to stop Islamic State militants from expanding their reach in the country. "There are thousands of them now in the country and if it persists, then Libya will become like Somalia, there will be no peace in the Mediterranean or across North Africa, and we will have conflict for 20 years or more. Let's wake up and forget about the past. Let's build a new country," he said.

While welcoming the new unity government, he harbors doubts it will prevail. He said the newly announced members of the government have "no experience and I don't think they will be able to do anything for Libya." He said former government figures should be in the administration. "Why not? It is their country too," he said.

It isn't a sentiment embraced by Libyan revolutionaries.

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Kerry Says He Is 'Confident' Syria Peace Talks Can Proceed

January 23, 2016

by RFE/RL

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he is confident that UN-sponsored Syrian peace talks can proceed as scheduled in Geneva next week.

'We are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so, those talks can get going, and that the UN representative special envoy, Staffan De Mistura, will be convening people in an appropriate manner for the proximity talks that will be the first meeting in Geneva,' Kerry told reporters in Saudi Arabia on January 23.

Kerry spoke following talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Riyadh. Earlier in the day, he discussed the planned Syria peace talks in a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The talks are scheduled to begin January 25 in Geneva, though the start date remains uncertain due to a dispute over who will be part of the delegation representing the opposition challenging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Later in the day, Kerry was set to hold talks with Riad Hijab, chair of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee, which was formed in Riyadh last month.

Kerry said world powers would convene after the first round of peace talks.

'I won't announce a date, but we all agreed that immediately after completion of the first round of the Syria discussions, the International Syria Support Group will convene, and that will be very shortly, because we want to keep the process moving,' he said.

The question of exactly who will represent the divided Syrian opposition at the talks has proven vexing. After a meeting on January 20, Kerry and Lavrov issued a joint statement saying 'particular attention was given to the need to form a genuinely representative opposition delegation.'

Last week, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups announced a proposed delegation, but Moscow is concerned because the delegation would be headed by a leader of the Saudi-backed Islamist Jaish al-Islam group, which Moscow considers a terrorist organization.

Excluded opposition groups, including Syria's Kurdish minority, have also objected to the proposed delegation.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was in Turkey on January 23 to discuss, among other things, the Syrian situation. Biden said that the United States and Turkey 'are prepared' for a military solution if a political solution is 'not possible.'

A U.S. official clarified later that Biden meant a military solution against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at the same joint press conference with Biden that 'only legitimate' Syrian opposition groups should be allowed to participate in the Geneva talks. Specifically, he objected to the participation of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which he said is part of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/kerry-lavrov-syria-peace-talks/27506496.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Syrian Rebels: Government, Russia Responsible if Talks Fail

by VOA News January 23, 2016

Syrian opposition said Saturday that it is "impossible" to start negotiations with the government before the implementation of U.N. resolutions on humanitarian issues.

A joint statement signed by 45 opposition and rebel groups said that while they support a political process, they hold Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of peace talks to end the country's civil war, due to their "ongoing crimes."

Peace talks at risk

The latest round of Syria peace talks are scheduled to begin on Monday in Geneva. However, the talks are at risk of being delayed partly because of a dispute over who should be in the opposition delegation.

Opposition groups have denounced Russia for dictating conditions for their participation in the Geneva talks. They say will not take part in talks while Syrians die from blockades and Russian and government airstrikes.

Moscow is a key ally of the Syrian government and has been carrying out airstrikes against insurgents since Sept. 30.

Biden in Turkey

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said after meeting with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against Islamic State in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday he was confident the Syria peace talks would proceed.

Kerry made his comments after holding talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in Saudi Arabia.

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Turkey court drops Erdogan case against MP

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 8:56AM

A court in Turkey has dismissed a legal appeal by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against an opposition leader who had called him a "thief" back in 2014.

Erdogan's attorneys were seeking damages in the amount of 200,000 Turkish lire ($66,000) from Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The case dates back to 2014 when Erdogan's cabinet ministers and their relatives were mired in a major corruption scandal. Kilicdaroglu had accused Erdogan, then a prime minister, of being a "prime thief."

Dropping the lawsuit in Ankara's 7th Civil Court of First Instance, Judge Leyla Kundakci said in a ruling, "Politics should not be turned into such environment. They are setting a bad example for our children."

Erdogan's lawyers said, "The attack, which directly targeted his personal rights, is heavy and unfair. 'Prime thief' and 'thief' are concrete criminal charges that cannot be accepted within freedom of expression and the right to political criticism."

Defense attorneys for the CHP leader, however, said Kilicdaroglu was merely expressing his opinion and reacting to the government corruption scandal, during which probes were launched against 53 suspects.

Last week, Kilicdaroglu described Erdogan as "a dictator," a day after he called on prosecutors to launch a probe against those academics who had signed a declaration criticizing military action in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast. According to media reports, 27 of the signatories were briefly detained.

Insulting the president is considered a crime in Turkey and punishable by as much as four years in prison.

CHP is Turkey's largest opposition party with 134 seats in the 550-member parliament, and has been led by Kilicdaroglu since May 2010.

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Biden slams Turkey for curtailing freedom of expression

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 23, 2016 3:12AM

US Vice President Joe Biden has warned Turkey over its crackdown on freedom of expression, saying the strength of Turkey's democracy has a direct impact on its ties with America.

Biden who is on a two-day visit in Turkey, criticized the NATO ally for setting a poor example for the region in intimidating media, limiting internet freedom and accusing academics of treason, according to Reuters.

"When the media are intimidated or imprisoned for critical reporting, when internet freedom is curtailed and social media sites...are shut down and more than 1,000 academics are accused of treason simply by signing a petition, that's not the kind of example that needs to be set,' he told reporters on Friday.

'If you do not have the ability to express your own opinion, to criticize policy, offer competing ideas without fear of intimidation or retribution, then your country is being robbed of opportunity,' he added.

Biden visited the family of jailed journalist Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, who was arrested in November over the publication of footage purporting to show the Turkish intelligence agency helping send weapons to Syria.

He also met with prominent journalists who were sacked over the past year, following critical coverage of the then-Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the government.

This is while during the early years of rule, Washington cited Turkey as an example of Islamic democracy in the Middle East.

Recently, however, reforms have faltered and Erdogan, who is now the country's president, has demonstrated a more authoritarian style.

Last week, he denounced as 'dark, nefarious and brutal' prominent US scholar Noam Chomsky and 1,000 other signatories of a letter that urged Ankara to end its siege of Kurdish towns and cities in the southeastern parts of the country.

Turkish security forces briefly detained 27 academics on charges of promoting terrorist propaganda. Dozens more face investigation by their universities.

Biden, who earlier visited the site of a suicide bombing, blamed Daesh (ISIL) that killed 10 German tourists last week.

He will meet Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday.

Talks are expected to focus on Syrian border security and the role of US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters in the fight against the terror group. Turkey fears Kurdish advances will fuel separatist sentiment among its Kurdish minority.

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Biden: US Recognizes Kurdish Threat to Turkey

by Ken Bredemeier January 23, 2016

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Turkey on Saturday that the United States recognizes that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is as much a threat to Ankara as Islamic State militants are, even as Washington supports Kurdish forces fighting the jihadists in Iraq.

Biden was in Istanbul for meetings with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of efforts next week to begin international talks on Syria's future.

After meeting with the Turkish prime minister, Biden said Islamic State fighters are 'not the only existential threat to the people of Turkey. The PKK is equally a threat and we are aware of that. It is a terror group, plain and simple, and what they continue to do is absolutely outrageous.'

No denunciation of People's Protection Units

Turkish observers noted that Biden did not also denounce the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units, which Ankara opposes as strongly as it does the PKK. The militia, known as YPG in Kurdish, is the armed branch of Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party have battled against the Turkish government for the past 30 years, fighting for autonomy for southeastern Turkey's Kurdish majority. The PKK also has actively fought against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, aided by U.S. air support.

Davutoglu defended Ankara's controversial troop deployment into Iraq in December, which has drawn repeated protests from Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. The prime minister said Turkey respects Iraq's sovereignty, and that its troops are targeting Islamic State.

Biden said he discussed with Davutoglu how Turkey can help Sunni Arab forces in Syria in their fight against Islamic State and to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Islamic State controls a wide swath of northern Iraq and Syria  a self-proclaimed "caliphate" with the city of Raqqa as its capital.

The United States supports a political settlement to end nearly five years of fighting in Syria, but Biden said the United States is 'prepared ... if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation and taking out' Islamic State.

Freedom of expression

Biden's meetings in Istanbul came a day after he rebuked Turkey's leaders for cracking down on freedom of expression. He told civil society representatives that the Turkish government is not setting the right 'example' with its imprisonment of journalists and investigation of academics who have criticized the government's military campaign against Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeastern sector.

In an unusually strong criticism of Washington's NATO ally, Biden said, 'When the media are intimidated or imprisoned for critical reporting, when Internet freedom is curtailed and social media sites like YouTube or Twitter are shut down, and more than 1,000 academics are accused of treason simply by signing a petition, that's not the kind of example that needs to be set.'

Before the meeting, Biden told reporters, 'The more Turkey succeeds, the stronger the message sent to the entire Middle East and parts of the world who are only beginning to grapple with the notion of freedom.'

He said Washington wants Turkey to set a strong example for the Middle East of what a 'vibrant democracy' means. Biden criticized the November jailing of Cumhuriyet daily editor-in-chief Can Dundar and its Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gul, on charges of revealing classified information.

The U.S. vice president also lamented Turkey's widespread investigation of more than 1,200 academics who signed a petition attacking Turkey's military campaign against Kurdish strongholds.

About two dozen academics were detained for questioning; they were released but remain under investigation. Turkey also has blocked feeds in the country from YouTube, Twitter and other social networks.

Dorian Jones contributed to this report from Istanbul.

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William Henry Day the oldest of 7 sons

The Padgitt Ranch in southwest Coleman County, located at the confluence of the Concho and Colorado rivers, was selected for the Family Land Heritage award in 1999.

The ranch was founded by William Henry Day in 1876. He set up headquarters in a rock house built by a former land user.

Day was born May 8, 1833, in Cassville, Georgia to Jesse and Sarah Logan Day. He was the oldest of seven sons. The Day brothers were sometimes called the Week boys because there were seven of them.

The family moved to Bastrop in 1847. They later lived in San Antonio and then in Hays County. William graduated from Cumberland University in 1858 with a degree in engineering.

William and his brother, James Monroe Day, made their first trail drive in the spring of 1860. Their father drowned on the drive while swimming the herd across the Brazos River at Waco.

According to Handbook of Texas Online, William and James were planning to drive the herd to Kansas City, but they were turned back by angry landowners. They delivered the herd to St. Louis.

All seven Day sons were confederate veterans and pioneer cowmen.

With the rank of colonel, William Day rounded up and drove cattle to army depots where the beef supplied the troops. When the war ended all his assets were in worthless Confederate money.

In 1868 or 1869, William and his brother-in-law Jesse L. Driskill formed a partnership and drove a cattle herd to Abilene, Kansas.

William Day and Tommye Mabel Doss were married Jan. 26, 1879 in Sherman. Born July 4, 1854, in Brunswick, Missouri to Frances Pope Monroe of Richmond, Virginia (a grandniece of President James Monroe), and John Doss, a native of Kentucky and a Missouri River merchant. Mabel graduated from Hocker Female College in Kentucky in 1872.

William and Mabel Day had one daughter: Willie Mabel Day Padgitt.

After their marriage, William and Mabel Day moved to an 85,000-acre ranch in Coleman County and began enclosing 40,000 acres of pasture land with a four-strand barbed wire fence, which was later to figure into the fence-cutting wars of 1883.

William Day died June 14, 1881, after his horse fell during a stampede. He left his wife the large but debt-ridden ranch. As Mabel Day took control she was a widow with a six-month-old daughter and more than $117,000 in debt. She reorganized the ranch under the name of Day Cattle Ranch Company and raised $200,000 by selling a half-interest in her cattle to Kentucky investors.

By 1883, the Day Cattle Ranch Company was the largest fenced ranch in Texas. That's when the fence-cutting war broke out. There was no law to stop free-grass cattle raisers from cutting fences. Mabel Day lobbied representatives in Austin and a law was passed in 1884 making fence-cutting a felony crime.

Mabel Doss Day married Captain Joseph C. Lea of Roswell, New Mexico in 1889. She moved to New Mexico and established a church and a school, the New Mexico Military Institute. She returned to Texas frequently to manage her ranch.

After Captain Lea died in 1904, Mabel moved back to Coleman County where she began paying off the debt by colonizing her land.

By the time of her death on April 4, 1906, she had colonized 500 families on her part of the Day Ranch and founded the towns of Voss and Leaday. She left more than 10,000 acres of debt-free land for her daughter.

Willie Mabel Day married James Thomas "Tom" Padgitt and they had a son, James T. Willie Mabel Padgitt Jr. Tom Sr. was involved with his family in the Padgitt Brothers Saddlery Company in Dallas.

James T. Padgitt Jr. married Lillian Maverick and they acquired the ranch in 1947. They had two children: Willie Day and Jane Maverick.

Willie Day Padgitt was named Miss Wool of Texas for 1960.

Jane Maverick acquired 6,500 acres from her parents in 1970.

According to Texas Department of Agriculture's Family Land Heritage book, The Colorado River Municipal Water District claimed 3,500 acres of the Padgitt Ranch by imminent domain for O.H. Ivie Reservoir.

Jane and her family have restored the old rock house built in 1871 that served as the Day Ranch headquarters, which is the oldest continually occupied house in Coleman County.

Jerry Lackey is the agriculture editor emeritus. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291.
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Welcome to the San Angelo Business Journal!

I don't usually write with exclamation points, but this time, it's fitting. I really am excited about this new way to share news, profiles and economic numbers about San Angelo-area businesses with readers.

As a matter of background, this is our first of hopefully many more editions of the business journal. We plan to publish the magazine the first Monday of each month.

We started working on this project several months ago. A big development was getting the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce to help get the word out about what's happening in our local economy.

The business journal staff will work hard to write news stories and business profiles, and collect the latest business numbers. We will also gather columns from local experts on human resources, small business development, business law, downtown development, agriculture and energy.

The chamber will help by writing a regular column explaining how it is working to improve the business climate specifically for its members, and for the San Angelo community as a whole. It will also share news on business ribbon-cuttings and grand openings.

Within the business journal pages, I'm sure readers will find out a lot about San Angelo businesses. They'll also get a quick snapshot at what's happening with gross-receipts taxes, new business construction and housing numbers.

As the editor of the business journal, here are some highlights I can share of what you'll learn from this month's edition:

No. 1: The nation's economic stimulus package is already producing sales and helping to retain jobs in San Angelo. Now's a better time than three months ago to replace drafty windows, buy a new car or purchase energy-efficient appliances. Businesses can save tax money on bigger asset purchases, too.

No. 2. The recession has arrived in San Angelo and West Texas. Just take a look at what has happened to stocks with local interests in San Angelo. Wow.

No. 3: You can have the same chef who once cooked for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on game days at Texas Stadium prepare a meal to remember for you. The chef is Earl Mulley, who owns the River Terrace Restaurant in downtown.

Those are just a few examples of the type of local content we will offer each month.

Finally, we launched the business journal so we could give local businesses a timely avenue to reach out to one another and the community with news tidbits on expansions, remodels, new hires and promotions.

We hope that our columnists will provide insight into business trends, best practices and new opportunities right here at home.

As a recent graduate of the chamber's Leadership San Angelo program, I have seen for myself all the interesting pieces that collectively form our diverse economy.

I left the program amazed by the many wonderful ways San Angelo residents make a living each day. It also gave me a deeper appreciation for how a collaborative, cohesive and evolving business community can produce slow but steady economic growth - a vital element for preserving the American dream.

Thanks for reading the business journal.

Tim Archuleta is editor of the San Angelo Business Journal. Contact him at (325) 659-8231 or tarchuleta@gosanangelo.com.
Associated Press file This 2015 combination of file photos shows Montgomery County officials, Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. (left) and first assistant district attorney, Kevin Steele, in Norristown, Pa. An ex-prosecutor is expected to testify that he promised Bill Cosby would never be charged over a Pennsylvania sex-assault complaint, but a judge must decide if that constitutes an immunity deal.

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By Jeremy Roebuck And Laura Mccrystal

PHILADELPHIA  A decade ago, Bruce L. Castor Jr. vowed that his announcement that he would not charge Bill Cosby in connection with an alleged sexual attack on a Temple University employee would be his final word on the topic.

As Cosby now awaits trial on the same accusation, the case could hinge on what the former Montgomery County district attorney says next.

Castor stands by his claim that he granted Cosby an oral "non-prosecution agreement" in 2005  and is likely to say as much if he testifies at a pivotal hearing in two weeks.

But the lack of a record  and anyone other than Cosby to corroborate the deal  means the most important witness might be the man who once decided he could not prove that a crime had been committed, legal experts say.

"It's going to be Bruce's word against somebody else's word," said former Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham. "And a judge is going to have to figure out what was said, what was meant, and what the defense thought it meant."

Non-prosecution agreements are tools that prosecutors often use to get critical testimony or cooperation from an accused party.

Still, half a dozen prosecutors, defense lawyers and legal academics contacted by The Philadelphia Inquirer all say the purported agreement  as described by Cosby's lawyers in court filings and by Castor  is highly unusual. Most ask why it was not put in writing.

"It's clear in retrospect that Cosby and his attorneys didn't think that there was ever going to be any criminal prosecution," said Anne Poulin, a law professor at Villanova University.

The effort by Cosby's lawyers to have the charges thrown out became even more tangled last weekend after the emergence of an email Castor wrote in September to his successor, Risa Vetri Ferman, at the same time he was campaigning to reclaim his old job.

In the email, reviewed by The Inquirer, Castor explained that by telling Cosby he would not prosecute him, he hoped to create an environment in which the entertainer's accuser, Andrea Constand, might prevail in a civil case she filed against him.

Castor investigated Constand's claim that Cosby drugged and assaulted her in January 2004 at his Cheltenham mansion, but concluded he lacked the evidence to win a conviction.

After conferring with lawyers for Cosby and Constand, Castor said, he agreed to waive all future prosecution on the allegations, hoping to erase any reason for Cosby to refuse to testify in the civil case.

The lawyer who negotiated the purported agreement for Cosby  his then-defense attorney, Walter M. Phillips Jr.  died last year.

Castor did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the civil case lawyer, Patrick O'Connor, who worked closely with Phillips in 2005. Castor has said O'Connor was not part of the negotiations for the non-prosecution agreement.

Cosby did sit for a deposition in the civil case, and later paid an undisclosed sum to settle it out of court. Portions of that deposition surfaced only in the last year, and were referenced in his charging documents last month.

Constand's lawyers say that Castor is lying and that they never would have agreed to any arrangement that could bar Cosby from being prosecuted.

"From our perspective, there was no agreement," Bebe Kivitz, one of Constand's lawyers, said in 2005. "I never spoke to Bruce L. Castor Jr. Nor would I have agreed."

What's more, Kivitz said, her primary contact with Castor's office during the investigation a decade ago was his first assistant, Ferman, the same prosecutor who reopened the investigation in her final months in office last year.

Kevin Steele, who took over as district attorney this month, has been accused by Cosby's attorneys of bringing the charges to boost his campaign against Castor last fall. Steele has not filed a response to the defense team's allegation, but has said that there was no evidence of a non-prosecution deal and that the defense claims have no merit.

Whether or not an enforceable deal existed, legal experts asked why Cosby's attorneys never obtained any promise in writing before sending their client into a potentially damaging deposition in the civil case.

Formal immunity agreements, which often are granted to a witness in return for testimony or cooperation, must be approved by a judge. But experts said non-prosecution agreements, which are less formal, still typically lay out specific terms and are signed by all parties.

"If I'm Cosby's attorneys, there's no way that I would not have that in writing signed by the prosecutor," said John Clune, a Denver lawyer who represented an accuser of Kobe Bryant in a 2004 sexual assault lawsuit ultimately settled out of court.

Even with an agreement such as the one Castor described, defense lawyer Mark Geragos said, he still would never let his client testify without something formally approved by a judge.

"If that were my client and I'm in that deposition, I would have tackled him and slugged him in the head," said Geragos, whose celebrity clients have included Michael Jackson. "There's no way you let the guy answer those questions when you know there's a statute of limitations that's that long (12 years) in the jurisdiction and you don't have immunity."

The deposition transcript shows Cosby conceded several points of Constand's story, including that they had a sexual encounter on the night in 2004 she claims she was attacked and that he gave her three blue pills when she complained of not feeling well. He maintains that the pills were antihistamines and that Constand consented to their sexual contact.

Legal experts characterized the role Castor describes for himself in the email  negotiating an oral non-prosecution agreement in order to help one side in a civil case  as unusual for a prosecutor.

"Your elected position is to prosecute," said Abraham, the former Philadelphia district attorney. "Whether there were any civil consequences was something I never concerned myself with. My role (as a prosecutor) isn't to negotiate deals between civil lawyers."

Even if Cosby's lawyers can convince a judge that an agreement was in place in 2005, it is unlikely such a deal would sink the current case, said Karen Steinhauser, a University of Denver law professor and a former sex crimes prosecutor.

The criminal affidavit Steele filed against Cosby in December cites several new interviews with Constand and other witnesses, and draws on detailed descriptions of the sexual encounter from Cosby's 2005 statement to police.

"You can't bind the hands of prosecutors who get independent evidence of a crime," Steinhauser said.

Common Pleas Court Judge Steven O'Neill is scheduled to consider the arguments at a Feb. 2 hearing in Norristown. Whatever he decides, the issue of whether prosecutors can use the deposition against Cosby is unlikely to go away, Geragos said.

"Clearly it's a legitimate issue," he said.

Cosby, 78, has denied assaulting Constand or any of the dozens of women who have made similar allegations in the years since she came forward.

He remains free pending his trial on $1 million bail. If convicted of aggravated indecent assault, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
SHARE Associated Press Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been the target of criticism for her stewardship of the Democratic National Committee, and for what some see as controversial statements about marijuana use and the complacency of nonvoters. Associated Press Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, has been the target of criticism for her stewardship of the Democratic National Committee, and for what some see as controversial statements about marijuana use and the complacency of non-voters. Two men plan to contest her re-election to Congress, but supporters say she is responsive to the needs of her constituents and will likely get another term.

Sanders fans, D.C. trespasser among critics

By Anthony Man

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  From the gyrocopter pilot who landed on the lawn of the White House to angry supporters of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to feminist activists and supporters of medical marijuana, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is facing a barrage of criticism from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

They're complaining about her stewardship of the Democratic National Committee, with some demanding her ouster. They're raising Cain about statements attributed to her about marijuana and complacency among young female voters.

And they're trying to apply pressure at home in South Florida, with vows to challenge her in the August Democratic primary aimed at denying her a seventh term in Congress.

"There's a new round of land mines that she has figured out a way to step in here. Every time she manages to pull herself out of the morass, she manages to figure out a way to step back in it," said Ben Pollara, a South Florida political strategist and Wasserman Schultz critic.

"What it means, what will come of it, I have no idea," Pollara said.

Tim Canova and Doug Hughes hope it means she won't continue as the region's most prominent member of Congress.

Canova, a professor of law and public finance at Nova Southeastern University, and Hughes, the now-fired letter carrier awaiting sentencing for his gyrocopter flight through restricted airspace and landing on the grounds of the White House last year, are seeking the Democratic congressional nomination in the Broward/Miami-Dade County 23rd Congressional District.

Barbara Effman, president of the West Broward Democratic Club, and Andrew Weinstein, a Coral Springs Democrat who was a major fundraiser for both of Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, said they don't think today's currents will sink Wasserman Schultz.

Weinstein said he doesn't see a premature end to Wasserman Schultz's term as Democratic National Committee chairwoman (which runs through the end of the year). And neither Weinstein nor Effman thinks she'll lose the Democratic congressional primary (which takes place Aug. 30).

Wasserman Schultz, who has been in public office in South Florida since 1992, is used to criticism. For years it's been a constant refrain from Republicans. Last year it came from some Jewish community leaders who were angry that Wasserman Schultz, the state's first Jewish congresswoman, supported the Obama agreement aimed at curbing Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

And as Obama's hand-picked chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee since 2011, Wasserman Schultz has been a nationwide voice of the party and a frequent lighting rod for criticism.

"Find me the Democratic chair that hasn't been bumped and bruised through their tenure," she told the Sun Sentinel. "There is always something. I'm never going to be able to please everybody all of the time."

The current wave of criticism comes largely from supporters of Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Many of his fans believe Wasserman Schultz has used the party to help Hillary Clinton's candidacy at Sanders' expense.

For example, they think she authorized a small number of debates among the 2016 Democratic presidential candidates and holding them on nights with relatively low viewership to help Clinton.

"That's ridiculous. I don't know how many times I have to say it," Wasserman Schultz said last week.

Critics have also seized on two comments in a heavily condensed interview published Jan. 6 by The New York Times magazine. She was quoted as saying that young women who have grown up in the age of the Roe v. Wade ruling from the Supreme Court guaranteeing abortion rights are "complacent."

Wasserman Schultz said that wasn't an attack on those who are voting and active.

"Of course I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to the millions of young women who don't take the time to vote, that don't take the time to pay attention to the fact that their rights are under attack," she said. "I make no apologies for sounding that alarm bell, and I will continue to sound it. That's my job."

Proponents of medical marijuana, like Pollara, a leader of the effort in Florida, were critical of the suggestion in the interview that marijuana use could lead to more use of hard-core drugs such as heroin.

Online petitions run by liberal groups Credo Action and Roots Action, which allow people to click and express their displeasure, now have more than 100,000 people who say Wasserman Schultz should resign or be removed as party chairwoman.

Pollara said he doesn't see an imminent Wasserman Schultz departure.

Rendell said once Clinton or Sanders locks up enough support to become the de facto Democratic nominee, it's up to that person to decide who will run the party. "The putative nominee takes over the DNC."

Effman, who leads one of the largest political clubs in the county, said Wasserman Schultz has a deep reservoir of support.

"In her district they love her. She votes the way they want," Effman said. "She shows up at everything, and you would almost never realize that she is out of town. She takes care of her district and the voters of her district are very committed to her."

Canova and Hughes, neither of whom has sought political office before, say that won't carry her to another term.

As evidence, Canova pointed to the 3,500 people who followed his campaign Facebook page in its first three days, 1,000 financial donors in the first three days, and his Twitter followers, who now top 1,700. Canova announced his candidacy online and hasn't held a traditional news conference for newspaper and television outlets.

Canova, 55, of Hollywood, Fla, is a Sanders supporter who objects to what he sees in Wasserman Schultz and some other politicians: "Putting your fingers up to the wind. Being told what to say (and) when to say it." He said the incumbent "has been representing a lot of corporate interests and neglecting the needs of her constituents."

Hughes, 62, currently lives in Ruskin, on the south end of Tampa Bay. He said he's running in the 23rd Congressional District, where he's never lived "because Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the poster child of corrupt politics in the Democratic Party."

He was a letter carrier until July 2015, when he was fired by the Postal Service for the gyrocopter incident, which was aimed at calling attention to the need for campaign finance reform. He's scheduled for sentencing on April 13 in federal court for the case.

Before then, he's asked for court permission to travel outside his home county to visit South Florida for a news conference to announce his candidacy. The Constitution doesn't prevent felons from serving in Congress, but as a felon, he wouldn't be allowed to vote in this year's election.

If he's sentenced to prison, Hughes said he expects a term no longer than 10 months, allowing him to serve most of the two-year term that begins in January. "The question is whether it (being in prison) would be an impediment in my campaigning. Obviously it would be an impediment. But would it cause me to drop out of the race? Absolutely not."

Foreman said Wasserman Schultz is likely to return to Congress.

"While there is national discontent with Wasserman Schultz's positions and her performance as DNC chair, I'm not hearing a lot of that in South Florida," he said. "But, anything can happen. This is how movements begin. And the progressive part of the Democratic Party is on a roll right now."
Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune/TNS Melanie Walchli, 20, smokes during a downtown Chicago walk She said she supports the idea of raising the minimum age to buy tobacco. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing raising the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21.

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More cities require buyers to be at least 21

By Dawn Rhodes

CHICAGO  Teens and young adults are likely to stop smoking  or never start  if they have to ask those 21 and older to buy cigarettes for them.

Thats the premise of research that supports a new plan put forth by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel last week to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco.

Experts say the approach is gaining traction around the country after a recent study estimated such laws would discourage smoking at an age when many people first get addicted. Chicago would join a list of more than 100 cities nationwide to raise the legal age for buying tobacco from 18 to 21.

Emanuel introduced the legislation in the Chicago City Council Jan. 13. The bill bundles the age provision with tax hikes on cigars, roll-your-own cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

Older smokers have a higher quit rate than younger smokers. Older smokers are more likely to get treatment, said Carol Southard, a tobacco treatment specialist at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern Medicine. The literature has been so consistent that if we can (delay) the kid from starting in the first place, or at least get the kid to stop before theyre 21, weve done something significant.

Most states long ago set the legal tobacco age at 18, but a March 2015 study from the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C., sparked a new look at the issue.

That study concluded that raising the minimum age to 21 would help delay when young adults and adolescents start using tobacco. Almost 90 percent of adult daily smokers say they began smoking before they were 19, according to the study.

Researchers said 21 as a minimum age would be particularly effective because young people who are unable to buy tobacco are most likely to get the products from friends and peers. It is less likely a 21-year-old would be in the same social circles as high school or middle school students, and thus able to provide cigarettes, according to the report.

The researchers model predicts that if all states immediately raised the minimum age to 21, there would be a 12 percent decrease in tobacco use among todays teenagers by the time they become adults.

Young adult smokers who were stopping for a puff at DePaul University on Friday offered mixed responses to the idea.

A 19-year-old said the change might make her kick the habit she picked up when she started college last fall. The woman declined to give her name because her parents dont know that she smokes.

I wouldnt go out of my way to get people (21 and over) to buy them for me, she said.

Robert Davis, 19, said he would welcome the restriction on his peers. Davis, a nonsmoker, said he thinks it would cut down the number of classmates and friends that smoke  and, as a result, cut down on how many times hes forced to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to class.

Adrian Phua, 23, another DePaul student, wondered whether he would have taken up smoking as a teenager had there been such an age restriction where he grew up in Malaysia. I wish I wouldve never started, he said.

But others, like Joseph Saye, 22, said younger smokers will be able to find ways around the law. Saye, a smoker since he was 19, said he doubts an older age requirement would have much effect.

George Georgiev, 26, agreed, saying younger smokers would get cigarettes as easily as they can get alcohol before their 21st birthday.

Has the drinking age being 21 stopped people from drinking? No. They might have to use more resources to get around (age laws), but it hasnt stopped it, he said. People will always find a way.

But Lila Johnson, program manager for tobacco prevention and education at the Hawaii Department of Health, said the new study helped to convince officials there to establish a legal age of 21 for buying tobacco. Hawaiis law, the only one of its kind in the country, became effective this month.

The scientific basis landed right in our lap, Johnson said. We dont see the negative side effects because its going to protect young people, its going to protect our vulnerable populations. We hope to be able to show the difference that it makes.

Emanuels proposal also describes a goal of keeping tobacco out of the reach of young adults.

Adolescents are more vulnerable than older adults to nicotine addiction, which can harm brain development, and 4 out of 5 adult smokers start before age 21, the ordinance states. Raising the legal age would put tobacco products on par with alcohol and protect young adults from developing a dangerous lifelong habit.

Emanuel also announced his intention to raise tobacco product taxes, set minimum quantities of tobacco that can be sold and set minimum prices.

The ordinance calls for a 15-cent tax per little cigar in packages of no fewer than 20, raising the fees by $3. Standard-size cigars would carry a tax of 90 cents apiece in packs of at least four. Cigars costing more than $3 each still could be sold individually.

Roll-your-own tobacco would be taxed at $6.60 per ounce, bumping the cost of a small pouch from $7.25 to $11.54. Smokeless tobacco would have a $1.80-per-ounce tax, increasing the price on a standard can from $4.19 to $6.35.

The minimum price for a pack of cigarettes or little cigars and a small package of smoking tobacco would be $11.50. Standard-size cigars would cost no less than $1.74 each and smokeless tobacco would cost no less than $4 per ounce.

The 21-and-over law also would apply to electronic cigarettes, a mayoral spokeswoman said, but the tax increase would not. Emanuel already raised e-cigarette taxes for 2016.

Alderman Proco Joe Moreno, 1st, Will Burns, 4th, and Ameya Pawar, 47th, co-sponsored the legislation.

The use of smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products continues to soar because they are more inexpensive than cigarettes, but that doesnt mean that they are any safer for Chicagoans to use, Moreno said in a statement. Moreno previously floated the idea of taxing smokeless tobacco in September.

Should City Council members approve new pricing and age restrictions, it would be the latest in a series of moves targeting tobacco use.

Chicago consistently has ramped up tobacco taxes. The city leads the nation in federal, county, state and city taxes on cigarettes, which now total $7.17 per pack. The city added electronic cigarettes to its indoor smoking ban in 2014. In the same year, the Chicago Park District expanded its ban on smoking to include public parks and harbors.

Jidong Huang, senior research scientist at the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said an age requirement is just one component needed for effective tobacco control policy.

If you want to reduce smoking of young adults, you want to limit the domains when and where they can smoke, and where they can purchase tobacco, Huang said. Its a basket of tools and those tools work best when theyre working together.

Southard of Northwestern Medicine agreed, saying a minimum-age law is good  but resources also should be devoted toward helping current smokers quit.

This is the most difficult addiction of all to control, Southard said. What has impacted behavior most is cessation intervention.

The growing push to raise the tobacco purchasing age evokes a similar effort to raise the drinking age nearly 40 years ago.

Drinking alcohol long was seen as a rite of passage  so much so that several states lowered the legal drinking age to 18 in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the National Institutes of Health.

But fatal alcohol-related traffic crashes spiked after that. The NIH said that alcohol affected 60 percent of all deadly crashes by the mid-1970s. Two-thirds of fatal accidents for people between the ages of 16 and 20 involved alcohol during that time.

President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which pledged to withhold federal highway funding from states that had not raised the legal drinking age to 21. Drunken-driving deaths have been cut in half since the early 80s, according to the NIH.

The Food and Drug Administration gained vast regulatory power over tobacco products in 2009, including control over how they are marketed. But in contrast to the drinking age mandate, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act expressly forbids the FDA from implementing a national minimum age for buying tobacco older than 18. Such authority remains at state and local levels.

However, public opinion seems to be warming to an older cigarette purchasing age. More than 100 cities including New York, Cleveland and Evanston, Ill., have enacted 21-and-up tobacco laws since 2005, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Forty-five states, including Illinois, set the minimum age at 18. State law is 19 in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah, according to the CDC.

Hawaii is the only state to impose 21-and-up. New Jersey legislators recently passed a 21-and-up bill, but it is not yet clear whether Gov. Chris Christie will endorse or veto it.

A CDC article from July concluded that 75 percent of adults  including 70 percent of smokers  favored raising the minimum age to 21.

Johnson said Hawaii officials recognize they are not at the end of the road in terms of eradicating smoking, even though fewer and fewer people smoke in the state.

As our numbers have gone down, weve seen the decrease in cardiac disease and lung cancer, Johnson said. Yes, you want people to stop smoking, but it doesnt count until you get to those other outcomes. You want people to be healthier.

The Chicago proposal next will be reviewed by the councils finance committee.



Kate Thayer of the Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.
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"The Strength of a United Voice" is the theme of the 151st annual convention of the American Sheep Industry Association conveying this week at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The meeting starts Wednesday and concludes Saturday. Also meeting in conjunction with ASI are the National Lamb Feeders Association, the American Lamb Board, the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center, and the American Goat Federation.

This year's convention promises to bring to the forefront the issues most meaningful to sheep producers from around the country, said Burton Pfliger, ASI president.

"The FDA Veterinary Feed Directive has spurred much passion on both sides of the issue," Pfliger said. "The new rules governing delivery of medicines in feed or water  and the relationship with your veterinarian requiring prescriptions  is timely and very important for all sheep industry sectors. The Animal Health Committee has been tasked with working through the details and providing convention attendees with options for debate and policy development.

"The sheep industry is headed for an adventure as implementation looms for the new Veterinary Feed Directive from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016," said Richard Sellers of the American Feed Industry Association.

"Other livestock industries are more familiar with these issues, but the sheep and poultry industries haven't had to deal with this in the past," he said. "I've spent 30 years trying to keep veterinarians out of the feed mills, and now they're going to be our best friends."

Sellers will speak to the general session on Friday and will include a question-and-answer opportunity.

"Another topic expected to generate a lot of interest and questions will be the H-2A session," Pfliger said.

The sheep association was pleased that the U.S. Department of Labor issued the H-2A sheepherder program final rule Pfliger told me while visiting at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters convention in Kansas City last November.

"The final rule retains nearly all of the special procedures that have made the sheepherder program work for the past 50 years, such as mobile housing, hourly exemption and annual visas," he said.

"We had to convince labor that their April proposal to triple wages would be unaffordable to most ranches. "This was accomplished by a coalition of the national sheep organizations agreeing on a wage methodology that had a chance of adoption by the department and that meant a chance and an increase would be necessary.

Pfliger, a North Dakota sheep producer, said more than 500 ranchers, affiliated business, local and state governments were very effective on the labor department.

Sheepherders working under the new H-2A rule will earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for a 48-hour workweek. The final rule allows a 2-year transition to the new pay methodology, with full implementation beginning in 2018 at $1,568 annually. Producers will continue to provide food, water, housing and supplies for each of their herders.

San Angelo-based Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers' Association is one of 46 state sheep associations that make up the American Sheep Industry Association.

TSGRA delegates planning to attend will include: Benny Cox, TSGRA past president and current ASI secretary/treasurer; Lane Porter of Fort Stockton, current TSGRA president; Bob Buchholz of Eldorado, TSGRA past president; Pierce Miller of San Angelo, ASI past president; David Quam of San Angelo, Lamb Board member; Steve Salmon of San Angelo; Tammy Fisher and Glen Fisher of Sonora, ASI past president.

Jerry Lackey is the agriculture editor emeritus. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291.
Associated Press file Empty nuclear waste shipping containers sit in front of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Energy have inked $74 million in settlements over dozens of permit violations stemming from a radiation leak in 2014.

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Radiation released in 14; $74M to be paid

By Susan Montoya Bryan

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Energy inked $74 million in settlements over dozens of permit violations stemming from a radiation leak that forced the closure of the nation's only underground nuclear waste repository.

The settlements are the largest ever negotiated between a state and the Energy Department and come after months of negotiations. The agreements were first outlined last spring, but their signing was delayed by disagreements over some of the details.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southern New Mexico has been closed since February 2014, when a container of waste burst and released radiation in the underground facility. Twenty-two workers were exposed, and monitors at the surface recorded low levels of radiological contamination, but officials said nearby communities were not at risk.

Investigators determined that the container had been improperly packed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and experts have said the incident could have been avoided.

The settlements call for the Energy Department to funnel millions of dollars toward road improvements and environmental projects in New Mexico. The state initially proposed more than $54 million in penalties against the federal agency and its contractors for numerous violations at the lab and waste dump.

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn called the settlements unprecedented and said they represent a "good deal" for the state.

"We're here because of problems that occurred at WIPP and were caused in large part due to failures up at (Los Alamos)," Flynn said. "I prefer to have avoided this entire situation altogether and focus on other things related to these facilities, but they had some major problems and we're finally on the path to recovery."

Flynn said his staff has been working with the Energy Department and its contractors the past two years to ensure a similar incident does not happen again.

The state agency's work also includes revamping a cleanup order and setting new deadlines for Los Alamos to remove barrels of radioactive waste from its property in northern New Mexico.

Los Alamos has faced its own delays in trying to clean up waste like contaminated gloves, tools and clothing from decades of bomb-making. The closure of the dump has complicated the matter, but it also has halted shipments of waste from across the federal government's nuclear complex.

In its 15 years of operation, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant received shipments from more than 20 sites as part of the Energy Department's multibillion-dollar-a-year cleanup program.

Federal officials announced Thursday that they have a plan for resuming some waste storage operations at the repository by the end of 2016, but watchdog groups are skeptical.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Friday in a statement that he's pleased to have resolved the permit violations at the lab and the repository so DOE can focus on resuming operations.

"The projects we are funding as part of this settlement are important investments in the health and safety of New Mexicans who work at or live nearby DOE facilities," he said.
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By Julie Rovner

WASHINGTON  Health care has emerged as one of the flashpoints in the Democratic presidential race.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been a longtime supporter of a concept he calls "Medicare for All," a health system that falls under the heading of "single-payer."

Sanders released more details about his proposal shortly before the Democratic debate in South Carolina on Sunday night. "What a Medicare-for-All program does is finally provide in this country health care for every man, woman and child as a right," he said in Charleston.

Sanders' main rival for the nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has criticized the plan for raising taxes on the middle class and said it is politically unattainable. "I don't want to see us start over again with a contentious debate" about health care, she said.

Some of the details of Sanders' plan are still to be released. But his proposal has renewed questions about what a single-payer health care system is and how it works. Here are some answers.

Q: What is single-payer?

A: Single-payer refers to a system in which one entity (usually the government) pays all the medical bills for a specific population. And usually (though again, not always) that entity sets the prices for medical procedures.

Single-payer is NOT the same thing as socialized medicine. In a truly socialized medicine system, the government not only pays the bills but owns the health care facilities and employs the professionals who work there.

The Veterans Health Administration is an example of a socialized health system run by the government. It owns the hospitals and clinics and pays the doctors, nurses and other health providers.

Medicare, on the other hand, is a single-payer system in which the federal government pays the bills for those who qualify, but hospitals and other providers remain private.

Q: Which countries have single-payer health systems?

A: Fewer than many people think. Most European countries either never had or no longer have single-payer systems. "Most are basically what we call social insurance systems," said Gerard Anderson, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who has studied international health systems. Social insurance programs ensure that almost everyone is covered. They are taxpayer-funded but are not necessarily run by the government.

Germany, for example, has 135 "sickness funds," which are essentially private, nonprofit insurance plans that negotiate prices with health care providers. "So you have 135 funds to choose from," Anderson said.

Nearby, Switzerland and the Netherlands require their residents to have private insurance (just like the Affordable Care Act does), with subsidies to help those who cannot otherwise afford coverage.

And while conservatives in the United States often use Great Britain's National Health Service as the poster child for a socialized system, there are many private insurance options available to residents there, too.

Among the countries that have true single-payer systems, Anderson lists only two  Canada and Taiwan.

Q: Are single-payer plans less expensive than other health coverage systems?

A: Not necessarily. True, eliminating the profits and duplicative administrative costs associated with hundreds of different private insurance plans would reduce spending, perhaps as much as 10 percent of the nation's $3 trillion annual health care bill, Anderson said. But, he noted, once that savings is achieved, there won't be further reductions in following years.

More important, as many analysts have noted, is how much health services cost and how those prices are determined. In most other developed countries, even those with private insurance, writes Princeton health economist Uwe Reinhardt, prices "either are set by government or negotiated between associations of insurers and providers of care on a regional, state or national basis." By contrast, in the U.S., "the payment side of the health care market in the private sector is fragmented, weakening the bargaining power of individual insurers."

Q: Would Medicare for all be just like the existing Medicare program?

A: No, at least not as Sanders envisions it. Medicare is not nearly as generous as many people think. Between premiums (for doctor and drug coverage), cost-sharing (deductibles and coinsurance) and items Medicare does not cover at all (most dental, hearing and eye care), the average Medicare beneficiary still devotes an estimated 14 percent of all household spending to health care.

Sanders' plan would be far more generous, including dental, vision, hearing, mental health and long-term care, all without co-pays or deductibles (which has given rise to a lively debate about how to pay for it and whether middle-class families will save money or pay more).

Q: Would private insurance companies really disappear under Sanders' plan?

A: Probably not. Private insurers are fully integrated into Medicare, handling most of the claims processing and providing supplemental coverage through "Medigap" plans. In addition, nearly a third of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in private managed care plans as part of the Medicare Advantage program.

Creating an entirely new federal claims processing structure would in all likelihood be more expensive than continuing to contract with private insurance companies. However, Sanders makes it clear insurers in the future would no longer be the risk-bearing entities they are today, but more like regulated utilities.
Associated Press file FILE- In this Jan. 15, 2016, file photo, members of CASA de Maryland participate in a immigration rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington. By agreeing to hear a challenge to Obamais immigration plan, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2016, raised hopes that Obama may have one last chance to make good on an unfulfilled promise to millions of immigrants, many of whom feel abandoned by his administrationis recent deportation raids. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

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By Teresa Wiltz

WASHINGTON  Carmen was sleeping when they came for her and her two children. It was early Saturday morning, Jan. 2, and about a dozen federal immigration officials banged on her parents' door in Atlanta. The 27-year-old single mother from El Salvador said she had just enough time to throw on some clothes over her pajamas.

Carmen, who illegally crossed the Mexico-Texas border with her children in June 2014, was shocked when the officials said they were deporting her right away. She was in the midst of an appeals process  and even had a court appointment for that Monday  in a bid to stay.

"I asked them, 'Why are you sending me back to my country where it's so dangerous? I could be killed,'" she said from a detention center in Dilley, Texas, where she is being held with her children, ages 6 and 8. (She asked that her real name not be used for fear of compromising her case.)

The mother and her two children are among 121 people  mostly women and children from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico  who were rounded up early this month, in raids primarily in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas amid growing fears that the U.S. faces a surge of illegal unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central America comparable to 2014. So far 77 have been deported.

The deportation raids have sparked fear in U.S. immigrant communities and highlight the wide confusion and political division among federal, state and local authorities on how the nation should deal with as many as 11 million undocumented immigrants, most of whom entered the country illegally across the southern border.

The Democratic mayors of Philadelphia and New Haven, Conn., last week said they would not cooperate with the deportation efforts. The Democratic New York City Council announced that city agencies would not report undocumented people to federal authorities.

In Maryland, the Democratic executive in Montgomery County said local police wouldn't cooperate in any raids. And Prince George's County urged federal officials not to round up children in schools or people in stores, social service agencies or county buildings.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last month extended the 18-month mission of National Guard troops along the border in response to a rise in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the Rio Bravo.

And the U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday it will hear a case involving President Barack Obama's 2014 order that would have provided protection to as many as 4.9 million undocumented immigrants  an order that has been stayed while a lawsuit works its way through the courts.

Texas and 25 other mostly Republican states filed the suit against the order, while dozens of mostly Democratic cities, the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have backed the order in court briefs.

At the same time U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are carrying out the raids, the Obama administration is building temporary shelters to house unaccompanied immigrant children in Colorado, Florida and New Mexico.

The shelters will house up to 2,200 children for on average 32 days each and will provide schooling for them until they are placed with sponsor families. Under federal law, unaccompanied children must be transferred out of detention centers within 72 hours.

The federal government "doesn't want to get caught the way they did in 2014," said Marc Rosenblum, who is leaving his position at the Migration Policy Institute to become deputy assistant secretary of Homeland Security and director of the Office of Immigration Statistics. "They want to give relief to people who have valid claims while enforcing their borders."

Either way, he said, it's a dilemma with no easy solutions. "It's a tough policy problem."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the raids begun last month are intended as deterrence, by discouraging people from attempting "the dangerous journey from Central America to the southwest border."

They have targeted families who had illegally crossed the border after May 1, 2014, and who had exhausted their legal options for staying, ICE said. The families will be held in detention centers for processing and then flown back to their home countries.

But some defiant local officials say the raids have created a public safety crisis. Parents, they say, are keeping their children home from school and skipping doctor's appointments. Whole families, they say, are hiding out in their homes, too frightened to go to the grocery store  or to talk to the police.

"This is having a severe impact on the immigrant community itself," said Maryland state Del. Ana Sol-Gutierrez, a Democrat. "They are very much afraid of what ICE raids can do to their families. The community is panicked."

In announcing local police wouldn't cooperate in the deportation effort, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said, "We want all of our community members to know that they are free to go about their daily life, to go to schools and work, social service agencies, hospitals and medical clinics.

"If you have reason to need help from our police, do not be afraid to call on them."

The raids come amid a rise in illegal crossings at the border, where last fall thousands of families and unaccompanied children fleeing gang violence, drought and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, slipped under the fence.

The rise  more than 17,000 between October and December, compared with nearly 8,000 during the same period the previous year  has stoked fears that the nation will experience a surge like the one it witnessed in 2014, when roughly 69,000 children swarmed the border, creating a crisis in U.S. detention facilities and overwhelming states and municipalities.

"Right now, we're on pace to have more families and unaccompanied minors arrive in fiscal year 2016 than in 2014," Rosenblum said.

Once they cross, they end up in every state. How they are treated can depend on which one they go to.

California, Florida, New York, Texas and the Washington, D.C., region that includes Maryland and Virginia have the largest numbers of unaccompanied children.

California threw open its doors. In 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed into law a bill allocating $3 million in legal aid for Central American children. That same year, then-Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, sought to house the children in foster homes rather than in group shelters and pushed to have them treated as refugees.

But other states made it clear the children were not welcome. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, said in 2014 he did not want the children sent to his state because it would encourage others to cross the border illegally. Meanwhile, then-Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican, protested that the federal government had sent 200 children to his state without consulting him.

Today, the raids are happening in cities and states that have some of the toughest immigration courts, said Amy Fischer, policy director for RAICES, a Texas-based organization that is providing pro bono legal aid to immigrants in the deportation centers.

For example, she said, "very, very few people get granted asylum in Atlanta."

Other regions, such as the Washington, D.C., area, have courts that tend to be more immigrant-friendly, Fischer said. It's also easier for immigrants there to find a lawyer, she said.

U.S. Justice Department statistics back that up. In Atlanta, only 1 percent of asylum requests were granted in 2014, compared with 71 percent in Arlington, Virginia, and 84 percent in New York City.

As Carmen found out, Atlanta wasn't the best place to arrive undocumented, after fleeing her home and job as a cosmetologist in El Salvador in the face of gang violence in the summer of 2014.

She was apprehended at the Texas border, where she applied for asylum and was ordered to wear an ankle bracelet to track her whereabouts. From there, she went to Atlanta, to be with her parents and brothers and sisters. She said she never missed a court appearance. But in October, a judge ordered her deported.

Carmen was awaiting a decision on her appeal when ICE knocked on her door and hauled her off. Now, she said, she is working with her pro bono lawyers and praying for good news. "I hope God lets me stay," she said.
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By Kate Linthicum

The number of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally is at its lowest in more than a decade and, for the first time in years, has probably dropped below 11 million.

A new study by the Center for Migration Studies estimates that 10.9 million immigrants are living in the country without authorization. That is the lowest level since 2003 and the first time the number has dipped below 11 million since 2004.

A steady decline in illegal immigration, which has been documented by previous studies, runs counter to the widespread image on the Republican presidential campaign trail of a rise in illegal border crossers.

GOP front-runner Donald Trump's has said illegal immigration rates are "beyond belief" and has claimed immigrants bringing crime and disease are "just pouring across the border." Trump has pledged mass deportations and a giant border wall, while criticizing as weak his more moderate rivals, such as Jeb Bush, who has proposed giving immigrants already in the country a path to legal status.

According to the report, written by a prominent former government demographics expert, illegal immigration has dropped steadily since 2008, driven in part by a large number of immigrants from Mexico returning home.

Since 2010, the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally declined by about 612,000, or 9 percent, the report found.

The size of California's unauthorized Mexican immigrant population shrank by about 250,000 between 2010 and 2014, the study found. The state's overall population of unauthorized immigrants fell by 318,000 to a total of just under 2.6 million during that time.

The declines correspond with the onset of the Great Recession and with an increase in the number of deportations under President Barack Obama, said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University.

He noted that many immigrants work in parts of the economy, notably construction and hospitality, that suffer disproportionately during economic downturns.

Immigrants "have been exposed to the ups and downs of the American economy in ways that people in other sectors have not been," he said.

Manuel Pastor, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, pointed to another factor: lower birth rates in Mexico. With less competition for jobs in Mexico, there may be less pressure to head north to find work.

Pastor said Trump's heated rhetoric about the growing threat of illegal immigration is "detached from reality," and partly the product of a presidential primary system in which Republican candidates have competed to appeal to their party's most conservative  mostly white  voters.

Pastor noted "growing demographic anxieties" among white Americans about the country's rapidly changing racial and ethnic makeup and said Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric plays into that.

"This is a very racialized debate," he said.

While the report found declines in the number of unauthorized immigrants from South America, the Caribbean and Europe, it reported an increase in the number of immigrants crossing illegally from Central America, an area gripped with poverty and rising violence in recent years.
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By Anna M. Tinsley

FORT WORTH  When the March 1 presidential primary elections finally arrive in Texas, hundreds of thousands of voters  maybe even half of the Texans who plan to turn out  may have already cast their ballots.

During the past three presidential elections alone, more than 2 million voters headed to the polls early in Texas, state records show.

"This is definitely the trend here," said Frank Phillips, Tarrant County's elections administrator. "Mid to high 60 percent of people who vote in Tarrant County vote before Election Day.

"It's fantastic."

Texas is one of 37 states, along with the District of Columbia, that lets voters cast ballots early, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Nearly 30 years ago, state lawmakers changed the early voting system that required Texans to provide a "valid excuse" to vote early.

They loosened up the rules to let voters cast early ballots just because they wanted to vote before election day.

"Some people enjoy and celebrate the act of voting," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "Other people  vote early.

"In Texas, because our voter turnout is so pitifully low overall, we need to make voting as easy as possible."

Texans may vote early between Feb. 16-26.

Voters also may send in ballots by mail if they will be out of town on election day and during early voting, are sick or disabled, are 65 or older, or locked up in jail but eligible to vote.

"I think Texans are becoming more aware of the convenience of early voting," said Alicia Pierce, a spokeswoman with the Texas secretary of state's office. "One of the great things about early voting is you can vote anywhere in your county.

"It's definitely more convenient, and it takes the stress off of election day because you're not rushing to get to one site and you're not worried about lines," she said. "It's definitely an option we encourage voters to take advantage of."

The deadline to register to vote in the March 1 primary is Feb. 1.

The 2008 presidential election remains the standout in Texas, drawing a record number of early voters to the polls  1.1 million, or more than 15 percent  in the state's 15 largest counties.

In 2012, more than 550,000 voters, or 6.87 percent, of voters in those counties voted before Election Day, and 272,722 voters, or 3.6 percent, cast early votes in those counties in 2004, state records show.

Texans who vote early, just as those who vote on Election Day, must show their photo ID when casting their ballot in person.

Part of the early turnout growth in Texas is due to more voters asking for mail-in ballots.

Phillips said the rise in requests for mail-in ballots is partially due to candidates reaching out to Texans 65 and older, generally sending them pre-filled-out forms asking them for a ballot that they just have to sign and drop in the mail.

But now, voters also may ask for a full year's worth of ballots, rather than asking for only a ballot for the next election, he said.

In 2012, 63,981 ballots were mailed in early statewide, compared with 48,250 statewide in 2008 and nearly 27,000 statewide in 2004, records show.

The goal of these ballots primarily is to make sure voters who can't make it aren't cut out of the electoral process, Phillips said.

So far, about 1,000 requests for ballots have been sent in, he said.

"This is a convenience for voters," Jillson said.

The question of which party benefits from early voting is just that  a question.

Democrats say it helps Republicans; Republicans say it's the other way around.

"Early voting doesn't necessarily help any one party at this point," said Brandon Rottinghaus, an associate political science professor at the University of Houston.

But he said many early voters share certain characteristics.

"Voters who vote early are typically older, more affluent, and are long-term homeowners," Rottinghaus said. "Younger voters are less likely to vote early partially because they are less likely to vote anyway.

"Racial minorities are also less likely to vote early in part because of the distant location of polling places," he said. "Women are also more likely to vote early."

Tarrant County generally ranks in the top five Texas counties for early turnout, state records show.

"The counties that have not embraced early voting are heavily Hispanic, perhaps due to lack of competition in these heavily Democratic areas," Rottinghaus said. "Republican counties, especially suburban ones, have spiked in early voting numbers."

In time, more and more voters will decide that casting votes early is the way to go.

It "gives voters flexibility about when and where to vote," Rottinghaus said. "As voters become more familiar with it, and adopt it as part of their voting routine, it will catch on even more."
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One in 3.5 million: That's the risk you'll die from a terrorist attack in the United States, Ohio State professor John Mueller estimates. Rounded generously, that chance comes to 3 one-hundred thousandths of a percent.

That's not how most Americans see it, though.

In a recent Gallup poll, 51 percent of respondents said they're personally worried about becoming a victim. If you'll forgive my amateur number crunching, that means we're overestimating the terrorist threat by factor of about 1.7 million.

No wonder people play the lottery.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama is trying hard  with mixed results  not to get pushed into another Middle Eastern war. But that's a tall order when Americans are more fearful of attacks than at any time since 9/11  and when politicians such as Ted Cruz are calling for bona fide war crimes like "carpet-bombing" Syria.

Obama tried hard to walk that line in his final State of the Union address.

He dismissed critics who likened the fight against the Islamic State to "World War III," and insisted (correctly) that the group poses no existential threat to the United States. But he also assured listeners that the militants would be "rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed."

To that end, Obama boasted, American planes had already launched 10,000 airstrikes on Iraq and Syria.

This appeal to the carpet-bombing constituency was Obama's attempt to break the political taboo against counseling modesty about the threat of terrorism. Unfortunately, it only illustrates a much deeper taboo against admitting that foreign terrorism against our country is almost always a response to our foreign policies.

You know, policies such as launching 10,000 airstrikes.

Political scientist Robert Pape should know. He's studied every suicide attack on record.

Pape argues that while religious appeals  Islamic or otherwise  can help recruit suicide bombers, virtually all attacks can be reduced to political motives. "What 95 percent of all suicide attacks have in common," he concludes, "is not religion." Instead, there's "a specific strategic motivation to respond to a military intervention."

In the years before al-Qaida pulled off the 9/11 attacks, for instance  and since, for that matter  Washington propped up repressive regimes in places such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which ruthlessly subjugated Islamist and liberal challengers alike. It armed and enabled Israel, even as the country bombed its Muslim (and Christian) neighbors in Palestine and Lebanon.

And in between its two full-scale invasions of Iraq, Washington imposed devastating sanctions that caused well over half a million Iraqi children to die from a lack of food or medicine.

In his letter explaining the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden mentioned all these things and more to argue that U.S. intervention in the Muslim world had to be stopped. That's an opinion shared by plenty of people who aren't mass murderers.

Similarly, before it expanded to Syria, the infamous Islamic State emerged out of a Sunni rebellion against the repressive Shiite government Washington set up in Iraq after toppling Saddam Hussein. To the extent that it's engaged in international terrorism, ISIS has mostly targeted countries  such as France, Turkey, Lebanon and Russia  that have plunged into Syria on the side of its enemies.

None of this excuses terrorism in the least. But it strongly suggests that senseless wars only increase the risk of attack  especially when there's not a bomb on this planet (much less 10,000 of them) powerful enough to put Iraq and Syria back together. Diplomats may do that someday. Carpet-bombing won't.

Until then, a 0.00003 percent risk of terrorism is high enough. Why multiply it by acting rashly?
Back in September, the New York County District Attorneys Office, City of London Police and the Center for Internet Security formed a Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) to prevent malicious cyberactivity globally. This article from the United Kingdom described the GCA launch in 2015.But a few weeks ago I saw more news about GCA that grabbed my attention and interest. Philip (Phil) Reitinger was named as GCAs first president and CEO . I have known Phil for many years and have always been impressed with his knowledge, experience, leadership actions and thought-leading work. One example is this important 2011 white paper on:Reitinger is well-known for his influential years of service as deputy under secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate and director of the National Cybersecurity Center at the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to serving at DHS, Reitinger was an executive with Microsoft with the title of Chief Trustworthy Infrastructure Strategist.While I was learning more about GCA, I came across the fact that Will Pelgrin is one of the co-founders and the current chair of GCA. Will is well-known to Lohrmann on Cybersecurity blog readers. I interviewed Will last May as he was stepping down from his role with the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). I encourage you to read that interview to learn more about Wills outstanding professional career and accomplishments.Which leads me to this exclusive interview with Phil Reitinger and Will Pelgrin on the details behind GCAs mission, activities and plans. Enjoy.Will  thank you for your continued leadership!The last time I interviewed you, you were stepping down as the president and CEO of the Center for Internet Security. What have you been working on over the past year?Why did you see the need for the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA)? How did the organization come about?Where do you see this going over the next five years? What is the vision?Would you describe GCA as similar to the MS-ISAC  only global?Does GCA include public and private organizations or only governments?Is there anything else you would like to add about GCA, or your professional plans for 2016?You've had an amazing career, can you tell us any secrets to your past success?How did you get involved with the GCA? Why is this work important to you?This work is important to me because I have been in cybersecurity for a long time, and I have worked for a number of large organizations. I have come to the conclusion that the most important cybersecurity initiative is to do something. I think I first heard that from Scott Charney of Microsoft. Do something, see whether it works, and tell people about it so they can learn from your experience. Repeat. Thats what GCA will do.What are the goals of the organization in the first year or two?Who is involved? What countries and organizations are partners?Given your vast global experience, what would you say are the top two or three biggest challenges facing the security industry around the world?How can readers get involved with GCA? What opportunities are there to partner and connect in 2016?Is there anything else you would like to add about GCA's strategy or approach?My sincere thanks to Will Pelgrin and Phil Reitinger for their sharing their insights and helping us understand more about the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA). Best wishes to you both and to GCA in 2016 and beyond!
Doug Clarks commentary on straight-party voting (Jan. 13) appears relevant until one looks back over many years of North Carolina politics.

Straight-party voting originated during the Great Depression. Voters lacked knowledge on candidates (and still do); communications were limited to telephone, radio, newspapers and hand-out pamphlets. Many voters were told to vote a straight ticket. Those who were bused to the precincts were given voting instructions. Even a ballot was used with pre-markings so voting mistakes would not happen. Many voters were bribed with alcohol, money, etc.

For more than 120 years, one party controlled North Carolina politics and government policies. Can you imagine how limited the opportunities were? It was offensive and lacked cohesiveness and creativity. If one was not registered with the controlling party, chances for state employment within counties were limited.

Having to select a candidate on a ballot allows direct input for the voter and the candidate in the election process. Should a candidate be less known, simply pass over on this vote.

Todays voter wants to be sure his vote is counted and not have a straight ticket unfamiliar with policies cancel his initiative. Every ballot name stands for itself. With more information today than one really needs, there are simply no excuses for absenteeism  even line-item voting.

A.L. Capel Jr.

Troy
My husband and I just spent 10 days this September (2015) exploring the national parks in the Southern Utah/Northern Arizona area.

As senior citizens we were able to buy a Lifetime Pass to all the national parks for $10! This was our first experience visiting the national parks. We hope to visit many more in the upcoming years.

We took a picture on the Cape Royal Trail at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Two ravens joined us while we were eating our picnic lunch. I like this shot since it gives us some perspective of how high up we are and a reminder of the amazing trip that we had.

I was lucky to have parents that groomed me to be an avid lover of the outdoors.

Pilot Mountain State Park has had an extreme impact on my life for a number of reasons.

It has been the site of many firsts for me when I started rock climbing seriously, over a year ago.

Prior to venturing out west to climb Mount Rainier, I utilized the miles and miles of hiking trails at Pilot Mountain numerous times to help train and physically prepare myself for the onerous task of ascending Rainier. And I must say, training there could not have prepared me any better.

And lastly, Pilot Mountain simply just offers anyone a chance to get outside and get close to nature. When Im climbing there, it makes me happy to see people getting outside to enjoy the little things in life.

We visited Glacier National Park in Montana in August 2011.

On our second day in the park, we hiked the Highline Trail, a narrow, very steep trail starting at Logans Pass above the Going to the Sun Road, the only road through the park.

The trail was about seven miles round-trip with beautiful vistas along the way. We had to hike over snow fields along the way, which were quite thrilling; one slip, and you may wind up on the Going to the Sun Road a few thousand feet below.

On our way back out, we had a visitor on the trail, a mountain goat. Our guide advised us that he had the right of way so our group just had to stand and wait for him to meander away. With those horns, did not want to anger him. We had a nice break and photo op while we waited for him to leave.

The scenery was awesome from the trail. There are 20 glaciers left in the park, but they are disappearing quickly. It is predicted that they will all be gone by 2020. It was by far one of the most beautiful places we had ever seen. Well worth the trip.

During that trip we visited Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. We put 4,000 miles on our rental car in a 2 week period, after flying to Denver, Colo. It was a whirlwind trip, but I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates nature.
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The weekends snow storm delivered more than expected but left Greenwich in fairly good condition, despite a higher than average tide and slick roads that caused at least one injury accident.

The storm moved in early Saturday, at times dumping as much 2 inches of snow an hour onto local roads and yards. Greenwichs coastal areas ended up with 10 to 12 inches of snow and areas in the backcountry got 16 inches or more, emergency response officials said.

The National Weather Services trained spotter in Greenwich recorded 15 inches of snow, according to the services website. That gave Greenwich the second highest total in Fairfield County, an inch behind Darien and Norwalk, which each recorded 16 inches. Port Chester, N.Y., recorded 24.5 inches.

A CTTransit bus carrying seven passengers slid off Soundview Drive and crashed into a pole early Saturday as the storm moved in. One person was taken to Stamford Hospital. No updated information on the victims condition was available late Sunday.

The Saturday accident left about 200 people without power; another few outages were reported from a downed tree on North Street that took some wires with it. The town declared a snow emergency about 4 p.m. Saturday. The emergency was still in effect on Sunday.

Metro-North trains stopped running about the middle of the blizzard Saturday and resumed service about 3 p.m. Sunday.

Greenwich resident Nick Martschenko, who owns the South End Uncorked restaurant in New Canaan, said he was open for business Saturday but saw few customers.

The snow pretty much eliminates the business, he said. We had some people in there (to) hang out but we maybe had a tenth of our typical business.

Saturdays snow didnt stop Pari Hirsch from walking around her neighborhood, but she said she appreciated the calm of Sunday as she took her constitutional from Riverside Avenue onto nearby Thornhill, Spezzano and Sheephill roads.

It was awful yesterday, Hirsch said, recalling Saturdays walking conditions with a laugh. It was really windy. Its so beautiful today though. Its not even cold.

Police reported several minor car accidents throughout the weekend. Eversource reported no outages or power problems on Sunday.

The town of Greenwich continues to dig out from the snow, said Greenwich Police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray Sunday. Cleanup is ongoing on the edges of many roadways as well as the commuter lots and the railroad stations. Those people that have a sidewalk in front of their house (should) get out there and shovel their walkways and people should be cognizant of where they put their snow and dont put it out on the roadway. Other than that, it was a typical New England snow day.

Town Emergency Management Director Dan Warzoha agreed.

This is not something were unaccustomed to, Warzoha said on Sunday.

While the towns Department of Public Works trucks cleaned up Sunday, residents took the time to enjoy the bright sunshine and temperatures in the low 30s.

Popular sledding destinations included the Innes Arden Golf Club, Bruce Park and several of the area schools  including North Mianus School, where dozens of parents and kids turned out Sunday to fight off what cabin fever remained from Saturdays blizzard conditions.

We were cooped up all of Saturday, said Kerry Murphy, who spent Sunday afternoon sledding at North Mianus School with her 5-year-old son, Jack. We did Legos all day inside. We were not brave enough to do the blizzard, so today weve been sledding and were on hour three right now. Its been a great day and weve been having an awesome time. Its beautiful out. The sun is out. The wind is gone. The snow is great and the kids are having fun. Thats what its all about.

A long day of sledding at North Mianus was also on hand for Ryan Smith and his sons, 5-year-old Clayton and 3-year-old Keenan.

Its been awesome, Smith said. It was a fantastic time for us to get outside as a family and have some fun. We have an 8-month-old at home too, and he didnt like the snow nearly as much, but we had a lot of fun here and now were going to go home and watch some football.

Restauteur Martschenko joined his wife, Erin, and their children, 9-year-old Anna, 7-year-old Nicholas and 3-year-old Matthew, outdoors Sunday for some family time on the North Mianus School hills.

Weve been shoveling for 24 hours now and we wanted to take a little break and have some fun, he said. It was a light snow so it wasnt too heavy but there was a lot of it.

Snow and wind notwithstanding, the Martschenko kids spent time outside Saturday, Erin Martschenko said.

They were out in it all day yesterday, she said.

Frank DeSalvo came out to sled with his 8-year-old son, Connor. After being stuck inside all day on Saturday, DeSalvo said, they were eager to get outside.

The storm ended up being fine for us, DeSalvo said. We shoveled out this morning and the roads were great. There werent any issues at all. Luckily we had a snow blower. We didnt have to plan too much ahead. Usually youre only stuck inside one day and thats the extent of it. You just have to hope you dont lose your power  and fortunately we didnt.

Two legged sledders werent the only ones out by North Mianus School. Among those who brought their dogs out for a spin were 9-year-old Morgan Kelley and her 8-year-old brother Mason, who took turns sledding down the hill with their dog, Cooper.

To me it feels kind of funny but I liked it, Morgan said after a trip downhill. Im going down the hill with my dog and she keeps trying to jump out.

With roads mostly passable and no snow predicted for the next few days, town and school officials expected everything to be back on schedule Monday. School was expected to start on time and the town was expected to lift the snow emergency.

Greenwich Police Department urged drivers to add more time to their morning commutes on Monday because of potentially slippery and hazardous conditions from black ice that could form overnight.

Temperatures are expected to hit a high of 36 Monday and a low of 28 with a light wind. Tuesday, theres a 20 percent chance of rain after 9 a.m. with a high near 43 and an overnight low of 34. There is also a 30 percent chance of precipitation before 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The Board of Education approved a district calendar for the 2017-18 school year this past week that essentially follows the same schedule already in place.

Like the schedules for this year and next year, the 2017-18 calendar would have 181 school days. The state minimum is 180.

The proposed 2017-18 calendar would also maintain all of the districts vacations, including its breaks during December, February and April.

The 2017-18 calendar also conforms with a regional calendar system going into effect this fall that groups districts into six geographical areas to create synchronized school calendars for each of those regions.

The new framework is supposed to help statewide coordination of vacations, teacher professional-learning initiatives and other events.

While many school officials in other parts of the state have lamented the loss of autonomy under the new system, the impact in Greenwich of sharing a calendar with other southwestern Connecticut districts will be minimal, educators said.

The board made one change to the calendar proposed by Superintendent of Schools William McKersie, pushing back the start of school by one day to Aug. 28 for teachers and Aug. 31 for students.

Carol Sutton, the districts teachers union president, recommended the change.

The 2017-18 calendar, as proposed, gives the summer school faculty only 10 consecutive vacation days before the start of school, which hardly seems adequate, Sutton said at the boards meeting this past week at Central Middle School.

Sutton said that she was also concerned about parent-teacher conferences at the elementary schools scheduled in the evening on Dec. 14 coinciding with the third night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. As with the calendars for this year and next, the elementary conferences are scheduled for the first two weeks of December.

Deputy Superintendent Ellen Flanagan listed a number of reasons why rescheduling the Dec. 14 meetings would be problematic, including potential conflicts with school board meetings, little parent and teacher interest in Friday meetings, difficulty getting parents to remember Monday conferences, the December vacation and administrators desire to avoid scheduling two early-dismissal days in the same week for afternoon conferences.

We wouldnt want the evening conference to be on the 12th because that is the first evening of Hanukkah, Flanagan said. After all was said and done, we think we should leave those days as the parent-teacher conferences.

Board members did not change the conference schedule, but some of them expressed concerns about having the meetings in December.

These conferences are really meaningful, said Peter Sherr. December is a terrible month for (scheduling) all kinds of things. Do we have to be attached to that; why dont we just go do this in January?

The conferences are held in the first half of December to coincide with the end of the first marking period and the release of report cards in the elementary schools, Flanagan said.

We try to balance between not having them too early when the teachers dont know the students long enough and not having them so late that the parents feel that half of the school year is over, and this is my first opportunity to have a conference with my childs teacher? Flanagan said.

pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott
As we send off the third week of 2016, let's look back and see what excitement the news section had to offer.

The Nokia brand has been one constantly reoccurring theme these past few days and the promise of a glorious return to the smartphone realm with a new batch of devices now seems more plausible than ever. Mysterious handsets with the legendary Finnish logo have been popping up all over the place in photos, online listings and videos.





Samsung made the headlines quite a few times during the week. Galaxy S7 rumors are constantly intensifying, but it finally feels like we are getting closer to uncovering the full story about all the variants and their screen sizes. As of today, that includes a 5.1-inch basic S7 and a 5.5-inch S7 edge. The Korean giant has also been keeping busy updating its "J" family. Consequently, the Galaxy J5 (2016) and J7 (2016) have been popping up in leaks all over the place. The same goes for the refreshed "A" family as well.

In other news, HTC also has big plans for 2016, with two new Nexus phones, allegedly lined up, as well as the eagerly-anticipated release of the M10.

LG is also generating a lot of hype around the G5 flagship, due out this year. It might be a radical departure from its predecessors with volume and power buttons moved away from the back to help in crafting a thinner profile. The idea of a detachable bottom part to grant access to the battery has also been tossed around.



Lenovo K4 Note up for grabs in first flash sale today The sale, which is for the INR 12,499 ($185) priced Vibe K4 Note VR Bundle that also includes an ANT VR headset, will begin at 2pm IST





New Xiaomi Mi 5 image leaks, shows white variant This comes just over a week after the black variant leaked online.





Mysterious all-metal Nokia resurfaces in a new set photos The boxy device is said to be a budget-friendly offer, possibly coming this year.





Samsung LED View Cover for Galaxy S7, S7 edge clears FCC he US telecom governing body has certified a pair of accessory cases for what appear to be the Samsung Galaxy S7, and the S7 edge.





Leaked LG G5 diagram shows new design, volume buttons on the side LG is looking ready to fully give up on the design language it's been using for the G series up until now.





Apple is now pushing iOS 9.2.1 to all supported devices The new version of the company's mobile operating system is focused primarily on fixing bugs.





Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) specs spotted on GFXBench The device has double the RAM of its predecessor and a higher resolution display.





User agent profile reveals new LG phone; possibly the G5 The data reveals the model number the device carries and the OS it runs.





Huawei P9 tipped to come in four variants Aside from the standard P9, the other three variants will be a comparatively budget-friendly P9lite, a P9max, and an unnamed higher-specced P9.





Samsung fixes Galaxy Note5, a wrongly inserted S-Pen no longer breaks it The new Galaxy Note5 units allow you to insert the S-Pen backwards and pull it out easily.





Motorola posts Android 6.0 release notes for Moto G (2nd Gen) This comes just a day after the Motorola Moto G Turbo Edition started receiving the Android 6.0 update in India.





Microsoft lowers requirements for Continuum for phones Continuum  probably the most coveted Windows 10 feature among Lumia fans is now expanding its reach. Currently it is reserved only for the OEM's latest and greatest tech, namely the





Motorola Moto G Turbo Edition getting Android 6.0 Marshmallow Weighing in at around 445MB, the update is currently rolling out to users in India.






Haiti - FLASH : The Vice-President of the Electoral Council leaves the ship





Following a letter from the Association of Haitian Journalists addressed to Pierre Manigat Jr. Representative of the Press and Vice President of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), suggesting him to withdraw "to avoid condoning the catastrophes that could cause the elections of January 24, 2016, if they are carried out," Pierre Manigat Jr. had answered "I promise, within hours, to give a favorable response to your query in strict compliance with the commitments made to the Association during my appointment to the Provisional Electoral Council" What the Adviser made Friday, January 22 by sending his resignation letter to President Michel Martelly.



He becomes the 5th member of the CEP to resign after Jacceus Joseph (Representative of Human Rights) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16403-haiti-cep-the-adviser-jacceus-joseph-resigns.html , Ricardo Augustin (Representative of the Catholic Church) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16264-haiti-news-electoral-zapping.html Vijonet Demero (Representative of the Protestant Federation of Haiti) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16338-haiti-elections-the-electoral-adviser-vijonet-demero-resigns.html and the temporary withdrawal of Yolette Mengual (Women Sector Representative) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16314-haiti-news-electoral-zapping.html



Resignation letter of Pierre Manigat Jr. :

"Petion-ville, January 22, 2016



His Excellency Michel Joseph Martelly,



President of the Republic of Haiti

In its offices.-



I regret to present my resignation as a member of the Provisional Electoral Council.



This decision meets the strict commitments made to the Association of Haitian Journalists (AJH) during my appointment to the Provisional Electoral Council.



Pierre Manigat Junior

Vice President of the CEP"



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Elections : The European Observation Mission condemns the acts of violence





The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the European Union (EU EOM), present in Haiti since July 12, 2015, took note of the decision of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to postpone the electoral process of the second round of presidential elections and by-elections scheduled for January 24, 2016 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16394-haiti-flash-elections-of-january-24-are-canceled-update-7h10-pm.html



"The EOM-EU condemns the acts of violence recorded in recent days in various departments of the country and regrets that this deterioration in the security environment and the pressures that followed the election of 25 October, have ended by depriving citizens of Haiti of their right to freely express their political will in the constitutional deadlines. Violence has no place in a democratic process where voters' rights must always be guaranteed.



The European Mission considers it necessary that the different actors of the electoral process assume their responsibilities in order to put an end as soon as possible to the current political impasse, which unfortunately, only enlarge the distance between citizens and their representatives. The Mission calls on all actors to maintain an attitude of non-violence and respect of standards that govern the process.



The Mission reiterates its support to the Haitian electoral process and underlines the necessity to respect the electoral results of the vote of October 25, 2015 which placed the candidate Jovenel Moise and Jude Celestin in the second round of the presidential elections and reiterates its support to the Haitian people, to the development democratic and political stability of Haiti."



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16398-haiti-flash-situation-of-violence-and-anarchy.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16396-icihaiti-flash-schools-burnt-the-ministry-requests-the-assistance-of-the-population.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16363-haiti-news-electoral-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16364-haiti-flash-demonstration-violence-vandalism-and-panic-scenes-in-the-capital.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Electoral Zapping...





New demonstrations in the metropolitan area

Saturday in the metropolitan area, thousands of people again took to the streets to the call of the opposition demanding the departure of the Head of State, Prime Minister and the formation of a transitional government before 7 February.



The demonstrators have multiplied the barricades of burning tires on their path, throwing stones and bottles isolated were reported between protesters and opposing camps. This umpteenth demonstration started facing St Bosco then Delmas, Bourdon, to ends on the Champ de mars opposite the National Palace and the police use water cannons irritant to disperse the crowd. Note that the demonstrators also clashed the officers of the Corps of Intervention and Maintenance of Order (CIMO) at the Downtown... In Lalue, barricades of burning tires, large stones and other debris blocking traffic. Many damage and vandalism have been reported.



Declaration of U.S. Senator for Florida

Friday, Marco Rubio, Senator of Florida, said that Haiti needed to clearly set a timetable for a democratic presidential election "It's disappointing that they've decided to postpone it [the elections] [...] They need to create a clear timeline for when it is these elections are going to happen. They (the elections) cannot be continuously, indefinitely postponed because it undermines democracy," adding "Haiti is in our western hemisphere. We have an interest."



Reaction of Jovenel Moise on the the postponement of the 2nd round

Saturday, during a press conference Jovenel Moise, presidential candidate under the banner of PHTK, said he was appalled to note another postponement of the second round, with no new date set "I have taken note of the annulment of the elections of 24 January, decided by the Provisional Electoral Council. I believe that the Haitian people were ready to vote in crowds for Jovenel Moise. The vote that the Haitian people had given me, has its political weight, this vote will make history, it will continue to make history until the final victory," adding "Our generation has a responsibility to show to other countries in the world, that we are a civilized Nation."



The EOM-OAS calls for political dialogue

The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) in Haiti today called on all political stakeholders to engage in a consensual, constructive dialogue to overcome the current political crisis and complete the electoral process. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16394-haiti-flash-elections-of-january-24-are-canceled-update-7h10-pm.html



The appeal follows the decision of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to suspend the presidential run-off scheduled for January 24 "in the face of a deteriorating security environment and threats to the electoral process."



The Mission strongly condemns the acts of violence across the country, including the incidents that have directly affected OAS observers during their deployment. The Mission will continue to monitor the situation in Haiti.



Decree of January 6 reported

The Ministry of Communication informs the population that, following the request of the Provisional Electoral Council, and through Decree issued by the Council of Ministers Friday, January 22, 2016, the decree of January 6, 2016 convening the people in its Comices Sunday, January 24, 2016 has been reported.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2016/01/24 | Source

The Lotte Concert Hall will open on Aug. 18. It will be located on the eighth to tenth floors of the Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul. It is the exclusive first concert hall for classical music in Seoul in 28 years since the Seoul Art Center.

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With a vineyard structure whose seating completely surrounded the stage, performers and audiences can enjoy a sense of closeness. The hall is designed by Nagata Acoustics, an acoustics consulting company that produced the worlds best acoustics in venues such as the Suntory Hall in Japan, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in the U.S., and the Philharmonie de Paris in France.

A large pipe organ with 4,958 pipes is also notable. It is made and installed by Rieger Orgelbau, a 171-year-old Austrian organ maker who made organs for globally-renowned concert halls including Musikverein in Vienna.

To celebrate the opening, the Lotte Concert Hall will have a festival through December. The opening performance will be made by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Childrens Song by Stars, a piece created by Jin Eun-sook, will be first introduced to the world at the hall. The Korean Symphony Orchestra, the KBS Symphony Orchestra, the La Scala Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will also be on the stage.

Bass Yeon Gwang-cheols special gala concert, pianist Lang Langs recital with other 100 pianists, and baritone Matthias Goernes Winter Journey (Winterreise) will be held as well. The Ensemble InterContemporain, which was founded by Frances Pierre Boulez who passed away this month, will make its first visit to Korea and a monthly pipe organ performance will be held during the festival period.
[HanCinema's Digest] Culture Corner

Published on 2016/01/23

Watch a short animated documentary about what transpired with the Sewol disaster, get schooled on Korean cosmetics and its relation to K-pop, catch a glimpse of Hongdae's vibrant youth culture with some street-side jamming, and see what the new Asian Culture Centre in Gwangju has planned to develop innovation in the country's capital. Advertisement "Two Contrasting Views of the South Korea Ferry Accident - English" The Sewol accident was a tragic event that rocked the nation, but what happened on that fateful day, exactly? Man Park presents the controversy: "This short animated documentary is based on the South Korea Ferry Sewol accident. The intention is not to reconstruct what actually happened, or to analyse why it happened. It simply asks us to think about how we can best learn from it, taking account of systems safety research over the past thirty years". WATCH ON

"BEHIND SOUTH KOREAN COSMETIC SURGERY: ITS HISTORICAL CAUSES AND ITS INTERTWINED RELATIONSHIP WITH KOREAN POP CULTURE"

For those who enjoy digging a little deeper into important culture issues and history, here is a timely MA study about Korea's phenomenal cosmetic surgery surge in relation to K-pop culture by Yuqing Wang. The more you know

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"Busking Hip-Hop/Kpop Culture in Hongdae, South Korea"

I thoroughly enjoy visiting the Hongdae area, it's always alive with young energy, art and awesomeness, and there's always something interesting to go see or do. In this short video, you'll get to see some awesome hip-hop dancing in streets of Hongdae; a little taste of Korea's youth culture and its vibrancy in action. Enjoy!

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"A place to 'tell Asia's story'"

Park Hyongki from The Korea Herald reports on the Gwangju and its multicultural Asia Culture Centre (ASA): "With its long history and traditions, Asia was never able to raise its voice or tell its stories on par with Europe. We offer a variety of programmes both for artists, scholars and other people to share and develop ideas through public seminars, artists' residencies and exhibitions", Bang Sun-gyu, acting president of the ACC, told The Nation.

READ ON THE NATION
Published on 2016/01/23

Kevin Virgil explores North Korea's food markets, find out why metal chopsticks are so popular in Korea, see how Korea is experimenting with new ways to help minimise food waste, and Beyond Kimchee has a simple recipe for a healthy 'snake bean' dish.

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"What I Un-Learned in North Korea: Plastic Food? Try Micro-Brews and Coca-Cola"

This the third instalment of Kevin Virgil's report on his trip to North Korea. In this post, he talks about his experiences of North Korea's food markets and industry: "The one we visited functions as a state-owned collective. Most of the traders are women. Cramped in a long line, they stand shoulder to shoulder beckoning customers to the wares set out in front of them. Seeing my video image, a friend who was in China in the early 1990s said it took him back to that time".

READ ON LINKEDIN

"CULTURE QUIRK: METAL CHOPSTICKS"

Are you a chopstick master, or stick-fumbling newbie? Metal chopsticks will soon give you the answer, because while many are skilled in the art of wooden chopsticks, becoming efficient with the metal variety in Korea is a challenge, and one with an an interesting history behind it: "Out of all the Asian countries, only South Korea uses metal rather than wood, bamboo, or plastic as the material for their chopsticks. This practice started centuries ago in the time of the Joseon dynasty when one of the Joseon kings, paranoid about an attempt being made on his life, started using chopsticks made of solid silver thinking that the silver would tarnish if there was any poison in his food. His higher officials followed suit and over time, the use of metal filtered down to the rest of the population".

READ ON THE ANTHROTORIAN

"Reducing Food Waste in Korea"

Recently France made it illegal for restaurants to through out their food waste, and worldwide we are seeing a move to becoming less wasteful day-to-day. In Korea, there are 'smart disposal systems' that citizens can use with their ID cards to help curb food waste: "For residents, this strict regulation has created incentives to lower waste (or learn some small scale composting skills!), but some might argue that it is excessively strict. No one can argue, however, that it hasn't made a difference: in a relatively short amount of time, waste in neighbourhoods with a pay-by-weight system decreased their food waste by 30%".

READ ON GUELPH FOOD WASTE RESEARCH PROJECT

"Snake Beans with Beef Sauce"

Holly over at Beyond Kimchi ("Real Korean Food and Beyond") has a fresh recipe for making 'snake beans' with a beef sauce. As always, Holly's presents clear instructions compete with great images to ensure this healthy dish turns out right. Total cooking time: 10 minutes!

READ ON BEYOND KIMCHEE
Published on 2016/01/23

Korea has the most private museums in the world, Jaewoon U has some incredible landscape photographs for us to marvel at, Ann Lee hits the streets to capture humans and objects, and what do you know about Korean pansori?

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"South Korea tops global list for private art museums"

Did you know that South Korea is home to the highest number of private art museums in the world? That's incredible, and it's a testament to country's commitment to art and culture: "What I personally found very exciting over the course of the study was to see the dedication and resources the collectors are putting into setting up and operating a private museum and by doing so they are very often filling a gap in a region's museum infrastructure", said Christoph Noe, the founder of Larry's List.

READ ON THE ART NEWSPAPER

"The Beauty of South Korea Captured Landscape Photography"

Take a moment to enjoy these absolutely stunning landscape images from Seoul-based photographer, Jaewoon U; he "features a talent for capturing of South Korea in his reflective landscape photos that work with rivers and lakes as mirrors the reflective the world around them. Here are your sandy beaches, flowery spring landscapes, rocky mountains and quietly stunning historic sites with your new Korean travel bucket checklist". Beautiful, more please!

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"South Korean Street Photography By Ann Lee"

There is something about street photography that I've always been attracted to, and in this gallery you can enjoy some of the works of South Korean street photography Ann Lee: "I like to capture ordinary people and objects in a subtle way. People are not aware of they have been photographed so they are in their own world and I observe them from outside without interaction. I like minimal abstraction but still want the situations in my photographs to be read by the viewer so images can tell the stories".

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"What is Pansori"

Do you know anything about South Korea's traditional art of pansori? Sadly, many do not, but with this short and sweet piece you'll get to know all about one of Korea's greatest culture treasures; and hopefully want to go and find out more by yourself.

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By Vasia Orion | Published on 2016/01/23

Korean drama has come a long way and at a very swift pace. Some things have not changed, of course. The adherence to certain production habits, thematic approaches as well as the reluctance to leave a desired comfort zone are still there, but works always appear from time to time that are willing to do something different. "Awl" is a series which, true to its name, goes beyond expectations in a most impressive, bold and inspiring way.

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Lee Soo-in (Ji Hyun-woo) works as a section manager at a store by supermarket chain Fourmis. When the company reaches the need for dismissals, it chooses to use underhanded methods in order to force workers into quitting. Soo-in refuses to harass his group and instead chooses to lead them in a fight against the illegal and unfair treatment. He reaches out to Goo Go-sin (Ahn Nae-sang), a labor union attorney for help in the upcoming struggle.

"Awl" is a challenging drama for those used to the perfect reality we usually see in fiction. Even in dark or sad works, there are rules which govern how things play out. Life is sadly not as convenient or fair. "Awl" is a drama about labor union struggles and based on a webtoon and true story, yes, but the adaptation does a lot more than that. It looks at people in relation to power. It explores hierarchy and how it functions when that powers comes to play. By focusing on life through characters, rather than the characters themselves, it explores its topics more.

This is a work which is nicely presented, incredibly well-acted and while it does have its pacing and focus ups and downs, it is also a thoughtfully written one. The fight for justice, the obstacles leading to it, the way it corrupts, betters and generally shapes us are all engrossing to watch and painful at the same time. Even so, "Awl" is not a dark series. There is camaraderie, friendship, support and even a lot of humor. Much like the life it portrays, it manages to be interesting while understated.

If it sounds like the perfect work, it is far from it. There are plenty of issues when looked at as a fictional story and those do hold its great achievements back at times. One main issue is the choice to focus too much on two young male characters with the least amount of things to lose in this predicament. This choice makes for good drama, but it leaves less room for things more necessary in the context of this series. There are so many individuals focus on which would have made the show's points better.

There are also times where the pacing is uneven and the writers seem unsure about what to focus on next. This is more frequent in the latter half of the drama. While Soo-in is a fantastic male lead and intentionally an outsider to the battle, having him bond more and with more characters would have also filled those slower moments. Some characters also go through sudden changes in the final episodes which are not developed well and therefore feel very forced and irrational.

Despite those issues, "Awl" is a greatly enjoyable and very important work. In a medium mostly delivering fleeting pleasures, it dives into real life drama, which is much more powerful than fabricated, unrelatable one. While it did not meet with the commercial success it deserves, it will undoubtedly become a cult classic and hopefully an inspiration for creators to aim higher than the constraints of the industry they work in.

Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'
By Lisa Espinosa | Published on 2016/01/23

It finally hit me in episode 3. "Moorim School" reminds me of a Taiwanese drama mashed together with a manga adaptation. It's not meant to be taken too seriously and with that thought in mind the show becomes more fun to watch. It becomes an episodic adventure of enemies turned allies and how those around them learn to accept them despite their blatant personality failings.

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Those two enemies, Chi-ang and Si-woo, are both egotistical young men whose intense personal circumstances have shaped their prickly exteriors and isolated them from socialization typical of their age. Despite their differences, the school will help them step out of their isolation caused by social and emotional damage, Chi-ang's by his social illegitimacy, Si-woo by his idol status. Their forced cohabitation at school leads to several insights into each other. Si-woo realizes how hard it has been for Chi-ang to live as an illegitimate child and suffer gossip, and Chi-ang realizes that Si-woo has lived under similar scrutiny as an idol.

The insight doesn't yet inspire friendship, but it does foster understanding between the boys who don't practice empathy. Unfortunately it doesn't do so with many of their classmates who don't take well to Chi-ang's and Si-woo's nasty attitudes. Soon-deok and Seon-ah are the only ones who seem to understand them.

"Moorim School" is a place that teaches intelligence and honor above the rigid academics focused on in Korean schooling. Dean Hwang, an overly zealous, careful man, is rigid in principle, but also deep with caring. His personality versus the zany personalities of his staff remind me of a group of teachers in a manga. The students as well. The four main characters have such disparate situations and plot threads that they don't quite fit together into a single plot. It is the manga-like detailed expositional dialogue that sticks it all together from Si-woo's sad story of his psychological hearing loss to Chi-ang's comedic take on his daddy issues, to Soon-deok's goofy ways of dealing with her poverty.

Despite the disjointed feeling of the plot, there are several parallels that are nicely done. Soon-deok is a goofball, but her ability to understand Si-woo's true issues and sympathize with him makes her compatable with his angst. Chi-ang and Si-woo compete for top dog, but instead are forced to accommodate with the school's core values that include learning to get along with people using honor and intelligence.

The venture in the mountain as a test of character was laughable in its outlandishness, but it did allow for some action scenes. They have been few and far between for a show about a martial arts school. And, it's always heartwarming to see two people open up towards each other in the face of adversity.

As for the acting, Lee Hyun-woo does a standout job, while Hong Bin shows serious improvement from his last roles. He has a natural gift for acting, but hasn't quite reached the stage of fluidity as Lee. He reacts well to more seasoned actors and I expect to see a change in fluency from now to the end of the drama's run. This is also one of the first shows in which the international cast is not incredibly awkward. Hooray! Onward to episode 4!

Written by: Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Moorim School" is directed by Lee So-yeon-I, written by Yang Jin-ah, and features Hong Bin, Lee Hyun-woo, Shin Hyun-joon, Seo Yea-ji, and Jung Eugene.

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By William Schwartz | Published on 2016/01/23

The year is 1925, the place Jiri Mountain, in the deep Southern part of Korea. The Japanese are pushing through on their plan to eradicate tigers and all other wild carnivores from the Korean countryside. Why? Well, officially because tigers are dangerous. Unofficially, the Japanese seek to defeat the tigers to prove once and for all that their new modern ways are superior to the old traditional ones. In this way "The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale" proves itself as backstory to the age-old question- why doesn't South Korea have any wild animals?

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As film, though, "The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale" is most easily comparable to classic Hollywood monster movies. No, really. The CGI tiger is a creature of pure beauty- cinema spectacle at its finest, plausibility be darned. It kills who it wants, when it wants. But here's the thing. The tiger doesn't really want to kill at all, save for the bare minimum necessary to provide for its family. When the Japanese declare a War on Tigers, they defy the natural order of mutual respect.

That's where Man-deok (played by Choi Min-sik) comes in to the story and refuses to participate. His one-time apprentices, led by the grisly Goo-gyeong (played by Jung Man-sik) are perfectly willing to work as bounty hunters for the Japanese mission. But as we see, Goo-gyeong has essentially sold his soul for the sake of easy cash flow. A decent man at heart, Goo-gyeong lets his Desire To Kill tigers get in the way of basic humanity.

...Odd choice of words, I have to admit, given that the tiger, for all its rampages has, well, a certain kind of dignity that's absent from nearly every other character save for Man-deok. This is an essential parallel. Though depressed by the Japanese Occupation, Man-deok is able to maintain some joy in life through his son Seok-i (played by Sung Yoo-bin), and is willing to live life with that meaning alone. Compare the Japanese. What do you suppose is going to happen, when they run out of tigers to hunt? Will they be satisfied then- or slake their bloodlust on even more dangerous game?

Understanding "The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale" requires a strong appreciation of historical context. While it's easy enough to posit the tiger as being symbolic of Korea writ-large, what the tiger more broadly represents is the unknown, the dangerous, and the untamable. To modern scientific man, the notion of anything that exists beyond his control is offensive. The Japanese would sooner destroy the mountain than admit that there is more to heaven and earth than is dreamt of in their philosophy.

This is the nilhistic nightmare by which the film's final sequence should be interpreted. Man-deok and the tiger, alone with nothing else to live for. Now we die together, left in the bliss of dreams, a bygone fantasy of the simple humble life we wanted to live before big men with grand plans took it upon themselves to save the world. "The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale" is pretty harrowing stuff- absolutely essential viewing for any who find themselves looking back on the past, asking why. Why indeed.

Review by William Schwartz

"The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale" is directed by Park Hoon-jung and features Choi Min-sik, Jung Man-sik and Kim Sang-ho.
By William Schwartz | Published on 2016/01/23

The United States spends more on its military than every other country in the world put together, much of it being used to maintain overseas armies. These armies tend not to be very helpful when it comes to doing...whatever it is they're supposed to do. But one major economic benefit comes with nearly every single overseas American military base. The local prostitution market is able to make good business. Oh those whiny Koreans- who ever said we don't do them any favors?

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"Tour of Duty" deals with one such community north of Seoul. For the most part directors Kim Dong-ryung and Park Kyoung-tae focus on the dingy outdoors environment. One essential irony of these military towns is that they were set up in a rush under the assumption that the American military would probably leave at some point. Yet day after day, year after year, the foreign troops don't leave and the town still looks like trash because who knows? This could be the year.

By the way, don't expect too much in the way of interviews or context from "Tour of Duty". Mostly all we get are long empty shots, occasionally punctuated by an extended story where a prostitute or a daughter of a prostitute gives the basics of her life story. These stories tend to be interesting mainly because there's no sense of bitterness or anger, even though the contents of these narratives are frequently morbid and disturbing. Which does make sense. The kind of women who work in these camps aren't the kind who have much in the way of opportunity anywhere else.

And there are also brief moments of joy. Like one sequence near the end that shows a woman out on a date with an American servicemember. Neither one of these people are terribly attractive, her English is only minimally functional, and the backdrop is every bit as unappealing as it was when the camera was just facing empty streets and playgrounds in stone cold silence. Even so, these two look cute, obviously enjoying each other's company. Even in the most miserable looking environment people can manage to live by just making an effort to not act depressed.

"Tour of Duty" would be an interesting companion piece to "Dear Dictator" if only because the two movies have a very similar visual aesthetic. This is of no surprise, given that the filming locations were quite close to another, but the tone differs quite radically. Where "Dear Dictator" is bitterly cynical, "Tour of Duty" typically refuses to express any opinion at all, giving us little more than a fixed camera angle to go by.

This, unsurprisingly, is "Tour of Duty"'s greatest downfall. As immensely enlightening as the documentary is when it comes to the question of what the general environment of American military prostitution camps are like, this is another one of those independent films where the viewer is just stuck watching nothing happen for seemingly interminable stretches of time. So tread carefully- it's probably not a good idea to try and watch "Tour of Duty" all in a single sitting.

Review by William Schwartz

"Tour of Duty" is directed by Kim Dong-ryung and Park Kyoung-tae
By Lisa Espinosa | Published on 2016/01/23

Hongdae may easily be one of the hippest places in Seoul. It's where musicians and artists roam, create, and socialize. The young can find solace in the fast-paced atmosphere, delicious food, and hoards of people their own age. It's especially known for its indie artists: musicians, dancers, and other street performers. There is always a show in a club or on the streets. And don't forget the flea market, fun specialty shops, and pet cafes scattered everywhere. K-pop star and actor Jung Yong-hwa recommends it as a must-see place for anyone visiting Seoul.

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The Hongdae area is situated around its namesake: Hongik University, a university as known for its arts as the area that surrounds it. The area is home to a couple of places that are famous amongst international Korean culture fans: the Kpop Cafe & Club, and the You Are Here cafe. During my time in Korea I didn't get to visit the Kpop Cafe & Club despite my love for Kpop. I did get to go to the You Are Here cafe, a coffee shop started by Simon and Martina of Eat Your Kimchi, and Seon Hyun-woo of Talk to Me in Korean. The cafe itself was difficult to find and I was lucky enough that dewaniifordrama from Wang Kai International was there to guide me and my fellow bloggers. It is an adorable cafe with yummy snacks and drinks, a video booth, and space upstairs for Korean language meetups. There was one going on the night I visited. I was sorely tempted to stay and improve my halting Korean, but we had the rest of Hongdae to explore.

Walking through the streets of Hongdae is seriously exciting. It's full of lights, music, and motion. Both times I visited my group paused frequently to watch dance crews battle, guitarists croon, and people flooding the streets, shops, and restaurants. Korea Joa 2015 had its final dinner at Mak Kka Pa, a cozy little retro place that serves many kinds of makgeolli and all sorts of delicious anju, or food that is eaten while drinking alcohol. We mostly indulged in seafood as we drank our makgeolli and many-flavored soju. The night was also a time for many selfies, known as "selcas" in Korean. We learned what it was like to have a business dinner in Korea. In short, it's all about the liquor and the fun!

Aside from being a great place to hang out, Hongdae is also the site of many dramas such as "Coffee Prince", "Marry Me, Mary!", "Flower Boy Ramyun Shop", and "A Gentleman's Dignity". There are always filming trucks zooming by taking b-roll footage. Never a dull moment in this part of Seoul.

Although I only visited twice, Hongdae left a deep impression on me. It definitely is a place I want to visit again. I see myself scouting for talent, listening to a band while having a refreshing drink at a bar, or enjoying some good eats while watching people mingle.

I also got some goodies for you, HanCinema readers. Check out the bottom of this post for the chance to win a Lee Min-ho photo set!

You can find all of our Korea Joa 2015 coverage on this page.

Written by: Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

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Pictures from the Lee Min-ho photo set

Lee Min-ho Photo Set
Published on 2016/01/24 | Source

Kim Jong-il (left) and Kim Jong-un

The tunic jacket sported by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is becoming all the rage among senior officials in the North, much as in his father's day they tended toward jumpsuits and shapeless anoraks.

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A source on Tuesday said many people are now looking for Mao-style jackets in the markets. The trend can also be spotted in TV footage from North Korea.

Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in a Mao-style jacket at a Workers Party congress in September 2010.

Since then, he has sported it at many major events, apparently himself imitating his grandfather, nation founder Kim Il-sung.

Kim's wife Ri Sol-ju used to wear dresses or short skirts, but since October 2013 she has also increasingly embraced the Mao suit.

Kim Jong-il cut a rather less snazzy figure in his khaki or gray zippered jumpsuits, which he seemed to believe concealed his puny shoulders and pot belly, while his anoraks made him look increasingly like a bewildered pensioner.

The country's gigantic statuary increasingly reflects the leaders' styles. The super-size Kim Jong-il statue on Mansudae Hill in Pyongyang used to wear a sharp overcoat, but in 2012 it got the correct padded anorak.

Read this article in Korean
Published on 2016/01/24 | Source

More foreign tourists visited Japan than Korea last year for the first time in seven years.

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The Korea Tourism Organization on Tuesday said 13.23 million tourists came to Korea last year, down 6.8 percent compared to 2014 and the first decline in 12 years.

The decline was mainly due to the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome here last year, which led to 140,000 fewer Chinese and 440,000 fewer Japanese tourists coming to Korea.

Instead Japan saw a record number of foreign tourists. Data from the Japan National Tourism Organization show that 19.47 million went to Japan last year, up a whopping 47 percent from the previous year.

Not only has a weak yen made Japan more attractive as a shopping destination, but an aggressive campaign to attract tourists like easier visa procedures contributed significantly to the boom.

"Unless we come up with a long-term plan that moves beyond the existing lineup of low-cost tours and shopping itineraries and develop new tourist attractions that appeal to more visitors, Korea's tourism industry is likely to keep shrinking", said a KTO spokesman.

Read this article in Korean
Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.

13:46, 17 OCT 2022
Senate, House candidates make their pitch

Candidates gather at the end of a GOP breakfast on Jan. 16.

No one would have predicted that in a political season with no marquis local races several dozen loyal Republicans would brave black ice and freezing temperatures for a cattle call at the Fireside restaurant.

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They did, and for their troubles the party faithful were treated to two- to three-minute biographical sketches from candidates, including more than a dozen running for statewide office.

We had 24 candidates show up, said Bruce Hatfield, who organized the breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 16. We had close to a hundred people in the room. I think theres a lot of interest building in the national election as well. My approach is to have the voters exposed to the candidates and candidates exposed to the voters. Its to the benefit of both. I have no dogs in this race, so to speak. I want all the candidates to have an equal chance to run.

Hatfield, who is secretary of the Crab Creek precinct, said the early Saturday time is intended to broaden the partys reach.

The idea is to try to reach out to the younger crowd that are busy during the week, he said. It gets the folks we miss during the week and in the evening.

This was no Trump v. Cruz scuffle.

Candidates held their fire when it came to opposition. Since their party now occupies the governors mansion and boasts supermajority control of the state House and Senate, Republican candidates have discarded the broad run-against-Raleigh script that they repeated for years. They stayed mostly positive, trying to persuade the crowd why they were the best choice to run the state insurance department, auditors office or public schools.

Chuck Edwards, the McDonalds franchisee who started his career flipping burgers and cleaning restrooms at age 16 at the Spartanburg Highway McDonalds, opened his remarks by praising the waitresses who threaded their way through the crowd carrying plates of pancakes, eggs and bacon.

The first thing Id like to do is to give a huge round of applause to the wait staff and the kitchen staff here, said Edwards, who is running for the Republican nomination for the 48th state Senate District. As you learn a little bit about me youll learn that I have a great deal of respect for the job for what these folks do. Its hard but its very critical to society. We count on folks like that.

Dennis Justice broke from party doctrine to declare that party does not matter  or wont, when desperate times come.

When the crisis comes I dont care about anyones registration, I dont care about anyones orientation, I dont care about anyones pigmentation, he said.

Lisa Baldwin said she reaches back for inspiration to her fifth great-grandfather, Christian Carpenter, who signed the Tryon Resolve. He could have lost his life, his family and his fortune for freedom and liberty, she said. Thats why Im running for this office.

If Baldwin draws inspiration from a family member born 250 years ago, House candidate Cody Henson draws his from one born last summer.

My wife and I have got a five-month-old son, he said. I was sitting there thinking, he has no future in this area.  Our children shouldnt be our biggest export.

Here are the remarks from Baldwin, Edwards and Justice, candidates for the 48th Senate District; and Cody Henson, who faces Brevard real estate agent Coty Ferguson in the Republican primary for the 113th House District.



Lisa Carpenter Baldwin: I want to preserve freedom and liberty.

My husband and I live in Fletcher. We have four children. One is at MIT. Hes doing research on refining uranium for a nuclear weapon and he plans to work in the defense industry. We have a son and daughter at N.C. State both studying engineering and our youngest son is in high school. They were all valedictorians and Ive got three Eagle Scouts as well. Im a North Carolina native and my family has lived here for over 250 year. My fifth great-grandfather, Christian Carpenter, signed the Tryon Resolve. This was an early declaration of freedom from the tyranny of Great Britain signed before the Declaration of Independence. He could have lost his life, his family and his fortune for freedom and liberty. Thats why Im running for this office. Im a strict Constitutionalist because I want to preserve that freedom and liberty my ancestors fought so hard for. I believe we have to look at the state Constitution and the U.S. Constitution at all our decision-making at the state level. Im a fiscal and social conservative and Christian Biblical values are my guiding principals. I am pro-life. I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. My experience on the School Board in Buncombe County showed that I can stand up and fight for these conservative values. I stood up for parent rights as well as ending Common Core. We need higher education standards for our children.



Chuck Edwards: My resume stands out  for getting things done.

The first thing Id like to do is to give a huge round of applause to the wait staff and the kitchen staff here, he said. As you learn a little bit about me youll learn that I have a great deal of respect for the job that these folks do. Its hard but its very critical to society. We count on folks like that.  Id like to thank you for being here. I think the hope of the conservative party is for us to get together on our interests and become activated and I know all of you would rather be off doing something else on a Saturday morning than listening to a politician talk about themself. The good news is Im not a politician. The bad news is Im going to talk about myself. Im a local guy, just a normal boy, I consider myself a mountain boy. I was born in Waynesville. I moved over here at the age of 12 when my mom and dad divorced along with my brother sister. I attended Rugby Junior High and graduated West Henderson High School. I attended Blue Ridge Community College. I think I have the good fortune to live in the best region in the best state in the best country on the entire planet. And that gets me to why I am sincere in becoming your senator in District 48. Its not that Ive ever aspired to be a politician. Its that I love this area, I love this district and I want to serve. I started working at McDonalds on Spartanburg Highway when I was 16 years old and after being raised in a family where I was taught to worship God and watch out for our neighbors we were taught to love our country. We were taught the sacrifices that our family had made and we were taught to be appreciative of those sacrifices. We were also taught to work hard. Ive got a plaque in my office that says Im a great believe in work. And I find the harder I work the luckier I get. I want to put that work for you. I think that my resume stands out as one that can demonstrate business skills, understanding, getting things done and leadership skills that can actually be used in Raleigh to do the things for you that you need to be done.



Dennis Justice: When the crisis comes I dont care about anyones registration, orientation, pigmentation.

I was not born here but Ive been a resident here since 1978. I have five generations of Justices, Hyders, Corns. My paternal grandfather was William Leonard Justice. The packinghouse just down the road from the Justice Academy was my grandfathers. I have a memory of him and he was a very godly man. My maternal grandfather was Grover Corn, which means of course that my great-grandfather was Zeb Corn. So I have deep roots here. Hopefully by the grace of God if I win, in my swearing-in ceremony, Ill be taking my grannys Bible, which she gave me right before she died, when I gave my heart to Jesus, and I will not give an oath, Ill give an affirmation and Ill commit to uphold the Constitution of the United States and North Carolina and Ill put it on Romans 13:8 that says owe no man anything but to love one another. For he that has loved another has fulfilled the law. When the crisis comes I dont care about anyones registration, I dont care about anyones orientation, I dont care about anyones pigmentation. The only thing that matters is his desperation. We as a government need to be able to have emergency infrastructure to help people when the most desperate hour comes. The reason I am running is partly because of my oldest son, Andrew. We have 10 million people in this state and we have three mental hospitals, and we are not getting mental health care that we need to give and its criminal. Im here because of education. We have one candidate who has had his wealth and is the anointed candidate. We have one candidate who has experience to her credit, being elected to public office. But theres not one candidate in this race that can look you in the eye and say I saved you millions of dollars my helping defeat the 1997 school bond referendum. I worked with a team of Republicans, Democrats and independents to defeat that referendum. It was too much money for too few schools. When I get elected I will seek common-sense solutions. Ill look at concrete domes for schools, housing, emergency shelters. Were spending too much money on school construction and not paying the teachers. We need to get bumper stickers that say First in Teacher Flight for not covering these teachers. (Baldwin) opposed Common Core. So do I. I opposed Goals 2000, No Child Left Behind. We have an upside down pyramid. These teachers were very good to my children. We have a great school system. We just need to back them.



Cody Henson: Children shouldnt be our biggest export

I was born and raised in the district. I graduated high school from Rosman. Ive lived here my whole life. My family goes back six generations in the district and Im running because we need jobs in our area. I was laying on the couch one night, my wife and I have got a five-month-old son. I was sitting there thinking, he has no future in this area. He can come back when hes 65 ready to entire but until then hes going to have to leave. I dont want him to be forced into that option. I drive 45 minutes to work every day just to support my family because theres no jobs in our area. I want to change that. Our children deserve a future. We cheer them on all through high school with different sporting events, we applaud em when they shake the principals hand when they get their diplomas and then were done with em. Our children shouldnt be our biggest export. They deserve a fighting chance. If you vote for me Ill be the hardest working individual in Raleigh, I guarantee you that.
Among the less attention-grabbing but perhaps more important issues before the Virginia General Assembly this year are a series of changes intended to provide more accountability, transparency and honesty among state lawmakers.

Voters need to take a hard look at these recommendations from the Commission on Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government. Because its unlikely  and grossly unfortunate  that some of the recommendations will receive little more than a cursory review from the lawmakers Virginia residents sent to Richmond. These recommendations will in many cases, restrict and constrain lawmakers  if only because they will require clear public disclosure on such things as how campaign money is spent, what gifts elected officials receive and exactly how much compensation lawmakers receive for the job. All the more reason that those lawmakers constituents should demand that the recommendations become law.

Outlined in an easily absorbed, 32-page document, the recommendations detail specific changes that will focus a long-needed spotlight on the money and makings of Virginia politics  particularly in the areas of campaign finance, gifts to public officials, financial disclosure requirements and legislative districting.

Created in the wake of the convictions of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, on public corruption charges, the 10-member, bipartisan task force spent a year creating a plan that would, as stated in the reports executive summary, ensure that among Virginia public officials no interest comes before the public interest.

It was an awfully tall order.

In all truthfulness, the task force could accomplish only the first step: identifying what might be done. But in that, theyve done an admirable job.

The next step, turning that goal, those recommendations, into reality, is now the responsibility of the men and women in the Virginia General Assembly. We encourage them, and voters, to take a long, hard look at adopting these changes.

To arrive at this point, the task force led by co-chairmen Rich Boucher, a former Democratic congressman from Virginias 9th District, and Bill Bolling, a former Republican lieutenant governor, focused on some of the more vexing issues in money and politics.

And, from closing a loophole allowing candidates to use campaign funds for personal spending, to creating an independent ethics commission with oversight and enforcement authority and upending the redistricting process to remove partisan control, these recommendations are smart, logical solutions to complex problems.

Among the best recommendations are establishing an independent, seven-member Ethics Review Commission that would have investigative and enforcement authority, in terms of the ability to issue civil penalties and refer criminal cases to the appropriate agencies.

Other clearly appropriate recommendations include: closing that campaign spending loophole; more clearly defining gift prohibitions to lawmakers; and adopting nonpartisan criteria as part of a new legislative redistricting process, including a goal of ending such practices as gerrymandering to protect one-party districts.

We encourage voters to read the report, (Its available at HeraldCourier.com as well as on the commissions web page at governor.Virginia.gov.) Also, Virginians, get to know and understand the recommendations. Then, let your representatives in Richmond know that your trust in their leadership will be much improved with the adoption of these changes.

That will definitely be the case, if for no other reason than the underlying principle threading through all of them is that the work of public officials will be more accessible for public review than ever before.
Padres stun Phillies as big brother gets best of little brother

The San Diego Padres stunned the Philadelphia Phillies in NLCS Game 2, scoring eight unanswered runs in a victory that evened up the playoff series.
Game on! IU to resume series with Kentucky starting in 2025-26.

Kentucky coach John Calipari confirmed at SEC media day the two schools have agreed in principle to restart their annual regular-season series.
The atmosphere is Paris is so dense it could be cut with a knife. Despite French protestations of defiance in the face of terror, the habitual insouciance of a people used to doing what they want, when they want, has evaporated. Instead, theres a feeling of nagging anxiety, a watchfulness quite foreign to this nation of bon vivants.

2015 was Frances annus horribilis starting with the attacks against Charlie Hebdo in January and ending with the bloody Mumbai-style killing spree on November 13. This January has seen commemorations across France coupled with news of several foiled attacks. Consequently, it is a totally transformed President Francois Hollande who travels to India as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

When the Mumbai attacks took place France was both horrified and sympathetic. Several westerners, including French citizens, were amongst the dead. However, in the eyes of the French establishment and the people, Mumbai was just another manifestation of the unending conflict between India and Pakistan. An internal affair, in short.

That tune has changed as France realises that there is an international jihadi network that includes terrorist outfits not just in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and other failed states but also in countries like Saudi Arabia or Pakistan and that they are not just independent, non-state actors as their leaders claim but often have the tacit support of governments, civilian or military.

Hollande was never taken quite as seriously as his socialist predecessor Francois Mitterrand, who remains the longest-serving President during Frances Fifth Republic. Mitterrand was a fine strategist, a man who successfully navigated the troubled period of the Vichy years; a man with a hidden past, a concealed fatal illness, who nevertheless earned the respect of his countrymen by the breadth of his culture and ability to sail politically stormy seas.

In contrast, Hollande has been seen as a lightweight, a consensus candidate who won the socialist nomination after the favourite, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, fell victim to carnal excess. Hollande, nicknamed flanby, a wobbly milk pudding, was known to have a fine sense of repartee but was never credited with the killer instinct. That image has undergone a complete transformation. A steely-eyed and resolute Hollande has emerged as a statesman who understands brute power (as in the case of Mali or Syria, where France has deployed troops or is conducting intense bombing raids) but one who is also a fine tactician, decimating his right-wing enemies by occupying the space both right and left of centre through market-friendly reforms. With less than 18 months to go before the presidential polls, Hollande is working towards his re-election.

His State visit concludes with a reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Hollande will lay the foundation stone of the International Solar Alliance in Gurgaon and hold meetings with PM Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi, the President and the Vice President. A large business delegation and several top ministers including Laurent Fabius (foreign affairs) Jean-Yves Le Drian (defence), Segolene Royal (environment), Michel Sapin (finance) and Flore Pellerin (culture). In a first, some 50 French troops and a military band will participate in the Republic Day parade.

India-France contacts have intensified these past months. In a visit last April PM Modi announced the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft in an attempt to break stalled negotiations over the 126 MMRCA fighters India was to buy from Dassault Aviation. Although sources say the contract is close to finalisation with the 50% offset clause being met in the nearly $9 billion deal, officials at the Elysees Palace were tight-lipped about inking the contract during the visit. Not a word has been uttered about the remaining 90 aircraft in the original Rafale proposal.

The same is true of the EPR nuclear reactor. The parent company Arevas nuclear operations arm has been dismantled and taken over by EDF, the energy major. NSA Ajit Doval, who was in Paris a week ago, reportedly told his opposite number Jacques Audibert that India would not renege on its commitment to the EPR. However, a concrete outcome for the six EPRs, slated to be built in Jaitapur, still appears a long way off despite separate MoUs detailing construction and operations signed between Areva, Larsen & Toubro and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.

Terrorism and regional issues will be high on the agenda and will be the most concrete takeaway from this visit. India will apprise the French on Pakistan, Afghanistan and the neighbourhood. In return India will expect the French to share information on West Asia and Africa. In the past France tended to equate India with Pakistan in the hope of selling armaments to both but increasingly this balance has tilted in favour of India. France, however, remains a mid-level power and has little ability to lean on Pakistan on the question of terrorism. India was impressed by the swift manner in which the French anti-terror units dealt with the November 13 attacks. Cooperation between Frances elite GIGN anti-terrorism officers and Indian anti-terror units will be discussed.

The French are chary of discussing deals that might emerge during this visit except to say that there will be a follow-through on promises made during the COP21 in Paris both in terms of financing and technology transfer. But the Elysees, which has downplayed the visit, could pull a last-minute rabbit out of its hat.

France is the third largest investor in India. With the relative decline of China there is renewed interest in India as an investment destination. While global French players such as Lafarge, St Gobain or Renault are enthusiastic about India, small and medium-sized companies, many of which produce high tech products, view India as bureaucratic and mired in corruption. A businessman in Lyon told this correspondent: I am allergic to the very idea of India. Your society is caste-ridden, unequal, corrupt and you treat women like slaves or animals. Thankfully, every French businessman does not have the same view. However, a real image deficit undermines business opportunities. Both Modi and Hollande will have to work to change that.

Vaiju Naravane is a journalist and commentator based in Paris and Delhi

The views expressed are personal
The whole society is culpable in Dalit scholar Rohith Vemulas death but the focus should also be on why the media can be held responsible for this heart-wrenching case of suicide.

Vemula wished to reach the stars and dreamt of becoming a Carl Sagan but became yet another victim of institutionalised discrimination based on caste. His death has turned into a livewire, sparking unseen levels of protest across India from Calicut to Varanasi, from Chennai to Nagpur, from Puducherry to Patiala and even to Harvard Square in Boston. More than 250 scholars of international repute have campaigned for justice and urged an end institutional discrimination through an open letter.

As we discuss how a modern institution like a university, which has to provide space to cultivate critical minds, has become a space of casteist prejudice, of covert and overt forms of discriminatory practices, lets divert a bit and talk about responsibility.

It was the power of social media, along with the enduring agony of casteist prejudices experienced that fuelled such widespread protests across the country. All this post-suicide hue and cry in the mainstream media, a modern institution dubbed as the Fourth Estate, could have been avoided had they had the integrity to report on the event and question what was happening when the five Dalit students were rusticated. It was all out in the open that the University of Hyderabad has a history of discriminating the Dalit students and within the last decade there have been 10 suicides of Dalit students.

Read: Dalit scholars death: Report on Rohith Vemulas suicide expected today

If there had been proper media coverage on their expulsion when they started a sleep-in-protest it might have been a different issue. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to limit reporting on issues affecting Dalits to sensational stories in every media organisation in the country. This lack of integrity stems from the lack of will to diversify the newsroom. When the media houses have a diversnified work force, the newsrooms become a space for exchanging shared cultural and lived experiences which not only increases productivity but also guarantees adequate representation in a country like India where we have diverse groups.

Media houses should come forward and own moral responsibility in this case and start seriously addressing the question of lack of media diversity. There is established data highlighting a lack of diversity, but it remains as a mere rhetoric with no action taken to bridge that lacuna. There exists a media reluctance to work or commit towards greater Dalit/Adivasi participation in journalism. One upshot is a lack of sensitivity towards the caste question and Dalit lives.

A few years ago commenting on lack of diversity in Indian media, Professor Robin Jeffrey noted that since his publication of Indias Newspaper Revolution in 2000 and a survey on the 10th anniversary of the Cooper-Uniyal inquiry in 2006, he was not able to find a single SC or ST among more than 300 media decision-makers. American journalist Kenneth Cooper and B N Uniyal in 1996 tried to find a Dalit journalist but ended up only echoing Jeffreys concerns. Uniyal wrote, In all the 30 years I had worked as a journalist I had never met a fellow journalist who was a Dalit; no, not one. Though the situation has changed a bit, it still remains a fact that not only there exists no efforts to diversify the media but also there is hardly any effort to monitor the situation or adequately quantify representation as a first step.

Read: Smriti Irani orders judicial inquiry into Dalit scholars suicide

In Britain there are a series of Diversity Schemes to train and mentor aspiring individuals of racial and ethnic minority groups. They are supported by bursaries and internships to have training in media houses and also to learn journalism at leading institutions like City University, London, the University of Sheffield and Cardiff University. One has to do an impact study to analyse the outcome of these schemes but nevertheless the media organisations at least demonstrate the will to diversify which is completely lacking in India.

As a former journalist of a national daily based in Madurai, I carry a lived experience of what the difference is when there is diversity in newsroom. Despite working in a hostile environment I was able to do numerous stories, which were normally perceived, as non-issues. When such stories started appearing in the papers, it had a relative effect as competitors started to follow and a tradition was nurtured. Moreover, diversity also helps quell established notions about heritage and beliefs.

Read: Lal Salaam to Jai Bhim: Why Rohith Vemula left Indian Marxists

This does not mean that just increasing the numbers but providing them a significant role as active participants in the production and dissemination of news. Another significant area of concern in journalism today is that, though the Dalit experience remains neglected and the need to recruit more Dalits is essential, we should not allow for the ghettoization of the field. Studies show that in the 1970s in US, following widespread civil rights movement and riots, the media houses thought about diversity and recruited Blacks and also came up with a Black Beat, which was seen as an inherent tendency to limit Blacks to covering Blacks.

However in Indian journalism it is quite complex. Dalit representation is abysmally low and there is a tendency to reduce to Dalits to cover Dalits. On the other hand, the Dalit Beat in recent times has become a most sought after beat for upper caste journalists as it enables them to flaunt their progressive liberal credentials. What the initial silence over the student struggles in Hyderabad illustrates is the urgent need not just to diversify the newsroom in terms of staff, but to expand the Dalit Beat to cover daily lives and struggles against injustice rather than waiting for yet another tragedy to strike.

Read: Dalit scholar suicide: Friends in shock, remember Vemula

Dalit scholars death: Students resume hunger strike at Hbad univ

Karthikeyan Damodaran, a former journalist, is a PhD candidate at South Asian Studies, the University of Edinburgh.

The views expressed are personal.

Full coverage: Dalit Student Suicide
In the 19 years that she has been an actor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has become a star not only in India, but also globally. The former Miss World has represented Indian cinema on several platforms, and will be doing the same this Republic Day (January 26).

A source close to the actor says that the 42-year-old has been invited by Francois Richier, the Ambassador of France to India, to have lunch with French President Francois Hollande, in Delhi.

Read: Aishwarya Rai earns big with profit-sharing deal for Jazbaa

Aishwarya is currently busy shooting for her upcoming film, and will take time out especially to attend this event. She will fly out on the night of January 25, post the shoot of her film, adds the source.

Read: French prez Hollande arrives in India, meets PM Modi in Chandigarh

Apparently, Aishwarya is the only Bollywood actor to have been invited for the prestigious luncheon, which will be hosted by Richier at a prominent Indian industrialists residence in the capital. It will also be attended by top Indian officials.

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Poetry is Gulzars first love and having opted out of film direction, he spends his time in the company of verses and he has completed two ambitious poetry projects that he took upon himself some years ago.

In an informal conversation at the Jaipur Literature festival, he said: It took me many long years to be accepted as a poet and prose writer because I was typecast as a lyricist and film director. However, discussions on my songs and films seem to chase me even at literary film festivals.

The poet of many seasons revealed that he had completed a translation of three volumes of Rabindranath Tagores poetry which will be released in the coming March. Gulzar recounted how he made acquaintance with Tagores poetry in his adolescence. We were refugees from Pakistan trying to start afresh in Delhis Subzi Mandi . After school I was entrusted with the task of working at the family shop and I slept in the store behind the shop lit by a kerosene lamp. I was barely 13 and to pass my time alone at night I started borrowing books from a lending library of old volumes set up by another refugee.

He added, I would borrow detective novels at the rate of 25 paise a week for as many. The owner was angry that I read as much as one novel a night so one day he thrust a tattered volume of poetry on me. These were Tagores poems in Urdu translation and these were to change the course of my life and awaken the poet in me.

The second translation project is A Poem a Day in which Gulzar has translated some 400 poems by 270 writers of 32 different Indian languages into Hindustani consulting the poets when a language gap occurred. Stressing the need for translating Indian literature in

different Indian languages, he jested This was homework given to me by publisher V Karthika and I hope that I have done it well.

This volume too comes out this year and Gulzar revealed that the most dynamic poems in this collection were from the North-East.

On Saturday evening An Evening with Gulzar was organised by Harper Collins to celebrate his book Pluto Poems. This is a collection of short poems dedicated to the Pluto planet when it was ousted from the galaxy. When asked in an aside that since NASA had revised its decision on reinstating Pluto, did it have anything to do with his poems, Gulzar laughed and said: Well, poetry does have power and now I may be inspired to have a collection called The Return of Pluto!

Sunday mid-morning saw Gulzar enthralling the teeming crowds in the front lawns of Diggi Palace with his verses in a session titled Nazm Uljhi Hui Hai Seene Mein and vibrant conversation with Pavan K Varma.
Chairman and managing director of Biocon Limited Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Sunday said that start-ups should not be regulated and that the governments new policy announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16 has several hidden regulations. Look at how IT and bio-tech benefitted from less regulation in their initial years. India must reboot the way it governs these sectors, she said at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday. Start ups can create jobs, let them flourish.

During a session entitled Beyond Jugaad, Making India Work, Mazumdar-Shaw said that the Make in India strategy was a good one but the government needed to focus on what would be the manufacturing jobs of the future.

Former SEBI chairman of Jaipur Foot fame DR Mehta said sarkari economists were giving the government wrong advice and that manufacturing is not the solution to the problem of unemployment. He believes jobs will come from services and intensive agriculture.

Read: JLF 2016: How bureaucracy is making Indian doctors leave the system

Nigel Harris, president, Ford India is certain the programme will have economic value for the country. Make in India has created the hype but now the next two stages have to be done to ensure that it is successful. One, more reforms, and second, implementation of those reforms, he said. Didar Singh, secretary general, Ficci, added that it was problematic that the nation isnt done as yet with the first generation of reforms of land, capital and labour.

Mazumdar-Shaw, Mehta and Singh agreed that jobs are not going to come from old manufacturing but entrepreneurship.

On Indias demographic dividend, Singh said that the skilling programme is good but the country needs to look beyond India and send more skilled talent abroad. Mehta said the government must push Indias frugal engineering and that the Jaipur Foot had shown that the countrys people are capable of developing low-cost technologies.

Read: JLF 2016: How Zuckerberg intends to recoup his $19billion!

To a question on whether India is good at basic innovation, Mazumdar-Shaw said that the country has the innovation quotient but not the regulatory and financial ecosystem to foster them and raise it to the international level. There is a huge standoff between business and science. While business thinks scientists are not doing enough, the scientists have limited market exposure. This is bad for the country, she said.

There is lot of stuff available in government labs but we have to see how it connects with the regulatory environment of the country. We need strong capital markets to foster these, Singh explained.

Adding to her earlier comment on the need to look at new manufacturing ideas, Mazumdar-Shaw said the world is now talking about the fourth industrial revolution and that India should not lose sight of the opportunities that will come its way. The new sunrise areas are artificial intelligence, renewable energy and automation. We must exploit these new sectors, especially renewable energy. The opportunity is immense. We cannot miss the bus, she said.

For more JLF 2016 stories click here.

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Switzerland is extremely keen on greater cooperation in Indias fight against suspected black money stashed in Swiss banks, and is putting in place a new law on automatic information exchange that will take about a year to come into force, finance minister Arun Jaitley has said.

Jaitley, who held a bilateral meeting with Swiss finance minister Ueli Maurer during his visit for the WEF Annual Meeting, said they discussed various issues of mutual concern and Switzerland was very keen on greater cooperation in the fight against black money.

Swiss are extremely keen on this. They are part of the global efforts against unaccounted money, Jaitley said. They are in the process of framing a new legislation on international cooperation. They say it will take one year. Till then, the arrangement entered between India and Switzerland in October 2014 will continue.

Meanwhile, urging the private sector to give up caution and make investments, Jaitley said it has become absolutely imperative to add to the credibility of the Indian economy, with the world looking up to the country as a bright spot. We are the only one growing at 7% plus rate. Investors are looking positively at India. We must carry on structural reforms, add to the credibility of the economy.

With headwinds from slowdown in the Chinese economy and problems in the US and Europe, Jaitley said the world is now getting ready to deal with a new kind of situation. So far, the concern used to be high oil prices, today the concern is low oil prices, he said with regard to the global economy.
Did clinical depression kill Rohith Vemula or did a cultural cartel? There are reasons why both does not make for a robust answer.

On January 18, Rohith Vemula, a scholar of the Hyderabad Central University, who was a Dalit, a significant detail, hanged himself in a hostel room. In a few days he would have turned 27. He left a coherent hand-written note. It was always with myself I had problems. I feel a growing gap between my soul and my body. And I have become a monsterI loved people without knowing that people have long since divorced from natureIt has become truly difficult to love without getting hurtNever was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dustMy birth is my fatal accident. I can never recover from my childhood loneliness. The unappreciated child from my past.

Nothing in the entire note points to anything other than the storms within that may have pushed him to his death. But his death was preceded by a string of events. There was considerable pressure from at least two major politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party on the university to punish Vemula and other Dalits for how they reacted to the humiliation of Dalits in the campus. On occasion they had turned violent. Eventually, the university suspended Vemula and a few other activists. On December 18, Vemula had written a letter, by hand, to the vice-chancellor, stating, Please serve 10 mg of Sodium Azide to all Dalit students at the time of admission. With direction to use when they feel like reading Ambedkar and Supply a nice rope to the rooms of all Dalit students.

People tend to understand a suicide by ascribing reasons. Usually, they tend to give an inordinate importance to the suicide note. The living are seldom believed when they explain themselves, but the dying are in their final hour. But Vemulas final letter has been ignored by those who are most moved by his death. In the note, the young man, who was not known to restrain his words, took pains to absolve everyone but himself for his action. As a result, his well-wishers had to find other reasons, reasons that make sense to them, powerful reasons, for his death. As Vemula had written in his final note, The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity.

His death united the archipelagos of liberal activism in developing the hypothesis that he was driven to his death by a cartel of Right-wing politicians and academics.

Read: Rohith Vemula suicide: The mystery behind Mayawatis silence

A few months ago, when Deepika Padukone had revealed that she suffered from depression and suicidal tendencies, there appeared to be a consensus in the refined society that it was time we gave depression the respect of a severe disease and not the contempt we have for a character flaw. Can we extend the consideration to Vemula? Is a Dalit activist allowed to be clinically depressed? What if he was? Does, all of a sudden, depression become a tasteless explanation for a death? What if Vemula, like almost all of us, including Dalits, was a person who would not take his life just because the world has been unfair? What if he had ended his life because of a gap between my soul and my body, that he could not bear anymore? This would be inconvenient for activists because it would diminish the crime of the despicable cultural cartel.

What if, on the other hand, Vemula was like any other 26-year-old, who wished dearly to live, and was driven to end his life by the cartel? We can believe that people with no suicidal tendencies can be driven to suicide in the face of great atrocities or deep loss. Young women whose sexual acts have been recorded and shared on the Internet have killed themselves. A woman in Mumbai, who had killed her infant in a fit of rage, soon killed herself. Robin Williams may have ended his life because he did not wish to suffer a debilitating disease. But, as unpleasant as this question might be, did Vemula face such an extraordinary atrocity or tragedy?

What if the reason for his death was a bit of both  what if he was depressed, and he was pushed to take the extreme step by the cultural cartel? But then the fact that thousands like him who face far worse do not end their lives, points to one dominant influence. The nature of clinical depression is that it is in constant search for reasons to bring the pain to a close.

Well-meaning activists who push the theory that Vemula killed himself because of discrimination convey the lethal message to thousands of clinically depressed young men and women in India that there is a sensible reason to end their lives. Such a transmission occurred in the hypothesis of farmer suicides, too.

There is strong evidence that Indias economic policies have failed small farmers. But the notion that poverty is the cause of farmer suicides is merely a successful myth. In a country where most people can be termed farmers, it is not anomalous that most people who kill themselves would be farmers. In fact, what is anomalous is that a huge majority of farmers who commit suicide are male. If both official and activist statistics are considered, it would appear that women in impoverished farming communities are among the least likely Indians to commit suicide. Activists who ascribe social, economic and political reasons for suicides would never be able to explain why.

Poverty then is a factor, not a cause. Farmer suicide is a depression story, not an economics story. Tibetan monks who immolate themselves in protest against China are a depression story, not a political story. Suicide bombers are a depression story, not a radical-Islam story. Rohith Vemula, from all evidence in plain sight, is a depression story, not a Dalit story.

Manu Joseph is a journalist and the author of the novel, The Illicit Happiness of Other People.

Twitter: @manujosephsan

The views expressed are personal.

Read: The medias caste: How its to blame for Rohith Vemulas death

Lal Salaam to Jai Bhim: Why Rohith Vemula left Indian Marxists

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Global leaders converged at Davos, the popular Swiss ski resort, to discuss geo-politics, economics and development at the World Economic Forums (WEFs) flagship annual event, buffeted by concerns over a slowing Chinese economy and a commodity price crash. The worlds second-largest economy grew at 6.9% in 2015, its slowest pace in a quarter of a century, triggering mounting concerns among global investors. The Chinese economy is slowing and its financial market has been on a roller coaster ride, roiling world markets as it tries to find balance.

This has turned the focus on India, which, despite sputtering global conditions, is set to become the worlds fastest-growing major economy by 2016, outpacing its more populous Asian titan. According to latest government estimates, India will likely grow at 7-7.5% in 2015-16, marginally faster than the previous years 7.3% growth. A new World Bank report has said emerging market economies that led the global recovery from the 2007-8 financial crisis are slowing down, with one exception, India. It called India-led South Asia a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy outlook for emerging markets. According to the World Bank, India is projected to grow at 7.8% in 2016, a view that found echoes in the annotations of its Bretton Woods peer, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF has projected robust growth for India in 2016 and 2017 and a more gradual pickup in the global economy than it had said before. According to the IMFs updated World Economic Outlook, India will grow by 7.5% in both 2016 and 2017.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, accompanied by RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and other senior government officials at the WEF summit, made a strong pitch about the Indian economys healthy fundamentals. Indeed, a real GDP growth rate above 7.5% would be an enviable achievement, given that most of the major economies including Brazil and Russia are struggling to narrow the levels of contraction. Delegates at the summit, who control hundreds of billions of dollars, are keenly following the pace of policy reforms in India. It is irrefutable that the current conditions in the world economy have presented India with an ideal opportunity to capture the position as the worlds primary growth engine. For the better part of the last decade, China had been the toast of discussions in Davos. This year, however, the phraseology at Davos has undergone a subtle metamorphosis towards India. It is in Indias interest to seize the moment and shift the mass of world economic activity towards itself through appropriate policy interventions.
The report of the public inquiry in the United Kingdom about the death in London of a former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko will further complicate Russias ties with the West. The report ruled that Litvinenko (who fled to the UK in 2000) was killed in 2006 after being poisoned by Russian intelligence agency FSB in an operation which was probably approved by President Vladimir Putin. This has sparked a war of words with UK home secretary Theresa May calling it a blatant, unacceptable breach of international law while Moscow responded saying the inquiry was politically motivated and highly opaque, and prepared with a pre-determined correct result in mind.

The inquirys findings come at a time when the UK and the West are attempting to establish a durable, working equation with Moscow after falling out over issues such as Natos eastward expansion and Russias annexation of the Crimea and its alleged aid to rebels in eastern Ukraine. Mistrust between establishments dates to the Cold War but both sides also recognise the need to deal with each other as Russia is a P5 power with a say in global institutions and influence in parts of the world, particularly in West Asia. As a result, Russia played a major role in brokering the P5+1 deal with Iran and is also a key factor in Syria, where it is backing President Bashar al-Assad with weapons and advisers, much to the chagrin of the West.

The Litvinenko affair adds a new dimension and forces UK Prime Minister David Cameron to choose between domestic constituents who seek firm action on Mr Putin and the foreign policy imperative of seeking greater accommodation with Moscow. It wont be easy, as the sensational nature of Litvinenkos death, with polonium being put in his tea on the anniversary of his arrival in the UK, will exert pressure on Whitehall. There have been arguments for further sanctions targeting Mr Putins close associates. That in theory is a useful bargaining chip to shape Russias approach on Syria but also a risky approach given Mr Putins tendency to react sharply to pressure tactics.
The police are on tenterhooks ever since an official two-wheeler Rider went missing from Naharpur Rupa area 10 days ago.

The incident assumes more significance with Gurgaon set to host two VVIPs  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande  on Monday and with the Republic Day round the corner. Fearing that the rider may be misused for terror activities, the police department is taking no chance and has reportedly issued a specific advisory to keep a close watch on any similar two-wheelers being driven on city roads.

The bike  a yellow coloured TVS Apache (HR-26 CQ-1796) went missing from Naharpur Rupa on the intervening night of January 15-16. Having failed to trace the vehicle all these days, a FIR was lodged at the Sadar police station earlier this week.

Given the high-profile visits and with the Republic Day just round the corner, the Gurgaon police have launched a massive hunt for the lost vehicle.

The rider went missing on the intervening night of January 15-16. An FIR has been registered and we are investigating the case, said Vijay Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Sadar police station, Gurgaon.

Gurgaon has been on high alert ahead of the visit of the Prime Minister along with the French President that will be followed by the Republic Day on Tuesday.

The two leaders will be in town on January 25 at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) located on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Expressway to lay the foundation stone of the interim secretariat of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Also, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar will be hoisting the national flag on January 26 in Gurgaon.

A suspected al-Qaeda operative was nabbed by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police from neighbouring Mewat district last week besides a threat of IS operatives planning to attack NCR Malls.

The district administration of Gurgaon has already imposed Section 144 in a radius of 2,000 metres from the venue at NISE. The restrictions would be imposed from Sunday onwards.

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Imagine a vest saving you from cardiac arrest, in just under a minute.

Thats LifeVest, which is typically worn for two months after another attack, when the risk of a second attack is highest. The vest tracks your hearts rhythm and shocks it back into rhythm if it begins to malfunction.

Its not the only wearable lifesaver out there. From easing migraines to administering chemotherapy, doctors are using new-age gizmos to help improve patients quality of life.

Most are easy to use and require little to no maintenance. The LifeVest, for instance, uses dry, non-adhesive sensing electrodes to monitor the patients heart.

After being treated, when a heart attack survivor is discharged from hospital, he or she runs the risk of a repeat in the first two months. It is a critical phase, in which this device can be helpful, says Dr Ashok Seth, chairman of cardiac sciences at New Delhis Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.

Cardiologist Ashok Seth consults with Karan Nanda, a patient using life vest, in New Delhi. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT photo)

Three of Dr Seths patients have already used the vest. None of them has suffered a repeat attack and two of the three have since emerged from the critical phase.

According to Dr Seth, the vest can reduce the risk of having a heart attack by 70% without going to a hospital.

The vest received approval three years ago from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was introduced in India five months ago.

The vest needs to be worn at all times and taken off only while bathing. Since it is required only for temporary use, it is available on loan at a cost of Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 per month.

Read: Superbugs a top global risk

Overall, according to a study by Global Industry Analysts, Inc  a worldwide business strategy and market intelligence source, the global market for wearable medical devices is projected to reach $4.5 billion by 2020.

The chemo port, for instance, delivers drug doses while inserted inside the patients body.

A catheter is attached to a disc thats implanted underneath the skin. The medicine is delivered into the catheter that goes into the vein. The port can cost a minimum of Rs 10,000. Though it can last for months, one needs to flush it with a sterile liquid to ensure the catheter doesnt get blocked.

One doesnt have to stay in the hospital; once the drug is injected into the port, they can go home as it will gradually enter into the vein. It can also be done at home with the help of a trained person, so that the patient gets some psychological relief. Theres also pain relief as repeated needle pricks are avoided, says Dr PK Julka, professor of radiation oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

Getting a head-start

A wearable device also came to the rescue for Chennai businessman TN Suresh, 48, who suffered from crippling migraines for four years. They would happen weekly and completely incapacitate me, he says.

Then, four months ago, a friend introduced him to Cefaly, a first-of-its-kind device launched in 2014 to relieve migraine pain. Made in the US and approved by the FDA, the headband-like device is battery-run and uses electric current to stimulate nerve endings associated with migraine pain. The device must be worn for 20 minutes a day, and the manufacturers claim a 53% success rate in easing symptoms.

Suresh says his migraines have improved by 80%, both in terms of intensity and frequency. Being a wearable device, its also non-invasive. And its a far better option than pain medication, he says. This device has been effective for the two Mumbai patients I recommended it to, says Dr Kaustubh Mahajan, a neurologist at SL Raheja Hospital, Mumbai. My patients saw the frequency and intensity of their headaches going down by half.

The Heartmate

The LVAD (or left ventricular assist device), launched in 1966, is an electromechanical circulatory device inserted into the chest cavity to assist failing cardiac function. It is typically powered by a battery pack strapped to the chest, making it a semi-wearable, life-saving device.

Last year, the Heartmate-II, the fourth generation of LVADs, was introduced in Mumbai, says Dr Pavan Kumar, consultant and cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon at Mumbais Lilavati Hospital. It uses magnetic technology to lower chances of infection.

I havent recommended it to many people because of the high cost of an LVAD [ranging from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore], adds Dr KR Balakrishnan, cardio-thoracic and transplant surgeon at Fortis Malar, Chennai. But the three patients who have used it have found it convenient because its smaller, less painful and less invasive.
Want to improve the quality of your writing? Type slowly! The quality of your writing, such as sophistication of vocabulary, is likely to get better if you simply type slower, a new study suggests. Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada asked study participants to type essays using both hands or with only one.

Participants in the study, who were undergraduate students, wrote essays describing a memorable school day for them, an event that had a positive effect on them, and that asked them to defend their position on a ban on cellular telephones in high schools. Using text-analysis software, the team discovered that some aspects of essay writing, such as sophistication of vocabulary, improved when participants used only one hand to type.

Read: What makes South Asians laugh? Suhel Seth has the answer

The results led researchers to speculate that slowing down participants typing by asking them to use only one hand, allowed more time for internal word search, resulting in a larger variety of words. Fast typists may have simply written the first word that came to mind. Speed could affect writing quality regardless of the tools, whether they are text-to-speech programmes, computers or a pen and paper, researchers suggested.

Typing can be too fluent or too fast, and can actually impair the writing process, said Srdan Medimorec from University of Waterloo, who led the study. It seems that what we write is a product of the interactions between our thoughts and the tools we use to express them, Medimorec added.

Read: Creating a best-seller: Just a fluke or a clever marketing ploy?

This is the first study to show that when you interfere with peoples typing, their writing can get better, said Evan F Risko from University of Waterloo. The findings were published in the British Journal of Psychology.
Re-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Sunday met veteran leader LK Advani to seek his blessings.

The meeting comes after Advani had openly criticised Shah after the Bihar debacle.

Both Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who have been critical of Shahs leadership, were absent at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday when the entire party leadership was celebrating the BJP chiefs re-election.

They have been upset ever since they were made members of Margdarshak Mandal, which is seen by many as an indication that they have been rendered irrelevant in the partys

Shah, who has been elected for a three-year term, also will be meeting ailing former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday, party sources said. Also, his meeting with Joshi is scheduled for Tuesday after his return from West Bengal where he will be on a day-long trip on Monday.

However, the Congress party mocked Shahs reappointment as a good omen and said that it would provide an opportunity for the Opposition to make a comeback.

Seeing the role played by him in the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar, his appointment will provide a good opportunity for the Opposition, including the Congress to make a comeback, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

Under Shahs leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, however, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP.
BJP president Amit Shah was elected unopposed to the top post for a second term on Sunday, ending speculation about the RSSs wavering faith in the ruling partys current leadership.

But for the absence of its veterans  margdarshaks or guiding lights LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi celebrations at the party headquarters decked out for Shahs coronation were excellent.

The two senior leaders had questioned the party leadership after the Bihar poll debacle, suggesting a course correction. But their reservation found little support with the RSS leadership that decided to place its trust in Shah, again. But Shah drove to Advanis home late in the evening to seek his blessing and is likely to meet Joshi on Tuesday.

The RSS, the BJPs ideological mentor, clearly wanted to give Shah the time he needed to execute ambitious programmes for expanding the partys footprint across the country, especially when assembly polls were due in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Sangh agreed that Shah was best suited to face the critical electoral challenges lined up for the next three years, despite the humiliation the BJP faced in Delhi and Bihar in 2015.

Read | Congress calls Amit Shahs re-election good omen

Shahs immediate challenge is to win election-bound Assam, pick up seats in West Bengal, and make inroads in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But his organisational skills would be put to test in next years assembly polls in UP that he won for Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Another key challenge would be to retain Gujarat in 2018 without Modi as CM.

Party leaders remained optimistic with Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu capturing the mood. The combination of PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will do wonders in the coming years. I am sure he will get the needed success in the coming elections, he said.

When Shah drove into the BJP headquarters on Sunday, workers danced to drumbeats and burst crackers to welcome him. Chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and most ministers in the Union council were in attendance when Shah filed his nomination papers.

Read | Amit Shah seeks blessings from Advani, to meet Joshi on Tuesday

Altogether, 17 nominations were filed proposing 51-year-old Shahs name during the three-hour exercise. Modi congratulated Shah on his election and expressed confidence that the party will scale newer heights under his leadership. Amit Bhai combines grassroot-level work & rich organisational experience which will benefit the Party immensely, he tweeted.

This will be the first full three-year term for Shah, seen to have Modis full backing, as he had taken over as the party chief in July 2014 from Rajnath Singh who joined the government.

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The Congress has said that Amit Shahs reappointment as the Bharatiya Janata Party president is a good omen and it would provide an opportunity for the Opposition to make a comeback.

Shah is tipped to be re-elected to the top party post on Sunday.

There has been an internal friction and feeling of resentment within the BJP over Amit Shah. It is a good omen for the Congress and other opposition parties that a person like Amit Shah is reappointed as the national president of the BJP, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told ANI.

Seeing the role played by him in the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar, his appointment will provide a good opportunity for the Opposition, including the Congress to make a comeback, he added.

Earlier, Shah arrived at the party headquarters in New Delhi to file his nomination papers. However, several posters congratulating Shah in anticipation of his unopposed election as the party president have been put up at several places.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said under Shahs extraordinary leadership, party which has become biggest party of world and will scale new heights.

Supporters of BJP president Amit Shah at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday, January 24, 2016. (ANI)

Shahs current tenure ended on Saturday and the new term would be his first full-term lasting three years. At present, he was completing the remaining tenure of former party president Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet as Home Minister in May 2014.

Under Shahs leadership, the BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, the party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP.
One of Indias most prominent families in the field of art is considering shifting shop to the United States after facing attacks amid the communal violence that broke out here earlier this month.

Yusuf Khatris family, which produces and exports award-winning Bagh prints, is thinking of buying a one-way ticket out of the country over a series of violent incidents. While Yusufs brother and nephew were attacked by miscreants on January 6, attempts were made to set their factory afire on the night of January 9.

The Khatri family, pioneers in the field of Bagh printing, has won seven national and international awards between themselves.

Stating that this was the first time in 60 years that he felt scared to step out onto the streets of Bagh, Yusuf said their attackers were still at large despite cases being lodged in both the incidents.

The violence in the area was sparked by an eve-teasing incident on January 6, which rapidly escalated into clashes between two communities.

The Khatri family was not the only one in town to suffer. Four other shops belonging to Muslims were looted and burnt as clashes erupted in the Madhya Pradesh town.

Sitting with his family outside the factory, Yusuf recalled the fateful day his relatives were attacked. About a dozen people surrounded my brother Mohammad Dawood and nephew Abdul Kareem near the nullah in the evening, when they were returning from the masjid after namaz. They attacked them with rods and swords, and left them for dead, he said.

Luckily for the two, a passerby spotted them and called up the police. A complaint was lodged, and the critically-injured people were rushed to Dahod in Gujarat for treatment. While Dawood suffered serious injuries to the head, Kareems right hand had been torn open  three fractures lining it due to desperate attempts at staving off fatal blows. Incidentally, Dawood had received a national award for his work just a few days before that.

Mohammed Bilal Khatri, Yusufs son, said he smells something fishy in the episode. We identified some people involved in the assault. They are all members of local right-wing units, but are yet to be arrested, he added.

However, Bagh in-charge TI Rajendra Narwaria said some suspects have been arrested, and the remaining will be taken into custody soon. The Khatri family feels that the attack on the factory could have been prevented if the police had taken swift action.

The cratftsman said the family plans to move to a plot of land overlooking a river in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as flowing water is a much-needed factor in the manufacture of Bagh print.
University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor P Appa Rao, who is in the eye of the storm over the suicide of a Dalit research scholar, has gone on leave.

The university administration announced on Sunday that Vipin Srivastava, the seniormost professor, will perform the duties of the vice-chancellor in Raos absence.

Rao was under fire for his handling of the issue relating to the suspension of five Dalit students, one of whom, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide on January 17.

Earlier in the day, seven students of the Hyderabad Central University had resumed their hunger strike demanding Raos removal and Rs 50 lakh compensation for Vemulas family.

Read | The medias caste: How its to blame for Rohith Vemulas death

The security personnel of the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) had on Saturday evening busted the hunger strike by students and admitted the seven fasting students to a hospital after their health condition worsened.

However, the students stressed that they would continue their protest till their five demands were met.

We will continue our agitation until our charter of five demands is met, a student leader said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Dr Ravindra Kumar, chief medical officer of the universitys health centre, said out of the seven students who were hospitalised on Saturday, five were asked to report in the out-patient department as their condition has improved.

The condition of two other students is stable and they are undergoing different tests in a private hospital, he said.

The student leaders had earlier announced that the indefinite hunger strike and other protests would continue until their five demands are met.

Read | Lal Salaam to Jai Bhim: Why Rohith Vemula left Indian Marxists

The Dalit scholars body was found hanging in a hostel room on HCU campus on January 17.

The students have been demanding arrest of Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, vice-chancellor P Appa Rao and others who were named in the FIR lodged in connection with the case.

They have also asked the government to provide Rs 50 lakh compensation to Vemulas family, besides providing a job to one of the family members.

The students association has also demanded that the suspension of facilities to four students should be revoked.

We want all the cases filed (on earlier occasions) against the four research scholars to be dropped, they said.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action Council (JAC) spearheading the protest will hold a Chalo HCU programme on Monday.

Read | Smriti Irani orders judicial inquiry into Dalit scholars suicide
Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, the 47-year-old controversial minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, is in the news again over reported attempts to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly polls in the state next year.

The politician, who is serving his fifth term as an MLA from Kunda in Pratapgarh, is no stranger to controversy. Convicted under the provisions of the stringent Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) over a kidnapping complaint, he went to jail in 1997. But just when people were beginning to write him off, Raja Bhaiya  who won his first MLA election at the age of 25  became a minister again, within the short span of a year.

He has always been an independent MLA, winning the Kundla elections in 1993, 1996, 2002, 2007 and 2012.

The minister hails from the royal Bhadri estate, and his father  Uday Pratap Singh Bhadri  is an alumnus of Doon School. His first brush with governance came about when rebels from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) helped form a BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh under Kalyan Singh in 1997. Even as chief ministers kept changing over the years  Singh left to make way for Ramprakash Gupta (1999-2000), who was then followed by Rajnath Singh (2000-2002)  he held on to his ministerial post.

However, Mayawatis ascent to the helm of the Uttar Pradesh government in 2002 changed Raja Bhaiyas fortunes for the worse. He was sent to jail, following which the government imposed POTA charges against him. The same year, Mayawati acquired the Benti pond at Kundla  in which Raja Bhaiya allegedly reared crocodiles  to be developed into a bird sanctuary.

Luckily, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav took over as chief minister a year later, dropping all charges against Raja Bhaiya and making him a minister again.

He was made a part of the Uttar Pradesh government again in 2012, when the Akhilesh Yadav government came to power. He resigned a year later, when his name figured in the murder of deputy superintendent of police Zia Ul Haq, only to make a comeback when the CBI eventually gave him a clean chit in the case.

However, Raja Bhaiyas romance with the Samajwadi Party now seems headed for the rocks. With Akhilesh Yadav clipping his wings in a reshuffle last November, shifting the Kunda MLA from the meaty food and civil supplies ministry to the low-profile stamp and registration, court fee and civil defence department, he is now looking out for greener (or, more accurately, more saffron) pastures.

A controversial career

A politician with allegedly criminal antecedents, Raja Bhaiya was elected as an independent candidate from Kunda assembly segment, Pratapgarh district, in the 1993 assembly elections. He went on to win the seat on many occasions after this. He defeated the BSP candidate in Kunda in the 2007 assembly elections, even as the elephant stomped its way to victory in the final tally.

In 2002, the then chief minister Mayawati slapped POTA charges on Raja Bhaiya, his father Udai Pratap Singh and cousin Akshay Pratap Singh on an FIR alleging kidnapping and death threats. The trio was put in jail. When Mulayam Singh Yadav came to power in 2003, he released Raja Bhaiya and made him his food and civil supply minister two years later.

On December 19, 2010, Raja Bhaiya was arrested on charges of kidnapping and rioting by the Pratapgarh district police. The court later released him on bail. He was appointed cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government in 2012.

In March 2013, following the murder of deputy superintendent of police Zia-ul Haq in Pratapgarh, an FIR was filed against him under Section 120-B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy). He was given a clean chit by the CBI.

According to a senior police officer, around 35 cases were registered against Raja Bhaiya during his long political career under various sections of the IPC in police stations across Pratapgarh district. However, police investigations have given him a clean chit in a majority of the cases.

In an affidavit submitted to the Election Commission in the 2012 assembly elections, Raja Bhaiya stated that he was facing eight criminal cases, including dacoity, kidnapping, criminal intimidation, attempted murder, rioting, cheating, rash driving and tampering with evidence. Judicial proceedings in these cases were still being taken up by courts.

(With inputs from Rajesh Kumar Singh)

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Anita Pfaffs statement that she believes her father Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in the 1945 air crash has not been received well by the extended Bose family.

The assumption that Netaji died in a crash has been supported by two commissions set up by the government to inquire into his mysterious death.

On Saturday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled 100 digitised declassified files related to Netaji, Bose family members said they were hopeful the documents would help unravel the mystery.

But family members were dismayed over Pfaffs comments. In an interview with HT on January 22, Pfaff said she had come to believe that her father died in the crash and did not support the asinine theories that he lived in the mountains as Gumnami Baba.

Read | Only report to challenge Netajis death theory was flawed

In 2007, Pfaff wrote a letter to the chief priest of Tokyos Renkoji Temple saying the Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry, set up by the government, had concluded there was no documentary proof of Netajis death and much to my distress some of the persons sharing the view are also members of my and my fathers family as well as some dedicated devotees of my father. Netajis ashes are supposed to be preserved in the temple.

Surya Kumar Bose, Netajis grandnephew, said he was disappointed with Pfaff accepting the air crash theory. He said Netajis wife, Emilie Schenkl, did not believe he died in the crash, which was evident from the fact that she did not sign the document agreeing to accompany the ashes to Japan.

On Pfaffs letter agreeing to accept the ashes as that of her fathers, Surya said: She may have some reasons. She did so after meeting Pranab Mukherjee, who was then handling external affairs.

Read | Former PM Manmohan Singhs approval to get Netaji ashes hit MEA wall

Anuj Dhar, author of Indias Biggest Cover-Up, an investigation into Netajis death, also differed with Pfaffs view. She (Anita) did not support the declassification of files. It was only after the PM announced the files would be declassified that she came around. Beside, her mother never believed that Netaji died in the crash.

This is not the first time the family has disagreed on Netajis death. Historian and TMC MP Sugata Bose had also said he believed Netaji had died in the crash.

In a letter to LK Advani, then deputy Prime Minister, Sugata said: I believe the time has come for Indian people to come to terms with the mortal end of a deathless hero.

Read | Revealed: What deterred govt from bringing back Netajis ashes
French President Francois Hollande arrived in Chandigarh on Sunday afternoon at the start of his three-day visit to India.

He was joined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chandigarh later in the afternoon at the Rock Garden, a famous landmark of the city. The two will attend a CEOs Forum and the India-France business summit.

Hollande is the chief guest at the Republic Day parade this year.

Earlier, Hollande was welcomed by the governor of Punjab and Haryana Kaptan Singh Solanki and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar upon his arrival in Chandigarh.

Shortly before the arrival of the French leader, Modi tweeted, A warm welcome to French President @fhollande. We are honoured & delighted to have him as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations.

A warm welcome to French President @fhollande. We are honoured & delighted to have him as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 24, 2016

The Prime Minister in a second tweet said, President @fhollande & I will meet in Chandigarh & Delhi. We will build on the ground covered during our previous interactions.

President @fhollande & I will meet in Chandigarh & Delhi. We will build on the ground covered during our previous interactions.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 24, 2016

Before his arrival, Hollande had said that the Rafale jets deal with India is on the right track but technicalities will take time.

The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including Make in India, for the next 40 years.

Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track, Hollande told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning on Sunday.

Read | Rafale jet deal with India on right track: French President Hollande

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries.

India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.

HT had reported last week that negotiations between India and France on closing the deal for 36 Rafale multi-role fighters have entered their last, hectic phase. Both the countries are seeking simultaneous inking of the Inter-Government Agreement (IGA) and Commercial Contract during President Hollandes visit.

But going by Hollandes interview to PTI, it will have to be seen whether the deal will be signed during Hollandes visit.
Nobody ever thought Rizwan, a student of Buddha Inter College at Kushinagar, would hit the headlines one day. After all, he was just another 24-year-old youngster struggling with his textbooks  neither too good nor bad at studies, and definitely not destined for a life of fame.

Today, Rizwan finds himself splashed across the pages of local newspapers, but his parents dont seem too happy about the development. After all, gaining notoriety for being an alleged member of the Islamic States Indian cell is no matter of pride.

Members of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) say the youngster was introduced to the world of terror when his father Nizamuddin Ali, a lekhpal in the district revenue department, got him a mobile phone and a laptop. Like any person of his age would do, he gained access to social networking sites and apps  including Facebook and WhatsApp  and began scouting around the world wide web for things he found interesting. Unfortunately for Rizwan, these included jihadi literature and videos posted on social networking sites.

Following this, it didnt take long for an Islamic State handler to find the youngster, and propose that he join the Janood-ul-Khalifa-e-Hind (the Army of the Caliph in India). When Rizwan expressed his willingness, the handler entrusted him with the task of roping in likeminded youth for jihad  a holy duty that included asking people on his Facebook friends list to become soldiers in the army of self-declared caliph Abu-Bakr al Baghdadi.

Soon, eight youngsters joined the group and began holding secret meetings at Lucknow, ATS sources said. As the numbers grew, they opened offices at Kushinagar, Lucknow, Roorkee, Hyderabad, Goa, Mumbai, Chennai and Mangalore. The Islamic State handler transferred money into their accounts through hawala channels, so they could purchase laptops, tablets, mobile phones and explosives  the equipment required to strengthen the network as well as carry out sensational attacks.

However, that was when the security forces entered the picture. The National Intelligence Agency and Uttarakhand police arrested four persons  Akhlaq-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Osama alias Adil, Mohammad Azimu Shaan and Mehraj  in a joint operation at Roorkee on Tuesday, uncovering terror plots that included mounting an attack on the Ardh Kumbh in Haridwar and the Republic Day parade at New Delhi and Lucknow.

Acting on electronic surveillance data as well as information extracted from the terror suspects, security personnel then arrested Rizwan from Kushinagar and co-extremist Mohammad Alim from Lucknow  seizing mobile phones, laptops, jihadi literature and a large sum of money from their possession. A manhunt was launched for Nafish, a Hyderabad resident with close connections to terror handlers.

According to ATS sources, a majority of these terrorists hail from lower income groups. Not content with the money earned by his father from a haircutting saloon near Munshipuliya crossing in Lucknow, Alim used to study B Com through correspondence  earning some money on the side by making wedding videos. However, even his busy schedule didnt stop the youngster from taking up a third task, which involved motivating Muslim youngsters to join the terror cause.

The ATS probe found that Alim had allegedly given Akhlaq some money to purchase explosives. Rizwan and Alim have been questioned. We are working on the information provided by them. More arrests cannot be ruled out, Daljit Singh Chawdhary, additional director general (law and order), said.

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The University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Podile Appa Rao went on leave on Sunday and gave charge to senior-most professor Vipin Srivastava, who according to protesting students was also responsible for Dalit student-activist Rohith Vemulas suicide last weekend.

The students as well as the SC, ST Teachers Forum opposed Srivastavas appointment as vice-chancellor in-charge after Appa Rao left on leave with the call for his removal growing shriller.

The physics professor was the head of the sub-committee of the universitys executive council that agreed with the findings of a board that recommended suspension of five Dalit students  including PhD scholar Rohith Vemula  for their alleged attack on ABVP leader Susheel Kumar in August 2015.

The SC ST Teachers Forum said Srivastava was also accused in the suicide of another Dalit student named Senthil, in 2008.

We are shocked and dismayed at Srivastava assuming office. In the light of his involvement in both suicide cases, he should be asked to step down immediately, the forum said in a statement.

The forums convener, Sudhakar Babu, said Srivastava could influence the judicial commission announced by the Union human resource development ministry to probe the circumstances leading to Vemulas suicide.

For the probe to be fair we want Srivastava removed and another professor, who is acceptable to all on the campus, appointed vice-chancellor, Babu said.

Read | Plaque, protest pocket keeps Vemula alive in closed Hyderabad varsity

(Prasad Nichenametla/HT Photo)

The forum was also disappointed with the authorities decision to not remove Appa Rao from the vice-chancellors post.

Babu said a Dalit teacher and the dean of student welfare, Prakash Babu, resigned in protest on Sunday.

On Sunday, seven new students, including two girls, took the place of those who were admitted to hospital the previous day after their condition weakened following a four-day hungerstrike seeking justice for Vemula.

To placate the protesters and ease the campus tension, the university issued an order on withdrawal of punishment on the four suspended students subject to the verdict of the Hyderabad high court and FIR registered in Gachibowli police station.

But a belligerent joint action committee of the protesting students called a march to the university on Monday.

Read | The medias caste: How its to blame for Rohith Vemulas death

Read | Lal Salaam to Jai Bhim: Why Rohith Vemula left Indian Marxists
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday acknowledged that India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot airbase attack. Sharif said that Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

I have received fresh leads from India on the Pathankot attack and we will look and examine those evidences given by India. We could have hidden it or forgotten it but we asserted that we have received the evidences, Sharif said on a day when US President Barack Obama termed the Pathankot terror strike as another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long.

Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks, Obama told PTI in an interview.

We are probing and verifying that. Once we are done with that we would definitely bring the facts forward. Along with that, we have also formed a special investigating team, they would go to India and collect more evidence, Sharif said in London on his arrival from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum.

Read | Sharif vows action against militant groups operating in Pakistan

I had a word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he had offered every help possible from their side in bringing the perpetrators to justice. We are going on the right lines and I hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon, said Sharif who promised further Pakistani action to combat militants but conceded that progress had often been slow.

India gave specific and actionable information to Pakistan soon after the Pathankot attack reportedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 that killed seven Indian soldiers.

Read | Pak militants attacked Pathankot airbase, Jaish operative tells HT

Pakistani national security advisor Lt Gen Naseer Khan Janjua on January 5 called up his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval during which they discussed specific and actionable information related to the Pathankot terror strike. Doval and Janjua talked about various information and leads, like the Pakistani numbers which the attackers had called and their intercepts with India asserting that an effective action on part of Pakistan was important.

Sharif was speaking days after a deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on a university near Peshawar killed 21 people. The attack bore a chilling resemblance to the December, 2014 Peshawar school attack in which over 150 people, mostly children, were killed, prompting the government to launch a National Action Plan (NAP) cracking down on militancy.

Sharif said Pakistan would continue the fight against militants. We will fulfil this responsibility, he said.

Read | ISIs slow probe on Pathankot means Jaish men may be freed
JD(U) Jokhihat MLA Sarfaraz Alam was on Sunday arrested by rail police after interrogation, a day after he was suspended from the party.

However, Alam was granted bail soon after his arrest.

Alam was accused of indecent behaviour with a couple aboard the Guwahati-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on January 17.

Superintendent of rail police (Patna) PN Mishra confirmed the arrest, saying, The charges against him were found to be true, he added.

Alam was booked under various bailable sections. A four-member team was earlier sent to Delhi from Patna to register a formal complaint. The team recorded the statement of the Delhi-based couple and Alams co-passengers  Inderpal Singh Bedi and his wife  and other witnesses. Although Alam had earlier denied having boarded the train, he admitted to it during interrogation. However, he still denied having resorted to any indecent behaviour.

The strong action against the ruling party MLA was much expected after chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Friday, No person, high or mighty in the JD(U) or any other party, would be spared and law would take its own course in all such cases irrespective of status and clout.

Be it MP or MLA, nobody is bigger than the law. Those who are in public gaze should act with much responsibility. The police has freedom to act lawfully against those breaking law, he said. RJD chief Lalu Prasad was also quick to disapprove of Alams behaviour.

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Rivals of the Centre-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called Saturdays disclosures on Netaji an attempt by the Prime Minister to earn political mileage from the issue ahead of the April-May assembly elections in West Bengal.

The Congress, which was also livid over a fake letter purportedly written by Jawaharlal Nehru in which the former PM referred to Subhas Chandra Bose as a war criminal, said the declassification process was an attempt to divert attention from the failures of the government.

The Trinamool, which runs the government in Bengal and will be in direct contest with the BJP in elections slated for later this year, has sought to take credit for the declassification process by saying that its chief minister had begun the process last year.

Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said, The way PM has carried this out raises doubts about the intentions of the Modi government. The nation needs to understand this. The former minister also hit out over the fake Nehru letter that was circulated on social media.

The letter that Nehru allegedly wrote to former England Prime Minister Clement Attlee said, Dear Mr Attlee, I understand from reliable sources that Subhas Chandra Bose, your war criminal, has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is a clear treachery and betrayal of faith by the Russians as Russia has been an ally of the British-Americans, which she should not have done. Please take note of it and do what you consider proper and fit. The unsigned letter ends with, Yours Sincerely, Jawaharlal Nehru.

The controversial letter  dated December 26, 1945  was not among the declassified files. The letter doing the rounds was replete with errors.

However, one of the declassified files shows that the external affairs ministry had confirmed in 2001 from the British foreign office and defence ministry that Netajis name is not in the list of war criminals drawn up by the UK after World War II.

Its a controversy deliberately created to mislead people and try to belittle the great achievements of (two) stalwarts of the Indian freedom struggle, Sharma said.
Between the Tiger and a Tagore, the family of the Nawab of Pataudi has ruled over the hearts of millions of Indians for decades. Their ancestors also ruled, over the princely state of Bhopal, and left them vast properties.

Thirteen months ago, the Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) woke up to the possibility that the acres of real estate owned by the Pataudi family was enemy property.

The Mumbai-headquartered CEP delivered its order two months later, February 2015. It concluded that neither Sharmila Tagore nor any of her children including actor Saif Ali Khan could inherit the Estate of the Nawab of Bhopal. The Nawab, Hamidullah Khans eldest daughter had migrated to Pakistan in 1950. Thus, she was an enemy under the 1968 Enemy Property Act and every inch inherited by the Pataudi family in the Hamidullah estate, an enemy property. The Pataudi family isnt the only one at the receiving end of the 1968 Act. There are nearly 16,000 properties across the country that have either been or are being taken over by the CEP. The law provided that all properties belonging to persons who had left the country and gone to Pakistan or China  the two countries that had waged war against India  were by definition enemy properties and had to be taken over by the government. It is cruel to enforce the law now It may have served a purpose when India was at war. But nearly 50 years later, what sense does it make except to harass people, asked Delhis Zameer Ahmed Jumlana who had found himself on the wrong side of the law, fought back and won.

THE PRICE OF CHANGING ALLEGIANCE? (HT Delhi page 19)

Early this month, it got even worse for people like him.

The Centre promulgated the Enemy Property Ordinance 2016 to amend the 48-year-old law. The change  that came into force with retrospective effect  ensured that once a property was vested in the CEP, it could not be returned to the owner or his legal heirs. An Indian citizen, who might have inherited a property from an elder relative who had gone to Pakistan, could not inherit it as it was now defined as enemy property. Similarly, owners of any property would have to give up their rights if it was held by anyone who migrated to Pakistan.

In many ways, the 2016 ordinance is patterned on a similar one promulgated by the previous Congress-led UPA government in 2010. The Manmohan Singh cabinet, however, was in two minds over the ordinance. Finally, the then government found it politically inopportune to press with the ordinance and allowed it to lapse. Instead, it drafted a watered-down version that the BJP refused to support as it was too mild. That Bill lapsed in 2014. Former minorities minister Salman Khurshid  who led the opposition within the Cabinet and the Congress to the 2010 ordinance  finds the 2016 version much worse. I am convinced that this is inconsistent with the constitutional constraints... You cant do something of this nature, redefining what an enemy is, with retrospective effect, argues Khurshid. He maintains that it was merely a coincidence that most people affected by the ordinance were Muslims. Irrespective of your religion, for an Indian citizen to be told that according to our definition you are an enemy, is unacceptable, he adds. Nearly five decades after the two countries fought their last full-fledged war, he adds, it was time for the government to move on. The issue had figured in the 1966 Tashkent peace talks as well. At that time, the two governments had decided to sort out the issue amicably. Around 1971, Pakistan sold the properties it had taken over and was done with it. This, in the Indian governments view, violated the agreement and motivated New Delhi to try to pay back. The inordinate delay, however, has ensured that India ends up harassing its own citizens. Khurshid isnt the first to have called for the repeal of the 1968 Act. In 2000, the National Commission for Minorities had made the same recommendation but it was shot down. A decade later, the Home Ministry told a parliamentary panel that the CEP was going to be around as long as all enemy properties were not identified, taken over and sold.

THE PRICE OF CHANGING ALLEGIANCE? (HT Delhi page 19)

The Modi government doesnt have the numbers to get the ordinance cleared in the Rajya Sabha on its own. And there is no clarity if the opposition will play ball. Khurshid says the Congress hasnt taken a stand yet but adds, I see no reason why I should have a problem convincing the party to oppose it.

(With Ranjan in Bhopal, Oliver Fredrick in Lucknow & Saurabh Katkurwar and Naresh Kamath in Mumbai)

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A group of protesting students and a granite plaque at the shopping complex on the campus kept Dalit student-activist Rohith Vemula alive, a week after his suicide in his hostel room.

The campus, usually abuzz with activity even on Sundays, wore a deserted look except at the protest site  a popular hangout known as shop-comm in student parlance. But the crowd is thinning with each passing day.

The PhD student in social sciences and his friends had sat and slept at this shopping complex in protest for a few days after he was expelled from NRS hostel, which is just a shout away. Vemula was an active member of the universitys Ambedkar Students Association and his death, according to many students, has become a symbol of resistance by the oppressed class.

Read | The medias caste: How its to blame for Rohith Vemulas death

Many students, especially those from nearby towns and cities, have left for home after the administrative and academic blocks were closed in the wake of the protesters pledge to stop all activities till justice is done.

Whats baffling people is that the joint action committee of protesting students has decided to continue its stir even after the Union human resource development ministry declared that a judicial commission would probe the circumstances leading to Vemulas suicide.

Our business has become nil. The university has just opened after the semester break and now the suicide row has hit us hard, the owner of a canteen near the academic buildings said.

Many students, especially those from nearby towns and cities, have left for home after the administrative and academic blocks were closed in the wake of the protesters pledge to stop all activities till justice is done. (Prasad Nichenametla/HT Photo)

The only place witnessing some business is the shopping complex  currently the hub of all activities at the sprawling university spread over 2,000 acres with 5,200 students and 400 teachers.

University authorities feared that the entire semester could be disrupted if the deadlock is not broken at the earliest. But the protesters countered that the culprits should be caught first.

Read | Lal Salaam to Jai Bhim: Why Rohith Vemula left Indian Marxists

Vice-chancellor Podile Appa Rao, Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, ABVP leader Susheel Kumar are among those named in a police report for Vemulas suicide.

Our effort was to engage them in a dialogue since we cannot let all students miss out on their studies and research. But we could not succeed because the protesters refused to talk and, instead, requested us to support their demand, a senior professor said.

Read | Smriti Irani orders judicial inquiry into Dalit scholars suicide
Whether its in literature, movies or music, Bengalis have loved nothing more than a tragic hero. Two timeless examples of this fondness are Ravana in Michael Madhusudan Dutts Meghnad Bodh Kabya and Devdas in Sarat Chandra Chatterjees novel of the same name.

However, loved as these characters may be, neither can hold a candle to Subhas Chandra Bose  man, patriot, mystery. And he doesnt even have to be fictional to hold them in awe.

It comes as quite a surprise that Bengalis, a largely intellectual and art-loving people who dont even have an Indian Army regiment to their name, have produced some of the most militant leaders of Indias struggle for freedom: Rash Behari Bose, Bagha Jatin, Masterda Surya Sen and Aurobindo Ghosh. Besides this, the state was also one of the biggest centres of armed movement against the British Raj, having produced two of Indias fiercest secret societies  the Anushilan Samiti and the Jugantar Dal.

And leading all of them from the front is Bose, a man who took on the British head-on, then vanished from the scene one cold winter morning  never to return again.

A brilliant student who turned down a lucrative career to devote his life to liberating India, Bose rose to become one of the most popular leaders of the Congress in the late 1930s. A lot happened since the day the rising hero defeated Mahatma Gandhis candidate in the Congress presidential election  he forsook the comforts of an elite political class to take up arms against the enemy, escaped dramatically from house arrest, and eventually went underground in an effort to raise men and materials in the stormy conditions of the Second World War.

Read | PM releases Netaji files; Mamata wants leader of nation title for Bose

Through sheer endurance, he raised an army to fight the British  becoming a paragon of communal harmony in an army comprising people from every province and religion while the country burnt in communal hatred. More importantly, he ignited a dream of fighting fire with fire, and throwing the British out of India through sheer military force. Bose had everything one would need to turn into a cult figure.

No wonder, then, that the man continues to be Bengals biggest political icon even 75 years after his disappearance from Kolkata.

There are few corners in Bengal where one doesnt find local clubs named after Bose  whether its the Netaji Sangha or the Subhas Sangha. He finds reflection on the nameboards of everything from roads to housing colonies and sweet shops, and lakhs of Bengalis have christened their children after him in the second half of the twentieth century.

Read | Only report to challenge Netajis death theory was flawed

And now, the Kolkata police museum has joined the citys list of tourist haunts by displaying recently declassified files on Bose. It has been attracting hordes of visitors every day since September 18, 2015, the day the files were thrown open for public consumption.

Kaushik Maitra, who runs Sulekha Works  a homegrown brand established by his grandfather and named by Gandhiji himself  believes it was Boses warrior-like spirit that endeared him to the masses. The Lower Gangetic plain is a land that has bred soft qualities in its inhabitants. The fertile soil and the moderate climate have combined to produce soft qualities of the head and heart. The very fact that a man sprang up from this land to confront the worlds biggest colonising force on the battlefield makes Netajis appeal timeless, especially among the youth, he says.

Dipankar Dasgupta, a former professor at Indian Statistical Institute, says Bengal respects Bose because of his political stature in the then Indian politics. The single point that continues to make Bose a hero in this state after so many years is the dream of having a Bengali as the principal decision-making individual in Indian politics in the post-independence era.

Read | Divide in Netajis family over Anita Bose Pfaffs air crash assumption

And then there are others who believe that Bose attained his place on the pedestal by giving people exactly what they wanted  hope in an age of despair. He was the last hero from Bengal who assumed national and even international stature. But his relevance is not peculiar to Bengal. Unlike other political stalwarts such as Nehru, Netaji remained untested in governance and held the promise of doing great things for the country  apart from his great role in the freedom movement, said Sibaji Pratim Basu, a political analyst.

In fact, there were many who believe that the partition of Bengal  even that of India itself  could have been prevented if Bose were still around. After all, the man was known to enjoy the trust of both Hindus and Muslims.

Boses fan-following is not restricted to Bengal alone; his name sparks off nationalist emotions across India. At a conference in 2014, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said Bose was the main reason for Britishers exiting the country. It was because of Subhas Chandra Bose and the rise of Indian National Army that the British thought it was better to quit India than be driven out it was because of the spark that Subhas Chandra Bose created, he said.

In fact, for nearly half a century since his disappearance on January 16, 1941, many held on to the hope that Bose was still alive and would return one day. Netajis popularity is in no way restricted to Bengal. I have travelled to many parts of the country, and have seen that Netaji is even more popular in Punjab and parts of South India than in Bengal, said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the eve of the 75th anniversary of Netajis great escape from Kolkatas Elgin Road home, where he was placed in house arrest.

Ask filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who created a biopic titled Bose: The Forgotten Hero on the national leader, and he would say that it was Netajis act of plunging into an uncertain life and embarking on a journey that few would dare undertake that turned him into the enigma he has become. Netaji is a one-of-its-kind leader in Indian political history, says the man behind cinematic classics like Ankur.

Hence, it does make sense for politicians  whether its West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee or Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself  to try and gain some political mileage from Boses legacy. Now, while its debatable whether there was any ulterior political agenda behind declassifying the Bose files, it has been proved yet again that the patriots story continues to be the political potboiler it once was.

In The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote that India is most truly national when it is international. While the manifestation of this spirit was exhibited by Tagore in literature, Vivekananda in religion, Ravishankar in music and Ray in films, nobody displayed it like Bose in the world of politics  especially when one takes the constraints of a colonised nation into account.
A designated NIA court sent two suspected terrorists with alleged Islamic State links to a 13-day custody of the central terror probe agency.

Hyderabad residents Abu Anas and Nafees Khan, both aged 24 years, were produced before special judge at Patiala House court and their custody was handed over to the NIA, sources in the agency said on Sunday.

Also, another man who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for allegedly recruiting boys from suburban Malwani for Islamic State, was sent in police custody by a Mumbai court till January 30.

Rizwan Ali was arrested on Saturday from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, an ATS official said. The 23-year-old was presented before a holiday magistrate here who remanded him in police custody till January 30, he said.

The ATS sleuths suspect that he allegedly radicalised and guided Ayaz Sultan who left the country reportedly to join IS last month.

ATS informed the court that Khalid, who was picked up from Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, was very active on social media, and they have recovered his iPad and are in the process of retrieving all the social media chats from it.

In the court, when magistrate Amit Launkar asked Khalid if he has anything to say, he only said that he has committed a mistake.

The ATS had registered a case against a former BPO employee Ayaz who is missing from his residence since October 2015.

Ayaz and three other youths reportedly left home to join ISIS after being allegedly radicalised by Khalid. However two boys - Noor Mohamad and Wajid Shaikh -returned in last week of December.

NIA and other central agencies have arrested 14 people on Friday and Saturday for allegedly planning to carry out attacks ahead of the Republic Day.
Three women students from a private medical college in Tamil Nadus Villupuram district drowned themselves in a well near their college as part of a suicide pact, police said on Sunday. A note recovered from the spot accused the management of the naturopathy and yoga college of pushing them into taking the extreme step.

Police said the bodies of the deceased  identified as T Monisha, E Saranya and V Priyanka (all 19-year-olds)  were found floating in the well by local residents on Saturday. They had reportedly tied themselves together with a dupatta before jumping into the water.

College correspondent Vasugi Subramanian and his son Sudhakar, also a student, have been detained for questioning.

The suicide note from the three women, who had just returned from the Pongal holidays, alleged that the college administration had been charging exorbitant fees from them. Officials of the institute were also accused of discriminating against some students because they had gained admission through merit, and were therefore exempt from paying substantial sums of money as fees.

The parents of the victims alleged on local television that the institute management was squarely responsible for the tragedy, and demanded that appropriate action be taken against them. They also planned to take out a protest along with college students on Sunday.

Request all to stand in solidarity with three students who have been the victims of managements apathy, M Tamilarasan, father of one of the dead students, was quoted by ANI as saying.

Rqst all to stand in solidarity with 3 students who've been victims of mngmnt's apathy-M Tamilarasan,Victim's father pic.twitter.com/A3kkAhICac  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

Police said the bodies have been sent for autopsy, and would be handed to the parents upon their return. Though a case was registered, no arrests were made in this regard until Sunday morning.

A few months ago, many students from the college had gone on strike after taking on the administration over alleged abuse and overcharging of fees. A few of them had even attempted suicide last October by consuming rat poison, but managed to survive.
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday sealed a private medical college in Villupuram after huge protests by parents of the three female students who committed suicide.

The parents alleged it to be a case of murder, however, the police have registered a case of suicide and started investigation.

District collector P Lakshmi issued orders to seal the college till further notice, amid allegations by the students that the college was charging high fees and offered no facilities to the students.

The students have been protesting the college management for several months now.

Lakshmi and senior police officials held meetings with the parents and the students and assured them of taking strict action in the case.

Subramanian, an administrator (correspondent) and Sudhakar, son of college chairman Vasuki Subramanian, were among the four persons being interrogated. The students have demanded arrest of Subramanian whom they hold responsible for the suicide of the three women.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu health minister C Vijayabaskar said a thorough probe would be conducted into the incident.

Some political parties demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each for the family of the dead women.

Three female students from SVS Naturopathy and Yoga College in Villupuram drowned themselves in a well near their college as part of a suicide pact late on Saturday evening

A note recovered from the spot accused the management of the naturopathy and yoga college of pushing them into taking the extreme step.

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riddhi.doshi@hindustantimes.com

Here, right here, says Madhukar Chaudhari, hurrying towards a giant, spreading tree on wobbly legs. This is where they shot the panchayat scene of [the Shah Rukh Khan starrer] Swades in 2004 and the famous song Yeh taara woh taara. They were here for seven months! Its been over a decade, but the people of Wai  a temple town in western Maharashtra  still remember that shoot with affection. My brother, mother and I worked as extras for about a week and earned `11,000 in all, says Chaudhari, who worked at a teachers training institute.

The money the family made helped Chaudhari, now 43, realise his dream of setting up an English-medium school in their village of Menavli, in 2006. It now accommodates 270 children.

With money he earned as an extra, Madhukar Chaudhari has set up an English-medium school in his village. (HT photo )

The production unit also built toilets in the existing village school, says sarpanch Vijay Harchand. Not just that; almost everybody in the village got work. Some were security guards or extras in crowd scenes. Others prepared food for the unit, or assisted on the sets.

Most of all, Swades introduced Wai to Bollywood. Before this, a film was shot here perhaps once a decade. The villagers remember, for instance, the cast and crew of the Madhuri-Dixit starrer Mrityudand (1997) making an appearance.

Since 2004, big-ticket Bollywood films such as Gangajal (2004), Omkara (2006), Taare Zameen Par (2007), Ishqiya (2010) and Chennai Express (2013) and TV serials such as Kaala Tikka and Chhoti Bahu have turned to this scenic region for its valley views, dam and backwaters; its lush fields are reminiscent of Punjab; its ghats that can pass for Varanasi; its old houses and temples.

There is so much work now that we often forget the names of past projects, says Santosh Jamdade, 40, a farmer who now moonlights as an assistant line producer.

Even permissions are easier to come by as the municipality, police, even local farmers realise how the shoot are offering people much-needed employment, adds line producer Surendra Sathe, 59, who worked on Swades, Omkara and Taare Zameen Par.

As the popular hill station locales of Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar became ever more overcrowded with tourists  their hills overrun with ugly lodges and concrete villas and their picturesque points crowded with people  they became more expensive for shoots and less worth the effort. Thats when areas like Wai and Malshej, a mountain pass in the Western Ghats, emerged as alternatives. What made them attractive was that they were still undiscovered by tourists, and were yet becoming better equipped to handle the demands of a film shoot.

These locales are also now relatively closer to Mumbai than Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar  new highways have shrunk the drive to Malshej to 2.5 hours, and it takes five hours to get to Wai, as opposed to almost 6 hours to get to the twin hill stations.

As the first shoots got underway, locals also began to set up additional infrastructure in the hopes that more would follow. So, in Wai, for instance, the number of hotels has shot up from 4 about six years ago to 22 today. The entire crew can now live right here in Wai, says Sathe.

This delights autorickshaw driver Sachin Bhuvad, 36, who has been doubling as a set caterer for five years. My mother used to supply food for birthday parties of local politicians and for weddings, but we never earned as much as we now do, catering to 100 people several times a day for weeks on end, he says. With some of the profits, I have even bought a buffet.

He has also shifted his two children from a municipal school to a private one.

In Malshej

Films are bringing much-needed infusions of cash into this largely tribal region. Over the past six years, big-ticket films shot here have included Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), Raavan (2010), Tees Maar Khan (2010), the song Oh bekhbaar from Action Replayy (2010) and Santosh Sivans Malayalam film Urumi (2011).

Ad films and Marathi films are shot here too, against the scenic waterfalls, lush green hills and green valleys 700 metres above sea level.

The location is absolutely pristine, says Sharada Trilok, producer of Raavan. Crowd control is easy too, permissions were easy and the people cooperative. It worked wonderfully well for us.

Locals roped in as extras earn `350-400 a day; as in Wai, others earn by catering, helping out on the sets or offering homestay or lodge accommodation.

Among these is Ravi Maskare, 31. A farmers son, he got into the catering business 10 years ago, to supplement the family income.

Earlier I just catered to political events and weddings. Once the shoots began, my services were hired to feed 200 people at a time, he says. Over the past three years, he has used the profits to open four restaurants, employing 120 people. He has also enrolled his daughter in a private school.
A day after the office of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Matunga was allegedly vandalised by around six men, the police are now obtaining footages from the CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity to ascertain the identities of the accused.

According to the Shivaji Park police, the men involved in the vandalisation did not raise any slogans making it difficult for the police to identify them.

The police will now checking the CCTV footages of the roads and the nearby shops.

The process to obtain CCTV footages is on. We are checking them to see if the attackers have been caught on tape. Even if one is caught, the rest will be nabbed, said a police officer privy to the investigation.

ABVP has accused the Congresss youth wing National Students Union of India (NSUI) for the attack. NSUI, however, has dismissed ABVPs claim.

Police are yet to ascertain which group was involved in the attack.

We are in process of ascertaining the identity of the group, said the officer.

The attack occurred around 4.30pm on January 23. Francis DSouza, a student activist, was injured in the attack and has sustained stitches on his forehead. The men damaged computers, furniture and broke the glass door.

The attack comes in the wake of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula ending his life in Hyderabad. Vemula allegedly had a tiff with an ABVP student leader Nandanam Susheel Kumar, who has been accused of abetting suicide.
While the proposed Maharashtra Public Universities Act couldnt be discussed in the state assembly, the opposition Congress and NCP have now criticised the move to reduce the representation of various stakeholders - students, teachers and college management representatives - in university governing bodies.

At a meeting with education minister Vinod Tawde and minister of state Ravindra Waikar on Wednesday, opposition leaders came out against replacing elected members with the vice-chancellors nominees.

Congress wants to retain the constitution and appointment procedure for varsity governing bodies prescribed in the current Maharashtra Universities Act 1994, whereas NCP is in favour of a balance between elected and nominated members.

The current system is a time tested setup. We think that the government shouldnt make any change in it, said Congress leader and former agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who was present at the meeting.

The bill for the proposed act which will replace the 1994 act was introduced in the state legislative house on the final day of the winter session of the assembly. However, the bill couldnt be passed as there was little time left to discuss its provisions.

The act will reduce the strength of the senate - universitys apex governing body - from 103 members to 71. Approximately 50% of the senate members will be appointed through the election route, down from around 65% of the 1994 act. The rest of the senate will consist of varsity office bearers - the ex-officio members - and people nominated by the vice-chancellor.

The elected representatives will have a negligible presence in the academic bodies such as academic council, faculties and board of studies of various departments.

While NCP is in favour of appointing some members through nomination process, the party is against doing away with elections in academic bodies. In the current democratic setup, elections should be there. The governing bodies should be a mix of elected and nominated representatives, said former education minister and NCP leader Rajesh Tope.

The parties are also worried that the new act will place too much power in the hands of the vice-chancellor. If the vice chancellor is a good administrator and academicians, then its alright. Otherwise, it will create a havoc, said Tope.

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Barn owls, red-wattled lapwings and little swifts are likely to have struck an aircraft in midair most often than any other bird in India, finds a one-of-a-kind study.

In addition to these three, the study found black kites and three bat species were also involved in most bird strikes. Due to their flying ability at night, presence of bats at airports could be threatening, the report says.

Until now, it was difficult to identify the species involved in bird hits because these collisions mostly happened at high speed, leaving very little of them for investigators to pinpoint the avian variety. It was necessary to pick out the common species responsible for bird hits since such accidents pose a serious risk to human lives and the aviation industry.

Using DNA barcode, the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) in Pune identified 16 species involved in bird strikes. Samples were provided by the navy, while scientists said the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has approached the institute to do a similar exercise for the city airport.

Authorities do not realise small incidents of bird strike until they examine the aircraft to find blood smears, feathers and tissue. Due to the impact, the bird carcass is crushed beyond recognition, said Yogesh Shouche, principal investigator, microbial culture collection, NCCS.

The study showed high incidence of bird strikes because of abundant availability of food in small water pools and grasses around airports.

According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), bird strikes across India rose from 378 in 2010 to around 900 till March 2015. Likewise, data showed bird strikes cost domestic airlines more than Rs 25 crore in 2014.

Along with financial losses, bird strikes reduce the mission capability of the crew, loss of flying hours, permanent damage to the aircraft and, importantly, it is always associated with the risk of mortality, the Pune institutes report says.

Strategies to reduce bird strikes, according to scientists, comprise habitat modification, auditory and visual deterrents, avian radar system and changes in aircraft flight time and route.

Naval air stations are located close to coastal regions and birds endemic to that region are diffesrent from what you may find inland. Migratory birds play a large part too and if airports are located near water bodies, one faces problems there, said Mohan Ranganathan, an air safety expert.
Radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa has urged French President Francois Hollande to impress upon the Indian leadership to explore possibilities of amending the Constitution to give Indians of various regional identities the right to self-determination.

The organisation has also urged Hollande to allow Sikhs in France to wear the turban.

In an e-mail to the French ambassador to India, Dal Khalsa leaders said the Republic Day, to attend which Hollande had come to India, was a day of deceit for the Sikhs and other minority groups of the country. They said the Indian leadership had failed to uphold the basic tenets of the Constitution.

Sikhs are being denied the right to self-determination, for which they are struggling for decades, the Dal Khalsa leader said.

Welcoming Hollande to Chandigarh, the radical Sikh leaders said there was a crying need to reopen the historic Sikh-French relationship.

Your visit to India is directed at discussing the nuclear cooperation, terror and climate change, as reported in the media, but sidelining human and constitutional rights would be wrong, they told Hollande through the email to the ambassador.

Sikhs and other ethnic minorities have always banked upon the support of Western powers, including the France. Ignoring their concerns will be a huge mistake.
Taj Hotel is all geared up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande during their visit to the city on January 24. The hotel management has planned a traditional welcome for both the government heads.

They will walk the carpet underneath a decorated, hand-held canopy called Phulkari dupatta  a custom mostly observed during weddings in the region.

While four persons will hold the traditional duppatta from each side, the guests will pass through the entrance beneath the canopy.

Meanwhile, special Punjabi dishes have been included in the menu, beside other different varieties to be served to the dignitaries.

The officials confirmed local chefs will be cooking the food with special focus on Punjabi dishes, including sarson ka saag and makki ki roti.
Security personnel have spread out in Chandigarh as the city prepares to receive French President Francois Hollande.

Personnel of Chandigarh Police and also their counterparts from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, besides the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), have been deployed in strength at all vital places that Hollande and Modi will visit.

A senior police official told HT that the security was deployed three hours before the high-profile visit as is the procedure.

Security personal deployed on VIP route at Sector 9/10 dividing road in Chandigarh. (Ravi Kumar/HT Photo)

The official, however, said vigil had been increased days ahead.

Hollande and his high-powered delegation, including six ministers, will land at the Air Force Station around 1.05 pm, follwing which he will visit at least three sites and attend a business summit at Hotel Taj in Sector 17.

Officials said around 6,000 cops have been deployed, one every 100 metres along the route Hollande will take starting from the Air Force station.

But they said Modi and Hollande will have separate personal security covers. While the National Security Guard (NSG) will guard Modi, the director general for external security, a French intelligence and national security agency, will protect Hollande.

Chandigarh Police have also deployed a special team of 35 personnel from its commando, CID and intelligence wings.

Security personnel also conducted early morning checks as barricades lined all entry and exit points in the city that is festooned with posters of the two premiers.

Chandigarh inspector general of police (IGP) RP Upadhyay said only one side of the road will be blocked for traffic. He, however, said ambulances will be allowed to enter the resreved side.

Roads to be avoided (1pm to 6pm)

Roads leading to Tribune Chowk, Transport light point, Sector 26, Matka Chowk, Sector 17 and Punjab and Haryana high court. People should also avoid visiting Elante mall between 1pm and 6pm.

Read: Hollande visit: Tourists denied entry to major spots
Negligence on the part of governments has led to jaundice outbreak in Shimla, as they have always remained insensitive towards the sanitation issue, which is evident form the fact that recommendations given after the disease outbreak nine years ago are yet to be implemented.

Several reports since 2007 have been pointing out discrepancies in the sewage treatment system, but governments  Centre and state  remained unmoved and covering up the issue.

Police team in its investigation found grave discrepancies in the functioning of sewage treatment plant. Not only this, but working of irrigation and public health (IPH) department, which is responsible for the monitoring of the STP, is also under scanner.

Authorities today have been toiling hard to dig out the reason of jaundice outbreak. Be it Shimla police constituted special investigation team or other agencies, all have been pointing towards the sanitation issue and foul disposal of sewage that is leading to water contamination in Ashwani Khadd  one of the significant source of water to Shimla town.

These findings are not new as jaundice outbreak affects hundreds of people in Shimla every year. In 2007, a team from National Institute of Virology, Pune, visited Shimla to study jaundice outbreak. Members of the team LP Chobe and VA Arankalle collected samples and found that jaundice cases were mainly reported from the areas getting water supply from Ashwani khad. Same story is being narrated by investigation agencies today.

The NIV report read: The population under study belonged to the locality of Shimla receiving drinking water from a single water supply system. Mixing of effluent water from the sewage treatment plant into the water four-kilometre upstream the collection point of this water supply system and lapses in the chlorination treatment seem to be the major causes of this outbreak.

To avoid such outbreaks in future, there is a need of disposal of sewage water after the collection point of the water treatment plant and adequate chlorination of drinking water.

Shimla municipal corporation commissioner Pankaj Rai said he had asked MC officials to study the report of National Institute of Virology. We have been initiating several steps mentioned in that report. We will study it and do the needful, he said.

Police inevstigation

Police investigation revealed that STP at Malyana was defunct and leading to water contamination in the Ashwani Khad. Supervisor and junior engineer were arrested for dereliction of duty. Not only forged entries were made in the supervising register at STP, but water quality was deliberately ignored at the water supply system.

What was the pollution control board doing?

People have also been questioning the role of HP State Pollution Control Board. However, Board clarified that they have issued notice to the IPH recently. But, as the police probe suggested that STP was not functioning perfectly since long, Boards role become questionable.

Isnt it contempt of court?

Himachal Pradesh high court in 2007 had directed state government to take various steps to ensure clean water supply to Shimla town. But so far, these orders have not been complied with in full letter and spirit. Government was directed to construct a road till treatment plant, which has not been done till now. Besides, governement was asked to adopt the mechanism to suck out sludge from the treatment plant, but all in vain.

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Mystery continues to shroud the disappearance of two Kotkpaura youths Anish Mittal and Kamalpreet Singh, both around 22, who had reportedly gone to drop a friend at Jalalabad for a wedding ceremony last Saturday, but never returned home. Their car, which they had borrowed from a friend, was recovered from the Gang canal by the police on Sunday last, but afterwards, there is no progress in the case.

Both Anish and Kamalpreet belong to businessmen families of Kotkpaura.

Anish Kumar Mittal alias Kaku was working in a private bank in Kotkpaura while Kamalpreet Singh alias Money has his own family business.

Anish left home last Saturday at about 4 pm telling his family members that he was going to meet his friends on a scooter. But, when he did not turn up by 7, his mother called him up, but his phone was not available. She then called up his brother to inform him that Anish had not come home. His brother tried to contact him. His phone was available only once and he told that he was coming home soon, claimed Pardeep Mittal, an uncle of Anish.

Anish and Kamal were close friends so the families began to search for them jointly by calling up some common friends. A common friend disclosed that they had gone to Muktsar and had got late as the car which they were travelling in had developed some defect near Sarai Naga, but when he was told that the other members of the family would go to bring them, he said that they should not worry they would be coming soon, claimed Pardeep.

Pardeep said that the friend of both, who is a resident of Jalalabad first tried to mislead them by telling that they had gone to Muktsar but then joined the families in the search for them during midnight.

From the locations of the mobiles, the police zeroed in on the last location of Gang canal, 7.5 km from Sadiq, and began the search for bodies on Monday morning with the help of locals and divers. The car was recovered from the canal on Monday afternoon. Though, the police have recorded statements of the concerned in this regard, but no case has been registered so far, said Pardeep.

The police are ruling out anything suspicious behind the incident and believe it to be an accident due to a dangerous curve at the crossing of the canal near Sadiq.

We are investigating the case from all angles. The police teams, along with family members, are camping at the site where the canal entered Fazilka district . But, the cold weather is hampering the search for bodies in the canal. As in the summer season, bodies are supposed to float in three four days, but the people say that in the winter season, it takes many days for the bodies to come up. There is no lapse by the police and we are trying our best to search the bodies, said Sukhdev Singh Brar, deputy superintendent of police, Faridkot, who is heading investigation in the case.

There is still no evidence of any criminal act and it appears to be an accident, said Brar.

The police believe that the two were inside the car till it fell into the canal and bodies are believed to have been swept away by canal water.

Sources claimed that besides mobile locations, it was also confirmed from the footage of a CCTV footage at the toll plaza near Jalalabad also confirmed the up-and-down drive of the car.

The car belonged to a family friend of Kamalpreet Singh Anish did not know driving, and Kamalpreet Singh is believed to have been driving it.
Every wondered why your mean neighbours child comes across as so mean? According to a new study, it may be their controlling parents. Children whose parents lay on the guilt or try to manipulate them may translate feelings of stress into similar mean behaviour with their own friends, the study by a University of Vermont psychologist has found.

Those students physical response to stress influences the way they will carry out that hostility -- either immediately and impulsively or in a cold, calculated way, concluded Jamie Abaied. Her study involved 180 mostly female college students and was a collaboration with Abaieds graduate research assistant, Caitlin Wagner, the lead author on the paper.

Read: The only thing wrong with todays kids is their parents

Even after they leave home as legal adults, students often still depend on parents for financial, as well as emotional, support. Some parents will nit-pick and find fault or threaten to withdraw affection (or money) as punishment or to force a desired outcome. With todays technology, parents can exercise that control wherever their kids go -- with texts, email and social media keeping them in constant contact.

You can do that from far away, Abaied says. You dont have to be in person to manipulate your kids thoughts and emotions. The result can stunt their budding independence, Abaied concluded. We need to be really mindful of how influential the parents are.

Read: Just turned parents? Heres how to make your lives a little easier

To determine the level of parental control, the students completed a questionnaire. Higher control correlated with higher aggression. Less-controlling parents created less aggression, Abaied says. The study is published by the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
India and the Arab League on Sunday vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a strategy to eliminate its sources and extremism, including its funding, as external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.

While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab- India Cooperation Forum here in the Bahraini capital, she also warned that those who silently sponsor terror groups could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.

Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them, Swaraj told some 14 foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League grouping, with its secretary general Nabil El Araby in attendance.

She said the meeting marks a turning point for India-Arab relations while pointing out that we are also at a major turning point in history when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to our cities, our people and our very social fabric.

Equally, we must delink religion from terror. The only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths, said Swaraj, who arrived here on Saturday on a two-day visit. The two sides condemned terrorism and manifestations and rejected associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group.
Jack Letts, 20, is reported to be the first white Briton to have joined the Islamic State after converting to Islam.

Now known as Ibrahim or Abu Muhammed, he travelled to Syria when he was 18 after converting to Islam, according to reports in the British media on Sunday.

According to The Times, he admitted to his parents that he had joined the IS in September 2014 and has reportedly married a woman from Fallujah, Iraq, shortly after arriving in Syria.

The reports said he came from a secular, non-Islamic background; studied at Cherwell School in Oxford. His father is said to be an organic farmer and archaeobotanist and his mother a books editor.

Both are said to be extremely worried for his safety after he told them he was moving to Kuwait to study Arabic, when, in fact, he was travelling to Syria.

One former school friend told the paper: At school, he was very much the classroom clown and was liked by a lot of students. Thats why this whole thing of him going to live in Syria and join Isis doesnt make any sense.

Some former school friends from Oxford reportedly named him Jihadi Jack.
Madhesi parties in Nepal have rejected the first amendment to the countrys constitution passed on Saturday night in a bid to address their demands and end the ongoing crisis.

Nepals parliament passed the amendment bill  four months after the statute was promulgated  amidst sloganeering by lawmakers from Madhesi parties, who abstained from the voting.

The amendment proposal was passed forcibly despite our opposition. We reject the changes and will continue with our protests, Upendra Yadav, chairman of the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N) told HT.

Yadavs FSF-N is one of the four Madhesi parties comprising the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), which has been protesting against the statute seeking equal rights for people from the Terai region bordering India.

Saturdays vote amended two articles in the constitution related to proportional inclusion of backward communities in state bodies and fresh delimitation to increase number of constituencies in Terai.

The amendment decreased ethnic clusters from 17 to 15, ensured population will be the primary basis (geography being secondary) for delimitation, and at least one constituency for each district in the country.

With the amendment, there will be 79-80 representatives from Terai in parliament and 85-86 from the hill and mountain regions.

Earlier in the day, five parties  four from the ruling coalition and opposition Nepali Congress  had agreed to go ahead with voting on the amendment bill despite any breakthrough in talks with UMDF.

First they brought the constitution without taking us on board. Instead of correcting that mistake they committed a new one by amending the statute without addressing our demands, said Yadav.

Madhesi parties are seeking a package deal on their 11-point demands with fresh demarcation of federal boundaries and proportional representation for Madhesis in all state organs being prominent ones.

Yadav said blockade on the key border point with India at Birganj, which has remained closed since September, will continue.

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US President Barack Obama told Pakistan on Sunday that it can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil by delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks there.

Describing the terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot as another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long, Obama gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the attack.

Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region, Obama told PTI in an interview in Washington during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

Voicing his belief that the Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century, Obama said that Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices.

Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, Absolutely not.

On the Pathankot attack, Obama said, We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to prevent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families.

Tragedies like this also underscore why the US and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism.

Obama was of the view that Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region. After the December, 2014 school massacre in Peshawar he had vowed to target all militants, regardless of their agenda or affiliation.

That is the right policy. Since then, we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups. We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in north west Pakistan.

The President said that he still believed that Pakistan can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups that operate from its territory.

Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terrorist networks. In the region and around the world, there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice, he asserted in this third interview to PTI.

Our vision recognises that the Indian Ocean is vital to the security of the region and the global economy. And it welcomes Indias determination to Act East with stronger security and economic partnerships across the region, the US President said.

He was replying to a question as to what role he sees for India in the emerging security situation in the Asia Pacific given what is happening and the nuclear tests by North Korea.

We have elevated our trilateral cooperation with Japan, including on disaster response and humanitarian assistance. And we very much welcome Indias increased ties with the region.

Its clear that India can be an anchor of stability and security in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region, and the United States looks forward to the work we can do together, Obama said.

He said we continue to expand our military exercises and maritime cooperation so that our forces become inter operable. We are increasing our defence trade, and were collaborating more closely to jointly develop defence technologies.

Obama said as President he has worked to renew American leadership in the Asia Pacific because the security and prosperity of the region is critical to its own and that of the world.

I am proud that, even as we continue to meet pressing challenges elsewhere in the world, weve rebalanced our foreign policy and are now playing a larger role in the region.

Obama said the US has strengthened alliances, modernised its defence posture, worked to build constructive relationship with China, helped strengthened regional institutions like ASEAN and East Asia Summit and expanded cooperation with emerging powers including India.
Amid mounting international pressure, Pakistan on Sunday pledged further action to combat militants groups operating inside its territory. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted progress had often been slow, speaking just days after a deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on a university campus killed 21 people.

The assault on the Bacha Khan University campus in Charsadda bore a chilling resemblance to the December 2014 Peshawar school assault in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed, prompting the government to launch a National Action Plan (NAP) cracking down on extremism.

Sharif said Sunday Pakistan would continue the fight against militants.

We will fulfil this responsibility, he told reporters in London.

In certain areas of NAP the progress is slow, but in many other areas work has been started, Sharif added.

The NAP saw the creation of military courts and the resumption of executions after a six-year moratorium, and the initiatives were credited with making 2015 the least deadly in terms of militant attacks since the formation of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani (TTP) in 2007.

The Pakistan military also intensified an ongoing campaign against extremism following the 2014 assault.

Sharif said that Pakistan and Afghanistan had an agreement that both countries would not allow militants to use their territory to launch attacks on their neighbour.

However, Pakistan officials said the university attack was orchestrated from Afghanistan and that they have arrested five Pakistani facilitators.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are strictly following this agreement, but there are certain elements in Afghanistan who on their own are attacking Pakistan, Sharif said.

In 2014 our school was attacked from Afghanistan. Such attacks should be stopped, Sharif said.

Earlier this month Sharif assured US scretary of state John Kerry that Pakistan was investigating the deadly attack on an Indian air force base.

Indian officials suspect the January 2 attack on the Pathankot base, which left seven soldiers dead, was carried out by the banned Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed.

US President Barack Obama, in an interview with the Press Trust of India published on Sunday, also urged Pakistan to show it is serious about crushing extremist networks operating on its territory, saying the latest mass killing of students underlined the need for more decisive action.
Washington Post founder Jeff Bezos accompanied reporter Jason Rezaian on a private plane back to the U.S. after he was held in Iran since July 2014. Rezaian was freed over the weekend but was first flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany to receive treatment.

Jeff Bezos and Jason Rezaian before heading back to US (credit @jehld) pic.twitter.com/qydNWDjwi3  Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) January 22, 2016

Bezos, who also owns Amazon.com, was with Rezaian when he was flown to the U.S. from Germany with his family on Friday and said that he is happy to have the Post journalist free, according to Reuters.

Wheels up and out of Iranian airspace! Jason, Yegi, and Mary aboard. Doug Jehl and Ali Rezaian worked tirelessly on this. #JasonIsFree  Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 17, 2016

"Jeff had dinner with the Rezaians Thursday evening at the Army base in Germany and then flew them back home," an unnamed spokesman said, according to CNN Money. "Like all of us, he is incredibly happy they are safe and sound."

Rezaian stayed in a guest house in a U.S. military base in Germany together with his family before he was flown back to the United States.

"Today my family and I left Landstuhl to return home to the United States," the freed journalist said in a statement, The Washington Post reported. "I appreciate the exceptional care I received from the doctors and medical staff, as well as the hospitality we were shown during our stay on the base."

In a recent statement, Rezaian thanked all the people and their efforts into helping him. He added that he wants to write again about the story between the U.S. and Iran sometime in the future, but he would resume his private life with his family in the meantime.

"I hope everyone will respect my need for privacy as I take some time for myself and for my family. For now, I want to catch up with what's been going on in the world, watch a Warriors game or two, and see the Star Wars movie," Rezaian said in the statement, according to The Washington Post.

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During an event in Iowa on Saturday, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump bragged that his supporters are so loyal that they would still vote for him even if he stood in the middle of New York City and shot someone.

"My people are so smart -- and you know what else they say about my people? The polls?" Trump asked a crowd at a rally at Christian liberal arts school Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, reported ABC News. "I have the most loyal people -- did you ever see that?"

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Trump told the crowd as he put his fingers into the shape of a gun and acted like he was pulling a trigger, eliciting laughter. "It's like, incredible," Trump added.

Despite issuing numerous of controversial statements since entering the race, Trump continues to hold a huge lead nationally over the rest of the Republican field - 17 points ahead of his closest rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in a recent CBS/New York Times poll. However, in Iowa, Cruz has recently caught up with Trump and even surpassed the bombastic real estate mogul in some polls.

Trump has joked about murdering people in the past, according to CNN. Referring to "horrible" and "scum" media, Trump said: "I hate some of these people, I hate 'em."

"I would never kill them. I would never do that," he said, going on to reconsider. "Uh, let's see, uh?"

"No, I would never do that," he concluded.

Also at the speech on Saturday, Trump pondered whether he should file a lawsuit against Cruz, challenging his eligibility for president. "I've said Ted has a lot of problems - number one, Canada. He could run for the Prime Minister of Canada and I wouldn't even complain because he was born in Canada," Trump joked, according to The Hill. "The Democrats are going to sue if he ever got the nomination within two days. There have already been two lawsuits filed, but they don't have standing. I have standing to sue. Can you imagine if I did it? Should I do it just for fun?"

But Trump said that he thinks he will beat Cruz without needing to file a suit. "If I thought it was going to matter, maybe I would do it, maybe I wouldn't," he said.

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At least 73 civilians, including 22 children and nine women, were killed in suspected Russian airstrikes on IS-controlled areas in eastern Syrian, a monitoring group said.

At least 29 civilians were killed when the suspected Russian fighter jets hit the village of Khasham on Saturday in the volatile Deir Ezzor province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the group has also stated that it is not clear weather the airstrikes were carried out by Russian or Syrian government warplanes.

The deadly airstrike on Khasham, which lies merely 14 miles from the provincial capital Deir Ezzor, comes a day after 44 civilians, including at least a dozen children, were killed in bombardments in the neighboring village of Tabiyyah Jazeera, Al Jazeera reported. It is also unclear whether Friday's airstrikes were carried out by Russian or Assad's forces, the group said.

At least 32 people were killed in similar airstrikes on IS locations in Raqqa, the capital of the self-declared Caliphate.

The latest airstrikes are part of regime's fresh offensive to retake territory captured by ISIS in the eastern part of the country. ISIS militants have also started retaliatory attacks on regime forces around the provincial capital.

The latest assault and fighting reportedly claimed nearly 500 lives in the Deir Ezzor province, according to the Middle East Eye.

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With the global economy reeling from plunging oil prices to massive overproduction, Nigeria, one of the key members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has added its voice to the list of the organization's members that are requesting for an emergency meeting of the oil-producing nations to address the current oil crisis, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria's oil minister, stated in a panel in Davos that with the oil industry in its current state, the members of the OPEC, which produce about one-third of the world's oil, must do something proactive soon.

"There is a lot of energy around trying to meet earlier. Obviously, some of that is a panic reaction. Do we just sit back and watch or do we put more efforts in talking to countries, like Russia, to try to get some consensus of what we need to be doing?" he said.

With the oil minister's statement, Nigeria has followed Venezuela, another OPEC nation, which has been calling for an emergency meeting to discuss steps to possibly prop up oil prices and lessen oil production, reported the NYSE Post.

However, other prominent OPEC members, such as Iran, disagree with the premise of an emergency meeting. Bijan Zanganeh, Iran's oil minister, stated that the organization currently has little intention of making a drastic change.

"There should be an intention to make a firm decision in such a meeting; otherwise, the meeting will have negative impacts on world oil markets. The important thing is that there must be an intention for change, but we have not yet received such a signal," the oil minister said, according to Reuters.

As the global economy heads for what is potentially a very volatile year, the OPEC, which requires a consensus from all its members before it initiates a change, must make a decision very soon.

Check out more Business News here.

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After facing a U.K. parliamentary inquiry about its tax practices in its offshore sites, Google and the U.K.'s tax authority have agreed that the search engine giant would be paying about $185 million in back taxes, all the way back from 2005, according to The Guardian.

Google, which is now part of Alphabet Inc., has faced intense pressure over the past few years due to its tax practices, which involved channeling most of its profits through Ireland and Bermuda, countries that require very little tax from the search giant's operations.

"The way multinational companies are taxed has been debated for many years and the international tax system is changing as a result. This settlement reflects that shift," a spokesman from Google said, reported Mashable.

A spokeswoman from the finance ministry is optimistic about the deal, stating that its agreement with Google is a pivotal step forward.

"This is the first important victory in the campaign the government has led to ensure companies pay their fair share of tax on profits made in the U.K. and is a success for our new tax laws," she said.

A number of Labor officials, however, scoffed at the amount that Google has agreed to pay. With earnings of billions of dollars annually, the $185 million tax that the search giant agreed to seems but a marginal amount to them, according to Business Insider.

"This is a lousy number and we need to know more," tax expert and Labor leader Richard Murphy said.

Check out more Business News here.

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A controversial coyote-hunting competition in northern Wisconsin has attracted significant backlash from conservation groups and wildlife enthusiasts, according to the Associated Press. The contest started on Saturday in the town of Argonne.

Coyote hunting contests are common, with at least 80 formally listed as having taken place in the last year on the Coyote Contest website. Many more go on that are unlisted, according to the Associated Press. Prizes are generally awarded for the highest kill count or largest find, with hunters bringing in any number of coyotes from one to a dozen, according to the Associated Press.

While these hunts are common, wildlife preservation groups are concerned they glorifying the slaughter of animals beyond the stated goal of controlling the coyote population, according to the Associated Press. Melissa Smith, executive director of Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf, referred to the hunts as "senseless" and "bloodlust," according to the Associated Press.

Smith and others are also concerned these coyote hunts lead to accidental shooting of endangered wolves. Center of Biological Diversity conservation advocate Michael Robinson claims at least 19 endangered wolves have been mistaken for coyotes and shot since 2001, according to the Associated Press.

"It's a very disturbing trend," Robinson said, according to the Associated Press, "It's about body counts and it reduces living animals, living beings, it reduces them to a score."

Hunters taking part in the event told reporters that while this weekend's event is attracting particular attention, they are actually permitted to hunt coyotes all year round, according to the Associated Press. The Department of Natural Resources stated that hunting licenses will be checked for some and that fines may be applicable for anyone who shoots a wolf, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.

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The East Coast was hit by hurricane-force winds this weekend that caused at least 18 deaths, despite several days of weather warnings beforehand, according to the Associated Press. More than 10 states on the Eastern Seaboard declared states of emergency as a result of the storm, The New York Times reported.

"I want to be very clear with everybody. This is a major storm," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told the city during the week, according to Reuters, warning that the incoming weather had "life-and-death implications" and should be treated as such. Despite this, a number of deaths occurred over the weekend as a result of snow shoveling, hypothermia and car crashes caused by the snow.

One of those killed as a result of the storm was a 4-year-old boy in Iredell County, who died in a car crash, the New York Daily News reported. A woman's car fell down a 300-foot embankment in Tennessee, and a transportation worker was killed in Kentucky while plowing highways.

A travel ban had been ordered by officials over the weekend to prevent nonemergency vehicles off the road in New York, including buses and parts of the subway that run above ground. In Washington, the airports have been closed, and mass transit has been limited as of today in order to prevent further damage.

Thousands of residents and businesses also had their power cut as a result of the storm, with Duke Energy reporting that more than 112,000 people were affected in North and South Carolina on Friday, according to Reuters.

"Happy Sunday to all," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said at a news conference this morning. "We survived, and then some."

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Taken from the December 1995 Hot Press Rory Gallagher tribute issue.

This article was taken from Volume 19 Issue 13





JIMMY PAGE

"It was tragic. It really upset me. I heard it just before we went on stage the other night and it put a dampener on the evening. I can't say I knew him that well but I met him in our old offices once and we spent an hour talking and he was such a nice guy and a great player."

U2

 THE EDGE 

"A beautiful man and an amazing guitar player. We'll miss him very much."

 ADAM CLAYTON 

"The first show I ever went to was Rory Gallagher at the Carlton in 1975. I'll always remember his blues and acoustic guitar playing. R.I.P."

 BONO 

"One of the top ten guitar players of all time but more importantly one of the top ten good guys. Taste was my first experience of a real rock band."

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 LARRY MULLEN JNR. 

"It was with great sadness that we learnt of Rory Gallagher's death. One of the most underrated Irish talents."

MICHEAL O'SUILLEABHAIN, Irish World Music Centre

"The first time I saw Rory Gallagher live was at a concert In Cork Opera House In 1970 while I was a student In UCC. The guitar seemed to sing in his hands. His Improvisations were constantly moving, reaching out, going somewhere, extending the potential of the Instrument itself. The music he made sounded so personal  almost as if it was a necessary healing that he constantly pursued. I always found that same quality In Eric Clapton's music also.

Rory Gallagher was in that same class of electric blues players. In the blues, he seemed to have found his own electric sean nos, yet another way down to the same well of feallng which all traditions draw from.

"Rory Gallagher was made to make music, and in making it he left a legacy of Ireland's first confident turnings into that particular contemporary sound. He was a pioneer to whom ft was given to cut through the undergrowth revealing new possible paths for others to follow. As those who knew him mourn, it is right that a note of celebration be sounded in honour of a musician who has entered our history."

ANDY FAIRWEATHER-LOW

"He was such a good natured thing, Rory. One of the abiding memories I have of him funnily enough happens to be one of the most recent ones. About six or eight months ago, Rory called in to see me at the hotel I was staying at. I wasn't feeling particularly bright. He was obviously not well but his only concern was how I was feeling. Which is so typical.

"I had a sort of a thyroid problem which I was getting checked out at the time. Obviously, Rory had had a similar type of problem. He was very reassuring as if nothing bad was going on in his life. Strangely, he put his hand on my knee, smiled up at me and said 'You take care now'. And then he was off into the night. That was the last time I saw him and it's sort of haunted me ever since. Things unfortunately got worse for him not for me. Although I kept up to date with his health after he fell ill, it was still such a shock when I learned of his death. In this business where things change so much he was very much a constant. If ever there was a troubadour this man was it."

DAVY SPILLANE

"On an album called Out Of The Air, Rory dropped in one time to play on a couple of tracks. It was an alectrlc blues album I made with a lot of the Moving Hearts. He was in Dublin and ha was free for a while so we asked him would he come down to do a few things with us and he did. He played a guitar that I provided him with which is a thirty-year-old lady-size harmony guitar which he played on a track we did with impromptu guitar and low whistle. He was very generous with his time, friendly, accessible and ahowed an Interest at a time when not that many people were all that focused on that kind of thing.

"He made a huge contribution to Irish music. He went out there and, largely, by himself he did It. It's another loss. There's key figures along the way in different genres of music, people like Michael RusseII, Paddy Kalouray, Johnny Brook, Dan Dowd, my father who you associate with whole eras that are dependent on them people being alive to represent them. Rory Gallagher was one of those. He made authentic music and proved that you can be Irish and still play the blues."

BRIAN DOWNEY, drummer with Thin Lizzy

"The first time I saw Rory playing was with the orlglnal Taste In about 1967, In The Scene Club near Parnell Square. The place was packed and everyone was quite surprised I think because nobody was playlng that kind of music In Ireland at the time. I was trying to form a blues band at the time. Which I eventually did, called The Sugar Shack but it was mainly through Rory's influence that I decided to go into the blues In a big way.

"I remember standing there about a foot away from the guy and the energy coming off the stage was unbelievable. It was totally new at the time. We went out of the gig in a total daze, and myself and a couple of the guys just didn't speak until a few hours afterwards.

"Obviously when Phil (Lynnot) and myself formed Thin Lizzy, we bumped into him quite a bit. We met up in Germany where he was absolutely huge. This was about ten years later. It was the first time I met him. He asked me about Tha Sugar Shack. Of course, I was amazed he'd even heard of us or remembered the name of the band. We'd broken up well before this.

"But every time we met him he was always very helpful and interested. There was no pretension about him whatsoever."

DAVE FANNING

"Rory Gallagher was a genuine total hero to me in the early 70s mainly around the time of his first solo album. I thought I was a bit Rory-ied out in some ways by the fact On The Boards meant so much to me, and all the Taste stuff and the Isle of Wight and all the rest of It. I thought maybe I'd had enough of Rory and I was moving into Jethro Tull or somebody like that at the time. Then, I heard the solo album about a month after It came out, and I just thought It was brilliant. His best song ever I think is 'Until I Fell Apart'.

"From then on, the solo shows were just as good and just as important as any of the Taste shows I'd seen at The Stadium. Myself and a friend - the same friend who used to work for HOT PRESS, a guy called Mel Riley - we used to idolise the man. Then to go into 2FM at the end of the 70s and get a Christmas card from him to me made being a DJ worthwhile. It made my day In fact.

"Even my mother knew who Rory Gallagher was when she heard that he'd died last week. Which she shouldn't have done if you know what I mean. He was a very nice guy and I just liked him as a person. He was at pains not to be seen to be trying to jump on any bandwagon or do a Jon Bon Jovi. In many ways, he wasn't for these times. Maybe he was of an era which he didn't have to be. I'd like to have seen him broaden out and capitalise more on his success, especially in 1972. Perhaps it might have helped him. I mean, Rory Is sometimes pigeonholed into the Blues but he was rock through and through.

"But a nicer guy you couldn't meet. Whenever you met him you always knew you were going to meet an incredibly well-mannered and polite person."

 PHILIP DONNELLY 

"As a player, he was fantastic. When I was just starting Elmer Fudd around '65-'67, there was a great gig venue on the southside of Cork City called Stella House where a lot of big bands played. When we finally booked ourselves into it, Taste had just played. They had come back to play there and then they were working in Germany. So they were one of the first that made it outside of Ireland. That was always an inspiration."

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 PAUL McGUINNESS 

"He was the first International rock star from Ireland and has set a great example."

DONAL GALLAGHER, Rory Gallagher's brother and manager

'Last Of The Independents'

"Its hard to find the words that could remotely express or give an insight into my brother Rory.

"Suffice to say that he was the most extraordinary, intuitive, intelligent and sensitive man I have ever known and he was full of integrity. His mission in life was to make music and with his sad passing he has rendered his work timeless.

He has certainly left his calling card.

He will be ever present for all those who love him.

"I'll admit you're gone when I think I'm able" ('I'll Admit You're Gone', Rory

Gallagher)

AVRIL MacCRORY, Head Of Music Programmes at the BBC

"When we were filming Rory's performance in Cork Rory wanted everything black. He wanted the stage black, the background black and he wanted the lighting done his way. All of which was perfectly grand but I begged him not to wear black jeans for the set because I told him his legs will disappear. All we would see is this floating strat with the checked shirt above it, so I said to him 'Please will you wear blue jeans.' He sort of looked at me and said 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure.' This was at lunchtime of the day. I asked him had he got a pair of blue jeans and he said 'Yeah. Of course, I have.' And, naturally he comes out that night wearing black jeans. I nearly slaughtered him. We adjusted things a bit so he didnt lose his legs though it looked at one point that he would. But that was Rory. He would be charming and nice and then do exactly what he had intended all along.

"But you never would have got Rory into an Armani suit, that's for sure. Denim jackets usually. But occasionally leather jackets and a black t-shirt just to ring in the changes. He did have variety. He wasn't entirely monochromatic. It had to be a plain t-shirt as well. No logos.

"I think people who are very, very shy and private are lonely and, to an extent, Rory probably was lonely. Not that he didn't have people. There were always people there for him. If he wanted them. But one of the reasons why Rory was such a great musician was because that's where it all came out. That's where he expressed everything. He was so shy I don't think he expressed himself in the normal kind of way or the way most people do which is in talk or ringing people up. He was a very gentle man as well. Rory would write a song when he felt miserable. Or he would play and it would all come out in his music. He was never short of people to talk to but very often he didn't want to be with people.

"Donal (Gallagher) was incredibly close to him and a solid and loyal support to Rory throughout the years. Brothers often aren't as they grow up but Donal and Rory were two sides of the same coin and Donal was the front man and Rory liked the background, and that's the way ii worked.

"Rory loved films, especially French films and he would talk for hours about movies. People like Bunuel he loved. And the Taviani Brothers. He also read an awful lot. Musically, two of the people he quoted most were Lonnie Donnegan and Muddy Waters. Rory always mentioned Lonnie. In fact, I think when Rory was thirteen and Donal was eleven, Rory won a talent competition in Cork wearing short trousers, singing Lonnie Donnegan and carrying this big guitar. As it turned out Rory was robbed of his prize and Donal at the age of eleven took it upon himself to go and sort out the fella who was organising the competition. So he was managing him even then.

"But Tom O'Driscoll and Donal were the foundation stones of Rory's life. Apart from his mother who he was very, very close to as well. He used to ring his mother every single night before she went to bed no matter where he was and no matter what the time difference.

"By complete coincidence, I was in New York before Rory died working on a film that we're doing for the BBC on the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970. None of that footage has ever been seen apart from the half-an-hour of the Jimi Hendrix set. I'm co-producing it. We're going to show it in August as part of the twentyfifth anniversary of that festival. It was Jimi Hendrix's last ever public performance. He died nine days later. And it was The Doors last public performance. It was an absolutely amazing event.

"But it's also the last film version of Taste. They broke up after that. Looking at Rory in that, he was just dead gorgeous. Long, long, flip-floppy hair, gorgeous face and howling guitar. I'd never seen that footage before. Well, nobody has. Donal hasn't even seen it. We're including a track from Taste in the film  which we were doing anyway before Rory died - and I'd arranged for all the rest of the footage of Taste to be transferred from film to tape so that I could give it to Rory cause he'd never seen it either and sadly he never will now. On the BBC on 14th of July we're also going to show the '76 Old Grey Whistle Test Special which has Rory in the most fantastic form. It hasn't been seen since it was first broadcast, I think. And we're putting that out as a tribute to him.

SLASH

"Come again, did you say Rory Gallagher was dead? Jesus. When my manager said you were doing a tribute to Rory, It never connected with me that it was because he was dead. I'm on the road In Finland at the moment and I haven't heard anything. Well, that sure as hell ruins my day.

"Rory was a really big Influence on me. When I was younger, I bought all of his stuff and listened to it devotedly. As far as I'm concerned he's one of the all time great guitar players though I mean I never went out to copy him or anything. I didn't listen to him either to study him because I don't think you should do that really. You should just enjoy the music. And I loved Rory's music.

"Playing with Rory In LA was one of the biggest thrills for me ever."

MARK CAGNEY

"I used to live at the top of St. Patrick's Hill in Cork City. Rory and his family had a pub on the street at the bottom of that McCurtin Street. When I became old enough to get into music, Rory was a quite familiar sight when he would come off tour. He was unique at the time. It's probably hard to believe but there weren't that many people with long hair and he had a very particular hunched over and bouncy gait. And, of course, he had the trademark check shirt always.

"Sightings of him would be reported avidly all over the school. You'd never approach him. You'd just stand staring at him with your mouth open.

"We all had the records naturally and there would be great discourses about them. I remember particularly we all preferred On The Boards 'cause I think, at that age, the first Taste album was actually very heavy, even though there were good tunes like 'Blister on The Moon'. But On The Boards was more accessible and we would have these ridiculous conversations for thirteen or fourteen-year olds like, 'Yeah, Rory's sax playing is really getting good! He played sax on 'Railway And A Gun', which blew us all away."

"When you're in your early teens you also want to emulate your heroes and Rory was easy to emulate because he wore jeans and a lumberjack shirt. There was a shop in Cork - which as far as I know is the biggest retail outlet for Levi and Wrangler denims in the country - called Leaders which sold nothing else except jeans and lumberjack shirts and this was a very practical form of apparel for a thirteen or fourteen-year-old. Your parents would go, 'Oh, you wear one of those. That's brilliant.' So he was a great hero to have for all sorts of reasons but he made you particularly proud because he was one of your own even though at that age you didn't know what that meant.

"He was unbelievably committed to the music that he played and he wasn't into the flash. I have no doubt he was a very wealthy man but that was never Rory's thing. He never went down that road of selling himself and for a young lad interested in rock music growing up in Cork he was a hero. Tailor-made. Perfect."

PAUL RODGERS, ex-Free & Bad Company

"I heard the news last night sitting in a bar In Edmonton and I have to say it completely took the wind out of my sails. We played together, what, six months ago in a place called Vistolla In Italy.

"There's a 16th century square there where they have gigs and he was terrific. The sound he got out of his guitar was totally unique.

"The first time we'd have been on the same bill would have been in the early '70s at the Marquee. I was with Free and I remember thinking to myself, "God, what I wouldn't do to have that guy in this band!"

PIERCE TURNER

"Rory is really up there with the best. For the excitement factor, he was definitely one of the top three live performers I ever saw. His shows were stunning. Early U2 was comparable, when they were at their best, a great high energy band. When Bruce Springsteen was at his best, he was comparable too. Those three were the best high energy acts I ever saw.

"You didn't have to be a blues fan to like Rory Gallagher. His performance was so powerful that it was impossible for anyone to resist. What I admire about Rory too was that he didn't try and conquer the world like those other two acts did. He was content to fill a space and leave it at that. There was something more humble and less pretentious about him than all those other people.

"I saw Taste for the first time in The Opera House in Cork, and I couldn't believe it. The hysteria was incredible. The crowd was rushing the stage and there were bodyguards protecting him. And this was when showbands were ruling the roost herel He was a phenomenon. The first Irish rock star."

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JOHN SHEEHAN, The Dubllners

"The Dubliners recorded one of Rory's songs, 'The Barley And Grape Rag', for our thirty years celebration album, and Rory agreed to play on the track himself. We were in awe of playing with the great Rory Gallagher with his big name and reputation, especially doing one of his songs which is very different from our normal repertoire. When the session was finished, I told Rory that it had been great working with him and generally expressed our relief that it had gone well. And, he says, 'Jesus, you've no idea how nervous I was about recording with Dubliners'.

"Even though he was living in London, he had a great knowledge and feeling for what was going on at home. He seemed to have all our albums and had read the sleeve notes and knew all sorts of minute details about Irish acts. His roadie, Tom O'Driscoll, told me at the funeral that he always carried a couple of Dubliners tapes in a plastic bag when he was on tour, and would play them in the car while he was driving around.

"He was a very shy guy and quite nervous when it came to recording. It took a while in the studio for him to psyche himself up until he was ready to go for a take. He was a perfectionist, but a very humble sort of a character, not the type that you'd expect to find in showbusiness at all. An absolutely lovely character."

PHILIP KING

"For me, Rory's death is like an end to a whole part of my life. I was very fond of him. I admired him as a man and as a musician. I admired his attitude and his independence. He had a great, maverick spirit. In 1967, I saw Taste for the first time the night my Inter Cert results came out, in the 006 Club, in Leitrim Street. He was a huge influence. To hear somebody who was Irish, and from Cork, and playing the blues, at that level was really, really exciting and got me involved in music from day one.

"As the years passed, I struck up a relationship with Rory. When I was teaching in the tech in Dundrum, Rory played The Carlton one night. After the gig, I met Rory and chatted away. I went into school the following morning and there was this bunch of kids who were normally very noisy. This morning, there was dead quiet in the room. One guy got up and said, 'Was that you with Rory Gallagher last night?' When I said it was, he said, 'It fuckin' was not'. A big debate then erupted as to how such a bollox of a teacher could be into Rory Gallagher. It broke down a barrier in a funny sort of way.

"I invited Rory to take part in Bringing It All Back Home but it never came to pass. But we have been talking really seriously with the BBC about doing a serious piece work, probably to be based around the now never to be acoustic record. There is a great film to be made and I'd love to do it."

ROD STEWART

"Rory's dead? I'm shocked, so shocked. We used to have the same manager. We used to do tours together with Rory. He was a real good guy, a great player. That's taken me aback, I'm sorry. I can't believe it, man."

PETER AIKEN

"We worked a lot with Rory and really they didn't come any bigger. I mean, he played a week at the Stadium on countless occasions. Likewise, Rory could fill The Ulster Hall for a week at a time, something which any artist nowadays would find extremely difficult. You must remember there was no Point Depot in those days. Both myself and Jim obviously had a lot of contact with Rory and Donal Gallagher and, basically, you couldn't meet two nicer people. Rory was always very polite and, as has been said a lot already, he was an absolute gentleman. As I was a fan since I was in short trousers I consider myself lucky to have met and worked with him.

A statement on behalf of JEFF BECK

Unfortunately Jeff is away from home rehearsing at the moment but we have spoken many times about Rory since news of his illness. It is particularly sad to lose Rory as he was a kindred spirit to Jeff, both might have been a Rolling Stone but good sense prevailed, and he never sought fame at the expense of musical integrity, but continued to make music of the very best quality.

They met only occasionally, did not work together, and were not 'mates' as such but this in no way diminished Jeff's admiration for a great artist.

There are precious few 'rock' musicians with integrity, his place in history is secure.

Tributes compiled by Patrick Brennan
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-01-24 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Potami leader: We remain the country's progressive reformist force [02] Refugees crossing at Greece-Fyrom buffer zone conducted smoothly [03] 1,707 refugees arrived on Sunday at Piraeus port [01] Potami leader: We remain the country's progressive reformist force ANA/MPA---"We will persuade the Greeks that Potami party remains the country's the progressive reformist force. We have solutions and proposals and we will dare to make waves and rock the boat" stated party leader Stavros Theodorakis in statements during his visit to the port city of Patras late Saturday. Asked on the possibility of a cooperation with New Democracy (ND) Theodorakis clarified "Potami's duty is to have solutions to the country's huge problems and to seek allies" he said adding that "we disagree in several matters with Kyriakos Mitsotakis (ND leader)" and explained "ND is a conservative party that has not yet proved in action that it moves towards reformist direction, so Potami keeps many reservations". He also said that Potami will support the government whenever is necessary for the majority of the society but will not support the government to rescue it. [02] Refugees crossing at Greece-Fyrom buffer zone conducted smoothly ANA/MPA---The crossing of refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria at Greece-Fyrom buffer zone in Idomeni is conducted smoothly. The buffer zone closed at 06:00 on Sunday which, according to police is something natural in cases of congestion. However, 2,500 refugees had gathered waiting for the crossing to open. The crossing point reopened at 09:00 and the condition returned to normal [03] 1,707 refugees arrived on Sunday at Piraeus port ANA/MPA---The catamaran 'Tera jet' carrying 1,707 refugees from the islands of Chios and Lesvos docked on Sunday at Piraeus port. Coast Guard had taken all the necessary precautions to facilitate the refugees and migrants' disembarkation. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-01-24 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] PM Tsipras to address event on first year anniversary of SYRIZA governance [02] No country can totally control its borders, says FM Kotzias at meeting with German counterpart Steinmeir [03] Gov't spokeswoman Gerovassili: 2016 will be a year of major reforms [01] PM Tsipras to address event on first year anniversary of SYRIZA governance ANA-MPA/Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will address on Sunday an event organised by SYRIZA under the slogan One year Left, one year battle. We proceed", on the occasion of the first year anniversary of SYRIZA's governance. Tsipras is expected to refer to the government political targets in the next period as well as to the event that marked the developments in Greece from 2015 until today. The event will be held at the Tae Kwon Do arena in Paleo Faliro at 18:30 with main speakers the prime minister and SYRIZA central Committee secretary Panagiotis Rigas [02] No country can totally control its borders, says FM Kotzias at meeting with German counterpart Steinmeir BERLIN (ANA-MPA/F. Karaviti)---The bilateral relations, the refugees issue, the crises in several regions as well as the Cyprus issue were among the issues discussed during a working dinner hosted by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeir to his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias on Saturday evening in Berlin. Kotzias rejected again the possibility of Greek and Turkish coast guards common patrols in the Aegean Sea and suggested Frontex to undertake the readmission to Turkey of those migrants not entitled asylum after their identification in Greece. The real problem of the refugees issue is first of all the conflict in Syria, said Kotzias noting that those counties that set a Schengen issue are mostly those that do not have problems with refugees and migrants. They speak however, as he claimed, in order to not implement EU's decisions. Kotzias reiterated that no country can totally control its borders and this was proved and in the case of Germany. [03] Gov't spokeswoman Gerovassili: 2016 will be a year of major reforms ANA/MPA---2016 will be a year of huge reforms as well as of the agreement for the debt relief, stated government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili in an interview with the Sunday edition of Avghi newspaper. The reforms, explains Gerovassili, will refer to the public administration, the state contracts and the public procurements, the media and the growth framework, the cooperatives and the fight against smuggling. On the reactions regarding the social security reforms and the farmers' mobilisations, she said that "the government not only listens to the voices that take the streets but also integrates their requests wherever it is possible". She also sternly stated that "any discussion on a left parenthesis has ended" adding that "if some, inside and outside Greece, continue to harbour illusions it would be good to come down to reality". Finally, on the possibility of cooperation with the other left parties of the country, she noted the need that progressive political forces to find a common ground as it happened in Portugal and Spain. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-01-24 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Either the social security system will change or it will collapse [02] EU borders will not close, says EU Commissioner Avramopoulos [01] Either the social security system will change or it will collapse ANA/MPA---The struggle for change is not book theories but daily action, said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressing a SYRIZA event on the first year anniversary of SYRIZA-ANEL governance under the slogan "One year Left, One year battle. We proceed" held at the Tae Kwon Do arena. The prime minister underlined that in 2015 "we competed with history and assumed historic responsibilities for the European and the international Left. Tsipras said that they clashed with the conservative establishment that dogmatically insists on austerity recipes and claims that the recipes are not wrong but the way they are implemented. He said he is proud that "we gave battle in order to finish with all those that brought us here" and referred to a struggle against the oligarchy and corruption. He referred to the traps set to the country and noted that "we avoided them thanks to the people that supported us and gave us the victory in three election battles in less than a year". Those who led us her and gave up without fight to the lenders' appetite must give answers, said Tsipras and referred to a rally attempt of those forces in order the country to turn back to the days of lawlessness and arbitrariness. He said that these forces are trying to turn the first review in to a tool to blackmail the government and charged them that they are hiding behind the IMF on the social security issue. "Someone will either be with the mobilisations or with the IMF" and called on main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis to clarify his position "is he with the blockades or with the IMF?" During his speech, Tsipras noted that the crucial dilemma over the social security system is "either reform or collapse of the system". [02] EU borders will not close, says EU Commissioner Avramopoulos ANA/MPA---"There is no closing EU borders issue" clarified European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos in an interview with private TV MEGA noting that Greece is not alone in the crisis management of the refugees issue. "The countries must assume their responsibilities. If Schengen collapses then the whole European construction will start collapsing" stated Avramopoulos underlining that a discussion on Schengen will not open. The Commissioner said that a large number of countries criticise Greece on the delays in the construction of the hotspots "According to government's commitments there will be joint staff in five entrance gates that will evaluate each case independently and will give the data they collect to the European authorities to use them for the relocation process. If all these had been done from the beginning we would not have come across last summer's incidents" he said and clarified that Europe supports Greece. "Greece is moving fast in the last period" he said and reminded that in four weeks at the EU Summit, the Greek government must present what it has done. "At this moment and under the pressure of the crisis that Europe is facing, we all have huge responsibilities to safeguard this achievement" he noted. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
As the former mayor of La Loche, I am shocked and saddened by the shooting in the Dene Building at the La Loche Community School in my riding. The shooting hits close to home for me as my family members attend the school.

The community of La Loche is strong and closely knit. We have faced adversity in the past and we will persevere.

My thoughts and prayers are with all students, staff and families affected as we begin on the path of healing as a community.
Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression is legendary, and she chose the perfect moment to bring it back.

Palin announced she would be endorsing Donald Trump for president last Tuesday.

So naturally, Fey spoofed the former U.S. Republican vice-presidential candidate on "Saturday Night Live" last night, delivering a fake endorsement speech, starting with a shout out to the "lame-stream media."

"They say Trump and his Trumpeters are right-winging, bitter-clinging, proud clingers of our guns. But he can kick ISIS' ass, because he commands fire," she said.

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"Trump" then goes on to say that he thinks Palin is a little bit crazy.

"I hope nobody's allergic to nuts, because we got a big one here."

At the end of her speech, Fey as Palin said she doesn't actually want Trump to become president.

'Guess what, America, I don't really think this guy should be president," she said.

"I'm just here, 'cause he's promised me a spot in his cabinet. And I belong in a cabinet, 'cause I'm full of spice and I've got a great rack."

Actor Rob Lowe summed up the sketch in one tweet.

Tina Fey doing Palin on SNL is one of the reasons for living.  Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) January 24, 2016
David Cameron is reportedly considering plans to admit several thousand migrant children into the UK within weeks, as pressure continues to mount on the government to provide greater assistant to young people who have fled their war-torn homelands.

Downing Street said ministers were looking at calls from charities for the UK to admit at least 3,000 unaccompanied young people who have arrived in Europe from countries including Syria and Afghanistan, and who are at serious risk of falling prey to people traffickers, the Guardian reported.

The newspaper said the gesture would be in addition to the 20,000 refugees the UK has already agreed to accept by 2020.

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David Cameron is said to be considering admitting at least 3,000 migrant children into the UK; children walk through the migrants camp of Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk, earlier this month

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday called for Cameron to offer children not just a refuge in the UK but proper homes and education, following a visit to refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk.

He said: We must reach out the hand of humanity to the victims of war and brutal repression.

Along with other EU states, Britain needs to accept its share of refugees from the conflicts on Europes borders, including the horrific civil war in Syria.

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We have to do more. As a matter of urgency, David Cameron should act to give refuge to unaccompanied refugee children now in Europe  as we did with Jewish Kindertransport children escaping from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s. And the government must provide the resources needed for those areas accepting refugees  including in housing and education  rather than dumping them in some of Britains poorest communities.

The Guardian reported that with one week of January to go, about 37,000 migrants and refugees had already arrived in the EU by land or sea, roughly 10 times the equivalent total for the month last year.

EU nations are still deeply divided over how to respond to the migrant crisis, with several, including Germany, France, Sweden and Austria, setting up emergency border checks under special powers that expire in May. Austria has also placed a cap on the number of refugees it will take. Aid agencies believe this is creating confusion and panic among migrants who are now trying to act before Europe's doors close.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron urged the UK to admit more child refugees. He told the Guardian: Those who have made it to European shores now face cold winters, harsh conditions and are vulnerable to traffickers. We must open our hearts to those in need.

Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham has reportedly said such a gesture would "endear Cameron to other EU leaders" at a time when he needs their support.
BBC

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted she is not hoping to "engineer" a 'no' vote in the upcoming European Union referendum in order hold another vote on Scottish independence.

The Scottish first minister also warned David Cameron that holding the referendum in June would be a mistake.

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Sturgeon has repeatedly said that if the UK votes to leave the EU then it would be legitimate for Scotland to hold a second independence referendum.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr programme on Sunday, Sturgeon said: "If Scotland had voted to stay in and the UK as a whole votes to to come out, which therefore means Scotland faces being taken out of the EU when we don't want to be, I have said before and I will say again, it is highly likely that would trigger an overwhelming demand for a second referendum on independence," she said.

She added: "The democratic outrage of being taken out of Europe against our will would make that almost inevitable."

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However Sturgeon said she was not hoping for that outcome. "I don't want that situation to arise. I am not taking some sort of Machiavellian view of this, that somehow I want to engineer that scenario because it might lead to a second independence referendum," she told Marr.

Sturgeon also warned David Cameron that the 'In' campaign, which he is expected to lead, must not try and scare voters into voting to remain in the EU.

On the timing of the referendum, she said: "Two reasons why I would not be in favour of a June referendum.

"One, you might interpret as being a bit selfish. The Scottish election is in May, indeed the Welsh, Northern Irish, London elections are in May. I think to have a referendum campaign starting in parallel would be disrespectful to those important elections.

"The second reason is I think it would be better for David Cameron to leave more time between - if he does get a deal at the February European Council - to leave more time between that deal and the point of decision.

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The corpses of three sperm whales have washed up on the Lincolnshire coast.

One was discovered on Skegness beach at about 6.30am on Sunday and two others were found a few miles away at about 8.30pm on Saturday.

It is believed that the three whales found this weekend are from the same pod as a whale that died in Hunstanton, Norfolk, on Friday.

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A dead whale was found on Skegness beach on Sunday morning

The bodies have been cordoned off and members of the public are being asked not to go near them as the council awaits permission to clear the area.

.@EastLindseyDC is waiting for permission to move the whales off Skegness beach. @MCA_media advises people stay away pic.twitter.com/iol9cPjDS3  BBC Look North (EYL) (@looknorthBBC) January 24, 2016

The bodies will be examined by the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.

These latest whale deaths come after a 45ft sperm whale, weighing about 30 tonnes, died on a Norfolk beach on Friday.

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Despite the efforts of rescue workers, the whale died after injuring its tail.

Article continues below slideshow:

Sperm whale beached in Norfolk See gallery

Natalie Emmerson, from Hunstanton Sealife Sanctuary, told ITV News: "It is entirely possible that these whales at Skegness are from the same pod. If all have washed up dead it is too much of a coincidence.

"It is possible that they were on the rocks and injured themselves as they managed to free themselves."

Some sad pictures being sent to us of the whales in #Skegness. Thanks to Lee Swift for these. Rob pic.twitter.com/aE00WyVAJS  Lincs FM (@LincsFM) January 24, 2016

Sad, extraordinary sight of dead #whale that has washed up on Skegness beach @looknorthBBCpic.twitter.com/p8IveIlr3k  Tolu Adeoye (@ToluAdeoyeNews) January 24, 2016

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Many whales have become stranded across the North Sea in recent weeks, with incidents in Germany and the Netherlands.

Dr Peter Evans, director of the Seawatch Foundation, told the Eastern Daily Press that he believed the deaths are connected.

He said: They feed on squid and whats probably happened is that squid came in and the whales fed upon them but ran out of food.

The further south they got the shallower the water gets and when they got to Norfolk, which is very, very shallow, its quite difficult to navigate and they tend to lose their way and actually strand.
MPs must be given greater protection from the public, it has been claimed, after a study found four out of five respondents had been victims of intrusive or aggressive behaviour.

Abuse has left 36 politicians afraid to go out in public, put marriages under strain and led to some being treated for depression and anxiety, experts found.

Researchers reported that 192 MPs who had experienced problems half had been targeted in their own homes.

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Business Secretary Lord Mandelson after a cup of green custard was thrown over him by environmentalist Leila Deen

The report states: "One MP described how his marriage was close to breakdown, as his wife blamed him for the persistent amorous intrusions of a female constituent."

Labour MP Stephen Timms , who was stabbed twice in the stomach in 2010 by a woman who tried to murder him for voting for the Iraq war, suggested it would be difficult to ramp up security.

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He told The Observer. "After what happened to me I was offered a knife arch for my surgeries, but I refused because that just makes it more difficult for people to come and see you.

"It isn't the MP I want to be."

Some 239 MPs took part in the survey and 43 said they had been subject to attack or attempted attacks, 101 said they had received threats to harm them and 52 had faced threats of property damage.

The research was carried out by seven psychiatrists, including Dr David James, founder of the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) that assesses threats for high profile figures such as the royal family, and was published in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology.

Comments from the MPs who took part included: "Pulled a knife on me in the surgery"; "repeatedly punched me in the face"; "came at me with a hammer"; "hit with a brick"; "shot with air rifle".

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The statements continued: "There were numerous reports of death threats, both in person and by mail, and of bomb threats", ''you'd better keep an eye on your children"; "threat to kill me by telephone at home  call taken by my seven-year-old daughter", "wife received phone calls saying 'I am going to kill you or one of your family'", "petrol poured through letter box".
Across the UK, the debate is heating up on whether to renew the Trident nuclear defence of submarines, missiles and warheads. Supporters of Trident unite around the imperative of maintaining a nuclear deterrent well into 21st Century and that it is folly to surrender such status. It's an appealing narrative to some but one that deeply troubles me since we run the risk of bequeathing a very different Britain to our children as a result. Because make no mistake, we're talking about a very different Royal Navy should the government put the nuclear deterrent at the forefront of our future defences.

For a start, Trident was forged by the Cold War thinking of the early 1980s, whereas the security threats of the 21st Century have long been diverging from the geopolitics of Mutually Assured Destruction. In truth, they demand a truly resurgent Royal Navy. And while the MoD is tight lipped about alternatives to Trident, former senior military officers are not averse to going public. Most recently Major General Patrick Cordingley, who led British forces in the first Gulf War, said "Strategic nuclear weapons have no military use" and that Trident was "simply to remain a nuclear power alongside the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council" Crucially, he added that the UK has "more to offer than nuclear bombs".

He better be right. Because as an academic studying sustainability and human resilience, I know the impacts of climate change will come to dominate military planning of the new Trident era. Swathes of the planet will become uninhabitable as crops fail and sea levels rise, forcing entire populations to literally seek survival and self-determination elsewhere. Living with such risks and global uncertainties requires a thoroughly resurgent Royal Navy. One with the financial clout to attract and develop the best talent and deploy the best equipment. But that's not what the UK government has in mind. Expect instead multi-billion pound Trident cost overruns and corresponding cuts to fleet and sailor numbers.

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My father was a Lieutenant Commander who served on eight ships - one of which I was christened on. So it worries me that at a time we need to rejuvenate the Royal Navy to face contemporary threats we might divert tens of billions for a totem of powers past. Worse still, we will make ourselves a target. That's because nuclear threats today are from terrorists getting hold of a nuclear device. We know that terrorists are evil. But they are not un-calculating. If they set off a nuclear bomb in a country with no nuclear weapons, such as Singapore, they might wipe out that country, but the world would not be gripped by fear of impending nuclear war. And terrorists seek to create terror. Therefore they are more likely to hit a nuclear-armed country so that internal panic would create demands for in-kind retaliation and the world be gripped with the fear of escalation.

The mainstream debate in the UK is currently extremely poor. The BBC's Robert Peston and Andrew Neil lampooned the idea of Vanguard submarines without nuclear warheads. The Royal Navy finds important military uses for seven Astute class submarines with conventional warheads. A debate could be had about whether Vanguard submarines could give additional conventional capabilities. At least conventional warheads can be made in Britain. Made in USA, we are expected to believe that the manufacturers have not put a backdoor application in the Trident missile systems to stop the missiles being fired if the US government does not consent?

The muddled thinking can get quite creative. Labour MP Stella Creasy says she wants to renew Trident so Britain has clout on future disarmament negotiations when those negotiations have already given us the nuclear non-proliferation treaty which we could uphold by not renewing Trident.

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The history of business innovation shows that most established organisations generate stale bureaucracies, staffed by senior people who stick to old routines and assumptions. In proposing a renewal of Trident might some Ministry of Defence officials be exhibiting the habits of incumbency? We aren't allowed a start-up Ministry of Defence, staffed by millennials with the latest tech working out how to provide effective solutions to 21st Century threats. Instead we live with decisions by chaps with posh accents who feel at home in wooden panelled rooms.

Having grown up in the Navy cities of Portsmouth and Plymouth, I'm fascinated by our Naval history, it's just I don't want to repeat its mistakes. Take HMS Warrior. In the 1800s they were proud of how it appeared to express Naval power, being one of the first iron clad warships in the world. Yet ship design had moved on, as with steel you didn't need to use old hull designs. So HMS Warrior never saw action.

At least it brings tourists to the dockyard in Portsmouth today. If Trident is renewed Portsmouth will see a negative impact on its local economy, as fleet and sailor numbers are cut. That economic impact has been ignored, with the focus being on Barrow-in-Furness, where the subs are built. Currently Barrow's shipyard is thriving, through the building of our Astute class submarines. However the economic linkages to the rest of the economy, through use of local suppliers, is very limited and the area remains poor. Now is the time that Barrow politicians should be seizing the initiative, not only by seeking guarantees for future orders of submarines, no matter if they carry nuclear warheads. Rather, this is an opportunity to engage Westminster elites to make commitments to the diversification of the economy in southern Cumbria.

So here is an idea. As part of any deal on the future of Trident, the MoD should move its headquarters and key staff to Barrow. Not only would it help Barrow thrive, and bring in huge sums from selling the building on Whitehall, it would also be a great way to clear out that dead wood at the MoD so it evolves in line with the security threats of the 21st Century.

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Renewing Trident will not de facto keep us safe. Conversely, it risks sacrificing the naval power that tomorrow's security risks demand. True patriotism involves engaging with the way the world is, not playing old war games with taxpayers' billions.
There might have been "too much" in the bill, the Virginia Democrat said, but it was better than letting the economy unravel.


Sen. Marco Rubio speaks at an Ames town hall meeting at Iowa State University on Saturday. Ali Stratton/Huffington Post

AMES, IA -- Iowa State University students flocked to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's town hall meeting in Ames on Saturday, hoping to find a Republican presidential candidate they could support.

Most either arrived as Rubio fans or emerged from the town hall supporting him. And though many of his policy platforms resonated with the millennial voters, their main attraction to Rubio seemed to be his character.

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"He's a really genuine and reasonable person who is willing to talk about all of the issues and he's going to give his honest opinion about it," said 22-year-old Justin Bahr, an Iowa State student and self-proclaimed Rubio supporter.

Policies don't make people stronger or better, according to the young conservative. Instead, "it comes down to who you are as an individual, how much motivation you have and commitment to being successful."



People gather at Iowa State University and wait for Rubio to speak at a town hall event. Ali Stratton/Huffington Post

Rubio began his speech by proclaiming Washington is broken, putting the blame on both Republicans and Democrats.

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Admitting the flaws of his own party has gained him some respect from young conservatives.

"It's not really so much platforms, it's how he approaches the whole thing," said 18-year-old Cameron Smith. "What I like best about him is he doesn't go around blaming Democrats. That's something both sides do a lot of and I really hate it because it alienates half the country."

Smith, a Republican, attended the town hall with his roommate, David Henderson, 18, an independent. The two said Rubio is a candidate they can both agree on.



Rubio shakes hands and takes photos with town hall attendees after his stump speech. He stayed at the venue and spoke to every last person following the event. Ali Stratton/Huffington Post

Millenial students at the event--those born from 1982 to 2004--contrasted Rubio against other Republican candidates, describing Rubio as more pragmatic, humble and down to earth.

"Both Trump and Cruz are taking the same perspective," Marena Bartz, 22 said. "They're appealing to the emotions of the voters, and in all honestly I'm usually a more logical voter. Less about the frustrations that I have."

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In his stump speech, Rubio reflected on his humble beginnings.

"I grew up paycheck to paycheck. I've lived paycheck to paycheck. I have a lot of people in my family who live paycheck to paycheck now," he said, adding that as of three years ago he still had a pending student loan of more than $100,000.

Though Rubio is a Christian and says his faith is his grounding, he hasn't been nearly as aggressive in catering to Evangelicals in Iowa as some of his fellow contenders.

"It's really important that (candidates) have good moral values," Smith said. "I think it's important that they let their religion guide them but they don't let it exclude other people for whatever they believe, and I don't think Marco Rubio does that at all. He's a very inclusive person."

In addition to values and character, millenials also want to see someone who's willing to take their future seriously.

Several students said Rubio's dedication to fixing the economy has played a significant role in drawing their support.

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"I think that (balancing the budget) should be the number one issue in the campaigns and it's not," Winston Rosigner, 21, said. "So I'm glad that he at least addressed it and has a plan for it."

Smith said he thinks the country needs a president who will be able to prepare the economy for millenials to enter the workforce.

"If the economy is really messed up by the time that we get up into the workforce, then we're not going to have good jobs," he said.

Millennial supporters cited national security, energy, and tax policy as some of Rubio's platforms that resonated with them.

In his speech, Rubio echoed a recent poll, saying 50 percent of millenials believe the American dream is dead.

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"That's devastating," he said. "Why do people feel that way? Well, one of the reasons is that they don't even recognize their own country. Because a lot of the fundamental things that made us great seem to be slipping away."

Yet Rubio appears to have a following of millennial supporters who have faith in his ability to restore their idea of the American dream.

"He has convictions and morals and moral clarity to see through on every issue," Bahr said.
The Blog Sunday Roundup

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- This week, while candidates "squirmished" in advance of Iowa, more than 2,000 global leaders gathered here for the World Economic Forum. The theme was The Fourth Industrial Revolution -- the coming era of automation and smart technology -- and what business can do to help meet the big challenges ahead of us. The dominant refrain was the need for business leaders to put purpose at the center of the definition of business itself. It's a shift, already underway, with the power to not only improve the world but also boost the bottom line. As Unilever CEO Paul Polman put it, "investing in the common good, investing in the long term, is a better investment than just your short-term self-interest." What came through loud and clear this year was a growing realization that companies that chase short-term profits at the expense of social responsibility won't last very long. It's not just a better and more enlightened way forward; it's the only way forward.
Arriving home after a whirlwind week in the snowy Swiss mountain village of Davos at the World Economic Forum, those of us engaged in the climate change discussions are feeling positive but pragmatic about the challenges ahead. Just over a month after a global climate agreement was reached in Paris, what happens next was one of the key issues discussed by the public and private sector leaders huddled in Davos.

The Paris Agreement heralds a new era of political will, with nations agreeing unanimously that the global economy needs to undergo a transformation that is urgent. To decarbonize the economy to the extent intended under the Agreement will require widespread sectoral reforms - from finance and energy to technology, agriculture and infrastructure. While many are still celebrating the success that was Paris, the reality is that the real work is just about to start. The pace set by the Paris Agreement requires global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions in the next five to ten years. That's a rapid shift from business as usual. The national plans put forward by countries that sit behind the Agreement only deliver half of the decarbonization needed, even if they are successful (PwC). Governments have been asked to increase ambition and revise plans in 2018, and the periodic five year ratcheting will continue from there. It's a process that allows nations to choose the speed of travel. But we now need to ask what would it take to get nations and business to move faster?

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The stark reality behind this political timetable is that massive systems change must accompany it to make it a success. Systems change driven by new business innovation and investment, by technology and business model disruptors (like the $1 trillion by 20 Circular Economy), by new public-private collaborations (e.g. the Breakthrough Energy Coalition and Mission Innovation - a newly launched collaboration between billionaire philanthropists and governments), and by regulation that helps "make the maths work for going low carbon". How do we make these things happen, and how do we make them happen quickly enough?

Bold systems change in every sector is needed, and some of that was under discussion at Davos. But so too is the pragmatism of an orderly transition over the coming decades. One that recognizes in parallel the basic development needs of countries, including energy security and the income reliance of nations -- income required to build infrastructure, pay for schools and support healthcare, for example. A binary move to abandon industries is not realistic. But supporting an ordered transition where capital, skills and technology are transferred from the "brown" to the "green" economy is.

The financial sector is one of the first in line for such a systems change. Two years ago in Davos, various leading investors, heads of national banks including Bank of England chief Mark Carney, and government leaders came together privately to discuss the challenge for the sector. This past week a similar discussion took place in Davos, but a lot has already happened. The G20 Financial Stability Board appointed Michael Bloomberg to chair a climate-related Finance Disclosure Taskforce and produce specific recommendations for voluntary and standardized corporate disclosure and leading practices by the end of 2016.

In parallel the market has seen increasing recognition by investors and regulators of the 'carbon bubble' with unburnable fossil fuel reserves valued at over $100tr out to 2050 (Citigroup) that are untenable if the Paris Agreement is to be met, yet valued on company balance sheets. The market is reacting: 61 investors to date have signed the Montreal Pledge committing to measure and disclose the carbon footprint of their investments annually, and over 500 organizations worth more than $3.4 trillion have committed to divest from fossil fuel industries and invest in climate solutions.

Raising and redirecting capital will be key. The IEA estimates that just delivering the current national pledges underlying the Paris Agreement will require $13.5Tr of low carbon investments by 2030. The true amount by 2030 will be greater, as the pledges themselves will rise in ambition. Regulators, rating agencies, shareholder groups, industry bodies, and governments must play a vital role alongside investors. Clear and consistent policy signals in support of the low carbon transition, clear standards, appropriate incentive structures, and new public private partnerships are all needed to unlock, de-risk and deploy this capital.

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In the near term investment decisions will need to recognize that carbon pricing of one sort or another is either here, or going to be here soon. Companies, investors, international financial institutions and governments are beginning to look at internal carbon pricing. Responses range from internal market pricing to stress testing portfolios or investment decisions for a shadow price of carbon (see CDP).

Costs of low carbon solutions over time will go in one direction only - down. On the other side there is less certainty: fossil fuel subsidies are being targeted, fossil fuel reserves will not all be commercial, and the price of oil will continue to fluctuate. Much of the technology is already there to make the transition from a fossil fuel age to a connected low carbon bio-energy age. Developing countries can, with the right support, leap frog the carbon intensive industrialization and urbanization of the developed world. Decentralized renewable energy supported by mobile payments, for example, can leapfrog centralized infrastructure intensive grids whilst helping to achieve universal energy access in the most cost effective way. Meanwhile corporates are increasingly becoming huge off-takers as commitments to renewable energy use (e.g. RE100) have given confidence to financial markets that demand is there and growing fast. And expect to see further disruptors on the way - sooner than you think, all building the critical scale and competitiveness of low carbon energy technologies.

Underlying these investments and developments is growing evidence of a more long term shift in thinking amongst leaders in Davos this year. As PwC's Annual Global CEO Survey released this week shows CEOs are increasingly recognizing the part they have to play in driving change and reshaping their business' purpose. In the report, 71% of CEOs believe that within five years, their purpose will be centered on creating value for wider stakeholders, beyond shareholders. Only 27% believe it will centered on shareholder value. It also shows that 87% expect to prioritize long-term over short-term profitability. If the Paris Agreement regime on ratcheting up climate ambition is to work, business will need to be at the heart of the transition, investing, advocating, collaborating, and innovating. In the shadow of the headlines of stock market turmoil, downturns and oil prices, the business response to the Paris deal is perhaps another example of how leaders are shifting their thinking beyond the current crisis or issue, towards building long term values based organizations.

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." (Winston Churchill)

Each New Year seems to bring about a renewed optimism (unfortunately that optimism has already disappeared on Wall Street).

Even I am beginning 2016 with the Greece glass half full. The weather is beautiful.

Also, S&P raised its long-term sovereign credit rating on Greece to "B-" from "CCC+," with a stable outlook, citing the country's compliance with its economic program.

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Actually, there has been a major development, which did not receive much press coverage outside of Greece ... the election of Kyriakos Mitsotakis as head of New Democracy. After an aborted election in December it appeared that New Democracy was headed for oblivion, but now that Mitsotakis has been elected the leader, New Democracy is again a legitimate threat to the left-wing Syriza party.

Mitsotakis graduated from Harvard, received a masters degree from Stanford and a MBA from Harvard. He worked at Chase Bank and McKinsey in London.

The election of Mitsotakis does not mean New Democracy will come to power any time soon. In fact, it would probably be bad for Greece to change the government at this point. There are many prerequisites that need to be delivered in short order to continue to receive funding from the European Union. It is preferable to have Syriza in charge in order to fulfill their promises for cuts in pensions and other unpopular measures. If New Democracy came to power now, it could result in an even worse stalemate.

Actually, New Democracy may not come to power any time soon. There is a scenario that suggests Syriza may finally pressure the banks to start selling non-performing loans. If this process commences in the next three months, we could see fresh capital coming to Greece and a resulting improvement in economic prospects. If Syriza fights reforms, their days are numbered.

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This good news unfortunately means little to the Greek banks. The amount of NPLs goes up each month and the banks continue to resist selling the loans, as they are not fully provisioned. Our estimate of a 70 billion shortfall is unchanged. The banks stocks are down an average of 30.8% since January 1, 2016.

The rumor mill is full of speculation about a solution for the NPLs. The high-end of the NPL range is speculated at 10 cents; the low end at 2 cents. The 2 cents is derived from a "supposed" offer by one of the funds to form a special purpose vehicle to "buy" 500 million of NPLs from one of the banks for 250 million. The fund would put up 10 million and the selling bank would "lend" 240 million. The fund would own 100% of the underlying equity and be paid a large management fee. The bank would pray they would recover some of their new 240 million loan. 10 million for 500 million of loans is 2%. I guess instead of "extend and pretend," we are "putting lipstick on the pig."

Back to Syriza... there seems to be movement on the part of the government to get serious about privatizations. The Astir Palace is in contract. The sale of the second half of the Port of Piraeus was just completed. The regional airports were sold. There are ongoing projects involving the privatization of the gas utility and the trains. It is late in coming and prices would have been better if these deals were completed a year or more ago, but they are being completed nonetheless.
FLINT, MI - JANUARY 23: The City of Flint Water Plant is illuminated by moonlight on January 23, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. A federal state of emergency has been declared in Flint due to dangerous levels of contamination in the water supply. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Flint was a failure of government -- but it didn't have to be so. And government wasn't the root of the problem. It was about the people, and ideas they advocate, who have taken control of governments across the country.

Water is a public good provided by public institutions -- i.e. governments. It should be clear now that "running government like a business" (the privatizers trope) means you don't invest in places that don't have markets that can afford to buy your products. It didn't work for Flint and it doesn't work for America. Government needs to be run like a government -- clear about its mission, run by competent people (yes, bureaucrats) committed passionately to the public good.

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The tragedy of Flint should never have happened, but at this point, the evidence is undeniable and the suffering is real. Fixing Flint is an urgent priority. Fortunately, (although far too late) the truth has finally sidelined the spin-masters who spent years denying the problem, and blaming the "anti-everything" crowd. But the battle over defining what and who was at fault is just getting started.

The right-wing echo chamber, hypocritically and offensively, hopes to turn Flint into another opportunity to further alienate and increase cynicism towards government:

Michelle Malkin blames the Federal government (everyone loves to hate Washington), and by consequence Obama, putting the blame on the EPA.

Brietbart, takes on all politicians (who everyone loves to hate). "The reason the crisis is happening is that politicians have incentives to defer maintenance and upgrades on infrastructure and instead spend public funds, even to the point of bankruptcy, on buying votes, especially from organized special interests like unions, with programs like luxurious pensions or bail outs of failing corporations."

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Redstate, along with every other conservative blog, blames the obvious villain - the Democrats who ran the place into the ground: "The main culprits in this mess are the City of Flint and Detroit, both which have been run by Democrats for decades. "

Yes, Michigan elected officials and government agencies failed. They failed because of how they govern -- the ideology that drives them, the politics that causes them to ignore those they don't need to get elected and their failure to put the public good at the top of their priority list every day they go to work. The failure to invest in basic public goods like drinking water is exactly what smaller government looks like.

Fortunately, progressive voices aren't inadvertently adding fuel to the anti-government fire. Writing in the Washington Post, Katrina vanden Heuvel gets it right:

Indeed, when government is polluted by officials who put corporate interests above their constituents and cost-cutting above the common good, it too often fails to fulfill even its most basic functions, such as protecting access to safe drinking water. But instead of giving in to anger and austerity, in this election, we should be having a vigorous debate about how government can be truly accountable to the people it serves.

The tragedy in Flint needs to be fixed today without regard for costs. If we can do that to fund wars, we can at least do the same to save lives. The small silver lining in a very dark cloud is the opportunity to both expose the mythology of small government, job-killing regulation, low taxes and trickle-down economics and to demand reforms that institutionalizes a government that works for everyone regardless of where they live, how much they earn or whether they look the same as everyone else.
In December of 2015, I traveled to Jordan, where I had the opportunity to observe, first hand, the status of Syrian and other refugees. The purpose of my trip was to determine what we can do, collectively, to lessen the burden. My friend, professor Zaid Eyadat, and Samar Mohareb, who are associated with the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development Legal Aid (ARDD-Legal AID) helped coordinate my visits to the refugee camps and made my personal interactions with refugees possible.

Jordan is in located in a war-torn region of the world. Since 1940, Jordan has become "home" to a large number of Palestinian refugees. Subsequently, refugees from other parts of the region, including Iraq and Syria, have found safe refuge in Jordan. An estimated 46 different refugee groups are now in Jordan. Seven out of 10 Jordanians are refugees. Syrian refugees in Jordan can be broadly divided into two groups. The camps accommodate 14-20% of all refugees. The urban areas account for 80-86% of the refugees. Among the refugee camps, Zaatari is the largest. It is essentially a city, which presently holds over 80,000 refugees. Zaatari opened in July of 2012. As a physician, I was particularly interested in public health issues. There are five family health care facilities and three hospitals. Otherwise, the delivery of basic services is poor. In particular, poor drainage and hygienic issues related to waste disposal are disturbing. After several years, the refugee community has developed a moderate level of normalcy. There are small shopping centers, mini markets and grocery stores.

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I wanted to learn about some of the work that Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD- Legal Aid) is doing in Jordon. I observed ARDD helping the refugees with the registration process, birth and marriage certificates. They also try to ensure that any dealings which refugees have within the Jordanian society are legal. Within the camp, ARDD fosters intellectual growth through such activities as journalism and other types of training. Recognizing that violence against children -- often rooted in frustration -- and gender based violence exist among the refugees, ARDD has offered parenting and marital counseling. It was enlightening and heartwarming to see this taking place.

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The urban refugee situation is much different than in the camp. In Zaatari, most basic needs are provided. Conversely, urban refugee's needs are not being addressed by any organization. While the urban refugees preferred not living in a large compound, they have difficulty obtaining the basic necessities of food, water, shelter, healthcare and heat during the winter months. Schools do exist; however social and cultural issues and accessibility are sometimes roadblocks before aspiring students. The need for financing is preventing many schools from providing children with the opportunity to study. As you might guess, higher education options are even more limited.





I had a discussion with a Syrian fashion designer/tailor, who had lost his left hand as a result of shrapnel wound. He has not been able to work, lives in pain and is hoping to regain some function when proper healthcare is available. I also encountered a pharmacy assistant student who was unable to complete her exams because of the proximity to explosions. Subsequently, she lost all of her proof of credits because of war in the region. She is moved to Jordan, but was unable to authenticate her education and obtain her remaining credits. Thus, her employment options were severely limited. Because of high unemployment numbers among Jordanian citizens, refugees are not allowed to work. Unable to work, the refugees must depend on support from the United Nations for their survival. It became clear that the UN has not received sufficient support to meet the needs of these urban refugees.

Once again, as a doctor, I asked the Syrian refugees about their children's sleep patterns. It was not surprising that most of the children had difficulty sleeping. These went well beyond normal wake/sleep patterns of children. They appear to be similar to PTSD experienced by soldiers. Parents described episodes during which children would cry at night and experience nightmares, although they were no longer in a war zone. The opportunity to interact with people, at a personal level, is the reason I made this trip. For many of these refugees, war has been the defining event in their lives. They are completely consumed with trying to survive, both physically and emotionally. For them, this has become normal. During quiet moments, I reflected on how blessed we are, as Americans, to have so much, not the least of which is security. I believe that those who have the most, whether wealth or the fortune of living in a peaceful environment, have a responsibility to help the less fortune.
Portrait happy man exults pumping fists ecstatic celebrates success screaming under money rain falling down dollar bills banknotes isolated gray background with copy space. Financial freedom concept

Our brains are hardwired to make much of modern life difficult. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with uncertainty. On the bright side, if you know the right tricks, you can override your brain's irrational tendencies and handle uncertainty effectively.

Our brains give us fits when facing uncertainty because they're wired to react to it with fear. In a recent study, a Caltech neuroeconomist imaged subjects' brains as they were forced to make increasingly uncertain bets -- the same kind of bets we're forced to make on a regular basis in business.

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The less information the subjects had to go on, the more irrational and erratic their decisions became. You might think the opposite would be true -- the less information we have, the more careful and rational we are in evaluating the validity of that information. Not so. As the uncertainty of the scenarios increased, the subjects' brains shifted control over to the limbic system, the place where emotions, such as anxiety and fear, are generated.

This brain quirk worked great eons ago, when cavemen entered an unfamiliar area and didn't know who or what might be lurking behind the bushes. Overwhelming caution and fear ensured survival. But that's not the case today. This mechanism, which hasn't evolved, is a hindrance in the world of business, where uncertainty rules and important decisions must be made every day with minimal information.

As we face uncertainty, our brains push us to overreact. Successful people are able to override this mechanism and shift their thinking in a rational direction. This requires emotional intelligence (EQ), and it's no wonder that -- among the one million-plus people that TalentSmart has tested -- 90% of top performers have high EQs. They earn an average of $28,000 more per year than their low-EQ counterparts do.

To boost your EQ, you have to get good at making sound decisions in the face of uncertainty, even when your brain fights against this. Fear not! There are proven strategies that you can use to improve the quality of your decisions when your emotions are clouding your judgment. What follows are eleven of the best strategies that successful people use in these moments.

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They quiet their limbic systems

The limbic system responds to uncertainty with a knee-jerk fear reaction, and fear inhibits good decision-making. People who are good at dealing with uncertainty are wary of this fear and spot it as soon as it begins to surface. In this way, they can contain it before it gets out of control. Once they are aware of the fear, they label all the irrational thoughts that try to intensify it as irrational fears -- not reality - -and the fear subsides. Then they can focus more accurately and rationally on the information they have to go on. Throughout the process, they remind themselves that a primitive part of their brain is trying to take over and that the logical part needs to be the one in charge. In other words, they tell their limbic system to settle down and be quiet until a hungry tiger shows up.



They stay positive

Positive thoughts quiet fear and irrational thinking by focusing your brain's attention on something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When you're stressing over a tough decision and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day, and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can't think of anything from the current day, reflect on the previous day or days or even the previous week, or perhaps you're looking forward to an exciting event. The point here is that you must have something positive that you're ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative due to the stress of uncertainty.

They know what they know -- and what they don't

When uncertainty makes a decision difficult, it's easy to feel as if everything is uncertain, but that's hardly ever the case. People who excel at managing uncertainty start by taking stock of what they know and what they don't know and assigning a factor of importance to each. They gather all the facts they have, and they take their best shot at compiling a list of things they don't know, for example, what a country's currency is going to do or what strategy a competitor will employ. They actually try to identify as many of these things as possible because this takes away their power.

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They embrace that which they can't control

We all like to be in control. After all, people who feel like they're at the mercy of their surroundings never get anywhere in life. But this desire for control can backfire when you see everything that you can't control or don't know as a personal failure. People who excel at managing uncertainty aren't afraid to acknowledge what's causing it. In other words, successful people live in the real world. They don't paint any situation as better or worse than it actually is, and they analyze the facts for what they are. They know that the only thing they really control is the process through which they reach their decisions. That's the only rational way to handle the unknown, and the best way to keep your head on level ground. Don't be afraid to step up and say, "Here's what we don't know, but we're going forward based on what we do know. We may make mistakes, but that's a lot better than standing still."



They focus only on what matters

Some decisions can make or break your company. Most just aren't that important. The people who are the best at making decisions in the face of uncertainty don't waste their time getting stuck on decisions where the biggest risk is looking foolish in front of their co-workers. When it comes down to it, almost every decision contains at least a small factor of uncertainty -- it's an inevitable part of doing business. Learning to properly balance the many decisions on your plate, however, allows you to focus your energy on the things that matter and to make more informed choices. It also removes the unnecessary pressure and distraction caused by a flurry of small worries.

They don't seek perfection

Emotionally intelligent people don't set perfection as their target because they know there's no such thing as a perfect decision in an uncertain situation. Think about it: human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you're always left with a nagging sense of failure, and you end up spending your time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently, instead of enjoying what you were able to achieve.

They don't dwell on problems

Where you focus your attention determines your emotional state. When you fixate on the problems that you're facing, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress, which hinders performance. When you focus on actions to better yourself and your circumstances, you create a sense of personal efficacy that produces positive emotions and improves performance. Emotionally intelligent people don't allow themselves to become preoccupied with the uncertainties they face. Instead, they focus all their attention and effort on what they can do, in spite of the uncertainty, to better their situation.

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They know when to trust their gut

Our ancestors relied on their intuition -- their gut instinct -- for survival. Since most of us don't face life-or-death decisions every day, we have to learn how to use this instinct to our benefit. Often we make the mistake of talking ourselves out of listening to our gut instinct, or we go too far in the other direction and impulsively dive into a situation, mistaking our assumptions for instincts. People who successfully deal with uncertainty recognize and embrace the power of their gut instincts, and they rely on some tried-and-true strategies to do so successfully:

They recognize their own filters.They're able to identify when they're being overly influenced by their assumptions and emotions or by another person's opinion, for example. Their ability to filter out the feelings that aren't coming from their intuition helps them focus on what is.

They give their intuition some space. Gut instincts can't be forced. Our intuition works best when we're not pressuring it to come up with a solution. Albert Einstein said he got his best ideas while sailing, and when Steve Jobs was faced with a tough problem, he'd head out for a walk.

They build a track record. People who deal well with uncertainty take the time to practice their intuition. They start by listening to their gut on small things and seeing how it goes so that they'll know whether they can trust it when something big comes around.

They have contingency plans . . .

Staying on top of uncertainty is as much about planning for failure as it is about hoping for the best. Experts at handling uncertainty aren't afraid to admit that they could be wrong, and that frees them up to make detailed, rational, and transparent contingency plans before taking action. Successful people know they aren't always going to make the right decision. They know how to absorb and understand mistakes so that they can make better decisions in the future. And they never let mistakes get them down for too long.

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. . . but they don't ask, "What if?"

"What if?" statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry, and there's no place for them in your thinking once you have good contingency plans in place. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you'll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Successful people know that asking "what if?" will only take them to a place they don't want, or need, to go to.

When all else fails, they breathe

You have to remain calm to make good decisions in the face of uncertainty. An easy way to do this lies in something that you have to do every day anyway -- breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing trains your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and quiets distracting thoughts. When you're feeling overwhelmed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it's hard to do for more than a minute or two. It's all right if you get sidetracked by another thought -- this is sure to happen at the beginning -- and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to twenty, and then start again from one. Don't worry if you lose count; you can always just start over. This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you'll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to lodge permanently inside your brain.



Bringing It All Together

The ability to strategically manage ambiguity is one of the most important skills you can cultivate in an increasingly uncertain business environment. Try the strategies above, and your ability to handle uncertainty will take a huge step in the right direction.
Iranian Foreign Secretary Mohammad Javad Zarif certainly got a free ride at this year's World Economic Forum. His views on the region went completely unchallenged in the absence of a counter-argument, and due to the format of his session, members of the audience were not able to ask questions or intervene.

However, one must admit that Zarif's ability to twist facts is phenomenal! Indeed, had there been an award at Davos for "Spin Doctor of the Year," then he would have won it... hands down!

Iran's FM made it seem like Tehran was the region's cuddly teddy bear who has been desperately trying to reconcile with Saudi Arabia, which he naturally portrayed as the "big bad wolf."

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Frankly, I wasn't sure if Zarif was being serious or joking when he stressed in front of the WEF audience of global movers and shakers that his country is a firm believer in diplomacy as a means of resolving conflicts.

If this is the case, then what on earth is the Iranian Quds Force (or paramilitary terrorist groups affiliated to it) doing in Iraq and Syria? In fact, this elite Revolutionary Guard Unit is so focused on destabilizing Iran's Arab neighbors that I honestly suggest it should be renamed the "Anywhere-but-Quds Brigade."

Furthermore, if the Iranian regime is truly such a peace-loving dove, then perhaps it should consider withdrawing from the three UAE islands it still occupies, stop supporting the murderous Assad regime which has overseen the killing of 200 thousand people and stop backing Yemen's Houthi militias which staged a coup against the legitimate government of President Hadi.

Of course, this was a fair comment as the Saudi participation was perceived to be mostly business-oriented. The delegation -- which consisted of a few ministers, government officials and prominent businessmen, as well as a number of princes and individuals coming in their personal capacity -- wasn't seen by many to reflect the size, prominence and change happening in the kingdom.

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Zarif went on to stress that this attack was officially condemned and that the perpetrators will be prosecuted. However, he -- unsurprisingly -- didn't dwell much into how this attack was allowed to happen in the first place under a regime which otherwise wouldn't allow a mosquito to freely move without permission!

Excuse me? How was Riyadh supposed to act when - on top of all the aggression mentioned above -- the Iranian regime sat back and watched its thugs attack and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran?

Zarif also dwelled on how Saudi Arabia's defense expenditure is far greater than Iran's -- yet he failed to recognize that this is a natural result of Tehran meddling with the region left, right and center. At the end of the day, Saudi Arabia would also prefer to spend more of its money on development -- however with Houthi missiles coming in from the south and Iran bragging from the north about becoming an empire and occupying Arab cities, what else could Riyadh have done?

Naturally, not everyone in Davos bought the Iranian narrative, however almost everyone I met said one thing: "we wish the Saudis were here to be able to tell their side of the story."

Of course, this was a fair comment as the Saudi participation was indeed low key compared to size, prominence and change happening in the kingdom: a few ministers, government officials and prominent businessmen, as well as a number of princes and individuals coming in their personal capacity.

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However, I understand that behind closed doors FM Zarif was taken to task on his country's shameful stance on Syria by a former senior Saudi official. Unfortunately, only a handful of people -- and no media -- saw that.

Now, the kingdom is not without its faults and certainly not above criticism. However, until it is fairly represented and publicly present at such important global events, this will only mean that Iran can continue getting away with spinning the truth and Zarif's politically incorrect fairy tales will prevail.
Not only is storytelling a genuine art form, it's a lot harder than one might think. It requires skill with vocabulary, phrasing and a deep appreciation of the musicality of one's language. It requires a sense of drama, of make believe and, above all else, a deeply personal kind of buy-in from one's audience.

How else can one be sure that an audience will carefully listen to (and empathize with) Tevye's talks with God?

How else can one suspend disbelief long enough to give Mama Rose credit for having another one of her ludicrous dreams about a dancing cow hitting the big time in vaudeville with her daughters?

How else can Peter Pan get an audience of 1,500 people to clap their hands as a way of proving to Tinker Bell that they really, really do believe in fairies?

Of course, storytelling can accommodate more than one viewpoint. There can be a single narrator, or two characters trying to justify their individual points of view. Some shows depend on spectacle and magic tricks to keep an audience's attention riveted to the stage.

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Whether one story is told through the eyes of several characters (Rashomon) or the voice of one person, it's the writing and delivery that will put any story across to the audience. Consider these three "Waterlogues" written by Stuart Bousel and performed by Allison Page during the 2015 SFOlympians Festival.

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Many a play has been built on the model of A meets B, A gets B, A loses B (the gender of the two characters offers a variety of permutations). Another variation on a theme involves the old "Can't live with him, can't live without him" kind of love affair. The challenge for a writer is to find a structural device which gives life to the story of a relationship between two radically different personalities.

Some writers choose a linear path. Others opt for an epistolary format (I heartily recommend Steve Kluger's 1998 novel, The Last Days of Summer, and Jamie James's 2002 novel, Andrew and Joey). Can a literary device lose its effectiveness if it becomes too much of a crutch?

Many years ago, when Jule Styne's ill-fated musical, Prettybelle, was struggling through its Boston tryout, I sent its star, Angela Lansbury, a letter explaining why the show's frequent flashbacks were losing the audience (the show was based on Jean Arnold's novel entitled Prettybelle: A Lively Tale of Rape and Resurrection) . When I came back to see another performance just before Prettybelle closed out of town, I was shocked to see that most of the flashbacks had been written out of the script. When I visited Lansbury in her dressing room, she said "I gave your notes to Gower [Champion]. As you can see, he used them."

The moral of the story? Just as too many cooks can spoil the broth, too many flashbacks can undermine a love story's momentum.

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The Magic Theatre recently presented the West Coast premiere of Tanya Barfield's intimate two-hander entitled Bright Half Life. Directed by Jessica Holt on a simple, yet surprisingly elegant unit set designed by Erik Flatmo (with costumes by Christine Crook and sound design by Brian Hickey), the play was staged in the Rueff Theatre (American Conservatory Theater's new black box space) atop the recently renovated Strand Theatre on Market Street. As the playwright explains:

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In my life: Event A leads to B, which leads to C. But in my mind, all three events happen at the same time or out of sequence. Bright Half Life began as a few pages of unrelated, often jarring moments of events between two characters called 'Person 1' and 'Another Person' in a document called 'new-idea.' When I was about 30 pages in, I realized that these seemingly unconnected moments and events were weaving their own story. The themes of Bright Half Life demand virtuosic performances, emotional gymnastics, and sleight of hand storytelling. We, as audience, are in communion with the actors -- we're all together in the same room, breathing the same air. To me, that's what makes theater special.



Sarah Nina Hayon (Vicky) and Lisa Anne Porter (Erica) star in Bright Half Life (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

Barfield's play traces the relationship between two women from the day they meet on the job in 1985 until 2031 (after they have split up and fallen out of touch for a while).

Vicky (Sarah Nina Hayon) is the more tightly wound woman. Initially holding all the power in her hand as Erica's supervisor, she falls in love with a woman who is much further out of the closet, much earthier, much more romantic, and much more in touch with her desires.



Lisa Anne Porter (Erica) and Sarah Nina Hayon (Vicky) star in Bright Half Life (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

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Erica (Lisa Anne Porter) is someone who wears her emotions much closer to the surface. Occasionally mischievous, she is nevertheless terrified of some of the challenges Vicky cooks up (going for a ride on a Ferris wheel, going skydiving). Whereas Erica is a lowly office temp when they first meet, once they move in together, get married, and have children, it becomes apparent that Vicky is the true breadwinner while Erica (who writes tech manuals) is the partner who devotes the most time to worrying about and raising their twin daughters, Lexi and Chloe.



Lisa Anne Porter as Erica in Bright Half Life (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

Barfield's writing often leaves the audience feeling as if they are being erratically flung back and forth on a yo-yo whose arc is becoming shorter and tighter. As Vicky and Erica careen back and forth between various phases of their relationship, the story of their lives starts to emerge as if through a fog. Unfortunately, until the final scene (when the two women jump out of a skydiving plane), it's easy to feel as if you're the passenger in a car whose driver likes to speed up to each stoplight before hitting the brakes hard (without ever allowing the audience a sense of closure for any particular scene). After 85 minutes, this process becomes as tedious as watching a Newton's cradle.

In her program note, Magic Theatre's artistic director, Loretta Greco, explains that:

Attempting to love one person meaningfully over time is not for the faint of heart. One of the joys of the play, for me, is how it allows us to experience the tangled rush of those tough and foolhardy leaps of faith inherent in the rituals of coexisting. The exceptional care with which Tanya incrementally unveils the unique fragility of each of the unlikely individuals that make up this (and any) union is what I think makes the play truly exceptional. I fell for this buoyant, thrilling, no-holds barred language play for many reasons, not the least of which was Tanya's trust in the essential ingredients of theater. She enlists us as the audience to actively and emotionally engage with structure in a truly extraordinary way. She trusts that we are hungry to flex our imaginations and hearts, and to lean in.



Lisa Anne Porter (Erica) and Sarah Nina Hayon (Vicky) star in Bright Half Life (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

I was less captivated by Barfield's writing and found the play's structure increasingly alienating as the evening wore on. While Jessica Holt's stage direction and Sarah Nina Hayon's portrayal of Vicky were solid pieces of work, I came away more impressed with Erik Flatmo's stark, graceful set and the amazing grace of Lisa Anne Porter's portrayal of Erica.

One of the key responsibilities of any actor is to pay attention to the person she is interacting with at any given moment. While Hayon's Vicky was, by necessity, a bit dismissive and self-absorbed, the true wonder of the evening was watching how Porter (simply by paying attention to Hayon) managed to quietly capture the kind of love and warmth that often radiates from embers rather than flames. Her glowing performance reminded me of the lyric from Cole Porter's song in 1948's Kiss Me, Kate: "So In Love."

Strange dear, but true dear, when I'm close to you, dear, The stars fill the sky, so in love with you am I. Even without you my arms fold about you, You know darling, why, so in love with you am I. In love with the night mysterious The night when you first were there. In love with my joy delirious When I knew that you could care. So taunt me and hurt me, deceive me, desert me, I'm yours till I die...So in love, so in love So in love with you, my love...am I.

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Kiss Me, Kate has a strange relevance to Sarah Ruhl's 2011 farce, Stage Kiss (which the San Francisco Playhouse recently presented with Gabriel Marin and Carrie Paff in the leading roles). In Kiss Me, Kate, Lilli Vanessi examines the flowers she has received from her ex-husband, Fred Graham, and exclaims "Snow drops, pansies, and rosemary -- my wedding bouquet!" In Stage Kiss, Marin kisses Paff's forearm and instantly recognizes the combination of scents which used to drive him crazy: "Paper, lemon, and sweat!"

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Ruhl makes no bones about her inspiration for Stage Kiss (in which two former lovers discover they have been cast as onstage lovers in a Grade-B romantic drama from the 1930s).

How weird, to watch actors kiss. It's their job (and what a wonderful job, to get to walk in and kiss attractive people all day), but also what a weird job. What's happening to the body? What's happening to the imagination? Some actors are really good at separating fantasy and reality. Others are not.



Carrie Paff (She) and Gabriel Marin (He) star in Stage Kiss (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

As its plot bounces between rehearsals, performance mode, and real life, Stage Kiss lovingly mocks the habits and tics exhibited by actors as they audition, rehearse, and interact with the person playing opposite them onstage. Whether the woman (Carrie Paff) wants to readjust the positioning of chairs or must react to a young gay man (Allen Darby) reading lines during her audition who leans in to kiss her while opening his mouth as wide as a basking shark, the eccentricities of life in the theatre world are on full display under Susi Damilano's knowing direction.



Photo of a basking shark (Courtesy: Google Images)

Thus, it's no surprise to see an eager but fairly incompetent stage director (Mark Anderson Phillips) encouraging his cast to improvise, or a scene in which the play's two leads end up in bed together after opening night. Nor is it surprising that the leading lady's husband (a "numbers guy" played by Michael Gene Sullivan) secretly wishes that his wife would teach him to act and that their daughter (Taylor Imam Jones) not only hates her mother, but finds her mother's ex-lover's acting embarrassingly inept.



Mark Anderson Phillips, Carrie Paff, and Gabriel Marin in a scene from Stage Kiss (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

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Ruhl's play addresses a series of contradictions which may be unique to the world of the theatre.

Does real life imitate art or does art imitate real life?

What happens when one's onstage life becomes one's offstage life (and vice versa)?

Which moment holds more truth? When two lovers share a stage kiss or when two actors share a real kiss?

In his program note, artistic director and set designer Bill English writes:

In the theatre, we live to investigate the point where illusion intersects reality, where 'pretend' meets 'real.' We know that even in life, the boundary between real and imagined can be a slippery slope, the boundary between false and sincere, between madness and sanity. We know that 'all the world's a stage' and that we, the players, will play many roles. The very term 'stage kiss' implies that it is not real. And yet, a kiss is still a kiss. Lips meet. Moisture is exchanged. Warmth is felt. It is the actor's job to kiss. Stage Kiss is a love poem to the theatre, a dance that seduces us by stepping deftly across the line between real and the unreal, on stage and backstage, illusion and reality. It is an existential play, a piece of fluff, a love story wrapped in a love story, wrapped in a love story.



The cast of Stage Kiss (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

Because Carrie Paff and Gabriel Marin are two of the region's best-liked actors (at San Francisco Playhouse as well as at other theatres around the Bay area), their familiar faces and personalities bring an extra dramatic impact to Ruhl's play. While Taylor Iman Jones, Millie DeBenedet, and Michael Gene Sullivan all lend strong support, Kevin Allen gets huge laughs as an apprentice actor during auditions and rehearsals (as well as in Act II, as a ridiculously costumed pimp in a screechingly awful play written by the character portrayed by Mark Anderson Phillips).

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Whether onstage or off, the burning issue at the core of Stage Kiss is best summed up by Herman Hupfeld's 1931 lyric for "As Time Goes By" (which became famous in 1942 when it was used in the movie, Casablanca).

You must remember this: A kiss is still a kiss A sigh is just a sigh. The fundamental things apply. As time goes by. And when two lovers woo They still say, 'I love you,' On that you can rely. No matter what the future brings As time goes by. Moonlight and love songs Never out of date Hearts full of passion Jealousy and hate Woman needs man And man must have his mate That no one can deny. It's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die. The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by.



Gabriel Marin (He) and Carrie Paff (She) star in Stage Kiss (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

Here's the trailer:
So, if the courts are keen on the constitutionality of issues and the interpretation of the document, why haven't we just decided to regulate it?

Situations from San Bernadino, college campus shootings, Planned Parenthood attacks, high school campus shootings and other tragic events have taken place because of the lack of agreement on the way to handle gun control. Texas now allows open-carry, after passing legislation which went into affect January 1, 2016. College students are able to carry out in the open, Texans can walk into businesses with a gun, and with those possibilities, there is anything that can happen. Millennials are not asking you to "take our guns away", we are asking for safety. We are asking to see politicians understand, that yes a gun can save your life, but it can also hurt you, too.

There are dissenting opinions in the millennial group:

But there are some millennials, born between 1981-1996 according to Pew Research, that shows the generation is for no regulation, which is similar to the older folks in Generation X. So what does that mean for the future of guns? Hopefully, gun reform is a happy medium.

For gun reform, but why not ask the soon-to-be president-elect to ban guns in this country?

Well, banning guns is a little extreme, since we have already been given the right to 'bare arms' in the Second Amendment: I don't see the government repealing part of the Bill of Rights. Although interpretation of the documents are debated, whether to be strictly taken or to be taken as it pertains to the current day: one thing is for sure, Americans are allowed to carry guns. It comes down to finding the right candidate who understands the importance of gun safety and gun education. As for the incidents which happen relating to guns put in the wrong hands, those situations, at times, cannot be stopped. It is about educating those with guns and even those without them, to understand the importance of safety, no matter your role with the gun in question.

Going back to real estate mogul, Donald Trump's tweet after the Paris Terror Attacks, he questions how the country with the strictest gun laws can have such a tragedy. Well, strip Americans of their guns and it is possible a future president-elect can leave people defenseless. It is about finding the balanced middle, between gun activists and those supporting gun bans.

So did you know a felon can go to the gun range, even if he/she cannot own a gun?

Although felonies are on a case-by-case basis. There are different types of crimes and even wrongfully-accused felons, or even felons who are not "bad people". Reform is the best way to solve these problems. Guns in the hands of the wrong people is hard enough to control, let alone those with a record, especially those with a record related to gun violence.

College Tuition

I do not know of a single college student who is not interested in Vermont Senator Bernie Saunder's pitch for 'free college'. The word 'free' is attractive to everyone. The words 'free college' are attractive to millions of Americans in student loan debt, students looking to go to college but unsure how to pay or for those who never dreamed college was an option. It is a way to make education universal (or at least that's the idea). While there are Republican presidential hopefuls who would like to cut the Department of Education, college tuition and education is important to the incoming voting generations. Cutting the Department of Education would mean an increase in the prices of university's and it is already a steep price tag for public institutions across the country. While cutting it seems outlandish, it has been a topic of discussion since President Ronal Reagan took office in the 1980s and has been a topic that has been voiced from President George H.W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, but no one seems to be able to pull the trigger. If a Republican takes office, it could be on his/her docket to eliminate, but if a Democrat takes office, it can be safe to say, possibility without concrete certainty, that the Department of Education would stick around. If a socialist approach to college funding is impossible, or hard to implement, it can be a goal of the next president-elect to find a way to make tuition more affordable.

The major downside to accumulating student loans during college and attempting to pay them afterward, there will be a sizable amount of addition interest added when students are prepared to start paying it off. For students who are not able to pay back student loans, the bad news is that students loans never dissipate, even in bankruptcy. If an individual declares bankruptcy but has student loans, the loans will always be waiting to be paid for. The less debt, the better. Now it is about showing presidential candidates, who are, on average, about 55 years of age. That's 33 years after the average college graduation age of 22. So in those 33 years, a lot can change. The cost of college tuition can be raised every single year, and now it is upon our generation to bring this issue to the forefront. By the time we are 55, it can be assumed college will be less and less accessible.




Emily's List is a Political Action Committee (PAC) dedicated to recruiting, training and supporting Democratic, pro-choice, women get elected to office.



Schriock was first inspired by Clinton speaking while in college at Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. She said she saw her speak while campaigning for her husband in the 1992 presidential election, when Bill Clinton was seeking his first term in office, and now here she is, supporting Clinton in hopes the former secretary of state becomes the first female president.



She said she supports Clinton for a number of reasons and she spoke of them on a snowy Friday night in Des Moines with a few community members to hear her speak.



The Emily's List president spoke to Clinton's admirable choices in life, whether it was her choice to go to law school when many women were not applying, let alone being accepted or when she took a job working for the Children's Defense Fund.



Schriock said, as well as reiterated on Clinton's homepage, that she chose not to head to New York or Washington D.C. to work for a prominent law firm, but to advocate for all children, no matter or socio-economic class or disability, to have the right to attend public schools.



Her homepage said, "It's this commitment to public service and fighting for others--especially children and families--that she's carried all her life," which is what Schriock said during her endorsement announcement.



Throughout Clinton's career, Schriock said, she has been able to "advance women's leadership at every step of the way."



When asked, Schriock said for first time millennial voters to just get out there and vote.



Emily's List is especially interested in millennial women exercising their right to vote in the next election. The president of Emily's List said, even more so focused on those women voting for Hillary Clinton.





"Millennials, as a generation, will be the biggest voting block in 2016, bigger than the Baby Boomers," Schriock said. "They have the power to direct this country."



Schriock said Emily's List is targeting millennials between the age of 18 to 29, instead of the accepted definition of a millennial between the ages of 18 and 35.
Here is a translation from the recently discovered Diary of Moses, originally scratched onto sheep's skin in a steady ornamental hand.



In this entry, Moses muses about one of his sons.



Dear Diary



Sinai Desert

Spring 1232 BCE

Sunday



My first-born son, Gershom, is a troubled loner. Zipporah, my wife, Gershom's mother, says he's just delicate, like one of those lapis lazuli vases we plunged fistfuls of marigolds and delphiniums and lobelias and yarrows in when we were back in Egypt.



(We did break a clutch of those vases, didn't we, setting them on marble table tops by six-foot windy windows?)



I have Ziporrah's word that Gershom is my child. But he's not what I call a shard off the old clay pot.



He lacks my hairline, he lacks the noble hanging of my nether lip, he lacks my philological depth, and he lacks my predilection for illusion. But he does have my ability to find true north in a low sky desert dustwind.



The Rough Cut



I blame it on the rough cut. It's a sore spot for all of us. I didn't circumcise Gershom because, let me face it right now, I thought it was beneath my principles to do such a thing, even though in Egypt the practice was customary ever since the Pleiades first adorned a pencil-mapped sky.

To me it mars a beautiful thing--this circumcision, this cutting.



G-d fumed. I mean G-d was beyond a word like anger when he saw I hadn't cut the baby. And G-d tried to kill me outright. (Someone get this down and call it 'Exodus 4:24-26'!)



Zipporah saved my life by snapping up that flint and cutting Gershom's penis ring round, flinging the pink flesh at my foot, arresting the irritated justice of Divinity. Ah, how the baby wailed. Howled. And why not? It was a botched, slipshod, amateurish job, executed with a piece of shale!



A piece of shale! Nile crocodiles in a rowboat! Frel-a-sod-dam-duck! A piece of shale!

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A month of infections.
Millennials, those intrepid, energetic, internet-savvy travelers prefer partying over cultural pursuits when traveling -- right? They're on social media whenever possible, and grab KFC whenever they can, wherever they may be, yes?

Well, maybe not.

Topdeck Travel, popular provider of group travel for 18-30 somethings, surveyed 31,000 people from 134 different countries: 88 percent of them traveled overseas between one and three times a year; 94 percent were between 18-30; 30 percent traveled solo; and the majority traveled in Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand.

A sampling of the surprising survey results are below, along with my comments:

Reflecting peer-influence at that young stage of life, in choosing where they travel next, 76 percent said that friends' recommendations were a main factor, and what's on sale, and social media also came far ahead of travel-agent advice (18%).

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The survey revealed that this younger generation is no longer seeking a party-animal atmosphere when traveling, and instead wants to fully immerse themselves into new cultures, and feast on local cuisine. In fact, of the group surveyed, experiencing a new culture (86%) and eating local foods (69%) were listed as common determining factors for motivating people aged 18 to 24 to travel -- ahead of partying (44%) and shopping (28%).

Keeping fit was a priority for 14 percent of millennial travelers (that may be that they are young and fit to begin with) while only 11 percent responded that they didn't exercise at all while traveling. (My guess is that they walk alot and "exercise" for its own sake is unnecessary.)

Almost three-quarters of those surveyed do their own travel planning and reservations, and half book their trips six to 12 months ahead. About half travel independently, but book some tours when they arrive at their destination.

Other interesting findings from the survey debunked some myths. Despite the notion that millennials are selfie and social-media obsessed, about 10 percent don't update their social media accounts while traveling, and over half of young travelers only update their social media accounts a few times per week. Most popular apps used when traveling are Facebook (94%), Instagram (71%), Trip Advisor, WhatsApp; and far behind at 14 percent, Twitter.

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Not only are millennials posting less often, but wifi access was also rated far less important than expected when traveling. As for photos, 39 percent used a smartphone and only two percent did not take photos. (Smartphones and compact digital cameras have made photography so much easier and higher quality than even 10 years ago.)

More specifically, 98 percent of younger generations ranked 'eating local cuisine' as something that was very important (more than 5 out of 10) when they traveled. In fact, 37 percent of millennials avoid junk food when traveling.

Millennials' most popular bucket-list destination was Europe at 33 percent, with the United States and Australia/New Zealand tied at 13 percent. When asked about places they wanted to visit in Asia, they ranked Thailand tops at 83 percent, with Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia not far behind. Super-power China was far down on the list (43%), and just a bit ahead of emerging Myanmar (41%).
She's not your stereotypical Arab princess out of some Hollywood producer's imagination, but a hard working entrepreneur fiercely supporting women's empowerment.

She is Her Highness Sheikha Hissah Saad Al Abdallah Al Salem Al Sabah, daughter of Kuwait's former emir, and president of the Council of Arab Businesswomen.

It's an organization that, among other things, acts as a link between financiers and small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the 22-nation Arab world.

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"We're an NGO and work under the Arab League's umbrella," she told me. "We have become a voice for the Arab woman."

Her royal pedigree certainly helped when she set out to establish strategic partnerships to secure funds from wealthy Kuwaiti women, as well as Egypt-based Commercial International Bank (CIB), and Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, for example, to help Arab women set up their own businesses.



Art lover Sheikha Hissah Al Sabah (Abu-Fadil)

They could range from cottage industries in Egypt's rural areas launched with as little as $1,000 to more ambitious and larger scale ventures.

Prince Alwaleed provides funding through his NGO.

"One project is organic farming, an eco village, schools, and a clinic in Egypt, and endeavors in Jordan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Morocco," Sheikha Hissah said of an Egyptian pilot scheme that is to be replicated in the Arab world.

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In one instance, the Council supported a woman who it then connected with Egyptian multimillionaire entrepreneur Samih Sawiris to take her project forward.

"It challenges Arab women to create and produce world quality products and services," explained Sheikha Hissah of the networking and enabling efforts.

The princess, who also serves on the board of directors of the Federation of Arab Businessmen, would like to see more Arab women in the work force as COOs and CEOs, to have confidence, and to be in the arena with men.

The Council opened for business in 1999, but Sheikha Hissah has been a standard bearer since she broke the gender barrier in 1974 by opening boutiques in Kuwait.



Screen shot of the Council and Arab League logos

The Cairo-based Council's objectives include creating close links across various economic sectors of the Arab world; developing and strengthening economic ties between Arab businesswomen; expanding and developing trade exchanges between Arab countries; strengthening the role of Arab women in decision making; and maximizing the role of the private sector, notably the role of Arab women, in business and investment by providing information and appropriate facilities.

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The road hasn't been without obstacles.

"Believe it or not, women still aren't allowed in the Kuwaiti chamber of commerce; men don't vote for us. They don't acknowledge these associations," she noted.

But that hasn't deterred her from pushing the envelope, thanks to inspiration from her father who was her mentor.

"He helped me, he was morally and mentally my supporter," she said of the late emir who told her that the opportunity that was given to her she should give to others.

He was also a strong supporter of women's education and pushed his daughters to prove themselves.

"I started out majoring in business and then changed to public administration and political science," she said, adding that she doesn't like working behind a desk.



Kuwait's iconic water towers (Abu-Fadil)

She sought constant human interaction and got it when she headed R&D of medical services at a military hospital. Her sister was head of marketing at the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

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The multilingual cosmopolitan princess switches easily from Kuwaiti, to Egyptian and Lebanese dialects of Arabic, speaks French and English, and gets away with some Italian.

Her exposure to the world came at an early age. She was sent to boarding school in England at age five, then attended an English school in Kuwait, and graduated from an English school in Beirut where she later attended university.

"I consider Lebanon home," she said, adding that she lives there a good part of the year.

Lebanon is also where she initially met and became friends with Lucia Topalian who moved to Kuwait during the Lebanese Civil War.



Lucia Topalian (Abu-Fadil)
Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio has made a huge push to gain millennial supporters this past week, most notably his ad released Tuesday. The ad features a group of millennials, who are all concerned about differing issues facing the country and believe that Sen. Rubio is the answer.



The ad coincides with a poll conducted Jan. 4-7, 2016 on behalf of USA Today that questioned adults ages 18-34 about their voting habits and the issues they find most important. Just 9 percent of the responders said they would vote for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) if the presidential primary election were held today, compared to 46 percent of millennials who said they would vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders.



However, don't believe the narrative that all millennials are bleeding heart liberals. In fact, 38 percent of the respondents identified themselves as conservative to some degree, with just 34 percent of them identifying as liberal. When the poll really broke down the issues, many of the millennials did favor a more typically liberal stance on issues like gun control, and their support of the U.S. accepting refugees from Syria. The results show a disconnect between social and fiscal issues among this more tolerant age group.



Sen. Rubio is known as "the Crown Prince" of the Tea Party movement and despite his minority makeup, he is as conservative as it gets. The pro-life, anti same-sex-marriage, and second amendment supporter may have some trouble garnering millennial support with these extremely conservative views.



Though some millennials might not support Sen. Rubio's social views, he is still trying to connect to them through social media. The young senator has been dominating on social media, from retweeting his young volunteers, to blogging on Tumblr, a platform that candidates Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz all have yet to use.



This week Rubio appeared on NBC's "Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," which could be further used to reach the younger demographic. According to Nielsen polls, Fallon raked in 2.243 million viewers in the 18-49 age demographic in a single week in 2014. The millennial generation, now the nation's largest, includes those born between 1982 and 2004

Many millennial voters have gotten involved on the Rubio campaign by starting their own social media platforms in support of the Florida Senator.

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"Many candidates do tend to ignore millennials and pander towards others. But Marco from day one has been very different," says Nick Weiner, a millennial supporter of Rubio and leader of the grassroots team, United With Rubio. Weiner has been able to not only follow Sen. Rubio on Twitter, but even interact with him.

"Marco and I follow each other on twitter. He follows a lot of supporters and he interacts with people frequently in the comment sections and in replies on twitter," said Weiner.

This is not an uncommon trend for Rubio says Dr. Betsy Sigman, an expert in technology, social media, electronic commerce and information systems as well as a teaching professor at Georgetown University.

"I would say Marco Rubio seems to be leading other Republican candidates in terms of the number of followers, with the exception of @realDonaldTrump, who is a media phenomenon for many reasons," said Sigman.

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Though for older voters the idea of social media influencing something as large as the presidential election seems practically impossible, you'd be surprised how much millennials use social media to form decisions.

"I think Twitter is the social media venue most likely to have an impact on the upcoming presidential election," said Sigman who believes that social networks help candidates stand out and be memorable in the minds of millennial voters, an idea that 29-year-old millennial Rubio supporter Darvio Morrow believes.

"I think that Marco reaching out to us on social media shows that he understands the value of our vote and that he's putting real resources behind trying to get it. He's not just talking about it. He's putting his money where his mouth is by creating those ads and really making a concerted effort to attract millennials, the only Republican in this cycle that's doing so," said Morrow.

Morrow said that without Rubio he probably wouldn't be backing anyone in this election, but has been so inspired by the young senator that he's a part of a social media group called Generation Rubio. The entire purpose of the group is to explicitly attract millennials, minorities and women to the cause. Everyone who runs the group are millennials, and all but one of them are minorities.

"I do believe social media is key. If you aren't talking to millennials on social media then you don't exist," said Morrow.

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The strong conservative doesn't seem like he will ever change his views on social issues, so millennials may have to decide whether to cast their vote based on their social views or their fiscal ones. We'll have to wait for the primary to see if Sen. Rubio was able to sway the younger demographic with his modernized social media game. If you're a millennial interested in learning more about the Rubio campaign, from a millennial perspective, check out the Generation Rubio and United With Rubio links below.

https://www.facebook.com/unitedwithrubio

https://www.facebook.com/Generation-Rubio-1930962743796552/?fref=nf

@unitedwithrubio
If the Fox News Channel has taught us anything, it's that opinions are priceless. That network has built a billion dollar dynasty on dissuasion - whether you approve of its tactics or not. While many Americans make up their own minds and decide for themselves what they think and what they believe in, many millions more prefer to be told what to think and what to believe in by people they trust. There's no judgement in that statement. It's fact and FNC's ratings are all the proof you need. While I have absolutely zero tolerance for a news outlet to slant its news coverage and/or alter the facts to further one political agenda, I believe there absolutely is a place for opinion in a newscast.

Long before FNC began postulating its point-of-view, a few local stations had discovered the art of commentary. I'm not talking about those general managers who do an awkward, one-minute editorial at the end of a newscast urging you to consider voting for a new waste water treatment plant. I'm talking about true and passionate opinion shared by people you know and like - your local news anchors. Anchorman Jerry Springer's commentaries during News 5 each evening on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate had a direct bearing on the station rising from worst to first in the ratings during the mid-'80's. I was there. I watched every day as Jerry would pace the hallways that encircled the newsroom, trying to find just the right words to express his feelings. Whether those feelings were about Marge Schott's racial insensitivity, President Reagan reinstituting the draft, or Coke's decision to invent a "new Coke", Jerry had an opinion. He expressed them well and in no uncertain terms. And every evening, I was one of the newsroom staff assigned to "phone duty" - answering the barrage of calls from viewers who either agreed or disagreed with Jerry's assessment of any given situation. Those were the days before voice mail, when phones would truly "light up" like a Christmas tree - flashing lights on every phone line. Those lights clearly demonstrated to me just how powerful one point-of-view can be. Jerry built a $50-million dollar career on his opinions - and his "Final Thought". Here - see for yourself.

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I love that final zoom-in at the end of each commentary. So powerful. WLWT compiled the best of Jerry's thousands of commentaries into a book for viewers to order. The printer couldn't keep up with the demand.

Just a few hundred miles north sat another anchorman who was beloved by the blue collar viewers of Detroit. Bill Bonds had his ups and downs splattered all over the media - his DUI arrests, his offer to fistfight corrupt Mayor Coleman Young, and his infamous interview with Utah Senator Orrin Hatch caused viewers to tune in in droves. They loved Bonds because he was "one of them". The Hatch interview is simply too good not to view now.

His commentaries were just as legendary. Bonds did one about mercy killing just the day after his younger brother Johnny died - Johnny's doctor had "pulled the plug". Remember, Detroit was the home of Jack Kevorkian, the right-to-die and physician-assisted suicide activist who'd recently been convicted of helping to kill an elderly woman in his minivan. Bill wondered which "God" would meet his brother in Heaven - Jesus? Buddha? Allah? Or perhaps a Moonie? And then his point, in one simple sentence:

"Do you really believe that God believes that men should be making laws that tell you when you have suffered enough - and it's not for you and your doctor to decide?"

Wow. What news anchor today would have the balls to use such a personal tragedy to make a greater point? Name one. I can't.

I now want to show you a commentator who very recently went viral with his thoughts about ISIS. Walee Aly isn't technically a news anchor. He's a "presenter" on an Australian "news done differently" show on Channel Ten called The Project. The show promotes itself this way:

"The Project is the simplest idea in television for a long time. Each weekday at 6:30pm, the team dissect, digest and reconstitute each days' news".

What Aly said - straight into the camera following the terrorist attacks in Paris - was astounding.

That is brilliant television - whether inside a newscast or not. How can you NOT watch people like this?

Now, on to one final commentator. She's Judge Jeanine Pirro. She hosted her own "judge" show on the CW, but now hosts Justice With Judge Jeanine on Fox News Channel. And yes, she's slamming our liberal president. But put all of your FNC baggage, if you so harbor any, in your pocket for a moment. What the Judge delivers here I can only describe as a jaw-dropping.

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I don't care which side of the proverbial fence you pee on... that was brilliant television. Her points were on target, backed up by fact, and one direct hit after another on the President. Remember, this is a Lebanese/American woman attacking the President. Not just some white blowhard who gets paid per opinion on Hannity or O'Reilly's show. That's what makes it all the more poignant.
There are many good reasons for tackling female workforce participation as a matter of priority in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The potential economic benefit of increased women's employment is striking. According to recent estimates, if women's participation in labor markets in the MENA equaled that of men's, the regional GDP could rise by 47% over the next decade, and the MENA could realize $600 billion in economic impact annually ($2.7 trillion by 2025).

These numbers are too big and significant to ignore. But despite the work that has been done in combating gender discrimination in the MENA, women still face widespread challenges in entering the workforce. When it comes to labor force penetration of women, the World Bank predicts that at the current rate, it would take 150 years for MENA countries to reach the current world average.

Far from being a matter of unpreparedness for the job market or a lack of education (the ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment in many parts of the MENA region is impressive, with female students outnumbering male students by a significant margin), the unemployment rate among working-age women in the MENA, now standing at over 40% for some MENA countries, is a multifaceted problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later if we want to achieve the desired economic outcomes of having more women in the workforce.

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But who is responsible for driving the inclusion of more women in the MENA workforce? Is it governments, NGOs, employers, or young women themselves? The answer is that everyone has a shared responsibility.

Findings from 'First Jobs for Young Women in the MENA: Expectations and Reality', a white paper created by Bayt.com, Education For Employment (EFE), and YouGov suggest that there are tangible steps that governments, NGOs, employers and young women themselves can undertake to increase women's participation in the workforce. These measures include negotiating and adjusting salaries to suit the needs of young women, offering on-site nursery and daycare facilities, and providing access to suitable and affordable transportation. The whitepaper provides a set of recommendations to better facilitate the employment of young women in the MENA.Changing employer perceptions:

The survey results indicated that although there is significant support among young women and employers for young women's participation in the workforce, challenges remain in many areas, including employer perceptions. 82% of female employers versus only 61% of male employers indicated that they personally support policies intended to drive the employment of young women. When asked how increasing the number of women in the workforce impacts an organization's bottom line, male employers were three times as likely as female employers to say that women's inclusion in the workforce has a negative impact on the bottom line. Among employers of both genders who believed that women's inclusion creates a negative impact, the most common reasons were the belief that men are more capable (21%) and that women have a need for more holidays and leave (15%).

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Among employers of both genders who believe that women's inclusion creates a positive impact on the bottom line, top reasons for support were women's attributes or skills, including leadership and loyalty (18%) and enhanced productivity (11%). Many employers appear to lack awareness of the broader economic impact of women's employment, with only 4% mentioning benefits to the economy as an impact of women's inclusion in the workforce. Young women themselves appear unaware of the influence of women's employment on the economy, with only 3% of employed young women and 6% of women seeking employment citing benefits to the economy as the main impact of women's employment.

Developing a women's employment value proposition to demonstrate broader economic impact to employers could go a long way for encouraging the employment of young women.Investing in benefits that are important to women:

The study also revealed that employers may be investing in policies that are not in particularly high demand among young women in the MENA, such as the provision of female supervisors. At the same time, many employers are not offering benefits that are important to women, such as access to suitable and affordable transportation, flexible working hours, the ability to work from home, and the provision of nurseries or daycare facilities. The survey results indicated that many women in the MENA do not know if their employers have policies in place to encourage the employment of young women. Increased awareness both inside and outside the organization is clearly needed to ensure that there is an alignment between the benefits offered by employers and those most in demand by young women.Encouraging entrepreneurship:

There is a very significant case to be made for creating sustainable economic growth by encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship among women in the MENA. The Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector and Arab Springs Survey conducted by Bayt.com in partnership with the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, shows that the Arab Spring has had a positive effect on driving higher interest in both economic and social development. To encourage entrepreneurship, governments need to reform the regulatory framework and lower the barriers for new company incorporation and continuing operations. For young women in particular, creating entrepreneurship programs and stimulating interest among young women in entrepreneurial opportunities could go a long way.Enhancing the role of SMEs:

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Although SMEs are expected to comprise a significant portion of MENA's job growth, only 7% of young women job seekers indicated that they would most like to work in a small or medium local private company, as compared to 35% for multinationals and 26% for government or public sector. These preferences appear to be misaligned with the proportions of young women who are actually employed by each organization type: 23% of young employed women worked in SMEs, versus 22% in multinationals and 17% in government. To link more women to careers in SMEs, SMEs can focus resources on adopting high-priority policies such as flexible schedules or childcare, and on leveraging the networks of current employees for recruitment.

For years, governments, the international development community and other agencies, have studied the factors that contribute to the low employment rates among women in the MENA region. Socio-cultural norms and traditional gender roles; discriminatory hiring and compensation practices; and unwelcoming work environments, have all been identified as barriers preventing women from moving forward in their career. First Jobs for Young women in the Middle East and North Africa provides new insight into these issues and identifies clear paths forward.
Occupy Wall Street participants take part in a protest to mark the movement's second anniversary in New York, September 17, 2013. Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street participants held a march to mark the movement's anniversary. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Since the beginnings of democracy, debate has raged as to how responsive politicians are to their constituents. Though such debates stretch back centuries, only recently have academics gotten the ability to use data to test how well legislatures represent the people they ostensibly serve. So far, the evidence hasn't been kind, with two leading academics arguing recently that, "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy."

That's academic for: "American democracy is a joke."

Much of the academic work, and nearly all of the press coverage of the field, has focused solely on the United States. In a new working paper, a luminary in the field, political scientist Larry Bartels, expands his analysis to explore the relationship between policy and public preferences to the international arena. First, Bartels finds increasing demand for a stronger safety net across in many countries where data stretch back more than two decades, including the United States. (Indeed, support for more social spending has increased the most dramatically in the U.S.). He does so by using a question that asks individuals to indicate where they would like more government spending. (The question notes that tax increases may be necessary to boost government spending.) Although there are eight spending areas in the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data, Bartels focuses in on four: pensions, health, unemployment benefits and education.

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While it initially appears that policymakers respond to changes in public preferences, Bartels shows that in fact the changes are endogenous. When Bartels controls for economic growth and unemployment, the apparent relationship between public opinion and public spending is eliminated. (See the dashed line in the figure below.)

Bartels finds massive differences between the rich and poor on preferences for social spending, budget cutting and "welfare state values." To determine public support for budget cutting, Bartels used a question that asked whether cuts in government spending as "some things the government might do for the economy." What Bartels refers to as "welfare state values" are these questions: "On the whole, do you think it should or should not be the government's responsibility to provide a job for everyone who wants one?" and "On the whole, do you think it should or should not be the government's responsibility to reduce income differences between the rich and the poor?"

As the chart shows, the rich are less supportive of social spending, more supportive of budget cuts, and opposed to government guaranteeing jobs and reducing inequality ("welfare state values").

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The United States was a leader in class conflict, with the largest gap between the rich and poor on social spending of any nation, the second highest gap on budget-cutting preferences (only Finland had a greater level of class conflict) and the fourth highest gap on welfare state values (after Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand). The Nordic countries had among the highest gaps in opinion, suggesting that many of the rich may feel that the country has gone too far to reduce inequality and providing public goods. In only one country, South Korea, were the rich more supportive of higher social spending than the poor. In all countries, the wealthy were less supportive of "welfare state values" than the poor.

When Bartels compared the policy preferences of the rich and poor to actual policy results (with controls) his results were disturbing. He finds that low-income preferences had virtually no effect on policy outcomes.

Then Bartels, in a deeply original and important contribution to the literature, estimates what the effect of equal representation would be on social spending, and uses that measurement to conclude that, by contrast, biased responsiveness reduces real social spending per capita by 28 percent on average. In the United States, he finds that the gap is around 40 percent.

To repeat: Social spending in the United States is 40 percent lower than it would be if policymakers didn't disproportionately respond to the rich.

A paper by researcher Derek A Epp, currently under review, suggests one possible source of the problem: "During periods of high inequality the government engages in fewer policy activities on a narrower range of topics." He finds that redistribution is one of the first issues pushed off of the agenda. This is largely in line with the work of a group of political scientists who find that policy stagnation has reduced the ability of government's to respond to rising inequality.

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Further, as I've noted, the agendas of the poor and rich are different, the poor and middle class tend to be more concerned with issues of redistribution like poverty and the minimum wage. Legislatures are increasingly stretched, and they rely more on pre-packaged bills by organizations like ALEC and turn to interest groups and lobbyists to help analyze and draft legislation.

Lee Drutman has made this argument forcefully and frequently, noting, "The entire House and Senate combined spend less on staff ($2 billion a year) than corporations spend on lobbying ($2.6 billion a year)." The result is obvious: economic inequality only further strengthens the power of the already wealthy, creating a self-fueling cycle. As Drutman notes, the solution is equally obvious: bolster legislative capacity by increasing staff size and salaries. At the state level, we need professionalized state legislatures. (While part-time citizen legislators sound good, the research suggeststhey do a bad job representing their constituents.)

The solutions are simple to imagine, but more difficult to put into practice. Unions promote both economic and political equality -- they both push up the wages of workers and mobilize politically for the interests of the middle class. Automatic voter registration would boost turnout, and combined with non-partisan get-out-the-vote operations offers the most viable route to boosting turnout among low-propensity individuals. Disclosure of campaign donations, robust public financing of electionsand limits on the ability of corporations and wealthy individuals to influence elections could alleviate the pervasive influence of money over politics.

As it happens, policies to reduce the power and influence of the elite class over politics have broad public support, across all parties. (The charts above show net support, meaning I subtracted the share of people against the policy from the share in support.) The problem, of course, is getting the politicians already under the sway of powerful interests to pass laws limiting their influence over politics.

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PELLA, Iowa -- Hundreds stood in line in freezing temperatures for Donald Trump's event, to risk the chance of being turned away at the door.

Donald Trump spoke at Central College in Pella. Although he was 40 minutes late to his own event, attendees didn't seem to mind until some of them were turned away.

"It feels like a rollercoaster and you're going to get to the end of the line, it's going to feel like it's closed, or you're not tall enough," said Ben Moore.

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Around 2:45 p.m. people from Trump's campaign went down the long line of people, letting everyone know they may not be let into the event.

"They have been walking back and letting people know, 'there is a chance you might not get in, we just want to let you know that, you're free to stick around, just so you know'," said Liz Tate.

Although most of the supporters in line all brought tickets for the event, that wasn't enough for admission.

A father and son drove four hours from Kansas City and after waiting in line for an hour they were still not close to the entrance.

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"We're kind of worried we won't get in," said Jeffery Dunlap. We thought getting here an hour early would be good, but I guess getting here four hours would have probably been better."

The duo eventually accepted the fact that they might not get in, but the amount of people there for the event lifted their spirits.

"It is OK if we don't get in, because I know there will be other chances," said Dunlap. "But it's great to see so many people coming out."

Lauren Morris, a student from Cincinnati, waited in line for two hours to see the billionaire businessman. She said she was hopeful to get in and thought the wait would be worth it.

"It would just suck to be almost close, and then not get in," said Morris.

Mike and Peggy Ives waited outside for an hour and a half before being turned away just as they got to the door.

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Workers and volunteers for Trump's campaign blamed Pella's fire code was what prohibited them from letting more people in.
ASSOCIATED PRESS A statue of Subash Chandra Bose is garlanded during his birth anniversary in Kolkata, India, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. Bose, who is called Netaji, founded the Indian National Army to fight the British colonial rule to free India during the World War II. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today revealed 100 files related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the National Archives today. Modi had said that this was his way to show respect to the fiery freedom fighter.

Scanned copies of several documents related to the life and disappearance of Netaji have been uploaded in a website called Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers. The papers can be accessed here.

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Here are a few revelations made by the declassification of the documents.

- 'I want to sleep' were Netaji's last words.

- According to a Khosla Commission report, Bose died at Tethoku airfield in Taipeh (Formosa), currently in Taiwan on 18 August 1945. His body was cremated two days later.

- On 20 August 1945, Netajis body was cremated and his ashes were carried to Tokyo in the beginning of September 1945.

- The British government did not really believe that Bose was dead. Even for some months after the Japanese announced Netajis death, the British goverment continued to discuss ways of dealing with him.

- The Indian government was not inclined to favour the bringing back of Netajis ashes kept in Renkoji temple, Tokyo due to possible adverse reactions from members of Netajis family, as well as certain sections of the public, who refused to believe in his death in the plane crash in August, 1945.

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- The Indian embassy in Tokyo pointed out that the temple authorities had a feeling that the Indian government was indifferent to its national hero who fought for the countrys independence.

- According to a confidential report prepared by the home ministry in 1977, the Indian embassy was paying the temple authorities in Tokyo Rs 5000 a year for the safekeeping of the freedom fighters ashes.

- The chief priest at the temple sought some kind of recognition in the form of a letter or a medal from the Indian government for the trouble he took to retain the ashes.

- The Indian government paid Rs 6000 per month to Netajis daughter after his wife refused the offer. The payment was discontinued in 1965 after her marriage.

-According to a letter written by historian Peter Simkins, Netaji's name was not in the British governments list of war criminals but he was considered a traitor.

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chameleonseye via Getty Images Hello First Grade greetings in Hebrew (Shalom Kita Alef) on a chalkboard in Israeli primary school at the beginning of the school year.Concept photo of early age education,learning ,studying, teaching

He doesn't mind if his 10-year-old daughter greets him with 'Shalom' instead of 'Assalam Alaikum'.

On Sunday, The Times of India reported on Khurshid Imam, a devout Muslim, who is the only teacher of Hebrew at a university in India.

The professor, who has observed the Sabbath, enjoyed a falafel on the streets of Jerusalem, and hopes for better India-Israeli ties, teaches at Jawaharlal Lal University.

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Politicians have exploited religion to create tensions between the followers of the two Abrahamic religions, Imam, 46, told TOI.

Imam, third among six siblings, grew up Gopalganj, Bihar. Scholarships from the Israeli government and a fund dedicated to former Prime Minister Golda Meir supported his education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

But Imam gets his fair share of grief from other Muslims who don't understand his fondness for Hebrew or Israel.

"Many call me 'Mossad agent' among Indian Muslims, a Zionist promoter and some even jokingly call me 'nek Yahudi' (benevolent Jew) because of my passion for Hebrew," he said.

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SAUL LOEB via Getty Images A French Air Force Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft flies during the inaugural Trilateral Exercise between the US Air Force, United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and the French Air Force at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia, December 15, 2015. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB / AFP / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- French President Francois Hollande indicated today that the nearly Rs 60,000-crore Rafale jets deal is unlikely to be signed during his current visit although it is on the "right track".

"The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years."

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"Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track", Hollande told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning today.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence "is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries."

India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore. A high-level team from France is in Delhi to carrying out last minute negotiations.

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The invitation for Hollande to be the chief guest at Tuesday's Republic Day celebrations had raised hopes that the long drawn-out deal to buy the jets would finally be nailed down.

n his interview with PTI, Hollande said that "the Rafale is a major project for India and France" that would "pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation" for the next four decades.

Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, "France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators."

"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life.

India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism", the French President said in a written interview.

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Alexander Mihailovski was indicted in August 2012 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accessing a protected computer in furtherance of fraud, and intentional damage to a protected computer, according to a federal news release.

A 35-year-old citizen of Belarus was to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle Friday (Jan. 22) following his arrest last year in Vienna, Austria, and extradition to the Western District of Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.

This defendant has now learned the hard lesson that so many other cyber criminals have had to confront: engaging in cybercrime from another country is not an effective shield from being held to account, said United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes. This defendant made his initial appearance today because we worked diligently with our law enforcement partners around the world to identify and extradite him. Like others who have committed crimes in our district, this defendant will have his day in court subject to all the protections our criminal justice system provides. But if found guilty, he will be held responsible for the very real harm he caused to the victims of his scam.

According to the indictment, Mihailovski operated a credit card payment processing company called Mystique Enterprises LTD, doing business as PSBILL. Mihailovski and his company were part of an international cybercrime ring that netted $71 million by infecting victims computers with scareware and selling rogue antivirus software that was supposed to secure victims computers but was, in fact, useless.

The prosecution of Mihailovski is part of Operation Trident Tribunal, a coordinated enforcement action targeting international cybercrime rings that caused more than $71 million in total losses to more than one million computer users through the sale of fraudulent computer security software known as scareware. Scareware is malicious software that poses as legitimate computer security software and purports to detect a variety of threats on the affected computer that do not actually exist. Users are then informed they must purchase what they are told is anti-virus software in order to repair their computers. The users are then barraged with aggressive and disruptive notifications until they supply their credit card number and pay for the anti-virus product, which is, in fact, fake, according to the news release.

The scareware scheme used a variety of ruses to trick consumers into unknowingly infecting their computers with the malicious scareware products, including web pages featuring fake computer scans. Once the scareware was downloaded, victims were notified that their computers were infected with a range of malicious software, such as viruses and Trojans and badgered into purchasing the fake antivirus software to resolve the non-existent problem at a cost of up to $129. An estimated 960,000 users were victimized by this scareware scheme, leading to $71 million in actual losses.

Mihailovski is the second foreign national prosecuted in the scheme. In December 2012, Mikael Patrick Sallnert, 40, a citizen of Sweden, was sentenced to four years in prison and was ordered to pay $650,000 in forfeiture. Sallnert also served as a credit card payment processor for the crime ring.

This case is being investigated by the FBI Seattle Division Cyber Task Force and other FBI entities. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa. Substantial assistance was provided by the Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

Critical assistance in the investigation was provided by the Security Service of Ukraine, German Federal Criminal Police, Netherlands National High-Tech Crime Unit, London Metropolitan Police, Latvian State Police, Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, Swedish National Police Cyber Unit, French Police Judiciare, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Romanias Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, Cyprus National Police in cooperation with the Unit for Combating Money Laundering, the Danish National Police, and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice.

To avoid falling victim to a scareware scheme, computer users should avoid purchasing computer security products that use unsolicited free computer scans to sell their products. It is also important for users to protect their computers by maintaining an updated operating system and using legitimate, up-to-date antivirus software, which can detect and remove fraudulent scareware products.

Computer users who think they have been victimized by scareware should file a complaint with the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.

Source: http://www.tukwilareporter.com/news/366240711.html
Morocco has witnessed an unprecedented event as citizens of all ages decided to shut down their phones last weekend, in an unparalleled wave of discontent after a decision by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (well known under its French acronym ANRT) aimed at blocking all software that use Voice over IP (VoIP) technology in the kingdom.

The ANRT stated that the reason behind the ban relates to a lack of accreditation for some leading VoIP technology services like WhatsApp, Skype and Viber, pointing to article 1 of ANRT/DG/ 04-04, which deals with the status of IP telephony in Morocco and states that corporations using the VoIP technology in Morocco should hold a license to operate.

However, many Moroccan social media activists were far from convinced by the law argument, especially since the article in question had not been put into practice for the last 12 years. A leader of the boycott movement, Amine Raghib, a Moroccan activist well known for his popular online educational show Moudawat Al Mouhtarif, lampooned those who took the decision and made no bones about calling the ban an affront to free speech.

On Facebook, at the time of writing, his video calling for the boycott had received more than 493 000 views and 19,238 shares. Internet belongs to everyone and it is free. Nobody has the right to ban it, Amine said.

If they ban VoIP today, I wonder what new decisions they will take tomorrow? Amine wondered, calling for young Moroccans to join the boycott and make their voices heard.

The aftermath of the video had a tsunami-like effect. The boycott call grew louder as social media influencers like Skizofrene, Marouane Lamharzi Alaoui, Mustapah Swinga and others subscribed to Amines initiative, with most of them sharing dozens of videos and posts to initiate people to join the movement, all reiterating what would be the movements silver bullet emblem: Internet is a free space that should never be censored.

From a technical perspective, other arguments were advanced as well in a bid to decipher the ban. Moroccan tech expert Rachid Jankari gave an interview with Al Jazeera to cast the spotlight on the technical aspect behind the decision. The man believes that the authorities resorted to block such applications due to Moroccans increasing usage of VoIP services to the detriment of normal phone calls, incurring huge losses in the meantime to telecom companies.

With more and more Moroccans resorting to the use of VoIP, the countrys main servers experience a huge pressure due to the high traffic such technology needs, Jankari noted.

Indeed this may hold true if we take into consideration the rocketing amount of 3G and 4G technology subscribers in the country, moving beyond what used to be traditional Internet connections to mobile Internet connections, and thus overloading Morocco's telecom corporations' servers.

But aside from those calculations, blocking VoIP is troubling and not particularly shrewd as it is an affront to technological advancement and free speech, let alone that the ban is affecting many of the estimated six million Moroccans living abroad, like me, who rely on such applications to keep in touch with their families and friends at no cost.

As a young Moroccan watching the development of this wave of boycott from the other corner of the globe, I can only applaud this youth-triggered-initiative, hoping that the ANRT will get back to its senses.

In the meantime, a mighty battle is in the offing
Darrell K. English explains some of the items in his Holocaust exhibit to students from St. Stan's School on Thursday. English unspools a propaganda film shown to German children. English will allow the children to use some of his collection for school projects they're working on. The exhibit is currently at the Adams Free Library until the New England Holocaust Institute can find a new home. PreviousNext

St. Stan's Students Look Deeper Into The Holocaust

ADAMS, Mass.  Seventh-graders from St. Stanislaus Kostka School got a look into a dark chapter of World War II  the Holocaust  through an exhibit of the New England Holocaust Institute.

As a supplement to this year's curriculum fair, the students met with museum owner Darrell K. English on Thursday at the Adams Free Library to ask him questions about their fair topics.

English said he has been collecting since he was young. His collection ranges from militaria to ephemera to posters to Holocaust memorabilia. The museum had been on Eagle Street in North Adams; a display is being kept at the library until a more permanent location can be found.

"This stuff made it through the war, it was picked up by an American GI, survived in his attic and basement until he died, and then I had to find it," English said. "To see this kind of collection you would have to go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. That is expensive and most schools can't do that, but I am this little place in the corner of Adams."

English brought out reams posters, anti-Semitic newspapers, and books for a student studying Nazi propaganda. One book called "Rasputin: Tool of the Jew" came right out of Hitler's library.

He unspooled a film strip that came from a small canister with a swastika label on the top. He told the students that the film was shown in German schools and was designed to convince students that mentally challenged people were hurting Germany and using resources.

"This was a way of starting the conversation because kids would go home and tell their parents about this film strip they saw in school," English said. "This is how it all started."

English brought out a document that was presented to Hitler in 1933 from a community that granted him honorary citizenship in Germany. Hitler was not German, but Austrian.

"If you are an Austrian citizen how can you run in a German election?" English asked. "They made him an honorary citizen in many towns, villages, and citiesand now 70 years later there are communities trying to erase this from their ledger books."

English even had some items from Eva Braun, Hitler's wife. English passed out a napkin, forks, and calling card marked with her initials.

This lead to students asking about the swastika that English explained was used by many civilizations and was quite common. However, because of the Nazis' use of it, it now only brings heartache.

"You could not escape it. The swastika was on everything the Nazis produced," English said. "If they could tattoo it underneath your eyelids so when you closed your eyes at night you see it, they would have done it."

One student asked English about the "striped pajamas" he had in his collection.

English unfolded the concentration camp uniform and said the only Jews who had them were the ones that were not sent to death right away  although their life expectancy was 90 days at a concentration camp.

"You were divested of all of your clothing, they would shave off all of your hair, and they gave you this uniform and it was up to you to make it fit," he said.

He said the uniforms were marked so prisoners could be designated into groups such as Jews, Free Masons, Gypsies, homosexuals, or Polish.

Those who were known to try to escape had a bulls-eye painted on their back.

"If you were a known flight risk, they had a black round circle with a white one in the middle," he said. "It was a bulls-eye so that the guard could shoot you."

He said the uniforms were manufactured at a former Jewish company in Germany. The Nazis took over the company and the Jewish owners fled to America.

"The family's last name was Joel," he said. "We know a family member of the Joel family by the name of Billy. Billy Joel's grandfather started the company."

He pointed to a mug shot of Polish in a concentration camp wearing the striped uniform. He pointed out that the Nazis took a picture of their prisoner's left ear because it is the most unique part of the human body.

He added that Auschwitz was 20 square miles and about the size of North Adams. The only Jews who were given number tattoos went to Auschwitz.

Another student asked about the Nuremberg Laws, the anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany.

"They ramped up from 1935 until 1941," he said. "The last law in 1941 was no Jew could have gingerbread. They had rules like that that. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, everything Hitler did to the Jews he did legally."

English brought out his collection of Star of David badges that Jews had to wear. He said every Jew had to have one by 1941 and they could be purchased at synagogues. They were yellow because in the 1200s traveling Jewish merchants in Europe had to wear yellow belts to distinguish them as Jews.

English pointed out the smaller star badge used in Bulgaria.

"The king of Bulgaria basically told Hitler to go jump off of a rolling doughnut and that they weren't giving him any Jews," he said. "So the roughly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews survived."

The small patch complied with the law but could be placed under a collar and flipped over.

English aided one student who was studying Nazi medical experiments by bringing out some medical books. One was from Auschwitz that was most likely used by Josef Mengele, an SS officer and physician in the Auschwitz concentration camp who was performed deadly experiments on prisoners.

English said he would bring some of his artifacts down to the Curriculum Fair on Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. for the students to borrow for their projects. He said the artifacts help draw a better picture of history.

"I focus on things you wouldn't think about but that have a direct impact on everything. History is measured in the artifacts that are left behind," English said. "The artifact is what speaks because it was there and have to now reanimate it."

Clarification: Changed to clarify that "Polish" in a sentence referred to the victim, not the location of a concentration camp.
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Disrupting Cells Supply Chain Freezes Cancer Virus

Durham, North Carolina - When the cancer-causing Epstein-Barr virus moves into a B-cell of the human immune system, it tricks the cell into rapidly making more copies of itself, each of which will carry the virus.

To satisfy a sudden increase in demand for more building parts, rapidly dividing host cells will chew up their insides to free up more amino acids, fats and nucleotides.

But if supplies of these materials run low, the cell will enter a suspended state called senescence and cell division will stop, freezing the advance of the virus, according to new findings from a Duke University research team that appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The first virus shown to cause cancer in humans, Epstein-Barr (EBV) has long been a puzzle to researchers. It is found in more than 90 percent of adults worldwide, yet only a small proportion of people ever succumb to the lymphomas and other cancers the virus can cause.

A big part of the answer is the bodys immune system, said lead study author Micah Luftig, an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the Duke School of Medicine, and deputy director of Dukes Center for Virology. For the most part, a healthy immune system stops Epstein-Barr virus from making much headway, Luftig said. In fact, many of the cancers linked to EBV are found mostly in immune-compromised patients whose ability to fight it off has been weakened.

But another answer may be this newly discovered senescence trigger, Luftig added.

Using a new technology that allows researchers to see what state of maturation individual cells are in, the team could see variations in the activity of viral genes from one cell to the next.

They found that the EBV is able to switch the cells fuel source to keep the cells proliferating even as they chew up their internal parts to create more building supplies.

So the team tried making B-cells sense they were starving by using the drug Rapamycin. The strategy worked well enough that they could turn the senescence of EBV-infected cells on and off.
Legal, Policy Changes Can Lead to Shifts in Use of Medical Marijuana

Baltimore, Maryland - A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analysis of registered medical marijuana users found that a hodgepodge of law and policy changes since 2001 had varying effects on the number of people consuming what in many states remains an otherwise illegal drug for its purported health benefits.

The findings, published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, suggest a possible participation elasticity that could inform future discussions around medical marijuana provisions at both the state and federal level. Medical marijuana is legal to varying degrees in 23 states and the District of Columbia.

In one finding, researchers determined that medical marijuana use in the states of Colorado, Montana and Michigan rose dramatically in 2009 when the federal government announced that it was making medical marijuana prosecutions a low priority. (In the previous administration, the federal government prosecuted medical marijuana users along with recreational users, since marijuana was -- as it is today -- against federal law.) By contrast, medical marijuana participation rose little in states the expressly prohibited dispensaries, such as Alaska, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The federal policy change led to an increase in the number of medical marijuana dispensaries, which may have led to an increase in medical marijuana participation. When Colorado and Montana responded with regulations aimed at limiting dispensaries, their numbers fell, as did the number of medical marijuana registrants in these states.

At one point, it seemed like there were more dispensaries than Starbucks in some cities, says study author Brian Fairman, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Bloomberg Schools Department of Mental Health. Then when the number of dispensaries dropped, so did the number of registrants. Interestingly, after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana use, the rates of medical marijuana participation held steady, perhaps because sales taxes are lower for medical marijuana, so its more affordable.

California became the first state to allow medical marijuana use in 1996. Since then, another 22 states and the District of Columbia approved medical marijuana use. An estimated 2.7 million people use medical marijuana, according to data based on a household survey from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. However, state registries log only about 440,000 medical marijuana users, in part because registration is voluntary in some states, including California, so many patients do not register.

The rules governing the practice vary from state to state, with some allowing dispensaries and some not and some only allowing cannabis that is ingested (versus smoked or inhaled). Most patients who use medical marijuana do so for pain relief.

For this analysis, only 13 states, along with the District of Columbia, with medical marijuana registries that had data available over time were included. The states analyzed were Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Other findings include:

Among the eight states that report differences by age, medical marijuana patients under the age 18 make up less than 1 percent of medical marijuana patients. However, since June 2013 the number of minor patients in Colorado has increased significantly, possibly due to parents moving to the state to take advantage of the states dispensary market.

In most states with available data, medical marijuana participants tend to be in their 50s, which is consistent with the baby boomer generation that had high rates of marijuana use during the mid-1970s. However, Colorado and Arizona have larger proportions of medical marijuana participants between the ages of 18 and 30.

In states that report differences in medical marijuana by gender, men are more likely than women to register for medical marijuana,  between 60 and 70 percent are men - but there is evidence that women may be catching up over time.

The benefits of medical marijuana are little understood, largely because there is scant research, which is complicated by required clearance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Marijuana policy is at a crossroads, Fairman says. Its especially important that policymakers and the public understand what might contribute to trends in medical marijuana use, considering the number of people who seek it for chronic pain and also how it might interplay with recreational use as more states legalize recreational marijuana.

Trends in registered medical marijuana participation across 13 U.S. states and District of Columbia was written by Brian J. Fairman, PhD.

The author acknowledges funding support by the National Institutes of Health under the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (T32DA007292) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Meet Pawel Ladziak, The Polish Man Who Dyed His Hair Grey To Get Followers
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The gilded young man gazing out with huge eyes from the Egyptian mummy mask has all the trappings of a youthful pharaoh, with strong facial features beneath a headdress that sweeps behind large ears, his eyes outlined in black as deep as the black of his pupils, while brightly painted deities and mourners observe their rituals below.

But this is no successor to Tutankhamuns famed burial piece. For inscribed, not in hieroglyphs but in Greek, is the name of the high-ranking citizen so honoured in death, Titus Flavius Demetrios  and there is nothing Egyptian about a name like that. As an object illustrating cultural diversity, it takes some beating.

Titus, probably a Roman soldier who had acquired a taste for things Egyptian while stationed in northern Africa 2,000 years ago, eschewed a traditional memorial for himself in planning his own funeral rites, and picked out something local. The mask is one of the many objects retrieved from ancient Egyptian cemeteries and conserved in what can be regarded as our national collection of such artefacts.

For while the British Museum and the Ashmolean hold thousands of such pieces, the Egypt Explorations Fund (now Society), in effect the worlds first crowd-funding exercise, ensured that provincial museums were enriched with their own relics. And it is pieces from a handful of these remarkable collections that are shown together for the first time in Beyond Beauty: Transforming the Body in Ancient Egypt, a free exhibition at Two Temple Place in London.

(Paul Tucker)

A 19th-century passion among philanthropists for educating and expanding the working classes horizons coincided with a rash of archaeological digs in ancient Egypt that unearthed grave artefacts that were often spectacular, but which also revealed vast amounts about those who commissioned them  their aesthetic taste, yes, but also their customs and domestic life. And to encourage organised and accountable digging, the EEF invited Egyptology enthusiasts to subscribe to their projects, with the promise that their subscription would be rewarded with objects brought back to the new, local educational resource, the local and public museum.

Such objects can no longer leave their country of origin, so those now in British collections are irreplaceable, says Egyptologist and curator of Beyond Beauty, Dr Margaret Serpico. She has brought together important and touching personal items from Rochdale, Ipswich, Macclesfield, Bexhill and other unsung repositories.

This is not the story of royal power and privilege, but of families, albeit of some social status, mourning children and parents, preparing them for the afterlife by kitting them out with jewellery, cosmeticst and clothing. In death gender becomes unimportant  the lavish personal ornaments are as likely to be those of deceased males as females.

Culture news in pictures Show all 33 1 /33 Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures 30 September 2016 An employee hangs works of art with "Grand Teatro" by Marino Marini (R) and bronze sculpture "Sfera N.3" by Arnaldo Pomodoro seen ahead of a Contemporary Art auction on 7 October, at Sotheby's in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 29 September 2016 Street art by Portuguese artist Odeith is seen in Dresden, during an exhibition "Magic City - art of the streets" AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 Dancers attend a photocall for the new "THE ONE Grand Show" at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany REUTERS Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A gallery assistant poses amongst work by Anthea Hamilton from her nominated show "Lichen! Libido!(London!) Chastity!" at a preview of the Turner Prize in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A technician wearing virtual reality glasses checks his installation in three British public telephone booths, set up outside the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The installation allows visitors a 3-D look into the museum which has twenty-two paintings belonging to the British Royal Collection, on loan for an exhibit from 29 September 2016 till 8 January 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 An Indian artist dressed as Hindu god Shiva performs on a chariot as he participates in a religious procession 'Ravan ki Barat' held to mark the forthcoming Dussehra festival in Allahabad AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Air Power', 1984, is displayed at the Bowie/Collector media preview at Sotheby's in New York AFP/Getty Culture news in pictures 25 September 2016 A woman looks at an untitled painting by Albert Oehlen during the opening of an exhibition of works by German artists Georg Baselitz and Albert Oehlen in Reutlingen, Germany. The exhibition runs at the Kunstverein (art society) Reutlingen until 15 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 24 September 2016 Fan BingBing (C) attends the closing ceremony of the 64th San Sebastian Film Festival at Kursaal in San Sebastian, Spain Getty Images Culture news in pictures 23 September 2016 A view of the artwork 'You Are Metamorphosing' (1964) as part of the exhibition 'Retrospektive' of Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo at Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The exhibition runs from 25 September 2016 to 1 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 22 September 2016 Jo Applin from the Courtauld Institute of Art looks at Green Tilework in Live Flesh by Adriana Vareja, which features in a new exhibition, Flesh, at York Art Gallery. The new exhibition features works by Degas, Chardin, Francis Bacon and Sarah Lucas, showing how flesh has been portrayed by artists over the last 600 years PA Culture news in pictures 21 September 2016 Performers Sean Atkins and Sally Miller standing in for the characters played by Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell during a photocall for Tim Burton's "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children" at Potters Field Park in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A detail from the blanket 'Alpine Cattle Drive' from 1926 by artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is displayed at the 'Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum for Contemporary Arts' in Berlin. The exhibition named 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Hieroglyphen' showing the complete collection of Berlin's Nationalgallerie works of the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and will run from 23 September 2016 until 26 February 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A man looks at portrait photos by US photographer Bruce Gilden in the exhibition 'Masters of Photography' at the photokina in Cologne, Germany. The trade fair on photography, photokina, schowcases some 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries and runs from 20 to 25 September. The event also features various photo exhibitions EPA Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A woman looks at 'Blue Poles', 1952 by Jackson Pollock during a photocall at the Royal Academy of Arts, London PA Culture news in pictures 19 September 2016 Art installation The Refusal of Time, a collaboration with Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh and Peter Galison, which features as part of the William Kentridge exhibition Thick Time, showing from 21 September to 15 January at the Whitechapel Gallery in London PA Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Artists creating one off designs at the Mm6 Maison Margiela presentation during London Fashion Week Spring/Summer collections 2017 in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Bethenny Frankel attends the special screening of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary Edition release on Blu-Ray and DVD in New York City Getty Images for Walt Disney Stu Culture news in pictures 17 September 2016 Visitors attend the 2016 Oktoberfest beer festival at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany Getty Images Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Visitors looks at British artist Damien Hirst work of art 'The Incomplete Truth', during the 13th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled 'The World, Europe and Ukraine: storms of changes', organised by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation at the Mystetsky Arsenal Art Center in Kiev AP Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Tracey Emin's "My Bed" is exhibited at the Tate Liverpool as part of the exhibition Tracey Emin And William Blake In Focus, which highlights surprising links between the two artists Getty Images Culture news in pictures 15 September 2016 Musician Dave Grohl (L) joins musician Tom Morello of Prophets of Rage onstage at the Forum in Inglewood, California Getty Images Culture news in pictures 14 September 2016 Model feebee poses as part of art installation "Narcissism : Dazzle room" made by artist Shigeki Matsuyama at rooms33 fashion and design exhibition in Tokyo. Matsuyama's installation features a strong contrast of black and white, which he learned from dazzle camouflage used mainly in World War I AP Culture news in pictures 13 September 2016 Visitors look at artworks by Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo during the exhibition 'Glossiness of Uncarved Jade' held at the exhibition hall 'Manezh' in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than 200 paintings by the Chinese artist are presented until 25 September EPA Culture news in pictures 12 September 2016 A visitor looks at Raphael's painting 'Extase de Sainte Cecile', 1515, from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence during the opening of a Raphael exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia. The first Russian exhibition of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino includes eight paintings and three drawings which come from Italy. Th exhibit opens to the public from 13 September to 11 December EPA Culture news in pictures 11 September 2016 Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd perform during Otis Redding 75th Birthday Celebration - Rehearsals at the Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Georgia Getty Images for Otis Redding 75 Culture news in pictures 10 September 2016 Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Singers at the Last Night of the Proms 2016 at the Royal Albert Hall in London PA Culture news in pictures 9 September 2016 A visitor walks past a piece entitled "Fruitcake" by Joana Vasconcelo, during the Beyond Limits selling exhibition at Chatsworth House near Bakewell REUTERS Culture news in pictures 8 September 2016 A sculpture of a crescent standing on the 2,140 meters high mountain 'Freiheit' (German for 'freedom'), in the Alpstein region of the Appenzell alps, eastern Switzerland. The sculpture is lighted during the nights by means of solar panels. The 38-year-old Swiss artist and atheist Christian Meier set the crescent on the peak to start a debate on the meaning of religious symbols - as summit crosses - on mountains. 'Because so many peaks have crosses on them, it struck me as a great idea to put up an equally absurd contrast'. 'Naturally I wanted to provoke in a fun way. But it goes beyond that. The actions of an artist should be food for thought, both visually and in content' EPA Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures

On the other hand, at a time when exotic travel and scholarship was often the preserve of the Victorian male, the quests for these exotic objects, were often undertaken by women who were in no way held back by societys expectations. Among them were the novelist Amelia Edwards, who made her first trip to Egypt in 1873, and the adventurous Marianne Brocklehurst, whom Edwards met in a convoy on the Nile. It was Edwards who established he EEF; and Brocklehursts travelling companion and sister, Mary Booth, became one of the funds local secretaries, whose job was to raise funds and attract subscribers and donations.

Amelia Oldroyd, whose family were in textiles in Dewsbury, joined excavations by the great Egytologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie, sewing and cooking for the team. On marrying, she became her home towns EEF secretary.

Artefacts handed to Dewsburys museum, in exchange for funding digs, include an electron pendant in the shape of an oyster shell from Abydos (1800-1600BC). Objects held by Brighton and Hove include an incised clay female figure with a decorative necklace  and tattoos, suggesting that body art was practised. The ideal body presented for the journey to the afterlife often reflected tastes in earthly life, says Dr Serpico Assistant curator Heba Abd el Gawad, a PhD student from Durham University and an Egyptian by birth, explains the importance to modern Egypt of these collections.

(Paul Tucker)

Far from wanting its objects back, she says, her country values their preservation. It is only the sale of unique objects that causes offence and uproar, such as Northampton Borough Councils disposal of its precious sculpture of Sekhema the scribe, snapped up by a private buyer for 15m in 2014, to fund other museum projects. A move criticised by Egypts Ministry of Antiquities.

It doesnt matter where in the world the objects are as long as they are accessible to all  they belong to us all, she says. And she believes that modern cultures can learn from Flinders Petrie, whose practice from the start was to respect the knowledge of local workers and pay them well.

In this way he fostered in Egyptians a tradition of working on excavations over many generations, some descendants to this day working on new digs. By contrast, she points to the current destruction of important archaeological sites elsewhere in the Middle East by Islamic State.

Unlike Flinders Petrie, many Middle Eastern excavations dont involve local communities much. To do so might not stop all looting or desecration. But we can teach future generations that they have a link with the past that has an impact on their identity. Its important for them to know who they are.

Beyond Beauty: Transforming the Body in Ancient Egypt, Two Temple Place, London (twotempleplace.org), 30 Jan to 24 Apr
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Britannia Obscura, by Joanne Parker. Vintage 9.99

Before I moved to London, the city lay mostly underground. Thats how it seemed to me, anyway. On weekend visits I got around using the Tube, and avoided exploring on foot out of a quaint fear of getting lost. The city above-ground was consequently mysterious and flimsily unreal, pocked with blank spaces that I was only later to fill in.

I was reminded of this changing sense of place by Joanne Parkers enjoyable book, Britannia Obscura, a mixture of travelogue and social essay. Parker sets out to explore the British Isles using not Google or the Ordnance Survey but instead the maps that exist in peoples minds, personal geographies with beloved homes at their centres and vast empty spaces where imagination faltered or trips ended .

Parker focuses on the alternative topographies dreamed up by various groups: pilots, new-age Druids, canal boaters, cave-divers. For canal enthusiasts, the UKs proper capital is Birmingham, which has more waterways than Venice; for cavers, the cathedral-sized chambers of Ogof Draenen in Wales are a place of pilgrimage.

Theres some vivid travel writing here, as Parker navigates using these alternative maps. She offers some illuminating historical and geographical trivia, too: the waterfall that tumbles into the Gaping Gill cave in Yorkshire is taller than Niagara.

Parker claims that non-standard maps tend to efface the traditional borders between countries and regions. Nevertheless, the modern-day explorers to whom she speaks seem motivated by something very British  a keen and eccentric curiosity about the world  even if they wouldnt necessarily put it that way themselves. I like big stones, explains one Stonehenge enthusiast. And you cant argue with that.

Mona Lisa, By Alexander Lernet-Holenia (Translated by Ignat Avsey). Pushkin Press 10

This exquisite 1937 novella by Alexander Lernet-Holenia, the Austrian writer and critic, provides the worlds most famous painting with a new origin story. The year is 1502, and the bumbling young French nobleman, Bougainville, has signed up for the kings war in Spain. His regiment stops at Florence for supplies, where Bougainville pays Leonardo Da Vincis studio a visit  and sees the Mona Lisa in progress.

Smitten with the woman depicted in the painting, Bougainville decides to track down the subject: Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine nobleman. When he learns that Lisa has died, Bougainville cannot accept the truth, which leads him to grave-robbing and fisticuffs.

Leonardo himself cuts a cynical figure, superior and amused by Bougainvilles antics  until the strength of the Frenchmans infatuation with Lisa persuades him to alter the painting to suggest the secret of love itself. With a final flourish of his brush, the artist gives the lady her enigmatic smile.

Cold Cold Heart By Tami Hoag, Orion 7.99

Dana Nolan, a television reporter, has narrowly escaped from the clutches of a serial killer whom the media have dubbed Doc Holiday. Traumatised by the experience and troubled by amnesia, she returns to the family home to recuperate.

As her memories come back, she is troubled by the sense that her abduction might be in some way connected to the disappearance of a childhood friend long ago. It starts promisingly, with a sensitive depiction of Danas readjustment, but it soon begins to lean heavily on stock characters  good cop, bad cop, grizzled gumshoe  and the dialogue is trite.

Evolution is a bitch, says bad cop, and were all caught in her teeth. Hoag has sold more than 20 million books worldwide  thats a whole lot of cliches.

Burma: A Nation at the Crossroads By Benedict Rogers. Rider Books 8.99

Benedict Rogers useful book offers a brief survey of modern Burma, a country that has been ruled by a series of repressive military dictatorships since it attained independence from Britain in 1948.

At times, the authors determination to place Burma in a wider historical narrative risks occluding the countrys peculiarities.

But at its best this book offers a nuanced portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

Rogers is especially good on the role played by Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won a majority during the landmark elections of late-2015. Rogers pays tribute to the Nobel Peace Prize winners courage  but criticises her reluctance to speak out on behalf of minority groups such as the Rohingya, who continue to face persecution.

The Introvert Entrepreneur By Beth Buelow. Virgin Books, 12.99

Beth Buelows book addresses the mistaken assumption that entrepreneurial success belongs to extroverts.

Pointing out that many wildly-successful business people  Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Larry Page  are shy characters, she offers lessons on how introverts can use their strengths (listening rather than talking, thoroughness, a willingness to delegate) to accomplish things their more outgoing rivals cannot.

Buelows book is interesting for what it reveals about how digital trends are transforming the business world: blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn enable the socially awkward to create networks and generate opportunities without ever leaving their computers. Blessed are the geeks, for they shall inherit the earth.
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Science and science fiction are like fraternal twins; science fiction is the one wearing the silly hat while science mutters: I dont know this odd person. Though its easy to see why a scientific background might confer an advantage to genre writers, the converse is another matter.

For example, as an MSc student with the Astrophysics Research Institute I can report that my science-fiction background has been categorically useless in solving equations or interpreting data.

But a sample of one is not enough. So, to celebrate the release of Occupy Me, I asked some of the UKs newer novelists how they use science in a genre where imagination really is more important than knowledge.

Science-fiction was always my first love, says Emma Newman, the Hugo-nominated podcaster and author of Planetfall (Roc Publishing). Its all I read in my adolescence and the genre I gravitate to naturally in film and TV too. I was intimidated by writing it though, and had my first books published in other genres. I stumbled across an article about the idea to build a Moon base using 3D printers to print buildings from Moon dust.

"I fell in love with the idea; a distant colony underpinned by 3D printing technology would be the perfect environment in which to explore [a particular] mental illness. I saw a talk given by Rachel Armstrong at the Clarke Awards in 2013 that inspired the interest in synthetic biology and I read her work on potential applications for future architecture.

Research is key for writers. Newmans spanned engineering, synthetic biology, and psychiatry to produce a novel about the mystery inside one individual. The work of the Philip K Dick Award nominee Anne Charnock, author of A Calculated Life and Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind (47 North) incorporates heavily researched 15th-century art together with the near future.

Science fiction offers me an irresistible opportunity to speculate, to imagine what lies ahead in a detailed, intimate way. But being a grounded, journo-type, Im more interested in the plausible, political and societal changes that might occur, rather than the race to space.

The 15 best opening lines in literature Show all 15 1 /15 The 15 best opening lines in literature The 15 best opening lines in literature Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. chipkidd.com The 15 best opening lines in literature Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy All happy families are alike but an unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion. npr.org The 15 best opening lines in literature A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. The 15 best opening lines in literature Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte I have just returned from a visit to my landlord  the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with", which pitches you straight into the story. Penguin Books The 15 best opening lines in literature Middlemarch, by George Eliot Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Penguin Books The 15 best opening lines in literature Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." AP The 15 best opening lines in literature The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that Ive been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticising any one, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world havent had the advantages that youve had. cracked.com The 15 best opening lines in literature Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie "All children, except one, grow up." read.gov The 15 best opening lines in literature One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey Theyre out there. Black boys in white suits up before me to commit sex acts in the hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them. listed.com The 15 best opening lines in literature Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day." rarebookschool.org The 15 best opening lines in literature One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. Harper Collins The 15 best opening lines in literature The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. minabach.com The 15 best opening lines in literature The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain You dont know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that aint no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. Penguin Books The 15 best opening lines in literature The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. npr.org The 15 best opening lines in literature Catch 22, by Joseph Heller "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him." gonereading.com

Charnock brings a background in environmental science, journalism, and fine art to her subtle and original novels. I approached art-making myself with an analytical mind  seeing my studio as a laboratory for controlled experiments. She finds many similarities between art and science; and yet, Theres divergence, Ive noticed, in the reception of art and science. I find this a great enigma. Society seems to accept that science should forge ahead, make discoveries, innovate. But there seems to be an element of popular resistance to innovation in the arts, a greater sense of conservatism.

Stephanie Saulter addresses both scientific and artistic conservatism head-on: There is a real arrogance to the notion that humanity has already reached some sort of apex. Its as though, having got to grips with the concept of evolution, weve misunderstood it as somehow ending with us; weve failed to understand that it is an ongoing process. And because we are social beings, our evolutionary path is as embedded in our languages and cultures and technological capabilities as in our genetic potential.

Beginning with Gemsigns (Jo Fletcher Books), Saulters Evolution trilogy about genetically engineered humans in near-future Britain is as scientifically rigorous as her Massachusetts Institute of Technology education implies. Every supernormal ability that a character has is already encoded in the DNA of a living creature. Once you know that, for example, many animals perceive different wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, its not too far-fetched to imagine that we might be able to splice and dice the relevant bits of code and end up with someone like Gaela who can see all the way from ultraviolet to infrared.

But large-scale social movements are where Saulters real interest lies. Theres no mathematically precise way to model all of the actions and reactions within a social system, but neither are they simply random: there are patterns and triggers and tipping points. It may not be predictable, but it is understandable.

Saulters work resonates strongly with contemporary social issues, some with deep roots for its Jamaican-born author: The fear, bigotry, civic and economic inequality, even ideas about who is or is not fully human that play out in the Evolution draw hugely on the Caribbean history of enslavement, emancipation and institutionalised injustice that were all still burdened by . A lot of what I was doing with the Evolution was trying to map my thinking about genetics and science and progress against the fallout of our terrible history.

Barbadian novelist Karen Lord has a background in physics and a PhD in the sociology of religion. Of science, she says: I find it easier to handwave hard science by imagining the undiscovered and inexplicable (to the lay person at least) than to handwave how people and societies behave (behaviours that have endured for millennia and are likely to continue into the future).

Lords work includes the multi-award-winning Redemption in Indigo as well as the galactic-scale The Best of All Possible Worlds and The Galaxy Game (Jo Fletcher Books). Even when writing about genocide and its effects, Lord fails to be even slightly depressing.

Humanity has never sailed forward with ease, she says. We lurch through history in a zig-zag, progressing and regressing, sometimes both at the same time. The best cautionary tale isnt we broke it, game over. Its we broke it, and we can either suffer passively or try to fix it. So, its not merely optimism, its activism. We can all agree weve got problems, now where are the solutions?

Lords Caribbean identity comes to the fore when she adds: You dont read grimdark dystopia on an empty stomach. You read it in a comfortable nook with tea and biscuits at your side. If you already know what hunger is, you dont want the cautionary worst-case scenarios. You want to read about feasts. As long as our region remains vulnerable to real and not hypothetical apocalypse, Ill keep imagining solutions and progress and even success.

And me? By day I work on equations. By night I write about an angel who powerlifts. I write about hyperspace scavengers, dinosaurs, and the ghosts that live in petroleum. I dont see a conflict between the realistic and the mythic because science fiction is not science.

Nor is the genre a single-purpose tool. Science fiction is a Swiss Army knife  and thats a good thing, because at a time when mind-boggling discoveries are happening fast and thick, when technological development outpaces our ability to predict its effects, and when globalisation challenges our cultural and moral boundaries, then if we didnt already have science fictions interpretive methods we should be obliged to invent them.
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Eating out is one of lifes greatest luxuries, but it can be hard to enjoy the experience without feeling guilty about how some element of your meal made it to your plate. Was the bacon from a happy pig? Does cod fished from the Irish Sea get a green tick or a red cross, or should it have come from the eastern Baltic? Did a wonky carrot get binned in favour of the pretty one?

But being lectured by a restaurant menu while youre trying to order isnt much fun: its hard to get excited about choosing something just because its sustainable.

Thank goodness, then, for the Food Made Good Awards, the new name for the Sustainable Restaurant Associations annual celebration of dining establishments across the UK that serve environmentally and socially ethical meals. The initiative, which saw The Captains Galley, in Scrabster, Caithness, co-owned by chef Jim Cowie, share the top accolade of Sustainable Restaurant of 2015 with farm-to-cafe operator Daylesford, is in its fifth year, and the 2016 awards will be dished out on 22 March at a lunch at the Royal Horticultural Society in London.

Recommended Read more Haggis sales booming across UK with US poised to lift import ban

The SRA launched its Food Made Good campaign last autumn to make it easier for its 5,000-plus members to get their message across to customers. This followed research by Dundees Abertay University that found ethically produced food tasted better in a blind test. Raymond Blanc, one of the UKs most respected chefs  and SRA president  wants diners to put pressure on restaurants to produce and serve ethical food. He added: It is you, the consumer, who has the power. I want you to ask my waiters where the food comes from.

As media partner for the Food Made Good Awards, The Independent on Sunday is delighted to invite our readers to open the nominations for one of last years most popular categories: the Peoples Favourite Award (see box, right.)

One of the dishes on the menu at The Captains Galley

From 800 nominations last year, the Star Bistro in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, received more than 10,000 votes to be crowned the inaugural winner. The restaurant, which operates from two sites, is staffed by students from the National Star College, who all have disabilities.

Mark Linehan, the SRAs managing director, added: Recent years have witnessed a transformation in diners attitudes; a public recognition that theres a host of ingredients that go together to make a genuinely good meal. The Food Made Good Awards recognise and reward those restaurants, cafes and caterers which are at the forefront of this revolution.

Recommended Read more Why the days of goat meat being a novelty dish are coming to an end

With the Peoples Favourite Award we hope to unearth those restaurants that are not only serving fabulous food but are also the unsung heroes of hospitality and using the power of food to make a positive difference.

The award for the business with the best strategy to tackle food waste is likely to be hotly contested too. Just last week it emerged that recent initiatives to reduce the amount of food thrown away have seen upmarket restaurants ditch a la carte dining in favour of limited set menus.

Food trends in 2016 Show all 11 1 /11 Food trends in 2016 Food trends in 2016 Celeriac root We had a kale obsession in 2015, but 2016s vegetable sine qua non is predicted to be the knobbly celeriac root. Celeriac milk (Tom Hunt at Poco in Bristol serves it with winter mussels and wild water celery), celeriac cooked in Galician beef fat (from Adam Rawson of Pachamama, hot new chef in the capital) and salt-baked celeriac (to be found in Matthew and Iain Penningtons kitchens at The Ethicurean in the West Country) are just a few examples. Getty Images Food trends in 2016 Middle Eastern food The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook (24.95, Phaidon) by grand-dame Salma Hage, author of the bestseller The Lebanese Kitchen (whose halva is pictured here), is out in April  Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton Food trends in 2016 Non-alcoholic cocktails Grain Store mixologist Tony Conigliaro has created Roman Redhead, a riot of red grape juice, beetroot, pale ale and verjus, and Rose Iced Tea (black tea, rose petals, anise essence, pictured here) Food trends in 2016 Gin The discerning will be slurping Hepple gin  from chef Valentine Warner and cocktail guru Nick Strangeway  which is punctuated with bog-myrtle nuances Food trends in 2016 Argyll and Bute Restaurant followers are getting in a froth about Pam Brunton in Scotland, who opened the Inver restaurant in Argyll and Bute to acclaim last year Food trends in 2016 Andy Olivers Som Saa One of the most eagerly awaited restaurants of 2016 will be the permanent incarnation of Andy Olivers remarkable pop-up Som Saa opening very soon in east London. Oliver, who worked at Thai god David Thompsons Nahm in Bangkok, raised a whopping 700,000 through crowdfunding, and is renowned for his piquant Thai flavours and obsessive attention to detail, including in his home ferments and DIY coconut cream  Adam Weatherley Food trends in 2016 Venison Another ruminant in vogue is venison, with Sainsburys doubling its line for 2016. It provides a protein-packed punch, with B vitamins and iron, and its low in fat. Its entry into the mainstream is in part thanks to the Scottish restaurant Mac and Wild, just opened in London, whose Celtic head chef Andy Waugh (who also runs the Wild Game Co) has been touting it as street food for years (his venison burger pictured here) Food trends in 2016 Goat From Brett Grahams The Ledbury to Angela Hartnetts kitchens at Lime Wood Hotel in the New Forest, Cabrito is the go-to goat supplier among the chef cognoscenti (roasted loin of kid pictured here)  but this year, domestic cooks can get in on the action, as Sushila Moles and James Whetlor of Cabrito offer their meat through Ocado Mike Lusmore / mikelusmore.com Food trends in 2016 Coffee Coffee sage George Crawford is launching the much-anticipated Cupsmith with his partner, Emma. Crawford believes that 2016 is the year purist coffee will finally meet the masses; Cupsmiths mission will be to make craft coffee as popular as craft beer on the high street. The company roasts Arabica beans in small batches, improving its quality  but sells it online, at cupsmith.com, in an approachable way: expect cheerful packaging and names such as Afternoon Reviver Coffee (designed for drinking with milk  no matter how uncouth, most of us want milk) and Glorious Espresso Julia Conway Food trends in 2016 120-day-old steak Hanging meat for extremely long lengths of time has become an art. In Cumbria, Lake Road Kitchens James Cross is plating up 120-day-old steak (pictured here). The beef is from influential ager Dan Austin of Lake District Farmers, who is currently investigating the individual bacterial cultures that go into this maturing process Food trends in 2016 Lotus root Diners can expect root-to-stem dining - cue the full lotus deployed by the Michelin-starred Indian Benares in its kamal kakdi aur paneer korma Getty Images

One previous Best Food Waste Strategy award winner, The Belfry, in Yarcombe, Devon, goes one step further, requiring diners to order their food at least 24 hours in advance. Sarah-Jayne Martin, the co-owner, says the strategy means they dont have to keep vast quantities of food in the fridge. Customers can think its quirky, but they really enjoy their dinner, which tastes as fresh as it possibly can, she said. Last nights orders included roast quail with fig, shallot, thyme and honey, and a clementine tiramisu, she added.

Most of the events 15 categories are judged over the previous 12 months by SRA inspectors, who visit members to assess how well they source food, treat staff, engage with the community, and minimises environmental impact. Members, who receive a one, two, or three-star rating, range from huge groups such as PizzaExpress to the Michelin-starred Belmond Le Manoir aux QuatSaisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire  and several contract caterers.

The categories also include a Sustainability Hero, chosen by Raymond Blanc. Last year, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the campaigning chef who runs the River Cottage Cookery School in Dorset, took the title.

A Star Bistro menu in Cheltenham

Nominate a peoples favourite ... and win!

This is your chance to use your influence in the Food Made Good Awards 2016, in partnership with The Independent on Sunday.

Readers are invited to nominate for, and then judge, the Peoples Favourite category. The Sustainable Restaurant Association and The IoS want you to tell us about the restaurant that leaves you with a full stomach, a happy heart and a great taste in your mouth. This could be any UK restaurant that has demonstrated its sustainable credentials, be it via highlighting regional specialities, ... concern for the environment or their community initiatives, said an SRA spokesman.

By nominating, youll have a chance to win dinner, bed and breakfast at one of eight fabulous boutique Red Carnation hotels, such as the Acorn Inn in Evershot, Dorset (right). The winner, chosen at random, can pick the hotel they prefer. Red Carnation won the Eco Hotel Group of the Year Award at the AA Hospitality Awards 2014; you can see its full list of hotels here: http://www.redcarnationhotels.com/.

The shortlist will be published on 21 February; T&Cs apply. For more details and to make a nomination, visit foodmadegood.org/awards/peoples-awards/.
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It's that time of the year again: the biannual Boxer Show. You may recall that, once every six months or so, this critic has dinner with the most erudite, passionate and inspiring gastronome I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a table with. Then again, Jackson Boxer and I, being ancient comrades, have shared plenty else, too. The format is simple: I ask him what's new and must be tried in UK grub; he, in return, promises brutal honesty about what we're eating.

And so to Leandro Carreira at Climpson's Arch in east London, whose alumni include Dave Pynt, now at the lauded Burnt Ends in Singapore, and Tomos Parry, who has since done remarkable things at Kitty Fisher's.

Carreira is Portuguese, charismatic and sous-chefed at Andoni Luis Aduriz's Mugaritz in Spain, which is one of those world-beater types of place. He came to London to cook with Nuno Mendes at Viajante and has also worked with James Lowe at Lyle's and Junya Yamasaki at Koya. All places, and people, that the food mafioso revere.

The one time I went to Portugal, on my first foreign assignment as a journalist, I was so busy looking for Madeleine McCann that I forgot to eat. I won't, therefore, feign expertise of Portuguese cooking. But in Jacko's words (and running the excellent Brunswick House in Vauxhall, he knows what he's talking about), you will see just how thrilling, intricate and nourishing it can be.

The rose prawns with seaweed and sorrel are steamed to a soft, whitish puce, and have heads full of succulent brown meat that begs to be eaten whole. Thick, gorgeous ribbons of black squid are drenched in their own ink, have the sweetness of attendant alliums, and come in sturdy chicory boats. A serving of pigs' ears  braised, fried, chopped  come in a sticky glaze and reclined over a generous slop of julienned raw apple. The beef with clams, juices and cured radishes is a straight-up dose of perfection on a plate. I've no option but to hand over at this point to Jacko and his stunning description: "The beef is an aged marbled rump cap, quickly charred over aggressive coals but left raw internally, to be coarsely chopped, covered in small sweet clams, lacto-fermented radishes, coriander oil, nasturtium leaves and a sauce of the most intensely flavoured, kudzu-thickened clam juice. It is rich, light, beefy, mineral, saline and immensely satisfying."

You said it, mate. But there's more, much more. Back to Jacko: "Cod's tongues, grilled, and melting into a sharp green broth, dotted with creamy coco beans; firm chunks of squash, melon-sweet, in a pumpkin-juice, miso-spiked broth, topped with slices of pickled pumpkin and grilled cime di rape; and rounds of sweet, raw Hispi cabbage, paddling in a citric broth about a poached egg yolk, strewn about with a savoury powder of trompette de mort."

See what I mean? It's elevating, energising, each dish a Portuguese orchestra melding so many different chords into a just-so harmony, not one dish overseasoned, everything where it should be and on time.

Cam, the sommelier, takes us on a tour of Iberia's finest soils, bringing out glasses with a rich minerality that complement the food consistently. We have a very good white port to go with salty, strong Portuguese sheep and goat's milk cheeses served on a trolley with rusty wheels. And dessert is brioche, soaked and grilled, resplendent with toffee and piled with caramelised hazelnuts.

In exhibiting its latest special talent, Climpson's Arch has secured its reputation as a laboratory for entrepreneurial excellence. And as your reporter on the frontline of British gastronomy, I can do no better than leave the final word to my expert friend.

"Leo is a cook's cook," says Jacko. "He cooks with charm, soul and generosity. He repeatedly hits that balance of rich, gutsy flavour balanced with delicate textures, heavy bass notes with ethereal acids and aromatics dancing high above. He sends out pigs' ears and ducks' hearts, prawns to eat whole and beef to eat raw, and it is all done without any posturing, any sense of challenging the guests, any sense of self-aggrandising gastro-adventurism. It is just because it is delicious."

9.5/10

Leandro Carreira at Climpson's Arch, Arch 374, Helmsley Place, London E8, 100 for two, with wine

Four more foodie notes from the past week

Fresh lobster

In garlic butter and parsley, from Lobster Alive in Barbados, the first of this four more from the Caribbean. Just about perfect.

Ackee

This Jamaican fruit might look like scrambled eggs, but it is pure breakfast heaven. Why don't more people sell it here?

Callaloo

A bit like spinach, this green-leaf vegetable often combined with saltfish is a Jamaican staple, and is nourishing and versatile.

Mahi-mahi

So named by Hawaiians, this meaty fish is cheap, healthy, and likely available from your local monger.
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Social media companies must do more to combat extremism by policing terrorist content on the internet themselves, rather than waiting for orders from the authorities, an intelligence chief has said.

Charles Farr, chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, said that on too many occasions media companies waited to be approached before taking action.

In the past year, Scotland Yard and the Home Office have stepped up their efforts to take down thousands of items of terrorist propaganda.

But officials say the big internet companies such as Google and Facebook, as well those who run messaging apps, must take tougher action.

Mr Farr said in a recent interview, before he took up his current role (he was serving as director of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism): We want to challenge the Isil [Isis] narrative.

One of the ways we do this is by approaching social media platforms, like Facebook, to highlight where extremist and terrorist material they are hosting does not comply with their own terms and conditions.

When they agree, that material is then removed. This has been very effective. But we would like social media companies to do more self-policing and not wait for us to contact them.

Mr Farr said the challenge facing Western governments was changing all the time. Isil propaganda is more varied and diverse than the propaganda of al-Qaeda.

Where al-Qaedas narrative focused on themes of oppression and violence, Isil can purport to offer a non-violent message, appealing to people to travel, live in and help to build the so-called caliphate.

And Mr Farr warned: Propaganda of this kind can appeal to a much wider range of people than the social media of al-Qaeda. Young, impressionable Muslims will be told that they have no choice but to join Isil and defend a nascent state.

Of course some of its propaganda is explicitly violent. We need to counter Isil propaganda of all kinds.

Officials say Isis produces 38 unique pieces of high-quality propaganda every day. The Metropolitan police counter-terrorism internet referral unit has removed more than 110,000 pieces of extremist propaganda since 2010.

Mr Farr also defended the Governments controversial strategy designed to combat extremism in the UK.

Recommended Read more The map showing where 42 militant groups have pledged support to Isis

Critics claim that de-radicalisation programmes such as the Home Offices Prevent strategy criminalises Muslim communities.

But Mr Farr said that 40,000 people had come into contact with Prevent-related programmes in the past year; many had been removed from the terrorist radar.

He said: We believe the programme as a whole is successful in stopping people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

In a democratic state no counter-terrorism policy can be 100 per cent successful. But there are nearly three million Muslims in Britain, of whom about 800 who are of interest to the agencies have travelled to Syria.

Even taking into account some under-counting that is a very small percentage.
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A new law ensuring that state schools promote apprenticeships as much as university education will be introduced this year in a bid to end the outdated snobbery against technical education.

Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education will legislate to ensure that technical colleges and companies providing apprenticeships get into schools to give careers advice to pupils.

The new law is designed to end the perception that non-academic routes are second best, amid concern within government that some schools are failing to present technical and professional options on an equal footing to university.

Ministers believe some schools are unwilling to recommend apprenticeships or other technical and professional routes to any but the lowest-achieving pupils  effectively creating a two-tier system of careers advice.

A recent study by the Sutton Trust, an education think-tank, found that 65 per cent of teachers would not advise a pupil with the predicted grades for university to pursue an apprenticeship. But Ms Morgan said this reflected an outdated snobbery against apprenticeships which should be tackled.

She said: As part of our commitment to extend opportunity to all young people, we want to level the playing field  making sure they are aware of all the options open to them and are able to make the right choice for them.

Nicky Morgan has called for the outdated snobbery against apprenticeships to be tackled (Getty)

For many young people going to university will be the right choice, and we are committed to continuing to expand access to higher education, but for other young people the technical education provided by apprenticeships will suit them better.

Thats why Im determined to tackle the minority of schools that perpetuate an outdated snobbery towards apprenticeships by requiring those schools to give young people the chance to hear about the fantastic opportunities that apprenticeships and technical education offer.

The Department for Education is concerned that some schools are blocking further education colleges from speaking to pupils, in order to promote their own sixth forms. Ministers believe that too many teachers are reinforcing the impression that apprenticeships are second best to academic study.

The legislation will mean state schools, including academies, will be required by law to collaborate with colleges, university technical colleges and other training providers to ensure that young people are aware of all options  including degree-level apprenticeships.

The Government will look to bring in the legislation at the earliest opportunity. A source close to Ms Morgan said: This really shouldnt be necessary, but the truth is some schools are still stuck in the mindset created by the last Labour government that going to university is all that matters.

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As well as giving apprenticeship providers the chance to speak directly to kids, this measure should send out the message loud and clear that treating them as a second-best option wont wash any more

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, welcomed the move. He said: To make informed choices for the future, young people need high-quality, impartial careers information about all post-16 education and training options, including apprenticeships and technical and professional education.

We have long been calling for an improvement to the system, and welcome the changes outlined. Colleges recognise the critical nature of good careers education and will be very keen to continue to work with their local schools. This announcement will make that a reality.

 Cable: Apprenticeship campaign

The announcement comes after the Government set up an expert panel led by the Labour peer David Sainsbury, which aims to put Britains technical and professional education system on a par with the best in the world.

It also forms part of a wider move to create three million apprenticeships by 2020  a Tory manifesto commitment.

In Novembers Autumn Statement, the Chancellor, George Osborne, unveiled plans for an apprenticeship levy of 0.5 per cent on large company payrolls  raising some 3bn a year  to fund the pledge.

The new charge will be imposed from April 2017 and will help ensure that big business shoulders the cost of training workers. Only businesses with a wage bill of more than 3m will pay the levy, which the Government said would exempt 98 per cent of employers.

Ministers believe a boost in the number of apprentices is crucial to improving productivity. The amount that UK businesses have invested in training has fallen consistently over the past 20 years, and UK productivity lags behind other major developed economies. Firms bidding for government contracts worth more than 10m must show they have a reasonable proportion of apprentices.
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Justin Trudeau has proudly declared himself a feminist since arriving in office, and now he wants men across the world to do the same.

The Canadian Prime Minister was the first to introduce a gender-balanced cabinet and has pushed women's issues higher up on the agenda than those who preceded him.

Speaking alongside Sheryl Sandberg, Facebooks COO, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Trudeau urged men and women not to eschew the word feminism.

Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister Show all 5 1 /5 Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister Canadian Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie wave on stage in Montreal, after winning the general elections Getty Images Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Canada's next Prime Minister

He explained how his wife Sophie had stressed the importance of teaching their son to grow up as a proud feminist as well as their daughter, and summed up the role men have in helping to secure gender equality in four succinct sentences:

Men have got to be involved in the conversation. Im incredibly proud to have a partner in my wife Sophie who is extremely committed to women and girls issues. Ive been very thoughtful in how we raise our daughter.

But she took me aside a few months ago and said,'It's great that you're engaged and modelling to your daughter that you want her in power, but you need to take as much effort to talk to your son about how he treats women and how he is going to grow up to be a feminist just like Dad.'

We shouldnt be afraid of the word feminist, men and women should use it to describe themselves anytime they want.

That role we have as men in supporting and demanding equality and demanding a shift is really, really important.
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A new film starring Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse with an erection has prompted an audience walk out at its premiere.

The Harry Potter star joins Paul Dano in independent film Swiss Army Man, directed by music video duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

The movie sees Dano, currently starring in the BBCs adaption of War and Peace, play Hank, who is stranded on a tiny deserted island.

He befriends a dead body (Radcliffe) which has washed ashore, and eventually rides it out to sea propelled by the stream of farts emanating from the cadaver.

It's fair to say a steady stream of viewers at the premiere walked out in the early stages of its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday.

Esquire called it "the longest fart joke in film history", while a review on Wired branded it a 95 minute long viral video.

The film sparked a wildly mixed response on Twitter, with Kate Arthur, Los Angeles correspondent for Buzzfeed posting: Inventive--but annoying, puerile, frustrating. Just no. 

Film reporter Jeff Sneider added: Counted at least 30 walkouts within first 30 mins of the unwatchable SWISS ARMY MAN before I bailed myself at 40-minute mark. DO NOT SEE IT.

However, screen writer Terrell Garrett was among the more positive viewers, posting: SWISS ARMY MAN was absurd, demented and genius. Directors are master of tone.

Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me Show all 13 1 /13 Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 138960806.jpg Getty Images Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me SU20-potter-AP.jpg AP Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 26-Ghosts.jpg Alliance Films Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 645494.bin Getty Images Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 621457.bin AP Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 621354.bin Getty Images Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 620766.bin AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 493977.bin Reuters Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 46235.bin Reuters Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 108190.bin Reuters Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 11357.bin Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 488016.bin WARNER BROS Daniel Radcliffe: Im a geek, Im obsessed with cricket. What a disappointment I must be to fans who meet me 403672.bin Getty Images

Scheinart said Swiss Army Man originated with an idea of "how a man riding a farting corpse could be a feature ... about mortality and big ideas, but with fart jokes".

Radcliffes character is the titular Swiss Army man because Hank finds many uses for his corpse, including turning his mouth into a cannon and his gas into a fire-starter.

Speaking at the premiere, Radcliffe said: "I feel like there will be a lot of shots in the movie where people are like, 'Oh, that's obviously a dummy because Paul Dano wouldn't have schlepped him around like that', but he did."
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The officer class of the British military is becoming more white-dominated despite repeated calls from senior figures to boost the numbers of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) recruits. The numbers of non-white officers has fallen by 16 per cent since 2009, official data shows, down from 750 to 630 now.

Even taking into account the overall drop in the size of the armed forces in recent years, the figures still represent an eight per cent fall in black and minority ethnic officers in the space of six years.

The proportion of officers in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force who are from BAME backgrounds is now just 2.3 per cent  down from 2.5 per cent in 2009.

Recommended Read more The British Army launches drive to recruit more Muslims

It is understood there was not a single BAME candidate among Royal Marine officers passing out last year  while just 20 black and 25 Asian officers serve in the Royal Navy, out of a total of around 7,000. Of the armys 13,000 officers, only 100 are Asian and 60 are black. And of the RAFs 8,000 officers, 45 are Asian and 30 black. Around 45 per cent of BAME officers are mixed race.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission told The Independent that the racial mix of the British militarys leading recruits needs to change and become more representative of the overall population  and fits in with research showing that BAME people are more likely to be disadvantaged in many trades and professions.

It is very disappointing that in Britain today there are so few black and Asian men and women serving in the British armed forces, said Rebecca Hilsenrath, the organisations chief executive.

We know from our recently published review of equality and human rights in Britain that, despite improvements in educational attainment, people from almost every ethnic minority group experience higher rates of unemployment and receive lower pay than white workers.

One British-Pakistani former officer applicant recalled a lack of enthusiasm from teachers and cadet officers while he was at school. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for one of my white British colleagues when he expressed interest in the officer bursary that I did not receive, said the 22-year-old, who did not want to be named. He was rigorously prepared for the interview and fitness tests, so he knew exactly what to expect. I was not, so I was left in a much weaker position. Unsurprisingly, he passed and I didnt.

A new five-year residence requirement for Commonwealth military applicants has also been blamed for decreasing BAME representation.

Serving BAME officers spoke to The Independent about why they felt BAME people remained underrepresented. Captain Naveed Muhammad, careers officer at 37 Signal Regiment, noted the impact of recent conflicts on recruitment.

I dont think we should be any doubt that Iraq and Afghanistan were difficult campaigns for society at large or for the Army, he said.

Ive been at engagements where people have said, we dont agree with what the army is doing in Afghanistan, and youre part of that. Therefore we dont agree you should be in the Army.

Lieutenant-Colonel Nathan Sempala-Ntege, commanding officer of 32 Regiment, Royal Artillery, said: People in communities where there isnt a history of people going into the Army, might just not have considered it, or might be put off by stereotypes of what they think Army officers are like.

The Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, announced last September that the Army, Navy and Air Force will have to hire 30 per cent more recruits from an ethnic minority background by the end of the decade.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: This issue is a priority for the MoD and we will do everything possible to increase the number of new recruits from minority communities.
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David Cameron is considering letting 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children into the UK after pressure from charities, according to a report.

Led by Save the Children, aid groups have been calling on the government to give a home to some of the children who have arrived in Europe from warzones across the world.

Quoting Downing Street sources, The Observer has now claimed ministers will look seriously at meeting these calls.

It reported this would be in addition to the 20,000 refugees the UK has already agreed to take mainly from camps on the borders of Syria, by 2020.

It said there is growing expectation that an announcement is imminent from David Cameron, possibly within weeks.

Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Show all 33 1 /33 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Desperate for entry to the EU, the group of migrants risked being washed away by the sea at Ventimiglia rocks, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Stranded migrants spend night on rocks - theywere supplied with emergency blankets after a cold night next to the sea, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais, June 2015 Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France, June 2015 PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants jump out of a lorry after being discovered by French gendarmerie officers AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A migrant sits under the trailer of a lorry AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A Belgian navy sailor passes life vests to migrants sitting in a rubber boat as they approach the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia, June 2015 AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants on the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, June 2015 AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Iraqis wait as they are detained by Hungarian police after crossing the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, June 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Syrian refugees walking on train tracks through Macedonia on the Western Balkans migration route, after entering Europe through Greece, June 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A group of migrants huddle together during an operation to remove them from the Italian-French border in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Italy and France engaged in a war of words as a standoff over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of migrants perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe", June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A migrant is carried by Italian police in Ventimiglia, Italy. Police reportedly removed migrants from under a railway bridge, June 2015 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants queue after disembarking from the Royal Navy ship HMS 'Bulwark' upon their arrival in the port of Catania on the coast of Sicily, June 2015 GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia at the Augusta port, Italy. Around 250 migrants from Syria arrived at the Sicilian harbour from a Damascus refugee camp, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan immigrants arrived on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Afghan child migrant is helped off a rib on the gReek island of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Afghan migrant girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Afghan migrants crossed part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Afghan migrants arrive on a beach of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy in April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation at sea, April 2015 Getty Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Armed Forces of Malta personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead immigrant off Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti as surviving migrants watch in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Rescued migrants talk to a member of the Malta Order after a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A boat of would-be immigrants near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Most of those crossing the Mediterranean headed to Italy in December 2014 Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict The Sierra Leone-flagged Ezadeen vessel, carrying hundreds of migrants, is towed by the Icelandic Coast Guard vessel Tyr in rough seas in the Mediterranean sea off Italy's south coast in January 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Hundreds of migrants seen on board the decks of the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M cargo ship - believed to be carrying 700 illegal immigrant altogether after it docked at the Italian port of Gallipoli in the early hours of 31 December 2014 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Hundreds of migrants seen on board Blue Sky M after it docked at the Italian port of Gallipoli in December 2014 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A crowded boat of rescued African migrants off the coast of Sicily in October 2014 AFP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants of sub-Saharan origin being rescued last month as part of the Mare Nostrum operation in Italy in October 2014 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Italian Customs Police boat takes illegal immigrants on board off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy in September 2014. Some 40,000 migrants have died since the year 2000, more than half of them in the Mediterranean Getty Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants are pictured on an Italian navy ship after being rescued in open international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between the Italian and the Libyan coasts in August 2014 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Firemen and policemen evacuate the dead bodies of migrants from a boat on July 1st, 2014 in the port of Pozzallo, Sicily GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Italian navy motor boat approaches a boat full of migrants making its way to Europe. The boat was carrying almost 600 people  but some 30 died during the journey in June 2014 AP

Charities have warned these children, who have fled countries including Syria without their parents, are at serious risk of falling prey to people traffickers. Yesterday, Staffordshire Police named Khalid Sorki as a 17-year-old boy who died in a crate of commercial boilers while trying to smuggle himself into the UK from northern Italy, with the death linked to organised crime.

Almost 37,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in the EU by land or sea already this month, roughly 10 times the equivalent total for the month last year.

Recommended Read more Lock EU leaders in a room until the refugee crisis is sorted

Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham linked the move to Camerons attempts to negotiate a deal over the UKs position in the EU.

The prime minister would most probably get a better hearing from EU partners on his demands on free movement in advance of the referendum, he told the Guardian.
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An overwhelming majority of Chagos islanders, forcibly removed from their homes four decades ago, and their descendants have told Britain that they wish to return to the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The finding that 98 per cent of Chagossians want to resettle their former home will significantly increase the pressure on the Government to put right what critics argue is one of the most shameful episodes in Britains recent colonial history.

Campaigners said the results from a consultation carried out by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are particularly compelling because nearly two thirds of those wishing to return are second generation Chagossians who wish to resettle their tropical ancestral home despite never having lived on the islands.

The disclosure of the study follows the little-noticed release of documents which campaigners say cast fresh light on claims that diplomats sought to influence the conclusions of an independent report used to justify Britains longstanding ban on any return of the islanders.

 Five of the worst atrocities carried out by the British Empire

About 1,500 Chagossians, who along with their offspring are all UK citizens, were removed by 1971 to make way for a new American military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the remote archipelago. In return for clearing the inhabitants to make way for the strategic installation, Britain received a 5m discount from Washington for the Polaris nuclear missile system - a deal which went unpublicised at the time.

Chagossian exiles, who were dispersed to locations from Mauritius to Crawley, West Sussex, have fought a series of legal battles to secure the right to return to the islands. Successive UK governments have in turn deployed measures - from invoking obscure statutory powers to the creation of a huge marine reserve - which have had the effect of preventing any resettlement.

But after Washington signalled it would be prepared to see islanders on Diego Garcia, a separate report commissioned by the FCO last year found a return was feasible with a minimum cost of 66m. Stating that it still faced fundamental uncertainty over the level of demand for a return, the FCO last year launched its consultation of Chagossians, laying out three resettlement options, starting with a pilot project for 50 people based on Diego Garcia.

Of 844 Chagossians surveyed, 98 per cent said they were in favour of resettlement with some 70 per cent of that number saying they would be happy to seek employment with the US military or the UK authorities on Diego Garcia in charge of administering the islands, known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

Nearly nine out of ten of those wishing to return were of working age with half also currently employed. The job descriptions offered by the Chagossians ranged from cleaners to welders and a police officer to a meteorologist.

Stefan Donnelly, chairman of the UK Chagos Support Association, said: The report shows Chagossians have the enthusiasm, skills and determination to make return a success. Now we just need the Government to make history and give a measure of justice to people too long denied their basic rights as UK citizens and human beings.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. 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The Government, which last year put off a decision on resettlement to allow the consultation, insists it has not yet made up its mind on resettlement. The FCO said this week ministers were preparing to make a final decision but declined to set a timetable for its next move.

Their hand could yet be forced if the Supreme Court rules in the coming weeks in favour of islanders who have brought a complaint that the FCO failed to disclose a key document used to help justify the removal of the Chagossians right of abode in 2004.

In an unusual move, the FCO this month released the document - a draft resettlement feasibility study written by independent consultants in 2002 - and emails sent and received by senior officials.

Released under Freedom of Information rules, the emails show that officials approached a scientific expert in strictest confidence asking for a review of the draft studys findings and suggested that much of the conclusions it had reached on resettlement should be scrapped.

Experts said the exchange raised questions about the way diplomats went about producing their final report, which lawyers for the islanders told the Supreme Court had been patently flawed and used wrongly to claim that an alleged high risk of rising sea levels made resettlement undesirable.

A ruling from the Supreme Court is expected in Easter and could open the way to overturning a succession of rulings banning the islanders from a return if the judges find in their favour.

David Snoxell, co-ordinator of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Chagos Islands and a former British High Commissioner to Mauritius, told the Independent on Sunday: We should remember that this was supposed to have been an independent study. Yet it is clear from the emails that Foreign Office officials saw their role as reviewing the draft and its conclusions. We await the Supreme Court judgment as to whether the documents cast doubt on the reliability of the study.

The FCO, which is also in the process of negotiating an extension of Washingtons lease on Diego Garcia before the end of this year, denied that it had sought undue influence over the 2002 study.

A spokeswoman said: The documents... simply illustrate the assurance process the Government undertook in ensuring the independent advice it relied upon in the formation of policy was scientifically robust.
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Two decades ago, Clerkenwell in north London was as famed for its printing as it was for jewellery. But as technology has overtaken traditional methods, and rents have soared throughout the capital, those who painstakingly lay pigment have left the area.

Except one. Dave Brett, 51, from Hackney, is the last traditional screen printer in Clerkenwell. He has worked in the ara for two decades, and prints his designs from a basement studio beneath his brothers poster shop on Leather Lane, home to the oldest street market in the country. Paint fumes linger in the air, while splodges of colour adorn the floor surrounding his tools: a t-shirt carousel and squeegees and screen frames to make acetate templates.

Brett, who is completely self-taught, prints work for Noel Fielding, street artist Ben Eine, art bookshop Magma and psychedelic artist Nigel Waymouth, who designed album covers for 60s artists and opened the boutique London store Granny Takes a Trip. While many screen printers now combine digital printing with traditional methods, Brett, whose business is called T-Shirt Dave, continues to design by hand. Were the last ones left. Everyones moved out, he said. Digital has killed the industry - but theres no way you can get the vibrant colours from digital printing. Anything that cant be put in a machine, I print, he says.

Brett continues to design by hand (Charlie Forgham Bailey)

David Brown, guide for the Clerkenwell and Islington guiding association, says printing is the fabric of the area: The first magazine in the country  The Gentlemans Magazine - was printed in the area, by Edmund Cave in the 1731. At the Marx Memorial Library on Clerkenwell Green, between 1902 to 1903, the exiled Lenin printed his newspaper Spark. Its home to the radical press. Type founding also comes from the area, with William Caslon setting up his type foundry in 1730s in Clerkenwell, where it operated for two centuries. But printers need big buildings and it can be done over the internet in industrial parks  or abroad.

Computer typesetting caused the revolution for the printing industry, and thats when all printers started to move out. But I can imagine that in the future people who buy books will be buying quality products from craft printers for hundreds of pounds.

Last year, K2, then the penultimate screen printing business in the area, which works with artists including Peter Blake, Gary Hume and David Bailey, left Clerkenwell for south London. Mark Jenkins, who combines traditional screen printing with digital methods, said: Wed been in the area for 23 years when we were served notice last May. I was absolutely disappointed  it was all I knew. Its been traumatic to up sticks with a short amount of notice to live and survive. Their previous building was being redeveloped. Back in the day, Clerkenwell was the heart of the creative industry - now its being replaced with technology companies, he says. Printers need a lot of square footage because weve got a lot of kit  its not a hot desk situation.

Peter Kiddell, director of the Federation of European Screen Printing Associations, said the printing industry is changing too: Digital printing has taken over in the vast majority of graphics printing. It is photographic in quality. Poster, sticker and display work moved to digital 10 years ago.

Brett believes his days in Clerkenwell may be numbered (Charlie Forgham Bailey)

He said there is still a place for screen printing  a 4,000 old process - for graphics and artwork in high quality limited editions. Screen printing needs more skill, and is more expensive to buy.

While two decades ago there would have been 10,000 screen printers across the country, there are now closer to 5,000 companies - and most will print digitally to some extent. There would only be a few hundred left in Britain manually screen printing, Kiddell said.

Surprisingly, screen printing is still used extensively for engineering, although many people are unaware how much it is relied on. The circuitry behind touchscreen phones and flat screen televisions is all screen printed, he said.

And while commercial screen printing is being replaced by digital technology, Kiddell has noticed a current rise in independent artists using traditional screen printing methods. As a craft movement, it is gaining popularity and at venues such as The Print Club in London people pay a weekly sum to work on their designs.

Brett believes his days in Clerkenwell may be numbered. We cannot compete on pricing with out-of-town companies and digital printing options. But hes happy to be the last man standing for a little longer: he believes the art market will never die out completely, and will start his own screen printing club for designers this year.

To enquire about screen prints or Dave Bretts upcoming print club, please contact dave@tshirtdave.com or via his website www.tshirtdave.com


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Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of a homeless man found in a burning tent in Manchester.

Police say two men, both from Manchester and both aged 24, are being held in custody for questioning.

Daniel Smith's body was discovered by emergency services after the blaze was extinguished at the site beneath a railway bridge in Ordsall, Salford.

A Home Office post-mortem examination concluded the 23-year-old died from multiple injuries. It is thought Smith was attacked before the tent was set on fire deliberately on 20 January.

Mr Smith, originally of Ashton-under-Lyne, is thought to have been living rough for around two years, according to the Manchester Evening News.

The area where Smith was found was home to a number of homeless people, who later held a vigil for him.

Flowers and lanterns were left in tribute close to where the attack took place.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Incident Team of Greater Manchester Police on 0161 856 8797, or call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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A Muslim school has labelled claims that one of their pupils was suspended for speaking to a member of the opposite sex as "utterly misleading and inaccurate."

The claim was made in a Sunday Times article, which alleged the Al-Khair School in Croydon had suspended a pupil for breaking its behaviour policy which forbids "all forms of communication between boys and girls."

The paper did not name the pupil involved or identify their gender, but said the Department for Education (DfE) had opened an investigation into the incident, over concerns that the policy could be in breach of the Equality Act or the standards that cover independent fee-paying schools.

It also said that schools regulator Ofsted were aware of the policy following a surprise inspection in September, but had failed to address the alleged ban on "free-mixing" between genders.

In a copy of the behaviour policy seen by the paper, it reportedly said that communication "through any medium" between pupils of different genders who are not close relatives was forbidden.

"Free-mixing" was reportedly mentioned alongside "drug dealing, stealing, extortion, racism and arson, in a list of high-level offences which could lead to exclusion.

Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 Show all 27 1 /27 Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496091.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496071.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496070.bin AP Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496068.bin AP Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496067.bin AP Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496066.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496064.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496081.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496079.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496075.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496074.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496072.bin AP Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496073.bin AP Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496082.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496083.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496084.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496085.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496086.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496087.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496088.bin AP Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496089.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496090.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496092.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496093.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496094.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496095.bin Getty Images Muslims gather in Makkah for the Hajj in 2015 496096.bin AP

Now, the school has responded to the claims, calling the article "deliberately simplistic and misleading" in a statement on its website.

The statement says the paper was "clearly informed" that the pupil's suspension was not for "innocent communication" as has been alleged, but for a "considerably more serious and sensitive matter which caused considerable distress to another pupil."

The school also alleged that the paper "ignored" offers of a meeting "to get the full facts" before publication.

Referring to the Ofsted report mentioned in the Sunday Times article, the statement said that inspectors "were informed of this incident during the Ofsted inspection and felt assured that the matter has been dealt with appropriately."

The school also said it was now making a formal complaint to the press regulator over the story, and added "other action may be follow when we have taken appropriate advice."

Speaking to the paper, Mark Thomas, the school's media representative, said: "The school's policy is clearly published and parents send their children [to the school] in the full knowledge of the code, which only prohibits communication not conducive to the educational environment we promote."

He added the recent Ofsted report graded the school as 'Good' overall and 'Outstanding' for the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils.

In 2013, the Al-Madinah school in Derby, one of the Government's flagship free schools, was forced to close for several days after the first day of an Ofsted inspection, over accusations that female staff had been made to wear head scarves or hijabs, and girls had been forced to sit at the back of the room during classes. The school has since re-opened as a primary school.

Under Ofsted rules that were introduced by the coalition government, all British schools, whether they are independent or state-funded, have a duty to "actively promote" fundamental British values and prepare their pupils for life in modern Britain.
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Three dead sperm whales have been discovered washed up on the Lincolnshire coast.

One of the whales was found dead on Skegness beach at about 6.30am on Sunday morning, while the two others were discovered a few miles south at about 8.30pm on Saturday evening.

It has been confirmed that the mammals were dead before they landed on the beach.

Coastguard rescue teams from Skegness and Chapel St Leonards were called to cordon off the area and members of the public are being advised not to come close to the dead animals.

However, according to East Lindsey District Council, moving the whales may take some time due to legal issues surrounding interering with the carcasses.

This comes after another sperm whale, estimated to be 45ft long and weighing 30 tonnes, died on Friday after becoming stranded in shallow waters off the coast of west Norfolk, despite rescue workers' efforts to release it.

Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast Show all 8 1 /8 Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast Two dead sperm whales are seen washed up on a beach near Skegness in northeast England. Four sperm whales believed to be from the same pod washed up on beaches in northeast England. Three whales were found on a beach near Skegness and one died on Hunstanton beach AFP Getty Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast 50ft sperm whale beached in Norfolk The dead 50ft (14.5m) young adult male sperm whale beached in Norfolk, which was was part of a group of six spotted in the Wash at Hunstanton, is believed to have been part of a pod that stranded and died in the Netherlands PA Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast 50ft sperm whale beached in Norfolk The dead 50ft (14.5m) young adult male sperm whale beached in Norfolk, which was was part of a group of six spotted in the Wash at Hunstanton, is believed to have been part of a pod that stranded and died in the Netherlands PA Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast 50ft sperm whale beached in Norfolk The dead 50ft (14.5m) young adult male sperm whale beached in Norfolk, which was was part of a group of six spotted in the Wash at Hunstanton, is believed to have been part of a pod that stranded and died in the Netherlands PA Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast 50ft sperm whale beached in Norfolk The dead 50ft (14.5m) young adult male sperm whale beached in Norfolk, which was was part of a group of six spotted in the Wash at Hunstanton, is believed to have been part of a pod that stranded and died in the Netherlands PA Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast 50ft sperm whale beached in Norfolk Two of three dead sperm whales that have washed up on a beach in Lincolnshire, just a day after another was beached in Norfolk PA Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast One of three dead sperm whales that have washed up on a beach in Lincolnshire, just a day after another was beached in Norfolk PA Dead whales beached on the North Sea coast Photo taken from the Twitter feed of the @RNLIskegness of one of three dead sperm whales that have washed up on a beach in Lincolnshire, just a day after another was beached in Norfolk PA

The three whales who died on the Lincolnshire coast are thought to be part of the same pod spotted by the rescue team on Friday, but it is the whereabouts of the rest of the pod remains unknown.

Natalie Emmerson, from Hunstanto Sealife Sanctuary, told ITV News: "It is entirely possible that these whales at Skegness are from the same pod. If all have washed up dead it is too much of a coincidence.

"It is possible that they were on the rocks and injured themselves as they managed to free themslves."

The Grimsby Telegraph reports scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have already been to the scene to carry out an investigation into the whales' deaths.
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The British Government is seriously considering taking thousands of unaccompanied refugee children, the International Development Secretary has claimed.

Conservative MP Justine Greening said Prime Minister David Cameron will be deciding how best to help refugee children in the coming days and weeks.

Thousands of refugee children who fled their war-torn countries without their parents are now left unaccompanied in migrant camps in Europe, leaving them vulnerable.

And growing pressure from charities, led by Save the Children, to admit at least 3,000 children into the UK has prompted the Government to re-think its position on the intake of refugees.

Previously, Britain agreed to take 20,000 Syrian refugees, but insisted on only taking those from refugee camps in the Syrian region, and not from migrant camps in Europe.

According to the Observer, government sources said the acceptance of these children would be in addition to the 20,000 refugees already agreed on.

In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Show all 22 1 /22 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan. For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the world's largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting their country has undergone In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Aiba Hazrat, 6 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Awal Gul, 12 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Nazmina Bibi, 7 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Ibraheem Rahees, 8 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Naseebah Zarghoul, 6 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Hayat Khan, 8 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Robina Haseeb, 5 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Abdulrahman Bahadir, 13 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Zarlakhta Nawab, 6 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Akhtar Babrek, 13 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Gul Bibi Shamra, 3 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Gullakhta Nawab, 6 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Hazrat Babir , 7 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Waheed Wazir, 6 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Madina Juma'a, 4 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Basmina, 3 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Allam Ahmad, 6 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Shahzada Saleem, 15 holds his nephew Satara, 2 months In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Khalzarin Zirgul, 6 holds her cousin Zaman, 3 months In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Safia Mourad, 4 In pictures: Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan Afghan refugee children Noorkhan Zahir, 6

Ms Greening told Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan: Weve steadily evolved our approach as this crisis has evolved; weve been right at the forefront, frankly, of helping children who have been affected by this crisis and will continue to look at how we can do that over the coming days and weeks.

The news follows calls by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for Mr Cameron to offer children more than just refuge in the UK, but to also provide them with proper homes and education.

Mr Corbyn visited the Calais Jungle and the Grande-Synthe camp in Dunkirk on Saturday to witness the humanitarian crisis there first-hand.

He compared the acceptance of refugee children to Britains welcoming of children escaping the Nazis in 1939.

He said: We have to do more. As a matter of urgency, David Cameron should act to give refuge to unaccompanied refugee children now in Europe  as we did with Jewish Kindertransport children escaping from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s.

And the government must provide the resources needed for those areas accepting refugees  including housing and education  rather than dumping them in some of Britains poorest communities.

Labours home secretary Andy Burnham criticised Mr Cameron for a lack of judgement and leadership during this refugee crisis.

 Serbia: Police meet their match in snowball fight with refugee children

Mr Burnham said: [Cameron] has been pursuing his own individual demands on EU migration while the rest of Europe has been grappling with the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.

He has left Britain looking blinkered and selfish. Just miles from our own doorstep, there are hundreds of refugee children in makeshift French camps living alone in abhorrent conditions.

Britain can, and should, be doing more to give those kids a place of safety and I believe the vast majority of people here would support it.
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Police have issued an appeal for information after an 11-year-old boy went missing.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police say they are concerned for the welfare of Jessy Ofori, after he failed to return at his Haringey home.

He was last seen at on Bruce Road at around 1.30pm on Saturday.

Jessy is described as black and of slim build and was wearing a red jacket and black trousers when he was last seen.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting reference number 9271/23.
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Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, is in secret talks with Jeremy Corbyn about voting reform in a bid to form a progressive electoral alliance against the Conservatives.

Mr Farrons aides are talking to a Labour MP  a close ally of Mr Corbyn  who is acting as a conduit between the two leaders, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

However, for the talks to progress, the Lib Dems want a respected senior figure in the Labour Party to take on a formal role as a go-between. It should be a former Cabinet minister, or someone of that rank, said a Lib Dem source.

Recommended Read more Everything you need to know about the case for electoral reform

The Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the Greens could also be involved in the talks, the source said. If the negotiations are successful, up to five left-of-centre parties could stand on an agreed platform of voting reform at the 2020 election  giving them a mandate to scrap Westminsters first-past- the-post system without a referendum, so long as they are able to secure a majority in the Commons. Ukip also backs electoral reform, but is unlikely to enter into a pact with Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

Jeremy Corbyn would face a furious backlash from many of his own MPs to any proposal to work with the Lib Dems or change the voting system (PA)

Lib Dem MPs are still scarred by the 2011 referendum defeat on the Alternative Vote  when 68 per cent voted to keep the current system. Out of more than 400 boroughs in the country just 10 backed replacing first past the post with AV. But a source close to Mr Farron insisted a referendum was not needed to change the system if a majority of MPs in Parliament stood on a manifesto to change the rules.

The source added: Tim has always said electoral reform is a key part of reshaping British politics. He will work with anyone, in all parties and none, to deliver that.

A brief history of electoral reform 1931 Labour and Liberal parties combine to try to change the voting system under Ramsay MacDonalds Labour government. It would have brought in the Alternative Vote, allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The Bill was lost when the Government fell. The two-party era The Liberals, and now the Liberal Democrats, remain committed to reform, favouring the Single Transferable Vote, a roughly proportional system in which large constituencies elect three to five MPs, as in Ireland.

Labour and Liberal parties combine to try to change the voting system under Ramsay MacDonalds Labour government. It would have brought in the Alternative Vote, allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The Bill was lost when the Government fell. The two-party era The Liberals, and now the Liberal Democrats, remain committed to reform, favouring the Single Transferable Vote, a roughly proportional system in which large constituencies elect three to five MPs, as in Ireland. 1998 Tony Blair asks the Lib Dems Roy Jenkins to propose a more proportional system to put to a referendum. He comes up with the Alternative Vote Plus, which would allow preferential voting but elect extra MPs for large areas to top up under-represented parties.

Tony Blair asks the Lib Dems Roy Jenkins to propose a more proportional system to put to a referendum. He comes up with the Alternative Vote Plus, which would allow preferential voting but elect extra MPs for large areas to top up under-represented parties. 1999 Blair shelves that report, reneging on the referendum promise, but brings in the Added Member System for Scotland, Wales and London, a proportional system where MPs elected from constituencies are topped up from party lists.

Blair shelves that report, reneging on the referendum promise, but brings in the Added Member System for Scotland, Wales and London, a proportional system where MPs elected from constituencies are topped up from party lists. 2011 The Alternative Vote was a bargaining chip in coalition talks in 2010 between David Cameron and Nick Clegg. The referendum on AV is defeated (68 to 32 per cent). John Rentoul

Mr Corbyn was asked by The IoS if he would be willing to talk to the Lib Dems about agreeing a form of electoral reform that could be put into his 2020 manifesto. The Labour leader said: It could be, but its too early to say. Asked if he was open to it, he replied: Obviously. He said he was open to a form of proportional representation as long as it maintained the link between MPs and their constituency. If parties are getting less than 40 per cent of the vote  that seems to be the trend from the last four elections  we have to recognise that, he added.

Responding to Mr Corbyns remarks, Mr Farron said: From Ukip to Chuka Umunna to the Lib Dems, we all agree that every vote should matter; and if we can sit down and discuss the issue, then lets talk.

However, Mr Corbyn will face a furious backlash from many of his own MPs to any proposal to work with the Lib Dems or change the voting system. John Spellar, the veteran Labour MP for Warley, said the proposal to agree a deal was fundamentally undemocratic. He said: Its politics by the back door. All it does is transfer power from communities to a coterie of elites.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. 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Not only am I against it, it was overwhelmingly rejected by the public. Its only the metropolitan elite which supports this  ordinary people have more sense. Yet again, the metropolitan classes are getting together  the Lib Dems and Islington  to stitch things up.

But Jonathan Reynolds, the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde who introduced a backbench bill last month calling for the first-past-the-post system to be abandoned, said he welcomed the talks. I have talked to Jeremy about electoral reform and hes been quite receptive. His proposals to overhaul the system will be included in a policy review being carried out by the shadow Cabinet Office minister, Jon Trickett.

I think it is essential and its really exciting to hear about the talks. Id be very keen to see it happen, Mr Reynolds said. The system we have heavily distorts politics. At the last election the Lib Dems got one million more votes than the SNP, but the SNP are a major force in Westminster and the Lib Dems are a joke.

Recommended Read more Electoral register reforms narrowly passed in House of Lords vote

The Electoral Reform Society, which campaigns for an end to first past the post, also welcomed the move. A spokesman said: After the most disproportionate election result in history last year, its good to hear leading politicians responding to widespread calls for a fairer voting system.

All parties ought to recognise that first past the post is simply not fit for purpose, and we hope that this is the start of getting rid of our broken voting system for good.

Another option being floated by Mr Corbyns opponents in the party is for centrist MPs to split off and form an alliance with the Lib Dems, isolating the hard left. The proposal comes on the 35th anniversary of the Limehouse Declaration tomorrow, when Labours gang of four broke away to form the SDP.

A Lib Dem MP told The IoS: We might have only eight seats now, but we wont stay there. We could be up over 20 after the next election. Labour are not going to get a majority on their own, so they will need whatever weve got.

However, the Lib Dem MP added: It would require a deal on electoral reform  that would be a prerequisite. We cant go through another referendum.

Last month The IoS revealed how Mr Corbyn had opened the door to a controversial agreement not to contest Brighton Pavilion, the seat currently held by the Green Partys only MP, Caroline Lucas.
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Labour will move Jeremy Corbyns speech as party leader to the final day of its conference to avoid it being picked over by what is perceived as an increasingly hostile media, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

The speech always takes place on the penultimate day of the annual conference in September, but a proposal has been put to the ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) calling for the address to close the event instead.

By scheduling the speech for the final day, the press and broadcast media will be less likely to track down MPs who are critical of Mr Corbyns leadership. It appears some Corbynistas are particularly worried these interviews could be used to create negative news packages the following morning. However, if the speech is on the final day, journalists will have left the conference and the news agenda is likely to have moved on.

A policy proposal document, which is understood to have been agreed by both the leaders office and the central party, states: Closing conference with the leaders speech avoids a speech followed by a media round the following morning. The speech gets to speak for itself and isnt picked over the next day on the breakfast programmes.

Some Labour insiders are shocked by the proposal, which will almost certainly be passed, arguing the leaders speech needs to be staged at a time that attracts maximum publicity. A senior party figure said the speech will be picked over regardless of when it is delivered, adding that the proposal had been written a little bit wrong.

 Jeremy Corbyn's first 100 days in 60 seconds

The source added that moving the speech would see conference finish on a high. A spokesman for Mr Corbyn added: The reason [for the move] is conference can be a bit flat after the leaders speech. Its not influenced by the media.

The NEC, which meets this week, has also received a proposal to move powers of patronage from the leaders office to local associations. Local associations would be allowed to nominate party activists for knighthoods and honours. Sitting MPs would not be allowed to be included on these lists.

Jeremy Corbyn visiting migrants in Dunkirk and Calais on Saturday. He has called on the PM to let in more families fleeing the Syrian regime and Islamic State (PA)

Mr Corbyn has been visiting refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk this weekend and called on David Cameron to let in more families fleeing the Syrian regime and Islamic State. He said yesterday: Along with other EU states, Britain needs to accept its share of refugees from the conflicts on Europes borders, including the horrific civil war in Syria. We have to do more. As a matter of urgency, David Cameron should act to give refuge to unaccompanied refugee children now in Europe  as we did with Jewish Kindertransport children escaping from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s.

And the Government must provide the resources needed for those areas accepting refugees  including in housing and education  rather than dumping them in some of Britains poorest communities.

He added that the crisis had been driven first and foremost by conflicts in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan in which British governments have played their part.
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Treasury ministers are set to face questions on Monday over Googles 130m tax deal with HM Revenue and Customs amid accusations that the settlement represents a fraction of its profits.

Labour will call for an urgent statement into the agreement, which covers taxes owed by the internet giant since 2005. Google is to hand over an extra payment of corporation tax based on revenue from UK-based advertisers and also promised to adopt a new approach to calculating its corporate tax bill.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, has described the deal as a breakthrough, and HMRC hopes it will be followed by similar agreements with internet giants. Facebook, which paid a meagre 4,327 in corporation tax in 2014, is among the companies under fire.

The shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, has denounced the Google payment as derisory and is expected to be granted an urgent statement forcing a minister  likely to be David Gauke, the Financial Secretary  to the Commons.

Google executives and HMRC chiefs are also to be called before the Commons Public Accounts Committee to explain the calculation for the payment of back tax.

Its chair, Meg Hillier, said: We were shocked to learn of workarounds of the tax system that were considered normal behaviour by big corporations but which appalled the individual taxpayer.

HMRC now needs to assure taxpayers that it will keep up the pressure to tackle whatever the next emerging issue is in real time, rather than years later. It is effectively admitting it pulled in too little tax from Google for nine out of 10 years.

MPs have also called for the deal to be examined by the public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office.

Mr Gauke has accused Labour of select amnesia and shameless hypocrisy as the Google tax bill dates back to the middle of the last Labour government.

In his March 2015 budget, Mr Osborne announced the introduction the following month of a so-called Google tax targeting companies judged to move profits overseas artificially as a way of limiting their tax liability.
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A narrow majority of the public supports the Governments proposal to fully renew Britain's Trident nuclear weapons programme, according to a poll for The Independent.

A smaller proportion, three out of 10 (29 per cent), support the plan floated by Jeremy Corbyn to keep the submarines but to send them to sea without warheads.

A further 20 per cent oppose any form of Trident renewal, according to the survey of 2,000 people by ORB.

Recommended Read more What the future holds for Trident

This means that Britain is split down the middle on whether to retain nuclear weapons. Some 51 per cent of people back full renewal of Trident, while a total of 49 per cent prefer either non-nuclear submarines or reject any renewal.

Mr Corbyn, a long-standing opponent of nuclear weapons, has said he would never press the nuclear button and hopes a Labour will will change the partys policy of supporting renewal. But Johnny Heald, managing director of ORB International, said the survey suggested that support for full Trident renewal may have grown since last year following the rise of Isis and an increase in the security threat in Britain.

Opposition to full renewal is highest in Scotland, the home of the Trident fleet. Some 38 per cent of Scots oppose any form of renewal, while 36 per cent back full renewal and 26 per cent favour non-nuclear submarines.

People who voted SNP at last years general election are more likely to oppose any form of Trident renewal (60 per cent) than supporters of other parties. Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and Scotlands First Minister, dismissed Mr Corbyns plan for non-nuclear Trident submarines as ridiculous and a sign of Labours "tortured debates on the issue.

Speaking on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, she challenged Mr Corbyn to stamp his authority on his party and whip his MPs to vote against Trident when the Commons decides shortly whether to keep it. She said his plan to give his MPs a free vote would leave his party without a shred of credibility.

Recommended Read more Jeremy Corbyn says Trident submarines would not necessarily need nukes

One in four 2015 Labour voters (24 per cent) rejects any form of Trident renewal, while the others are equally divided between full renewal and the Corbyn alternative of non-nuclear submarines (both 38 per cent). So the Labour leaders middle way, which would preserve the jobs that depend on the Trident programme, is more popular with his partys supporters than outright opposition, which may encourage him to press ahead with the compromise plan.

There is strong backing for a full Trident upgrade among Conservative voters, 77 per cent of whom back the proposal while only 6 per cent oppose any renewal. A majority who voted Liberal Democrat last year (53 per cent) also back full renewal.

ORB found that men (59 per cent) are more likely to favour full renewal of Trident than women (43 per cent). Women are more receptive to Mr Corbyns alternative (37 per cent) than men (21 per cent). There is also a big age divide, with those aged 65 and over (66 per cent) twice as likely to back a full Trident upgrade than 18-24 year-olds (33 per cent).
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A school has apologised to parents after warning children would be given butter and bread if they did not have any money to pay for their lunch.

Alban Church of England Academy in Great Barford, Bedfordshire, was forced to perform a u-turn on its school meal policy after a backlash from parents over the new rule.

"I apologise if this has caused any offence, this was not our intention," head teacher Sue Lourensz said in a letter to parents.

Mrs Lourensz had previously warned parents from that children who came to school without a packed lunch or money to pay for their meal would be served a drink and bread and butter if their parents could not be reached.

She explained the school had paid for children's dinner more than 100 times in a month because pupils had come to school without any money to pay for it.

She said school meals cost 2.10 and were provided by catering company Caterlink, which enforces a strict "no debt" policy, obliging the school to fund pupils' unpaid dinners before claiming it back from parents.

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At a time when the school is encountering a tighter budget, she said this took a "considerable amount of time...and extra cost for the school".

But after parents made it clear they objected to the new system, the head teacher wrote a second letter saying the new "trial" policy would not be implemented.

"The letter itself was intended to explain the situation and trial a policy that has been successfully adopted by other schools," she added.
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A South African municipality has been criticised for reoprtedly offering scholarships to schoolgirls if they remain virgins.

Uthukela municipality in eastern Natal announced it would designate "Maiden Bursary Awards" to 16 sexually-inactive girls so they could pursue higher education.

Sisonke Msimang from the Sonke Gender Justice Project in Johannesburg told Al Jazeera it was "a terrible idea [that] had so many layers of ridiculousness".

"Being sexually active and seeking an education have nothing to do with each other," she said.

The girls are required to take two virginity tests before they can apply for the scholarship.

One bursary recipient told News 24: "They open the vagina and look, but they don't insert anything in it. I have never heard of them getting it wrong."

The spokesperson for the municipality, Jabulani Mkhonza, said the grants aimed to encourage "girls to keep themselves pure and inactive from sexual activity and focus on their studies".

"Those children who have been awarded bursaries will be checked whenever they come back for holidays," he said.

"The bursary will be taken away if they lose their virginity."

Reacting to the award, South Africa's Department of Women spokesperson, Charlotte Lobe said: "We don't support anything that undermines the rights of women.

"If these details are true, we would definitely find it objectionable, and engage with the municipality to resolve it."
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It has been dubbed Africas last colony, and Western Saharas struggle for self-determination has embraced everything from violent conflict to passive resistance, and UN shuttle diplomacy has consistently failed to break the impasse over the fate of the disputed territories. Now the Sahrawi people are trying to break the deadlock themselves  in the courts.

The mineral-rich country on Africas north-west Atlantic coast is bounded by Morocco in the north, Mauritania in the south and Algeria to the east. All three countries have taken an active interest in the fate of the Sahrawi  not always altruistically. Spain, the former colonial power, relinquished the territory in 1975 to Morocco, which has formally claimed the land since 1957, and Mauritania.

Then there was conflict between the two countries and the Polisario Front  the Sahrawi liberation movement. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, leaving Moroccan security forces in nominal control. Controversially, an extensive wall was built through the desert to exclude Polisario fighters accused of coming into the country from refugee camps in neighbouring Algeria.

A national referendum was promised after a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991, in which the population could vote for complete independence or integration with Morocco; but the plan stalled when Rabat and Polisario disagreed over who was entitled to vote. Morocco remains implacably opposed to independence but says it is prepared to talk about autonomy. The UN continues to push for a negotiated settlement. In December, Christopher Ross, personal envoy in the dispute to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, admitted the situation was at a stalemate.

A market in Laayoune, the capital of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (AFP/Getty)

France, which has strong historical links with Morocco, has consistently opposed calls for UN action against Rabat by exercising its veto in the Security Council. Now Polisario is finding new ways to put pressure on Morocco to come back to the negotiating table.

In December it managed to put a stick in the spokes of the European Unions agriculture agreement with Morocco. Many of the tomatoes sold in British and European supermarkets are labelled as Moroccan produce, but most are grown in Western Sahara.

The EUs Court of Justice ruled last month that the favourable tariffs Morocco enjoys should not apply to goods from the territories it occupies. The EU failed to consider the impact on the rights with the Sahrawi people when it signed the deal, the court ruled. Campaigners in Britain are taking legal action to stop Moroccan exports to the UK enjoying similar tax breaks.

Christopher Ross with foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar (AFP/Getty)

Buoyed by its successes, Polisario has brought a further case to the EU courts over an EU-Moroccan fisheries deal, which includes the territorial waters of the Sahrawi people. Norway has already started fining any of its vessels which trawl in Western Saharan waters. Oil companies such as Total which have explored for off and on-shore oil fields are facing growing local and international criticism, as are companies that import Western Saharas minerals, including its massive phosphate deposits. United States, Canadian and Australian miners have all been blacklisted by Scandinavian pension firms.

Polisario and its supporters are also keeping up the political pressure. Adala, a British NGO, recently submitted a report to the European Parliament and the UN Commission for Human Rights highlighting the regular human rights abuses taking place in the region. Sahrawi protestors face persistent harassment and persecution by security forces. Peaceful demonstrations are routinely disrupted by state violence and those taking part have been illegally detained.

Beccy Allen, of Adala UK, said it was essential the UN mission in the territory was given a human rights mandate. There are plenty of white UN vehicles around but they dont intervene on human rights issues. They are the only UN mission around the world without one and that has to change, she said.
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A 17-year-old boy has been charged after a mass shooting which left four people dead and seven injured in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Canadian police confirmed the teenager faces four first-degree murder charges and seven charges of attempted murder after the shooting at a house and school in La Loche.

La Loche Community School teachers Marie Janvier, 21 and Adam Wood, 35, and brothers Dayne and Drayden Fontaine, aged 17 and 13 respectively, were killed in the shooting on Friday.

The gunman cannot be named because of his age.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the teen shot nine people in the school in around nine minutes before he was arrested at gunpoint by officers who gave chase.

The towns acting mayor, Kevin Janvier, lost his daughter Marie in the shooting.

According to local media, 150 students were in the school at the time of the attack.

Saskatchewan's StarPhoenix newspaper quoted student Noel Desjarlais-Thomas, 16, saying his friends had run past him urging him to flee.

"There's a shotgun! There's a shotgun! They were just yelling to me. And then I was hearing those shots, too, so of course I started running," he said.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than the US. A candlelit vigil was held in the wake of the tragedy.
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Three inmates charged with violent crimes have escaped from a maximum security jail by cutting through steel bars and abseiling from the roof, it was reported.

Jonathan Tieu, Hossein Nayeri and Bac Duong escaped from Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, around 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles, at some point on Friday.

Tieu, 20, who is charged with murder, attempted murder and "shooting at an inhabited dwelling" has been held in the jail since 2013. His case is believed to be gang-related.

Nayeri, 37, has been held since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary.

He and three other men are accused of kidnapping the owner of a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012. They drove him into the desert where they believed he had hidden money - then burnt him with a blow torch, cut off his penis and doused him in bleach, according to court documents.

After the alleged crime, he fled from the US to his native Iran. In November 2014 he was arrested in Prague while changing flights from Iran to Spain, where he was going to visit family.

Bac Duong, 43, has been held without bail for a month. He faces charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and shooting at an inhabited dwelling, as well as being an ex-felon on possession of a firearm and other charges.

Jonathan Tieu, 20, is charged with murder (Orange County Sheriff's Department)

Hossein Nayeri, 37, is charged with kidnapping and torture (Orange County Sheriff's Department)

Bac Duong, 43, is charged with attempted murder (Orange County Sheriff's Department)

The trio were last seen at 5am on Friday.

"It was very well-thought-out and planned," KTLA5 reported Orange County sheriff's Lieutenant Jeff Hallock saying.

"The inmates cut through half-inch steel bars to facilitate their escape."

They also cut through plumbing tunnels to reach an unguarded area of the roof.

Once there, they pushed aside barbed wire and used a "makeshift rope" - possibly from sheets or clothing - to abseil to the ground.

It was unclear if they had any assistance from anyone outside the jail, Lieutenant Hallock added.

Lieutenant Hallock said the public could "expect the worst" if encountering them.

The FBI has announced a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to their capture.
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Thirteen women have drowned in the Caribbean Sea after a tourist ferry capsized just off the coast of south-eastern Nicaragua.

A British man and woman were rescued from the sunken boat along with two American tourists, three Nicaraguans and 12 Costa Ricans.

The Reina del Caribe (Caribbean Queen) got into difficulty in rain and high winds travelling between the Corn Islands, a popular tourist destination

Of the 13 women drowned, all were Costa Rican nationals. The boat's captain and owner have been detained by authorities for breaking a ban on operating during stormy weather.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: We are aware of the sinking of a passenger boat between Corn Island and Little Corn Island in the Caribbean Sea on 23 January.

We are in touch with the local authorities and providing consular assistance to affected British nationals.

Local authorities had reportedly suspended boat launches in the area due to high wind speeds that reached 25 to 30 knots (29 to 35 mph) after several days of stormy weather.

Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo told El 19 Digital the incident had been a great tragedy.
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An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit southern Alaska.

Thousands of people were left without power by the quake, which lasted about 30 seconds from around 1.30am local time.

The epicentre was 162 miles south west of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city.

However, despite the shockwaves reaching the capital and beyond, damage appears to be limited. The Anchorage Police Department said they had not received any major reports of damage or injury as a result of the strong earthquake.

The National Weather Service said a tsunami was not expected as a result of the tremors.

However, power cuts were reported by the Matanuska Electric Association, with thousands of people though to have been affected and many residents of Anchorage reported being woken up by the quake.

The area effected by the earthquake (US Geological Survey/Earthquake Hazards Program)

"I remember the bed swaying back and forth, and loud noises, enough to wake me up even after taking sleeping pills," Associated Press reporter Mark Thiessen told ABC News.

"My husband came into the bedroom forcefully saying, 'Get up! Get up! But I was already awake, trying to figure out what was happening."

The shockwaves were felt as far away as Norway.

Video footage emerged from the interior of the Alaska Air Cargo building at Anchorage International Airport, showing the building shaking and heavy crates wobbling with the force of the quake.

Ohhh shit earthquake Posted by Arv Pugay on Sunday, 24 January 2016

One Anchorage resident caught the impact to his house on video.

There was also damage to supermarkets:

Others related their experiences on social media:

It is not the first time an earthquake has hit Alaska. In 1964, the Good Friday Earthquake left 139 people death, caused tsunamis and levelled entire neighbourhoods.
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The spread of a banana disease to the American continent could have a "potentially devastating" impact on the global production of the world's favourite fruit, an expert has warned.

A fungus, dubbed Tropical Race 4, has already decimated the crop in Southeast Asia over the last decades and is now threatening to wipe out banana crops across the globe.

The Tropical Race 4 has had a damaging effect for growers in places like the Philippines and awareness about the disease is growing in the Americas, which have not yet been hit, explained Alistair Smith, international co-ordinator for Norwich-based Banana Link, a group which works with growers and farmers around the world,

"The potential for devastation if it does reach them is almost total," he told the BBC.

This is why, finding a new variety of disease-resistant banana, is "extremely pressing" warned Dr Gert Kema, an expert in global plant production from the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands.

The Cavendish banana, a small variety of the fruit, cloned after the banana crop of the Cavendish family's plantation in Chatsworth House in the Peak District, is exported to nearly all foreign markets and is affected by the disease.

A quarter of bananas consumed in India and nearly all bananas eaten in Europe, the UK, North America and China are Cavendish bananas.

"I try to avoid dramatising this story but look at what happened previously with the Gros Michel," Dr Kema told the BBC.

The Gros Michel was a variety of banana largely consumed in the first half of the 19th century, until a deadly illness called the Panama disease wiped out almost all banana plantations in Central and South America.

Despite the best efforts of growers, the most flavourful of fruits became virtually extinct, according to Panama Disease.org.

Cavendish bananas - the world's most popular variant - are the most at risk (Getty Images)

The organsiation reports 10,000 hectares of Cavendish bananas have alreday been destroyed and warn many more plantations are at risk if the fungus is not stopped.

"If that happens again we have a very serious issue, and it is happening now," said Dr Kema.

The expert explained supermarkets in the UK will not run out of bananas in the next couple of weeks, but finding a new disease-resistance variety will take some time."

Dr Kema said the solution to the crisis was to contain the epidemic thanks to advanced technology and urgently find a genetically-diverse banana, which would be resistant to the disease and would be more likely to survive wide-sweeping epidemics.

"We have nothing to replace the Cavendish right now," he added.

In the meantime, bananas continue to grow at the Chatworth House's plantation in the UK, where they are used for private consumption.
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The killers of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko left a trail of radioactivity around the British Embassy in Moscow when they visited to protest their innocence, it has been claimed.

The former diplomat Paul Knott said that Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun left polonium-210  the deadly substance used to poison Mr Litvinenko  on the chairs they sat in, the table where one of them had placed their hands, and even in the security officers room where they had left a mobile phone.

His revelations came days after a British public inquiry into Mr Litvinenkos November 2006 assassination ruled it was probably approved by the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sir Robert Owen, the inquiry chairman, also said he was sure Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun were the killers.

 Litvinenko report

Mr Knott said that shortly after Mr Litvinenko died from drinking green tea laced with polonium at a Mayfair hotel, the two Russians, already identified as the main suspects, arrived at the Moscow embassy.

The former mid-ranking official, who worked at the embassy between 2004 and 2007, told The Sunday Telegraph: For reasons we never fully understood, Lugovoi and Kovtun came to proclaim their innocence. When we realised the extent of the trail they were leaving across Europe, I was asked to organise a visit by a specialist radiation detection team.

The need to keep both the visit and its potential consequences secret from most of the embassy staff, said Mr Knott, led to surreal scenes in the building.

We had people going round with detection gear in the middle of the night when everybody had gone home, he told the Sunday Mirror. It was like something out of Ghostbusters.

Alexander Litvinenko in Moscow in 1998. He was fatally poisoned in London in 2006 (Reuters)

Sure enough, Mr Knott added, we found traces of radiation on the chairs the suspects had sat in and on the table where Lugovoi had placed his hands. There was even a trace in the slot in the security officers room where Lugovoi had been required to deposit his mobile phone.

I spent the next few weeks pretending to exasperated colleagues that I had lost the key to the meeting room while we worked out how to preserve the furniture for evidence and make sure the room was safe for use again.

Mr Knott said he and his colleagues immediately suspected that Mr Putin, a former KGB officer, had approved Mr Litvinenkos assassination.

He said: It was clear to us from the start that the murder was likely to have been ordered by President Putin.

His governing methods meant it was almost inconceivable that his subordinates would have dared to kill someone in the heart of London using radioactive poison without his approval.

The impression of state involvement was further reinforced when the British authorities planned a radiation check on an aeroplane in which Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun had previously travelled to London.

Mr Knott wrote on the Telegraphs website: I was instructed to call the Russian Ministry of Transport to inform them that the Russian-registered plane about to leave Moscow for London would undergo a security inspection when it arrived. The Ministry called me back shortly afterwards to report that the aircraft had developed technical problems and the flight had been cancelled a few minutes before departure.

Mr Knott said that when Metropolitan Police investigators visited Moscow in December 2006, obstruction by Russian officials included tightly restricting access to the suspects, insisting lists of interview questions be provided in advance and losing the tape recording of one interview with Lugovoi.

He continued: I am glad that the inquiry was finally able to reveal openly what those of us in the embassy at the time of the Litvinenko murder have long known: that this was a state-sponsored assassination.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed the findings of the Litvinenko Inquiry last week, claiming that its only goal was to slander Russia.

Mr Lugovoi, now a Russian MP, called the inquirys findings invention and suggested that its chairman had gone mad.

Mr Kovtun has also proclaimed his innocence, suggesting in April 2015 that Mr Litvinenko may somehow have unwittingly handled polonium, resulting in suicide by negligence.
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Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium and a leading European parliamentarian, has called on leaders to suspend negotiations on British membership of the EU and concentrate on the migration crisis.

Writing in The Independent on Sunday, he says the EU remains firmly in reverse gear in the face of a desperate humanitarian situation and that talks about British membership are a distraction.

He also says that nationalism is preventing the emergence of a resolution, and that chaos will result if Germany decides to close its borders.

Recommended Read more Lock EU leaders in a room until the refugee crisis is sorted

Those EU leaders who have not only refused to accept their fair share of the refugees but have gone out of their way to inflame tensions should hang their heads in shame.

Mr Cameron reportedly wants an early referendum on Britains EU membership in order to prevent images of drowning migrants this summer affecting the outcome, he adds.

But isnt that putting the cart before the horse? Time-consuming negotiations with the UK should be postponed.
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A contrite Nicolas Sarkozy has leaped to the top of the French best-sellers list with a book published this week which seeks to revive his fading hopes of returning to the Elysee Palace next year.

The book  La France pour la vie [France for Life]  contains rare apologies for mistakes and boorish behaviour when he was President from 2007-12 and insists that he is now a more experienced and serene man.

Despite the surge of advance sales for his book, Mr Sarkozys chances of becoming the first man to reclaim the French presidency appear to be eroding rapidly.

Opinion polls suggest he has fallen far behind the former Prime Minister, Alain Juppe, in early running for the centre-right presidential primary election, which is held in November. In another poll last week, only 23 per cent of those questioned said they wanted Mr Sarkozy, 60, to be a candidate in the presidential election in April and May next year.

The former President also has serious legal problems. He faces a critical hearing in Frances highest appeal court as he attempts to avoid trial on accusations of corruption and influence peddling.

Two of Mr Sarkozys closest allies were formally accused of corruption and making false financial declarations last week. Officially, Mr Sarkozy has yet to say whether he will make another run for the Elysee. He said this weekend that his book is neither a mea culpa nor an official declaration of his candidature.

Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets Show all 2 1 /2 Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets 151744.bin Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Sarkozy under pressure as 'millions' take to streets 151530.bin STEPHAN AGOSTINI/AFP/Getty Images

In practice, it is both. In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, he said that the French had perhaps not yet turned the page on the political career of Nicolas Sarkozy. As time passes and I grow older, I have achieved what has long eluded me  serenity, he writes in his book.

In the 260 pages, he seeks to re-brand Sarko II as a kinder and gentler man but also a more focused politician, determined to carry through the economic reforms that he failed to pursue in 2007-12.

Although Mr Sarkozy has spoken of regrets before, the book contains his first direct apologies for some of his rude and brash behaviour as president. When a member of the public refused to shake his hand at the Paris agricultural show in 2008, President Sarkozy said: Get lost, you pathetic loser.

That was an act of stupidity, which I regret to this day, he writes in the book, published this Monday. I dragged down the dignity of the presidency.

Mr Sarkozy also admits that he failed to pursue properly the market-opening and tax-reducing reforms that he had promised in 2007. In particular, he says, he regrets not having abolished, rather than tinkered with, Frances 35-hour working week. After announcing his retirement from politics when he lost the presidency to Francois Hollande in 2012, Mr Sarkozy returned to run successfully for the leadership of his centre-right party in 2014. He has since changed the name of the party to Les Republicains.

He boasted at the time that he was the only centre-right leader capable of checking the erosion of support to Marine Le Pens cosmetically cleaned-up Front National.

A series of electoral successes for the Far Right in the last 18 months have deflated Mr Sarkozys claims. He has also been damaged by formal allegations that his campaign in 2012 spent twice the legally permitted limit and covered up by secretly dumping the extra spending on the already over-stretched finances of his party. Mr Sarkozy has denied all knowledge of this.

He or his close associates have also been named in a dozen other criminal investigations. Potentially the most serious is the accusation by two investigating magistrates that Mr Sarkozy tried to bribe a senior judge in 2013 to obtain information and influence on investigations against him.

On Thursday, Frances highest appeal court will hear an application by Mr Sarkozy to have the accusations quashed on the grounds that they were based on information obtained by an illegal tap on his mobile telephone. A ruling is expected in March.

If Mr Sarkozy loses his appeal, he will almost certainly be sent for trial some time this autumn  just before the centre-right primary election in November.
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After his coup in reviving relations between Washington and Havana, Pope Francis has in his sights an even bigger goal: ending the interfaith savagery that is ripping apart the Middle East and sending millions of people fleeing for their lives.

Franciss chance to get the ball rolling will come on Tuesday, when, having previously spoken at length on the disintegration of Syria, he will play host to President Hassan Rouhani during the Iranian leaders first trip to the West following the lifting of sanctions.

This is a very significant meeting, and one the Pope finds very encouraging, the Vaticans chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said of the trip in which Mr Rouhani will also meet the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, before flying to Paris to meet President Francois Hollande on Wednesday.

Recommended Read more Video show Iranian women laughing in face of oppressive hijab laws

The Iranian leaders plan to visit both countries in December was postponed following the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Pope Franciss intention to enter the cauldron of Middle-East and interfaith politics was underlined by a high-profile visit to Romes Synagogue and the expectation that the trip will be followed by an appearance at the capitals Grand Mosque. It comes hot on the heels of the Holy Sees historic first treaty with the State of Palestine at the start of the year.

Ahead of Mr Rouhanis visit, Tehrans ambassador to Rome, Jahanbakhsh Mozaffari, said close ties between the Vatican and Iran of were the utmost importance. Iranian media sources are predicting that Mr Rouhanis visit will see the Pope invited to Tehran.

Mr Lombardi told The Independent that Francis was ready and willing to intervene wherever possible to help address the violence in the Middle East and in particular, the proxy wars being fought across the region between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran.

The Pope is acutely aware of the grave conflicts in the Middle East and he will use his moral authority and international standing to promote peace at every opportunity, he said, adding that were an invitation from Mr Rouhani to materialise this week, then Francis would be likely to accept it. Francis is particularly anxious to save Christians who are being terrorised or slaughtered across the region. The Christians are suffering every form of violence. The Pope wants this and the suffering for all minorities to stop, Mr Lombardi said.

Raffaele Marchetti, a professor of international relations at Romes Luiss University, said Pope Francis recognised that bringing Tehran in from the cold was key to resolving conflicts in the Middle East. He said the Vaticans concerns centred on violence against Christians, the central role of Jerusalem, and the nearness of the Middle East to Rome. I think he will succeed in becoming an important mediator between Western powers and Tehran, he said. The Vatican is determined to help relations between Tehran and Sunni Islam, even if bringing change to Saudi Arabia will be more difficult.

Mr Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in 2013 on a platform to reduce Irans isolation, championed the deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of Western sanctions this month. His visit to Italy and France comes as diplomats are trying to arrange the first peace talks in two years to end the Syrian civil war.
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A plane carrying hundreds of passengers was forced to divert to Shannon Airport in Ireland after a written note allegedly containing a bomb threat was found on board.

Turkish Airlines flight TK-34 departed Houston, Texas just after 9pm local time on Saturday, and was due to land in Istanbul around 3.45pm Irish time.

But after discovering the note, the flight crew informed their operations centre, who in turn relayed the news to Irish authorities.

There were 227 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 777-300.

The pilot requested permission to divert from the flight path and land at Shannon airport, and was cleared to re-route.

According to the Irish Times, the airport put its emergency plan into action while the plane was still two hours away, with units from the local authority fire service dispatched as backup to the airports own fire and rescue service.

Ambulances from Ennis and Limerick were also called to the scene, alongside the Gardai, the police force of Ireland.

Authorities also alerted the Irish Coast Guard, and a Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat was placed on standby in Kilrush until the flight crossed the west coast safely.

The flight landed safely at 11.02am and was directed to a remote taxiway where passengers disembarked safely and were taken to the terminal by bus.

The jet will remain parked until its scheduled flight time has elapsed. Authorities will then inspect the aircraft and speak to the crew.

It is understood the note containing the alleged bomb threat was taken as evidence by the Irish police, and the handwriting is expected to be compared to samples taken from passengers.
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Like most of his friends, Ammar Buthifi, 27, has spent the years since Tunisia kick-started the Arab Spring in much the same way as the years before: unemployed.

Five years on from the Tunisian uprising, the mass unemployment that fuelled those protests has, if anything, worsened, and fresh unrest is threatening stability in the country heralded as the Arab Spring success story.

Mr Buthifis father, a builder, gives him two or three dinars a day, if hes lucky  less than 1. It is barely enough for the espresso and few cigarettes he has as he idles away his time in cafes with his friends. An estimated one in three young people across the country is unemployed, and there are no state unemployment benefits.

The only major employer in the governorate of Kasserine is an antiquated paper factory. Smack in the middle of the city, it belches toxic fumes across the town and pours thousands of litres of poisonous chemicals into the waterways that weave through the agricultural land. We feel like nothing changed after the revolution. Actually, it became worse, Mr Buthifi told The Independent on Sunday.

It was the self-immolation of one young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, that kicked off the first protests in December 2010 that led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the introduction of a stable democracy. It was the death of another, Ridha Yahyaoui, that prompted fresh riots last week in Kasserine, after the youth climbed an electricity pylon to protest against being denied a government job, and was electrocuted.

From Kasserine, the protests soon spread to neighbouring regions, and eventually to poorer suburbs in the capital. On Friday, President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a nationwide curfew, and vowed to end the unrest. But on Saturday, a small crowd of protesters gathered once again at a government building in Kasserine to renew their demands.

Its a scenario that has played out in the country many times in recent years, most notably in the 2008 rebellion in the mining region of Gafsa. Unemployment nationally is around 15 per cent, and there are an estimated one in three recent graduates out of work. Last years terrorist attacks targeting tourists at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis and the beach resort of Sousse have destroyed the tourism industry, on which around 20 per cent of the population directly depended.

All this has fuelled protests that are an echo of the unrest of 2011. One major difference compared to early 2011, however, is that in post-revolutionary Tunisia, deadly force is no longer the norm.

The police are a bit nicer, Mr Buthifi and his friends say, laughing. This time, it was rounds of tear gas rather than live bullets. Mr Buthifi joined the protests in his home town of Thala, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kasserine, as soon as he heard about the death of Mr Yahyaoui. He is frustrated over what he describes as everyday corruption by police and local officials, with people having to pay bribes for basic public services such as getting an ID card, or for a building permits. We see people giving money to the police every day. Its become normal, he said. The police still arrest and beat people randomly.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Money set aside for public works projects here after the 2011 revolution quickly disappeared with few tangible results. Politicians promised new roads and hospitals, but few of the projects have so far come to fruition.

In the past two years, a new problem has emerged, as armed groups who had previously been in northern Mali established themselves in Mount Chaambi, the rugged mountain range that looms over Kasserine. The area has since become the site of a low-level insurgency, with the groups making regular appearances in the town of Kasserine to attack the police. Unrest across the border in Libya has also threatened to seep into Tunisia, with both of last years terrorist attacks claimed by Islamic State. Locals have become accustomed to the instability.

Saida Dhahri, a shopkeeper running a womens clothing boutique, packed up her merchandise last week fearing looting, like many other small-business owners. She was back in business on Saturday, however, and said that, despite the chaos of recent days: I support peaceful protests over lack of employment opportunities. 

The social turmoil is a challenge to the government of the Prime Minister, Habib Essid, which held an emergency meeting on Saturday morning, and to the newly emerging democracy. People here, however, arent holding their breath waiting for change.

Hamdi Nasri, 27, who graduated with a masters degree in physics two years ago, said that the only people in his class to have found employment were those with family connections. There are no recruitment programmes for the rest of the graduates, such as Mr Nasri.

I just want to have basic rights, to have a family, he said.

All the politicans do is make empty promises.
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Iran is the worlds biggest emerging market since the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 years ago, according to the politician given the job of opening up trade relations  but Britain is languishing behind rivals in its share of business.

The former Chancellor, Lord Lamont, the newly appointed trade envoy to Iran, is full of optimism about the money UK firms could make if they seize the opportunities opened up by the lifting of sanctions.

Iran has the fourth-biggest oil reserves in the world, and the second-biggest gas reserves. Put the two together, and it is the most energy-rich country in the world, he told The Independent. And unlike some other oil producers, Iran has other aspects to its economy.

Recommended Read more Iran urged to free British citizens on humanitarian grounds

It has zinc, copper, aluminium. There is a motor car industry that will probably want to operate in conjunction with foreign companies.

But he added: The UKs trade is miles behind other countries. It is one-twentieth Germanys, and lower even than the US, for whom trade with Iran is theoretically illegal. There is a tremendous opportunity to catch up.

After long negotiations, Iran signed an international deal in Vienna just over a week ago, renouncing any ambition to develop nuclear weapons. Lord Lamont, who already chaired the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce, was appointed to his new role three days later. He is one of 12 trade envoys appointed by David Cameron, who has set a target of doubling the UKs annual exports to 1trn by 2020.

Though the signing of the deal ended trade sanctions, it did not dispel the suspicions of many in the West that Iran is an expansionist power with aggressive intentions towards its neighbours.

In the Commons later today, the Henry Jackson Society will host a meeting whose publicity warns that Iran has long been in pursuit of regional dominance in the Middle East. For decades Iranian proxies have been stoking instability and violence.

But Lord Lamont, who has visited Iran, trusts that its policy-makers are more interested in protecting their countrys security than in destabilising others. He believes the financial benefits of renewed trade will be spent on repaying foreign debt and raising living standards at home rather than bankrolling Iranian proxies in Yemen, Palestine and Syria.

I dont buy into this Western narrative about Iran, he said. They talk about Iran interfering in other countries, but when Saudi Arabia acts in Yemen, or sends funds to groups in Syria, they dont talk about Saudi Arabia interfering.

It isnt Irans fault that their influence in Iraq has increased. Irans influence in the region has increased as a result of Western action. It wasnt Iran who toppled the government of Saddam Hussein.

We understand that America is very anxious about its security as a result of what happened on 11 September 2001, but it was only a decade before that that Iran ended a war [with Iraq] in which it lost a quarter of a million people, yet we have no comprehension of the insecurity of Iran. Iranian policy is about trying to ensure that never happens again.

While he said the international community should remain cautious over the nuclear deal being delivered, he said: If any one of the five signatories thinks Iran is cheating, they can all put the sanctions back in place. And this deal has been supported by a wide spectrum of Iranian opinion, including Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader. That indicates a very broad coalition.
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The first white British male to join Isis has been identified as Jack Letts, 20.

Letts, now known as Ibrahim or Abu Muhammed, reportedly travelled to Syria when he was 18, after converting to Islam.

He admitted to his parents he was with Isis in September 2014 and is understood to have married a woman from Fallujah, Iraq, shortly after arriving in Syria, The Times reports.

Letts reportedly comes from a secular, non-Islamic background. He studied at Cherwell school, Oxford. He is reported to have drank alcohol and occasionally smoked cannabis with his friends before converting to Islam.

His father is an organic farmer and archaeobotanist and his mother a books editor. Both are said to be extremely worried for his safety after he told them he was moving to Kuwait to study Arabic, when in fact he was travelling to Syria.

Some former school friends from Oxford named him 'Jihadi Jack' (Image taken from Facebook)

Jack Letts wearing a hood in a picture he posted to Facebook, possibly inside his home in Fallujah, Iraq (Facebook)

One former school friend told the paper: "At school he was very much the classroom clown and was liked by a lot of students.

"That's why this whole thing of him going to live in Syria and join Isis doesn't make any sense."

Some former school friends from Oxford reportedly named him "Jihadi Jack".

Now a frontline fighter for the militant group, he lives with his wife and son Muhammed in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, having earlier lived in Raqqa, Syria, MailOnline reports.

In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work

He is thought to have taken an interest in the Middle East during the Arab Spring of 2011. He then started learning Arabic and attended the Madina Masjid, a mosque near his home in Oxford.

There is no evidence he was radicalised at the mosque, and some of his friends believe he was radicalised in private prayer meetings.

More than 750 British men and women are thought to have joined Isis in Syria and Iraq, according to the BBC. Up to 100 of those have been killed.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry has met Gulf Arab officials to ease their concerns about the warming US-Iranian relations, and to seek consensus on which Syrian opposition groups should be represented at upcoming peace talks.

Mr Kerry and Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir presented a united front when they spoke at a news conference after a meeting of foreign ministers from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). The Gulf states have sided with the Saud kingdom in its spat with Iran, and backed the rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a key ally of Iran.

Mr Kerry and Mr Jubeir said the US and the GCC agreed on the need to confront destabilising Iranian activities in the region, and on an unspecified understanding that will allow the UN-led Syria negotiations to begin this week as planned.

Let me assure everybody that the relationship between the United States and the GCC nations is one that is built on mutual interest, on mutual defence, and I think there is no doubt whatsoever in the minds of the countries that make up the GCC that the United States will stand with them against any external threat, Mr Kerry said.

Syrian opposition groups said that it was impossible to begin negotiating with the government without the implementation of UN humanitarian resolutions, and denounced what they said were Russian diktats to the opposition negotiators.

A joint statement signed by 45 opposition and rebel groups said that while they support a political process, they hold the Syrian government and its Russian backers responsible for any failure in peace talks due to their ongoing crimes, casting further doubts on the talks taking place.

Mr Jubeir has denounced Iran for its hostile and aggressive stance against Arab nations. But he said he did not believe that Washington would act rashly in dealing with Tehran because of the nuclear deal just agreed. It has given Tehran access to billions in formerly frozen assets.

On Saturday, Iran and China agreed to increase trade to $600bn (420bn) over 10 years.

Associated Press, Reuters
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Muslim scholars will meet in Morocco to discuss how to protect non-Muslims living in their communities.

The summit is the first of its kind in almost 1,400 years and is expected to attract more than 300 Islamic leaders from Muslim majority nations, including Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.

The key aim of the conference is to release a new decelaration, rooted in Islamic Law, to reaffirm the rights of religious minorities, the Washington Post reported.

The prophet was religiously persecuted, so he knew first-hand what it was to experience religious persecution, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, co-founder of Zaytuna College, the first Muslim liberal arts college in the US, told the newspaper.

His religion ensured the rights of religious minorities.

"We want to counter the idea that Muslims and non-Muslims cant live together. This is not who we are or who we want to be.

The summit is not exclusive to Muslims and non-Muslims will also be heading to Marrakesh. Representatives from the Vatican, as well as religious leaders from Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism have all been invited.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. 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Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. 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A key hope of the summit is to counter the work of Isis and protect minorities fleeing extremism in the Middle East.
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Syrian government forces have seized back control of a town which has been in rebel hands for four years.

State television has said the town of Rabia was overrun by the Syrian army and popular defence forces, with the help of Russian air strikes.

The town - which is eight miles from the Turkish border - was the last major rebel stronghold in the north western Latakia province.

The head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP that President Bashar al-Assads forces surrounded the town on three sides within 48 hours after occupying the surrounding area.

The loss of the town - which was controlled by al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra - threatens the rebels' supply lines from the north, the Observatory said.

A Syrian army commander said they would now use Rabia as a base for a new assault on the neighbouring Idlib province.

He said: "In the coming weeks, we will be able to announce that all of Latakia - city and province - is free from armed groups".

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

It comes just weeks after the nearby town of Salma fell into government hands on 12 January as a result of a renewed military assault with Russian and Hezbollah assistance.

The recapture of Rabia and Salma is one of the most significant advances Syrian government forces have made since Russia started airstrikes in September last year.

The Observatory estimates their airstrikes have killed more than 1,000 civilians - including 200 children.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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The Syrian peace talks between government and opposition will begin in the next few days in Geneva in an atmosphere of almost undiluted gloom about the prospects for success. The two sides hate each other and have spent five years trying to kill each other, making it unlikely that they will agree to share power in any way except geographically, with each side keeping the territory it currently holds and defending it with its own armed forces.

This pessimism is difficult to contradict, given that several of the most powerful groups doing the shooting will not be present in Geneva. Neither Isis nor the al-Nusra Front are invited, not that it was ever likely that they would turn up even if they were. There are disputes about who exactly is a terrorist, with Saudi Arabia pushing the Army of Islam that controls the rebel stronghold on the eastern side of Damascus and Turkey insisting on the exclusion of the Syrian Kurds, Americas most effective ally against Isis.

The problem about ending the war in Syria and Iraq is that there is a multitude of players who are too strong to lose but too weak to win. Countries and movements such as Iran and Hezbollah see themselves as fighting for their very existence in a war they cannot afford to lose. Others, like Saudi Arabia and Turkey have invested too much credibility in the struggle for Syria to admit they are not going to achieve their aim of ousting President Bashar al-Assad.

 Syria: Homs lies in ruins after years of urban warfare

Wars sometimes end by exhaustion rather than agreement, and that may be the best that can be expected for Syria. Local ceasefires and armed truces would be put in place, like the 600 or more that periodically interrupted the 15-year civil war in Lebanon. The difficulty here is that cult-like movements such as Isis and al-Nusra exist to fight for and live up to their Islamic faith by fighting what they see as demonic enemies. They are not like the Lebanese warlords who used to occasionally find it in their mutual interests to stop trying to kill each other.

But, while we may not see many positives emerge from the talks in Geneva, the political landscape in the region is a little more conducive to peace than previously. The Russian military intervention four months ago means that Assad is not going to lose, though he is unlikely to win decisively. He remains in power but only because of the increased support from Iran, Russia and Hezbollah in Lebanon and, even with their backing, his army has not recaptured cities he lost last year, such as Palmyra and Idlib. President Assad may not want to talk in Geneva, or subsequently, but he is more than ever dependent on these external allies who do not want to be mired in an endless Syrian civil war.

Recommended Read more Education will give Syrian children displaced by civil war a future

Winners and losers are beginning to emerge in Syria, though not all of those involved can see this. Isis is looking increasingly battered by a medley of enemies backed by the US and Russian air forces, though it is nowhere near defeat. The US keeps trumpeting its loss of Ramadi, in Iraq, but the Iraqi special forces that took over the ruined city number only about 500 soldiers. The Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga who recaptured Sinjar have not been paid for five months, because the Kurdistan Regional Government is bankrupt. The Syrian army is short of men and, while its morale may be higher thanks to the Russians, it is still exhausted by five years of war. The Syrian Kurds are successful, but averse to being used as cannon fodder by the US and they are nervous of Turkish intervention.

In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work

It is dangerous to describe any single phase of a long-running civil war as being decisive, but the coming months could be just that. The US and its allies in Syria, primarily the 25,000 fighters of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) with some Sunni Arab allies, are eager to cut Isis off from its last link, through Turkey, to the outside world. They are not far from achieving this. Arab units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella organisation dominated by the YPG, captured the Tishrin dam on the Euphrates, 55 miles east of Aleppo, on 23 December and are close to the Isis stronghold of Manbij.

Government forces recently seized Salma, pictured, from militants (AP)

The news that a movement few had heard of is threatening an obscure town in Syria was never going to set the world on fire. But it is important for three reasons: first, Isis is now almost sealed off within its self-declared caliphate; second, the Syrian Kurds, using their surrogate, the SDF, have crossed west of the Euphrates despite Turkeys threats never to let this happen without a military response; third, and most important, the attack of the SDF was supported by both US and Russian air strikes, though not at the same time. The Russians are now carrying out most of the air strikes there, said a Syrian Kurdish representative. In other words, the US and Russia in this part of Syria are acting as if they had a de facto military alliance.

The big loser here could be Turkey, which seemed to be in such a strong position to extend its influence across the Middle East in 2011. Its image as an economically prospering, democratic yet Islamic, state was attractive to many Arab protesters looking to overthrow and replace dictatorial rule. But the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, soon made clear that he was supporting a Sunni Arab sectarian takeover that was anti-Shia, anti-Kurd and anti-secular and was bound to be resisted. Having first backed the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey then tolerated or helped Isis, al-Nusra and extreme jihadi groups.

It was a calamitous miscalculation for Syria and for Turkey. For all President Erdogans neo-Ottoman dreams of making Turkey a great power in the Middle East again, he has achieved the opposite. How he responds to this failure should become clear in the coming months as the US and Russia try, in different ways, and in support of a rather different list of allies, to close the border between northern Syria and Turkey.

Recommended Read more Russian warplanes kill eight children in airstrike on Syrian school

President Erdogan will either have to accept Turkeys exclusion from northern Syria or increase Turkish military involvement, possibly including an invasion. Critical commentators in Turkey say he wanted to invade last year, but was restrained by senior Turkish army generals. Full-scale military engagement by Turkey would be more difficult today, since Russian military intervention and the shooting down of a Russian bomber by a Turkish F-16 on 24 November. A Turkish move into northern Syria now would face American disapproval and resistance by Russian aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles.

The war in Syria and Iraq is far from over but, as winners and losers emerge, the chances of local ceasefires and, ultimately, some sort of peace will become more feasible. The Assad government and the opposition may not be able to agree in Geneva, but the outside powers which support them are becoming increasingly eager to bring the conflict to an end.
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Electronic ticketing systems similar to those used in London are to be installed on buses across England under reforms to be introduced next month.

The Buses Bill will give local authorities the power to demand that companies bidding for bus franchises implement smart ticketing systems similar to the Oyster cards and contactless bank card payments used in the capital. Councils will also be able to call for franchises to set up smartphone apps so commuters can track the whereabouts of their next bus.

Integrated smart ticketing systems would mean that it becomes easier to buy return fares in areas using more than one bus operator. At present, passengers usually have to return with the same bus company or pay more for two separate one-way tickets.

The five biggest bus operators, including Arriva and Go-Ahead, this month pledged to introduce contactless travel on all their buses by 2022, but smaller companies are thought to be resistant. Operators are also keen to retain cash fares because many of their customers do not have bank accounts.

The Department for Transport held a series of workshops on the Bill last year. A DfT summary concluded: It was acknowledged during discussions that passenger expectations for more advanced ticketing continue to rise. There is therefore a need to consider how contactless bankcards and other modern forms of ticketing technology can be introduced. Options included mandating operator participation in smart ticketing schemes and setting standards in order to bring about a step-change in the delivery of ticketing to passengers.

A DfT source said: Some of the bus companies have anxieties about this, but ... we expect companies to look towards using these kinds of technologies.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2022 A salmon leaps up the weir at Hexham in Northumberland, despite the drought warnings and low water levels, the River Tyne is still flowing well allowing the salmon and sea trout to head up river to spawn. Every year tens of thousands of salmon make the once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Tyne to spawn, having been out a sea PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2022 Flowers are placed at the gates outside Kensington Palace, London, the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 25th anniversary of her death PA

Stephen Joseph, chief executive at the Campaign for Better Transport, said: We strongly welcome the Bill, which will give communities outside London the opportunity to get some of the advantages that London has had  integrated smart ticketing, simple fares and better planned networks. These, along with better planning and traffic management, can reverse the long-term decline in bus use.

But alongside the Bill, there needs to be a new funding settlement for buses, joining up different pots of money and reversing the underfunding of the pensioner bus pass. We are already seeing cuts in bus subsidies planned by many authorities, especially in rural areas, including the PMs home turf in Oxfordshire, and these will leave many communities isolated. The Bill and wider policy will need to address this issue, too.

The transport minister, Andrew Jones, said this month: The smart ticketing revolution is helping to build a modern, affordable transport network that provides better journeys for everyone. By working together, industry, city regions, and government have been able to ensure more and more people can use smart ticketing to get around. We are determined to continue driving progress so passengers get the quick and simple journeys they want and deserve.
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In late June, when most peoples thoughts turn to barbecues and foreign beaches, a hardy group of travellers will board a train to Brussels. These intrepid souls will spend three days discussing the finer points of a Brexit with senior bureaucrats and diplomats.

The Brexit break is a 2,370-per-person jaunt for those who would rather learn the finer points of the EUs many treaties than sip margaritas on a sun lounger. If you have ever found yourself wondering the exact meaning of flexicurity or how Switzerland, Norway and Iceland work and trade with the bloc, this is probably the vacation for you.

The whole point is to have access to decision-makers and people who are really involved in the process of the referendum, said Nicholas Wood, director of the London-based Political Tours. Its designed to give people a much deeper understanding than they might get just by reading newspapers or listening to the radio.

According to Mr Wood  a former foreign correspondent  the kind of person who signs up for a Brexit tour is looking for an itinerary packed with discussion, debate and  not much else. This is intellectually orientated travel for people who want to understand what makes the world tick, he said. Theyre fairly demanding customers and we generally get complaints if there is too much leisure time.

A surfeit of leisure shouldnt be an issue for the intrepid Brexit-ers, who kick off their tour in London on 22 June with a briefing on the tensions the EU referendum has unleashed within the Government. After that, a leading city accountancy firm will outline the possible outcomes for Britains banking and financial sector from a No vote.

The group will then board a train to Brussels  a trip thats less European break, more break with Europe. Its going to be very intensive, admitted 72-year-old Paul Jackson, a retired businessman. I think the arguments we will have at 1am in the morning will be the best. Then we get up at 6.30am because weve got breakfast with someone  it goes along at a hell of a pace.

Mr Jackson, who is yet to decide how to vote in the referendum, looks forward to meeting fellow travellers who are really up on their subject.

There are always people who are brighter than yourself and more knowledgeable  its a tutorial really, he said. I hope the tour will focus on the big issues  the 10-, 20-, 30-year impact [of leaving the EU].

Mr Wood, who is running a US election tour in November, said his clients arent stereotypical policy wonks or political anoraks. The median age is about 56 or 57.

Theres an increasing market for people who want to use travel as a means of understanding ... the world, he said. Weve created a company to serve [those] no longer happy just to sit on beaches.
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The story of Algeria is supposed to be about reforms. Most dictatorships are. Restrict presidential terms  unless, of course, the people demand the same old fogey as president yet again  and encourage the countrys minority to believe its status is respected. In Algerias case, Abdelaziz Bouteflika presents his country with a president  now in his fourth term of office  who has undergone so many medical operations (in Europe, of course) that he stares into the camera like a dead man.

Theres no point in being over-polite about it. When he was elected for a fourth time two years ago  after a lot of constitutional jiggery-pokery  Bouteflika was regarded by cartoonists and satirists in Algeria as a man already in his coffin. How could he impose such an indignity on brave Algeria, they asked? Could it not be ruled by a living man? Take a look at poor old Bouteflikas recent photo portraits and youll see what they mean. He can hardly speak  and although his brain is active, his acolytes assure us, they find it hard to explain how they can be so certain of his competency if His Excellency the President cannot actually talk to them.

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The reforms which Bouteflika trundled out a couple of weeks ago must therefore be seen in context. A president whos allowed only two terms of office, an enlarged parliament, an independent to run the elections and an official presidential imprimatur on Tamazight, the language of Algerias Berber minority  all these may look good on paper. But in a country which is still recovering from the death of 250,000 of its citizens and soldiers in a ferocious 1990s civil war whose participants sometimes outdid Isis in their barbarity  the throat-cutting of babies was a speciality in mountain villages  the length of a presidents rule and the rights of an indigenous language arent quite as important as they seem.

Heres the problem. During the war, the Islamists  who morphed from being the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) into al-Qaeda  were confronted by an army and intelligence service whose use of torture was about as brutal as any in the Middle East. The smashing of teeth and fingernails was minor stuff. To make prisoners talk, the cops would truss them up, stick a rubber hose in their mouth and fill them up with water until they, quite literally, burst asunder. If you started talking, you are dead, a GIA men told me at the time. Because if you start giving information, theyll go on to the end. They often did.

Some soldiers sought asylum in Europe and spilled the beans. They were given drugs, they said, and ordered to torture and murder suspects, especially if they had beards. One very senior officer sought libel damages in France against a soldier whod detailed his experiences in this dirty war in a book  but the officer fled Paris the moment the court ruled against him. An amnesty upheld by our friend President Bouteflika insured not only that reformed terrorists would be free but that the army goons would never be punished.

Indeed, so terrible was the militarys behaviour that Algerian authors found it safer to write fiction about the war in order to tell readers the truth. One short story that actually went on sale in Algeria told of a lieutenant in the army who betrayed his comrades to the Islamists. His wife and children were brought to the scene by helicopter to find his officers had tied him to a tree with barbed wire. They were forced to watch as petrol was poured over the traitor and he was burned alive. Everyone knew the story was true.

So here we must turn to Mohamed Mediene, who was head of Algerias secret service for all those dark years, known  and referred to in the press  as one of the eradicateurs. He finally turned against Bouteflika when the latter (at great personal sacrifice, according to his flunkies) gained a fourth term in 2014. And then, last September, Mediene met his comeuppance. He was suddenly retired from service, apparently at the instigation of the defence minister and several leading generals who wanted to clean up the army.

To the shock of Algerians, Toufik, as he is known, suddenly appeared in the Algerian press  in sunglasses, I might add  to complain about the unjust jail sentence passed on his former chum General Abdelkader Ait Ourabi, who was head of counter-terrorism, the Algerian chaps who dealt with the civil war insurgents in so efficient a manner. Ourabis imprisonment was for destruction of military records and disobeying military orders. Mediene said that his subordinate had operated with passion  we can imagine what that means  and complied with his duties as an officer.

The whole affair prompted two questions. The first was obvious: just what was in those military records? The second  more opaque  was just how deep do the armys roots lie in the body politic of Algeria, a country that was always controlled by the military? Is Bouteflika being edged out at the wish of Army veterans who are clipping his wings while ensuring that they have no trouble with the Berber people? Or  more likely if I read local journalist Nicholas Noe correctly  is the military tearing itself apart?

Crashing oil prices  and 60 per cent of Algerias budget is dependent on oil and gas  is not going to endear the coffin president to his people. Ten million Algrians live on the poverty line. And with Isis-thronged Libya, Niger and Mali as neighbours, a firm but new military hand may be in the offing. The French will be there to sell more weapons. And the Americans would of course welcome more allies in the global war on terror.
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Open and accountable justice requires records to be kept. Those who believe they are the victim of a miscarriage of justice need to know what was said at their trial if they are to show that they have been wrongly convicted. It seems extraordinary, therefore, that official guidelines require the destruction of the recordings of court cases after seven years.

This is not new news, yet we report it today because we believe it to be an important failing in our legal system. Actually, we are reporting the demands being made of Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Justice, by leading appeal lawyers to order the indefinite retention of court recordings.

The campaign to retain recordings hopes to exploit public awareness of the difference between our legal system and that of the United States, which has been highlighted by the popular online documentary, Making a Murderer. It shows defence lawyers using court records from 2005 to try to overturn the conviction of Steven Avery. In many states in America, people who are convicted are automatically given a recording or transcript of their court proceedings. In this country, there is no guarantee that someone launching an appeal so long after their conviction could obtain such records.

Most Crown Court hearings are recorded in full, but Ministry of Justice guidelines say these recordings should be deleted after five years for tape-recordings and after seven years for digital recordings. Since 2011, most court recordings are made digitally. There are exceptions. In terrorist cases and some drugs cases, recordings will be held for longer, or the judge can order the recordings be preserved. In some cases, it may be possible after more than seven years to obtain a transcript from a court services company, but these are also often destroyed, and if they have been kept can be expensive. Some companies charge thousands of pounds for transcripts of, say, a three-week case.

Obtaining justice for those wrongly convicted should not be a lottery, however. Many cases of innocent people locked up for crimes they did not commit have relied on arbitrary and fragmented records pieced together sometimes decades later. There is no good reason, and certainly no good reason with todays technology, when most people store more than a years worth of books and audio-visual data on their smartphones, not to retain all court recordings and transcripts indefinitely. We suspect that the reason for the Ministry of Justices guidelines is a combination of inertia, from the days when the storage of audio tape quickly came up against physical limits, and of institutional bias against making it easy to appeal. Our congested criminal justice system does not want to encourage a heavier publicly funded caseload.

Mr Gove does not want to put obstacles in the way of reversing miscarriages of justice, we are sure. We have praised him before for showing welcome signs of a liberal conscience in his new post, in sharp contrast to Chris Grayling, his predecessor. So we are confident that he will want to review his departments guidelines.

This is not simply a matter of justice, but of history. The more that we can preserve of the workings of our judicial system, the more we will know about our society, and the more our descendants will be able to know.

But the argument is primarily one of justice. One of the founding principles of British justice is that its deliberations take place in public. That accountability is only meaningful, however, if records are kept so that everyone can refer to what was decided and why. Mr Gove could earn a lasting place in history if he were to ensure that court recordings and transcripts are available at reasonable cost and kept in perpetuity.
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Way back in 1973, when I was a postgraduate student at Oxford, I fell out with my new best friend, Samantha. She was the daughter of a South African businessman and I had been exiled from Uganda. Africa bonded us for a while, then things fell apart. She couldnt understand why I went on and on about colonialism and its impact on the subjugated. And I couldnt forgive her for not understanding. One day, opposite Blackwells bookshop, we finally parted after a particularly bruising row over Cecil Rhodes. To her, the racial supremacist and exploiter was an incredible pioneer. I, naturally, disagreed.

I wonder what dear Samantha makes of the campaign to pull down Rhodes from above the main entrance to Oriel College. Last week the Oxford Union  yes, that salubrious collective  voted to get rid of the statue. Good for them. Even if, after consultations, the hideous Rhodes stays up, his record is exposed. This furore has reawakened deep conflicts between anti-colonialism and jingoism.

A new survey found nearly 43 per cent of Britons are proud of the British Empire. They hang on to these feelings because this nation has never gone through an honest assessment of that past. Though British rule did deliver some good, like all empires it was motivated by greed and cultural disrespect. The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon observed, The history of empires is the history of human misery. They who have assiduously painted over dark episodes in British history should know that whitewash is unreliable and temporary. Truths will out.

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Back to the statue. Tories, academics, pundits and novelists  almost all from Oxbridge  are outraged by the campaign: this is censorship, an attempt to alter history, political correctness gone psychopathic. I remember no such indignation when the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down, or when post-Communist nations bulldozed the imposing figures of Lenin and Stalin from public squares. Would Rhodies be quite so ready to defend, say, a Nazi looking down on Oxford High Street? Of course not.

Here is a little-known story: Hitler loved the work of a German sculptor, Arno Breker, friend of Jean Cocteau, whose figures were often muscular, Aryan males. He became an official state artist. The Allies destroyed most of his public work after the end of the war. Was this also censorship and historical vandalism? Just last year, Jewish activists started a campaign to get rid of a sculpted horse that stands outside a school in Bavaria. The horse was made by Josef Thorak, another of Hitlers favourite artists. Objectors have declared that they do not want kids cavorting around a prancing Nazi horse. The British were keen to preserve Indian relics, but after the 1857 Indian uprisings, temple doors were kicked in and divine statues destroyed or stolen, to teach believers a lesson.

Ah, the many lessons we subjugated natives had to suffer through, amid the daily micro-humiliations of Western supremacy. The British banned home languages from playgrounds and spicy food in lunchboxes at our school; money spent on educating black children was a fraction of the funds made available for white kids in occupied lands. Just like in the UK, when the poor stole food, they were punished with extreme harshness. Resistance movements, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, had members tortured, imprisoned or killed.

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Around 85 million Indian people died in famines between the years of 1760 and 1943, partly because of ruthless grain control policies. Churchill was unmoved when millions were perishing in Bengal. Indians, he thought, were beastly people with a beastly religion. They had no food because they bred like rabbits. There has not been a single deadly famine in India since independence. The Great Hedge of India (2001) by Roy Moxham described a vast hedge that was built by Victorian administrators so they could collect salt tax. Impoverished Indians were no longer able to afford this essential. Many suffered illnesses as a result or died.

What Rhodesians did to black people during this period remains hidden from British people. All they hear about is Mugabe, a monstrous product of colonialism, as was Idi Amin.

My last book, Exotic England, is both a critique of and a paean to my nation. I am here because they, imperialists, were there, in our lands. Though never equal, the relationship was not black and white. We learnt things, changed, fell in love sometimes. All of us have a responsibility to look honestly at this history, because so much of it lives on.

Oxford Unversity is slowly getting more diverse, yet some 60 per cent of black and Asian students reported having felt unwelcome in a survey last year because that institution still sees the world through Western eyes. Our education syllabus focuses on imperial vanities not realities. The media and arts do not yet reflect modern, global Britain.

So too, our foreign policies remain colonial. Blair was proud of the empire, so too Brown. The British still own the Chagos archipelago. In the Seventies, inhabitants were forcibly removed from the islands by our government and the largest atoll, Diego Garcia, turned into a US military base. A report quietly published last week suggests 98 per cent of the dispossessed Chagossians want to go back. They do not matter. This December, the UK is expected to extend US military occupation.

That is not to mention the unconsciously colonialist British culture. A travel supplement on South Africa in a Sunday paper featured happy pictures almost all of European travellers and commentators, plus two local ladies selling fruit and a vineyard worker  oh and a leopard, with black spots. Rhodes legacy continues. That is why the protest matters and why I back it totally.
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Thursday 5th May is the date when all of Scotland decides who we want to lead our country for the next five years in Government and who we want as our First Minister.

Monday marks 100 days of campaigning in which the Scottish National Party will make clear that we stand proud on our record, and clear on our commitment.

The political bubble can perhaps obsess a little over the landmark dates as we count down the days to another important election for Scotland.

In the real world though, people care more about what weve done in the last 1,727 days since we formed the first majority government in the Scottish Parliament in 2011. And they care about what weve achieved in the 432 days since Nicola Sturgeon became Scotlands First Minister.

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The latest tranche of opinion polls have made for encouraging reading in my role as campaign director for the SNP, but we are not a party in the business of taking peoples support for granted.

Crucial for the election debate though, the polls show that on key public concerns on health, education, justice and in creating a fairer Scotland where everyone has the opportunity to flourish, people continue to back the action were taking and continue to put their trust in the SNP.

Since Monday marks the birth of our national bard, Ill borrow some advice from the man himself  there is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.

Thats why over the next 100 days we will set out  in clear, positive and ambitious terms  how we will build on our achievements to keep Scotland moving forward and unlock even more of our countrys vast potential.

John Swinney: SNP votes must be earned by partys record in power (PA)

The SNP is literally building for the future. We have not only met, but exceeded our five year target to deliver 30,000 affordable homes in government. Nicola Sturgeon has set out our commitment to go even further with 50,000 more affordable homes over the next parliament  backed by investment of 3 billion.

The SNP has bolstered our health service budget to record levels, with record numbers of staff providing the best care to be found anywhere in the UK.

We have taken the necessary action to reform our police service  with crime rates showing a 41 year low.

We have sought to build a country where strong public services are underpinned by a successful economy  a nation which is prosperous, but fair.

We have got on with the job of boosting Scotlands economy and getting people into work. And figures published this week show employment in Scotland at a record high, outperforming the rest of the UK, with youth unemployment at its lowest level since 2006.

On Mondaywe will publish figures showing how far the SNP is outperforming the UK government in supporting business, and growing the economy  in spite of Tory austerity.

There has never been a bigger, more ambitious programme of improvements across Scotland  with billions earmarked for further upgrades to road and rail.

But the most transformational investment in the next parliament will be in education. From early years  where we will almost double current provision of government funded early learning and childcare  right through to college and university level we are determined to deliver further achievement for Scotland. Under the SNP, Scotlands world class universities support a higher proportion of students from deprived backgrounds and more pupils than ever stay on until 6th year at school.

School pupils the length and breadth of the country are now learning in better quality buildings  with 607 schools built or refurbished with the SNP in government. Nicola Sturgeon will on Monday announce further investment to benefit thousands more young people.

Well continue to set out these ambitious plans over the coming weeks  giving the people of Scotland a clear choice on our prospectus for progress.

Crucially, our plans are affordable  despite the pressures imposed by further cuts to Scotlands budget by George Osborne.

The Labour party is yet to start behaving like a serious political party ahead of this election and our challenge to them is this: stop the political games and lets see sensible, costed plans. Until then, nobody will take them seriously as a party of opposition, never mind a potential party of government.

While the Tories at Westminster continue to cut hard and deep we continue to feel the effect on Scotlands budget. In Scotland, theyre proposing a triple tax whammy  charging students to learn, scrapping free prescriptions and proposing an eye watering council tax hike of 18%.

These are policies the SNP will stand firmly against.

We will spend the next 100 days leading an ambitious, national debate about how to keep Scotland moving forward through progressive policies.

Our mission could not be clearer  to earn the right on our record and our commitment to serve an unprecedented third term as Scotlands government.

John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister of Scotland
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Is global inequality getting worse? Or better? Davos, where I spent most of the past week covering the World Economic Forum, is not a particularly great place to consider such matters.

Despite the presence of many of the most prosperous individuals in the world on the Swiss mountain top, this is an instance where an elevated view doesnt present a clearer picture.

To answer the question requires a focus on definitions and data  more suited to an academic seminar than a meeting of the worlds elite where drafts of hot air are actually more common than bright shafts of insight. But Davos, because of its symbolism, usually inspires an inequality debate.

Oxfam started the week with a report that put them firmly in the worse camp. The world has become a much more unequal place and the trend is accelerating said the Oxfam boss Winnie Byanyima, pointing to research by the charity which suggested the wealth of the top 62 richest people on the planet is now equal to that of the bottom 50 per cent combined.

This prompted a barrage of rebuttals from commentators, arguing the facts were exactly opposite to those laid out by the charity and claiming that global inequality has, in reality, been falling rapidly in recent decades.

So who is correct? To begin to answer that question its necessary to clear up some definitions. What do we mean by inequality? Are we talking about inequality between average living standards in different nation states? Or do we mean inequality between all the individuals on the planet? The answer to those questions will lead to different pictures. Between the states of the world (unweighted for population) there is, sadly, still not much evidence of convergence.

Further, are we talking about inequality of consumption, or income, or wealth? Or maybe we mean inequalities in health, life expectancy and infant mortality? Again, the answers to those questions are critical. A focus on health shows that for most people on the planet, things have been getting better in recent decades as life expectancy has generally increased  although whether they are improving as fast as we ought to expect is a reasonable question.

Oxfams research is all about the wealth, or net worth, of individuals across the planet. The charitys researchers use credible estimates from the business magazine Forbes to tot up the net worth of the richest 1 per cent of tycoons, oligarchs, heirs, heiress and entrepreneurs, in the world. They then make an estimate of the wealth of the least asset rich inhabitants on the planet and compare the two to arrive at their striking figure of relative wealth shares.

One of the problems with this approach is, as many have pointed out, that student or mortgage debt can very easily push the net worth of someone in a rich country into negative territory. But that doesnt mean they are necessarily in a weak economic position. An indebted trainee lawyer in America is not, in any real sense, worse off than a farmer in Africa with zero debt. Another problem is Oxfams implication that the wealth of the bottom is being appropriated by those at the top. That is a story that is really only partially true and obscures important mechanisms for the advance, or retardation, of living standards in poor countries.

Some argue that the appropriate gauge of global inequality is not wealth but the income of all the people on the planet. Perhaps. But the first thing to recognise about such calculations is that they are inherently sketchy. Working out the average level of income in an economy is relatively straightforward. The states GDP, or national income, is divided by the size of the population to generate a mean average income per head. Thats how we can say that Americans are, on average, richer than Britons and Britons are, on average, richer than Sri Lankans, for example.

But to work out the distribution of income within an economy, to estimate the spread of national income between the rich and poor of that country, requires household surveys. Not all countries  particularly in the poorest countries - carry these surveys out regularly or with equal levels of competence.

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Nevertheless, the best global income estimates suggest international inequality, adjusted for the purchasing power of different currencies, has fallen in recent decades. The pre-eminent researcher in this field, Branko Milanovic, has calculated that the period between 1988 to 2008 witnessed the first decline in inequality between world citizens since the Industrial Revolution.

This mainly reflects the rapid development of China and India, two poor countries with very large populations. The largest surge across the global income distribution between 1988 and 2008 was seen among those around the middle of the global income distribution. This largely reflects the mass movement of the rural poor in China to cities where they got higher incomes working in manufacturing plants and on building sites. There was also a surge among the incomes of those at the very top as the rich in rich countries did very well in the era of globalization. But the net result was a slight reduction of global inequality.

Yet theres an important caveat from Milanovic. He estimates that the decline will only be sustained if countries mean average incomes continue to converge and if high inequalities within countries are kept in check. This is where the two views of inequality  the Oxfam wealth metric and the Milanovic income metric  should be viewed side by side.

Davos 2015 in numbers Show all 9 1 /9 Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 1560m The Swiss resort is the highest town in Europe. Getty Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 11,211 The permanent population of Davos. AFP/Getty Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 1971 The year the annual forum was founded by Klaus Schwab, a German-born business professor at the University of Geneva (pictured speaking). It was initially named the European Management Forum. World Economic Forum/Wikimedia Commons Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 1987 The year the annual forum changed its name to the World Economic Forum. Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 1,700 The number of private jets expected to enter Swiss airspace to fly billionaires and government leaders to Davos. Getty Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 2,500 The number of participants attending the World Economic Forum. AFP/Getty Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 100 Participants will represent more than 100 countries around the world. Rex Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 40 The number of heads of state and government in attendance. Pictured is Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Rex Davos 2015 in numbers Davos 2015 in numbers 17% Women are far outnumbered by men at the World Economic Forum, representing less than a fifth of all participants. Pictured is Queen Mathilde of Belgium. Rex

Economic theory used to predict that as countries took off economically their internal income inequality would first expand, as a minority of entrepreneurs got rich using the new industrial techniques available, and then contract, as the rest inevitably caught up. But recent evidence of rising income inequality within some middle-income developing countries, including China, have raised questions about that basic model.

This is a warning sign. When rising national income and economic productivity in a still developing country does not result in a fall in income equality thats a decent indicator income is being expropriated by a politically-connected minority, rather than genuinely earned. And exploding wealth levels at the top, unrelated to genuine invention or entrepreneurship, can also be a good proxy indicator for such expropriation.

Extraction by exploitative developing world elites is one of the most serious threats to the trend of greater global income equality, not only because of its direct impact on the aggregate figures, but because vested interests tend to obstruct the economic reforms that poor countries need to keep growing.

Many of those developing world elites, as it happens, were in Davos last week, sweeping though the conference centre with their bloated retinues. Perhaps the World Economic Forum wasnt such a bad place to think about such issues after all.
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A few months ago I was ploughing through the box set of the brilliant French thriller series Spiral. Much of the attention this dark drama series received focused on the strength of the main female character as she leads her team of police bruisers through the back streets of Paris. Yet there was something else that interested me about the show - and that was the moment when a computer expert played by an actor with dwarfism appeared.

For his condition was irrelevant to his character. He simply turns up, does his job analysing data and disappears again. I was struck by how rare it was to see on screen an actor with disabilities playing an ordinary person going about their daily business, despite the millions of disabled people for whom this is reality. Instead when such roles appear in film and television drama they tend to be used as symbols of tragedy or triumph over adversity - and all too often, played by actors without disabilities.

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Remember this amid the eruption of anger over Hollywoods lack of diversity. Few people will share Charlotte Ramplings bizarre view that the Oscar boycott is racism to white people after a failure to nominate black or minority actors for the top awards again. There are valid concerns over institutional bias - although talk of a snub for the awful vanity film Straight Outta Compton is absurd. And it is hard not to smirk when Mark Ruffalo, favourite for best supporting actor for his role in Spotlight, insists he is only attending to support victims of clergy sexual abuse.

There are profound issues to address when minorities account for almost 40 per cent of the United States population but win barely one in 20 lead roles on television. This matters because mainstream media is such an influential part of our culture - reflecting concerns, reinforcing stereotypes and shaping debates. What message does it send to young viewers when the black guy is always the best friend rather than the romantic lead or superhero? Especially at a time when black people are having to assert their lives matter.

But where were the protests last year when Eddie Redmayne stepped up to collect an Oscar for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything? Sadly, few people - let alone all those stars speaking out angrily on diversity - seem bothered by the dearth of actors with disabilities permitted to be seen on screen. The idea of an actor blacking up would rightly cause outrage these days, yet one study found 16 per cent of best actor Oscars awarded for portrayals of disability or mental illness. Think of Daniel Day Lewis, Dustin Hoffman, Geoffrey Rush, even Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.

When I grew up one of the most popular television shows was Ironside, starring able-bodied Raymond Burr as a homicide detective left in a wheelchair after a shooting; it was recently remade starring, ironically, an African-American actor without disabilities. And note how Cheryl Boone Isaacs, head of the Oscars, says the Academy is reviewing its membership since todays mandate is about inclusion - which she defines as gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Once again, people with disabilities are excluded from the diversity discussion despite being the most marginalised minority group.

The playwright Christopher Shinn believes audiences are reassured when actors playing disabled characters walk up to collect awards since it shows societys fear and loathing around disability, it seems, can be magically transcended. He confesses to not being bothered about such issues until having a leg amputated aged 38; now he knows the deep challenges of disability, along with the insensitivities of so many daily encounters. Perhaps the worst feeling is when people avert their eyes. Even someone gawking is better.

#OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Show all 19 1 /19 #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Jada Pinkett-Smith Today is Martin Luther Kings birthday, and I cant help but ask the question: Is it time that people of color recognize how much power and influence we have amassed that we no longer need to ask to be invited anywhere? I ask the question: Have we come to a new time and place where we recognize that we can no longer beg for the love, acknowledge, or respect of any group? - Posted on her Facebook page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Will Smith "The beauty of Hollywood combined with American ideals is the ultimate dream for humanity: the basis of the American concept of anything is possible, with hard work and dedication, no matter your race or religion, creed, none of that matters in America. I think that diversity is the American superpower. That's why we are great. So many different people from so many different places adding their ideas and their inspiration and their influences to this beautiful American gumbo and for me, at its best, Hollywood represents and then creates the imagery for that beauty. But for my part, I think I have to fight for and protect the ideals that make our country and make our Hollywood community great. So when I look at the series of nominations of the Academy, it's not reflecting that beauty." - Quote from ABC News appearance. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Reese Witherspoon "I really appreciated this article in TIME on the lack of racial and gender diversity in this year's Oscar nominations. So disappointed that some of 2015's best films, filmmakers and performances were not recognized... Nothing can diminish the quality of their work, but these filmmakers deserve recognition. As an Academy member, I would love to see a more diverse voting membership." - Posted on her Facebook page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Spike Lee "This whole Academy thing is a misdirection play. We're chasing a guy down the field, he doesn't even have the ball. The other guy's high-stepping in the end zone. It goes further than the Academy Awards. It has to go back to the gatekeepers. We're not in the room. The executives, when they have these greenlight meetings quarterly, they look at the scripts and see who's in it and decide what we're making and what we're not making." - Quote from ABC appearance. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say George Clooney "If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job. Think about how many more African Americans were nominated. I would also make the argument, I dont think its a problem of who youre picking as much as it is: How many options are available to minorities in film, particularly in quality films? There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars. By the way, were talking about African Americans. For Hispanics, its even worse. We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it." - Interview with Variety. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Snoop Dogg Somebody was actually like am I gonna watch the motherf***ing Oscars. F*** no. What the f*** am I going to watch that bulls*** for? They aint got no n***** nominated. All these great movies and all this great s*** yall keep stealing from us. F*** you! F*** you! - Posted on his Instagram page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Don Cheadle "Yo, Chris. Come check me out at #TheOscars this year. They got me parking cars on G level." - Posted on his Twitter page, directed at host Chris Rock. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Mark Ruffalo I woke up in the morning thinking, what is the right way to do this? Because if you look at Martin Luther Kings legacy, what he was saying was that the good people who dont act are much worse than the wrongdoers who are purposefully not acting and dont know the right way. - Quote from interview with BBC News. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Lupita Nyong'o "I am disappointed by the lack of inclusion in this year's Academy Awards nominations. It has me thinking about unconscious prejudice and what merits prestige in our culture. The awards should not dictate the terms of art in our modern society, but rather be a diverse reflection of the best of what our art has to offer today. I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of the people who tell them." - Posted on her Instagram page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Tyrese Gibson "This is not us saying we're against the Oscars because we're gonna combat racism. We're just saying, 'Yo, this is not cool.' You can't be doing this in 2016 and act as if no one is gonna notice." - Quote from interview with People. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say David Oyelowo The reason why the Oscars are so important is because it is the zenith, it is the epitome, it is the height of celebration of artistic endeavor within the filmmaking community. We grow up aspiring, dreaming, longing to be accepted into that august establishment because it is the height of excellence. I would like to walk away and say it doesnt matter, but it does, because that acknowledgement changes the trajectory of your life, your career, and the culture of the world we live in. This institution doesnt reflect its president and it doesnt reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesnt reflect me, and it doesnt reflect this nation." - Speech at gala honoring Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Brie Larson "Thank you @hollywoodreporter for covering this very unique moment in my life! It was wonderful spending time with all of you. Personally, I'm interested in reading their article on #OscarsSoWhite. This is a conversation that deserves attention." - Posted on her Instagram page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say How many black films are being produced every year? How are they being distributed? The films that are being made, are the big-time producers thinking outside of the box in terms of how to cast the role? Can you cast a black woman in that role? Can you cast a black man in that role? You can change the Academy, but if there are no black films being produced, what is there to vote for? - Quote from interview with Entertainment Weekly. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Charlotte Rampling "It is racist to whites. One can never really know, but perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list. Why classify people? These days everyone is more or less accepted... People will always say: Him, hes less handsome; Him, hes too black; He is too white... someone will always be saying You are too [this or that]... But do we have to take from this that there should be lots of minorities everywhere?" - Quote from interview on Europe 1. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Michael Caine Theres loads of black actors. In the end you can't vote for an actor because he's black. You can't say 'I'm going to vote for him, he's not very good, but he's black, I'll vote for him'. You have to give a good performance and I'm sure people have. I saw Idris Elba (in Beasts Of No Nation).I thought he was wonderful. Be patient. Of course it will come. It took years to get an Oscar, years. - Quote from interview with Radio 4 Today programme. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Steve McQueen "This is exactly like MTV was in the 1980s. Could you imagine now if MTV only showed music videos by a majority of white people, then after 11 oclock it showed a majority of black people? Could you imagine that happening now? Its the same situation happening in the movies. Hopefully, when people look back at this in 20 years, itll be like seeing that David Bowie clip in 1983 [of artist critiquing channel for not featuring black artists]. I dont even want to wait 20 years. Forgive me; Im hoping in 12 months or so we can look back and say this was a watershed moment, and thank God we put that right." Quote from interview with The Guardian. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Julie Delpy "Two years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media. It's funny - women can't talk. I sometimes wish I were African American because people don't bash them afterwards. It's the hardest to be a woman. Feminism is something people hate above all. Nothing worse than being a woman in this business. I really believe that." Delpy has since clarified these remarks, saying, "I'm very sorry for how I expressed myself. It was never meant to diminish the injustice done to African American artists or to any other people that struggle for equal opportunities and rights; on the contrary. All I was trying to do is to address the issues of inequality of opportunity in the industry for women as well (as I am a woman)." Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Clint Eastwood "I don't know anything about it. All I know is there's thousands of people in the Academy, and the majority of them haven't won Oscars. A lot of people are crying, I guess." - Quoted by TMZ. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Ellen Page Its awful, and I think what just happened in regards to the nominations two years in a row is a reflection of the industry itself, and the lack of diversity in all positions. Its so upsetting that were still having this conversation. I dont know what to say other than its so disheartening, and I feel like we all have to be doing what we can to make a change, because were supposed to be telling stories that reflect human experience, and we cant just be showing one group of people." Quote from interview with The Wrap. Getty

It is no better on British screens. Almost one in five people have some form of disability according to official figures, but last year the BBC disclosed they account for just 1.2 per cent of those appearing on television in any guise. This is appalling from a state broadcaster - although it is not just about actors and presenters, but wider attitudes. Julie Fernandez, best-known for appearing in The Office, tells of being rejected for a role as a secretary sitting behind a desk because they hadnt written it as a part for a wheelchair-bound secretary.

Things are changing, albeit far too slowly. The BBC has pledged to quadruple the number of disabled people on screen by next year, while Channel 4 wants at least one main character in every drama coming from a minority. It was great to see an actor with cerebral palsy play a key role in Breaking Bad, while another with Downs Syndrome joined the Coronation Street cast. Sadly, these examples stand out because they remain all too rare.

In the real world disabled people are bullied and beaten, shut out of workplaces, unable to access public transport and trapped in poverty. Such is the ostracism that two-thirds of Britons admit feeling uncomfortable just talking to a person with disabilities, almost half do not know anyone disabled and one-third think them less productive. Prejudice will not end with a few bit parts in films and soap opera. But film and television can play a role breaking down bigotry, helping to bring a segment of society in from the shadows and giving hope to the next generation. For now, sadly, Hollywoods talk of diversity seems to be just an act.
A slew of retail properties may be rushed to market after Stephen Vernon's Green Property fired the starting gun on a sale of the Blanchardstown Centre next month.

The Blanchardstown Centre will differ from most big property sales in Ireland since the crash because it does not involve Nama and is not a distressed sale in any way. It may prompt a rush of sales in the sector.

While retail has been slow to recover since the crash, the success of the Project Jewel sale and other shopping centres that have been snapped up in recent months indicates a strong appetite internationally for the Irish retail market.

While Mr Vernon is effectively taking his money off the table with Blanchardstown, he remains heavily involved in the listed property firm Green Reit, and this sale is being done at arm's length from Green Reit.

Green Reit is focused mainly on the Dublin office market and has concentrated on so-called "core" real estate since it was set up in 2013.

The firm is involved in numerous developments at present, most notably the redevelopment of 13-17 Dawson Street in central Dublin.

The Blanchardstown Centre, which has around 16 million visitors every year, is expected to attract bids of upwards of 1bn. All the under-bidders on Project Jewel, the 1.8bn loan portfolio tied to the Dundrum Town Centre which sold last year, are expected to bid for the centre.

That would put the Kuwait Investment Authority and its partner US property group, Hines, in the picture, as well as another US fund, Davidson Kempner, and Colony Capital - an investment firm backing Johnny Ronan and Paddy McKillen.

Hines is already involved in one major shopping centre in Dublin, having taken a majority stake in the Liffey Valley Centre for more than 250m two years ago.

Davidson Kempner also has form in the Irish retail sector. Last October it paid out around 170m for the National Portfolio of five shopping parks in Dublin and elsewhere.

UK property firm Hammerson is not expected to bid for the centre, despite winning the race for Project Jewel. Industry sources believe Hammerson will need more time to digest the Jewel deal, and the company is locked in talks with Dundrum developer Chartered Land to decide future control of the business.

Other potential bidders include Varde - a Minneapolis fund that bought the Acorn portfolio of shopping centres from Nama in July 2014.
Nowadays, for most companies and sectors, meeting strict standards and regulations has become an essential part of doing business. From the food we eat, the water we drink to the air we breathe, there are regulations that govern what is, and what is not, acceptable for human consumption.

In the health sector, in particular, innovative developments in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible - but all need regulation to ensure they meet the stringent standards required to ensure their safe use by the public.

This week's entrepreneur - Evelyn O'Toole - is a woman who understands more than most about such standards. A scientist by training, she set up her own laboratory business in 1994, when the lab in which she worked burnt down. Finding herself out of a job and with few options available other than emigrating, Evelyn decided to take control of her own future. Today her company, Complete Lab Solutions (CLS), employs 110 staff and has an annual turnover of 7.2m.

"I have never liked mediocre. I can't identify with it," insists Evelyn as she welcomes me to one of the company's two laboratories - in Ros Muc in the heart of Connemara. "For the last 22 years, we have continuously invested in building both our expertise and our people, so that we could become leaders in our field," she adds.

It is here, in Ros Muc, that Evelyn and her team carry out important food testing and environmental analysis for their many clients.

"We test a variety of food products and have developed specialised expertise particularly in the testing of the ready-to-eat sector for clients such as Supermacs and Topaz," explains Evelyn. "Our clients depend on us to protect their customers from potential food poisoning and other hazards - and to support this, we have a fleet of 12 vans collecting samples daily, under controlled conditions, with full chain of custody protection and real-time reporting of all results," she adds.

On the environmental front, the company carries out water, waste water and sea water sampling and testing throughout Ireland and has built up a strong reputation working with well-known organisations such as Shell and the EPA. The firm has also developed the highest capability in hydrocarbon testing in the country - involving testing water and soil samples for contamination from substances such as oil, petrol and diesel.

Her second laboratory, CLS MedPharma, is based in Galway city and is a dedicated, state-of-the-art facility that specialises in working with medical device firms such as Medtronic & Cook as well as pharmaceutical giants such as Allergan and Astellas. Here, the company carries out analytical and microbiological testing including the monitoring of clean rooms, media fills, drugs, stents, catheters, metal and polymer components as well as artificial hips and knees.

It also has the only facility in the country for potent drug testing including chemotherapy drugs.

"Globally, we are now in demand for the testing of sterile barriers, ensuring the integrity of products such as syringes and other drug delivery systems to ensure their safety during their lifespan," explains Evelyn. "Having our various licences and accreditations such as ISO 17025 (108T), ISO 9001:2008 and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), as well as approval by the FDA in the USA, are also important and help provide confidence to our clients," she adds.

It is no wonder therefore that the company's client base is constantly growing. Apart from her many Irish clients, Evelyn also has an expanding international client base drawn from countries such as Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.

With many new enquiries coming in from as far away as the US and Israel, the future looks bright for CLS.

Supplying fully trained analysts on contract to clients has also proven to be hugely successful for the company. Each analyst is specially trained by the company and is then available to be outsourced when required to client sites.

"This is a unique approach in the marketplace and we created it to provide flexibility to our clients, so they can choose to either send us their samples for testing or we can supply them with highly skilled, ready to go analysts on contract."

Evelyn O'Toole grew up in the small village of Cushatrough, outside Clifden in Co Galway, where as a child, she developed a keen interest in biology. After school, she attended Athlone Institute of Technology where she studied Applied Biology and later Environmental Science at the Sligo Institute of Technology.

Since then she has continued to learn, adding a diploma in training and business development as well as her latest business education last year - the Leadership for Growth programme through the IMI and IMD.

Once qualified, she worked as an R & D analyst in the UK before landing an interesting job managing an in-house support laboratory in Carna for an aquaculture group. However, in 1994, just two and a half years into her contract, disaster struck when the building in which the laboratory was located was totally destroyed in a fire.

Faced with the prospects of emigrating to find employment, Evelyn began considering the option of setting up her own business.

"I was applying for jobs everywhere I could and it soon became a race to see which I could secure first - a job or my first contract. I landed a contract," she says with a laugh.

She set up initially in a local enterprise centre, then rented the current premises in Ros Muc from Udaras na Gaeltachta before going on to buy it - and later doubling its size.

"However, I had no business experience up to that point and very little knowledge of finances - so everything was a learning curve. In many ways I was oblivious to the pressure, because sometimes in life you just don't know what you don't know," admits Evelyn. "But thankfully, I have always tended to look at things as opportunities rather than obstacles," she adds.

With no marketing plan and very little money for advertising, Evelyn focused on growing her business through referrals. Market changes and rising costs in 2003 resulted in the business haemorrhaging cash, and she soon realised that she needed to figure out a new way of working.

"Financial stress brings out a different level of thinking in a person," admits Evelyn. "I began to strategise for the first time. Taking a more helicopter view, I set out clear short-term and long-term goals for the business. The short-term goals were about bringing in business and cash quickly, and to achieve this I formed our first sales team who immediately sprang into action and began bringing in lots of smaller jobs - tons of them.

"While many were small accounts with very low profit margins, they did bring much needed revenue that helped absorb overheads and pay wages. I decided to take the bigger clients - the iconic brands in the industry - and began to develop relationships with these.

"I realised that this was going to be a slow process but nevertheless I knew we had to get these into the pipeline for the longer term growth and sustainability. That was the point where CLS changed from being a group of happy scientists into a proper business.

"We now were determined to create a company that would be sustainably profitable. So while the business was started by me, it was built by my team and led by the industry," she insists.

Having grown by an average of 20pc each year for the last four years, Evelyn is keen to keep up this recent pace and momentum. She has recently doubled the size of the facility in Galway city and has invested more than 3m in the place.

"I still see ours as a company in its infancy," insists Evelyn. "We started out small, and have grown slowly and organically.

"Over the next five years, our plan is to build our brand further, expand our international business, become even more recognised as leaders in our fields of expertise and become truly global providers of innovative testing solutions," she adds.

While all of us will face challenges and upsets in our lives, sometimes it is worth remembering that our greatest challenges can also be like blessings in disguise. Evelyn O'Toole's story is testament to that.

For further information contact www.cls.ie
Junior Finance Minister Simon Harris is to announce details of a "major push" on financial education next week.

A Department of Finance insider said Harris will set out his 2016 strategy for Ireland's financial services sector, and that it will include measures aiming to increase skills and encourage investment in the sector outside of Dublin.

Over 38,000 people are employed in the financial sector here, with almost a third of those based outside the capital.

Harris will announce plans designed to ensure the skills requirements of the financial services sector are reflected in national policy development and the further and higher education systems.

There will also be measures on apprenticeships and the enlistment of Enterprise Ireland in developing a web portal to attract international talent.

The measures will be revealed at the European Financial Forum in Dublin next week. Other speakers include Morgan Stanley president Colm Kelleher, and Timothy O'Hara, chief executive of Credit Suisse's global markets division. Delegates from some of the world's largest financial institutions will attend and the IDA wants to use the event to attract more business here.
The apartments feature green technologies such as rainwater harvesting, rooftop solar panels and energy storage, and typically generate at least as much energy as they use. (stock image)

A former executive of Irish-headquartered oil to computer games distributor DCC has quietly raised over 300m over the past seven years and is developing more than 15,000 low-cost apartments in the UK, Spain and Chile worth over 1.2bn.

Dubliner Barry O'Neill, a co-founder of WeLink - which has relocated its headquarters here - along with another Irishman, engineer Breandan MacAmhlaoibh, secured the money from a range of investors, including family offices and private individuals, mostly in Britain and the US. Some of the investors are Irish and based here.

They have also invested themselves and retain the controlling equity stake in its projects. They have partnered with China's state-owned National Building Materials Group, which is providing construction financing and is a preferred supplier of materials required in the project, including glass and gypsum.

O'Neill and MacAmhlaoibh built up significant experience over more than eight years in China, working in product engineering, sourcing, project management and finance before they founded WeLink in Hong Kong in 2007.

They expect to complete the first 4,000 two- and three-bed apartments in Britain by 2018. A further 4,000 units will follow, amounting to a total build cost of over 1bn.

O'Neill declined to reveal sale prices, which will vary according to land costs. The first developments will be in Scotland, where he said there is demand for up to 30,000 such homes, with more planned for southern England. The apartments are housed in four-storey developments, which can be put together in a week, and are aimed at first-time and affordable home buyers.

In Chile's Copiapo mining region, WeLink is currently building 144 apartments, to be followed by 4,000 more valued at about 260m. In Spain, where it is working with Banco Santander, it plans to build a further 800m worth of apartments.

Its modular buildings involve no water, concrete or waste in the building process. They feature green technologies such as rainwater harvesting, rooftop solar panels and energy storage, and typically generate at least as much energy as they use. Equipment suppliers include Philips, GE and Siemens.

The building method is up to 20 times faster than traditional construction, with much of the work done in factories nearby, minimising skilled labour costs. O'Neill said WeLink will establish at least three factories in Britain, each employing 100 people full-time. The company, which is advised by PwC, currently employs 45 people in seven countries, and is also involved in 400m of UK solar energy projects in partnership with British Solar Renewables.
Nuritas, founded by mathematician Dr Nora Khaldi, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify new food ingredients with health benefits. Picture: Deposit Stock Images

Irish biotech startup Nuritas has hired a former senior executive of one of the world's largest pharmaceuticals companies as its chairman.

George Gunn worked as head of Novartis's animal health division, and a member of the Swiss giant's global executive committee, from 2004 to 2015. Previously he worked at Johnson & Johnson and Pharmacia. Novartis is worth more than $200bn and was ranked by Forbes magazine as the largest drugmaker by revenue, profits and market value last year.

Nuritas uses artificial intelligence to hunt for new food ingredients that have health benefits. Recently it completed a $3.2m funding round in which high-profile Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ali Partovi, an early-stage investor in both Facebook and Dropbox, participated.

Partovi subsequently told this newspaper that Nuritas had the potential to be bigger than both of those companies.

The company has also hired R&D expert Dominique Bridon, an to its advisory board.

Nuritas founder Nora Khaldi said the company was "continuing to build a world-class team to help... realise our vision of Nuritas ingredients reaching one billion people by 2020."
Supermac's, beef processor ABP and proposed liquefied natural-gas plant Shannon LNG all spent thousands on EU lobbying activities last year.

The three companies are among the newest Irish entrants on the EU's Transparency Register, which records which companies and organisations are pushing for their interests at EU level.

Signing up to the register is voluntary; these companies did not need to reveal their EU lobbying activities but chose to for transparency reasons.

Pat McDonagh's Supermac's Holding Limited signed up to the register in September 2015.

Supermac's pursuit of an EU-wide trademark of its brand is the main activity it is involved in at EU level, the company reported. It spent less than 9,999 on this annually, it said.

Fast-food rival McDonald's has opposed Supermac's European trademark efforts, lodging its objections with the EU's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market. McDonald's objects in part because it believes the 'mac' in 'Supermac's' infringes on its own brand.

Larry Goodman's meat processing business ABP Foods signed up to the transparency register in March. Its main priority at EU level is European food policy, ABP said. It spends less than 9,999 on this annually, the register said.

Shannon LNG, the company which planned to build a gas terminal at Ballylongford in Kerry, spends significantly more.

Shannon LNG spent about 350,000 in 2014 on EU lobbying activities, it reported when it joined the register in May of last year. Its EU work is focused on the topic of EU "Projects of Common Interest", it said. These are EU energy-infrastructure projects which are designated as strategically important, and are eligible for EU funding.

Shannon LNG's planned Kerry gas terminal was included on the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list late last year. If completed, the terminal would import cheap gas from the US before distributing it through Ireland's network and on to other markets.

The 600m project has had a difficult history; construction has been delayed for several years and reports suggest its owner, US oil giant Hess, wants to sell. Hess is thought to have spent more than 60m on the project already. Its new status as a PCI should make the asset more attractive to buyers.

Shannon LNG also lobbied on the EU gas directive, it said.

Other Irish organisations signed up to the Transparency Register include the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association and the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland.
Ireland's gross government debt fell below 100pc of GDP, according to figures released by the CSO last week. The Irish state owed its creditors 204bn at the end of September 2015, 99.4pc of our GDP.

While the reduction in Ireland's debt/GDP ratio, which peaked at over 125pc of GDP in the first half of 2013, is welcome, there is unfortunately less to it than meets the eye. When analysing government debt statistics, what is excluded is often just as important as what is included.

The biggest item excluded from the government debt statistics is of course the value of future pension liabilities. These are enormous. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform estimates that the total accrued liability of public service occupational pension schemes were 98bn at the end of 2012.

While this was down from 116bn at the end of 2009, these future pension liabilities would, on their own, increase gross government debt by almost 50pc and push Ireland's debt/GDP ratio back up to almost 150pc.

However, this might not even be the half of it. While the value of future public service occupational pension schemes has been calculated, the value of future state contributory and non-contributory pensions has not. How much is the value of these liabilities? With the number of over-65s set to increase from 532,000 in 2011 to 861,000 by 2026 and 1.33 million by 2046, we need to know.

Unfortunately we won't find out until at least next year when the CSO is due to publish a figure, but it is already clear that the number will be a large one, a very large one. In 2012, TCD economics professor Brian Lucey calculated that the value of future non-contributory pension liabilities at somewhere between 25bn and 75bn.

And it isn't just public sector pension liabilities that could yet end up on the Government's books. Irish pension funds are in rag order with actuarial consultants LCP estimating that the combined deficits of the largest Irish companies had climbed to 5.8bn by the end of 2014. How much if any of these deficits will the State end up picking up the tab for courtesy of the 2013 Waterford Glass judgment?

When seeking to estimate the extent of the possible liabilities to which the state is exposed, one is confronted by a situation of, to paraphrase former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, of known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

Future pensions will, after the estimated figure for state contributory and non-contributory pension liabilities are published next year, largely fall into the known knowns category. It will be a very big number but at least we will have some idea of what it is and can begin to plan to meet these obligations in the decades ahead.

Another known known is public private partnerships. For politicians, the beauty of using private sector capital to fund public capital projects such as roads, schools, hospitals, etc is that the cost can be kept off the government's books and, so long as certain not-very-onerous conditions are satisfied, European Statistics agency Eurostat will not include it in state's borrowing figures.

While PPPs allow the cost of such projects to be "parked", the liability doesn't disappear and can, in certain circumstances, come back on to the government's books once again. This isn't an exclusively theoretical concern. In recent years the Government was forced to make payments to some road-building PPPs when toll revenues failed to reach the agreed level.

The State paid the operators of the M3 toll motorway and the Limerick Tunnel a total of 8m in 2013 and 7.5m in 2014 and now expects to pay them a further 48m between 2015 and 2020. How many other such PPP nasties have yet to come to light?

The CSO puts the potential liability to the exchequer from PPPs at 3.7bn with a further 25.1bn of guarantees bringing the total potential exposure from such contingent liabilities to 28.8bn. However, it is important to remember that this is very much a worst-case scenario and all of these potential liabilities would only fall back on the state in the unlikely event of every PPP turning sour.

If we take the 98bn figure for future state occupational pension liabilities, add the 28.8bn of contingent liabilities and the mid-figure for Professor Lucey's 25bn-75bn estimate for non-contributory pension liabilities, ie 50bn, then gross government debt increases by almost 177bn, raising the debt/GDP ratio from "only" 99.4pc to a totally unsustainable 185pc. It may be scant consolation but Ireland is by no means unique in the potentially misleading way in which it presents its government debt statistics. When pressed on the issue, official sources point out that the format is agreed with Eurostat and the OECD. This ensures that the borrowing statistics produced by all of the EU and other developed countries are comparable.

But surely the fact that everyone else is at it doesn't make it right? The thinking behind not including items such as future pension liabilities in the official government debt statistics is that the money has yet to be borrowed to meet these obligations and that many decades in the future, the government of the day might be able to pay these pensions from its day-to-day revenues.

That's just the known knowns. If we were to seek out known unknowns we wouldn't have far to look. As anyone who has spent the last two months in this country can deduce for themselves, there is something going on with our weather. Unfortunately, instead of the Mediterranean summers that many of us were hoping for, climate change has for Ireland meant wetter, stormier winters instead.

"We are very clearly in a situation where there is some climate change going on. There is going to be a cost to future-proofing the country against climate change. It is already clear that the insurance industry won't be able to do this. The state is going to have to do it", says Professor Lucey.

What might the future costs to Ireland of climate change be? A study published by the University of Cambridge's Centre of Climate Change Mitigation in September 2015 estimated the total global costs of climate change at $369 trillion (334 trillion at the current exchange rate) by the end of the next century. How much of these costs will have to be borne by this country? Ireland's GDP is about one-third of one per cent of global GDP. If Ireland were to end up paying a similar percentage of global climate change costs then the tab would be an enormous 1.1 trillion, over five times current Irish GDP.

So should the total cost to Ireland of future climate change costs be added to the government debt figure? Almost certainly not. We are taking about a period of 185 years, during which many of these costs will fall on the private sector in the form of improved construction techniques, better building materials, greater energy efficiency and tougher planning regulations. In addition Ireland will almost certainly be a much, much wealthier country, and thus much better able to afford the cost of climate change, by 2200.

A far more realistic way of gauging the likely impact of future climate change costs is almost certainly provided by the EU-funded ClimateCost project which in 2014 put the cost to European countries of climate change at 4pc of GDP. In Ireland's case that would work out at something like 8bn a year.

However, while it would be unrealistic to add the full cost of adapting to climate change to the government debt figure there is little doubt but that the state will be on the hook for a substantial proportion of the costs over the coming decades. Anyone seeking to assess Ireland's true indebtedness level will have to make at least some provision for future climate change costs.

And then there are the unknown unknowns. By their very nature these are unknown; a massive cyber-attack, a shooting war between China and the United States, the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canaries collapsing into the ocean triggering a massive Atlantic tsunami perhaps. Before one dismisses these potential risks as fanciful, just remember that anyone who predicted even a decade ago that the Irish banks would go bust and end up costing the taxpayer 64bn would have been dismissed at the time as being crazy.

All of which demonstrates that calculating the true level of any government's indebtedness is very much an inexact science. While it is relatively easy to measure actual government borrowing, quantifying the full extent of other potential liabilities is much, much more difficult.

As Professor Lucey observes, governments almost never repay the nominal amount which they have borrowed. The best we can hope for is that, as happened in this country in the nineties and early-to-mid noughties, economic growth kicks in and the debt gradually withers to an insignificant proportion of the value of economic output.
Homeowners could pay tens of thousands of euro more in interest than they need to by taking up a mortgage sweetener - because the lenders that offer these perks usually work out more expensive in the long run.

In fact, the additional cost for a first-time buyer borrowing 200,000 from such as lender could be as much as 30,000.

The best sweeteners are offered by Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank. These lenders are, however, the most expensive for a first-time buyer who uses a variable mortgage to borrow about 90pc of the value of their home.

Bank of Ireland and Permo both have mortgage cash-back offers, where borrowers are given 2,000 cash for every 100,000 borrowed.

Bank of Ireland and Permo are two of the most expensive lenders for a first-time buyer borrowing 200,000 over 30 years to buy a home priced at 225,000. Bank of Ireland charges 4.5pc interest on a variable mortgage, while Permo charges 4.2pc. EBS, however, one of the cheapest lenders, charges 3.7pc interest while AIB charges 3.75pc.

Bank of Ireland's cash-back offer is worth 4,000 on a mortgage of 200,000. However, the interest charged by Bank of Ireland on this 200,000 mortgage over 30 years adds up to 165,000, compared to about 133,000 with AIB and EBS.

So you'd pay 32,000 more interest over the lifetime of your mortgage by going for Bank of Ireland instead of AIB or EBS - or 28,000 more if you deduct the 4,000 sweetener from the bill. Permo charges about 152,000 for the same mortgage. That's about 19,000 more than AIB and EBS - or 15,000 after taking the value of its cash-back offer into account.

Ulster Bank offers a 1,500 contribution toward legal fees for all new mortgages.

However, Ulster is the second most expensive lender for a first-time buyer getting a variable mortgage of 200,000 to buy a home worth 225,000.

It charges 4.3pc interest - which adds up to 157,000 on such a loan over 30 years. So taking up Ulster Bank's sweetener instead of choosing a cheaper lender would cost 24,000 in extra interest - or 22,500 once the 1,500 perk is factored in.
Superman had Clark Kent. Batman had Bruce Wayne. And Wonder Woman, as true comic book aficionados will tell you, had Princess Diana of Themyscira.

She is easily the most popular female comic character of all time and the subject of an iconic seventies TV series - starring former Olympic swimmer Lynda Carter. Now, after a number of false starts, she finally looks set to make her big-budget CGI-era debut in a forthcoming film which features Israeli model and actress Gal Gadot alongside Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. After appearing as the undercard in Batman v Superman, which is set to open in March, Wonder Woman will then be given her own eponymous film, scheduled for release early next year.

It is rare for such a big movie to feature a female super hero in the title role, and perhaps for this reason the studio have cranked up the hype machine early. The footage leans heavily on her legacy as feminist and distinctively American cultural icon.

Unbeknownst to most American movie-goers, however, the real-life inspiration behind the original Wonder Woman was bound up with the story of an Irish family, and particularly one of its daughters. Her name was Margaret ('Maggie') Sanger and she grew up in an Italian- Irish ghetto in Corning, New York, in the late 19th century. Her parents, Anne and Michael, were both born in Cork. Michael had emigrated during famine times with his family first to Canada. As a young adult he left to fight in the American Civil War and eventually settled in New Jersey. There he met and married Anne and, as was usual for families of that period, she became a baby-making factory - 18 pregnancies in 22 years with 11 live births. The sixth of these was Maggie.

Growing up Maggie saw first-hand the dreadful impact that all of the pregnancies had on her mother's health - Anne Higgins died aged 49 - and it had a formative effect on her. Later Sanger would write: "From earliest childhood I associated poverty, toil, unemployment, drunkenness, cruelty, quarrelling, fighting, debts and jails with large families."

Maggie's older sisters somehow came up with the money to send her away to boarding school (she listed one of them as her guardian), but she left early, abandoning plans for medical school because of lack of funds, and instead became a teacher. After her mother died, she entered nursing school and refused to continue to run the family household, as was generally expected of Irish daughters in those years. During her training she met the architect William Sanger, an intellectual German-Jew, and married him two years later. They would have three children together.

In 1912 the couple moved to Greenwich Village, Manhattan, which at that time was a hotbed of radicalism and artistic freedom. Sanger became active for the Socialist party. The feminist movement was, by this time, gaining widespread currency in the US; in 1911, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was invited to speak at Harvard and news of her advent in America was carried in media across the country. Maggie was determined to become a leader in this movement. She started her own magazine, called The Woman Rebel, in which she was credited with coining the phrase "birth control" and wrote that "the right to be a mother regardless of Church or state" was the "basis of Feminism". In 1917 she starred in a silent movie called Birth Control, which was banned by the censor.

Inspired by Pankhurst, Maggie and her sister Ethel opened what was described as America's first family planning clinic, in Brooklyn. Interestingly, given the directions these clinics would take in subsequent generations, Sanger was vehemently against abortion - she called it a "horror" and said that the "hundreds of thousands of abortions" performed in America each year were "a disgrace to civilisation". Her solution to what she saw as an evil was to prevent pregnancies before they occurred. Sanger promised that contraception would "remake the world".

The next generation of the Higgins family would play their own part in that remaking, but not without some curious serendipity and a scandalous backstory. Ethel's daughter and Maggie's niece, Olive, attended Tufts university, where she met and fell in love with one of her lecturers, William Marston, a Harvard-educated lawyer, psychologist and inventor. He conducted research which he said demonstrated that women were, on average, more reliable and conscientious jurors than men - a controversial claim at that point, since during the 1920s women were still barred from serving on juries in more than half the American states.

In addition to his contributions to scientific and social progress, Marston was also a practitioner of free love. By the time he met Maggie Sanger's niece Olive, he was married to another woman, called Elizabeth Holloway. In 1926, when Olive was 22, Marston invited her to come to him and Holloway, and the three of them lived together in an arrangement, informed by a concept which Marston called "erotic equality". There would be "love-making for all" and Olive Byrne ended up being the mother of two of Marston's children. Scholars of the period have cited the arrangement as an example of the era's 'sex radicalism'.

In 1935, Olive conducted an interview with Marston for Family Circle Magazine - then as now one of the most highly-circulated periodicals in America. The profile is somewhat disingenuous - she pretends they're strangers throughout - but the piece is noteworthy because Marston mentions "the great educational potential in comic books". He felt that the worst offence of comics like Superman was their "bloodcurdling masculinity". The interview would later be read by MC Gaines, the publisher of Superman, who was concerned that the Man Of Steel looked a little fascist, which wouldn't do given the times they were in. She hired Marston as a consultant, and in December 1941, with World War II at its height, Wonder Woman made her debut. There were influences from Greek Myth and from the modern world. "She's Eleanor Roosevelt; she's Betty Grable", wrote Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman. "Mostly, she's Margaret Sanger."

Marston idolised Sanger - he had once listed her as one of the most influential people in America (just behind Henry Ford) but he borrowed heavily from his own life too. Throughout the comic books there were themes that preoccupied him, including depictions of bondage, dominance and submission and truth telling - Marston has been credited with inventing the lie-detector test, and its no coincidence that Wonder Woman had a truth-inducing lasso. The popularity and lore of the character grew with time. During the Second World War the character seemed emblematic of the involvement of American women in the war effort. "Get strong", she says in one strip. "Earn your own living and fight for your country." Post-war Wonder Woman ran for president and she was featured on the cover of Ms magazine looking distinctly presidential. Feminists of the time were divided on the impact of the character. Some lauded her as a much needed counter-balance to the almost uniformly male comic book heroes, while in some quarters she was seen an escapist distraction from the real struggles of women.

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The success of the comic book did not enrich Marston. His academic career foundered in middle age and by the time of his death in 1947 he was out of work and living in relative poverty.

Extraordinarily, Maggie Sanger in her old age preferred to distance herself from the iconic character which had been based on her. She never mentioned Wonder Woman when writing about her life. It's been speculated that she may have been squeamish about some aspects of the comic strip, but it may be that she also felt that the fame of the character would eventually shine a light on the unconventional family life of her daughter and her son-in-law. Her own legacy would be debated; many deplored her opposition to abortion. She passed away in 1966, one year after the US Supreme Court finally legalised birth control. Her life's work was complete, even if the character she inspired would live to fight another day.
Business / Companies

by Africa Moyo

CHEGUTU-based Pickstone Peerless gold mine plans to produce over 500 kilogrammes of gold this year, spurred by a $17 million capital investment made in recent years.The mine is projected to produce a minimum of 40kg of gold per month this year.The gold mine, which is jointly owned by Dallaglio Investments - a special purpose vehicle established between Vast Resources (former ACR) and Grayfox Investments, a consortium of local investors - last year sunk more than $7 million in the construction of a brand new mine and working capital at the mine.Over $10 million has been invested in exploration between 2006 and 2014.Last week, Pickstone Peerless's mine manager, Mr Dennis Mtombeni told The Sunday Mail Business that production is already underway."We are already producing and obviously this year we want to produce more, it was already in our plans."On average, we plan to do a minimum of 40kg a month and we can raise production from there, but 40 kg per month is what is in our initial plans."Basically, in December (2015) we were drilling to get ore, so December and a bit of January we are still drilling to get samples (and now), we are doing reverse circulation to access the ore," said Mr Mtombeni.It is feared that a sharp decline in international gold prices might scupper plans to raise production."If prices come down significantly, that will be a challenge because costs will be rising."But we are very hopeful that the gold price will rise, especially with everything going down, the gold price normally goes up because people hedge in gold," added Mr Mtombeni.Gold prices shot up to US$1 107,10 per ounce last Wednesday, gaining $17,20 from the previous day.The metal's peak price was in August 2011 when it hit US$1 921,41 per ounce.Late last year, gold prices retreated to just under US$1 100, their lowest in more than five years as sellers in China offloaded the metal.China is the top consumer of gold in the world.Pickstone Peerless, which employs 200 people, does not anticipate major disruptions from power outages since it has a dedicated line.The gold mine resumed operations last August while gold sales commenced in September.Dallaglio Investments acquired Pickstone Peerless after failing to bag Falgold Zimbabwe's Dalny Mine as the proposed US$8 million transaction had taken too long to conclude.The mine used to produce 400 000 ounces in the past.Vast Resources has numerous other operations in Zimbabwe including the Gadzema Gold Project, Chishanya Phosphate Project, Perseverance Nickel Project, One Step Gold Project, Chakari Gold Project and Marange Diamond Project.Government has set a target of 24 tonnes of gold this year, almost 5,5 tonnes more than last year's total haul.Policies such as slashing the royalty rate for small-scale gold miners have improved the viability of the sector.Gold output has since risen from three tonnes in 2008 to 18,6 tonnes last year.The gold sector employs many people and the mineral's extraction is not as complex and expensive when compared to other minerals such as platinum and diamonds.
Most of his 1960s contemporaries are either retired or dead, but Michael Caine just carries on acting. A couple of years back, he had hinted that he might be about to call it a day, but the 82-year-old recently declared that he'll "never retire" unless they "stop sending scripts". Considering that in recent times he's worked with everyone from Christopher Nolan to Gore Verbinski, that seems unlikely, and his latest film is a collaboration with Oscar and Palme d'Or-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino.

Sorrentino wrote Youth with Caine in mind, and the veteran actor is on top form playing a retired composer having a kind of late-life crisis. Fred Ballinger is on holiday in Switzerland with his old friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) when he receives a request from Buckingham Palace to perform at Prince Philip's birthday concert. The invitation sends him into a kind of tailspin, and as he and Mick become overwhelmed by memories, things soon get out of hand.

Caine once said "I've done an awful lot of films - in fact I've done a lot of awful films!" and for a dark period between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s he was associated with a string of absolute stinkers. But his moving and persuasive performance in Youth, which opens here next week, reminds us just how very good a screen actor Caine can be on his day. He has a kind of unfussy naturalness about his acting that sets him apart from the show-offs and the hams. He's versatile, too, and can move easily between comedy and drama.

As a young actor, he was constantly told to do something about his strong cockney accent.

"People always told me you can't be an actor you don't talk posh," he explained, "and I said I'll show you how to be an actor without talking posh. And I did it."

In fact, his accent and unique intonation have been his fortune, popping up in most of his performances and enhancing some of his finest moments. Caine is surely one of the most impersonated actors of all time, and who has not had a go at saying in character his most immortal line, "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off"?

That came from The Italian Job, the film that perhaps best summarises his cool and youthful appeal. But as it turns out, Caine's career was only getting started in 1969, and would later blossom in unexpected ways after surviving that potentially fatal mid-life slump.

He was not, to begin with, Michael Caine at all. He was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, in Southwark, London, in 1933. His mother was a charwoman, his father a porter at Billingsgate Fish Market, and he grew up in modest circumstances in south and central London. He saw action in the Korean War while doing his national service, and returned to England at a loose end until he answered an ad in The Stage looking for an assistant manager and occasional walk-on actor for a repertory company.

In 1953, he made his professional debut as Catherine Earnshaw's drunken brother Hindley in a local production of Wuthering Heights. Realising that his own surname didn't exactly trip off the tongue, he chose the stage name of Michael Scott, and began a nine-year slog around the theatres of small-town England that he'd later describe as "really, really brutal".

In the mid-1950s, he returned to London from deepest Suffolk and got himself a new agent. His new mentor quickly advised him that as there was another Michael Scott working in the capital, he'd have to find a new stage name pronto. Michael was speaking from a phone box in Leicester Square, and when he looked around he noticed that the latest Humphrey Bogart movie, The Caine Munity, was playing at the Odeon. On such whims careers are born.

He moved in with another rising cockney star, Terence Stamp, and began hanging out with him and Peter O'Toole after landing the job of O'Toole's understudy in the West End play The Long and the Short and the Tall. The boys were high-livers, and in his 2010 biography The Elephant to Hollywood, Caine recycled his much-loved story about the perils of partying with O'Toole.

While he was working as O'Toole's understudy, the pair decided to go for a quick drink after the Saturday night show. The night went swimmingly, and they awoke in a strange flat next to two girls they didn't recognise. "What time is it?" Caine asked. "Never mind what time it is," O'Toole replied, "what f***ing day is it?" It was Monday.

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Caine toiled for almost a decade in repertory theatre before he hit the big-time, and his break, he has admitted, was one huge slice of luck. In 1962 he was called to audition for the role of a Cockney corporal in the big-budget action drama Zulu on the recommendation of his friend and the film's star, Stanley Baker.

When he got to the Prince of Wales Theatre, however, the film's director, Cy Endfield, told him the part was already gone. "The bar at the Prince of Wales is very long," Caine later explained, "and that's why I became a movie star, because just as I reached the end Cy called out, .Can you do a posh British accent?'" Caine said he could, and the resulting film got his career started.

He was tall, blond, handsome and extremely charismatic, but it was after Zulu, when Caine begin using his real accent on film, that his true potential became apparent. Till this point, British actors who weren't playing mendicants, lunatics, criminals or 'peasants' adopted as a matter of course the clipped and strangulated tones of the English upper-middle class, but Caine was among the first of a new breed who refused to change their 'regional' accents.

Albert Finney from Manchester, Tom Courtenay from Yorkshire and Caine from the salty heart of London ushered in the winds of change with their unvarnished and irreverent accents and performances, and gave working class people the kind of screen heroes they could identify with. In Caine's case, he won a special place in British audience's hearts playing Len Deighton's mild-mannered London spy Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965) and Funeral in Berlin (1966).

If he was a hero in those, he was a right cad in Alfie (1966), playing a strutting misogynist who used women for sex and referred to his girlfriend as "it". He was outstanding in the role, which earned him his first Oscar nod - he's been nominated in every decade since, and has won twice. Enduring favourites like Battle of Britain (1969) and The Italian Job (1969) followed, and Caine would give one of his most compelling turns as a Newcastle gangster out for revenge in Mike Hodges's 1971 classic, Get Carter.

He was terrific opposite his friend Sean Connery in John Huston's Raj adventure The Man Who Would be King (1975), but thereafter his career went off the boil. Critics accused Caine of chasing money rather than quality, and looking at the likes of The Island (1980), The Hand (1981) and especially the 1978 killer bee adventure The Swarm, it's hard to disagree with them.

But in the 1980s he restored his reputation, first in Britain, then in America, with two extraordinary performances. In Lewis Gilbert's Educating Rita (1983), which was based on a Willy Russell play and partly filmed in Trinity College and environs, Caine played a drunken, world-weary English professor whose faith in human nature is restored by Julie Walters' salty working-class student.

That film won him a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, and he won his first Academy Award in 1986 playing a compromised husband in Woody Allen's brilliant ensemble comedy Hannah and her Sisters.

With Caine now settled in Hollywood with his second wife, Shakira, there would be more lucrative rubbish from time to time, like Jaws: The Revenge (1987) and Michael Winner's embarrassingly bad 1990 comedy Bullseye. But there were gems, too, like his delightful turn opposite Steve Martin in Franz Oz's caper comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988). And since the late 1990s, and his second Oscar win for The Cider House Rules, Caine has hardly put a foot wrong.

In the mid 2000s, just after he turned 70, Caine began arguably his most fruitful screen collaboration, with high-flying Hollywood director Christopher Nolan. But the older Caine has given some of his finest performances in smaller budget films, like John Crowley's Is Anybody There?, and Daniel Barber's thriller Harry Brown.

In fact, you could argue that in old age Michael Caine is better than ever, and he hasn't lost his salty sense of humour either. At the Cannes press conference for Youth, it was noted that Caine hadn't attended the Festival for 49 years. "I was here with a film called Alfie," he said. "It won a prize and I didn't. So I never came back. I'm not going all that way for nothing."

Caine and Nolan

Since 2005, Christopher Nolan has cast Michael Caine in six of his films, and fondly refers to the veteran actor as his "lucky charm". It turned out to be a stroke of genius choosing him to play Bruce Wayne's trusty retainer Alfred Pennyweather, because Caine became a strong grounding force in Nolan's Batman trilogy. While Christian Bale's Wayne plunged ever deeper into his desperate battle with Gotham's underworld, Alfred became his moral guide, lecturing him on issues ethical and practical, and telling him about his mysterious youth.

He was perfect, and when Nolan began to move on from the Batman franchise, he took Michael with him. In The Prestige (2006), Caine brought depth and heart to his portrayal of John Cutter, a sad-eyed 19th-century magician who gets caught up in the deadly rivalry between two illusionists. He had a smaller role in Nolan's 2010 sci-fi heist thriller Inception, but was front and centre for Interstellar (2014), playing a wise and weary NASA professor who has found a new home for humanity. At this stage it would be hard to imagine a Nolan film without Caine, and there may well be a role for him in Nolan's next project, Dunkirk.
Panto king Alan Hughes is no stranger to the stage but is getting set to turn his sights to another project as he prepares to make his soap opera debut.

The TV3 presenter has landed a role in Irish soap Ros Na Run as part of a new segment on Ireland AM in which he is challenging himself.

Expand Close Relaxed feel: Alan Hughes (middle) as Sammy Sausages in Beauty and the Beast at The Tivoli / Facebook

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Despite admitting that his relationship with the Irish language is atrocious, the star will get behind the cameras on the set of the soap.

I am going down to Connemara in a few weeks time to appear on Ros Na Run, Alan told RSVP magazine.

I never did Irish in school and my Irish is atrocious so the challenge is that I would have a part on the show speaking fluently.

We are going down to film that on February, 15 so that is very soon, he said.

Hughes is fresh from a busy few weeks starring in his annual pantomime in which he plays Sammy Sausages.

The panto, which was held in the Tivoli Theatre, was run by the production company owned by Hughes and his partner Karl Broderick.

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Alan Hughes pops the question to partner Karl Broderick on Ireland AM. Picture: Brian McEvoy Alan Hughes pops the question to partner Karl Broderick on Ireland AM. Picture: Brian McEvoy Loving couple: Karl Broderick (left) and Alan Hughes. Photo: Tony Gavin. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Alan Hughes pops the question to partner Karl Broderick on Ireland AM. Picture: Brian McEvoy

This year the company generated 994,432, 60,000 more than last year.

The companys success isnt the only thing that Hughes and Broderick are celebrating in 2016, as the couple are due to tie the knot this year following a public proposal on TV3.

The pair, who already celebrated their civil union four years ago and will officially wed following the legislation passed to allow same sex couples to marry in Ireland.

"I cant see why anybody wouldnt want that on a piece of paper  to see that theyre legally married on a piece of paper  not civil partnered."

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The TV3 presenter was slightly distracted from the euphoria of his engagement when he became embroiled in a spat with comedian Oliver Callan in the autumn, who he labelled a bitter old queen for criticising his proposal.

Callan continued the battle by quipping: "I did find it odd however to be called 'old' by someone who is more than 20 years my senior and looks like he slept in formaldyhyde."
The Criminal Assets Bureau is ramping up its financial investigations into the Limerick gang linked to an international spate of robberies of museums, art galleries and the illegal trade in rhino horns.

It follows the jailing of a fourth suspect linked to the notorious 'Rathkeale Rovers', Patrick Sheridan, who was jailed in the US ten days ago for his part in a plot to illegally sell rhino horns to a buyer in New York. Others linked to the gang have been served with tax demands of around stg8m in the UK, while bills for similar amounts have been served on suspects in Ireland.

Since an international police crackdown on the gang, culminating in raids in the UK and Ireland, the spate of robberies has subsided.

The indictments against Sheridan, and his co-accused Michael Slattery Junior, reveals how the Travellers from Rathkeale moved easily into the world of international collectors and art dealers, from Texas to New York. Sheridan was sentenced on January 14 to one year in jail in a court in Waco, Texas, for trafficking in rhino horns, while his co-accused, Michael Slattery Junior, pleaded guilty in a New York court in 2013.

Their criminal caper started on September 20, 2010, when Sheridan and Slattery Jnr and a third unnamed person from Rathkeale, flew from London to Houston, Texas. They were there for a taxidermy auction in the city of Austin, where they had their eye on a mounted black rhinoceros with two horns - the horns being the prize.

On their first day in Texas, Slattery Jnr lodged 5,423 into his savings account in Bank of America, and went straight to the auction house where they tried to do a deal for the black rhinoceros mount from the side lines.

The auction house wouldn't sell it to them as - being an endangered species - it could only be sold to a Texan resident to satisfy a bill of sale prohibiting the buyer from selling it.

On day two, the Rathkeale trio "hired" a "day labourer" - who was a Texas resident - to do the buying for them. On day three, Slattery Jnr went back to the bank and withdrew two sums of $8,000 and $5,000 ($8,000 had been wired from a foreign bank account overnight).

The Rathkeale trio collected the day labourer and drove back to auction house. They weren't particularly discreet, according to the indictment. They counted out $18,000 in hundred dollar bills, and gave them to the day labourer, as the employee of the auction house looked on. The labourer handed over the cash, and signed an Endangered Species Bill of Sale, promising not to sell the mount.

The Rathkeale trio were only interested in the black horns. The auction house employee removed the rhino horns, gave them to the labourer, leaving the rest of the stuffed rhinoceros behind.

From Austin, the Rathkeale boys moved on to New York. There on November 13, Slattery Jn r "visited the home of a collector of Asian art in Manhattan" and offered to sell him four black rhino horns. The following day he emailed photographs, and two days later, the trio visited the home of the collector again, who had a Chinese client who might be interested in them.

The deal was done at an English tea house in Flushing. The Chinese collector bought the two pairs of horns for $50,000, along with a bogus bill of sale fabricated by the Rathkeale boys.

They were paid in cashier's cheque - three cheques for $12,500 going to each of the Rathkeale trio. Slattery Junior handed over his business card, bearing his address as Smithy Pen in Cambridge - the location of a Traveller halting site that was later raided by UK police. Sheridan and Slattery Junior lodged the cheques into their Bank of America accounts the same day. According to US prosecutors, all three also left the US that day.

The following month, the buyer was on to the Rathkeale gang for more. In an email to the unnamed gang member, on December 21, 2010, he wrote: "Hi I have been back in New York for a week, I am still waiting for more horn information. Are you coming to New York soon, with all horn image and info."

The gang member said he would be back in January.

Michael Slattery Junior was arrested three years later. At his sentencing, he claimed he was a landscaper who couldn't read or write but who helped his family out with their antique dealings.
A FOUNDING member of a search and rescue organisation has appeared in court on charges of allegedly handling stolen goods.

Abbeyfeale and District Search and Rescue equipment officer Christopher Kelleher (53) of Dromtrasna, Abbeyfeale, County Limerick was arrested and charged by Killarney-based Gardai at 10am last Thursday morning and brought before a sitting of Newcastle West District Court.

Mr Kelleher is charged with one count of allegedly handling stolen goods contrary to section 17 of the Criminal Justice and Offences Act 2001.

It is alleged by the State that on August 13 last, Mr Kelleher was found in possession of a number of items that had been reported stolen from Miltown, Co Kerry.

Gardai discovered three Husqvarna chainsaws and one Husqvarna consaw at Mr Kelleher's address in Dromtrasna on the date in question.

The value of the stolen items totalled 3,130 according to investigating Gardai.

Garda Joe Murphy, attached to Killarney Garda station, gave evidence before the court of the arrest, charge and cautioning of Mr Kelleher earlier on Thursday morning at Newcastle West Garda Station.

In his evidence, Garda Murphy said that the 53-year-old made no reply when formally charged and brought before the court.

Defence solicitor Vivian O'Shea sought the court grant Mr Kelleher legal aid for his defence in the allegations and a statement of means was submitted to Judge Mary Larkin.

Ms O'Shea also applied to the court that the defence receive full disclosure of evidence from Gardai in the case within four weeks.

Judge Larkin granted both applications and remanded Christopher Kelleher on bail, on his own bond of 300, to February 18 next when a plea or a date for a hearing of the case will be set.
On April 25, 1916, the day after the Rising ignited, martial law was declared for Dublin for one month. A curfew was imposed from 8.30pm to 5am. Anyone spotted on the streets during the hours of darkness would be shot on sight. The trams stopped running from 7pm, and the theatres and cinemas closed by 8pm. Those rushing for trams leaving the city centre had to pass through a stop-and-search military cordon.

Just days after the crushing of the rebels, a headline noted approvingly that the authorities were "Spreading Wide The Net". In early May, 3,000 to 4,000 individuals were rounded up and shipped off for internment in England and Wales. Largely indiscriminate mass arrests took place nationwide. Some 300 were detained in Wexford, along with "a number of pikes used in 1798". German prisoners of war were evacuated from Frongoch camp in Wales to make way for 1,800 Irish internees, including Michael Collins and Sinn Fein founder Arthur Griffith but not, contrary to popular legend, Eamon de Valera.

In the days following the Rising, Dublin resembled a ghost town, with people fearing to venture out even in daylight.

The gates of the Phoenix Park were shut, and police notices stated: "People Are Requested Not To Loiter About In The Streets".

A fear of isolated rebel snipers remained, but a week after the big guns fell silent, the city was shaking itself back into some shape of normality.

The authorities issued a general recall to work, with a particular focus on those in the "Food, Munition and Coal Trades".

School managers were told that they could take back pupils as soon as they thought fit and safe.

A rebel stonghold two weeks earlier, Boland's Mills announced the resumption of "usual deliveries of bread", while gas and electricity supplies were restored and traders who urgently needed to contact suppliers were told they could avail of "Limited Telephone Facilities only with permission of the Government Food Supply Commission at the Ministry of Munitions".

A two-week backlog of parcels and letters was freed up, and Arnotts department store reopened, promising that all "orders sent by post will receive prompt attention".

Rival Hickey's held a fire-sale, saying "all damaged goods will be offered at tempting prices to clear", while the biggest outlet of them all put a brave face on a calamitous situation, announcing: "Clerys beg to announce to their many patrons that in consequence of their premises being totally destroyed, their Business will be held up for a short period."

The rebel Oscar Traynor had watched in amazement as Clerys thick-plate glass windows had melted in the heat of the Rising, and it would be years before the store reopened.

The pubs had been shut under martial law, and the ban on drink sales was extended in early May. Off licences were permitted to open from 10am to 5pm, but only for the sale of groceries and other provisions. The authorities tried to keep a watchful eye on chemists and so-called dairy shops, many of which both did a sideline in under-the-counter booze.

The mass looting that had marked the week of street warfare had subsided but there was a lingering black market for looted goods, and police and soldiers read in the newspapers that they should be looking out for hawkers selling "looted boots at three pence a pair, cigars one shilling a box, gold watches one shilling each, 6d for an orange and 1/3 for six bananas". Normally, stolen goods would often wind up in Dublin's many pawn shops, but business was slow under martial law.

By mid-May, the mood swing in the capital was discernible. The drip-drip executions of the Rising leaders was turning them into martyrs for a general public now going stir-crazy under the repressive constraints of martial law, despite the best efforts of the Theatre Royal to bolster love of empire with its Continuous Programme showcasing "The Irish Brigade In Action" at the front.

An Irish Independent editorial captured the caged-in frustrations of many, reflecting: "While the citizens of Dublin are struggling to resume their normal life... they are still subjected to many restrictions and inconveniences which, it is to be hoped, will be removed as soon as the improving situation permits. In the matter of general and foreign news, for instance, the Dublin people are still seriously handicapped."

This alluded to the fact that the British authorities had responded to the Rising with an extra layer of postal censorship on top of the already heavy-handed wartime regime.

Clearly feeling sorry for himself as he awaited the dawn lifting of curfew, the leader writer continued: "Newspapers are still without the use of their wires and telephones. The military order requiring all citizens to remain indoors from 8.30pm to 5am has made Dublin appear like a deserted city after nightfall.

"To night workers, such as postal officials, journalists and others, the present restrictions are distinctly oppressive and mean internment in their offices for several hours each morning after a hard night's work."

Just as today, the word internment carried tones of unfairness and resentment, which the writer felt confident to share with readers of the Irish Independent. While it was an obvious and necessary measure to restore order, martial law ultimately did nothing but harm to preserving the Union.
Mary Hanafin has responded to Mary Cowen's surprise attack on her in a Facebook post last week.

The wife of the former Taoiseach Brian Cowen had blasted Ms Hanafin, the former Education Minister, over remarks she made at the party's ard fheis.

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Ms Cowen criticised her on a private Fianna Fail Facebook discussion page, which has almost 1,400 members, claiming that party leader Micheal Martin should "watch his back".

Ms Cowen wrote: "I see an article about Mary Hanifin (sic) stating that Fianna Fail members have called on her to influence party policy." She continued by saying that Ms Hanafin is "not elected yet and she is running the party".

Speaking to the Sunday Independent this weekend, Ms Hanafin described the remarks as "inappropriate" and said her loyalty to the Fianna Fail party and leader Michael Martin was in no doubt.

On the campaign trail in Foxrock yesterday morning, Ms Hanafin was initially reluctant to respond to the controversy, saying: "It wasn't an appropriate comment in the first instance and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment now."

Expand Close Brian Cowen with former cabinet colleagues Micheal Martin and Mary Hanafin / Facebook

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However, when pressed on the matter, she said: "I could have walked away from the Fianna Fail party in the last local elections in 2014 with the way I was treated. [They said] 'We want you to run, we don't want you to run, we're pushing you off' and so on.

"And to be a longstanding member and loyal member of the party, I didn't [walk] because I am loyal and I am loyal to what the party stands for.

"I will question, I will criticise but I am a loyal member of the party and if I didn't walk away then, I certainly wouldn't walk away now," she said.

Ms Hanafin, who is on the Fianna Fail ticket in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown constituency, also responded to the accusations levelled at her, saying: "No, Michael Martin certainly [doesn't need to watch his back]. He has always been a good friend of mine.

"All over the years, we have worked well together and I always support the leader and I always have because in a political party you have to have a leader and you also then have to have people who will do their fair share of the work. I like to think when I was in government I did support the leaders of the government and worked very hard in my own ministries.

"[It] was true that people were coming up to me, saying they were looking forward to me coming back. But I am also inclined to say to people, 'Hang on a minute, we only have a three-seat constituency. It is difficult to win.'

"That's the big, big challenge and I keep saying it to people. But look, I'll certainly give it my best shot."

Asked if she would like to be leader of Fianna Fail, she said: "I went for it the last time in 2007 and I didn't get it and I don't think that opportunity is going to arise again. The first thing I have to do is get elected." But she added: "I certainly wouldn't rule it out."

Asked her feelings about the post, she said: "At this stage I let things go over my head. If I was starting off but I take everything as it comes now. And I just get out there and do it.

"It's very easy for people all through an election campaign to get upset over a comment or a lack of invite or a missing poster but the election campaign is only a month long and the key is to meet as many people in person as possible and not to get distracted.

"I am very straight with where I am and what I am doing. I never comment on Facebook or any of those social media sites. Where I am good is face to face and out here meeting people and we will do more in one morning than any comment on a Facebook page."

Speaking about her late husband, she said: "You cannot prepare for it but you can get through it. Eamon died in 2003 but you only have one life and one love.

"Every time I go out to do something big I go in and have a quick look at his photograph, just a look, and I know everything is going to be okay. I don't believe he is gone forever."
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the election will not be a choice between political parties but a referendum on the economic recovery.

The Fine Gael leader told up to 3,000 supporters at the party ard fheis that in between "all the white noise of the election, there is really only one question: Do you want the recovery, the recovery you have worked for, suffered for, and made so much personal sacrifice for, to continue? Or do you want to put it at risk?

"That's the only question you will be asked. That's the only question you will answer," Mr Kenny said.

He blamed Fianna Fail for introducing the Universal Social Charge (USC) and cutting the minimum wage but made no reference to Sinn Fein during his speech to the assembled delegates.

Addressing the television audience, Mr Kenny said the choice facing the electorate is "as stark as it is clear".

"I know that, for many people watching tonight, economic statistics mean very little.

"Too many people do not yet see, and do not yet feel, the benefits of a recovering economy in their own daily lives," he said.

"Fine Gael's long-term plan to keep the recovery going, to keep the economy going, is aimed at improving the lives of all our people, our hospitals and healthcare, our housing, our schools, our childcare, safer communities, the chance to work at home, live at home."

The Taoiseach promised "a strong economy delivering work that pays" and said he will cut the maximum tax rate for middle income families from 52pc to 44pc, giving a working family earning 45,000 per year a boost in income of over 1,750 per year.

"Altogether, our plan will provide the resources to hire an additional 10,000 gardai, teachers, doctors, nurses and other front-line staff by 2021."

He admitted that Fine Gael hadn't achieved everything it had wanted in Government but said they "defied the naysayers to revive the economy, banish the Troika, exit the bailout, get Ireland back in the international markets and get our people back to work".

Mr Kenny concluded his speech saying: "In this the centenary of the Rising, we can say that of Ireland, our best and brightest days, are still uncounted, still to be unwrapped.

"We can say that the dream of our nation's heart has yet to be fulfilled. And it is you, we, each of us, all of us who will be those necessary dreamers."

Asked by the Sunday Independent before his speech if Fine Gael will do a coalition deal with independents if they can't make 80 seats with the Labour arty, Mr Kenny said that no discussions with independent members have taken place.

"Let me confirm for you. There is no discussion taking place between Fine Gael and any independents... For us it's about saying to people, it's about asking for your trust and your support in keeping Fine Gael and Labour in government," Mr Kenny said.

But the Mayo politician refused to rule out working with certain independents such as Tipperary TD Michael Lowry.

"I am not speculating beyond putting Fine Gael and Labour before the people to ask them for their support and their trust. I never presume to discuss the outcomes of elections."

However, sources told the Sunday Independent that "understandings have developed" between Fine Gael and a small number of non-party TDs.

"You don't have to sit down in an office. There is plenty of communications that happen in the corridors of Leinster House, the bar and chamber," said a well-placed source.

Mr Lowry said he has "no formal or informal arrangements with anybody" at this stage but he is open to discussions after polling day.

"When the election is over I'll assess my position at that stage," the former Fine Gael minister said.
Garda counter-terrorism officers are due to travel to Tunisia this week to liaise with authorities investigating the murders of three Irish tourists in a massacre carried out by an Islamic State terrorist.

Husband and wife Larry and Martina Hayes from Athlone, Co Westmeath, and mother-of-two Lorna Carty, from Robinstown, Co Meath, were among 38 holiday-makers shot dead on a beach in the resort of Port El Kantaoui near Sousse on July 26 last year.

Isil claimed responsibility for the mass-murder outrage carried out by 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui, who opened fire on the unsuspecting tourists with an AK47.

Rezgui was shot dead by security forces after the worst terrorist outrage in Tunisia's history and a major international investigation is now ongoing. It is understood that detectives from the Counter Terrorism International (CTI) unit, led by Assistant Commissioner John O'Mahoney, are travelling to Tunis to assist in the investigation.

Gardai have met with the families of the murder victims and kept them up to date on the follow-up inquiry. They are also working closely with Eurojust, the EU agency which assists judicial and legal co-operation in international criminal investigations.

Assistant Commissioner O'Mahoney confirmed that the investigation into the deaths is ongoing. "While we are very much involved in tackling a possible threat at home, we are also very much involved with our counterparts across the world," he told the Sunday Independent. "The murder of three Irish people in Tunisia is very much a live inquiry as far as we are concerned and that is why we are liaising with the authorities there.

"The deaths of Lorna Carty and Larry and Martina Hayes while sitting on a beach are reminder of how the terror threat impacts on all our citizens. The global threat is such that it requires all national security services to be permanently vigilant and working in harmony together sharing, updating and validating intelligence," he said.

As the officer in charge of the Garda Crime and Security Branch, Mr O'Mahoney has overall responsibility for all counter-terrorism measures.

Last week, he revealed that an additional heavily armed Regional Support Unit (RSU) is being established in Dublin to free up the Emergency Response Unit for other operations, including counter terrorism. Gardai have an undisclosed number of Isil suspects under constant surveillance and the force has forged a strong relationship with the Muslim community in Ireland.

"We have a longstanding trusting and mutually respectful relationship with the Muslim community and it is important to stress that the vast majority of this community want nothing to do with extremists such as Isil," Mr O'Mahoney said. "This relationship has been developed in conjunction with the Garda Racial Intercultural and Diversity Office (GRIDO) as part of our ethos, which is based on community policing."

The State's counter-terrorism supremo also revealed that the security services have drafted strategic and operational plans to deal with Paris-style terror attacks after re-creating them in elaborate training exercises. The exercise scenarios are regularly played out in desk-top drills designed to test the responses of the gardai, Army and emergency services in the event of an attack.

Assistant Commissioner O'Mahoney and his staff were briefed on the Paris attacks to assess what lessons could be learned by the Irish security services. "We received extensive briefings on the anatomy of the various attacks, including the incidents in Paris and we use that information in our preparatory training and operational plans here at home.

"We also use it to re-create attack scenarios for table-top exercises to assess our response capabilities. The exercises in Templemore are of an operational nature, while others are designed to concentrate on our strategic response. The purpose is to co-ordinate the response of all the various stakeholders and assist in drawing contingency plans in the unlikely event that they are required," Mr O'Mahoney added.

Since the Paris attacks, the Department of Justice has chaired a table-top exercise with all the relevant inter-government agencies and emergency services. Several government departments including those of the Taoiseach, Justice, Foreign Affairs and Defence, as well as the gardai, Army, fire and ambulance services took part in the drill.

"These are hugely beneficial exercises because all the stakeholders can familiarise themselves with what is required in a worst-case scenario.

"There is no room for complacency, we must be vigilant 24/7," said Mr O'Mahoney.
Business / Local

by Staff reporter

GOVERNMENT is incensed by the downtime resulting from the frequent breakdowns of the new equipment at Hwange Colliery Company Limited and is now actively seeking either financial compensation or the replacement of the malfunctioning equipment from Indian suppliers Bharat Earth Movers Limited.Government holds a controlling 37 percent stake in HCCL, followed by business magnate Mr Nicholas van Hoogstraten who has a 30 percent share.It is believed that a lot of production time has been lost due to the defects of the equipment supplied by the Indian firm that is based in Bengaluru.The equipment, financed through a vendor financing scheme secured from India Exim Export Bank, were part of the $31,2 million equipment that was launched by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko on June 19, 2015 and include excavators, dumpers and various other "state-of-the-art" equipment.But as soon as the machinery was put to use, the defects cropped up. Hydraulic leaks are some of the multiple defects affecting the equipment.By July, there were reports that five machines had been grounded by the same problem. Though there were suspicions by HCCL engineers that the equipment delivered was not what they had inspected in India, management did not act swiftly to address the situation.In fact, BEML undertook to repair the machines under warranty. But frequent and continued breakdowns have forced Government to engage the Indian embassy and Indian suppliers.BEML, which is considered as Asia's second-largest manufacturer of earth moving equipment, is 54 percent owned by the Indian government.The Sunday Mail Business has established that Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Engineer Fred Moyo has already engaged India's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Surinder Datta over the matter.However, details of their deliberations were unclear by last week. It has also been established that Government has since written a letter to the company.Last week, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Mr Walter Chidhakwa said, "at the core of HCCL's problems is the equipment sourced from India that has not been working as well as we had wanted it to operate"."I have asked our Deputy Minister to meet with the Indian Ambassador so that they could discuss (the issue)."We have (also) written to the company that supplied us with the equipment, the excavators, and we said the equipment is not operating as expected therefore we will seek compensation for the production time lost. They have not been able to come in to respond to the current problems on matters that are on warranty."Therefore, we have written to them to say we expect them to sort out the equipment. In fact, our first option is to have the equipment replaced; that is if they are not able to sort it out," said Minister Chidhakwa.When it was first unearthed that the coal miner had been duped into taking delivery of defective equipment, BEML and HCCL issued a joint statement describing the allegations as "baseless and defamatory".At the time, HCCL managing director, Mr Thomas Makore said, "Problems of this nature normally occur during any new equipment commissioning phase."When contacted for comment last week, Mr Makore said, ". . . we are in a close trading period in line with the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange rules."The new open cast mining equipment was widely expected to increase the coal miner's output to about 500 000 tonnes from 300 000 tonnes. However, it is not the imported equipment only that is affecting output as the malfunctioning continuous miner allegedly broke down due to inadequate servicing, thereby weighing down production.A continuous miner normally accounts for 45 percent of underground coal production and when working optimally, it cuts about five tonnes of coal per minute, a feat that markedly increases throughput.Said Minister Chidhakwa: "The second problem is that Hwange Colliery has not been able to do underground mining because what is known as the continuous miner is not operational."The underground mining is what gives you the best coal because it has a combination of thermal coal as well as coking coal, that is what earns Hwange Colliery the biggest amount of money."Government is trying to assist HCCL to secure funds to repair the continuous miner.Meanwhile, Government is set to appoint four more board members that have engineering and geology expertise.The new board members are expected to have the capacity "to put together financial resources" to rescue the company from its current challenges.This week, Minister Chidhakwa is scheduled to visit HCCL on a fact-finding mission to establish the extent of the coal miner's challenges.During the tour, the minister is expected to engage management, the board and employees who are understood to have gone for 28 months without pay.Last year, Government gave management three months, which expires on January 31, 2016; to put the coal miner on a growth path."Before month end, I will go there and get a full report on the ground, including one from the workers. When you are not on the ground, you get all sorts of things, you can only verify them on the ground, you can't take them as facts before you verify them," explained Minister Chidhakwa.The HCCL Short-Term Way Forward Due Diligence Report dated November 19, 2015; which was compiled by a consultant hired by the coal miner, proposed that the company should sell employee houses to arrest spiralling costs. According to the report, which remains a proposal until the Board adopts it in part or in full, HCCL incurs electricity bills averaging $750 000 per month.It is expected that selling the employee houses will save about $450 000 per month.Minister Chidhakwa acknowledged the existence of the report but said he will "wait for the report to come" before considering adopting any of the recommendations.HCCL largely sells thermal coal - also known as steam coal - to the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) to power its four thermal power stations based in Hwange, Harare, Munyati and Harare.Other institutions such as hospitals and some boarding schools require thermal coal for cooking. Last year, HCCL had plans to supply about 50 000 tonnes of coal to South Africa's state-run power utility - Eskom. However, the plans were not followed through. HCCL also signed a contract to supply 9 000 tonnes of coke to Glencore Plc in March last year. However, it could not be established if any deliveries were ever made.Similarly, there were talks between HCCL and ArcelorMittal South Africa which could have seen the latter selling coke to the former. Again, nothing materialised from these plans. HCCL also sells coking coal and coke products to Zambia and the DRC.Part of the company's ambitious plans include moving into coal liquids, diesel and ammonium nitrate.Production at HCCL has declined from 3,2 million tonnes in 2011 to 1,2 million tonnes in 2014 due to aging equipment and constant breakdowns.The coal miner has market potential of 740 000 tonnes per month but its design capacity means it can only produce 450 000 tonnes of coal per month.In order to meet demand, Hwange has since roped in a contract miner - Mota Engil - to produce 200 000 tonnes of coal per month.
Ireland's addict population is latching on to a powerful prescription painkiller that caused 33 deaths in Britain in 2014 and may have already killed users here.

The drug, Pregabalin, marketed as Lyrica, is used to treat severe pain disorders and, in some cases, epilepsy.

A report by the National Drug Treatment Centre in Dublin last week warned that the drug is turning up in increasing numbers of urine tests carried out on the 10,000 or so recipients of the opiate 'substitute' methadone. Pregabalin is only one of many drugs found in the samples taken from methadone patients who are supposed to be free of other addictive drugs.

The report on Pregabalin found: "Other drugs detected in the Pregabalin positive patients were opiates (31.8pc), cocaine (11.4pc), benzodiazepines (79.5pc), and cannabis (77.8pc). Our study confirms that Pregabalin abuse is taking place amongst the addiction services population. We believe that misuse of this prescription drug is a serious emerging issue which should be monitored carefully."

Side effects of the drug include: "Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, throat, or tongue; unusual hoarseness); burning, numbness, or tingling; chest pain; confusion; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; inability to control urination; loss of coordination; memory loss; muscle aches, pain, tenderness, or weakness."

Despite spending around 250m a year to treat 10,000 of the country's opiate addicts with methadone, the figures show there is no sign of a decline in the number of multiple, or 'poly', drug users still receiving the 'treatment'.

In the UK, methadone is supplied only for a limited period, usually only a month, but in Ireland addicts are prescribed methadone for decades - while most go on abusing other opiates.

There is also a very marked difference in cost here and in the UK for prescribing methadone. The National Health Service estimates that a year's supply of the 'substitute' costs around 5,000, whereas here the average cost would appear to be around 25,000 per addict per annum.

The National Drug Centre in Pearse Street, central Dublin, had to devise a method for screening Pregabalin as there was no method available until 2014. It is suspected that part of the reason addicts receiving methadone were also taking Pregabalin up to then was because it was not previously detectable in their urine samples.

The centre's report adds: "The potential dangers of Pregabalin should not be underestimated. In 2013 there were 33 drug-related deaths in England and Wales where Pregabalin was mentioned on the death certificate. Some eight out of 10 patients attending a Belfast hospital following recreational Pregabalin abuse presented with seizures (five being 'first' seizures).

"We have seen that Pregabalin has significant abuse potential and is an attractive drug to opioid-dependant users. We have confirmed that this drug is being misused by some addiction treatment patients. There is no information as yet in the public domain as to the numbers of deaths related to Pregabalin in Ireland; however, we believe misuse of this prescription drug is a serious emerging issue which should be monitored."

The report comes alongside the issuing of details of drug-related deaths between 2004 and 2013, which shows a total of 6,002 deaths. Of these deaths, 3,519 were due to poisoning and 2,483 were due to simple overdose.

Some 60pc of deaths were of 'poly' drug users. Alcohol was involved in 35pc of deaths, with alcohol alone responsible for 15pc of deaths.

The annual drugs death index also found over two-fifths (43pc) of those who died owing to poisoning had a history of mental health illness.

Despite the high level of drug abuse, the HSE figures show that alcohol is still the biggest abused drug.

The annual deaths index supports Health Minister Leo Varadkar's clampdown on the issue of misuse, stating: "About 1.3 million people in Ireland are drinking in a hazardous way, with 200,000 dependent on alcohol. Related harms, in terms of health, social care and crime, cost the State around 3.6bn."

Around 1,000 people die from excessive alcohol consumption each year, the report adds.
Jenny Drake with baby Zoe and her son Aiden (3) in the Rotunda Hospital Photo: Joe Dunne

Miracle baby Zoe Ireland Drake has made it home to the US for the first time, thanks to an anonymous donor.

Zoes mother Jenny confirmed the news to local station WKRN TV in Nashville.

"Now that we are kind of to the end of it, we can call it what it really is, which is a blessing. Its been a crazy, traumatic, wild blessing, but it has been a blessing," Jenny said.

Zoe and her family are now being cared for at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital.

Jenny went into labour in October at 25 weeks on a transatlantic flight and the pilot was forced to divert to Dublin, where she gave birth to her daughter in the Rotunda.

The family spent Christmas in Ireland and when the news came that Zoe was permitted to travel home to the States, a GoFundMe account was set up to raise the 61,500 cost of a medical flight which would not be covered by insurance.

Ms Drake, an optometrist in the US, was surprised with the news on the Ray DArcy Show last week that the remainder of the money had been donated anonymously.

Ive got some news for you, we got a text yesterday, Ray began.

He told Jenny that an anonymous donor has offered to pay the remaining 30,000 to send the family home

Hes 100pc above board, and he 100pc wants to fund the repatriation of Zoe Ireland to her home country of America."

Ray read a portion of a message from the man:

Unfortunately I dont have a corporate jet, but I want to say as a family we want to donate in their quest to get home.

Luckily, I have a successfully business, but I like my daughters to take an interest in giving something back. I would however like to remain completely anonymous and do not want any publicity for doing this."

The premature infant had been in the special care unit, but just before Christmas, doctors gave permission for her to go home.

However, the family's insurance did not cover the $67,000 (61,500) cost of a medical flight needed to take the tot to the US.

The family spent Christmas day in Swords and visited Zoe in hospital.

Optometrist Jenny said that landing in Ireland to give birth was meant to be.

"We don't think we could have landed anywhere else that would have treated us this well," she said.
Environment minister Alan Kelly has been singled out from among his cabinet colleagues by campaigning cleric, Fr Peter McVerry, as the only minister who understands the problem of homelessness and the only one who wants to deal with it.

Fr McVerry's praise for the Labour politician came in the course of addressing a crowd of several thousand people assembled outside the GPO, on Dublin's O'Connell Street, yesterday afternoon in protest against the imposition of water charges.

The rally, which was organised by the Right2Water campaign, took place as the members of Fine Gael convened at Citywest on the outskirts of Dublin for the party's Ard Fheis.

In the course of an impassioned speech, Fr McVerry condemned the Government for having failed to recognise the suffering and the hardship that had been imposed on ordinary people, and particularly those surviving on low incomes.

While Fr McVerry was highly critical of the Coalition, he singled environment minister Alan Kelly out for praise in relation to his efforts to address the homelessness crisis.

He said: "I want to give credit where credit is due. Minister Alan Kelly is the only minister who understands the problem of homelessness and who wants to deal with the problem of homelessness.

"He would like the rent supplement to be increased as all the [homeless] organisations have been calling Burton two years, but the Minister [for social protection] Joan Burton won't agree to that.

"He wanted rent certainty linked to the consumer price index but the Minister for Finance [Michael Noonan] wouldn't agree to that."

Fr McVerry said the message needed to be relayed to the Government that homelessness and housing as well as water were election issues. He said people could no longer afford to pay water charges or to even keep a roof over their heads.

"We have a homeless crisis. We have had a homeless crisis for the past two years. It is now growing into an emergency and there is no recognition in government of any urgency for addressing this problem," he said.

The protest outside the GPO heard from several other speakers, including Brendan Ogle, Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, United Left Alliance TD Joan Collins and Socialist Party TD Ruth Coppinger. The protest was one of several held across the country.
A transatlantic passenger jet which made an emergency landing at Shannon this morning following a bomb threat, has departed Ireland.

Turkish Airlines flight TK-34 departed Houston, Texas at 9.07pm local time on Saturday (4.07am Irish time Sunday) and was due in Istanbul, Turkey at around 3.45pm Irish time.

There were 227 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 777-300 jet.

It's understood that the crew became aware of the bomb threat after a written note was discovered on board.

Upon examination, no explosives were later found on the flight, and the flight departed Ireland this evening.

In a statement tonight, Turkish Airlines confirmed: "The plane has continued its flight after the termination of necessary procedures, as it has been understood that it was a false alert. It has already departed from Shannon Airport."

Before landing earlier today, the crew informed their operations centre who in turn alerted authorities in Ireland.

The pilot requested permission to divert and land at Shannon and was cleared to reroute to the mid west airport.

With the flight still almost two hours from Shannon, the airports emergency plan was put into action.

Units of the local authority fire service from Shannon and Ennis were sent to the airport as back up to the airport's own fire and rescue service. Ambulances from Ennis and Limerick were also mobilised along with Gardai.

The Irish Coast Guard was also alerted to the incident and placed the RNLI lifeboat based at Kilrush on standby until the flight had safely crossed the west coast.

At around. 10.20am Irish time, the crew made radio contact with controllers at the Irish Aviation Authority's North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen in Co Clare.

The crew issued a Pan-Pan distressed call and requested permission to dump fuel over the Atlantic to ensure they touched down within safe landing weight levels.

The flight landed safely at around 11.02am.
The six men - aged between 28 and 49 - were all pronounced perfectly healthy. They were among 90 people who were seen as ideal candidates to test a new drug developed by Portuguese firm Bial to treat mood disorders such as anxiety. And when they arrived at the Biotrial Clinic in the French city of Rennes on January 4, these paid volunteers are unlikely to have thought that anything serious could go wrong. After all, France has one of the world's most regulated drug industries and they would be spending a week at a state-of-the-art facility where they were under constant medical supervision for this Phase 1 test - the name given by the pharmaceutical industry to the initial human testing that establishes whether or not a drug is safe for consumption.

But something very serious did go wrong. At the end of the trial, the six men were taken to hospital where one died within days and four of the five others are suffering from what's likely to be irreversible neurological damage.

Investigators are frantically trying to work out what could have gone wrong with a drug that, initially, was erroneously reported as having cannabis in its make-up. In the words of France's health minister Marisol Touraine, it was "an accident of exceptional gravity... without precedent."

It's news that is likely to reverberate throughout the pharmaceutical industry for quite some time, but those at the centre of drug trialling will be hoping that it does not deter volunteers, whether completely healthy or sick, from taking part in one of the least talked about, and yet most important, areas of medicine.

Dr Graham Love is chief executive of the Health Research Board and insists that it is impossible to overestimate the importance of clinical trials. "For any medical advancement to happen there has to be very extensive clinical trials and in their own way, those volunteers who take part are every bit as vital as doctors. Without them, the drugs that have come on stream over the past couple of decades, and change lives, would not have happened.

"When I heard the news [from France] I thought, 'Oh no, just when we're trying to get more people to take part in clinical trials. I don't want to trivialise what happened there, because of course it was serious, but something like that is exceptionally rare. Of the hundreds of thousands of clinical trials conducted all over the world, you might have a minuscule number of anomalies. It's research that is very highly regulated, but you can never say that there is zero risk."

It's a sentiment shared by Eibhlin Mulroe, head of ICORG - the All-Ireland Co-operative Oncology Research Group. "You can never say that there aren't risks," she says, "but it's an area that's very well monitored by the Health Products Regulatory Body [formerly the Irish Medicines Board] and by ethics committees in the hospitals.

"The benefits are enormous, especially when you look at the drug advancements in an area like breast cancer. Those drugs, which are life-changing, were only made possible because of clinical trials."

One of those drugs, Herceptin, is now firmly established in cancer treatment. Rhona Nally, who was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in 2003, was among those who took part in the groundbreaking clinical trial to use Herceptin for the treatment of primary cancers. Back then, it was used for secondaries only. "The study showed how effective it could be to treat certain types of primary cancers," she says. "Those of us who took part had to undergo extensive checks, including our heart health, and we were told about the potential risks involved."

For many clinical trials, participants are divided into three: those who are given the drug, those given a placebo and those given nothing. Rhona Nally fell into the latter category. The following year, she developed a secondary in her spine and received a poor prognosis. She was immediately prescribed Herceptin and is in good health today, almost 12 years on.

At present an estimated 3pc of cancer patients in Ireland are taking part in clinical drug trials according to Robert O'Connor, head of research at the Irish Cancer Society. "We really need to get that number up [by contrast, 5pc of cancer patients in the US are trialling new drugs]," he says, "but then, many patients are very keen to try alternatives because they can find that their options are limited." But with strict ethical guidelines in place, not every seriously ill patient who wants to be part of a clinical study is deemed suitable.

According to Dr Graham Love, the proportion of Phase 1 trials involving perfectly healthy patients in Ireland is low. Much of that work tends to be carried out outside the EU. And, yet, a number of current Irish studies, including the acclaimed work into blood cells conducted by Dr Michael O'Dwyer, haematologist at NUI Galway, involve some healthy volunteers.

Ronan Fahey, who works as a project officer at the Health Research Board, volunteered his services for a Phase 1 study for a new malaria drug conducted by Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, in 2011. As someone with a science background, he says he was especially aware of the potential risks and those were extensively outlined to him before he began the treatment. "I had flu-like symptoms and was in bed for a day," he says. "I'd never had that before, but I'd been told it could happen so there was no surprise."

The trial lasted "between 12 and 16 weeks" and although he was paid for his contribution, he says the fee essentially covered travelling expenses and missing work on occasion, and amounted to little more than a few hundred euro. "I wasn't doing it for the money and I don't think you'd want to," he says. "Of the other volunteers I met there, one had been to countries that suffered badly from malaria and saw the sort of devastation it can cause, and another was a fireman. I think this sort of study would appeal to those who see the bigger picture and have a sense about how crucial it is in order for drugs to be developed properly."

Fahey says he would consider taking part in a similar study in future and says he would not baulk at the demands made of participants in a recent Oxford malaria study - they were required to be bitten by mosquitoes in a controlled environment.

While practically all Irish clinical trials have passed without incident, one, at the now-defunct Shandon Clinic in Cork in 2010 had to be terminated after three participants required hospital treatment after becoming ill while participating in a 12-man study on cancer medication. Each of the men made a full recovery, but the clinic went into liquidation shortly afterwards.

At the time it was Ireland's only stand-alone clinical trials facility and, it was reported, in the early years of recession it was receiving 400 applications per month for paid work, mainly from young males aged 20 to 25. Depending on the study in question, it paid up to 130 per day.

Now, the vast bulk of trials are conducted in hospitals, with the Mater and Beaumont leading the way. In the past decade, the Health Research Board has invested 100m in clinical research infrastructure and several key trials have started, or are about to start in the coming months. They include: trials to help prevent second strokes and heart attack after a first stroke episode; stem cell trials to improve blood flow in legs of diabetic patients; trials in GP surgeries to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics for urinary tract infections and the first national drug trial in pregnancy, assessing the use of aspirin in low-risk women to prevent pregnancy complications.

Research is also being conducted in establishing whether giving 'fresher' blood versus 'older blood' in transfusions makes a difference to patients who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and trials in blood cancer to see if new treatments can be combined with existing medication for better outcomes.

"It's an exciting time and the groundwork is being laid for improved medication and treatments in the future," says Dr Love. "The people who volunteer are doing invaluable work and future patients will reap the benefits of. It's a bit like giving blood - you may not want to get off your ass and do it, but if you do, people you've never met can be saved by your actions.

"Hopefully what happened in that French clinic will have no detrimental effect on the numbers that put themselves forward for clinical trials." He says if prospective candidates knew just how stringent the guidelines were and how challenging it is to fulfil all the criteria to get a study off the ground, they would likely be even more assured.

"The research is very patient-focused," adds Eibhlin Mulroe. "They can stop at any time - the power is always with them, and the risks, however minor, are always explained."

Five stages of drug testing

Clinical testing of drugs can take 10 years or more, from start to completion. Here are the five stages:

Pre-clinical: testing of drugs in laboratory conditions and on animals.

Phase 1: Testing of drugs on healthy volunteers for dose-ranging - to determine the safety and effectiveness of the drug. Typically, the number of participants ranges from 20 to 100.

Phase 2: Testing of drug on patients to assess efficacy and safety - to establish if the drug can have any efficacy; at this point, the drug is not presumed to have any therapeutic effect whatsoever. Between 100 and 400 participants.

Phase 3: Testing of drug on patients to assess efficacy, effectiveness and safety - determines a drug's therapeutic effect; at this point, the drug is presumed to have some effect. At least 1,000 participants.

Phase 4: Post-marketing surveillance - monitoring drug use in public as soon as the drug has been licensed for use
Slouch hat made from mix of possum and merino wool, 49, and wrist warmers,40, two super warm pieces from kiwicountryclothing.ie whose pop-up store is no longer in Dublins South Anne Street but has opened in Glaslough, Co Monaghan.

Over Christmas, I was struck by how many women I met told me that their festive frock was the first time that they had worn a dress in almost a year. The increasing casualisation of fashion trends has triggered a growing acceptance of smart casual from day into night.

Factor in those luxury touches like a comfy cashmere, a fur-lined parka and finish it off with trainers liberally sprinkled with designer magic dust - good to go! Yes indeed, the Athleisure trend of gym apparel 24/7 seems to be taking over our dressing habits.

Many girls spent wasted hours as kids, trying to convince their mothers that they didn't want to wear girly dresses. I, for one, can remember the row about the Confirmation outfit but within a year, I couldn't get enough dresses in my life.

Shopping in a Dublin department store recently, I encountered a gloomy looking pair: the Confirmation candidate who wanted designer jeans, not a dress, and the despondent mum who, after getting over the sulking child hissy fit, had to find a dress for herself. In her own words: "A dress can take me right through the summer, to a wedding and a few Holy Communions thrown in." I wished her well and went on my way.

The transition from casual to dressed up shouldn't have to be stressful. Chatting with award-winning Irish designer, Aideen Bodkin, I was taken by how she approached her latest business venture - a collection called Dress which sits, like a sister, beside her more expensive occasion-wear range.

It's not by accident that Aideen was one of the preferred fashion choices by Presidents Robinson and McAleese. Now Mrs Sabina Higgins is a fan too and wore Aideen during the State visit to Britain in 2014.

Aideen reckons she has designed around 50 dresses a year for the last 17 years so she has a fair idea of what Irish women want and the shapes that suit them.

"The idea behind the 'Dress' range was to have a single item wardrobe - basically relying on a really good strong dress that you could wear on its own, and with accessories, or, if you wanted, throw a simple jacket over it. But the dress should be enough to actually create a full outfit," says Aideen.

Now in its second season, there are five styles in Aideen's Dress range and with variations in fabrics, that means there are 15 options to chose from and prices run from 180-235.

The adventurous 'column' dress (210, main photo) reminds me of the drama of a striking Mary Katrantzou digital print. Aideen has strategically worked the optical print featuring hot colours on a dark background so there are half diamond shapes at the waistline. This helps create an hourglass shape. Aideen says, "It gives you curves and accentuates curves. It's the kind of fabric that does all the work for you."

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The side ruching on her 'Spiral' dress (229, above) does a great job for anyone scared of dresses if they have a tummy and the fabric has a lively bit of stretch too. The 'Pillar' pencil dress (189, below) has that element of surprise because while the dress is plain coral at the front, with a trim of cream on the shoulders, turn and it reveals a cream panel on the waist with exposed zip. "Over the years, I like putting a little twist to my dresses. I've done short, flared, maxi, floaty and I believe that with Irish women in particular, the pencil dress is the key dress,"says Aideen. See aideenbodkin.com

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News / Africa

by Staff Reporter

EIGHT men have been bust in Groblersdal and Marble Hall by the South African police for alleged drug dealing and possession of unlicensed firearms, the Hawks said today.Daily Sun reported that the arrests followed a year-long investigation and numerous drug-related complaints from residents of the two Mpumalanga towns, Hawks spokesman Lieutenant Robert Netshiunda said.The investigation included undercover police who pretended to be clients and bought drugs, mostly nyaope, from dealers. Fourteen transactions amounting to over R50 000 were conducted before they were arrested on Friday.Police raided the alleged kingpin's Groblersdal house and business and confiscated guns and money. In his house they found R70 000 in cash, a police-issue bulletproof vest, a .303 rifle with ammunition, and ammunition for an AK-47.In the storeroom of his business they found R29 000 in cash, an R1 rifle, AK-47 ammunition, and dagga.A total of four firearms, two vehicles and five pieces of gold were confiscated. Four of those arrested were Nigerian and one was Portuguese. They were aged between 25 and 49.All eight were expected to appear in the Marble Hall Periodical Court and Groblersdal Magistrate's Court on Monday.They would face charges of drug dealing, possession of unlicensed firearms, possession of illegal ammunition, and illegal possession of gold.
New Zealand's white wines have an aromatic intensity.

Isolated 2,000km from its nearest neighbour, Australia, and exposed to the full brunt of the cooling trade winds, New Zealand's white wines have an added aromatic intensity. It is hard to believe that most of New Zealand's popular white wines were only planted a few decades ago.

Sauvignon Blanc, first planted in Marlborough in 1972 has become a benchmark and recognisable style globally for its pungent lime, peapod and passion fruit character. It covers 50pc of the country's vineyards. Chardonnay retains its diversity of styles from oaked vanilla to steely fresh. Pinot Gris has overtaken Riesling and is made in the richer Alsace style. There are exciting experiments with less familiar Sauvignon Gris, Austria's Gruner Veltliner and Alsace's Gewurztraminer, each adding to the exciting quality choices New Zealand increasingly offers.

Wine of the week: 1) Gruner Veltliner 2012, Seifried, Nelson 13pc

Attractive spearmint bouquet. Delicious ripe lemon curd character, silky smooth and mellow. Enjoy with pork in a creamy mustard sauce.

19.99 at Ardkeen Foodstore, Waterford; No.21, Charleville; Matson's, Bandon and Grange; Parting Glass, Wicklow and Mitchell's Wine Merchants, Sandycove

2) Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Estate Selection, Cimarosa Marlborough 12.5pc

Fragrant with bruised basil and blackcurrant leaves. Pretty palate of elderflower cordial mixed with peach and apple juice. Serve with sushi.

8.79 at Lidl nationwide

3) Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Tesco Finest, Tamara Kelly-Washington, Marlborough 12.5pc

Freshly cut grass aromas. A French accent of intense salty minerality and green apple skins in the Sancerre style. Snack with lightly grilled goat's cheese on baguette toasts.

12 at Tesco nationwide

4) Gewurztraminer 2012, Private Bin, Villa Maria, East Coast 13pc

Pungent Turkish Delight ginger jelly is echoed on the palate with freshly grated ginger spice and plenty of acidity to match a spicy Indian creamy spinach-sauced Chicken Saag.

14.99 online at winesoftheworld.ie

5) Sauvignon Gris 2014, Brancott Estate, Marlborough, 14.5pc

From a more uncommon cousin of Sauvignon Blanc showing a full-bodied palate of peach kernel and a little exotic mango. Cool with cold ham and chutney.

14.99 at Tesco nationwide

6) Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Kaituna Hills, Marlborough 13.5pc

Aromas of passionfruit sorbet with candied lime peel. Deliciously vigorous lime and grapefruit juicy flavours. Tingling and zesty and happy with a Thai green curry.

15.49 at Marks & Spencer nationwide

7) Chardonnay 2014, The Limeworks, Hawkes Bay 13.5pc

Chardonnay at its most perfumed with peach and talcum powder scents. Intense flavours highlighted by peach pulp and skins. Go retro with Chicken Maryland.

17.99 at SuperValu nationwide

8) Dry Riesling 2014, Kim Crawford, Marlborough 11pc

Floral with some herbal notes of mint and slate. Light-bodied and focused flavours of lime and lemon zest with a slate minerality. The lighter alcohol makes a good match with chilli-hot chicken jalfrezi.

19.99 in Dublin at Clontarf Wines; Blackrock Cellar and Thomas's, Foxrock

Tasting notes

Wine Producers' Weekend at Knockranny House Hotel & Spa, Westport

A dinner, B&B and wine tasting event costs 135pp sharing or for non-residents who would like to attend this informative event, the rate is 69 per person sharing, including dinner, wine tasting & masterclasses. From January 29-30,

T: (098) 28600 E: info@khh.ie knockrannyhousehotel.ie
Car insurance is on the rise and motorists are likely, on average, to pay 300 more for a comprehensive policy this year than they did in 2014. Fraud, legal fees, lack of enforcement and regulation of the insurance industry are all being blamed for hikes of over 35pc in the cost of premiums. At a time when motorists should be benefiting from sharp falls in the price of petrol and diesel at the pumps, instead they are bearing the brunt of the highest insurance premium prices in years.

"The rising cost of motor insurance is a major frustration and one of the biggest consumer issues facing motorists at the moment. We have seen an increase of close to 40pc on average over the last 18 months and for many individual drivers the increase is even worse," says Conor Faughnan, Director of Consumer Affairs for AA Ireland.

The rises have reversed years of falling premiums and the insurance industry argues that in the past, premiums were reduced to a level that meant insurance companies were losing money, so the current increases are an attempt to get premiums back to a profitable rate.

However, this is at best only a partial explanation for the jump in motor insurance costs, Mr Faughnan added.

"Prices were stable and even falling overall for a decade and it is true to say that insurers were losing money. Even so, these increases are not justified. At the moment, we pay for the real cost of insurance, and then on top of that, we pay for unacceptable amounts of fraud, waste and inefficiency in the system."

Brian McNelis, Director of General Services in the Irish Brokers Association, said: "The recent increase to insurance premiums is caused by a number of factors, including poor regulation"

The lack of regulatory compliance has also left a legacy for the insurance industry. Since 2010, to pay for the collapse of Quinn Insurance, motorists have been paying a levy on motor, home and commercial insurance. The failure of Quinn, which lost over 900m in 2009 and a further 160m in 2010, was followed four years later by that of Setanta Insurance, which collapsed in April 2014 with an estimated 90m shortfall.

In addition, it is estimated fraudulent claims add 50 to the cost of every motor policy, from criminal staging of "accidents" to fraudulent production of bogus "no-claims certificates" by drivers changing insurers.

Recently, several high-profile insurance claims cases were thrown out after evidence emerged from Facebook. Last month, a Dublin woman had her 60,000 claim thrown out after photos she posted were used as evidence against her. She claimed she suffered injuries following a collision in a car park. However, her case collapsed when photos she posted on Facebook posing in a bikini at a body-sculpting competition and on top of Bray Head, Wicklow, were presented in court.

Another couple who staged a car crash while pretending to be strangers were discovered when the insurance company saw they appeared in each other's Facebook profile pictures.

An expensive compensation system is also a key factor driving up premiums. Some 80pc of motor injury claims are for whiplash in Ireland and on average a claimant will typically receive 15,000; in the UK, the corresponding figure is 5,000.

Kevin Thompson, CEO of Insurance Ireland, said; "Motor claims costs are rising. The level of awards being made in the courts is at an all-time high. The average High Court award in 2014 was up 34pc on 2013 and the average Circuit Court award was up 14pc on 2013. In litigated cases, legal costs in Ireland account for more than 60pc of the compensation awarded.

"We believe we are seeing growing evidence that the high level of awards in Ireland, particularly for whiplash, is creating a temptation to commit fraud and we are seeing a number of insurance fraud rings engaging in staged motor accidents to generate spurious whiplash claims," added Mr Thompson.

There are calls for all agencies involved - from insurance companies, the courts, the Injuries Board, the Central Bank, the Government, the Garda Siochana, and others to act together and for the Government to assemble a Task Force to address the issues. Legal and claims costs also need to be addressed and compensation set at levels society can afford.

An information-sharing system would effectively combat fraud. A system known as the Integrated Information Data Service, which is currently under development here, would mean insurers would no longer be required to obtain paper copies of customers' documents which can be easily faked.

Windscreen disks would also be abolished in favour of using the database as proof of insurance. Car insurance is a legal requirement and there is a concern that the number of uninsured cars could rise due to higher insurance costs. It is estimated that uninsured driving adds a further 30 to the average premium.

Mr McNelis has also pointed to further hikes ahead. "Unfortunately, for motorists, we've now seen consecutive months with premium increases, which would suggest the trend is likely to continue. Motorists need to shop around," he added. "Contact a broker who has access to all markets in Ireland and also the UK, check their policy excesses as bigger excesses mean cheaper premiums. And accurately value the car. Remember, market value at the time of a claim is what counts."

Geraldine Herbert is Contributing Editor (Motoring) for The Sunday Independent; Editor of WheelsforWomen; Auto Ireland Motoring Correspondent; contributor to Irish Country Magazine, Good Housekeeping (UK), The Last Word on TodayFM, and Breakfast and Down to Business shows at Newstalk
2016 brings direct flights to Jamaica. Thomas Breathnach laps up the stereotypes and spontaneity of a Caribbean haven.

The modern traveller is meant to carry an open mind. But sometimes, nothing welcomes you to a destination like the first flash of a national stereotype.

As I touch down to a fireball sunset in Montego Bay, border officials welcome me with a melodic Creole lilt, a billboard of Usain Bolt festoons the arrivals hall, and Bob Marley's Buffalo Soldier is testing the subwoofer of my airport transfer. Nowhere seems to have trademarked relaxation quite like Jamaica, and with the Caribbean nation coming within direct reach of Ireland this year, I was set for a slice of the action.

No sooner has Marley reached his first middle eight, than my jovial driver, Jermaine, is briefing me with the local lowdown. First up is the holy trinity of the Jamaican patois. I learn that 'yeamon' means 'yes', that 'irre' means 'alright' and that the Jamaican linguistic panacea of 'no problem' seems to culturally translate to 'it'll be grand'.

At this point, I wasn't sure how the local lexicon spelled "tourism paddywhackery", but who was I to argue with the capital of cool - a country where strangers high-five you on the street, and business emails are signed off with "One Love"?

The second largest island in the Caribbean (roughly the size of Cork plus Kerry), Jamaica's tourist scene hubs around the resorts of Montego Bay, Ochio Rios and Negril. The vibe of all three generally mirrors their predominant clientele: a fun-worshipping demographic, zip-coded somewhere between Ontario and the Jersey Shore.

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With that, you can expect Margaritaville cocktail bars (think Starbucks for Pina Coladas), coconut-white beaches and luxury catamarans boarding a continuous cargo of booze-cruise chasers - not to mention full-moon parties, die-hard dolphin parks and Cool Runnings-themed toboggan rides.

I find my refuge in Negril's super-luxe Rockhouse Hotel (rockhouse.com; 100pps). Its dreamy cluster of luxury, straw-roofed villas sees me waking up feeling like I've won the reward challenge on Survivor. As a true Caribbean utopia, my own private pool ladder sinks into a cove of coral.

At Jamaica's most western point, sunsets offer stellar screensaver moments, and the vistas are even more dramatic off-shore at The Pelican Bar, an iconic watering hole set on stilts a mile out at sea. I arrive there with the aid of a local fisherman, while pelicans and frigate birds sail the skies like modern-day pterodactyls. Patrons are few, cocktails are mean and driftwood makes the perfect sun-lounger.

Another journey takes me upstream along the Martha Brae, an exotic riparian heaven best known for its river rafting. This isn't white-water country, however, but rather home to Jamaican-style gondoliers who row eco-romantics down the river's lush rainforest banks (jamaicarafting.com; $30pp).

I mount my bamboo vessel aided by one Mr Cee Walker, a salt-and-pepper bearded gent who welcomes me with a door-step smile.

"Oh you're Irish," he notes, before relaying the historical ties between our islands. It's said that up to 80,000 Irish slaves were shipped to Jamaica during the colonial age, and the Jamaican accent is said to be related to the Irish brogue - particularly that of Cork. With a little imagination, I could have been in a taxi to Shandon.

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While all Jamaican tourist activities deliver a craic-filled atmosphere, the national don't-worry-be-happy sentiment isn't likely to extend to your wallet. A widespread dual pricing system means most tourist attractions offer concessions for locals while hefty US Dollar rates apply to foreign tourists.

A tip? Bring a supply of Greenbacks if you plan on doing the circuit.

Beyond the turnstiles, Jamaica's Afro-Caribbean inspired cuisine is a huge draw. Fragrant goat curries, spicy jerk marinated chicken and cured salt-fish are just some of the highlights. For the best culinary buzz on the island, I strike for Stush in the Bush (stushinthebush.com), a Rastafarian organic restaurant set in the vulture-guarded hills overlooking Ochio Rios.

It calls for an inland detour via vibrant scenes of rural Jamaica: stray goats grazing amid hibiscus blooms, ramshackle tractors motoring through sugar cane plantations. As I pass a chapel in the village of Freehill, scores of churchgoers are cooling down around an ice-cream machine. Sundae service, Jamaican-style.

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Driving up the mountain roads, a dread-locked dude in a Bob Marley tee grinds up next to me in his Jeep. It's Chris Binns, who opened Stush in the Bush together with his wife Lisa. "We've created a piece of heaven up here," Binns explains.

Sublime sweet potato gratin, fresh banana flambe and clinking jam jars of divine rum concoctions follow. With real food, real conversation and real people, this rugged pocket of the island is the Caribbean haven at its best. The stereotypes are sunny, but it's when I turn a little away from them that I really find my Jamaican dream.

How to do it:

Prices with Falcon Holidays (falconholidays.ie) start from 1,589pps for the three-star Holiday Inn Resort in Montego Bay, while 2,809pps with Thomson (thomsonholidays.ie) will buy you the five-star Couples Tower Isle in Ochio Rios.

Both packages are all-inclusive, with flights on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and transfers included, and are based on a 14-night stay.

For more to see and do in Jamaica, see visitjamaica.com.

What to pack:

A water-resistant camera.

Considering much of your time in the Jamaica will most likely be spent snorkelling, diving or simply swimming to the pool bar, investing in plunge-proof tech will easily double your photo memories and undoubtedly add to your Snapchat cred.

For sweet options, Pixmania.ie offers a handy Nikon Coolpix for 89 while to capture even more action, entry level GoPros start from under 140.
After seven years of austerity, Irish shoppers are finally loosening the purse strings and updating their wardrobes.

Yet, for a growing number of us, braving the rain and traffic to trudge round a suburban shopping centre or high street seems unnecessary in an era where you can browse for clothes on a smartphone from the comfort of our sofa over a glass of wine or shop online at our desk at lunchtime - and still look busy.

While it may seem like the internet has won the sartorial shopping wars, many of the fashion-conscious among us are overwhelmed by the choice of attire online, by the prospect of entering our measurements or wary of ordering a dress only to send it back by post because it doesn't fit or suit us. Only half of Irish people purchased a product online last year, far below the UK average of 81pc, Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, reported last month.

Instead of exclusively shopping online, more of us are researching the new addition to our wardrobes on the internet, comparing prices, and walking through department stores and shops with smartphones or tablets to search for features or deals.

Small wonder that a growing number of retailers that emerged little scathed during the recession, including the upmarket Brown Thomas chain, are confident the future of shopping will be a mix between visiting bricks-and-mortar stores and online purchasing.

Brown Thomas, which has become adept at changing with the times since it first began as a haberdashery and drapers on Grafton Street in the 1840s, last week revealed it is undergoing a 10.5m revamp of its contemporary ladies fashion floor at its flagship Dublin store. The redesign will include a new cafe-bar, a less-is-more layout with just one item from each brand on show instead of railings of the same item in different sizes, bigger, more luxurious fitting rooms, and a space that may be used for fashion shows and exhibitions, all in a bid to tempt visitors to spend more time in the department store, managing director Stephen Sealey says.

The store, owned by Canadian businessman Galen Weston and his Irish wife Hilary, launched its first online trading website in 2013, starting off by selling 10 of its leading beauty brands, followed by selling handbags, shoes, clothing and homewares in 2014.

It now plans to unveil a new online, more smartphone-friendly platform in September, with options for customers to book time in the store to try on jeans and other garments.

While 70pc of Brown Thomas's designer brands are sold on its website and it expects online revenue for the fiscal year ending this month to have surged by about 140pc last year, the retailer's e-commerce website only accounts for 3pc of the chain's sales. This is primarily because its website acts like a virtual shop window for customers.

"This isn't a battle between online and store shopping - we think of it as one thing," Sealey says. "For us, having the product online is not necessarily about selling it online.

''We see very strongly that customers visit the website, look at the product - increasingly so on a mobile device - and will come into the store the next day to buy it.

"They might use our click-and-collect service for that and use their visit to town as a chance to do more shopping. What we are seeing is a convergence between the store and the online experience."

The revamp of the retailer's second floor comes on the heels of a 9.5m facelift of the accessories and beauty hall on the ground floor, a plan hatched during the depths of the recession in an effort to drive sales.

The new floor will be home to an eatery under a roof light to create a space for shoppers to meet and eat during the day or for a glass of wine after work. "It's all about creating a destination," Sealey says. "If you want the customer to get in their car and make the journey to you, then you need to offer them something special."

Brown Thomas's plans are a sure sign the digital economy is coming full circle, with the lines between online and offline becoming increasingly blurred.

For instance, Amazon.com, the world's biggest internet retailer, opened a physical bookstore in its hometown of Seattle in November as sales of Kindle, its e-reader, declined and feedback showed book lovers yearned for the immediacy and personal connection that comes from a physical shopping experience.

Brown Thomas isn't the only high-end fashion retailer that wants to sell us an experience rather than a mere shopping trip.

By boosting "dwell time", as it's known in the industry, shoppers are more likely to spend more time in a store, and therefore more inclined to buy something.

Burberry, the luxury fashion brand, opened an all-day cafe at its London flagship outlet last year, while Ralph Lauren opened Ralph's Coffee on the second floor of its Polo flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York in September.

Last summer, Gucci launched a bistro, Gucci Cafe, in its store in Shanghai's IAPM shopping centre.

Meanwhile, over in the Ginza district of Tokyo, customers can eat and drink at Bulgari, Chanel and Dunhill. When British menswear retailer Hackett London revamped its Regent Street flagship in October 2013, the new design included a gentlemen's club-style gin bar, and, at its concept store in Amsterdam, the cash desk doubles up as a bar.

Across the globe, there are 13 Armani restaurants and cafes, including one located inside its Munich store, as well as a Nobu restaurant housed in its Milan branch. There's even an Armani hotel in Dubai that occupies eight floors of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. In Ireland, the expanding Kildare Village offers services such as kennels for the dog-loving shopper.

John Murray, a lecturer in retail management at the Dublin Institute of Technology, says: "Crafting customer experiences are becoming more important for retailers.

"By offering food and other devices to keep you longer in the store, you can drive footfall and consumers may become more loyal to the store's brand."

Murray believes fashion retailers are increasingly becoming more like Ikea, albeit without the Swedish meatballs, flatpack furniture and couples squabbling over which bed to buy. "If you approach the concept of dwell time properly, you can achieve what Ikea did," he says.

"Ikea was meant to be a store where you spent 30 minutes. But now it's a destination where people spend two or three hours and don't resent Ikea for it because they're having a good time.

"By staying around and thinking about the product you want to buy, the retailer is breaking down any resistance to that purchase."
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Brendan OConnor Opinion The jig is up as Feis fixing has former winners like me reeling

As the holder of the Marie Cranny Perpetual cup for Extempore and Public Speaking (Under 15s) in Feis Maitiu in, of all years, 1984, I would like to use this platform to say this feis-fixing scandal has sullied my legacy, and that of all other holders of the cup down the years (you had to give it back at the end of the year).
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Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash

We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus.
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Eoghan Harris Opinion Misery media fails to give due credit to the Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheal Martin must drive his advisers mad. Unlike Leo Varadkar or Donald Trump, he never bigs up success stories such as the effect of Level 3 Plus on Covid or his visionary Shared Island project. Last Friday, Tony Holohan and RTE cheerleaders seemed to imply Level 5 was responsible for the improved Covid situation. Not so.
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New hospital for a tenner may come at too high a price

The Taoiseach is under a lot of pressure  the kind of pressure that leads to costly mistakes. It perhaps explains why he has been saying things that are not quite true. Micheal Martin is in a tight political corner. From all sides hes being told he has to get the contract signed for the new National Maternity Hospital.
News / Africa

by Staff Reporter

A Lusaka man who failed to get means of telling his wife that he was no longer interested on her decided to defecate and urinate on their matrimonial bed to frustrate his wife.Maureen Phiri, 37, of Libala South said her husband Charles Musonda, 46, of the same township would also shamelessly defecate in other rooms even where he knew their children could find the waste simply to frustrate her to move out of their matrimonial home.Phiri told the Lusaka Boma Court that problems in their marriage started when Musonda' s uncle offered him money for business on condition that he divorces his wife. The couple got married in 1997 and have three children together.Phiri was in court after her husband Musonda sued her for marriage reconciliation."His uncle asked him to leave me if he wanted his money. Unable to think of an excuse to end our marriage, he felt defecating and urinating in his trousers or our matrimonial bed in his sober state would convince me to leave him," she said.Phiri told Senior Court Magistrates Davies Mpundu and Miyanda Banda that Musonda succeeded in breaking their marriage with his behaviour because she could no longer tolerate it."I cannot be cleaning his dirty clothes or the beddings of a grown healthy man. For years, he hid the fact that he is HIV positive and was taking medication until I discovered when I tested positive. He used to tell me that the ARV drugs were merely immune boosters. I can't reconcile with such a man. In fact, I want a divorce," she said.But Musonda said problems in their marriage started in 2010 when he lost his job. He said Phiri lost respect for him as her husband and father of her children."She no longer cooks for me or does my laundry. She has also been denying me conjugal rights and has moved out of our matrimonial bedroom," he said.The court failed to reconcile the couple but advised both parties to sit down with their families in order to help solve their marital problems.
I was out doing fieldwork recently, preparing flood-risk maps. My new assistant got two surprises.

First she found it hard to understand why I looked so pleased about a playing field that was flooded half way up the goal mouth. I explained to her that she was looking at success.

A well-planned town puts land-uses such as sports, parks and parking into places that flood - while keeping homes and buildings on the higher, drier ground.

Her second surprise happened later, as we stood looking over a fence at a swollen little river two metres below us. I picked some green grass out of the fence at her elbow and explained that this was an easy way to estimate the maximum height of a recent flood. She was astonished to realise that such a small river could rise so far, so fast, flooding all the fields around us.

The biggest surprise of all is that we are surprised by floods. The first line of any book or lecture about flooding begins with the words 'a flood is a natural event'. Yet all too often we are surprised - and often unprepared.

How surprised are we? How prepared are we?

In the past two months Met Eireann tells us that December 2015 was one of the mildest on record in most areas and the wettest on record in parts of the West, South and Midlands. This deluge is estimated to have flooded around 250 homes - with a further 230 under threat. This is a terrible tragedy for these homeowners. There are few things worse than a flooded house - the water is not clean and everything needs replacement after a long wait for the drying out. It can feel even more depressing when your neighbours are flooded too, sympathy gets diluted pretty quickly.

But the hardship for these families and their communities must be put in perspective. We have around two million houses in Ireland, 250 of these flooded in the wettest winter on record. The BBC estimates that over 16,000 houses were flooded in the UK by the same weather - or four times more flooded homes per capita than Ireland! Perhaps we have started to get something right?

Many are convinced that every flood plain is built on. It is certainly true that some mistakes were made by modern developments. Aerial photographs of flooding almost always show the same results. The flooding is mostly affecting new developments at the urban edge while the old town sits high and dry in the middle. The newer developments were built in ignorance of floods that only happen every 100 years. Contrary to popular opinion, every town and county plan in Ireland is now subject to an intense technical examination before being adopted. Lands that flood cannot be zoned for buildings or developments that are vulnerable to flooding - or that could make flooding worse elsewhere. The assessment of flood risk is based on a huge exercise by the OPW to publish detailed maps of flood potential for every part of Ireland.

Actual floods are being monitored and measured and the results are confirming that these estimates are very accurate. This is where the next surprise comes from.

All over Ireland these maps are challenged, often very, very forcibly by landowners and representatives who fear that this information will devalue land and stymie development. Many complain the publication of these maps can make their house impossible to insure or sell.

It is not enough for laws to change, behaviour and attitudes have to change too. This often needs political leadership - involving the courage to face up to facts.

The 250 flooded houses are still 250 too many flooded houses and only a heart of stone would not want to help these families. Yet recent weeks have seen the emergence of flint realism with senior politicians beginning to say, for the first time, that some families may need to be relocated. This is the start of the acceptance of the inevitability of natural flooding. This is the start of the real cure.

But if the public purse is to bear this cost - it can only be done once. We must do nothing to encourage, or facilitate, this mistake reoccurring. Experience in many, many other countries strongly suggests that land-use planning will not succeed in preventing unwise building in flood plains. Flood planning has got to be reinforced by flood insurance rules.

This means that instead of adopting opposing roles - as seems to be happening currently - government agencies and the insurance industry need to work together. The aim of their work should be to provide long-term certainty, widely publicised, about where to avoid building because of flooding.

This may involve trading short-term pain by insurers paying claims for long term certainty that there will be little or no additional exposure to risk because of vigilance by planners. A further aim of working together would be to produce even more accurate flood maps - to avoid excessively 'broad-brush' risk assessment and weighting by insurance companies. In a short term this could lead to lower premiums for everyone - because of lower risk - and fewer people with 'uninsurable' homes.

To conclude, we are starting to make solid progress dealing with flooding.

We must certainly continue to do everything that we can to help our flooded fellow citizens, but we must not lose sight of the bigger aim of keeping people out of harm's way. This will involve combining good planning and smart, fair insurance - so that flooding will gradually change from being a tragedy to an unsurprising inconvenience.

Conor Skehan lectures on Rural Planning in DIT and is a disaster-risk adviser to the UN
In the 1916 commemorations, women are celebrated as the forgotten heroes of 1916. But there is another hidden history and it concerns women who loved women.

RTE's flagship 1916 drama, Rebellion, has its female leads in thrall to men. Some of the most radical relationships to emerge from that period were between women.

Kathleen Lynn, medical doctor and captain of the Irish Citizens Army, fought alongside Madeleine ffrench-Mullen during Easter week. They shared a prison cell when they were caught and lived together for decades afterwards.

Elizabeth O'Farrell and the woman considered to be her life partner, Julia Glenon, tended to the wounded on Moore Street as Padraig Pearse contemplated surrender. The women are interred together in the same grave in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Years later, O'Farrell's feet were famously doctored out of a photograph capturing Pearse's capitulation, "proof" of women's airbrushing from history.

They were radical women. The discreet veil drawn over their relationships conceals just how radical they were.

Mary McAuliffe, a historian at University College Dublin, says the role of lesbians during that period is "a hidden history". Like all hidden histories, it needs to be told.

"The story is about radical women making radical choices not just about politics, but about their personal lives," she said. "They shared their lives with women, they fought, they lived with, they worked with their life partners."

McAuliffe is writing a book on 77 women of the Rising to be launched on International Women's Day: "The more research I do, the more I am finding a significant minority of women who were making radical life choices, about being out there, being rebels, being social achievers. This is only the beginning."

Lynn and ffrench-Mullen were in their 30s when they met. She was the daughter of a Protestant clergyman and was a fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons when she became interested in suffrage and the "national movement".

Madeleine ffrench-Mullen was born in Malta to a Royal Navy surgeon. By the time she met Kathleen Lynn, she was a suffragist, a veteran of Maud Gonne's Inghinidhe na hEireann, and worked the soup kitchens in the 1913 lock-out.

In her account of the Rising years later, Lynn described their meeting: "After the Citizen Army was founded in 1913, I attended Liberty Hall and gave lectures in first aid and I also lectured to Cumann na mBan in 6 Harcourt St after its establishment. It was there I met Ms ffrench-Mullen, who became my closest friend. She lived with me for 30 years - until her death. She and I, with the help of others - mostly republicans - founded St Ultan's Hospital - Teach Ultain - for infants in 1919."

Imprisoned in Kilmainham after the Rising, Madeleine wrote in her diary how they agreed that "as long as we are left together, prison was somewhat bearable". They were later transferred to separate cells.

They worked together long after independence was achieved, at St Ultan's, the infants' hospital they founded, and lived together at Lynn's house in Belgrave Road, Rathmines.

There is unsurprisingly no historical record to prove that Lynn and ffrench-Mullen were lovers or that Elizabeth O'Farrell and Julia Glenon were. Such things were rarely committed to paper and to be homosexual at that time was criminal, at least for men.

Several women historians have found that the love is there, in the diaries of Kathleen Lynn and in the memories of their friends, such as one who recalled that "they had no use at all for men".

According to McAuliffe, Lynn's diaries are full of their "close connection" and their love for one another. "They talked about going in for an early morning swim, and then going back to bed afterwards to keep each other warm."

After Madeleine's death, Lynn writes at length about the "loss of her friend and partner".

More than a decade ago, Dr Katherine O'Donnell, director of the Women's Studies Centre in UCD, wrote that "20-century Ireland owes a lot to Irish lesbians", particularly the network of Dublin lesbians at that time.

She included Lynn and ffrench-Mullen, suffragists and revolutionaries; Helela Moloney, a former Abbey actress and rebel who also turned out for the Rising; and Julia Glenon and Elizabeth O'Farrell.

The latter were both nurses, they knew each other from their youth. They were among three women whom Pearse chose to stay behind with the leaders as the GPO fell in the last days and hours of rebellion.

Their gravestone was inscribed on Elizabeth's instructions and describes Julia as "her faithful comrade and lifelong friend".
Tetra Pak heir Hans Rausing could not be helped out of his drug problem even by addiction experts specialising in rich people, his sister has revealed.

Sigrid Rausing said her family had tried everything to help her brother - one of Britain's richest men - before his wife Eva died from cocaine abuse in 2012.

The billionaire - who has been plagued by drug addiction - hit the headlines after his wife was discovered in a fly-filled bedroom of their home in London's exclusive Belgravia, hidden under a pile of bedding.

His sister described the moment they found out about her death as "surreal" and a "huge shock", on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Ms Rausing, the granddaughter of Tetra Pak founder Ruben Rausing and the publisher of Granta Books, told presenter Kirsty Young she had a history of depression that had started in her late teens.

Her second bout of depression had been triggered by her brother coming to stay at her home in Islington, north London, when she was in her 20s.

She said: "Your life, your fate becomes entangled in somebody else's and, you know, I think that was very true for me and my brother.

"I was very entangled in his addiction. I ended up going myself as a family member to that same rehab."

Her brother exhausted attempts to help him with his drug problem.

She said: "We had the best people in the world. We went through all the addiction experts - American experts specialising in wealthy families.

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"I know that whole landscape so well, and what I can say about it is it doesn't help very much."

The philanthropist, whose charitable trust has given away around 230 million to human rights causes, said her interest in human rights had been sparked by hearing her parents talk about the Holocaust.

But she revealed that her grandparents had received kidnap threats for her and her siblings around the same time John Paul Getty III - son of billionaire philanthropist Sir Paul Getty - was kidnapped and held for ransom in the 1970s.

Her track choices included kd lang's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Chopin's Etude in C Major and The Last Goodbye by The Kills because it reminded her of Eva Rausing.

Tetra Pak is a leading food processing and packaging solutions company.
Star of the stage and TV Twink has described how her family is beyond consoling after her Knocklyon home was torn asunder by thieves.

The star, also known as Adele King, came home on Friday night to discover her bedroom four-feet deep in clothes ... Bags ...Rails ... Every drawer pulled out ... Trunks and dog beds torn asunder.

In a Facebook post this evening, the star appealed to the public to report any sign of her stolen wares if they resurface.

Every item of decent jewellery and masses of my beloved good quality costume jewellery ... that I have collected all over the world... All over the years ... in Turkish bazars...... trips out to the USA to Chloe....Gifts given by grateful promotors at the end of long successful runs .... All treasured ... So very appreciated ....and kept lovingly all this time ... Gone.

Expand Close The thieves tried to open Twink's unused safe by hosing it down in the bath. / Facebook

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The memories attached to all of them ... Gone forever.

Absolutely everything I own and love .... And worked hard for. Gone, she said.

In an impassioned post on Facebook, the star described her horror as she discovered her home was ransacked.

The beautiful little glass perfume bottles I got all over the Middle East whilst working there .....either taken or smashed.... An exquisite "cut glass "perfume bottle that my beloved Maureen Grant [ from Maureen's bar at the Olympia Theatre ) gave me for my 50th  Gone. Little Silver frames with my baby children in them, gone.

All my bags and wallets emptied .. ..contents all gone .. Cards ...money for the bills on Monday ... And the ..." good bags " and luggage with it.

I raced from room to room crying Jesus no .... Jesus no ... Not MORE theft  What in hell's name is going on ???

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Just 15 months ago, Twinks beloved dog Teddy was stolen but was found again after a massive media appeal.

Twink said she also had items stolen from her cake stall at Terenure market some time ago.

What is going on in our dear country ??? We are under attack from a myriad of gangs of ruthless thoughtless mindless thugs.

And to the scoffers and the cynics out there  You may be laughing at this tonight ....( Bless you )

But  Watch out ... You're probably next.

The star said she was told by gardai that there are up to ten burglaries a day occurring in the neighbouring Rathfarnham area.

The star ended her statement with a quote from Rudyard Kipling:

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster ...

And treat those two impostors just the same ...

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves ..

To make a trap for fools....

Or watch things you gave your life to .... Broken ...

And stoop ..

And build'em up

With worn out tools" ...!!!!!

( " Then you'll be a man my son ")
'The ethos for my collection is that I've never met a woman alive that's happy with what she's got," declares Mr de Lisi with characteristic frankness.

This is the man behind Kate Winslet's much loved one-shouldered red gown from the 2002 Oscars; still a red carpet favourite 14 years later. Having made the deliberate move away from high-end glamour to the cut and thrust of the high street, Ben's philosophy is to be: "not over done, at an affordable price and with good quality."

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The London-based New Yorker (pictured above) first came on our radar at Debenhams designing an occasion wear diffusion line, BDL, in the late 1990s. When the store invited him to design a new Principles line for it, he breathed life into a tired brand and it has turned into a major success story.

Originally inspired by Michelle Obama's modus operandi of mixing high street with designer pieces, Ben has established a sense of his 'woman' and the latest spring/summer 2016 pieces in his 'Principles by Ben de Lisi' collection are made in sizes 8-20 for maximum customer reach. He has also introduced a range for women of smaller stature and they too go up into double digit sizes.

"I try and be creative and do a beautiful collection which is quite timely and current. It references trends but it's not a victim to what's happening in the market.

"I think my customer, she is more about style than about trends. She is very savvy, she knows herself, she knows her body and she doesn't need her husband to go shopping. She makes her own decisions and I take that information and build it into a collection.

"If I do a dress with a strap, the strap is big enough to cover a bra. If I do a dress with a sleeve, it has to have a young approach to a dress with a sleeve because sometimes when you do dresses with sleeves, they become dowdy.

"I'm never frightened of colour because 'she' is not frightened of colour. I'm not sizeist so I cut from size eight to 20 because large women should look stylish as well.

"And that's also why we have a petite range because women of a shorter stature should have clothes that are proportionately cut to fit their bodies, not just something that is cut at the hem and shortened."

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Ben says there are so many women that are of a diminutive height and need a collection proportionally suited to their body type with key measurement zones factored in, from waist to the hip and from hip to the knee. "It's all about her, I'm basically driven by my customer and as a business man, that is a savvy way to approach it," says Ben who has does a homewares range for Debenhams, many pieces featuring an image of his beloved French bulldog, Ella.

Interestingly, when Ben was asked by the British health authorities to pick a project he wanted to redesign, he chose the hospital gown. But that's typical Ben - an advocate for making everyday life that little bit more stylish no matter what size you are.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are shadowing each other across eastern Iowa, eager to carve out any advantage in a race that's deadlocked with just over a week until the state's caucuses lead off the 2016 nominating contests.

The candidates' overlapping campaign schedules underscore the close eye the rivals are keeping on each other. They'll hold events in the towns of Clinton and Davenport within hours of each other Saturday, then continue circling each other as they work their way through the state's Democratic-leaning areas in the coming days.

Long the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Clinton is seeking to hold off a late surge from Sanders.

She's launched a fierce flurry of attacks on the Vermont senator, casting his domestic policy proposals as unrealistic and his foreign policy positions as naive.

"I hope that you will really pay attention to everything that's going on and figure out who can best do this really difficult job - it's both the president and the commander in chief - and who can do all aspects of this job," Clinton said during an event on Friday night in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Bernie Sanders has attracted liberal activists and young voters to his presidential campaign. Hillary Clinton dominates with elected Democratic politicians and party officials.

Sanders, meanwhile, has suggested that Clinton is the product of a political system that marginalises the middle class. He's been particularly biting in highlighting the high-dollar speaking fees she received from the same big Wall Street banks he wants to break up.

Both Clinton and Sanders plan to spend most of the coming week in Iowa, where voters caucus on February 1. Some of Clinton's high-profile Democratic surrogates will also be fanning out across the state, including Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats on Capitol Hill, has far less backing among the party establishment.

He's counting on strong support in Iowa in college towns and liberal strongholds, though he's making a late push in smaller cities and rural areas as well.

For Sanders, an upset victory in Iowa would put him in position to win both of the first two voting contests. He's consistently led in preference polls in New Hampshire, which borders his home state of Vermont.

Only one Democrat has ever won the nomination without winning at least one of the first two states - Bill Clinton during his 1992 White House run.
The Yorkshire Rows have passed the halfway stage in their Atlantic challenge

Four working mothers attempting to row 3000-miles across the Atlantic have revealed they are rowing naked after running out of clean clothes.

The Yorkshire Rows - four friends whose ages range from 45 to 51 - have passed the halfway mark in their challenge and now have less than 1,300 nautical miles to row until they reach the finish line in Antigua.

Niki Doeg, 45, Helen Butters, 45, Frances Davies, 47, and Janette Benaddi, 51, are one of 26 teams taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and are aiming to become the oldest all-women crew to row an ocean.

The team - who have faced a hurricane, attacks from flying fish and power failures - described their boat as being "like a nudist camp".

Writing in their blog, Mrs Benaddi, from Burn, North Yorkshire, said: "T hings are starting to get a little smelly. We have no clean clothes to wear (didn't bring much anyway), alas we are naked. It's good for our skin and also when waves hit we dry quick.

"It's like a nudist camp on this boat (of course we wouldn't know what that is like but can imagine)."

She added: " We have not washed our hair now for four weeks since leaving land. Personal hygiene consists of a wash down with baby wipes and application of surgical spirit to our behinds and hands after each shift and that's it."

During their month at sea, the women have encountered Hurricane Alex and suffered a power failure, which left them steering by hand, using a compass and manually converting sea water into drinking water.

Mrs Butters, from Cawood, North Yorkshire, suffered from seasickness and Ms Doeg, who celebrated her 45th birthday on the boat, developed an infected fingernail, a pressure sore and a bruised coccyx following a fall.

But they described rowing with a whale and a pod of dolphins as "amazing".

The women, each a mother-of-two, said it was hard being away from their families and thanked them for their support.

Mrs Butters, whose daughter Lucy celebrated her 16th birthday last week, said her aim was to be back home by the February half-term school holiday.

" We are all really happy to have passed the halfway mark and we are all still in really high spirits. We are basically just rowing, eating and sleeping. It is hard, especially not seeing our families, but we knew it was going to be tough," she said.

" We have all been inspired by each other, and are so much closer than we were before. We really can't wait to see our families in Antigua and are really going to appreciate things a bit more - I think in that sense it will change our lives."

The team are raising money to build a Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Leeds and for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

:: To donate to Maggie's go to www.justgiving.com/YorkshireRowsMaggies or text ROWS88 with an amount to 70070. To donate to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance go to www.justgiving.com/YorkshireRowsYAA or text ROWS91 with an amount to 70070.
Kim Jong-Il, the former leader of North Korea, planned to end the hereditary system of rule that handed power to his son Kim Jong-un, according to a new book by a top South Korean spy.

In a move that could have put the hermit nation on a radically different course, the elder Kim planned instead to create a 10 strong-committee to run the country instead, according to Ra Jong-yil, the former head of South Korea's national intelligence service.

Ra Jong-yil, who also served as Seoul's ambassador to both London and Tokyo, said Kim Jong-il's plan to end the hereditary succession was thwarted by a combination of his sudden death in December 2011, jostling for influence among the 10 chosen members of his committee - and the determination of Kim Jong-un to seize ultimate power.

"Even when he was still in good health, some of those close to Kim Jong-il suggested that he should name one of his children as his successor, but he brushed those suggestions aside. He said he most rational solution was a 10-strong leadership committee and for the Kim family to become the figurehead of the nation, a symbol and object of honour and respect but with no control over the day-to-day running of the country".

The proposal proved unworkable because those who were selected to serve on the committee "would not trust each other".

Kim Jong-un also put up a stronger-than-anticipated fight for power, which he believed he had the right to claim after his father's death.

"He fought hard", he said. "He had some very strong competition, including the brother of Kim Il-sung, the founder of the nation, his own step-mother, who was very powerful, and his step-brothers and sisters."

Mr Ra points out that no fewer than five of the seven men who walked in Kim Jong-il's funeral cortege have since been executed by his son.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
News / Education

by Staff Reported

Some parents who had enrolled their children at private colleges have withdrawn them after failing to afford the fees resulting in government schools being crowded.North Park Primary School in Mt Pleasant, Harare, is one such school where classes that were built to accommodate 35 pupils are now taking up to 60 students.A visit to the school showed that two classes of early childhood development (ECD) are sharing a hall.When the classrooms were constructed, the rooms were meant to accommodate between 30 to 35 pupils.But 2016 has come with its own challenges for the school as the learning environment has changed for the worse with the same classrooms are accommodating double the number.The number of children shot up after those who had enroled at private schools changed to government schools with the responsible ministry giving a directive that the children must not be turned away.Legislator for the area, Jason Passadi, said the solution lies in building more classroom blocks.The development comes at a time the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is beginning the implementation of a new curriculum.Infrastructure development and teacher capacity have been identified as critical if the new curriculum is to bear fruits.
Police investigate a house where two people were killed before a school shooting in Saskatchewan (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Police on Saturday charged a 17-year-old boy with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in an aboriginal community in western Canada, officials said.

Police said the male suspect cannot be named under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Grant St Germaine said nine people were shot in the school, two fatally - a teacher and a teacher's aide. He said seven people wounded in Friday's shooting at the school are in hospital.

Police said two brothers, 17-year-old Dayne Fountaine and 13-year-old Drayden, were shot dead in a home before the gunman headed to the grade 7-12 La Loche Community School.

The suspect was arrested at the school on Friday afternoon. Police said they were not aware of a motive and declined to say what type of gun he used.

The school is in the remote Dene aboriginal community of La Loche in Saskatchewan Province. La Loche is a community of less than 3,000 where just about everybody knows everybody else.

"This is a significant event for Canada," Mr St Germaine said. "It's a huge impact on the community of La Loche. It's a part of changing times. We are seeing more violence."

Shootings at schools or on university campuses are rare in Canada. However, the country's bloodiest mass shooting occurred on December 6 1989, at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique, when Marc Lepine entered a college classroom at the engineering school, separated the men from the women, told the men to leave and opened fire, killing 14 women before killing himself.

The educational assistant killed at the Saskatchewan school was identified as 21-year-old Marie Janvier. Deegan Park, her boyfriend of three years, said he would have given up the rest of his life just to spend another year with her.

"I grew up not a good guy, but she turned me right," Mr Park said. "She was that much of a great person to turn me right from all the wrongdoings I used to do. ... She was a fantastic person."

"I loved her, I really did," said Mr Park, who remembered her smile and how she would blush when she was happy.

Kevin Janvier said his daughter was an only child. "I'm just so sad," he said.

Ashton Lemaigre, a teacher at the school and friend of Ms Janvier, said she worked as a teacher's aide in his classroom. He said she was kind and patient with children and planned to get her teaching degree someday.

"The kids loved having her around," Mr Lemaigre said. "They would just come running to her. And she was just a friend to everybody."

A second victim was identified as Adam Wood, a new teacher at the school. His family in Ontario issued a statement describing him as an adventurer with a passion for life who made people laugh until their stomachs hurt.

"Adam had just begun his teaching career in La Loche last September and was enjoying his time," his family said. "He was always up for a good challenge and lived each day joyously."

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, called it "every parent's worst nightmare."
Weird, definitely weird.

High in the Swiss Alps in the achingly-hip ski resort of Davos, I was spinning discs at the World Economic Forum - the annual gathering of what some like to call the Oscars for world leaders, CEOs and very rich folk indeed.

In fact Davos is the highest town in Europe, and for one week a year this ski haven becomes the hottest place to be. Entirely important as the discussions are, it is the rather infamous parties that provoke most curiosity.

So, you have the likes of John Kerry, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, David Cameron and even newly-elected Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau rubbing shoulders with Bono, Kevin Spacey, Will.I.Am and Leonardo Di Caprio. It is both bizarre and intriguing.

What are they talking about? And more interestingly what are the parties like? Well one night Kevin Spacey was playing the piano in the bar deep into the wee small hours surrounded by squiffy senior bankers and some of the greatest intellects of the day.

I flew into Davos last Thursday to attend and DJ an event organised by BCG Digital Adventures, one of the top consultancy firms in the world, in the iconic Dome built especially for the forum.

Renowned photographer Kevin Abosch was also booked to take portraits of the guests. Kevin has taken pictures of everyone from Jonny Depp to Brian O'Driscoll. He is best known here in Ireland for the 'Faces of Ireland' campaign that decorated Terminal 2 of Dublin Airport.

Oh and there was a lot of cheese and a lot of good wine consumed by a whole lot of men. One of the most startling things about the forum in Davos was that I was one of very few women. Even on the plane over to Zurich from London I was surrounded by men in suits and could count the number of ladies on my fingers without even getting near to my toes.

Davos itself was no different. Apparently only one in five attendees is a women. The most powerful and richest people in the world are here. Where are all the women? We will never achieve gender equality unless everyone - girls, boys, women, men - are involved. Gender equality would be the "single biggest stimulus to the economy". That, in a nutshell, was actress Emma Watson's message in Davos, where she came to launch UN Women's new HeforShe website.

Women globally earn 24pc less than men for doing the same work, according to the UN - something that I think is very noticeable in most careers, including my own profession.

Watson, a UN Goodwill Ambassador, was interviewing 10 male CEOs on Thursday in Davos who have committed to advancing gender parity. Speaking to McKinsey CEO Dominic Barton about his company's latest findings on gender parity, she noted that full female participation in the workforce could increase GDP by $28 trillion within a decade, this backing up her comment "single biggest stimulus to the economy".

So why aren't we be being paid as much as our male counterparts and who is to blame? Well there isn't really any use in pointing fingers.

During the Sony debacle, Jennifer Lawrence famously said it wasn't the people who were paying her that were at fault, it was her own fault for not demanding she got the same as her male co-stars.

As women it's important to stand up for ourselves, and if we're being treated unfairly it's imperative we demand our equality just as much as those paying the cheques, be they male or female.
A senior diplomat stationed at the British embassy in Moscow has revealed for the first time how Alexander Litvinenko's assassins left a trail of polonium in the building.

Paul Knott, a former Foreign Office mandarin, said he oversaw a secret sweep of the embassy by a specialist radiation detection team after the two killers, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, made a surprise visit to protest their innocence.

The sweep found traces of polonium-210 used to kill Mr Litvinenko on chairs and a table where the two men sat down.

Radiation traces were also discovered on the shelf in the security room where Lugovoy had left his mobile phone before entering the embassy.

The discoveries helped to prove that Lugovoi and Kovtun were responsible for Mr Litvinenko's murder.

Mr Knott said he also uncovered evidence of state involvement in the assassination of Litvinenko, a former Russian agent who was a British citizen at the time of his death in November 2006.

Mr Knott said the Russian ministry of transport cancelled a flight from Moscow to London shortly after the embassy had informed the authorities that the aircraft would undergo a security inspection on landing in Britain.

It was thought the plane had been used by Lugovoy and Kovtun on one of their trips to London and the Met police wanted to test the aircraft to see if traces of polonium showed up.

An inquiry into Litvinenko's death concluded last week that he was killed by Lugovoy and Kovtun and that the murder was "probably approved" by Vladimir Putin.

Mr Litvinenko had accused the Russian president of sanctioning murders and of corruption.

Mr Knott said: "Soon after they were identified as the main suspects and for reasons we never fully understood, Lugovoi and Kovtun came in to the Embassy to proclaim their innocence.

"I was asked to organise a visit by a specialist radiation detection team. I had to guide them around the Embassy in the middle of the night to avoid alarming the majority of my colleagues.

"We found traces of radiation on the chairs the suspects had sat in and on the table where Lugovoi had placed his hands. There was even a trace in the slot in the security officers' room where Lugovoi had been required to deposit his mobile phone."

Mr Knott added: "I spent the next few weeks pretending to exasperated colleagues that I had lost the key to the meeting room whilst we worked out how to preserve the furniture for evidence and make sure the room was safe again for use."

He said an "early indication" that the men were being protected by the Kremlin came when the aircraft earmarked for a radiation check suddenly "developed technical problems" a few minutes before departure. "This incident reinforced our belief that the Russian authorities were implicated in Litvinenko's assassination," said Mr Knott, who has since retired from the Foreign office and can now speak openly about what happened.

His revelations will further strengthen calls for public inquiries into the suspicious death of Alexander Peripilichnyy, 44, who collapsed and died of unknown causes, at his 3m home in Weybridge, Surrey, and the death of Boris Berezovsky, who was found hanged at his rented house in Berkshire.

Mr Peripilichnyy, who died in 2012, had fled to the UK where he handed over documents exposing a multi million pound fraud by Russian state officials.

The Litvinenko inquiry report published last week disclosed how the Metropolitan Police had thwarted an alleged assassination attempt on Berezovsky in June 2007 when officers arrested and deported Movladi Atlangeriev, a Chechen with close links to the FSB, the Russian intelligence service, who had tried to set up a meeting with the oligarch and outspoken critic of Putin.

"If the intelligence that the police are said to have received about Mr Atlangeriev was true, this event is evidence that at very much the same time of Mr Litvinenko's death, the FSB was prepared to arrange the assassination of leading opponents of the Putin regime in London," said Sir Robert Owen, chairman of the Litvinenko Inquiry.

Nikolai Patrushev, the then-head of the FSB who Sir Robert concluded probably signed off on the operation to kill Alexander Litvinenko, reputedly valued Atlangeriev's services in Chechnya so much that he presented the crime boss with an engraved pistol. Atlangeriev, who was nicknamed "Lord" or "Lenin", was kidnapped in Moscow in 2008 and is widely believed to have been murdered.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
US Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against Islamic State in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

The latest round of Syria peace talks are planned to begin tomorrow in Geneva but were at risk of being delayed partly because of a dispute over who will comprise the opposition delegation.

Yesterday Syrian armed rebel groups said they held the Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of peace talks to end the country's civil war, even before negotiations were due to start.

"We know it would be better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared ... if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh," Mr Biden said at a news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Daesh is the pejorative Arabic acronym for Islamic State (Isil) insurgents who hold parts of Syria.

A US official later clarified that Biden was talking about a military solution to Islamic State, not Syria as a whole.

The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition ruled out even indirect negotiations unless Damascus took steps including a halt to Russian air strikes.

Mr Biden said he and Mr Davutoglu also discussed how the two NATO allies could further support Sunni Arab rebel forces fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States has sent dozens of special forces soldiers to help rebels fighting Isil in Syria although the troops are not intended for front-line combat.

Along with its allies Washington is also conducting air strikes against Isil militants who hold large chunks of Syria and Iraq, and supporting opposition fighters battling the group.

Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Kurdish political grouping in Syria, said on Friday the Syria peace talks would fail if Syrian Kurds are not represented.

While the US draws a distinction between PYD, whose fighters it supports, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, Mr Davutoglu reiterated the Turkish position that the PYD's military wing is part of and supported by the PKK.

The PYD's military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG) has seized swathes of Syria from Isil with the help of US-led strikes and declared it an autonomous administration, to Ankara's chagrin.

Davutoglu said yesterday the YPG had become an increasing threat to Turkey.

He also told reporters Ankara was prepared to strike at YPG in northern Syria.
BMW announces $1.7 billion investment to build all-electric vehicles

The $1.7 billion investment includes $700 million to build a high-voltage battery assembly plant with 300 new jobs in Woodruff.
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By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

A 21-year-old Clemson University student was killed in a one-vehicle accident early Sunday near Tri-County Technical College.

Samuel Joseph Cadden died of blunt force trauma at the scene of the accident, which happened about 2:45 a.m., Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said. Tri-County campus police found him inside a wrecked 2003 Jeep Liberty in a wooded area about 9:30 a.m., Shore said.

Cadden was fatally injured when the Jeep slammed into a tree, officials said.

Excessive speed and alcohol were factors in the accident, Shore said. He said Caddens blood-alcohol level exceeded the states legal limit of .08.

He shouldnt have been driving, Shore said.

Shore said a security camera on the Tri-County campus recorded the accident. The Jeep was headed toward Anderson on U.S. 76 when it went off the right side of the road. The Jeep then turned left and traveled across a grassy area and some bushes on the Tri-County campus before it went off the edge of another road and hit the tree.

South Carolina Highway Patrol Cpl. Bill Rhyne said Cadden was not wearing a seat belt. His body was pinned inside the Jeep, Rhyne said.

Cadden lived at 200 Kelly Road in Clemson, Shore said. His family lives in Richmond, Virginia. Caddens father declined to comment Sunday.

Clemson University spokeswoman Robin Denny said Cadden was a financial management major who was preparing to start his junior year. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, she said.

Tim Gattoni, president of the fraternitys Clemson chapter, issued a statement Sunday night mourning the loss of a great man and brother.

Cadden brought lots of joy and happiness to his friends and family, Gattoni said. He will be sorely missed by our fraternity brothers and the entire Clemson community.

Cadden was a graduate of Benedictine College Preparatory, a private, Roman Catholic military high school in Richmond. He also served on the finance council at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Clemson.

According to an online profile, Cadden was an intern this summer with The Terminus Group at Morgan Stanley in Atlanta.

He also served as an intern in the Clemson campaign office for Sen. Lindsey Graham from January to June 2014.

He was just the sweetest guy. His smile could light up a room, said Julie Beeks, who ran Grahams Clemson campaign office. He was by far one of the hardest-working interns I ever had.

Caddens death was the weekends second traffic fatality in Anderson County. On Saturday, 76-year-old Eunice Spooner of Athens, Georgia, died after a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 85.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
News / Local

by Thobekile Zhou

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday evening snubbed Bulawayo journalists as he failed to show up at the press club.Tsvangirai, through Bulawayo East MP Tabitha Khumalo confirmed his attendance at 6pm.Scores of journalists, security agents and MDC-T activists had gathered at Royal Hotel but after two hours of patiently waiting they disbursed.Press club officials had a torrid time phoning Tsvangirai's handlers who constantly shifted goal-posts with Provincial chairman Gift Banda denying that Tsvangirai agreed to show up.Banda said rival Khumalo sold a dummy to journalists.The media crew condemned Tsvangirai's actions."This utter nonsense. The man show disrespect for Bulawayo journalists. We wonder if he dare do that in Harare,?" asked one reporter.
If you think that lives of beauty pageant winners are quite jazzy and dreamy, well no! Sometimes, even after winning the crown, they end up losing it all. Don't believe us? Well here are beauty queens who couldn't handle their victory well and ended up in some major soups. Have a look.

1. Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin

Foxnews

competed in the 2012 Miss USA Presentation Show held in Las Vegas where she resigned her crown claiming the contest was rigged.

2. Miss Las Cruces Sarah J. Richardson

illinoisduilawyer.wordpress

She was accused of DUI in December 2012 after she allegedly slammed her car into a light pole causing a power outage for hundreds of homes in Las Cruces, N.M.

3. Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner

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was caught partying too hard in the year after being crowned. Corner also tested positive for Cocaine and was seen publicly Miss Teen USA 2006 Katie Blair. Corner was dethroned on the condition that she entered rehab.

4. Miss Teen USA 2006 Katie Blair

Wikipedia

She lived with Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner in the year after her win in a Trump Place apartment in New York and allegedly leaked stories of their drinking and drug use, prompting the group Mother Against Drunk Driving to fire her as a spokesperson.

5. Laura Zuniga

Huffington Post

was crowned Miss Sinaloa 2008 at the Pacific resort city Mazatlan, Mexico, July 2, 2008. She was arrested at a military checkpoint, just outside the city of Guadalajara, after she was found riding with suspected gang members in a truck filled with weapons and cash

6. The 2008 beauty queen of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, Laura Zuniga, center, is shown to the press with other unidentified suspects after she was detained with guns and large amounts of cash in the city of Zapopan, Mexico, Tuesday.

TOI

Zuniga was arrested after she was found riding with suspected gang members in a truck filled with weapons and some $53,300 in U.S. currency.

7. Miss USA Rima Fakih

Zimbio.com

This miss Universe 2010 contestant was arrested for drunk driving in Highland Park, Michigan, on december 3,2011. She was convicted and sentenced to 6 months of probation, $600 fine and 20 hours of community service on May 9, 2012.

8. Kumari Fulbright

Weaponsman

She was indicated with three men on December 18,2007 by a Pima County Superior Court grand jury on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated robbery and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Fubright, was Miss Pima County in 2005 and Miss Desert Sun in 2006, and sought the title of Miss Arizona during those years.

(Originally published in TOI)
Social media is often cruel and judgmental but at times, it can turn into a blessing. Remember Chennai floods and how Siddharth and RJ Balaji used Twitter to help people stuck in the flood-stuck areas? Well, Twitter is surely powerful.

Rollingstone.com

Another example is right here. Recently, Hulk star Mark Ruffalo lost his belongings in New York and Twitter came in handy for him in tracing his essential belonging that consisted of his phone, wallet and a couple of important documents. All thanks to the micro-blogging site that the missing stuff was found in no time.

Here's the first tweet that was posted by Ruffalo.

APB out for a cell phone in a wallet case out on the streets of NYC in a blizzard. My drivers license is in there. Reward and signed pic.  Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 23, 2016

Wow, thanks for all the tips and help for my lost phone really appreciated.  Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 23, 2016

OMG It was just found! That was freaking fast. Thanks for helping me find it!!  Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 23, 2016

And Mark posted the cutest selfie with Amenaide and Catherine Brown after they managed to trace down Ruffalo's missing stuff!

Thank Amenaide and Catherine Brown for finding my Phone and wallet! Thanks Brown family for your decency. pic.twitter.com/CJfcZz5gfj  Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 23, 2016

Lesson for life? Never underestimate the power of social media! Never. :)
As a qualified engineer, who graduated during the end-days of recession, I do understand the problems faced by my fellow brethren of the B. Tech (or B. E.) clan. But I also have to agree that the quality of an engineer does differ from institution to institution and state-wise too.

This was surely bound to happen in a country where engineers have truly become dime-a-dozen and for every major hiring spree we have a counter jobless phenomenon which is almost 95 times the hiring spree.

There seems to be a significant skill gap in the country as 80% of the engineering graduates are "unemployable," says a report, highlighting the need for an upgraded education and training system.

Educational institutions train millions of youngsters but corporates often complain that they do not get the necessary skill and talent required for a job.

According to Aspiring Minds National Employability Report, which is based on a study of more than 1,50,000 engineering students who graduated in 2015 from over 650 colleges, 80% of the them are unemployable.

"Engineering has become the de-facto graduate degree for a large chunk of students today. However, along with improving the education standards, it is quintessential that we evolve our undergraduate programmes to make them more job centric," Aspiring Minds CTO Varun Aggarwal said.

In terms of cities, Delhi continues to produce the highest number of employable engineers, followed by Bengaluru and the western parts of the country, the report said.

Kerala and Odisha entered the top 25 percentile list of most employable states while Punjab and Uttarakhand dropped to the 2nd and 3rd quartile, it added.

The study of employability by gender reveals a healthy trend, almost equal amongst males and females. This makes each role devoid of any gender-bias.

However, roles like sales engineer, non-IT, associate ITeS or BPO and content developer report slightly higher employability of females, it said.

Interestingly, the report said that unlike popular notion, tier-III cities too produce a share of employable engineers and should not be neglected from a recruitment perspective.

"These candidates could also possibly fill the entry-level hiring needs of several IT services companies," it said.
The Netaji files declassified by the Centre on his 119th birth anniversary offer no new surprise, neither do they shed light on his disappearance. But over the years the tantalizing mixture of evidence and myth has kept the mystery alive. We bring you nuggets from documents already in the public domain to show why many don't believe Netaji died in an air crash.

1. Was Netaji, Alive after 1945!

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Purported Netaji message on December 26, 1945.

"I am at present under the shelter of a great world power. My heart is burning for India. I will go to India on the crest of a Third World War. The Third World War is coming soon. It may come in 10 years or even earlier... I will sit in judgment over those who are trying my men at Red Fort."

Purported Netaji message on Jan 1, 1946.

"I am giving a very short speech about the Indian nation week to India for my brothers and sisters in India. We must get freedom within two years. The British imperialism is broken down and it must concede Independence to India. India will not be free by non-violence. But I am quite respectful of M K Gandhi...'

Purported Netaji message in Feb 1946.

"This is Subhas Chandra Bose speaking, Jai Hind. It is for the third time I am addressing my Indian brothers and sisters after Japan's surrender."

Were the radio broadcasts truly from Netaji? Or an imposter keeping the myth alive. It does leave the mystery open-ended.



2. Did Netaji move to Russia?

"Another piece of intelligence which connects Bose with NW Frontier is a letter written by the President of the Frontier Students Congress that Bose was in TT and that the writer was going there himself. The date of the letter was not stated in the report. The information received from internal sources is puzzling and the same can be said about external information. On the 7th of January, the Russian paper Pravda denied in strong terms that Bose was in Russia. Before then, however, the Ghilzai Malang had been coupling a live Bose with Russia and in December, a report said that the governor of the Afghan province of Khost had been informed by the Russian ambassador in Kabul that there were many Congress refugees in Moscow and Bose was included in their number. There is little reason for such persons to bring Bose into fabricated stories. At the same time, the view that the Russian officials are disclosing or alleging that Bose is in Moscow is supplied in a report received from Tehran. This states that Moradoff, the Russian vice-consul general, disclosed in March that Bose was in Russia where he was secretly organizing a group of Russians and Indians to work on the same lines as the INA for the freedom of India...

"There is, however, a secret report which says that Nehru received a letter from Bose saying he was in Russia and that he wanted to escape to India. He would come via Chitral (Kashmir) where one of Sarat Bose's sons should meet him. The information alleges that Gandhi and Sarat Bose are among those who are aware of this. The story is unlikely but the point has to be noted that if the story has any foundation in fact, it is probable that the letter from Bose arrived about the time Gandhi made his public statement. In January also, Sarat Bose is reported to have said he was convinced that his brother was alive."

The report shows that foreign intelligence agencies were constantly trying to track Bose well after his alleged death

3. Did Netaji plan to attack India or at least act against our government?

toi

Letter from Gandhiji's secretary Khurshed Naoroji to Louis Fischer on July 22, 1946, at Princeton University, US, which contains a reference to Bose and was JMCI exhibit no. 228

"At heart, the Indian Army is sympathetic with the Indian National Army. If Bose comes with the help of Russia, neither Gandhiji, nor Congress, will be able to reason with the country. Also, if Russia for propaganda purposes declares itself an Asiatic country, then there is no hope of any European alliance acceptable to India."

The reference to Bose and his 'return to India' indicates the writer's knowledge about Netaji's possible presence in Russia

4. Did Indian Government consider him an enemy? Sell him out?

Update: This point is being extensively debated- including the authenticity of the letter.

Letter from ex-MLA Prof Atul Sen to Jawaharlal Nehru on August 28, 1962, and Nehru's reply on August 31, 1962

Atul Sen wrote: "I take the liberty of addressing these few lines to you in the matter of the widely prevalent belief that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is not dead. Mine is not mere belief but actual knowledge that Netaji is alive and is engaged in spiritual practice somewhere in India. Not the sadhu of Shoulmari, Cooch Behar, in West Bengal about whom some Calcutta politicians are making a fuss. I deliberately make the location a little vague because from the talks I had with him for months together not very long ago, I could understand that he is yet regarded as Enemy No.1 of the Allied Powers, and that there is a secret protocol that binds the government of India to deliver him to Allied 'justice' if found alive." In reply, Nehru wrote: "I have never heard about any secret protocol about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Certainly, the government of India has not bound themselves to any such thing. Even if any country asks the government of India to hand him over, it is not going to be agreed to."

Nehru did not say that Bose had died in a plane crash. Nor did he say Bose was not a war criminal or comment on Netaji's presence in India

5. Did Netaji Return To India later?

TOI

CIA document on Netaji's 'existence in India'

On February 20, 1946, at approximately 1345 hours... was interviewed... related a story concerning the possible return of one Subash (or Subhas) Chandra Bose. This individual is a former disposed president of the Indian National Congress 1938-39 and is believed to have died in an airplane crash after the war. However, there now exists a strong possibility that Bose is leading the rebellious group undermining the current Nehru government."

US Intelligence reports points to the interrogation of an individual who knew about Netaji being alive and in India.
A piece of suspected plane wreckage has been found off the coast of southern Thailand, a local official said on Saturday, prompting speculation it might belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished nearly two years ago.

Image Credit: STR/EPA

A large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, where villagers reported it to the authorities to help identify it, Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district, told Reuters.

"Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2 meters wide and 3 meters long (6.6 by 9.8 feet)," he said.

The find has fueled speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.

There has been no official confirmation that the wreckage belongs to a plane. And Patthikongpan added that "fishermen said it could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging from barnacles on it."

Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course. Most of the passengers were Chinese. Beijing said it was following developments closely.

Lingering uncertainty surrounding the fate of the plane has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery.
Follow us on indo france join hands for smart city make in india sign 16 mous

Chandigarh: An agreement between Airbus Group and Mahindra for manufacture of helicopters and three MoUs under the 'Smart City' theme were among the 16 pacts signed between India and France here today.

The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), which cover a wide range of sectors like urban development, urban transport, water and waste treatment and solar energy, were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit from here today.

As part of 'Make in India' initiative, an agreement was signed between Airbus Group and Mahindra to manufacture helicopters here.

From the French side, the agreement for "cooperation" to manufacture the helicopters was signed by Pieree De Bausset, President and Managing Direcor Airbus Group India, while from the Indian side, it was inked by Prakash Shukla, the Group President of Mahindra Aerospace.

Besides, three MoUs were signed under the 'Smart city' theme for city-specific urban development between French Development Agency (AFD) with the state governments for the cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

The aim of the MoUs is to provide specific technical assistance on urban development experts from the French government's programme.

Urban Development Experts from the French public sector will be based in each city, CII President Sumit Mazumder said on the occassion.

Under the MoU, expert in the fields of urban transport, water and waste treatment, solar energy, urban planning and architecture and heritage they will assist the three cities with their smart city development plans.

A joint Venture between Indian SITAC group and EDF Energie Nouvelles was signed to acquire 50 per cent stake in its renewable energy business in Gujarat.

This JV investment is worth 155 Million Euros in 2016 and would generate 142 MW power. Its objective is to produce one gigawatts wind energy in five years period.

A letter of intent between CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and CG (Crompton Greaves) was also signed during the business summit.

Both the companies wished to explore opportunities of collaborations in Solar PV with storage function for Indian airports.

The final goal of the collaboration for CG is to set up manufacturing facilities using its infrastructure and expertise in India and technology knowhow of CEA, which is a center for technological research in new energy and storage technologies.

Another Letter of Intent was signed between CEA and Green Ventures. The CEA will work on off grid solar photovoltaic projects in the Indian rural areas with the aim to deliver tangible climate change benefits.

Besides, nine French companies signed MoUs with Engineering Projects India (EPI) Ltd, a public sector company fully owned by the government of India.

The French companies are Alstom Transport, CAN, Dassault, EDF Energies Nouvelles, Egis, Lumiplan, Pomagalski, Schneider Electric and Thales.

The MoUs between the nine companies and the EPI are in the field of new and cutting edge French technologies for smart and sustainable cities.

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Follow us on tvs launches apache rtr 200 4v and 2016 victor at rs. 88 990 and rs. 49 490 respectively

New Delhi: TVS motors have welcomed the new year with a bang. The company has finally launched its highly awaited and most powerful motorcycle of RTR series, the Apache RTR 200 4V along with the all new TVS Victor with the starting price of Rs. 88,990 and 49,490 respectively.

The bike is available in three variants. The carbureted version of the motorcycle is priced at Rs. 88,990 (ex-showroom, Chennai), the fuel injection variant costs Rs. 1.07 lac (ex-showroom, Chennai) while the price of ABS & Pirelli tyres equipped model is Rs. 1.15 lac (ex-showroom, Chennai).

Powering of the motorcycle is done via 197.75cc, single cylinder 4-valve, oil-cooled engine that is coupled to a 5-speed gearbox.

This smooth fuel injected powertrain produces 20.7bhp of power at 8,500rpm and maximum torque of 18.1Nm at 7,500rpm, while the carbureted powerplant generates 20.2bhp of power.

The bike takes 3.9 seconds to reach 0-60kmph and has the ability to achieve a top speed of 130kmph.

Built on a double cradle synchro STIFF frame, the bike gets telescopic forks up front and KYB mono shock absorber at the rear end.

The braking is responsible to a 270mm disc at the front and 240mm disc at the rear.

The bike runs on Remora 90/90-17 R17 at the front and 130/70 R17 rear tyres that come mounted over 10-spoke alloys. It also gets Pirelli rubber in the premium trim along with dual-channel ABS.

On the other hand, Indian motorcycle manufacturer also launched the 2016 TVS Victor at Rs. 49,490 (ex-showroom, Chennai) for the base trim and Rs. 51,490 (ex-showroom) for the disc brake variant.

This is the first 110cc motorcycle in India to get a 3-valve engine. The bike comes equipped with 109.7cc single-cylinder, 3-valve engine that is mated to a 4-speed constant mesh transmission.

Its smooth powertrain is tuned to produce 9.6PS of power at 7,500rpm and 9.4Nm at 6,000rpm.

Built on a single cradle tubular frame, the bike has telescopic oil dampened suspension up front and 5-step hydraulic series suspension at the rear.

It not just offers the better power and performance, but also wins over competitors in terms of drivability and comfort.

TVS Victor was first launched in the year 2001, but was discontinued in the year 2007 due to lack of demand.

Now with the new version, it is all set to begin a new innings. The bike will be placed above TVS Star City Plus in the line-up.

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Follow us on bigg boss 9 winner prince narula talks about his bb journey and doing films with salman khan

New Delhi: The TV reality show Bigg Boss 9 ended on Saturday with Prince Narula emerging as the winner. He walked away with the trophy and Rs 35 lakh presented by host Salman Khan.

With sheer determination and tireless grit, Prince reached to the pinnacle defeating other strong contenders on the show. He celebrated the joyous moment of victory in the presence of fellow contestants, family members and friends.

Chandigarh-based Prince, a model from Delhi has made a hat trick of winning the reality show with Bigg Boss 9. His earlier win includes MTV Roadies X2 and MTV Splitsvilla 8.

After celebrating his win, Prince also gave a candid interview to a news channel. Here are some excerpts from it.

When asked if he was over-confident of his win, the newly crowned winner of Bigg Boss 9 said, I was not over-confident about my win. I knew that only hard work can take a person ahead in life and so I gave everything to the show. On the premiere night when I was getting rejected by everyone, I made it clear, I will win the show. Because of my past shows (Roadies and Splitsvilla) I knew the youth was connected to me. I just needed to work hard. I did that and they voted for me. I am thankful to God and fans that they made it possible.

Talking about the winning moment Prince said, I was very nervous. Salman sir was pulling my leg. I trusted my hard work and felt that I have high chances of winning. I just stood there. I waited for the moment when Salman sir lifted my hand

Prince Narula's journey in Bigg Boss was not a cake walk, as was underestimated by fellow contestants at the Bigg Boss 9 premiere. But he changed everyone's perception with his strong will and went on to win the show.

Bigg Boss 9: Prince Narula wins Salman Khan's show, is India's new reality king'

During the BB9 premiere night, when everyone was rejecting me, I got agitated as I felt how could they judge someone beforehand. I decided to teach them a lesson, then. However, after entering the house all that vanished and I promised myself that I will change their perception. I will win everyone's heart. Then, by second week, when they saw my behaviour and passion towards the tasks, I started gaining support. I got many advantages in the house. I was nominated only thrice, and the only one to become a captain thrice, said Prince while explaining his journey inside Bigg Boss house.

Salman Khan is the biggest factor about this reality show Bigg Boss 9. Even Prince couldn't left from being bitten by his charm and said that he wants to work with the superstar.

Like everyone else, even I want to share screen space with him. He gives work to everyone. But I believe in achieving things by working hard. If someday he feels that my hard work is worthy enough, I might work with him, said Prince.

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Follow us on bigg boss 9 winner prince narula donates rs 5 lakh from prize money to salman khan s being human

New Delhi: Prince Narula, the winner of reality show Bigg Boss 9, has donated Rs 5 lakh from the wining amount of Rs 35 lakh to Salman Khan's charity organization Being Human'.

Prince announced this noble decision after wining the prestigious trophy at the gala event on Saturday night.

I have won Rs.35 lakh, out of which I have donated Rs.5 lakh to Salman sir's Being Human. The rest I'll give to my father and let him decide what he wants to do with the money," he told IANS.

During the interview, Prince also praised Salman Khan as the host of Bigg Boss and credited him for his big win.

He said, I don't think there can be a better host than Salman Khan for Bigg Boss. He guides and treats everyone equally. I owe my win to Salman sir. Whenever I went wrong he guided me and whenever I did something right, he appreciated me. Like the entire world, I also love Salman Khan.

Prince was competing in the grand finale against wildcard entrant Rishabh Sinha, who was announced as the first runner-up, actress Mandana Karimi, who became the second runner-up and model Rochelle Rao.

He walked away with the Bigg Boss trophy and Rs 35 lakh cheque, after Salman Khan announced him as the winner in the Grand Finale episode on Saturday night.

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Follow us on britain s ww ii war criminals list doesn t have netaji s name

Kolkata: Documents in the external affairs ministry that were declassified on Saturday reveal that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's name did not figure in the "list of war criminals" drawn by Britain after the Second World War.

Following queries by the external affairs ministry through the Indian High Commission in London, Britain's ministry of defence in its reply in December 1998 had specified that it could find no evidence indicating that the British government treated Netaji as a war criminal.

"With reference to the specific question as to whether Subhas Chandra Bose's name was included by the UK in its list of war criminals drawn up after the Second World War, I have been unable to find any evidence that any such action was taken by the United Kingdom," read a letter from J.J. Harding of Britain's ministry of defence.

Following a petition by Kolkata-based advocate Rudra Jyoti Bhattacharjee before the Calcutta High Court enquiring if Netaji's name featured in such a list, as well as the matter being also raised in the Lok Sabha, the Indian authorities had made several enquiries with their British counterparts in 1998 and then again in 2000.

In its reply, the Imperial War Museum had quoted Nigel Jarvis, a historian at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to claim that the list of war criminals was drawn up only for German and Japanese nationals and not Indians.

"Jarvis informed me that Netaji Bose's name was never on the list of war criminals because he was regarded as a traitor and a political figure, not as a war criminal. Even if he had been on any such list, his name would have been removed following his death shortly after the Second World War," Peter Simkins of the Imperial War Museum said in his reply to the Indian High Commission in 1998.

"Jarvis also told me that this same question has been raised several times before and that in the past official answers have normally been supplied either by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or by the Army Historical Branch of the ministry of defence. Jarvis also confirms that there was no list of war criminals for Indian nationals, such a list existed only for Japanese and German nationals," says the letter by Simkins.



In 2015, Bengaluru-based journalist Choodamani Nagendra had sought information under the RTI about the status of Netaji as a war criminal. But the ministry of external affairs refused to give such information.

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News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Harare Residents Trust has questioned the authenticity of the Zimbabwe China deals which were signed in 2010 in which the money involved was expected to assist the government in its developmental project amid revelations there was alarming water problems faced by the city of Harare."In 2010, China and Zimbabwe signed a Memorandum of Understanding for financing projects between the two. Officials from the Ministry of Finance, representatives from China's Eximbank and Sinosure signed the agreement. Sinosure was to provide insurance cover for loans for projects supported by the Eximbank," said the trust. "On March 21, 2011 the former Zimbabwean Vice President Joice Mujuru signed a $144 million USD loan agreement for the development and rehabilitation of water works and sewers in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Projects under the loan included construction of 3 new dams, an additional water treatment plant, and refurbishment of existing facilities such as Prince Edward and Morton Jaffray which would increase output to 7-5 megalitres per day."The trust said now the question is where are the three dams,additional water treatment plant?
Follow us on isis preparing teen suicide bombers to target pm modi report

New Delhi: Intelligence agencies have warned that terror groups including Islamic State may be preparing child squads to carry out a fidayeen attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi this Republic Day.

According to Times of India, militant groups are providing weapons and explosives training to boys aged 12-15 to target the Prime Minister. The alert was issued on Friday and circulated among SPG, police and intelligence units in NCR.

Following this alert, the Special Protection Group (SPG), responsible for PM's security, has deployed additional security forces around Modi and urged him not to breach the security cordon.

NSA Ajit Doval have also asked the Prime Minister not to breach the security this Republic Day as he did during Independence Day celebrations last year to interact with children at the Red Fort.

The security agencies, on the other hand, have directed Special Cell of Delhi Police to carry out search operations and keep a watch for possible suspects on R-Day.

Recently, ISIS had released a video on social media showing the indoctrination and training of child 'soldiers'. Also, the militant groups based in PoK and Af-Pak have children in their camps.

The French foreign intelligence unit, directorate general of external security and Indian agencies, assisted by CIA, are on high alert as this Republic Day, the security threat has been on an all-time high.

Earlier this week, Indian agencies have arrested over 20 ISIS operatives on the leads provided by CIA.

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Follow us on my protest against intolerance continues says writer nayantara sahgal

Kolkata: Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal, who has refused to accept her literary award back, today wrote to the Sahitya Akademi saying her protest against intolerance continues.

"Let me make it clear that I have in no way 'reconsidered' my decision. My protest and that of other writers continues against the continuing attacks on freedom of expression," Sahgal said in a letter to the secretary of the Akademi.

She reminded the literature body that she had returned the award in protest against the "Akademi's silence over the murder of the Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and earlier of Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare in Maharashtra".

She said it is the literature body which seems to have done some reconsidering since its letter says that the Akademi has no policy of accepting returned awards.

"It is a pity that the Akademi has taken so many months to make this statement of policy. The cheque I sent you in October is in any case no longer valid," the letter reads.

She said if they are returning the now invalid cheque the decision was their's and not hers.

Latest India News
Follow us on ashes in renkoji temple was of netaji says declassified files

New Delhi: Manmohan Singh government in 2006 had accepted that ashes in Renkoji Temple in Japan were those of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

It even instructed Indian ambassador to work out modalities to shift the mortal remains of the freedom fighter to newly constructed building of Indian Embassy there when the temple's priest indicated that the remains of Netaji could not be preserved with respect, according to the declassified files on Netaji, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday.

The points were made in a reply by Ministry of External Affairs to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who instructed the ministry to examine the issue of bringing back the last remains of Bose, it showed.

Singh had asked the MEA to examine the issue after he received a representation on December 7, 2006 from Subrata Bose, then Lok Sabha MP, who had stated that "countless Indians" were of the firm view that ashes in the Japanese temple were "not those of Netaji" and any decision of the government to take over the remains of Netaji from temple would be opposed "tooth and nail".

In its reply, Ministry of External Affairs had said that the Government of India has accepted that the ashes in the Renkoji Temple are those of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.

"The Head Priest of the Renkoji Temple has indicated that he may no longer be in a position to ensure preservations of the remains with due respect and honour. "EAM has decided in principle that the remains of Netaji will be relocated to a suitable place in a new building of the Indian Embassy being constructed in Tokyo," the External Affairs Ministry pointed out.

It also said "Ambassador of India has been instructed to work out appropriate modalities for shifting the remains to the newly constructed building."

Ministry of External Affairs, which was under pressure from the Japanese government and the temple authorities, had not only reminded the Singh's government but earlier as well about the issue of bringing back the ashes of Netaji.

Latest India News
Follow us on rafale jet deal on right track francois hollande

New Delhi: French President Francois Hollande has indicated that the nearly Rs 60,000-crore Rafale jets deal is unlikely to be signed during his current visit although it is on the 'right track'.

In an interview to PTI ahead of his three-day visit to India, Hollande said that "the Rafale is a major project for India and France" that would "pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation" for the next four decades.

"The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years. Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track", Hollande said.

India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April last year during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore. A high-level team from France is in Delhi to carrying out last minute negotiations.

The invitation for Hollande to be the chief guest at Tuesday's Republic Day celebrations had raised hopes that the long drawn-out deal to buy the jets would finally be nailed down.

India justified in asking Pak to book Pathankot perpetrators: Hollande

Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said India is 'fully justified in asking Pakistan for justice against the perpetrators of the Pathankot' terror attack earlier this month.

"France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators," the French president said.

Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination', Hollande said India and France are 'united in their determination to act together against terrorism'.

"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism", the French President said.

With PTI Inputs

Latest India News
Follow us on tn 3 medical students found dead in a well blame college in suicide note

Chennai: Three female medical students in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram were found dead in a well on Saturday late evening.

According to police, all the 3 are second year students of SVS Medical College of Yoga and Naturopathy and Research Institute.

They jumped into a well near the college premises and held the college management responsible for their suicide in the suicide note, police said.

Police also said that the students had been protesting for more than a month over the lack of infrastructure, but it was only in the last two weeks, that the protest had turned vigorous.

Meanwhile, the police arrested the son of Institute Chairman, Shokkar Verma and have started an investigation in this matter.

Latest India News
Follow us on donald trump says he could shoot people and not lose voters

Sioux Center: Donald Trump is so confident about the loyalty of his supporters that he predicted Saturday they would stick with him even if he shot someone.

The Republican presidential front-runner bashed conservative commentator Glenn Beck's support of rival Ted Cruz and welcomed a figure from the GOP establishment, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in rallies nine days before the Iowa caucuses open voting in the 2016 campaign.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Trump told an enthusiastic audience at a Christian school, Dordt College. "It's like incredible."

Beck campaigned for Ted Cruz and held little back in going after Trump. "The time for silliness and reality show tactics has passed," Beck charged at a Cruz rally. He warned that a Trump victory in the Feb. 1 caucuses could have lasting consequences: "If Donald Trump wins, it's going to be a snowball to hell."

Trump demonstrated the extent to which some in the Republican establishment have begun to accept a potential Trump nomination when Grassley introduced him at a later event in Pella.

Grassley did not offer an endorsement, but his presence underscored Trump's enduring positions at the top of the polls as voting approaches. Alex Conant, speaking for Marco Rubio's campaign, was quick to note, however, that Grassley will introduce Rubio at an Iowa rally in a week.

Days after Trump was endorsed by tea party favorite Sarah Palin, Cruz flashed his own conservative muscle during a rally in Ankeny, Iowa. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican and conservative firebrand, and Iowa social conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats encouraged local Republicans to unite behind Cruz. Beck praised the Texas senator's commitment to principles of the right and repeatedly jabbed Trump from afar. The same headliners were to appear at an evening rally in eastern Iowa.

At his Sioux Center event, Trump called Beck a "loser" and "sad sack." Beck was one of nearly two dozen conservative thinkers who penned anti-Trump essays for National Review magazine a hit Trump referred to repeatedly at the rally.

Cruz, running close with Trump in Iowa polls, was almost entirely focused on the billionaire in his Ankeny event, as he professed core conservative values and drew a sharp contrast with Trump on issue after issue, without using his name.

With obvious exaggeration, he charged that one Republican candidate, "for over 60 years of his life," supported so-called partial-birth abortion and a "Bernie Sanders-style socialized medicine for all." Trump is 69 and unlikely to have had positions on abortion and health care as a child.

He blasted Trump's past reluctance to strip federal money from Planned Parenthood and cast the billionaire's plan to deport more than 11 million people who are in country illegally as "amnesty" because he would then let many of them return.

But Cruz shrugged off Trump's shooting comment when asked. "I will let Donald speak for himself. I can say I have no intention of shooting anybody in this campaign," he told reporters, adding that he would keep his criticism focused on issues.

"I don't intend to go into the gutter," Cruz said.

Elsewhere in Iowa, Rubio stressed that he represents the next generation of conservative leadership as he started the dash to the caucuses at Iowa State University in Ames.

"Complaining and being frustrated alone will not be enough," Rubio said. "It has to be someone who tells you exactly what they are going to do as president."

Rubio recently stepped up his Iowa campaign appearances in hopes of breaking Cruz and Trump's hold on the state in an effort to put himself in a stronger position leading into New Hampshire's Feb. 9 primary. The Des Moines Register endorsed him Saturday as its choice in the Republican race, backing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic contest.

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Follow us on indo pak fs level talks likely next month sources

Islamabad: The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India are expected to meet next month and the two sides are in touch for finalising the new dates amid some "forward movement", a senior Pakistani official said today.

A senior official of the Foreign Office said on anonymity that there was some "forward movement" and the foreign secretaries are expected to meet in February.

"The two sides are in touch over the issue of the talks and dates would be announced after mutual agreement," he said.

India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary level talks, scheduled for January 15 here, were deferred by both the countries mutually in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack.

India has blamed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for the attack and has been seeking action against the terror outfit and its chief Masood Azhar.

India had sought action by Pakistan on the evidence provided for apprehending the JeM terrorists suspected to have been involved in the January 2 attack. India has linked the fate of the talks to action by Pakistan.

After internal deliberations, the Pakistan government initiated a crackdown on JeM and reportedly held Azhar, believed to be the mastermind behind the attack, besides shutting down several seminaries associated with the outlawed group.

The Pakistan government has however not confirmed Azhar's detention.

It also formed a team to investigate the evidence provided by India about JeM's alleged involvement.

In a pre-dawn attack, a group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists, believed to be belonging to JeM, attacked the Pathankot air base on January 2 killing seven security personnel.

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Follow us on pakistan should dismantle terror networks on its soil obama

Washington: In a strong message, US President Barack Obama told Pakistan today that it "can and must" take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil by "delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling" terror networks there.

"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimizing, disrupting and dismantling terrorist networks. In the region and around the world, there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice," Obama told Press Trust of India in an interview in Washington during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

Describing the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long", Obama gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the attack.

"Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region," he asserted in this third interview to PTI.

On the Pathankot attack, Obama said, "We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to prevent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families. Tragedies like this also underscore why the US and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism."

Obama was of the view that Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region. After the December, 2014 school massacre in Peshawar he had vowed to target all militants, regardless of their agenda or affiliation.

"That is the right policy. Since then, we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups. We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in north west Pakistan," he said.

America can be India's best partner: Obama

Voicing his belief that the Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century, Obama said that PM Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and "we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices".

Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, "Absolutely not."

Referring to bilateral ties with India, Obama said his visit last year reflected how the ties between the two countries have been transformed.

"Since I took office, I have worked to deepen our cooperation with India across the board and I continue to believe that the relationship between India and the United States can be one of the defining partnerships of this century. However, common values -- two democracies, two innovative economies, two diverse societies--make us natural partners. We are linked by the ties of family--millions of Indian Americans," the US President said.

He said his hope was that his visit could help spark a new era of cooperation between the two countries and "I believe it did".

"The past 12 months have been a year of progress across the three priorities that I identified in my speech to the Indian people at Siri Fort. We're deepening our partnerships to promote the development that lifts up our people, including rural Indians-helping farmers, boost their yields and working expanding access to electricity and clean water," Obama said.

He said both the countries continue to expand the economic partnerships that help reduce poverty and create opportunity, pushing bilateral trade to a record levels, expanding hi-tech collaborations and increasing students exchanges, including for girls and women who deserve the same education and opportunities and boys and men.

Obama said the two countries were doing even more as global partners including more military exercises, greater cooperation in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region and working together to confront climate change.

"I continue to believe that America can be India's best partner. So I hope future generations can look back at this moment and see that this was the time when the world's largest democracy became true global partners. In my final year as President, continuing to deepen our ties will continue to be one of my foreign policy priorities," Obama said.

With PTI Inputs

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Follow us on pakistani military arrests 5 in university attack

Peshawar: A Pakistani Army spokesman said that the military has arrested five suspects on charges of facilitating a deadly militant attack on Bacha Khan University that killed 21, mostly students, in the country's northwest.

Islamic militants stormed Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on January 20, killing students and teachers, and triggering a gunbattle that lasted for hours.

Lt. Gen Asim Salim Bajwa said on Saturday that the suspects provided the attackers with shelter, transport and weapons.

Bajwa said another three suspects, including two women, are still at large.

A splinter faction of the Taliban claimed responsibility and has threatened similar attacks. However the main Taliban organization denied any involvement.

Latest World News
Follow us on wef meet ends raises concerns over china terror refugees

Davos: The 5-day annual jamboree of the world's rich and powerful came to a close in this Alpine resort today, with leaders raising concerns about economic headwinds from China, geo-political risks arising from the refugee crisis in Europe and terror attacks in various parts of the world.

With regard to India, the leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) exuded confidence that its growth story would continue and the country would consolidate its position as the 'bright spot' of the world. It will also become easier to do business in the world's fastest growing economy, they felt.

However, one sore point for India was that a number of government and business leaders skipped this year's meet, which ended tonight with a musical and visual performance by cellist and composer Zoe Keating.

Converging under the theme of 'Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution', the 46th edition of the WEF discussed a raft of issues, including those pertaining to economicuncertainties, geo-political worries, refugee problem and innovations ahead.

Among global leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the Davos meet a miss, while North Korean delegation could not come after their invitation was revoked by WEF in the wake of the nuclear test by the country.

From India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley led from the front and spoke in three public sessions, besides his various other bilateral meetings and closed-door sessions.



RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan was on one official panel of a WEF session, while he is also believed to have had a number of meetings on the sidelines.

India's central bank chief also participated in a sideline expert panel discussion of University of Chicago where he remains an 'on-leave' professor.

Besides, Rajan was busy giving a number of TV interviews, including in the wake of the plunge in currency markets.

The Indian business leaders who were on official public sessions of WEF included Chanda Kochhar, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Mittal, Vishal Sikka, N Chandrasekaran, Ratul Puri, Srinath Sridharan, T K Kurien, Tulsi Tanti and Malvinder Mohan Singh.

A host of other business leaders were busy securing deals and in networking for future transactions, while a few of them largely remained in after-meeting party circuits every night a key component of the Davos get together.

Those who could not make it to Davos this year included Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant.

Among business leaders, billionaire brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani did not attend.

At the end of the meeting, various leaders also suggested that CEOs have to turn away from short-term thinking and narrow concerns of shareholder gains and instead take bold steps to improve workers conditions.

Latest World News
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Gwanda Residents Association spokesperson Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo has extended solidarity to the Harare residents who are continuing tom loose their houses through demolitions and called for the authorities t6o stop the destruction.Please stop this wanton demolishing of people's houses. This is extremely inhuman and very barbaric," Fuzwayo said."This country went into a long and bloody war simply for people to get access to land. This is the land we are talking about on which today people are being treated like animals."He said Zimbabweans are averagely not mad people that so many people could just wake up deciding to build all those huge houses that are being demolished without someone in authority authorising the construction."How do the houses get connected to electricity, water, sewage and even refuse collection with access roads and all if someone somewhere didn't authorise the construction?Why were they left to build and finish and stay in those houses some for as long as up to twenty years in an illegal area?" he said.Fuzwayo said this is the highest degree of evidence of an uncaring government both local and central."A caring government will emulate an example of the South African government where people "illegally" settled at a place called Freedom Park and government realising the people's need for settlement formalised the informal settlement and put proper infrastructure for the people. Today Freedom Park is growing into a budding township with everything you would need for 21st century human settlement," he said."It's so shocking to see a porch suburb as the one along airport road in Harare which we have seen for years now just being brought to the ground at just a click of a finger."Fuzwayo said if the government cares, whether it's local or central whoever is responsible for the demolishing, they would have found means of regularising the buildings and started seriously working on closing the gaps in their systems that expose innocent citizens to such inhumane treatment."After all if the truth be told all that land will definitely in future be allocated to some people for similar constructions. Then why demolish the houses now? Is it because someone didn't get "a cut" from the current occupants so they must go and those who "feed" (abadlisayo) come and take over," he said."If these are the last kicks of a dying horse then goodness forbid the kicks are just too strong can the horse die quickly before it dies with innocent citizens making honest investments for their children."
Follow us on amit shah unanimously elected bjp president for next 3 years

New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah was today re-elected as the party president after top party leaders led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed his name for the party president's post.

The announcement of Shah's unopposed election for the top party post was made at the BJP headquarter in Delhi.

"Party today unanimously elected Amit Shah ji for the second term as BJP president," Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.

Among others who have proposed Shah's name are Rajnath Singh, Anant Kumar and JP Nadda, M Venkaiah Naidu, besides BJP CMs Vasundhara Raje, Raghubar Das, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and others.

Shah's current tenure ended yesterday and the new term will be his first full-term lasting three years. Currently, he was completing the remaining tenure of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had demitted the post after joining the Union Cabinet in May 2014.

Under Shah's leadership, BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. However, party had to face defeats in Delhi and Bihar Assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the BJP.

The BJP president's election, which should have been completed by December 2015, was delayed as the party was waiting for elections to the state units to be completed. Party rules warrant elections to at least 50% of the state units to be over before election of the party chief takes place.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday congratulated BJP president Amit Shah on his re-election and said he was sure the party will reach "newer heights of success" under him.

"Heartiest congratulations to Amit Shah on his re-election as the BJP national president," he said.

"He has been an extremely successful party president. I am confident that the BJP will continue its forward march under Amit Shah's stewardship and reach to newer heights of success and glory," he added.

PM Modi congratulates Amit Shah

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated Amit Shah on his re-election as BJP president and voiced confidence that the party will scale newer heights under his leadership.

"Congratulations to Shri @AmitShah on being elected BJP president. I am confident the Party will scale newer heights under his leadership," Modi tweeted after Shah was elected party chief unupposed for his first full 3-year term at the helm.

"Amit Bhai combines grassroot-level work & rich organisational experience which will benefit the Party immensely," Modi said in another post on the microblogging website.
Follow us on live pm modi hollande address india france business summit

Chandigarh: French President Francois Hollande is on a three-day visit to India. Hollande will be the fifth French leader to be a Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 -- the maximum number from any country.

French leaders had earlier attended the Republic Day celebrations in the national capital in 1976, 1980, 1998 and 2008.

Live Updates:

* PM concludes Business Summit by saying; my motto is "Vikas" Development. And France is one of our most valued partners.

* I am grateful to France for working with us to transform states like Chandigarh, Nagpur & Puducherry into Smart Cities: PM.

* PM says, India and France are made for each other as France has the resources whereas India has need and the market. In innovation, France can play the role of important partner with India.

* 400 French companies working in India has a great experience of operating here: PM Modi.

* India will always stand shoulder to shoulder with France in the battle against terrorism, says PM Modi.

* France has shown its way of combating terrorism without deviating from its principles and journey of progress-PM Modi.

* PM Modi says the proximity between India and France will prove to be an asset in near future.

* I could see from President Hollande's words, he is enthusiastic to cordially work with India: PM Modi.

* PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande at Government Museum & Art Gallery in Chandigarh

* After the Rock Garden, the Capitol Complex is where Hollande and Narendra Modi are visiting.

* PM Modi gives French President a tour of Rock Garden.

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Chandigarh to join French President Francois Hollande.

* Kaptan Singh Solanki, the governor of Punjab and Haryana, received him formally along with other officials.

* Punjabi bhangra dancers performed to drum beats as Hollande stepped out of the aircraft.

* Francois Hollande arrives at Chandigarh airport

Moments earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was "honoured and delighted" to welcome Hollande.

"A warm welcome to Hollande. We are honoured and delighted to have him as the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations," Modi tweeted.

"Hollande and I will meet in Chandigarh and Delhi," Modi added. "We will build on the ground covered during our previous interactions."

* France has an umbilical link with Chandigarh, says PM Modi while adressing India-France Business Summit in Chandigarh.

Tight Security in Chandigarh

A thick security blanket has been thrown in and around the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana that is hosting a President from a foreign country for the first time.

A heavy posse of security personnel from Punjab, Haryana, UT Chandigarh and Central Para Military Forces, including ITBP, has been deployed at all vital installations in the city.
U.S. to Put More 'Boots on the Ground' in Iraq Defense Secretary Carter announces plans to deploy 101st Airborne Division in latest escalation of war.



By Adam Johnson January 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Alternet " - In an op-ed in Politico and in an appearance at Davos World Economic Forum Friday morning, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the U.S. will deploy "boots on the ground" in Iraq to help local forces fight the so-called Islamic State. The policy shift is a turnaround from the Obama's White House's previous stance of not deploying combat troops in Iraq and one sure to shape the foreign policy debate in the 2016 election. Though the U.S. military presence in Iraq has been steadily growing over the past year-and-a-half this marks the first time an express acknowledgment of ground troops has been made by a senior official. The first of such deployments will, according to Sec. Carter, be the 101st Airborne Division "Soldiers in the storied 101st Airborne Division will soon deploy to Iraq to join the fight against ISIL," Carter wrote in Politico. "They will head there with the support of the American people and armed with a clear campaign plan to deliver the barbaric organization a lasting defeat, which I personally shared with them last week at Fort Campbell." The U.S. withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011, despite efforts to keep a "residual force" of 3,000 by then-Sectary of Defense Leon Panetta. The current war in Iraq began on August 7th, 2014 when Obama announced "limited," "humanitarian" airstrikes to protect an ethnic minority from ISIL fighters in Sinjar Mountain in Iraqi Kurdistan. In an interview at the time, Obama said he did not intervene to stop ISIL earlier "because that would have taken the pressure off of [Prime Minister Nuri Kamal] al-Maliki. Prime Minister al-Maliki has since stepped down. It remains unclear if the Obama administration plans on deploying any more troops. Sec. Carter's predecessor, Panetta, claimed that the fight against ISIL would be a "thirty-year war". "We're looking for opportunities to do more, and there will be boots on the ground  I want to be clear about that  but it's a strategic question," Carter said. "Whether you are enabling local forces to take and hold, rather than trying to substitute for them". Adam Johnson is an associate editor at AlterNet. Follow him on Twitter at @adamjohnsonnyc .
Egypt, Five Years Later: A Human-rights Catastrophe of Americas Making



After vowing to support the country's revolutionaries, the U.S. is now aiding and abetting their violent oppression



By Ganzeer



January 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Salon " - Five years ago this month, thousands of Egyptians filled Tahrir Square and ignited a mass uprising that lasted 18 days and drove strongman president Hosni Mubarak from office. It seemed to augur a bright future for freedom and democracy in Egyptbut five years, multiple referendums, two parliaments, two presidents, and scores of dead bodies later, Egypts present looks just like its past. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisis crackdown on dissidents spreads: at the end of last year the Interior Ministry raided cultural institutions, including a publishing house and art gallery. Sisi, as well as his minister of religious endowment, have both warned citizens against taking to the streets on the January 25 anniversary. Yet nobodyat least not in the White Houseseems to care. Even before assuming office, Sisi was already responsible for an estimated death toll of at least 817 during the brutal clearing of a peaceful sit-in in Rabaa Square on August 14, 2013. And under his administration the Egyptian Armed Forces operations in Sinai have reportedly killed more than 2,000 people so far, including an unknown number of civilians (the Egyptian government acknowledges virtually no civilian deaths). The Egyptian people are so disillusioned that hardly anyone showed up to vote in the most recent parliamentary elections. Not even fatwas could get people to the pollsand why should they vote, when Sisis actions have made it clear that their votes do not matter? But none of that is stopping the United States from supporting him. In March President Obama lifted a military funding freeze, making Egypt once again the recipient of the second largest U.S. foreign military aid package (Israel receives the largest package). Following the unfreeze, Egypt received 10 Apache helicopters from the United States. One such helicopter was used to conduct a mistaken aerial attack on a tourist convoy in Egypts Western Desert that killed 12 civilians, including eight Mexican tourists. Had they been American tourists, perhaps someone in the White House would have cared. Theres plenty of political repression in Egypt as wellthe kind the U.S. is quick to censure when it takes place in China, Russia or Iran. Many of the protestors, secular opposition groups, student groups, and vocal dissidents whose mobilization resulted in the initial jailing of Mubarak are incarcerated in Egyptian prisons, as are journalists; it is estimated that Sisis government has arrested 40,000 political prisoners. And while the atrocious conditions of Egyptian prisons have long been the subject of prisoners letters, the incarcerated have at least been dealt a better hand than the scores who have mysteriously died while in police custody. The U.S. tends to posture about democratic values, but its role in Egypt has always belied this position. Not only was Mubarak, Egypts dictator for 30 years, backed by the U.S., but under his rule Egypt was a key destination for prisoners transferred by U.S. authorities for torture and interrogation. It is laughable that President Obama calls the U.S. the envy of the world when people around the world are suffering because of American hypocrisy. The Egyptian people have experienced this kind of hypocrisy firsthand: when Obama went on television in 2011 to say, the United States will continue to stand up for the rights of the Egyptian people, those Egyptians standing up for their rights were simultaneously being hit by tear gas canisters that were proudly marked Made in U.S.A. This article originally appeared at Creative Time Reports.
By Finian Cunningham

Washington and its NATO allies are stepping up more military involvement in this devastated North African country, now experiencing an uptick in terrorist activity, in some kind of macabre reprise of the classic comedy routine.

Earlier this week, Libyas skirmishing factions announced that they were forming a new national unity government. The administration, backed by the United Nations, was forged from two erstwhile self-appointed rival governments based in the western city of Tripoli and the eastern city of Tobruk.

But the chances of implementing national governance remain wafer-slim. The real power in the country resides with a plethora of warring militias that have an overlapping relationship with the Islamic State terror group and have carved up the country into fiefdoms.

One reason for why the unity government was hastily and unconvincingly formed this week is that it gives a fig leaf of legality for greater Western military intervention in Libya under the guise of helping the authorities to fight jihadist terrorists.

Three days after Libyas new government was unveiled, Washingtons top military officer, General Joseph F Dunford, said that plans were under way in the next weeks for decisive action needed against Islamic State in Libya, according to a Reuters report.

You want to take decisive military action to check ISILs expansion and at the same time you want to do it in such a way thats supportive of a long-term political process, said General Dunford, using an alternative acronym for the IS terror group.

The US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman was in Paris where he was consulting with French, British and Italian counterparts in the NATO military alliance.

The New York Times reported on Dunfords announced military plans thus: Worried about a growing threat from the Islamic State in Libya, the United States and its allies are increasing reconnaissance flights and intelligence collecting there and preparing for possible airstrikes and commando raids, senior American policy makers, commanders and intelligence officials said this week.

For the past several months, American, British and French special forces have reportedly been working clandestinely across Libya to try to establish which militias their governments might feasibly collaborate with.

But Libya has been plunged into such tribal anarchy over the past four years since the US-led NATO powers toppled the government of Muammar Gaddafi that it is nigh-impossible to disentangle the plethora of rival militia. Many of the militia and even some of the so-called political parties in the new unity government are integrated with the terror network.

A farcical insight into the NATO-induced chaotic nature of Libya is afforded by a report on how a unit of 20 American special forces were flown into an airport in the town of Al Watiya near Tripoli last month. The US troops were expecting a warm reception from the militia thought to be in control of the airport because it had received American training and weapons back in 2012. It turned out the US-trained Libyan battalion were no longer the local top dog. They had been displaced by another rival militia, which wasnt friendly to the Americans.

A shoot-out was apparently avoided, but a tense standoff ensued before the US commandos were finally allowed safe passage from the airfield.

What that snippet illustrates is the total shambles that Libya has descended into. US troops feel free to land in a country seemingly without any legal sanction and then proceed to a near-firefight with some unknown enemy holding the airport facility. This is precisely the state of ruins that Gaddafi predicted would result from his demise, just before the NATO-assisted insurgents took his life in a barbaric street lynching in October 2011 and proceeded to take over the once-prosperous, stable country.

The Americans and their NATO allies evidently havent a clue which groups are running Libya  and thats months after their special forces have allegedly been reconnoitering for partners with which to purportedly fight against the Islamic State.

Americas top general admitted to this cluelessness in his announced plan for more military intervention in Libya.

Dunford said the US military leadership owed President Barack Obama and the US defense secretary [Ashton Carter] ideas about the way ahead for dealing with the [IS] militant group in Libya.

In other words, Dunford and his NATO counterparts do not have a plan. They are simply going back into a country that is riven with mercurial militias, many of which are apparently aligned with IS.

The American top general did not detail any specific recommendations, saying:  I think its pretty clear to all of us  French, US alike  that whatever we do is going to be in conjunction with the new [Libyan] government My perspective is we need to do more.

As noted earlier, working in conjunction with the new government is not confidence-inspiring given that it has only been cobbled together this week after years of feuding, and given that its various political members are associated with illegally armed groups.

Tragically, Libya is the very predictable outcome when countries are self-entitled to run amok in complete disregard of international law and other nations sovereignty.

Washington, London and Paris, together with other members of the NATO alliance, cynically abused a UN no-fly mandate back in March 2011 to launch a seven-month aerial blitzkrieg on Libya. The NATO powers, along with the Saudi-led Arab oil monarchies, colluded with jihadist groups on the ground, such as the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, to achieve regime change in Libya.

These same militia and their cache of weapons were then mobilized by the American CIA and British MI6 to infiltrate Syria, according to American journalist Seymour Hersh, among others. Turkey was the conduit and Saudi Arabia was the financier for the Libya-Syria ratline. Note that this was around the same time that the jihadist proxies had stormed the US consulate in Libyas Benghazi in September 2012, killing the US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American officials.

Now, apparently, because of Russias searing military intervention in Syria in support of the Assad government forces, the jihadists are clearing out of that country to set up bases in Libya. This relocation of jihadists from Syria and Iraq to Libya has even been reported in the Western mainstream media.

So, yes, Western governments and their military chiefs may well articulate concern about the surge in IS terror activity in Libya. This surge is real enough.

But what Washington, its NATO allies and the Western media wont tell you is that they incubated the jihadist terror groups in Libya from their illegal regime change against Gaddafi; and then turned the country into a festering failed state from where terror groups were spawned to carry out a covert war for another regime change operation in Syria.
Emancipating the Military, Containing the Citizenry By Fred Reed January 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Those who try to understand military policy often confuse themselves by focusing on minor matters such as strategy, tactics, logistics, and armament. Here they err. For years the central goal of the military, the brass ring, has been independence from control by civilians. It has been achieved. In time of war, the first concern of the command is to limit the flow of information to their publics. The actions of the enemy are an important but secondary consideration. Thus militaries strive to prevent the dissemination of photos of mutilated soldiers or, as in Washington today, of governmentally tortured prisoners. In the United States, which characteristically fights wars unrelated to the safety of the country, the Pentagon must also keep soldiers from being told that they are being sacrifice for the benefit of arms manufacturers and imperialist ambitions. In wars before Vietnam, this was adroitly effected. You could go to jail for criticizing a war. In Vietnam, something new happened. The press covered the war freely. Reporters went where they pleased, beyond the control of the military. Their publications ran the results. National magazines printed horrific photographs of what was really happening. Truth tells. The coverage was one of the two factors that forced Washington to quit the war. The other was the passionate unwillingness of young men to be forced to fight a war in which they had no interest. The war, a source of meaning for Washingtons thunderous hawks and fern-bar Napoleons, was getting them killed. The military of Vietnam wasnt very good at fighting, and neither is the military of today. GIs in Asia would assault a hill, usually of no importance, and, after three days, with the aid of helicopters, helo gunships, napalm, artillery, and fighter-bombers, would capture it. This would be called a triumph. The astute observed that if the Americans had to fight on equal terms, without overwhelming material superiority, they would last perhaps ten minutes. This is now a recognized pattern. Note that numerically superior and hugely armed American forces have been outfought for years by lightly armed Afghan goat herds. Since neither the wars nor the soldiers in them are of much importance, this doesnt matter. The Pentagon learned a lot from Vietnam: It learned that its greatest enemies are the press and the American public. The burning question became how to keep the goddam public from interfering in wars which were none of its business and, particularly in the award of large contracts. The problem was solved in two major ways. The first was to end the draft and go to the All Volunteer Army. The command realized that if they conscripted kids from Yale and the University of Virginia to come back in body bags, the prospective conscriptees, their girlfriends, and their families would take to the streets. This would threaten the smooth flow of funds. If volunteer kids from Tennessee died, no one would care. The second step in keeping the public out of the loop was to control the press. This was done partly by embedding reporters in American military units in the victim country. The control was furthered, more by happenstance than plan, by the amalgamation of the major media in a few large corporations which then controlled content. It worked. A third and crucial element was the quiet and de facto abolition of the restrictions imposed by the Constitution. As long as that document was held to be canonical, Congress would have to declare war before the military could attack anyone. A congressman voting for a war would have to explain to his constituents why he wanted to spend a trillion dollars on killing remote peasants when his jurisdiction had crumbling schools. People in Oklahoma might ask, Cant we grow our own goat herds more cheaply and kill them here? Congress was happy to shed this responsibility, or for that matter any responsibility. And so it did. The Commander-in-Chief was now able to send troops anywhere he pleased. It was his private army. He could , in effect, contract out the US military to Israel to crush its enemies or to the petro-interests to try to capture oil fields. However, this happy canvas was not yet raised to Rafaelsesque perfection. There was still the awkward, though now minor, matter of body bags. The Presidency did what it could. It forbade the filming of flag-draped coffins coming into Dover Air Force Base on grounds of protecting the privacy of the occupants. Logicians might question just what intimate private details a photo of a box might reveal. But the public wasnt William of Ockham. The point was to keep the rubes from knowing what the shrapnel cone of an RPG does the the head of Jimmy Jack Perkins of Memphis. However, the damage was controllable. Not to Jimmy Jacks head, but to the Armys PR persona. That was what the Army cared about. Yetthings were not quite perfect. An awful lot of kids were coming back from obscure wars with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), which is what happens when seventy-five pounds of C4 in an IED blows. It turns said kids brain into the equivalent of a pudding stirred by an enthusiastic but poorly trained chef. For the next fifty years he stumbles, mumbles, drools, shuffles, and has the IQ of a duckbill platypus. This was not a serious difficulty. The corporate media were in line, so there was no danger that CBS would do a hostile expose. Besides, with luck the creep would die early. But it was still a potential source of political blowback. A solution appeared: Drones. They were wonderful, serving several purposes at once. They cost not as much as fighter planes, but enough to funnel lots of loot to contractors.. No body bags ever came back and so didnt need to be hidden. Drones could be flown by wet-lipped sociopaths in air-conditioned comfort in Colorado. They couldnt win a war, but neither could they lose one. This was ideal, since either winning or losing would slow the award of contracts. The remaining bump in the road to full emancipation was the military budget. This matter was neutralized by the major media, which had become for practical purposes minor federal departments. In Mein Kampf, der Fuehrer pointed out that the masses would eventually believe any idea repeated often enough. A corollary was that the masses would ignore any idea mentioned only once or twice. Hiding financial grotesquery was not necessary. It sufficed to mention it briefly in paragraph seventeen or, on the tube, in passing in tones usually used in reporting uneventful weather. Done. Close. Very close. There was no longer a single columnist in the major media who actually knew the technology, bureaucracy, and tactics of the military, or had been near a rifle. The networks could therefore hire retired colonels to explain that the military was dedicated to truth, justice, and the American way. The final condom in this chain of chastity was the president asserting that America was a city on a hill and a beam of light for darkened mankind, who to reach heaven needed only to give us their oil fields. In sum, the foregoing measures constituted the greatest military victory since Waterloo. Neither Congress or the goddam public could any longer meddle where it had no business meddling. Fewer and fewer troops actually went to war, so the unpatriotic bastards couldnt disrupt the war effort by coming home in body bags. The Pentagon had achieved its long-sought emancipation. It looked forward to killing any peasants who struck its fancy with the insouciant independence of a trust-fund baby in the fleshpots of the Orient. Fred, a keyboard mercenary with a disorganized past, has worked on staff for Army Times, The Washingtonian, Soldier of Fortune, Federal Computer Week, and The Washington Times. http://fredoneverything.org/emancipation-of-military-containing-the-citizenry/
U.S. Relies Heavily on Saudi Money to Support Syrian Rebels



By Mark Mazzetti January 23, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " NYT " - WASHINGTON  When President Obama secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to begin arming Syrias embattled rebels in 2013, the spy agency knew it would have a willing partner to help pay for the covert operation. It was the same partner the C.I.A. has relied on for decades for money and discretion in far-off conflicts: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since then, the C.I.A. and its Saudi counterpart have maintained an unusual arrangement for the rebel-training mission, which the Americans have code-named Timber Sycamore. Under the deal, current and former administration officials said, the Saudis contribute both weapons and large sums of money, and the C.I.A takes the lead in training the rebels on AK-47 assault rifles and tank-destroying missiles. The support for the Syrian rebels is only the latest chapter in the decadeslong relationship between the spy services of Saudi Arabia and the United States, an alliance that has endured through the Iran-contra scandal, support for the mujahedeen against the Soviets in Afghanistan and proxy fights in Africa. Sometimes, as in Syria, the two countries have worked in concert. In others, Saudi Arabia has simply written checks underwriting American covert activities. Secrets of the Kingdom Decades of Discreet Cooperation The joint arming and training program, which other Middle East nations contribute money to, continues as Americas relations with Saudi Arabia  and the kingdoms place in the region  are in flux. The old ties of cheap oil and geopolitics that have long bound the countries together have loosened as Americas dependence on foreign oil declines and the Obama administration tiptoes toward a diplomatic rapprochement with Iran. And yet the alliance persists, kept afloat on a sea of Saudi money and a recognition of mutual self-interest. In addition to Saudi Arabias vast oil reserves and role as the spiritual anchor of the Sunni Muslim world, the long intelligence relationship helps explain why the United States has been reluctant to openly criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights abuses, its treatment of women and its support for the extreme strain of Islam, Wahhabism, that has inspired many of the very terrorist groups the United States is fighting. The Obama administration did not publicly condemn Saudi Arabias public beheading this month of a dissident Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had challenged the royal family. Although the Saudis have been public about their help arming rebel groups in Syria, the extent of their partnership with the C.I.A.s covert action campaign and their direct financial support had not been disclosed. Details were pieced together in interviews with a half-dozen current and former American officials and sources from several Persian Gulf countries. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the program. From the moment the C.I.A. operation was started, Saudi money supported it. They understand that they have to have us, and we understand that we have to have them, said Mike Rogers, the former Republican congressman from Michigan who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when the C.I.A. operation began. Mr. Rogers declined to discuss details of the classified program. American officials have not disclosed the amount of the Saudi contribution, which is by far the largest from another nation to the program to arm the rebels against President Bashar al-Assads military. But estimates have put the total cost of the arming and training effort at several billion dollars. The White House has embraced the covert financing from Saudi Arabia  and from Qatar, Jordan and Turkey  at a time when Mr. Obama has pushed gulf nations to take a greater security role in the region. Spokesmen for both the C.I.A. and the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment. When Mr. Obama signed off on arming the rebels in the spring of 2013, it was partly to try to gain control of the apparent free-for-all in the region. The Qataris and the Saudis had been funneling weapons into Syria for more than a year. The Qataris had even smuggled in shipments of Chinese-made FN-6 shoulder-fired missiles over the border from Turkey. The Saudi efforts were led by the flamboyant Prince Bandar bin Sultan, at the time the intelligence chief, who directed Saudi spies to buy thousands of AK-47s and millions of rounds of ammunition in Eastern Europe for the Syrian rebels. The C.I.A. helped arrange some of the arms purchases for the Saudis, including a large deal in Croatia in 2012. By the summer of 2012, a freewheeling feel had taken hold along Turkeys border with Syria as the gulf nations funneled cash and weapons to rebel groups  even some that American officials were concerned had ties to radical groups like Al Qaeda. The C.I.A. was mostly on the sidelines during this period, authorized by the White House under the Timber Sycamore training program to deliver nonlethal aid to the rebels but not weapons. In late 2012, according to two former senior American officials, David H. Petraeus, then the C.I.A. director, delivered a stern lecture to intelligence officials of several gulf nations at a meeting near the Dead Sea in Jordan. He chastised them for sending arms into Syria without coordinating with one another or with C.I.A. officers in Jordan and Turkey. Months later, Mr. Obama gave his approval for the C.I.A. to begin directly arming and training the rebels from a base in Jordan, amending the Timber Sycamore program to allow lethal assistance. Under the new arrangement, the C.I.A. took the lead in training, while Saudi Arabias intelligence agency, the General Intelligence Directorate, provided money and weapons, including TOW anti-tank missiles. The Qataris have also helped finance the training and allowed a Qatari base to be used as an additional training location. But American officials said Saudi Arabia was by far the largest contributor to the operation. In Past Pages of The Times: the Early Days of the U.S.-Saudi Relationship While the Obama administration saw this coalition as a selling point in Congress, some, including Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, raised questions about why the C.I.A. needed Saudi money for the operation, according to one former American official. Mr. Wyden declined to be interviewed, but his office released a statement calling for more transparency. Senior officials have said publicly that the U.S. is trying to build up the battlefield capabilities of the anti-Assad opposition, but they havent provided the public with details about how this is being done, which U.S. agencies are involved, or which foreign partners those agencies are working with, the statement said. When relations among the countries involved in the training program are strained, it often falls to the United States to broker solutions. As the host, Jordan expects regular payments from the Saudis and the Americans. When the Saudis pay late, according to a former senior intelligence official, the Jordanians complain to C.I.A. officials. While the Saudis have financed previous C.I.A. missions with no strings attached, the money for Syria comes with expectations, current and former officials said. They want a seat at the table, and a say in what the agenda of the table is going to be, said Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The C.I.A. training program is separate from another program to arm Syrian rebels, one the Pentagon ran that has since ended. That program was designed to train rebels to combat Islamic State fighters in Syria, unlike the C.I.A.s program, which focuses on rebel groups fighting the Syrian military. While the intelligence alliance is central to the Syria fight and has been important in the war against Al Qaeda, a constant irritant in American-Saudi relations is just how much Saudi citizens continue to support terrorist groups, analysts said. The more that the argument becomes, We need them as a counterterrorism partner, the less persuasive it is, said William McCants, a former State Department counterterrorism adviser and the author of a book on the Islamic State. If this is purely a conversation about counterterrorism cooperation, and if the Saudis are a big part of the problem in creating terrorism in the first place, then how persuasive of an argument is it? In the near term, the alliance remains solid, strengthened by a bond between spy masters. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi interior minister who took over the effort to arm the Syrian rebels from Prince Bandar, has known the C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan, from the time Mr. Brennan was the agencys Riyadh station chief in the 1990s. Former colleagues say the two men remain close, and Prince Mohammed has won friends in Washington with his aggressive moves to dismantle terrorist groups like Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The job Mr. Brennan once held in Riyadh is, more than the ambassadors, the true locus of American power in the kingdom. Former diplomats recall that the most important discussions always flowed through the C.I.A. station chief. Current and former intelligence officials say there is a benefit to this communication channel: The Saudis are far more responsive to American criticism when it is done in private, and this secret channel has done more to steer Saudi behavior toward Americas interests than any public chastising could have. The roots of the relationship run deep. In the late 1970s, the Saudis organized what was known as the Safari Club  a coalition of nations including Morocco, Egypt and France  that ran covert operations around Africa at a time when Congress had clipped the C.I.A.s wings over years of abuses. And so the kingdom, with these countries, helped in some way, I believe, to keep the world safe at a time when the United States was not able to do that, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former head of Saudi intelligence, recalled in a speech at Georgetown University in 2002. In the 1980s, the Saudis helped finance C.I.A. operations in Angola, where the United States backed rebels against the Soviet-allied government. While the Saudis were staunchly anticommunist, Riyadhs primary incentive seemed to be to solidify its C.I.A. ties. They were buying good will, recalled one former senior intelligence officer who was involved in the operation. In perhaps the most consequential episode, the Saudis helped arm the mujahedeen rebels to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. The United States committed hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the mission, and the Saudis matched it, dollar for dollar. The money flowed through a C.I.A.-run Swiss bank account. In the book Charlie Wilsons War, the journalist George Crile III describes how the C.I.A. arranged for the account to earn no interest, in keeping with the Islamic ban on usury. In 1984, when the Reagan administration sought help with its secret plan to sell arms to Iran to finance the contra rebels in Nicaragua, Robert C. McFarlane, the national security adviser, met with Prince Bandar, who was the Saudi ambassador to Washington at the time. The White House made it clear that the Saudis would gain a considerable amount of favor by cooperating, Mr. McFarlane later recalled. Prince Bandar pledged $1 million per month to help fund the contras, in recognition of the administrations past support to the Saudis. The contributions continued after Congress cut off funding to the contras. By the end, the Saudis had contributed $32 million, paid through a Cayman Islands bank account. When the Iran-contra scandal broke, and questions arose about the Saudi role, the kingdom kept its secrets. Prince Bandar refused to cooperate with the investigation led by Lawrence E. Walsh, the independent counsel. In a letter, the prince declined to testify, explaining that his countrys confidences and commitments, like our friendship, are given not just for the moment but the long run.
The All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission to arrest the embattled Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Konbowei Benson. To further understand the real reasons the ruling APC wants the Speaker arrested, INFORMATION NIGERIA has put together 4 reasons why they want him arrested.

1. Benson was said to have been removed in a ruling by the Court of Appeal on December 9 2015 after it nullified his April 2015 election for Southern Constituency 4 at the Assembly.

2. 40 days after the ruling, Benson, who represented Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was said to have refused to vacate the seat.

3. The Executive Governor of Bayelsa State acted in contempt of the court decision by presenting the 2016 budget to the Speaker on the 15th of January, 2015 on the floors of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly despite a formal letter from the (law) firm of the appellants counsel addressed to the Clerk of the House notifying the House of Assembly on the consequences of transacting any business in the House presided by Hon. Benson Konbowei.

4. He was alleged to have collected December 2015 and January 2016 allowances after he had been sacked by the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, has blamed Nigerias economy crisis on the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) introduced by former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television in Otukpo, Benue State, at the flag off of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Benue South Senatorial re-run election campaign for its candidate, Mr Daniel Onjeh, Mr Ogbe said the Structural Adjustment Programme pointed Nigerians in the wrong direction.

Under World Bank structural adjustment, the government tried to eliminate inefficient state intervention and obtain budgetary relief by abolishing agricultural commodity marketing boards and liberalizing cash-crop exports. These measures, together with devaluation, increased the naira prices of export crops, especially cocoa.

Structural adjustment was accompanied by falling real wages, the redistribution of income from urban to rural areas, and reduced health, education, and social spending. The decrease in spending on social programs contributed to often vociferous domestic unrest, such as Muslim-Christian riots in Kaduna State in March 1987, urban rioting in April 1988 in response to reduced gasoline subsidies, student-led violence in opposition to government economic policies in May and June 1989, and the second coup attempt against General Babangida in April 1990.

With the current situation of things, Ogbe, therefore, advised Nigerian youths to take advantage of the oil crisis in other to diversify into Agriculture and non-oil sectors.

The minister also expressed concern over the high rate of unemployment among Nigerian youths. He advised that they take up opportunities being created in the agricultural sector, in other to earn themselves legitimate sources of livelihood.
One of the foremost pharmacists and administrators from Katsina State, Ambassador Tanimu Adamu Saulawa, is dead.

He passed on to the great beyond in the wee hours of yesterday.

For the family and indeed, numerous friends and associates of the late Saulawa, life will never be the same again.

They liken his death to the proverbial fall of an iroko tree.

The Saulawa patriarch died at the ripe age of 89.

According to family sources, the late Saulawa breathed his last at about 2:45amon Saturday, after being bedridden for over two years. He is survived by his wife and six children.

He had been bedridden for quite some time now and has had a bout with illnesses before giving up, a family member, Shamsudeen Suleiman, 37, has said.

The funeral rite for the deceased was observed in Katsina and was attended by scores of personalities many of whom showered encomiums on the deceased, whose life they insisted was an epitome of humility.

From the outpour of emotions and the barrage of tributes which have been pouring in from different quarters, there are no doubt whatsoever that the late Ambassador Saulawa lived a fulfilled life, touched so many lives and would be missed by many.

The late Saulawa was born in 1927 in the ancient city of Katsina. He attended the then Elementary School Katsina from 1936-38 and proceeded to the famous Barewa College, Zaria, where he studied from 1946-47.

Saulawa who was one of the pioneer pharmacists in Northern Nigeria, was a product of the School of Pharmacy in Zaria and Yaba, where he schooled from 1947-50 and 1954-56, respectively.

The deceased also attended the Institute of Administration in Manchester, United Kingdom from 1973-74, where he was equipped with the necessary skills that enabled him function effectively and efficiently as an astute administrator.

His working career which saw him hold different positions and rise through the ranks to the coveted position of a permanent secretary in the defunct Kaduna State spanned almost three decades.

His last posting as a permanent secretary was at the then Kaduna state Ministry of Lands and Survey, where he eventually retired from active civil service.

Upon retirement in 1978, the Late Ambassador Saulawa was appointed by the then military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida as Nigerias Ambassador to Algeria and Tunisia.

At various times, the late Saulawa also served as chairman of the now rested National Supply Company, chairman of Katsina Pilgrims Welfare Board, pro-chancellor and chairman of the council of Usman Danfodio University, chairman of NAFDAC and chairman of Alqalam University, Katsina, the first private university in the North.

The late Saulawa also served as member of the board of trustees of Gidauniyar Jihar Katsina (Katsina Foundation) and Katsina Islamic Foudation.

When LEADERSHIP Sunday visited the deceaseds residence opposite Katsina Motel in Katsina metropolis yesterday, scores of personalities including traditional rulers from within and outside the state trooped there to offer their condolence.

One of the late Saulawas grandchildren, Shamsudeen Suleiman, said their patriarch lived a fulfilled life and prayed God to grant him aljannat Firdaus.

Asked what he learnt from the deceased, in an emotion laden voice, Shamsudeen said, he taught us how to take our religious obligations serious and how to assist the needy at all times. One of the moments I will forever cherish was when we would be travelling with him and he would buy large quantity of bread and distribute to people along the road.

Source: Leadership
News / National

by Staff reporter

LIBERATION war detainees, collaborators and restrictees should be patient while Government seeks funds to complete its vetting exercise before extending assistance to bona fide beneficiaries.Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Political Detainees and Restrictees Minister, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, said his ministry - which failed to meet the December 2015 deadline to complete the vetting exercise because of a shortage of finances - was working around the clock to complete the programme."I would want to assure all the political detainees, war collaborators and restrictees that are here present that we are working around the clock to make sure that the vetting exercise is complete. Our major challenge is the shortage of funds. I urge you to be patient with us," Ambassador Mutsvangwa said.Minister Mutsvangwa was speaking at the burial of liberation war hero Francis Chitepo Chiwenga in Wedza yesterday.The late Chiwenga (72) was uncle to Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga.He died at Parirenyatwa Hospital on Thursday after battling diabetes.The liberation war hero leaves behind a wife, four children, 16 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Gen Chiwenga described his uncle, who was also acting Chief Chigodora, as a father figure. He was detained for long periods during the Second Chimurenga because of his political activities.At the burial were senior Government officials, among them Defence Minister Dr Sydney Sekeramayi, Mashonaland East Resident Minister Joel Biggie Matiza abnd service chiefs; and senior Zanu-PF officials.
A social media campaign to raise funds for the family of a Muslim teacher who died protecting Christians during an attack in Kenya is gaining traction, with people hailing him as a genuine hero and a symbol of the country. Salah Farah was shot after refusing to be separated from Christian passengers during an al-Shabab attack on a bus traveling from Mandera to Nairobi last month.

He succumbed to his wounds on Sunday, leaving behind four young children aged between two and 10, and a pregnant wife who is expected to give birth as soon as next week. After his death, an online campaign was started to raise funds for the teachers family. Salah is a hero, Abdullahi Derow, the 26-year-old activist who started the#HeroSalah Twitter campaign, told Al Jazeera.

He was the only male child in his family, his father is now very old and his kids are very small, Nairobi-based Derow, who is also from Mandera, said. I tried to think about how we can do this for the family, as Kenyans, at least to appreciate what he has done not only for Kenyans but for humanity, explained Derow, who got the approval of Farahs cousin Rashid, and now guardian to his children, before launching the campaign.

Rashid confirmed to Al Jazeera that the family had given the go-ahead. The children need a shelter, they need education, they need to be cared [for], Rashid told Al Jazeera. The father and mother are the same. He added: Salah was well-respected, a religious man, who had just been promoted to deputy headmaster of a big primary school  he was having a lot of respect in the village.
The Niger State government says it will re-establish a Grains Board in order to help farmers reduce poverty in the state.

According to a statement by the Niger State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, on Sunday in Minna, he expressed belief that the board would create more jobs for the teeming youths.

He said that the board would help to checkmate people who act as middle men that are in the habit of exploiting farmers in the state.

Vatsa, therefore, called on the people of the state, especially farmers to embrace the board. He stated that the Niger State government had made agriculture one of its topmost priorities since the fall of oil price.

The Commissioner further promised that the State government would try its best to encourage farmers to achieve their desired goals, assuring them that the government would buy their produce from them.

According to Vatsa, the three senatorial zones in the state would be identified with a particular crop and they would be assisted to produce such crops to attract international markets.

Zone A is known for the production of rice and banana, zone B produces yam and zone C is into cotton and rice, which at the end of the day will generate enough revenue to develop the state, he said.

The commissioner urged the people to go into mechanized farming, adding that the government would simplify ways of farming without stress.
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee, investigating alleged fraudulent practices in the collection and management of non-oil revenue remittances by MDAs, has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, if he fails to appear before the Committee, on Tuesday, to account for the revenue collected and remitted to the Federation Account.

The Sun

IN furtherance of his vow to frequently engage the people on the state of affairs in the polity, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 rendered the account of his stewardship in the last three month, where he explained how he had turned the State into a construction site with various completed and ongoing project

Daily Times

Kebbi state Governor Abubakar Bagudu on Thursday asked the federal high court in Abuja to dismiss a pre-election suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] governorship candidate Maj. Gen. Bello Yaki for April 11, 2015 election challenging his election.

Leadership

Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal said yesterday that, victims of the Kasuwar Daji (Perishable Items Market) would soon be compensated by the state government.

The Nation

Suspected cultists yesterday burnt 65-year-old Adejoke Adefuye to death after setting her residence on fire.

Daily Independent

Former bank executive and cleric, Rev. Dr. Tunde Moses Elebute, has called on the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene to save the countrys currency, the Naira, from sliding further to an unreasonable level.

Nigerian Pilot

Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi, has expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of work on the ongoing construction of 15.5 km Nkalagu/Umuhali/NigerCem Federal road awarded last year to an Expatriate Company, China Zhunghaoi.
Senator Shehu Sani has accused some supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari of playing a double game with the presidents war on corruption.

Sani said this in a Facebook post on Saturday, where he noted that these same people close to the president who were instigating the foreign media against the presidents economic policies, just to make the president look bad.

The senators position was against the backdrop of a recent publication by the Financial Times UK which lampooned the presidents economic policies, labelling it the height of foolishness.

He noted that these same people were also doing everything within their power to ensure that the presidents bilateral agreement with the United Arab Emirates geared towards securing the return of money illegally siphoned from Nigeria to the UAE fails.

However, he warned that: Any attempt to undermine or sabotage or stifle President Muhammadu Buhari-led bilateral agreement with the government of UAE in his effort to recover looted funds stashed as deposits, shares, bonds or real estate must be resisted by all well-meaning Nigerians.

Algeria with a population of about 40 million have a foreign reserve of $160 billion and Nigeria with 175 million have $28 billion.

Nigerians should be weary of all sorts of propaganda and misinformation against PMBs efforts, by those who have gotten the signal that the law is closing in on them and their loot.

Saboteurs are already at work, using capitalists foreign media to discredit, dismiss and condemn Buharis economic policies. Time shall expose their perfidy and deception.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on a visit to Saudi Arabia has sought to curb concerns from Gulf Arab allies over an apparent thaw in relations between the United States and Iran. Kerry spoke on Saturday in Riyadh after meeting his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir and other foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

He also held talks with Saudis King Salman and the monarchs son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the defence minister. The United States remains concerned about some of the activities that Iran is engaged in in other countries, Kerry told reporters, citing as an example Irans support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours perceive a lack of US engagement in the region, particularly in the face of what they see as Irans interference in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. Those sentiments reached a new level after the historic international deal which this month lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.

Kerry has long sought to calm concerns among his Gulf allies about the overtures to Iran, one of the Middle Easts leading powers whose relations with its regional rival, Saudi Arabia, have worsened this month. Saudi Arabia and some of its allies cut diplomatic ties with Iran after protesters set fire to Riyadhs embassy in Tehran and at a consulate in the second city of Mashhad.

Aljazeera.
Migliora il rapporto deficit-pil. Secondo lIstat nel 2016 e sceso al 2,4% in miglioramento di 0,3 punti rispetto al 2015. Lindebitamento netto delle amministrazioni pubbliche in rapporto al prodotto interno lordo nel quarto trimestre del 2016 e stato pari al 2,3%, stabile rispetto al corrispondente trimestre del 2015.

Il saldo primario (indebitamento/accreditamento al netto degli interessi passivi), nello stesso periodo, e risultato positivo per 7.312 milioni di euro (7.315 milioni di euro nel corrispondente trimestre del 2015). La relativa incidenza sul pil e stata pari a 1,7%, invariata rispetto al quarto del 2015. Nel 2016, in termini di incidenza sul pil, il saldo primario e stato positivo e pari all1,5% del prodotto interno lordo, invariato rispetto al 2015.

Il saldo corrente (risparmio) nel quarto trimestre del 2016 e risultato positivo per 3.915 milioni di euro (10.808 mln nel corrispondente trimestre dellanno precedente). Lincidenza sul pil e stata dello 0,9%, a fronte del 2,5% nel IV trimestre del 2015. Complessivamente, nel 2016 il saldo corrente in rapporto al Pil e stato positivo e pari allo 0,6% (1,1% nel 2015). Le uscite totali nel IV trimestre sono calate dello 0,9% rispetto al corrispondente trimestre del 2015. La loro incidenza sul Pil si e ridotta in termini tendenziali di 1,2 punti percentuali, scendendo al 56%. Nel 2016 lincidenza delle uscite totali sul Pil e stata pari al 49,6%, in riduzione di 0,9 punti percentuali rispetto al 2015.

Le uscite correnti hanno registrato, nel IV trimestre, un aumento tendenziale dello 2,4% risultante da una crescita dei redditi da lavoro dipendente (+0,9%), dei consumi intermedi (+2,5%), delle prestazioni sociali in denaro (+0,6%) e delle altre uscite correnti (+11,8%). Nel trimestre gli interessi passivi sono risultati stabili. Le uscite in conto capitale sono diminuite in termini tendenziali del 30,7%; in particolare, gli investimenti fissi lordi sono scesi del 5,7% e le altre uscite in conto capitale del 50,4% Su questultima dinamica influisce, tra laltro, il venir meno degli interventi connessi alla risoluzione della crisi delle quattro banche registrati nel quarto trimestre del 2015.

Le entrate totali nel IV trimestre sono diminuite in termini tendenziali dello 0,9% e la loro incidenza sul Pil e stata del 53,7%, in calo di 1,1 punti rispetto al corrispondente trimestre del 2015. Complessivamente nel 2016, lincidenza delle entrate totali sul Pil e stata del 47,1%, inferiore di 0,7 punti percentuali rispetto al 2015. Le entrate correnti nel IV trimestre sono calate in termini tendenziali dello 0,7%; in particolare, si sono registrati incrementi delle imposte dirette (+1,9%), dei contributi sociali (+0,4%) e delle altre entrate correnti (+0,6%) e una riduzione delle imposte indirette (-5,6%). Le entrate in conto capitale hanno segnato un calo del 16,7%.

Il reddito disponibile delle famiglie consumatrici e diminuito nel quarto trimestre del 2016 dello 0,6% rispetto al trimestre precedente, mentre i consumi sono cresciuti dello 0,5%. Di conseguenza, la propensione al risparmio delle famiglie consumatrici e diminuita di 1 punto percentuali rispetto al trimestre precedente, scendendo all8%. A fronte di un aumento dello 0,2% del deflatore implicito dei consumi delle famiglie, il potere dacquisto delle famiglie consumatrici e diminuito dello 0,9% rispetto al trimestre precedente.

Nel 2016 il reddito disponibile e aumentato dell1,6% e la spesa per consumi finali dell1,3%, dando luogo a un aumento della propensione al risparmio di 0,2 punti percentuali rispetto al 2015. Il potere dacquisto e aumentato dell1,6%.

Nel quarto trimestre 2016, il tasso di investimento delle famiglie consumatrici (definito come rapporto tra investimenti fissi lordi delle famiglie consumatrici, che comprendono esclusivamente gli acquisti di abitazioni, e reddito disponibile lordo) e stato pari al 6,1%, invariato rispetto al trimestre precedente e in aumento di 0,1 punti percentuali rispetto al corrispondente trimestre del 2015. Tale dinamica congiunturale riflette un aumento degli investimenti fissi lordi dello 0,8% ed una flessione del reddito disponibile lordo (-0,6%). Nel 2016 il tasso di investimento delle famiglie consumatrici e stato pari al 6,1%, in aumento di 0,2 punti percentuali rispetto al 2015. Gli investimenti fissi lordi sono aumentati del 3,7%.
Our vocation is an infinite gift, offered to us by Jesus in the name of his Mother. As Marianists, we dedicate our lives to Mary. We are honored to follow her example of humble service and faithful discipleship in every aspect of our life.




Foreign stocks are an attractive option for investors who want to diversify their portfolios, with brokers ready to assist in making these foreign investments. Index funds that are global in scope and follow a passive investment approach provide a cost-effective means of investing overseas.

Still, it's worth noting these international index funds carry their own special risks, ranging from currency-related to political. They can pose liquidity and due diligence problems for retail investors.



Key Takeaways Investors can diversify their portfolios with foreign stocks by investing in international index funds.

International index funds can be more volatile than domestic funds and expose investors to currency risk.

Europe, the Pacific region, and emerging markets are the focus of the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund.

The Fidelity International Index Fund invests heavily in Europe and Japan.

The Schwab International Index Fund focuses on financial, industrial, health care, and consumer discretionary stocks.



What Is an Index Fund?

An index fund is a mutual fund or exchange-traded-fund (ETF) that invests in the securities tracked by an index. It follows a buy and hold strategy with the goal of matching the measured performance of the particular index it tracks, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500). An international index fund attempts to track the measured performance of an international market index.

Here are four of the best international index funds. We've listed some of the most important information for each, including the total assets under management (AUM), net asset value (NAV), and the net expense ratio for each. Except where noted, information provided is as of March 31, 2022.



1. Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTIAX)

AUM: $386.7 billion

$386.7 billion NAV: $31.37 as of Feb. 19, 2022

$31.37 as of Feb. 19, 2022 Net Expense Ratio: 0.11%

The Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund seeks to track the returns measured by the FTSE Global All Cap ex U.S. Index. Like other international equity funds, it can be more volatile than a domestic index fund. It comes with a minimum investment requirement of $3,000.

Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, and France top the list of market allocations of this fund with 14.9%, 10.2%, 8%, 7.9%, and 6.1%, respectively.

Europe makes up 39.50% of the fund's total regional allocation. The Pacific region follows with 26.80%. Emerging markets have been given a 25.20% allocation.

The 10-year return for the fund is 5.80%. The benchmark index measured performance at 5.97% during that same 10-year period.

2. Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTMGX)

AUM: $161.7 billion

$161.7 billion NAV: $15.09 as of Feb. 19, 2022

$15.09 as of Feb. 19, 2022 Net Expense Ratio: 0.07%

Vanguard merged two foreign equity funds in 2014 to form the Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund. This fund tracks the performance of the benchmark Spliced Developed ex U.S. Index, which measures the investment return of stocks issued by companies located in Canada and the major markets of Europe and the Pacific region.

It has an exceptionally low turnover ratio of 3.1% (as of December 2021), making it highly tax-efficient for investors. The fund mainly invests in large- and mid-cap stocks of developed markets. Over 19% of its assets are based in Japan while over 13.2% are in the United Kingdom, and 10.7% are in Canada.

VTMGX returned 6.67% to investors in 10 years compared to its benchmark, which returned 6.79% during that period.

The fund charges no load fees and requires its investors to contribute at least $3,000.



3. Fidelity International Index Fund (FSPSX)

AUM: $39.2 billion

$39.2 billion NAV: $44.87 as of Feb. 19, 2022

$44.87 as of Feb. 19, 2022 Net Expense Ratio: 0.035%

The Fidelity International Index Fund tracks the performance of the MSCI Europe, Australasia, Far East Index (EAFE). The MSCI EAFE is a broad index that represents the performance of foreign developed-market stocks. This fund offers a diversified international portfolio at a very low cost. Because the fund avoids emerging market equities, its returns are subject to lower volatility.

The fund uses sampling techniques to attain investment results similar to those of the underlying index. European stocks have the largest allocation at 65.1%, while Japanese equities account for about 21.86% of the fund's assets.

The fund provides large exposure to financial and industrial stocks, which have 17.39% and 15.11% allocations, respectively. The fund's portfolio is widely diversified. Its top 10 holdings account for only about 14.11% of its assets.

FSPSX had a 10-year return of 6.31% compared to the benchmark, which returned 6.46% during the same period. No minimum investment is required.



4. Schwab International Index Fund (SWISX)

AUM: $8.5 billion

$8.5 billion NAV: $21.54 as of Feb. 19, 2022

$21.54 as of Feb. 19, 2022 Net Expense Ratio: 0.06%

The Schwab International Index Fund seeks to track the measured return of the MSCI EAFE Index. Like other international stock funds, this fund exposes investors to foreign currency fluctuations.

European and Japanese companies head the lineup of this fund's portfolio. In addition, approximately 17% of the fund is invested in the financial services sector, followed by 15.4% in industrials, 13% in health care, and 11.5% in consumer discretionary companies.

In ten years, the fund returned 6.17% to investors while the benchmark measured a performance of 6.27% for that period.

The fund has one of the lowest net expense ratios among its peers and an exceptionally low turnover ratio of 4.08%, making it highly tax efficient. The fund has no load and no minimum investment requirement.

You can purchase shares in any of these funds by opening up an account with a mutual fund company that offers them.

Are International Index Funds a Good Investment? Whether international index funds are a good investment option depends on your investment goals, strategies, and capital pool. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that diversifying your exposure to international stocks can mitigate your risk and they do have the potential to provide you with a good return on your investment. Just remember that any chance for higher rewards comes with higher risk.

What Is an International Index Fund? An international index fund is a mutual fund that has a global scope as its focus. Just like other mutual funds, international index funds try to track the performance of a similar benchmark index. Many of them are low-cost funds that come with their own risks, such as currency fluctuations, political issues, and liquidity concerns.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Mugabe has revamped the way the African Union does things by introducing a host of processes and decision-making systems that ensure the bloc's effectiveness in addressing issues affecting the continent.During his tenure - which ends this week when he hands over the AU Chairmanship to Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno at the 26th Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - President Mugabe steered the grouping to achieving financial autonomy by enhancing internal resource mobilisation.President Mugabe shares a lighter moment with his Equatorial Guinea counterpart President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the presence of First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe at State House in Harare yesterday.  Picture: Believe NyakudjaraThe President, the most senior statesman in Africa, leaves a lasting impression courtesy of vast leadership experience. He is the only leader who was present at the formation of the AU's predecessor, the OAU, in 1963.Under his watch, the AU, implemented a plan to enhance domestic financing with some members increasing their financial contributions. It was under President Mugabe that the AU streamlined working methods at summits, breathing new life into a process that had become mundane.The outgoing AU chair was also credited for giving the AU's Agenda 2063, Africa's 50-year development blueprint, direction when he oversaw a summit at which the first 10-year implementation plan was adopted.Leveraging on Sadc's Industrialisation Stragegy, which he was instrumental in getting the region to adopt when he chaired that bloc, President Mugabe got Africa talking about industrial development over the past year.The President was also at the forefront of peace and security efforts on the continent after overseeing the signing of the peace agreement between Mali's government and Tuareg rebels; as well as working towards easing tensions in Burkina Faso, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar and other hot spots.On health, President Mugabe played an instrumental role in spearheading an international plea to fight Ebola, which ravaged West Africa last year.The outbreak was eventually contained this year.Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi told The Sunday Mail of President Mugabe's remarkable year in which he chaired both Sadc and the AU."There is an erroneous view that these happened as a result of a rotational coincidence; in other words it only happened because it was Zimbabwe's turn at the same time."This, of course, is not correct. It was not Zimbabwe's turn to chair Sadc, and it was not Zimbabwe's turn to chair the African Union. No. This happened not by coincidence, but by a conscious decision: first by Sadc that they wanted His Excellency the President to lead our regional organisation at that point in time."Then subsequently, it was again by conscious decision of the African Union that President Mugabe should lead the continental body at that point in time, knowing very well that he was already the Sadc leader."In other words, this was a conscious desire by both the region and the continent that our President was a leader of such stature that both organisations could benefit tremendously by his leadership, by his guidance, by his inspiration."Minister Mumbengegwi said under President Mugabe, the AU made a commitment to finance 100 percent of its operational budget in the next five years - up from the current 40 percent.In the same period, the internal funding thresholds are set at 75 percent for the programmes budget and 25 percent for the peace-keeping budget."Under his chairmanship, he has been able to inspire the continent to accept that we have to tax ourselves a bit more. Member states must contribute more so that we will be able to pay for our programmes and projects."So, this was a very important decision for the continent, and it was very much spearheaded by the President, he pushed it through the summit."In fact, the current subscriptions for member states have gone up considerably because benchmarks have been determine d to achieve the percentages I have just referred."The figures have gone up; in our case we are paying almost double what we used to pay in order to be able to pay more," Minister Mumbengwi said.He said President Mugabe brought a refreshing air to AU meetings, which he chaired with wit, poise, intelligence and charm, leaving delegates in awe.Officials from the Foreign Affairs Ministry said President Mugabe had changed the way business was conducted.A senior mandarin said: "One of his biggest successes was the streamlining of the working methods of the AU summits and the Union."The previous AU summits would just commence with the opening ceremony, and this used to take a lot of time, leaving less time for real discussions, especially outstanding discussions amongst the Heads of States."We had a problem in that during the old sessions, we would have elaborate sessions and soon after, some Heads of States would fly away or use the opportunity of the summit to hold bilateral talks."Now what is happening is that as soon as they get in, they go into a closed session, where Heads of States discuss strategic issues related to Africa."This is what happened during the summit in South Africa in June last year and member of states actually were in agreement that it gives them time to make the agenda leaner, it confines certain issues strategic issues so that administrative matters are handled by the Ministers and Permanent representatives."Then you will have the specialised technical committees at Ministerial level and permanent representatives discussing some of the technical and laborious issues."President will convene his last meeting as Chair when Heads of State and Government meet in Addis Ababa on January 30 and 31.
Quant funds  computer-driven strategies managed by Vanguard and other big firms  were originally thought to outsmart human minds and transform investing. Now, however, as their performance plunges, they are losing billions of dollars amid their worst outflow in years. That represents a huge blow for an industry that managed more than $900 billion as of early last year.

Quant Funds Sink

Vanguards quant fund down 4%, versus S&P 500s 12% gain in 2019

Neuberger Berman, Columbia Threadneedle, others shut down quant funds

Momentum and value strategies extend 2018s losses

Trend-following quants see assets plunge after worst outflow in 13 years

Source: Bloomberg

Factor Investing Falls Out of Favor

Robotic traders manage roughly $1 out of every $3 held in the worlds $3 trillion hedge fund industry, using models that take into account companys profitability, trends in volatility and shift sin economic cycles to make trading decisions, per Bloomberg. Within that realm, factor investing, which typically uses single characteristics like quality and value to bet on which stocks will outperform over time, is quickly losing its luster. Vanguard's massive quant fund is down 4% this year, compared to the S&P 500s 12.2% gain. Meanwhile, Neuberger Berman is set become the latest major firm using factor investing to close a quant fund, shortly after Columbia Threadneedle closed its quant fund in December, as outlined by Bloomberg.

Momentum, one of the most popular factors, hasnt managed to pull a comeback from its disastrous 2018. Value has suffered a similar demise.

If investors believe factor returns are well-behaved, they are mistaken, said Vitali Kalesnik, head of equity research at Research Affiliates, a firm that employs such strategies. When investors need it the most, diversification may fade away and factors can go down together. This is exacerbated by the fact that they can go down several months in a row.

Quants Destabilized by Fed, Trump Tweets

Trend-following quants are suffering too as they struggle to react fast enough to the unforeseen side effects of factors including the end of a decade of central bank stimulus. Trend-following quants have suffered their worst outflows in at least 13 years, a big reversal from the booming popularity of systematic trend-following quants, or CTAs, following their smooth performance throughout the 1008 Financial Crisis.

Quants even seem to be shaken by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The models cant move as fast as the tweets, said Brooks Ritchey, senior managing director at Franklin Templetons K2 Advisors unit. The firm currently oversees $3.6 billion, and since investing significantly in trend-following quants, has exited all but one, per Bloomberg.

Some Winners Remain

Not all corners of the factor investing space are so bleak. Some riskier styles including volatility, leverage and small size have outperformed following indicators that the Fed had become more dovish in its policy, per Bloomberg. According to Credit Suisse, equity quants saw their exposure increase by roughly 9% in the first two months of the year. Bloomberg Intelligence also showed that smart beta, which typically tracks factors through long-only investments) drew a record $33 billion of inflows in the recent quarter, led by value and low-volatility.

I dont think institutions have given up on quant investing or factor investing, but now we have some question marks, said Morningstar analyst Tayfun Icten. So the firms that have an operational edge and more sophisticated infrastructure to execute will probably do better than wannabes.

Looking Ahead

Ultimately, the idea of a future wherein computers and machines beat humans at investing seems far off. While many quant funds are still doing well, the upheavals of the past year show that human investors, in many cases, have proven to be more insightful and accurate in reacting to trends in the market. In todays world, it looks like computers suffer many of the same weaknesses as a human brain might, and that machines for the time being may be only as smart, or as short-sighted, as the humans who program them.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) products have been synonymous with innovation, sleek design, and approachable user interfaces for millions of users for multiple decades. It stands in third place, after only Walmart and Amazon, on the Fortune 500 List for 2021 of the largest U.S. companies by revenue.

Nonetheless, the company has its fair share of competitors. Given that Apple operates in the desktop, laptop, and tablet computer market and the smartphone market, it faces competition from an ever-growing array of peers and from a number of different sides.

And that's just for starters. The fact is, none of the big technology companies stay in their own corner these days. Is Apple also an entertainment company? You'd think so, given the presence of the hit streaming series Ted Lasso exclusively on Apple TV+. And that puts it in direct competition for eyeballs with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Amazon, to name just a few.

Key Takeaways Apple appears in third place in the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. companies by revenue.

Its share of the global personal computer market is 8.6%.

It has a 14% share of the global smartphone market.

Computer Manufacturers

Many of Apple's primary competitors are manufacturers of personal computers. Apple certainly is listed on almost all of the many "top 10" lists for brands, but HP, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba all compete in this space.

In terms of global market share, Apple was in fourth place, at 8.6% as of the third quarter of 2021. Larger shares were claimed by Lenovo, at 23.7%, HP, at 20.9%, and Dell, at 18.1%.

About Lenovo

Lenovo Group is headquartered in China but has its operational headquarters in North Carolina.

Its products include personal computers, mobile phones, and other electronics. In this way, Lenovo competes with Apple in many different product lines.

About HP

HP Inc. (HPQ) has a history dating back to 1939 as the original Hewlett-Packard Co. As such, it is considered the founding company of Silicon Valley.

In recent years, the company has focused on affordable consumer computing products. One of HP's strengths is its broad global presence, making it a particularly strong Apple competitor outside the U.S.

About Dell

Dell Technologies (DVMT) is a manufacturer of desktop and mobile computing devices and one of Apple's primary competitors.

The rivalry between these two companies goes back many years, with Dell even attempting to corner some of Apple's share of the mobile music player market with its Dell DJ, an early competitor to the iPod.

Dell has participated in numerous acquisitions and other partnerships in recent years, though it does not offer smartphones.

Smartphone Manufacturers

Among the most significant Apple products is the iPhone. As in the computer space, Apple does not dominate the market.

In fact, Apple's worldwide share of the smartphone market is about 14% as of the third quarter of 2021. Samsung has 20% of the global market. The three other leading names are Chinese companies that are little known in the U.S.: Xiaomi, vivo, and OPPO.

About Samsung

Samsung is South Korea's biggest company. The Samsung Galaxy and Note series have been responsible for reductions in iPhone sales for many years.

Samsung has developed into one of the largest and most profitable companies, not only in Asia but worldwide.

There are many additional competitors which seek to target some segment of Apple's services or products. Further, because the technology field is always changing and growing, new companies frequently enter the fray.

With all of the competition, the consumer benefits from expanded innovation and lowered prices.
"Billions," which premiered on Showtime in 2016, stars Paul Giamatti as a high-profile U.S. attorney with an 81-consecutive conviction streak, while Damien Lewis plays Bobby Axe Axelrod, a revered hedge fund manager and sole survivor of his firm after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Axelrod has rebuilt his firm into one of the industrys most successful. How he achieved this success, however, is the question for the Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers who have discovered unusual trading patterns at companies with links to his hedge fund.

Key Takeaways "Billions" was renewed for a sixth season to air in 2021.

Paul Giamatti and Damien Lewis star in this drama set in the world of hedge fund managers and the New York City lawmen who pursue them.

The show seems to have resonated with viewers newly attuned to Wall Street excesses.

How the Show Got Made

"Billions" is a fictional jaunt into the dynamic world of hedge funds. It was created by financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin and the writers of "Rounders," Brian Koppelman and David Levien.

If the name Andrew Ross Sorkin sounds familiar, its because he is the author of "Too Big to Fail," the definitive tell-all book about the 2008 financial crisis. Koppelman and Levien wrote "Rounders," a novel about New York's underground high-stakes poker scene that was later made into a movie starring Matt Damon.

Sorkins "Too Big to Fail" was adapted into a film of the same name that aired on HBO in 2011. Following the release of that film, Sorkin sought to create a fictional television show in a territory often ignored by Hollywood: the world of finance.

After the HBO version of Too Big to Fail, I thought we could try to explore the power structure that is the financial world in a nuanced and elevated way, Sorkin told "Modern Trader." The goal was to create something that I hadnt really seen on television before.

A Battle Between Power and Wealth

The show centers on a power struggle between two sharply defined characters.

Giamattis character, Chuck Rhoades, is a conflicted, moral man. While he is in service to his wifes dominatrix tendencies, he is also serving the public as a successful Wall Street sheriff. With 81 straight convictions under his belt, he picks his battles against financial titans carefully but offers no leniency, even to those he has known his entire life.

At one point, Rhoades is confronted by his father and asked to step in on behalf of a family friend who has been convicted of insider trading. The decision leads to fatal consequences for the convicted, as Rhoades must confront the weight of his power on Wall Street.

Sorkin told "Modern Trader" that Chuck Rhoades is based on a number of attorneys that he witnessed over the years as a journalist covering white-collar crime.

Remind You of Anybody?

A viewer can see elements of former New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, who prosecuted many white-collar cases in the wake of the dot-com crash, and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, who won 85 straight convictions on insider trading cases.

Hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod, though, is not based on any single Wall Street hedge fund manager.

Damien Lewis, the actor playing Axelrod, said that he read hedge fund manager David Einhorns book, "Fooling Some of the People All of the Time," to prepare for the role. And it is merely a coincidence that Bobby Axelrod shares the same initials as activist investor and Pershing Square Capital founder Bill Ackman.

Bobby Axelrod is his own character, Sorkin said in the same interview. He isnt based on any one individual, but he shares a lot of qualities of lots of people in the hedge fund world.

The Lonely Tycoon

Axelrod is also a complex character. Perhaps most striking about him is that despite all of his wealth, his marriage, and two sons, Axelrod seems alone. He's able to discuss his personal issues and motivations only with his companys trading psychologist, a woman who happens to be Chuck Rhoades wife.

He has always tried to be careful in his work and life, but his decision to purchase a $63 million mansion marks a serious break from that cautious approach. When Rhoades advises him to not purchase the mansion, it simply makes Axelrod want it even more.

The final push comes when Axelrod sees his family pet whimpering on the ground after it has been neutered and forced to wear a protective cone. (There's a pretty obvious metaphor here.) He allows his ego to overtake him. But it soon appears that the decision to make such a high-profile purchase may set him up for failure later in the season.

That purchase is the launching point of an investigation of his firms activities and the conclusion of the first episode.

The Bottom Line

Showtimes "Billions" is a unique character study that pits political power against extreme wealth in the world of hedge fund finance and government oversight. The show was renewed for a sixth season in late 2020.
White sandy beaches, balmy year-round temperatures, glitzy hotels, an eclectic Caribbean-Spanish culture, and architectural remnants of its colonial past all make Puerto Rico a truly one-of-a-kind destination. For many U.S. citizens, these factors also make the island a compelling investment and lifestyle ideal. Because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, there are no restrictions on Americans acquiring property on the island.

Another advantage is that U.S. citizens dont have to go through customs when traveling between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainlandthis can be a big time saver.

Key Takeaways You may have to deal with a number of agents in your property search in Puerto Rico; it's advisable to deal with reputable, certified agents, or nationally-recognized real estate brands.

You can use TasaMax, a third-party service, to acquire sales data about the local real estate market.

Determine what is and isnt included in the homeowners association (HOA) fee.

Hire a licensed home inspector to ensure the unit is in sound condition.

You can obtain a home equity loan on your U.S. residence or draw from a U.S. line of credit to purchase your Puerto Rican condo in cash.

The Risk and Possible Rewards

Puerto Rico has experienced a serious debt crisis. In 2019, the country filed for bankruptcy, in one of the largest bankruptcy filings in U.S. history. The island emerged from bankruptcy in 2022, causing a boom in the local real estate market.

Consider the risks, and if you decide to proceed, condos in particular offer foreign buyers access to some of the best beach locations at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a house or land. You can snag a two-bedroom waterfront condo for as little as $180,000, depending on the area and level of luxury you desirenot bad for a low-maintenance vacation home in a beautiful location.

Other condo draws include the ability to generate rental income when you are not using the property, which can help offset ownership costs.

Buying Property in Puerto Rico

If you are looking to purchase property on the island, keep these six factors in mind.

1. Real Estate Agents

Buyers agents arent as common in Puerto Rico as they are in the U.S., as brokers acquire their own listings to which they steer potential buyers. This means you may deal with a number of agents in your property search. Once a broker has shown you all of its exclusive listings, youll have to move on to another broker and its portfolio.

As with any real estate purchase, its a good idea to deal with reputable, certified agentsor nationally recognized real estate brands. Local databases include the Multiple Listing Service of Puerto Rico. Other comprehensive sites worth checking out are Point2Homes and Clasificadosonline.com. But be forewarned: The databases may not be up to date.

Use agents who live and work in the area or community where youre looking to buy, and who speak Spanish. They can advise you on local lifestyle and cultural issues. Burglary and drug-related trouble, for instance, are rife in some areas.

One of the best ways to get connected with a reputable realtor is to ask around the local community. Keep in mind that if you attempt to do a property search on your own, youll need conversational Spanish. Even though English is also an official language, not everyone speaks it fluently.

2. Research

Chances are youre unfamiliar with the local market and what constitutes a legitimate price point. Fortunately, there are third-party services like TasaMax that provide comparable sales data to financiers and real estate professionals.

You can subscribe to the service yourself (though much of the website uses the Spanish language instead of English). To be on the safe side, it is a good practice to obtain a report on any property that captures your interest. Be sure to compare the quality (and cost) against other condos in the area.

3. Management and Fees

Prior to purchasing, its important to determine what is and isnt included in the homeowners association (HOA) fee. HOA fees typically cover general maintenance for the building, as well as any common areas and facilities, insurance for the complex, and manned security.

Obviously, the more privileges provided and the more manpower required to operate the complex, the higher the cost to its owners.

4. Inspections

Whether the condo is brand new or has been lived in, a licensed home inspector can help ensure the unit is in sound condition. This should extend to the main condo construction and shared facilities. Be sure you personally visit and closely inspect the property. No amount of research is as reliable as seeing the condo and its facilities firsthand.

5. Financing and Legals

While theres no obligation to purchase in cash, you can obtain a home equity loan (on your U.S. residence, if you have one), or draw from a U.S. line of credit to purchase your Puerto Rican condo in cash. However, local lending is also an option. Just be prepared for an extraordinary amount of paperwork. Also, have a lawyer review your contract to ensure that your interests are protected.

Mortgage lending discrimination is illegal. If you think you've been discriminated against based on race, religion, sex, marital status, use of public assistance, national origin, disability, or age, there are steps you can take. One such step is to file a report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

6. Tax Breaks

In 2012, Puerto Rico passed legislation shielding new residents from paying most federal income taxes. Since then, the island is swiftly emerging as a hot new tax haven for Americans.

If you reside on the island for a minimum of 183 days annuallyand meet other qualifying criteriayou may pay minimal (if any) taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains under the Act 22 tax law. These tax incentives are attracting more entrepreneurs from the U.S. mainland and plenty of new, luxury developments.

If you reside on the island for a minimum of 183 days annually and meet other qualifying criteria, you may pay minimal, if any, taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains under the Act 22 tax law, passed by Puerto Rico in 2012.

The Bottom Line

Buying real estate in Puerto Rico offers a number of logical investment perks for Americans, including flexible finance possibilities, zero immigration concerns, and amazing tax breaks (should you qualify). And while the islands money crisis may turn up some appealing real estate deals, the instability does come with great financial risk.

If this doesn't deter you, it is always advisable to work with reputable, certified professionals who are bilingual in Spanish and English. Obtain comparable sales data to ensure the price point is reasonable. Organize a property inspection from a licensed contractor. Visit the property personally. And clarify all fees associated with managing and purchasing it upfront. If the local economy and real estate market regains momentum, you may reap financial rewards (in addition to the lifestyle perks) for your investment.

Correction: July 19, 2022This article has been edited to clarify that both English and Spanish are official languages in Puerto Rico.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

Francis Manyowa Chiwenga, uncle to Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga has died.He succumbed to diabetes at the age of 74 on Thursday last week.At a church service held at One Commando Barracks for Manyowa Chiwenga, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the Chiwenga family should look ahead as God had made his decision."I saw that he was suffering when I visited him in hospital," he said. "He was not able to talk and when I introduced myself, he opened his eyes and closed them again. We wanted to take him into the intensive care unit since he was suffering from several ailments. We did not know that God had other plans. If you want God to laugh at you, show God your plans because he is the one who knows what the future holds for all of us."Gen Chiwenga said his uncle was raised by his parents and he used to call him brother since they shared everything."I used to call him brother," he said. "We shared everything, but he was my uncle and I did not know that until I grew up. He attended Mount St Mary's and St Paul's Musami schools. He learnt building at Musami, specialising in stone work. He was a specialist in stone work."Gen Chiwenga said upon completion of his education, Manyowa Chiwenga ventured into politics, joining Zapu.He said Manyowa Chiwenga was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing a firearm from a British policeman, but he served three years.Gen Chiwenga said upon his release, Manyowa Chiwenga continued with revolutionary activities and became logistics leader in the Wedza area responsible for providing food to fighters of the liberation struggle."At one time he served me food, but he did not recognise me," he said. "That is when I realised that people were afraid to look at the faces of guerillas during the liberation struggle."Manyowa Chiwenga is survived by four children, several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The case of Jimmy Gralton from County Leitrim, the only Irish citizen ever to be deported from his own country, has been revisited by a local campaign group who are seeking to have the injustice recognized officially and the deportation order symbolically lifted 83 years after its enforcement.

Jimmy Gralton was a colorful, intelligent and well-traveled man, born in 1886 in south Leitrim. Like most of his peers he emigrated to America but later returned home to take care of his elderly mother. Ireland was a bleak country both economically and socially in the 1930s and Jimmy, a charismatic individual, was instrumental in the formation of cultural, literary and social groups in the poor, rural townlands of south Leitrim.

Local people congregated in a community hall which Jimmy built but soon fell foul of church and state authorities for participating in unheard of socially dangerous activities such as dancing to jazz and reading banned books. Incredibly on Christmas Eve 1932 the hall was soaked in petrol and burned to the ground. Even more incredibly Jimmy was forced into hiding for 6 months in defiance of a deportation order signed by the Minister for Justice. Jimmy had gained American citizenship and this was used as an excuse to deport him as an illegal alien from his own country.

Last year an acclaimed film, shot by award winning director Ken Loach, concerning Jimmy Gralton, was filmed locally. A number of locals were hired and played minor parts in the well-received film Jimmys Hall.

Inspired by the story, three of those locals are now spearheading a campaign to have the deportation order lifted in a symbolic gesture to the Gralton family.

We have written to the Minister for Justice, said Councillor Thomas Healy, we have had motions in support of the campaign passed by Leitrim and Sligo County Councils and are now extending the campaign nationwide. This year is the centenary of the Easter rising which guaranteed religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all citizens. Jimmy Gralton was denied these rights and we want to see justice done. I really enjoyed playing a part in the film Jimmys Hall, and now I want to play my part in the real world to officially rescind this cruel deportation order. As part of the campaign we have launched an online petition and I hope to present the petition to the Minister this year. What happened in 1933 was an historic disgrace and is a blemish on Ireland, I hope to see it belatedly recognized as such and an apology issued to the Gralton family.
Philadelphia-based chocolate giant Hershey has all but lost the war in trying to separate Irish people in the US from their favorite chocolate.

With many small shops across the US brazenly flouting the ban by importing and selling the original Cadbury chocolate instead of the Hersheys imitation, the company has admitted it will not be able to bring every small vendor selling Irish Cadbury chocolate to court.

They are, however, still refusing to completely back down and are targeting bigger importers, despite the huge amounts of bad publicity that continues to pour in after the cruel ban placed on Irish and British people craving a taste of home.

In January 2015, Hershey won a court case against two major importers, Posh Nosh and Lets Buy British (LBB), and it was feared that the win for the business would result in a loss for all US-based Irish chocoholics, completely cutting off the stream of original Cadbury chocolate to the country.

Read more: Huge blow to Irish import stores in U.S. as Cadbury is banned.

Hershey bought the rights to the Cadbury name in the US in 1988 and took out the case for a complete ban wishing to look after their business interests and ensure that no other Cadbury chocolate was available to compete with their own attempts.

The move has not proven popular, or indeed, successful, as outrage and defiance from Irish ex-pats has resulted in the continued appearance of Irish Cadbury chocolate on the shelves of certain niche shops. Many believe that the ban has only moved to further highlight the difference between the original and Hersheys Cadbury chocolate and the massive dislike for the latter.

It is not realistic from a resources perspective to monitor every single retailer. We have focused on large importers, said a Hersey spokesperson of their continued struggle to tell people what they can eat and what they cant.

We had cases last year against two importers  Posh Nosh and Lets Buy British (LBB)  who were both importing confectionery products from the UK that were not intended for sale in the United States and infringe on the Hershey Companys brand trademark rights and trade dress.

Despite the apparent outright ban, many stores who pride themselves on their original Cadbury stock are still finding ways to continue importing it into the country.

Read more: Rejoice! Hersheys ban on Cadburys chocolate fails to stick.

One such store is Tea and Sympathy in Manhattan who proudly advertise their defiance.

I called my supplier and they said they could not sell me Cadburys, owner Nicky Perry told The Telegraph.

Even if Americans would rather buy Hersheys, there has been so much negative publicity and their stock went down.

I am still getting my Cadburys. They will have to come and arrest me. All they are doing is making people aware that our chocolate is far better. They will never be able to stop it, people here are absolutely determined.

Its like that game where there are five rubbish bins and four lids and every time they slam the lid down, somebody pops up out of another bin.

Just around the corner from Tea and Sympathy is yet another British store unashamedly displaying Cadbury chocolate not made by Hershey in their front window.

Jennifer Myers, the owner of Myers of Keswick, said they were able to get away with continuing to sell the chocolate as a smaller store because the US chocolate company would be reluctant to pay attention or to bring them to court.

They were going for wholesalers rather than mom and pop stores like ours, she said.

We are still selling Cadburys. Barely a day goes by without people coming into the shop and asking if it is the real thing.

It created a real buzz. People were saying how can they do this, it really brought out peoples feelings.

The blatant selling of Cadbury chocolate is not confined to New York alone, however.

Kazimierz European Market in New England is also flagrantly advertising the fact on their website.

I am still selling Cadbury because it is delicious, said Danielle Moura, the proprietor.

Subtlety may be required if these stores wish to continue, however, as Hersheys chocolate are still attempting to shut down smaller services. In March 2015, they put an abrupt end to the enterprise of a British couple who established the British Chocolate Club, a service that mailed a monthly supply of eight or 15 chocolate bars to the Cadbury-deprived British citizens in the US.

The US company found that the British Chocolate Club was still in violation of US law and their customers were once again plunged into a chocolate-less existence.

Cadbury suppliers throughout the US showed their disgust at the ban from the off, boycotting Hersheys Cadbury attempts and organizing petitions to call off the ban.

The main cause of concern and complaint for many chocolate connoisseurs in the US is the manner in which Hersheys attempt to make their milk chocolate. Although the first ingredient in the product in Ireland is milk, sugar takes its place in the US version, creating a large and unfavorable difference in the taste.

Hershey's ain't got nothing on Cadbury's  goose (@liliangoose) January 7, 2016

Hershey's has been ruined for me since I've had Cadbury.   nah (@1DHipstaPlease) January 6, 2016

I tried Cadbury chocolate 2 days ago and it makes Hershey's chocolate taste like trash m.  |-/ (@localcliffxrd) December 22, 2015

Milk chocolate has been a point of pride for Ireland for quite some time and the New York Times recently agreed, stating that Ireland really was one of the best places in the world to find silky smooth milk chocolate.

H/T: The Telegraph

Read more: Watch out, Belgium - NY Times says Ireland is the place to travel for milk chocolate.
It will happen tomorrow on the subway. If not there then it will happen when you reach work. Your co-worker or your boss will lean across your desk and say, Isn't it awful?

What's awful? you'll ask.

He or she will point to a computer screen and say, This. You'll see an image of complete pandemonium. People seen from overhead, perhaps from a helicopter, running like little frightened dots on a Google map.

But it will be real. It will be America's next mass shooting.

You'll see the headlines and breaking news alerts on every screen in the nation. It's happening again. It'll happen again soon.

I wonder how long we're going to live this stupidly, this carelessly, this hopelessly?

If you're convinced that nothing can be done, its because the gun lobby spent $8.5 million in 2015 in an effort to convince you.

Does that seem like a lot? Well, would it surprise you to hear that the NRA and the Gun Owners of America organizations have together poured nearly $81 million into House, Senate and presidential races since the 2000 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

That's a lot of favors to call in. That's probably why, when the votes on the most far reaching gun control legislation to reach the Senate in 20 years were about to be taken (and national polls showed 90 percent of Americans supported background checks for every gun purchase) nothing happened.

The Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was also defeated in the Senate on April 17, 2013.

When the clerk called the roll, the crucial amendment  the one requiring background checks for gun sales at shows, or via classified ads or on the internet -- got just 54 votes in favor, six votes short of the 60 vote super-majority needed. Color me shocked.

This vote, by the way, was just four months after the unhinged Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

You probably have not have read about the sheer cruelty of his actions on that day. I don't blame you if you didn't have the stomach to learn about them, but I really think you should, because he's the best argument in favor of gun control you could ever possibly read.

The only survivor of the massacre, a six-year-old girl, was found by police in the classroom following the shooting. She had hidden in one of the corners of the classroom's bathroom and played dead.

When her mother picked her up, she said, Mommy, I'm okay, but all my friends are dead. She described the shooter as a very angry man.

By last month 550 American children died from gunshots since the Sandy Hook massacre. They weren't your kids, you probably didn't know any of them, you likely didn't experience the heartbreak, it probably wasn't your soul that was cored out and set ablaze forever. Move on.

Adam Lanza's mother was a self-described gun enthusiast who owned at least a dozen firearms. She often took him to a local shooting range and had him learn how to shoot. She was also the first person he killed on the day of the massacre, with one of her own guns.

The guns were acquired legally and were registered. Among her cache of weapons were two traditional hunting rifles, two handguns and a semiautomatic rifle similar to the kind used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Her son took the two handguns and the semiautomatic to the school.

Lanzas developmental disorder had seen him drop out of high school. Some of his former classmates said they had been told he had Aspergers syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. But what someone with his obvious mental issues was doing with access to a house full of high powered weapons is a question that his mother is no longer around to answer.

When the GOP presidential candidates take the podium again this spring they will each outdo one another to list their pro-life credentials. But how can anyone claim to be pro-life when they witness these endless massacres and simply turn away without responding?
By Daniel McConnell, Political Editor

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has promised to deliver 10,000 more Gardai, nurses, doctors and teachers by 2021, in his key-note address at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis.

Mr Kenny did not take the occasion of his live televised address to announce the election date, as some had earlier speculated, but he gave a robust defence of his tenure, just weeks out from an election.

In a speech heavily emphasising Fine Gael's credential in fixing the economy, Mr Kenny said that the people will choose between continuing the recovery or risking that recovery when they go to the polls.

At the Citywest Hotel, Mr Kenny said that if re-elected, a Fine-Gael led Government would end the tax discrimination against the self-employed, but gave no time frame as to when that would happen.

He also said the party would protect our 12.5% corporation tax rate which has been a cornerstone of investment and job creation.

The Taoiseach said the party would aim to see 200,000 new jobs created in the next five years, adding that he wants many of the new jobs that are being created to be taken up by those who are still out of work.

Mr Kenny said If he is re-elected by the people, just as we said goodbye to the Troika, we will say goodbye to the USC.

He added: Five years ago, we reversed Fianna Fails decision to cut the minimum wage, which would have hurt those who earn the least. This month, we increased it again to 9.15 per hour. We reduced the USC for low and middle income earners, and increased the numbers who dont have to pay it at all to 700,000.

While there was no repeat of the five-point plan which was the mantra of Fine Gael's 2011 campaign, Mr Kenny set out a three-step plan to continue the recovery.

Those three streps are: More and better jobs, making work pay and investing in better public services.

Do you want the recovery, the recovery you have worked for, suffered for, and made so much personal sacrifice for, to continue? Or do you want to put it at risk? Thats the only question you will be asked. Thats the only question you will answer, he said.

A clear choice between continuing on the path of stability and recovery; or putting our hard won progress at risk. We must keep the recovery going, he added.

Despite recent criticisms of the Health service, Mr Kenny trumpeted that Fine Gael and Labour have committed an extra 800m for the health sector this year. He said he and his party are committed to meeting the needs of an ageing population as well as reducing waiting lists.

He did not repeat the 2007 commitment to end the trolley crisis, however as trolley numbers have spiked above 500 this month.

Mr Kenny heavily criticised Fianna Fail for the state of the economy when they were thrown out of office in 2011.

I don't need to remind you about the crisis that gripped Ireland in January 2011. You lived it  every day. The public finances out of control. 300,000 jobs lost. Tens of thousands leaving the country in search of work. The banks on the brink of collapse, and Irelands international reputation in tatters. The Troika had arrived. Then Irish people gave Fine Gael and the Labour Party a mandate to fix the public finances and to get our country working again, he said.

Referring to the centenary of the Easter 1916 Rising, Mr Kenny said that Ireland's best days lay ahead.

We can say that the dream of our nations heart has yet to be fulfilled, he said.
A Holocaust Memorial commemoration gets underway in Dublin in an hour.

During the ceremony six candles will be lit for the six million Jews who perished, as well as candles for all of the other victims of Nazi atrocities.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny will address the congregation.

Lynn Jackson from the Holocaust Education Trust Ireland has said three Holocaust survivors will also be in attendance; By having the annual anniversary of the Holocaust memorial day, which is set on January 27 which is the date that Auschwitz was liberated in 1945.

It bring our thoughts back to those times, but it also reminds us there are still survivors of the Holocaust, the three Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Ireland will also attend.
A cabinet minister has accused Fianna Fail of trying to re-write the history of their time in Government.

Simon Coveney said that they will never let the country go back into the recession caused by Fianna Fail policy.
Thousands attended the grand opening in St Marks Square of the Venice Carnival, celebrated under heightened security following the sexual assaults on New Years Eve in Cologne and the ongoing terror threat in Europe.

Authorities have increased surveillance throughout the city and increased the number of officers on patrol, both under-cover and in uniform, but rejected a proposal to ban revellers from wearing masks.
A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the US East Coast to a standstill today, dumping as much as three feet of snow, stranding tens of thousands of travellers and shutting down Washington and New York City.

After days of weather warnings, most of the 80 million people in the storms path heeded requests to stay home and off the roads, which were largely deserted. But more was yet to come, with dangerous conditions expected to persist until early Sunday.

In addition to snow and treacherous winds, the National Weather Service predicted up to half an inch of ice for the Carolinas and potentially serious coastal flooding for the mid-Atlantic region.

This is going to be one of those generational events, where your parents talk about how bad it was, Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for WeatherBell Analytics, said from Tallahassee, Florida, which also got some flakes.

Snow fell from the Gulf Coast to the northeastern New England states. In nearly two dozen places, it passed the 20-inch mark by late morning, according to the weather service. Terra Alta, West Virginia, reported 28 inches.

At least 11 deaths were blamed on the weather, most from traffic accidents. The ice and snow made travel treacherous, causing thousands of accidents and cancelling nearly 4,300 flights on Saturday, the bulk of them at airports in the New York City and Washington metro areas. Another 1,235 flights were cancelled for Sunday, according to flight tracking service Flight Aware. Airlines hoped to be back in business by Sunday afternoon.

The long-anticipated storm exceeded expectations, so forecasters increased their snow predictions for New York and points north.

The new estimates were for heavy snow all the way up to just south of Boston, forecaster Patrick Burke said from the weather services Weather Prediction Centre in College Park, Maryland.

Eighteen to 24 inches were predicted for Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia; and 15 to 20 inches for New York, Burke said. Some areas outside the major cities could get up to 30 inches.

This is kind of a top 10 snowstorm, said weather service winter storm expert Paul Kocin, who co-wrote a two-volume textbook on blizzards. And for New York and Washington this looks like top five, he said. Its a big one.

By midday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced a travel ban in New York City, ordering all non-emergency vehicles off the roads by mid-afternoon. Mayor Bill de Blasio urged Broadway theatres and restaurants to close. The citys commuter rails and above-ground segments of the subway were to shut down too, along with buses.

Cab driver Mian Ayyub said he tried to pick up fares Saturday morning but gave up after getting stuck four times in two hours. Police and passers-by helped get him free.

Ive been driving a cab 28 years, but this looks like the worst. He parked in the East Village and went home.

WIPEOUT!!! I promise this is best video of #Snowzilla you'll see pic.twitter.com/pBbiWElG7y  Peter Doocy (@pdoocy) January 23, 2016

In Kentucky, where some places got 18 inches on Friday, hundreds of drivers on a long stretch of Interstate 75 south of Lexington were stranded overnight because of a string of crashes and blowing snow. Crews passed out snacks, fuel and water and tried to move cars one by one. Emergency shelters were opened.

Motorists also were reported stranded along pockets of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel in Somerset County. The National Guard was called to help, said Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo. In the Washington metro area, nearly two feet of snow was on the ground by Saturday morning, and monuments that would normally be busy with tourists, were mostly vacant. All mass transit was to be shut down through Sunday.

The snow alone would have been enough to bring the East Coast to a halt. But it was whipped into a maelstrom by brutally sharp winds that reached 75mph at Dewey Beach, Delaware, and Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, the weather service reported.

From Virginia to New York, sustained winds topped 30mph and gusted to around 50mph, Mr Burke said.

The wind was so strong that scientists reported trouble measuring the snowfall.

And if that were not enough, the storm had bursts of thunder and lightning.

Forecasters saw lightning out the window of the Weather Prediction Centre, where meteorologists were camped out.

Even before the snow began to fall Friday afternoon, states of emergency were declared. Schools, government offices and transit systems closed early from Georgia to New York.

The ice and snow made travel treacherous, causing thousands of accidents and cancelling nearly 4,300 flights. Airlines hoped to be back in business by Sunday afternoon.

Airlines canceled more than 5,500 flights in the US and beyond this weekend as a blizzard conditions, cold and ice hits much of the US, with East Coast cities feeling the most impact.

The bulk of Saturdays 4,298 cancellations are at airports in the New York City and Washington metro areas, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.

Another 1,235 flights were cancelled for Sunday. Those cancellations centre on Philadelphia, Washington and New York, with airlines essentially shutting down all flights into those cities.

But the snowstorm was greeted happily at Virginias ski resorts.

Were thrilled, said Hank Thiess, general manager at Wintergreen ski resort in central Virginia, who was expecting 40 inches of dry, powdery snow. Going forward, were set up to have just a terrific second half of the ski season.
The Port of Calais has been closed after around 50 migrants reportedly made their way onto a ferry causing a security incident.

A statement from the Port of Dover said the French port was experiencing migrant activity which had caused disruption to services.
A 17-year-old has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in western Canada, police said.

Police said today the male suspect cannot be named under Canadas Youth Criminal Justice Act.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Higher and Tertiary Education minister Jonathan Moyo yesterday outed President Robert Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba as the shadowy Herald columnist Nathaniel Manheru.Moyo has in the past revealed that he ran the column in his first stint as Information minister before it was inherited by Charamba.However, Charamba has not publicly admitted that he is the author of the column, where threats against independent journalists are routinely made.Manheru recently ruffled feathers when he wrote a piece attacking Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa's opponents in Zanu-PF who he alleged had joined hands with former vice-president Joice Mujuru.Moyo last week also took issue with the Herald's reportage on Zanu-PF factionalism and chastised the paper for making reference to the "anti-Mnangagwa cabal in Zanu-PF".Yesterday the former Information minister seemed to be going for the jagular when he mentioned Charamba by name as he responded to issues raised by Manheru on Twitter."Yes Cde Charamba a new education curriculum must be about a new history and a new narrative," Moyo tweeted."Its content, stupid," he added before providing a link to the article titled New Curriculum: History The Temptress.Moyo and Charamba have had an uneasy relationship since the time the political scientist headed the Information ministry for the first time in 2002.The minister's latest revelation would bolster allegations that Charamba is involving himself in the partisan wars to succeed Mugabe while using State-controlled media.
Police in England have issued a warning that a dangerous mentally ill man has gone missing from his home.

Benedict Onyemaechi, 48, was last seen on Monday January 18 at his house in Southgate, north London.

The Metropolitan Police warned the public not to go near him as he is potentially dangerous but to ring the emergency services.

In the event of an immediate sighting, do not approach him but call 999, a spokesman said.

The British Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued an order for Mr Onyemaechi to seek an urgent medical assessment.

Benedict Onyemaechi

An MoJ order was issued on Wednesday, 20 January, under Section 42(3) of the Mental Health Act stating that Benedict Onyemaechi is thought to be unmedicated and a risk to the public, an MoJ spokesman said.

The order recalled him to the NHS North London Forensic Service for urgent assessment.

Mr Onyemaechi is described as a black man, 5ft 9in and stocky, a Met Police spokesman said.

Anyone with information about Mr Onyemaechi can call Edmonton police.

The Samaritans' 24-hour helpline number is: 116 123
IT WAS almost 13 years to the day before we returned to the scene of the crime.

Or, to be more precise, the venue where we held our wedding reception. The Ambassador Hotel on Corks Military Hill was where we celebrated with friends and family after saying I do and we hadnt been back inside its doors since.

So, when word came through that the hotel had a new owner and had been given quite the makeover we were more than a little curious to see the results... and hopefully relive some very happy memories.

Back in 2002, when we tied the knot, the four-star Ambassador was part of the Best Western Chain of hotels but, like so many other establishments in the industry after the crash, it underwent a change of ownership.

It is now part of the McGettigan Group, which owns eight three and four-star hotels across the country, including the Kingswood Hotel in CityWest; the Royal Hotel, Bray; Dublins North Star; and the Millrace Hotel, Wexford.

Back before we were Mr & Mrs, we had checked out a number of potential venues but were won over by the Ambassador. We had decided to tie the knot on New Years Eve and wanted somewhere that felt intimate and inviting on a cold (and what turned out to be a very wet) December 31.

Some place that offered more than your bog standard wedding fare of overcooked beef or tasteless salmon (our menu on the day featured among others foie gras, champagne sorbet, barbery duck and john dory) and staff that would make us and our guests feel relaxed and welcome.

The Ambassador Hotel fitted the bill on all those fronts. While some would probably have dismissed the hotels look as being a bit dated we were very taken by what thought of as its old world charm, its laid-back atmosphere and friendly but unfussy service.

When we drove back through the gates this time around, a little less radiant and a good bit more wrinkled than on our big day, we were delighted to see that the distinctive red-brick facade has been kept.

Compared to some of the newer, breeze-block type establishments that sprung up during the boom and have about as much character as a face frozen by Botox, the Ambassador as a building is steeped in history.

Built in 1872 as a Military Hospital and then later occupied as a nursing home, it didnt start trading as a hotel until 1997. Its history means that its corridors and hallways are big and open, its rooms, particularly to the front of the hotel are airy and spacious, with high ceilings, and lack that cramped-box feel you get in some hotels, particularly of the big chain variety.

The new owners have added an outside terrace, where residents can sit and enjoy a drink, or those who refuse to abandon their tobacco habit can indulge it. Beautifully lit at night, it adds to the hotel without taking from its distinctive Victorian facade, though unfortunately the night we stayed heavy downpours and a whip-sharp breeze meant we couldnt take advantage.

Once you step inside the doors its immediately obvious that some of that old world charm has been swept away and this is very much a bolder, more stylishly in your face Ambassador. The heavy carpets of old and chintz furniture have been replaced with a spanking new monochrome-styled lobby.

Its open, airy and the front-of-house staff were friendly and very quick off the mark in checking us in. But while stylishly done, I felt the floor-to-ceiling wallpaper chosen for the corridor and hallways is over done and can feel almost overwhelming.

Upstairs, the rooms have all been given a makeover and while this time round we werent fortunate enough to call the bridal suite our own, our extensive room at the front of the hotel looking down on to the city was more than adequate  big and airy with a high ceiling and a small balcony should one feel like taking the night air. Flat screen TVs and free wifi are the other big additions.

Some of the old traditions still exist with afternoon tea on the menu, but if its losing the pounds rather than gaining them which interests you there is a small but well-fitted out health club on the second floor

One thing that has remained the same through the change of look and ownership is the staff, and the friendliness of the service on offer. It is hard to explain but they are just natural in their approach, friendly, able to crack a joke, but efficient at the same time.

The old bar area has also been revamped and Seasons Restaurant, with its starched linen table cloths, has given way to the much more up-tempo McGettigans Cookhouse and Bar.

We had a cocktail to start, occupying the spot where we had sat as bride and groom. McGettigans offers good bar food, reasonably priced, with enough choice to keep a wide variety of punters happy and with portions big enough to satisfy the hungriest of diners.

Lunch is served daily from 12pm-3pm and dinner from 3pm-10pm. My 80-year-old mother is a frequent visitor to the hotel for tea with girls and says all of the desserts on offer more than pass muster. Convenient for the citys train and bus stations, the Ambassador is an ideal venue for a weekend or city break in Cork.

The hotel is also a good family destination, with the big airy rooms and a babysitting service available a plus, and there were several families dining in McGettigans when we were there.

The hotel has grown in a popularity for weddings and now has a choice of three suites available that can hold anything from 40 to 200 guests and can also cater for civil marriage ceremonies and blessings.

With its classy makeover it still offers that intimate experience that we so loved and its closeness to the city is a huge plus. From the testimonials on the hotels website, it seems the Ambassador continues to deliver for brides and grooms, with the food and the service being marked out for particular mention. Our love affair with the Ambassador started a long time ago and we were glad to be able to rekindle it once more.

* The hotel is offering romantic weekend breaks for Valentines weekend in superior room and city view from 180 a night.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

President Robert Mugabe leaves the country today to Addis Ababa Ethiopia for the African Union summit hardly two days after he arrived from his annual leave he spent in the far East amid concerns by some sections of the political divided that he continues to be a visitor in his country as he spends most of his time traveling across the world.Mugabe will be handing over the AU reigns to another African leaders during this summit.MDC official Discent Collins Bajila said given the fact that Mugabe arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday evening and is most likely to be leaving between this week for the AU Ordinary Summit in Addis Ababa wouldn't it have been appropriate for those who reported about his return to headline their stories " Mugabe visits Zimbabwe "?" I am just asking," he said.Mugabe since 2013 when he was re-elected into office has embarked into numerous trips which are blamed for gobbling much of the state funds that the seriously needed services and goods.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has left the country after a successful three day state visit which saw the two leaders concurring to lobby other African leaders to push for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms at the upcoming 26th African Union (AU) Summit.He was seen off at the Harare International Airport by his Zimbabwe counterpart and AU Chairman, President Robert Mugabe this Sunday afternoon.Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, senior government officials and service chiefs were also at the airport to bid farewell to President Mbasogo.President Mbasogo, who arrived on Friday evening, held a lengthy meeting with Cde Mugabe at State House in Harare on Saturday afternoon where the leaders are reported to have shared notes on several issues.One of the major issues that was discussed during Saturday's talks was the position that Africa should take with regards the reform of the UNSC.The african continent is asking for two permanent seats on the UNSC, or at least one seat with full recognition as permanent members with the right to veto.The issue is expected to be discussed further with the other african leaders at the upcoming 26th AU heads of state and government summit that will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia next weekend.The leaders are also reported to have deliberated on the socio-economic and political issues prevailing in their respective countries as well as ways to enhance the strong Zimbabwe-Equatorial Guinea bilateral relations.Before getting into his plane, President Mbasogo stood side by side with President Mugabe and enjoyed the traditional dance routines performed by students from the Zimbabwe College of Music.A member of President Mbasogo's delegation could not resist the temptation to join the energetic group on the dance floor.
Opinion / Columnist

On the day he took office as Africa's number one, his focus was firmly on development and poverty eradication.In his acceptance speech, he said: "During my tenure as Chair, I will deliberately provoke your thoughts to pay special attention to issues of infrastructure, value addition, agriculture and climate change."On that very day, the Egyptian wing of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a series of attacks that killed at least 27 security personnel in North Sinai province.Such militants were not only wrecking havoc in North Africa, but were unleashing terror in the western and eastern parts of the continent too.That same afternoon, the World Health Organisation announced 8 810 Africans, mainly from West Africa had died from Ebola in just 13 months.And at dusk, a Unicef report highlighted that 630 000 people had been affected by rising waters in Malawi, which had displaced 174 000, caused 79 deaths and left 153 people missing.These challenges were just the tip of the iceberg. Realities of xenophobia were to manifest in South Africa; while Renamo became more unpredictable in Mozambique and Ugandan rebels upped a bid to destabilise eastern DRC.Armed confrontations became the order of the day in Burundi and Mali, while food insecurity reduced people in the Horn of Africa to skeletons.The challenges in Africa were and are real. And so the continent welcomed President Mugabe into office on January 30, 2015 as Chair of the AU under such daunting circumstances.Sceptics said Zimbabwe's President - who was also Sadc Chair - would fall short. The humble pie is quietly being devoured.This week, President Mugabe hands over the Chairmanship of the 54-nation AU to Chad's President Idriss DebyHe undoubtedly will do so with pride and chin up.The man, who steered the AU that observed about 17 elections on the continent, has done his part. His tenure will be remembered and he will surely continue to be consulted as he always has been.President Mugabe led the continent in pushing for a lasting solution to political instability and terrorism that have given Africa sleepless nights.According to some statistics, at least 21 of Africa's 54 countries are involved in war or are experiencing post-war conflicts.In West Africa, these include Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo; while Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda make the list in East Africa.To help the continent overcome conflicts, last year, security chiefs from Africa met in Zimbabwe to finalise modalities on establishing the African Standby Force.In a speech read on her behalf by AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Mr Smail Chergui, AU Commission Chair Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said: "additional civilians had been recruited on a short term basis within the African Union peace support operation division to proffer (support in) key areas such as combat and discipline, mission support, human resource planning and human rights protection".Zimbabwe's Defence Minister Dr Sydney Sekeramayi said "despite financial problems, preparations were already underway to launch trial military action ahead of full deployments in conflict areas".More than 100 000 uniformed peacekeepers were deployed in Africa in 2015, twice as many as a decade before.Peacekeepers have been deployed to Somalia, the western Sudanese region of Darfur, South Sudan, and Mali where civil wars and rebellions have claimed civilian lives and threatened to destabilize surrounding regions.During his tenure, President Mugabe once again came face to face with the long history of political instability in Lesotho, which had to conduct elections two years earlier than scheduled in a bid to diffuse tensions.The elections were conducted in a peaceful manner under the observation of the AU, Sadc and other international bodies which endorsed Mr Pakalitha Mosisili's takeover as Prime Minister.There were other successful elections in Zambia, Benin, Egypt, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Sudan, Togo, Tanzania, Mozambique and Central African Republic.Under President Mugabe's Chairmanship, the AU was recognised by the UN General Assembly for its Agenda 2063 and Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, which were described as comprehensive blueprints for Africa's advancementThe AU's ambitious 50-year Agenda 2063, together with its first 10-year implementation plan, the Addis Ababa funding scheme, and the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is a holistic and coherent framework for advancing and following up on Africa's development.Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who worked closely with President Mugabe during his tenure at the helm of the AU, says several landmark decisions have been taken over the past year."Our President has always talked about issues surrounding control, beneficiation and value addition of our natural resources. In a word, this is industrialisation. He has been very strong on that," he says."He has inspired the entire continent to accept what used to be almost a lone voice when it was him alone (talking about these issues). Now, Africa and all its leaders talk of resource control, industrialisation, value addition, beneficiation."President Mugabe has gone further to make an indelible imprint on Africa's development agenda by inspiring and steering adoption of the AU's development blueprint - Agenda 2063."For the next 50 years, Africa's industrialisation and development will be guided by the important document, which was inspired and piloted through by the President.In addition, President Mugabe, led the AU in adopting a resolution committing member states to financing 100 percent of the bloc's operational budget.DRC's chief envoy to Zimbabwe and Dean of African Diplomats here, Ambassador Mawampanga Mwana Nanga says President Mugabe has been on top of his game.He attributed the relative stability across the continent to President Mugabe's leadership skills and artful diplomacy."You heard when we met the Chinese President (Mr Xi Jinping) in SA, he promised over US$60 billion worth of financial aid to help Africa build its infrastructure," he said. We also have the Japanese coming on board as well as the Indians are coming on board."The Chinese have also helped build a huge bank for infrastructure. Now even our old colonial enemies are coming in board. They all know that Africa is the last frontier."If you look at the economy of the world most regions are growing at less that 2-3 percent while Africa is growing at above 5 percent, so everybody knows what the future holds for Africa as a continent."As African leaders converge for the next AU Summit in Addis Ababa this week, it is undisputed that they will reflect on the successes the continent has registered in the past year under President Mugabe's guidance.
Dont look now, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich has moved into second place in the RealClearPolitics averages for the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary. You can agree that the newest poll from ARG showing him at 20 percent is an outlier, but it is hard to ignore a raft of other polls showing Kasich to be competitive against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Political observers, including those with the other campaigns, dont really take Kasich seriously. Hes not a constant presence in national media, so his campaign flies somewhat under cable TVs radar screen. Critics point out that his debate performances have been unappealing and his unfavorable ratings remain high. That said, opponents disregard him at their peril. His record as a budget balancer and his blue-collar appeal are a good mix for the GOP and independent voters in the Granite State.

As Bush, Christie and Rubio knock one another, Kasich stands somewhat apart, with millions of dollars in positive ads to cushion him. No one can accuse him of not working in New Hampshire, where he seems to spend as much time as Christie.

Certainly, New Hampshire has always had a soft spot for moderates. In 2008, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) filled that role. In 2012, it was Mitt Romney. This time around, the most moderate candidates  Christie, Bush and Kasich  are battling for 25 to 35 percent of the vote (perhaps more if lesser candidates drop out and Donald Trump loses momentum after Iowa). As one of the three moderates goes up, others go down. Kasich may now be benefiting from the decline in Bushs standings (hes in sixth place in the RCP averages). He may also be siphoning votes off from Christie, who is being hammered by opponents for perceived inconsistency on Common Core, guns and Planned Parenthood and his denial that he ever supported Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. In the last two polls, in which Kasich scored 20 and 14 percent, Bush was down to 8 and 4 percent while Christie was at 9- and 8 percent.

Kasichs opponents are hesitant to start running ads against him. That might only elevate his profile. Nevertheless, it certainly does not make sense for them to ignore him in the final debate before the Iowa caucuses. Kasich has an impressive record as governor, although Bushs jobs record was superior and Christie had to battle with a Democratic legislature. He may be vulnerable on national security, especially on his insistence that he would keep the Iran nuclear deal in place (merely policing it) and his past record in slashing the military. But truth be told, on domestic policies these candidates dont differ ideologically on much, so it may be hard to poke holes in his record beyond national security. It is for that reason that you may see a number of candidates try to bait Kasich in next weeks debate; his own irascible personality and tendency toward self-righteousness may be bigger problems than his positions on major domestic issues.

Now all of the Kasich progress in the polls may come down to a lot of polling noise. The differences among these candidates tend to be within the margin of polling. Moreover, Kasich is likely to finish in low single digits in Iowa, far behind, for example, Rubio. If the perception forms that he really is not a candidate who can go anywhere but New Hampshire, voters may hesitate to give him votes that could go to a stronger standard-bearer for moderates in the party.

Despite all of the reasons pundits and candidates give for low-balling Kasich, he seems to be taking up some of the vote critical to Bush, Christie and perhaps Rubio. Remember Christies game plan depends on running ahead of Bush and Kasich; if he doesnt, his campaign may sputter. Bush has to have an impressive performance that defies expectations in New Hampshire, which surely means coming in ahead of the other two. And Rubio? Hes likely to come in third in Iowa, so he surely does not want to come in behind any of the three governors in New Hampshire.

In other words, while Kasich is hardly the favorite to get the nomination, his standing in New Hampshire can become a major barrier to others chances.
GREENSBORO - The Greensboro Fringe Festival opened its 14th annual edition Thursday. It features 10 shows with 30 new works of edgy theater and dance. The festival runs through Feb. 8.

All but one will be performed downtown in the Stephen D. Hyers Studio Theatre of the City Arts Drama Center, named for the centers late managing director who died in 2014.

Scuppernong Books will host an evening of readings of brand-new plays by area playwrights.

Fisher now fills Hyers job as Drama Center director, while running the Fringe Festival. He, Morris and John Gamble of John Gamble Dance Theatre chose the festival works.

Most performers come from across North Carolina, primarily from the Greensboro area. Others will bring works from as far as South Carolina, Kentucky and Vermont.

Like drama? Ghost Notes and The Sparrow are among plays that fit the bill.

Comedy? Theres A Short History of Women in America (78 percent Shorter Than the Same History for Men). The three-man troupe The Sloan will bring its sketch comedy from Salisbury.

Dance? The festival features 18 works spread over four shows.

The good thing about a dance concert is that you get to see a lot of different ideas and expressions and styles, all in one hour, Fisher said.

Among the dance programs, UNC Greensboro graduate Christal Brown and Vermont-based dance company, Inspirit, will present a multimedia dance work titled The Opulence of Integrity, depicting the life and legacy of boxer Muhammad Ali.

You can see the whole gamut of live theater performance all in one day in one setting, and throw money in the hat each time to support those artists, Fisher said. I cant think of anywhere else in North Carolina that you can do that.

The festival lets playwrights and choreographers, actors and dance troupes without access to regular venues make and show their work with less financial risk.

We want to be that proving ground, an opportunity to build an audience for their work specifically and new work in general, Fisher said.

The festival is geared toward adult audiences, and about 800 attended last year. Organizers are considering adding a fringe festival for youths, for a younger audience, Fisher said.

Playwrights and choreographers appreciate the opportunity that Fringe offers.

Scott Icenhower of Greensboro wrote A Short History of Women in America (78% Shorter Than the Same History for Men), a parody about gender parity. His wife, Katie Jo, will direct.

I think that will be a breakout hit for Fringe, Fisher said. I hope they submit it to other festivals or put it up for a longer run. It definitely deserves it.

The Icenhowers have been part of the local theater scene for years. Although Scott has won playwriting contests and had his plays published in amateur markets, Self-producing is still difficult, he said. Thats why I appreciate Todd and the Fringe Festival.

A new local theater company, Red Queen Productions, will premiere their first show, The Sparrow.
Ideas Editorial Page Editor David D. Haynes talks about ideas, innovations and trends worth considering SHARE

By of the

Creston, Iowa - Ben Carsons campaign stop here Friday afternoon had the feel of a church meeting. It started with a prayer, the room was filled with the faithful and the candidate talked about God and how religion made a difference in his life. There were exclamations of "amen" more than once, as when Carson said the United States needs change.

Carson reminds me of the preachers I knew back in Indiana growing up. Kind and gentle but sure of what they believed. He is just as soft-spoken on the stump as he was during the Republican debates (he joked at one recent debate that it had taken the moderator so long to get to him that hed fallen asleep). He pitches his humble beginnings in Detroit, how the realization in grade school that he was intelligent motivated him to learn and how he escaped poverty eventually with the help of a mother who insisted that he read books instead of watching television. He is a retired neurosurgeon.

Carson takes a very tough conservative line on border control, taxes, national security and every other issue. Theres an element of we-have-to-take-this-country-back in Carsons message but it is delivered in a guy-next-door kind of way. He pushes the right buttons for a crowd about 75 this day at the Adams Street Expresso & Soda Shoppe.

Thats what were going to determine in this next election: Are we going to be a capitalist country, or are we going to be a socialist country, he said. Later, as I spoke with supporters, more than one said they were worried about the nation becoming socialist after these last eight years.

Creston is a community of about 7,800 about 70 miles southwest of Des Moines. It relies heavily on the farm economy. CHS Oilseed Processing - a soybean processor - is a major employer.

That's where Dillon Daughenbaugh, a 25-year-old veteran of the war in Afghanistan, ie employed. He was wounded by a roadside bomb during the war and still suffers from the after effects. His concern: The Veterans Administration health care system, which he says is not responsive enough for vets. "Instead of just talking about changes, it needs to happen," he said.

Asked who he liked in the Republican field, he said he liked Carson but also mentioned Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, because "he's not afraid to shake it up."

For Vanita Mobert, education issues remain most important.

I think what he said was just spot on, said Moberg, who was celebrating her 72nd birthday Friday. A retired teacher, shes concerned that the federal government has too heavy of a hand in education. She fears, as do many in heartland communities like Creston, the loss of local control.

I think they fear as much as anything that politicians arent listening to them.

Im writing this from Sioux Center, in the northwest corner of Iowa, where Ill rendezvous with Donald Trump on Saturday morning when he speaks at Dordt College.

Follow my periodic updates at my live blog.
Paul Ryans pursuit of the proverbial mandate election did not begin with his speakership. Credit: Associated Press

By of the

Paul Ryan has made it his mission as House speaker to give his party a big, bold agenda that will offer voters a clear and defining choice this fall.

That way, he says, a victory at the polls would produce a "mandate" to govern on conservative ideas.

"I think the country needs a clarifying election," the Janesville Republican says.

Ryan's pursuit of the proverbial "mandate election" did not begin with his speakership, which is roughly three months old now.

It has been a rhetorical theme of his entire career  the dream of a defining showdown at the ballot box, where voters, facing a critical fork in the road, decisively choose between the governing visions of the right and left.

"We need to have a mandate election so that we can do the big things we need to do to get the country squarely back on path," Ryan said in an interview last week, echoing similar comments he has made in many interviews over the years.

But history and the tumultuous 2016 campaign both show how elusive the notion of an election mandate can be.

A party can hardly seek a mandate if it's not unified over its own agenda. Republicans are experiencing their most chaotic and divisive presidential race in years. The party's two frontrunners  Donald Trump and Ted Cruz  are at odds over big issues, and each inspires dread among separate factions of the conservative movement and GOP establishment. If nominated, neither man's agenda would mesh easily with Ryan's own political vision as his party's most powerful figure in Washington.

"We're not worried about the primary campaign. There's nothing we can do about it," Ryan says. House Republicans "are going to do our part to try to add substance to this campaign."

What exactly would a "mandate election" look like in 2016?

To provide an example, Ryan has to reach back 36 years, all the way to 1980, when Republican Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic President Jimmy Carter.

In that election, "Republican conservatives in the House brought Ronald Reagan an economic agenda, which combined with his peace-through-strength/I-can-win-the-Cold-War agenda, was a very clear and compelling choice," he says.

None of the subsequent Republican victories by George W. Bush and his father, or the Democratic victories by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, qualified as "mandate" elections in Ryan's eyes.

Clinton's victory over the senior Bush in 1992 was a "referendum campaign on Bush in a bad economy." In Obama's big 2008 victory, he "ran a personality contest, he talked about hope and change, and he sounded like a moderate."

In post-election interviews over the past decade, Ryan has regularly criticized both parties for failing to campaign in ways that would produce a policy mandate  for either running on personality and vague platitudes, or waging "referendum" campaigns that asked the public to vote against the party in power rather than vote for a positive alternative.

"All these past elections have been muddled elections," he complained in a 2011 interview.

Asked last week if he thinks there has been a "mandate election" since he entered Congress in 1999," Ryan said, "Candidly, the answer is not really."

Mandate questions

To Ryan, an election mandate is a real but fairly rare event, requiring that the winning party offer the country a clear and positive agenda that gives the public a sharp choice between distinct governing visions.

But what that looks like in practice can be a pretty subjective thing. Winners claim mandates. Losers dispute them. And many people who study elections question whether they exist at all.

"It's perfectly understandable why (Ryan) would want something like that," says Indiana University political scientist Marjorie Hershey, who has written extensively on the subject of mandates.

"It's the Holy Grail for politicians," she says. "What you're saying is, 'I am the authorized spokesperson for the public, so what I do from here on out is automatically by definition what the public wants.'"

Hershey argues that claims about mandates rest on a series of wrong or questionable assumptions: that people who vote for the election winner are all doing so for the same reasons; that on the issues that matter, the choices can be boiled down to two distinct alternatives represented by the two major parties; that the people who vote Republican favor the Republican position on all these issues and the people who vote Democratic favor the Democratic position on all of them.

"Elections don't work that way," says Hershey. Some people aren't voting on issues at all, she says. Some agree with one party on some issues and the other party on other issues. Some have views that aren't represented by either party, or that fall between the two.

"Most voters are not consistently clear right wing or clear left wing," Hershey says.

Marquette University political scientist Julia Azari says mandate claims have become more common in politics. In an era of polarization, intense partisan competition and public discontent with government, political leaders crave the legitimacy that a mandate implies.

But those same factors make it "very hard for congressional leaders and presidents to follow through" on their mandate claims, says Azari.

Ryan's own comments reflect this difficulty.

"The gridlock is as bad as it's ever been. We need the American people to break it," he told reporters during the 2012 election, in which the American people did anything but that.

Ryan's pursuit of a "mandate election" is about having parties that stand for something and about giving voters a clear and meaningful choice at the ballot box. That seems laudable.

It's also about somehow clarifying our political future, resolving a great debate between right and left over the country's path, and breaking a stubborn political standoff between two highly competitive parties with different electoral strengths and weaknesses.

That seems like very wishful thinking.
SHARE Lindsay Starck Victoria McHugh Photography Noahs Wife: A Novel. By Lindsay Starck. Putnam. 400 pages. $27. Lindsay Starck joined her mother Lorelei for a library card campaign at the Milwaukee Public Librarys former Finney Library branch. Juan Medina Preschoolers Erich Schnell and Lindsay Starck help out during a promotion for the Milwaukee Public Librarys Summer Reading Club. Courtesy of Lorelei Starck

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In her biography, Lindsay Starck proudly declares that she "was raised in the Milwaukee Public Library." She spent countless hours reading in the Central Library's children's room, and grew to love the ship models in the Great Lakes Marine Collection.

In a few days, Starck will become part of the MPL collection herself, when Putnam publishes "Noah's Wife," her debut novel. Fittingly, she'll launch her national book tour with a reception and reading at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Central Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Lorelei Starck, Lindsay's mother, served as the library's communications director when her daughter was a girl. Lindsay, an only child, remembers her parents once talking over stresses at dinner: Her father Doug, an attorney, was concerned about contracts and overseas business; her mother fretted about where to park Ms. Frizzle's Magic School Bus.

Lindsay spent many hours after school and on weekends in the library while her mother worked. City Librarian Paula Kiely, who was coordinator of children's services then, remembers often walking past Lorelei's office and seeing Lindsay at her mother's desk, studying.

"What impressed me as I was first getting to know her was how comfortable she was around adults," Kiely said. "She could easily and comfortably engage in adult conversation."

"I had my favorite books. I was a reader who found a book I love and I would just read it over and over and over again," said Lindsay, citing "The Indian in the Cupboard" as one of those favorites.

She also devoured the "Sweet Valley High" and "Sweet Valley Kids" books repeatedly, to the point that a children's librarian noticed and tried recommending other books to her. "I felt a little embarrassed, and afterward I'd read 'Sweet Valley High' in secret," she said.

Lorelei said both she and Doug encouraged Lindsay to read; father and young daughter had a Friday night ritual of reading a book aloud together.

As Mom drove Lindsay each morning to the University School of Milwaukee, Lindsay read aloud to her in the car. They read some of the Harry Potter novels this way, as well as S.E. Hinton's "That Was Then, This Is Now."

"I think I pay a lot of attention to the sound of words and rhythms of sentences in part because of all those hours I was reading aloud to her," Lindsay said.

Becoming a writer

After graduating from USM, Lindsay earned her bachelor's degree in literature from Yale. She had assumed she was headed for law school. But while studying abroad in Italy, reflective journaling led her to realize she wanted to write fiction.

After breaking the news to her surprised but supportive parents, she earned her master of fine arts degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she started writing the novel that became "Noah's Wife." She is now finishing her PhD in comparative literature at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

"I wanted to write a story about a minor character," she said, citing as inspiration Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," a play about two minor characters in "Hamlet."

"I'm really interested in how books converse with each other and kind of talk back to each other over the years, and sometimes centuries."

Lindsay has transported the biblical story to a contemporary but not-quite-pinned-down small town. Instead of a flood, there is rain that never stops. Noah is the town's charismatic new minister, replacing a pastor who may have drowned himself. His wife turns out to be a person of strong faith herself, but of a different kind of faith. Lindsay decided not to name her, in part to draw attention to the way that women, for centuries, have been defined by their relationships to men.

"I wondered about my characters: If they could save something from destruction, what would it be?" she said.

Reviews in book trade publications have praised Starck's inventiveness and sense of humor. "By turns humorous and moving, this mixture of allegory and offbeat characters will delight readers," wrote Jaclyn Fulwood in Shelf Awareness.

"Variously romantic, symbolic, philosophical, feminist, and fanciful, this is an atmospheric tale that meanders to a sweetly rousing conclusion," Kirkus Reviews concluded.

While Lindsay thought she had finished her final draft of the novel when she signed her publishing contract, she ended up working on the book for another five years. Only one other person has read every word of every draft: her mother.

"The novel would not exist without her," Lindsay wrote in her book's acknowledgments.

As Lindsay outlined her novel in South Bend, Ind., she stuck 40 Post-it Notes on her door to help her figure things out: five rows of eight, color-coded by character. Lorelei put up a matching set of Post-its back in Milwaukee, so they could look at the same things while talking on the phone.

"She never once said, 'I'm so tired of talking about "Noah's Wife."' She was always enthusiastic," Lindsay said.

Well, maybe once Lorelei wasn't enthusiastic.

"At one point, my parents' basement flooded in Milwaukee a couple of summers ago," Lindsay said. "They called me and were very distressed." Lindsay, thinking of all the rain-drenched images she needed to describe, asked them if they could take just a couple pictures of the flooding for her.

She surprised her parents recently by sending them an advance copy of the book unannounced, with a Post-it Note that simply said, "Love, L."

"I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it," Lorelei said.

"Her father and I hoped to raise a reader. Now this is an extra bonus that she's a writer."

IF YOU GO

Lindsay Starck will celebrate the launch of "Noah's Wife" Jan. 26 at the Milwaukee Public Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by a talk and reading at 6 p.m.
Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan, shown speaking during a town hall meeting last year near the end of his tenure, recently called out Milwaukee students chronic underperformance on standardized tests. Credit: Associated Press

I don't know how anyone can look at the results from last year on how Milwaukee kids are doing in reading and math and not think we need fresh, bold steps aimed at getting better.

As I noted sarcastically last week, the testing itself and then the statewide release of results were chaotic, frustrating and, when it finally came to a release date on Jan. 13, disappointing, simply from the standpoint of public information. The state Department of Public Instruction did not post to its website information on any specific school districts or schools, as it had done every year for a long time.

At my request, Milwaukee Public Schools provided some of the results for the system and for its 150-plus schools. And, in broad strokes, what did the results say?

Nothing you don't know, based on so many years in a row. The percentage of students who can read and do math at levels considered proficient or better is low. The percentage who score at levels considered "below basic," the lowest category, is shockingly high. The racial gaps are large, almost certainly once again among the biggest in the country.

I had a chance a few days ago to get thoughts from Arne Duncan, who just finished seven years as the U.S. secretary of education. What did he think of the Milwaukee results and the low scores year after year?

"A national disgrace," he said.

Achievement gaps and low proficiency in urban school districts are profound issues from coast to coast  a national disgrace overall.

But Duncan was talking specifically about Milwaukee. We would be wise to take this personally.

While there is no city that has licked urban education problems, there are places with similar populations that are doing better than Milwaukee. There are places that are making more progress. And there are places pursuing more united and bolder steps, some of which haven't worked and some of which are showing results.

Consider Washington, D.C. The educational picture was bleak in the mid-2000s. Michelle Rhee was named chancellor in 2007 and became notorious for her no-prisoners approach to big changes. She left in 2010, but her successor, Kaya Henderson, has pursued similar policies, including strong steps to improve the overall quality of teaching (such as paying top teachers top money and ushering out ones who aren't good at the work).

Henderson is far more adept than Rhee at dealing with people. Washington is on its third consecutive mayor who has actively supported improvements. And the business and civic communities have been strong in their support. The result? Things are getting better.

Milwaukee's ugly rut

Meantime, in Milwaukee, we are stuck in an ugly rut and the things we have done  including the rise of private school vouchers and independent charter schools  haven't changed the big picture. New results for most of the charter and all of the voucher schools have not been made available. But I am almost 100% confident they will not contain any exciting news if and when they become public.

I won't dwell here on specific data, except for a few examples. In MPS, 27% of third- through eighth-graders were proficient or advanced in reading, while 48% were below basic. In math for the same grades, 17% were proficient or advanced, 58% below basic. (The rest were basic, plus a small number who didn't take the tests.)

For 11th-graders, the overall results were that 22% were advanced or proficient and 42% below basic overall.

The figures for African-American students were worse. Only 17% of third- to eighth-graders were proficient or advanced in reading. Four out of five 11th-graders  80%!  were below basic in math.

These totals are for all MPS schools, which means they include specialty schools, many of them with admission standards and better results. Go through the data for a long list of other MPS schools, both elementary and high, and you'll find proficiency figures in the single digits or low teens.

There are no easy solutions. But don't we have to try to do more about this when what we're doing isn't really making a dent?

Will it take money? Yes. Does it involve helping families outside of school? Yes. Does it involve building a better early-childhood education scene? Yes. And yes to a lot of other things.

But let me mention three:

 It involves making teaching attractive and rewarding instead of the beat-down profession it is in so many places in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. With that would come higher expectations of classroom success.

 It involves finding more school leaders who are stars. There are bright spots on Milwaukee's education scene in all three sectors (MPS, charter, voucher). A common denominator among them is great leadership.

 And it involves coming together as a city and state in fresh, inspiring ways. It is long past time to break through the walls that separate so much educational effort in Milwaukee in unproductive ways. This will take out-of-character leadership from many politicians, including, dare I say, the governor, mayor, legislators and Milwaukee School Board members.

Early in his time as secretary of education, Duncan held a closed-door meeting with political, education and civic leaders during a visit to Bay View High School on the south side. I was told later that Duncan asked how often the people in the room got together to talk about improving outcomes for kids.

Then-Gov. Jim Doyle answered: Whenever you come to town.

Precisely. And that's not good.

I'll make a small bow here to Milwaukee Succeeds, the everyone-at-the-table civic effort that has arisen since then. But its efforts have been so low-key that I have to ask: Is this enough?

Our kids need better. The future of the city and the state needs better. Will we  especially our leaders  at least go after bigger and better outcomes? Or is it OK to go on as "a national disgrace"?

Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk@marquette.edu.
Opinion / Columnist

"The death sentence is a barbaric act . . . It is a reflection of the animal instinct still in human beings," once remarked former South African president and Nobel Prize Laureate, the late Nelson Mandela.He could not make head or tail of why the world was still holding on to capital punishment when humanity tells us that killing, for whatever reason, is wrong.The veteran human rights campaigner likened punishment by way of killing to a medieval way of instilling discipline in people.In more condensed terms, what Mandela was promulgating was that the death sentence is inhuman, wild and should, therefore, be abolished.In the same spirit last week, Zimbabwe's traditional leaders petitioned the Government to abolish the death penalty. They argued that the death penalty is alien to Zimbabwean culture and is a legacy of the colonial regime.About 45 chiefs from Mashonaland East and Central provinces unanimously agreed that the capital punishment should go.The decision was made at a workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO) in Harare last week.Explaining some of the reasons behind the decision, president of the Chiefs' Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, said killing someone because they killed another creates a cycle of violence which can only go on and on."We, as chiefs, have concluded that killing is an unacceptable form of punishment. When you kill, you kill only the person and you leave behind the spirit that made him to kill," he said."In our culture, we used to order compensation. The murderer was made to pay several cattle or else an avenging spirit would torment the person."Chief Nechombo shared the same sentiments, arguing: "You can kill a murderer but you cannot kill murder."So adamant were the chiefs such that in a secret vote carried out at the workshop, 42 chiefs voted for the abolition of the death penalty while only two supported the law and one was undecided.Chief Charumbira went on to point that Zimbabwe has failed to do any executions during the past decade since Government has not found a suitable person for the job, a testimony that no sane person wants to be associated with the practice.ZACRO chief executive officer, Mr Edson Chiota, was impressed by the spirit displayed by the traditional leaders in condemning the law."The discussion was so mature to the point that almost all the chiefs agreed that capital punishment must be abolished. They believe in appeasement. Chiefs said the act of punishing by killing will not in any way solve the problems of murder in Zimbabwe, hence other forms of punishment must be found," he said.Zimbabwe has for the past decade grappled with the death penalty dilemma as it has been failing to carry out any executions.Resultantly, 117 people are waiting to be hanged with some of them having been on death row for over 20 years.The development has been widely condemned by civic groups as they are of the view that the long wait has put those given death sentences grave emotional stress. Roselina Muzerengi from Amnesty International gave some of the reasons why civic organisations are advocating for the abolishment of the capital punishment. She said capital punishment is irreversible and could claim lives of innocent people as has often been proved that errors can be made in handing out of judgments. Roselina used an example of a Chinese man who was executed for murdering his wife, only for his wife to resurface about five years later."It's not in line with our culture because an eye for an eye makes the world blind. We have discovered that there are some instances where the judiciary makes wrong judgements and wrongly sentences people to death," she said."After these people are hanged, evidence may show they were wrongly accused but it will be too late since death is irreversible."In as much as the issue of abolishing the death penalty continues to command support the world over, it still remains a relatively fluid situation in Zimbabwe. Officials have on record indicated their intentions to put an end to the law but not much progress has been made in doing so. Experts point out that the fact that Government has failed to act quickly on the matter shows how complicated the process is. Research shows that prior to 1991, crimes such as attempted murder, rape, and a variety of offences relating to political violence were punishable by the death penalty.According to Cornell Law School, in the 1990s there was a period of restriction of the death penalty as Zimbabwe reduced death-eligible offences to murder, treason, and certain military crimes when it passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Research further shows that in 2000, the Genocide Act provided that the death penalty could be imposed for the crime of genocide resulting in death, and in 2004, the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act expanded the application of the death penalty to attempted murder, incitement or conspiracy to commit murder and terrorism-related crimes that result in death.Zimbabwe's Parliament has, nonetheless, interfered with the Supreme Court's jurisprudence limiting application of the death penalty, enacting constitutional amendments to negate court rulings that have questioned the constitutionality of hanging or held that long stays on death row constitute cruel and unusual punishment.Section 48 (1) of the new constitution abolished mandatory death sentence as every person has the right to life. However, in Article 2, it says a law may permit the death penalty to be imposed only on a person convicted of murder committed in aggravating circumstances.The new constitution also bars death sentences for women and men under the age of 21 and those over 70 years.Law expert Rutendo Mudarikwa said: "The exclusion of certain categories of persons from the death sentence were in line with Zimbabwe's obligations as member of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. These excluded individuals below 18, pregnant women, intellectually disabled, mentally ill and the elderly," she said."The Con Court has amended this to include all women and has changed the age from 18 to 21. Most of the exclusion can be justified. The exclusion of the mentally ill and those below 21 speak towards the mental capacity and one's ability to take full cognisant of their actions. A problem comes with the total exclusion of women from execution. The differentiation promotes gender imbalance within the criminal justice system."Of the inmates who have been on death row, 15 of them have sought to have the Constitutional Court commute their sentences to life imprisonment.However, some people who are still mindful of the terrorising trails of Edmund Masendeke, Elias Chauke and Stephen Chidhumo, want the death sentence to stay. After a series of crimes as well as their supposed supernatural ability to escape the maximum prison, Chidhumo and Masendeke became the last people to be hanged in 2004.Hangman holding the acesConvicted of armed robbery and murdering a Fairmile Motel Manager in Gweru in 2000, Cuthbert Tapuwanashe Chawira (45) is on death row at the Chikurubi Maximum Prison.Only one thing is keeping him from the gallows  there is no hangman.No executions have been carried out for the past 12 years due to the unavailability of a hangman.Were it not for the unavailability of the hangman, some of the 117 prisoners on death row in Zimbabwe might have been executed by now.Chawira has since appealed to the Constitutional Court to reverse his and 14 other prisoners' death sentences.With the hangman's job far from being a glamorous profession, it seems few people have risen to take up the post. Zimbabweans are reportedly shunning the job.The selection and recruitment process for a hangman has, however, been shrouded in mystery, raising questions on Government's commitment to finding one.For years now, this publication has been scouting the local media with the hope of coming across an advertisement for the job so as to understand its requirements but that has not happened. There hasn't been any word on any interviews either.Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is on record stating that no-one will be executed in Zimbabwe.The VP has been at the forefront advocating for the removal of the death penalty from the country's statutes.Given the country's high unemployment rate, and even the number of murders taking place (which indicate that there are many who could kill for a living), many people are baffled by the Government's claim that it is failing to find someone for the job.Mrs Olivia Zvedi, a law officer in the Attorney-General's Office was quoted in The Herald saying Government is still looking for a hangman.She said the hangman's job is not an easy one and people were shunning it."This is not a job that one can easily apply for. The State is also in a predicament on how to proceed in the absence of a hangman," Mrs Zvedi was quoted saying.Questions sent to Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, regarding the perks and recruitment process for the hangman had not been responded to by the time of going to print.Sekuru Friday Chisanyu, the president of the Zimbabwe National Practitioners Association (ZINPA) says Zimbabweans are not keen to take the job for cultural reasons.He said the indigenous African tradition is against the shedding of blood."In the indigenous African tradition, the death penalty is forbidden. The hangman will surely attract the wrath of the avenging spirits of those that he would have executed. It is for the simple reason that Zimbabweans are shunning this post," Sekuru Chisanyu said.Sekuru Chisanyu called for the scrapping of the death sentence, arguing that those that are convicted of serious crimes must be sentenced to life in prison."In my opinion, it is better to sentence one to life that to kill the person. If a person is in jail, that person can be made productive. Having the death sentence does not mean that murder cases will cease to exist," Sekuru Chisanyu said.Pastor Emmerson Fundira of the Jehovah Sharma Ministries said the death penalty should be scrapped."The Bible is clear on this one  it instructs us not to kill. There is no reason why a human being should take the life of another being," Pastor Fundira said.Over the years, finding a hangman has often proved to be a tall order for many countries.According to a BBC report, a newly recruited hangman in Sri Lanka resigned in shock after being shown the gallows for the first time. Sri Lanka has not carried out a judicial execution since 1976 but has over 400 prisoners on death row.The report states that last year alone, three recruits abandoned the job within a year after the previous hangman was promoted to become a prison guard.Sri Lankans had responded well to the job advertisement with 176 applicants.The BBC also reported that a former United States executioner is now leading a campaign for the scrapping of the death sentence saying doing so eases his "tremendous guilt".Allen Ault, who oversaw deaths via the electric chair in the late 1990s, claimed his campaign to prevent further executions was a way of finding "forgiveness"."When you realise  that you just murdered another human being and you were the one that gave the order, you feel totally responsible."
SHARE Dr. Richard Cooper is seen in 2003 when he wrote an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association about the fact that at the current rates of production, there will be too few physicians to meet future needs in the United States. Journal Sentinel files

By of the

Richard "Buz" Cooper, a Milwaukee native and physician who was dean of the Medical College of Wisconsin from 1985 to 1994 and a respected voice in health policy, died Jan. 15 in New York City from complications from pancreatic cancer.

Cooper, who was 79, is credited with having a key role in the Medical College's becoming a research institution.

"He demanded the best from others, and held himself to even higher standards," said T. Michael Bolger, president emeritus of the Medical College.

Cooper's tenure as dean of the school of medicine at the Medical College was one of three distinct phases in a varied and accomplished career.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, Cooper did an internship, residency and fellowship in hematology at what was then Harvard Medical Services of Boston City Hospital.

In 1963, he began his career with a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute and then was an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. In 1971, he joined the University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and directed what became the Abramson Cancer Center from 1977 to 1985.

After returning to Milwaukee as dean of the Medical College, he founded and was director of the school's Health Policy Institute, now the Institute for Health and Society, from 1994 to 2004.

Cooper was among the first to say the country faced a shortage of doctors, a contention at odds at the time with the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Those organizations would later change their positions, and medical schools throughout the country have increased their enrollment in recent years.

In 2005, he became a senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

While there, he challenged the work of researchers at Dartmouth College in what is known as the Dartmouth Atlas, which has documented the wide range in Medicare costs in different parts of the country, sparking a ruckus in health policy circles. Cooper contended that the variation stemmed from poverty.

The role of poverty in health care spending became the focus of his work in the last phase of his career.

"He was an incredibly caring man," said Tim Norbeck, chief executive officer of the Physicians Foundation, which supports research on health policy. "He always cared about the poor and disadvantaged."

After being diagnosed with cancer, Cooper raced to complete a book on the effect of income inequality on poor health care outcomes and high health care spending. The book, titled "Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform," is scheduled to be published this summer by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Cooper, who became director of the Center for the Future of the Healthcare Workforce at New York Institute of Technology after retiring from the University of Pennsylvania, completed the book shortly before his death.

"It was a gigantic, enormous task," said Jonathan Cooper, his son.

He described his father an "incredibly impressive person and incredibly humble person."

Cooper also was an avid bicyclist and jazz aficionado.

After moving to New York, he often would listen to a tenor player named Art in Central Park who played for donations. The musician would play old and new songs to see if he could stump Cooper.

"He just had a way of communicating with people," Jonathan Cooper said. "He was always smiling."

In addition to his son, Cooper is survived by wife Barrie Cassileth, daughter Stephanie Cooper Cornelius and grandchildren.

Richard 'Buz' Cooper

A memorial event is being planned. Contributions may be made to either The Cooper Family Research Fund, care of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center Development Office, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia PA 19104, or to The Cooper Family Research Fund at the Medical College of Wisconsin, care of the Office of Development, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509.
SHARE James Ghiardi

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In a story that has become famous in local legal circles, Marquette Law School professor James Ghiardi was asked whether Joseph Kearney was too young to become dean of the school.

"It's a problem," Ghiardi said, "but it won't last."

The anecdote demonstrated his sharp wit, combined with his ability to summarize a point.

"He could just demolish an argument in a single sentence," said Kearney, now dean for 13 years.

Ghiardi, known for his tough  and invaluable  training of young lawyers, died Jan. 18 at the age of 97.

Born Nov. 10, 1918, the day before World War I ended, Ghiardi was a faculty member  active or retired  of the law school for some 70 years.

He was a full-time faculty member from 1946 until he assumed emeritus status 47 years later, and was known as the legendary professor in Marquette Law School's history, Kearney said in an interview.

Ghiardi was well known for his intellect and high standards.

"He was especially tough on first-year students when he was trying to introduce them to the legal profession and the rigor that he thought they needed to bring to the profession," Kearney said.

"Then, as their law school careers would go along, and they became closer to being colleagues in the profession ... I wouldn't say he would relax with them, but he would treat them more as peers," Kearney added.

Ghiardi's daughter, Catherine Miller, said her father "held everyone to high standards, starting with himself, and we all tried to live up to that in our own ways. But he was so loving and forgiving."

Ghiardi, the son of Italian immigrants, grew up in Negaunee, Mich., and was a 1940 graduate of Marquette University and a 1942 graduate of Marquette's law school.

A World War II veteran, he did not have medical training but was put in charge of a medical unit and then an evacuation hospital.

He served in Europe with the Third Army under Gen. George Patton in the Battles of Normandy, Ardennes, Northern France, Rhineland, and Northern Europe.

Ghiardi's wife, Phyllis Ann Ghiardi, passed away Aug 28, 2012, at age 91.

A nurse, she served with him at the evac hospital in WWII, with their unit treating more than 20,000 casualties, including those from the Battle of the Bulge.

James and Phyllis were married Sept. 7, 1945, in Amberg, Germany. They spent their honeymoon on the Riviera in France before returning to the U.S. for their military discharge.

A longtime resident of Whitefish Bay and Shorewood, Ghiardi is survived by a large family, including three daughters: Catherine Miller, Jeanne (James) Duffy and Mary (Richard) Merlie. James Duffy was one of Ghiardi's students.

Speaking of her father, Miller said:

"He was the heart of our family. He was a caring and awesome father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He tied every aspect of our family together."

James Ghiardi

Visitation is Monday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Church of the Gesu at Marquette. A funeral Mass at the church will follow.

Memorials in Ghiardi's name may be made to the Marquette University Law School (James D. Ghiardi and Phyllis A. Ghiardi Scholarship Fund) or to the Milwaukee Catholic Home Employee Fund.
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As an economist in the School of Business at Alverno College serving a diverse population of current and future business women in our community, I am well aware of the opposition of certain business groups to programs such as the Wisconsin Family Insurance fund based on the argument that they are too expensive.

But we also need to ask about the cost of our economy not adjusting to the realities of American families and businesses. That's why I believe it's crucial that policy-makers and the public know about a recent letter to Congress written by more than 200 business school faculty members from 88 institutions across the country in support of making paid family and medical leave available to all working families.

Their analysis is based on best business practices in the United States and data from comparable countries, all of whom have offered paid leave for a long time. They draw on research they've conducted with employers, employees and organizations, and on their experiences teaching the business leaders of tomorrow. They also have studied specific programs that already exist in the United States in three states: California, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

These studies, they note, "lay bare the claims of business opponents."

In fact, the vast majority of California employers report a positive or neutral impact of the paid family leave program on employee productivity, profitability, and performance. A report prepared on behalf of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association found that businesses both large and small said "they had adjusted easily to the state's family leave insurance law and experienced no effects on business profitability, performance or employee productivity." And a just released report on the experience of Rhode Island businesses in the first year of that state's paid family leave program found support from a majority of large and small employers in the food and manufacturing sectors.

The research points to the win-win vs. zero-sum outcomes of paid family and medical leave. In their letter, these professors identify benefits for businesses of paid leave as increased retention, loyalty and effectiveness. Turnover can be a costly proposition for employers. Replacing staff in high-paying jobs requiring specialized skills can cost 213% of their salaries. Turnover is costly even in low-wage jobs.

The business professors also point to the positive benefits for workers and families, including better outcomes for infants and mothers, and increased involvement of fathers. It is indeed important for us to acknowledge that paid family and medical leave is not only good for families but also good for business.

Many of our Alverno students will go on to become small business owners. For them, this program is particularly beneficial. Small business owners are more likely to know their employees' families. They often wish they could afford to cover wages while someone has a new baby or a parent who's had a stroke, but lack resources to cover an extended leave.

This employee-funded family leave insurance program allows them to support employees while they're out and then benefit from their return to work. With a family leave insurance program, small businesses can be competitive with larger firms and not have to lose out on attracting and retaining staff.

In 1988, Wisconsin was a pacesetter in the nation in passing unpaid family and medical leave. With the current work and care needs of our families, it's imperative for us to ask  what's the cost of doing nothing on paid leave? The answer is that we all as workers, families and employers pay a price.

Our state should proudly help lead the way in making this leave affordable. Wisconsin families need it. So do our businesses.

Zohreh Emami is a professor of economics in the School of Business at Alverno College.
After spending much of 2015 in small towns in Iowa and New Hampshire, Gov. Scott Walker is planning a different sort of tour in 2016, featuring scores of invite-only listening sessions in spots across Wisconsin. Credit: Rick Wood

By of the

Madison After spending much of 2015 in small towns in Iowa and New Hampshire, Gov. Scott Walker is planning a different sort of tour in 2016, featuring scores of invite-only listening sessions in spots such as Osseo, Ashwaubenon and Kewaunee.

The listening tour across Wisconsin follows a year that saw an unsuccessful presidential campaign by Walker and an erosion of his approval rating among state voters. The listening tour, which has already made seven stops, including one in Milwaukee, represents a recommitting by the governor to his official role and a fresh sign that he may run for a third term in 2018.

In the lengthy sessions with audiences of 20 to 30 people, the Republican governor is asking invitees what they want the state to look like 20 years from now.

"I call it our 2020 Vision Project," Walker said in his "state of the state" address Tuesday. "The idea is to bring together a diverse mix of people in small group settings all across the state. I want to hear from you about what makes Wisconsin great, where we want our state to be in the next two decades, and how we should measure success."

In response to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel request, Walker's office released the list of invitees to the events so far, the notes taken during the sessions and the feedback afterward from attendees, which was largely positive.

The invite list showed a mix of veterans, farmers, local officials, pastors and business owners, with some Walker donors among them and a few people who had signed the petition to recall the governor. During the state's 2011 and 2012 recall elections over Walker's repeal of most collective bargaining for public workers, it was common for protesters to show up at the governor's events.

On Dec. 17, Walker visited Prairie du Chien, telling the local newspaper, the Courier Press, that his office is planning "100 of these across the state next year."

One of those in the Prairie du Chien audience was Mike Lieurance, commander at the American Legion Post in Lancaster and a County Board member.

The discussion touched on issues from caring for veterans and dementia sufferers to keeping roads in good repair, Lieurance said. There were discussions of allowing local high school students to spend time at machining and welding businesses to let them explore those professions.

"It was two hours, and I wished it could have gone a little longer because there was a good discussion," he said, adding he didn't see the talk as overly partisan. "I never got the feeling that I was getting twisted one way or the other."

A political independent, Lieurance said he voted against Walker in his first 2010 election but then voted for him during the 2012 recall because he opposed that use of the recall.

Lieurance, who didn't favor Walker's run for president, said the meetings could help the governor reconnect with Wisconsinites.

Like Lieurance, many attendees wrote afterward in feedback that they wanted to keep talking even after the two-hour meeting was over about topics such as keeping taxes low and bettering the lives and learning of poor students in Milwaukee.

One thing the meetings may not do is convince Democrats, who have questioned why the governor's meetings with citizens in government buildings such as the city halls in Prairie du Chien and Osseo aren't open to anyone from the public who wants to attend.

Russ Feingold, a former Democratic U.S. senator running in a rematch against GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, said he benefited as a senator from his practice of visiting all 72 Wisconsin counties at least once a year. Those meetings made him aware of a range of issues, from the threat from blue-green algae in Wisconsin waterways to the value of increasing mileage reimbursements for retirees who wanted to do more volunteering.

Feingold made those listening sessions open to the public, and that wasn't always pleasant during the emotional debates over President Barack Obama's health care law in 2010. Many opponents showed up to criticize Feingold for supporting that law, but Feingold said the broader feedback of an open meeting was worth it.

Otherwise, Feingold said, "you're going to have a pre-selection process and you're not going to get the full picture."

Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick gave a different view, saying politics didn't play a role in the invites.

"As we've said, we are working with wide-ranging groups of people to coordinate these events. This includes working with local and elected officials, as well as community leaders," Patrick said.

GOP lawmakers such as Reps. Gary Tauchen of Bonduel and John Nygren of Marinette helped identify people to invite to the meetings.

Nygren, for instance, helped set up a meeting in Ashwaubenon on Jan. 15 that dealt with issues of substance abuse and prevention and that brought together police, addiction counselors and health professionals. Nygren, whose daughter Cassie has struggled with heroin addiction, has worked extensively on fighting drug abuse.

Nygren said he was pleased with how the session went.

"It's not a typical staged political event," Nygren said.

In a Dec. 10 visit to the Seymour Public Library, Walker spoke to insurance agents, a school superintendent, sheriff's deputy and several retirees.

One of the two dozen people in attendance was Rhonda Strebel, a Shawano city council member and the executive director of the Rural Health Initiative, which checks farmers for conditions such as high blood pressure.

Strebel said the meeting focused more on the good things happening in Wisconsin and a strategic vision for the future than on more immediate issues that attendees saw in their community and their specific agendas.
President George W. Bush meets with Craig Gilbert, Washington bureau chief and chief political reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Thursday, May 19, 2005, aboard Air Force One en route to Wisconsin. Credit: White House photo by Paul Morse

Wisconsin has eight full-time congressmen plus two full-time senators, each functioning within a buzzing swarm of who-knows-how-many full-time donors, moochers, lobbyists and power brokers.

And Wisconsin has one full-time reporter covering the concerns of state citizens as they spin and tumble around in our nation's capital.

That would be even more frightening if the reporter was not Craig Gilbert.

Our Washington Bureau chief has covered numerous presidential, Senate and House campaigns; he has interviewed the past 24 years' worth of presidents and presidential hopefuls; he has chronicled the D.C. careers of many key Wisconsin leaders  Republicans and Democrats, lobbyists and advocates  and he has traveled around the world examining everything from how Asian competition has impacted the state's economy to an effort by Midwest farmers to ease the Cuban trade embargo.

He brings a unique Wisconsin perspective to all of his reporting. I'll never forget the time he covered Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on an Up North tour before the 2004 Wisconsin primary. Gilbert asked a question to plumb Kerry's understanding of issues important to hunters. The candidate's response  clearly intended to connect with his audience  raised eyebrows instead when he claimed to be an avid deer hunter who loved nothing better than to "go out with my trusty 12-gauge double barrel, crawl around on my stomach ... move and decoy and play games and try to outsmart them."

Another example: After the incredibly close 2000 presidential election was decided by the Electoral College, not the popular vote, Gilbert examined the data and found an aberration of national voting patterns occurred in rural southwest Wisconsin. "Across most of rural white America in 2000, George W. Bush thrashed Al Gore," he wrote. "But there was one very significant exception to that rule  right here along the upper Mississippi River  and it cost Bush at least two states." And the 18 electoral votes of Iowa and Wisconsin.

Four years later, both Bush and Kerry spent an unusual amount of time shaking hands in the small towns of southwest Wisconsin.

Gilbert has earned the respect of politicians from both parties  as well as independent observers  for the accuracy, depth and insightfulness of his evidence-based reporting. One expert analyst found that the political reporter who has done "more than anyone" in American journalism to integrate research and evidence into meaningful daily news coverage "actually works at a regional newspaper in the Midwest: Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." Writing last year for the Columbia Journalism Review, Dartmouth professor of government Brendan Nyhan explained that Gilbert's reporting frequently highlights "data or findings that are neglected in mainstream political coverage." For example, he wrote, most journalists struggle to understand or explain the causes of partisan polarization.

"But Gilbert's carefully reported story examining the roots of the partisan divide in Wisconsin  perhaps the deepest in the nation  incorporated an under-appreciated point from Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University, who has written extensively on the topic: 'Abramowitz says a more educated, engaged electorate may also help explain the depth of division, since voters who follow politics more closely tend to be more partisan and more aware of the differences between the parties.' In other words, it's because modern-day Wisconsin closely approximates the civics-textbook ideal of high-voter knowledge and participation that the state is home to high levels of partisan conflict."

Nyhan called Gilbert's coverage, "unusually sophisticated and data driven."

Today, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville is de facto leader of the Republican Party and third in line to the presidency; former Kenosha County lawyer Reince Priebus is guiding the GOP through the presidential election as party national chair; Wisconsin has sent the two most politically disparate U.S. senators in the nation to Washington; our state is looking to play key roles in the presidential election and battle for control of the Senate; our nation is wrestling with a wide range of complex issues  terrorism, immigration, energy, education, trade, jobs, health care, the environment, the federal budget...

Meanwhile, since 2009, at least 19 regional newspapers stopped covering the nation's capital, reducing the number of states with anylocal news staff on Capitol Hill from 33 to 29, according to the Pew Research Center.

It has never been more important to have a reporter with a deep, abiding knowledge of our state, its people and their concerns in Washington, D.C. It is the support of your subscription that keeps Craig Gilbert there. Today, Gilbert has a story on Ryan's vision of a "mandate election." On Monday, he heads to Iowa  you can travel with him through The Wisconsin Voter blog.

Thank you.

George Stanley is the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached via gstanley@journalsentinel.com and followed on Twitter @geostanley.
Brooks says judge can't 'tell him what to do' on Day 13 of Christmas Parade trial
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Maan News Agency |  

BETHLEHEM (Maan)  A group of British doctors is pushing for the World Medical Association (WMA) to expel the Israeli Medical Association (IMA), the IMAs chairman said on Wednesday during a meeting of the Knesset Science and Technology committee.

In a discussion dealing with the academic boycott of Israel, Zeev Feldman said that 71 British doctors recently called on the WMA to remove the Israeli medical group from its ranks due to allegations of torture by Israeli doctors on Palestinians.

Israeli doctors in prison facilities have long been accused of standing by or abetting the torture of Palestinian detainees.

The sword of the boycott is being raised on the Israeli scientific-medical community Feldman said.

During the meeting, Likud MK Anat Berko called the academic boycott a sort of jihad in a suit.

However, Basel Ghattas, an MK from the Joint List, argued that you can think differently from the entire world, it is your right, but it is also the worlds right to take measures in order to force you to establish two states.

Speaking to the academics in attendance, Ghattas added: As academic intuitions, you have not taken any moral measures to prevent the occupation. There are Jewish professors who believe in calling for a boycott [on Israel] because it is the best price without paying in blood.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post following the meeting, Feldman said he feared that a medical boycott of Israel would have a domino effect and radiate to all other scientific associations.

Israel has been struggling to tackle a growing Palestinian-led boycott campaign which has had a number of high-profile successes abroad in both academic and artistic fields.

Known as the BDS movement  boycott, divestment and sanctions  it aims to exert political and economic pressure over Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories in a bid to repeat the success of the campaign which ended apartheid in South Africa.

In October, a group of 343 professor and lecturers bought a full page advertisement in the UKs Guardian newspaper to publicize the launch of the groups academic boycott of Israeli institutions, launched on the grounds that Israeli universities are deeply complicit in Israeli violations of international law.

In June, Britains National Union of Students voted to affiliate itself with the BDS movement, in a move which drew a sharp rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In February 2015, more than 1,000 British artists  including Ken Loach, Miriam Margolyes, and Brian Eno  signed a pledge vowing not to perform in Israel in protest of its violations of human rights and international law.

Via Maan News Agency



Related video added by Juan Cole:

RT from last summer: Palestinian prisoner likely to die if force-fed by Israelis  physician
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Irans clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke Saturday on the occasion of the state visit to Iran of Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said,

The government and people of Iran have always looked and are still looking for expanding relations with independent and trustworthy countries like China and on this basis, the agreement between the presidents of Iran and China for the establishment of a 25-year strategic relation is completely correct and wise. . . . The Islamic Republic of Iran will never forget Chinas cooperation during the time of sanctions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Iran this weekend, pledging new bilateral of $600 bn. Over 10 years.

Referring to the US influence over countries like Saudi Arabia, Khamenei told China that Iran is the only independent country in the region that can be trusted in the area of energy because unlike many regional countries, the energy policy of Iran is not influenced by any non-Iranian factor.

Referring to US exploitation of weaker countries, Khamenei said, This situation has caused independent countries to pursue more cooperation with one another. The agreement between Iran and China for developing a 25-year strategic relation is within this framework. With the serious follow-up by both sides, agreements will definitely pass through the stage of implementation.

He added, Westerners have never been able to win the Iranian nations trust, saying that the US was more hostile than the others. He said, These hostile policies have caused the people of Iran and the officials of our country to look for developing relations with independent countries.

Khamenei asked for Chinese help against Daesh (ISIL, ISIS), saying, Unfortunately, our region has become insecure because of the wrong policies of westerners and also because of a deviant and wrong interpretation of Islam. There is a danger that this will be expanded and developed and therefore, it should be prevented with intelligent cooperation.

Xi Jinping replied that The mutual cooperation between Iran and China should increase  day by day  on the basis of mutual interests.

Referring to the historic Silk Road, Xi said, By increasing their cooperation, the countries who are located on this route can defend their interests and achieve their goals in the face of the American model for disturbing the balance of the regional economy. He added, Some superpowers are trying to create a monopoly and to impose the law of the jungle where [Y]ou are either with us or with our enemy play a dominant role, but the progress of emerging economies has taken away the monopoly of power from their hands and it has created a suitable environment for the ideas and policies of independent governments.

The Chinese president said, After the lifting of sanctions too, we should increase our cooperation in all areas. He added, speaking of Irans petroleum and natural gas and its literate workforce, Iran and Chinas economy complement each other. On this trip, we have reached an agreement about formulating a plan for a 25-year strategic cooperation and we are ready to increase and deepen our cooperation in cultural, educational, technological, military and security areas as strategic partners.

Khameneis site said that Xi stated that in the face of terrorism and the complex issues of the region, it is necessary to find a way to increase cooperation between the two countries in the area of security.

The Strategic Partnership between China and Iran consists of 20 articles; here are some of the more central ones:

The ministry of foreign affairs of both countries will hold annual meetings. The two countries recognized each others emphasis on national sovereignty and independence. They will increase their scientific and academic exchanges. They will cooperate on counter-terrorism.

The ending of international, UN-backed sanctions, and the continued sanctions imposed by the US Congress, gives Xi an in with businesses in Iran.



Related video:

CCTV: Iran, China vow closer ties during Xis visit
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By Jon Queally, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org ) |  

Former New York City mayor indicates willingness to spend at least $1 billion especially if Sanders bumps Clinton.

Is the real establishment getting worried?

As news broke Saturday afternoon that billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is seriously considering the idea of a third-party run for president in 2016, some political observers immediately smelled a rat.

Bloomberg hinting at a run is a cynical political threat aimed at Sanders supporters. Michael Brooks, media strategistThe New Yorks Times was the first to report that Bloomberg has asked his political team to draw up plans for what a campaign might look like. The Times cited sources close to the former mayor who said he is prepared to invest at least $1 billion of his own money in order to finance a run against the Republican and Democratic nominees that ultimately emerge.

As Jamelle Bouie, political writer at Slate, put it snidely: Billionaire contemplates buying White House for himself.

The Times reporting describes Bloomberg as galled by the dominance of Donald Trump in the GOP race and troubled by Hillary Clintons stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side.

According to one source, described as having intimate knowledge of the deliberations, Bloomberg has been thinking quietly about this for some time. However, the person is quoted as saying, Its gone from idle chit-chat, to lets take a real look.'

A third-party independent has never won a presidential race in the United States, but as the Guardian notes, they have arguably made their impacts felt:

In 1912 former president Theodore Roosevelt ran a popular campaign but split the votes of progressives and Republicans, helping Democrat Woodrow Wilson to victory. More recently, Texas businessman Ross Perot has been credited with helping Bill Clinton win the presidency in 1992, and Ralph Nader has been accused of siphoning off votes for Democrats and helping turn the 2000 election in Republican George Bushs favor.

The Times reporting discusses the possibility of a Sanders vs. Trump general election as perhaps the most likely scenario in which Bloomberg might considering mounting his campaign.

Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush, was thrilled with the idea:

A Bloomberg candidacy would be devastating to Hillary or Sanders. Heres to him getting in.  Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 23, 2016

A Preemptive Strike Against a Surging Sanders?

Mike Bloomberg for president rests on the not-impossible but somewhat unlikely circumstance of either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz versus Bernie Sanders, former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell told the Times. Known widely as a faithful member of the Democratic Partys establishment vanguard and described by the Times as a close ally of Mrs. Clintons who is also a friend of Mr. Bloomberg, Rendell said that If Hillary wins the nomination, Hillary is mainstream enough that Mike would have no chance, and Mikes not going to go on a suicide mission.

However, Rendell added that if it was Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) facing off with Sanders, he might consider throwing his weight behind.

The implications of that suggestion, however, were not lost on astute political observers, especially supporters of Sanders, a candidate who has greatly surprised the Beltway and media establishment by mounting a serious campaign against Clinton. With the Iowa caucuses just over a week awayand with Sanders surging in both state-level and national pollsthere has been a palpable sense of unease in the upper echelons of both the major parties about what should be done to dissuade voters from throwing their support behind insurgent candidates.

As political commentator and progressive media strategist Michael Brooks immediately noted on Twitter in response to Saturdays news: Bloomberg hinting at a run is a cynical political threat aimed at Sanders supporters.

Meanwhile, Canadian journalist Derrick OKeefe added:

Michael Bloombergs bullying of primary voters illustrates Bernie Sanders point: billionaires have way too much economic & political power.  Derrick OKeefe (@derrickokeefe) January 23, 2016

And according to Matthew Rozsa, a political columnist and a Ph.D. student in history at Lehigh University, a run by Bloomberg would be a disaster, not just for his opponents, but for the nation at large:

A Bloomberg third-party campaign [] would be the proverbial wolf in sheeps clothes. Even his ideological message is an inversion of American norms; third-party candidates have, traditionally, represented ideas perceived as too extreme for the major parties. Bloomberg, on the other hand, would be a self-declared moderate denouncing the perceived extremism to his left and right from the major parties. In short, if Bloomberg emerges as a viable third-party alternative in the 2016 presidential election, his candidacy will severely distort our collective understanding of the political world we inhabit today. There are real problems that need to be addressed  income inequality, racial and sexual discrimination, an entire generation cast adrift by an economy that seems to have no use for them  and they require a serious candidate who is willing to openly and aggressively confront them. In Bloomberg, we would have a champion of the status quo who presents himself as a bold game-changer. Frankly, if our next president needs to be an agent of the same, Id at least prefer it that he present himself as such.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Via Commondreams.org



Related video added by Juan Cole:

New York Daily News: Michael Bloomberg Mulls Over a Third Party Run for President
CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST TO SERVE ON THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE BOTSWANA PUBLIC OFFICERS PENSION FUND AS AN INDEPENDENT TRUSTEE

Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) is a defined contribution pension fund for public officers established in 2001. The Fund has experienced phenomenal growth since inception and currently has assets valued at about BWP 51 billion. The current membership of the fund is approximately 150,000 members.



The BPOPF is looking to engage the services of an independent Trustee to serve on its Board of Trustees.



Qualifications and Eligibility of Candidate



The candidate should be an individual who is not an employee of the BPOPF or its subsidiaries/related entities or any service provider to the Fund. He/ She should not be a person carrying out business/engaged in work that may render him conflicted. He/ She should possess the following;

 A minimum academic qualification of first degree and over ten (10) years experience in their area of expertise.

 Experience and expertise from various sectors of the community such as business, civil and otherwise

 Sound knowledge and experience mainly in pension Funds matters, finance, investment, corporate governance and risk management.

 Ability to understand strategic issues, accept legal duties, liabilities and responsibilities of a Trustee.

 Sufficient time and commitment to fulfill the role.

 Experience of Board membership & Trusteeship will be an added advantage.

 Must be of good standing to be approved by the Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) to be a Trustee.



Applicants with a professional and/or working background in investment and risk management will be favourably considered.





Board Tenure



The Independent Trustee shall be appointed for a period of five (5) years eligible for reappointment for a further five years.



Remuneration



The remuneration of Trustees shall from time to time be determined by the Board of Trustees.



Application process



Candidates with the requisite competencies are hereby invited to submit detailed curriculum vitae (CV), a letter of application, copies of certificates and qualifications, two names of Referees as well as a certified copy of Omang through post or hand deliver the same to the address below. Also to be included is a current and past list of directorships.



The closing date is 31st January 2016, and incomplete and/or late applications will not be considered. Please note that only short-listed applicants will be contacted.



Chief Executive Officer

BPOPF

Plot 61920 Letsema Office Park

Private Bag 00195

Gaborone




The remuneration for the above positions will be commensurate with the education and experience.





Only applicants who meet the above requirements need apply giving detailed and up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) and enclosing certified copies of their educational certificates, national identity (Omang and at least two latest references).

Please respond in writing to:





The Chief Executive Officer/Principal Officer

Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund Secretariat

Private Bag 00195

Gaborone.





CLOSING DATE for all applications 29 January 2016
Love the article on Gaddaf

i

Samosa Iyoha



Hello from Johannesburg

I was amazed to find a website for Africans in Hungary .

Looks like you have quite a community there. Here in SA we have some three million Zimbabweans living in exile and not much sign of going home ... but in Hungary??? Hope to meet you on one of my trips to Europe; was in Steirmark Austria near the Hungarian border earlier this month. Every good wish for 2011. Geoff in Jo'burg



I'm impressed by

ANH

work but...



Interesting interview...



My comment to the interview with his excellency Mr. Adedotun Adenrele Adepoju CDA a.i--

B.Ayo Adams

click to read editor's mail

We must rise above tribalism & divide & rule of the colonialist who stole & looted our treasure & planted their puppets to lord it over us..they alone can decide on whosoever is performing & the one that is corrupt..but the most corrupt nations are the western countries that plunder the resources of other nations & make them poorer & aid the rulers to steal & keep such ill gotten wealth in their country..yemen,syria etc have killed more than gadhafi but its not A good investment for the west(this is laughable)because oil is not in these countries..when obasanjo annihilated the odi people in rivers state, they looked away because its in their favour & interest..one day!I think from what have been said, the Nigerian embassy here seem to be more concern about its nationals than we are for ourselves. Our complete disregard for the laws of Hungary isn't going to help Nigeria's image or going to promote what the Embassy is trying to showcase. So if the journalists could zoom-in more focus on Nigerians living, working and studying here in Hungary than scrutinizing the embassy and its every move, i think it would be of tremendous help to the embassy serving its nationals better and create more awareness about where we live . Taking the issues of illicit drugs and forged documents as typical examples.. there are so many cases of Nigerians been involved. But i am yet to read of it in e.news. So i think if only you and your journalists could write more about it and follow up on the stories i think it will make our nationals more aware of what to expect. I wouldn't say i am not impressed with your work but you need to be more of a two way street rather than a one way street . Keep up the good work... SylviaHe is an intelligent man. He spoke well on the issues! Thanks to Mr Hakeem Babalola for the interview it contains some expedient information..
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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New Work Junction, the brainchild of entrepeneur Tom ONeill, has just opened its doors at the old AIB Bank on the Dublin Road offering a new way for budding entrepenurs, start ups and those who basically work on the move to do their business.

New Work Junction, the brainchild of entrepeneur Tom ONeill, has just opened its doors at the old AIB Bank on the Dublin Road offering a new way for budding entrepenurs, start ups and those who basically work on the move to do their business.

ONeill, a native of Carlow who returned to Ireland from South Africa and now lives in Kilkenny, came up with the idea of providing not only work spaces and terminals for people to work from, but to provide a form of business community, an incubation of local business, where people can come to work, to meet others, swap ideas and help each other and much, much more.

You could call it a digital hub, an incubator for local business, said Tom who noted the Co-Worker movement which began in 2005 as his starting point for the idea. That movement has grown and grown, and Tom feels that Kilkenny, and the old bank premises he owns, is an ideal place to incubate young business talent.

Nowadays people work very differently, some are freelance, some have set-length contracts, others are starting their own business. And there are those with the opportunity to work from home. New Work Junction is ideal for all these. Even people who work from home with steady jobs, say you do it two days a week. There are positives, but there are negatives. When do you switch on, and more importantly switch off the work at home. The company of others, the distracti0ns that working from home brings.

And for those setting up a business, we are just metres from the local train station to Dublin. So for important meetings, you could work from here, and just get the train up to Dublin.

His hope for the business - My hope is that it encourages people to work smarter. The lifestyle in Kilkenny is great, there is no need to sacrifice anything by choosing to live in Kilkenny and bring up a family here. The quality of life in the city is exceptional, but we have cutting edge technology here. Our motto is Work here instead and already we have success stories, and that creates a great atmosphere.

The doors are open a couple of weeks, and business is good. So good that already two start ups are in and going well, and one of those is now employing four people with the promises of further job announcements. Many others have signed up as individuals, and with the strong early response Tom is planning seminars in the coming weeks, bringing expertise in to the group and also using the expertise within the group to offer ideas.

One of the big things, whether you work from home or just if you are working alone, is adult company, bouncing ideas off each other. New Work Junction encourages collaboration, we have a members website where all the news of whats happening is going on, where people are posting opportunites and questions for others.

The first month is free to try it out, and then there are scales depending on the level of membership you want. You can have a monthly social membership availing of the minimum of the facilities or a full on membership which includes varying sizes of workspaces, business address, digital hub and secure access to the premises day or night, 24/7 which after all was a former bank.

Kilkenny attracts many types of people in business, from those who work in multinationals to those who work in the Arts and craft industruies. There is a great mix here in Kilkenny, and I suppose the city benefitted from not being part of the commuter belt. It punches above its wieght, and its not soulless.

New Work Junction is on the Dublin Road, Kilkenny, check out their website at www.newworkjunction.com/
KITSAP SUN FILE PHOTO A sailboat is shrouded in fog as it sits anchored off the shore of Port Townsend. The winter days may be gray, but they hold special appeal in Port Townsend, where you can explore the town free from the tourist onslaught present in the spring and summer.

SHARE The Swan Hotel is one of several in Port Townsend that reduce their rates during the winter offseason. (CHRIS KORNELIS / KITSAP SUN) CHRIS KORNELIS/KITSAP SUN The Pourhouse serves up a mix of craft beers and ciders and is one of three breweries in walking distance of each other near the Port of Port Townsend. Quimper Sound Underground record shop is under Taylor Street in Port Townsend. (CHRIS KORNELIS / KITSAP SUN) A sign at Quimper Sound Underground record shop. The Port Townsend Record Show will take place March 5 at the American Legion Hall. (CHRIS KORNELIS / KITSAP SUN)

By Chris Kornelis

PORT TOWNSEND  Once a year or so, Mark Hering and his wife take a couple of days to get away in Port Townsend: they stay at a bed-and-breakfast, eat and drink their way though Water Street, and maybe take in a movie at the Rose Theatre or visit the Jefferson Museum of Art & History. Rested, rejuvenated, and properly lubricated, they head home. To Port Townsend.

Herring owns the Quimper Sound Underground record shop (under Taylor Street), his wife commutes to Bremerton, and their home is close to the airport, so they don't get to see much of the town unless they make a point of doing so.

Their favorite time of year to be tourists in their own town is during the offseason, weeks like this, when the shops and restaurants are open, but sparsely populated. Hering says you "kind of feel like you have the town to yourself."

Though most people visit Port Townsend in the spring and summer, checking out the historic town in the offseason is a unique experience. In summer, the city is more or less turned over to tourists shopping for aprons, used books and wooden spoons. But from roughly January through March, or until the weather turns  the town is relatively empty. Not only do you have to contest with fewer groups of tourists, there's less competition to get a drink, a slice of pizza, and a hotel room  which are considerably cheaper this time of year (see sidebar). The thinning crowd also means that you're probably not bellying up to the bar next to a fellow visitor, but an honest to goodness local.

"You're going to get the authentic PT deal," says Jarrod Bramson, a member of the Port Townsend band Solvents. "You'll see local bands and probably hang out with local folks. I would definitely prefer it, for sure."

Of course, not everybody in PT is delighted with the idea of empty hotel rooms and lonely bar stools, namely the businesses. Through the years, several events have sprung up in the winter to lure folks into town in the offseason. One of the biggest is the Strange BrewFest. The opportunity for brewers to subject drinkers to their latest experiments runs Jan. 29 and 30.

And more events keep springing up. Herring is helping to organize the Port Townsend Record Show, March 5, at the American Legion Hall, an event he hopes will attract record sellers and crate diggers. Considering the popularity of such events  and the continued interest in vinyl records  it's possible that it will become another reason for the region to descend on PT in the winter.

But, for those looking for a cheap dose of serenity and calm, it's the weekends with nothing going on that are the times to visit. And even those weekends are not without their opportunities to stay occupied.

The Rose Theatre and the Uptown Theatre both offer first-run movies, and bars like Sirens and the Cellar Door regularly offer live music. For those who insist in getting outside, Fort Worden doesn't close just because it's raining.

And if you consider drinking beer to be a sport, the Port of Port Townsend  across the street from Safeway as you come into town  is your new favorite gym. Long home to the Port Townsend Brewing Company, an icon in the local suds scene, there is a now a triangle of sorts in the neighborhood for drinkers to work their way around.

The Pourhouse doesn't brew its own beer, but it serves up a mix of craft beers and ciders and sells bottles to go. Its outdoor seating is essentially on the beach. When you lean up against the guardrail with a beer on one hand, you can just about touch the water with the other.

Around the corner, Propolis Brewing is setting up a taproom and hopes to be open for business in time for Strange Brew. The brewery, which has been selling bottles wholesale and at farmers markets since 2013, specializes in Belgian and sour beers. Unlike most breweries that brew a handful of familiar beers every year  IPA, stout, etc.  Propolis brews about 24 varieties a year. Owner/brewer Robert Horner says he's stashed away the bottles to sell at the taproom, so he'll have more than 50 different varieties to offer customers.

If you try one too many brews, you're never that far from your bed. Propolis is just an easy mile walk away from the downtown hotels, and even less to the Tides Inn, the hotel made famous by Richard Gere and Debra Winger, whose characters in "An Officer and a Gentleman" used the hotel  and the city of Port Townsend  for their nights away from it all.

Not unlike the rest of us.

Where to Stay

Swan Hotel: The Swan Hotel rents out its cottages for $140 a night though April 30, compared with $185 during the summer. While its cottages and hotel  which includes a penthouse that Jennifer Lopez is said to have stayed in while filming Enough  still fill up this time of year, its usually not until late Thursday or Friday, making it easier to book a last-minute trip.

Alexanders Castle: Last-minute deals are also offered at Fort Worden, where you can book anything from officers quarters to Alexanders Castle, a one-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath castle, which can be had for $249 a night during the week this time of year, compared with $349 in the summer.

Water Street Hotel: If youre looking for something more utilitarian (and unapologetically Port Townsend), theres the Water Street Hotel, which offers rooms with shared bathrooms starting at $42 a night (you have the option of a paying a few more bucks for your own head). But dont let the price frighten you. The hotels affordable, but full of charm. Bramson and his wife even spent their honeymoon here.

Where to Eat

Port Townsend has historically been a better place to drink than eat, but there are some significant high points. For example, the breakfast crabcakes at Hudson Point Cafe  served on an English muffin and topped with poached eggs  are, by themselves, worth the drive. And youll hardly recognize Waterfront Pizza  a great takeout option if youre staying downtown  without the mob scene this time of year. Down at the port, the Stromboli at the Marina Cafe is not to be missed, and is the perfect snack between pints at the nearby watering holes. If you get there right at noon, you can try it straight out of the oven.

Be sure you save room (actually, a lot of room) for dessert. Kids and adults alike are advised to take a pass on the familiar ice cream shops downtown and check out the old fashioned soda fountain at Dons Pharmacy near the ferry terminal. The desserts  from hot fudge sundaes to banana splits  are unconscionably large and, of course, delicious. Dont give in to the temptation to share. Just take your time.
SHARE Berg CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Students from South Kitsap School District were honored by the Kiwanis Club of Port Orchard. They are (left to right) Sabrina Elliott, Kiwanis Club of Port Orchard President Mary Beslagic, Kyra Lightbown-Facer, Nate Anderson, Devon Keyt, Thomas Bidewell, Roni Wellman and Lauren Barns. Yvanauskas Cline

SCHOOL HONORS

Kitsap students serve as pages

Kristina Yvanauskas, a student at Poulsbo Middle School, served as a page in the Washington State House of Representatives. She was sponsored by state Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo.

Yvanauskas is the daughter of Victoria and Michael Yvanauskas, of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Kinsey Cline, a sophomore from South Kitsap High School, served as a page for the Washington State Senate. She was sponsored by state Sen. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard.

Cline is the daughter of Sheila Cline, of Port Orchard.

Pages perform a wide variety of responsibilities, from presenting the flags to distributing amendments on the House floor. In addition to contributing to the efficient operation of the Legislature, pages receive daily civics instruction, draft their own bills, and participate in mock committee hearings.

BI student named cadet of the month

Aiden Berg, of Bainbridge Island, was named the Marine Military Academy December 2015 Cadet of the Month for Fox Company.

Berg is a sophomore at the college-preparatory boarding school for young men in grades 8-12

The cadet who receives this award is nominated by his drill instructor for his exemplary attitude, conduct and leadership.

Berg, a first-year cadet, would like to attend the United States Naval Academy and join the Marine cadre. He intends to become a pilot in the Marine Corps. He is the son of Lisa and Russell Berg.

Kiwanis honors SK students

Junior high and high-schoolers from the South Kitsap School District were recently honored by the Kiwanis Club of Port Orchard as students of the month. The students were nominated by teachers and administrators at each school and invited to a catered lunch with their family. The students were recognized at the meeting and presented with a check. The students honored this month were:

South Kitsap High School: Kyra Lightbown-Facer, Nate Anderson and Sabrina Elliott

John Sedgwick Junior High: Thomas Bidewell

Marcus Whitman Junior High: Devon Keyt

Cedar Heights Junior High: Lauren Barns, Eleanor "Roni" Wellman

COMMUNITY

Sheriff's office honors employees

The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office has announced its 2015 employees of the year.

Three employees were selected, representing each of the three job classifications within the sheriff's office. Nominations are submitted by and voted on by sheriff's office personnel in each category.

The employees of the year are: Darrin Dettloff, support services supervisor in the sheriff's investigations and support services division; Officer Scott Kasten, in the sheriff's corrections division; and Sgt. Wilson Sapp, patrol sergeant with oversight of a patrol division watch team and additional secondary duties as assigned.

Commissioner to attend academy

Kitsap County Commissioner Rob Gelder has been selected to participate in a yearlong national Transportation Leadership Training Academy that will focus on using performance measures to better assess the impacts of transportation spending in Kitsap County and the Puget Sound region. The academy was designed by the Federal Highway Administration and the nonprofit Transportation for America. The yearlong leadership academy will consist of in-person workshops with participants from six other regions: Boston; Cleveland; Des Moines, Iowa; Indianapolis and South Bend, Indiana; and Lee County, Florida.

Gelder serves on the Transportation Policy Board of the Puget Sound Regional Council, which plans transportation, growth management and economic development across the central Puget Sound counties of Kitsap, King, Pierce and Snohomish. It includes leaders from counties, cities, ports, tribes, transit agencies and the state who work together to create a common vision for the region's future and obtain project funding from the Legislature and federal sources.

Six promoted to captain at SKFR

South Kitsap Fire Chief Steve Wright presided over the promotion ceremony of the agency's six captains earlier this month.

This is a new position for SKFR, negotiated as part of the labor contract that took effect Jan. 1, 2015. After an intensive internal testing process including practical labs, peer review, and interview panels, six personnel participated in a weeklong Captains College, where the agency shared the formal and informal expectations. Each captain will be assigned to one of the six stations, offering a midlevel managerial leadership role including personnel and equipment oversight.

Those taking the oath were Capt. Jennifer Schmidt, Capt. Mark Yergeau, Capt. Chad Stanley, Capt. Dave Schmidt, Capt. Mike Kehl and Capt. Nathan Post.

Special needs prom seeks volunteers

Newlife Church will host Night to Shine, a prom night for individuals with special needs, from 5-9 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Kitsap Sun Pavilion.

The event, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, will give participants 16 and older the royal treatment, with crowns, tiaras, limo rides, the red carpet, photos, refreshments and dancing.

Newlife is seeking volunteers, donations of goods and services, as well as financial donations and corporate sponsorships.

To register a participant or to donate, visit nighttoshineskitsap.com.

LETTER OF THANKS

Bremerton Community Theatre does it again

Thank you, Bremerton Community Theatre! Season after season your productions entertain with superb local talent, and "My Way" is no exception. The four cast members and three-piece orchestra present a cabaret of musical talent that makes two hours go by quickly  deserving the standing ovation they received.

Karen Maupin, Bremerton
Some Poplars tenants struggle to find affordable housing following sale

Rents have been increased at the former county-owned property as new owners renovate apartments.
MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN A banner for the South Kitsap school bond measure hangs over Bay Street in Port Orchard in January.

SHARE

By Chris Henry

PORT ORCHARD  The banner across Bay Street is a familiar sight.

For decades, it has advertised crab feeds, Little League sign-ups, car shows and fireworks displays. On Thursday, the banner reminded voters of the upcoming school bond issue.

South Kitsap Fire and Rescue wants to turn over the job of hanging the banner to the city, and the city is open to doing so. But city officials are treading lightly in view of a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that could open a Pandora's box regarding content displayed on the banner.

The court in June unanimously ruled that a sign ordinance in the tiny town of Gilbert, Arizona, violated free speech rights of a local church. The town had different size parameters and display rules for political signs, ideological signs and directional signs.

The small congregation, which posts signs showing the location of Sunday services on any given week, was cited by the city of Gilbert for a code violation. Pastor Clyde Reed's challenge of Gilbert's sign ordinance made it to the Supreme Court, where justices said the town could not discriminate based on content. Now municipalities across the nation are looking to their sign codes for any chink in their armor.

Port Orchard's sign code is overdue for revision, and a review would take months. Meanwhile, the fire district no longer wants responsibility for hanging the banners, Chief Steve Wright, told the City Council on Tuesday.

Historically, volunteer firefighters did the work with ladder trucks. SKFR inherited the arrangement in a merger with the Port Orchard Fire Department, Wright explained. But over the years, as training requirements on volunteers increased, the volunteers left in the department had no time to hang banners.

Service groups, including Rotary club members, took over, but became concerned about liability issues should someone be injured, Wright said.

The banner program is a popular way to spread the word on community events. Group members line up at the fire department each year when sign-ups for the upcoming season open. Two-week slots fill up almost instantly, especially for the summer months.

"There is a little bit of a horse race for that at times," Wright said. "I'll come to work that morning, and people will be sitting in lawn chairs."

There are only a couple of organizations left that have paid for a banner display between now and March 1, when applications for the next year typically open. Public Works Director Mark Dorsey said his crews would hang the banners if they are directed to do so, but he cited a few problems that have not been resolved.

The guy wires that hold up the banner have lost their play and need to be replaced. The state Department of Transportation, which owns Highway 166 (Bay Street), requires a minimum of 20 feet clearance for anything hanging above the street.

Then there's the issue of content, assuming the city approves a temporary ordinance allowing for the banners as it hammers out a sign code.

"You're dancing on a fine wire," Dorsey said. "You're basically saying if you're going to hang banners, Espresso Gone Wild (a bikini barista stand in Gorst, now operating as Espresso Gone Crazy) can say, 'I'm going to put a banner that has photographs in the content.' And you cannot refuse them, So just be careful where you're dancing," he said.

The existing sign code contradicts the resolution that allows for hanging of banners, said Development Director Nick Bond. The resolution gives priority to nonprofits and community groups. Wright said his department never screened for content. Slots were awarded first come, first served. Content has never strayed beyond advertising events like crab feeds or car shows.

Council members agreed they need guidance from an attorney on a temporary fix to the banner dilemma, and for the need to revise the sign code. Former City Attorney Carol Morris retired after the election, and the council this coming week is reviewing applicants for a new city attorney.

New Mayor Rob Putaansuu said the question of how to handle the banner until a revised sign code is established would be among a dozen "priority" list items for the incoming attorney.

This story has been changed to clarify Mark Dorsey's reference to Espresso Gone Wild.
Canoeists enjoy a paddle on Sinclair Inlet during a calm winter day in 1915. In the background is the Washington State Veterans home at Retsil. The facility opened in 1910 to house veterans of the Civil War and Spanish American War. Below the home is the Annapolis Dock, one of the many Mosquito Fleet landings that facilitated water transportation in an era when good roads around Kitsap were scarce. To see more photos from the Kitsap County Historical Society Museum archives, visit www.facebook.com/kitsaphistory, Twitter KitsapMuseum, or stop by the museum at 280 Fourth St. in Bremerton. Call 360-479-6226 for information.

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In 1941 (75 years ago)

 A new and somewhat bewildering schedule of working hours goes into effect in Navy Yard offices, with application of the six-day weekly system that started last Sunday.

The supply department issued an order providing for hours as follows: one half of the force will work all day Monday; half the force will work seven hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Then, one half the force will work one half of Saturday.

The schedule for other departments varies somewhat, but amounts to about seven hours a day for five days a week, with four hours for the sixth day, or Saturday. This system, however, has not been settled.

 Kitsap County officials threatened legal action against County Assessor Douglas T. Bubar today in an effort to recover $1,066.76 profit they charge Bubar realized from the purchase and sale of tax-title logged off lands.

In a letter read during an open meeting of the Board of County Commissioners today, Prosecuting Attorney Ralph E. Purves advised the commission to demand restitution or else instruct him to start court action to regain the money for the county court.

Commissioners said Bubar purchased 120 acres of tax title property, located a short distance north of the Camp Wesley Marine Corps rifle range on Seabeck Road, for a sum of $1 per acre or a total of $120. Bubar had represented the land as not being worth more than $1 per acre previously and the board had lowered its price to that sum after originally asking $6 dollars per acre.

In 1966 (50 years ago)

 A hearing on manpower needs and job training programs will open at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Olympic College campus theater.

The hearing, first in a statewide series, is being conducted by the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, part of the state's legislative Joint Committee on Government Cooperation.

According to Dr. James Park, Olympic College president and a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Economic Growth, the meeting will probably be chaired by the subcommittee's chairman, state Rep. Robert Cull.

Local persons scheduled to participate are representatives of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the chamber of commerce and the Bremerton school district and its vocational programs.

 Action against a Bremerton auto dealer by city officials may result in a court change of the city's zoning laws.

The action occurred Friday when Bremerton building inspector Fred Bush posted an order at the parking lot on Seventh Street between Naval Avenue and Olympic Avenue, owned by Haselwood Buick Inc., ordering that all cars be removed from the lot within 10 days.

The order states that the lot is in violation of city zoning regulations. The land is in an area that is zoned Residential 1 and would need to be rezoned to Business for the parking lot operation, according to the present city ordinance.

In 1991 (25 years ago)

 The city of Bremerton has asked the state auditor to get them a complete audit of the city court office, Mayor Louis Mentor said Wednesday.

In addition the city has hired a private management consultant to evaluate court department procedures, he said.

The state audit will be the second in less than a year. State auditors went over court procedures last spring after an employee took more than $4,000 from fine money collected by the office.

The resulting report was critical of the way court personnel handled and recorded collections. But court personnel said the auditor's recommendations have been adopted.

The new audit will be more thorough and will involve the office's entire operation, Mentor said. The mayor added he will meet today or Friday with a representative of the state office to lay out the extent of the examination.

In 2006 (10 years ago)

 The pressure cooker job of heading the Kitsap County Department of Community Development is vacant again after the abrupt departure of Cindy Baker.

The county announced Monday that Baker resigned but the suddenness of the decision sparked courthouse rumors that she was forced out.

"After careful thought and consideration I've arrived at the conclusion that is in my best interest to pursue other opportunities professional growth and development at this time," she was quoted as saying and in the county announcement.

Baker made $101,732.80 a year. She had held the job for a year and a half, including eight months as interim director. She served as assistant to then-director Kamuron Gurol for five months before succeeding him when he resigned in March 2004. He had held the position for just more than a year.

Like Gurol, Baker's tenure was marked by high staff turnover and difficulty in recruiting qualified applicants to replace those had left.

Compiled from Sun archives by Ann Horn.
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Why did the white working class abandon the Democrats?

The conventional answer is that Republicans skillfully played the race card.

In the wake of the Civil Rights Act, segregationists like Alabama Gov. George Wallace led Southern whites out of the Democratic Party. Later, Republicans charged Democrats with coddling black "welfare queens" (the term gained traction during Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign), being soft on black crime (George H.W. Bush's "Willie Horton" ads in 1988) and trying to give jobs to less qualified blacks over more qualified whites (the battle over affirmative action).

The bigotry now spewing forth from Donald Trump and several of his Republican rivals is an extension of this old race card, now applied to Mexicans and Muslims  with much the same effect on white working-class voters, who don't trust Democrats to be as "tough."

But this doesn't tell the whole story. Democrats also abandoned the white working class.

Democrats have occupied the White House for 16 of the last 24 years and in that time scored some important victories for working families  the Affordable Care Act, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Family and Medical Leave Act, for example. But they've done little to change the widening structural imbalances in the economy that have taken a huge toll on the working class.

Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ardently pushed for free-trade agreements, for example, but didn't provide the millions of blue-collar workers who thereby lost their jobs means of getting new ones that paid at least as well.

They also stood by as corporations hammered trade unions, the backbone of the white working class. Clinton and Obama failed to reform labor laws to impose meaningful penalties on companies that violated them, or enable workers to form unions with a simple up-or-down vote.

I was there. In 1992, Clinton promised such reform but once elected didn't want to spend political capital on it. In 2008, Obama made the same promise (remember the Employee Free Choice Act?) but never acted on it.

Partly as a result, union membership sunk from 22 percent of all workers when Clinton was elected president to fewer than 12 percent today, and the working class lost bargaining leverage to get a share of the economy's gains. The Obama administration also protected Wall Street from the consequences of the Street's gambling addiction through a giant taxpayer-funded bailout, but left millions of underwater homeowners to drown.

Both Clinton and Obama allowed antitrust enforcement to ossify  with the result that large corporations have grown far larger, and major industries more concentrated. And they turned their backs on campaign finance reform. In 2008, Obama was the first presidential nominee since Richard Nixon to reject public financing in his primary and general-election campaigns. And he never followed up on his re-election campaign promise to pursue a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United v. FEC, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to big money in politics.

What happens when you combine free trade, shrinking unions, Wall Street bailouts, growing corporate market power and the abandonment of campaign finance reform? You get an economic structure favoring the wealthy and a political system favoring the powerful, while workers without college degrees suffer declining real wages and dwindling job security.

Why didn't Democrats tackle the structural problems of the economy  in some cases making them worse? True, they faced increasingly hostile Republican congresses. But they controlled both houses of Congress in the first two years of Clinton and Obama's administrations.

In part it was because Democrats bought the snake oil of the "suburban swing voter" in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, as early as the 1980s, Democrats began drinking from the same campaign funding trough as the Republicans  big corporations, Wall Street and the very wealthy.

"Business has to deal with us whether they want to or not" crowed former Democratic Rep. Tony Coelho, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, when in the early '80s Democrats assumed they'd continue to run the House for years. Coelho's Democrats soon achieved a rough parity with Republicans in contributions from corporate and Wall Street campaign coffers, but it proved a Faustian bargain as big corporations and Wall Street gained increasing influence in the party.

Nothing in politics is ever final. Democrats could still win back the white working class, putting together a coalition of the working class and poor  of whites, blacks and Latinos. This would give them the political clout to restructure the economy.

But to do this, they'd have to stop obsessing over upper-income suburban swing voters and end their financial dependence on big corporations.

Will they? That's one of the biggest questions underlying the 2016 elections, and beyond.

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is Chancellor's professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies.
Stuff reports:

At least 43 people, including 17 children, drowned when their boats capsized off two Greek islands near the Turkish coast on Friday (Saturday NZ Time), coastguards said, marking one of the deadliest days for migrants risking the perilous route to Europe from Turkey.

According to survivors testimonies, dozens were on board a wooden sailboat which went down off Kalolimnos, a small island in the Aegean Sea close to Turkeys coast, one coastguard official said.

Twenty six people were rescued and at least 35 migrants drowned in one of the worst incidents in months, the official said. It was not clear why the vessel capsized, but witnesses said strong winds were blowing at the time.
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A different kind of lottery ticket

After the worst yearly start for stocks in history, many investors are feeling some concern. That old myth resurfaces, "Investing in stocks is just like gambling."

Gambling addicts would probably agree. In the 1990s, scads of obsessive day-traders seemed to gamble themselves into personal and financial ruin.

Jim Parker, regional director of Dimensional Fund Advisors Australia, has a similar perspective: "When investors insist on concentrating their exposure to the equity market in one or two or even a handful of stocks, investing this way, particularly over the long term, is really just speculation. It's just like buying a lottery ticket."

Speculators making non-diversified bets will experience higher highs and lower lows in any given year. However, there is little empirical evidence that speculators consistently outperform diversified investors when long-term results and risks are taken into consideration. The top markets or individual performers change almost every year. Often, this year's diamonds become next year's dogs, and vice versa.

In 2015, the S&P 500 index was up a modest 1.4 percent, but most of the year's gains were concentrated in a small number of individual stocks such as Facebook and Netflix.

While some investors enjoyed outsized returns from these high-fliers, many may not be aware of the risk this creates. Plenty of the stocks in the S&P 500 index posted negative results last year. Energy companies fell 70 percent to 80 percent in value. Watchmaker Fossil Group and chipmaker Micron Technology fell 60 percent each as consumers turned toward fitness trackers and the Apple Watch and away from personal computers.

Owning only a small number of stocks exposes long-term investors to a wide variability of returns. By contrast, diversifying over many stocks increases the odds of investors achieving their financial goals by capturing long-term market performance.

Diversification does not improve expected return, but it does reduce risk. Essentially, while you are sacrificing a small chance of a huge reward, the lottery ticket, you are also reducing the chances of a very bad outcome.

Disciplined stock investing is not gambling. Gambling takes money from a loser and gives it to a winner. No value is ever created. With long-term investing, as companies develop products and services that can make our lives better, then over time, value is created.

What is next for stock market investing in 2016?

According to John Bogle Sr., the founder of the Vanguard Group, "Nobody knows. That's the point. If you're among that small cadre of extremely high-level traders who can throw loads of cash at a short-term fluke, fantastic. If you have a mind for numbers like Warren Buffett that allows you to buy companies on the cheap and hold them forever, excellent."

For the rest of us, the common sense plan is to assemble a globally diversified, all-weather portfolio to carry us into the future. We should strive for consistency and avoid dramatic changes during periods of dramatic short-term volatility.
SHARE B.J. Baxter Jeremy Biggs David Crouch Matt Ellison

Cherokee Health Systems has been named a Healthier Tennessee Workplace by the Governor's Foundation.

Julie DuPree has been named president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Knoxville. She is a partner in DuPree-Graf Construction. She is the group's first female president.

Matt Ellison, Lead Design and Engineering of ARiES Energy, has earned the NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional designation from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.

Teresa Giles has been named senior vice president of finance for Covenant Health. She previously served as Covenant's vice president and corporate controller. Jeremy Biggs, president and CAO of Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, Tenn., and Michael Hatmaker, vice president of support services for LeConte Medical Center and nursing home administrator of Fort Sanders Sevier Nursing Home in Sevierville, have received 2015 Service Awards from the East Tennessee Healthcare Executives Association chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Terry Hall Jr. has been named one of the Top 10 Public Accounting Professionals in Tennessee by the National Academy of Public Accounting Professionals. He is an accountant with Novinger, Ball & Zivi.

Steve Heatherly has been elected chairman of the board for the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce. He is on the board of directors at Merit Construction and serves as the company's senior vice president. Other members are: B.J. Baxter, director of operations for MMC Healthworks; Dr. Arlene Garrison, vice president of university partnerships for Oak Ridge Associated Universities; Phil Kirby, regional vice president at Holston Gases; Jeanne Mitchell, business development manager, Temp Systems; Chuck Parke, senior vice president of operations, U.S. & Canada, at DuraLine; and Larry Stephens, senior associate, Tennessee Strategies; Robin Proffitt, marketing manager for Powell-Clinch Utility District, has been elected by the Board to fill a vacancy on the board through December.

Roger Hyman has been promoted to president of Tennessee Railway Services and will also continue as corporate general counsel.

Maribel Koella has been named a 2015 National Commercial Award honoree by the National Association of Realtors and Enterprising Woman of the Year by Enterprising Women Magazine. She is principal broker of NAI Knoxville.

Kubota of Knoxville has been awarded the Premier Dealer Award of Excellence by Kubota TractorCorporation.

Dr. Ellen Liuzza has joined Summit Medical Group as a primary care physician with Dr. Michael Passarello's office in the Fort Sanders area. She previously practiced with Baptist Health Kentucky in Louisville, Ky. Dr. David Crouch has joined Summit Medical Group at Farragut as a family physician. He was previously a battalion surgeon for the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Knoxville native Neel Madhukar has been named to the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Healthcare. This list includes 30 individuals under age 30 in US who are expected to shape the future of health care. He is a Ph.D. candidate studying cancer genomes at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Dan Mitchell has been named Builder of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Greater Knoxville. He is president of Eagle CDI.

Knoxville formalwear retailer Savvi Formalware has changed its name to Regal Tuxedo and Formalwear. Owner Ben Dobson will now operate the store independently.

Cheryl Rice has been appointed to a second term as chair of the Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments by Gov. Bill Haslam. Rice, a shareholder with Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, was also recently elected to the board of governors for the Knoxville Bar Association.

The University of Tennessee has been named one of the Top 100 Best College Values for 2016 by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. UT Ranked 71st on the list of public colleges and universities.
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By Harold Duckett

Watching and listening to the close communication between violinist Philippe Quint and Knoxville Symphony conductor candidate Aram Demirjian during their Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performances of Max Bruch's 1866 "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G minor," Op. 26, Friday night at the Tennessee Theatre was more than a bit magical.

The smaller than usual audience, brave enough to defy bad weather predictions, were rewarded with a performance that was warm and intimate in some of the loveliest moments,and full of technical fireworks in the boisterous "Finale."

Fully connected to Demirjian and the orchestra around him, Quint's playing had a robust, full-bodied sound when the music called for it, and delicate sensitivity in the poetic melodies in the "Adagio."

Demirjian, giving the best of the three candidate performances so far this season, was as tuned into Quint as he was the orchestra. The result was the kind of connection between orchestra, conductor and soloist one always hopes for, but doesn't always get.

Too often, the conductor and soloist are sometimes not just on the same nerve path. One or the other struggles to find the right synapses.

Although there weren't as many attendees in the house as usual, they filled the room with roars of approval and a well-deserved standing ovation.

Bruch began the concerto at the young age of 19, but tinkered with it for the next 10 years until it finally reached the point that the great German violinist Joseph Joachim called it one of the four great German violin concertos, in the company of the concertos of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

The outcome is that Bruch tends to fall in place beside fellow German Carl Orff as another one-hit wonder, although both wrote more music and Bruch was fully in the mainstream during his day.

At 29, Demirjian has the reputation for the kind of inventive programming that classical music concerts need to speak to generations younger than those who normally fill the seats.

He founded the popular Classics Uncorked and Screenland at the Symphony series in Kansas City, where he is associate conductor.

Should Demirjian win the job, that kind of thinking would blend nicely with KSO concertmaster, Gabrial Lefkowitz's very successful Concertmaster chamber music series.

He showed that affinity by opening the concert with John Adams' minimalist "Lollapalooza," a snappy rhythmic piece written in 1995 as a birthday present for Adams' friend, conductor Simon Rattle.

It showed Demirjian's willingness for unconventional programming more than his conducting chops. The music is pretty much a straight-forward tempo that requires rapt attention from the musicians because of its measures of rests, interrupted by brief pulses of musical outbursts, but not much in the way of other shifting complexities.

On the other hand, Gyorgy Ligeti's 1951 "Concert Rom nese," a concerto for orchestra, gave Demirjian the opportunity to show his choral conducting skills.

With Demirjian working without a baton for much of the piece, its lyrical choral-like first movement was singing and lovely. It has gorgeous horn playing by principal French horn Jeffrey Whaley, as well as appealing solos by English hornist Elizabeth Telling, principal oboist Claire Chenette, principal clarinet Gary Sperl, principal trumpet Phillip Chase Hawkins and especially bewitching playing by concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz.

But Demirjian's masterful conducting of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 7 in A Major," Op. 92 really set this concert far apart from a merely good evening of music.

Conducting entirely from memory, with no score in sight, Demirjian was at his best.

The dazzlingly beautiful "Allegretto," second movement that has enthralled audiences from the moment it was first played, could hardly have been better.

From beginning to end it was a display of conducting skills and orchestral response that separates truly accomplished conductors from the generally good ones.

It was Demirjian at his best. It earned him enthusiastic applause, whistles and yells from the audience and bow waving (orchestra musicians applauding) and stomping feet on stage.
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By News Sentinel Staff

OAK RIDGE  It started as an unreported fender-bender in a gas station and blossomed into a full-blown case of road rage.

That incident early Thursday morning in Oak Ridge included allegations of a driver pursuing and forcing a vehicle off a roadway and into a light pole and punching the other driver in the nose, according to a warrant.

Paul Alexander Welsh, 25, of Oak Ridge is free on $15,000 bond on the aggravated assault warrant filed over the episode.

Welsh is accused of forcing Maxwell Anderson's Nissan Frontier off Rutgers Avenue after Anderson allegedly hit Welsh's Subaru Baja in an Oak Ridge Turnpike gas station parking lot and drove off without exchanging information.

Oak Ridge Police Officer J.C. Torrence was told Welsh followed the Subaru and forced it off Rutgers and into a light pole.

Welsh said after Anderson opened the door of his vehicle, he "felt threatened." Welsh admitted punching Anderson in the face "at least a couple of times," according to the warrant. Welsh then drove off, it continues.
SHARE Chuck Fleischmann, U.S. third congressional district representative from Ooltewah.

By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann heads into his campaign for a fourth term with nearly $1 million in the bank, a hefty war chest that well-positions him for the possibility of another hard-fought race but also could have the benefit of scaring off potential challengers.

The Ooltewah, Tenn., Republican said he has never had this much cash in the bank so early. While he has yet to draw an opponent, Fleischmann said he wanted to send a signal that he's willing to spend whatever it takes to win.

"It's just very prudent to have that  to be in the position where any potential challenger would know we have sufficient resources to participate in this campaign," he said.

Records that his campaign will file this coming week show Fleischmann has $931,897 in the bank for the upcoming race. That's double the cash he had on hand as he headed into his re-election campaign two years ago.

About $375,000 of the total Fleischmann has raised this cycle has come from political action committees. Individual donors gave the rest.

Fleischmann represents Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, which covers 11 counties and includes Chattanooga, Oak Ridge and northern areas of the state near the Kentucky border.

Fleischmann won the seat in 2010 by beating out nine other candidates in the GOP primary and then easily knocking off his Democratic opponent, John Wolfe, the following November.

He has faced formidable Republican opposition in every one of his races for re-election. In 2012, he squeezed out a victory in a contentious race against Republicans Scottie Mayfield and Weston Wamp, and in a rematch two years later, he beat Wamp again by fewer than 1,500 votes out of more than 91,000 cast.

So far, Fleischmann has failed to draw an opponent for this year's contest. State Senate Speaker Pro Tem Bo Watson, R-Hixson, had considered running but disclosed last month he would not jump into the race.

Fleischmann's stockpile of campaign cash is "probably a recognition that he's more likely to win" and may be keeping other potential challengers from getting in, said Bruce Oppenheimer, a Vanderbilt University political scientist who studies elections.

Others considering a run "realize he's got money, and it's going to be expensive to run against him," Oppenheimer said. "He may have finally solidified himself."

By raising so much money so early, Fleischmann not only is sending a message to would-be challengers, he also is able to insulate donors from potential opponents, Oppenheimer said.

While there's nothing to keep donors from giving to more than one candidate, that's not likely to happen. Also, "it's easier for him to get people to commit if they don't think somebody else is going to get into that race," Oppenheimer said.

Fleischmann said he hasn't spent more time raising money this election cycle, but he has tried to be a bit wiser in how he has gone about it. He has held fundraisers in Chattanooga, Oak Ridge and Nashville and has tried to schedule events at times that would be more convenient for people to attend, he said.

He said he also has made more of an effort to call or visit with donors before an event.

"A lot of people, I didn't even have to call," he said. "They were kind enough to call and offer their help."

When Fleischmann and his political staff began surveying the political landscape at the beginning of last year, "we felt the only way we would ever be in a position where we could ward off a potential challenger would be to be fiscally and financially strong," he said. "I made a personal commitment to do that, like no other time in the past. We accomplished that."
  Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
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There's a primary election happening in Knox County, and the League of Women Voters of Knoxville/Knox County is gearing up with a series of candidate forums in the community.

On a day-to-day basis, Knox County residents are affected more by the decisions of local lawmakers than by those of the president, the League of Women Voters announced in a news release.

The League of Women Voters is planning three candidate forums in the final three weeks before early voting begins Feb. 10 for the primaries. Only candidates in the eight contested primary races have been invited to participate. Locations and times follow:

Knox County Commission 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th district candidates, 6:30 p.m., Jan. 28, at the Emporium, 100 S. Gay St. Event co-sponsors include the Arts and Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville and the NAACP.

Knox County Board of Education candidates in 2nd and 5th districts at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 2, at Pellissippi State Community College, 1610 E. Magnolia Ave.

Law director and property assessor candidates, 6:30 p.m., Feb. 4, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law, 601 W. Summit Hill Drive. That forum will be moderated by Matt Shafer Powell, WUOT-FM director of news content.

The League of Women Voters is a national nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and works to increase understanding of major public policy issues.

The group also works to influence public policy through education and advocacy.

For more information on he League of Women Voters or the forums, visit www.lwvknoxville.org/index.html.
House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, left, proposes having the Legislature appoint the state attorney generals top assistant while House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, center, has proposed a new twist in repealing the Tennessee tax on investment income. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel

NASHVILLE  House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada proposes having the Legislature appoint the state attorney general's top assistant while House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick has proposed a new twist in repealing the Tennessee tax on investment income.

Those two measures, both likely to face opposition from Gov. Bill Haslam's administration and both sponsored in the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, are among 859 new bills filed last week. The deadline for filing general bills in both the House and Senate was Thursday.

The last-week filings come on top of 359 new bills previously filed for first-time consideration in the 2016 session since the 2015 session ended, making a total of 1,215 bills filed for 2016. In 2015, 527 bills were enacted into law. Those that were not approved last year can be taken up again in 2016, the second year of the two-year 109th General Assembly.

The outpouring of late filings means 2,618 bills have now been filed in the House for the 109th General Assembly, compared to 2,555 filed in the 108th, covering the years 2013 and 2014. The Senate total is 2,643, but a bill must be filed in both chambers before it can be enacted. Most representatives can file no more than 15 bills per year under rules adopted at the urging of House Speaker Beth Harwell. There is no limit on bill filings in the Senate.

Hall Income Tax

McCormick acknowledged in an interview that there is some conflict between his Hall income tax repeal bill (HB2118) and a separate bill he is sponsoring for the Haslam administration that would use the Hall tax breaks to encourage "angel investors" putting their money into relatively small and relatively new businesses.

Haslam has repeatedly opposed efforts to repeal the Hall tax  a general 6 percent levy on investment income with several exemptions and exceptions  as they come up every year. While voicing a general dislike for the tax, the governor argues against repeal without some other way of replacing the lost revenue. The tax generated $303 million in total revenue last year  about $189 million for the state with the remaining $114 million distributed to local governments.

The most-publicized repeal bill (SB2, as amended) was introduced last year without ever coming to a vote. Sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Rep. Tilman Goins, R-Morristown, with support from Americans for Prosperity and other conservative lobbying organizations, the bill calls for the state to cover the entire cost, reimbursing local governments for the money they lose from a phased-in repeal over the next three years.

McCormick's bill would not reimburse local governments for the lost revenue, but it would authorize cities and counties to impose a 2.5 percent tax on investment income themselves. Enactment of the local Hall tax would require a two-thirds majority vote of a county commission or city council.

"This gives us another option," said McCormick, adding that measure is not really a priority in his legislative endeavors this year; just an idea he thinks worth considering.

He noted that "most of the complaints" legislators get about repeal of the Hall come from local government officials revolved around the loss of revenue for their city or county. The bill lets them make up for the loss  "It would be between them and their constituents"  without requiring the state to pick up the tab, he said.

McCormick is also sponsor of HB1536, an administration bill inspired by Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd. The bill would allow individual investors to take a credit of up to $50,000 on their Hall income tax liability for investments in a Tennessee-based company that is less than 5 years old with gross revenues of less than $3 million.

The idea, Boyd says, is to help entrepreneurs get funding from private investors and is similar to tax breaks already in place in six neighboring states. The state in 2009 put $200 million of taxpayer money into the TNInvestco program that has now been spent  with success of that spending in some dispute. Under the new bill, Boyd says, individuals would have an incentive to put money into startups instead of the state doing so directly.

Thus, the administration bill relies on continuation of the Hall taxto provide an incentive for investment in small companies that would be eliminated by repeal.

Asked if the two measures were in conflict, McCormick replied, "I think so" but declined to state a preference for which should be enacted.

"It'll all come out in the wash," he said.

Solicitor general

Casada's HB2143 calls for the state's solicitor general to be appointed by the Legislature, providing what the GOP caucus chairman says could be considered a legislative watchdog in the state attorney general's office.

As things stand now, the position is filled by the state attorney general as part of his staff and is considered second only to the attorney general himself in the state's legal power structure. Attorney General Herbert Slatery, former legal counsel to Haslam, last year named Andree Sophia Blumstein to the position.

A veteran Nashville lawyer, Blumstein served as chief justice of a special Supreme Court panel appointed by Haslam in 2014 to review a legal challenge to Tennessee's retention election system for Supreme Court judges and wrote the opinion upholding the system.

There have been repeated unsuccessful efforts in the General Assembly over many years to begin the process for an amendment to the state constitution that would provide for popular election of the attorney general, who is now appointed by the state Supreme Court. Three such proposals are currently filed  one (HJR10) sponsored by a Democrat and two (HJR71, SJR63) by Republicans.

And Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, has filed SJR75, which proposes a constitutional amendment to let the Legislature, instead of the Supreme Court, name the attorney general directly. None of those proposals have made any headway.

In past years, there have also been proposals to bypass the state constitution's current provisions by having a popularly elected solicitor general, who would by statute then assume virtually all of the attorney general's duties. An attorney general would still be appointed by the Supreme Court  avoiding the need for a constitutional revision  but he or she would have very little actual authority.

Casada said he sees his bill as a compromise of sorts between various previous proposals and a step toward resolving conservative legislators' discontent over "too much interference with the legislative branch" of government by the judicial branch of government, headed by the Supreme Court.

"My concern is the judiciary interjects itself too much into the doings of the Legislature," he said, and having a Legislature-appointed solicitor general would provide more balance.

Republican legislators have frequently called on the attorney general to file lawsuits  sometimes successfully, sometimes not  on various matters involving clashes with the federal government over issues ranging from the Affordable Care Act to Environmental Protection Agency rules. A Casada-sponsored bill, filed last year but never brought to a vote, would have authorized the Legislature to order the attorney general to file a lawsuit.

But Casada is not predicting passage of the measure, saying, "It's outside the box."

Presumably, Slatery  a personal friend of the governor since their boyhood days in Knoxville  will be opposed to turning over his most important staff position to legislators. A spokesman for the attorney general declined to comment Friday, a day when state offices were closed because of a winter storm.
Should you say something is "five times taller" or "five times as tall"?

Either way is all right. Handbooks say both forms have the same meaning and are understood when seen or heard.

Most people would consider that a building five times taller than a three-story building, or five times as tall, would be 15 stories tall, since five times three is 15.

Some usage authorities argue that "times more" (or times taller, stronger, larger) can be ambiguous. Example: She has five times more money than he does.

If you have $100, five times that is $500. Does this mean you have $100 plus $500, a total of $600?

Some usage authorities say that those who question the "times more" usage are emphasizing math over language.
No statewide offices are up for grabs this election year. But two of Tennessee's highest-profile politicians have big jobs at stake.

U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander ascended to power two years ago when the Republicans took control of the Senate. Corker became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Alexander moved into the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.

The Democrats were especially vulnerable in the Senate in 2014, having to defend 21 of the 35 seats up for election. Seven of those were in states that had gone for Mitt Romney in 2012. So it wasn't too surprising that the GOP came away with 54 votes in the Upper Chamber.

This year, the situation is flipped. Of the 34 seats up for election, Republicans hold 24, and seven are in states President Barack Obama carried in the last election. To retake the Senate, the Democrats need to gain five seats  four if they also win the White House and the vice president's tie-breaking vote.

Three states are ripe for the picking: Pennsylvania, Illinois and Wisconsin. They've gone Democratic in recent elections even when Republicans have won the White House. Since Democratic turnout tends to increase in presidential elections more than GOP turnout does, there's a good chance all three will drop into the Democratic column.

Control of the Senate then boils down to just a couple of states, such as Ohio and Florida, which  as usual  will be battlegrounds in the presidential election.

Presidential coattails will play a decisive role.

As America's electorate has become more polarized in recent years, the coattail effect has increased. An analysis by Politico showed that the correlation between how people vote in presidential and senatorial races has risen steadily since 2000. In 2012, nearly 80 percent of voters cast a straight-party ticket as far as those two offices were concerned. Party loyalty hasn't been that firm since Dwight Eisenhower was re-elected in 1956 by the 48 states.

As a result, some Republicans are alarmed at the primary strength of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, who appeal to the GOP's angry conservative wing but will have a tougher time winning moderate support in a general election. Bob Dole, former senator and presidential candidate, for instance, told The New York Times last week that he thought Cruz's nomination would have a "cataclysmic" effect on down-ballot candidates.

So far, no Republican senator has endorsed either of the front-runners. Five are backing Jeb Bush, four are supporting Marco Rubio, two have announced for Mike Huckabee, and Rand Paul and John Kasich have each gotten one endorsement. Sen. John McCain had endorsed Lindsey Graham, who has since dropped out of the race.

Neither Corker nor Alexander have weighed in yet. The candidate they really may be pulling for, though, is Bernie Sanders.

Although the Democrats haven't been as outspoken about it, many fear that Sanders' coattails will not help them win Senate control, either.

So far, 38 senators have endorsed Hillary Clinton. None have backed their Vermont colleague.
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State legislators' proposed actions in response to the University of Tennessee's diversity efforts threaten the autonomy and accreditation status of UT Knoxville, a major research university.

Legislators demanded that the posts of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion be removed, censored, suggesting that "majority" students at UT suffered repression of their Christian practices  which didn't occur. Why this interference? What was so offensive to representatives of the people of Tennessee about suggestions for inclusiveness? Answer: They promote "political correctness." This term should be questioned.

A UT professor, I speak as a nurse and Tennessee voter opposing external attempts to micromanage the university. We should follow established diversity plans of the Board of Trustees, which maintains that UT should operate free from "undue external influence."

Political correctness, rarely defined, includes positions advocating fairness for underrepresented groups. By using the word "political," human needs are reduced to matters of opinion. By using the word "correctness," minority positions are characterized as tyranny over the majority.

Dismissal of minority voices as PC silences minorities, deferring to white, male heterosexual culture. The United States will soon not be majority white and is not majority male. As people condemn PC in anger, fear of losing dominance underlies growing xenophobia, nativism and racism.

Mention the poor or anyone else needing advocacy, and the accusation of political correctness ends the conversation, relieving the majority of the responsibility to end disparities. "I'm not PC" is a euphemism for "I am sick of the grievances of others not like me." How does that fit with humanity and the authentic Christian message?

Political correctness is sensitivity to others not like us. African-Americans pointing to white privilege, slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration and police brutality; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people decrying violence and job discrimination are politically, and factually, correct.

These well-documented injustices are still embedded in our social fabric. UT needs to work at being representative and inclusive; the process does not end.

PC means respectful speech. One does not have an absolute free speech right to yell the N-word at an African-American, for example.

Simple ethical principles  good manners  are now denounced as PC, characterized as limiting freedoms. What freedoms might these be? To benefit from white privilege? To have sexual minorities be invisible? To control women's reproduction? To become wealthy on the labor of those who can't feed their families on perilously low wages? To not work with a Muslim person? These are not the freedoms we are guaranteed, but the wishful thinking of a declining majority facing inevitable change.

The opponents of PC dread the future, when they will lose unearned privilege. They prefer a past when their dominance was unquestioned. The "others" work toward the future. They cannot go backwards into poverty, the closet, refugee camps, unwanted pregnancies and unequal wages, and disability-inaccessible environments.

University communities need boundaries of interaction to prevent targeted violence, as has recently happened on some campuses. Many universities, including UT, struggle with histories of segregation, discrimination and exclusion of women.

But let's be clear. UT is not policing anyone's speech. Concerns about PC originate from outside groups, like Americans for Prosperity, John William Pope Center for Higher Education and the Family Research Council  groups advancing a religion-based ideology through media, social media and lobbying legislators. They oppose the purposeful openness and academic freedom characterizing higher education, and the goals and dynamics of a world-class university, which UT is becoming. Their agenda is to turn public institutions into Christian institutions. Period.

The university belongs to everyone. At UT, knowledge is generated and verified in order to solve problems for the local, national and global communities. It is an engine of artistic as well as economic growth for Tennessee.

UT is not broken. In fact, the Carnegie Foundation honored UT with designation as an "Engaged University."

If "political correctness" is needed to meaningfully engage with diverse communities and constituencies, we ought to embrace it, and call it what it is: basic respect for others, not a scary contaminant to our social discourse.
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Jane Mayer of The New Yorker has a new book out: "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right." It's mostly about those old devils the Koch brothers.

Charles and David Koch are billionaires. They own a very big company. They also are very prominent philanthropists, giving hundreds of millions to cancer research, concert halls and other worthy causes. But what makes them hated and feared by progressives such as Mayer is their political work. They help fund some organizations and foundations, some of them partisan.

To listen to the left, they are the closest thing we have to real-world James Bond villains. So what is their agenda? Is it to retreat to their orbiting harems, populated with fertile females, as they wipe out humanity below so that they can return to repopulate the planet?

Well, here's Mayer's explanation of their dark and sinister ambitions.

"What people need to understand is the Kochs have been playing a very long game," she told NPR's Steve Inskeep. "And it's not just about elections. It started four decades ago with a plan to change how America thinks and votes. So while some elections they win and some elections they lose, what they're aiming at is changing the conversation in the country."

Dear God, it's worse than I thought! They want to change the conversation! They want to persuade Americans to vote differently! The horror, the horror.

You might be forgiven for thinking that this is pretty much exactly what democracy is about. But no. For you see, only Hollywood, college professors and administrators, the ACLU, People for the American Way, the Human Rights Campaign, the Ford Foundation, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, MoveOn.org, the NAACP, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Greenpeace, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, Steven Spielberg and, of course, publications such as The New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation and Mayer's own New Yorker are allowed to try to change conversations.

Ah, but those voices are open and honest  and progressive!  about it, while the Kochs are secretive, sinister denizens of the stygian underworld of "dark money" and the "radical right."

Except for the fact that the Kochs have been out in the open for nearly a half-century. David Koch ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980, which might be a brilliant way to hide in plain sight, given how little attention the Libertarian Party gets.

Which brings me to that term "the radical right." When racist idiots do idiotically racist things, we're told that's the radical right in action. When Christian conservatives say Christian things, we're told that's the radical right in action. When Donald Trump says he wants to ban Muslims from entering the country or build a giant wall, that earns him the radical right label. When Ted Cruz says he wants to carpet-bomb the Islamic State, he ... well, you get the point.

I have problems with those usages of "radical right," but let's just stipulate for the sake of argument that this is the correct term in such circumstances. How, then, are the Kochs members of the radical right? They are pro-gay marriage. They favor liberal immigration policies. They are passionate non-interventionists when it comes to foreign policy. They are against the drug war and are spending a bundle on dismantling so-called "mass incarceration" policies. They've never seized a national park at gunpoint.

They are members of the radical right for the simple reason that they don't like big government and spend money to make that case. Disclosure: I've given paid speeches to some Koch-backed groups, despite my disagreements with the Kochs. They haven't changed my mind, and I haven't changed theirs. But the conversation continues.

And that's their great sin. Liberals are constantly talking about how we need an "honest conversation" about race or guns or this or that. But what they invariably mean is they want everyone who disagrees to shut up.

The best working definition of "right wing" today has almost nothing to do with ideology. A right-winger is someone who disagrees with the liberal narrative, has the temerity to say so and dares to actually try to change the conversation.
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The only thing predictable about the 2016 presidential campaign so far has been its unpredictability.

A year ago, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush were their respective parties' front-runners and presumed nominees. Now, Donald Trump continues to hold a commanding lead in national polls for the GOP nomination, and Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont who is a self-proclaimed socialist, is poised to beat Clinton in the upcoming Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Could Trump and Sanders face off in the general election? What would it mean for the Democratic and Republican parties? What would it mean for the country? Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, think the unthinkable.

JOEL MATHIS

The fact that we're even contemplating a Sanders-versus-Trump election proves one thing: The electorate has started to reach its polarized limits.

Decades ago, both parties spanned fairly broad sections of the ideological spectrum. It's how Democrats could be the party of Southern segregationists and the authors of the Voting Rights Act; it's how Republicans could keep middle-of-the-road Dwight Eisenhower in office for eight years and nominate conservative firebrand Barry Goldwater to the presidency just a few years after that.

That meant overlap: The most conservative Democrat in Congress back in those days was often somewhere to the right of the most liberal Republican.

The last few decades have dispensed with that order. Study after study shows that the electorate has sorted itself into increasingly homogeneous parties: If you're liberal, you're a Democrat. If you're conservative, you're Republican. The overlap is gone.

The result? You're getting to see the parties in their essences. You get to see the fruition of ideas and their logical consequences.

For Republicans, it means that decades spent whipping up right-leaning voters into an angry hysteria  thanks to talk radio, Fox News and online outlets like Breitbart  has paid off with widespread support for a candidate whose appeal boils down to snarling, offense-giving tribalism, the pinnacle of a career spent diminishing the fortune he inherited.

For Democrats, you're seeing a desire to help the poor and middle class live financially sustainable lives. But Sanders' heart may be bigger than his wallet: Vox's Ezra Klein says Sanders' proposed health care plan would require raising $1 trillion a year in taxes. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, no conservative, says it would probably require higher middle class taxes than Sanders is willing to admit. It's hard to believe the American electorate has much stomach for that.

It's easy, and wrong, to make a fetish of centrism and compromise. In our politics, the best ideas tend to flow to the middle, not from it. But the system gets bogged down without some moderate good sense in the mix. A Trump-versus-Sanders race suggests we're dire need of more good sense.

BEN BOYCHUK

Readers of a certain age and disposition will remember a Marvel Comics series from the late 1970s and early '80s called "What If  ?" The gimmick was to take a story from the main continuity of Marvel's comic book universe and put a different spin on it. "What If Spiderman Joined the Fantastic Four?" "What If The Avengers Had Fought Evil During the 1950s?" "What If Captain America Had Been Elected President?"

The 2016 presidential election feels like a "What If  ?" story.

What if the Republican Party base revolted? What if the presumed nominee of the Democratic Party collapsed under the weight of her scandalous past and present?

Sanders' persistence as a candidate and credible challenger to Clinton is as remarkable as Trump's persistently high poll numbers. The socialist from Vermont has raised more than $76 million for his campaign, mostly from small donors. She's raised more money, but he's drawing support from a broader base.

You think the conservatives are angry and divided? The fact that Sanders is within striking distance of Clinton in Iowa and looks to be crushing her in New Hampshire speaks to how cranky and dissatisfied the Democrats' more left-wing base has become. And with word last week that the State Department inspector general found highly sensitive classified information among Clinton's personal emails, her troubles can no longer be brushed off by the campaign as right-wing paranoia (which was always a fib).

What's interesting about the prospect of a Trump-Sanders election, though, is the reality of the choice American voters would be asked to make. Trump is no conservative. He's barely a Republican. He's a nationalist first and foremost. So is Sanders.

A Trump-Sanders matchup would make for a wild "What If  ?" tale. What if Americans have to choose between two candidates who dislike free trade, love higher tariffs on foreign goods and want to restrict legal and illegal immigration? What if the choice is between a candidate who would cut taxes and add trillions to the deficit and a candidate who would raise taxes and add trillions to the deficit?

Mister, we could use a man like Captain America again.
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Last Monday the Knox County Commission postponed discussion on a contract to design and build a new middle school in the Gibbs community, along with another middle school in Hardin Valley.

Commissioners should vote on Tuesday to postpone construction of the school in Gibbs until a federal civil rights investigation is complete. A delay would be wise, given the circumstances and history surrounding the school.

The initial decision to build the schools came out of a budget compromise hammered out between Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett and Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre. As part of the budget deal, Knox County agreed to fund construction of the schools.

The Gibbs project got the green light despite a consultant's report that stated there was not enough projected growth in the number of students in Northeast Knox County to justify building a middle school. There have been plenty of vocal Gibbs residents, however, who have been clamoring for a middle school in their community for nearly a quarter of a century.

After considering proposals, the Knox County Purchasing Department has recommended awarding a $23.6 million design/build contract to Rouse Construction to build a school in Gibbs with a capacity for 800 students. Denark Construction won the recommendation to build the Hardin Valley middle school, a facility that would accommodate up to 1,200 students and cost up to $34.8 million.

The Knoxville chapter of the NAACP has cried foul, however, and asked the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to investigate. The civil rights organization claims Knox County has established a pattern of building new schools only in communities that are overwhelmingly white. Gibbs is predominantly white, and middle school students living in the community currently attend racially diverse Holston Middle School in East Knoxville. The Office of Civil Rights has agreed to look into the complaint to determine if building a new Gibbs school would lead to re-segregation.

The NAACP has asked the Knox County Commission to delay awarding contracts for both the Gibbs and Hardin Valley projects until the federal probe is complete, but Burchett administration officials say there is no reason to hesitate. Hugh Holt, Knox County purchasing director, said only two things could stop the process  a court order or a Knox County Commission vote.

Commissioners should step in, at least regarding the Gibbs project.

Middle school students in Gibbs attended classes in a wing of Gibbs High School until Knox County adopted a desegregation plan in 1991 that rezoned them to Holston. That desegregation plan, which caused numerous school closings and consolidations, was the result of another Office of Civil Rights investigation.

Given that history, plus the decision to build Gibbs in the absence of a growing number of students, should be sufficient reason to give commissioners pause.

If the Office of Civil Rights determines that Knox County and Knox County Schools are in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the local officials would have the opportunity to devise a plan to address the findings as they did 25 years ago. If Knox County has to devise a plan this time around, it would have to address school construction issues, which would cost county taxpayers millions. Entities that do not comply face the loss of federal funding, which would be unacceptable for Knox County Schools.

The Rev. John Butler, president of the Knoxville Branch NAACP, has emphasized the organization is not opposed to a middle school in Gibbs and favors community schools in general. Indeed, strong schools are necessary to build strong communities. A federal civil rights investigation is a serious matter, however. Commissioners would be prudent to delay groundbreaking at Gibbs until the complaint is resolved.
Pellissippi State hosts workshops for high school students with disabilities





Local high school students with disabilities and their parents are invited to attend college career readiness workshops at Pellissippi State Community College.



A one-hour workshop will inform students and parents about how to take and request accommodations for the ACT test, including when to take the ACT, general testing tips, and the types of accommodations you can request. The workshop is totally free, but participants must register. Reserve a spot at www.pstcc.edu/upep.



The workshops are provided by the college's Universal Pathways to Employment Project. Dates, times and locations:

Blount County Campus -- 6-7 p.m., Feb. 4, 2731 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway, room 147

Division Street Campus -- 6-7 p.m., Feb. 1, 3435 Division Street, room 100

Magnolia Avenue Campus -- 6-7 p.m., Feb. 2, 1610 E. Magnolia Avenue, room 100

Strawberry Plains Campus -- 6-7 p.m., Feb. 1, 7201 Strawberry Plains Pike, room 2053



For more information about Pellissippi State, visit www.pstcc.edu or call 865-694-6400.

Published January 23, 2016
National Guard aids civil authorities as blizzard pounds East Coast

By Steve Marshall





ARLINGTON, Va.  As much of the East Coast hunkered down today in the midst of a ferocious winter storm, National Guard citizen-soldiers and citizen-airmen were poised to assist local and state emergency agencies.



National Guard Bureau officials said more than 2,200 National Guard personnel from 12 states are supporting state and local authorities affected by the storm.



Governors in at least 11 states declared states of emergency, which enabled resources to be positioned to assist when the snow and high winds struck. Those states include: Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.



National Guard soldiers are assisting Virginia State Police troopers and local emergency organizations in getting through heavy snow to respond to vehicle crashes and to evacuate residents who need medical assistance, and they also have helped to get equipment to a house fire.





400 Personnel Staged and Ready in Virginia



As of this morning, the Virginia Guard had about 400 personnel staged and ready in various portions of the state.



"I am extremely proud of how well our personnel are working as part of the commonwealth's multi-agency response team," said Army Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, Virginias adjutant general. After we received the authorization from Governor [Terry] McAuliffe, we aggressively moved our forces into place so they would be ready to go when needed. It is great to see how the skills, experience and resources of our soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force are able to assist the statewide effort to protect the citizens of the commonwealth."



The Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is providing mission command for the response operations in the field and is working almost 25 mission requests from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to provide support to several localities as well as the Virginia State Police in Northern Virginia and along the I-81 and US 29 corridors.



"The Virginia State Police is fortunate to have the National Guard as an additional resource to aid us in our storm response efforts," said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent. "When every second counts in an emergency situation, having the ability to respond as swiftly and safely as possible is essential for our troopers."



The Virginia National Guard also has soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force on duty in Richmond, Sandston and Fort Pickett, where they are providing mission command, administrative and logistical support for the overall mission.



McAuliffe authorized up to 500 personnel for state active duty in his initial emergency declaration, and then he increased that number to 700. The Guard could bring additional personnel on duty if needed, officials said.





The Nations Capital, Delaware, New York



In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was emphatic to residents: "It has life and death implications, and (people) should treat it that way," she said. "People should hunker down, shelter in place and stay off the roads." The National Guard deployed 100 personnel in 30 Humvees to transport essential employees throughout the nation's capital.



Further north in Delaware, soldiers and airmen were busy with storm response.



"We are in constant communication with [the Delaware Emergency Management Agency] and all first responders in the state," said Army Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, Delawares adjutant general. "Pre-positioning our soldiers, airmen and vehicles allowed us to be the ready and reliable force we are."



The Delaware National Guard has about 200 soldiers and airmen positioned around the state to support the citizens of Delaware throughout the storm. In coordination with DEMA, they conduct support missions ensuring that Delawareans are transported to safety and first responders and medical workers arrive to work safely.



The New York National Guard has pre-positioned 40 vehicles and 95 soldiers and airmen in the New York City and Long Island areas who are available to respond to aid local governments if directed by the governor.





Arkansas Response Winds Down



Guard personnel in Arkansas wound down their storm response yesterday. Initially, the Arkansas National Guard deployed six truck teams and three command and control support cells for 27 Humvees and 54 personnel.



Yesterday's mission closures sent truck teams back to their readiness centers. The next step for these Guard members is to refuel, resupply and prepare the equipment to stand ready for the next mission.



Each truck team consists of four Humvee vehicles and eight National Guard service members.



During the early hours of the winter storm, the Arkansas Guard truck teams reported treacherous road conditions as sleet and snow rapidly began to accumulate across the central and southeastern regions of the state. The overnight roving patrols logged over 1,000 miles and located 18 abandoned vehicles, transported three stranded motorists to local gas stations, transported three state troopers and worked several accidents involving 18-wheelers.



(The Delaware, New York and Virginia National Guard contributed to this report.)

Published January 23, 2016
Pantech Co., a struggling South Korean handset maker, said Sunday it plans to release a new smartphone for the first time in two years in the first half of 2016, a move that will officially announce the return of the country's No. 3 handset maker.



The company said it plans to release a smartphone with a distinctive design that comes with essential features, rather than adopting state-of-the-art technologies that users do not really need.



"The budget-smartphone market is our opportunity," said Pantech President Moon Ji-uk. "There is a chance for us if we release a product that has not been made by top brands like Samsung and LG." Moon currently runs Pantech together with CEO Chung Joon.



The South Korean firm also plans to ship 200,000 units of the budget smartphone to Indonesia.



Pantech was placed under court receivership in August 2014 due to growing debt, but a local consortium acquired the firm for 49.6 billion won (US$41.3 million) in October last year, paving the way for its normalization.



The company has not launched new smartphone models since November 2014, when it showcased the Android-powered Vega Pop-up Note.



Pantech said it will outsource the manufacturing to other companies based in China or Vietnam. While industry watchers earlier expected the company will build a new factory in Indonesia, Pantech ruled out such an option.



"While we can consider making a factory in Indonesia through a joint venture, we do not plan to build one directly," Moon added.



The company also aims to release a smartwatch by the end of this year. Pantech made a test version of the Vega Watch in 2013, but the device was never officially released for sales.



Pantech said earlier this month it is aiming to generate sales in earnest starting in the second half of this year, return to profits starting in 2017 and generate sales of 1.5 trillion won a year later, with its operating profit reaching 75 billion won. (Yonhap)












By Lee Hyo-sik



Australia's controversial Plain Packaging Act, which requires cigarette makers to produce uniform packaging, is coming under increasing scrutiny as it fails to reduce the nation's smoking rate, according to tobacco companies, Thursday.



The companies argue that Australia's smoking rate has not decreased since December 2012 when Australia's Department of Health enacted the regulation, which sees cigarette packaging unadorned with brand names and ads, instead replaced by prominent and graphic anti-smoking messages.



This is why the government has been intentionally delaying a post-implementation review (PIR) on the effectiveness of plain packaging, they said.



"We believe that reasonable regulations are necessary, given the health risks of cigarettes," said a manager at one of the cigarette companies operating in Korea. "However, the scientific-based verification of these regulatory measures should come first if they are put in place to promote public health."



Citing Australian government guidelines, the manager said the country should conduct the PIR on major policies such as the Plain Packaging Act within two years of introduction, and the review should be completed within six months.



However, the Australian government remains reluctant to conduct the PIR on the controversial anti-smoking law because of its failure to cut the number of smokers, cigarette companies said.



"The Australian government is desperate to prove the effectiveness of plain tobacco packaging but all the evidence points to its failure," the manager said. "Australia cannot be held up as a model for other countries to follow."



According to market researcher InfoView, Australia's cigarette sales declined by an annual average of 4.1 percent from 2008 through 2012, before the introduction of the Plain Packaging Act. But the sales jumped by 59 million cigarettes, or 0.3 percent, from 2012 to 2013, suggesting that the controversial law did not help reduce the number of cigarettes sold.



"There was no significant change in the smoking rate before and after the enactment of the plain packaging rule," the manager said. "However, the Australian government refuses to acknowledge this, and is delaying the PIR report."



In addition, four major tobacco-producing nations  Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Indonesia  have filed a complaint with the Word Trade Organization against Australia over its Plain Packaging Act. They insist the law infringes upon tobacco firms' intellectual property and trademark rights.



The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property has also expressed concerns over the plain packaging of cigarettes, arguing that it could lead to a greater restriction on trademark use of many other products.



The Korea Trademark Association (KOTA) also expressed concern, saying that the Australian law could lead to excessive regulations on intellectual property and trademark rights in Korea, a major trading partner of Australia.



The Korea Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association has long been opposed to plain packaging as it adversely affects the export to Australia of cigarettes made in Korea.




By Yoon Ja-young



Korea's stock market operator plans to extend trading hours by 30 minutes to help stimulate the market.



But the move is triggering opposition from the trade union. Some analysts expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the move, saying any positive impact on the stock market will be short-lived.



The stock markets run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. here  two to three hours less than global peers. Singapore's stock market operates eight hours and those in Germany and the United Kingdom eight hours and 30 minutes.



Korea Exchange (KRX) Chairman Choi Kyung-soo said last week that the bourse operator wants to extend trading hours to 3:30 p.m.



He said the extension will provide foreign investors more opportunities to invest in Seoul stocks, adding he wants to implement the extended hours this year.



The KRX expects longer hours will increase trading. Last year, daily trading averaged 8.9 trillion won. If it goes as calculated, daily transactions would increase by 710 billion won, or 180 trillion won annually.



Seo Bo-ick, an analyst at Eugene Investment and Securities, expected the extension of trading hours to increase stock transactions.



"It would mostly increase the trading of stocks by retail investors," he said, adding that securities companies dedicated to brokerage for retail investors are likely to benefit most. Retail investors took 54.7 percent of trading in the main bourse, the KOSPI, and 89.3 percent of the junior tech-loaded Kosdaq in 2015, or 68.5 percent of total trading. Because a 30-minute extension means an 8.3 percent increase in trading hours, "trading is estimated to increase by some 5.7 percent when applying the ratio of private investors in total trading," he said.



According to the KRX, turnover on the Hong Kong bourse increased 45 percent after it extended trading by an hour in March 2011. Singapore's trading increased 41 percent after an extension in 2011. But the long-term effect is doubted, because trading decreased in Singapore and Hong Kong after a year.



Some have pointed out that the short operating hours in Korean stock markets limit opportunities for investors and delay a reflection of new information in stock prices until the next day, thus hampering price effectiveness.



With Asian financial markets such as China, Hong Kong and Singapore taking center stage, the extension of operating hours could increase the overlap with those markets.



This is not the first time the KRX has eyed extending operating hours. Choi suggested the plan in 2014, but it did not eventuate because of a securities industry backlash.





Opposition from union



The labor union made it clear that it opposes the plan. "Many experts say that the current stock market slump cannot be resolved by extending trading hours," said Kim Kyung-soo, a director at the Korean Finance and Service Workers' Union. "As seen in the cases of Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, the extension increases trading for the short term, but it isn't effective at all in the long term." He said the trading hours of most Asian countries are generally shorter than Korea's.



Hwang Sei-woon, head of the capital markets division at the Korea Capital Market Institute, said the extension of hours should aim at enhancing investors' convenience and making the market more appealing.



"It will increase trading in the short term, but what matters more than the trading hours are investment opportunities, such as improving corporate performance and prospects of a bullish market," he said.



He said the extension worked in bourses overseas because there is a greater ratio of high-frequency traders. These investors mechanically trade every few seconds to gain small profits. Hence, an extension of trading hours automatically leads to an increase in trade. But such an investment pattern is almost nonexistent in Korea because the transaction fee is high, according to Hwang.




By Yoon Ja-young

The labor guidelines announced by the Ministry of Labor and Employment are stirring controversy between the government and the labor. The government says it will make labor market more flexible and help boost the economy, while the trade unions say that it will only make it easier for employers to fire workers.

Followings are Q&As about the guidelines based on explanations by the government.



Q. What are reasons for dismissal?

Currently, the employer can fire workers only for their wrongdoings such as corruption or embezzlement, or serious financial difficulties at companies that lead to layoff. The new guidelines have additional reasons for the dismissal  it says that companies can terminate contract when a worker is deemed lacking ability to do the job or poor in job performance.



Q. Will low-performing workers be immediately fired?

Even if one is determined to be low performing, it doesn't mean the company can immediately dismiss the worker. He or she should first be provided opportunities for education and training so they can develop their capabilities. The company should make efforts to avoid dismissing the worker, such as relocation.



Q. Will the evaluation be fair?

The government stipulates that the evaluation of workers should be rational and objective in both content and manner. It should be about the worker's job capability and performance, and should be measured in diverse aspects.

It is recommended that they use measurable evaluation such as sales, performance and production, instead of non-measurable evaluation such as work attitude. For instance, an evaluation tool for a salesperson would be rendered irrational if the company takes into account evaluation by co-workers more than objective data such as the total sales. The evaluation tool can also enhance fairness by including multiple evaluators or diverse evaluation steps. It can include not only bosses but also subordinates, colleagues and labor union as evaluators.

When preparing the evaluation tools, the opinion of the workers should be reflected through the labor-management council or by a representative of workers. The workers should also be allowed to raise objection to the result of the evaluation.



Q. Would labor union activity affect evaluation?

A worker may fear that making his or her voice through labor union may lead to poor evaluation. However, the government says that giving disadvantage for a worker's labor union activity is against law.

The employer should also make rational criterion for exceptions. For instance, the company should consider excluding from evaluation those who return to work after taking childcare leave or those who are pregnant.



Q. When will the guidelines be implemented?

The guidelines will be implemented from Jan. 25. The labor ministry will release the guidelines to labor related institutions as well as explaining follow up measures. As it is guidelines, it is not legally binding. Even so, it will have major impact as the officials of the labor ministry will use the guidelines in supervising labor and management relations. More details of the guidelines are available at the Website of the labor ministry at www.moel.go.kr.





Q. How is employment rules related with peak wage system?

Currently, companies wishing to amend employment rules need consent from labor unions if the change is unfavorable to the employees. The new guidelines say that they may change it without consent if it is based on "generally accepted ideas in society."

To determine whether the change would be generally accepted in society, it takes into account how much disadvantage it is for workers, how much the management needs the change, and how adequate the change is, as well as considering if other labor conditions have improved, or if there were sufficient efforts to reach consensus with labor union, and how others in the same industry are doing.

It is likely to accelerate adoption of wage peak system. As the official retirement age has been extended to 60 from this year, businesses want to introduce peak wage system. They would need consensus from the labor union as it is a change unfavorable to workers, but they would not need it after adoption of the new guidelines, the labor circle fears.
A major South Korean labor organization on Saturday threatened to stage an all-out strike against government-led labor reform that it claims will only result in poorer working conditions for workers.

The walkout will be staged from Monday and last indefinitely, said the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of two umbrella labor groups here.

The announcement came one day after the labor ministry said it will go ahead with the proposed labor reform despite a recent collapse of three-way talks that also involve management and labor.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the larger of the two umbrella labor groups that represented labor in the tripartite discussions, walked away from the talks earlier in the week, also declaring all its earlier agreements on labor reform void.

"The government guideline on the retrogressive revision to the labor law, announced Friday, is an administrative dictatorship and a disaster that will allow easier lay-off of workers and change employment regulations for the worse," the KCTU said.

The group said it has also delivered a guideline to all its member unions to hold indefinite walkouts, along with daily rallies. (Yonhap)
South Korea has urged Japan to work toward resolving historical disputes to further regional cooperation in Asia, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan of the ruling Saenuri Party, a special envoy of President Park Geun-hye, made the remarks at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos that ran through Saturday.

Choi said the historical disputes with Japan must be resolved to establish the economic cooperation system of East Asian countries.

Choi also called for global cooperation in coping with the financial uncertainties sparked by the volatility of the Chinese economy, adding the future of Asia's No. 1 economy depends on how China makes joint efforts together with South Korea and Japan.

During the four-day event, Choi promoted South Korea's flagship creative economy policy that aims to merge different industrial sectors with information and communications technologies. The fourth industrial revolution was one of the key agenda items discussed in Davos.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Choi, and they discussed ways to increase cooperation between the sides, including North Korea's test of an H-bomb earlier this month, the ministry added.

The remarks came as North Korea conducted what it claimed is its first successful test of an H-bomb on Jan. 6. Choi told participants of the forum that the world must take a second look at the effectiveness of existing North Korea policies. (Yonhap)
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A father, identified only as Jeong, 40, has been arrested for stabbing his teenage son for not listening to him, Yonhap reported Sunday.

Police in Ulsan said Jeong stabbed his son, 14, twice - once in the chest and once in the leg on Jan. 13. He told them he stabbed the teenager because the boy did not help him prepare a lunchbox for the daughter, 10. The father was drunk, having consumed half a bottle of soju, police said.

Jeong then carried his son to an emergency room. The boy is in a hospital receiving treatment.

The man recently separated from his wife and was raising the two children, police said. Jeong did not have a criminal record but was arrested to protect the boy, they said.

There have been several cases of parents harming their children recently.

Police in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, last week arrested parents who allegedly killed and mutilated the body of their elementary school son. On Saturday, a mother, 29, in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, was found guilty of killing her 10-month-old baby.
By Jhoo Dong-chan

Two passengers who were responsible for an aborted flight because of their swapped boarding passes were ordered to pay damages to the airliner.

The Seoul Southern District Court ruled in favor of Asiana Airlines which filed a suit against the two passengers, surnamed Kim and Park, to pay the airliner a total of 25 million won ($20,850) in compensation.

The airliner previously sought 61.9 million won from the two for damages caused by the flight's rerouting.

Asiana Airlines flight OZ722, on its way from Hong Kong International Airport to Incheon, Korea, had to fly back to its origin last March 16 at around 3:15 p.m., an hour after takeoff.

Flight attendants found Kim was on board instead of Park and the flight captain decided to return to Hong Kong as a preventive measure against possible terrorism or accident.

Kim who was supposed to take a Jeju Air flight 40 minutes later allegedly swapped his boarding pass with his friend, Park.

Kim said during an investigation that he needed to arrive at Incheon as early as possible because he did not want to be late for work.

The other 258 passengers on board with Kim consequently suffered inconveniences due to rescheduling of their flight.

Kim and Park reportedly got their boarding passes from the check-in counters but swapped them before the departure gate.

Asiana Airlines ground workers had failed to confirm Kim's identification before takeoff.

However, Jeju Air later spotted Park attempting to board the flight on behalf of Kim and informed Asiana.

On March 27, Asiana Airlines filed a lawsuit with the court against the two for damages the airliner had to pay to the 258 passengers on board and gas expenses.

An official at Asiana Airlines said that they will review the court's decision and decide whether to lodge an appeal.
By Chung Ah-young



The pilots' unions of Korean Air are in a dispute with another union that represents other employees of the company over a demand made by the carrier's pilots for a large pay hike.



The unions representing the company employees are the Korean Air Labor Union (KALU), consisting of 10,000 members including flight attendants, the Korean Air Pilots Union (KPU) with 1,080 members and the New Korean Air Pilots Union with 760 members.



The KALU recently issued a statement about an impending vote by the pilots to decide whether to go on strike, raising the question of justification of its collective action.



"Due to the pilots' strike in 2005, more than 200 flights were cancelled. The pilots' unions became the noble' union which failed to gain public support," the statement said.



The KALU agreed to a 1.9 percent pay hike that management proposed last year but the pilots and their unions have refused the management's proposal for the same pay raise as other employees.



After the National Labor Relations Commission failed to help mediate a satisfactory outcome to the negotiations on Jan. 19, the union will continue the vote through Feb. 1 for the strike.



The KALU said that although the 2005 pilot strike harmed other workers who endured protests from passengers due to inconveniences caused, the pilots are preparing for the strike without consideration of the needs of other staff working for the services of passengers, repairs, shipments, reservation and sales.



"If the pilots vote for the walkout, other employees, except for the pilots, will feel frustration and the efforts by the management and other employees will go in vain," it said.



The pilots have made their demands, citing a pay rise last year granted to its chairman, Cho Yang-ho. The KPU said that although the company is struggling through the business slowdown, top managers have continued to receive their high paychecks but have demanded sacrifices from the employees.



The pilots have complained about their relatively low pay compared to that for pilots in other countries. Korean Air's pilots receive an average $8,700 per month, one third of that paid to Chinese pilots who receive $25,000 after taxes. Among the 2,500 Korean Air pilots, 130 moved to foreign airlines and low-cost carriers last year, seeking higher pay.



However, the company said that the pilot unions miscalculated the pay hike granted to its chairman, when rejecting their demand.



After the KALU's statement, the pilot unions also issued a statement, saying that the KALU has forced the pilots to accept the 1.9 percent raise which was offered by the management.




By Yi Whan-woo



The United Nations has opened an investigation into possible violations of freedom of speech in Korea.



Maina Kiai, U.N. special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, is spearheading the investigation amid concerns that the Park Geun-hye administration is backtracking on democratic freedoms and suppressing rallies against the government.



Kiai is visiting Korea from Wednesday, Jan. 21, to Jan. 29.



He met Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul at the foreign ministry in downtown Seoul, Thursday.



Kiai also met a range of interest groups on human rights, labor rights, disabled people, sexual minorities and other issues.



The U.N. official is also scheduled to meet officials from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Employment and Labor, National Police Agency and National Human Rights Commission.



Kiai will then hold a press conference on Jan. 29 to unveil the results of the investigation.



It is speculated that he will submit an evaluation report on Korea to the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by June.



"We hope the U.N. gets a correct, objective and balanced view on Korea through Kiai's findings," foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said.



Kiai's trip comes after a request was made by a group of civic organizations to carry out a U.N. investigation. They filed a petition to the U.N. that "the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association" in line with UNHRC regulations has worsened to a serious level in Korea in recent years.



The number of citizens who were taken into custody after joining a rally reached 19 during the January-June period in 2014, up from six in 2013 alone, according to People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a progressive-minded association in Seoul.



It also said a total of 2,323 citizens from January to June 2014 faced criminal charges for using violence during protests and damaging public property, while 1,389 people faced the same charges in 2013.



The Park administration faced harsh criticism from the international media when police detained more than 50 protesters following an anti-government protest in downtown Seoul on Nov. 14, 2015.



A 69-year-old farmer also remained unconscious at a hospital after he fell and injured his head as police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse about 70,000 people allied with labor, civic and farmers' groups.



The protesters took to the streets to rally against Park and her business-friendly labor policies and decision to use state-authored history textbooks.



Coalition for Law Enforcement Watch, a civic group, said that "The police are imposing excessive penalties on protesters to prevent them from holding demonstrations regardless of reasons."



"The authorities are also using tear gas and other devices that are supposed to be used only for riot control. There should be a mechanism to ensure people's rights to protest peacefully."




By Rachel Lee





President Park

President Park Geun-hye's proposal on Friday to hold a five-nation meeting aimed at resolving Pyongyang's nuclear program has received conflicting responses from the United States and China.

The proposed discussions would be an exclusion of North Korea from the long-stalled six-party talks involving the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, China and the United States. These talks have been suspended since late 2008.

The U.S. has expressed its support for five-way talks.

"The United States supports President Park's call for a five-party meeting. We believe coordination with the other parties would be a useful step in our ongoing efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula through credible and authentic negotiations," a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said in a statement Sunday.

China, however, has shown opposition to Park's suggestion, sticking to resuming the six-party talks with North Korea.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Friday that all parties should "restart the six-party talks at an early date, in order to move forward the goal of denuclearization and ensure long-term stability and development of the peninsula."

China and Russia have objected to the idea of the five-nation dialogue, which has been proposed consistently since the North's second nuclear test was conducted in 2009, because it could be "provocative" to Pyongyang.

Political commentators are skeptical of the two countries' participation in the suggested talks, and are casting doubts over the effectiveness of Park's proposal.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, said Park's suggestion is the "same old way of approaching the nuclear issue" that was also pushed by former President Lee Myung-bak and his administration, which ended in failure.

"President Park says that cooperation from China is vital to resolving the North's nuclear program, but she still made such a proposal that draws unwelcome attention from China and Russia. It is widening the differences in views with these members," Cheong said.

Kim Dong-yeop, a research professor at the Kyungnam University Institute for Far Eastern Studies, also expects the two nations to exclude themselves from the meeting.

"China will never join a dialogue without North Korea," Kim said. "China plays an important role in discussing the North's nuclear program, but it is impossible for them to just give up on the North for strategic reasons."

The professor said that Russia may also stay out of the discussion.

The president's remarks came after the North showed no sign of abandoning its nuclear program, having conducted four nuclear tests including a recently claimed hydrogen bomb test on Jan. 6.

"The proposal does not indicate that the six-party talks should be replaced with the five-nation meeting excluding North Korea," said a spokesperson for Cheong Wa Dae. "Our key message is that we need proper sanctions to resolve the North's nuclear program."

A Cheong Wa Dae official said the president will "keep on stressing the importance of China's cooperation to prevent the North's fifth, sixth nuclear tests."

The nuclear issue is expected to be a key topic during U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's planned visit to Beijing Wednesday. The State Department said in a release Friday that the visit will be made for "meetings with senior leaders of the Chinese government to discuss a range of global, regional, and bilateral issues, including North Korea."

The six-party talks have been stalled because the North insists that it should join the talks with the status of a nuclear power, calling for unconditional dialogue, while the South and the U.S. have urged the North to show its commitment to the abandonment of its nuclear program before such talks can resume.
Hungarian Ambassador to Korea Gabor Csaba, second from right, poses with representatives from the Korea Foundation at the opening ceremony for "A Tale of 2 Cities; Budapest, and Seoul" at the KF Gallery in Seoul on Jan. 21.

/ Courtesy of the Korea Foundation



By Rachel Lee



Korea and Hungary have captured the essence of each other's capital city in photography.

Korean photographer Kim Jin-seok and his Hungarian counterpart, Gergely Szatmari, explored Budapest and Seoul, respectively, for two months for the collaborative project, "A Tale of 2 Cities; Budapest, and Seoul," which is on at the KF Gallery in Seoul. The exhibition was organized by the Korea Foundation (KF), the Korean Cultural Center and the Hungarian Embassy.

"These two brilliant artists give us their version of Seoul and Budapest, respectively, both of them breathing and pulsating in their unique, yet comparable Korean and Hungarian manner, showing real emotions and giving the viewer a unique perspective of the two exciting cities and the people inhabiting them," Hungarian Ambassador to Korea Gabor Csaba said at the opening ceremony at the gallery on Jan. 21.

The exhibition features about 100 photographs by the two artists, capturing every nook and cranny of the cities and their people.

Kim, known as a "walking photographer" in his country, has travelled the world capturing the "most beautiful moments of people." He does it in his own way  talking and listening to people's life stories.

"It was a special experience that I could take pictures of the city while I was travelling on the tram downtown in the Pest," Kim said. "I have noticed that people in Budapest have something chic in them."

Szatmari is a veteran photographer who has published books  "American Idler (2012)," "Meadolands (2011)" and "Conventional (2008)." One of his most recent photo series is "Meadowlands," which represents the beauty of suburban America and the decay of the modern industrial era, and poses questions about America's present and future.

"There are always lots of things people can marvel at, especially if you are in Asia," Szatmari said. "The faces, habits, reactions and lights, they are all different. But in Seoul, things went easier than I expected. The Zaha Hadid building at Dongdaemun market was a great experience."

According to the KF, the photographs were on display for two months at Carton Gallery in Budapest.

"In my view, these distinctly personal pictures draw us to Budapest and Seoul in new ways and make us love them even more," the ambassador said. "This is a rich exhibition where everyone takes home what they like."

It runs through Feb. 20. For more information, visit www.kf.or.kr.
By Rachel Lee





Sri Lankan Ambassador to Korea Manisha Gunasekera.

/ Courtesy of the Sri Lankan Embassy

Korea and Sri Lanka know how to enjoy spicy, hot foods, says Sri Lankan Ambassador to Korea Manisha Gunasekera.

Following the success of a food promotion last year, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Seoul will hold another at the Millennium Seoul Hilton, starting Thursday and running until Feb. 7. The "Sri Lanka Food Festival" is part of celebrations for the country's 68th anniversary of independence, which falls on Feb. 4.

"Two experienced chefs from the Hilton Colombo will come to Korea and prepare a range of Sri Lankan dishes and Ceylon tea as well," the ambassador said.

Sri Lankan dishes on the menu include crab curry, string hopper pilau, fish ambulthiyal, brinjalmoju and dhal wade. A selection of traditional Sri Lankan desserts and the signature Ceylon tea are also ready to delight Korean gourmets.

"Ceylon tea is renowned around the world for its superior quality and taste," she said. "At the food promotion, we will introduce our specialty teas from different regions on the island, such as Nuwara Eliya, Uda Pussellawa, Uva and Dimbulla."

Sri Lankan cuisine  mostly rice-based meals  was influenced by Portugal and the Netherlands, which ruled Sri Lanka in the 16th century.

"We eat spicy, hot foods like Koreans and bread hoppers as well," Gunasekera said. "It's very diverse."

This is Gunasekera's first time in Korea. Before she was appointed in September, she was director general for East Asia and the Pacific at the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deputy permanent representative of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the U.N. in Geneva.

Despite being in Korea for a short time, the ambassador has become a fan of local food, enjoying temple food in particular.

"I like it because there are a lot of vegetables and it's simple and healthy," the diplomat said.

Apart from the food festival, the ambassador is seeking to boost cultural exchanges between the two countries.

"We are planning to present a number of cultural events this year, such as Sri Lanka's traditional dance percussion performances and also an exhibition of artifacts," the ambassador said. "I think the two sides' historical bonds based on Buddhism make the relations more interesting. And I would like to show more of what we have to a Korean audience."

According to the embassy, Korea and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations in 1977. Since then, there has been a steady expansion in political, economic and cultural fields.

With the inauguration of the new national unity government in Sri Lanka, led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, last year, there is a greater focus on deepening relations with Korea, with high-level exchanges this year and next and a round of political consultations in Colombo.
Australian Ambassador to Korea William Paterson speaks at Bills restaurant in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Jan. 19.

/ Courtesy of the Australian Trade Commission



By Rachel Lee



Premium Australia cherries are about to give Korea a taste treat.

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) in Seoul hosted an Australian-style lunch at Bills restaurant in Songpa District on Jan. 19 to introduce the cherries, regarded as among the world's finest. About 30 guests, including journalists and bloggers, dined on the restaurant's signature dishes including ricotta hotcakes and desserts such as cherry scones and cherry pavlova.

"Following the signing of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement, the 24 per cent tariff on cherries has been eliminated, resulting in an almost 750 per cent increase in cherry imports from Australia," said Australian Ambassador to Korea William Paterson.

Korea's imports of Australian cherries have increased dramatically over the last three years.

According to the Korea Customs Office, Korea imported nine tonnes of Australian cherries in 2013, 24 tons in 2014 and 232 tons in 2015.

"Australia produces approximately 15,000 tons of cherries each year, of which 30 per cent is exported," the ambassador said.

Australian cherries available in Korea are imported from Tasmania, an island state with strict quarantine controls. Tasmania is internationally recognized as a fruit-fly free area.

According to the Austrade, Tasmania is free from several other pests and diseases including fire blight. As a result, cherries grown in Tasmania use low levels of chemicals.

In addition, Tasmania's temperate maritime climate ensures that the fruit has a long, gentle harvest period, which allows the cherries to ripen slowly ripen to a full-flavored fruit.

According to Cherry Growers Australia, fresh cherries are a rich source of antioxidants and other phytonutrients linked to a variety of health benefits, including anti-inflammation qualities and anti-obesity effects.

Fresh Australian cherries are generally available in Korea from mid December until early February.

Bills is an Australian casual dining restaurant established by Bill Granger, a well-known entrepreneur, who opened his first restaurant in Sydney in 1993. Bills has 13 stores around the world, including in Japan, the U.K. and Hawaii in the U.S.

The Seoul branch opened at Lotte World Mall in October in 2014. A second restaurant will open in D Tower building in Gwanghwamun next month.
Representatives from 24 missions in Seoul  including Turkish Ambassador Hakan Okcal, Azerbaijan Ambassador Ramzi Teymurov, Tunisian Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nafti and Algerian Ambassador Mohammed El Amine  attend the opening ceremony for the "Exhibition of Embassy Contribution II" at the Korea Multiculture Museum in Seoul on Nov. 26. / Courtesy of the Korea Multiculture Museum



By Rachel Lee

Donations from foreign missions in Korea are on display at the Koaroo Centersia in Seoul.

The "Exhibition of Embassy Contribution II" features about 400 donations from 36 diplomatic missions from 2011. The Korea Multiculture Museum and the Ambassador Museum organized the event.

The donations  each carefully selected by ambassadors  include traditional garments, accessories, handcrafts, sculptures and publications.

"The Ambassador Museum will be a place where Koreans can communicate with rather unfamiliar foreign diplomats in Seoul," Kim Yoon-tae, the museum director, said.

Representatives from 24 missions  including Turkish Ambassador Hakan Okcal, Azerbaijan Ambassador Ramzi Teymurov, Tunisian Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nafti and Algerian Ambassador Mohammed El Amine  attended the exhibition opening in November.

The exhibition runs through Feb. 26.

For more information, visit www.multiculturemuseum.com.
By Yi Whan-woo



Rival parties have agreed to vote on a much-touted bill aimed at addressing the dire human rights situation in North Korea at a plenary session scheduled for 2 p.m., Friday.



The agreement came at a meeting between floor leaders, vice floor leaders and chief policymakers of the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) at the National Assembly, Saturday.



If passed, South Korea will begin stronger efforts in working with the international community in improving human rights in the reclusive country.



The bill calls for the establishment of a foundation to better look into North Korea's human rights records and develop preventive measures while setting up an archive to preserve written testimonies and other resources on related issues.



It also calls for the establishment of an advisory committee on Pyongyang's human rights under the wing of the Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs.



The committee will be comprised of 10 members  the Saenuri Party and MPK will each recommend five candidates as committee members.



The lawmakers have faced growing calls to join international efforts in pressing North Korea for its state-perpetrated human rights violations, including starvation and torture at secretive concentration camps, public execution as well as forced labor.



Since 2005, the U.N. General Assembly adopted resolutions that denounce Pyongyang's crimes against humanity.



In both 2014 and 2015, it especially approved bills that asked the U.N. Security Council to refer the North Korean leadership to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands.



The U.S. and Japan also adopted legislation on North Korea's human rights situation in 2004 and 2006, respectively.



In South Korea, the ruling party lawmakers, either individually or in groups, filed a proposal against Pyongyang's human rights abuses in 2005, 2008 and 2012.



Concerned about provoking the repressive regime, the opposition, however, had opposed such a plan until recently.





Seven new electoral districts to be formed



Meanwhile, the rival parties agreed to maintain the 300 parliamentary seats for the 20th National Assembly elections scheduled on April 13 amid concerns over staggering efforts in redrawing the election constituencies.



They said it will increase the number of electoral constituencies to 253, up from 246, while decreasing the number of National Assembly seats for the proportional representatives from 54 to 47.



It is unclear, however, when the parties will be able to vote on the bill because the MPK is against the Saenuri Party's plan to link the electoral map bill to other pending bills on the economy and labor reform.




It was actually inspiring for me to see the recent picture posted here on Chattanoogan.com of the former Park Theater. It was on the SE corner of McCallie and Willow Street, and could classify easily as being one of Chattanooga's first "Art" theaters. I think there was another such theater in Riverview, but it was outside of my territory as I had no car at the time. The "Park" theater took its name from Highland Park, probably the first Chattanooga suburb after St. Elmo. There were no published ratings for film in those days, so it could be assumed that all performances were for "General" audiences. After the Park and Riverview theaters, I think the Brainerd (Cinerama) Theater came next, which was on the northeast corner of Brainerd Road and Germantown.

About 1950 while I was still in high school, the Park Theater offered a "Finer Films Festival" that lasted for many weeks. My art teacher at Kirkman Vocational HS reviewed all the titles and urged all his students to go, if at all possible.

They were some of the most interesting films I had ever seen, and introduced such actors as Alec Guinness to Chattanooga audiences. There were many titles I still find available on Netflix, such as "Bicycle Thief", "Quartet", "Macbeth", (played by a young Sir Laurence Olivier), "Tight Little Island", Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, "The Mikado" etc. Alec Guinness was already an acclaimed actor in his native England at the time, but virtually unknown in the U.S. The Park Theater showed a number of his earliest films such as, "The Captain's Paradise", and "Lavender Hill Mob". Another memorable film from that series was, "The Red Shoes." I can still recommend any of those films to this day, even though a bit "dated". One of Charlie Chaplin's last films before he left the U.S. was also in that line-up, titled, "Limelight." I think he wrote both the screenplay and the music.

Until about 1950 Disney had dominated the field of Animation - in the entire world, actually. It was said that if you asked someone in a remote African village to name a well-known American, they would not say "Truman" or "Eisenhower", but "Walt Disney". So it was a great surprise for Chattanoogans when the Park Theater started presenting some "foreign" animated films. I only saw one such French film, which depicted human robots whose every movement was accompanied by an appropriate mechanical sound, and there was no dialogue. Very different from Disney! Like it or not, it was probably good for helping us Chattanoogans get out of a comfortable rut and showing us some new avenues for Film Art, and Animation in general.

As you waited in line to buy your ticket at the Park, you ran the good chance of meeting up with some of your favorite people, giving you the opportunity for sitting together and enjoying the film all the more.

(Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net )
Government should not control mayors?welfare programs



The Ministry of Health and Welfare slammed Seongnam's new youth welfare program in a press release issued last week, describing it as a tax-wasting populist scheme.



Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung's "youth dividends" program provides gift vouchers worth 125,000 won to all Seongnam residents aged 24 who have lived in the city for at least three years. The administration in Seongnam city plans to provide such vouchers every quarter, amounting to 500,000 won per person every year. The policy aims at providing a bit of financial assistance and encouragement to young adults amid the current high youth unemployment rate. About 11,000 beneficiaries are expected.



Despite having honorable intentions, the mayor faces intense opposition from the central government. The ministry has even filed a petition with the Supreme Court in a bid to suspend the program. The government has also threatened to reduce subsidies to Seongnam, a city located southeast of Seoul, if it continues the program.



The ministry's meddling in Seongnam's youth support program is yet another example of the central government's breach of local autonomy. The government is also opposed to a similar measure being crafted by Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon for implementation in July.



According to the Seongnam administration, the program was put into practice after proper consultation with the central government, and public hearings and surveys were conducted, in addition to securing approval from Seongnam City Council.



It is the duty of mayors to come up with and implement measures to advance their citizens' living standards within the budgetary capacities of their cities. Therefore, the central government should not be interfering in a city government's policies for improving the livelihoods of citizens. Otherwise, the central government would hurt the spirit of local autonomy. If the policy shows faults, officials need to come up with remedies to address them. But whether to continue or suspend the policy should be decided by the officials and citizens of the city. The latest survey conducted among Seongnam citizens showed that more than 50 percent of respondents supported the program, and that 64.8 percent were against the central government's move to restrain it.



It is not the job of the central government to attack city governments about welfare initiatives. Rather it should focus on leading a constructive dialogue on resolving youth unemployment. The ministry has still not responded to Mayor Park's call for a consultative body for a similar welfare measure in Seoul amid a rising dispute with the central government over Seoul's plan to provide allowances for unemployed youths. Park's idea for a consultative body including the government, rival parties and city officials could be a useful avenue to produce creative ideas to tackle youth unemployment. The central government should communicate and work closely with mayors on this dire national issue.




By Andrei Lankov

When it comes to North Korean education one should admit one important fact: for such a poor country, North Korea has a remarkably well educated populace. North Koreans claim that decades ago, they reached 100 percent literacy, and this is actually very close to the truth.

This is one of the advantages of Leninist/Stalinist states, most of which never completely abandon their enlightenment roots, remaining remarkably serious about bringing knowledge (albeit only of the politically correct kind) to the masses. When it came to primary, and to an extent, secondary education, their advantage was being able to ensure that every child could be sent to school.

Some critics of communism observed that such concerns were not merely driven by a wish to enlighten the masses, but also to indoctrinate the people. This is a fair remark: school curriculums in the communist bloc have always been politicized. Indeed, North Korean primary school math textbooks continue to ask how many American imperialists were killed by brave North Korean soldiers, and how many South Korean villagers are starving south of the DMZ. This might bring smiles to the faces of Western readers, but we should not forget that North Koreans learn how to read, write and count.

However, education under Marxism-Leninism tended to be less effective at the college level. No communist state has ever thought it good to send all teenagers to university. In essence, college education was rationed, with the government deciding on a quota, distributing places accordingly. In North Korea now, only 15 percent of the high school graduates enter the universities and colleges, while in South Korea the figure is close to 75 percent.

The government also decides which majors should take more students. North Korea was quite remarkable in its emphasis on technical fields and hard sciences. While the ruling elite of communist bloc countries sometimes played lip service to the humanities, in the depths of their hearts, they saw social fields as the handmaidens of an ideology that they did not take too seriously. For them, education was really about understanding science and technology, the humanities were a necessary evil to be kept at bay and used largely for propaganda.

In North Korea, this feature became especially pronounced, with Kim Il Sung himself making a number of statements to the effect that in a properly run country, the majority of college students should major in technology and hard science. It was also understood that engineers would also make the best managers and politicians. Indeed, most top officials in the country were trained engineers.

In real life, however, things might be different, since some majors officially seen as secondary are in fact thought of as highly prestigious. For example, in North Korea, the departments of foreign languages  English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese  have always been seen as far superior to the majority of other specialties. In essence, their standing was similar to law and medicine at major US universities. The reason is pragmatic: graduates of foreign language departments have a remarkably high chance of being employed at foreign trade agencies or to be sent overseas to work as diplomats, spies, and agents of the North Korean government. Such jobs are not only lucrative, but also highly prestigious.

Unlike South Korea, and many other Western countries, nowadays, post-graduate studies are not seen as highly prestigious by the lay public in North Korea. The reasons are, again, practical. In earlier times, North Korean professors and researchers were very well paid: in the 1960s, a university professor's salary was ten times the national average, but such days are long gone, unless you have some practical, sellable skills that are in demand in areas such as foreign trade, with military specialists also being rewarded very well.

Theoretically, North Korean admission to university is decided through competitive exams, and tuition is free. In practice, this may have never been the case: only sufficiently good connections could get you into a prestigious school until recently, while nowadays, connections have largely been supplanted by the bribe, so a hefty sum will get you admission to Kim Il Sung University, the best school in the country. However, in some cases, young bright students still can be admitted solely on the basis of their talent  especially if we are talking about less prestigious schools or more difficult majors (like, say, mathematics or nuclear physics).

At any rate, in spite of all its shortcomings and inequality, North Korea has a remarkably efficient system of higher education  at least for a country that has a per capita GDP roughly equal to Bangladesh. And this is good news.

Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. Reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
By Lee Min-hyung

SK Telecom said Sunday that it has joined hands with U.S.-based networking equipment manufacturer Cisco to develop a new Internet of Things (IoT) platform.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding about co-developing the IoT platform by combining the mobile carrier's open IoT software ThingPlug and Cisco's Fog Computing IoT-related technology.

SK Telecom will provide servers, with Cisco offering network gateway equipment to build the new IoT platform. Both companies will also co-develop applications and sensors to be operated on the new platform, SK Telecom said.

"We are seeking huge synergy by using our expertise in managing network systems and Cisco's capability in connecting different sets of devices," an SK Telecom official said.

The move comes amid rising demands for a converged IoT management platform. More than 50 billion devices are expected to be connected via the Internet by 2020 when the fifth-generation (5G) network system will be commercialized, according to the mobile carrier.

Once the IoT platform is established, each device does not have to send data to a central cloud server. Instead, the platform will allow each device to analyze and process their data on their own, decentralizing data traffic on the main server.

Alex Jinsung Choi, SK Telecom chief technology officer (CTO), said, "We will continue to expand our partnership with global technology giants to diversify our revenue streams across the global market."

Cisco Vice President Scott Puopolo said, "The new IoT platform will allow global service providers to strengthen their capability in data management."
By Kim Yoo-chul



The world's two biggest memory chip makers  Samsung and SK hynix  are adjusting their output, investment and profit forecasts due to weak demand, another sign that increased volatility is hitting the industry.



The two Korean companies have long dominated the memory chip industry. Amid continued troubles in the country's backbone industries  steel, shipbuilding and cars  the growing expectations for falling profits, even in chips, will further dampen the national economy's vitality.



"All company numbers are revised down given pricing and cost headwinds this year," Bernstein Research reported to clients last week. "We are now below consensus for most memory stocks."



Mark C. Newman, a senior analyst at the researcher, said it expects all companies except Samsung Electronics will see margins fall this year in the flash memory chip segment, chips that enhance the functionality of digital devices.



"In conventional DRAM chips for use in reading and writing data, we believe the margin gap between Samsung and others will narrow this year," Bernstein said. "But margins for SK hynix may not show as much upside as hoped."



It lowered its target price for Samsung to 1.4 million won from 1.75 million won, while its target for SK hynix was downgraded to 40,000 won from 70,000 won.



Evidence of weak demand has raised fears of another severe downturn in the sector. The release of the research note comes after many consumer electronics companies struggled to clear inventories before the new season.



Robert Yi, head of the investor relations team at Samsung Electronics, earlier said the world's biggest chip maker did not rule out the possibility of cutting its investment, though he said the company's detailed investment plan in the segment will depend on the market situation.





Client risk



While this year's industry profitability should come down now that last year's profit-share gain is over, some analysts still take comfort in the stabilizing of chip pricing over the past few months.



That stability will help DRAM prices decrease only marginally this year compared with last year, helping Samsung and SK secure their bottom lines.



Given moves by the top maker Samsung for a smoother migration to three-dimensional (3D) vertical (V-NAND) chips, worries over a big profit fall in the company may have been exaggerated.



But a local analyst said a cut in iPhone shipments by Apple was posing another threat, strengthening bearish views on the two Korean chip giants.



"Expectations for sales of the iPhone 6S have been lowered and we believe a price cut by Apple for the latest iPhones to reduce inventories will result in Apple ordering fewer components from Samsung and SK hynix, which will be negative for their profits in the first half of this year," Jin Sung-hye, an analyst at KTB Investment, said.



Samsung supplies mobile DRAMs and NAND flash chips to the Cupertino-based Apple. It also fabricates application processor (AP) chips, the brain that controls the entire computing system in gadgets designed by Apple.



"Coupled with weak demand and not-so-strong sales of the iPhone, Samsung's chip business may be in trouble," said the analyst, adding it expects the company's chip division to generate 11.82 trillion won this year, a cut of 8.9 percent compared with a year earlier.



The SK Group's semiconductor affiliate is also expected to generate less profit, hit by decreased shipments of mobile DRAMs and a DRAM price fall for PCs.



An executive at one SK Group affiliate said there was little indication on memory chip sales for the rest of this year.



"The release of Microsoft's new computing system failed to create new demand," the executive said. "Moves by companies to buy more for their corporate servers for use in cloud computing weren't accelerating as earlier expected. It's going to be painful over the next few years."




The 2016 Spring Festival gala for overseas Chinese will tour 42 cities across the world to bring festival spirit, according to official sources.

Nine art troupes will stage a total of 53 gala shows including Chinese opera, martial arts, acrobatics and magic for overseas Chinese living in more than 20 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America and the Oceania, said Tan Tianxing, deputy director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.

The annual Spring Festival gala for overseas Chinese dates back to 2009, when the office launched the celebration, arranging for troupes to perform in countries that are home to large numbers of Chinese.

Since then, there have been 320 shows staged in 223 cities in the world, attracting an audience of 4.12 million.

The Chinese Spring Festival represents the beginning of the Chinese Lunar Year, which falls on Feb. 8 this year.
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

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Frontier police in south China have seized 70 frozen wild Siamese crocodiles and 88 crocodile tails, local authorities said Saturday.

The Siamese crocodiles were seized from a seafood freight truck at 3 p.m. Tuesday at a checkpoint in the China-Vietnam border city of Fangchenggang after police realized that the amount of goods was different from that on the list provided by the driver, Fangchenggang's frontier police detachment said.

The crocodiles were sealed in 16 foam boxes. Each one measured about one meter long with a weight of 10 kilogram, while the 88 tails were about 0.7 meter long each.

The driver said that he was told to transport a seafood shipment from the border city of Dongxing to Fangchenggang, unaware of the crocodiles on his truck, according to the police.

Further investigation is under way.

Siamese crocodiles are a critically endangered species native to Southeast Asia. Their skin is used as raw material for luxury leather products on the international market. It is illegal in China to raise them without a license or to trade and traffic the species.
PRESS RELEASE

China Will Sell Saudi Arabia 4th-Generation Nuclear Power Technology

Jan. 22, 2016 (EIRNS)China and Saudi Arabia signed an MOU on Jan. 19th during President Xis visit in the Middle East, for the construction of a nuclear plant, which, world nuclear news reports, will be a high-temperature gas-cooled fourth-generation nuclear reactor. This is most extraordinarily future-oriented, and shows the confidence China has in its science and technology and advanced manufacturing capabilities, since China has only a demonstration HTGR reactor under construction. It is scheduled to go into operation in 2017. The Chinese have proposals under review to build commercial reactors in China, but they are jumping right into comercial sales in the export market, in advance.

China Nuclear Energy Corporation said in a statement:

"After 30 years of basic research, experimental reactor operation and demonstration projects, China has now systematically mastered all the key HTR technologies."

CNEC said it is actively promoting HTR technology overseas, and has signed MOUs with Saudi Arabia, Dubai, South Africa, "and other countries and regions." For the Saudis and others, desalination is a key application for nuclear.

The CNEC statement said that the agreement with Saudi Arabia "will bring further cooperation between China and other partners along the Belt and Road initiative," china daily] reports, "which includes more than 60 economies."
PRESS RELEASE

Xi Visit the Best Hope for the Mideast, Zepp-LaRouche Tells Sputnik Radio

Jan. 22, 2016 (EIRNS)Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the President of the Schiller Institute, was interviewed today on Sputnik Radio regarding the emergence of Iran from its pariah status. First she was asked by the moderator, Andrew Korybko, what she saw resulting from this emergence of Iran on the world situation.

If Europe and the U.S. would get rid of the casino economy and cooperate with China and the other nations on the New Silk Road, it would be of great benefit,

she said. Zepp-LaRouche noted that all the P5+1 countries were now sending delegations to Tehran to sign deals, but that they would only succeed if they got rid of the casino economy.

The commentator agreed fully with her on that point, and went on to ask her about the effect Iranian production would have on the oil prices. Zepp-LaRouche said that some commentators were predicting that oil would go down to $10 a barrel, but that this would be a new version of the sub-mortgage crisis, since all the investment in shale oil would now be worthless.

The Fed has told the banks that they should keep the old price on the books. And this represents a tremendous cover-up by the banking firms of the real situation,

she said. She noted that Venezuela had already called for an OPEC summit because of the seriousness of the crisis. Everybody is pumping oil in spite of the glut, she said.

Iran is coming back into the market at a critical moment, but theyre preparing for alternative production and moving quickly to nuclear energy and to fusion energy.

Korybko then asked her view of the Xi visit to the Middle East and his proposal for expanding the Silk Road Belt to these countries.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road are presently the only constructive model of cooperation in the world, she said.

Look at the successful visit of President Xi to the Middle East. The Belt and Road are the only chance to overcome the Sunni-Shia divide. President Xi made the point in his beautiful comments on Iran and its connection to the ancient Silk Road. You have to extend the New Silk Road to Southeast Asia and to Africa. We can then create new sources of water through nuclear desalination and building infrastructure. It is the only hope for the people living there to have a future. And the visit therefore offers the greatest [potential] for the region.

Korybko was very pleased with Helgas comments and reiterated several times how honored he was to have her on the program.
A female Chinese student studying in Iran became well-known across the country after recently playing a role in Iran's top TV series The Capital.

Zhang Menghan, a fluent Persian-speaking student at the University of Tehran. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Capital, now into its fourth season, mainly tells the story of a truck driver and his family from an ordinary village in northern Iran. The show has been a popular since its inception in 2012.

Zhang Menghan, a fluent Persian-speaking student at the University of Tehran, was recommended by one of her teachers in 2014 to be a crew member before shooting the third season.

In The Capital 3, Arastu married Chun Chang (played by Zhang), a Chinese maid he met in a restaurant on his way to Iran from Turkey.

Zhang said the crew members encouraged and helped her adapt to the filming despite her lack of acting experience.

The series aired at 10pm during the month of Ramadan, a prime time for TV stations in the Islamic world and Zhang's role brought many compliment from the audiences.

Zhang said she was so popular that she was getting recognized by Iranian friends when she went out in public.

In 2015, Zhang joined the cast and crew members of The Capital for their fifth season in which Arastou searched for his missing Chinese wife. His journey eventually takes him to China.

For the first time ever, some parts of the TV series were filmed in Beijing, including the famous Great Wall and Tian'anmen Square.

The Capital helped more Iranians get a better understanding of China as many Chinese cultural elements were displayed in the series.
Shannon Liss-Riordan made a name for herself defending workers against FedEx, American Airlines and Starbucks in wage and hour lawsuits.

If youre a business executive and shes knocking at your door, it probably means your company has been accused of doing something few Americans have much tolerance for: ripping off the little guy.

So, if youre an executive in Silicon Valley  where businesses are lauded for disrupting the old way of doing things, tearing down the hierarchies of the past, making the world a better place  youd think youd get a pass, right?

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It just doesnt make a lot of sense to me why we should throw all these worker protections out the window to help a $50-billion company like Uber.  Shannon Liss-Riordan

Hardly. After slapping on-demand transportation company Uber with a class-action lawsuit over driver misclassification in 2013, the Boston lawyer has been busy, filing a dozen similar lawsuits against California tech firms.

Silicon Valley companies may think theyre a breed apart, but to Liss-Riordan, too many of them are too similar to the big corporations shes fought in the past, companies she says flout labor laws for profit at the expense of low-wage workers.

Where some see Silicon Valley innovation, Liss-Riordan sees an old power struggle, wrapped in an app.

***

Liss-Riordan hasnt kept track of how many miles shes logged between Boston and San Francisco since she started litigating against companies in the on-demand economy. But shes now treated as a regular at the federal courthouse in San Francisco, where shes often seen dragging a roller bag of legal documents in and out of the towering gray building.

An opposing attorney in one of her cases saw her around so much he challenged whether she should be allowed to file so many lawsuits in the state when she isnt a member of the State Bar of California.

If hed hoped to deter her, it didnt work. Liss-Riordan responded by registering to take the California bar exam in February. Once admitted, she plans to open an office in San Francisco.

Liss-Riordan carries herself more like an activist than a lawyer. At first, she comes off as approachable, friendly even. But her partner at Boston law firm Lichten & Liss-Riordan, Harold Lichten, describes her as having the heart of a grass-roots organizer with the tenacity of a pit bull with a Chihuahua in its mouth.

She knows her stuff and can get really academic, but without making people feel dumb.

Opponents have accused her of being opportunistic and taking advantage of young companies who dont know legal rules. She counters by saying that the cases shes filing arent about semantics. Theyre about people getting ripped off.

The on-demand economy  driven by smartphone apps with which people can instantly hail a ride, order a meal or book a house cleaner  is booming in California. Ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft have achieved multibillion-dollar valuations from a business model that uses independent contractors to fulfill a core function of their businesses. Although they compete directly against the taxi industry, theyve labeled themselves technology companies  intermediaries that simply connect willing workers with paying customers.

Which would be fine, Liss-Riordan said, if they were also treating their workers as independent contractors.

In the lawsuits she filed against Uber, Lyft, food-delivery companies DoorDash and GrubHub, and on-demand laundry service Washio, she alleges that these firms exert the kind of control that employers would have over employees  without providing any of the benefits employees, by law, are entitled to.

In response to her efforts, these companies have hired legal big guns. Uber, for example, hired Gibson Dunn, a global law firm routinely recognized by industry groups as one of the top litigators in America.

Theres a good reason theyre fighting so hard. A Liss-Riordan victory could put companies such as Uber and GrubHub on the hook for costs that would eat deeply into their profit margins. Labor experts estimate that their cost of doing business would increase by 30% to cover payroll taxes, unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Costs would rise even more with overtime payments and  particularly in the Lyft and Uber cases, in which drivers use their own vehicles and pay for their own gas  expense reimbursements.

Could big firms such as Uber and Lyft afford it? Liss-Riordan believes so. But in Silicon Valley, where sky-high profit margins lead to enormous company valuations that could translate into staggering returns on investment, any increase in the cost of doing business poses a threat. After all, Uber didnt become the worlds most highly valued private company by paying for its drivers gas.

If the companies are to be believed, any significant changes to their business model would fall on the drivers. The Ubers and Lyfts of the world argue that recognizing workers as employees would come at the cost of flexible working hours, which is the reason many people sign up to drive for an on-demand service.

Liss-Riordan huffs at the notion. Smaller companies such as Shyp (on-demand shipping), Munchery (on-demand meal delivery) and Luxe Valet (on-demand valet parking) have been able to do it while retaining some flexibility, although their workers now have scheduled shifts.

These companies just dont want to do it because its going to cost more, she said. And theres nothing stopping them from giving their workers flexible schedules.

She almost has to fight back an eye roll when she hears the on-demand economys defense.

It just doesnt make a lot of sense to me why we should throw all these worker protections out the window to help a $50-billion company like Uber when the workers who are actually doing the work are struggling and need those protections, she said.

She speaks with an urgency. As she delivers each statement, one can imagine a concurrent thought bubble floating above her head in which she grabs people by the shoulders and shakes them: Cant you see? Cant you see why this matters?

***

Liss-Riordan has brought this kind of fight to big and small players alike. Shes taken on Starbucks and American Airlines (both were accused of skimming tips from workers) and sued a Massachusetts strip club and a pizza chain (the former classified its dancers as independent contractors but expected them to share their tips with managers and bouncers. The latter was a case in which kitchen staff members were forced to give back their overtime wages or lose their jobs).

Her track record is strong: In Massachusetts, shes won worker-misclassification and tip cases against Starbucks and FedEx. Her lawsuit against the strip club triggered a wave of similar lawsuits across the state. After her lawsuit drove the pizza chain out of business, she bought one of the restaurants herself and turned it into a profit-share pizza joint.

Overall she really cares about workers and advancing the law for workers, said Lichten, who has known her for 20 years. Shes very good about rolling up her sleeves and meeting with clients to explain to them whats going on.

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Theres big money to be made in this area, of course. Class-action lawsuits can lead to hefty payouts, with lawyers walking away with up to a third of what their clients are awarded. In a recent class action over worker misclassification involving FedEx Ground (Liss-Riordan was not the plaintiffs attorney), the company announced a $228-million settlement with 2,300 California-based drivers.

Liss-Riordan doesnt charge an upfront fee  so if she doesnt win, she gets nothing.

Her critics have been blunt, accusing her of taking advantage of confusing and arcane laws to reap a windfall for her clients and her firm.

I have a lot of respect for Shannon, but I do see this cottage industry shes created around the tip statute as becoming abusive toward employers, attorney Ariel D. Cudkowicz, who defended several Liss-Riordan-led lawsuits, told the Boston Globe in 2008.

Others have pointed out that sometimes companies have good intentions but simply misinterpret the law.

Before they get the chance to figure it out, lawsuits like Liss-Riordans can knock them out of business, said attorney Robert Berluti, who went up against Liss-Riordan in the Massachusetts stripper case.

Some of her cases have taken more than a decade to resolve. In 2011, she took on a case representing a skycap who was fired in retaliation for participating in a class-action lawsuit; that was a five-year process.

She kept fighting without getting paid, said her former client in the skycap case, Joe Travers, 50. According to Travers, Liss-Riordan continued to represent him even when the court reversed his victory. She recently won an appeal on his behalf.

Its amazing someone would continue to fight for you even when there might not be anything for them in the end, he said. She just doesnt like people taking advantage of other people.

Liss-Riordan doesnt seem fazed by her critics or the size of the industry shes taking on. In her eyes, no company  innovator, disruptor, whatever else they want to call themselves  deserves a free pass.

When asked whether shes been known to be intimidated by anyone  a company, an industry, another law firm  Liss-Riordans former colleague, attorney Nicole Horberg Decter, had this to say: Ha-ha-ha!

Then, after a moment: I dont think of Shannon as someone who is intimidated by anything. When she takes on an issue, shes not taking on a company, shes taking on an industry. I think thats very powerful. So, no, she is not intimidated at all.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

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When actor John Mahoney sat down to fill out his ballot for this years Oscar nominations, he did what he always does. The 75-year-old longtime academy member, known for his work in films such as Say Anything... and as the lovably gruff dad on the sitcom Frasier, said he simply chose what he believed were the best performances, regardless of the color of the actors skin.

I couldnt imagine changing a vote because of race, Mahoney said. Its about art  its about the performances that most move you. I could not imagine saying to myself, Oh my God, theyre all white. I better get rid of one of those and put a person of color in. You just dont do that. You just hope that what you come up with is fair.

#OscarsSoWhite: Full coverage of the boycott and Hollywoods reaction

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In the wake of the Jan. 14 announcement of Oscar nominations  in which, for the second year in a row, no actors of color received any of the 20 nods  the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences faced blistering criticism that the results were unfair to minority actors. Director Spike Lee and actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith vowed to sit out the Feb. 28 telecast, while some activists called for a wider boycott.

For Mahoney and many of his fellow academy members, seeing the #OscarsSoWhite controversy unfold yet again, this time with such ferocity, was painful.

Its terrible, said Mahoney, who noted that his votes this year did, in fact, include actors of color. But what is the answer?

On Friday, moving quickly to quell the furor, the academy took a dramatic step, announcing new rules aimed at doubling the number of women and minorities in its ranks by 2020. As part of the action, some academy members who have been inactive in the business for 10 years may lose their voting privileges, a move aimed at speeding the shift in the academys predominantly older, white demographics.

The 1,138 current members of the acting branch, the academys largest, have come under particular scrutiny for choosing this years all-white nominee slate, which touched off one of the most serious controveries in the academys nearly 90-year history.

In a year that included acclaimed, broadly popular black-led films such as Straight Outta Compton and Creed and critically lauded performances from minority actors such as Will Smith (Concussion), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Benicio del Toro (Sicario) and Michael B. Jordan (Creed)  many have asked how voters didnt nominate any actor of color. Given that the actors branch is overwhelmingly white  a 2012 Times analysis put the figure at the time at 88%  did racial biases, conscious or not, come into play?

Interviews with scores of voting members of the actors branch  including some currently working and others whose prime years in the business are long behind them  painted a picture of an embattled group being pulled in different directions. Emotions were often raw, ranging from embarrassment and disappointment to resentment and defiance.

While prominent actors such as George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon, David Oyelowo and Mark Ruffalo have publicly voiced dismay at the lack of diversity reflected in this years nominations, many voters said that they have done nothing wrong and are being unfairly scapegoated for problems that should be laid at the feet of the film industry  and society  as a whole.

Im really upset about this whole white thing, said one actress in her 60s, who is no longer actively working in the business and asked to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the issue. I actually voted for Will Smith  I thought [Concussion] was a good picture and a really good performance. But I am so angry at these African Americans screaming white, white, white, white, white. Go to the studios, please, and complain to them. The academy doesnt make the product. We just vote on whats available.

Actor Ron Masak, 79, best known for his role as a sheriff on the TV series Murder, She Wrote, said he has nominated people of color in the past but didnt choose any this year, calling the idea that an actors race should be considered when voting ludicrous.

I think [the backlash] is wrong, Masak said. There were some marvelous performances by black actors and actresses, but in my estimation were they the best five? No.

Actor Darrell Larson, 65, echoed that sentiment. Race had nothing to do with it, nor should it, he said of his nomination choices. The backlash is understandable, given the current state of the culture, but completely wrongheaded. Nothing should be done, nor even can be done. Any affirmative action will taint the future winners who may happen to be nonwhite. We should make more films with diverse casts, but that is already happening, especially in television.

Many members said they had voted for numerous actors of color over the years, including winners Denzel Washington and Halle Berry. Two years ago, the historical drama 12 Years a Slave, whose director and lead protagonists were black, won best picture.

I dont feel it is a bias, said David Huddleston, 85, who is perhaps best known for playing the title character in The Big Lebowski. I have nominated and voted many times for actors of color, both women and men. It is just not possible for everyone to secure an Oscar  or an Emmy or a Tony. Any given season, someone who may be worthy may also be unlucky.

I can promise you that the names I listed for actors and actresses were certainly diverse, said actor Vincent Spano, 53. Whether the mathematics in the voting process return the same results as my particular selections, I have no control over that. ... All I can say is Im color-blind as a member of the academy.

Some black academy members share the opinion that race shouldnt be a factor in voting. Actor James McEachin, 85, who is African American, acknowledged he didnt vote this year  he didnt get a ballot, he said  but in the past he said he hasnt considered the race of nominees.

I think you have to focus on the performance, McEachin said. At the same time, he understands the backlash, saying there is a huge injustice in Hollywood. I do believe that race is a factor, he said. They arent fair in green-lighting projects [featuring minorities].

Though everyone surveyed insisted they were color-blind in their voting, some members said that the academys demographics do inevitably have an effect on the kinds of films and performances receiving nominations. If an older white academy member faces dozens of DVD screeners to consider, some suggest, a film about, say, the gangsta rap group N.W.A may end up near the bottom of the pile and never make it into the DVD player.

I think Straight Outta Compton was the best film of the year, and I think just not enough white folk were interested enough to watch it, said acting branch member Jennifer Warren, 74, who is also chair of the Alliance of Women Directors. Thats the big problem with the Oscars: you never know how many people see all the films. And if its a lot of white people, the last bunch of films seen are going to be black films. Lord knows everybody knew Compton was a black film  and then only white [screenwriters] get nominated, which is truly embarrassing.

Actor Robert Walden, 72, perhaps best known for his role on TVs Lou Grant, agrees that this years black-led films may not have faced a level playing field.

I can tell you now that if the voters had actually viewed Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton, the situation might have been different, Walden wrote via email, saying he was bothered by the lack of minority nominees. But because of subject matter, or presumed understanding of what the films were about, Id venture half the members did not see those films. ... I feel a significant segment of the older members might assume that certain films dont appeal or speak to them. That they speak to a niche and not to us all.

While theorizing that most of the old guys are too set in their 50s mentalities to even want to watch Straight Outta Compton or Room, actress Carole Wells, 73, said that, for her part, she watched and enjoyed Compton. It was educational, she said.

Under the academys new rules, members who have not been active in the film business for 10 years could lose their voting privileges. Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs told The Times that the thinking was to make our voting body reflective of filmmaking professionals who are active today. That move, which could be seen to suggest that older members are out of step with changing times, drew resentment from some veteran voters.

Actress Carol Eve Rossen, 78, wrote an impassioned letter to the academys leadership before the new rules were announced, urging the leadership not to purge older members from the voting rolls.

Have you all forgotten that those of us in our 70s, 80s, and some in their 90s were more often than not active participants in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, some registering voters in the South when ones life was on the line? Rossen wrote in her letter, which she shared with The Times. How is it that you might consider dumping those of us who worked so hard and studied so well and care so much about our craft?

Masak said he doesnt personally expect to lose his voting rights, because he has worked consistently through the years. But that hasnt stopped him from feeling for film industry stalwarts whose membership might be shifted to emeritus status.

What are you saying? That the older you get, the less you can consider talent? Masak said. That makes no sense. There are a lot of elders in this business who havent worked in a while who do know talent.

Others, however, see the crisis and the conversation it has spurred as necessary and healthy, if at times uncomfortable.

Its not the academy  its what the academy represents, Warren said. I am thrilled to see this be an issue, and I think many in the academy are glad. Its about time.

josh.rottenberg@latimes.com

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

Staff writers Marisa Gerber and Mark Olsen contributed to this story.

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Damian Hiley was hours into a ride on a West Sycamore Canyon trail in Scripps Ranch when he and his cycling group came upon a man standing in the middle of the path, a gun at his hip.

At first I thought they were looking for someone or that it was a police raid, Hiley said. I was blown away when they told us we had stepped into the eastern boundary of the [Marine Corps Air Station Miramar] base.

Hiley and the other mountain bikers were escorted around a bend, where six to eight Marines in vests and flight suits stood next to a pile of bikes. They explained to the riders that they were being ticketed for trespassing on federal land and that their bicycles would be confiscated.

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Marines issued tickets to 50 people for trespassing and impounded 45 bikes and three motorcycles over that recent weekend, said 1st Lt. Matthew Gregory, the bases public affairs officer.

Gregory said the military had worked diligently to inform hikers and mountain bikers about off-limits areas, slowly escalating over months from giving warnings to impounding bicycles. Roaming around the east side of the base can be dangerous, Gregory said, since gun ranges  where more than 9,000 Marines go for annual rifle and pistol qualifications  are in the area.

There is a very real safety hazard for anyone that may come onto the federal property, and the trails in question place those who trespass onto the base in potentially life-threatening danger, he said.

Signs and warnings, Gregory said, are posted across the property. Hiley said his group didnt see any when they crossed into base property from Santee.

Whats really upsetting for us is that there are really no signs, he said. As first-time riders on that trail, we had no idea we were on [the base].

The Marines told them ignorance was no excuse, Hiley said. All of the riders got tickets and may have to pay fines, depending on what a judge decides when they appear in court. The cyclists were told they would get their bikes back after the tickets were handled.

Gregory said a judge can choose to dismiss a ticket or assign a fine, depending on the circumstances.

When Hileys group hiked more than two miles back to their cars, they took a different route back and passed signs that read, Keep Out. If similar signs had been placed where they had crossed onto the base, he said, they would have been hard to miss.

Ben Stone, a San Diego Mountain Biking Organization board member, called the trails in Sycamore Canyon historic. He said people have been riding them for decades, but that doesnt make it legal. The organization spent months warning hikers and mountain bikers that Marine officials were planning to start ticketing and confiscating bikes and posted maps of the boundaries.

Stone said San Diego County officials had spent years trying to negotiate access to the property, but each time the deal fell through.

So now Stones group is working to piece together a trail that would circumvent the base  although that solution will be years in the making since it would require land purchases and working with current landowners.

lindsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com

Winkley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Orange County sheriffs deputies are searching for three inmates charged with violent crimes who escaped from a Santa Ana jail, authorities said Saturday.

Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, were discovered missing from the Orange County Central Mens Jail on Friday, the Sheriffs Department said in a statement.

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Authorities immediately launched a search of the jail complex and the nearby civic center, but all indications are that the inmates  have fled the area, the statement said.

I think the public should expect the worst if theyre encountering them.  Lt. Jeff Hallock, O.C. Sheriffs Dept.

The sheriffs No. 1 priority in this is the safety of our community, Lt. Jeff Hallock told reporters at a news conference Saturday. We have dedicated all available resources to this search and investigation so that we may bring all three inmates back into custody.

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Tieu is charged with murder, Duong with attempted murder and Nayeri with kidnapping and torture, the Sheriffs Department said. All three inmates previously lived in Orange County.

Authorities said the inmates apparently escaped through tunnels holding plumbing pipes within the jail complex, then rappelled from the roof to the ground using a makeshift rope. They declined to specify the tools or material used, saying it was still under investigation.

We believe this was a very sophisticated, very well-thought out plan that may have been in the works for weeks up to months, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Sheriffs Department. This is not something they did overnight.

She said officials were still reviewing videos around the Santa Ana jail and civic center to determine which direction the inmates fled. They were discovered missing during the jails twice-daily body check at 8 p.m. Friday.

It was unclear whether the men were armed but they should be considered very dangerous, Hallock said.

I think the public should expect the worst if theyre encountering them and call 911 and allow the professionals to respond, Hallock said.

Tieu had had been held on a $1-million bond since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.

Nayeri had been held without bond since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. Nayeri and three other men are accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012.

They drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then cut off his penis, authorities said.

After the crime, Nayeri fled the U.S. to his native Iran, where he remained for several months. He was arrested in Prague in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.

Bac Duong, the third escaped inmate, was being held without bond since last month on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.

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The FBI is offering up to a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of any of the three escapees. Braun asked that anyone with information call the hotline at (714) 628-7085 or to call 911 with any sightings of the men, who are described as dangerous.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Follow me on Twitter @ByMattStevens

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Regulators on Saturday approved a comprehensive abatement order that requires Southern California Gas Co. to take immediate steps to contain a massive natural gas leak in Porter Ranch, permanently shut down the damaged well, establish a leak detection system and conduct an independent health study.

Following a six-hour public meeting in Woodland Hills, the Hearing Board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted 4-1 to approve the order.

As a result of this order, SoCalGas must take immediate steps to minimize air pollution and odors from its leaking well and stop the leak as quickly as possible, said Barry Wallerstein, SCAQMDs executive officer. It also will require the utility to thoroughly inspect all other wells at its Aliso Canyon storage facility to help prevent another major leak in the future.

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Once the leak is stopped and the well is shut down, SoCal Gas will be required to improve air quality monitoring in the San Fernando Valley community and to complete a study on the potential health effects of well emissions on residents in the Porter Ranch area.

The company will also be required to establish a comprehensive leak detection program for all other wells in the Aliso Canyon facility to help prevent future leaks.

The Hearing Board adopted the order after days of hearings, which included testimony from more than 100 residents and elected officials.

But many of the hundreds of residents and activists who attended Saturdays hearing expressed disappointment with the AQMDS order, saying it fell short of calling for the gas company to shut down all of its wells on the site.

SQAMDs failure to put Californians livelihoods first is shameful, and Gov. Brown should intervene swiftly, said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. There should be no other choice but to shut down the dangerous Aliso Canyon facility and look to close every urban oil and gas facility throughout California and our country, to ensure the health of our communities and our climate is never again sacrificed for corporate polluter profits.

The damaged well at SoCal Gas Aliso Canyon storage facility has been releasing environmentally damaging natural gas since Oct. 23. The company has tried several times to plug the well, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Since Dec. 4, the utility has been drilling a relief well to intercept the damaged one, one of 115 wells on the reservoir.

Sealing the well -- then taking it permanently out of service -- is viewed as a long-term measure. That work is expected to be completed by late February, or possibly earlier, according to a timeline released this week.

The gas leak has displaced thousands of people in the Porter Ranch neighborhood. Many have complained of headaches, nausea, respiratory problems and other health issues.

Complaints about the fumes from the leak in the former oil field, which is used to store gas for distribution to nearly 22 million customers in the L.A. Basin, have drawn national attention.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Health officials have said the gas is not harmful, but the chemicals added to help communities detect such leaks can cause short-term ailments.

Here are some of the details contained in Saturdays abatement order:

Permanently shut down and seal the well and not inject gas into or withdraw gas from it in the future once the leak has stopped.

Fund an independent health study to assess any potential health effects to residents from the gas leak, including as a result of exposure to odorants added to

the natural gas.

Fund continuous air monitoring to be conducted by SCAQMD and/or a contractor under the agencys supervision.

Develop and implement an enhanced leak detection and reporting program for all wells at the storage facility.

Monitor the leaking well continuously with an infrared camera until 30 days after the leak has stopped;

Minimize gas leaking from the facility.

Provide SCAQMD with data on the amount of gas injected and withdrawn from the facility and information necessary to calculate the total amount of methane

leaked, once the leak has stopped.

Submit a plan to SCAQMD for notifying government agencies and the community of any reportable releases of air emissions, as defined in the plan.

Report all odor complaints to SoCalGas since Oct. 23, 2015, and on an ongoing basis to SCAQMD.

Not use any odor suppressants or neutralizers in an attempt to reduce odors from the leak, unless approved by SCAQMD.

The Hearing Board will conduct a follow-up hearing to review the status of the order on Feb. 20 at a location to be determined in the San Fernando Valley. The order extends through Jan. 31, 2017, unless SoCalGas has completed all requirements sooner, or the Hearing Board modifies the order.

cindy.chang@latimes.com

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Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) used a pair of appearances in Los Angeles on Saturday to urge young student activists to continue to fight for equality in the United States, warning that Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump could set the country back with his divisive rhetoric aimed at immigrants and Muslims.

Ive been around a while and Trump reminds me so much of a lot of the things that George Wallace said and did, Lewis said in an interview with The Times after speaking at Cal State L.A. I think demagogues are pretty dangerous, really. ... We shouldnt divide people, we shouldnt separate people.

Sometimes I feel like I am reliving part of my past. I heard it so much growing up in the South, he said. I heard it so much during the days of the civil rights movement. As a people, I just think we could do much better.

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Lewis, 75, started off the day taking questions from student activists at a breakfast hosted by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He recounted his role in the 1965 march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery in support of voting rights when he was severely beaten by Alabama state troopers.

Kimberly Kalayaan Mendoza, a UCLA senior, asked for advice about how to overcome workplace retaliation to organize workers in the city and got a fiery response from Lewis, who told her, You will win, they may beat you ... but continue to stand up, continue to speak out, continue to agitate.

Lewis later joined Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, at Cal State L.A. to speak before a screening of the 2014 Oscar-nominated film Selma that dramatized the historic march.

He defended the tactics of the Black Lives Matter movement and its affiliated groups, which often shut down major highways and bridges during protests.

I dont see a vast difference between the Black Lives movement and what we did during the 60s; you may call it a different name, Lewis said. We disrupted the order of things, but we also engaged. In an interview after the talk, he credited the movement for helping to educate the country to see what is happening to young black men.

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Lewis also addressed the lack of diversity in the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which for the second year in a row has selected an all-white slate of acting nominees.

I dont think there is any room in America in this day and age for people to try to sweep the issue of race under the rug, he said. The culture of the films, paintings, and the stage should reflect the makeup of society.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

Twitter: @jpanzar

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Sometime Friday morning, three men slipped behind some beds at Central Mens Jail in Santa Ana and disappeared into a hole in the wall.

They wriggled through the narrow tunnels of the maximum security jails plumbing system, cutting through multiple layers of steel, metal and rebar, and emerged on the roof, where they rappelled down four stories with a makeshift rope and escaped.

Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, were discovered missing about 9 p.m. Friday when Orange County sheriffs jail personnel conducting a nightly head count came up three short. A search of the facility turned up a makeshift rope made from bedsheets and spare cloth, a rectangular hole cut in a steel screen behind some beds and a misplaced coil of razor wire on the roof.

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The inmates, who were facing charges ranging from murder to kidnap and torture, were still at large Sunday and were presumed to be armed. Teams of investigators were searching locations in multiple counties, but there have been no confirmed sightings of the inmates. The FBI has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the mens capture, and the U.S. Marshals Service announced it is offering a $30,000 reward  or $10,000 for information leading to the apprehension of each fugitive.

Addressing reporters at a Sunday news conference in Santa Ana more than 40 hours after the inmates were discovered missing, authorities appealed to the public for help.

Investigators are now relying on information from the public as we are exhausting every lead we have, said Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriffs Department.

The escape was the first jail break at the facility in downtown Santa Ana in nearly 30 years.

This appears to be a very sophisticated operation, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said.

Authorities are investigating the possibility that a fight that occurred about 8 p.m. Friday at the jail was staged deliberately to delay the head count to help hide the escape. The men bypassed three security checkpoints undetected. Authorities dont know where they got the tools to help in the escape or what they were.

Tieu is charged with murder, Duong with attempted murder and Nayeri with kidnapping and torture. They were among more than 384 inmates being held in connection with serious, violent crimes. All three men were housed in a large, dormitory-style cell with 65 other men.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

If they were considered an escape risk before this, they would not have been housed in a 68-man tank. I can guarantee you that, said Carrie Braun, spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriffs Department.

The Central Mens Jail, built in 1968, is a hulking concrete compound in Santa Anas civic center with sheer walls and crowned with coils of barbed wire. The jail houses more than 900 inmates.

Its an older jail with a linear layout that Hutchens and jail experts say makes it harder to secure and guard. Because the cells are lined up in rows, deputies cant monitor whats happening in each cell at all times. Newer jails have a more circular layout that allows guards to see whats going on in each cell at all times. Linear jails also allow inmates to circulate through more parts of the facility on a daily basis, possibly allowing for coordination and planning.

If you have someone in a cell block, you cant leave them locked down 24 hours a day, Hutchens said. Unfortunately the reality is we will have escapes.

Law enforcement experts say county jails such as Santa Anas werent designed to hold large volumes of violent offenders and dont always have the resources to house them. The ratio of jail personnel to inmates at the Orange County facility is about 1 to 33, authorities said.

Escapes are a matter of desire, resources and the time, said Chuck Jackson, a former Los Angeles County sheriffs chief who led the countys Correctional Services Department. Escapes take high levels of coordination and planning, but hes seen inmates breach jails with minimal equipment, such as a mini hacksaw smuggled inside the spine of a Bible.

Orange County sheriffs investigators are still trying to figure out exactly how the inmates managed to plan and execute their escape undetected.

Authorities believe the escape was planned for weeks, even months, and occurred Friday morning. Video surveillance appears to show a figure shining a flashlight beam on the jails roof around that time, sheriffs officials said. Investigators are still reviewing the rest of the security footage to determine which way the men went. Theres no indication that any man has left the country.

The men were last seen wearing orange jumpsuits, and its not clear whether they had help once they breached the jails walls.

Nayeri had been held without bond since September 2014 on charges of kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary. Nayeri and three other men are accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012.

They drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then severed his penis, authorities said.

After the crime, Nayeri fled the U.S. to his native Iran, where he remained for several months. He was arrested in Prague, Czech Republic, in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.

Duong was being held without bond since last month on charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. His criminal history also includes multiple convictions for possessing and selling methamphetamine and avoiding arrest and burglary.

Tieu had been held in lieu of $1 million bond since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.

Authorities asked anyone with information to call the hotline at (714) 628-7085 or to call 911 with any sightings of the men.

tony.barboza@latimes.com

frank.shyong@latimes.com

The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.

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Deyun Shi, the La Canada Flintridge man suspected of killing two of his teenage nephews in Arcadia last week and fleeing the country, will appear in a Hong Kong court Monday, authorities said.

He is expected to decline consent to extradition, his Los Angeles-based attorney said.

Shi, 44, fled Los Angeles on Friday on a flight to Hong Kong. Local officials there met him when his flight landed and took him into custody.

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The extradition process could be complicated by whether prosecutors seek the death penalty. Hong Kong has its own British-based legal system separate from mainland Chinas, and the territory  unlike the mainland  has an extradition treaty with the United States.

But Hong Kong, a former British colony, has no death penalty. If Shi were to face capital charges in California, that could complicate extradition proceedings.

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The existence of [the] death penalty is not a barrier to extradition, but the possibility of execution would be, said Margaret Ng, a Hong Kong lawyer and a former Legislative Council member who represented the legal sector. Any possibility of execution will be a reason for Hong Kong not to surrender.

If Shi contests the extradition, it could take weeks or longer to resolve the matter.

Barry Greenhalgh, an Encino attorney who said he had been contacted by a partner of Shis to arrange legal assistance for Shi, said he was interested in looking into whether the absence of the death penalty in Hong Kong could be a basis for stopping or delaying extradition.

When Shi and his family moved to Southern California is unclear.

Greenhalgh said Shi and his wife had two sons, and they had come to the United States about a year ago. Property records indicate that in August 2014, the couple bought a three-bedroom, mid-century ranch home on Briargate Lane in Arcadia for $1.08 million. In May 2015 they purchased a five-bedroom Mediterranean-style home in La Canada Flintridge for $2.67 million.

The California Secretary of States business registration database indicates a person named Deyun Shi registered a business in California in November 2014 called Xunding World Information Integrated Group. The business address is given as 5079 Walnut Grove Ave. in San Gabriel.

What kind of business Xunding World Information Integrated Group conducted is unclear, though customs records in China indicate that the company imported various goods from China, including lamps, books and a large quantity of light oil painting tripods.

Before coming to the U.S., Shi and his wife had multiple businesses in the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen, a metropolis of 18 million people only a subway ride from Hong Kong. Among the companies they were involved with were Shenzhen Kejing Electrical Co. and Shenzhen Xunding Technology Co., Chinese business registration records show.

Reports in the Chinese media indicate that Shi and those businesses figured in numerous bribery cases investigated by the local branches of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, or CCDI, a key body within the Chinese Communist Party that probes corruption and other wrongdoing allegations among party cadres.

Shi appears to have been a central figure in at least four bribery cases in Shenzhen, according to numerous reports in Chinese media. Two local officials in Shenzhen who were in charge of government procurement, Li Zihua and Song Yixiang, were sentenced in November 2014 to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes from Shi, multiple reports in the Chinese media say.

Two Shenzhen school officials, Qiu Yimin and Lu Jingfeng, were also investigated for accepting bribes from Shenzhen Xunding Technology representatives. In August, Qiu was sentenced to 10 years for accepting about $240,000 in bribes.

No formal charges seem to have been brought against Shi in mainland China, although cases of alleged malfeasance by Communist Party members are typically investigated in secret by the CCDI under a process known as shuanggui, which is separate from ordinary Chinese law enforcement procedures. Whether mainland authorities might also be interested in having Shi returned to their jurisdiction is unclear.

Shis wife, Lin Yujing, filed for a temporary restraining order against Shi on New Years Eve, L.A. County Court records indicate.

Authorities said Shi was angry after learning that his wife, the sister of the dead boys father, wanted a divorce. Shi learned of his wifes divorce plans during a Thursday court hearing in Pasadena, authorities said.

Shi, who had moved out of his familys La Canada Flintridge home, broke into the residence Thursday night and attacked his wife with a wood-cutting tool, said Lt. Eddie Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Their 15-year-old son intervened, and Shi left.

Investigators believe he later drove to the townhouse in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue in Arcadia where the boys lived with their parents. Police were unsure when he got there.

Early Friday, the boys parents went to the hospital to visit Shis wife, leaving the teens asleep, authorities said. When they returned at 5 a.m., they went to bed. The father left a few hours later, and the mother discovered one boy unresponsive and bleeding profusely.

She called Arcadia police, who found her second son in his third-floor bedroom. Both teenagers had suffered blunt-force trauma to their upper torsos and were pronounced dead at the scene. No weapon was found.

A representative for the Arcadia Unified School District identified the boys as Anthony Lin, 15, and William Lin, 16. Both attended Arcadia High School, a few blocks from their home.

On Sunday, flower bouquets and packages covered a stoop outside the boys home. Somebody left a red chemistry textbook. In a note written in lime green marker, a classmate who said she was William Lins chemistry lab partner said he always made her laugh. Lin wore lime green several days a week and had a genuine, incessant fervor for science.

You always had a way of making this dark world bright, she wrote. I wont let that change. Of course, it will be tremendously harder without you, but energy does not disappear.

Outside nearby Arcadia High School, there was a growing pile of flowers and a pink poster board reading: You two were great people, well miss you a lot.

On it, a classmate wrote that Anthony Lin always knew how to crack a good joke and cheer me up on a bad day.

A candlelight vigil is planned at the school on Monday.

Makinen and Law reported from Beijing and Branson-Potts from Los Angeles.



Special correspondents Nicole Liu, Tommy Yang, Yingzhi Yang and Chuan Xu in the Beijing bureau also contributed to this report.



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Everywhere you turned in politics last week, you could have bumped into Tom Steyer or his obsessions.

On a South Carolina debate stage, Democratic presidential candidates touted the importance to them of climate change, the issue the 58-year-old San Francisco billionaire  the nations largest individual political donor in 2014  has worked to wrench into prominence.

Midweek came the announcement that Steyer had given $200,000 to the California Democratic Party for its voter identification, registration and turnout efforts statewide this year.

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Later, Steyer was in Sacramento to help kick off signature gathering for a proposed November ballot measure that would add a $2-per-pack cigarette tax. Later still he was in Oakland, meeting with members of a commission he created to study the economic quicksand in which many Californians find themselves stuck.

Those watching the presidential debates could have spotted Steyer in ads that his organization, NextGen Climate Action, has run touting the effort to boost the use of renewable energy nationally to 50% by 2030. And this week, he can be seen on documentary videos his organization will use to spread word about the changing climate.

One might think that spending more than $74 million on political campaigns in the 2014 cycle, to no big effect electorally, would prompt Steyer to reconsider giving up all that cash. Nope.

He is back at it this year, looking for races in which to invest in California and elsewhere. And as he goes, he is raising more and more a question that he will not answer, not yet: Will he run for governor in 2018?

Political donors tend to be demanding. They didnt get rich by giving money away; lost causes are investments to avoid. Many of them drive candidates crazy by forwarding their views along with their checks, but most of the time they stay completely out of public view.

Not so Steyer. His public profile has led opponents to cast him as the Democratic equivalent of the Republican Koch brothers. Candidates running against his favorites have mocked his San Francisco profile, using pictures of his expansive home in their take-downs. Opponents chortled when most of his 2014 candidates lost.

Yet he claims the last few years not as a defeat but a success, for heightening what he sees as a huge move among voters about the impact and dangers of climate change. (He doesnt take full credit, to be sure, citing contributions of Pope Francis, business leaders, President Obama, Gov. Jerry Brown and others.)

The whole concept of a rising tide lifting all boats has not been true for a couple of decades.  Tom Steyer

If you go back to 2012, he said, referring to the last presidential campaign, you can see how much has changed. He counts as another victory the fact that Republican presidential candidates this year have created what he called a giant gaping void between the parties.

They have some of the most backward-looking and unresponsive policies that could be imagined, he said. They are now on the record in a way that is very, very clear.

Climate change is a much-talked-about issue for all three Democratic candidates, he noted. But there is some tension: He raised money at his home for Hillary Clinton, but indicated he is not yet ready to endorse her or any other candidate.

We tried to engage voters especially to make this a priority and encourage the candidates to address it and compete for voters by being good on this issue, he said. Thats what we planned on doing, thats what weve done, thats what we foresee doing for a while.

Between the lines, that means hes happy to push off an endorsement as long as possible if that means the candidates will work harder to please him. Pressed as to whether he is satisfied with the positions Democrats have taken, he laughed: Would we ever be satisfied?

His presidential alliances may get a lot of publicity, but much of what Steyer is working on resides in California, the state that barely registers in the White House contest but for its money.

His motivation is sometimes personal: He is backing the tobacco tax as a genuflection to his mother, a three-pack-a-day smoker who died of lung cancer. His Save Lives California group, which includes healthcare professionals as well as organized labor, intends to protect kids from the dangers of smoking and reduce the No. 1 cause of preventable deaths in the state of California, he said.

His other interests may seem somewhat distinct but in fact overlap significantly. The Californians most supportive of environmental activism are Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans, many of whom live in communities hit by toxic air and chemicals.

Those same groups are among those most affected by an economy that has yet to rebound fully and are the focus of his Fair Shake commission. Its report on how to boost Californians up the economic ladder is expected this spring.

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The whole concept of a rising tide lifting all boats has not been true for a couple of decades and that is something that goes to the very foundation of the American promise and the California promise, he said.

Opponents could gather Steyers activities into a nefarious plot. His emphasis on economically troubled Californians salves the image of the former hedge fund manager; his commission and other activities put him shoulder-to-shoulder with labor and other groups important to a Democratic candidate. (On the upcoming video financed by Steyer, the principal figure says of him: Instead of spending his time on yachts, he spends his time on philanthropy, a tidy bit of image definition.)

But if its all meant to get him elected, then this would have been one of the longest and most expensive investments Steyer has made, with no sure return. So, is he running for governor?

The question that Ive been asking is, how I can best contribute, he said, and I can tell you that through 2016, our plate is totally full, and I am completely engaged and committed to the task at hand.

In other words: Stay tuned.

Cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker. For more on politics, go to www.latimes.com/decker and www.latimes.com/politics.

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A 17-year-old boy was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in a remote aboriginal community in central Canada, officials said.

Police said the male suspect cant be named under Canadas Youth Criminal Justice Act. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Grant St. Germaine said nine people were shot in the school, including a female teachers aide who died at the scene and a male teacher who died in a hospital. He said seven people wounded in Fridays shooting at the school are hospitalized.

Two brothers, 17-year-old Dayne Fountaine and 13-year-old Drayden, were shot and killed in a home before the gunman headed to the grade 7-12 La Loche Community School, police said. Police responded to a call of shots fired at the school shortly after the lunch hour.

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Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer Brenda Butterworth-Carr said that when officers arrived at the school they saw the front door had been shot open. They entered the school, spotted the suspect and gave chase before apprehending him. He is due in court next week.

Police said Saturday that they were not aware of a motive and declined to say what type of gun was used.

The school is in the remote Dene aboriginal community of La Loche in Saskatchewan Province. La Loche is a community of less than 3,000 where just about everybody knows everybody else.

This is a significant event for Canada, St. Germaine said. Its a huge impact on the community of La Loche. Its a part of changing times. We are seeing more violence.

Residents lighted candles and placed flowers at a memorial outside the school.

Shootings at schools or on university campuses are rare in Canada. However, the countrys bloodiest mass shooting occurred on Dec. 6, 1989, at Montreals Ecole Polytechnique, when Marc Lepine entered a college classroom at the engineering school, separated the men from the women, told the men to leave and opened fire, killing 14 women before killing himself.

The educational assistant killed at the Saskatchewan school was identified as 21-year-old Marie Janvier. Deegan Park, her boyfriend of three years, said he would have given up the rest of his life just to spend another year with her.

I grew up not a good guy, but she turned me right, Park told The Associated Press. She was that much of a great person to turn me right from all the wrongdoings I used to do.  She was a fantastic person.

I loved her, I really did, said Park, who remembered her smile and how she would blush when she was happy.

Kevin Janvier said his daughter was an only child. Im just so sad, he said.

Ashton Lemaigre, a teacher at the school and friend of Marie Janvier, said she worked as a teachers aide in his classroom. He said she was kind and patient with children and planned to get her teaching degree someday.

The kids loved having her around, Lemaigre said. They would just come running to her. And she was just a friend to everybody.

A second victim was identified as 35-year-old Adam Wood, a new teacher at the school. His family in Ontario issued a statement describing him as an adventurer with a passion for life who made people laugh until their stomachs hurt.

Adam had just begun his teaching career in La Loche last September and was enjoying his time, his family said. He was always up for a good challenge and lived each day joyously.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, called it every parents worst nightmare.

A student who was just returning from lunch when the shots were fired Friday said his friends ran past him urging him to get out.

Run, bro, run! Noel Desjarlais-Thomas, 16, recalled his friends saying to him as they fled La Loches junior and senior high school. Theres a shotgun! Theres a shotgun! They were just yelling to me. And then I was hearing those shots too, so of course I started running.

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The RCMP said the first reports of shots being fired at the school came in around 1 p.m. Friday, and parents and residents were warned to stay away. Witnesses said some students hid in gym dressing rooms for hours. A nearby elementary school was also placed on lockdown as a precaution.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said he is in a state of disbelief. He planned to visit La Loche on Sunday and promised to provide crisis support and counseling services. La Loche, like a number of aboriginal communities in Canadas prairie provinces, has been plagued by high suicide rates and poverty.

Wall added that U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman had offered the counsel of U.S. communities that have experienced school shootings.

He noted that quite tragically the United States has more experience with the likes of what we saw in La Loche, Wall said.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has a taste of traditional Arab culture Wednesday as he visits the historic Murabba' Palace in Riyadh. [Photo/Xinhua]

In Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2016 New Year speech, he mentioned that "the world is too big, and the challenges are too many to go without China's voice being heard, without solutions from China being shared and without the involvement of China being necessary." While people are still musing on the deeper meaning of the sentence, Xi has already rolled out his first overseas visit this year to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

His visit comes at a time when the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia became acute and the flames of war swept through Syria. As a result, the visit has drawn the attention of the international community.

The Middle East is located in the junction of Europe, Asia and Africa. The region is at a crucial period of social transition and political reconstruction. Given its strategic location and resources, the political situation in the region and its relations with other countries has grown increasingly complex in recent years. For a long time, the United States and the European Union were the most influential outside powers in the region. In recent years, with Russia's military involvement in Syria and the high-profile fight against the Islamic State, Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, began to return to the Middle East from military standpoint.

China is a latecomer in Middle Eastern affairs. However, because of the neutrality, objectivity and impartiality of China's foreign policy, and its commitments toward economic development, reconstruction efforts and humanitarian assistance in the region, China has never been absent in Middle Eastern affairs. In recent years, China has taken on an even more proactive stance in its Middle Eastern diplomacy to promote regional peace and stability.

Taking the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example, the Chinese government invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit China separately in May 2013. President Xi met with the two leaders in person to mediate the conflicts and put forward a four-point proposal to outline China's attitude towards Israeli-Palestinian conflict. China clearly reaffirmed the four-point proposal in its recently issued Arab Policy Paper on Jan. 13, saying that "China supports the Middle East peace process and the establishment of an independent state of Palestine with full sovereignty, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. China supports the Arab League and its member states' efforts to this end."

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Hillary Clinton did her homework before campaigning here Saturday, opening her stump speech with an ode to DeWitt Clinton, the former New York governor who championed the Erie Canal and became the towns namesake.

He was a leader who set big goals, and then he worked, Clinton said in a brightly lit school auditorium. He did the politics. He did all that was necessary to clear the way to make it happen.

A few miles away in the same town, Bernie Sanders criticized the idea of elite leadership. Speaking in the basement of a Masonic lodge, he insisted that true change can only come from the masses.

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Its not a few people on top coming up with clever ideas, Sanders said.

With a little more than a week until the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses in what has become a tightly locked race, both Democratic candidates were in the same liberal corner of the state outlining their competing visions. Their contrasting appearances underscored the choice before Iowas Democratic caucusgoers: Clinton, the pragmatic achiever who promises to expand on President Obamas record, or Sanders, the thundering voice for the working class who pledges to wrest power from the nations wealthy.

Clinton, the former secretary of State, spoke with the poise of a practiced politician, walking before the audience with a wireless microphone. She made sure to thank local organizers, praise researchers at Iowa universities and blast the states Republican governor.

She repeatedly emphasized the progress made under Obama, particularly when it came to healthcare.

We have 90% coverage. We have 10% to go, she said. Clinton added, I want to build on what weve already achieved.

She repeated her pledge to tackle the rising cost of prescriptions and promised she was going after drug companies.

After her speech, Secret Service agents shadowed her along the rope line as she shook hands and posed for pictures with supporters.

Clinton has criticized Sanders as unrealistic when it comes to healthcare, saying his plan to expand federal coverage to every American is too expensive and politically unrealistic. Its a message that has resonated among supporters who fear renewing the contentious battles over Obamas landmark Affordable Care Act.

None of us say its perfect, but Id hate for it to go backward, said Jacque Willits, 66, a retired teacher who lives in Camanche, outside Clinton. Im afraid it would happen with anyone other than her.

Other members of the crowd pointed to Clintons experience, particularly on foreign policy.

Shes Madame Secretary, said Susan Kowzic, a 67-year-old retired machine operator from Clinton. Shes been around the world.

Those arguments were futile at the Sanders rally nearby, where Clinton was considered the establishment candidate of half-measures.

What our campaign is about is thinking big, not small, said Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont.

He spoke from behind a podium in a raspy voice, sometimes pausing to clear his throat. Instead of talking about local issues or history, Sanders launched into a recitation of his poll numbers. Each survey he cited showed him doing even better than Clinton against a Republican opponent like Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, helping to rebuff the idea that hes not viable in a general election.

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While a Clinton speech is filled with applause lines, a Sanders rally includes a call-and-response routine.

Are you ready for a radical idea? he asked at one point.

Yeah! the crowd shouted.

Sanders continued, to wild applause, How about creating an economy that works for you, and not just the wealthy in this country?

The straightforward message about inequality has resonated among his supporters. Even though Clinton hits some of the same notes, they simply dont buy it from her.

I dont know that she is as genuine as Bernie is, said Al Christiansen, 62, who retired from a plastics factory. I believe its more political talk.

Members of the crowd viewed Sanders as sincere and Clinton as removed from their challenges.

With her lifestyle, I feel shes not as in touch with the middle class, said Stacy Rickerl, a 40-year-old pharmacy technician.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

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In late August 1589, a dozen of the fittest ships in the Danish fleet set across a tempestuous North Sea to carry a 14-year-old princess bride to her new husband and new home. King James VI of Scotland had seen Anna of Denmark only in a miniature portrait before arranging a marriage by proxy in her country. Following her wedding-sans-groom in a palace by the sea, Anna boarded the ship of Danish Admiral Peter Munch to travel to her Scottish kingdom.

They met typical storms until close to Scotland, when an extraordinary gale flew at them from the coast. Twice they came within sight of the cliffs of home, and twice a phalanx of rain and winds pushed them back, ultimately all the way to Norway. Munch found the conditions uncommonly fierce, even for the North Sea. So much so, he thought, there must be more in the matter than the common perversity of winds and weather. Munch blamed witches for conjuring the storms.

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As he attempted his third approach, a yet-worse squall roiled up, battering the ship that carried Anna. They limped to a Norwegian sound to await King Jamess rescue mission. James had been skeptical of the witch hysteria sweeping Europe. But as he tried to reach his bride, his ships, too, were tossed in freak storms. Once united, he and Anna had to wait out icy conditions for half a year before they could attempt a return journey, on which they faced more unnatural weather. By the time they arrived in Edinburgh in May 1590, James was as convinced as Munch that witches had brewed the worst weather in memory to keep his queen from ascending her throne.

The resounding consensus is that human activities since the Industrial Revolution ... are responsible for rising global temperature.

An aging midwife would burn for the squalls. She was among thousands of accused witches executed for conjuring storms during the climate havoc known as the Little Ice Age. Between 1300 and 1850, deadly winters and alternating acute rains and droughts ruined crops for season upon season, contributing to famines and many other miseries. The extremes evoke our own time, as severe weather rises with global warming. But theres a cruelly poignant difference. Our irrational ancestors blamed innocent people for the crisis. Our irrational contemporaries pretend that people are blameless, our work on climate change futile. The two are equally dangerous.

Many assume that witch hunts were caused by religious and socio-political turmoil. German historian Wolfgang Behringer argues that they were born of climate turmoil too. He has tracked the rise of witchcraft prosecutions in the 14th century to the rise of the Little Ice Age, with criminal proceedings reaching their peak during the worst years of the climate extremes, in the decades before and after 1600.

Frequently suffering misfortune themselves, accused witches  around 80% women, and often poor and elderly  were scapegoated for the ills of the age, from infertility to the deaths of children. That they were also blamed for frightening weather is clear in artwork and news bulletins. A German woodcut from 1486 shows a sorceress conjuring enormous chunks of hail; a frontispiece from a 1489 pamphlet called Weather Magic depicts two hags at a tall caldron, as a storm bursts overhead; a German pamphlet from 1580 details 114 executions of witches who had mainly confessed to instigating crop-destroying thunderstorms.

Paranoia often rumbled from hungry stomachs: Villagers harangued reluctant local courts and prince-bishops to do something about the foul weather by rounding up storm-makers. But the events in Scotland debunk the notion that witch mania rose from the desperate and uneducated. There, the zeal for witch-hunting came straight from the top  from the same King James who gave us the King James Bible.

In the University of Glasgows Special Collections, a 1591 pamphlet called Newes from Scotland tells the story, at least from Jamess point of view: The tract depicts a storm ravaging the Kings ship, with women huddled around a boiling caldron on shore. It describes the torture of a maidservant, who endured graphic agonies before she finally named a ringleader, Agnes Sampson, a renowned midwife and healer.

What we have that King James lacked is the science to help us understand our changing climate and take action to protect all life.

After unspeakable tortures, Sampson finally confessed to conjuring the storms that had hindered the union of James and Anna. She told James that Satan considered him the greatest enemie hee hath in the world and wanted to see him drowned by storm. No words could have rung so true to the self-important king. Sampson was only one of many innocents who paid the price. Seventy people were implicated in the case; not all their fates are known. She was among several burned at the stake.

Europes witch hunts and trials did not trail off entirely until the 18th-century Enlightenment, which also gave rise to the notion of evidence  in both the courts and the pursuit of science.

Today, scientific evidence makes clear that Earths current warming cannot be explained by a decrease in solar activity or other natural causes thought to have triggered the Little Ice Age. The resounding consensus is that human activities since the Industrial Revolution adding C02 and other heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere are responsible for rising global temperature. Climate models predict extreme weather events will surge with the thermostat. Super El Nino events like the one sending lashing rains to California could double. Meteorological research has found certain tropical cyclones, along with droughts and heat waves, substantially more likely in a warming world.

Yet many American leaders reject these predictions. The deniers include not only several of the presidential candidates now in the news, but governors of coastal Gulf states with the most to lose from tropical storms; governors of Great Plains states most vulnerable to drought; the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology; and many others in Congress and state capitols.

A study this month in the journal Global Environmental Change reveals not only that climate denial remains robust, but the extent to which our leaders are systematically influenced by a small number of think tanks that have upped their anti-science messaging  from policy papers to speeches to press releases  exponentially. The 19 industry-funded groups produced 16,028 of these contrarian documents between 1998 and 2013. (A content analysis found that in addition to disputing the science, they frequently questioned the integrity of specific climate scientists  modern-day witch hunts alleging mathematical and other tricks.)

While we no longer burn people at the stake for outlier weather, there is little question that sowing scientific denial with the intent to halt progress on warming will condemn the most vulnerable. A new World Bank report predicts that climate change will push more than 100 million people in the poorest regions of the world back into poverty over the next 15 years. The poor will suffer the most from natural disasters and the health impacts of climate change, from famine to floods to Dengue Fever.

What we have that King James lacked is the science to help us understand our changing climate and take action to protect all life. If we fail to act on what we know, our descendants will one day look back at us with the same head-shaking disbelief we express for King James and his imaginary witches.

Cynthia Barnett is the author of three books on water. She tells the King James story in her latest, Rain: A Natural and Cultural History.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

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Many Glendale residents dont realize the city has operated a dump in Scholl Canyon, in its southeast corner bordering Eagle Rock and Pasadena, for more than 50 years. Now the city is exploring another expansion to the dump, a process initiated with a 2014 Draft Environmental Impact Report that exposes some of the dumps pollution dangers.

This plan is fatally flawed. We call on Glendale officials to abandon the push for dump expansion and take it off the table.

Two scientists, one from UCLA and the other from Caltech, completed a comprehensive study of the dump in 2015 to determine the impact of the proposed expansion.

They raise a major concern, not even mentioned in the environmental report, of the active Verdugo fault less than half a mile from the now 500-acre dump. Scientific evidence shows the fault capable of earthquakes in the range of 6.0 to 6.7 on the Richter scale. With the dump not on firm footing, one could call the plan for its expansion faulty.

According to a 2003 Technical Background Report by the city of Glendale, the dump rests on granite that is highly shattered, sheared, and crushed.

This dump base does not conform to standards from the Environmental Protection Agency that, since 1998, have called for an impermeable barrier to the toxic compounds that build up in and travel through massive trash piles, even in landfills designated for household waste only, as in the case of the Scholl Canyon dump. Glendale opened the dump in 1961 with no such impermeable barrier. The ineffectiveness of the fractured rock base is worrisome for two immediate reasons.

First, the UCLA geologist found that compounds known to cause cancer are present in test wells west of the dump. Second, the likelihood of further quake activity on the Verdugo fault and other nearby faults will make the fractured granite even more porous due to additional shearing of the rock base.

The potential for environmental disaster will only deepen with expansion of the dump, increasing both the scale and scope of risk to city wells, the L.A. River, and residents far beyond Glendale. Glendale has an obligation to prevent harm from those problems

Pollution of the ground and water are not the only dangers from the dump. Glendales 2014 report seeking clearance to raise the height of the dump by 180 feet states that it will result in significant unavoidable adverse impacts relating to air quality, even after mitigation.

That is especially unsettling for seniors and young children, such as those in Glenoaks Canyon or at Dahlia Heights Elementary in Eagle Rock, many of whom also take advantage of nearby parks. Time spent outdoors is a risk factor for lung damage from the fine and coarse particles and nitrous oxide that the dump emits.

Glendale City Council in 2011 unanimously approved a zero-waste policy that commits the city to reducing trash and dumping by 75% by 2020 and 90% by 2030. Any dump expansion contradicts and undermines this policy.

Glendales original Joint Powers Agreement with L.A. County, which established the dump in 1961 states, Countys rights to use City property shall be for 17 years ... or until such property has served its purpose and shall have been completely filled as herein specified, whichever first occurs, whereupon all rights of District and County shall terminate. This means the dump should actually have closed in the late 1970s.

Abiding by the original intent of the Joint Powers Agreement and closing the Scholl Canyon dump is not an obstacle, but an opportunity. Glendale can be an example not only to California, but to the country, demonstrating innovation and sensitivity to protecting both its own and nearby residents and the environment with smarter, less polluting waste solutions that conform with the citys zero-waste policy.

We urge the Glendale City Council to take dump expansion off the table. Focus instead on safer, forward-thinking waste policy. Thats solid ground.

--

ADAM STARR is a father of two and a resident of Glenoaks Canyon in Glendale. He can be reached at adam.starr.glendale@gmail.com.

HANS JOHNSON, who lives in Eagle Rock, is founder of Communities United to Stop Scholl Dump Expansion. He can be reached at eapd.la@gmail.com.
For two years, Habiba lived with her two children and husband in Amman. Life could be tough for the refugee family. Little food, little money. But they were together and grateful to be in Jordan, away from the mass killing theyd fled in Sudan.

Today, however, Habiba and her children are alone. Last month, her husband, Saleh, was sent back to Khartoum by Jordanian authorities, forcibly deported with about 600 other Sudanese nationals.

They cry all the time, Habiba said in Arabic, as 1-year-old Mohammed, snug in a bright purple sweater, tugged at her sleeve. When they hear someone coming up the stairs outside, they shout, Daddy! Daddy!

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Habiba can do little to comfort her children. Saleh was the familys sole breadwinner. Although its generally illegal for Sudanese refugees to work in Jordan, Saleh usually managed to scrape enough money together working casual jobs in cleaning or construction. Now he was gone.

I dont know how I can live, how I can keep the house, said Habiba, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of reprisal. Im not able to work. We dont have money to buy food. The babys sick. I dont have money to take him to the hospital.

Habibas is not the only shattered family. When planes left Ammans Queen Alia International Airport for Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, on Dec. 18, they took with them nearly 20% of Jordans 3,500-strong Sudanese population.

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Jordanian government representatives did not respond to requests for comment on the situation. Previously, a spokesperson told journalists that the deported Sudanese were not refugees, as they had entered the country on medical visas. Both the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Human Rights Watch disputed the arguments.

The majority of deported men, women and children were refugees and asylum seekers recognized by the UNHCR. They were rounded up outside the agencys office, where many had been staging a protest, seeking support and demanding a chance to resettle in another country.

A woman from Sudans Darfur region walks past tents during a sit-in outside the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman, Jordan, in December. (Khalil Mazraawi / AFP/ Getty Images)

Authorities bound the hands of some with zip ties and herded them onto buses for processing. They had been camped outside the agency there since mid-November in a tent city that provided scant shelter from the Jordanian capitals cold winter.

Saleh, however, didnt go to the office to demonstrate. He had heard a rumor that protesters would be resettled in Canada and, like hundreds of others, had rushed to the office believing his prayers had been answered.

By the time he realized the truth, it was too late.

He called me from the airport. He said, Maybe I cannot come back, Habiba said. He told me that I must take good care of the children.

In a region gripped by conflict, Jordan has become one of the safest options for refugees who can reach it. But life is a struggle, characterized by illegal, low-paid work and the dodging of authorities and racist abuse.

Most of Jordans Sudanese population are Darfuri and have good reason to fear returning to Khartoum.

When rebel groups in Sudans Darfur region took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in 2003, the government and allied militias unleashed a brutal campaign of violence against the non-Arab fighters and villagers that has frequently been described as a genocide. Violent flare-ups that defy easy categorization persist to this day.

Habiba is relieved that Saleh has been able to call her a few times from Sudan, but the families of other deportees are not so lucky.

Deportees in Khartoum and activist groups, including the U.S.-based Darfur Women Action Group, estimate that close to 200 were arrested after returning to Khartoum, and those released from prison have reported being subjected to interrogation and torture. Returnees have told The Times that several of the 600 remain unaccounted for.

The situation worries Adam and Mohammed, who share a small room in central Amman. The young men, who asked that their full names not be used for fear of reprisal, have lived in Jordan for about two years. They also were arrested at the UNHCR protest, but amid the chaos  refugees clashed with police, who fired tear gas  the pair managed to escape.

They kept in contact with a friend who was also arrested. But when he boarded the plane to Khartoum, his messages stopped.

We dont know whats happening to him, Mohammed said. The [Sudanese] government arrested him. That means he will die, and no one will know about it.

For days after their escape they didnt leave their house, convinced they were wanted by authorities. That terror hasnt gone away.

All of us here are from Darfur, Adam said. If we go back, theyll put us in the prison and do the bad things they did before.

The people who are killed are like us.

A shy twentysomething, he spends his free time studying, and a neat stack of books sits on the table by his bed. I am afraid to go on to the street, he said.

Sudanese are shackled with plastic zip-ties on a bus headed to a detention facility near the Amman airport in Jordan in December. (Ahmad Douri / Associated Press)

With a protest seeking more assistance resulting only in the disaster of deportation, refugees who remain say they have never felt more alone. Habiba, who hopes that the U.N. would offer some answers, said she was told by staff to wait for help.

UNHCR spokeswoman Helene Daubelcour said that the agency was proactively following up on the situations of women such as Habiba and that emergency cash assistance was available at any time. Several Sudanese families have requested and received such help in recent weeks, she said.

Habiba is receiving some limited help from local NGOs, and Mohammed and Adam have welcomed a third friend into the small room they share. Their three beds are now crammed between the possessions  mostly books  of deported friends.

It is humiliating, Mohammed said.

This man, he gets nothing from the government and he needs to live, he said in English, referring to refugees in general. He escapes this genocide. He lost every member of his family, and he tried to live the new life. And now you catch him, and return him back by force.

Although authorities havent yet directly threatened the remaining refugees, Mohammed said hes losing sleep over that possibility. Hes fearful that police might come to deport him in the night. His voice is edged with anger, but he often trips and fades mid-sentence, staring into middle distance, shaking his head. Hes exhausted.

Now in Jordan, we are afraid for the life. We are living first to work, to be living like other people. But we dont know, he said. There is no support, there is no one to care about the life here. This is shame. It is a big shame.

Staton is a special correspondent.

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Syrian army troops have overrun rebel strongholds in the mountains of western Latakia province, according to government and opposition accounts on Sunday, marking the latest government gains before peace talks slated to begin this week in Geneva.

Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad swept through the town of Rabiaa and nearby villages close to the Turkish border, according to the official Syrian media and a pro-opposition monitoring group.

The army advanced after violent clashes against Islamic battalions including Jabat al Nusrah, the official Al Qaeda franchise in Syria, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitor based in England. Syrian and Russian war planes backed the thrust, the observatory said.

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Since Sept. 30, when Moscow first began its aerial combat operations in Syria, Russian warplanes have made more than 5,600 sorties and launched almost 100 airborne and seaborne cruise missiles in support of Assads government, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The Russian intervention has helped turn the tide of battle on several fronts, including Latakia, boosting the fortunes of Assads government as United Nations-peace talks are set to convene in Geneva this week

Syrian soldiers stand at a pickup truck with a gun mount in Salma, Syria, on Jan. 22, 2016. (Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press)

The Russian intervention has really changed the rules of the game, said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics. The Syrian army has shifted from a defensive mode into an offensive mode.

While the Geneva talks are scheduled to begin Monday, officials say a delay of at least a day is likely because of a dispute about who will represent the opposition delegation.

Still, officials from the United States and Russia  two principal backers of the Geneva talks -- have said they are optimistic that the negotiations will take place. Washington and Moscow are on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, but the two nations say a political settlement is needed to end the punishing conflict.

We are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so, those talks can get going, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Obama administration has backed away from its longtime insistence that Assad step down from office as part of any U.N.-backed transition process in Syria.

A Saudi-backed coalition that includes a number of hard-core Islamist groups insists it should be the sole opposition representative in Geneva. The group has threatened not to attend the talks if other opposition factions are invited.

But Russia, which backs Assads government, has objected to the composition of the Saudi-backed group and has called for a broader opposition delegation. Moscow wants to see a leading Syrian Kurdish political party invited to Geneva and also seeks enhanced secular representation among opposition delegates.

Unconfirmed reports were circulating on Sunday that the United Nations might invite two separate opposition delegations to the Geneva talks in an apparent compromise.

The U.N. special Syrian envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is expected to provide further details about the status of the talks on Monday in Geneva.

A projected timetable for the Geneva peace process envisions a cease-fire within six months and United Nations-administered elections in 18 months, after the drafting of a new constitution. However, diplomats concede that plan is optimistic and are looking for more modest achievements, such as localized cease fires and humanitarian access to blockaded zones.

This is the start of a very prolonged process, said Gerges. It could take months, it could take years.

The Syrian conflict, now raging for nearly five years, has cost more than 200,000 lives and resulted in more than 4 million Syrians having fled their homeland, while millions more have been displaced within Syria. The war has further destabilized the Middle East and contributed to the migrant crisis now confronting Europe.

On the battlefront in Syria, government forces have long sought to expel rebels from Latakia, Assads home province and a government mainstay. The coastal province also houses the principal airbase used by Russian bombers and fighter jets.

Syrian Army engineering units arrived in the newly captured areas in Latakia to dismantle roadside bombs and mines planted by the terrorists, reported the official Syrian media, which refers to all armed rebels as terrorists.

The fall of Rabiaa, which has been in the hands of Islamist rebels since 2012, is the culmination of a months-long campaign to drive out the opposition from Latakia province.The loss of Rabiaa comes less than two weeks after government forces overran the town of Salma, another former rebel bastion in the mountains of Latakia.

Opposition fighters fleeing Rabiaa escaped toward nearby Turkey, the government said.

Turkey, which shares a more than 500-mile border with Syria, has long provided sanctuary and logistical support for Syrian opposition fighters, including Islamic militants. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made ousting Assads government a centerpiece of Ankaras foreign policy.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

Follow @mcdneville for news from the Middle East

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A new poll shows Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders with a 9-point lead over rival Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire less than three weeks away from the state primary election.

A Suffolk University Political Research Center poll released Friday shows Sanders with 50 percent of support from likely voters in the state's Democratic primary on Feb. 9, while 41 percent are backing Clinton. Meanwhile, 2 percent said they are standing with former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley at 2 percent and 6 percent were still undecided.

"Everybody has been talking about the divide in the Republican party for months, but there is a real struggle also going on within the Democratic Party," said said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, according to The Boston Globe.

The survey, which was conducted from Jan. 19 to 21, shows the Vermont senator received a higher favorability rating than Clinton: 80 percent said they had a favorable opinion of him, while 12 percent gave him an unfavorable rating. In comparison, 71 percent of voters viewed Clinton favorably while 23 percent had an unfavorable opinion of her.

Although Sanders has a high favorability among likely Democratic voters, more said that their stance on gun control is aligned with the former first lady: 44 percent back Clinton on the issue and 30 percent stand with Sanders. In addition, 60 percent of voters believe Clinton would is better suited to defeat the Republican nominee in the general election while less than half -- 27 percent -- think Sanders could win the White House.

"Familiarity and favorability are winning the day for Bernie Sanders," said Paleologos in a press release. "But given voters' thoughts about the gun control issue and who is more likely to win in November, the Clinton campaign might gain by pointing out Sanders' vulnerabilities in these areas."

Sanders' surge in the polls in being bolstered by independent voters, which make up almost one-third of the state's electorate and can participate in either party's ballot in the primary.

When surveyed, 60 percent of independents said they would back Sanders compared with just 24 percent who said they would back Clinton.

"New Hampshire Democrats are grappling with a number of issues, but for now Sanders is the clear choice," concluded Paleologos.
Monstrous winter storm Jonas continues to hammer the Eastern seaboard, leaving thousands of travelers stranded and countless others without means of transportation.

Over 9,000 flights slated to depart between Friday and Sunday have been cancelled. At least 500 vehicles are stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and nearly 100,000 New Jersey residents are without power.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced vehicle travel bans ranging from Long Island to Westchester County, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. De Blasio said "plows literally can't keep up" when snowfall hits a certain rate before urging city restaurants and theaters to close and for employees to be allowed to return home.

With little means of travel and snow levels that are being measured in feet rather than inches, east coast residents can't do much other than stay indoors. Below are closures and a scare number of open businesses along the east coast's major cities.

New York City

Subways shut down at 4 p.m. and MTA bus services were suspended at noon on Saturday. No word on when they will re-open.

The State Island ferry is running, but with delays due to visibility conditions.

All public libraries - including New York, Queens, and Brooklyn libraries - will not operate but some may reopen Sunday.

All five New York City zoos as well as the New York Aquarium are closed Saturday but will re-open Sunday.

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian will not accept guests throughout the weekend.

The Museum of Modern Art is closed Saturday but will reopen Sunday, contingent on the restoration of public transportation.

Philadelphia

Amtrak services from Virginia to Boston is still running, albeit on a modified schedule.

#Amtrak continues modified service on the NEC/East Coast due to winter storm. Latest info here: https://t.co/LBbQptAa7z. #blizzard2016  Amtrak (@Amtrak) January 23, 2016

All libraries are closed Saturday.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is closed Saturday and Sunday.

The Philadelphia Zoo is closed Saturday, but may open Sunday.

Due to impending weather, the Philadelphia Zoo will be closed to the public on Saturday, January 23rd. All overnight and Zoo on Wheels programs are also cancelled this weekend. Posted by Philadelphia Zoo on Friday, 22 January 2016

NJ.com has put together a short list of bars and restaurants that vow to remain open during Winter Storm Jonas.

Washington D.C.

All WMATA transit services will not be available throughout the weekend.

The Smithsonian National Zoo remains closed through Sunday, though the zoo did release video of one of their panda's enjoying the snow.

Tian Tian woke up this morning to a lot of snow, and he was pretty excited about it. #blizzard2016 pic.twitter.com/GrhI9t1u7j  National Zoo (@NationalZoo) January 23, 2016

The National Mall, where over 3.5 inches of snow have fallen, is closed through Monday.

Washingtonian.com has compiled a comprehensive list of restaurants and bars that remain open for business.
League of United Latin American Citizens teamed up with Des Moines Public Schools to expose a new generation of voters, especially Latinos, to the impact they have by casting a ballot.

Presidential candidates can't emphasize how important a strong showing at the upcoming Iowa caucuses are to their campaign. The long-established Midwestern stop has always been a telltale sign for Oval Office hopeful as to whether they have a legitimate chance at their party's nomination.

This election cycle's caucus will not be much different in terms of its traditional voter base -- most are White residents 44-years-old or higher.

LULAC partnered with Des Moines Public Schools to educate high school seniors about the Iowa caucuses. They launched their Latino Vote Iowa campaign by speaking with hundreds of students across the state.

"The fastest-growing sector of our Latino community is our youth, so we're excited to have this opportunity to work with Des Moines Public Schools," LULAC Communications Director Melissa Walker told Latin Post. "Through this partnership, we can reach out to all of our youth and engage them to become more active citizens, and hopefully, that starts on Feb. 1 with the Iowa Caucuses."

Walker added that LULAC has met between 200 and 225 students thus far, and plans on meeting an additional 450 next week.

LULAC is focused on reaching approximately 15,000 registered Latino voters across 20 counties, primarily those in the 18-to-22-year-old demographic that weren't old enough to vote four years ago. Millennials, after all, are expected to make up about 44 percent of eligible Hispanic voters this November, the Pew Research Center study revealed.

President Joe Enriquez Hendry has previously stated the organization won't support Donald Trump, but Walker said those views aren't projected onto high school students.

"We share information for both the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties' websites and tell students they can go to those sites to learn their caucus precinct," Walker said. "We explain the differences between the Democratic and Republican caucuses, so students can understand both. We encourage students to conduct their own research about political parties and the candidates who best represent their values."

LULAC revealed that minority students make up more than half of the student body in the Des Moines Public School system, and Latinos only make up six percent of the state's population. The importance in that six percent is that it is more than double the Latino population in 2000.

By 2030, an estimated 40 million Latinos will be eligible to vote, and demographics in Iowa may change by then.

"Our youth have the power to make change happen. For the first time, there are more millennial-age voters eligible to vote than any other generations," Walker said. "We've challenged students to use their right to vote and encouraged them to become involved in the political process."
Have you ever wondered why we haven't seen evidence of alien life? Experts from The Australian National University explained in a new research published in the journal Astrobiology why alien life might have become extinct very quickly.

Based on the recent study, a team of astrobiologists suggested one possible explanation as to why extraterrestrial life cease to exist. Chicago Tribune shared that researchers realized the instability of young habitable planets can lead to either a hellish hothouse or frozen wasteland easily, making the once life-giving oasis unconducive to sustain life.

"The universe is probably filled with habitable planets, so many scientists think it should be teeming with aliens," lead author of the study Dr. Aditya Chopra said. "Early life is fragile, so we believe it rarely evolves quickly enough to survive."

Researchers noted that about four billion years ago, Earth, Venus and Mars may have all been habitable. Unfortunately, a billion years or so after formation, Venus turned into a hothouse while Mars froze into an icebox.

"Most early planetary environments are unstable," Chopra added. "To produce a habitable planet, life forms need to regulate greenhouse gases such as water and carbon dioxide to keep surface temperatures stable."

Study authors also blamed climate change, saying that the mystery of why we haven't found any signs of extraterrestrial existence may be due to the "likelihood of the origin of life or intelligence" and have more to do with the "rarity of the rapid emergence of biological regulation of feedback cycles on planetary surfaces."

The new study, which explained the "Gaian Bottleneck" hypothesis, could also be the answer to the infamous Fermi Paradox, Space.com noted. Chopra and co-author Charley Lineweaver explained that the theory suggested that extinction is the cosmic default for most life that has ever emerged on the surfaces of wet rocky planets in the universe.

They also added that rocky planets need to be inhabited to remain habitable. The theory, however, is in contrast to the "emergence bottleneck," which hypothesized the apparent scarcity of life in our universe is due to the low probability of life emerging in the first place, noting "intricacies of the molecular recipe."

So, if this new theory is true, where are all the alien fossils?

Astrobiologists believed any life-forms that failed to keep their planet habitable never grew big enough to leave identifiable remains.

"One intriguing prediction of the Gaian Bottleneck model is that the vast majority of fossils in the universe will be from extinct microbial life, not from multicellular species such as dinosaurs or humanoids that take billions of years to evolve," Professor Lineweaver said.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear which of these hypotheses better represents reality or these theories represent reality well at all. While there are ways to test such ideas out, researchers said it will be difficult and time-consuming.

For now, these theories are speculations. However, the observations of the study also suggested that another existential threat still looms. Unless we find a way of reversing the damage humans caused to the environment, it appears that there's a possibility that life on Earth may quickly go extinct.
Rumor of romance sparks again for the popular royal bachelor, Prince Harry. This time, the British royalty is rumored to have a romantic relationship with Maria-Olympia, Princess of Greece. However, the British palace seems to be quick on responding over the rumors as they denied that a romance is happening between the two royalties.

After the 31-year old prince goes back on being single, Medias have been eyeing for the next girl Prince Harry would date. When asked about his royalty's love life, the British prince says, "It will happen when it happens." However, according to Hello Magazine, the latest rumors about his romance are about him and his distant relative, Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece.

Daily Mail reported, a royal source denied the alleged romantic relationship between Prince Harry and the 19-year old blond royalty. An Australian magazine claimed that the prince's cousin, Princess Beatrice arrange the two to meet and continued to claimed the British prince was "head-over-heels."

The magazine also added, "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are fans of Maria-Olympia, believing her to be his 'best girlfriend yet. They can't believe how happy and settled Harry is thanks to Maria-Olympia being in his life."

An insider close to the Prince said, there are no romance between them and explains the two royalties are actually both descendent from Queen Victoria's lineage.

Ever since Prince Harry ended his long-term relationship with the Zimbabwean socialite, Chelsea Davy as well his two year long relationship with Cressida Bonas, royal watchers are too keen on the girl he's been with. The popular prince was also link to socialite Astrid Harbord and celebrity model Cara Delevinge, according to Stuff.co.nz.

The rumors also started came just days after Prince Harry joined a party with ex-girlfriends F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham, 37, and PR girl Astrid Harbord in London on Wednesday night.

The 19-year-old princess is the daughter of Crown Princess Marie-Chantal and Crown Prince Pavlov. Born in New York and raised in London, she is the eldest of five children and the only girl of the family.
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China and Iran, two ancient civilizations, agreed Saturday to elevate their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership to boost cooperation on all fronts and carry forward their millennia-old friendship.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

The consensus was reached during President Xi Jinping's visit to Iran, the first in 14 years by a Chinese head of state.

China and Iran have no fundamental conflicts, and there are only consistent mutual support and mutual benefit between them, Xi said during summit talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.

In history, there had been no wars or disputes between the two nations, and the two nations had conducted time-honored friendly exchanges and sincere cooperation, which date back to 2,000 years ago thanks to the Silk Road, Xi said.

"The China-Iran friendship is originated from friendly exchanges in history, from mutual assistance in difficult times, from unselfish support to each other on major issues, and from our concepts of mutually-beneficial cooperation. It has stood the test of the vicissitudes of the international landscape," Xi told Rouhani.

Xi's visit comes days after West-led sanctions on Iran were lifted following an announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency confirming that Tehran had scaled back its nuclear program. China played a constructive role in prior negotiations.

China hopes the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can be implemented smoothly, Xi said, noting that China is willing to see Iran strike a brand-new pose on regional and international stages.

"China stands ready to work with Iran to lift our mutually-beneficial cooperation in such fields as politics, economy and trade, energy, infrastructure, security, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges to a new stage," the president said.

Xi also pointed out that China respects and supports the nations and peoples in the region to independently pursue the political systems and development paths suited to their national conditions, and the international community should help the region achieve economic and social development.

"China is wiling to maintain communication and coordination with Iran to safeguard peace and stability in the region and the world at large," he said.

For his part, Rouhani noted that Xi is the first foreign head of state to visit Iran after its nuclear issue was resolved, which demonstrates the level of positive and friendly relations between the two countries.

The president said the visit will be a milestone in the history of Iran-China relations.

Iran values China's important role in international affairs, bears in mind the long-term support and assistance China has given to Iran and thanks China for its contributions in helping solve the nuclear issue in a political way, Rouhani said.

In a joint statement issued after the summit talks, China and Iran announced that they agree to set up an annual meeting mechanism between the their foreign ministers as a part of the efforts to deepen mutual strategic trust.

The two countries said that they oppose all kinds of use of force or threatening with the use of force, imposing unjust sanctions against other countries, and terrorism in any form.

They believe that controversial or acute international issues should be resolved through negotiations and political dialogue.

The document also said that China supports Iran's application for full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Iran is now one of six observers of the SCO, which was founded in 2001 and now has China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its full members.

A slew of cooperation deals were also signed Saturday, covering various fields such as energy, industrial capacity, finance, investment, communications, culture, judiciary, science and technology, news media, customs, climate change and human resources.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
U.S. District Judge Susan Watters ordered the Interior Department to re-examine the 117 million-ton expansion proposal of the eastern Montana coal mine Cloud Peak Energy's Spring Creek. The judge's decision is in favor with the environmentalist who filed charges claiming that the projects would aggravate climate change and other environmental damages in the area.

The Missoulian wrote that Judge Watters gave the federal officials nine months to check the proposal of Cloud Peak, which is near the Decker, by the Wyoming border.

Watters in a written statement on Thursday said the agency failed to look deeper at the proposed expansion. WildEarth Guardians, one of the case's plaintiffs seeks to challenge the coal industry, which affects 11 mines in five different states. The group argues that burning coal will worsen the climate change problem.

According to NBC Montana, there were other rulings the same with Watters that affected two major coal mines located in Colorado. These rulings come amidst the bankruptcies and falling demands that the coal mining industry is recently facing.

Cloud Peak Energy warned that cancelling its projects would mean firing 275 workers, while the expansion would only keep the mining operations going up until 2022. Meanwhile, Watters said in her ruling that the government violated provisions on how it handled the mining applications from Cloud Peak.

Yahoo News reported last Friday that coal leasing program is put on hold as US officials review the fees mining companies have paid and the environmental effects of coal mining, said the Interior Department Secretary Sally Jewell.

Cloud Peak Energy President Colin Marshall said, "We believe this review process is not warranted and is aimed at delaying leases to ensure the coal is never mined, denying its economic benefits to the nation."

The moratorium will affect the 441 million-ton expansion applied by Cloud Peak Energy's Entelope mine located in central Wyoming, its 198-million ton expansion in its Spring Creek mine in Montana, and it 203-million-ton expansion of its Lighthouse Resources' Decker mine in Montana.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled last week that the Hungarian surveillance law contradicts the right to privacy in the European Convention of Human Rights. The decision may kill off the U.K. government spying law.

According to the Register, the European Court ruled in last week's judgement that the Hungarian government violated article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights about the right to privacy. The ruling said the Hungarian mass surveillance failed to include "sufficiently precise, effective and comprehensive" measures that would limit surveillance to only people it suspected of crimes.

The ruling came after two Hungary activists, Mate Szabo and Beatrix Vissy, sued the Hungarian government in 2014 claiming it infringed their human rights. The ECHR's Fourth Section heard the case.

The plaintiffs concerned the powers of the Hungarian intelligence agency, the Anti-Terrorism Task Force (TEK), under the Police Act 1994. According to Just Security, the Police Act provided surveillance powers exercisable in the context of criminal investigation. The Act also provided powers applicable to intelligence gathering in the context of national security.

The European Court ruled that the Hungarian surveillance law did not provide sufficient guarantees against abuse, according to Ars Technica. The court ruled that it was possible for "virtually any person in Hungary to be subjected to secret surveillance." It also noted that the various stages of authorization and application secret surveillance measures lacked judicial supervision.

Additionally, the external, preferably judicial control of secret surveillance activities reportedly offers the best guarantees of independence, impartiality and a proper procedure. According to the rulign, the Hungarian government should be required to interpret the law in a narrow fashion and "verify whether sufficient reasons for intercepting a specific individual's communications exist in each case."

The ECHR ruling over mass surveillance law applies to all countries that have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, including the U.K. This means, the U.K.'s Investigatory Powers Bill will need to be compliant with the European Court's ruling.

The U.K.'s Investigatory Powers Bill would allow anyone in the UK to be subjected to secret surveillance. British Prime Minister David Cameron previously complained that the European Court is interfering in national issues.

The ruling cannot stop the U.K. government from passing the Investigatory Powers Bil for mass surveillance. But if it does pass the bill, it will be taken to the ECHR and found to have violated the European Convention.

The U.K. government can continue the mass surveillance law, but it would face fines and lose international reputation.
Presidential run-off in Haiti has been delayed one more time in accordance of an electoral dispute. The said presidential runoff was indefinitely put on hold as Haiti's leaders desired to discuss first the resolution and find out what threatens the controversial constitutional crisis there is.

According to Yahoo! News, the Provisional Electoral Council decided to put on hold the presidential runoff on Sunday by reason that there has been too much violence in the country. Pierre-Louis Opont, Council President had expressed the said thought during a news conference. In addition, the capital has been ransacked by the violent protests by the opposition that led to the indefinite hold of the runoff.

The Provisional Electoral Council did not set any date on when exactly the presidential runoff will be ready and resume. And there is no final decisions yet as to whether an interim government will take over of the presidential runoff after February 7 - when President Michel Martelly is required to leave office as per the Constitution states. No further accord yet if he would still remain in power until a new president will be elected, Boston Globe shared.

A lot of violent protests were made. President Michel Martelly, with all his power, was supposed to address the recent dispute in a speech. But, the president cancelled the said addressing because of the ongoing protests and various barricades that have been executed by the protesters. Washington Post cited that the said presidential runoff was reported to have a lot of dispute caused by fraud and electoral sabotage - most of which was in favor of the presidential successor, Jovenel Moise.

Protests have grown and seems to be increasing - and thus, is getting more violent that harm so many. Haiti, as of the moment, has a shaky disposition and has been needing the peacekeeping force of the United Nations for assistance.
A 1.3 billion discord amid the three Ukrainian oligarchs has been paid off out of court just before the hearing was due to start in the London higher court. One of the three oligarchs was a major donor to Tony Blair's Foundation. The Ukrainian oligarchs involved have grown rich during the 1990s despite of the chaotic and violent era in the country during that time.

The court case was about to discuss and was set to be dealt about the Ukrainian's past involvements and post-Soviet privatizations. The trial is set to reveal all the particulars about Ukraine's challenging capitalist beginnings way back, The Guardian shared.

Moreover, several ownership of privatized state iron mine has been called into the attention floor. Krivorozhskiy Zhelezorudnyy Kombinat (KZhRK) has been involved and linked to various allegations of assaults and issues on lawyers, as well as exploitation of British Virgin Island companies

According to Daily Read List, Victor Pinchuk has said to reach a deal with his fellow oligarchs, Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Igor Kolomoisky before the set London trial happened. All were considered with his rights to iron ore facility and reportedly paid 100 million for a mining company properties and/or ownership whom he have not really acquired.

Igor Kolomoisky, on the other hand, has been one of the most controversial public figures in the Ukraine. He was recruited and assigned as a governor by the new government after the Maidan Revolution but got fired in March 2015 with issues linking his business empire and government funds together.

Naija Dailies also cited that the case will discuss various companies and its privatizations over the years with its leaders and public figures at point. The focus will be the expenses, monetary funds and the like for the three oligarchs who are involved in the said case that is proceeding to the higher court.

The said case will run through for eight weeks beginning on Monday. Victor Pinchuk's side claimed a settlement has already been reached out of court.
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As Chinese President Xi Jinping started his state visit in Iran on January 23, the China-Iran Think Tank Dialogue on the "Belt and Road Initiative" was being held in Tehran simultaneously.

China, Iran signs 1st official think tank co-op agreement. [Photo / RDCY]

As one of the most important achievements of President Xi's visit, the two countries signed a "Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Iran), Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), the National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC) and Renmin University of China."

This is the first international think tank cooperation agreement directly tied to the "Belt and Road" project through the cooperation of official and academic organizations between two major countries. It also marks a big step forward in promotion of the "Belt and Road Initiative," especially in regard to policy coordination and people-to-people contacts.

The agreement was signed by Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the NDRC, Liu Wei, president of Renmin University of China, Mohammed Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign minister, and Mostafa Zahrani, director general of IPIS.

The main contents include promoting exchanges and cooperation in the academic and research fields, exchanging experts or researchers, and promoting joint research on several important aspects of the "Belt and Road Initiative" under the auspices of the RDCY and IPIS.

Mostafa Zahrani, director general of IPIS, said in an interview that the purpose was to enhance friendship and mutual understanding between policy think tanks in the two countries, as well as general populace, especially in promoting specific cooperation and exchanges in various fields that could help improve their mutual interests.

Wang Wen, executive dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China (RDCY), said in the interview that the agreement was accomplished with strong support from high officials of the two countries, especially with the help of the leaders of Renmin University and the common efforts of the two research institutes -- RDCY and IPIS.

RDCY was one of the earliest think tanks to conduct the research on the "Belt and Road" and had the ability and responsibility to push forward research cooperation worldwide, Wang added.

He went on: "Think tank exchanges and contacts between China and Iran are still in its initial period without any institutionalized mechanisms on cooperation and communication.

"The signing of the MOU will become a useful exploration for deeper cooperation between various organizations and will help launch a new historical period for our two ancient countries to promote policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds."

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Neighbors along 2nd and 3rd Streets in Bethlehem Township have a system when it comes to cleaning up after monster snowstorms: Keep moving from one house to the next.

Starting Friday night and through much of Saturday, it snowed a record 31.9 inches -- a record 30.2 inches on Saturday alone at Lehigh Valley International Airport.

Clusters of neighbors Sunday morning could be seen carrying shovels and pushing snowblowers in an effort to help clear paths from driveway to driveway. Many said they told elderly neighbors to stay inside in fear of health concerns.

"We do about four houses," said Alessandra Tavares, whose husband, Fernando, was using his snowblower to clear paths for neighbors who are senior citizens. "It didn't stop yesterday. We would clear a path and it would just keep coming down."

Tavares said a path at her own home near 3rd Street had to consistently be cleared just to let her two dogs out.

Another neighbor spent two hours Sunday morning after taking a crack at clearing his driveway Saturday evening. He said he finally was making some progress on Sunday.

"I'm a fast worker," he said.

In more than four decades living on 3rd Street, Ray and Fran Barner said they can't recall a snowstorm totaling more than 30 inches, noting that's the amount of snowfall typically in an entire season. Even in 1996, Ray Barner recalled, conditions weren't as bad.

"You can't even see your neighbor's house behind you," Fran Barner said. "I swear I don't remember it like this. It's crazy."

Ray Barner said the couple on Saturday evening spent more than two hours trying to clear their driveway and barely made a dent.

"It was hitting us in the face; you couldn't see," Fran Barner said. "Everything was just white."

By Sunday, the snow plows pushed 10 feet of snow against the end of the driveway, Ray Barner said.

Neighbor Brian Kimble said without his trusty snowblower, he would be in trouble. His trick it to take a shovel to the top of the heap and then use the snowblower to finish out the bottom.

"I've been out here an hour working on it," he said. "It normally takes me hardly any time. This is probably more than we get all year."

Kevin Beahm, and his father Wayne Beahm, were clearing the driveway of Kevin's grandmother, who lives nearby on 3rd Street. Kevin agreed without the snowblower, they would be there for hours.

"If I didn't have the snowblower, it would be awful," he said, noting the pair began clearing Saturday on their own property so they wouldn't be hit as hard on Sunday.

"We made sure everything was at least cleared off the cars and around them," Kevin said.

Kevin Kalman, a firefighter with Bethlehem Township Volunteer Fire Co., was working to find a fire hydrant buried on his property to make a 3-foot path around it, as required by township fire officials.

He later said he was able to find the hydrant and clear the path. Kalman noted firefighters need to "hit the hydrant" to efficiently make all three connections and to operate the stem if there's an emergency.

"Fire hydrant markers haven't been provided in years, so this may be an investment I'll have to make myself," Kalman said.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
cell-phone-bernards.JPG

Some school fights are instigated by students (and some adults) using social media to trigger confrontations.

(Ramin Talaie/Bloomberg)

Easton isn't alone. Other school districts are finding that students are using social media to trade insults, create vendettas and set up fights the following day in school -- sometimes so others can anticipate the violence and film it on smartphones.

The flurry in the Easton Area School District after the recent holiday break, however -- eight fights at the middle school and four at the high school, over 10 days -- forced school officials to gear up and address the problem of kids (and some adults) making inflammatory posts on social media.

Easton Superintendent John Reinhart was right to go public, sending out a letter detailing the situation, having teachers talk to students, asking students to report suspicious online activity, beefing up security personnel in schools, briefing the school board.

This is a spiral that can get out of hand quickly. Trying to monitor all the platforms and apps that kids frequent -- such as the phone messaging app Kik, which permits anonymous comments that disappear -- is a needle/haystack proposition. Other platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter helped feed the recent frenzy, school officials said.

"It's a serious, serious problem," Reinhart said of the proliferation of fights. He expects suspensions and expulsions of those involved -- those that can be verified.

Schools can't solve this social-media eruption on their own. While school officials have been increasingly on guard against weapons, gang activity and bullying, fights can be instigated online after school hours. Posts can be shared quickly with hundreds of others, and cause fights where security officers are unlikely to react soon enough, such as on school buses.

A first line of defense is to identify perpetrators and get them out of school -- permanently, as needed -- and organize a monitoring network that gets students and parents involved. Teachers and school security shouldn't have to deal with the violent fallout of social-media baiting and bullying before parents or guardians do.

At Easton High, the trouble has been brewing early in the day, with the high school cafeteria serving as a staging area. Soon after, students begin encountering one another face-to-face, reacting to incendiary posts, messages and photos/videos from the night before -- prompting some to look for fights, others to avoid them.

It's naive to think kids are going to give up social media, or that new apps will be easily subjected to parental monitoring. But that's where it must start -- with communication and education, enlisting kids to be monitors and help direct school officials to potential problems. And for those who do the inciting and fighting, the schools and police must take action.

What else can be done?

Some schools are monitoring students' public postings on social media. One district in Staten Island is enlisting kids in a "think before you click" campaign. A cottage industry of social media monitoring services has sprung up, which some districts and colleges are enlisting.

It's important to remember that while almost all kids are online these days, a small minority is using it to nurture violence. The sooner they're out of the schools, the better. Social media has many beneficial uses for schools, law enforcement, business, families -- all of us. Yet the chaos that can be produced by a few people disrupts schools disproportionately, whether through fights, threats of gun violence, bomb scares or bullying. It degrades the learning environment. It causes students and staff to endure delays and fear for their safety.

Effectively countering that threat means using online technology, where possible, to track those responsible and hold them responsible. And having parents involved in all parts of the children's lives, including their social media travels and posts.
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South Sudan has welcomed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's decision to revise the transit fees of Juba's oil transport through Sudan's territories, local media reported Saturday.

"South Sudan appreciates and welcomes this stance which constitutes a good step towards responding to Juba's request presented by its Foreign Minister Barnaba Benjamin during his recent visit to Sudan," Khartoum's Al Ray Al Am daily quoted South Sudanese Ambassador Mayan Dot as saying.

During a recent visit to Khartoum, Benjamin revealed that his country asked Sudan's government to reduce the oil transit fees due to the drop in the global oil prices.

"We were forced to request reduction of the oil transit fees because of the drop in the international oil prices," the diplomat noted.

He further disclosed that joint technical committees would hold meetings in the coming days to revise the oil deal between the two countries and come out with consensual decisions regarding the oil file.

On Thursday, the official SUNA news agency reported an official source as saying that "President Omer Hassan al-Bashir has directed to revise the interim economic measures with the Republic of South Sudan."

Juba seems to have found itself forced to cut on its financial expenditure under the declining global oil prices and dropping of the South's oil production to about 160,000 barrels a day due to the ongoing civil war in the new-born state since 2013.

The oil deal, signed between Sudan and South Sudan in September 2012, stipulates that Juba would pay three billion dollars as assistance to Sudan in a period of three years besides that South Sudan's government would pay about 20 dollars as oil transit fees per barrel.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir Mayardit and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee their homes.
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The Real China restaurant at the Highcross shopping centre is to shut due to low diner numbers.

The restaurant is set to be rebuilt as a Thai eatery that's more visible from the street.

The Real China suffered partly because the main dining area is on the first floor and cannot be seen from Shires Lane.

The owner of the Highcross shopping centre, Hammersons, is in talks with Thaikhun, a Thai food restaurant chain, and has now received planning permission to re-build the front of the restaurant so shoppers can see inside the first-floor dining area.

An agent for Hammersons said in documents sent to Leicester City Council as part of the planning application: "Real China has suffered from poor trading and will shortly vacate the unit.

"Hammerson plc has secured a new lease with the Thai Leisure Group Ltd, who will trade under the Thaikhun fascia at the site.

"Thaikhun offers an interactive Thai dining experience with open kitchens and traditionally rustic surroundings, inspired by the streets of Bangkok.

"Thaikhun's vision is to bring authentic Thai street food to the UK.

"Their first restaurant opened in Manchester in May 2014 and since then they have opened five more restaurants around the country."

The application sets out the plan to improve views into the restaurant from Shires Lane and St Peter's Square.

The work on the building will include removing the small front windows on the upper floor and creating one big window covering both the ground and first floors so people can see in.

A Highcross spokesman said: "Highcross is committed to maintaining a diverse and exciting mix of retailers and restaurants for its customers to provide the very best shopping and dining experience."

Staffing levels are expected to remain about the same when Real China shuts and the new restaurant opens.

The Real China was among the first eateries in the Highcross when it first opened in September 20008.

The all-you-can-eat buffet has since seen a lot of new competition open up around it, including Coast to Coast, Byron Burgers, Bill's, Handmade Burger Co and Frankie and Benny's.

In 2013 The Real China was fined 12,000 at Leicester Magistrates' Court after breaching food hygiene regulations.

Environmental health officers found dirty, greasy equipment, fridge seals that did not close properly and food being stored at the wrong temperature.
Methane gas from rotting rubbish buried in Kyletalesha will soon be used to power homes across Ireland.

Methane gas from rotting rubbish buried in Kyletalesha will soon be used to power homes across Ireland.

Laois County Council are poised to launch a project which will burn off the greenhouse gas to generate electricity for supply to the ESB.

The project is also being undertaken by Offaly and Westmeath county councils.

Kyletalesha on the Portlaoise Mountmellick road, is full to capacity and closed. For the past eight years, methane and other gases produced by decaying refuse were burnt off to prevent environmental damage and bad smells.

Laois County Councils Senior Executive Engineer Michael Malone says the gas utilisation project will generate 500 to 800kw of electricity per day, for about five years.

That is enough electricityto supply 800 to 1300 houses, he said.

He says the noise from the engine and generator will be less than 50 dBs, complying with the councils waste licence, and it will be enclosed in a container.

The council have already chosen a contractor to install and operate the project, at no cost to the council.

They expect to sign contracts in March and begin operation by autumn.

The profit from selling on the electricity will be split between the company and the council.

The expected profit can not yet be revealed for commercially sensitive reasons.

Mr Malone says the project is good news on many counts.

We will be making complete use of this gas rather than burning it off, to produce a useful product. We will own that grid connection which could be put to different use down the road, if we were generating gas from biomass, he said, adding that the project will help Ireland meet its renewable energy target.

Gas production will drop as the rubbish decomposes.

About 700 cubic metres of gas is produced per hour. By 2020 that will be down to 250 or 300, it might make sense to go back to flaring, he said.

In the future, Kyletalesha could become a public amenity, hosting bog tours, but an incinerator is not on the cards, Mr Malone believes.

The incinerator planned at Poolbeg will cater for half the country, and there are others in Cork and Drogheda, he said, adding that the council have shelved plans to sell the facility for the moment.

A member of Kyletalesha Landfill Environment Committee said it was not informed about the project, and the committee had not had a meeting in recent months.
She may not be a farmer but Mountmellick Macras Gemma Goulding ploughed through the opposition last weekend to claim the top prize.

She may not be a farmer but Mountmellick Macras Gemma Goulding ploughed through the opposition last weekend to claim the top prize.

Gemma was selected as the 42nd International Miss Macra last Sunday night in Dundrum House, Tipperary, following a weekend of interviews with judges, glamorous nights and fun packed days competing against Macra clubs from all over Ireland.

It was very glamorous, I had nine outfit changes since Friday, she says, listing the myriad of activities over the weekend, from zumba, a beach party, raft racing to meeting Galileo the racehorse in Coolmore Stud, and Mass on Sunday morning.

A 28 year old primary school teacher from Rosenallis, Gemma brings home the Miss Macra shield to Laois for the first time since Mary Delaney did so in 1977.

She also received 1,000 in prize money, but she is most enthusiastic about the fame she has brought to her club, where she is an active member since 2008.

A little hoarse after her late night celebrating, Gemma spoke to the Leinster Express.

It brings brilliant recognition to the club, it is fantastic, it was such a shock when my name was called out, she said.

Her party piece for judges was a bilingual poem she composed herself.

The amount of talent from the other girls , dancing, singing and even doing gymnastics on the stage, it was a great night, she said.

Gemma was well supported by club members, as well as her Rosenallis family, parents Margaret and Donal who are farmers, and her three older sisters, all of whom are also primary school teachers.

She will have a busy year.

My first official duty is helping to open the Tullamore Show this Sunday. I am really looking forward to the year, she said.

Her enthusiasm about Macra must surely have swung the judges.

It is such a wonderful organisation. There is so much to do, agri, sport, public speaking, travel, performing arts and community work, she said.
The parents of baby Sam Mulhall who has been in Crumlin hospital since birth last November, are appealing for help with mounting travel costs.

The parents of baby Sam Mulhall who has been in Crumlin hospital since birth last November, are appealing for help with mounting travel costs.

Theresa and Shane Mulhall from Esker Hills, Portlaoise have been taking it in turns to stay overnight with baby Sam, juggling Shanes job in Dublin, with caring at home for Sams big brother Eli aged 13 months.

Sam was born prematurely at 36 weeks after being diagnosed at 31 weeks with a complete blockage of his bowel.

When he was just 8 hours old, he underwent emergency surgery to remove three quarters of his damaged bowel and temporarily separate the large and small intestine.

For the next eight weeks he was fed by a chest line directly into his bloodstream, with formula gradually introduced by mouth, starting with one ml.

Sams fecal matter had to be carefully removed from his large intestine and put into his small intestine to encourage digestion, with the aim of reconnecting both in time.

He recovered so rapidly that last Thursday he had his surgery to reconnect his bowel, and is recovering well.

He is doing quite well, but he is in an awful lot of pain, reported Theresa last Friday.

It will be some time before they will know if the operation is successful, and Sam recovers enough to come home.

We have no idea how long he will be in hospital, it could be six months, or a year. I am hoping by Christmas or maybe his first birthday, she said.

Sam is a hit with the nurses she says.

Every morning I go in they have already washed his hair before I can get a chance, they are all fighting over him, she laughed.

In a touching blog on fundraising site Gofundme.ie, Theresa described how their first Christmas as a family of four was spent apart.

Each parent took turns to stay with each child in Dublin and Portlaoise, finding just a few hours all together in hospital on New Years day.

That was one of the most difficult few days as a family so far, being apart, literally one of us coming home from the hospital, handing over the car keys, and the other person heading straight up in their place. We didnt even have the heart to put up a tree, said Theresa, who thanked her family, the Breens and Nolans from Portlaoise, for their support, as well as Shanes family in Stradbally.

It was only after the first month of driving up and down that they realised they had spent almost 700 on petrol and parking.

This month, I am travelling by train, tram and walking, which costs 410 for the month. It is crippling but completely necessary for me to see Sam every day, help with his care, be there for doctors rounds, establish and maintain a bond, all while still needing to return home in the evenings to take care of Eli, says Theresa.

It will be even more difficult in April, when bank official Theresas maternity benefit runs out, as she obviously cannot return to work while Sam is in hospital.

We tried staying in the Ronald Mcdonald house but that was as expensive as travelling, said Theresa.

Now that Shane, also a bank official, is back working, there is no option for Theresa but to leave Eli with relatives while she travels to Crumlin.

I make my way up 6 mornings a week, Sunday to Friday, returning home late in the evening to spend an hour with Eli before bed. On Fridays I try to bring Eli so that he can get to know his brother. Those are difficult days at the hospital, especially with Eli crawling and trying his best to stand and walk, Theresa says.

Shane stays overnight with Sam 2-3 nights a week after work, and also on Saturday.

Theresa is keeping her blog updated with photos, videos and updates on Sams progress.

Already supporters have given nearly 300 to help the young family.

Obviously we realise the financial situation that all families are faced with, but any help we can get to lessen the financial cost of getting to Sam every day would be a godsend, she said.

The gofundme account amount of 5,000 reflects 12 months travel costs.

I hope we wont need that much, and any left over will be given to the Ronald McDonald house, she said, thanking her family and friends for all the prayers and well wishes.

See www.gofundme.com/679r2s
In 2013 Kevin and Mary Conroy from Laois spoke to the Leinster Express after they won a 10 year legal battle with the HSE, over injuries caused to their daughter Roisin at birth in Portlaoise Hospital.

The family also had received an apology from the HSE and from consultant obstetrician John P Corristine over failings that resulted in Roisin having dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

While cognitively perfect, she is unable to speak or make voluntary movements, needing constant 24 hour care from her parents.

A settlement of 2.6 million was made, with provision to return to court in two years to decide on further care.

It is a hard won battle for parents Kevin and Mary, who gave up work to care for Roisin. They are worn out but relieved, and optimistic about the future.

Now we can get specialist care and therapy. Obviously it was needed earlier, but she will have all she needs now. As a family, it will benefit us, we will be able to do a lot more now. The future is much brighter, says Kevin.

They hope to take on personal assistants for Roisin, both in school and at home. They plan to make their home more wheelchair friendly, and install a hydrotherapy pool.

We are hoping to get a modified campervan, with a lift and a bed for Roisin, to make our family more inclusive, said her father.

Roisin is the eldest of three, with a sister Samantha aged 9 and brother Luke aged 5, pupils in Ratheniska NS.

She is cognitively perfect. She is a lovely bright child, and mischievous. Sammy is very close to her, very protective and concerned. She feels angry too. She has asked how did this happen, and we tell her, says Kevin, who is still angry himself.

On November 10 2001, Mary went to the hospital when she thought her membranes had ruptured. She was reassured and told to attend her appointment with her private consultant Mr Corristine three days later, when she insisted she be admitted to hospital.

The next morning Mr Corristine prescribed drugs to induce her. She did not see him for the rest of the birth. She was put into a room and by 11.30 was in such intense pain that she briefly passed out. There was no hot water for a bath to ease pains, because building work had disrupted supply.

Other than I went to find help, it wouldnt have been given. They gave her an injection in her tummy for the pain, said Kevin.

By 2pm the pain was so bad that Mary felt it must be time to give birth, and walked to the delivery room where she was put on a trace. Records of the heartbeat would later show stretches as long as seven minutes where Roisin was in distress during the labour.

I should have been sectioned, but they made me continue, telling me push again like everything was normal. When her head crowned the cord was around her neck. They did an episiotomy and whipped her out. I got a glimpse, she was blue. I asked why she was not crying, said Mary.

There was no paediatric team present when she gave birth but they arrived five minutes later.

She wasnt breathing. She was out for I dont know how many minutes. It was a nightmare. Then she began breathing on her own and we thought we were out of the woods, said Kevin.

At 11.50 that night, he was called back to hospital. Roisin had had a seizure.

They had called the priest. They told us she was very sick and needed to go to Dublin. They asked if we wanted her to have the last rites and christen her, so we did that. They took two polaroids, and they took her to the Rotunda. I followed and stayed with her till 5.30am, when she was out of danger of dying, said Kevin.

He went back in to see Mary at 9.30 the next morning.

Corristine was there. He explained there was nothing could have been done, and we were just unlucky. He said the trace had been perfect, except just at the birth when it is harder to pick up, he said.

Mary signed herself out and they went up to see Roisin in the ICU.

When they arrived, their hope that Roisin had recovered were shattered.

A doctor came in, looked and said dont you know your child has CP?. Our lives just imploded. Our little girl looked so perfect, Kevin said.

Over the next ten years they tried to help Roisin reach her milestones. At two years of age, she could stand up with help, and the couple tried their best to improve her mobility.

They found it upsetting to send her to pre-Kolbe, a pre-school for children with disabilities in Portlaoise.

Sending your child there is a milestone no parent wants, it was a hard step. It is limited in resources and space, but the staff are brilliant, said Kevin.

Another difficult step was accepting that she needed a wheelchair.

At five she began her education in Kolbe NS.

She is so lucky to be there. The staff really brought her on. They are so good to her and she is so happy going there. They dont get enough credit but they are so appreciated by us, he said.

He says the school has suffered much with cutbacks.

Services were much better when Roisin started. There are 18 students, very few have vocal skills, but they have no speech and language therapist, physiotherapist or occupational therapist. The kids are not getting the help they need, it is left to the teachers, and the job they do with the resources they have is incredible, he said.

Two years ago, prompted by his brother, Kevin contacted a legal firm who specialise in medical negligance cases, Augustus Cullen Law.

Over the years people suggested we look into it. We thought there was no point, that doctors were bound by oath to tell us the truth, but we felt we owed it to Roisin to be sure, he said.

The firm got medical documents released and assessed, which showed evidence that questions needed to be asked.

We were numbed, angry, full of rage. To look at my daughter and know who was responsible, he said.

Litigation was filed against the HSE and Mr Corristine and five weeks before last weeks court hearing, they received a letter admitting liability.

Not only have they delayed nine years of therapy, with a further two years of legal proceedings. They were happy for the facts to remain undiscovered. That to me is despicable. We got an apology but we dont know what happened that day, or what lessons they learned, Kevin said.

He urges other parents who have suspicions about negligence to attend the same law firm.

Please look into it. They owe it to their child. At least they will know nothing could have been done. Our solicitors were very professional and caring, they shielded us from the stress of it, he said.
FROM THE ARCHIVES - PAUL O'MEARA IN CONVERSATION WITH SHERGAR'S JOCKEY WALTER SWINBURN IN 2013, ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE THEFT OF THE RACEHORSE

PERHAPS it is unsurprising that Walter Swinburn rates Shergar as the best horse hes ever run.

Now retired, the 52 year old lived for many years at Bracknagh, near Rathangan, where his parents Wally (a jockey for many years in Ireland) and mother Doreen Cash (a native of Birr) ran a farm.

Though he will forever be associated with Shergar, Swinburn had a stellar career as a rider winning a string of prestigious races including the Epsom Derby on three occasions.

He was only a teenager when he piloted Shergar to Derby success and Lester Piggott rode the horse to victory in the Irish Derby the same year.

The young Swinburn attended Rockwell College in Co. Tipperary before leaving to take up a a riding apprenticeship at the yard of renowned trainer Michael Stoute in the UK.

Shergar landed the Guardian Classic Trial and the Chester Vase in 1881 as well as the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before finishing in fourth place in the St. Leger Stakes.

To be able ride a horse like Shergar was wonderful. I was lucky to ride him. He was bred and raised in Ireland. Apart from being a brilliant racehorse he had a wonderful temperament and I knew that he was always well looked after. It would have been very difficult for him when he was kidnapped that evening and taken out of his environment, Walter told the Leader last weekfrom his Newmarket base.

Lamenting the lack of security compared with today he added: In those days you or I could walk into a stud farm.

Hes aware of all the conspiracy theories and has seen the film of Shergars life which he clearly has little regard for. He believes a BBC documentary most likely captures the fate of the horse and that he became stressed having being bundled into a horsebox in unusual circumstances.

A ransom was demanded and because by that time the ownership of the horse was spread among various members of a syndicate it was not possible to get a coherent or united response to the demand quickly enough. I believe that was he was killed at an early stage, he added.

He also believes that because the Irish public loved Shergar and horses in general his whereabouts would have become known fairly quickly had the horse survived for any length of time beyond February 8, 1983  the evening he was taken from Ballymany Stud, outside Newbridge.

Walter Swinburn

Swinburn was to retire as a jockey in 2000 at the age of 39 and trained horses for a time.

Training horses is obviously much different than riding.

When you ride you get off the horse and move on to the next race.

As a trainer you have the horses for a long time and you have more contact with the owners and its not easy having to tell an owner bad news about, for example when his horse sustains an injury.

Today, Walter Swinburn works in the family owned Genesis Green Stud at Wickhambrook, Newmarket, which is managed by his brother Michael.

But for many he is forever 19, wearing the green and red colours of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, scorching towards the finishing post to win the 1981 Derby by a record margin; so far ahead that second placed John Matthias, aboard Glint of Gold , thought he himself had won.
A delegation of Irish MEPs, TDs and farming experts met last week with the EU Environment Commission with the aim of clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the various bodies in the implementation of EU directives which impact the River Shannon catchment.

A joint statement issued by the Irish representatives described the meeting as constructive, frank and informative.

Those in attendance included: Michael Silke  Farmer, ex-IFA Flood Management Team Chairperson; Luke Ming Flanagan MEP; Marian Harkin MEP; Mairead McGuinness MEP; Michael Fitzmaurice TD; Denis Naughten TD and Barry Cowen TD

The Commission indicated that, while possible, dredging may not be most favourable environmental approach to addressing flooding problems but could form part of an overall solution to include reforestation and re-wetting of bog lands, noted the delegates in their joint statement.

It was once again reiterated that the Irish Government does not need to ask permission or even notify the commission if it intends to carry out flood work. Only where significant damage to a priority habitat was involved was there reason to inform the European Commission of compensatory measures planned.

The Irish delegation noted that the Commission was of the view that national authorities, under the principle of subsidiarity, have substantial scope to implement a planned scientifically evaluated program to alleviate flooding.

Within the context of this overall plan, provision can be made through a permit system to allow for short-term emergency measures that may be needed, pointed out the delegation.

These opportunities have not been optimised by successive administration. The current plan due in 2015 has been delayed and the delegation emphasised the need to publish and implement this plan as soon as possible.

There must, said Irish delegates following the meeting, be real and meaningful consultation and input from land-owners in drafting new plans, recognizing that the existing farmland is a managed landscape and the practices carried out over generations  localised drainage etc  which led to the designation in the first instance, should be allowed to continue.

Every effort should be made to avoid recourse to the Imperative Reasons for Overriding Public Interest' (IROPI) mechanism in the birds and habitats directive. However, the Commission officials indicated that many member states, use the IROPI process on a regular basis, and only one case in 20 years had been turned down. This clearly indicates that we are not engaging proactively with the EU commission.

It was also stated that the EU Solidarity fund could be applied for and Regional Funds could also be utilised to alleviate the risk of flooding.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 447th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere  Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (17-23 January, 2016), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed.

Dont forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox  just click here  ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, lets start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

1. A welcome Labour council gain by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.

Always good news to see UKIP ousted.

2. Decline and fall: how coalition killed the Lib Dems (almost) by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall.

Was it worth it? Did we achieve enough in our five years in Government. Stephen answers some tough questions.

3. Conservative voters coming out of the woodwork by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace.

Tories arent being shy any more, and why that is a good thing.

4. My bizarre experience with Russia Today by Nick Tyrone on NickTyrone.com.

Farce in Millbank.

5. Missing the point and possibly missing the target, but still by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy.

Mark muses on management and its effectiveness.

6. Helping in Hexham by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace.

Heading to a neighbouring area to help in a by-election.

7. Why the Tories won and why the Tories victory was a brittle one by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.

They have to get the big issues right says Mark in his review of Why the Tories won.

And now to the five blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. To nominate a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days  your own, or someone elses, all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected] You can also contact us via Twitter, where were @libdemvoice

8. Lets talk about diversity by Charlie Kingsbury on LY Libertine.

How Liberal Youth is doing something about its approach to diversity.

9. Boris  stop investing City Hall funds in bank owned by Saudi regime by Jenni Hollis on Jenni Hollis.

Jenni reasonably argues that Londoners taxes should not be invested in regime which cares little for human rights.

10. The (Coffee) Chain gang by Andrew Brown on The Widows World.

An interesting analysis of the idea that small business good, big business bad as it relates to local coffee shops.

11. New Year, new politics? by Martin Veart on Martins View.

On saying what you think rather than saying whats safe

12. Privilege: less street fighter, more D & D by Jen Yockney on Either/And.

An interesting way at looking at the benefits or disadvantages we can be dealt by society

And thats it for another week. Happy blogging n reading n nominating.

Featured? Add this to your blog post!



<a href="https://www.libdemvoice.org/top-of-the-blogs-the-lib-dem-golden-dozen-447-49122.html"><img src="https://www.libdemvoice.org/images/golden-dozen.png" width="200" height="57" alt="Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice" title="Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice" /></a>

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
A LIMERICK city man who was extradited from Bulgaria almost two years ago has admitted intimidating a State witness in an ongoing criminal prosecution against two of his brothers.

Vincent Collopy, aged 36, who has an address at St Itas Street, St Marys Park was extradited from Bulgaria in May 2014 after he was arrested by police on foot of a European Arrest Warrant which was issued by the High Court here in 2011.

The father-of-three, who still has access to a property in Bulgaria, was due to go on trial at Limerick Circuit Court this week but on Tuesday morning he pleaded guilty to intimidating or putting William Moran in fear with the intention of obstructing, perverting and interfering with the course of justice at Island Road, Limerick on June 9, 2010.

Collopy was also previously charged under the provisions of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act with threatening to kill or cause serious harm to the then 51-year-old on the same date.

However, on Tuesday John OSullivan BL, prosecuting, indicated that a nolle prosequi will be entered by the State in due course as the defendants guilty plea meets the case against him.

At the time Vincent Collopy committed the offence, Willie Moran was a key State witness in proceedings which had been brought against two of his brothers  Kieran Collopy and Damian Collopy both of whom have addresses in St Marys Park.

Later in In 2011, both were sentenced to five years imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Willie Moran during a separate incident on April 14, 2010.

That incident which happened at Mr Morans home, related to money which they believed he had belonging to their brother Philip Collopy, who accidentally shot himself in 2009.

During Tuesdays brief hearing, Judge Tom O'Donnell was informed by Michael Bowman SC, defending, that Vincent Collopy has gone through a number of "significant life changes" given the antiquity of the offence.

While the defendants older brother, Brian Collopy was sentenced to six years imprisonment for a similar offence, Mr Bowman submitted there were "certain factors which were unique to his case.

He added that his client's father passed away recently and he requested that a probation report be prepared ahead of a sentencing hearing in March.

Judge O'Donnell remanded the defendant on continuing bail and he adjourned sentencing until March 15 next when he will hear details of the offence.

Last July, Vincent Collopy was refused permission to permission to go on holiday to Morocco with his brothers and father.

Following an objection from state solicitor, Michael Murray, Judge ODonnell said he was not willing to grant an application to vary his bail.
THE impact of climate change and the resulting rise in water levels should be taken into account in planning for flood risk in the Limerick area in the future.

This was part of a submission by local councillors to the CFRAMS (Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management Studies) process which is currently underway. The studies aim to assess flood risk by identifying locations that are in danger of flooding and outlining what can be done to manage this risk.

Flood maps drawn up as part of this process were presented to the public and local representatives at a series of meetings in recent months.

At a special council meeting on Monday, councillors approved the submissions, giving the green light for the project to move onto the next phase, which will involve the preparation of the flood risk management plans. Draft versions of these plans are due to be published towards the end of the year.

At Mondays meeting, Cllr Cian Prendiville pointed out that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures could lead to a significant rise in sea levels which would have an impact on Limerick.

Future flood risks assessment need to take into account climate change, he said.

Independent councillor John Gilligan said there were no solutions to the problem of flooding such as that experienced over the past month.

What we have to look at is how we can manage the recent floooding and what is going to come down the river over the next 20 years, said Cllr Gilligan.

He pointed out that dredging the Shannon was not the answer and that flood defences in places like Castleconnell would have to be made permanent.

A number of councillors also raised concerns about the impact that flood prevention measures upstream on the Shannon would have on the Limerick area.

Mayor Liam Galvin said Limerick was in danger of getting the brunt of flooding if works were done upstream without due consideration. Whatever works are carried on up the country it mustnt affect our city and our people in any way," he said.

His fellow Fine Gael councillor John Sheahan said he would prefer to see more technical detail from the CFRAMS process, rather than what he described as anecdotal evidence about flood risk.

And Cllr Stephen Keary pointed out that, while the study focussed mainly on the larger rivers, it did not include many smaller watercourses throughout the county. This whole process is of very little benefit to the general population of County Limerick that are not living in proximity to a major river or urban centre, he said.

He added that if someone wanted to build a house in one of these areas, they would still have to get a flood risk assessment done, which could cost as much as 5,000.

Cllr Paul Keller of the Anti Austerity Alliance questioned how the flood maps would impact on properties where planning permission was already granted and was told that is was unlikely banks or building societies would approve mortgages in such situations.

Sinn Feins Seighin O Ceallaigh poined out that the study should also take account of the impact of the Ardnacrusha dam and that any flooding models should allow for a water flow from Parteen Weir of up to 500 cubic metres per second of water.

Cllr Elena Secas said the study should also incorporate land use practices and future development.

Councillors asked that the experience of recent flooding be considered in estimating flood risk.
OVER 10,000 has already rolled into the Joanne McMahon Thanksgiving Fund, thanks mainly to individual contributions from Ireland and abroad and to organised events.

Schools, choirs and online subscribers have all been inspired by Joanne McMahons story and her appeal for help and have joined in the push to raise money for the Burns Unit of St James Hospital in Dublin.

The journey continues to be exciting and very enjoyable thanks to the fantastic support, ideas and work of so many all over Limerick and especially West Limerick, says Liam Woulfe, who heads up the fundraising committee behind the Thanksgiving Fundraiser.

And theres still 90 days to go to the main event, the walk, run, cycle on April 17. The ingenuity of everybody is amazing.

Registration for April 17 is now open, and can be done online, Mr Woulfe said.

Registration is free and once you have registered you will get a confirmation email with a number, he explained. There are six options open to people: a 90k or 80k Challenge cycle, a 40k Fun Cycle, a 10k run or walk or a 5k fun walk.

Naturally we would like to receive voluntary contributions to support the success of the events so we will provide ample opportunities on the day especially at the checking in point for everybody to make whatever contribution they wish, Mr Woulfe added.

Hundreds of sponsorship cards have already been distributed but cards are still available available to anybody who wants one by contacting any of the Fundraiser team or at any of the feeder fundraising events coming up over the next two weeks.

These include a Fun Quiz in Neenans Bar in Broadford on Friday, January 29 at 9pm, an afternoon tea with a difference Jenny Hayes home in Castlemahon on Sunday, Janaury 31, a Quiz Night in the Ballintemple Inn, Newcastle West on Friday, February 5 and a variety concert in Rathkeale House Hotel the following night, February 6.
A Rathkeale man has been jailed in the United States for trafficking in illegal rhino horns.

Patrick Sheridan was sentenced to one year in prison in Texas last Thursday after pleading guilty to the offence.

He had been extradited to the United States after being arrested in Wales last January as part of Operation Crash, a crackdown in the illegal trafficking in rhinoceros horns.

Sheridan and another Rathkeale man, Michael Slattery Jr, were charged with buying and selling a number of rhino horns in the United States between 2010 and 2011.

Slattery pleaded guilty to his role in the operation in January 2014 and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Court documents revealed that the two men  and another unnamed person  travelled to a number of different states in the United States to buy, transport and sell horns from black rhinos.

They also falsified records relating to the horns and offered them for sale to a number of potential buyers.

Between April and November 2010, Slattery and Sheridan bought a black rhino mount for $10,000 from a taxidermist in Joshua, Texas.

On September 20, 2010, the two men traveled from London to Houston, Texas where they deposited approximately $5,423 into a Bank of America savings account.

The next day, they attended an auction in Austin, Texas and attempted to buy the taxidermied head of a black rhino bearing two horns. They were not able to do so as they had no proof of residency in the State of Texas.

Two days later, they returned to the auction house with a day labourer from Texas  known as a straw buyer.

The man handed over $18,000 in cash for two black rhino horns.

In November of the same years, the three men contacted a buyer in New York offering to sell four black rhino horns. They later met the buyer at a tea house in Flushing, New York and agreed a price of $50,000 for the four horns. They also provided the buyer with a falsified Endangered Species Bill of Sale.

The $50,000 fee was paid in three cashiers cheques on November 16. Evidence was produced that Sheridan lodged a cheque for 25,000 in a bank in Flushing, New York that day while Slattery and the other defendant received cheques for 12,500 each. The same day, Slattery and Sheridan left the United States.

Evidence was also produced that the defendants left five pairs of rhino horns at an auction house in Missouri in October and subsequently retrieved two of them the following January.
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CASTLECONNELL will be transformed into Hollywood on Sunday, January 31 when a film shot in the village will be shown.

Written and directed by US born filmmaker Liam ONeill, Lost & Found is a story of love, loss  and pets. The short film was made in Castleconnell last summer and one of its main locations was the beautiful All Saints Church.

Local artist Barbara Hartigan thought it would be the perfect venue to showcase the cast and crews work, as well as raising money for good causes.

It is a gorgeous little story. Filmed all around this area it depicts the area beautifully. On Sunday, January 31 there will be just two showings of this unique project, one at 4.30pm and the second at 7.30pm. Donations will be divided equally between Limerick Animal Welfare and All Saints Church building restoration fund, explained Barbara.

Tickets will not be sold. Donations will be collected from attendees as they leave. As an added treat it will be introduced by Liam ONeill. Lost & Found was supported by Limerick City of Culture.

The cast and crew were respectfully observed in and around All Saints Church of Ireland, down the village, by the river and Thornfield House in Ahane. The result of this quiet invasion was a beautifully crafted, humorous, short story which would appeal equally to young and old and especially to animal lovers. This is a one-off opportunity to enjoy, and with great pride, Castleconnell and its beautiful surroundings on the silver screen, Barbara said.
Among the foot notes in Chapter One (titled The Making of A Revolution), the author (Elliott Young) of his 2004 book (Cararino Garzas Revolutions on the Texas-Mexico Border), lifted a statement for that chapter.

The statement in Spanish was pulled from the Garza manuscript for his unpublished narrative, La Logica de los Hechos (The Logic of Events).

It read, No en las aptitudes de mi pluma, sino en la seguridad de que cumplo fielmente como mexicano en extranjero suelo, al narrar las circunstancias de nuestros nacionales en este pais.

(Not in the aptitudes of my pen but on the faithful certainty as a Mexican in a foreign land, I narrate the circumstances of our nationals in this country.)

The authors notes to the introduction for the chapter was titled Awakening the Border (Page133).

It was Catarino Garzas way of describing the living culture-lifestyle and environs in Texas (the Valley, South Texas) for Mexican Texans (Mexico Tejanos) daring a post-Civil War period from 1877 to1889.

The late Ramiro Sanchez, who for decades was a senior official of the former Laredo National Bank, was a descendant of the founder of Laredo, Don Tams Sanchez.

Don Ramiro was among the first Laredo citizens to serve on the Webb County Historical Commission and as such was a history buff in his own right.

He was a long-time friend of Sebron S. Wilcox, who found and preserved the original Spanish Archives of Villa de San Agustin de Laredo after they were found in the basement of the present-day courthouse.

Don Ramiro also was one of the founders of the Santander Museum that was established on the campus of Laredo Junior College.

He knew local history and once authored a mini-book on the early mandos (ordinances) put in place by Don Tomas Sanchez, who served as alcalde from 1755 to 1767 and again from 1770 to 1770 to 1786.

(EDITORS NOTE: Outside of a courthouse custodian and a San Agustin Church priest, Ramiro Sanchez was regarded as one of the locals who saw and read some of the thousands of documents among the original Spanish Archives that Seb Wilcox identified in 1934.

This writer had never heard of the archives until Mr. Wilcox invited a high school history class in 1952 to visit his court reporters work station in the basement of the county courthouse.

His daughter, Genevieve Cox, was the Martin High School history teacher who told the class about Wilcoxs knowledge of genealogy and the citys Spanish Achieves.) Seb Wilcox retired as court reporter for the 49th District Court in 1959 and died the same year.)

The Catarino Gaza papers covered a period from 1859 to 1895 and are held by Benson Latin American Collection at The University of Texas in Austin.

The author, Elliott Young, noted that the manuscript, incomplete and unpublished, was donated to the University of Texas in 1927 by a Garza son-in-law, Frank Perez of Alice.

The author cited some confusion over whether the Garza papers were purchased by the university or were donated by the family.

Young noted that letters between Carlos Castaneda, librarian at the university, and Frank Perez show that the papers were donated by the family in August 1927.

Young also took notice that the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon of Monterrey published a compilation of documents on Catarino Garzas revolt in August 1927 and included the manuscript.

The author also pointed out that having found some errors in the transcript, some words were changed and in some cases entire lines were missing.

Therefore, Young noted that he cited only the original transcript.

(Odie Arambula is at oarambula@stx.rr.com)
To the editor:

I thank Dr. Valle for welcoming me back into the coliseum in his recent letter; however, I see that his hostility towards faith has diminished little in our new year.

The Judeo-Christian scriptures, which he calls "fantastic folklore" in his piece, have done more to shape Western civilization than any other world-view.

None the less, never do I suggest they should be used as a law or science text.

Christianity is responsible for the roots of our society and how we presently live.

The Christian contribution is so extensive in our politics, laws, economics, arts, calendar, moral and cultural priorities that J. M. Roberts writes "we could none of us today be what we are if a handful of Jews nearly two thousand years ago had not believed that they had known a great teacher, seen him crucified, dead, and buried, and then rise again."

The fruits of secular humanism and agnosticism are a violent and failed gang including, but not limited to communism, fascism, Nazism, the French Revolution and Margaret Sangers brand of eugenics.

When Dr. Valle claims that science has advanced human kind more in the last 100 years than religion has in the past 2000, I can only conclude his jaundiced, or rather Howard Zinn like view of history either neglects the moral, ethical, cultural, artistic and political results of Christianity, or over emphasizes the benefits of anesthesia, antibiotics and atomic weapons.

We live in a country that gives us the liberty to believe or not in the Almighty Creator.

True believers arent looking for pastors and priests to run our nation, or to influence public policy.

However, faith-based opinions and policies have just as much validity and authority in the public square as any secular position.

Scientists cant and shouldnt dictate public policy any more than clergy should.

Lets allow the discussion to be rich and filled with truth and reason.

While we can all agree to the truth that gravity will cause one to fall, Christians also believe there is truth in the areas of moral, ethical and eternal matters.

Now, as for Dr. Valles preference for non-believing pilots and doctors, to each his own, I prefer competent believers, when lives are on the line, those who believe we are all made in the image of the creator and that all life is sacred because we are loved by the One who first loved us.

The only God powerful enough to change us is a God who is greater than our hearts, not one of our own designs to suit our own needs.

Without the humility to acknowledge that we all need to change our discussions, we will be akin to jousting at windmills like Don Quixote.

Christianity and nothing else is the foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights and democracy, the benchmark of Western civilization.

We must continue to nourish ourselves from this source," Jurgen Habermas.

Sincerely,

Dominic Vallone DDS, MS
The personal blog of Peter Lee a.k.a. "China Hand"... Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel, and an open book to those who read. You are welcome to contact China Matters at the address chinamatters --a-- prlee.org or follow me on twitter @chinahand.
The following information about one of the areas most prolific and prominent citizens was gleaned from Historical biographical of the Chippewa Valley, edited by George Forrester and published in 1891 by Warner Publisher out of Chicago, Ill.:

Jacob Miller, was born on July 24, 1833, in Aschaffenburg on the Main, kingdom of Bavaria, Germany. He was the son of George and Ursula (Flach) Mueller, keepers and owners of the Vogel Strauss hotel and brewery, which had been in the possession of his ancestors for centuries.

He was the youngest son of four children, of whom only a sister besides himself survives, and who still resides in that city [circa 1891]; the other two brothers, also brewers, having died years ago. In his early boyhood, Jacob showed a great taste for drawing. When nine years of age, he was sent to a private drawing school, where he soon excelled, and drew the customary prizes every year.

In his 13th year, he entered the graded Latin school, as his mother, a devout Catholic, wished him to be educated for a priest. But his dislike to this profession coupled with his love for art and music changed his mothers notion.

After having graduated, he was sent to Munich to finish his education in the polytechnic school and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 16. He gained the esteem of his professors by his industriousness and talents, and was awarded a premium consisting of a sum of money which enabled him to defray his expenses.

Promise derailed

But his promising career was to be blasted forever. Having taken an interest in the revolutionary movements, he visited clubs of republican ad socialistic tendencies, and even joined public demonstrations against the government in spite of all reprimands and warnings of his tutors.

In an exciting moment when returning from the fencing school one evening, Jacob tore down a kings proclamation, not knowing that it was a capital offense and insult against the king, punishable with imprisonment. Unconsciously betraying himself he was forced to leave the country.

After spending some time in Switzerland, he was pardoned in an amnesty issued by the king for all minor political offenses. Returning home, he did not find the fattened calf, but was strongly censured for his conduct by his mother and relatives, his father having died in an accident when Jacob was only four years old.

Adventurers life

Having lost his stipend to aid him in his studies  and his brothers being averse to spending more money for him  Jacob buried himself in all kinds of work appertaining to art, especially sculpture. After the death of his mother, he procured money enough to enable him to get to Bremen, where he found an underground passage to Quebec, Canada.

From there he made his way to the United States, arriving in Buffalo, N.Y. in the spring of 1853. Artists not being in demand, he commenced farming, and soon after was employed as a carpenter and joiner, cabinet maker, sign painter and even crossed the sea as a sailor.

After many adventures, Jacob finally returned to Europe, where he was arrested on the Prussian frontier for deserting his fatherland. He was conscripted into the army, but procured a substitute. Having had a taste of liberty, he returned to the United States in 1855.

Finding a home

Jacob traveled over much of this country and finally settled at Reads Landing, on the banks of Lake Pepin, where he lived among the Indians and mosquitoes. The latter, however, finally drove him from his retreat.

In 1857, Jacob was induced by Capt. William Wilson to come to Menomonie. He spent the next year decorating and painting Capt. Wilsons house. In 1859, he bought the first lot and built the first house in Menomonie. In 1862, he took a homestead in Menomonie Township.

A year later, on Feb. 27, 1863, Miller enlisted in the Third Wisconsin volunteer cavalry and found himself playing the bugle for the unit. Then he was sent by his commander, Col. Hopkins, to serve as a civil engineer and journalist to the Indian Territory on the Powder and Tongue Rivers.

One of the maps Miller prepared was featured several years ago in this column. It just so happened it was the first map of that territory ever published.

According his brief biography Miller was offered the rank of an officer, but refused, as had made much more money by sketching officers and government maps while serving as a private.

After the war, in 1886, General Sigel came to Menomonie to recall those war-time years with Miller.

Miller was a fine musician and artist who sold many of his paintings at fairs and art exhibitions. In 1857, he married Martha Ann Tuttle, reported to be a descendent of a noble English family.

The couple had five children: Jennie, Clara, Arthur, Harold and Milton. Arthur was an early superintendent of the St. Paul and Minneapolis Pressed Brick Company that was located, with its clay pits, west of Menomonie.
Twelve people were displaced following a fire at 2:30 a.m. Saturday in an apartment building at 2285 County OO, Lake Hallie.

The American Red Cross Disaster Action Team was called in to provide assistance to four households affected by the fire, giving them temporary housing, food and clothing.

According to John R. Andersen, deputy chief fire prevention of the Chippewa Fire District:

The fire was in a building known as the Hallie Lodge, a portion of a 1930s series of motels along County OO. The building was converted to small apartments.

Firefighters found heavy fire in Apartment 10 with fire spreading to the buildings attic. Crews were required to cut into the attic space to put out spot fires, and the blaze was extinguished within 30 minutes.

Parts of the burning ceiling fell on the occupant of Apartment 10 while he was in bed. The occupant wasnt able to call due to the fire so went to an adjoining apartment to have his neighbors call 9-1-1.

The fires cause was electrical, and happened when the occupant of Apartment 10 used a space heater to keep warm, overloading the circuit.

The fire began in the ceiling along electrical wiring and appeared to have been burning for a time when firefighters arrived.

There were no smoke detectors in the room.

The fire district reminds homeowners and renters to have working smoke detectors in their homes and apartments. If you use a portable electric heater, make sure the wiring can handle the power usage, and keep combustibles at least three feet from the heater.
Shabaab fighters after taking over an African Union base in southern Somalia last week

Shabaab, al Qaedas official branch in East Africa, continued its spate of attacks by targeting a popular beach front hotel and restaurant in a coordinated assault in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, two days ago. A subsequent hours-long gun battle left at least 20 people dead and 17 wounded.

The suicide assault, like many similar attacks on Mogadishu hotels, began on Jan. 21 with a suicide car bomb near the entrance of the Beach View Hotel on Lido Beach. At least four gunmen then stormed into the complex and began shooting, according to Al Jazeera. Additionally, another suicide bomber struck a nearby seafood restaurant, and more gunmen stormed that building. According to CNN, some jihadists arrived after coming ashore from boats, but that has not been confirmed.

The al Qaeda-branch quickly took responsibility for this attack, posting on one of its Telegram accounts that a commando operation was targeting the Beach View Hotel, where government employees frequent. Al Jazeera also reports that the jihadist group called the news network to claim responsibility, as well.

Somalias security minister reportedly claimed the alleged commander of the attacks was captured alive by security forces.

The Somali al Qaeda branch has a long history of targeting popular hotels in Mogadishu. In November, Shabaabs Sheikh Abu Musab al Zarqawi Martyrdom Brigade attacked the Al Sahafi hotel in Somalias capital with two suicide car bombs and an assault team. That attack left at least 15 people dead.

Last March, the jihadist group stormed a hotel and briefly seized control of it before the attackers were killed by security forces. On Feb. 20, a suicide assault team hit the Central Hotel, a gathering place for Somali parliamentarians and other members of government, killing several senior Somali politicians. On Jan. 22, Shabaab claimed credit for the bombing at the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu that killed three people. The attack took place as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a delegation were at the hotel.

In July, Shabaab killed more than 10 people after storming the Jazeera Hotel. The jihadist group previously targeted this hotel in early 2014. In that attack. Shabaab launched a complex assault on the hotel, exploding three bombs within an hour of each other and killing 11 people. In September 2012, the group also sent three suicide bombers to attack Somalias new president and Kenyas foreign minister as they were speaking at the hotel. The two officials escaped unhurt, but at least seven people were killed.

Caleb Weiss is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The Afghan Taliban has demanded the release of prisoners and the removal of its senior leaders and officials from UN and US sanctions list, before it will consider joining peace talks with the Afghan government. Additionally, the group said that it would only make peace with believers and not with non-Mulims, invaders and combatants.

The Taliban made its positions on negotiations known in two statements that were released on its official website, Voice of Jihad.

Some preliminary steps should be taken prior to starting peace because without them, progress towards peace is not feasible, according to a Summary of the Statement by Representatives of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan given in Pagwash Conference (23-25 Jan, 2016) in Doha, the Capital City of Qatar. Pagwash is an international non-governmental organization that seeks to facilitate the resolution of local conflicts.

Establishment of official venue for the Islamic Emirate; removal of blacklist and prize list; release of prisoners and ending poisonous propaganda are among the preliminary steps needed for peace, the statement continued.

The Taliban was also clear that Western forces must leave Afghanistan and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the name of the Taliban government, be restored.

Our Jihad is focused on ending the occupation and bringing about Islamic system, the statement continued.

The Taliban view of peace

One day before the Taliban issued its statement on preconditions for negotiations, it released another that clarified its views on peace. In the statement, entitled Lets first define Peace then strive for its implementation, the Taliban said that believers should make peace among hostile believers, and in the issue of Afghanistan, one side is Muslims and they are Mujahideen while the invaders make-up the other side who are non-Mulims, invaders and combatants.

In other words, the Taliban will not make peace with US and Coalition forces, nor will it do so with the Afghan government, which it routinely describes as apostates and Western puppets.

Negotiations used for tactical gains, not to further peace

If the past is any indicator, the Taliban would use negotiations to simply achieve its tactical goals. For example, the release of its leaders and followers from Western and Afghan prisons, removal of its officials from sanctions lists, and the legitimization of its political office in Qatar.

The Taliban has adeptly manipulated the Wests desire for peace negotiations to extract concessions at little to no cost. The most glaring example is the 2014 prisoner exchange where the US freed five dangerous high level Taliban commanders with links to al Qaeda for Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier who deserted from his unit in 2009. Western officials allowed the Taliban to open a political office in Doha, Qatar in order to promote negotiations, and believed the prisoner exchange would further peace talks.

However, the Taliban was clear that the political office was only to be used to further its goals, and the prisoner exchange wont help the peace process in any way, because we dont believe in the peace process. [See LWJ report, Bergdahl-Taliban prisoner exchange wont help the peace process in any way  Taliban spokesman.]

After the Taliban secured the release of its five senior leaders from Guantanamo Bay, there were no further negotiations, and the Taliban gloated over its great victory.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The school board in Howard County, Md., took the religious-diversity plunge this month by voting unanimously to close schools for the Hindu festival of Diwali, the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and the Asian celebration of Lunar New Year.

Students in the suburban Maryland district already get days off for Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

Welcome to the new religious America  a pluralistic society where Protestants are no longer the majority and people of every conceivable faith and belief are increasingly visible in the public square.

For many religious and ethnic communities, a place on the school calendar symbolizes a place at the American table. Petitioning to add a religious or cultural holiday to the calendar is tantamount to asking public schools to finally live up to government neutrality among religions promised by the First Amendment.

Protestants, of course, have had pride of place on the school calendar from the beginning. As primary movers behind the founding of public education in the 19th century, Protestant leaders baked in accommodations for their faith: No school on Sunday, major Christian holidays off, and  until struck down by the Supreme Court in the 1960s  Protestant prayers and devotional Bible reading led by teachers.

Under the First Amendment as now applied by the courts, public schools must treat students of all faiths and beliefs with fairness and respect while remaining neutral among religions and between religion and non-religion. This means, among other things, that religious holidays cant be added to the school calendar for religious reasons  or simply to accommodate a particular faith. Religious holidays may only be added if there is a legitimate secular or educational purpose for doing so.

Thats why the choices made in Howard County are supposed to be based on numbers: If school officials can demonstrate that student and staff absentee rates will be high on certain holidays, then they have a valid secular argument for closing school on those days. But if the numbers arent there, the district is vulnerable to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of adding holy days to the calendar.

Even with a clearly articulated secular purpose, Howard County will still face a conundrum as religious diversity expands in the district: When other groups ask for their holidays to be added to the calendar, can school officials say no after saying yes to others?

Howard County school board members are painfully aware of the all or nothing dilemma. Last fall, they considered denying requests for more holidays by removing Jewish holy days from the calendar and leaving in place only the closings mandated by state law: Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Monday. Not surprisingly, that proposal triggered a backlash that led to last weeks decision to go in the opposite direction by adding three more religious and cultural holidays celebrated by significant numbers of people in the school district.

If somehow the historical slate could be wiped clean, an equitable long-term solution might be no school closings on religious holidays, with the proviso that students of all faiths have a reasonable number of excused absences without penalty. For this arrangement to be seen as fair, however, the State of Maryland would need to repeal the law requiring school closings during Easter (Christmas would stay since it is also a national holiday).

As Howard County can attest, school calendar decisions can be messy and complicated in what is now one of the most religiously diverse societies in the world. But the changing calendar is also a healthy sign that the United States is learning how to level the First Amendment playing field for citizens of all faiths and beliefs.

Its about time. Religious monopolies like the one enjoyed for so long by Protestants in public schools are antithetical to religious freedom. We can disagree on how best to move from monopoly to diversity, but we should work together toward the shared goal of fairness and equity for all.

After all, the future of America is going to look very much like the school calendar in Howard County.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that DOT has awarded contracts with a total award value of $1.96 billion over eight years to seven U.S. maritime firms to manage, maintain and operate 48 National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) vessels through January 2024. These Maritime Administration contracts are funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Sealift Fund to support DoDs strategic sealift mission.



Since 1946, National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels have facilitated U.S. strategic sealift, natural disaster response, and humanitarian operations all around the world, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. From supporting our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and providing humanitarian support for Haiti, to supporting the United Nations at-sea neutralization of Syrias chemical weapons  this fleet reliably, economically, and efficiently advances U.S. contributions to global peace and prosperity.



The eighteen contracts awarded to seven U.S. maritime firms total $953.5 million for the 4-year base contract which runs through January 2020. The contracts also include two, 2-year options bringing the total award value to $1.96 billion. The contracts were awarded to companies that offered the best value to the government. These seven companies are responsible for maintaining the ships in good mechanical condition and ensuring that crews are available to operate them when needed.



Forty-six of the vessels are part of the Department of Transportations Ready Reserve Force, a fleet managed by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) that provides rapid mass movement of Department of Defense equipment and supplies to support our Armed Forces, and also responds to national and humanitarian emergencies. Additionally, two vessels are used to support Missile Defense Agency operations. Each certified, mission-ready vessel is maintained so that it can be fully activated and deployed quickly. The 46 Ready Reserve Force vessels have been activated hundreds of times since 2002.



The U.S. Merchant Marine and National Defense Reserve Fleet play a crucial role in our nations security, said Maritime Administrator Paul Chip Jaenichen. These contract awards will allow our commercial maritime companies to continue providing top-notch support to our troops who are stationed or deployed around the world.



MARAD, which maintains the National Defense Reserve Fleet, promotes the development and maintenance of an adequate, well-balanced, United States merchant marine fleet, sufficient to carry the Nations domestic waterborne commerce and a substantial portion of its waterborne foreign commerce, and capable of service as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency. For more information on these ships, visit www.marad.dot.gov.



A list of awardees is provided below. Detailed information about the contracts can be found at www.fedbizops.gov and at MARADs Virtual Office of Acquisitions.



Crowley Technical Management, Inc., Jacksonville, FL

4 vessels: (2 CAPE Ws, 2 TAVBs)

$ 149,755,923.82



Keystone Shipping Services, Bala Cynwyd, PA

11 vessels: (6 CAPE D/Es, 3 CAPE Rs, 2 CAPE Ks)

$ 411,596,846.85



Matson Navigation Company, Inc., Oakland, CA

3 vessels: (CAPE Hs)

$ 174,612,435.39



Ocean Duchess, Inc., Houston, TX

8 vessels: (4 CAPE Is, 2 FSS-West Coast, 2 CAPE Ms)

$ 342,263,690.65



Pacific-Gulf Marine, Corp., Gretna, LA

6 vessels: (6 TACS)

$ 194,254,798.52



Patriot Contract Services, LLC, Concord, CA

7 vessels: (3 CAPE Ts, 2 CAPE Vs, 2 ro/ro -CALLAGHAN/ORLANDO)

$ 227,068,183.07



Tote Services, Inc., Jacksonville, FL

9 vessels (6 FSS -East/Gulf coast, 1 OPDS, 2 MDA)

$ 461,164,825.79



* Award amounts include firm-fixed fees for the 4-year base contract and two 2-year options, without future economic price adjustment, plus estimated reimbursable costs for eight years.


The 10 U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to Coastal Riverine Squadron 3 who were briefly detained by Iran Jan 12-13, returned to their homeport in San Diego last night.



All of the Sailors are in good health and each will complete the final phase of reintegration. During this phase, which can last several days, Sailors reunite with their families, continue debriefings, and receive any ongoing medical care and support as necessary.



"Our Sailors are being reintegrated with dignity and professionalism," said Rear Adm. Frank Morneau, Commander Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. "My top priority is the health, welfare and well-being of our Shipmates as they return to duty."



The three-phased reintegration process began in theater immediately following their release, Jan. 13. The focus of Phase I of the reintegration process was to ensure the immediate health and safety of the Sailors. During the second phase of the reintegration process, individuals completed a medical exam and critical decompression, which included mental and physical coping strategies that will enable them to return to duty. The final and third phase commenced when the Sailors reunited with families, while ongoing medical evaluations and various levels of support are provided.


A Coast Guard Air Station North Bend MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew rescued a surfer in distress 150 yards offshore near Cape Kiwanda, Saturday.



The surfer was safely transferred to local emergency medical services at the Pacific City Airport for further medical care.

Watchstanders at the Sector Columbia River Command Center received the report of the surfer in distress via Tillamook County 911 dispatch. The Dolphin crew, who were already airborne on a training mission from Newport, were diverted, quickly located the surfer and hoisted him to safety.



This case illustrates the importance of unit and interagency relationships, said Chief Petty Officer Justin Urbano, Command Duty Officer at Sector Columbia River. Thanks to the training, professionalism and quick response of Station Tillamook Bay, Sector North Bend and Tillamook County 911 we were able the get this surfer needed assistance.



Weather on scene at the time of the incident was reported as 8 to 10-foot seas.


The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon set a new annual shipping record in 2015 by handling over 6.6 million tons for the first time in its 40-year history. This was a 36-percent increase over 2014 and 30 percent higher than the previous record set in 1994. In addition to the record volume, it was also the highest annual increase in total tons handled at the port.



"The credit for the record volume rightfully goes to our world-class port companies, without them we would not be enjoying the success we have today," said Port Director Phil Wilzbacher. "By utilizing our port's multimodal connections, these companies can choose the most cost-effective logistics routes, grow their business and create commerce that extends well beyond southwest Indiana and the Midwest."



Shipments of coal, agricultural products, steel as well as other bulk commodities helped drive the year's significant increase in cargo volume. The port handled its highest steel shipments ever in 2015 nearly doubling the tonnage from 2014, while salt shipments resulted in a five-fold increase. The year also saw increases in the following commodities: ethanol (up 105 percent), coal (up 82 percent), dried distillers grain (up 64 percent), cement (up 17 percent) and limestone (up 52 percent).



For the year, the port handled approximately 3,600 barges, 37,000 rail cars and 160,000 trucks.



"This port is one of the busiest transportation hubs in this part of the country," said Wilzbacher. "To put this into perspective, if all of the barges, rail cars and trucks handled at the port were placed end-to-end, they would stretch 2,300 miles, which is approximately the straight-line distance between Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles."



The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon contributes over $1 billion in total economic activity per year and supports 7,200 total jobs. Port companies ship cargo to or from 44 states and 20 countries.


The 4th Edition of Oil Spill India (OSI) 2016 is all set to be launched at the JW Marriot Sahar, Mumbai. Keeping with the current trend and the government policy of "Make in India" the theme selected for this two-day event scheduled for 11th and 12th August 2016 is "Commitment, Synergy, Excellence.



For the first time Mumbai will play host to this unique major event OSI 2016, whereas the first three editions had been successfully hosted in GOA. In year 2011, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), Directorate of General Shipping and the Indian Coast Guard, in association with iTEN Media recognized a need for an industry forum to deliberate & collaborate on response frameworks for Oil Discharges in the region, as same was on discount. As a result, OIL SPILL INDIA was conceptualized and founded as an industry led conference and exhibition.



Today, OSI is one of the worlds top 3 conferences & exhibitions on Spill prevention, preparedness, response & restoration systems. Over the years it has served as a platform that has witnessed an increasing turnout having established itself as a global forum for the Government, Regulators, Industry, Academia and response organizations to discuss, deliberate, share & learn the best practices, technologies & experiences of spill management industry.



Recently, in a prolific venue in Mumbai, the pre-launch of 4th edition - Oil Spill India 2016 was hosted. The pre-launch event was attended by top industry dignitaries in addition to elite Advisory Board members. Mr. Deepak Shetty, IRS, Director General Shipping, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India graced the occasion as Chief Guest.



Speaking on the occasion, Capt. Sandeep Kalia, Global Brand Ambassador & Co-Chairman of OSI 2016, took pride to announce the august presence & support of Stalwarts, Captains, Top brass from all sectors of Maritime, Offshore Oil & Gas, Defense, Logistics, Shipyards, Ports & Port Trusts & PSC, Classification societies, Ship owners & management companies, P&I, H&M, Salvage & OSR industry. He mentioned that this is a perfect blend of Knowledge, Experience, Expertise and Wisdom, seldom witnessed under one roof. He expressed gratitude to the Chief Guest, esteemed Guests of Honour & Advisory Board members.



He also informed the august gathering that with all above global stakeholders under one roof, valued perspectives will be shared and participants will brainstorm on emergency response, casualty management, Salvage, OSR preparedness, developments, methodologies, techniques and models used for combating spills of any kind or source.



Capt Kalia declared that as a strategic decision the Advisory Board members had agreed to shift the venue of OSI 2016, from Goa to Mumbai, India, in order to leverage and reach out to larger stakeholders, as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Individual Social Responsibility (ISR), initiative for country and citizens, at large.



The Welcome address was orated by the OSI Conference Chairman (since 2011), Mr. A.K. Hazarika, former CMD & Director Onshore, ONGC. He said that with the support of such industry luminaries he was sure that the next edition of OSI conference 2016 would be much more meaningful forum, than a successful one, for all the stakeholders in India & across the globe.



He highlighted the importance of environmental concerns, pollution threats posed by fossil fuels like coal, gas & oil, both offshore & ashore, as 90% of energy comes from these fossil fuels and once burnt it releases Carbon-di-oxide in the atmosphere, which creates concerns for mankind and environment. Assuring all guests present at the venue, Mr. Hazarika submitted that all these concerns will be addressed in OSI 2016 by global stakeholders, while taking cognisance of our preparedness, mitigation and response capabilities.



In his keynote address Mr. Deepak Shetty averred that 'Oil Spill India' has now come a long way since its inaugural take -off four years ago and he was confident that the OSI would go from strength to strength as years roll by. He found the theme for OSI conference 'Commitment, Synergy & Excellence' extremely contemporary, topical and futuristic. Mr. Shetty highlighted that the sheer scale of maritime incidents like oil spill are so daunting & challenging that there is a need to collectively push the frontiers of cutting-edge technology and innovation that would drive synergies in planning, prevention, response, containment & restoration efforts to redress, mitigate & pre-empt such incidents, going forward.



The Head of Maritime Administration further highlighted the need for capacity building, training of human resource & most importantly building awareness amongst all stakeholders. He categorically stated to be fore-armed is to be fore-warned, while suggesting that it was extremely crucial in the run-up to the event that there is mass dissemination of the information & awareness about the theme of OSI 2016. Mr. Shetty expressed concerns for the future generations, who will clearly hold us as having been derelict if we do not contribute individually & collectively towards the cause of environmental protection.



In conclusion he affirmed that he looks forward to the OSI Conference in August 2016 and declared that as the National Maritime Administration of India, the Directorate General of Shipping, Govt. of India will be more than happy to Collaborate and Partner with the OSI 2016. He exhorted all the stakeholders involved in this extremely challenging, complex task to support the noble cause and conveyed best wishes for the success of the event.



Capt Kalia, commended the ardent commitment of Head of Maritime Administration towards the Marine Environment, affirming liberal Support, Collaboration & Partnership with OSI, while highlighting that this noble gesture will be registered in history for the benefit of Generation Next.
Around 200 refugees managed to break into the port of Calais in northern France on Saturday after a demonstration of support for migrants living in a slum nearby ended, enabling some of them to board the front deck of a British ferry, an official said.



"A demonstration in Calais has drawn around 2,000 people and in the end around 200 people entered the port, with approximately 50 of them boarding a ferry, the 'Spirit of Britain', on an external deck," deputy Calais prefect Denis Gaudin told Reuters.



MS Spirit of Britain is a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries. Gaudin said that some of the refugees had decided to quit the boat voluntarily and that the rest would be removed by police, if necessary by force.



A spokeswoman for P&O Ferries said the port of Calais was still closed on Saturday evening. She said the migrants had not managed to get inside the ship, as staff had locked the doors to prevent all access from the deck.



Thousands of refugees fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East have gathered over the past year in a vast slum near Calais, dubbed "the jungle", using it as a stopover point before trying to smuggle their way across to Britain in the hope of a better life.



(Reporting by Matthias Blamont; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)


On Thursday, January 20, 2016, the Port of Palm Beach Board of Commissioners elected its new Chairman, Mr. Wayne M. Richards. Richards, a member of the board for 16 years, is known for keeping a strong focus on fiscal responsibility and bringing new, diversified business to the Port of Palm Beach. Among the board members, Dr. Jean L. Enright was voted into the position of vice-chair, and Mr. George E. Mastics was named Secretary-Treasurer.



Richards dedication to business development at the port is highlighted by his many trade missions to the Caribbean nations such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominican Republic and Trinidad Tobago. Over the past year, he has served as a lynchpin to conversations between Cuban diplomats and port and tenant representatives, facilitating round table discussions centered on the future potential and logistics of trade between the nations.

The year ahead is filled with possibility and I look forward to serving as Chair during this time of international outreach and growth, states Chairman Richards. As the second fastest-growing export port in the nation, Port of Palm Beach is well positioned to engage in new business opportunities that will arise, internationally and locally.



Chairman Richards is a practicing attorney, specializing in real estate and business law, land use, zoning and governmental affairs, and is owner of the Riviera Beach firm Law Office of Wayne M. Richards.
Marines with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3 conducted a Command Post Exercise aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, Jan. 19-21.



The purpose of this training is to prepare the MWHS-3 Marines for a vigorous predeployment training cycle in case the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing deploys.



[We went] to East Miramar to test our capabilities as an organization, said Maj. Steven Alfonso, logistics officer for MWHS-3, and a Windsor, Connecticut, native. Our [three] main objectives this week [are] to practice, rehearse and refine our capabilities to support the MAW in a field environment.



The Marines split into two squads of 10 Marines and started their training with a six-mile hike to East Miramar, where they set up tents for shelter and conducted a night patrol. Then, they prepared for the 'squad-a-thon' competition the next day.



The competition took place at different stations throughout East Miramar the squads could only reach by hiking over hills. The objective was to complete each event in a shorter amount of time than the other squad. All the events were field exercises meant to refresh the Marines memories of being out in the field and the fundamentals of a rifleman.



This was not the first time MWHS-3 conducted this training. The squadron completed a shorter exercise in October to prepare them for the CPX. This CPX prepared the squadron for even longer field-training exercises in the future, according to Alfonso.



This is a second of probably three or four exercises, said Alfonso. This is [the] kind of phase where were testing our capabilities. The challenges that were facing are just getting [Marines] familiar with their responsibilities out in the field We have supply, administration and logisticians that dont go to the field very often, so this is their opportunity to develop and refine those skills.



Some of the events the squads completed included a 7-ton truck tire flip, land navigation, an M240B medium machine gun maneuver course, a casualty-evacuation exercise and a Meal, Ready-to-Eat resupply. The exercise concluded with a six-mile hike back to the air station, Jan. 21.



I [work in] supply, so I dont have the opportunity to do stuff like this every day, said Sgt. Demetrius Jess, a supply administration and operations specialist with MWHS-3, and a Tampa native.



Im used to sitting behind my computer all day. It gives me a good refresher on Marine Combat Training [and] getting back to Every Marine is a Rifleman. Its pretty fun. I get to get out here and lead Marines I dont get to lead every day.



The training also helped get noncommissioned officers of the squadron back in the field to exercise their leadership skills outside of their normal workplace. The exercise helped keep Marines current in their field training, according to Alfonso.



Its critical whenever we deploy, said Alfonso. As an expeditionary force of readiness, we always have to be ready. This gives our Marines an opportunity to refine their skills so when we deploy, were ready.



The training was long and hard, but refreshed his memory on important leadership and field skills, according to Jess.



Its a good experience, said Jess. It gave me the opportunity to get out here and show my leadership skills. I think its pretty interesting. Its tiring, but its worth it. I think we should do it more often.





More Media
First Uptrend of Stocks Bear Market

The week started off at SPX 1880. After a Monday holiday the market gapped up to SPX 1901 on Tuesday, and then immediately headed lower. On Wednesday the market gapped down at the open, hit a new low for the downtrend at SPX 1812, and then began to rally. The rally continued through Thursday and Friday with the SPX clearing 1900, and ending the week at 1907. For the week the SPX/DOW gained 1.05%, the NDX/NAZ gained 2.60%, and the DJ World gained 0.90%. Economic reports for the week were mostly negative. On the uptick: existing homes sales and the Q4 GDP estimate. On the downtick: the NAHB, CPI, housing starts, building permits, leading indicators, the WLEI, the Philly FED, plus weekly jobless claims rose. Next week the FED meets Tuesday and Wednesday, and we get our first look at Q4 GDP.

LONG TERM: bear market

After a six year bull market it can be difficult to accept that we are now in a bear market. The market is being accommodative, as it has risen 1.4% since the bear market was confirmed a week ago Friday. This week we start off with the SPX monthly chart.

With the last three bull markets being three of the five longest bull markets in history it is a good place to make a technical point. The last five bull markets, the first two were short, are displayed on the chart: 1982-1983, 1984-1987, 1987-2000, 2002-2007 and 2009-2015. Notice the action in the RSI. During 1982-1983: the RSI got oversold only in the 1984 bear market. During 1984-1987: the RSI got oversold only during the 1987 crash. During 2002-2007: the RSI got oversold only during the 2007-2009 bear market. During the lengthy 1987-2000 bull market, the RSI got oversold twice: the 1990 and 1998 corrections. During the recent 2009-2015 bull market, the RSI got oversold twice again: the 2011 and 2015 primary waves. Now after rising back up during primary V, it is heading lower again with the bear market underway. A simple chart with a really good Fibonacci indicator.

The weekly chart displays the entire five Primary wave bull market, and just the early weeks of the new bear market. Primary waves I and II completed in 2011, and Primary waves III, IV and V completed in 2015. Since Primary V failed to make a new high, which we call a fifth wave failure, there must be something negative getting underway in the worlds economy.

Fifth wave failures of this degree, in the US, are so rare I do not recall ever seeing one. However, I might add, Chinas SSEC experienced a fifth wave failure of one lesser degree in early 2008. This was an omen of the 2008 melt down. The fifth wave failure in the US may be an omen of another meltdown yet to come. As we have noted for several months, starting in October, it is time to prepare for a bear market.

MEDIUM TERM: potential uptrend underway

After the Primary IV low at SPX 1867 in August, Primary V kicked off in a somewhat choppy fashion. Major wave 1 rallied to SPX 1993, and was followed by an irregular zigzag Minor wave 2: 1903-2021-1872. After that Major wave 3 was quite a rally, hitting SPX 2116, for a 13% gain, in just 5 weeks. Then after an anticipated Major wave 4 to SPX 2019, Major wave 5 simply ran out upside momentum in its effort to make new highs. Not only did Primary V fail to make new highs. Major wave 5 also failed to make a high higher, and Intermediate wave v ended abruptly in a diagonal triangle. We could call this a triple failed top at SPX 2104, about 1.5% from the all time high.

The first decline from SPX 2104 was a complex three back to 1993 (high of Major 1). Then after a simple a-b-c rally to SPX 2082, the market headed sharply lower in another complex three down to SPX 1812. A level not seen since Q1 2014. At that low, which occurred on Wednesday, the market set up a positive daily RSI divergence from an extremely oversold condition and started to rally. In fact, using some metrics, the most oversold condition since the last bear market. We have labeled this low as a potential completed Major wave a, the first downtrend of the bear market. Medium term support is at the 1901 and 1869 pivots, with resistance at the 1929 and 1956 pivots.

SHORT TERM

If the downtrend actually completed at that low we have an a-b-c decline from SPX 2104-1812 to start the bear market, and this is labeled Major wave A. The current potential uptrend should also be an a-b-c, and will be labeled Major wave B. What would follow then is an equal, or nastier, downtrend for Major wave C, to complete Primary wave A of Cycle [2].

Thus far the uptrend also looks corrective, as it should. We have observed a double three rally to SPX 1890, a pullback to SPX 1860, and now an ongoing rally to SPX 1908. We are labeling the first high Minor a, the pullback Minor b, and the current rally Minor c of Intermediate A. Then after an Intermediate wave B pullback, the market should do another Minor a-b-c to complete Major wave B. Now for some calculations.

Minor wave a was 78 points (1812-1890), and Minor b bottomed at 1860. If Minor c is 0.618 Minor a it already topped at SPX 1908. If it equals Minor a it should continue higher to SPX 1938. SPX 1908 falls within the range of the 1901 pivot, and SPX 1938 is just above the range of the 1929 pivot. If Crude continues its rally into Monday we are likely to see the higher target. Wherever it tops Intermediate wave B should find support around SPX 1860 (the 1869 pivot). Then Intermediate C should kick in for another rally.

Fibonacci retracements for all of Major wave B suggest three areas: SPX 1928 (38.2%), SPX 1964 (50.0%), and SPX 2000 (61.8%). Also when it does top I would expect the daily RSI to get overbought. Overall, this should be the last decent chance to exit or hedge equities for the next year to two years. Short term support is at the 1901 and 1869 pivots, with resistance at the 1929 and 1956 pivots. Short term momentum is beginning to display a negative divergence. Best to your trading this volatile market!

FOREIGN MARKETS

Asian markets were mixed on the week and lost 0.7%.

European markets were mostly higher and gained 1.0%.

The Commodity equity group were mostly higher and gained 2.4%.

The DJ World index may be in an uptrend and gained 0.9%.

COMMODITIES

Bonds are uptrending but lost 0.1%.

Crude is downtrending but gained 5.1%.

Gold is uptrending and gained 0.9%.

The USD looks to be uptrending and gained 0.6%.

NEXT WEEK

Tuesday: Case-Shiller, FHFA housing and Consumer confidence. Wednesday: New home sales and the FOMC meeting concludes. Thursday: weekly Jobless claims, Durable goods, and Pending home sales. Friday: Q4 GDP (est. +0.8%), the Chicago PMI and Consumer sentiment. Best to your weekend and week!

CHARTS: http://stockcharts.com/public/1269446/tenpp

https://caldaro.wordpress.com

After about 40 years of investing in the markets one learns that the markets are constantly changing, not only in price, but in what drives the markets. In the 1960s, the Nifty Fifty were the leaders of the stock market. In the 1970s, stock selection using Technical Analysis was important, as the market stayed with a trading range for the entire decade. In the 1980s, the market finally broke out of it doldrums, as the DOW broke through 1100 in 1982, and launched the greatest bull market on record.

Sharing is an important aspect of a life. Over 100 people have joined our group, from all walks of life, covering twenty three countries across the globe. It's been the most fun I have ever had in the market. Sharing uncommon knowledge, with investors. In hope of aiding them in finding their financial independence.

Copyright  2016 Tony Caldaro - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

Tony Caldaro Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Regenerative Medicines Fountain of Youth

Aubrey de Grey a biomedical gerontologist, predicted that the first person to live to a thousand has already been born. According to de Grey the key may lie in the field of regenerative medicine.

The Webster dictionary defines biological regeneration as the restoration or the growth by an organism of organ or tissue, that have been lost, removed or injured.

Dr. William Haseltine CEO of Human Genome Sciences, believes thatregenerative medicine is about assisting the body to heal itself. Dr. Haseltine coined the term "regenerative medicine," to describe the expected medical revolution that, in his view, could lead to human immortality.

Stanford Universities Dr. Helen Blau wrote that the goal of regenerative

medicine is to restore form and function to damaged tissues.

I think we can decide for ourselves that regenerative medicine means replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs with the goal being to re-establish normality for conditions that currently are beyond repair.

Cell therapy uses living cells as treatments. Its potential to cure or transform serious medical conditions lies in the nature of cells and their ability to interact with the body at levels of complexity many orders of magnitude greater than conventional drugs. Regenerative medicine is focused on the regeneration of tissues and organs using all the different therapeutic platform technologies available: small molecule drugs, biologics, medical devices and cells. Stem cell technologies, cell therapy and regenerative medicine are closely entwined and will ultimately transform the practice of medicine from todays model of continual interventions to single

treatment cures. Following Through: Realizing the Promise of Stem Cells, KPMG

Stem cells

Stem cells are the foundation for every organ and tissue in your body.

Stem cell research is paving, or leading the way for the hugely transformative and disruptive potential of regenerative medicine.

There are many different types of stem cells that come from different places in the body or are formed at different times in our lives.

All stem cells can self-renew  clone themselves - and differentiate, meaning they can develop into more specialized cells.

Embryonic stem cells

Embryonic stem cells are obtained from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, a mainly hollow ball of cells that, in humans, forms three to five days after an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can give rise to every cell type in the fully formed body, but not the placenta and umbilical cord.

Tissue-specific stem cells

Tissue-specific stem cells (also referred to as somatic or adult stem cells) are more specialized than embryonic stem cells. Typically, these stem cells can generate different cell types for the specific tissue or organ in which they live.

Induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are cells that have been engineered in the lab by converting tissue-specific (somatic/adult) cells, such as skin cells, into cells that behave like embryonic stem cells.

Treatments include both in vivo and in vitro procedures:

In vivo - studies and trials performed inside the living body in order to stimulate previously irreparable organs to heal themselves

In vito - treatments are applied to the body through implantation of a therapy studied inside the laboratory

Sernova Corp TSX.V  SVA

For the past 25 years, scientific laboratories around the world, with specialty trained experts in cell technologies, were learning the processes for how the body turns starting generalized stem cells into the mature functional cells.

Recent scientific advances have turned these scientists towards developing therapeutic cells to treat diseases such as Diabetes and Hemophilia. If successful these technologies have the ability to treat millions of patients unlike the currently available donor cells.

The ultimate goal of regenerative medicine for technologies that produce proteins or hormones as therapeutics, is to develop an unlimited supply of safe and efficacious therapeutic stem cells placed, in a simple procedure, within the body in a cell friendly and retrievable medical device, while being protected from immune system attack.

When the time came, Sernova Corp was determined to be in the forefront of such technologies with strong proof of concept on their therapeutic device with donor therapeutic cells within.

Knowing the importance of these developments, back in 2009, Sernova began working on, and patented, a proprietary, scalable, implantable medical device, their Cell Pouch that creates a natural environment for the survival and function of therapeutic cells.

The following examples are two diseases that regenerative medicine for technologies that produce proteins or hormones as therapeutics has the potential to cure and what the current state of treatment looks like.

Haemophilia

Hemophilia A - Occurs in about 1 in 5,000 births. Currently, the number of people with hemophilia in the United States is estimated to be about 20,000, an estimated 400,000 people worldwide are living with hemophilia and only 25% receive adequate treatment.

Hemophilia is passed from parents to children. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hemophilia occurs in approximately one in 5,000 live births. Even though this is an inherited disease, approximately one-third of the cases occur due to spontaneous gene mutation.

Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder in which blood doesnt clot normally due to the lack of sufficient blood clotting factor. Clotting factor is a protein required for blood clotting to occur normally. These proteins work with platelets i.e. small blood cell fragments that form in the bone marrow, to help the blood clot.

There are several types of hemophilia, such as, hemophilia A, hemophilia B (commonly known as Christmas disease) and hemophilia C. Hemophilia A is the most common type of the disorder and is caused due to insufficient clotting factor VIII. Hemophilia A is four times more common than hemophilia B (US$2 billion market), and more than half of the patients with hemophilia A have a severe form of hemophilia.

Hemophilia A patients receive prophy-laxis factor replacement therapy. Prophylactic therapy (prevention therapy) involves three infusions of Factor VIII each week at the hospital at a cost of about $260,000 each year.

The broader hemophilia A&B market is US$10 billion and is expected to grow to US$13 billion by 2020.

The European Commissions Horizon 2020 program has just awarded a $5.6M Euro ($8.5M CAD) grant to the HemAcure consortium. The consortium consists of Sernova Corp and five European academic and private partners to advance development of a GMP clinical grade Factor VIII releasing therapeutic cell product in combination with Sernovas Cell Pouch(TM) for the treatment of severe hemophilia A.

The product being developed by the HemAcure consortium is expected to be highly disruptive to the current standard of care treatments for hemophilia A.

The reviewof the HemAcure grant proposal stated the following:

Participation of the third country partner (Sernova Corp) is essential for carrying out the (program). This is justified by the fact that the partner in question is the one who possesses the technology that will be the basis of the whole proposal, and which will perform all the in vivo studies. Sernova uses a scalable, contract manufactured, proprietary patented worldwide implantable medical device (Cell Pouch) transplanted with therapeutic cells. (It) has been in development for more than six years and has shown success in multiple small and large animal preclinical models and is now in a clinical trial for another therapeutic indication. This Cell Pouch device is the only such device that when implanted under the skin is proven to become incorporated with blood vessel enriched tissue-forming chambers for the placement of therapeutic cells. This implies that the Canadian partner (Sernova) is an essential partner for the success of this project.

About HemAcure



HemAcure is the name of the consortium developing a product for hemophilia A. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 667421. The consortium members include the University Hospital Wurzburg (Coordinating Institute), Integrierte Management Systeme IMS e.K., Universita del Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro, Loughborough University, GABO:mi Gesellschaft fur Ablauforganisation: milliarium mbH & Co. and Sernova Corp. The main objective of the HemAcure project is to develop and refine the tools and technologies for a novel ex vivo prepared cell based therapy within Sernovas prevascularized Cell Pouch to treat this bleeding disorder that should ultimately lead to improved quality of life of the patients.

Diabetes

The World Diabetes Foundation estimates that there will be 438 million people with diabetes by the year 2030. The global market for products in the management of diabetes is on pace to grow to over $114 billion by 2018.

The top 10 companies producing diabetes medications raked in about $62 billion in global sales in 2014, up 5.1% from the previous year.

Anti-diabetic products include glucose meters, lancets, test strips, continuous blood glucose meters, insulin, insulin pumps, syringes and other insulin delivery devices and anti-diabetic drugs. The bulk of product revenues come from three segments - test strips, insulin and anti-diabetic drugs - which will remain the largest sources of product revenues over the next ten years. The most significant growth, however, will come from the nascent segment of continuous blood glucose monitors, which provide significantly added clinical benefit at only a modestly higher cost compared to standard blood glucose meters.Analyzing the Global Diabetes Market, researchandmarkets.com

From a recently published paper Diabetes Is Reversed in a Murine Model by Marginal Mass Syngeneic Islet Transplantation Using a Subcutaneous Cell Pouch Device comes the following

"The emerging field of cellular transplantation involving human-derived engineered stem cells is providing potential therapeutic treatment options to benefit far more patients than donor cells can provide, especially for diseases, such as type 1 diabetes. The future of these therapies, aside from manufacturing aspects to improve safety, depends on a suitable environment for the cells and cellular engraftment.



The current study demonstrates that the CP (Cell Pouch) placed in the subcutaneous space provides a suitable environment for therapeutic islets as effective as the renal subcapsular transplantation, at least in the murine model. Furthermore, in subsequent assessment, it has been shown that the CP scaled for human use can provide glucose control in large animal transplantation models of diabetes (Sernova unpubl. results).



Thus, the CP system placed subcutaneously also meets the requirements for scalable human islet transplantation. Further studies, which include evaluation in the clinic are now required to demonstrate that the CP can indeed serve as a potential alternative to clinical intraportal islet transplantation, and provide a vehicle for future placement of alternate cellular therapies in replacement and regenerative medicine. Indeed, the data presented herein in addition to Sernova's large animal data (unpublished) formed the experimental basis of a first-in-human trial using identical CP technology currently underway in patients at the University of Alberta."

Results from the afore mentioned first-in-human trial using SVAs Cell Pouch(TM) were impressive

Encouraging early results up to 30 days post-islet transplant were presented at the International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Congress in September, 2013. These results showed after implantation under the skin, the Cell Pouch is safe and biocompatible. Following islet transplantation, the islets living within a natural tissue matrix were supported with a rich supply of blood vessels, similar to the pancreas. Of further importance, the islets were shown to make insulin, somatostatin and glucagon  key hormones in the control of blood sugar levels. The study was conducted with Dr. James Shapiro as principal investigator at the University of Alberta Health Sciences Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

Lets visit SVAs website from where we get the following

In July, 2014 Sernova entered into an agreement with the University Health Network of Toronto (UHN) to gain access to worldwide, exclusive rights to certain patent-pending technologies. developed by distinguished UHN researchers, Dr. Cristina Nostro and Dr. Gordon Keller, for the advancement of insulin-producing stem cells for the treatment of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes.

A product development program has been designed to advance the technologies from preclinical proof-of-concept studies through to human testing on an expedited basis.



Sernova believes the proprietary product  insulin producing stem cells, protected locally from immune system attack and placed within Sernovas prevascularized Cell Pouch(TM)  has the potential to provide a significant break-through in the quality of treatment for the tens of millions of people suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes, following successful preclinical and clinical testing. Such individuals could essentially be liberated from their current onerous regime of daily blood glucose testing and insulin administration delivered through injections or electronic means which is expected to materially improve their quality of life while also reducing short term and longer term health care costs.

Conclusion

Harnessing the power of stem cells to repair or replace cells, tissues or organs that are damaged by trauma or disease means we are entering an era where treatments for some of the world's most devastating diseases are developed.

Many companies have stem cells, most even have the ability to manufacture them for various indications. In your authors opinion, only Sernova Corp TSX.V - TSX has a proven safe and biocompatible therapeutic device to host these cells within the human body.

The transformational potential of stem cells, placed within Sernovas prevascularized Cell Pouch(TM), to cure diabetes and hemophilia could:

Treat diseases in a much better way than traditional drugs/treatments

Significantly improve the quality of patients lives

Offer a faster, more complete recovery with significantly fewer side effects or risk of complications

Reduce the cost of healthcare

Prevent premature mortality

Bring significant indirect economic benefits not only to patients but society as a whole

Lab manufactured therapeutic stem cells hosted in the human body, in SVAs prevascularized Cell Pouch(TM), monitoring, regulating, manufacturing and secreting the necessary hormones, factors and proteins to control diabetes and hemophilia is a milestone accomplishment.

So does Sernova have Ponce De Leons fabled Fountain of Youth? No of course not, but it would be hard to argue against my position that Sernova Corp., and the regenerative medicine sector as a whole, has taken a huge step along that road if upcoming human trials are successful.

It is an exciting time for regenerative medicine, the health care sector, patients, and yes investors, with many disruptive innovations on the near horizon.

Sernova Corp TSX.V - SXA is on my radar screen. Is it on yours?

If not, maybe it should be.

By Richard (Rick) Mills

www.aheadoftheherd.com

rick@aheadoftheherd.com

If you're interested in learning more about the junior resource and bio-med sectors please come and visit us at www.aheadoftheherd.com

Site membership is free. No credit card or personal information is asked for.

Richard is host of Aheadoftheherd.com and invests in the junior resource sector.

His articles have been published on over 400 websites, including: Wall Street Journal, Market Oracle, USAToday, National Post, Stockhouse, Lewrockwell, Pinnacledigest, Uranium Miner, Beforeitsnews, SeekingAlpha, MontrealGazette, Casey Research, 24hgold, Vancouver Sun, CBSnews, SilverBearCafe, Infomine, Huffington Post, Mineweb, 321Gold, Kitco, Gold-Eagle, The Gold/Energy Reports, Calgary Herald, Resource Investor, Mining.com, Forbes, FNArena, Uraniumseek, Financial Sense, Goldseek, Dallasnews, Vantagewire, Resourceclips and the Association of Mining Analysts.

Copyright  2016 Richard (Rick) Mills - All Rights Reserved

Legal Notice / Disclaimer: This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. Richard Mills has based this document on information obtained from sources he believes to be reliable but which has not been independently verified; Richard Mills makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness. Expressions of opinion are those of Richard Mills only and are subject to change without notice. Richard Mills assumes no warranty, liability or guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any information provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any omission. Furthermore, I, Richard Mills, assume no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage or, in particular, for lost profit, which you may incur as a result of the use and existence of the information provided within this Report.

Richard (Rick) Mills Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




About Me

I have attended church since I was born. For the first 30 years I was a member of the Methodist Church, first in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then in Hollywood, California. Then I moved across the border to Canada and was stunned to find that there was no Methodist Church. It had amalgamated with the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches in 1925 and become the United Church of Canada. I was then a member of the United Church of Canada in B.C. for 20 years. The next 20 years attended an Anglican Church. It closed in 2010. After trying to attend Sunday worship in every church in North Vancouver-I had photographed them all for the NV Archives-I was a member of the Lutheran Church until 2015. I presently attend an Anglican Church that is a member of ANiC















In the year 2000 I photographed many churches as the "House of God" for my Year 2000 Photography Project, Your House/Our Home. I have continued photographing churches in all the towns I visit and drive through. This blog "Churches On Sundays" will be published each Sunday starting January 1, 2011. It will feature a church photo I have taken, a brief history of the church, and some architectural description.















"I love thy Church, O God!







Her walls before thee stand.







Dear as the apple of thine eye,







And graven on thy hand.















Beyond my highest joy







I prize her heavenly ways,







Her sweet communion, solemn vows,







Her hymns of love and praise."















I Love Thy Kingdom Lord







Hymn by Timothy Dwight 1752-1817
























It's midseason, which means it's time for awards, which means it's time for a Boston Celtics podcast about awards (and plenty of other fun stuff, too).

This week's episode of the Rainin' Js podcast with Red's Army's John Karalis discussed...

Kelly Olynyk's recent hot streak

frustrating long shots from players who can't shoot

the Celtics improved offense (which would be even better if not for the previous topic)

All-Star balloting (including Isaiah Thomas' chances)

Cleveland's wild situation

and beef with another Celtics podcast.

We also handed out awards, including MVP (a two-man race), Most Improved Player (Jae Crowder was ruled out because he's too obvious), Sixth Man of the Year (perhaps some dude with a man bun) and Unsung Player of the Year (guess who).

Listen to the episode below. You can also go to the show page on Audio Boom, download the Audio Boom app for your phone, and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
BOSTON - A pedestrian died Sunday morning after he was struck by a plow in Dorchester, according to WCVB News.

The pedestrian, a man in his 60s, was struck on Harbor View Street near Dorchester Avenue, the television station reports. Boston Police did not release the man's name.

The incident remains under investigation.

Pedestrian struck and killed by plow truck in Dorchester https://t.co/4GQwTFtzNd pic.twitter.com/fxpjaoaNVi  WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) January 24, 2016

The Boston Globe reports that a man was also struck by a snow plow truck in Yarmouth Saturday night as snow covered the region.

A man was walking on Myrtle Lane around 9 p.m. when he was hit by a pick-up truck with a plow attached to it, the newspaper reports. The man was taken to an area hospital and his injuries are not considered life threatening, according to the Boston Globe.
SPRINGFIELD - Economic-development officials from Greenfield, Northampton, Amherst and Holyoke got together with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno this week to talk about bringing more rail service to the Pioneer Valley.

The site was Union Station, Springfield's once-grand railway depot which will be rehabilitated and reopened in December of this year.

That was just one of the business stories you might have missed this week.

1) As Springfield's Union Station renovation progresses, Pioneer Valley cities, towns call for more train service

Christopher J. Moskal, executive director of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority which owns Union Station, said planners expect it to draw 5 million rail and bus passengers a year in its first year of operation, a number that could swell to 8 million or more with more service.

2) Gunmaker Smith & Wesson looks to diversify from boom-bust gun market

One takeover target may be the outdoors and ammunition conglomerate that also owns Savage Arms of Westfield.

3)Westfield knife maker Lamson & Goodnow sold to Longmeadow private equity investors

Lamson is billed as America's oldest maker of cutlery.

4)American Airlines to offer nonstop daily service from Bradley International Airport to Los Angeles

The airport had already announced nonstop service to Ireland, also to begin later this year.

5)New England Patriots fan owns bar in shadow of Denver Broncos home stadium

But she's going to root on her Patriots.
east long snow.jpg

East Longmeadow- A resident uses a snowblower to clear the sidewalk at his East Longmeadow home. (Photo courtesy of Western Mass News)

(Photo courtesy of Western Mass News)

SPRINGFIELD  While residents in Springfield woke up to see a slight dusting of snow on sidewalks and roads, several communities across Western Massachusetts saw enough snow to get out their shovels and snowblowers.

Readers in East Longmeadow, Hampden and Monson reported having several inches of snow to clean up Sunday morning after Winter Storm Jonas hit the area.

While parts of the East Coast were blasted by the storm, Western Massachusetts missed most of the effects, except for a few inches in several towns in the Greater Springfield area.

The National Weather Service is reporting clear skies for Springfield every day this week except for some possible showers on Tuesday. Temperatures will range from 20-40 degrees throughout the week.
Big Snowstorm Chicago Airports

Flight boards at O'Hare International Airport show cancellations Friday, Jan. 22, 2016 in Chicago.

(AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)

After cancelling nearly 7,000 weekend flights, airlines have started to cut Monday service as the ripple effects of driving snow and ice that brought many East Coast airports to a standstill drifted into the next work week.



Flight cancellations for Monday for all airlines stood at more than 601 as of early Sunday, but FlightAware said that is sure to rise. Among those affected are West Coast flights to or from the East.

Passengers looking to cancel trips should wait until the airline officially calls off the flight. Airlines have been much more proactive in recent years about canceling flights, often doing so up to a day in advance. More travelers are affected, but they aren't stuck waiting in airports. It also lets airlines restart the system quicker because they have planes and crews in place.



The bulk of Saturday's 4,459 cancellations were at airports in the New York City and Washington, D.C., metro areas, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Another 2,467 flights were canceled for Sunday, and the count keeps rising.



As the storm intensified, United Airlines announced it would not operate out of airports in the Washington area on Sunday. Service should gradually resume Monday, the airline said. "Very limited" service would restart Sunday afternoon at airports in the New York City area.



Since Friday, the number of cancelled flights has topped 10,000. Cancellations have centered on Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington and New York, with airlines essentially shutting down all flights into those cities.



One bit of good news was that Saturday is usually the slowest travel day of the week. There were a little more than 22,000 flights scheduled to, from or within the U.S., according to FlightAware. That's about 5,000 fewer flights -- and 400,000 fewer passengers -- than Thursday or Friday.



Amtrak also canceled or cut back on service. Several trains scheduled to depart Washington for New York City were canceled, as was service from Washington to stations in Virginia and the Southeast, according to Amtrak's website.



All major airlines issued waivers for travel over the weekend, allowing passengers to rebook onto earlier or later flights to avoid the storms. The airports included vary by airline, but they include cities in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia all the way up the coast to New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As of late Friday night, American Airlines alone had issued waivers for 42 airports.
LONDONDERRY, VT - A 24-year-old Harvard man died Sunday morning after his car struck a tree in Londonderry, Vt.

Vermont State Police and the Londonderry Fire Department were called to Middle Town Road around 2:19 a.m. for a report of a single vehicle crash, according to a news release.

The driver of the 2008 Subaru Forester, Michael Hazel of Harvard, suffered fatal injuries in the crash. State Police said Hazel was unable to navigate a sharp corner, went off the road and struck a tree. Hazel was wearing his seat belt, authorities said.

A passenger in Hazel's vehicle, 25-year-old Peter Duckett of Harvard, was injured in the crash. He was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
by Aliza Freud , Columnist, January 22, 2016

Its Jan, 8, 2016, and Joey Fortman, an influential blogger, is walking the vast convention exhibition floor at CES (Consumer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas while she is live-broadcasting on Periscope. Joey is currently showing her tuned-in audience a new life-size robot that helps kids with homework and other projects. Shes getting lots of hearts (Periscopes equivalent of a real-time like) as she talks about the robot.

After a few moments, one of her viewers types a comment, Hey, can you show us whats in the booth to your left? Joey swings around to another exhibitor booth with a cool new educational tool for kids and ventures in that direction, bringing her hundreds of Periscope viewers in tow.

This is Joeys fifth broadcast at CES and, with each new broadcast, her audience grows and becomes more engaged. So, why do influencers like Joey use Periscope?

advertisement advertisement

Periscope is such a cool new platform. As a former radio personality, I love Periscope because its live. But, it takes us beyond live radio and television because my viewers can interact with me on the spot as Im broadcasting. So, here I am showing them something going on in my day and they can weigh in and ask me about it as Im talking. Since that feedback is instantaneous, Im also very quickly learning what resonates with my audience, says Joey.

Periscope, a Twitter-owned live broadcasting app launched in late March 2015. Since then, influencers have been flocking to the platform to learn the ins and outs and they are bringing their audiences with them. Also, Twitter is giving Periscope broadcasts a boost. Starting last week, livestreaming videos automatically play in newsfeeds in Twitters iPhone app.

In one of our recent surveys we learned that:

 31% of women say they use Periscope. More than half of these women log in daily

 The top reasons women use Periscope are to:

- Find out what others are doing/sharing

- Connect with brands/companies/causes

- Find entertaining content

 Of the women who use Periscope, about 85% say their usage has increased over the last several months

And brands are taking notice. Last month, Kmart ran an influencer activation on Periscope. The campaign, which used the hashtag #ShoppingIsFunAgain, leveraged mom influencers to head in to their local Kmart stores to show the array of products available during the holiday season. While in store, live broadcasting on Periscope, influencers hosted giveaways, dance-off competitions with fellow shoppers and even had fans meet them at the store during broadcasts. Influencers received thousands of hearts for these broadcasts and tons of engagement.

So, should brands venture in to live broadcasting on Periscope? Well, Periscope is not without its risks. After all, scopes are live and so are comments. Brands interested in engaging on the platform must keep the live nature of broadcasts in mind.

The audience on Periscope is building and, as mentioned above, Twitter is making it easier for their platform audience to see Periscope content natively on Twitter. This will certainly give the Periscope broadcasts a boost.

The analytics and tracking of Periscope broadcasts are also getting better. In addition to being able to see hearts and engagements on Periscope, users can now also sign up for Fullscope.tv to get deeper analytics on their scopes.

Finally, with services like Katch.me, Periscope users can save their scopes, edit them and publish this content on other platforms. This could make brand-sponsored content even more valuable as it proliferates in multiple places.

If youve seen cool ways that brands are using Periscope, leave a comment or tweet me @shespeaking to continue the conversation..


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"The first time I marched with these slogans, it was 10 years ago, and I was pregnant. I hope this time it works," said bank worker Costanza Tantillo, who joined the Rome protest with her partner and their two children, nine-year-old Beatrice and Ludovico, four.Two women who marched nearby held up a sign that read- "Stella and Paola, we've been together for 30 years and you still don't acknowledge us."Protests had been planned for 90 towns and cities across Italy, under the slogan "Wake up Italy! It's time to be civil."Opponents of the bill, in contrast, are planning a show of strength at a demonstration scheduled for January 30, 2016, in Rome's Circus Maximus.Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the self-styled 'Family Day', organized by mainly Catholic groups under the battle cry of "Defend our Children".Angelo Bagnasco, the chair of the Italian conference of bishops, has denounced the whole debate as a grave and irresponsible distraction from the real problems of the country.In the world of politics, dividing lines cut across party loyalties. A minority faction within the ruling Democratic Party supports junior coalition partner the New Center Right (NCD) in opposing a reform championed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.Renzi, who has allowed his allies a free vote on the 'issue of conscience', can however count on backing from most of the opposition Five Star movement, left-wing fringe parties and even sections of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.Most observers expect Renzi will get the bill adopted in the end.According to Italian media, there were at least 7,000 demonstrators in Turin, 5,000 in Milan, thousands in Rome and Bologna, a thousand in Bari in the south, and hundreds in Naples and Venice among others."It is a historic day for this country, an immense protest that was fed by the desire and enthusiasm of a lot of people who hold the belief in equality close to their hearts," said Gabriele Piazzoni, the national secretary of Italy's biggest gay rights group, Arcigay.In what many saw as papal intervention in the debate, Pope Francis on Friday, January 22, 2016, ruled out any form of union except Catholic marriage."What he said didn't surprise me, all he did was to repeat the church's anthropological viewpoint. But he chose to say this on the eve of the day when we took to the streets to defend the rights of our children to have a little security," said Andrea Rubera, a gay man who married a fellow homosexual in Canada. They came to the demonstration with their three young children.Source: AFP
The Indian Army Special Forces stand amongst the best in the world. They are highly skilled, excel at operating specialized weapons and are equally deadly in water and air as they are on land.

All these skills are of course not learned in a day. It takes years of brutal war-like training regimes and focused grit to never give up. The Special Forces Training takes our commandos all over the world to train with other specialized units. Lately though, in the wake of relentless terror attacks our commandos have been training with the US Special Forces. Here are some stunning pictures from their latest joint amphibious training with US Army Green Berets that will blow you away.

Indian MARCOS diving from the recently acquired Chinook helicopters from the US Army.

This Joint training exercise was called Vajra Prahar.

It's because of you, that we feel safe. We salute you!
To mark Netaji Subhash Chandra Boses birth anniversary, defence minister Manohar Parikar hoisted Indias tallest flag in Ranchi. The flag pole stands a whopping 500 feet from the ground and the flag measures a massive 99 x 66 feet.

The tricolor alone costs Rs 44 lakhs while the whole project costs Rs 1.25 Crores.

The hill where the flag was hoisted is called the Pahari Temple Hill. The flag hoisting at the temple is a staple ever since Indian gained independence. The temple hill premise also has a tree on which a number of freedom fighters were hung to death by the British. This tri-color is the tallest in the country, beating the one which was recently hoisted in Faridabad.
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details.
In recent days, extremist conservative European circles have been attempting to target Greece, presenting it as the source of the refugee problem. In this context, they have taken the Greek coastguard to task for supposedly not protecting the maritime borders by intercepting refugee and migration flows by military means.



We are absolutely clear on this.



Greece is guarding its national border, which is also a European border. What it cannot do, and what it will not start to do, is sink boats and drown women and children, because this is prohibited by international and European conventions, as well as by our cultural values. Greece is a guardian of European culture, and the same holds true for the countries that are supporting the refugees, including Germany, Austria, Sweden and others. To date, Greece has rescued 104,000 children and adults from the waters of the Aegean.



The pressure on Greece to change the terms of controlling the Aegean (How should it do that? By pushing back and sinking plastic boats?) entails the risk of increasing the already large number of deaths: Just the day before yesterday we mourned another 42 lives, including 17 young children. Thus, anyone asking for this should have the political honesty not to ask for it indirectly, but directly, endorsing the illegal policy of refoulement. Anything else is political opportunism.



To refute a few more lies: As of July, Greece requested additional assistance in the form of personnel, vessels, equipment and Eurodac devices from Frontex, along with the upgrading of operation Poseidon in the Aegean. This assistance was late in arriving. Nevertheless, even with reduced forces, Frontex, a European institution, has been operating together with Greece for years now in the Aegean and shares responsibility for safeguarding the European borders. Anyone who wants to level criticism at the rules based on which Frontex operates should do so openly, within the framework of the EU.



Moreover, despite any delays, Greece will be completing the hotspots in a matter of days; hotspots that are already operating. However, the aforementioned critics neednt respond: Will the completion of the hotspots solve their problem, or will they then remember that what concerns them is the number of refugees?



What does Europe need to do? It needs to quickly implement the programme  decided on by the European Council  for the relocation of 160,000. A programme facing many problems due to the fact that many EU member states are either delaying their response to the hundreds of applications for relocation from Greece or  even worse  completely rejecting the process. Is this, too, perhaps the fault of Greece, a country that, since 1990, has hosted some one million immigrants  10% of its population  in completely harmonious conditions? And of course Greece itself is accepting the relocation of refugees. Is it perhaps Greeces fault that the EU has been unable to exert pressure for the return of migrants to their countries of origin?



It is vital that the EUs Joint Action Plan with Turkey go into operation. From the very outset, Greece agreed with this Plan, which provides for a drastic reduction in flows, safe relocation of refugees from Turkish territory, and extensive readmission of migrants to Turkey, within the framework of the Greek-Turkish readmission agreement.



At the same time, the European Union needs to get to work on the real problem  the war in Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey  taking on, with its organs and the Netherlands Presidency, jointly with the UN, the befitting role of peacemaker. Only in this way will we, all Europeans together, resolve the current crisis  as well as the next crisis, which, in the world we live in, is inevitable.
With just over a week until voters get their first say, the 45-year-old Texas senator known as a conservative warrior has been ascendant. The $36 million committed last year by these donor families is now going toward television, radio and online advertisements, along with direct mailings and get-out-the-vote efforts in early primary states.

The donors' super political action committees sponsored two weekend rallies in Iowa featuring Cruz and conservative personality Glenn Beck. The state holds the leadoff caucuses on Feb. 1.

The long-believing benefactors are New York hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, Texas natural gas billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks, and private-equity partner Toby Neugebauer. They honed their plan to help Cruz before he began his steady rise in polls  even before he announced his presidential bid in March.

"No one wants to lose," Neugebauer told The Associated Press when asked why he and others bet big on Cruz. "We didn't miss that an outsider would win. I think we've nailed it."

Voters will soon start determining whether he is right.

The groundwork laid by Neugebauer and other major donors began roughly two years ago, first in a casual conversation with Cruz at a donor's home in Palm Beach, Florida, and then in a more formal way over the 2014 Labor Day weekend at Neugebauer's ranch in East Texas.

That October, big-data firm Cambridge Analytica  in which Mercer is an investor  began working to identify potential Cruz voters and develop messages that would motivate them. Alexander Nix, the company's chief executive officer, said the importance of this early work cannot be overstated. He credits Cruz for understanding this.

"Money never buys you time," Nix said, drawing from his experiences with campaigns worldwide. "Too often clients will come to you just before an election and expect you to work miracles. But you cannot roll back the clock."

Key donors soon came up with a novel arrangement: Each family would control its own super PAC, but the groups would work together as a single entity called Keep the Promise. They keep in touch through weekly strategy phone calls.

That's not how super PACs usually work. More typically, multiple donors turn over their money and leave the political decisions to professional strategists. For example, Jeb Bush's super PAC counts more than two dozen million-dollar donors.

For Cruz, the pool of really big donors is far more concentrated: Mercer gave $11 million, Neugebauer gave $10 million, and the Wilks brothers and their wives together gave $15 million.

That level of support has opened Cruz to criticism that donors are influencing his policies, whether on abortion, energy or the gold standard.

Ethanol advocates point to his oil and gas donors as the reason he wants to discontinue that government subsidy for the corn-based fuel. Cruz and the donors have dismissed that as nonsense. His campaign cites as evidence Cruz's desire to end handouts to all parts of the energy industry.

___

A GOLDMAN SACHS INTRODUCTION

Neugebauer said his belief in the candidate is both personal and pragmatic. "My heart and my mind told me he's the one," he said.

Mercer and the Wilks brothers declined to be interviewed.

Neugebauer, 45, said he met Cruz years ago through Cruz's wife Heidi, then a manager at Goldman Sachs. He said he wants nothing in return if Cruz wins the presidency.

"I don't need. Bob Mercer doesn't need. The Wilkses don't need," he said. "That's not what this is about. We do not want our children and grandchildren to grow up in a bankrupt country."

Neugebauer co-founded Quantum Energy Partners, a private equity firm based in Houston. It invested heavily in shale development, which became lucrative with the advent of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking.

His father, Randy, is a Republican congressman from Texas.

In 2014, the younger Neugebauer moved his legal residency to Puerto Rico, saying he had done so primarily to expose his children to Spanish and become more worldly. The U.S. territory also provides key tax breaks that the mainland does not.

___

FATHER AND DAUGHTER

The Mercer family has followed Cruz's rise in politics for years.

Fundraising records show that Mercer's daughter, Rebekah Mercer, took an early interest in Cruz's 2012 underdog campaign for the Senate. Her money arrived as Cruz was preparing to take on the state's lieutenant governor and well-funded Republican Party favorite, David Dewhurst, in the May primary.

The elder Mercer, 69, is a former computer programmer and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, one of the country's largest hedge funds. Mercer, who lives on New York's Long Island, is intensely private. A review of his political investments provides some clues as to his policy interests.

He is a major donor to Republican groups, according to fundraising records, including entities run by the billionaire Koch brothers and Club for Growth, a Washington conservative economic group that backed Cruz's 2012 campaign. Mercer has attended conferences promoting a return to the gold standard in monetary policy, which Cruz advocates.

___

THE BROTHERS

The Wilkses met and became fond of Cruz after his election to the Senate, and Neugebauer persuaded them over barbecue in the first months of 2015 to participate in the Keep the Promise plan.

Farris and Dan Wilks made their fortune in fracking, producing drilling equipment when few were in that business. They sold their company in 2011 and have since become the country's 15th biggest land owners, according to The Land Report magazine.

Farris Wilks is a pastor at a small church called Assembly of Yahweh, 7th Day, where his parents were founding members. Both brothers are fervently against abortion rights and gay marriage and say the country needs to embrace Christianity.

Cruz has pledged "outlaw" abortion and said the Supreme Court erred last year in making gay marriage the law of the land. The candidate and hundreds of religious leaders gathered last month at Farris Wilks' central Texas ranch, an event hosted by Keep the Promise.

Farris Wilks has said his investment in the Cruz super PAC is helping "educate" voters.

"He's not afraid to stand against some of his own party even and say things that need to be said," he said in a November interview with KTXS, a television station near their tiny hometown of Cisco, Texas.

___

THE MONEY FLOW

Although these donors set aside their millions for Cruz 10 months ago, it's only now that the money is flowing into the 2016 race in a major way.

Since mid-December, the Keep the Promise super PACs have documented about $4 million in independent expenditures to help Cruz or attack other candidates  most often Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, federal election records show.

The super PACs have been identifying and connecting with Cruz voters through digital ads and door-knocking, and recently began a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign. A Keep the Promise van tailed the Cruz campaign bus as it made its way through Iowa last week. Super PAC workers handed out thousands of "Choose Cruz" yard signs.

For the megadonors, it's no surprise that Cruz seems to be well-positioned heading into the primaries. In mid-July, Keep the Promise posted on its website a slide-show presentation called "Can He Win?" The document predicted it would be "very difficult for Establishment to destroy the conservative challenger."
BAD AXE  DTE Energy says its new Renewable Energy Operations office in Bad Axe will benefit the local economy by adding more than 25 new jobs to Huron County.

The utility plans to move its wind turbine operations facility from Cass City to Bad Axe, relocating more than 25 employees.

Last fall, DTE said it would lease a vacant building west of town  the former site of outdoor apparel retailer Normans, which announced late in 2013 that it would close stores in Bad Axe and other Michigan cities after 80 years of business. The former Normans building sold for $223,000 in an online auction in March 2015. Saginaw-based Wolgast Corp. is the new property owner.

Dennis Buda manages operations for DTEs wind parks in the Thumb. He said staff was getting cramped at the Cass City location where DTE monitors its wind turbines, and that Bad Axe is more centrally located.

We wanted to breathe new life into a building thats been a landmark in Bad Axe for years, DTE spokesperson Scott Simons told the Tribune in October.

Which means turning the former retail space into a fully-functioning operations headquarters, according to Jennifer Wilt, lead communications specialist at DTE. Construction started Oct. 1, which when finished will include garage facilities for trucks, warehousing and a maintenance shop area, DTE says.

Additional personnel may be added with future wind and solar developments, Wilt said.

For residents, Wilt says the renewable energy team will be more accessible to landowners and the community.

Editor's note: This feature is part of a special section in Saturday's paper that highlights new businesses, products and other advancements made here in the Thumb.
"I really was disappointed," she said after the Jan. 14 nominations.

That disappointment  and the firestorm of criticism that followed  spawned action. On Friday, Boone Isaacs announced sweeping reforms to the organization that include doubling the number of female and minority members by 2020 and adding new governors to its leadership board.

The academy now aims for women to comprise 48 percent of its approximately 6,000 members and "diverse groups" at least 14 percent as an initial step. Its 51-member board of governors voted unanimously for the changes, which also include limiting members' voting rights to 10 years and expanding recruitment outreach globally.

Boone Isaacs said she is ready to embrace "any and all ways we can increase the conversation about storytelling and how to bring more diverse voices in storytelling into the marketplace."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had been working internally to diversify its membership for several years before the "OscarsSoWhite" hashtag trended on Twitter following the all-white slate of acting nominees last year, she said. The organization invited 322 new members to join last year, with an emphasis on women, young people and people of color. The new inductees also included a record number of international filmmakers, she said.

But when last week's all-white acting nominees were announced, Boone Isaacs and her academy colleagues realized it was not enough.

"We all kind of looked at each other and said, 'We need to step this up,' " she said. "That was really important. It needs to be timely. There's a lot of conversation out there. We need to get out there with what we've been talking about internally, but now we have to put it into action. So that is what we did."

Boone Isaacs said she expects the three new seats on its governing board to be filled in the next few weeks.

Other approved academy changes include limiting members' voting status to a period of 10 years, to be extended only if the individual remains active in film during that decade. Lifetime voting rights will be granted only to Academy Award nominees and winners, and to members after three 10-year voting terms. Previously, all active members received lifetime voting rights.

Actor-director Don Cheadle applauded the move, but he said it deals with the symptom rather than the cause.

"(This) has to do with inclusion and access and the ability of people of color, women, minorities to get entry-level positions where you can become someone who can greenlight a movie," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "So until the product that's being spit out is created at a point where there is more diversity, I don't know that these changes will substantively affect much."

Boone Isaacs, though, hopes changes at the academy will spread through the Hollywood community and into studios' executive offices.

"This conversation is penetrating everywhere, and that's the good thing," she said. "Certainly right now there's a lot of focus on the academy. But the industry as a whole is listening."

Ava DuVernay, director of last year's best picture-nominee "Selma," tweeted that the changes were "one good step in a long, complicated journey for people of color and women artists."

"Marginalized artists have advocated for Academy change for DECADES," DuVernay wrote. "Actual campaigns. Calls voiced FROM THE STAGE. Deaf ears. Closed minds."
PIGEON  Ease the mind and relax the body.

Its a relatively simple idea to understand, but putting that statement into action can take a little more effort.

Early September 2015, Huron County welcomed the first-ever studio dedicated strictly to yoga  a yoga studio, if you will.

For the last four months, Denise Collins, owner of Bendz Yoga Studio in Pigeon, has watched her business grow before her very own eyes.

When people come to this yoga studio, they have a basic understanding of what yoga is, the lone instructor said. People will say in the beginning they dont like yoga or they cant do it, but at the end theyve made an amazing connection.

Between September and now, Collins became certified as a registered yoga teacher through the Yoga Alliance. She is also the only person in Huron County registered through the alliance, which opened other opportunities for her and her love for the spiritual activity.

The hospital (Schuerer Hospital) contacted me to come teach a few classes to patients, she said. I was teaching (those) classes from October to December. It was a very busy time, but a lot of fun.

By adding Schuerer Hospital to her list, Collins said she was teaching seven times a week at her studio and nine times a week at the hospital.

It was very rewarding reaching out to people who werent sure of yoga, she explained. Some people think they cant do it, but I highly emphasize that all of my classes start at a beginners level.

After many successful sessions, Collins decided to accommodate her yoga students as much as possible  including developing one-on-one connections with them.

I switched some of my session times to accommodate those either getting out of work or by offering earlier sessions for those who might want to come before work, she said of her clientele. Its a wide variety of people who attend the classes. Ive had groups Ive taught where they are all younger as well as groups who were mainly elderly.

Effective Jan. 4, the class schedule at Bendz Yoga Studio includes:

 Monday and Wednesday: 5:15 p.m.

 Tuesday: 8:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.

 Thursday: 8:15 a.m.

Collins will continue teaching classes at Step It Up Studio in Bad Axe on Tuesdays at 6:15 a.m. and Thursdays at 4 p.m.

While all classes are sought for a beginners level, Collins said she intends on launching advanced classes during the summer time.

Bendz Yoga Studio is located at 7335 Michigan Ave. For additional questions or more information, contact Denise Collins at 989-977-0137. Check her studio out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bendz-Yoga-Studio-932564366790528. Visit her new website at www.strandz2005.wix.com/bendzyoga-studio.

During the month of January, Bendz will offer a two-for-one deal, meaning you and a friend can attend class for the cost of one person.

Ive made a lot of new friends in the process, she said with a warm smile. Thats been the most rewarding part about all of this. Once people try it, theyll love it just like I do.

Editor's note: This feature is part of a special section in Saturday's paper that highlights new businesses, products and other advancements made here in the Thumb.
Air Force Gets Its Own Combat Dive Badge After Using the Navy's for Years

Air Force officials said there is a notable distinction between Navy divers and their divers, which was a key reason for...
Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday the US and Turkey are prepared for a military solution against ISIS in Syria should the Syrian government and rebel-opposition forces fail to reach a peace agreement during its upcoming meeting in Geneva.

The next round of Syrian peace talks are scheduled to take place Monday, but are at risk of being postponed over a dispute over who will comprise the opposition delegation, according to Reuters. Syrian rebels said they hold the Syrian government and Russia responsible should the peace talks fail to bring an end to the civil war that has torn the country completely apart.

"We do know it would better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared, if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh," Biden said at a news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

A US official later told Reuters that Biden's comment was talking about a military solution to defeating Islamic State, not Syria as a whole. Biden said he and Dabutoglu have also discussed how both the US and Turkey can support Sunni Arab forces fighting to force out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He also met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, capping a two-day visit to Istanbul focused on boosting the fight against ISIS militants and trying to resolve the Syrian crisis.

US has backed Syrian rebels with Special Forces soldiers to help train them. Washington is also conducting air strikes against ISIS, which holds large swaths of Syria and Iraq.

Secretary of State John Kerry also said Saturday he was confident Syria peace talks would proceed. Kerry met with Riad Hijab, chair of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee and other delegates representing the Syrian opposition.

"They discussed the upcoming UN-sponsored negotiations regarding a political transition in Syria and all agreed on the urgent need to end the violence afflicting the Syrian people," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Kerry emphasized how important it is to maintain the momentum of the International Syria Support Group, a group of big world and regional powers backing peace efforts in the war-torn nation, Kirby said.

Biden also offered his condolences over a Jan. 12 terror attack that killed 12 German tourists in Istanbul. The Turkish authorities say the suicide bomber was linked to the Islamic State.

"We have a robust operation and commitment to defeat ISIL," said Biden, crediting Turkey for increasing efforts to secure its 550-mile border with Syria, as well as allowing anti-IS coalition aircraft to use Turkish bases for bombing runs against IS targets.

Biden also acknowledged the threat that Kurdish militants pose to Turkey, calling the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, "a terrorist group plain and simple." Ankara views its war on terror as a two-prong effort focused on Kurdish militants and IS jihadists who have established cells in Turkey and use the country as a gateway to Syria.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FBI data on the number of active shootings thwarted by armed citizens appears to contradict an Air Force argument for authorizing off-duty airman to open-carry and conceal-carry weapons while on base.

In a reminder to commanders on Wednesday, Maj. Keith Quick, an Air Force Security Forces Integrated Defense action officer said national data analyzed by the Air Force showed that "many [active-shooter incidents] ended without police intervention because there was somebody there who had a concealed carry permit or somebody interdicted the active shooter."

But the data, which the Air Force said came from the FBI, states that only 5 of the 160 active-shooter incidents between 2000 and 2013 -- or 3.1 percent -- ended "after armed individuals who were not law enforcement personnel exchanged gunfire with the shooters."

The FBI report can be found here. An Air Force spokeswoman on Friday said the officer may have used other data, which officials are now trying to identify.

Across the country, there are discussions, especially after mass shootings, over whether having more civilians armed would prevent mass killings by deranged gunmen or terrorists.

National Rifle Association Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre Jr. famously advocated for armed civilians by claiming that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun."

The Air Force programs permitting base commanders to allow qualified airmen to carry weapons on base, on and off duty, were prompted by specific attacks on military installations, including one in July 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that left four Marines dead and a sailor wounded.

The gunman, a Kuwait-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by police.

Following that attack, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter directed the service secretaries to beef up armed security, including at facilities off base.

In December, Air Force Secretary Deborah James, referencing the Chattanooga attack as well those at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 and at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, who would admit to jihadist sympathies, killed 13 and wounded more than 30. At the Navy Yard, former Navy employee Aaron Alexis killed 12 people before turning the gun on himself.

"In the wake of [those attacks], we worked closely with DOD, the Joint Staff and other services to identify and provide effective and long-lasting force protection enhancements," James said.

The Air Force has three programs intended to enhance security through conceal-carry or open-carry by qualified airman. All require the approval of unit commanders and the authority of the base commander.

The programs are the Unit Marshal, the Security Forces Staff Arming and Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act, and the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act -- the latter a federal statute established for civilian police but now available to service members through their commanders.

Some will allow for conceal carry and others for open carry. In all cases the airmen have to be properly trained and qualified with the weapon. Unit level commanders may request the armed credentialing for their airmen but the base commander is the approving authority.

"We take the safety of our service members, civilians and their families who support them seriously and continue to examine ways to make our installations and facilities safer."

--Bryant Jordan can be reached at bryant.jordan@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bryantjordan.
In Pennsylvania, National Guard troops were called on Saturday to rescue hundreds of motorists stranded by Winter Storm Jonas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike as part of the Guard's mobilization by governors across the mid-Atlantic region.

In Virginia, Guard troops were using their Humvees to get state troopers where they couldn't go in their own vehicles. In Kentucky, National Guard wreckers were hauling abandoned cars off Interstate 75.

The activated Guard troops and other first responders from Georgia to southern Connecticut were battling snow drifts up to four feet, record coastal flooding, and winds of 70 mph in some areas.

As of midday Saturday, Maj. Gen. James C. Witham, director of Domestic Operations and Force Development (J3/7) for the National Guard Bureau, said at least 2,300 Guard troops had been activated and the number could go up to 3,000 as snow continued to fall in the storm that was affecting 80 million people in a quarter of the US.

Witham did not have complete state-by-state figures on the numbers of Guard soldiers and airmen activated but said 500 each had been activated by Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Sixty were also assisting local responders in the District of Columbia and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., had 600 Guard troops on standby in New York.

Before the storm hit, Army Col. Thomas L. Morgan III, director of joint operations for the Virginia Guard, said potential missions for his troop included transportation through heavy snow, downed tree removal, debris reduction and distribution of food, water and other supplies.

"In order to be able to respond rapidly when needed, we will get our personnel in place at key locations before the severe weather hits," Morgan said.

Witham said the storm was "more widespread than we originally anticipated," but the Guard had been postured to respond by putting units on alert beforehand.

Witham said he expected the number of guard troops activated to increase as the storm shifted northward to New Jersey and New York. Governors in 12 states and Mayor Muriel Bowser of the District of Columbia had already declared states of emergency.

In the District, Metro bus and subway lines were shut down through the weekend and in New York, Cuomo shut down the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter lines and subways in New York City were not operating above ground.

Thus far, Witham said that the Guard has not received any Title 10 requests to federalize Guard troops, and the actions already underway were in support of state adjutant generals and governors.

Additional Guard soldiers and airmen were expected to go on duty through Saturday night and "possibly across next week" as states go into recovery mode, Witham said. Guard vehicles were especially useful in snowstorms, simply because they are heavier than their civilian counterparts, Witham said.

"That's one of the one of the unique capabilities of the Guard," Witham said. "It's extremely heavy equipment that's very adept in terms of domestic response. In a blizzard, heavy trucks and graders are very good in getting through where other state and local authorities (vehicles) might not be able to get through."

Witham said he had yet to receive any reports of his own people being stranded in the snowdrifts "but I'm sure it's possible."

Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com

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Kalamazoo Promise

Kalamazoo Promise Scholars Joe Boggan, left, and Tinashe Chaponda attend the 10th anniversary celebration for The Kalamazoo Promise at Bronson Park, in downtown Kalamazoo. A recent study showed local promise scholarships can increase the quality and supply of the labor force.

(Daytona Niles/MLive.com)

Local economic development programs usually involve offering businesses tax breaks and other incentives to invest in a community and create jobs.

But a recent study says state and local governments also should offer an incentive that can boost the supply and quality of labor, which is becoming a critical issue for businesses looking to expand.

Many Michigan businesses say their biggest challenge is finding qualified workers in an economy that has seen the unemployment rate rapidly fall over the past six years.

And although the state's population is growing slowly overall through births and international migration, Michigan has seen a net loss of 80,000 people, who have moved to other states since 2010.

Research by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research senior economist Tim Bartik and research analyst Nathan Sotherland suggests the state could stem the loss of working-age residents by offering promise scholarships.

Promise scholarships provide college tuition grants to those who graduate from high school.

The first such program was the Kalamazoo Promise, which since 2006 has provided college tuition scholarships to about 3,800 graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools.

Since then, about 50 promise programs have been created across the country.

Upjohn Institute researchers studied eight of those programs to see what impacts they have had on local populations, jobs and property values.

Their research found promise scholarship programs in effect for at least three years have reduced out-migration and increased the overall population of local labor markets by about 1.7 percent.

A 'sizeable effect'

The strongest impact in reducing out-migration occurred among families with children, who remained to take advantage of promise scholarships.

"That's a pretty sizeable effect," Bartik told me.

Promise scholarships helped boost populations in local labor markets studied, even though schools offering promise scholarships covered only one-third of those market areas.

In a previous study, Bartik calculated a 1.7 percent rise in population leads to a 1 percent increase in property values.

In Kalamazoo County, for example, that works out to an increase of $168 million, providing additional tax dollars that could help offset the cost of scholarships.

Bartik also estimated that, within a few years, a promise program would lead to a 1.7 percent increase in jobs, or 1,900 jobs in Kalamazoo County.

The Kalamazoo Promise, funded by an anonymous donor, costs about $11 million a year. So the cost of using a promise program as an economic development tool would be about $6,000 per job.

That's a good deal, considering many business incentive programs can cost $20,000 or more per job, Bartik said.

Promoting economic development while boosting the education level of Michigan's workforce is hard to argue against.
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Ann Arbor teachers attend Learner Profile presentation as a part of the International Baccalaureate program at the Scarlett Middle School, Wednesday, September 2, 2015, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

(unfu Han | The Ann Arbor News file)

In the two months since the Michigan Legislature passed teacher evaluation reform, there's been confusion among Ann Arbor teachers as to what is expected of them.

A small but vocal group of Ann Arbor teachers and parents say changes the district made to its evaluation system in the wake of the new law are drastic, overwhelming and unnecessary. What's more, they charge the district made the changes without collaborating with teachers.

"They are feeling overwhelmed. It's a moving target, and we don't know what to aim for," said Linda Carter, Ann Arbor Education Association president.

For four years, Ann Arbor teachers and principals were able to adapt the district's previous evaluation tool to fit individual needs. That meant teachers and their supervisors chose one of four topics to evaluate the teacher on that year, from classroom management to instruction, in the Ann Arbor Public Schools Framework for Teaching.

It was a model adapted from Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching that the Ann Arbor Education Association and administration negotiated five years ago.

But with changes in the state law, Ann Arbor Public Schools leaders now say evaluations must strictly adhere to the Danielson system. That means teachers will be evaluated on 76 different objectives each year. The superintendent says it will benefit teachers and students; union leaders say it will hurt both.

Carter described the new tool as being far from the original intent of improving student learning because it takes up time teachers would otherwise use on their students.

Ann Arbor schools Superintendent Jeanice Swift said the district is following the law and the Michigan Department of Education's guidance with its revamped evaluation tool, which she says will improve teacher effectiveness and student learning.

However, an education department official says it's up to districts to interpret the law.

"The law does not name or require the adoption and use of any specific evaluation tool. The law does require local districts to adopt and implement an evaluation tool that demonstrates 'evidence of reliability, validity and efficacy.' It is up to the local district to determine that its evaluation tool, and the implementation thereof, meets this standard," said Abbie Groff-Blaszak, director of the Michigan Department of Education Office of Educator Talent and Policy Coordination.

The law allows for educators to modify the tool as long as the adaptation doesn't violate the research base of the evaluation process.

Dozens of Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers attend the Ann Arbor Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at Forsythe Middle School in Ann Arbor.

Swift and the Ann Arbor Public Schools leaders say that means the district has to adopt a research-based tool, and use all aspects of it.

"That's not something we have a choice on," she said.

It's also the recommendation of the now-disbanded Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness. The council examined teacher evaluations in the state and suggested in its 2013 report districts use a research-based tool in " full fidelity," or the entire tool.

In response to teacher concerns, the Ann Arbor schools administration is pulling together a team of teachers to "support and clarify" the transition, Swift said in a Jan. 13 email to teachers.

How it happened

In October, the Michigan Legislature rolled out its newest teacher evaluation plan after four years of discussions on what the law should and shouldn't require.

Ann Arbor Public Schools had a district-wide staff meeting to announce its new plan on Nov. 3, two days before Gov. Rick Snyder signed the legislation into law.

The new teacher evaluation law mandates districts base 25 percent of a teacher's evaluation on student growth data through 2017-18, and 40 percent thereafter. Districts are told to use state standardized tests to measure half of that student growth portion beginning in 2018-19, and base the rest of the evaluation on a teacher's performance as measured by the evaluation tool adopted by the district.

Evaluations, which also include observation by principals and administrators trained on the tool, give each teacher an annual rating of highly effective, effective, minimally effective or ineffective. By law, school districts must terminate teachers that receive ineffective ratings for three consecutive years.

The Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching tool, one of four models the state recommends, offers four domains with 76 different objectives for principals to rate teachers on. The domains include planning and preparation, the classroom environment, instruction and professional responsibilities.

Principals and administrators observe teachers throughout the year, discussing their performance with them in pre- and post-observation conferences.

Through the evaluations, teachers also must demonstrate student growth by choosing from a menu of measures including NWEA, benchmark assessments and EveryDay Math benchmark assessments for elementary teachers and Common Content Assessments, ACT/SAT, SRI and Student Learning Objectives for secondary teachers.

From 2011 until last year, Ann Arbor schools used a revised version of the Danielson model that administrators and teachers had been working on since 2008. Student growth accounted for 20 percent of a teacher's evaluation in that tool.

But a 2011 state law prohibited school districts and teachers unions from negotiating the teacher evaluation tool in future contracts.

The Ann Arbor schools Board of Education and Swift terminated the teachers' union contract as of July 1, 2015, and at that time the district and union had to remove prohibited subjects like teacher evaluations from the Ann Arbor Education Association contract and put them into board policy.

Teachers were upset about the district terminating the contract, which led to a public contract dispute in the May and June. The dispute ended quietly during the summer when the two sides went through mediation and came to an agreement in August, though some teachers say their frustration haven't dissipated.

Meanwhile, Swift sent messages of positivity and collaboration in emails sent to teachers in December and January.

"Thank you for the work you do every day to bring our highest and best effort to our classrooms on behalf of our children," she wrote on Jan. 13. "I know we all remain committed to deliver the top-quality teaching and learning that our children and families expect and deserve."

'Change is difficult'

The 2015 law states that the board must involve teachers and school administrators in developing and implementing an evaluation tool.

Linda Carter

That's something the teachers union claims did not happen, while Swift says teachers have been a part of the process even before the district had clarity on state requirements. The district's curriculum directors, who are teachers, have been discussing evaluations for months.

Both teachers and administrators are going through training on the new evaluation tool this year, she said.

Carter says the union didn't sit at the table in a collaborative fashion to shape the new tool as they have done in previous years.

"This is the fourth evaluation process I've gone through in 41 years. Not having the opportunity to give our collaborative points of view on process has been so unprofessional," she said.

Since that first Nov. 3 meeting in Ann Arbor schools, there have been a few changes.

When the AAEA expressed concern with required student growth measurements in December, Swift and the administration responded by offering teachers a menu of options to determine how students are performing in the classroom.

For the union, the timing of the implementation is another problem.

Some of the requirements in the law, such as the portion of a teacher's evaluation that isn't based on student growth or assessment data, don't go into effect until next year, Carter said. She said she would have appreciated time to work on the tool.

Preparing for observations with all 76 objectives, Carter said, requires teachers to do a lot of "busywork" through an online program called STAGES. One teacher took six hours on a Sunday to prepare for a pre-conference meeting before an observation, time she could have used to prepare lesson plans for students.

In a survey the Ann Arbor Education Association conducted in late 2015, 5 percent of teachers responded they believe the new evaluation system will make them better teachers, while more than 70 percent of teachers said it wouldn't. About 6 percent of teachers said the evaluation tool will benefit their students, while more than 70 percent disagreed it would.

"The new evaluation system is having teachers bypass their professional expertise and judgment, and their concern for students, in order to protect their jobs," said Jeff Gaynor, a teacher at Clague Middle School. "They are reformulating lesson planning and teaching, not to reach students and help them grow as engaged, thoughtful learners, but to get more points on arbitrary and often superficial 'growth factors.'"

He said the district and board can now get rid of any teachers they please.

However, Ann Arbor teachers have due process under board policy, said David Comsa, Ann Arbor schools deputy superintendent of human resources and general counsel.

While 76 objectives sounds like a big number, it's work Ann Arbor teachers have been doing all along, said Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley, Ann Arbor schools assistant superintendent of instruction and student support services.

Jeanice Swift

Swift described 2015-2016 as a year of transition, and while she said she understands change is difficult, the district will be better off next year for the work teachers and administrators are putting in next year.

It's clear that despite their differences, teachers and administrators expressed a common goal: for students to learn.

Ann Arbor teachers want an evaluation system in place that helps teachers learn how to get better and improve student learning, Carter said, and they want to be a part of that conversation on how to get there.

"I'm not hearing from any members we don't want to be evaluated. There's a way of doing business," she said. "You don't want it to feel like 'gotcha.' You want to learn something to do differently, better."

Administrators say the district will work through the challenges of implementing a new tool and come out better for it in the end.

"We have a constellation of extraordinary teachers," Swift said. "I have every confidence in the world we will sort through the change process and continue the teaching and learning. We're going to get a little better and improve some areas."

Lindsay Knake is a cops and courts reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.
The state of Michigan now knows all too well what can happen when an entire city's drinking water supply becomes contaminated.

That's something many people in Ann Arbor have worried for years could happen here as an underground dioxane plume continues to spread further into the city, inching closer to the Huron River, Ann Arbor's primary drinking water source.

As the Flint water crisis continues, Ann Arbor leaders and residents are once again speaking out about the dioxane plume here, expressing hopes that state officials who now have a mess on their hands in Flint will start to take Ann Arbor's own water concerns more seriously.

The issue came up this past week at both the Ann Arbor City Council and Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meetings.

Local officials have been trying for years to get the governor's office and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to follow through and update the state's cleanup standards for dioxane and other hazardous substances, following the latest science from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA published new findings in 2010 showing cleaning up dioxane to 3.5 parts per billion in drinking water poses a 1 in 100,000 cancer risk.

The DEQ for the last several years has enforced a cleanup standard of 85 parts per billion, which was intended to result in the same 1 in 100,000 cancer risk.

County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, said he got a sense of the magnitude of the problem while serving on the Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane. Also known as CARD, it's a partnership of local governments and citizens that has worked to develop policies and strategies to address the groundwater contamination from the industrial solvent 1,4-dioxane, released by Gelman Sciences decades ago on Wagner Road, just west of Ann Arbor in Scio Township.

"We went up to Lansing, we met with the DEQ, and, boy, it is hard to describe how recalcitrant they were to work with us," Rabhi said at Wednesday night's county board meeting. "And I really hope that things have changed with the Flint water crisis unfolding. I hope the DEQ's leadership is different."

Multiple DEQ officials, including director Dan Wyant, have resigned after what's happened in Flint. Two more DEQ employees were suspended Friday.

DEQ spokesman Bob Wagner said the DEQ is close to finishing work it started in 2013 on a new set of rules for dioxane and 300-plus other substances.

"It's a very complex, highly technical process with respect to developing generic cleanup criteria that sets thresholds for when public health or the environment would be at risk with respect to specific chemicals or hazardous substances," he said.

"We're very close to being finished with producing that package," he said, adding it still will take six to nine months to go through an administrative rules process, which will include a chance for public input and a public hearing.

Meanwhile, Ann Arbor's dioxane plume continues to spread, according to Ann Arbor officials and others tracking it through monitoring wells.

Rabhi said he believes the DEQ's staff on the ground are genuine in wanting to help address the situation.

"I think it's the upper echelons of that bureaucratic setup who have really continued to fail the people of Michigan," he said. "And I hope with some change there that we'll see some action on the front of our own problem here."

The dioxane plume was first discovered in Ann Arbor in the 1980s. Gelman Sciences, which later became Pall Life Sciences, used 1,4-dioxane in its processes for the manufacture of medical filters on Wagner Road many years ago and left the groundwater in the area heavily polluted.

That pollution continues to spread east into Ann Arbor and has caused the city to shut off a well station on the city's west side, while a groundwater use prohibition zone remains in effect for a large segment of the city.

Pall shut down operations at the site in 2013, but it's still responsible for cleanup. The company was acquired by Danaher Corp. for $13.8 billion last year.

Remediation efforts are ongoing, but local officials and environmental activists want higher cleanup standards to stop the spreading plume.

Pall couldn't be reached for comment.

A spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder referred questions to the DEQ.

DEQ officials have stressed there's no imminent risk to public health from the Pall-Gelman plume, and if it ever hits the Huron River, they project it would be downstream of Ann Arbor's drinking water intake pipe in Barton Pond.

But not everyone is willing to take that chance, and Ann Arbor officials and many residents want the plume cleaned up more aggressively.

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor addressed the issue in a communication to residents earlier this month. He emphasized that dioxane from the Pall-Gelman plume has never been detected in Ann Arbor's drinking water.

"We need to do absolutely everything we can to keep it that way," he wrote. "Right now, the state standard of 85/ppb is far weaker than what the federal government says is safe. We continue to push the Department of Environmental Quality to adopt the federal standard of 3.5/ppb."



Taylor said the DEQ's director more than a year ago assured him that the state's review of the dioxane standards would be released for public comment in spring of 2015, but it still hasn't arrived now in 2016.

"In a follow-on conversation, the director expressed regret for the delay and provided his further assurance that the new state standard would be released for public comment in late winter 2016," Taylor said. "I have recently been assured by the DEQ that the new standard will be released in this timeframe. I expect that the new standard will be substantially more restrictive than the present standard, but do not know whether it will be as strict as the federal standard. "



Once the new standard is in place, Taylor said, "we will be able to re-incentivize the polluter to accelerate and extend cleanup."

State Reps. Adam Zemke and Jeff Irwin, both Democrats who represent Ann Arbor in Lansing, are watching the issue.

"What I've been hearing is pretty much the same thing consistently the last two years we've been discussing the subject, and that is that the standard is totally out of whack with what the reality is, and we do need to change the standard," Zemke said, expressing hopes for real action this year. "I don't think the science has changed in the last two years, but I'm hopeful that people's opinions have changed."

Irwin said his office has been very involved over the last few years with the DEQ on revising the cleanup standards.

"We're trying to get the criteria number for dioxane moved down from 85 parts per billion to somewhere in the single digits," he said.

"We had commitments from the governor and from the department that they were working on this and they were going to bring the criteria in line with federal toxicity standards, which would bring it down by a factor of 10," he said. "This Flint situation could either propel or delay that kind of action, and that's why we're trying to confirm with the department that we're still on track to get that changed this year."

Irwin said he has a meeting coming up with the DEQ to confirm the process going forward. He said much progress has been made in the last few years.

"For the last few years, my office has participated in the workgroups to develop new cleanup criteria," he said. "Matt Naud from the city has also participated."

Naud, the city of Ann Arbor's environmental coordinator, has agreed with the DEQ's assessment that there's no imminent threat to the city's drinking water. But he said in 2014 there still was a considerable amount of dioxane in the ground that eventually would pass through the city and hit the river.

It's just a matter of where.

The current standards would allow dioxane in concentrations up to 2,800 parts per billion to hit the Huron River and become diluted, as long as it's downstream of Barton Pond and nobody is using it as a drinking water source.

Based on the newest data, Irwin said, Michigan's cleanup standard for dioxane is no longer compliant with the law.

"I have made that point to MDEQ in writing, in person at public hearings and in private meetings," he said. "MDEQ knows that our law requires using best available science and that our standard does not. That fact is what kicked off this process to promulgate new cleanup standards."

He added, "However, because there are 309 chemicals in the Part 201 standards, there has been over a year of negotiations and wrangling with industry stakeholders who are mostly focused on other pollutants, excepting Pall, of course."

At the end of 2014, the DEQ received a set of recommendations from a stakeholder advisory group, which included representatives from academia, environmentalists, business and local governments. The DEQ agreed with those recommendations and since last January has been comprehensively rewriting text rules, as well as redoing equations and adjusting inputs to do a comprehensive update, Wagner said.

"You end up with big equations with hundreds of inputs, then the math has to be done," he explained of the process for setting new cleanup standards.

County Commissioner Kent Martinez-Kratz, D-Chelsea, the county board's liaison to dioxane remediation group CARD, said there are talks of potentially petitioning the EPA for designation of the plume as a federal superfund site to get the EPA involved, since, in his opinion, the state "for six years has kind of dragged its feet."

"It's a long drawn-out process," he said. "I'm not sure they're going to move forward, but they're having a meeting to discuss that option."

Ann Arbor resident Kai Petainen raised the dioxane issue at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, urging city officials to keep pressure on the state to do something about the plume in Ann Arbor following the Flint water crisis. He said it seems the governor has ignored the dioxane in Ann Arbor as he ignored Flint.

"He has consistently ignored the environment as he aimed for profits. But in the process, he forgot about his true customer. His customers should not have been the businesses, but the people of this great state," Petainen said.

"Today Snyder promised to work harder on these kinds of issues. Hold him to it. If he's not recalled or fired, or whatever it is, hold him to that."

Irwin said there's been a group of local officials who have actively lobbied the DEQ on behalf of citizens regarding the dioxane issue, including Mayor Christopher Taylor, former Mayor John Hieftje, City Council Members Sabra Briere and Chuck Warpehoski, County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, County Water Resources Commissioner Evan Pratt, and Ann Arbor Township Supervisor Mike Moran.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.
The third Tuesday of every month, polka musicians gather at the American Legion Hall Post 268 in Milan to take part in the Polka Jam Session.

Musicians and fans spanning many areas of Michigan come together for a night of dancing along to an array of instruments. It is a "come one, come all" type atmosphere, and the gathering makes do with whoever happens to show up.

Carl Pribyl, one of the founders of the jam session, has been a staple of the event for the last 15 years as the crew has migrated through many venues.

"We're just trying to keep this music alive," he said. Attendees clapped and stomped along to the tunes as the night went on, celebrating a long standing tradition of polka within the community.
Matt Damon

Actor and screenwriter Matt Damon addresses an audience during a forum at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum called "Change Haiti Can Believe In," in Boston, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009. Damon, who visited Haiti in September of 2008 following hurricane devastation, participated in a discussion on issues including poverty and politics in the island nation. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

((AP Photo/Steven Senne))

FLINT, MI -- A Hollywood heavyweight has chimed in on the Flint water crisis and had some blunt words for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.

A Daily Beast story has actor Matt Damon stating "At the very least he should resign" in regards to Snyder during a Saturday, Jan. 23 appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Damon, co-founder of water.org, a nonprofit organization he co-founded to provide safe water and sanitation, joins others that have called on the governor to step down, including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and filmmaker Michael Moore.

"Listen, everybody's entitled to a fair trial in the United States of America, but that man should get one. And soon. That's just my personal opinion," Damon said to the Daily Beast.

Dave Murray, press secretary for the governor, said in statement that "Gov. Snyder is committed to helping the people of Flint, protecting their health and safety and correcting the problems with the water. This situation is the result of missteps at all levels of government -- local, state and federal. We're focused on fixing these problems."

Snyder has said he will not step down from the governor position and is working on solutions to fix the lead problem in the city's water system.

A state of emergency was declared Jan. 5 in Genesee County. President Obama signed an emergency declaration Jan. 16 for Flint and authorized $5 million and assistance from the the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Snyder unveiled a $28 million plan during his Jan. 19 State of the State address to combat the city's water crisis. Water resource sites and teams, including Michigan National Guard members, are aiding in distribution efforts.

The plan allocates state funding to six departments and would enable the state to increase National Guard efforts, increase nurses in schools and replace fixtures in some public places.

Obama has denied an appeal by Snyder for a federal disaster declaration in Flint, which FEMA has said is "not appropriate for this event," with the classification typically associated with a natural disaster.

An $80 million revolving loan fund granted to the state is tabbed for infrastructure repairs, but it's not clear how much of the amount may go towards Flint's issues.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver recently said that "Governor Snyder must decide for himself whether he is going (to) step down" and it's "his call to make for the people."
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - For the second time since his conviction, the so-called mastermind behind a plan to kidnap and hold his former mother-in-law for ransom will have a shot at a new sentence.

Regan Reynolds, 37, was sentenced to 30 to 90 years in prison for the botched kidnapping of a 60-year-old woman, who was duct taped to a telephone pole in an Allegan County cornfield. The Grandville woman escaped her captors when they ran out of tape.

In Reynolds' second appeal since his 2012 sentencing in Kent County Circuit Court, the Court of Appeals found the sentencing guidelines were scored incorrectly and ordered the case be remanded for resentencing.

Despite Reynolds' earlier attempt at less time behind bars, Judge Mark Trusock declined to shave any time off the original sentence during a 2014 resentencing hearing.

In August 2011, Reynolds recruited two accomplices - Quinton Goree and Bryan Blakely - to break into the Grandville home of David and Kathleen Byker. Court documents stated Reynolds later told police he was angry because the couple paid for a lawyer for their daughter, his ex-wife, which resulted in him being unable to see his children.

He allegedly supplied Goree and Blakely with masks, knives, gloves and duct tape and showed them where to find the couple as they slept about 4 a.m.

They kidnapped Kathleen Byker and held her husband at knifepoint, telling him she would be killed if he didn't pay $200,000. They left a cell phone number to call when he had the cash.

The woman's hands and feet were bound, and her eyes and mouth were covered with tape while she was taken to a cornfield. After learning Kathleen Byker had escaped, the trio fled to Northern Michigan.

Reynolds pleaded guilty to kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap and home invasion charges. Trusock sentenced him to 20 to 60 years on the kidnapping and conspiracy charges followed by 10 to 30 years for home invasion. The terms are to be served consecutively.

Reynolds argues his three prior federal court felony convictions of using counterfeit paper currency were scored too high, leading to an "invalid sentence."

The Court of Appeals found that though the second sentence Reynolds received in 2014 was within the corrected range for sentencing guidelines, it was based on a scoring error. For that reason, the court said he is entitled to another resentencing.

While judges must continue to accurately score sentencing guideline variables, the Michigan Supreme Court last year ruled the guidelines are advisory rather than mandatory. Judges can now use their discretion to go above or below the minimum sentence called for by guidelines.

Angie Jackson covers public safety and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at ajackso3@mlive.com, and follow her on Twitter.
GRANDVILLE, MI - No one was hurt Sunday in a fire that damaged a Days Inn & Suites in Grandville, the city's fire chief said.

Firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire at 3825 28th Street SW at about noon, Grandville Fire Chief Mike May said.

May said about six rooms at the Days Inn were occupied at the time of the fire, but it wasn't immediately known how many guests had to be evacuated.

"We've had the bulk of it knocked down for about 30 minutes but we're still working on some hotspots and that could take an hour or more," May said at the scene, as of 12:45 p.m.

May said it appears the fire started on the third floor in an attic area of the Days Inn. The motel is located on the north side of 28th Street east of I-196.

Firefighters shut down 28th Street SW after arriving on the scene Sunday. The department was assisted by firefighters from the Wyoming and Georgetown Township fire departments.

The manager at the Days Inn corralled guests into vehicles to stay warm once they were out of the motel.

As of 12:45 p.m., May said he expected 28th Street SW to be shut down for at least one more hour because some of the fire hydrants firefighters had to use were across the street from the Days Inn.

Rex Hall Jr. is a reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. You can reach him at rhall2@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter.
WOODSTOCK TWP., MI - A fire likely destroyed a home Saturday afternoon on Briggs Highway north of Addison, Addison Fire Chief Tim Shaw said.

No one was hurt in the fire at 10901 Briggs Highway, south of U.S. 12 and east of U.S. 127.

Firefighters were called to the area at 12:56 p.m. and found heavy smoke and flames coming from a front window.

The fire damaged a kitchen and living room area and there was heat and smoke damage throughout the open, modular home, Shaw said. He believes the house will be a "total loss."

Shaw was not certain of what caused the fire, which appeared to have started in the kitchen.

Several people lived in the home, rendered uninhabitable, and they are receiving help from the American Red Cross and the Lenawee County Victim Services Unit, he said.

Firefighters from Somerset and Cambridge townships assisted the Addison crews.
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Developing cooperation with the University of Savoy

ISU students have returned from France. In September 2015 Fdor Eskov, Tatiana Stepanova, Anton Makarenko (International Institute of Economics and Linguistics) and Galina Makarova (Service and Advertising Faculty) left for study under the program Business English at the University of Savoy Mont Blanc (Chambery, France).



In April 2014 ISU and the University of Savoy Mont Blanc concluded the agreement on double-degree programs. The program is aimed at training specialists to be employed in state and private companies working with foreign partners.



 At first, it was not easy to integrate into a new culture, follow new traditions, and get used to new methods of teaching. But we managed to cope with all these difficulties. We met new interesting people, and we had classes with other foreign students from Romania and Italy. It was amazing! We had a chance to learn English and French with native speakers, participate in various events , - Tatiana Stepanova expressed her opinion.



Cooperation between Irkutsk State University and the University of Savoy is in progress: in March the professor from France is invited to deliver lectures at ISU.
COLUMBUS  Central Community College-Columbus freshman Christine Throeners former roommate dropped out halfway through her first year.

She had really bad grades and wasnt using the resources on campus, said Throener.

But like many college dropouts, her issues werent just academic.

She had a lot of family issues, said Throener. She was very isolated. She didnt go to activities, she just stayed in our dorm and spent all her time on her phone.

What happened with Throeners former roommate is common on college campuses across the country. Nationwide, only about 20 percent of community college students graduate. Most drop out halfway through their freshman year and are unlikely to resume their studies later on.

Students who are more likely to drop out come from low-income families, are the first generation in their family to attend college or have a disability.

Throener qualifies as all three. What made a difference for her was joining the TRIO program on campus.

Without those extra legs to stand on, I would have fallen on my butt, said Throener.

TRIO is a federal organization through the U.S. Department of Education with programs designed to identify and help those from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their educational and career goals. To qualify for CCCs TRIO program, a student has to either come from a low-income family, be a first-generation college student or have a disability.

Central Community College added TRIO programs at its Columbus, Grand Island and Hastings campuses in 2001 and received a five-year grant that will partially fund the program until 2020.

TRIO students take a free course designed to help them adapt to college life and teach them academic and life skills.

We found when we interviewed some students who were eligible for (TRIO) they said they wanted to go to a school that was closer to home  they didnt feel like they were ready for the four-year experience, said Rosie Heinisch, the TRIO director at CCC-C.

Madelin Calderon moved to Nebraska after graduating from high school in Guatemala. She started attending CCC for English classes and is now majoring in accounting.

TRIO helped me to understand life in college here because in Guatemala it is totally different, she said. You feel more comfortable and ready for college.

Rylee Hill is a freshman student with cerebral palsy. Through her TRIO advisers she learned how to ask for transportation assistance and adjust to college life.

It helped me get into the routine, she said.

The program includes in-depth academic and career counseling designed to give students a sense of where theyre going and how to get there.

The times of going to college and finding yourself, I think that might be gone, said Heinisch. We dont have time for that. Its too expensive.

National studies found that 75 percent of community college students do not perform at a college level in either math, reading or writing. At CCC, Heinisch said 72 percent of students need remedial courses in one of those subjects. She has also found that many TRIO students dont have the confidence to seek the help they need or communicate with their instructors.

If we can reduce that anxiety, I think the students are further ahead, she said. Were teaching competency and I think then that leads to self-confidence.

On top of being behind academically, community college students tend to work part or full time to support themselves through college. At CCC, 88 percent of students expect to work while they go to school. Of those students, 12.9 percent work full time while studying full time.

I dont know how they do it. Its just incredible, Heinisch said.

Students from low-income backgrounds do not have their parents as a safety net to help them make ends meet, which can disrupt their college experience. Heinisch said she recently assisted a student who was falling behind in her online classes because she couldnt afford to have Internet installed at home.

While Heinisch has found that the parents of her students are very supportive, they dont understand the stress and pressure of going to college because many never experienced it for themselves.

Sophomore Cayla Cuba is the first in her family to attend college and plans on transferring to a four-year institution next year.

Im terrified, honestly, said Cuba. But Im excited.

TRIO students said the program also helped them build a social network they can turn to. Studies have found that students who are more engaged and have a social circle do better academically.

While the level of attention and guidance these students receive is intensive, it does get results. CCCs graduation rate is 34 percent, 14 points higher than the national average. For students who participate in TRIO, the graduation rate jumps to 43.7 percent.

CCCs retention rate with full-time students was 61 percent last year. For students who qualified for TRIO but did not participate, the rate was 52 percent, but with those who did participate it was 77.6 percent.

What I hear from (CCC staff) is, I wish we could serve all our students like this, said Heinisch. Because its a really good plan, its done a lot and its achieved a lot.

Some of TRIOs initiatives have been diluted to serve the general population at CCC. A system is now in place where teachers report on students progress throughout the semester. If a student is not on track, their adviser will email or call them to find out what the problem is and help them find a solution.

Assistant Dean of Students Beth Pryzmus said the time and energy is worthwhile.

Its time-consuming, but we think its an important intervention, she said. Community college students in particular have a lot of barriers, so we know we have to be proactive.
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N'Djamena (AFP) - Chad will hold presidential elections on April 10, the country's Independent National Electoral Commission announced on Saturday.

Current head of state Idriss Deby Itno -- in power since 1990 after overthrowing former president Hissein Habre -- is expected to be designated as candidate by his party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, on February 6.

Deby, born in 1952, modified the constitution in 2004, scrapping its two-term limit on presidential tenure, and won the following elections by a huge majority.

Two opposition figures, Kassire Coumakoye and Malloum Yobode, have already declared they will run.

Candidates have from February 10 to 29 to file their bid. A runoff vote will be held on May 9 if no outright winner emerges from the first round in April.

An oil-rich central African country with entrenched poverty, Chad is playing a pivotal role in the military campaign against the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram.

On November 9, the government declared a state of emergency in the flashpoint Lake Chad region, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.
24.01.2016 LISTEN

The State says the bill of indictment on Gregory Afoko the suspect, who allegedly poured acid on the late Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Adams Mahama would be ready at the court's next sitting.

According to Mr Mathew Amponsah, Chief State Attorney the bill of indictment was almost ready and assured the court it would be ready at its next sitting.

The matter was therefore adjourned to February 4.

Afoko on a number of occasions sought bail at the Magistrate Court but the Court turned him down.

His lawyers had argued that he had been incarcerated for more than eight months and his personal liberty was at stake, hence should be admitted to bail.

Afoko has been charged for murder, his accomplice, Musah Issah, is being held for abetment of crime. Their pleas have not been taken.

On July 10, the Magistrate's Court presided over by Mr Worlanyo Kotoku, admitted Issah to bail in the sum of GH 20,000.00 with four sureties.

He is to report to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service before noon from Monday to Thursday, until the case is disposed off.

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In the case of Afoko, an Accra High Court refused him bail, saying there had not been any unreasonable delay in the matter.

The Court presided over by Mr Justice K. A. Okwabi noted that the facts and charges were properly laid and they connected Gregory to the crime.

In May, while he was on the way home, Mahama was attacked with acid, and he later died in the hospital.

He reportedly named some of the persons who attacked him.

According to the Police, Afoko after his arrest, was asked to lead the Police to the house of his accomplice, Asabke Alangdi, but he rather took them to his father's house.

The Police said they later located the house of the second person, but the suspect, having gotten wind of their presence, absconded with his wife, leaving behind their baby.

A gallon, which allegedly contained some of the substance and a plastic cup, were retrieved from the scene for forensic examination, the Police said.

The Police said: a post mortem examination was conducted on the body of Adam and the pathologist gave the cause of the death as shocked lungs and extensive acid burns.

Issah was arrested for allegedly buying the acid used for the attack.

Source: GNA


Ghana Internet Safety Foundation (GISF) in partnership with Facebook Incorporated, YMCA and Hapaweb Solutions will this year celebrate the World Safer Internet Day. This years theme is Play Your Part for a Better Internet

The Safer Internet Day (SID) is organized each February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile devices, especially among children and young people. Celebrated on the second day of the second week of the second month, each year on Safer Internet Day thousands of people join together to participate in events and activities to raise awareness of online safety issues, right across the globe.

The online safety landscape has evolved over recent years from a focus on creating a safer internet to creating a better internet. Whether we are children and young people, parents and carers, educators or social care workers, or indeed industry, decision makers or politicians, we all have a role to play.

In championing a better internet, this years theme aims to encourage people to play their part in making the most of the positive opportunities offered online, while giving them the resilience, skills, knowledge and support they need to navigate any online risks they may come across.

Celebrations in Ghana will include a Quiz and Spelling Bee competition amongst four selected schools in Kumasi. TeamGISF will also engage other schools in an awareness campaign. Some educational resources provided by Facebook will be made available to the students.

Ms. Akua Gyekye, Public Policy Manager, Facebook Africa expressed her delight in promoting a safer and better internet for the Ghanaian digital citizenry.

Mr. Emmanuel Adinkrah, Co-Founder/CEO of Ghana Internet Safety Foundation, expressed delight at the support of Facebook Inc. towards this years celebration and encouraged stakeholders to help support the child online protection initiative.

Mr. Gabriel Ofori Appiah, Co-Founder/Chief Operations Officer, GISF reiterated plans and activities for the celebration, He said all plans are in place and the participants will get to experience the expectations of a safe and better internet.

A total of 850 students are expected to participate in this years celebration.

Interested individuals or organisations desirous of organizing or participating in Safer Internet Day can contact GISF on [email protected] or 020 1400 387
The Former Presidential Candidate of the People's National Convention (PNC), Hassan Ayariga, has formed a political party to contest in the 2016 Presidential race.

He formed the breakaway party, All Peoples Congress (APC), after his defeat in the PNC's presidential primary held in the Upper West regional capital, Wa.

Mr Ayariga was unseated by Dr Edward Mahama at the December 12 Congress December 2015 in Wa.

The PNC had hinted soon after the congress that Mr Ayariga was going round constituencies asking the partys executives to endorse forms meant for the formation of a new political party.

The party warned of stiff sanctions to its members who endorsed or assisted Ayariga to form a breakaway party.

But Joy News checks indicate that Mr Ayariga has already picked up certification forms from the electoral commission and established offices in 170 districts across the country.

Some membership forms of the APC have Mr Ayariga listed as the Supreme Leader of the yet-to-be-launched party.

Joy News sources say the electoral Commission will issue Mr. Ayariga with a provisional license on Friday, January 29, 2015.
Anyone who ponders over the above caption to my article will agree with me that I have chosen to teach on a very important and sensitive issue. That being the case, I would like to entreat all readers to read me very carefully as I labor to express what understanding the Most High One has given to me in respect of this topic.

Maybe, it will benefit readers of this article to first consider a quote from Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during WWII, which says, Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. So I will urge readers to be courageous in listening to me as I also humbly do my bit in this bargain.

Before going into the execution of my assignment, I suppose I should let any readers who may not already be aware to know that Ivrit is what is commonly termed as Hebrewthe language spoken by the children of Yisroel!

As a writer, I have received from some readers of my articles published in this very medium, a good number of comments regarding the language spoken by the Creator to the people of the Earth, and to His entire universe. Sadly, most of these comments are not only just awfully wrong and baseless in what they present, but also illogical and so naive that they have necessitated my writing of this article in an attempt to properly inform my readers.

Getting started on this mission, please read the following comment a reader made: Different languages and dialects were introduced by God in Babel and while they sound different they mean the same. If you can have a word sounding different in languages, there is no restriction in referring to God [by differing names in other languages] as well, as long as you know you are referring to God of Israel.words in parenthesis are mine; added for the sake of clarity.

This same commentator continued: God does not have an official language. He gave mankind the various tongues and dialects and he understands them all. It is not written anywhere that unless you speak in "a particular" language God will not hear you or you cannot be saved.

Here is another comment by another reader: My brother, anyone who calls the name Yahushua with the Son of God in mind will be saved but if the name is mentioned in vain, nothing will happen. In the same way, anyone who mentions the name Jesus with the Son of God in mind will be saved but the mention of that name will be of no effect if mentioned just for the sake of it.

The following comment also came from yet another reader: God is a spirit and per the attributes we give him, all of which are true, he works with us on individual basis and not [as a] group. Hence, if I called upon him by using "Jesus Christ" he knows exactly where I am coming from and will therefore not hesitate in coming to my aid.words in parenthesis are mine.

I must say that all these quotes are incorrect, in varying degrees, in the facts they seek to present. They are all false and come from people who seem to me to be just too naive, spiritually! And yet, all three commentators are no mean bible-believers.

They all claim to have been blessed with the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel that Elohiym freely gives to all who are in His salvation and active workforce, through the indwelling presence of His Ruwakh HaKodesh in them!

Now, when people like my three commentators speak with such passion in their convictions and, yet, are openly wrong, they not only endanger their own spiritual lives, but that of other people as well; for, a zealous person who is not guided by revelation knowledge will kill himself [and those that follow him], simply because all people who are ignorant of the truth shall perishcf. Hosea 4:6!

Maybe, the claims of all such people, that they have some Holy Spirit who indwells them and gives them their wisdom and understanding of the ways of the Most High One, without even ever hearing of Ruwakh HaKodeshthe true and genuine life-giving and life-sustaining Spirit of Elohiym, who encompasses all His nature and attributesis what has done them in by holding them in perpetual ignorance.

For all one may know, such people may rather be possessed by an unholy spirit, in their claim of having a Holy Spirit in them!! Of course, this could easily be their bane if they suppose that, when the Most High One promises to give Ruwakh HaKodesh to all saved people, they can allow themselves to be misled by bible translators to suppose that Elohiym means to give them some so-called Holy Spirit, instead! How more naive can any seekers of spiritual understanding get??

Before going further into executing my task in this teaching assignment, let me, in paying courtesies to the publishers of The Restored Names King James Version Bible (RNKJV), state that the words God, Jesus, and Christ found in the KJV Bible since its first publication in 1611 CE, have today been replaced with the words Elohiym, Yahushua, and Messiah, respectively, in their RNKJV Bible!

So also have the words Christian and Christians of the KJV Bible been replaced with Messianic and Messianics, respectively, in the RNKJV!! Sadly, however, they are yet to expunge Holy Spirit from their now defunct KJV Bible and to restore, in its stead, Ruwakh HaKodesh in their new RNKJV! Well, I hope they do so pretty soon!

I pray that, some time to come, we may have the occasion to critically examine and review this new RNKJV Bible in my column on this Modern Ghana internet site. But, for now, let me say that, by this new Bible, all Christians of yesteryears have simply metamorphosed to become todays Messianics, and that it is no longer legal or wise for any people to be called Christians, either of themselves or by some other persons!

And so, for all Christians who have already passed on from beyond this life on Earth towards one in Eternity, before this change to Messianics, there is no guarantee they will be welcomed at any known destination by their Maker, since, according to the RNKJV Bible, they should have gone seeking admission into the Gates of Abode of the Creator as Messianics instead, and not as Christians!! Are we safe?? What news, at all, is this??

Now, moving on with my teaching, let me make it categorically clear that Elohiym has no hand in originating, developing or shaping any one of the countless number of non-Ivrit languages of the Earth. All languages, except Ivrit, have evolved through the efforts of mankind! This is so, in much the same way that Elohiym has no hand in the production of any man-made things of the Earth; unless they were expressly made in compliance with His instructions for use in His worship.

You see, before the creation of the heavens and the earth, there was a language that was already in use in Shamayim (Heaven) as an instrument of communication between Elohiym, HaBen (His Son) Yahushua, and the host of holy malakim (angels) who worshipped and served Elohiym. All praise and worship of Elohiym and Yahushua was conducted in this language.

This holy language persists in Shamayim today, and will continue to be there as its only lingua franca forever and ever; for nothingwhether laws, orders, practices, manners and or worshipthat is established in Shamayim ever changes, but remains so eternally!!

This same language is what was used to call into being all the things that were not yet in being, as if they werecf. Romans 4:17and thus, is what brought all Creation into visible manifestation! So, then, programmed within all things of Creation [whether animate, inanimate or abstract], is the ability and capacity to hear and understand this language by which they were created so that they can obey the Creator, simply because the power of the Creator is in this language of Creation! In fact, the power of this language is Creation itself; and all Creation is also this very same language!

If we can accept this as truth, we can also understand and accept that the Word of this language is what is made to become the visible and tangible human-like flesh or personality who is called Yahushua, HaBen HaElohiym (The Son of Elohiym)cf. YahuKhanan (John?) 1:1-2and of whom YahuKhanan the Beloved gives witness in YahuKhanan Alef (First John) 1:1-3 and in Hisgalus (Revelation) 1:13-15 as the Aleph and Tav (not the Alpha and Omega Greek demon)!

In fact, no language other than Ivrit could ever have brought Yahushua HaBen HaElohiym into manifestation; and definitely not Englisha language that came into being only in the seventh century of Common Era (CE) long after Creationas the English Bible may seek to imply!

And so, for anyone to think that Elohiym has no official language or lingua franca for His business, kingdom and dwelling place in the highest heavens, that person is simply being too naive in his thinking! Now, because this language of Elohiym is best understood by spirit-beings is the reason why He first uttered His instructions and mandate of how Adam was to rule Creation to Adams spirit when he (Adam) was yet to be made the tripartite being of spirit, soul and a body of flesh (earth) that a man is made to becf. Beresheet (Genesis) 1:26-28 and 2:7, and 20-21!

Part II

Therefore, it is by this same language of Creation that the ruwakh (spirit) of Adam received instructions from Elohiym regarding how he (Adam) was to live on Earth, and also how he was to exercise dominion over all of Creation.

From the account of Beresheet (Genesis) 2:19-20, Elohiym gave Adam the liberty to assign or give names according to his own choice of words, by which he would call all types of the beasts of the field and birds of the air that he was to live with and have dominion over. And so did Adam do, according to the liberty Elohiym had given himthat is, naming all things of Creation by his choice of words!

You may want to know the language with which Adam found names for all the things of Creation that he named by his authority. Since it was expected that all the creatures Adam named were to respond to their names whenever they were clearly uttered to their hearing, this language had to be the same as the one which created them; for, as stated earlier, all Creationof animate and non-animate thingshas, programmed within it, the ability to hear, understand and obey the language they were created by!!

Now, ever since Elohiym gave Adam the dominion over all of Creation and the liberty to name the things of his environment according to his own choice of words, all mankindthe seed of Adamhave, to date, also been blessed with this liberty that was given to Adam; for, all mankind, being the offspring of Adam, was yet in his (Adams) loins when this liberty was given to him and, so, was blessed together with him.

Therefore, Elohiym neither comes down to Earth, not even once, nor is He supposed to do so always, in order to give names to the things of mans environment which he discovers day by day without end! Therefore, no one should suppose Elohiym gives any language to man!!

Many people who talk about Babel often display an annoying ignorance of the facts of that account in the scriptures. Many people, ignorant of the full import of the Babel account in Beresheet (Genesis) 11:1-9, presume that Elohiym gave languages to mankind at Babel. Elohiym is angered by this ignorance; and I will point out why He is!

You see, Elohiym did not even have any hand in the establishment of that means of communication which was of one language, and of one speech, which the then inhabitants of the world [an already corrupted seed of Adam] used, prior to the coming of a multiplicity of languages!

Yes, that single language of unity, even as powerful and effective as it was, did not come through the doings of Elohiym; otherwise, He would never have masterminded its end, since He always ensures that all things that bear His handiwork must remain as they are, eternally! If this language of power and unity had been created by Him, He would have been undoing His own work by bringing it to an end!! Please, let us get that clear in our minds!

Again, the resulting confusion in languages at Babel after the tower was destroyed cannot be attributed to Elohiym as having supplied these confusing languages to the Earth! This is because He is neither the author of confusion, nor does He confuse anyone!! Elohiym only tuned the minds [thoughts] of the then mankind at Babel against each other, which then resulted in they, themselves, bringing into being a multiplicity of languages and tongues that brought about the confusion among them through the manner they communicated.

In any case, because Elohiym had already given man dominion over every happening on Earth, He was never to, and, in fact, could never do anything on Earth without being invited by man to do so! And so, Elohiym would therefore not bring any languages to Earth without being invited to do so; more so, when man had been given His express permission to name the things of his environment as he liked!!

If you have a little knowledge of the Ewe language of West Africa and of French, you will know that in Ewe va means come whiles in French il va means he goes; the two languages opposing each other, in and by one same word, va, and thus confusing their users! In Ivrit, yam means sea whiles in English, yam is an edible tropical tuber! See?? Again, loin in Ivrit means wages whiles in English loin means the part of the human body of the pelvic region.

Did Elohiym bring about these languages that are directly against each other? Obviously not! For, whatever Elohiym did in His Creation for one man is the same that was done for all!! Remember, Elohiym is no respecter of persons and there is no favoritism in Him. Therefore, He will not teach one man what yam is to Him, only to go teach another a different meaning to the same word, yam!!

So then, one may ask: how come all these numerous languages of the Earth, if Elohiym never created them? The answer is simple! All languages of the Earth are developed by man according to his observation of things in the environment he lives in, in order to describe and define his jurisdiction; and, for this, he has the mandate of Elohiym to do so, times without number!

That is why languages are so very diverse and so variable, according to the things in the diverse environments man lives in! There is no way an African in his tropical homeland would coin a word for snow or iceberg when these are non-existent in his environment!

Languages do not only describe a mans environment, but they also determine the power of his thinking and creating capacity, all of which are aided by his observation of the things in his environment and their behavior or nature.

So then, the man living in temperate Europe may see an iceberg in his environment during a period of cold weather only to later on observe it thaw into water! Then he begins to figure out in his mind how this strange phenomenon could possibly come about! He gets to know that, after all, the iceberg is simply another state of water! So, he understands that water can swing from a liquid to a solid state; and even observes further that, in between these two, there is yet a third stategaseousfor the same water!

Before long, this European would be finding words to describe the phenomena of snowing, icecap formation, glaciations and flooding caused by ice melts, etc., and would come up with a very rich vocabulary associated with freeze-thaw activities that are completely unknown or unthinkable to any Malian living in Africa! If the Malian would, in future, have a word in his language to mean, say, ice, that word would have been borrowed from one originating from another environment where ice exists naturally.

By forming words to describe the things he sees happening in his environment, and then thinking over these words and processing them in his mind, it could lead any European to have knowledge and so much brain power that enables him to invent a deep freezer!!

Contrarily, his counterpart in Africa may not yet have an idea in refrigeration, simply because of non-existent snow and icebergs in his environment. But, of course, the African in his humid tropical environment would have also advanced in observing his environment and creating words to describe it.

He would most likely also develop his particular brain power, based on his language, which should enable him to produce or manufacture products that could make life in his environment easy. It seems to me that the African ought to have been the one to have invented the air-conditionerfirst for his own comfort, and then for that of othersbut was, sadly, beaten to it by his kinsman in Europe!

Today, languages have become very complex, sophisticated, refined, sharp or precise in the meanings of words, and thus, are very powerful instruments of expression of brain power and ability; and this, all because languages have progressed with time, just as generations of people have also progressed. So then, no language is the same in a given location over a period of time.

All languages are dynamicthey keep increasing in content and improving in clarity and in expression of thought! I just learned of the latest additions to the English lexiconDumsora word of Ghanaian origin meaning on and off electricity supply!! Be not surprised that dumsorization is on its way into the vocabulary of the English language!

Now, contrary to this dynamism in every language is the fact that everything the Creator has made does not change; and so, no language spoken on Earth, apart from Ivrit [also spoken in Shamayim] is the handiwork of Elohiym.

So then, whatever volume of English vocabulary that is available today was neither available yesterday, nor would it remain so tomorrow! How man expressed himself in English yesterday is not the same today. Languages are very dynamic; and if they were given by the Most High One to mankind, previous generations could find fault with Elohiym for giving them cruder versions than what todays generation have!!

Because languages are man-made, they engender pride and strife among races or tribes, since one kindred of mankind may elevate the language they speak over that of others, to the point of even looking down on others. I am sure you have heard people joke that You speak French to a lady, English to a gentleman and German to a bull!! Oh my!! Sadly, oftentimes, this is not taken as a joke!

Part III

Today, knowledge is power; and this power is derived from the volume of words in a mans brain! The power of the brain controls the Earth; and the power of the brain is based on the stock of fine words in the brain.

Just as Elohiym created the universe with Ivrit, so have various countries the world over been able to invent all of the manufactured products of the Earth, with and by the value of their languages; languages that were not given to them by Elohiym but were developed by themselves, just like the people of Babel did to enable them build a skyscraper!

I suppose I make myself clear in saying this. I am simply referring to the languages that were used in the inventions of the potters wheel, the radio, car, air plane, etc, and not those which can be used to copy or imitate those languages that created the original. That is why there are genuine and imitated products in our world; and why somebody must hold patent rights to a manufactured item and also display the name of country in which he manufactured his goods.

Now, to the proof that Elohiym speaks only Ivrit in and out of Shamayim (Heaven?)! Mark my words: I said Elohiym speaks, not hears, only Ivrit!! I do not also mean to say that Elohiym communicates His Will to mankind only in speech; but that, if He must speak audibly to the hearing of any ear, He would always speak Ivrit!

You see, Elohiym made a choice of Yisroel, out of all kindred of the Earth, to be His ownfor He says Yisroel is His firstborn Soncf. Shemot (Exodus) 4:22! And so, whatever language a father speaks is what a son is taught to speak! So then, the children of Yisroel, to this day, speak Ivrit because that is the only language their Abba, Yahuwah Elohiym, ever taught them!

When Elohiym called the Father of the Nation of Yisroel who was then a Goyim (of a Gentile nation) living in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, He did not do so through speech but by some other means! These other means will be revealed in this article! These are all strictly non-verbal means, which Elohiym uses to communicate with any Goyim who find His favor!

The obedience of Avraham, the Father of the Nation of Yisroel, to the call of Elohiym marked his birth [anew] as a son of the Most High One, Yahuwah Elohiym. Just like every son born to a fatherand who is indeed a son, even at a time when he is without the knowledge or ability to speak the language of his father but learns it as he grows physically into adulthoodso did Avraham learn Ivrit, taught him by Elohiym, as he walked uprightly before Him!!

At the time Elohiym called Avraham out of his fathers people, his name was Avram; a name of typical Aramaic roots. This was later changed by Elohiym to the purely Ivrit name Avraham so as to seal his perpetual departure from the land of his birth and provide him an eternal deliverance from being of the stock of his ancestors.

It seems to me that, in His scheme of doing things, Elohiym always ensured that no two workers in His service bore the same name! And so, from the evidence in His entire Word of the Ivrit Tanakh (Old Testament?) and the Beyrit Khadasha (New Testament?), no one ever bore the name Avraham, except the man He chose to be the Father of Yisroel!

In all the Ivrit Scriptures, I am yet to find a second Yitzchak, Moshe, Eli, ShmuEl, ElYahu, Dovid, DaniEl, YechezkEl, etc. But, of course, after the Savior had accomplished his mission on Earth for the salvation of mankind, such names, which Elohiym gave by His authority to holy men He chose to play roles in His salvation plan for mankind, then seemed to have become available for use in naming any babies born to Yisroel.

And so, we have such unique names of people in the Ivrit Holy Scriptures existing todayexamples being Moshe Dayan, Dovid Ben Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Shimon Peres, Yitzchak Navon, Ephraim Katzir, Reuven Rivlin, Binyamin NatanYahuand in use among the children of Yisroel today.

Because every known interaction of Elohiym with mankind has, since the call of Avraham, been through Yisroel alone, it is obvious that these interactions have always been in Ivrit! When Yisroel received the Torah on Mt. Sinai, they heard Elohiym speak to them in Ivrit and He also wrote His commandments for them in Ivrit.

When, later on, he sent them neviim (prophets?) to give specific messages to guide them in their obedience of the Torah, He spoke Ivrit to them and they, all of them being of the stock of Yisroel, spoke in Ivrit to their fellow countrymen. They had no need to translate the Ivrit word and so could, without any shred of contradiction, say Thus says the Most High One in their utterances.

In Ivriim (Hebrews) 1:1-2, we learn that Elohiym had, in times past, spoken to the Earth through His neviim, and that in these days He has spoken through His son Yahushua. And so, wherever men found themselves, whether in the days of the Tanakh (Old Testament?) or the Beyrit Khadasha (New Testament?), they were ministered to by Ivrit-born neviim. Of course, it had to be so, for, salvation is of Ivriimcf. YahuKhanan (John) 4:22.

When Elohiym spoke at the tevilah (baptism?) of Yahushua, He spoke Ivrit. Again, when He spoke at the Transfiguration of Yahushua, He spoke Ivrit. When Yahushua was about to yield his ruwakh (spirit) in completion of his sacrifice on Mt. Gulgotha, he spoke Ivrit to his Abba. Anytime Elohiym sent messengersmalakim (angels) to Yisroel from His Throne RoomHe gave them instructions in Ivrit.

On the first day of Khag Shavuot (Feast of Pentecost?), when Shimon Kefa, on behalf of the other shlikhim (apostles?), spoke to a crowd of Diaspora returnees of Ivri descent to YahuSalem, he did so in Ivrit and all his listeners heard him in Ivrit! Obviously, it was Elohiym speaking in and through Shimon Kefa; thus, speaking, as usual, in Ivrit!! Why then would anyone suppose Elohiym has no lingua franca or official language??

However, the approach by Elohiym in communicating to people of Goyim descent is completely differentfor, because they may neither understand Ivrit, nor would Elohiym break His rule of never speaking directly to Goyim people in their language, He would always do so in and by dreams!

Obviously, this was so when Elohiym wanted to communicate with a Pharaoh of Mitzrayimcf. Beresheet (Genesis) 41:1-7when He caused him to dream one dream of same meaning twice in one night; and yet this Pharaoh could not even understand Him!

King Nevuchadnetzar of Babylon also had dreams which he could not interpret, or even remembercf. DaniEl 2 and 4:427! And yet, that was the only way by which Elohiym would want to communicate events of a coming future to him.

When King Beltshatzar of Babylon, in DaniEl 5:5, saw the secret handwriting of Elohiym on a wall, he had no understanding of it, simply because the writing was strange to him and unlike anything he knew of Babylonian writings. With all certainty, I say that, this handwriting was Ivrit!

In all these three situations, there was always the need for an Ivri (one Hebrew man) to interpret the dream or read the Ivrit handwriting for these Goyim! This shows how almost impossible it is for Elohiym to communicate with any Goyim of uncircumcised heartsthey are simply as dead as stones!!

For the circumcised Goyim, like me, who speaks no Ivrit, communication from Elohiym is received through my human spirit which, because it is born anew and is in oneness with Ruwakh HaKodesh of ElohiymYechezkEl (Ezekiel) 36:25-27, YahuKhanan (John) 3:5 and Maasim (Acts) 2:38-39causes both our spirits to be in constant fellowship in dialogue with each other!!

When Goyim today claim they hear Elohiym speak to them in any of the Goyim languages, such as English, they ONLY believe lying and seducing demons. Of course, Lucifer desires to communicate with mankind and would often do so through principalities and powers in charge of various jurisdictions on Earth, all of whom know the languages of the people in these jurisdictions they are assigned to by their boss [Lucifer].

In conclusion, let me make a few comments on those I quoted from my readers at the beginning of this article. Obviously, contrary to human opinion, Elohiym does have a lingua franca that is used in Shamayim and in Yisroel, which, once upon a time, was the extension of Shamayim on Earth!!

From the foregoing, Elohiym has not created any one of the languages of the Goyim! He speaks none of them; however, He understands all languages and will hear prayers you offer in it! Your prayer in a Goyim tongue is like a bubbling of an infant to Him; you will be answered only because you have become His precious child!!

It must now be obvious to all that the name JESUS CHRIST originated from Earth whilst Yahushua, long before Creation, has been in, of, and thus from Shamayim! The two are of different value and effect in usage. So please, do not utter JESUS and expect Elohiym to suppose you meant Yahushua, and that He is under any obligation to you to grant you what the name Yahushua would normally draw!

If that were to be so, one might just as well keep ones thoughts and desires in ones head, and never utter them specifically and concisely in prayer, and yet hope to have whatever was in ones head granted him!

No; it does not work that way!! You have to make a clear request or order so you can be served according to your request. In this regard, do please remember that there is ONLY one name under Shamayim by which men must believe and act on so as to enter the salvation of the Most High Onecf. Maasim (Acts) 4:10-12and this name is the Ivrit YAHUSHUA, which was delivered from The Throne of Yahuwah Elohiym to the inhabitants of the Earth on two occasions by malak (angel) GavriEl, and not the Goyim name JESUS CHRIST!

I hope the time spent and the effort made in reading this rather long article of mine was rewarding. Shalom aleikhem.

PS: Should readers of this and any of my articles have serious questions or suggestions, they may contact me via e-mail by clicking on Contact on the Home Page of my website, http://sbprabooks.com/BongleBapuohyele. You may also purchase a copy of my bookBeware of This False Doctrine: Of Reciting the Sinners' Prayer for Salvationvia the same web address so, together, we walk the narrow way to the presence of Elohiym. Shalom.
The Northern Regional Security Council has intensified security presence in Yendi and at the Gbewaa Palaces to avert a possible clash between the rival Abudu and Andani factions.

The decision comes after members of the Andani Royal family served notice that they will confront any violence by their rival Abudu faction.

The two families have been involved in a chieftaincy feud in Dagbon in the region for ages.

The King of Dagombas and the overlord of Dagbon, Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani II was killed on March 27, 2002 when clashes broke out between the two feuding Gates of Dagbon Kingship, the Andanis and the Abudus.

The Abudu family last week issued an ultimatum to government and the Committee of Eminent Chiefs mediating the dispute to allow them to bury their late chief, Naa Mahamadu Abdulai at the palace next week.

The faction warned it would explore all means to occupy the Gbewaa palace to perform the funeral rites of their late chief , if the Andanis fail to give them access to the palace.

They gave government and a Committee of Eminent Chiefs a deadline of January 26th to come clear on the issue.

But addressing a News Conference in Tamale Saturday, January 23, the Andani family threatened to face the Abudus squarely, if they tried any violent confrontation.

They vowed to protect themselves from any attack from the Abudu Royal family if they show up at the palace.

But speaking to Joy News, the Northern regional Minister Alhaji Mohammed Muniru said the leaders of the Abudus have denied organizing a press conference. He said they promised to issue a rejoinder to that effect.

Alhaji Mohammed Muniru said the Regional Security Council is not taking the new development lightly. He said the council is ready for any clashes that may arise.

We are in readiness to make sure that nobody disturbs the peace of the area, he stated.

The Minister added that the Regional Security Council is also trying to get in touch with the Chairman of the Committee of Eminent Chiefs, Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to come out with a new date for the burial of the late chief of the Abudus.
Accra, Jan. 23, GNA - Prudential Financial, Inc (PFI) and LeapFrog Investments have announced the launch of a $350 million investment partnership to access high-growth markets in Africa.

A statement issued by PFI to the Ghana News Agency on Friday said, managed by LeapFrog, the new investment vehicle would target investments in life insurance companies in Ghana and other leading economies, including Kenya and Nigeria, to be made over a three to five-year period.

Charles Lowrey, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of PFI's International Businesses, said 'this investment expands PFI's footprint into Africa, a continent that we believe offers tremendous potential for growth over the long term.

'We are delighted to partner with LeapFrog Investments, given their deep experience in Africa, and their impressive record of success as insurance investors focused on emerging consumers.'

The statement said LeapFrog Investments has a long track record in Ghana, through its Financial Inclusion Fund Leapfrog is currently invested in fast-growing Petra Trust, which is Ghana's leading independent provider of savings and pensions products.

Doug Lacey, Partner at LeapFrog Investments, said 'the global insurance industry is looking for ways to close the protection gap for millions of people in emerging markets.

'This partnership will help address that need. Ghana is a very exciting market and has strong growth prospects, alongside Nigeria and Kenya.

'Insurance penetration ratio in Ghana is low, and the need is great. We are delighted to broaden our relationship with PFI, a values-driven partner whom we know well and greatly respect for its global leadership in life insurance, retirement and asset management.'

PFI is an investor in LeapFrog's most recent private equity fund and also a member of the LeapFrog Insurance Innovation Circle, a knowledge-sharing and innovation initiative that convenes many of the world's leading insurers and reinsurers.

PFI is a financial services leader with more than $ 1 trillion of assets under management as of September 30, 2015, with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

PFI's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management.

In the U.S., PFI's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century.

LeapFrog invests in extraordinary businesses in Africa and Asia, and partners with their leaders to achieve leaps of growth, profitability and impact.

Today, LeapFrog companies reach over 51 million people across 21 emerging markets. More than 36 million are emerging consumers, often accessing insurance, savings, pensions or credit for the first time.

The LeapFrog team draws on decades of operational experience and in-market knowledge to help build companies that achieve profit with purpose.

Launched seven years ago, LeapFrog has now unlocked over $1 billion in third-party assets, all dedicated to investing in companies serving emerging consumers.

LeapFrog portfolio companies reach 51.8 million people in Africa and Asia, the majority of whom are acquiring insurance or other financial services for the first time.

GNA
Accra, Jan. 23, GNA - Ms Cynthia Gordon, the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Africa Division of Millicom, has ended a two-day working visit to Ghana.

While in the country between January 18 - 19, she met with various stakeholders including members of the Ghana Leadership Team to discuss new and improved strategies to grow the business and deliver more value to customers.

Some of Tigo Ghana's major initiatives for 2016 include network optimisation and revamping its product portfolios to attract and retain customers.

Ms Gordon said Africa's telecommunications market is innovative and competitive, due to the size and scale of predicted growth adding that the focus needs to be on some key strategic pillars.

'Ghana is an interesting and exciting market. It is one of the most vibrant and has enormous growth potential and we will differentiate ourselves by adding more value through existing infrastructure and partnerships. For instance with the increasing adoption of smartphones and internet consumption locally and the decreasing prices of smartphones worldwide, we can help drive up the numbers for smartphone connections through a win-win partnership with an affordable handset provider', she said.

She said the focus for Tigo in 2016 is to grow the volume and value of customers by accelerating growth in data, Tigo Business and Mobile Financial Services, MFS.

In 2015, Millicom, the parent company for Tigo, highlighted industry predictions of an exponential growth in Africa's mobile broadband subscriptions - which are expected to almost triple by 2018 whilst data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by 20 times by 2019 - twice the global average. Industry research also forecasts that data revenues in Africa represents 10 percent - 20 percent of total revenues, but this number is expected to reach 30 percent by 2018.

Millicom's vision is to leverage on the role of the internet and digital technology to advance people's lives -financially and socially and Cynthia's task is to help position and sustain this within the Africa markets in the face of increasing competition.

With responsibility for six countries operations in Africa: Tanzania, Ghana, DRC, Senegal, Rwanda and Chad, her visit to Ghana was second since her appointment on September 21, 2015.

Cynthia has more than 20 years of telecom sector specific experience, leading mobile, broadband and fixed-line operations in emerging markets across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Russia.

She developed her Africa experience while at Orange, where she was Vice-President of Partnerships and Emerging Markets, and Ooredoo where she was Chief Commercial Officer.

GNA
Dzodze (V/R), Jan. 23, GNA - Students have been urged to always stand for honesty, while doing away with morally reprehensible behavior.

They should also endeavor to resist corruption, which is a canker eating into the fabric of society, Mr Stephen K. Tornyewonya Mac, the Managing Proprietor of Mac-Tetteh Preparatory School, said when addressing a special students durbar at Dzodze in the Ketu North District of the Volta Region.

The durbar, organized by the Mac-Tetteh Preparatory School, was part of the school's strategic plan to encourage the youth to become more aware of their civic responsibilities.

Mr Mac urged them to avoid pilfering and take their studies seriously to enable them to achieve good results adding that the youth have a task to avoid indecency and contribute to national development.

He urged the youth to use their priorities right and develop a holistic approach to education in order to understand virtues and moral values.

GNA
Accra, Jan. 23, GNA - Ms Nada Al Hajjri, the Country Programmes Manager of Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organization working to improve children's access to quality primary education in developing countries, has paid a five-day working visit to Ghana.

Ms Al Hajjri was in the country to gain a firsthand information and experience of the activities implemented by the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) with Dubai Cares funds.

The PCD with funding from Dubai Cares is supporting the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) through the implementation of a Comprehensive School Health and Nutrition Project which seeks to improve the nutritional value of the school meals and even at household levels promote higher educational outcomes.

Interacting with the GSFP management and stakeholders including, beneficiary school children, teachers, caterers and community members, Ms Al Hajjri said Dubai Cares was committed to support the underprivileged.

She lauded the Ghana government's commitment towards the GSFP but was concerned about the delayed in payment to the caterers.

She appealed to government to treat the payment to caterers as a priority, since without regular payment to them, they were bound to compromise on the quality and quantity of the school meals.

Ms Al Hajjri expressed satisfaction with PCD's work, and hoped that the outcome of the impact evaluation exercise being carried out by PCD on the GSFP would help strategize the way forward.

GNA
Apremdo (WR), Jan. 24, GNA - The Second Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces Saturday has marked the 71st Anniversary of the Battle of Myohaung at a colourful ceremony at Apremdo.

They exhibited brisk march pass and displayed beautiful colours of the three arms of the military as they were commandeered by Captain Yaw Omari-Boateng.

The ceremony was attended by the Regional Security Council which comprised heads of the security agencies in the region.

Mr Augutine Osei Bonsu, Regional Chairman of the Veterans Administration of Ghana (VAG), chronicled the history of the Battle of Myohaung which was fought in the Second World War in 1945.

The Royal West African Frontier Forces which were made up of soldiers from the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Gambia defended the flag of the British Government against the Japanese.

The 81st and 82nd Divisions of the forces from West Africa defeated the Japanese at Myohaung, the ancient capital of the Arakanese Kings.

The military celebrated the historic victory annually to remember the gallant soldiers that lost their lives in that battle.

The Deputy Western Regional Minister and aspiring Member of Parliament for Takoradi, Mr Alfred Ekow Gyan graced the occasion.

GNA
Accra, Jan. 24, GNA - General Electric - Ghana (GE) in collaboration with Junior Achievement (JA) Africa has organised a community service programme for 120 junior high students from Kotobabi and Nima.

The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for GE staff to interact with and contribute to the growth and development of young Africans in Ghana.

The campaign sought to raise awareness and stimulate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers among Ghanaian junior high school students.

It also afforded the young students, an opportunity to gain exposure to accomplished professionals at the peak of their careers.

The objective of the event was to promote key scientific and technological concepts from idea to design and implementation; such as building capability in engineering.

Mr Leslie Nelson, the Chief Executive Officer of GE-Ghana, said as part of the Company's commitment to develop the nation's human resources as well as localizing its operations in the country it had rolled out a $ 3 million scholarship package for Ghanaian students.

He cited 15 engineering and applied science needy brilliant students of the University of Ghana as examples of beneficiaries of the Company's scholarship scheme.

He said GE is looking forward to discover and nurture young talents and build capacity of the labor force to help speed up the nation's socio-economic development.

Mr Nelson said training, building skills and technology transfer are key ingredients of GE's localization strategy in Ghana.

He urged students to learn hard so that their tomorrow would be better than their today.

Elizabeth Bintliff, the President and Chief Executive Officer of JA Africa, who address the students via videoconferencing, said the programme offered the students an opportunity to interact with and learn from great professionals.

Dr William Derban, the Director, JA Africa, said the event offers an excellent opportunity to young people in Ghana to work with a fully experienced youth entrepreneurship and work readiness focused NGOs like JA Africa and Corporate Volunteers of GE.

He said the youth are the real potential for Africa; hence offering them the opportunity to learn and understand their environment is essential to Africa's development.

Nana Hawah Seidu, a participant and a student of Ron Brown Memorial School, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the event had enabled her understand the career opportunities that STEM skills offer.

She expressed her gratitude to GE- Ghana and JA Africa for organising the event for them saying 'I am excited to be part of it'.

GE is the world's digital industrial company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive.

GE in works in Ghana to support economic growth through infrastructure development especially in the power, healthcare and transport sectors.

JA is the largest global nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering young people to own their economic success by enhancing the relevancy of education.

JA Africa is one of six JA Worldwide Regional Operating Centers.

GNA
Akim Oda (E/R), Jan. 24, GNA - Mr Samuel Yaw Adusei, the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works & Housing, has undertaken an inspection of the rehabilitation and water supply expansion works at Akim Oda.

The project, under the construction of ARDA-GRUP Limited, is to improve water supply at Akim Oda and its environs in the Birim Central Municipality.

Mr Adusei, in an interview with the Ghana New Agency, said in September 2013 government contracted ARDA-GRUP to improve water supply in Akim Oda, Akwatia and Winneba at the cost of 165 million dollars.

'This is to show government's commitment to promoting easy access to safe drinking water to the people,' Mr. Adusei said.

During the inspection, it was observed that the 1.3 million-gallon underground water reservoir located at Akim Asene and the 33.7 kilometre transmission pipelines from Oda, Asene to Akwatia were at the completion levels.

Mr Owusu Frempong Boadu, the Birim Central Municipal Co-ordinating Director, who led the Minister and his entourage, expressed contentment with the extent of the work done so far.

Mr Bulent Osturk, the General Manager of ARDA-GRUP Limited, said by the end of April 2016, the inadequate water supply that prevails in the area would be solved.

GNA
Tarkwa (W/R), Jan. 24, GNA - Four jailed 120 years for robbery

The four convicts, Kwesi Kwaku, 19, Atia Kwame, 25, Nanjo Kwabena, 19, and Clement Okyere, 33, pleaded guilty and each person will serve 30 years in jail.

They were charged for conspiracy to commit crime and robbery.

Prosecuting Police Detective Chief Inspector Oscar Amponsah told the Court, presided over by Mr Justice Emmanuel Bart-Plange Brew, that the complainant, Mr Martin Ohene, a small scale miner, lived at Oda Kotoamso, near Asankragwa.

He said on December 27, the complainant lodged a complaint with the police at Asankragwa in the Amenfi West District of the Western Region that, he and his colleagues were attacked by the convicts when they were returning home from a mining site.

He said the incident occurred around 1700hrs and the convicts, who were armed with guns, made away with a quantity of black sand gold concentrate worth GH50,000.00.

Detective Amponsah said on January 19, the convicts were involved in a similar robbery case and when arrested, they were identified by the complainant as those who robbed them.

GNA




1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
Ada (GAR), Jan. 24, GNA - The Ada Police has arrested Samuel Hago, a father of a 12-year-old boy, who was allegedly being trafficked to a fishing community at Ada in the Greater Accra Region.

Mr Exorgbe Divine, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Planning- Ada West District, confirmed the story to the Ghana News Agency.

Speaking to the victim, he said he lives with the father and the step-mother at Ashaiman and two years ago, the father offered him to some people at Ada to engage in fishing.

He said during the course of his work he was rescued by a police officer who brought him back to his family and the matter was reported to the Ada West Social Welfare Department.

The victim said since then the parents had been threatening to send him back again to the fishing community, but due to his persistent resistance, the parents accused him of being possessed by an evil spirit.

He claimed the parents sent him to a prayer camp at Anyaman in Ada where he was chained days but managed to escape.

The victim said on his way from the prayer camp, he was met by an assemblyman at Sege who brought him to the Social Welfare Department in the company of a police officer.

Subsequently, the Department reported the matter to the Police and Hago was arrested.

Hago is currently on bail whilst investigation is ongoing.

GNA
The Health Committee of Parliament has called on government to seek assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO) in handling the outbreak of Pneumococcal Meningitis in the country.

Because we have never had a great outbreak in the past and handled it, the committee is concerned that this must be taken a little step higher than currently being done, Chairman of Parliaments Health committee Joseph Yileh-Chireh told Joy News.

A total of 32 people have been confirmed dead out of the 142 reported cases since the beginning of the outbreak of the disease in the Northern and Brong Ahafo Regions.

The disease occurs when bacteria known as the meninges invades the bloodstream and infect the membranes protecting the brain and the spinal cord.

The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and the spinal cord.

The Brong Ahafo region is the worst affected with 6 of its districts recording increasing cases.

The first reported death emerged from the Tain district in the in December but spread to Wenchi, Techiman, Bruohan, Kintampo, and Sene.

A fresh outbreak of the disease in the Bole in the Northern region also claimed five lives.

Six more people in the Techiman district of the Brong Ahafo region died of the deadly disease last week.

The latest deaths of two people were recorded in the Offinso Municipality of the Ashanti region, Saturday, January 23.

Government says it is in control despite the continuing spread of the disease.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Victor Bampoe says government is taking the full cost of treatment for people battling with the disease.

But Mr. Yileh-Chireh says government must step up public education on the disease.

By now Ghanaians should all be awareif from the Brong Ahafo Region, it moved to the Northern region and now the Ashanti region, there must be something that is alarming about it. It is in one corner and many more people are not aware of it, Yileh-Chireh said.

He suggested that the Ministry forms a task force to help in public education and also check how the persons who have died from the disease are being handled by their family members.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com| Akosua Asiedua Akuffo| [email protected]
The Peoples National Convention (PNC) has initiated moves to get its former Presidential Candidate, Hassan Ayariga to abandon his plans to launch his own political party.

I have sent messages to our former flagbearer, I have tried to call him but he has not been able to respond to the calls and I do hope that he returns them so we can talk, National Chairman of the PNC, Bernard Mornah told Joy News.

Hassan Ayariga is set to launch his own political party, All Peoples Congress (APC ) this week to contest in the 2016 Presidential race.

Joy News sources say the electoral Commission will issue Mr. Ayariga with a provisional license on Friday, January 29, 2015.

His move is believed to have been triggered by his defeat at the Peoples National Convention (PNC) presidential primary last year.

He was unseated by Dr Edward Mahama at the party's congress on 12th December 2015 in Wa.

The PNC had hinted soon after the congress that Mr Ayariga was going round constituencies asking the partys executives to endorse forms meant for the formation of a new political party.

The party warned of stiff sanctions to its members who endorsed or assisted Ayariga to form a breakaway party.

But Mr Ayariga has already picked up certification forms from the electoral commission and established offices in 170 districts across the country.

Some membership forms of the APC have Mr Ayariga listed as the Supreme Leader of the yet to be launched party.

The National Chairman of the PNC says as far as he is concerned, there is no new political party formed by Ayariga yet.

I see PNC in him. As far as I am concerned there isnt any new political party being formed, but if there is any idea or sort of forming one, I think that it is ill- advised and it is time to work together, he stated.

He urged the PNC former flagbearer to sit with executives of the PNC and resolve any issues and work together.

I have insisted that it is time for him to realise that when Dr Edward Mahama lost to him, Doctor did not break away, he stayed, he may not have campaigned but he was within the party. We are one family and should sit down and resolve whatever it is, he added.

He advised Mr Ayariga to take a cue from the unsuccessful efforts of individuals who broke away from other mother political parties in the Forth Republic of Ghana.

Story by Myjoyonline.com| Akosua Asiedua Akuffo| [email protected]
Accra, Jan. 24, GNA - At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which opened Wednesday, an alliance of international civil society organizations, say the struggles for a better world are all threatened by the inequality crisis.

As the world's rich and powerful gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum from 20th to 23rd January, 2016, an alliance of top international charities, human rights campaigners, women's rights groups, green groups, civil society organisations and trade unions has come together to fight the growing crisis of inequality.

In a joint statement, the alliance, including ActionAid, Amnesty International, Oxfam, Greenpeace and the International Trade Union Confederation, said growing inequality threatens progress on development, environment, women's rights and human rights.

The signatories also include the Association for Women's Rights in Development, global civil society alliance CIVICUS, faith-based networks ACT alliance and CIDSE.

The statement which was copied to the Ghana News Agency by Mr Benjamin Tawiah, the Communications and Public Relations Manager of ActionAid Ghana, said 'Struggles for a better world are all threatened by the inequality crisis that is spiraling out of control.

'Across the world, we are seeing the gap between the richest and the rest reach extremes not seen in a century.'

It said bringing together powerful global networks, the organisations are committed to working together to fight for changes to tackle inequality globally and to reach out to others to build a global movement to counter balance the power and influence of the one per cent.

'Extreme inequality is also frequently linked to rising restrictions on civic space and democratic rights. The right to peaceful protest and the ability of citizens to challenge the prevailing economic discourse is being curtailed almost everywhere.

'Even the future of our planet is dependent on ending this great divide, with the carbon consumption of the one per cent as much as 175 times that of the poorest.

'We choose to imagine a better world than this, where everyone's human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.

'We believe humanity has the talent, technology, and brilliance to build that better world, where the interests of the majority are put first.

'And we believe the time has come to fight for it together,' it stated.

GNA
Accra, Jan. 24, GNA - The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs has called on the kingmakers in the region to follow due process in nominating, electing and installing chiefs.

Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III, Ada Mantse and the President of the House, made the call in a report read on his behalf by Nene Atsure Benta III, the Acting President of Prampram Traditional Council at a day's workshop in Accra.

The event was organized by the Regional House of Chiefs to sharpen a chief's skills and to update their knowledge on issues that borders on the Constitution and the Chieftaincy Act.

The President said many do not understand traditional processes and this was the basis of many chieftaincy disputes in the Region.

Nene Akuaku said sometimes some of the charges leveled against the chiefs were not strong enough to warrant their distoolments 'but to us whether the charges are strong or not, we cannot refuse to attend to it.'

He said the distoolment of a chief was not done at the law courts but through the chieftaincy institution or the traditional councils and called for a vigorous education of the chiefs and kingmakers to understand the due process.

Mr Henry Attipoe, the Registrar of the Regional House of Chiefs, said it is important to sensitise chiefs on chieftaincy issues in order to reduce the number of cases.

He said Article 275 of the 1992 Constitution which states clearly on how a chief should be installed, adding that; 'you must come from a royal house, identified, nominated, selected and installed as a chief.'

'For you to be recognised by Government you have to be introduced by the Regional House Chiefs before you are registered in the National House of Chiefs,' he said.

GNA
Tema, Jan. 24, GNA - Mr Kweku Ricketts Hagan, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, has said government is committed to reviving the textile industry to produce more for export.

To this end, he said, the Ministry of Trade and Industry is working assiduously to revamp the Juapong and Volta Star textiles factories to augment the efforts of the Ghana Textile Printing (GTP) company.

Mr Hagan, who said this at the 50th anniversary celebration of GTP in Tema, added that the move would also help create more jobs for the Ghanaian youth.

He said for a country such as Ghana whose imports exceeds its exports, it is imperative to add value to its raw materials.

He said this would turn the country's economy around and as such the Ministry is doing everything possible to revive dormant manufacturing companies to make Ghana an export rather than import oriented nation.

The Deputy Minister said electricity and regular power supply has been the major concern of manufacturing companies adding that government has initiated some measures to solve the situation.

Mr Kofi Boateng, the Managing Director of GTP, said it has not been easy for the manufacturing companies over the past few years and this was mainly due to unstable power supply.

He said the pirating of their designs also negatively affected their sales, but expressed optimism that this year would be better for the company.

GNA
Osu (GAR), Jan. 24, GNA - A day's workshop on the processes of distoolment and installation of chiefs, has been held for members of the Osu Traditional Council.

It was organized by the Council and attended by kingmakers, the Wulomei, assemblymen and women, the police, teachers, church leaders and youth groups.

Addressing the participants, Mr Henry Anthony Attipoe, the Registrar of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, said the time had come for royal houses to be abreast with the processes of installation and distoolment of chiefs as enshrined in the Chieftaincy Act.

He said this would help reduce the unnecessary chieftaincy litigations which had engaged the time of the House and was affecting the development of the Region.

Mr Attipoe said many of such litigations could also be curbed if kingmakers would stop installing unqualified persons as chiefs and queenmothers.

He appealed to persons entrusted with the power of influence to choose appropriate candidates for enstoolment.

The Registrar urged chiefs to stay away from politics which often creates divisions among themselves.

Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, Paramount Chief and President of the Osu Traditional Council, expressed gratitude for the education given to the people, which he said would go a long way to sustain the chieftaincy institution.

He called for the regular organization of such programmes to update the chiefs and opinion leaders on the new trends in the chieftaincy institution.

Nii Kinka Dowuona later presented to Mr Attipoe a certificate to honour his good works at the Regional House of Chiefs.

GNA
Tema, Jan. 24, GNA - Dr Kojo Aboagye-Debrah, Deputy Managing Director of the Sahel Sahara Bank, has called on the public to patronize banking products as they help in developing the country.

He said the establishments of foreign banking institutions in the country have encouraged more citizens to save and this is to the advantage of the economy.

Dr Aboagye-Debrah said this at the inauguration of the Bank's second branch in Tema at Community 'II'.

He said the Sahel Sahara Bank recognizes the role of small and medium businesses in Africa and has tailored its products and services to meet their needs.

'Sahel Sahara Bank operates in both Francophone and Anglophone countries in the sub-region, hence making it a Pan-African Bank,' he said.

The Deputy Managing Director said for some time, the Bank has become a preferred banking institution to help in the oil business sector.

He said the Bank was ready to provide premier banking services to customers and urged all to patronize their products.

GNA
Kade (E/R), Jan. 24, GNA - Mr Ofosu Asamoah the Member of Parliament for Kade has called on people living in rural areas to keep themselves abreast with electronic-banking processes.

He said the electronic-banking system introduced in some banks and being extended to rural areas is making financial transactions very easy for businesses and called on the citizens to learn more about the process.

Mr Asamoah said this at the inauguration of an official banking hall for the Kade branch of the Akim Bosome Rural Bank in the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region.

Obaahemaa Akua Ofosua, the Queen Mother of Kade, cut the tape for the inauguration.

At a media briefing, Mr Edwin Ebo Quartey, the General Manager of the Akim Bosome Rural Bank, said the Kade branch was established in 1991 and has 15 employees including mobile bankers, a manageress, banking officers and a credit officer.

Mr Quartey said the Bank has products like fixed deposit, flexible loan terms, savings, "susu" loans, Western Union Money Gram, and E-Zwich.

Madam Rosemond Ampofoa, the Kade Branch Manageress, expressed hope that the bank would introduce new and interesting products to attract more clients.

Mr George Kumi-Brobbey, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, who gave a brief history of the Bank, said it was established in the year 1983 with eight staff at Akim Swedru but now has 81 staff in seven branches at various districts.

He said the Bank assists churches, schools and other institutions and also offers scholarships to brilliant but needy children.

GNA
Damongo (N/R), Jan. 24, GNA - Mr Abas Azumah, a business man, has donated four motorbikes to the executives of the Damongo and Daboya Constituencies of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to aid them in their campaign activities.

Presenting the motorbikes in Damongo in the West Gonja District at the weekend, Mr Azumah said the gesture was his widow's mite towards the party's victory adding that the NPP was the only alternative party to salvage the plight of Ghanaians.

He said he would continue to support the party in diverse ways to ensure victory for the NPP in the 2016 general elections.

He appealed to Ghanaians especially residents of Damongo and Daboya to vote massively for the NPP in the impending elections saying 'the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has failed Ghanaians for the past seven years and NPP is the best alternative for the country from its current economic doldrums'.

Mr Daniel Bugre Naabu, Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP, who received the motorbikes, commended Mr Azumah for demonstrating a high sense of responsibility and appealed to all well-wishers of the party to assist the party in whatever capacity to help NPP wrestle power from the NDC.

He said the Damongo and Daboya seats had always been safe for the NPP but luck eluded them in the 2008 and 2012 elections saying 'this is the President's land but NPP will win these seats in this year's elections'.

Mr Naabu said due to the unpopular policies of the NDC, the President had not been able to execute any meaningful development project in the area though he was born there and appealed to the people to show him the exit.

He said instead of the President dancing towards victory, he has started dancing backwards, which was a mark of total failure in governance.

Dr Clifford Abdalla Braimah, a member of the NPP Campaign Team in the Northern Region, appealed to supporters of the party to remain united and fight for a common agenda towards victory.

Mr Albert Karim Diwura, Parliamentary Candidate of the NPP for the Damongo Constituency, appealed to people in the area to come out in their numbers to support the party to victory since the signs of victory were very clear.

He assured the people of better standards of living if NPP wins power.

GNA
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Moree (C/R), Jan. 24, GNA - School children at Moree in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District have called on Government to reduce the recent hikes in fuel and utility tariffs.

In a passionate appeal made to the President through Nana Oye Lithur, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, they urged him to ensure that the issue was addressed as quickly as possible to enable their teachers assume their responsibilities in the classroom.

Miss Ellen Eshun, a pupil of Moree D/A Catholic Junior High School, made the appeal on Friday when she read a statement on behalf of the children during the 'President's New year party for Children' held in Moree, hometown of Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

Teaching in most public schools across the country was halted on Wednesday when teachers joined the nationwide organised labour demonstration to register concern over the recent increase in fuel and utility tariffs.

They wanted Government to withdraw the recently introduced Energy Sector Levies Act, which had led to 28 per cent increase in prices of petroleum products and also wanted a drastic reduction in electricity and water tariffs which had been increased to more than 50 percent.

Miss Eshun, a J.H.S 3 pupil, said 'Daddy, please address this issue as quickly as possible to enable them assume their responsibilities in the classrooms.'

'Please give our teachers better conditions of services so that they can give off their best in training the future human resource of mother Ghana, she said on behalf of more than the thousand children who had converged at the venue for the party.

Miss Eshun said good and accessible education was pre-requisite for the development of their full potentials adding that this could be achieved with the help of their teachers and other stakeholders.

She also appealed for furniture for both pupils and teachers in the district, saying that the JHS one pupils of the Moree Catholic School still sit on old benches supported with building blocks.

Miss Eshun also appealed for well-resourced libraries and ICT Centres and also work on various water projects in the region to be fast-tracked to end their long walk in search of water which, she said, affected their attendance to school.

Master Emmanuel Knight Arthur, a visually impaired student of the Ghana National Basic School, who read a statement on behalf of the deaf and blind, also appealed to Government, non-governmental organisations and philanthropist to help the school out of it numerous challenges.

He said the school lacked embossed text books, braille sheets, braille machines, voice recorders, and computers with disability friendly software to help enhance academic work as well as accommodation for resource teachers so they assist them to learn during in the evening.

Master Arthur appealed for a bus to transport them and rehabilitation of an access route from Ghana National College to their school which had become unfriendly, risky and dangerous especially for the visually impaired due to effects of erosion.

Mrs Lithur assured the children that Government would not renege on its responsibilities towards them and that this year it had renewed its commitment to ensure that all children irrespective of their social, economic, religious status lived in a peaceful environment with unending opportunities.

She stated that cabinet had approved the 'Justice for Children Policy' which will give equal justice for all children through formal and informal structures while other projects such as 'From Street to School' aimed at getting children out of the street and the rehabilitation of children parks had begun.

She said social interventions such as capitation grant, school feeding programmes, free school uniforms, NHIS and LEAP would be strengthened to create more opportunities for all children and advised them to reciprocate the gesture by being obedient to their parents, teachers and all older persons.

A total of twenty best students from some JHSs in and around the town were each given a laptop computer sponsored by Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.

Packed food and drinks and 2,000 presents donated by Samaritan Purse, were distributed to the children in addition to 1,000 branded exercise books from Guru, a hip life artiste, who thrilled the children with musical performance.

GNA
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IVA Struggling with debt? Compare your debt options and write off up to 80% of your unsecured debts  from 80 per month Get Started for free

What is an IVA? With an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) you can make affordable monthly payments towards a percentage of your debt for 5 years. At the end of the 5 year plan, your remaining debt will be completely written off.

Benefits of an IVA

Here is a list of the cost common advantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA):



 Affordability  You will only be asked to pay back what you can afford, with allowances taken into account for food, bills, entertainment, travel, childcare and others. You may be sacrificing certain essential costs at the moment. With an IVA they are budgeted for so they will no longer be neglected

 No upfront costs  When you set up an IVA, there are no upfront costs whatsoever. This means that you can put a debt solution in place today without spending a penny

 You have a finishing line  Do you feel like there will be no end to your debt problems? With high interest costs and charges, the balances of your credit accounts may not reduce as you need them to. With an IVA you will become totally debt free at the completion of the IVA (usually 5 years). You can use this as an opportunity to change your financial life, for good

 Confidential  Your IVA is not advertised in the London Gazette or local newspaper. It is your decision whether you would like to disclose it to other people or not

 No more contact from creditors  When you are in an IVA, your creditors will no longer have the right to contact you or refer the debt on to debt collectors/bailiffs. This is a great benefit for most people as it will take away the stress caused by constant calls/texts/emails and home visits

 Stay in your house  Unlike some debt solutions, an IVA will allow you to stay in your current home. This is even the case if the property has a mortgage or is owned outright

 Your pension  An IVA does not have an impact on your pension. You will not have to surrender your pension or withdraw money from it to pay into your IVA

Risks of an IVA

Here is a list of the cost common disadvantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA):

Equity Release  If you own your property and it has value, you may be asked to release the equity in the property

Credit Rating  If you have a perfect credit rating, this will be damaged and you will not be allowed to take out more debt whilst in an arrangement

You must keep up with repayments  If you do not keep up with your monthly repayments, there is a risk you will be made bankrupt

Who qualifies for an IVA?

There is no office guidelines to who qualifies for an IVA. It is a legally binding, Government legislation designed to help all people. Generally speaking, insolvency practitioners (IP) will look at your situation if they think the IVA proposal they submit is beneficial to both yourself (the debtor) and your creditors. This often restricts people to a certain criteria which you will have to meet:

Over 5000 worth of unsecured debt You must have 2 or more creditors of 2 or more lines of credit Must live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland Must be insolvent Must be willing to pay at least 70 per month into their IVA Must have some type or types of regular income

What debts can I include in an IVA?

You can include a wide range of unsecured debts within your IVA. These include:

Credit card debt/credit cards

Loans/loan debt

Payday loans

Council tax arrears

HMRC debt

Overpaid benefits

Catalogues

Gas and electricity arrears

Overdrafts/overdraft debt

Water arrears

Income tax arrears

Debts to friends and family

Other unsecured debts

Note: If you are a resident of Scotland, you will need to apply for a Scottish Trust Deed (legally binding). Speak to our advisors for Scottish Debt Advice.

What debts cant be included in an IVA?

Secured loans

Your mortgage (if you still live in the house)

Car finance (if you still have the car)

Rent arrears for your current property

Court fines/Police fines

Hire purchase arrears (if you still have the product)

Log book loans (if you still have the vehicle that the debts are secured on)

Student loans

Other secured debts

What does I.V.A stand for?

IVA stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement. It is a formal way to consolidate your debts into one affordable monthly repayment, resulting in the debtor becoming debt free at the end of their payments.

Can I apply for an IVA online?

Use the IVA Calculator to check your eligibility Prepare your IVA proposal and apply for your IVA. When your IVA is accepted, your creditors can no longer contact you. Pay 60 low monthly payments. After 5 years, you are out of your IVA and completely debt free.

Will an IVA affect my employment?

In most occupations, your credit rating or credit scoring is not a factor and it may never have been checked in the past, it may also be likely that it is not checked in the future either.

There is no law to tell you that you must advise your employer that you have entered an IVA or that you owe money. They will not be notified by your insolvency practitioner. If you wanted to keep it a private matter, in most cases this would be absolutely fine. With some roles such as financial advisors, solicitors or bank workers it may make up part of your contract to advise them of changes like this. In these situations we would advise to inform your employers of your intentions before you enter into any arrangements. This way there will be no nasty surprises for you later down the line. More often than not, we find that your employer would not be concerned by your IVA and that it would not affect your employment status. An IVA is a formal solution and could affect some employments, such as if you were a solicitor or accountant for example. We would always recommend that you receive approval from your employers that your job isnt affected before you sign up for anything.

Will an IVA impact my partner?

There are certain situations where you may not want to involve your partner at all in your IVA proposal due to personal reasons. Insolvency Practitioners are very aware of these circumstances and can operate solely via telephone and email and at your convenience, so rest assured that your matters can be kept completely private.

If the debts which you are looking to place into your IVA are in joint names, then this would be different. Your IP would look to place all of your debts into an IVA, including joint debts therefore you would have to inform your partner of your plans.

If your debts are solely yours, then there would be no negative impact on your partner, their credit score would remain unaffected and they would not be entered onto any registers or be tainted in any way.

Will an IVA affect my credit score/credit file?

Whilst you are in your arrangement, you will not be able to get any credit. An IVA will stay on your credit file for 6 years, so 12 months after a typical IVA. When this time has passed and your monthly payments have ended, you will be able to rebuild your credit rating.

What proof will I need to apply for an IVA?

Proof of ID  Passport/driving license/birth certificate/utility bills/national insurance identification/credit agreement Bank statements  3 months bank statements with all transactions displayed Proof of income  3 months payslips/P60/proof of benefits

How long does it take to set up an IVA?

Your initial call will only last around 5-10 minutes. The IVA process will be explained to you and you will be told what further information you will need to provide to proceed with your IVA proposal. Once you have returned the required information, an IVA will usually take between 7-14 days to get into place. You will be protected from creditors within this time, your advisor will provide you with documentation via email.

How long does an IVA last?

Most IVAs will last for a length of five years. The i v a will remain on your credit file for a period of six years and is placed on the Insolvency Register for that period. You can work out what date it will be removed from your credit file, it will be six years from the start date of the IVA term. So if the IVA started on 1 January 2000, it should be removed from your credit file six years from that date, which would be 1 January 2006. When you apply for an individual voluntary arrangement your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) will tell you if you qualify for an IVA, how long it lasts, how much it costs and provide you with any other debt advice which you may need.

How much will debt advice cost for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement?

The advice cost for individual voluntary arrangements is free of charge. Your I.V.A company will tell you if you qualify for an IVA. They will talk to you about your different debts, provide you with free debt advice and check if your creditors are likely to approve your proposal for your IVA for debt.

How does an IVA affect your life?

By taking out an IVA you may affect your overall financial position. You will not be allowed to take out credit for 6 years. You will struggle to get a mortgage or remortgage your existing property. It also may affect any future increase in earnings or windfalls you may receive, as these will need to be paid to your insolvency practitioner. Your insolvency practitioner will take control of your debts for this period, they will deal with all of your creditors and this is legally binding. That means you will not be allowed to take out any more debts whilst in the IVA.

Once the plan is completed, any debts which you accrue will be managed by yourself. Your ability to take out further debts in the future will not be impacted once the IVA has completed.

What is the IVA protocol?

The I.V.A protocol is a voluntary set of guidelines which your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) can sign up for which improves the efficiency of Individual Voluntary Arrangements. When you apply for debt advice, it is important that you understand the steps of the debt solution, so you can decide whether or not the solution is the best one for your circumstances.

How do I know if creditors will accept my IVA?

Generally speaking, most creditors will approve voluntary arrangements for unsecured debt. But some debts can not be included within one formal debt solution. Your Insolvency Practitioner will tell you how likely it is that your creditors will be willing to accept your proposal, based on the voting creditors.

Can I pay in one lump sum?

There are occasions when you may be eligible for a debt solution which is payable in a one off lump sum as a final settlement to your creditors. This is usually when the money is being gifted from some one else, or you have received inheritance or a windfall for example. With a one-off lump sum payment, the advice is usually the same as when you normally apply for an IVA. You wouldnt have to make regular payments into the solution, your IP can provide you with more advice on one off lump sum solutions for your debts. Your IP will provide you with more advice on the debt IVA and explain what is IVA to you.

Who regulates the debt industry?

At present the debt industry is not regulated. Some Insolvency Practitioners offices choose to sign up to the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) or register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You can contact the IPA using the contact details or email address on their website. Your creditors do not regulate the debt industry and your creditors will not be able to impact any decisions which the IPA or FCA make. In our experience, the regulators will take assertive action on any advisers or businesses which do not comply with their strict codes of practice. To check if a person is regulated by the FCA, enter their name into the search box in the FCA website.

Should I use a debt charity?

There are thousands of companies which provide debt help in the UK. You may be looking for an alternative to a private company. You should know that charities usually pass their fee charging products to sister companies which charge fees and disbursements, just like private companies. So what you initially thought was a good option, on further analysis could be different to what you originally thought. Charities do have their part to play though. They can help you if you have a problem with your bank accounts, maintenance arrears, living costs, credit reference agencies, child support arrears, bankruptcy, assets, accountancy issues, mortgages, creditor issues, insurance providers, mobiles, your bank account, rates arrears, PAYE contributions or if you want to work out your expenditure. They can make sure that you speak to an adviser or supervisor and look at proposals to offer your lender. A petition has started with the possibility of a debate in parliament about how charities represent themselves and their services.

Which charities help with debt?

You can contact Money Advice Service, National Debtline, Step Change, Shelter or a combination of the three. Charities are particular useful for a low debt level under 1,000. If the debt is high (such as a debt value of 10,000 or more) you would usually seek an assessment from a professional adviser. If you do decide to use a charity to guide you, make sure you check their charity number and the registration number on their website to make sure you are content that their team can answer your questions in the right ways. A lot of clients of charities have a minimum debt level which does not meet the basis for an IVA, so you could always chat to a charity that is happy to act on your behalf for low debt levels.

Although an I.V.A could be the answer to your debt problem, its important to understand the monthly payment so call us on our free phone number. Anyone customers can receive expert feedback on their rights from debt charities, if they cant help they will usually point you in the director of firms which help with IVAs.

We are homeowners, will lenders see my proposal differently?

In some cases yes. In the majority of cases, if you are a homeowner you will not need to remortgage or take out any additional finances that will effect your property. You will need to sign a additional restrictions which remove your ability to take out additional credit tied to your property, which is something that is restricted once you are in an i.v.a. There are exceptions to this, such as when you have a lot of equity in your property/properties. If you own half of a property and another party owns the other half, only your equity will be affected.

If you are landlord and you are in a position of equity, your IP may review your trading position or business to make sure the figures in question are in order. This is usually the case if you have two or more properties, as sometimes the equity can be used to form a repayment to your creditors. But this usually depends on the amount of value built up in your properties.

Banks and building societies will not change the terms of your mortgage as long as a contribution is still being made for the duration of your arrangement. Your mortgage payments will be added to your expenses and accounted for within your budget, as long as you can provide evidence that you can afford to continue to make payments into your mortgage for duration of the plan.

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DO YOU have a Boulevard Aristide-Briand near you? Or do you send your child to school in a Jules-Ferry or a lycee Emile Combes? If so, you are already familiar with key names in the construction of the French Republic.

Between them, these three politicians were responsible for free state schooling, obligatory education for girls and the rock of state neutrality towards religion on which la Republique is built: the principle of laicite.

The term is very much in the news, with a new laicite charter being introduced into schools this autumn alongside classes in morale laique. Presenting the charter, Minister for Education Vincent Peillon explained: Everyone is free to have his own opinions but no one has the right to contest teaching content or miss a class in the name of religious precepts.

Public debate over the Muslim community in France pops up in the news regularly and is nearly always related in one way or another to perceived challenges to this element of the Constitution. Peillons remarks refer also to repeated evangelist pressure to alter class content, in particular regarding the theory of evolution. A recent example was the proposal to swap two Christian holidays with Jewish and Muslim ones: confusing whether France was secular or multi-religious.

Left and Right politicians often unite to initiate laws to protect laicite. Once the source of conflict with the Catholic Right over private education funding, the principle, an important element in the integration process, regularly generates ill feeling these days among extremist sectors of the Muslim community. That is why, a century after the original 1905 law, several new laws have been passed to protect it.

First, a few explanations. Laicite does not translate well. Secularity is close but confusing. Laicite is not easy to define either. It has evolved over two centuries and is evolving still. The concept was born of the Revolution, which guaranteed freedom of conscience to all and first separated State and Church.

Napoleon backtracked, signing a concordat with the Vatican in 1801 that was to poison Church-State relations during the 19th century and put laicite on the back burner for much of it. (For historical reasons, this concordat still applies in Alsace and Moselle.)

Having been suppressed by the Vichy regime (along with liberte, egalite, fraternite  without which laicite could not function), the principle was cast in the constitution of the Fourth Republic in 1946  the State is indivisible, laic, democratic and social  and remains firmly in that of todays Fifth.

To understand the concept is to go a long way towards understanding the French. Maybe it could be defined as their permanent search for a delicate balance between sharing what they all hold in common, the Republic, and catering for diversity.

It is the principle that protects both personal and collective liberty and, as such, is the responsibility of both State and citizen. The indivisibility of the State is the States refusal to recognise any religious or ethnic community. France is one. There are two major dates in the history of laicite: 1881 and 1905. In 1881-82, Minister of Education Jules Ferry decreed school to be publique, gratuite et laique  state-run, free and non-clerical.

Teaching in French to a national programme provided children, whatever their linguistic background or beliefs, with the theoretical possibility of equal opportunity.

It created a framework in which adults could bring no pressure to bear on pupils to adhere to any philosophy, religion or political idea. That remains the basis of the French educational system today.

The 1905 law, engineered by Emile Combes and Aristide Briand, enforced the neutrality of the State and State institutions through the separation of the Churches and the State. Since that date, the State recognises no religion and therefore cannot directly fund any either.

If the same law grants the individual total liberty and privacy regarding beliefs, there is one condition: they must not disturb public order.

Given the repeated trauma that religion has caused in Frances recent history  from the Wars of Religion to the expulsion of the Huguenots and the Dreyfus affair  this means no proselytising and nothing that could be remotely interpreted as such.

It also explains why, in France, religious belief is far more than a private matter. Things spiritual belong to the realm of intimacy. It is extremely unusual to see anyone wearing any conspicuous religious symbol in public. To do so is perceived as a deliberate act, a message to others.

It is unthinkable to ask someone what their religion is and most people will be frankly embarrassed by anyone saying what theirs is. When Nicolas Sarkozy publicly announced he had appointed Frances first Muslim prefect, he sent shockwaves throughout the land.

Knowing this helps in understanding intense French reaction to young girls wearing veils. It is seen not only as an unacceptable way of bringing religion into the public sphere, but also a form of peer pressure on other girls to do the same. Which takes us back to Jules Ferry and neutrality in the classroom.

This insistence on the privacy of beliefs was of course also reinforced after World War II by the fate of Frances Jews under the Vichy regime, and the obligation to publicly show their religion by wearing the yellow star. As a result of the trauma of State responsibility in their deportation and extermination, no statistics may be made regarding peoples religious beliefs, ethnic origin or colour.

All citizens are not only equal, but remain neutral in the eyes of the State.

The mosque debate

The 1905 law was finally well accepted by both Catholic and Protestant churches in France, who benefited financially when the State handed existing buildings and their costly maintenance over to local authorities. But the State cannot fund new religious buildings.

Hence the mosque-building debate and recent legislation allowing local authorities to contribute. For with generous donations from Saudi Arabia and Muslim foundations abroad pouring in, the inherent risk of encouraging fundamentalist movements to develop in France is obvious.

Under the Nicolas Sarkozy government, the training of imams in France to Republican principles was considered.

But the State cannot finance religious education either. The impasse has been paradoxically circumvented by the Catholic University offering courses, and Algerian imams due to work in France being trained in French and laicite at the government-funded Institut Francais in Algiers.

Conspicuous symbols and full-face veils

After a number of potentially inflammatory cases in which some schools were confronted with Muslim girls wearing Islamic headscarves, legislation was passed in 2004 banning the wearing of any conspicuous religious symbol or sign in state schools. Never specifically aimed at the Muslim community (kippas, large crosses and Sikh turbans fall under the same category), the new law, despite fears it would be perceived as discriminatory and arouse further reaction, had the almost immediate effect of calming the situation, though some veiled Muslim girls and turbaned Sikhs found their way to private schools.

But this legislated solely for public schools, not privately run establishments. In March of this year, Fatima Afif, an employee dismissed in 2008 from the privately run Baby Loup creche in the Yvelines for refusing to remove her headscarf, won on appeal for wrongful dismissal on the grounds of religious discrimination.

New legislation is now under consideration to cover pre-school structures and religious symbols in the workplace, none of which are currently covered by law.

When, in late July, a police officer in the town of Trappes stopped a fully veiled young women for an ID check in the middle of Ramadan, he did not know he was unleashing days of rioting. But Cassandra, 22, was not infringing any law on laicite. This time it was the one against dissimulating the face in the public sphere, put into effect by the Sarkozy government in 2011.

Introduced ostensibly as anti-terrorism legislation, many felt its real purpose was more anti-veil. In fact, the number of women in France wearing the niqab is extremely small, and the number of women fined likewise.

Laicite with an adjective

The latest solution of Frances politicians to calm the debate has been to add adjectives. Sarkozy invented laicite positive, in which the government took into account the existence of religious groups in France.

He created a representative Muslim council, through which to address the Muslim community in France. Representative of only a portion of Frances Muslims, many of whom are non-practising, it has created more problems than it has solved.

The Hollande government has coined laicite apaisee, a low-profile approach in which negotiation would replace legislation as the best way of winning over those who regard the principle with suspicion.

True laicistes believe the principle cannot survive any moderating tags. It must exist alone.

Universities oppose campus headscarf ban proposal

In early August, Le Monde published a report signed by members of the Haut Comite de lIntegration (HCI), a body no longer briefed to deal with laicite since the creation of a separate mission last April. It called for a Muslim headscarf ban in universities.

Government replies were swift but hardly in unison. Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls stated evasively that the subject needed to be considered, while Genevieve Fioraso, Minister for Higher Education, warned that we should avoid problems where there are none.

For Gerard Blanchard, president of La Rochelle University, and vice-president of the national CPU, Conference des Presidents dUniversite, laicite is not an issue on his campus or anywhere in France. We have 14% foreign students in La Rochelle, mostly from South East Asia, and we only ask women students to take off their veils in science laboratories, for safety reasons. That has never posed a problem.

The University Presidents Conference has issued a public statement against any specific university ban. For Blanchard, the over-mediatised debate that burst upon us mid-summer is without foundation. He is adamant that he has never had a complaint from a teacher. An environmentalist, he is far more concerned by pressure that could be brought on teachers to introduce non-scientific versions of the origins of the universe into the syllabus. No university teacher should ever have to submit to any pressure on the content of his teaching.

Jean-Loup Salzmann, president of the CPU, and president of Paris XIII, in the heart of Seine- Saint-Denis, one of the most multi-cultural universities in France, firmly believes in laicite, but sees no need for new laws on the campus. His main concern is elsewhere. He is angered by the incongruity of the State promoting laicite on the one hand, while financing the Catholic universities on the other.

Expressing a personal opinion, he said: The main issue for these young Muslim women, who have enough problems coping with family pressure, is to achieve independence and emancipation through their studies, whether they wear a veil or not. An anti-veil law would achieve the opposite of what we want. Many of these women would then not have access to university at all.

How the principle of laicite is applied today

NICOLAS Cadene, chairman of the Observatoire de la Laicite, a watchdog committee created last April by President Francois Hollande to report on how the principle of laicite is applied in France today, spoke to Connexion.

Can you define this difficult concept for our readers?

Laicite is a principle which allows us all to live together. It is not a ban on religion or religious practices. On the contrary, it guarantees believers and non-believers alike the freedom to express themselves, to practise or not to practise a religion as they choose, on condition that public order is not disturbed. The State adopts an attitude of total impartiality towards citizens, who are all equal in the eyes of the State.

Do the current religious bank holidays not favour one religious group?

Christian festivals have, for the majority, become traditional holidays with little religious significance. Still, the State does not want to be seen as favouring one religion over another. In 1905, there was no Muslim population. But I dont think this poses a real problem. Employees can use their RTT (recuperation of unpaid overtime in the form of days off) as they wish. The Stasi Commission (set up by President Jacques Chirac in 2003) went a long way towards identifying issues in the workplace. We shall build on that.

The conspicuous religious symbols ban was seen as directed only at women. Is that not a form of discrimination?

If people set out to present themselves in a way which is obviously a proselytising or a provocative attitude, that is not acceptable. It is not so much what people wear or their physical appearance, as the reason behind the choice. This is one of the subjects we shall be working on.

Islam has no clerical hierarchy. Isnt the laicite legislation trying to apply to individuals a law aimed at an institution? Doesnt the 1905 law need to be adapted?

Not at all. The principle enables us all to live together. But, of course, we must avoid situations in which one group feels stigmatised by the law. That is one of our major subjects of reflexion. But there is no question of adapting the principle to new circumstances. It is one of bringing people to understand that laicite is not a ban on religious practice but a system of personal freedom and helping them to adapt to the principle.

There has been talk in the press over banning the Islamic headscarf at university. [The full-face veil is already banned anywhere in public].

The State has a duty to protect minors from any form of ideological persuasion, hence the headscarf ban in schools. University is a world of adults. But the Republic has a duty to protect its citizens against the dangers of extremism. Some people attribute to laicite powers it simply does not have. There is an urgent need for strong political action, at state and local level, in order to resolve the many problems the threat of extremism has brought to certain sectors of society.

The Observatoire has published its first report, a history and background to the concept. What else has it achieved?

We helped draw up two important documents: the laicite charter and the syllabus for non-religious morality for schools. Both take effect this year. In addition, our report has pinpointed situations needing close attention in public administrations and local authorities (non-Metropolitan France included), as well as in the private sector.

How do you see your work developing?

We need a better definition of laicite that reiterates the States position of neutrality and is more clearly understood by all, in France and at an international level. We are drawing up guidelines for the application of laicite and religious practice in the workplace, and in the wake of the Baby Loup issue [see main article], for pre-school structures. We must show people how to react to situations. Overreaction is one of the major problems we face, when so much could be achieved by negotiation and taking things calmly.
January 24, 2016

Syria: The Battlefield Negotiations Now Favor The Syrian Government

The Syrian army today liberated the the town Rabiah in Latakia province as well as several other villages in the area near the Turkish border. Rabiah, together with Salma which was liberated a few days ago, was one of the jihadists strongholds in the region. Russian air support and artillery (vid) was again decisive. Pictures from the town showed graffiti the "moderate" foreign supported insurgents left behind. It read "All Alawites will be exterminated".

This map shows the current frontline as well as the old frontline from where the Latakia campaign started a few weeks ago.



bigger hi-res

The jihadis evacuated all positions west of Rabiah and are on the run. Turkey closed its border to prevent them from crossing it. They will seek refuge in Kinsabba near the Jabal al-Akrad heights, their last strong point, which will be attacked next. After that the general attack will be launched at Jisr al Shanghaur in Idleb province from the west and the south after which a larger pincer attack on Idleb city is planned.

Latakia province and the Russian bases there are now secured. Opposition supply lines from Turkey are largely severed. The momentum is clearly on the side of the government troops.

In the south there the Syrian army continues to clear Sheikh Miskeen near the border to Jordan. Should the city be freed the southern insurgents supply lines from Jordan will be in jeopardy. The lines are already restricted as Jordan clamps down on militants crossing its border.

In the north as well as in the south various rebel groups started to fight each other. Clashes between various groups were reported from Daraa in the south and in Idleb between Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra groups. Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's section in Syria, is now under heavy pressure on many fronts and has called for more foreign fighters to join it. There are already strategic discussions within Nusra to end the open war and to go back being an underground guerrilla to hit at the Syrian government and other entities from behind their lines. But the guerrilla fish needs the water of the population to swim in and it is doubtful that Nusra has support of more than very few Syrian citizens.

The Syrian army also liberated Qatar (vid) from the Wahhabi Islamic State supporters. Unfortunately this Qatar was not the country at the Persian Gulf but a small town north east of Aleppo.

The Syrian government troops and some 200,000 civilians in Deir Ezzor in east Syria are under continuing heavy attacks from fighters of the Islamic State. The Syrian army sent reinforcements by transport helicopters, the Russian air force has dropped tens of tons of food for the population and Russian jets provide air support for the defenders.

In the Kurdish area in the north-east of Syria Russian specialist are working to establish another air base. The Turkish President Erdogan said such a base would not be tolerated. But what can he do besides launching an open war against Russia which Turkey would lose just like the other 17 wars it once waged against Russia. The U.S. is establishing its own base nearby to supply Kurdish forces. The Russian base will make sure that the U.S. base will not gain any permanence.

A report in the NYT describes how the U.S. organized the attack on Syria while the Saudis provided the financing at a rate of several billions per year. The report misleads as it only looks from 2013 onward. We already know that the CIA provided weapons and fighters from Libya reached Syria in late 2011 to early 2012.

But the U.S., as well as the Syrian government side, now wants the conflict to die down. It is putting a lot of effort into the next Geneva talks between some opposition groups and the government. Those opposition groups have been selected by Saudi Arabia and Russia has rejected the inclusion of the Salafi Army of Islam and the lack of representation of Kurdish groups. A compromise over this may now be possible with the Kurds and other non-Islamist opposition groups coming to Geneva as a third delegation.

But the war will not be decided through talks. The real negotiations happen on the battlefield. The Syrian government and its supporters will continue the attacks and will build on their recent successes. It is now likely that they will achieve war deciding results before the Geneva talks become serious.

Posted by b on January 24, 2016 at 17:13 UTC | Permalink

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahoma officials are working to resolve a monthlong dispute with an oil and gas company that has neglected to shut down saltwater disposal wells.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission issued a voluntary directive to a dozen energy companies Dec. 3 after the Medford and Cherokee area felt a swarm of earthquakes, including a 4.7-magnitude quake. Regulators asked the companies to shut down, reduce volumes or be aware of future actions at 140 saltwater disposal wells.
Sawitree Kai Sathiensap was living a good life in her home country of Thailand. She had a well-paying job at a bank and then worked for the Ministry of Industry. She had an easy life there, she said.

When a girlfriend introduced her to her now-ex-husband via a dating site, she thought she was about to have it all. He was an American, a nice guy with a good job in Midland, a good family and a good education like her. They seemed to be a great match.

After months of courtship and visits from him to meet her family, Sathiensap had fallen in love and he had proposed. He promised he would take good care of her, he would buy her a car and support her if she wanted to take classes at Midland College.

She soon received her visa package, which he had applied to for her. The package provided the first hint of what their relationship would later become.

There were papers and documents from two ex-wives who had divorced him because of accusations of abuse. There were papers from an anger management class he had taken, and documentation of an arrest in California. But Sathiensap did not read any of this; she trusted him.

Love made me blind, she said. I used my heart to decide. I did not use my brain.

Sathiensap left everything in Thailand -- her family, her job, her friends -- to move to Midland. But once she arrived in the United States, there were more signs of trouble ahead.

They married in March 2012.

I was very happy, everything looked like a dream, Sathiensap said. He is good husband, smart, kind  We lived with his mom in a very big, beautiful house and had a swimming pool. Everything looked great, perfect married life for me.

She Skyped her parents every day, but she was rarely able to leave the house, she said. When she asked about the car her husband had promised her, or asked for money to buy food, he would become unhappy and reluctant. She was often hungry and lonely in the house with her mother-in-law.

When her husband applied for her green card, Sathiensap asked him about a work permit so that she could get a job and not have to ask him for money. He refused.

(He said) he had a reason for me to come here-- to be married, not for work, Sathiensap said.

Things continued to spiral further out of Sathiensaps control as her husband became more and more controlling over every aspect of her life. He kept all her papers, including her passport. A friend told her about the importance of getting a Social Security number, but when she brought it up with him, he got mad at her, accusing her of not trusting him more than her friend.

She was confined to the house and was forced to clean it to her mother-in-laws liking. If she didnt, her husband would become angry.

The first time she became truly afraid of him was when he threw a pen at her for burning her food in the microwave.

This is the first time I saw there was a problem with him, Sathiensap said. His personality changed. He was not the sweet guy I met before. When he got mad, he look like different people, black and white.

But every time he got mad at her, the next day he would return to being sweet and loving, she said. After five months of their marriage, though, the anger overtook him. He would not let her leave the house alone. He became jealous and overly possessive. Hed blow up and find fault with everything Sathiensap did.

He canceled her credit card and took her cellphone so she couldnt contact her only friend, their next door neighbor. Eventually he tried to take her laptop, which was her only mode of communicating with her family back in Thailand. When Sathiensap tried to push him away from the computer, he threw it on the floor at her feet, and stomped on it repeatedly, crushing her feet as well, leaving them bruised and swollen.

Im not happy anymore and I think everything I do is wrong, Sathiensap said of this time. I live in prison, not home.

She thought about calling the police, but she had no way to do so without her cellphone. Her mother-in-law watched her in the house so she couldnt use the landline, either. When she mentioned the police, her husband began threatening to get her deported.

I was so sad that someone I love so much hurt me, Sathiensap said. I left everything in Thailand for him.

At this point, she finally decided to read all of the letters in her visa package to find out the truth about her husbands past. She learned about the abuse toward his ex-wives and the arrest. Sathiensap knew she had to find a way to escape.

On Dec. 29, 2012, she told her mother-in-law she was taking out the trash. She put all of her belongings in trash bags and tossed a note over the fence so her neighbor would know she needed help.

Her friend called SafePlace of the Permian Basin, an emergency shelter for individuals and families in domestic violence situations, to find out if Sathiensap would be able to stay there.

Three days later it snowed. Satheinsap told her mother-in-law she wanted to go take a picture in the snow, but instead, she went to her friends house. The woman and her husband took Sathiensap to the police station.

Just 10 months for married life. Everything that happened hurt me and my family, too," Sathiensap said. But I know I should be happy. I dont want to stay sad anymore.

Sathiensap spent that night at SafePlace, and she said it was the first time in a long time that she slept well.

Learning what abuse is

It took Sathiensap time to realize she was married to an abuser. This is true of many women in such situations, especially when the abuse they endure is not primarily-- or ever -- physical.

When a victim comes into Safe Place, they meet with a victim advocate and fill out a history-of-abuse report.

There are 13 sections: physical abuse; privilege (which includes actions like demanded obedience or treated me like a servant); minimizing and denying; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; verbal abuse; threats; cruelty to pets; cruelty to children; isolation; blaming; intimidation; and economic abuse.

A lot of the clients realize its not only physical abuse when they start going down the list, they start reading this and checking them and they never knew that was abuse until they actually got this and we go over it, said Tracy Black, a victim advocate at Safe Place.

Victims know it hurts, but they often dont think that abuse that is not physical is worth seeking out help for.

Sometimes an abuser never physically hurts their partner throughout the entirety of the relationship.

Often, the batterers can be initially very charming, quick to get involved, so theres very much this sort of honeymoon phase of attention, said Safe Place Executive Director Carole Wayland. Then usually it evolves to jealousy and trying to isolate that person away from other friends or family, possessiveness, and it just progresses from there.

Safe Place on average shelters around 35 to 40 women and children at a time, Wayland said, though they certainly have reached their 66-bed capacity before.

We probably see 800 to 900 women a year on a non-residential basis, which means they meet with a counselor or an advocate but are not staying at Safe Place, Wayland said. So we might see well over 500, 600 women and kids in shelter, but we may have another 900 or so that were seeing non-residentially.

Safe Place serves 15 West Texas counties. About 40 percent of the residential clientele are from Midland and 30 percent from Ector County, Wayland said.

While many women and children come in with physical bruises and scars, the emotional toll can last much longer, Wayland said.

A lot of times what well hear in counseling is that the emotional abuse is so much deeper damaging, Wayland said. It destroys your self-esteem, your ability to function. Physical things heal but sometimes there are longer-term scars from the emotional and verbal abuse that theyve encountered. But thats not a crime as much as the physical assault would be, so you can do that more and get away with it.

Getting help

Safe Place is not only a shelter. It provides many services for those in need such as support groups, legal advocacy, childrens programs and prevention and intervention programs.

Once Sathiensap learned that what she had gone through was abuse, she was able to take the steps to move on from the experience.

She spent 90 days, the maximum time, at Safe Place and through Blacks help, Sathiensap was able to get a work permit and apply for citizenship.

Sathiensap was able to move out of SafePlace and find her own apartment. She still sees Black, who helped her with resources to complete her certification as a certified nurse aide.

Kai has a lot of success in her story, Black said. Through all of this, shes made some big accomplishments.

Unfortunately, though, Sathiensaps story is similar to many womens. She was isolated by her ex-husband so that she couldnt reach out for help for a long time and his emotional abuse kept her mentally chained to him. The effects of abuse can make it difficult for an individual to leave an abusive partner.

Sathiensap understands this intimately, and hopes her story will convince others who may be experiencing abuse to seek help.

Now I can return something, she said. I dont have much money, but now I can give back.
WARNIING

Please do not try to pronounce CONNOISSEUR if you have not done it before to avoid hurting your tongue. You are advised to consult your dictionary for the appropriate pronunciation of the word.

You are welcome to the official webpage of Nigeria's Youngest Editor Ever - Ifreke Nseowo .


The Internet exploded over a surprise supposed Trump endorser recently, and that was none other than Chingy. He was trending on Twitter this past Friday (Jan. 22) when he supposedly endorsed the Donald on the social media platform, tweeting, I vote for @realDonaldTrump, but claims that his comments were misunderstood. In a new interview, Chingy explains his tweet, and how it really related to a news article.

According to the rapper, he read an article about Donald Trump where the controversial Republican candidate was advocating to eradicate terrorism from the United States and preserve Medicare benefits for American citizens. Chingy said that while he agrees with both of these concepts, he isnt a staunch supporter of Trumps campaign as a whole.

Unfortunately for Chingy, his comments were gravely misunderstood, instigating some major Twitter backlash with multiple news outlets spreading the belief that he supports Trump like wildfire. While many criticized Chingy for supporting a candidate with such a negative view towards minority groups, the rapper claims that he was unaware of the majority of Trumps views and only supported the two he had read about in theory. In a effort to quell the controversy, Chingy even released an apology video.

Politics vs society. People should innerstand that politics is a business jus like the job you work at. I vote for @realDonaldTrump "YEP" 3  ChingyJackpot (@ChingyJackpot) January 22, 2016

I didnt know about some of the negative things he had to say about some of the races out here and about the hip-hop community, Chingy explained to Billboard. I didnt know a lot of the negative things, I was kind of commenting off reading that article and reading some of the good things that he said, so thats kind of where my comments came from.

He further said, Every now and then I see some of it on TV. Im not familiar with exactly how its going down. And thats another reason why I didnt know a lot of the negative things he said. Like a lot of people comparing him to Hitler and stuff and a lot of those things, I didnt know these things. So when I seen the good he said, I was like, Oh thats cool that Donald Trump be trying to do that.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Meek Mill has had a bad few months between beefing with Drake and 50 Cent, but now he has decided to focus on something more important: his education. The Philly rapper announced yesterday that he has enrolled in college and will be attending sometime soon.

Meek took a trip to Overbrook High School in Philadelphia to give some words of encouragement to the students. According to BET, while there, he announced that he would had enrolled in college, "I just enrolled in college myself," he said. "I took it upon myself to do that because I want to be the best at what I do. I want to be the best at what I do so I enrolled in college to educate myself, get myself more knowledge because knowledge make money, being educated makes you money and I like making money and taking care of my family."

Though he never mentioned where he would be going to college or when, this is a huge step for the rapper. Between having a few stints in jail and beefing with Drake, 50 Cent and a few others, this seems to be the right step in a positive direction.

Meek Mill showed up to Overbrook high school in Philly today and announced he's now enrolled in college. pic.twitter.com/qkptl6BXZn  DJ Akademiks (@IamAkademiks) January 22, 2016

This isn't the first positive thing Meek has done this week. He donated 60,000 bottles of water to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to help out with the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan. According to Billboard, he also challenged 50 Cent to match a $50,000 donation he wanted to give. 50 Cent responded by amping up their beef.

Meek is awaiting his February 5th hearing for violating his probation. Let's hope his acts of kindness help his case!

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
It is wicked to place political ...
The search continues for a convicted felon who escaped prison with the help of his girlfriend while he was on a work-release in Daytona Beach.

Gary Bullock Jr., 24, was serving an eight-year sentence for multiple felony offenses that included robbery, grand theft and burglary.

Bullock's mother, Meryl Horvatt, is pleading for her son to surrender to authorities. Deputies think Bullock and his girlfriend, Natasha Quigley, are armed and on the run with a 3-year-old.

"I am distraught," Horvatt said. "I am worried. ... We don't care what he's done or what they've done or anything. Just do the right thing and drive to the nearest police station and turn yourself in."

Bullock was being housed at a work-release center in Daytona Beach operated by the Tomoka Correctional Institution. He left the prison facility to report to his job at El Caribe Resort & Conference Center on Friday.

Detectives said that's where Quigley picked him up. Before leaving the area, Bullock cut off his ankle monitor and tossed it in the parking lot.

Horvatt said her son has known Quigley since they were in middle school and that the girlfriend was staying at El Caribe as a guest so that she could see Bullock more frequently.

Bullock worked at the resort as a plumber, Horvatt said.

According to investigators, Quigley stole money, blank checks and a gun from her parents' house in Palm Coast before leaving with her 3-year-old son.

"I am always here for you, and me and your dad love you very much," Horvatt said in a phone interview. "We just want you to turn yourself in and we'll figure it out."

Bullock is 5 feet, 6 inches and weighs 173 pounds.



Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the Florida Department of Corrections at 850-922-6867.
Shortly before General Electric Companys devastating announcement to move its corporate headquarters to Boston, an article appeared in an investment advisory website headlined Puerto Rico is Greece, & These 5 States are the Next to Go. The article focused on the extraordinary debt burden consequences of out-of-control spending and budget gimmickry carried on for years. Among the 5 states next to go was Connecticut. The article asserts, for some states the pain is really just beginning ... as assets of some severely underfunded plans are gradually depleted.



The article reveals the ratio of debt, pension and retiree healthcare payments to state tax collections. This is an important measure of fiscal health because it shows how much of current and future tax collections must be dedicated to pay for old obligations before a state or city can begin to pay for current services needed by its citizens.



A standard spending ratio of 15 percent or less is considered as manageable from an economic and policy perspective. Connecticut is currently paying about 18 percent of its current revenue collections  just above the affordable standard.



Then comes the blockbuster news.



The article explains that Connecticut should be paying nearly 38 percent of all its revenues over the next 30 years to pay these old obligations  double what it presently spends! This is shocking and the implications are truly frightening. This means that before Connecticut can begin to provide services to its citizens it will have to take almost 38 cents of every tax dollar to pay for old obligations. Only 62 percent of expected future taxes will be available to meet the needs of future residents.



This leaves the following choices: (1) large tax increases, (2) devastating spending cuts, (3) dramatically improved efficiency in government services or (4) substantial above average economic growth. The only way to avoid traumatic tax increases or spending cuts would be unprecedented efficiency in government or very high economic growth. The latest experience at the Department of Motor Vehicles indicates how unrealistic hope for efficiency improvements may be. And Connecticuts economic growth has been below average.



The politicians in Hartford say GEs decision to leave the state wasnt about taxes. Apparently they didnt read what GE CEO Jeff Immelt said two days after the second biggest tax hike in state history passed in June, 2015: As a result of this law passing, I have assembled an exploratory team to look into the companys options to relocate corporate HQ to another state with a more pro-business environment.



Connecticut is broke and business leaders see the handwriting on the wall. More budget gimmicks wont save the state. Only honest spending reforms can do that.



While the Malloy administration talks the talk it practices budgetary sleight-of-hand at record-breaking levels setting the stage for an impending disaster.



The same spending principles govern municipal budgets, too. Meriden certainly is far better positioned than the state.



But comparison to the catastrophic financial condition of the state should be cold comfort to the citizens of Meriden. What are the financial conditions of the city?



With respect to the funding of Meridens pension obligations, the City has funded about 80 percent of city employees pension benefits (80 percent is considered by experts to be prudent). However, the citys obligations to police and firemen are funded at only 54.5 percent and 56.8 percent respectively. To make up for the shortfall the city has budgeted millions of extra funds in each annual budget.



The amounts set aside to compensate for the long history of inadequate funding are stunning. In the 2016 FYE Budget the City has set aside approximately $10.2 million for pension obligations, but of that amount about nearly $7.5 million is to amortize previously unfunded pension obligations.



The pain for the financial sins of the past isnt limited to underfunding the citys pension obligations. The city manager in his 2016 budget explicitly admits the city has never funded its annual required contribution for Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB). To compensate for this budget gimmick, the actuaries calculate $5.6 million above normal cost is needed in the annual budget. The city continues to pay only a part of this obligation.



Effectively, Meriden has incurred an annual penalty of $13.1 million costing an average of nearly $700 per property owner to atone for the city councils failure to fund retirement benefits when they were earned by employees.



Thats money that could have been available to reduce taxes. Its the penalty we are paying for past budget gimmicks.



Meridens finances are indeed better than the states. Nonetheless the city is paying a heavy penalty for the councils history of fiscal gimmicks. Will the council repeat its budget sins or has it learned a lesson?



Len Suzio is a former state senator representing Meriden.






You win some and you lose some.



Those were not particularly encouraging words for Gov. Dannel Malloy to utter on first learning that General Electric is going to move its headquarters out of Connecticut, taking with it hundreds of jobs. Its a significant blow for a state thats been so slow in recovering from the recession; a state with a recent history of lurching from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis; a state thats under a cloud of underfunded pension obligations and disappointing tax revenue; a state with further budget deficits looming on the horizon.



No doubt those were all considerations when GE executives made their decision to flee Fairfield for Boston. Their throat-clearing about a possible move started in earnest last June, with complaints about Connecticuts tax structure, and it probably didnt help that the governor and our representatives in Washington have been bending over backward to help United Technologies, whose Pratt & Whitney division is GEs key competitor in the jet-engine market.



In the aftermath, were having the Who lost GE? debate. The Democrats practically called them names, said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, and showed a total lack of respect for an international business that any state would drool to have. Fasano has a point.



But so does Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, who countered Fasanos argument by concluding that given all the facts, moving some of their employees to Bostons Seaport matches their shift in business strategy. Still, some employees still means hundreds.



Certainly this is a gloomy time for Fairfield, where tax revenue will be lost, shops and restaurants will lose customers, and property values can be expected to fall as hundreds of houses come on the market. The town is also losing a major charitable donor. And its bad news for the state, which over the next couple of years will lose the income and sales taxes paid by all those GE employees.



But statements by top GE brass suggest that taxes and the cost of doing business in Connecticut may not have been front and center in their thinking. Why else would they have opted to move to another high-cost, high-tax state? This was not a simple cost-cutting move such as weve seen when big companies move from the Northeast to the Deep South, or overseas.



Yes, taxes matter. Labor, all those things matter, Joe McGee, the vice president of the Business Council of Fairfield County, told The Connecticut Mirror. But this story fundamentally is about innovation and a major company feeling that the innovation environment they need is in Boston and not in Fairfield, Connecticut.



We want to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations, explained Jeff Immelt, the companys CEO, citing greater Bostons many colleges and universities and a diverse, technologically fluent workforce focused on solving challenges for the world. Massachusetts, he said, spends more on research and development than any other region in the world.



And then theres the $140 million that Massachusetts was willing to ante up to sweeten the deal. Thats nothing to sneeze at  and GE didnt. Its hard to see how Connecticut could compete with all that.



The lesson Malloy seems to be taking is that we should forge ahead with his transportation infrastructure plan and take on the states underfunded pension liability. During the upcoming session of the General Assembly, I can assure you we will have a number of proposals on economic development issues, he said, on transportation issues, on making sure were properly positioning the state.



A big factor in GEs move to Fairfield 40 years ago had to be its proximity to New York City, and now the company is moving to the other metropolis that bookends this state.



While the argument about what Malloy or the legislature could have or should have done that might have kept GE here will probably run on for some time, Connecticut remains the quaint little state between New York and Boston, with its own charms, though they be difficult to quantify. And no amount of positioning is going to change that.



General Electric will transplant, but Connecticut will sustain.








Image source: Flickr user Caspar Diederik.

Arguably one of the toughest challenges we face is ensuring we have enough money to last throughout our lifetime.

As Americans, we're almost predisposed to the notion that we're poor savers; and we're also living longer than ever before, meaning there's even more pressure for our nest egg. Ensuring we have the appropriate budget, investment plan, and withdrawal plan in place is critical to hitting our retirement goals. But things don't always work out as planned.

Why leaning heavily on Social Security can be worrisome

According to a survey completed by AARP in September of pre-retirees ages 45 to 64, roughly half (51%) planned to lean on their Social Security benefits to provide 41% or more of their household income in retirement, including almost a quarter expecting it to comprise 71% or more of their household income. The Social Security Administration advises that your benefits shouldn't total more than 40% of your household income during retirement.

The big concern with retirees and pre-retirees relying so heavily on Social Security benefits is that the program is in need of a fix. A demographic shift caused by the retirement of baby boomers, and the aforementioned increase in life expectancy, is expected to drain the Trust's remaining cash reserves by 2034. In short, beneficiaries could be facing a 21% benefits cut in order to sustain the program through 2087. That's not a spot retirees want to find themselves in.

But other Social Security pitfalls exist for those who aren't prepared for retirement.



Image source: Pixabay.

Four states that tax Social Security benefits without any exemptions

For example, 13 states currently tax Social Security benefits, at least to some extent. There's always the glass half-full approach which shows that three-quarters of all states do not tax your Social Security benefits during retirement. But, if you happen to retire in one of the 13 states that does, and you aren't aware of it ahead of time, it could wind up being a very unpleasant surprise.

"What states tax Social Security benefits," you wonder? According to Kiplinger, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Montana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia all tax Social Security to some degree.

The good news is that nine of these states have made up their own rules and allow retirees an exemption from having their benefits taxed up to a certain amount of income. In Colorado, for instance, up to $20,000 in Social Security and retirement income for those younger than 65 may be exempted, and this level rises up to $24,000 for those ages 65 and up. Missouri has a considerably more relaxed policy that taxes Social Security beneficiaries only if individual adjusted gross incomes exceed $85,000, or $100,000 for married couples.

However, four states -- Minnesota, North Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia -- offer no exemption to retirees, and thus follow the federal government's tax schedule for Social Security. The IRS taxes 50% of Social Security benefits at the ordinary federal income tax rate for income between $25,000 and $34,000 for individuals and $32,000 to $44,000 for those who file a joint return. For individuals with incomes above $34,000 and joint filers with incomes surpassing $44,000, 85% of Social Security benefits becomes taxable at the ordinary income rate. Retirees in these states who haven't done their homework could wind up forking over much needed cash via taxation during their golden years.



Image source: Flickr user Craig Sunter.

One important thing to keep in mind

Whether you're already retired, or preparing to head into retirement in the coming years or decades, it's important that you keep one thing in mind. Namely, you should understand that where you retire can make a big difference as to how long your nest egg lasts. Understanding how your retirement income, including pensions and other investments, is taxed should be near the top of your list when it comes to preparing for retirement.

Of course, there are a long list of factors you'll likely want to weigh when considering where to retire, and those factors will probably extend beyond just whether or not a state taxes Social Security benefits. For instance, even though West Virginia taxes Social Security benefits at the same rate as the federal government, and without exemption, it does offer income exemptions on the first $8,000 ($16,000 for married couples) withdrawn from IRAs, 401(k)s, and private pensions. It also has a reasonable sales tax and low property taxes, making it a fairly tax-friendly state minus the Social Security benefits tax.

Make it a point to be a proactive pre- and post-retiree and don't let these taxes surprise you at the most inopportune of times.

The $15,978 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. In fact, one MarketWatch reporter argues that if more Americans knew about this, the government would have to shell out an extra $10 billion annually. For example: one easy, 17-minute trick could pay you as much as $15,978 more... each year! Once you learn how to take advantage of all these loopholes, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how you can take advantage of these strategies.

The article 4 States That Tax Social Security Benefits Without Any Exemptions originally appeared on Fool.com.

Copyright  1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Four cases of Zika virus infection have been recorded in Italy. The scientific director of the Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Giuseppe Ippolito, said: they were ''four Italians who were returning from Brazil and the cases relate to the Spring 2015. Three patients were treated at the Spallanzani in Rome and one in Florence. Currently, they are well.''

Via ANSA.it, a somewhat belated report: Zika virus: 4 cases in Italy, travelers from Brazil . Edited excerpt from the Google translation:In fairness, Zika in Brazil last spring was a curiositya seemingly minor infection compared to dengue or chikungunya. If these cases had been reported then, they'd likely have been ignored outside Italy.
PHOENIX (AP)  A suburban Phoenix school district is taking disciplinary action after a photo of students spelling out a racial slur with T-shirts showed up on social media.

Tempe Union High School District spokeswoman Jill Hanks said Friday that the discipline process remains ongoing but six girls will be punished in accordance with district policies.
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San Antonio police have arrested a man in connection with a brutal attack Thursday night on the Northwest Side that left two people dead and another in critical condition.

Police arrested Luis Antonio Arroyo, 39, without incident Sunday morning in the 7600 block of Callaghan Road, Officer Douglas Greene, a San Antonio police spokesman, said Sunday.

RELATED: Woman found critically injured Thursday night has died

Arroyo is accused in the deaths of Rodney Spring and Quickether Jackson, who along with a third woman were attacked in what Greene called "a very disturbing and violent crime." Spring died at the scene, and Jackson died Saturday morning.

Arroyo was taken to Public Safety Headquarters Sunday afternoon for an interview with police before he was taken to the Magistrate's Office to be processed for his arrest. Greene said he would be charged with capital murder.

Police said officers were called to investigate a report of a shooting around 11:25 p.m. Thursday at an apartment in the 3800 block of Sherril Brook Drive. When they arrived, they found Spring dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside a bedroom, along with Jackson and another woman. Both women appeared to have been shot and stabbed. Police said one of the women still had a knife in her chest when emergency responders arrived.

RELATED: Violent encounter leaves one dead, two critically injured on the Northwest Side

Both women were taken to University Hospital in critical condition Thursday. The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office had not yet determined Jackson's cause of death Sunday.

Greene said evidence at the crime scene and interviews with several people familiar with the victims led authorities to Arroyo. Greene added that officers suspect Arroyo knew his victims, although their exact relationship, and Arroyo's motive, remain unclear.

No information on the third victim was immediately available.

An investigation is ongoing, police said.
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It is safe to say that property rights are sacred in Texas. We inherited our love of the land from past generations who toiled to make the harsh landscape bloom. Nowhere is this truer than in the Big Bend region of Texas.

In 2012, the Texas Attorney Generals Office issued a Landowners Bill of Rights specifying all the protections each of us has against government interference, including the taking of property under eminent domain. One of the requirements for land condemnation is that it be for a public use. This is to ensure that the burden placed on a few will benefit the larger community; however, the mechanisms for balancing private property rights against the public good are now being exploited by profit-driven companies.

The so-called TransPecos pipeline proposed by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, or ETP, calls for a 125-foot-wide trench to be cleared across approximately 143 miles of private property in some of the most pristine country in Texas. A channel also will be tunneled beneath the Rio Grande River.

While Texas landowners will be burdened by this pipeline, they will not receive the benefits. This pipeline was commissioned by the Federal Electricity Commission of Mexico, a foreign entity. The natural gas flowing through this enormous 42-inch pipeline is destined for Mexico, where most of it will be liquefied and shipped to markets in Asia.

To protect landowners from such abuses, the power to take private property through eminent domain condemnation should require:

Due process.

Proof that the taking is in the public interest, for the public good.

Fair compensation.

However, in this case, a single clause in the Texas Utilities Code removes any avenue for due process and denies private landowners the ability to challenge a gas pipeline owner or operator with respect to the public interest it claims to serve.

Although it is a privately owned company, ETP is able to call itself a public utility based on Texas Utilities Code 121.001 (2), which defines anyone who owns or operates a gas pipeline in the state of Texas as a gas utility, a form of common carrier. This entitles that entity to access the powers of eminent domain condemnation without public involvement or regulatory oversight.

Instead of protecting landowners, the regulatory oversight of the Railroad Commission of Texas stifles due process:

No permit is required to build an intrastate pipeline in the state of Texas.

No public hearings, no mechanism for public comment, no environmental oversight required.

No method of challenging the routing of the pipeline.

No proof required, nor any debate about the public interest or public good.

This is in stark contrast to the process by which the Public Utility Commission permits utility lines. There, public comment and review are required prior to the approval of any proposed project.

Energy Transfer Partners is currently threatening various landowners who object to even one of the companys sweeping terms, including:

Easements granted in perpetuity.

Arbitrary use of the easement, for any hydrocarbon product.

The ability to change the topography of the land and erect fences and gates.

In concrete terms, landowners are being offered $5.40 to $10.55 per linear foot of easement as a one-time payment. Market-based pricing in other areas, like the Eagle Ford or Barnett shale regions, are in the neighborhood of $84 per linear foot.

For landowners who resist, the multibillion-dollar company is filing for grant of a temporary restraining order and injunction against the resistant landowner, along with a civil lawsuit, seeking damages of $100,000, legal fees, court costs and a threat of eminent domain condemnation.

This is not only unfair, its un-Texan.

Surely, this is not what was intended when landowner protections were enumerated by the Texas Attorney Generals Office. The proposed TransPecos pipeline creates a dangerous precedent for private property rights holders all over Texas.

The Big Bend may seem like a world away from here, but the next pipeline might be in your backyard.

Amy Hardberger is an associate professor of law at St. Marys University.
Diplomacy has apparently become a four-letter word.

It shouldnt be  unless that four-letter word is safe. OK, five letters  safer.

The historic nuclear accord with Iran, which was implemented recently, does not magically change the rogue ways of that longtime enemy. It just takes the world a significant step from having to contend with a nuclear Iran.

Irans release of five Americans  four as part of a formal swap  in exchange for U.S. clemency for seven Iranians charged or imprisoned for sanctions violations was not part of the nuclear deal. But it  and the dismissal of charges against 14 Iranians outside the United States  are clearly linked. It was an act of conciliation from Iran.

This is the power of diplomacy.

The presidents foes, including GOP presidential hopefuls, have been criticizing the nuclear agreement since before it was even finalized  in July. The swap of prisoners just gave them more ammo. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the exchange of prisoners emboldens others to seize Americans. And, to some, the swap telegraphs weakness to the rest of the world.

This makes no sense.

The presidents critics seem to want a United States that lashes out militarily with each provocation. The last 15 years have seen this country at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with heavy loss of U.S. life  just over 6,800 lives in those two conflicts. And multiply that manyfold for the number of Iraqi and Afghan civilian casualties.

That was us being tough. How has that worked out for us and the rest of the world?

And the United States does, in fact, not pay ransom for hostages in the case of the Islamic State. It is bombed daily by U.S. and coalition warplanes. Does anyone have any doubt that this terrorist group would still seize any American it could  if they were available?

The lifting of sanctions imposed because of Irans pursuit of nukes is not the same as ransom payments. Five other nations besides the U.S. and Iran were a party to the deal, and there would have been no deal had there not been some give on sanctions. And even as the Americans were freed, the United States was slapping more sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program.

The release of the Americans should have been a moment for bipartisan joy. So sad that it was just another cause to play the politics of who can sound tougher.

Well take effective every time.
Lambert here: See footnote 8. And the phrase choice architecture gives me the creeps.

By Christian Schubert, Visiting Professor for Economic and Business Ethics, University of Kassel. Originally published at VoxEU.

Nudges are modifications of peoples choice architecture that impact their behaviour but dont change their incentives or coerce them. As a policy instrument, nudges have been shown to be effective in changing certain kinds of behaviours. This column explores the ethical issues that arise in employing such potentially manipulative policies. An evaluation programme is outlined that explores a potential policys impact on peoples wellbeing, autonomy, and integrity, along with its practical implications.

Evaluating the costs and benefits of standard government policies is straightforward, when we assume that citizens are rational and well-informed. Choices are guided by consumer and firm optimisation of clear-cut objective functions. Policy evaluation is based on how the policy changes the value of those objective functions. Assessing nudges is a very different thing.

Nudges are modifications of peoples choice architecture (CA) that impact their behaviour without changing their material incentive structure or in any way coercing them (Thaler and Sunstein 2008).1 There is abundant evidence that they work (Costa and Kahn 2010), but are they welfare improving?2

In fact, evaluating the costs and benefits of nudges entails some unavoidable ethical considerations. This column raises a number of issues that are widely neglected by both proponents and critics of nudging.3

I suggest four steps when it comes to evaluating a nudge policy.

First, lets see whether the nudges in question increase peoples wellbeing.

Unfortunately, already here we get into deep water.

Its unclear how we should think about wellbeing in the behavioural world  which is, in fact, the real world, and the world in which nudges work. Remember, in the behavioural world, people not only have limited mental resources  meaning computational capacities, willpower and attention  but also context-dependent, inconsistent, and incomplete preferences. As a consequence, the standard neoclassical notion that defines wellbeing as the technical degree of satisfaction of given and consistent preferences cannot be applied.

A key point is that there is no received-wisdom alternative. Ideas have been floated  from measurable happiness to only perfectly informed preferences should count, all the way to Bob Sugdens opportunity criterion (probably the most elaborate alternative concept at the moment).4 The jury, however, is basically still out on how to think about wellbeing in a behavioural world.5

Lets leave this core question aside for the moment and push on. As Chetty (2015) puts it, nudges may still be pragmatically useful (in concert with more traditional regulation) in achieving specific policy goals that citizens have somehow agreed upon beforehand.

Second, we have to ask how nudges affect peoples autonomy.

Most critics agree that nudges compromise this key value by interfering with and manipulating peoples preference formation, and by addressing peoples lower instincts instead of reason. Individuals are then argued to lose control over their own preferences (Hausman and Welch 2010).

Upon closer inspection, this argument looks a bit strange. Does autonomy really depend on the kind of hyper-rationality presupposed here? Arent we all subject to myriads of influences on a daily basis, most of which were even unaware of?6 Do we really lose our autonomy  and potentially our moral accountability with it  when acting thoughtlessly or in a way that is contrary to our sincerely held moral values (Buss 2012)? Suffice to say that whoever takes issue with nudges along these lines faces difficult conceptual and ethical questions (what is manipulation anyway?).

The third step invites you to check whether its maybe not autonomy after all, but rather peoples integrity thats at stake in nudging?

After all, nudges are supposed to work in a setting where people havent yet made up their mind (consider the notorious cafeteria case); that is, they lack complete preferences. It may be a good idea, then, to have a closer look at the problem of preference formation, which, for economists, is akin to the problem of identity or character formation.

The late James Buchanan had suggested that we should take seriously the notion that human beings face the task of creating their preferences and assume responsibility for them (Buchanan 1999). As Korsgaard (2009) shows, a necessary condition for succeeding in this ongoing process of self-constitution is active choosing. Some kinds of nudges clearly support informed active choosing.7 Others rather seem to discourage people from engaging in active choice.

Put differently, some nudges may produce excessive convenience. Consider a world with widespread adoption of public nudging. There, I, the consumer, dont need to worry about my retirement savings, nor about mustering the little self-control that I have to avoid the chocolate bars in the cafeteria, nor about being wary about the tricks of door-to-door salespersons. In all these cases, some choice architect, somewhere behind the scenes, subtly steers me into the right direction  by changing defaults and frames, and by implementing cooling-off periods. In other words, Im outsourcing my choices to some external body.

In parts of the critical literature, this specific variant of moral hazard makes an appearance as the infantilisation effect of nudging (Bovens 2009, White 2013). Note whats at stake here when preferences depend on peoples context, and policies can (partly) change that context, we face the problem that policies can impact preferences, which would present us with the awkward task to ponder over which kinds of preferences we want to promote (Hargreaves Heap 2013). The Buchanan-Korsgaard focus on identity formation may help us bypass this question (which is impossible to answer), without losing the ability to identify normative costs associated with nudging.8

Fourth and finally, we should think about what all this means in terms of practical policy implications.

Ideally, citizens should be informed about the normative costs involved in public nudging before voting on its implementation (Schubert 2014).

Consider integrity. People seem to face a trade-off between excessive convenience on the one hand (which discourages active choosing, to the detriment of character formation), and too little convenience on the other hand (leaving them overwhelmed with complex choices). This trade-off looks different for different kinds of goods. With primary goods that satisfy basic needs, we may conjecture that most people will favour delegating choices, at least partly, to trusted external bodies. Consider basic retirement savings. The demand to form idiosyncratic preferences on issues related to basic retirement savings seems rather limited. In contrast, preferences on morally charged issues such as whether to donate organs post mortem  a popular example of effective nudging (Smith et al 2013)  dont easily generalise. In that latter case, integrity arguments speak against the use of nudges as a regulatory policy tool.9

Concluding Remarks

In most cases, nudges are likely to be implemented as complements to more traditional incentive-based tools. Research on the interplay between modifications of different parts of peoples choice architecture is still in its early stages. Whats striking, though, is that economists interested in deriving behavioural policy implications apparently require much more ethical input than their neoclassical predecessors were accustomed to. The behavioural economist may turn out to be the moral philosophers best friend.

References

Akerlof, G A and R J Shiller (2015) Phishing for phools: The economics of manipulation and deception, Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Berg, N (2014) The consistency and ecological rationality approaches to normative bounded rationality, Journal of Economic Methodology, 21: 375-395.

Bovens, L (2009) The ethics of nudge, in Preference change: Approaches from philosophy, economics and psychology, T Grune-Yanoff and S O Hansson (eds), 207-220, Berlin, Springer.

Buchanan, J M (1999) Natural and artifactual man, in The logical foundations of constitutional liberty, Vol. I, J M Buchanan, 246-259, Indianapolis, Liberty Fund.

Buss, S (2012) Autonomous action: Self-determination in the passive mode, Ethics, 122. 647-691.

Costa, D L and M E Kahn (2010) Energy conservation nudges and environmentalist ideology: Evidence from a randomized residential electricity field experiment, VoxEU.org, 19 May.

Hansen, P G (2015) The definition of nudge and libertarian paternalism  does the hand fit the glove?, European Journal of Risk Regulation, forthcoming.

Hargreaves Heap, S (2013) What is the meaning of behavioural economics?, Cambridge Journal of Economics,37: 985-1000.

Hausman, D M and B Welsh (2010) Debate: To nudge or not to nudge?, Journal of Political Philosophy, 18: 123-136.

Korsgaard, C M (2009) Self-constitution  Agency, identity, and integrity, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Loewenstein, G, C Bryce, D Hagmann and S Rajpal (2014) You are about to be nudged, Working Paper, http.//ssrn.com/abstract=2417383.

Reiss, J (2013) Philosophy of economics: A contemporary introduction, London, Routledge.

Rothenberg, J (1962) Consumers sovereignty revisited and the hospitability of freedom of choice, American Economic Review, Papers & Proceedings, 52: 269-283.

Schubert, C (2014) Evolutionary economics and the case for a constitutional libertarian paternalism, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 24: 1107-1113.

Schubert, C (2015a) Opportunity and preference learning, Economics and Philosophy, 31: 275-295.

Schubert, C (2015b) On the ethics of public nudging: Autonomy and agency, Working paper, http.//papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2672970.

Schubert, C (2016) Green nudges: Do they work? Are they ethical? Working Paper.

Smith, N C, D G Goldstein and E J Johnson (2013) Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 32: 159-172.

Sugden, R (2004) The opportunity criterion, consumer sovereignty without the assumption of coherent preferences, American Economic Review, 94: 1014-1033.

Sugden, R (2008) Why incoherent preferences do not justify paternalism, Constitutional Political Economy, 19: 226-248.

Sunstein, C R (2014a) Why nudge? The politics of libertarian paternalism, New Haven, Yale University Press.

Sunstein, C R (2014b) Choosing not to choose, Duke Law Journal, 64: 1-52.

Sunstein, C R (2015) Nudging and choice architecture: Ethical considerations, Working Paper (version 17 Jan 2015), http.//papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2551264m, forthcoming, Yale Journal of Regulation.

Sunstein, C R and L A Reisch (2013) Green by default, Kyklos, 66: 398-402.

Thaler, R H and C R Sunstein (2003) Liberterian paternalism, American Economic Review, Papers & Proceedings, 93: 175-179.

Thaler, R H and C R Sunstein (2008) Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness, New Haven, Yale University Press.

White, M D (2013) The manipulation of choice: Ethics and libertarian paternalism, New York, Palgrave.

Footnotes

1 Nudges have been widely associated with the overarching normative programme of Libertarian Paternalism (Thaler and Sunstein 2003), which restricts the set of legitimate CA modifications. They can however be applied in order to pursue non-paternalistic goals as well, such as protecting the environment (e.g. Sunstein and Reisch 2013, Schubert 2016). Nudges are supposed to be transparent, perhaps in the sense that an alert agent should be able to identify them and the channels through which they operate. That condition excludes, for instance, subliminal advertising (Bovens 2009). Importantly, there is evidence that even perfectly transparent nudges can be highly effective (Loewenstein et al. 2014). As Sunstein (2014a: 13) puts it, the general idea is to develop sensible, low-cost policies with close reference to how human beings actually think and behave. Nudges have become very popular among practical policymakers, particularly in the US and the UK.

2 They manage to do so by either harnessing peoples cognitive biases or by responding to them (Hansen 2015).

3 See Schubert (2015b) for an elaboration.

4 See Sugden (2004, 2008) and Schubert (2015a) for a critical discussion.

5 This problem is closely related to the issue of conflicting understandings of rationality. While Thaler and Sunstein (2003, 2008) stick to the neoclassical variant (even elevating homo economicus to a normative role model!), others suggest the alternative notion of ecological rationality (e.g., Berg 2014).

6 See.Reiss (2013: 299). Its an open question whether competitive markets foster deceptive private commercial nudging; e.g. Akerlof and Shiller (2015).

7 Reminders and simplifications are obvious examples. To be sure, the whole nudge agenda raises awareness of the behavioural power of the choice architecture, which may promote informed choice overall. Note also that mandatory choice is a (non-nudge) element in the behavioural policymakers toolset (Sunstein 2014b).

8 Heres a heretic thought I dare only express in a footnote  maybe its not peoples actual preferences that should be centre stage in normative economics, but rather their ongoing ability to cultivate them? Rothenberg (1962: 282-83) floated that idea long ago.

9 Welfare arguments may be weighted against integrity concerns here, but as we have seen, no one really knows what welfare stands for in our behavioural world, at least as far as the level of the individual is concerned.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Both the Sanders and the Clinton campaigns have issued their closing TV ads for the Iowa caucuses (which may be repurposed for the New Hampshire primary; I dont know). Both are sixty seconds long and obviously produced by highly professional campaign teams. The Sanders ad is titled America; the Clinton ad, Stand Up. First, Im going to present both ads, along with a census of the people who appear in each, for reasons Ill get to. Next, Ill compare and contrast the two. Finally, Ill look very briefly at the theories of change that both ads embody. (This is the trench warfare part.)

I encourage you to view both ads; sixty-seconds exposure cant possibly be toxic. And even if youre completely alienated from todays electoral process, who knows? You might wish to make your own videos some day, or encourage other political actors to do so. (Also, there may be more nuances that I did not change, and my census could probably use some double-checking; the computer screen is what it is, and my eyes are what they are.) Oh, and turn up the volume; the soundtracks are important. So, to the ads!

Sanders Ad: America

(Covered in the New York Times.) Here is the census of the Sanders ad; Ive included the time codes so you can check me. The candidates name is in ALL CAPS:

0:04 White middle class woman with girl child

0:05 Older white farmer woman feeding cow

0:06 Old white farmer walking down line of cows

0:08 Young white female and white male hipster creatives at computers

0:09 Young white woman at cafe with young white male barista

0:10 30-something white male and female in office setting

0:11 30-something white female, baby, and white (bearded) male

0:12 Heavily bearded white male walking in snow with young white girl

0:14 Old white farm couple moving hay in barn

0:15 Older white couple dancing at Sanders rally with crowd and background

0:17 Two white women in flannel with Sanders sign in crowd at rally (all-white)

0:18 SANDERS shaking hands with white man in cap in crowd (all-white)

0:19 SANDERS shaking hands with different white man in cap in different crowd (all-white)

0:20 Crowd (not all white) holding We love Bernie signs

0:21 Black Sanders volunteer slapping hands with other volunteers

0:23 White boy in snowsuit holding calf, white farmer man in background moving haybale.

0:24 Same white family with cow herd, bales of hay

0:25 Same white family: Grandson, father, grandfather, presumbly.

0:26 SANDERS shaking hands at (all-white) rally

0:30 SANDERS and Jane Sanders walking toward rally through crowd (all-white)

0:31 Applauding audience at rally (almost all-white)

0:32 SANDERS at rally with big American flag in background (crowd faces indistinguishable).

0:33  0:36 Series of montages of contributors/volunteers, with THEYVE ALL COME FOR AMERICA superimposed (almost all white).

0:39 SANDERS speaking at rally on Lake Champlain (crowd faces indistinguishable).

0:41 SANDERS shaking hands with line of supporters (almost all white).

0:42 SANDERS embracing black woman.

0:42 SANDERS and Jane Sanders walking hand-in-hand with two (white) children down street, waving

0:43 SANDERS at rally with young white man, young black woman, crowd in background

0:44 Crowd waving Sanders placards, one Asian woman.

0:45 SANDERS speaking at rally, crowd holding Bernie signs (crowd faces indistinguishable)

0:47 Young man holding child (waving flag)

0:48 SANDERS at podium, crowd out of focus and indistinguishable

0:49 Audience waving Bernie signs at (almost all-white) rally.

0:50 Young white men and women waving signs, punching air with fists.

0:52 Auditorium rally (crowd faces indistinguishable).

0:54 0:50 Young men and women waving signs, punching air with fists (almost all-white)

0:54 Even bigger auditorium rally, with cellphone lights (crowd faces indistinguishable).

0:57- 0:59 Close up of SANDERS, smiling at podium, with (almost all white) crowd in background.

Clinton Ad: Stand Up

(Covered in the New York Times.) Here is the census of the Clinton ad, also with time codes, and with the candidates name is in ALL CAPS:

0:03 Naval personnel on carrier, backs to camera, watching plane launch

0:07 White woman, child, white man at kitchen table.

0:09 CLINTON as first lady with (all-white) schoolkids

0:10 CLINTON with (mostly black) schoolkids

0:13 CLINTON with (almost all-white) 9/11 dignitaries and emergency personnel (one black).

0:14 Two male figures in smoky 9/11 street

0:15 CLINTON with all-white male 9/11 dignitaries

0:16 CIINTON as SoS waving from plane.

0:16 CLINTON as SoS with all-white, all-male dignitaries and military personnel

0:19 CLINTON as SoS with white, male Vladimir Putin

0:21 Backlit CLINTON as SoS.

0:22 CLINTON speaking in midst of all white, male/female crowd

0:23 CLINTON at national-security meeting with Obama and other men, all white.

0:24 CLINTON with white male factory workers and white female co-ordinator

0:27 Old white man and old white woman

0:28 White women holding Planned Parenthood signs

0:32 White hand lifting gun at gun sale

0:33 White woman coordinator, white woman worker, black man worker (in hard hats).

0:36 Trump rally, with white male crowd waving placards

0:37 White male lifting gun

0:39 CLINTON speaking to crowd of older men and women, faces distinguishable (all white)

0:40 CLINTON speaking to crowd (almost all-white).

0:41 CLINTON surrounded by crowd of men and women, some press (all white).

0:42 CLINTON speaking to crowd (not all-white)

0:44 CLINTON with three white women, shaking hands with a little white girl

0:45 CLINTON with white man. maybe staffer or security

0:46 CLINTON with four white men at small (manufacturing?) business

0:47 CLINTON with two white men

0:48 CLINTON at campaign rally, in crowd (all-white)

0:49 CLINTON in restuarant with white woman (foreground) and white man (background)

0:50 CLINTON at coffee shop table with two young white women and an older man, two white men in background

0:51 CLINTON shaking hands with young girl in campaign crowd (all-white)

0:52 CLINTON in campaign crowd, men and women (all-white, except maybe for the almost-completely obscured face at top left).

0:54 CLINTON embraces white woman.

0:55 CLINTON alone giving speech

0:56 Crowd waving placards (faces not distinguishable).

0:57 CLINTON and two women, one older, white, the other younger.

The Sanders and Clinton Ads Compared

1. Identity Politics

To give credit to Clinton, campaign chair Podesta yanked attack puppy David Brocks choke collar when Brock proposed (suicidally) to go after Sanders on his personal health. But heres what Brock had to say about the Sanders ad:

David Brock, a longtime Clinton supporter who founded the super PAC backing her, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the advertising presented a bizarre image of America focused on white voters. Mr. Brock also said the ad was a significant slight to the Democratic base, according to the news agency. From this ad it seems black lives dont matter much to Bernie Sanders, Mr. Brock told The Associated Press.

To determine Brocks focus on white voters, lets look at the census for each candidates ad[1]: Black adults shown for Sanders: 3. For Clinton: 2. Crowds/rallies (with distinguishable faces) that are not all white: Sanders 6/11; Clinton: 3/9. More importantly, look at the adult social relations: The Sanders volunteer (0:21) clearly has agency, and the older black woman (0:42) is being embraced by Sanders (to be fair, Clinton also embraces a woman at 0:54, albeit a white one). More centrally, all blacks portrayed in the Clinton ad are in subordinate positions: A white woman coordinator and an almost out-of-frame black worker (0:33), not to mention the single, centered, dominant white woman and the many black children (0:10). I could wish that both ads were better, but the Sanders ad is, if anything, less bizarre than the Clinton ad.

Apparently Podesta didnt direct Brock not to lie, or to be vile (or, to be fair, Podesta and Brock failed to coordinate properly). All that money, and the Clinton campaign cant come up with a competent surrogate? Smarter attack puppies, please.

2. Candidate Focus

Here again we can turn to the census: Sanders appears 13 times; Clinton, 26. From this ad, as David Brck usefully phrases it, and these metrics, as well as the montage of supporters in America  nothing remotely like it appears in Stand Up  it would be fair to say that the Clinton campaign is about Clinton; the Sanders campaign, by contrast, is about his supporters.

3. Candidate Spouses

Here again we have metrics from the census: Appearances with spouse, Sanders: 2 (0:30 and 0:42). Appearances with spouse, Clinton: 0. One can only wonder why.

4. Sound Track and Dominant Emotions

The Clinton soundtrack is a doomy rapid-fire voiceover spoken one of those dominance-hormone-soaked male announcers. So scary! And very old-fashioned. The Sanders soundtrack, by contrast, is not spoken but sung: Simon and Garfunkels America. To veer into policy for a moment, heres why Garfunkel authorized the Sanders campaign to use the song:

I believe the monied interests have gone too far and have rigged the system.

The dominant emotion is Clintons ad is clearly fear: As the Times puts it:

It feels as if its much longer than 60 seconds, and that is a good thing: The ad seeks to give Mrs. Clintons strengths the feeling of overwhelming force while conveying that only she has what it takes to meet the demands of the presidency and to defend what Democrats hold dear.

Defend. Thats fear. Or, as Greg Sargent puts it:

Clinton has reverted to a hard-boiled message about the need for experience and toughness to confront a dangerous, complicated world.

Again, fear. Sargent goes on to contrast Clintons message to Sanders. The headline reads: Bernie Sanders wants to be this years hope and change candidate, but I dont think thats quite right; I think the the dominant emotion in the Sanders ad is not hope, but wonder. Garfunkel again, on what he sought to convey musically:

I wanted my arrangement to be urgent, reaching, yearning, shining, and full of glory, full of my love for this country.

And wonder is what the last shot of America conveys to me: Sanders looking out over the crowd, amazed at what has (finally?) come into being (and with 70% small contributors, too, none of whom, by definition, are maxed out). The Times writes:

The ad actually said plenty about how Mr. Sanders views the Democratic presidential contest. As politicians often say but seldom get across so viscerally, the election is ultimately about the voters. By turning over the microphone to Simon and Garfunkel, and aiming the camera not at Mr. Sanders so much as at Iowans generally and his admirers specifically, the ad tries to convey that what Bernie Sanders is building is a movement in America, explained Tad Devine, his senior strategist.

Well, Mr. Devine, I hope so because thats what it will take. But I havent seen any institutional signs of it. When is that happening?

Trench Warfare

America and Stand Up could also be said to embody the theories of change of both candidates. Greg Sargent again:

Still, its worth noting that the differences between Sanders and Clinton go beyond policy, to the very core of how change can be secured. Clinton has come to see politics as essentially a form of trench warfare. Clintons closing ad in Iowa vows to stop the Republicans from ripping all our progress away, an implicit acknowledgment that a new Democratic president (whoever it might be) would be deeply constrained from realizing his or her agenda, meaning the 2016 election is mostly about whether Dems can prevent total Republican rule from rolling back the gains of the Obama years. Clinton acknowledges the true nature of the structural impediments to change; that the country is deeply divided ideologically; and that we will probably remain stuck in a grueling holding pattern for years  meaning legislative advances will be ground out on the margins, thorough difficult, painstaking efforts to peel off Republicans and forge compromises that will look dirty and will really, really suck.

Operative K says the same thing, summarized here by Robert Reich:

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman yesterday warned Bernie supporters that change doesnt happen with transformative rhetoric but with political pragmatism  accepting half loaves as being better than none. He writes that its dangerous to prefer happy dreams (by which he means Bernie) to hard thinking about means and ends (meaning Hillary). Krugman doesnt get it. Ive been in and around Washington for almost fifty years, including a stint in the cabinet, and Ive learned that real change happens only when a substantial share of the American public is mobilized, organized, energized, and determined to make it happen.

I should say something trenchant here about Italian theorist Antonio Gramsis distinction between war of position and war of maneuver, but in my reading  Ill stick with the trench warfare metaphor  at some point, victory requires transforming a war of position into a war of maneuver; to break through the enemy lines, as it were.[2] In World War I, the Germans, fueled by troops released from their victory on the Russian front, invented infiltration tactics and assault troops to break through the Allied trenches; they initiated the war of maneuver, and failed. The Allies initiated the war of maneuver too, with technology, the tank (not to mention the advent of the Americans), did break through the enemy lines, and won.

To me  and logic applies to both insurgent candidates, Trump and Sanders:

1. Its pragmatic to have victory as a goal;

2. Its pragmatic to define what victory might mean;

3. Its pragmatic to invent, test, and deploy new tactics (like infiltration tactics);

4. Its pragmatic to invent, test, and deploy new new technology (like the tank).

I dont think either legacy party establishment has victory as a goal (and thats one reason Republican base is so truly ticked off). Certainly the Clinton campaign does not: [S]top the Republicans from ripping all our progress away is not victory. Nor is a pre-compromised mish-mash of focus-grouped plans. If anything, the trench warfare continues because both party establishments wish to keep their respective factions of the political class in tassel-loafers, and thats about it (which is why the endless trench warfare of permanent campaigns important to them, ka-ching). There is no thought of transitioning to a war of maneuver at all. In the corporate world, thats cause for a hostile takeover.

And as far as inventing new tactics and technologies, the record of the Democrats is decidedly mixed: Howard Dean invented the 50-state strategy and the Democrat won the House and the Senate in 2006 (how excited we all were). The party establishment promptly stuffed Dean back in his box, dismantled the new strategy, and brought in Emmanuel, Israel, and all the rest of em as replacements. Bush was awful enough, and Obama just good enough, for the Democrats to win in 2008, with the aid of new tactics (Obama for America) and new technology (data-driven GOTV with the cellphone as a platform). After Obamas victory, the new tactics were at once abandoned, as OFA was stuffed back into the box along with Dean, and victory was abandoned as a goal, as Obama systematically rehabilitated the Republican party. The party establishment then proceeded to lose badly in 2010, and worse in 2014, with Obamas stroll to victory over the Republican party establishment in 2012 the only bright spot. Does that record sound pragmatic to you?

More centrally, with hindsight, we can see that there was one sea change in the organizational capacity of the Democratic electorate in 2008: It could be mobilized, and came to understand it could be mobilized. That is the lesson of 2008, and it would have enabled a continuing war of maneuver had not the Democratic establishment sought instantly to unlearn it (and Obama, personally, to betray it). It may be that we are to learn the same lesson, again, with the Sanders campaign, but this time with victory as a goal, and defined. If so, the sense of wonder in America may well prove to be prophetic.

NOTES

[1] Im not including crowd shots of dignitaries, since that class skews so heavily white it would be unfair to Clinton. And again, please check my figures; I thought of this as a prose problem before I thought of it as a data problem.

[2] Even a purely attritional war of position must go over to maneuver to take and hold ground, or destroy the enemys forces. Otherwise, you have two ever-weakening armies locked in a permanent death grip.
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By Jacob Carpenter of the Naples Daily News

A Collier County man who was banned from doing construction work and taking deposits is back at it, bilking homeowners and an investor in recent months, according to complaints filed with the Florida Attorney General's Office.

In a petition filed earlier this month, the Attorney General's Office said it has received two complaints that Richard Leli Jr., a former construction company founder, has violated terms of a settlement reached in 2008. Under the agreement, which stemmed from Leli failing to deliver $1.6 million worth of construction work, Leli agreed to surrender his construction license, stop building in Florida and stop accepting advance deposits.

But in December 2014, about six years after the settlement was reached, a Naples woman said she gave Leli a deposit of $6,375 to buy hardware to create Litecoin, an electronic cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin. She said she never saw any evidence of work done to fulfill her agreement with Leli.

And in a complaint filed last month, a Sarasota County woman, Doris Gomez, said that Leli represented himself as an affiliate of her husband's contracting company, taking about $300,000 from six Florida homeowners. Leli, who was only supposed to be a go-between with her husband's company and another contractor, took deposits and pledged to construct pools, then never started or finished the work, Gomez said.

"He got almost 50 percent of the deposit up front. He had no intention of doing these pools. He just wanted the money," Gomez said in an interview.

The Attorney General's Office opened its own investigation following the December 2014 complaint, but Leli has failed to comply with a subpoena for financial records and tax returns, according to the petition.

When reached by phone Wednesday, Leli said he hadn't seen the Attorney General's Office filing and wanted to read it before commenting. He didn't respond to a follow-up request for comment. Leli hasn't been charged with any crimes related to the complaints or the 2008 settlement.

The Attorney General's Office first investigated Leli amid reports in the mid-2000s that he was failing to build homes as promised. At the time of the settlement, more than 100 contracts for incomplete homes were found, with buyers owed $1,625,075. The settlement allowed homeowners to seek up to $50,000 per claim from a state recovery fund.

Leli filed for bankruptcy several months before the settlement was reached, citing an asset deficit of about $1.3 million. Available records don't show how much Leli repaid to homeowners following the 2008 settlement.

Leli has three pending misdemeanor cases in Collier County, all accusing him of forging checks totaling $4,157 in December 2014.
Via The Sun: Lassa fever: Another patient dies in Asaba. Excerpt:

Another patient suffering from the dreaded Lassa fever disease has died at emergency ward of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, the Delta State capital.

Last week, a certain female patient smuggled the disease into Asaba from neighbouring Anambra State. She was the first death recorded in Delta State following the recent outbreak of the disease across the country.

Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah had in the wake of the first incident said other samples taking to the laboratory at Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State tested negative to Lassa fever.

Ukah said 22 persons who were suspected to have had contact with the late woman from Anambra State, were placed under close surveillance.

But it could not be ascertained if the latest death was one of the 22 persons earlier quarantined.

The latest incident caused panic among other patients at the facility as they reportedly took to their heels.

Medical personnel who had hectic time restoring normalcy and educating the fleeing patients about the disease, later shared medical face mask to the patients and relatives apparently to ensure their safety.

The health personnel who wore protective clothing later removed the corpse from the ward to the mortuary.

A top management staff of the hospital who pleaded not to be named in print confirmed the death but declined further comments particularly on the identity of the latest victim.
Collier County Medical Director Dr. Robert Tober firmly believes there are firefighters who want to be certified to perform advanced lifesaving just so they can make more money.

He is adamant that too many of them in the field actually degrade patient care, putting inexperienced hands on critically ill or injured patients.

He is sure some North Naples firefighters cheated on tests to gain their ALS certification in 2009 and told state regulators about it.

Needless to say he's not the most popular figure around North Collier fire stations.

Dr. Jeffrey Panozzo, medical director of the North Collier fire department, thinks Tober is flat out wrong. He's supremely confident, some might call it arrogant, in his ability to train his firefighters up to the level of the experienced paramedics who work on the county's ambulances.

Neither man is blessed with an abundance of tact.

So when the governing boards of Collier County and the North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District meet Monday to try to reach an agreement on emergency medical care, it would be easy to view the impasse as one over personalities.

But whatever personal animus might exist, the disagreement that threatens to alter emergency care in all of Collier County beginning as soon as Friday has gone beyond that.

The two sides will have to agree  or agree to disagree  on an approach that will shape how first responders work in Collier County long beyond the tenure of either Tober or Panozzo.

If the impasse persists, North Collier firefighters would have to stop providing advanced care at midnight on Jan. 29, when an agreement between the two sides expires.

A summary of the differences between the two lists 10 areas of disagreement.

But they basically boil down to one issue: Should North Collier be allowed to have its own state certificate and medical director, or should its medics work under the auspices of Collier County's certificate and its medical director?

Some North Collier firefighters have said they'd never work for Tober, but even if he were to leave tomorrow, that wouldn't address that core question.

A majority of Collier County commissioners believe that one medical director makes more sense. An associate medical director working with North Collier would be acceptable, as long as that associate answered to the primary director, the county's position paper states.

In making the case that they need their own medical director, North Collier has laid out a legal argument that, if it carries the day, would jeopardize advanced lifesaving services provided by firefighters countywide, not just in the North Collier area.

Presently, firefighters in the Greater Naples Fire District as well as the cities of Naples and Marco Island can do advanced lifesaving so long as they do it under protocols established by Tober.

North Collier's position, spelled out in a lawsuit that is on hold while the discussions between the two sides go on, is that those sorts of interlocal agreements are not legal.

The lawsuit argues that lacking a certificate of need from the state, fire districts aren't authorized to provide advanced lifesaving. Collier County cannot, through an interlocal agreement, bestow upon fire departments such as Greater Naples the ability to provide something the fire district doesn't otherwise have the power to do, the theory goes.

Should that view prevail, all the districts providing ALS firefighters under the county medical director would have to stop. That would slash the number of advanced care personnel, leaving only the county's ambulance crews to do the work.

Ironically, before seeking to be out from under Tober following the 2009 cheating accusations (the state declined to investigate Tober's allegations, calling them "legally insufficient"), the then North Naples Fire District operated under an interlocal agreement with the county similar to the ones North Collier now says are illegal.

The county's position is that interlocal agreements are perfectly legal and commonly used.

It may take a judge to decide the question.

With the two sides at odds over the basic issue of whether or not there should be one countywide medical director, perhaps the best that can be hoped for from Monday's meeting, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the conference room of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 625 111th Ave. N. is a temporary extension of the existing agreement.

Ultimately it could be up to voters to decide. As many as four county commission seats could change in the November election and five North Collier fire commissioners will be seated.

The immediate question is, what will happen Friday?

If no agreement is reached, North Collier will have to end its advanced lifesaving services. Collier County EMS has prepared a plan to have more of its paramedics in the area to make up for the loss, but that won't match the manpower North Collier provided.

Jorge Aguilera, deputy chief for North Collier, thinks it would be a net loss for residents. "I don't want to be faced, in three days, with taking things off trucks," he said.

(Connect with Brent Batten at brent.batten@naplesnews.com, on Twitter@NDN_BrentBatten and at facebook.com/ndnbrentbatten)
SHARE "The Innocent Killer" by Michael Griesbach. (Photo courtesy Amazon)

By Alison Bowen, Chicago Tribune (TNS)

Wisconsin prosecutor Michael Griesbach believes Steven Avery was wrongly convicted  but you may disagree on how many times.

Many viewers finished the final episode of Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer" feeling aghast, angry. The documentary tracks the initial 1985 wrongful conviction of Avery, who spent 18 years in prison for a sexual assault that DNA evidence later proved he didn't commit. A few years after his exoneration, he was arrested again, this time for the 2005 murder of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach.

Warning, spoilers ahead.

Avery was convicted of Halbach's murder in 2007 and remains in jail. Earlier this month, he asked to be released on bond, filing an appeal claiming an improper warrant and that a juror was out to get him, The Associated Press reported.

Griesbach wrote "The Innocent Killer" for the Chicago-based Ankerwycke, a publishing imprint of the American Bar Association. The book tracks the Avery case, from wrongful conviction to his eventual conviction and imprisonment for the Halbach killing. Griesbach appears in the documentary's first episode, surprised by a former prosecutor's reaction to the exoneration.

Now, Griesbach is a prosecutor in Manitowoc County, where the events occurred. And he is sure Avery was innocent one time.

"Lightning did not strike twice," he said.

He hopes the case will inform citizens and law students alike about the criminal justice system. He appears on panel discussions on wrongful convictions, even crossing paths with Dean Strang, Avery's former lawyer and now online celebrity due to the documentary. As Griesbach pointed out, Wisconsin is a small world.

This interview has been edited and condensed for space.

Q: What's it like to see a case you wrote about explode in popularity?

A: It's very strange. Part of (the filmmakers') mission I feel like I share, in terms of drawing attention to some issues in the criminal justice system. What's interesting is they say, correctly, that truth is elusive in the Steven Avery case. And it really is. (But) they sort of adopt what they believe to be the truth. And they present it as the truth. And the disturbing part is they don't present it even close to thoroughly. And I understand that TV, and dramatic portrayals, you're going to approach it with a specific angle. But I think they went overboard.

(For example), they didn't include very much of, if any, the cross-examination by the prosecution and the rebuttal. That's the time when evidence is really tested on both sides. They call that in the law, the truth-seeking engine.

Q: Many viewers who watch the documentary finish it feeling Avery was wrongfully convicted twice, not once. What do you think was left out, if anything?

A: There were bleach stains on (Avery's nephew and also convicted in the murder) Brendan Dassey's blue jeans. People are wondering if there's a gruesome murder there, where's the blood, where's the hair? And Avery and Dassey, especially Avery I think, had a week to clean things up. That there's bleach on his pants is pretty telling, at least something that should be included, for viewers to at least know.

They refer back to this cat burning. What they don't tell you, (Avery) was 22, first of all, he wasn't just a kid. They make it sound like it was just sort of horse-playing with some friends, that the cat got accidentally dropped in the fire. But in fact, Steven Avery doused the cat with gasoline and intentionally threw it in the fire. It's pretty disturbing stuff.

They portray this incident when he rammed his pickup truck (into a woman's car). And then he did approach her at rifle-point, they included that. (But) they portrayed it as nothing more than Steven Avery being upset at this woman because she was spreading rumors about him and his family. Now, for the rest of the story. (According to court documents,) he had been stalking, well, observing her down the road with binoculars as she got into her car early in the morning. He even ran into the road naked one time. This is one disturbed guy. That incident was very different than how it was portrayed.

Q: You write in a Wisconsin law journal that Avery bears responsibility for Halbach's death. What convinces you?

A: All those viewers, they only know what's in the documentary. They don't have any other information about the Avery case. So you watch that, you're thinking lighting struck twice, he was wrongly convicted again. I totally get that, how if you knew nothing else about the case you would be absolutely convinced that he was wrongly convicted a second time.

Back up and look at the basics. He's the last one to see her; specifically he asks her to come there. Then, you have his blood, and I guess they're saying it's planted, and I can see why people believe that after only seeing these facts. But you have to believe a lot of stuff. His blood's in her car. Her blood's in her car. His DNA is on her key, in his bedroom. All those things as a prosecutor, usually when I have a case with that kind of strong both physical evidence and circumstantial evidence, it's the kind of case that guilt is just so obvious. It's an incredibly strong case for the prosecution.

Q: Many viewers are troubled that some of the main physical evidence was found by Manitowoc County officers.

A: (That was) some really bad judgment, in retrospect especially, but even at the time. They should have entirely removed themselves from anything having to do with the case.

Q: Upsetting to a lot of people is the confession of Dassey (a developmentally disabled teenager interviewed under what many call coercive interrogation techniques).

A: That was legitimately troubling to a lot of people. Those interrogation techniques that police use, those are the same techniques that are used all across the country. The whole thing assumes guilt, and then it's designed to elicit a confession instead of objectively designed to elicit the truth, or what happened. So that's problematic right off the top.

Q: What do prosecutors take into account about someone's developmental abilities in these kinds of situations?

A: I'll be honest. If we have a confession, we assume it's the truth. (And) 99.9 percent of the time, the confession is true. We're supposed to do justice. So if we have even a hint that we don't believe that the confession is legitimate, we've got to back away. But I've never come across a case where the confession is false  99.9 percent of people don't generally confess to something they didn't do.

If we're convinced that the evidence shows some guilt, we have a confession, what are we supposed to do, ignore our best evidence? If so much other evidence points to guilt, I don't think it's our job to say, "We're not going to believe that confession."

Q: You hope people can learn lessons from this case, both citizens and attorneys. Talk about following evidence versus gut instinct during investigations.

A: The whole job of police investigations would be to follow the evidence wherever it leads. And that's exactly what did not happen in the first Avery case. In fact, it was worse than that. This wasn't one of the wrongful convictions that happened by mistake. Within a couple days of arresting Steven Avery, evidence suggests that they not only knew he didn't do it, but they knew who did do it. And that's pretty scary stuff.

(In the Halbach case), it wasn't unreasonable to at least have a suspicion that Steven Avery, to have him as the most likely suspect. He's the guy who called her. He's the guy who was the last person known to see her alive.

Q: What do you think of everything coming out now  a juror saying he felt threatened, a new attorney for Avery. Are there any open questions, do you think, for the future?

A: I don't think the juror thing's going anywhere. That is troubling, that maybe there was some intimidation. But maybe there was, maybe there wasn't, I don't think that's enough for a new trial. (The court proceedings surrounding) Dassey's confession, that'll be really interesting to see how that goes.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a filing for a new trial. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
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By Harriet Howard Heithaus of the Naples Daily News

Bedtime with the Bard, Haydn with attitude at ArtisNaples

Let's just let the bronco out of the gate and ride it: I relished the speed-dating version of Shakespeare's/Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at ArtisNaples Saturday, but am betting I'm in the minority.

Judging by the flight from Hayes Hall during the applause, someone had air-lifted a family of ninja skunks into the place. Or perhaps others hadn't been as delighted as I was with the masterpiece vacuum-packed into 70 minutes.

The Naples Philharmonic and the women of its chorus, with Hans Graf as guest director, knitted incidental and undercurrent music, along with its famous overture, into a one-woman rendition of "Dream." Shakespearean actress Maureen Thomas created every role, from Oberon to Puck to Titania and her mule-eared lover  plus two more  with well-honed voice and movement. Blindfolded, the concertgoer could have been fooled into imagining a full cast.

For most of the production the stage was bathed in dusk lighting, with a moon and stars projected against one wall. Musicians' stands were lighted, turning them, perhaps not intentionally, into evening fireflies.

It was an enchanting tableau  for those of us who could handle the hurdles. Trucking in Shakespeare, with its dense, dense language, after 9 p.m. was risky. Adding a darkened stage surely sent some concertgoers swan-diving into the arms of Morpheus. (Confession: This Shakespeare fan prepped herself for the evening with the hottest, meanest cup of coffee she could make.)

Thomas did an exciting job of translating the Bard's English, timing her pauses to clarify its Machiavellian sentence structure and fierce word play. But if you missed a word  and even with Thomas miked that happened several times  you had to drop a whole chunk of verbiage and move on.

Graf and the Naples Philharmonic tucked Mendelssohn's music (including its legendary wedding march) in and under her performance with precision. Its work with the Naples Philharmonic Chorale Women, who were actually standing behind the orchestra, was dynamically restrained, sweet listening.

There were some post-concert grumblings that music is what we came for: understandable, given the tight pairing of this orchestra with Graf. Graf is a world star on the podium and on Saturday he cemented rapport he and the orchestra had begun in the Renee Fleming concert Tuesday. His conducting was comfortable and expressive, and the philharmonic mirrored it in its performance.

We won't enter the debate over sharing the music with drama. But this might have been received better as a first act in the program.

That would have put Ingrid Fliter last. The Argentina-born pianist would have been a fine tour de force; she played the Haydn Piano Concerto in D Major with attitude, ratcheting up its fortes, shushing the softer moments and embellishing her adagio staccatos with physical flourishes. Her zeal and her millennial concert presence  leggings, sequined tunic, thigh-length coat and sparkle-trimmed flats  made her the kind of performer you wish all Naples piano students could have had tickets for.

There's a school of thought that suggests Haydn made few musical notations on this score because the standards of his time were well known, and that today's pianists should follow those. Under those rules, Fliter was over-the-top ebullient.

But if Haydn willed the musical dynamics to the performers, Fliter took advantage of that to show off the concerto at its liveliest. Our major quibble: that she occasionally stomped her foot when she played, adding an unsolicited slam of percussion.

The piano cam was set up for her, but it sputtered and died. No loss to this animated performance.

The concert opened with Weber's Overture to "Oberon," a differently plotted opera rotating around the king of the fairies. It's vintage Weber, hurtling the strings like hummingbirds on a mission before it screeches to a half for a dreamy interlude.

Here, as in the "Dream" wedding march, there is big work for brass, and the orchestra's sections and principals sparkled. Graf and the Naples Philharmonic served up the entire piece crisp and tender at the right spots.
This photo provided by FOX shows, David Duchovny, left, as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully in the "Founder's Mutation" season premiere, part two, episode of "The X-Files," airing Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX. (Ed Araquel/FOX via AP)

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By Neal Justin, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (TNS)

LOS ANGELES  There may be millions of believers eager for the reopening of "The X-Files," but you wouldn't necessarily expect Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny to be among them.

In the 13 years since the show went off the air, the actors have done their best to distance themselves from the iconic roles of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. Anderson is in such demand for European-set period dramas that she had the luxury of turning down the role of the countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey." Duchovny committed to Showtime's "Californication," playing the hedonistic Hank Moody, who would be interested only in aliens hailing from the Planet of Loose Women.

Yes, there was the 2008 "X-Files" feature film "I Want to Believe," but the plot, as I best recall, consisted of little more than the special agents impatiently waiting for a spaceship to drop off their paychecks.

But the actors seemed downright giddy to be slipping into their old skins during a promotional tour for a new six-episode revival, which starts Sunday, flirting with each other like kids on a prom date.

Either the pair are truly grateful to take a trip down memory lane, or they're the greatest actors of their generation.

The upbeat mood is especially surprising from Anderson, who early in her career thought she'd be doing work more akin to "Prime Suspect" than Comic-Con catnip.

"When I was cast in 'The X-Files,' it was just a little off to the left of where I had seen my career choices to be, and I got swept up into that," said Anderson, who was practically unknown when the Fox series made its 1993 debut. "It took a good decade for me to properly appreciate the opportunity that I had, and also how fortunate I was to play such a great iconic character in a show that was iconic in and of itself. I think it suddenly hit me some time later."

Duchovny also seems to have come to terms with the fact that, unless he's cast as the next James Bond, he'll always be best known as Foxy Fox.

"It took awhile to recognize it as the gift that it is, and that's why we're able to come back now," he said. "And I think also maybe it served as a spur to me to go out and actually do more work, to keep expanding myself as an artist."

One person who never stopped believing was creator Chris Carter. Skeptics might theorize that that's because nothing else has really worked for him. He hasn't produced or written any successful material unassociated with "The X-Files" in his nearly 30-year career. Keep in mind, however, that the "Files" world, which could morph from week to week, always allowed him to show off his storytelling skills in various genres, much in the same way Rod Serling used "The Twilight Zone."

This truncated season follows the same anything-goes approach, with episodes ranging from horror  mutant kids terrorize their keepers  to broad comedy, particularly in the third installment, where a were-lizard reluctantly takes on a human facade and has to work in a cellphone store.

"We are coming back to do really fresh, original material, not a victory lap," said Carter, who had planned to revive "X-Files" on the big screen until his wife persuaded him to return to TV. "This is an opportunity to show people that the show has more life to it."

If the first incarnation of the series reflected Carter's upbringing during the age of Watergate, the reboot fits snugly into an era where some people are convinced 9/11 was a government conspiracy and President Barack Obama is covering up his true birthplace.

"We're living in a time now when there's a tremendous amount of distrust of authority, government, even the media, so this is a really interesting time to be telling 'X-Files' stories," Carter said.

Carter's still healthy  or unhealthy  state of paranoia is welcome news to superfans, a group that includes actor Joel McHale, who appears as a possible ally to the agents in the first and sixth episodes.

"This is like winning an auction item," he said. "My wife and I went to the premiere two nights ago, and every time I walked into a scene she burst out laughing because of my acting and because it was the show that, before we were married, we would sit on a couch and watch because everything came together for both of us in it."

For McHale, it was the science fiction. For her, it was the relationship between Mulder and Scully. Both should be satisfied with the new episodes. Especially her.

Carter said the chemistry was there the moment Anderson and Duchovny shot the very first scene together back in 1993.

"It wasn't until the day they both appeared in Mulder's office that I saw that they just both lit up, and it's been the same ever since," he said. "It's one of those things that you can't manufacture. It just happens, and we got very, very lucky."
By Laura Layden of the Naples Daily News

John Cox has moved back home.

After calling Naples home for about 2-1/2 years, the former CEO and president of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce is back in North Carolina, still hunting for his next job.

He was fired from the local chamber, leaving his post in September, and the search is still on for his replacement. His exit from the chamber has been described as a "termination without cause."

"I don't know what my next opportunity will be or where it will be," said Cox, a seasoned chamber executive, in a text message.

The three-year contract he signed with the Naples chamber wouldn't have ended until August 2016.

Some criticized Cox's management style, with such a high employee turnover rate at his offices, but a few weeks before his departure he told a Daily News reporter he thought he was checking off all the boxes when it came to doing his job right as the chief executive of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.

Supporters here rallied around Cox, hoping to keep him in Naples, while family, friends and colleagues up north encouraged him to return to North Carolina. Some of those pleas came via Facebook.

In 2013, Cox relocated to Naples from Kannapolis, North Carolina, where he headed up the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce for more than a decade. He served as that chamber's president and CEO for 12 years, leading economic development efforts there that brought in a half a billion dollars in new capital investment, on top of thousands of jobs.

Cox has been back in North Carolina since mid-December. Asked in a phone interview how the job search was going, he said there was "no news yet."

"I'd like to continue doing what I was doing," he said. "It's a slow process."

Moving away from Naples wasn't an easy decision.

"I can look for a job from anywhere. When you have two homes and you're unemployed, that forces you to make some decisions you might not otherwise make," Cox said.

He still owns a house in North Carolina, but has sold the one here.

"This is a fantastic community with maybe the best quality of life in the nation," Cox said, referring to Naples in a recent text.

Vicki Tracy, who was in the 2014 Leadership Collier class with Cox, said he'll be sorely missed.

"He was a great asset while we had him. I learned a lot from him, I'll tell you that," she said.

Leadership Collier, an affiliate of the Naples chamber, is designed to develop a network of future leaders.

"The thing about Leadership Collier is it's like a college fraternity or sorority. You end up being friends with your classmates the rest of your lives. It's not just business," said Tracy, chief operating officer for Gulf Coast International Properties, a boutique real estate brokerage.

She expects to remain friends with Cox, no matter where he lives.

"John has a lot of talent. He brought some fresh ideas and energy to our area. It's a loss for our community, and we wish him all the best," she said.

Tammy Nicola, a Naples attorney, said she joined Leadership Collier in 2014, not knowing what to expect. After meeting Cox as a classmate, she said she was "so incredibly blown away by him."

"Over time, the thing that impressed me about him was how devoted he was to his family, his friends and to the chamber. Although he was transplanted to Naples from North Carolina, it was clear from Day 1 how much he loved it here. It was also clear how much he wanted the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce to grow and to thrive," she said in an email.

She views Cox's exit from the chamber as a "grave mistake."

"Since then, I have just not felt that 'can do' spirit that led us with John over the past two years. The companionship and camaraderie is just not the same without John. Somebody needs to call John and say, 'I'm sorry, we made a mistake, we need you back.' It's that simple," she said.

As Cox continues his job search, the search for his replacement is in full swing, with the help of a local recruiter.

With the goal of starting to whittle down candidates by mid-January, the CEO search committee's goals are to conduct interviews in February and to choose the finalists by March, with a second round of interviews to follow.

The chamber hopes to choose its next CEO by the end of March, but it could be weeks or even months before the new executive starts once selected. The start date may depend on requirements for giving notice at another job or on relocation logistics.

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Via Agencia Brasil, a report from Agencia Lusa: Agencia da ONU para energia atomica oferece tecnologia nuclear contra virus Zika. [UN atomic energy agency offers nuclear technology against Zika virus] Edited excerpt from the Google translation:

Using nuclear radiation to eliminate or reduce the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus, will be a central theme that the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, will present traveling to various countries throughout the Americas starting on Monday (25).
Cheng I Food mislabeled animal feed oils to sell as lard, safe for human consumption

"Gutter oil" taints food products in over 1200 Taiwanese restaurants, schools, and food processors

(NaturalNews) A food scare is unraveling in Taiwan, as the country's Ministry of Health and Welfare uncovers a string of tainted food products. A group of protestors in Taiwan are boycotting a local food group that has been selling mislabeled food products containing oils intended for animal feed. "The reason why we are boycotting their products is so that these heartless traders will be taught a lesson. They'll know they shouldn't have done such a thing, which could badly affect people."The food group in question, Cheng I Food, has tried to conceal theoils under a different label, dispersing them in variety of food products. The oils are being sold as if they are lard, safe for human consumption, but the oils are really recycled from restaurant waste and animal byproducts and then mixed in with lard to make the fabulousThe adulterated oils, produced by the Chang Guann Company, have been added to at least 1300 food products in the region, affecting more than 1,200 restaurants, schools and food processors. The adulterated products include canned pork, meat paste, instant noodles, snacks, cakes, dumplings, bread, and glutinous rice. In response, a mainland China watchdog group has banned all oil products coming from Taiwan's Cheng I Food. The oils, imported in from Vietnam, are not meant for human consumption. They are intended for animal feed. The illegal factory, Chang Guann, has been fined a total of $1.67 million for selling the poison as a profit shortcut.The two main companies peddling the potential poisons are Ting Hsin and its smaller company Wei-Chuan. 200 or more products were also caught up in the scam, nicknamed the "gutter oil " scandal. Taiwanese traders are now urging the public to stay away from all Ting Hsin oil products. An online campaign has been launched, boycotting Ting Hsin's edible oil products, which may cause serious diseases if consumed. The regurgitated gutter oils contain potential carcinogens. Twenty-two cities in and around the scandal are now banning the sale of Ting Hsin products . In the aftermath, 3,600 tons of lard have been removed from Ting Hsin."Ting Hsin and Wei-chuan provided us with those kinds of products, making all our confidence disappear and harming the next generation. I think it's unnecessary for such insidious enterprises to exist at all."Now the country's Ministry of Health and Welfare is scrambling to put a system in place that will oversee the nearly one hundred oil manufacturers and the multiple hundreds of importers in Taiwan . Any company caught selling fraudulent "gutter oil" could have their business shuttered for up to a year and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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(NaturalNews) Well-acclaimed cancer expert Ralph W. Moss PhD, has traveled the world in search of society's most effective cancer treatments. Having authored 10 books, produced three documentary films and written countless cancer-related articles , featured in a long list of respectable publications, it's clear Moss has dedicated his life to understanding a disease that affects so many of us.A staunch proponent of alternative medicine , Moss authored Herbs Against Cancer , in which he delves into the growing acceptance of herbal medicine in the West. The following is a snippet from his book:For more on herbal medicine and its blossoming role in the U.S., pick up a copy oftoday.
Was Flint only the beginning?

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(NaturalNews) Already pressured by a collapsing economy and a financial state of emergency, the people of Flint, Michigan, were also deprived of clean water in 2014, when the state decided to switch the city's water source to the notoriously mucky Flint River in a bid to save money. In the absence of proper treatment, the water eroded the lead service lines and put all residents in danger. Although the lead-poisoned locals and children are now forced to deal with the consequences of this reckless act for the rest of their lives, the city and state officials responsible have yet to pay any noteworthy price.As another man-made disaster quietly turns into past, the nearby rundown areas of Detroit are faced with a similar threat . Alongside miserable poverty, bad pipes and neglected water treatment systems are dragging Detroit into third-world status.After almost two years of drinking toxic water, the people of Flint were finally acknowledged in October 2015. In the meantime, the high levels of lead found in drinking water translated into brain damage, learning disabilities and pregnancy issues for the residents. Children have been permanently hindered in their natural development. But it took until January 2016 for the government to mobilize the National Guard and begin distributing bottled water and filters in Flint.What lesson do we have to learn from this? Wouldn't the residents of Flint be much healthier today had they listened to their own instincts and stopped drinking tap water when it started smelling funny? Most importantly, has the government done anything to help prevent this from happening elsewhere in America?Not only are the residents of Detroit on the brink of facing the same disastrous water situation, but it seems that most of them can't afford running water to begin with. According to Detroit census records, 60% of households with children under 18 live in poverty. Of the 200,000 water customers in Detroit, 108,000 are 60 days past due on bills, and their water has consequently been shut off, leading many to collect rainwater for daily use.The horrible truth doesn't stop here. Darrel Earley is the emergency manager who oversaw the switch of Flint's water source. The same Darrel Earley is now in charge of Detroit's public schools Recently shared photos taken by teachers from Detroit are shocking, to say the least, but speak a thousand words for the current status of the city. Five days a week, children and teachers are faced with black mold, toilet water leaking through the ceiling, mushrooms growing out of the walls and extreme cold.Flint and Detroit are not singular cases in America, where the entire infrastructure is headed for collapse. From 2013 to 2014, city officials in Sacramento, California, were literally experimenting with a cheaper water treatment option on the unknowing residents. The result? For almost a year, Sacramentans were exposed to toxic chemicals that raise the risk of cancer, miscarriages and birth defects.Not long ago, much of central Texas found itself on the brink of a similar disaster, when local officials uncovered the fact that their drinking water tested over federal legal limits of radioactive radium, so much so that the local scrapyard turned down the steel water pipes because they were too radioactive . It seems that the water was so contaminated, that it would result in one additional cancer patient for every 400 people.Whether in Texas, California or Michigan, it seems that the people are the last to know about the health hazards they are exposed to. In light of all these events and possibly many to follow, we strongly recommend that every citizen should be prepared to filter, purify and store their own water.
(NaturalNews) Don't believe anything you read about health from the large corporate "gatekeepers" of online information (like Google, Wikipedia, WebMD, etc.)They're all deliberate lies and misinformation, designed to prevent you from learning the truth about natural cures, disease prevention, nutritional therapies, self-healing, vitamin D for cancer prevention and much more.disease, you see, doesn't earn money for all the profiteers of the medical system: the cancer centers, hospitals, transplant surgeons, drug companies and all the media and internet companies they fund (CNN, Google, NBC, Facebook, etc.).The real truth about health is only found in the independent media. Here are the best sources: HealthRangerReport.com : This podcast GoodGopher.com : The search engine for independent media Science.NaturalNews.com : Search the PubMed database of published scientific studies NaturalNews.com : Daily news on natural health and natural living AlternativeNews.com : Headlines from across trusted indy mediaAre you jealous of all your friends on Facebook who seem to have amazing, adventurous lives? Turns it out's ALL FAKE.Your friends are fake, their lives are fake, their brand-name hand bags are fake, their photos are staged and they're all living a LIE just to try to look better than you.Here's the sad, pathetic truth about social media that's finally starting to be recognized. Click here for the full podcast or listen below:

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A Chicago Public Schools counselor is facing charges after allegedly sexually abusing a student, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Deshone Jackson, 33, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and public indecency, according to the report. Jackson, of the 5900 block of S. Wabash Ave., was a counselor at Manley High School, located in the 2900 block of W Polk St. in the Lawndale neighborhood on Chicagos West Side. He was contracted through a federal grant program called Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP.

Jackson met the 17-year-old boy through GEAR UP at the school and began texting with him in the fall of 2015, according to the Tribune. In October, Jackson texted the victim asking for a photo, and the boy sent Jackson a nude photo of himself.

Later that month, Jackson texted the victim asking him to meet him in a third floor classroom, the Tribune reported. When the victim arrived, he allegedly found Jackson at a desk with his pants and underwear at his ankles.

Jackson then asked the victim to touch him, and the victim complied, according to the report. The victim pretended to be texting, took photos of Jackson, then left the classroom. He then told several friends what happened, showing them the photos, which were later inadvertently deleted by the victim.

Earlier this month, around Jan. 4, the victim told a school employee about the incident, who notified the principal, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Jackson was arrested Thursday at his home, according to the report. He was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail. He is due in court on Monday.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is turning to a former Chicago police officer, Charles Ramsey, who has led both Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia's police departments, for help amidst the ongoing federal probe.

Ramsey will be paid $350 an hour to advise Emanuel, Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante, and other city leaders, working essentially as a consultant, according to the mayors office. In both Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Ramsey led the departments through processes similar to the current U.S. Department of Justice's investigation of the Department's patterns and practices.

On Sunday, Mayor Emanuel spoke after a police roll call on the city's South Side about the appointment.

"He's both from Chicago so he knows it, knows its culture, knows the people, so there's a trust factor, that's a great thing," said the mayor. "He has gone through in D.C. and in Philadelphia the reforms that we're now starting in our process."

Ramsey most recently served as the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, retiring on Jan. 7, exactly eight years after being appointed to that role. He began his career in law enforcement as a cadet with the Chicago Police Department in 1968. Over the next thirty years, he held several positions within the Department, ultimately serving as Deputy Superintendent from 1994 to 1998.

In 1998, Ramsey was named Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), where he served until 2007 when he was tapped to head the Philadelphia Police Department.

Chicago is at a defining moment, and I believe that Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Police Department are committed to meet the challenge, Ramsey said in a statement. The situation in Chicago is not unlike many in cities across the country, but the people of Chicago should know that their leaders are working hard to restore trust where it has been lost.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the Chicago Police Department in December after Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the DOJ fielded weeks of demands for the probe. Calls for the investigation were spurred by the events surrounding the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.

The DOJ investigation focuses on the departments use of force, particularly if there are racial, ethnic, or other disparities in officers use of force, according to Lynch.

Commissioner Ramsey is a not only a national leader in urban policing who has led two major police departments through civil rights reforms  he is also a native Chicagoan who knows our police department and our communities, said Emanuel in a statement. With roots in Englewood, he has a unique understanding of the important role community relationships play in making our city safer.

The mayors office also confirmed that Ramsey did not apply for the role of Superintendent, and he will work both in Chicago as well as remotely.
Police in northeast Ohio arrested the parents of a 2-year-old boy after they found the toddler stuck in a toilet and marijuana growing in another room.



Investigators were called to a Canton apartment Thursday after neighbors reported hearing a child crying for 30 minutes, the Canton Repository reported. Officers rescued the boy after a maintenance worker let them inside. The toddler had used the toilet and then fell in.



A police lieutenant told the newspaper that the boy's mother arrived two hours later after she had gone shopping and said a sister was supposed to be babysitting. The lieutenant said the woman couldn't remember her sister's last name.



Investigators also discovered three marijuana plants growing in a cupboard of another room.

The father was eventually found and arrested. The parents, Rashaan Cuffee and Justice Chance, both 20-years old, were charged with child endangerment and illegal cultivation of marijuana, according to the report.



The boy is in custody of child protective services.
A southwest Missouri woman has admitted to plotting with a daughter to fatally poison her husband and son with antifreeze and attempt to kill another daughter over a 14-month period.



Diane Staudte, 53, of Springfield, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault, The Springfield News-Leader reports. Another daughter, 25-year-old Rachel Staudte, pleaded guilty earlier to helping with the poisonings at her mother's insistence.



As part of a deal with prosecutors, Diane Staudte will avoid a possible death sentence. She faces a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.



Staudte told investigators that she poisoned her 61-year-old husband, Mark Staudte, with antifreeze because she hated him, and that she killed her 26-year-old son, Shaun Staudte, because he was "worse than a pest," according to the probable cause statement. She also admitted poisoning her daughter Sarah Staudte over four days because "she would not get a job and had student loans that had to be paid," investigators said.



A medical examiner initially ruled that her husband's April 2012 death was from natural causes and her son's September 2012 death was from prior medical issues. But a tip led authorities to re-examine the deaths in June 2013 following the hospitalization of Sarah Staudte, who was then 24.



Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson told the judge that Sarah Staudte suffered physical and brain injuries after being poisoned. He said the college graduate has a guardian and lives in an assisted living facility.



In a statement that Sarah Staudte read in court, she said she forgave her mother.



"Not only she took away my dad and brother, she also took away my livelihood and my independence," the statement said. "I prefer to be a survivor than a victim."



Diane Staudte admitted under questioning that she poisoned her family by putting antifreeze in their soda and Gatorade. She originally told police she was the only one involved. But after Rachel Staudte admitted to taking part in the poisonings, Diane Staudte told investigators that the pair had planned, researched and committed the crimes together.



Rachel Staudte's plea deal said she did not want to poison Shaun and Sarah, but she did so because of her mother's instructions.



A poem that was found in Rachel Staudte's purse when she was arrested was read during the sentencing. It ended with the line: "Only the quiet ones will be left, my mother, my little sister and me."



A third daughter in the Staudte family, 11, was not harmed and was placed into foster care, according to The Springfield News-Leader.
Iowas largest newspaper has endorsed candidates from both parties a little more than a week before the state caucuses.

The Des Moines Registers editorial board endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Marco Rubio on Saturday, nine days before voters in the state start the nomination process.

The board said it faced tough decisions and made its endorsements after six weeks of candidate interviews and independent research.

Our goal was to select two candidates who have the skills and experience to lead their parties, and ultimately, the country, the newspaper wrote.

It called Clinton an outstanding candidate who has demonstrated that she is a thoughtful, hardworking public servant who has earned the respect of leaders at home and abroad.

Clinton took to Twitter, saying she was honored to have the @DMRegisters support.

I'll work my heart out for Iowans and American families every day. Honored to have the @DMRegister's support9 days to the caucus! -H  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 24, 2016

This is the seventh newspaper  the second in Iowa  to endorse the former secretary of state in her bid for the Democratic nomination. The Storm Lake Times endorsed Clinton earlier this month, calling her the best choice for Democrats in 2016.

Four current cabinet members have thrown their support behind Clinton. She has also received support from national organizations  including Planned Parenthood and Human Rights Campaign  and a number of high-profile celebrities like Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga and Lena Dunham.

In endorsing Rubio, the newspapers editorial board said the Republican party could head into a new direction under his leadership. According to the newspaper, he represents his partys best hope.

The Des Moines Register is the first publication to endorse the Florida senator.

Rubio has also received endorsements from four current senators, and more than a dozen House representatives including South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy.

While Rubio did not mention the endorsement during his town hall in Indianola, Iowa, on Saturday, he did speak to reporters after the event, saying he hoped it would boost his support in the state.

"I think they have recognized that ours is an issues-based, ideas-based, solutions-based campaign," he said. "We are excited and grateful that they recognized that and hopefully that influences more people to caucus for us.

The latest poll, conducted by CNN/ORC, puts Rubio in third place in Iowa with  14 percent support  behind GOP frontrunner Donald Trump who sits on top at 37 percent, and Ted Cruz with 26 percent. Meanwhile, Clinton is in second place in the Iowa CNN/ORC poll with 43 percent support  8 points behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has 51 percent support in Iowa.

The Des Moines Register's endorsements come as Conservative media personality Glenn Beck officially endorsed Ted Cruz on Saturday, who was campaigning with the Texas senator in Ankeny, Iowa.

The Iowa caucuses take place on Feb. 1.
Police say a 4-year-old girl has been injured after a home invasion in Dallas.

Dallas police responded to 410 South Walton Walker Boulevard at about 4:20 Thursday morning to find the girl injured with a gunshot wound to her arm.

Police said two armed men forced their way into an apartment through a door and a window and a fight broke out between adults in the apartment and the two men.

Melinda Gutierrez with the Dallas Police Department said four adults and two children were in the apartment at the time of the altercation. She said both men were armed with handguns.

During the struggle, police said one of the men's weapons fired, shooting through a wall and wounding the girl as she slept in her bedroom. Guiterrez said multiple shots were fired during the altercation.

The two men believed to be involved in the incident fled the apartment and are at large.

Dallas police are continuing to work on finding a motive for the attack. Guiterrez said the men did take property from the apartment and police are considering it as a robbery and home invasion.

Identifying information for the two men believed to be involved was limited at the time of this story.
An East Hemet man was in custody Saturday for the alleged murder of a man whose body was found in Moreno Valley Friday, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Scott Duncan, 37, of unincorporated East Hemet, was arrested for suspicion of murder and was booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, where he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, Sgt. Wallace Clear of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.

Sheriff's deputies arrived at 12:29 p.m. Friday to the 28900 block of Spruce Avenue, just off the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley, after receiving reports of a man's body found on residential property in the area. The property owner told deputies that the victim, identified by coroners today as John Daughenbaugh, 54, of Moreno Valley, lived in California on a seasonal basis and rented living space on the Spruce Avenue property.

The ensuing investigation revealed that Duncan and Daughenbaugh "had an estranged relationship," said Clear, which led police to issue an all-points

bulletin for Duncan's vehicle.

Riverside police officers located a vehicle matching the description at about 11:30 p.m. Friday and followed it to the area near Mt. Vernon Avenue and Center Street in Highgrove, said Lt. Dan Hoxmeier of the Riverside Police Department.

Duncan was arrested by Riverside police and turned over to the sheriff's department, Hoxmeier said.

Police asked anyone with information to contact Investigator Bishop of the Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777 or Investigator Tometich at the sheriff department's Moreno Valley Station at 951-486-6700.
Colombian drug lords are accused of using a historic navy ship nicknamed "the floating embassy of Spain" to sail cocaine from South America to New York City, law enforcement officials tell NBC 4 New York.

The cartel allegedly paid two crew members aboard the Juan Sebasian de Elcano -- a 371-foot steel-hulled, four-masted schooner built in 1927 for training purposes -- to ferry drugs to New York City in April and May 2014.

Authorities say the two crew members were paid about $32,000 to hide the drugs on the boat during a voyage to Manhattan. When the boat docked on Manhattan's west side on May 14, 2014, the two crew members allegedly traveled to the Bronx to deliver the cocaine to dealers for the cartel.

Authorities say that two days later DEA agents and NYPD officers along with and state police moved and made seven arrests as the drugs were being moved through Stamford, Connecticut. More drugs and weapons were found at the Bronx safehouse.

Two suspected ringleaders -- Colombian nationals Jorge Luis Hoayeck and Jorge Alberto Siado-Alverez -- were charged Friday by the New York State Special Narcotics Prosecutor on drug smuggling counts.

The pair are accused of coming up with the plan to use the Spanish ship to smuggle 8 kilos of cocaine. Investigators said both men are on a wiretap discussing the plan.

When the ship returned to Spain, authorities there conducted a search and found 127 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a storeroom.

In 2014  after visiting France, Italy and Morocco, it crossed the Atlantic to visit Colombia, the Dominican Republic and New York.

New York officials said they are now seeking extradition for Siado-Alvarez and Hoayeck.

If convicted, the men could face up to life in prison.
Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders expressed confidence Sunday in their ability to beat former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg should he enter the race as an independent, while Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said he would welcome a Bloomberg bid with open arms.

Clinton said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that as she understands Bloomberg's statement, he'll consider running if Clinton does not win the nomination. She said Sunday she'll "relieve" him of that decision by winning the nomination.

People familiar with his plans said Bloomberg is taking preliminary steps toward an independent run and has set a March deadline for the decision. The sources told The Associated Press that if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, the former mayor is not likely to challenge her in a general election.

Sanders also spoke Sunday on Bloomberg's possible candidacy, saying he'll win if Bloomberg enters the race. The Vermont senator told CBS' "Face the Nation" that a battle between Bloomberg and Donald Trump, two New York billionaires, would favor Sanders' upstart Democratic campaign in a general election.

First, Sanders would have to win the Democratic presidential nomination against Clinton, Trump would have to triumph over his Republican rivals and Bloomberg would have to actually launch an independent bid for president, something he threatened to do on Saturday.

Trump, for his part, told "Meet the Press" he "would love to see Michael Bloomberg run."

"I would love that competition. I think I'd do very well against it," he said Sunday morning, adding that the two have been friends in the past.

The voting in the major-party nominating contests begins in a week, with the Feb. 1 Iowa Caucuses.
Residents in coastal communities along the Jersey Shore breathed a sigh of relief Sunday morning as sand dunes held back swollen high tides whipped up by Saturday's historic blizzard.

The dunes held through three rounds of astromonical high tides made worse by blasting winds. But the dunes held back the waters along most of the shore.

All day officials and residents of Ortley Beach, New Jersey, were worried that sand dunes might breach as waves crashed and the ocean swirled. But the dune line was holding Saturday night. For some, it was a scene reminiscent of Sandy.

When you look down a shore, you want to have a beach. Two years after Sandy we couldnt use the beach, Jim Halloran said.

High water vehicles were on standby just in case, but luckily they weren't needed for the second and third high tides.

It was a close call though. Condos appeared ready to tumble into the sea as frigid waters tossed beneath them.

There were plans to bring in more sand to reinforce the dune line over the coming days, but officials weren't sure how much it would help.

Its going to cost a lot of money. Weve done this several times, Toms River OEM Director Paul Daley said.

High water trucks were the only way to get to the end of Bay Shore Drive in Barnegat. Chilly water washed across the thruway and the streets were covered in an icy wash.

But Ocean County should bounce back.

As the sun comes out and the weather warms up a bit, itll be a fast transition Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy said.

Power outages still remain a problem, however, as nearly 18,000 customers near Cape May were without power Sunday morning.
Steve Harvey is finally meeting with Miss Colombia for the first time since his "Miss Universe" flub, where he mistakenly crowned her as the pageants winner, only to come back minutes later and announce he had made an error.

Harvey, who has been relatively silent on the issue since it first happened, reveals his side of the story in a two-day "Steve Harvey" series called "Miss Universe: The Truth," airing Monday and Tuesday on his daytime talk show.

Harvey will be joined by the newly crowned Miss Universe from the Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, and first runner-up from Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez.

"This has caused a lot of sleepless nights for me," Harvey said. "I didn't do any interviews until I could talk to the two people who were affected the most, Pia and Ariadna. No matter how tough it was for me, I can't imagine how it was for these two women. This finally gives me a chance to have a moment of closure."

Part one of the special airs Monday, where the talk show host says "nothing is off limits." He hosts an "Ask Steve" segment where audience members ask what people around the world have wanted answers to for weeks. In it, he reveals that his family has received death threats since the pageant mistake.

"Death threats against your family," he said. "I can't let my kids go nowhere. That's difficult."

He also gets emotional when talking about his wife's support.

"Man, you got to have somebody with you, somebody to climb down into the hole with you," he said. "And she did."

The 58-year-old talk show host has been the subject of social media memes and criticism since the incident last month.

During the pageant, Harvey initially said Gutierrez would be going home with the largest crown, but the honor was actually meant for Wurtzbach.

"I have to apologize," he said during the pageant. "The first runner-up is Colombia."

He explained to the audience and viewers that he misread the card that held the names of the winners. Colombia was listed as the first runner-up, and he'd been confused with how it was written on the card. He held it up for the camera.

"It is my mistake," he said. "Still, it's a great night. Please don't hold it against the ladies. We feel very badly, but it's still a great night."

He notes in Monday's episode that he wasn't told to walk back onstage and make that correction, but he made the decision himself.

"I decided on my own. I walked back out on my own," he said. "I didn't want to walk back out there and looking back on it man there's been days since then I wish I hadn't walked back out there. But I walked back out there because if I don't walk back out here, Miss Philippines, who was the real Miss Universe, she don't get her moment."

He added that he would do it again if he had to.

According to "Steve Harvey" producers, Harvey sits down with Wurtzbach in Monday's episode for an "honest and unfiltered one-on-one conversation, revealing what it was like to go through the incident, her reaction to winning the crown, how much contact shes had with Miss Colombia and more."

"I tried to keep a safe distance from her as not to disrespect her," she said in the interview. "I mean no, because I didn't want her to feel bad. I was being sensitive to her feelings. So, when I was standing there, I was very happy that I won, I was excited. But I was also thinking about her and I couldn't help but think about how tough this must be for her."

At one point, Wurtzbach walks out to address rumors that Harvey didn't attend rehearsals for the pageant.

"Steve was there throughout all the rehearsals. He was there during technical rehearsals, dress rehearsals, even on the pageant day itself when we had the dress rehearsals early in the morning," she said. "He was there all throughout."

Footage shows towering flames in San Francisco as crews battle a fire caused by a gas explosion.

In Tuesdays episode, Harvey meets with Gutierrez, the woman he mistakenly announced had won the Miss Universe pageant.

"My heart bled for her, and I haven't been able to talk to her since," he said.

The interview marks the pairs first conversation since the pageant. In it, Gutierrez talks about her emotions as the ordeal unraveled, the reactions of her family and fellow Colombians, how she handled the aftermath on social media and whether or not she can forgive Harvey for the mistake.
One of three escaped inmates from the Orange County Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana lived in San Diego for more than a decade, according to records obtained by NBC 7 San Diego.

Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, were marked unaccounted for at about 9 p.m. on Friday prison officials discovered, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Authorities conducted a search of the Central Jail Complex, the nearby Civic Center and surrounding areas, but did not locate the three inmates.

The men were last confirmed to be seen at 5 a.m. Friday, Hallock said Saturday morning.

All three inmates were in custody for violent charges, the Sheriff's department said. Nayeri, who had been in custody since September 2014, faces charges of kidnapping, torture, burglary and aggravated mayhem. He was being held without bail.

Tieu faces charges for murder, attempted murder, and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related. He had been held on a $1 million bond since October 2013.

Duong, who is ineligible for bail due to an immigration hold, had been in custody since December 2015 on charges of possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property, vehicle theft, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and shooting an at inhabited dwelling. Duong appears to have a criminal record in San Diego and a civil case against him in the city.

Duong was a resident of San Diego County for 11 years, documents show. Nayeri has no San Diego ties, according to records, and it is unclear whether Tieu has any San Diego ties.

Hallock said Saturday afternoon investigators believe the three inmates cut through steel bars, made it to the roof of the jail and then rappelled down using sheets in what he called a "very well thought out" escape plan.

"I want to emphasize that the Sheriff's number one priority in this is the safety of our community," Hallock said. "We have dedicated all available resources to this search and investigation so that we may bring all three inmates back into custody."

Anyone with information about the three inmates was asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (714) 647-7000.


Ten U.S. Navy sailors detained and freed by Iran earlier this month arrived safely in San Diego to reunite with their families, the U.S. Navy announced.

"All of the Sailors are in good health and each will complete the final phase of reintegration," the U.S. Navy said in a statement Saturday. "During this phase, which can last several days, Sailors reunite with their families, continue debriefings, and receive any ongoing medical care and support as necessary."

Members of Riverine Squadron 1 based in San Diego were deployed to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain when their two small vessels drifted into Iranian waters after experiencing mechanical problems during a training mission, NBC News reported.

Now that they have returned to their homeport, the sailors will begin a three part reintegration progress, part one of which began once they were released. During the second phase, the sailors completed a medical exam and critical decompression, including mental and physical coping strategies. The third phase starts when they reunite with their families and continue to receive medical evaluations and various levels of support.

The sailors were held overnight from Jan. 12 to 13 on Iran's Farsi Island. Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said in a statement read on state TV that the sailors were released back into international waters after the U.S. issued an apology and clarified that any incursion was "a mistake," NBC News reported.

"Our Sailors are being reintegrated with dignity and professionalism," said Rear Adm. Frank Morneau, Commander Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in a statement. "My top priority is the health, welfare and well-being of our Shipmates as they return to duty."

A Navy command investigation, launched Jan. 14, is ongoing.
The blizzard that has gripped the D.C. area all weekend ended Sunday, after 36-plus hours of snow. But a long -- and cold -- dig-out after the historic storm remains.

This storm will easily rank among the region's 5 worst, and the cleanup is likely to take days, Storm Team4 said. Temperatures dipped below freezing Sunday, which will complicate clearing roads and sidewalks.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said the state government would be closed on Monday as crews continue to open up roadways. He said all interstates were open, and secondary streets were being hit very hard to get them open as soon as possible.

He said 13,000 pieces of equipment and 39,000 workers have been clearing roads, pushing snow away from travel lanes. However, he stressed eventually, the snow would have to be picked up and moved.

McAuliffe said the costs of cleaning up the snowstorm would run $2-$3 million per hour, easily making it the most expensive snow event in the state's history.

"Please stay of the roads," the governor said. "Give us the time to do what we need to do."

He said there were more than 1,200 vehicle accidents and five fatalities attributed to the storm.

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced public schools in the District of Columbia will be closed on Monday. The school system is responsible for nearly 49,000 students.



Bowser said officials were still assessing whether government offices would open Monday, but she said officials would "do everything possible to get our government open tomorrow."

Governments are doing what they can to help. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan closed interstates 270 and 70 on Saturday so that plows could clear the roads. They reopened shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, but officials urge drivers to stay off the roads, if possible.

Hogan said at a news conference late Sunday morning that even though the storm has passed and the sun is shining, roads remain "extremely treacherous."



He says all mass and public transit remain offline and said he would decide later Sunday whether state employees will need to report to their jobs on Monday.



Hogan says Maryland has fared well so far, with no traffic fatalities in the storm and fewer than 300 customers still without electricity from a high of 10,000 during the height of the storm.

Virginia and D.C. officials also asked people to stay off the road and not to walk in the roads so crews can more easily get the streets cleared. All areas are expecting major roads to be passable on Sunday, but they said work on sidestreets and smaller roads could take a couple of days.

Vehicles parked or abandoned on any snow emergency route, or considered to be road hazards, will be removed at the owners expense. Cars that are in the lane of traffic on any road, and deemed a hazard, or a barrier to snow removal, may also be towed.

Metro is extending free overnight parking at its garages until Tuesday. Parking gates will remain open through 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, and parking fees will go back in effect after that.

Emergency personnel are reassured that there were relatively few power outages. As of early Sunday, there were 416 outages in northern Virginia, 238 outages in Maryland and 103 outages in D.C.

But the storm wrought other damage. It's possible that heavy snow led to the collapse of a roof at an apartment building in Manassas, Virginia.

In Frederick County, Maryland, some places saw an astonishing 38 inches of snow, the National Weather Service reported. Jones Springs, West Virginia, had 39 inches.

But places closer to the metro area saw feet of snow as well: More than 36 inches of snow fell in north Potomac, Maryland. More than 29 inches fell in Centreville in Fairfax County, Virginia

And more than 22 inches of snow fell at the National Zoo in northwest D.C.

"We know that it is very rough outside, and in some cases there have been reports of white-out conditions for the past two hours. Visibility is extremely poor," said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at 5 p.m. Saturday.

In Virginia, state police received calls for 1,374 crashes and 1,883 disabled vehcles between midnight Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday across the commonwealth.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said even people with four-wheel drive vehicles were getting stuck.

Bowser urged drivers and pedestrians to stay off the roads until they are cleared Sunday. Many people have been walking in the middle of snow-covered streets, getting in the way of plows and emergency vehicles.

"We can't emphasize enough that people need to stay off the streets for their own safety and for that of our snow crews and first responders," she said.

One person died, and his death is being attributed to the weather. A Fort Washington resident died Saturday while shoveling snow, Prince George's County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said.

Brady said the death happened moments after the department published a warning about the dangers of shoveling snow on Twitter.

No other storm-related deaths have been reported in the region at this time.

In Stafford County, a baby boy was born at home after his parents' midwife wasn't able to get to their home through the snow. A 911 dispatcher talked the father-to-be through the delivery over the phone.

The heavy snow and strong winds are also affecting travel at area airports. As a result, runways at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport are expected to remain closed through Sunday.

More than 200 flights departing from Baltimore Washington International Airport have been canceled, according to flightaware.com. Washington Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport are reporting 194 and 188 canceled flights, respectively.

In total, airlines have now cancelled more than 10,000 flights for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, according to FlightAware.com.

A Massive, Historic Blizzard

The storm began quietly, with the first flakes arriving around noon Friday in Manassas and Gainesville, Virginia.

Storm Team4 said projected snowfall totals could put this storm firmly in the top five biggest snowfalls of all time for the region.The biggest snowfall on record is the deadly 1922 Knickerbocker blizzard, during which 28 inches fell and the weight of the snow collapsed an Adams Morgan movie theater, killing 98 people inside.

For reference, the December 2009 and February 2010 snowstorms, popularly called "Snowpocalypse" and "Snowmageddon," clocked in at 16.4 inches and 17.8 inches, respectively.

Public Transportation Shut Down

The entire Metro system is closed for the weekend, with Metrorail service ending at 11 p.m. Friday. Metrobus service shut down at 5 p.m. Friday, and MetroAccess service ended at 6 p.m. They are not expected to reopen until Monday.

County bus services are also closed. Arlington County's ART bus service and Montgomery County's Ride On system will stay closed through the weekend. In Prince George's County, TheBus service has been suspended.

States of Emergency Declared

D.C., Maryland and Virginia leaders all declared states of emergency, and a snow emergency is also in effect in the District. A snow emergency allows transportation workers to clear snow emergency routes curb to curb. Violators face a $250 ticket, a $100 tow and a $25-per-day fee until they pick up their vehicles. By Friday afternoon, the District had already issued more than 2,700 tickets and towed 187 vehicles.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency for the commonwealth Thursday morning. The declaration authorizes state agencies to assist local governments in response to the storm.

McAuliffe said residents should be prepared for travel disruptions and possible power outages.

"All Virginians should take the threat of this storm seriously and take necessary precautions now," McAuliffe said Thursday.

Maryland's state of emergency began at 7 a.m. Friday. The Maryland National Guard will be on standby, Gov. Larry Hogan said. A snow emergency for the entire state began at noon Friday.

A "general emergency" has been declared for Montgomery County, where county facilities will be closed until midnight Sunday. Arlington County facilities also closed at noon and will remain closed Saturday.

To help firefighters, you should clear snow about 3 feet around your nearest fire hydrant.

Help for Those Needing Shelter

Be on the lookout for homeless people, who could get hypothermia during this cold spell. If you see someone in the D.C. area who needs shelter or warmer clothing, call the following numbers:

The District: 202-399-7093 or 311 if calling within the city

Arlington County: 703-228-1010 (24 hours)

Fairfax County: 703-691-2131 (police non-emergency line)

Montgomery County: 311 if calling within the county

Prince George's County: 888-731-0999

[NATL] Blizzard Pushes Snow, Wind Through East Coast
Bernie Sanders said Sunday that "there would be nothing more in this world that I would like" than to face Donald Trump in a general election fight, and that he would "beat him badly."

"I would very much look forward to a race against Donald Trump, a guy who does not want to raise the minimum wage, but wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top two-tenths of 1% who thinks wages in America are too high and who thinks that climate change is a hoax, invented by the Chinese," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

His comments to "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd comes as polls have shown him narrowing Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton's lead in Iowa and opening up his own lead in New Hampshire.
Roads are a mess from Boston south, and officials are urging motorists to stay off the road tonight.

Due to less than ideal driving conditions, motorists asked to stay off roadways, Boston Police tweeted.

Roads must be clear of vehicles in order for plows to do their jobs, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo tweeted. Please avoid traveling if possible.

Massachusetts State Trooper Dustin Fitch advised those who must drive to clear their vehicles of snow and ice, tweeting this picture of a windshield destroyed by flying snow and ice on the highway.

Snow emergencies were declared by towns throughout the state.

Stay with www.necn.com for updates on this storm.
The brunt of Winter Storm Jonas and its record-setting snowfall eased off on the Midstate Saturday night, its after-effects have only just begun. Cumberland County is still urging residents to practice caution when leaving their homes to shovel, play or clean off their cars during the next 24 to 48 hours.

"People tend to think that as soon as the snow stops, the danger stops," said Megan Silverstrim of the Cumberland County PIO. "We want to caution people against that. There is going to be a long clean up effort after (the storm) with all the wind and drift. People need to be mindful of that.

A county storm update warned of potential for frostbite on exposed skin. Those spending time outside are advised to take breaks and to not remain in wet clothing. Signs of frostbite include a loss of feeling in the skin or a pale appearance in extremities such as fingers, toes, earlobes, the face and the tip of the nose.

"We are also still at risk of utility outages and we caution folks about going right out onto the roadways because of refreezing and drifting," Silverstrim said. "This is not a quick one-and-done storm."

Silverstrim added that road and emergency crews have still been experiencing difficulties navigating roads to reach residents in need.

"We are still planning out how crews are going to be there for municipalities," she said. "They are still going to be battling the snow. It is not going to be over really soon."

She said the 9-1-1 Center received frequent calls Saturday reporting odor of gas or carbon monoxide detector activations as the result of heating system vents being covered by snow. Silverstrim said residents should be mindful of this risk and should clear these vents when possible. With furnace malfunctions and utility outages still a possibility the public should make provisions in case they lose heat overnight.

This may include plans to relocate to a neighbor or family members home, have extra blankets and warm clothes on hand and close drapes and blinds to help maintain indoor temperatures.
It is time for Pennsylvania lawmakers to take the statute of limitations restraints off and allow victims of sexual abuse to file charges against their abuser at any time.

The acts allegedly conducted by actor and comedian Bill Cosby  and countless others who have abused their power, their celebrity status or their influence in society to sexually abuse others  are perfect examples of why we must eliminate the civil and criminal statute of limitations in sexual assault-related cases.

Rape is the most underreported crime: an estimated 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police. People do not report sexual assault for a variety of complicated reasons. Those who do come forward often face scrutiny and are met with disbelief  even more so when the person who committed sexual violence is a person of influence  despite the rate of false reporting being consistently estimated between 2 to 8 percent.

The uncomfortable but true fact is that some people who are publicly admired can and do commit sexual violence. People often attribute tremendous character and credibility to celebrities, and in turn, trust them. The majority of sexual violence is committed by people whom survivors know and trust. This means not just celebrities, but people who do good work for their communities, are active in their churches, and who are respected business leaders.

Denial, shame and self-doubt are all typical victim reactions to being assaulted by a person who was trusted. Sexual assault can cause intense feelings of humiliation. Victims often feel terrified of other people learning what has been done to them; they fear they will not be believed and that they will be subjected to harassment. Victims sometimes need decades to even admit the assault occurred, let alone come forward about what is perhaps the most traumatic physical and psychological betrayal a person can experience.

By the time survivors find the strength to come forward, it is often too late to find justice.

The 12-year criminal statute of limitations in Pennsylvania bars many survivors from having the state bring charges against their rapists. As such, it protects offenders and allows them to operate without detection.

Prosecutors will always retain discretion regarding whether or not to press charges based on the findings of an investigation, but today as the public becomes more informed about sexual assault, and as actions and interactions are preserved through technology, the ability to build a strong case with evidence many years old can occur more often than in the past.

Prosecutors re-examined statements given by Cosby when he was deposed for a civil law suit brought by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. She is one of more than 50 women who have come forward to make allegations against Bill Cosby.

Civil courts rely on the preponderance of evidence  it only has to be plausible for a conviction and defendants can be compelled to take the stand, where they must testify under oath. This oath becomes a record, something that may be admitted to a criminal court. Thats what happened in the Constand case, which was brought just weeks before the statute of limitations was set to expire.

But with a two-year civil statute of limitations for adult victims of sexual assault, survivors in Pennsylvania are often denied this avenue to justice as well. Child victims are afforded time to bring civil action until their 30th birthdays, but all too frequently this, too, cuts off access to justice, as it can take decades for a child to be ready to confront what happened to him or her.

Civil courts provide a strong value to society by exposing perpetrators who fall through the cracks of the criminal justice system due to the lack of overwhelming physical evidence. Thousands of perpetrators live and work among the general population, their records spotless and background checks clear because there simply isnt enough evidence to warrant an arrest, let alone go to trial in a criminal court.

Statutes of limitations do not serve the best interests of survivors, and they do not they serve the best interests of public safety. These road blocks to justice serve no one but perpetrators, allowing them to continue their behavior virtually unchecked. If ever there was a case to eliminate the statutes of limitations in sexual assault cases  both criminal and civil  it is staring us in the face.

Even if statutes of limitations have expired, it is never too late to get help. Help is available through rape crisis centers throughout Pennsylvania and across the country, providing hope for victims of sexual assault, as well as to impacted family members, regardless of how long ago the sexual violence occurred.

There is healing for survivors of sexual assault, and breaking the silence is the first step. Find your local rape crisis center (1-888-772-7227) for counseling and advocacy. In Cumberland County, please call the YWCA Carlisle Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis Services Centers 24-hour hotline: 1-888-727-2877.

Kristen Houser is the chief public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
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Ellendale gets busy as 2016 kicks off

Ellendale City Council





By SCOTT GROTH

Contributing Writer

The Ellendale City Council met for the first time in 2016 Thursday, Jan. 14. Mayor Skroch and all council members were in attendance. Also in attendance was Liquor Store Manager Kiersten Knudson, Maintenance Supervisor Josh Otto, Clerk LeeAnn Hojberg and an area newspaper reporter.

After approving the agenda, Mayor Skroch went right into the appointments for 2016. The appointments for the most part remain the same as in 2015. First National Bank Waseca-Ellendale Branch will be the official depository. The NRHEG Star Eagle will be the official newspaper. The new City Attorney will be Mark Rahrick from Owatonna, and the Council agreed to ask Mrs. Rick Aaseth to be Health Officer. The remainder of the appointments stayed the same.

Knudson passed out her numbers report for 2015. The report showed a nice profit for the previous year. Knudson has been having trouble with the receiving door to the MLS. Otto told the council he will look at the door and try to repair it or make a recommendation to the council.

Otto began his report with a request from Berlin Township to provide sanding on gravel roads in the area. The council gave Otto the O.K. to see how much sanding needs to be done before giving a price and committing. Otto next asked the council to consider purchasing a bed liner for the plow truck. Otto felt this would save on the truck plus allow loads to dump easier. Otto had two quotes. The low price was $559 from Werner Plastics. The council approved the liner from Werner.

The next item on the agenda was to go over a revised sump pump ordinance. Rahrick provided the council with a draft to consider for adoption. The ordinance was approved after discussion.

The council looked over the fire departments contract language with the townships. Again, Rahrick provided some insight. The council decided to stick with the current contract and get input from the fire department for future contracts. The council also discussed the fire relief associations funding.

Hojberg began by noting pay equity will be turned in by January 31. She said the W-2s were ready to be sent out and she had been working with Johnson & Doerhoefer to get year-end numbers together. Hojberg asked the council to consider sending out a news-type letter with the next utility bills to explain the water rate increase and also the interest that will be charged on delinquent accounts. The council gave the O.K. to include the letter with this months billing. The last item was to report that the thermostat in the Community Building meeting room was not working. The council agreed to have someone look at the problem.

Claims and minutes were approved as presented.

Skroch told the council he has been trying to get some resolve on the storm water problem in Crown Ridge. He said he has talked with most parties update the council.

The next city council meeting is Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 64F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Rucha Inamdar: I Was Offered Similar Roles for 1.5 Years After Criminal Justice, But It Takes Guts to Say No
The 70th Golden Globes Awards saw a bevy of Hollywood stars descending at the Beverly Hills hotel in California to honour the best of the best in cinema in 2012.'Skyfall' star Daniel Craig arrives for Golden Globes Awards with wife, actress Rachel Weisz.
Bollywood is known to have put its money on tried and tested jodis in the past. But in 2013, filmmakers will experiment with fresh pairings in new films. Here is a list of new jodis that we are eager to watch on screen.Farhan Akhtar will be playing athelete Milkha Singh in Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra's 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'. Sonam is reportedly playing his love is love interest in the film. Although Sonam's role is a cameo, fans of both the stars are eager to see them together in a film.
Thirty-plus hours of continuous snow and sleet lapsed into flurries Saturday afternoon and then ceased altogether, putting the worst of the winter storm behind the Lynchburg area.

But the digging-out part has work ahead.

At 6 p.m. Saturday, VDOT Lynchburg Division spokeswoman Paula Jones said U.S. 29 and U.S. 460 still had some snow, though conditions had improved on Saturday from severe to moderate.

But traffic is moving OK, she said.

Jones still advises residents not to be on the highways as they continue to plow, and said workers are appreciative of how many people have stayed off the roads.

Lynchburg public works crews had the citys main thoroughfares  Timberlake Road, Wards Road, Rivermont Avenue, Lakeside Drive and the like  passable by Saturday evening, though the city continues to ask people to stay off the streets as much as possible to keep them clear for the plows.

Our second shift just came in, said Staci Reynolds of Lynchburg Public Works just before 4 p.m. Saturday. Theyre meeting up with first shift so they can pick up right where they left off.

Crews started on residential streets just after 6 p.m. Saturday, according to a post on the citys official Facebook page, and were to work throughout the night and today.

Lynchburg Public Works are now plowing residential streets, the post said. Unfortunately, low temperatures and packed conditions of snow will hamper efforts to remove snow down to bare pavement.

The post also noted that because many residential streets are narrow, parking on only one side will enable plow drivers to be more effective.

Reynolds said theyre working hard to get in to residential areas so people can start heading out by Monday.

Our goal is to get them done as soon as possible, she said.

Nearly a foot of snow dropped on the city by 1 p.m. Saturday, enough to keep most businesses closed but not as much as residents had braced for in the run-up to the storm, when the anticipated range had been 16 to 24 inches.

There are a few factors, said senior forecaster Robert Beasley at the National Weather Service Blacksburg Office on Saturday about the reduced snowfall. One factor is that the area got a fair amount more sleet than what was originally predicted.

He said reports show parts of the Lynchburg area saw nearly two inches of sleet.

If it had just snowed we would have hit that 16-inch mark, he said.

Another factor, he said, was that the storm moved further north than expected, hitting areas such as Washington D.C. and New York City with record amounts that once were predicted for Lynchburg.

Still, the snowfall was plenty to bring the area to a standstill, though it did not cause any serious damage or power outages. Many churches in the area have cancelled services today.

Enjoy time with your family, build some snowmen, drink some hot cocoa, and join us next week as we dive back into our #Waymaker series! Brentwood Church posted on its Facebook page at 10:01 a.m. Saturday.

In the middle of our RECHARGE message series God has given us a winters storm to quiet and still us, posted Timberlake United Methodist Church Saturday morning. ENJOY the beauty of this gift.

The storm also caused havoc throughout the state, delivering a crippling blizzard to northern Virginia and high winds and flooding to Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a brief early Saturday afternoon that there could be up to three weather-related deaths as the state copes with a storm that has affected every part of the commonwealth.

A man was killed Friday after his car went off the snowy George Washington highway and hit a tree, according to the Chesapeake Police Department.

The two deaths under investigation happened in Wytheville and Grayson, McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe said 9,500 workers  2,500 state employees and 7,000 contractors  are responding to the storm, and 13,000 pieces of equipment are being used to clear the roadways. The cost is approximately $2 million to $3 million per hour. He said the state snow budget is $202 million.

McAuliffe said five Virginia state troopers have been injured responding to calls.

They have all been treated and they have all been released from the hospital, he said.

For many in the Lynchburg area, the winter storm provided a respite to stay tucked inside their houses on Friday and Saturday. But there were a handful of businesses that opened their doors and greeted customers who had ventured out into the snowy wonderland.

Market at Main in downtown Lynchburg welcomed patrons in for a hot breakfast starting at 7 a.m. The most popular item of Saturday morning, said manager Emily Taylor, was the sweet potato pancakes.

Weve had a really steady day; probably a couple hundred [customers,] said Taylor right before the lunch shift. And everybodys happy, which is why I think a lot of our staff likes working on snow days.

Staff member Shawn Robinson walked just over three miles in the snow on Friday and Saturday to make his shift at the restaurant.

Robinson, who normally takes the bus to work, said that he walked against the wind in his trip downtown, so by wearing warm clothes and taking slow steps, the conditions did not bother him too much, although he does hope to have a ride to work today.

The first thing he did when he got to Market at Main after his hike through the snow?

Went and got a nice, hot cup of coffee, Robinson said.

(Staff writer Emma Schkloven contributed.)
Almost 18 years after Virginia passed a law allowing charter schools in the charter-hungry sweep of the 1990s, there are only nine public charter schools in the state, only two of which were launched by independent groups.

But members of the state House of Delegates and Senate hope to change that, by sending a constitutional amendment to voters this year. A measure giving the state Board of Education authority to create charters within divisions  something state board members themselves are not sure they want  passed the House and Senate last year, and was reintroduced last week.

What we have found is that what was intended to be local input, local control, has become a local veto, said Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, who originated the House version. After 18 years, youve had an entire generation of students go through where students had few more choices than their parents had before them.

If the versions pass both chambers again, the constitutional amendment will come to voters as a referendum on the November ballot.

The state Board of Education did not take a position on the legislation, but members speaking at a Nov. 19 meeting said they had a lot to think about.

I think the real question is, do we want to take away the prerogative of local school systems to decide whether they want charter schools or not. To me thats really the key issue here, said board member James Dillard, who serves on the state Department of Education charter school committee. I would think that each of us individually would want to make a decision on whether or not we support this  and then perhaps either individually or collectively go the bold step of actually taking a position on something.

This week also is National School Choice Week, during which as many as 16,000 events are held nationwide to highlight options in education from charters to homeschooling, according to organizers.

But a personal choice for parents and children is a political one for the state and school divisions. Proponents argue that individual students are different, and should have the option of the best education for them, rather than suffer for the needs of a group; that charter schools are actually more accountable than public schools, because when they fail, theyre often closed compared to public schools, which rarely are; and that charter schools promote innovation that divisions can emulate.

Opponents, on the other hand, fear that charters punish schools and communities by splitting resources and focus because of the needs of the few; add layers of administration that obscure accountability; and have the potential to be elitist enclaves, a fear that for some hearkens back to the race academies of the 1950s.

A weak law

Virginias charter school law, passed as a bipartisan compromise in 1998 after almost five years of wrangling, is considered toothless.

I think we need to acknowledge that Virginia has one of the weakest charter school legislations in the country, state Board of Education member Diane T. Atkinson said by way of providing context at the Nov. 19 meeting.

Shortly after Virginias law was passed, the U.S. Department of Education denied $6.8 million in funding to the states charter schools because it deemed the states law too restrictive, according to a University of Virginia study of the issue in 2000.

Educational options have gotten wide support in Virginia, with the state granting generous protection for homeschooling and religious exemption options, making the resistance to charter schools surprising to some.

The study attributed the weak law to Virginias troubled desegregation history; lack of support and even opposition from Northern Virginia and some education associations; and lack of a perceived crisis in education. It also named as a factor a strong Democratic majority in the state until the last several decades, citing a larger-scale national study that found Republican strength contributed to the passage of charter legislation, as did a weak teacher union, high median income, a moralistic political culture and  contrary to support in Virginia  an urban population.

The UVa study compared Virginias law with privileges granted in other states, such as exemption from state regulations like testing and local policies, or the ability to hire non-certified teachers, and found the law gave few options to charters.

An entity interested in establishing a charter school at the local level has no ability to appeal a denial of that to the state, Atkinson said.

The state constitution gives that authority to the local school boards, which is why legislators believe a constitutional amendment is necessary to open the pathway, she said.

If it passes through the houses, it still needs to be voted on in the commonwealth. I appreciate that you feel its a done deal, but I think we need to be educating the public through this process, Atkinson said.

Public charter schools are defined under Virginia law as public, nonreligious, non-home-based alternative schools located within a public school division, which can be created as a new public school or conversion of an existing public school, but not through conversion of an existing private school or nonpublic home-based program.

Any person, group or organization can submit an application to a local school board to establish a charter school, but the requirements for those applications are thorough, including evidence that an adequate number of parents, teachers, or students support the formation of the school and a statement of need that establishes the value of the program.

Public charter students are considered as part of the local division for state funding purposes; the amount of per-pupil funding provided by the local board is negotiated for the charter agreement, though per-pupil funding, meant for instructional costs, does not include the cost of infrastructure creation and maintenance, which is usually borne by localities.

Currently, the decisions of local school boards on charter school applications are final. Changing that is the only object of the proposed constitutional amendment, although future proposals for amendments to the law could follow.

Choice or control?

For Bell, the issue is existential: Should there be public charter schools, or not?

Since the existing law has not resulted in more charters after almost two decades, he said, its clear that its not going to, and its time to provide an alternate route to their creation.

We would hope that once the local schools recognize that the charters were going to come  that we could work with them to help manage the schools, he said. The local school boards have absolute authority. Theres been application after application.

Albemarle, Bells home district, has two, one of which was launched by an independent group. If every school division had that many, he said, there would be no need for the change.

Gary Hostutler, Bedford County school board chairman, said that he wasnt sure exactly how the change would affect Bedford, but that the division prioritizes the opportunity to make its own decisions.

I believe our stance would still be we think its a local decision, and not something controlled by the state, he said. Generally the consensus with charter schools [is]if its not new money then its just taking away from general public education schools.

Just taking money from one pocket and moving it to another doesnt move education forward, he said, and he doesnt feel its been a popular concept in Central Virginia.

Bell acknowledged that acting to give the state greater control appears to conflict with conservative calls for smaller government.

[Divisions] dont want to be run out of Richmond and frankly, neither do we, he said.

If even a quarter or a third of the states school systems boasted a charter school, he said, hed believe the law worked and some wanted charters and others didnt. As it is, he feels the lack is a result of opponents of charters, not a lack of interest.

If the local school boards believe that every parent is satisfied with the local system, I dare to say that theyre not listening very well, he said.

Flexibility on both sides

For Scott Brabrand, Lynchburg schools superintendent, the issue is one of flexibility for existing divisions.

Charter schools have been about flexibility and freedom from government rules and regulations, he said via email. I would to like to see this flexibility given to existing schools and school divisions.

Some argue that the low number of charters in Virginia is due to areas flexibility has been exercised and the wide variety of options that already exist.

Lynchburg has two schools for innovation, which are not public charters but operate in a similar fashion. The region also has two regional science and technology schools  the Central Virginia Governors School and the STEM Academy  as well as the LAUREL Regional School for special needs students, and a growing variety of dual enrollment options.

Bell said that he supports any and all of these options, and his support for expanding charters is not opposed to any other choice. Frequently citing charter schools in Washington, D.C., especially their lottery system for admittance, Bell said he feels that more charters would level the playing field, not splinter it.

Im one of the people that think there should be additional options for parents and shouldnt be limited to rich parents, he said. I think any choice is good. Any time you tell a parent you can have more than a single local school as an option, I think its a good thing.  I support everything.

The money would follow the kid

Schools greatest concern about splitting enrollment is often the impact on funding. Many divisions, especially in rural or suburban areas like Bedford and Campbell, have seen dropping enrollment in recent years, due to factors from lower birth rates to lower economic development. Officials say that in many cases lower enrollment is patchwork across schools and grades, and doesnt result in lower costs.

School board and administrations also cite similar concerns about the pressure homeschooling and private school puts on enrollment, although its hard to determine clear numbers for those populations.

A rough estimate taken by comparing 2014 census projections of the school-age population to school enrollment in local divisions for that year suggests that the large majority of eligible students in the region attend public schools, with a low of about 78 percent in Lynchburg and 81 percent in Bedford, and a high of 93 percent in Campbell and 91 percent in Appomattox and Nelson. Amherst falls in the middle with likely about 87 percent of eligible students enrolled in public school.

Per-pupil funding for charter students still would go through public divisions, but the divisions would be contracted to provide that funding to the charter schools.

But Bell feels that the concern is overstated.

I understand that if you pull one student out, literally one student out, that does not significantly decrease the costs of the school, he said. But were not talking about taking one student out  you are taking an appreciable number of students out.

Similarly, Bell said, adding one student adds almost nothing to a divisions costs, but the state still sends the money when that student shows up. The per-pupil funding is intended for instruction, while localities are expected to provide and maintain facilities.

We would hope that the money would follow the kid, he said.

Funding is also a major question for the state Board of Education as it prepares for the strong possibility that the amendment will pass both chambers of the General Assembly and come directly to voters in November.

The whole issue of charter schools certainly  has a history in Virginia thats quite different from other states, said Billy K. Cannady, Jr., the state board president, in November. I dont want to speak for all of our board members, but certainly we have embraced choice.

The real issue is, what does accountability look like and how is it financially supported? I think well have to give some thought to that whole topic  do we want another responsibility?
By Darrell Laurant

Special to The News & Advance

Wayne Barretts telephone has been ringing a lot lately. Thats not likely to stop any time soon.

Ive been getting all kinds of calls from reporters, said Barrett, a graduate of Holy Cross Regional Catholic School in Lynchburg who wrote a popular book about Donald Trump in 1991. Some of them have been coming over to look through my files down in the basement, because I never throw anything away.

Not that he and Donald Trump are on friendly terms. In fact, Trump once had Barrett arrested.

He was having a birthday party at a hotel in Atlantic City, Barrett recalled Tuesday from his home in Brooklyn, a day after Trump visited Liberty University. It wasnt really a private affair, but they wouldnt let me in. So I went up and down a few stairwells and figured out how to get in a back way. I was only there about three minutes, though, before I was in handcuffs. I spent that night in jail, charged with defiant trespassing.

Not just trespassing, but defiant trespassing.

The book was not complimentary to Trump. Titled Trump: The Deals and the Downfall, it closely examined one of the flamboyant financiers darker periods.

According to one review on The Nations Institute Website: The Trump we meet in this exceptional book is a man who, rather than a self-created millionaire, is in fact heir both to a substantial empire built by his equally rapacious father and to the Democratic machine connections that made the empire possible. Barretts investigative biography takes us from the days of Donalds lonely youth to his brash entry into the real estate market, and to the still-secret machinations behind the major deals that made his name; from the initial triumph of the Hyatt Hotel to the successful purchase of the largest parcel of real estate in Manhattan, the West Side Yards; from the incomparably opulent Trump Tower to such contrasting showpieces as the Taj Mahal casino and the Plaza Hotel; from the extravagance of the $1,OOO-per-square-foot, unoccupied Trump Palace apartments to the extraordinary, desolate Palm Beach estate Mar-A-Lago.

Barretts investigation of these deals provides not only a fascinating chronicle of Trumps own suspect business practices, but also a hair-raising account of the workings of power brokers in the heady and heedless money culture of the 1980s. Here is a detailed portrait of the forces that made a Donald Trump possible: the banks that advanced him staggering loans, at times based on misleading information; Trump family associations with mob-connected figures; and compromising alliances with governors, mayors, and perhaps his most powerful benefactor of all, the rogue lawyer Roy Cohn.

The Deals and the Downfall chronicled, among other things, the descent of the Trump Tower and Taj Mahal projects into bankruptcy.

Trump didnt cooperate with me on the book at all, Barrett said, but he said hed be OK with it as long as I took Downfall out of the title.

And now, the same Donald Trump seems to be charging full-tilt toward the Republican nomination for President. Barrett is still trying to fit his mind around that.

I dont think he was really serious at first, Barrett said, but now he is.

A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, Wayne Barrett spent most of his working life as a reporter for the Village Voice, specializing in the labyrinth of New York City politics.

What a lot of people forget was that it was his father, Fred, who really made the money in the first place, Barrett said. When Donald did his first big deal, he couldnt get the option on the property unless Freds name was also on the document.

Certainly, the younger Trumps early business career was somewhat messy  four bankruptcies, over a hundred lawsuits. But then, Barrett said. He identified himself with glamour and luxury and marketed this brand and made billions from it. He was just a good salesman.

He hasnt really built anything since 1992. He attaches his name to things.

With it all, though, Barrett said: I think he has an excellent chance. This isnt Herman Cain, who had a hot moment. Of course, its still possible that he might fall apart. The other Republicans have to consolidate against him, but right now theyre fighting among themselves to decide who to consolidate behind.

Barrett, who left the Village Voice in 2010, is now freelancing and recovering from recent health problems. His brother, Chris, is an ordained deacon at the Resurrection Catholic Church in Moneta.

Ive had a couple of inquiries about writing another book on Trump, Wayne Barrett said, but Im not sure I want to do go down that road again. Maybe if he gets nominated, Ill think about it.

Darrell Laurant is a longtime columnist for The News & Advance, now retired.
The Lynchburg area welcomed the sunshine and warmer temperatures Sunday but some public works crews still had much work on their plates.

A National Weather Service special statement Sunday warned residents of black ice Sunday night into this morning as warm temperatures melted some snow but froze due to temperatures dropping at night.

From Friday to 3 p.m. Sunday, Virginia State Police responded to 7,236 calls for service  including 1,464 crashes and another 2,214 disabled vehicles, according to Spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

As of 5:15 p.m. Sunday, VSP were on the scene of 12 crashes and 15 disabled vehicles across the state, Geller said.

According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, there have been five confirmed storm-related deaths in Virginia outside of the Greater Lynchburg area.

In an email, Geller said one death was a traffic fatality and the other four were hypothermia-related.

Two other fatal traffic crashes were reported in Virginia Beach.

According to VDOTs website, roads in Amherst, Appomattox, Campbell, Nelson counties and the city of Lynchburg had icy patches with minor conditions by Sunday afternoon; bridges and ramps were considered moderate.

For road conditions and closures, residents are reminded to call 511. Call 911 and #77 for emergencies.

Lynchburg Public Works crews were cleaning up primary roads, including intersections and working their way to residential streets, Emergency Operations Center Supervisor Stacy Reyn-olds said Sunday.

Secondary roads are roads that connect to primary roads such as Memorial and Fort avenues and Wards Road.

Reynolds said residents should stay off the roads as much as possible and advised parking on the odd-numbered houses side of the street to ease the way for plow trucks. We face our own challenges with the equipment, she said. Were slipping and sliding, too.

In the town of Bedford, D.W. Lawhorne, of the public works department, said Sunday roads are perfect.

All primary, residential, and secondary roads had been cleared so crews were moving on to public parking lots and sidewalks in the downtown area, he said Sunday afternoon.

Many across the region hoped the sunshine Sunday would melt some of the snow and improve road conditions by today.

Today is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high temperature near 44 degrees. A calm wind heading south around 6 miles per hour will appear in the afternoon. At night, temperatures will have a low around 30 degrees and partly cloudy, according to the National Weather Service.

Tuesday will have a 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon, and is forecasted as mostly cloudy with a high near 48 degrees. Rain of less than a tenth of an inch is possible. Tuesday night will also have a 50 percent chance of showers with a low around 34 degrees.

Wednesday will have an about 40 percent chance of rain showers before 8 a.m., then a chance of rain and snow showers during the day; temperatures will have a high of 40 degrees.

Roads were not much of a problem Sunday in the town of Altavista but a water main break on Ogden Road, near Avondale Road was a big problem.

A 10-inch pipe snapped and public works were alerted to the problem Saturday morning, said Public Works Director David Garrett.

It was draining a one-and-a-half-million gallon tank. We had to shut it off for last night and first thing this morning, he said Sunday.

The snow did not help crews, he said. It was challenging to locate the water main valve and it took crews almost 24 hours to find the leak, he said.

Garrett estimated the cause was the change in temperature and ground settling.

A boil water notice will be in effect for a couple streets in the area, near the break because the residents lost water pressure and for bacterial testing.

Water was restored to affected residences by about 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Garrett said.

All schools in Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Nelson counties and the city of Lynchburg will be closed today. Private schools Holy Cross Catholic School, Liberty Christian Academy, and Timberlake Christian Schools are also closed today.

In Amherst, Lynchburg, and Appomattox, custodians were asked to still report at 8 a.m. today, according to closure announcements.

Lynchburg College, Randolph College and Central Virginia Community College are closed. Liberty University planned to open at noon Monday.
Alot is being made of being made in America.

Republican presidential contender Donald J. Trump plays Bruce Springsteens Born in the U.S.A. at his rallies, needling rival Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father.

Not to be outdone, Cruz, at the last GOP candidates debate, countered that some extreme birthers claim that for a person to be a natural-born citizen, both parents must also be native born. Trumps mother was born in Scotland, so he would be disqualified.

But I was born here, Trump protested.

Thats politics, but anyone whos tried to buy products made in America knows the frustration of the hunt.

Trump feels our pain.

We want to buy USA, right? the billionaire businessman said Monday at Liberty University. Trump vowed that, as president, hell bring big-name manufacturing back to the United States.

Were gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers in this country, instead of in other countries, he said.

Really? Trump doesnt say how he will bring Apple back or whether hes concerned that the cost of the iPhone and other gadgets could skyrocket if made here.

Five years ago, Barack Obama asked Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs why Apple couldnt build the iPhone here, to which Jobs replied, according to a New York Times report, Those jobs arent coming back.

Current Apple CEO Tim Cook, asked by NBC Nightly News in 2011 why Apple couldnt be a Made in America company, said that while many Apple components are made here, America has lost the skills associated with manufacturing.

Being Made in USA is not a random act of patriotism; its a hard-nosed business decision. Companies know we want to buy American, and they encourage our goodwill by plastering their ads with American flags, maps and slogans.

The question arises: How much of a product must actually be American-made to carry the Made in America label?

The Federal Trade Commission, which protects the Made in America name, says that if a company claims a product is Made in USA, all or virtually all its parts or components need to be made here. The product should contain no  or negligible  foreign content, the FTC says.

But whats virtually all and whats negligible? The FTC hasnt set specific percentages.

Final assembly or processing must take place in the United States, then other factors come into play, including total manufacturing costs and how significant foreign content is to the final product, FTC says.

Its not, in other words, clockwork.

In Detroit on Wednesday, Obama, wearing his own Shinola watch, toured the Shinola plant, which touts its luxury watches as Built in Detroit. The company says its watches and bicycles are 100 percent assembled in Detroit but, the Detroit Free Press reported, about one-third of its watch movements come from Thailand.

The FTC has put watchmakers, among other manufacturers, on notice about Made in America claims. After an inquiry from the FTC, Niall Luxury in Kansas City agreed in November to revise marketing materials to reflect the use of Swiss movements.

If the standards arent confusing enough for manufacturers and consumers, California sets its own Made in America standard, previously requiring 100 percent domestic content.

Under a loosened state law, as of Jan. 1, Made in USA in California means foreign components are no more than 5 percent of final wholesale value or 10 percent if the manufacturer can show the components cannot be obtained or produced domestically.

Some in Congress are moving to lessen confusion. The Senate Commerce Committee passed a bill in November that makes the federal government  through the FTC  solely responsible for developing and enforcing standards. The measure will allow products to carry the Made in USA label even if a small piece, such as a screw or shoe lace, is sourced from a foreign country, said Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, a sponsor of the bill.

The idea is to encourage companies to stay here. We all want to see more jobs made in America.

Mercer writes from Washington. Email her at marsha.mercer@yahoo.com. 2016 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
Crime, politics dominate Junior Calypso

The semi-finalists were from four areas  North, South Central, East and Tobago and two-thirds were female.

The seven from Tobago opened the show as they had to travel back to the sister isle at a certain time.

The first calypsonian was Jelese Alexander from Mason Hall Secondary with her song Rude Awakening.

In the song she spoke of murders in the news, other crimes, politics, and the need for good manners. While she gave a confident performance the lyrics were a bit meandering and she may have tried to deal with too much in one composition.

Alexander was followed by Mitchila Williams from Signal Hill Secondary with her song The Tongue. Williams performance opened with an audio clip of Opposition MP Roodal Moonilals infamous hush yuh stink mouth comment in Parliament. In a voice that belied her size she sang of the power of the tongue to build and destroy, and her lyrics paraphrased Bible scripture about the tongue.

Unpredictable like a storm, most people cant control the tongue, she sang in the bridge.

Kerston Millar from St Andrews Anglican Primary in his song African Ancestors paid tribute to African heritage. He wore a resplendent costume and had back-up dancers, but his lyrics lacked depth. It was disappointment for Tobago, however, as none of their semi-finalists made it into finals.

Among the semi-finalists from the North area was Diane TaZyah OConnor, son of former calypso monarch, Duane OConnor. The younger OConnor, representing St Marys College, performed Dear Doctor, a song about a letter to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley about what the young calypsonian would do to bring national unity after becoming Prime Minister.

Another semi-finalist from the North area was Sheann Cunningham from Bishop Anstey High School. She delivered a powerful performance and commanded the stage with her song When the Bow Breaks. Wearing a dress that contrasted a blue and green Earth in 1975, and a brown and dark Earth in 2013 she condemned many environmental ills including toxic waste, plastic bottles, destruction of the ozone layer and deforestation.

We brought this on we selves, she sang in the refrain.

Also making it to the finals is NJanela Duncan Regis from Eshes Learning Centre who sought to flip the script with her composition Parents Behave. She called on parents not to get involved in shady dealings and crime, engage in corruption via kickbacks or display road rage and cause road carnage.

On a lighter note was finalist Jovanni Gibson from Tacarigua Presbyterian School and the East area. Dressed in his school uniform with a cap and singing the autobiographical Change of Plans Gibson informed the audience that he used to misbehave and give his teachers and mother hell. Gibson sang that he changed his plans and instead of skylarking he is doing his work and preparing for the Secondary Entrance Assessment exam despite only being in standard two. He ended his performance by throwing off the cap with a flourish and declaring that he passed for his first choice which elicited cheers and laughs from the crowd.

Also from the East and moving on the finals was Caryn Mc Carthy from Arima Central Secondary with her patriotic Lets All Hold Hands. In the song she lamented crime, bad parenting, children fighting in schools, teacher absenteeism and poor leadership. She reinterpreted the colours of the flag with red representing all the dead people, and black representing dark days, while the white showed there was still hope.

JUNIOR CALYPSO MONARCH FINALISTS

1. Kevan Calliste - St Benedicts College, Baddest Carnival

2. Stefan Camejo - Sacred Heart Boys RC, Tea Plate

3. Sharissa Camejo - Holy Name Convent, Our Blessed Land

4. Tsahi Corbin - St Josephs Convent, Port-of-Spain, Break Them

5. Sheann Cunningham - Bishop Anstey High School, When the Bow Breaks

6. Jerrisha Duncan Regis - Elders Classes, Daddy Pick Us Up

7. NJanela Duncan Regis - Eshes Learning Centre, Parents Behave

8. Jovanni Gibson - Tacarigua Presbyterian School, Change of Plans

9. Rae Ann Guerra - University of the West Indies, Dont be Misled

10. Jermiah Marlon James - Holy Cross College, Union Strong

11. Deslie Julien - St Marys College, Sweet 40

12. Ronaldo London - Fyzabad Secondary, True Patriots

13. Caryn Mc Carthy - Arima Central Secondary, Lets All Hold Hands

14. Duane TaZyah OConnor - St Marys College, St Marys College

15. Shervonne Rodney - Arima Central Secondary, Hustler
No legal obligation to consult

There is no legal obligation on the part of the minister to consult with stakeholders on the formulation of policy, she said in the House of Representatives, Tower D, International Waterfront Complex, Port-of-Spain.

Gopee-Scoon was responding to a motion on the adjournment brought by Pointe-a-Pierre MP Dr David Lee, which essentially chastised the Government for its failure to consult with stakeholders before implementing the measures.

Effective January 15, 2016, the age limit of gasoline powered foreign used cars was reduced from six years to four years while individuals importing foreign- used right hand drive cars for personal use can only do so once, every four years instead of once every three years.

The TT Automative Dealers Association described the Governments action as a detrimental blow to the foreign used car industry.

In his motion, Lee regarded the policy as draconian, noting that the Peoples National Movement had talked about consultation during its election campaign.

He argued that a vehicle was a necessity in many homes, especially for single mothers working late at night.

Many people have saved their money for a low-income car, he said.

Lee said the Governments move to change the policy without consultation was disingenuous.

In response, Gopee-Scoon made a case for the measures, saying the countrys economic situation demanded it.

There is a duty to act fairly and the Government did act fairly in the circumstances having regard to the economic circumstances, this can be considered a reasonable policy. We have had discussions and acted fairly, responsibly, she said.

Saying there appeared to be a mismatch in what Lee had said in his contribution and the wording of his motion, Gopee- Scoon claimed that the matter was thoroughly ventilated with several stakeholders in the industry new ones, old ones, large ones, small ones. However, she still promised to conduct a full and comprehensive review of the foreign used car policy in March by all of the individuals who are part of the industry. We will partake in consultation.

I give you that commitment, Gopee-Scoon said.
US Military Really Didn't Want

You to Know What's in New

Washington Post Investigation
According to the Jordanian government, the terrorist Ahlam Tamimi, who masterminded the Sbarro massacre in 2001, cannot be extradited to the...
(Newser)  Authorities have found one human skull and eight containers with potentially more at a Los Angeles-area shop that sells spiritual items. Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Steve Katz says deputies responded to the Compton business Friday after a woman complained of animal cruelty. When investigators arrived, Katz says they found a skull inside a pot. He says the coroner's office collected the skull and eight other pots that may also contain skulls. Katz says there's no evidence of a homicide and that it appears the skull may have been purchased from a legal source and was being used for a religious ceremony. He says it's unclear whether animal remains were found.

Compton resident Angie Garcia, 28, says she used to attend Santeria religious ceremonies at the "Omi Relekun" shop, where people dressed in white claimed to speak with the dead and drive out people's negative energies, the Los Angeles Times reports. She says the rituals sometimes included sacrificing a live goat, bird, or chicken. "How scary," Garcia says of the skull find. "I have kids around here. I know they worked with animals but not human skulls." (Read more skull stories.)
(Newser)  Zika virus has now spread to some 20 Latin American nations, reports NBC News, and at least one of themEl Salvadoris issuing a pretty stern warning to its female population: To avoid children born with birth defects including microcephaly, the country wants women to avoid getting pregnant until 2018, reports Reuters. "We'd like to suggest to all the women of fertile age that they take steps to plan their pregnancies, and avoid getting pregnant between this year and next," a deputy health minister says. El Salvador has seen nearly 5,400 cases of Zika last year and this year. Brazil has also made a similar suggestion to women, as has Colombia, though the latter is advising holding off on conceiving for only six to eight months. (Read more Zika virus stories.)
(Newser)  Motherboard has an eye-opening profile on Maria Staver, the woman "who beat sleep" as a college student. A lifelong insomniac, Staver gave up attempting to sleep like a regular person in 1998. She and a friendinspired by a 1943 Time interview with inventor Buckminster Fullerdeveloped the "Uberman" sleep schedule, so named because "they were accomplishing so much in a day that they were freaking people out; their schoolwork was done, their dorms were clean, they held down jobs, they made appearances at social events." They would wake up at 4am to study at Denny's then take 20-minute naps every four hours, getting a total of two hours of sleep every day. "I felt the best Ive ever felt in my life, Staver tells Motherboard.

Not that it was easy. The first two weeks of Uberman are an "absolute unholy monstrous biyotch," Motherboard quotes a 2006 blog post by Staver. That adjustment period can cause moodiness, chills, constant hunger, and worse. Regardless, Staver unwittingly kicked off a "polyphasic sleep" movement, with followers pestering her for information and advice. She eventually created a blog and wrote a book for people interested in Uberman. Nowadays, without the luxury of a college student's schedule, Staver practices the Everyman: three hours of sleep at night and three 20-minute naps. Sleep experts don't recommend either schedule, as they both fall far short of eight hours of sleep. But Staver doesn't mind. "My goal is just to be able to sleep in a way that works for me, she tells Motherboard. Read the full story here. (This is America's most sleep-deprived group.)
(Newser)  An unidentified 17-year-old Canadian boy now stands charged in the murders of four peopleincluding two teenage brothersin a school shooting Friday that was only the latest tragedy to shake the remote Saskatchewan town of La Loche, a "bleak" and tiny aboriginal town of less than 3,000 that the New York Times reports usually makes news "in connection with violence or drug arrests." La Loche is a Dene community dogged by unemployment, poverty, and until recently, better known for suicide than murder18 people, mostly young, died by their own hand between 2005 and 2010, notes the Times. "Now we barely have room at the graveyard because of suicide, tragedies like this," a local resident says.

"As a Dene community, we've been through some horrific incidents and  we're very resilient. We come together and heal," says an MP from the town. The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, is also charged with seven counts of attempted murder and one count of unauthorized possession of a firearm, and will appear in court this week, reports the CBC. A total of nine people were shot at the school in La Loche; brothers Dayne and Drayden Fontaine, 17 and 13, were killed at a nearby home. "The days and weeks ahead are going to be difficult," an RCMP rep tells the CBC. "It's a sad and difficult time ... we must get through this together." (Read more school shooting stories.)
(Newser)  It happened hundreds or thousands of times Saturday: A car spun out in icy conditions in North Carolina amid the blizzard blasting the East Coast. But when three Good Samaritans stopped to help the hapless driver, police say they found 27-year-old Marvin Lee, who, as Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid puts it, "They thought he was drunk or on dope and said lets just call the law and let them deal with it." But even as the men were making that call, police say that Lee produced an automatic pistol and opened fire, reports the Charlotte Observer.

The three men ran, adds NBC News, but one was hit. Reid says Lee walked over to the fallen man, 26-year-old Jefferson Heavner, and shot him "numerous times," killing him. Lee returned to his car, reports the Observer; when police arrived and ordered him out, he failed to respond. A SWAT team later ascertained that he had passed out. He awoke as police removed him from the vehicle, police say. Reid says he'll face homicide charges. (Read more Good Samaritan stories.)
(Newser)  A large chunk of metal that could be from an aircraft washed ashore in southern Thailand, but Malaysian authorities on Sunday cautioned against speculation of a link to a Malaysia Airlines flight missing almost two years. Flight MH370 is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, and only one piece of debris has been identified as coming from the plane, a slab of wing that washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean last July. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said he instructed Malaysian civil aviation officials to contact Thailand about the newly found wreckage, a curved piece of metal measuring about 6  feet by 10 feet with electrical wires hanging from it and numbers stamped on it in several places. "The markings, engineering, and tooling apparent in this debris strongly suggest that it is aerospace related," an editor with Flightglobal tells Reuters. "It will need to be carefully examined, however, to determine it's exact origin."

Thailand's Transportation Ministry said four Malaysian officials and two Thai experts will visit the site Monday. Liow said the search for the missing jet, which carried 239 people, is ongoing in the southern Indian Ocean. Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman Dan O'Malley said the agency was awaiting an official examination of the debris. The debris was found on the eastern coast of southern Thailand's Nakkon Si Thammarat province, about 370 miles south of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand. While debris can drift thousands of miles on ocean currents, that location would be a surprise based on the data from Flight MH370. The plane was tracked by radar flying over the South China Sea then making a sharp turn west. It crossed the Malay Peninsula and Straits of Malacca, which would put it off Thailand's west coast. (Read more MH370 stories.)
(Newser)  A South African mayor has awarded college scholarships to 16 young women for remaining virgins to encourage others to be "pure and focus on school," her rep said Sunday. Each year the mayor's office awards scholarships to more than 100 promising high school and university students in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, mayoral spokesman Jabulani Mkhonza said. The young women who applied for the scholarships voluntarily stayed virgins and agreed to have regular virginity tests to keep their funding, Uthukela Mayor Dudu Mazibuko told South African talk radio station 702. "To us, it's just to say thank you for keeping yourself and you can still keep yourself for the next three years until you get your degree or certificate," Mazibuko said. The grants will be renewed "as long as the child can produce a certificate that she is still a virgin," she said.

The scholarships focus on young women because they are more vulnerable to exploitation, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases, she said. "I think the intentions of the mayor are great but what we don't agree with is giving bursaries for virginity," said chairman for the Commission for Gender Equality Mfanozelwe Shozi. "There is an issue around discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, virginity, and even against boys. This is going too far." Virginity testing is not against South Africa's constitution but it is essential that it is done with consent, said Shozi. Some activists want virginity testing banned in South Africa, describing it as sexist and invasive. Those defending the cultural practice say it preserves tradition and has been modernized to teach girls about their reproductive health and HIV and AIDS. (Read more South Africa stories.)
Villupuram:

Three women medical students of SVS Medical College of Yogaand Naturopathy and Research in Tamil Nadu's Viluppuram district were found dead in a farm well near their college.

The young undergraduate students have blamed the college management in a suicide note recovered by the cops.

Son of college chairman Shokkar Verma has been arrested in the case. The girls gave up their lives owing to the 'exorbitant' college fees collected from them.

The incident that happened yesterday comes after the recent protests by students alleging collection of exorbitant fee by the Yoga and Naturopathy college at Chinna Salem near here.

There were also complaints of lack of amenities, police said. The deceased girls have been identified as second year students, V Priyanka, T Monisha and E Saranya.

The girls had allegedly tied themselves together with a dupatta and had later jumped into a farm well near the college.

The bodies were retrieved by police and fire brigade personnel and sent to a government hospital for autopsy, police said.

Anxiety and tension prevailed in the area as residents, students and parents gathered at the spot of the incident. They protested against the college and paid respects to the dead students. Police have registered the case and investigation in going on.

(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi :

Following the terror threats to blow up different cities and places, security agencies went on high alert in Mumbai. A threat made by an unidentified caller to blow up Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has led to an alert in the city.

The unidentified caller has threatened to blow up the Mumbai airport before February 2. The security has been beefed up to avoid any such massive attacks. At least 23 individuals have been rounded up in the past 2 days in anti-terror crackdown.

Also earlier in the day, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) nabbed one miscreant from Pune who was reportedly sending fake alerts to Pune and Mumbai airports of terror attacks.
Tehran:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed a 'new chapter' in relations with China after talks with President Xi Jinping, who is touring the region to boost Beijings economic influence.

The Asian giant and the Middle Easts foremost Shiite power aim to build economic ties worth up to USD 600 billion within the next 10 years, Rouhani announced.

The two leaders oversaw the signing of 17 agreements in areas including politics, the economy, security and cooperation on peaceful nuclear energy.

With the Chinese presidents visit to Tehran and our agreements, a new chapter has begun in Tehran-Beijing relations, Rouhani said in a televised speech, flanked by Xi.

It is the first visit to Iran by a Chinese president in 14 years, according to state news agency IRNA, and comes just days after sanctions against Tehran were lifted under a historic nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran is Chinas major partner in the Middle East and the two countries have chosen to boost bilateral relations, IRNA quoted Xi as saying.

Beijing is Tehrans top customer for oil exports, which in recent years were hit by US and EU sanctions over Tehrans nuclear programme.

Trade between the two countries was worth USD 52 billion in 2014. According to Iranian media, more than a third of Irans foreign trade is carried out with China.

Xi, accompanied by three deputy prime ministers and six ministers, also brought with him a large business delegation.

He was scheduled to meet later Saturday with Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Xis tour, his first of the Middle East as Chinese president, has also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Riyadh and a number of Sunni Arab allies broke diplomatic ties with Iran this month after protesters angry over the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric ransacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.

In Cairo, Xi offered USD 55 billion in loans and investments to the Middle East, a region where China wants to strengthen its economic presence.

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Oslo:

Norway has announced it was temporarily suspending its controversial return of migrants from Arctic Russia, following a request from Moscow.

The Russian foreign affairs minister was in contact on Friday with the Norwegian authorities on the subject of the return of asylum seekers via Storskog, the foreign ministry said in a statement yesterday, referring to the Storskog border crossing, 400 kilometres (about 250 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

Until further notice, there will not be any more returns via Storskog. The Russian border authorities want more coordination over these returns, the statement added.

Speaking in Davos to Norwegian television channel NRK, Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Borge Brende said the Russians had made the request citing security reasons.

Some 5,500 migrants - mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran - crossed from Russia into Norway last year, on the last leg of an arduous journey through the Arctic to Europe.

Norway is not within the European Union, but is a member of the Schengen passport-free zone.

Many migrants arrived by bicycle as Russian authorities do not let people cross the border on foot and Norway considers people driving migrants across the border in a car or truck to be traffickers.

In November 2015, its right-wing government decided that migrants who had been living legally in Russia, or had entered Russia legally, should be immediately returned there, on the basis that Russia is a safe country.

Police police returned 13 migrants by bus to Russia on Tuesday.

Two similar operations were scheduled for Thursday and Friday but were then cancelled, for what officials said were logistical reasons.

Several dozen migrants had been taken to the border town of Kirkenes ahead of their expulsion, but several fled and three were given shelter in a church.

Rights groups had expressed outrage at the migrants being forced to return by bike in winter, when temperatures in the far north regularly fall to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit). They also say that Russia has a poor record on dealing with requests for asylum.

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Davos:

Police forces around the world have taken measures to better share crucial intelligence to thwart jihadist attacks but technology can help them do far more, international police chiefs said at the Davos gathering of policymakers and moguls.

The attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people have focused the spotlight on the cooperation between countries in fighting a growing threat.

The gunmen and suicide bombers who brought carnage to the streets of the French capital had travelled from Belgium, and many were already known to the intelligence services.

Juergen Stock, the head of international police agency Interpol, told the annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort: We need to be better not just in sharing but also in sharing specific information.

The issues we are talking about really are global now. Interpol has amassed around 6,000 profiles of people earmarked as terrorists and the challenge now is to use technology to allow the regular policeman on patrol to have rapid access to the information, Stock said.

It is important that this information is available not just at the level of specialised units but also at the level of police station and patrol officer, in his car and in the street, Stock told a security forum on the final day of the Davos conference.

The director of Interpols European counterpart, Europol, told AFP in an interview that intelligence cooperation had already improved since the attacks in Paris, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Rob Wainwright said a new European counter-terrorism centre opening this month will further improve information sharing at a time when the performance of the police and intelligence services is under intense scrutiny. It establishes for the first time in Europe a dedicated operation centre, Wainwright said in Davos.

French investigators believe the attacks that killed 130 in Paris were planned by a Belgian national, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was widely thought to have been in Syria fighting with IS.

The apparent ease in which Abaaoud slipped back into Europe and moved around the continent has thrown into question the intelligence sharing capabilities of EU police forces.

Wainwright said the new centre in The Hague will provide French and Belgian police services and their counterparts around Europe with the platform they need to share information more quickly and to crack down on the terrorist groups that are active.

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New Delhi :

With questions being raised over the Centres decision to send NSG commandos instead of Army troopers to the IAF base in Pathankot, the chief of the elite force today said the black cats are the only special force suited for undertaking such operations.

I can say it with full authority that the NSG is a force that is meant for and suited for such operations as the situation in Pathankot warranted. We specialise in counter-terror operations in built-up areas with people around and that was the task given to us.

I think we accomplished our task with the least collateral damage. This is also the first time that our crack teams were sent in advance to counter a terrorist assault. Almost every time else in the past, we have been sent after the terrorists had made the first assault, NSG Director General R C Tayal told PTI in an interview.

The DG said the terrorists aim was to destroy the IAFs flying assets and that they were determined to stage a surprise attack in the wee hours after they managed to sneak into the air base.

The January 2 attack on the base, which houses fighter jets and attack helicopters, left 7 security personnel dead. Six militants were also killed.

Tayal added that the commandos of its counter-terror wing had no constraints of weapons or equipment required to operate in such conditions.

We got what we wanted then and there. As soon as my commander asked for troop carriers, the Army sent them in from their nearby cantonment. The troops had with themselves night vision devices, see-through gadgets and corner-shot weapons. It was decided by on-ground commanders to locate the terrorists, box them and hit them, which they successfully did, he said.

The DG said NSG was divided into three teams inside the air base.

One took guard where the aircraft hangar is located, one was made to secure the residential units of the IAF personnel and the third took charge to engage the terrorists who had sneaked in, he said.

The NSG chief accepted his commandos were up against a well trained and equipped enemy and the force had a single unfortunate casualty of its bomb disposal commanding officer Lt Col Niranjan E K and injuries to nine other commandos.

Tayal, who himself camped at the forward air base begining January 3, said NSG Inspector General (Operations) was the overall coordinating authority between the multiple agencies the IAF, Army, Punjab police and the NSG.

Our IG operations was coordinating with everyone. He was independent. I wouldnt like to go into who was the commander or something like that but I can tell you that there was not a single point of confusion or an attempt to undermine anyones authority. There was excellent coordination between all the forces who were tackling the terrorists in Pathankot, he said while refusing to go into the details of the operation.

Tayal said it took a long time for the agencies to call off the operation as commandos were tasked to sanitise numerous buildings floor-by-floor and room-by-room to check against hidden improvised bombs and booby-traps and that no one is hiding inside.

The NSG had named the operation Dhangu Surakasha borrowing the first name from the village where the Indian Air Force base is located and the latter word from their motto Sarvatra Sarvottam Suraksha (Best security everywhere).

About 300 commandos, in three batches, were part of the operation and they were first flown to Pathankot on a RAW plane on the evening of January 1.

Among the injured commandos, one has lost his left eye due to the impact of a blast, while the other received shrapnel injuries to his head.

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New Delhi :

French President Francois Hollande indicated today that the nearly Rs 60,000 crore Rafale jets deal is unlikely to be signed during his current visit although it is on the right track.

The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including Make in India, for the next 40 years.

Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track, Hollande told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning today.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries.

India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore. A high-level team from France is here and carrying out last minute negotiations.

Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators.

India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism, the French President said in a written interview.

Observing that solidarity between France and India was natural, Hollande said, I would like to thank once again

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh attacks in Paris in November. French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India.

We engage constantly with India. The Indo-French working group on counter-terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015. That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism, he said.

Hollande, who will be the Chief Guest at Indias Republic Day parade on Tuesday during his second State visit to India, also appreciated Prime Minister Modi for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination. He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation, the French President and Modi will hold extensive talks here tomorrow during which ways to strengthen cooperation in counter-terror, security, civil nuclear energy and trade will figure prominently.

I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas: defence, space and civil nuclear energy. As well as education, research, culture. Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance, he said while identifying railways, smart cities, food security, higher education and cinema as areas where the two countries can further cooperate.

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Hyderabad:

Amid rising protests by students outside Hyderabad University, the Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile has gone on an indefinite leave, notified University on Sunday.



The information about his leave was posted on Universitys online portal.

From past couple of days, students have been protesting and demanding action against the vice chancellor, after his name had been mentioned in Police FIR over Rohith Vemula suicide.



The Dalit student was found hanging on January 13, two weeks after he and his four other friends were suspended from varsity following a complaint by RSS activists.



On Thursday, the varsity administration had revoked suspension of Rohith's comrades, hours after 15 Dalit professors submitted their resignations accusing Union Education Minister Smriti Irani of distorting the facts related to the suicide.



Smriti Irani, on the other hand, had been saying that the death has nothing to do with the political parties.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that the controversial retrospective taxation is a thing of the past and this chapter will never be opened again in India, a statement aimed at addressing the concerns of foreign investors over predictability in the tax regime.



Addressing the business leaders of France and India here in presence of French President Francois Hollande, Modi said his government wants to ensure that foreign investors are clear about tax systems that will prevail in India over the next 15 years.



I am for stable governance and predictable taxation system. The government is taking various steps to ensure this stability. This government is known for stable and predictable tax regime, he said.



In this context he referred to the Retrospective tax imposed in 2012 through amendments in the Income Tax Act, a step which had led to an outcry and anxiety among the investors, particularly the foreign ones.



Retrospective tax is a matter of past. That chapter will not be opened again. We are ensuring that neither this government nor the future governments can open this chapter, Modi told the India-France Business Summit.



Whosoever makes investment in the country should know about the taxation system in the country over the next five years, 10 years, 15 years, he said.



The French President, who began his three-day visit from here today, is accompanied by a large delegation of CEOs.



Inviting French companies, especially those in the defence sector to manufacture in India and take advantage of low costs involved, the Prime Minister said India provides huge business opportunity for them.



India wants to enter the field of defence manufacturing. ... I assure French companies present here, especially in the field of defence manufacturing that we can do a lot in the area of defence manufacturing.



We are working towards improving quality of life. We are working on good governance. These are the two initiatives that world is attracted towards, Modi said.



India has witnesssed 40 per cent increase in foreign direct investments and established itself as an important destination for foreign capital, he said.



The Prime Minister said Indias ranking in the Ease of Doing Business has improved by 12 points in a short span of time after his government took over.



The inflow of 40 per cent FDI in short period of time is a proof that the world has recognizes India as important destination, he said.



He said there are many opportunities to work on different fields between India and France. It is like made for each other. What you (France) have is our requirement and what you need is the market which we have, he said.



Seeking the assistance of France in improving countrys infrastructure, rail network and innovation, Modi said, Our development model requires the expertise of France. We have to move forward in infrastructure, rail, maritime, even waterways.



He said India also wants to play a significant role in a fight against global warming. We want to reduce carbon foot print and move towards waterways, he said.



Modi added that his government was in the process of shifting its railways from diesel to electric mode.



We want to strengthen the rail infrastructure. For 50 metro stations, we want to set up infrastructure and France has the capability (to do it), he said.



Noting that Innovation was Frances biggest strength, Modi said both India and France could work in this field.



Sharing the France Presidents concern over terrorism, Modi said that terrorism was a challenge for mankind and it has to be fought collectively by the world.



You (Hollande) expressed concern that the way global warming poses problem for mankind. The same way terrorism poses a big challenge. France has shown the way to the world that terror attack which killed innocent people should not affect the development...within days of terror attack (in Paris in September last), France hosted several world leaders for the Paris climate summit which was a brave act, he said.



He also appreciated the response of Frances public and media in the aftermath of terror strike and said lessons needed to be learnt from it.

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Chandigarh:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, admitted to a hospital here following chest congestion and fever, to enquire about his health.



Before flying back to the national capital after winding up his day-long visit to Chandigarh from where French President Francois Hollande began his three-day trip to the country, the Prime Minister met Badal to enquire about his well being.



Modi spent a few minutes at the hospital enquiring about his well being, official sources told PTI.



PGIMER officials said that Badals condition was stable and he was recovering fast.



Shiromani Akali Dal General Secretary and Badals advisor on national affairs, Harcharan Singh Bains said the Chief Minister was recovering and under observation.



He is doing fine. There is nothing to worry, Bains said.



Two days back, Badal was admitted to a local hospital in Nawanshahar after he had complained of congestion in the chest.



The 88-year-old had suffered chest spasm soon after he had just concluded the Sangat Darshan at village Behloor Kalan in Nawanshar on Friday.



Earlier in the day, Punjab Food Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon received the Prime Minister on behalf of Badal.

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New Delhi:

Suspended JD(U) MLA Sarfaraz Alam was arrested today in connection with the alleged misbehaviour and abuse of a Delhi-based couple onboard a Rajdhani Express on January 17 but was released late tonight on conditional bail.



Alam was called for questioning again earlier in the day, the second time since yesterday, and put under arrest later on, Railway Superintendent of Police P N Mishra told PTI.



Alam, the third term JD(U) MLA from Jokihat in Araria district, was subjected to more grilling after his arrest, the SP said.



His body guard and a personal staff who had accompanied him on Rajdhani Express on January 17 were also arrested along with him.



Later, tonight the MLA was released on conditional bail on two sureties of Rs 20,000 each, Mishra said, adding his body guard and personal staff have also been released.



The Jokihat MLA was released from GRP Patna on five conditions.



These included depositing his passport so that he can not leave the country during pendency of the probe in the case, the SP said.



Other conditions included he would neither meet the complainant nor apply any pressure on the couple, will cooperate in the ongoing investigation, will acquire a regular bail from a court and deposit two sureties of Rs 20,000 each, he added.



The bail was granted by the Rail police after the MLAs advocate SBK Mangalam pleaded that under CrPC 41 the MLA could not be arrested.



The JD(U) MLA, who is the son of RJD MP from Araria Mohammad Taslimuddin, was allowed to go home last night on medical grounds after four hours of questioning in connection with the case.



The alleged abuse took place on Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on January 17.



During questioning yesterday, the MLA admitted to travelling in the train on January 17 but claimed he did not abuse the couple.



Earlier, he had denied travelling in the train.

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Terror Groups Eyeing Israel's Destruction from inside NGOs



Two stalwarts go sleuthing:



"The research suggests that antisemitism is the fuel that primes the PSC engine"



'For as long as these antisemites wrap themselves up in the Palestinian flag, too many people are willing to turn a blind eye. Only against Jews is this type of racism openly tolerated. It is flourishing in schools, colleges, universities, unions and in city councils. In fact, so rampant is the disease now, in some settings you can be ostracised if you do not partake in the frenzy yourself. Bashing Jews has becomes a trendy position for the ignorant social justice warrior. "Palestinianism" is a viral "ponzi scheme" and as it spreads, it carries antisemitism in the undergrowth.' David Collier (2017)

'This new rise in antisemitism, which I had thought long dead, was not shaven-headed white imbeciles from the far right. It was Muslims, a large chunk of it.... Suddenly I grasped that the British far left didnt want people to know about antisemitism because it pointed the finger at people they really, really liked. From that moment on, it all fell into place.... Time and again the same tropes emerged, the same sort of stuff that Streicher and Goebbels would have commended  and uttered.... And from that a whole bunch of other stuff emerged: the old blood libel business (a favourite of the repulsive Jenny Tonge).... Nice, avuncular, Jeremy Corbyn, with his peace badges, happily laying a wreath at the graveside of Palestinian terrorists who murdered innocent Jewish athletes, oh, and much much more.... It is the same antisemitism, exactly the same: the obsession with Israel to the exclusion of everything else, the conspiracy theory paranoias, the derangement.... Heres the test  if you cannot see the flagrant racism in the BDS movement, and if you are obsessed with the perfidy of the Middle Easts only democracy to the exclusion of all else, you are an antisemite. That means a good proportion of the Labour Party, including the leader, and almost all of Momentum: no brown shirts, no marching bands, but the same old filth, dressed in the clothes of a polytechnic geography lecturer.'

Rod Liddle (2018)



Pro-Israel Down Under







Shalom and Welcome to my blog!

I'm the little Aussie blogger who took the screenshot and broke the story of Stephen Sizer's notorious 9/11 post, and I've since broken two other stories that subsequently went viral, one Australia-wide and one, thanks to the sterling work of two other bloggers, worldwide. I remain very surprised and very honoured to have been co-winner, Best Pro-Israel Blog, Hasby Awards, 2013

Please "Like" me on Facebook; my Facebook page is here









'In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel ... is different.... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.... Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East.' Bibi Netanyahu (20 Iyar 5771; 24 May 2011)

Scroll to end for more quotations





Tired of anti-Balfour agitprop?



Balfour and Beyond



Try this for Sizer



'Before the June 1967 Six Day War, there were no such things as "settlements". Palestinians were trying to destroy and displace Israel anyhow. The core problem is not, and never was, "settlements," but the right of Israel (or any non-Muslim nation) to exist inside any borders in that part of the world.

If you take a stand that is based on a lie, then that stand cannot succeed. If you try to oppose antisemitism but pretend it is the same thing as "Islamophobia," then the structure on which you have made your stand will totter and all your aspirations will fail. If you try to make a stand based on the idea that settlement construction rather than the intransigence of the Palestinians to the existence of a Jewish state is what is holding up a peace deal, then facts will keep on intruding.' Douglas Murray (31 December 2016)

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9685/britain-little-lies

BDS is Antisemitic



The Bigotry & Immorality of BDS



'Islamophobia does NOT come from the same wellspring of hatred as antisemitism. Antisemitism is a true prejudice because the hatred and demonisation it promotes derive entirely from lies and a repudiation of rationality itself.

Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world.

[L]ethally compromised even-handedness is to misunderstand, and thus minimise, antisemitic attitudes and behaviour while shutting down legitimate and necessary discussion of the threat from the Islamic world  even to demonise as Islamophobic anyone who draws attention to the extent and consequences of Muslim antisemitism.' Melanie Phillips (14 December 2016)

"Selling a house to a Jew is a betrayal of Allah"



Maps of Mendacity & Mischief



These misleading maps were deliberately prepared to date from 1946  intentionally papering over the momentous events that had occurred between 1917 and 1945. Attempts to unravel binding precepts of international law established between 1917 and 1945  and failing to insist on their being upheld and enforced  has a lot to do with the sorry situation the world finds itself in today. David Singer (2016)

How They Twist the Truth!



Jews have re-assumed the role of the canary in the mine and are the first to be targeted, but the world would face the same threat if Jews did not exist. Israel has been at the front lines confronting Islamic extremism but has received scant support... For Jews, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. The virulence of the antisemitic hatred closing in on Jews in Europe (and elsewhere) is horrifying...

Europe is today facing a crisis as serious as the confrontation with Nazism. If Western leaders continue behaving like Chamberlain and fail to stand up to this global threat, it could usher in a new Dark Age in which the Judeo-Christian culture is subsumed by primitive barbarism. The writing is on the wall Isi Leibler (12 January 2015)



Expose The Lies! There is a war of lies and deceit on the internet generating unbelievable hate by denigrating and delegitimising the legal rights conferred on the Jewish people by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in 1945. The idea that there are two narratives on the Arab-Jewish conflict is rubbish. There is only one  the factual truth that details the return of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical, ancestral and historic homeland after 3500 years of dispersion with the unanimous endorsement of the nation states then comprising the League of Nations.... Generals cant fight a war without soldiers. Jews around the world need to join the fight or vacate the internet to the Jew-haters and their lies that repeated often enough eventually become accepted as truth. David Singer (2016)



Exposing Lies



The "Apartheid" Slur The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas A, B and C was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.

95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.

Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.

Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.

There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area A. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation  and subjugation  by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance.

The narratives did not begin in 1948  they began in about 1917. How do you make peace with an enemy that has been obsessed with not recognising any Jewish national rights in former Palestine for the last 100 years? David Singer (2016)



Telling the Truth



The Jews of the Holy Land ... are surrounded by hostile states 650 times their territory and sixty times their population. Yet their last, best hope of ending two millennia of international persecution - the State of Israel - has somehow survived. When, during the Second World War, the island of Malta came through three terrible years of bombardment and destruction, it was rightly awarded the George Cross for bravery. Today, Israel should be awarded a similar decoration for defending democracy, tolerance and Western values against a murderous onslaught that has lasted twenty times as long. Andrew Roberts (historian)





A voice of courage & reason



He knows, y'know



An Aussie demo against BDS



On the left, black people are usually allowed to define whats racism; women can define sexism; Muslims are trusted to define Islamophobia. But when Jews call out something as antisemitic, leftist non-Jews feel curiously entitled to tell Jews theyre wrong, that they are exaggerating or lying or using it as a decoy tactic  and to then treat them to a long lecture on what anti-Jewish racism really is. Jonathan Freedland (The Guardian, 29 April 2016)

An awkward fact for some!



Socialist thought was tainted from its very origins with the heavy baggage of anti-Jewish stereotypes. Robert Wistrich, From Ambivalence to Betrayal:The Left, the Jews, and Israel (2012)

BDS hypocrisy!



Want more?



Israel is understandably obsessed with security, but its greatest security lies ultimately not in the Israeli Defence Forces, but in political warfare.... Most of the world is not deeply interested in what happens in Israel, and probably does not want to be deluged with legalistic defences of particular actions. What it wants is a clear, calm, repeated case. It is a case  aimed more at public opinion than at foreign ministries  about freedom, democracy, a Western way of life and the need for the whole of the free world to fight terrorism. Sometimes you hear Israelis say: It doesnt matter what we say. The whole world is against us. You can see why they say it, for they are indeed unfairly treated. But when they say it, they are uttering a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they wont say what needs saying, no one else will say it for them. Charles Moore (2010)



#Je suis ISRAEL



Aujourdhui, lantisemitisme est masque par lantisionisme. Il faut dire les choses comme elles sont! ["Today, antisemitism wears the mask of anti-Zionism. We must tell things as they are!"] Nicolas Sarkozy (27 May 2015)





Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.

Alan Sillitoe (The Times, 11 October 1973)







A nuclear Iran threatens our existence



Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam... In this deadly game of thrones, theres no place for America or for Israel, no place for Christians, Jews or Muslims who dont share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone... [T]he greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We cant let that happen...[T]he days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves....Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But ... I know that America stands with Israel... You stand with Israel, because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to historys horrors. Bibi Netanyahu (12 Adar 5775; 3 March 2015)





The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions, of people, and there is no refugee problem.... [N]o one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.... Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.... [A]s it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us. Eric Hoffer (1968)



My archived Tuesday blogs at Elder of Ziyon



  ,   



Most of the present Arab countries were given their freedom after the 1914-18 War, or after the 1939-45 War.... Yet to listen to Arab spokesmen one might think that they had been cheated ... because they have not also got Israel. Israel is only .2 per cent of the land where Arab States have been established. Surely no fair-minded man can begrudge the Jews their own promised land when it is remembered that for every 2 acres that went to make up Israel, 1,000 acres became Arab.... Why is there an Arab refugee problem? The oil-rich countries have the money. There is no shortage of land, and the Israelis have the technical knowledge to show how it could be developed and made fertile. Bring those things together and the problem could be solved. 3rd Earl of Balfour (1968)









Blog Archive





January 7, 2015 has already its place in the history of infamy, but also will be the date when the defenders of freedom and democracy will rise and pay tribute to those who died for their freedom and ours. Therefore, we must not forget on which side we are and who are our allies in the defense of the West and its values. Whether we admit it or not, the West is at war with an enemy who will not stop to destroy us...

The State of Israel boasts a commandment that, in one of the darkest hours in the fight for liberty Winston Churchill taught: "Never give up". Israel has proven to be a key ally in the fight against Islamism and also an example of how a liberal democracy can resist the jihadist stake and thrive as a Western nation ... Not only France but also all the West should look to Israel to defeat Islamism...

friendsofisraelinitiative.org





[I]ts impossible to believe that an active antisemite wouldnt  if only opportunistically  seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like....[T]ell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can never be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs... Howard Jacobson (The Independent, 27 May 2013)





What has happened to the 800,000 Jews who lived for over 2000 years in the Arab lands ...? Where are they in Arab society today? You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride ... to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Chaim Herzog (6 Kislev 5736; 10 November 1975)







I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews.... I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And, disgusted by the antisemitism of many Europeans ... I am shamed by this shame that dishonours my country and Europe. Oriana Fallaci









For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values, rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is lost and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Jose Maria Aznar









Israel is, for us, a normal and a special country. A normal country, because it is just like any other democracy. A special country, because the Jewish culture, which eventually became the Judeo-Christian culture of the dignity of man, is the conceptual foundation of liberalism and democracy. This is why attacking Israel is tantamount to attacking Europe and the West. This is also why disputing Israel's legitimacy and its right to existence means questioning democracy. And this is why we are Friends of Israel. By defending Israel, we are defending ourselves. Marcello Pera









Israel ... is beset today by a unique combination of threats. It must defend its people from attack while defending its very right to exist. No other nation in the world faces this dual challenge. To deny Israel's right to confront some of the world's most vicious terrorist groups in order to ensure the safety of its citizens is to corrode international norms from within ... The assault on Israel is one part of a more general assault on the West, on democracy, and on the moral and cultural heritage that grew from the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome ... Should these efforts succeed, similar efforts will certainly be turned against other western democracies. George Weigel









Apart from America itself, Israel still stands as the world's brightest model of national self-liberation based on ideals of individual responsibility and human freedom. Israel's ability to withstand Arab attempts to destroy it in one of the longest and most lop-sided wars ever fought serves as an indelible testimony to the strength of democratic culture.... We know from the past that the West paid dearly for ignoring Hitler's war against the Jews. One can only hope it will not pay as dearly for having ignored or underestimated for so long the Arab war against Israel and the Jews. Ruth Wisse







The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)









I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola









About Me Daphne Anson I'm a writer/researcher, with many academic books and articles under my own name. Daphne Anson is my blogging alias. Combining the names of two ships, it's a moniker of special significance to me - I'm a naval history buff. I use an alias owing to a perceived need to keep my blogging and professional identities separate. An Aussie, I've long been interested in politics and foreign affairs, having studied International Relations in the USA and Britain for my first degree, and I also hold a doctorate. I began blogging in response to the exponential rise in antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara affair. Another reason I use an alias: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2015/08/alias-two-ships-daphne-anson.html View my complete profile





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Ali Mohammad al-Nimr

The UK has an option either to stay with this regime or go to a better place and condemn these barbaric acts'





The son of a senior Shia cleric executed by Saudi Arabia has challenged David Cameron to speak out about what he called the murder of his father, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and the death sentence that hangs over his cousin, Ali al-Nimr.





Sheikh Nimr was beheaded on 2 January along with 46 others . Nearly all were alleged to be members of al-Qaeda. The cleric was 1 of 4 Shia men from the country's restive Eastern Province who were executed for allegedly plotting the overthrow of the government. Ali al-Nimr, a juvenile when he was arrested, and 2 other young Shia, also juveniles, face being beheaded at any time.





Mohammed al-Nimr, 29, spoke to The Independent on Sunday from Indianapolis where he moved 5 years ago to study mechanical engineering at the University of Indiana. "The UK," he said "has an option either to stay with this regime or go to a better place and condemn these barbaric acts."





He urged the Prime Minister to intervene with the Saudis to save his cousin. "I say to you, Mr Cameron, that if you as a British citizen value freedom and if you value human life, then please imagine Ali as your son and ask yourself what would you do?"





Fearing for his own safety, Mr Nimr has not returned to Saudi Arabia for nearly two years. His uncle, the sheikh's brother, was detained on the day the death sentence was handed down in 2014 for tweeting about it. Mr Nimr said that the execution of his father and the continuing threat to his cousin have had a devastating impact on the family.





In 2013, 1 year into his father's incarceration, his mother died while receiving treatment at a hospital in New York. "It is not easy at all. We are doing our best to save Ali and we live in hope that one day he will be free," he said.





Exacerbating their grief is the fact the Nimr al-Nimr's body has not been returned to the family for burial. The Saudi authorities have said that all those executed were buried together in an unknown place according to Muslim practice. "There is no doctrine in Islam that would say do not return the body," his son said. "We have the right to a proper burial."





The family does not know what was done to his father before he was executed. In the harsh Wahhabist version of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, the condemned can have hands or feet cut off before beheading. "The world should know what a brutal and barbaric regime this is."





He described his father as an advocate of non-violent change. "He was a man who would not accept oppression or tolerate any tyrant, but he always spoke about the peaceful way to demand rights."





In a memo released by the Saudi embassy in London shortly after the executions, Nimr al-Nimr was described as having direct involvement in terrorist activities. The memo claimed the cleric was "involved in incitement, planning terrorist attacks, arming militants, and was apprehended following a gunfight with security officials".





Mohammed al-Nimr rejects all those charges. He says there is not a single piece of evidence to prove the allegations. "Bring 1 proof, 1 piece of evidence to show that he was armed or that he was violent, just 1. They cannot."





Sheikh Nimr had been a long-time critic of the ruling House of Saud. He had repeatedly called for elections and an end to discrimination against the Shia. His popularity soared during the Arab Spring, and he condemned the Saudi-led invasion of neighbouring Bahrain that helped crush a largely Shia-led protest calling for democratic reform there.





The cleric's arrest in 2012 led to massive street protests as thousands came out in the Eastern Province to demand his release. Ignoring the protests, the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to deal with terror suspects and human rights activists, sentenced him to death in October 2014.





It was a decision that Amnesty International described as "part of a campaign by the authorities in Saudi Arabia to crush all dissent, including those [activists] defending the rights of the Kingdom's Shia Muslim community".





Mohammed al-Nimr says his father's only crime was to call for freedom and humanity. "He told the people that 'the government wants you to be violent so they can have a legitimate cause to kill you, but the loud roar of words is mightier than the sound of bullets'."





An only son, he remembers his father as one who took him for morning prayers just before sunrise and how after prayers they would walk through the palm groves in their hometown of Qatif. "He would put aside politics and his role as a cleric and we would discuss matters related to me and things I needed advice on. He was a father to me."





Mr Nimr is fearful that if he returns to Saudi Arabia he will be arrested, but he is determined to carry on fighting for the sake of his father and to save his cousin's life.





"It is a crime and one day I will prove it in a court of law - and before the whole world - that whoever was involved will get the justice they deserve for the crimes they have committed."





Source: independent.co.uk, January 24, 2016




The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has said that no democracy in the world could survive without strict adherence to the...

The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has said that no democracy in the world could survive without strict adherence to the rule of law.This is contained in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Uche Anichukwu and issued to newsmen on Saturday in Abuja.According to the statement, Ekweremadu made the remark at a dinner organised by the International Law Institute (ILI), Washington DC, for its alumni in Nigeria.He noted that no country could experience meaningful development without the rule of law.He said: Democracy becomes gravely imperilled if the powers of the judiciary to enforce compliance with the rule of law are subjected to legal, extra-legal, and sociological limitations.Our task as an emerging democracy is to continue to build a society where government agencies as well as individuals and private entities must be subjected to and accountable under the law.We must ensure that the process by which laws are enacted, administered, and enforced is accessible, fair and efficient.We must ensure that justice is delivered according to established laws, timeously, competently, ethically and independently.I hold the opinion and fervently so that the principle of the rule of law is at the heart of the survival of democracy.A democracy without the rule of law is like salt that has lost its saltiness.The Senator noted that the World Bank had indicated that economic growth, political modernisation, protection of human rights and other worthy objectives, were hinged on the rule of law.He expressed concern that developing nations, which were in dire need of development, lacked the rule of law to a large extent.He attributed the situation to lack of strong democratic institutions, lack of independence of the judiciary and political instability.Ekweremadu assured that the National Assembly would continue to partner ILI to build the capacity of its members and parliamentary staff.The statement quoted Kim Phan, the Executive Director of ILI, as expressing happiness with the growth of democracy in Nigeria.She also expressed joy with the opportunity the institute had to be part of the countrys success story.She said that the institute was committed to the growth of democracy and development of Nigeria.
The leader of the Social Democratic Party and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, has said he has yet to return to the ...

The leader of the Social Democratic Party and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, has said he has yet to return to the All Progressives Party.He, however, said talks are ongoing to ensure his reconciliation with the APC.Osoba defected from the APC in the build up to the 2015 general elections and co-founded the SDP.The former APC chieftain spoke against the background of his current noticeable hobnobbing with chieftains of the ruling party.Osoba on Saturday told our correspondent on the telephone that talks were in top gear between him and the top echelon of the APC on what he called an amicable reconciliation.When asked if he had returned to the APC, Osoba replied, No, no. But there is an ongoing discussion between us but there is no final decision yet. I believe that the good cause of the Yoruba and the nation will give us the grace to come to an amicable reconciliation.The ex-governor told our correspondent that the split between him and the other progressives prior to the 2015 general election was nothing personal.He said the issues which led to his departure from the APC were being discussed and addressed in the ongoing talks.Osoba noted that he had been a progressive and remained one; which was why he had not crossed to the conservatives.He said, They (his grievances) are part of what we are discussing. We are discussing the implementation of our constitution. It has been a major issue and we are discussing it.There was nothing personal about the whole thing. There was nothing personal amongst us. It was only issues affecting progressivism. I am still a progressive; that is why I wont go to the conservative rank under any circumstance.The SDP chieftain, however, declined comments on the N100m allegedly given to the National Chairman of the SDP, Chief Olu Falae, by a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Tony Anenih, which was alleged to be part of the $2.1bn arms procurement fund diverted by former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, (retd.).On what will be the fate of the SDP should his current talks with the APC become successful, Osoba said, The SDP remains, because the party has elective members at all levels of legislation in the country. There are state assembly members and members of the House of Representatives.Virtually by law, the SDP remains a party. The Independent National Electoral Commission cannot deregister the SDP. But I dont want to comment further on that.The ex-Ogun governor debunked insinuations that his supposed return to the APC fold was in preparation for the 2019 general election, saying it was too early to make such prediction and move.He said, The government is less than one year old and none of us is God. One must not predict tomorrow not to talk of predicting 2019.
A mother of two, Mrs. Oyinyechi Chinaka, is recuperating after she was reportedly stabbed several times by her neighbour (names withhe...

A mother of two, Mrs. Oyinyechi Chinaka, is recuperating after she was reportedly stabbed several times by her neighbour (names withheld) in Mushin area of Lagos.Mrs Chinaka was rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, but she lost her seven months pregnancy.The victims agony began after she allegedly caught the neighbour stealing money from her purse and, not wanting the woman to expose him at number 11, Anjorin Street, Mushin, Lagos, the suspect was said to have stabbed Mrs. Chinaka with a kitchen knife severally on her stomach ,arm and neck and left her to bleed to death .The mother of two could have died but for the timely intervention of neighbours who went looking for her and called for help after they saw her lying in her room in a pool of blood.While neighbours were at a loss about what happened to her, the assailant went about as if nothing happened until he was found out by his elder brother and he confessed to stabbing Mrs. Chinaka .The victim, who spoke to newsmen on her hospital bed, narrated,  I was at home that fateful day when my children came to me in the kitchen where I was cooking to say electricity had been restored, and that I should come to the living room to play a cartoon video, called Power Ranger, for them. I left what I was doing and went to operate the television for them. But to my astonishment, I saw the neighbour in my room. He was going through my purse to steal money. I caught him red handed. He was shocked .I said,  So, you are the one stealing all the money that has been missing in this compound. I was shocked because I trusted him and we had never quarrelled before. I usually left my children with him and he entered my house the way he liked, but for him to be stealing was shocking to me. As I was still talking to him, he ran out of the room and before I knew what was happening, he came back with a kitchen knife and told me that he will stab me with it. I thought he was joking but to my shock, he moved close and, as I attempted to escape, he held me and started stabbing me with the knife . He stabbed me until I lost consciousness. I did not know what happened next. I only found myself in hospital and, after surgery, I was revived. My husband told me that I was stabbed and would have died but for Gods mercy. I could not feel my baby anymore. I was seven months pregnant but my baby was not kicking.Mr. Henry , Mrs Chinakas brother- in-law, explained the trouble the family went through to get medical help for her. When we heard that she was stabbed, the family rallied round and rushed her to LUTH. Doctors told us that she had to use the only ICU machine but a lot of people were on queue to use it. We ran helter skelter to look for money to deposit for her treatment. We had to deposit N500,000 and we have spent more than a million naira on her treatment but nobody knew who stabbed her and she was on life support machine for months . Unknown to us, the assailants elder brother had reported him to the police at the Olosan Police Station and the police had charged him to court for attempted murder without carrying out thorough investigation nor did they visit the woman in the hospital , Henry said.  We have been prevailing on the police to include the case of murder in the charge against the assailant because the woman lost her seven months old pregnancy due to the stabbing. The baby is in the mortuary but the DPO of the Olosan Police Station and the IPO are not ready to cooperate with us as they went on to charge the boy to court without hearing from the family of the victim. We are appealing to the police to revisit the case and amend the charge to include murder. We want justice to be done.A human rights activist, Mr. Ishola Agbodemu, urged the police to get justice for the victim, especially in the light of the lost pregnancy.If she had not been stabbed and made to go through such a terrible experience, she would have given birth to a child by now. The childs murder should not be overlooked by the police, Agbodemu said.In his statement to the police, the suspect said he was pushed by an evil spirit to stab Mrs. Chinaka.I went to her house to steal money. She caught me but a spirit told me to stab her, so I went to the kitchen and took the knife and stabbed her with it. I stabbed her because I did not want her to reveal to other neighbours that I am a thief. I fled the house when I saw blood gushing out. It was my brother who exposed me. He saw a cut wound on my hand and he questioned me where I got it. I had to confess to him that I used knife to stab Mrs Chinaka. My elder brother took me to the Olosan police station and I was arrested.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged not to facilitate the rescue of the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls being held captive by ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged not to facilitate the rescue of the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls being held captive by Boko Haram through military operation.A former Director at the Military Defence Headquarters, Brigadier-General Ayodele Ojo (retd.), advised the President to release Boko Haram members in exchange for the schoolgirls rather than use military operations to rescue them.President Buhari, in a recent meeting with parents of the girls, said the nation was anxious to have the abductees back and later urged the military to use the right strategy from the ground forces to rescue the pupils.I had a meeting with the mothers and fathers of the Chibok girls. The nation is anxiously waiting for you to provide intelligence on their whereabouts and then, the ground forces developing the strategy and tactics to recover them, Buhari had said penultimate Friday, during a live chat with the commanders and troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, shortly after the wreath-laying ceremony of the 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration in Abuja.However, Ojo revealed that such military efforts by the Federal Government troops could jeopardise the girls safety.I personally will not canvass for a military rescue operation. Such operation is fraught with danger, no matter how meticulously or painstakingly planned. Take, for instance, the United States military attempt in 1980 at a rescue operation of its 52 diplomats held hostage in Iran.Despite the planning that went into it, the rescue operation not only failed, but it resulted in the death of eight American soldiers and the destruction of two of its military aircraft.Having this (botched US rescue operation) at the back of our minds and relating it to getting the Chibok girls back alive, the best option is to negotiate for their release. In doing so, the government should consider the possibility of swapping. Fortunately the President is not averse to negotiations, Ojo said.The ex-general suggested that, for the sake of the schoolgirls, the Federal Government should look at the possibility of acceding to Boko Harams demand by releasing their bomb experts to them in order to have the Chibok girls back home alive.He noted that the US government once swapped five top Taliban commanders in exchange for the release of its soldier, Bowe Bergdahl.Ojo added, The Jordanian government was also prepared to swap its pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh, captured by the Islamic State with Sajida al-Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber in the Jordanian government custody since 2005, whose release ISIS had demanded for.Please note that the failed suicide bomber had been in Jordanian custody for nine good years. Yet, they were prepared to swap her for their pilot. I am, therefore, pleading with the Federal Government to swap the Boko Haram bomb experts with the Chibok girls.
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian police have detained seven men suspected of being an Islamic State militant cell that was plotting attacks, authorities said Sunday.

The seven Malaysians were detained over the past three days in a follow-up operation after the Jan. 15 detention of a man who was planning a suicide attack in Kuala Lumpur, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

Among the items seized were 30 types of bullets, jihad books and Islamic State flags and videos, he said.

"All the suspects are members of the same (terror) cell, which is responsible for planning to launch terror attacks in strategic locations across Malaysia," Khalid said in a statement.

The suspect thought to be the cell leader is a 31-year-old assistant housekeeping manager at a hotel in southern Johor state, Khalid said. He said one of the suspects, whom he didn't identify, received orders from Bahrom Naim, an Indonesian based in Syria who had a role in planning the Jakarta attacks.

Malaysia raised its security alert level following the attacks Jan. 14 in neighboring Indonesia.

More than 150 people suspected of having ties to the Islamic State group have been detained in Malaysia over the past two years, including some accused of plotting attacks in Kuala Lumpur.
Nigerians living in Gauteng Province of South Africa have protested the alleged extra-judicial killing of a 34- year-old man, Timothy Ch...

Nigerians living in Gauteng Province of South Africa have protested the alleged extra-judicial killing of a 34- year-old man, Timothy Chinedu, by the police.Mathew Okafor, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union in Gauteng Province, told the News Agency of Nigeria on phone from Johannesburg that Mr. Chinedu was allegedly suffocated to death by the police after his arrest at 9.00 a.m. on Saturday.Mr. Chinedu is a native of Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo.Mr. Okafor claimed that another Nigerian, who witnessed the incident at Kempton Park in Ekulurheni Municipality, Gauteng Province, saw the South African police arrest the deceased, tie his hands and cover his face with a cellophane bag.We suspect that Chinedu died of suffocation. That is why Nigerians in the province mobilised and staged a protest against this extra-judicial killing .The South African police is alleging that he died after ingesting drugs but a Nigerian witnessed the entire incident and reported it to usThe case has been handed over to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) that investigates police misconduct in South Africa.We have been given the contacts of key persons that we need to be talking to as this investigation proceeds so that we can monitor the development.An autopsy is being carried out and we are waiting for the coroners report.We have also reported this incident to the national body of Nigeria Union and Nigerian Mission in South Africa.We have also gotten the contacts of the relatives of the deceased and we have duly informed them of the tragedy, Mr. Okafor said.The President of Nigeria Union in South Africa, Ikechukwu Anyene, said the body had received the report of the incident.We take exception to the continued torture of Nigerians by the South African police.The union believes that there is the due process to follow after a suspect is arrested instead of resorting to torture, he said.Mr. Anyene urged the Federal Government to intervene by persuading the South African government to look into the continued killings of Nigerians by the police.We also want to state that the Nigerian did not die of drug ingestion as being alleged by the South African police, he said.Nigeria`s Consul General to South Africa, Uche Ajulu-Okeke, said that the mission had received the report of the killing of the Nigerian.She said the mission would investigate the incident and present a report to the Federal Government.Ms. Ajulu-Okeke, however, appealed to Nigerians to remain law abiding and report any incident to the union and the mission.(NAN)
Properties worth millions of naira, including the building of the Sapele Modern Market, were on Friday night destroyed by a fire outb...

Properties worth millions of naira, including the building of the Sapele Modern Market, were on Friday night destroyed by a fire outbreak.Eyewitnesses said more than 200 shops with assorted goods were lost to the fire.The intervention of local fire fighters was said to have prevented the fire from spreading to residential houses around.It was learnt that the fire, which started around midnight, was suspected to have been caused by high voltage from the power supply.A source confirmed that the fire started midnight due to a surge in power supply, which caused the sparks that eventually consumed the market.Sapele modern market was recently renovated by the state government after a protracted battle by the market traders for relocation by the government.The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs. Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the incident, described it as unfortunate and painful.She said the fire could not be put out before the arrival of the state fire service.
Some top officials of the civil service have been dismissed by the federal government for extorting money from 400 applicants and offeri...

Some top officials of the civil service have been dismissed by the federal government for extorting money from 400 applicants and offering them employment illegally.The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, made the disclosure on Saturday in Lagos during a meeting with some selected on-air-personalities.The meeting was part of the ministers five-day consultations with critical stakeholders in the media industry.Mohammed said the affected officers were on Grade Level 17 in one of the parastatals in the ministry.He said the officers had included the names of the applicants in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System before the fraud was discovered.Mohammed said, The first scandal I met in one of the parastatals when I assumed office was the illegal employment of 400 people.This scandal started with very senior officers up to level 17 in that department. They sent out letters and text messages asking people to apply for jobs for a fee of N400, 000 and they were given letters of employment.They did not stop there. They invited these people to go and be captured on the IPPIS and they even took cameras to hotels to get them captured. At the end of the day, the bubble burst.One of the victims told these officials: you cannot take my money and still disengage me. I have a valid letter. That is how we got to know that there is a dedicated account these people pay to.Of course, we dismissed these officials and we even handed them over to the police.The minister said the incident showed how faulty the IPPIS was and how it had been compromised by unscrupulous elements. He also said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was doing all it could to make the IPPIS tamper-proof and guide it from people who might want to load ghost workers on it.He described on-air personalities as very important in the media industry and urged them to leverage on their platforms to educate the people on governments policies. The minister said the current war against corruption was a war of survival for the nation and urged all Nigerians to give it the necessary support.
Just few days after Dammy Krane accused Wizkid of stealing his song, Veteran dancehall act and a former member of the defunct Afro-pop si...

Blackface who spoke to, said the young hip-hop artiste had been copying many of his songs for a long time but he decided to keep quiet just to let peace reign. The Benue State-born raga performer however said he decided to speak out now because he could no longer sit and watch someone else take the glory for his efforts.The latest controversy follows the release of a new song by Blackface titled Killa where he was believed to have taken a swipe on Wizkid for allegedly copying many of his songs especially two tracks from his Dancehall Business album released in 2010.I never really wanted to talk about it all this while but after people started checking out my new song, Killa, many felt Blackface sounded like Wizkid, which I didnt like.If you check properly, you would realise that Wizkids hit, Ojuelegba, sounds exactly the same as the track 13 on my dancehall album released as far back as 2010. You need to listen to that album to know what I am talking about. The song is so similar that I think it shouldnt be that way.Well, in Killa, I sang that they tried to copy my melody, and the bloggers got a hint of the gist and put their reports out. What I said is the truth and I am going to get to the root of this matter because I deserve justice.The Ojuelegba song has made so much revenue for Wizkid. I am not bothered about that but I want the industry to be in a position whereby people will understand that some of the artistes and the songs they are cheering is someone elses efforts, especially fellow artistes that they are doing everything to bring down. All they are doing is to bring down Blackface and to say that he is not relevant in the industry. Some people are bent on killing my legacy. I believe there is definitely a gang-up against me in the industry and this has been going on for a long time, he said.Asked if he had taken on Wizkid personally on the matter, the dancehall artiste said he did his best in that regard but that the response from the Star Boy act shocked him. To get justice on this issue, Blackface disclosed to Saturday Beats that he could seek legal redress if Wizkid or others do not refrain from stealing his intellectual properties.There was a time Wizkid followed me on twitter and I told him that I dont want him taking my songs and that if he wants to do any of my rhythm, he should let me know. I told him that because I was just being a big brother to him. I told him that our songs cant be sounding so similar and that if he wants anything, he should let me know. But after some time, he unfollowed me and it was shortly after then that the Ojuelegba song was released. I dont have any problem with Wizkid or any other person, all I am saying is that they shouldnt be tampering with my songs because those are my properties.Wizkid and I do different kinds of music and he doesnt have my type of skill. I dont have a problem with that. I am only bothered when somebody takes my song and tries to turn it around into theirs without giving me due credit, he said.Efforts to reach Wizkid to react to Blackfaces claims proved abortive as his phone numbers were switched off. His manager, Sunday Are, couldnt be reached as his line was switched off as well.Wizkid has been in the news lately for a similar allegation. Hypertek Music artiste, Dammy Krane, also recently accused him of stealing one of his songs. The controversy degenerated into a physical fracas with Wizkid reported to have thrown a glass cup at Krane which injured him during a night out at a club in Lagos. The two are believed to have since mended fence.
New Delhi: The Indian arm of the American motorcycle maker, UM International, LLC UM Motorcycles is all set to launch range of motorcycles in India.

The bike maker will make its debut in India with the start of Auto Expo on February 3rd, 2016 at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida.

The American brand will unveil its Renegade range of cruiser motorcycles: Renegade Sport S, Renegade Commando and Renegade Classic.

"We are thrilled and excited to bring our world-class Renegade range of cruisers, which have been designed and customized for the Indian market. The Renegade series will give Indian buyers a taste of high quality, world class cruisers which are built to tackle the diverse Indian terrain with ease and finesse," said Director-UM India and AMEA, Rajeev Mishra.

"UM Motorcycles stand for design, innovation and quality all at affordable prices. We are confident that India will be delighted with our product offerings. While this would be our second time at India's Auto Expo, having already participated in the Auto Expo 2014, we are extremely excited to finally chart our official entry into India," added Mishra.

The motorcycle comes with wide handlebars and hydraulic telescopic front suspension and spring rear suspension, which is ideal for a cruiser-segment motorcycle. The Renegade Sport S model and Renegade Classic will also share the same engine as the Renegade Commando. The Renegade Sport S was much appreciated when it was showcased at the 2015 EICMA in Milan.

"The wait is almost over with the Auto Expo around the corner. We are extremely excited to partner with UM Motorcycles and bring their globally successful and much-awaited motorcycles to India. With this announcement, we aim at a considerable slice of the market share in the dynamic yet extremely competitive mid-size capacity cruiser market," Ayush Lohia, CEO, Lohia Auto Industries.

UM International in alliance with the UP-based Lohia Auto has invested Rs. 100 crore for business expansion. Manufacturing is already underway at the Lohia Auto's Kashipur facility in Uttarakhand which will also support the Government's 'Make in India' initiative.

Headquartered out of New Delhi in India, the company has started appointing dealers across India. This distribution network will continue to expand taking in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and towns going forward.
Purab Kohli, who gained mainstream attention with the cult movie Rock on, eight years ago, is playing a prominent role in the just- released Akshay Kumar starrer Airlift. Its based on a real life incident that happened in the 90s when 17,000 people were stranded in Kuwait. The story revolves around how one businessman played by Akshay Kumar, takes charge and helps evacuate the entire population, he says.

Purab plays Ibrahim Durani, an employee at a supermarket, who comes in contact with Akshays character. When Ranjit Katyal (Akshays character) is out on a quest to arrange food for the stranded, he meets my character and I end up becoming a co-member in the rescue mission. Also, there is a parallel story running with him searching for his wife after the war breaks out through the course of the movie. Its one of my most interesting roles, till date, he tells.

Working with Akshay Kumar for the first time was a total blast, he says, He is quite an unassuming star. Honestly, I was surprised when he said yes to a film like this. On the set too, he always gives his best, and is constantly making an effort to uplift the film. Purab feels Akshays performance in Airlift will be a huge treat for his fans.

Now, with Airlift having released and declared a hit, he will shift focus to his next movie, Rock On 2 co-starring again with Farhan Akthar and Arjun Rampal. He has already shot for the first schedule, which took place in the picturesque Meghalaya. Meghalaya is beautiful and one of my favourite places in the country.

The camaraderie between the lead characters was much appreciated in Rock On, but Purab feels the bonding was a lot better between them this time around. As we were put up in the same place, we would go camping together, go to the gym, and on off-days, go site seeing as well. The bond formed among us is a lot powerful this time around, he says.

He will also be seen in Netflixs series Sense8, which is in its second season this year. It is made by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski of Matrix fame. I was a part of nine episodes in the first season, and with Netflix coming into India, Im hoping people will start seeing it from the second season onwards. I will be shooting for it this year, he says.

Open to doing regional movies, he says, I need filmmakers to give me time to master the language. I feel that without knowing the language, it becomes difficult to emote convincingly and I might even end up interpreting the wrong feeling.
Tissot brand ambassador Deepika Padukone launching Chemin des Tourelles collection at Tissot Boutique, Connaught Place in New Delhi. Swatch Group India country manager Partha Dattagupta (left) and Tissot India brand manager Puneet Mathur are also seen.

New Delhi: Tissot, the famous Swiss watch brand, has launched one of their classic timepieces  Tissot Chemin des Tourelles.

After launching it, Tissot brand ambassador and actor Deepika Padukone said, It is an honour to be able to launch a product such as the Tissot Chemin des Tourelles collection, which takes its name from the street where the Tissot factory is located. It has history behind it, which I am sure will contribute to its success. It is also a watch that can be matched with formal and casual looks alike. "

The watch is priced between Rs 42,400 to Rs 65,000. It compliments the companys vast years of expertise with a contemporary design with an elegant case that comes in a variety of different finishes, including polished and brushed, demonstrating the technical know-how Tissot puts into every piece.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The House Jan. 6 committee plans to unveil "surprising" details at its next public hearing about the 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. The session Thursday afternoon is likely to be the last public hearing before midterm elections next month. The panel is expected to include new evidence from the U.S. Secret Service about its actions with Donald Trump that day. Ahead of a report later this year, the panel is summing up its findings. The committee says Trump, after he lost the 2020 presidential election, launched an unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory. They say the result was the deadly mob siege of the Capitol.
The Iowa Department of Public Health is conducting a health needs assessment through May to aid in the development of a new five-year health plan, Healthy Iowans: Iowas Health Improvement Plan 2017-2021.

The IDPH is compiling data from various agencies and committees but has also invited Iowa residents to provide input. Recommendations may be made through a form available on the IDPH website at http://idph.iowa.gov/healthy-iowans. Submissions are due by Feb. 29. The updated Healthy Iowans plan will be released in 2017.

To lay the groundwork, IDPH partnered with the University of Iowa College of Public Healths Center for Public Health Statistics on the 2015 State Health Profile for Iowa. The profile is available at http://bit.ly/1TSjqky.

The Nonpareil is publishing a series of articles on the profile to help citizens decide what, if any, concerns they would like to raise about the states health system. The first in the series, which focused on heart disease, ran in the Jan. 17 issue.

According to the 2015 State Health Profile for Iowa, Iowas top 10 causes of death in 2014, in cases per 100,000 population, were the following:

 Heart disease, 203.6 deaths per 100,000 population

 Cancer, 201.2 deaths per 100,000 population

 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 60.2 per 100,000

 Accidental injury, 45.4 deaths per 100,000

 Cerebrovascular disease/stroke, 43.6 per 100,000

 Alzheimers disease, 41.9 deaths per 100,000

 Diabetes, 32.2 deaths per 100,000 population

 Pneumonia/influenza, 17.7 deaths per 100,000

 Infective/parasitic diseases, 14.4 per 100,000

 Suicide, 12.6 deaths per 100,000 population

Deaths from heart disease, cancer (all types combined), stroke, diabetes and pneumonia/influenza are decreasing, according to the profile, while deaths from COPD, accidents, Alzheimers and suicide are increasing. The mortality rate for infective/parasitic diseases is basically flat.

Iowas mortality rate for all cancers combined declined from 179.8 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 172.2 in 2008-12, while the U.S. rate fell from 182 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-07 to 171.5 in 2008-12.

With the increased cancer screenings weve been doing, the whole goal of those is to catch cancers at earlier stages and to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients, said Michelle Kaufman, director of oncology services at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital. With the addition of the Affordable Care Act, more people in our community have that wellness coverage that they might not have had previously, so that allows them to go to the doctor for some of those routine health matters.

The mortality rate for males fell from 221.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 209.1 in 2008-12, and the rate for females eased off from 151.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-07 to 145.3 in 2008-12.

As with heart disease, the mortality rate for all cancers combined is highest among African Americans, whose average fell from 247.3 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 226.3 in 2008-12.

Access to care is definitely an issue  and, again, hopefully with the ACA, more individuals will be able to have coverage, Kaufman said.

The rate for whites decreased from 179.2 in 2005-07 to 171.1 in 2008-12.

Unfortunately, rates rose for Iowans of other races. Mortality among Native Americans jumped from 147 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-07 to 176.7 in 2008-12. Rates among Asians and Pacific islanders climbed from 109.9 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-07 to 120.9 in 2008-12, and the rate for Hispanics edged up from 79.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-07 to 86.1 in 2008-12.

Iowas rate for COPD deaths has been increasing and is higher than the national average. Its rate averaged 45.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 and climbed to 47.2 for 2008-12, while the U.S. rate of 42.1 deaths per 100,000 population for 2005-07 edged up to 42.6.

The average rate for males eased just slightly from 59.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 58.9 in 2008-12, while the rate for females jumped from 37.3 for 2005-07 to 40.1 in 2008-12. The biggest increase, though, was for African Americans, whose rate took a quantum leap from 34.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 50.7 in 2008-12. Overall, the rate for whites climbed from 45.5 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 47.3 in 2008-12. The rate for Hispanics climbed from 11.6 in 2005-07 to 15.8 in 2008-12. Rates were not available for Native Americans or Asian and Pacific islanders for 2005-07, but their rates in 2008-12 were 36.2 deaths per 100,000 population and 14.8, respectively.

COPD usually takes the form of chronic bronchitis  a long-term cough with mucous  or emphysema, in which the lungs are permanently damaged, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most patients have a combination of the two.

The increase in COPD mortality rates may be partly because it is being listed as the cause of death more often for patients who have other co-morbid conditions, said Dr. Zachary DePew, interventional pulmonologist with CHI Health.

Tobacco smoking is far and away the biggest factor for the top three causes of death, he said. 90 percent of the patients I treat with COPD, it is absolutely related to tobacco. Then youve got others who have never smoked but are being exposed to smoke because of where they work  like a bar.

Other things that can cause COPD include wood stoves with poor ventilation, air pollution and other kinds of inhaled workplace toxins, DePew said.

In rare cases, people may be susceptible to COPD because of a genetic condition that results in a deficiency of alpha-1 antitrypsin, a protein made in the liver, according to the NIH. However, this affects less than 1 percent of the population, DePew said.

Although the percentage of the population that smokes has decreased, it may take years for a corresponding drop in COPD to materialize, DePew said.

Even if everybody in the United States stopped smoking today, we would still be diagnosing COPD and lung cancer for the next couple decades, he said.

The best thing for COPD sufferers is to quit smoking, he said. In addition, patients who are physically active tend to have a slower decline in lung function and have a lower risk of mortality. For other patients, oxygen therapy is critical.

There is not a single medication on the market that can cure the disease, although there are medications that can be helpful in reducing symptoms, DePew said.

Stroke mortality has been declining gradually for the past 15 years or so. The Iowa rate for 2008-2012 was 37.9 deaths per 100,000 population, down from 44.7 in 2005-07, and the U.S. rate for 2008-2012 was 38.8, down from 45.2.

The rate for males was 38.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2008-12, down from 46.1 in 2005-07. That was slightly higher than the rate for females, which was 36.8 for 2008-2012, down from 43 in 2005-07.

The rate for whites dropped from 44.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 37.7 in 2008-12. The rate for African Americans plummeted from a surprising 67.3 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-07 to 46.1 in 2008-12.

No rate was available for Native Americans for 2005-07, but their rate for 2008-12 was 43.2.

Asians and Pacific islanders saw their rate jump from 31.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 2005-07 to 38 in 2008-12, while the rate for Hispanics dropped from 32.1 in 2005-07 to 20.1 in 2008-12.

The most recent Healthy Iowans statewide plan, first published in May 2012, was the culmination of nearly two years of work by more than 500 members in advisory committees and task forces, state departments, local public health agencies, non-profit associations, universities, and professional associations. You can access Iowas most recent plan and the progress made thus far at http://idph.iowa.gov/healthy-iowans/plan. To sign up for more information about Healthy Iowans and related issues, send a blank e-mail to join-HealthyIowans@lists.ia.gov.
New Delhi: To celebrate habitation and reconstruction of memory, Gallery Espace launched an art exhibition, 'Diary Entries' curated by Gayatri Sinha.

Artists such as Nasreen Mohamedi, Bharti Kher, Nilima Sheikh and Sheba Chhachhi were amongst a few to be present at the exhibition.

In Diary Entries the tiered environs of Gallery Espace has been offered to the artists as a space, as a habitation, or as a reconstruction of memory. In turn they have responded with the richness and diversity of their practice. Artists have made perfect use of text and references to poetry and literature extensively in their work, creating evocative spaces that allow for both word and image to collaborate and create meaning.

Renu Modi, Owner and Founder, Gallery Espace said, "Diaries Entries is an exhibition that is dedicated to those women, confined to domestic spaces, the demands of work or child rearing and the diary was often a shadow life, allowing for conversations even across time, sometimes."

"Very often it served as a parallel life, for women who practiced painting or photography or theatre, slipping easily into the form of autobiography. The exhibition will talk about the personal journey of each artist, which is very interesting," added Renu Modi.

The exhibition will run through January 23rd to February 20.
Vale forges ahead with $1 B Clean AER project

Despite rumours to the contrary, Vale says it is still on track to meet its environmental commitments and complete its $1-billion Clean AER project by 2018.

Dave Marshall, director of Vale's Clean AER (atmospheric emissions reduction) project, provided a project update to mining industry insiders at a Canadian Institute of Mining event Thursday evening. Photo by Jonathan Migneault.

Despite rumours to the contrary, Vale says it is still on track to meet its environmental commitments and complete its $1-billion Clean AER project by 2018.



We've looked at some minor adjustments to our capital investment in the next year, but we're not changing our commitment to completing the project and meeting our environmental commitments in 2018, said Dave Marshall, director of Vale's Clean AER (atmospheric emissions reduction) project.



Marshall provided a project update to mining industry insiders at a Canadian Institute of Mining event Thursday evening.



Marshall said Vale has completed around 55 per cent of the work required to finish the ambitious project, which is projected to reduce the Copper Cliff smelter's sulphur dioxide emissions by 85 per cent.



The project will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent.



Despite low commodity prices, with nickel trading around US $3.86 per pound Friday afternoon, Marshall said the project has stayed on track.



We've looked at some minor adjustments to our capital investment in the next year, but we're not changing our commitment to completing the project and meeting our environmental commitments in 2018, he said.



The biggest expense, said Marshall, is to upgrade the smelter's converter aisle, which takes molten matte from a large furnace  containing metals and smelters  and removes any iron so only nickel and copper remain.



The process  which uses oxygen to separate the iron from the molten matte  currently releases large amounts of sulphur dioxide  which makes its way up Vale's iconic Superstack.



Despite reducing its sulphur dioxide emissions by 90 per cent since the 1970s, Vale still releases 150,000 tonnes of the toxic gas each year.



The Clean AER project will cut down those emissions to between 20,000 and 25,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide per year.



To achieve that reduction in emissions the gas from the aisle converters would be diverted to a new gas cleaning facility  which would cool the gas and remove any nickel, copper and other metals.



Most of the sulphur dioxide left over from that process would go to an existing acid plant, and be converted to sulphuric acid.



Once completed, Vale's complex computer models have predicted the changes would also reduce nearby ground nickel concentration to around 0.16 micrograms per cubic metre. Under current government standards ground nickel contamination cannot exceed 1 microgram per cubic metre.



Those regulatory standards will change to 0.04 micrograms per cubic metre in 2022.



When we finish the project there will be additional study required to determine just what is required for us to achieve that new standard., Marshall said.



Although Vale had originally budgeted $2 billion for the Clean AER project, that commitment was cut in half in 2013 when the company decided to go with a single furnace operation at the Copper Cliff smelter, rather than the original plan for two furnaces.



A second furnace would have also required a second acid plant.



Perhaps the most controversial part of the Clean AER project involves the future of the 1,250-foot Superstack.



With fewer sulphur dioxide emissions, the structure would no longer be necessary, and could be replaced by two smaller 450-foot stacks.



While Vale has not yet made a decision regarding the Superstack's future, Marshall said it is possible it could eventually be taken down piece by piece.
Syrian grandfather arrives in Toronto; in Sudbury on Monday

A Syrian refugee family who have been waiting more than three weeks to be reunited with their grandfather will finally get their wish Monday.

A Syrian refugee family who have been waiting more than three weeks to be reunited with their grandfather will finally get their wish Monday. File photo.

A Syrian refugee family who have been waiting more than three weeks to be reunited with their grandfather will finally get their wish Monday.



The Quarquoz family was forced to leave him behind in Lebanon when they left for a new life in Canada, arriving in Sudbury New Year's Eve. A problem with travel documents, then some health concerns delayed the trip of the 80-year-old family patriarch.



But in an email this weekend, Nilgiri Pearson, co-ordinator of Lifeline Sudbury, said the grandfather landed in Toronto late Saturday evening and he will arrive in Sudbury on Monday morning.



(He) has been medically cleared to fly and is scheduled to arrive in Canada on Saturday, and in Sudbury on Sunday, Pearson said. Given our experience of the last few weeks this is not a guarantee, but it is encouraging.



When the Quarquoz family arrived in Sudbury, they expressed a mix of happiness to be here and sadness they had to leave their grandfather behind. The father told reporters it was the family's most pressing concern.



"The first thing he wants is his dad to come here," said Abdul Hak Dabliz, Imam of the Sudbury Mosque, who acted as the translator for the family first's media interview.


A mother has lost her son! cried Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Politics aside, the fact is that we lost a son! I can understand the pain. Mr Modi seemed deeply saddened as he spoke about the suicide of Rohith Vemula. He was finally breaking his silence after five days of outrage over the death of this dalit research scholar at the University of Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, politicians from all other political parties had offered their condolences and expressed shock and horror at such acute caste discrimination in a seat of higher learning. Rohith and four other dalit students had been hounded by students affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, suspended from the university and banned from the hostel and the campus by university authorities, reportedly nudged by minister of state for labour and employment Bandaru Dattatreya.

Tired of fighting, this extraordinarily sensitive young man opted out. Because the value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity... To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust.

Rohith wanted to be a writer. A writer of science, like Carl Sagan. But his caste identity stood in his way. In every field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living. To him, life itself (was a) curse. My birth is my fatal accident.

Rohiths last note was a simple, touching and beautiful farewell letter. It was published in conventional and social media, and triggered an avalanche of sympathy and outrage. Within hours political parties were falling over each other to offer their condolences and take up the issue of caste discrimination and political influence in universities. So when human resources development minister Smriti Irani tried to brush the matter off as not a dalit vs non-dalit confrontation allies of the BJP, and even people in her own party, begged to differ.

While it is laudable that people across the country and of all political affiliations are sympathising with Rohith after his death, it would be even better if this moment of solidarity with the dalit students yields a wider commitment towards fighting caste discrimination. For us, the urban educated middle classes who largely control the mood of the media and society, it is easy to identify with a bright young research scholar in a university who wants to be a writer like Carl Sagan and leaves behind a fine suicide note in English.

We can feel his pain. We feel outraged. We call it institutional murder. We vehemently demand justice. Which is not what we do when a safai karamchari dies in a drain, cleaning our shit. We do not identify with men who are forced to crawl into manholes almost naked, usually with no protection against the noxious gases and putrid waste that they are steeped in to earn a meagre living. Hundreds of such sanitation workers are killed every year. They die of the poisonous gases or they die drowned in shit. They die because they do not have protective gear and proper work conditions. Because we do not care. And because they do not have a choice. That is institutional murder. And we are all guilty of it. Because we choose not to see it.

There have, of course, been valiant efforts to change this sordid state of affairs. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, prohibits engaging anyone for hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank. Manual scavenging is now banned. The Supreme Court has specified that getting someone to enter sewer lines without proper safety gear would be a crime even in emergency situations. Each such death would draw a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased. The guilty could be jailed for upto five years and fined upto Rs 5 lakh.

Yet safai karamcharis continue to die in shit pits. It does not stir us to demand action against such institutional murder. Two months ago, in November, Vinay Sirohi, 22, died at Delhis Keshopur Sewage Treatment Plant. The Delhi Jal Board tried to brush off responsibility saying he was a contract worker who had no business being in that pipe anyway, and his death was very suspicious. But a co-worker who was with him when Vinay entered the sewage pipe revealed that Vinay had been called to repair a leaking pipe. He had taken off his clothes and watch, and kept them aside carefully, with his wallet and his motorcycle keys. He died when he accidentally slipped into a connected pipeline in that gushing, slimy river of waste. The Delhi Jal Board grandly announced that it would grant his family Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation and give a job to a member of his family on compassionate grounds.

We have such compassion. We grant a fraction of the Rs 10 lakh specified by the court as compensation for such horrendous deaths and push a son or brother of the victim into this awful job. We do them all a favour by offering another guy a life without dignity, quick access to terrible ailments from typhoid to hepatitis B, blindness, lacerations, neurological problems and brain damage, and the possibility of an exceptionally filthy and violent death.

And our governments feel the need to make this dubious favour into a benevolent law. Recently, the government of Maharashtra reserved all jobs of sanitation workers for the Scheduled Castes. Would such reservation help the SC communities, deprived and violated through generations, get social justice? Or just to get a life? Wallowing in filth all day, most safai karamcharis are heavy drinkers. And if one drowns in the sewage we are told he was drunk and slipped. It was his own fault.

They die every day, these dalits we can never identify with, or care to speak about or bear to hear about. Politicians do not rush to their homes to console their families and call for justice for what really is institutional murder. Mr Modi doesnt mourn the son we have lost or declare how he feels the pain of his mother. For they are not us. Rohith Vemula was.

If we genuinely want to get justice for Rohith, we need to look beyond the talented scholar and dreamer who had a chance to follow at least some of his dreams. We need to also look at the dalits who do not even get that half a chance to heave themselves out of the cesspool of deprivation that they are born into and trapped in forever.
Rush: Courts put cases on 'fast track'

The chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court says the commercial court pilot project will help get complex commercial cases on the fast track. Loretta Rush says because of time deadlines for criminal and juvenile cases, business cases can sometimes languish. The Supreme Court announced Thursday the establishment of the first six commercial courts as part of the pilot project.

New coworking space coming to Fort Wayne

Construction begins next week on a coworking space in downtown Fort Wayne. Start Fort Wayne is a nonprofit organization aimed at "building and enhancing a thriving entrepreneurship community."

Meetings set to envision GE campus future

A grassroots group looking to develop a vision for the future of the empty General Electric campus in Fort Wayne has announced a slate of public forums. The meetings are scheduled for next month and are supported by Greater Fort Wayne Inc.

Study: Jobs following Hoosiers, not vice versa

New research from Ball State University suggests a "major switch" in recent years when it comes to where employers are choosing to locate. The study from the Center for Business and Economic Research finds that Hoosiers are no longer seeking communities with abundant job opportunities as they did in the 1970s.

National jurist calls IU professor influential

The National Jurist has named William Henderson, an Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor, the most influential person in legal education. Henderson has been near, if not at, the top of the magazine's list for four years in a row.

Entrepreneur named finalist in InnovateHER Challenge

The U.S. Small Business Administration has named an Indiana entrepreneur one of the finalists in the 2016 InnovateHER Business Challenge. Pu Wang, co-founder of West Lafayette-based Vibronix Inc., was selected for his MarginPAT innovation.

Museum announces longtime leader's successor

The Studebaker National Museum has named Pat Slebonick its next executive director. He succeeds Rebecca Bonham, who came to the organization in 2001.

FoundryX effort moving forward

The Purdue Foundry says its FoundryX initiative has attracted more than 50 mentors to provide support to early-stage Purdue startups. The entrepreneurship and commercialization hub has also announced the first FoundryX networking and tech showcase.
Sales of existing homes in the seven counties that make up the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors grew more than 5 percent in 2015, hitting their highest annual level since 2007.

The 9,885 single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes sold topped last year's 9,382 by 5.4 percent. And the median price of $140,000 was 3.7 percent above 2014's $135,000, according to the GNIAR.

The year-over-year growth slowed slightly toward the end of the year, "but if you asked me before this year, would you take these numbers, I'd say absolutely yes," GNIAR CEO Peter Novak said.

Novak called the 3.7 percent median price growth "a good, balanced number."

Realtors from Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Starke and Pulaski counties make up GNIAR.

Nationally, a strong December made 2015 the best year for existing home sales since 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 7.7 percent higher in 2015 than 2014, with 5.26 million last year.

The association's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said December's strong performance was due in part to some November closings having been delayed because of new federal rules intended to assist buyers.

But November and December taken together still show a positive trend, he said.

"The overall pace taken together indicates sales these last two months maintained the healthy level of activity seen in most of 2015," Yun said. He added that the possibility of higher mortgage rates in the near future, and good weather across much of the country, aided late 2015 sales.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stayed below 4 percent for the fifth consecutive month, up slightly from November's 3.94 percent to 3.96 percent in December, according to Freddie Mac.

In December, year-over-year results showed a gain locally in sales but a drop in median price. The number of units sold in the seven-county area was up 4.8 percent to 781, while the median selling price was down 2.1 percent to $137,000.

Lake County showed a December drop, from 432 to 415 sales, and from $138,980 to $135,000 in median price.

Porter County December sales were up to 178 from 171. The county's median price was up to $168,000 from $163,900 a year ago.

LaPorte County showed a significant jump in sales, with December's results up to 115 from 91. Its median price was steady at $124,000, down slightly from last December's $125,000.

Novak said he expects "a good, solid year" in 2016. Inventory remains a concern, and how good the year turns out to be will depend considerably on building activity, he said.

Nationally, "in addition to insufficient supply levels, the overall pace of sales this year will be constricted by tepid economic expansion, rising mortgage rates and decreasing demand for buying in oil-producing metro areas," the NAR's Yun said.
HAMMOND  Purdue University Calumet senior Zach Hescott knew they had a good idea, but that was validated when they put up a Facebook page for their startup Sole Search and it quickly accumulated 500 likes.

Readers of mommy blogger sites asked where they could buy what's still only a concept.

Under the guidance of Professor Matt Hanson, Hescott and fellow Purdue Cal senior Alicia Ward came up with a concept for a real-time GPS tracking device that clips onto a child's shoe so their parents can track their location through a mobile app. The idea is to prevent the estimated 700 abductions that take place a day across the United States.

The startup is now in a national collegiate competition that could win them a shot to meet with venture capitalists at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas. Fellow student Frank Gasparetti came on board to handle marketing and social media.

What they're selling is peace of mind to moms who would immediately get push alerts if their young children left a specific geographic area they delineated, Hescott said.

"In 2014, there were 400,000 abductions, whether family taking them or strangers picking them off the street," he said. "We're marketing to mothers who want to keep their children safe. There's peace of mind if they never get alerts."

Sole Search has made it to the round of 32 in the Student Startup Madness competition, a nationwide tournament style competition for digital media startups by college students. The winning Entrepreneurial Eight get a chance to pitch their ideas to potential financiers at South by Southwest.

Last year's winners hailed from major colleges, including Cornell University, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan and Washington University in St. Louis. This year's competitors include Harvard and Michigan State University.

"We're the small college in it," said Hescott, who's from Lansing.

Hanson, a continuing lecturer in marketing at Purdue Cal, learned of the competition last year and tried to get a team in. That didn't pan out, but this year he enlisted Hescott and Ward, who not only got in this year's tournament but advanced past the first round.

Initially, they talked of a device that would track students' school buses, but decided to broaden the idea. They used CAD to design a working prototype that will be shipped to them soon, and set up an app that lets users track their kid's proximate geographic location at all times and pinpoint a circumscribed area such as a school so they get an automatic alert if the kid leaves.

It's a durable plastic device that's waterproof and can't be tampered with.

Most of of the GPS trackers on the market are for those suffering from Alzheimer's and those for kids that typically go in backpacks, which might get lost during an abduction.

"Abductors would be unlikely to take the shoes off," Hescott said. "They wouldn't want to look like anything is happening."
When children's author-illustrator Don Tate works on a book about slavery, he keeps in mind that a smile must be more than just a smile.

"A smile is the manifestation of human emotion, therefore enslaved people smiled, frowned, laughed, cried, etcetera," says Tate, a finalist for the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award in 2013 and whose works include "Hope's Gift," the story of a slave girl in the days leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation.

"In books where I deal with the topic of slavery, I pair smiles, if needed, with broader context, explaining to children about the horrors  the wrongness, the inhumanity  of slavery."

Slavery has been sentimentalized for as long it has existed and its narration remains contentious even in the 21st century. A Texas textbook set off nationwide outrage last year with its description of Africans on plantations as "workers," instead of slaves. And two recent picture books have been strongly criticized for featuring images and stories of smiling slaves, with the creators saying they had intended to celebrate the slaves, and not slavery, and detractors countering they should have tried harder.

Last fall, author Emily Jenkins apologized for being "racially insensitive" after "A Fine Dessert," a collaboration with illustrator Sophie Blackall, was attacked for its cheerful depiction of a 19th-century slave mother and daughter as they prepared a blackberry recipe. Last weekend, Scholastic stopped distribution of the picture story "A Birthday Cake for George Washington," which came out in early January and told of Washington's head cook, the slave Hercules, and his daughter Delia. The publisher explained that "without more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves."

Publishing is no less white than the movie industry, and the absence of non-white perspectives led to the founding in 2014 of the grassroots group WeNeedDiverseBooks. But diversity wasn't the issue for the creators of "A Birthday Cake for George Washington."

Author Ramin Ganeshram, an award-winning journalist, is of Trinidadian and Iranian descent. Award-winning illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton has described herself as coming from a "blended background  African-American, Asian, European and Jewish." Editor Andrea Davis Pinkney is widely respected, and as an author won a Coretta Scott King prize in 2013 for excellence in African-American children's literature.

"Andrea Pinkney is one of the finest, most intelligent and knowledgeable editors that I know," says Doreen Rappaport, a prize-winning children's author whose books include "Escape from Slavery" and "No More! Stories and Songs of Slaves Resistance."

In essays posted online after "A Birthday Cake" was published, Pinkney and Ganeshram emphasized that the book was meant to teach kids about slaves' contributions to American history, with Pinkney writing that Ganeshram "took great care in contextualizing Hercules and Delia as enslaved people, while at the same time accurately depicting Hercules as the notable figure he was."

Tate and others say slavery books for children are an intricate art of communicating historical crimes that neither overwhelms nor misleads readers. "There's no checklist for the right way to do this," says Megan Schliesman, a librarian at the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We're in the midst of a huge learning process."

Deborah Taylor, coordinator of school and student services at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, said she had been looking at recent winners of the Coretta Scott King award and was impressed by a book about a slave girl's escape through the Underground Railroad, "Almost to Freedom" by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, calling it "child centered without shying from the fact the slaves were running away."

Schliesman said she found "quite remarkable" a 2015 publication called "The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch." Written by Chris Barton, the book tells the true story of a former Mississippi slave who after the Civil War becomes the first African-American Speaker of the state's House of Representatives and then a U.S. Congressman.

The cover image, of a well-dressed, slyly smiling Lynch, is by Don Tate.
People are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death. It's a "study" comedian Jerry Seinfeld referenced in an oft-quoted bit.

"This means to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy," he quipped.

Actual data confirming that study is fuzzy, but polls show public speaking ranks among the top fears for Americans. Posit that against a group of people who willingly meet to stand in front of a group and give speeches that are sometimes prepared, sometimes impromptu.

Toastmasters International is a speaking club with 15,400 clubs in 135 countries. Among them is Munster-based Calumet Toastmasters. Wedding speeches, business presentations and job interviews often prompt people seek out the club, which focuses on improving its members' speaking skills.

Munster resident Deb Brunetti, who works for Fifth Third Bank, joined two years ago after a couple of work-related incidents.

"I thought that I spoke fairly well," she said. "I've been a sales manager and have done presentations."

But when it came time to present in front of 125 people, nerves kicked in.

"I realized driving there that I would rather get a flat tire or get in a wreck," she said.

Another time, she was in an elevator with a top boss.

"He said, 'Hey, Deb, how's it going?' I looked up at him and I went, 'Um, good,' and that's about all I could say," she said. "After I got off, I thought if there's any promotions coming up, I'm not getting it."

After two years with Toastmasters, she developed ways to answer questions. More importantly, the club has built up her confidence. She can see the difference in other club members, too. Everyone is there to learn and improve.

"It's not like at work where people are judging you," she said. "Nothing is going to happen to you if you fail. Every time I leave, I leave with a good feeling."

Club meetings follow an agenda, and people take on different roles, such as toastmaster for the night, grammarian, timer, evaluator and an "ah-counter," who counts overused words and fillers such as "um" and "so."

A recent meeting of Calumet Toastmasters welcomed neighboring club The Great Communicators of Northwest Indiana for some friendly competition in table topics. Two members of each team were sequestered outside and brought it one at a time to talk about a topic on the fly. At this meeting, they were asked about their name.

During the same meeting, two Calumet Toastmasters speakers gave prepared speeches. And the remaining members grabbed a topic out of a hat and spoke off the cuff. Speeches were evaluated and people were given tips on how to improve.

Wayne Osenkarski, vice president of public relations for Calumet Toastmasters, said a diverse crowd is drawn to the club, with members ranging in age from their 20s to 80s.

"We have a lot of business professionals," he said. "Most people are looking to improve their speaking skills. Some people are afraid of public speaking, so they want to boost their confidence."

Osenkarski counted himself among those who despised it.

"I was deathly afraid of public speaking," he said. "I avoided it like the plague. If I had to do it for a business setting, I'd worry about it for days. Now I look forward to public speaking."

He said more than 4 million people have been members of the club since its inception but it's still a bit of a secret.

Among the famous Toastmasters are Tim Allen, Debbi "Mrs. Fields" Fields, Leonard Nimoy and Chris Matthews.
HAMMOND  Don't expect everyday to be like a typical episode of CSI on television but Hammond Police crime scene investigators and detectives say a day of investigation can be painstaking, tedious and overwhelmingly sad.

"We're not all dressed in suits or having a cup of coffee like you see on TV," Det. Jason Gonzalez said.

Hammond Master Sargeants Allan Retske and Robert Vaught, who share responsibilities in charge of the department's crime scene unit, Sgt. Butch Logan, Community Affairs, and Gonzalez spoke to more than 150 Bishop Noll Institute students Thursday to give them a better picture of how they gather evidence.

This is an entry-level STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) offered to freshmen students as they explore STEM topics. The students also have done projects on drones, website design and energy-efficient housing.

Three BNI teachers are involved including Rebecca Dostatni, Paul Douglass and Anthony Hoolihan.

Dostatni said the STEM class has eight different projects. She wanted the Hammond police to talk to students about the importance of problem solving, and how police have to think critically on a daily basis to solve a crime.

BNI Principal Craig Stafford said the high school offers a STEM elective to students in grades 10 through 12.

"Over the next three years, we will be developing a 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade STEM class," he said. "The current freshmen will take a STEM course every year they are enrolled at BNI. The curriculum has been (and will be) developed by teachers representing all departments, including myself, and Dr. Carla Johnson from Purdue (West Lafayette). She is a professor and STEM expert."

Dostatni said the students are collecting data on the City of Hammond and other communities in Northwest Indiana and the Chicago suburbs, looking at the crime rates and creating data.

The Hammond officers brought numerous items to show students including casting for footprints and a fingerprint kit. The police authorities said a laser projection of bullet trajectories is one of the latest innovations in crime scene investigation. The kit contains all of the tools necessary to provide vital information about the flight of the bullet.

Retske and Vaught said after the evidence has been collected, they go back and diagram the crime scene.

Gonzalez said his work is to investigate the case, and he told students the first 48 hours are critical.

"It's important to talk to witnesses, neighbors, the family and the suspects," he said.

"A lot of them are willing to come and discuss with me what happened, how it went down. what the beef was and why everyone was angry," Gonzalez said. "When I was in patrol working at high schools as a resource officer, I often talked to kids. The next thing you know, they may be sitting in a box and we're talking about why he or she had a situation that turned violent and someone was killed."

Noll freshmen Alejandra Wedryk and A.J. Vazquez said the students are collecting data, and putting together statistics about various types of crime in Hammond and neighboring cities.

Wedryk said she is interested in forensic science and thinks that could be an interesting career. Vaqquez said he has been watching CSI, and is more interested in it after listening to the Hammond officers.

Stafford said Bishop Noll has a total enrollment of 536 students, a 14-year high for the Catholic school. He said about 48 percent of the students use a voucher. A voucher or Indiana Choice Scholarship allows a family to use public school tax dollars to enroll in a private school.
CROWN POINT | Those who would fill the role, if not the shoes, of the late Lake County Commissioner Roosevelt Allen have eight days to come forward.

The Democratic Party will caucus Feb. 3 to name who will serve the remaining three years left in the term Allen was serving until his death earlier this month.

State law gives the political party of the former officeholder the right to fill the job, which is one of the top three executives of county government. No election will be held for this office until 2018. Elections are being held for the 2nd District and 3rd District commissioners this year.

The applicants have until the end of this month to place their names before the precinct committeemen within the 1st District's 190 precincts in Gary, Hobart, Lake Station, Merrillville, New Chicago and a portion of Crown Point.

One of those will be Gary City Councilman Kyle Allen. "I will be a candidate and present myself to the committeemen as a replacement for my cousin, Roosevelt Allen," he said last week.

Kyle Allen has served on the Gary City Council since 2000 and was re-elected to an at-large seat for his fifth term last year. He ran unsuccessfully for Calumet Township trustee a decade ago.

Gary City Councilman Ron Brewer, who also won re-election to an at-large seat last year, said Friday he will not be running for the office.

Lake County Clerk Michael A. Brown, a Gary resident, who was considered to be a major contender for 1st District commissioner in party circles, said this week he won't run. He said he intends to finish the remaining three years of his term in office as the record keeper for the county's courts system.

Lita M. Iatarola Filippo, a Gary businesswoman, said she will ask the party caucus to elect her 1st District commissioner because she was the only one, besides Roosevelt Allen, who cared to run for that office in 2014.

Filippo, who also has run for the County Council and Gary City Council, unsuccessfully opposed Allen's re-election two years.

She said her views and goals for the office remain the same as she voiced in a 48-minute video interview of her and Roosevelt Allen with The Times' Doug Ross in spring 2014 that can be seen on YouTube.

She raised concerns about civil rights, ethics, the cost of health insurance for government employees, improvements for county government buildings and the cost of paying expensive judgments created by lawsuits against county government.

The Rev. Dwight Gardner, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Gary, has filed as a candidate. He said he will bring "honesty and integrity" to the office and will work to improve the quality of life for district residents. He just finished an eight-year term as president of Interfaith Federation of Northwest Indiana.
Editors' note: This is the third in a series of stories profiling the working poor in Northwest Indiana.

HEBRON  An exhausted yawn escaped Dayna Brown as she unwrapped a Pop Tart breakfast for 3-year-old daughter Riley in their sparsely furnished mobile home.

It was 9 a.m. on a Monday earlier this month, and Brown had just returned home from a typical 12-hour midnight shift at a South Chicago Heights factory, exchanging a plastics production line for her home job as mom.

Brown, 25, said she's fortunate to have the factory job, which pays $16.50 per hour and keeps the rent-to-own trailer home roof over the heads of herself, Riley and Brown's oldest daughter, Kayla, 6.

But Brown's wages and circumstances also leave very little budgetary breathing room for this single, working mother who makes too much to be eligible for food stamps and other aid  but too little to afford anything but the bare essentials.

The Lake Area United Way has started a campaign, "Edge of Survival," to assist families who are working but still struggling to afford the basic necessities.

The United Way's efforts focus on the working poor. It's an initiative Brown, who knows these struggles, supports.

Tricky balance

Without a family support network, Brown said she would be completely lost.

Kayla's father died in July, leaving the Browns short of the usual plan of care for the girl when her mother would start her 7 p.m. shifts at the plastics factory.

Now, Brown's 77-year-old grandmother watches Kayla, and Riley heads to her father's Region home at 5:30 p.m. each working night.

After Brown completes her 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, she bounds through a 40-minute commute to pick up the girls from their two respective locations before racing to get Kayla to school by 8:15 a.m.

It's a hectic arrangement, but the only one that will work as traditional childcare would cost more than her monthly mobile home payment, Brown said.

This recent Monday was a day off from the grind, giving Brown mommy time with Riley while Kayla attended school.

Mother and daughter spent much of the morning combing through the mobile home for a hodgepodge of various batteries in an attempt to power up a few small electronic toys the children received for Christmas.

"Mommy, try this one," Riley said, handing her mother a AA battery and watching through big brown eyes to see if the spinning fairy toy would come to life.

But they only had located half of the needed batteries, so the search continued through drawers, cabinets and inside other toys for the right battery size and quantity.

"Santa Claus brought some stuff that needed batteries  but not batteries," Brown said.

"This is very hard," Brown said of her financial situation. "But what am I going to do? I have my daughters to think of."

It's life on a shoestring budget when the laces are frayed and about to break, Brown said.

Makes 'too much'

After Brown unwrapped Riley's Pop Tart, the little girl asked if she could have a glass of milk. Brown thoughtfully paused before opening the fridge and checking the milk carton's expiration date.

"I had to make sure it was still good," she said, noting she hadn't recently had the time or money to pick up fresh groceries.

Brown said she's not one to hold her hand out, asking for help.

Her parents and grandmother helped purchase Christmas presents for the girls this year and assist when they can with clothing and other essentials.

"I just had no money for Christmas this year," said Brown, noting that financial struggles, the death of Kayla's father and conflict with former roommates made 2015 one of the worst years she's experienced. "At times, I was working seven days a week to make up the difference."

In the past, Brown said she tried working a day shift but had to pay for daycare.

"It just costs so much," she said. "Working nights, with children, is tough, but it's all that will work for my situation. It's all we can afford to do."

Brown also said she's fortunate Riley's father, who lives in Cedar Lake, helps provide care for the girl while her mother works.

"I don't want to ask him for child support because he's already doing a lot for us," she said.

Her grandmother co-signed for the vehicle she drives to work each day, and mechanically inclined friends and relatives have helped keep it running.

But there are times Brown wonders why more services aren't available for parents who work hard to support their families but still experience hunger and need.

"I'm really not eligible for any services. I've checked. I make too much money, which is a crock," Brown said, gazing around the mostly empty walls of her living room/kitchen area.

"I don't have cable. I'm not living with any luxuries. I'm working hard," Brown added. "We've even tried to get food stamps but can't. Yet there have been times when I didn't eat so the girls could."
MERRILLVILLE  Polycon, a Merrillville firm which manufactures containers for a variety of industries, is negotiating with a new customer for a possible contract.

If its successful, Polycon would need a multimillion-dollar expansion at its facility at 8919 Colorado St., according to attorney Richard Deahl, of Barnes & Thornburg.

The name of the potential customers wasnt disclosed, but Deahl said the containers would be for chemicals. The expansion would be necessary to buy new equipment to manufacture those containers.

Polycon currently employs 106 with a payroll of $3.1 million. The expansion would create at least 25 new jobs and increase payroll by $600,000 to $1 million, Deahl said.

He said Polycons facility is about 165,000 square feet. The expansion would add at least 100,000 square feet to the structure. Deahl said its possible the size of the addition could be as large as 200,000 square feet.

He said Polycon would invest $4 million to $8 million in the addition. The personal property investment would be between $6 million and $9 million, Deahl said.

In addition to adding more production space, the expansion would create more indoor storage for Polycon.

A schedule for construction hasnt been set. William Hansen, vice president of operations and chief financial officer at Polycon, said the company would finalize its expansion plans and begin seeking bids on new equipment as soon as the agreement is signed.

Polycon is seeking assistance from the town as it pursues the project. Deahl and Hansen met with town leaders last week about 10-year real estate and personal property tax abatement for the addition and new equipment.

Merrillvilles Economic Development Committee recommended the Town Council approve the tax abatement requests. The council is expected to consider granting its approval at Tuesdays meeting.

Im 100 percent behind this project, said Councilman Shawn Pettit, chairman of the Economic Development Committee.

Pettit said Polycons operation is a clean industry, which is exactly what I want.

He asked Polycon to have a job fair. He also would like at least 10 percent of the new jobs created at Polycon to go to Merrillville residents if they are qualified. He said that isnt a demand but a goal he would like the company to consider.

Pettit said the expansion at Polycon would require a project labor agreement with the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council because the facility is in a tax increment financing district.
A chartered bus full of students and adults from St. Mary Catholic School in Griffith is heading home after being stranded westbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike more than 21 hours.

The 28 eighth-graders and dozen adults were on their way back from March for Life in Washington, D.C., when their bus got caught in the middle of Winter Storm Jonas, which buried the East Coast in snow.

"We are finally rolling," Barney Begeske said via cellphone about 6 p.m. Saturday. "Now, it's home sweet home."

Begeske is one of the parents chaperoning the trip. Initially, they anticipated the bus would start moving again Sunday morning. Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa, a St. Mary's parishioner, texted David Kane, Indiana's Homeland Security Director, about the situation.

The agency reached out to emergency officials in Pennsylvania to notify them. Emergency management officials in Pennsylvania placed a priority service request on the situation. Within an hour, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence called Ryfa and Begeske to let them know the state was doing what it could to help.

"It's nice to see government work for a change," Ryfa said. "I'd like to thank Gov. Pence and the members of his staff and the state agencies that contacted Pennsylvania. We hope and pray for a safe trip the rest of the way home."

The bus is expected to arrive back in the Region about 3 or 4 a.m. Sunday.

"Father (Theodore) Mens is going to have Mass on the bus while we're traveling," Begeske said.

Passengers were able to exit the bus and walk to a nearby service stop to use the restroom. A local fire department brought food and water to the bus Saturday afternoon. The bus had heat, and passengers were able to keep their phones charged. The most difficult part was not being able to get information from emergency officials, Begeske said.

"We couldn't get an answer from any governing body," he said.

When Indiana's homeland security intervened, "then things started happening for us," he said. "Governor Pence was gracious enough to give us a call. He caught wind of our situation and he wanted to make sure everything was fine."

Begeske is proud of how the students and chaperons handled the situation.

"It's been a little stressful," he said.

Another group from Illiana Christian High School is still en route home after its own treacherous trip through Pennsylvania, with 48 students expected to arrive home late Saturday.

Illiana Christian's two buses hit gridlock as well on Friday in Pennsylvania. Unlike St. Mary, however, they were able to get out of the state and were a few hours from home in Ohio as of Saturday afternoon, senior Amanda Van Kalker, 18, said.

"No cars could get through," Van Kalker said. "We would wait two hours and move a couple inches, wait another hour and move a couple of inches."

Both schools made the trip to take part in Friday's March for Life in Washington.

The Illiana Christian contingent left the capital at 3 p.m. and were only three hours into their drive when they couldn't go farther.

The St. Mary group also left early after Friday's event to try and get ahead of the weather, Begeske said. But by Friday night, the turnpike had turned into a snowy parking lot, as the blizzard dumped snow in several states. They could not get past New Buena Vista.

"There was a traffic incident on the turnpike and that shut everything down," Begeske said.

Illiana Christian history teacher Jeff White said the bus with 48 students and two adults got stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for about five hours while a second bus with 20 adults was stuck for nine hours.

"We thought we had the storm behind us and then there was an accident on the turnpike and the storm caught up to us," White said.

When that bus finally got out, it went to a rest stop and waited four hours for the second bus to arrive.

Van Kalker said while the bus kept them warm, they did get hungry.

"At first everyone was down about it, but you learn to make the best of it and just enjoy your time with each other," Van Kalker said.

Besides the march, students from both parties visited some sites in Washington, D.C.

"We kind of all learned from this experience you can't control the circumstances but the Lord has a plan and he will see you through," said Van Kalker, of Dyer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Are you looking for an area of study that will help you land a high-paying career?

What if that same course of study could also help you in the arts, get you into fashion design, the medical field, or even the cosmetic industry?

A background in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) can help you achieve any of these goals.

STEM fields and the jobs they produce are growing fast. Job growth is about 17 percent yearly in STEM-related fields. By the time current sophomores graduate from high school in 2018, 1 in 20 of all jobs will be in a STEM field.

Not only are high-wage careers in STEM in high demand, but simply participating in these courses helps students build critical thinking and problem-solving skills, technical writing ability and confidence in academic endeavors. As such, students who elect to take STEM courses often score higher on standardized college entrance exams.

The field of STEM has greatly expanded recently and Valparaiso High School is preparing to meet the demands of our students. With growth in course offerings in mathematics, science, and computer science the past few years, VHS is now ready to expand its engineering programming. This initiative has been developed along the way with local and state leaders in industry as well as college and university officials.

Furthermore, with the upcoming remodel at VHS, a space dedicated to our newly developed STEM programming will assist students in their learning with the most up to date facilities, machinery and experiences. With course offerings in biomedical, civil/architectural and aerospace engineering as well as additional computer and software science courses being added in the near future, students will continue to receive the high-demand training and skill development needed to be successful in their post-secondary pursuits.
VALPARAISO  Thursday Night Noir has returned to the Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University.

The popular film noir series kicked off Thursday with Phantom Lady from 1944.

The series is hosted by Indiana University Northwest Performing Arts faculty member Peter Aglinskas, who, while visiting the museum, pitched the idea to director/curator Gregg Hertzlieb.

We gave it a try, Hertzlieb said. The film series was a big success so we decided to do it again this year. Thursday Night Noir gives people a chance to enjoy classic and creative films in the environment of the Brauer Museum, guided by an expert who with his passion can enhance the viewing experience  all for free.

The films are based on a lecture series Aglinskas has done.

A scholar of film noir and its visuals and sound, Aglinskas lectures about the films and brings in all the different aesthetic influences and how they resonate to other art forms and relate to painters, photographers or sculptors of the era.

Film is certainly an art form and very consciously I wanted to do it because historically during the abstract expressionist period in New York, around the same time these films were being made, they began showing films in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and acknowledging these are works of art just like the works of art hanging on the wall or the sculpture in the corner, Aglinskas said.

In addition to Phantom Lady, movies representing distinct themes and eras of film noir include:

Dead Reckoning (1947) Feb. 18

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) March 17

Touch of Evil (1958) April 21

The events start at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public.

For more information contact Hertzlieb at (219) 464-5761
Donald Trump has built his campaign using many tools: bravado, bigotry and barnstorming rhetoric. But right at the heart of his success has been public opinion polling.

Now, he will proudly  and loudly  tell you he doesnt rely on polls, even getting into a very public spat with my own boss, pollster Frank Luntz, on the subject. Trump doesnt survey on issues. He wont hold focus groups. He has not poll-tested his strengths and weaknesses.

He wears the absence of political spinners and professional polling as a badge of honor to show his absolute authenticity.

"I dont have pollsters," he has said. "I dont want to waste money on pollsters. I dont want to be unreal."

But public opinion polling is central to his success, even if his campaign doesnt actually do polling. Why? Because he uses outside polls to show not only his strength today but to prove his success tomorrow.

He cites them as Exhibit A of his narrative that hes a winner and the other candidates are losers. And no one likes supporting a loser, right? So according to Trump, If the polls say Ill win, then you, Joe Six Pack, should join me on the winning team.

A sophisticated strategy this is not, but an effective one it surely is. He has led the field since July, except for the approximately four minutes in November when Ben Carson led.

So Trumps position as front-runner is fortified by the polls, but hes not there because of them.

Hes the clear front-runner because he has effectively channeled the simmering rage and resentment of the 2016 electorate. From corrupt politicians in Washington, to being ripped off by China, to America being overrun by illegal immigrants, hes tapped into a deep-seated fear and frustration that the American Dream is dead.

Voters see the politicians squabble endlessly on the nightly news while the debt mountain grows. Bureaucrats push pens with zero accountability, and the problems perpetually persist and multiply.

Is it any wonder why voters are so angry?

Trump didnt need an opinion poll to tell him that. He could have seen it in virtually any survey.

And thats precisely why public opinion polls are so vital to American politics: Properly constructed and conducted, polls are the most effective means of gauging what the American people think and what they want.

But remember this: Surveys are navigational tools for campaigns and candidates. They cannot tell you what to think or do.

Do voters support or oppose sending ground troops to fight ISIS? Surveys show that more than half support, but only a leader can judge whether its the right thing to do.

What do citizens want most above all else? To make government efficient, effective and accountable." But it takes a statesman to figure out how to put those principles into practice.

George Gallup, the founder of modern-day polling, put it best when he said, When a president or any other leader pays attention to poll results, he is, in effect, paying attention to the views of the people.

And there are consequences when they dont. Remember that President Obama and huge Democratic majorities in Congress pushed through the Affordable Care Act when polls showed a clear and commanding majority opposed to the plan.

What was the result? A historic Republican sweep in the 2010 midterm elections  and the birth of the Tea Party  all because politicians rejected the polls and didnt listen to their constituents.

In so many ways  whether it be our version of the Great Wall or the total shutdown on Muslims  Donald Trump is turning the laws of American politics upside down. And his flat-Earth approach to modern campaigning, voter targeting and message-testing just might work.

But for the other mere mortal candidates who lack Trumps clairvoyance, public opinion polling gives them a better understanding of the American people  and gives the people the strong voice they deserve.
A bloody murderous attack in Jakarta Indonesia has provided the Islamic State with another opportunity to claim victory. They have promptly done so, with a gleeful statement. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist actions and statements, reported the credit-taking by ISIS on social media.

In this case, there really is no meaningful victory for Islamic terrorists, whatever the current state of their collective self-delusion. Four innocent people have died from the attack, including an Algerian-Canadian along with Indonesians. They are victims to be added to others murdered, including the nearly three thousand killed and thousands injured in the 9/11 attacks.

Indonesia has suffered other terrorist acts. In 2002, the worst attack killed 202 people on Bali, including many foreign tourists who were targets.

The latest attack highlights a major anti-terrorist nation generally ignored by the international media. United States handling of this aftermath will be crucial.

By contrast, the mass murder in San Bernardino appears to be a crime by free-lancers who identify with ISIS. There is no evidence of important direct links or support of their crime by the terrorist group. Efficient modern firearms facilitate killing, even by inexperienced amateurs. Anyone can be a hitman or hitwoman.

After the San Bernardino killings, President Barack Obama turned a shocking but local crime into a major international incident through direct involvement. He highlighted the event in a formal address to the nation from the Oval Office, and then traveled to Southern California. By so doing he diminished the office of chief executive of our nation, and simultaneously opened the door for ISIS plausibly to take credit. This the terror group immediately did, greatly adding to global media attention, and to their prestige in extremist circles.

The Indonesia attack is both a local crime and an international incident of note, carried out in the worlds largest nation with a Muslim majority. Geography including trade routes provides Indonesia with strategic significance. The international and foreign policy implications are self-evident, for the U.S. and other nations.

Washington has an opportunity to highlight Indonesia as a success story of stability, modernization and the rule of law. Since former general and long-time autocratic President Suharto was forced from power.in 1998, Indonesia has moved to representative government. Freedom House identifies Indonesia as Southeast Asias freest society since 2006.

Indonesias international conflicts today are largely technical and legal, notably the maritime disputes which generally involve the nations of East and Southeast Asia. Corruption and repression have faded.

The situation used to be quite different. During the height of the Cold War, Indonesia was regarded as a major pivotal leader among Third World nations. Flamboyant nationalist President Sukarno played the Soviet Union and U.S. off against one another. CIA efforts to bring Sukarno down were frustrated, a sobering experience helpful later in Vietnam. British forces, with Australian and New Zealand allies, did defeat Indonesia attacks on Malaysia.

By the mid-1960s, cooperation between Indonesia and the Soviet Union was moving forward. This development was extremely important in the decision for large-scale U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in 1965. These circumstances are largely forgotten today.

The tragic but relatively small violent attack in Indonesia is likely to boomerang in strong public sentiment against terror groups. This has been the case in Europe, including Turkey, and a range of other nations. Consequently, Washington can strengthen our ties with Jakarta.

All we need is the will, and the skill.
In a 1936 report, Valparaiso University professor Alfred H. Meyer described Baums Bridge as the most historic spot along the Kankakee in the marsh proper. Through my studies I have researched many landowners, particularly those that owned the parcel where the Collier Lodge would be built. William P. Betterton was one of the more significant landowners.

William Pitchard Betterton was born in 1858 in New Albany, Indiana, to Charles and Christina Oatman Betterton  the youngest of six children. In 1871, the Betterton family moved to a farm a mile west of Kouts. In 1888, Charles bought the future Collier Lodge property from Elizabeth Ryder.

William married Marguerite Lauer in 1880. In 1886, William and Marguerite moved to the 156-acre farm adjacent to the lodge parcel. Soon after Charless death in 1891, William became the owner of the Betterton family river farm property. In 1935, William was interviewed by A.J. Bowser of The Vidette-Messenger. Much of this column comes from the resulting Siftingsarticle.

Betterton told Bowser he spent thirteen years on the river farm, and like most of the other inhabitants of the river country, I did my share of hunting and fishing. General Lew Wallace had a houseboat on the river and for some time made his headquarters near Baum's Bridge. With his son Henry, the general came every spring and fall to hunt and fish, and write and rest.

Betterton became friends with Wallace and remembered him as a tall, well-built man, with an iron gray moustache and goatee, a military bearing stamped indelibly upon him, a very genial man who would set at ease anyone who came in his presence, regardless of his station in life. He was especially gracious to the local folks.

Betterton overheard Wallace say the Kankakee was the most beautiful river in the United States before it was destroyed by the hand of man.

Betterton was in mid-life when the Kankakee Marsh was drained and channelized. He said: The digging of the big ditch spelled the doom of this hunter's paradise, and with its completion came the end of the famous hunting camps of this region.

The previous owner of Bettertons river farm owned and operated a sawmill on the property. Like most farmers of the area Betterton was a man of many talents. He operated the sawmill at Baums Bridge until he exhausted the nearby timber. He then operated a portable mill, moving it when a new timber supply became available.

Betterton sold his river farm before the river was channelized. He moved to Kouts, where he opened a general store. During this time he also owned and operated a steam threshing machine. The threshing machine was so huge that it required a 35-man crew to operate it. Betterton stayed in the threshing business for 50 years until an injury ended the venture.

Betterton was an ambitious and hardworking man. With all of his enterprises and obligations, he even held the office of Pleasant Township trustee from 1914 to 1918. He passed away in 1938 at age 79. Marguerite was to follow in 1941. They are buried in the Kouts Graceland Cemetery.
More than 20 million students are enrolled in American colleges and universities. About 445,000 attend schools in Indiana.

They made a wise decision. A study by Georgetown University projects that by 2018, an estimated 63 percent of all job openings will require workers with at least some college education. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education echoes that, estimating 66 percent of new jobs in Indiana this decade will require a post-secondary credential.

Unfortunately, some students enter school without a clear idea of what the total cost of their education will be and how they will eventually pay for it.

Nationally, student debt totals $1.2 trillion. Student debt is the third largest source of debt in this country.

About 80 percent of students receive some form of financial aid. About 60 percent of all students earning a bachelors degree graduate with some debt, and the Institute for College Access and Success tells us the average student borrower graduates owing $26,600.

As potential college students and their families explore their higher education options, it is important that they consider the degree programs that are available, future employment opportunities in their chosen field the total cost of an education and available financial aid.

My advice to any student would be to choose an area of study that they find interesting and exciting. But they also must consider the current job market and future labor trends.

Additionally, all students must concentrate on learning the all-important 21st-century skills that can be applied on any job. The career you want to pursue today will change and evolve during a 40-year span.

While students are positioning themselves for success in the classroom, they also need to consider the cost of their education.

Students should talk to financial aid professionals who can provide information and one-on-one counseling on student loans, borrowing and overall financial literacy. Universities across Indiana host a series of events each February to prepare students and their parents for filing their mandatory federal financial aid paperwork.

The bottom line is that you should not take on more debt than you can reasonably pay back.

Students in Northwest Indiana have a wonderful opportunity to save a substantial amount in tuition by starting to earn college credit while still in high school through the Dual Credit/Concurrent Enrollment program. Motivated students have been able to accumulate up to 30 credit hours, the equivalent of two semesters of college credit, before they graduate high school.

When students enroll in college, they need to have a graduation date in mind and know how many hours per semester they need to earn to get there.

The ICHE notes that the longer it takes to complete a degree, the more expensive it is to earn that degree, citing that an additional year of college can cost $50,000 in extra tuition, lost wages and related costs.

Indiana has many quality colleges and universities. Many are in Northwest Indiana. Be a smart consumer. Look at the universities that have programs that appeal to you.

When you commit to going to school, make school your full-time job. Know your graduation date, and have a semester-by-semester plan on how to get there.

Few people graduate with no debt, but with some advance planning, many students can look forward to beginning their careers and the rest of their lives with a minimal amount of debt.
She had the hairspray-molded look of the elderly ladies who worked the Illinois Bureau of Motor Vehicles office where I obtained my first driver's license a quarter-century ago.

That was my first, on-the-surface impression of Val Taneff when I stopped for coffee at her Calumet Township home a couple of years ago.

As with all dynamic personalities, the surface didn't begin to tell the story of Velia "Val" Taneff.

We were meeting in person after a few months of emails back and forth, mostly of Val cheering on some rants I'd directed at political corruption in my Times columns.

I was still pretty new to column writing at the time, and Val was one of my first fans.

But she wasn't just a cheerleader. There were times Val didn't think I was using my column to punch hard enough against public officials who were taking advantage of Lake County taxpayers.

"You really could afford to go much further," Val told me in one email. "You were far too nice about it."

She reiterated both praise and criticism while we sipped coffee in the "Red Room" of her home a couple of years ago. It indeed was a room all decked out in red, with what appeared to be old family portraits and antiques adorning the walls.

Val was burgeoning with knowledge about Lake County politics and its often dirty underbelly. She invited me to her home to share it and encourage me to "punch harder" in my columns.

Val garnered her information over the years as both an avid observer and former employee of the Calumet Township Trustee's office  a place where no less than two elected trustees ultimately faced criminal indictment in unrelated political corruption cases.

Corruption sickened Val, and she used this distaste to spur topics on on her Gary radio show and later online video blogs.

Val would emerge as one of the most interesting and layered personalities I've met since moving to this Region, which has no short supply of characters.

Her closest friends, including her former WLTH station manager and regular WJOB radio host Verlie Suggs, back up my observations of the fiery wit and strong opinions that oozed from this little old lady from Calumet Township.

But an abundance of trust and tenderness lived below the hard edges of her no-nonsense exterior.

Val always asked me about my daughter, Isabella, who many of you know as Izzy from the many columns I've written about my wife and I adopting Izzy and her biological little brother, Aidan.

"Queen Isabella," Val would say, admiring the name we chose for our daughter, now 3, because of Val's affinity for a 15th-century monarch, Queen Isabella of Spain.

Val was the daughter of Spanish immigrants.

She loved her family history, about as much as she loved the city of Gary where she was born. Despite its crime and severe urban struggles, Val often spoke of Gary with the affinity a mother exhibits for her child.

"I love Gary, Indiana," Val said in a video blog post on Nov. 15. "I will forever love Gary, Indiana  no matter the condition of today, yesterday ... What I'm interested in is tomorrow  the future of Gary, Indiana."

She felt the same love and tenderness for her 63-year-old daughter Lana, who lived with Val in the Calumet Township home just outside of Gary.

Lana had suffered various health setbacks over the years, including a vision problem and struggles with cancer. At 86, Val continued to be Lana's biggest fan and caretaker.

Val also managed another home on her property that was subdivided into apartments, serving in a grandmother role  and not doubt never sparing her strong opinions  to the younger tenants.

In the summer, you could catch Val mowing the lawn of her property. In the winter, she shoveled and plowed snow, never slowing down.

During the Nov. 15 video blog, Val showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, offering opinions on the brutality of the Paris terrorism attacks, among other issues.

During the video, she also praised a man named Jim, who she credited with setting up her blog video equipment so she could bring her opinions "to the world."

I didn't know Jim, but it was clear Val trusted him. The video recording of the November blog post shows Jim helping Val set up her broadcast in the Red Room.

The blog post would be one of Val's last.

Last weekend, someone strangled Val and her daughter Lana to death on their Calumet Township property.

James A. Lohnes, 44, of Crown Point, has been identified by the Lake County sheriff as a person of interest in the case. As of Thursday, Lohnes faced no charges in the killings, but he is accused of stealing Val's 2003 Cadillac STS that was later found in Ohio.

Lohnes also worked as a handyman on Val's property, police have said. He would have been someone she had trusted.

It's a tragic, chilling end to a woman whose passions and opinions of her beloved Region will doubtless live on in the memories of those who knew her best.

I'll always remember her dichotomy as both critic and cheerleader when writing any columns of a political nature.

Keep punching, Val, wherever you are.
Sometimes youve got to wonder who is running this state.

Is it Republican Gov. Mike Pence?

Is it the Republican-controlled General Assembly?

With the legislative session still in its infancy, its not easy to give the nod to Pence.

And sometimes youve got to wonder if thats the way majority Republicans want it.

The governors chances for re-election in November hang in the balance.

Pence seems to want it both ways when it comes to two critical issues.

We are talking about highways and byways as well as civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers.

With road funding the dominant issue during this legislative session  and the one you likely will hear the most about on the campaign trail later this year  its not surprising to see Pence has a plan.

What is surprising is that Pence didnt get his ducks in a row before rolling out his road show.

It would appear Pences highway funding plan has considerably less support than the one being touted by Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso.

With road funding being the driving issue of the legislative session, one would think the governor and Legislature would have presented a united front.

The governors plan would be a Band-Aid of sorts, using a part of the states surplus and borrowing another chunk of money for road improvements.

Solidays plan would hike gasoline and cigarette taxes and shift all sales taxes on gasoline to road funding. He also would give local government the ability to raise extra money for roads.

While Solidays plan includes the politically dangerous T word, it also provides a permanent solution to Indianas crumbling roads, which are rated in the bottom third in the country.

While Pences plan doesnt hike taxes  either for personal or political reasons  it doesnt provide a long-term solution to what ails local and state roads.

Unfortunately for Pence, Solidays plan is gaining the most traction  from Democratic Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott to Republican LaPorte Mayor Blair Milo and the Republican-dominated Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Even though he moved cautiously, Pence can take credit for putting forth his own highway plan.

But the governor bailed out on Hoosiers in terms of civil rights for the LGBT community.

The governor tip-toed between anti-discrimination legislation and religious freedom during his State of the State address.

The governor pretty much gave an aw shucks and told legislators to come up with a bill to satisfy all. While he didnt directly say it, he meant legislation that will not renew threats to Indiana businesses caused by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act controversy of last year  or a bill to anger the religious right.

Who really is in charge in Indiana? You might want to wait for the end of the legislative session in mid-March. Or better yet, ask the voters in November.
It seems every political campaign at all levels of government features some element of grandstanding.

We've already seen our fair share heading into the state and local 2016 elections, and it's time to let our political leaders and candidates know they won't be allowed to make outlandish or untrue claims unchecked.

One of the most recent examples came last week when Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, who is running for a sixth term in 2016, claimed both Cedar Lake and Schererville were being double-taxed in funding the county's E-911 consolidation.

Anyone familiar with Lake County's political landscape knows what a firestorm the claim would create  if it were true.

Schererville and Cedar Lake have vehemently resisted the move to consolidate all Lake County municipal police and fire dispatches into one central facility. Rather than joining the rest the county, Cedar Lake and Schererville have created their own consolidated dispatch, and a fight over distribution of 911 user fees has ensued.

Scheub's claim of unfair taxation, which he now admits was false, could have poured gasoline on an already raging fire.

Thankfully, even the E-911 critics in Cedar Lake and Schererville didn't buy into the claim.

Scheub now says it was an honest mistake, and he's glad to learn his initial fears of unfair taxation weren't justified.

Members of Scheub's own Democratic Party dubbed the claims as blatant grandstanding to curry votes.

A look at the way Scheub's district has changed since he last ran for election might show why he would overreach in his statements.

His newly redrawn commissioner's district now swings heavily to voters who are traditionally Republican, making votes in Schererville and Cedar Lake even more important to his current campaign.

If this was an honest mistake, Scheub should have fully explored the veracity of the supposed double-taxing issue before making public claims about it.

Scheub's not the only Region political leader obscuring or distracting from reality in the name of political gamesmanship.

Earlier this month, Indiana House Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said he wouldn't pursue a bill he had proposed in the Legislature that would have given Gary's mayor authority to create charter schools in the beleaguered city.

We've consistently noted the dire state of public education in Gary, and this bill appeared to be a worthy attempt to give students and parents alternatives to a broken schools system.

But Brown ultimately told us he had proposed the bill to stimulate communication among the mayor, Gary public schools and legislators.

In other words, it was a political ploy involving an education system that needs real help, not political soap boxes.

This type of political gamesmanship plays a role in the creation of disaffected voters and apathy plaguing our elections process.

It needs to stop now, and we all need to do our part in demanding its end.
On the face of it, there are five Indiana House and Senate races on the ballot Tuesday in Lake and Porter counties. Really, though, there are only three districts involved.

With longtime Sen. Sue Landske retiring, Senate District 6 is up for grabs. And with Rep. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, looking to join the Senate, House District 11 is an open seat, too.

Senate District 6 - R

Niemeyer faces Chris Shepherd in this race.

Niemeyer hasn't served in the General Assembly long, but he has a long history in local government. His experience at the township, county and state level will be useful in understanding the downstream impact of public policy crafted at the state level.

"I think we've done a lot with small business the last few years," Niemeyer said. He wants to be cautious about additional changes, especially eliminating the personal property tax.

"When we shift one tax to another, we're going to hurt somebody else," Niemeyer said.

Shepherd says some of the right things, including the need to invest in infrastructure to facilitate the movement of goods and people, but he's a bit of an ideologue.

"I'm running to shrink government and expand and protect personal liberty," he declared.

Trouble is, expanding one person's personal liberty often comes at the expense of another person. That's not an easy balance to reach.

Shepherd is eager and capable, but he requires some seasoning. Niemeyer has served well in the House.

We endorse Niemeyer for the Republican nomination.

Senate District 6 - D

Lon Childress faces Newton County Commissioner Roxanna Hanford in this race.

Childress said his first legislation would involve infrastructure, to help put people to work. Good answer.

But Hanford's answer was good, too. She is concerned about domestic violence and said efforts are "way underfunded."

Childress, who was on the Tri-Creek School Board, understands education issues. But Hanford does, too. She noted Indiana's poor ranking on education factors but said dumping Common Core wasn't the way to improve education.

Both candidates want the South Shore to go to Lowell, but Hanford sees beyond Lowell, noting Newton County has become a bedroom community.

Hanford understands better than Childress what impact state actions have on local government in Indiana.

We endorse Hanford.

House District 11 - R

Whoever wins the nomination, his name will be Michael. Michael Aylesworth is running against Michael Mears.

Aylesworth has been in public service for 40 years, in one capacity or another.

His long history of public service in Porter County and with state government, as a political appointee, has given him a broad perspective.

We endorse Aylesworth.

House District 11 - D

Phillip Kuiper is running against James Metro, who declined an interview.

Kuiper, a Lowell Town Council member, was recruited to run by the House Democratic leadership. We can see why.

Kuiper supports extending South Shore passenger rail service to Lowell. Not everyone sees the benefits the trains will bring, though.

"I don't think it's the train, per se," Kuiper said. "I think it's that they're not planning for the train."

That's very perceptive, and Indiana needs more state legislators with that mind-set.

Kuiper describes himself as "a very conservative Democrat."

"Faith, family, and after that comes everything else," Kuiper said.

We endorse Kuiper.

House District 19 - R

Chris Retson and Julie Olthoff are both relative newcomers to the political arena. Olthoff has served on the Merrillville Plan Commission and the Lake County Economic Alliance.

Both candidates support improving public transportation. Retson wants to copy Valparaiso's leadership with bus service. Olthoff sees the lack of public transportation is impeding economic development in Lake County by restricting the free flow of available labor.

One thing Olthoff said stood out. She wants to hold public forums in the district.

"I want to listen to people," she said. That's important.

Olthoff has economic development experience and savvy that could prove useful in the House of Representatives.

We endorse Olthoff.
Agnes Gund didnt want to part with Willem de Koonings The Time of the Fire or Arshile Gorkys Housatonic Falls. She especially doesnt like to give up pieces from her collection made by artists who are her friends, which, it seems, just about every artist happens to be.

But Ms. Gund said she felt she had to sell the two paintings and other works in recent years to be able to continue the charitable giving that has made her one of New York Citys most prominent philanthropists.

I get income, but I dont have a big swath of money to invest in things, said Ms. Gund, whose father, George Gund II, made his fortune as an Ohio banker. Ms. Gund says she tends to give away more money than I really have. Ive had to sell a lot of art, which Ive hated to do because I really love the art I have, she said in a recent interview at her Midtown Manhattan office. Some of the things Ive sold, Ive had for 40 years.

Ms. Gund could, of course, give less than the $6 million to $7 million a year she typically donates through the A G Foundation. But that would require resisting the pull of causes that move her, like arts education, or getting better at saying no to the many requests that come from cultural institutions and womens organizations  her two main areas of concentration.
Nellore: The youngest two brothers of the Anam family, Anam Jayakumar Reddy and Anam Vijayakumar Reddy, have been contemplating joining the YSR Congress in the wake of their elder siblings migrating to the Telugu Desam.

Twins Vijayakumar and Jayakumar used to take care of the political interests of elder brothers, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Anam Vivekananda Reddy respectively in their segments ever since they entered politics and have been aggrieved about being sidelined by their brothers, who are instead promoting their children, sources in the Anam family said.

A former Nellore corporator, Jayakumar, who had differences with Vivekananda Reddy, walked out of the house a few years ago allegedly after the latter ignored him, giving priority to the then mayor of Nellore T. Bhanusree a few years ago. He attacked his brothers constantly during the Samaikyandhra agitation and joined the TD later. Now he is wary of continuing in the party in view of his brothers' entry.

Vijayakumar, who was going along with his elders and unsuccessfully contested for the Nellore rural seat in 2014 elections on a Congress ticket, declined his brothers' proposal to join the TD along with them. "Nellore rural legislator Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy took the initiative to bring the twins into the YSRC after he came to know about their plans from consultation with his cadres. One of the reasons for Sridhar's move was that Vijayakumar commanded a considerable following in the Nellore rural segment. The party high command left the decision of taking the Anam twins into the party's fold to Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy and Nellore City legislator Dr P. Anilkumar Yadav. They discussed the subject at length and gave green signal after seeking Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy's opinion. The MP told them that he had no qualms about the issue since it pertained to their assembly segments," reliable sources in the YSR Congress said.

Anilkumar Yadav said that he had cordial relations with Vijayakumar and Jayakumar and was not against their proposal if they intended to join the party. YSRC district unit president Kakani Govardhan Reddy was also in concurrence on the matter, but said that they had not yet approached him.
Isabel Ann Solmonson, a daughter of Leslie Morgan Solmonson and Steven J. Solmonson of New York, was married Jan. 23 to Elliot Burt Cohen, the son of Paula T. Cohen and Albert E. Cohen of Delray Beach, Fla. Rabbi Michael Resnick officiated at the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Fla.

Mrs. Cohen, 29, is a real estate broker with Kleier Residential in New York. She is also a member of the cast of the HGTV series Selling New York. She graduated from Brown and received a masters degree in education from Pace.

Her father, who worked in London and New York, retired as the president of Park Place Capital Management, a portfolio management consulting firm. He is now a senior vice president at Spectrum Asset Management in Stamford, Conn. Her mother works in New York as a vice president and financial consultant, managing client investment accounts, at Fidelity Investments.

Mr. Cohen, 40, is the founder and chief executive of Citymaps, a company that has a mapping app that serves as a social guide, allowing users to explore cities and find places to visit. He graduated from Cornell and received an M.B.A. from Columbia.
James Francis Purcell Jr. and Barry Neal Steinhart were married Jan. 20 at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau in New York. Edwina M. Townes, a staff member of the New York City Clerks office, officiated.

Mr. Purcell (left), 57, is a fashion designer and a commentator on matters of style in Sacramento. He has a licensing agreement for his custom-made evening gowns with Couture Designs in Sacramento. Until 2004, he was the owner and designer of a fashion firm bearing his name in New York. He graduated from John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

He is a son of James F. Purcell Sr. of Munster, Ind., and the late Dorothy A. Purcell.

Mr. Steinhart, 58, is a lawyer who is the director of governmental affairs for the California Energy Commission in Sacramento. From 2008 to 2015, he worked for State Senator Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat, for whom Mr. Steinhart helped manage legislation that created the annual Harvey Milk Day in California, which honors the gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated in 1978. Mr. Steinhart graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan, from which he also received his law degree.

He is a son of the late Frances L. Steinhart and the late Victor F. Steinhart, who lived in St. Clair Shores, Mich.
Julia Michaela Groeblacher, the daughter of Michaela M. Groeblacher of Lindsborg, Kan., and the late Johann H. Groeblacher, was married in Washington Jan. 20 to Marine Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Lee Castillo, the son of Dahlia S. Castillo and Francisco A. Castillo of South Padre Island, Tex. Gary Shaw, a friend of the couple who received authorization from the District of Columbia to preside, officiated in a Federal-style house in Georgetown thats part of the LEnfant Trust.

The bride, 27, is a foreign service officer with the State Department, in the consular affairs section of the embassy in Baghdad. She interviews Iraqis applying for visas to America and provides emergency services to Americans living in Iraq. She graduated from the University of Kansas and received a masters degree in public policy from Harvard.

Her mother is an assistant professor of art at McPherson College in Kansas and owns an art studio in Lindsborg, where her sculptures are on display. The brides father owned an engineering firm in McPherson that bore his name.

The groom, 32, is serving with the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group in Quantico, Va. He joined the corps in November 2001 and served two combat tours in Iraq, one of which included participating in the second battle of Fallujah in 2004, receiving a Navy Achievement Medal for the deployment. He also served with the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines. He is studying online for a bachelors degree in political science from Hawaii Pacific University.
There remains some argument among lawmakers over which Americans should be able to marry, but nearly everyone agrees that marriage itself offers stability and economic benefits to couples and to society at large.

Most of the presidential candidates, on the right and the left, sound the same notes on the importance of families for the state of our union.

From the website of Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas: Life, Marriage, and family are the fundamental building blocks of society.

From the Democrat Hillary Clinton: When families are strong, America is strong.

By any number of measures, married people are on average more prosperous than those who are not married. One example: In 2011, the median net worth of married couples ages 55 to 64 was $240,000, about four times that of unmarried men and women, the Census Bureau reported.
Sarah Joy Pous and Thomas Francis Brown V celebrated their wedding at the Brooklyn Winery on Jan. 23, during the East Coast blizzard. Because Mirelle Eid, the couples officiant and a Universal Life minister, was unable to attend that event, she legally joined the couple the following day at a Starbucks cafe in Manhattan.

Mrs. Brown, 29, is a senior associate, specializing in real estate acquisition, at the Galaxy Investment Group, a real estate investment and asset management company in New York. She graduated from Cornell and received an M.B.A. from Columbia.

She is a daughter of Carol K. Pous and Robert T. Pous of Bethesda, Md. Her father is a patent lawyer in Alexandria, Va. Her mother is a guidance counselor for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.

Mr. Brown, 28, is a vice president at Oak Hill Advisors, a New York investment firm, where he specializes in the trading of high-yield corporate bonds. He graduated cum laude from Middlebury College.
PELLA, Iowa  After nonstop candidate traffic in Iowa for a full year, the gun was sounded on the final lap before the Feb. 1 caucuses, as the leading candidates in both parties crisscrossed the snowy plains and the states largest newspaper announced its endorsements.

The Des Moines Register backed Senator Marco Rubio of Florida for the Republicans, giving welcome news for a candidate who has been trailing Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz in Iowa polls; and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats, who is in a tight race with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

And in a move that was less than an endorsement but perhaps even more significant, Iowas senior elected Republican, Senator Charles E. Grassley, shared a stage with Donald J. Trump here in Pella, standing behind a Trump sign on a podium. The appearance conferred a seal of approval by elements of the Republican establishment that once declined to take Mr. Trump seriously and is now beginning to see him as preferable to Mr. Cruz, a hard-line conservative.

Im happy to be here with such an enthusiastic group and this candidate, Mr. Grassley said. Mr. Trump reciprocated later, saying, This is a great guy, this is a great guy, as photographers snapped pictures of the unlikely pairing. Hes respected by everybody.
Response

Though the ad placed minorities front and center in several shots, David Brock, who runs Correct the Record, a Clinton-aligned group, said the many views of Mr. Sanderss large crowds showed that his following was overwhelmingly white. From this ad, it seems black lives dont matter much to Bernie Sanders, Mr. Brock told The Associated Press. The statement received a harsh rebuke from the Sanders campaign, which recalled Mr. Brocks early career as a conservative author, calling him a onetime right-wing extremist.

Impact

The ad, created by Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, has a vastly different feel from anything else seen in the race since Mrs. Clinton announced her candidacy in a hope-filled two-minute video in April 2015. It strikingly contrasts with Mrs. Clintons own minute-long closing argument to Iowans, replete with grave warnings and bold promises. And it is likely to stand out amid the clutter of attack ads and boasts from candidates and their allies in both parties.

Changing channels

Familiar Face



Senator Marco Rubios campaign is the first to turn a celebrity endorsement into a television ad, with Rick Harrison, the host of the reality show Pawn Stars. Saying he can detect a fraud, Mr. Harrison assures viewers: When this guy walked into my shop, I knew he was the real deal.

Local Hero



Most presidential campaigns distill their national message into 30 seconds and plop it between newscasts in the early states. But the campaign of Senator Ted Cruz is focusing on a hyperlocal issue, with a spot that has the look and feel of an ad for a House candidate, not a leading presidential contender: promising to protect Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., from thousands of job cuts.

Watch Me Now



Right to Rise, the super PAC supporting Jeb Bush, came up with an inventive way to make sure its 15-minute video was viewed: by putting it in the mail, not in the form of a DVD but with a video mailer. The mailers, with glossy screens the size of an iPad Mini, arrived in the mailboxes of supporters the campaign considers influential, and the video, the length of a documentary short, began to play as soon as the package was opened.
UNDERWOOD, Iowa  With the Iowa caucuses just over a week away, the Bernie Sanders youth brigade is on the move.

Seven hundred college-age volunteers from across the Midwest and as far away as California are streaming into Iowa to help get the vote out. Organizers on Iowa campuses are reserving rooms to turn into phone bank centers, distributing campaign-provided toe warmers to the foot soldiers and playing Mr. Sanderss spoken-word version of This Land Is Your Land to motivate them.

Ahead of Feb. 1, the day Iowa voters finally have their say, the Sanders campaign is activating Go Home for Bernie, a plan to dispatch a fleet of rental cars, vans and buses, if necessary, to carry students who are from Iowa back to their hometowns, where they will have maximum impact on the caucuses.

With his talk of free tuition, unabashed unhipness and calls for political revolution, Mr. Sanders has undoubtedly struck a chord with young people. But they are one of the least dependable constituencies in politics, and his campaign acknowledges that beating Hillary Clinton in Iowa will require harnessing their enthusiasm, overcoming their history of dismal attendance and replicating the 2008 turnout inspired by the historic candidacy of Barack Obama.
SAN SALVADOR  Reacting to the rapid spread of the Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean, health officials in El Salvador are urging women not to get pregnant until 2018 in an effort to halt a surge of birth defects that are suspected to stem from the mosquito-borne disease.

The entire region has erupted with concern over the virus, and each country has taken measures to combat its spread. Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Ecuador, as well as Jamaica in the Caribbean, have recommended delaying pregnancies, though not for an entire two years.

The rest of Latin America has responded with different tactics, ranging from widespread fumigation efforts to directing citizens not to be bitten by the Aedes mosquito, which is known to carry yellow, chikungunya and dengue fevers.
New Delhi: The Centre has written to BR Ambedkar's grandson, Prakash Ambedkar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking permission for re-publication of the writings and speeches of the Dalit icon.

The Centre is commemorating Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary year as a part of which it wants to publish the Collected Works of Bhimrao Ambedkar (CWBA) so his message and ideology can be disseminated far and wide.

A National Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been constituted for overseeing the birth anniversary celebrations. "In accordance with the announcements made by Prime Minister, the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar Jee is being celebrated from April 14, 2015 to April 14, 2016 and various programmes, stamp releases and symposiums are being organised.

"It has been learnt that during the meeting of 'Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee' held on October 8, 2013, questions were raised on the permission accorded for re-publication of the Sampoorn Dandmay (Writings and Speeches) English Edition.

"Due to this, the Principal Secretary at Dept of Higher and Technical Education, Govt of Maharashtra, notified vide letter dated July 7, 2014 that the re-publication of the Sampoorn Dandmay (Writings and Speeches) English edition of Dr Ambedkar has been restricted," said the letter written by Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Gehlot said in his letter that the matter was discussed between him and Prakash Ambedkar over telephone and that the latter had agreed to accord permission.

"Therefore, you are requested to kindly cooperate in getting the permission for re-publication of the Sampoorn Dandmay (Writings and Speeches) English Edition (1 to 17) of Dr Ambedkar, which was earlier published by Dept of Education, Govt of Maharashtra, by Ambedkar Foundation," he said.

According to a senior official in the Ministry, Maharashtra government had accorded permission for reprinting of writings and speeches of Ambedkar in English on May 9, 2013 after which Dr Ambedkar Foundation had published around 1,000 copies, all of which were sold.

However, permission was later withdrawn by Maharashtra government in July, 2014. "Since April last year we have been asking for NOC from Maharashtra government and Prakash Ambedkar, who is the copyright holder of these works, but we are yet to get it.

We want to republish the English originals as there is a huge demand for them," the official said. Dr Ambedkar Foundation has already undertaken translation of Collected Works of Bhimrao Ambedkar from English into different languages -- Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Odiya, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi and Urdu and their publication.
Deal or no deal, Ms. Falque-Pierrotin is in a position to play a major role. If negotiators agree to a new pact, she and Europes other privacy watchdogs will help decide whether the new agreement meets the regions tough standards. If no deal is reached, she could impose further restrictions on how data is transferred across the Atlantic when European regulators gather on Feb. 2.

The French arent afraid to pick fights with companies, said Max Schrems, an Austrian law student who brought the original case that upended the previous trans-Atlantic data-sharing agreement.

Ms. Falque-Pierrotin follows a long tradition of French officials promoting strict privacy rights. In 2014, her peers elected her to lead an increasingly powerful group of European privacy regulators  a position that she is the forerunner to retain when new elections take place next month.

After receiving degrees from some of Frances top business and civil service schools, Ms. Falque-Pierrotin has spent three decades leapfrogging among government agencies and state-sponsored nonprofits. In the late 1990s, though, she began focusing more on privacy and the digital economy. She joined Frances data-protection authority in 2004 and quickly rose within its ranks.

In person, Ms. Falque-Pierrotin comes across as soft-spoken and formal. But her advocates and targets alike say she can be tenacious, though fair-minded. In recent years, she has gained a reputation for taking on some of the worlds largest tech companies, including Google.

The search giant will again take center stage in the coming weeks when Frances data-protection watchdog is expected to fine the company for failing to comply with its interpretation of Europes right to be forgotten privacy ruling, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. While such a move is a headache for a company like Google, the agencys one-off maximum financial penalty of 150,000 euros, or about $160,000, is essentially a mere rounding error.
SANTA ANA, Calif.  A manhunt spanning Southern California was underway Sunday for three inmates described as very dangerous who escaped from a maximum-security jail in Orange County, using tools to cut through steel bars and then rappelling from the jails roof with makeshift ropes made of linens.

The authorities said they believed the inmates  Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43  escaped from the Orange County Central Mens Jail here soon after the 5 a.m. head count on Friday. Their absence was not discovered until the 8 p.m. head count that day, the Orange County Sheriffs Department said.

Mr. Tieu has been charged with murder and attempted murder. His case is believed to be gang-related, and he had been held since 2013 on $1 million bond.

Mr. Nayeri is charged with kidnapping and torture in connection with the abduction of a marijuana dispensary owner in 2012. He is accused of being one of four men who took the dispensary owner to a spot where they believed he had hidden money, and cut off his penis, the authorities said. Mr. Nayeri then fled to his native Iran, before being recaptured in the Czech Republic and extradited to the United States. He had been held without bond since 2014.
These law enforcement agencies are offering addicts referrals to treatment programs, either in lieu of arrest, as in Gloucester, Mass., or through direct outreach, according to the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative:

Groton City, Conn., Police Department

Groton (Township), Conn., Police Department

Orlando, Fla., Police Department

Dixon, Ill., Police Department

Lee County, Ill., Sheriffs Department

Rolling Meadows, Ill., Police Department

Whiteside County, Ill., Sheriffs Department

Rock Falls, Ill., Police Department

Morrison, Ill., Police Department

Sterling, Ill., Police Department

The Arlington Outreach Initiative, Arlington, Mass.

Massachusetts Major City Chiefs
ROME  Six years ago, Andrea Rubera married his partner in Canada, where the couple later became parents of three young children. But when they returned to their native Italy, a transformation occurred. Mr. Rubera suddenly became a single man, and his legally recognized husband in Canada became his single male roommate in Italy. Italian law also divided custody of their children.

The familys journey brought to life the wide divide between Italy and most of the rest of the Western world on civil rights for homosexuals. Like Canada, nearly every Western country has legalized same-sex marriage or some form of civil union for gays and lesbians. Italy is the outlier, partly because of the lingering influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

But on Thursday, after months of delays and political jousting, the Italian Senate will begin voting on legislation to legalize civil unions, several years after a similar effort failed. The outcome remains uncertain, as lawmakers confront an issue that has challenged traditional social mores, jumbled ideological lines and is being debated as the politics of the Catholic Church are in upheaval.

Certainly, the fact that it was not going to be an easy vote was something we were aware of, said Monica Cirinna, the senator sponsoring the legislation.
People queue up to register themselves and to collect passes for the upcoming IFR at an e-Seva centre on Saturday.

Visakhapatnam: Free passes for the International Fleet Review (IFR) events have become a topic of discussion  and disgruntlement  among Vizagites.

The district administration stared issuing passes for the naval carnival on Friday. As many as 1.4 lakh free passes will be issued for the IFR events, according to the district administration, and the only thought on peoples minds is how to get one.

On the first day, about 20,000 passes were distributed through the 154 Mee-Seva Centres in the city. People can collect one free pass per person after submitting a photocopy of their Aadhaar card. Each Mee-Seva centre was given 500 passes on Friday.

People of all ages made a beeline for the centres on Saturday and those who succeeded were jubilant. Those who didnt returned home disappointed.

Some people accused the Mee-Seva Centre of partiality in issuing passes and also asking money from people. I waited for about two hours, but did not get a pass. Citing glitches in the server, the person in charge told me to return the next day. When I did so, the in-charge told me that the passes were over said K. Suryanarayana, venting his anger.

As the free passes are being issued only in Vizag city. people from the city outskirts are unhappy over the administrations arrangements. When asked about irregularities in the distribution of passes, the district collector N. Yuvraj said he had received several complaints in this regard.

Soon after receiving complaints, I sent officials to the centre to verify the documents, though it is hard to keep track of all 154 centres, he said, adding that the Mee-Seva centre would face stringent action if found guilty of violating the rule of first come first served. The pass grants entry to the operational event of the IFR on February 7. About 80 enclosures will be set up on the beach along the coast right from the Coastal Battery to Palm Beach Hotel to accommodate the people.
Students of Hyderabad University instensified their stir against V-C after he went on indefinite leave (Photo: PTI)

Hyderabad: Under attack over Rohith Vemula's suicide, Hyderabad University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile on Sunday went on leave but it sparked more protests as Dalit faculty members alleged that the professor given interim charge too had "deep involvement" in the case and in the death of another student from the community.

Vipin Srivastava, who is going to be the interim Vice-Chancellor, reportedly headed the Committee which suspended Rohith Vemula.

Read: Hyderabad University interim V-C calls for 'talks' to improve situation

The university put a notice on its website saying, "The Vice-Chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Vipin Srivastava, the senior most Professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor wef 24-01-2016." It did not mention the period of leave.

When contacted, Podile said he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse" in the wake of student's agitation.

"There is no pressure from anybody. It is my concern for my University. We want to resolve the issue now. There is an impasse now and to break that impasse we need to have some mechanism where I am advised to be little away from campus and somebody has to be there to be in command. We have a provision to ask a senior Professor to be in-charge and that's what we have done," he told PTI.

Read: Rohith's mom left in care of Vadderas when she was 5

Asked whether he would take charge once normalcy returns in the university, he replied in positive.

However, the SC/ST Faculty Forum and SC/ST Officers Forum expressed "shock" over the decision to appoint Srivastava as officiating Vice-Chancellor and said it was disappointed that Podile was not dismissed.

They alleged that Srivastava was one of the "accused" in the suicide of another Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

Read: Congress to raise Dalit student suicide issue in Parliament

"We are shocked and dismayed at Dr Vipin Srivastava, assuming the office of Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University. Prof Srivastava has been accused in the suicide of a Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

"More recently he headed the Executive Council Sub-Committee which has been responsible for the death of Rohith Vemula Chakravarti," the Forums said in a joint statement.

Read: Scholar suicide: Students Joint Action Committee plans 'Chalo HCU' stir

The Sub-Committee had recommended disciplinary action against Rohith and four other scholars in connection with an assault case.

In the light of his "deep involvement" in both suicide cases, he may be asked to immediately step down from the Vice-Chancellor's office, it said.

A fresh batch of seven students on Sunday resumed the strike to press their demands, including sacking of Podile who has been named in the FIR on charges of abetment of suicide and and under relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in connection with Rohith's case.

Read: Dalit scholar's suicide: JNU students go on indefinite hunger strike

The development came on the eve of 'Chalo HCU' protest march called by agitating students to press for their demands, which include removal of the VC from his post and Rs 50 lakh compensation to the deceased's family.

Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday visited the campus and said that his party would raise the issue of Rohith's suicide in Parliament, while its student wing NSUI has decided to hold a one-day hunger strike across all state capitals tomorrow.
LOS ANGELES  The Sierra Club is suing the California Coastal Commission in an effort to halt approval of U2 guitarist The Edges plan to build five mansions on a Malibu ridge.

The Los Angeles Times reports the action filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court says the commission didnt properly evaluate the project before granting approval last month.

Among other things, the Sierra Club maintains the commission didnt consider the impact that putting homes in Malibus pristine Sweetwater Mesa area would have on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.

Edge has been attempting to get the project approved since 2011. The plans the commission OKd last month were a scaled-down version of his original proposal.

Commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz said Friday her agency hadnt yet reviewed the lawsuit and couldnt comment.
Get ready California. Without very much fanfare, the proverbial one-ton Government Accounting Standards Board gorilla has entered the room.

As the result of years of discussions over how best to account for the growing unfunded liabilities owed by government pensions systems, municipalities for the first time ever must include the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of their defined-benefit pension plans in their annual financial reports.

Orange County is one of the first municipalities to release its audited financial statements under the new rules. It is provided in a document known as the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (see ac.ocgov.com/info/financial/cafr/2015).

The latest financial report is historic, and every resident should be interested in what it has to say. Although the county had a relatively stable year financially, the bottom line dropped like a rock when accounting for the pension liability. In fact, the bottom line fell to depths it has never reached before.

Thats what the GASB can do, and thats why Ive been warning Orange County taxpayers for over a decade that we must address our unfunded liabilities.

Orange County got a good start by reforming its retiree medical liabilities in 2006. Working with the public employee unions, the county reduced its unfunded liability by $1 billion and is now saving taxpayers $100 million a year. This is an achievement that I am very proud of. But its a small drop in the bucket compared with the arrival of the one-ton gorilla in the latest financial report.

With the inclusion on its balance sheet of the countys unfunded accrued liability for its defined-benefit plan, the positive Unrestricted Net Assets  at a historic high of $331 million last year  went to a historic low negative Unrestricted Net Deficit of nearly $3 billion for fiscal year 2014-15, which ended June 30. This is a swing of $3.3 billion, resulting in the worst documented financial position in Orange Countys 126-year history.

Were talking a gorilla twice the size of the bankruptcy losses Orange County incurred in 1994. Communicated a different way: If every one of Orange Countys 3.1 million residents chipped in $1,000 each, the county would be at the break-even point.

Fifty-seven other counties soon will be reporting their audited financial statements, and we can expect the same results on their balance sheets. The pension liabilities are that massive. This gorilla is no respecter of location or size. Cities will also be rocked into financial reality within the next few days or weeks.

GASB should have required the reporting of these unfunded liabilities for the past three decades, but failed to do so. Now they are being dropped in, and the wake of the splash is truly of tsunamic proportions.

It gets worse. California will be releasing its own CAFR in April. The Unrestricted Net Deficit last year already was $117 billion. Once the states unfunded liabilities are revealed and accounted for, expect the deficit to hit the $250 billion area. A quarter of a trillion dollars  thats roughly $6,400 for every man, woman and child in California.

And we havent even thrown in your city, your school district, your community college district and your utility districts, like water and sanitation. The numbers will be so dramatic that youll see newspaper articles announcing the sad news.

Since public employee pension plans are reliant on the performance of the nations stock markets, the past few weeks on Wall Street mean that future audited financial statements may have even worse news to share.

Im an accountant and a CPA. Ive counseled for years that, just like spending more than you receive is irresponsible, so, too, is making unaffordable commitments to pay something in the future. The debts of maintaining a bloated government and providing overly generous pension benefits to government employees has a cost. And for the first time ever, governments must quantify that cost in their annual audited financial reports.

GASB is finally allowing municipalities to come closer to telling the truth about their total financial pictures. And those municipalities can tell their constituents that they will be tightening their belts, setting aside a larger rainy-day fund or, as government prefers to tell you, that more taxes are needed.

Taxpayers, we have a problem. And it needs to be addressed. It is now staring us straight in the face in the annual audited financial statements. The pension debts are no longer hiding in the shadows. The GASB gorilla has arrived.

What is there for our municipalities to do? More cuts and benefit modifications should be pursued. Outsourcing should be expanded. The public employee unions should negotiate to reduce pension benefit formulas for current employees, which is the best alternative. If municipalities experience unforeseen financial calamities, then it may even require a bankruptcy judge to approve a reorganization plan. Ask the city of Detroit how that worked for them.

The sooner these ideas are pursued, the better. Or expect continued pressures to increase car, gasoline, sales and income taxes.

John Moorlach represents the 37th State Senate District.
It was in the predawn hours on Friday, shortly after the 5 a.m. head count, when three inmates charged with violent crimes made their bold escape, Sheriffs officials confirmed Sunday.

By Monday morning its likely Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong had been on the loose for 72 hours and officials suspect they are being harbored nearby.

Local and federal officials were still searching Monday across Southern California in hopes of finding the men considered to be armed and very dangerous, sheriffs Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

Theres no information to indicate theyve left Southern California, Hallock said.

Authorities at this point are relying heavily on community tips and vigilance to help them find the suspected criminals.

By 10 a.m. Monday, 30 search warrants for home and electronic devices, including cellphones, were served, said sheriffs Lt. Dave Sawyer, head of the departments criminal investigation bureau.

Deputy Phuong Nguyen acted as a Vietnamese interpreter and made statement during the 10 a.m. press conference, addressing the Vietnamese community, or areas densely populated by that demographic, since Duong  who does not speak English  and Tieu are both Vietnamese gang members.

They may be ingrained in that community, Hallock said.

There is a strong possibility that (Tieu) is connected with those fellow gang members in the Vietnamese community.

Officials would not name the gangs Tieu and Duong are members of.

They dont deserve that, Sawyer said.

The trios breakout  which may have taken weeks or months to plan  has forced sheriffs officials to re-evaluate jailhouse security, which also has been questioned by county watchdogs in recent years.

The Orange County grand jury in its yearly reports on the state of the jails has criticized what it described as inadequate video equipment. In the 2015 report, grand jurors noted that upgrades had been delayed due to a lack of financial resources.

A year ago, the Sheriffs Department informed the grand jury that it had a five-year, $10 million plan to install 1,500 to 2,000 new cameras at local jails.

Officials did not immediately know how many cameras are currently operating within the Orange County Jail, Hallock said Monday.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, in a written response to the grand jury in August, indicated that her department was slated to receive about $2 million a year from the county for the new cameras. However, the sheriff warned, that depended on continued funding.

Sheriffs department officials did not comment about whether the surveillance upgrades were installed yet.

The 2015 report echoed the grand jurys concerns over jail video surveillance in previous years.

Sheriffs officials on Sunday released a blurry video that they believe shows an escapee preparing to rappel down from the roof of the jail. He was inadvertently captured on a camera designated to record activity in a nearby recreation area, said Orange County Sheriffs Lt. Jeff Hallock.

Also Sunday, the U.S. Marshals Service kicked in $30,000 for information leading to the re-arrest of the escapees, adding to the $20,000 reward already offered by the FBI.

Tieus mother and sister appeared on ABC7 Sunday night and said he had not contacted them. Despite the murder charges against Tieu, his family members said they didnt think he could hurt anyone.

I feel like he was manipulated or tricked into doing this, his sister, Tiffany Tieu, tearfully told reporter Greg Lee, urging her brother to Turn yourself in. Dont let this drag on.

Hutchens, calling the escapees very dangerous, warned the public they could be armed. Neither she nor other law enforcement officials would specify the cities in which they are focusing their search.

Weve gotten a number of what I would call very good tips that have got us on the right track, Hutchens said at a news conference. As far as actual sightings of the individuals, we have not received any information.

In addition to the video, the Sheriffs Department on Sunday released photos showing a cut screen in a holding tank and a makeshift rope left behind by the inmates.

Photos courtesy of O.C. Sheriffs Department

The three men were housed in a jail mod shared with 65 other inmates, all of whom are suspected of carrying out violent crimes.

The trio cut through half-inch steel bars, forced their way into a plumbing tunnel, Hallock said.

During Mondays press conference, officials said there were four or five additional security breaches where the inmates broke through metal, iron steel or rebar before making their way onto an unsecured part of the jailhouse roof.

The inmates then used an improvised rope made of bedsheets to get around barbed wire and rappel four stories to the ground.

(Click to enlarge)

It took nearly 16 hours on Friday for officials to learn the men were missing, and an additional three hours to confirm they escaped.

It appears to be a very sophisticated operation, where they were allowed to go through security access points and had some tools that allowed them to do that, Hutchens said. Where they got those tools and how that occurred  we are still looking into that.

Officials are investigating whether a fight, which occurred around 8 p.m. just before the second scheduled head count of the day, was staged, Hallock said.

(The fight) may have been a ploy to distract staff to further delay the 8 p.m. physical body count, Hallock said.

Investigators want to know whether the escapees had help from inside or outside the jail. There is no indication that any jail workers were part of the escape plan, Hallock said, but all possibilities are under review.

Hutchens said the older design of the imposing Central Jail complex, built in 1968, forces officials to allow movement within the jail of inmates in need of services. In comparison, staff in newer jails bring the services to the inmates.

After learning about the escape, sheriffs officials say they warned those people the escapees are accused of hurting, as well as the detectives who investigated the alleged crimes and the deputy district attorneys who are prosecuting them.

Investigators are tracking down known relatives or anyone who had relationships with the men. They are also reviewing security footage from cameras inside and outside the jail.

Hutchens said it isnt possible to conduct more head counts at the jail throughout the day.

We are handicapped in that this is a jail where a lot of movement occurs, the sheriff said. We have people going to court, we have people going for medical treatment, and you cant leave them locked down 24 hours a day. There are requirements that they get out and exercise from time to time.

There were no obvious ties among the three inmates, besides that they were housed together.

Nayeri is one of four people accused of kidnapping and torturing a marijuana dispensary owner.

Prosecutors allege they burned the dispensary owner with a blowtorch and cut off his penis before dumping him and his girlfriend on the side of a desert road. He has been held without bail in the Orange County Jail since September 2014.

Tieu is facing a murder charge for a gang-related killing and has been in jail since October 2013 in lieu of $1 million bail.

Tieu is one of nearly a dozen people arrested in connection to the murder of 19-year-old Scottie Bui, who was shot and killed around 2:20 a.m. March 20, 2011 during a confrontation and brief car chase involving 2 Asian street gangs near Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.

A Garden Grove police raid in April 2011 stemming from Buis killing also led officers to find drugs, guns and $70,000 in cash.

Tien Phuoc Phung was one of those arrested and convicted of first-degree murder after Buis death, but a court overturned the conviction in July 2014.

Duong is accused of shooting a 52-year-old man in the chest shortly after 1:35 p.m. on Nov. 18. The wounded man and others later identified Duong as the shooter.

Duong was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in November and was ineligible for bail due to an immigration hold.

He was previously released from lockup on an early-release program for two narcotics charges out of Garden Grove, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Duong has also been charged previously with crimes including burglary, evading, firearm possession, domestic violence, criminal threats, attempted robbery and carjacking, according to Santa Ana police records.

He has no permanent address in Santa Ana, but was known to stay in various houses within the city when he was not housed at Orange County jail, Bertagna said.

Like jail officials, neighbors were left wondering how such a brazen breakout could be pulled off.

How does something like this happen, especially with that caliber of inmate? said Susann Podolak, who has lived in the area for 14 years. Its not like they were petty theft. They were violent crimes.

Others now feel less comfortable having a maximum security jail as a neighbor.

People have said, You live right by the jail and its like, Ah, who cares, said Kitty Taylor, who has lived in the area for about 25 years. Nobody breaks out. But now three violent criminals have broken out, and thats not good.

We are receiving tips, but not of the quality we would like, Hallock said.

These are very dangerous inmates. Its important that the public realizes that.

Anyone who spots the escapees should call 911, authorities said. Anyone with information about their whereabouts can contact the Orange County Sheriffs Department at 714-628-7085.

Reporter Scott Schwebke contributed to this report.
RABAT, Morocco  Thousands of demonstrators in Morocco have defied a government ban to march in a tense protest over planned cuts to Moroccos education system.

Marchers on Sunday chanted Were prepared to go to prison! and other slogans as they neared the parliament building in Rabat, Moroccos capital.

Teacher trainees have been protesting the cuts around the country for the past few months, and the response from security forces during some demonstrations has been violent. Riot police were scattered along the route of Sundays march.

Wadi Al-Mrimar, one of the organizers, said police followed his bus en route to the protest.

Next month will mark the 5th anniversary of when Moroccans took to the streets as part of the Arab Spring protests.
Transit officials are touting proposed bus route changes as a way to serve more users on high-demand routes and reverse declining ridership, but the plan has met resistance from the public and some city leaders alike.

Bus riders  from service workers to suited professionals, students and seniors  showed up in droves to protest the changes at community meetings last month. Both the San Clemente and Santa Ana city councils have cried foul, with San Clemente asking for alternatives to losing routes that serve local schools and Santa Ana leaders saying their constituents are among those who most rely on OCTAs buses.

Santa Ana residents use public transportation not out of luxury, but out of necessity, Mayor Pro Tem Vincent Sarmiento said last week. We have a community of working class families  were not picking on OCTA.

The public has one more opportunity to weigh in on the draft bus plan, the largest service overhaul in half a dozen years, at an Orange County Transportation Authority public hearing on Monday morning.

Input from the board meeting will be considered along with 835 comments the transit authority has already received as of Jan. 5 through four community meetings, surveys, e-mail and telephone communications initiated in late November. Next month, the OCTA board is expected to make its decision.

Bogged down by declining ridership, OCTA proposed a 2016 Bus Service Plan reallocating resources from lower performing bus routes to high-demand areas, primarily from South County to the central core of the system. Though 92 percent of riders would see no change or improved service, many customers and some cities have voiced vehement opposition.

City council members of Santa Ana, which has more bus riders than any other city in the county, on Tuesday unanimously voted against the proposed elimination of two north-south bus lines to Costa Mesa  Route 51 on Flower Street and Route 145 on Raitt, Greenville and Fairview streets. They noted no community meeting was held in Santa Ana, and instead in Orange, Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills and San Juan Capistrano.

Santa Ana residents use public transportation not out of luxury, but out of necessity, Mayor Pro Tem Vincent Sarmiento said. We have a community of working class families  were not picking on OCTA.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, who also sits on the OCTA board, welcomed a discussion with transit staff to come up with alternatives to cutting routes.

Instead of one of the additional high-frequency (routes) in the city, we think its more important that we do something different on one of the eliminated routes, he said.

The 17-member OCTA Board of Directors is comprised of the five county supervisors, two members from city councils in each of the five supervisorial districts and two public members who are appointed by the rest of the board. The city members are appointed by the City Selection Committee, made up of each mayor in the county.

Routes 51 and 145 together account for 2.3 percent of boarding in the city, and riders would have access to other buses within a half-mile, said OCTA Deputy CEO Ken Phipps.

Without altering the routes, the agency will continue to lose ridership and revenue, and then there wont be a service reallocation plan in the future; it will be a service reduction plan.

The transit authority offered presentations to every Orange County city council, and four requested them  Santa Ana, which got two, plus Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Yorba Linda.

OCTA also mailed letters to all mayors in the county encouraging participation in a workshop on Project V funds, a sales-tax funded program that allows cities to start their own community-based transit circulators in areas with service shortages. Two dozen jurisdictions attended.

Four cities sent letters to OCTA.

San Clemente council members wrote to OCTA asking for reduced schedules or other alternatives to eliminating routes 191 and 193, which serve Saddleback College and San Clemente High School.

Fountain Valley Mayor Cheryl Brothers wrote the plan eliminates service on routes 37 and 76 that would reduce public transit to a mixed-use district being created through the Fountain valley Crossings Specific Plan.

Laguna Niguels Public Works director Nasser Abbaszadeh wrote there is concern from people with special needs for whom buses are the only mode of transportation, and that the city intends to apply for Project V funds.

Meanwhile, Anaheims Public Works director, Natalie Meeks, sent a letter thanking OCTA for proposing more frequent service along Anaheims busy transit corridors, the letter provided by OCTA says.

Since 2008, OCTA has experienced an estimated 30 percent decline in ridership and has reached a historic low matching boarding numbers in fiscal year 1996-97, according to the agency. Boardings per year peaked at almost 69 million in 2007, but in 2015 OCTA had about 47 million.

The plan would affect more than 40 of the 77 bus routes in some form, with service boosts in the central core that constitutes about 80 percent of total average daily boardings countywide, and add six peak high-frequency routes running every 15 minutes as well as two new Bravo! routes with limited stops.

By implementing the net-zero plan, the authority hopes to see 1.6 million more boardings over the next three years.

Much of the focus during the public outreach process has been on cuts, but only 4 percent of riders would see reduced frequency, and 1 to 4 percent would be left without service or need to use another route, said OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik.

No ones really talking about the improvements that are going to be made. Look at all the service thats going to be increased rather than just focus on the very small percentage thats going to be cut, Zlotnik said. In our mind, this plan is a positive.

The plan represents the biggest systemwide change since the transit authority slashed 20 percent of its service between 2008 and 2010.

After Mondays hearing, OCTA staff will come up with a final public outreach report and refined service plan for the Transit Committee meeting on Feb. 11, and the full board on Feb. 22 will have an opportunity to adopt the plan, which would then be rolled out in June and October.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7762, jkwong@ocregister.com or on Twitter: @JessicaGKwong
Success does come with a price tag.

Orange Countys economy begins 2016 on a six-year winning streak. But the extended upswing is creating challenges that may limit the local business climates advance.

My Big Orange Index, a compilation of three dozen benchmarks of local economic performance, hit a new record at the end of 2015, powered by an ongoing hiring spree that fueled record spending by consumers.

But trouble lies beneath the surface. Most notably, 2015s fourth-quarter gain was the second-smallest increase since the long-running upswing began in 2010. And three of the six subindexes that make up the Big O were down.

The Big Orange Boss Index, a measure of local CEO confidence, declined for the third consecutive quarter. Clearly, the executive suite feels pressure to create greater profitability when competition is stiff and costs such as labor and real estate are on the upswing.

Local shoppers, too, are getting antsy. The Big Orange Consumer Index fell at the end of 2015 for the first time in four years. While most metrics of consumer life are positive  from employment to spending patterns  the financial pressures from bosses seem to be trickling down to the workforce.

And theres no better example of the strange economic intersection between growth and the headaches it creates than real estate. Local job growth has created steep demand for places to house both corporations and consumers.

A limited supply of real estate to buy or rent, though, has driven prices to sky-high levels and limited choice and closed transactions. Thus, the Big Orange Property Owner Index has fallen in three out of the last six quarters as real estate costs stretch buyers and renters ability to pay up.

The steep cost of living may be costing Orange County growth.

GOOD SPINS

Fast growth created bumps for TSW Alloy Wheels.

Like finding space.

Almost two years ago, the custom-wheel importer wanted to combine its two Orange County facilities into one large office/warehouse building that it would own. An immediate problem surfaced, as very little industrial warehouse space is available in the county  and even less of it is for sale.

TSW sells whats become a popular aftermarket upgrade for cars and trucks. Terence Scheckter, the South Africa-born owner of TSW, said his company has long been profitable and its global sales have grown every year, with the exception of mid-recession 2009.

New wheels are the easiest way to change the look of a car, a great way to personalize it, Scheckter said.

The search for TSWs new local home for its 20 employees and its inventory was very hard and took more than a year to complete, Scheckter said. TSW ended up buying a brand-new 155,000-square-foot building in Brea for $21 million.

We wanted room and efficiency, he said.

That wasnt TSWs only growth move. It also bought its first out-of-town warehouse, in Dallas, a decision Scheckter said had nothing to do with the frequent California-Texas economic debate.

TSW sought a central U.S. location to better serve Texas and East Coast clients. Of course, there were significant cost savings with the Texas space; Scheckter said it ran roughly a third of what comparable Orange County real estate would cost.

But when I asked him if there was any chance such savings could lure TSW to the Lone Star State, Scheckter replied bluntly that such a move would cost us our key employees, including myself!

While Scheckter is generally bullish about the outlook for his business, he does note some significant headwinds, especially in foreign markets.

A strong U.S. dollar puts the wheels TSW ships overseas at a price disadvantage. Struggling foreign economies give CEOs with a global view like Scheckter reason for some concern  and make them appreciate the relative strength of the U.S economy.

The domestic market is one of the better economies in the world for us, he said.

EXTENDED RUN

Length matters.

The Big Orange Indexs six-year upswing is a year longer than the dubious boom of the previous decade, which was fueled by funny-money mortgages (the Big O rose in 19 of 20 consecutive quarters). But the advance is a year shorter than the 1990s expansion (Big O up in 28 of 29 quarters).

The most recent long-running upswing for Orange County has put numerous companies and consumers in solid financial shape. The Big Orange Banker Index, which measures local bill-paying habits, is at a 10-year high as bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment are all back at pre-recession levels.

But that success may have persuaded numerous businesses and individuals in Orange County to risk that renewed financial strength on growth-generating endeavors. That may help explain much of the current economic anxiety, perhaps best expressed in a volatile start to 2016 in financial markets.

Local bosses can no longer count on growing sales and profits simply as a result of a broad economic recovery that lifted the fortunes of most sectors. And the once easy-to-see savings from closing inefficient or out-of-date facilities or processes already have been accomplished.

That puts CEOs in a tough spot: accept meager results or make significant bets on growth. Not every leader has the nerve like the TSW boss to expand the business, especially in a high-cost region like Orange County.

For example, TSW targeted local buildings with added height to make the pricey real estate pencil out, as the added space is used to stack inventory.

If youre going to be in Orange County, you better be efficient, Scheckter said.

Orange County consumers, meanwhile, are enjoying the best employment opportunities in 15-plus years. Still, the pain of the Great Recession remains in the back of their minds. Yes, spending is up, but oddly, a discount is still greatly appreciated. That bargain-hunting mentality adds pressure to corporate bottom lines.

But if such skittishness remains so widespread after six years of growth, how will Orange County react if the economic cooling found in the latest Big Orange Index persists, no less if the sluggishness turns into stagnation or worse?

Contact the writer: jlansner@ocregister.com
Outsiders, the bare-knuckles new drama from WGN America, pits a tribe of off-the-grid hill people against civilized folk at the foot of the mountain who want to oust them to unearth a rich vein of coal just waiting to be mined once these long-entrenched squatters are evicted.

But its not going to be easy. Or pretty.

We dont go up THERE, they aint supposed to come down HERE, warns Deputy Wade, reciting the policy of detente that keeps a shaky peace in place. It is Wade who now is ordered to drive them out.

Thomas M. Wright plays this put-upon lawman, with veteran actor David Morse starring as Big Foster Farrell, the fearsome heir-apparent to the tribes leadership. Otherwise among the large cast, Ryan Hurst (known to Sons of Anarchy fans as motorcycle gangster Opie) portrays Big Fosters formidable but tormented son.

Is the conflict in Outsiders, which finds the Farrells locked in internal strife while at the brink of war with the outside world, likely to cause fireworks in this pocket of Appalachia? In Farrell tribal-speak, you might say Ged-gedyah. Which translates into Hell, yeah!

Outsiders was created by Peter Mattei, a 58-year-old artist-polymath (Dilettante, I think, is the word youre looking for) whose resume includes playwright, novelist and filmmaker with a 2002 indie picture, Love in the Time of Money, that Robert Redford executive-produced and featured Vera Farmiga, Rosario Dawson, Steve Buscemi and Adrian Grenier. His range of cool comrades also includes an executive producer of Outsiders, Paul Giamatti, whom he met when both were attending Yale Drama School.

Mattei (pronounced mah-TAY) today divides his time between Austin, Texas, and upstate New York. But he was inspired to create Outsiders by memories from his post-collegiate days as a founding member of a theater company that staged its plays in a Tribeca warehouse, and as a resident in the dirt-cheap, but now super-chic, patch of Brooklyn known as Williamsburg.

In Williamsburg, it felt like we had this mountain we could live on for free, he says, invoking a Farrell-esque perspective. Then, with gentrification, along came the people with money, and they evicted us.

I think a lot about money and technology, continues Mattei, who studied economics at Brown University and worked for a time in the dot-com industry. After Occupy Wall Street and the financial crisis, I was trying to find some way to write about that, too. It all came together as this group of modern-day people who live in an anti-modern way, without technology, just as they had done for centuries.

And then there comes a threat  Big Coal, enabling modern contrivances while befouling nature  to their way of life. And they will have to defend it.

Make no mistake, Outsiders doesnt play favorites between the Farrells, who only want to be left alone, and the villagers, who desperately need the economic jolt this coal windfall might provide.

The first episode even includes a declaration of coals importance to the nations energy needs. And while the Farrells are certainly no pack of sweethearts (it has to be more than coincidence that this inbred familys surname is so similar to feral), one initial plan from their camp for how to meet their looming threat sounds reasonable enough.

I wanted both worlds, in the hills and down below, to have lots of shades of gray, says Mattei. This series is like all the things Ive done  a little bit like conceptual art, like a thought experiment: What if ?

The what-if propelling Outsiders was met with interest from several networks, Mattei says. But none more so than WGN America, which has found success with a pair of ambitious dramas, Manhattan and Salem, and in March will launch the Civil War-era Underground. It handed him a 13-episode straight-to-series deal.

WGN wants to take risks and make a mark, he says, and they know they arent going to win in a crowded marketplace by putting bland stuff out there.

Outsiders is not bland.

I wanted to keep a kind of indie-film spirit going, a craft-beer mentality, says Mattei, who, besides his writing duties, served as on-site showrunner, stewarding a company of more than 100 in a rugged backwoods shoot outside Pittsburgh. My role was kind of preserving a DIY aesthetic. My slogan was, Perfect is the enemy of great.

Thus did Mattei establish his own backwoods society, one with specially tailored rules and rituals, and even jargon for his characters mashed up from Welsh and Gaelic. An out-of-the-ordinary drama? Ged-gedyah!
Medical errors can affect anyone  even a former president.

President Bill Clinton, who spoke to a crowd of hundreds of physicians, administrators, policymakers and patient advocates Saturday, said his own family has been touched by a medical error when a cousin was sent home when a local clinic thought she had the flu. Her condition worsened and she died a few days later in the hospital with sepsis.

I just started thinking about all the people going to big, urban hospitals and how in that kind of operation, how easy it is to let the little things drop through the cracks, Clinton said at the Patient Safety, Science and Technology Summit at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort in Dana Point.

Clinton, a longtime supporter of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, a Lake Forest-based organization committed to reducing medical errors and eliminating preventable patient deaths in U.S. hospitals by 2020, ran through many topics during his speech, from terrorism to the Syrian refugee crisis. He highlighted how two of his causes  lowering the costs of HIV prescription drugs in poorer countries and cutting down calories students consumed through their drinks  spawned massive movements.

The patient safety movement, with a lot of hard work, could scale up their success in the same way, Clinton said. The diverse group making up the audience could be a model for problem-solving in all areas across the 21st-century world.

I think youll have a positive social impact, just because people like you had the wisdom and insight to build this alliance, Clinton said.  I think this will help people believe in the idea of progress again.

But once the group hits zero preventable patient deaths, Clinton warned the group will be pushed to redefine its perception of preventable.

Youll have to wake up the next morning and get back to work, Clinton said. When you start one of these movements, you cant know where it will end.

According to studies from the National Institutes of Health, there are at least 200,000 preventable patient deaths in the U.S. each year.

In March of last year, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center dealt with an outbreak of infections stemming from endoscopes that werent fully sterilized. More locally, Mission Hospital briefly closed several operating rooms after four patients developed post-surgery infections in 2014.

Medical errors can also occur due to miscommunication among staff members, when a medical complication isnt recognized quickly enough or if a patient contracts a health care-associated infection.

Patient Safety Movement Foundation President Jim Bialick said having such a diverse group at the summit strengthened the groups ability to discuss best practices in health care. Members of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation report they saved 24,000 patient lives worldwide last year, 12,000 in the U.S. alone.

It also helps personalize the movement, Bialick said. He said he goes along to film many of the videos shown at the summit describing how patients or families were affected by a medical error.

Ill watch the video, and even though I know what happened and I know the outcome, I want that person back, Bialick said.

Clinton is making a health-related swing of stops through California before his Clinton Global Initiative foundation conducts its annual Health Matters Activation Summit at the Renaissance Indian Wells Resort & Spa in Indian Wells today and Monday.

Speakers at the summit covered everything from how better management of patients blood samples may cut down on complications, addressing errors in maintaining a patients airway and sharing health data across different technologies to enhance patient safety.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7990 or mnicolai@ocregister.com
Jaipur: It was supposed to be a literature festival. It still is for those who love books and are serious about reading and writing.

The writers, artists, academicians and general public at large still love  the once in a lifetime opportunity  to see, listen and interact famous and favourite names from the world of literature, films, theatre, sports, painting, yet, the overpowering debate on intolerance in the country has once again eclipsed this very spirit behind Jaipur Literature Festival 2016.

Choosing to play down the intolerance debate in India, actress Kajol on Saturday said there are no such dividing lines in Bollywood.

Our industry will always keep reflecting on what is happening in our society. It will keep on going and everyone is welcome. There are no dividing lines, no caste, no creed and no intolerance in Bollywood, she said.

Filmmaker Karan Johar had kicked up a storm with his remarks about freedom of expression being the biggest joke in the country.

In recent months, actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan too have landed in controversy for speaking up against the growing intolerance.

These days people seem to have become oversensitive. As public personalties it is our duty to speak well and correctly. I have always said my Mann ki baat and it is no different now, she said.

A voracious reader, Kajol, who was at the JLF to launch author Ashwin Sanghis new book, The Sialkot Saga, said she agreed to marry husband Ajay Devgan because he promised her a library.

I told my husband that I'll marry you only if you give me the Beauty and the Beast library. That was our love deal. That was what I received as a honeymoon gift, she said at the cover launch of Sanghis book.

The actress also batted for publishers translating more literature in Hindi and other languages.

Its a travesty that there are so many people who cannot read a volume of literature because they don't know English, she said.
Public pensions are a disaster, and rely on idiotic accounting, Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe told the Financial Analysts Journal last year. California is no exception, with unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities officially estimated at $220 billion  and, in reality, likely much higher.

Over the past decade, the California Public Employees Retirement System has gone from having two active workers per retiree to 1.3, and this trend is expected to continue for 20 years, with retirees eventually outnumbering active workers, according to CalPERS latest annual report.

[F]or the first time in the pension funds history, we paid out more in retirement benefits than we took in contributions, wrote CalPERS CEO Anne Stausboll. And CalPERS fell from a 76.3 percent funding ratio to 73.3 percent, largely because of a poor year for the pension systems investment fund, which saw a 2.4 percent return in fiscal year 2015  far short of the 7.5 percent assumed rate of return.

Californias public pension system cries out for reform, but reform will have to wait at least a couple of more years, as efforts to put one or more ballot measures before voters have been postponed for the third time in five years. Former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio, who have been leading pension reform efforts in the state after successfully pushing reforms in their respective cities in 2012, announced that they would be refiling one or both of the measures they have proposed, with a goal of making the November 2018 ballot.

One measure would cap pension contributions by governments at 11 percent of salary for miscellaneous workers and 13 percent for public safety workers such as police and firefighters. The other measure would shift new employees to 401(k)-style plans like those common in the private sector. Both could be overridden at the local level by a public vote.

While acknowledging that the timing of the measure or measures might be better in two-years time, Mr. Reed and Mr. DeMaio nonetheless stressed the importance of acting soon. Every year we delay serious pension reform, public employers make more unsustainable promises to new employees, and public retirement debts grow, they said in a joint statement. We need pension reform to protect our education system and vital public services from these fast-growing burdens.

The latest delay is frustrating, but understandable. Even though such pension reforms do well in polling, formidable union coffers, slanted descriptions of the ballot measures imposed by Attorney General Kamala Harris and the sheer amount of money, organization and time required to launch a statewide initiative campaign are all sizable obstacles. But as public retirement liabilities continue to mount, and pension funding status seems destined to be significantly worse going into the next recession than it was at the start of the previous one, the sooner these liabilities are dealt with, the better.
TOKYO  Japan is well known for many things, and its celebration of sexuality is one of them. It has one of the most robust pornographic and adult-toy industries in the world and airs TV commercials for items as banal as candy that feature sexually suggestive themes. It even has an annual fertility festival that parades two 5-foot-tall penis sculptures down a busy street on a Sunday afternoon.

And yet nearly half of singles in Japan have no interest in dating  a situation that many experts predict will help lead to a population decline of one-third in the next 45 years.

According to a survey of never-married people by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 27.6 percent of single men and 22.6 percent of single women have no interest in engaging in a relationship with the opposite sex. Researchers cite those statistics to argue that a significant portion of Japanese simply has no interest in sex. They might even have an aversion to it.

Says Auumu Ochiai, a researcher based in Tokyo: 41.6 percent of males in their 20s have never dated anyone.

The number of men with no sexual experience drops with age, but its still large at 34: 26.1 percent. For women age 34, its somewhat less, but not by much  23.8 percent.

Thats not to say that all of them wish to remain single. Ochiai says his research indicates that nearly 90 percent of single people would like eventually to marry. The Japanese government gives similar estimates.

Still, its easy enough to find Japanese who have little interest in developing a relationship. Yuki Kobari, whos in his 30s, says he used to date several years ago, but that becoming involved with someone now would be a burden. Now his spare time is pretty much his own.

I can devote myself to my hobbies and do what I want, he explained.

He acknowledges that might not always be his preference, though he feels he has time yet before he must worry about making a commitment. His estimate: four or five years. Then, he says, its going to be the time when you have to make a decision.

Helping to drive the lack of interest in marriage is a change in Japans conservative social mores. Thirty-one percent of single Japanese admit that relief from family pressure is one motivation for picking a partner.

But that pressure is decidedly less now than it used to be. Plus, its easier to be single now.

The world is pretty established as single-person-based, so there is not much inconvenience, said another 30-something Japanese. I cannot really imagine having people in my life.

That, he says hesitantly, includes potential sex partners. To be honest, basically, how can I say? Well, I do not want people in my life, so sex is included here. Perhaps not surprisingly, he asked that his name not be published.

Large Japanese cities offer every imaginable convenience tailored specifically to singles needs  including physical. Even lifelike sex dolls are easily found for those who want the human touch without touching a human. For many Japanese singles, apparently, theres no need for a live partner.

Japans long economic malaise might be another factor that weighs against establishing a long-term relationship  especially for women. One 30-something woman, who asked not to be identified because of the personal nature of the topic, said she last had a boyfriend eight years ago and that she currently feels no need for a physical relationship. As for a commitment of other sorts, the economy is the turnoff. The main reason is, after all, a financial problem, she said.

The lack of interest in sex is not limited to singles. According to a survey by the Japan Family Planning Association conducted last year, 44.6 percent of married couples say they are in a sexless marriage. Some of the main reasons include work fatigue and childbirth.

What is surprising, though, is that 10.1 percent of male and 23.8 percent of female respondents say they find sex to be too much work, another 10.1 percent of males and 5.4 percent of females have come to think of their spouse as a blood relative, and 4.5 percent of males and 5.9 percent of females say that they have other activities they find more interesting than sex. A further 16.9 percent of males and 13.0 percent of females listed other as their answer.

That augurs poorly for Japans birthrate, computed as the number of children the average Japanese woman is expected to have in her lifetime. At 1.4, its one of the lowest in the world. In 1985, it was 1.8, the same as the United States rate then; now the U.S. rate has inched up to 1.9.

The population decline is no longer considered a passing trend, but rather a looming catastrophe that threatens the future of the nation.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made it a key policy goal to tackle the birthrate problem and prevent the nation from slipping further socially and economically. But theres no clear answer for how hell accomplish this. He recently set up a special committee to come up with proposals. But the impact of those proposals, likely to include items like more child care for working moms and tax breaks for couples with children, remains unknown.
DAVOS, Switzerland  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq privately asked Defense Secretary Ash Carter this past week for additional help training Iraqi police forces used to secure cities that have been retaken from the Islamic State, senior Defense Department officials said.

The request opens the door for the United States and other countries  particularly Italy, which has expertise in police training  to become more involved in assisting the Iraqis.

Al-Abadi told Carter that even the minimal training the police forces had received significantly enhanced their ability to maintain control of the city of Ramadi, which the Iraqi government reclaimed last month, the officials said.

The newly trained police forces have held the city well enough that some of Iraqs most capable military forces, which captured the city, have been able to leave Ramadi sooner than expected and take on new missions, said one of the Defense Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the conversation on bilateral security.

Carter and al-Abadi discussed the additional training in a private meeting Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Carter told al-Abadi that he agreed with the importance of expanding police training and that he would work with other members of the international coalition to defeat the Islamic State to accelerate it, the officials said.

However, it is not clear whether the United States, Italy or any other member of the coalition will send additional troops to train the police in support of Iraqs fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The Italian national police conducted the previous training, which lasted just a month. It included lessons on how to conduct patrols and basic skills like how to administer first aid.

The United States has roughly 3,500 troops in Iraq, and they are mainly advising and training the Iraqis; a small group is conducting special operations missions. The Iraqi government said last year that Italy had pledged to deploy about 100 trainers.

The request from al-Abadi comes as Carter and other Obama administration officials try to convince a weary U.S. public that they have an adequate plan to defeat the Islamic State  one that can succeed without reintroducing large numbers of U.S. ground forces to Iraq.
Yogi Berra famously said, Its hard to make predictions, especially about the future. The late great catcher wasnt a legal pundit, but his aphorism is absolutely true for those of us who follow the Supreme Court.

And its doubly true for those who try to make predictions based on oral arguments in high-profile cases. While these hearings can reveal and reinforce justices thinking  and cases are almost always won on the briefs, not in verbal combat  what you dont hear may be more important than what you do.

Still, last weeks argument in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, in which an Orange County teacher and nine colleagues are challenging a state law that forces them to fund union activities even though theyre not union members, went about as well as it could, maybe better. Those who support the First Amendment rights of public-sector workers to the freedoms of speech and association, and oppose the corrupt collusion of state governments and union bosses, are on the cusp of a historic victory.

This is the biggest case of the term. While cases involving abortion, affirmative action, voting rights, Obamacares contraceptive mandate and immigration inflame the culture wars, its this workers-rights lawsuit that will really have the most practical impact. Imagine how educational policy will change  how national politics will change  if public-sector unions are denied this guaranteed revenue stream and have to actually respond to the needs of the employees they purport to represent.

The conventional wisdom going into the Friedrichs argument was that Justice Antonin Scalia, of all people, will be the swing vote. Based on what hes previously said and written, we could expect that, in the private-sector context, he would reject the teachers claims. His view is that if a private employer agrees that all employees have to join the union, thats its prerogative.

But Scalia gave no indication that this principle transfers to the public sector, where, of course, the employer is the government. The problem is that everything that is collectively bargained with the government is within the political sphere, almost by definition, he explained. And that dynamic goes against the rule the Supreme Court established in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977) that states cant force workers to contribute to the support of an ideological cause [they] may oppose as a condition of holding a job.

In other words, while Abood allowed states to pass laws requiring nonunion members to pay agency fees to fund collective bargaining, the distinction between such chargeable activity and nonchargeable lobbying and electioneering  if it ever existed  has essentially evaporated.

Thus the biggest issue for the more conservative justices is the matter of compulsion: Why should nonmembers of a union be forced to pay for so-called collective bargaining when a) all issues that are collectively bargained by public-sector unions are matters of public policy (not simply wages and conditions of labor, as in the private sector); and b) those workers disagree with the supposed benefits that the unions want them to pay for (for example, tenure protections versus merit pay)?

Its hard to visualize this in a pure employer-employee relationship, when the collective bargaining agreement itself has to be submitted for public review and public comment. That suggests that youre doing more than simply regulating the employment relationship, Chief Justice John Roberts told Californias solicitor general, Edward Dumont.

Roberts, who was silent during the plaintiffs argument  typically a sign of agreement  went on to press Dumont to give him examples of negotiated issues that arent matters of public concern. When the states lawyer suggested mileage reimbursement rates and safety policies, the chief justice was unconvinced: Its all money thats going to be allocated to public education as opposed to public housing, welfare benefits; thats always a public policy issue.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, meanwhile, attacked the claim that without agency fees, the nonmembers are free-riding on unions good efforts. The union basically is making these teachers compelled riders for issues on which they strongly disagree, posited Justice Kennedy, who is no swing vote when it comes to the First Amendment.

Justice Scalia put a finer point on it: Is it OK to force somebody to contribute to a cause that he does believe in? Under the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions, supporting a cause, or even benefiting from it, is insufficient justification for being compelled to pay for it as a condition of exercising some other constitutional right.

With Justice Samuel Alito having written the two most-recent labor-related opinions, Knox v. SEIU (2012) and Harris v. Quinn (2014)  both of which cast doubt on Aboods continuing validity  there seem to be five clear votes for the teachers. (Justice Clarence Thomas said nothing, as usual, but his vote is in no real doubt.)

And if thats the case, then the second question presented by Friedrichs  whether nonmembers can be forced to jump through hoops to opt out of those chargeable political fees, rather than setting the default at noncontribution  is a no-brainer.

While the progressive justices focused on the importance of stare decisis  respecting Abood and the reliance interests built up around it  that didnt appear to be a major concern for anyone else, regardless of the age of the ruling thats now under attack. The Supreme Court wont overrule precedent just because it thinks its wrong, but it will if that old ruling was particularly badly reasoned or has become unworkable. Just last week, the court overruled two cases from the 1980s regarding death-penalty-sentencing procedure.

In sum, to the extent we can predict anything based solely on oral argument  as I said, take that with a mine full of salt  the smart money is with those who support the teachers rather than those who side with the union and state governments. That would be a huge victory for workers rights, the First Amendment and educational freedom.

Well know by the end of June.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, which filed an amicus brief supporting the petitioners in the Friedrichs case.
Americans have an immense choice of automobiles to buy. But when it comes to something far more precious than cars  their children  they commonly have no choice beyond the local public school.

Fortunately, as National School Choice Week begins today, that predicament has been changing. Everywhere, especially in California, school choice has been blossoming, albeit with continuing struggles by parents and school reformers.

School choice means that we are more than a default ZIP code, automatically assigned to remain trapped in failing schools when bureaucrats refuse to transform them, Gloria Romero told us. Our opinion columnist sponsored the states parent trigger legislation while state Senate majority leader. School choice means that parents truly have the power to become the architects of their own childrens educational futures and opportunities.

The parent trigger law has been a key reform. It allows a majority of parents in a poorly performing school to replace the school administration. School districts have fought the reform, but parents won an important victory in July when Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks approved turning Palm Lane Elementary School in Anaheim into a charter school.

Charter schools also continue to expand in the state, from zero when charter legislation was passed in 1992 to nearly 1,200 today. Ms. Romero also told us School Choice Week coincides with open enrollment, through Feb. 20, for the new charter, Scholarship Prep Public Charter School, she is launching this fall. It was approved by a unanimous Orange County Board of Education and probably will be located on 17th Street, near Santa Ana College.

Another positive development would be a victory at the Supreme Court for Orange County school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs, lead plaintiff against the California Teachers Association. The suit seeks to stop public sector unions from charging nonmembers fees to cover collective bargaining costs. Nat Malkus wrote in U.S. News and World Report: With agency fees prohibited, unions membership and revenue would decline, and so would their political muscle.

In California, that result might give reformers another chance at passing an initiative giving parents a tuition voucher they could use at any school, public or private. In 2000, the CTA spent $26 million to defeat such a ballot measure. If the CTA loses political clout, kids well could be the winners.
A MAN who moved to Portarlington to live a quieter life was violently gunned down in a hail of bullets in front of his two children in a gangland style murder attack yesterday morning (Monday).

A MAN who moved to Portarlington to live a quieter life was violently gunned down in a hail of bullets in front of his two children in a gangland style murder attack yesterday morning (Monday).

The victim, who has been named as Gerard Eglington, originally from Dublin, was shot four times in his home at about 8.30am and he was rushed to the Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore where he was pronounced dead.

The scene of the shooting - 61 The Glen, Kilnacourt Woods, Portarlington  was preserved and a forensic examination conducted by the Garda Technical Bureau.

Eglington was known to Gardai and he was allegedly a member of the King Ratt criminal gang and thirteen months ago a contract was reportedly taken out on his life by a rival gang following an incident in a Dublin pub.

Gardai and specialised units mounted a number of operations to protect Eglington who lived at the Kilnacourt Woods housing estate with his girlfriend and their two children, aged eleven and three.

It has been reported that Mr Eglingtons partner left the family home to go to a local pharmacy and that the shooters entered shortly afterwards to carry out their execution.

Poignantly, two childrens bicycled rested alongside the victims car which was covered up by black polythene sheeting, a reminder of the chilling nature of this crime.

The attackers were travelling in a black Mazda car which was reported stolen last August in Dublin. The car was later found abandoned and burnt out at Locks Gate near Portarlingtons, Station Road.

Investigating Gardai, including members of the Garda serious crime unit, have been conducting door to door enquiries in attempt to solve this cold blooded murder that has shocked the people of Portarlington and beyond.

Investigations are at an early stage and Gardai are asking anyone who may have seen anything suspicious to contact Portlarlington Garda Station at 057 86 23112.
Murdered Laois au pair Aoife Phelan went missing on October 25 and on Wednesday, November 7 her body was discovered buried deep in a hole at a property on the Timahoe Road, Portlaoise.

Murdered Laois au pair Aoife Phelan went missing on October 25 and on Wednesday, November 7 her body was discovered buried deep in a hole at a property on the Timahoe Road, Portlaoise.

And amid heartbreaking scenes tragic Aoife was laid to rest in St Patricks Cemetery, Ballyroan following an emotional and sad funeral mass on Saturday, November 10.

Here is a timeline of the events as they unfolded ;

Thursday, October 25

6.15pm: 30-year-old Aoife Phelan, a native of Cashel, Ballyroan, Portlaoise, worked as an au pair and she left her employers home at The Hermitage, Portlaoise.

6.30pm: Aoife met her friend at the Borris Road roundabout.

8.10pm: Aoife was last seen alive when she left her friends house at Colliers View, Portlaoise, to apparently meet the person who contacted her on her mobile phone.

Friday, October 26

am: Alarm raised. Employers get in touch with Aoifes family after she failed to turn up for work.

pm: Aoifes family reported her disappearance to Gardai.

Saturday, October 27

Aoifes concerned family and friends begin erecting posters around Portlaoise seeking information on her whereabouts.

Gardai in Portlaoise made their first appeal seeking assistance from the public in tracing the whereabouts of 30-year-old Aoife Phelan. She is described as being approximately 57 in height, slim build, has long blonde/sandy coloured hair and blue eyes. When last seen she was wearing jeans and a knitted jumper. She also has a red bomber style jacket with her.

Sunday, October 28

Aoifes father Michael, in an interview said: This is totally out of character for Aoife. She lost her phone once before and she let everyone know on Facebook. This is just something she would not do. She has no passport and has never left the country. All Aoife likes is being at home with the family.

We cant eat or sleep, we have been up all night with worry and tonight will be the same, we have no clue where she is or what has happened.

She got a message to meet someone and off she went and thats it. We dont know anything more. I dont want her to be another Jo Jo Dullard, but you cant help thinking these things; you just think of everything.

Tuesday, October 30

5pm: Gardai investigating Aoifes disappearance held a media briefing at Portlaoise Garda Station. Superintendent Yvonne Lundon said: Aoifes family and friends are extremely concerned, as are Gardai. We are very anxious for her welfare. We are investigating all avenues of enquiry. We conducted searches in Portlaoise and Mountmellick which produced negative results.

Door-to-door enquiries were carried out, motorists were quizzed at local checkpoints and later the Garda helicopter was also used to assist in the search for Aoife.

Wednesday, October 31

Divers from the Garda Water Unit searched the man-made lakes in Kilminchy housing estate, not far from the location on Colliers Lane where Aoife was last seen.

Portlaoise Gardai renewed their appeal for public assistance to trace Aoife. She may have been wearing a silver necklace and a watch with a black strap.

Garda sources also believe it is highly unlikely foul play is involved but added there are big concerns for Aoifes safety.

Thursday, November 1

8.10pm: On the same spot and at the same time as Aoife was last seen a week earlier, a poignant candlelight vigil took place. Aoifes mother Betty made an emotional appeal, If you are out there somewhere, it doesnt matter what trouble you are in, or anything, we are a strong family, we will be there for you and we love you.

Sunday, November 4

11am  4pm: Over three hundred civilian volunteers were involved in a co-ordinated search around Portlaoise and Ballyroan organised by Aoifes family, community activists and friends. A quarry, boglands, drains, disused farm yards and forestry were searched in what was described as a mammoth effort by local volunteers.

pm: Following a weekend evaluation of the information gathered over the past eleven days, Gardai switched focus and upgraded their investigation from a missing persons case to a murder hunt.

Gardai seized a 4x4 vehicle in which they discovered some of Aoifes personal belongings. A suspects mobile phone was also seized.

Monday, November 5

4pm: Gardai in Portlaoise arrested a 24-year-old local male in relation to the murder of Aoife. He was detained in Portlaoise Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

5.30pm: On learning of the arrest, shocked Fr Gerard Ahern, PP of Ballyroan told the Leinster Express: I have been in touch with the family every day, they would have been hoping for some good news but with each passing day, optimism faded.

6pm: Gardai began searching a property on the Timahoe road, Portlaoise.

Tuesday, November 6

am: Questioning of the suspect recommenced at Portlaoise Garda Station. Forensic Gardai conducted a dig on land adjoining the sealed-off property on the Timahoe Road, Portlaoise.

pm: Gardai commenced what was described as a targeted search in the Monasterevin area. The M7 Limerick/Dublin Rd was closed northbound between J15 Ballybrittas and J14 Monasterevin for a time and diversions were in place. Divers from two sections of the Garda Water Unit searched stretches of the River Barrow until fading light forced them to call off the search.

Midnight: Gardai released the man in custody without charge. They said a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosectutions. Investigations ongoing.

Wednesday, November 7

10am: At the M7 bridge over the River Barrow near Monasterevin, a team of Garda divers recommenced their search. A section of the hard shoulder on the Dublin-bound carriageway was sectioned off with traffic cones as a fleet of Garda vehicles, including its water unit trucks, parked nearby.

At a second location - behind a premises including a large shed, house and grounds on the Timahoe Road  Gardai began a second day of digging and after removing rubbles and tyres out of a deep hole they erected a forensics tent.

11am: Shortly after 11am as part of a planned search operation, Gardai discovered the body of a female located at Timahoe Road in Portlaoise. The scene was preserved, pending a full technical examination. The Office of the State Pathologist was notified.

2pm: Aoifes employer Darren Bayliss tweeted: Aoife Phelan, you are missed greatly by myself Linda and Odette but you will never be forgotten by us...RIP Odettes fafa xx...Ive had my ups and downs with Twitter but when it really matters there is no better community anywhere so thank you all again for the support.

2.45pm: Superintendent Dave Taylor from the Garda Press Office told a media briefing outside Portlaoise Garda Station that State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy is at the scene carrying out a preliminary examination. A post mortem will take place later today.

The identity of the body isnt confirmed. The search of the River Barrow has been called off. The family of Aoife Phelan have been informed of developments by a Garda Family Liaison Officer. Supt Taylor thanked members of the public for their assistance. Asked if anyone had been charged, Supt Taylor said the investigation was still live.

3.30pm: Body of a female has been taken away from field at Timahoe Road, Portlaoise and a post mortem will be conducted at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore.

6pm: Gardai re-arrest the 24-year-old suspect and he is being detained at Portlaoise Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

pm: A Facebook tribute page called RIP Aoife Phelan is set up and overnight it attracts more than 4,500 likes, with people expressing their sympathy.

Thursday, November 8

am: Gardai continue their questioning of suspect.

am: Members of Aoifes family request that the RIP Aoife Phelan Facebook page to be removed as a mark of respect. One contributor commented, There is a post stating that Aoifes sister has requested that this page be removed. Aoifes familys feelings and wishes should be at the forefront of our minds right now. This page was created a mere two hours after the discovery of Aoifes body and no family member or close friend would have rushed to Facebook in the wake of that. Please remember that her family is grieving a loss that nobody should have to endure.

12.45pm: Gardai confirm that the body discovered during a planned search operation at Timahoe Road, Portlaoise has been formally identified as that of missing person Aoife Phelan. Post mortem results are not being made public for operational reasons.

pm: Facebook tribute page called RIP Aoife Phelan was removed. Gardai urge members of the public to be cautious when posting comments on Facebook and on all forms of social media in relation to the murder investigation.

8pm: A memorial service was held in St Patricks Church in Aoifes home village of Ballyroan.

11.27pm: Following consultation with the DPP, senior Garda officers leading the investigation decide to charge the suspect.

Friday, November 9

11am: 24-year-old Robert Corbet, Sheffield Cross, Timahoe Road, Portlaoise was charged with the murder of Aoife Phelan at Capoley, Portlaoise on Thursday, October 25 during a special sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

In evidence, Detective Sergeant John Healy said that in reply to being charged at 11.27pm in Portlaoise Garda Station last night, Corbet shook his head and said no.

Judge Catherine Staines remanded Corbet in custody to Clover Hill prison until Thursday, November 15 and she recommended that he receive psychiatric treatment.

With regard to Solicitor Declans Breens application for legal aid, Judge Staines said she would have to receive a statement of means before finalising her decision.

11.06am: There was a significant Garda presence around the Portlaoise Court building. And when murder accused Robert Corbet emerged from a rear exit and was escorted hurriedly on his journey to prison, angry members of the public gathered on the street outside roared scum bag and murderer at the patrol car as it travelled away from the courthouse down Main Street.

2pm: The Phelan family released a statement;

We are happy to have Aoife back with us, her family.

Her death has left us sad and heartbroken. She was a loving daughter and sister and we will miss her dearly.

We are overwhelmed by the support and the kindness we have received over the past two weeks. We would like to thank all the people who helped in searching for Aoife and who have been there for us, especially family members, neighbours, friends and the Ballyroan community.

We would like to acknowledge the efforts of An Garda Siochana, who have worked tirelessly to have Aoife returned to us.

We ask now for privacy as we spend our remaining precious time with Aoife today and attend to her funeral tomorrow.

Saturday, November 10

am: It was revealed that the post mortem examination found that tragic Aoife wasnt pregnant, despite a previous belief she was four months pregnant. She suffered injuries to her neck and head.

2pm: St Patricks Church, Ballyroan was overflowing with mourners for Aoifes funeral service where her brother Darragh described her as Aoife Estelle Phelan  beautiful, radiant, joyful star. Fr Gerard Ahern told the congregation, We shouldnt be here today but that is the reality we are confronted with. That someone should die in the circumstances in which Aoifes life was taken goes beyond human understanding. It is a senseless loss of life.
Chandigarh: Lauding France for its ability to combat terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday revealed that he had decided to invite President Francois Hollande as the chief guest for India's Republic Day parade, the day Paris was attacked on 13/11.

"My motto is development and France is one of our most valued partners. The day when Paris was hit by terror attacks, I had decided that the guest at Republic Day parade must be from France," Prime Minister Modi said while speaking at the India-France Business Summit here.

Read: Ahead of Republic Day, Chandigarh welcomes French President

Further praising France for shepherding the COP 21 negotiations in Paris, the Prime Minister said France has shown the way of combating terrorism without deviating from its principles and journey of progress.

Read: Ten previous chief guests for Republic Day parade

"The trust and friendship with France is an asset for us. President Hollande is correct that terrorism is a challenge, just like global warming. Within days of the attack, France hosted so many world leaders. People, the media of France must be appreciated," he said.

PM @nrendramodi: India will stand shoulder to shoulder with France in the battle against terrorism. pic.twitter.com/qfIMa3HSBW  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2016 French President Francois Hollande who is in India to attend the Republic Day celebrations, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation at the recent COP 21 in Paris and said that he had played a decisive role at the climate summit. Addressing the India France Business Summit here, the President said that his visit has two main goals- "consolidate strategic partnership with India and implement decisions taken during Prime Minister Modi's visit to France". Asserting that defence is a very important matter, Prime Minister Modi said cyber security is becoming vital, adding that India's talent and the manufacturing of France can achieve a lot. "In such a short span of time, India's 'Ease of Doing Business' rankings improved substantially. India will stand shoulder to shoulder with France in the battle against terrorism. India has the power of 800 million youth. Through good governance we want to reach global benchmarks," he added. Prime Minister Modi stated that the 400 French companies working in India have had a positive experience of operating here and the world has accepted India as a good investment destination. "India and France are made for each other. France has the resources, we have the need and the market. France's greatest strength is innovation. India has lot of opportunity to work with France in terms of infrastructure, waterways etc. India wants to play a major role in the fight against global warming. In innovation also France can be an important partner for India," said the Prime Minister. Stating that India wants to work with France for the development of humankind, Prime Minister Modi expressed his gratitude to France for working with India to convert Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry into Smart Cities. Meanwhile, both nations exchanged 16 agreements during the India-France Business Summit, promising progress across different sectors. "Comprehensive & Multisectoral Partnership.16 agreements exchanged in Chandigarh during India-France Business Summit," Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Comprehensive & Multisectoral Partnership 16 agreements exchanged in Chandigarh during India-France Business Summit pic.twitter.com/eQ6TFGuOuI  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2016

Away from Delhi, business takes centre stage. The leaders attend the CEOs Forum followed by a Business Summit pic.twitter.com/fU7NEwQeN0  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2016

Earlier today, President Hollande arrived in Chandigarh on a three-day visit to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi him at the world famous rock garden.

He will be accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourts of Rashtrapati Bhawan on Monday.

Later, he will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi at the Hyderabad House, which will be followed by signing of agreements in various key sectors.

On January 26, the French President will witness the Republic Day parade at Rajpath as the chief guest. This is the fifth time that a serving President of France will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day function.

Also, for the first time in independent India's history, foreign troops (French troops) will be participating in the Republic Day parade.
My perspective on the coming end of the afternoon edition of The World-Herald goes back to the late 1960s when we had  to my best recollection  13 editions on weekdays, including a late-afternoon edition with Wall Streets closing stock market prices.

The multiple morning editions of The World-Herald used to be tied partly to the schedule of trains crossing Nebraska and western Iowa. Bundles tossed onto the mail cars would be dropped off along the routes. Others were delivered by truckers.

Gradually, the editions consolidated, and today we are, apparently, the only subscription-based newspaper in the world with both morning and afternoon editions.

When Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought The World-Herald in 2011, it seemed like the afternoon edition might survive indefinitely.

In his 2012 report to shareholders, Berkshire Chairman and Chief Executive Warren Buffett  a morning World-Herald subscriber  wrote an essay about his decision to buy daily newspapers, confessing that he and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger love them.

We do not believe that success will come from cutting either the news content or frequency of publication, Buffett said in that essay. He was referring to some daily papers that had cut back to fewer days a week or begun offering skimpy news coverage.

Last week Buffett declined to comment on The World-Heralds decision to end the afternoon edition, deferring to Publisher Terry Kroegers column announcing the change.

Going to morning-only delivery wont stop us from meeting Buffetts requirement of loading up the paper and its website with content of interest to our readers. As Buffett put it in the 2012 letter:

Charlie and I believe that papers delivering comprehensive and reliable information to tightly bound communities and having a sensible Internet strategy will remain viable for a long time.

May I say that I agree?

Third times a charm?

Oil prices down, Buffett buys more Phillips 66 shares.

Business publications tried to make sense of the two facts, along with Buffetts ownership of IBM stock even though its price hasnt been doing well.

A falling stock market seems to trigger those Has Buffett lost his touch? articles.

Rakesh Upadhyay wrote for Oilprice.com that Buffett was wrong about oil twice before, with ConocoPhillips in 2007-09 and with Exxon Mobil in 2013.

Buffett may be betting that he cant be wrong three times in a row, Upadhyay wrote. These two major investments failed to return any profit, so its fair to say that oil is not Buffetts forte.

But maybe he is correct in buying Phillips 66 shares now because oil prices may have hit bottom and will be headed up, the story said.

Berkshire now owns $5.6 billion worth of Phillips 66 stock, nearly 13 percent of the company. So will he get lucky the third time around? the story said. He just might, if oil prices hold up a decade from now.

Kat McKerrow at TheStreet.com wrote that Buffetts Phillips 66 purchases arent necessarily related to his view of todays low oil prices.

Phillips 66 has been outperforming most other oil companies despite record lows for the price of crude, McKerrow wrote, because it is mainly a refiner. Low crude oil prices dont hurt refiners seriously because they turn the cheaper crude into products like gasoline, and low fuel prices are increasing demand, the story said.

Despite this continuing downturn, follow Buffetts lead and look for energy companies with strong refinery businesses, such as Phillips 66, to profit, the story said.

SeekingAlpha.com, meanwhile, considers Phillips 66 stock cheap and said the company has several earnings growth catalysts for 2016. ... Given that Berkshire is known for value investing, buying this stock is a no-brainer.

As for IBM, Spencer Israel wrote for Benzinga.com that the computer company shows little reason for promise.

He quotes Nic Chahine, who has written a book about options, as saying IBMs current business and future are so murky that its like a startup, despite its long history in technology.

I dont know what they do, Chahine said. It may bounce with the markets, but I dont know anything about it fundamentally that tells me, OK, these guys have a future somewhere. 

Creators Syndicate writer Malcolm Berko, in response to a letter guessing IBM stock could reach $275 a share in the coming year, wrote, If you believe IBM can trade at $275 ... please consider cutting back on those happy chemicals that embellish your perceptions. (IBM traded around $122.50 a share late Friday.)

He pointed out that Berkshire has paid $2.2 billion more for IBM stock than its worth today.

While I have abiding respect and reverential admiration for Buffett, I doubt IBM can generate enough good news to push itself past the $200 mark late in 2016, Berko wrote. Among possibilities: IBM merging with Apple.

The Financial Review of Australia, meanwhile, quotes fund manager Kerr Neilson of Sydney as saying weve reached the end of the Buffett era of investing, meaning a focus on high-quality, low-risk, reliable-earning, name-brand companies.

Along the way weve developed this propensity to avoid anything with the idea of any uncertainty around it, Neilson said. He thinks that will change, and invests most of his fund money in interesting companies that he believes are cheap relative to their future earnings potential.

Sales strategies: Leave customers smiling

Buffett paid a surprise visit to a sales strategy meeting of his Business Wire division in Santa Monica, California, recently and praised its reputation, security, simultaneity and total reliability. The company handles business announcements, including information that must meet rules on disclosing information fairly to investors.

Sharing a Q&A session with Chief Executive Cathy Baron Tamraz, Buffett suggested to the salespeople, Leave a smile on the customers faces. No business has ever failed with happy customers.

He also recommended that people should tackle their weaknesses. Find whats inside of you, he said, suggesting an assignment he gives to students he meets:

Write down the three top attributes of people you admire and three from people you do not admire. Then strive to meet the admirable traits and eliminate the non-admirable traits.

Electric vehicle sales

BYD Co., the Chinese automobile and battery company 10 percent owned by Berkshire, claims to have sold the most electric vehicles in the world in 2015.

Although Nissans Leaf is the worlds most popular electric car, with 200,000 sold, BYD says it was the champ last year with 61,722 vehicles, including some trucks, all but a handful in China.

BYD estimated BMW sales about 30,000, Ford and General Motors at 20,000 each and Tesla and Nissan at 50,000 each.

Coverage in Australia

Berkshires Specialty Insurance Co. is introducing coverage in Australia, the Financial Standard of Australia said, with policies covering liability for executive officers, directors, financial planners and other professionals.

Cameron McLisky, head of the divisions executive and professional insurance in Australia, said the company has underwriters in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with senior underwriters Sami Jaghbir and Richard Johnson joining the company from other insurance firms.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns The Omaha World-Herald.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1080, steve.jordon@owh.com
DES MOINES (AP)  A federal judge ruled Friday that Iowa State University administrators violated the constitutional free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner issued an order granting members of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws a permanent injunction, which means university administrators cannot use a trademark policy to prevent the group from printing shirts depicting a marijuana leaf.

Students Erin Furleigh and Paul Gerlich, former presidents of the group, sued in July 2014, alleging that ISU withdrew its approval of one of the groups marijuana-themed T-shirts featuring the schools Cy mascot under pressure from donors and Republican lawmakers.

The school later rewrote its trademark guidelines to bar use of their logos in products that promote illegal drugs.

University spokeswoman Annette Hacker said the opinion is disappointing.

A spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office, which defended the university, says options are under review, including an appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
CAUCUS HISTORY

For years, Iowa party activists would gather in the winter to talk politics and gauge presidential preferences. No one outside the state paid attention until 1972, when Democrats established their caucuses in January. That made the partys presidential vote the first in the nation, and candidate George McGovern built momentum for his campaign with a stronger-than-expected second-place finish in Iowa. Four years later, Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter did the same, putting in the time and resources to win Iowa.

Republicans moved their caucuses to January in 1976.

WHEN AND HOW

The Democratic and Republican Parties hold their caucuses at the same time  this year starting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1  at locations in all of Iowas 99 counties. Caucuses are held in each of the states 1,681 precincts, but the number of meeting sites is smaller because some precincts share a building. Democrats will meet at about 1,100 spots, and Republicans will gather at nearly 900. Voters from some small precincts meet in homes, but most gather in schools, veterans halls and other large venues.

The parties hold their caucuses simultaneously but operate differently, and their results differ.

FOR DEMOCRATS

A Democratic caucus is a public affair. Democrats are asked to separate into groups based on the candidate they support. If the number of people in any group is less than 15 percent of total attendees, generally speaking, that group is deemed to be not viable. People in the group then can either realign with a different candidate or be counted as uncommitted. That leads to some intense wooing, as candidate representatives try to persuade others to join them and prevent their own supporters from switching.

Once the groups are determined, delegates in each precinct are awarded to candidates based on a complicated formula. The candidate with the most delegates statewide at the end of the night is declared the winner.

FOR REPUBLICANS

Beginning this year, the Republican caucuses are much simpler than before, with a lot more privacy. It is essentially a straw poll. Candidates or their surrogates are allowed to give speeches. Then ballots are handed out and caucus attendees fill them out in secret. The raw vote count is then used to determine the winners.

A total of 30 delegates to the partys national convention are at stake. They will be awarded proportionally, based on the statewide vote.

WINNING ISNT EVERYTHING

Every candidate hopes to win the caucuses, providing a boost of attention as the focus then shifts to the New Hampshire primary eight days later. But more than winning, the goal is to exceed expectations. Even if a candidate finishes second or third, he or she can claim that its a victory to finish near the top, and that he or she received more support than expected.

But a win in Iowa doesnt necessarily translate into a party nomination. In fact, the last time the ultimate Republican nominee won a contested caucus was 2000, when George W. Bush finished first. The winner of the Democratic caucuses has fared better. In the past three contested Democratic nomination races, the Iowa winner became the nominee.

AN IOWA WINTER NIGHT

Weather is one of the biggest challenges for the campaigns. They have to persuade their supporters to go out into the evening in temperatures that can range from the 30s into the teens. In recent caucuses, most of the state has seen little more than flurries, and no Iowan would admit to being deterred by a few flakes.
The ATS is carrying a major crackdown against online sites used to promote Islamic State propaganda (Photo: AP)

Pune: Amid the national crackdown on terrorists and terror suspects, the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has blocked 94 websites linked to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

"94 websites used to radicalise people online have been blocked. We are monitoring websites and social media sites, so that these are not mishandled. Any website used to propagate ISIS agenda is being blocked. We are trying to create an ATS website to connect with the people," said Maharashtra ATS Chief Vivek Phansalkar.

Phansalkar further said that the Mumbai ATS is ready to combat terrorism.

He added that their emphasis would be on counter radicalization as they do not want the youth to get involved in this.

"Wherever needed, we take the help of the state police and ATS and this coordination will continue. We would appeal to people, if they notice elements which are suspect of doing something wrong, please report to the control rooms of the police station, we will definitely respond," he added.

Armed with critical inputs from US?Central Intelligence Agency, investigation agencies on Friday continued their crackdown against suspected Islamic State sympathisers and arrested 14 persons for allegedly plotting to launch attacks during Republic Day celebrations.

The multi-city raids that had begun on Friday across six states wound up with the arrest of Imran Mozzam Khan Pathan of Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
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BHU suspends research scholar for allegedly raping junior

India

oi-PTI

Varanasi, Jan 23: Banaras Hindu University today suspended a research scholar for allegedly raping his junior after holding her captive at his room in Chittupur locality.

The BHU administration suspended Vijay Kumar after an FIR was registered against him at Lanka police station under section 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC, an official statement from the varsity said.

Vijay Kumar, a research scholar at BHU, had called the complainant girl at his rented room in Chittupur locality on Thursday evening on the pretext of guiding her for preparation of a thesis which she had to submit, Lanka police station officer Sanjiv Mishra said.

As per her complaint, when she reached the room, the accused allegedly held her captive and raped her. She somehow managed to flee the next day and reached the police station, Mishra said.

Vijay was arrested yesterday and produced before a magistrate in the local court today morning after which he was sent to jail, the police official said. He said that the girl's medical report is still awaited.

PTI
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News Flash: PM Modi played a decisive role at COP 21: Francois Hollande

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Jan 24: Get national, international news updates of Sunday, January 24 here

7.00 pm: 6 months period to hold session in any assembly house lapsed on 21 January: Kiren Rijiju,on President rule recommendation in Arunachal Pradesh.

There is a constitutional crisis and people of Arunachal Pradesh have been suffering for too long: Kiren Rijiju pic.twitter.com/aPGDjBBhyq  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

6.45 pm: 94 websites used to radicalise people online have been blocked, says Maharashtra ATS Chief Vivek Phansalkar.

6.30 pm: PM Modi reaches PGI hospital in Chandigarh to meet Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal to enquire about his health.

6.20 pm: 4 people being interrogated as of now: District Collector Lakshmi on suicide of three medical students in Villupuram (TN).

Post mortem underway on body of 1 student, trying to convince other 2 families to let conduct post mortem:District Collector,Villupuram(TN)  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

6.10 pm: The day when Paris was hit by terror attacks, I had decided that the guest at Republic Day parade must be from France: PM Narendra Modi.

We're ppl who work together for Humanity, I am thankful to President Hollande for coming here: PM Modi in Chandigarh pic.twitter.com/lf28Lr7ZpO  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

6.00 pm: India wants to play a major role in the fight against global warming. India has lot of opportunity to work with France in terms of infrastructure, waterways etc.: PM Narendra Modi

5.50 pm: France deserves praise for the manner in which it shepherded the COP 21 negotiations in Paris: PM Modi.

France has shown the way of combating terrorism without deviating from its principles and journey of progress-PM Modi  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

5.42 pm: My visit has 2 main goals-Consolidate strategic partnership with India & implement decisions taken during PM Modi's visit 2 France: President Hollande.

5.35 pm: 16 B2B Agreements signed between French & Indian companies in presence of PM Modi & French President Francois Hollande.

16 B2B Agreements signed between French &Indian companies in presence of PM Modi &French President Francois Hollande pic.twitter.com/Ex2UBs3Q4B  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

5.30 pm: PM Narendra Modi played a decisive role at COP 21, says President Francois Hollande while addressing the CEO's Forum

5.20 pm: India is the fastest growing economy in the world. We have the labour & the market for your products: PM Modi at CEO's Forum.

5.10 pm: PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande at India-France Business Summit in Chandigarh.

5.05 pm: A car with Army sticker, belonging to an Army doctor, stolen from Delhi's Lodhi Garden area

4.55 pm: Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University Prof Appa Rao Podile goes on leave, says University website.

Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University Prof Appa Rao Podile goes on leave, says University website pic.twitter.com/hfAWujr2lV  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

4.45 pm: Sarfaraz Alam has been arrested, interrogation underway: AS Thakur, DSP, Railway.

4.40 pm: EAM Sushma Swaraj meets Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Bahrain.

EAM Sushma Swaraj met PM Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa in Manama, Bahrain pic.twitter.com/vdeVZERK4A  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

4.30 pm: Pakistan can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups that operate from its territory: US President Barack Obama to PTI.

Obama appreciates PM Modi's reach out to Pak counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the Pathankot attack.  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 24, 2016

4.20 pm: Delhi Police put posters of wanted terrorists ahead of Republic Day.

Delhi Police put posters of wanted terrorists ahead of Republic Day. pic.twitter.com/HB6lhzK91j  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

4.15 pm: I'm still saying allegations against me are baseless: Sarfaraz Alam after reaching Railway PS for questioning.

4.00 pm: T20 Blind Asia Cup: India (208/5) beat Pakistan (164/10 in 17 overs) to win the tournament.

3.45 pm: Two accused arrested in Hyderabad sent to 13 days police custody after being produced before the Special Judge, NIA in New Delhi.

3.20 pm: It is clear case of murder of democracy: V Narayanaswamy, Congress on Cabinet recommendation of President rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

3.00 pm: PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande arrive at Capitol Complex in Chandigarh.

PM Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande arrive at Capitol Complex, Chandigarh pic.twitter.com/EQGoErataT  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

2.45 pm: Here, the VC and Govt of day have killed a scholar and have denied human rights: Mallikarjun Kharge

WATCH: French President Francois Hollande arrived in Chandigarh commencing his three day India visit.https://t.co/Gicyiv8uWq  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

2.25 pm: PM Narendra Modi arrives in Chandigarh.

PM Narendra Modi arrives in Chandigarh. pic.twitter.com/p5lSJ2AvB5  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

2:00 pm: The forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise our societies, says EAM Sushma Swaraj.

1:51 pm: We will challenge the matter, says Kapil Sibal, Congress on Union Cabinet recommends President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

1:40 pm: I have full faith that under Amit Shah leadership, the party will achieve great success, says Union Minister Rajnath Singh.

1:20 pm: Amit Shah re-elected as national BJP President.

1:00 pm: French President Francois Hollande arrives in Chandigarh for a 3-day India visit, will be the chief guest at R-Day parade.

12:57 pm: NSUI president Roji John meets Rohith Vemula's mother at the University of Hyderabad.

12:45 pm: 7 students of University of Hyderabad begin indefinite hunger strike demanding justice for Rohith Vemula.

12:35 pm: Students' Joint Action Committee plans 'Chalo HCU' for tomorrow, mother demands justice for Rohith Vemula.

12:30 pm: "We highly appreciate relations of special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India", Russian President Vladimir Putin writes to PM Modi.

Preparations in full swing at Chandigarh Airport ahead of French President Francois Hollande's arrival. pic.twitter.com/01LRqcdcQx  ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

12:15 pm: Union Cabinet has recommended President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

12:05 pm: 5.2 magnitude earthquake jolts Swat, Malakand & Chitral in Pakistan.

12 noon: Security tightened in Chandigarh ahead of French President Francois Hollande's arrival.

11:55 am: Rafale deal on right track', says French President Francois Hollande.

11:50 am: French president Francois Hollande to begin his India trip today, PM to accompany him.

11:45 am: PM Narendra Modi felicitates children who have won National Bravery Awards 2015.

11:38 am: Amit Shah likely to be re-elected as BJP President, arrives at BJP headquarters to file nomination papers.

11:22 am: PM Narendra Modi chaired cabinet meeting earlier today.

11:14 am: We all are happy that he (Amit Shah) is going to be nominated to become Pres again, we all wish him well, says Ravi Shankar Prasad.

10:54 am: 15 lakh should be given to the families, post mortem should not be conducted in this medical college, says Ramamurthy.

10:50 am: Amit Shah ji's connect with workers at ground level is the biggest asset for party, says Jitendra Singh (MoS, PMO).

10:45 am: Recognition given by Medical council of India should be cancelled, says R. Ramamurthy, CPM MLA on Svs Med College of Yogaand Naturopathy and Research.

10:40 am: This will strengthen party and we'll be able to face upcoming challenges, says Nirmala Sitharaman on Amit Shah likely to be re-elected BJP President.

10:20 am: Posters put up in Chandigarh welcoming French President Francois Hollande ahead of his arrival.

10:13 am: Security tightened in Chandigarh ahead of French President Francois Hollande's arrival.

9:51 am: Australia Open 2016: Serena Williams sets up quarter-final with Maria Sharapova.

8:47 am: Man allegedly kills wife, chops body into pieces. Some remains found at their residence in Khatodara, Surat (Gujarat). Man absconding.

8:46 am: Bride rides bullet to her wedding venue in Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

8:40 am: Devotees take holy dip at triveni sangam in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) on paush poornima.

8:37 am: Dense fog conditions disrupt normal life across Northern India. 135 trains running late, 20 cancelled in advance.

8:20 am: Dense fog in Ludhiana (Punjab).

8:10 am: Request all to stand in solidarity with 3 students who've been victims of mangement's apathy, says M Tamilarasan,Victim's father.

8:00 am: 3 women medical students allegedly committed suicide in Viluppuram, Tamil Nadu.

OneIndia News
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Rohith Vemula suicide: JNU students begin indefinite hunger strike

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 24: Amid growing outrage over the alleged suicide of a Hyderabad Central University (HCU) Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, students of Jawaharlal Nehru University today launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding justice for him.

Three students of the varsity -- Suchishree, Lenin Kumar and Shubhanshu -- have decided to sit on the fast to express solidarity with the seven students who are continuing their indefinite hunger strike at Hyderabad university for a week now.

Other students from JNU will join the trio for a relay hunger strike over the issue, said Lenin Kumar, former president of JNU's students union.

"The environment in which Rohith was forced to kill himself is faced by millions of Dalit students who manage to reach higher education with great difficulty in our country. His suicide note will remain a powerful testimony to how our higher education system has institutionalized discrimination and hardships for Dalits," he said.

Suchishree, who has also written an open letter to the government, said, "The only political motive that I have as a political individual is that no more institutional murders should take place in this country. This indefinite hunger strike, I do not see as an appeal to the state, but as a mean to regain from the state the basic human dignity that is rightfully ours."

Various student groups have been protesting over the issue in the national capital since last week. 26-year-old Vemula Rohit, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room on January 17.

He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader.

They were also kept out of the hostel. The suspension was revoked later.

PTI
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Terror attacks make headlines but not prevention, says Suresh Prabhu

India

oi-PTI

Panaji, Jan 24: Terror attacks grab headlines but their prevention does not get as much attention, feels Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu who wants curbing of the ideology and motivation that lead a person to become a terrorist.

"The ideology and motivation that manifests individuals have to be curbed. And the source need not be within the country. It could be outside the country. That is why we have to ensure prevention of terrorism," Prabhu told a gathering here yesterday.

He was delivering a talk 'Role of good governance in national security', organised by Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS), a local NGO.

Prabhu said a terror attack gets media headlines, but prevention of such attacks due to timely action does not get so much into the public domain.

"The Paris attack caught the headlines of the media all over, but after that on the eve of New Year (in Paris) there were threats of terror attack which were prevented," he pointed out. The Minister also said that a stronger economy is required for a secure nation. "'Make in India' policy would turn around the country from being the largest importer of the defence material to the largest exporter of it," Prabhu claimed.

He also said that the concept of security has changed over the time. "From securing only borders with the help of defence forces to the internal security to securing water and food, there has been a change," he said.

PTI
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Hyderabad: The JAC for Social Justice, University of Hyderabad, on Saturday condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement on Rohith Vemulas suicide terming him as son of Bharat Mata. It said the statement reflected his Hindutva and Manuvadi politics.

The JAC said Rohith and other socially boycotted students at the university had stood against Hindutva and Manuvadi politics and demanded Mr Modi withdraw his remarks.

It is highly insulting to have received a condolence statement from the PM. JAC for Social Justice condemns this in the strongest possible words. Rohith and other socially boycotted stood against Hindutva and Manuvadi politics which the BJP ministers stand for. Under the leadership of Mr Modi the Delhi police brutally lathi charged protesting students, where male police officers beat up women students and detained them, the JAC leaders said in a statement.

They said the UoH went ahead with the suspension of five Dalit scholars even after Cyberabad police commissioner C.V. Anand submitted before the High Court on October 3, 2015, that the allegations of ASA students beating up ABVP student leader Susheel Kumar was false and baseless and requested the court to dismiss the writ petition.

Prof. Rao credentials questioned:

National Dalit Forum head Ravi Kumar has questioned the alleged lack of merit of his former mentor, UoH V-C Prof. Appa Rao Podile. He said there were many professors at the School of Life Sciences who had published better and a greater number of research papers in national and international journals than Prof. Podile, and asked how he had been elevated to the position.

He said an online search showed that Prof. Appa Rao published his first paper in 1987 and the next one in 1996. He alleged that five scholars working with Prof. Appa Rao had left their research midway.
Pocket Vegas Review

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Pocket Vegas Games

Lots of famous name slots are featured, like Twin Spin, Spinata Grande, Hook's Heroes and Foxin' Wins. TV and movie themed slot machines are a big attraction, with Aliens, South Park, Psycho and The Invisible Man, while the always popular ancient civilization and Irish themed games are well represented by 300 Shields and Shamrock n' Roll among others.

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Reprinted from Gush Shalom

AS IS well-known, Israel is a "Jewish and democratic state."

That is its official designation.

Well...

AS FOR Jewish, it's a new kind of Jewishness, a mutation.

For 2,000 years or so, Jews were known to be wise, clever, peace-loving, humane, progressive, liberal, even socialist.

Today, when you hear these attributes, the State of Israel is not the first name that springs to mind. Far from it.

As for "democratic," that was more or less true from the foundation of the state in 1948 until the Six-day War of 1967, when Israel unfortunately conquered the West Bank, the Gaza strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan. And, of course, the Sinai peninsula which was later returned to Egypt.

(I say "more or less" democratic, because there is no completely democratic state anywhere in the world.)

Since 1967, Israel has been a hybrid creation -- half democratic, half dictatorial. Like an egg that is half fresh, half rotten.

The occupied territories, we should be reminded, consist of at least four different categories:

East Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel in 1967 and is now part of Israel's capital city. Its Palestinian inhabitants have not been accepted as nor applied to be Israeli citizens. They are mere "inhabitants," devoid of any citizenship.



The Golan Heights, formerly a part of Syria, which was annexed by Israel. The few Arab-Druze inhabitants who remain there are reluctant citizens of Israel.



The Gaza Strip, which is completely cut off from the world by Israel and Egypt, acting in collusion. The Israeli navy cuts it off at sea. The minimum the inhabitants need to survive is allowed to come through Israel. The late Ariel Sharon removed the few Jewish settlements from this area, which is not claimed by Israel. Too many Arabs there.



The West Bank (of the Jordan river), which the Israeli government and right-wing Israelis call by their Biblical names "Judea and Samaria," home of the largest part of the Palestinian people, probably some 3.5 million. It is there that the main battle is on.

FROM THE first day of the 1967 occupation, right-wing Israelis were intent on annexing the West Bank to Israel. Under the slogan "the Whole of Eretz Israel" they launched a campaign for annexing this entire territory, driving the Palestinian population out and setting up as many Jewish settlements as possible.

The extremists never hid their intent of "cleansing" this land entirely of non-Jews and establishing a Greater Israel from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.
Is the real establishment getting worried?

As news broke Saturday afternoon that billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is "seriously" considering the idea of a third-party run for president in 2016, some political observers immediately smelled a rat.

The New York Times was the first to report that Bloomberg has asked his political team to draw up plans for what a campaign might look like. The Times cited sources close to the former mayor who said he is prepared to invest "at least $1 billion" of his own money in order to finance a run against the Republican and Democratic nominees that ultimately emerge.

As Jamelle Bouie, political writer at Slate, put it snidely: "Billionaire contemplates buying White House for himself."

The Times reporting describes Bloomberg as "galled" by the dominance of Donald Trump in the GOP race and "troubled by Hillary Clinton's stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders" on the Democratic side.

According to one source, described as having intimate knowledge of the deliberations, Bloomberg has been thinking quietly about this for some time. However, the person is quoted as saying, "It's gone from idle chit-chat, to 'let's take a real look.'"

A third-party independent has never won a presidential race in the United States, but as the Guardian notes, they have arguably made their impacts felt:

"In 1912 former president Theodore Roosevelt ran a popular campaign but split the votes of progressives and Republicans, helping Democrat Woodrow Wilson to victory. "More recently, Texas businessman Ross Perot has been credited with helping Bill Clinton win the presidency in 1992, and Ralph Nader has been accused of siphoning off votes for Democrats and helping turn the 2000 election in Republican George Bush's favor."

The Time's reporting discusses the possibility of a Sanders vs. Trump general election as perhaps the most likely scenario in which Bloomberg might consider mounting his campaign.

Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush, was thrilled with the idea:
The anti-imperialism resistance in Haiti will not stop until the revolting puppet president, Michel Martelly, and his other corrupt US-EU puppets are gone. That's what the starving and suffering people of Haiti say.Together, the powerful US, EU, Club of Madrid, France, Canada pushed Duvalierist degenerate and misogynistic Michel Martelly, the corrupt Pierre Louis Opont (electoral council president) and others who are straight-up DEA-wanted drug dealers down the people's throats in 2004 and in 2010 before embattled Haitians even finished burying their 310,000 earthquake dead. Haitians endure the crude revenge of Empire for ending the notion of white infallibility in combat over two centuries ago. The hell these sore losers put Afrikans in Haiti through is simply unspeakable.Today, January 23, the peaceful protests roll on, weaning out government infiltrators, overcoming sabotage . The January 24th scheduled fraud is suspended . But the word on the streets is that the people do not trust the opposition politicians to fully negotiate in their best interests. Too many years of being sold-out has gotten them to this insufferable point, where death looks better than the cloaked slavery metered out by the Obama/Clinton/Paul Farmer crew.On this January 23, 2016 a courageous protester for real Haiti development -- will probablyin the streets, get shot at, humiliated, subjugated, incarcerated or beaten today.Nearly 129,000 Haitians have been deported from the Dominican Republic back to Haiti since June 2015. They're also suffering gross deprivation, displacement and humiliation. Tens of thousands are at Haiti's foreign-militarized border. Facing steely foreign faces and getting the same fake NGO aid the earthquake victims received.UN-imported cholera continues to ravage the people. In a recent essay, you saw the torture to silence dissent in Haiti is paid for with U.S. tax payers money . The Haitians who are not actually dying of unfair trade US famine or getting shot on the streets, live constantly with the terror caught on these videos. Footages showing foreign-trained Haiti police shooting and stomping demonstrators or beating them at police stations.But all that the US-EU and the Ban Ki Moon vultures see that's important for Haiti is completing the "process" of fake election . They insist that a starving, sick, abused and overly exploited people must coldly follow a timetable they now suddenly see as urgent.During Martelly's five-year reign the Internationals did not see elections as so urgent. Back then the US-EU colonists were busy drafting decrees for their Martelly puppet to sign. Busy "," which meant to steal peasant farmers' lands all over fertile and coastal areas in Haiti. Led by Bill and Hillary Clinton , the vultures were too busy squandering $13 billion dollars raise in quake relief funds to bother about local elections when it was Constitutionally required for Parliament, in 2011!But now they have Haiti all locked up and desperately need a replica of Martelly in office to continue their colonial plunder. The Internationals insist on fake elections under occupation to go forwardno matter how senseless, inhumane, unconstitutional and corrupt it is. What they say is right when they say and because they say it.But we are the Haitians.Desalin taught us how to say no.Martelly and his legal bandits must go.The UN/US/EU-PMSC forces must leave Haiti.Listen Ecuador, you're part of ALBA. We appreciate the January 21, 2016 ALBA statement in solidarity with the Haitian people and against occupation and fake elections. We hear there's negotiations to send Martelly in exile to Ecuador. Do us a solid, ok? Approve the deal to take him into exile.ALBA nations ought to use their platform to ask the South American nations to withdraw out of the UN mission in Haiti, especially Brazil (the commander of the UN mission in Haiti). That would go well on the streets today. This could save Haitian lives and futures today.Ezili DantoHaitian Lawyers Leadership Network/Free HaitiJan 23, 2016The Alba letter and schedule (Kreyol) and route for peaceful demonstration for 23, 24, 25th are at our links on Facebook Google Plus and Twitter . For January 22nd update where the people won against the power U.S.-EU forces and got the fake one-man "election" fraud cancelled, go to comment sections, here


Donald Reagan

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"History repeats itself," wrote Karl Marx in 1852, "first as tragedy, second as farce." He was referring to Napoleon I and his nephew Louis Napoleon. One hundred and sixty-four years later, my subject is Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

People talk about "the Sixties" as a heyday of activism in the U.S., and they're not wrong. I feel so grateful to have come up in a time when social imagination was encouraged, when social experimentation was rampant, when the desire to expand human liberty and human rights pervaded so many communities.

But the Sixties lasted more than a decade. Well into the Seventies, social action for justice and equity was going strong. It took a long time for the movement against the Vietnam War to succeed in stopping the war--or at least in exhausting the American people's belief in the wisdom of our war leaders--but finally, the draft effectively ended in 1973 in response to massive protest and civil disobedience, and when Saigon fell in 1975, the war effectively ended too. There was a sizable People's Bicentennial to counter the triumphalist official celebrations in 1976. Through the late Seventies, quite a bit of public money was still being invested in community development, including public service jobs that supported artists working in community to the tune of $200 million a year. It was by no means heaven on earth, but the enormous civil and human rights protests of the Sixties and early Seventies had made an indelible impression, creating the fervent hope and tentative expectation that justice would grow.

Back then, I lived in a world of the like-minded: San Francisco in the Seventies had not yet succumbed to the extreme gentrification brought on by high-tech corporate occupiers, and there were legions of organizers working from the micro--block-by-block politics--to the macropolitics of incipient globalization (a term that only began to take hold in the Seventies).

Here are two of the things that were widely believed in my circles at the time:

Social progress, in the form of the expansion of human rights and increasing equity, would continue. The force of history was unstoppable.

It didn't make much difference who was elected President; we didn't feel represented by either major party, and neither acted at all accountable to our values.

To say this was naive is drastic understatement. Within a startlingly short time following his election, Reagan had enacted a program that had been carefully planned in collaboration with the far-Right Heritage Foundation, abolishing public service employment and most community development funding, and going on to break unions, cut budgets for every type of social good, and reward his friends and supporters with tax-breaks and sweetheart deals.

I was living in Washington at the time, covering cultural politics for a national organization of community arts folks. No one was allowed to possess a copy of the first edition of Mandate for Leadership, the Heritage Foundation report that set out Reagan's agenda, but we were allowed to visit the Foundation's office to sit in a room with a copy of the report and make notes by hand. I still have the first radically alarmed bulletin I wrote about that surreal experience, along with many more that followed.

The thing is, everyone I knew was surprised--astonished--that a majority of those casting ballots in the 1980 election thought Reagan worth of their votes. I literally knew no one who had voted for Reagan. (I doubt I know anyone who will vote for Trump either.)

Our astonishment was a startling indicator of our own short-sightedness and ignorance. Reagan himself had been a progressive at one point, voting liberal Democrat and rising to the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild. When McCarthyism gripped Hollywood, he aligned himself with the witch-hunters. By 1962, he had joined the Republican Party and opened a lucrative new career track as a spokesman for conservatives. He was elected Governor of California in 1966, cementing his popularity by sending National Guard troops to crack down on student protestors and riding his increasing visibility through two unsuccessful attempts at the presidential nomination before winning it and beating Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Reagan was clearly plugged into a meta-trend in U.S. politics that had escaped my notice. It could accurately be described as a backlash against the very movements that my friends and I had mistaken for the pulse of the nation. Many people were frightened by the shifting social boundaries and mass protests that had filled their TV screens. They longed for a society of ordered authority with white men in charge. They had voted accordingly, responding to Reagan's famous "Morning in America" message, which promised that under his leadership the clock would turn back.

The tragedy followed. Now comes the farce. Did you see The Daily Show segment featuring members of the U.K. Parliament denouncing Donald Trump as a buffoon? It was like a splash of cold water on a very dry day. My eyes feel more open now than in the Seventies, but still, I am having a familiar type of incredulity flashback. I'm having a hard time making myself believe that the U.S. electorate will allow this racist, sexist, narcissistic clown to become President.

The thing is, Ronald Reagan taught me to believe it.

And that's not all he taught me. Reagan showed me a truth of postmodern politics: the candidate who speaks most strongly to those who are unhappy with the current order of things has a good chance of winning. Despite all the party-machinery superstitions that push candidates toward what is perceived as the "middle of the road" in the hope of capturing swing voters, it's really hard to excite people with middle-of-the-road platitudes.

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By Dave Lindorff



Mike Bloomberg and his NYPD thugs attacking Occupy protesters

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Even as Bernie Sanders' insurgent "democratic socialist" campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination is really starting to look like it might actually succeed, with polls now showing him ahead of Hillary Clinton in both the earliest primary states, Iowa and New Hampshire, and with Republicans engaged in a circular firing squad where all the people with guns are nut-jobs of one kind or another, making a Sanders presidency even seem possible, we read that former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is contemplating running for the White House as an independent candidate.

Now while the idea of a mega-billionaire as president may be a sick joke, Bloomberg's running for president on his own tab (he's ready to spend $1 billion of his own money) is no joke at all. With Forbes magazine listing his current worth as $36.8 billion at the start of this year, he is the eighth richest man in America, just behind Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and just ahead of Jim Walton.

It is hard to think of a worse idea than having a smug, self-congratulatory billionaire -- someone not just from the top 1% of the population but the top 0.01% -- sitting at the top of government telling us all what to do, but I suppose in the interest of fairness we should tote up his pros and cons. So in memory of the departed but not forgotten TCBH! co-founder Chuck Young (see his 2010 article Where Mayor Mike Can Push His Poll), here's my list of five good and five bad things about having Bloomberg join the race for president as an obscenely wealthy independent candidate:

5. Good: Donald Trump, the likely GOP candidate at this point, will no longer be able to boast about his supposed business acumen. Forbes says Trump, no a self-made man but rather a trust-fund baby who got staked $1 million by his old man, is now worth $4.5 billion, making him only the 72nd richest man in America. That might seem a decent sum, but it's just lunch money for Bloomberg ,who added more than that amount to his assets just over the past year, according to Forbes. And Bloomberg, who hails from an ordinary working family, made all his money himself (or rather, his employees made it for him), first in the securities industry and then with his Bloomberg financial information network.

Bad: Bloomberg is a tight bastard. During his three terms as mayor of New York, he allowed the New York public school system to sink into a funding black hole, as he tried to squeeze teacher salaries and pensions and to both close some schools and convert others to charter schools. The worst year was the Great Recession year of 2010-11, when revenues from the city budget for the city's schools fell by 10.4% and from the state government, by 24.1%. Federal aid to New York City public schools was boosted that year, rose to New York City's schools by 1%, leaving the schools system short by 17%, or about $4.5 billion. Now it wouldn't be fair to have expected private real estate magnate Trump to turn over his whole nest egg to get the schools in his hometown through that one-year crisis, but Bloomberg in 2012 was worth a cool $25 billion according to Forbes. He could have funded the schools for the mostly impoverished kids of his city fully that school year and wouldn't have even known the difference.

4. Good: Bloomberg is 73 years old, just a year younger than Sanders, which should defuse the charge, made by mainstream pundits and no doubt soon by the 69-year-old died-blonde Trump, that that Sanders is too old to be president.

Bad: Bloomberg is impeccably groomed, and probably gets $200 haircuts regularly, which leaves both Trump and Sanders as the messy hair candidates.
Reprinted from Sputnik

Yet there will be. And the stage is already set for it. Selected Persian Gulf traders, and that includes Westerners working in the Gulf confirm that Saudi Arabia is unloading at least $1 trillion in securities and crashing global markets under orders from the Masters of the Universe -- those above the lame presidency of Barack Obama.

The World Economic Forum in Davos is submerged by a tsunami of denials, and even non-denial denials, stating there won't be a follow-up to the Crash of 2008.Those were the days when the House of Saud would as much as flirt with such an idea to have all their assets frozen. Yet now they are acting under orders. And more is to come; according to crack Persian Gulf traders Saudi Western security investments may amount to as much as $8 trillion, and Abu Dhabi's as $4 trillion.

In Abu Dhabi everything was broken into compartments, so no one could figure it out, except brokers and traders who would know each supervisor of a compartment of investments. And for the House of Saud, predictably, denial is an iron rule.

This massive securities dump has been occasionally corporate media, but the figures are grossly underestimated. The full information simply won't filter because the Masters of the Universe have vetoed it.

There has been a huge increase in the Saudi and Abu Dhabi dump since the start of 2016. A Persian Gulf source says the Saudi strategy "will demolish the markets." Another referred to a case of "maggots eating the carcass in the dark"; one just had to look at the rout in Wall Street, across Europe and in Hong Kong and Tokyo on Wednesday.

So it's already happening. And a crucial subplot may be, in the short to medium term, no less than the collapse of the eurozone.

The Crash of 2016?

So a case could be made of a panicked House of Saud being instrumentalized to crash a great deal of the global economy. Cui bono?

Still, Iranian oil about to reach the market will be around an extra 500,000 barrels a day by mid-year, plus a surplus stored in tankers in the Persian Gulf. This oil can and will be absorbed, as demand is rising (in the US, for instance, by 1.9 million barrels a day in 2015) while supply is falling.

Surging demand and falling production will reverse the oil crash by July. Moreover, China's oil imports recently surged 9.3% at 7.85 million barrels a day, discrediting the hegemonic narrative of a collapse of China's economy -- or of China being responsible for the current market blues.

So, as I outlined here, oil should turn around soon. Goldman Sachs concurs. That gives the Masters of the Universe a short window of opportunity enabling the Saudis to dump massive amounts of securities in the markets.

The House of Saud may need the money badly, considering their budget on red alert. But dumping their securities is also clearly self-destructive. They simply cannot sell $8 trillion. The House of Saud is actually destroying the balance of their wealth. As much as Western hagiography tries to paint Riyadh as a responsible player, the fact is scores of Saudi princes are horrified at the destruction of the wealth of the kingdom through this slow motion harakiri.

Would there be a Plan B? Yes. Warrior prince Mohammed bin Sultan -- who's actually running the show in Riyadh -- should be on the first flight to Moscow to engineer a common strategy. Yet that won't happen.

And as far as China -- Saudi Arabia's top oil importer -- is concerned, Xi Jinping has just been to Riyadh; Aramco and Sinopec signed a strategic partnership; but the strategic partnership that really matters, considering the future of One Belt, One Road, is actually Beijing-Tehran.

The massive Saudi dumping of securities ties in with the Saudi oil price war. In the current, extremely volatile situation oil is down, stocks are down and oil stocks are down. Still the House of Saud has not understood that the Masters of the Universe are getting them to destroy themselves many times over, including flooding the oil market with their shut-in capacity. And all that to fatally wound Russia, Iran and... Saudi Arabia itself.
It was inevitable, but not necessary, that it would eventually come to this.

Haiti's scheduled January 24 Presidential election has been postponed. The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) made the announcement on Friday as violence escalated over charges of fraud made by opposition candidate Jude Celestin. Celestin was facing Michel (Sweet Mickey) Martelly's hand picked successor, colorfully and derisively named the "Banana Man," Jovenel Moise. What comes next is anyone's guess, but a provisional government looms on the horizon. It seems all the chickens have come home to roost after U.S. meddling and vote changing in the previous 2010 Presidential election, which installed Martelly under the watchful eyes of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her "aide-de-camp," Cheryl Mills.

The vote fixing and fraud in that fateful Presidential election, held in the death grip of the 2010 earthquake, has been extensively chronicled in many sources. The most gripping and astounding resides in former OAS Ambassador Ricardo Seitenfus' account, which offers first-hand testimony in his book, International Crossroads and Failures in Haiti.

The Brazilian professor details international collusion in Haiti's 2010 elections and discussions by a "core group," including Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and MINUSTAH chief Edmond Mulet, along with then U.S Ambassador Kenneth Merten, of a coup to force President Rene Preval from office. Ballot box tinkering guaranteed candidate Jude Celestin would not advance to the runoff election. Martelly won the March 2011 runoff with less than 17 percent of eligible voters participating, defeating conservative former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

In an interview with Radio Television Caraibes this week Seitenfus was blunt. "Since Mrs. Clinton was well involved in 2010-2011 decisions, if we started badly, we must end well. That is to say, February 7 President Michel Martelly must leave, and should have a new president," he said.

Now, Jude Celestin is once again in the race and has forced the hand of international agents by refusing to participate in what is widely regarded as another fraudulent election process.



'Neg Bannann' losing in Cap Haitian

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Two years ago, Celestin's opponent, "Neg Bannann" Moise, dispossessed as many as 800 peasants and destroyed houses and crops in the Trou-du-Nord zone. What remains is a private banana plantation owned by Moise's company, Agritrans. It cannot be stressed enough that Moise is the hand picked candidate of Martelly's "Bald Party."

The firm stand of the man who refuses to run, Celestin, has encouraged civil society, including business and church leaders, to conclude a vote postponement is in the best interests of Haiti. The Senate also supported a non-binding motion to postpone.





In a passionate speech to the nation this week, Celestin said "...whatever the person who will participate in this January 24, is a traitor to the Nation...When I would be President, I would be legally, constitutionally, with the Haitian people, I refuse to participate in this masquerade that has only one goal, swallow snakes to the entire Haitian population (sic), stop taking us for idiots."

It ironically fell to Pierre-Louis Opont, the president of Haiti's CEP, to make the cancellation announcement for this election.

Opont conveniently waited almost five years to cry foul -- until the release of the Hilary Clinton emails left little doubt that votes were either switched or manipulated to advance Martelly in 2010. Last July Opont accused the OAS, the United States, and specifically Cheryl Mills, the Chief of State for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the fraud. Opont says he gave the official vote count to the group of OAS international observers and the group then gave results different than what were passed to them.

In a collusion of history and personality, Celestin's defiance in the face of international pressure to participate in what he considers another rigged election has resulted in this standoff. If the elections do not go forward, a provisional government might be the only option.

Will the United States and the "core group" try to use MINUSTAH to enforce its agenda?

Haiti has a long history of provisional governments gone terribly wrong. A recent problematic example can be viewed as prophecy and a warning about U.S. and other foreign involvement.

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Reprinted from EcoWatch

When I was a kid, I was creepily fascinated by the wrongheaded idea, current in my grade school, that your hair and your fingernails kept growing after you died. The lesson seemed to be that it was hard to kill something off -- if it wanted to keep going.

Something similar is happening right now with the fossil fuel industry. Even as the global warming crisis makes it clear that coal, natural gas and oil are yesterday's energy, the momentum of two centuries of fossil fuel development means new projects keep emerging in a zombie-like fashion.

In fact, the climactic fight at the end of the fossil fuel era is already underway, even if it's happening almost in secret. That's because so much of the action isn't taking place in big, headline-grabbing climate change settings like the recent conference of 195 nations in Paris; it's taking place in hearing rooms and farmers' fields across this continent (and other continents, too). Local activists are making desperate stands to stop new fossil fuel projects, while the giant energy companies are making equally desperate attempts to build while they still can. Though such conflicts and protests are mostly too small and local to attract national media attention, the outcome of these thousands of fights will do much to determine whether we emerge from this century with a habitable planet. In fact, far more than any set of paper promises by politicians, they really are the battle for the future.

Here's how Diane Leopold, president of the giant fracking company Dominion Energy, put it at a conference earlier this year: "It may be the most challenging" period in fossil fuel history, she said, because of "an increase in high-intensity opposition" to infrastructure projects that is becoming steadily "louder, better-funded and more sophisticated." Or, in the words of the head of the American Natural Gas Association, referring to the bitter struggle between activists and the Canadian tar sands industry over the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, "Call it the Keystone-ization of every project that's out there."

Pipelines, Pipelines, Everywhere

I hesitate to even start listing them all, because I'm going to miss dozens, but here are some of the prospective pipelines people are currently fighting across North America: the Alberta Clipper and the Sandpiper pipelines in the upper Midwest, Enbridge Line 3, the Dakota Access, the Line 9 and Energy East pipelines in Ontario and environs, the Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan pipelines in British Columbia, the Pinon pipeline in Navajo Country, the Sabal Trail pipeline in Alabama and Georgia, the Appalachian Connector, the Vermont Gas pipeline down the western side of my own state, the Algonquin pipeline, the Constitution pipeline, the Spectra pipeline and on and on.

And it's not just pipelines, not by a long shot. I couldn't begin to start tallying up the number of proposed liquid natural gas terminals, prospective coal export facilities and new oil ports, fracking wells and mountaintop removal coal sites where people are already waging serious trench warfare. As I write these words, brave activists are on trial for trying to block oil trains in the Pacific Northwest. In the Finger Lakes not a week goes by without mass arrests of local activists attempting to stop the building of a giant underground gas storage cavern. In California, it's frack wells in Kern County. As I said: endless.

And endlessly resourceful, too. Everywhere the opposition is forced by statute to make its stand not on climate change arguments, but on old grounds. This pipeline will hurt water quality. That coal port will increase local pollution. The dust that flies off those coal trains will cause asthma. All the arguments are perfectly correct and accurate and by themselves enough to justify stopping many of these plans, but a far more important argument always lurks in the background: each of these new infrastructure projects is a way to extend the life of the fossil fuel era a few more disastrous decades.

Here's the basic math: if you build a pipeline in 2016, the investment will be amortized for 40 years or more. It is designed to last -- to carry coal slurry or gas or oil -- well into the second half of the 21st century. It is, in other words, designed to do the very thing scientists insist we simply can't keep doing and do it long past the point when physics swears we must stop.

These projects are the result of several kinds of momentum. Because fossil fuel companies have made huge sums of money for so long, they have the political clout to keep politicians saying yes. Just a week after the Paris accords were signed, for instance, the well-paid American employees of those companies, otherwise known as senators and representatives, overturned a 40-year-old ban on U.S. oil exports, a gift that an ExxonMobil spokesman had asked for in the most explicit terms only a few weeks earlier. "The sooner this happens, the better for us," he'd told the New York Times, at the very moment when other journalists were breaking the story of that company's epic three-decade legacy of deceit, its attempt to suppress public knowledge of a globally warming planet that Exxon officials knew they were helping to create. That scandal didn't matter. The habit of giving in to Big Oil was just too strong.

Driving a Stake Through a Fossil-Fueled World

The money, however, is only part of it. There's also a sense in which the whole process is simply on autopilot. For many decades the economic health of the nation and access to fossil fuels were more or less synonymous. So it's no wonder that the laws, statutes and regulations favor business-as-usual. The advent of the environmental movement in the 1970s and 1980s introduced a few new rules, but they were only designed to keep that business-as-usual from going disastrously, visibly wrong. You could drill and mine and pump, but you were supposed to prevent the really obvious pollution. No Deepwater Horizons. And so fossil fuel projects still get approved almost automatically, because there's no legal reason not to do so.

In Australia, for instance, a new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, replaced the climate-change-denying Tony Abbott. His minister for the environment, Greg Hunt, was a particular standout at the recent Paris talks, gassing on at great length about his "deeply personal" commitment to stopping climate change, calling the new pact the "most important environmental agreement ever." A month earlier, though, he'd approved plans for the largest coal mine on Earth, demanding slight revisions to make sure that the habitat of the southern black-throated finch would not be destroyed. Campaigners had hung much of their argument against the mine on the bird's possible extinction, since given the way Australia's laws are written this was one of the few hooks they had. The fact that scientists have stated quite plainly that such coal must remain in the ground if the globe is to meet its temperature targets and prevent catastrophic environmental changes has no standing. It's the most important argument in the world, but no one in authority can officially hear it.

It's not just Australia, of course. As 2016 began in my own Vermont -- as enlightened a patch of territory as you're likely to find -- the state's Public Service Board approved a big new gas pipeline. Under long-standing regulations, they said, it would be "in the public interest," even though science has recently made it clear that the methane leaking from the fracked gas the pipeline will carry is worse than the burning of coal. Their decision came two weeks after the temperature in the city of Burlington hit 68 on Christmas Eve, breaking the old record by, oh, 17 degrees. But it didn't matter.

This zombie-like process is guaranteed to go on for years, even decades, as at every turn the fossil fuel industry fights the new laws and regulations that would be necessary, were agreements like the Paris accord to have any real teeth. The only way to short-circuit this process is to fight like hell, raising the political and economic price of new infrastructure to the point where politicians begin to balk. That's what happened with Keystone -- when enough voices were raised, the powers-that-be finally decided it wasn't worth it. And it's happening elsewhere, too. Other Canadian tar sands pipelines have also been blocked. Coal ports planned for the West Coast haven't been built. That Australian coal mine may have official approval, but almost every big bank in the world has balked at providing it the billions it would require.
Chennai: Amidst nationwide raids by NIA against ISIS sympathisers and arrests on Friday, Tamil Nadu police has stepped up security in the city as a run up to the R-Day celebrations.

Additional bomb squads from neighbouring districts are called in to make sure the R-Day venue is totally sterile.

We see the increase in the security and arrest of ISIS supporters by NIA as separate incidents. NIA was monitoring the online activities of the arrested persons for the last two weeks before deciding to nab them on Thursday night.

NIA was targeting one network of people who were linked through online activities. In this particular network there was no one from Tamil Nadu, a senior police officer said. The increased security is part of every years routine, where we deploy more people at Republic Day function venue as well as on Kamaraj Salai to make sure there is no untoward incident.

At least 12,000 policemen and over 15 bomb detection and disposal squads are working to sterilise the venue, the officer added. ISIS sympathizers: The officer also noted that the presence of online sympathisers of ISIS in Tamil Nadu is being monitored and sleuths are yet to find an ISIS fan from the state in Internet.

Tamil Nadu was the first state in the country which arrested people for extending online support when they posted pictures of persons wearing pro-ISIS T shirts in Facebook, in Ramanathapuram in August 2014.

In December last year, NIA arrested a 23-year-old youth from Chennai who was working in Dubai. He had been deported to Delhi on Friday from Sudan after he was allegedly found trying to establish contact with IS handlers to go to Libya.

He had links with a man from Philippines, who in turn introduced him to an IS recruiter in Sudan, police said here.
Madaya, which has been a mainstream media focus, is a Sunni Muslim town. The Syrian 'rebels' (terrorists) are exclusively Sunni, as is the Syrian Opposition (Syrian National Coalition), which Washington recognizes as the legitimate government of Syria. In fact, the SNC are a Muslim Brotherhood group.



Aid delivery expected to Syria's Madaya Food and medicine has been loaded up in Damascus ready to be delivered on Monday to tens of thousands of people who are starving to death in three Syrian ...

(Image by YouTube, Channel: AlJazeeraEnglish) Details DMCA



By focusing on Madaya, the media portrays the Syrian government as anti-Sunni, fueling sectarian hatred, which further fuels the civil war. The goal of Saudi Arabia and the US is to divide the Sunni and Shia and have the Christians leave the Middle East for good.

The MSM does not report on Alawite towns and villages which are also under siege, suffering the same as Madaya. Why is the media coverage so unbalanced? Because it is counter-productive for them to inform the world that the Syrian rebels, the US supported terrorists, starve and torture minorities all across Syria. They don't want you to see that. They want to focus your attention on places where they can demonize the Syrian government.

Here are the facts: Madaya has been under siege by the Syrian government because the terrorists have entrenched themselves in residential neighborhoods. They picked a Sunni town hoping to get support among the people. But the people hate them because they stole everything that wan't nailed down. The terrorists took all the money, gold and food from the residents. Every time food was delivered to the area, the terrorists took all of it, and the residents starve. It works to the terrorists' benefit to show starving residents. They can blame it all on the government. Aid and food and medicines have been delivered in the past many times, but everything was confiscated by the terrorists. The same thing happened in the Old City of Homs.

In the North there are several Alawite villages, and even some Shite villages, which were occupied by terrorists, who refused any aid or food going to the people, saying it was in retaliation for Madaya. But the MSM will not tell you about that.

The bottom line is that every government must fight terrorists who are harming civilians. And when they do so, inevitably there is collateral damage among innocent civilians. This is what happened in Madaya.

Meanwhile, here on the coast we continue to enjoy safety, calm, and a near normal life. When you watch TV, it looks like Syria is a real mess. However, you can drive to Damascus and go shopping, stay in Hotels, go to the University, go to nightclubs and parties. The same is true in Homs and Latakia. There are areas in Aleppo which are under government control and are operating normally, but they have almost no electricity.

Watch for the next Geneva peace meeting soon. Something may happen which could benefit Syria.
Before Kobe Bryant walked off the court at the Moda Center for a final time on Saturday night he stopped to give hugs to a few Trail Blazers. He had brief exchanges with Ed Davis, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Gerald Henderson then he turned and waved to the crowd, receiving a shower of boos that were quickly drowned out by cheers.

The Blazers rolled the Lakers 121-103 on Saturday in a game that was never competitive in the second half. But the score, the wildly efficient night from Lillard and Bryant's lack luster statistics were background details. This night was about a final send off for an all-time great and the end of an era in Portland. As Bryant left the court it marked the final time Blazers fans' last true villain would ever play in Rip City.

As one fan sitting courtside told Bryant, "Man, I'm going to miss hating you."

Blazers fans have a rare relationship with Bryant. He was booed every time he touched the ball, an honor earned after years of torturing the Blazers faithful with big games in important moments.

"He's got that his whole career just because he's had so many special games in all the arenas. Here I can just think of a number of shots he's hit against the Blazers," Gerald Henderson said before launching into a detailed breakdown of Bryant's 2004 game winner over Ruben Patterson.

"You just remember those things," Henderson said. "All the fans remember that stuff, too."

The memories against the Blazers include 21 playoff games. Not only the infamous 2000 Western Conference Finals, but first round playoff series victories in the following two years. This is how a villain is born: repeated big plays in the biggest games. Bryant's alley-oop to Shaquille O'Neal in the waning seconds of Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals is the signature moment of the franchise's most miserable game.

There are current players who have earned a great deal of dislike from Blazers fans; Houston's James Harden and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook likely top the list of opponents with potential to become Blazers villains. However, to this point neither have had the type of memorable moments on the biggest stage that solidify that title, the shots and plays that deflate a fan base and instantaneously transform a player into a villain.

In recent history, the biggest villain in Rip City not named Kobe has been knee injuries, the career altering health issues the derailed careers of Brandon Roy and Greg Oden and dramatically shifted the direction of the franchise.

There is no singular figure quite like Bryant that resonates with the fanbase in Portland. When Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki play their final games in Portland, they won't receive the boos that awaited Bryant every time he touched the ball on Saturday.

"I think when you get booed, especially in the NBA, you probably did something great to the team before," Damian Lillard said. "I think it's a sign of respect."

If not respect, it's a sign that fans in Portland acknowledge Bryant's place in history as it relates to the league and the franchise.

"All the boos he probably deserves," Henderson added.

Part of Kobe's positon as the villain is that he accepts and embraces the role.

"That what it's been my entire career. Why would I want it to be any different?," Bryant said of the serenade of boos. "Why would the fans want it to be any different?"

There is a key distinction to make when discussing Bryant as a Blazers villain. That role is entirely a fan construct. For the Blazers on the court, Bryant is the defining player of their generation and many of them grew up as his fans before they joined him in the league.

The fans inside Moda Center, who drowned out the Lakers' supporters cheers with boos, are the people that helped build Bryant into figure they love to hate. His reception of the jeers only helps fuel his image as their bitter adversary.

"The boos every time I touch it, I absolutely love it," Bryant said.

When Bryant walked off the court he raised both hands to the crowd and mouthed the words, 'Thank you.' And he meant it. He's the last true villain for Blazers fans and a similar player might not come around soon. So when the courtside fan told Bryant he would miss hating him, Bryant replied honestly with the type of candor that helped earn him his place in Blazers' fan infamy.

"I said, 'Thank you. I'm going to miss loving the fact that you hate me.'"

-- Mike Richman

mrichman@oregonian.com

@mikegrich
Russell Moore

The Rev. Russell Moore, director of the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, speaks in Nashville, Tennessee in 2014. CNN's Daniel Burke describes Moore as a leading "institutional evangelical" in his analysis of the seven types of evangelical Christians.

(Mark Humphrey/AP Photo)

Good morning! "Religion reads" is a series of roundups where I share interesting religion stories I read during the week. I hope you'll use the comments section to share articles about faith and values you found particularly intriguing.

'Royal wedding' of atheist group, Richard Dawkins Foundation launches woman to top post (Religion News Service)

Kimberly Winston writes: "It's like a royal wedding in the small world of atheist organizations: The Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science are merging to form the largest reason-based organization in the U.S."

The 7 types of evangelicals -- and how they'll affect the presidential race (CNN)

Daniel Burke breaks down American evangelical Christians into seven categories and explains their faith culture, leaders and political outlook. This is an essential read -- especially for those outside the evangelical world, I think, because political coverage of evangelicals tends to represent just one or two of these groups, creating a stereotype.

Donald Trump Quotes Scripture, Sort of, at Liberty University Speech (The New York Times)

Donald Trump spoke Monday at Liberty University, a conservative evangelical college that has become a pilgrimage site for Republican presidential candidates. His visit drew a lot of news and social media attention for two reasons (beyond the fact that everything he does is a media-grabber): First, the school's president went on and on -- and on and on -- about his "admiration" for Trump, who is a "breath of fresh air." Second, Trump got a chuckle from students when he cited "Two Corinthians," which American Christians call "Second Corinthians."

Britain might deport Muslim women who fail an English test. As a Muslim, I actually support that (The Washington Post)

This is an opinion piece by a leading Muslim scholar. He writes: David Cameron is "not proposing deporting people because of who they are. Instead, it's because of who they are, what gender they are, and because they've failed to meet an achievable testable standard! To me, that last part makes the other two parts possible to stomach."

How a Facebook comment turned into a nightmare for 'the evangelical Harvard' (The Washington Post)

Sarah Pulliam Bailey writes: "Evangelical debate has been intense about whether the hijab-wearing political science professor went too far in saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God. The debate has raised larger questions: How large is the evangelical tent, and who decides who is included?"

Also, shameless plug for four stories I published this week:

-- Melissa Binder

mbinder@oregonian.com

503-294-7656

@binderpdx
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Bill Maher takes on the "wackadoodle" Oregon standoff.

(HBO)

Hey, Bill Maher, what took you so long?

The standoff between law enforcement and armed occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is in its third week, and you're just now turning it into comedy gold.

Actually, you can be excused. You, like most Americans, probably didn't think it would last this long.

At least you found a way to finally work more than four minutes of bitingly funny commentary on the Burns situation into the New Rules segment of this weekend's "Real Time With Bill Maher."

For those who missed the segment, here are the five best zingers:

"Someone needs to tell those wackadoodle militiamen who took over a federal building in the middle of nowhere in Oregon that to be a hero, you need something to be heroic about. These guys keep promising to occupy that building until, well, we're not sure. And they're not sure. Something about Redneck Lives Matter."

After showing ringleader and anti-Muslim activist Jon Ritzheimer's

"How tough can you rugged individualists be when the first thing you did after storming the rest stop was to post an appeal online for supplies - a shopping list, really, that included such items as throw rugs, shampoo, foot warmers and French vanilla coffee creamer? What? No scrunchies so you can braid each other's hair?"

"I don't know if you know this, but if you're such ready-to-die patriots, America has actual wars available. Yeah. ... You can go fight ISIS, because what you're doing isn't saving the republic. It's more like when you're a kid and you run away from home by hiding in the backyard."

Of course, Maher notes that the right wing doesn't possess a monopoly on "infantile drama queens." As evidence, he shows video of a screaming Yale student protester who was upset the college might ease its on-campus Halloween costume restrictions last fall.

"This insufferable brat can't sleep at night because there's no school policy about the white girl dressing up as Pocahontas." (Actually, there is such a policy).

Maher then flashes a photo of Muslim women covered head-to-toe in burkas. "Hey, kid, you want to protest outfits that oppress people?" he says. "Why don't you start with these?"

His advice for "martyrs without a cause" who have to automatically go to Defcon 4: Take Xanax.

"Because if you don't feel coddled enough at Yale or free enough in Oregon, there's nothing political we can do for you," Maher said.

-- Joseph Rose

503-221-8029

jrose@oregonian.com

@josephjrose
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An apartment building in Northwest Portland. Rising rents have priced out many tenants caught in a market with insufficient affordable housing and high demand as newcomers move to Portland.

(The Associated Press)

It's hard not to want to do something in response to the horror stories filtering out of what life in a housing crunch has become. Tenants and advocates talk of massive rent hikes driving seniors out of apartments, and of families so desperate to stay in their units that they don't complain to landlords about moldy conditions. Children cycle through multiple schools in a year as their families bounce from one temporary shelter to another.

But policymakers must ensure that in their rush to do something they don't end up doing the wrong thing. Unfortunately, some of the emergency proposals that lawmakers are pursuing in the coming legislative session threaten to make an already strained housing market even worse.

Take for instance, the slate of purported "tenant protections" that Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, plans to introduce with House Speaker Tina Kotek and other legislators. She told The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board that she wants to shift the balance of power that she sees as overly weighted to landlords, particularly in their ability to issue tenants a notice to vacate an apartment once a lease expires, even if the tenant has not violated any of the terms of the rental agreement.

Oregonian editorials

reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

are Helen Jung, Erik Lukens, Steve Moss and Len Reed.

To respond to this editorial:

Post your comment below, submit a

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Among the provisions that her bill will include: A requirement that landlords who issue such "no-cause terminations" or "no-cause notices" give tenants up to one-month's rent in relocation assistance; a measure that would require landlords to prove that they are not retaliating against tenants if they issue such a notice within six months of a tenant requesting a repair; a prohibition on raising rent in the first year of tenancy and an increase in the required notice period for rent increases to 90 days, similar to an ordinance passed in Portland.

The biggest failing of these ideas? None of these provisions remotely resolve the fundamental issue driving tenants' woes: The scarcity of affordable units. Extra time to look for a place to live and relocation assistance don't help much when there's no vacant affordable unit for the tenant to move into.

While extending the required notice for rent increases or for vacating a unit won't change matters much, some provisions could make life worse for renters. Consider the proposal to require landlords who issue a no-cause notice to pay relocation costs to the tenant. Landlords aren't going to absorb that new cost, but rather pass it on to the tenant by raising the monthly rent or increasing security deposits. Do legislators really want to give landlords clear justification to raise rent even more?

Other provisions unfairly hamstring landlords who should retain their legal rights to end a relationship with a tenant provided they are not illegally discriminating, said Jim Straub, the legislative director for the Oregon Rental Housing Association. Straub notes that he has in the past chosen not to extend someone's lease because of that renter's conflicts with either him or with other tenants, whose interests he also must consider.

"If someone is living in your $200,000 investment, sometimes you go, 'This is just a lot more stressful and difficult than it should be,' and you choose to end that relationship," he said.

But under Keny-Guyer's bill, if that renter has made a request for a repair within the previous six months - which is not unusual in older properties - the landlord would have to prove that he or she was not retaliating. How do you prove a negative?

The housing crunch, Keny-Guyer acknowledges, has resulted from several factors, including Oregon's popularity as a destination and a dearth of units due to low levels of construction during the recession. She and other legislators are looking at several other proposals that aim to keep or increase the supply of affordable housing units, dedicate revenue to an affordable housing fund and let cities mandate that builders set aside a percentage of units to be priced at levels far below market rate.

But the most immediate and broadest effects will be on landlords, the majority of whom own a few units at most, said Straub, whose nonprofit represents about 5,000 small-scale landlords across the state. In effect, the proposals simplistically cast landlords as the villains, while ignoring the genuine economic and management issues that most landlords must balance, from increasing property taxes to tenant safety. Incidentally, it is these smaller landlords who will most likely choose to bow out of the rental business altogether, rather than deal with increasing costs and restrictions - potentially leading to even fewer units on the market, said Christian Bryant, president of Coldwell Banker Mt. West Property Management in Portland.

No doubt there are landlords who act unethically, ignorantly or illegally. Certainly low-income tenants or immigrant families may lack the funds, support or ability to challenge a landlord. But instead of looking at how to beef up scrutiny, education and enforcement of existing laws to protect renters, legislators are hurriedly throwing out ill-conceived proposals that will bring a whole new slate of problems for which the state will, again, have few answers.

- The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board

This editorial expresses the opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, one of whose members owns a rental condominium unit.
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(File photo)

By Bobbie Jager

This week marks National School Choice Week, and states across the nation have much to celebrate. In the past decade, choice advocates across the political spectrum have worked to pass legislation including full funding for online and charter schools, education savings accounts, scholarship tax credits for children with disabilities, and open enrollment, which allows children to register freely beyond school district borders. School choice advocates in states like Indiana, Colorado and Florida are also working to break down the walls between the K-12 education system and higher education so students not only earn a high school diploma, but are well on their way to earning an associate's degree.

When our state decided to create a common school fund, it was with the belief that a successful society was dependent upon having a skilled and educated citizenry, and that it was in the public's interest to pay for public education. But the common school fund was merely a funding mechanism. It was agnostic on the delivery mechanism.

In today's society, we expect customization and personalization in every aspect of our life. Have you considered that maybe our education system is failing not because we lack funding, but, rather, because we're still relying on a one-size-fits-all system for 550,000 students with little consideration for the needs of the individual student? Often, Oregon politicians talk about strengthening people's rights to freely make choices about their lives, yet when it comes to school choice, families in Oregon are severely restricted. The resistance to school choice by education leaders in Oregon isn't limited to simply expanding new options. Unfortunately, there is a constant effort to undo the few choice options available to Oregon families.

In 2011, a bipartisan Oregon Legislature successfully increased options by expanding enrollment caps for online schools, creating a modified open enrollment option and allowing colleges and universities to act as charter sponsors. Once caps were lifted, more Oregon students and their families chose online schooling. In turn, more public schools made online schooling an offering to stay competitive with their public charter school counterparts. The cap, however, is artificial. We should do away with it altogether and let parents have full access to that option.

When Oregon enacted open enrollment, hundreds of families across the state made the decision to leave their local school district for one that better suited the needs of their child. Unless the Legislature acts in 2016, that choice will expire. Living in such a progressive state, doesn't it make sense that we would continue to expand choices for parents instead of limit them?

Progressive Democrats from around the nation are moving in this direction. For example, former California Senate President Gloria Romero, a Democrat and an educator, passed the nation's first parent trigger law. The law empowers parents whose children attend public schools that are in the bottom 20 percent of California's system with one of three choices: implement a turn-around model with the district and new staff, transition the school into a charter school or vote to shut the school down. Gloria understood empowering parents with choices would help children escape failing schools.

As a mother of 13 children, I quickly learned not every child fits into the same educational "box." My children have attended public schools, including charter schools, private schools, experienced home schooling and attended international schools when my family was stationed in Saudi Arabia. My kids fill the spectrum from special needs to children identified as talented and gifted. To assume each child is well-served by the exact same educational delivery formula is a recipe for disaster. We now see the results of that thinking in Oregon's poor graduation rates.

My message to Oregon legislators is to look at what Democrats in other states are doing to end inequality in their education systems. Their efforts are based on choice and empowering parents to make necessary changes. Let's end our practice of tying a child's educational future to their zip code and their income. It's time to give all Oregon school children the choice for a better future.

*

Bobbie Jager is the executive director for Building Excellent Schools Together (BEST), an nonpartisan organization committed to parent empowerment and increasing the options for education delivery in our public school system.
Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

Make Portland a city that works: Editorial Agenda 2016

Portland needs leaders who pay more attention to the fiscal impacts of their actions than the City Council typically has shown, the editorial board writes, in explaining its agenda item, Make Portland a city that works. Theres some reason for optimism, particularly considering that there are two credible candidates, Ted Wheeler and Jules Bailey, running to replace Mayor Charlie Hales.

'Among the qualities that will distinguish Wheeler and Bailey in the coming months, voters should pay particular attention to those that indicate a penchant for beneficial small-mindedness and the potential to lead City Council and City Hall in a more responsible and sober direction,' the editorial states. 'Choosing the best candidate will go a long way toward making Portland a city that works better in the coming years, no matter what the final year of Hales' tenure may bring.' Read the editorial here.

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Photo by Michelle Brence/Staff

One exasperating example of Portland's public-information problems: Editorial Agenda 2016

A four-week saga to get basic information from the City of Portlands Human Resources bureau reflects a government culture where transparency and accountability are of little concern, the editorial board writes. But thats not a surprise, considering the example set by city leaders who are quick to challenge the publics right to information.

'Just last week, city commissioners dreamed up a hypothetical scenario as a way to justify appealing the Multnomah County district attorney's order that it release legal memos from 25 years ago,' the editorial states. 'Never mind that the hypothetical has nothing to do with the specifics of the case in front of the Council. The universe of potentially-adverse-situations is apparently good cause to stymie a citizen in his legitimate request for information.' Read the editorial here.

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The Oregonian/Brent Wojahn

No coal proposal is 'clean fuels' all over again: Editorial Agenda 2016

Looks like the short legislative session will feature Clean Fuels, the Sequel, the editorial board writes, an issue better resolved during a full session. Environmental groups and their advocates in the state Legislature aim to force through a complex bill to phase out coal in a truncated session, despite regulators concerns that the proposals would not effectively reduce carbon and would raise costs for Oregonians.

'Deferring this discussion until the 2017 session would give lawmakers and interested members of the public plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons of banning coal from Oregon's energy mix and requiring the expanded use of renewables,' the editorial states. 'It also would give ratepayers more time to consider some of the no-coal plan's lesser-known provisions, including one that is  wouldn't you know it?  a kissing cousin to the notorious low-carbon fuel standard.' Read the editorial here.

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Photo by Mark Graves/Staff

At the refuge, it's time to pull the plug: Editorial

The militias takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has gone on long enough and calls for measured but aggressive actions to end the occupation, the editorial board writes. Cutting off power, for instance, is one possible step.

'Among other things, continued tolerance would likely be the encouragement (LaVoy) Finicum and (Ammon) Bundy need for their standoff to metastasize among the errant across the American West, with Oregon the unwitting epicenter,' the editorial states. 'They have, after all, mugged democracy. The occupation can thus be named: an unconstitutional taking from the people.' Read the editorial here.

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

Build Oregon prosperity: Editorial Agenda 2016

Oregon may have turned a corner economically, but the state still faces significant challenges in adequately funding infrastructure and educational needs and backing the economic development to help Oregonians thrive, the editorial board writes, in describing its Build Oregon prosperity agenda item.

'Building prosperity has always been in Oregon's DNA,' the editorial states. 'But the complexities thrown by increased population, burdened infrastructure and advancing technologies that change the nature of jobs affects even the most strategic efforts at creating prosperity.' Read the editorial here.

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

Protect and expand personal freedom: Editorial Agenda 2016

Despite the legalization of same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana, Oregon still has some work to do in protecting personal freedom, the editorial board writes. Several instances last year show the need to add this topic to the boards 2016 agenda.

'2015 provided plenty of reminders that small affronts to liberty matter, too, and deserve vigilance,' the editorial states. 'Those responsible shouldn't get a free pass.' Read the editorial here.

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

Portland gas tax, meet the Portland arts tax: Editorial Agenda 2016

Portlanders, who will be asked to consider a new gas tax, should be afforded the opportunity to take another vote on the arts tax, which is significantly different from the measure voters were asked to approve, the editorial board writes.

If you think the gas tax is regressive, consider that the arts tax applies to every income-earning adult in a household above the federal poverty level - $28,410 for a family of five,' the editorial states. 'An income-earning adult, by the way, is one who earns at least $1,000 per year. Commissioner Steve Novick, who later this month will ask his colleagues to place the gas tax on the ballot, rightly has alled the arts tax 'beyond regressive.'' Read the editorial here.
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Protestors rally outside of the state Capitol during Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, in Lansing, Mich. With the water crisis gripping Flint threatening to overshadow nearly everything else he has accomplished, the Republican governor again pledged a fix Tuesday night during his annual State of the State speech.

(Sean Proctor/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

By Leonard Pitts Jr.

"Them that's got shall get. Them that's not shall lose" - Billie Holiday

It was in April of 2014 that the water turned bad. Residents of Flint, Mich., reported that the stuff smelled. It was yellowish brown. You drank it and your hair fell out. Or you developed a rash. Or you were nauseous.

Again, this was in April.

According to a computer search, it was not until the following January that the Detroit Free Press, just an hour down the road, took note. It wasn't until March that The New York Times began reporting the story. It wasn't until Jan. 5th of this year - almost two years later - that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder saw fit to declare a state of emergency and nine days afterward that he asked President Obama to declare the city a disaster area.

And it is not until today that yours truly is writing about it.

There are many points of outrage in the story of Flint's ill-fated attempt to save money by switching its water supply to the filthy Flint River. You could focus on findings that the river water contained fecal coliform bacteria. Or on the fact that chemicals used to kill said bacteria apparently created new contaminations of their own. Or on reports that much of the problem could have been avoided by adding an anti-corrosive agent to the water for about $100 a day, but the city declined.

You could fix your anger on city officials who continued to insist, long after it was obviously untrue, that the water was safe. Or on state regulators who said the same even after a group of doctors reported finding elevated levels of lead in the blood of Flint's children. The World Health Organization says lead poisoning in kids can lead to brain damage, shortened attention span, antisocial behavior, hypertension, and damage to the reproductive organs, among other things. The effects are irreversible.

So yes, this slow-rolling disaster offers many causes for anger. But one of them is the very fact that it has been a slow-rolling disaster.

It is inconceivable that it would take so long for public officials to respond or media to notice if the water became unsafe in New York, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, Atlanta or L.A. But Flint is none of those places. Rather, it is a hard-luck, hardscrabble, post-industrial wasteland, a shrinking town of 100,000 people, with a poverty rate of 41 percent and per capita income of less than $15,000. It doesn't even have a grocery store.

In 2005, when New Orleans drowned, some of us seemed surprised that there were Americans too desperately poor to escape the path of a monster storm. There followed much media hand-wringing over the failure to report so fundamental a story as the continued existence of poverty.

Yet here we are over a decade later, and once again it takes a calamity to make poor people visible. We saw the same pattern in Ferguson, Mo., where it wasn't until a teenager died and weeks of urban unrest followed that we learned how that city was pimping its poor.

One is reminded of what happens when there's a blackout: Windows are broken and merchandise taken. No one is surprised by this. Under cover of darkness, people are seldom their best selves. Under cover of darkness, terrible deeds are often done.

Well, news media have left the poor under cover of darkness. Our light shines on politics, the middle class, technological gimmickry and celebrity gossip, yes. But on those the Bible calls "the least of these"? Not so much. Our inattention frees politicians to ignore them as well. And all of a sudden you look up and it's been almost two years since 100,000 people had safe water to drink and we're just beginning to notice.

That's unconscionable. News media's mission, it is often said, is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. Where the plight of the nation's poor is concerned, we seem to have failed on both counts.

(c) 2016, The Miami Herald
The screaming headlines in the mainstream newspapers about the simultaneous swoop by security agencies across the country to pick up fourteen suspects for their alleged allegiance to ISIS terrorists did come as a shocker to lay people on a lazy Saturday morning. Those following the developments in Syria and the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 have been keeping their fingers crossed. The fact that out of 14 men picked up by the NIA, six were from Karnataka may have sent a shiver down the spine of law abiding citizens.

Lets count our blessings

Considering the size of the Muslim population in India we can seek consolation from the fact that very fewer members from that community have been lured by ISIS. In contrast, the extent of radicalisation in Europe, particularly in countries like France, has been way high, despite the smaller size of their Muslim populations.

In India Hindus and Muslims have co-existed for about ten centuries. That Muslims have assimilated and gelled into our culture is as much a tribute to them as to their Hindu counterparts. However, there have been aberrations when communal harmony has come under tremendous stress in different parts of the country. The growing fundamentalism on either side has always threatened to upset the fragile communal situation.

There is no denying that globally there is a sense of alienation among members of the Muslim community over what they consider as attacks against their religion by powerful Western countries. Thus their anger has been directed mainly against US and other Western powers through terrorist attacks. This sense of alienation is often directed against their real or imaginary oppressors in their immediate environs.

Remedies

Reverse alienation: The task before both the State and Central governments is to reverse this sense of alienation. While a lot depends on the political parties across the spectrum, who should urgently jettison communal politics and focus on national interest in order to help the members of the Muslim community enter the mainstream. The responsibility also rests on the Hindu majority and Muslim leadership to reduce the sense of alienation. Unfortunately the minority community is subjected to appeasement at one level and gross provocation at the other.

The recent instances in the country, such as the Dadri incident and the frequent inflammatory utterances by the so called votaries of Hindutva have contributed in no small measure to this alienation.

Prevent riots: Frequent communal violence also has an effect in alienating communities. While prevention is better than cure, whenever the trouble erupts, police should put them down expeditiously and efficiently. More importantly issues causing communal violence should be identified , analysed and nipped in the bud. Here again, the role of political parties who fish in troubled waters for electoral gains is well known. The failure by the police to handle communal riots in an even handed manner also has a potential to alienate minorities. One may recall how Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district witnessed a rash of communal riots in the nineties and the decade following it. One is tempted to infer if these riots gave raise to the likes of Yasin Bhatkal and their ilk.

Stop radicalisation: In India, luckily only a miniscule number of Muslims get radicalised by reading, watching and hearing about what they perceive to be injustice to their religion. A massive deradicalisation programme has to be undertaken by selecting vulnerable pockets and allocating adequate resources towards this end.

Monitoring Social Media: Monitoring social media poses a huge challenge to the security agencies. One of the major avenues by which misguided Muslim youth get radicalised is social media. This brings us to the issue of upgradation of technology available with the police and its modernisation, which have not kept pace with the developments in the industry and those available with anti-social elements. Monitoring social media through superior technology backed by an effective human intelligence on a war footing is the need of the hour.

Intelligence sharing: The common refrain in the speeches of the Prime Minister while addressing world leaders has been a call for international cooperation among the comity of nations against terrorism. This appeal has had its effect as the Fridays crackdown was, as per media reports, based on intelligence shared by CIA, which is heartening. While the countrys success in enlisting global cooperation is to be appreciated, there is an urgent need for a similar robust arrangement within the country among various states and the plethora of central intelligence and investigative agencies belonging to both the home and defence ministries. While such institutions are already existing, steps should be taken to strengthen and streamline them, without impinging on the delicate federal nature of our polity. This would help fight terrorism and radicalisation in a big way.

(The writer is former DG&IGP)
Chennai: Tamil Nadu has remained a peaceful state, asserted Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Addressing the Assembly on Saturday, she said the government under her leadership has taken stringent actions to maintain law and order.

This was achieved as police were given freedom to prevent crime and detect. As a result, peace has been maintained in the state. Brushing aside critics over state facing power crisis, she said the power shortage was one of the major challenges she faced soon after AIADMK returned to power in 2011.

The previous minority DMK government pushed the state under darkness and state reeled under severe power shortage.

With proactive steps taken by this government, the state has been receiving 7,485.5 MW of additional power from various sources including central grid and solar energy after May 2011. As a result, the state has not facing power shutdown from June 5, 2015.

Necessary efforts were also made to receive 1,232 MW of additional power in the next six months. Considering the power requirement in future, several new power projects would be implemented.

Tamil Nadu tops in country in higher education

Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said the state has become number one in the country in the enrolment of students in higher education.

Addressing the Assembly while winding up three-day session on Saturday she said that due to the efforts made by the government the state achieved the distinction. In 2011, the gross enrolment ratio in the state stood at 18 per cent and 23.6 per cent in country.

Due the efforts made by the government this has been increased to 44.8 per cent in the state and state tops in the country. In the more than an hour long speech, Jayalalithaa listed out achievements of state in various departments.

She said, Some may ask whether it was not possible to speak without prepared notes. It is possible. It is possible to even speak for hours in chaste Tamil, like it is being done in public meetings. She asked but can all these statistics be memorised? She elaborated that there are 36 departments and we have made so many achievements in all the departments. Each department requires a day.

If we have to list out all the achievements, I have to take 36 days to finish my reply. It is a tough job to sum up everything in one-and-a-half hours, she said.
Mohammad Irshad and Tahira, brother and sister of Mohammed Suhail Ahmed, the terror suspect was arrested in Bengaluru.

BENGALURU: While the NIA has arrested 13 terror suspects from across the country, including four from the city, the sleuths of the Telangana Anti-Terrorist Squad busted one more terror module in the city by arresting a terror suspect wanted in an old case, on Saturday evening.

High drama prevailed at the house of the terror suspect in Vinayaka Nagar 4th Main in Naganathapura in Parappana Agrahara police limits, when the ATS staff went to nab him.

The suspect stabbed a constable, identified as Srinivas, in the hand and tried to escape, but was overpowered by the police team. The terror suspect, Javed Rafeeq, aged around 30 years, is reportedly from Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

The Telangana ATS team surrounded Rafeeqs house around 5 pm on Saturday. When they went in, Rafeeq allegedly stabbed Srinivas in the hand and tried to escape. But the police team pinned him down to the ground.

He was taken into custody, while the injured constable was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he is being treated.

Read: Terror suspect Suhail attended Qasmis sermons, says his brother

The local police said that the ATS staff had not informed them about the operation and they came to know about it only after the incident.

The ATS team has not revealed to us in which case Rafeeq was wanted. They have also not registered any complaint so far in connection with the stabbing incident, an official said.

Police sources said that Rafeeq was wanted in an old terror case reported in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Rafeeq worked as AC mechanic

The suspect, Javed Rafeeq, was reportedly living in a rented house for the last three years. He was on the second floor of the four-storey building. The house owner, K.T. Ashraf, said that Rafeeq had told him that he was from Delhi.

He told me that he worked as an AC mechanic. He usually left the house around 8 am and came home very late. He was paying `3,200 as rent. There was nothing suspicious about his activities.

Rafeeq got married to Yasmeen Banu, a resident of Saraipalya, about six months ago. Only the couple was living in the house, which has a hall and a kitchen, Ashraf said.

Priya, a neighbour, said that Rafeeq constantly watched news on his mobile phone. He had told me that he hailed from Agra. He was living with his friend before the wedding. After the marriage, his friend moved out. He had claimed that he was an orphan, she said.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected parole for a third time for a follower of cult leader Charles Manson 46 years after a series of bloody murders rocked Southern California.

Bruce Davis was convicted of the 1969 slayings of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea. He was not involved in the more notorious killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others.

Brown said on Friday that the 73-year-old Davis remains a danger to public safety, saying in his decision that the "horror of the murders committed by the Manson Family in 1969 and the fear they instilled in the public will never be forgotten."

The governor said Davis spent years downplaying his role in the family.

"As I've discussed twice before, Davis's own actions demonstrate that he had fully bought into the depraved Manson Family beliefs," Brown wrote in his decision. "He not only watched as Manson cut Mr. Hinman's face open with a sword, but held him at gunpoint while Manson was doing so."

Tate's sister Debra Tate, who spoke against Davis's parole at his hearing to represent Manson's victims, had not yet heard about the governor's rejection when reached by phone by The Associated Press.

"Oh God, I am so glad he did that," Tate said. "I have been sweating bullets, as you can imagine."

Tate said the consistent rejection of parole for Manson followers from governors through the years has not given her any comfort, and California's recent moves to release older prisoners have left her especially worried.

"I see it as a very viable possibility that all of them could be let out," Tate said. "None of them are secure."

Brown blocked Davis' parole twice before, most recently in 2014, and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also previously opted to keep Davis imprisoned at California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.

Davis is serving a life sentence after he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and robbery. He became a born-again Christian behind bars, earned a doctoral degree in philosophy of religion and ministers to other inmates.

A message left with Davis' attorney, Michael Beckman, was not immediately returned on Friday. Beckman said previously that the Board of Parole Hearings was simply following the law when it recommended the release of a man who is no longer dangerous.

Los Angeles County prosecutors argued against his release, citing the gruesome nature of the crimes that kept Southern Californians fearful for months. They also noted that Manson's intent was to spark a race war, based on his interpretation of the Beatles song "Helter Skelter." He thought the slayings would spark an Armageddon-like war between whites and blacks that would benefit his "family" of disciples.

The governor wrote Friday that Davis has still "not explained what, other than a desire for acceptance, allowed him to suspend reality to accept that Helter Skelter was real and that he needed to contribute  in a violent way  to the beginning of the apocalypse."

Debra Tate said that she has seen many Manson family members at hearings through the years. She said that while they have sometimes led exemplary lives in the controlled environment of prison, "these are sociopaths."

She fears what would happen to them in the real world, where "the challenges of everyday life could turn them back into the same monsters they were in 1969."

___

Associated Press Writer Don Thompson contributed to this story from Sacramento.
A brilliant sunny day under a bright blue sky saw well over 100 people gather Saturday on the Midland County Courthouse steps in remembrance of Roe v. Wade.

Sponsored by Right to Life of Midland, the 2016 Roe v Wade Memorial Vigil remembered Jan. 22, 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion-on-demand in all 50 states.

The prayer vigil each year means standing up for the most innocent who cannot defend themselves  the pre-born babies, said Marian Fitzgerald Card, RTL-M president.

Saturdays guest speaker Pastor Dave Berry of New Life Bible Church, agreed, We stand in respect to Gods handiwork and advocate for the lives of those that cant stand for themselves.

Ranging in age from pre-K to senior citizens, the bundled up crowd held signs stating: Abortion kills children, Adoption not abortion and Abortion hurts women.

This prayer vigil has meant help in the healing for those who have had an abortion. For others it is healing from having somehow participated in an abortion, Fitzgerald Card said. Most are like me, stunned that legal abortion has gone on for over 40 years.

Following Berry, Rep. Gary Glenn shared the significance of holding his (first child) in his arms.

I thought I knew what love was until I held that baby, he said. The real tragedy is the baby who doesnt get to be born.

The Guttmacher Institute and the Centers for Disease Control report that more than 56 million abortions have been performed since 1973. In Michigan, 27,629 abortions were reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in 2014.

As he interjected Scripture, Berry added, Thank you for your efforts over the years and changing one life at a time. I encourage you in this battle to reach people with the truth of life. Never give up on these people and never hold unrighteous judgment on those people.

The vigil continued as the gathering marched from the courthouse to St. Brigid Church for light refreshments.

Right to Life of Midland is a non-profit organization of grassroots volunteers dedicated to protecting life. We staunchly oppose any legislation aimed at destroying defenseless human life, regardless of its imperfections, any time in its natural cycle, from fertilization to natural death, the group states. We endorse and support efforts to enrich the lives of all people, especially those with mental and physical disabilities, as well as people with terminal illness. ...

Right to Life of Midland meets on the first Thursday of each month at the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library. For more information on the organization, visit: www.midlandrtl.org.
The Mount Pleasant Fire Department responded at 7:45 a.m. Saturday to a structure fire at Central Concrete Products in Mount Pleasant. The fire department responded to 900 S. Bradley St. with two engines, a rescue, a ladder and several support vehicles. The building was closed and unoccupied during the fire.

The first arriving units encountered heavy smoke, fire conditions and observed a partial collapse of the roof. A defensive exterior attack was established because of the instability of the structure. Due to the size of the facility and amount of fire conditions present, assistance was requested from the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Fire Department and Shepherd Tri-Township Fire Department at the scene and the Deerfield Fire Department to cover the Mount Pleasant station in the event of another emergency. The Mount Pleasant Police Department, Isabella County Sheriff Department, Michigan Department of Transportation, Mobile Medical Response and the Shepherd Tri-Township Firefighters Auxiliary also provided assistance.
MONDAY

 The Saginaw Community Foundation was awarded a $250,000 grant to support local initiatives to address obesity-related issues.

 Gasoline prices dropped to 78 cents in Houghton Lake due to a pricing war between gas stations.

TUESDAY

 Concept drawings of the new STEM elementary school were unveiled at the Midland Public Schools board meeting.

 State Rep. Gary Glenn was diagnosed with prostate cancer last Friday; he plans to continue in his legislative duties.

WEDNESDAY

 Site plans for a second Kroger store at Jefferson Avenue and Joe Mann Boulevard were submitted to the city Planning Commission.

 A 2-year-old Saginaw girl, who was reported missing, was found safe in Grand Rapids.

THURSDAY

 Midland Public Schools STEM strategic plan received a financial commitment of $3 million over the next three years from four community foundations.

 A semi-truck veered off a downtown street and crashed into trees Wednesday afternoon.

FRIDAY

 Ken McClure from the Michigan Division of the Kroger Co. confirmed that there are no plans to close the existing Kroger store on Ashman Street.

 The Michigan National Guard planned to restrict access to armories that may have above-standard lead levels, including the armory in Midland.
People of faith across Michigan find themselves wrestling with the ongoing revelations that state officials knowingly allowed the poisoning of the people of Flint without warning for more than a year. Every day, more information shows us that Gov. Rick Snyders appointees sacrificed the health and well-being of thousands of citizens recklessly, perhaps immorally. As we learn more, we must cope with our immediate response to the crisis while at the same time discerning its cause.

In his State of the State address last Tuesday, Gov. Snyder apologized and vowed to fix the problem. Rep. Gary Glenn told us to accept his apology and move on, a sentiment I share. We should forgive Gov. Snyder and those who reported directly to him responsible for this heinous act. We should not let our feelings of betrayal and outrage lead us to lash out against politicians who may have  somehow  believed they were serving the public interest.

We should release the anger we feel toward Gov. Snyder and his appointees so that the work of reconciliation can begin. As people of faith, however, forgiving Gov. Snyder does not mean that we will not seek justice for the people of Flint. Every child who drank the lead-contaminated water will live the rest of their lives suffering the effects of their poisoning. People made intentional decisions that exposed those children to vile pollution. And they must be held accountable.

The acts resulting in the destruction of the water supply of Flint and the ongoing exposure of its people to toxic, perhaps fatal chemicals, were a sin against every human moral belief system. Whether you are Christian or Muslim, Buddhist or Jew, Atheist or Pagan, the decisions that allowed Flints children to be poisoned were unthinkable and evil. And justice demands that those responsible be held accountable for their actions according to the laws of our land.

Consider this comparison. You hire a trusted contractor to build a playground for your children. The contractor completes the task, but knowingly uses rotted wood and rusty nails without telling you. Eventually, the playground collapses, injuring your children permanently. The contractor apologizes and holds you in his prayers. Then he asks for your trust and assures you that he will fix the playground.

We cannot know the nature of eternal mysteries of creation and goodness in the universe. We cannot presume to understand what consequences Gov. Snyders actions will inflict on his soul. Therefore, we should leave moral punishments to the Spirit of Life and Love that we call by many names.

We can, however, determine to what extent he and others violated the law and deal with them as we would anyone accused of crimes. If the deaths due to Legionnaires Disease were attributable to decisions made by Gov. Snyder and his appointees, then they should be charged with those negligent homicides. Anyone complicit in the poisoning of children should be indicted for the appropriate crimes. And those involved in hiding or covering up knowledge of these actions should be held as co-conspirators. This is not finger-pointing. This is a call for justice and for the fair application of our laws to all, whatever their position in our society.

This investigation will also bring to light the many instances of corruption resulting from this governors application of the emergency manager law. We must examine its overtly racist application to cities with large minority populations, wherein citizens have been deprived of their democratically-elected representation. We must consider whether our states experiment with temporary totalitarianism has been a colossal failure and determine how our cities can survive sustainably in a 21st century environment.

Perhaps most important, as Rep. Glenn reminds us, we must invest ourselves in finding solutions. I could not agree more. So I call on you, Rep. Glenn, to take the lead on local relief efforts for our neighbors to the south. Perhaps you could negotiate with local businesses and corporations to provide regular truckloads of water at discounted rates to which we all could contribute. You could sponsor emergency legislation to bolster Flints public schools, medical services and civic infrastructure to begin their long path back to health. And, most important Mr. Glenn, show us your leadership by demanding a repeal of the emergency manager legislation and a comprehensive investigation into the actions of this governor and his appointees.

The opportunity for us to live the shared principles of our various faiths lies before us. We need leadership willing to let go of partisan loyalties and commit to the citizens of Michigan. And we need leaders with the courage to show us the way toward justice for the people of Flint.

The Rev. Jeff Liebmann is minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
We have witnessed the Republican candidates relentless criticism that President Obama does not have a strategy for resolving the chaotic conflict in the Middle East. The truth is, however, that he has a very detailed strategy upon which he can discourse for more than an hour. This strategy involves step-by-step involvement of all the neighboring nations to Iraq and Syria to take on ISIS, politically, financially and militarily. This involves closing borders to importing fighters, ending the exporting of ISIS oil to the black market, and, most importantly, boots on the ground from all those same neighboring nations with assistance from advisors, intelligence and air support provided from the United States and other nations.

That is certainly a strategy. Of course it may have to be adjusted in light of the recent rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but that is outside the scope of this writing. Republicans should at least be honest and say that they are opposed to the strategy being pursued, why they are opposed to it and what they would substantially substitute for it. Instead they just complain that the president is not doing enough. As far as objective listeners can tell, not enough is code language suggesting tens of thousands of U.S. boots back on the ground in this area or massive bombing that dismisses the likelihood of slaughtering thousands of civilians.

Iraqi boots on the ground have recently demonstrated that they can be effective. Republican blowhards summarily dismiss the presidents assertion that massive U.S. boots on the ground would be detrimental, not a help; that unilateral U.S. action would excuse and give a pass to the neighbor nations from assuming their responsibility and doing the job that only they can do in a helpful manner. Most tragic is the cavalier dismissal of the assertion that massive U.S. boots on the ground will simply end up recruiting more terrorists.

What Harrison Ford says about Donald Trump is true about the other GOP wannabe candidates, namely that they wouldnt know reality if it bit them in the butt. These Republican arm-chair, war-loving ideologues cannot admit that going into Iraq with huge U.S. forces was a historic mistake that made the Middle East quagmire worse, not better. They do not admit, let alone repent, of the misinformation told by Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, and others who initiated that ill-conceived war. Neither do they repent of the horrifically stupid nation-building that Republican wonks did in Iraq after the conquest, especially alienating and disenfranchising the Sunni part of the Iraq population and paving the way for the rise of ISIS.

The Republican candidates do not articulate an accurate memory of the past and do not project a believable long-range vision of a viable future for that region. In this the foreign policy of the Republican Party is entirely bankrupt with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson all speaking ignorant-of-the-facts gibberish. By and large the media, controlled by those who are bankrolling the Republican legislators and candidates, shield our citizens from this same negative assessment of these candidates by people outside the United States.

Republican emotional over-reaction added to this ignorance is especially dangerous. The candidates from Donald Trump to Lindsey Graham (recently withdrawn) imply that ISIS terrorists constitute something like the threat of World War III. That is a form of dishonest posturing. The ISIS thugs (not any more representative of Islam than the KKK is of Christianity) are more than a negligible challenge. They are a cancer to the whole world community. Even so, they are not comparable with World War II in which France was taken, Great Britain was under daily bombardment, and the U.S. was existentially threatened from both Atlantic and Pacific directions. In fact, I would suggest that the Republican exaggerations are really a studied distraction from seeing and acknowledging the successful steps of economic recovery orchestrated by the Obama administration despite Republican obstructionism and their unwillingness to seriously grapple with climate change and a crumbling infrastructure. Those, however, are issues, again, too large for this letter. My point is that in respect to the real world scene, we elect Republicans to national power at our peril. Which of these ignorant and emotional over-reactors would you want to have their finger on the red button of nuclear response?

President Obama is clear that ISIS is our Middle East priority and not getting rid of Assad in Syria. He is also clear that if there is ever to be a lasting end to the civil war in Syria, then there will have to be a political settlement that replaces the Assad government and not a vacuum that can be filled by thugs like ISIS. Our president is likewise clear that the Russian effort to prop up the Assad government by bombing non-ISIS forces is a short-sighted mistake that it must be persuaded to abandon, while, perhaps, assuring them of having port access to the Mediterranean Sea. Also, this strategy includes not doing anything knee-jerk stupid, like shooting down a Russian plane.

We already tried Cowboy Diplomacy with the Bush administration and it helped birth ISIS and get us further mired in the Middle East quagmire. President Obama has demonstrated a thoughtful and studied approach that seeks to provide cooperative long range solutions to complex and difficult issues. Such careful thoughtfulness is missing in the Republican camp. What we hear amounts to hordes of our children and grandchildren soldiering up for a quick gun-blazing solution like the end of some glorified John Wayne western movie. This sort of silly, big-ego arrogance should make any thoughtful person furious. The Republican view of these horrendous, world complexities is a bag of woeful ignorance and ego-birthed illusionary longing.

The Rev. Dr. Harold J. Slater is a resident of Midland.
EDITORS NOTE  OWI means operating while intoxicated. DWLS means driving while license suspended. (MC) is for Judge Michael D. Carpenter. (L) is for Magistrate Gerald Ladwig. Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentencings include other fees imposed by the state.

Coleman

Tony Jay Nichols, 27, DWLS on Dec. 27, 24 days in jail with credit for time served (MC).

Hope

Danny Lee Babcock, 47, allowing DWLS on Sept. 18, $500 fines and costs (MC).

Midland

Adrian Ricky Brooks, 50, West Wackerly Street, prohibited parking of a trailer on Oct. 29, $700 fines and costs (MC).

Jordan Charles Glover, 30, Braley Court, allowing DWLS on Nov. 29, $200 fines and costs (L).

Jordan Michael Hanson, 28, Virgina Street, allowing DWLS on Nov. 23, $500 fines and costs (MC).

Robert Michael Rivet, 48, Elizabeth Street, DWLS on Oct. 26, 14 days in jail with all but five days suspended and credit for one day, $500 fines and costs, complete 40 hours of community service within 90 days or complete the remaining jail sentence (MC).

Elsewhere

Lynda Marie Brant, 59, Canton, impaired driving on May 13, $467 fines and costs (MC).

Kerry Williams, 24, Detroit, malicious destruction of a building on Nov. 16, 52 days in jail with credit for time served, $348 restitution (MC).
BLOOMINGTON  Samantha Kuschke rattled a bucket of raisins and bamboo leaves, calling out to two red pandas in a nearby snowy branch.

Lily, Ernie, here you go, said Kuschke, of Bloomington, as she stepped into an exhibit at Miller Park Zoo. Ernie waddled up, accepting a pill from Kuschke's gloved fingers.

I give Ernie his supplements and they like to dig through the bucket to look for the best treats, said Kuschke, a volunteer and intern at the zoo.

Because it is a nonprofit organization, most of the workers at Miller Park Zoo are volunteers. On Saturday, a group of more than 20 people from the Twin Cities attended an informational meeting to learn more about helping at the zoo.

This was our first public informational meeting. Usually, we set up meetings one on one with interested volunteers, said Silvia Schuh, events and volunteers coordinator. The turnout was amazing. This is usually the number of volunteers we see in five or six months.

The zoo needs volunteers for animal care, zoo upkeep and projects, special events, clerical support, the gift shop and carousel.

Volunteers must be able to make a six-month commitment, but can work as little as four hours a month. They also must be at least 18, pass a local and state criminal background check, pay a $25 registration fee, provide a yearly negative tuberculosis test and fill out an application.

We bring on a lot of college students through internships and volunteering, but they usually graduate and leave, said Schuh. We wanted to reach out to more community members and Bloomington-Normal has really stepped up.

Kristen and Derek Scheuer attended due to their love for animals.

We just moved to Bloomington from Chicago in July. We signed up to be members of the zoo pretty quickly. Through our membership, we heard about this volunteer opportunity, said Kristen Scheuer.

She worked at a veterinary hospital in Ottawa for nine years and hopes to put her skills to use at the zoo.

Most of the potential volunteers said they were most interested in assisting zookeepers with animal care through feeding, training and entertaining the animals.

By having volunteers, it really frees up time for the zookeepers, who are able to give more attention the animals, said Schuh.

The group took a tour of the zoo, catching a glimpse of how things run behind the scenes.

Four-year volunteer Mitchell Fields was chopping vegetables and preparing fish for meals. Even though he works and attends classes at Heartland Community College, Fields, 23, makes time on Saturdays to clean exhibits and feed animals.

Its rewarding to know Im helping out and I get to spend time with some really interesting animals, he said.

Traci Zeller has been a volunteer for 12 years despite being a busy mom and working part-time.

Its fun, said Zeller, of Bloomington. I love animals and this gives me a way to work with them without making a whole career out of it.

A second meeting will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday at the front office building at the zoo. Applications can be completed at the meeting or printed from the zoos website and submitted in person.

To learn more, call Silvia Schuh at 309-434-2826.
Mohammad Irshad and Tahira, brother and sister of Mohammed Suhail Ahmed, the terror suspect was arrested in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Over the last year, Suhail used to go to Makkah Masjid in Illyaz Nagar every Friday regularly to listen to Syed Anzar Shah Qasmis bayyans (sermons) and this could be the reason he was picked up by the police, said Mohammad Irshad, brother of Mohammad Suhail Ahmed (22).

My brother has been framed. He is innocent. Our entire family members, ancestors or relatives have nobody in Pakistan, said Tahira, Suhail's elder sister.

The family had shifted to the new house, located on the second floor house in Old Pension Mohalla off Mysore Road, a month ago.

The police had gone to the old house on 4th cross Old Pension Mohalla, on Thursday and brought the old house owner's brother along to identify Suhails new house, Tahira said.

The police told us that they have got the main guy and Suhail was picked up as a suspect and will be left in 3-4 days.

The police also got our father Umar Farooq to sign on a folded paper, which he was not allowed to read its content, said Mohammad Irshad.

The police called us on Saturday morning and asked us to come and meet Suhail at the Madivala Forensic Science Laboratory, where the suspects were kept in detention as they were shifting him somewhere else, said Zarina Begum, Suhails mother.

They asked us to bring spare dresses, soap, toothpaste and toothbrush for my son, she added. Suhail, who used to teach at the madarasa in Gowripalaya Jumma Masjid, was known to be a silent and introverted.

He used to polish gold and silver ornaments, revealed family members. Suhail is the third child of nine siblings (five sons and four daughters) for Umar Farooq and Zarina Begum.
It was an end of an era. On Jan. 29, 1979, Livingstons in downtown Bloomington closed its doors for the last time. The locally owned and operated department store had a remarkable run, having been a fixture on the south side of the courthouse square for well over a century.

Livingstons (Michaels Restaurant occupies the first floor today) weathered economic panics, world wars, the Great Depression, fickle consumers and constantly changing fashions and trends.

What Livingstons could not survive, though, was the decline of downtown Bloomington as the commercial heart of the Twin Cities. The automobiles stranglehold on America, cemented by the late 1950s, led to the creation of enclosed shopping centers and strip malls, most often situated on the far edge of urban areas. Dominated by national chains, these new supersized retail centers offered something not available in most historic downtowns  acre upon acre of free parking.

The department store was a victim of the disease that has been hitting downtowns across the country  shopping centers, noted The Pantagraph in a bittersweet farewell to Livingstons.

Although Bloomingtons Jewish community was never particularly large, German Jews played an outsized role in Bloomingtons downtown retail trade from the Civil War era into the mid-20th century. Of all the Jewish merchants and families connected to downtown, the Livingstons were perhaps the most well known. As the names of Funk and Stubblefield have been connected with agriculture in McLean County, so have the Livingstons been connected with the countys commercial life, observed The Pantagraph in 1930.

Livingstons goes all the way back to March 1866 when brothers Sam and Aaron Livingston established the McLean County Dry Goods Store on the 100 block of West Washington Street. The store remained at this same location until it closed 113 years later.

By the early 1870s, another Aaron Livingston bought out his two cousins, and then renamed the store A. Livingston & Co. Two decades later, Aarons sons Milton R. and Samuel E. joined the family business and the store became A. Livingston & Sons.

In the 1910s, with business booming and floor and inventory space at a premium, Livingstons razed five of the seven mid-1850s Greek Revival buildings on its block and built a handsome, eminently more practical four-story store building of glazed white brick.

Store manager Hugh Henry became a partner in 1937 upon the death of Milton Livingston. That same year, Bloomingtons first JCPenneys opened on the west side of the courthouse square in the Braley-Field Building (the first floor is now home to Maguires Bar & Grill), joining Sears and Montgomery Ward as national chains with a presence downtown.

It may be hard for anyone under the age of 60 to imagine a time when downtown Bloomington was home to six department stores. Rolands and Klemms, two other locally owned stores, were located on the north side of the courthouse square. Sears was a half block north of the square on Center Street in what is now home to Fox & Hounds Day Spa, while Wards was a block south of the square in the Front and Center building.

The end of local ownership for Livingstons came in the summer of 1977 when Hugh Henry and partners Lois Block and Eleanor Dombrowsky (both daughters of Samuel Livingston) sold the store to Michigan-based Vertin Brothers and Co.

The new owners, who had bought Klemms about a decade earlier, spent $100,000 to redecorate and modernize Livingstons, and boost advertising and promotions. Such efforts were admirable but sales remained disappointing.

A sigh for the closing of Livingstons  but no shock, observed The Pantagraph at the time. Downtown relinquished its role as the retail center for the Bloomington trade area long ago.

That was true. Sears and JCPenneys had left for newly constructed Eastland Mall back in 1966. And the exodus continued. After Livingstons bid the Twin Cities adieu, Wards left downtown in September 1980 for newly opened College Hills Mall.

Livingstons staged a six-day going-out-of-business sale Jan. 22-27, 1979. Warner, Bali and Lilyette bras, regularly $6 to $18, for example, were going for $2 to $6, while sweaters, normally priced at $30, could be had for $10.

Bargain hunters could also pick up clothing racks ($10 to $80), "manikins, whole and parts ($1 to $60), filing cabinets ($25), an addressograph machine ($300), roll paper cutters ($5), and even a cash register in need of repair ($10).

Some of Livingstons employees found new positions waiting for them at former competitor Klemms. Joel Levin, the womens shoe department manger, took his staff over there. And Jim Finley, Livingstons store manager, became Klemms head of fashion merchandise. Sadly, Klemms too would not survive much longer, with its end coming in November 1981.

Rolands, the other locally owned big retailer on the square, opened a second store at Eastland Mall, but found it could not compete against the economics of scale, both in selection and prices, enjoyed by national chains. The downtown Rolands closed in early 1982, though the Eastland Mall store remained open for another six years.

With the end of Livingstons came the end to the holiday tradition of hoisting twin 14-foot Santas atop the stores marquee. Livingstons sold the Santas (see accompanying photograph) to College Hills Partnership, the developers of College Hills Mall, which was set to open in August 1980. Pushing for the purchase was Ray Baxter, College Hills manager. He had worked as a vice president at Peoples Bank which was a half block from Livingstons. I thought people would be happy to know they are staying in the area, Baxter said of the Santas.

Sometime later Jeffrey Alans, the head and namesake of the regional home decor chain, bought the Santas. They are currently in storage in Champaign-Urbana, but there is talk of one day bringing them back to the Twin Cities.
New research confirms that many Hispanics, blacks and other minorities perceive that doctors just don't care about them and that their medical care isn't as good as it could be.

According to University of Pennsylvania research fellow Abigail Sewell, compared with whites, Latinos and blacks are less likely to trust the technical judgment and interpersonal competence of doctors. Latinos are also less likely to trust the fiduciary ethic of their physicians. And the differences between black and Hispanic levels of trust have to do with whether a patient's parents are U.S.-born or not.

"Most people who are immigrants or have some immigrant connection feel more disenfranchised from the health care system," Sewell said of study, published in the November issue of the journal Social Science Research.

Her paper notes that past research has produced mixed evidence about whether minorities trust physicians less than whites, Sewell used 2002 and 2006 General Social Surveys to ascertain that not only is there lower trust, but that these findings are not easy to uncover due to the way physician evaluation methods assess a patient's confidence in a doctor.

Specifically, Sewell found that respondents believed that their doctors don't take the challenges of their personal lives  such as their access to transportation and safe spaces for exercise or other factors, like legal status  into consideration.

The idea that minorities don't feel respected when they seek health care is being studied more, which is yielding a clear body of research that shows these perceptions are widespread.

Studies going back over a decade have found that women report more severe levels of pain, more frequent incidences of pain, and pain of longer duration than men, but are nonetheless treated for pain less aggressively.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that non-Hispanic blacks and other minorities are 22 percent to 30 percent less likely to receive pain medication during an emergency room visit, relative to non-Hispanic whites.

And just in case you're thinking this is a problem that only affects non-whites, think again. This same study, which was published in the journal Medical Care, found that some white patients were also less likely to get pain medication if they were treated at a hospital with high concentrations of minority patients.

With only about 8.9 percent of U.S. physicians identifying as black, American Indian, Alaska Native or Hispanic, the most pressing need is for the cultivation and training of more minority physicians. But not far behind is the necessity of educating seasoned doctors to be more understanding of the cultural differences between themselves and their increasingly diverse patients.

"This problem needs to be addressed through both providers and patients," said Jose Ortiz, president and CEO of the Hispanic Health Council, a Hartford, Connecticut-based organization that creates bilingual, culturally tailored programs to eliminate health disparities in the Latino community. "We work with providers through participatory training that builds a foundation of knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to work effectively with diverse populations. The training explores issues of health inequity, stereotyping and unequal dynamics of power between providers and patients, and builds concrete skills toward addressing them.

"But we also work with patients through community health worker service programs, and it is clear that a number of factors must be overcome ... This requires an intensive educational and empowerment process that allows health care consumers to learn their rights and gain the practice and confidence needed to act upon them."

You can imagine these "intensive" processes aren't cheap, but they can be effective not only for minority communities, but also for underinsured, low-income whites and elderly patients who might be intimidated by the preponderance of high-tech gadgetry and more diverse caregivers in routine medical care.

But first we have to start with this: The disconnect between white physicians and their minority patients is becoming a legitimately documented phenomenon, not just one of those all-in-your-head things.

Once the medical establishment and patients of all races can internalize this, we can really start addressing it.
Hyderabad: Investigation agencies have found that Rafeeq Ahmed alias Asghar, the suspected key operator and recruiter in South India of Janood-ul-Khalifa-e-Hind, had sent the threat letter to the French consulate in Bengaluru.

The letter had come before the visit of French President Francois Hollande who is the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi.

Asghar had stabbed a Telangana constable while being arrested in Bengaluru on Saturday. The Janood-ul-Khalifa-e-Hind (Army of the Caliph in India) has been linked to the Islamic State.

During their search at Asghars house at the Vinayak Layout in Parappana Agrahara, Bengaluru, the National Investigation Agency team found nearly 20 letterheads with the names of terror organisations including the Al-Qaeda and the ISIS.

The French consulate had received the threat letter on January 11 and it was purportedly sent by the al-Qaeda. The High Grounds police of Bengaluru registered a case based on a complaint by French consulate officials.

An investigation by the police revealed that the letter was posted from Chennai and was fake. NIA teams questioned Ashgar regarding the letter sent to the French consulate.

An official said that investigations revealed that the letter was sent by Ashgar. The letter with the al-Qaeda label received by the French consulate had three lines of text and its background had a map of India. The letterheads recovered from Ashgars room had a similar map in the background, the source said.
Sarah Palin didn't think twice about endorsing Donald Trump as he runs for office this year. After her speech in Ames, Iowa, it is looking like the former governor of Alaska has won the hearts of people to go for the Republican Party this time.

Palin used her influence as a Republican to win the hearts of voters for Trump. The crowd surprisingly agreed with her, as they cheered when she talked about the Obama administration being weak. Although Palin may have won a lot of hearts and possibly vote that day, there were still others who disagreed that she received some boos in the middle of her speech.

The former Alaskan Governor has been very outspoken about her support to Trump and how it would appear that a lot people are starting to agree with her. She tried to enlightened everyone on what it really means to be a true republican and conservative, stressing out that Trump has all the qualities worthy of that label.

CNN reported she was not afraid to speak her mind when she said, "Not every conservative has had the guts to talk about the real issues that are needing to be discussed today. Our candidate is ballsy enough to get up there and put those issues on the table." These were just among the things she said that got a lot of applause from the crowd.

Based on that speech she gave, many would say that she really did her homework this time proving she and Trump are conservative and even red enough for their stands.

Not everyone appreciates her act of courage in speaking mind like that, as publications like the Los Angeles Times think that she and Trump work well together because they are both narcissists. It sure is not something that would count as good publicity, but it would still be up to the opinions of the majority what they think about the pair.
You can learn a lot about presidential candidates by examining their past. From simple small-town beginnings, to illustrious war records, to succeeding in the face of adversity and institutional discrimination, a candidates narrative starts with their trials and accomplishments from when they were young men and women. As powerful as these stories can be (especially when theyre turned into slick, professionally-made films at the nominating conventions) it can be even more moving to hear and see the candidates themselves candidly talk about their goals when they were still young. Fortunately the YouTube account Young Ted Cruz has given us all the privilege of seeing a high school-aged Ted Cruz talk about what he wants to do with his life. Now a senator from Texas, Cruz is running a close second behind Donald Trump in the Republican presidential race; as we can see in this powerful video, hes always been a man with lofty, high-minded goals, devoted to serving this great nation and the people that are its foundation.
Whenever we are at an event where theres a raffle, everyone gets quiet as the numbers are about to be announced. There is great excitement and anticipation as the numbers are heard, and after a few seconds, one lucky winner cheers and claims the prize.

It is by hearing carefully that the winner learns he is the winner. It is by hearing carefully that she learns that she has been chosen to take the prize home.

I will dare to say that todays first reading happens in a similar setting as the calling of raffle numbers, even though whats at stake is not just winning a raffle, but the rebuilding of a city, a temple, and a people.

For seventy years, the Israelites were exiled from their land. The Babylonians conquered their land including the great city of Jerusalem, destroying everything, including the temple built by King Solomon.

For seventy years, the Israelites lived in darkness, trying to make sense of what had happened and what the future would hold. 538 years before Christ, the Israelites returned from Babylon after exile, led by the governor Nehemiah and the high priest Ezra, and they rebuilt Jerusalem, its temple, and began to re-create their identity as a people.

In todays first reading, we hear how Ezra, for the first time back in Jerusalem, reads from the Book of the Law for all to hear. The Book of the Law includes the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. After seventy years, the people can openly and freely hear the Word of God. They listen closely and they weep with joy. By carefully hearing the Word of God, they learn who they are as Gods people, and they are able to rejoice.

Just as the raffle winner discovers he is the winner by hearing, the Israelites rediscovered who they were by hearing Gods Word. They heard Gods Word, they delighted in it, and they learned their identity.

It is by hearing that we learn our identity.

It is by hearing that we learn the stories of our family history, including stories of our own birth and childhood. We learn who we are, and are anchored into our family.

It is by hearing that we learn the history of our community and nation. Whatever country we hail from, growing up, we heard the stories that ground our national identity. We heard about acts bravery and patriotism, and through the stories we heard, we learned to love and respect our country.

It is by hearing the words of Jesus Christ that we as Christians learn our identity as children of God. It is in the Word of God that we, just as the ancient Israelites, find our identity and are able to delight in it.

We learn by hearing to Saint Paul that In one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

We learn by hearing to Saint Lukes account of the life of Jesus Christ, written for a man named Theophilus, of the unending love God the Father has for us.

Sunday after Sunday, we gather to hear the Word of God proclaimed. Every Sunday we gather for Mass to hear once again the story of God sending His own Son to us, Jesus Christ, who died so that we could have life. In hearing the story again, told by the priest, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In hearing the story, we deepen our understanding of who we are as Gods redeemed people, and as the Body of Christ.

We gather today to hear Gods Word just like those who gathered around Jesus at the synagogue of Nazareth. May Jesus open the ears of our hearts, that we may hear His words of mercy, love, encouragement, and joy. May His words and promises be fulfilled in our hearing.
Patna: A week after a Patna businessman was shot dead near Rajapur Bridge in Patna after refusing to pay 'Rangdari Tax' (extortion money), police in Patna arrested the man who pulled the trigger last Saturday allegedly at the behest of noted criminal Durgesh Sharma.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj, at a press conference in Patna on Saturday, said the police nabbed Karmu Rai from his home in Bhagwanpur village in Fatuha following a tip off by someone who knew him.

Five other men connected with the case were already in police custody but kingpin Durgesh Sharma remains elusive to the law enforcement officials.

As reported before, Ravikant, the owner of Sonali Jewelry near Rajapur Pul was shot and killed by unidentified assailants around 10:30 am last Saturday shortly after he opened the shop for business.

Family members had said that Ravikant had been receiving extortion demands from criminals for the last few months and his killing was the direct result of his refusal to give in to their demands.

The incident was a stark reminder of the Jungle Raj of the nineties when kidnapping, extortion, and murder were considered the only thriving industries in Bihar.
Patna: Janata Dal  U legislator from Jokihaat in Araria district Sarfaraz Alam who was suspended from the party on Saturday after police found charges of harassment, misbehavior, and abuse of power against a couple on Rajdhani Express to be true, was arrested by the railway police in Patna on Sunday.

Railway Superintendent of Police (SP) P. N. Mishra told the reporters that Alam was grilled for nearly four hours during which he admitted having traveled by the same Rajdhani Express without a ticket in which the couple who had filed a case against him for harassing and abusing them was traveling.

Mishra further said that Alam couldn't get the ticket from Katihar so he boarded the train without a ticket. The TTE, however, gave him a berth in A-4 compartment of the train. "When he asked TTE for a ticket, the TTE said that he would take care of it after Barauni station," the SP said adding the MLA continued to deny having misbehaved with the woman.

Earlier on Saturday, the party had suspended Alam following a meeting of the party bigwigs.

"Based on the available evidence and an investigation, police have found charges against Sarfaraz Alam to be true. Under these circumstances, the party has suspended the legislator effective immediately," party national President Sharad Yadav said on Saturday.

As reported, Indrapal Singh Bedi, who was traveling with his wife on the 12423 Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express on January 17, filed a complaint against the JD-U legislator and his bodyguard with the GRP at Patna Junction alleging the two, in inebriated condition, used abusive and vulgar language against him and his wife. He also accused the legislator of misbehaving with his wife while also saying that Alam and his bodyguard were traveling without valid railway tickets.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had kept a mum on the scandal for a week, broke his silence on Saturday saying he realized that something was wrong when Alam failed to keep an appointment with him on January 19.

"If you are guilty, they you are guilty whether you are an MP or MLA or anybody else. No one is bigger than the law and the police have been given full hand in dealing with those who break the law," Kumar said.

Alam, the son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammed Taslimuddin who has a long rap sheet with the police of his own, also appeared before Government Railway Police (GRP) in Patna on Saturday to record his statement in connection with the incident.
Iran, China Agree To $600 Billion Trade Deal After Sanctions Lifted

01/24/16

Source: RFE/RL (photos by Islamic Republic News Agency)



Chinese president Xi Jinping (L) and Iranian President Hassan Rohani in Tehran on January 23.

Chinese president Xi Jinping (L) and Iranian President Hassan Rohani in Tehran on January 23.



Iranian President Hassan Rohani says Iran and China have agreed to expand bilateral relations and boost trade to $600 billion over the next 10 years.

Rohani made the announcement following January 23 talks in Tehran with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first major world leader to visit the Islamic republic since the easing of international sanctions on January 16 under a deal between Tehran and global powers aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program.

Xi met later with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was quoted as saying that "Tehran seeks cooperation with more independent countries" because "Iranians never trusted the West."

At a news conference with Xi broadcast live on state television, Rohani said that "Iran and China have agreed to increase trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years."

He added that the two countries "have agreed on forming strategic relations [as] reflected in a 25-year comprehensive document."

Khamenei praised the agreements and lambasted the United States in comments on Twitter.

"Agreement on '25-year strategic ties' between #Iran and #China is correct and wise, must become effective with follow-up of both sides," one tweet said.

"Among western countries, U.S. policies toward Iran are worse & more hostile; it makes Iran pursue development of ties with independent states," said another.

Iran and China signed 17 accords on January 23, including on nuclear cooperation and reviving the ancient Silk Road trade route, known in China as One Belt, One Road.









China is the top buyer of Iranian oil. Trade between the countries was valued at $52 billion in 2014, but fell slightly last year due to declining global energy prices.

Xi is the second major world leader to visit Iran since Tehran signed the nuclear deal with world powers in July. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Islamic republic in November.

Xi also became the first Chinese leader to visit Iran in 14 years. He visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt prior to arriving in Tehran.

Following his meeting with Rohani, Xi met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.







Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016.



Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016.

Iranian state TV quoted Xi as saying: "In cooperation with the Iranian side and by benefiting from the current favorable conditions, China is ready to upgrade the level of bilateral relations and cooperation so that a new chapter will start in bilateral relations."

In comments posted on his official website, Rohani said that China "has always stood by the side of the Iranian nation during hard days."

China is among the world powers -- along with the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, and Russia -- that signed a landmark deal with Iran in July in Vienna to lift international sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program.

The deal was implemented last week after the UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran had fulfilled its commitments under the agreement.

U.S. and other sanctions that were not imposed due to Iran's nuclear actvities remain in place, and Khamenei has stressed that the deal does not mean ties with the United States will improve.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP



Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Nuclear deal could lead the way toward better relationship with Iran

01/24/16

Opinion/Commentary by R. K. Ramazani (First published by The Daily Progress on January 24, 2016)

Hailing the implementation of the July 2015 agreement in which Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear program, Secretary of State John Kerry recalled that there had been no shortage of skeptics: Iran has undertaken significant steps that many - and I do mean many - people doubted would ever come to pass.





U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif with the Peace Dove

(cartoon by Keyvan Varessi, Iranian daily Ghanoon)





The election of President Hassan Rouhani and his collaboration with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was a decisive factor in preparing the ground for the agreement, because they had the support of Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During the previous presidencies of Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, no Iranian foreign minister would have imagined engaging in such diplomatic agreements, because Khamenei didnt support them.

On the American side, Secretary Kerry pursued the diplomatic process with courage, stamina and patience. His hardline opponents in the U.S. sought to sabotage his efforts. They believed that Iran would destabilize the region once it gained access to $100 billion in assets that were frozen by the international community when sanctions were imposed against Iran. But Rouhanis priority is to spend the funds on the social and economic needs of Irans 80 million people.

Speaking on Jan. 16 about the agreements implementation, President Obama said the release of seven Iranian prisoners who had been accused or convicted of violating sanctions was a onetime gesture to Iran, given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play. Ultimately, Mr. Obama concluded that this was worth doing to bring our people home - referring to five Americans who were being held by Iran - and that the risk was not substantial because these Iranians are not individuals related to terrorism or violent crime.

Like their American counterparts, Iranian hardline critics cast doubt on the feasibility of the nuclear agreement. They might have overestimated the antiAmerican pronouncements of Irans supreme leader, such as death to America (marg bar America). But neither American nor Iranian rejectionists grasped Ayatollah Khameneis solemn agreement with the founding father of the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Contrary to the assumption that Khomeini forbade talking to America, he left the door of negotiations with Washington ajar, suggesting Irans willingness to resume relations with Washington if America behaves itself - that is, if America refrained from attempting to dominate Iran.

Khomeini decided to establish relations with Germany and Turkey in the early days of the Revolution. He said that establishing relations with other countries was compatible with the Islamic prophetic tradition and with Irans national interest. Failure to establish relations, he warned sternly,would mean defeat and annihilation for Iran.

In his turn, Khamenei declared the opening of Iranian foreign policy (darhaye baz shodeh ).

The promise of the nuclear agreement and prisoner exchange might have been dimmed somewhat by the new sanctions announced by the United States hard on the heels of implementation day. Irans state media denounced the sanctions on its ballistic missile activities as devoid of any legitimacy and ethical values.

But just as implementation day came about despite widespread doubts, it may well be that the two nations will find ways to resolve the issue of missile development. It is reasonable to hope that, long after the current hostility has faded, there may be a new era of mutual engagement and amicable collaboration between the two nations. Both the United States and Iran seek the defeat of ISIS and al-Qaida, the stabilization of Iraq, the ending of the Syrian civil war. These and other mutual interests are the common ground to be forged.
A romantic comedy hopes to delight audiences at the Diamond Valley Arts Center in Hemet.

The plot pivots around a failed actress who holds a wanna-be playwright/successful producer of commercial, hostage in her New York apartment after she senses a potential love and creative writing match.

The play, called It Had to Be You, was written in the 1980s by husband and wife actors Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. Kathi Anderson, who is assistant director of the Ramona Pageant and has played Senora Moreno in the show since 2008, is cast as the struggling actress and health nut Theda Blau. On a snowy Christmas eve, she persuades Vito Pignoli, played by Robert Berens, to be her partner in matrimony and dramaturgy.

The show opens with Theda addressing the audience with a litany of complaints about her life, one thats filled with pain and wackiness. Initially, Initially Vito isnt interested in Theda and calls her the most overbearing woman Ive ever met. But his limo service cant brave the snowstorm. Then he slips on the stairs and hurts his back, which forces him to stay. Theda eventually wins him over, persuades him to quit his ad agency job, settle down with her and collaborate on hit plays.

The play, with performances Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, is a fundraiser for the Diamond Valley Arts Council.

Contact the writer: llucas@pressenterprise.com, 951-368-9559
Faith Markley was baking cupcakes and cookies in her Hemet kitchen when her security alarm went off. Nothing seemed amiss, but then her phone rang. On the other end of the line was Kate Ballard, a dispatcher with the alarm company ADT.

We are getting a carbon monoxide alarm from your address, Ballard said in a recording of the call. She already had notified the fire department, she continued, and told Markley to wait outside with her family and any pets because you cant see (carbon monoxide), you cant smell it and it can kill you.

That phone call happened at 7:08 p.m. Dec. 1. About noon Thursday, Jan. 21, Markley and her husband, Chris, met the woman whom Faith Markley calls her savior.

ADT arranges such meetings to raise awareness of carbon monoxide, known as the silent killer, and to honor first responders and dispatchers involved in potentially life-saving calls. This one took place at the Fontana home of Ken and Dana Sandoval, the scene of another recent carbon monoxide alarm.

Ballard was flown in from Rochester, N.Y., and Laniesha Reeves, the dispatcher who helped the Sandovals, from Jacksonville, Fla. Joining them were San Bernardino County firefighters and a few dozen other ADT employees, friends and family.

Faith Markley feels lucky to be alive. Minutes after the fire department left her home in December, after airing it out and determining the leak was in her natural gas oven, she became violently ill.

Her headache felt like someone was trying to pry my head apart from the inside, and her vision became so blurry it was like I was watching a 3D movie without 3D glasses. She had diarrhea and a numb mouth. She vomited and grew sleepy.

A trip to the emergency room confirmed carbon monoxide poisoning. She believes she fared worse than the rest of her family because she had spent more time in the kitchen.

More than 400 Americans die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning not linked to fires or suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 20,000 people visit the emergency room, and more than 4,000 are hospitalized.

Faith Markleys ordeal offers an ideal example of the poisonings symptoms, which are often described as flulike.

The Sandovals alarm situation was less drastic, but they are no less grateful to be safe. Dana Sandovals mother, Nora Rogers, was home alone and laying on the couch feeling drowsy when the alarm went off and Reeves called. Rogers rushed outside with the family dog to await firefighters, who discovered the pilot light of the hot-water heater had gone out.

I always thought a security alarm was to keep burglars out of the home, Rogers said. I never (considered) carbon monoxide.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 37 states require carbon monoxide detectors to be installed in private dwellings. A security alarm system with carbon monoxide detection is one way to monitor the threat, and battery-powered detectors are another.

Ballard felt awkward with Thursdays hoopla in Fontana.

I feel like I did my job, she said. Im very glad (the Markleys) listened to me, because often (people) dont. She said thats because they cant see, smell or taste the carbon monoxide.

Ballard was nonetheless happy to meet the Markleys. They exchanged hugs in the Sandovals driveway, and Chris Markley gave Ballard a bouquet of flowers.

The event was orchestrated, but the emotion was unscripted.

Were friends for life now, you know, Faith Markley told Ballard.

Contact the writer: jmblodgett@gmail.com
Three family members of Sierra Clayborn, who was killed in the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, have filed identical claims with San Bernardino County, each seeking $68 million for a combined total of $204 million, according to documents provided by the county Friday, Jan. 21.

The claims were filed late Thursday afternoon, county spokesman David Wert said.

Gregory Clayborn, Kimberly Clayborn and Tamisha Clayborn each assert that the county is guilty of negligence, wrongful death, fostering a hostile work environment and failing to provide a safe work environment.

Syed Rizwan Farook, a restaurant inspector with the county Division of Environmental Health, and wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire on a holiday party for his co-workers  including Clayborn  at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, killing 14 people and wounding 22 others. The couple were killed in a gunbattle with police later that day.

The family members each seek $30 million in general damages, $30 million in future medical expenses, $3 million for lost wages and $5 million for other expenses.

The county will carefully consider each claim and act in the best interests of everyone involved, Wert said Friday in a written statement.

No elaboration on how a hostile work environment figured into the shooting was available Friday. Family members, and attorney Theida Salazar, did not respond to multiple messages left seeking comment.

The family hopes to create a legacy for Clayborn, a Moreno Valley native and UC Riverside graduate. After her funeral on Dec. 12, Salazar said a scholarship will be established in her memory and that the family intends to pursue legislation, to be called Sierras Law, that would require people to report potential terrorist activity.

This is the second claim filed against the county related to the attack.

Renee Wetzel, widow of shooting victim Michael Wetzel, and her three minor children are seeking $58 million from the county and its Division of Environmental Health, where Wetzel worked.

The claim is traditionally the first step in the procedure for filing a lawsuit. Claims are almost always rejected by local governments, but that hurdle must be cleared before a lawsuit can be filed.

Contact the writer: brokos@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9569
Bengaluru: The public shaming of artist and musician John Devaraj seemed like a bolt from the blue. However, to Sebastien and his wife Peggy, who took the final leap of faith by bringing the issue to public notice, this is one more step in a struggle that has lasted nearly 15 years. In 2002, our niece told the family that she had been sexually abused. We had first heard of it back in 1991, when he abused a nine-year-old of South African descent. But the family was divided over whether or not the allegations were true. When our niece wrote the letter, there was no more doubt, we just didn't know how to approach the matter.

While some members of the family wanted to have him punished, others sought for psychiatric help. We decided that he should stop working with children, which he promised to do, said Sebastien. After that, however, John's connection with the family grew distant, leaving Sebastian and Peggy dependent on mutual friends and sources for information. We kept a lookout for any projects he might be doing with children and ensured that we put a stop to the ones we found, he said.

John told Deccan Chronicle that he spoke to his brother on Sunday, telling him that a family discussion was in order. "I have dealt with thousands of kids over the years. Why should we deny poor children of their opportunities," asked John, who doesn't want to file a defamation case right away. "Dialogue is the best way. I believe in non-violent communication. If that doesn't work, I will take action. They have exposed themselves, not me."

Sebastien, however, refused to waver. There is no question of dialogue," he said. "We have told him many times over the years that he was to stop working with children. He even told us that he had sent away all the kids in Bornfree Art, of which he is the founder."

The couple have received their share of flak for making such a public gesture, but Sebastien stands by it. My brother is a very attractive man, he knows how to win people over. Entering a dialogue is of no use, really. The book launch had a wide reach, that's why we chose to go there. Our main concern is that he chooses vulnerable children, who simply don't have the option of fighting back, no matter how much trauma they are put through."

Devaraj wont file for defamation

On Saturday morning, artist, sculptor and founder of Bornfree Art School, John Devaraj got up on stage at the Rangoli Metro Art Centre to launch Kaa Kaa Koo, his latest book for children. It was an important moment, for the book had been seven years in the making. A handful of his members from his large family (Devaraj has ten siblings) were present, along with friends and supporters. The event was brought to a shocking halt, however, when his brother, Sebastien and his wife, Peggy, appeared in the auditorium and ordered him to stop abusing children. This may have seemed sudden, but friends close to the family admit that Devaraj's alleged pedophilic tendencies have been discussed for many years, to no avail.

John told Deccan Chronicle that he had decided not to file a defamation suit against his brother, Sebastien. The latter, however, says that dialogue is out of the question. He has to stop working with children, there are no two ways about that, Sebastien insisted. There is no room for dialogue, in this case. It was his niece, now a lawyer living in Bangkok, who sent out an email to her family back in 2002, admitting that she had been abused by her uncle between the ages of six and nine. This gave the family concrete proof of their brother's tendencies, although their first brush with it happened back in 1991.

John knew a South African woman, a single mother, who lived here with her nine-year-old daughter. The woman worked closely with John's wife, said Sebastien. One day, when the mother picked her kid up from John's house, the child was unusually disturbed and fell asleep on her mother's lap without saying a word. Later, when she gave the girl a bath, she noticed scratch marks all over her body," he explained. John allegedly explained this away by calling the mother a woman of loose morals. "He said that the child might have seen her mother entertain men and had nightmares, during which she scratched herself. When we spoke on the phone today, however, he said that the child had climbed a coconut tree in his house and hurt herself. He seems to have forgotten his earlier story," Sebastien said. Devaraj had allegedly threatened the child's mother and even visited the victim's school to heckle her.

The child was taken to an eminent psychiatrist in Nimhans, who reportedly told them that filing a police complaint was not top priority. "He said that we need to see to the chid's interests and that approaching the police would traumatise her further. Also, society wasn't so open about child abuse at that time."

An intervention was organised for John in 2002, at which point he flatly denied the charges being made against him. "When the letter came from our niece, there was no doubt about what he was doing. Some of us wanted to punish him, some said he needed psychiatric help, while others simply said he should apologise." In the end, John allegedly said he would stop working with kids and went underground for some years.

"There was a UNICEF project, but we spoke to them and told them about him, after which the project was cancelled," he added. "Our concern was always that he was working with vulnerable kids, who are an easy prey. We have always demanded that he stop working with kids, which he never does. Our family has asked us why we had to do something in public, but an event like this does have a wide reach and we want people to know."
Last summers infernos nearly incinerated Californias wildfire budget, and halfway through the 2015-16 fiscal year there is less than $30 million in the bank, state officials report.

But, with El Nino promising to shower the state repeatedly this winter and spring, the anticipated soaking could ease the fire threat and stretch those few remaining dollars.

In any event, the state and region are still reeling from one of the worst fire seasons on record.

The 2015 season saw:

 A near exhaustion of Cal Fires emergency fund, the account that foots bills for battling big wildfires in areas where the state bears primary responsibility for fire protection, including a large swath of Riverside County. To date, $369.3 million has been spent from the $397.7 million alloted in 2015-2016 the state fiscal year, which runs through June 30.

 The torching of 307,598 acres in state responsibility areas by 6,335 fires. Thats three times as much land as typically burns.

 A record $1.7 billion was spent nationwide in the 2014-2015 federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, by the U.S. Forest Service to extinguish fires in national forests. The service pulled $700 million from accounts that fund campgrounds, trail and road maintenance and, ironically, fire prevention. The dervice has pulled money from other funds in 7 of the last 14 years, and last month Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack vowed to halt fire borrowing.

 The burning of 537,446 acres in California national forests. That was up from 399,710 acres in 2014 and a 20-year average of 317,651 acres. California has 18 national forests spanning nearly 21 million acres.

 The stoking of two major forest fires in Inland Southern California: the Lake fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, and the North fire that incinerated trapped cars on I-15 as terrified motorists fled.

 The Lake fire torched nearly 50 square miles and proved particularly expensive, with a $40 million price tag. The Forest Service spent $36.5 million; Cal Fire $3.5 million.

 North fire bills came to $3.9 million for Cal Fire, $3.4 million for the Forest Service.

 Nationwide, 7,000 fires on national forest lands torched 1.9 million acres.

 On all types of lands, wildfires burned a record 10 million acres across the U.S., according to Vilsack. There were more than 50 fires that exceeded 50,000 acres in size. More than 4,500 homes and other structures were destroyed and 13 wildland firefighters were killed.

Story continues below infographic. Click here to see it in a separate window.



A LATER START

Capt. Mike Mohler, Cal Fire Southern Region information officer, said his agency is trying to stay within its $397.7 million appropriation.

If it appears that activity requires us to go over the budget  we can request additional funding, Mohler said.

He said in the past lawmakers have approved such requests.

Whether Cal Fire succeeds will depend on what kind of fire season lays ahead. And its too early to accurately predict what it will be like, said Tom Rolinski, a U.S. Forest Service meteorologist in Riverside.

But, he said, Its pretty likely well have a later start to our fire season.

Typically, the semiarid Southern California landscape is ripe for burning by May, if not earlier. This year, if El Nino drives storms across the region well into spring, the fire season may not arrive until June, Rolinski said.

But when it does, look out.

El Nino wont erase effects of 4 consecutive dry years, Rolinski said. Many pine trees have died and dead wood still litters the forests. Other trees and shrubs are hanging on but are weak.

Having one wet year is not going to make up for that, he said.

STRESSED OUT

Not everyone agrees the region remains in a precarious condition. Richard Minnich, a UC Riverside earth sciences professor and expert on fire ecology, said the fire threat has been reduced dramatically.

Chaparral shrubs and oak trees common to Inland Southern California already are getting stronger, Minnich said.

They have gotten their soaking, he said.

And Minnich said it likely will be well into summer before a serious threat returns.

Still, the rain eventually could make things worse: a bumper crop of grass likley will cover the ground with thick vegetation, Rolinski said. When it dries out in summer  as it always does, no matter what kind of winter we have  it will provide plenty of fuel, he said.

Underscoring the regions vulnerability, a wind-fanned fire near Ventura scorched more than 1,200 acres Christmas weekend despite high humidity and low temperatures, Rolinski said.

Its because of the drought and the vegetation is so stressed in response to the drought, he said. Were still going to be dealing with that  not to the same degree but to some extent  as we go into this (next) fire season.

As a result, Cal Fire has slowly scaled back resources this winter.

Even though weve had some rain and its cooler now with some wind we could still have a couple-thousand-acre fire like we saw in Ventura, said Fire Capt. Richard Cordova in Riverside. And that was along the coast.

CHOPPERS AT THE READY

Cordova said that blaze led officials to postpone putting out of commission two S-T air tankers and a lead air attack plane stationed at Hemet-Ryan Airport until early January. In fact, all three planes saw action at the Solimar fire.

Now the three pilots who fly them and work for a private company are off duty  though they could be called back on a moments notice, if necessary  and the aircraft await scheduled seasonal maintenance at Cal Fires Sacramento headquarters, Cordova said.

On a recent cloudy morning, with the snowcapped San Jacinto Mountains providing a breathtaking backdrop, the planes noses were wrapped in gray tarps to keep rain off them at the Hemet airport.

However, through winter Cal Fire intends to keep some aircraft at the ready.

We have four water-dropping helicopters in the south staffed, Mohler said.

Capt. Don Kowalski said two helicopters are stationed at Hemet, which is considered a strategic base for responding to emergencies in much of Southern California. They are flown by pilots who are year-round Cal Fire employees.

Kowalski said the helicopters are available to douse brush fires, should one break out. He said they are also available to hoist injured hikers or rock climbers from inaccessible, remote terrain. And they will be deployed if people get caught in raging El Nino-generated torrents.

YEAR-ROUND SEASON

As far as equipment on the ground, Cordova said Cal Fire will keep 75 more fire engines active through the winter than usual  50 in Southern California and 25 in Northern California. That was something Gov. Jerry Browns drought task force recommended, he said.

The beefed-up presence reflects a shift in Cal Fires approach, in the wake of last decades brutal firestorms and the recent string of dry winters.

We dont declare fire season anymore. Its year-round statewide, Mohler said. What we go from is peak to winter preparedness.

However, Cal Fire still scales back manpower. For example, the Hemet base sent seasonal firefighters home in mid-December. Kowalski said there is a skeleton crew of four firefighters now, down from 16.

The Riverside County Fire Department, which operates under a contract with Cal Fire, has 96 fire stations spread around the county. Most are set up to fight both brush and building fires.

Two stations  one in Perris and one in Norco  are set up entirely for battling wildfires, said county Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman. Engines remain at both places, he said, while the firefighters are gone for the winter.

Typically, seasonal firefighters return in advance of the next extended period of fire-prone weather between March and May, Kowalski said. If El Nino turns out to be as wet as expected, it could delay their return.

Even so, firefighters likely will report for work no later than May, Kowalski said. He based that on personal experience.

He said he was a seasonal firefighter during the last big El Nino winter of 1997-98, which delivered wet weather through April. Despite that, Kowalski said he was hired back in May. It is common for firefighters to start out as seasonal employees and work into year-round positions.

FIRE BORROWING

When it comes to expenses, the Forest Service, like Cal Fire, has found it difficult to stay within budget. Indeed, the service blew past its 2014-2015 appropriation of $1 billion.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Jones in Boise, Idaho, said the agency spent $1.7 billion, pulling $700 million from other funds that pay for things like trail and road maintenance.

It is to the detriment of other programs that the public relies on and enjoys, and other programs that can mitigate the impact of wildfires, Jones said.

It marked the seventh time in 14 years the service has taken money out of other accounts to pay firefighting bills, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack said this month, as he called for an end to fire borrowing.

Vilsack also called on Congress to change the way it finances federal fighting by passing the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act. The legislation would treat big forest fires like natural disasters, providing funding separate from a fixed budget.

Congress did give the service more money to fight fires in the 2015- 2016 budget: A total of $1.6 billion, Jones said.

And, of course, were very appreciative of that, she said. But thats still below last year. Were still potentially in a problematic situation.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9699 or ddowney@pressenterprise.com
A U.S. prisoner recently freed by Iran, but about whom little is known, is a former California-based carpet seller and FBI consultant, a news service run by expatriate Iranian journalists reported Saturday. It said Iranian officials might have believed the man had links to the case of Robert A. Levinson, an American who went missing in Iran nearly nine years ago.

The news service, Iranwire, also reported that the prisoner, Nosratollah Khosravi, whom it identified by an alternately used name, Nasrollah Khosravi-Roodsari, had left Iran. Khosravi was the only U.S. prisoner who did not immediately depart the country after a deal to release prisoners was announced a week ago.

The report was based on what Iranwire said were interviews with Khosravis former cellmate and a family member, and confirmed with three independent sources, but not with Khosravi, whom it said could not be reached.

There has been no other indication that Khosravi has left Iran.

If confirmed, the Iranwire report would fill in some gaps in what is known about the prisoner release, in which five people were released by Iran and seven people by the United States.

Maziar Bahari, one of Iranwires founders, said in a Twitter post that Iranwire had waited to report on Khosravis background until it knew he was out of Iran.

It described Khosravi as a former soldier in his 50s who was deployed in Iran after the countrys revolution in 1979 and left in the 1980s for the United States. It said he moved to California, became known as Fred Khosravi, and worked in the carpet business. The account quoted his Tehran cellmate as saying Khosravi had told him that he later went to work as a freelance consultant to the FBI, returned to Iran in late 2013 to visit his mother and decided to stay there and teach English.

When Khosravi saw a BBC report about Levinson, a former CIA and FBI operative missing in Iran since March 2007, the account said, he got in touch with an old FBI contact to say he knew Levinsons whereabouts. When interrogated by Iranian officials, the account said, he claimed to have lied to impress his FBI contact.

The Iranian government has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Levinsons disappearance or whereabouts.
The decision to put KVCRs television bandwidth on the auction block deserved to have a full public airing before the stations operator went on that course.

The San Bernardino Community College Districts Oct. 8 decision wasnt widely known until after a gag order went into effect on Jan. 12 prohibiting the Board of Trustees from talking about it.

Thousands of television stations across the country, both commercial and public, are offering to sell off their television frequencies in an auction conducted by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC is encouraging stations to sell these broadcast frequencies because theyre needed by wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon for 21st century communications: the cell phones, tablets and other electronic devices we all enjoy.

Its a complex auction process that starts with putting the offered bandwidth in a reverse auction (starting with high bid and bidding downward). The FCC buys the bandwidth then sells it off to the highest bidders in a forward auction (starting low, with the bandwidth going to the highest bidder).

The stations can get the most money by relinquishing their broadcast licenses and going off the air. For somewhat less money, they can give up their UHF channel(s) and moved to VHF frequencies  which might be more susceptible to interference. Or a station can give up its UHF bandwidth and agree to share a frequency with another station.

Because of the gag order, community college officials cant say which option or options KVCR picked.

But if KVCR were to give up all of its non-air frequencies, it would lose its broadcast license. Without a broadcast license, it would be unable to force cable and satellite carriers to include it as a basic, local channel (like KABC, KNBC, KCBS or KOCE).

That would be unpardonable. District trustees have said publicly that they do not intend to let KVCR go off the air and are committed to continuing its programming.

KVCR is the public TV station for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. It reaches 700,000 households in Inland Southern California.

The Inland Empire has no other dedicated television station. Viewers in the I.E. must make do with whatever news coverage L.A. stations see fit to give us, usually only the most high-profile stories and the more lurid crimes.

On June 11, 2015, the district Board of Trustees got its first briefing on the auction. The presentation by Washington, D.C.-area law firm Bennet & Bennet sounded more like a high-pressure sales pitch than straightforward rundown on how the auction would work and the pros and cons for the district of taking part.

If youve ever bought a gym membership, that was the flavor of it. You can listen to a recording of the meeting at SBCCD.edu (click on agendas and meetings, go to June 11 and click on audio).

Several of the trustees tried to get the presenter to slow down and focus on what they needed to know. Trustee Gloria Macias Harrison asked what the consequence would be for viewers.

Presenter Daryl Zakov said it was hard to say. Most viewers watch on cable or satellite, he said. Board President John Longville added that about 15 percent of the audience gets KVCRs signal on the air. (Its the on-air signal that may be sold off.)

You can see why the trustees would be tempted to sell KVCRs bandwidth. The estimated value, according to the FCC, starts at $628,594,200 to move off-air, $471,445,650 to move to a low VHF frequency or $251,437,680 to move to a high VHF range. (Remember in a reverse auction, bidding goes down, not up.)

I dont fault the Board of Trustees for exploring the idea. They wouldnt be doing their fiduciary duty if they didnt.

As long as they can guarantee the viewers who get KVCR over the air wont lose access to its programming, the auction could bring in some much-needed cash.

But whatever money it brings in should be reinvested in KVCR-TV to enhance local programming. Right now, most of the content is produced outside the area; KVCR should do more in-house to serve the interests of the Inland community.

Some district officials have voiced the opinion that KVCR doesnt serve the districts educational mission. That is wrong.

It assuredly does. Public television started as educational television. Thats why community colleges sought and won broadcast licenses to begin with.

KVCR-TV has been recognized on the floor of Congress for the vital role it plays in the educational and cultural growth of the Inland Empire.

That role must not be lost. It should be enhanced and cultivated. That should be the community college districts aim as it pursues a one-time windfall from this FCC auction.

KVCR-TV has been on the air since 1962. It represents the Inland Empires only hope of ever having its own full-fledged local TV coverage. The college district must not give that up.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@pressenterprise.com
A group that promotes American history and patriotism honored on Saturday, Jan. 23, seven law enforcement agencies that responded to the Dec. 2 San Bernardino shooting.

The Sons of the American Revolution law enforcement commendation medal is the best thing we can do for them, even though it doesnt come close to what we truly feel about what they did that day, said Daniel Piedlow, president of the organizations Redlands Chapter.

Medals and certificates were presented to California Highway Patrol, San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department, San Bernardino County Probation, and the San Bernardino, Redlands, Fontana and Rialto police departments.

Three of the honored agencies were unable to send representatives to the ceremony, which was held in the Bing Wong Auditorium at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library in San Bernardino.

Piedlow said they wanted to honor law enforcement for the outstanding work they did on the day of the shooting and to offset the bad rap law officers often get.

The last few years, law enforcement throughout the entire country have been getting beat up, Piedlow said. These guys did a great job (that day). We dont know how many lives they saved. Those people werent able to do the second attack that they clearly wanted to do.

Sgt. Robert Ruiz, who represented the California Highway Patrol, appreciated the recognition.

It puts us in a positive light again and lets the public know were here to help, he said.

The Riverside County chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps also participated in the ceremony. The latter presented a color guard, while men in both Sons of the American Revolution chapters dressed in period uniforms and marched with muskets.

After the Redlands chapters board decided in December to honor law enforcement, Piedlow said time was of the essence to do so.

The longer we wait, the more people are going to forget about the incident, Piedlow said.

Piedlow said the mission of the Sons of the American Revolution is to promote US history and remind people how the country was founded and why it waged the Revolutionary War against England.

Contact the writer: jmblodgett@gmail.com
As we hit T-minus 16 hours till Australia Day, the movement to break from Britain and make Australia a republic is gaining some serious traction.

Over 4,300 people have signed the Australian Republic Movements petition for an Australian head of state, and this morning, chairman Peter FitzSimon announced that every single state premier and chief minister, bar one, have lent their support and signed a declaration.

Never before have the stars of the Southern Cross been so aligned in pointing to the dawn of a new republican age for Australia, he said on Breakfast News this morning, spouting some straight-up poetry and abandoning his signature red bandana for the occasion:

Party leaders Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten, Richard di Natale have all signed the declaration, as has every state premier bar WAs Colin Barnett, who  despite being a Republican himself  is against it for reasons of timing.

Back in a Q&A appearance in November 2010, he warned that if anyone wants to introduce a republic, dissolve the Australian Federation and the Constitution, then the risk is Western Australia may not rejoin.



Today, his reason for not supporting the movement is that he did not think that the time is right  to prosecute the argument for constitutional change.



FitzSimon, of course, is arguing the complete opposite. Hes of the opinion that rather than wait for the Queen to die  at which point wed be saddled with Prince King Charles as our Head of State  why not make the change now, and welcome her back Down Under for one last hurrah.

CYAAAAAAAAAAA.

Source: ABC / SMH.



Photo: WPA Pool / Getty.
Restaurant Inspections.jpg

(Pennlive)

Many midstate restaurants are inspected each week and come through with no problems.

But some restaurants in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties had violations during inspections conducted from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.

In York County, inspectors found rodents and insect activity in both the kitchen and dining room areas of one restaurant.

In Dauphin County, inspectors found shrimp thawing in standing water in a sink at one establishment and build-up of a dark mold-like substance inside three soda dispense nozzles at another.

At a Lancaster County facility, inspectors note that it was unable to show that fish used for sushi production was sushi grade.

In Lebanon County, a pail of root beer was stored directly on the floor in the walk-in cooler rather than 6 inches off of the floor as required

At a Cumberland County restaurant, there was a 1-inch-thick accumulation of dust on a range hood chimney in the kitchen.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture oversees restaurant inspections in the state. Inspection reports are "snapshots" of the day and time the inspections took place. In many cases, violations are corrected on site prior to the inspector leaving.

Click on the links below to see how restaurants in the region fared:
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Officials at Philadelphia International Airport say they plan to "gradually" resume operations Sunday following the massive weekend storm.

The storm, which brought an entire season's worth of snowfall to the city over two days, prompted cancellation of all flights into and out of Philadelphia's airport on Saturday.

Airport officials note that a number of airlines will have a reduced schedule of arrivals and departures on Sunday, so passengers should check their flight status before coming to the airport.

That was true at Harrisburg International Airport, where many arriving and departing flights were listed as cancelled or delayed. Travelers were being urged to check with individual airlines to determine the status of their flights.

Philadelphia airport spokeswoman Mary Flannery told WPVI-TV that crews worked throughout the day Saturday to clear snow, so runways are ready.

She said almost all morning flights had been canceled, but American Airlines -- the airport's dominant carrier -- planned to have more than half of its remaining flights operating by mid-afternoon.
A Lititz man has been found guilty of animal cruelty after 18 dogs under his care were found with urine and feces on their coats and tails docked, or clipped, beyond the allowable period, the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) reports.

Samuel Stoltzfus was found guilty of one count of unsanitary conditions for each of the 18 animals, as well as eight counts of illegally docking the tails of puppies in his custody, the animal welfare agency reports.

He was sentenced to over six years of prohibition of animals, forfeiture of all animals involved and ordered to pay $29,000 in restitution to the PSPCA for care of the animals.

The PSPCA says on Sept. 18, humane officers responding to a tip from the Pa. Department of Agriculture's Dog Law Enforcement branch found 18 dogs in kennels under Stoltzfus's care that were strewn with feces and urine.

One dog was reportedly found to be suffering from ulcers on its paws due to the unsanitary environment. The dogs, which were seized by the PSPCA, included two adult Boxers, eight Boxer puppies, one adult Shiba Inu, four Shiba Inu puppies, two German Shepherds, one of which was pregnant, and one Bernese Mountain Dog.

The animals were transported to the PSPCA's headquarters in Philadelphia where they have remained since.

PSPCA CEO Jerry Buckley called the conditions in Stoltzfus's kennels "horrid," and thanked PSPCA Humane Law Enforcement and Litigation departments for helping to remove the dogs and for giving them a "second chance at finding the loving homes they deserve."

It was not immediately clear if Stoltzfus was at any time licensed to breed dogs by the state.
Westbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset and Bedford counties have completely reopened Sunday evening.

The turnpike lanes had been closed since Friday between Exit 146 -- Bedford and Exit 110 - Somerset. The incident was caused when several tractor-trailers blocked the roadway between milepost 123 and milepost 138, according to a news release from turnpike officials

Hundreds of drivers were stranded Friday night, with the last motorists being rescued Sunday afternoon.





Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman Sean Logan issued a statement apologizing to stranded travelers. Logan said the commission would review the situation, also thanking agencies and companies that assisted.

Logan's complete statement is as follows:

"First and foremost, I want to offer my sincere apologies to all of the travelers who were stranded on the PA Turnpike during this unfortunate ordeal. All of us at the PA Turnpike, and everyone else on the response team, had you in our thoughts and prayers throughout the protracted rescue effort. We are all very relieved that nobody was seriously injured, and we are all pleased that most of the stranded travelers are now home or well on their way. I can promise you all that there will be a thorough analysis of the events that led up to this incident as well as a review of what occurred over the course of the last two and a half days. I want to be certain that we do a better job the next time something like this occurs, and that we can learn from this tragedy. An incident of this size and scope demands a protracted effort by many different groups and individuals, and we have many to thank for providing assistance, be it materials, manpower or support."

The ban on commercial vehicles has been lifted, as well as the 45 mph speed limit restriction across the turnpike and the Northeastern Extension.

Turnpike officials urge drivers to stay alert for changing pavement and weather conditions. Drivers are asked to drive at suitable speeds for the conditions, avoid tailgating or passing snow plows, be prepared for slick surfaces on ramps and bridges, and watch for high crosswinds that can cause reduced visibility and snow drifting.

If travelling, check PA Turnpike conditions at

; look at the "Active Travel Advisories" ticker at the top. While traveling, motorists can use the Turnpike's smartphone app, TRIP Talk, available for Android and iPhone users. The app senses your direction of travel and location and plays audio advisories to alert you of stoppages or delays ahead. Travelers can also call the toll-free TRIP line at 866-976-TRIP (8747) for the latest travel and toll information. To get info on roadway conditions, restrictions or closures, follow the PA Turnpike on Twitter at:
By Tony May

Everyone who's ever used a computer running on the Windows operating system has seen it at one time or another: the BSOD - or Blue Screen of Death.

Tony May (PennLive File)

It's Bill Gates' way of telling you that you've messed things up so royally, you really should start over from the very beginning. So you do what you were told never to do.

You "crash" the system by pulling the plug. And you reboot.

You've been forewarned that crashing the system will cause you to lose work product - and may cause a glitch somewhere in the software.

But you do it anyway because just about every program you have open is frozen. You can't go forward. You can't go back.

Welcome to a desktop version of the situation confronted by state government in Pennsylvania today.

Like MS-DOS, the operating system used by state government was designed decades ago to address conventions and practices no longer valid, in many ways, today.

Our political institutions were designed for an era based on the printed word. Legislators, governors and appointed executives could all think faster than the legislative process could unfold.

Today, with the potential for 253 legislators, the governor and countless caucuses and special interest groups to spew out thousands of words each in a single day and publish their views, positions and claims and counter-claims on a world-wide basis can lead to system gridlock - the legislative equivalent of the BSOD - on simple matters.

So it should not be surprising that shaping a compromise that holds for the three days necessary for legislation to pass through the process in only one of the two houses of the General Assembly seems to be harder and harder to achieve. In the words of poet William Butler Yeats, "the center cannot hold."

In today's partisan atmosphere, the tendency is to point a finger of blame. Gridlock is the Governor's fault; or the majority leader in the House; or in the Senate; or the head of some conservative faction.

First and foremost, it's a system failure.

Reforming the system by using the system to legislate change is nigh impossible because the system isn't working. Gridlock is gridlock.

Meanwhile, the state is more or less adrift because the legislative process is gummed up and affecting, at least to some degree, the ability of the executive branch to deliver services.

"The center cannot hold."

In the end, somehow, all parties have to give up something. To use more of the computer system analogy, everyone on the system needs to shut down some programs, give up some pet projects, to free up computing capacity.

But someone has to start.

The one person who can most afford to be flexible first is the Governor and, fortunately, he has a watershed opportunity to do so in just a few days when he delivers his annual budget address to the General Assembly.

The first line ... the first word ... needs to be "reboot."

But, before the reboot, the governor needs to reach out to secure the participation of at least a few Republicans to support not so much the governor's agenda but, rather, the approach to the reboot.

And there are only a few Republicans possessing the luxury of being able to be associated with the governor in any way and not lose privileges or perquisites within their own caucus. Those are the Republicans who have announced that they will not seek re-election in 2016.

Conventional wisdom says a governor cannot and will not be willing to start over because it will admit defeat.

The conventional wisdom says such an action will only empower Republicans to force further budget cuts and program slashes because their 2015 obstructionism will have been rewarded.

In practical terms, though, 2015 was an empty balloon for both sides - a thin layer of reality holding in a bag of nothing.

No substantive pension reform, no local property tax reform, no liquor store reform or modernization, no school funding improvements, no extraction tax on Marcellus Shale gas.

And 2016, under existing conditions, promises to be more of the same.

On the plus side for Gov. Tom Wolf, he was front loading his "to-do" list for his first four years into his first year budget.

The conventional wisdom says, again, that you need to get taxes done right away in a new administration when your political capital is highest.

The problem with that piece of wisdom assumes that you don't need to make the case for taxes.

Polling shows consistently that people will support new taxes only when they perceive a clear and present need to fund programs with broad appeal.

Education is one such program with broad appeal but no compelling case was made about how increasing state funding would have clear benefits in the classroom.

It's time to reboot and start from scratch by developing awareness and support for programs and policies needed to move Pennsylvania forward. Then put the price tags on them. Let the programs sell the revenue needs.

The alternative is another year of gridlock. And getting used to seeing the blue screen.
The recommendation drew stinging condemnation from the opposition with Congress alleging democracy was being trampled while a shocked Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said such a decision in a sensitive border state was unprecedented and unacceptable.

New Delhi/ Itanagar: The Union Cabinet on Sunday recommended imposition of Presidents Rule in Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh, which is rocked by political turmoil that broke out last month.

Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet at an unscheduled meeting this morning took the decision to recommend imposition of Presidents rule in the northeast state, official sources said in Delhi.

It is learnt that the Cabinet also recommended that the state Assembly be kept under suspended animation.

The recommendation drew stinging condemnation from the opposition with Congress alleging democracy was being trampled while a shocked Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said such a decision in a sensitive border state was unprecedented and unacceptable.

This is really shocking as the Centre did not consult the state government before taking such a harsh decision. Arunachal is absolutely peaceful without even a single case of law and order breakdown reported in the last month, Tuki told in Itanagar.

Governor Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa recommended President Rule without consulting the state cabinet at a time when several cases are sub-judice in the Supreme Court, he said.

There is no Constitutional crisis in the state as recommended by the governor. Whatever crisis is there it is his creation, Tuki said, adding he enjoyed full support from all the cabinet ministers.

With only a day left for Republic Day celebration, such decision will dampen the democratic spirit of the states people who are zealously guarding the border with China.

Arunachal Pradesh was rocked by a political crisis on December 16 last year as 21 rebel Congress MLAs joined hands with 11 of BJP and two independents.
rainbow flag art

By Barbara Darkes and Joseph S. Sileo

Pennsylvania is the only state in the Northeast where someone can legally be fired, evicted or denied service at a public establishment because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

Our state's human relations law governing Pennsylvania's nondiscrimination policy was written in 1955. Since then, state protections against discrimination due to race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age, sex, national origin or disability have strengthened, both in scope and enforcement.

But despite the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage, the LGBT community continues to be denied the most basic civil rights protections. Marriage equality has a hollow ring when a wedding picture on your desk can get you fired.

It is time for these discriminatory allowances and actions to end.

It is time for lawmakers to pass the Pennsylvania Fairness Act, which is now before the state House and Senate and extend anti-discrimination protections to our commonwealth's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender residents.

The bill was introduced last August. And if lawmakers don't take action on it by the end of the 2016 legislative session in November, the bill will have to be introduced anew in 2017.

That can't be allowed to happen.

Ensuring fair treatment for all citizens regardless of sexual preference is too important.

More than 78 percent of Pennsylvanians agree. In fact, more than 74 percent believe such discrimination is already illegal. The sad reality, however, is that LGBT citizens only enjoy protection in the 34 municipalities that have passed their own nondiscrimination ordinances.

This is an issue that touches almost everyone, gay or straight. The same poll cited above found that 84 percent of Pennsylvanians have a family member, friend, someone they are close to, or a close work colleague who is gay or lesbian.

Among senior citizens, 72 percent indicated that they are close to someone who is gay or lesbian.

Enacting the Pennsylvania Fairness Act is important not only for reasons of fairness, but to ensure our state's continued economic competiveness.

When deciding on locations to build or expand a business, employers take many factors into consideration.

A highly skilled workforce is typically the first and most important. Both small and large companies want to do business in states that will attract and maintain a vibrant and diverse workforce.

The Pennsylvania Fairness Act will convey our state's commitment to ensuring that every person has the opportunity to participate in the economy and provide for their family without fear of facing unfair discrimination.

This is about treating others as we expect to be treated -- a value we share as Pennsylvanians, Americans, and human beings.

More and more businesses agree that legislation protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals is critical to help businesses succeed.

For the first time in its history, this year CNBC's Top States for Business survey considered each state's nondiscrimination policies as one of the survey metrics.

Fighting for passage of The Pennsylvania Fairness Act is Pennsylvania Competes - a robust coalition of businesses large and small, grassroots leaders across party lines, non-profit organizations and academic institutions.

More than 100 members of the state Legislature, both Republicans and Democrats, support updating the law. Hundreds of coalition members have pledged support as have hundreds of citizens as part of the Statewide Action Team of grassroots proponents.

The pledge states, in part: "We believe updating Pennsylvania's nondiscrimination law will make the state a stronger economic competitor in attracting the highly skilled millennial workforce . . . Pennsylvania's current and future workforce deserves to be judge based on their qualifications to do their work - nothing more, nothing less."

We ask you to join with Pennsylvania Competes in advocating for the Pennsylvania Fairness Act. Contact your state legislator now. Visit the website and sign the pledge.

Passing the Pennsylvania Fairness Act is about bringing equality to those we know and in many cases to those we love.

Barbara Darkes is an attorney with McNees Wallace & Nurick, LLC in Harrisburg and current President of the Board for the Central Pennsylvania LGBT Center. Joseph Sileo is an attorney with McNees Wallace & Nurick, LLC in Scranton.
FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2015, file photo, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks during the C40 cities awards ceremony, in Paris. Bloomberg is taking some early steps toward launching a potential independent campaign for president. That's according to three people familiar with the billionaire media executive's plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly for Bloomberg. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2015 file photo, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, arrives at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles. The second straight year of all-white acting nominees has turned this years Academy Awards into a referendum on diversity in the movie industry and sparked protests around Hollywoods biggest annual celebration. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
With over 1.6 million TikTok followers, Catieosaurus has proven herself as one of the leading voices in living with ADHD as an adult. Justin Perlman finds out more about neurodivergence and how it relates to sex, relationships, and queer identities.
Hyderabad: The magic figure for Mayor and Deputy Mayor elections in GHMC is likely to be 106 this time.

Officials from GHMC election wing are finalising the list of ex officio members who would take part in these elections. Both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor elections would be held on February 11 under supervision of district collector Rahul Bojja.

Sources in GHMC told this newspaper the list of ex-officio members would be finalised in two days time, as per the guidelines given in a GO released by the department of municipal administration and Ur-ban Development (MA-&UD).

The number of ex-officio members will be between 59 and 60. All 150 corporators and ex-officio members will together elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the sources said.

At present, there are 25 MLAs including one nominated member in GHMC limits and all of them would vote on February 11.

Apart from MLAs, five Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha members each, who are elected from GHMC limits, are also eligible to vote. Sources said about 25 MLCs opted for the city and had not opted for any other city in the past.

The cumulative of ex-officio members would be nearly 60 and about 210 representatives including corporators would vote in the Mayor and Deputy Mayor polls.

Hyderabad collector Rahul Bojja told this newspaper the GHMC election wing was on the job of finalising the list.

50% votes needed to elect mayor, deputy

As per rulebook, more than 50 per cent of votes are needed for one to be elected as Mayor or Deputy Mayor. As about 210 representatives exist, at least 106 votes are needed for the magic figure.

If any political party boycotts the elections, the magic figure would be decided based on the existing number of corporators and ex-officio members. The representatives will elect Mayor and Deputy Mayor by raising their hands.

65 ex-officio members in 2009

As many as 65 ex-officio members voted in the Mayor and Deputy Mayor polls in 2009. At that time, the undivided AP had 11 RS members. This has come down to five in Telangana after the bifurcation.

As many as 25 MLAs, 24 MLCs, 11 RS members and five LS members voted in the 2009 civic polls.
Hyderabad: Ms Radhika Vemula, the mother of research scholar Rohith Vemula, was shifted to the intensive care unit of the Continental Hospital after she complained of pain in the chest.

Earlier in the day, she had complained of giddiness and restlessness near the students dharna point on the UoH campus and had been taken to the health centre for treatment. Doctors at the UoH clinic said her blood pressure was high and she was given sedatives to help her sleep.

A senior doctor on condition of anonymity said, We will observe her situation till 6 pm. After that if required we will shift her to Continental Hospital for further investigations.

Ms Radhika Vemula has been sitting near the dharna point and meeting students and visiting politicians. Doctors said the stress of Rohiths suicide and lack of sleep were some of the reasons for her high blood pressure.

Rohith worked on daily wages, says mother

On Day 7 after Rohith Vemulas suicide, the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice on Sunday demanded that the Telangana state government book cases under the SC/ST prevention of atrocities Act against those responsible for the scholars death.

The JAC members named ABVP leader N. Susheel Kumar, Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile and chief proctor Prof. Alok Pandey.

JAC member Arpita Jaya said, We want a police case to be booked under this Act and only then can we be sure that justice will be served. Why is the government not taking it up?

Radhika Vemula, who was at the dharna point before taking ill later in the day, said, I want to know why my son committed suicide. He didnt commit suicide when he had to work for daily wages after his Class 10. He didnt take such a step when it was difficult for us to manage two meals a day. Why would he do that now?

I want answers as to what kind of pressure was exerted on him by other students that led to his suicide? I will stay here till I get those answers, she said.

Upset that the government was trying to prove that the family was not Dalit, she said, Why are questions being asked on my caste? Why did the university not send us a single letter when they suspended him? Why was there no communication then? Why is the topic now being shifted to my caste?

She said she does not want the Rs 8 lakh compensation offerd by the University of Hyderabad, but answers to her questions.
The new set of seven students who started an indefinite hunger strike in UoH after the first batch was admitted in hospital on Sunday.

Hyderabad: An abusive Facebook post by UoH MTech student Indrayani Kushwa, criticising the protests following the suicide of Rohith Vemula, has kicked off a storm.

Asking for opening the reading room and library, Ms Kushwa wrote on the MyUoH page, ...You all dont want the classes running its fine, but why reading rooms and library? You JAC people dont have any intent of studying as you were **** before and will remain forever... can the people who are not a part of this *** JAC or the people who really want to study unite and help getting the reading room and library opened today/tomorrow? Please help the poor students who at least doesnt have this minority tagline of reservations...

Reacting to her post, one Srinivasa Rao Yenda wrote: Dalits were agriculture labour who continuously engaged with soil may not be owners of the soil but are friends of soil.

Those who are the actual producers of the material ****? Neither the people at temple who chant mantras nor the owners of land and factory can ever be called productive forces.

It is these people who are parasite... You are entitled to your opinion but an educated is expected to make an educated opinion.

India reverberates with Chalo UoH

Thousands of students are expected to take part in the Chalo HCU call given by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice seeking justice for PhD scholar Rohith Vemula.

The JAC leaders said students from all the major Central and state universities have confirmed participation in the public meeting. Besides, students from TS and AP will also take part.

The JAC leaders said the rally was planned press for their five demands  punishing Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile, chief proctor Alok Pandey, ABVP leader N. Susheel Kumar and BJP MLA N. Ramachandra Rao, sacking Prof. Appa Rao as V-C, a job for Rohiths family member and compensation of `50 lakh, dropping false cases against four Dalit scholars and unconditional revocation of their suspension.
Hyderabad: University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile, who is in the dock for the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula, went on indefinite leave on Sunday afternoon.

The university appointed the next senior teacher Dr Vipin Srivastava as incharge V-C.

Read: HCU Suicide: 7 more UoH students go on indefinite protest fast

Dr Srivastava, to break the ice with student leaders, holds a PhD from Roorkee University and is an expert in condensed matter physics, neural networks and brain function modelling. His appointment, however, has drawn protests.

In another climbdown, the UoH issued an order on Sunday to terminate the punishment on the four scholars. The order was issued as student unions had objected to the university suspending their punishment in a circular which they deemed invalid.

Read: Rohith's mother Radhika Vemula sent to ICU

Vipin also tainted, say students

The appointment of Dr Vipin Srivastava as incharge University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor on Sunday was condemned by protesting students and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Teachers Association and Officers Forum.

Read: Hyderabad varsity VC Appa Rao says he took leave to facilitate talks

They said Dr Srivastava was the physics dean when a dalit PhD student of the department, Senthil Kumar from Tamil Nadu, committed suicide in 2008.

Senthil was said to be frustrated at not being allotted a guide for over a year by Dr Vipin Srivastava.
The new set of seven students who started an indefinite hunger strike in UoH after the first batch was admitted in hospital on Sunday.

Hyderabad: UoH dean of students welfare Prof. Prakash Babu has resigned from his position on Saturday night. Prof. Babu was a member of the Executive Council sub-committee which suspended the five scholars, including Rohith Vemula who committed suicide on January 17, from the hostel, and had come under fire from protesting students and dalit teachers.

Prof. Babu, who also belongs to the dalit community did not resign earlier when 13 members of SC/ST Teachers Association and Officers Forum resigned from their administrative positions.
Earlier today, a group of around 500 Middle Eastern migrants broke off from a demonstration protesting conditions in a migrant camp in Calais and stormed the ferry that crosses the Channel to England:

The port of Calais was temporarily closed on Saturday after a ferry was stormed by 50 migrants from the nearby Jungle camp, earlier visited by Jeremy Corbyn. Up to 500 migrants had broken off from a protest march through the town about migrants conditions, according to the mayor, Natacha Bouchard. Around 150 then broke through the ports perimeter fence, and 50 made it to the gangplanks of the P&O ferry Spirit of Britain. Photographs later showed the migrants standing on the upper decks of the ferry.

Police have arrested 24 migrants. A further 11 people believed to be from the No Borders activist group were also detained after being found on the ship.

Many such efforts have been made to enter Britain illegally. But ultimately, European Union law may be on the migrants side:

Four Syrian migrants arrived in Britain this week from the camp in Calais after a landmark ruling by a UK court which could see more crossing the Channel. The court cited European Union legislation, under which those who have a relative living legally in another European country  as the four Syrians do in Britain  have a legal entitlement to apply to seek asylum there.

This sounds much like American law, which places a premium on importing relatives of immigrants who are already here. Since everyone has relatives, this unending chain is a recipe for radical transformation of Western societies. Which is fine with the Socialist Workers Party, and the Left generally:

Frances Prime Minister issued a sober warning about the impact of mass Middle Eastern migration on Europe:

The Labour leaders visit came amid growing urgency over the migrant crisis, with French prime minister Manuel Valls warning the huge influx was putting the European Unions future in grave danger.

It was just another day in the unfolding immigration crisis, about which Europes leaders seem powerless to do anything.
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Hyderabad: Sundays UoH order also makes it conditional upon the outcome of the two petitions in the High Court, one filed by Ms Vijaya Kumar seeking action against the alleged attackers of her son, ABVP activist N. Susheel Kumar, and the other by research scholars seeking revocation of their suspension.

The order is also conditional upon the outcome of the Gachibowli, Cyberabad police probe into the complaint of assault filed by Mr Susheel Kumar.

Speaking to DC later, Prof. Appa Rao said he had gone on leave to facilitate talks with the protesting students.

I cannot say at this moment how many days I will be on leave. I have decided to be on leave till normalcy is restored, Prof. Appa Rao said, and added, I have been in touch with the faculty and likeminded organisations to enable talks.

To a question on pressure from the Centre to take action against the research scholars, Prof. Appa Rao said the registrar had submitted an action taken report in the first week of January to the Union HRD ministry after the Dalit students were expelled from hostels and barred from public places on the campus.

He said the decision was not influenced by the HRD ministry. He defended expelling the students from public places in groups, which led to a feeling of social boycott, stating that there were several precedents in the university.

We did not react to the reminders of the ministry. The action taken report was sent to the ministry only after expelling the students in January, he said.

The university has still not replied to reminders from the ministry on the letter written by Congress MP V. Hanumantha Rao.

Prof. Appa Rao said he had no ideology, left or right or centrist. I was president of the teachers association and I had raised several issues pertaining to the faculty and participated in demonstrations. When some attribute (my actions to) ideology, Manuvadam, I dont understand, he said.

Asked about his staying outside the campus and rumours that he was camping in a star hotel, Prof. Appa Rao said, I am not disclosing my location due to security reasons as advised by the Cyberabad police. It is not true that I am staying in a star hotel. I have a lot of friends, relatives and well-wishers with whom I can stay.

Prof. Appa Rao said that BJP MLC N. Ramachandra Rao, who is among those named in the FIR on Rohith Vemula's suicide, had actually met his predecessor, in-charge vice-chancellor R.P. Sharma, on the issue and not him.

Meanwhile, the SC/ST Teachers Association said Prof. Srivastava should immediately step down as in-charge and also expressed disappointment with the authorities for not sacking Prof. Appa Rao from his post.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria to relax its foreign exchange policies to stimulate economic growth.

In a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos, the LCCIs Director-General, Muda Yusuf, said that normalisation of the foreign exchange market was crucial to stemming the current economic downturn.

Mr. Yusuf urged the apex bank to review its foreign exchange policies during its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting scheduled for January 25 and 26.

He said that to deepen the market, foreign exchange from Diaspora remittances, export proceeds, foreign investors, multinational companies and non-governmental organizations, should be allowed to trade freely in the autonomous market.

According to him, a World Bank report puts Nigerias Diaspora remittance at $21 billion in 2014. He, therefore, urged the CBN to articulate policies that would stimulate and unlock the huge potential in Diaspora remittances and other capital inflows into the economy.

The DG said the adoption of the model would have a significant moderating effect on the exchange rate. He also urged the apex bank to review the 41 items prohibited from accessing foreign exchange from the official market.

Any product that is not on the official import prohibition list of the Federal Government should have access to the autonomous foreign exchange market.

Import prohibition is a vital trade policy matter which should be undertaken in an integrated manner with inputs from the Ministries of Finance; Budget and National Planning; Trade and Investment and the Nigeria Customs Service.

The consequences of import prohibition are far reaching and go beyond the narrow perspective of conservation of foreign exchange.

The dimensions of inter-sector linkages, employment implications, customs revenue implications, breaches of regional and other international trade treaties should be taken into account, Mr. Yusuf said.

He said that fiscal policy measures like taxation and import tariffs should be used to shape the behaviour of economic operators without a disruption in the economy.

According to him, the restrictive foreign exchange policies impacted negatively across all levels of investments resulting in factory closures, job losses, escalating prices, waning GDP growth and weakening investors confidence.

He stressed that a foreign exchange market characterised by transparency, liquidity and stability was imperative to rebuilding economic growth momentum, boosting investors confidence, encouraging foreign exchange inflows, and job creation.

(NAN)
Members of the Public Accounts Committees in the 7th Senate and House of Representatives, statutorily responsible for ensuring probity and accountability in the nations financial system, compromised the Money Laundering Act during their tenure, documents in the possession of PREMIUM TIMES have shown.

Members of the committee as well as their representatives, repeatedly withdrew sums totalling about N226m, in violation of the money laundering law.

Part 1, Subsection 1 of the Money Laundering Act 2011 provides that No person or body corporate shall, except in a transaction through a financial institution, make or accept cash payment of a sum exceeding- (a) N5,000,000.00 or its equivalent, in the case of an individual; or (b)N10,000,000.00 or its equivalent in the case of a body corporate.

It also said, Any Financial Institution or Designated-Financial Institution that fails to comply with the above provision by making the appropriate compliance report to the regulatory authorities commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than N250,000:00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) for an individual and not more than N1,000,000 (One Million Naira) for a body corporate, for each day that the contravention continues unabated.

The two committees however ignored the provisions even though their members participated fully in the enactment of the law.

The Senate Committee was headed by Ahmed Lawan, a ranking senator, representing Yobe North Senatorial District.

Other members of the Senate Committee were Abdul Ningi (Vice Chairman), Olubumi Adetunbi, Abdulminin Hassan, Yusuf Musa, Umaru Dahiru, and Ayo Akinyelure.

Others are Domingo Obende, Nwagu Igwe and Barata Ahmed.

The House Committee was chaired by Solomon Adeola, then representing Alimosho Federal Constituency of Lagos State. He is currently senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District.

There were 41 other members of the committee.

The documents, which this newspaper obtained exclusively, showed that the two panels engaged in banking transactions totalling N2.90 billion in two accounts  0022999033 and 0022999040  domiciled in the Guarantee Trust Bank, some of which breached the provisions of the Act.

Altogether, members of the committees made 139 withdrawals totalling N1.45 billion from the two accounts.

Several of the withdrawals were made in gross violation of the nations money laundering law.

A total of N112million withdrawn from Account Number 0022999033 and N115million withdrawn from Account Number 0022999040 appeared an infringement on the law.

For instance on March 30, 2012, one D.E Abdullahi, believed to be an official of one of the committees and apparently acting on the instructions of the leadership of the committee, withdrew a little over N5m from Account number 0022999033 domiciled in Area 3, Garki, Abuja, branch of GTB in violation of the Act.

According to the documents, that day, he withdrew N1.79m, N2.5m and N1.44m in three different transactions totalling N5.73m.

Mr. Abdullahi also withdrew N18.37m in 10 transactions on April 2, 2012. The withdrawals were N1.92m, N1.22m, N1.95m, N1.40m, N1.24m, N2.26m, N1.25m, N1.95m, N2.80m and N2.35m.

On July 18, 2012, Mr. Abdullahi made six withdrawals. The withdrawals totalled N18.06million.

The multiple withdrawals he made that day were N3.97m, N2.80m, N2.25m, N3.90m, N2.23m and N2.90m.

On July 26, 2012, he withdrew a total of N26.46m in eight transactions -N2.31m, N4.63m, N2.29m, N4.63m, N2.14m, N4.63m, N4.48m and N1.32m.

Four days later  July 30  he was engaged in 10 transactions. The withdrawals were N30,000.00, N315,000.00, N32,000.00, N105,000.00, N860,500.00, N750,750.00, N10,000.00, N225,000.00, N2.58m and N3.64m totalling N8.55m.

In nine transactions on October 11, 2012, Mr. Abdullahi made a total withdrawal of N28m in further violation of the money laundering law. On that day, he withdrew N3.11m, N3.22m, N3.94m, N4.13m, N3.13m and N2.07m. Others were N2.40m, N3.35m and N2.65m.

On March 11, 2013, while Mr. Abdullahi withdrew N4.80m, one Joseph Oko withdrew N1.79m totalling N6.59m from the same account  0022999033.

From Account Number 0022999040, one P.A. Giwa made three transactions in the bank on May 21, 2012. He withdrew N1.31m, N4.46m and N1.005m totalling N6.78m from the account.

Mr. Adeola, the then House Committee chairman, on July 12, 2012, made three cash withdrawals totalling over N10m from this account. He withdrew N3m, N4.00m and N3m,min violation of the law.

He had previously on April 4, 2012, withdrew N4.80m.

Again, Mr. Adeola returned to the bank on September 26 to make two cash withdrawals, N8.98m and N9.79m totalling N18m

That same day, Auwal Jatau, a member of the committee, Farouk Yakubu Dawaki and Olu Adenikunju, in separate cash transactions, withdrew N3.56m, N2.61m and N4.58m respectively, totalling N10.96m from the account.

Mr. Giwa again withdrew a total of N12.64m in three instalments on October 19, 2012.

The sums were N2.94m, N6.75m and N2.94m.

On November 7, Mr. Adeola further violated the money laundering law when he withdrew N6.76m cash from the account.

He also received N15.03m on December 19, 2012 in two transactions of N7.15m and N7.87m. Mr. Jatau had earlier on that day picked up N4.02m from the account.

In 2013, the violation continued unabated.

On February 13, 2013, for instance, three cash withdrawals were made from the account although the names of the beneficiaries were not listed.

According to the document, the sums of N1.99m, N4.50m and N5m, totalling N11.49m, were withdrawn from the account.

On the same day, Messrs. Adenikinju and Jatau withdrew N4.43m and N3.82m respectively, totalling N8.30m.

Mr. Adeola also withdrew N5.29m on March 27, 2013 and Mr. Adenikinju N5.04m on May 3, 2013, in violation of the money laundering law.

The documents also indicate that Mr. Lawan, unlike Mr. Adeola, only personally withdrew cash once from the bank. The senator, who failed in his bid to be elected President of the 8th Senate last June 9, personally collected N50,000 on April 4, 2013. The transaction did not violate the law.

Efforts to reach Mr. Lawan were not successful as multiple calls to his telephone did not connect.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr. Adeola via telephone last Thursday, he said it was not his place to understand how individual committee members operated their bank accounts.

A text message was then sent to him explaining that the accounts in question were that of the committee and not individual members account, but he did not respond.

The Public Accounts Committee, PAC, headed by opposition members in both chambers, is responsible for monitoring accountability and transparency in the conduct of government business.

It is the only committee of the National Assembly mentioned by the 1999 Constitution.

Section 85 (5) of the constitution states that The Auditor-General shall, within ninety days of receipt of the Accountant-Generals financial statement, submit his reports under this section to each House of the National Assembly and each House shall cause the reports to be considered by a committee of the house of the National Assembly responsible for public accounts.

The Senate Standing Order listed the committees responsibilities to include:

 (a) to examine the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Senate to meet the public expenditure; together with the Auditors report thereon. The Committee shall, for the purposes of discharging that duty, have power to send for any person, papers and records, to report from time to time to the Senate and to sit notwithstanding the adjournment of the Senate;

(b) the Committee shall have power to examine any accounts or report of statutory Corporations and Boards after they have been laid on the table for the Senate and to report thereon from time to time to the Senate and to sit notwithstanding the adjournment of the Senate; and

(c) the Committee shall have power to enquire the report of the Auditor-General of the Federation with respect to any prepayment audit query which had been overruled by the Chief Executive of the Ministry, Extra-Ministerial Departments or Agency of the Federal Government and Courts of the Federation and to report same to the Senate.

Sections 122 of the House of Representatives Standing Order also listed similar functions for its public accounts committee.

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Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has requested the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity committed against the Nigerian people by some former and serving military as well public officials and private persons who engaged in the criminal diversion of $8 billion earmarked to procure equipment for the armed forces to fight insurgency.

In a petition dated January 19, 2016 and sent to the Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, Mr. Falana said, We are a firm of civil rights lawyers based in Lagos, Nigeria. We are the defence counsel for the majority of the members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Nigeria who were charged with mutiny, cowardly behaviour and sundry offences before the courts-martial instituted by the former military authorities. As we shall demonstrate anon, the only offence proved against our clients in the military courts was that they had the temerity to demand for weapons to fight the well equipped troops of the Boko Haram sect.

The petition reads in part: On account of the deliberate refusal of the former military authorities to equip and motivate the members of the armed forces involved in combat operations the insurgents have killed about 25,000 soldiers and civilians including children and displaced over 2,000,000 people. Having compromised the security of the people of Nigeria by collaborating with the terrorists the former military authorities deliberately encouraged the brutal killing of innocent people including ill-equipped officers and soldiers.

During a visit to Borno state in 2014, former President Jonathan revealed to some selected leaders of the community that it was when Alhaji Modu Ali Sheriff caused the extra judicial killing of the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf that the group declared war on the Nigerian people. Even though President Jonathan knew that Alhaji Sheriff was a major sponsor of the terrorist group the government did not charge him to court under the Terrorism Act applicable in Nigeria.

In order to divert the attention of the Nigerian people and the international community from the afore mentioned crimes against humanity, scores of soldiers were put on trial before courts-martial for demanding for equipment to fight the well-armed members of the Boko Haram sect. The military courts convicted the soldiers and sentenced them to various terms of imprisonment while 70 were sentenced to death. Over 3,000 others were dismissed from the Nigerian Army in similar circumstances.

Having investigated and confirmed that the said soldiers were sacrificed to cover up the criminal negligence of the former military authorities the current Army leadership has ordered the recall and reinstatement of the 3,000 dismissed soldiers and commuted the death sentence of 66 out of 70 convicts on death row to 10 years imprisonment.

The inquiry conducted by the Presidential Panel on arms procurement has established that the bulk of the sum of $2.1 billion and N643 billion ($4 billion) earmarked for the purchase of military hardware to fight terrorism was criminally diverted by the former government through the office of the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd). It has also been confirmed that the said Col. Dasuki colluded with some serving and retired military officers and civilians to divert the sum of $2 billion and N29 billion set aside for the procurement of fighter jets and other equipment for the Nigeria Air Force.

As if that was not enough, the sum of $322 million and 5.5 million from the Abacha loot which was illegally transferred to Col. Dasuki by a former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for prosecuting the war on terror has also been criminally diverted. Part of the stolen fund was used to fund the campaign for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.

Apart from diverting the fund for acquiring military equipment some corrupt public officers also stole money set aside for acquiring the necessary gadgets and equipment for securing the Nigerian people. For instance, the $470 million contract awarded in 2009 for the installation of CCTV cameras in Abuja, the seat of the federal government, was poorly executed due to corrupt practices. Thus, the identification of terrorists who launched bomb attacks in public places in Abuja has been frustrated by the government officials who stole the contract sum.

Notwithstanding the deliberate refusal of the military authorities to purchase arms and armament due to the criminal diversion of the security fund, Col. Dasuki gave a lecture at Chatham House in London on February 8, 2015 where he claimed that Nigeria had acquired adequate equipment to prosecute the war on terror. At the time he was addressing his London audience Col Dasuki was well aware that the fund for procurement of weapons had been stolen by himself and his cohorts.

However, out of the fear that he could be made to account for his role in the diversion of the security fund the then Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Barde disclosed, while he was retiring from the service on July 30, 2015, that the armed forces led by him lacked the equipment to fight the terrorists. In his reaction to the disclosure Col. Dasuki stated sometime in August 2015 that the equipment ordered by the Jonathan Administration had not arrived the country!

It is submitted that the former public officials, serving and military officers as well as civilian collaborators who engaged in the criminal diversion of the security fund are liable to bear full responsibility for the death of about 25,000 people who were killed by the Boko Haram sect and the over 2,000,000 people displaced by the terrorist organisation.

Nigeria is a state party to the Rome Statute and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 September 2001. The preamble to the 2003 United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which Nigeria has also ratified states that corruption is no longer a local matter but a transnational phenomenon that affects all societies and economies.

We strongly believe that allegations of corruption so far made against Col. Sambo Dasuki and other public officers have had catastrophic effects on the lives of over 25,000 Nigerian soldiers and civilians including children akin to crimes against humanity as contemplated under the Rome Statute and within the jurisdiction of the Court. The Rome Statute in article 7 defines crime against humanity to include inhumane acts causing great suffering or injury, committed in a widespread or systematic manner against a civilian population.

The common denominator of crimes against humanity is that they are grave affronts to human security and dignity. We believe that the staggering amount of public funds alleged to have been stolen create just these consequences. Crimes against humanity are not only physical violence; allegations of corruption highlighted above hold a comparable gravity, which the Prosecutor should examine and thoroughly investigate.

The elements that need to be established to prove a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute are that, the perpetrator inflicted great suffering or serious injury by means of an inhumane act; that the perpetrator was aware of the circumstances, and that the act was committed within a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population; and that the perpetrator knew of that link. The consequences of allegations of corruption highlighted above are similar to those of the offences in article 7(1).

Corrupt officials in the government know well that their conduct is criminal and injurious, and that their ostentatious lives, built on a radical breach of solemn trust, aggravate their crime against humanity. We believe that these allegations of widespread and systematic corruption amount to crimes against humanity and therefore clear violations of the provisions of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court. These allegations have given rise to individual criminal responsibility of those suspected of perpetrating corruption, as entrenched in the Rome Statute.

Although the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has so far shown some political will to fight corruption and recover stolen assets, we believe that an international investigation by the ICC from the perspective of crimes against humanity would complement the anti-corruption initiatives by the current government and contribute to ending a culture of impunity of perpetrators. We submit that substantial grounds exist to warrant the intervention of the Prosecutor in this case. Under Article 30(2)(b) of the Rome Statute, a person has intent in relation to a consequence, [where] that person means to cause that consequence or is aware that it will occur in the ordinary course of events.

We therefore submit that this is sufficient to hold Col Dasuki and others that have been indicted in the arms theft scandal responsible for crimes against humanity perpetrated against Nigerians. The failure of a former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to prevent widespread and systematic corruption including the re-looting of the Abacha loot amounts to complicity under the Rome Statute, and therefore fits the legal requirements of a crime against humanity.

Mr. Falana then asked the ICC Prosecutor to:

1. Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of the criminal diversion of the security fund of $2.1 billion and N643 billion earmarked by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Courts jurisdiction. In this respect, I also urge you to invite representatives of the Nigerian government to provide written or oral testimony at the seat of the Court, so that the Prosecutor is able to conclude on the basis of available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorization of an investigation.

2. Bring to justice those suspected to bear full responsibility for deliberate under funding of the armed forces through widespread and systematic corruption in Nigeria; and

3. Urge the Nigerian government to fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the criminal diversion of security fund, testimony, and provide other support to the ICC.
The Federal Government has hailed the U.S. endorsement of its anti-corruption fight, calling it an incentive to continue with the battle that must be won for the Nigeria to achieve sustainable growth.

Recently, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, at the World Economic Forum, WEF, Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, commended the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for its effort at combating corruption in Nigeria.Mr. Kerry related how money meant to buy arms for Nigerian soldiers to combat Boko Haram was stolen by public officials; and how the Buhari administration was making moves to prosecute such persons.

On Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, told media executives in Lagos that the acknowledgement of the effort by the government could not have come at a better time.

The Federal Government is delighted that the anti-corruption war being led by President Muhammad Buhari has been acknowledged and applauded on a global stage.

It is particularly gratifying that in that speech, Mr Kerry made the link between corruption and terrorism. We agree that corruption is indeed a radicaliser because it destroys faith in legitimate authority.

Let me remind you, gentlemen, that radicalisation is a key causative factor of terrorism, the minister said.

Mr. Mohammed said that he would soon kick-start a series of town hall meetings across the country to take the sensitization campaign, which he launched in Abuja last Monday, directly to Nigerians.

The town hall meetings, he said, would be in addition to using the National Orientation Agency, NOA, and the relevant units of the Ministry of Information and Culture to reach every part of the country.

We know that those who stole us dry are powerful. They have newspapers, radio and television stations and an army of supporters to continuously deride the governments war against corruption.

But we are undaunted and will not relent until corruption is also decimated, the minister said.

Mr. Mohammed said that corruption was responsible for the endemic poverty in the country today, noting that whereas Nigerias national budget has increased from just over N900 billion in 1999 to over N6 trillion in 2016, poverty has also increased almost by the same proportion.

The reason is not far-fetched: Appropriated funds have mostly ended up in the pockets of a few looters, he said. When the money meant to construct roads is looted, the end result is that the roads are not built and the people suffer and even die in avoidable road accidents.

When the money meant to provide electricity is looted, we all are perpetually sentenced to darkness. When the money meant for healthcare is pocketed by a few, we are unable to reduce maternal and infant mortality. These are the costs of corruption, he said.

According to Mr. Mohammed, whereas the sum of N51.829 billion was appropriated for 1,278 projects in the Zonal Intervention Projects for 2015, a total of 21 individuals and companies benefited from the Dasukigate to the tune of N54.659 billion.

The implication is that the amount received by 21 individuals and companies is more than the 2015 Zonal Intervention Project budget by N2.829 billion! 

Furthermore, the value of what the beneficiaries of Dasukigate contributed to development is zero, compared to how the lives of Nigerians would have been transformed, poverty reduced and livelihoods improved, by the Zonal Intervention Projects which  as we have shown  would have cost N2.829 billion less than Dasukigate, the Minister said.

He said that contrary to what was being said in certain circles that the government was dwelling too much on the war against corruption to the detriment of other areas of governance enough time could not be devoted to the fight.

The situation is very grim indeed, as far as corruption is concerned. That is why the Federal Government is embarking on this sensitization Campaign.

Our approach  which is to count the cost of corruption  is not to vilify anyone but to use facts and figures to give Nigerians a sense of what corruption has done to their lives, the minister said.

(NAN)
The Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Vunokilang Police Station in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State was among the 30 people killed in an attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen on Sunday morning .

Reports from the area revealed that the suspected herdsmen raided four villages: Demsare, Wunamokoh, Dikajam and Taboungo in what is believed to be a vengeance mission over an existing feud with farmers in the area.

Several houses and other property in the villages were also burnt in the attack.

The DPO, Okozie Okereofor, a Chief Superintendent of Police, who was deployed to the state about two months ago, was said to have been ambushed when he was leading police officers to the disputed area. He was killed in the eventual shootout with his assailants.

The corpse of the slain police officer and the others killed is currently deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

The Police in Adamawa have confirmed the killing of Mr. Okereofor.

The DPO and his team were attacked while on official duty in the affected villages where he was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen, the spokesperson of the Adamawa State Police Command, Othman Abubakar, said.

Report at my disposal indicated that the attackers looted foodstuff and livestock of the villagers before setting the villages ablaze.

The suspected Fulani herdsmen raided four villages in Girei local Government area on Sunday morning around 5:30 a.m. killing scores including the late DPO.

When a PREMIUM TIMES reporter and other journalists visited the Federal Medical Centre on Sunday, some of the survivors of the attack were seen receiving treatment.

However, a nurse on duty said the management of the hospital issued a directive that no journalist should be allowed into the wards.

Commenting on the attack, the Acting Brigade Commander of the 23 Armored Bridgade, Yola, Aba Poopola, confirmed that the Fulani herdsmen had problems with the affected areas.

He said everything is under control as he has deployed his officers to the area to maintain law and order.

The attack is different from the Boko Haram terrorist attacks in Adamawa and other north-eastern states that have caused the death of about 25,000 people since it began in 2010.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Sunday in Abuja condemned the renewed blowing-up of major oil and gas pipelines by suspected militants in the Niger-Delta region.

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the issue of national security should not be taken lightly.

Pipeline vandalism is highly condemnable; this should not be allowed to happen in a civilized society, he said.

According to him, oil and gas pipeline vandalism will contribute largely to the air and water pollution of the region and reduce the revenue base of the country.

Mr. Wabba said that pipeline vandalism was a threat to national security; therefore, the issue should not be taken lightly.

He advised the Niger-Delta militants to engage in dialogue with the Federal Government rather than confrontation in resolving issues. He urged the Federal Government to sustain the amnesty programme as it would serve as a means of addressing some of the challenges in the region.

I hope that the renewed blowing-up of major oil and gas pipelines is not as a result of the ongoing probe of some political leaders in the region.

Our call is that the government should remain focussed in its fight against corruption and it should not be tired by whatever pressure.

We also want to appreciate what the security agencies have been able to do in terms of protecting the pipelines in the region, they should put in more efforts to contain the crisis,  Mr. Wabba said.

He assured Nigerians that the NLC would give its support to the Federal Government to protect important installations in the region and the country at large.
A workers union has declared support for the proposed conditional cash transfer scheme of the Federal Government.

The General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Issa Aremu, said labour was supportive of the policy and would participate in collaboration with the office of the Vice President.

Mr. Aremu stated this while speaking during the 40th day prayer held for his late wife, Hamdalat Aremu.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Ayuba Wabba, personally led other labour leaders to the event held in Kaduna.

Mr. Aremu, who recalled how his late wifes philanthropy helped the needy, commended the Buhari administration for setting aside N500 billion for direct social transfers in the 2016 budget currently before the National Assembly.

My wife would certainly have been excited to read that in this years budget, President Muhammadu Buhari has set aside some N500 billion as direct social transfers or conditional cash transfer programme for the poorest and most vulnerable.

The Office of the Vice President as directed by the President, must work with NLC and TUC to realize this objective, Mr. Aremu said.

There is a link between support for those who are losing out in this countrys callous market rat race and economic growth. The organized labour movement is ready to assist the Federal Government to make this programme a success, he declared.

The good deed of my wife showed that cash transfers to the vulnerable, not only assist the vulnerable but help in their physical and economic growths. Through direct cash transfers by my wife, some girls and boys in our extended families and beyond completed their education, even became graduates and achieved their dreams.

The conditional, legitimate transfers should serve as the basis for a national comprehensive social security programme for Nigeria. As a worthy investment in our countrys human infrastructure, not stomach infrastructure, it is as important an investment as physical infrastructure.

I commend President Buhari for looking at the faces of absolutely 70 million poor Nigerians, who are living on less than a dollar per day and making them to access national resources as a matter of right, not of abuse as some corrupt politicians do on the eve of elections, Aremu concluded.

Mr. Aremu, who commended the school feeding programmes of some state governments reiterated his call for gender mainstreaming in Nigeria.

It is time we intensified the advocacy for gender mainstreaming. Governments and corporate organizations must mainstream women in the families, at workplaces, government and society at large, he said.
The Civil Society Network Against Corruption has demanded the investigation of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, over his petition accusing Justice Adeniyi Ademola of bias in a suit involving the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

In a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices (and Other Related Offences) Commission, the group accused Mr. Ekweremadu of attributing the judges bias to his close relationship with the national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, without providing any evidence.

Mr. Ekweremadu, a lawyer, is a member of the PDP.

The burden of proof is on Senator Ekweremadu to prove his allegations as contained in the petition in question with impeccable and verifiable evidence, CSNAC stated in the petition dated January 22 and signed by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju.

Though we have every reason to believe the allegations are false, misleading, and an attempt to subvert justice through protracted litigation, we still demand your thorough investigation and appropriate action on this matter.

In the wake of the controversial election that led to Bukola Saraki and Mr. Ekweremadu emerging as Senate and Deputy Senate President respectively, five members of the APC had filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the outcome.

Senators Abu Ibrahim, Kabir Marafa, Ajayi Boroffice, Gbenga Ashafa, and Suleiman Hunkuyi had contended that the election which produced Messrs Saraki and Ekweremadu in June, last year, was conducted using a forged version of the Senate Standing Orders.

After hearing the arguments of the parties in the suit, the judge fixed December 14 to deliver his ruling.

But Mr. Ekweremadu filed a petition to Ibrahim Auta, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, seeking for the re-assignment of the case to another judge.

The senator alleged that the judges wife was recently appointed Head of Service in Lagos State due to the judges closeness with Mr. Tinubu.

CSNAC said the ICPC Act makes it an offence for anyone to make statements which are false or intended to mislead to a public officer.

It can be deduced that the Deputy Senate Presidents declaration in the said application which were not supported by any evidence, according to the newspaper report, were merely calculated to mislead the Honourable court and bar it from exercising its constitutional functions, the group said.

You will agree with us that if truly the allegations made by Ekweremadu in the said application were true, he ought to have substantiated his claims with incontrovertible evidence which he has failed to do.

As a legal practitioner himself, Ekweremadu is not unaware of remedies available to him, through appeal to appellate court, where he is dissatisfied with the ruling of a judge, such as in this matter.

Initiating a petition of this nature, at a time when judgment is reserved by the trial judge is nothing short of professional misconduct deserving of every penalties under the law.

The group called for appropriate sanctions to be meted to Mr. Ekweremadu if found culpable.

The descent of an occupant of 6th highest position in the country to such reckless and ignominy is reprehensible, the group added.
According to the data, C-section aided deliveries in private clinics have risen to 40.3% from 31.9% in the last decade. (Representational Image)

Bengaluru: Doctors recommending unnecessary Caesarean sections (also known as C-section) for pregnant women, is one of the most common complaints about private clinics. If the findings of the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4), released on Wednesday, are to be believed, this complaint is justified.

According to findings from the survey, C-sections, (frequently referred to as aided deliveries) have increased from 15.5% in the year 2005-06 to 23.6% in the year 2015-16. As per the survey, the highest growth was reported from private clinics.

According to the data, C-section aided deliveries in private clinics have risen to 40.3% from 31.9% in the last decade. We must also note, that C-section aided deliveries have also seen an increase to 17.2% from 16.9% during this period.

Officials at the State Medical Education Department say, There may be several reasons including the change in lifestyle for the overall increase in C-sections in the state, but the highest incidence of C-sections has been reported from private clinics and hospitals, which is a matter that should be investigated. We hear many complaints about women being forced to opt for a C-section in private clinics by instilling fear in them. The cost of a C-section is around Rs 70,000 in a city like Bengaluru, while a normal delivery would cost just Rs 20 to Rs 25,000.

The source continues, The non-availability of medical facilities, may also be the reason few C-section deliveries are performed in government- run hospitals.

Positive trends

According to the report, Karnataka has made remarkable progress in improving its health care services. The survey has revealed that the state has recorded a growth in key health indicators which include institutional deliveries, treatment of children under the age of 3 years, breastfed within one hour of birth and tackling cases of malnourishment , he said.
Nigerians living in Gauteng Province of South Africa have protested the alleged extra-judicial killing of a 34- year-old man, Timothy Chinedu, by the police.

Mathew Okafor, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union in Gauteng Province, told the News Agency of Nigeria on phone from Johannesburg that Mr. Chinedu was allegedly suffocated to death by the police after his arrest at 9.00 a.m. on Saturday.

Mr. Chinedu is a native of Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo.

Mr. Okafor claimed that another Nigerian, who witnessed the incident at Kempton Park in Ekulurheni Municipality, Gauteng Province, saw the South African police arrest the deceased, tie his hands and cover his face with a cellophane bag.

We suspect that Chinedu died of suffocation. That is why Nigerians in the province mobilised and staged a protest against this extra-judicial killing .

The South African police is alleging that he died after ingesting drugs but a Nigerian witnessed the entire incident and reported it to us.

The case has been handed over to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) that investigates police misconduct in South Africa.

We have been given the contacts of key persons that we need to be talking to as this investigation proceeds so that we can monitor the development.

An autopsy is being carried out and we are waiting for the coroners report.

We have also reported this incident to the national body of Nigeria Union and Nigerian Mission in South Africa.

We have also gotten the contacts of the relatives of the deceased and we have duly informed them of the tragedy, Mr. Okafor said.

The President of Nigeria Union in South Africa, Ikechukwu Anyene, said the body had received the report of the incident.

We take exception to the continued torture of Nigerians by the South African police.

The union believes that there is the due process to follow after a suspect is arrested instead of resorting to torture, he said.

Mr. Anyene urged the Federal Government to intervene by persuading the South African government to look into the continued killings of Nigerians by the police.

We also want to state that the Nigerian did not die of drug ingestion as being alleged by the South African police, he said.

Nigeria`s Consul General to South Africa, Uche Ajulu-Okeke, said that the mission had received the report of the killing of the Nigerian.

She said the mission would investigate the incident and present a report to the Federal Government.

Ms. Ajulu-Okeke, however, appealed to Nigerians to remain law abiding and report any incident to the union and the mission.

(NAN)
The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP, on Sunday described as unfortunate and ridiculous a statement credited to members of the Online Publishers Association of Nigeria, OPAN, with respect to the meeting held on Friday between the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and online publishers in Lagos.

Besides, GOCOP decried a deliberate attempt by OPAN to distort facts relating to its formation.

It further expressed shock at the orchestrated campaign aimed at dragging the name of the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, a thoroughbred professional, in the mud by a group it described as charlatans who have taken their deceit of being professional journalists too far.

GOCOP made its position known in a statement by its Acting President, Musikilu Mojeed; General Secretary, Dotun Oladipo; and Publicity Secretary, Olumide Iyanda.

It said not all members of OPAN can be described as professional journalists.

Rather, it said, many of those who make up the organisation are people who worked on the fringes in media houses and have taken to online journalism principally as tool for blackmail and extortion of money.

It said this is even reflected in the membership of the associations Board of Trustees, which is made up of a columnist with The Guardian and former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati; some unknown lawyers; engineers; and Indians.

GOCOP said the statement credited to OPAN was clearly attention seeking and part of the carefully planned strategies to embarrass the current government and blackmail it into giving it undeserved recognition.

It said this is more so that OPAN, especially its leadership, is made up of people with questionable characters.

The statement said: These are people who have spent months and days in Kirikiri Prisons in Lagos State and the dungeon of the Department of State Services for attempt to blackmail and extort money from eminent Nigerians, including prominent businessman, Femi Otedola; and a former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu.

These are people who did not work for a single day as professional journalists, but as marketers, personal assistants and cameramen in media houses.

Recalling the early days of the formation of GOCOP, the statement said the leadership of the online organisation, made up of seasoned journalists, with many boasting of over 25 years experience and rising to become Editors and Desk Heads of renowned newspapers, became aware of the existence of OPAN after it made moves to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

It recalled that a team of its officials, made up of a former President, Malachy Agbo, who is now the Chairman of Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, and Oladipo, met with the so-called President of OPAN, Olufemi Awoyemi, in his office in Lagos State to see how the emerging group could fuse into the existing one.

However, the GOCOP group came out shell shocked with the revelations from the meeting.

Mr. Awoyemi said OPAN was formed and registered four years before the meeting but that they had kept its existence only to the members, who were less than five, with majority of them based outside the country.

He equally gave part of the terms for fusing as the repayment of the registration fee of the association, which he said would be deducted first from any money made by the association before members could begin to benefit financially.

When asked how much the registration fee was, Mr. Awoyemi said OPAN was registered in 2001 in the United Kingdom with 65,000 (Sixty-five thousand pounds).

At this point, Mr. Agbo told Mr. Awoyemi that the emerging body was not intended to be a money making association but a peer review gathering that would leverage on the experience of its members to bring sanity to online journalism.

After the meeting, OPAN members, working in concert with Mr. Abati, who deployed the powers of the Presidency, frustrated efforts to register the new body, with security agents threatening the leadership of the emerging body.

What was most curious, according to GOCOP, was that the initial name sent to the CAC, the Nigerian Online Publishers Association, was endorsed and granted registration, with the certificate of registration issued.

A few weeks after, CAC wrote NOPA claiming that it registered the association in error as OPAN was already in existence.

It took a long battle for CAC to agree to the name GOCOP. The name was even suggested to the online publishers by CAC. And this came amid threat of heading to the law court to challenge the CAC.

It also took OPAN, which claimed it was registered in 2001, over 14 years to formally launch the association.

OPAN was launched about a month after GOCOP did its own formal launch in 2015, which was attended by the likes of a former Chairman of The Punch titles, Ajibola Ogunsola; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, represented the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Abdulrasak Namdas; the Founder of Zinox, Leo Stanley Eke, who delivered the keynote address; the Director General of the Debt Management Office, Abraham Nwankwo; and Mr. Adesina.

The statement by Messrs. Mojeed, Oladipo and Iyanda said most members of GOCOP belong to the elite group of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, while none of those in OPAN qualifies to belong to any journalism association in the country, including the Nigerian Union of Journalists.

It added: In mentioning a Special Adviser in the Presidency in their statement, by which we know they are referring to the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, OPAN is only seeking to drag a man of integrity, who insisted throughout the years OPAN had the backing of Abati that the right thing be done, into a needless controversy.

There is no one who does not know that Mr. Adesina is a thoroughbred professional who will not stand by impostors and never-do-goods.

And for the records, Adesina, being a concerned stakeholder and then President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, had been a strong pillar of support for GOCOP right from its formative stage. At that time, he agreed to be a member of the Board of Trustees of GOCOP. This was even when he had no inkling he was going to emerge the presidential spokesman.

So also do we know that the choice of those who attended the meeting with Alhaji Lai Mohammed was carefully thought through and not men of doubtful standings who have spent days and months behind bars for failed attempts to blackmail.

While we do not query anyones right of association, our stand still remains as an association: no person of doubtful character will be allowed to be a member of GOCOP. Only thoroughbred professionals and people of integrity. Members of OPAN have a right of association, but they should remain within their confines and not cast aspersion on others who have devoted their lives to making a name for themselves in journalism and are professionals in the real sense of the word.

And thoroughbred professionals indeed abound in GOCOP, with most of the publishers having worked at the highest levels in publications such as Thisday, Punch, Tribune, Newswatch, Tell, The News, The Nation, Nigerian Compass, New Telegraph and Champion as Editors.

We do not intend going beyond this for now as documents in our possession will be made available to the public on the atrocities of these charlatans if they push their luck any further.

Our aim is to professionalise the practice of online journalism and not engage in blackmail, which has given journalism a bad name in the country.
A suspected drug addict arrested by the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Command has disclosed that he made over N300, 000 monthly from begging in Ikeja.

Kehinde Olatubosun, 56, from Ibadan, Oyo State, was arrested on Saturday night along with 18 other drug addicts at a joint in Ipodo, Ikeja.

A team of Rapid Response Squad Decoy had on Monday night traced a stolen phone to the joint, leading to the arrest of a three-man gang mobile phone thieves, three hard drug peddlers and 13 drug addicts, the police said in a statement on Sunday.

Mr. Olatubosun stated that he made over N10, 000 daily begging at the Mobolaji Bank Anthony Roundabout; beside the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital; Toyin Street; and Opebi.

All days of the week, Im always in Mobolaji Bank Anthony Roundabout, Toyin Street roundabout and Opebi. At times, I collaborate with beggars. Whatever we make, we share but I get a larger share, said the suspect.

What I do is that, I get LASUTH drug prescription papers. I get it from their waste bin. With this in my hand, I convince motorists, passengers and passersby that I have a relative who is in dire need of money to buy drugs and I show them the prescription papers.

This is what I have been doing since I was deported from Germany in 2004. Before the deportation, I was working as Electrical Engineer in Bauhusa, Colon, Germany. I was in Germany for 12 years before I was deported.

Mr. Olatubosun said his deportation from Germany was after he was caught in possession of hard drugs.

I have four children. Two are in Germany with my wife. One is in Texas, United States and another in Nigeria, he said.

Unfortunately, all the money I make from this begging goes into drugs. Day after day, I am always there, seven days a week. I make more money on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I make more than N10,000:00 on weekends.

As I speak to you, Im not on drugs but I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms, that is, the effect of not taking drugs for sometimes.

The suspect said he was at the Ipodo drug joint when the RRS operatives raided the place and added that it was the first time he would be arrested.

I am praying that RRS release me. I promise I wont go back to drug again. Where I live presently was given to me by my in-law.

Another drug suspect, Dada Ajayi, arrested at the drug joint during the police raid, said that addiction had destroyed his life.

I am trying to get over it now; drug has been the cause of my stagnation in life, said Mr. Ajayi, 48, who said he had been hooked on drugs for over 17 years.

I frequent that joint because I have nowhere to go. I have lived the better part of my life consuming drugs.

As I talk to you, the remains of my wife is in Ikeja mortuary. She was taken to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. I was asked to bring N150,000 for surgery but I didnt have N50,000 on me then. She died in the process.

Right now, I have lost my family because of my drug addiction. I dont know where my children are or how to start my life again. I cant stop going to that drug joint because it is the only place where I get consolation. It is the only place Im at peace with myself.

If anybody want to help us, they should arrest the drug barons or dealers. Arresting us wont solve drug problem because without the sellers there wont be the takers.

You arrest the dealers, I mean the merchants, then, you have cut the supply and thus saved us from getting drugs. Without that, we would always find our ways there whenever we are released.
Gunmen on Sunday morning killed two mobile police officers at a security checkpoint in Nimbia Village, a boundary community between Kafanchan in Kaduna State and Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The spokesperson of the Special Task Force, STF, in Plateau, Ikedichi Iweha, stated this in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr. Iweha, a Captain in the Nigeria Army, said the victims were not members of the STF.

The two mobile police officers who were killed are members of Task Force in Kaduna State, he said. They were attacked at about 10:30 a.m. today (Sunday).

The Army Captain said his troops trailed the attackers but did not get them.

He said no arrest has been made while the remains of the victims have been taken to Kafanchan in Kaduna State.

Mr. Iweha said the STF has reinforced its troops in the search for the suspects.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the incident has generated tension among residents of Kafanchan in Kaduna State and Riyom Local Government of Plateau State.
The Jos Electricity Distribution Company, JEDC, has sunk N2 billion into procuring new transformers and other critical infrastructure crucial to effective service delivery, an official has said.

The Managing Director of JEDC, Mohammed Modibbo, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Jos on Sunday that part of the money went into procuring customer metres and the maintenance of other facilities that had broken down.

When we took over JEDC, we found out that most of the transformers were dilapidated; some were more than 50 years old and needed urgent replacement.

We had to replace many of them which improved the capacity of injection sub-stations and improved power distribution, he said.

He assured electricity customers of an even better improvement in electricity supply in the next 18-24 months.

He premised this on the commitment of the Federal Government and stakeholders in the electricity supply chain to stable power supply.

Mr. Modibbo expressed happiness at the steady rise in power generated by the GENCOs, attributing this to a drastic drop in pipeline vandalism that had raised the capacity of the thermal power generating companies.

He, however, appealed to customers to consistently pay their bills to enable investors continue to make more investments toward improving the quality of power supply.

Mr. Modibbo identified the inaccuracy of data on assets inherited by the new owners of the distribution companies as a major challenge that had constituted a drawback to the quest for speedy progress.

In the last 50 years, there has been poor management of the number of customers and company assets which has led to wrong assumptions in financing the critical needs of the company.

As big as the country is, all the distribution companies currently have a customer data base of under five million today.

Clearly, a significant majority of the population are `stealing electricity. So, the JEDC has done a lot in terms of trying to get an accurate data of these customers.

We are embarking on an aggressive customer audit exercise to enumerate all existing customers as well as those who are stealing electricity from the network and are not paying.

We have a lot of illegal customers captured on the network and this is one abnormality of the past that we must correct, he said.

According to him, JEDC will capture new and illegal customers, give them meters and even expand the network. He said that the company would share out 150,000 meters to the four states it was serving  Plateau, Benue, Gombe and Bauchi, in the next five years.

Mr. Modibbo also disclosed that 15,000 had already been shared to customers in Jos alone. He said that the company had also embarked on aggressive maintenance of its infrastructure to avoid occasional breakdowns that could impede effective supply.

The official described customers response to payment as very poor, but explained that the situation had improved with constant dialogue and improved services.

With more interaction, we have found that many customers are willing to pay because even the power generators they fall back on are more costly, he explained.

He decried the massive corruption in the system, pointing out that JEDC had a potential 700,000 customer base while only 300,000 of them were legally captured.

Mr. Modibbo particularly decried the high level of indebtedness by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), noting that the debts had accumulated for more than 30 years.

He said that the Nigeria Army recently reduced its debt by N15 million, describing the gesture as very commendable, even though the liability left is still much.

The managing director said that the Plateau Government was also heavily indebted, but expressed happiness that it had initiated steps to defray its debt.

Like Plateau, we have reached out to other states and have started working out a plan for payment.

They have made pledges and we shall follow up and ensure redemption, he said.

Mr. Modibbo said that the EDCs raised the indebtedness matter at its recent meeting with the Minister of Power and were asked to compile the actual debts by each state, MDAs and other debtors.

We are already compiling the information; the minister has assured us that he would even work toward deducting the monies from source in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, he said.

Mr. Modibbo also decried the rising incidence of customers by-passing service meters, warning that those caught would be treated as criminals and prosecuted.

Once you tamper with our services, you are not only sabotaging our company and stealing electricity, but depriving others who are paying for the product, their right to enjoy what is theirs, he said.

(NAN)
Business leaders in Kano have asked the state government to seek loans from around the world to meet its infrastructural needs.

The business leaders said this at a meeting held at the State Library on Sunday. The meeting, called by the Chamber of Indigenous Contractors, was also attended by lawyers, engineers, contractors, artisans, company owners, religious leaders.

The meeting also advised the Abdullahi Ganduje- led government to go seek loans from global Islamic banks to meet its needs, while also seeking a financial bailout from the federal government.

The National Chairman of the Chamber of Indigenous Contractors, Adua Maitangaran, while speaking, said if loans could be use for good purposes, the government should not hesitate to collect loans.

He said the financial challenges facing Kano meant the state cannot pay workers salaries, talk less of undertaking any meaningful projects.

Mr. Maitangaran said if the federal government could borrow to finance its debt, then Kano State could do same.

Also speaking, the National President of Traders Union, Bature AbdulAziz, said the foreign loans could be used to revive the states rail project.
The Kaduna State Security Council has announced that it will henceforth prosecute any group of persons or individuals inciting ethno-religious crisis in the state.

Rising from its weekly security meeting yesterday, the Council said the warning is necessary following reports of utterances of individuals that are capable of creating social unrest in the state.

The attention of the Kaduna State Security Council has been drawn to illegal activities going on in some institutions of higher learning, places of worship and in social gatherings aimed at inciting people against each other along religious and ethnic lines.

The Council said it has noted the regrettable circulation of posters and leaflets containing hate speech. While condemning this sort of behaviour, the Council warned those involved to desist or face the full weight of the law.

The Constitution of this country grants every citizen the right to freely express and hold opinion. The right to free speech is one of the noblest expressions of liberty and it is intended to uplift mankind; therefore, it cannot be used as a cover to set people against each other or to be exercised so recklessly that it becomes a barrier to the enjoyment of similar rights by others or actually imperils the rights of other citizens to respect for their dignity, security and lives.

All those preaching hate are hereby cautioned that the defence of the constitution will compel their prosecution for violating its provisions. Anyone found culpable will be prosecuted by security agencies in accordance with relevant laws. The Council especially warns against the circulation of false reports, and the propagation of items that alarm people and create tensions without any basis. People are advised to verify the accuracy and authenticity of information they disseminate.

The Council wishes to add that security agencies will arrest and subsequently prosecute groups and individuals inciting tensions via circulation of hate speech or any act contributory to breakdown of law and order in the State.

The Council commended citizens for their vigilance in reporting instances of hate speech to the appropriate authorities. People should refrain from taking the law into their hands, no matter the depth of offense they may feel.
The Nigerian Navy says it has uncovered an illegal oil bunkering site at the government-owned Ship Builders Yard facility in Port Harcourt.

Commodore Sanusi Ibrahim, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Port Harcourt, who took journalists to the illegal site on Sunday, said five suspects were arrested at the scene.

He said naval troops were immediately deployed to the site at Makoba Beach, shortly after a whistle blower revealed the location of the illegal site.

Following intelligence tip-off, we raided the area and discovered seven different storage facilities in a secret make-shift facility at the Ship Builders Yard, very close to Ibeto cement and NPA.

During investigation, we discovered illegal activities which involved bunkering of illegally refined petroleum products and lifting of diesel on to wooden boats, trucks and tanker trucks.

Several drums loaded with stolen diesel and two trucks waiting to load petroleum products among other equipment were seen at the site.

Five suspects, including a driver and three conductors of the trucks, were arrested while others fled the scene on sighting advancing naval operatives, he said.

Represented by Sunday Haruna, the NNS Pathfinder Base Operation Officer, Mr. Ibrahim said investigations were ongoing to identify sources of the products and those who patronise the site. He said that the suspects were currently being questioned in order to identity the operators of the site and how they carried out the illicit business without detection.

Navy operatives are currently trailing some individuals who have been identified as sponsors and owners of the illegal bunkering site, he said.

Mr. Ibrahim, while urging oil thieves to desist from sabotage of oil and gas installations, gave an assurance that the navy would continue with its 24- hour patrol and community-based intelligence gathering strategy.

The commander called on the public to continue to provide the navy and other security agencies with timely information to enable it rid the region of oil thieves and pipeline vandals.

(NAN)
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested seven suspected cultists who engaged in supremacy battle in Bariga area of the State on Saturday, leading to the killing of a 65-year-old woman.

The deceased, Adejoke Adefuye, was burnt beyond recognition when her house located at 19, Oshinfolarin Street in Bariga was set ablaze by the rival cult groups.

Trouble had started when members of Eiye confraternity led by one Ibrahim Balogun clashed with another rival cult group known as Aiye confraternity led by a man simply identified as Gideon in a supremacy fight at the area.

The cultists, according to reports, vandalized some vehicles parked along the road in the area, while two members of the Aiye confraternity known as Bobo and Abayomi Olubola lost their lives in the fracas.

A statement issued on Sunday by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Dolapo Badmus, confirmed the arrest of the cultists, as well as some of the equipment used to carry out the operation.

Ms. Badmus said the second in command of one of the cult groups was among those arrested, while three power bikes, one live/expended cartridge and a tricycle popularly known as Keke Marwa used to get to the scene were also confiscated.

She said the cultists have been terrorizing the area for some days and that they were able to make some arrests due to the quick response to the distress calls received concerning the fracas.

Those arrested, according to Ms. Badmus, include Afees Fagunwa, Nurudeen Lateef, Richard Ewa, Richard Abayomi, Mohammed Musa, Kayode Dada and Adams Adelakun.

She said that the bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Gbagada General Hospital for autopsy by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit while other occupants of the burnt building who sustained minor injuries were treated by the Lagos State Ambulance Services.

She said that further investigation into the matter had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti.
A leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has said that politicians have a lot to learn from the uniqueness of Ibadan Obaship succession system.

The former Lagos governor disclosed this on Sunday in Ibadan during a condolence visit to the palace of the late Olubadan of Ibadan land, Samuel Odulana.

Mr. Tinubu said that the unique thing to learn from the system was that once an Oba departs, the successor is already known in the Ibadan succession system.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Ibadan Obaship succession is rotated between two lines  Otun Olubadan and Balogun.

The system operates on hierarchy that allows for elevation on every available vacancy.

Mr. Tinubu said the nations political system would have been very smooth and peaceful if such system was emulated.

He however noted that the self-centred nature of politicians would never allow it.

The former senator described the late Olubadan as a straightforward, honest, humble, diligent, fearless and a democrat per excellence.

He commended the children of the late monarch for upholding the virtues and legacies of their father.

Mr. Tinubu also hailed the chiefs for their support and loyalty to the Olubadan during his reign.

Similarly, Bisi Akande, the former Interim National Chairman of APC said that the late Olubadan was a politician, a father and good dictionary that would be greatly missed.

The old are our dictionary, whom we consult in unravelling the definition and facts about difficult situations.

The late monarch would be greatly missed for his wise counsel, he said.

Mr. Akande commiserated with the family and the chiefs, and prayed God to grant the departed peaceful rest.

In a response, Lekan Balogun, the Otun Olubadan of Ibadan, thanked the visitors for their love for the family and Ibadan as a whole.

Mr. Balogun, who spoke on behalf of the Olubadan-in-Council, said that they were elated over the visit by the dignitaries.

Also, Professor Femi Lana, the eldest child of the late monarch, thanked the guests for being in Ibadan to commiserate with the family members and the people of Ibadan.

Mr. Lana said that the monarch died peacefully after taking the Holy Communion.

In the entourage were Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo and an Ondo State senator, Pius Akinyelure.

(NAN)
Hubballi: A severe drinking water crisis looms large over most villages in North Karnataka in the forthcoming summer.

But, leaders of all political parties have turned their focus to the forthcoming zilla and taluk panchayat elections though the high fluoride content in water has been posing health hazards with the underground water table receding in several taluks.

People will be forced to walk several kilometres to fetch drinking water as lakes have dried up in many villages due to drought for two consecutive years. The drop in the water level in Almatti and Tungabhadra dams has become a cause of worry for people in the region. The government has also failed to fulfill its promise to set up reverse osmosis plants in rural areas. Several plants have become defunct due to lack of maintenance in rural areas. The problem will aggravate if power shortage poses hurdles to storage in tanks from borewells or river water. Several permanent drinking water projects in rural areas are also progressing at a snails pace, causing concern among villagers.

People of Gadag-Betageri twin city, the home town of rural development and panchayat raj minister H.K. Patil, will be worst hit during summer. Officials claim that the water supply stands at 11 million litres per day as against the of 20 million litres. The water level will recede by next month in Tungabhadra river which is the main source of drinking water for citizens of Gadag-Betageri.

Villages in Ron and Nargund taluks will also be prone to a water crisis as the underground water table has fallen more than 400 feet. The officials of the Zilla Panchayat have failed to get water despite digging many borewells in these taluks. The process to set up around 185 reverse osmosis plants is underway in Gadag district which has a high fluoride content in underground water. We have evolved plans to supply water from Malaprabha and Tungabhadra rivers under the multi-village scheme at a cost of Rs 1,030 crores. We will arrange drinking water supply to the villages through tankers in summer as the project requires at least 30 months for completion. Several water purification plants are not working in the district as the agencies concerned and Gram Panchayats have failed to take up maintenance work", said Gadag Zilla Panchayat water supply division executive engineer G.B. Kattimani. Several villages in Kundagol, Navalgund and Dharwad taluks will also face acute shortage of drinking water during summer.

Officials had to face the wrath of people in Kusugal, Banidwad, Nagarahalli, Ingalahalli villages for failure to supply adequate water in tankers. Dried up lakes and defunct borewells have worsened the problems in these villages. People in rural parts of Bagalkot have been reeling under water scarcity every summer despite three rivers- Krishna, Malaprabha and Ghataprabha flowing through the district.
JOHANNESBURG - Lions are getting pregnant and the waterbuck population is soaring at one of Mozambique's main national parks, once the scene of fighting during a civil war that virtually wiped out the park's lions, elephants and many other species.

The 15-year conflict that killed as many as

1 million people ended in 1992, and some former battlefield foes are now working together as rangers at Gorongosa National Park, where foreign donors and conservationists helped launch a turnaround on a continent accustomed to bad news about wildlife welfare.

Still, the park remains vulnerable to poachers and other problems. Tourism dropped in 2013 and 2014 during sporadic violence linked to the rivalry between Renamo, Mozambique's main opposition group, and its former adversary during the civil war, the ruling Frelimo party. The park is also in Sofala province, an opposition stronghold in central Mozambique.

Gorongosa became a national park under Portuguese colonizers in 1960. The decade that followed is considered the park's heyday; actors John Wayne and Gregory Peck and author James Michener went on safari there, according to the park's website.

The civil war began in 1977 after Portugal's exit from Mozambique. Fighters killed Gorongosa's elephants for their ivory and slaughtered other animals, emptying a once-teeming landscape. Widespread poaching continued after a peace deal.

Today, there is a lot to see, thanks largely to a 2008 deal in which a nonprofit group founded by American philanthropist Greg Carr pledged at least $1.2 million annually to the restoration of Gorongosa for 20 years. More funding came from European governments, the United States Agency for International Development and other donors.

Workers have built tourism facilities, planted trees and relocated buffalos, hippos and elephants from neighboring South Africa into Gorongosa; money has flowed to poor local communities whose support for the park is seen as indispensable.

"Things are really starting to go quite fast," said Marc Stalmans, director of scientific services at Gorongosa, which encompasses 1,570 square miles and was expanded to include the mountain of the same name in 2010.

The numbers tell a remarkable story of recovery, particularly at a time when populations of threatened species are under pressure from poachers and human encroachment elsewhere in Mozambique and in much of the rest of Africa. Even so, the counts in Gorongosa are generally far below what they were before the war.

The estimated elephant population went from 2,500 in the early 1970s to fewer than 200 in 2000 and more than 500 in 2014. Similarly, researchers have counted nearly 60 lions, double the number a few years ago, but below the estimated 200 in 1972.

Four lions were pregnant in December, and at least one of them has produced a litter, Stal-mans wrote in an email.

"The biggest cause of mortality is lions becoming 'by-catch' in snares and traps set for antelopes by the poachers," Stalmans said. "A significant percentage of our lions have lost toes or part of a paw to snares and traps but managed to break loose. Some unfortunately die."

The waterbuck population is more than 34,000, 10 times the figure recorded 40 years ago. It is likely the single largest group of waterbuck in Africa, according to park managers.

Jen Guyton, an ecologist working in Gorongosa, believes one reason that waterbucks have bred so fast is because, unlike other antelope, they like eating weeds that replaced grasses on floodplains, a change in vegetation possibly related to the massive loss of wildlife during the war. Experts have noted significant changes in the ecosystem, apparently linked to the animal slaughter, and are trying to understand them.

Another theory is that waterbuck survived the civil war in greater numbers than other species, and are simply growing in population at what is considered a normal rate.

Most of the park is inaccessible by road. To keep track of wildlife, researchers have installed 50 motion-sensitive cameras, amassing several hundred thousand images. Some cameras can only be reached by helicopter, including in limestone gorges. Some cameras were destroyed by elephants or inundated by rising rivers and were replaced.

Under Gorongosa's "WildCam" project, online volunteers help sort the vast amount of data, logging onto an interactive website and identifying animals in photos, noting how many are visible and reporting what they are doing ("resting" and "eating" are options).

The wildlife resurgence has led to new challenges, including conflict between villagers and elephants encroaching on farmland. Also, the goal of a park reliant on its own revenue is distant - it reported just 2,300 tourists in 2015, far below visitor numbers in major parks in, for example, South Africa and Kenya.

Gorongosa's last rhinos, a species under heavy threat today, were wiped out in the 1970s. One day, park managers hope, rhinos will again roam there.

Ex-foes working together produce rare good wildlife news in Africa
The impasse among state legislative leaders on expanding casinos to North Jersey was short-lived.

Once Gov. Chris Christie backed the proposal by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Sen. Paul Sarlo, of Bergen County, it quickly received bipartisan support and passed the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee last week.

The bill details the sweeteners for Atlantic City in the plan to develop rival casinos.

If passed (and these days, nothing from Trenton seems certain or timely), the referendum to approve expanded gaming would dedicate a substantial share of state casino revenue for "the recovery, stabilization or improvement of Atlantic City." That includes not just revenue from the two new upstate casinos but also from those in Atlantic City.

The proposal's complex formula would, starting in the second year of upstate casino operations, give each of the two municipalities hosting the new casinos 1 percent of the revenue.

Then half of remaining state casino revenues up to $150 million would go to the state to use helping Atlantic City. The share meant for the city in each block of revenue beyond that would shrink - 40 percent of the next $150 million, then 30 percent, then 20 percent.

The casino expansion deal also would give Atlantic City casino operators (perhaps with partners) 60 days of exclusive eligibility for an upstate casino license. Proposed casinos would have to be major projects, worth $1 billion or more.

All of this is still a long way off. The resolution will need the votes of three-fifths of each house of the Legislature, and the constitutional referendum it authorizes would need to be approved by voters in November.

Representatives of the city and Atlantic County are naturally vowing to do all they can to prevent upstate casinos, the promises of major funding for Atlantic City revitalization notwithstanding. Competition from convenient casinos in several surrounding states has already halved the Atlantic City industry's revenue, and competitors upstate would diminish it further.

But now that the state's Republican and Democrat leaderships seem largely in agreement on how to proceed, expanded gaming looks more inevitable again.

Last week, New Jersey casino expansion got the backing of the state's two biggest business organizations.

Michelle Siekerka, president of the N.J. Business & Industry Association, said, "Expanding gaming beyond Atlantic City is the best way to compete with casinos in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and also provide sorely needed redevelopment funds for Atlantic City."

Thomas Bracken, president of the N.J. Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the bipartisan compromise, saying casino expansion could significantly benefit the state.

While area legislators and local officials are fighting to stop North Jersey casinos, perhaps they should hedge their bets and try to maintain the levels of Atlantic City funding in the bill.

Our view:
Tweet this: Best Price Trailers Donates Trailer To Holly Hill Police Department's Police Explorer Post 435. #Daytona Beach

By: Best Price Trailers

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Best Price Trailers

***@bestpricetrailers.com Best Price Trailers

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-- Best Price Trailers is pleased to announce they have donated a 6x12 trailer with a value of $2,800 to the Holly Hill Police Departments Police Explorer Post 435.On behalf of the Holly Hill Police Department and the Holly Hill Police Explorers Post 435 we would like to say thank you to Best Price Trailers for making the donation of the trailer to this explorer post - we cannot express enough of our gratitude, said Chief Stephen Aldrich, a Holly Hill Police Explorers Post 435 Advisor. We are very excited to add this to our post to help further recruitment and travel for the post, he added. The Expolorers also said that they were pleased that a business within the city took a chance to help these young adults. Their goal for the program is to have a positive influence on the lives of the young members in hopes that the values they learn carry over to adulthood.Best Price Trailers opened their Florida showroom in 2003 at 930 Ridgewood Ave, in Daytona Beach. They carry over 200 car trailers, motorcycle trailers, utility, equipment, cargo, race and stacker trailers ready for immediate shipment of trailers worldwide. They are a recipient of the ATC World Class Trailers Top 10 Dealer Award for 2014. BestPriceTrailers.com offers a wide variety of open and enclosed trailers for sale online. All of their custom trailers are designed and built with aluminum or steel framing by top trailer manufacturers. They carry; ATC, Bigtex, Cargomate, Continental Cargo, Aluma, Haulmark, Stealth, and H&H Trailers. In July, 2015 they purchased the adjacent property, demolished a portion of the building that was on the property, and are currently remodeling and expanding to include more office space and outdoor showroom area. They can be reached at 1-877-258-1445, or online at BestPriceTrailers.com or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ car.trailers ______Back row: Robin Hanger, Officer Nicholas Champion, Sergeant Thomas Bentley. Front Row: Chad Hannum, Illya Smith. Next row: Taylor Outlaw, Josh Bridger, Thomas Workman, Chief Stephen Aldrich
J. f. Cantu delivers a thrilling, plausible fictional story that will send chills down your spine.

The Legacy

Contact

Don McGuire

***@brightonpublishing.com Don McGuire

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-- Brighton Publishing LLC proudly announces the eBook release ofThe Legacyby author J. f. Cantu.The eBook is now available in popular eBook formats through multiple online vendors including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other leading retailers. Print release is scheduled for summer 2016 and will be distributed through Ingram Content Group, the worlds largest wholesale book distributor. It will also be available from bookstores nationally and worldwide through the Espresso Book Machine network.Synopsis: Skylar Malone (Johann Hiedler) has come a long way from his birthplace in Berlin and childhood in the hills of Argentina and Paraguay. Years have passeda lifetime. As a Private Investigator who has lived with amnesia in America for the past ten years, and who is now in pursuit of a serial killer; he encounters dark flashes of his past. Flashes that stagger him with sobering recollections of his true identity.Why scenes of a flaming swastika prey on his mind; why he is constantly besieged with reminders that he wears the mask of Hitler; he does not know. Attempting to dismiss these uncertain recollections, Malone soon finds himself espousing viewpoints and inclinations that once stirred the world to war.While closing in on the killer who has been terrorizing Californias East Bay, Malones memory comes sweeping across his mind with the truth of who he isJohann Hiedler, son of Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun. His life unravels before him when confronted by the grouping of the three most significant people in his life: Theresa Meister, Bishop Hudal, and Valeri Zhukov.Theresa Meister, his true love, now a young woman, was the girl he met as a young man in Paraguay. Bishop Hudal, nephew of the Vaticans Bishop Hudal who aided the escape of many Nazis via the Underground Railroad, is the man Hiedler recruited in Paraguay toward resurrecting his fathers quest. Valeri Zhukov, son the Russian General who commanded the assault on Hitlers Berlin bunker, is now the prime target of the East Bay killer; the man Hiedler intends to personally eliminate in avenging his fathers death.From the moment his memory returns; Malone, now Hiedler, focuses the entire thrust of his life on reawakening the National Socialist campaign with Theresa Meister by his side. That thrust leads to the portent of things to come, a resurgence of the Nazi Regime in modern America.J. f. delivers a masterfully written work comparable with the works of Ray Bradbury, said Don McGuire, of Brighton Publishing.Jose Cantu is an award winning poet who has appeared on television in a telecast for writers, and also speaks at writing seminars and workshops. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. Marys University, a Masters Degree in Management & Supervision Administration from Central Michigan University, a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Doctorate in that field from Nova University. He resides in Stockton, California.
Timebanking at Duneland Innovators Meetup

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-- Duneland Innovators will host its next Meetup event in Valparaiso on February 3rd. The evening is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. CST at Figure 8 Brewing in Downtown Valparaiso, Indiana. The event's topic is Timebanking:Community Wealth Building and will presented by Kathy Sipple."Timebanking is a new concept to many of us. The basic premise [is that] for every hour you invest doing work for someone via the timebank, you receive an hour that you can spend on any service offered via the timebank - not just with the person to whom you provided the service. " said presenter lead Kathy Sipple. "I'm excited to present at the Duneland Innovator's meet up because this group is particularly receptive to new and innovative ideas. ."This project has a lot of potential to help solo-preneurs build their network and gain resources for their own efforts without breaking them financially,Duneland Innovators Media Coordinator Michael Finney remarked. We're really looking forward to learning more about how this grow and become a real asset for the folks that are involved.Events are held the first Wednesday of every month. They are part educational presentation and part networking mixer. Each gathering is open to the public. For the latest news about upcoming events, join the Duneland Innovators group on the Meetup App.Duneland Innovators publishes news from around the shoreline of Lake Michigan. If it involves business, academics, technology or government in the Northwest Indiana, Chicagoland or southwest Michigan region you might read about it on the site.What story do have to tell?Mystic Waters Media specializes in developing content marketing strategies for small business clients. Operating a company today can take so much time and effort that marketing is often left behind. Generating the content for even basic mechanisms such as social media, email campaigns and other editorial or graphical elements can seem out of reach. Mystic Waters Media can become a conduit for ideas and manufacture the elements that are needed to get a message out.Do you own a small business and require marketing of any nature? Mystic Waters Media specializes in modern, localized marketing practices for businesses.
A masterful story showcasing the brilliant talent of novelist R.J. Poliquin

Death of the Island Fox

Contact

Don McGuire

***@brightonpublishing.com Don McGuire

End

-- Brighton Publishing LLC is pleased to announce the eBook release offrom novelist R.J. Poliquin. The eBook is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other fine eBook retailers. The print edition is scheduled for release in mid-summer and distributed by Ingram, the worlds largest wholesale book distributor, in addition to being available worldwide through the Espresso Book Machine Network.Synopsis:Dillon and Lane are surprised and pleased when Lanes Uncle Jim offers them the use of his new 40 Chris-Craft for their trip to Catalina Island and honeymoon cruise to San Diegos Mission Bay. Uncle Jim is a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy and a father figure to Lane and her sisters. The couple accompanied by two family members sail to Catalina Island where the remainder of their small family on both sides join them for a fun weekend which culminates in a Saturday evening wedding.After the wedding, Uncle Jim has the newlyweds drop him off on the north side of nearby San Clemente Island on their voyage to Mission Bay. Lane and Dillon reluctantly agree feeling guilty over his generosity.After delivering Uncle Jim to the island, the newlyweds slowly motor south along the isolated far coast of the island when suddenly they are both knocked overboard into the water. The boat still in gear but with no crew, heads ghostly towards Mexican waters. Dillon manages to get them safely to shore, and working together they find food and shelter. After days of being marooned on the island, one evening they find a hysterical young woman calling and searching for her Australian boyfriend. While camping illegally on the beach with their sailboat anchored nearby, something horrible had happened!Dillon and Lane soon become embroiled in a web of deceit, international conspiracy, unexplained death, political and naval corruption, kickbacks and missing persons.Death of the Island Fox is intricately plotted, with a compelling cast of characters that slowly ratchets the tension said Don McGuire, of Brighton Publishing LLC. This book is without question, a work that showcases the incredible literary talent of the author.R.J. Poliquin is a senior project manager in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has been intimately involved in the construction of many of the strips premier projects, including; Bellagio, The Wynn, Mandalay Bay, Green Valley Ranch, MGM Grand, Red Rock Resort, Town Square, City Center, LINQ and others.He grew up on the beaches of southern California, surfing, diving, and generally enjoying all water sports. For a few years he spent the summer on Catalina Island, one of Californias Channel Islands. R.J. is married with two grown children and two unruly cats. His family moved to Nevada eighteen years ago when his house became too small, the kids too large and work in California slowed down. Missing the ocean, he now gets a water fix by kayaking in the Colorado River or standup paddling in Lake Las Vegas.R.J. is an award winning hardware designer, twice capturing first place in the prestigious Doug Mockett design contest.He may be contacted at:
Finally, there is Hoorias Cuisine that has made it a piece of cake for people to arrange for great food for their small gatherings. It does not matter what type of gathering is underway, Hoorias Cuisine is a complete place for all types of foods with hygiene and health as common factors.

By: Hooria's Cuisine

Contact

Hooria Hassan

***@gmail.com Hooria Hassan

End

-- Starting in just 2015, www.hooriascuisine.com has become big news among people who are often entertaining guests. Ordering from hotels and restaurants is already pretty common, but there is a huge difference between whats prepared in the secret kitchens of most hotels and what's cooked with the hands of a professional chef.The idea is quite simple: customers interested in ordering food for their parties and gatherings will simply choose the type of food they want and it will reach them at their provided address. The food that is cooked will be chosen from the menu that is available to anyone looking to order food from Hoorias Cuisine.You can order food for any number of people, and the big thing is that this food will be prepared by a qualified chef. Another great thing about Hoorias Cuisine is how it has been left up to customers to decide how much they would like to spend. Customers interested in ordering will have to inform the staff about the number of people that will be attending the event and their budget. The chefs at Hoorias Cuisine will then make sure to adjust the best foods within the budget that a customer has.Hooria is skilled at preparing almost any kind of food that people like. After calling the given numbers on the website, customers will only have to wait for their delicious and hygienic food to arrive. Hygiene is a point of emphasis at Hoorias Cuisine, and no food is prepared with any compromise in quality or hygiene.Hooria is a chef by qualification who has completed a chef graduation course at one of the best institutes in the country called COTHM (College of Tourism and Hospitality Management). While Hoorias Cuisine had only started as a home-based venture, it soon turned into something far beyond that as more and more customers became fans of the scrumptious and yet healthy and hygienic food that they served their guests. The kitchens at Hoorias Cuisine are preparing foods from every corner of the world, such as Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Thai and of course, Pakistani.The website of Hoorias Cuisine is also running a blog that will publish interesting recipes, cooking tips, food advice and a lot more interesting stuff for people who love foods or enjoy cooking. Visit the blog here Phone: 0331-4577344 / 0331-4736775
Over 35 Million Monthly Unique Users Nominated Best Home Building, Remodeling and Design Professionals in North America and Around the World

Contact

Amy M. Nowak-Palmerini, AIA

***@roamdesignllc.com Amy M. Nowak-Palmerini, AIA

End

--ofhas wonandon Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The 4-year old residential and commercial architecture firm was chosen by the more than 35 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than one million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design award winners work was the most popular among the more than 35 million monthly users on Houzz. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2015. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award. A Best Of Houzz 2016 badge will appear on winners profiles, as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.We are extremely excited to be recognized for both design and service by such a diverse and discerning on-line community, said Amy M. Nowak-Palmerini, Principal. Its an honor to be selected, and a testament to our firms creativity and passion for what we do.Anyone building, remodeling or decorating looks to Houzz for the most talented and service-oriented professionalssaid Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. Were so pleased to recognizeROAM Design, LLC, voted one of our Best Of Houzz professionals by our enormous community of homeowners and design enthusiasts actively remodeling and decorating their homes.ROAM Design, LLC is a full-service architecture firm located in Rockland County, NY, dedicated to providing high-quality architectural designs, translating our clients visions into built reality. Our project portfolio consists of single-family residential additions and new construction, multi-family residential, corporate interiors, retail, hospitality and healthcare projects. Our firm principals are registered in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, proudly serving the tri-state area. View our portfolio of work at www.roamdesignllc.com Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish  online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide.
ST HELIER, Jersey, January 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Consolidated Minerals advises that as a direct result of the current record low price for manganese ore the Board has taken the difficult decision to suspend operations at Woodie Woodie and commence a transition into care and maintenance. Despite relentless cost-cutting and marketing efforts to remain competitive, the price for manganese ore is now so low that in the Board's view continuing to operate at Woodie Woodie is no longer economically viable

This decision means that all operations will cease at the Woodie Woodie mine site by the 2nd February 2016 and most positions there and in West Perth will be made redundant by or at that time. Approximately 330 direct employees and 50 contractors will be impacted. A small team will be maintained for a short period beyond this date to complete a number of activities that are necessary to transition Woodie Woodie into care and maintenance. Beyond this transition, a smaller caretaking and support team will be retained.

The Company intends to sell existing ore stockpiles as and when satisfactory prices can be achieved.

Consolidated Minerals would like to take this opportunity to thank all employees for their dedication, hard work and support.

SOURCE Consolidated Minerals Ltd
Each LYNK is 100% customised to the requirements of each Client.

Y.CO, the challenger brand of the superyacht industry, is very excited to announce the launch of personalised digital Client platform Y.CO LYNK.

The moment a Client sends a charter enquiry, an assigned Y.CO charter consultant creates a secure private microsite, featuring a personally selected collection of suggested yachts and bespoke itineraries for the Client to review. Dynamic, content-rich webpages, uniquely created for each Client.

Each LYNK is 100% customised to the requirements of each Client. The Y.CO charter consultant can populate a LYNK with an unlimited number of yachts from the global charter fleet to suit the Clients requirements, and bespoke, dynamic, content-rich itineraries anywhere in the world. Once a Client has selected and booked the perfect yacht (after updates to the selection by the charter consultant if necessary), itineraries are discussed, amended and finalised by Client and consultant.

The first platform of its kind in the yachting industry, Y.CO LYNK will revolutionise the yacht charter booking experience by giving Clients access to all elements of their charters and enquiries, current and past, in one place. A single, user-friendly platform. A consistent, controlled, personalised online experience.

Y.CO LYNK is available to view anytime, anywhere. The Y.CO LYNK user experience has been optimised for all platforms, including mobile, tablet and desktop.

For more information please contact:

Charlotte Bailey / Y.CO

+377 93 50 12 12

CSB(at)Y(dot)CO
Like many others, Reign celebrated the announcement. But only for a moment.

"Although we are encouraged by today's news, change must still be made," says Reign, who still plans to rally viewers in boycotting the Feb. 28 broadcast. "The nominees are still the same as they were a week ago."

The actions announced Friday by academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs following a unanimous vote by the academy's 51-member Board of Governors were by some measure an uncommonly quick reaction to the crisis that had enveloped the Academy Awards since nominations were announced eight days earlier.

But to many of those who have lobbied for change, the academy's announcement was seen as just a beginning: a first step in a growing movement for equal opportunity, on movie sets and award-show stages, in an industry that lags far behind matching the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of its moviegoing public.

"I applaud their attempts to do something about it," said Don Cheadle, who was nominated for best actor in 2005 for his performance in "Hotel Rwanda." ''But, again, this is dealing with the symptom, not starting at the root cause of how we even get to results like this, which has to do with inclusion and access and the ability for people of color, women and minorities to get at entry-level positions where you can become someone who can green-light a movie."

To infuse an overwhelming white, male and older academy with more diverse members who might be drawn to more varied nominees, the academy's Board of Governors voted to require that member voting status (previously a lifetime honor) be reviewed every 10 years; that the board add three new seats to be filled by Boone Isaacs; and that traditional member recruitment be expanded in a global campaign to boost diversity. The academy's goal is to double the number of women and minorities by 2020, though it hasn't disclosed its current demographic makeup.

Those reforms  which the academy boasted were "sweeping" and "historic"  were received by many as necessary updates for an institution that the Los Angeles Times in 2012 found is 94 percent white and 77 percent male. But most who cheered the move emphasized a longer, ongoing struggle.

Ava DuVernay, director of last year's best-picture nominee "Selma," called the academy's announcement "one good step in a long complicated journey for people of color and women artists." Chaz Ebert, publisher of RogerEbert.com and wife of the late critic, said, "The academy took the first step. Now let's have the studios, the production companies, agencies, unions and financiers follow suit for diversity." Cameron Bailey, the artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival  where many Oscar campaigns are launched  praised the academy's "impressive, bold action," but added: "Studios, you're next."

Whether the academy can shift the focus onto the larger industry will be challenging. Thanks to the last two years of nominees, the Oscars have absorbed the lion's share of the spotlight on diversity.

Boone Isaacs, the academy's first African-American president, will also have to contend with the concerns of older members, whose academy membership will flip to "emeritus" status if they're no longer active in the industry at the time of their review. But "active" is an imprecise, potentially fraught term in a Hollywood where even the most successful players can go years without a project getting off the ground.

In an email to membership, Boone Isaacs sought to assure that even "emeritus" members will still receive annual for-your-consideration screeners from studios  usually seen as the most enviable perk of academy membership.

There is historical precedent for Boone Isaac's efforts to change the academy's membership. In the late 1960s, then-president Gregory Peck led a purge of older, inactive members in a bid to make the academy younger and more in touch with a changing culture.

This time, the academy is trying not just to reform itself, but to spur all of the movie industry to greater diversity. Boone Isaacs pointedly signaled that the academy's actions were not sufficient for Hollywood.

"The academy is going to lead," she said in a statement, "and not wait for the industry to catch up."
Reforming the state's criminal justice system presents the first-term Republican governor with a rare opportunity to find agreement with legislators as he prepares to deliver his second State of the State address Wednesday. Rauner's first year in office has been defined by a budget stalemate  now in its seventh month  with Democrats who control the Legislature.

But reforming the criminal justice system and shifting more attention to rehabilitating offenders rather than imprisoning them is an issue that's appealing to both parties here and around the country.

"Even though there's a lot of gridlock right now, you're seeing a real strong bipartisan agreement that this is something that Illinois has to do," said John Maki, executive director of Illinois' Criminal Justice Information Authority, an organization that administers federal public safety grants and researches criminal justice trends.

Maki is part of a 28-member group convened by Rauner last year with the goal of reducing Illinois' prison population by 25 percent by 2025. Here's a look at the group's work and some of the 14 recommendations they've presented the governor.

THE CHALLENGE

Illinois' prison population has grown from 6,000 in 1974 to about 49,000 presently. That's an increase of more than 500 percent for a system designed to house 32,000 inmates. Annually, it costs more than $22,000 on average to incarcerate someone and the state spends $1.3 billion per year on prisons.

Rauner told commission members Jan. 14 that programs that reduce recidivism and help inmates acclimate back into society is a worthy investment now to save money in the future. It's a popular idea among other states with Republican leadership, such as Georgia and Kansas, which have recently taken measures to reduce their prison population.

Some Democrats also have long expressed interest in reforming states' criminal justice systems, arguing that minorities are often disproportionately represented in prisons, sometimes as a result of low-level drug offenses.

"I was glad to hear (Rauner) say it," said Rep. Elgie Sims, a Chicago Democrat on the commission. "And I hope that the investment and the desire to get things done really happen."

THE RECOMMENDATIONS

Since the commission started meeting in March, its focus has been to study possible changes to sentencing laws, alternatives to incarceration and effective rehabilitation programs.

Among the group's recommendations:

 Allow judges discretion to sentence someone to probation for low-level offenses, like residential burglary or some drug crimes.

 Authorize and encourage the Department of Corrections to use alternatives to prison for those facing a sentence of less than a year.

 Use electronic monitoring instead of prison for those with short sentences.

 Eliminate unnecessary restrictions for convicts looking to obtain professional licenses for jobs.

 Improve prison rehabilitation programs, with a focus on substance abuse and cognitive behavioral therapy.

"If we can implement your recommendations, I firmly believe that we can have the people of Illinois safer, I believe that we can save taxpayer money, and most importantly I believe we can help those who've made mistakes lead productive lives," Rauner told the group.

It's not yet known how much rehabilitation programs would cost the state, or how the state would cover the price tag. But commission members say the savings from reducing the prison population can help.

THE NEXT STEPS

Many of the first set of recommendations can be implemented without legislative approval. But the group is currently working on more recommendations, due sometime this spring, that will require legislation. Some of the topics include possible changes to sentences without the possibility of parole and modifications to sentences for drug offenses.

Those may require tough votes for lawmakers, commission members said.

"It can be seen as being soft on crime when in reality we're being smart on crime," said Rep. Scott Drury, a Democrat from Highwood.

Brendan Kelly, the state's attorney in St. Clair County and another member of the commission, said its goals are laudable but added there must be caution not to do away with laws that have improved public safety, like mandatory minimums for violent crimes.

"That's the trick. Public safety has to be paramount," he said.
DAVENPORT-- It was a day of campaigning Saturday as hopefuls for the Democratic presidential nomination showered Iowans with attention in the lead up to the Iowa caucuses.

Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley were all in Davenport looking to gain more support.

Ms. Clinton spoke twice -- at a "Hard Hats for Hillary" event at the Danceland Ballroom in downtown and again at the "Red, White and Blue Banquet" organized by the Scott County Democratic Party and held at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport. Each event drew several hundred.

"Please come join me," she invited people at the banquet.

At the "Hard Hats" event she told the audience she has her supporters' backs.

"You will know you have a friend in the White House, " Ms. Clinton said.

She said her plans to improve the economy include a focus on rebuilding America's infrastructure and encouraging expansion of green energy industries.

Her platform also includes raising the minimum wage and equal pay for women as part of her economic policy, but not raising taxes on most people.

"I will work to raise your incomes, I will not work to raise your taxes," she said.

She also expressed her support to unions and credited them for helping to build the American middle class.

Ms. Clinton said she supports the Affordable Care Act, describing it as a strong base from which to build the nation's health care.

Sen. Sanders encouraged canvass volunteers at his Davenport headquarters. More than 100 people packed in to hear him speak.

He said people getting involved helps bring about change.

"When we stand together, there is nothing, nothing, nothing we can't accomplish," Sen. Sanders said.

Ordinary people have to get involved in the election process to bring about change, he said. Workers challenging long hours and low pay, young people wanting higher education without deep debt, and women challenging wage disparity-- that's how to win.

Mr. O'Malley also spoke at the banquet. He said he was in Iowa to challenge its people to lift up a new leader but credited President Barack Obama for his work over his two terms.

He said the country must build upon the good President Obama has done

"We have work to do," Mr. O'Malley told the audience.

His focus includes increasing wages; comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship; expansion of social security; working toward debt free college; and supporting efforts to combat climate change, including expansions of renewable energy industries.

"There are many challenges we have to face," Mr. O'Malley said.

But he said America's beliefs, ideas and values are key to facing them.

"Together we will move our country forward," he said.
GENESEO  The city will consider cell tower locations again next month with a Feb. 1 planning commission meeting on a request on behalf of Verizon Wireless.

When Cingular wrote to the city earlier this month about renewing an option on a cell tower site at the public works building off Chicago Street, Mayor Nadine Palmgren said that location would be a possible site for Verizon to share, but it appears that wont be the case.

On Jan. 15, Mayor Palmgren received an e-mail from Nathan Ward of Buell Consulting, a cell tower search firm for Verizon, stating the Cingular site would create a situation where equipment would only perform at 30 to 60 percent of capacity and leaves the community suffering from impaired service performance. Mr. Ward concluded they would pursue the city-owned site at the corner of Spring and First streets  adding we have a back-up location in town on private property and would execute an option there and apply for permitting.

A Feb. 1 planning commission meeting will be held for a different site for Verizon through Buell, three blocks from the First and Spring location at 504 E. Exchange Street. The city council in April of 2010 voted down a cell tower on that location.

Mayor Nadine Palmgren noted this week the E. Exchange site and the Chicago Street public works site are less than a mile apart, and the public works location is further from houses.

The council meets Tuesday but wont be deciding cell tower issues.
WASHINGTON, D.C.

An 82-year-old man who died after going into cardiac arrest while shoveling snow in front of his home in Washington is the first person whose death is related to the snowstorm in the city. The District of Columbia's Chief Medical Examiner, Roger A. Mitchell Jr., announced the man's death Sunday. Mitchell did not release the man's name or say when he died or where in the city he lived. He encouraged people shoveling to take breaks and make sure that they keep hydrated.

DELAWARE

 A U.S. Capitol Police officer died of a heart attack after shoveling snow at his home in Delaware. Nicole Alston says her husband, 44-year-old Officer Vernon Alston, collapsed Saturday afternoon outside their home in Magnolia after he'd been shoveling snow for about an hour. She says he died within seconds. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Alston's death on Sunday, calling him "a fixture on the Capitol grounds." Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine says in a statement that Alston was a 20-year veteran of the force.

KENTUCKY

 A Kentucky transportation worker died Saturday while plowing snow-covered highways, officials said. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet identified him in a statement as Christopher Adams. The statement says Adams called a supervisor about 5:50 a.m., saying his plow slid into a ditch. When the supervisor arrived, Adams was slumped over, unresponsive in his seat. A cause of death has not been released.

 A man died in southeastern Kentucky when his car collided with a salt truck Thursday, state police said. Billy R. Stevens, 59, of Williamsburg was pronounced dead at the scene on state Route 92 in Whitley County.

MARYLAND

 Two people have died from heart attacks while shoveling snow in Maryland. A 49-year-old man suffered cardiac arrest while shoveling in Abingdon on Saturday, County Executive Barry Glassman said Sunday. Officials in Prince George's County said a man collapsed and died Saturday while shoveling snow in Fort Washington. Bob Maloney, director of Baltimore's office of emergency management, said not one life was lost due to the storm in the city.

NEW JERSEY

 A 23-year-old New Jersey mom and her year-old son died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sitting in a running car that had its tailpipe covered in snow, The Record reported, citing Passaic police. The woman's 3-year-old daughter was also hurt and was hospitalized in "very critical condition," police said. Authorities believe they were watching other family members shovel snow and didn't realize what was happening.

NEW YORK

 Police say a 66-year-old man was struck and killed by a snow plow while he was standing in front of his home on Long Island. Nassau County Police say the private plow was clearing snow from the man's property in Oyster Bay Cove when it happened just after 2 p.m. Sunday. The victim was identified as Al Mansoor.

 Three people died while shoveling snow in New York City, police said. The New York Police Department's Chief of Department Jim O'Neill told reporters Saturday one person on Staten Island and two people in Queens died. He released no further details on the deaths. A police spokesman said the medical examiner's office will determine exactly how they died.

NORTH CAROLINA

 Six people have died in car accidents during the storm, authorities have said, including a 4-year-old boy who died Friday afternoon after the pickup truck carrying his family on Interstate 77 near Troutman spun out of control and crashed.

OHIO

 A teenager sledding behind an all-terrain vehicle was hit by a truck and killed Friday, the State Highway Patrol said. The truck failed to yield at a traffic light and hit the sled, which the ATV was pulling in Wheelersburg, the highway patrol said.

PENNSYLVANIA

 Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania say a man died of carbon monoxide poisoning, apparently after his car was buried in snow by a passing plow. David Perrotto, 56, was pronounced dead less than an hour after he was found Saturday night in Muhlenberg Township, according to John Hollenbach of the Berks County coroner's office. Hollenbach says Perrotto was apparently trying to dig out his car. Investigators believe he either was in the car with the motor running to take a break or to try to get out of the space when a snow plow went by and buried the car, blocking the exhaust and preventing him from exiting. Another person trying to dig out their vehicle found the running car. Perrotto was pronounced dead at a hospital emergency room.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Three people have died in South Carolina:

 Authorities say an elderly couple in Greenville died of probable carbon monoxide poisoning. Ruby Bell, 86, and her husband, 87-year-old Robert Bell, were found dead at home by their son over the weekend, Greenville County Coroner Parks Evans said in an email. He said the time of death was believed to be Friday night. Russell Watson, the Duncan Chapel Fire District chief, told The Greenville News that the couple had lost power during the storm and a relative had set up a generator in their garage. Watson said the relative left the garage door propped open with a ladder, but it somehow closed and the generator filled the house with carbon monoxide.

 The South Carolina Highway Patrol says a 44-year-old man was killed after being struck by a vehicle that slid out of control after hitting a patch of ice. The crash happened Saturday afternoon in Greenville County, the highway patrol said in a news release.

TENNESSEE

 A car slid off the roadway due to speed and slick conditions, killing the driver and injuring a passenger, the Knox County sheriff's department said.

 A couple in a vehicle slid off an icy road and plummeted down a 300-foot embankment Wednesday night, killing the woman who was driving, said Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford. Stacy Sherrill's husband, a passenger in the car, survived the crash. It took him several hours to climb the embankment and report the accident.

VIRGINIA

 The number of storm-related deaths in Virginia has risen to five. A man was killed on Saturday in a single-vehicle crash in Virginia Beach that police blamed on speed and icy road conditions, and Virginia Tech filmmaker Jerry Scheeler died Friday while shoveling snow outside his new house in Daleville, local news media reported Sunday. On Saturday, the state medical examiner's office confirmed three other storm deaths. They included a single-vehicle crash in Chesapeake and deaths in Hampton and southwest Virginia from hypothermia.
Charles Ramsey, one of the nation's most respected law enforcement figures, has twice  first in Washington and then in Philadelphia  invited federal reviews of those agencies similar to the civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department that the Justice Department announced last month. He has said that police-involved shootings in both of those cities subsequently declined.

Ramsey, an African-American from the city's South Side, returns to Chicago amid protests that have called for Emanuel to resign over the release two months ago of the video of Laquan McDonald's shooting death by Officer Jason Van Dyke. The video sparked the biggest crisis of Emanuel's administration and cost Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy his job.

"The situation in Chicago is not unlike many cities across the country, but the people of Chicago should know that their leaders are working hard to restore trust where it has been lost," Ramsey said in a statement.

What kind of recommendations he will make is unclear, but last month he said that he wanted state police in Pennsylvania to head investigations of police-involved shootings in Philadelphia.

The 65-year-old Ramsey joined the Chicago Police Department as a cadet in 1968, rose through the ranks over three decades and had a key role in the establishment of community policing in Chicago. Since he left in 1998 to head Washington's force, his name has come up repeatedly as a candidate for Chicago superintendent. He has applied a number of times, including in 2011, before Emanuel selected McCarthy.

Ramsey retired this month as Philadelphia's police commissioner, and following Emanuel's firing of McCarthy in the wake of the McDonald video's release, had said he was not interested in the job. In fact, earlier this month, the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, announced that Ramsey had been hired as a public safety consultant.

Dashcam video released Nov. 24 of the shooting more than a year earlier shows Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times as he walks away from police officers with a knife at his side. Van Dyke is charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty.

The shooting has turned a spotlight on longstanding concerns about a "code of silence" in the Chicago Police Department, in which officers stay quiet about or even cover up possible misconduct by colleagues. Police Board President Lori Lightfoot has said the 39 applicants for the superintendent job will be asked for "creative solutions" to motivate officers to come forward when they see misconduct.

Lightfoot says she hopes to present Emanuel with the names of three finalists by the end of February.
WASHINGTON -- Watching Rebecca Friedrichs stroll down the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court last week brought to mind a biblical image: David facing Goliath.

Friedrichs is a California elementary school teacher who chose to take on organized labor.

She didnt like how a union that she did not agree with was taking money from her paycheck.

Being forced to give money to a group that she disagrees with struck her not only as unfair but as a basic violation of her right to free speech.

For example, she doesnt like how tenure protects bad teachers. But the California Teachers Association, which she is compelled to give money to, defends tenure.

And she was angered when the union wouldnt stand up for quality teachers with low seniority when her school district had layoffs.

In half of the states, Friedrichs wouldnt have to give her union a dime.

But in states like California (and Illinois) that dont have right-to-work laws, she can be compelled to give a union money just to keep her job.

The situation so angered Friedrichs that she fought it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I sat in the courtroom and listened as the justices grilled her attorney -- and those on the other side. It has the makings to be a landmark case.

And it would appear Friedrichs had a receptive audience.

If the high court rules in her favor, it's likely anyone who works for any unit of local, state or federal government anywhere in the United States would no longer have to pay unions anything.

They could choose to, but they wouldnt have to.

Why just government workers? Because everything government does is political.

And, in political matters, free speech is paramount.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked the California solicitor general who argued against Friedrichs position, to give an example of non-political speech that the union negotiates at the bargaining table.

The example David Frederick, a lawyer for unions involved in the case, gave was mileage reimbursement rates.

But Roberts countered that even that constitutes political speech because it deals with how tax dollars should be spent.

Everything that is collectively bargained with the government is within the political sphere, added Justice Antonin Scalia.

Most Americans would say it would be wrong to force a Democrat to fund the Republican Party or for a Republican to be compelled to give to the Democratic Party.

But for years, government has allowed another group of political players -- labor unions -- to be treated much differently.

Frederick said a ruling in favor of Friedrichs would create a class of free riders who benefit from union-negotiated wages and benefits but refuse to support the unions financially.

But Roberts found that contention silly.

If employees have shown overwhelmingly they want collective bargaining, it seems to me the free rider problem is insignificant, he said.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said the issue is one of compelled riders not free riders.

The union is basically making these teachers compelled riders on issues which they strongly disagree, he said.

For Friedrichs  and most Americans  that situation just seems wrong.

And if the questions asked by the Supreme Court justices this month are any indication, most of them think so, too.
Sanchita Shetty, who rose to fame with Soodhu Kavvum and Villa (Pizza 2), is a busy woman these days. With a couple of films in her kitty lined up for release including Ennodu Vilayadu, Love Guru and Enkitta Modhadhey, she has even bagged a film opposite Mohan Lal under Priyadarshans direction!

Says the actress, I am happy that I am making my Mollywood debut, that too, with such senior people in the industry. Titled Oppam, the film is a crime thriller and focuses on the character of Lalettan, who plays the role of visually challenged person. I am a big fan of his! Ive a substantial role to play as well. I fell in love with this film the moment I listened to the script. Well begin shooting from next month onwards.

However, the Thillalangadi actress says shes looking forward to working in more Tamil films. I am quite choosy when it comes to scripts. Someday, I wish I do movies that have a historical relevance, she adds.

Sanchita is satisfied about the way her Kollywood career is shaping up. I do films in Telugu, Kannada and also Tamil. I am overwhelmed with the kind of respect I get everywhere. But, I am quite conscious about what I am doing because I make it to a point that each one of my characters are different from the others that I have essayed, she signs off.
Everybody wants to go viral.

Its as if your little corner of fame or infamy is not complete unless you have some tidbit of content achieving the kind of exponential exposure that used to require things like, say, TV or radio.

The same goes for those who create audio content and post it online with all the best intentions and hopes for a viral miracle.

So the other day I read something that stopped me cold. It was a comment from Jenna Weiss-Berman, director of audio at BuzzFeed, a platform which knows approximatelyeverything about going viral. And heres what Jenna said:

Audio will never go viral if its just audio alone. If it has photos, articles, and videos that go along with it, theres a much better chance of it going viral.

In other words, says Jenna, if the audio is less the purpose of the content but rather just afeature of it, theres a greater chance it will catch on because photos and articles and videos spread but audio does not. That means, dear audio creators, that the key to virality by this logic is to spread the text or the image or the video, while the audio rides along for free. So youre not really sharing audio per se, are you? Not any more than youre sharing audio when you share a video that contains an audio track.

Im not assuming Jenna is right (although I suspect she is), but this made me ask a larger question: Do we really need audio to go viral? Does audio want to go viral and do consumers of audio want to spread it to their friends?

In fact, audio goes viral all the time. But not because the audio is shared on digital platforms. We dont share audio, we share stories about the audio we hear, and we do that all the time.

Did you hear what Dan Patrick said today? Rush Limbaugh? Howard Stern?

And those stories, quite often, are face to face. They are part of conversation in what is still often considered the real world. Yes, word-of-mouth very often still includes words and mouths.

What Jennas describing  the photos and articles and videos  are pieces of that story we tell each other about the audio we love. And they can tell a story about the audio without requiring that consumers listen to that audio first or ever. After all, nothing we do with audio  not highlights, not tagging, not anything  will change the simple fact that while a picture is worth a thousand words, it takes a thousand words to paint a picture. And a thousand words take time to consume. And time is that scarcest of all resources.

I had an interesting experience a while back. I wrote a post on a platform and it went viral. But heres the interesting part: The platform reported two statistics: Whether or not the post was read and whether or not it was shared. And it turns out that this particular post had more than twice as many shares as reads. In other words, only half the folks who shared the post actually read it. That means they werent actually sharing the content, they were sharing the title of the content. If going viral means reading the content takes too long but at least I read the title, then what chance does audio possibly have, especially when just one picture requires a thousand words and the time those words take to be heard?

As an experiment, I used this speech calculator and was dismayed to learn that 1,000 words requires more than 7 minutes of listening time! If you share a piece of content with your audience and its asking them to listen to 7 minutes before making the determination that its worth sharing, you might as well line the road to virality with a thousand speed bumps and a thousand exit ramps.

So should audio aspire to virality?

No, I dont think so.

Audio is a warm and intimate embrace. People consume audio not only because its a media form that fits whatever else theyre doing, but also because its comfortable and immersive. Its a dinner date, not a one night stand. Its much more like a full-length movie than a photo or video, and full-length movies dont go viral either. Audio is a warm bath, while pictures and videos are cold showers. Jump in, jump out. Done.

So does this mean you shouldnt bother sharing your audio highlights or shows in order to introduce new listeners to your content? Of course not! You should definitely take advantage of all available tools to spread your audio around. However you should not expect or hope that it achieves some sort of viral infamy in the process. Your goal is to facilitate sampling. Thats all. And thats critical.

Then its all up to the power of the content and its connection with the listener.

Once I had an email interchange with a public radio publisher who was convinced they had unlocked the key to making their audio viral. And they backed up the claim with proof. Hmm, I thought. Let me investigate. What they neglected to report was that the audio story that went viral was featured, among other places, on the massive NPR Facebook page. Indeed, most of the traffic for that bit of audio came directly from that link. So they had not really created a viral audio at all. What they had done was proved what we already know:More distribution for audio in popular places where people consume a lot of audio already will lead to more consumption of that audio. But this is not the same as going viral, since the consumption is not predicated on sharing.

Indeed, this is why the first episode of the first season of Serial was featured in the time slot for This American Life, thus forcing trial for the show for hundreds of thousands of listeners who are already tuned in to TAL on the radio or online. The show didnt go viral. It simply had radios equivalent of the post-Super Bowl time slot. What did go viral was the conversation about the show  the talk in person, the chatter online, the earned media, the pictures, the videos, the stories about the reporters and the reporting. Who needs to share an audio show when links to that show sprout up everywhere? Just get me interested! Ill use this magic tool called Google to take it from there.

Audio is guerilla warfare. You hear somethings good or you read the iTunes ratings for the podcast. One sample leads to a listen which leads to a longer listen which leads to a repeat listen which leads to a subscription. Then you tell your friend, or you write about it, or you read about it. Then its a hit and the media are all over it and people cant avoid it even if they tried. And then, people are convinced theyre missing something if they dont listen so they seek it out.

This is how Howard Stern won every market he ever conquered.

This is how a little experiment from the producers of This American Life became Serial.

So forget about making your audio go viral.

Instead, focus on making your audio worth listening to, worth discovering, worth talking about in any and every form and on any and every platform. And offer as many elements and tidbits and fan badges (we used to call them bumper stickers, but today theyre wrapped around laptops and mobile phones) and on-ramps as you can. Be where its hard to miss you. Earn the attention of taste-makers and influencers.

Do you know how many times I witnessed one person asking their friend who mentioned loving Serial what the heck Serial is?

Give them something worth listening to.

Give them something to talk about.

Let them talk.

Mark Ramsey is a veteran media strategist, researcher, and trend-maker who has worked with numerous media, publishing, and digital brands.

You can contact Mark Ramsey by heading to his website markramseymedia.com
Although it is still at the bottom of Netflix's ISP Index in Spain, Telefonica's Movistar has considerably improved the platform's performance on its networks, but the move is one-sided.

According to the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform, no peering agreement has been reached with the telco, as it has been done with other players.We are happy to see Netflix's performance on Movistar's network has improved during the last month. Movistar has unilaterally done this, but we are still open to work with them so Netflix's experience gets better on their network, said sources from the American streaming platform.The second edition of the ISP Index for Spain, regarding December tests, shows how average speed on Movistar's networks has increased by 0.71Mbps. Still, the digits are almost 1Mbps lower than the closer player on the ranking, Orange, which averages 3.75Mbps.During Netflix's first month in Spain, there were hundreds of complaints on social media, as Movistar's high-speed subscribers were not getting the expected performance while streaming video.After some finger pointing between the two companies, the first ISP Index showed Telefonica's company sinking to the ranking's bottom.
Metrological has announced two executive appointments that expand the companys sales and technical support for North and South America.

Michael Pohl has joined the company as strategic advisor, and Wouter van Boesschoten has been named as VP of technology and innovation.Pohl will focus on business development activities in North and South America and provide strategic direction for the companys expansion into this market, working closely with Jeroen Ghijsen, CEO of the company. van Boesschoten will head Metrologicals technology development and lead technical support for key customers in North America, reporting to Albert Dahan, CTO, Metrological Michael and Wouter have the right skill set to help us serve our existing base in the Americas and to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity for Metrological in the region, said Ghijsen. The future of TV is app-centric and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) are coming to us to take the next steps in their TV app strategies. They are adopting application framework technology that streamlines app deployment and gives them the flexibility to deliver personalised TV app experiences on any device.The move comes as the company continues to build out its portfolio. In August, it released a set of TV app store management tools to enable pay-TV operators to customise app store line-ups based on live events and household viewing habits, as well as integrate app billing and transactions.
RAWA News, January 24, 2016

A female Afghan lawmaker, Homa Sultani, glorified a gruesome attack carried out against Afghan journalists by the Taliban on her official Facebook account, stating:

I am thankful to God Almighty that an attack by a devotee killed a number of filthy bastards of the US May God accept the martyrdom of this devotee and grant him a place in Paradise and place these filthy, illegitimate creations of the US and other Kuffar (non-Muslims) in the lowest of Hell Amen



Homa Sultani openly backed the Taliban attack on a minibus carrying journalists that killed 8 and injured 25. (Photos: left: social media, right: TOLOnews.com Homa Sultani openly backed the Taliban attack on a minibus carrying journalists that killed 8 and injured 25. (Photos: left: social media, right: TOLOnews.com

A minibus carrying journalists working for TOLO, a private Afghan television channel, was targeted by a Taliban suicide car bomber four days ago, killing 7 employees and injuring 25 others, including women and children. Three of those killed were women. Television footage showed the black burned-out shell of the vehicle where fire had torn through the roof and windows.

The Taliban had openly threatened the television channel last year after it reported the crimes carried out by the Taliban fighters during the battle for Kunduz.

This is not the first time Sultani has endorsed Taliban and their fundamentalist ideology. In a television appearance after the tragic incident she took the same stand as above, and confirmed that the words were written by her through her Facebook account.

Also, Khaam Press reported in September 2014:

A female Afghan lawmaker Huma Sultani has said she supports the Taliban ideology and endorses an Islamic State in Afghanistan, similar as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

An audio tape of Huma Sultani which circulated in social media websites shows that she has close links with the Taliban group in Afghanistan.

Sultani is heard talking with an individual  Wahid Hasheimi in Australia where she claims that she was involved in the recent suicide attack on NATO troops convoy in capital Kabul.

According to Reuters the latest attack adds a dangerous new complication for local journalists working in a country already ranked as low as 122 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index.

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks since the peace talks with Taliban were revived earlier this year.
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Despite being hero material for a long period of time in both Tamil and Telugu film industries, success eludes actor Richard, also the brother-in-law of Ajith. Richard has signed a film, which has an interesting title 0 Mudhal 1 Varai, joining hands with actor Harish.

Directed by Yasin, who has assisted many filmmakers, the action-thriller spans three different periods  70s, 90s and the present era. The story deals with three generations and has been set in a village, town and a big city. We are shooting in Aandipatti, Madurai and Chennai. The film is about the link between science and beliefs, which has been narrated in a new style, claims the director. While sources say that Richard does not have a lead pair in the film, the actor hopes that the movie will give him the necessary break in Tamil.
Nick Cannon took to Instagram to wish well his ex-wife, pop star Mariah Carey, and her new fiance, Australian billionaire James Packer.

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Packer reportedly gave Carey a 35-caret diamond engagement ring when he proposed after less than a year of dating her.

"Ha! This made me laugh out loud for real!!! HILARIOUS!" Cannon captioned a photo of him sleeping in a hospital bed with Kevin Hart looking down on him. The image also said, "It's just a ring Nick."

The message continued: " #AllLove Congrats to @MariahCarey and James! May God Bless Your Future Union... #GreatPeople #GreatCouple."

Carey and the "America's Got Talent" host wed in 2008 and are the parents of 4-year-old twins, a daughter Marilyn and son Moroccan.

They announced in 2014 they had split up and divorced last year.
Vicki Gunvalson says she isn't giving former boyfriend Brooks Ayers' tell-all book much thought.

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"The Real Housewives of Orange County" star revealed in a statement through her rep that she is legally protected after Ayers announced Tuesday he intends to publish a memoir.

"Vicki is not at all concerned about her former boyfriend writing a book," Gunvalson's rep said. "He can write whatever he wants except he cannot write about Vicki, her career, family or anything else concerning her."

"Vicki long ago had the boyfriend sign a fiercely written and executed confidentiality agreement," the rep explained. "He cannot write about her at all. That was signed in the very beginning [of their relationship]."

Ayers told Page Six he hopes the memoir will clear his name following speculation he is faking cancer.

Ayers blames "The Real Housewives" producers and Gunvalson's daughter Brianna Culberson for the rumors and wants "to expose" their role in the drama.

"They basically pitched me as this poor guy from Mississippi preying on a vulnerable, successful, self-made woman," he said. "I'm not bound contractually by anything to not share the intel about what transpires behind production."

"I'm not doing this because [Vicki] did it to me, but she's a grown woman and she's making business decisions to continue earning money," he added. "I'm a grown man and I want to do what I can to rehab my reputation ... and you can't do it on reality TV."

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

Gunvalson and Ayers dated four years before breaking up in August.

The 53-year-old was initially positive about her ex-boyfriend despite the split, but vowed to never speak to him again after Ayers admitted to faking medical documents in November.
"We have recovered five bodies from the scene. One of victims was a woman passerby, who was school teacher," said Hasibur Rahmana, fire service station officer. "Two bodies were burnt beyond recognition," he said. (Photo: Google Maps)

Dhaka: At least five persons were killed and10 others injured after a fire broke out at a chemical factory near the Bangladeshi capital, officials said on Sunday.

"We have recovered five bodies from the scene. One of victims was a woman passerby, who was school teacher," said Hasibur Rahmana, fire service station officer. "Two bodies were burnt beyond recognition," he said.

The fire was caused by a boiler explosion on Saturday in the factory located in Pubail of Gazipur near the capital. Local ward councillor Bazlur Rahman said the factory melt old tires to manufacture a special kind of oil used along with pitch for carpetting roads.

"Authorities had in the past asked the factory management several times to shut it down because of the risky process of burning and melting tires. But the management paid little heed," Bazlur said.

Around 30 people were working in the factory at the time of the explosion. Many workers came running out. TV channels said two injured were being treated at a nearby government hospital while three others were rushed to a specialised burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The police said owner of the factory went into hiding but a manhunt has been launched to find him.

Gazipur Deputy Commissioner S M Alam said a three member-probe committee has been formed to probe the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report in three days.
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SHASTA LAKE - A man suffered cuts to his arms and Shasta County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 45-year-old woman Saturday morning after a reported stabbing.

Sgt. Logan Stonehouse said deputies at about 9:40 a.m. went to a home on Meade Street, less than a block south of Shasta Dam Boulevard, for report of the stabbing.

There, they found Thomas O'Neill with non-life threatening cuts to his arms. He told deputies a woman, later identified as Kathleen Rene Wadkins, stabbed him near her home on Pancake Hill Drive, less than a mile away, Stonehouse said.

Medics took O'Neill to a local hospital for treatment while deputies contacted Wadkins at her home and arrested her on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Stonehouse said.

She was then booked into the Shasta County Jail.
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By Jenny Espino of the Redding Record Searchlight

The Blueprint for Public Safety recommends Redding introduce a new way of policing that puts officers in a role that extends beyond crime fighting.

A series of recommendations by Silicon Valley-based Matrix Consulting Group includes the Redding Police Department working with social service agencies to address homeless issues.

Police Chief Robert Paoletti said he is open to looking at some of the other recommendations such as changing officers' schedules to have more officers on the street during busier times and introducing dictation software for officers to record their police reports. But regarding homelessness and other social problems in the community, the department alone cannot fix them. Everyone in the community needs to step up, he said.

"The mindset is there in the Redding Police Department. We just don't have the resources to do anything else than what we're doing now," he said.

Matrix Consulting Group had a list of recommendations for the city of Redding and Shasta County to begin taking new approaches to its homeless population, including those in various stages of substance abuse and mental illness.

The recommendations include an interagency master plan, Housing First model, tent city, public restrooms, sobering center, mental health facility, police department-led homeless outreach team and a sergeant to serve as the point person on homelessness between police and other public and private agencies.

A former police chief and expert in problem-oriented policing said the sooner the Redding Police Department recognizes police work is as much social work as it is crime fighting, the sooner it can start forging partnerships with other agencies while also narrowing down on the appropriate interventions to deal with nuisance behavior.

"This is what modern policing has become," said Michael S. Scott, a clinical associate professor at Arizona State University who also serves as the director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. The nonprofit provides research papers on how law enforcement agencies can address public safety concerns. "They have to get out of this realistic expectation that they can fix that problem by criminal justice alone."

Paoletti said his officers are not resisting the initiatives proposed by the Blueprint for Public Safety, even as he defended his department's policing philosophy.

"Everything is there to give them (the homeless) an opportunity to change their lives, but if they don't want to accept that opportunity and they want to commit a crime, we have to have the capacity to be able to keep them from victimizing the community while they take their time to choose that path," he said.

The county has been talking about opening a crisis stabilization center, something that Paoletti looks forward seeing come to fruition.

"Right now, it's a hospital bed. Or if they're not 5150 (an involuntary psychiatric hold), it's either you behave yourself or you're going to end up going to jail," he said.

At the heart of the blueprint's message is that the relationship between social and criminal issues can be close. "Sometimes, crime elements need a new way of being dealt with," said Richard Brady, Matrix's president.

How law enforcement agencies deal with their social problems varies by community, he said.

In Redding, it may start with a new schedule that distributes more evenly the time officers have to look for crime.

"If they don't have the ability to be proactive, they are not solving problems in the community," Brady said.

Problem-oriented policing is a method used to identify and analyze a specific crime or problem to develop a strategy  commonly referred to as a project  to eliminate it.

Since his arrival four years ago, Paoletti said the department has opened 160 projects and closed 72. That leaves 88 still open. The projects can range from the lawsuit filed against the Redding Inn, which the Shasta County District Attorney's Office identified as the most dangerous motel in the city, to the reduction in disturbances at an apartment complex in a west Redding neighborhood.

But what may have taken six weeks to accomplish before the recession now takes six months due to staff cuts, he said.

"We can't take on the big projects," he said.

It was this type of work  and more of it  that led to several troubled motels being closed in the 2000s.

Brady agreed with the chief that his department doesn't need to take the lead and can play a role in a communitywide effort to deal with those social issues.

Scott thinks there is an argument to be made for chiefs who take charge.

"I am sympathetic with the officers who say, 'It's not what I was getting into. They didn't teach me this at the academy.' But the reality is that complex social problems get left at the doorstep of the police," he said.

Because of their authority and clout in a community, police departments have an easier time getting the public's attention, he said.

Brady held up Hennepin County, Minnesota, as an example where law enforcement and human services agencies alike are coordinating efforts to open a mental health commitment center. It will serve as an alternative to the jail.

Matrix also argues Redding can use community service officers to create an outreach team that can hit the streets and talk to and connect the homeless with services. Pasadena and San Diego have those teams, and, Brady noted, the community service officers here in Redding already are out there doing quasi-enforcement.

Paoletti wants the homeless outreach team to be mental health workers walking side by side with sworn officers, not community service officers. The union contract does not allow unarmed community service officers to go into homeless camps, he has said.

"Richard and I can debate all we want, and we had a good debate," Paoletti said. Ultimately, "it's the community that has to determine the level of service they expect and what they are willing to fund."

Scott pointed to a case study from the Colorado Springs Police Department in which officers created a homeless outreach team in response to the rise of homeless camps on public land next to trails and creeks.

The analysis steered them away from going it alone. They partnered with various agencies to form the team and focused on gaining the trust of the homeless population. To prohibit camping, they worked with advocacy groups who could get people into housing. Among their options was a motel managed by an affordable housing group.

The city also crafted an illegal camping ordinance with input from homeless people and advocates, which helped avoid legal challenges regarding its constitutionality.

At the start of the project, there were 500 people living in tents. Eventually, the team helped shelter 229 families and returned 117 people to families out of state. It made 2,301 outreach contacts and 872 referrals, according to the study. The project won a problem-oriented policing award in 2010.

"You have to think about how it might work (in your community)," Scott said. "You can't take someone else's model" and expect to have the same results.

"But the solution is seldom flooding the community with police officers  but working with other agencies."

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Larry Pohlschneider gets emotional as he thanks Maitreya Badami of the Northern California Innocence Project.

SHARE Larry Pohlschneider reunites with Ed Moyer, 76, a friend of his mothers. Larry Pohlschneider discussed his trial and prison experience at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Redding on Saturday.

By Amber Sandhu of the Redding Record Searchlight

Larry Pohlschneider served 15 years behind bars at Corcoran State Prison for a crime he did not commit. But thanks to the Northern California Innocence Project, he's a free man.

On Saturday afternoon, the 48-year-old Red Bluff man was at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Redding, where 40 people had gathered to hear his story. The local chapter of the ACLU hosted the meeting.

"I knew I was going to be proven innocent, eventually," he said. He just didn't know how long it would take.

In 2001, a Tehama County jury convicted Pohlschneider of sexually abusing three of his stepchildren, all who later recanted their stories.

The children had initially named Albert Harris, their biological father, as their abuser, said Maitreya Badami, assistant legal director of the Northern California Innocence Project.

Around the time the abuse was discovered, Harris had left California for Oklahoma.

But a physician's assistant's report stated that according to the physical examination on one of the victims, the abuse appeared to be more recent. It led Red Bluff police to conducting extensive interviews with the children, where they were pressured to accuse Pohlschneider of the abuse, Badami said.

At the time of the accusation, Pohlschneider was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer. And although he maintained his innocence, he ended up with a 24-year sentence, based on the medical report.

"I honestly believed if you were innocent, you had nothing to fear. I don't believe that anymore," Pohlschneider said.

Pohlschneider's defense attorney at the time, Thomas Hilligan, failed to challenge the medical evidence, ask for pictures, or consult another doctor about the trauma, Badami said. When Badami contacted Hilligan to go over Pohlschneider's case, she said Hilligan had no memory of the trial, she said.

Hilligan resigned from the California State Bar in 2008 and no longer practices law.

"I hear a lot of people say the system is broken," Pohlschneider said. "In all honesty, I don't think it really worked in the first place."

He said there were occasions where he could have lost his life in prison. But more than anything he worried about his biological daughter and stepchildren. "This wasn't just done to me," he said. "I did the hard part. I did the time."

He talked about the brutality of prison, and said it was nothing like the television show "Orange Is The New Black."

At one point he teared up. "I pretty much owe my life to Maitreya and the Northern California Innocence Project," he said.

Pohlschneider gained his release from prison in October 2015.

In November 2015, Tehama County Superior Court Judge Matthew McGlynn said Pohlschneider deserved monetary compensation for his time served in prison. The amount was calculated at $750,000, which is $140 a day and tax-free under California law.

Although Pohlschneider wants to leave California, he said he'll stay to take care of his elderly parents and ease into life "on the outside." He joked that when he went to prison, people were still using "flip phones and pagers" and the Internet was still fairly new.

"I'm still adjusting. The world I came from, in no way does it fit in this world," he said.

A cake was presented to Pohlschneider, as it was a day before his birthday, and his first celebration in 15 years. After his talk, people came to him to donate money. Badami said she will setup a GoFundMe account for Pohlschneider while he awaits monetary compensation.
SHARE Donald Eugene Evans Jr. Date of birth: Sept. 6, 1976 Vitals: 6 feet 1 inch; 175 pounds; blond hair, blue eyes Charge: Shoplifting Destinie Samantha Folsom Date of birth: Jan. 30, 1991 Vitals: 5 feet 1 inch; 105 pounds; brown hair, blue eyes Charge: Identity theft Laurie Ann McDaniel Date of birth: May 24, 1989 Vitals: 5 feet 1 inch; 100 pounds; blond hair, blue eyes Charge: Spousal abuse Kanoa Sky Stutesman Date of birth: Oct. 20, 1996 Vitals: 5 feet 10 inches; 130 pounds; brown hair, green eyes Charge: Possession of a controlled substance Related Photos Shastas Most Wanted: Jan. 24, 2016

By Staff Reports

Shasta's Most Wanted, featured in the Record Searchlight in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, targets people who have failed to show up in court for sentencing after being convicted of crimes.

A milestone was reached in December, when the 500th arrest was made since the program was begun in September 2013. As of Friday a total of 533 arrests have been made through the Most Wanted program.

Authorities say they have seen an increase in criminals failing to appear in court since the onset of Assembly Bill 109. Also known as prison realignment, the state program shifted certain state prison inmates to county supervision.

Redding Police Chief Robert Paoletti said court appearances have been going up since the rollout of the program.

Five new people are added each week. Those caught will be held until at least their next court appearances. Shasta County Secret Witness is offering a reward of up to $250 for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call 245-6540 or 243-2319.

The feature appears Sundays in the Record Searchlight's Northern California section and on Redding.com.
Facing students' protest over the death of Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula, Hyderabad Central University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile on Sunday proceeded on leave, saying he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse".

"The vice-chancellor will be on leave. In the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Vipin Srivastava, the senior-most professor, shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor wef 24-01-2016," the HCU said on its website.

However, it did not mention the period of leave.

The development came a day before the 'Chalo HCU' protest march called by agitating students to press for their demands, which included removal of the VC from his post, in the wake of suicide by Rohit.

When contacted, Podile confirmed the development and said there was no pressure on him to go on leave. "There is no pressure from anybody. It is my concern for my University. We want to resolve the issue now.

There is an impasse now and to break that impasse we need to have some mechanism where I am advised to be little away from campus and somebody has to be there to be in command. We have a provision to ask a senior Professor to be In-charge and that's what we have done," he told PTI.

Asked whether he would take charge once normalcy returns in the university, he replied in positive.

Meanwhile, a section of the university administration opposed the decision to appoint Srivastava as officiating vice -chancellor and expressed "shock" over the move. It also expressed disappointment over Podile not being dismissed.

The SC/ST Faculty Forum and SC/ST Officers Forum alleged that Srivastava was one of the "accused" in the suicide of another Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

"We are shocked and dismayed at Dr Vipin Srivastava, assuming the office of Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University. Prof Srivastava has been accused in the suicide of a Dalit student, Senthil, in 2008.

"More recently he headed the Executive Council Sub-Committee which has been responsible for the death of Rohit Vemula Chakravarti," the Forums said in a joint statement.

The Sub-Committee had recommended disciplinary action against Rohit and four other scholars in connection with an assault case.

In the light of his "deep involvement" in both suicide cases, he may be asked to immediately step down from the vice-chancellor's office, the release said.

The Forums condemned the decision of HCU Executive Council to appoint Srivastava as interim vice-chancellor.

"We also express our disappointment with the decision of the authorities not to dismiss Prof Appa Rao Podile," it said.

Earlier, Podile had criticised attempts to "politicise" the issue of Rohit's suicide and trashed talks about being a "Bharatiya Janata Party man". He had also refused to step down.

The Dalit scholar's body was found hanging in a hostel room on HCU campus on January 17.

On January 18, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Podile, BJP member of Legislative Council Ramachandra Rao and two others were named in an FIR on charges of abetment of suicide and and under relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Rohit was among the five research scholars suspended by HCU in September last year for allegedly attacking an ABVP leader. He also one of the accused in the case of alleged assault on ABVP leader Susheel Kumar.

IMAGE: A protest over Rohith Vemula's death in Nagpur. Photograph: PTI
Strongly pitching for delinking terrorism from religion, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said India and the Arab world must join hands to eliminate the menace as she warned that those who silently sponsor terror groups could end up being used by them.

"Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them," Swaraj told the foreign ministers of Arab League states.

Speaking at the first ministerial meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum which she described as a "turning point" in India's ties with the Arab world, she made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism, saying the only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not.

"Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths," said Swaraj, who arrived in Manama on Saturday on a two-day visit.

She cited "India's model of unity in diversity" as an example for the world to counter indoctrination and radicalisation.

Swaraj's citing of India's religious and cultural diversity at the world stage assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the intolerance debate that had raged recently in the country with many writers, artists and civil society members expressing alarm over the issue.

"We in India have citizens who belong to every existing faith. Our Constitution is committed to the fundamental principle of faith-equality: the equality of all faiths not just before the law but also in daily behaviour.

"In every corner of my country, the music of the azaan welcomes the dawn, followed by the chime of a Hanuman temple's bells, followed by the melody of the Guru Granth Sahib being recited by priests in a gurdwara, followed by the peal of church bells every Sunday," she said.

"This philosophy is not just a construct of our Constitution, adopted in 1950; it is the essence of our ancient belief that the world is family," she asserted.

Swaraj, in her speech, also quoted from the Quran, saying that faith harmony is the message of the Holy Quran as well. "I will quote only two verses: La ikra fi al deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion) and La qum deen o qum wa il ya deen (Your faith for you, and my faith for me)," she said in her address to the key Arab nations.

She stressed that dangers of radicalisation and indoctrination cannot be ignored.

"We have seen repeatedly that terrorism does not respect national borders. It seeks to subvert societies through its pernicious doctrine of a clash of civilisations," Swaraj said.

"The only antidote to this violent philosophy is the path of peace, tolerance and harmony, a path that was illustrated centuries ago by Buddha and Mahavira and which was taken into the modern age by the Father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi. As he famously said, 'an eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind'," she said.

Swaraj's strong push for anti-terror cooperation comes at a time when there have been a spate of terror attacks across the globe from the Paris carnage and the Pathankot airbase assault to the blasts in Indonesia as terrorism has risen as one of the most significant challenges of the world.

"As the spectre of terrorism and religious hatred raises its ugly head across the world, particularly in those cherished cities of history, it is time once again to reach back in time and redeem the essence of our civilisational spirit. We must pledge to halt the physical violence that has spread like a plague," Swaraj said.

She stressed on the need for equally addressing the violence in "our minds, a poison that has been spread by terror groups, harnessing the power of modern technology and social media platforms to infect our youth -- those ideologies and beliefs that regard ones own brother as a stranger, ones own mother as accursed."

"We should not underestimate the power of this illusion, clothed in a false interpretation of faith," she asserted.

Swaraj also highlighted the importance of the passage of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations, saying it will remove a "significant lacuna" in the global communitys fight against this menace.

"We, who represent the stable and civilised world, must meet the challenge, or we risk destroying the most precious inheritance of our forefathers," Swaraj said.

"But not only do we need to condemn all acts of terrorism but we need to join hands regionally and globally to remove the scourge of terrorism completely," she said.

Stating that today's meeting marked a "turning point" for India-Arab relations, she said that nations were experiencing a major turning point in history as well when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to cities, people and the very social fabric.

"Ever since the National Democratic Alliance government assumed office in 2014, we have paid special attention to our ties with the Arab world and we have also had extensive engagements with various high level visits," she said and referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "path-breaking" visit to the UAE, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in 34 years.

"For so long, the ties that bind India and the Arab world have provided prosperity, enhanced wisdom and enriched our civilisations. It is therefore imperative more than ever before that we stand together and recognise the danger to our world for what it is," Swaraj said.

Swaraj said the ministerial meeting was aimed at giving a new shape, direction and energy to the centuries-old relations between India and the Arab world.

"Today, we have the opportunity of translating the vision of India-Arab solidarity into concrete avenues of cooperation," she said.

Photograph courtesy: MEA/Twitter
Security guards stand alert around schools and colleges following an attack on Bacha Khan University, in Peshawar, Pakistan. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: The Pakistani army said on Saturday the four gunmen who attacked a university in Peshawar were trained in Afghanistan and the assault was controlled by a Pakistani Taliban terrorist from a location inside Afghanistan.

In a briefing to reporters from the city of Peshawar, military spokesman General Asim Bajwa said the terrorists who stormed Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people, received training in Afghanistan and crossed over into Pakistan from the Torkham border between the two countries.

Bajwa said the attack was masterminded by Umar Mansoor, a Pakistani Taliban terrorist based in Afghanistan who is also held responsible for the December 2014 massacre of 134 children in the city of Peshawar - the deadliest militant attack in Pakistan's history.

A deputy of Mansoor helped the attackers reach the Torkham border from where they crossed over into Pakistan, the spokesman said.

The army's claims once more highlight the need for improved relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan which would prevent militants from carrying out cross-border terrorism which have undermined peace efforts in the region.

Pakistani officials say the Pakistan Taliban chief known as Mullah Fazlullah has been orchestrating raids on Pakistan from Afghanistan, where he fled several years ago after a Pakistani army offensive against his stronghold in the Swat Valley.

Afghan officials see Pakistan's suggestion that Afghans are supporting cross-border attacks as an attempt to distract attention from what they say is Pakistan's long history of supporting Afghanistan's Taliban movement and other insurgent factions.

"The attackers were prepared in Afghanistan," army spokesman Bajwa said. "We have come to the conclusion that terrorism cannot be fought when there are accomplices and facilitators."

Providing details of the planning of the attack, the military spokesman said the gunmen used public transportation from the Afghan border to reach Mardan city, about 30 kilometres from Charsadda, where they were received by four Pakistani men, now in army custody.

"After entering Mardan, the terrorists were received by Adil and Riaz," Bajwa said, identifying two of the suspected accomplices who he said put up the militants in two houses in Mardan.

"Adil is a labourer and just a few days ago he did some masonry work in the university, and made a map of the university which he shared with the militants," said the military spokesman.

"Adil is the one who helped the attackers carry out reconnaissance of the area around the university."

Another accomplice, identified as Noorullah, bought an auto-rickshaw and transported the attackers from Mardan to the sugarcane fields next to Bacha Khan University, which they crossed through to finally scale the walls of the campus and carry out the assault.

On Friday, Umar Mansoor, the mastermind identified by the Pakistan military, released video footage of the fighters he said carried out Wednesday's deadly assault and vowed more attacks on schools and universities in the future.

Pakistan has killed and arrested hundreds of suspected militants under a major crackdown launched after the December 2014 school attack, which is seen as having hardened Pakistan's resolve to fight militants along its border with Afghanistan.
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DEAR ABBY: I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl three months ago. I had breast-fed my 15-year-old, so it was natural for me to do the same with my new daughter. The problem is my husband, "Jerry," does not support me breast-feeding in public.

I'm somewhat large-chested, so I always cover up for fear of offending strangers. The last time we went shopping and the baby got hungry, when I attempted to feed her in a dressing room, Jerry got so upset he stormed out of the store and took the baby bag and stroller with him.

I had a receiving blanket tucked into my tank top and had covered my breast so no one would see anything. I asked him what the problem was, and he said just because I thought it was OK didn't mean some kid trying on clothes would think so. He told me I should breast-feed in the car or a bathroom. (Jerry doesn't eat in restrooms, so why should our baby girl?)

I don't plan to stop breast-feeding or going for outings with my baby girl, so how do I approach the situation without a fight?

 Trying To Make Him Understand

DEAR TRYING: How about this: Go without Jerry. Your husband is behind the times. Breast-feeding is nothing to be ashamed of, and is promoted by pediatricians as one of the best ways of keeping a baby healthy. There is nothing shameful about this normal function, and you shouldn't be banished to a car in a parking lot or a public bathroom to carry it out. The dressing room should have offered sufficient privacy.

Jerry should stop worrying about other kids and concentrate on his own. If a parent had felt her child needed to be protected from the sight of a mother nursing her baby, she would have been perfectly free to shield the child's eyes and usher him or her from the dressing room. If you are unable to get through to Jerry, or your husband cannot grasp this concept, your child's doctor should explain it to him in simple English.

DEAR ABBY: How does one "break up" with a hairdresser? I'm not unhappy with "Flossie," my current one, but I'd like to try someone else for a change of pace.

I know people of both sexes who have stayed with a hairstylist they are unhappy with because they can't bring themselves to break up, so I know I'm not alone with this dilemma. I'd love to hear from hairdressers how they would prefer this be handled. Do they take it personally?

 Trendsetter In California

DEAR TRENDSETTER: Some do take it personally, I'm sure. If you have a personal as well as a business relationship with Flossie, she may feel hurt that you're leaving. However, it is not a sin to want to try someone else. It happens all the time in that business.

My advice is to call Flossie in advance and let her know you won't be coming so she can schedule someone else in that time slot. Then try the other stylist. That way, if you don't like that stylist's work, you can return to Flossie with no hard feelings.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Fighting flu starts with a shot, and it's time for Texans to get one
The Indian social structure  hierarchical authoritarian fragmented caste ridden and communal  remains stubborn in spite of constitutional governance and six to seven decades of transitional politics. Rohith Vemula, a brilliant scholar from University of Hyderabad ended his life conveying a message, to the rulers, and more so to the people of the need to accelerate democratic transformation of the society. In his suicide note he did not name anybody and also said nobody was responsible to his death.

This is an exceptional maturity as this note is poetic, philosophical and reflective calling for introspection into what is wrong with the society. The tone and tenor of the debate following his death, by the Sangh Parivar, particularly the ABVP, is so disappointing that at no point they look reflective. On the contrary, they indulged in a blame game triggering controversies trivial and unfortunate.

Read: Many more Rohiths

This is one tragic death that ought to have made right wing organisations apply their mind and ask their followers to reflect and endeavor to ensure that such tragedies do not repeat in other institutions. This lack of reflection smacks of a deep-rooted interest in status quo. Dr Ambedkar warned the oppressed that if there is a revolution, the Brahminical ideology has the potential of performing a counter-revolution. This is a profound insight. This explains the abrupt end of Rohith. After the advent of Independence, partly due to the electoral politics and partly social movements, the consciousness of the marginalised did rise.

The doors of educational institutions which were closed for centuries got unlocked and the first generation students from the villages started entering the portals of universities which gradually led to a change in the social composition of learners. This created a new context. The transition would have been smoother if the upper caste and upper class teachers and students welcomed this change as a part of building a more humane and democratic India.

Read: No lessons learnt

The privileged sections on the contrary started feeling that their opportunities are shrinking giving rise to endemic tensions. As a Dean of school of social sciences in this university, sometimes it was a herculean task to convince the faculty to guide these scholars. They also think that in a competitive world the career prospects depend more on ones own national and international publications and not training in the rural mother tongue for educated boys and girls.

The competitive ethic and age old prejudices reinforce each other. The Dalit and rural students strongly feel that this is nothing but upper caste prejudice as their feelings are based on their own experience. This is what has led to the birth of Ambedkar Students Association in the University. It became an umbrella to newly joined students taking up the issues with the teachers and university administration.

In their search for ways and means of empowerment, they even aligned with ABVP an articulate right wing student group. This did not last long as there were intrinsic caste tensions which are historical reflected in attitudinal orientation. It is natural that rising consciousness led to politics of confrontation and social polarisation with the rise of right wing politics in the larger political system. The intolerance and communalisation of politics in various parts of India reached alarming proportions.

Communalisation of politics and their onward march has directly affected the universities. ABVP, emboldened with the coming of their party to power, started behaving in a much more aggressive manner in universities, dictating what should be debated in the university and what should not assuming the role of moral policing. The present crisis has its origins in this disposition. After Yakub Memon was hanged ASA took out a procession against capital punishment which annoyed the ideological sensitivities of ABVP which dubbed it as anti national and called the members of ASA goons.

The capital punishment is something that the entire world is debating. They instead of debating on the issue took it to Bandaru Dattetreya, who wrote a letter to MHRD minister. As a public representative, he could have advised the students to settle the matter within the university or called both the students groups and resolved the matter.

The letter by any standard is intemperate as it dubbed the entire university as a den of extremists, casteists and anti nationals. A responsible minister dubbing the entire university that way is something very objectionable. University of Hyderabad is one of the reputed universities in the country, in NAAC rating it is on the top. No university can scale such heights if it is den of anti-social elements. All these epithets refer to the open debates taking place at the campus, thus making the university a place of excellence.

ABVPs mindset is so framed that they do not like many debates for their own ideological reasons. The crux of the problem lies in intolerance and the standard method that they choose is silencing the dissent through hook or crook. Unless the BJP as a party and its so-called fringe elements realise that democratic dissent however unpalatable it is, has to have its place. There is no way that this nation can be governed unless the democratic climate is promoted and protected.

It is a historical inevitability that the oppressed of this country have a legitimate claim to democratic space guaranteed by the Constitution. Development of this nation has to be measured not by its economic growth rate, but on the scale of freedom and distributive justice. Silencing the democratic voices is a sure way of destroying the universities. It is these concerns that made Rohith leave a suicide note drawing attention of the entire society to this suffocative climate.

Rohith performed a historical act provoking the entire nation and the debates that followed his sacrifice is what he aspired for. But the experience has been that the rulers trace the crisis to democratic space itself and they come with a solution to scuttle and stifle the democratic voices. If that happens, it would be a great injustice to the memory of Rohith. Enlargement of democratic space and making universities vibrant places of creative and adventurous ideas is the only the way to create a climate where the centuries of prejudices are debated and fought in creating a truly democratic nation.

The writer is former Dean of School of Social Sciences, UoH
Kay Eppenauer wasn't initially sure what was happening the first time she talked to a counselor to set up her first-semester class schedule last May at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing.

The matriculation process into the school, coming from Cisco College, was supposed to be harder, she thought. After all, when she talked to a number of other schools in the area to begin the application process, they told her she'd need to take a certain amount of classes in their setting.

As it turns out, though, transferring from a 2-year to a 4-year school may not be as successful for the general population as it was for Eppenauer. One national survey found only 14 percent of students transferring completed their bachelor's degree.

But Texas Tech University's program was different from other school, she said. She started in May and in 2 semesters, she walked out of the school with bachelor's degree in nursing this past December.

"It surprised me how easy it was," Eppenauer said. "With the way they (Cisco College and Texas Tech), have it set up, it's doable. Some places, I probably wouldn't have finished the program. But they're making it where nurses, whether women or men, can get this done. To me it was unheard of. I talked to a number of other schools and they wanted me to retake classes. But this just worked. It was a really seamless transition."

Cisco College isn't the only school set up in this concurrent admissions program being offered. A total of 7 community colleges throughout Texas, from Amarillo to Waco, have agreements designed to easily transition students between the associate degree programs to the university setting, according to the Health Sciences Center's program website, found at www.ttuhsc.edu.

A study released earlier this week by a combination of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University's Teachers College, the Aspen Institute's College Excellence Program and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showed about 14 percent of community college students nationwide transfer to a 4-year university and earn their degrees within 6 years.

Among the many different data points in the study, which examined students at community colleges in 2007, are the rates at which states produce regular transfer students, those who switch schools after earning some sort of credential from the community college and those who ultimately earned bachelor's degrees after their move.

Additionally, the study says about 42 percent of students across the country who do end up transferring to a four-year school complete their bachelor's degrees. And in Texas, the rate is slightly higher at 43 percent, according to the study, which puts the state in the top 10.

However, researchers said, only about 18 percent of Texas community college transfers earned degrees or certificates at the community college level before the move, which ranks in the bottom 10.

Why are numbers so low?

Are local community colleges panicking about this? Not much, as many feel they're doing what they need to help students accomplish their education goals, no matter what they are.

For instance, Britt Canada, dean of institutional research and effectiveness at Western Texas College in Snyder, said transferring to a 4-year institution is only one of the many successes students can achieve.

"Two-year colleges provide many opportunities for terminal degrees," Canada said. "Most of these are in career/technical education. Some of these programs are certificate programs, generally designed to be completed in less than 2 years, while others are 2-year Associate in Applied Science degrees.

"Students enrolled in these programs typically do not progress to 4-year institutions  however, they are often counted in the entering cohort that is used to determine how many students progress to 4-year institutions. As a result, the importance of transfer opportunities for this group is low."

There are other kinds of students who never transfer but are still counted, Canada added.

Accounting students who learn how to keep the books for their own businesses, someone looking to take a cooking course to better prepare meals for home and welding students who seek to become better ranch hands are just some of the many kinds of community college students who don't make a transition to a 4-year school.

There's also the prison education opportunities schools like WTC offer, where inmates can complete associate degrees while serving time.

Canada said these students don't transfer to 4-year schools, and it can take them 3 to 4 years to accomplish their degrees or certificates. But that doesn't and shouldn't diminish their accomplishments.

"For those inmates who are the first person in their family to get a college degree, it is a major accomplishment even if they do not transfer to a four-year institution," Canada said. "So, using transfer to a four-year institution is not an appropriate measure of success for this population."

All the help you need

Lori Grubbs, director of student success programs and Title IX coordinator at Cisco College, knows exactly what students entering her transition centers need to build on their successes in Cisco and Abilene.

So do the students, as she said her rooms are filled with students asking questions, getting proper paperwork, researching potential destinations and making sure they're heading in the right direction.

Grubbs said the goal in her department is to make sure a student gets all of the information he or she needs to move forward, should they choose to, but also to help foster relationships between the students and someone at the future school to establish rapport.

"Students can come in and we'll pull brochures, give them the information and let them know who they can contact," she said. "But we also try to bring recruiters in because we want the students to know who it is they can contact so when they get to the school, they feel like they already have built a connection."

Cisco's transition centers, with one at each campus, also work with students to understand all that's available on a college or university's website, which can confuse students, Grubbs said.

In all, Grubbs said, the school has partnered with many area schools, from Angelo State and Tarleton universities on the public side to Abilene's 3 local private institutions  Abilene Christian, Hardin-Simmons and McMurry universities  to offer articulation agreements like it has with the Texas Tech nursing school.

"We work really well with our local partners," Grubbs said. "Nationwide, it may be the trend (to not get a bachelor's degree) but I feel we're very fortunate we have great partners. We couldn't ask for a better relationship with our local colleges and universities."

Challenges to improvement

Joe Carter, executive director of institutional research at Cisco College, said that while the school is doing everything possible to ensure success for its students, including eliminating barriers hampering transfer students, there's still more to be done.

Much of the work needs to happen at the state level, he said.

Money continues to be moved into universities and 4-year colleges, but students continue to drop out before they graduate., Carter said.

One solution to these high drop out rates, especially among freshmen and sophomore level students, would be to reroute them to the community college level first, a move he said would result in less spending at the state level.

"We'd have much higher success rates and spend much less money statewide if we routed the majority of those freshmen and sophomores through our community college system before they headed off to universities," Carter said. "The state could reduce its spending on freshmen and sophomore education by half and improve its success rates at the same time."

While the Texas economy is strong, states like California are beating it in terms of preparing the workforce for the available jobs, he said.

Carter praised the way California handles its transfer strategy for students, saying it effectively increases the educational capacity of the University of California system, allowing them to concentrate on juniors, seniors and advanced degree programs.

California also operates the Cal State system, which he said is the second tier of public education. Students are admitted to these different tiers based on their grades, with automatic admission to the top tier granted to transfer students who earn sufficiently high grades while in community college.

"Compared to the Texas strategy of routing as many students as possible through the 4-year university system," he said, California's strategy produces a lot more graduates at lower cost.

"Texas has set a goal to have a highly educated workforce in which 60 percent of our workers have professional certificates, associate's or bachelor's degrees by the year 2030," he said. "To achieve that goal, we're going to need more than lip service. Innovative community college transfer strategies is a great place to start."

Twitter: @TimothyChippARN
A crowd of more than 50 showed up at the Abilene Interfaith Council meeting Saturday at the Unity Spiritual Living Center to hear from an Abilene native about life as a Buddhist monk.

The Venerable Maitri Avalokita, who was born in Abilene, raised in South Texas, and returned to Abilene at age 12, told those gathered that Buddhism is misunderstood in the West, even by many Buddhists.

"Buddhism is called a living tradition," said Avalokita, whose name is taken from the Sanskrit Avalokitesvara, which means 'Lord who looks down.' "Buddhism is a mind philosophy that has been converted into a religion. We look at our situation through a neutral mindset to see things differently."

Avalokita, whose talk was titled "Living as a Buddhist Monk in the West," lives in Dallas and is affiliated with the Sarvastivada Buddhist Order in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was ordained as a Buddhist minister in 2002, and supports himself as a healing arts teacher.

"My vow is to wake up each day and be of service as a healing arts teacher and training massage therapist," he said. "I teach others to heal pain and encourage them to treasure the people who make you want to be a better person."

Avalokita holds a bachelor's degree in metaphysical science, with an emphasis in pastoral spiritual counseling. He has been a healing arts teacher for more than 20 years in more than 108 countries.

"I teach that every human being holds the potential to enlightenment within their own lifetime, if humility and nobility becomes a working lifestyle, and compassion coupled with wisdom becomes the driving force in their life," he said.

Abilenian Noel Singleton, also a practicing Buddhist, said the monk's visit to Abilene and insight into their faith was important.

"I was delighted with his talk, and how he shared with us the various facets of Buddhism," said Singleton, who practices Nichiren Buddhism, and is a member of the Soka-Gakkai International-USA sect. "Abilene is a very spiritual place, and my experience is that people are open to different ideas."

Avalokita told the group that the goal of Buddhist meditation is to replace things like anger and fear with love and compassion.

"Why hold on to a delusions or emotions that cause you pain?" he said. "Too often, we expect happiness to be an external source. Happiness is not a person, place or thing. Don't be so busy judging others that you don't have time to love them."

The Abilene Interfaith Council is a non-profit organization of individuals and congregations from the Abilene area dedicated to promoting communication, understanding and peace among people of different faiths who live together in the community. For more information, visit www.prisgwilt.wix.com/abilene-interfaith.
Four San Angelo firefighters were taken to the hospital after part of a structure collapsed on them as they responded to a house fire Saturday, fire officials said.

One became entrapped for five to six minutes before he could be extracted, said Assistant Fire Chief Scott Farris.

Two were taken to Community Medical Center and two to Shannon Medical Center, Farris said. Details about their conditions and extent of injuries were not available Saturday evening.

The structure fire, on London Court in The Bluffs subdivision, was reported just before 4:30 p.m., and at one point flames were visible from the top of the house. By 5:15 p.m. the fire was extinguished.

Farris said no one was living in the home, which was under construction. The firefighters were struck by a falling veneer structure, he said.

A ladder truck, five engines, a rescue truck, 24 firefighters and eight EMS workers in four ambulances, as well as five command staff, responded to the fire.

It was not yet clear what caused the blaze, Farris said Saturday evening. A representative from the construction company was set to tour the site with fire officials to help determine what happened.

Farris said the door to the home was secure when firefighters arrived, and it had to be kicked open.
The operative word these days seems to be 'outlandish.'

We need to look no further than our candidates for president to witness that. But we also can look to the great state of South Carolina for more proof.

South Carolina had risen in our view with its response to the killing of nine people in a Charleston church last summer. Amid the cries for justice was a call to take down the Confederate flag waving on the State Capitol grounds. The flag was prominent in a photograph of the accused killer, a white man who fatally shot African-American churchgoers.

The state, the first to secede from the Union, took it upon itself to remove the flag. Homegrown change is the best. Good for South Carolina.

One person who disagreed with that decision was state Rep. Mike Pitts.

Pitts has made the news again  he wants to register journalists in his state.

He may be confused as to who is a 'journalist' these days of bloggers, talk-show hosts and such. Or perhaps he just doesn't like what is printed or otherwise published, or aired.

There is a burr under his saddle. He believes journalists covering gun-related issues are taking aim at the Second Amendment.

'The TV stations, the six o'clock news and the printed press has no qualms demonizing gun owners and gun ownership,' Pitts said.

He questioned whether there is a code of ethics for all journalists to ensure fair and accurate reporting, which, in his mind, would be supporting his views.

Pitts has concocted the 'South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law.' That's a long and fancy name for what we view is shackling a free press.

Would a registry weed out 'unqualified' journalists  those, say, negatively commenting on gun ownership laws, open carry and other issues? What about fair-minded journalists who seek to have both sides of an issue be heard?

Requirements in his bill would be devised for those who want to work as a journalist for a media outlet and for the outlets who hire journalists. A panel would set forth qualifications, thus lumping journalists with doctors and lawyers.

(We can only imagine how physicians and attorneys would react to that).

'I don't trust the government to say who's qualified to be a journalist,' said Bill Rogers, who heads South Carolina's press association, told The Post and Courier of Charleston. 'The Constitution doesn't say anything about responsible journalism, it says free journalism.'

The office of South Carolina's secretary of state would be responsible for maintaining a 'responsible journalism registry.'

What if someone was not registered? He or she would face 'minor fines,' similar to those, Pitts said, given people concealing firearms they are not licensed to carry. Sounds a little like tit for tat to us.

Fines for not being registered could range from $25 to $500 and 30 days jail time. Perhaps Mr. Pitts adapted his punishment from countries where journalists are imprisoned and/or executed.

According to The Post and Courier, Pitts' bill 'was introduced in the S.C. House of Representatives just a short time ago and sent to the Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry.'

We trust this bill is going nowhere, and that the absurdity of Mr. Pitts' thinking will land him among that state's version of the Bum Steer Awards. What is disturbing, however, is that someone would even propose this legislation.

We asked Taylor County District Attorney James Eidson about the legislation. He doubted its success, but said better self-policing of journalists by journalists might be a good idea.

Doctors and lawyers can be punished by nationwide organizations that oversee their professions; journalists can be fired.

Lawmakers are tasked with representing the people, not proposing outlandish legislation to make a personal statement. Mr. Pitts told The Post and Courier that his bill is not a response to a particular story nor is he a 'press hater.' But, Mr. Pitts, this kind of bill certainly would get you bad press, and you don't have to hate us to disrespect us.

To us, Mr. Pitts' threat is this: Question the Second Amendment and see what that does to your First Amendment rights.

'Do journalists, by definition, really adhere to a code of ethics?' Pitts asked.

Admittedly, not all, Mr. Pitts. But the same can be said of politicians.
Note all articles are independently researched and written by myself. However, if you buy via one of the links it may be an affiliate and I may earn a small commission.



If you have had your eye on a Crosley record player of late, you might want to check the Secret Sales website, which has a number of models marked down right now.



Ok, clearance might be strong, but all are marked down by a good amount  and there is a good selection of players in the sale, as well as some other pieces such as a vinyl cleaner, a record case and as you can see at the foot of the page, a vintage-style radio too.

In terms of what you can see here, the highly popular Bermuda Dansette is down from 280 to 200, while the blue turntable is down from 125 to 99. If you like the look of that radio, that is down from 90 to 70.

All the discounted pieces can be viewed at the website and the sale runs for a limited time.

Secret Sales website
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Something new is coming to Central Asia, and something new is coming from Central Asia, and its all due to the imminent opening of a long-closed ancient trade route.

The reemergence of Iran into global trade has many countries pondering the potential benefits and detriments.

For Central Asia, one benefit is obvious -- a third trade route. For many centuries, caravans crossed through Iran and Central Asian territory, but it has been well over 100 years now since trade between, or across, Iran and Central Asia flowed freely.

How significant could Iran be as a trade route for Central Asia? How quickly could the new route make a difference to the economies of the Central Asian states, all of which are currently in crisis? What are the limits to Central Asias cooperation with Iran?

RFE/RLs Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, assembled a majlis, a panel discussion, to look at these questions and other matters.

Azatlyk Director Muhammad Tahir moderated the roundtable. Participating from Wales was Hossein Aryan, a former deputy director of RFE/RLs Persian Service, known as Radio Farda, and currently an independent analyst on Iran. From Glasgow University, senior lecturer on Central Asia Dr. Luca Anceschi joined the discussion. And I, of course, was raring to get into this topic myself.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in late 1991, the five Central Asian states had one export route, through Russia. For approximately the next 15 years, that was the only major trade route. There was some mercantile activity across the Caspian and Turkmenistan, which borders Iran (remember that, its important), and gas was exported to Iran via a pipeline built with funds from the Islamic republic.

China entered the picture visibly about 10 years ago, building oil and gas pipelines and making improvements to roads and railways to facilitate trade, albeit mainly raw materials and energy resources coming from Central Asia to China.

Still, Central Asia does import a significant amount of goods from China and trade with the Middle Kingdom has grown. More importantly, Central Asia gained a trade route leading east, a second major trade route.

But the economies of Russia and China are experiencing difficulties, so now would seem an incredibly fortuitous time to see a third trade route open up, this time south through Iran.

Anceschi said, I think that we will see that having this reentry of the Islamic republic onto the world stage does actually favor the Central Asian states, giving it easier access to global markets, to the open sea, to the [Persian] Gulf.

Some people, including me, have pointed out in recent months that Iran would be a fantastic transit country for potential Central Asian oil and gas exports to Europe. That was not disputed.

But Aryan said it would not be something Tehran would be ready to agree to just yet.

I think first and foremost [Iran] will be thinking of its own interests. Iran in 2011 was exporting something like 2.5 million barrels of oil per day and then after sanctions it decreased to something around about 1 million. So now, more than anything else, as Iranian officials have stressed, they want to increase the output, Aryan explained.

And Aryan added, It will take quite awhile and Iran must do a lot to improve its infrastructure in order to become a corridor for trade, or the transfer of oil [or gas] from Central Asian countries.

But in terms of other trade, Anceschi said, Iran can be a real game changer for infrastructure -- railways, freeways, roadways...that could actually change a lot in terms of the connectivity of Central Asia with the rest of the world.

And Anceschi, speaking about energy resources, noted Central Asia also stands to benefit further as a transit region.

I think that China is probably the most interesting case because the way in which the demand of China has been articulated was always done in order not to have too much dependency on a single source, and adding Iran -- now able to produce more, to sell more -- is actually something from which China could benefit a lot.

Indeed, linking China and Iran through Central Asia is something of a re-creation of the ancient Silk Route.

But the panelists agreed that even this level of integration would probably take the better part of a decade to realize, perhaps not such a great length of time given the long histories of the peoples of this region but too long to offset the current economic difficulties Central Asia is facing.

The panel also looked at the potential risks of a new relationship with Iran. Aryan pointed out the Islamic republic has a history of trying to extend its influence into other countries, such as Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Aryan said that with billions of dollars of its funds being unfrozen by the United States and the promise of revenues from oil and gas sales, even at current low prices, that would probably provide Iran with the money to pursue its foreign policy aggressively in the region.

But Anceschi explained, If there is one thing which I dont think the Central Asian leaders [will] change that much, it's how they relate to foreign influence. He added, I think that Central Asia will be very careful not to get too close to Iran, but also not to become too distant from Iran, because I think that in terms of economic, beyond energy, the benefits could be quite substantial.

The panel discussed the possible losers if an Iranian trade route opens. Russia certainly will lose some transit fees from Central Asian exports being redirected through Iran. Azerbaijan is also a potential loser since the trans-Caspian shipping trade is still in its early stages and could quickly be made obsolete by more efficient export land routes through Iran.

A guaranteed winner is Turkmenistan, which would become Central Asias gateway to Iran and Irans to Central Asia. Anceschi suggested Kazakhstan also stands to gain. There is already a Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway and this could be expanded.

The discussion went deeper into these topics and explored other areas of the impending new trade relationship between Iran and Central Asia.

An audio recording of the roundtable can be heard here:
Syrian activists say at least 63 people, including nine children, have been killed in air strikes suspected to have been carried out by Russian warplanes in eastern Syria.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the jets on January 23 struck the village of Khasham, which is controlled by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

It was not possible to independently confirm the claim.

IS militants control most of oil-rich Deir al-Zour Province, where Khasham is located.

Over the past week, IS militants launched an offensive against government forces near the provincial capital, Deir al-Zour.

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, launched an air campaign in Syria in September, saying it is targeting the IS group and other extremists there.

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa
Iranian officials say Tehran plans to buy 114 aircraft from European airplane manufacturer Airbus as soon as March and is looking for other deals.

The Islamic republic is emerging from international isolation after the easing of sanctions on January 16 under a deal between Tehran and global powers to curb Iran's nuclear program.

Iran could need as many as 500 new planes over the next three years, Mahdi Hashemi, chairman of the parliament's Development Commission, said at Tehran's first major postsanctions gathering of global businessmen.

Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi told journalists on January 24 that Tehran would discuss details with Airbus next week and was also interested in negotiating with the U.S. manufacturer Boeing for aircraft.

Tehran has long said it will need to revamp an aging fleet, hit by a shortage of parts because of trade bans imposed by Washington and other Western powers.

Hashemi said Iran could place an order in the next two months, confirming plans announced earlier this month.

Based on reporting by AFP
Two strangers who were told they look so alike that they could be related have taken a DNA test to find out whether this could be the case.

Niamh Geaney and Irene Adams, both 26, underwent the test after repeatedly being asked by people if they were blood-related.

Ms Adams is the third doppelganger Ms Geaney has found since she set up Twin Strangers, an online project aiming to match people who have never met but look alike.

Since setting up the website with friends, the Dubliner has met two similar-looking strangers  one who lived just a few miles away, and the second residing in Genoa. Ms Adams also lives in Ireland.

Ms Geaney, a student and television presenter, and Ms Adams took a DNA test to find out whether they were sisters, half-sisters or related in any way going back 20,000 years in their ancestry. The results showed that there was a zero per cent chance of the women being sisters, at 1,50,000-1 odds, and neither did they share one parent.

Ms Geaney  who describes herself as a global doppelganger hunter  said the results to determine whether the pair are related in any way was the one she was most worried about.

This is the one that could show that we are related in some sense. And then what does that mean for doppelgangers? she said

Everyone who looks the same  are they related in some sense?

Source: www.independent.co.uk
Russian President Vladimir Putin has introduced martial law in four of Ukraine's regions, parts of which are under the control of Russian troops, as Ukrainian forces continue liberating occupied territories in the country's east despite another barrage of air attacks across the country.

Putin said at an online session of the Security Council on October 19 that he signed a decree declaring martial law in Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya -- all of which Russia illegally annexed last month.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

He didnt immediately describe the steps that would be taken under martial law but said his order was effective starting at midnight on October 20. His decree gives law enforcement agencies three days to submit specific proposals.

The package of moves, which come nearly eight months into the war launched by the Kremlin in late February, marked the latest escalation by Putin to counter a series of defeats to Ukrainian forces since the start of September.

By extending the decree to regions beyond Ukraine, the move ensures that more Russians, already angered by a military mobilization announced last month, will more deeply feel the consequences of the war in their own lives.

Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office's head, called Putin's move "a pseudo-legalization of looting of Ukrainians' property."

"This does not change anything for Ukraine: We continue the liberation and deoccupation of our territories," Podolyak tweeted shortly after Putin announced martial law in the four Ukrainian regions.

U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House, said Putin is trying to get Ukraine to give up.

"I think that Vladimir Putin finds himself in an incredible difficult position and what it reflects to me is it seems his only tool available to him is to brutalize the individual citizens in Ukraineto try to intimidate them into capitulating. They are not going to do that," Biden said.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said earlier the declaration of martial law was a desperate tactic and any claim by Russia over the regions was "illegitimate."

Putin's move came as the Russia-installed leader of Ukraine's southern Kherson region said the evacuation has started of tens of thousands of civilians and Moscow-appointed officials in the face of a Ukrainian military advance.

Vladimir Saldo said 50,000-60,000 civilians would leave four towns on the west bank of the Dnieper River in an "organized, gradual displacement" over the next five or six days.

All of the Moscow-installed administration in the city of Kherson would evacuate, too, Saldo said.

Russian television showed footage of a number of people queuing for boats on the Dnieper River bank although it was not immediately clear how many were leaving. The forced transfer or deportation of the civilian population by an occupying power from the territory under its control is considered a war crime.

Saldo's statements came after General Sergei Surovikin, the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, said the situation in the southern city of Kherson is "difficult" and residents facing Ukrainian bombardment are to be evacuated.

WATCH: Ukrainian forces first got their hands on FH70 155-millimeter howitzers courtesy of Italy in May and received training in Estonia. RFE/RL journalists met with a frontline FH70 crew and watched them in action against Russian forces.

"The Russian Army will above all ensure the safe evacuation of the population" of Kherson, Surovikin said.

But Kyiv on October 19 accused Russia of staging a propaganda show in an attempt to "scare" the Kherson residents.

"Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with fake messages about the shelling of the city by our army and are also staging a propaganda show with evacuation," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram.

Kherson was the first big city to fall to the Russian forces in February after the start of Moscow's unprovoked invasion, but Ukrainian forces have been steadily retaking nearby territory in recent weeks.

They have pushed as far as 30 kilometers south along the Dnieper River, threatening to trap Russian troops.

Meanwhile, fresh explosions were heard in Kyiv and other areas on October 19, with a missile strike hitting a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine.

The coal-fired Burshtyn plant in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk, which supplies electricity to three western regions and to five million consumers, was hit and on fire, according to Svytlana Onysshchuk, the regional governor. There were no casualties in the strike at the plant, which was hit by four missiles nine days earlier as well.

Serhiy Borzov, governor of the Vinnytsya region in western Ukraine, said Russia had also carried out attacks on energy facilities in his region. Russian bombardment also cut power and water in some parts of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhya region on October 19, said Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of the southern city located near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant that's been a flashpoint of the nearly eight-month conflict.

A power plant in Kryviy Rih, a city in south-central Ukraine, was also seriously damaged by Russian shelling, leaving villages, towns, and a city district without electricity, the regional governor reported.

Russian forces also targeted Ukraine's southern Mykolayiv region again with kamikaze drones early on October 19.



The Ukrainian military's southern command said in a statement on October 19 that its forces shot down 12 drones overnight.

More than a week of air attacks has destroyed almost one-third of Ukraine's power stations and cut electricity in more than 1,000 settlements.

With Ukraine gaining momentum in the war that is now nearly eight months old, European lawmakers on October 19 recognized the country's "brave" citizens by awarding them the 2022 Sakharov Prize.

"This award is for those Ukrainians fighting on the ground. For those who have been forced to flee. For those who have lost relatives and friends. For all those who stand up and fight for what they believe in. I know that the brave people of Ukraine will not give up and neither will we," European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in the statement.

The annual prize is named after the Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov and was established in 1988 by the European parliament to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
Thousands of Moldovans have rallied in the countrys capital, Chisinau, to demand the resignation of the newly appointed government and early elections.



The protest was organized by two pro-Russian parties and a pro-EU anticorruption movement.



A counter-rally in support of the government, which was also planned for January 24, was canceled to avoid clashes.



Police said about 16,000 protesters braved minus 10 degree Celsius temperatures.



They chanted slogans like, "We want the country back!" and "Unity, citizens!" in Romanian and Russian.



There were no reports of violence.



Public anger toward what many Moldovans consider a deeply corrupt political class has been on the rise since the appointment on January 20 of Pavel Filip as prime minister.



A member of the ruling Democratic Party (PD), Filip is perceived by many to be under the control of a controversial oligarch, Vlad Plahotniuc.



But the United States, the European Union, and Moldovas closest ally, EU-member Romania, have said they would work with the new government, and urged it to implement pro-EU reforms.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has pledged further action to combat militants just days after a Taliban faction killed 21 people in an attack against a university.



But Sharif admitted progress has been slow in certain areas of the governments National Action Plan against extremism.



The National Action Plan was launched after a December 2014 school assault in which Taliban militants killed some 150 people, most of them children.



It has included the empowerment of military courts and the resumption of executions after a six-year moratorium on capital punishment.



Those initiatives have been credited with making 2015 the least deadly year in terms of militant attacks since the formation of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani (TTP) in 2007.



Sharif said Pakistan and Afghanistan have an agreement that both countries will not allow militants to use their territory to launch attacks on each other.



But he said there are certain elements in Afghanistan who on their own are attacking Pakistan.



Pakistani officials have said the January 20 university attack was orchestrated from Afghanistan.



They have arrested five Pakistani suspects.

Based on reporting by AFP and Dawn.com
President Petro Poroshenko has warned Ukrainian politicians that the collapse of the Minsk agreements aimed at ending a war with Russia-backed separatists could set off a "full-scale conflict" with Russia.

Poroshenko was speaking at a conference of local leaders in Kyiv on January 23.

"Those political forces that want to torpedo the Minsk agreements at any cost...and to block the constitutional process, must clearly understand the consequences of their actions," he said.

"They will lead to the resumption of the 'hot phase' of the conflict, including a full-scale -- and not local, as it has been so far -- conflict with Russia," he added.

His words appeared to be aimed at foes of "decentralization" legislation that Ukraine is required to pass under the peace deal signed in February 2015 by Ukraine, Russia, and separatists who hold parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The Minsk deal is crucial for Kyiv because it calls for the restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border between the separatist-held territories and Russia, which has backed the separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014.

Ukraine's parliament gave preliminary approval to constitutional changes granting more power to the regions in August, but their adoption requires a two-thirds vote in the 450-seat legislature.

Poroshenko said he hopes the legislation will be passed in the first half of this year, in the next parliament session, which begins after February 1.

However, some lawmakers say the legislation must be passed during the current session to be valid, but that is highly unlikely to happen. As a result, Poroshenko's allies have asked the Constitutional Court for a ruling that would effectively extend the deadline for the vote indefinitely.

Poroshenko also said that adopting decentralization obviates any need to for laws granting "special status" to the separatist-held regions or any others, a remark that is not likely to please the separatists.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Unian, and Interfax
The Reuters news agency reports that the Russian Finance Ministry has set aside 135 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) to help the countrys economy under a draft anticrisis plan.



The report says another 340 billion rubles ($4.36 billion) has been set aside for possible use to dampen social discontent over the tumbling value of Russias currency and growing economic hardships for ordinary Russians.



Russias economy has been battered by low global oil prices, Western sanctions over its role in Ukraines crisis, and the falling value of the ruble -- which fell to a record low of 84 rubles per U.S. dollar during the past week before rebounding to 78 rubles per dollar on January 22.



Reuters quoted two unnamed senior officials in Russias government about the plans, which have not been finalized.



They said Russias railway and agricultural machinery industries and the consumer goods manufacturing and construction sectors would receive some of the funds.



They said Russia's car industry already has been promised 50 billion of the 135 billion rubles.

Based on reporting by Reuters
The massive exodus of scientists since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union is a known phenomenon that has greatly affected the field of mathematics.



More than 30 speakers invited to address the 1986 International Congress of Mathematicians in California came from the Soviet Union -- most of them from Russia. In 2010, only five speakers at the congress, held in India that year, were affiliated with Russian universities.



In a new study, two Moscow-based academics attempt to quantify what Russia -- a traditional math power -- has lost in the outflow of mathematicians.



Vladlen Timorin and Ivan Sterligov of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) analyzed papers published in 25 non-Russian pure mathematics journals by people with common Russian last names.



The pair found that, in 1994, some 70 percent of these publications came from Russian institutions, but that proportion dropped to about 50 percent by 1997, and has since stabilized.



More than one-third of the Russian mathematicians who moved to the West from 1993 to 2015 went to the United States, with France being a distant second.



The study -- A Metric View On Russian Mathematics And Russian Mathematical Diaspora -- was published in the Winter 2015 issue of Higher Education In Russia And Beyond, a journal published by HSE.

Timorin, professor and dean of mathematics at HSE, told RFE/RL that Russian mathematicians who emigrated are able to find good academic positions abroad, are on average doing better academically than those who stayed, and appear to be more productive than native-born scientists in their host countries.



Between 1992 and 2008, the study says, the average Russian migrant published 20 more papers than the average American mathematician, and those papers received 143 more citations.



According to a 2012 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit group based in Massachusetts, the arrival of Soviet mathematicians in the United States made the market more competitive.



Our empirical analysis demonstrates that the American mathematicians whose research programs most overlapped with that of the Soviets experienced a reduction in productivity after the entry of Soviet emigres into the U.S. mathematics market," the authors said.



With an estimated 1,000 mathematicians having left Russia for the United States, Timorin and Sterligov said Russian mathematics has lost its best representatives.



The emigration of many leading Russian mathematicians, they added, has dramatically weakened both higher education and research in Russia.



According to the paper, each of the mathematicians of Russian origin who have been awarded a Fields Medal -- an honor regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for mathematics -- have permanent positions in the West. And the only exception is Grigori Perelman, who no longer works for Russian institutions.



Despite this grim assessment, there is some cause for optimism in Russia.



The number of researchers with Russian affiliations stabilized at about 50 percent, and the share of double affiliations -- both with Russian and Western institutions -- has grown to about one-quarter.



And despite the exodus, the study said, Russian mathematical output stands surprisingly high.



"Even [though] it's traditional in Russia to publish in Russian [math] journals -- and these journals are very good -- if you look at publications in the best Western journals, Russia is among the top seven or eight countries," Timorin said.



However, he said that no significant progress is visible.
Ukraines Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has called for a referendum to be held on a new constitution for the country.



Speaking on January 24 in his weekly televised speech, Yatsenyuk said it is high time for the Ukrainian people to have its say about a new Ukrainian constitution in a new European Ukraine.



Yatsenyuk said the constitution would be a new agreement on redistribution of powers between authorities, an agreement on relations between the center and the countrys regions, an agreement on a new honest and fair judicial system, and on clear geopolitics  namely, on the countrys future goals of becoming members of the European Union and NATO.



Yatsenyuks remarks came a day after President Petro Poroshenko warned the countrys politicians that the collapse of the Minsk agreements aimed at ending a war with Russia-backed separatists could set off a "full-scale conflict" with Russia.



Speaking at a conference of local leaders in Kyiv on January 23, Poroshenko said, Those political forces that want to torpedo the Minsk agreements at any cost...and to block the constitutional process, must clearly understand the consequences of their actions."



"They will lead to the resumption of the 'hot phase' of the conflict, including a full-scale -- and not local, as it has been so far -- conflict with Russia," he said.



Poroshenkos words appeared to be aimed at foes of "decentralization" legislation that Ukraine is required to pass under the peace deal signed in February 2015 by Ukraine, Russia, and separatists who hold parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.



The Minsk deal is crucial for Kyiv because it calls for the restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border between the separatist-held territories and Russia -- which has backed the separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014.

With reporting by Unian, Interfax, and TASS
Richmonds urban core is coming back to life. You see it in lights turned back on in long-shuttered buildings, in companies moving from the suburbs to the central business district  and a changing city skyline.

SunTrust Banks Inc., one of the largest employers here, said last week that it will move from its perch in the SunTrust Center at 919 E. Main St. into a new 21-story office and apartment tower that will go up in The Locks development along the Haxall Canal east of Riverfront Plaza.

The tower will start rising this spring at the southeast corner of South 10th and East Byrd streets and be complete by the end of 2017. A former Reynolds Metals Co. aluminum factory/warehouse will be torn down to make way for it.

The announcement came six months after Gateway Plaza, an 18-story office building, opened at East Canal, Eighth and Ninth streets. The building is the headquarters for the McGuireWoods law firm and soon will be the regional headquarters for Portsmouth-based TowneBank.

Other skyscraper changers are in the works for downtown Richmond. But can the city absorb all of this new office space?

***

Dominion Resources Inc. is getting ready to demolish a six-story office building, the Richmond Plaza office building on Cary Street, across Seventh Street from Dominions 21-story One James River Plaza office tower, and put a high-rise in its place.

Demolition will begin by midyear, and the new building is targeted for completion by summer 2019, said Ryan Frazier, spokesman for the Richmond-based energy company.

The scope of the tower has not yet been decided, he said, nor have decisions been made about existing Dominion buildings in downtown Richmond.

However, Dominion sat for five years on the property  a former cigarette factory converted into offices in the 1970s  and is now on the fast track to transform it.

The design/build team is a joint venture of Richmond-based Hourigan Construction and Chicago-based Clayco Inc., which was the developer of Gateway Plaza.

We determined a need for a new downtown building to house current employees and to accommodate growth, Frazier said. We believe it will be a good addition to Richmonds skyline.

Hourigan Construction, also the contractor for the Stone Brewing Co.s East Coast production facility east of downtown, is among more than half a dozen firms that have moved in the past year or so from the suburbs to the city, retrofitting empty space into what it calls the office of the future at 411 E. Franklin St.

CarMax Inc. will keep its corporate offices in West Creek office park in Goochland County.

But the automotive retailer, too, is looking for office space in downtown Richmond. Spokeswoman Trina Lee said the chain is looking at a downtown location to support its home office growth.

***

Downtown Richmond is being reinvigorated as a live, work and play area, as old buildings are converted into apartments and as millennials along with empty nesting baby boomers move into newly created residential spaces, reversing the flight to the suburbs.

All of this renewed energy and new building is not to say everything is hunky-dory in downtown Richmond.

If it werent for SunTrusts commitment to become the anchor tenant, Richmonds soon-to-be newest high-rise would still be on the wish list, where its been for the past four years.

The pre-lease by SunTrust was the key ingredient for this development, said Michael Campbell, principal of Dominion Realty Partners, the developer on this project and other high-profile downtown properties, including Riverside on the James, Vistas on the James, The Residences at the John Marshall and The Link Apartments Manchester.

The $93 million project will have 137,000 square feet of commercial space and 187 luxury apartments. The commercial portion will be called The Locks at 3Twenty-One. The residential part, starting on the 10th floor, will be called The Residences at 3Twenty-One.

If it was 100 percent office, it wouldnt make any sense but, with the apartment component, it can work, said Andrew Cook, research analyst with CBRE | Richmond, a commercial real estate firm in Henrico County.

It also would not make sense to build a 100 percent speculative building in this market, Cook said. The market is very soft.

The vacancy rate for Class A, or the best and newest office space in downtown Richmond, jumped after Gateway Plaza after opened last summer, he said.

The rate tapered off slightly in the fourth quarter, as more space was absorbed, but it was 17 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 10.5 percent at the end of 2014, Cook said.

Unlike Gateway Plaza, which drew tenants from other locations and created gaping office spaces, the Dominion building will not have any leased space, except for retail space on the first level.

McGuireWoods left a hole in One James Center with its move into Gateway Plaza.

Riverfront Plaza is still trying to fill space vacated when Wachovia Securities left Richmond years ago for St. Louis. The Bank of America building has more than 100,000 square feet of space available for lease, the result of a corporate downsizing and sale of the building several years ago.

The largest blocks of available space are in Riverfront Plazas twin towers  138,255 square feet in the West Tower and 86,162 square feet in the East Tower; and the James Center, with 234,598 square feet available in One James Center, the former location for McGuireWoods; 23,166 square feet in Two James Center; and 84,157 square feet in Three James Center, according to commercial brokerage Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer in Henrico.

The Federal Reserve has one floor  20,000 square feet of space  and it, too, has been available for years. And SunTrust will vacate 187,736 square feet in 919 E. Main St. when it moves into 53,000 square feet in the new tower.

Thats two years away, commercial broker Jeffrey Cooke said about SunTrusts pending move.

This was an opportunity to do a mixed-use tower and continue the apartment boom in Richmond, Cooke said about the citys soon-to-be newest high-rise.

Cooke, a senior vice president at Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, represented the landlords in the transaction. The WVS Cos. and Fountainhead Properties are developers of The Locks, a 6-acre, mixed-use site featuring historic renovations and new construction.

You have very experienced developers who are right in the wheelhouse; they know how to do projects like this better than anyone, said Stevens Gentil, chairman of the Richmond office for Colliers International, of the new high-rise.

Yes, it will add more office space to an already soft market, Gentil said. But 80,000 square feet of spec space is not a big hurdle. If you told me 200,000 square feet, I would be concerned.

Such companies as SunTrust want to create great work environments for their employees, Cooke said. One thing motivating tenants to move to newer buildings is efficiency. They are looking for maximum efficiencies and more flexibility, not the big corner office.

The rent is higher in new buildings, Cooke said. But the net savings is often greater because of space and energy efficiencies, he said.

Because of the downtown apartment boom, he said, the city is becoming more of a 24-hour city. Thats a trend we are seeing in other cities as well, said Cooke, noting General Electrics recent decision to move from suburban Connecticut to downtown Boston.

One reason is recruiting new workers, he said. Companies face labor shortages of talented young people.
Mumbai: Bigg Boss Nau winner Prince Narula has confirmed he is seeing his co-contestant, Moroccan beauty Nora Fatehi. Prince, who first proposed to Nora on the show, said he wants to take their relationship ahead after coming out of the Bigg Boss house. "I am with Nora. We are dating each other and trying to know each other more. She is similar to me and she came on the show at a time when I was feeling low. She boosted my confidence and supported me. In such a house, when someone is nice to you, it is easy to get attracted," Prince told PTI after his win.

"I said 'I love you' to her, which meant I love the person she is. I also told her in private that unlike other reality show couples, I want to carry our relationship even outside the house. So, now we are spending time with each other and we are seeing how good we are for each other." Nora, however, was not the first girl Prince confessed his feelings for. Known for his closeness with different girls on youth-based show 'Splitsvilla', the young star, before Nora, proposed to actress Yuvika Choudhary on 'Bigg Boss'. Many termed it a gimmick by him to survive on the show but Prince insisted his feelings for her were genuine. "I had seen relationships in my previous show 'Splitsvilla so, I was clear I won't make any on 'Bigg Boss' because such relations don't last. But, I liked Yuvika and also told her about my feelings. "It was one sided as she was sure she was not ready then.

Just three days after my feelings for her developed, she got eliminated. So, it did not materialize into anything. Today we are great friends." Before entering the Bigg Boss house, Prince had claimed he wanted to be the reality show 'king' by winning the popular show. Now that he has emerged as the winner, the star wants to try his hand at fiction. "No more reality shows for me now. I want to do fiction on TV. I had signed two fiction shows before entering 'Bigg Boss' so I will be doing that now. Both the shows are in the romantic genre. I can't reveal much about them right now."

Prince defeated Rishabh Sinha, Mandana Karimi and Rochelle Rao in the grand finale of Bigg Boss Nau. While Rishabh stood second, Mandana came third and Rochelle settled at the fourth position.
John Stewart Bryan III, who spent more than 50 years as the fourth and final generation of his family to work in the media business, died Saturday.

Mr. Bryan, longtime chairman of Media General Inc. and former publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, suffered a fall at his home on Jan. 15 and had been hospitalized at Bon Secours St. Marys Hospital since then.

His death came at a time when Media General is in the middle of a sale. A bidding contest has emerged between Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. and Iowa-based Meredith Corp. to merge with Media General.

Standing up to state and local governments and businesses trying to thwart the publics right to know was a hallmark of Mr. Bryans career.

If I have made any contribution, it has been being part of a newspaper that was trying to provide the right information for people to make up their own minds in the city of Richmond and central Virginia, Mr. Bryan said in an interview in October.

From 1978 to 2004, he served as publisher of The Times-Dispatch, the newspaper his great-grandfather acquired in 1887 and the one his father also served as publisher at for more than three decades.

Mr. Bryan, 77, took the reins of Media General in 1990 and grew the publicly traded company that his father had created in 1969 into a multimillion-dollar corporation that now only owns 71 television stations, including WRIC in Richmond. Media General exited the publishing business in 2012 when it sold its newspapers, including The Times-Dispatch, to a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

We have kept an eye on government, Mr. Bryan said about the role that his newspapers and television stations have played. I think the press has played an enormous role in the history of the United States. I have been a proud part of it.

Mr. Bryan served as Media Generals board chairman since 1990 and was its CEO from 1990 to 2005. He had held a seat on the Richmond-based companys board since 1974.

Marshall N. Morton, Media Generals former president and CEO, said Mr. Bryan believed media companies have an obligation to serve the public.

It was fun working for a man who felt he had a duty to his company as opposed to someone who just worked for it, Morton said.

He was so easy to work with that he drew people to him. People enjoyed the opportunity to bounce ideas off him. He created an atmosphere of collegiality. He stimulated a lot of fresh thinking. He was a great mentor.

Thomas A. Silvestri, president and publisher of The Times-Dispatch, said Mr. Bryans death is a sad time for employees, retirees and readers of the newspaper.

Mr. Bryan was an unabashedly strong supporter of the RTD and its journalists, said Silvestri, who succeeded Mr. Bryan as publisher in 2004. Also, his personal connections to our diverse workforce, especially those employees who spent their entire careers at The Times-Dispatch, were deep. Ive also lost a valued mentor whose lessons will never be forgotten and always appreciated.

The ever-so-genteel Southern gentleman known for his assortment of bow ties, Mr. Bryan said he felt he had been a newspaperman at heart his entire life.

I did what I did because it was fun and it was unmitigated fun for the first 40 years, but the last 10 to 15 years, it is questionable about the fun portion, Mr. Bryan said in the October interview, noting that newspapers across the country have struggled in the past decade with declining advertising revenue brought on by the digital revolution, the recession and ensuing slow economy.

***

Mr. Bryan launched his career with summer jobs in the mailing room and circulation departments at the now-closed Richmond News Leader from 1954 to 1957.

After earning a bachelors degree from the University of Virginia in 1960, he served active duty as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps and returned to his alma mater for one year of law school.

Uncertain that he wanted to follow his father and grandfather in the newspaper business, Mr. Bryan decided to find out in unfamiliar territory by taking a job as an advertising salesman for The Burlington Free Press in Vermont in 1963.

Two years later, he joined The Tampa Tribune, a newspaper that his fathers company owned, as a reporter. Mr. Bryan covered the state legislature in Florida in the mid-1960s and the Virginia House of Delegates during the 1968 session for The Times-Dispatch.

Being a reporter covering state politics was the best job  and the most fun  Mr. Bryan had in the newspaper business, he said.

He returned to Tampa in 1968 as vice president of The Tribune Co., which owned the The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Times. He became its publisher in June 1976.

While in Florida in 1969, his father, D. Tennant Bryan, created Media General as a holding company for his familys growing number of newspaper and television properties in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina. Media General shares were publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange in 1970.

Mr. Bryan was named president and publisher of The Times-Dispatch and The News Leader on Jan. 1, 1978, succeeding his father.

He took on the role of chief operating officer at Media General in 1989. In 1990, he was elected chairman, president and CEO of Media General, when the company owned a handful of newspapers and television stations.

Mr. Bryan grew the company during his tenure as CEO. When he stepped down as the companys top executive in 2005, Media General owned 25 daily newspapers, 26 television stations, interactive media and part of a newsprint business.

While he remained chairman of Media General until his death, he retired as an employee of Media General in 2008, marking the first time in decades that a member of his family had not held a high-ranking role as an executive employee of the company.

But he still came to work his corner office in the Media General building on East Franklin Street nearly every day.

Striving to produce honest and accurate journalism was Mr. Bryans hallmark during his career in the newspaper business. During his career, Mr. Bryan faced tough decisions about whether to print particular articles. Publishing news or an opinion wasnt always easy for him, he had said, because those decisions sometimes created enemies among his friends.

But he said he stood steadfast because the issues were important ones for the public to know.

While publisher of The Tampa Tribune, for instance, Mr. Bryan said he received a phone call from the top executive of a major corporation threatening that several companies would pull their advertising if the newspaper ran a story about possible corruption at a local nonprofit.

After consulting with editors, Mr. Bryan determined the story was too important to be kept out of the newspaper. The threat never materialized.

Mr. Bryan received numerous awards during his career. He was named in December to the inaugural Hall of Fame class of distinguished Richmonders as part of the RTD Person of the Year program. He was inducted into the Greater Richmond Business Hall of Fame in 2003.

He was honored in 2012 as the recipient of the George Mason Award for his significant contributions to the advancement of journalism in Virginia. The award, presented annually by the Virginia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, cited his long-term support for open government.

The peoples business should be held in public, Mr. Bryan said in the October interview.

Over the years, Mr. Bryan had been involved in the community in many ways. He served as campaign chairman for the United Way operations in the Richmond and Tampa areas. He has served on a number of nonprofit boards, including being chairman of what is now Goodwill of Central & Coastal Virginia and Junior Achievement of Central Virginia.

When a governor nominated him to serve on the board of visitors of a state university, he turned it down. I felt a newspaperman should not be involved.
Virginia Department of Emergency Management issued a release Sunday offering residents tips to prevent roof collapse due to snow accumulation.

According to the Department of Emergency Management, they've received "multiple reports of collapsed or damaged buildings due to excessive snow and ice" as of Sunday morning.

Residents and business owners are encouraged to evermore snow and ice from roofs to prevent collopse.

Further, the agency shared common warning signs of possible roof distress.

In homes:

 Sagging ceiling beneath the flat roof.

 Leaking water dripping through the ceiling.

 New cracks on your ceiling drywall or plaster.

 Popping, cracking or creaking sounds.

 Doors and/or windows that can no longer be opened or closed.

 Leaking water dripping through the ceiling.

In Commercial Buildings:

 Sagging roof members including steel bar joists, metal decking, wood rafters, wood trusses and plywood sheathing.

 Leaking water dripping through the ceiling.

 Popping, cracking and creaking sounds.

 Sagging ceiling tiles and/or sagging sprinkler lines and sprinkler heads.
The study was published in the journal eLife. (Photo: phys.org)

Berlin: Black Death, the historical plague pandemic in the mid-fourteenth century, may have been hiding in Europe for more than 400 years, a new study has found.

Black Death is undoubtedly the most famous historical pandemic. Within only five years it killed 30-50 per cent of the European population, researchers said.

Unfortunately it did not stop there. Plague resurged throughout Europe leading to continued high mortality and social unrest over the next three centuries.

With its nearly worldwide distribution today, the once omnipresent threat of plague is all but absent in Western Europe, the researchers said.

Scientists led by members of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for the Science of Human History in Germany, have taken one important step forward to understanding the European plagues of our not-so-distant past.

They report the reconstruction of complete pathogen genomes from victims of the Great Plague of Marseille (1720-1722), which is conventionally assumed to be the last outbreak of medieval plague in Europe.

Using teeth from plague pits in Marseille, the team was able to access tiny fragments of DNA that had been preserved for hundreds of years.

"We faced a significant challenge in reconstructing these ancient genomes," said Alexander Herbig.

"To our surprise, the 18th century plague seems to be a form that is no longer circulating, and it descends directly from the disease that entered Europe during the Black Death, several centuries earlier," Mr Herbig said.

Being distinct from all modern forms of plague, the scientists believe they have identified an extinct form of the disease.

Lead author Kirsten Bos cautioned that the geographical source of the disease cannot be identified yet.

Marseille was a big hub of trade in the Mediterranean, so the Great Plague of Marseille could have been imported from any number of places by ship and cargo. However, she said that it equally could have been close to home.

"Our results suggest that the disease was hiding somewhere in Europe for several hundred years," Mr Bos said.

"It's a chilling thought that plague might have once been hiding right around the corner throughout Europe, living in a host which is not known to us yet," said Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the MPI.

The study was published in the journal eLife.
Perhaps no American Founding Father has been lionized and mythologized more than George Washington.

Yet the real man has long been obscured behind the myth. The most basic example of all: The oft-repeated story of the young George Washington chopping down his fathers cherry tree was invented after his death by one of his biographers.

Combining paintings and artifacts, the Taubman Museum of Art has assembled a show that offers insight into the life and legend of the Father of Our Country, arguably Virginias most famous native son.

The notion of presenting a show about Washington has been in the pipeline at the Taubman for years. Its really meant to be a psychological portrait of who he was, said Taubman deputy director of exhibitions Amy Moorefield, who curated the exhibition.

A Portrait of George Washington: The Man, The Soldier, and The President opens Feb. 6, in time to tie in events before Washingtons 284th birthday, which arrives Feb. 22.

The show establishes some firsts for the Roanoke museum, as it contains paintings from the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond that have never been loaned out before. It also holds objects borrowed from George Washingtons Mount Vernon in Fairfax County and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

A private collector of important Washington memorabilia provided the foundation for the exhibit. Ive been working on this for two years now, Moorefield said. I wanted a very well-rounded look at him.

This led her to approach institutions like Mount Vernon about using their artifacts. I asked for some very important things, she said. I was delighted that they were willing to share them with us.

These are objects that you could consider to be national treasures, so we do that with great care, said Harry Rubenstein, chairman and curator of the division of political history for the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Taubmans request sounded really exciting, he said. They were looking at the life of Washington in a somewhat personal and intimate way that I thought was compelling.

A Portrait of George Washington provides windows into the different phases of Washingtons amazingly eventful life. When he died in 1799 at 67, he had been a farmer, a husband, a county surveyor, a soldier in the French and Indian War, commander-in-chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolution, president of the Constitutional Convention, and the first President of the United States.

Washington also owned slaves. Through his adult life, he gradually became sympathetic to the abolitionist cause. In his will, he made provisions to free his slaves after his death, the only slave-owning president to make such a gesture.

In Southwest Virginia, Washington and Lee University provides evidence of his continuing legacy. In 1796, he saved the struggling school, then called Liberty Hall Academy, by endowing it with $20,000 in James River Canal Company stock.

So who is this Washington, right? Rubenstein said. Theres always been something sort of mysterious about Washington.

The Founding Fathers had many remarkable geniuses and statesmen in their ranks, among them Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Yet it was Washington these men repeatedly turned to for leadership. Nobody saw him as the intellectual figure of the Revolution, but nonetheless they trusted his judgment, Rubenstein said.

More than any other revolutionary leader, Washington transcended his native colony to become the national figure behind whom the rest united, he said. During the Revolution, theres others at this time that are making these incredible sacrifices and taking these huge risks. Nonetheless he rises above it somehow.

Beyond his military progress, his peers perceived a level-headed quality in him, and a willingness to put nation ahead of self. As a result, they selected him to preside over the convention that produced our Constitution, then crafted the office of the presidency with Washington in mind.

A number of objects in the Taubman show illustrate the character Washington chose to project during his time in office. As president, he had to entertain foreign dignitaries and citizen petitioners. He needed tableware fancy enough to impress visitors from the European courts, yet not so extravagant that hed give the appearance of abusing his office to amass personal wealth. That would have been a violation of the newly independent nations principles.

Washington was always aware that he was setting the precedents for his presidential successors to follow, Rubenstein said.

Of the pieces in the show, one of the most moving is a tiny portrait of Washington, the first painted after he became president. Irish artist John Ramage painted the watercolor to fit inside a locket that Washington gave to his wife Martha as a gift. An inscription of his initials on the back is ringed by a braided lock of his hair.

Loaned from a private collection, the locket provides one of several views of the man. Another work from the private collector, George Washington at Yorktown by Charles Willson Peale, symbolically portrays Washington victorious at the Revolutions final battle. Though the scene is invented by the artist, Washington did pose for Peale.

The Peale portrait will be flanked by two 23-inch by 37-inch gouache paintings of the siege and surrender at York-town by French artist Louis Nicolas Van Blarenberghe. These landscapes depict hundreds of tiny soldiers rendered in exquisite detail, Moorefield said. The Taubman will provide magnifying glasses so visitors can see those details for themselves.

The collector has also provided the map of Yorktown that Washington carried on his person during the battle.

The George Washington exhibit is part of an upcoming set of shows that emphasizes the American part of the Taubmans mission as an American art museum, culminating in a major Norman Rockwell retrospective set to open March 20 in the museums new special exhibitions gallery.

Its going to be a powerful spring, Moorefield said.
In an early chapter of Charlotte Gordons book, Romantic Outlaws, Mary Wollstonecraft, leaning over her dying mother, waits expectantly to hear her mothers last words. Words she hopes will acknowledge her steadfast devotion to her brothers and sisters as she cared for them when her mother was too ill. Instead, she heard, A little patience and all will be over.

This episode sets the pace for a double biography of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter, Mary Godwin Shelley, a recounting fraught with unexpected resolutions to situations one can only imagine. Wollstonecraft moves to Paris in 1792 while the French Revolution rages, and eventually becomes pregnant with her daughter Fanny whose father was the American business man, Gilbert Imlay. Her other daughter, Mary, a child Wollstonecraft would have later with her husband William Godwin only to die in childbirth, would marry the Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley and pen the novel Frankenstein.

Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter, Mary, who is sometimes referred to as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, were taught as separate figures until the 1980s. Ms. Gordon argues that Mary Shelley was very much attuned to her mothers beliefs and struggles because she had left behind so much of her writings. One of the ways that Mary Shelley learned to read was through touching the letters on Wollstonecrafts headstone at St. Pancras in London as though they were written in braille.

It is through an understanding of the time periods in which Mary and her daughter lived that gives Ms. Gordons argument the most credence. The Enlightenment, with its focus on objectivity, was at its height in popularity. Rousseau had written Emile, which highlighted his heros sensitivity and the role of his heroine Sophie, whose existence revolved around being a coquette. Marys moods were ignited, and she began to adore the tenants of Romanticism, which stressed passion over logic and that individuals were oppressed by society, an outgrowth of the sentimental movement. Her political platform was one against the economic injustices women endured, the terribly limited opportunities for employment, the low wages of governesses, the rigid, unequal sexual conventions for women by men and the wifes loss of property rights. These ideas were anathema to the conservative ideals of writers like Jane Austen, who held that maturing meant conscious self-restraint.

Mary Shelley was also aware of her mothers relationships with men. Mary Wollstonecraft had an emotional affair with Henry Fuseli, the painter of the gothic portrait, The Nightmare, thought to be Marys inspiration for the gothic novel, Frankenstein. The painting depicts a swooning woman who is being contemplated by a crouching monster. In Frankenstein, the monster created by Victor is willing to leave him alone if he gives him a companion. Mary Shelleys companion is Percy Bysshe Shelley, and her life becomes less about the past and more about their tempestuous marriage.

As romantic outlaws, Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter, Mary Shelley, lived out their passions. In this dual biography, through her subjects, Gordon defines what romantic outlaws are and leaves it to the reader to decide if the mother and daughter are worthy of thetitle.
Spending from the state fund tapped by governors to lure business to Old Dominion has hit a two-year high under Virginias dealmaker-in-chief, Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

But a deal gone bad is drawing lawmakers scrutiny to the agency that administers the discretionary development money drafted by McAuliffe and a half-dozen governors before him.

More than $36 million has been spent from the Commonwealths Opportunity Fund since McAuliffe took office Jan. 11, 2014. Thats roughly one-third higher than the previous two-year spike of $27.1 million in fiscal years 2011 and 2012 under Gov. Bob McDonnell.

One of the McAuliffe grants went to a Chinese-owned business venture in Appomattox that received $1.4 million from the fund but produced no jobs or investment. An investigation by The Roanoke Times published Jan. 17 found that state officials tasked with vetting the deal relied on false information posted to a company website that listed a physical address where the business never had been located.

The governor and others are quick to point to the opportunity funds successes. In the cases of more than 500 grants paid since the funds inception in 1992, companies have delivered on their promises to create jobs and invest capital.

Opportunity fund money, usually paid up front before the project occurs, has gone to roughly 100 other projects, about 15 percent of the total, that did not hire as many workers or invest as much capital as pledged, or produced no results, Virginia Economic Development Partnership records showed. In those instances, the state sought repayment of the grant money.

The latest venture to falter was the one in Appomattox. The disclosures in The Roanoke Times about the partnerships failures in vetting the deal triggered dismay last week during the General Assembly session under way in Richmond.

Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, said the deal confirmed the need for a previously planned audit of the partnership, the state agency that advises the secretary of commerce and trade and governor on where to invest opportunity fund dollars.

The planned study is expected to also focus on the states economic development incentives programs and the wide discretion given to Virginias governors to manage the opportunity fund, which is replenished annually. The current appropriation is nearly $21 million, up from $10 million in 1995.

Under the program formerly known as the Governors Opportunity Fund, the states chief executive approves grants with the money first going to a local government agency to pass on to a company planning to locate or expand in a Virginia community.

The grants purpose is to induce economic growth by defraying corporate expenses related to infrastructure and worker training. Local governments, which must match the grant, often tie their contributions to the companies meeting jobs and investment objectives.

McAuliffe, who pledged to make economic development a cornerstone of his administration, has announced more than 60 opportunity fund grants two years into his four-year term.

He has said he sees expanding private industry as an antidote to shrinking federal spending in Virginia. The McAuliffe administration has given preliminary, nonbinding approval for an additional 38 opportunity fund grants totaling $50 million, according to partnership records.

That exceeds the $22 million now available in the fund. The state can commit more than the fund actually holds because about 40 percent of preapproved grants do not result in a payment, officials said.

Five of the preapproved grants are for $5 million and earmarked for potential business deals with companies in the health care, energy, automotive, services and manufacturing sectors, according to partnership records.

Lindenburg Industry, which announced plans in November 2014 to hire 349 workers and invest $113 million in an idled Appomattox furniture plant, is, so far, the only recipient of a grant paid during McAuliffes term to not perform.

There is a lag of up to several years between the issuance of grants and the states accountability process, meaning that sometimes deals dont turn sour until after a governor leaves office. The state originally gave Lindenburg until 2018 to achieve its targets. After 13 months, state officials determined the project was unlikely to go forward and directed the company to repay the $1.4 million by March 7.

Neither the town nor the county in Appomattox gave Lindenburg money. The localities had conditioned their support of Lindenburg on the company meeting its hiring and investment targets. Had Lindenburg performed as expected, the company was in line to receive total incentives worth $12 million.

All told, $227 million in grant money has been issued from the opportunity fund. Officials have recovered $20.8 million from 76 grant recipients who did not perform as expected. Of those, 26 repaid their grants in full after producing little or no jobs and investment. Fifty made a partial repayment after they produced some jobs and investment but fell short of their targets, according to partnership records.

The recipient companies have generated more than 120,000 jobs and invested more than $20 billion, according to the partnership, whose data covers only state-funded incentives.

When companies that receive opportunity fund money perform as pledged, the grants can be offset by new taxes in later years. The partnership said $12.57 in new state tax revenue is generated for every dollar spent on the agencys budget and the incentives programs it manages.

Virginia for years has made a point of trying to recover opportunity fund money when companies miss their targets. By policy, the state treats the failure to meet jobs and investment targets as a broken contract and requires repayment of opportunity fund money.

The process isnt foolproof. Since it began giving out opportunity fund grants, Virginia has been unable to recover $5.8 million from 25 companies involved in failed ventures, according to the partnership. Bankruptcy is among the reasons companies did not fulfill repayment demands, the partnership said.

Steven Chu, a Lindenburg official, said by email that the company asked for more time to repay. Virginia officials have said the March 7 deadline is firm.

The Roanoke Times investigation found that staff at the partnership did not properly vet Lindenburg before recommending the company receive an opportunity fund grant.

When told by a reporter that Virginia relied on false website information, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones said the partnership would reduce its reliance on outside information, such as corporate site consultants, and the agency would do more independent vetting. That will include the requirement that private foreign companies submit audited financial statements for state review, Jones said.

The commerce secretary told lawmakers this past week that his review of the Lindenburg deal found evidence of human error in the partnerships preparation of the offer and incentives contract. In addition, he said, the deal would be reviewed for possible fraud.

The General Assembly is considering a bill to ask the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to audit the partnership. Such a review could be completed between October and December.

The McAuliffe administration has proposed keeping the opportunity fund budget level at $20.75 million a year but raising the partnerships budget by 43 percent to $27.6 million during the upcoming two fiscal years.

Administration officials said this would fund more efforts to attract businesses from overseas, support growth in international trade among businesses and expand Virginias ability to compete with other states for new business locations and expansions.

The Lindenburg project shouldnt be something that clouds the investment that we still need to make in economic development to keep the state moving forward, Jones said.

Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, said lawmakers will consider the budget request carefully. Even without the questions the Lindenburg project raised, the proposed increase for the partnership will trigger scrutiny because of its size and the fact that it is part of an 11 percent overall state spending hike sought by McAuliffe at a time when revenue is fairly flat, Garrett said.

The McAuliffe administration must present the proposed budget increase to the House Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Chris Jones. House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford County, shares the concerns of the committee chairman regarding the Lindenburg deal, said Howell spokesman Matthew Moran.

Howell believes we need to carefully review not just this individual deal but the entire process, Moran said.

The General Assembly session runs until mid-March.
Foreclosures in the Roanoke area rose by more than 38 percent in 2015 from the previous year. But the regions foreclosure rate remains slightly below the national average, according to a year-end market report from RealtyTrac, a real estate data research company.

Of nearly 145,000 housing units in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, 1,040 filed for foreclosure via default notice, scheduled auction or bank repossession in 2015, the report said. Thats one out of every 139 units, or 0.72 percent, and it represents a 38 percent increase from the 751 foreclosures in 2014s RealtyTrac report. A foreclosure rate below 1 percent is considered normal.

The 2015 rate is down from a peak in 2009, when RealtyTrac data showed 1,359 homes, or 0.97 percent of the Roanoke market, in foreclosure.

The rate is on par with the rest of Virginia, which in 2015 had 18,810 foreclosures, or 0.56 percent of the overall housing market, an increase of about 25 percent from the prior year.

The increase is definitely a red flag, but even with the increase were not seeing foreclosures out of the normal range [in Roanoke], said RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist

The increase runs counter to most U.S. real estate markets, which have been seeing a decreasing number of foreclosures each year since the Great Recession. Nationally, RealtyTrac data showed foreclosures were 0.82 percent, down 3 percent from 2014 and down 62 percent from the peak of nearly 3 million foreclosure filings in 2010.

Foreclosure rates in the New River Valley were similar. Of the 78,376 housing units in Montgomery, Floyd, Giles and Pulaski counties and Radford, 251 filed for foreclosure in 2015, according to RealtyTrac. Thats 0.32 percent of the market, an 83 percent jump from 2014.

Its hard to nail down exactly why there would be an increase in foreclosures in Virginia, which usually indicates market stress. But Blomquist said a lot of markets see foreclosures as a result of the lingering effects of the recession.

In 2015 we saw a return to normal, healthy foreclosure activity in many markets even as banks continued to clean up some of the last vestiges of distress left over from the last housing crisis, he said. The increase in bank repossessions that we saw for the year was evidence of this cleanup phase, which largely involves completing foreclosure on highly distressed, low-value properties.

Lenders are still working through foreclosure procedures even years after houses were vacated. Roanoke Realtor Bonnie Hall, who deals almost exclusively with foreclosed properties, said a lot of the new properties are so-called shadow inventory  properties that stalled in foreclosure and have not been sold, or homes that banks delayed putting on the market until conditions improved. She said she had more foreclosure properties sent to her this winter than she has seen in the last five or six years and doesnt expect it to slow down any time soon.

Many of the properties were vacated during the recession but are just now hitting the market.

Even with the increase in foreclosures, Blomquist said Virginia isnt in a danger zone. The city of Roanoke, which the report showed had slightly more than 1 percent of its homes entering foreclosure, had the highest foreclosure percentage in the Roanoke and New River valleys.

Out of 214 metro real estate markets in the report, the Roanoke MSA ranks No. 108.

Kit Hale, a broker at MKB properties in Roanoke, said he wouldnt debate the RealtyTrac numbers but said they seem higher than what he has seen. About 186 real estate owned properties  those that are given back to a lender after a foreclosure auction  were sold in the Roanoke region in 2015, down from 372 in 2014, according to the Multiple Listing Service, a real estate portal used to list properties. However, some foreclosed homes may not have been included on the list because its not required that agents record that designation.

In an email, Hale said 2015 showed a drop in the foreclosure properties sold and, with an improving market, I do not believe that shadow inventory is so pent up as to saturate our market in 2016.

While Im sure some REO companies are holding inventory until the market improves, I do not believe it is a significant number, he said. Over the last five years, there has been an unbalanced inventory as it relates to demand. In other words, we have been in a sustained buyers market due to REO properties and company relocations.

Hale said in the past five years, supply and demand have leveled. In December, data from the listing service showed less inventory than in December 2014 and nearly half the available amount as in 2010, he said, leading him to believe there is a much healthier balance.

Its hard to determine just how some of the recent Roanoke-area job losses have affected the market, real estate agents said. Hale said Norfolk Southerns move added a number of homes to the market, but not enough to cause major problems. It also may take more time to see the full effects of the job losses.

An increase of homes in foreclosure can contribute to changes in property values. Susan Lower, the director of real estate valuation for Roanoke, said before 2008, the city didnt even ask the department to monitor foreclosures. That changed after the recession exposed the effectsthat foreclosures had on the real estate market.

When an area has more foreclosures than valid sales, the effects of the lower prices affect the neighborhood, she said in an email. We qualify each sale in our assessment model for each [neighborhood].

Lower said property values the past two fiscal years have been relatively flat.

Property value projections for the 2015-16 fiscal year are up 0.62 percent overall, according to city real estate records. Property reassessments are down 0.05 percent, while assessments for new construction are up 0.67 percent.
The other night I had a really strange dream.

I was standing on a stage, in a nondescript Virginia town thats somewhat like New Castle. With me were a couple of my cousins, Zid and Zed. Theyre little green men from Mars. They were wearing boys-sized suits wed bought that morning at Sears.

Hey, its a dream, you know?

Anyway, Zid and Zed were grinning. So was Gov. Terry McAuliffe. He was there, too.

With typical over-the-top enthusiasm, McAuliffe announced a major triumph for the town and surrounding county, where unemployment was high. SunBox Inc., our company, was going to locate a major plant there in some former turkey houses on an abandoned poultry farm.

Using rare elements mined on the red planet, Dan and his cousins, Zid and Zed, have invented a revolutionary technology to trap sunlight and use it to heat homes, McAuliffe said. This is transformative stuff. Were talking free energy. Its exactly the kind of new economy were building for Virginia.

Of course, nobody has cousins who are little green men from Mars. And theres no such thing as a SunBox. But dreams are weird, you know?

McAuliffe continued: SunBox is going to invest $113 million in a factory here and create 349 jobs for the honest and hard-working people of this wonderful county, the governor proclaimed.

Everybody clapped.

The factorys starting wages will be $18 an hour, the governor continued. For people earning overtime, thats $27 per hour!

Oohs and ahs rose from the crowd.

The wages were a really big deal. In my dream, the average pay in the county was right around the federal minimum  $7.25 per hour. And almost nobody had had a raise, even a cost-of-living increase, since 2007.

But McAuliffe wasnt done.

These SunBoxes are amazing! he gushed. I put four of them in the executive mansion, and you know what? Our heating bill dropped to ZERO!

I believe this is just the beginning of more amazing discoveries by this fine company, which are going to revolutionize energy, not only for Virginia, not only for America. Were going to change the world, McAuliffe said. And after that, were going to change the universe!

Finally, the governor said he was so excited about the company that hed OKd a $1.4 million grant from his economic opportunity fund to kick-start our Virginia venture.

The crowd cheered wildly.

After the event, McAuliffe drove away with a Virginia State Police escort. He had to get to another economic development announcement. It was the groundbreaking for a perpetual-motion machine factory down in Russell County.

Zid, Zed and I walked to our rented Lincoln, which was parked in a dusty field.

Inside the car, Zid and Zed quickly shucked their cheap suits. But they didnt stop there. Next, they began to tear off their green skins. Turns out those were rubber. Underneath were my son Zach, then 7, and daughter Erin, then 15.

Remember, this was a dream, so anything is possible.

I cant believe he gave us $1.4 million! Erin said, laughing.

Me neither, Zach said. I figured they would have checked out our company first, to see if it was real.

Im sure they did, I said. After all, we have a website.

Right, Zach said. But I bought that URL last month on GoDaddy.com for eight bucks.

And I stole the photos for it from a widget manufacturer in Dubuque, Iowa, Erin added.

Anyway, the SunBox is just a plywood cube lined with aluminum foil, Zach said.

They never even asked to review the company books! Erin said.

Are Virginia Republicans this easy to fool? Zach asked. Or is it just the Democrats?

I pulled the Lincoln out of the field and aimed it toward Roanoke.

Have you cashed the check, Dad? Erin asked.

The moneys in a briefcase in the trunk, I said. Our flight to Croatia leaves from Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport in an hour.

Why Croatia? Zach wondered.

No extradition to the United States, I replied. Besides, the cost of living there is cheap  $1.4 million will go a long way.

Theres one thing I cant figure out, Erin said. How in the heck did those phony SunBoxes cut the heating bills of the governors mansion to zero?

They installed them in June, I replied. Its now August. They havent turned on the heat yet  so technically the governor is correct. But that mansions going to get mighty chilly come January.

As Ive noted repeatedly, this was all a crazy dream. Nothing like this ever happens in real life.

Does it?
January 21, 2016, 09:00 am

The smoking gun?



By Anthony DeChristopher

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Special Access Programs (SAP) is a game changer. It is now undeniably clear that the results of the FBI investigation will be the end of one of two things: Hillarys bid for the White House or the legitimacy of the FBIat least when it comes to prosecuting cases on the mishandling of classified material.



In 2006, a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) from my company was deployed to Afghanistan. Theirs was a particular mission that differed from the combat missions the typical ODAs were conducting at that time. Everyone on that team maintained a Top Secret Sensitive and Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance and was read-on to their special program. A few months into their deployment, their Intelligence Sergeant lost a thumb-drive that possessed classified information. A week later the thumb drive was found for sale at a local bazaar.



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In response to the events, Col. Ken Allard (ret.) stated, You've got a situation in which the U.S. is going to be forced to change an awful lot of its operational techniques."



Beyond the compromise of classified information, a lot did change. New protocols for the handling of classified material were established, and the transportation of classified material on thumb drives was strictly forbidden. The knee jerk reaction even went as far as to disable USB ports on our work computersin case we forgot.



Since then Ive deployed to several locations where, at times, we operated in small teams with only non-secure cellphones with which to communicate. We often found ourselves with a lot of information that needed to be sent up in reports, but due to the nature of our mission we were forced to sit on it for a few days until we were able to type it up and send it through a secure medium. Id be lying if I said we didnt concoct elaborate plans with foolproof ways to communicate the information over non-secure channels, but in the end, no one was willing to take the risk of our fail-safes failing.



As more information from Hillary Clintons server has been made available, it is clear that the contents of the server contained Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). Understanding that much of the information has been retroactively classified, there are a few facts that are tough to graspat least from the perspective of an intelligence practitioner.



First, when imagery that is classified SECRET//NOFORN (no foreign national) is viewed, regardless of the absence of classification markings, it is distinctly evident. Second, any documents that contain or reference HUMINT is always classified SECRET, and if specific names of sources or handlers are mentioned, they are at a minimum SECRET//NOFORN. Third, SIGINT is always classified at the TS level. Its not uncommon for some SI to be downgraded and shared over SECRET mediums, however, it is highly unlikely that a Secretary of State would receive downgraded intelligence. Finally, SAP intelligence has been discovered on Clintons private server, and many are now calling this the smoking gun. SAP is a specialized management system of additional security controls designed to protect SAR or Special Access Required. SAR has to do with extremely perishable operational methods and capabilities, and only selected individuals who are read on or indoctrinated are permitted access to these programs. The mishandling of SAP can cause catastrophic damage to current collection methods, techniques and personnel.



In other words, if you have worked with classified material for more than a day, it seems highly implausible that someone could receive any of the aforementioned over an un-secure medium without alarm bells sounding. However, reading about a Special Access Program on an unclassified device would make anyone even remotely familiar with intelligence mess their pantsuit.



With more damming information being released almost weekly now, its interesting that during last Sundays Democratic debate, Clinton resoundingly stated: No one is too big for jail. Although the context was referencing bank CEOs and Hedge fund managers, the obvious correlation left many scratching their heads and wonderingdid Hillary Clinton just say, I dare you to the FBI?



DeChristopher is a 9-year veteran of the United States Army Special Forces. He holds an M.A. in Strategic Security Studies from National Defense Universitys College of International Security Affairs with a concentration in Irregular Warfare. He currently works as an Independent Intelligence Consultant and blogs at exceptionism.com. Follow @excep



Because the resident lefties are ignoring this major development like the purple plague, I just thought I would toss it out there.......Will Hilly be indicted for gross negligence and when??
WASHINGTON  China produces an astonishing number of astonishing numbers, including this: In the 20th century, America made automobiles mass-consumption items, requiring prodigious road building. China, however, poured more concrete for roads and other construction between 2011 and 2013 than America did in the 20th century.

This fact is emblematic of Chinas remarkable success. And is related to its current difficulties, including its 2015 growth rate (6.9 percent), its slowest in 25 years.

The regimes contract with its 1.4 billion subjects is that it will deliver prosperity and they will be obedient. Now the bill is coming due for the measures taken to produce prosperity.

In 1978, when Deng Xiaoping began the regimes attempt to leaven Leninism with market reforms, half of the Chinese lived on less than $1 a day. In just six years, collective agriculture almost disappeared and grain production increased 34 percent, freeing people to move from the countryside to more productive urban employment.

No Westerner knows more about Chinas regime and political economy than Henry Paulson who, as CEO of Goldman Sachs, then U.S. treasury secretary and subsequently, has made more than 100 trips to China.

In his book Dealing With China, he writes: China consumes almost half the worlds cement, coal, iron ore and steel, and 40 percent of the aluminum and copper. Beijing has six ring roads and the seventh, under construction, will be almost 600 miles long, encompassing an area as large as Indiana. (Washington, D.C.s beltway is 64 miles long.) Demand for roads so exceeds supply that a 2010 traffic jam extended 62 miles and lasted 12 days.

China has six of the worlds 15 tallest buildings (America has three) and eight of the 10 tallest under construction.

In four years, beginning in 2011, the government built enough housing to shelter the population of the 12th most populous nation, the Philippines.

Two months after the September 2014 $25 billion IPO for the Chinese internet company Alibaba, the worlds biggest IPO, the company had a $280 billion market capitalization, bigger than Amazon and eBay combined.

Chinas prosperity has been fueled by the traditional modernization trek of people from the countryside to cities  300 million so far, with another 300 million by 2030. But China has also relied perilously on exports and excessive, grossly inefficient infrastructure spending to employ the former peasants and make burgeoning metropolises habitable.

Just between 2010 and June 2013, local government debt alone surged 70 percent to $2.9 trillion.

What the regime calls socialism with Chinese characteristics is, like sauerkraut ice cream, a combination of incompatible ingredients.

A senior Chinese reformer propounded the birdcage theory of the socialist market economy: The market sector should be as free to fly as a bird in a cage  the cage of a state-commanded economy.

Private enterprise, however, creates 90 percent of new jobs. By itself, the private sector, which accounts for perhaps 60 percent of Chinas $10 trillion GDP, would be the worlds second biggest economy, trailing only Americas.

Although state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are often corrupt and always inefficient, the regime resists privatizing SOEs, which would mean worker layoffs of up to 80 percent. More than 100,000 local SOEs have been closed but, Paulson says, perhaps another 100,000 or more remain. The fact that Paulson says no one seems to know the exact number speaks volumes about the disorderly nature of things bubbling beneath Chinas still-nasty authoritarianism.

Chinas 87 million party members, Paulson says, work first and foremost for the party, which remains the alpha and omega of political, economic and social life. But as Paulson says, corruption breeds where power meets opportunity. Because opportunity festers everywhere that the party continues to insinuate itself, inefficient allocation of resources will depress growth.

The regime is wagering that it can achieve its second-highest goal, prosperity and the geopolitical weight that can come with it, while preserving its highest priority  a Leninist one-party state acting as the vanguard of an accepting population. But Chinas per capita GDP, one-eighth that of the United States, ranks 80th in the world, barely ahead of war-ravaged Iraqs.

After the U.S. opening to China, Daniel Patrick Moynihan acerbically said that many travelers to China returned more impressed by the absence of flies than by the absence of freedom. The continuing absence of the latter, illustrated by the apparent kidnapping of five Hong Kong booksellers, are not noticed by foreigners mesmerized by bullet trains. The next stage of Chinas ascent will test the continuing compatibility of Leninism and dynamism.
By John P. Fishwick Jr.

Fishwick is the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

As United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, my primary mission and the mission of our office is to work to keep the citizens of Western Virginia safe. We will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to make our communities safe and protect the most vulnerable amongst us. We will focus the cases we bring on criminal activity that threatens our safety.

There are several areas throughout the district where individuals are facing serious violent crime and the fear of violent crime. In those areas, we have seen the number of shootings rise dramatically in recent months. We cannot let this violence continue. We must do what we can to make our neighborhoods safer, to put those using violence, and the threat of violence as a weapon, in jail and provide community support and guidance for those who want to improve the communities in which they live.

Several weeks ago, acting on recommendations from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, President Obama signed a series of Executive Actions to address the rise of violent gun crime in this nation. Our office is committed to ensuring smart and effective enforcement of our gun laws to help reduce violent crime all across the district. We will work with our federal, state and local partners on this problem, there is nothing more important than keeping people safe by taking illegal guns out of the hands of violent criminals.

All across the District we continue to work with our state and local partners to fight the rising tide of heroin abuse and overdose death. This heroin blight takes lives and ruins families and combating this blight will remain a primary focus of our office.

We have and will continue to focus on the international problem of human trafficking. This form of modern-day slavery has grown exponentially in recent years and we will continue our efforts to identify and eradicate this horrific crime.

This is an exciting time to be working for the Justice Department, one where leaders on both sides of the aisle, both left and right, are working together on common sense solutions to some of our most pressing criminal justice problems. Issues such as sentencing reform, reentry courts, and Veterans Treatment courts have proven to be successful in helping folks rebuild their lives. We will continue to support reentry efforts designed to get people back on their feet and to be productive. We as a society all benefit when that is the case.

As the United States Attorney, I plan to work with community leaders and civic groups to help our friends and neighbors be safe. We will do all we can do to support community programs that are protecting and pursuing safety for their communities. Well do this through partnerships, trainings, resource sharing and whatever other methods are needed to support this mission.

My goal as United States Attorney is to continue to prosecute the most impactful cases, provide safer communities for the citizens of the Western District of Virginia and to serve as an ambassador for the great work of our office. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve our community.
By Jeremy Geltzer

Geltzer a California attorney and the author of Dirty Words & Filthy Pictures: Film and the First Amendment (The University of Texas Press), which is scheduled for release this month. He has taught film history at Georgia State University.

The San Bernadino terror cells use of social media raises the question of how much the government should regulate and monitor online communication. This is not a new battle. Ever since the first printed page there has been tension between freedom and control. Citizens push for creative freedom while the state looks for reasons to regulate contentusually claiming to protect the health, safety, welfare, and morals of citizens.

Todays frontlines are online. Not long ago the argument centered on whether violent video games affect children. Before that, watchdogs feared that the power of motion pictures would put the morals of average folks at risk.

Municipal authorities first took notice of the film threat when nickelodeons became a booming business. Chicago was the first to pass a film censorship law in 1907. Pennsylvania followed in 1911.

The Supreme Court handed down its opinion on film and the First Amendment in 1915  -but it was not the decision moviemakers were hoping for. In Mutual Film v. Ohio, the high court held that motion pictures were not protected speech. The justices were convinced that the power of the projected image had a capacity for evil. The movies could rightfully be regulated.

The Mutual decision gave the green light to censors. Film boards sprang up in cities, states, and townships crisscrossing the country. Maryland, Kansas, and New York regulated statewide; Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Minneapolis, Providence, Seattle, and St. Louis each monitored films in their cities. In 1922 the Virginia Board of Censors was charged with examining and approving movies that were shown in the Commonwealth.

Virginias three-member board had absolute power over what audiences would see, and many of their decisions relied on personal and arbitrary reasoning. One censor, Evan Chesterman, was particularly strict with racially charged content. Chesterman developed a fierce rivalry with Oscar Micheaux. Micheaux was a pioneering black filmmaker who wrote, directed, produced, and self-distributed race films. He was a hero to some but a nuisance to the film board.

Micheaux  who for a time based his operations in Roanoke  ran into trouble in Virginia with his film A Son of Satan (1924). Chesterman objected to the risky portrayal of mixed-race relationships. Satan was banned, but the director continued to distribute it to segregated theaters. This same story repeated for Birthright (1924) and The House Behind the Cedars (1927). Chesterman used his position as a moral authority to maintain segregation on screen.

Micheaux was not alone. MGM released White Cargo in 1942 with sexy sarong wearing Hedy Lamarr and Chesterman cried foul when the native girl married the Caucasian leading man. The civil rights era was on the horizon but Chesterman did his best to maintain a policy of separation in the movies.

If mixing races riled the regulators, any type of risque content was instantly red flagged by the film censorship office. In 1938 the American Committee of Maternal Welfare commissioned an educational film on prenatal care. Released as The Birth of a Baby in 1940, the docudrama was hailed as artistic and sensitive. The Virginia Board of Censors passed the picture. But on opening night, Lynchburg authorities threatened to storm the projection booth. The Dominion Theater petitioned the court for an order to stop local police from confiscating the film. The theater found favor with the state Supreme Court. The court was convinced that the censors alone should have full control of film regulation not the local police. The Birth of a Baby played on.

Ten years later the tides began to turn. In 1952 the U.S. Supreme Court shattered the Mutual precedent in what became known as The Miracle decision. It took half a century but the First Amendment finally extended to motion pictures. By 1968, the Virginia board was disbanded and filmmakers found the freedom of the screen.

We may take film freedom for granted now, but the tension between free speech and control remains relevant. Looking into the history of how the government monitored, regulated, and censored film can provide insight into our lives today. There are certain legitimate reasons for the state to review media, but the overarching directive to promote the safety and protect the morals of citizens can too easily be abused. The ultimate answer rests with the people  how much government involvement with your personal media will you tolerate before the state has gone too far?
By John Winfrey

Professor Emeritus of Economics and Public Policy, Washington & Lee University

ISIS threatens us (1) militarily in Syria (and Iraq) and (2) with terrorism everywhere. They must be defeated on both fronts.

President Obamas efforts on both fronts are correct but much too timid. The military battle in Syria will eventually succeed as more countries contribute, but simultaneously we must advocate a superior ideology aimed at the hearts and minds of all Muslims.

We should increase support of those on the ground. At the same time we must pursue the ideological warfare at a much higher level using every technological means possible.

The two efforts are complementary. Bombastic and insulting outbursts by Republican presidential candidates are very harmful. One of ISISs claims is that America and the Western democracies disrespect all Muslims.

The military war must be won immediately. ISIS must be defeated and its influence completely eradicated in Syria and Iraq. The final path to stability and peace will require decades of adjustment and compromise.

Consider the current list of protagonists in Syria:

The government of Bashar al-Assad. When Bashar took office he introduced many progressive changes that reflected his long-term vision for Syria. Unfortunately, the Syrian Arab Spring unleashed a revolt that threatened to topple Bashar. He was forced to bring back the old guard and repressive measures (to include the use of nerve gas).

The government is being directly supported by the Russians who are attacking both ISIS and the Arab Spring Rebels.

The Arab Spring rebels. In 2011 a progressive revolt against repressive Arab governments began in Tunisia and spread to Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and other countries. The movements and their success differ in each country.

In Tunisia and Libya the revolutions were successful and democracies with progressive ideologies are evolving. In Egypt the revolution was successful but elections were won by the Muslim Brotherhood, a repressive Islamic government. A popular military coup took place. The subsequent election was won by a former general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The repressive Islam ideology has been undercut but some repression is spreading to other parts of the political spectrum. In Jordan the monarchy remains popular. Its modernization programs are supported by the West.

The Arab Spring rebellion lost ground against Assad and Russia. Fortunately the UN is brokering a ceasefire for this part of the war.

The military war against ISIS will intensify and be won by the combined forces of the government, Russia, the Western coalition as well as forces from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Kurds, and other surrounding nations.

Another cross-current is the Sunni-vs.-Shiite division. The majority of Syrians are Sunni but Bashar is from the Shia Alawite sect. Some of the key interventionists are Sunni (such as Saudi Arabia) and others are Shiite (such as Iran).

After ISIS has been eradicated, a long period of compromise and adjustment must follow. Here again our efforts to shape the participants ideological values will be crucial. Bashars vision of Syrias future may turn out to be more enlightened than his more recent repressive measures indicate.

Let us review the elements of the progressive ideology that Americans, West Europeans, and Arab Spring proponents should employ.

1: Freedom of Religion and Mutual Respect

We Americans have convincing credentials since early settlers came to escape religious persecution. Through the centuries waves of immigrants have come and eventually prospered.

2: Freedom and Economic Opportunity

The U. S., Canada, and Western Europe offer models of democracy where progressive micro and macroeconomic policies have been successful in delivering opportunity and higher standards of living. The Statue of Libertys raised torch is a powerful symbol: give me your tired and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . .

More recently our allies in Europe, notably the Germans, have offered freedom and refuge during the wars in Syria and Iraq.

3: A Sense of Community

Millions of Muslims have settled in America and Western Europe democracies and found that they can practice their own religion and enjoy a sense of community with those of other religions as well.

Indeed, all nations that honor the basic progressive values of freedom, opportunity, social justice, and mutual respect, have prospered.

Remember that America, Western Europe, and the Arab Spring movement are all masters in spreading and promoting the progressive ideology of democracy. American advertising and promotional skills are unparalleled. The Arab Spring revolution depended heavily on cell phones as it spread like wildfire in 2011.
I find it interesting that Roanoke is concerned about boosting usage at the airport. The best ways to accomplish this would be to provide reliable service and make it less expensive to fly from Roanoke. That experience should not be so expensive or difficult.

In 2015 my husband and I flew out twice from Roanoke. Both times were terrible experiences. Both flights were delayed because the planes that we were to fly out on had mechanical issues. We were forced to spend hours waiting for other flights, thus missing our connections in other cities.

One trip involved connections in Charlotte and Miami before getting to our Florida destination 11 hours later than planned. On the second trip we finally flew to Charlotte five hours later than scheduled where we were told that we could get out to Nevada the next day! Luckily we eventually got another flight that day, but why is it that flying from Roanoke is so hard? Flying is stressful already. Not knowing if you are will get out on time, or at all makes it worse.

By the way, the aforementioned flights were on American Airline/US Air. Over the years of flying out of Roanoke, we have only experienced mechanical delays on AA and US Air. Delta and United have been very reliable.

SUSAN ARNOLD

SALEM
Who has worth in our nation? This week one of my young English as a Second Language students posed this question, albeit not so articulately, as we discussed resolutions, self-improvement, and American exceptionalism.

Today the answer to that question stared at me from the pages of these foreign students journals where they had expressed their hopes and desires.

Refugee teens from war-torn Africa resolved to be secure, a new word for them, describing the ease they feel now  no longer calculating the number of seconds needed to run from point A to B if their religious beliefs and political affiliations were discovered.

Students from Asian countries expected to be regarded as useful instead of useless. Hispanic students planned to build brighter futures for their families. Middle Eastern pupils wanted to be healthy, learn to drive and help their mothers. Of course, they all aspired to learn English better.

Some of these immigrant children are here legally, learning English and eating lunch beside your sons and daughters, weaving and being woven inextricably into the fabric that is America through that great equalizer, public school.

Some are here illegally, because their parents in good faith paid some lying opportunist south of the border who promised to make sure their precious progeny arrived at our golden arches unscathed by the harrowing journey. But whatever their governmental status is, these new students must all learn that by striving together, we are able to propel this nation forward.

In this new year, election rhetoric will no doubt be flying fast and furious across the editorial pages and issues like immigration will be hotly debated. I resolve this year to look in the faces of my international learners and teach them, because they deserve an enriching education - that this is one beautiful nation, built upon the backs of millions of other immigrants under Gods watchful eye, with liberty and justice for many.

MARGARET WHITT

FINCASTLE
I feel for you, my friend. I was born in Flint, and still have family in the vicinity. Can't sign your petition only because I am no longer a Michigan resident. But good luck with this.
DOUBLE kidney transplant survivor Michael Lord is gearing up for a gruelling 109km bike ride in South Africa to support other patients across the country.

The dad of two, who was diagnosed with renal failure in 2003 at the age of 18, had a failed transplant from his dad in November, 2005, before being given a second chance after receiving a kidney from another donor in 2007.

He is now preparing for the Argus Cycle Challenge later this year, to raise money for a clinic for transplant patients aged 16 to 30, which he says offered him a real turning point in his life.

The 30-year-old, of Rawmarsh, said: I felt extremely fortunate to be given a second chance at life but knowing that someone out there had lost theirs was overwhelming.

At the time it was hard to explain what I was going through. I felt I couldnt talk to my family about it, my friends wouldnt understand and all the other patients at the hospital were way older than me.

Everything that happened to me came as a massive shock.

Michael said he had been told about a young adults weekend for transplant patients aged 16 to 30.

It was organised by a transplant doctor from Oxford and provided patients with a chance to share their experiences.

Michael, of Oakwood Crescent, said: Looking back now, the weekend was a real turning point for me in coming to terms with my diagnosis.

But unfortunately, theres only one Young Adults Clinic in the country. For the rest of England, youre either cared for by a paediatrician or you go to the normal hospital with the rest of the adults - theres no middle ground.

Michael, who competed in the British Transplant Games last year, will join other transplant patients from the clinic on the trip to Cape Town in March to raise money.

He will be one of 36,000 cyclists taking part in the event around the Cape Town Peninsula.

When I was asked to take part it was an offer I couldnt refuse as its a chance for me to give something back to the people who have helped me so much, Michael said.

I have two daughters - Alexa, four, and Rosie, who is four-months-old - so I want to do something to help me keep fit and hopefully be around longer to see them grow up.

When my girls look back I want them to be proud of what their dad has achieved even though Ive had a kidney transplant.

I also want to do something to make my donor proud.

Even though I dont know who it is, I still think about them every single day.

Its a really strange feeling that somebody has given you the greatest gift of all, but youve never met them and can never thank them.

Michael said he hoped to raise 1,000 for the clinic to be able to continue and possibly for others to open in other parts of the country.

For more information on his challenge or to sponsor him visit www.justgiving.com/Michael-Lord7
About ten years ago, an internal RSPB email was sent regarding the possibility of installing a wind turbine at our Headquarters at the Lodge. We had embarked on a charity-wide programme to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (from travel and electricity) by 3% per person every year and were keen explore options to realise this ambition.

It's taken a while, but after receiving planning consent in April 2014, I am delighted to report that work to erect a 100 metre wind turbine begins tomorrow (all the cabling and electrics were put in the ground last autumn). Once it is up and running, the turbine will generate energy equivalent to more than half the electricity we use across our 127 locations across the UK.

Credit: Mark Hamblin

As regular readers of this blog will know, this project is being run in partnership with Ecotricity (for example see here).

We're doing it because, in the fight against climate change, it is the right thing to do and because we want to show that it is possible to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and deploy renewable technologies without causing needless harm to wildlife. It's part of a package of energy conservation measures and renewable projects (including solar panels on roofs, biomass generators and groundsource heat pumps) that we have adopted across the organisation.

We're not spending any money on this as the costs are covered by Ecotricity. Although we won't receive any of the direct revenue or subsidies from the turbine, we will make a saving on our current electricity costs which means that we'll have more to spend on conservation.

We've done what we can to ensure there will be no significant effects on the wildlife. Through pre-construction monitoring we've concluded that there is unlikely to be any significant impact on breeding birds in the area and the level of flight activity from sensitive species suggests collision risk will be low.

For bats, however, although the overall risk to the bat population is low, our monitoring did detect rare periods of slightly higher bat activity, so we have decided to adopt a precautionary approach. We'll turn off the wind turbine half an hour either side of sunrise and sunset when wind speeds are below 7 metres per second. Bats like noctules and pipistrelles tend to feed at these times but mainly at lower wind speeds. While this will mean that we take a little hit in terms of electricity generation potential (c5-8%), we think this is absolutely the right approach.

The Lodge, RSPB Headquarters: Jesper Mattias (rspb-images.com)

We shall obviously continue to monitor the site and report what we find. I expect that we shall learn a lot from this experience and want to inspire others to adopt a similar approach. We've always been vocal in our support for renewable energy but also about the need to deploy the technologies in locations that are sympathetic to our natural environment. Over the past five years, we've upheld objections to 49 (4.5%) of 1031 wind farm applications.

The climate change challenge demands a revolution in the way that we generate and use energy. Governments around the world accepted that challenge when they supported the Paris deal in December. We need this revolution to take place in harmony with nature which is why we shall, in the next few weeks, be launching a new report on how we can meet our climate targets with the least ecological impact (see here).

I hope that our wind turbine will inspire others to take action and join us in using renewable energy to power our country.
Aggression war jets bomb neighborhoods in Taiz





TAIZ, Jan. 20 (Saba)  The Saudi aggression warplanes waged on Wednesday hysterical raids on neighborhoods in Taiz city, leaving casualties and damage to houses and public property.



Two hostile airstrikes targeted the home of the Security Director in Taiz Brigadier Abdul-Haleem Numan in al-Harrir neighborhood and resulted in several causalities among civilians and damage to the nearby houses, a local official said in a statement.



He added that another raid targeted the Republican Palace in east of Taiz city, causing damage to tens of neighboring houses, cars and public property, as well as others raids on Naqil al-Ebil area in Rahida district.



These raids came after hours from a series of night raids waged by the aggression war jets on different parts of Dhabab and Hathran areas, officials explained.



On another hand, a local official confirmed that two citizens were killed and others injured in random rocket bombing carried out by mercenaries on mountainous villages in Saber al-Mawadem district and on Sofetile neighborhood in Hoban area.



BA

Saba

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[20/January/2016]
Saudi aggression bombards areas in Sanaa violently





SANAA, Jan. 24 (Saba)  The Saudi-led coalition waged on Sunday violent raids on the capital Sanaa, targeting several areas in Al-Sabeen district.



A security official in the capital told Saba that the aggression raids targeted Al-Sabeen and Al-Nahdain areas with more than 15 missiles and high-explosive bombs, as well as other raids on Al-Nahdha neighborhoods and the September 26 Park.



The brutual bombardment on those populated areas led to severe damage to the residential buildings and caused the displacement of many citizens to other places, the official added.



He denounced the shameful silence of the international community, the United Nations and the Security Council about the continuing crimes of the Saudi aggression against the Yemeni people.



BA

Saba

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[24/January/2016]
That I know portugal does not have nazistas, only if they are hidden and nothing I know?

Hitler is a god, mine is not.



Hitler was an immigrant in germany his country is Austria



I like to vote for women. hehehe
US Unleashing Deadly Virus in Donbass, Ukraine?



On January 22, the Donbass International News Agency (DINA) headlined Deadly virus leaked from US laboratory  DPR Army and Intelligence, saying:



More than 20 Ukrainian soldiers have died and over 200 are hospitalized, affected by a virus immune to all medicines.



Thousands of Ukrainian troops are stationed in areas bordering Donbass. Intermittent shelling continues, civilians largely threatened.



The lab in question is located in Shelkostantsiay, about 30 km from Kharkov near Donbass. US military experts operate there, said DINA.



Donbass Deputy Defense Minister/spokesman Eduard Basurin informed area residents of a potential epidemic.



According to the medical personnel of the AFU units (Ukrainian troops), there were recorded mass diseases among the Ukrainian military personnel in the field, he said.



Physicians recorded the unknown virus as a result of which the infected get (a) high fever which cannot be subdued by any medicines, and in two days there comes the fatal outcome.



Thus far from the virus there have died more than twenty servicemen, what is carefully shielded by the commandment of the AFU from the publicity.



Days earlier, DINA reported Ukrainian forces shelled Kominernovo, Zheleznaya Balka and Spartak.



Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) intelligence said Ukrainian forces and heavy weapons are deployed near the contact line  indicating a readiness of the Ukrainian power agencies to aggravate the situation in Donbass, DINA reported.



Kiev continues violating Minsk ceasefire terms  with full support and encouragement from Washington.



According to DPR intelligence, (i)n eight localities of the buffer zone seized by the AFU there were registered cleansings of the local population, defiant of Minsk.



The cleansings are carried out by the representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) with reinforcement by units of the 36th separate naval infantry brigade, by reason of the huge information leak in these areas.



In particular, about concentration of the AFUs forbidden arms and personnel in the so-called grey zone, and preparation by the Ukrainian power structures of provocations against civilians.



Basurin said ISIS and other terrorist elements from Syria and Iraq now operate in Donbass. In mid-January, DPRs Defense Ministry revealed foreign mercenaries in the self-declared republic.



They conduct recurrent attacks on our positions, it explained. Is Ukraine a new platform for ISIS expansion? Is Washington deploying their elements there?



Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, John Kerry turned truth on its head, claiming a safer Middle East and world today.



Conditions are graver than ever. Endless US wars of aggression rage. Kiev refused to implement Minsk I and II ceasefire terms.



Washington wants war, not peace. It wants Donbass destabilized, its freedom fighters eliminated, its democratic rights denied.



Kerry telling WEF participants it is possible in these next months to find those Minsk agreements implemented and to get to a place where sanctions (on Russia) can be appropriatelyremoved runs counter to US policy since Obama replaced democrats with fascists in Ukraine, and Russia was falsely accused of invading its territory.



Illegal sanctions were imposed for fabricated reasons, European nations pressured to go along. Conflict resolution in Donbass remains elusive.
A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border

What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes the
Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.

This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media  main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.




GUINGONA LAUDS LGU FOR BIG FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN COTABATO CITY

POTENTIAL for peace is potential for business.

Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, on Friday commended the efforts of the local government of Cotabato City for making a potential partnership with huge Malaysian traders possible.

"Here we can see the local government working hard to gain the trust of its people and the confidence of investors by showcasing the city's capability to provide a healthy business environment despite adverse perceptions of the region," Guingona stated.

In December 2015, Malaysian business groups reportedly have "expressed interest in pouring investments" into the city, including traditional trade and halal meat processing. This came as a result of Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr.'s three-day visit in Johor, Malaysia.

According to Guiani, the Malaysian investors were drawn to the city's recent recognitions, growth in local economy, and significant drop in unemployment rate, apart from the city's abundant natural resources.

"Clearly, this development in Cotabato is one step toward achieving progress, and therefore achieving just and lasting peace, in Mindanao," Guingona said.
CORVALLIS  A new and elegant building, as well as innovation, were on display Saturday at the grand opening of the Samaritan Pastega Regional Cancer Center. The new building creates a headquarters for Samaritan Health Services cancer treatment in the Willamette Valley.

A harpist filled the room with rolling, liquid notes while crowds enjoyed plates of catered food and roamed the brand-new facility. On one level, the new building, designed by Albany architect Bob Young, is meant to consolidate cancer treatment at the Corvallis campus. On another level, the venue, which has handled 800 patients since opening six weeks ago, is a forward-looking vehicle for treating the disease. The $12 million facility is named in honor of the Pastega Family Foundation, which donated more than $1 million to kick off the fundraising effort.

The lobby offers a cafe on the left and a cancer resource center on the right. Both are meant to promote quality of life among patients, and this approach finds its way even to the chemotherapy department, where patients are afforded panoramic views through windows in an open and relaxed setting. In fact, during the grand opening tour, two guests sat down and enjoyed their refreshments in the patient chairs.

We didnt want it to feel clinical at all, said Samaritan executive Scott Wilson.

He said offering the open area and picture windows to patients was a reaction to a request by some who undergo chemo blood infusion to not be placed in a small, windowless room for the procedure, which can take as long as four hours. Private rooms are still available for those who prefer them, and those rooms have windows as well.

A matter of atmosphere

The nonclinical atmosphere moves beyond just creating a more comfortable setting. Samaritan Chief Executive Officer Becky Pape said cancer patients are living longer and many are becoming cancer survivors, partly as a result of the focus on quality of life during treatment.

The center also offers nutrition programs for patients, such as one called Thats My Farmer, which partners with local farmers markets to give vouchers for the types of produce recommended as part of their nutritional recommendations. Beyond that, the Survivorship program helps people who've beaten the disease better return to normal life.

These and other programs speak to the contemporary attitude to cancer treatment, which amplifies the treatment side, rather than thinking of the challenge as a terminal situation. As Pape points out, cancer is no longer considered a terminal condition, but a chronic illness.

Resources and research

Barabara Croney, the center's director of research and education, said the resource center not only helps new patients better understand their disease, it also helps them navigate the process and find support. Another value, and one that Croney said is a cornerstone of the new center, is the clinical trials, made possible by new patients volunteering to try new methods of treatment.

This, she said, is a huge bonus, and one that lends itself to the new optimism in the field. Asked her opinion of President Obamas Jan. 12 State of the Union address, when he said, Let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all," she said she applauded in her living room.

Ive been doing cancer research for 30 years and I can tell you that treatment and research are a completely different situation today than it was 30 years ago," she said. "I really do think we can do it.

Newest of the new

Outpatient treatment at the center offers a brand-new approach through its Varian VitalBeam radiation treatment device. The machine is one of only two worldwide, and is actually not yet on the market.

This technology has just been published in magazines this week, said radiation oncology director Brad Betz.

The machine, which is as large as a medium-sized truck, uses hyper-directed radiation to bombard malignant tissue. Its beam is so precise that patients don't need to wear any protective clothing during their 10-minute treatments, which most undergo five days a week for eight weeks.

This machine really lets me be so much more precise than in the past, said Betz.

"Precise" may be too loose a word: The VitalBeam actually takes all the data from an incoming patient and creates a virtual patient on which to practice and with which to determine correct dosage, duration, location and angle for the beam. If, for example, the tumor has moved even two millimeters between treatments, the machine will detect this and refuse to operate until adjustments are made.

One of our physicists described using the new machine like going from driving a car to flying a rocket ship, said Betz.

Yes, physicists are employed to help run the VitalBeam. And to help demonstrate its precision, or perhaps just because their brains work in special ways, Betz said they one day calibrated it to use its extremely fine beam to etch a portrait of Albert Einstein on a piece of photographic paper.

The point is that earlier versions of radiation treatment devices would simply turn the entire piece of paper black, while the VitalBeam is so precise, it can be used to create art.
Press Release

January 23, 2016 Cayetano meets up with teachers' groups;

Vows to increase their salaries Saying that there is a need to ease the burden and suffering of public school teachers, vice presidential candidate Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano wants to sufficiently increase their salaries. In a solidarity meeting with the Ating Guro party-list and the Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) in Taguig City on Saturday, Cayetano assured teachers that if elected, he and his running mate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will work towards sufficiently increasing the salaries of all teaching positions within three (3) years to allow the country's public educators to benefit from real economic growth. It was reported that different teachers' groups rejected the government's proposal to grant educators with entry-level position an additional of P2, 205.00 from the present salary of P18, 549.00. The groups said the proposal is a meager increase of less than 12%, spread over a period of four years, making the annual increase of a little more than P500.00, the lowest in recent history. "Sobra na ang gulo sa bansa kaya huwag na natin dagdagan pa ang pahirap ng tao lalo ng mga guro. Hindi dapat sila tinitipid. Imbes na ginhawa, dagdag gulo sa buhay ang binibigay ng gobyerno," Cayetano said. Apart from hiking their basic salaries, Cayetano also wants to grant public educators P10,000 worth of additional compensation through his Senate Bill No. 94, which will be over and above the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL). This was warmly welcomed by different teachers' groups. "Sen. Cayetano has been part of our campaign from the very start. At a time when teachers are losing hope, the senator's proposal re-energized our ranks," TDC Chairperson Benjo Basas said. Basas, who is also the first nominee of Ang Guro Partylist, said he was happy that Cayetano took a firm stance in repairing the government's erroneous compensation scheme for teachers. He said past and present salary laws classified teachers as among the lowest paid government professionals. "Through these bold solutions, we will make sure that our teachers, who are the backbone of our education system, are treated right. Under a Duterte-Cayetano leadership, everyone will have an opportunity to realize a better life," Cayetano ended.
Press Release

January 23, 2016 CHIZ WANTS SSS TO ITEMIZE INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero called on the Social Security System (SSS) to make public its investment portfolio and explain to its two million pensioners why President Aquino was correct in his assessment that the pension fund would go bankrupt in 2029 if he did not veto the Congress-ratified P2,000 increase in their pension. "It is about time that the SSS, with its officials earning millions of pesos in salaries and bonuses, be put under the spotlight and be made to explain in full details why the agency will go belly up if we grant the much-needed P2,000-increase in the monthly pension of its retired members," said Escudero, the leading vice-presidential candidate. In his veto message, the President said that enacting the SSS pension hike bill could lead to "substantial negative income for the SSS" and depletion of its Investment Reserve Fund by 2029. The Chief Executive explained that with the pension increase of P2,000 per retiree, multiplied by the present number of more than 2 million pensioners, would result in a total payout of P56 billion every year. Compared against the annual investment income of P30 billion to P40 billion, such total payment for pensioners will yield a deficit of P16 billion to P26 billion annually, the President said. As such, Aquino said the deficit would seriously compromise the current members of about 31 million just to favor the two million pensioners and their dependents. Escudero said this was the reason why the Filipino people, particularly the pensioners and their dependents, "would want to know where the SSS bigwigs have invested their contributions." The veteran lawmaker also recalled a statement the President made during the 55th Founding Anniversary of the SSS on September 3, 2012, during which he emphasized the role of the pension fund in helping its members. "SSS ensures that its funds are protected made to grow so that it can continue its mission of providing viable, universal and equitable social security protection for now and for more generations to come," read the speech carried by the official website of the Office of the President. Escudero said it was ironic that for that anniversary celebration, the SSS chose the theme: "Kabuhayang Pinagsikapan, Seguridad Maaasahan." "So where are all the fruits of these contributions by these retirees? The security they were promised?" Escudero asked. "Surely, these contributions made by SSS members that were also used to pay the millions of pesos in salaries, benefits and bonuses of the agency's officers should have also been considered investments, investments to make sure that they use SSS funds properly so that these would get the best yield in the investment market," he added. Yet now, Escudero said, the pension fund is "using this excuse of poor investment yield as the reason why SSS pensioners cannot get their just increase in pension." "If there is anybody that should be made to suffer for the shortfall in investment income, it shouldn't be the pensioners but those under whose care the billions of pesos in SSS contributions were put so that they could invest them properly," he said.
Press Release

January 23, 2016 Sen. Marcos Urges Travel Agencies To Help Cure Ills

Of Air Transport, Tourism Industry SENATOR Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. has urged the country's independent travel agencies to use their collective influence to cure the ills of Philippine air transport to push further the gains in the tourism industry. Speaking before the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS), Marcos said he knows first-hand how tourism can create jobs and income opportunities for the people having led the development of Ilocos Norte into a premier tourist destination during his three-term as governor of the province. According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), the industry revenues reached $5 billion in 2015 with over 5 million foreign tourists visiting the Philippines last year from a mere 3.14 million in 2008. What is holding back the country's tourism and air travel industry, according to Marcos, is the sorry state of the airports, including Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) which has been tagged as one of the world's worst from 2011 to 2014. "Pero ang takot ko ay baka bumalik na naman tayo sa listahan. Ito ay dahilan ng--alam niyo na--air traffic, flight delays, passenger delays and overbookings gone wrong. Idagdag pa natin ang kahiya-hiyang kalokohan ng "Tanim-bala" syndicate!," Marcos explained. As an indispensable and influential group in the travel and tourism industry, Marcos said NAITAS has a crucial role to play in the improvement not only of Philippine air transportation and but the tourism industry as well. "Safety and convenience of your customers should always be your number one priority. In turn, their satisfaction can create a positive feedback loop that will augur well for our tourism industry," Marcos remarked. He said the group should remain united and strive for a conscious and collective effort to improve the overall business environment in the Philippine travel industry for better opportunities and better service to the consumers under the ideals of fair competition and ethical practices. Likewise, he advised NAITAS to leave behind any controversies in the past that may have caused problems within the organization. "Sabi ko nga po sa aking advertisement ngayon: "Hindi ako ang aking nakaraan". Hindi tayo limitado sa kung ano ang mga naging pangyayari sa ating nakaraan--lalo na kung hindi maganda o mapait ang ating pinagdaanan. Ang mahalaga ay kung ano ang ngayon, at kung ano ang magandang hangarin at paghahanda na ginagawa natin para sa ating hinaharap," Marcos remarked. With the group's help, the Senator said he looks forward to safer flights that are on time but also airport procedures done not only systematically but also respecting the rights of the public.
Statement of Senate President Franklin M. Drilon on the

1st Anniversary of the Mamasapano Encounter

As we commemorate the tragic Mamasapano encounter which claimed the lives of 67 of our fellow Filipinos most especially those of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos, let us not forget the lesson it taught us.

The lesson for us is clear: Our nation is too awash in armed men committed to violence, and that has to end immediately. We have lost enough lives in this tragic event. Let not peace be another casualty.

Let us suffer no more dead soldiers and cops, or rebels and civilians caught in the crossfire. Let us have no more widows and orphans, or victims and evacuees.

The sacrifices of our 44 heroes should inspire us to go beyond violence and vendettas and work with every sector and help our brothers and sisters in Mindanao get the genuine peace and sustainable prosperity that has long evaded them.

Finally, I urge the authorities handling the Mamasapano case to expedite their investigation and ensure that the guilty will be punished.
Oregonians have a chance to do a really good thing - pass LC48, The Healthy Climate Bill, in the short session of the State Legislature, next month.

This problem is simple to understand  we humans pump too much carbon pollution into the atmosphere and it is drowning us in a toxic blanket of carbon dioxide, methane and other so called greenhouse gases.

We all know that this is causing increasingly damaging events like drought, forest fires, floods, asthma and other health effects. This will cost Oregon taxpayers billions. We also know that we are not voluntarily slowing our carbon addiction sufficiently.

If my doctor tells me my blood tests indicate that I need to eat less sugar or else, I can either act like an adult and put a serious cap on my sugar intake or, like a child, deny I have a problem and keep on eating until I get sick.

The Healthy Climate Bill does two things. It puts a cap on the total tons of carbon pollution allowed in the state, and it puts a price on that carbon pollution. Both steps are necessary if we are going to act like adults and slow our carbon addiction.

Do a really good thing. Write your state legislators and ask them to support this bill.

Jim Powers

Albany (Jan. 20)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska  A 7.1-magnitude earthquake knocked items off shelves and walls Sunday in south-central Alaska and jolted the nerves of residents in the earthquake-prone region. But there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Four homes were destroyed in natural gas explosions or fires and an entire neighborhood was evacuated after a gas leak was reported, said Kenai Fire Department battalion chief Tony Prior

The earthquake struck about 1:30 a.m. and was centered 53 miles west of Anchor Point in the Kenai Peninsula, which is about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. About two hours later, a 4.3-magnitude aftershock hit the Cook Inlet, the agency said. A slightly stronger aftershock  4.7-magnitude  hit the Cook Inlet at 5.29 a.m.

In the community of Kenai, located on the Kenai Peninsula, about 30 homes were evacuated after the gas leak was reported. Prior said explosions from the leak destroyed two of the homes. The other two were fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters determined it was safe enough from gas for them to enter. There were no reports of injuries.

Workers with the gas utility were examining the remaining homes Sunday afternoon. A shelter was set up at the Kenai National Guard Armory for those evacuating their homes, and Police Chief Gus Sandahl said about 20 people were there.

The earthquake was widely felt by residents of Anchorage. But the Anchorage and Valdez police departments said they did not receive any reports of injury or significant damage.

There were reports of scattered power failures from the Matanuska Electric Association and Chugach Electric in the Anchorage area. The Homer Electric Association reported on its website that about 4,800 customers were without power early Sunday in the Kenai Peninsula.

A tsunami was not expected as a result of the earthquake, the National Weather Service said.
NEW YORK  A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday, dumping as much as 3 feet of snow, stranding tens of thousands of travelers and shutting down the nations capital and its largest city.

After days of weather warnings, most of the 80 million people in the storms path heeded pleas to stay home and off the roads, which were largely deserted. Yet at least 18 deaths were blamed on the weather, resulting from car crashes, shoveling snow and hypothermia. And more snow was to come, with dangerous conditions expected to persist until early Sunday, forecasters warned.

This is going to be one of those generational events, where your parents talk about how bad it was, Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for WeatherBell Analytics, said from Tallahassee, Fla.

The system was mammoth, dropping snow from the Gulf Coast to New England. By afternoon, areas near Washington had surpassed 30 inches. The heaviest unofficial report was in a rural area of West Virginia, not far from Harpers Ferry, with 40 inches.

As the storm picked up, forecasters increased their snow predictions for New York and points north and warned areas nearly as far north as Boston to expect heavy snow.

This is kind of a Top 10 snowstorm, said weather service winter storm expert Paul Kocin.

It was Top 3 in New York, where more than 25 inches of snow had fallen as of 7 p.m. Saturday. The normally bustling streets around Rockefeller Center, Penn Station and other landmarks were mostly empty.

Officials imposed a travel ban in the city, ordering all nonemergency vehicles off the roads. Commuter rails and above-ground segments of the nations biggest subway system shut down, too, along with buses.

In Washington, monuments that would usually be busy with tourists stood vacant. All mass transit in the capital was to be shut down through Sunday.

The snow was whipped into a maelstrom by winds that reached 75 mph at Dewey Beach, Del., the weather service said. From Virginia to New York, sustained winds topped 30 mph and gusted to around 50 mph. And if that werent enough, the storm also had bursts of thunder and lightning.

Airlines canceled nearly 7,000 weekend flights and started to cut Monday service. Stranded travelers included Defense Secretary Ash Carter, whose high-tech aircraft, the Doomsday Plane, couldnt land at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland after returning from Europe. Carter rerouted to Florida.
NEW YORK  Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking early steps toward opening an independent campaign for president, seeing a potential path to the White House amid the rise of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders.

Bloomberg has retained advisers and plans to conduct a poll after the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary to assess the state of the race and judge whether there is an opening for him to mount an independent campaign, according to three people familiar with his thinking. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about his plans, which were first reported Saturday by the New York Times.

Bloomberg has set a March deadline to decide on whether to enter the race, to ensure his access to the ballot in all 50 states.

The billionaire media executive, who served three terms as mayor of New York, is said to be concerned by Trumps lasting hold on the Republican field and is worried about the impact of Sanders campaign on Hillary Clintons bid for the Democratic nomination.

Unsettled campaign

Bloombergs efforts underscore the unsettled nature of the presidential race a little more than a week before the first round of primary voting. The months-long rise of Sanders and Trump has shaken up the political establishment in both parties and on Wall Street.

A longtime Democrat who became a Republican to run for mayor in 2001 and later switched to be an independent, Bloomberg would strongly consider a bid if the general election looked like it could turn into a contest between Sanders and Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

He is not ruling out a bid if Clinton is ahead on the Democratic side, though people familiar with his plans believe it is not particularly likely Bloomberg would challenge Clinton in a general election. But they said Bloomberg has expressed concern about the damage caused by revelations she used a private e-mail address and server while serving as secretary of state, and he fears she may emerge atop the Democratic field as a weakened nominee.

The two New Yorkers have a cordial relationship, people close to them say. They met privately at Bloombergs offices a few months before Clinton announced her campaign last April, before an event announcing a philanthropic initiative to measure and track data about issues affecting women and girls. Bloomberg has also spoken at events hosted by the Clinton Foundation.

Spending own money

To prepare for a potential run, Bloomberg has also instructed aides to research previous third-party runs and is said to be willing to spend up to $1 billion of his own fortune, estimated to be about $37 billion, to finance his campaign.

Bloomberg has no personal animus toward Trump  he believes the developer is a nice guy, according to one source familiar with his plans and knows him from New Yorks social circuit and from dealings with Trump when Bloomberg was mayor. But he strongly disagrees with Trumps political positions, particularly his stance on immigration, the person said.

One of the richest people in the United States, Bloomberg, 73, has previously toyed with presidential runs, but concluded ahead of the 2008 and 2012 campaigns he could not win. He delivered a powerful late endorsement of President Obamas re-election effort.
All about Oaklawn Park: Hot Springs & Saratoga Springs. Lover of the Kentucky Derby and bourbon trail. Advocate and admirer of OTTBs - Saints N Angels Animal Rescue. Breeder and owner #ArkyBred. Partner in Saturday Racing Stable, Sackatoga Stables, Ten Strike Racing, Twin Magnolia Farm. Top horses; Tiz the Law, Warrior's Charge, Angaston.
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A mediator for the state Department of Education skewered former Stamford High Principal Donna Valentine in his finding that school administrators are justified in their determination that she should be fired.

Now the Stamford Board of Education, which meets Monday night, must decide whether to do so.

If the board votes to terminate her, Valentine may appeal the decision in state Superior Court. Her attorneys, Ryan ONeill and Mark Sherman, signaled Thursday in a press release possible tacks they will take should they choose to appeal.

The decision by hearing officer Peter Adomeit was high on emotion and rhetoric, and short on facts and objectivity, ONeill said in the press release. Valentine has always acknowledged that she, like others involved, made mistakes in confronting a difficult and unprecedented circumstance amidst a broken system. All Valentine asks is to receive the same measure of leniency and discipline as her colleagues.

Despite Adomeits findings, they may have a point. And Adomeits report may help them make it.

Valentines troubles began with the July 2014 arrest of former Stamford High English teacher Danielle Watkins, charged with having sex with one of her students throughout the 2013-14 school year. Valentine and former Assistant Principal Roth Nordin were arrested in October 2014 for failing to report what they knew about the misconduct.

In his report Adomeit cites as true the conclusions of Pullman & Comley, a law firm the city hired to investigate the Watkins matter. Under the law, Watkins misconduct should have been reported within 12 hours, but Valentine and other administrators, all of whom had reason to suspect Watkins, did not do that, Adomeit wrote.

The passage comes after several paragraphs in which Adomeit explains how Valentine notified Michael Fernandes, assistant superintendent of secondary education, and Stephen Falcone, executive director of human resources, no later than June 3 that Watkins was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student, Adomeit wrote. But the misconduct was not reported until June 23.

Adomeit wrote that it is true that Nordin and another former Stamford High assistant principal, Angela Thomas-Graves failed to report the misconduct or intervene to protect the student.

But the five school administrators were not treated the same.

Valentine and Nordin were granted a form of probation. Valentine chose to fight termination but Nordin resigned. Fernandes and Falcone were suspended without pay for a month but neither was arrested and neither faces termination. They remain in their jobs. Thomas-Graves was suspended at first but that was rescinded. She was removed from Stamford High and put in charge of the districts adult-education program.

Calibrated punishment

District administrators were correct to do that, Adomeit concluded. They calibrated the punishments meted out with care and discretion, he wrote. Thomas-Graves, unlike Valentine, is a longtime employee with extensive community support and police did not prosecute her as she did not possess all the information Dr. Valentine had.

Adomeit wrote that the only others who knew there were allegations of sex were Fernandes and Falcone. However, they only learned of the allegations in June. They lost one months pay and their career paths have been negatively impacted, Adomeit wrote.

He concluded that Valentine and Nordin had the highest level of culpability and it is fitting for both to lose their employment.

Adomeit wrote that he agrees with the districts conclusion that the administrators who were punished but not terminated exhibited positive qualities that (Valentine) did not.

That gets to the other beef cited by Valentines lawyers - that Adomeits report, now the basis for any discussion about her future, is short on objectivity.

Throughout his report, for example, Adomeit deems some people credible and others not. In some instances he offers proof - witness statements, documents or other findings that back up or debunk someones credibility. Adomeit found numerous inconsistencies, for example, in Valentines statements.

Less objective

In other cases, Adomeits reasons for finding someone credible are less objective. He stated, for example, that, besides evidence, he considered the demeanor of the witnesses and their motives to tell the truth.

For example, Adomeit wrote that on June 23 a counselor for the student involved with Watkins called former Superintendent Winifred Hamilton to report that the student had revealed the misconduct.

Dr. Hamiltons immediate response was to say, Jesus Christ, followed by a 10-second pause, and she told (the counselor) to call (the Department of Children and Families) immediately and she ordered her own staff to call DCF immediately, Adomeit wrote. Her response was shock, a pause to recover, and then decisions that were decisive, direct and immediate, all designed to protect (the student.) It is persuasive evidence that in fact this was the first time Dr. Hamilton knew about the sex. Anyone this decisive and direct, if told earlier, would have made the phone call then and there.

He concluded that Hamilton was credible. He did not say whether the account of Hamiltons reaction came from Hamilton alone or was backed by others.

Since Adomeits report rarely, if ever, cites Valentine as credible in such instances, her attorneys could argue that some conclusions in it are subjective, giving them an opening if the school board votes against their client and they decide to appeal in court.

It means that, in a city grown weary of the Stamford High sex scandal, there may be much more to come.
I am now accepting guest submissions. Email submissions to DOGW.email@gmail.com. Check here for rules and guidelines:
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Gulf Arab officials on Saturday to ease their concerns about warming U.S.-Iranian ties and seek consensus on which Syrian opposition groups should be represented at upcoming peace talks.

Kerry and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir presented a united front when they spoke at a news conference after a meeting of foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Gulf states have sided with the kingdom in its spat with Iran and backed the rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, an ally of the Islamic Republic.

Kerry and al-Jubeir said the U.S. and the GCC agreed on an unspecified "understanding" that will allow the U.N.-led Syria talks to begin next week.

"Let me assure everybody that the relationship between the United States and the GCC nations is one that is built on mutual interest, on mutual defense and I think there is no doubt whatsoever in the minds of the countries that make up the GCC that the United States will stand with them against any external threat," Kerry said.
Many things fascinate me and many others irritate me! Just venting my inner flames here. Peeping from ivory tower. :)
Police arrested a 16-year-old who was part of a group that opened fired on a Santa Rosa man inside his car Saturday afternoon, officials said.

The boy  who not identified because of his age  was among a pack of suspects hanging around a familys home on the 300 block of Taylor View Drive, said Santa Rose police Sgt. Tommy Isachsen.

The homeowner confronted the group and told them to get off his property around 3:30 p.m., and they seemed to listen and appeared to take off, police said.

But the man again spotted the suspects nearby while he was driving. He confronted the group and threatened to call police if they didnt immediately leave.

The suspects then turned on the man, and one of them pulled out a handgun, police said.

When the homeowner got in his car to flee, one of the suspects opened fire. The bullet nearly struck the victim, who was not injured and immediately called police, Isachsen said.

Officers swarmed to the area and found the 16-year-old. He was interviewed by gang detectives at the Santa Rosa police station and later booked in the Sonoma County Juvenile Justice Center.

He was arrested on suspicion of possession of a loaded firearm, accessory after the fact and a gang enhancement.

Investigators scoured the area near the shooting, where they found a gun believed to have been used in the attack. No other suspects were identified or arrested.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Toronto

Police on Saturday charged a 17-year-old boy with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in a remote aboriginal community in western Canada, officials said.

Police said the male suspect can't be named under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Grant St. Germaine said nine people were shot in the school, two fatally  a teacher and a teacher's aide. He said seven people wounded in Friday's shooting at the school are hospitalized.

Police said two brothers, 17-year-old Dayne Fountaine and 13-year-old Drayden, were shot dead in a home before the gunman headed to the grade 7-12 La Loche Community School. Police responded to a call of shots fired at the school shortly after the lunch hour.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer Brenda Butterworth-Carr said when officers arrived at the school they saw the front door had been shot open. They entered the school, spotted the suspect and gave chase before apprehending him. He is due in court next week.

Police said they were not aware of a motive and declined to say what type of gun was used.

The school is in the remote Dene aboriginal community of La Loche in Saskatchewan Province. La Loche is a community of less than 3,000 where just about everybody knows everybody else.

"This is a significant event for Canada," St. Germaine said. "It's a huge impact on the community of La Loche. It's a part of changing times. We are seeing more violence."

Residents lit candles and placed flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the school.

Shootings at schools or on university campuses are rare in Canada. However, the country's bloodiest mass shooting occurred on Dec. 6, 1989, at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique, when Marc Lepine entered a college classroom at the engineering school, separated the men from the women, told the men to leave and opened fire, killing 14 women before killing himself.

The educational assistant killed at the Saskatchewan school was identified as 21-year-old Marie Janvier. Deegan Park, her boyfriend of three years, said he would have given up the rest of his life just to spend another year with her.

"I grew up not a good guy, but she turned me right," Park told The Associated Press. "She was that much of a great person to turn me right from all the wrongdoings I used to do. ... She was a fantastic person."

"I loved her, I really did," said Park, who remembered her smile and how she would blush when she was happy.

Kevin Janvier said his daughter was an only child. "I'm just so sad," he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, called it "every parent's worst nightmare."

A student who was just returning from lunch when the shots were fired Friday said his friends ran past him urging him to get out.

"'Run, bro, run!" Noel Desjarlais-Thomas, 16, recalled his friends saying to him as they fled La Loche's junior and senior high school. "There's a shotgun! There's a shotgun! They were just yelling to me. And then I was hearing those shots too, so of course I started running."
They came Saturday carrying posters and yellow balloons, stop signs and baby photos. Some drove more than 30 hours from the Midwest, while others walked from their homes around the city.

Together they came  just a day after the 43rd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade court decision that legalized abortion in the United States  for the San Francisco March for Life. Tens of thousands of antiabortion marchers flooded into the Civic Center Plaza for a rally and then marched along Market Street. Ill have nun of it, read pins attached to the shirts of a youth group. One man carried a wooden cross with a crucified Jesus, and a woman hoisted her infant daughter in the air.

30-hour drive

Its amazing that all of these people are out here supporting life, said Cami Mischke, 15, of Tulsa, Okla. California is one of the top states for abortion. Its natural that we would want to come here and try and have an impact.

Cami came to San Francisco in a bus with 105 other parishioners from St. Benedict Church in Broken Arrow, Okla. The group arrived at 4 a.m. Saturday after an almost 30-hour drive. She posed for a photo with a friend in front of City Hall. Both held black signs reading, I am the pro-life generation.

Washington, D.C., is the political side, she said, referring to the March for Life in the nations capital. But California is the social side. We have already had people come out to oppose us. We love them no matter what they say, and our shouts will be louder.

Nearby, Nancy Sharpe of Kingsburg (Fresno County) handed out signs to a few friends. Sharpe first attended the rally 12 years ago, and she hasnt skipped a year since. The marches wont end until abortion is made illegal, she said.

People need to understand the sanctity of life, especially young people, Sharpe said. Until the genocide of babies ends, until abortion disappears, we will be here marching. It is a tragedy, and it must end.

The like-mindedness of the protest is what makes it so fun, said Heather Derenzo of Sacramento. It was her eighth year at the event.

We just want to get the message out that there are better options than abortion, she said. It isnt the right choice in any circumstance. America is still struggling to change the minds of those who think abortion is just a procedure and not the ending of an innocent life.

But not all agreed. The antiabortion march met a counterprotest at Market and Powell streets. Abortion is worth fighting for, the 100 or so protesters shouted. Womens dreams are whats at stake. Signs reading When abortion is illegal, women die and Fetuses are not babies were waved in the air.

Having a choice is important because women have a right to say what happens to their bodies, said Shira Kindler, 18, of Berkeley. Having a baby changes your entire life, and not always for the good. There is this misconception that women are having reckless sex and using abortion as the answer. Its not true  most women get an abortion because they dont have any other choices.

Letting women decide

Sam Rodyah, a volunteer from Stop Patriarchy, said the aim of the rally was to make the antiabortion rally uncomfortable and change the terms of the march.

It is outrageous that this other side represents a vicious attack on womens rights, he said. That shouldnt be normalized. We want to change the parameters of this fight. Its about making sure women have a choice over what happens to their bodies.

As the two groups converged at the same corner, police officers stood at the metal barricades separating the protesters from the marchers. The shouting and sign waving continued as the long line of marchers moved down Market Street.

The march shut down cross traffic across Market Street for hours, snarling downtown traffic for much of the afternoon.

Traffic was impacted, but there were not problems other than the traffic congestion caused as the march was going down the street, said Officer Albie Esparza, a San Francisco police spokesman.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @lizziejohnsonnn
http://donpolson.blogspot.com/ Bringing you the very best information, analysis and opinion from around the web. NOTE: For videos that don't start--go to article link to view.
Corey Robin, author of The Conservative Mind is one of the most credible scholars on the pathology of conservatism and neoconservatism. In the introduction to that book, Robin wrote that "[w]hen the conservative, looks upon a democratic movement from below, this (and the exercise of agency) is what he sees: a terrible disturbance in the private life of power. Witnessing the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800, Theordore Sedgwick lamented, "The aristocracy of virtue is destroyed; personal influence is at an end."...Conservatism, then, is not a commitment to limited government and liberty-- or a wariness of change, a belief in evolutionary reform, or a politics of virtue. These may be byproducts of conservatism, one or more of its historically specific and ever-changing modes of expression. But they are not its animating purpose. Neither is conservatism a makeshift fusion of capitalists, Christians, and warriors, for that fusion is impelled by a more elemental force-- the opposition to the liberation of men and women from the fetters of their superiors, particularly in the private sphere." Later in the book, he fleshed outer conservative mind more fully:

Conservatism is the theoretical voice of this animus against the agency of the subordinate classes. It provides the most consistent and profound argument as to why the lower orders should not be allowed to exercise their independent will, why they should not be allowed to govern themselves or the polity. Submission is their first duty, agency, the prerogative of the elite.



Though it is often claimed that the left stands for equality while the right stands for freedom, this notion misstates the actual disagreement between right and left. Historically, the conservative has favored liberty for the higher orders and constraint for the lower orders. What the conservative sees and dislikes in equality, in other words, is not a threat to freedom, but its extension. For in that extension, he sees a loss of his own freedom. ... Such was the threat Edmund Burke saw in the French Revolution: not merely an expropriation of property or explosion of violence but an inversion of the obligations of deference and command. "The levellers," he claimed, "only change and pervert the natural order of things."

The Guardian by a source who would only agree to be identified as 'a Democrat,' alleges that Sanders 'sympathized with the USSR during the Cold War' because he went on a trip there to visit a twinned city while he was mayor of Burlington. Similar 'associations with communism' in Cuba are catalogued alongside a list of quotes about countries ranging from China to Nicaragua in a way that supporters regard as bordering on the McCarthyite rather than fairly reflecting his views. I always watch for his writings and this weekend he penned an essay on the presidential campaign for JacobinMag.com . Like many of us, he's worked up about how far the Clinton campaign is already swinging in dark, ugly directions and brought up the orchestrated smear campaign against Bernie, beginning with a few lines from Dan Roberts at The Guardian : "The dossier, prepared by opponents of Sanders and passed on toby a source who would only agree to be identified as 'a Democrat,' alleges that Sanders 'sympathized with the USSR during the Cold War' because he went on a trip there to visit a twinned city while he was mayor of Burlington. Similar 'associations with communism' in Cuba are catalogued alongside a list of quotes about countries ranging from China to Nicaragua in a way that supporters regard as bordering on the McCarthyite rather than fairly reflecting his views.

This is becoming a straight-up rerun of the 1948 campaign against Henry Wallace. Except that Clinton is running well to the right of Truman and even, in some respects, Dewey. It seems as if Clinton is campaigning for the vote of my Grandpa Nat. Theres only one problem with this strategy: hes been dead for nearly a quarter-century.



NY Times makes clear: As was true of McCarthyism, its not really Sanderss communism or his socialism that has got todays McCarthyites in the Democratic Party worried; its actually his liberalism. As this article in themakes clear:

Some third party will say, This is what the first ad of the general election is going to look like, said James Carville, the longtime Clinton adviser, envisioning a commercial savaging Mr. Sanders for supporting tax increases and single-payer health care. Once you get the nomination, they are not going to play nice. . . .



A Sanders-led ticket generates two sets of fears among Clinton supporters: that other Democratic candidates could be linked to his staunchly liberal views, particularly his call to raise taxes, even on middle-class families, to help finance his universal health care plan; and that more mainstream Democrats would have to answer to voters uneasy about what it means to be a European-style social democrat. Raising taxes to pay for popular social programs: that used to be the bread and butter of the Democratic Party liberalism. Now its socialism. And that-- now its socialism-- used to be the bread and butter of Republican Party revanchism. Now its Democratic Party liberalism.

Later in his essay he points to a Bloomberg poll for the Des Moines Register which hasn't gotten a lot of media attention but that shows 43% of likely Democratic caucus participants describe themselves as socialists, including 58% of Sanderss supporters and about a third of Clintons. And it's not because so many Iowa families have roots in Scandinavia.

Senator Bernie Sanderss speech on Thursday explaining his democratic socialist ideology carried little risk among supporters and other Democrats: A solid majority of them have a positive impression of socialism, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released this month.



Fifty-six percent of those Democratic primary voters questioned said they felt positive about socialism as a governing philosophy, versus 29 percent who took a negative view.

Robin's poem, First They Came For..., indicates a certain dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party establishment that is echoed from coast to coast:

First they came for the Revolution

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Revolution.

Then they came for the Parliamentary Socialism

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Parliamentary Socialism.

Then they came for the Third Party

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Third Party.

Then they came for the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party.

Then they came for the Green Lantern

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Green Lantern.

Then they came for me

but that was cool

because Im a Democrat.

If you'd like to contribute to Bernie's campaign and/or to the campaigns of any of the congressional candidates who have endorsed him and are running on his platform... here's an ActBlue page for you








CHIOS, Greece  In the inky nighttime blackness, a small red dot appears on the radar screen, moving fast.

Thats a smuggler, the captain of the coast guards lifeboat says, swinging the vessel around and opening up the throttle, the boat cutting through the water on a frigid January night.

But the lifeboat, designed for search-and-rescue operations rather than high-speed chases, is no match for the smugglers speedboat. The smuggler ignores the searchlight, the shouts and the warning shots fired by the Greek coast guard, deftly navigating his small vessel onto a tiny patch of beach.

There he disgorges his human cargo  men, women and children risking their lives in a quest for safety and a better future in Europe.

Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrols and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Unions border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey. They are on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands  the front line of Europes massive refugee crisis.

Although smugglers are often arrested, the task is mainly a search-and-rescue role. Hours spent on patrol shows the near-impossibility of sealing Europes sea borders as some have demanded of Greece, whose islands so near to Turkey are the most popular gateway into Europe.

We have been saying all along that if the Greeks are unable to protect the borders of their country, we should jointly go down south and protect them, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in November.

But such calls ignore the realities at sea.

No matter how many patrol boats are out in Greek waters, attempting to force a vessel of asylum-seekers back into Turkish waters is both illegal and dangerous, even in calm seas. So unless a Turkish patrol stops a migrant boat and returns it to Turkey, there is little Greek or Frontex patrols can do once it has entered Greek territorial waters but arrest the smugglers and pick up the passengers or escort the vessel safely to land.

Greece is guarding the national and European borders, Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Nikos Xydakis said in a statement Sunday. What it cannot do and will not do ... is to sink boats and drown women and children, because international and European treaties and the values of our culture forbid it.

The sheer numbers have been overwhelming.

More than 850,000 people, most fleeing conflict in Syria and Afghanistan, entered Greece by sea in 2015, according to the UNHCR. Already in 2016, 35,455 people have arrived despite plunging winter temperatures and days of stormy weather.

The Greek island of Chios, second in the number of arrivals after the island of Lesbos, has three coast guard vessels and Frontex reinforcements.

But when you have 50 or 60 (migrant) boats daily, you understand that these vessels cant cope, said Chios coast guard deputy head Commander Christos Fragias. Both the crews and the vessels are strained from the overwork.
VIENTIANE, Laos  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is pressing for peaceful resolutions to increasingly tense maritime disputes in Asia and urging China to take a firmer stand on North Koreas nuclear program after its recent bomb test.

Kerry arrived in the Laotian capital Sunday, with later stops planned for Cambodia and China, extending an around-the-world diplomatic mission that began with a heavy emphasis on the Middle East, particularly Iran and efforts to bring an end to Syrias civil war.

Laos is the current head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose members are becoming more vocal in complaints about Chinas growing assertiveness over competing claims in the South China Sea. Next month, President Obama will host the ASEAN leaders in Rancho Mirage (Riverside County).

Before that summit, U.S. officials say, Kerry will make the case to the leader of the 10-nation bloc to present a unified stance in dealing with China on the disputes. They have intensified as China steps up construction of man-made islands and airstrips in contested areas.

The United States and governments with rival claims with China in the disputed region, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have expressed alarm over the Chinese construction. They say it raises tensions and threatens regional stability and could violate freedom of navigation and overflight.

But ASEAN unity has not always been possible because China wields great influence among some of its smaller neighbors, such as Cambodia. Cambodia held the ASEAN leadership spot in 2012, blocked the group from reaching consensus on the South China Sea issue and frequently has sided with China on the matter.

A senior U.S. State Department official accompanying Kerry in Asia said the U.S. had heard from regional leaders that problems related to Cambodias chairmanship left a black mark on ASEAN and are not to be repeated. The official said the U.S. believed that Laos would do a better job in balancing ASEAN interests with China.

Recent developments, including Chinas movement of an oil rig into a disputed zone and warnings against overflight of what it claims to be its territory, have raised levels of concern in the region to a point where the official said it would be very difficult for an external power like China to manipulate individual ASEAN countries in a way that paralyzes the broader group. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kerry is only the second secretary of state to visit Laos since 1955; Hillary Clinton visited in 2012.

Obama will become the first U.S. president to visit the landlocked nation later this year. Laos has moved away from a communist system in the past two decades, but like its close ally Vietnam, it retains a one-party political system and its government has been criticized for being intolerant of dissent.

Laos was targeted heavily by U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War and still has large amounts of unexploded ordnance littering its countryside. The U.S. has stepped up efforts to help clear Laos of those bombs and Kerry is expected to commit to expanding and upgrading such programs with details to be announced when Obama visits later in 2016, the U.S. official said.

Kerry will wrap up his Asia tour in Beijing, where he will renew concerns about Chinas aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and call for Chinese leaders to take more steps to press North Korea on its nuclear program.
JERUSALEM  A 13-year-old Palestinian girl was fatally shot by an Israeli security guard at the entrance to a West Bank settlement Saturday after she ran at him with a knife, according to Israeli police.

The girl was identified by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa as Ruqayya Eid Abu Eid, a resident of the Palestinian village of Anata.

Abu Eid quarreled with her family on Saturday morning and then left her home with a knife intending to die, the police said in a statement. She arrived at the settlement about 8 a.m., the police said, and ran toward the civilian guard at the entrance, who opened fire.

The girls father, who was looking for her, arrived at the settlement soon after she had been shot. The police detained him for questioning.

The shooting Saturday came amid a wave of Palestinian stabbings and attempted stabbings, car rammings and gun attacks that have killed about 25 Israelis, an American student and one Palestinian bystander since Oct. 1. About 150 Palestinians have been killed during the same period. Up to two-thirds of them have been described by Israel as assailants. Others have been killed during protests and clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and along Israels border with Gaza.

Palestinian teenagers have carried out many of the stabbings or attempted stabbings, and in one case an assailant was as young as 12. In November, two cousins, ages 12 and 14, were arrested after they attacked an Israeli security guard on a light railway train in East Jerusalem, not far from their homes.

The Palestinian authorities and local and international human rights groups have accused the Israeli police, the military and in some cases private security personnel and armed civilians of reacting with excessive force. Israel rejects those accusations, saying that Israelis were acting in self-defense.
Long-standing Infratil shareholder Utilico Investments has ended its 12-year run as a substantial shareholder in the infrastructure investor.

The UK investment house sold 5 million shares on Jan. 20, trimming its stake in the company to 4.5 percent, below the 5 percent threshold that deems an investor to be a substantial shareholder. Utilico used to be known as Infratil International, whose directors included Duncan Saville, one of the original directors and a founder of Infratil.

The UK firm is managed by Saville's ICM Investment Management, and counts Dugald Morrison, the younger brother of deceased Infratil founder Lloyd Morrison, as its New Zealand general manager. ICM also manages ASX-listed Zeta Resources, which owns almost a fifth of New Zealand Oil & Gas.

Utilico has been selling Infratil shares since 2010, when it owned almost a fifth of the company. The trustee of HRL Morrison Family Trust is the company's biggest shareholder with about 11 percent, followed by the Accident Compensation Corp's investment unit holding 10 percent.

Infratil shares gained 0.3 percent to $3.14 today, and have climbed 90 percent since Utilico began selling. The stock is rated an average 'buy' based on six analyst recommendations compiled by Reuters, with a mean price target of $3.51.

Utilico took a near-14 percent stake in Christchurch-based Smiths City in 2014, and the retailer this week said it was buying Furniture City to gain a foothold in Auckland.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you're willing to brave the elements for a few bucks this week, the city has a job for you: emergency snow laborer.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia put a call out Sunday for individuals interested in removing snow and ice from bus stops, crosswalks, fire hydrants, steep streets and other locations throughout the city in the wake of Winter Storm Jonas.

"This was one of the worst storms to ever hit New York City, and we need all hands on deck to dig us out," de Blasio said. "As Sanitation's uniformed workers continue to focus their herculean efforts on clearing our city's streets, snow laborers will be critical in shoveling out other key locations, like crosswalks, hydrants, bus stops, and more."

Snow laborers will be paid $13.50 per hour, and $20.25 per hour after working 40 hours in a week.

Interested individuals can register at local Sanitation garages (see locations below) any day this week, including Sunday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To sign up, you must be at least 18 years of age, eligible to work in the United States and capable of performing heavy physical labor.

Applicants must bring two small photos (1 1/2 square inches), an original and copy of two forms of identification, and a social security card or tax ID number.

Staten Island Sanitation garage locations

-Staten Island 1

539 Jersey St.

Victory Blvd. & Brook St.

-Staten Island 2

2500 Richmond Ave.

Opposite from SI Mall

-Staten Island 3

1000 West Service Rd.

Arthur Kill Rd. / West Shore Expy. (Route 440)
By Maher Chmaytelli and Stephen Kalin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq summoned the new Saudi ambassador on Sunday after he suggested Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias were exacerbating sectarian tensions and should leave the fight against Islamic State to the Iraqi army and official security forces.

Baghdad's move underscores the depth of enmity between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim powers as sectarian conflicts rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Riyadh only reopened its embassy in Baghdad last month, shut down since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

In an interview with Iraq's al-Sumaria TV on Saturday, Saudi envoy Thamer al-Sabhan criticised the Hashid Shaabi, a coalition of mostly Iranian-backed Shi'ite paramilitary groups seen as a bulwark against the Sunni militants of Islamic State whose rise has inflamed sectarian tensions in Shi'ite-majority Iraq.

"The refusal by the Kurds and (the Sunni province of) Anbar to let the Hashid Shaabi come to their regions shows that the Hashid is not accepted by Iraqi society," Sabhan said.

Iraq's foreign ministry called the remarks "a break of diplomatic protocol and based on inaccurate information".

"The Hashid Shaabi are fighting terrorism and defending the country's sovereignty and acting under the umbrella and command of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces," it said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the ministry said the foreign ministers of both countries had met on Sunday on the sidelines of a conference in Bahrain and rejected Sabhan's remarks.

"The Saudi foreign minister said these statements do not reflect the official position of the kingdom towards brotherly Iraq," the statement said.

There was no immediate report of the minister's comments on the Saudi state news agency.

"INTERFERENCE"

Earlier Iraqi Shi'ite lawmakers accused Sabhan of meddling in domestic affairs, including recent violence in eastern Diyala province where Sunni mosques and residents were attacked in apparent retaliation for blasts targeting Shi'ite militia fighters claimed by Islamic State.

"If such interference is repeated, there will be calls to declare the ambassador persona non grata and demand that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia replace him," Khalid al-Assadi, a member of parliament's foreign affairs panel, said by phone.

Local media published similar comments from other Shi'ite lawmakers.

"He should be expelled immediately or else he could meet dire consequences," Awatef Nemah from the ruling Shi'ite bloc told al-Sumaria, without elaborating.

The reopening of the Saudi embassy in Baghdad has been seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against Islamic State militants, who control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and have claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.

But it has also coincided with a fresh escalation of tensions between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran, longtime regional rivals, after Riyadh executed a prominent Shi'ite cleric this month.

(Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Editing by Gareth Jones)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With Winter Storm Jonas set to fizzle before sunrise, the New York City travel ban will be lifted at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

"The New York City travel ban will be LIFTED at 7AM Sunday morning," read a tweet posted on the mayor's official Twitter account. "Stay off City streets tonight."

The New York City travel ban will be LIFTED at 7AM Sunday morning. Stay off City streets tonight. #Blizzard2016  Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 24, 2016

In a statement released by de Blasio, he warns residents of the repercussions of unlawful travel before the ban is lifted.

"Individuals in violation of the ban will be subject to enforcement actions, including fine, summons, and/or arrest," he said. "We continue to urge New Yorkers not to travel unless necessary."

De Blasio said staying indoors will keep residents out of trouble, and also help emergency vehicles get to others in need.

"Our plows will still be clearing the streets, and we must keep the streets passable for emergency vehicles," he added. "Whenever possible, New Yorkers should stay indoors until this storm passes."

Earlier Saturday afternoon, de Blasio visited Staten Island, praising DSNY workers and asking residents to remain of the roads.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After the snow stopped falling and the wind calmed down, life appeared to pick back up on Staten Island late Sunday morning, as residents began digging out their cars, shoveling their sidewalks, and making their way around their neighborhoods.

Winter Storm Jonas dropped a whopping 26.8 inches of snow on parts of New York City, as measured at Central Park, making it the second largest snowstorm in city history. The total accumulation measured in Port Richmond was even higher, at 31.1 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

The Department of Sanitation's PlowNYC interactive map shows that the majority of Staten Island's primary and secondary roads across the borough have been plowed within the last 1 to 3 hours.

Only a handful of tertiary streets haven't been plowed in the last 12 to 24 hours on the North and East Shores, most of which are above the boulevard, according to the map, with the remainder having been plowed in the last 6 to 12 hours.

The South Shore of Staten Island in Tottenville and across the borough on Todt Hill show the most "purple streets" on the map, meaning they haven't been plowed in 12-24 hours.

Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) thanked DSNY for a job well done overnight.

Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) is asking his constituents what areas DSNY hasn't plowed yet so he can communicate the information and hopefully get them plowed out as soon as possible.

Ok, so where are there issues?Sent in first round of requests at 9:00, will be back at 10 to send another round. Posted by Joe Borelli on Sunday, January 24, 2016

What do you think of DSNY's response to Winter Storm Jonas -- Did plows pass through your neighborhood often? Vote in the poll and let us know in the comment section.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- His takeaway for trying to rob two livery cab drivers: Five years in prison.

Nathaniel Cottrell, 29, of Stapleton, was sentenced Friday, in state Supreme Court, St. George, to five years behind bars, under plea agreements, to satisfy two indictments against him.

Cottrell and an accomplice, fellow Stapleton resident Demetri Green, then 22, approached the 46-year-old victim at about 11 p.m. while he was parked outside a gas station on the 100 block of Victory Boulevard, Tompkinsville, police said.

Green opened the driver's side door, pointed what appeared to be a gun at the man's face and said, "Give me your cash and your phone," authorities said.

Cottrell then took the driver's money and phone, and the two men fled, said police.

Police caught the duo on Jersey Street in New Brighton about 10 minutes later. Officers found the driver's phone on the ground next to Cottrell, and Green had dropped a BB gun, police allege.

The pair was arrested, and Cottrell was later released after posting $10,000 bond, online state court records show.

Green recently pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George to attempted second-degree robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced March 10 to five years in prison, according to information from District Attorney Michael E. McMahon's office.

While on bail, Cottrell struck again, when he robbed another livery cabbie on March 12, 2015, prosecutors allege

The defendant was a passenger in a cab when he lured the driver to a specific location at about 9:30 a.m. before attacking him, police said.

Cottrell punched the driver in the head multiple times, threw him out of the car, and stole $300 after threatening to kill the victim, according to a criminal complaint. The cab driver suffered pain and swelling to the face and right cheekbone, the complaint said.

Cottrell then sped off in the man's Dodge Caravan, authorities said.

When cops tried to stop him, Cottrell led them on a chase through Stapleton and crashed into several cars before being nabbed at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Park Hill Lane, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.

While he was fleeing police, the defendant allegedly sideswiped two cars stopped at the red light at the corner of Hillside Avenue and Van Duzer Street.

The drivers told the Advance Cottrell was flying along narrow Hillside Avenue before turning the wrong way on Van Duzer in a bid to evade the police.

No one in those vehicles was hurt.

Cottrell was sentenced to consecutive terms of 2 1/2 years in prison, plus 18 months post-release supervision.
US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aka AOC hit a nerve from a couple of two days ago when she tweeted that Apartheid states are not ...
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Brit Jodie Swallow dominated the 2016 Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa with a fantastic effort in every discipline and has now won this race 6 times in a row. She also broke her own course record with a final time of 4:23:28. South African Matt Trautman captured the men's title and thus repeated his win from 2015. Trautman held off fellow South Africans Kyle Buckingham and James Cunnama who ended up in a tight battle for second place.

Jodie Swallow was first out of the water in 25:15 and that gave her a 3-minute advantage over Lucie Zelenkova and Susie Cheetham who reached the swim-run transition next.



Despite rainy conditions Swallow then really stepped on the throttle during the bike and pulled away from the rest of the competition. Her race best 2:26:01 bike split almost 9 minutes faster than the second best time of German pro Astrid Stienen and a massive 17 minutes and change better than the 2:43:21 time of Cheetham. Zelenkova only managed a 2:50:14, but it is unclear if she had encountered any troubles along the way. As it was Swallow had a massive lead by the time she reached T2 and only a complete meltdown would have cost her the title.



Swallow however was superb on the run too and ended up with a race best 1:27:28 split that gave her a dominating win and a course record time of 4:23:28. German Astrid Stienen was second in 4:42:00 and South African African Annah Watkinson rounded out the podium in 4:43:34.

In the men's race Brit pro Mark Threlfall was first out of the water in 24:42 with Will Clarke, Rudolf Naude and Kyle Buckingham about 30 seconds adrift. Matt Trautman and James Cunnama reached T2 in 26:02 and 26:07 respectively. A speedy transition by Trautman and a slow one by Threlfall compacted the front end of the race as the men started to jump on their bikes.



It did not take very long for Trautman to move into the lead and only Buckingham managed to stay within range of the leader. Threlfall and Naude fell back, but German Konstantin Bachor, South African Stuart Marais and Cunnama were chasing hard about 3.5 minutes adrift at the halfway point of the bike. Towards the end of the bike segment Trautman manged to pull away from Buckingham and reached T2 first with a race best 2:13:38 bike split and a 28 second lead on Buckingham. Cunnama was next almost 5.5 minutes later and he was followed closely by Bachor and Marais.



During the run Trautman steadily pulled away from Buckingham and Cunnama inched closer and closer to the second place. Marais was hanging tough too, but was unable to stay with Cunnama who really flew early on. The 1:17:34 run of Trautman was nor race best, but faster than anyone near the very front and allowed him to take the win in South Africa again. Cunnama and Buckingham battled to the very end with Buckingham ending up with the edge at the end and the runner-up spot.

Standard Bank IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa

Buffalo City, SA / January 24, 2016

1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run



Top women



1. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 4:23:28 ***

2. Astrid Stienen (GER) 4:42:00

3. Annah Watkinson (RSA) 4:43:34

4. Kirsten Schut (RSA) 4:52:36 * AG W25-29

5. Maria Czesnik (POL) 4:55:34



Top men



1. Matt Trautman (RSA) 4:01:52

2. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 4:09:10

James Cunnama (RSA) 4:09:11

4. Stuart Marais (RSA) 4:10:22

5. Konstantin Bachor (GER) 4:13:54



*** = course record
Amman, Jordan  The military says Jordanian border guards opened fire on three dozen suspected infiltrators from Syria, killing 12 and wounding several others. The border command has said it frequently intercepts smugglers trying to cross into Jordan. Saturday's shooting was the deadliest such incident in the border area in recent memory. The military's website says border guards confiscated more than 2 million narcotics pills during the incident. It says some of the infiltrators were armed and that several returned to Syria. The military did not say where along the border the shooting took place.
A fresh battle is brewing on the hotly contested trans-Tasman route as foreign carriers AirAsia X, Singapore Airlines and Philippines Airlines enter a crowded market at a time when local airlines have also been expanding capacity.

Macquarie Equities estimates air capacity between Australia and New Zealand will rise by 8.8 per cent in the current quarter relative to last year, even though AirAsia X and Singapore Airlines will not start their new trans-Tasman flights until March 22 and September 20 respectively.

Capacity between Australia and New Zealand is expected to grow by nearly 9 per cent in the current quarter. Credit:Jim Rice

The AirAsia X entry into the Gold Coast-Auckland route on a daily basis, with densely configured A330 widebodies, is expected to have a major impact on that market, adding an estimated 84 per cent seat capacity by the second quarter.

"I reckon it is a pretty good move for travellers," said Tom Walley, the general manager of Flight Centre's Australian leisure business. "It will provide a bit more competition to Brisbane too."
And here we were thinking CBD could slink off for a few weeks rest without the financial world going to hell in a hand basket.

Not everything went pear-shaped as publicly as Dick Smith Electronics, as well as its former boss Nick Abboud, or, Woolies' not-so Masterful hardware strategy.

Peter Bond left the board of Linc Energy in the lead up to Christmas. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

Then there was the realisation that China's economy is a bit crook. Don't tell Nathan Tinkler who is trying to pick up another local coal mine.

As for Clive Palmer, his story will have many more twists and turns this year.
Four people have been flown to safety after a large wave crashed over tourists at Sydney's Figure Eight Pools in the Royal National Park on Sunday afternoon.

A number of people were at the popular tourist spot when a wave crashed onto the rocks about 4.10pm, a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said.

Tourists pose for photographs earlier in January at the Figure Eight Pools in the Royal National Park. Credit:Wolter Peeters

It left a 22-year-old woman with injuries to her back, face, arm and leg, while a number of others were treated for cuts and lacerations.
The Australian of the Year Awards ceremony on the eve of Australia Day is celebrated by nominees, friends and family at an exclusive party on the lawns of Parliament House.

Events manager Julia Franklin has been tasked with organising the annual VIP gathering of Australia's leading citizens and role models for 12 years.

David Thatcher gives the stage a coat of paint. Credit:Graham Tidy

The event and cocktail party for 750-odd guests is not the biggest she has worked on, but she says its outdoor location makes it the most challenging.

"Because as you know, it's grass and a bit of road and a dusty old bus shelter, and we have to make it look absolutely gorgeous just for the day."
This Australia Day, Muslims will be distributing leaflets adorned with the national flag around Canberra to profess their loyalty to the country.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association's ACT branch will join other members around Australia to hand out up to 500,000 pamphlets titled "Muslims for Loyalty" amid a domestic and international political climate in which debate rages over Islam's relationship with the rest of the Western world.

Mohammad Hasan, Imam Masood Ahmad Shahid and Kamran Ahmed will help hand out the leaflets. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement with the slogan "love for all, hatred for none". The association's ACT external affairs secretary, Abdul Latif, said the leaflet distribution was about promoting a message of peace and patriotism.

"There are bad impressions due to bad actions, so we want to distinguish ourselves as one of those groups who are more supportive of the country where we live," he said.
Australian political parties operate within a framework that encourages older men to dominate their membership, ACT Labor Party secretary Matt Byrne says.

He believes his party is doing enough to boost women in leadership positions, but that parties in general can do more.

There is a "lot of more work to be done" to achieve gender equality in politics. Credit:Rob Homer

"Fundamentally though political parties are still structured in such a way that benefits people who are time-rich, and that is usually older men," Mr Byrne said.

"I think that affirmative action has worked well and the endeavour to expand these principles throughout the ALP should be supported."
NAB's first digital wallet out on Monday is backed by Visa, making it the first Australian bank to use a new mobile security system that fights Apple's bid for a share of the $2.5 billion in fees for credit card transactions.

NAB's new digital wallet, NAB Pay, will allow customers to use an Android smartphone or other mobile device to make payments via the NAB mobile app with a virtual Visa card. It will later allow credit cards to be used as well.

NAB will be the first to use the credit card companies' new token vaults for mobile device payments. Credit:Louie Douvis

Most of the banks, including Commonwealth, Westpac and numerous regional banks and mutual lenders, already offer similar wallets, but NAB's is the first to use Visa's new Visa Tokenisation Service as the mobile security platform.

The banks and credit cards are resisting a push by Apple to take 15c in every $100 worth of interchange fees in returning for issuing Visa or MasterCard on Apple Pay. It is understood banks in the US and Britain are already paying part of their fees to Apple.
Settlement on the largest office building to sell in the Canberra CBD for more than two years went ahead on Friday after confirmation the sale posed no national security risk.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided the confirmation for the building at 255 London Circuit, which sold for $70,025,000 to Growthpoint Properties Australia in November.

The DFAT-leased building on London Circuit, Civic's largest commercial sale since 2013, settled on Friday.

The department holds a lease for the building until 2026.

The property was sold by JLL ACT's sales and investment head Michael Heather and his colleague, international investments head Simon Storry, as part of an international expressions of interest campaign on behalf of London-based vendor Brompton Asset Management.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 18 years and 38,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
The 1997 Wood Royal Commission recommended the NSW parliament consider setting up a place where people who use drugs could inject under supervision. Although a parliamentary committee approved a very supportive report, a majority of the committee still voted against recommending a supervised injecting facility. The (then) NSW Premier Bob Carr was initially quite opposed to setting up a SIF but when he retired, Carr named the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre one of his ten proudest achievements.

One in 10 of all heroin overdose deaths in Australia occurred within a couple of kilometres of Kings Cross. So reducing the number of heroin overdose deaths in Australia required some sort of effective intervention in Kings Cross.

Australia's first supervised injecting facility began operating in Sydney's Kings Cross in 2001 in response to the epidemic of heroin overdose deaths in the 1990s.

There were only six heroin overdose deaths in Australia in 1964. But by 1997, heroin overdose deaths in Australia had climbed to 1116. Just imagine the number of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters who had suddenly lost a young loved one.

The world's first official SIF was established in Berne, the capital of Switzerland, in 1986. Many others have subsequently been established in Germany, the Netherlands and some other European countries. There are now almost 90 SIFs in nine countries with a number of other countries currently planning to establish SIFs.

By the time the Sydney centre began operating, European research on these facilities was still unclear. This environment ensured that not only was rigorous evaluation carried out, but also that it was of the highest standard. The second SIF in an English speaking country was established in Vancouver, Canada in 2003. This was also initially subjected to relentless attacks.

The reality is that the best independent evaluation and scientific research in the world on SIFs has been carried out in Sydney and Vancouver.

We now know that SIFs have many worthwhile benefits and no serious negatives. SIFs reduce deaths from drug overdose. Between 2001 and 2005, 89 drug overdose deaths occurred within 500 meters of Vancouver's SIF, a third of all overdose deaths in that city. But after it began operating in 2003 fatal overdoses decreased by 35 per cent within 500 metres of the SIF.

SIFs also reduces the number of new HIV and hepatitis C infections, increase the number of drug users referred to drug treatment and health and social services, and reduce the number of people who have had a non-fatal drug overdose but required ambulance transport to a hospital. SIFs also reduce injecting and the numbers of needles and syringes discarded in public places.
For years, it was hidden from view under layers of tissue paper  a tiny pastel sketch of an infant captured mid-sob.

But when the great-granddaughter of Tom Roberts attended the opening of the major exhibition of his works at the National Gallery of Australia last month, she realised it was time the work found its rightful home.

The grandaughter of Australian painter Tom Roberts, Lisa Roberts, with the work she has donated to the National Gallery of Australia. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Roberts made the sketch of his only son Caleb in 1898 as a study for a larger portrait, neither of which has ever been on public display.

But on Friday, the constant stream of visitors to the blockbuster show had reason to pause and look closer at the poignant sketch, which is now framed and hanging beside an equally touching bust of Caleb, aged nine, created in London in 1907.
The resulting novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, was told from Jack's point of view. Jack has only seen the things inside Room  Bed, Wardrobe, Sink, Toilet  but his mother has contrived to turn them into a play area, contriving games as exercise and telling him stories about World, a place beyond Room that might as well be a fairytale. Larson and eight-year-old Jacob Tremblay are extraordinary together, the confined space seeming to expand to accommodate their love and playfulness. When they are finally freed and must adjust to life out in World  where there are Ma's own parents and reporters and doctors and they can no longer be everything to each other  every moment rings with the clarity of truth. And now, of course, everyone wants to know who Brie Larson is.

Emma Donoghue, who adapted her own best-selling novel for the screen in collaboration with Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, was originally inspired by the widely reported story of Elizabeth Fritzl, who was imprisoned by her own father for 24 years and bore him seven children. The news reports focused on the horrific facts of the case, while speculation centred on the criminal: what kind of person could do that? Donoghue was fascinated, however, by the woman and her children. They were shut into a basement, but they were still a family. How did they live?

Three months later, Brie Larson has won the Golden Globe as best actress and is on track to win the Oscar for her performance as Ma, a young woman held captive by a pervert in a soundproofed suburban garage. Ma is just 17 when Old Nick  a pathetic rather than monstrous figure, whom we barely see in the film  kidnaps her on the street. When we meet her, she has a five-year-old son by her rapist. Her life is devoted to making her boy Jack feel loved and safe.

"Who is she?" asked a German colleague after we had just seen Brie Larson in Room. "I don't know anything about her, except that she's great." When I relate this exchange to Larson later that day, she beams as if nobody else had noticed. "I love that!" she says happily. Why haven't we heard of her? I ask accusingly. "I don't know," she shrugs, still beaming. "I guess it takes as long as it takes."

Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay star in the film Room.

It comes as a surprise to hear that Larson has been acting since she was six years old. "I told my mom that I knew what my dharma was and I wanted to be an actor ..." She actually said "dharma"? Larson did start life in Sacramento, but that seems too Californian to be true. "I know, that's weird, right? Because my parents are not like that." Blame television, she says. Initially reluctant, her mother eventually let her go to acting lessons in the hope it would help her be less shy. It did, but only in a limited way. "I felt too embarrassed to make friends at school," she laughs, "but I could perform each night in front of a hundred people in the Christmas play and be perfectly fine."

A year or two later  she is vague on detail  her parents divorced, leaving her mother with no job and no assets apart from Larson and her younger sister. "My mom packed up her car and we drove to Los Angeles and see if I could make it. It was never easy. It always seemed like whenever we hit our last dollar and my mom would say 'right, the dream is over, it's time to go back to reality', I would get a job that would allow us to stay a little bit longer." The three of them lived in a single-room studio apartment; the children had just one or two toys each. When she first read Room  long before there was a whiff of a film version  Larson was reminded of the years when, as she says, they couldn't afford to go to McDonald's. "Yet there was something really simple and a little magical about that time," she says. "We still talk about it as one of the best times in our lives."

Right from the start, she was determined to take acting seriously. "I didn't want to do a fish stick commercial. I wanted to do monologues and I wanted to cry and I really wanted to express emotion." As an adult, much of her work has been in television: she was notable as Toni Collette's rebellious daughter in United States of Tara  or in support roles in indie movies, where her easy naturalism as the straight girlfriend or sister helps the star to shine. (See Amy Schumer in Trainwreck, Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now, Ben Stiller in Greenberg or Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Don Jon: all are made better by her being there.)

The first film in which she moved front and centre was Short Term 12, where she played a youth worker in a centre for troubled children. Both she and the film were brilliant, raw and real, but only a handful of people saw it  probably, ironically, because there were no stars in the cast. Now, however, she is playing the lead damsel in Kong: Skull Island. Is this Brie Larson doing glamour? "You'll have to see if it's glamour or not. Don't be too sure!" she laughs.
Skid Row, the infamous Los Angeles street block infested with crime, poverty and homelessness has for decades been a blight on the landscape of America's sprawling west coast metropolis.

But this weekend a bright light was turned on the notorious strip, creating an unusual cultural crossroads which brought a studio boss, a Hollywood TV star and an Australian boyband together in a crowd of thousands.

The Australian band What About Tonight.

CBS Studios president David Stapf, Jane The Virgin star Justin Baldoni and the four boys from the Australian band What About Tonight were among the crowd at the second annual Skid Row Carnival of Love.

And the four Aussies, who are in the US working on new material, were hit with the locals, joining hundreds of volunteers who hoped to bring human interaction to a community where isolation is the norm.
THEATRE

THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY 

Book, music and lyrics by Stephen Dolginoff

Chapel Off Chapel, until January 31



In 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb  two intelligent, wealthy college students from Chicago  abducted and killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks. They intended it to be the perfect crime, and rationalised their actions by reference to Nietzsche's theory of the ubermensch, believing their superiority exempted them from the ethics of broader society.

Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story explores the twisted relationship between two Chicago college students. Credit:Christopher Parker

The murder didn't just fascinate and horrify the public at the time. The twisted relationship between Leopold and Loeb was taken up in the emerging genre of the psychological thriller. Alfred Hitchcock's first feature in Technicolor, Rope, was based on the crime; so too Compulsion, the 1959 film starring Orson Welles as the killers' lawyer.

With Thrill Me, Stephen Dolginoff has created a dark chamber musical out of the Leopold and Loeb story. It's a tense and claustrophobic two-hander, with a diabolical twist, that delves into what was largely suppressed by the contemporary imagination: the homosexual bond between the murderers.
It may be a poor excuse for missing homework, but if that elusive sock or jocks can't be found your pet's stomach may be the hiding spot.

A leading pet insurer has revealed underwear  most commonly G-strings were the objects most frequently ingested by dogs and cats last year.

Roxy the cavoodle, whose habit of eating her family's underwear led to trouble last year, with Rachel Aitchison and her children, Ellen 14, and Isaac 4. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Socks, string and dental floss, decorative stones and butter the latter posing a pancreatitis risk rounded out Pet Insurance Australia's top five unplanned pet swallowings.

Nadia Crighton, spokeswoman for the family-owned private business, said the risk to the pet and cost of treatment could be great. One case involved a dog swallowing a sewing needle, causing medical expenses totalling $5000, which insurance covered.
A key Tony Abbott ally has welcomed the former prime minister's decision to stay in politics, dismissing suggestions the dumped ex-Liberal leader will seek to destabilise the government like Kevin Rudd did.

Senator Eric Abetz, a former cabinet minister and leader of the government in the Senate, said Mr Abbott had many "good years of service" left in him.

"Tony Abbott is absolutely no Kevin Rudd and therefore, I believe those sorts of analogies are not appropriate in any way, shape or form," he told ABC radio.
State and territory leaders unanimously back Australia becoming a republic, meaning there is total support across the top two tiers of government for an Australian head of state.

However, division remains over when the switch should be made, even as the push grows for the process to start in 2020.

As part of a campaign by the Australian Republican Movement, seven of the eight leaders signed a declaration supporting the end of the constitutional monarchy.

The declaration posed the simple proposition that "Australia should have an Australian head of state".
Malcolm Turnbull's keynote speech in Washington DC last week, the first serious articulation of his foreign affairs stance since becoming prime minister, gained plenty of plaudits on both sides of the Pacific.

Turnbull was insightful and eloquent, quoting the ancient Greek historian Thucydides as he traversed the great geopolitical challenges of our times.

He was also breathtakingly hypocritical.

Musing on the rise of China, its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea and the resulting tensions with the United States and its allies, Turnbull made an impassioned plea for nation states to embrace the rules-based international order.
Still reeling from the hanging of his client, Australian drug trafficker Van Nguyen, in Singapore some six months earlier, McMahon was contacted by his friend and fellow barrister Lex Lasry to get involved in another taxing and high stakes death penalty case.

Julian McMahon did not hesitate when he got the call in mid 2006 to help Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

"There was no question of not assisting once we were asked," he says.

Julian McMahon, one of the lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran, has been nominated for Australian of the Year.

"We knew the processes by that time. We knew, for instance, how to deal with [the foreign affairs department], We knew how to arrange to correct stories in the media. Things that are outside the normal experience of lawyers."

It is a measure of the passion for human life and human rights of McMahon, Victoria's nominee for Australian of the Year, that he took up the case, again acting pro bono, after such a harrowing experience with Nguyen.

The three-year battle to save Nguyen's life ended at dawn in Changi Prison on December 2, 2005. The evening before his death, McMahon comforted Nguyen's mother Kim and brother Khoa, an experience he will never forget.
Anti-violence campaigner Liam Knight has urged young Australians to party safely and look after their mates this Australia Day.

A victim of an unprovoked attack at the age of 17, Mr Knight nearly lost his life when a drunk gatecrasher threw a metal pole at his head at a mate's 18th birthday party in early 2013.

Anti-violence ambassador Liam Knight nearly lost his life when a drunk gatecrasher threw a metal pole at his head at a birthday party. Credit:Katherine Griffiths

The pole pierced through his skull and out the other side, causing lifelong brain damage which "bunged up" the left side of his body.
The destruction of the "exceptional" heritage interiors of a rare 1840s terrace has prompted the National Trust to again urge the state government to cease the outright sale of hundreds of public housing properties in Millers Point.

Clive Lucas, the NSW president of the trust, made the appeal directly to Premier Mike Baird this month in a letter arguing the government's assurances about the protections in place for the state heritage listed properties had been "proven wrong" by the damage done to one of Sydney's oldest homes.

The government has announced it will speed up the sell-off of the area's public housing. Credit:Wolter Peeters

In December, the Land and Environment Court NSW ordered Lloyd Adams to pay a $60,000 fine, as well as the City of Sydney's $35,000 court costs, after he caused irreversible damage to a colonial Georgian terrace house within a week of finalising the purchase of the 30 Argyle Place property for $1.71 million in 2014.

Mr Adams had removed internal plaster, skirting boards and other material of "exceptional" significance - and continued to do so even after the council's heritage officer directed him to stop.
The boundaries between school and home are dissolving at some of Sydney's top private schools, as students stay on campus until mid-evening when their parents collect them.

In a bid to bridge the gap between the 3pm end-of-school day and the longer working hours required of most parents, schools such as Kincoppal-Rose Bay and The King's School in Parramatta are offering an "extended day" program, which allows day students to use the "learning and home facilities" provided to boarders.

Matthew Joyce (left) and Jacob Harris are not boarders but do stay after the last bell at The King's School in Parramatta. Credit:Janie Barrett

Students remain at school after the bell to do their extra-curricular activities, complete their homework supervised by teachers, eat afternoon tea and dinner, and have a shower before being picked up by their parents at 8pm or later.

Schools charge up to $50 a day (on top of regular tuition fees) for this casual service, which is becoming increasingly popular with dual income earning parents.
Fire crews were called out to a food processing plant on Randle Street in the port-side suburb of Pinkenba on Saturday night at 8.24pm.

Water was not working on the machinery fire so the 14 crews attending had to put the fire out with foam.

A scene from the factory fire in Pinkenba. Credit:Nine News Brisbane

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service acting inspector Mark Halverson said there was an added risk of the factory containing 15,000 tonnes of soya bean meal.

The highly combustible soya bean meal, stored in the factory and took up two thirds of the factory space, was untouched by fire.
A 21-year-old woman has been charged over the alleged assault of a paramedic sent to a Brisbane pub to help her.

The 41-year-old female ambulance officer suffered cuts her arms and swelling and bruising to her face in the alleged drunken assault at Toowong's Regatta Hotel.

Police charged a Taringa woman with one count each of serious assault a public officer causing harm and serious assault public officer performing function, to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 9.



EARLIER
Hong Kong: An American student who is being detained by North Korea did nothing obvious during a five-day trip to the country that would have angered the authorities, a member of his tour group said on Saturday.

The student, Otto F. Warmbier of the University of Virginia, was being held for an unspecified "hostile act" against North Korea with the goal of "bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity", North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said on Friday.

Small American flags fly in front of the Warmbier family home in Wyoming, Ohio, after Otto Warmbier's detention. Credit:AP

Mr Warmbier's detention at the airport in Pyongyang as the tour group was leaving the country on January 2 came as a surprise, said one member of the group who asked not to be named because of the delicacy of the case.

While foreigners accused of "anti-state" activities, illegal entry or spreading religion have been detained in North Korea in the past, there were no signs of such behavior by Mr Warmbier, the tour group member said.
It could either be the most expensive wash in history  or the best ever 'the dog ate my homework' excuse.

A woman who was convinced she had bought the unclaimed 33 million ($67 million) British lottery jackpot ticket presented her 'winning' ticket to a newsagent in Worcester on Friday.

The Lotto jackpot in question is one of the biggest ever in Britain. Credit:

The only problem was that she had retrieved the ticket in question from the pocket of her jeans only after they had gone through her wash.

The woman  who asked to remain anonymous  said: "I've been a nervous wreck. I haven't slept all night. Since I found it in my jeans pocket, my daughter and I have been drying it out with the hair dryer.
Tokyo: Japan is well known for many things, and its obsession with sex is one of them. It has one of the most robust pornographic and adult-toy industries in the world and airs TV commercials for items as banal as candy that feature sexually suggestive themes. It even has an annual fertility festival that parades two nearly two metre tall penis sculptures down a busy street on a Sunday afternoon.

And yet nearly half of singles in Japan have no interest in dating - a situation that many experts predict will help lead to a population decline of one-third in the next 45 years.

According to a survey of never-married people by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 27.6 per cent of single men and 22.6 per cent of single women have no interest in engaging in a relationship with the opposite sex. Researchers cite those statistics to argue that a significant portion of Japanese simply has no interest in sex. They might even have an aversion to it.

Says Auumu Ochiai, a researcher based in Tokyo: "41.6 per cent of males in their 20s have never dated anyone."
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet on January 26th.

The Central Committee meeting has been set for Tuesday at 11.00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is an advice concerning the appointment of the 1st Acting Secretary General of Parliament.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com and via www.sxmparliament.org.
PHILIPSBURG:---- The Permanent Committee of Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations (CKAIR), will meet on January 26th.

The CKAIR Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 9.00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The seven point agenda is as follows: approval decision lists CKAIR Parliamentary Year 2015-2016, no. 5, 6 and 7; incoming documents; draft proposal Kingdom Law on Dutch Citizenship in connection with retracting the aforementioned based on national security; draft proposal Kingdom Law on changes to the Passport Law related to travel bans; draft proposal Kingdom Law related to tax compliance and the FATCA (Trb. 2015, 171 and 182); draft proposal Kingdom Law related to tax compliance and the FATCA (Trb. 2015, 11 and 144); and preparations for the next Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) 2016 from May 31-June 3.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com and via www.sxmparliament.org.
GREAT BAY(DCOMM):--- Minister Hon. Ingrid Arrindell of the Ministry Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT), attended the Caribbeans largest and most important marketing event, Caribbean Travel Marketplace, that was held from January 21-23 on Atlantis Paradise Island, The Bahamas.

Minister Arrindell met with various delegates from the travel industry and also completed a number of very important initiatives linked to the countrys Save the Summer Program. This initiative will ensure an increase in tourism summer bookings and improve visitor air-arrivals during the most challenging period of the year for the countrys tourism-oriented economy.

The Minister of Tourism met with representatives of the worlds largest travel sites that enable travelers to plan their vacations to the Caribbean and around the world including destination Sint Maarten, such as Expedia and TripAdvisor.

There were additional discussions with RCI and Sun Wing Airlines among other partners that contribute significantly to the countrys tourism product.

The aforementioned travel marketplace falls under the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). It brings together tourism suppliers and gives them the opportunity to meet face-to-face with wholesalers from around the world selling Caribbean vacation travel over the course of two days of business meetings.

I look forward to working closely with all members of the tourism industry on Sint Maarten in order to promote more participation at future events. As a tourism dominated economy, we need to have everybody onboard as the promotion of the destination requires input from all segments of the industry to make our product continue to standout and be successful, Minister of Tourism Ingrid Arrindell said on Sunday.

The event attracts annually representatives from 29+ Caribbean countries; over 250 suppliers; over 100 buyers; over 1000 delegates and more than 11,000 pre-scheduled business potential appointments.

The conference was well attended by Government Ministers of Tourism and other delegates, which allowed Minister Arrindell the opportunity to meet with counterparts from across the region and exchange ideas as well discuss challenges and other Caribbean oriented issues.

During the two-day event, there were a number of sessions including, Weddings and Honeymoons: How can you maximize revenue from romance.

The Caribbean is considered the romance capital of the world. Destination weddings and honeymoons is a lucrative business where three million weddings take place in the United States of America every year, of which 25 per cent of them are destination weddings.

The Caribbean is the number one honeymoon destination. Delegates during the conference learnt how to capture more of this market through better planning, sales and management.

Other sessions for delegates dealt with: Cutting through the channel clutter: effective channel management; Website Reality Check; Real World Results with Digital Audience Targeting; Who Are You Online? Online Reputation Management and Monetization; Content, Marketing & Metrics.

The CHTA first began in 1959 and is currently headquartered in Miami, Florida. It was established to facilitate the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving member needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. The CHTA represents hotels, airlines, and travel wholesalers.

Minister Arrindell was accompanied by Marla Chemont from the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau.
'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' won't be on TV this year: How to see it
Suburban schools grow slightly, or lose less than state average

Numbers from the state Department of Public Instruction show that in suburban Milwaukee, about 27 school districts grew last year, or lost fewer students than average.
BROOKFIELD, Wis.  For years, Sharon Carpenter penned original writing for a variety of performances. She amassed quite the collection of cowboy poetry. With a loving nudge from her daughter Tylene, Carpenter embarked on her own frontier-forging odyssey  publication.

In Western Cowboy Poetry: An African American Perspective (published by iUniverse), Carpenter presents a look at the history of the American frontier through the eyes of some of its forgotten explorers, the African Americans who headed west seeking freedom and opportunity.

The poetry contained was designed for raising awareness through an entertaining venue as a performing poet speaking aloud to diverse audiences. The following poem entitled Isom Dart, shows Carpenters typically allusive, linguistic realism, wit and highly-charged lines that make her poetry exemplify as well as rise beyond the confines of her chosen genre:

Isom Dart

Let me tell you the story

Of ol Isom Dart,

How he broke my will and my soul,

And also my heart.

He was as elusive as them horses

He was always chasin;

You think youy landed him,

Then you find  time, it was a wastin

Carpenter was introduced to the cowboy poetry writing and performing style by Joel Hayes, founder of Douglas Countys Poetry Writers Group located in Douglasville, Georgia. She was a performing poet with the fourth, fifth and sixth annual Georgia Cowboy Gatherings.

Many still appreciate cowboy lifestyle; especially in the West where there are renowned cowboy gatherings, events that feature poetry readings, bronco and horseback riding, as well as other entertaining events, notes Carpenter, whose poetry has garnered critical praise.

Raised in Connecticut as a foster child, Carpenter migrated to Alabama years ago where she graduated from Jacksonville State University. She also earned a masters degree in human resources and training from Englands prestigious Leicester University. She currently resides in Wisconsin with her husband, James, and their youngest daughter, Jamie.
G enerous Tesco customers have been thanked for their "incredible" support during a massive fundraising drive for Great Ormond Street at all 500 of the supermarket chain's London stores.

At just one branch on Regent Street staff smashed their target of 1,000 for the four-day effort to raise money for the Evening Standard's Give to GOSH appeal.

Volunteers and shop workers have been rattling buckets in stores across the capital since Thursday. Final figures for the total amount raised are expected to extend into the thousands.

Laura Savory, Head of Community Fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, said: "The enthusiasm from the Tesco staff has been overwhelming and it's been great to talk with so many customers, who have been incredibly supportive.

Generous customers: Sisters Aaira and Aryana with GOSH mascot Wendy Bear / Great Ormond Street Hospital

"This collection will make an amazing contribution to the Evening Standard's Give To GOSH campaign."

Faiza Yasin works as a healthcare assistant at GOSH, after being treated at the world-class paediatric centre as a child for a rare form of congenital heart disease.

She volunteered to support the effort at Covent Garden's Tesco Metro on Saturday.

"It's so exciting being at Tesco for the bucket collection today," she said.

"The customers have really connected with us and their support has been amazing. Even if it's just a few pennies, every little helps and makes a huge difference."

Give to GOSH

Jo Davis, Team Leader of Service at Covent Garden Tesco, said: "We have had a brilliant time supporting this amazing cause. We're delighted with the generosity of our customers over the past four days and hope it will make a huge difference for GOSH."
A crackdown on mega-rich drivers racing through one of London's poshest areas has been hailed a success with no fines dished out since the new rules were introduced.

Kensington and Chelsea council brought in a public spaces protection order in November to tackle irresponsible supercar drivers after sleep-deprived residents in Knightsbridge complained.

Some claimed motorists revved their engines, raced through the streets, performed stunts and sounded their horns to show off their high-performance cars.

Under the new powers, petrolheads face a 1,000 fine if they are caught speeding, revving their engines too loudly, using foul language and playing music too loudly.

And the council said its toughened stance has helped to tackle the problem while also stamping out other offences across the borough.

A Kensington and Chelsea spokeswoman said: "Council enforcement officers and police colleagues patrolled the PSPO area at various times following the launch and no breaches were observed by either the council or police.

"We also received no complaints from the general public.

Nonetheless, the patrols have been successful in other ways: council officers took enforcement action against numerous unlicensed street traders and helped disrupt some of the illegal gamblers.

"The police had success regarding beggars, gamblers, theft, shop lifting, breach of bail and drug offences."

However, despite the good start the council said it was making plans for the summer when more anti-social behaviour is expected.

The spokeswoman added: "We acknowledge that the busiest time of year is usually in the summer months, however we were expecting some activity over the Christmas period as in previous years.

"It may be that the publicity regarding the PSPO and the increased officer presence went some way to significantly reducing this vehicle-related ASB.

Officers are looking to adjust their patrol hours to see if problems are experienced at different times, and we will undertake a fresh communication campaign and new timetable of enforcement patrols closer to the summer.
A British couple are understood to have been rescued from a boat which capsized in the Caribbean, reportedly killing 13 holidaymakers.

Edward and Charlotte Beckett were reportedly saved from the boat as it got into difficulty in rain and high winds sailing between the Corn Islands, a popular tourist destination around 43 miles off the coast of Nicaragua on Saturday.

According to reports, a family member has said the newlywed couple are "ok".

Thirteen Costa Rican nationals drowned while two American tourists and three Nicaraguans were also rescued on board the Reina del Caribe, Spanish for "Caribbean Queen".

Twelve Costa Ricans were also saved.

Mario Berrios, the Nicaraguan navy's commander for the southern Caribbean region, said the boat's captain and owner were detained because the vessel was not permitted to sail.

The Foreign Office said it was providing assistance to the British pair.

A spokesman said: "We are aware of the sinking of a passenger boat between Corn Island and Little Corn Island in the Caribbean Sea on January 23.

"We are in touch with the local authorities and providing consular assistance to affected British nationals".

The Foreign Office declined to comment further.

Local authorities had reportedly suspended boat launches in the area due to high wind speeds that reached 25 to 30 knots (29 to 35 mph) after several days of stormy weather around the remote islands.

Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo told official media portal El 19 Digital the incident had been "a great tragedy".

Additional reporting by PA
S cotland Yard has been called on to give Lord Bramall a proper apology for his treatment during a child abuse investigation.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the former D-Day veteran had been subject to maximum pain as a result of a Metropolitan Police probe into claims of historic abuse.

The 92-year-old had been interviewed under caution last April but the allegations were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

On Wednesday, Scotland Yard said it regrets the distress caused to Lord Bramall but stopped short of an apology.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Fallon said: Somebody, somewhere owes Lord Bramall a proper apology for a case that clearly was badly handed. Clearly he was mistreated extremely badly.

"The case itself it seems to have been handled very clumsily to cause maximum pain to the field marshal, and somebody somewhere owes him an apology."

Scotland Yard launched Operation Midland, a probe into allegations of historic abuse by senior public figures, after hearing claims from a man known as "Nick" who has been granted anonymity.

However the collapse in the case against Lord Bramall has led to questions over the veracity of his claims.
S torm Jonas, the massive snowstorm that has killed 19 people in the US, is set to strike Britain next week.

Forecasters warned the killer blizzard, which shut down New York and Washington on Saturday, is crossing the Atlantic, triggering fears of heavy downpours and flooding in the UK.

The Met Office said the weather system could hit Britain on Tuesday and has issued a severe flood warning covering most of Wales, north-west England and west Scotland.

A Met spokesman said: An active cold front is expected to become slow-moving across Wales, north-west England and south and west Scotland through Tuesday, and into Wednesday, before clearing to the south on Wednesday afternoon.

Timelapse: Snowstorm hits NYC

"Warm air of tropical origins is expected to be entrained into the system, leading to abundant moisture and heavy rain.

Massive snowball fight erupts

"Many parts of the warning area could see 50-100 mm of rain, whilst the most exposed upland parts of north Wales, north-west England and south-west Scotland could see 150-200 mm.

"As such, there is the potential for river flooding, and also standing water on roads. Strong and gusty south-west winds will also develop."

In the US, parts of the east coast have been blanketed in 2ft of snow as Storm Jonas swept across the county.

Eleven states declared a state of emergency as the weather brought major cities to a standstill while thousands of flights were cancelled, including dozens from the UK.

US snowstorm kills at least 19

According to reports, 19 people have died in the US storm while thousands of homes were without power on Saturday.

Additional reporting by PA
T hree violent prisoners are on the run after making a dramatic escape from a Californian maximum security jail.

Jonathan Tieu, Hossein Nayeri and Bac Duong fled the prison in Southern California after cutting through steel bars and abseiling from the roof on a makeshift rope.

One of the men is a suspected killer, while another is accused of cutting off a man's penis.

Orange County sheriff's Lieutenant Jeff Hallock warned the public to "expect the worst" if they were confronted by the criminals.

"It was very well-thought-out and planned," he told a news conference on Saturday.

The inmates were last seen at 5am on Friday at the Orange County Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

They could have made their escape any time between then and late Friday night, authorities said.

Wanted: the three men who are on the run / Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP

They were last seen wearing orange prison jumpsuits at the 5am inmate count, and their absence was not noted until the 8pm count, Lt Hallock said.

"The inmates cut through half-inch steel bars to facilitate their escape," he said.

He added that before the nighttime count, there was a disturbance at the jail that may have been part of the escape plan.

It slightly delayed the discovery that the men were missing, he said.

Their escape is the first from the 900-inmate facility in 20 years.

Tieu, 20, has been in prison since October 2013 on charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. His case is believed to be gang-related.

Nayeri, 37, had been in the jail September 2014 after being charged with kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary.

Along with three other men, Nayeri stands accused of kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner in 2012.

The men allegedly drove the dispensary owner to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money and then cut off his penis.

After the crime, Nayeri fled the U.S. to his native Iran, but was arrested in Prague in November 2014 while changing flights from Iran to Spain to visit family.

The third fugitive, 43-year-old Duong, was imprisoned last month on an array of charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling.

It was unclear whether the men were armed but they should be considered very dangerous, Lt Hallock said.

"I think the public should expect the worst if they're encountering them and call 911 and allow the professionals to respond," he warned.
A Turkish passenger plane has been diverted to Ireland after officials discovered a handwritten bomb threat on board the flight.

Turkish Airlines flight TK-34 departed from Houston, Texas just after 9pm local time on Saturday and was due to land in Istanbul at around 3.45pm Irish time on Sunday.

However, the aircraft made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport at around 11.20pm after the note was reportedly discovered.

After the plane landed, it was taken to a remote taxiway while the passengers were escorted to the terminal by bus.

The jet is due to remain at the airport until at least its scheduled flight time has passed.

Authorities will then search the plane for explosives.

The note has been taken by Irish Police as evidence. It will be compared to samples of handwriting from passengers.

Fire, ambulance and coastguard crews were alerted to the diversion while the plane was two hours away from landing for an emergency plan to be put in place.

A spokeswoman for Shannon airport said police were investigating the security issue.

Turkish Airlines spokesman Yahya Ustun said: "Turkish Airlines Houston-Istanbul flight (TK34, B777 Aircraft, carrying 207 passenger and 2 infant) today has diverted to Shannon Airport (SNN), Ireland, following a bomb alert.

"The necessary investigation onboard is continuing and the flight will continue to its destination after the termination of the required processes."

It comes after a flight from London to Stockholm was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday after a bomb threat.

The 72-passenger Scandinavian Airlines flight SK1530 from Heathrow was diverted to Gothenburg where the plane was searched.

Police said a threat was made to air traffic controllers while the flight was mid-air.

Mr Yahya Ustun, a spokesman for Turkish Airlines, said: "The plane has continued its flight after the termination of necessary procedures, as it has been understood that it was a false alert."
ELKO -- The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is not just about poetry and music.

For more than 20 years, the Western Folklife Center has been hosting sessions that bring people together to discuss common concerns and find creative solutions to issues of resource conservation and land stewardship in the West. The 32nd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which takes place Jan. 25-30, is no different.

"The Gathering serves as a trusted venue for informing and discussing current issues affecting land stewardship and the environment throughout the West, said Western Folklife Center Executive Director David Roche. We believe in a shared purpose and common goals for our community, arising from an exchange of diverse views. We consider it our role as a regional cultural leader to host these forums and panels and are pleased to have this opportunity again this year."

Stewardship discussions at the upcoming National Cowboy Poetry Gathering include:

Nurturing Great Riparian Plains

Riparian areas are some of the most productive landscapes on our ranges. Managing them is an ongoing process of doing more good than bad, which means first learning to recognize the difference. This panel will: explore the process of assessing whether riparian areas are healthy and functioning properly; share tools for how to manage them in balance; and hear from ranchers about their experiences assessing and managing these sensitive ecosystems. The discussion will be led by ranchers and Nevada land managers with years of experience helping landowners and ranchers assess and manage riparian areas. This session is free and open to the public and presented in collaboration with the Northeastern Nevada Stewardship Group and Nevada Creeks and Communities, and funded with support from the Timken-Sturgis Foundation.

Experiments in Land Stewardship

Revisiting the ways of the past can sometimes lead to breakthroughs for the future. Ranchers and Native Americans are experimenting with ways to benefit from or at least coexist with animals that have meant trouble in the past. Can ranchers partner with beavers to restore riparian areas? Is it possible for cattle to coexist with wolves while minimizing predation? Will returning buffalo to tribal lands reestablish hope for Indian people? Participants in this discussion will share personal stories of experimentationwith sometimes fascinating resultsas they seek solutions toward supporting thriving, healthy western lands and ranching communities.

Ranching with Predators

Montana rancher and wildlife biologist Hillary Anderson will discuss different forms of ranch and livestock management as strategies for making livestock less vulnerable to predation while also benefiting the ranch in many other ways. Andersons ranch experiments with tools such as: range riders, herding and low stress stockmanship, temporary electric fence, fladry, carcass removal, remote field cameras, hazing techniques and general wildlife tracking. They also work very closely with neighbors, state and federal agencies and many NGO funders throughout multiple ranching communities to help accomplish their goals.

The 32nd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is supported by NV Energy, Newmont Gold Corp., Barrick Gold of North America, Frontier Communications, Nevada Humanities, Nevada Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Elko Convention and Visitors Authority, the City of Elko, the Elko County Recreation Board and many more foundations, businesses and individuals.
Readers, I need some help here! State Senator Mike Gloor, District 35, which is basically the city of Grand Island, is concerned about the high property taxes in Nebraska. Who isnt? Gloor, a former hospital administrator, is also concerned about tobacco addiction and the costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses.

So what does Senator Gloor do? He introduces a bill (LB 1013) that would make people addicted to tobacco pay an extra $150,000,000 in cigarette taxes to reduce everyones property tax. Smokers are already paying nearly $70,000,000 in cigarette taxes now. His bill would add a dollar and a half to each pack of smokes, or $150 million more in cigarette taxes. Admittedly, I may not always be the sharpest tool in the toolbox, but I am having a lot of trouble here connecting the dots!

If Gloor wants to raise cigarette taxes to treat tobacco addictions or expand research on lung cancer and other tobacco-related conditions, then he may be on to something. But he wants to carve out smokers, of which I am one, and basically say because of our addiction to tobacco, we are going to be the ones who must pay to reduce property taxes for farmers, ranchers and property owners.

Where is the logic? And where would it end? If Gloor wants to tax things that arent good for us to lower property taxes, then he should start with donuts! Anyone who has seen me wandering through town could easily see that I dont pass up a donut when they are available. Yes, lets tax each donut $1.50.

How about beer drinkers? Sure, why not? Drinking too many beers cant be good for you, so yes, lets add $1.50 to each beer to lower property taxes. And soda pop, too much sugar in there; causes diabetes, obesity and rots your teeth. Another chance for Senator Gloor to lower property taxes. Yes, add $1.50 per can of soda!

I have friends who smoke, and collectively none of us are proud that we do. Oh, I can hear you now. If you dont want to pay the extra $1.50 per pack tax, then just quit. Well, if it was that easy and we all did that, how do you think the senators property tax relief plan would work out?

The problem is, these two issues, property taxes and tobacco addiction, are problems that need addressed, but they are two completely independent problems, each deserving a completely independent solution.

But the Nebraska Legislature is so reluctant to open themselves up to the idea that we have a taxation problem in the state. The so-called three-legged stool of income tax, sales tax and property tax is out of balance and some folks are starting to fall off. And who created this imbalance? The State Legislature of course, and I for one am not yet ready to select a sliver of constituents, smokers in this case, and force them to bail out the Legislatures poor taxation policy by placing yet another band-aid on the bleeding wound caused by ignoring tax reform.

Property taxes cannot be significantly lowered until Nebraska addresses the complex and confusing public school funding formulas, because thats where the bulk of property taxes are going  to fund the schools. There is a similar situation with the counties who if they received additional funding from the state would have a positive impact on lowing property taxes.

My solution would be similar to what former Governor Dave Heinemann tried not too long ago. He saw what we already knew; that after decades of carving out tax exemptions from income and sales taxes to entities with the best lobbyists, he was prepared to eliminate most sales tax exemptions and eliminate the Nebraska income tax entirely. It was a good idea then and it is a good idea now.

But instead of eliminating income tax, just reallocate it to property tax relief. It would be a fair playing field with all Nebraskans sharing in the property tax issue. Seems logical to me.

Or we could just tax smokers an extra $150 million. Oh, and French fries. Did I mention French fries? Nasty little things. Maybe we should put and extra $1.50 tax on an order of fries too. Oh, and cheeseburgers. Dang, they taste good; extra $1.50 tax I say.

Okay, maybe all this sounds silly. Well, I think Senator Gloors bill is silly. In fact I think it is an absolute waste of time, and any bill introduced by a senator that is silly and wastes the legislatures time should be taxed heavily. Lets say $150,000. Now that is a good idea. Lets tax senators $150,000 for stupid legislation and use that money for property tax relief.

My 2 cents, while I still have 2 cents!
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If Paulus Prajudha ever stops working, he will be exceedingly happy about the decision he made in his early 50s to supersize his retirement account with catch-up contributions.

Right now, Im just maximizing what goes into the pot, says Prajudha, 63, who is an accountant for a technology firm in Sunnyvale, Calif.

This year, on top of the $18,000 regular limit to a 401(k) plan, workers 50 and older can add $6,000 per year in catch-up contributions, which are aimed at helping individuals save enough for retirement.

Contributions are tax-free, but withdrawals are taxed as income in retirement. (Individual Retirement Accounts also allow catch-up contributions, but only at $1,000 per year, on top of the regular $5,500 limit.)

The additional 401(k) savings could amount to an additional $1,000 per month once a worker enters retirement, according to calculations done by Fidelity, one of the largest holders of retirement accounts.

Its a game changer, says Meghan Murphy, director of workplace thought leadership at Fidelity.

Most employees, however, do not even come close to the regular limit, let alone put in extra.

According to new data from Fidelity, just 8 percent of its clients who are 50 and over make use of the catch-up program. Vanguard found in its last How America Saves report that 16 percent contribute.

While those numbers sound really low, Vanguard senior research analyst Jean Young says there is a rosier picture in certain demographics. Among those 50-plus who make more than $100,000 per year, the participation rate was 42 percent.

INCOME MATTERS

The key to bigger catch-up contributions: Give everyone higher wages, suggests Young.

If you make less than $100,000, maxing out a 401(k) and then adding catch-up contributions would mean saving more than 20 percent of earnings. But the national average of people who max out at the regular limit is just 9 percent, according to Fidelity.

Those easiest to reach may be the 10 percent of workers Fidelity found who max out the regular contribution but do not do catch-ups once they hit 50.

Paulus Prajudha got on the catch-up bandwagon after Googling retirement topics: Every year, he does a search for the maximum limits and sets his goals accordingly.

Some companies do their own outreach, messaging workers as they approach 50. You can start your catch-up contributions in the calendar year you turn 50.

Jonathan Reitzes, who helps administer his event-staging companys 401(k) plan in Boca Raton, Fla., signed up as soon as he hit 50 last year and has done a good job of bringing along his colleagues. Out of 10 eligible employees, six have already maxed out their catch-up contributions and two have put in requests to start in 2016. He plans on checking in immediately with the remaining holdouts.

Reitzes also had a financial planner to nudge him towards making those contributions, in the way of Adam Vega, a wealth manager at United Capital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Vega uses software to alert him when clients approach age-based milestones.

While there is a bottom end of the income spectrum who opt for catch-ups, there really is no top, Vega says.

Somebody earning $300,000 is still considering a 401(k) strategy, Vega says. Its more about the tax benefit  not that they need to save more money.

For Timothy Noonan, managing director at Russell Investments in Seattle, Wash., and author of Someday Rich, turning 50 coincided with the end of paying college tuition for his two daughters. Noonan was able to seamlessly fold more money into his retirement savings without missing it from his daily budget.

He doubts that most people will consider catch-up contributions because of the issue of delayed gratification. His motivation was more about facing mortality. After attending several funerals of friends who died young, he decided that time was more valuable than money.

The change after 50 was that I wanted to accelerate the point at which future employment was voluntary, he says.

For others, a fat bottom line may do it.

Fidelity found that the average 401(k) balance of those doing catch-ups was $417,000, versus $157,000 for those who did not.
Michael Sandknop went to court last week empty-handed.

Fired two years ago from a civilian contract job with the Missouri National Guard, the Arnold man asked a Cole County Circuit Court judge to delay ruling on whether to dismiss his defamation lawsuit against Gov. Jay Nixon, Adjutant General Steve Danner, and several other current or former Guard employees.

The reason Sandknop wanted a delay is that he doesnt have the one document that might make his case. The government is keeping it from him.

The document is the full Army 15-6 investigation into allegations Sandknop brought to an inspector general before he was fired. Those allegations, outlined in my first column on Sandknop in late December, are that he wasnt provided the proper tools and equipment to do the job he was hired to do and that the working atmosphere at the public affairs unit of the Missouri Guard was toxic.

Within a week of filing what he considers a whistleblower complaint, Sandknop was fired by the Guard on trumped up charges that he wasnt doing his job.

His job was to produce a half-hour monthly television show highlighting the Guards work throughout Missouri and the world. His first show, produced shortly before he was fired, earned rave reviews from Gen. Danner and other top officers. Im no TV critic, but Ive watched it, and its a high-quality, television newsworthy production.

So why did Sandknop get fired? I really dont know what happened, he said.

But the government does.

Its investigation into Sandknops complaints has been complete since at least June 5, 2014. Thats when Sandknop received a one-page letter from the Guards inspector general telling him the investigation had verified his complaints. Sandknop was working within his contract, and wasnt allowed to use your system of redress. The inspector general found an unhealthy working environment in the public affairs unit. Appropriate action will be taken to address those issues, the letter said.

To get the full 15-6 report, Sandknop was instructed to file a federal Freedom of Information Act request. He filed it the next day. On July 1, the government denied expedited processing, which would speed the process up. That was just the beginning of the delays.

Sandknop asked the federal government for the report, and it told him the Missouri Guard had it.

He asked the Guard for the report, and was told it was with the National Guard Bureau in Washington. On April 3, 2015, the National Guard Bureau told him it had the report, and it estimated it would respond to his FOIA request by Nov. 30, 2015.

In November, the Guard pushed the date it would fulfill the request to Dec. 31.

In December, the last time Sandknop heard from the government, it told him his request wouldnt be fulfilled until March 31 of this year.

By then, his next hearing in his defamation suit will have come and gone.

The reality is, Sandknop has virtually no chance to win his defamation case. He has no attorney. The top government officials named in the suit will likely be dismissed, and the contractor he worked for went out of business. But thats not the point.

For the government to keep from him the one piece of evidence that gives him a shot at justice is the real travesty.

The office of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., says it has been working since late 2014 to help Sandknop get a copy of the 15-6 investigation. More important, McCaskills office has expressed dismay that punishment of Guard employees as allegedly called for in the investigation either didnt take place or was delayed until one or more of the officers implicated could retire.

And none of that helps Sandknop, who is still unemployed and hasnt been offered the redress he was due as a federal contractor.

For $55,000 a year, Sandknop was hired to help put a good public face on the Missouri Guard.

Instead, the Guard treated this veteran like his service was meaningless and now is stonewalling the release of a public investigation that no doubt will put an ugly face on the Guards treatment of any employee who chooses to complain.

Were still waiting for an answer as to why Mr. Sandknop was not offered his job back, said John LaBombard, a spokesman for McCaskill.

Its been two years since Sandknop has been fired. Its been 598 days since he first asked for the report that clears his name.

The government he served has failed him.
Chris Correa, the former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director who hacked the Houston Astros, used consumer software and a password based on the name of a scrawny player to achieve the hack, according to a court transcript released Saturday.

The transcript also explains how prosecutors and Correas attorney arrived at the $1.7 million loss to the Astros that will earn Correa extra time in prison.

Most of the details of Correas Jan. 8 guilty plea to five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer emerged in statements by prosecutors and team and MLB officials after the hearing.

In court, he admitted accessing accounts of three Astros employees and viewing emails and volumes of information about aspiring major leaguers.

But because he waived indictment and pleaded guilty, the hearing was not listed on public schedules and few media were present to report the details.

In court, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes questioned Correa closely about the details of the plea, and whether he knew the ramifications of admitting to the crimes.

Near the beginning of the hearing, Hughes asks Correa to explain about the Astros proprietary database of draft information  dubbed Ground Control. Correa does.

Hughes then asks, And do I correctly understand that you, while working for the Cardinals, went to the Astros cloud and got their data so you could see what they were interested in and what they were planning to do with players and draft picks current or past or whatever?

Correa admits that he trespassed repeatedly, but then says that it wasnt his original intention.

He said he originally trespassed ... based on suspicions that they had misappropriated proprietary work from myself and my colleagues.

So you broke in their house to find out if they were stealing your stuff? Hughes asked.

Stupid, I know, Correa responded.

Correa also referenced unspecified colleagues later, when he said he told them about finding information he claimed belonged to the Cardinals.

His attorney, David Adler, then pointed out, He did not go to the FBI, which is obviously what he should have done. Nor did he write a memo, he told Hughes.

Houston and its general manager, Jeff Luhnow, formerly of the Cardinals, have repeatedly denied any suggestion that the Astros were in possession of proprietary Cardinals information.

After Correas plea, Astros lawyer Giles Kibbe told reporters that the Cardinals had never raised any concerns about what Correa claimed to have seen in the Astros database.

Cardinals officials have denied Correas claims.

And Matthew Schelp, an attorney for four Cardinals employees who worked with Correa, said that he was not aware of any such information being shared with ... the Cardinals employees I represent.

During the discussion of the loss amount, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chu, who handled the hearing, listed the formula used to arrive at $1.7 million.

But since much of the data that we looked at focused on the 2013 draft, what we did was we took the number of players that he looked at by 200 and we divided that by the number of players that were eligible to be drafted that year, and we multiplied that times the scouting budget of the Astros that year. That comes to $1.7 million, he said.

Hughes then asked a series of questions, culminating with his question about whether $1.7 million represented how much they spent working up their own profiles of these players and their abilities and cost and that sort of thing?

Chu agreed.

In federal court, where Correa will be sentenced April 11, financial loss is one of the factors driving the recommended prison time  an expected three to four years. In Correas case, the size of the loss made years of prison time much more likely.

Correa was able to hack the database because an Astros employee used a password there that was similar to what hed used when he worked for the Cardinals. Correa gained access to that employees laptop when he turned it in, court documents show.

It was based on the name of a player who was scrawny and who would not have been thought to succeed in the major leagues, but through effort and determination he succeeded anyway, Chu said. The Astros employee just liked that name, so he just kept on using that name over the years.

Correa has been released on $20,000 bail.
Wildfires scorched a vast swath of the American wilderness last year. But whether the 10 million acres that burned is a record, as President Barack Obamas administration recently announced, or an exaggeration, as some environmentalists claim, is a source of heated debate in a long-running fight over how to manage the nations forests.

A network of about 30 small environmental groups that view wildfires as a natural part of the ecology  and think more should be allowed to burn  consider the U.S. Forest Services record declaration a scare tactic. These critics say the service suppresses too many fires as part of what Chad Hanson, a fire ecologist for the John Muir Project, calls a 19th century notion that they damage the ecology and are bad.

The dispute could have ramifications on Capitol Hill and for communities surrounded by wilderness and the firefighters who defend them. The Agriculture Department, which controls the Forest Service, spent $1.7 billion battling last years blazes and is pressing lawmakers to provide more funding. Climate change has extended the fire season, officials say, and more huge fires are likely given the ongoing drought in the West.

But the critics want Congress to deny the request, saying the way the service manages the woods  with logging contractors cutting trees and removing underbrush  is actually causing more intense and damaging fires. Hanson and fire historians say that in the early 20th century, up to 30 million acres burned each year, mostly in the understory of trees and with less severity.

Over a dozen years of scientific inquiry tells us that increasing logging, especially the clear-cutting and intensive thinning operations proposed in Agricultures request for more funding, would damage habitat, threaten species, the groups wrote in a letter to senators last month.

Much of their concern is focused on what the service does after a fire, when it clears charred trees and other debris to prevent it from reigniting. They say birds and small mammals use those damaged trees as habitat, and new plants thrive again within a few years.

Fires are necessary and important for our forest ecosystems ... and should not be universally extinguished at great cost to taxpayers, the groups wrote.

But the environmental community itself is divided over the issue. Nearly 150 larger organizations sent their own letter to Congress in November supporting the Forest Service. They said the agency is responding to wilderness and an ecology that has changed dramatically in the past 50 years. Millions of acres of wildlands that once burned routinely have given way to homes and businesses, something the service must consider, they noted.

We need to have intelligent firefighting, said Chris Topik, director of the Restoring Americas Forests program at the Nature Conservancy, which signed onto the November letter. More than half of new homes built since the 1990s are on the edge of wild land, he said. The essence is, theres so many more people at risk. There are things we all really care about, like wilderness and wildlife, but you have to gauge it with the risks.

Moreover, the drinking water for millions of Americans comes from rivers and streams that are often filled with soot and eroded debris after fires  another reason the Forest Service says cleanup is important.

Criticism of the services methods is not new, and officials dismiss the accusation that 2015 was not an unprecedented year, saying that the way wildfires are measured now is far superior to the haphazard record-keeping of the past.

The National Interagency Fire Center relies on state and federal agencies across the country as part of a coordinated system that did not exist before 1960. Satellite and laser mapping are used in the effort.

Were not arguing about fire, were arguing about forest management, said Agriculture Undersecretary Robert Bonnie, who oversees the Forest Service. Public lands management is not without controversy.

Thomas Swetnam, a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona who studies wildfires, says comparing those from the early and mid-1900s to ones today is like comparing apples and oranges. Back then, Gulf Coast states such as Florida, Alabama and Mississippi regularly set massive fires in a forest ecosystem that stretched over 90 million acres; officials believed it should be cleared for various reasons, including as a preemptive measure.

Those intentional blazes were once included in the Forest Services historical tally, but no longer. The statistics posted online by the interagency center  the ones used to mark 10,125,149 acres burned in 2015 as a record  only go back 55 years.

Yet a more important change, Swetnam said, is the change in fire geography and behavior. The big fires are primarily breaking out in the West, and theyre more frequent, hotter and bigger, something he links to warming temperatures.

But the Forest Service is also to blame, said Terry Davis, director of the Mother Lode chapter of the Sierra Club, which encompasses 24 California counties. Before the 1960s  before the service started removing brush and charred trees to try to prevent future occurrences  most wildfires in his neck of the woods tended to be low-severity burns that simmered in the underbrush, he said.
If two Missouri House Republicans get their way, the scourge of voter fraud could soon be wiped out for good in Missouri. Those of us who have been outraged by massive election fraud and pushed aside at the polls by hordes of voter impersonators will finally be able to practice democracy in peace. Uh, just one question: Where, exactly, is this fraud occurring?

Reps. Justin Alferman, R-Hermann, and Tony Dugger, R-Hartville, offer a solution in search of a problem. Just like scores of Republican legislators across the country, theyre adamant that this state must take action to combat something whose relevance to Missourians lives ranks about as high as fighting sand-flea infestation and camel mange.

Mssrs. Dugger and Alferman can tell their constituents that theyve cracked down on a problem that doesnt exist. Meanwhile, real problems like poverty, education, road improvements, crime and unemployment persist.

Mr. Duggers bill, HJR 53, would ask voters in a statewide referendum whether federal or state-issued photo IDs should be required of registered voters when they show up at the polls. If the constitutional amendment is approved, a second bill by Mr. Alferman, HB 1631, would take effect, specifying which forms of government-issued photo ID are acceptable. Both bills received the Houses final vote of approval Thursday and now await Senate action. Republicans control both houses.

For the vast majority of the Missourians who actually bother to vote, these requirements probably seem shrug-worthy  a simple matter of pulling out the wallet and presenting a valid drivers license. But there are tens of thousands of Missourians who have no car and no need of a drivers license. They take the bus because thats all they can afford.

For them, meeting the photo ID requirements is an enormous and costly hassle that could involve requesting hours off work to wait in line at the drivers license bureau and devoting more time to assemble the necessary paperwork, such as an original Social Security card and birth certificate, to meet government requirements before an ID can be issued. Its anything but simple. Its a major hassle, and probably designed by Mssrs. Alferman and Dugger to be that way.

The effect is to limit voting access by thousands of elderly people, poor people and minorities, people who consistently vote Democratic. Make it such a hassle to vote, and theyll stay home. Limit their numbers at the polls, and you make it that much harder for a Democrat to get elected. By some estimates, up to 200,000 Missouri voters could be disenfranchised by this bill.

Mssrs. Dugger and Alferman insist thats not their goal. I, personally, am unsure about the integrity of some of our elections, based upon the fact that I can go into a polling location with a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement or paycheck and say that this is who I am, Mr. Alferman said at hearing this month on his bill. The opportunity to commit voter impersonation under current law is very real.

The possibility (an unreal thing by definition) is real. The actuality of fraud by impersonation is 31 times out of a billion votes cast, according to an investigation by The Washington Post. Statistically: zero. The Missouri bill is about heading off fraud before it rears its ugly head.

The National Conference of State Legislatures says 36 states have passed some form of voter ID law, but that three states, including Missouri, have been unable to implement previous laws because of unfavorable court rulings challenging their constitutionality. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a photo ID law enacted in Texas in 2011. Of the nine states with strict photo ID requirements, all have Republican-majority legislatures.

With all the problems Missourians are confronting these days, the possibility of vote fraud hardly seems worth lawmakers time, much less voters attention as a ballot item. Once this is out of the way, we hope Mssrs. Alferman and Dugger can finally start in on the really important stuff. Like sand fleas and camel mange.
An increasingly common problem for commercial and military aircraft is bird strikes. This is especially true of Africa where there are larger populations of birds and small land animals. Military air bases, which tend to be in remote areas, are even more exposed to the possibility of bird strikes or animals unexpectedly moving onto air strips. There have been some clever solutions to this problem. The South African Air Force has developed a unique and effective cure for this hazard; cheetahs. These small (28-65 kg/62-143 pounds for adult males) animals normally avoid humans and prefer smaller game. Actually, cheetahs are the most easily domesticated (for hunting or pets) of the big cats and that has been done for thousands of years, especially in Africa (ancient Egypt left lots of records on this).

Since the 1990s the South African Air Force has been using cheetahs to keep birds and small animals away from military air fields. South Africa has a large wild population of cheetahs as well as a domestic breeding program to keep the wild population viable. The widespread introduction of firearms in rural South Africa in the 20th century meant a lot more big cats, including cheetahs, were killed by expanding human populations. But the cheetahs raised in the breeding programs are comfortable enough around humans to be released onto military air bases so they can hunt (and chase away) large concentrations of birds or small animals who are, if left alone, are a major threat to aircraft landing or taking off. Young male cheetahs are used, because in the wild they will hunt together while the females are generally solitary. Air fields get a new pair of young males evert two years. Equipped with GPS locator collars (in case they are injured or, rarely, run off) these cats serve for two years before being returned to the breeding program and eventually the wild. Very rarely one of these cheetahs will injure a human, usually because they feel threatened. On military bases all personnel are instructed on how important it is to leave the big cats alone if they wander (usually out of curiosity) into work or housing areas.

The cheetahs also chase some of the birds away from airfields as wild cheetahs find birds tasty, if difficult to catch prey. Aircraft bird strikes are a widespread, if little publicized, problem for all airports. There are about 5,000 incidents a year. These often just mean replacing windows or canopies, or wherever the bird hit. Most of the incidents involve near misses or collisions on non-critical portions of the aircraft. But in about one percent of the incidents the damage is severe and some aircraft are lost. On average, 40-50 people a year die because of aircraft bird strikes.

Nearly all the fatal bird strikes are to aircraft with gas turbine engines (which birds fly into). This often wrecks, or severely damages, the engine when the high speed fan is damaged. Multiple engine aircraft usually can survive this if they still have one or more working engines. But sometimes single or two engine aircraft lose all engine power and go down with heavy loss. One exception was the "Miracle On The Hudson" in January 2009, when Airbus 320 over New York City lost both engines to bird strikes. Exceptional work by the crew managed to bring the aircraft down, intact, on the Hudson River. Hail caused a similar (although not as life-threatening) incident in 2006, where a B-727 jet was climbing after takeoff from Calgary (in central Canada) when it ran into a massive hail storm that did extensive (but not disabling) damage to the aircraft exterior. With most of the lights out and the cockpit windows obscured by cracks caused by numerous fast moving hail stones, the aircraft turned around and landed safely.

In rare cases these can even bring down a helicopter. For example, in 2011 a U.S. Marine Corps collided with a red-tailed hawk, weighing about 1.4 kg (3 pounds). The bird hit the top of the main rotor mast on a marine AH-1W helicopter gunship. The hawk impact damaged the pitch change link, which caused vibrations that quickly led to the transmission and rotor blades breaking away from the helicopter. The chopper then fell to earth, killing the two man crew. The AH-1 has since been modified to better protect the pitch change link, one of several highly vulnerable (to damage) components on a helicopter. Normally, the pitch change link would not be hit by ground fire. No one thought the risk of a bird strike up there was worth doing anything about.
Interviews with refugees from the fighting in Iraq and Syria as well as people still in those countries shows that over 80 percent believe the Islamic terrorists in general and ISIL and al Qaeda in particular are creations of the West (particularly the United States) and Israel as a means to destroy their countries and Islam. This is nothing new and while all this is unbelievable to most Westerners and largely ignored by Western media and politicians it is very real and has been for a long time. Media in these countries is full of even more fanciful (to Westerners) inventions. This has caused problems for Western troops operating in those countries, although some have figured out how to take advantage of it.

All cultures have a certain belief in magic and what Westerners call conspiracy theories to explain otherwise unexplainable events. In the Islamic world, there is a lot of attention paid to sorcery and magic, and people accused of practicing such things are regularly attacked and sometimes executed because sorcery is a capital crime under Islamic law. Conspiracy theories are also a popular way to explain away inconvenient facts and this is often found useful in countries that are hostile to other forms of sorcery.

For example back in 2008 many Pakistanis believed that the then recent Islamic terrorist attack in Mumbai, India was actually the work of the Israeli Mossad or the American CIA and not the Pakistani terrorists who were killed or captured and identified. Such fantasies are a common explanation, in Moslem nations, for Islamic terrorist atrocities. Especially when Moslems, particularly women and children are among the victims. In response many Moslems tend to accept fantastic explanations shifting the blame to infidels (non-Moslems).

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, many Moslems again blamed Israel for staging those attacks. A favorite variation of this is that, before the attacks on the World Trade Center, a secret message went out to all Jews in the area to stay away. Another variation has it that the 19 attackers (all of them Arab, 15 from Saudi Arabia) were really not Arabs but falsely identified as part of the Israeli deception. In the United States some Americans insist that the attack was the work of the U.S. government, complete with the World Trade Center towers being brought down by prepositioned explosive charges. While few Americans accept this, the CIA and Mossad fantasies are widely accepted in the Moslem world. Even Western educated Arabs, speaking good English, will casually express, and accept, these tales of the Israeli Mossad staging the attacks, in an effort to trick the U.S. into attacking Afghanistan and Iraq. Americans are shocked at this, but the Moslems expressing these beliefs just shrug when confronted with contradictory evidence.

American troops arriving in Iraq after 2003 went through a real culture shock as they encountered these cultural differences. They also discovered that one reason for this, and many other Arab problems, is the concept of "inshallah" ("If God wills it"). This is a basic tenet of Islam, although some scholars believe the attitude was a cultural trait that preceded Islam. In any event, "inshallah" is deadly when combined with modern technology. For this reason, Arab countries either have poorly maintained infrastructure and equipment (including military stuff) or import a lot of foreigners, possessing the right attitudes, to maintain everything. That minority of Arabs who do have a realistic attitude towards maintenance and personal responsibility are considered odd but useful.

The "inshallah" thing is made worse by a stronger belief in the supernatural and magic in general. This often extends to technology. Thus, many Iraqis believed that American troops wore sunglasses that enabled them to see through clothing, and had armor vests that were actually air conditioned. When they first encountered these beliefs, U.S. troops thought the Arabs were putting them on. Then it sank in that Arabs really believe this stuff. It was a scary, or amusing, moment for many Western troops.

However, many troops learned to live with and even exploit these odd beliefs. When troops at one base discovered that they weren't being attacked much because many of the locals believed that the base was surrounded by a force field the troops would casually make reference to their force field. They would do this inside the base if any Iraqis were nearby and especially when they were outside the wire and among the locals. This reinforced the force field myth and made the base safer. Other troops would invent new fantasies, like pretending that a handheld bit of military electronics was actually a mind reading device. That often made interrogations go much quicker. Not all Arabs believe in this stuff, and those that didn't and worked for the Americans, often as an interpreter, could only shrug their shoulders when asked about it.

This easy acceptance of fantasies is exploited by leaders throughout the Middle East and the Moslem world in general. Leaders who know better build on these fantasies as a way to maintain their control over the population. The problem is a dirty little secret in the Moslem world, that leaders and academics don't even like to discuss it openly, much less with infidels. But it is real and you can read all about it in the local media, or overhear it in the coffee shops.
So far 2016 has been free of Islamic terrorist violence. There are still several hundred armed Islamic terrorists active and the continuing army patrols are finding and destroying more Islamic terrorist supplied, weapons and hiding places. Few Islamic terrorists are encountered and most of those that are found fight to the death. Troops prefer to take them alive because interrogation often yields valuable information on other Islamic terrorists and makes it easier to find them. But most of the Islamic terrorists still active are hard core, know the risks of being taken alive and usually prefer to die fighting. As Algeria has been fighting Islamic terrorists since the 1990s the intelligence services are among the best in the world when it comes to keeping up with local Islamic terrorist activity. Thus it is known that most Algerian Islamic terrorists have been killed, captured or left the country. Those that head for Europe tend to retire from the terrorist life. But those that go to places like Mali, Egypt and Syria are still active and some of those eventually try and return to Algeria to fight again. That has been happening less likely but may change. Islamic terrorists who face too much pressure in one place tend to move somewhere more hospitable. Algeria has found the best way to keep Islamic terrorists out (or at least quiet) is to create a hostile atmosphere for them. So the frequent and aggressive army and police patrols continue, as does general public support for this effort. Meanwhile the intel community has kept quiet about what they know of how rampant corruption and government mismanagement continues to generate new Islamic terrorist recruits. Intel officials who mention that problem too often or publicly tend to be fired or retired, no matter how senior they are.

Germany is pressuring Algeria (and other North African countries) to take back their citizens who entered Germany illegally. Germany and Algeria have a repatriation agreement but many illegal migrants purposely enter Germany without any identity documents, which makes it easier for them to make up any story that works to get them officially accepted for asylum as victims or persecution or whatever. Algeria often uses this lack of documents as a reason not to take back illegal migrants. This is common with Moslem countries, who are glad to be rid of anyone who does not want to stay in their homeland. This is often justified as a security measure so that an Islamic terrorist or criminal does not return. Germany has accepted this excuse in the past but German voters are now very angry at the increasing bad behavior of Moslem illegals and the government is under increasing pressure to send as many back as possible. The vast majority of these illegals are young men and many of them often turn to crime, and occasionally Islamic terrorism. Germany identified 847 Algerian illegals arriving in June 2015 but because of news that Germany was letting just about anyone in that number increased to 2,296 in December. Meanwhile Algeria identified 16,792 illegal African migrants entering Algeria from the south. Using repatriation agreements 43 percent of them were sent home.

Despite the problem with repatriation Algeria has been increasingly cooperative and helpful to European police and intelligence organizations, especially when it comes to Islamic terrorism. Unofficially, Algerian officials admit that are not too concerned about most of the refugees and will report any of their known or suspected Islamic terrorists who are believed to have headed north. The Algerians also help identify Algerian illegals who get arrested in Europe and are suspected of being involved with Islamic terrorism. If Algeria cannot identify a suspect right away they will start an investigation in Algeria. There is some self-interest involved here because it sometimes happen that an Algerian illegal migrant will get radicalized in Europe and either return to Algeria or support others who wish to do so in order to commit terrorist acts in Algeria. This cooperation has been going on the longest with France, which was one of the first European countries to attract Algerian terrorists. Thats because France occupied Algeria as a colony for over a century before leaving (involuntarily) in the early 1960s. Many Algerians had already migrated legally to France by then and many Algerians still learn French in school or from parents. So France has long been a favorite destination of legal and illegal Algerian migrants.

A major reason for migrating is the lack of jobs, and much else, in Algeria. In addition to the persistent corruption Algeria has an even more serious economic problem with a growing shortage of money. The main cause of this is the continued low oil price. This means Algeria is getting less than half the income from oil sales in 2015 compared to the same period in 2012, before the price of oil began to tumble. In 2015 the price of oil fell another 34 percent. The impact of this can be seen in the decline in foreign exchange holdings, which declined 16 percent (to $151 billion) in 2015. This does a lot of damage to the economy but the government says it has a plan to cope and that seems to be working because GDP continues to grow (at about three percent a year) but at a lower rate than in the past. Algerians in general are coping. For example imports of luxury and non-essentials are down over 35 percent in 2015. This includes automobiles. The decline in oil income is likely to get worse in 2016. In late 2014 Algeria prepared its budget for 2015 based on oil selling for an average of $37 a barrel (a price that was reached at the end of 2015). That follows price of oil falling 50 percent since 2013 (from $120 to $40 a barrel) in early 2015. In early 2016 the price went below $30 a barrel. The government only expects to receive $25 billion from oil and natural gas in 2016 and cash reserves will shrink another 20 percent (to $121 billion) by the end of that year.

January 22, 2016: In the southeast, in Guezzam on the Niger border, an army patrol arrested smugglers and seized two vehicles, three assault rifles and 142 rounds of ammo. The weapons were apparently meant to be sold in Algeria.

January 20, 2016: A Chinese firm signed a contract to build a new port facility 60 kilometers west of the capital. This will cost $3.3 billion, with China paying for it and Chinese builders handling the construction on an effort which will take about seven years. The 23 docks in the new port will be able to handle 26 million tons of cargo a year, most of it in containers. China and the Algerian government will operate the port, which will be one of the largest in North Africa. China is becoming a major presence in Algeria. By 2013 Chinese firms had invested $1.5 billion in Algeria and there were some 30,000 Chinese working in Algeria for fifty Chinese companies. Since 2013 Chinese investment has grown enormously and by the end of the decade will amount to more than $1o billion in just twenty years. Most of the Chinese are working on transportation (roads, ports and railroad) projects. Although Algeria has lots of unemployment, there are few people with the necessary skills for many of these projects, so China brings in skilled workers from China. Some of those Chinese will settle down in Algeria, but not as many as in non-Arab Africa. The Arabs are not as accepting of foreigners as many other cultures are. While many oil-rich Arab states import foreigners for most of the civilian jobs, these workers are not encouraged to stay and there are strict laws governing the presence of the foreign workers. Algeria sees the Chinese investments, especially in infrastructure, as a way to get the local economy growing and thus provide jobs for the many young Algerians who are increasingly angry about being unemployed. The Chinese workers are very efficient and tend to get their projects done on time and on budget. This makes the Chinese popular with the government which, mainly because of corruption, is notoriously inefficient, especially when it comes to building things for the public.

January 19, 2016: In the east (Boumerdes province) troops found and destroyed four bunkers built by Islamic terrorists as hideouts.

January 17, 2016: In the southeast near (Amenas near the Libyan border) found a hidden assault rifle and 129 rounds of ammo. It was unclear if the weapon belonged to smugglers, local criminals or Islamic terrorists.

January 15, 2016: In Batna (500 kilometers east of the capital) troops encountered an armed Islamic terrorist who refused to surrender and was shot dead. Troops seized an assault rifle, ammo, binoculars and five cell phones.

January 14, 2016: In the northeast, just across the Tunisia border in Tabarka police arrested a known Algerian Islamic terrorist who was trying to sneak into Algeria.

January 12, 2016: In the southeast near the Amenas gas plant, the scene of a major Islamic terrorist attack in 2013, troops ambushed and arrested seven Islamic terrorists and seized three vehicles. Interrogators are still trying to find out what the men were doing in such an isolated area near the border.

January 8, 2016: In Batna (500 kilometers east of the capital) troops found and destroyed nine sites where Islamic terrorists had stashed supplies. Most of it consisted of food and clothing but there was also five bombs, bomb components and rifle ammunition.

January 5, 2016: Troops searching Bouira province (120 kilometers southeast of the capital) a weapons caches containing 15 kg (33 pounds) of explosives, two RPG launchers and two bombs.
Dirty Little Secrets

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How Russia Gets Results In Syria

by James Dunnigan

January 23, 2016 Russia revealed that during the last three months of 2015 it had flown (using about 100 warplanes and attack helicopters) over 4,300 sorties against Islamic terrorist rebels in Syria. Russia believes its air strikes are much more effective than those flown by Western and Arab air forces because Russia has better intelligence. In addition to intel from over 200,000 Syrian soldiers and pro-government militiamen, Russia also obtained target information from 150 rebel groups (over 5,000 rebels) willing to cooperate against ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). Russian air strikes have killed over 2,500 people so far, about a third of the victims have been civilians. This is condemned as a war crime by many but is also a less publicized (especially by the Russians) reason why the Russian air strikes have been so much more effective than the larger number of American ones. Russia does not abort a strike because there is too much risk of civilian casualties. This makes ISIL more vulnerable to air attack than when just the Americans were handling it. The U.S. believes that only a few percent of the people its air strikes kills are civilians. The ROE (Rules of Engagement) Russia uses against ground targets ignores the use of human shields or the presence of a lot of civilians for whatever reason.


The U.S. military has, since the 1990, been a major and increasing user of communications satellites. Not only military owned but also leased bandwidth (data transmission demand) from commercial satellites. In 2010 the military feared that there might not be enough commercial bandwidth to lease to handle heavy wartime loads. That turned out to be less of a problem than predicted because of the rapidly growing number of commercial users for high bandwidth services (like streaming video). Now the military sees wartime shortages as less likely because during a national emergency commercial satellite owners can be compelled to lease bandwidth to the military and that commercial bandwidth is growing so fast that there will be at least twelve times more of it at the end of the decade than there is now.

Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Defense is trying to get more money for its own communications satellites. In 2013 the Department of Defense launched its sixth WGS (Wideband Global SATCOM) communications satellite and a seventh is on the way. The WGS is a six ton satellite with a traffic handling capacity of 3.6 gigabits. The first WGS went up in 2007, but that was six years after that was supposed to happen.

WGS birds are optimized for military use and are more effective than equivalent civilian comm satellites. WGS originally stood for "Wideband Gapfiller Satellite" and they are actually modified versions of the Boeing 702 communications satellite. Boeing has built or has orders for over 36 of the commercial 702s, which are built on the earlier, and very successful, 600 series communications satellites. Using the 702 as a model for WGS seemed like a slam-dunk initially, basing needed military commo birds on a solid civilian model. A few tweaks and additions to deal with military security needs, and off we go. The Department of Defense wants to build six WGS birds, at a cost of some $220 million each. The WGS has ten times the throughput (3.6 gigabits) of the earlier DSCS III commo satellites. The first WGS bird in orbit more than doubled the transmission capacity of the Department of Defense satellite system.

There is a growing need for more commo birds. Between 2000 and 2002, Department of Defense satellite bandwidth doubled, and more than doubled every 18 months after that. Back in 2000, some 60 percent of Department of Defense satellite capacity had to be leased from commercial firms. While the Department of Defense had its own communications satellite network (MILSAT), it underestimated the growth of demand. Greater use of the internet and reconnaissance aircraft and UAVs using video cameras quickly used up MILSAT's capacity and forced the military to lease capacity on commercial satellites. This was done on the "spot market," meaning the Department of Defense had to pay whatever the market would bear at that moment. Since the military needed more capacity because of combat operations, the media was also in the market for more capacity to cover the war. The Department of Defense paid more than ten times as much as it would have if it had leased (for one to fifteen years) satellite capacity earlier. The situation was made worse by the fact that it was an emergency situation, so every heavy user of satellite communications was making their own deals. This resulted in some users (air force, or, say, the Atlantic Fleet) having some extra capacity when someone else, like Army Special Forces, was still short.

It was only in 1990 that the U.S. armed forces moved to satellite communications in a big way. This made sense, especially where troops often have to set up shop in out of the way places and need a reliable way to keep in touch with nearby forces on land and sea as well as bases and headquarters back in the United States. At the time of the 1991 Gulf War, there was enough satellite military communications capacity (commonly known as "bandwidth") in the Persian Gulf for about 1,300 simultaneous phone calls. Or, 12 megabits per second. But while the military has a lot more satellite capacity now (the exact amount is a secret), demand has increased even faster. UAV reconnaissance aircraft use enormous amounts of satellite capacity. The Global Hawk needed 500 megabits per second, and Predators and Reapers about half as much. The major consumer of bandwidth is the live video. Thus data transmission capability (bandwidth) has gone from 46 megabits (million bytes) per second in late 2001, just for troops in CENTCOM (the Middle East and Afghanistan), to nearly ten giga (billion) bits per in 2007. Thus the rush to get those WGS birds up.

Attempts to get capacity from civilian satellites was complicated by the fact that there was a shortage there as well. This was created by the tremendous overbuilding of fiber optic cable networks on the ground (and under oceans) in the late 1990s. This provided cheaper bandwidth for civilian uses and has meant fewer communications satellites being put up. In fact, the fiber optic glut reduced planned satellite launches by some 60 percent for the first few years of this decade.

The solution was the WGS birds, with the first supposed to launch in 2004. But there were design problems, manufacturing problems, and scheduling problems getting an American launcher (having a Russian or Chinese rocket put these birds into orbit was not an option, for security reasons.) These problems have been solved and while that provided more capacity it was never enough.
Wellesbourne Airfield

They also had a themed space day where pupils could reach for the stars and dress-up as anything connected with the solar system. This created a colourful congregation of astronauts, aliens and even someone dressed as Laika the Soviet space dog, one of the first animals to go into space and orbit the earth in 1957.

Lorraine met Tim and many other lifelong friends when they were all based at RAF Gutersloh in Germany in 1993. By this time it was run by the British Army and Tim was an officer while Lorraine was a teacher on site.

I always remember him as an incredibly hardworking and dedicated person. Im not surprised hes made history becoming the first British astronaut to complete a spacewalk bearing the Union flag. Im immensely proud of him, its a well-deserved and well-earned reward for all his hard work and on top of all that hes had to learn to speak Russian! Lorraine told the Herald.

Lorraine and the Wootton Wawen team of teachers signed up to a special space education project last summer which was open to primary schools. As a result, pupils at Wootton were allowed to let their creative imaginations run wild with anything to do with space during their week-long Tim Peake space project.

The children have been totally engaged. They loved making water rockets, theyve written letters to Tim and created an astronauts diary. Theyve even painted a picture of Tim in space, said Lorraine.

I still have contact with Tim and his family and we normally exchange Christmas cards but I wasnt able to speak to him last December because he was a bit busy at the time, Lorraine said.

On Friday 29th January children at Wilmcote Primary School will be taking part in a space day. Pupils will take part in a workshop about the International Space Station and dressing up in space themed outfits for the day. The school has recently received an award recognising the quality of its science teaching called the silver primary science quality mark.
Wellesbourne Airfield

Hogans is a small independent cider producer whose founder, Alan Hogan, is pro-EU membership.

Ms Thomas grew up in Haselor and then in Stratford and went to Alcester Grammar School, where she was head girl.

Before joining Britain Stronger in Europe she was campaign director of the pro-EU group Business for New Europe, a BBC news producer and a Liberal Democrat press officer.
The recent wet weather has played havoc with Towns fixture list and the postponements have severely affected the team's match fitness.

In their previous outing, a rusty-looking Town went down 3-0 at Cirencester, so Adams was delighted to get back on track against St Neots.

It was all about the points rather than the performance, said Adams.

You can train as much as you want, but games are just totally different to training.

The performances will definitely come back because we are a very good team.

Im really happy with the three points and well now try our hardest to dust ourselves down and prepare for Tuesday night against Dunstable.

Town travel to an in-form Dunstable on Tuesday night before heading to Cambridgeshire on Saturday to take on Histon.
Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen now indicated for unresectable or metastatic melanoma patients, regardless of BRAF mutational status, based on accelerated approval1

Demonstrated significantly superior progression-free survival vs. Yervoy alone in CheckMate -067 with the first and only FDA-approved combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors1,2

FDA also expands use of Opdivo as single-agent to include previously untreated BRAF mutation-positive advanced melanoma patients, based on accelerated approval1

With this seventh approval for Opdivo in just over a year, and the fourth for late-stage melanoma, more patients fighting cancer now have access to Immuno-Oncology treatment options1

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Opdivo (nivolumab) in combination with Yervoy (ipilimumab) for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type and BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma.1 This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival (PFS).1 Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.1 This approval expands the original indication for the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma to include patients, regardless of BRAF mutational status, based on data from the Phase 3 CheckMate -067 trial, in which PFS and overall survival (OS) were co-primary endpoints.1,2

Opdivo is associated with immune-mediated: pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis, endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction, rash, encephalitis, other adverse reactions; infusion reactions; and embryofetal toxicity.1 Please see the Important Safety Information section below, including Boxed WARNING for Yervoy regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions.

For nearly a decade, our researchers have worked tirelessly to find treatment options that could improve outcomes for patients with late-stage melanoma, a particularly aggressive cancer, and we are incredibly proud of todays approval to expand the use of the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen to include patients with BRAF mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. CheckMate -067 is the first Phase 3 study to observe the efficacy and safety of both Opdivo as a single-agent as well as in combination with Yervoy versus Yervoy alone, said Chris Boerner, Head of U.S. Commercial, Bristol-Myers Squibb. To make this treatment option available to more patients is truly a milestone in the fight against this deadly disease.

The FDA also expanded the use of Opdivo as a single-agent to include previously untreated BRAF mutation-positive advanced melanoma patients.1 The use of Opdivo as a single-agent in patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival.1 Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.1 Opdivo was approved by the FDA in November 2015, for use in previously untreated patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma.1

Patients with metastatic melanoma historically have a very challenging disease. Recent advances in our understanding of the immune response to cancer has yielded therapies which provide meaningful responses and hope. The combination of two Immuno-Oncology treatments, nivolumab and ipilimumab, has been shown to provide these patients with a much needed improvement in progression-free survival and response rates, said Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, Chief, Melanoma and Immunotherapeutics Service, Department of Medicine and Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This expanded approval for the nivolumab and ipilimumab regimen provides more advanced melanoma patients with an Immuno-Oncology combination treatment, and the potential for improved outcomes.

Expanded Approval Based on Efficacy Demonstrated in a Phase 3 Trial

CheckMate -067 is a Phase 3, double-blind, randomized study that evaluated the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen or Opdivo monotherapy vs. Yervoy monotherapy in patients with previously untreated advanced melanoma.1, 2 The trial evaluated previously untreated patients, including both BRAF V600 mutant and wild-type advanced melanoma, and enrolled 945 patients who were randomized to receive the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen (Opdivo 1 mg/kg plus Yervoy 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks for 4 doses followed by Opdivo 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks thereafter; n=314), Opdivo monotherapy (Opdivo 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks; n=316) or Yervoy monotherapy (Yervoy 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks for 4 doses followed by placebo every 2 weeks; n=315).1 Patients were treated until progression or unacceptable toxic effects.1 The median duration of exposure was 2.8 months (range: 1 day to 18.8 months) for patients in the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen arm with a median of four doses (range: 1 to 39 for Opdivo; 1 to 4 for Yervoy), and 6.6 months (range: 1 day to 17.3 months) duration for the Opdivo monotherapy arm with a median of 15 doses (range: 1 to 38).1,2 The co-primary endpoints were PFS and OS; the study is ongoing and patients continue to be followed for OS.2

Results from the trial demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in PFS in patients with advanced melanoma treated with the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen (pOpdivo as a single-agent (pYervoy monotherapy.1 Median PFS was 11.5 months (95% CI: 8.9-16.7) for the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen and 6.9 months (95% CI: 4.3-9.5) for Opdivo monotherapy, vs. 2.9 months (95% CI: 2.8-3.4) for Yervoy monotherapy.1 The Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen demonstrated a 58% reduction in the risk of disease progression vs. Yervoy (HR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.34-0.51; pOpdivo monotherapy demonstrated a 43% risk reduction vs. Yervoy monotherapy (HR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.47-0.69; p

In addition, the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen and Opdivo monotherapy demonstrated higher confirmed objective response rates (ORR; 50% and 40%; pYervoy monotherapy (14%).1 The percentage of patients with a complete response was 8.9%, 8.5% and 1.9%, favoring the Regimen and Opdivo monotherapy over Yervoy monotherapy.1 Partial responses were seen in 41% of patients treated with the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen, 31% of patients treated with Opdivo monotherapy, and 12% of patients treated with Yervoy monotherapy. The Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen delivered durable responses, with three of four (76%) patients experiencing an ongoing response of at least six months (range: 1.2+ to 15.8+).1 Of patients in the Opdivo monotherapy and Yervoy monotherapy arms, 74% and 63% experienced an ongoing response of at least six months, respectively (ranges: 1.3+ to 14.6+; 1.0+ to 13.8+).1

The melanoma community is excited to see the ongoing developments in research from the pharmaceutical industry, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, who made the first approved combination of two Immuno-Oncology treatments available to more patients fighting this disease, said Tim Turnham, Executive Director, Melanoma Research Foundation. Todays expanded approvals continue to bring new treatment options to patients, and demonstrate the ongoing impact of Immuno-Oncology research.

In CheckMate -067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to discontinuation (43% and 14%), or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the Opdivo + Yervoy arm relative to the Opdivo arm.1 No overall differences in safety or efficacy were reported between elderly and younger patients.1 The most common adverse reactions leading to discontinuation of the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen relative to Opdivo as a single-agent were diarrhea (8% and 1.9%), colitis (8% and 0.6%), increased ALT (4.8% and 1.3%), increased AST (4.5% and. 0.6%), and pneumonitis (1.9% and 0.3%).1 The most frequent (10%) serious adverse reactions in the Opdivo + Yervoy arm and the Opdivo arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%) and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%).1 The most common adverse reactions (20%) reported in patients receiving the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen relative to Opdivo as a single-agent were fatigue (59% and 53%), rash (53% and 40%), diarrhea (52% and 31%), and nausea (40% and 28%).1 Pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%) and dyspnea (20%) were also reported in 20% of patients receiving the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen.1

About the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen

The scientific rationale for targeting the immune system via dual immune checkpoint inhibition in cancer has formed the basis of a novel approach to the treatment of metastatic melanoma.2

Cancer cells may exploit regulatory pathways, such as checkpoint pathways, to hide from the immune system and shield the tumor from immune attack.2 Opdivo and Yervoy are immune checkpoint inhibitors that target separate, distinct and complementary checkpoint pathways (PD-1 and CTLA-4).1 The mechanism of action involves dual immune checkpoint inhibition resulting in increased anti-tumor activity.1 Yervoy blockade of CTLA-4 has been shown to augment T-cell activation and proliferation, while Opdivo restores the active T-cell response directed at the tumor.1,3 This may affect healthy cells and result in immune-mediated adverse reactions, which can be severe and potentially fatal.1

Bristol-Myers Squibb has a broad, global development program to study the combination of Opdivo and Yervoy consisting of more than 14 trials in which more than 2,000 patients have been enrolled worldwide through September 2015.

About Opdivo

Cancer cells may exploit regulatory pathways, such as checkpoint pathways, to hide from the immune system and shield the tumor from immune attack.3 Opdivos broad global development program is based on Bristol-Myers Squibbs understanding of the biology behind Immuno-Oncology. This scientific expertise serves as the basis for the Opdivo development program, which includes a broad range of Phase 3 clinical trials across a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has enrolled more than 18,000 patients.

Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world in July 2014, and currently has regulatory approval in 46 countries including the United States, Japan, and in the European Union.

About Metastatic Melanoma

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer characterized by the uncontrolled growth of pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) located in the skin.3 Metastatic melanoma is the deadliest form of the disease, and occurs when cancer spreads beyond the surface of the skin to other organs.3 The incidence of melanoma has been increasing for at least 30 years.3 Approximately 73,870 melanoma cases were estimated to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2015.3 Melanoma is mostly curable when treated in its early stages.3 However, in its late stages, 5-year and 10-year survival rates in the U.S. average 15-20% and 10-15%, respectively.3

About Bristol-Myers Squibbs Patient Support Programs

Bristol-Myers Squibb remains committed to helping patients through treatment with our medicines. For support and assistance, patients and physicians may call 1-855-OPDIVO-1. This number offers one-stop access to a range of support services for patients and healthcare professionals alike.

About Bristol-Myers Squibbs Access Support

Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to helping patients access the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen and offers BMS Access Support to support patients and providers in gaining access. BMS Access Support, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Reimbursement Services program, is designed to support access to BMS medicines and expedite time to therapy through reimbursement support including Benefit Investigations, Prior Authorization Facilitation, Appeals Assistance, and assistance for patient out-of-pocket costs. BMS Access Support assists patients and providers throughout the treatment journey  whether it is at initial diagnosis or in support of transition from a clinical trial. More information about our reimbursement support services can be obtained by calling 1-800-861-0048 or by visiting www.bmsaccesssupport.com. For healthcare providers seeking specific reimbursement information, please visit the BMS Access Support Product section by visiting www.bmsaccesssupportopdivo.com.

INDICATIONS

OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon demonstration of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon demonstration of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS

YERVOY can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune-mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY.

Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at baseline and before each dose.

Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions.

Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis

Immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases, occurred with OPDIVO treatment. Across the clinical trial experience with solid tumors, fatal immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred with OPDIVO. In addition, in Checkmate 069, there were six patients who died without resolution of abnormal respiratory findings. Monitor patients for signs with radiographic imaging and symptoms of pneumonitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 and withhold until resolution for Grade 2. In Checkmate 069 and 067, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 6% (25/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Fatal (n=1), Grade 3 (n=6), Grade 2 (n=17), and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 1.8% (14/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2) and Grade 2 (n=12). In Checkmate 057, immune-mediated pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 3.4% (10/287) of patients: Grade 3 (n=5), Grade 2 (n=2), and Grade 1 (n=3). In Checkmate 025, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 5% (21/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 18% (73/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 4.4% (18/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 4 (n=1), Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=12), and Grade 1 (n=1).

Immune-Mediated Colitis

Immune-mediated colitis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 (of more than 5 days duration), 3, or 4 colitis. As a single agent, withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 or recurrent colitis upon restarting OPDIVO. When administered with YERVOY, withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent colitis upon restarting OPDIVO. In Checkmate 069 and 067, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 56% (228/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 26% (107/407) of patients: Grade 4 (n=2), Grade 3 (n=60), Grade 2 (n=32), and Grade 1 (n=13). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 31% (242/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 4.1% (32/787) of patients: Grade 3 (n=20), Grade 2 (n=10), and Grade 1 (n=2). In Checkmate 057, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 17% (50/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.4% (7/287) of patients: Grade 3 (n=3), Grade 2 (n=2), and Grade 1 (n=2). In Checkmate 025, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 25% (100/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 32% (126/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated diarrhea or colitis occurred in 3.2% (13/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=5), Grade 2 (n=7), and Grade 1 (n=1).

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of 7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 (7%) patients. Across all YERVOY-treated patients in that study (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis.

Immune-Mediated Hepatitis

Immune-mediated hepatitis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater transaminase elevations. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. In Checkmate 069 and 067, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 13% (51/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 4 (n=8), Grade 3 (n=37), Grade 2 (n=5), and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 2.3% (18/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 4 (n=3), Grade 3 (n=11), and Grade 2 (n=4). In Checkmate 057, one patient (0.3%) developed immune-mediated hepatitis. In Checkmate 025, there was an increased incidence of liver test abnormalities compared to baseline in AST (33% vs 39%), alkaline phosphatase (32% vs 32%), ALT (22% vs 31%), and total bilirubin (9% vs 3.5%) in the OPDIVO and everolimus arms, respectively. Immune-mediated hepatitis requiring systemic immunosuppression occurred in 1.5% (6/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=5) and Grade 2 (n=1).

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5x the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3x the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 (2%) patients, with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%.

Immune-Mediated Dermatitis

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 (2.5%) patients. 1 (0.2%) patient died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis. 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis.

Immune-Mediated Neuropathies

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported.

Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies

Hypophysitis, adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, and type 1 diabetes mellitus can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency during and after treatment, thyroid function prior to and periodically during treatment, and hyperglycemia. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hypophysitis. Withhold for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hypophysitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Administer hormone-replacement therapy for hypothyroidism. Initiate medical management for control of hyperthyroidism. Administer insulin for type 1 diabetes. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hyperglycemia.

In Checkmate 069 and 067, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (36/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 3 (n=8), Grade 2 (n=25), and Grade 1 (n=3). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, hypophysitis occurred in 0.9% (7/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=3), and Grade 1 (n=2). In Checkmate 025, hypophysitis occurred in 0.5% (2/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 069 and 067, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 5% (21/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 4 (n=1), Grade 3 (n=7), Grade 2 (n=11), and Grade 1 (n=2). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (8/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=5), and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 057, 0.3% (1/287) of OPDIVO-treated patients developed adrenal insufficiency. In Checkmate 025, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 2.0% (8/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=3), Grade 2 (n=4), and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 069 and 067, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis occurred in 22% (89/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 3 (n=6), Grade 2 (n=47), and Grade 1 (n=36). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 8% (34/407) of patients: Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=17), and Grade 1 (n=13). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis occurred in 9% (73/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1), Grade 2 (n=37), Grade 1 (n=35). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 4.4% (35/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1), Grade 2 (n=12), and Grade 1 (n=22). In Checkmate 057, Grade 1 or 2 hypothyroidism, including thyroiditis, occurred in 7% (20/287) and elevated thyroid stimulating hormone occurred in 17% of patients receiving OPDIVO. Grade 1 or 2 hyperthyroidism occurred in 1.4% (4/287) of patients. In Checkmate 025, thyroid disease occurred in 11% (43/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO, including one Grade 3 event, and in 3.0% (12/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Hypothyroidism/thyroiditis occurred in 8% (33/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=17), and Grade 1 (n=14). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.5% (10/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 2 (n=5) and Grade 1 (n=5). In Checkmate 069 and 067, diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in 1.5% (6/407) of patients: Grade 4 (n=3), Grade 3 (n=1), Grade 2 (n=1), and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in 0.8% (6/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=3), and Grade 1 (n=1). In Checkmate 025, hyperglycemic adverse events occurred in 9% (37/406) patients. Diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in 1.5% (6/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=3), Grade 2 (n=2), and Grade 1 (n=1).

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. 6 of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies.

Immune-Mediated Nephritis and Renal Dysfunction

Immune-mediated nephritis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. For Grade 2 or 3 increased serum creatinine, withhold and administer corticosteroids; if worsening or no improvement occurs, permanently discontinue. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 4 serum creatinine elevation and permanently discontinue. In Checkmate 069 and 067, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 2.2% (9/407) of patients: Grade 4 (n=4), Grade 3 (n=3), and Grade 2 (n=2). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, nephritis and renal dysfunction of any grade occurred in 5% (40/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 0.8% (6/787) of patients: Grade 3 (n=4) and Grade 2 (n=2). In Checkmate 057, Grade 2 immune-mediated renal dysfunction occurred in 0.3% (1/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO. In Checkmate 025, renal injury occurred in 7% (27/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 3.0% (12/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 3.2% (13/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 5 (n=1), Grade 4 (n=1), Grade 3 (n=5), and Grade 2 (n=6).

Immune-Mediated Rash

Immune-mediated rash can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Severe rash (including rare cases of fatal toxic epidermal necrolysis) occurred in the clinical program of OPDIVO. Monitor patients for rash. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 rash. Withhold for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4. In Checkmate 069 and 067, immune-mediated rash occurred in 22.6% (92/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 3 (n=15), Grade 2 (n=31), and Grade 1 (n=46). In Checkmate 037, 066, and 067, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (72/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=7), Grade 2 (n=15), and Grade 1 (n=50). In Checkmate 057, immune-mediated rash occurred in 6% (17/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO including four Grade 3 cases. In Checkmate 025, rash occurred in 28% (112/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 36% (143/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated rash, defined as a rash treated with systemic or topical corticosteroids, occurred in 7% (30/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=7), and Grade 1 (n=19).

Immune-Mediated Encephalitis

Immune-mediated encephalitis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Withhold OPDIVO in patients with new-onset moderate to severe neurologic signs or symptoms and evaluate to rule out other causes. If other etiologies are ruled out, administer corticosteroids and permanently discontinue OPDIVO for immune-mediated encephalitis. In Checkmate 067, encephalitis was identified in one patient (0.2%) receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. In Checkmate 057, fatal limbic encephalitis occurred in one patient (0.3%) receiving OPDIVO.

Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions

Based on the severity of adverse reaction, permanently discontinue or withhold treatment, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and, if appropriate, initiate hormone-replacement therapy. In

Infusion Reactions

Severe infusion reactions have been reported in

Embryo-fetal Toxicity

Based on their mechanisms of action, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with an OPDIVO- or YERVOY- containing regimen and for at least 5 months after the last dose of OPDIVO.

Lactation

It is not known whether OPDIVO or YERVOY is present in human milk. Because many drugs, including antibodies, are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from an OPDIVO-containing regimen, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose.

Serious Adverse Reactions

In Checkmate 067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (43% and 14%) or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm relative to the OPDIVO arm. The most frequent (10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%), and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%). In Checkmate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to

Common Adverse Reactions

In Checkmate 067, the most common (20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm were fatigue (59%), rash (53%), diarrhea (52%), nausea (40%), pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%), and dyspnea (20%). The most common (20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO arm were fatigue (53%), rash (40%), diarrhea (31%), and nausea (28%). In Checkmate 037, the most common adverse reaction (20%) reported with OPDIVO was rash (21%). In Checkmate 066, the most common adverse reactions (20%) reported with OPDIVO vs dacarbazine were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In Checkmate 057, the most common adverse reactions (20%) reported with OPDIVO were fatigue (49%), musculoskeletal pain (36%), cough (30%), decreased appetite (29%), and constipation (23%). In Checkmate 025, the most common adverse reactions (20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO vs everolimus were asthenic conditions (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%).

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%).

Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions for YERVOY.

Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO.

About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Collaboration

In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical further expanded the companies strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies  as single agents and combination regimens  for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit www.bms.com, or follow us on our social channels:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

References

1. Opdivo Prescribing Information. Opdivo U.S. Product Information. Last updated: January 23, 2016. Princeton, NJ: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.2. Larkin J, Chiarion-Sileni V, Gonzalez R, et al. Combined nivolumab and ipilimumab or monotherapy in untreated melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(1):23-34.3. American Cancer Society. Melanoma Skin Cancer. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003120-pdf.pdf. Updated November 10, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2016.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160123005053/en/

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Media:

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Among Hispanic Americans, 6 in 10 (60 percent) say abortion should be limited to  at most  cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. More than 8 in 10 (86 percent) would limit it to at most, the first three months of pregnancy. The percentages are slightly higher than among Americans overall (57 percent and 81 percent respectively). The data were included in the results of a survey by The Marist Poll released this week in Washington.

More than 6 in 10 Hispanic Americans (63 percent) and a similar number of Americans overall (61 percent) would ban abortion after 20 weeks, except to save the life of the mother. And two-thirds of Hispanic Americans (66 percent) would ban taxpayer funding of abortion, a view shared by 68 percent of Americans overall.

"The data clearly show that there is a consensus in this country in favor of significant abortion restrictions, and this consensus transcends ethnicity," said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. "We need a conversation that reflects the reality of this unity."

Nearly 6 in 10 Hispanics (59 percent) say abortion ultimately does a woman more harm than good. Americans overall agree (55 to 30 percent).

Additionally, 82 percent of Latinos and 77 percent of all Americans say that laws can protect both a mother and her unborn child.

And as with Americans in general (60 percent) Hispanics (59 percent) are just as likely to say abortion is "morally wrong."

A majority of Hispanic Americans also embraces the "pro-life" label (53 percent) compared to the "pro-choice" label (45 percent). Among Americans as a whole, 44 percent call themselves "pro-life," while 51 percent consider themselves "pro-choice." Interestingly, even among those Americans who identify as "pro-choice," majorities favor restricting abortion to, at most, the first three months of pregnancy (66 percent), stopping taxpayer funding of abortion (51 percent), and banning abortion after 20 weeks except to save the mother's life (62 percent).

The survey of 1,686 adults was conducted Nov. 15-22, 2015, by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Adults 18 years of age and older residing in the continental United States were interviewed in English and Spanish by telephone using live interviewers. Results for adults are statistically significant within 2.4 percentage points. The error margin increases for cross-tabulations.

For more details about the survey results and methodology, visit kofc.org/polls.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/majority-of-hispanic-americans-support-abortion-restrictions-according-to-new-marist-poll-300208801.html

SOURCE Knights of Columbus
A protester carries a tire as he passes next to a burning barricade during a demonstration against the electoral process in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 22, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

By Joseph Guyler Delva and Frank Jack Daniel

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Stone-throwing protesters stoked Haiti's political crisis on Saturday, a day after they forced the Caribbean nation to call off a presidential election and despite calls for consensus from global powers.

Haiti was due to choose a replacement for President Michel Martelly in a runoff vote on Sunday, but the two-man race was postponed indefinitely after opposition candidate Jude Celestin refused to participate on alleged fraud that spread anti-government protests and violence nationally.

Martelly says the fraud claims are unfounded but critics believe he unfairly favored his chosen successor, banana exporter Jovenel Moise, and some are demanding that Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, start its $100 million election again from scratch.

Striking a defiant note, Moise criticized the election council for postponing a vote he was confident of winning, and said he was ready to stand whenever a new date was set.

The United Nations joined the United States and other major powers that had supported the election in denouncing the violence and calling for a negotiated solution that leads to a new vote.

About a thousand protesters snaked through capital Port-au-Prince's downtown, a district still largely in ruins after a devastating 2010 earthquake. Some flung rocks and burnt tires, others beat a man alleged to be a thief.

Soldiers from Haiti's U.N. peacekeeping mission patrolled the streets in white armored vehicles at sundown.

Martelly is due to leave office in two weeks and Haiti may need an interim body to see the country through to the next election, but he and different opposition leaders will struggle to agree on the contours of such an administration.

Haiti has been unable to build a stable democracy since the overthrow of the 1957-1986 dictatorship of the Duvalier family and ensuing military coups and election fraud.

Drawn from the capital's poorest neighborhoods, the protesters deeply oppose Martelly's business-friendly reign, which they say was artificially propped-up by foreign powers.

They believe that with him out the way, there will be a better chance of electing a president who will champion the poor.

"We demand the departure of Martelly before Feb. 7," said Volcy Assad, a protest leader and an aide of Moise Jean-Charles, the third-place candidate in the October round who believes he was cheated of victory.

"We want a transitional government to set up an investigation commission that will determine the sincerity of the elections," Assad said.

Assad's Platform Pitit Dessalines party and others with links to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's left-wing movement are prepared to see both rounds of the election annulled, giving themselves another shot at the presidency.

Second-place Celestin, on the other hand, is likely to want to maintain his advantage and quickly organize a clean runoff vote.

"We are very encouraged by the decision to postpone the election. We hope that everything will be put in place to have credible elections as soon as possible," campaign manager Gerald Germain told Reuters.

Opposition leaders of all stripes said the protests would continue.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned this weeks' violence and was concerned by the delay to the election. His comments were echoed by the U.S. government, which has supported the fraught election to the tune of $30 million.

"The United States supports all efforts aimed at finding consensual and constructive solutions that will conclude the electoral process with an outcome that reflects the will of the people," a State Department spokeswoman said.

(Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel in Haiti and Louis Charbonneau in the United Nations.; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Sandra Maler)
By John Irish and Crispian Balmer

PARIS/ROME (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani brings the case to Europe this week for Iran as a potential investment bonanza, after the lifting of financial sanctions brought his country of 80 million people back into the world of global commerce.

Rouhani, a pragmatist elected in 2013 on a platform to reduce Iran's isolation, championed the deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear program in return for the lifting of U.S., EU and United Nations sanctions this month.

On his first trip abroad since the accord took effect, he will lead a 120-strong delegation that includes Iranian entrepreneurs as well as the oil and gas minister and other government officials for five days in Paris and Rome. He will meet Pope Francis and French President Francois Hollande.

A week after nearly all sanctions were lifted, French and Italian officials still do not expect major deals to be signed yet during the trip. Rouhani himself has spoken of a "long road" to Iran's economic integration with the world.

Nevertheless, Iran already demonstrated its hunger for Western goods at an aviation conference on the eve of the visit, announcing plans on Sunday to buy eight A-380 superjumbo jets from Airbus and eventually buy up to 100 planes from Boeing.

The visit also comes as global diplomats are trying to arrange the first peace talks in two years to end the Syrian civil war. Shi'ite Muslim Iran is the strongest ally of President Bashar al-Assad, while European countries back his mainly Sunni Muslim opponents. Recent months have also seen an increase in hostility between Iran and traditional Western ally Saudi Arabia.

"This is a very important visit," said a senior Iranian official. "It's time to turn the page and open the door to cooperation between our countries in different areas."

The visit to France, the first by an Iranian president since 1999, will provide opportunities to smooth over particularly awkward relations with a country that has historically been comparatively friendly.

Paris took a hard line towards Iran among the six powers that were party to the nuclear negotiations, and has been outspoken in its condemnation of Iran's support for Assad and skeptical of Tehran's other Middle East interventions.

"Trust needs to be built. It's like love. It is only the proof of love that counts," said a senior French diplomat.

"On the nuclear accord the relationship is relaxed, but not on the other subjects. There is no change on the Iranian position for now on a number of regional issues ... so the idea (of the visit) is to open a new page," the diplomat said.

Since July, Paris has appeared more conciliatory. A senior French economic and political delegation traveled in September to Tehran. Some 130 firms took part ranging in sectors from agriculture to construction and tourism to lay the groundwork for the first business accords between the two countries since the nuclear deal.

Companies such as oil major , planemaker Airbus and car manufacturer Peugeot are all interested in the new opportunities.

PAPAL BUSINESS

"We're far from when everyone was saying we would suffer economically because of our stance on the nuclear file. There will be some accords and progress on deals," said another French diplomat. "But I do sense some prudence among companies."

Without the same diplomatic constraints as France, Italian officials appear more upbeat. Italy has traditionally had close economic ties with Tehran and is rubbing its hands at the prospect of a possible surge in new contracts following the demise of the sanctions regime.

Italys export credit agency, Sace, has said Italian exports to Iran might rise by some 3 billion euros in the 4-year period between 2015-2018. Exports totaled an estimated 1.56 billion euros last year.

But like in Paris, an industrial source said no major contracts were expected to be signed during the visit. An official with a major energy company said it was still not clear what contracts Iran had in mind for the sector.

After speaking to business leaders, Rouhani will head to the Vatican for talks with Pope Francis. After the nuclear deal, the Pope said he hoped it would be the start of "a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world".

The plight of Christians in the Middle East is likely to be discussed, as well as human rights. The Vatican strongly opposes executions, which have increased since Rouhani took office.

"European countries are rushing head first to get into Tehran, but they are bargaining with human rights for short-term commercial and economic interests" said Tahar Boumedra, a former U.N. human rights official in Iraq.

(Editing by Peter Graff)
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish soldier was killed on Saturday in a clash between the security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeastern town of Cizre, the military said.

The soldier was severely wounded and died in hospital, it said, adding that seven PKK members had been "neutralized".

Ankara has been conducting operations to clear southeastern towns of PKK militants since July, when a two-year ceasefire collapsed.

The PKK, which says it is fighting for autonomy for Turkey's Kurds, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The decades-long conflict has cost more than 40,000 lives.

(Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan, writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and current Security Council President Samantha Power speaks to members of the Security Council about the maintenance of international peace and security on trafficking in persons in situations of conflict, during a m

By Michelle Nichols

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council met with Burundi's president on Friday to push for peace talks and an international force to quell worsening political violence, but U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said little was achieved.

The meeting came a day after rebels in the tiny African state raised the stakes in the crisis by declaring a general who led a failed coup in May as their leader, deepening concerns that Burundi is sliding back into conflict after its ethnically charged civil war ended in 2005.

The 15-member council, which arrived in Burundi's lakeside capital Bujumbura on Thursday, met with President Pierre Nkurunziza in Gitega for more than two hours. It is the council's second visit to Burundi in less than a year.

"I'm here to guarantee that there will not ever be another genocide in Burundi," the president told the council.

Power made clear that the council wants to see more dialogue and an enhanced U.N. presence in Burundi.

"None of us want the situation in Burundi to deteriorate, we're here because we want to support efforts at dialogue, because we believe as a council that a more substantial international presence here can help, we conveyed those points to the president," Power told reporters after the meeting.

"In this meeting we did not achieve as much, frankly, as I think we would have liked. But we never give up, the cause of peace in Burundi is too important to give up," she said.

Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term sparked the crisis, which has raised fears of an ethnic conflict in a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide remain fresh.

The government insists there is no ethnic bias, but opponents say districts of Bujumbura where many Tutsis live - and which were also hotbeds of protest against Nkurunziza last year - have been targeted with some Tutsis singled out.

The United Nations estimates the death toll at 439 people but says it could be higher. More than 240,000 people have fled abroad.

The rebel group, FOREBU, announced on Thursday that it was now commanded by the former intelligence chief, General Godefroid Niyombare. The group said it welcomed international mediation but also called for Burundians to support their fight against Nkurunziza.

"This development shows why the U.N. Security Council is concerned about the risk of a downward cycle of violence," British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told Reuters.

Burundi's government has accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting a rebel group by training and arming Burundian refugees recruited on Rwandan soil. Nkurunziza raised those accusations again on Friday with the Security Council.

"The threat is not from within Burundi, it comes from outside," he told the council. "The Rwandan government must be told to stop."

Rwanda has previously dismissed the allegations.

"We've expressed concern about the allegations of external interference ... and it's very important that nobody support armed opposition groups no matter what they assess the history," Power said.

The president has rejected the deployment of an African peacekeeping force, saying the troops would constitute "an invading force". The issue is expected to be a focus for an African Union summit at the end of January.

"It's not peacekeepers that the Burundians need. What they need is to increase their own capacity, especially their police capacity," Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev told Reuters.

"Maybe what we need is some kind of policing mission, either advisors, either trainers or maybe formed police units that will be deployed in Bujumbura ... from the African Union or the U.N.," he said.

Months of talks between the government and the opposition last year failed to make progress. New negotiations begun at the end of December in Uganda have already stalled.

Nkurunziza backed Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's mediation efforts.

"We told (the Security Council) that he is somebody who knows very well the problems of Burundi," Nkurunziza told reporters after the meeting.

Regional Western diplomats say the government has set too many conditions about who can attend talks to make them meaningful. They also say rebels may believe they can make more gains through force of arms than at the negotiating table.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alison Williams, Drazen Jorgic, Larry King and Chizu Nomiyama)
Barry Brickell became one of New Zealand's most most celebrated ceramic artists.

Potter, artist, conservationist and railway enthusiast Barry Brickell has died.

One of New Zealand's most endearing and enduring potters, he was also the owner of the popular Driving Creek Railway, north of Coromandel town.

Brickell is said to have died "peacefully" on Saturday.

SUPPLIED Bricknell's Driving Creek Railway.

Brickell originally moved to the area to teach high school in the 1960s.

But his love of art soon took over and he soon quit teaching to set up a pottery studio and kiln on his property in Driving Creek.

There he was able to focus on his pottery, eventually becoming one of New Zealand's most celebrated ceramic artists.

READ MORE: Barry Brickell's pottery to be exposed

Brickell spent 33 years building Driving Creek, with the narrow-gauge railway originally built to in order to bring clay from the higher reaches of his property down the hills to his studio.

To help cover the costs, he opened it to the public and his Driving Creek Railway became a firm fixture for visitors and Coromandel residents alike.

FAIRFAX NZ Barry Brickell loved his railway as much as his art. Here he is celebrating the railway's one millionth passenger in 2012.

And on his large hillside property he planted thousands of native trees and shrubs and created a predator-free sanctuary.

More recently he proposed a 1.2 kilometre wharf built out into the northern end of the Coromandel harbour, with a price tag of $18 million.



It would be the longest pier in the country, allowing boats of up to 2m draught to berth in all tides.

Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Glenn Leach said Brickell was "visionary in tourism, arts and crafts and the environment" who'd made an outstanding contribution to the Coromandel.

FAIRFAX NZ Some of Barry Brickell's huge sculptural works on display at the Dowse.

"[He will be] sadly missed," Leach said.

He said Brickell packed a lot into his 80 years and "brought a tremendous creative drive to everything he did".

"His artwork and his railway have been of great cultural and economic benefit not only to the Coromandel but to the whole nation.

"Barry will be greatly missed particularly within his local community but his life works and achievements remain as a lasting legacy and huge contribution to the Coromandel's environment, culture and well-being."

Mr Brickell was born in New Plymouth in 1935 and grew up in Auckland.

He developed his passion for pottery at an early age but studied science at university before, briefly, becoming a teacher in Coromandel Town.

He had a lifelong fascination with railways which was reflected in his unique tourist attraction Driving Creek Railway.

Besides throwing pots and sculpting clay, Brickell was a talented kiln maker.

In 1988 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to pottery.

He wrote several books on pottery and on the Driving Creek Railway.

His pottery has been collected by art galleries, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and is also on display in parliament buildings.

In a 2013 interview Brickell said he didn't like answering to the trendy title "ceramicist".

"I'm not a ceramicist. It's a horrible word, for goodness sake. I'm a potter. I make pots, tiles and bricks. The word ceramicist is trying to put you on a pedestal."



Brickell related his work to his environment and rejected all fashionable influences since pottery first became the bulky dinnerware du jour in the 1960s and 70s.



David Craig, a sociologist with an interest in the arts, once described Brickell as one of New Zealand's greatest potters.

Craig came across Brickell's work when he called at the Coromandel studio and bought a bowl to celebrate a wedding anniversary.

"It turned out we had a lot to talk about."

Brickell worked at the heart of a seminal period of New Zealand's potting history when there was "a Driving Creek kind of style of forms and glazing", Craig said.

Brickell concentrated on and stuck to local materials, clay and glazes. He created work that "shouldn't be too slick, shouldn't be too flashy, or show that they were beholden to fashion colours".

"He used textures and a palette of colours of the landscape."

Brickell became "increasingly autonomistic and he felt that an oddity. Sometimes he played up to it and sometimes it outraged him. For him it had to be indigenous, from here".

To have employed the brilliant colours of Castle "would have been outside his natural circuits".

"He could be regarded as the main visionary of indigenous clay culture. He was producing work that resonated across the New Zealand aesthetic we had in the 1960s and 70s, a very fruitful moment of New Zealand art."
Former Taranaki rugby player Kevin Barrett (right) holds up the Ranfurly Shield.

A police officer has been removed from an investigation into a shooting involving an All Black's family,

The first Kevin Barrett knew his car had been fired at was when he saw a gunshot hole in the passenger door of his ute.

ROBERT KITCHIN / FAIRFAX NZ All Blacks and Hurricanes star Beauden Barrett tests out some race day attire at Barkers in Lambton Quay, ahead of Saturday's Fashion in the Field at the Wellington Cup.

It was a few days before Christmas, and the "tough as teak" Taranaki rugby legend and his son Blake were returning home late one night when they pulled over on the side of Pungarehu Road, 40kms south of New Plymouth, which leads to the western most point of the Taranaki coastline.

The Barretts cut down a five-year-old pine tree on the side of the road.

READ MORE:

* All Black Beauden Barrett's family members 'shot at' in pine tree stoush

* Beauden Barrett's Rugby World Cup performance has inspired his brothers to follow



LEIGHTON KEITH/FAIRFAX NZ Eugene Nuku with the stump of a pine tree he claims to have nurtured for five years before he claims it was was chopped down.

Across the road, Eugene Nuku was at home watching television.

"I heard my dog bark," he said. "I thought that was strange because she doesn't usually bark."

Nuku sent his 14-year-old son out to see what was going on. "He came running back inside saying 'Dad there's four fellas out there stealing the tree'."

When Nuku went out to investigate he saw a truck parked up the road so he went back inside to grab his air rifle and head torch.

"I didn't know who they were and what weapons they had and I'm going to protect myself," said Nuku.

Nuku shot at the car, he says, to mark the ute so he could identify who owned it.

"I knew exactly where I'm shooting, there was no intention to hit anyone, it was just my intention to mark the ute."

Nuku said there were three men in the car: Kevin, Blake and Beauden Barrett himself. The Barretts reject that categorically: they say Beauden was in Wellington that night.

In a statement, Kevin Barrett disputed Nuku's version of events.

"The facts are that the tree was a pine tree on public roadside council land and everyone remains extremely concerned that a firearm was discharged hitting the side of the vehicle narrowly missing the passenger."

Barrett said he called 111 as soon as he realised what had happened, "as no-one should be discharging a firearm toward any person".

"I am pleased that the matter is being handled by the courts as there is no justification for this type of behaviour."

Nuku says the first police officer to arrive at the scene was Opunake constable Kylie Brophy.

He later learnt that Brophy was related to the Barretts: the officer's mother, Beverley Anne Robinson (nee Brophy) is the partner of Robyn Barrett's father, Robert John Sinclair.

Nuku remains angry the Barretts were not charged with theft of the tree.

He said he would present evidence in court from the land owner showing a signed statement that he had planted the trees with the land owner's permission. Nuku says the case has divided the small coastal community of Pongarehu.

He has made a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) on January 18 alleging a conflict of interest.

The IPCA say they will await the outcome of the court case before looking at his claims.

In response, Central District commander superintendent Sue Schwalger said: "We note the complexities of policing small rural communities where everyone knows one another.

"To avoid any perceptions of a conflict, this case has been reassigned."

Nuku, who has previous convictions including assaulting police, aggravated robbery and causing grievous bodily harm, says he was offered diversion by Judge Allan Roberts, which would have resulted in him avoiding a conviction, if he pleaded guilty to the charge.

But he refused, saying he wanted to put have his case heard.

Legal experts raised questions about the way the case has been handled.

Defence lawyer Paul Keegan said diversion was a police initiative that was usually offered to first time offenders and for minor offences.

"It would be unusual, in my experience, for an offender involved in deliberate violence or where there is a history of violence or significant other offending to be offered diversion in these circumstances," Keegan said.

Grant Coward, a former head of the New Plymouth CIB whose career included 13 years in the armed offenders squad, said it would be unusual for one officer to be sent to a job where shots had been fired.

While Coward would not comment on the specific case he said police had to treat any incident where a firearm was involved very seriously and it would have been incredibly risky to send one officer into such a potentially dangerous situation.

"In my experience the armed offenders squad would have been called in and the area would have been cordoned off by police until contact could be made with the offender and the situation defused," Coward said.

"If there was only one officer available, they would be sitting well back and waiting for back up before taking any action."
The new Meridian Energy office building in Twizel.

Meridian Energy has declined to respond to an allegation its property manager called Twizel's medical centre ugly.

The electricity generator is at loggerheads with the Mackenzie District Council over the cladding of its new office on Mackenzie Dr.

Meridian Energy has refused to commit to installing costly cedar cladding on the building.

SUPPLIED/GRAEME BOND The Twizel Medical Centre.

Artist impressions presented to the council suggested the building would be clad in dark wood and not the lighter cladding Meridian ahs indicated in later drawings.

READ MORE:

* Letter of support spurs row

* Private talks an attempt to resolve cladding controversy

* Twizel Meridian building changes a breach of trust - Mayor

Council chief executive Wayne Barnett said on Friday a private workshop the council and Meridian representatives attended on Thursday was "positive and everyone gained new insights and an appreciation of the factors that have led to the current impasse".

ARTIST IMPRESSION Cedar cladding and a dark roof adorn the original artists' impression of Twizel's new Meridian Energy office building.

A Meridian spokeswoman said the workshop was "productive" for the company.

However, Cr Russell Armstrong said on Saturday he felt considerable tension at the workshop. He alleged Meridian's corporate property and procurement manager, John Langman, told the meeting the newly-opened Twizel Medical Centre was ugly.

Meridian spokeswoman Michelle Brooker said the company would not be commenting further on the workshop.

"We've made our statement on the meeting."

The $1.8 million medical centre received contributions from individuals, community organisations and businesses, including $250,000 in grants from Meridian.

The public was excluded from the workshop, which Barnett said resulted in Twizel Community Board chairman John Bishop and Cr James Leslie agreeing to work on a solution with Meridian representatives.

Armstrong claimed Bishop had expressed disappointment in Meridian's behaviour in relation to the building, which initially attracted public controversy because of its location on the "bowling green" on the corner of Mackenzie Dr and Market Place, which some locals believed was designated as a park.

"Meridian have let him down."

Bishop declined to comment on the workshop, but said his preference was for cedar cladding to be installed on the building's walls.



Armstrong has previously fallen out with Bishop over a letter Bishop wrote supporting Meridian's move to Twizel, which Armstrong said suggested community support for the building.

A Twizel Community Board meeting at 4pm on Monday at the Twizel Events Centre is the next chance for the public to be updated about the building.

Armstrong said he remained optimistic the building would be clad in cedar.

"I think they're going to be made to spend the money."

Meridian building timeline

August 23, 2014: Twizel residents oppose the building's location on the corner of MAckenzie Dr and Market Place at a public meeting

September 17, 2014: Mackenzie District Council votes to approve the sale of land fro the office building.

February 23, 2015: Groundworks for the building begin

November, 2015: Meridian confirms it is considering substituting cedar cladding for a cheaper alternative. Twizel Community Board members unanimously denounce the proposal.

December 8, 2015: Mayor Claire Barlow states Meridian's proposed design changes breach the community's trust.




SL on track for GSP Plus but a long way to go: EU Envoy By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

Sri Lanka has not yet made a formal application for the GSP Plus trade facility and there is still a lot that has to be done before it can be considered, said Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the European Union (EU) to Sri Lanka David Daly.

Similarly the country has made advances on governance, human rights and reconciliation, but there remains an awful lot to do in transforming the many excellent commitments made over the past few months to progress on the ground.

If you look at significant things like the commitments made in Geneva, the commitments made in the joint resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, which is a major step forward, there you see the sort of things we mean, he said in an interview with the Sunday Times.

This week, a Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights was inaugurated under the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission. The first meeting was held on Thursday.

Issues related to governance, rule of law and human rights have been sticking points in Sri Lankas pursuit of the GSP Plus facility.

The two sides had a discussion in some detail on a wide range of issues, Mr Daly said. The new Government came in with a very strong policy of improving governance, human rights issues and reconciliation, he pointed out. I think that greatly helped us to set up this new Working Group.

It was very important to establish this new meeting forum on important, sensitive issues and the quality of our discussions was very good, he said. We appreciate very much the preparation that went into it.

Mr Daly said, accountability, in the EUs view, was essential to upholding the whole question of the rule of law and to instilling confidence amongst all communities across Sri Lanka, within the justice system. He was responding to a question on how important an independent war crimes mechanism was to the EU.

Accountability is essential and mechanisms to ensure that are needed, and those mechanisms themselves should be credible, he continued. Otherwise, all of that breaks down.

There are extremely serious allegations out there in relation to aspects of the war, how it was conducted and so on. Its important that serious allegations are subjected to serious investigations because, otherwise the allegations wont go away.

The Working Group meeting this week was extremely helpful in the GSP Plus process, the Ambassador said. We had a good, open and frank discussion, he averred.

We received a lot of information, both orally and in writing. Our colleagues from Brussels need to go back and digest that, and they need to share it with other branches of services.

The flow of good news and progress needs to continue in Sri Lanka, he added. Its not possible to say at this stage, or, exactly at this moment it will happen, he said referring to the granting of the GSP Plus.

There are 27 international conventions that are critical for the GSP Plus. Continued progress is needed across the board on those conventions. This is the most important thing.

It must also be remembered that GSP Plus is a trade mechanism, he explained. It is an additional trade benefit that the EU gives to developing countries.

Anything that happens in the trade world has to comply with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and has to be justified afterwards to the WTO, he said. The EU itself cannot do just whatever it likes. We are subject to international law on trade and must comply with it.

Amongst other implications of that are, we must do a very serious and very objective assessment of the situation in any country that is applying for GSP Plus, he asserted.

Secondly, the UN system plays a very important role. Every time there is a new international convention, there is a treaty monitoring body that is established. This means there is somebody internationally responsible assessing whether parties to the convention are complying with it. We are obliged to take those things into account. This means there is a very important role played by the UN and the UN system.

A practical consideration that comes from this is, next month, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid (bin Raad) will visit Sri Lanka, Mr Daly said. Obviously, the more that visit is positive on Sri Lanka, the more helpful that is also for the GSP Plus process.

One of the things discussed at the Working Group meeting was also that Sri Lanka has been open to inviting, and has a series of standing invitations, to Special Rapporteurs from the UN system to come and look at various issues. Those visits and their reports are very, very important for the GSP Plus as well as anything else, he held.

When a formal application is received, the European Commission, together with the External Action Service (the EU diplomatic service), has a legal obligation to make a report and assessment of the application within six months. If our assessment is positive, then that becomes a proposal both to the 28 Governments of the member States in the Council and also to the European parliament, he elaborated.

Obviously, a successful application is one that is very well prepared in advance, where there is an awful lot of joint preparation done. That makes it easier at the next stages because we become the advocates, because it then becomes our proposal to the member States.

It was crucial, therefore, for Sri Lanka to get the timing right when making a formal application for the GSP Plus. That formal clock of six months hasnt started yet, the Ambassador said.

Its very important to get that timing right because six months is a legal obligation. Once you start the clock, you cant stop it. You need to make sure things look in good shape.

The creation of the Working Group on Governance, Human Rights and Reconciliation is part of preparatory work, and of continuing dialogue.

On the prohibition of fish exports from Sri Lanka to the EU on allegations of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, Ambassador Daly said, there are still a number of things that need to be done before the ban could be lifted.

We follow very closely, particularly the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs (part of the European Commission) with the Department of Aquatic Resources and Fisheries that these things are being done, he explained.

All of that is to see at what point internal steps can be taken in relation to the ban. We cant say yet exactly when things will happen because it depends on the ongoing progress being maintained. But we are clearly in a new situation in that we recognize a lot of progress has been made by Sri Lanka in the course of the last year.

We need to ensure that that progress is sustainable and is consolidated and to see that there are number of other things that need to fall into place, he said. So its going in a very good direction.
Searchers looking for a teenage boy who was swept off the rocks in Tauranga on Saturday night have found a body.

The Stuff.co.nz website have reported the missing boy is Hamish Rieger, 17. The youngster was sitting on rocks with friends, was washed into the sea by a large wave about 7pm and hasnt been seen.
Potter, artist, conservationist and railway enthusiast Barry Brickell has died.

One of New Zealands most endearing and enduring potters, he was also the owner of the popular Driving Creek Railway, north of Coromandel town.
It was a discreet little inking. Eighty dollars  pretty cheap. Got it done in Wellington.

A tiny swallow etched indelibly into an otherwise perfect alabaster complexion of her wrist, a salute to her grandfather the sailor.

I always sketched birds and in particular swallows because to me they signified coming home. To sailors, like my grandfather, swallows indicated they were near landfall.

Thats Sarah. Not her real name, but we will call her Sarah for reasons which will become apparent.

My mum said she liked my tattoo. I knew she was lying. My dad didnt say anything.

A more crucial arbiter on the merits of Sarahs tattoo was a prospective employer, an airline. The job I am going for, cabin crew, doesnt allow visible tattoos. Its stipulated in the rules of employment.

So regardless of the personal significance of this tattoo, of her deep attachment to her grandfather, the tiny swallow became a game breaker, a career impediment.

I am not ashamed of it, says Sarah. It was just part of my life that has now gone. And I didnt have the foresight to see one day it might affect my employment opportunities.

But it has  and its a common story.

My clients will be sitting there with an interviewer glaring at some visible ink, says Sue Stewart of PharmaLight IPL/Laser Services. She lasers tattoos, painfully and expensively, to remove them. And she has a ready-made catchment of clients all over the central North Island.

Those clients feel their tattoos are the single biggest reason for them being unsuccessful when going for jobs.

Thats why Sarah wasnt prepared to compromise her job prospects.

I thought people would judge me on my personality rather than how I presented. But not so! You find out when you grow up.

And because the career was more important to Sarah than the tattoo, the swallow is now three sessions of laser treatment into its death throes. The removal is a lot more painful than the tattooing itself.

She has undergone four treatments to date. The most recent Sue did it twice, a deep treatment followed by a more superficial one, to get rid of it quicker. It was hideous.

The laser shatters the ink particles, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream and filtered by the kidney and liver.

Painful on the pocket too. Four sessions of $65 and one of $70 for the consultation. And this was a small tattoo.

I have no problems with tattoos. But it all depends on what you want to do with your life.

The swallow could have cost Sarah another job. She began working in a fine dining restaurant in Wellington. The manager told me they had issues with my tattoo. First they had to decide whether to employ me and then whether I should cover it.

But the bulk of Sues laser patients arent as young as Sarah.

Theyre middle-aged people who have done silly things when they were young. Theyre a bit ashamed and asking, Why the hell did I do this?

Like the Taumarunui mum who at 16 bought a tattoo kit and Indian ink and mutilated herself.

Thats what I am hearing, says Sue. Young people getting drunk and tattooing themselves. Waking up with hangovers and tattoos.

Now the Taumarunui mum doesnt have to worry about her daughter seeing her indiscretion as the tattoo has been lasered off.

Then there was the shame-faced guy with the words love and hate tattooed on his knuckles. He was depressed after breaking up with a girlfriend. He both loved her and hated her and took himself off to the tattooist. 

Its crazy stuff that makes you wonder why, why, why? Why did you do that to yourself?

Another of Sues clients got a Japanese script tattoo. She cant even remember what it means. And there was the Mongrel Mobster who had broken with the gang but whose affiliation, the notorious number 13, was etched on his face. Hes trying to turn things around and this is a start, she says.

Its rewarding work because you are making a big difference to peoples lives.

Sue sounds a warning as old as tattoos themselves: Think long and hard about tattoos because to come back from a bad decision can be painful and expensive.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Woman who headed nursing school in Vero Beach charged with fraud

She is accused of maintaining a fake nursing school for a year, including a graduation ceremony to give worthless diplomas to its defrauded graduates
Apple hires one of the leading virtual reality researchers in the United States in an effort to make a prominent presence in the scene, hinting at cars with 3D interfaces and gesture control in the future.

To keep up the pace with rival companies such as Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft and Samsung, the Cupertino brand employed Doug Bowman, who is a computer science professor and director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech with five years of experience under his belt.

According to the Financial Times, Bowman joined Apple after a "sabbatical from his post." His studies mainly involve the design of 3D user interface and the advantages of immersing in virtual environments. To further lay out his credentials, he is part of the 3D Interaction Group of the aforementioned state university, where he takes on the role of primary investigator.

"We participate in a worldwide community of scholars and researchers in VR, AR, and 3D UIs," the association says.

He has also won numerous industry awards (PDF) and a Microsoft HoloLens academic research grant back in Nov. 2015, where he along with Associate Professor Joseph Gabbard earned $100,000 and two Development Edition units of the untethered holographic computer.

With a rich experience in the fields of both virtual and augmented realities, Bowman is definitely an asset to Apple. However, both the virtual reality expert and the company haven't given out an official statement yet.

The technology in question is widely sought after in the automobile industry, where several top carmakers have started to implement controls and user interfaces based on gestures. More to the point, Apple has been displaying a strong interest in vehicles, including the much-rumored Project Titan.

To put two and two together, this recent development indicates that there's more or less a chance that the Cupertino brand is looking into producing a smart vehicle fitted with 3D interfaces and gesture controls.

One of the latest projects Bowman had a hand in is titled "Designing Effective Travel Techniques with the Leap," giving a glimpse of what he can bring to the table.

Now, Apple comes across as a secretive firm when it comes to adopting new technologies, revealing little or no public initiatives, but analysts thought it was unlikely for the company to not take part in the growing virtual reality sector.

"I'd wager that there is a substantial team within Apple figuring out how the company will play a role in this technology," Ben Wood, an analyst at CSS Insight, says.

To serve as more evidence to the fact, Apple purchased PrimeSense, a company that's known to have played a part in Microsoft's Kinect motion device, back in 2013 and acquired the German augmented reality startup Metaio last year. To top them off, the company also bought Faceshift, the motion capture team team behind the animated avatars of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

It appears that Apple has set its eye on yet another field of technology, integrating 3D and gesture-based interfaces with automobiles. It's safe to assume that with Bowman, the company will be able to catch up  assuming that its research is left behind  or take a position in the frontlines of the industry.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
BBC announced on Jan. 23 that "Doctor Who" Executive Producer and writer Steven Moffat is stepping down after its 10th season to make way for new showrunner, Chris Chibnall. It also announced that, instead of the usual fall screening of the much-beloved franchise, BBC will premiere the full season 10 in the spring of 2017 with fans only having a "Doctor Who" Christmas Special to look forward to in 2016.

BBC definitely pulled the rug from under the feet of Whovians around the world- twice. Steven Moffat has been with the popular science-fiction series since series five when David Tennant's Tenth Doctor regenerated to the more quirky Eleventh Doctor in the person of Matt Smith. He also penned some of the most memorable episodes as well as introduced strong characters so it's definitely sad to see him leave the Time And Relative Dimension in Space (T.A.R.D.I.S.) and hand over the piloting to someone else.

That's not to say Chibnall's work would not compare. After all, he did brilliant work in "Broadchurch," another Tennant-led series, this time focusing on a murder mystery. The episodes he wrote during Smith's time as the Doctor were also brilliant and heart-wrenching considering he was the one who wrote Rory Williams' death and wrote him out of history by being absorbed by the crack. Then again, he also wrote the little bit below after the weeping angels took both Rory and Amy away, which was nice because nobody was prepared for that kind of exit.



"Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I'm just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out. but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future," Moffat said about his exit.

"Doctor Who is the ultimate BBC programme... So it's a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama," Chibnall expressed. He also noted that he heard Moffat's plans for season 10 and he's sure that he's going out with a bang.

Season 10 will materialize in spring 2017.

Photo: Gage Skidmore | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Are you a tall person looking for a better half who has the same towering presence? It may be in your genes.

It is not the most romantic idea around, but scientists found that mate choice is influenced partly by genes that also govern ones physical height.

The research  an investigation of more than 13,000 white-British heterosexual couples genotypes  discovered that height-determining genes also influence ones choice of partner based on height, which may explain why people choose a mate of a similar or close-enough vertical measurement.

The team, probing both physical traits and underlying genetic variations in mate selection, found that genes drive attraction for a partner of similar height, such as a tall man dating a tall woman.

We found that 89 percent of the genetic variation affecting individual preferences for height and one's own height are shared, explained lead study author Albert Tenesa of the University of Edinburgh in a press release.

Tenesa added that the results indicated an innate preference for a romantic partner of similar height.

The team used a partners height genes to estimate the height of a chosen partner, with 13 percent accuracy. Observed physical appearance  particularly height  toppled genetic or social structures of a given population in explaining the height similarity between partners.

What this meant: genotype determined both phenotype and preference for a partner.

[It] is more than just a chance event, added the researchers, highlighting the mating pattern called assortative mating.

Mate selection driven by height holds crucial biological and social consequences. Assortative mating, for instance, influences the arrangement of DNA variation in the genome, also potentially affecting other human characteristics and even susceptibility to disease.

A quantitative human trait, height is determined by the interrelationship of hereditary and environmental factors. While previous studies have noticed height as a key trait in the selection of a significant other, there has been nothing much to explain why most tend to be attracted to someone of a similar height.

The findings were published in the journal Genome Biology.

Photo: Pedro Ribeiro Simoes | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the product recall of over 71,000 Britax infant car seats. The notice said the infant car seat's carry handle could "crack and break" and cause the seat to unexpectedly fall leading to injuries.

The affected Britax products include B-Safe 35 and B-Safe 35 Elite models that were produced from Oct.1, 2014 to July 1, 2015. The recalled products can be used as both rear-facing only baby car seat and as a carrier.

The Britax logo can be found on the carry handle grip and on both sides of the shell. It has a black shell and base and an awning. The car seat/carrier are sold in several color options.

The product's model number and manufacturing date can be found on the back of the carrier shell. If you are unsure if your product is affected, head to the Britax website and log in the model number. See affected models below:

B-Safe 35: E9LU65M, E9LU65P, E9LU63F, E9LU66R, E9LS63F, EXLU65M

B-Safe 35 Elite: E9LS55T, E9LS56P, E9LS55U, E9LS66C, E9LS65U

B-Safe 35 Travel System: S914900, S915400, S915200, S921900, S01635200

The Britax products were sold at various retailers including buybuy BABY, Target, Babies R Us, Diapers.com and Amazon.com. Prices range from $210 to $250.

According to CPSC, Britax received 74 reports where handles on the said products developed cracks and fractures during use. In one case, the carrier fell and the infant onboard received a bump on the head.

"It is safe for consumers to continue to use their car seat when secured in a vehicle or on a stroller. The car seat should not be lifted or carried by the carry handle until the remedy kit has been installed," wrote Britax on the company website, stressing that car seat/carrier should not be carried by the handle grip until the "remedy kit" can be installed.

But that's not all. The company is also recalling several stroller models due to a choking hazard. The arm bar's foam padding can crumble into small fragments when bitten by an infant. The CPSC said there are already 117 documented reports of infants biting into the foam padding, which includes five incidents of gagging and choking on the foam fragments.

Affected products include B-Ready replacement top seats and B-Ready strollers which are separately sold. These affected items were produced between April 2010 and December 2012. An estimated 49,000 and 11,000 products were sold in the U.S. and Canada.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As if there isnt an abundance of zany (yet much-anticipated) fast food ideas yet, McDonalds introduces another novelty item on its menu: chocolate-drizzled McDonalds fries, which are expected to hit the chains Japan stores on Jan. 26.

Called McChocolate Potatoes, the fries will be bathed in milk and white chocolate for a sweet-and-salty treat that stays in the middle ground between side dish and dessert.

Reports revealed that the chocolate-covered fries may be added in regular meals for an additional 60 yen or 51 cents, or ordered a la carte for 330 yen or $2.74.

The fries are available only for a limited time, and this may be good or bad news depending on ones inclination to order them.

McDonalds highlighted in a press release that the McChoco Potatoes can be enjoyed for various occasions as a dessert fare. The combination creates a wonderful salty and sweet harmonious taste, the release stated.

The global fast food chain is regularly testing new products in the Japanese market, gauging if they can be expanded out to stores around the world. McDonalds said it has no plans yet to bring the chocolate-covered fries to the United States.

Other side items have made their debut on its menu, including mozzarella sticks, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes. Local favorites are also incorporated in its lineups, including Canadas lobster rolls and the McCrab sandwich on the East coasts Delmarva peninsula.

There have been notable launches, including the following:

Modern China Burger , a gray-bun variety for Halloween

McRice burger in grains-loving Philippines

Taro pie in China, a purple-hued alternative to the classic apple pie

McGazpacho in Spain for customers fix of the classic cold tomato soup

Mashed potato burger released in 2012 in Japan

Bubur Ayam , a classic Asian rice dish, for the Malaysian market

Nurnburger, a marriage of two German favorites: burgers and Bratwurst

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider is estimated to fetch more than $30 million at an auction.

The car left the factory in 1957 and was fitted with a body made by Scaglietti. At that time, the Ferrari included a 3.8-liter V12 Tipo 140 engine (315 S) and produced about 360 horsepower.

In March 1957, the car was driven by Maurice Trintignant and Peter Collins in the Sebring 12 Hours, where it finished sixth.

After the race, the car returned to the factory and was upgraded to 335 S spec. The engine was upgraded to 4.1 liters and it produced nearly 400 horsepower, enabling it to reach speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour).

In May 1957, the car was driven by Wolfgang von Trips in the Mille Miglia and finished at second place. Mike Hawthorn, the world F1 champion in 1958, also drove the car in the 24 Heures du Mans, setting the first lap record in the history of the event of over 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour).

The car has appeared in many other prestigious car races including the Venezuela Grand Prix and Swedish Grand Prix in 1957.

In January 1958, the car was sold to a New York-based Ferrari importer named Luigi Chinetti. In 1970, the car was brought to France where it was sold to Ferrari collector Pierre Bardinon. Bardinon's is one of the most notable Ferrari collections in the world.

Since then the car has been a part of the Bardinon Ferrari collection, where it received regular maintenance.

The car will now go on an auction in Paris on Feb. 5, where it is expected to fetch millions of dollars.

"Following the sale of the Baillon Collection and the world record for a car sold at auction this year with the Ferrari 250 California Spider (sold for 16,3 M / 18,5 M$), in its Retromobile sale, Artcurial Motorcars will present in the 2016 official Salon Retromobile sale, one of the most iconic cars in the history of motor racing : the 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti, chassis 0674 from the Pierre Bardinon collection," says Artcurial.

The auction house estimates that the car may sell for $30 million to $34 million. The estimated auction value of the Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti is very high but it will not be the highest price paid for a car in an auction.

In 2014, a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa was sold for about $40 million and a 250 GTO fetched $38 million. In 2013, Fangio's Mercedes W196 Silver Arrow was sold for around $30 million.

However, if the car is sold at more than $30 million then it will become one of the handful cars to be sold for over $20 million. The auction house suggests that the car may even fetch more than the estimated value.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple is rumored to be working on new models of the Apple Watch, which the company may launch in March 2016. The smartwatch maker may also debut Apple Watch 2 this fall.

Apple announced its first smartwatch - the Apple Watch - in September 2014 and the wearable was released in April 2015.

Owners can pair the Apple Watch with their iPhone to get alerts and notifications.

"With Apple Watch, we've developed multiple technologies and an entirely new user interface specifically for a device that's designed to be worn. It blurs the boundary between physical object and user interface," said Jony Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design. "We've created an entire range of products that enable unparalleled personalization."

The Apple Watch is available in 38 mm and 42 mm models. Customers can also pick a leather or stainless steel strap that best suits their personal taste.

According to a report, Apple is planning to launch more Apple Watch models in March this year, and to also bring more color bands for the smartwatch.

"Apple plans to announce new Apple Watch models in March. The new lineup will be similar to the September 2015 Apple Watch revision, bringing a series of new band color options to the Apple Watch lineup," says the report. "We are also told that entirely new bands made out of new materials are in development in addition to partnerships with firms beyond Hermes."

The report indicates that it is unlikely that the new models of the Apple Watch that will be launched in March will see any hardware changes. However, the company plans to officially announce the release of WatchOS 2.2 update.

Moreover, Apple is also rumored to be working on the second-generation Apple Watch, which the company plans to launch in September 2016. The Apple Watch 2 may have a new design and include improved hardware.

Apple has sold millions of Apple Watch since its launch, but the company has not revealed the official sales numbers of the smartwatch. However, according to another report Apple has sold more than 7 million units of the Apple Watch since launch.

The International Data Corporation has estimated that smartwatches shipments in 2016 may reach 34.3 million units. Smartwatches shipment may reach more than 88.3 million units by 2019. IDC also estimates that Apple smartwatches will lead in the market.

"Apple's watchOS will lead the smartwatch market throughout our forecast, with a loyal fanbase of Apple product owners and a rapidly growing application selection, including both native apps and Watch-designed apps," said IDC.

The Apple Watch has undoubtedly attracted many wearable fans. It remains to be seen if the new Apple Watch models rumored to be introduced in March and the Apple Watch 2 in September will attract more customers to the Apple wearable.

Photo: Yasunobu Ikeda | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus continue to spread across Central and South America, as well as in the Caribbean, health experts predict that it is just a matter of time before the disease spreads within the U.S.

Odds Of Zika Transmission In The U.S.

In a study published in the journal The Lancet on Jan. 14, researchers who conducted a study on how the Zika virus from Brazil would spread internationally found a high likelihood of the virus being transmitted to the U.S.

"In Brazil, we identified airports within 50 km of areas conducive to year-round Zika virus transmission," the researchers wrote in their study. "Traveller volumes were greatest to the USA (2,767,337), Argentina (1,314,694), Chile (614,687), Italy (419,955), Portugal (411,407), and France (404,525)."

How Zika Will Spread

Travelers who go to Zika-affected countries could bring the virus to the U.S, where this could be transmitted to mosquitoes that feed on the blood of those infected. The virus-carrying mosquitoes would then pass along the virus when they feed on another person.

"With the recent outbreaks in the Pacific Islands and South America, the number of Zika cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States will likely increase," the CDC said. "These imported cases may result in local spread of the virus in some areas of the United States."

Infection contracted after travelling to South America has already been reported in the U.S. The Hawaii State Health Department reported last week of a newborn who tested positive for past Zika infection. The baby's mother lived in Brazil in May 2015 and likely passed the virus to her child.

Other cases in Texas, Illinois and Florida also involved individuals who travelled to countries where Zika was endemic.

Dawn Wesson, from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said that there's a good chance that the Zika virus will spread locally this coming summer, based on the pattern observed with other mosquito-borne virus, the chikungunya.

What Happens If Zika Virus Becomes Widespread

Brazil, which currently battles with the virus, offers hints on what could happen if the Zika virus becomes prevalent in the U.S.

Between 2010 and 2014, the South American country only had about 156 cases of babies who were born with microcephaly per year. The congenital condition is marked by abnormal smallness of the head and incomplete brain development.

With the increased incidence of Zika, which was once thought of as a generally harmless illness, the number of newborns with the condition jumped to over 3,000.

To date, microcephaly occurs in two babies per 10,000 live births to about 12 babies per 10,000 live births in the U.S., but these numbers could jump significantly with increased incidence Zika as it is being suspected to cause the birth defect.

With a possible link between the mosquito-borne virus and microcephaly, an outbreak could likely prompt an advisory for women to postpone pregnancy just as Brazilian doctors advise women to avoid getting pregnant.

Experts said that should Zika follows the same migratory patterns as those of other mosquito-borne viruses such as chikungunya and dengue, Hawaii, Florida and Texas could be at risk of an outbreak in the future.

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A species of desert beetle in southern Africa may hold the key to understanding how car windshields and airplane parts can be kept from freezing in low temperatures.

In a study featured in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Virginia Tech examined how insects known as Namib Desert beetles (Stenocara gracilipes), or fogstand beetles, are able to thrive in one of the hottest place on Earth by collecting airborne water.

They discovered that the shell of the beetle has ridges that can collect moisture, which form into water droplets. The sides of their shell, on the other hand, serve as channels that help lead the water directly into the mouths of the insects.

The researchers took inspiration from the concept in their development of a special pattern that can control frost. They used a chemical treatment process known as photolithography to recreate the water-absorbing properties of the Namib Desert beetle's shell on a smooth, water-repelling surface.

In nature, frost typically forms when small droplets of water freeze and become connected with other droplets nearby. If these frozen droplets are kept from connecting and confined to only a small area, it will help prevent frost from forming.

Jonathan Boreyko, one of the authors of the study, said that fluids shift from high pressure to low pressure. He is also an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics at Virginia Tech.

Boreyko explained that ice serves as a form of humidity sink because its vapor pressure tends to be lower than the vapor pressure of water. This difference in pressure is what causes ice to grow.

If their beetle-inspired pattern is exposed to the same varying levels of pressures, it would result in the creation of a dry zone instead of frost.

In their test, Boreyko and his colleagues were able to create a single dry zone, which surrounded a piece of ice.

He said that the dew drops tended to form in areas where there are hydrophilic dots. Spacing the dots far away from each other prevented a frozen dew drop from bridging to others. These isolated drops eventually evaporated, causing a dry zone to form around the ice.

The researchers tested their new anti-frost technology on a small scale at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. However, they hope that it could also be tested at an industrial scale in future experiments.

The beetle-inspired technology can be used to prevent wind turbines and airplane wings from freezing in cold weather. This would save companies a lot of time and money from having to use large amounts of chemicals just to defrost their equipment.

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There may be a way to save the endangered population of North Atlantic right whales, scientists said.

North Atlantic right whales are baleen whales - the largest animals on Earth - that grow up to 50 feet and weigh up to 70 tons. Although they are enormous, right whales only feed on zooplankton, tiny species that wander about the ocean.

Right whales inhabit the Atlantic Ocean, and scientists said the animals' distribution depends on the distribution of their prey.

Unfortunately, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said there are only less than 500 individual right whales all over the world due to the effects of large-scale commercial fishing.

In April last year, the NOAA advised recreational boaters to keep their distance from a school of right whales to ensure the animals' safety, or else, boaters will be subjected to a hefty amount of fines. North Atlantic right whales are protected under the United States Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Now, NOAA scientists developed a facial recognition software for whales that could perhaps be a key in saving one of the planet's most endangered species.

How Facial Recognition May Save Right Whales

Researchers at the NOAA first set up a competition to better identify and distinguish whales.

The Right Whale Recognition contest, which was arranged by marine biologist Christin Khan, drew as many contestants as the current known population of right whales, with 470 contestants among 364 teams. Khan said she was inspired by Facebook's use of facial recognition to identify people in photos.

The winning entry uses a facial recognition algorithm to distinguish whales 87 percent of the time. The software identifies whales by the patterns on their heads. It makes use of artificial intelligence to align, localize and finally identify right whales from aerial photographs.

Developed by data science company deepsense.io, the facial recognition software could help save whales that have been caught in fishing nets. The algorithm allows scientists to report to disentanglement experts which whales have been trapped. At the same time, the algorithm would help marine biologists avoid performing mistaken biopsies on the same whale.

Most importantly, the software will save scientists countless hours spent trawling through images of whales, freeing up time to carry out actual research. Previously, the only source of locating and distinguishing whales was by using aerial survey flights. Cutbacks in funding have ended the flights in several places.

"Knowing how time-consuming post-flight processing can be, improved technologies to identify right whales quickly and accurately would be great progress," said research scientist Cynthia Taylor of the Sea to Shore Alliance.

Piotr Niedzwiedz, co-founder of deepsense.io, said it was very exciting for their Machine Learning Team to participate and then win the NOAA competition.

The solution they came up with helps solve a real-world problem and empowers marine biologists in their advocacies of protecting critically-endangered North Atlantic right whales, he said.

"The Right Whale Recognition challenge was a great opportunity to put our data scientists talents to the test and to demonstrate that deep-learning techniques ... can provide immense benefits in big data applications, said Niedzwiedz.

Meanwhile, Khan hopes to have the facial recognition software up and running by the next winter calving system.

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Not even local residents may recognize that the second largest lake in Bolivia used to flow where it did. In December 2015, Lake Poopo was officially declared as "dried up" because of global warming.

Unfortunately, scientists say that recovery may no longer be possible.

"This is a picture of the future of climate change," says German glaciologist Dirk Hoffman. Hoffman studies the role of rising temperatures from fossil fuel burning in the advanced melting of Bolivia's glaciers.

Scientists believe drought due to repetitive El Nino is the main cause of the natural disaster. They also think deviations from the lake's tributaries are contributing factors. Aside from some agricultural purposes, Poopo's tributaries or freshwater streams that feed from the lake are mostly used for mining.

El Nino has plagued the nation for a millenia. Bolivia's delicate ecosystem is also said to have undergone extraordinary stress over the past 30 years. The country has experienced a rise in temperatures by about one degree Celsius.

One great effect of the lake's fate is the significant letdown in the livelihood of the local residents who have tucked away their fishing nets and other gear. Over 100 families have sold their llamas, alpaca and sheep. In the past three years, residents have evacuated from the previous lakeside village, leaving only half of its population, mostly the elderly.

The earliest recorded history of the lake dates back to only a century. Record keepers are not able to acquire reliable data about the number of people relegated by its dissipation. The office of the governor says 3,250 people at the minimum have received humanitarian help.

Gov. Victor Hugo Vasquez estimates that the lake has declined to a mere two percent of its former water level. The maximum depth of water recorded in Lake Poopo was at 16 feet or 5 meters.

Animal presence was also affected as field biologists say about 75 bird species have disappeared from the lake.

The government has already asked the European Union for $140 million to fix water treatments plants, among others. Critics, however, do not feel good about this. "I don't think we'll be seeing the azure mirror of Poopo again," said Milton Perez, a Universidad Tecnica researcher. "I think we've lost it."

In December 2015, Vasques placed the province under a state of calamity when Lake Poopo almost completely dried up. The lake once covered about 1,780 square miles of land, while Lake Titicaca, the largest in Bolivia, measures about 3,200 square miles.

NASA's Earth Observatory says this is not the first time that Lake Poopo has dried up. The lake also evaporated in 1994, but it took years before the water returned and livelihood recovered.

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From Microsoft's Bill Gates to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, acts of philanthropy from prominent billionaires are significantly shaping the world one donation at a time.

Professor Jeffrey Henig, who teaches political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, recently co-authored a book that describes how powerful organizations and influential individuals use donations to advance policies they support.

Entitled "The New Education Philanthropy: Politics, Policy and Reform," the book talks about the measures to improve K-12 in the United States, which includes the movement to break large schools in New York City into smaller ones, the expansion of charter schools, and the push to teach computer science as part of public school curriculum.

Professor Henig mentions that although contributions from big donors are only a fraction of New York City's funding for education, they still have a huge impact on public school policy.

The tension is clear for politicians, experts said. As more funding is welcomed to support schools, policy-makers are also increasing the risk of allowing others to influence their agendas.

Why Education Philanthropy Is Important

Experts said the education sector is a famous "graveyard" of philanthropists, especially because of its size. Across the country, K-12 accounts to about $600 billion of national funding.

The influence of philanthropy grew under former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's regime. At the time, the Bloomberg administration courted big donors as it pushed policy changes which triggered backlash from many parent groups and teachers unions.

Current NYC mayor Bill de Blasio is facing a different set of issues. His policies appeal to organizations that the Bloomberg administration alienated, but he's having difficulty raising money for the nonprofit organization called Fund for Public Schools, which was created by Bloomberg to attract private donors.

Henig says that although much of the funding for K-12 in the U.S. still comes through tax revenues and the public sector, the latter has been squeezed in previous years and has become resistant to tax increases.

"Local leaders -- whether they're progressive leaders like de Blasio or corporate, Republican-style like Bloomberg -- find that philanthropic support is an important source of discretionary funds," says Henig.

These funds are more flexible than public funds, Henig says. They can be targeted faster in the directions of new priorities or support, and are less subject to several rules about public control and transparency than publicly-raised revenues.

The New Education Philanthropy

The foundation and charitable community is huge and diverse. Henig says many of the initiatives that the community has undertaken have positively supplemented public dollars or nurtured innovations that public leaders and other communities have embraced.

"I would not be among those who would argue that philanthropy in education is in itself a threat," he says. "I think it's something to be welcomed."

However, Henig says he and fellow educator and scholar Rick Hess are concerned about a concept called "new education philanthropy."

Henig also shed light on the tendency of big donors to be more deliberate in their use of money to influence policy and to use philanthropy to fund research intended to support their vision.

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As Google is catching up to the virtual reality space race, its latest plethora of VR job postings suggest that the multinational tech company is looking to develop new consumer VR hardware which will be produced at a large scale.

Just weeks ago, Google appointed its former VP for product management Clay Bavor as the head of its new virtual reality division. Bavor's stint as the new VR division head is expected to improve the company's consumer VR devices.

So far, the company's VR products are limited to the Google Cardboard, the aptly named cardboard VR headset.

Google Cardboard allows users to experience basic virtual reality with a rudimentary algorithm and cheap headsets attachable to smartphones. In fact, the $20 VR device was recently used to help save a baby's life.

The tech company is now planning to create new VR devices that act more than just the bare bones for users.

The job postings hint a variety of Google's future plans for its VR division. The advert for a Hardware Engineering Technical Lead Manager details a position that will lead a team in developing consumer electronic devices while leading a system integration of highly-constrained, battery powered and high-performance VR hardware.

The Hardware Engineering Technical Lead Manager will be responsible for the consumer hardware products, leading the execution and design of Google's product portfolio. The position also entails building multiple consumer electronic devices and putting together the team that will scale with the company's product offering.

Meanwhile, Google is also looking to hire a PCB Layout Engineer for VR. The person will be responsible for sustaining and developing the company's actual products, while discussing the team's overall goals.

Google currently has plenty of software and hardware-focused positions centered on its virtual reality efforts. It's important to note that all of Google's recent steps fall in alignment to the company's massive investment to Magic Leap.

Magic Leap, an augmented reality startup in the United States, has not publicly disclosed its projects, but Google has shown an interest in its technologies. Google supported Magic Leap's $542 million Series B in October 2014.

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The field of robotics is getting more and more sophisticated. With further advances in technology, there seems to be no limit as to what robots can do. Now, experts say robots may soon be able to read minds and launch war against humans.

Robots Reading Minds

By the year 2030, experts predict that gadgets such as smartphones and tablets may be able to analyze the brain activity of humans to determine what they are thinking.

Such technology will be used initially as a security measure as a kind of "pass thought," wherein the user will think of a particular song or thought the device must recognize before it unlocks itself. Cool.

Duke University professor Nita Farahany says such a security tool may be highly effective, safe and nearly impossible to decode.

"Beyond two-factor idenitification... is using neural signatures - 'pass thoughts'," says Farahany. She adds that people may use songs and other thoughts then wear an EEG device, which has a neural signature.

Someday, people may walk around wearing EEG devices, sharing their innermost thoughts and brain activities. Mental health diagnoses can even be shared with computers and other gadgets.

Privacy For Thoughts

A main concern raised about pass thoughts is the issue of privacy.

While the technology may sound rad, experts are not 100 percent keen about the idea. In the recently concluded World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, experts noted that such technology may attract hackers.

Not all people who will be able to access the personalized data have good, clean intentions. When this becomes a reality, what are humans left to do in that kind of world?

Robots Vs. Humans

In the future, experts may also develop so-called "killer robots," which will serve as fully autonomous weapons, says Kenneth Roth from the Human Rights Watch.

He warns that the absence of human decision-making in the face of a chaotic battlefield could result in war.

For computer science professor Stuart Russell from the University of California Berkeley, certain situations require sound judgements from humans, not machines. If robots will lead the way, the average life-span of human soldiers may only last for about 10 seconds.

While humans do not want to eliminate technology, they have to be careful, says Roth. Sometimes, there are some advancements better left unopened.

Photo: Ryan Somma | Flickr

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More than six months after the first confirmed case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Thailand, health officials in the country have confirmed on Sunday, Jan. 24, its second case of the virus.

The country's Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said that the MERS virus was detected in a 71-year-old Omani man who was travelling to Bangkok on Jan. 22.

The patient is being quarantined at the Department of Disease Control's Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute. His condition is stable, and he is on a respiratory machine.

The Disease Control Department is currently in search of 37 other people who had direct contact with the Omani man. These include 13 Thais - a taxi driver, the medical staff and the hotel staff - who will have to be monitored for any signs of possible infection for at least two weeks.

The health minister said the Omani's children are also being quarantined at the institute.

The first confirmed case of MERS in Thailand was reported in June last year. The virus was detected in a 75-year-old businessman from Oman who travelled to Thailand. The patient was later treated, declared MERS-free, and was given permission to leave Thailand. The disease did not spread to others, officials said.

The MERS virus first broke out in Saudi Arabia about four years ago. The virus, a member of the coronaviruses that triggered the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in China in 2003, has infected more than 1,000 people as of June 2015.

Aside from Thailand, South Korea had reported a MERS outbreak in May last year. The virus was first detected in a 68-year-old man who had been to Bahrain, passed through Qatar and travelled back to South Korea. He was treated for cough and high fever.

Weeks after, South Korea had to suspend classes due to the MERS outbreak. The country held the record for the biggest MERS outbreak with 186 people infected, 36 dead and more than 6,700 quarantined.

On July 28, South Korea announced that the MERS outbreak had finally ended in the country after two months.

The symptoms for MERS include cough, fever, and shortness of breath. Some exhibit gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and nausea, experts said. Many of those who succumbed to the MERS virus were already suffering from medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer, chronic heart disease, chronic lung disease and chronic kidney disease.

Photo : NIAID | Flickr

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Outside the Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha, there is a 200-square-foot slab of concrete that appears to be ordinary. Snowflakes begin to descend upon the Nebraskan city's cold ground on a chilly afternoon.

The snow gathers on the grass surrounding the chunk of concrete, initially clinging to the surface. But as time passes and the snow starts to melt, the wedge of concrete exhibits its secret: like guitars, stoves and razors, it turns electric.

Designed by civil engineering Professor Chris Tuan of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the concrete isn't as high-tech as it sounds.

Tuan and his colleagues just added steel shavings and carbon particles into the concrete mixture, applying some electric force.

These ingredients comprise just 20 percent of Tuan's standard concrete mixture, but they charge enough electricity to melt snow and ice in the worst winter storms while still being safe to the touch. Scientists say it's particularly safe to bystanders and commuters.

Just in time, too, as winter storm Jonas dumps more than 30 inches of snow over Boston, New York City, and Washington, DC during the weekend.

The Concrete's Special De-icing Performance

The UNL research team will be demonstrating the special concrete's de-icing performance to the Federal Aviation Administration in a testing phase that will end in March.

If the FAA finds the results satisfying, Tuan said it will consider stepping up the tests by integrating the tech into a tarmac of a major airport in the United States.

"To my surprise, they don't want to use it for the runways," said Tuan.

The professor said the FAA needs the tarmac around the gated areas to be free of snow, because many carts have to be unloaded. Food service, luggage service, fuel service and trash service all have to get into those gated areas, he said.

"They said that if we can heat that kind of tarmac, then there would be (far fewer) weather-related delays," said Tuan. "We're very optimistic."

The Roca Spur Bridge

Tuan and his team have been testing the concrete on a particular bridge that is about 15 miles near Lincoln since 2002.

The state's Department of Roads, together with Tuan's team, transformed the 150-foot Roca Spur Bridge into the world's first bridge to use conductive concrete.

Inserted with 52 slabs of conductive concrete that have de-iced the bridge's surface for 12 years now, the Roca Spur Bridge is an example of the kind of site that Tuan envisions for the special concrete.

The professor said bridges are always the first to freeze up in winter because they're exposed to elements on the top and the bottom. He said it was not cost-effective to build roadways using the conductive concrete, but it can be used at locations where ice or potholes are always present.

The formation of potholes come from the liberal use of de-icing chemicals and salt that corrode concrete, as well as groundwater contamination that has accumulated over time.

The conductive concrete is a more appealing alternative because of its low maintenance and operating cost, Tuan said.

Scientists estimate that the power needed to de-ice the Roca Spur Bridge within a three-day winter storm may cost about $250, which is definitely less than a truckload of chemicals.

Tuan added that the special concrete could also be helpful for high-traffic intersections, driveways, sidewalks and high-exit ramps.

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Dutch Consumer Group files lawsuit against Samsung for failing to provide updates its Android smartphones

The Consumentenbond (Dutch Consumers Association) filed a lawsuit against the South Korean smartphone manufacturer, Samsung for not providing enough information about software updates, security vulnerabilities, or the updates themselves.

The Consumentenbond is a Dutch association that has almost half a million members. It was formed based on the commitment of upholding and improving the rights of every Dutch consumer, protecting these rights whenever they are at risk.

According to the agency, a recent survey in the Netherlands indicated that 82% of the Samsung phones examined had not been provided with the latest Android version in the two years after being introduced. The said failure in providing the latest update leaves the devices vulnerable to issues on security and others, the agency added.

Therefore, the consumer group has accused Samsung of unfair trade practices.

Bart Combee, director of the Consumentenbond (the Dutch Consumers Association), which has over 500,000 members, explained: On buying a Samsung Android device, consumers are given inadequate information about how long they will continue to receive software updates. The Consumentenbond is demanding that Samsung provide its customers with clear and unambiguous information about this. Samsung moreover provides insufficient information about critical security vulnerabilities, such as Stagefright, in its Android phones. Finally, the Consumentenbond is demanding that Samsung actually provide its smartphones with updates.

He added that his agency is demanding that the South Korean mobile giant be more transparent on how long a smartphone will be supported and provide Samsung mobile users a timeframe for when consumers can expect an update.

Moreover, he said that Samsung provides insufficient information about critical security vulnerabilities, such as Stagefright, in its Android phones. Lastly, the agency demands that Samsung should provide regular updates to its handsets that fix significant issues on a devices security and performance.

Samsung is famously known for not being able to release Android updates as soon as they become available. In August 2015, Samsung announced to roll out Googles monthly OS security updates following the revelation of Androids massive Stagefright vulnerability. The company released the list of devices that were expected to receive the upgrade. Apparently, only its newest devices were on the list, and not every Galaxy phone and tablet currently in use, Neowin reported.

Samsung has 80 percent of the smartphone market share in the Netherlands. While the lawsuit is only targeting Korean OEM, the agency has also acknowledged the fact that any new laws enforced after the lawsuit would be applied to all smartphone manufacturers in the country.

The Consumentenbond is focusing on Samsung first because Samsung is the undisputed market leader in Android phones in the Netherlands, said the agency. However, other manufacturers are also failing to provide proper updates for their devices.

It remains to be seen whether Samsung will eventually be forced to comply with any demands regarding smartphone support remains to be determined, and if the agency can get the desired results following its failed talks with the OEM in December.

When asked about the action, a Samsung spokesperson stated, At Samsung, we understand that our success depends on consumers trust in us, and the products and services that we provide. That is why we have made a number of commitments in recent months to better inform consumers about the status of security issues, and the measures we are taking to address those issues. Data security is a top priority and we work hard every day to ensure that the devices we sell and the information contained on those devices are is safeguarded.
Hip implants which have left thousands of British people in pain were manufactured incorrectly at a factory in Yorkshire, The Telegraph can reveal.

One of the worlds largest hip replacement firms, DePuy, has admitted an error in the measuring techniques when making controversial metal-on-metal implants.

Company bosses are now under intense pressure from victims of the hip scandal to answer in full questions on how long the firm was aware of the problem, amid claims that potentially faulty components were sold for years.

This newspaper has previously disclosed how metal-on-metal hips have far higher wear rates than other implants, which means they may need to be replaced. Experts also claim that as the metal hips wear they can deposit toxic ions into the bloodstream.
On Wednesday, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) raised Venezuela's growth projection to 12 percent by 2022 and 5 percent next year. | Read More
They ride Harley-Davidsons, are heavily tattooed, wear a club patch, and have friends in the Hell's Angels, Comanchero, and Rebels.

But Malofie Melbourne is not the city's newest bikie gang; it is a community organisation that supports young Polynesian men.

Malofie Melbourne may look like a bikie club, but it is a community organisation supporting Polynesian youth. Emmanual Ioane, a founder of the group, is the rider at back right.

Founding member Emmanual Ioane said that by promoting traditional Polynesian culture, particularly among Samoans, the group hoped to keep their "brothers" out of trouble.

Malofie is the Samoan word for the traditional tattoos that, in the case of Mr Ioane, take 13 painful days to complete.
Bangkok: One in five prisoners of war and forced labourers died on the Thai-Burma railway - one for every sleeper laid.

Seventy years after jungle reclaimed the infamous death railway at the end of World War II, negotiations are under way to rebuild a track from Thailand to the country now known as Myanmar, as part of a huge network of new railroads criss-crossing Asia.

The Thai-Burma railway is set to have a modern counterpart.

In the postwar decades the 427-kilometre railway emerged as a central place in Australia's memory of the war.

Australians make the pilgrimage in greater numbers each Anzac Day to Thailand's Hellfire Pass, where they cram before dawn into an eight-metre-deep stone cutting where the shouts of "speedo, speedo" once reverberated, as Japanese guards forced the pace of construction of the track.
As the nation prepares to celebrate Australia Day on Tuesday, the case has become the latest to draw attention to abuse of foreign workers, which the union movement labels a "national shame".

Want to pep up your savings? Honeymoon rates may help. Credit:Robyn Mackenzie

The student, 27, from Nepal, and her co-worker from India were exploited and underpaid tens of thousands of dollars while working at a health food store in Melbourne's South Wharf.

An international student in Melbourne says her boss told her she would be paid less because she is "not an Aussie", and threatened to cancel her visa if she complained.

Investigations by the Fair Work Ombudsman have revealed the Nepalese student was paid an illegal flat rate as low as $12 an hour at the takeaway salad and sandwich store Health Express. She said the owner, Jeffrey Herscu, had "made it clear" this was because she was from overseas.

"When I came for the interview, he said that I will give you the job, but as you are not an Aussie, I will be paying you a lesser amount," the student said in a recorded interview with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

"It was really embarrassing for me ... I had Australian friends who were doing the same kind of work, but were getting paid over $20 an hour."

The student, a casual employee, was short-changed more than $23,500 between September 2013 and March last year.

And the Indian student, 31, was underpaid more than $27,300 after receiving flat rate wages as low as $16 an hour.
Despite a list of beaus that included Omar Shariff, Orson Welles, Fidel Castro, Tyrone Power and King Farouq of Egypt, actress Sylvana Pampanini almost certainly went no further than flirtation. The on-screen sex goddess was so morally upright that she called her memoirs, published in 1996, Shockingly Respectable.

Pampanini, who has died aged 90, burst into the the public spotlight in 1946 when her failure to win the Miss Italy title caused a such a public outcry and near-riot that the jury's decision was subsequently overturned and she became joint winner. Tabloid press reports of the time illustrated the public howls of outrage with photographs showing her sensual and voluptuous figure.

After making her film debut the following year in L'apocalisse she played the leading role in When Love Calls with Gino Bechi. In the next two decades she appeared in more than 50 films  seven or eight a year in the early 1950s  scoring her first international success with the Mario Soldati comedy OK Nero as the Empress Poppea opposite Gino Cervi's Nero. She began to be seen around the world as a symbol of Italian beauty, preparing the ground for Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren (another former Miss Italy contestant), both of whom appeared as extras in some of Silvana Pampanini's early films.

Pampanini worked with, among others, Buster Keaton, Marcello Mastroianni, Alberto Sordi, Jean Gabin and the comedian Toto, who, she claimed, had proposed marriage on the movie set. She was said to have been the inspiration for Toto's Malafemmena (Bad Girl), a popular song which has been covered by dozens of Italian artists.

Silvana Pampanini, born and raised in Rome, worked in Italy, Spain, and Latin American countries, and also in France, where she was nicknamed "Nini Pampan". She visited Hollywood in 1955, but turned down job offers after she was told she would have to take lessons in English.

Her best known films included Luigi Zampa's The City Stands Trial (1952), Giuseppe De Santis's A Husband for Anna (1953), in which she co-starred with Massimo Girotti as a beautiful young working-class Neapolitan woman in search of a husband, and De Santis' "slice of life" drama The Year Long Road (1958), which won the Golden Globe Award for best foreign language film.
An efficient public transport system is essential for a liveable, modern city. It is good not only for the people who use it  it also benefits the whole community by taking cars off the road.

The challenge is determining how to pay for an expanding system in a way that is fair to those who use a lot of public transport, those who travel occasionally and those who never use it at all.

Right now fares cover about 20 per cent of the $5.5 billion annual public transport cost. That is, a trip with a $3 fare costs around $15 to provide. The other $12 is paid for by taxpayers, for which they get community benefits such as reduced congestion and cleaner air.

In developing our recommendations for changes to public transport fare structures for Sydney and surrounding areas, IPART looked at whether passengers should pay an even lower share of the cost. We have looked at the number of cars taken off the road by public transport, the existing and planned public transport capacity and the cost of raising taxes to subsidise it. We also looked at how much people pay for public transport in other cities.
The night starts with a backdrop image of Morrissey from a re-release cover of Southpaw Grammar.

Charming interpretations of Smiths songs ... Mexrrissey.

He is being defaced with colourful, squiggly lines, transforming him into a Mexican day-of-the dead character while a mariachi trumpet soars powerfully across the Enmore Theatre, turning the aching chorus of The Boy With the Thorn in the Side into a poppy, off-the-wall ditty complete with a melodica and tearing electric guitars.

El Chico de la Espina Clavada, it was now called.

Surely the Mancunian so often described as dark and miserable would be turning in his grave?

But it was impossible not to love this merry Mexican band of seven's re-imagination of songs by the Smiths and Morrissey.
'Paving the way for new treatments' A spokeswoman from the Sydney Local Health District responsible for Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, which oversees the baboon colony and also conducts experiments, said: "The colony has helped medical researchers conduct important research which has contributed significantly to paving the way for new treatments of disorders such as pre-eclampsia, complicated diabetes, kidney disorders and vascular diseases." The security gate at the National Health and Medical Research Council facility in Wallacia in Sydney's west. Credit:Dallas Kilponen A spokeswoman for the University of Sydney said it had an ongoing program and a number of initiatives to reduce, refine and replace the use of all animals, including primates, in research. She said there was one approved protocol in the field of biomedical research at the university involving research on a small number of primates.

She said the university used approximately eight marmosets a year and "all procedures were performed on fully anaesthetised animals that were then euthanased - the animals were never aware of these procedures and did not feel any pain". "All researchers would prefer not to use animals in their research. However, in their quest to cure blindness, diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and many other illnesses, animal research is currently the best hope for finding a cure," she said. Conan underwent a whole organ (kidney) transplant known as xenotransplantation from a genetically modified pig at Westmead Hospital in early 2014. Fairfax Media has seen information that confirmed Conan was "humanely" killed on March 20, 2014, after suffering "disseminated intravascular coagulation" - the widespread formation of blood clots, which can cut off blood flow and damage organs. But NSW Health responded to a freedom of information request just months later contradicting that and denying in writing that research for diabetes had progressed to whole organ transplants. Yet the NHMRC has acknowledged in writing that it has funded research for "whole organ animal to animal xenotransplantation".

Cover-up seen in contradictory statements The revelations about the experiments comes as a Senate inquiry gets under way into the import of primates into Australia for medical research. The committee will report in the first week of March before a private member's bill banning the practice of importing primates is put before the Parliament by Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon. Senator Rhiannon told Fairfax Media she believed the public would be "deeply shocked" to know what has been going on behind closed doors. She said contradictory statements between state and federal departments were starting to look like a cover-up and the secrecy with which the experiments were carried out shows that agencies know it would be unacceptable to the public.

Helen Marston, the chief executive officer of Humane Research Australia, said "the industry is shrouded in secrecy despite the fact that it is funded with our tax dollars and few Australians are even aware that primates are used in research here". Ms Marston said that, unless there is greater transparency, it will not be possible to have an open and honest debate. "Aside from the ethical dilemma of using animals with such highly cognitive abilities and well-developed social structures as mere tools for research, the use of primates is poorly predictive of human outcomes," Ms Marston said. "The procedures these animals have been subjected to are gruesome and could even be compared with Frankenstein-like experiments, and much of it is undertaken using taxpayer funds," she said. Testing 'cannot be justified'

A new research paper from Cruelty Free International researchers, Predicting Human Drug Toxicity and Safety via Animal Tests, found that "in combination with an unprecedented level of public concern over the use of animals in science and the high ethical costs of doing so, we conclude that the preclinical testing of pharmaceuticals in animals cannot currently be justified, ethically or scientifically". A recent publication Animal Law in Australasia, containing research from Australian academics including associated professor Celeste Black from Sydney University, has said that many Australians "still assume that current animal welfare laws provide animals with sufficient protection from human mistreatment, that cruelty is the exception and that, when exposed, perpetrators are prosecuted. They are wrong on all counts." Fairfax Media has seen information showing that Conan was being held in the "Vivarium" at Westmead Hospital with three other baboons named Scar, Belvedere and Frazer. Scar had been subjected to the transgenic (genetically modified) pig islet transplants and was on large doses of immunosuppressant drugs. It is understood that Scar was to be returned temporarily to the baboon colony in Wallacia. Belvedere and Frazer, Fairfax Media has been told, were "rendered diabetic" and were waiting for transplant of islet cells from piglets that were due to be born in June 2014. The fate of Scar, Belvedere and Frazer is not known. A research paper cited by Humane Research Australia said baboons used for islet transplants were later anaesthetised, had their livers removed and were killed. Piglets bred and used for the islets were also killed. Attempts by Fairfax Media to gain information including photos, video, and details of the lifespans of Conan, Scar and Belvedere using freedom of information were blocked by NSW Health, which said "there was an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information".

It said the information requested could "reasonably be expected to inform the public about research being performed". It also said that revealing the information could "prejudice the conduct, effectiveness or integrity of any research by revealing its purpose, conduct or results (whether or not commenced and whether or not completed)". The spokeswoman for Prince Alfred Hospital said the use of the animals from the baboon colony complied with all relevant legislation. She said the colony was regularly inspected by the Sydney Local Health District's Animal Ethics Committee. Colony can house up to 165 A spokesman for the Department of Primary Industries said "the baboon facility at Wallacia was last inspected in July 2012 as part of the routine schedule of inspections and will be visited again in 2016".

He said the DPI could confirm that the care and management of baboons at Wallacia was satisfactory. He said the information on the number of animals held at a facility at any one time was not held by the DPI but the colony was allowed to house up to 165 baboons. The federal government's Department of Health website acknowledges that the "use of non-human primates for scientific purposes raises special ethical and welfare issues". It says that "the National Health and Medical Research Council recognises that there are differing views in the community about the use of non-human primates for scientific purposes. The NHMRC seeks to ensure that any non-human primates used in government-funded research are used ethically and treated humanely and only used when there is no valid alternative." "A ban on the use of non-human primates would need to be given effect through state and territory legislation. The success of such a ban would be reliant on the implementation and enforcement effort of state and territory legislation."

A baboon named Scar Scar was the largest of the baboons being held at the Vivarium at Westmead Hospital when he had a transplant of neonatal islet cells from piglets. The baboon had survived for six weeks and, if he continued, he would be "the first baboon in the world to have survived a sustained xenotransplant", according to information given to Fairfax Media. There was concern that the researchers conducting the experiments on him didn't want the baboon to be returned to the Wallacia baboon colony because of hygiene concerns even though he had been held inside for nearly three months and it is an accreditation requirement that animals get daytime access to an outside enclosure after three months of being housed indoors. It is understood that those overseeing his care were told that "the conditions were far from ideal for a very immune compromised animal (with virtually no T cells) to be housed in. Even though it was considered a good environment, [it] could not be considered a clean environment. Vermin and birds have access to the area and the risk of infection to the baboon is highly likely".
The Coalition government is under fire from migrant and refugee groups, who say a plan to limit the time pensioners can spend in another country before their pension is cut discriminates against Australians born overseas.

Under the change, pensioners who have spent less than 35 years of their working life in Australia will find their pensions reduced after six weeks of overseas travel  down from the current time limit of 26 weeks.

Melbourne pensioner Vic Guarino, who came to Australia from Italy in the early 1960s, says the proposed changes to the pension are "like a threat". Credit:James Boddington

The new rule, which is due to start in January 2017, was announced in the last budget and is yet to pass Parliament. It will save about $168 million over four years.

Melbourne pensioner Vic Guarino, who came to Australia from Italy in the early 1960s, said the changes were "like a threat".
The news this month that yoga poses such as downward dog may be risky for people with glaucoma surprised some yoga fans  but it's not the first time that eye experts have raised the alarm.

Warnings about too much pressure on the optic nerve caused by head-down poses such as headstands rang out in 2007 when researchers reported the risk in The British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Downward dog has upsides and potential downsides. Credit:Getty Images

It's a message that isn't promoted loudly enough despite two important facts. One is that the optic nerve can be vulnerable to the kind of eye pressure imposed by some yoga poses  the other is that 50 per cent of people with glaucoma haven't been diagnosed and don't know they have the condition, Geoff Pollard, national executive officer of Glaucoma Australia, says.

A potential cause of vision loss that occurs when the optic nerve is damaged, glaucoma affects one in 200 40-year-olds, with the incidence rising with age. Although early detection and treatment can halt or slow its progression and preserve eyesight, the disease can fly under the radar.
"Today's policy unleashes the potential in public housing for a building bonanza, $22 billion worth of building and about 23,000 new social and affordable houses," Mr Hazzard said. This comprises 17,000 replacement dwellings and 6000 extra ones within 10 years.

Social Housing Minister Brad Hazzard has announced a plan to raze ageing, dysfunctional estates and sell them to developers. Credit:Cole Bennetts

Social Housing Minister Brad Hazzard announced on Sunday a plan to raze ageing, dysfunctional estates and sell them to developers, as long as they build a mix of private and public homes on the sites.

The Baird government's "bonanza" public housing plan has been welcomed by the not-for-profit sector as an end to decades of policy paralysis.

But Labor has warned the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme are likely to be developers and investors, rather than tenants in precarious housing situations.

The not-for-profit community housing sector, which will take control of 35 per cent of social housing within 10 years, said the government had provided a framework to tackle an ongoing crisis in availability.

"The government's own figures show 150,000 families on low to moderate incomes are in housing stress, so fresh approaches are really needed," the NSW Federation of Housing Associations chief executive Wendy Hayhurst said.

Andrea Galloway, chief executive of Evolve, a major community housing provider in New South Wales, said she was "overjoyed" that policy in the sector was at last "going in the right direction" after being moribund for the last four years.

"There are a lot of innovative ways to deliver this, and the government has to let both the private sector and the not-for-profit community housing sector come up with ideas to put this into practice" Ms Galloway said.
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resuscitate the struggling republic debate, with state and territory leaders near-unanimous in their support for an Australian head of state.

In a surprise move ahead of Australia Day, Premier Daniel Andrews has joined his interstate colleagues, signing a letter calling for the Queen to be replaced by an Australian head of state. "It's time to stand on our own two feet, on paper and in practice," Mr Andrews said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is backing a call for the Queen to be replaced by an Australian head of state. Credit:Joe Armao

The declaration reads: "We, the undersigned Premiers and Chief Ministers of Australia, believe that Australia should have an Australian as our Head of State."

Despite being a self-identified republican, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett did not sign, saying he didn't feel the time was right.
Istanbul: US Vice-President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against Islamic State in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

The latest round of Syria peace talks are planned to begin on Monday in Geneva but were at risk of being delayed partly because of a dispute over who will comprise the opposition delegation.

Syrian armed rebel groups said on Saturday they held the Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of peace talks to end the country's civil war, even before negotiations were due to start.

"We do know it would be better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared ..., if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out [IS]," Mr Biden said after a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Dunkirk Resident Wins Customized Kubota Utility Vehicle in 'Buckeye Kubota Dealers Kubota RTV500 Giveaway'







GROVEPORT, OH -- Janury 22, 2016: On the heels of Ohio State Universitys 12-1 football season and Fiesta Bowl victory, Dunkirk resident Larry McCloud today received the keys to his new, Ohio State-customized Kubota RTV500. McCloud was the lucky winner in the Buckeye Kubota Dealers Kubota RTV500 Giveaway, and took ownership of his new RTV during a special presentation today at Kubota dealership Streacker Tractor Sales, Inc. in Findlay, Ohio.

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I never win anything, said McCloud when asked about his stroke of luck. Im a big fan of the Buckeyes and of Kubota equipment, so to win a Buckeye-customized Kubota RTV really is the best of both worlds for me.

McCloud was randomly selected as the winner from more than 2,700 entrants in the giveaway. Ohio residents were asked to visit their local Kubota dealerships to participate.

I saw Larry in our dealership picking up filters for his Kubota tractor one day, and I encouraged him to enter the contest, said Tom Streacker, co-owner, Streacker Tractor Sales, Inc. Im happy for his big win and proud to know that the RTV500 will go home with someone we know will really appreciate it.

From hunting and hauling, to routine work around the jobsite, Kubotas RTV500 is a versatile workhorse. The compact footprint of the gas-powered, 15.8-horsepower utility vehicle allows it to fit into the bed of a full-sized pickup truck. Available in four-wheel-drive and two-wheel-drive configurations, and your choice of Kubota Orange or Realtree Camouflage, the RTV500 features an extensive list of optional accessories and implements. Visit a Kubota dealer near you, or kubota.com for more info.
Accuride to Introduce New Commercial Vehicle Technologies at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week







Company to launch industry-first wheel technology

President & CEO Rick Dauch to deliver business and product innovation update

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EVANSVILLE, IN -- January 22, 2016: Accuride Corporation  a leading supplier of components to the global commercial vehicle industry  will conduct a media briefing and exhibit its wheel end solutions at the 11th Annual Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW16) at the Mirage Convention Center in Las Vegas, January 25-28, 2016. The HDAW16 event is the largest North American gathering of independent heavy-duty aftermarket leaders.

Accuride President and CEO Rick Dauch will host the media briefing at 2:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, January 26th. The briefing will include the introduction of new wheel and wheel end products and technologies aimed at providing significant cost-saving benefits to North American fleets. Dauch also will provide an update on the companys recent global growth actions and future priorities, including lightweighting and other R&D initiatives that support industry compliance with EPA Phase 2 GHG and fuel efficiency standards.

In addition, Accuride will showcase its latest wheel and wheel end technologies for customers in Booth #1205 at the HDAW Product Expo. Dauch  who will moderate the opening economic panel discussion during the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue (HDAD) conference on January 25th  says that now is a time for strategic growth and technology development for Accuride.

Between our continued development and commercialization of new product technology, global expansion, world-class operating performance, improving profitability and the capacity to handle higher volumes, 2016 is an exciting time for Accuride and our customers, said Dauch. HDAW16 is the ideal place to share with our customers and the industry what we have in store this year and beyond.

Accuride took steps in November 2015 to boost its strategic position in the global commercial vehicle industry:

Acquiring a majority stake in Italian steel wheel manufacturer Gianetti Ruote S.r.l. from CLN S.p.A., marking the companys first step in strategic expansion outside of North America.

Appointing Michael A. Hajost as its new Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Promoting Scott D. Hazlett to President, Wheels, and Gregory A. Risch to President, Gunite.
Back in August 2011, well before GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump called for the surveillance of certain mosquesand later, a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.the Associated Press ran an eye-opening expose on the New York Police Departments efforts to infiltrate Muslim communities in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In partnership with the CIA, the NYPD established what came to be known as the Demographic Unit in 2003 with the central aim of tracking homegrown Islamic terrorism. According to the New York Times, plainclothes detectives looked for hot spots of radicalization that might give the police an early warning about terrorist plots. These undercover officers were known as rakers, and were circulated in New Yorks Muslim neighborhoods as part of its mapping program. The NYPD also used informants, known as mosque crawlers, in order to monitor sermons. The civil liberties-violating program, which targeted American Muslims based solely on their ethnicity, was disbanded in 2013 and resulted in zero terrorism-related charges.

These troubling incidents have inspired the new film Naz & Maalik. Directed by first-timer Jay Dockendorf, it follows a day in the life of Naz (Kerwin Johnson Jr.) and Maalik (Curtiss Cook Jr.), two black Muslim teens who hawk lottery tickets and oils on the street in order to raise money for college. The kids from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn find themselves profiled by an undercover cop who attempts to sell them a stolen gun. He misinterprets their sarcasm for interest, which puts the young men on the radar of an FBI agent (Annie Grier) whos recently been assigned to the neighborhood.

California native Dockendorf was a student at Yale when he first remembered reading about the controversial Demographic Unit. Then, in a follow-up story, the AP uncovered the NYPD and FBIs joint spying program on college Muslim student associationsor MSAs, according to policeat New York City schools as well as the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. In 2008, the NYPD even sent an undercover officer on a whitewater rafting trip with 18 Muslim college students from the City College of New York.

Reading about NYPD and FBI surveillance at college Muslim youth groups, one of those colleges mentioned was Yale, and one of my colleagues at the newspaper was a young Muslim woman who was associated with the group, Dockendorf recalls. I was outraged that this amazing young womans integrity was being questioned. It gave me chills.

Dockendorf, 27, who worked for the New Haven Independent while attending Yale and published a short documentary for The New York Times, moved to Bed-Stuy after graduation and found himself further intrigued by his roommate.

I randomly lived with a guy in Bed-Stuy who was a Muslim man that was still closeted to his family, says Dockendorf. He came out to me and his friends. I asked if I could interview him for the basis of this screenplay, and he agreed.He adds, The world didnt need another story about a young white guy moving to New York, and I felt that this was a story that needed to be told.

The film opens with Nazs sister discovering a used condom in their bathroom wastebasket. Its haram, she tells him, or a sinful and forbidden action according to the Quran. We soon learn that the condom came from the shy Naz losing his virginity to the more outgoing Maalik, and that the young lovers have hidden their romanceand sexualityfrom friends and family.

In addition to interviewing and trailing his roommatealong with other closeted Muslims in BrooklynDockendorf took cues from other gay-themed films like The Wedding Banquet, Paris Is Burning, and Happy Together, as well as the Channel 4 documentary Gay Muslims. Dockendorf and his two talented stars, Kerwin Johnson Jr. and Curtiss Cook Jr., also observed many Muslim prayer services at Brooklyn mosques.

Naz & Maalik mostly consists of the watchable pair strolling through the city and discussing life, love, and Islamborrowing a page from Richard Linklaters Before Sunrise series. And despite appearing as unthreatening as can be, the boys clandestine romantic encounters only serve to heighten the FBI agents suspicions. As the FBI agent closes in on them, their bond begins to unravel. Xenophobia is, it seems, the enemy of love.

While the film clocks in at a brisk 80 minutes, the making of Naz & Maalik was far from a walk in the park. After about nine months of script work, Dockendorf raised a small bit of moneyas well as an additional $37,000 on Kickstarterand began filming in September 2013. They shot for 21 days before hiring an editor, Andrew Hafitz (The Last Days of Disco), who was the only vet among this kids club, says Dockendorf. Hafitz edited the movie for nine months, and then the rough cut was submitted to the Tribeca Film Institute, eventually receiving a $25,000 grant. Dockendorf used the money to shoot for another seven days in June 2014. The film was finished in September 2014 with a total budget between $150,000 and $200,000, and submitted to festivals. It made its world premiere at SXSW in March 2015, and was acquired one month later by Wolfe Releasing.

Despite the fact that most of its footage was shot in mid-2013, Naz & Maalik is as timely as ever. It even includes a sequence of a homeless man on the subway ranting about how Trump is a chump. Mind you, this was well before the elaborately-coiffed blowhards xenophobia-powered presidential run.

I didnt think it was possible for the American people to be this impressionable or concerned with something [a terrorist attack] thats about as likely as getting struck by lightning, says Dockendorf. Thats not to downplay the importance of keeping America safe, but the way Trumps proposing to do it is completely ass-backwards and un-American.

He pauses. This countrys always been a refuge. I hope it stays that way.
Welcome to Tehran International Airport.

Sounds highly unlikely, right? On both counts: a warm greeting and a logical destination. After all, the reputation of Tehrans old international airport was forever nailed in the movie Argo, as a place to flee rather than arrive, reinforced by what happened last weekend when the Swiss flight taking Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to freedom sat on the runway for hours until his wife and mother were allowed to board.

But you never know. Stranger things have happened. For example, if you had been told just ten years ago that the worlds busiest airport for international traffic would soon be one sitting in an Arabian desert, you would no doubt have thought it bonkers.

However, the surprising reality is that the whole geography of international air routes is going through a disruptive revolutionand the Middle East is the principal disruptor.

Iran was locked out of this revolution for nearly four decades by an international sanctions regime. And so the question now is: is it too late for them to get into the game in any really effective way?

Certainly the people running the state airline, Iran Air, could ruefully be considering a welcome back note to them from the rest of the world with the heading While You Were Away rather like someone who had been on Mars for 35 years would receive on returning to Earth.

To see why this is particularly poignant for the Iranians we need to spool back to the 1960s.

Airlines were beginning to deploy the first generation of intercontinental jets. This transformed air travel. The change is mostly remembered for the fact that it doubled the speed of commercial flights from the era of the propelleror, to put it another way, it halved the time it took to fly between continents.

But an equally lasting and profound change came to the planning of routes. As jets developed they were able to fly longer nonstop flights between major cities.

One airline had spotted the real significance of this. It had always been the most aggressive in building a globe-encircling route system: Pan American. The tyrannical visionary who ran Pan Am, Juan Trippe, realized that with U.S. government support (in a policy known as The Chosen Instrument) he could act rather as Captain Cook did for the British Empirebe the pathfinder who took American interests and influence into every part of the world, ending forever the concept of regional remoteness.

When Boeing produced the first truly successful intercontinental jet, the 707, Trippe was the companys most demanding and interventionist customer. His engineers rode shotgun on the 707s designers, pushing constantly for better performance and for Trippes first target for the jet age: nonstop from New York to Rome.

Trippe sent Pan Ams first 707s on what were called proving flights across the world. The airlines most experienced captains, along with company executives, flew into dozens of airports that had never seen a jet. They explained to local politicians what would be needed to handle future trafficnew runways, navigation aids, better gates and lounges, maintenance baseswith the implication that if they couldnt deliver, Pan Am would take its business elsewhere.

One place where Pan Am got an enthusiastic audience was Tehran.

After the 1953 coup in which U.S. and British intelligence agents orchestrated the removal of the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, and replaced him with their stooge, the Shah, Iran was virtually a client state of the U.S.

The Shah needed little persuasion to see himself as a player in the future of aviation, buying American airliners with the same appetite that he had for American military hardware.

Moreover, Tehran had always been an optimal location on the air routes linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia. On Pan Ams route maps from the first post-war expansion of air travel the favored cities, because they aligned with the most efficient network, were London, Frankfurt, Rome, Istanbul, Tehran, Delhi, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

As the range of jets increased, notably with the arrival of the 747 jumbo, Pan Am could thin out these clusters to create a faster path for their premium intercontinental flights. For example, they could go direct from either London or Frankfurt to Tehran, and from Tehran direct to Bangkok or Hong Kong.

Note the centrality of Tehran. Nobody realized it then, but the convenience of Tehran was a harbinger: an airport could become a hub in an international network without itself being a destination. Its geographic position was its true value if it sat where many international flights needed a pit stop. (The same logic applies to U.S. domestic hubs like Atlanta, Baltimore and Chicago.)

The international route network established by Pan Am and then followed by every international carrier remained unchallenged for decades. It was hard-wired into their business models. It suited the settled order of how markets were carved up between the American and European airlines that enjoyed a post-war arrangement that was a cartel of monopolies in all but name.

It took a few renegades with vision and a new generation of jets able to fly longer distances to upend this system. The challenger came, literally, out of the desert. In 1985 Tim Clark became head of planning for a new airline, Emirates, based in Dubai. Clark was no lover of cosy cartelshe had run a small independent British airline, Caledonian, and seen and felt how the hidden hand of price fixing and route monopolies worked in Europe.

Clark saw the significance of Dubais location, halfway between Europe and Asia and equally well placed for connections to Africa. He understood that for long haul routes between continents the old hubs like London, Paris and Frankfurt were a logical stop only for passengers bound for those cities.

Emirates, he decided, could shift the ideal center point for interconnecting flights to a new airport unconstrained by limits imposed by a surrounding city or the night curfews that go with operating out of those citiesan airport that could have multiple runways and operate round-the-clock with terminals that looked more like a fusion of shopping malls and resort hotels. Thus was born Dubai International.

Today Dubai is the worlds busiest airport for international flights. In 1990 it handled 4.3 million passengers; in 2015 it topped 70 million. A new airport complex with five runways and four terminals, due to be completed in 2020, is designed to handle 160 million passengers annually.

Clark (now Sir Tim) has built the growth of Emirates on the back of two airplanesthe Airbus A380, the worlds largest, and the long range version of the smaller Boeing 777. Emirates has been the worlds smartest exercise in the sizing of jets to specific routes, using the larger jet for the most densely traveled intercity routes and the smaller for more dispersed routes.

This year Emirates will introduce the worlds longest flight, 8,600 miles, from Dubai to Panama City. (In the U.S. Emirates now flies to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, Boston and Orlando; passengers invariably rate the quality of service at a level that is shaming U.S. airlines.)

For Dubai itself the airport and its airline have been rainmakersbringing in nearly $27 billion a year, representing 27 percent of the GDP.

Looking at this, the Iranians can only dream what if? If they had not become international pariahs, could Tehran have been to airline routes what Dubai now is?

Geographically, Tehran was as well placed as Dubaiperhaps, even, a tad better placed, being further north and closer to the traditional flight corridors between Europe and Asia. Also, Tehran had the potential to be a lot more than a pit stop in the desert. It was the gateway to a country with some of the most exquisite sites of the ancient world.

Today the Iranians first and most urgent priority is to replace clapped-out airplanesit has a fleet of Airbus and Boeing jets that are between 20 and 35 years old.

On the day that the sanctions were dropped Iran Air announced that it would order 114 new jets from Airbusand Boeing is expecting to get an equally large order. The airline said it needs at least 580 new airplanes in the next decade, 300 of them in the next five years.

Overseas, Iran Air has the opportunity to tap into a huge market of expats in California, Canada and Europe. These destinations could produce the kind of density to justify following the Emirates model and buying A380s that can carry up to 600 passengers with just a coach and business class layoutalthough there is a diaspora of fat cat Iranians who would probably want a first class cabin (if they are not wary of being detained on arrival and asked to explain the provenance of their wealth).

In the days of the Shah, Iran Air was run very much like EgyptAir, Middle East Airlines, Jordanian Airlines and Gulf Air, earlier generations of Middle Eastern state airlines with a preference for American jets (Airbus was not then the equal force that it now is). They were seen (and operated) as much as national prestige projects as commercial ventures.

The Shah regarded the airline as something of a personal hobby. He asked Boeing to develop a smaller, faster version of the 747 to fly longer distances than the standard 747 and Boeing obliged with what was called the Boeing 747SP (Special Performance.) Its shorter fuselage made it look unnaturally porcine but it was a very sporty jet and was used for a short time by other airlines like South African Airways to fly nonstop on long routes.

Only 45 were built and Iran Air is the only airline still operating one.

Its going to be fascinating to see if Iran Air, under the current regime, can be run no longer as a vanity project but as an internationally competitive airline.

The countrys volatile mix of mullahs, Revolutionary Guard zealots, military adventurers, native industrialists, entrepreneurs and closet reformers has not produced the kind of stable commercial discipline that is normally required for operating an airline to the level of innovation and efficiency exhibited in Dubai.

In this respect, aviation could be a new theater for the centuries-old rivalry between the Arab and Persian cultures, with Iran painfully aware that, given a different history and with its record of shrewd international trading, it might well have been a real player.
Danny DeVito is living his best life. When hes not painting the town red with George Clooney or wilding out to EDM sets at Coachella, the freewheelin 71-year-old is busy wreaking havoc as the gleefully unhinged Frank Reynolds on the hit series Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He keeps it real in interviews, too, eschewing canned answers in favor of, in Colbertian parlance, speaking from the gut. And today, DeVitos gut is very hungry.

The acting veteran is at Sundance promoting his role in Todd Solondzs Weiner-Dog, a tragicomic tale that follows a Dachshunds journey from owner to owner, bringing joy and pain along with him. DeVito plays a mediocre one-time Hollywood writer turned sad sack screenwriting teacher who, when hes not bestowing lame advice on his students, is desperately chasing the screenplay dragon. Its a tender, heartbreaking turn, and a very different side of DeVito than were used to seeing.

Hes got his own voice, you know? DeVito says of Solondz, whose Welcome to the Dollhouse took Sundance by storm twenty years ago. You know youre following a guy with some kind of vision. I just dont know what it is, ever!

The same can probably be said of DeVito, whos done it all over the course of his 40-plus year career. Taxi. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Terms of Endearment. Romancing the Stone. Twins. Batman Returns. L.A. Confidential. The list goes on. In addition to his rich acting career, DeVito is a very prolific film producer, having shepherded celebrated movies like Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, and Out of Sight onto the screen. On the latter film he met George Clooney, and they immediately clicked. That was our first meeting, when we were putting that together, recalls DeVito. Thats when we first hooked up. And weve just become crazy friends over the years doing insane things whenever were together. Hes a really cool guy. Im so happy that hes married now. Ive met his wife and she seems really nice. A big smarty.

Clooney and DeVitos wild nights have since become the stuff of TV lorethanks to a particularly memorable guest appearance on The View by a still-drunk DeVito after a night of guzzling Limoncellos with Gorgeous George. You know what he was doing that night? I didnt find this out until later, but we were drinking Limoncellos like crazy that night, and he was pouring them out into a plant! says DeVito, incredulous. I was getting really twisted on these things. I had to do Fox & Friends at seven oclock in the morning so I stayed up all night, which was my downfall. So I did the Fox & Friends thing, then I took a nap before I went on The View. Then I went on The View, andthe rest is history. I had a pretty great time, though!

Like Clooney, DeVito has decided to speak out against the Oscars diversity problem, with the second straight year of all-white acting nominees.

There were some good performances by people of color, and yeah, its blatant, DeVito says. We do live in a racist country. We have to evolve and have to realize that truth and reconciliation is here, tooits not only in South Africa or Cambodia. Young people have to learn what happened in our history, and we need people to know that were walking on the boards of genocide. He pauses. This is a place where people settled in and they came to be called Native Americans. Now all of a sudden these big ships appear out of the blue like demons in the daylight, and everything changed. Genocide happened and were all in it. But we cant lean on that xenophobia. We need to understand what happened and realize that were all human beings who are cut from the same cloth. Listen to Noam Chomsky, get the Howard Zinn, and try to elevate your children, brothers, and sisters, he continues. There are a lot of things that we should be informing the younger generation aboutas well as the older people in our lives who are stuck in the mud.

Speaking of the younger generation, DeVito is also Feeling the Bern in a big way, throwing his weight behind the senator from Vermont for the 2016 presidency.

Im into Bernie Sanders. I think Bernie Sanders is somebody that we really have to focus onespecially now, he says. Whether or not the money buys the other contenders, we still have to stay together on Bernie because Bernies got the goods. He really knows what hes talking about and hes got all the issues down. He gets all these little donations because he doesnt want to be beholden to anybody. Bernie will give us the best shot at getting equality for men and women, African Americans, and all people of color; hell give us the best shot at healthcare; hell give us the best shot at the international situation so that we dont start blowing things up, and to try to pull back a bit on the Imperialism. We need to pull back on it. We cant keep dealing with regime change and all this shit! You guysthe young peoplehave to look at this and say, Enough of this crap! He adds, I think a lot of people are starting to Feel the Bernthats a funny saying, but people are starting to feel the heat and the responsibility that we all have to at least give the planet a shot. We want to try to keep the Earth in a stable position for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

One candidate DeVito isnt a fan of is Donald J. Trump. The mere mention of his name turns his smile into a scowl.

You really dont want that to happen, says DeVito. You want to have human rights and equality for everyone. You dont want to shun the people who are in the middle and you dont want to shun people on the right. You want to make sure everyone is educatednot propagandized, educated. Find out what the facts are. When [Trump] says so and so are racists and we should ban Muslims and all that, its ludicrous! Its disgusting. You just look at how it divides us. Its this old divide and conquer mentality designed to keep our heads spinning, and you dont want to do that. You want to bring people together the best way you can.

DeVitos scowl immediately jumps back into a big smile when I mention the FXX series Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which is currently in the midst of its 11th season. I love doing that show, he says.

When I spoke to Jon Hamm about his tenure as Don Draper on Mad Men, he admitted that playing such a dark, despicable bastard for so long eventually took its tollnot so for DeVito, however. I dont have any weight on me, he says, grinning from ear-to-ear. I embrace the insanity of it. I just go with it, you know what I mean? In a way its a little dangerous because I have Tourettes anyway when it comes to saying stuff. Im always saying, Bush is a numbnuts, or this guy is that, and when someone encourages the Frank in me, I go right to it. It can be scary but its also fun. Im the old man on the show at 71, but its fun to get out there and try things. Dont let any moss grow under your ass. Have a little fun, you know what I mean?
One day in the winter of 1941, as he walked through the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto, Hermann Wygoda, Ghetto smuggler, tried to make sense of what was happening to him and the people around him: I wondered whether God knew what was going on beneath Him on this troubled earth. The only analogy I could find in history was perhaps the pogrom of the Jews in Alexandria at the time of the Roman governor Flaccus ... or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks during World War I.

Wygoda was not the only one seeing this parallel. The German Social Democrats in exile reported continuously on the situation in Germany in their Germany reports. In February 1939 they warned, At this moment in Germany the unstoppable extermination of a minority is taking place by way of the brutal means of murder, of torment to the degree of absurdity, of plunder, of assault, and of starvation. What happened to the Armenians during the [world war] in Turkey is now being committed against the Jews, [but] slower and more systemically.

We could also mention the famous German-Jewish writer Franz Werfel who in 1932/1933 wrote his most well-known novel about the Armenian Genocide, his Forty Days of Musa Dagh, mainly to warn Germany about Hitler. The book was later extremely popular in the Nazi-imposed ghettos of Eastern Europe.
The story of the Jews in America shows how a people persecuted by Christians and Muslims in the Old World were welcomed, not just tolerated, in the New World. Even when anti-Semitism has sprouted, Americans ingrained decency and love of liberty has triumphed, squelching any budding bigotry.

Today, alas, college campuses are witnessing an un-American outbreak of Jew hatred, not just anti-Zionism. Nearly three quarters of Jewish students in last summers Cohen Center at Brandeis University survey reported being exposed to at least one anti-Semitic statement in the 2014-2015 academic year. The Amcha Initiative, a group that tracks anti-Semitism on U.S. campuses, inventoried 302 incidents at 109 schools in 2015, including a vandalized menorah, swastikas spray-painted on Jewish student centers, a Jewish student punched in the face, and a YikYak message posted at the University of Chicago that sneered: Gas them, burn them and dismantle their power structure. Humanity cannot progress with the parasitic Jew.

In an age of zero-tolerance for subtle microaggressions, these macroaggressions should be generating widespread outragerather than being ignored, or even excused sometimes. To resist this scourge, Jews and non-Jews alike should learn about Americans historic and unending disgust for anti-Semitism. A characteristic but forgotten moment occurred in 1809, when a Republican rival tried expelling the Federalist Jacob Henry (PDF) from North Carolinas state legislaturebecause Henry was a Jew.
The following is excerpted from Paddy Hayes' Queen of Spies: Daphne Park, Britain's Cold War Spy Master.

British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) agent Daphne Park was briefed personally by her Director ... after the barest minimum of niceties he got right down to it. The Service, he said, had a potential source in Moscow and she was to be given the opportunity to handle him.

The source was Yevgeni Vladimirovich Brik. Brik was a KGB illegal, originally from Kiev in the Ukraine, who had been sent to Canada by Moscow Center in 1951. Aware that border controls between Canada and the U.S. were lax to the point of invisibility, the KGB plan was to use Canada as a staging post for the infiltration of its illegals into the United States, the Principal Adversary, Britain being reduced by this time to the status of Principal Ally. The illegals (officers working under assumed identities) were to be used to handle U.S.-based KGB agents such as the atom spies.

After two years training Brik was dispatched to Canada using two false identities, the standard KGB insertion methodology at the time. The first he used to gain entry to the country, abandoned immediately after to be replaced by the second, which would serve as his long-term operational name. Once ensconced in the country he settled down in the low-rent Verdun suburb of Montreal under the guise of a professional photographer.

As it turned out, Brik was not a good choice. He had a serious drinking problem probably exacerbated by his clandestine life, and was lonely for his Russian wife. She had remained behind in Russia, as was the norm. Shortly after arrival in Canada he began an affair with the wife of a Canadian soldier and (predictably) after a period he confessed his true role to her. She persuaded him to go to the police. They turned him over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Security Service who decided to run him as a double codenamed GIDEON.

Briks life as a double lasted for two years. His every move was monitored more closely than a laboratory mouse as the RCMP determined to learn everything possible about KGB operations in Canada. The monitoring led to the uncovering of several KGB sources but it was hard-earned: Brik the double was at least as much trouble to his Canadian handlers as Brik the illegal had been to his Soviet ones.

Then Brik was recalled to Moscow. This was supposedly to attend a pre-arranged debriefing and to spend some time with his wife. Despite his concerns that he might have been compromised, Briks hubris encouraged him to go ahead with the visit, convinced he could outwit the KGBs interrogators. His RCMP controllers werent so sure, but the opportunity to obtain a fuller picture of KGB operations from inside Russia swayed them.

However the Canadians were not set up to handle Brik while he was in Moscow, so they turned to Britains Secret Intelligence Service, who had been briefed on Brik from the beginning. SIS had, in theory at least, the capacity to run an agent in the Russian capital and was happy to take over. The possibility of a source inside the Moscow KGB, if only for a few months, was hugely attractive. Ignorance of the inner workings of the Soviet security apparatus was profound. The Service also wanted anything it could get about the whereabouts and activities of the two defectors, Burgess and Maclean, who had yet to surface after almost four years. SIS was also desperate for anything that might point conclusively to the guilt or otherwise of Kim Philby.

Leslie Mitchell then H/WASHINGTON, was dispatched to Ottawa to brief Brik and take him through the various operational procedures. Mitchell had his work cut out. Brik was at times over-emotional, irrational and arrogant, behaviour that was not uncharacteristic of agents and of double-agents in particular. Mitchell, however, was an old hand and he persevered.

He drilled into Brik the need to memorize the location of a rendez-vous point for his treff (meeting between a case officer and an agent) with his Moscow-based SIS case officer (Park) and a two-word parole (recognition signal). He was provided with the locations of a couple of dead drops for comms purposes. In the event that he had to make a dash for it, he was provided with the location of a hide containing a short-wave radio, fake passports, internal travel permits, money, maps of the border area between Russia and Norway and a silenced pistol. No one appears to have been particularly optimistic about his chances of making it across the border, but it was something.

Parks task was to establish contact with Brik and satisfy herself he was not under KGB control. If she suspected that to be the case she was to abort, otherwise she was to put the regular contact arrangements in place. This was a judgment call that was hers alone to make. The prize was attractive but the embarrassment that would follow if an accredited UK diplomat was caught in clandestine contact with a Soviet official had to be avoided. Apart from anything else it would justify the Foreign Offices original reluctance to sanction the reestablishment of Moscow station and could lead to the ban on operations within Soviet borders being reimposed.

The next day, at her Directors insistence, Park attended the dentist. In this city you never know whos watching you, he said, always best to be sure. Then, with her jaw still hurting, she returned to Moscow to meet her agent.

The meeting with Yevgeni Brik, Parks first operational treff, did not go as planned, though not through any lack of preparation by Park. She approached the meeting with the thoroughness that would mark her career. Her first priority was to ensure that she was not under KGB surveillance when the two met. Case officers use the term to dry-clean to describe the process through which they ensure they are not being watched when they meet an agent. Typically they will spend two to four hours checking for the presence of hostile surveillance, longer if they are the nervous type. Parks plan was to take advantage of a weakness she had discovered in the KGBs surveillance procedures.

One day, when she was still settling into her role, she had noticed something odd; it happened shortly after shed left the chancery with a colleague on some routine business. Halfway there the colleague had excused himself, remembering some errand or other he had to run. After a quick confab, the KGB followers, who made no effort to disguise their presence, apparently decided to stick with following the (male) colleague and abandoned their surveillance of Park. Ten days later the same thing occurred when another male colleague left her company to go his separate way; once again the watchers wheeled off to follow him leaving her unwatched.

She decided to run a proper test, to establish if it was a real pattern and thus predictable, exploitable. Over a few weeks she tested. But it seemed to be soeach time she left the embassy accompanied by one of her male colleagues and they later split up, the watchers concentrated solely on the man, leaving her by herself, in the clear. The only explanation that made sense was that the watchers (all men) assumed that the man, being a man, had to be the important one and therefore their target. She must be just a lowly female, probably just a clerk and not as worth following in her own right. KGB practice at the time was to use women only as swallows (sexual bait) and decoys. It was an easy mistake for the KGB watchers to make, to assume that the British SIS would have the same attitude to its female employees as did the Soviets. (In the Intelligence business it is known as transferred imaginingsthe practice of ascribing to the subjects of intelligence assessments the same behavioural characteristics as the person preparing the assessment.) Park decided she would turn that chauvinistic assumption to her advantage. The planned treff with Brik would give her the opportunity.

On the day of the treff with Brik she left the chancery well ahead of the scheduled time of the meeting, accompanied by one of her male colleagues. At a pre-arranged time he left her company. As predicted, the surveillance team wheeled off leaving her unwatched. She spent another couple of hours making absolutely certain she was in the clear before heading for the rendezvous. Finally as she walked down the street, her heart racing, she saw a man approaching who looked like Brik. She waited to make sure she had identified him correctly; the two had never met so all she had was his picture, now safely ensconced in the office safe. It was Brik, but there was a problemtwo in fact. The first was that he was accompanied (by a tough-looking woman) when the arrangements called for him to be on his own. The second was that the visual recognition signal was wrong.

Park had a big problem and only seconds to decide whether to continue with the meeting or to abort. She decided to abort, reasoning that meeting protocols are there for a purpose and are designed to be followed to the letter. Any deviation should be seen as an attempt by a blown agent, under enemy control, to alert his handlers to his situation. Park returned to the chancery and sent a coded signal to Broadway describing the outcome. In London, SIS assumed that Brik had been rumbled and was under KGB control and that Park had done extremely well to spot the attempted deception and act as she had.

According to the Mitrokhin Archive, the situation was not quite what it seemed. Yevgeni Brik had been betrayed all right. A heavily indebted driver in the RCMP Security Service, a Corporal James Morrison, who had once been given the job of driving Brik from the Security Service offices to his home, contacted the Ottawa KGB legal residency and gave them Briks name in return for a payment of $5,000. While initially suspicious that Morrison might be a provocation, the KGB decided to investigate. Soon they became convinced that in all probability Brik had been turned by the Canadians. Aware that their spy was due to return to Moscow for a pre-arranged period of R&R, the KGB decided to bide their time and wait until he was back on home soil, where he could be interrogated at leisure. Unaware of his impending fate, Brik set out for home via Paris and Helsinki, monitored all the way by KGB shadows.

Immediately on arrival in Moscow in August 1955 Brik was arrested. Again according to the archive he confessed after considerable pressure and told all. He gave his interrogators details of the arrangements of his treff with his SIS Moscow controller but was instructed not to make contact. He was permitted to live in his flat with his wife in order to maintain the illusion that he was not under KGB control. The flat was bugged and he was recorded trying to persuade his wife to flee the country with him; wisely (as it turned out) she refused. The KGB then ordered Brik to send a message to SIS that he was ready to resume contact at a pre-agreed rendezvous. According to the KGB file on Brik he was not permitted to attend the rendezvous but Park did, enabling the KGB to identify her as an operational SIS officer in Moscow.

It is difficult to reconcile Parks account with that of the KGB as reported in the Mitrokhin Archive. (Mitrokhin claims that Brik was not allowed to meet any member of the SIS station in the Moscow embassy for fear that he would blurt out what had happened to him, but was instructed to arrange a rendezvous which he did not keep.) Perhaps Park made a mistake and mistook someone else for Brik: a perfectly innocent man out for an afternoons shopping with his wife, maybe. Park had little direct field experience prior to being posted to Moscow. She wasnt a total neophyte; while her wartime work in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was tutoring in codes and ciphers, and wasnt field work as such, she would have spent considerable time in the company of the agents and some of their training regimen would have rubbed off on her. And she had spent a couple of years working in Vienna with FIAT which would have required some familiarity with basic tradecraft at least. But, and it is a significant but, she was handling her first ever live treff in the toughest operating environment in the world. That meant performing well beyond her operational experience and to the very limits of her capabilities, and it could be that she got it wrong.

Perhaps the archive record is slightly inaccurate and Brik was allowed to be present at the rendezvous (in order to flush out the SIS operative) but not to make contact. This would suggest that Brik had after all held something back and in the end honoured his arrangement with SIS and warned them that he was under control. But thats a stretch. Former RCMP Security Service officer, Dan Mulvenna, says that in his view Mitrokhin got it wrong:

 as part of a KGB Operational Game to ensnare SIS, GIDEON was subsequently pressed to fly a prearranged emergency signal for a meet, as per the joint RCMP/ SIS emergency exfiltration plan, which by the way both Services regarded as being probably unrealistic, to which Daphne responded. As Daphne reported, and told me personally many years later when I spoke with her in the UK, when she arrived at the rendezvous site she immediately picked up on KGB surveillance. And when GIDEON arrived at the rendezvous, arm in arm with a rather burly Russian woman, certainly not his [common-law] wife, Daphne further observed that his signal [which was not a shopping bag] was not correct. She aborted the meet thereby avoiding a possible ambush arrest. But of course her cover was now blown.

This author agrees with Mulvenna that the most likely explanation is that the KGB engaged in some more of their operativnaya igra (operational games) in order to flush out Park (or whomever). It is likely therefore that they decided to seize the opportunity and deployed a decoy, possibly a lookalike, whom Park mistook for Brik. We shall probably never know which for certain (though SIS does). What is known is that in place of the automatic sentence of death handed out for treachery Brik received a sentence of fifteen years. Such a sentence of imprisonment was in itself unusual, as the absolute norm under Soviet rule for betrayal by a serving intelligence officer was death. Civilians, such as scientists, might on occasion be allowed off with a hefty prison sentence, but for those in the Great Game, betrayal was treason, treason was punishable by death, and death was invariably the result.

Were allowances made for Briks cooperation in this operational game? The KGB file on Brik indicated that he had cooperated in such a manner, so that might well have been the case. It is impossible at this time to say with any certainty what if any were the reasons for the comparative clemency. And it was comparativefifteen years in the special camp, Perm-35, was no picnic. Better that, though, than a bullet in the back of the head. It would be interesting to know what Park really thought about her abortive encounter with the man with the shopping bag in the wrong hand all those years later when Brik told his tale. Her cover as a clean-skin diplomat was blown, at least from the autumn of 1955 until she left Moscow the following year. She never alluded to that in her reminiscences though she did recount the tale of the KGB being fooled into following the male on several occasions, it forming part of her mystique.

In the mid-1980s, thirty years after the missed treff in Moscow, Yevgeni Brik, now released from the Gulag and seeing the communist world collapsing all around him, made his way to Riga in Latvia where he telephoned an official in the British consulate and gave him his two-word recognition codeword, held precious for all those years. The SIS station head in the consulate contacted London, unsure whether he was dealing with a hoax or the real thing. There wasnt anybody left in the Service from that time whod been involved operationally with GIDEON, but there were plenty of retirees, including Park, who remembered it well. They now knew that their putative spy had not been sentenced to death as they had assumed, but to a term in the Gulag.

They consulted the archives and their memories and confirmed the authenticity of the parole. A meeting was arranged to confirm that Brik was indeed their man. The spy, codename GIDEON, long thought dead was in fact alive. The Canadian government retrieved details of KEYSTONE from the archives and were encouraged to step in on the basis that Brik had in fact been their spy. With some assistance from SIS the Canadians smuggled Brik out of the Soviet Union and resettled him in Canada under a false identity. However the turncoat spy never settled down to enjoy his late retirement. His imprisonment had left him far too damaged for that, and he remained bitter and paranoid to the end.

Paddy Hayes is the author of Queen of Spies: Daphne Park, Britains Cold War Spy Master, from which this excerpt was adapted. Copyright  2016 by Paddy Hayes. Published in 2016 by The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers Inc. overlookpress.com. All rights reserved.
Does American University want to teach students about oppression, or does it want to subject them to it?

Members of the Washington, D.C.-based private universitys faculty are engaged in the process of reimagining the universitys core curriculum: the courses that all students, regardless of major, must take in order to graduate. Core curriculums are a way for universities to make sure that everyone on campus absorbs a common set of skills and values deemed fundamental to a liberal arts educationthey often include basic instruction in writing, history, and mathematical reasoning, for instance. American plans to modernize its curriculum by 2017, and has convened a task force of professors to complete the process. A draft of their proposed curriculum is available here.

Under the proposal, the new core curriculum would require students to enroll in several worrisome courses that the Cato Institutes Walter Olson has astutely labeled oppression studies. The task force calls them Complex Problems and AU Experience, but oppression studies is certainly the more fitting name. From the draft:

Although many Complex Problems courses will draw heavily on the social sciences (in the analysis of such issues as inequality, social violence, and health care access), others will be grounded in the sciences (climate change, dementia) or arts and humanities (art and politics, post-colonial expression).

The AU Experience courses are similarly one-note, and will pay special attention to issues of diversity, inclusion, and community. Reading assignments, according to the draft, will focus on oppression and resistance, historical violence, such as the early slave trade and genocidal conquests, and the experiences of marginalized groups and struggles for human rights. For good measure, course materials will fixate on how entrenched systems of inequality marginalize some groups and privilege others.

This is not to say these arent important and fascinating topicsthey are, and students should study them, if they want to. But its one thing to make these courses available to students who have an interest in explicitly left-wing topics. Its quite another to require the study of a specific viewpoint and subjugate all other academic concerns.

And thats just the beginning. The proposal also calls for a dramaticand mildly terrifyingtransformation of life in the residence halls. No longer will students shack up together at random: instead, AU would assign students to particular housing based on which oppression studies courses they are taking.

The point of this change is to force students to grapple with these subjects in their free time, as well as their class timein other words, to move the oppression from the classroom to the dorm room. How horrible does that sound?

It gets worse. Upper class peer mentors, according to the draft, will be assigned to these groups of students. The draft describes them as support teams, but its easy to imagine them morphing into some kind of social justice enforcers instead.

This plan, if approved, would add AU to the list of campuses attempting to turn its residence halls into re-education camps. The most famous example was the University of Delaware, which previously required students to submit to a rigorous and intrusive ideological training program with the explicit goal of changing their incorrect beliefs and transforming them into eager leftist activists. The almost unbelievably Orwellian program was centered on dorm life, where residential advisers routinely interrogated students (on the orders of the campus housing department) about everything from their sex lives to their political beliefs.

The RAs kept files on individual students; those who didnt show enough progress toward reforming their problematic views were publicly shamed at mandatory meetings, and even disciplined. Only the eventual involvement of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Educationwhich launched an advocacy campaign that persuaded Delaware to abolish the indoctrination programliberated the students from enforced conformity.

AU would be wise to eschew the path of Delaware. Its perfectly fine to challenge students beliefs and biasesin fact, its the whole purpose of going to college in the first placebut universities should leave the proselytizing to the professors, not the residence hall police.

But perhaps American University is simply living up to its name. After all, its become clear in recent months that American college campuses are in the throes of what former Harvard University President Larry Summers recently described as creeping totalitarianism in terms of what kind of ideas are acceptable and debatable on college campuses. A lot of left-leaning students have announced that they dont want to be bothered anymore by ideas that offend them, and a lot of campus administrators have decided to make every effort to shelter them from dissenting points of view. Paradoxically, these efforts are always undertaken in the name of inclusion, tolerance, and diversity.

But if AU requires all students to study a single point of view and organizes their dormitories in accordance with ideological conformity, how can anyone say the university is actually inclusive, or tolerant, toward dissenters? How can anyone say that it actually prizes diversity? How can anyone say that students are free in any meaningful sense to say and think and do what they want? Under American Universitys new core curriculum, oppression studies would become a living experiment on campus.
Five musicians have been selected for the finals of the 18th Annual Brazos Valley Youth Concerto Competition on Feb. 7.

As in recent years, the competition will be at 3 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church, 2201 Rio Grande Blvd. at the intersection with Harvey Mitchell Parkway in College Station. The public is invited.

Finalists are Hannah Chang, Jeremy Michael Dudo, Eric Gan, Erika Salzman and Eugene Tian.

They were chosen in blind judging by Marcelo Bussiki, music director and conductor of the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. Competition entrants submitted a CD of their performance of any movement from any concerto for any instrument.

The competition is sponsored by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra and its support guild, the Friends Association of the Symphony Orchestra.

This year's finalists are all from College Station schools.

 Chang, 16, is in the 10th grade at A&M Consolidated High School and plays violin. Her music teacher is Kenneth Goldsmith. She will perform the first movement from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Concerto No. 5 in A major.

 Dudo, 16, is a junior at College Station High School and plays marimba. His music teacher is Jon Seale. He will perform the fourth movement, Despedida (Farewell), from New Rosauro's Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra.

 Gan, 13, is in the eighth grade at A&M Consolidated Middle School and plays violin. His music teacher is Marianne Henry. He will perform the allegro moderato movement from Jean-Baptiste Accolay's Concerto No. 1 in A minor.

 Salzman, 18, is a senior at A&M Consolidated High School and plays flute. Her music teacher is Kristen Seale. She will perform Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise, Op. 26 by Albert Franz Doppler.

 Tian, 16, is a junior at College Station High School and plays violin. His music teacher is Sergei Galperin. He will perform the first movement from Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor.

The finalists will perform their competition entry from memory before a panel of three judges and an audience.

While the judges are making their decision, the Symphony Belles will host a reception in the church foyer.

Trio con Brio Copenhagen

Community Chamber Concerts begins the new year with its fourth concert of its 20th season on Thursday.

The world-famous Trio con Brio Copenhagen will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the acoustically splendid sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church, 1100 Carter Creek Parkway in Bryan. The concert is free and free child-care is provided. A reception will follow the concert.

Members of the trio are Korean sisters Soo-Jin Hong, violin, and Soo-Kyung Hong, cello, and Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer.

They will be joined by Ivo-Jan van der Werff, viola, and Timothy Pitts, double bass, for Franz Schubert's Trout Quintet -- officially the Piano Quintet in A major. It acquired its familiar name because its fourth movement includes variations of Schubert's earlier work, Die Forelle (The Trout). Van der Werff and Pitts are from the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Also on the program will be Piano Trio No. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven and Piano Trio in C by Gaspar Cassado.

Celebrating its international existence, Trio con Brio Copenhagen was formed in 1999 in Vienna. It calls Copenhagen home, where trio members teach at the Royal Academy. The lead master classes during their performances around the world. The trio has a prominent role in Scandanavia's contemporary music scene.

Several prominent Danish composers have written for the trio, including Per Nrgard and Bent Srensen, as well as Swedish composer Sven David Sandstrom. Trio con Brio Copenhagen was chosen by Per Nrgard to be the dedicatee of a work that was premiered at a festival in Stockholm celebrating his 80th birthday in 2012. This month, the trio will perform the world premiere of Srensen's Triple Concerto with the Danish National Orchestra.

The Kristeligt Dagblad in Copenhagn raved, "One wonders with gratitude: what it is that makes these three musicians so unique as an ensemble? If you go one level deeper than just tossing out the words "world class," the answer, perhaps, lies in their particular mix of temperament--of which they show more than even the legendary trios on my CD-rack do--and transparency. Things can grow quite impetuous when they get going, but this rarely, if ever, overshadows the transparency of their playing. The big picture is never lost."

The Buffalo News said, "Clearly on the short list of today's most dazzling chamber ensembles ... ferocious energy but also ... a pristine clarity that illuminated the music in a way I'd never heard before."

Their sound, in part, is due to the instruments they play. Soo-Jin Hong plays a violin built by Andrea Guarneri from the 17th century and Soo-Kyung Hong plays a Grancino cello. Elvekjaer is Denmark's first Steinway artist.

The Community Chamber Concerts are a gift from the Friends of Chamber Music. Funding for the concerts comes from the Gilbert and Thyra Plass Arts Foundations, the Arts Council of Brazos Valley and individual donors.

Well qualified

In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Arts Watch failed to recognize a group of extremely talented local young people who are invited to participate in the National Thespian Festival June 20-25.

Sponsored by the Educational Theatre Association, the festival will be at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. It describes itself as a one-of-a-kind, weeklong immersion experience in singing, dancing, acting, designing, directing, creating, writing, and memory-making.

The festival features workshops presented by theatre professionals, individual and group performances, programs for technical theatre students, and opportunities to audition for college admission and scholarships.

Texas students chosen for the national event were selected the Texas Thespian Festival in Dallas Dec. 3-5.

Ashley Poprik of College Station High School advance to nationals for her film What?. She was named short film winner and was the only film to receive perfect scores.

Other local students advancing to the national festival include:

 Bryan High School -- Kassie Gough and Caleb Duane, duet acting; Max Stratton, solo musical theatre; Ryan Simpson, Nicholas Roman, Erica Moreno, Alex Padilla, Chadney Ferguson, Kaylee Gough, Alejandra Reyes, Emily Kapchinski, Tyler Wilson, Tyler Young, and Abigail Murray, group acting.

 College Station High School -- Dylan Flasowski, Marcus Nealy and Lauren Klaus, monologue performance; Jennifer Porter and Aubrey Wynn, duet acting; and Wyatt Synwolt, theatre marketing.

 Rudder High School -- Catherine Anderson and Tara Trowbridge, duet acting; and Allison Marek and Cainan Arnold, duet acting.

Overtures

 Today and Wednesday -- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston, Cinemark Movies 18 and XD, 1401 Earl Rudder Freeway S. in College Station, 2 p.m. today and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday. Future films in the series include Blazing Saddles, Jan. 31 and Feb. 3; To Catch a Thief, Feb. 7 and 10; Pretty in Pink. Feb. 14 and 17; and The Maltese Falcon, Feb. 21 and 24.

 Every Sunday -- Open mics and poetry slams sponsored by Mic Check Poetry, 8:30 p.m. Revolution Cafe in Downtown Bryan. (miccheckpoetry.com)

 Items for Sunday's Arts Watch column must be received by noon Tuesday. Send them to robert.borden@theeagle.com.
Producers Cooperative in Bryan has received a $10,000 cash prize and a $5,000 donation to the 4-H Foundation from San Antonio Steel Co.

The awards were part of a promotion commemorating SASCO's 50 years in business and its growth as the nation's largest wholesale distributor of agricultural fencing products.

SASCO dealers were encouraged to participate in the 50th anniversary program by promoting and selling The 50-Year Fence and Texas Classic products. Producers Cooperative was one of 10 dealers in the state to receive the award. SASCO has awarded $150,000 to dealers and respective youth livestock shows across Texas.
Anita Louise Murray, born on September 30, 1937 in Rochester, Texas died on January 19, 2016 in Bryan, Texas. After graduating high school she attended Hardin Simmons where she met Pete Murray and he swiftly and permanently fell for his yellow rose of Texas. Pete and Anita were devoted to each other, lovingly negotiating fifty-five years of marriage until his death. Anita devoted herself to her husband and two daughters, as well as their extended family and friends. She was particularly proud of her grandson, Benjamin Gerzik.
Two armed ships set off from the northwest of England this week to sail round the world to Japan on a secretive and controversial mission to collect a consignment of plutonium and transport it to the US.

The cargo of plutonium, once the most sought-after and valuable substance in the world, is one of a number of ever-growing stockpiles that are becoming an increasing financial and security embarrassment to the countries that own them.

So far, there is no commercially viable use for this toxic metal, and there is increasing fear that plutonium could fall into the hands of terrorists, or that governments could be tempted to use it to join the nuclear arms race.

All the plans to use plutonium for peaceful purposes in fast breeder and commercial reactors have so far failed to keep pace with the amounts of this highly dangerous radioactive metal being produced by the countries that run uranium-fulled nuclear power stations.

The small amounts of plutonium that have been used in conventional and fast breeder reactors have produced very little electricity - at startlingly high costs.

Japan, with its 47-ton stockpile, is among the countries that once hoped to turn their plutonium into a power source, but various attempts have failed. The government, which has a firm policy of using it only for peaceful purposes, has nonetheless come under pressure to keep it out of harm's way. Hence, the current plan to ship it to the US.

Altogether, 15 countries across the world have stockpiles. They include North Korea, which intends to turn it into nuclear weapons.

UK's Plutonium represents a massive cost - but no balance sheet liability recorded



The UK has the largest pile, with 140 tons held at Sellafield in north-west England, where plutonium has been produced at the site's nuclear power plant since the 1950s, also using spent fuel from civilian nuclear plants such as Hinkley Point and Calder Hall. The government has yet to come up with a policy on what to do with it - and, meanwhile, the costs of keeping it under armed guard continue to rise.

Like most countries, the UK cannot decide whether it has an asset or a liability. The plutonium does not appear on any balance sheet, and the huge costs of storing it safely - to avoid it going critical and causing a meltdown - and guarding it against terrorists are not shown as a cost of nuclear power.

This enables the industry to claim that nuclear is an attractive and clean energy-producing option to help combat climate change.

The two ships that set off from the English port of Barrow-in-Furness this week are the Pacific Egret and Pacific Heron, nuclear fuel carriers fitted with naval cannon on deck. They are operated by Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd, which ultimately is owned by the British government.
Photo furnished Union County teacher David Drennan (left) works with children at a youth camp on a Navajo reservation in Northeast Arizona. Drennan is organizing a special kind of fundraiser to support his fourth summer mission trip to the youth camp.

SHARE Photo furnished Union County teacher David Drennan is dressed in his clown attire. Photo furnished Union County teacher David Drennan shares a meal with other volunteers at a youth camp on the Navajo reservation in Northeast Arizona. Drennan is organizing a special kind of fundraiser to support his fourth summer mission trip to the youth camp. Standing is the late Stan Bramblett, a mentor who recruited Drennan to the mission project. Bramblett died last summer.

By Donna B. Stinnett

David Drennan is a real clown.

He's also a teacher, a volunteer in church mission work and a member of Water's Edge Church in downtown Henderson.

All of his "hats" converge in a project coming up on Jan. 30. He's organizing a "teacher-themed" garage sale that will support a summer camp for youth on the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona.

"The Navajo Reservation is one of the most economically and educationally challenged areas in the country," said Drennan, a classroom instructor in Union County Schools.

He said out of 100 high school graduates on the Reservation, 50 graduate at grade level, and of those 50 only 12 are male.

He said the summer camp that his organization (Alpha Ministries) supports is sponsored by a church in Arizona and reaches out to native families with faith-based support.

This year's camp will be the sixth annual. Last year, about 50 campers from the Reservation attended.

Drennan got involved with the summer camp because of his hobby of dressing up like a clown and performing for children at church, at school and at community events.

The Crittenden County native became aware of the mission opportunity and was encouraged by organizers to bring his clown attire and head to the Reservation with them. After that, he was hooked on it.

"This will be my fourth summer going," Drennan.

Last year's trip was especially stressful because the man who originally recruited him, Stan Bramblett of Princeton, Kentucky, died of a sudden heart attack while they were on the reservation.

"He wouldn't have wanted to go any other way," Drennan said. "He wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. That was where he loved to be."

Drennan said he wants to go back to help preserve Bramblett and his wife Trudy's vision for the ministry and out of respect for their continued involvement.

He said volunteers at the overnight camp lead activities, cook for the group, teach vacation Bible school and do whatever construction and maintenance they can accomplish which they're there.

"We just help out wherever we're needed," he added, noting that they take all of their supplies with them because even the nearest Walmart is 1 1/2 hours away in the next state.

There's a nightly service during the weeklong mission. Drennan said they'll talk with anyone of any age who needs a mentor.

"A lot of people who serve on the Reservation don't have a chance to network with other people who have had training and haven't been in a position to talk with others, ask questions and bounce ideas around," he said. That's where the teacher in him can be helpful.

He chose the teacher-themed garage sale because he wants to build awareness about the educational distress present on the Reservation.

"I want to draw attention to that," Drennan said. "While we are helping local educators with discounted supplies we are also helping bring support to a culture that very much needs our support."

The garage sale will run from 8 a.m. to noon at Water's Edge Church, located in the 100 block of First Street across from the Henderson Post Office.

The event will include books, classroom decorations, games, printables and other resources generally geared toward elementary school students. Discounted school supplies also will be available. Shoppers are likely to find crayons, notebook paper, scissors, bulletin board supplies, stuff animals and lot of other things that can be used in the classroom.

"It will be like Christmas for a teacher," he said.
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CHIOS, Greece (AP) -- In the inky nighttime blackness, a small red dot appears on the radar screen, moving fast.

"That's a smuggler," the captain of the coast guard's lifeboat says, swinging the vessel around and opening up the throttle, the boat cutting through the water on a frigid January night.

But the lifeboat, designed for search-and-rescue operations rather than high-speed chases, is no match for the smuggler's speedboat. The smuggler ignores the searchlight, the shouts and the warning shots fired by the Greek coast guard, deftly navigating his small white vessel onto a tiny patch of beach among rocks.

There he disgorges his human cargo -- men, women and children risking their lives in a quest for safety and a better future in Europe. They use ropes to scramble up a cliff, heading toward a lighthouse on an island they are soon to discover is deserted save for an army outpost. They will spend a cold, wet, uncomfortable night there until the coast guard can send boats in the morning.

Hour after hour, by night and by day, Greek coast guard patrols and lifeboats, reinforced by vessels from the European Union's border agency Frontex, ply the waters of the eastern Aegean Sea along the frontier with Turkey. They are on the lookout for people being smuggled onto the shores of Greek islands -- the front line of Europe's massive refugee crisis.

Although smugglers are often arrested, the task is mainly a search-and-rescue role. Hours spent on patrol shows the near-impossibility of sealing Europe's sea borders as some have demanded of Greece, whose islands so near to Turkey are the most popular gateway into Europe.

Some European countries -- notably Hungary and Slovakia -- have blasted Greece for being unable to secure its border, which also forms part of the external limits of Europe's borderless Schengen area.

"We have been saying all along that if the Greeks are unable to protect the borders of their country, we should jointly go down south and protect them," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in November, with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico echoing the thought.

But such calls ignore the realities at sea.

No matter how many patrol boats are out in Greek waters, attempting to force a vessel of asylum-seekers back into Turkish waters is both illegal and dangerous, even in calm seas. So unless a Turkish patrol stops a migrant boat and returns it to Turkey, there is little Greek or Frontex patrols can do once it has entered Greek territorial waters but arrest the smugglers and pick up the passengers or escort the vessel safely to land.

The sheer numbers have been overwhelming.

More than 850,000 people, most fleeing conflict in Syria and Afghanistan, entered Greece by sea in 2015, according to the UNHCR. Already in 2016, 35,455 people have arrived despite plunging winter temperatures and days of stormy weather.

The Greek island of Chios, second in the number of arrivals after the island of Lesbos, has three coast guard vessels and Frontex reinforcements.

"But when you have 50 or 60 (migrant) boats daily, you understand that these vessels can't cope," said Chios coast guard deputy head Commander Christos Fragias. "Both the crews and the vessels are strained from the overwork."

Those reaching Chios have been lucky. The island has seen few deaths -- about four or five, Fragias said, out of 118,000 arrivals in 2015.

Others have not fared so well. Two smuggling boats sank Friday off the tiny Greek islets of Kalolimnos and Farmakonissi, drowning at least 46 people, including 17 children. In all, more than 700 people have died or gone missing in the Aegean Sea, in both Greek and Turkish territorial waters, since the start of 2015.

The crew of Chios' lifeboat has performed dozens of rescues.

"We make superhuman efforts. The five of us pick up 50, 60 people in 10 minutes," says its captain. Last year, they rescued nearly 3,000 people, he said. Coast guard crews cannot be cited by name as they are not authorized to speak on the record.

Racing across choppy seas to check on a dinghy sighting as the weather turns for the worse, the captain of one of the island's patrol boats described dramatic scenes of plucking struggling refugees out of stormy seas, where waves can hide victims from sight and maneuvering a pitching vessel in a sea full of people becomes precarious.

"It's very difficult to save people in bad weather," he said. "If there are incidents at sea, we only have a limited capacity, so we have to prioritize which boats are in danger."

The dinghy he was called on to check arrived safely on a beach on southern Chios, so the captain turned the patrol boat north, heading to the deserted island that the smuggler was ferrying passengers to the previous night. By morning, 283 people, including dozens of children, a disabled elderly woman and an amputee await rescue. They will be transported to Chios, which will have received 1,026 people by the end of the day.

The patrol vessel and a Dutch Frontex speedboat take turns ferrying people in batches of about 25 to the nearby island of Oinousses, from where a large privately owned tug converted into a rescue boat will take them to Chios.

Among the new arrivals was Faysal, a middle-aged man from Damascus who would only give his first name after fleeing Syria following kidnapping threats.

"It was a horrible, horrible trip," he said of the boat ride from Turkey, crouching on the patrol boat's deck, his hood pulled up to ward off the rain. "They told us it would take 15 minutes, but it took 2 1/4 hours."

The smuggler waited at sea for an hour to evade a coast guard boat, Faysal said. "We have no sea in Damascus, we are not used to this. We were all sick, and the boat was full of water."

Once on land they lit fires, burning their lifejackets to keep warm. Next to him, tears of pain trickled down the soot-blackened face of a woman who had hurt her leg on the rocks getting off the smuggler's boat.

Faysal ran a successful heating business in Damascus, but said he no longer had the option of staying.

"There is no safety. I left everything behind; my business, my home," he said.

He hopes to reach Holland, where his sister lives. But the onward journey will have to wait a day or two.

"We have no strength to go on tonight," he says. "We have to have some rest."

___

Pablo Gorondi in Budapest and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Within hours of ascending to the Saudi throne, King Salman announced sweeping changes that would recast the kingdom's line of succession, and rework its security and economic decision-making processes. It marked the start of what would be a tumultuous year for King Salman, who completes one year as monarch on Saturday.

His reign so far has been marked by a boldness that one Western intelligence agency labelled as "impulsive." However, supporters and admirers of the monarch prefer to describe him as "decisive."

Salman, believed to be in his mid-80s, inherited the throne Jan. 23, 2015 after the death of his 90-year-old half-brother King Abdullah, who had ruled Saudi Arabia for a decade. Almost immediately he dismissed two of his predecessor's sons as governors of Riyadh and Mecca, eliminated 12 different government committees and councils, elevated his then-29-year-old son to defense minister and placed him as a lead member on two new super-committees overseeing the country's security and economic affairs.

Since then, Salman has led his country into an aggressive new stance confronting longtime regional rival Iran, leading a military coalition fighting Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen and unsuccessfully lobbying against Iran's newly implemented nuclear deal with world powers. Domestically, he has urgently taken on economic reforms to counter the impact of plunging oil prices. Salman has also continued to concentrate power in the hands of his son, Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

Though few of Saud Arabia's allies have publicly critiqued Salman's policies as king, a German intelligence analysis released by the BND spy agency last month cited concern over the kingdom's future as it tries to "establish itself as a leader in the Arab world."

"The previous cautious diplomatic stance of older leaders within the royal family is being replaced by a new impulsive policy of intervention," the German report said, adding that the kingdom is "prepared to take unprecedented military, financial and political risks."

The intelligence report said the concentration of economic and foreign policy power in the hands of Mohammed bin Salman carried a "latent risk" with other members of the royal family, the public and allied states in the region.

In contrast to the cautious and paternal reputation Abdullah had earned, Salman's reign has been frequently described by the Saudi government press as "decisive," a term born out of his decision to launch the "Operation Decisive Storm" military intervention in Yemen.

Gregory Gause, head of the International Affairs Department at Texas A&M University, says this past year has shown Salman to be "a risk-taker."

While Abdullah's foreign policy also sought to counter the influence of predominantly-Shiite Iran, it was Salman who committed Saudi warplanes and ground troops outside the country's borders to fight the Shiite rebels who had forced Yemen's internationally-backed government into exile. Ten months into the Yemen war, the military intervention has proven controversial, its successes questionable; the conflict has killed 5,800 people since March and left more than 80 percent of the Yemeni population in dire need of food and water, according to international aid agencies.

"King Abdullah had himself portrayed in many ways as a paternal figure. That doesn't seem to be King Salman's desire," Gause said. "They're portraying themselves as tough guys," he said, referring to the king and his defense minister son.

In a recent surprise move, Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced in December the creation of a 35-nation Islamic counterterrorism military alliance that would be headquartered in Saudi Arabia. The move was interpreted as an effort to further project Saudi Arabia's leadership in the region and to counter the narrative that Saudi Arabia's arming of Syrian rebels has also aided extremist groups.

Throughout the past week, Saudi newspapers marked the Islamic calendar anniversary of Salman's first year as monarch with articles proclaiming him to be the king of "decisiveness and hope." Businessmen and senior princes took out full-page newspaper advertisements expressing their loyalty and support for the king and his successors.

Salman inherited a host of domestic challenges, including the need to create more affordable housing and jobs for Saudi Arabia's burgeoning young population. The collapse of the price of oil to under $30 a barrel has forced Saudi Arabia to rein back handouts to the public, including lifting some subsidies and raising petrol prices.

Saudi Arabia posted a $98 billion budget deficit last year and expects an $87 billion deficit for 2016. The kingdom has been working for years to try and attract foreign investment and diversify its economy away from oil, including opening up the stock market to foreign investors in 2015.

However, it's most anticipated economic move may still be yet to come. In an interview with The Economist, Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom is studying launching an initial public offering for the world's largest oil producer, Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

On social reforms, Abdullah allowed for some greater women's rights, including a decision to allow Saudi women to vote and run for the first time in government elections for municipal councils.

As generational and social changes take root, the Yemen war effort put calls for democratic reforms on hold, according to activists. The country's leaders have projected the Yemen war as a defense of Sunnis against Iran, which has supported Shiite militias in Iraq and the government of Bashar Assad in Syria, where Saudi Arabia is arming Sunni rebels.

One month after the March 2015 launch of the Yemen war, Saudi citizens awoke to find that one crown prince had been replaced with another overnight -- this time from a new, younger generation of princes. Interior Minister and counter-terrorism czar, Mohammed bin Nayef, was announced as first-in-line to the throne. Mohammed bin Salman was appointed deputy crown prince and second-in-line.

In Riyadh, a vague sense of pride and nationalism was whipped up by the war. The bombing campaign also helped elevate Mohamed bin Salman, who was overseeing the military intervention.

"I think that they thought that it would be a way to enhance their political capital and to demonstrate that they are more a more decisive leadership than that of King Abdullah, that they are more willing to confront Iran and sort of go at it alone," said Hani Sabra, head of Middle East practice at Eurasia Group.

Relations between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite power Iran have been tense for decades, but the divide has only widened during Salman's year on the throne.

Iran seized on these tensions in September after a crush of crowds during the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage killed at least 2,400 people, among them some 464 Iranian pilgrims, according to an independent Associated Press tally. A few weeks before that, a crane collapsed in Mecca, killing 111 people who were praying at Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba.

Iran accused Saudi Arabia of negligence and called on the kingdom to share its prestigious custodianship of Mecca with other Muslim countries. Under King Salman, Saudi royals largely ignored Iran's criticisms and have yet to release details into their investigation of the stampede or adjust their official death toll of 769.

Tensions with Iran only worsened after Jan. 2, when Saudi Arabia executed 47 people convicted of terrorism-related charges. Most of them were alleged militants convicted of allegiance with al-Qaida, but included in the mass executions was a prominent Shiite cleric and a leader of Saudi Arabia's disgruntled Shiite minority.

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr's execution sparked protests in Iran, with mobs ransacking the Saudi Embassy there, prompting Saudi Arabia to sever diplomatic relations altogether with its regional rival. Several other Gulf Arab allies also cut or downgraded their relations with Tehran, prompting a deepening regional stand-off in recent weeks.

Toby Matthiesen, author of "Sectarian Gulf," says the Saudi response to Iran following al-Nimr's execution partially reflects declining Saudi trust in the U.S. as a strategic ally in the region following the Obama Administration's rapprochement with Iran and the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions on Tehran this month.

"They wanted to seem tough, show their population that they will not tolerate any dissent," Matthiesen said. "They want to be seen as the leader of the Sunni world and they're pushing a Saudi nationalism that is based on Arabism and Sunni Islam."

The sheikh's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, told The Associated Press that his family had hoped King Salman would not sign off on the execution. When asked what he thought about Salman's past year as monarch and what's to come for Saudi Arabia, he said "the future is not comforting."

"It is very painful. As Muslims, we have faith in God but the picture is bleak, it's black," al-Nimr said.

___

Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ayaelb
WILTON  Winter may finally be here but fortunately the art exhibition, February Awakenings  Five Artists, that opens Friday, Feb. 5, from 6-7:30 p.m., will warm the chill that is in the air.

Shannon Cruickshank, Elizabeth Emerson, Trish Nelson, Karen Siegel and Margaret Vickers provide a cornucopia of color that awakens the senses during the cold winter month. The featured artists are local to Wilton and Westport:

 Shannon Cruickshank, a Wilton resident, knew from an early age and a remarkable exposure to Picassos work that art would always be a part of her life. While at Roanoke College, she majored in fine art, and later went to the University of Tennessee where she studied art education. In 2000, she moved to Connecticut, where she worked at The Greenwich Gallery and later at Abby M. Taylor Fine Art as the gallery director. Both galleries dealt in 19th and 20th century American and European paintings and sculpture. By 2007, she had two children and has spent the last few years reveling in motherhood. Now that they are both in school full time, Ms. Cruickshank has had the pleasure of working on commissions of childhood homes, and portraits of pets and people's family members. She remarked about her work, Capturing their memories and loved ones in an artful way and as an heirloom that can be passed on fills my heart with insurmountable joy.

 Elizabeth Emerson is a painter who lives in Wilton. She is originally from Indianapolis. In 1991, she earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts as a Painting major at the Rhode Island School of Design. After taking a brief hiatus to tour Europes art destinations by rail, backpack, and hostel, Elizabeth enrolled at the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts at Indiana University, earning a Masters of Fine Arts for Painting in 1994. She has lived in Brooklyn, San Francisco, Seattle, and Basalt, Colorado. Across this itinerant journey and throughout her life, the human form has always been her choice for the subject matter in her paintings.

 At the early age of 5, Trish Nelson acquired a collection of crayons and coloring books. Encouraged by both her grandmothers to draw and paint she developed her skill in realistically portraying her subjects, especially the details. Focusing her studies in illustration, graphic design and photography at Skidmore College, Silvermine Arts Guild and University of Arizona she has honed her ability to see the subtle nuances of a facial expression or the fleeting moment of color and light transferring them to paper or canvas. After having raised two children in Wilton, owning a restaurant in Norwalk along with various other business pursuits she is now fully engaged in creating art and sharing with the world.

 Karen Siegel is a painter and multi-media artist living in Westport. She has worked as a graphic designer in New York City and Connecticut. Karens clients include Save the Children, Childrens Television Workshop (Sesame Street), Oxford University Press and The New York Times. She is on the faculty of The Silvermine School of Art, New Canaan, CT. Karen has exhibited her work at Silvermine Arts Center, Lockwood-Mathews Museum, Norwalk, CT and the Rowayton Arts Center, Rowayton. Her educational experience includes studies at the Ecole de Beaux Arts at the Louvre, The Woodstock School of Art, School of Visual Arts and The New School.

 Margaret Vickers embraced art at an early age and in high school was active in all sorts of art projects, from scenery to posters. As a senior, she was voted Most Artistic. She attended Barnard College where she majored in art history. One of her goals was to reach some understanding as to what is the meaning and purpose of Art. At that time the main thrust of Art History was European: Greek Art to Modern Art. Her eyes were opened at Barnard when she enrolled in a Chinese Art course. According to Ms. Vickers, The Chinese had different artistic values. Ceramics were not considered crafts as they are in the West, but high art; paintings were done in ink on silk not oil on canvas. In Art School, she was taught about the Bauhaus and Abstract Expressionism, providing a wide range of possibilities of what constitutes art. Vickers lives in Wilton.

The reception is open to the public and the exhibition runs through Saturday, Feb. 27. A majority of the close to 60 works will be available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library. Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center. For information and directions, visit wiltonlibrary.org or call (203) 762-3950.
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Linkedin Erika Anindita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 24, 2016

Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie has called for an extraordinary meeting in a bid to unite the veteran political party amid its ongoing leadership dispute.

The Golkar split must come to an end, Aburizal said during a speech at his camp's national leaders' meeting at the Jakarta Convention Center on Saturday evening.

"Let us all reunite based on the spirit of friendship for the integrity of our beloved party," he said before hundreds of party members.

Aburizal called for an extraordinary national meeting to be the final recommendation issued at the leader's meeting, which is being held from Saturday to Monday. An extraordinary meeting is expected to help the opposing camps in Golkar to unite.

"We don't need an extraordinary meeting in a normal situation. But our current party situation needs an extraordinary solution," he said, adding that he vowed to follow whatever decisions were made at his camp's leaders' meeting.

Businessman and senior politician Aburizal took leadership of the party after he was elected during a national meeting in Bali in November 2014. His opposing counterpart is top Golkar official Agung Laksono, who was also elected chairman at a different national-level meeting in Ancol, Jakarta, in December 2014.

The extraordinary meeting must be held before Ramadhan, which will fall in June this year, Aburizal said, to give Golkar enough time for consolidation ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Golkar, a veteran political party affiliated with the late dictator Soeharto's New Order regime, has faced ongoing internal disputes since it split into the two camps led by Aburizal and Agung.

The party's image was also tainted by a scandal involving disgraced former House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto after he allegedly tried to broker a deal in a contract renegotiation for US-based mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia. Setya subsequently resigned from his position and was appointed to lead Golkar's faction in the House. (rin)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post  Sun, January 24, 2016

In September 1996, my husband's eldest brother felt a poking pain on his ulcers. He was rushed to the emergency unit of a hospital in Central Jakarta.



At the hospital, the nurses took over and called a doctor to see to him. He could not take the pain so they injected him with morphine. A few hours later, he passed away in the ICU ward without any specialist attending to him.



This incident opened my eyes to the kind of medical treatment available in this country.



Nineteen years later, at an arisan (regular social gathering), my friend narrated a story of her nephew who was hospitalized. Apparently, he was diagnosed with a gall bladder problem.



The doctor removed his bladder but accidentally pricked another organ, and the organ then unknowingly leaked. This medical unprofessionalism resulted in more surgeries and months in the hospital.



Terrifying tales of medical malpractice have gradually slipped into the minds of Indonesians. One may question the credibility of these stories but many of our countrymen have had their own experiences of misdiagnosis and malpractice.



Who is to blame? Where has our medical system gone wrong? If there is indeed something wrong, what has the government done to improve our medical facilities? If our medical system is sound, then why have so many Indonesians become medical tourists?



When I was asked to write a thesis, I chose the topic of medical tourism after reading an article in Singapore's Straits Times, which reported on May 8, 2015 that: 'Revenue from Indonesian medical tourists in 2013 was S$463 million, down 38 percent from 2012, according to the Singapore Tourism Board's [STB] latest data. Total medical tourism receipts came in at $832 million in 2013, a fall of 25 percent from 2012'.



In my research, I have found that one of the reasons many Indonesians become medical tourists is due to the lack of time spent by Indonesian doctors on their patients.



Many doctors practice till the wee hours of the morning and many of them work, at a minimum, in two hospitals. Some doctors start as early as 6 a.m. at their own clinics and then start a new shift at noon in a hospital. Where is there time for these doctors to listen to their patients? Aren't they going to be exhausted?



A doctor I consulted with recently mentioned that the doctor's association now required a doctor to sit a minimum of 15 minutes with a patient. I scratched my head and asked him if that was enough because I told him doctors abroad would attend to me for at least 30 minutes.



The doctor replied: 'Well, if you paid me as much as the doctors abroad, you would get even more than 30 minutes of consultation'.



My 15 minutes were soon over and I was shooed out the door. There were other patients waiting. Then I realized the doctor couldn't give me a longer consultation because of the number of patients he had.



With Indonesia's population of some 250 million people, there is probably an insufficient number of qualified doctors and specialists to properly treat such a population size. Is this the reason why there are so many misdiagnosed cases in our country? No doubt it can happen in other places, but aren't there just too many cases in our country?



According to data from the Indonesian Assembly of Honor of Medical Discipline, there were 182 cases of medical malpractice reported between 2006 and 20012. Out of this number, 60 were committed by general practitioners, 49 committed by surgeons, 33 by obstetricians and the rest by pediatricians and others.



It has been almost two decades since my brother-in-law passed away and unprofessionalism still exists in the medical industry.



These days, any story of misdiagnosis will just receive the angry remark: 'Kenapa nggak ke Singapore aja untuk cek, aman disitu (why not go to Singapore for a checkup, it is safe there)'.



Instead of succumbing to a low-quality medical system, those Indonesians who can afford it choose to find their own solutions by seeking treatment abroad. Even well-known personalities and politicians travel abroad for treatment. It has become an accepted norm that many don't argue about anymore.



Lucky are those who can afford it. In the meantime, what happens to those who can't afford this option?



' Aruna Harjani
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Linkedin Novia D. Rulistia (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 24, 2016

After a seven year hiatus, popular indie band Efek Rumah Kaca have returned to the scene, releasing their latest album, Sinestesia and wowing fans, once again, with a concert in the capital that turned out to be a most gratifying return indeed.

Formed in 2001, Efek Rumah Kaca comprises of vocalist and guitarist Cholil Mahmud, Adrian Yunan Faisal on bass and Akbar Bagus Sudibyo on drums.



Their Sinestesia concert, held at Teater Jakarta at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta on Jan. 13, successfully transported fans into the past, to several different periods of the band's musical journey, before enticing the audience back to the present with their new song list.



The velvet curtain was raised, revealing a stage transformed into a white room where the band members, who donned white and gray outfits, performed for 2.5 hours.



The concert was divided into two sessions: the first was aset aside for songs taken from their previous albums, Efek Rumah Kaca and Kamar Gelap (Dark Room); the second, songs from their new album.



As the room installation turned blue, the band opened the concert with 'Tubuhmu Membiru Tragis' (Your Body Turns A Tragic Blue).



Artist Irwan Ahmett was responsible for creating the blue stage effect and other visual effects throughout the course of the evening.



The band rocked the concert hall, continuing their performance with 'Mosi Tidak Percaya' (Motion of No Confidence), before Cholil greeted the crowd.



'Thank you for being here. We're actually very nervous because we didn't prepare long enough, but I hope we can enjoy the music together,' he said.



In the next song, 'Cinta Melulu' (Incessant Love), Cholil let the crowd take over when concert goers, overwhelming his voice, cried out the song lyrics from beginning to the end.



After a series of up tempo songs, the band toned down the mood, performing 'Melankolia' (Melancholy). The drum beat combined with the stage visual effects were hypnotizing, transporting the crowd into a state of trance as the vocals talked of bitterness.



Before the band performed their ninth song, Adrian came to the front of the stage with the help of the keyboardist, generating loud screams and applause from the floor.



'I feel like this is my first concert. This is a happy night for me and I hope it is for you too,' Adrian said.



Adrian was diagnosed with BehAet disease, resulting in the declining condition of his eyes and forcing him to leave music. His position on stage has been replaced by Poppie Airil.



The band heated up the night as they continued belting out their best tracks, including 'Jangan Bakar Buku' (Don't Burn Books), 'Laki-laki Pemalu' (Shy Guy), 'Hujan Jangan Marah' (Rain Don't be Mad), and 'Sebelah Mata' (Beside The Eye).



The band performed a total of 13 songs in the first part of the evening accompanied by a mini orchestra led by Alvin Witarsa.





After a 15-minute break, the band returned to the stage with the track 'Merah' (Red), featuring bassist Ricky Virgana of White Shoes & The Couples Company who played cello.



Unlike their previous two albums, Sinestesia only consists of six songs, all rather long in duration ' the shortest one is eight minutes long and the longest is 13 minutes.



'We're playing long songs on this album because we want to do something different. We're greatly inspired by progressive rock from the 1970s, but we don't really describe our music as progressive rock,' Cholil said.



The second track in the album and the second song to be played in the second half of the concert, 'Biru' is a combination of two singles, 'Pasar Bisa Diciptakan' (Markets Can Be Created) and 'Cipta Bisa Dipasarkan' (Creations Can Be Marketed).



The band continued to perform songs in the same order as they appear in the new album, 'Jingga' (Orange), 'Hijau' (Green), 'Putih' (White) and 'Kuning' (Yellow).



The light projected into the room installation changed to match each of the titles, with the display of some other effects, such as clouds, that made the show more dramatic.



The band said that the concert was the first time that the band had played the whole album altogether'their first in a long while and also their last as they plan to have another break.



Their sound was strong and flawless, the stage setting and visual effects were engaging and the chemistry between the crowd and the band members was epic.



As the clock approached 11 p.m., the band sang the Dayak folk song 'Leleng', clapping their hands and stamping feet until the curtain finally came down on the evening.



' Photos courtesy of Sinestesia Concert Documentation Team
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Linkedin Tama Salim and Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Surabaya  Sun, January 24, 2016

Hundreds of members of the controversial Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar) who fell victim to a recent mob incident in Mempawah regency, West Kalimantan, have started returning to their respective hometowns in a government-sponsored evacuation that will continue for the next several days.



On early Saturday morning, 387 people, including 183 children, arrived at Juanda International Airport in Sidoarjo, Surabaya, East Java, from Pontianak on two different flights operated by Lion Air.



The majority of first-batch evacuees resided in East Java before moving to West Kalimantan to run communal farms with other Gafatar members from across the archipelago.



The newly arrived evacuees, who looked exhausted, were later transported by several buses to a transit hall managed by the province's manpower, transmigration and population agency in Margorejo, Surabaya, to rest.



The evacuees will be housed in a transit hall for an estimated four days to complete registration. They are also required to attend religious counselling sessions before they are sent back to their hometowns.



Separately, 564 evacuees, including four infants, also safely arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, early on Saturday, on three different flights.



'The Gafatar members arrived [at Soekarno-Hatta] on chartered Lion Air flights directly from Pontianak,' Soekarno-Hatta Police chief Sr. Comr. Roycke Harry Langie said on Saturday.



Roycke said the majority of the evacuees that had arrived would be sent straight to a protection and trauma shelter in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, while another 100 would be temporarily accommodated by the Jakarta Social Affairs Agency.



On Tuesday, thousands of people besieged Gafatar members' houses in Mempawah, forcing police and military personnel to evacuate them before the mob proceeded to burn down houses and a car belonging to the group.



The people were forced out of their homes amid media controversy surrounding the group.



Gafatar is reportedly a successor organization to Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah, which was founded by Ahmad Mussadeq, who was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court to four years in prison in 2008 for blasphemy. Ahmad reportedly claimed to be a new prophet.



Gafatar leaders, meanwhile, have repeatedly denied that their organization, which was established in January 2012 and banned by the Home Ministry in November of the same year, is based on or affiliated with any religion, insisting it cleaves instead to the state ideology, Pancasila.



Gafatar spokesperson Wisnu Windani said recently that the organization had dissolved itself in August last year, with its members retreating to Mempawah to engage in communal farming.



Despite the ongoing evacuation efforts, human right activists have condemned the government for its indecisiveness in resolving the conflict.



National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Nur Kholis expressed his disappointment over the government's lack of initiative in mediating the social unrest in Mempawah, particularly blaming the Religious Affairs Ministry, which he said could have prevented the violent incident from occurring.



'The religious affairs minister should have played the central role of mediation, if only for the sake of gaining people's trust,' he said during a discussion in Central Jakarta on Saturday.



'It is the state's duty to protect [its citizens], not only in terms of religion, but also their livelihood and culture.'



Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) deputy coordinator for strategy and mobilization Puri Kencana Putri, meanwhile, criticized local authorities in West Kalimantan for dispersing negative sentiment about Gafatar, which she said only exacerbated the conflict between residents and former members of the group.



'It is terrible to think that the government might have oversimplified this social anomaly by attaching to it a stigma of misguidedness,' she said.



Meanwhile, NasDem Party lawmaker Teuku Taufiqulhadi criticized the government for being negligent in monitoring Ahmad's movements following his release in 2012, arguing that proper oversight would have dampened stigmatization and prevented social unrest.



'If the government was observant, things would not have gotten out of hand; now it has turned into a horizontal conflict and people are turning against them,' he said.



According to data from the Home Ministry as of Friday, there were are at least 1,611 Gafatar members sheltered in military barracks in Kubu Raya regency, with 712 of them native to East Java, 276 to Yogyakarta, 247 to West Java, 145 to Central Java, 90 to Jakarta and four to Banten.



Others hail from areas outside of Java, with 99 from Riau, 13 from Medan, eight from Riau Islands, four from West Sumatra, Lampung and West Kalimantan, three from Central Kalimantan and two from South Sulawesi and Aceh.



The evacuations will continue as the government recently said that it would deploy three Navy warships to transport Gafatar members back to their hometowns by next week.



Earlier on Friday evening, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin called on Indonesians to properly treat people who were affiliated with Gafatar by, for example, not attacking their beliefs.



'We appeal to the public to not ostracize them or deny their existence,' he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Poso  Sun, January 24, 2016

Hundreds of elite Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers are set to swarm Central Sulawesi's Poso forests in an effort to capture the country's most wanted terrorist, Santoso, and members of his extremist group.

More than 1,000 soldiers from the Navy's Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion and the Special Underwater Unit arrived in Poso on Sunday morning on the KRI Banjarmasin-592 vessel from Surabaya, East Java.

The troops gathered at the Sintuwu Maroso Battalion headquarters in Poso before being assigned to several locations to hunt the Santoso-lead East Indonesia Mujahidin.

Around 880 soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) also arrived at Mutiara airport in Palu on two Hercules airplanes on Saturday.

The authorities restricted journalists from covering the arrival of the soldiers.

The soldiers' deployment was part of the government's Operation Tinombala 2016, held jointly between the police and the TNI, aimed at arresting around 45 members of the radical group.

The authorities believe Santoso, also known as Abu Wardah, and his followers are hiding out in Poso's forests. They are suspected of building a military training camp and conducting guerrilla strategies in the forest.

The group is believed to have been behind several attacks against police officers and police posts in Central Sulawesi since 2011.

The troops, along with the police officers, are set to hunt for Santoso in the forests up to Poso's borders. They will all have different tasks, Operation Tinombala commander and Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Idham Azis said on Sunday.

"There are groups assigned to go after Santoso and there are also others whose task is to isolate the Santoso group's movements," he said.

Operation Tinombala area chief Sr. Comr. Leo Bona Lubis admitted that the police faced difficulties in arresting Santoso, who is believed to have orchestrated attacks that killed several police officers in Poso and Palu, as his hideaways are hidden deep in the forest and are difficult to reach.

The East Indonesia Mujahidin terrorist group has around 45 members, including a woman from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, and two Chinese Uighurs.

The police and TNI previously launched Operation Camar Maleo last year, which failed to catch the fugitive. A member of Santoso's group, believed to be a frontline executor, was killed during a raid last week. (rin)
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Linkedin Rita Widiadana (The Jakarta Post) Nusa Dua, Bali  Sun, January 24, 2016

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo is scheduled to open the fourth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Nusa Dua on Monday.



The four-day conference, which was postponed due to the eruption of a volcano in neighboring Lombok last November, will bring together around 3,000 participants from 80 countries including UN Population Fund (UNFPA) executive director Babatunde Osotimehin.



Co-hosted by the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the ICFP will be the world's largest meeting focused primarily on family planning.



Surya Chandra Surapaty, chairperson of BKKBN, said Indonesia had to grab this opportunity to show to the world the developments in the country's revitalized family planning programs.



Family planning is frequently cited as one of the best investments in global development. Meeting the global unmet need for family planning services could save an estimated one in four women from deaths related to pregnancy or childbirth and prevent 1.1 million infant deaths each year. Expanding access to contraception will play a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.



The ICFP theme will be 'Global Commitments, Local Actions' to highlight international and domestic efforts to improve contraceptive information and services and help ensure that family planning remains a priority for policymakers and donors across sectors.



Held biennially since 2009, the ICFP serves as a strategic inflection point for the family planning community worldwide. Jose 'Oying' Rimon II, director of the Gates Institute and chair of ICFP's International Committee, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that Indonesia could reap benefits from the conference in two ways.



'First, Indonesia can show the world its successful effort to revitalize family planning after the 10 stagnant years. Second, Indonesia can learn the best practices and new innovations and technologies from participating countries in the field of family planning,' he said.



To revitalize its family planning programs, the Indonesian government has increased its budget allocation from US$65.9 million in 2006 to $263.7 million in 2014.



The opening ceremony will feature a presentation of the Global Humanitarian Awards for Women's and Children's Health to Dato' Sri Prof. Dr. Tahir, founder and chairman of the Tahir Foundation, Sir Christopher Hohn, co-founder of the Children's Investment Fund Foundation and Fayeeza Naqvi, chairman of co-founder of the Aman Foundation.
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Linkedin Christoper Bodeen (The Jakarta Post) Beijing  Sun, January 24, 2016

Divided opinions within Vietnam's Communist Party on how to relate to giant neighbor and one-time ally China are among key factors in play at an eight-day congress to choose new leadership. A look at the countries' shared history and some most recent ups and downs in relations.

Longtime rivals

Vietnam and China have a complex relationship going back more than 2,000 years, including several periods of Chinese imperial occupation that were ended by Vietnamese uprisings.

Despite its early support for the Vietnamese Communist Party, China invaded in 1979 in retaliation for Hanoi's overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Diplomatic ties were restored in 1991, but tensions have risen in recent years due to competing claims to islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

Keeping watch

China is closely observing the party congress and has emphasized the importance of China-Vietnam relations, including $90 billion in bilateral trade last year.

"As a good neighbor, friend, comrade and partner to Vietnam, we wish to advance the overall strategic relationship into a new stage on the basis of long-term stability, forward thinking and good neighborliness," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Friday.

"We also wish to work with Vietnam to appropriately control maritime disputes with Vietnam so as to safeguard the maritime stability."

Oil rig dispute

In May 2014, China parked a huge oil drilling platform off the Vietnamese coast in an area where the two countries' exclusive economic zones overlap. Vietnam furiously denounced the move and sent fishing boats and coast guard vessels to harass the rig and nearby Chinese vessels. Skirmishes led to collisions and the capsizing of at least one Vietnamese boat, while in Vietnam anti-Chinese rioting and the looting of Chinese and other foreign-owned factories left at least four Chinese citizens dead.

China's outreach

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visited Vietnam in June 2014 to try to contain the oil rig dispute.

Despite receiving a frosty reception from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, escalation was avoided. More significantly, the oil rig incident nudged Vietnam closer to its old enemy the United States, which later that year partially lifted an arms embargo specifically to help improve Vietnam's maritime security.

Competing claims

China withdrew the rig in July 2014, one month ahead of schedule, saying it had completed its mission.

The confrontation is widely seen as part of a Chinese strategy to strengthen its footprint in the South China Sea, all or part of which is also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

The incident also focuses renewed attention on a perceived split within the Vietnamese Communist Party between pro- and anti-China factions.

Vietnam visits

Following a prolonged chill, Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong (pronounced NEW-yen FOO CHONG) led a delegation to Beijing in April 2015 and was greeted by President Xi Jinping with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People. Though little of substance resulted from the four-day trip visit, it is seen as helping get relations back on track.

Mending ties

China's Xi made a state visit to Vietnam in November 2015, during which he and Trong agree to limit their differences and maintain peace and stability.

Xi said China will "strive together with Vietnam to control differences at sea."

Trong proposed that neither side take actions that increase tensions.

During the visit, about 30 people protested briefly in front of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi. Xi also addressed Vietnam's National Assembly, but avoided mentioning the South China Sea and the 1979 war.

Tensions renewed

Vietnam protested to China in January over a test flight to a new airstrip on one of Beijing's man-made island in the disputed Spratly Islands.

Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh demanded an end to such flights, saying they violate Vietnam's sovereignty and hurt bilateral relations. China responded that the flights fall "completely within China's sovereignty."

Days later, China conducted two more test flights. The South China Sea dispute looks only to grow more complex as China completes infrastructure on its newly created islands and boosts its maritime defense forces beyond anything its rival claimants can muster. (rin)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Kuala Lumpur  Sun, January 24, 2016

Malaysian police have detained seven men suspected of being an Islamic State militant cell that was plotting attacks, authorities said Sunday.

The seven Malaysians were detained over the past three days in a follow-up operation after the Jan. 15 detention of a man who was planning a suicide attack in Kuala Lumpur, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

Among the items seized were 30 types of bullets, jihad books and Islamic State flags and videos, he said.

"All the suspects are members of the same (terror) cell, which is responsible for planning to launch terror attacks in strategic locations across Malaysia," Khalid said in a statement.

The suspect thought to be the cell leader is a 31-year-old assistant housekeeping manager at a hotel in southern Johor state, Khalid said. He said one of the suspects, whom he didn't identify, received orders from Bahrom Naim, an Indonesian based in Syria who had a role in planning the Jakarta attacks.

Malaysia raised its security alert level following the attacks Jan. 14 in neighboring Indonesia.

More than 150 people suspected of having ties to the Islamic State group have been detained in Malaysia over the past two years, including some accused of plotting attacks in Kuala Lumpur. (rin)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Hong Kong  Sun, January 24, 2016

The wife of a missing chief editor of a publisher specializing in books banned in mainland China has told police she has been able to visit him on the mainland, Hong Kong police said Sunday.

It is the latest twist in the disappearances of British citizen Lee Bo and four of his colleagues that have intensified fears that Beijing is clamping down on Hong Kong's freedom of speech. Lee has previously written that he returned voluntarily to mainland China in letters to his wife, but his supporters believe he was kidnapped and smuggled to the mainland.

Hong Kong police said in a statement Sunday that Lee's wife had told them she had met him on Saturday afternoon at a guesthouse on the mainland. She said he was healthy and in good spirits, and that he was assisting in an investigation as a witness. She gave no further details regarding the location of the meeting or the nature of the investigation.

She also handed over a letter from Lee addressed to Hong Kong police. The police statement said its content was similar to his previous letters.

The latest development raises more questions than it answers. It is still unclear where Lee and the other four men linked to Hong Kong publishing company Mighty Current and its Causeway Bay Bookshop are exactly, what the investigation involves, and whether Lee is detained or there voluntarily, as he has purportedly said in his letters.

Hong Kong police said they are continuing to investigate Lee's case and had again asked police in Guangdong province, over the mainland border, to assist in arranging a meeting with Lee.

The circumstances of Lee's case have led many to suspect Chinese security agents crossed into Hong Kong to abduct him, in breach of the "one country, two systems" principle Beijing promised to uphold after taking control of the city from Britain in 1997. According to local news reports, he was last seen at his company's warehouse on Dec. 30 and didn't have his mainland travel permit, but days after he went missing he called his wife to say he was in Guangdong.

The other four men have disappeared since October from mainland China or Thailand.

Mighty Current specialized in racy but thinly sourced titles on Chinese political intrigue and scandals and other topics Beijing deemed off limits for mainland Chinese publishers. (rin)
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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 24, 2016

The Poso Police were conducting spot checks of people and vehicles entering and leaving the city on Sunday as part of an intensified operation to hunt Indonesia's most-wanted terrorist, Santoso.

Police officers were deployed across Poso Pesisir subdistrict amid Operation Tinombala, a joint Indonesian Military (TNI) and police operation.

Santoso leads the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) group, 45 members of which are believed be hiding in local forests. However, besides the main group led by Santono, police suspect the existence of second- and third-tier supporters and agents.

"There are many MIT supporters coming in and out of Poso. The checks are to find any members of the group attempting to infiltrate Poso," Poso Police chief Adj.Sr.Comr. Ronny Suseno told thejakartapost.com on Sunday.

Despite the step-up in the operation and related security checks, a suspected bomb was found in the city's Kawua subdistrict on Sunday morning. Eye witnesses told thejakartapost.com that unknown parties had arrived in two cars and placed a black backpack containing the bomb at the side of the road in front of a resident's house.

Poso Police Gegana bomb disposal unit safely exploded the bomb on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 elite Navy troops arrived in Poso on Sunday, joining the 880 Army Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers who arrived on Saturday.

The reinforcements join 2,000 soldiers and police officers already in the area as part of Operation Tinombala, which aims to capture Santoso and his group, who are believed to be responsible for several attacks against police personnel in Central Sulawesi.

The operation replaces 2015's Operation Camar Maleo, which failed in its task to capture Santoso.

A member of MIT was shot by a soldier in a forest in Poso regency last week. Police said the man, initially thought to be Santoso himself, had been a senior organizer of attacks against individuals.

The government has tightened security and concentrated on the operation in the wake of a terrorist attack in Central Jakarta on Jan. 14 that killed four civilians and injured at least 25 others. (rin)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Sun, January 24, 2016

The police have raided a house-turned-gambling den in North Jakarta and named eight people as suspects on gambling charges.

The building on Jl. Sinar Budi in Penjaringan had been run by suspect Asiong for the past week, Penjaringan Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ruddi Setiawan said on Sunday.

Local residents tipped off the police about the establishment, which was fitted with closed circuit television to notify those inside of the sudden arrival of any police officers, Rudi said.

Police apprehended 18 people consisting of one bookie, seven players and 10 spectators.

Officers also confiscated Rp 20,359,000 (US$1,474) in cash, one set of gambling tables, three pieces of fabric with animals printed on them and two dice.

Asiong is reportedly facing gambling charges under the Criminal Code, with a possible maximum of nine years' imprisonment, while the seven players could face four years in prison. (rin)
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang and Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 24, 2016

Embroiled in a leadership dispute for more than a year, the rival camps of the Golkar Party are likely to put an end to their disagreement through an extraordinary national congress (Munaslub) that will be held to elect a new chairman.



'The national leadership meeting [Rapimnas] must make a decision on the Munaslub. And I suggest the congress take place before the Ramadhan fasting month this year,' said Aburizal Bakrie, who was elected party chairman in December 2014, in his speech at the three-day national leadership meeting in Jakarta on Saturday.



In his remarks, he repeatedly expressed his disappointment over the 'bitter fact of politics overpowering law enforcement', in a thinly veiled move to accept defeat.



'Law supremacy is still a noble ideal that has yet to be realized. Besides the law, politics and power are unavoidable factors. That is indeed bitter but this is reality,' he said.



In defense of his decision to finally agree to a Munaslub, Aburizal emphasized, 'In Indonesia, political power is still above the law. We must accept this however bitter it is', which quickly ignited a round of applause from the audience.



He argued that the party would have enough time for consolidation before the 2017 regional elections.



'I call on all leadership meeting participants to make a clear decision, and as the chairman I will follow it, said Aburizal, who was elected party chairman in a national congress held in Bali, in December 2014.



Former president BJ Habibie, a member of a transition team established to pave the way for the Munaslub, made his message clear in his speech. 'Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister [Luhut Pandjaitan] and Law and Human Rights Minister [Yasonna H. Laoly], I thank you for attending this gathering. None of the Cabinet members would be here without permission from the President'.



The presence of both ministers at the gathering, which was organized at the last minute, was seen as a positive sign from President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo in regards to efforts made by Golkar to unite.



Looking straight at Aburizal from the stage where he delivered his remarks, Habibie added,' The presence of the ministers here shows that you are on the right track'.



Hours before the ceremony started at 8 p.m., party elites were seen anxious, frequently checking their phones to get updates regarding developing high-level backroom discussions that eventually led to Aburizal's decision.



Several party politicians told The Jakarta Post that 'whatever the chairman [Aburizal] includes in his speech will determine many things, including the attendance of the government here'.



Separately, Golkar executive board deputy chairman and Agung supporter Priyo Budi Santoso expressed his sincere appreciation toward Aburizal's camp for hosting the Rapimnas, which acknowledged the need for a national congress.



Priyo heaped special praise to the party's provincial branch leaders from Aburizal's camp, who had come together to welcome the idea of hosting the congress. 'This is truly a historic decision,' he said.



The former House of Representatives deputy speaker said that the camp of Agung, who declared his chairmanship of the party in a rival congress in Jakarta days after Aburizal was named the party chairman, would be willing to host the national congress together, provided that it be carried out democratically, transparently, credibly and without any prohibitions, in accordance with party statutes and bylaws.



'This is an opportunity for us to reconcile permanently,' he said.



As a next step, Priyo suggested the 11-strong Golkar transition team take charge as the congress' steering committee, thus ensuring that the event was hosted in a fair manner.



Aburizal's camp had initially rejected the idea of a national congress and the Golkar transition team.



Political communications expert Gun Gun Heryanto still harbored reservations regarding Aburizal's concession that the party must be reconciled through an extraordinary congress.



'Aburizal's political statement is not part of the leadership meeting's result; he might be conceding defeat tonight to cover up his ambitions, but then proceed to consolidate power over the provincial branch leaders. Both options are viable within the next two to three days,' he said.



According to the Jakarta State Islamic University (UIN) scholar, Aburizal still has enough leeway to commit a last-minute grab of power over the party, considering his speech was made to open the national leadership meeting in Jakarta.



Gun Gun said that Aburizal's camp had previously plotted a way to gain authority among Golkar's upper ranks, should the prevailing consensus point toward reconciliation through the hosting of an extraordinary national congress.



He said this involved granting the party's advisory board more power in determining the direction in which the party would go, turning it into an effective mechanism to control all executives of the party, whatever the turnout of the upcoming congress may be.



'In that scenario, Aburizal will plot to take the role of Golkar's chief patron. So if the advisory board gains excessive authority over the board of executives, what [Aburizal] pulled off in his speech could be seen as a small compromise,' Gun Gun said.

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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Poso  Sun, January 24, 2016

The Poso Police's bomb squad detonated a bomb found in a black backpack that had been placed in front of a house in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Monday. The incident came amid the intensification of the hunt for Indonesia's terror fugitive Santoso, suspected to be hiding out in the area.

Local people told thejakartapost.com that a silver Toyota Avanza car stopped in front of the house of M. Rundubelo in Kawua subdistrict, Poso, at around 10:30 a.m., on Sunday. At the same time, another car, an L-300, also stopped near the location.

"Suddenly, a passenger got out of the L-300 and put a bag on the side of the road. He then moved into the Avanza and left," Kawua resident Nova Riatimogi told thejakartapost.com on Sunday.

Another resident named Sugeng Rundubelo said that he saw two people get out of the L-300 car, one of them wearing a white cap and the other one wearing a white undershirt.

A few hours later, Poso Police's bomb squad arrived to handle the possible bomb.

The police have yet to deliver a statement on the incident.

The National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) are hunting Santoso, alias Abu Wardah, the country's most wanted terrorist, in the forested areas around Poso. Santoso and his 45 followers of the East Indonesia Mujahidin terrorist group are believed to be hiding in the forests where they hold military training camps and arrange attacks against the police. (rin)
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Linkedin Rita Widiadana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 24, 2016

No girl should be robbed of her childhood, education, health and aspirations. Yet today millions of girls

are denied their rights each year when they are married young ' UN Women.

Indonesian girls are no exception. Millions of young girls in Indonesia are married before they celebrate their 18th birthday.



Teen and child marriage is prevalent in many parts of Indonesia, from Aceh to Papua, with the highest prevalence in Java, Sumatra, West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan and South Sulawesi, mostly occurring in rural areas.



The reasons for marrying young vary in each region, ranging from economic security, cultural and religious norms to trivial things. Teen marriage occurs for social advancement, cultural and economic reasons and due to the absence of knowledge on why child marriage is problematic.



In the West Java town of Indramayu, many girls aspire to marry older men because they might be able to buy them smartphones. On Lombok Island, girls and boys follow the tradition of 'elopement', while in South Sulawesi it is taboo for girls to reject their first marriage proposal.



Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), about 22 million boys and girls aged between 15 and 19 are married. The Health Ministry's 2013 National Basic Health Research Survey revealed that more than 42

percent of girls aged 15 to 19 were married.



UNICEF data said that one out of every six Indonesian girls were married before they turned 18, about 340,000 girls every year. Around 50,000 girls are married before they reach the age of 15 every year.



Health Minister Nina Moeloek said recently that ending teen marriage was among the nation's challenges.



'Cultural barriers have triggered a rise in the number of child brides, and some traditional and religious practices have forced women to continue giving birth,' the minister said.



To make things worse, the 1974 Marriage law sets the minimum age of marriage for girls at 16 years old and 19 years old for boys, contravening the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Indonesia has ratified the convention, which declares marriage before 18 years of age a fundamental violation of human rights.



A number of civil society groups, government agencies and individuals have called for a judicial review of the outdated Marriage Law, demanding an increase in the minimum marriage age for girls to 18 years old.



The Constitutional Court, however, sees nothing wrong with allowing 16-year-old girls to marry, saying that it has not found justifiable reason to increase the minimum marriage age.



The losing battle at the court may serve as a major setback, but efforts to delay marriage among young girls have snowballed.



Margaretha Sitanggang, an officer with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Indonesia National Program for Youth and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, said that together with other UN agencies, including UNICEF, and civil society, UNFPA was active in supporting government efforts to launch policies and initiatives to increase the minimum marriage age.



'Teen marriage is a very big and sensitive topic in Indonesia since it is closely linked to social, cultural, economic and religious issues. The problem must be addressed wisely and in a comprehensive matter from various perspectives,' she said.



UNFPA is working with the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and other civil society groups to conduct a study on the negative impacts of teen marriage on girls' health, education and economic opportunities.



UNFPA will also work with Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, two of the largest Muslim organizations in the country, lawmakers and other institutions to take on teen marriage.



'We want to collect as much evidence as possible to show lawmakers, policymakers and other relevant parties the importance of delaying marriage for girls in Indonesia so that changes can be made to enhance the lives of these young girls.'
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Linkedin Jill Colvin & Steve Peoples (The Jakarta Post) Sioux Center, Iowa  Sun, January 24, 2016

Donald Trump is so confident about the loyalty of his supporters that he predicted Saturday they would stick with him even if he shot someone.

The Republican presidential front-runner bashed conservative commentator Glenn Beck's support of rival Ted Cruz and welcomed a figure from the Republican establishment, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in rallies nine days before the Iowa caucuses open voting in the 2016 campaign.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Trump told an enthusiastic audience at a Christian school, Dordt College. "It's like incredible."

Beck campaigned for Ted Cruz and held little back in going after Trump. "The time for silliness and reality show tactics has passed," Beck charged at a Cruz rally. He warned that a Trump victory in the Feb. 1 caucuses could have lasting consequences: "If Donald Trump wins, it's going to be a snowball to hell."

Trump demonstrated the extent to which some in the Republican establishment have begun to accept a potential Trump nomination when Grassley introduced him at a later event in Pella.

Grassley did not offer an endorsement, but his presence underscored Trump's enduring positions at the top of the polls as voting approaches. Alex Conant, speaking for Marco Rubio's campaign, was quick to note, however, that Grassley will introduce Rubio at an Iowa rally in a week.

Days after Trump was endorsed by tea party favorite Sarah Palin, Cruz flashed his own conservative muscle during a rally in Ankeny, Iowa. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican and conservative firebrand, and Iowa social conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats encouraged local Republicans to unite behind Cruz.

At his Sioux Center event, Trump called Beck a "loser" and "sad sack." Beck was one of nearly two dozen conservative thinkers who penned anti-Trump essays for National Review magazine ' a hit Trump referred to repeatedly at the rally.

Cruz, running close with Trump in Iowa polls, was almost entirely focused on the billionaire in his Ankeny event, as he professed core conservative values and drew a sharp contrast with Trump on issue after issue, without using his name.

With obvious exaggeration, he charged that one Republican candidate, "for over 60 years of his life," supported so-called partial-birth abortion and a "Bernie Sanders-style socialized medicine for all."

Trump is 69 and unlikely to have had positions on abortion and health care as a child. Sanders, a liberal senator, is mounting a strong challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Cruz blasted Trump's past reluctance to strip federal money from Planned Parenthood and cast the billionaire's plan to deport more than 11 million people who are in country illegally as "amnesty" because he would then let many of them return.

Yet Cruz promised not to say "unpleasant things" about his top rival.

"I like Donald Trump," he said. "He may say unpleasant things about me. I have no intention of responding in kind."

Elsewhere in Iowa, Rubio stressed that he represents the next generation of conservative leadership as he started the dash to the caucuses at Iowa State University in Ames.

"Complaining and being frustrated alone will not be enough," Rubio said. "It has to be someone who tells you exactly what they are going to do as president."

Rubio recently stepped up his Iowa campaign appearances in hopes of breaking Cruz and Trump's hold on the state in an effort to put himself in a stronger position leading into New Hampshire's Feb. 9 primary. (rin)
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Officials tracking down 'at risk' passengers after second confirmed MERS case in Thailand

PHUKET: Public Health Officials are attempting to track down dozens of passengers  Thai and foreign  who may have been exposed to the deadly MERS Cornoavirus on a Oman-Bangkok flight after a 71-year-old Oman national on the flight tested positive for the disease upon landing in Thailand.

Sunday 24 January 2016, 01:04PM

In Bangkok, The Public Health Ministry on Sunday announced the country's second confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The patient is a 71-year-old man from Oman who travelled to Thailand on Jan 22 after having been treated at a hospital in that country for about one week for the treatment of fever and cough, according to Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn.

The man was tested positive for MERS by Bamrungrad and Chulalongkorn hospitals.

The man was referred to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute on Saturday at 6.20 and another laboratory test by the Medical Science Department confirmed he had contracted MERS.

Dr Piyasakol said the Omani man is now being quarantined at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute of the Diseases Control Department.

The Public Health Ministry will from now look for people who had contacted the patient. They included a relative who accompanied the patient, 218 crew and passengers who are still in Thailand, one taxi driver, a hotel employee, and 30 hospital staff.

These people will be kept under close surveillance for 14 days. Of the total, 37 are categorised to be high-risk. They are the patient's relative, 23 air passengers, the taxi driver, the hotel employee, and 11 hospital staff.

Those with a high risk will also be quarantied.

Thailand confirmed its first case of MERS on June 18, last year. The patient was a 75-year-old male who travelled from Oman to Thailand. He was treated and declared free from the virus and was allowed to leave the kingdom. The disease did not spread to others.

Additional Reporting from The Bangkok Post (link here)
Phuket Opinion: Bad news is good for you

PHUKET: In last weeks editorial, we dared to assert that Phuket is no more dangerous than most other popular international destinations  that the biggest threat to visitors and residents in paradise, is themselves, particularly those who forget or fail to apply common sense and street smarts.

opinioncrimeviolencehomicidesexdeathaccidents

By The Phuket News

Sunday 24 January 2016, 08:45AM

A Phuket policeman looks on as a young man receives hospital treatment after being shot with a pen gun. Photo: The Phuket News / file

Though wide agreement was expressed through social media, a few readers disagreed and even took offense to our assertion. Notably, one reader accused us of white-washing reality, and another went as far to infer that we were paid to write the article, which they claimed was not based in any fact or statistics.

Firstly, we dont deny that traffic-specific dangers pose dire safety concerns in Phuket, which we continue to cover extensively. However, last weeks editorial was specifically focused on violent crimes  homicide, assault, muggings and rape.

Furthermore, we never claimed that Phuket is free of violent crime, and in fact the headline Phuket is no safe haven for the vulnerable itself implies that the island can be very dangerous, but for certain types of people. Moreover, we were not paid or pressured by the Thai government or anybody else to write the article.

Finally, we do have statistics to back up our assertion that Phuket is a relatively safe international destination when it comes to violent crime.

According to the Royal Thai Police, in 2014 there were 28 cases of homicide reported in Phuket i.e. 20 murders + eight manslaughter cases. (See here).

And based on estimates from available waste and immigration data that there are about one million people residing in Phuket at any given time, we can extrapolate that Phuket's homicide rate in 2014 was 2.8 per 100,000.

The rates for attempted murder, rape and assault are 4.8, 2.6 and 17.2, respectively. Based on this, one could argue that you are statistically 10 times more likely to be murdered on a holiday to the Bahamas, Mexico or Brazil, or three times more likely to be killed in the Philippines. (See here.)

Likewise, one might also assert that a woman is 20 times more likely to be raped in Stockholm than Phuket. (See here and here.)

But The Phuket News recognises that there are potential pitfalls when making such statistical inferences, as there are a number of factors that should be taken into account, namely, unreported and misreported cases, differing definition criteria (manslaughter vs death as a result of negligence, for example), and so on.

And our aim is not to try and paint an unrealistic picture of Phuket so readers let their guard down in Phuket, but the opposite: show them reality so they will be forewarned, and hence forearmed.

In sum, by taking the time to read local news, and understanding the nature of violence and victims, you will be safer, much safer.
Pierre, Tea Area lives up to hype and more from HS football week nine
Except for the dead, being shovel ready is a relative concept. For the federal government, the term refers to projects on which it hopes to spend its stimulative billions immediately. What that means, of course, is that from Ottawa's perspective, the spending of federal money is more important than what it's spent on. The stated purpose of the exercise is to boost the economy; building, or repairing, the infrastructure is a happy byproduct of the process.

That's fine as far as it goes; but Canada's infrastructure deficit won't go away until it becomes the end not the means. The national government's role will be crucial. That has been the case since the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century.

And although cities are officially creatures of the provinces, without Ottawa's financial resources, they cannot undertake such large projects. This is important because most of the country's infrastructure involves cities. They are where most Canadians live and where the lack of infrastructure is most keenly felt.

Even so, their economic clout is limited. With access to little more than property taxes, cities are the paupers of Canadian federalism. Clearly, the country's founders never envisioned the urban nation that is Canada today.

This fundamental imbalance is the subject of much of the discussion now taking place in cities across the country. That's why mayors are finding new strength in numbers. When 82 Montreal-area municipalities joined forces recently to fight the proposed Energy East pipeline, they could not be ignored. Their legislative powers may be limited, but who would dismiss municipal leaders who represent 3.9 million people, nearly half of Quebec's population? By contrast, one of their most vocal critics, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, speaks on behalf of that province's 1.1 million residents.

Even internationally, Canadian chief magistrates are out and about. Who was surprised to see Canada's mayor, Calgary's Naheed Nenshi, sharing the spotlight with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the World Economic Forum, the annual one-percenter blowout in Davos, Switzerland?

These may be the people who have the money, but they don't like to spend it, not even on the taxes that so burden the rest of us, the hard-toiling 99 per cent.

Which brings us back to that infrastructure we hear so much about. The endless debate about revenue tools is symptomatic of a cash-starved public sector. The best way to help Canada's beleaguered cities is to provide stable long-term funding, not to set off a mad scramble for projects ready to go at a moment's notice.

The most worthy projects aren't necessarily the most politically expedient. Even with the best intentions, the federal government is unlikely to achieve its secondary goal of infrastructural adequacy through such roundabout means.

Even if Ottawa's objective were economic stimulation, the criteria would be different. The most desirable projects would be those that promote long-term growth, not just those that lead to short-term jobs.

At the same time, one understands Ottawa's reluctance to sit and wait while cities like Toronto take forever to make up their mind. Also worrisome is the cities' willingness to spend other governments' money as if it came from somewhere else.

The answer is to give cities the powers they need to raise the money they need. That means a portion of the HST as well as income tax. Only then will cities cease to be Canada's junior partners. Only then will they grow up, though they'd rather not.

Look no further than Rob Ford.

Until then  and no one's holding his breath  cities have little choice but to wait for the next stimulus package and hope for the best.

Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca

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Bob Hunter had many public personas, and the one you might be familiar with depends greatly on your age.

If youre a baby boomer, you will likely remember him as a swashbuckling founder of Greenpeace who steered his zodiac between a Russian whaler and a humpback only to have a harpoon fired right over his head.

But if your parents are the ones with greying ponytails, you might recall Hunter as the old guy in a bathrobe on Breakfast Television in the 1990s and early 2000s, breaking down the days news in Papercuts, an off-the-cuff media analysis segment.

Because much of Hunters career predates the rise of the Internet, few traces of his historic life are found online: none of his columns or television reports, no mention of his Governor Generals Award, not even YouTube clips of him saving seals, sailing into nuclear blast areas or animating a conversation on Citytvs short-lived Hunters Gatherings.

Now, a decade after Hunters death in 2005 at age 63, one Toronto scholar has set out to introduce the man to a new generation, not as an environmental activist or a media-savvy commentator, but as a philosopher  perhaps the most important eco-theorist this country has produced.

Thomas Hart, a professor of philosophy at Ryerson University, gained exclusive access to the archive of Hunters personal papers and spent much of the past year painstakingly cataloguing the unpublished manuscripts, private correspondence and personal musings collected over more than three decades  material, he says, that shows Hunter had remarkably consistent clarity of thought through the many chapters of his life.

I realized that I was dealing with someone who was forced by society to specialize as a journalist and an activist, but in fact was a true public intellectual, Hart said. Someone who should have a place in the pantheon of great thinkers.

Hart describes Hunters thinking as a synthesis of politics, sociology, spirituality and ethics that can be found in the comic books he drew in his teens (humans must abandon a poisoned Earth and aliens reject their pleas for help), the novel he published in his 20s (slaughterhouse workers anesthetize themselves to the horrors they must inflict) and his two works of media theory from the 1970s (a Marshall McLuhan-inspired media mind bomb can awaken mass consciousness). But its also there in action when Hunter co-founded Greenpeace, which would grow into the worlds biggest environmental organization, and his journalism of the 80s and 90s, when he recognized early on the threat of climate change and did his utmost to sound the alarm.

Every time I delve into it, the consistency of thought is there, Hart said. He recognized what we do, how it must be changed, and why.

Hart devoted decades to studying Friedrich Nietzsche, another thinker who was dead long before his importance was recognized, and says the two thinkers share an anti-specialist theme.

Its about getting past the solipsism, past the fundamental isolation in modern western culture, he said.

This means not only breaking down the divisions between people through media, but also breaking down the mental barriers between civilization and nature. Hart calls it the unisolated notion  the idea, simply, that we are not alone.

Drop the ego is how Hunter would have phrased it in his long-haired, mustachioed days. Only then can we bring about a revolution in consciousness.

This isnt an academic exercise, said Hart. Its really about finding a new way to understand our place in the world  essential if we are to face the existential crisis of climate change.

Bob is no longer with us. His actions are no longer part of the calculation. What we do have is his words. And I have 100 boxes of them. I want to see if we can use his words to ensure our actions are judged positively.

The many phases of Bob Hunter

Precocious high schooler:

Born in 1941 in Manitoba, Hunter knew he wanted to be a writer by the time he was in his teens, drawing comic books and writing science fiction short stories. Before graduating from high school, he received an art school scholarship, but instead of attending, he ripped it up and set out for Vancouver. There he wrote his first novel, Erebus, which was nominated for a Governor Generals Award.

Counterculture columnist:

Hunter told everyone he got his first newspaper job by walking into the Winnipeg Tribune newsroom and telling an editor that he would consent to lending the paper his talents. Later he would be the only hippie at the Vancouver Sun, growing his hair long and wearing bell bottoms. The paper formalized his role as a counterculture reporter just as the anti-nuclear movement was taking off. When he proposed accompanying protesters on a ship that was to sail to a nuclear test blast area in Alaska, he had a world exclusive on the genesis of Greenpeace.

Activist guru:

Somewhere along the voyage, Hunter stopped reporting on and started leading the group, which called itself the Dont Make a Wave Committee. Shortly afterward, the U.S. announced it would cease all nuclear testing in Alaska and Hunter became the founding president of Greenpeace, the first international ecological organization. In a move no one saw coming, he shifted Greenpeaces goals and set out to save the whales, which were being hunted into extinction  a loss he believed represented mans most gluttonous attack on nature.

The quiet years:

Greenpeace grew so rapidly that the organization became uncontrollable from its small Vancouver office. Internal power struggles saw Hunter bow out and retreat to a reclusive cabin on the North Shore with his wife, Bobbi, and two young children. Here, he drafted books and columns and paid the bills by writing scripts for The Beachcombers and later Danger Bay. Unable to steer completely clear of politics and the environment, he was hired by various First Nations bands to co-ordinate communications and fight for their treaty rights.

Discovering his roots:

Through his work with First Nations, he soon discovered he was himself part aboriginal. Along with Robert Calihoo, another white person who found out he was native, Hunter wrote Occupied Canada, which retold the history of Canada from an indigenous point of view. The book, which was published shortly after Quebecs 1990 Oka crisis came to a head, rode a public wave of consciousness of aboriginal issues and won the Governor Generals Award for non-fiction.

As seen on TV:

After winning a scriptwriting competition, Hunter moved his family to Toronto to attend film school, but was soon persuaded to drop out by Moses Znaimer, who invited him to become Citytvs first ecological reporter. Hunter capitalized on Citys willingness to be experimental by blurring the line between journalist and activist, often participating in the environmental media stunts he was covering, including sending a delegation of aboriginals out to intercept the ships re-enacting Columbuss discovery of America. Hunter would become best known for his daily news commentary on Breakfast Television, called Papercuts, in which he would dissect the morning papers while wearing a bathrobe in his basement.

A Hunter gatherer

Theres a warehouse in Downsview where the University of Toronto Media Commons keeps its archive. It includes shelf upon shelf, row upon row of old Betamax tapes, tins of 35-mm film and countless boxes of scripts, budgets and contracts collected by some of Canadas greatest media figures.

Moses Znaimer, who revolutionized local television in the 1970s and 80s, knows all about it because his archives are kept there. Thats why, in the last years of Bob Hunters life, Znaimer encouraged him to collect everything.

He was a guy of prodigious productivity and I knew there were vast amount of materials mouldering away in boxes, said Znaimer. I knew him to be involved in a form of environmentalism which caught my imagination  He took physical risks  He was that classic case of an intellectual in action  thats rare.

Hunter donated the first 20 boxes and his wife, Bobbi, added 70 after his death in 2005. More material has since come in, but no one took the time to go through it all.

That was until early last year, when Hunters family was seeking someone to deliver the 10th annual Bob Hunter Memorial Lecture at the University of Torontos school of the environment.

He was practically Nostradamus on climate change, said Hunters son, Will. He was treated like Chicken Little but the reality is that everything he was writing is happening now.

Will wanted someone who could draw together the many facets of his father, and figured only a philosopher would suffice.

Dad had a big philosophical basis to a lot of his beliefs. He might not have had a university education, but he was constantly talking about Carl Jung, Nietzsche and Gestalt theory and the collective unconscious, he said.

Will wouldnt have to look very far. His wifes brother, Thomas Hart, is an award-winning philosophy professor who had just returned from years in Utrecht, Netherlands. Ryerson had given Hart a job teaching courses on ancient philosophy and Nietzsche, but teaching was starting to wear thin. So when Will called, asking him to give a lecture about Hunter, Hart seized the challenge.

Hart had never met Bob Hunter and knew little about his life. So he began by reading all his published books, from the 1968 novel Erebus and his history of Canada from an aboriginal point of view, Occupy Canada, to a posthumously published activist memoir, The Greenpeace to Amchitka.

It was after reading The Storming of the Mind (a 1971 book) that I realized I had come across something that would change my life, said Hart.

Harts lecture, delivered in a packed hall last April, focused on the connectedness Hunter felt with all things: whales and seals as well as whalers and sealers.

That oneness put Hunter ahead of his contemporary ecologists, who tended to see things in terms of good nature versus evil corporation, Hart said, and it allowed him to employ media as a language to translate between individual isolation and the connected universe.

He did so by deploying mind bombs: dramatic images that galvanize public opinion in a way no logical argument ever could.

This combination of metaphysical connectedness and tactical media strategy is what makes Hunters work so important, Hart said.

Under the fluorescent lights of a research room in Robarts Library last fall, Hart sat beside an aging book trolley, its metal shelf flexing under eight bankers boxes.

It was the third batch of boxes hed gone through and there were 100 boxes to go. Inside each, dog-eared file folders, newsletters and correspondence are interspersed with musings: yellowed pages of stream-of-consciousness typing sandwiched with the newspaper or magazine article that spawned the thought.

You get one chapter of a novel in one box and  there isnt a period at the end of the last line. And you know that there is a chapter somewhere else.

Bobs work isnt done and hes not around to do it anymore. But Im in a position to bring that work to light, keeping it current and creating a foundation.

Hunters widow, Bobbi, has given the project her blessing. After a long period of mourning, shes found strength in a group forming around his legacy. British filmmaker Jerry Rothwell has made a documentary from footage discovered in the basement of the Greenpeace International office in the Netherlands, which premiered at TIFF last fall.

I was afraid that he was going to be forgotten, lost in time, said Bobbi. But now Im not so sure.

She recounts a story from Hunters last months, when she returned home to find him sitting on a bench in the corner of their backyard. When she approached, the typically upbeat character was in such a morose mood that they sat silently.

I dont know if Ive had any effect, he finally said.

Bobbi didnt know what to say, but finally formulated the only possible response.

Bob, youre never going to know. The only time that your impact is going to be known is after youre gone.

More than a decade later, she adds: I said that thinking that I would know, and now I realize that I might die not knowing.

I think hes going to be discovered as a great intellectual, she said. Sometimes it takes a couple of generations before theyre received as they should be.

Archival treasures

The letter that started it all:

Written in 1970, almost two years before the protest voyage that would give birth to Greenpeace, this letter announces the decision of a local committee of the Sierra Club of B.C. to launch a campaign against nuclear testing in Alaska. These multi-megaton explosions threaten B.C. with tidal waves, earthquakes and radioactive pollution, reads the letter, which contains the first known reference to the name Dont Make a Wave.

Button:

During preparations for its protest trip, the Dont Make a Wave Committee would end each meeting with the hippie-era salutation peace. After a church basement meeting, one member said, Lets make it a green peace, and the organizations new name was born. The small group of Vancouver radicals funded their first year of operations almost entirely through button sales. In 1971, they sold more than $20,000 worth of buttons, equivalent to about $125,000 today.

Espionage map:

When Greenpeace turned its attention to saving whales in 1975, its biggest challenge was to simply find the Russian whalers in the millions of square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, they had a contact at the International Whaling Commission, who covertly communicated the position of the Russian ships to them, allowing the slower protest boats to intercept their targets.

Vancouver proclamation:

On Oct. 18, 1981, Vancouvers mayor, Mike Harcourt, declared a citywide Greenpeace Day to commemorate the groups inaugural voyage 10 years earlier. Whatever each of us may think of them, there is no question that Greenpeace has grown into one of the largest and most influential ecological organizations across Canada and around the world, Harcourt said.

Childhood comic book:

Long before his activism, Hunter was a budding artist keenly interested in science fiction, and he drew apocalyptic comic books containing his visions of future environmental collapse. In 1971, with the help of a Canada Council grant, he published his first and only comic, Time of the Clockmen.

Unpublished manuscripts:

While there are still scores of boxes of Hunters archives to be explored, so far nine unpublished books have turned up. Three of them appear to be a trilogy of Canadiana fiction about the fading of French influence in western Canada and the rise of multicultural society, starting with the first novel, Long Way to the Horizon. Thomas Hart, who is organizing and cataloguing the archive, hopes to have the works published before writing a biography based on the material he has discovered.

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SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLICHealth officials in the Dominican Republic say 10 cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in the country.

Health Minister Altagracia Guzman said Saturday blood samples from 27 patients were sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and that 10 came back positive. The mosquito-borne virus has spread from Brazil throughout Central and South American and the Caribbean over the last year.

Brazilian authorities blame it for a wave of birth defects. While international experts say the link isnt yet proven, theyre taking precautions.

The CDC issued a warning this month for pregnant women about travel throughout much of Latin America and the Caribbean. Dominican officials are urging women to take precautions and have launched a fumigation and cleanup drive to eradicate mosquito-breeding areas.

Meanwhile, U.S. health officials said Friday that three people in New York state, including one from Queens, had tested positive for Zika.

All three people had travelled to places outside the United States where the virus had been spreading. Besides the person from New York City, the patients were from Nassau and Orange counties. One person has fully recovered, and the two others are recovering without complications, according to a statement the State Health Department issued Friday.

Health officials said the viruss symptoms  including fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes  are typically mild and last as long as a week. Some may not even realize they have been infected. About one in five people who have been bitten by an infected mosquito will grow ill, with symptoms usually appearing within a few days.

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Nisho, 24, has never lived anywhere but a ramshackle mud hut inside the worlds largest refugee camp, Dadaab.

He works as a porter in the Kenyan camps grey market, hauling bags of potatoes and sugar by wheelbarrow. My life is hauling a sack, he says. The money helps pay a witch doctor to treat his mother, who has gone mad. Nisho ties her wrists to a neem tree to keep her from wandering away.

Nisho, who was born en route to Dadaab when his parents fled Somalia in 1991, is one of nine unforgettable characters at the heart of Ben Rawlences new book City of Thorns. The granular details of their lives are set against broader political forces  the 2011 famine, the rise of terrorism in Kenya and ongoing instability of Somalia  that keep people trapped in Dadaab. Their struggles are both ordinary and extraordinary, and they raise uncomfortable questions about the United Nations refugee system that is supposed to keep them safe.

Nisho, for example, finally catches a break during the famine. Turkey donates 14 camels to the camp to encourage impoverished men to marry. With such a dowry, Nisho is able to wed the girl of his dreams, Billai.

Marriage was a bet on the future, on the next generation: maybe this one would be the one. The one that would make the change, writes Rawlence.

The former researcher for Human Rights Watch writes intimately about lives in the camp  sipping goat soup, playing soccer, ducking Al Shabab terrorists, falling in love, arguing with neighbours and falling out with relatives.

His summarizes the motive for the book this way: What happens when Angelina Jolie leaves the camp?

I wanted to give a much more intimate view of refugees to make the reader care, and fall in love with the characters and maybe even have them break your heart, Rawlence says in an interview. I want (Donald) Trump supporters to read this book. Whether you love or hate refugees, you need to know what life looks like from their point of view.

Rawlence visited the camp of approximately 350,000 people repeatedly over four years, doing scores of interviews until he settled on his characters. Most residents told their stories openly, including women who had endured rape, starvation and loss.

These people are pretty forgotten. The attention of a foreign who wants to imbue their story with significance is attractive. Ive had more trouble getting Welsh farmers to speak.

Rawlence was inspired to humanize the Somali refugees after reading John Steinbacks 1939 classic The Grapes of Wrath, about a family driven by poverty from their Oklahoma home, as well as Katherine Boos 2012 book on the slums of Mumbai, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.

City of Thorns is a powerful reminder of the failure of the current refugee system. Millions of Syrians are fleeing for their lives, but so too are millions of Africans, also displaced by war.

If they enter a temporary refugee camp like Dadaab, they may well be forced to spend their entire lives there, while world leaders argue their fate. They cannot obtain Kenyan citizenship, and cannot return to Somalia, without risking their lives. Only a fortunate few will ever be resettled in the west.

We should be pushing other countries to take refugees and pushing those who have historically taken them to step up their numbers, Rawlence says. The system is broken.

The system is broken, but not Nisho. He and the other characters in Dadaab are sparks of hope in the face of unimaginable hardship.

City of Thorns, Random House Canada, 400 pages, $34.

Monday's story

City of Thorns tells an epic love story gone wrong between Monday, a Christian and a former lost boy from Sudan, and Muna, a Somali beauty who grew up in the camp and had already been widowed and divorced by the time she turned 18.

Muna is so schooled in the liberal ideals of the NGOs that run the camp that she rebels by marrying Monday, knowing his religion will anger her clan.

Indeed, her relatives attack Monday while local Somali nurses plot to lethally inject their baby in the delivery room. The couple is forced to take refuge in special transit area of the camp for at-risk refugees. They would still be there today, hiding from Munas vengeful relatives, were it not for the authors intervention.

I eventually found out that their file for resettlement in Australia had been lost for three years, Ben Rawlence said. But if I hadnt been there, they would have been left to rot.

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Seventy-one years ago this week, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. To observe this liberation, and to recognize the incomprehensible tragedy that was the Holocaust, Jan. 27 is the date chosen by the United Nations to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As the remaining number of survivors dwindles, it is incumbent upon leaders in civil society to take up the mantle of remembrance and education, to address growing anti-Semitism and to counter the evil ideology fuelling Holocaust denial.

In this age of social media, Holocaust denial and distortion has increased significantly. Gone are the days when a few loonies ranting about Jewish schemes and plots could be easily ignored by the sane and educated majority. Today, there is state sponsored Holocaust denial  like Irans infamous Holocaust Cartoon Contest that comes with a prize of $50,000. The internet multiplies the power of conspiracy theorists by allowing them to easily find each other and share their hatred with like-minded and susceptible souls. Questions about whether or not the Holocaust really happened, or whether the Jews have inflated the numbers of those murdered, abound. Holocaust survivors note this resurgent anti-Semitism with a mixture of disbelief, outrage, and a feeling of utter devastation.

Holocaust education today seems like a hit and miss affair; although provincial curriculum mandates some sort of teaching about the Holocaust in Grade 10 history, lessons can vary widely based on the knowledge and preferences of individual teachers, schools and boards. Student familiarity with the topic ranges from a comprehensive understanding of the sort of stereotypes and prejudices that created the fertile ground for anti-Jewish hatred to blossom, to an almost complete lack of awareness about the Holocaust and Canadas role in the Second World War. Of recent note in this regard was a Facebook posting by a federal political candidate who made reference to the phallic nature of the fencing around Auschwitz, an incident which reinforced the critical necessity of Holocaust education. It took immense strength for this candidate to join me on my annual pilgrimage to Auschwitz to become better educated.

Against this backdrop of reconciliation, of facing history and of learning from the past, a number of Ontario Catholic school boards including Halton, Niagara and Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Boards, representing thousands of Catholic students province-wide, are confronting the anti-semitic beliefs that led to the Holocaust.

Inspired by the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Nostra Aetate  a landmark document that repudiated centuries of Catholic anti-Semitism and the accusation that Jews were collectively responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, these boards have all passed motions to recognize International Holocaust Remembrance Day, to mandate age-appropriate Holocaust education, and to ensure no student graduates without an understanding of the most meticulously planned genocide in human history.

Earlier this month the Jewish community of France observed the one-year anniversary of the murder of four Parisian Jews at a kosher supermarket. Following on the heels of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the killing of these Jews  just because they were Jews  echoed the goal of the Nazis Final Solution. These killings occurred against a backdrop of growing anti-Semitic threats, marches and murders in Europe, as well as the hatred sparked in the Muslim world by the annual Holocaust cartoon contest in Iran. The alarm bells the incident set off have reverberated in Jewish communities around the world.

Thus the educational push by school boards across the province takes on a double imperative, as this annual commemoration of an inconceivable genocide should never become a day to simply memorialize the dead. Instead, it should act as a catalyst to further understanding, education, tolerance and a commitment to recognize and acknowledge our common humanity.

If we want to build a society of caring and compassionate citizens, we must teach about the past. It might be cliche to say it  but unless we educate today, we are destined to repeat humanitys mistakes tomorrow.

Avi Benlolo is president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

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In the wake of British Columbias recent announcement that it cannot support Kinder Morgans proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, conservative pundits and oil companies are turning their sights to TransCanadas Energy East pipeline and tanker proposal. But theres no reason to believe that Energy East  the last pipe plan standing  will get built.

By opposing Kinder Morgan, B.C. Premier Christy Clark has shown that her priority is protecting the best interests of the people of B.C. Ontario should learn from this.

B.C.s opposition to the proposal was based on five conditions, ranging from spill response to First Nations consultation, to guaranteeing economic benefits for the people of B.C. Kinder Morgan failed to meet these conditions, especially when it came to putting in place a world class spill prevention system and emergency response plan.

Oil companies and politicians are now shifting their focus to the last mega-pipeline proposal on the table  Energy East. But its prospects look even worse than Kinder Morgans.

On Thursday Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, on behalf of 82 Montreal-area mayors, voiced official opposition to the proposal. After an extensive review and public consultation, Montreal municipal leaders said the potential risks outweigh any possible economic benefits to communities. The review showed that the project could have unacceptable social, economic, environmental and public security impacts.

Like B.C. Premier Clark and the Montreal mayors, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard set out clear conditions that Energy East would need to meet in order to win the provinces approval. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne did the same thing back in 2014  even though on Friday she ignored that Energy East fails to meet any of the reasonable conditions her own government put in place to safeguard Ontario residents. And it doesnt look as though TransCanada will be able to meet those conditions.

Among the criteria is the need for world-class contingency plans and an emergency response program. But the Ontario Energy Board, in its review of Energy East, decried that emergency response plans were either inadequate or not available. Guaranteeing the safety of Energy East is no small feat given that the pipeline would traverse the entire breadth of Ontario and much of Quebec while crossing nearly 1,000 rivers and lakes. Add to this that much of the proposed Energy East route wasnt built to carry tarsands oil but lower-pressure natural gas. An oil pipeline would never have been allowed so close to so many bodies of water.

There are serious concerns around what happens when the pipeline inevitably leaks, especially after the U.S. National Academy of Sciences released a landmark study just last month that shows pipelines carrying tarsands oil (diluted bitumen) need special spill response measures that dont yet exist.

Especially damning is the Ontario Energy Boards top-line finding: the environmental risks of Energy East outweigh the potential benefits to Ontarians. The board found that economic benefits projected for the province may have been over-estimated, and any claims about substantial GDP growth and job creation in Ontario from pipeline construction should be viewed critically.

Another unfulfilled provincial condition: properly consult with First Nations, which the Chiefs of Ontario have already formally noted. This is a serious matter. The B.C. Supreme Court just found in favour of the Coastal First Nations challenging the Northern Gateway pipeline project on exactly this  lack of proper consultation.

Theres also the public: the majority of Ontarians oppose Energy East. And for good reason, Lake Temagami, Lake Superior and the Ottawa River are no less deserving of protection than the Great Bear Rainforest.

On top of all this, the federal government has promised a new, meaningful review process for all energy projects. The National Energy Board hasnt started to review the Energy East proposal, so it should be put through this new, strengthened process.

All this suggests that Energy Easts fate will be much like that of Kinder Morgan: the Ontario government must oppose the pipeline, just like the B.C. government said no to the Trans Mountain project. Based on recent history, this is the most likely outcome.

Its time to let go of the pipe dream and instead speed up Canadas transition to a modern, clean energy economy. Premier Wynne, time to make your move.

Keith Brooks is Clean Economy Director at Environmental Defence.

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Philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates. (File photo)

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has urged China to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution so as to face the challenge of transforming its economy.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

"Well China's obviously got a lot of people, a lot of smart people. It's moved to not only have more people college educated, but lots of engineers, to raise the quality of those engineering skills. It's created a recognition that if people invent something that they can be rewarded for that, which is leading to all new sorts of companies. Not just the IT space, although that's the most visible, but also more and more in biology, robotics, those things, so China's going to carry its weight. "

Gates also expressed his optimism about China's economic future.

"There are a lot of great talents in China. You know, building up the educational system, you know, I think China has got a very bright future. I have a lot of confidence in China partly because they take long-term view; they look at what other countries are doing. You know China is going to contribute more and more to the world's innovation."

Figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics showed that the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2015 registered an annual growth rate of 6.9 percent, the lowest level since 1990.

Though slowing, China still contributed to more than 25 percent to global economic growth.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also termed as Industry 4.0, is marked by convergence of smart technology including artificial intelligence with the industrial sector.
TEHRAN, Jan. 24 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday concluded a two-day state visit to Iran, the last leg of his three-nation visit to the Middle East to upgrade ties and boost cooperation.

Xi discussed cooperation with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and unveiled cooperation projects in fields including industrial capacity, infrastructure and energy.

During Xi's trip, China upgraded its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran respectively to comprehensive strategic partnership, a positioning which means closer cooperation in various areas.

Xi tried to promote enhanced dialogue as a means of resolving differences in the Middle East, and unveiled new aid programs to facilitate development, which he said is key to overcoming difficulties.

Meanwhile, the Chinese leader made it clear that his country is not looking for proxies or trying to fill any "vacuum" in the Middle East, but aspiring to build "a network of mutually beneficial partnerships."

LIFTING BILATERAL TIES WITH IRAN

While in Tehran, Xi agreed with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to elevate the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

"China stands ready to work with Iran to lift our mutually-beneficial cooperation in such fields as politics, economy and trade, energy, infrastructure, security, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges to a new stage," the president said.

Rouhani said Iran will respond actively to the Belt and Road Initiative, a vision Xi put forward in 2013 to boost interconnectivity and common development along the ancient land and maritime Silk Roads.

The two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on jointly pursuing the initiative.

The Chinese president highlighted a few priorities in the practical cooperation with Iran within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative such as energy, interconnectivity, industrial capacity and finance.

China hopes the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can be implemented smoothly, Xi said.

China and Iran agreed to set up an annual meeting mechanism between their foreign ministers. They also said that China supports Iran's application for full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Xi also met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

Khamenei said that Tehran is willing to push the bilateral practical cooperation to a new high. Iran is an important country along the Belt and Road and stands ready to play a greater role in jointly pursuing the initiative with China, the supreme leader said.

PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE EAST

Xi's visit to Egypt, the second leg of his regional tour, is the first by a Chinese head of state in 12 years. The two sides are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

During Xi's visit, the two sides signed a five-year outline document to further advance their relationship.

According to the 18-page document, they will boost their cooperation in such fields as politics, trade and economy as well as military and security.

"China will continue to view and develop its relations with Egypt from a strategic and long-term perspective," Xi said in a signed article published on local newspaper prior to his arrival.

He proposed that the two countries work together to build the Arab nation into a pivot of the Belt and Road. To that end, Xi suggested, China and Egypt should align their development strategies and visions and focus on cooperation on infrastructure construction and industrial capacity.

Xi said China is willing to participate in Egypt's key projects including the development of the Suez Canal Corridor and the construction of a new administrative capital.

Xi also invited his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September.

While in Egypt, Xi delivered an important speech at the headquarters of the Arab League outlining Chinese approach to issues in the Middle East.

The Chinese leader said that the key to resolving differences in the Middle East is to enhance dialogue and that the key to overcoming difficulties in the region is to promote development.

He said that the Chinese government has decided to pledge 50 million RMB (7.53 million U.S. dollars) to help improve the livelihood of the Palestinians and 230 million RMB (about 35 million dollars) for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen as humanitarian assistance.

Xi announced loan programs in support of development in the Middle East, including 15 billion dollars of exclusive loans, 10 billion dollars of commercial lending and 10 billion dollars of concessional loans, as well as joint investment funds worth a total of 20 billion dollars.

Xi said China is not trying to fill any "vacuum" in the Middle East.

"Instead of looking for proxies, China promotes peace talks in the Middle East; instead of seeking any sphere of influence, China calls on all nations in the region to take part in the Belt and Road Initiative; and instead of attempting to fill any 'vacuum', China aspires to build a network of mutually beneficial partnerships," he said.

ENHANCING ENERGY COOPERATION WITH SAUDI

The first leg of Xi's Middle East tour took him to Saudi Arabia, where he met with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Tuesday.

The two leaders agreed to upgrade the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Xi said, "I believe it will deepen the mutual strategic trust, lead to greater achievements in our mutually beneficial cooperation, and help facilitate and broaden our shared interests in international and regional affairs."

During his stay in Riyadh, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on industrial capacity cooperation, agreeing to pursue cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The two countries also signed a slew of cooperation deals covering such sectors as energy, communications, environment, culture, aerospace, and science and technology.

"I believe it will deepen the mutual strategic trust, lead to greater achievements in our mutually beneficial cooperation, and help facilitate and broaden our shared interests in international and regional affairs," Xi said on the upgrade of bilateral ties.

Energy cooperation is a key part of Xi's visit, during which the leaders agreed to build stable long-term energy cooperation. Saudi Arabia is China's biggest foreign supplier of crude oil.

When meeting with the head of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), Xi said that China is willing to carry out comprehensive energy cooperation with the GCC countries and be a long-term, stable and reliable energy market for the six-member bloc.

Xi attended the launching ceremony of the Yasref oil refinery, a joint venture with a total investment of nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars. Chinese oil giant Sinopec holds a 37.5 percent stake in it.

The launch of the refinery conforms to not only Saudi national development plan, but also China's pursuit of cooperation with countries in the regions outlined in the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi said.

During Xi's visit, China and the GCC announced that they are committed to working closely to conclude a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) within 2016.
Students at The Sage School in Foxboro donated more than 100 winter clothing items as part o
Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi getting "emotional" while expressing grief over the suicide by Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad Central University is for real, he should remove the Vice Chancellor.

"I want to say if his (Modi's) tears are real, he should remove the VC.... it's ok that an inquiry has been ordered but first remove him and later take action as per the inquiry report," Rahul told newspersons on the sidelines of his padyatra in drought-hit areas of Bundelkhand region.

"What happened in Hyderabad or what is happening in universities and colleges, call it intolerance or whatever, is an attempt to force one ideology on everyone," Rahul said.

"This is an attempt to suppress the voice and vigour of students of all communities...the Prime Minister expressed his sadness over it ...the same say, he also shed tears but I want to ask why the Vice Chancellor, who tried to suppress one ideology which forced a student to commit suicide, has not been removed," he said.

Rahul said Modi should stop speaking and start acting as the dalits, poor and others are looking to him whether he will take action or not.

The Congress Vice President had visited the Hyderabad Central University and interacted with students over the issue.

Earlier, during his 7-km long padyatra to highlight the plight of farmers of drought-hit Bundelkhand region, Rahul said "yesterday, we saw Modiji becoming emotional...he paused during his speech (at BBAU convocation) and had tears in his eyes...I want to tell Modiji that the food you eat, the pulse which is today selling at Rs 220 is provided to you by farmers."

"I would ask Modiji to think a little for the farmers, labourers and the poor because they too run the country and it is not only industrialists who do so. So, think about them as well," Rahul said in Mahoba, about 230 km from Lucknow.
The photo shows a house in Arcadia, California, the United States, where the bodies of two teenage boys were found on Friday, January 22, 2016. [Photo: weibo.com]

A Chinese national, wanted in connection with the killing of two teenagers in the United States, has been detained by the police in Hong Kong.

44 year old Shi Deyun was seized at the airport, after arriving in Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon.

The bodies of the two teenage boys, ages 15 and 16, were found in a house in Arcadia, in the US state of California on Friday.

Local police said they were looking for their uncle in connection with the double homicide. His vehicle was later found at Los Angeles International Airport where he'd caught a flight to Hong Kong.

The tragedy is believed to be the result of a family row. It's understood the teenagers' aunt had filed a restraining order against Shi, and had started divorce proceedings.
Despite the snowfall over Shabbos, the massive event scheduled for tonight will go on!

The parents, friends and supporters of the mosdos of Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Kanarek will reflect upon, appreciate and celebrate the unadulterated siyata dishmaya that resulted in three decades of chinuch excellence and superb leadership of superb mosdos.

Private crews are on hand to fully plow the area, clear parking lots, and ensure that the event proceeds smoothly. Snowplows and salters are working continuously.

Police officials and Chaverim volunteers will be staffing the event area to ensure the smooth arrival of all guests.

People are asked to carpool to the event if they can. Busses will be circling the main areas of town to transport guests to the event.

More information on the bus routes will be publicized shortly.

The program will begin at 8 p.m. sharp and all guests are asked to arrive on time.

With thousands of people expected, special arrangements have been made to maximize the hall, utilizing the adjacent chupah and kabbolas ponim rooms and utilizing tables that will accommodate the maximum number of guests.

A full sit-down dinner will be served by Greenwald Caterers.

The program will include Tehillim said for Rosh Yeshivas Torah Vdaas Hagaon Rav Yisroel Belsky shlita.

A special video featuring contemporary chinuch shailos addressed by gedolei Eretz Yisroel this week special for this event will be shown. The video will feature Rav Yitzchok Zilbertstein, Rav Yitzchok Scheiner and Rav Berel Povarsky.

The Rosh yeshiva Haran Malkiel Kotler will offer divrei Bracha. Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Kanarek will address the audience as well.

The highlight of the event will be the keynote address delivered by Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz, will be addressing some of the timely issues our community faces. Organizers say that Shlomo Yehudas speech is one that they will not want to miss.

Gedolei roshei yeshiva, from across the nation, will be in attendance. Rabbonim and the Lakewood community at large will join in what is sure to be an inspirational event.

Shulem Lemmer and the renowned Shirah Choir will be singing new compositions of Shlomo Yehuda in what promises to be an inspiring performance.

YWN will be hosting the event streaming live on line.

To listen to the program live via telephone, call 641-715-3580 and enter access code 340537.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Mayor de Blasio today delivered an update on yesterdays winter storm and the citys response. The city received 26.8 inches of snow in Central Parkthe second largest total since 1869. The Mayor urged New Yorkers to refrain from travel except when necessary in order to allow plows to continue clearing our streets.

While the storm is over, there is still work to be done. We urge all New Yorkers not to travel on our roads except when necessary, and to be extremely careful when driving. Our tireless sanitation workers are out in full force and we must give them space to clear the roads. If you go outside, use caution and stay alert for ice and cold temperatures, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Final Snowfall

26.8 inches of snow fell in Central Park. This is the second largest snowfall total in New York City history.

NYPD

 A total of 25 summonses were issued in relation to the Mayors Executive Order.

 Assisted in 367 tows across the City.

Department of Sanitation

 DSNY has plowed all streets at least once. Focusing on secondary and tertiary streets today.

 DSNY has more than 2,300 pieces of snow clearing equipment out.

 Sanitation workers remain on two 12-hour shifts, with 2,300 workers per shift.

DOT

 Alternate Side Parking rules suspended through Friday 1/29. Meters remain in effect.

 DOT has deployed more than 350 workers and 240 trucks and pieces of equipment to assist in snow removal.

 JC Decaux has cleared several hundred bus shelters across the City.

NYC Emergency Management

 NYCEM Emergency Operations Center remains activated.

 NYCEM has deployed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers citywide to assist with clearing fire hydrants of snow, and is working with NYC Service to provide help to those who may need assistance shoveling. Anyone needing assistance should call 311.

FDNY

 Maintaining approximately 300 additional fire and EMS personnel on duty through 6 PM hours today to staff additional ambulances plus extra firefighter on all engine companies.

 Hydrant clearing operations underway today  there are approximately 110,000 hydrants throughout the city. FDNY will survey and clear as necessary, and is asking the public to help clear hydrants.

 Fire and EMS personnel responded to 6,000 emergency calls during the storm, including nearly 4,000 medical calls.

Homeless Services

Code Blue protocols are in effect. No one seeking shelter in New York City will be denied. Anyone who sees a homeless individual or family out in the cold should call 311 immediately and an outreach team will be dispatched to assist them.

Heat and Hot Water

Any tenant lacking heat and hot water should immediately call 311. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has crews responding.

NYC Transit and MTA Bus Service

Subway service has been restored to portions of the above ground network hit hardest by this weekends record snowfall. Service will be limited and most express service is suspended. Service on NYC Transit and MTA bus has resumed on a modified Sunday schedule. Limited buses are making all local stops. Access-A-Ride service has resumed scheduled trips.

Ferry Services

Staten Island Ferry in service and running on normal schedule. Seastreak service is suspended.

Further Notifications

For information and updates related to weather and travel conditions, visit sign up for Notify NYC, the Citys free emergency notification system. Through Notify NYC, New Yorkers can receive phone calls, text messages and/or emails alerts about traffic and transit disruptions and other emergencies. To sign up for Notify NYC, call 311, visit NYC.gov/notifynyc, or follow @NotifyNYC on Twitter.

Travel Safety Tips

New Yorkers are urged to staff off the roads unless travel is necessary so that the Sanitation department can continue to clean streets throughout the day:

Use mass transportation whenever possible. If you must drive, drive slowly and use major streets or highways for travel whenever possible.

If youre walking outdoors, be careful as sidewalks may be snowy and icy.

Have heightened awareness of cars, particularly when approaching or crossing intersections.

Snow Removal Safety Tips

 Stretch before you go out.

 Cover your mouth. Protect your lungs from extremely cold air by covering your mouth when outdoors.

 Avoid overexertion. Take frequent rest breaks, and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.

 Keep dry. Change wet clothes frequently to prevent a loss of body heat.

 Do not cover fire hydrants with snow when clearing sidewalks and driveways. Do not shovel snow into manholes and catch basins.

 Offer to help individuals who require special assistance, including seniors and people with disabilities and access and functional needs.

 Promptly remove ice and snow from tree limbs, your roof, and other structures. If snow/ice accumulates, remove it using a snow rake with a long extension arm so you can remove it safely while standing on the ground, or hire a snow removal contractor.

 Clear tree branches or limbs that could potentially fall on your home or power lines.

 Clear leaves and other debris from gutters.

(YWN Desk  NYC)
BEIJING, Jan. 24 -- Chinese procurators pledged to crack down on election fraud, including buying votes through bribes, to ensure honesty and fairness in local elections.

Efforts will be continued to investigate and prevent election-related crime, including taking bribes to skew election results, buying and selling official positions, and trading power in exchange for money, according to a statement released Sunday after a national meeting that brought together chief procurators across the country in Beijing.

China saw one of the largest election fraud cases in terms of people and money involved in Hengyang City of Hunan Province in 2013, in which 56 provincial legislators offered 110 million yuan (18 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to 518 municipal lawmakers and another 68 members of staff.

Procurators also vowed to deepen cooperation with overseas law enforcement and judicial agencies in tracking and repatriating Chinese fugitives.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

TEHRAN, Jan. 23 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met here Saturday, pledging to beef up practical cooperation between the two countries and jointly safeguard security, peace and stability in the region and around the world.

Noting that China and Iran enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges, Xi said China will always be a "reliable cooperative partner" of Iran and stands ready to deepen bilateral cooperation on all fronts.

China and Iran are "natural partners" in implementing the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, the president said, calling on the two sides to boost cooperation in infrastructure, interconnectivity, production capacity and energy within the framework of the initiative for the benefit of the two peoples.

Xi told Khamenei that China will unswervingly follow a peaceful development path and adhere to an independent foreign policy of peace.

"China is willing to maintain mutual support with Iran in regional and global affairs, and jointly safeguard peace, stability and development in the region and around the world," he added.

Khamenei expressed gratitude to China for its enduring support for Iran, and said that Tehran is willing to push the bilateral practical cooperation to a new high.

Iran is an important country along the Belt and Road and stands ready to play a greater role in jointly pursuing the initiative with China, the supreme leader said.

He said China is a very influential country in the world and Iran hopes to strengthen communication and coordination with China to jointly safeguard security, peace and stability in the region.

Xi concluded on Saturday night his five-day, three-nation tour in the Middle East, which had previously taken him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

It is Xi's first overseas visit this year and also his first trip to the region since becoming Chinese president in 2013.

>>>Related:

China, Iran upgrade ties to carry forward millennia-old friendship

China and Iran, two ancient civilizations, agreed Saturday to elevate their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership to boost cooperation on all fronts and carry forward their millennia-old friendship.

Chinese president, Iranian parliament speaker discuss cooperation

China and Iran vowed to enhance cooperation between their legislative bodies as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani here Saturday.
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By Madina Toure

Elected officials joined volunteers from Pomonok Houses and Queens College in Flushing to clean up the grounds around the Pomonok Community Center on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing), City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) and state Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz (D-Flushing) helped rake up leaves at the housing complexs Pomonok Community Center Monday morning. The city Department of Sanitation provided rakes, tools and trash bags to the volunteers.

The MLK Day of Service, a national event, honors the legacy of King. Simanowitz stressed the importance of getting people involved in their communities.

I want to commend Monica and the Queens College students, the Pomonok Residents Association for really demonstrating in the best possible way what Dr. Kings legacy meant for our community here in Queens, he said, referring to Monica Corbett, president of the Pomonok Residents Association.

Corbett echoed similar sentiments.

The Pomonok MLK Community Clean-Up is an early start for residents and our community neighbors to help and assist in the beautification of our grounds, she said. This is just the beginning.

Stavisky, who came to the cleanup before heading off to the labor rally by airport workers from LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in East Elmhurst, said the cleanup symbolized Dr. Kings message and philosophy.

I cant think of a better way to honor Martin Luther Kings memory and his legacy than participating in a community affair, she said.

Lancman said MLK Day is unique in that it is celebrated in a variety of ways, citing the airport workers rally and a poetry slam at a church he attended last week.

I think by serving the community this morning we were both honoring his legacy and his contribution to this country, but also as I am sure he would have wanted us  continue the march toward justice because were not there yet obviously, he said.

Queens College student Sharice Richards, a 26-year-old South Ozone Park resident, became an activist after a college MLK trip to Atlanta last year.

I definitely wanted to do something and I always wanted to volunteer and get involved with the Pomonok Residents Association, Richards said.

Latoya McLeod, community affairs officer for the Housing Bureau at the NYPDs Police Service Area 9 at 155-09 Jewel Ave., said police officers also engage in community service.

Most people always think about it (the NYPD) in terms of crime, but we also help in terms of just recreating his legacy and just trying to live up to that as police officers, whether that means cleaning up, whether that means speaking to the youths, whatever it is, McLeod said.
By Greater Astoria Historical Society

In conjunction with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, the TimesLedger Newspapers presents noteworthy events in the boroughs history

Born on Jan. 10, 1943 in New York City, Joseph Charles Massino is a former member of the Italian Mafia who was the boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 to 2004. During his 13 years running the crime syndicate, the powerful Massino was known as The Last Don, as he was the only New York mob leader at the time not in prison. However, he is perhaps best known as the first boss of one of the notorious five Mafia families to turn states evidence and cooperate with the government in prosecuting other Mafiosi. The ex-mobster entered the Witness Protection Program after his 2013 release from prison and his whereabouts are unknown.

One of three boys raised in Maspeth, Massino claimed he was a juvenile delinquent by age 12 and he was a high school dropout at age 15. He married Josephine Vitale in 1960, and soon began supporting his wife and three daughters through a life of crime, with brother-in-law Salvatore as one of his earliest associates.

By the late 1960s, the future Don was running a truck hijacking crew as an associate of the Bonanno family. He fenced his stolen goods and ran numbers from a lunch wagon which he used as a front for his illicit business. In 1975, Massino participated in a mob murder with brother-in-law Salvatore and future Gambino family head John Gotti. Two years after making his bones by killing for the mob, the Maspeth native became a made member of the Bonanno family. Joe Massino was on his way to the top of a criminal empire.

Following the 1979 murder of acting family boss Carmine Galante at a Brooklyn restaurant, Massino began jockeying for power with other Bonanno capos. Ever cunning and ready to use violence to serve his ends, he eliminated several key rivals in 1981. One capo who allegedly fell before The Last Dons ambition was Dominick Sonny Black Napolitano, who allowed undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone to infiltrate his crew under the name Donnie Brasco. Upon hearing about the unprecedented breach of mob security, Massino said of the disgraced capo: I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation.

The mobsters climb to the top would not be without pitfalls, however. In 1987, when some believe he was already the underboss, Massino and Bonanno family head Philip Rastelli were sent to federal prison on labor racketeering charges. Following Rastellis death in 1991, Joe Massino was named boss of the Bonanno family while still incarcerated.

Under his leadership, the Bonanno crime syndicate regained the prestige it lost following the FBI undercover operation, and by 2000, with many other Mafia leaders in prison, Massino was considered the most powerful don in the nation. His time at the top would prove short lived. In 2004, The Last Don was indicted for murder and racketeering based on the testimony of other made mobsters, including underboss and brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale. Facing the death penalty if found guilty, Massino agreed to turn against his former associates and testify as a government witness. Although initially sentenced to life in prison, in 2013 he was resentenced to time served.

A Joe Massino quote: There are three sides to every story. Mine, yours and the truth.
October Fun Calendar: Plenty to do this month in Beaver County
Comments by Xu Xiujun, associate researcher with the Institute of World Economy and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; comics drawn by Chi Ying

(Source: CNTV.com)

On January 21, accompanied by the Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabya and Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismai, President Xi Jinping had delivered a keynote address at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo entitled, "Work together for a bright future of China-Arab relations."

Xi promoted pragmatic cooperation in the four-point initiative, outlining a new blueprint for China-Arab cooperation, which received a warm response from the Middle East media.

His speech focused on the Arab world and explained Beijing's diplomatic policy on the region that depicted a beautiful portrayal of China-Arab cooperation.

The four-point initiative conveys far-reaching significance and demonstrates China will be a firm builder of peace and development in the Middle East. Beijing would boost regional industrialization, support regional stability and be a good envoy of communications between the Chinese and Arab peoples.

Xi's Speech demonstrated Chinese wisdom, reflecting the style of a large country and highlighting China's responsibility to guide the revival of the Chinese and Egyptian peoples.

The constant applause in the Arab League headquarters had proven how Xi's speech would mark an impressive chapter in the history of China-Arab relations.
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Energy issues have not been discussed very much in any of the debates  Democratic or Republican  during the past six months. However, the candidates have made several comments on various energy issues that will give a strong indication where they stand.

Obviously, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, made the strongest arguments for more government regulation of the oil and gas industry.

The Republicans  Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida, and businessman Donald Trump  had strong positions on free markets and getting the government out of regulating the oil and gas industry.

The last candidate researched, Dr. Ben Carson, wasn't sure about much of anything when it came to energy. He favored lifting the ban on crude oil exports, and the development of all energy resources.

Carson's position on energy spills over into national security. He stated in his book, "America the Beautiful," that "The terrorist network derives most of its money through oil revenues, and we, along with most of the rest of the world have an insatiable appetite for oil."

Cruz made positive statements about the oil and gas industry, and he has sponsored legislation restricting federal oversight. He favors revoking the offshore drilling moratorium, building the Keystone XL Pipeline, supported lifting the oil export ban, and passing an "all-of-the-above" energy policy.

He opposes policies enforcing climate change, which he said is a hoax, including a tax on carbon or some sort of cap-and-trade scheme.

Cruz's tax policy  he favors repeal of the mandated use and tax credits for ethanol  ran into trouble with the governor of Iowa, which is a leading corn growing state. The governor criticized Cruz for his anti-subsidy position for ethanol. Cruz shot back that he is "opposed to all energy subsidies, including for oil companies."

Rubio also has a conservative approach to energy policy. He opposes the federal government's recent attempts to expand its influence over public lands and waters of the U.S. He favored lifting he crude oil export ban, approving the Keystone XL Pipeline, increasing exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and an "all-of-the-above" energy policy.

Rubio believes that human activity is not causing climate change, and he opposes programs such as cap-and-trade and a tax on carbon.

While Trump crowed "fracking will lead to American energy independence," he turned right around and said "it's not the market, it's OPEC. They set the price of oil." Trump said President Barack Obama's "rejection of the Keystone pipeline is disgraceful," and called climate change a hoax. "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive."

Clinton's energy policy centers around an anti-drilling platform that subsidizes exotic energy sources, i.e. wind, solar, ethanol. She supports the agreement reached in Paris recently designed to reduce emissions in an attempt to hold the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. One of her stated goals is to install more than 500 million solar panels across the country by the end of her first term, which would be 2020. She supports cap-and-trade, and opposed the Keystone XL Pipeline, lifting the ban on oil exports, and hydraulic fracturing on public lands.

Sanders, of Vermont, who is not really a Democrat but an independent, makes Clinton look tame. He said the Paris agreement on climate change "goes nowhere near far enough." He said in one of the debates that he would propose a carbon tax and repeal of all oil and gas tax provisions, giving them instead to exotic energy sources.

Sanders even tried to get the windfall profits tax reinstated several years ago.

"We've got to stand up to the fossil fuel industry," he said, "and fight for national and international legislation that transforms our energy system away from fossil fuel as quickly as possible."

While some voters have complained about the candidates, voters clearly have a choice of candidates with a variety of opinions about energy policy.
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Since WWII, our country has been engaged in several armed conflicts: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. There are many definitions, and varied types of veterans. Not all serve in combat. Some veterans don't know that they are veterans. If you have ever worn the uniform of this country, it's best to check with our county Veteran Services Officers or check with the VA for eligibility for benefits. It's worth your time and effort.

Currently, because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, multiple deployments have taken a toll on active duty, reservists, national guardsmen, of all military services, and their families, in communities across the country. The Wichita Falls area is no exception. Veterans are returning with serious physical and mental injuries and illnesses. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple forms of mental illness are now commonplace terms. These problems, sometimes, manifest themselves in erratic behavior, to the extent that former law-abiding, service minded citizens, unfortunately, become involved in, what can be, a devastating legal system.

We, as a society, need to understand these injuries and illnesses and deal with them by treating the problem, not by unnecessarily incarcerating the problem. These men and women are some of America's finest; some need help to return to being productive citizens.

We estimate there are about 15,000 veterans in our surrounding 12-county area. Truth is we really don't know exactly how many there are because, demographically, veterans are not being accurately identified. Our first great need in our community is to account for them. We know we have thousands. Did you know that when a veteran is arrested, and/or jailed, for some reason, they are not identified as veterans in the processing paperwork?

War stress hinders them in their attempts to find gainful employment and in their ability to afford housing. Our veterans need available low-cost, or no cost, transportation to the regional VA hospital in Oklahoma City. In short they need many services.

Wichita Falls has many available services for veterans through many veteran service organizations, i.e., the Military Officers Association of America, the Air Force Association, the VFW, the DAV, the American Legion, the list goes on.

There are many veteran service providers, i.e., those that provide some kind of direct service to aid veterans, such as: Workforce Solutions, Veterans Affairs, Catholic Charities, Faith Mission, Interfaith Ministries and private businesses; the list goes on.

The problem we have in our community is that our veteran organizations and veteran service providers efforts are splintered and independent. They are not communicating with one another. There are many needs: financial, homelessness, transportation, special female veteran needs, veteran courts, entrepreneurship, education and counseling, just to name a few. These all need to be properly addressed and coordinated to meet various needs.

The Veterans Community Assistance Program was founded in 2013 to help solve this problem. Our community needed an organization that would act as a catalyst and bring these splintered organizations together in hope of creating synergy from all groups and individuals working together for the betterment of veterans and their families. By consolidating "under one roof," and effectively networking, we become educated about available services. This communication for to the benefit of those who need it the most, our veterans.

The vision of VCAP is to serve as a clearinghouse of information geared toward providing access to needed services by veterans.

Our mission is to educate, and collaborate with local veterans organizations and veteran service providers on veterans services currently available within our community. Additionally, we advocate for, and try to provide needed resources which are lacking for our veterans. Most of all, we want to engage the Greater Wichita Falls Area community in outreach and support of local veterans and the needs of their families.

Monthly VCAP meetings bring the veteran service organizations, and veteran service providers, together facilitating communication. Synergy is created by this communication. Participants find ways to work with each other, as a team, to assist veterans in many areas. There are gaps in services and we work to fill these gaps by developing resources as needed.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a premier Veterans Resource Center, with a couple of staff members, to provide services to approximately 15,000 veterans in the greater Wichita Falls community. By so doing, we as a community will help assure that the quality of life for our veterans is dignified and commensurate with the sacrifices endured by our veterans and their families. They deserve it.

How can you help? If you have a building that could be remodeled (the donations of labor and materials could be provided by local suppliers) for a Veterans Resource Center, that could be donated on a long-term lease, that would help the VCAP's dream become reality. Cash donations can be sent to VCAP/WFACF, P.O. Box 25, Wichita Falls, TX 76307. Your donations are tax deductible.
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We all know about clipping coupons to save at the store or when dining out, but what about using our home to save on monthly bills and earn a few tax credits in the process?

That's what John Windover has done. Windover noticed an immediate savings on his utility bill after having 33 solar panels installed on the back roof of his Averill Park home last summer.

He estimates that at first his energy cost went down by around $230 a month, about $130 in the fall, and between $70 and $90 with the colder weather.

"It makes economic sense to take advantage of free energy on the roof," said Windover, a damage evaluator for Allstate. "I think it's a great thing for the environment, and it just makes sense." Solar panels or photovoltaic systems are solar cells that capture light energy from the sun and convert it directly into electricity.

The Windovers were able to take advantage of $20,000 in nonrefundable state and federal solar energy tax system equipment credits and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) rebate to offset the $37,000 cost of installing the panels and inverters.

Right now, the NYSERDA rebate amounts to about 50 cents a watt. For example, a person who has a 10,000 watt system qualifies for a $5,000 rebate. The federal credit is 30 percent and not capped, while the state credit is 25 percent but is limited to $5,000, according to information online.

As we move into tax season, homeowners (and tax professionals) are tallying deductions. It's also a good time to think about what you may be able to do to your home this year to save on your 2016 bill.

Wider availability of credits and the desire to be more environmentally friendly have led to an explosive growth in solar energy systems among homeowners.

"They mostly do it to save the money, but there's no doubt solar energy is cleaner," said John Hodgens, a solar energy consultant with Monolith Solar in Rensselaer. "Every year, our residential division has grown exponentially," he said.

In part because of their relative complexity, other ''green'' energy options, such as geothermal pumps and small wind turbines, are less popular, he said.

The installation of new windows and exterior doors also offers a maximum lifetime tax credit of $500, said CPA Kevin O'Leary of Marvin and Company in Latham.

The breakdown for these so called non-business energy property credits are $200 for windows, $50 for any advanced main air circulating fan, $150 for any qualified natural gas, propane, or oil furnace or hot water boiler and $300 of any item of energy efficient building property, based on instructions for the IRS Form 5695.

The tax document, which a homeowner would need to complete to apply for the credits, also mentions skylights and any metal roof with the appropriate pigmented coatings or asphalt roof with the right cooling granules designed to reduce the heat gain in your home.

Some plug-in electric vehicles are also eligible for federal tax credits. The only tax credit on the state level is for solar energy.

Windover, who serves as president of the Poestenkill Fire Company, said he decided to go with solar panels on his Colonial-style home after they were installed at the firehouse.

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A homeowner is entitled to a solar tax credit of up to 30 percent of the total installation cost of solar energy systems, added O'Leary.

"The reason these things are so attractive is because $1 credit will directly reduce your income tax by $1," said O'Leary, adding "you can't create a refund through this credit."

In other words, it's a nonrefundable tax credit.

He said one of the conditions of the credit is that the improvements must be made to a person's primary residence.

Additionally, the systems must provide electricity for the dwelling and meet fire and electrical code requirements. "I think now you're seeing more people doing it because their friends are doing and telling them about it, and they feel more comfortable," he said.
Flint, Mich.

Standing at a microphone in September holding up a baby bottle, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a local pediatrician, said she was deeply worried about the water.

The number of Flint children with elevated levels of lead in their blood had risen alarmingly since the city changed its water supply the previous year, her analysis showed.

Within hours of Hanna-Attisha's news conference, Michigan state officials pushed back  hard. A Department of Health and Human Services official said that the state had not seen similar results and that it was working with a much larger set of data. A Department of Environmental Quality official was quoted as saying the pediatrician's remarks were "unfortunate," described the mood over Flint's water as "near-hysteria" and said, as the authorities had insisted for months, that the water met state and federal standards.

Hanna-Attisha said she went home that night feeling shaky and sick, her heart racing. "When a state with a team of 50 epidemiologists tells you you're wrong," she said, "how can you not second-guess yourself?"

No one now argues with Hanna-Attisha's findings. Not only has she been proved right, but Gov. Rick Snyder publicly thanked her Tuesday "for bringing these issues to light."

Nearly a year and a half after the city started using water from the long-polluted Flint River and soon after Hanna-Attisha's news conference, the authorities reversed course, acknowledging that the number of children with high lead levels in this struggling, industrial city had jumped, and no one should be drinking unfiltered tap water. Residents had been complaining about the strange smells and colors pouring from their taps ever since the switch.

Already this month, federal and state investigations have been announced, National Guard troops were distributing thousands of bottles of water and filters, and Snyder was calling for millions in state dollars to fix a situation he acknowledged was a "catastrophe."

Yet interviews, documents and emails show that as every major decision was made over more than a year, officials at all levels of government acted in ways that contributed to the public health emergency and allowed it to persist for months.

The government continued on its harmful course even after lead levels were found to be rising, and after pointed, detailed warnings came from a federal water expert, a Virginia Tech researcher and others.

For more than a year after an emergency manager  appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to oversee the city  approved a switch from the Detroit system to water from the Flint River to save money, workers assigned to manage the city's water system failed to lower lead risks with a simple solution: adding chemicals to prevent old pipes from corroding and leaching metals like lead.

Disagreements and miscommunication between state and local officials about what federal law requires of so-called corrosion control measures further delayed fixing the problem, the documents show.

"This could have been nipped in the bud before last summer," said Daniel Giammar, an environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis.

The testing of homes in Flint for lead, too, was insufficient and flawed, some experts say. Officials failed to focus on the many homes with lead service lines that were most likely to be tainted, instead looking at wider problems that would have muted the calls of alarm.

City authorities also urged, and state regulators allowed, methods of sampling that experts say had been shown to underestimate lead levels. Residents were advised to run their water before taking samples, a move that tends to flush out concentrations of lead particles that might have accumulated.

Through it all, officials persisted in playing down and dismissing the concerns of Flint residents  one referred to concerned residents groups as "anti-everything"  and authoritatively vouching for the water's purity, even as they were debating whether it was pure.

On April 25, 2014, Flint, whose population had dwindled from more than 195,000 in 1960 to fewer than 100,000, switched to using the Flint River as its water supply. The city had drawn water from Detroit's system for decades, but it was expensive, and so Flint joined efforts to create a new, regional system that would draw from Lake Huron.

Costs had become a central concern in a city that has lost thousands of auto industry jobs. Fiscal troubles were so significant that the state sent an emergency manager  with ultimate decision-making power  to oversee a recovery. Until the new pipeline to Lake Huron was constructed, the city would take its water from the Flint River, which it had used as a backup.

Three months before Hanna-Attisha voiced her fears and findings, a regulations manager for the federal Environmental Protection Agency had sent a detailed interim report to the state and federal authorities that included unambiguous warnings like this: "Recent drinking water sample results indicate the presence of high lead results in the drinking water, which is to be expected in a public water system that is not providing corrosion control treatment."

It is unclear how many people have had elevated lead levels in their blood over the last year and a half. The state has identified 233 since April 2014, but Hanna-Attisha said its numbers likely "grossly underestimate" exposure, partly because testing was generally limited to 1- and 2-year-olds until recently. Lead remains traceable in the blood for only about a month after exposure.
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Albany

Given the turmoil engulfing the Albany school district, you could almost forget that the vote on the new high school is little more than two weeks away.

Only high drama and controversy could force a $180 million project from the spotlight, and that's exactly what the ouster of Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard delivered.

It isn't every day that the district's school board is accused of having dynamics "that hearken back to the Jim Crow era"  as former Common Council member Barbara Smith claimed last week. It isn't often that a board meeting erupts with shouts and confrontations that border on the physical, as the one on Thursday evening did.

More Information Contact Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

I'm not privy to Vanden Wyngaard's personnel file, so I can't say whether she was treated unfairly. I don't know if she deserved to go.

Yet the fighting isn't a good look for the district. It won't reassure a parent nervously weighing whether to stick with Albany or to begin packing for suburbia. It will do nothing to draw families that Albany desperately needs back into the city.

It's not surprising that Vanden Wyngaard's tenure would end this way. She was sometimes knocked for being needlessly divisive, a criticism sustained by the convocation she delivered at the start of the school year, when she probably already knew she wasn't long for the district.

"Because I am in education, I lead an organization influenced by racist principles," Vanden Wyngaard, who is black, said then.

Now, that may be true. But you can bet many of the district's teachers didn't like hearing it, not when so many have dedicated their careers to urban education and improving the lives of poor children.

Vanden Wyngaard also used the speech to criticize the atmosphere within the district, saying its employees "don't circle the wagons, join hands and fight together."

"We take aim at each other," she said. "We throw each other under the bus, deflect and sometimes destroy."

That was noteworthy honesty, which Vanden Wyngaard followed with a hint about her fate: "I will stay the course and fall on my sword for the children of Albany," she said, presciently.

I'll say this for Vanden Wyngaard: Anyone who expected that she could single-handedly fix the troubled district was engaging in fantasy. Problems in the schools reflect troubled neighborhoods where poverty and violence are endemic. A superintendent can't fix those problems.

Neither can a new high school  although that alone isn't a reason to oppose the project.

The Feb. 9 vote is the district's second bite at the apple, as most of you know. District officials have trimmed the project's cost by 8 percent since voters in November rejected $196 million of construction borrowing.

Will that $16 million reduction sway many voters?

I doubt it. Anyone who thought $196 million was too much is unlikely to see $180 million as fiscal rectitude.

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If the plan passes, you can thank the decision to schedule the vote for early February. You know the old saying: If at first you don't succeed, hold the election when fewer people will show up.Really, nothing essential has changed since the November vote. Albany remains a fiscally stressed city that demands backbreaking taxes from its property owners, and residents who are paying attention should be nervous about the future.

The school district, for example, has hinted it may also need to build a new middle school. Meanwhile, the state has yet to say whether it will plug a gaping hole in the city's budget. What happens if state lawmakers say no?

"If the city of Albany does not receive the $12.5 million, it cannot tax its way out of the deficit," said Dennis Gaffney, spokesman for Mayor Kathy Sheehan. "Tough cuts in city expenditures would have to be made to balance the budget."

I try to be optimistic about our cities. But it often isn't easy, as the past week illustrated.

Albany's budget and tax issues were reasons to worry, even before the bitter fight over Vanden Wyngaard's contract again exposed socioeconomic fissures that seem impossible to mend.

Downtown Troy's upswing might have had you feeling good, until a water main break reminded you of that city's financial and infrastructure woes. A Schenectady renaissance? The schools superintendent warned that its students are growing poorer.

Forgive me for feeling a little gloomy. I'm just trying to remember that pessimism is a waste of time.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Albany

At her swearing-in ceremony in September 2012, Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard made a pledge.

She had just moved from New Jersey, where she was second-in-command over a district of 28,000 students, to Albany, where she was named superintendent over a district of nearly 9,000 students. The board of education that tapped her said it liked that she understood the strengths and challenges facing urban school districts.

"I came here because the students of Albany have had academic challenges and it's what I'm called to do," she said, before a crowd at Hackett Middle School. "I certainly didn't come to Albany for a short tenure. I came here to see this work through."

On Thursday  three years and four months later  she wrote a resignation letter. She suggested a lack of unity and trust between herself and the school board. They had reached an impasse, she wrote, and the time had come for her to step aside. School board president Kenny Bruce chalked it up to philosophical differences, and declined to elaborate.

That night, the board approved a separation agreement awarding Vanden Wyngaard a $90,000 lump sum, benefits through June 2017 and continued pay of her $197,527 annual salary through June 30, 2016. A non-disclosure clause stipulated that neither side could discuss what led to the resignation, though sources confirmed she was given an option of resigning now with a payout or being fired without one. And the community whose taxes would be used to fund the departure was left with theories and gossip about what exactly unfolded.

But board meetings, news archives and interviews with individuals close to the situation suggest that the fissure began less than two years into her tenure, in the summer of 2014, when an employee made a complaint about the district's invoice and billing practices. It escalated with a public accusation of deception the following spring, and culminated with a secretive meeting among select board members and district staff about one week before Vanden Wyngaard resigned on Thursday.

The complaint that seemed to spark it all had to do with the district's contract with Dr. Betty Webb Consulting, Inc., of Minneapolis. Vanden Wyngaard had recommended the firm, which she had worked with once before during her time as a school administrator in the Midwest. The firm's work revolved around implementing "systematic change" practices and professional development programs.

But an independent audit of the district's billing and invoice procedures with the firm uncovered about $215,000 worth of services that were undocumented when the district was billed. The inaccuracies were not intentional or "improperly motivated," the audit concluded, but the result of procedural shortcomings within the district and its business offices. The superintendent was never mentioned in the audit, which was finalized in October 2014. The district has since accounted for all but $41,000 of the money.

Bruce, who first joined the board that summer and was elected board president this month, said Thursday that the audit had nothing to do with Vanden Wyngaard's resignation. He also ruled out misconduct. Yet that time period is precisely when the board's rocky relationship with the superintendent began, as those who attended regular board meetings could attest.

The following spring, board member Sue Adler said at a May meeting that she didn't appreciate being "lied to" by district leadership  a statement community members called disrespectful.

Just one month before, a new section of the state education law on school receivership handed Vanden Wyngaard unprecedented authority over district operations. The law gave superintendents statewide the ability to override their school boards and collective bargaining agreements to overhaul curriculum, extend the school day or year, or hire and fire teachers, as it was done as part of a plan to transform a failing school.

Vanden Wyngaard, and many other superintendents, spoke out about the faults of such a plan. At a presentation on receivership at a May 2015 board meeting, she said it would be illogical for her to act against the board in her role as receiver, especially since she has to work with them in her role as superintendent.

"She didn't make the rules," said longtime board member Rose Brandon at that meeting. "She didn't make the legislation. That's what's been handed down to her. Maybe we should think about how we can support her."

It was at this meeting that the public outpouring of support for Vanden Wyngaard first began. Residents, who admitted they had heard rumors about her contract, said it was worrisome to see such clear dissent among the school board. Adler called the meeting "a pep rally" for the superintendent, which upset the crowd and prompted a call for Adler's resignation by one parent.

In June 2015, public comment once again raised the issue of extending Vanden Wyngaard's contract, which would expire about a year later. The next month, the board informed her it didn't have enough votes to extend her contract beyond June 30, 2016.

After a quiet, slow summer, Vanden Wyngaard used her opening convocation for the new school year in September to address a so-called elephant in the room.

"As a leader of a multimillion-dollar organization," she said, "I have to admit because I am in education, I lead an organization influenced by racist principles. I know that statement makes people uncomfortable, and holds deep consternation with leaders from the school board all the way through the organization. However, I lead an institution. Period."

Look at the data, she urged faculty and staff. The State Education Department and Attorney General's office had both investigated the district for discipline policies and practices back to the 2009-10 year that discriminated against black and disabled students. Academic outcomes for non-white students have also historically lagged well behind those of white students.

Although the address ended on an optimistic note, some say it struck a nerve with faculty and staff, who felt they had been "called out" as racists.

As another school board election got under way last fall, alliances were drawn. Vickie Smith, who won election, was the only candidate to publicly express support for Vanden Wyngaard. The two other winning candidates  Ellen Roach and Jennifer Lange  have declined to address the issue publicly, citing personnel matters.

With a board shake-up, community members started to hold out hope that a fresh vote could be had on the superintendent's contract. In December, they began to speak out at meetings again, urging renewal of her contract and expressing frustration about what they saw as racist undercurrents on the board.

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Bruce offered more insight into the board's concerns with Vanden Wyngaard in a radio interview Friday with Talk 1300 host Paul Vandenburgh.

"One concern I had early on when I joined the board is that there's an underperforming segment of our student population that I believe requires extra focus and extra resources, and I was surprised to see that there aren't a whole lot of programs in place to do that," he said. "Any organization has to really focus on the piece that if you actually changed it would make a big dent in your overall outcomes. And I believe that's something we have to focus on and it was something I felt was not focused on sufficiently."

At the first meeting of 2016, board member Brandon said a lack of board support had contributed to the superintendent's inability to fully implement plans or programs. The superintendent, she said, only ever had about 18 months of full board support during her 3 1/2-year tenure.

Less than three weeks later, Vanden Wyngaard resigned. Kimberly Young Wilkins, the longtime principal at Myers Middle School, was named acting superintendent on the grounds that she had the longest tenure of any district principal, Bruce said. There's a "high likelihood" that she will be named interim superintendent in the coming weeks, he said in his radio interview.

Board members and others only learned after the fact that the decision to tap Wilkins for the spot was hashed out at a meeting on Jan. 13.

As recently as Thursday's board meeting, Brandon stated that she couldn't give Wilkins her vote because of the "rogue" meeting, which four out of seven board members were not aware of. District spokesman Ron Lesko confirmed Wilkins, Bruce and Adler were there. Anne Savage, though aware of it, did not attend. Ray Colucciello, a longtime mentor to Wilkins who served as the district's interim superintendent for three years before Vanden Wyngaard, was also present.

The discussion centered around what kind of things Wilkins ought to expect when she became superintendent, Colucciello said this week.

Wilkins was born and raised in Albany. She earned a master's degree in secondary education-social studies from University at Albany, and a doctor of education in educational leadership from Sage Colleges. She has been employed by the district since 1994, and has served as an administrator since 1997.

In her 2011 dissertation, titled "A study of New York State African-American superintendents: Their pathways to the superintendency," she expressed her aspirations to become a superintendent.

Attempts to reach Vanden Wyngaard and Wilkins were unsuccessful.

bbump@timesunion.com  518-454-5387  @bethanybump
Chinese President Xi Jinping(L) talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

TEHRAN, Jan. 23 -- China and Iran, two ancient civilizations, agreed Saturday to elevate their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership to boost cooperation on all fronts and carry forward their millennia-old friendship.

The consensus was reached during President Xi Jinping's visit to Iran, the first in 14 years by a Chinese head of state.

China and Iran have no fundamental conflicts, and there are only consistent mutual support and mutual benefit between them, Xi said during summit talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.

In history, there had been no wars or disputes between the two nations, and the two nations had conducted time-honored friendly exchanges and sincere cooperation, which date back to 2,000 years ago thanks to the Silk Road, Xi said.

"The China-Iran friendship is originated from friendly exchanges in history, from mutual assistance in difficult times, from unselfish support to each other on major issues, and from our concepts of mutually-beneficial cooperation. It has stood the test of the vicissitudes of the international landscape," Xi told Rouhani.

Xi's visit comes days after West-led sanctions on Iran were lifted following an announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency confirming that Tehran had scaled back its nuclear program. China played a constructive role in prior negotiations.

China hopes the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can be implemented smoothly, Xi said, noting that China is willing to see Iran strike a brand-new pose on regional and international stages.

"China stands ready to work with Iran to lift our mutually-beneficial cooperation in such fields as politics, economy and trade, energy, infrastructure, security, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges to a new stage," the president said.

Xi also pointed out that China respects and supports the nations and peoples in the region to independently pursue the political systems and development paths suited to their national conditions, and the international community should help the region achieve economic and social development.

"China is wiling to maintain communication and coordination with Iran to safeguard peace and stability in the region and the world at large," he said.

For his part, Rouhani noted that Xi is the first foreign head of state to visit Iran after its nuclear issue was resolved, which demonstrates the level of positive and friendly relations between the two countries.

The president said the visit will be a milestone in the history of Iran-China relations.

Iran values China's important role in international affairs, bears in mind the long-term support and assistance China has given to Iran and thanks China for its contributions in helping solve the nuclear issue in a political way, Rouhani said.

In a joint statement issued after the summit talks, China and Iran announced that they agree to set up an annual meeting mechanism between the their foreign ministers as a part of the efforts to deepen mutual strategic trust.

The two countries said that they oppose all kinds of use of force or threatening with the use of force, imposing unjust sanctions against other countries, and terrorism in any form.

They believe that controversial or acute international issues should be resolved through negotiations and political dialogue.

The document also said that China supports Iran's application for full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Iran is now one of six observers of the SCO, which was founded in 2001 and now has China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its full members.

A slew of cooperation deals were also signed Saturday, covering various fields such as energy, industrial capacity, finance, investment, communications, culture, judiciary, science and technology, news media, customs, climate change and human resources.

PRACTICAL COOPERATION

During the summit talks, the Chinese president listed a few priorities in the all-round practical cooperation with Iran -- energy, interconnectivity, industrial capacity and finance -- within the framework of Belt and Road Initiative, a vision Xi put forward in 2013 to boost interconnectivity and common development along the ancient land and maritime Silk Roads.

Xi called on the two countries to build a long-term and stable cooperative relationship in energy area, and carry out cooperation in railway, highway, port, mining, communications, engineering machinery and infrastructure construction.

The president urged the two sides to strengthen the communication and synergy of the economic and industrial policies for cooperation in industrial capacity, and study new patterns in financial cooperation and enhance collaboration within the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Rouhani echoed Xi's words saying that Iran will actively respond to the Belt and Road Initiative and carry out closer communication and coordination with China on international affairs.

A Memorandum of Understanding on jointly pursue the initiative between the two countries was signed after the talks.

Xi's visit has drawn wide applause in Iran, as the Middle East nation is wooing investment and international tourists in its post-sanction era.

According to an Iranian economic daily, the Financial Tribune, Chinese tourists currently make up barely 1 percent of the country's 5 million inbound tourists a year, and Iran wants more.

Iran has already simplified the visa process for Chinese nationals and is also taking further moves to lure Chinese tourists, the newspaper said Saturday.

"We are opening more Chinese restaurants and training travel guides to speak Chinese," it quoted Masoud Soltanifar, the head of the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, as saying.
David Hauber's letter ("Clean, local gas via the pipeline," Jan. 12) took aim at my "iconic" and "ironic" "Anti-Frack Mobile" and at the opposition to new natural gas pipelines. He misses the point about both.

He finds it ironic the mobile symbol of our feelings about the pipeline is an SUV sporting a section of sewer pipe and that it's parked near oil trains. He leaps from this to claiming that "clean, locally produced natural gas" is preferable to oil. My SUV is useful and necessary for my contractor business.
After working to institute a wage increase for fast-food workers in 2015, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has declared that one of his top priorities in 2016 is raising the minimum wage to $15 for all workers.

In his push for a significant minimum wage increase, the governor is supporting the policy goals of a number of unions that are advocating for a $15-per-hour wage across the country.

And while I am not opposed to a well-thought-out minimum wage increase, the Fight for $15 begs the question: Who is going to support the small businesses that will be paying this significantly increased wage?

If small businesses, the engines of the state's economy, are not included in discussion as to how this increase will be phased in, it will only hurt those the wage increase is attempting to help. If workers use their new discretionary income to buy from out-of-state online retailers, as opposed to buying locally, for instance, it will undermine this drive toward the $15-per-hour minimum wage. Are workers prepared to support the businesses that are employing them and so many others?

I am not opposed to paying my employees a good wage and health insurance coverage. As an independent bookseller, outstanding customer service is what differentiates my store from the chains. To that end, stores like mine very often pay their employees more than the minimum wage.

Independent stores are also the linchpins of a sustainable, thriving community. Since 2002, a number of studies have documented the positive economic impact of locally owned businesses, and their significantly greater economic return to the local economy than that of retail chains, big box stores and remote online retailers. Supporting independents strengthens communities  and their workers.

Here's another important fact to understand: The portrait of employers who hoard their money and refuse to share profits with their hard-working employees could not be further from the truth. This is not Wall Street. This is Main Street. And, when it comes to small businesses like indie bookstores, the margins are small. Very small. A successful independent store makes a profit of maybe 2 percent  most make less.

With margins this tight, it is important to understand that a small change can have a very big effect on profitability. If the minimum wage is raised, it inevitably means independent businesses will have to increase the wages of senior and full-time staff in addition to increasing the wages of any minimum-wage workers. A seemingly "insignificant" wage increase can have a dramatic effect on the bottom line, sending a profitable store into the red.

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A carefully executed minimum wage increase is more successful if planned in conjunction with concrete steps to support independent Main Street businesses. The importance of independent retailers to the fiscal health of their communities cannot be overstated.

If the state raises the minimum wage without including New York's small businesses, including independent bookstores, in important policy discussions, they risk harming the people they are seeking to help, by forcing independent businesses, which work on very small margins, to cut benefits or staff hours  or worse, to go out of business.

It's a two-way street. New York cannot support a higher wage for workers without supporting the small businesses that employ them.

Susan Novotny is owner of the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza and Market Block Books in Troy.
[January 23, 2016] World Leaders on Twitter - Adoption Stagnates Even as Follower Base Explodes

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Digital Policy Council (DPC) released its sixth annual ranking of world leaders on Twitter as a means of communication and diplomacy within the political landscape. Mirroring last year's trend, new sign-ups by heads of state remain almost negligible in 2015. Analyses as of December 2015 reveal that 83% heads of state worldwide are active on Twitter. A total of 139 world leaders out of 167 countries had accounts on Twitter set up in their personal name or through an official government office, which reflects a mere 1% increase over 2014. The Breakthrough Candidate - only one new entrant in the exclusive top 10 club His last year in office notwithstanding, US President Obama continues his legacy of being the most followed leader. As of December 25, 2015, his fan base on Twitter stands at a whopping 67 million. The Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, remains steadfastly rooted to the second spot with a following of 17 million - as drawn to his viral selfies as they are to his 140-character updates. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai continued his steady ascent with a two-spot leap in 2015 to clinch the fourth spot worldwide. Runding off the tenth spot is President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, the sole new entrant to break into the top ten list this year, with an impressive 4.1 million followers - a fact that hardly surprised anyone, considering Indonesia is one of the world's most active Twitter-using country.



Jordan's Queen Rania and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff were the female representatives in the male-dominated list, making their voices count while consistently increasing their follower base. The Outliers - 7 democracies in the world have leaders who aren't tweeting

The Council's analyses indicated that 91.5% of the leaders of the world's democracies tweet as well as 87.3% of politically stable nations. In contrast, only 64.4% of non-democratic nations have leaders that tweet as do only 61.2% of politically fragile nations. In 2015, there were only 7 democracies in the world whose leaders are not tweeting to their citizenry, down from 10 in 2014. The three democracies moving off the "shame list" from last year include Denmark, Nicaragua, and Mauritius. "The report reaffirms the fact that world leaders of democratic and stable nations tap Twitter for the potential for a greater level of engagement," said Omar Hijazi, Managing Partner at Digital Daya. "Therefore, mediums of social engagement such as Twitter prove to be equalizers in that they democratize politicians as well as encourage the political process leading to a better connect between leaders and their citizenry." For more details, download the full report here: http://ow.ly/XrxS6 About The Digital Policy Council The Digital Policy Council (DPC) is an international, non-partisan "think tank" whose objective is the advancement of open discourse on issues of inclusive government. The DPC is the research and policy arm of Digital Daya, a strategic consultancy that provides advisory services to corporate and government leaders regarding digital media. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/world-leaders-on-twitter--adoption-stagnates-even-as-follower-base-explodes-300208802.html SOURCE The Digital Policy Council

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City Council discuss owner occupied home rehabilitation program

The $250,000 grant would be would be split between 15-20 city homeowners, who would be afforded up to $15,000 each for repairs to their homes.
EKWB In Pictures

If there's one company in the enthusiast computer hardware space that we all love, but nobody really knows much about, it's EKWB. The company, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary soon, has never had a media visitor to its headquarters.

Recently, EKWB moved into new offices. Of course, when I heard this, I just had to ask if Tom's Hardware could take a look. After a couple months of figuring stuff out, I boarded a flight to Slovenia and paid EKWB a visit.

The company's primary focus is on water blocks, but it also sells the other parts you need to build a water-cooled system, including reservoirs, fittings, tubing and pumps. Some components are made by EKWB, others are resold or re-branded.

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Meet EKWB Owner And Founder

Edvard Konig is the man behind EKWB. That's also where the company gets its name: Edvard Konig Water Blocks. EKWB started as a garage effort when Konig realized that he wanted to water-cool his PC. At the time, he worked in a shop and had access to a milling machine, allowing him to build his first water block. Enthusiasm on the Slovenian forums was huge, and in 2003 Konig started mass production of one design, selling 100 units. In 2005, Konig went to business workshops and participated in a business plan competition. He won, and in 2006 he launched EK Water Blocks.

Within six months, he had resellers on every continent. The days were long, but growth was strong, and slowly Konig started taking on employees and building a team. Today, Konig primarily plays a strategic role in the company, having handed most control to the CEO, Mark Tanko. The company employs about 45 people at its headquarters.

EKWB's Design Process

One of the block designers is Rok Dolinar, an R&D engineer at EKWB. As Dolinar explained the design process to me, he was working on a model for a water block compatible with three of Asus' Maximus VIII motherboards, which later came to be known as the EK-FB Asus M8G Monoblock.

Mapping The Hardware

The first step in building a water block is designing it. There are multiple ways to go about this, but for most blocks, the process starts with digitally mapping out the hardware.

This particular block would cover the CPU as well as the VRM circuitry around the socket. Therefore, the entire CPU socket area is mapped out, as well as the space around it.

Split It Up!

Following the creation of the motherboard in virtual space, Dolinar went on to build the water block's base. He opted for a split base, with the area over the CPU separate from what covers the VRM circuitry.

The space over the CPU is the easiest to design; it's just a copy of the EK-Supremacy EVO's based, EKWB's flagship CPU water block. Conversely, the part covering the VRM circuitry has to be designed by hand.

Over the bases goes a metal plate, followed by the top of the block.

Oops, Didn't See That

Once a block has been designed, it goes off to manufacturing and comes back in pieces as a prototype. The designer can then test-fit the hardware to make sure it works as intended. Of course, that's not always the case.

After Dolinar made some "non-retail" adjustments to the prototype, he added them to the block design, sent the update back to production and tried again.

Manufacturing

Contrary to what you might expect, EKWB doesn't actually manufacture any of its water blocks in-house. Instead, it partners with various manufacturers that own CNC (computer numerical control) milling machines. EKWB pays them to build the blocks.

The reason for this split is to keep the company flexible. Admittedly, EKWB could achieve higher margins if it brought manufacturing in-house. But outsourcing allows more agility, making it easier to absorb changes in the market.

Optimize Print

When a milling company receives a block design, an engineer must specify how the CNC machine should build the block. For a prototype, this step isn't very time consuming, but for final designs, the engineer has to ensure that each block spends as little time as possible inside the machine. An engineer told us this can take a full day of simulation.

We captured one such simulation for your viewing pleasure. You can watch a video showing the simulation of milling a GPU block here.

The three objects you see are not different blocks. Rather, because the milling machine can only cut from one angle, a worker has to move the block around when switching from front to back, to cutting the micro-channel structure.

The CNC Milling Machine

Water blocks may be small, but the CNC milling machine is actually quite large. Much of what it does is automated, including switching tools. However, the people operating the machines do need certain qualifications.

This Is What You See

In person, it's hard to see what the milling machine is doing as a result of the fluid being sprayed everywhere. Regardless, we did get a couple of pictures at the factory.

Many Drills

The machine works with various sets of drills, which it uses to cut parts out of the copper block by following the path set by the engineer. Each has a different shape and can be used for different purposes. Naturally, the milling machines can make all sorts of objects.
Quick update on the killing that started this weekend . . .These are homicides number 10 & 11 so far this year . . .Now . . .So far the Kansas City homicide count for January is higher than it has been for the past five years as local politicos have encouraged ongoing crime fighting efforts andfor relaxed gun laws over the past decade.By this time last year Kansas City had only recorded 8 murders. In 2014 & 2013 only 6 homicides were totaled by this calendar date. In 2012 only 5 murder were recorded around this time on the calendar.Developing . . .
Looks like the neighborhood ASSociation has FINALLY decided it was time to let some lucky family to build their new home at 4315 Charlotte!



I REALLY hope that I am the one that gets to tell them that this is the VERY property once inhabited by,,,



BOB BERDELLA!!

#butcherofkc

#serialkiller

#bobsbizarrebazaar

######

Just a quick look at Kansas City's history of murder . . .Remember: Bob Berdella (January 31, 1949  October 8, 1992) was an American serial killer in Kansas City, Missouri who raped, tortured, and killed at least six men between 1984 and 1987.Now, thanks towe learn of signs of construction activity from this social media update . . .And while the site is the location of some of. . . The current uptick in Midtown Kansas City crime might also be another reason that building on this distressed location might not be a good idea.You decide . . .
- One of Kansas City's top economists recently endorsed the Bernie Sanders plan for Wall St. reform.





- Bernie Sanders supporters hit the Plaza this afternoon in the cold and that gathering of nearly two dozen showed a great deal of cold weather dedication . . . These folks have been showing up at popular local events for the past year as they prep their push to fight for the nomination.





- Tonight there's another get together for Bernie Sanders at the Mutual Musicians Foundation in the 18th & Vine District. These meetups have been attracting a much bigger and friendlier crowd than Hillary meetings which still haven't officially kicked off.

Just a quick observation for tonight . . . Once again we notice that Kansas City supporters for Democratic Presidential nominee Bernie Sanders are organizing more enthusiastically than the Hillary camp.We'll have more on this later but for not just a few facts to support this conclusion . . .And so, the slam dunk for Hillary looks like it's now more of a contest than most people thought and that reality is reflected among die-hard Kansas City Democrats.And all of this has inspired tonight's playlist as even. . .As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe and fun Saturday night . . .
THE REVIEWS ARE IN AND KANSAS CITY DENIZENS HATED RESTAURANT WEEK WITH A PASSION THANKS TO COLD WEATHER, OVERPRICED FARE AND HORRIBLE HIPSTERS!!!

"Who taught these people how to tip? Even if there's a buffet, even if the plates are smaller. These damn restaurant week pigs have to be the cheapest people in KC. I know you are giving the "hipsters" a hard time but these are professional. People who are in the 50s who don't have the common decency to leave a little something for their server. This will be the last restaurant week I ever work, already told my manager. Never again."

"Too much hype, not enough food. The restaurants this year were VERY skimpy with their offerings. Not a good variety and too much trick pricing. The specials were a joke and everything was done by 6:00 when people usually get off work. I don't know who runs this event but it's nothing but a waste."

"It was what I expected, just another lame marketing stunt. If you know an owner or a waitress you maybe had a good shot to enjoy yourself but overall I hate to admit that you're right TKC. This event was far too expensive and didn't offer a lot in return."

Kansas City's premier foodie event failed miserably over the last week despite widespread promotion from just about every media outlet in town.Only here on TKC will readers learn about some of the bad experiences from Restaurant Week.To wit . . .Here are a few Kansas City foodie quotes that explain the hot mess from a variety of perspectives.First up, we honor the servants above all, and waitstaff has more than a mouthful to reveal about the restaurant class. Checkit:Next up, a frustrated customer:Another customer missive . . .So choke it down and notice that media people promoted the hell out of this thing but didn't really offer any follow-up as the "charity" aspect is far too overplayed for the amount that really gets donated from this carnival of local gluttony.You decide . . .
In the first stage of the transaction Cosco will acquire the 51% stake in OLP for the amount of 280.5m, while after a five-year period, should Cosco fulfill certain conditions, including the successful completion of the mandatory investments, it will pay

Chinas Cosco Group will obtain 67 pct of Pireaus Port (OLP) after the company submitted an improved offer of 368.5 million euros (22/per share) Greeces privatization fund (HRADF) said in a press release on Wednesday.

The sale, if successfully concluded, will be the second large privatisation for Tsipras's government since it took power. Athens sealed a 1.2 billion euro leasing deal for 14 regional airports with Germany's Fraport in December.

Privatisations have been a key element in Greece's bailouts since 2010 but have reaped only 3.5 billion euros because of political resistance and bureaucratic hurdles.

The leftist government of Alexis Tsipras halted the sale of a majority stake in Piraeus Port and other state assets after winning elections in January last year.

Mandatory investments

The process resumed under the terms of a third international bailout for Greece of up to 86 billion euros ($94 billion) in August.

According to HRADF's announcement, the agreement also includes mandatory investments from the Chinese group, amounting to 350m over the next decade.

Taking on account the expected revenues from the concession agreement, amounting to 410m, the expected dividends and interest receivable by the HRADF as well as the total estimated investments by the expiration of the concession, in 2052, HRADF BoD puts the total benefit to the state at 1.5bn.

In the first stage of the transaction Cosco will acquire the 51% stake in OLP for the amount of 280.5m, while after a five-year period, should Cosco fulfill certain conditions, including the successful completion of the mandatory investments, it will pay an additional amount of 88m in order to increase its stake at 67%.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
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Al khaliji Commercial Bank in Qatar has posted net profit of QR625.5 million ($171.6 million) for 2015, up from QR562.9 million in 2014, reflecting a rise of 11.1 per cent.



The net operating income for the full year 2015 reached QR1.14 billion and was 12.9 per cent higher than 2014. This growth was driven mainly by a 23.3 per cent growth in net interest income that stood at QR924.2 million by the end of 2015 and QR190.4 million in Net fee and Commission income for the same period.



The revenue was generated from conventional banking activities in Qatar and Al Khaliji France, its wholly owned subsidiary headquartered in Paris (France) with its four branches in four different emirates in the UAE.



Total assets increased 10.5 per cent by the end of 2015 and reached QR56.6 billion compared to QR51.2 billion by the end of 2014.



Al khaliji Bank chairman and managing director Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani said: I am very pleased to report our robust financial results for 2015. These results are an indication of a successful implementation of a sound strategy. Al khalijis progression is a reflection of Qatars financial prominence and ability to overcome challenges.



We continue to increase our Qatarization levels and their representation on the Senior Management team. Our commitment to deliver a premium financial service to our customers and achieving planned, consistent growth are our key goals. We have exceeded stakeholders expectations through our resilient performance and robust growth. I am confident that this will continue with the dedication and commitment of our team. Our strategy moving forward is to remain focused on profitability and growth while maintaining quality assets.



Fahad Al Khalifa, al khalijis Group chief executive officer said: The bank grew profit based on improved margins, market share gains in our chosen segments and strong cost discipline. Our efficiency ratio, at 34 per cent, is now more aligned with our peer group.



We continue to see growth in our core franchise locally and in our overseas subsidiaries in France and the UAE. Loans and Advances reached QR33.4bn and Deposits QR30.9bn at year end, an increase of 24 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. The bank is well capitalized and will maintain strong levels to support future growth plans; against this background the Board has approved issuing alternative Tier 1 Capital.



Thanks to our clear strategy, al khaliji Group will be able to continue its growth despite the expected challenges this year. This Group strategy focuses on Wholesale and HNW customers in Qatar, UAE and France coupled with a robust risk management, diversification of the Banks funding base and sustainable returns for shareholders, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
A total of 10 malls will be built in Lebanon over the next three years at a cost of up to $1.5 billion, a top official said.



They will be located in Beirut, Saida, Tyre, the Bekaa, Byblos, and Jounieh, explained Nabil Gebrael, regional representative to Lebanon of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Middle East Council of Shopping Centers (MECSC), according to a Business News report.



There are 12 existing malls with a gross leasable area (GLA) of about 416,000 sq m. The new malls will add 605,000 sq m of GLA, at a cost of $1.2-$1.5 billion, Gebrael said.






US-based Zebra Technologies, a global digital solutions leader, will showcase two new desktop printers that offer fixed, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity at Arab Health 2016, opening tomorrow (January 25) in Dubai, UAE.



The ultra-compact ZD410HC is a 2-inch direct thermal printer, designed for the smallest of work spaces. This printer can be placed conveniently wherever employees need to work, while the ZD420HC 4-inch thermal-transfer printer provides a unique, intelligent ribbon cartridge with easy, instant loading and status reporting for maximum uptime.



Both printers provide disinfectant-ready plastics to help reduce hospital-acquired infections and a medical-grade power supply that is IEC 60601-1 certified. They are ideal for printing high-quality pharmacy prescriptions, patient ID wristbands, lab and specimen labels, according to a statement.



The new printers are Link-OS--enabled, making it easier for employees to use and IT to manage. With new status icons, users can instantly identify and rectify printer issues while IT can remotely manage all printers through an easy-to-use, web-based interface. The Virtual Devices application enables the simple replacement of non-Zebra printers.



Zebra will also demonstrate the Time Tracking Solution for Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients, commercially deployed at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in Leiden, the Netherlands.



Hozefa Saylawala, sales director, Middle East, Zebra Technologies, said: Patient safety is the number one priority for healthcare organisations and total visibility into hospital operations is critical for staff efficiency. At Arab Health 2016, Zebra Technologies will be demonstrating to Middle East healthcare providers how they can use IoT and mobile solutions to empower their staff and gain intelligence and visibility into their assets and performance and consequently deliver better patient care.  TradeArabia News Service
The fourth edition of Bahrain International Air Show ended on a high note with record-breaking participation and deals being signed at the three-day event, said a report.

By the close of business on day three, the total value of orders reached $9 billion, more than triple the 2014 figure. This includes aircraft orders for national carrier Gulf Air and a number of contracts to support Bahrains Airport Modernisation programme, according to Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

Declaring the show as a resounding success, the organisers said a record 30,000 visitors turned out at both the public and trade days of the air show.

As well as the record deals, the organisers confirmed that participation was also at an all-time high with more than 135 companies taking part.

The total deals signed during the fourth edition of the Bahrain International Airshow is a reflection of the events success and growth prospects which we have seen over the years in the total number of visitors, delegations, companies, and countries representation," remarked Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and deputy chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee of "BIAS.

With each edition of the show, we continue to see new participation as well as returning participants which include some of the biggest names in the aviation industry worldwide. We are delighted to see the participants choosing BIAS to make their announcements and conduct their business and we look forward to creating further new opportunities in the next edition, said an elated Mohammed.

Adam Thomas, UK Spokesman for Defence and Security Exports, UKTI said: "BIAS16 is a unique opportunity for both the UK Government and business to network with senior Bahrainis and other Gulf states."

The event provides an outstanding business to business networking environment, he stated.

Terming it as the most successful event to date, BIAS organisers said there is a date change for the next show which would see the event move from the usual January slot on the aerospace events calendar to November 2018.



The move to shift the event's dates to November 14-16 slot comes as a result of continued success and growth for the airshow, with 2016 seeing the biggest show to date with participation up by 60 per cent since the debut show in 2010.



Also the Exhibition Feature Pavilion at the 2016 event witnessed a nearly 50 per cent growth since the last edition and more international presence than ever, stated the report.



To accommodate this growth and expand the event further, the decision has been made to move the dates of the show to an alternate year to Dubai in a similar format the Paris and Farnborough International Airshows work to, said the report citing the minister.



On the date change, Mohammed said: "The Middle East civil aerospace market is growing at an exponential rate evidenced by the number of new airports in development in the region including Bahrains own Airport Modernization Programme."



"We want to provide the aerospace industry with more opportunities to do business in the region and the date change will help accommodate this," he stated.



"The success and growth of the airshow has shown there is a clear desire and demand for two major international airshows in the Middle East. Moving our show to November will allow both shows to operate successfully and showcase the strength of the aviation industry in the region," he added.



Amanda Stainer, the commercial director for Farnborough International, said: "We have been delighted to see the Bahrain International Airshow grow from strength to strength and in particular having a greater international presence."



"Weve worked with the Ministry of Telecommunications and Transportation and the CAA very closely over the past 10 years and look forward to working with them again in 2018, she added.
APM Terminals Bahrain, the operator of Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP) in the kingdom, has announced the appointment of Arno Storm as the new chief operating officer (COO).



Prior to joining APM Terminals Bahrain, Storm held senior positions at APM Terminals, Rotterdam, which is part of the Maersk Group from 2012 to October 2015. Before that, he was with the Netherlands armed forces. He joined the forces in 1999 following his graduation in Leadership, Management and Logistics, from the Royal Netherlands Military Academy. He served the forces until 2011.



Mark Hardiman, managing director of APM Terminals Bahrain, said: We welcome Storm who brings with him a wealth of experience to our Bahrain operation. We look forward to his contribution to developing our talent pipeline which will positively impact our strategy to enhance customer service. In his new role we are confident that he will enable us to further build our team, and give us the advantage of a wide range of expertise in achieving our short term and long term objectives. We wish him every success.



APM Terminals Bahrain applies the latest innovation and technology to improve safety performance at the port, and the companys objectives depend on the highest standards of safety. One of the few multi-purpose ports in the region, APM Terminals Bahrain provides a wide range of services at KBSP, including the provision of sea freight, shipping, and logistical services to the highest international standards in the industry, said the statement. - TradeArabia News Service
More than 20 government departments from Dubai and UAE Federal Government will showcase the achievements and projects of its employees and development initiatives at an upcoming exhibition in Dubai, UAE.



Organised by Dubai Government Excellence Program, the largest Dubai International Government Achievements Exhibition (DIGAE) will run from April 11 to 13 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.



Several senior officials from Government of Dubai attended the event, including those from Dubai Land Department (DLD), and Dubai Municipality.



A press conference hosted by Dubai Government Excellence Programme (DGEP)  Executive Council highlighted major enhancements to the upcoming DIGAE, including invitations to 40+ of worlds top competitive cities, to exchange expertise with the local government entities.



The DIGAE conference for thought leadership will drive an international debate on public sector excellence and Dubai Smart Governance model. Under the DIGAE Smart-Lab initiative aimed at involving students in the government excellence process, students in the UAE are invited to submit their technology-focused inventions, which will be later adopted by government authorities.



DGEP revealed that the theme will be Local Government and Global Achievements. The fourth edition will include partnerships between the many departments within the framework of providing innovative services and service for residents and visitors.



This years edition is expected to see unprecedented turnout from government departments unveiling many new services, major part of which falls under the smart transformation of Dubai.



The role of the government departments participating in the exhibition is to showcase their vision, mission and services in multiple areas, in addition to providing answers to public inquiries and accept suggestions for development and improvement of services. The exhibition includes a series of presentations by government agencies to discuss various topics such as customer satisfaction.



Dr Ahmed Al Nuseirat, Coordinator General of Dubai Government Excellence Programme said: The target audience of the exhibition is the customers, partners of Government of Dubai, diplomatic delegates, staff of local and federal governments in the UAE, universities and schools, as well as the private sector.



This exhibition is a good opportunity to consolidate the culture of government excellence by focusing on customers, achieving excellence in institutional services, activating knowledge exchange, and improving satisfaction levels.



Over 20 international governments and entities have confirmed their participation in DIGAE 2016 including New York, Brussels, Paris, Santander (Spain), Graz (Austria), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Tokyo Innovation Network, among others.



DIGAE 2016 is a global hub for local government authorities from across the globe coming together to Dubai to share their perspectives and best practices on public sector service delivery. This is a great opportunity for Dubai Government to engage in strategic cooperation on government performance improvement with foreign government authorities, said Hazza Khalfan Al Nuaimi, senior manager, Dubai Government Initiatives.



Innovation and technology are major features in this year's edition of the show and we expect to see a lot of government departments in Dubai unveiling new and pioneering services.



Dr Al Nuseirat said DIGAE will be held in conjunction with the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2016, first of its kind in terms of presenting investment opportunities under one roof.  TradeArabia News Service
North American food production and distribution giant Del Monte, which has been present in the Middle East markets for many years, is planning to diversify its product offering and also expand geographically.

Del Monte, which already operates farms in Turkey and the UAE, is planning a major presence at the upcoming Gulfood exhibition at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).



The 21st edition of the worlds largest annual food and hospitality trade show will run from February 21 to 25 attracting over 5,000 international food industry companies from 120 countries besides an anticipated 85,000-plus visitors from across the globe, including international heads of state, ministers, government officials and national trade associations from five continents.



Operating from its regional headquarters in Dubai, Del Monte has an increasing involvement in the farming operations within the region, growing fresh produce on off soil technologies as well as from the ground.

We already have a farm in the UAE and Turkey and will soon be owning farms as well in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Reinforcing further our vertically integrated model is allowing us to control the quality every step of the process and guarantee we pick the freshest for our consumers, stated Mohammed Abbas, Del Monte Mena vice president.

2016 will be another key year in Del Montes expansion with the launch of new product categories and services both towards B to B and B to C. Some of them will be showcased at Gulfood 2016 for visitors to experience them, he said.



"Del Monte is always seeking new opportunities to innovate and stay attentive to its consumers needs. The biggest trend in the F&B industry would probably be the rise of health consciousness among consumers. Del Monte is continuously launching new product categories and line extensions to match this growing demand. Our fresh-cut fruits and vegetable ranges satisfy todays health and wellness-conscious consumer demands with a level of convenience that fits perfectly into their active lifestyles. We also aim to be ahead of these demand, by launching innovative products; that was the case of our green juice for instance, launched earlier last year," he added.

Meanwhile, Charlie Antoun, the brand manager of Eathos Dubai - the regional restaurant operating platform which recently introduced Lebanons leading F&B chain Kababji to the UAE and is planning to bring additional international names to the Mena market, said he has already diarised his Gulfood visit.



We will be at Gulfood because we have to be. As the leading F&B platform in the GCC with expansion plans to bring new brands to the region, we need to keep up-to-date with emerging trends, look into new and additional suppliers and theres no better place to do this, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) has partnered with Malaysias Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) to achieve mutually beneficial business objectives.



Under the terms of the MoU, Dafza will collaborate with HDC on developing halal compliance infrastructure in Dubai to achieve mutually beneficial business objectives, direct and assist in halal development process among all stake holders, support investments between the UAE and Malaysia, and facilitate the participation and growth of companies involved in the halal trade through a hub-to-hub network.



A joint working committee will be formed to ensure a sharp focus on objectives and the effective execution of knowledge-sharing and trade partnerships.



Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, director General of Dafza, said: Halal Industry Development Corp is a first-of-its-kind governmental agency that has had great success in coordinating the overall development of Malaysias halal trade.



Dafza will help the agency with its goals of further improving halal standards, branding and promoting Malaysias halal offerings, and commercially developing halal products and services. At the same time, we will be able to showcase our Freezones exceptional ability to facilitate halal-related business and investment activities for the worlds leading halal markets.



This is a mutually beneficial partnership that will help raise halal benchmarks for both parties involved as well as for the respective countries. It is also a testament for Dubais growing appeal as a hub for Asian products, especially those under the halal category, and as a preferred gateway to the Gulf and Mena markets. Dafza is fully committed to supporting Dubai in these aspects and to further enhancing halal trade within the Freezone, he added.



Seri Jamil Bidin, chief executive officer of HDC, said: When it comes to the global market for Halal products, the most important thing is to make sure that the supply chain is properly managed. For Asian producers, specifically those in Malaysia, market access is vital; this poses a challenge for Malaysian companies who wish to penetrate the GCC and yet lack the knowledge on how to get in. Through the collaboration between Dafza and HDC, we hope to ease the entry of Malaysian and other Asian companies into the GCC and broader Mena region.



We recognize Dafzas key role in contribution to Dubais strategy as a base for products coming from Asia to the MENA markets, given its world-class facilities and infrastructure and warehousing solutions, extensive portfolio of incentives and services, plus its strategic location at the heart of Dubai right next to the Dubai International Airport which provides easy access and connectivity and also contributes to time and cost efficiency.



For all these reasons, we believe that this agreement is crucial to facilitating smoother and more productive trade between Asia and Middle East, concluded Jamil Bidin.



HDC is an agency under Malaysias Ministry of International Trade and Industry. It is the worlds first government-backed halal industry development corporation to strategize and implement a comprehensive development of the halal industry.  TradeArabia News Service
Songwon Industrial Company, the second largest polymer stabilizer supplier in the world, said its joint venture company Polysys Additive Technologies Middle East (PAT ME) has started operations at its manufacturing plant in Abu Dhabi.



The facility is located in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), which is owned and managed by Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of ports in the emirate.



The new plant is dedicated to manufacturing One Pack Systems (OPS)  multicomponent, tailor made blends of additives in a pelletized form and then packaged in a clean, dust free environment, ready for shipping, said a company statement.



With an initial capacity of 7000 MT per annum, the manufacturing facility was specifically designed to allow for future expansion to meet the increasing demand for OPS products in the Middle East region and beyond, it added.



This region is one of the fastest growing markets for polyolefins and already a major consumer of OPS, says Maurizio Butti, the chief operating officer, Songwon Industrial Company.



With this new facility, Songwon is in a stronger position to better meet the needs of current and future customers in the Middle East. Now we are able to offer our customers the OPS products they demand combined with all the advantages and service of a leading global supplier, with 50 years experience in breakthrough solutions.



Hans Daniels, the general manager, Polysys Additive Technologies, said: "Having a plant here allows us to take full advantage of Kizads unique location with its port facilities and infrastructure. It also establishes a very effective hub for supplying customers across the entire region."



Abu Dhabi Ports CEO Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi said: "We are pleased to be providing Polysys Additive Technologies with the platform to facilitate their business growth in the region. With excellent market access through Khalifa Port, the fastest growing port in the region, world class infrastructure, integrated clustering and dedicated support services, this new facility will cater to the growing polymer industry."



"By substituting import to region with locally manufactured products, Polysys Additive Technologies joins our efforts towards supporting the leaderships vision in diversifying Abu Dhabis thriving economy," he stated.



PAT MEs is a joint venture between Polysys Industries, Pan Gulf Holding and Songwon Industrial Group.



The new Abu Dhabi facility is the latest addition to Songwons global OPS manufacturing capability and shares identical production technology as the two other plants located in Greiz, Germany and Houston, US.-TradeArabia News Service
Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, has acquired a minority stake in Bindawood Holding, one of Saudi Arabias leading supermarket and hypermarket groups.



Since its inception over 50 years ago, Bindawood has grown from a small trading business to one of the leading retailers in Saudi Arabia. The group manages two key brands - Bindawood and Danube - across 40 hypermarkets and supermarkets in major Saudi Arabian cities, including Makkah, Medina, Jeddah, Riyadh and Khobar. It employs more than 7,000 people.



The Bindawood brand is focused on the mid-range customer segment and the pilgrims in the holy cities. Meanwhile, Danube appeals to higher-end customers by stocking higher-price point products.

Bindawood Holding has a strategic plan to expand its business aggressively across different cities in the kingdom. It plans to open more than 30 hypermarkets and supermarkets in the coming years under the banner of Bindawood and Danube.



Mohammed Al-Shroogi, Investcorps co-CEO, said: Saudi Arabia is a key market for Investcorp where we are continuously looking for interesting investment opportunities. We are very excited about this partnership with Bindawood Holding, a group that offers an exceptional product in a Saudi Arabian grocery retail market that is currently worth around $45 billion and expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 11 per cent over the next four years. There is an exceptional management team in place at Bindawood Holding and I am looking forward to working with them to accelerate the companys growth. We are privileged and honoured with this partnership, which I have no doubt will be successful.



Dr Abdulrazzaq Bindawood, chairman of Bindawood Holding, said: Investcorp brings valuable expertise to help us structure our growth across Saudi Arabia and institutionalise the company. We spent a long time evaluating the options available to us and we are looking forward to beginning this new chapter in our history with Investcorp as our partner.



Yasser Bajsair, managing director at Investcorp in Saudi Arabia, said: Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia has strongly benefited from economic and population growth over the last five years. This trend is expected to continue going forward, and we believe that the company is ideally positioned to capture this growth. There is a very strong management team in place and we are eager to lend our expertise to help bring this exciting brand to even more consumers across the kingdom.



Bindawood Holding becomes Investcorps sixth portfolio company in Saudi Arabia and follows the firms acquisition in July 2015 of a majority stake in NDT Corrosion Control Services, Saudi Arabias largest industrial testing services company. Investcorps other investments in Saudi Arabia include Leejam, the owner and operator of the leading fitness chain Fitness Time; Theeb, the leading car rental business; Al Yusr Industrial Contracting Company (AYTB), a leading provider of industrial services outsourcing solutions; and L'azurde, a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of gold jewellery. - TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain government has awarded contracts worth $1.1 billion for the construction of a brand new terminal at the kingdom's airport, which on completion will be able to handle nearly 14 million passengers, said a report.



These include five agreements signed as part of the airport modernisation programme (AMP) on the sidelines of Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS) 2016 at Sakhir Airbase on Saturday, reported the Bahrain News Agency (BNA).



Announcing the deal, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications (MTT), said the project for the construction of the new passenger terminal building, the main services building and aircraft bay has been awarded to a joint venture between UAE builder Arabtec and TAV Construction from Turkey.



The contract for the passenger airbridges has been awarded to Chinese group CIMC, while the deal for the baggage handling system was clinched by Dutch specialist Vanderlande, stated the minister in a joint press conference with Mohammed AlBinfalah, CEO of Bahrain Airport Company.



The other key awards include the contract with US-based L3 Communications for supply of security screening equipment and Finnish group Kone for its horizontal and vertical transfer systems, he added.



Besides this, the government also signed a contract with Setec from France for the design of an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility which, when built, will contribute to massive job creation for Bahrainis, the minister was quoted as saying in the BNA report.



On the AMP, Mohammed said it was one of the most important strategic projects for Bahrain, as the airport serves all economic sectors and is a gateway for the kingdom to the rest of the world.

"Once completed, it will increase the airports capacity to 14 million passengers annually. I would like to thank His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, for the continued support and follow up for this important project," he added.



Albinfalah pointed out that the record contracts signed at BIAS 2016 were a historical milestone in the progress of the AMP and signifies an important step in maintaining Bahrains strong position in the civil aviation sector.



According to him, the AMP is the largest infrastructure project for the Bahrain International Airport in over 30 years and is being executed in line with the highest standards of safety, security, technology and environmental standards.



"In order to keep up with the rapid pace of progress in the aviation industry, MTT in co-operation with BAC has put in place this ambitious programme which will be implemented in phases in order to enhance the infrastructure and services in the sector," stated Albinfalah.



"We aim to complete the project in 2019, and are expecting a three-fold increase in direct flights and numbers of airline using the new passenger terminal building as a result," he added.
Saudi Arabia's Dur Hospitality and the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) have signed a strategic agreement for the development of the Makarem Arriyadh Hotel located at King Khaled International Airport (KKIA).

The deal also includes an extension of the current agreement for a period of 20 years starting from 2016.

The SR120 million ($31.9 million) project will result in the hotel's capacity increasing from 248 to 348 rooms as well as the development of an integrated spa and a corporate business identity.

Post completion, the hotel will be operated through an international hotel brand.

The agreement was signed by Dr Badr bin Homoud Al-Badr, CEO of Dur Hospitality Company and Yousef Bin Ibrahim Al-Abdan, director of KKIA.

Al-Abdan said: "We are delighted to extend our relationship with Dur Hospitality Company and we look forward to offering more support and encouragement towards the continuity of this fruitful partnership that witnessed a remarkable success over the past few years, and we are expecting even more prosperity, thanks to the huge efforts exerted and to the high expertise and enlightened vision."  TradeArbaia News Service
Gulf Air will secure 16 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners under a restructured order worth $4.2 billion, the Bahraini carrier said in a statement on Thursday.

The 787-9s are scheduled to be delivered from the second quarter of 2018 and will replace 16 Boeing 787-8s which had been ordered previously, according to the statement which did not give details about the previous order.

Bahrain's national carrier has gone through a lengthy restructuring which aims to return the loss-making airline to profit. It reported an annual loss of BD62.7 million ($166.3 million) for 2014, down from a loss of BD93.3 million in 2013.

Earlier, Gulf Air had announced a restructured order for 17 Airbus A321neo and 12 Airbus A320neo aircraft.



The deliveries of these aircraft will commence from Q2, 2018.



Commenting on the agreement, Gulf Air acting chief executive officer Maher Salman Al Musallam said: As long-standing partners, Boeing and Airbus have understood the challenges faced by Gulf Air and embraced our future looking strategy. I am delighted that we have arrived at mutually agreeable solutions to restructure our previous orders with aircraft that are more fuel-efficient, modernised, reliable and which, at the same time, allow Gulf Air to operate our wide and narrow-body fleet at lower operating costs. This is in-line with our mission to put the airline firmly on a path towards longterm commercial sustainability. These revised and consolidated orders are based on comprehensive current and future network studies and satisfy Gulf Airs future network expansion plans and fleet requirement. As a result, I now look forward to furthering Gulf Airs fleet modernisation process and supporting our network and overall passenger experience enhancement strategies; the airlines future looks increasingly promising.



As Gulf Air modernises and expands its operations, Boeing is proud that the 787 will be an integral part of the airlines fleet strategy and the flagship for its long-haul, international operations, said Marty Bentrott, vice president  sales, Middle East, Russia and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The industry leading efficiencies of the 787 family will provide Gulf Air with superior fuel conservation, reliability and passenger comfort and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership. - Reuters & TradeArabia News Service
Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 24

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande today also visited the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10 and saw fossils found jointly by the Indo-French team of scientists in the Shivalik foothill. These fossils were said to be 2.6 million years old.

Both leaders spent nearly 10 minutes in the museum. These fossils were found during the research headed by India-based Society for Archaeological and Anthropological Research (SAAR) and the Frances National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) and the Department of Prehistory of the National Museum of Natural History.

Dr Mukesh Singh, a PhD in pre-history and quaternary geology from France, who showed these to both the leaders, said it was a great feeling. He said these were the oldest human activity.

Along with Dr Mukesh Singh, Dr Anne Dambricourt Malasse, another expert from France, also explained about these archaeological excavations to both the leaders.

More than 2,000 fossils of different herbivores, including stegodon, an ancient elephant with tusks up to four meters, and Sivatherium, a giant giraffe, were dug up from Masol village in Mohali which was surrounded by Shivalik hills.

According to the experts, before this find, the oldest sites were in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia dating back to 2.58 million years.

The team had also found 14 fossils of leptobos, pre-historic ancestors of modern-day cows that weighed up to 320kg. These rare fossils, excavated between September 2009 and March 2015.
Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 24

Congress leader Mandeep Singh Manna has accused Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi for helping his businessman friend encroach upon public land worth crores in the posh Ranjit Avenue area.

He claimed that though the name of the minister did not figure in documents of the said hotel, he was a partner of the under-construction establishment at the District Shopping Complex in Ranjit Avenue.

He said otherwise how Joshi could come to violate all the rules and laws for allotting free parking for the said hotel. The move had deprived the government of revenue worth crores, he added.

He claimed that the minister used his good offices to bend rules by allowing digging of basement with area up to 909 sqft and depth more than 50 feet, which was equal to three storey. Whereas the rules gave permission for the basement equal to one storey, he added.

He said the minister gave benefit to his hotelier friend, who was also member of the Dussehra Committee, by giving undue privilege of digging 4,600 sqft basement instead of 909 sqft. In order to avoid public attention, the hotel site has been covered on all the sides by big tin sheets, he added. He said the hotel site was near the Amritsar Improvement Trust Office in the Ranjit Avenue area, which falls under the Local Bodies Ministry.

Manna said the illegal construction of hotel should stop for the sake of welfare of people. He alleged that Joshi allotted plot No. 135 and 136 to his friend for raising a new hotel. The legal allotment is 900 sqft (363 and 540 sqft, respectively), he added.

Manna said with a view to give benefit to the said hotel, the minister cancelled plot No. 62, 80 and 130, each having area of 363 sqft, which come to 1,089 square feet in total. He added that the government would have earned over Rs14 crore from the sale of the same land, which would be utilised for free parking for that hotel.

Manna has demanded a CBI probe into the hotel land, its owner and Trust officials.

He said, For seeking justice, a writ petition will be lodged in the High Court if no action is taken against the violation.

Meanwhile, repeated calls to contact Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi remained unanswered.
PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 24

Its official now. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would not be coming to the city owing to his ill health and advisory by doctors. The state-level function would now be held at Mohali.

Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia would preside over the district-level Republic Day celebrations at the Guru Nanak Stadium here, confirmed Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat.

The official information came late last evening. With the state-level function proposed to be held in the city is shifted to Mohali, Haryana police personnel who were part of the state-level function also moved to Mohali.

Security arrangements at the venue has further tightened by the police.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh, along with other senior police officials, visited the venue, which has virtually turned into a fortress. Heavy police force has been deputed at the venue in the wake of terror threats.

Aulakh said elaborate arrangements had been made in and around the venue while vital installations in the city had also been secured in coordination with various agencies concerned. Earlier, the police had held a meeting with the Army and Air Force station authorities here in order to secure sensitive areas and thwart any untoward incident.

While the BSF authorities have also gone overboard and tightened the security at the border fence by increasing the man force, besides taking the help of modern gadgets.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 24

The three-day protest by various farm and labour organisations concluded here today. Leaders of protesting organisations said the government was indifferent towards problems of the agrarian sector as it had done nothing to compensate farmers, who had lost money due to low basmati price.

The leaders said the government had brought Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act with a motive to curb voices of the residents. Associations demanded that this law, which suppressed the right to protest, should be withdrawn.

They also demanded that farmers, who had been tilling lands for decades, should be given ownership rights. Farmer leaders said they would initiate further protests against the state government after a few days.

Another leader Rattan Singh Randhawa said activists would leave for Rai Kalan village in Lambi constituency tomorrow, where a protest was already going on. He said the Chief Minister had called representatives of various associations for a meeting on January 27.

The gathering was addressed by Rattan Singh Randhawa, Prabhjit Singh Timowal, Amrik Singh Daud, Harcharan Singh Madipura, Arsal Singh, Dalbir Singh, Datar Singh, Dhanwant Singh Khatrai Kalan, Rashpal Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, besides others.
Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 24

Security has been beefed up across the city as there has been no clue to the two suspects who were spotted near the Dholewal cantonment area on Friday night. Heavy police force was deployed in the cantonment area and at major locations of the city.

Meanwhile, the police, terming the two persons as thieves, denied associating the trespassing attempt on a house near the Dholewal Military complex as an act of terror.

However, high alert has been sounded and a massive combing operation started in and around the city.

Commissioner of Police Paramraj Singh Umranangal said: We have taken proactive measures to deal with any eventuality. The police will be deployed on all crucial locations till Republic Day. Adequate security alteration will be made after January 26.

A high alert was sounded in the military complex in the Dholewal area last night after two persons carrying backpacks were spotted on Street No. 1 of at Bhagwan Nagar.

As the house was located close to the Dholewal Army cantonment area, certain residents informed the police about their movement. Soon, a joint combing operation by the local police and Army personnel was launched.

The two suspects were caught on a close circuit television (CCTV) camera while escaping from the place. However, their faces were not recognisable due the poor quality of footage. Technical assistance is being taken to identify them.
Lt-Gen RS Sujlana (retd)

A typical post-terrorist strike scenario is re-enacted time and again in our country. The attack on the Air Force Base (AFB), Pathankot, despite available prior intelligence brings to the fore the same weather-beaten shortcomings; poor intelligence sharing, lack of coordination and standing operating procedures between security agencies, command-and-control problems, inadequate and inappropriate equipment etc.

Availability of early and actionable intelligence is the start point for effective counter actions but has seldom been provided by intelligence agencies. In the case of Pathankot air base, prior intelligence was available but timely dissemination to security agencies concerned was definitely not done. A clear indicator was the confused planning and inappropriate response. At what stage the BSF was provided (or not provided) this information/ intelligence is not clear. Now to expect them to admit and pinpoint undetected infiltration is very unlikely and mere conjecture.

The terrain along the International Border (IB), especially the stretches of the riverine terrain, is vulnerable. The shortcomings have long been assessed and requisite counter-measures should have been in place. We repeatedly shut the stable gate with moth-eaten wood, thereby providing a recipe for reoccurrence sooner rather than later.

The Air Force and the Army were also clearly out of the dissemination loop. Nothing could be more telling than the fact that the terrorists managed to breach the perimeter of the AFB and the Defence Service Corps personnel were caught napping, busy with their daily chores. The early induction of the NSG and late arrival of the Army on the scene is clearly indicative that the latter had no initial information. The delay in dissemination of real-time information available with the Punjab Police (PP) to the military is unpardonable.

The flaws at Gurdaspur were distinct; complete lack of intelligence enabled the terrorists to reconnoitre and ensconce themselves in a building before the police reacted. The Army was requisitioned by the civil authorities but strangely they were not permitted to get into action. as evidently the DGP, PP wanted to prove his credentials and that of his force in handling such situations.

This one-upmanship took toll of precious time and human loss as the DGP drove down from whereever he was and the Army columns just stood by twiddling their thumbs. Post the operation, amidst much bravado by the police SWAT personnel and the din of loud cheers, the poor conduct of the operation and the wasteful act of not utilising the Army were forgotten. Also, since the state did not allow the National Intelligence Agency to investigate, opportunity was lost to take remedial measures.

At Pathankot, a high-ranking police officer was kidnapped under mysterious circumstances. As he yelled blue murder, no heed was paid to him for almost 14 hours. Was it sheer disbelief or trust deficit within the police force (affected by the past nefarious conduct of the police officer in question) or an effort to cover up some tracks? Post this operation, the Deputy Chief Minister's statement that there is a need to strengthen the deployment of the BSF along the India-Pak border in the state and the intention to make Punjab Police a second line of defence carries merit.

However, for this to fructify while the onus of upgrading the BSF troops is on the Home Ministry, for Punjab Police to change tack lies with the state government. The foremost need is to make a dramatic shift in the present work culture of the states police  from a Politicians Police to a Peoples Police. They need to reorient their intelligence grid (upwards from the village level) in close coordination with the Army and BSF intelligence setups and neutralise the drug nexus (reportedly involving politicians, central and state police forces personnel, rich businessmen and the smugglers cartel).

This requires additional manpower, which is readily available if the politicians are willing to reduce the number of police personnel on their protection duty (which basically fulfils their desire for personal aggrandisement) and the red, blue and orange lights culture! Availability of manpower will allow the police to train better and perform wholeheratedly their duties, particularly patrolling and traffic control.

The problem of command and control between various security agencies is perennial. The BSF, or for that matter all CAPFs and even a paramilitary force like the Assam Rifles, officered by Army officers, function under the Home Ministry. These seldom agree to function under the Army and are always looking back towards their line of command rather than operational requirements. Repeated display of one-upmanship in handling such situations at the Centres level definitely shows a trust deficit in the Army.

Like in Mumbai 26/11, also in Pathankot, the National Secuirty Adviser (NSA) took the call to send in the NSG ahead of the Army. The NSA has an advisory role but he seems to be moving to an executive role against all norms. The roles of the Army vis-a vis the NSG, are clear and criss-crossing of turfs only adds to confusion. Nothing could be more flawed then remote controlling a situation like this, sitting at Delhi without any knowledge of ground realities. In calling in the NSG, no lessons seem to have been learnt after Mumbai 26/11, where vital hours were lost in getting the NSG into the act. No attempt was made to requisition the trained Infantry battalion located close by at Colaba or for that matter, to drive in infantry troops from Pune. At Pathankot it was a repeat. Again time was lost in flying in the NSG; whereas the immediate call should have been to rush in troops from the large trained force of infantry available close at hand; or, to fly in the crack special troops at Nahan.

Forgotten was the fact that all Infantry battalions are well trained and capable of handling varied terrorist-related situations. Even in peace stations, especially in the vicinity of the International Border in sensitive areas like the Pathankot corridor, the vulnerable areas or points are identified, operations planned and rehearsed with quick-reaction teams on standby. An enhanced surveillance grid can be established in a very short time. The AFB, Pathankot, without doubt is an important vulnerable area, so keeping the Army out of the loop made no sense.

One-upmanship showed up between ministries too. The Home Ministry was at the forefront, with the Ministry of Defence visibly on the backfoot. While the Defence Minister blows hot, the Home Minister shows a carrot. Handling of grave situations cannot be done in such a lop-sided way or to prove a point. There is no shortcut to unity in security matters. For comprehensive national security, turf wars and parochialism has to be shed, issues of command and control have to be resolved without delay.

A must is NSG must be headed by an Army officer and immediate intelligence sharing with those who have to act on it. Requirements of hi-tech equipment have to be met. For this, the post of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has to be created. We need to move from trust deficit and one-upmanship to mutual trust and unity.

The writer is former Commandant, IMA & ex-Chairman, PPSC.
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 23

To remove the scarcity of teachers in government schools, 14,000 teachers will be recruited in government schools. This was stated by Education Minster Dr Daljit Singh Cheema while addressing a gathering at Pandori Nijjaran School here today.

He said the state government had also started meritorious schools for intelligent students of the state and students getting over 80 per cent marks in the 10th standard were now getting quality education in these schools.

While the education department is currently facing a severe crunch of teachers, with the controversy regarding teachers transfers having intensified the crisis in rural areas, many schools in the state needed immediate recruitment of teachers to address the problem. The problem of bad results shall also be substantially addressed by the new recruitment.

Speaking on the occasion, he further added that with the meritorious scheme, the gap between urban and rural school education shall be bridged and the rural students would also be eligible for competitive exams.

On the occasion, Dr Cheema felicitated former Canadian MP Naresh Bhardwaj and lauded him for his in the uplift of his village Pandori Nijjaran. CPS Pawan Kumar Tinu was also present on the occasion. Welcoming Bhardwaj, he lauded the contribution of NRIs in the development of the village. He said a grant of Rs 10 lakh would be released for the village development.

MLA Pargat Singh, Paramjit Singh Raipur, among others, were also present there.

Notably, areas like Shahkot, Nakodar, Mehtour etc face a severe shortage of teachers, with many schools making do with half the staff. The situation has been worsened, with teachers choosing to stay in urban areas and staying away from rural areas where many of the schools suffer due to staff shortage.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 24

French President Francois Hollande today heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for playing a decisive role in the Paris climate change conference held in November last year,

Indian PM had played a decisive role at the climate summit. Without Modis intervention on climate justice, there would not have been any agreement, said the French President.

France wants to build with India a post-carbon world, he said referring to global warming. I trust the relationship established with Modi. We agree, our cooperation must move even faster, he said.

Addressing the India- France Business Summit, Hollande said his visit had two main objectives: consolidate our strategic partnership, in particular for our security, with more cooperation and implement decisions taken during PM Modis visit in France during COP21. He said 1000 French companies are doing business in India and France is third in the list of investing in India.

Sixteen agreements, including one to develop Chandigarh as a smart city, were signed during the summit. Defence, green economy, smart cities, infrastructure, transportation, water and financial sector were on the agenda of the Indo-French CEOs Forum, which was attended by CEOs of 25 Indian and French companies.

The agreements signed at the summit included pacts among AFD (French Development Agency), Chandigarh Administration, Puducherry and Maharashtra on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development for development of smart cities in Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry; and Mahindra-Airbus cooperation to create the new private strategic partner for helicopters within the Make in India initiative.

Earlier, Hollande was received at the technical airport here by Haryana and Punjab Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Punjab Cabinet Minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher besides senior officers. Punjabs traditional gidda and bhangra dancers gave a colourful welcome to the foreign guest.

(With agency inputs)
Manama, January 24

India and the Arab League on Sunday vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a strategy to eliminate its sources and extremism, including its funding, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.

While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation Forum here in the Bahraini capital, she also warned that those who silently sponsor terror groups could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.

Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them, Swaraj told some 14 Foreign Ministers of the 22-member Arab League grouping, with its Secretary General Nabil El Araby in attendance.

She said that todays meeting marks a turning point for India-Arab relations, while pointing out that we are also at a major turning point in history when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to our cities, our people and our very social fabric.

Equally, we must delink religion from terror. The only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths, said Swaraj, who arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit.

The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejected associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group.

They emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime.

In the Manama Declaration, the countries affirmed the need to achieve a comprehensive and permanent solution to the Palestine issue and called for implementation of the two-state principle on the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestine State with East Jerusalem as its capital, living peace side by side with Israel.

She cited Indias model of unity in diversity as an example for the world to counter indoctrination and radicalisation.

Her reference to Indias religious and cultural diversity at the world stage assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the intolerance debate that had raged recently in the country, with many writers, artists and civil society members expressing alarm over the issue.

We in India have citizens who belong to every existing faith. Our Constitution is committed to the fundamental principle of faith-equality: the equality of all faiths not just before the law but also in daily behaviour.

In every corner of my country, the music of azaan welcomes the dawn, followed by the chime of a Hanuman temples bells, followed by the melody of Guru Granth Sahib being recited by priests in a gurdwara, followed by the peal of church bells every Sunday, she said.

This philosophy is not just a construct of our Constitution, adopted in 1950; it is the essence of our ancient belief that the world is family, she asserted.

Swaraj, in her speech, also quoted from the Quran, saying that faith harmony is the message of Holy Quran as well.

I will quote only two verses: La ikra fi al deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion) and La qum deen o qum wa il ya deen (Your faith for you, and my faith for me), she said in her address to the key Arab nations.

She stressed that dangers of radicalisation and indoctrination cannot be ignored.

We have seen repeatedly that terrorism does not respect national borders. It seeks to subvert societies through its pernicious doctrine of a clash of civilisations, Swaraj said.

The only antidote to this violent philosophy is the path of peace, tolerance and harmony, a path that was illustrated centuries ago by Buddha and Mahavira and which was taken into the modern age by the Father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi. As he famously said, an eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind, she said.

Before wrapping up her second visit to Bahrain as the External Affairs Minister, Swaraj also called on Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

She also held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and discussed an entire gamut of bilateral ties.

During the ministerial, the countries condemned the attacks against Saudi Arabias embassy in Tehran, and its Consulate General in Mashhad in Iran, which resulted in intrusions into the diplomatic and consular premises, causing serious damage, with Iranian authorities bearing full responsibility for not protecting the diplomatic premises.

Swarajs strong push for anti-terror cooperation comes at a time when there have been a spate of terror attacks across the globe from the Paris carnage and the Pathankot airbase assault to the blasts in Indonesia as terrorism has risen as one of the most significant challenges of the world.

As the spectre of terrorism and religious hatred raises its ugly head across the world, particularly in those cherished cities of history, it is time once again to reach back in time and redeem the essence of our civilisational spirit. We must pledge to halt the physical violence that has spread like a plague, Swaraj said.

She stressed on the need for equally addressing the violence in our minds, a poison that has been spread by terror groups, harnessing the power of modern technology and social media platforms to infect our youth  those ideologies and beliefs that regard ones own brother as a stranger, ones own mother as accursed.

We should not underestimate the power of this illusion, clothed in a false interpretation of faith, she asserted.

Swaraj also highlighted the importance of the passage of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations, saying it will remove a significant lacuna in the global communitys fight against this menace.

We, who represent the stable and civilised world, must meet the challenge, or we risk destroying the most precious inheritance of our forefathers, Swaraj said.

But not only do we need to condemn all acts of terrorism but we need to join hands regionally and globally to remove the scourge of terrorism completely, she said.

Stating that todays meeting marked a turning point for India-Arab relations, she said that nations were experiencing a major turning point in history as well when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to cities, people and the very social fabric.

Ever since the NDA government assumed office in 2014, we have paid special attention to our ties with the Arab world and we have also had extensive engagements with various high level visits, she said and referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modis path-breaking visit to the UAE, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in 34 years.

For so long, the ties that bind India and the Arab world have provided prosperity, enhanced wisdom and enriched our civilisations. It is therefore imperative more than ever before that we stand together and recognise the danger to our world for what it is, Swaraj said.

Swaraj said the ministerial meeting was aimed at giving a new shape, direction and energy to the centuries-old relations between India and the Arab world.

Today, we have the opportunity of translating the vision of India-Arab solidarity into concrete avenues of cooperation, she said.

Noting that beyond facing the common challenge of terrorism, India-Arab ties now cover a whole host of sectors, Swaraj said, We have substantial common interests in the fields of trade and investment, energy and security, culture and Diaspora. Today the Arab world is collectively Indias largest trading partner with bilateral trade crossing $180 billion. We source 60% of our oil and gas requirements from West Asia, making this region a pillar of our energy security.

The new and emerging areas of our cooperation include agricultural research, dry land farming, irrigation and environmental protection. In all of these we would be happy to share our experience with our Arab partners, the minister said.

Swaraj also highlighted that over the last six decades India has made rapid strides in economic development which has placed it at the forefront of the global revolution in information technology, pharmaceuticals, and cutting edge research in the areas of nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Asserting that at a time of global economic slowdown, India has emerged as a bright spot for the world economy, she said India is the fastest growing major economy in the world.

The next IndiaArab Partnership Conference in Oman this year can be a real game changer in terms of deepening the economic partnership between the two sides, she said.

Swaraj also highlighted the strong bonds shared between the peoples of India and the Arab world.

Over 7 million Indians reside in this region and there are 700 flights a week between India and UAE alone! A vast number of people in the Arab world enjoy our films, listen to our music and relish our cuisine, she said.

In her address, Swaraj also evoked the civilisational links between India and the Arab world.

She concluded with the words of famous Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawky, a friend of Rabindranth Tagore, who once remarked that the revolution of souls severs our chains, and that the revolution of minds removes mountains. Through the friendship of our civilisations, through the partnership of our nations, I am confident that we can move mountains in our common quest for a safer and more prosperous world.

The Arab League comprises of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Algeria, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Somalia, Palestine, Djibouti, and Comoros.  PTI
Chandigarh, January 24

India and France committed themselves to closer ties, especially in business and combating terrorism, just hours after French President Francois Hollande began his three-day visit to India here on Sunday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke protocol to welcome him.

Against the backdrop of major terror strikes in France and India recently, Modi and Hollande today shared concern over the menace, with the Indian leader pitching for a collective fight to defeat the global challenge.

Addressing the India-France Business Summit here after Hollande spoke, Modi said the French President is correct in saying that terrorism is a challenge just like global warming.

Fighting against challenge of terrorism is the work for humanity. All those who believe in humanity, they will have to collectively fight against terrorism. India and France believe in humankind. We together along with other countries will eliminate terror forces and terrorism, Modi said.

He assured Hollande that India is will stand with France in fight against terrorism.

The comments came against the backdrop of two major terror attacks in India and France in the recent times. While Paris was attacked by ISIS in November, Pathankot in India was struck by Pakistani terrorists on January 1.

Modi used the occasion to hail the French government, people and media of that country for continuing their development agenda even after the dastardly terror attack in Paris last November.

France has shown the way to the world...Just few days after the attack, France hosted leaders of all countries (for climate summit). This is a brave act. I congratulate the citizens of France, especially the media there, that they supported their government during the time of crisis, he said, adding that India needs to learn lessons from it.

About 130 persons were killed and hundreds were wounded in a coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015.

The Prime Minister also said the trust and friendship with France is an asset for India.

Addressing the business leaders of France and India here, Modi announced that the controversial retrospective taxation is a thing of the past and this chapter will never be opened again in India, a statement aimed at addressing the concerns of foreign investors over predictability in the tax regime.

Modi said his government wants to ensure that foreign investors are clear about tax systems that will prevail in India over the next 15 years.

I am for stable governance and predictable taxation system. The government is taking various steps to ensure this stability. This government is known for stable and predictable tax regime, he said.

In this context, he referred to the retrospective tax imposed in 2012 through amendments in the Income Tax Act, a step which had led to an outcry and anxiety among the investors, particularly the foreign ones.

Retrospective tax is a matter of past. That chapter will not be opened again. We are ensuring that neither this government nor the future governments can open this chapter, Modi told the India-France Business Summit.

Whosoever makes investment in the country should know about the taxation system in the country over the next five years, 10 years, 15 years, he said.

The French President, who began his three-day visit from here today, is accompanied by a large delegation of CEOs.

Inviting French companies, especially those in the defence sector to manufacture in India and take advantage of low costs involved, the Prime Minister said India provides huge business opportunity for them.

India wants to enter the field of defence manufacturing.

... I assure French companies present here, especially in the field of defence manufacturing that we can do a lot in the area of defence manufacturing.

We are working towards improving quality of life. We are working on good governance. These are the two initiatives that world is attracted towards, Modi said.

India has witnessed 40 per cent increase in foreign direct investments and established itself as an important destination for foreign capital, he said.

The Prime Minister said Indias ranking in the Ease of Doing Business has improved by 12 points in a short span of time after his government took over.

The inflow of 40 per cent FDI in short period of time is a proof that the world has recognises India as important destination, he said.

He said there are many opportunities to work on different fields between India and France. It is like made for each other. What you (France) have is our requirement and what you need is the market which we have, he said.

Seeking the assistance of France in improving countrys infrastructure, rail network and innovation, Modi said, Our development model requires the expertise of France. We have to move forward in infrastructure, rail, maritime, even waterways.

India, France sign 16 pacts

An agreement between Airbus Group and Mahindra for manufacture of helicopters and three MoUs under the Smart City theme were among the 16 pacts signed between India and France here today.

The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), which cover a wide range of sectors like urban development, urban transport, water and waste treatment and solar energy, were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit from here today.

As part of Make in India initiative, an agreement was signed between Airbus Group and Mahindra to manufacture helicopters here.

From the French side, the agreement for cooperation to manufacture the helicopters was signed by Pieree De Bausset, President and Managing Direcor Airbus Group India, while from the Indian side, it was inked by Prakash Shukla, the Group President of Mahindra Aerospace.

Besides, three MoUs were signed under the Smart city theme for city-specific urban development between French Development Agency (AFD) with the state governments for the cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

The aim of the MoUs is to provide specific technical assistance on urban development experts from the French governments programme.

Urban Development Experts from the French public sector will be based in each city, CII President Sumit Mazumder said on the occasion.

Under the MoU, expert in the fields of urban transport, water and waste treatment, solar energy, urban planning and architecture and heritage they will assist the three cities with their smart city development plans.

A joint Venture between Indian SITAC group and EDF Energie Nouvelles was signed to acquire 50 per cent stake in its renewable energy business in Gujarat.

This JV investment is worth 155 Million Euros in 2016 and would generate 142 MW power. Its objective is to produce one gigawatts wind energy in five years period.

A letter of intent between CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and CG (Crompton Greaves) was also signed during the business summit.

Both the companies wished to explore opportunities of collaborations in Solar PV with storage function for Indian airports.

The final goal of the collaboration for CG is to set up manufacturing facilities using its infrastructure and expertise in India and technology knowhow of CEA, which is a center for technological research in new energy and storage technologies.

Another Letter of Intent was signed between CEA and Green Ventures. The CEA will work on off grid solar photovoltaic projects in the Indian rural areas with the aim to deliver tangible climate change benefits.

Besides, nine French companies signed MoUs with Engineering Projects India (EPI) Ltd, a public sector company fully owned by the government of India.

The French companies are Alstom Transport, CAN, Dassault, EDF Energies Nouvelles, Egis, Lumiplan, Pomagalski, Schneider Electric and Thales.

The MoUs between the nine companies and the EPI are in the field of new and cutting edge French technologies for smart and sustainable cities.  Agencies
Washington, January 24

India can be an anchor for stability and security in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean, US President Barrack Obama said in Sunday.

In an interview, the US president said: The United States looks forward to the work we can do together. We continue to expand our military exercises and maritime cooperation so that our forces become inter operable. We are increasing our defence trade, and we're collaborating more closely to jointly develop defence technologies."

He also said India and the US had agreed to a new joint vision for the Asian Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

Obama also said the US recognises that the Indian Ocean is vital to the security of the region and the global economy, replying to a question on what role he sees for India in the emerging security situation in the Asia Pacific given what is happening and the nuclear tests by North Korea.

"Our vision recognises that the Indian Ocean is vital to the security of the region and the global economy. And it welcomes India's determination to 'Act East' with stronger security and economic partnerships across the region," the US President said.

"We have elevated our trilateral cooperation with Japan, including on disaster response and humanitarian assistance. And we very much welcome India's increased ties with the region.

Obama also warned China to follow rules of international law, referring to the South China Sea dispute.

"It's rooted in our shared interests in a region that's peaceful and prosperous and where all countries play by the same rules, in accordance with international law and norms, including freedom of navigation," Obama said in the interview.

The Asia Pacific region has witnessed tension after China flexed its military muscle in the resource-rich South China Sea.

The South China Sea is also a major shipping lane. Over half of the world's commercial shipping passes through the Indo-Pacific waterways.

China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with several other Asian nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, who accuse the Asian giant of reclaiming land illegally in contested areas to create artificial islands with facilities that could potentially be for military use.

The US has criticised Beijing for building artificial islands in the disputed sea, and has flown a B-52 bomber and sailed a guided-missile destroyer near some of the constructions China has made in recent months, which has lead to rising tensions between the two countries.

Obama said as president he had worked to renew American leadership in the Asia Pacific because the security and prosperity of the region is critical to its own and that of the world.

"I am proud that, even as we continue to meet pressing challenges elsewhere in the world, we've rebalanced our foreign policy and are now playing a larger role in the region."

Obama said the US has strengthened alliances, modernised its defence posture, worked to build constructive relationship with China, helped strengthened regional institutions like ASEAN and East Asia Summit and expanded cooperation with emerging powers, including India. PTI
New Delhi, January 24

French President Francois Hollande today affirmed that the Rs 60,000 crore Rafale fighter jets deal with India was "on the right track" and that it would pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological bilateral cooperation for the next 40 years.

There has been speculation whether the final deal for India to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets would be inked during Hollande's State Visit, which commenced with his arrival in Chandigarh today.

The deal was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France last April.

Asked if he hoped to see the final deal inked during his current visit, Hollande told PTI in a interview that "we are on the right track" but agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence "is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries."

Answering a question on the Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, "France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators."

"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism." PTI
REUTER never cabled the press comments in England on the release of General De Wet and his comrades in the rebellion. Unfortunately the disaster which befell the P. and O. Mail Boat "Persia" also deprived this country of the leading papers of the week. However, the weekly journals brought in by the mail boat which left London in the last week of December contain brief references to that remarkable event. The Nation merely chronicles the event approvingly in the following words: General De We and 118 prisoners who had been convicted of high treason were released on Monday morning. They have apparently paid a fine, promised to abstain from politics, not to attend any public meeting and not to leave the neighbourhood of their residences without permission until the end of their sentences.
Kathmandu, January 24

The Nepal Parliament has approved the first ever amendment to the country's new constitution to address the agitating Madhesis' demands for proportionate representation and allocation of seats in Parliament on the basis of population.

The amendment proposal was approved on Saturday night by a majority vote amid slogan-shouting by lawmakers of the agitating Madhes-based parties.

As many as 461 of the 468 lawmakers participating in the voting voted in favour of the first constitutional amendment bill while seven voted against.

The Madhesh-based parties, who are agitating in the southern Tarai plains adjoining India after the new constitution came into force on September 20 last year did not participate in the voting.

"Though the step is progressive, it is not enough to meet our demands," the morcha said in its initial reaction.

Madhesi Morcha leader Upendra Yadav told IANS that the constitutional amendment will not work because they were not consulted.

The leaders of the Madhesis told IANS that they will hold a meeting on Sunday and come up with official position on amendment in constitution undertaken by the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML,UCPN(Maoist) and other fringe parties.

As per the amendment, ethnic clusters in Nepal have been decreased to 15 from earlier 17.

A delineation commission will be formed to determine the boundaries of constituencies for the House of Representatives on the primary basis of population while geography will be a secondary factor.

The Madhes region sprawling from the east to west of southern plains holds over 51 percent of the Nepal population.

At least 60 people were killed in the last five month as the Madhesi Morcha launched the agitation. Nepal faces a severe short supply of essential commodities, fuel and medicines due to blockade of major Nepal-India entry points.

Now, the Nepal government is bracing to take up the Madhesis' demand for a change in boundaries of the seven provinces.

Nepal's Constituent Assembly in September 2015 approved the new constitution that split the country into seven federal provinces. IANS
Kathmandu, January 24

Nepals agitating Madhesis today rejected as incomplete the constitutional amendment passed by Parliament for failing to address their concerns over redrawing borders, dimming hopes of an early end to the political crisis and blockade of trade points with India.

Though the Constitution Amendment Bill endorsed by Parliament yesterday was positive to some extent, it does not address the demands raised by the agitating Madhesi parties in their entirety, said Rameshwor Raya Yadav, senior Madhesi leader and senior vice-president of Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum Democratic.

The provisions included in the amendment such as proportionate representation and inclusiveness, and allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population were positive, he said, adding it would have been better if the agitating parties were taken into confidence before endorsing the two amendment bills.

The amendments, which address the two key demands of the Madhesis who are largely of Indian-origin, were endorsed with a two-thirds majority yesterday.

The lawmakers of the agitating parties had boycotted the voting, saying the amendments were incomplete, as they fell short of addressing their concerns, including redrawing of federal boundaries. Rajendra Shrestha, co-chair of the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal, one of the constituents of the United Democratic Madhesi Front, said the proposal by Nepali Congress leaders Minendra Rijal and Farmullah Mansoor was progressive than the original Bill that was filed in Parliament on December 15.

As many as 24 proposals were filed by more than 100 lawmakers of different parties, seeking to amend the Bill, which was endorsed in the House after incorporating the proposal registered by Rijal and Mansoor.

The agitating Madhes-based parties said the revision proposal, in line with which the Constitution Amendment Bill was endorsed, was incomplete despite being progressive, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Morcha leaders said that they would make further comments after thoroughly studying the text.

But it will be too early to make any comment, as we are yet to go through the amendment proposal, Shrestha said, adding that morchas protests would continue unless there is an agreement on redrawing federal boundaries.

Laxman Lal Karna, vice-president of Sadbhawana Party, said the amendment proposal does little to address the key demands of the agitating Madhesi groups. PTI
Trust Company of Oklahoma (TCO) is honored to introduce Alex S. Kaiser as its new assistant vice president for the Oklahoma City office. Alex comes to TCO from Chesapeake Energy Corporation, where he worked for nearly five years as both an in-house attorney and landman. Prior to Chesapeake, he worked as an associate attorney at a private Tulsa law firm where he specialized in estate planning and real property law.

A native Tulsan now living in the Oklahoma City area, Alex graduated magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University with a bachelors of science with a major in economics, and then earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Tulsa. Alex was admitted into the State Bar Association in 2010. He is an active member of the Oklahoma City Association of Professional Landmen, the American Association of Professional Landmen and the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association. About Trust Company of Oklahoma Trust Company of Oklahoma is the largest and oldest independent trust company in the state, with locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Founded in 1981, the company provides asset management and unbiased financial advice for individuals, families, businesses and other organizations in Oklahoma and throughout the country. Trust Company of Oklahoma currently manages over $4 billion in assets for its clients.
Investment managers are warning that markets probably have further to fall as Chinas growth slows, oil prices plunge and central bankers lack tools to prop up economies.

The Standard & Poors 500 Index will drop another 10 percent to 1,650 and oil could fall as low as $20 a barrel as investors flee for safety, according to Scott Minerd, chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners. Jeffrey Rottinghaus, whose T. Rowe Price mutual fund beat 99 percent of rivals over the past year, said stock prices could fall another 10 percent as the U.S. economy slips into a mild recession.

I expect a protracted decline in the S&P 500, Jeffrey Gundlach, co-founder of DoubleLine Capital, said in an emailed response to questions. Investors should sell the bounce-back rally, which could come at any time.

Excessive risk exposure is adding to the selling pressure. Todays plunge into the lows looked like a margin call liquidation type of event.

Rottinghaus, manager of the $203 million T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core Fund, said industrials and commodities have been in a recession for at least six months in the U.S. What we are trying to figure out is how much that bleeds into the consumer side of the economy, he said in an interview.

Russ Koesterich, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock Inc., said there needs to be a fundamental catalyst to signal a market bottom, whether it comes from corporate earnings, economic data or an improvement in China.

You need to have some stabilization of fundamentals to give people conviction this has gone too far, Koesterich, whose firm is the worlds largest money manager, said in an interview. Certainly you are getting closer to capitulation. The magnitude of the drop suggests that.

Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio said global markets face risks to the downside as economies near the end of a long-term debt cycle. The Federal Reserves next move will be toward quantitative easing, rather than monetary tightening, the founder of Bridgewater Associates said in an interview with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos. That wont be easy, because rates are already so low, he said.

When you hit zero, you cant lower interest rates anymore, Dalio said, according to a transcript of the interview. That end of the long-term debt cycle is the issue that means that the risks are asymmetric on the downside because risks are comparatively high at the same time theres not an ability to ease.

The rout in global stocks is being fueled by investors seeking to reduce leverage as central banks run out of options to prop up economies, according to Janus Capital Group Inc.s Bill Gross.

Real economies are being levered with QEs and negative interest rates to little effect, Gross, who manages the $1.3 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, said in an email responding to questions from Bloomberg. Markets sense this lack of growth potential and observe recessions beginning in major emerging-market economies.

While overseas economies are wobbling, the U.S. remains an island of stability, according to money managers such as Omar Aguilar, chief investment officer for equities at Charles Schwab Corp.

This is a financial crisis and not an economic crisis, Aguilar said during a conference call. The U.S. economy is stable.

Data on the housing market, unemployment and government spending still support U.S. gross domestic product growth, Aguilar said. Oil markets will rise later this year when supply drops in response to current low prices, according to Mihir Worah, co-manager of the $89.9 billion Pimco Total Return Fund.

We continue to expect oil markets to balance in the second half of the year, and expect oil prices to move higher from current levels as a result, Worah said in an email. While we are aware of the risks, we still expect U.S. GDP growth to come in around 2 percent.

David Herro, manager of the $24 billion Oakmark International Fund, said low energy prices should support consumer spending, the biggest part of the U.S. economy.

I dont think the drop in equity prices is at all warranted by economic fundamentals, Herro wrote in an email.
A man accused of stealing a travel trailer early Saturday from a north Tulsa neighborhood was arrested later that morning while hauling the trailer behind a pickup also reported to be stolen.

Police responded to the area of 55 N. Madison Ave., where the caller told police someone had just stolen a gray and tan travel trailer. The witness said the thief was possibly pulling the trailer behind a white Ford pickup, police said.

About 10 minutes after the call came in, an officer saw a white pickup pulling a travel trailer exiting on eastbound Interstate 244 to Oklahoma 11, police said.

Multiple units responded to the area to attempt to stop the pickup, which eventually stopped near the 6800 block of East King Street, police said.

The vehicles driver, Mark Alan Burleson, was arrested at the scene, police said.

After the arrest, officers discovered the pickup had been reported stolen, police said.

Burleson, 35, was booked into the Tulsa Jail at 8:40 a.m. on complaints of second-degree burglary after a felony conviction, larceny from a person after a felony conviction, possession of a stolen vehicle after a felony conviction and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony after a felony conviction, jail records indicate.

His prior felony convictions include possession of a stolen vehicle, knowingly concealing stolen property, escape and false impersonation, according to Department of Corrections records.

Burleson is being held in lieu of $160,000 bond, according to jail records.
A bill filed last week by a Tulsa legislator addresses some of the issues surrounding the patronage appointment of sheriffs appraisers.

House Bill 1320, by Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, would require appointees to be licensed appraisers, and bans the hiring of appraisers who are close relatives of the appointing sheriff or sheriffs office employees.

Sheriffs appraisers set the value of foreclosed property to be sold at public auction. The jobs only requirements are that appraisers be disinterested persons and live in the county where the property is located.

In May, then-Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz told the World the positions are treated by sheriffs statewide as patronage for friends and supporters. Tulsa Countys 12 sheriffs assessors averaged more than $40,000 each in earnings from 2009 to 2014, according figures obtained by the World.

Glanzs appointees included the daughter of his friend Robert Bates, an insurance executive and reserve deputy whose shooting of a suspect last spring triggered a series of events leading to Glanzs ouster. They also included the wife and daughter of attorney Clark Brewster and several other people with connections to Glanz.

Under Goodwins bill, sheriffs would still appoint the appraisers, but only a state-licensed, state-certified residential or state general real estate appraiser under the Oklahoma Certified Real Estate Appraisers Act would be eligible.

The bill also would bar relatives of third degree by affinity or consanguinity or close. A third-degree relative by affinity, or marriage, would include most in-laws. A third-degree relative by consanguinity, or blood, would include great-grandparents and great-grandchildren, uncles and aunts and nieces and nephews.

The legislative session will begin Feb. 1.
Dark money: A 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that was a source of controversy during the 2014 U.S. Senate special election has admitted it broke Internal Revenue Service rules, according to Opensecrets.org.

A non-partisan campaign finance watchdog, Opensecrets said last week that Oklahomans for a Conservative Future has told the IRS it spent most of its money on politics, not social welfare programs as required by law.

The PAC spent between $1 million and $2 million backing former Oklahoma Speaker of the House T.W. Shannons failed U.S. Senate bid, and became the center of an inquiry when founder Chad Alexanders cell phone and computer were seized during a drug arrest.

Opensecrets says Oklahomans for a Conservative Future is now called Heartland Principles and is a secretive front for independent energy producers. Directors include Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm, Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association President Mike Terry and former congressman Dan Boren.

Candidates: Kiefer Republican Mike Gambill is a candidate in state House District 30. A teacher in the Okmulgee Public Schools, Gambill is trying to succeed Republican incumbent Mark McCullough, who is not seeking re-election.

HD 30 includes Sapulpa, extreme eastern Creek County and southwest Tulsa County.

Park it: State Rep. James Lockhart, R-Heavener, says if the Tourism Department isnt going to take care of state parks, they ought to be moved to the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Our dont think our state parks receive the funding and attention they deserve, said Lockhart, a frequent critic of the treatment of state parks by the Legislature and the Fallin administration.

Lockhart filed two pieces of legislation to accomplish the shift and impose a .25 percent state sales tax dedicated to parks. The sales tax would require a vote of the people.

No lead pipe cinch: The Oklahoma Democratic Party tried to link earthquakes in rural northwestern Oklahoma to the water quality crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Citing a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control, the party issued a release saying Grant County has a high level of lead poisoning in children, and suggested it might be related to the recurring earthquakes in the area.

There dont seem to be any scientific studies linking the earthquakes and the lead poisoning in Grant County.

Meetings and events: Gov. Mary Fallin has declared March 24-30 School Choice Week.

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn will headline a $1,000-per-person Oklahoma Republican Party fundraiser on Feb. 2 in Tulsa. For reservations see http://bit.ly/1Qk36Ze.
Bill OReilly, of Fox News The OReilly Factor, threatens to flee the country if Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont  the self-described democratic socialist who is running for the Democratic Party nomination  is elected president.

OReilly said: If Sanders gets elected president, Im fleeing . . . Im going to Ireland. And they already know it. . . . I shouldnt say it publicly because that will get Sanders more votes. But Im not going to pay 90 percent of my income to that guy. Im not doing it.

OReilly is proud of his Irish ancestry (as a recent emigrant from Ireland and current U.S. citizen, I heartily approve of these sentiments). But he probably doesnt know very much about what Ireland is like these days. From the perspective of its neighbors, Ireland is a small, market-friendly, right-of-center country. But from the perspective of U.S. conservatism, Ireland looks like a hellhole of socialism.

Can OReilly easily flee to Ireland?

It may be tougher than he thinks. It would seem that OReillys nearest Irish ancestor was his great-grandfather, meaning he misses the cut-off for automatic Irish citizenship by one generation. If you have one Irish grandparent, you qualify for Irish citizenship  but unless OReillys grandparent or parent formally applied, hes out of luck. He does have a second possibility though: paying to become a citizen. Ireland, like many other countries, provides citizenship to those willing to invest or donate a large sum to benefit the Irish economy.

Ireland isnt a conservative Eden. Look at taxes.

What would OReilly get in return for his money? A tax system that is not all that different from the U.S. tax system for top earners, and arguably a little less favorable. The effective top Irish income tax rate is a little over half of income.

In the rather unlikely event that Sanders were elected in a landslide of socialist enthusiasm, turning the Senate and the House socialist, and introducing punitive taxes to impoverish rich Fox News opinionators, he would still be in trouble. Even if he lived in Ireland, he would have difficulty avoiding U.S. taxes unless he renounced his U.S. citizenship.

The U.S. continues to regard U.S. expatriates as taxpayers. Ireland and the U.S. have a double taxation treaty, to prevent being taxed twice for the same income.

OReilly would likely find himself paying to support Sanderss socialist American utopia from overseas.

Ireland has serious gun control.

OReilly has strong views on his right to own guns to defend himself under the Second Amendment.

I have a right to protect myself, because there are crazed animals like the guy in Oregon. . . . There are people like that who will come after innocent people for no reason. And you are going to deny me protection? ... I cant have a gun to protect my family?

The Irish attitude toward guns will be a serious culture shock. First, hell be far worse off than he would be in rural Oregon. In Ireland, police carry arms only under special circumstances; most dont have firearms training.

People must apply for a license to own a gun, and are likely to be refused under many circumstances. There are heavy restrictions on kinds of guns that they are allowed to own  roughly speaking, guns for sport and hunting (sports pistols; shotguns; some kinds of rifles) are OK, but handguns of the kind that OReilly could use for self-defense are not, let alone automatic weapons. Gun rights are not a topic of political debate in Ireland; the most conservative party, now the majority party, just introduced new restrictions with no significant public opposition.

Ireland has socialized medicine.

OReilly denounces Obamacare as socialism because it uses taxpayers money to subsidize the poor. The Irish health-care system does the same thing on a much larger scale, with a hospital system that is directly run by the government. In Ireland, hospital doctors are government employees. Everyone in Ireland is entitled to free basic health care in hospitals, and low-income people get medical cards entitling them to free doctors visits and many other services.

This system is far from perfect, which means that many middle-class and upper-middle-class people supplement it with private health insurance. Even so, its socialized medicine on a scale that would be politically unthinkable here. Ireland also has welfare benefits for the unemployed that are not notably generous by European standards, but are wildly permissive compared to the U.S. equivalents.

There are other ways in which Ireland is more congenial to conservatives like OReilly. Most obviously, abortion is far more heavily curtailed in Ireland than the U.S.

Even though Ireland is a conservative country by West European standards, its far, far to the left of U.S. conservative preferences on many key issues.

If OReilly really thinks that Ireland is a good alternative to a Sanders-led America, its probably because hes unfamiliar with what Ireland is really like. If a putative Sanders administration were somehow able to introduce Irish-style health care, welfare state and gun control, it would be viewed by conservatives as a socialist revolution.
The Department of Communications has recommended that the Turnbull government cut $153 million licence fees for Free to Air networks, according to a Fairfax article.

Metro and regional networks have lobbied hard to dump the fees they pay, arguing other players such as Netflix and Google are exempt from the same fees.

If the Treasury enacts a cut as part of the May budget it would the be the first since the Gillard governments cut from 9 per cent to 4.5 per cent of revenues in March 2013. That came with no stipulations networks should increase local content. 2013 -as with 2016- was a federal election year.

Foxtel has argued networks should not be given further cuts without changes to the anti-siphoning list.

A spokesman for Senator Fifield said, The governments consideration of broadcast licence fees is ongoing.

Meanwhile FremantleMedia Australia CEO Ian Hogg has also backed wider media reforms.

First of all, its absolutely critical for the fabric of Australian broadcast media that these reforms come through, he told The Australian.

The current rules are archaic at best and dysfunctional at worst and theres pretty broad consensus now they should go through.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The Azerbaijani government and the World Bank (WB) started negotiations for funding increase, the bank's local office told Trend.

"At this stage, we conduct pre-consultation and it is too early to talk about the financial parameters," the office said. "The negotiations may take several months, as a result of which an action plan will be developed."

As the negotiations at an early stage, the specific areas of cooperation are not defined yet, said the office.

"Credit resources can be presented as to finance investment projects and to support the state budget and reforms. Cooperation format can be different," the office added.

At the same time, the bank excluded the possibility of concessional lending resumption to Azerbaijan through the International Development Association (IDA), which is a part of Bank's group.

It is related with the economic development of Azerbaijan, including per capita income, which is one of the main indicators for granting concessional loans, which went beyond the criteria for IDA countries, the office explained.

Currently, Azerbaijan receives loans under the terms of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The countries with GDP per capita of not more than $1,215 [criterion for 2015] have the right to obtain IDA loans. In 2015, GDP per capita in Azerbaijan amounted to $4 268.7.

Azerbaijan joined the WB in 1992. During the cooperation period WB allocated over $3 billion to the country to implement more than 50 projects.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.24

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

The revenues of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) from the project for developing the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea totaled $2.44 billion from 2007 to Jan.1, 2016, SOFAZ told Trend Jan.19.

SOFAZ said its revenues from the Shah Deniz project reached $323 million in 2015.

The contract for developing the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.

The shareholders are: BP, operator (28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NICO (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).

SOFAZ was created in 1999 and its assets were equal to $271 million that period.

The assets of SOFAZ dropped by 6.38 percent as of Oct.1, 2015 and totaled $34.74 billion compared to early 2015 ($37.1 billion).

Under SOFAZ's regulations, its funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.

The main goals of the State Oil Fund include: accumulation of resources and the placement of the fund's assets abroad in order to minimize the negative affect on the economy, preventing the "Dutch disease" to some extent, promoting resource accumulation for future generations and supporting current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, January 24

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

The work on the improvement of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) continues, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said in an interview with ANS TV channel.

The minister said that previous management of the bank made big mistakes in the work and today these mistakes are being given a legal assessment.

"The bank's management was ignoring the instructions of the Supervisory Board of the IBA in many cases, and the data in the financial statements were distorted. All these led to the misappropriation of funds", Sharifov said.

Sharifov underlined that there also were cases of theft of the funds issued in the form of loans to related with the management parties.

"Today, along with the Interior Ministry and Prosecutor General's Office we continue to work for the return of bank funds issued in the form of loans. On the other hand, in order not to harm depositors, it was decided to transfer some distressed bank assets to Aqrarkredit CJSC. We are talking about the various plants and factories, whose work is currently unsatisfactory. We intend to improve them, and then sell in order to to return the part of the funds of the bank," Sharifov said.

On July 15, 2015 the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on the measures for rehabilitation related to the preparations for privatizing the state-owned shares of the International Bank of Azerbaijan JSC.

The shortcomings in the management, investment and loan policy of the International Bank of Azerbaijan in recent years, as well as financing of less efficient, risky investment projects worsened the bank's financial state, caused increase in the share of distressed assets and reduced its liquidity, said the decree.

In order to overcome the current situation, restore the bank's financial position and ensure its sustainability, the distressed assets of the bank were transferred to the state-owned Aqrarkredit CJSC non-banking credit organization. Bonds for three billion manat were issued under the state guarantee to ensure IBA's liquidity instead.

Aqrarkredit CJSC is the biggest non-banking credit organization operating since 2001, whose shares are owned by the state.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan was founded in 1992 and is the largest bank of the country. Some 51.07 percent of stake in the bank's capital is owned by the state, 48.93 percent - by private shareholders.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Moody's affirmed Kapital Bank's current BCA at b1 and long-term deposit ratings at Ba3, whereas changed the outlook to negative from stable.

The proportion of loans more than 90 days overdue has been relatively stable over the first three quarters of 2015, at 6.7% as of October 1, 2015 (7.7% at year-end 2014). However, the rating agency notes a surge in restructured loans to 11.7% of loans, while loans overdue by more than 30 days grew to 8.1% of loans as of Q3 2015, according to the bank's management data.

Moody's expects a further worsening trend in asset quality following the change in the currency regime and slowdown of economic activity, the statement said.

Almost half of Kapital Bank's loan was to retail customers as of Q3 2015, although related risk is partially mitigated by its focus on more creditworthy customers, e.g. employees of corporate clients, government bodies, and budget recipients, whose cash flows are captured by the bank. Furthermore, Kapital Bank has a relatively moderate level of foreign currency exposure compared to peers, at 25% of gross loans as of Q3 2015, which are granted mainly to government-related issuers.

Moody's expects the bank to remain profitable in the next 12 months, although it will be under pressure from an increasing provisioning burden and higher funding costs. The bank's capital cushion is sound with regulatory total capital and Tier 1 ratios of 19.5% and 14.7%, respectively, as of January 1, 2016.

Kapital Bank, one of the largest retail banks in Azerbaijan, is also owned by PASHA Group.
10. Lita- This potential surprise entrant may be a bit more fantasy than realistic, but its not impossible. Lita now works in creative at WWE so shes always around and can make an appearance. Shes in great shape and can no doubt still hit that Litacanrana off the top turn buckle.

Women have wrestled in the Royal Rumble before so the idea isnt ridiculous. Although the number of female entrants is few, the talent of these women is phenomenal and Lita fits the bill. Theres no other female wrestler in the company today that can be taken seriously in the Royal Rumble. WWE is making them out to be too dainty against the guys. Also, with a Divas Revolution going on why not have the Diva, who originally had a key role in revolutionizing the Womens Division, enter the Royal Rumble.

9. Jake the Snake Roberts- Though an unlikely candidate to enter the Royal Rumble this year, Jake the Snake Roberts would be the WWE Legend to make a surprise entrance in the main event this Sunday. Just like no one expected each commentator to enter the match two years ago.

Roberts was actually hoping to enter the Royal Rumble back in 2014, but the WWE passed on this idea due to Roberts induction announcement into the WWE Hall of Fame of the same year. Almost a whole year later, rumors started circulating that Roberts could make a possible appearance in the 2015 Royal Rumble match, but after Roberts was admitted to the hospital and induced into a coma-like state to treat pneumonia, these rumors were put to rest. Roberts hasnt had any severe medical issues since, so he still has another match left in him. With the release of his new DVD recently, 2016 could be the year that Jake the Snake Roberts enters the Royal Rumble.

8. Jeff Hardy- Although still under contract with TNA, Jeff Hardy being a surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble would be nothing short of awesome. Jeff Hardys contract with TNA expires in February and hes been stating in various interviews that if he were to end his career, he wants to do it in WWE. After all, WWE is where The Hardy Boyz started their careers.

7. Randy Orton- Randy Orton has been out of action due to injury and its uncertain if he will return but most likely, fans havent seen the end of the Viper. The Royal Rumble would provide a great platform for a returning Randy Orton, who of course has unresolved business in WWE. Not to mention, the return of a veteran right now is necessary. If Orton were to return, hell probably be a heel.

6. Hideo Itami- Itami was one of the top performers on NXT before suffering a shoulder injury around the summer time last year. For a while it was uncertain whether Itami would return to WWE, but recently hes teased fans with a tweet saying, My turn #WWENXT. Theres plenty of room for guys from NXT to fight in the Royal Rumble and Itami is one of the guys that deserve a shot at fighting with the main roster.

5. Samoa Joe- Samoa Joe has worked on NXT since he debuted in the WWE. Samoa Joe is no newbie to wrestling, competing at the highest levels in TNA, ROH and more. The Samoan Submission Machine is more than ready to step onto the big stage of WWEs main roster.

4. Sting- Does this really need explanation? Of course Sting is out due to injury, but even John Cena could pull off returning before the speculated time of recovery. The Royal Rumble is a match in which Sting has never competed and giving The Icon a spot could help with the old school factor, (if WWE were to pass up on Jake Roberts) which every Rumble seems to seek. Sting doesnt need to win the match, just competing in it is something he can check off his bucket list. The Royal Rumble is also a good chance to build to the match that Sting wants: Undertaker vs. Sting at Wrestlemania.

3. Daniel Bryan- Daniel Bryan has just been reportedly cleared by doctors to return to in-ring action. However, that was not by WWE doctors so his return is still in question. He can not only make his return at the Royal Rumble, but also use it as an opportunity to win back the WWE World Heavyweight Title he never lost.

2. The Undertaker- Its been clear that Undertaker could possibly be retiring soon. With all of the sporadic appearances lately, the Dead Man could just show up Sunday. He doesnt have to win, but his presence certainly would make the event more interesting. Just think, if Undertaker and Sting are both in the Royal Rumble and Taker eliminates Sting. That could build up to the fantasy match of Undertaker vs. Sting at Wrestlemania.

1. A.J. Styles- A.J. Styles, like Sting, is a wrestler that most fans thought would never, ever see competing in WWE. Especially last year, when he left after TNA and WWE didnt take an initiative to hire Styles. With recent rumors stating that Styles will be at the PPV Sunday, entering (and possibly winning) the Royal Rumble could be in the works. Styles is one of the best wrestlers in the world and now its time to shine in the biggest wrestling company. Dont forget that a significant few of the top spot wrestlers on the main roster are out due to injury, having Styles aboard can help fill in this gap.
CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Renowned fashion photographer Neal Barr with one of his Harpers Bazaar cover photos. He recently was named Brooks Institute 2015 Distinguished Alumnus.

SHARE CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR World-renowned fashion photographer Neal Barr has photographed many famous stars and models, including Sophia Loren. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Renowned fashion photographer Neal Barr was recently named Brooks Institute 2015 Distinguished Alumnus. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Mannequin hands used by fashion photographer Neal Barr who was recently named Brooks Institute 2015 Distinguished Alumnus. Currently he is working on the text for a two-volume set of books on womens fashions of the 1920s. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Fashion photographer Neal Barr looks at photographs being considered for his book on womens fashions of the 1920s.

By Nicole DAmore

In a 43-year career as a fashion photographer, Neal Barr photographed some of the world's most famous faces. People like Sophia Loren, Halston and Warren Beatty.

Now Barr has returned to his hometown of Ventura to pursue his dream of creating a record of 1920s fashion.

He is excited about the project, 40 years in the making  a 900-page two-book encasement of fashions and accessories from the 1920s, styled and photographed by Barr on mannequins. It is due to be released this year by Media 27 in Santa Barbara.

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"It's sort of my legacy," he said.

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Barr was recently honored by Brooks Institute of Photography as 2015 Distinguished Alumnus.

Naming Barr as the recipient, Brooks President Edward Clift said, "Neal's integrity and passion bring honor to the Institute. He is an outstanding example of both alumni accomplishment and personal commitment to his craft."

Growing up on Brent Street in Ventura, Barr's first job, at age 13, was washing dishes in Barr's Bakery on Thompson Boulevard, owned by his grandfather.

"I used to have to ask the bakers to help me lift the big pans, they were solid copper," he said.

As a student at Ventura High School, Barr's favorite class was photography taught by Denning McArthur.

"I was below average in all my classes and the only thing I really shined in was art," Barr said. "That was my saving grace."

Later, it was a letter of recommendation from McArthur that helped him land a job as regimental photographer in the Army in Germany.

Returning to Ventura, he enrolled at Brooks Institute on the GI Bill in 1956.

Barr was introduced to the glamour of fashion photography when he saw the film, "Funny Face," while attending Brooks.

"When I saw Suzy Parker swinging across that cinematic screen with chiffon blowing behind her I thought, Oh my god, this is incredible," Barr recalled. "Then I saw Sunny Harnett, who was this blond with a neck this long, step out of a limousine, I thought that was the most elegant thing I had ever seen." Then, reading an article about photographer Richard Avedon on a fashion assignment in Egypt, he saw his own future.

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"So I had made up my mind the minute I got out of Brooks Institute I was going to New York and work for Harper's Bazaar. That's how naive I was," he laughed.

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Upon graduating in 1958, Barr got on a plane to New York City. His first job was with fashion photographer Ray Kellman.

"I was his slave, really, but I was where I wanted to be," Barr recalled. "I thought I've got to get experience. I was right off the turnip truck. I met all the star models I had been looking at on the covers of magazines."

That was followed by stints working for Wilhela Cushman, fashion editor of Ladies' Home Journal, and for fine art and fashion photographer Irving Penn.

"He was a great guy to work with. To watch him with the camera.  I was in such a privileged place," Barr said. In his free time, Barr built his portfolio.

"I knew after I finished with Penn I was going to bite the bullet and go into business. I wasn't going to be a career assistant," he said.

It was his reputation for retouching, a skill he learned at Brooks, that launched Barr's career. He was a master at removing wrinkles and blemishes, adding highlights.

"When I went into business it was a godsend because the models were lining up to my door," he said. One of them was Barbara Feldon, who later went on to play Agent 99 on the TV spy sitcom "Get Smart." Her husband Lucien, a photography agent, was impressed with her shots.

"So I started out almost from the very beginning with an agent," Barr said.

When Harper's Bazaar wasn't impressed with his portfolio, he developed a new lighting technique using seamless paper and diffused light. That led to eight years of work for Harper's, including four Paris collections.

His first celebrity photo was of Beatty.

"He was really great to work with, loose and easy, very creative," Barr said. When his suit and tie looked too uptight for the shot, he borrowed Barr's black sweater.

His photograph of Loren for a Ladies' Home Journal cover in 1972 began a string of jobs with her over the years.

He photographed Halston when he was just designing hats.

Barr, 83, retired in 2000 after prostate cancer surgery.

"I thought it's time for me to do something I really wanted to do and move back to Ventura," he said.

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His Ventura studio has rooms of vintage clothing and boxes of carefully organized accessories he purchased through the years. He estimates there are over 1,000 dresses, at least that many hats and 500-600 pairs of shoes, still in boxes.

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"I bought the studio before I bought a home. I set this place up specifically to do this project."

But to do the project, he had to switch from film to digital photography.

He enlisted the help of Brooks faculty member Christopher Broughton, who volunteered his time.

"How is that? Incredible." Barr said.

Broughton had admired Barr's work while a student at Brooks himself. He nominated Barr for the Distinguished Alumnus award.

"In terms of what he was able to accomplish, I don't think there is anyone higher," Broughton said. "He is the personification of a perfect photographer."

A selection of Barr's work is on exhibit at the Brooks Institute Visions Gallery at the Marriott Ventura Beach through Feb. 20.

His website is NealBarr.com.
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By Raul Hernandez

Two former U.S. Navy Seabees were sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2006 murder of John Marmo Jr., 27, outside his home in Camarillo.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark sentenced a third former Seabee to life with the possibility of parole for attempting to murder Marmo.

Before the sentencing, Marmos mother, Brenda Jones, told Clark that the trio and a fourth former Seabee, Shannon Butler, had tormented and tortured and terrorized her son.

My son, my child. No matter how old they get, they will always be your child, she said with a voice cracking with emotion, adding that her son also was a nephew, cousin, brother and his little girls daddy.

The judge sentenced Rebecca Braswell, 28, and Matthew Toerner, 22, to life in prison without parole. In February, a jury convicted both of them of first-degree murder while lying in wait and conspiracy.

The judge gave Seth Hardy, 22, a life sentence but with the possibility of parole for trying to kill Marmo by putting propane canisters under his car earlier in 2006. On May 21, Hardy pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

On May 4, the fourth former Seabee, Butler, was sentenced to 25 years to life. In March, she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Marmo, a former Seabee, was Braswells ex-husband. Prosecutors said the crime was sparked by a bitter child-custody dispute.

Prosecutors said Braswell was the mastermind behind the plots to kill Marmo.

Marmos mother told the judge that the defendants will never understand how horrendous their actions were and that no punishment is enough. She said she didnt understand why someone would do this to her son.

Prosecutor Richard Simon told the judge that Braswell is an evil and selfish woman and described her as a sociopath who thought she was going to get away with murder because she got others to do her bidding.

She seems to think she is smarter than anyone else, and she is not, Simon said, adding that she underestimated law enforcement.

Toerner was the triggerman who shot Marmo in the back and then tried to minimize his role in the murder, Simon said. Toerner didnt know Marmo but believed everything Braswell and Butler said about him, Simon told the judge.

He just shot him because he basically wanted to be a hero, Simon said.

Toerners lawyer, Robert Bobby Schwartz, told the judge that his client has no criminal record and was 19 when he committed the crime. Schwartz said his client was a gullible person who believed Braswell and Butler.

Hardys lawyer, Todd Howeth, declined to comment after the sentencing. Braswells lawyer, Charles Cassy, couldnt be reached for comment after the sentencing.

Prosecutor Rebecca Day credited the Ventura County Sheriffs Department for what she called a phenomenal job of tracking down leads and putting the case together using informants and interviewing hundreds of people at Naval Base Ventura County.

It was a case which started out as a complete unknown, she said. There was no evidence linking the crime to the killers.

Outside the courtroom, Marmos older sister, Nicole Marmo, said: Finally, its over and John can rest knowing that his murderers are finally going to be behind bars.

She described her brother as a great guitar player who loved people and, most of all, loved his daughter, who he will never get to see grow up.

And thats the biggest travesty in all of this. All he wanted was to be part of her life, said Nicole Marmo.
SHARE Marmo GRAPHIC: Timeline (click to enlarge.) Toerner

Reports of threats seemingly brushed off by police and Navy

By Tamara Koehler

John Marmo Jr.: He was shot and killed in front of his Camarillo town house on Dec. 1.

Rebecca Braswell: Divorced Marmo in 2005 and was involved in a child-custody dispute with him.

Shannon Butler: Braswell's friend is accused of paying $300 to have explosives placed.

Seth Hardy: Friend of Braswell is accused of planting two explosives in Marmo's car.

Matthew Toerner: Prosecutors say he fired the gun four or five times at Marmo. Partial statements from Matthew Toerner's arrest warrant filed at the Ventura County Superior Court

"Toerner told (a detective) that while parked in the driveway, Butler gave him the gun used to shoot Marmo. (A detective) said Toerner told him after a short period of time, Marmo came out of his house, and while Marmo was entering his car, he "emptied the clip at him."

"Butler told (a detective) ... she had been at the scene of the shooting of John Marmo with another subject she identified at (sic) Matt Toerner. ... Butler said she and Toerner were going to confront Marmo concerning Marmo beating her up and Toerner shot Marmo at least once. ... Butler said she did not know Toerner was going to shoot Marmo."

John Marmo Jr. was scared.

A mechanic at Smogie's Smog Shop in Ventura had just found a propane canister tied to the exhaust pipe of Marmo's blue Hyundai Tiburon. The only reason it would be there, shop owner Warren Sharp would later testify, was "some idiot thought he was going to blow up the car."

Marmo told police he thought his ex-wife, Seabee Rebecca Braswell, was involved because of a bitter custody battle over their 5-year-old daughter. But Ventura Police officials never interviewed Braswell, saying the case was under the Navy's jurisdiction.

Two weeks later on Oct. 28, another propane canister was found strapped to the exhaust pipe of Marmo's car. Marmo reported it to the Sheriff's Department, again implicating his ex-wife and two other Seabees who had threatened him, but the investigating deputy did not interview any of them.

Marmo reported the incidents to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Agents for the service say jurisdiction belonged to civilian law enforcement because both incidents occurred off base. They advised Marmo, who was retired from the Seabees, to report the bombs to the police and sheriff.

Marmo's fright was justified. A month later he was dead.

As one of Ventura County's most sensational murder cases heads to trial, details are emerging that show repeated failures by law enforcement and the Navy to follow leads, question key suspects or put Marmo under police protection.

The 27-year-old father and former Seabee was shot to death outside the front door of his Camarillo townhouse early on the morning of Dec. 1, 2006. Prosecutors allege Braswell and her associates, Shannon Butler, Seth Hardy and Matt Toerner all Seabees stationed at the naval base in Port Hueneme were actors in a murder plot against Marmo.

The very public killing, in a quiet upscale neighborhood, shocked and unsettled the community. And the alleged involvement of four members of Ventura County's military community drew nationwide attention.

All four charged

In April, a judge ordered the four construction mechanics to stand trial for murder and attempted murder. Hardy, 20, is charged with planting the propane cans on Marmo's car. Toerner, 20, is accused of shooting Marmo. Braswell, 26, and Butler, 23, are charged with masterminding and soliciting the murder to prevent Marmo from gaining joint custody of his daughter.

Why local law enforcement did not do more remains a question. Marmo was a civilian, retired from the Seabees and working at RSC Equipment Rental in Camarillo. In addition to the propane incidents, Marmo reported to the Sheriff's Department that Hardy twice had showed up at his workplace looking for him. During one visit, Marmo said, Hardy frightened him by pulling a knife out of his pocket and "manipulating" it.

Sheriff's officials said they kept jurisdiction of the case but would not comment on the way the investigation was handled until the court case is over.

"We worked with the Navy, that's all we can say," Chief Deputy Bruce McDowell said. "We will be looking into whether more could have been done."

Ventura Police Sgt. Jack Richards said the officer who took the first call about the apparent propane-canister car bomb filed an incident report rather than a crime report. A crime report would have triggered a full-scale investigation. Incident reports do not.

"We handed the case and all the investigation rights over to the feds, so they're handling the case completely. It's out of our hands," Richards said.

According to NCIS, "any and all assistance requested by Ventura County Sheriff's Office was provided."

Court records show NCIS agents interviewed Hardy, who denied he put the canisters on Marmo's car. They spoke with Butler, who also denied involvement.

After Marmo's murder, Hardy's roommate, Zack Schulte, told investigators that Hardy left their apartment late at night several times during October wearing a ski mask, latex gloves and dark clothing. When Schulte asked Hardy what he was doing, Hardy told him Marmo was assaulting a female friend and he planned "to try and kill him" by blowing up his car, according to court records.

Navy agents, however, had not interviewed Schulte before the killing. And Schulte apparently never reported his roommate's activities to the authorities.

Code of conduct

The case has also raised questions about the Navy's standards for conduct and how reports of criminal behavior on base are handled.

The plot, according to court records, was by no means a secret. In the months before the shooting, Butler told many of her fellow Seabees she wanted Marmo killed and about the propane canisters planted on his car. She offered several Seabees money to kill or injure Marmo, including Thomas Hoisington, who later complained to his commanders, records show.

Hoisington testified during the preliminary hearing that Butler asked to borrow his gun so she could kill Marmo. When Hoisington reported the incident to his commanders, he testified, they told him people often say things they don't really mean.

Butler continued to talk about "getting rid" of Marmo, and then asked Hoisington to kill him, Hoisington said. Hoisington said he told her, "You're crazy."

He did not report any more of Butler's statements to his immediate superiors because he felt it was pointless, he said.

"The people who really dropped the ball in this are the ones (Hoisington) went to and they did nothing," Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon said. "They told him it probably wasn't serious, and people say things all the time they don't mean.

"But I've lived a long life, and no one has ever asked me to borrow a gun or offered to pay me to kill someone. People do not say things like that all the time."

The Navy is "aggressively investigating" if the report was made, to whom, and why it did not reach Navy leadership, said Teri Reid, spokeswoman for the Seabees.

But the Navy administration is not reviewing why so many Seabees who were approached by Butler to kill Marmo or overheard her solicitations did not come forward, she said.

"There is a Navy rule if you observe a criminal act or something unethical, you have an obligation to report it up the chain of command," Reid said.

'Down to the individual level'

Neither NCIS nor Navy administration was ever made aware of Butler's statements by Hoisington's superiors or other Seabees, according to Reid.

"Command is not expected to report any activity of which they're unaware of. It's down to the individual level," Reid said. "We take seriously all crimes and threats and fully cooperate with local law enforcement."

If Butler's statements were reported to law enforcement, police could have set up a wire operation and potentially stopped the plot, Simon said.

NCIS investigators were well acquainted with Braswell's custody dispute with Marmo, according to court records. The enmity between the pair was so great they had to meet at the Port Hueneme Police Station to exchange custody of their daughter. Braswell was sent back from Iraq last year for "mental issues," Simon said. While overseas, she ranted about Marmo and her desire to have him killed.

She repeatedly defied court orders for visitation, and at one point tricked Marmo into violating a restraining order by inviting him over then calling the police, Simon said.

NCIS found Braswell had misled the court and the Navy during the custody dispute and "should be separated from the Navy ASAP," according to court records.

Butler's behavior was also under NCIS scrutiny, court records show. In March 2006, Butler reported Marmo had left a threatening note on her car, but investigators discovered she made up the story. She was cited for filing a false statement with the Navy. In July, she was reprimanded for stalking Marmo, according to court records.

"They both clearly violated the military code of conduct," Simon said. "I don't know if it's because the numbers are low for enlistment, or that they need to keep people. But it's obvious you don't want people like this in the Navy. I would hope our military has higher standards than that."

Reid said the Navy could not comment on whether Braswell or Butler was disciplined because of privacy laws.

As the threats intensified in the last month of his life, Marmo grew more afraid. On Oct. 31, the court awarded him the joint custody that Braswell had fought. He was being followed, he told his sister, Jaclyn Marmo.

She began writing letters begging for help. She wrote Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who responded by telling her to contact federal officials because the case involved the Navy.

She then wrote Congressman Elton Gallegly and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein pleading for help.

"Nobody is doing anything to protect my brother," she wrote.
AP FILE PHOTO California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to a crowd in this 2014 file photo. She visited Ventura on Saturday, speaking to the Ventura County Womens Political Council.

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By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

California's first female attorney general, Kamala Harris, who is also running for U.S. Senate, spoke before a rapt audience of mostly women Saturday at the Pierpont Inn in Ventura.

Harris, a Democrat who has served as state attorney general since 2011, spoke to more than 100 people at the event, part of the Ventura County Women's Political Council's annual meeting. She is campaigning to succeed Sen. Barbara Boxer, also a Democrat, in the November election. Boxer is not running for another term.

The attorney general talked about her childhood as the daughter of civil rights activists, her career in law and public service, and the key challenges she believes the country needs to address.

Among her top priorities is early childhood education. Harris cited statistics showing links between low language and literacy skills early in life and high school dropout rates. She said investing in education for young children so they have a better chance of success later in life will ultimately save taxpayers billions of dollars in social service, health care and public safety costs.

"You don't have to care about children to care about children," she said. "If you care about why you have three padlocks on your front door  if you care about why you complain about paying your taxes every year  you need to care about children."

Harris also called for greater support for working families, particularly working mothers because they are more likely than men to hold minimum-wage jobs. She lamented a lack of national policies to provide paid family leave, affordable child care, full-day kindergarten and universal prekindergarten.

"We have got to have a country that is focused on putting real resources into supporting working families' natural desire to parent their children," she said.

Women's rights to make decisions about their own reproductive health need to be protected, Harris said. She lamented recent attacks on Planned Parenthood, and said societies that limit women's reproductive rights also tend to be places where women's economic well-being is restricted.

The environment was another top priority for Harris. She lauded California as a "canary in the coal mine" leading the nation in combating climate change through programs such as cap-and-trade and renewable energy policies.

On immigration, Harris criticized Washington politicians for conflating criminal justice policy with immigration policy. She said it is "wrong, misdirected and misinformed" to portray all immigrants in the country without legal permission as criminals.

Ana Del Rio-Barba, president of the Ventura County Women's Political Council, said the group has not yet decided which person to endorse for Boxer's U.S. Senate seat. She said the council, which describes itself as multi-partisan, also invited Harris' Democratic rival, Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, to speak but she was not available.

Numerous dignitaries attended the event, including state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, Oxnard Mayor Pro-Tem Carmen Ramirez, Ventura Councilwoman Christy Weir and Santa Paula Councilwoman Ginger Gherardi, who were part of a discussion on governance following Harris' talk. County Supervisor Kathy Long and Assemblywoman Jaqui Irwin were also in attendance.

Jackson said she is endorsing Harris' candidacy.

"We certainly share the same values and vision for the future of California and our country," she said. "I think her priorities are spot-on with what our needs are today for our families, for working people, for our children, for the future, and she has a very impressive track record of accomplishment."

Gherardi and Ramirez said they haven't yet decided on a candidate to support for the Senate seat. However, both said they were impressed by Harris.

"She's wonderful," Ramirez said, adding that she particularly agreed with Harris' comments on early childhood education. "I thought that was stunningly simple and true."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/BOSTON UNIVERSITY Tom Ashbrook is host of National Public Radios On Point.

SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Tom Ashbrook is host of National Public Radios On Point.

By Robyn Flans

What sets apart Tom Ashbrook, host of National Public Radio's "On Point," said Lisa Ball, of Ventura, is that "he is just fair. It's hard to find fair people on the radio."

That's one reason more than 300 people packed the Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on Saturday morning to see Ashbrook. His appearance was a fundraiser for KCLU, one of the stations that carry "On Point."

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Ashbrook told the audience about the journey from his upbringing on a working farm in rural Illinois to his current work on radio. He relayed a funny story about his first trip to Yale University and how he made the connection to Philadelphia in a hog truck. After two years at Yale, he left for India, which led to his travels to Asia as a Boston Globe foreign correspondent.

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Ashbrook even shared with the audience the importance of the support he felt just over a year ago after he lost his wife, with whom he had been since he was 16 years old.

Ashbrook and a buddy in the architect business launched an Internet startup in the early 1990s.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, they were on their way to New York to speak with some venture capital friends to start a second company when his wife called to tell him to turn on the radio.

"We did not drive on into New York," Ashbrook recalled. "About two or three days later, I got a call from NPR through WBUR in Boston saying all of their people had been working 24 hours a day and everybody was exhausted. They needed fresh horses. Could I come in and talk about going on the air on 500 stations, starting tomorrow, three hours a day, for special coverage? I said, 'Of course.' "

His special coverage got a good response and Ashbrook enjoyed being back in journalism. He also loved the immediacy of radio and the feedback of the callers.

Ashbrook said even though callers are vetted, there's always a risk on live radio.

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"You have to weigh that against the upside," Ashbrook said. "It is a way for people to engage and interact right in the heart of that conversation, and very, very often, they bring real value. They bring a perspective that needs to be said, that nobody, not even the professionals, are saying."

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Among his highlights was a conversation with Barack Obama when he was first running for president and businessman Peter Drucker. He told the audience he was pleased that photographer Annie Leibovitz felt comfortable with him to reveal for the first time that she and Susan Sontag had been lovers.

He enjoys the fact that he gets to cover every subject, from politics to the arts.

He told the crowd, "As an old liberal-arts guy, I feel very lucky to have the platform to do this."

Connie and Ernie Houston drove 120 miles from Santa Maria to see Ashbrook because they are big fans.

"My husband introduced me to this show, and it was his birthday present during the fall pledge drive," Connie Houston said. "I'm impressed with Tom, but I'd like to say I'm proud of my husband because he joined the Marine Corps post-9/11 and having been a machine-gunner in the Marines and deployed three times in four years, I think it's amazing how smart he is and how critically he thinks about things, and that's why he loves Tom Ashbrook."

Ernie Houston said: "This is one of my favorite shows because he is an impartial host. I love it when he plays devil's advocate. When someone calls in, whether it's left, right or center, he always tries to pull out an alternative view. I love that he refers to his guest, who is usually an expert in the field. It's an all-around solid show with intriguing topics and interesting conversations. Today was amazing to see him in person."
KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Medical marijuana user Shari Sanders heads home from a visit to a juice shop in Thousand Oaks. She opposes the citys new ordinance banning personal cultivation of medical marijuana.

SHARE KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Shari Sanders, of Thousand Oaks, holds a medical marijuana cigarette. Sanders, who uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic pain, opposes the citys new ordinance that bans personal cultivation of medical marijuana. KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Shari Sanders, of Thousand Oaks, displays cannabis olive oil that can be used externally. KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Medical marijuana user Shari Sanders heads home from a visit to a juice shop in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday. Sanders, who uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic pain, told the Thousand Oaks City Council she opposes the citys new ordinance that bans personal cultivation of medical marijuana. KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Shari Sanders, of Thousand Oaks, displays items in her medical marijuana kit after a stop at a juice shop on Tuesday. Related Coverage Simi council to consider medical marijuana ban

By Mike Harris of the Ventura County Star

Commercial medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited throughout Ventura County.

Now, to meet a March 1 deadline under a new state law, six of the county's 10 cities  Camarillo, Fillmore, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Thousand Oaks and Santa Paula  are rushing to go a step further by formally banning small-scale, personal cultivation of medical marijuana. The Ojai City Council will take up the issue in February, but currently forbids personal cultivation.

Officials argue that they want to retain control over marijuana in their communities, while opponents contend that heavy-handed ordinances reduce patients' access to medicinal pot.

Geoff Ware, Thousand Oaks' code compliance manager, said city officials believe the new prohibition is consistent with the city's character.

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"I would say that when we looked at this as a whole, we just took into consideration what we believe to be the characteristics of what Thousand Oaks is," he said. "We felt that was the direction that best fit our city."

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Moorpark, Ventura and unincorporated areas of the county will continue to permit personal cultivation for qualified patients, which is allowed under the state health and safety code.

The Simi Valley City Council also has introduced an ordinance that will begin permitting personal cultivation, as recommended by the city Planning Commission, said Environmental Services Director Peter Lyons.

Planning Commission Chairman Scott Santino "just felt as if it was too restrictive to prohibit hospice patients from cultivation," Lyons said.

Under California Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 that was approved by 56 percent of California voters, cities cannot prohibit residents with a serious health condition and a physician's recommendation from using medical marijuana.

According to medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, more than 1.4 million Californians have used the substance for chronic pain, arthritis, migraines and cancer.

REGULATION ACT

But the courts have ruled that cities can ban all marijuana cultivation  commercial and personal  regardless of Proposition 215.

In response to the California Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, most cities in the county are adopting ordinances doing just that to the dismay of some medical marijuana users.

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"This ordinance doesn't regulate pot; it eliminates it," Todd Lundy told the Thousand Oaks City Council earlier this month.

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The regulation and safety act establishes a comprehensive state licensing and regulatory framework for medical marijuana. It requires cities and counties to have land use rules that regulate or prohibit commercial medical marijuana uses.

Cities that do not have such ordinances in place by March 1 will lose the authority to do so. The state Department of Food and Agriculture will then be the sole licensing authority.

And thus local cities and the county are scrambling to formalize, clarify and update their bans on the commercial cultivation, processing, distribution and delivery of medical marijuana.

The Fillmore City Council this month adopted a 45-day urgency measure banning medical marijuana's sale and cultivation  including personal, said City Manager Dave Rowlands.

"Several California cities have reported negative impacts of marijuana cultivation, processing and distribution activities, including but not limited to offensive odors, criminal activity, including violent robberies ... and public health concerns, including fire hazards and problems associated with mold, fungus and pests," states Fillmore's staff report.

The Moorpark and Port Hueneme city councils adopted their ordinances this past week.

The other cities' ordinances, plus the county's, have been introduced and are expected to be adopted by the March 1 deadline.

Before the introduction of the ordinances, many of the cities had de facto bans under "permissive zoning" land use regulations that did not expressively list dispensaries and commercial cultivation as permitted uses. The new ordinances will expressly forbid such operations.

Moorpark's Municipal Code has never addressed personal cultivation, and thus the practice is not expressly prohibited. It will continue to be permitted under the new ordinance.

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"We have not seen it as a zoning violation for someone to have marijuana for their personal use under the Compassionate Use Act," said Community Development Director Dave Bobardt.

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The Moorpark City Council on Wednesday also introduced a second ordinance to allow deliveries of medical marijuana to a qualified patient by a primary caregiver. It will be considered for adoption Feb. 3.

Delivery will continue to be permitted in unincorporated areas of the county.

Some cities, including Santa Paula and Thousand Oaks, say that once their ordinances are in place, they may revisit the bans and take a more nuanced, less restrictive approach without the threat of a state-imposed deadline.

SOME OPPOSITION

Some of the ordinances, such as Simi Valley's, were introduced this month without opposition from the public. Others, like those in Ventura and Thousand Oaks, drew considerable opposition.

Thousand Oaks resident Shari Sanders told the council she uses marijuana daily to help relieve chronic pain from a variety of ailments, including reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome.

"The main reason I'm against the ordinance is because it goes beyond commercial  it attacks personal cultivation," Sanders, 56, said in an interview. "Someone who is unable to leave their home and is very ill and they have limited income and they can't afford it. And now they're going to have to risk being turned into a criminal if they want to get a little plant to grow their own."

Sanders said she doesn't personally cultivate marijuana, but buys it from a dispensary in Los Angeles. Locally, Santa Barbara has legal dispensaries, too.

Sanders said that before she became ill a decade ago, she had been anti-marijuana, even divorcing her first husband in 1983 because he was a "pot-head and I didn't like it."

Chelsea Sutula, president of the Ventura-based Sespe Creek Collective, which delivers medical marijuana throughout Ventura County, also opposes the ordinances.

"There are thousands of qualified, compliant patients using cannabis for medical purposes in the county and none of these bans are drawn up with any of their concerns in mind," she said.

While the collective says it's a nonprofit and hence compliant with Prop. 215 and the state's subsequent Medical Marijuana Program Act, the proposed local delivery bans would threaten its business.

On its website, the collective urges its customers to proactively oppose the ordinances.

__________________

"Get involved," the site states. "Attend a meeting. Write a letter. Make a phone call."

__________________

Bert Perello was one of two Oxnard council members to vote against introducing that city's ordinance this month.

"I want to be clear: I'm not for recreational use of an identified drug such as marijuana," he said in an interview. "But I am for allowing people to use cannabis for relief of medical issues. That's why I felt I had to vote that way."

He said he has no problem with qualified patients personally cultivating medical marijuana under health and safety code guidelines.

The code allows patients with a serious health condition, a valid state-issued medical marijuana identification card and a physician's recommendation to possess 8 ounces of dried marijuana and to maintain six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants for personal medical use.

REVISITING BANS

Fillmore may yet allow personal cultivation, Rowlands said.

Now that the urgency measure is in place, the city's Planning Commission will consider a permanent ordinance, he said.

"A recommendation will be made to the City Council, which may or may not allow personal cultivation," he said. "The council has not yet addressed this issue."

Ventura County's few legal medical marijuana cooperatives will not be impacted by the local ordinances, said Ventura County Sheriff's Capt. Curt Rothschiller. The cooperatives are permitted to operate under guidelines of the Medical Marijuana Program Act, which in 2003 clarified Prop. 215.

The sheriff's office raided the Shangri La Care medical marijuana cooperative in Ojai in October as part of what Rothschiller said this month was still an open investigation into alleged violations of the guidelines. Shangri La denies any wrongdoing.

Thousand Oaks, meanwhile, has a business that evaluates patients for medical marijuana recommendations. It's classified as a medical office, which is allowed under current zoning. City staff is recommending it be allowed to remain classified as a medical office.
STAR FILE PHOTO

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By Staff Reports

Police are looking for the people who burglarized two Oxnard businesses Saturday morning.

About 4 a.m., one or multiple burglars smashed the windows of The Painted Cabernet and Taqueria Cuernavaca, authorities said. The owners of the businesses, more than two miles apart, were still taking inventory to determine what was stolen.

The Painted Cabernet offers wine and painting parties at The Collection. Taqueria Cuernavaca is a restaurant in the 1800 block of Ventura Boulevard.

The incidents occurred two days after a similar smash-and-grab burglary at the Super Sale 97 Cents Store at 2663 E. Vineyard Ave.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

Trend:

Azerbaijan's introduction of capital controls does not automatically have consequences for its 'BBB-'/Stable sovereign rating, Fitch Ratings says.

"Low debt and substantial external assets still support the rating, although the capital controls could damage the sovereign's credit profile through their impact on growth and financial stability," the statement said.

The move reflects the challenge of dual policy goals - preserving the value of State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) assets, and supporting the currency to maintain price and social stability, the statement said.

The measures will support the manat and reduce the pressure on buffers, which are a key strength of Azerbaijan's credit profile. But this may be offset by the impact of devaluation, capital controls, and low oil prices on the economy, budget, and banking sector.

Azerbaijan's external balance sheet is strong. SOFAZ assets were nearly USD35bn, 16 months of the country's total imports, at end-3Q15, but the government may be reluctant to use them to defend the manat as SOFAZ finances around half of the state budget and is also meant as a fund for future generations, the statement said.

The CBA has used regulatory forbearance to support the sector again following December's devaluation, lowering minimum regulatory capital adequacy requirements for Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios. This may bring some banks that breached ratios last month back into formal compliance, without changing their core economic capital position.

A mandatory fee of 20 percent on remittances for sending money abroad, which exceeds $50,000 during a year, was introduced in Azerbaijan, according to the amendments to the Law on currency regulation adopted by the parliament.

This charge does not apply to transfers abroad in relation to the cost of medical treatment, education, execution of court decisions and law enforcement agencies outside of Azerbaijan.

Currency exported as direct investment for the purchase of securities, real estate and land, as well as for the maintenance of Azerbaijani companies' foreign missions also will be taxed with a mandatory fee of 20 percent.

This charge does not apply to legal entities, the state share in capital of which exceeds 50 percent.
LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR The train bridge near the Santa Clara River between Ventura and Oxnard.

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By Cindy Von Quednow of the Ventura County Star

Officials are again warning Ventura County residents about the dangers of walking on or near train tracks after the practice cost an 18-year-old Oxnard man his life Monday.

Lisandro Licea was walking north in the middle of the tracks with a bicycle when he was struck by a northbound train at 3 a.m. Monday, Union Pacific officials said. The incident occurred on the train bridge near the Santa Clara River between Ventura and Oxnard.

The 76-car oil train used its emergency horn and brakes but could not stop in time to avoid a crash, officials said.

The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said Licea died of blunt-force trauma and ruled the death was an accident, not suicide.

Ventura County sheriff's Capt. John Reilly said his agency was investigating the crash and there was no evidence to indicate it was anything other than an accident. He said it's difficult to determine if Licea was distracted at all before the crash.

It does not appear that people use the bridge frequently to get across the Santa Clara River, but doing so is dangerous, Reilly said.

"We recommend people stay off the tracks," Reilly said. "Nothing good can come from being on train tracks."

The United States had 269 highway-rail grade crossing fatalities in 2014, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. California had the more than any other state, 33.

Ventura County Fire Department Capt. Mike Lindbery said that bridge is not designed for pedestrians.

"I don't ever recommend walking on a train trestle for a short cut, because it's not worth losing your life over," he said

He said that with the modernization of trains, sometimes people can't hear them coming. Wearing ear buds or earphones near tracks is an especially bad idea.

Francisco Castillo Jr., area director of corporate relations and media for Union Pacific, called Monday's crash an "unfortunate situation that could have been avoided."

"Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the victim," he said.

Castillo said Union Pacific works with the nonprofit group Operation Life Saver to educate the community on taking precautions near railroad tracks. According to Operation Lifesaver, a person or vehicle is hit by a train about every three hours.

The group says it has helped reduce the number of train and vehicle crashes from a 1972 high of about 12,000 to about 2,286 in 2014.

Castillo said train engineers and conductors are required to blow the horn when they see someone on or near tracks, as they did Monday. But it was dark, and by the time they saw Licea, it was too late to avoid hitting him, Castillo said.

He said the rail company works with law enforcement to determine exactly what happened. Typically footage is reviewed and tracks and the locomotive are checked.

"In general, we're proud of the fact that the number of cases Union Pacific has seen has decreased in the last 10 years, but we have a lot of work to do," Castillo said.
STAR FILE PHOTO Backed up traffic on eastbound Highway 126 in Santa Paula due to a crash.

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By Staff Reports

Caltrans will host public meetings on Wednesday in Fillmore and Feb. 3 in Santa Paula on a proposed safety enhancement project on Highway 126.

Caltrans is initiating studies for the project to enhance safety throughout the Highway 126 corridor and reduce potential conflicting traffic movements.

The approximately seven-mile project is between Hallock Drive in Santa Paula and E Street in Fillmore. Caltrans is considering options that include a concrete median barrier or a raised median island with visual markers.

The primary purpose of the meetings is to listen to agency and public concerns, including environmental issues.

Wednesday's meeting will be from 6-8 p.m. at Fillmore City Hall, 250 Central Ave.

The Feb. 3 meeting will be from 6-8 p.m. at the Santa Paula Community Center, 530 W. Main St.

Comments, suggestions and inquiries can be submitted by March 4 to: Tami Podesta, branch chief; California Department of Transportation; Division of Environmental Planning (SR-126 Safety Enhancement Project); 100 South Main St., Suite 100, MS 16A; Los Angeles, CA 90012.
CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Former foster parent Don Anderson wipes away a tear after speaking at Saturdays town hall informational meeting, as foster mother Liz Thiele listens. The event was at the Ventura County Human Services Agency offices.

SHARE CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Cedric Reichling and his son Leo attend Saturdays town hall informational meeting focusing on foster parenting. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR JudyAnn Miyara (right) was one of six panelists at Saturdays town hall meeting on foster parenting. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Angelina McCormick gives a presentation at Saturdays meeting. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Six people on Saturdays panel tell stories, share facts and answer questions on foster parenting.

By Jeremy Foster

JudyAnn Miyara remembers entering the foster care system at age 10 and feeling as if a dark cloud were hanging over her head.

Placed in the system because of neglect and abuse, she and her sister found themselves inside their first foster parents' home a year later, wary of what was to come.

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"I was given this grand tour of the house and told I was going to be part of the family," said Miyara, of Newbury Park. "It was a life-changing experience."

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She was among six panelists Saturday during a town hall meeting at the Ventura County Human Services Agency who shared their stories with prospective foster parents and caregivers.

Organizers said the goal of the meeting was to educate people about the need for foster parents, caregivers and mentors and encourage them to help provide the housing, healing, support and guidance that can give children in the system a sense of normalcy.

Miyara, 28, said she felt close, supported and loved by those who took her in.

"It was especially important for me when I was a teenager," she said. "I definitely needed someone to teach me how to balance a checkbook, obtain a driver's license and insurance, how to pay bills  how to be an adult."

Miyara wanted to encourage people to open up their homes. Nearly 1,000 youths in Ventura County are in foster care.

There are 200 active foster parents and 300 relative caregivers countywide. The agency is aiming to recruit 200 more, especially in Ventura and Oxnard, from which more than 80 percent of foster youths in the county come.

Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, who for 12 years has opened up his home to youths in need, said it was inconceivable that an area as prosperous as Ventura County does not have enough foster homes. He and others encouraged people to help however they can, even as foster parent ambassadors spreading the word.

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"Almost six of 10 youth placed in foster care are separated from their siblings," he said. "That speaks volumes about how big the need is. Every adult in this county is responsible in some way to take care of the defenseless."

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Panelists ranged from foster parents to foster youths to Ventura resident Lisa Olguin, who had lost and regained custody of her children.

Olguin, who on Saturday marked her fifth anniversary of being alcohol- and drug-free, told attendees she was frightened when her two girls and boy were placed in a foster home.

"I didn't know what you guys were going to do to them, even though I'd left them for so long," she said. She and the foster parent caring for her children built a partnership with the goal of reuniting her with her children.

"I met with her to see them get haircuts, celebrate birthdays and get awards," Olguin said. "She taught me parenting skills and inspired me to do better as a mother because I wanted to be just like her."

Camarillo resident Erick Alvarez was placed in foster care at age 10.

He recalled weeping for hours after he was placed in his first foster home.

"I locked myself in this bedroom and just cried," he said. "I didn't know why I was there, why my parents weren't there and who to blame."

Alvarez, now 21, called foster parents "miracle workers" and said that from them, he received unconditional acceptance and love.

"We're all here today not to become famous," he said. "We're doing this for the next generation of kids. We're coming alongside a defenseless child and letting them know it's OK."

Prospective foster parents must show financial and family stability. Visit http://fostervckids.org for more information.
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The 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade serves as a compelling reminder of our need to stand together to protect access to women's health care in our country.

With an unprecedented number of attacks by an unfriendly Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court poised to hear a Texas case directly challenging Roe, the stakes for safe and legal abortion in this country are higher than ever. As the most trusted provider of reproductive health care, Planned Parenthood is committed to delivering the full range of safe, compassionate health care services, and fiercely advocating for a woman's right to access care without government interference.

When politicians restrict access to safe, legal abortion, the consequences to women are devastating. Since the implementation of the Texas Legislature's 2013 House Bill 2, which cut access to providers of safe abortion from 60 to 10, researchers at the University of Texas estimate that between 100,000 to 240,000 women have tried to end a pregnancy on their own without medical assistance. Self-inflicted trauma and consumption of chemicals are just two unsafe measures women are taking to end their pregnancies. What is happening in Texas should leave no doubt that restrictive abortion laws are putting women's lives at risk.

In the coming months, the Supreme Court will issue a ruling on HB 2's restrictions. If upheld, the 5.4 million women of reproductive age living in Texas will be left with only 10 health centers that provide safe, legal abortion.

More troubling, a decision upholding Texas' restrictive abortion laws would not only be devastating to Texas women, it would be a green light to states that are similarly positioned to further restrict access to care.

According to a recent report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute, state politicians have enacted 288 restrictions on safe, legal abortion since 2010, dramatically impacting the landscape for women seeking an abortion. In 2000, 31 percent of U.S. women of reproductive age lived in a state hostile to abortion rights. By 2014, that increased to 57 percent. Today, for the first time since Roe, a majority of U.S. women of reproductive age live in a state that is hostile to their right to safely end a pregnancy.

Although California has strong measures in place to protect reproductive privacy  it was one of the first states to legalize safe abortion before the 1973 Roe decision, then codified Roe in 2003  our state is not immune to the onslaught of Congressional attacks being waged on women's health.

In California, defunding Planned Parenthood would, for many women, mean losing their chosen provider and, in some areas, the only safety net provider in their community. Currently, there are 115 Planned Parenthood health centers in California providing high-quality care to 800,000 patients.

Over 90 percent of services received at Planned Parenthood health centers include lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, prevention, testing and treatment for STDs, as well as breast health services, pap tests, sexual health education, information and health counseling. According to the California Primary Care Association, California's safety net providers do not have the ability to absorb the 800,000 patients who rely on Planned Parenthood for care in our state.

It's outrageous and wildly unpopular for politicians to attempt to push through legislation blocking women's access to health care. A recent Bloomberg Politics national poll found that 67 percent of Americans surveyed said the Supreme Court was right to rule that women have a constitutional right to abortion.

The vast majority of Americans agree: abortion is a deeply personal medical decision that should be left to a woman and her family, with the counsel of her doctor or health care provider. Politicians should not interfere with this deeply personal decision.

Jenna Tosh is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Santa Barbara, Ventura & San Luis Obispo Counties.
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Re: your Jan. 10 article, "Meeting overrun as rental fight rages":

The reason why there were so many homeowners wanting to participate in the Mandalay Shores Community Association (MSCA) meeting Jan. 9 is because change is happening in our neighborhood driven by a growing number of investor-owners using their homes for short-term rentals. And these rentals have begun to negatively impact our lives here at Mandalay Shores, one of the most densely populated residential neighborhoods in all Ventura County.

Scattered throughout our community, we now have the equivalent of commercial mini-hotels being rented by visitors who have no vested interest in our neighborhood.

Let us be specific, these short-term rentals are opportunistic commercial ventures that use online platforms to run commercial rental businesses. Zoning code laws keep hotels out of residential neighborhoods. But these commercial rentals ignore zoning restrictions and make virtually any residence into unsupervised and unaccountable mini-hotel/party houses. The result is that single-family homes at Mandalay Shores are now being rented to groups of 20 people and more. One home is advertised and used as a wedding and reception party destination.

If you live at Mandalay Shores and you're not being negatively impacted yet, you may not think this is an important issue. But make no mistake, short-term rentals open up a completely new bag of problems. We're a residential neighborhood, not a commercial district, but more than 50 homes at Mandalay Shores are now actively advertising to large groups and the number of rentals is growing.

Homeowners at Mandalay Shores adjacent to these mini-hotels have found liquor bottles, drug paraphernalia and even used condoms thrown into their properties after renter parties next door. Is that what our residents expected when they moved into Mandalay Shores?

And additional hassles that have increased here from this issue now include: large numbers of strangers walking around and on our properties, noise increases at all times of the day, and traffic and parking problems. It is also feared that crime and safety problems will increase.

We and other community homeowners believe the MSCA is trying their best to protect homeowners here at the beach but we need everyone to understand that if they fail, Mandalay Shores will never be the same. It is just a matter of time until everyone is impacted by this issue, which is nothing less than a battle for the heart and soul of our community. We understand the MSCA is doing the following:

1) Restricted rental time frames to six months minimum in the MSCA.

2) Raised MSCA dues from $20 to $50 per year so a management company can be hired to help deal with this issue and other community matters.

We would hope the city of Oxnard will help us with this issue since it hurts legitimate hotels in the city, reducing their business and the city's tax revenues. Our community guidelines now prohibit commercial entities and were specifically designed to give homeowners the tools to fight quality of life issues in our neighborhood, and short-term rentals is the most important quality of life issue our community will ever face.

Many decisions in life often come down to money and this one is no different. As residents of Mandalay Shores, we must decide whether we want to live here in our wonderful beach community or give our neighborhood away to investors so they can make money.

Ted Kuepper, Stephanie Brown and Brett Bednorz are residents of Mandalay Shores.
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Last November, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors made yet another run at redeveloping Fisherman's Wharf, the 11-acre gateway property at the entrance of Channel Islands Harbor. Supervisors voted to "solve" the problem of this rundown property by allowing a developer to build roughly 400 apartments on it. As The Star correctly pointed out in an editorial at the time, after 20 years of disappointment, we have every reason to be skeptical.

Over the past two weeks, developer Thomas Tellefsen has participated in neighborhood meetings to offer more details of the project. Last weekend at a crowded gathering at Hollywood Beach School in Oxnard, he presented preliminary drawings and summarized the project.

Although the tone of these meetings was friendly and informative, there were two elephants in the room: these outreach sessions were deliberately scheduled to come after the Board of Supervisors approved his lease option; and the project he outlined is largely apartments with a bit of retail and a few harborside public spaces, which is the exact opposite of a "Gateway to the Harbor," where the primary focus would be on public spaces and visitor-serving attractions.

At the November meeting, the supervisors unanimously passed the lease option proposal for this idea, though they were aware that building apartments on Fisherman's Wharf is not at all aligned with any of the long-term planning documents. Equally important, it goes directly against the public's vision for the harbor, clearly expressed in recent surveys.

Supervisor John Zaragoza responded to The Star's editorial, citing a list of development "successes" in the harbor  we know from recent surveys that almost none of our local residents would agree with him. County management of our harbor has fallen far short of what its citizens deserve.

The fact is that no grand master plan for the harbor will ever be implemented by the county or its Harbor Department because their primary mandate has always been to stay within a tight annual operating budget. No long-term vision, no ecological sensibilities, no ability to invest in anything of substance unless it can be shown to "make money" over a short time. This is what this new apartment project is all about: revenues for Ventura County. The public interest was not even represented at the table.

After 18 months of appearing at and participating in meetings with elected leaders and county officials, I have come to a different conclusion: it is not a question of whether our supervisors can understand the long-term vision for this harbor. They can  they're simply not in a position to execute on it.

Financially, the harbor is of no consequence to the county. The annual cost of the harbor amounts to 1/10 of 1 percent of its $1 billion annual budget. This fraction of 1 percent fails to capture its enormous potential as a focus for visitors, recreation and commerce. Channel Islands Harbor is just in the wrong hands  the ownership and management of the harbor need to change.

I recommend that Ventura County transfer all of its Channel Islands Harbor assets and operations to a quasi-governmental entity managed collaboratively by all the logical stakeholders  a port authority. This is a big idea and will require everyone's full engagement, especially that of the city of Oxnard. It has worked elsewhere and would work here.

Under the current structure, even with the best of intentions, there is very little that Ventura County can do to make Channel Islands Harbor into, say, another Dana Point. When they approve apartments as a "solution" for Fisherman's Wharf, it's not because they think this is a wonderful idea. It's because, financially, they have no alternative. This project is really a terrible decision. If it goes forward, it will cast a 60-year shadow over our harbor and a huge opportunity will have been lost.

Werner Keller is a resident of Oxnard and a director of the Channel Islands Community Association.


Comedy Magician Murray SawChuck found out this morning that illusionist Jan Rouven along with Raiding the Rock Vault will be moving to the Tropicana Las Vegas in November of this year.

Murray has had a very successful run of 2 1/2 years headlining at the Tropicanas Laugh Factory Theater. He is currently the longest running headliner at the hotel since Follies Bergere left a few years ago.

Murrays current contract with hotel goes through October 30, 2014. Murray is currently in talks with other casinos to move his show as Murray wont be extending his run at the Tropicana Hotel.

Murray said, I welcome Jan Rouven to the Tropicana Las Vegas as its been a great casino for me and I wish Jan a very successful run there!


Adult entertainers Mia Lelani and London Keyes hosted the night at TAO Nightclub at The Venetian Las Vegas on Friday (Photo credit: Brenton Ho).

Fueling up at the restaurant, Lelani and friends enjoyed the beef and broccoli, sea bass and orange chicken before heading up to the nightclub.

Joining the party, London Keyes danced the night away at a VIP table while taking in the sounds of DJ Mike Attack.
Staying up until the sun rises in Las Vegas is the norm for the citys hard-working professionals, but on Wednesday, May 2, Gallery Nightclub at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino will invite all of Sin Citys industry superstars to experience something new. The Strips hottest nightlife destination will throw a wild Spring Sleepover in honor of the professionals who keep Vegas partying.

The Spring Sleepover event will invite all guests to dress up in their most attractive slumber party attire, such as luxurious silk robes and tasteful lingerie. For revelers who eventually want to hit the sack, Planet Hollywood will offer discounted room rates for party attendees. For room and table reservations for the event, please call 702-818-3700.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

The Azerbaijani government intends to allocate $600 million to the International Bank of Azerbaijan in 2016, Fitch Ratings said.

"This shows the government's support for the country's largest bank," the statement said. "A small banking sector allows the government to support the bank. But the direct support of the banking sector can lead to the country's additional expenditure."

The International Bank of Azerbaijan was founded in 1992.

The main shareholder of the bank is the Finance Ministry on behalf of the Azerbaijani government, having 51.07 percent of stake in the bank's capital, while the rest part - physical and legal entities.
When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Cambodia this week, observers expect human rights and concerns over the Khmer Rouge tribunal to take a backseat to regional geo-political and trade issues.

Cambodian civil society wants pressure on the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen on election reform and ongoing persecution of the political opposition, which has seen the courts revive charges against Sam Rainsy, who is now once again in exile.

Kerry might also have been expected to confront the prime minister on his continued opposition to further trials against Khmer Rouge leaders, given that Kerry was heavily involved in early talks that led to the formation of the hybrid court.

However, Kerrys visit to Cambodia comes just ahead of a special summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) set to be held in California next month. During his trip, Kerry is also set to visit Laos, which along with Cambodia is seen as one of Chinas closer allies in the 10-nation regional bloc.

That means diplomatic and trade issues will be high on Kerrys list of priorities in meetings with Cambodian officials as the U.S. seeks to balance Chinese influence in the region, said John D. Ciorciari, a Southeast Asia specialist at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Cambodia and Laos have been among the most sympathetic to Chinese interests in the ASEAN region in recent years, and Kerry does not appear to be visiting Hun Sen to give a lecture on human rights, he told VOA Khmer.

Rather, their meeting will reportedly focus on expanding economic ties, an agenda reflecting the Obama administrations effort to keep Cambodia in play diplomatically in the broader context of the rebalance.

As a U.S. Senator in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Kerry visited Cambodia and played the role of broker, pushing the government to move forward with trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders, who at the time were living freely and in some cases prosperously, despite their reign of terror being blamed for the deaths of more than 1.7 million Cambodians.

The tribunal, known as the ECCC, has so far handed down just three convictions, but a relative flurry of activity toward the end of last year saw new charges brought and progress in investigations. Hun Sen has continued to argue that pursuing further cases could destabilize the country and the Cambodian state has ignored arrest warrants issued by the court.

I expect that Kerry is likely to be cautious in criticizing Hun Sen shortly before the special ASEAN summit, Ciorciari said. To the extent that Kerry is critical, he is more likely to focus on the treatment of Sam Rainsy and other opposition figures than the controversy at the ECCC. The tribunal may not feature very prominently on Kerrys talking points, which is an interesting twist given his pivotal role in the courts creation.

Shihoko Goto, senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, agreed that human rights and electoral reform were unlikely be the focal point of bilateral discussions in Kerrys crucially timed visit.

Instead, the core of Kerrys discussions with Hun Sen as well as with ASEAN leaders will be on trade, she told VOA Khmer.

The successful conclusion of negotiations toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement last year is a leading factor in U.S. relations with countries in the region, she said. ASEAN members Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Brunei are all founding members of TPP, and the deal could be an incentive for other member states to build ties with Washington.

Given that the TPP is an open trade deal that can allow new members to join down the line, Kerry will want to stress that TPP is open to other countries that are willing to adopt the higher trading standards as outlined by the deal, Shihoko Goto said.

If Cambodia were to express interest in joining TPP, it would further its relations with the United States and its commitment to international trade rules. It would also distance Cambodia from China, as China remains a non-TPP member.

The trade deal may have become more tempting to Cambodia in light of Chinas domestic economic woes. Growth there is slower now than at any time in the past 25 years.

Hun Sen has in recent years positioned his government as an ally of China, and welcomed Chinese aid and investment in infrastructure in return for diplomatic support, especially in regional talks touching on Chinas maritime disputes with other ASEAN members in the South China Sea.

All that easy money that was coming from China may not be so easy soon, said U.S. author and academic Peter Maguire, who has written books about Cambodia. So I think Kerry has many things on his plate and the [Khmer Rouge] tribunal is very, very small piece, he added.

There are signs that Cambodias ruling elite is aware of the risk of over-reliance on China.

During a visit to Washington, Hun Many, a Cambodian Peoples Party member of parliament and Hun Sens youngest son, touched on the subject in front of an audience on Wednesday at the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University.

The most serious question as you mentioned is the declining economic performance of China in which, yes, Cambodia relies very much so on the assistance, he admitted, adding that Cambodia needs many friends besides China, including the U.S. and Japan, as well as multilateral donors like the Asian Development Bank.

But I dont think its only the worry of Cambodia. Many Western countries actually worry about it as well, if I am not mistaken, Hun Many added.
U.S. officials are likely correct in their assessment that more of Irans sanctions relief money will go toward domestic concerns than to the war in Syria or funding global terrorism, analysts say.

Iran is facing so many pressing economic concerns  along with an upcoming critical parliamentary election  that its attention will be not be intensely focused on foreign affairs, they say.

The terms of a nuclear deal with global powers mean Iran will soon have access to as much as $55 billion of its $100 billion in frozen international assets.

"The Iranian government understands that it needs to spend considerable sums at home to increase its support among the Iranian people, so I doubt that all these unfrozen assets are going to wind up in Syria," said Barbara Slavin, acting director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a longtime Tehran watcher.

Speaking this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he also doubted a substantial part of the unfrozen assets would go to Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. The hard-line military force is reportedly fighting in Syria in support of the Syrian government, along with Russias military and Lebanons Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy.

"Theres no way they can succeed in doing what they want to do if theyre very busy funding a lot of terrorism," Kerry said of Irans leadership and its pressing internal needs.

Still, Kerry acknowledged in an interview with CNBC: "I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the [IRGC] or of other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists to some degree. Im not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented."

More IRGC casualties

Analysts say the number of IRGC and Hezbollah fighters in Syria grew substantially last year and casualties among them have mounted. The Iranian-backed forces are de facto ground troops for the Syrian government, especially in fighting rebel groups in suburbs around Damascus and, in a few cases, Islamic State fighters elsewhere in Syria.

Tehran reportedly increased the number of IRGC personnel in Syria in the final months of 2015, sending as many as 3,500 militia fighters to the front lines to defend Zeinab Shrine, a holy site for Shiite Muslims located in the southern suburbs of Damascus.

In a recent interview with Irans state-run IRIB TV2 channel, the IRGCs deputy commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, said that the number of Iranian casualties in Syria had increased as a result of an escalation in fighting with rebel forces. Among those killed were several high-ranking generals and a former bodyguard of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Iranian media reports.

Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said the IRGC has suffered 268 combat fatalities in Syria since January 2012. He said 143 of those deaths occurred after the start of the Russian air campaign in Syria last September.

"This is a clear trend showing an increase in ground level goings-on," Alfoneh said.

War coverage allowed

Iran appears to be allowing the domestic media to cover the troop deaths in Syria.

Afsaran.ir, an official social media outlet, covers the war in Syria by posting the names and photos of the casualties, under the banner "Martyrs in the defense of the Zeinab Shrine." In recent months, it has been touting the presence of Revolutionary Guard members and lauding their accomplishments.

Previously, Iranian media were banned from Syria coverage.

"It seems that the strategy has been changed and now we are not receiving any [orders] in that regard," said an Iranian journalist inside Iran, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity.

Some analysts say the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has largely shunned diplomacy with the West, now wants to show the world its prowess in Syria.

"The IRGC has tied its legitimacy to the conflicts and turbulences, so the victory of diplomacy threatens their being," said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Still, Irans foreign minister said this past week that it favors a diplomatic solution  one that would let Syrians decide whether President Bashar al-Assad should remain in power.

But analysts say if Assad ally Russia is willing broker a deal for a change in leadership, Tehran will have to follow.

"Iran is likely concerned about growing pressure for Assad to eventually step aside as part of any cease-fire or settlement," said Matthew McInnis, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"If the Russians are pressing the Iranians to be more flexible on Assad, Tehran may also be accelerating alternative plans to ensure influence over whatever leadership emerges in Damascus," he said.

'Easier' decisions on Syria

Meanwhile, Iran will continue to support Assad with troops and advice, and analysts say its likely some of the newly released frozen assets will help.

"The Islamic Republic's access to its frozen assets abroad certainly makes the decision-making in Tehran easier rather than more difficult," Alfoneh said, referring to Syria.

According to Said Nuri Brimo, a leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Syria, Iran is relieved that sanctions will soon be lifted.

"That gives the mullahs a greater access to more resources to carry on their involvement in Syria," he said. "Tehran wont abandon Assad at any cost and nothing will change Tehrans attitude towards Syria."

But analyst McInnis said Tehrans deeper involvement in Syria will depend more on how Syrias civil war plays out than how much money it has.

"Sanctions removal will allow for greater access to resources for the IRGC, but that will not be the determining factor for whether the IRGC will become even more active in Syria," he said. "Rather, progress on the battlefield will determine Iran's decisions. Additional resources will, though, allow for greater sustainment of IRGC activities."
Officials say a boat carrying 32 tourists sank Saturday off the coast of Nicaragua, killing 13 passengers, all of them Costa Rican, most of them women.

Nicaraguan spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said This is a great tragedy, truly painful, because they were our Costa Rican, Central American brothers and sisters who were vacationing in the waters of the Nicaraguan Caribbean.

Surviving passengers include Costa Ricans, Americans and Nicaraguans.

Officials say the boat sailed despite being warned that it should not because of inclement weather.

The tourists were visiting the Corn Islands, about 70 kilometers off of Nicaraguas mainland.

Authorities say the boats captain, who is also the owner of the vessel, has been arrested.
An army official in Burkina Faso said 10 soldiers have been arrested in connection with a pre-dawn raid Friday on an armory outside the capital, Ouagadougou.

Friday's raid on the Yimbdi armory came less than a week after al-Qaida-linked terrorists killed at least 29 people and wounded scores more, including many foreigners, in an upscale Ouagadougou hotel and nearby cafe.

Spokesman Willy Youmeogo, speaking Saturday, said all 10 suspects in the armory raid were former members of the country's presidential guard. He also said one civilian was arrested, describing him as a "religious" figure.

The guard was an elite unit of 1,500 members loyal to former President Blaise Compaore, who was driven from power in 2014 following massive protests.

The former French colony has undergone upheaval since Compaore's ouster 15 months ago.

Last year, his former spy chief, General Gilbert Diendere, used the unit, known as RSP, in an attempt to overthrow the interim government just days before presidential elections.

Diendere was jailed for treason and the RSP was officially disbanded.
Iowa's Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in the state that will cast the first votes for U.S. presidential nominees on February 1, has endorsed Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"No other candidate can match the depth or breadth of her knowledge and experience," the paper's editorial board wrote of Clinton.

For Republicans, the Register recommended Rubio as the candidate that could "chart a new direction for the party"  one that rejects current sentiments of anger, pessimism and fear and instead emphasizes "opportunity and optimism."

An endorsement for the Republican front-runner billionaire Donald Trump had seemed unlikely after the paper published a withering editorial last July calling on him to end his "bloviating sideshow" and drop out of the election.

Winners of the Iowa caucuses do not always go on to become their parties' standard-bearers in the November general election or even win the state's poll.

The paper had endorsed Clinton during her 2008 presidential run, saying she was distinguished by her "readiness to lead." Barack Obama ultimately won the Iowa caucuses and Clinton finished third behind John Edwards.

The same year, the Register endorsed Senator John McCain on the Republican side. He came in fourth in Iowa but went on to become the party's nominee before losing the general election to Obama.
Major credit card companies are expanding their efforts in emerging economies to help move from traditional cash exchange to electronic processing of transactions.

From merchants in local markets to full service commercial bankers, credit card companies are encouraging new technologies to facilitate the growth of electronic accounts.

According to Michael Fiore, MasterCards Executive Vice President of Global Product, there is a good reason the emerging countries to want money distributed differently.

Governments are very interested in cutting costs. Cash, he said, is actually very expensive for a government.

In fact, 1.5 percent of a countrys Gross Domestic Product is spent on handling cash... printing it, distributing it, securing it, collecting it, cleaning it. Its very expensive.

In addition, according to Fiore, theres a crime factor. Cash cannot be tracked, he told VOA in an interview conducted at MasterCards Purchase, New York, world headquarters. Its very difficult to do that.

In fact, tax evasion, the black market and money laundering are all typically using cash to avoid being tracked. Whereas, Fiore continued, electronic is a way to keep a transparent view of what cash is, how it is moving.

Cash still king

According to MasterCard, even with all the new technology applications, fully 85 percent of all transactions in the world today are in cash and only 15 percent electronic.

One of the major growth areas for electronic card companies is the developing world. Africa, India and Brazil are wider battlegrounds for card companies with vast numbers of people without bank accounts, and a growing middle class.

Scott Shay, chairman of Signature Bank of New York, told VOA in the developing world new technology can be extremely helpful in helping those societies leapfrog some of the development that we went through."

For example, he added, the fact that in the developing world countries can go directly to cell phones, it means they dont have to install the expensive infrastructure that weve installed in the United States and in other developed countries for our phone systems and for other telecommunication systems. They can leapfrog that.

Innovation is the key. MasterCards John Sheldon is in charge of innovation management. His offices in Manhattan have that cutting edge look.

He showed VOA the new hand-held facial recognition transactional software in action. The user validates a purchase with a picture of his or her face.

Electronic ID cards

In Nigeria, Sheldon has helped that country issue new ID cards.

He said, so many of the people, particularly in Africa, dont have a reliable means to verify their Know Your Customer data and therefore arent able to participate in the banking system. So one of the big things weve done as a business at MasterCard is work with the country of Nigeria and weve helped them issue their EID, which is their Electronic ID, which has information similar to a drivers license issued by the government."

According to Sheldon, It is a reliable data source so they can go ahead and participate in the banking system.

But the world is not standing still. Change is happening. Fiore of MasterCard gave an example of how his company is working with other emerging nations.

In South Africa, Fiore said, the government wanted to have a better experience in distributing Social Security. We worked out a system with South Africa to have Social Security distributed on a MasterCard.

"They now have a safe place to keep their money, he said, as opposed to having it in cash. Now, according to Fiore, 1-in-3 South Africans has an electronic account to use to receive their benefits.

In Egypt, the government has also made a commitment to move to cashless. With the help of MasterCard theyve created mandates to allow mobile network operators and banks to allow consumers access to electronic accounts.

Theres still a long way to go for a fully cashless society. Basically, it is up to governments to decide how and when they join the cashless world.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Fatih Karimov- Trend:

Iran is holding talks with the US to re-launch direct flights between the two countries, Abbas Akhoundi, the Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development said.

Iran Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has started negotiations with the US on the issue, Akhoundi said, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Jan. 24.

Referring to the negotiations on direct Iran-US flights, Farhad Parvaresh, Chairman and Managing Director of Iran Air, the Iranian flag carrier said that daily flights to New York used to take place before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and they will hopefully get resumed in near future.

Following the implementation of the nuclear deal in Jan. 16 Iran is now looking into the possibility of resuming direct flights to the United States in light of the removal of sanctions that have prohibited the country from doing so.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pledged at the 68th session of the UN general assembly in New York in 2013 to facilitate travel to homeland for Iranian expatriates residing in the US.

The US, and Los Angeles in particular, is home to hundreds of thousands of Iranian expatriates.

Travelers between Iran and the US currently have to change flights in a third country, usually in Europe or the Persian Gulf states.
From detailed orders to those who drive cars to instructions for storeowners on how, and to whom, they must display their wares, Islamic State militants have been determined to oversee every aspect of life in territory they control.

Analyst Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi of the Middle East Forum, a U.S.-based think tank, has amassed an archive of official IS documents. Collected since the terror groups rapid expansion in Iraq and Syria, the documents provide a fascinating and frequently horrifying glimpse into the self-proclaimed caliphate, often revealing the militants anxieties and obsessions  and, of course, their harshness.

Al-Tamimi began the online archive in January 2015 and has been adding to it ever since.

The most notable chronological pattern over time has been the attempts to restrict information access and dissemination  that is, information should come out to inhabitants within IS territory and from IS territory to the outside world only via IS-approved channels, Al-Tamimi told VOA.

This is evident in Internet access restrictions, warnings to IS members not to open personal accounts, preventing photos of battles being taken by personnel not working in the media departments. And now, most recently, the ban on satellite TV, he said.

The communications clampdown has endangered anti-IS media activists trying to send out information. In recent months, an IS assassination campaign against media activists has extended from Syria into nearby southern Turkey.

Strict regulations

One order instructs Islamic State followers not to discuss on the Internet news about the movements of your brothers. And there are strict regulations on the operation of public Internet cafes.

In some towns, cafes that rent Internet connections to users have been shuttered completely. Those that remain open in Raqqa city, the center of IS activity in Syria, have been ordered to record the identities of all patrons, except soldiers of the Islamic State and their families.

No cafes may allow wireless Internet connections outside their premises. Another directive states: Whoever is found with an Internet connection inside his home, office or any private place will expose himself to severe reckoning.

A major worry for the militants is the flight of trained medical personnel from major IS-controlled towns in both Syria and Iraq.

An ultimatum issued by militants in Mosul eight months ago  nearly a year after Islamic State fighters captured the Iraqi city  threatened seizure of the property of any medical professionals absent from their jobs for more than 30 days.

Another fixation is on education, and preparing children for the caliphate that IS says it will establish. Many documents in the IS archive deal with changing schools curriculum to emphasize the teaching of religion in the classroom.

Prayer, fasting and the observance of religious festivals account for many directives. Orders also detail medieval-style punishments to be meted out for crimes and infringements of the harsh Sharia code IS militants have imposed  including whippings, amputations, stoning and crucifixion.

A thief, for example, must have his right hand cut off and then displayed in public for three days, hanging on his neck, as recompense for what he has committed.

Harsher punishments

As IS militants expanded their territory and consolidated their grip, the punishments got harsher. Al-Tamimi notes that the degree and speed of implementation of Sharia was slower when IS militants first started to grab territory.

Security is uppermost in the minds of the jihadists. As the bombing campaign by the United States and its coalition partners intensified, more and more security directives were issued.

Signs stuck to cars of the Islamic State that distinguish them from others are to be removed in light of the ease by which they can be targeted by the enemy, one edict declares. Bans were announced also on GPS and mobile communications devices.

Travel restrictions stem from both security worries and the fear of a mass exodus of civilians from the so-called caliphate. Women under age 50 are not permitted to travel without an accompanying husband or close male relative.

And the militants demand clear reasons for wanting to travel  from needing medical treatment to collecting Syrian government pensions. Those who are ill can be accompanied by only one other person. All travelers must surrender deeds to their homes and cars as a guarantee that they will return home.
Unidentified attackers killed a police officer and four others in Yemens temporary capital, Aden, Sunday in a series of attacks targeting security forces there.

The attackers opened fire on a police vehicle carrying Colonel Taha al-Sobeihi in the violence-plagued port city's Mansura district, killing him along with a bodyguard and a female bystander, a security official said, according to the French News agency, AFP.

Al-Qaida and the rival Islamic State group are both active in the city, where jihadists occupy government buildings and are seen patrolling several districts and intimidating civilians.

They have claimed a string of attacks and assassinations in recent months.

Late Saturday, unidentified gunmen killed a soldier in Mansura, a security official told AFP.

The man was a recruit in a new force loyal to President And-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and trained by the Saudi-led coalition, which in March launched a military campaign against rebels who had overrun large swathes of the country.

Hadi last year named Aden as his governments temporary capital after Iran-backed rebels stormed the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.
The French president has began a three-day visit to India.

Francois Hollande arrived in the northern city of Chandigarh Sunday, where he was greeted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chandigarh was designed in the 1950s by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier.

Hollande is traveling with a large delegation of government officials and corporate leaders.

Modi is expected to discuss a multi-billion dollar deal with Hollande to buy combat airplanes from France.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss anti-terrorism strategies as both countries have recently suffered terrorist attacks.

Hollande will travel to the Indian capital later Sunday where he will hold talks with Indian leaders on Monday.

The French leader will be the guest of honor Tuesday at Indias Republic Day parade, celebrating the 66 years since the country adopted its constitution.
An Iranian judiciary spokesman said Sunday that about 100 people had been arrested since early January in connection with attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.

Protesters burned Riyadh's embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the city of Mashhad on January 2 following Saudi Arabias execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. A member of the kingdoms Shiite minority, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was accused of disobedience and sedition, and sentenced to death in 2014 after leading anti-government protests.

The violent demonstrations in Iran prompted Saudi Arabia to cut diplomatic ties with its longtime rival.

The latest arrest figures top previous public statements announcing 44 detentions related to the attacks.

An Interior Ministry official last week said the main suspect in the embassy protest was arrested abroad and extradited to Iran, according to Iranian media.
Iranian officials say the countrys flagship airline will finalize a deal to purchase 114 jets from Airbus when President Hassan Rouhani visits France on Wednesday.

Iranian media quoted Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi saying Iran Air and Airbus will sign the agreement. Akhoundi has not given any specific terms, including the price of the planes.

The cost will run billions of dollars, but Iran badly needs the planes to upgrade its fleet of passenger jets, which were subject to years of sanctions and suffered from a lack of maintenance. The international agreement on the countrys nuclear program that went into effect this month removed those barriers.

Rouhani was due to visit France in November, but the trip was postponed after the terror attacks in Paris. He said then he expected Iran to sign the Airbus deal during his visit.

Rouhani will be the first Iranian president to visit France in 17 years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed strong support for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank Sunday amid increasing pressure from hardline coalition members over an incident in the flashpoint settlement of Hebron.

"The government supports settlement at any time, especially now when it is under terrorist assault and is taking a courageous and determined stand in the face of terrorist attacks," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

Israeli troops on Friday removed several dozen settlers from two buildings in Hebron which the settlers had entered the previous day, saying they had bought them from Palestinians.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who authorized the removal, said the settlers had not received authorization to enter the buildings and were there illegally.

Israel will allow the settlers to return once their paperwork is in order, Netanyahu said.

Hebron is a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with several hundred Jewish settlers living in the heart of the city under heavy military guard among around 200,000 Palestinians.

The Israeli leader heads a coalition with only a one-seat majority in parliament, making him especially vulnerable to the demands of religious nationalists in his cabinet regarding settlements, which much of the international community opposes.
Secretary of State John Kerry is in Laos, where he will lay the groundwork for a February summit with leaders of 10 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries that will be hosted by President Barack Obama.



Kerry arrived in the capital, Vietiane, late Sunday. It is the first leg of a three-nation tour of Asia that also includes stops in Cambodia and China.



During his stay, Kerry and Asian leaders will discuss pressing regional issues, including the South China Sea dispute and growing concerns about North Koreas nuclear program.



In February, President Obama will host a special ASEAN summit in California. The gathering will be an opportunity for U.S. and Asia Pacific leaders to explore opportunities to broaden economic and cultural ties. Later this year, Obama travels to Laos, for an ASEAN summit, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.



What makes the visit [by Secretary Kerry] particularly significant and timely, said a senor State Department official, is that Laos has just taken over as the chairman of ASEAN.

In a Saturday briefing, the official added the U.S. had been doing a fair amount to support Laos chairmanship.



Kerry will continue talks promoting bilateral ties in Cambodia, another ASEAN country and one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.



However, the U.S. is also concerned about political strains in Cambodia, the senior State Department official said.



The relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party is fraught right now, said the official, who said Kerry would meet with opposition and civil society leaders as well as Cambodias prime and foreign ministers.



North Korea a focal point



Kerry will also visit Beijing during this trip, which comes after North Korea drew international condemnation, this month, for testing what it said was a nuclear device, for the fourth time since 2006.



In an odd way, every time North Korea does a nuclear test thats a moment of opportunity for the United States to try to convince China to cooperate more closely in punishing North Korea, said Scott Snyder, a Korean studies analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.



The U.S. has been pressing China, an economic lifeline to North Korea, to use its leverage to urge Pyongyang to stop what world leaders view as provocative action. Also, the U.N. Security Council, which includes China, is considering imposing additional penalties on North Korea.



In spite of Chinas friendly overtures to North Korea, it has experienced success in getting the North to tone down provocations, said the senior State Department official.



In the past, the Chinese have often quietly found ways to send a message that a North Korean leader simply could not afford to overlook, the official said.



The U.S. has also been urging China and its neighbors to seek a peaceful resolution to a maritime dispute in the South China Sea.





Earlier this month, regional tensions flared when China tested a runway on one of its artificial islands in the region. China and other Asia-Pacific nations, including Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines, have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.



Asia is the second leg of a five-nation tour for Kerry that also included stops in Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.

Watch: Report on Kerry's Talks in Riyadh
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Laos at the start of a tour of Asia that will also take him to Cambodia and China.

Kerry arrived Sunday in the capital, Vientiane for a two day visit. Communist Laos is the current head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

The groups members have concerns about Chinas growing assertiveness over competing claims in the South China Sea where China is constructing man-made islands.

President Barack Obama will host ASEAN members in California next month.

Kerry is expected in his trip to Laos to stress the importance of the bloc presenting a united front in response to Chinas claims.

The U.S. and governments with rival claims in the South China Sea say Chinas action threaten regional stability.

Kerry heads to Cambodia Monday night where he with meet with Hun Sen, Asias longest serving prime minister.

US-Saudi friendship: 'Nothing has changed'

Kerry arrived in Asia from Saudi Arabia, where he reiterated that the two nations have as strong a friendship as ever.

Kerry said nothing has changed as a result of the agreement the U.S. and five other world powers made with Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting billions of dollars in sanctions.

WATCH: Video report by Pam Dockins in Riyadh

His comments were similar to ones he made Saturday as he met with Saudi and other Gulf officials in Riyadh.

The talks came on the heels of a flurry of Iran-related activity, including implementation of the nuclear deal, Tehrans temporary detention, and release of 10 U.S. sailors and a negotiated swap that resulted in freedom for four Americans jailed in Iran. A fifth American was released by Tehran around the same time last week.



In spite of these developments, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said, I dont see a coming together of the United States and Iran.

Jubeir commented as he and Kerry sat side-by-side in a Saturday news conference.



I dont believe the United States is under any illusion as to what type of government Iran is, he added.

Although implementation has brought Iran relief from nuclear-related sanctions, it is still under U.S. penalties for activities including human rights violations and support of terrorist groups. Also, shortly after implementation of the nuclear deal, Washington imposed new sanctions on Irans ballistic missile program.

Sanctions relief



But some say the sanctions relief from implementation that, according to U.S. estimates, gives Tehran direct access to at least $55 billion in previously frozen assets, could empower Iran.

Iranians feel confident that they are being brought back into the international community and that their role in the region and the world will be better recognizes, particularly by the U.S. and Europe, said Atlantic Council Middle East analyst Nabeel Khoury.

This bothers Saudi Arabia because they dont trust Iran, he said.

In an interview with CNN, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed a similar sentiment.



We believe that Iran and Saudi Arabia can be two important players who can accommodate each other, in the region, he said.



But he added, Unfortunately, the Saudis have had the illusion that backed by their Western allies, they could push Iran out of the equation in the region.



Saudi Arabia-Iran tensions



Tensions heightened between Saudi Arabia, the dominant Sunni country in the region, and Shiite-led Iran following this months Saudi execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric. Protesters responded by storming Saudi missions in Tehran - a move that prompted Saudi Arabia to cut ties with Iran.



Saudi Arabia may have been trying to send out a broader message by executing the cleric, said Jonathan Schanzer, a Middle Eastern studies scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.



We [the United States] have made it worse, said Schanzer. The Saudis feel less secure and now they are taking matters into their own hands, he said.
The Lao Communist Party has undergone a change in leadership during its 10th Party Congress, signaling the country's future direction as it prepares to chair the Association of South East Asian Nations. The move came ahead of a visit to Laos by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The week-long Lao Communist Party congress was marked by the election of the 78-year-old party veteran Bounnhang Vorachit as the new secretary-general.

Bounnhang has long standing ties with Vietnam, dating back to military training and as a student. He succeeded Choummaly Sayasone, who had been in the post for 10 years.

State media said nearly 700 delegates representing the more than 200,000 party members attended the five day congress in Vientiane, the 10th congress since the Communist Party came to power in 1975.

The congress, coming just ahead of an official visit to Laos by Secretary of State Kerry, was also highlighted by promotion of the Foreign Affairs Minister Thongloun Sisoulith to the post of prime minister.

Seeking better relations with US

Diplomatic sources in Vientiane told VOA that Thongloun has been a long-standing advocate of rebuilding bilateral ties with the U.S.

But Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, stresses that overall policy is unlikely to change under the new leadership and the government will continue to face criticism over its human rights record.

The new leadership is more of the same. More of the same in terms of repression and constraints on civil society and basic freedoms," he said. "We have had some scandals in the recent past over disappearances or civil society activists and human rights violations  so that is expected to be maintained.



Analysts say the retirement of two pro-China politburo members may also weaken Beijings growing influence.

China has been Laos largest foreign investor, followed by Vietnam and Thailand.

Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad during the congress said the Partys goal was to see Laos shed its least developed country status by 2020 and further alleviate poverty.

ASEAN chairmanship



Carl Thayer, a defense analyst at the University of New South Wales, says Laos will have to balance its international diplomacy, with the country taking over chairmanship of ASEAN and hosting major world leaders, including President Barack Obama, in the coming year.

Obama is going to visit the region in May, particularly to Vietnam. Hes setting up in the last bit of the year where American diplomacy can go with Laos as (ASEAN) chair and try to keep it an independent and neutral course rather than leaning toward China which some people argue would be the case, said Thayer.



Analysts say by chairing ASEAN Laos will be under the international spotlight as the Communist Party looks to balance ties between China and Vietnam as well as focusing on economic growth.
Local governments in California are pushing to meet a March 1 deadline for authorizing or outlawing marijuana cultivation.

Lawmakers say the deadline was included by mistake in Californias first comprehensive medical marijuana regulations, approved by the state's legislature in September.

At issue is one paragraph in the 70-page document that would give the state authority to license growers in jurisdictions that do not have laws on the books by March 1 specifically authorizing or outlawing marijuana cultivation.

An emergency bill to strike the deadline is ready to go through the state legislature. However, the League of California Cities is advising its members to enact bans ahead of the March 1 deadline as a precaution to preserve local control.

Unless local bans are lifted or modified, they would make medical marijuana growers in those areas automatically ineligible for the limited number of agriculture licenses to cultivate marijuana.

The state expects to start issuing licenses in 2018.

Pot advocates hoped the passage of comprehensive medical marijuana regulations would encourage cities that have outlawed pot-related businesses to reconsider.
The media in Tehran said on Saturday that Japan plans to extend a contract to purchase crude oil from Iran.

Shana news agency - affiliated to Iran's Ministry of Petroleum - has reported that Japan's contract will be extended until April 2017. It added that the volume of oil that the country will purchase from Iran will also increase from the current level of 110,000 barrels per day. No figure was nevertheless provided on how much this will increase, Press TV reported.

Japan was one of the key clients of Iran's oil before the US-led sanctions were imposed on the Islamic Republic in 2012. Iran also hosted several leading Japanese companies in its oil and gas projects before the sanctions were put into place to encourage purchases of oil from Iran not only by Japan but also by many other international clients.

The prospects for the removal of the sanctions against Iran encouraged the Japanese officials to look for the avenues to return to the previous status of oil relations with Iran.

Accordingly, Shana says Tehran hosted several major oil delegations from Japan over the past months during which the Japanese officials emphasized that the country is ready to return to pre-sanctions status of oil imports from Iran as soon as the bans against sales of Iranian oil are lifted.

This past Friday, Japan announced that it had lifted sanctions on Iran following the implementation of a historic nuclear deal - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - with Iran last week.

The implementation of the JCPOA - which Iran sealed with the P5+1 last year - officially annulled sanctions on sales of Iranian oil beyond a ceiling of about 1 million barrels per day.

However, reports say the US is still maintaining certain economic sanctions against Iran.

That has left some companies cautious, with Japanese oil refiners saying they will keep using special government insurance to ship Iranian oil because of uncertainty over whether US insurers can provide coverage, Reuters reported.
Hindu devotees have made the trek to Malaysias capital for the colorful, feverish, annual Thaipusam religious festival; a celebration dedicated to the deity Lord Murugan, the son of Shiva and Parvati.

It is believed that on this day, Goddess Parvati presented a lance to Lord Murgan to vanquish the demon army of Tarakasura and combat their evil deeds. Therefore, Thaipusam is a celebration of the victory of good over evil.

Many devotees carry heavy kavaki, or burdens, that can weigh as much as 45 kilograms and that are loaded with milk, fruit and flowers for the various Murugan temples.The kavaki are decorated lavishly with peacock feathers and portraits of gods.

Celebrants endure feats of body piercing, including their tongues and cheeks, with hooks, skewers and small lances to show their gratitude to the deity.
Leaders of an armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon have opened talks with federal agents aimed at ending a weeks-long standoff.

Militia leader Ammon Bundy met briefly on Friday with an FBI negotiator as authorities tried to resolve the dispute over federal land policies. Some reports said the short meeting ended when Bundy left because the agent would not speak with him in front of reporters.

A separate account Saturday in The Oregonian, a Portland newspaper, said the meeting broke up when Bundy questioned federal agents' legal authority to operate in the jurisdiction without permission of the local sheriff.

The FBI has not commented on the meeting.

Bundy has repeatedly sought face-to-face dialogue with federal authorities in front of reporters.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that Bundy's group would stage a ceremony in which his followers would rip up federal grazing contracts that control livestock access to federally controlled lands.

Bundy's group began occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2. The group says it plans to open a 300-square-mile ( 775-square-kilometer) refuge for cattle in the coming months.
Preliminary results from Portugal's presidential election show center-right candidate Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa winning the presidency outright with at least 52 percent of the vote.

With nearly all votes counted, Rebelo de Sousa's nearest rival was shown carrying 23 percent of the vote and conceded defeat late Sunday.

Rebelo de Sousa campaigned on a platform promising stability and consensus building, and many analysts close to the election say he will provide political balance to the left-leaning anti-austerity parliament elected in October.

Although largely ceremonial, Portugal's presidency has ultimate power over the country's fragile ruling parliamentary alliance, with the right to dissolve parliament in the event of a crisis.

The polls are under tight scrutiny by the European Union, which is pressing Lisbon to adhere to strict economic policies agreed on in 2011 in return for an $85 billion bailout package.

The 67-year-old Rebelo de Sousa, a former journalist, succeeds outgoing President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who served two five-year terms.
For a second time in just over two months, Italian and French officials are polishing the welcome mat for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this week, hoping to begin a new chapter with the strategic Middle Eastern nation. This time, they hope it will bear fruit.

Rouhanis trip to Europe was originally scheduled for November, but abruptly canceled following the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed and wounded almost 500 people.

Now Rouhani has dusted off his aborted agenda, as he pays a groundbreaking visit to Italy, the Vatican and France to forge new ties with Europe as his country emerges from isolation.

He arrives in Italy on Monday, where he meets with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and other top officials, and speaks at an economic forum. He also holds talks with Pope Francis becoming the first Iranian leader to do so in almost two decades, before heading to Paris on Wednesday.

Back on international scene

Rouhani comes to Europe empowered by the lifting of international sanctions against Iran earlier this month, as payback for the nuclear deal struck with world powers in Vienna last year.

Irans return to the international stage is possible, French President Francois Hollande said last week, but signaled it was up to Tehran to realize this by reducing tensions in the Middle East, and notably with Saudi Arabia.

For his part, the Iranian president brought the message that Tehran was willing to do business with Europe, said analyst Philippe Moreau Defarges, of the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations.

Hes here to say to heads of government and to Europeans, we are a normal state, we want peace, we want to work with you and strike deals with you, he said.

Foreign investment

The Iranian leader may get one of his warmest welcomes from Italian and French business leaders, eyeing a market of 75 million people. Rouhani said Irans goal of 8 percent annual growth could only be achieved through billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Italian businesses like energy group Eni are eager to rekindle historically thriving business ties, amid a larger European push to reboot annual trade with Tehran to its pre-sanctions level of roughly $30 billion.

In France, Rouhani signaled in an interview with French media late last year that Iran was interested in doing deals in areas like car manufacturing, agriculture and aviation that will form the basis of our commercial agreements with France.

Noting several major French companies were already present in Iran, including Toulouse-based European aircraft maker Airbus, Rouhani added, we will buy from these big companies, notably Airbus.

Indeed, on the eve of his trip this week, Iranian Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi announced Tehran plans to buy 114 Airbus aircraft, as well as planes from US manufacturer Boeing.

For their part, French carmakers Peugeot and Renault are vying for Iranian business, while telecoms company Bouyges and Aeroports de Paris are reportedly in talks to construct a second terminal at Tehrans Imam Khomeini international airport. The Sephora beauty company and sporting goods retailer Decathlon reportedly also have plans to open stores there.

But French banks, including Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas, are more hesitant. They did not take part in a business delegation visiting Iran in September, underscoring lingering fears about the risks of investing there. Both were fined for violating U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

Nor is everybody sold on the opportunities in the Middle Easts second largest market after Saudi Arabia. The Iranian market is not the Chinese market, analyst Defarges said. And I think that many French businessmen are going to realize that theyre going to have to compete with many others, like the Americans, the British and the Germans. It wont be an easy game.

Diplomatic challenges

For his part, Rouhani faces diplomatic challenges. France and Iran have a long diplomatic history, but relations have been prickly in recent years.

While Irans spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spent part of his exile outside Paris, France today hosts many refugees from Irans subsequent 1979 revolution. That includes Maryam Rajavi, leader of the opposition People's Mujahedeen of Iran, which is based in the small French town of Auvers-sur-Oise.

Other roadblocks can be traced to Frances own diplomacy. Not only did Hollandes government adopt one of the toughest Western positions during the Iran nuclear talks, but it is among the most adamant voices demanding the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad  who counts Iran among his biggest champions.

There have even been gastronomic tensions. Rouhanis planned visit in November was overshadowed by reports of a cancelled state meal with Hollande over Iranian demands that only Halal meat and no wine could be served.

Iran, however, wanted to show it didnt hold grudges, Defarges said. It wants to show its not bitter, its willing to talk with anybody, including France, he said.

The context has also changed since Novembers terrorist attacks for which the Islamic State group, a shared enemy of Tehran and the West, has claimed responsibility. Defarges believes Hollandes government may be shifting back to Frances historically pragmatic approach when it comes to Middle East diplomacy.

Mr. Rouhanis visit to France will be easier than before the terrorist acts, because the French government knows now it must work with Iran, Defarges said.

Of course, Iran is not a very nice country, he added but in a balance-of-power situation, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Which is the case when it comes to the Islamic State.
South Sudans President Salva Kiir and his former vice president and rebel leader Riek Machar failed to form a unity transitional government Saturday, which was a key demand in a peace accord signed in Ethiopia to end the countrys conflict.

The rebels, or the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/IO), refused to send the names of their proposed ministers to be included in the yet to be formed administration. They also accused Kiir of unilaterally establishing 28 new states, which they said violates the terms of the agreement.

Botswanas former president Festus Mogae, who heads the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), tasked with implementing the agreement, warned that the establishment of the 28 states could hinder the implementation of the deal.

Ateny Wek Ateny, spokesman for President Kiir said the government in Juba was not to blame. He said Kiir is unlikely to change his mind on the 28 states, since he said a majority of South Sudanese supported the move.

It was unfortunate that the national transitional government was not formed yesterday in accordance with the JMEC timetable because the SPLM/IO [rebels] did not submit the list of those who were designated for ministerial positions. So the president cannot appoint an empty seat, said Ateny.

The issue of the 28 states is now the issue of South Sudan so the president is not ready to rescind the order. If the SPLM/IO become adamant that they wanted to only implement peace agreement on the basis of only 10 states, then that would be unthinkable, unless they accept the 28 states. Because they themselves divided South Sudan into 21 states, President Salva Kiir only added 7 states to become 28 states.

The rebels said it appeared the government in Juba was disinterested in the full implementation of the agreement since Kiir was unwilling to change his mind on the 28 states.

Fragile peace



Critics warn the disagreement could undermine the fragile peace in the country after over 20 months of conflict which left hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced from their homes.

Critics said the government was demonstrating bad faith and undermining the agreement President Kiir signed to end the conflict.

Ateny disagreed. He said it was the responsibility of the government in Juba and the SPLM/IO to ensure the country was peaceful as demanded by South Sudanese.

It is the rebels who are doing this as a scape goat for them since they have seen the international community represented by the JMEC [has] also said the establishment of the 28 states will be an impediment to the implementation of the agreement. The rebels want to replicate the same position, but the truth of the matter is that The best thing for us is to bring peace to the people of South Sudan and not to dwell on the issues of 28 states, said Ateny.
Syrian forces recaptured the town of Rabia Sunday, continuing their string of victories over rebels in the northwestern province of Latakia.

Rabia is about 10 kilometers south of the Turkish border and is one of more than a dozen areas the government said its fighters took control of in recent days.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in Syria, said the pro-government troops were backed by Russian airstrikes and strategic help from Russian military officers.

In eastern Syria, the Observatory said Sunday that airstrikes by Russian and Syrian warplanes killed at least 164 people in the last three days in Deir Ezzor province.

The dead included 43 children in four separate towns.

Airstrikes on Raqqa



The Observatory also reported 44 deaths from Russian and Syrian airstrikes in Raqqa, the northern city that serves as the de facto capital for the Islamic State group.

The latest violence comes as the United Nations works to bring opposition groups and the Syrian government to Geneva for a new round of peace negotiations.

U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura wanted the talks to begin Monday, but with disagreements over who will take part, the start will likely be delayed for at least several days. He plans to give a briefing Monday afternoon to update the situation.

The conflict has raged in Syria since March 2011 and left more than 250,000 people dead. Millions more have fled the country, while many of those who remain are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Afghanistans Taliban has restated certain preconditions prior to ceasing hostilities, and has stopped short of formally rejecting a U.S.-backed four-nation process aimed at promoting Afghan peace.

The Islamist insurgency presented these views through its chief peace negotiator, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, at an unofficial two-day dialogue of Afghan stakeholders that concluded Sunday in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The Track Two discussions come as senior officials from the United States, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in regular four-way discussions aimed at clearing the way for direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Peace should not be used as an instrument for achievement of ones political, personal and party objectives. Unfortunately, foreigners and the Kabul administration are [now] engaged in these activities and do not have a real intention for peace, Stanekzai said, without directly referring to the four-way peace process.

Pugwash Conferences, a Nobel Prize-winning group promoting solutions to the armed conflicts, hosted the Qatar meeting.

Taliban and Afghan government envoys as well as civil lawmakers, society and peace activists were invited to the Track Two conference for the informal discussions on ways to end the war in Afghanistan. Former Afghan interior minister Umar Daudzai and an uncle of President Ghani, Abdul Qayyum Kochi, were among the participants, but no government representative attended the meeting, according to foreign ministry officials in Kabul.

Taliban sources said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in a written message to the conference, accepted the Taliban as a political opposition and said his government was ready to hold direct peace talks.

The sources added that acting Afghan Defense Minster Masoom Stanekzi sent Ghanis message to the gathering on the final day.

It is a positive sign because previously the Afghan president was demanding China, the U.S. and Pakistan put pressure on the Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table, said the Taliban sources.



There is no official word from Kabul, however, on who attended the Qatar dialogue, nor have the organizers issued a concluding statement about the deliberations.

Taliban chief negotiator Stanekzai, head of the Talibans political office in Doha, told the meeting his group wanted complete withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops and establishment of an independent Islamic system in the country before it considered rejoining peace talks for ending the 15-year war.

He went on to demand official recognition for the Talibans Qatar office, release of its prisoners, removal of U.N. travel and financial restrictions on Taliban leaders, and an end to what he said was poisonous propaganda against the insurgent group.

Stanekzai insisted that these demands must be met before starting the peace process to ensure feasible progress towards peace.

The Taliban negotiator reiterated it wants\ed direct negations with the United States to discuss issues such as agreeing on a deadline for withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and removal of Taliban leaders names from a U.S. list of rewards for their arrests.

But as to issues pertaining to the Afghans, the Islamic Emirate believes, the Afghans have preparedness and capability to resolve these issues themselves, said Stanekzai.

He said the Taliban was committed to civil activities such as freedom of speech and womens rights in the light of Islamic rules, national interests and values.

But the insurgent group is being widely condemned for last week's suicide attack against a mini bus carrying staff of the country's biggest television station, Tolo news.

The car bombing killed seven employees of the media group and wounded more than 20 others. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the TV was airing anti-Islam, anti-Taliban and anti-Afghan reports to malign the group, and accused Tolo news of working as an "intelligence network."

The violence sparked a national and international outrage, and has led to street protests in many Afghan cities.
Thailand has confirmed its second case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS.

The Public Health Ministry said Sunday the disease has been detected in a 71-year-old Omani man who arrived in Bangkok Friday.

Authorities are monitoring a number of people who came in contact with the man, including his son.

Thailands first MERS case was another man from Oman last year who survived the disease.

MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered China's deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

MERS was first identified in humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012.The majority of cases have been in the Middle East.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Italy on Saturday to call for legal recognition for gay couples and their children.

From Milan in the north to Palermo in the south, supporters of civil unions carried rainbow-colored flags, balloons and signs asking Italy to "wake up" to the need for a law on civil unions.

Italy is the only major Western European country not to have enacted civil union legislation allowing same-sex couples to have their relationships acknowledged and protected by law.

On Thursday, the Italian Senate will begin debate on a bill that would legalize civil partnership for gay as well as unmarried heterosexual couples. Many opponents see the bill as a first step that would lead to the legalization of gay marriage.

Opponents of the bill are planning a counterdemonstration on January 30 at Rome's Circus Maximus.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the self-styled "Family Day," organized by Catholic groups.
As Washington digs out from a blizzard, congressional debate on the climate will heat up this week when the Senate takes up a far-reaching bill to reform and modernize Americas energy sector.

An energy revolution has occurred in our country, said the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Republican Lisa Murkowski of energy rich Alaska.

Having lifted a ban on U.S. oil exports, lawmakers will consider provisions facilitating Americas export of natural gas and domestic production of strategic raw minerals. The bill also seeks to upgrade Americas electric grid and promote energy efficiency in government and commercial buildings.

Murkowski says, if implemented, the legislation will help make the United States a global energy superpower.

It will help America produce more energy. It will help Americans pay less for energy. We agreed to boost liquefied natural gas exports to boost our economy and the security of our allies. We agreed to promote hydropower, not to mention geothermal and other clean, renewable resources, she said.

Locked in a global battle

The bill aims for a delicate balance between competing partisan interests. On the one hand, it seeks to satisfy defenders of the fossil fuel industry, like Republican Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota.

We are locked in a global battle to determine who will produce oil and gas in the world in the future. Will it be OPEC, Russia, Venezuela? Or will it be us? Hoeven asked.

At the same time, it aims to win the support of lawmakers worried about climate change. Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse comes to the Senate floor every week the chamber is in session to deliver a speech on the perils of a warming planet.

2015 was the warmest year ever recorded on earth. Thats a fact. And its not an anomaly, Whitehouse said last week.

Far more important than the support of any one senator is that of President Barack Obama, who can sign or veto legislation. Late last year, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed an energy overhaul that envisions a prominent role for fossil fuels well into the future. The bill got just nine Democratic votes, and the White House says Obama will veto it if the legislation reaches his desk.

Amendments as wildcard

In its current form, the Senate version appears to have enough bipartisan support to advance and pass the chamber. But individual senators can propose amendments that, if adopted, could alter vote totals and decide whether the bill earns the presidents backing.

Having committed the United States to a landmark global climate pact, Obama wants to steer America to a clean energy future. He spoke at length about climate change and energy at his State of the Union address earlier this month.

Weve cut our imports of foreign oil by nearly 60 percent, and cut carbon pollution more than any other country on Earth. Gas under two bucks a gallon aint bad, either, the president said. The jobs well create, the money well save, the planet well preserve -- that is the kind of future our kids and our grandkids deserve. And it's within our grasp.

The Obama administration has imposed carbon emissions restrictions on U.S. power plants, and restricted drilling and mining for fossil fuels on federal lands. Both actions irk Murkowski.

President Obama has ignored the good work going on in Congress as he attempts to unilaterally recast our nations energy policy. His gauntlet of burdensome regulations, many just beginning to take effect, threatens the affordability and reliability of our energy, she said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first head of state visiting Iran since sanctions were lifted on Tehran, is poised to sign letters of intent with the Islamic Republic for a new chapter in strategic economic cooperation, Press TV reported.

Xi, who arrived in Tehran on Friday night, was officially welcomed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday.

The Chinese leader, who made great contribution to the signature of Iran's landmark deal with world powers last July, hopes to further boost his country's traditional friendship and economic engagement with Iran.

China, a top oil consumer, has been a top buyer of Iran's crude. Even after international sanctions targeted Tehran's energy sector, China continued its cooperation with Iran by purchasing oil and developing energy projects.

Upon arrival in Tehran, Xi said that Iran and China, whose friendship dates back to 2,000 years ago, have made important contribution to human progress.

He said establishment of political relations between Iran and China has resulted in important achievements in the political, economic and cultural sectors.

Iran and China signed 17 documents for cooperation in economic, industrial, cultural and judicial fields in the presence of the two countries' presidents.

The documents included one signed between Iranian and Chinese nuclear chiefs for peaceful energy cooperation.

Others involved documents for environmental cooperation, financing of a bullet train railway and banking cooperation.

The Chinese president's trip to Tehran is the last leg of his three-nation tour which has also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The value of trade transactions between Tehran and Beijing stood at some $52 billion in 2014. However, the figure dropped in 2015 due to decreasing oil prices.

'New chapter'

Xi said, "In cooperation with the Iranian side and by benefiting from the current favorable conditions, China is ready to upgrade the level of bilateral relations and cooperation so that a new chapter will start in bilateral relations in the long term."
An especially tall American would stand out in most places around the world.

But when John Cole, 23, a towering 7-footer, joined the Kurdish Peshmerga forces as a volunteer, he became an instant celebrity. Kurdish female fighters nicknamed him the "Long Tiger." Peshmerga troops came from miles around to have their pictures taken with him. Inside Kurdish houses, Cole says he literally hits his head on the ceilings.

"I joined Peshmerga because I love the Kurdish people," he told VOA. "They are very kind and share everything they have. I joined to stop Islamic State terrorism from killing the people I love."

Cole's visible status among Kurdish forces has put a spotlight on the quiet but steady flow of foreign fighters joining the Kurdish ranks  especially from the United States.

In recent months, dozens of Americans have traveled to join the Peshmerga, according to interviews with Kurdish commanders and a few American volunteers.

"Right now, 120 foreigners from America, Canada, Europe and other countries who want to volunteer are in contact with me," Tariq Ahmed, the deputy commander of Peshmerga forces in Kirkuk, told VOA.

Most are advisers

Commanders say they are strictly volunteers and are not paid, but are given shelter, food and contact with troops. Foreign fighters do not appear in video footage of frontline battles against the Islamic State.

Most seem to be acting in advisory roles. And like Cole, who says he comes from Charlotte, North Carolina, and previously worked in the medical biohazard field, volunteers reveal scant details about their personal lives  even to their Kurdish commanders.

They include Kat Argo, a freelance journalist from California who has worked in war zones. Argo told VOA she joined the Peshmerga to fight against IS and provide humanitarian assistance to war refugees.

Joe Pollard, another American volunteer, said he is a U.S. military veteran who did several tours of duty in Iraq after 2003. He told VOA that he joined the Peshmerga to free "Kurdistan" from IS oppression.

Spike in flow of Westerners

Jabar Yawar, chief of staff for the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Peshmerga, told VOA that his ministry has no data about the number of Westerners who have volunteered to join the Kurdish forces.

"We won't allow the fighters to come officially," Yawar said. "They come to Kurdistan as civilians. We have no connection to them. We have no documents, no data and no information about the volunteers."

Halgurd Hikmat, the spokesman for the Ministry of Peshmerga, told VOA that the arrival of foreign volunteers is a relatively new phenomenon that has spiked as Kurdish fighters increasingly battle IS.

"We do not provide them any compensation," Hikmat said. "But they are treated as equals to Peshmergas if they are wounded, crippled or martyred.  We have even provided reparation salaries to the families of the volunteers who were martyred in the battlefield."

Hikmat said there has been one casualty among foreign fighters.

Kurdish commanders say they provide the volunteers with food, accommodation and training.

"We also provide them with AK-47 weapons that belong to the Ministry of Peshmerga," Muhsin Muhammad, chief of the Peshmerga Health Directorate, told VOA.

But commanders say the volunteers generally need little training.

"The volunteers are mostly veterans, and it will take them less than an hour to learn how to use our Kalashnikovs, as they have willingness and desire to learn," Dler Mawati, the deputy head of the Peshmerga Affairs Committee of Kurdistans parliament, told VOA.

Special bond

Cole said that he has not received training and doesn't need any.

"I have pre-existing weapons and anti-terror training, as well as minor medical training," he said. "I can handle anything that comes my way."

Cole said he works at a Kurdish logistics base in the Makhmur frontline south of Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan's capital. He assists in supplying other bases with water.

He said he plans to participate in the Kurdish offensive against IS in months to come.

"The American people and Kurds have a special bond that can't be broken," Cole said. "I miss my family a lot. But me being here fighting [IS] will give them a safer future."
Evidence. Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/2014 Getty Images

On Thursday night, lauded screen actor Jessica Chastains grandmothers dog, Livvy, disappeared. Last seen: The McDonalds at 2565 Springs Road in Vallejo, CA (heres a street view of the establishment). On Saturday, similarly lauded screen actor Mark Ruffalo lost his cell phone and drivers license amid the furious snows of New York City (heres a tally of the snowfall there last night). Are these cases related? Could they be? Ruffalo and Chastain have not collaborated on a film together, but once, Ruffalo interviewed Chastain for Variety. According to his official Tumblr, She has some good stories.

On Instagram, Jessica Chastain promised a reward for whomever found Livvy. Then she thought about hugging Emily Blunt (as we all do in trying times), promoted a high-end watch brand, and played with her own dog in a blizzard. Then, around 6 p.m. EST yesterday, Livvy was found. Good work, humanity. Good work.

Mark Ruffalos odyssey was more brief, though no less harried. After the first tweet, he posted a second in desperation. Then, the fates took pity. Less than 18 minutes later, the phone was found. Ruffalo thanked Amenaide and Catherine Brown, the girls responsible for finding his wallet.

Case closed.

Or is it?

Did you pay attention? Did you notice that Jessica Chastain was also in the snow in New York in on Saturday night? Did you wonder whether Chastain may have encountered Ruffalo in the depths of the storm, the two passing like spies in a John le Carre novel, operating within webs of intrigue that trap us (and possibly them) like flies?

Did you remember where Jessica Chastains grandmothers dog disappeared? Did you realize that many of the Zodiac killers crimes took place in Vallejo?

Did you see Zodiac? Did you remember that Mark Ruffalo was in it?

Jessica Chastain and Mark Ruffalo have appeared in one interview together. According to his official Tumblr, She has some good stories.
UNICODE Photo: Mihai Chitu/Big World Pictures

Allow me to start this review with a random, somewhat personal digression. About a decade ago, at the Istanbul Film Festival, I saw a marvelous documentary called Whose Is This Song?, made by the Bulgarian filmmaker Adela Peeva. In it, she charted the course of a popular folk song that she had heard one night in Turkey; realizing that she had grown up hearing this same melody in Bulgaria, she decided to find out where else it appeared. To her surprise, the tune (which we know in Turkey as Katibim or Uskudara Gider Iken) turned up all over the Balkans  in Greece, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, and elsewhere  and in each place it had a totally different meaning and history. In one place, it was a love song; in another, a battle march; elsewhere, a religious hymn. These were cultures that had, in some cases, hated and killed each other for centuries. But the melody subtly united them, making it clear that they werent all that different from one another.

I bring this up because Romanian director Radu Judes Aferim! had a similar effect on me. Aferim is an old Ottoman expression meaning well done, or bravo. But as evidenced by the film, which is set in Romanias Wallachia region in the 1830s, its used in multiple languages  a slight, ironic expression of unity in a world of corrosive distrust. Everybody in Aferim! seems to hate and demean everyone else. And yet, they all seem like parts of the same blend of cultures  not a melting pot, but sort of a stew  that reasserts itself throughout the film.

The plot follows local lawman Costandin (Teodor Corban) and his son Ionita (Mihai Comanoiu) as they pursue Roma slave Carfin (Toma Cuzin) who has reportedly stolen and fled from the clutches of a local boyar, or nobleman. (In truth, Carfin was seduced by the boyars wife.) Costandin and Ionita spend much of the first half of the film riding through the forbiddingly beautiful countryside, often in long-shot, bantering with each other and whatever passersby they come across. Costandin is a fount of wickedly funny insults: He doesnt seem to like anybody, and he has a fable, or an anecdote, or a myth, or a proverb, or a poem to offer as vague explanation why. He insists, however, that hes a nice guy: Though Im as harsh as a hot pepper, born of father Garlic and mother Onion, I treat people kindly, he says at one point.

And its not like the people they meet are much better. One priest goes on a rant in which he lists whats wrong with every nationality, or ethnicity. (Armenians are lazy  Turks have many wives, Arabs have many teeth  Greeks talk too much.) Meanwhile, the films nonstop expressions of contempt and fear provide a sharp contrast to its visual beauty (shot in widescreen black-and-white by Marius Panduru), its ambling demeanor, and Judes generous use of the frame. Visually, people are always seen together in Aferim!  close-ups are rare  as if the very image itself were putting the lie to their exceptionalist world-views.

Still, no matter how much people despise each other in this film, it seems that they have infinite reserves of scorn set aside for the Roma (or gypsies, as they were once called), used as slaves and demeaningly referred to as crows. Everybodys got a story about how awful they are. But once they find Carfin and begin their journey back, Costandin and Ionita begin to warm to the man. On their way back, Costandin even seems to suggest that the boyar wont be too harsh on the runaway slave.

Like much of Romanian cinema, Aferim!s narrative and stylistic gambit doesnt quite click until the final scenes, when the verbal cruelty demonstrated throughout the film  a cruelty whose creativity and elaborateness even provokes its share of laughter at times  finds its analogue in real-world physical cruelty, in a scene thats almost unbearable to watch and which speaks to where the real power in this world lies. At this moment, this drifting, talky road movie and its chatty characters find themselves at a loss for words. And suddenly, a land in which people were ironically united in their hatred for one another, truly feels like it has been broken into pieces.
Photo: Steve Jennings/WireImage

The Flint water crisis has been, to quote the governor, a disaster. Celebrities (like Cher) have been campaigning and donating money and water to help the residents of Flint. The latest act to contribute is hard-rockin icons Pearl Jam, who pledged $125,000 and are rallying to raise up to $300,000 with their fans and partners (you can donate here); Jack White and his Third Man, also using a CrowdRise campaign; Big Sean, another CrowdRise; and Meek Mill, who sent 60,000 bottles of water to Flint and reportedly donated to the Flint Child Health and Development Fund. According to Pearl Jams website, Monetary donations will first be used for the purchase of water filters, bottled water, emergency support services and prevention efforts in Flint, Michigan. After the short-term need of Flint residents has been met, any remaining funds will be directed to the Flint Child Health and Development Fund. This fund will provide aid to children and families with interventions that support positive health outcomes.
Lutheran Sunset Ministries was recognized as the Employer of Excellence for Bosque County at the Workforce Solutions 18th Annual Awards of Excellence Banquet.

The award recognizes employers who have created or used innovative approaches to create or retain jobs and foster economic development and community relations.

The award was accepted by Lutheran Sunset Ministries President/CEO Rodney Rueter and director of human resources Kyle Marlin.

Lutheran Sunset Ministries in Clifton offers retirement living, assisted living, long-term care, rehabilitation/therapy, memory support, hospice and companion services.

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Lutheran Sunset Ministries director of human resources Kyle Marlin (left) and President/CEO Rodney Rueter accepted the Employer of Excellence for Bosque County award at the Workforce Solutions 18th Annual Awards of Excellence Banquet held last week. The award recognizes employers who have created or used innovative approaches to create or retain jobs.

Andrea Hikel photo
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 24

By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:

A recently signed agreement allows Chinese banks to open branches in Iran, while others underline high-speed railroads, fiber-optic communication, etc., Deputy Chairperson of Iran-China Joint Chamber Fatemeh Bayat said.

The Export-Import Bank of China is also going to finance feasible projects in Iran, she said, Fars news agency reported January 23.

Iran and China have signed 18 contracts that cover areas as diverse as economy, culture, politics, security, military, and law.

The contracts are of first degree and in fact the most extensive and friendly contracts that can be signed by two countries, Bayat noted.

The contracts were signed during a Tehran visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping who had arrived a day earlier.

Meeting Jinping, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran and China aim to boost bilateral trade to $600 billion in 10 years.

Developing free and industrial zones has been another point of agreement, one of which is the Jusk area, Bayat stated.

She added China is going to sign usance contracts for export of raw material and machinery.

China was Iran's supporter in past years when the Islamic Republic was under harsh international sanctions.

The value of trade exchanges between Tehran and Beijing stood at some $52 billion in 2014. However, the figure dropped in 2015 due to decreasing oil prices.
Nancy Grayson has already worked magic in East Waco by starting a charter school and a bakery. But for her next trick  building skinny, New Orleans-style cottages just off Elm Avenue  she needs the assistance of city hall.

An ordinance that goes before the Plan Commission on Tuesday would cut the minimum house lot size in downtown area neighborhoods by half, if certain conditions are met.

That means property could be subdivided into lots as small as 3,000 square feet and as narrow as 30 feet, allowing up to eight 1,000-square-foot houses to be built on one side of a block, city planners say.

The ordinance would fulfill a stated goal from the citys Imagine Waco Plan for Greater Downtown to allow denser housing patterns in the core of the city. And planners say theres already demand from people who want to build high-quality, small-footprint homes in the heart of the city.

Grayson is one of those. The Rapoport Academy founder-turned-baker wants to build a collection of cottages on vacant lots she bought behind her Lula Janes bakery at 406 Elm Ave. Inspired by traditional one-room-wide houses in New Orleans, the cottages would have big front and back porches, transom windows, 10-foot ceilings, metal roofs and pier-and-beam foundations. They could range in size from 800 to 1,200 square feet.

This helps people who want to have a life thats a little simpler and a house thats more maintainable, Grayson said, standing at an empty lot at Dallas and Tyler streets that she bought from the city of Waco. People nowadays are looking and saying, Maybe we dont need a really big house. We need a really well-built small home. 

The proposed small-lot ordinance would allow Grayson to build up to 11 cottages on her vacant lots, though she says she wants to build them one at a time, as demand dictates.

The ordinance would only apply to certain zoning districts and certain areas, namely the Greater Downtown area defined by the Imagine Waco Plan. That area of several square miles stretches from La Salle Avenue to Herring Avenue and from East Waco to North 25th Street. The smaller lots would be allowed in residential zoning categories of R-1B, R-2, R-3A, R-3B and in the mixed-use categories of O-1, O-2 and O-3.

Small-lot projects would be subject to architectural review by city staff, who would require porches, large front windows and front yards with 50 percent landscaping. At least two units of on-site parking would be required, and would typically be accessible either by an alley driveway or a shared front driveway.

The small lots would not be allowed on streets narrower than 26 feet to avoid parking congestion issues.

The Plan Commission recommended the ordinance last month to the Waco City Council, which sent it back for more deliberation about whether applications for the small-lot houses would have to get a special permit from the commission and council. The Plan Commission is expected to vote on the matter 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Waco Convention Centers Bosque Theatre, following a 5:30 p.m. work session at the Dr. Mae Jackson Development Center, 401 Franklin Ave.

Split on permit

In a work session this past week, Plan Commission members supported the small-lot ordinance but were divided about requiring a special permit. Member Andy Lopez said he worried that such dense developments could create parking issues, and he wanted to give the commission and council a chance to review plans.

But member LaRaine DuPuy said a special permit requirement would slow projects by a couple of months and add expense and uncertainty.

When you put roadblock after roadblock up, developers are going to go to the boonies to build, DuPuy said.

She urged the commission not to second-guess the Imagine Waco Plans recommendation and not to get bogged down with parking concerns.

I dont want us to stop development because were worried about cars and parking, DuPuy said. The whole urban feel is to encourage people to walk and ride bikes. . . . People will figure those things out.

Grayson said a special permit requirement would be burdensome and unnecessary, given the protections already written into the ordinance.

She said her own project is motivated by a vision to restore life to East Waco while preserving whats best about its architecture and people. She said she hopes to see longtime East Waco residents move into the houses, along with Baylor professors, retirees and young couples.

Even without the ordinance change, its possible to build small houses in Waco. Many lots in Wacos inner city are smaller than the minimum standard for new lots of 5,000 square feet and a 50-foot minimum width. As long as the lots are officially platted, they can be built on, city planners said.

Shotgun house

Thats what Cameron Bell did with his unusual shotgun house project at 624 S. Seventh St.

Bell, a Waco native who had been living in Denton, decided to buy an existing 47-foot-wide lot and move in a small shotgun house from 11th Street, where it was in danger of demolition.

He elevated the 15-foot-wide house onto concrete piers, then raised the roofline dramatically so he has a 23-foot-high cathedral ceiling inside. An upstairs loft is accessed by a hinged staircase that can be reeled up to the ceiling by chains like a drawbridge.

Now that the house is finished, Bell and his wife, Jessie, have found the house has plenty of space, with 700 square feet downstairs, plus the loft office upstairs.

Even though its small square footage, the wide-open floor plan makes it feel bigger than it really is, Bell said.

The front room doubles as a living room and kitchen, with a bedroom and bathroom in the back and an office upstairs.

Everybody told me the same thing. You need to think about resale value. You need at least a three-bedroom, two-bath house,  Bell said. But this isnt a normal house. If you try to back in three bedrooms, its like, why? Stay true to the structure of it. Think about it like a loft downtown. The advantage of this over a loft in a big building is you can park a car and have a yard.

Though small in size, the house is richly appointed, with six-foot casement windows, solid oak interior doors, a giant industrial ceiling fan, matte black granite countertops and a large porch with a flickering lamp. The floors are heart pine, salvaged from a house next door to the shotgun house on 11th Street.

Bell said those touches brought the price up well over the $100,000 estimate he first made for the project, though he declined to give details of the price.

Now Bell is thinking of building another shotgun house on the 30-foot-wide lot next door, and he thinks it would be cheaper to build new.

The market for small houses seems to be growing in Waco and other cities, said Megan Henderson, executive director of City Center Waco, formerly the Downtown Development Corp. She said some small-lot cottages could appeal to older couples who are downsizing but dont want an apartment or to young people who are ready to move beyond apartment living.

I think the reason Imagine Waco recommends something like that is that it gives you the ability to build at desired densities while respecting the more manageable size people want, with an affordable price range, Henderson said.
Volunteers have trickled in during the past few months to the Marlin Primary Academy and Marlin Junior Academy as state academic testing looms, with the fate of the district hanging in the balance. The principals of the two campuses that have consistently failed state tests are having different reactions to the limited outside help.

The district doesnt track the number of volunteers from year to year, but Marlin Primary Academy Principal Kimberly McKnight said shes seen a slight uptick this year as the town rallies to reverse the academic standing of the school district.

Marlin Independent School District will have its accreditation revoked if it fails state academic ratings again in 2016.

If the district fails its preliminary scores, which are normally released in August, the state will dissolve the board of trustees and replace it with a board of managers. If the final scores released in October also show a failed rating, the state will revoke the districts accreditation and close it at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

The high school has passed standards in two of the past three years. The Junior Academy has failed each year it has been officially rated since 2011, and the Primary Academy has failed every year since 2008.

Although the elementary campus has struggled the most with scores, McKnight said the most impact educators can have with students is during school hours, so volunteers arent as crucial for helping elementary students.

McKnight, who took over the post in December, said after-school tutoring doesnt work well with elementary students because they need to ride the bus to get home.

The elementary school is trying to give students the help they need to pass the state tests with a reorganized school schedule. It allows the staff to provide pull-out intervention during school hours with interventionists, McKnight said.

We also have the luxury of having two full-time interventionists on staff that can do small group pull-out and tutoring during the day, she said.

Looking for help

Marlin Junior Academy Principal Wes Brown said hes looking for additional help by visiting local civic organizations, because the school has had difficulty finding volunteers who can come consistently.

Brown said he wants to begin one-on-one tutoring in February for students to gain extra help just before the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness in May.

Marlin High School students also have offered to provide additional help for the elementary school. McKnight said it took the fall semester to work out the scheduling to coordinate between the schools, but once arrangements are finalized, having peer-led reading groups could be beneficial for the students.

Theyre really going to work on reading fluency with our students, she said. I think having it be a fellow student, not necessarily be another adult with them, I think could have a really positive impact.
Facts, truths, values

In his Thursday column, W. Richard Turner shared his opinion that Baylor University must drop its religious test if it wishes to attract the best faculty. His contention is that the personal faith of an employee is none of the business of the university. In this view, asking questions about a professors faith is discriminatory and therefore wrong. He further believes that only by becoming nonsectarian will Baylor receive large financial grants, become a top-tier school and attract the best students.

There are several problems with Mr. Turners arguments, the foremost being his view that a university professor is a non-biased academician, wholly committed to excellence and without guile. This is not true, nor should it be.

Mr. Turner is likely aware of books that speak to the issue of religion in colleges and universities, such as The Dying of the Light by James Tunstead Burchaell, who provides case studies of 17 colleges and universities that had ecclesiastical origins. He shows how each schools religious identity gradually became unacceptable, even embarrassing, to some professors and educators. The light gradually declined till it was finally extinguished.

On the other hand, C.S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man argues that the world of facts, without value, and the world of feelings, without truth, cannot confront one another. Learning should make students virtuous and both truth and virtue should be demonstrated by professors. A university needs to know what a professor believes to know what he or she will teach. All professors have an agenda beyond their curriculum.

I recommend to Mr. Turner the slender book C.S. Lewis: An Apologist for Education by Louis Markos. Mr. Turners arguments should be supplemented by a careful reading of these authors.

Karl Franklin, Ph.D (linguistics), Waco

Which readers?

Does the Trib leadership team ever meet with readers? As a marketing move, that might be a good idea.

Probably the readers input would reveal they are open-minded and enjoy robust ideas and opinions from all segments of the political spectrum. Journalists whose articles are well-researched and free of bias are so much more rewarding than those obviously out to reinforce one opinion over another.

Keep in mind also there are many artists whose abilities include drawing donkeys. Do your clients a favor and give them credit for being thoughtful but needy consumers.

Juanita Case, Waco

EDITORS NOTE: Fair question. Are we supposed to represent the people of Waco? Which ones? Black ones? White ones? Pro-life ones? Pro-choice? Gun-lovin? Gun hatin? We enjoyed the response of Bryan-College Station Eagle opinion editor Robert Borden to a local zealot who angrily told him that The Eagle did not represent the community. Robert replied (and we paraphrase): Which community? Aggies? Conservatives? Liberals? Hispanics? Gays? Whites? Farmers? City folks?
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Fatih Karimov- Trend:

Iran will sign a contract for the purchase of 114 Airbus during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to France which is scheduled for January 27, Abbas Akhoundi, the Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development said.

The planes will be bought for Iran's flag carrier Iran Air, Akhoundi said, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The Iranian minister did not specify the value of the contract.

He added that Tehran plans to negotiate with Boeing to purchase passenger planes as well.

The Iranian president is scheduled to visit Italy and France from January 25 to 27. This is his first official visit to Europe which is paid after the end of the country's isolation as the international sanctions against Iran were removed by the implementation of the nuclear deal Jan. 16.

Akhoundi further said that Iran currently has 256 passenger planes with 150 of them operational.

The average age of Iranian planes is about 20 years, he said, adding Tehran needs 400 long-range and medium-range aircrafts as well as 100 short-range planes to serve as air taxi.

The US-led sanctions on aircraft and spare parts exports to Iran have left the Iranian airlines saddled with not only some of the oldest fleet in the Middle East, but in the world.

Back in April 2015, the head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said the country needs to buy up to 500 passenger planes in the next 10 years to renovate its ageing fleet.

The analysts say Iran's air fleet will grow, however in the near term the country will have to settle for the lease of planes.
Last time he was in Canberra, Mexican tenor Diego Torre was filling the National Arboretum with his glorious voice.

This time he will be taking the oath to become an Australian.

Mexican tenor Diego Torre was in Canberra last November to sing at Voices in the Forest at the National Arboretum. Credit:Melissa Adams

On Tuesday - Australia Day - he will be taking centre stage at the national citizenship ceremony.

And, he has been asked to sing the national anthem at the ceremony by Lake Burley Griffin to be attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
For most of her career, Hillary Clinton suffered for being a feminist. Retaining her last name helped cost her husband the governorship of Arkansas in 1980 (after that, she became a Clinton). She was mocked in 1992 for saying she wouldn't be "some little woman standing by my man", and for asserting, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfil my profession".

(Outrage at her "bitchiness"  a standard put-down of a strong woman  was such that Clinton tried to mollify critics by participating in a bake-off sponsored by Family Circle magazine. That must have stung. But hold on: Clinton's recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies then triumphed over Barbara Bush's cookie recipe, upholding the honour of career mums everywhere.)

Even when Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2008, there were put-downs, like the two men from a radio show heckling her, "Iron my shirt!"

So it's a measure of how much America has changed that these days Clinton is running as a feminist, after decades of skirting the issue. In 2008 she barely mentioned her gender; now it's a refrain. "This really comes down to whether I can encourage and mobilise women to vote for the first woman president," Time quoted her as saying. She even said she'd be open to choosing a woman as her running mate.
Last month, amid great fanfare and excessive self-congratulations, the representatives of 200 nations at UN-sponsored climate change talks in Paris hailed a general agreement to curb carbon emissions. The covenant, which takes effect in 2020, is intended to limit the potential rise in average global temperatures to "well below 2 degrees" and, ideally, to less than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The obvious, but unanswered, question is how this will be done in practice, especially here in Australia, where there is neither a carbon emissions trading scheme (a market-based system) nor a punitive system for taxing big polluters.

The issue is urgent. Data published last week  by NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and by Britain's Met Office in conjunction with the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit  confirmed the average surface temperature is already 1 degree above the average temperatures recorded in the second half of the 19th century.

Last year, the average global temperature was the highest ever recorded, being 0.75 to 1 degree above the long-term average (deemed the period from 1961 to 1990) and surpassing scientists' most pessimistic forecasts of 0.52 to 0.76 degrees higher.

The Age applauds NASA's comments on this: policymakers must take note. Now is the time to act on climate change. There can be no more pretending, and no more playing base political games.
Queensland school students will be taught about the perils of alcohol as part of a state government crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence.

But the shape that education would take remained a mystery on Saturday as the government's primary champion of reduced venue trading hours outlined his government's plan.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and State Development Minister Anthony Lynham plan to take their anti-violence message to Queensland schools. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

State Development Minister Anthony Lynham, a former maxillofacial surgeon who entered politics primarily on an anti-alcohol violence platform, said there needed to be an "all encompassing" approach in Queensland schools.

That would not, however, include changes to the school curriculum.
A Brisbane doctor has called for transgender prisoners to be able to start gender reassignment treatment while incarcerated.

LGBTI community advocate Wendell Rosevear said the failure to provide transgender prisoners with access to therapy could cause significant harm both to the transgender prisoners and those around them.

Transgender prisoners in Queensland are unable to start gender reassignment therapy behind bars. Credit:Andrew Meares

Dr Rosevear said such treatment could serve as a vital part of their rehabilitation.

"Internalised gender dysphoria and internalised homophobia mean that people don't accept themselves and they divert into drugs and alcohol, they divert into denial and they divert into overcompensation, like trying to be an hyper-masculine male," he said.
Greece's biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum agreed on Friday to buy crude oil from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the first European refiner to restart trade relations with Iran after the lifting of international sanctions, Reuters reported.

Hellenic Petroleum was a major buyer of Iranian crude, which accounted for about 20 percent of the southeast European country's annual crude oil imports before sanctions were imposed on Tehran in 2011.

The agreement came after Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia and his Greek counterpart Panos Skourletis met in Athens on Friday.

The two ministers also attended talks between executives from Hellenic Petroleum and NIOC, a meeting reported by Reuters on Jan. 18.

Under the deal, the refiner will start buying oil from Iran immediately and will settle its multi-million euro outstanding debt to NIOC, Hellenic Petroleum said in a bourse filing.

Hellenic Petroleum is estimated to owe Iran around $550-600 million for oil it bought before the sanctions but was unable to pay when the international embargo was imposed.

"The deal was achieved after consecutive meetings in Athens and Tehran," Hellenic Petroleum said. "The deal is beneficial for both sides."

After meeting Zamininia, Skourletis told Reuters Iran believed Greece could be a conduit for re-entering Europe's oil market.

"They (Iran) are positively disposed towards Greece and think that Greece can be the European conduit for them to re-enter the market," he said, adding that the two countries had traditionally enjoyed close relations.

"They (Iran) said that the debt (settlement) can open the way so that our cooperation is boosted," Skourletis said, adding that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due to visit Iran early next month.

Iran used to sell as much as 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) to European refiners in Italy, Spain and Greece before the sanctions over its nuclear program were imposed.

Tehran ordered a 500,000-bpd increase in its oil output, of which 200,000 bpd will go to Europe, after the sanctions were lifted on Saturday.

But European companies and trading houses are not rushing to buy the oil because of legal uncertainties over the lifting of sanctions that are likely to take weeks to clarify.
Artists' impression of Cbus Property's 443 Queen Street development, with Customs House to the right. Brisbane Residents United spokeswoman Erin Evans addressed the crowd, bemoaning the lack of community consultation. "Increasingly, we don't even hear about what's happening until the builders arrive  it is an appalling position," she said. "The development proposed on this site has shocked many people, and very rightly so. "This building, this place, we have one  one Customs House and it is our responsibility to pass it on and protect it for future generations."

Labor councillors and council candidates, along with those from the Greens, were in attendance, but none from the LNP administration were present, despite invitations for them to attend. Labor lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding said the approval showed the council, and in particular Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, had "stopped listening" to its residents. "This is a deplorable decision and I think, Graham Quirk, if this is the type of decision he's going to make over our heritage buildings, it's time to step aside," he said. The Cbus Property proposal for 443 Queen Street was deemed by the council to be code assessable, which meant it could be approved without the need for public consultation. But it would have required public submissions had Cbus Property not taken advantage of a little-known mechanism  transferable development rights  to the property.

That allowed Cbus Property to transfer development rights it would have otherwise had over another property it owned, the NAB building on the corner of Creek and Queen streets, if it was not heritage listed. Mr Harding said that planning mechanism needed to be looked at. "That was originally a provision, a regulation, that was meant to protect buildings like (Customs House), but it's being used for the opposite purpose," he said. "So clearly we've got to change that." Cr Quirk said UQ had used the same provision, through its Mayne Trust, to transfer development rights from its heritage-listed Brisbane Arcade to other properties in the city.

"You can argue the case about whether it should or shouldn't apply to a building beside a heritage building, but the reality is over the past three decades it has protected heritage buildings," he said. "This is something that has been in place and there are not too many of them left, thankfully, but there are still a few." Greens lord mayoral candidate Ben Pennings called for an end to political donations from developers. "They can pretend it doesn't impact their decisions, but we know that's not the case," he said. "We know that's not the case with the current council, we know that's not the case with the previous council."
Police and the RSPCA are looking for the cruel person who threw a dog from a Mitchell Freeway overpass at Joondalup on Friday morning.

The Staffordshire bull terrier, now identified as Tinkerbell from an embedded microchip, was taken to a Balcatta vet, but was euthanased due to the severe injuries sustained in the heartless act that occurred around 6am as many people were making their way to work.

Tinkerbell the Staffy at the Balcatta vet after she was cruelly thrown from a Mitchell Freeway overpass. Credit:RSPCA

The incident occurred at the Moore Drive overpass.



RSPCA spokeswoman Anne Gabriel said they and Joondalup police had been working "tirelessly" with valuable input from the public and witnesses.

"Some strong leads have been generated and the investigation continues," she said.
Rome: Thousands of Italians have taken to the streets in support of gay civil unions as the battle over legal recognition for homosexual couples heats up ahead of a bill to be debated in parliament.

"Wake up Italy, it's time to be civilised," was the slogan chosen for rallies in almost 100 towns and cities on Saturday in the only major country in the West not to give same-sex couples any legal recognition or protection on issues from pensions to parenthood.

People gather in Milan to support recognition of same-sex couples prior to a debate in Italian parliament. Credit:AP

"In Italy people think that there are those who are allowed to have rights and those who aren't," said Liliana Rizzo, a member of a gay parents' association, at a rally outside the Pantheon in central Rome.

"We don't want to take anything away from the traditional families ... but our families also exist, our children exist and our children need to have both of their parents recognised."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Iran and China are planning to develop cooperation in various nuclear fields as international sanctions on Tehran have been lifted, Chinese atomic chief said.

At a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi, in Tehran, Xu Dazhe, the head of China's Atomic Energy Authority, said that in addition to the reconfiguration of the Arak nuclear facility, Iran and China will continue nuclear cooperation on economic, research and industrial dimensions, IRNA news agency reported on Jan. 23.

In turn, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi, also called for the expansion of bilateral ties and elaborated on a memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and China to construct several nuclear power plants in the Islamic Republic.

According to Salehi, China will cooperate with Tehran in the construction of two nuclear power plants in Iran's southern city of Bushehr which are expected to generate 1,000 megawatt of power.

He also added that the countries are planning the construction of several small power plants with the capacity of 100 megawatt.

In a joint statement on Jan. 16, the EU's High Representative Federica Mogherini and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA aka nuclear deal) and the removal of economic sanctions on Iran.

According to the statement, EU has confirmed that legal framework, providing for lifting of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions, is effective.

According to the terms of the JCPOA, a group of European countries, as well as Asian states such as Japan, China and South Korea are expected to cooperate with Iran to develop its nuclear program.

Earlier in January Iran removed the core of the Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor and filled it with cement as agreed under the nuclear deal.

Under the terms of the deal, Iran agreed the heavy-water reactor would be reconfigured so it will be incapable of yielding material for a nuclear weapon.

President Xi Jinping heading a high ranking delegation arrived in Tehran on January 23 on the third leg of his three-nation regional tour to the Middle East kicked on Jan. 19.

He earlier visited Egypt and Saudi Arabia as part of the five-day regional tour.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Several European airports including Paris, Cologne, Amsterdam and London as well as Frankfurt have lifted restrictions on fueling Iranian passenger aircraft, the website Iranian Civil Aviation Company reported.

According to the Iranian Civil Aviation Company, the decision appeared following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA / nuclear deal) on Jan. 16.

The aviation company added that previously Iranian aircraft departing from the European airports had to receive fuel in a third country as the European airports refused to fuel them up within the international sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program.

The European airports as well as several Kuwait and the UAE have stopped fueling Iranian aircraft since 2010 due to economic sanctions that the West had imposed on Iran on allegations of suspicious nuclear activities.

As the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is put into practice, Iranian airplanes are now freed from a restriction to receive fuel in international air ports and Paris's Orly Airport was the first to fuel up an Iranian air craft on January 20.

In a joint statement on Jan. 16, the EU's High Representative Federica Mogherini and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced the implementation of the JCPOA and the removal of economic sanctions on Iran.

According to the statement, EU has confirmed that legal framework, providing for lifting of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions, is effective.
Kentucky State Police are looking for a missing Monticello woman last seen in Hopkinsville
By Os Hillman Jan. 23, 2019 | 08:23 PM

Paul and Silas had just been thrown into prison. An earthquake erupted and the jail cell was opened. Its Paul and Silas opportunity. Deliverance! Praise God! might be the appropriate response. But this is not what Paul and Silas did. In fact, rather than leave, they sat quietly in their cell area.



The guard, in fear of his life, knew that it would be automatic death if prisoners escaped. Paul and Silas did not leave because they saw a higher purpose for which they were in prison. They were not looking at their circumstance; they were much more concerned about the unsaved guard. The story goes on to explain how Paul and Silas went home with the guard and his family. Not only did the guard get saved, but his entire household as well.



What a lesson this is for us. How often we are so busy looking for deliverance from our circumstance that we miss God completely. God is looking to do miracles in our circumstances if we will only look for them. Sometimes as workplace believers we become so obsessed with our goals we miss the process that God involves us in, which may be where the miracle lies. What if that bill collector who has been hounding you is unsaved and he is there for you to speak to? What if a problem account has arisen due to something God is doing beyond what you might see at this time? Our adverse situations can often be the door of spiritual opportunity for those who need it.



I saw this personally when God allowed me to go through a number of adversities. It took some time, but I saw some great miracles as a result of those adversities. When God said that all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purposes (see Rom. 8:28), He meant all things. It is up to us to find the work together for good part by being faithful to the process. In the next adversity you face, tune your spiritual antennae and ask God for discernment to see the real purpose for the adversity.

But Paul shouted, Dont harm yourself! We are all here!  Acts 16:28

On the Net:
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has urged Saudi Arabia to resolve existing regional problems through a dialogue and exercising diplomacy.

"Doors to diplomacy are still open to Saudi Arabia and we hope that Riyadh will soon return from the wrong path," IRNA news agency quoted him as saying in an interview on the sidelines of the 11th Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IIPU) conference in Baghdad on Jan. 24.

"Calling for negotiations he added that Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country and Iran never wants to see Riyadh's position in the world weakened," he added.

The relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia deteriorated following the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, on Jan. 2.

Reacting to al-Nimr's execution, a group of angry Iranian protestors stormed Saudi embassy in Tehran, smashing furniture and setting fire to the building before being dispersed by police.

Officially, Iran expressed strong protest regarding the execution, and the fragile relations between the two countries started going even further downhill from there.

Saudi Arabia and its allies including Sudan, Djibouti, Bahrain and the UAE joined diplomatic action against Iran following the break into the embassy in Tehran.

Riyadh accuses Tehran of meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries, including Yemen - something Iran has denied.
By Joe Jackson Jan. 24, 2016 | 09:55 AM | SYMSONIA, KY

A Graves County man was arrested Friday morning during the snowstorm after fleeing from deputies in the Symsonia area.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's office, deputies received a call about a vehicle with Tennessee tags that had run off the road and was stuck in the snow on Racetrack Road, just west of Symsonia.

Deputies found the vehicle and talked with two women inside it. Deputies learned that 30-year-old Jerry Tynes of Wingo had left the vehicle to go get help. According to deputies, Tynes had outstanding warrants in Graves and Warren counties.

While speaking with the women, another vehicle arrived and Tynes was a passenger. Tynes refused to get out of the vehicle and as the deputy reached in to get him, Tynes dove out the window on the opposite side of the vehicle. A foot chase began in the 6-8 inch snowfall, with drifts in some places 2-3 feet high.

Tynes was detained a short time later in nearby woods and was transported to the Graves County Jail. He was charged with fleeing and evading on foot, resisting arrest, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.
By Joe Jackson Jan. 24, 2016 | 05:04 PM | MAYFIELD, KY

A Mayfield man faces DUI, drug and other charges after crashing his truck Wednesday in Graves County.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's office, at approximately 10:40am, deputies responded to the area of Jimtown Road, just north of Mayfield, for a report of a truck in a ditch. The caller stated that the truck was still running and it appeared that it was stuck or had been in a wreck.

Deputies arrived to find the truck, driven by 33-year-old Dustin Farmer of Mayfield, off the roadway in the 2000 block of Jimtown Road. Deputies said Farmer was driving on a license that was suspended for DUI and he was also intoxicated. Farmer also reportedly discarded hydrocodone that was later recovered by deputies.



Farmer was arrested and charged with DUI second offense, resisting arrest, tampering with physical evidence, driving on a DUI suspended license second offense, possession of a controlled substance and prescription controlled substance not in the proper container.

He was lodged in the Graves County Jail.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

Trend:

Georgia is not over-cautious in its relations with Iran, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said in an interview with CNBC, Georgia Online reported.

"Georgia is optimistic in this regard," he said.

Kvirikashvili welcomed the lifting of sanctions against Iran.

"We appreciate the lifting of sanctions against Iran," he said. "The agreement is the significant success. Today, we are very optimistic in this respect."
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/01/2016 (2461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  We were young and vigorous and full of ambition. We would rewrite our history. We would copy no other country. We would be ourselves, and proud of it.  Nellie McClung.

___

It was the kind of savvy political strategy that politicians and lobbyists attempt to craft today: Stitch together a coalition of supporters from diverse communities, secure financial backers, mount a successful ad campaign, and earn some positive media coverage.

Winnipeggers came out to view documents related to the passing of a 1916 amendment to the Manitoba Elections Act at the Manitoba Archives in Winnipeg, Saturday, January 9, 2016. The amendment to the Manitoba Elections Act allowing women to vote, the first such legislation in Canada, was passed on January 28, 1916, and celebrates its centenary this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

A group of women in Manitoba used it to win the right to vote a century ago.

The province was the first place in Canada to bring in womens suffrage, on Jan. 28, 1916. That triggered a wave of changes  first in Western Canada and finally at the federal level in 1919. Indigenous people, it should be noted, did not get the vote federally until 1960.

The Manitoba movement was complex.

There were people who supported temperance, and the havoc they believed alcohol was wreaking on families. There were many journalists  members of the Canadian Womens Press Club. Some unions supported womens suffrage, as did powerful farmers groups.

Members of the Political Equality League, which included such notable members as Nellie McClung, Cora Hind and Lillian Beynon Thomas, as well as male supporters, helped recruit and rally those disparate voices with speeches, meetings and articles in the papers. They had paid organizers, and launched a major publicity blitz at the Winnipeg Stampede in 1913.

Ive always said that if (Beynon Thomas) had been running things today, she would have been running a strategy group that planned elections, because she was the plotter of the whole thing, said Linda McDowell, a retired Manitoba history teacher and expert on womens suffrage.

Businesswoman Martha Jane Hample, who would go on to become a member of the provincial legislature, helped bankroll the activities of the league. Outside Winnipeg, there were other hives of suffragist activity in Gimli and in the Roaring River district.

Rural women in Manitoba by 1916 had telephones, good train service and good mail service, and people like Nellie McClung  travelled to all these places; every little town had an auditorium or an opera house, said McDowell.

Really, there was a big network, and they had a lot of support.

Social media and viral videos didnt exist, of course, but in 1914 the women created major buzz with a provocative play at the Walker Theatre in Winnipeg. Their mock Parliament parodied the intransigence of Manitoba Premier Rodmond Roblin, and imagined a parallel world where women were in power.

Politics unsettles men and unsettled men means unsettled bills, broken furniture, broken vows and divorce. Mans place is on the farm, McClung told the crowd, playing the role of Roblin.

Roblins government fell the following year amid scandal, and the new Liberal government finally extended the vote to women in 1916.

Today, 29 per cent of the Manitoba legislature is composed of women lawmakers. Of the 14 MPs from the province, three are women.

I thought in 100 years wed be further along than we are, whether its women in politics, women on boards, women running big companies, lamented Myrna Driedger, founder of the Nellie McClung Foundation and a Conservative member of the Manitoba legislature.

Still, Driedger said shes felt in recent years that there is a new energy among women in Canada, a conviction that they must have a seat at the decision-making table. Earlier this month, 600 women gathered in Winnipeg at a business networking event called SHE Day.

It seems that there is something happening, she said.

We are taking more charge of ensuring that we can be leaders, and inspiring leaders, and inspiring the women who come after us.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24

Trend:

Russia must respect Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty for the region to become attractive for investments and business, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said in an interview with CNBC in Davos, Georgia Online reported.

He said that today Tbilisi and Moscow have several formats of dialogue and positive dynamics is observed in trade.

"We are trying to reduce tension with Russia to be able to attract more investments as stability and security are the first requirement of any investor," Kvirikashvili said.

"Of course, we appreciate the decision of the Russian government in connection with the simplification of the visa regime for Georgian citizens," he said. "This is a positive action appreciated by the Georgian government and people."

He said that Russia must respect Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"This is the main condition to begin normal relations with Russia," Kvirikashvili said.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/01/2016 (2462 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THEY sang for him.

As an hour-long tribute to former NDP premier Howard Pawley at the legislature wrapped up with a recording of John Lennon singing Imagine, murmured singing from some of his closest friends and admirers picked up the words, gathering gentle power for a man remembered with humour and affection Saturday afternoon.

No one planned the singalong; it just happened.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Justice Murray Sinclair sits back down at his seat after sharing his reflections on the life of The Honourable Howard Pawley, former premier of Manitoba who he fondly refers to as his "best friend" at the Manitoba Legislature Saturday during memorial service.

Pawleys widow, Adele Pawley, and their family attended as guests of honour with dignitaries, including Premier Greg Selinger, former cabinet colleagues, former premier and governor general Edward Schreyer and Pawleys best-known protege, Justice Murray Sinclair.

About 150 people attended, packing the same committee room where Pawley sat during hundreds of meetings while serving under Schreyer before being elected premier in 1981.

His government fell in a vote of non-confidence over Autopac rates in 1988, triggering an election that brought in a decade-long administration under Progressive Conservative premier Gary Filmon.

Pawleys long career in politics stretching back to the 1950s was remembered, along with his ability to mangle cliches in funny ways, wear clothes like he dressed in the dark and always put people and principles first in politics.

I first met Howard in 1968 when I was just finishing high school, and in the 1969 election, I worked on his campaign. I would have been 18 then, Sinclair said in media interviews afterward.

In his address, the chairman of Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission called Pawley his best friend, a man who dug into his own pockets to give money to the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre even before his election as MLA for Selkirk.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Surrounded by family and friends, Adele Pawley is deep in thought and memories as she listens to the closing music for her husband, Howard Pawley's memorial service with her son Chris and daughter Charysee by her side.

As a friend and mentor, it was Pawleys support that encouraged Sinclair to enter law school, and it was Pawley who appointed Sinclair the first First Nations judge in Manitoba years later.

That relationship became the foundation of everything Ive done, Sinclair said.

The provinces first female deputy premier, Muriel Smith, recalled Pawley as a similar champion for womens rights.

Adele Pawley flew in from Windsor, Ont., for the tribute, noting the former premier was Prof. Pawley at the university there for the second half of his life. It was his dream job, she said, adding social justice and the democratic process were themes he instilled in a generation of students.

He never gave up attempting to do more after politics. How honoured he would be to know this tribute was held in a room where he spent so many years. This room holds a lot of memories. He held a lot of committee meetings for bills here, she said.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Premier Greg Selinger reflects on the life of The Honourable Howard Pawley, former premier of Manitoba at the Manitoba Legislature Saturday during memorial service.

Pawley died Dec. 30 at age 81.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/01/2016 (2462 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Exhausted, relieved and frustrated, a group of bedraggled Manitoban tourists on a Cuban holiday touched down in Winnipeg Saturday evening, 36 hours after theyd seen a bed, a toothbrush or a decent meal.

Passengers stopped outside the international arrivals gate at Richardson International Airport to describe a charter that couldnt get a plane to them or even explain to them what had gone wrong.

Some said theyd surfed the Internet waiting in a small Cuban airport overnight before an airline agent arrived at dawn to tell them what theyd already found out on their own: Sunwing Flight 261 from Winnipeg to Holguin had taken off, only to turn back over North Dakota, causing the plane to be 13 hours late picking up passengers in Cuba for the return trip.

Alexandra Paul / Winnipeg Free Press Fred Copeland and his family at the international arrivals lounge.

The charter was part of an all-inclusive weeklong resort holiday near Holguin, a city in the eastern part of Cuba most known for being the place Christopher Columbus landed in 1492.

The passengers had booked with the charter carrier, Sunwing, which merged with Signature Vacations in 2011.

In total, the flight carried 146 passengers and crew. Most were on holiday from Brandon and small towns in western Manitoba.

They included a wedding party of 17, elderly couples, parents with young families as well as one passenger suffering through a bout of food poisoning picked up on the island and a man who had to do without medication that was checked into his luggage.

It was a rough trip with these guys, said Fred Copeland, the man who needed his medication. With three kids, he added.

The Copelands live in Cowan, a small town 440 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and planned to stay with family in Winnipeg overnight, deciding against the long drive home.

Its just not right. It shouldnt have happened to us, and it shouldnt happen to anyone else, fumed a Killarney nurse the moment she cleared customs.

Submitted photo Passengers sleeping on seats at the airport in Cuba.

Carolyn Tallack said a series of delays in the return Sunwing flight from Holguin, plus a bizarre set of glitches in communications, left passengers frustrated. Saturday morning, she was on her phone to her son in Brandon, who called the Free Press.

Weve been awake 36 hours. What are they doing to people? Everybody understands that things happen.

The thing is, they didnt keep us informed. People want to know theyre treated with some dignity, Tallack said.

Things started to go wrong as soon as the air carrier touched down in Cuba a week ago, at the beginning of the weeklong holiday. Resorts scheduled to take the tourists were overbooked, and Tallack said she spent two nights in another resort where the food was poor, her room had no toilet seat and no safe for belongings. Worse, she was convinced there were rodents scuttling in the ceiling above her.

The final straw was the flight home, she said.

It wasnt clear what was going on. Nothing showed up, and they didnt call us. The biggest mishap was they (the charter) didnt keep us informed properly, said Ilde Rodriguez, one of the few Cubans booked on the charter flight.

submitted photo Fred Copeland had to go without medication that was checked into his luggage.

The low-cost carrier, which specializes in holiday excursions to vacation spots in Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe, issued a statement just as the plane finally arrived in Winnipeg describing the mishaps that plagued the flight.

The flight finally departed at 1:20 p.m., incurring a total delay of 12 hours and 50 minutes, the corporate email said.

We are very apologetic for the inconvenience this has caused our customers and will take measures to improve the timeliness of our customer communications in the future.

Passengers were offered a $150 voucher for hotel accommodations or for future travel with the carrier.

Sunwing offered passengers who were headed to Holguin a full refund in the event they wanted to cancel their trip since their flight was delayed more than 12 hours. If they chose not to cancel, the discount carrier offered them a $150 future travel voucher. For those passengers heading home from their vacation in Holguin, given the delay was more than 12 hours Sunwing also offered them a $150 future travel voucher.

The carrier also said the flight was delayed leaving Winnipeg to fly to Cuba and then encountered an undisclosed maintenance problem. That was compounded by the fact a new flight crew had to be called in, after the crew on duty ended their shift. By the time the airline caught up to the passengers, they were already en route to the airport from various resorts.

submitted photo Passengers wait in line at the Hoguin airport in Cuba.

Customers arrived at the airport, checked in, and learned of the extended delay several hours later. At this point, we were unable to arrange temporary accommodations as the nearby hotels were sold out, the carrier said.

Customers were offered a meal voucher and received a $150 future travel voucher. In view of the situation, we also offered families with children and some of our elderly passengers the option to access the VIP lounge, which unfortunately wasnt large enough to accommodate all customers.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/01/2016 (2461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four months ago, the body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi washed up on a beach in Turkey after he, his brother and his mother drowned while trying to reach Greece. A photograph of Alan quickly became the defining image of the masses of refugees fleeing Syrias civil war.

The picture helped cement a brief consensus the Middle Eastern migrants risking death to get to Europe should be allowed in to apply for asylum. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany announced her country would accept asylum applications from any Syrians who reached its borders. Much of Europe seemed on the verge of joining the project.

Europe never joined, though. The task of absorbing the migrants has been left to Germany and Sweden, with a bit of help from the Netherlands and a few other countries. German and Swedish eagerness to welcome so many refugees gradually has been worn down, though, and now the events of New Years Eve in Cologne and other German cities may have buried it for good.

That night, gangs of young men, mainly asylum-seekers, formed rings around women outside Cologne station and robbed and/or sexually assaulted them. More than 600 women reported to the police they had been victimized.

After Cologne, when Europeans think of refugees, many no longer picture persecuted families or toddlers. Instead, they see menacing young men imbued with the sexism that is all too common across the Middle East and North Africa.

Such fears, though overblown, are not absurd, and will not be allayed by pointing out the alleged attackers in Cologne so far identified are mostly Algerian or Moroccan, not Syrian. There really is a cultural gulf between rich, liberal, secular Europe and some of the countries from which recent migrants come.

It is impossible to conduct surveys in Syria right now, for obvious reasons, but a 2013 Pew poll of Muslims around the world makes sobering reading. More than 90 per cent of Moroccans and Tunisians believe a wife should always obey her husband. Only 14 per cent of Iraqi Muslims and 22 per cent of Jordanians think a woman should be allowed to initiate a divorce. Although Arab societies take a harsh view of sex crimes, women who venture alone and in skimpy clothing into a public space in, say, Egypt can expect a barrage of male harassment.

Migrants are no more likely to commit crimes than native-born residents, but it would be otherworldly to pretend there is no tension between the attitudes of some and their hosts. European women cherish their rights to wear what they like, go where they like and have sex or not have sex with whom they please. No one should be allowed to infringe these freedoms.

However, it does not follow from this that Germany was wrong to offer a haven to Syrian refugees. The moral imperative has not changed since Alan washed up on that beach. Half of Syrias cities have been blasted to rubble, hundreds of thousands of people lie dead and tens of thousands are starving in towns under siege. Thousands more refugees arrive in Greece every week. Those who would shut them out must explain where they should go instead.

Rather than succumbing to moral panic, Europe needs to work out how to manage the flow of refugees and help them assimilate. A good place to start would be to insist they obey the law.

Police in Cologne clearly failed to take on the harassers. Perhaps they did not recognize what was going on quickly enough or were afraid of being accused of racism. It may have been simple incompetence. Women have complained for years German police are slow to stop sexual harassment in the drunken crowds at the Munich Oktoberfest.

Whatever the precise nature of the failure, it needs to be fixed. Security cameras in public places would make it easier to convict those who hide in crowds  Germans should overcome their queasiness about such surveillance. With luck, the police will learn from their mistakes and work out how to prevent such incidents. Molesters should be punished.

Asylum-seekers who flout the law should face prison or deportation. No one can be sent back to Syria, but Merkel is right to argue Algeria and Morocco are safe enough.

When it comes to assimilating new arrivals, Europe could learn a thing or two from the United States, which has a better record in this regard. It is not culturally imperialist to teach migrants they must respect both the law and local norms such as tolerance and sexual equality.

It also is essential to make it as easy as possible for them to work. This serves an economic purpose: young foreign workers more than pay their way and can help solve the problem of an aging Europe. It also serves a cultural one, though, because immigrants who work assimilate far more quickly than those who are forced to sit around in ghettos. In the long run, most children of migrants will adopt core European values, but the short run matters, too.

Migrants who take the most hazardous routes into Europe  by crossing the Mediterranean in leaky boats, for example  are disproportionately young men. Overall, they make little difference to Europes sex ratio, but in some areas and age brackets, they may skew it. This is a problem, because districts with more young, single men than women are more prone to violence, especially if those men are jobless. That is why it is crazy to restrict the ability of refugees to bring their spouses and other family members to join them, as Denmarks government is now doing.

The process of absorbing refugees will be neither quick nor easy, but it is the right thing to do and ultimately will benefit Europe. Ideally all European countries would do their part. It is scandalous so few have agreed to take more than a handful of Syrians and European governments have yet to agree on a beefed-up border agency to police the European Unions external frontiers.

Even in Germany, there is a risk Merkel will be forced to abandon her policy of compassion. If she is to salvage it, she must take the lead again, spelling out how Germans can make Willkommenskultur work  and how the newcomers themselves must adapt to basic European values.
How would you like to fall into a nice, soft, comfortable, fluffy bed, cover up, get warm and comfy with a few thousand or a couple hundred thousand bed mates? In your pillow and/or mattress? Its quite possible that you do, without knowing, seeing, hearing, smelling, or feeling them. They are called house dust mites (HDM). They are unseeable with the naked eye (or one with clothes on). The environmental biology of these minute critters is interesting, not really creepy, even though they do creep under a microscope.

My mission in this space is to illuminate the world of HDM as we fit into it, and not how we can deal with problems they mite cause. HDM are medically significant because they are a source of allergic reactions and asthma. Symptoms can include sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, itchy or teary eyes, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, itching, or asthma. There are many other allergy causing factors in house dust, dirt, if you will (not saying your house isnt clean). They can include cockroaches (in the best of homes occasionally), molds, pollen, pet hair, fur, or feathers.

HDM seem to be in most western-style homes, here and abroad. Their presence is called cosmopolitan, meaning just about everywhere. How they get there is a mystery but they likely have been with us for centuries. They are technically 8-legged arthropods, not insects with six legs, and in the same class as spiders and other mites. The two main species are Dermatophagoides farinae, the American brand, and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, the European variety. A third species Euorglyphus maynei also occurs widely in the world.

Warm-blooded mammals that shed skin cells are their nutrition source. They feed on the flakes that are shed by people and pets onto and into beds, carpets, cloth furniture, etc. They are not direct parasites because they dont bite or feed on our blood like mosquitoes. They nibble on the dander or scales that drift down into their domains. (That vacuum cleaner salesperson was right!) We can shed around 1 million scales a day (How many pounds is that, you ask?). So far nothing is a medical problem to or for us.

However, they have to digest those yummy morsels, which takes digestive system enzymes. These are mite-type proteins, foreign to our systems, especially the ones that break down our proteins called proteases. These are excreted in fecal pellets or cling to dust particles as partially digested material. A mite can drop about 20 pellets a day and 2,000 in its life span. These can be rather strong allergens for folks sensitized to them. Mites have shells, which are their outer or exoskeletons. They go through 5 life stages, and shed a shell at each step. These contain proteins recognized as foreign by our immune systems that can also stimulate a strong allergic response.

Their favorite climate is warm and humid (sounds good to me in winter). They cant drink water, so they absorb it through their shells from the air and from our bodies in bed, cuddly thought. They flourish at about 75-80 degrees and 70-80% relative humidity. Desert climates dampen (pun?) their population. In a gram of house dust there mite be 100-1,000 bundled together.

They are mitey small, only about 0.2-0.3 millimeters long or 0.008-0.012 inches. Their bodies appear translucent, not dark. One of the fun web entries is a movie/video from Ohio State University showing masses of them crawling all over each other in a lab. Their life cycle can be 10-60 days, longer for mated females who lay 50-100 eggs in that time. After enough reproductive cycles one source estimated there could be 100,000 to a million in an older mattress. Yup. In one study 84% of houses tested positive for mites as houseguests and bedmates.

The subjects of who is allergic to HDM, and how to control the mites in our mutual world are food for other Hints. Now may be when to quit to allow you to digest this information. Or like our 5-year-old grandson said, Grandpa, tell me about germs. I got through almost two sentences, when he interrupted with, Okay, thats enough!

Copyright Healthful Hints by Frank A. Bures, M.D.
There may have been a small crowd at the Citizen Review Panels Kinship Care Celebration Saturday morning, but there was enough passion to pack the place.

The panel organized the event for families in the Winona area who partake in kinship care, which involves grandparents or other relatives caring for children in the family because the parents are unable to, according to panel member and retired educator Sonia Hanson of Winona.

We thought we would like to support families who are taking care of relatives children, just to give people a chance to meet people who are going through the same thing, Hanson said.

The panel organized a sandwich lunch, a craft area for children with help from Winona State Universitys child advocacy studies (CAST) students, a music program by Carla Burton of Grace Place and a resource program via computer telecommunication for caretakers featuring Janet Salo from Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota.

Co-chair of the panel David Knight emphasized the importance of Salos presentation and advice because the panel is focused on advocacy for families and children, while organizations like Lutheran Social Services are more geared toward service and resources.

While no families attended the event, the panel and WSUs CAST students took the opportunity to learn more about kinship care from Salo and the ways they can continue to advocate, help and support.

Since many families who provide kinship care do not receive much federal aid, Salo discussed ways in which families can receive financial federal support, as well as the many mental and emotional benefits that come with bringing up children within their families. Salo emphasized that kinship care can be a great placement for children, but sometimes it can cause family strife among other struggles.

Knight, a former police officer and social services worker in Minnesota and Florida, said making sure children stay with their families can be especially important when dealing with families of different ethnic backgrounds because of familiarity and culture. Keeping children within families ensures they will experience family traditions and some level of stability.

But this is nothing new, Knight said.

This is something thats always been there, but no one ever recognized them, Knight said. We want to recognize that and say, Hey, youre doing this and we appreciate what youre doing for the children and keeping them out of the system.

After her presentation, the panel asked Salo for some advice on how to further promote within the Winona community and connect families together. She suggested the group reach out to dentists and pediatricians, possibly creating an educational support group and creating focus groups to see where the needs for advocacy lie.

Panelists expressed a desire to create more outreach within the community, without crowding out resource groups that may be more equipped for directly helping and resourcing out to families.

Salo and the panel committed to keep working together to bring more advocacy of kinship care to Winona.

Before signing off, Salo, who said she finds it a struggle to reach out to families too, offered words of encouragement to the panel.

Thats just the way it is, Salo said. It takes a lot of work, but you can get there.

Knight, brimming with new ideas, including a quarterly newsletter, coordinating with Grace Place and working more with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said he knows they will keep trying.

This is something thats always been there, but no one ever recognized them. We want to recognize that and say, Hey, youre doing this and we appreciate what youre doing for the children. David Knight, co-chair of the Citizen Review Panel
What better way to get through the long, cold winter season than with a few good books? The Daily News asked Winona-area book loversauthors, poets, bookstore owners and morewhich books they recommend to read by the fire during the cold and dreary winter months. The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

P.S. DUFFY, author

Deep cold with a high of 15 below calls for curling up with a book, under quilts, by the fire, preferably with a good brandy. No? Not brandy? Hot tea then. Give yourself over to winters reflection, its intersections of present and past with this first line: Sometimes in the night he dreamed about the deadfamiliar faces and the others, half-forgotten ones, fleetingly summoned up. It opens Colm Toibins 2004 novel, The Master, about the last years of Henry James life. Dont dash through it. Winters about slowing down. Be interior with James in the tension of the creative impulse where memory and imagination meet and wander back through lush landscapes of 19th century Ireland, Paris, Italy, America and coastal Britain. Then youll find spring has come once again.

BETH ONESS, author, poet, professor One of my all-time favorite novels is Milan Kunderas The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Love, sex, eroticism, philosophy and politics. What more could one want?

STEVE SCHILD, poet, professor If youre looking for sheer genius expressed as goofiness, find Tom Robbins Still Life with Woodpecker. Its about a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes, about making love stay, about the difference between criminals and outlaws, and about the miraculous capabilities of a certain kind of typewriter. Robbins is a former newspaper reporter who apparently went a little bit crazy writing about real life and funneled it into fiction about decidedly politically incorrect characters who are memorable and lovable nonetheless. Robbins Woodpecker might be a bit harder to find, but that seems fitting--and its definitely worth the hunt.

EMILIO DEGRAZIA, author, poet, editor Mary Shelleys Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus should be up front. I tell everyone that this little novel is the most important book of the 21st century. It was written almost 200 years ago, when Mary was 18 years old, and she saw clearly and deeply into one of the major sources of our 21st century troubles. She saw, as a very learned teenager, the potential disasters we face, and why. This book is not to be confused with most of Hollywoods film versions, which pervert the original. Its not always an easy read, with all that 19th century prose in it, but its worth the effort.

KATHLEEN PETERSON, author, playwrightI just finished Faith Sullivans Good Night Mr. Wodehouse. It is a lovely novel set in Harvester, Minnesota, like Sullivans other works. I thought the characters were beautifully drawn, real and poignant and three-dimensional. It is a quintessential Minnesota story, spanning several decades, and told through the eyes of Nell Stillman, a widowed teacher with a young son. Sullivan absolutely transports the reader to this cozy small town, with its neighbors, friends, relatives, quarrels, alliances and deep friendships. Its a perfect winter read.

CHARLENE ANN BAUMBICH, author Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. When a spirited happenstance down-and-outer pairs with a down-in-body-and-soul victim of an accident, Moyes storytelling straps us in for a wild ride through the spectrum of possibilities and emotions. Funny, flippant, poignant. Quirky, thought-provoking, horrific. I listened to this book on tape more than two years ago and Im still chewing on the life-changing choices  brave, decent, good and right, insane, wrong  that sometimes invade our lives via the most unlikely spectrum of circumstances.

SCOTT LOWERY, poet Im currently halfway through TransAtlantic by Colum McCann. The novels three story threads travel from Ireland to North America and back again: The harrowing first airplane trip across the Atlantic in 1919, Frederick Douglass Irish reading tour during the outbreak of the potato famine in the 1840s, and Senator George Mitchells quiet diplomacy at the center of negotiations to end The Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1999. What makes this book a fine winter read? Between patches of fog and tragedy, the warm charms and green landscape of the Emerald Isle keep shining through.

MICHAEL LARSON, poet and professor I recommend The Unsettling of America, by Wendell Berry. Published in 1977, it is an eloquently written book about how the rise of agribusiness, aided by the land-grant universities and irresponsible government policy, has caused a massive disturbance in the health of the land, the people and rural culture. As a consequence, all parts of society have been affected. Disconnected from the land, from real resources and from the ability to sustain themselves, modern Americans have become largely consumptive units, argues Berry, to be shaped by corporate interests. The book is a kind of prophecy about many things that have indeed come to pass, but Berry offers some solutions as well.

SHELLEY OLSON, owner of Paperbacks and Pieces The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Completely unaware of his Aspergers, Don goes on a quest to find the perfect wife. In comes Rosie, on a quest of her own looking for her biological father. Together they find and learn how life, love and adjusting to change can affect relationships, especially the one they are creating unbeknownst to themselves. I would recommend this book because it is comical, real and quite entertaining, if you are looking for a light read with a tiny bit of romance.

TERRI KARSTEN, author Id like to recommend Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson as a great winter read. Guterson takes readers back to San Piedro Island off the coast of Washington a few years after the end of World War II. A terrible storm is raging on the island, while within the courthouse, a young Japanese-American is on trial for the murder of a local fisherman. Told through flashbacks to the war, and before, readers discover the many, intricate connections between the key characters, all of whom were changed by the war. Part courtroom drama, part love-story, Snow Falling on Cedars is also a great mystery, keeping readers guessing just who is guilty and what will happen right up to the end. But the best reason to read this book is because Guterson reminds us in beautiful, lyrical prose, that no man is an island. Like it or not, we are all connected. Thats important to remember on these cold winter days.

CHAD ONESS, poet Right now Im rereading Climbing Ice by Yvon Chouinard. While this book is instructional at its core, its real draw for the casual reader are the chapter on the history of ice climbing, the vignettes of personal narrative between chapters, and the treatise on style and ethics, all of which will have the reader considering her relationship with craft (of any sort) and nature, technology and the globe. Secondly, I would recommend Raising the Homestead Hog by Jerome Belanger. This book fuels your dreams of self-sufficiency while you shiver in January.

KEN MCCULLOUGH, poet Michael Crummey, Galore. Newfoundland, where I spent my childhood, is my favorite place, and One Hundred Years of Solitude is my favorite novel. In Galore, his third novel, Michael Crummey takes a hardscrabble Newfoundland outport and presents to us the rich stew of characters living there over a 200-year period, and in the process, rivals Marquez in his myth-making, storytelling, spot-on dialogue and exquisite writing in general. For such a small place, Newfoundland has a plethora of fine writers, and Crummey is, to my mind, the finest of them. You probably have to order Galore,but there are plenty of copies around.

TED HAALAND, poet Frank Tainter, Eres tu: A Novel of Lonquimay. This novel is printed in English, despite its title. It involves both life in, and natural history of, Chile, with much content about Chilean history, customs and music.

DARYL LANZ, OWNER OF CHAPTER 2 BOOKS A Doubters Almanac by Ethan Canin. A wonderful, sprawling novel. It centers around the life of Milo Andret, a brilliant mathematician, from his childhood in the woods of Michigan throughout his life in academia and beyond. A significant portion of the plot relies on Andrets attempts to find proof for a certain mathematical formula. If that sounds somewhat dry, its not. The book is not about math, but about Milo. And Milo is a fascinating character: brilliant, abrasive, anti-social, curmudgeonly, and seemingly incapable of maintaining a relationship with another human being.

MERLE HANSON, author The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan and Leaving Milan by Elizabeth Oness. Purchased locally. Mr Egans book showed me a history I wasnt as familiar with as I should, and Elizabeth does a wonderful job of developing character.

NICOLE BORG, author, teacher, poet Ive been reading a lot of Minnesota authors lately and a lot of adolescent lit. (I have an 8-year-old son). So, my favorite winter read is Wonder at the Edge of the World by Nicole Helget. It has all the ingredients  a plucky, intelligent protagonist, a compelling mystery, a fast-paced plot, science, history and a shrunken head. And, part of the novel takes place somewhere even colder than Minnesota, which makes me feel just a little warmer when its 10 below outside.

JIM ARMSTRONG, poet, professor, author Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, which posits that magic has been rediscovered in England in the age of the Napoleonic warsby two eccentric men with opposite temperaments. The novel is a send-up of the era of enlightened gentleman-experimenters (such as the members of the Royal Society or the Pneumatic Institute) with the simple assumption that one could rediscover the techniques of English Magic through research and empirical trial. It is also a story of ambition and rivalry and love, all in the language of Jane Austen and with cameo appearances by the likes of Lord Byron, the Duke of Wellington, and mad King George.
Imagine a governor of a large state deciding to cut costs and appointing a staff of bureaucrats who change the water supply for 100,000 people to save money but dont bother to have it treated properly for contaminants. For more than a year the people drink dangerous water without knowing it.

When doctors start seeing signs of lead poisoning, which causes behavioral problems and learning disabilities in children and kidney disease in adults  problems that can last for generations, questions begin to be asked. At first, the state officials ignore the results and deny theres a problem.

Local churches and charities trying to supply bottled water to terrified parents who cant afford to buy it run out. People who can afford to buy bottled water cant find it. For a while the governor hopes it will just all go away.

But then the national media swoops in and finds chaos. Finally, the National Guard begins distributing free water and filters. And finally, the governor takes his head out of the sand, requests aid from the federal government he despises and admits the state, which caused the problem, cant fix it. And even then, people are having a hard time finding and getting the water, filters and lead test kits they need.

Michigan. Flint. Gov. Rick Snyder. Ongoing crisis.

The cows were acting crazy, losing hair, showing grotesque malformations and dying, and nobody could figure out why. And then people began putting two and two together and realized a huge chemical company had bought land nearby for a landfill for its factory. The company and government studies said the farmers didnt know how to take care of cows. Only after a courageous lawyer pursued the case did he learn that a little-known and dangerous chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, often called C8, had been dumped in the landfill and was being improperly dumped into local water tables providing drinking water for 70,000 people. For 40 years secret research had shown damage to and cancer in animals and that high levels of C8 infected local factory workers.

Parkersburg, W.Va. DuPont. Lawyer Rob Bilott. The Environmental Protection Agency charged DuPont with concealing knowledge of C8s toxicity and presence in the environment. DuPont was fined $16.5 million but did not admit liability. Eventually, the EPA learned that C8 was showing up in the general public through Teflon-coated pans and in the air and water. C8 is now found all over the world, and 60,000 similar chemicals remain unregulated.

In Porter Ranch, Calif., residents fear a gas leak from a Southern California Gas Co. well is making them sick. Movie-famous activist Erin Brockovich insists that after being in a home in the area for 10 minutes, she got a case of some kind of chemically induced bronchitis. Lawsuits are pending. House values are said to be plummeting. At this point there are only questions, no answers.

Every state and nearly every community confronts controversies over environmental protection and jobs and dangers to health and habitat. Sometimes the hysteria is unfounded. But environmental activists are no longer widely ridiculed as tree huggers and bunny counters.

Nonetheless, Republican presidential candidates are on a different page.

Donald Trump wants to cut the EPA. What they do is a disgrace. He says climate change is a hoax.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wants to repeal EPAs strictures on clean air and clean power.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz voted against protecting ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. He said climate change is a pseudoscientific theory.

Carly Fiorina wants to weaken the EPA.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee thinks climate change is unproven.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich says environmental policy making should be left to the states and local communities.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wants to leave environmental protection up to businesses, not the government.

Votes have consequences.
Every American should be glad that American hostages have been freed by the tyrannical Iranian regime and are being reunited with family, friends and co-workers.

Less satisfying is the return of Irans $400 million trust fund, used to buy military equipment, which was frozen in 1979, along with its diplomatic relations with the U.S. (plus what President Obama ludicrously called appropriate interest of $1.3 billion), all returned to what the U.S. State Department branded the worlds preeminent sponsor of terrorism. Expecting Iran to use this windfall for purposes other than terrorism would be like expecting a kidnapper to donate the ransom money to a childrens hospital.

While President Obama praised himself and his diplomatic team for concluding the Iranian nuclear deal, which he claims will ensure that Iran is never allowed to build a nuclear weapon, Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis world view has not changed one iota. In (implementing) the deal, Rouhani said, all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the U.S. The rest are happy.

This is a regime that allowed the beating of Christian missionary Saeed Abedini in an attempt to force him to renounce his faith and convert to Islam. We are repeatedly told by clueless Western political leaders that Islam is a religion of peace and that the Koran prohibits coercion in matters of faith (Surah 2:256). By your fruits you shall know them.

In a brazen display of chutzpah, Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that when it comes to the nuke deal, its the U.S. that needs monitoring because it simply cannot be trusted. Iran is not beyond claiming that the U.S. is in violation of the nuclear agreement or using such allegations as an excuse to resume its nuclear program. Skeptics are right to believe their program continues out of sight, despite President Obamas assurances that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will catch any violation. Iran has barred IAEA inspectors from sites the government wanted to be kept secret. Why would it not do so again once our check clears the bank?

Pleasurable outcomes do not always validate policy and our enemies in Iran, and among the various terrorist groups it supports, are bound to receive the message that if they can just grab Americans and hold them hostage long enough, America  at least under this administration, which they perceive to be weak  will give them what they want. The kidnapping of three American contractors in Iraq may be an indication that terrorist groups have received that message.

What a contrast to Irans 1981 release of 52 American hostages, all held for 444 days. It came on the day of President Ronald Reagans Inauguration, an obvious indictment of the Carter administrations weakness. Commentators at the time said they thought the Ayatollah Khomeini believed Reagan was a cowboy and might actually drop a nuclear bomb on Iran if the Americans were not freed. That and Reagans subsequent hardline approach to the Soviet Union came to be known as peace through strength. The American lefts approach might be characterized as war through weakness.

This time around, in addition to the money, Tehran receives clemency for seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the U.S. for sanctions violations. Clemency is certainly within a presidents authority, though official U.S. policy over several administrations has been that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists ... only terrorist regimes, apparently.
Metzen to retire from Senate after 42 years of service  ST. PAUL, Minn.  Democratic Sen. Jim Metzen, whose 42 years in the Legislature make him one of Minnesotas longest-serving state lawmakers, said Saturday that he wont seek re-election. Metzen said in September that he was being treated for a recurrence of lung cancer. Metzen was first elected to the House of Representatives as a 31-year-old and served six consecutive terms. He was then elected to the Senate in 1986 and was re-elected eight times.

Man died from smoke inhalation after store fire  INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn.  A northern Minnesota man who entered a convenience store illegally and set a fire earlier this month died of smoke inhalation, authorities said. Preliminary toxicology screenings show Colton Tammi, 26, had amphetamines in his system and a blood alcohol level of .20, which is more than twice the legal limit, according to the Koochiching County medical examiner.

5-year-old killed in road attack; suspect fled  BELOIT, Wis.  A 5-year-old boy riding in the back seat of his fathers car in southern Wisconsin was killed after an SUV pulled up alongside them and someone opened fire, authorities said. Police were searching Saturday for the person responsible for the attack, which happened Friday night in Beloit, a city 65 miles southwest of Milwaukee along the Illinois border. The boy, whom the Rock County medical examiners office identified Saturday as Austin Ramos Jr., was shot at least once in the abdomen and died at a hospital.
Tickets are now on sale for Beaver Dam Area Community Theatres special Valentines weekend when WheelHouse will perform music from its album, Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch, recorded live on the BDACT stage in 2014.

While vocals were recorded later, the instrumental tracks for the album were recorded live, but with no audience, during a three-day stand in Beaver Dam. Kenny Leiser, the vocalist, violinist, and guitarist who grew up in Beaver Dam, instigated recording in my home town so he is particularly happy that WheelHouse will now give a public performance of that music on the local stage for BDACT audiences.

The BDACT stage was perfect for the particular production of this album and the acoustics in that theater for recording are great.

The full-time working band performs more than 220 shows a year with Frank Busch (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Nic Adamany (vocals, guitar), Mark Noxon (vocals, bass guitar), and Leiser. Like Leiser, the son of retired Beaver Dam music teachers Mark and Laurie Leiser, several of the band members have parents who are music educators or families that have always been engaged in music.

I think this band stands out because of our work ethic and our goal to put out a lot of good music, Busch said.

WheelHouse tours take them to many of the big summer shows in Wisconsin as well as all over the Midwest, West and South, with invitations to major music festivals. Recently, they headlined the Atwood City Limits Festival in Madison. The band has a residence performance space at Come Back Inn in Madison. The band released Wheelhouse Family Band released in 2014, and its debut album was The Comeback.

Tickets, at $10, $15, and $17, for the Valentines weekend celebration of the Meanwhile Back at the Ranch album and the return of WheelHouse to BDACT are at Recheks Food Pride or at www.bdact.org. The album will be sold before and after the shows. Net profits from the show are for the benefit of BDACTs current building fund campaign.

For a preview of the band, go to www.bdact.org or www.mightywheelhouse.com.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Turkey was trying to re-establish the Ottoman empire, was unwilling to fight Daesh and should withdraw its troops from Iraq, IraqiNews.com reported.

"Turkey is telling us that it is eager to fight ISIS [Daesh], but I'm telling them frankly, I'm not seeing evidence of that and I hope to see more evidence of their intention to fight ISIS," adding that, "I think the Turks have to shift their priority from considering the Kurds as their problem, to ISIS as their major problem."

He also said that Daesh terrorists were responsible for the recent bombings in Turkey and advised Ankara to "take the risk of ISIS seriously."

The Iraqi Premier accused Turkey of extending its fight against the PKK into Iraqi territory and of willing to do so also in Syria.

Haider al-Abadi said Iraq was keen on maintaining good relations with neighboring Turkey but insisted on the earliest possible withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraq.

In early December 2015 Ankara sent approximately 130 troops to a town close to Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, which was captured by Daesh in June 2014.

The initiative was not authorized by Baghdad, which called it a violation of sovereignty.

Iraqi authorities urged Ankara to withdraw soldiers and military hardware from the province of Nineveh and refrain from similar actions in the future.
At least 12 people have been killed as a snowstorm pounds the eastern part of the U.S. Some details of the deaths, AP reported.

A 60-year-old man died shoveling snow after an apparent heart attack in the Fort Washington area, authorities said. Medics were called but couldn't revive him, Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department spokesman Mark Brady said.

A man died in southeastern Kentucky when his car collided with a salt truck Thursday, state police said. Billy R. Stevens, 59, of Williamsburg was pronounced dead at the scene on state Route 92 in Whitley County. Two passengers were being treated at a hospital.

A Kentucky transportation worker died Saturday while plowing snow-covered highways, officials said. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet identified him in a statement as Christopher Adams. The statement says Adams called a supervisor about 5:50 a.m., saying his plow slid into a ditch. When the supervisor arrived, Adams was slumped over, unresponsive in his seat. A cause of death has not been released.

Gov. Pat McCrory said one person injured in an accident in Wilkes County on Wednesday evening has died, and another motorist was killed Friday in a crash on Interstate 95 in Johnston County.

A 60-year-old woman driving her car in Stokes County near her home about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday hit an "extremely icy" patch, went down an embankment and turned over in a creek, the state Highway Patrol said. Mary Williams was killed in the accident.

In neighboring Forsyth County, 55-year-old Rosa McCollough-Leake was killed when she slid on an icy roadway, crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a pickup truck head-on. Three people had minor injuries.

A 4-year-old boy died Friday afternoon after the pickup truck carrying his family on Interstate 77 near Troutman spun out of control and crashed, said State Highway Patrol Sgt. Michael Baker. The Ford pickup carrying two adults and their three children all under 8 years old slammed into a tow truck working to haul out a vehicle that had run off the highway earlier, Baker said. Troopers say the boy was restrained in a child seat and died as a result of the impact.

A motorist died Friday morning after losing control of her car and hitting a tree in Hickory. Troopers identified her as 19-year-old Madeline Paige Scalf of High Point.

A car slid off the roadway due to speed and slick conditions, killing the driver and injuring a passenger, the Knox County sheriff's department said.

A couple was in a vehicle that slid off an icy road and plummeted down a 300-foot embankment Wednesday night, killing the woman who was driving, said Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford. Stacy Sherrill's husband, a passenger in the car, survived the crash. It took him several hours to climb the embankment and report the accident.

A man was killed in the City of Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday after his car went off the snowy George Washington highway and hit a tree, said Officer Leo Kosinski.




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A transatlantic jet has been forced to divert to Shannon Airport following a bomb threat, Irish Times reported.

Turkish Airlines flight TK-34 departed Houston, Texas at 9.07pm local time on Saturday (4.07am Irish time Sunday) and was due in Istanbul, Turkey at around 3.45pm Irish time.

There were 227 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 777-300.

It is understood that the crew became aware of the bomb threat after a written note was discovered on board. The crew informed their operations centre who in turn alerted authorities in Ireland.

The pilot requested permission to divert and land at Shannon and was cleared to reroute to the mid west airport.

With the flight still almost two hours from Shannon, the airport's emergency plan was put into action.

Units of the local authority fire service from Shannon and Ennis were sent to the airport as back up to the airport's own fire and rescue service. Ambulances from Ennis and Limerick were also mobilised along with gardai.

The Irish Coast Guard was also alerted to the incident and placed the RNLI lifeboat based at Kilrush on standby until the flight had safely crossed the west coast.

At around 10.20am Irish time, the crew made radio contact with controllers at the Irish Aviation Authority's North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen in Co Clare.

The crew issued a Pan-Pan distressed call and requested permission to dump fuel over the Atlantic to ensure they touched down within safe landing weight levels. The flight landed safely at around 11.02am.

After landing, the jet was directed to a remote taxiway where the passengers were disembarked via mobile stairs and taken to the terminal by bus.

As with previous similar incidents, the jet remained parked until its scheduled flight time had elapsed before authorities searched the aircraft for any evidence of explosives.

The note was also taken into evidence by gardai and the handwriting was expected to be compared with samples taken from passengers.
Dole is pulling all Dole-branded and private label packaged salads produced at their Springfield plant from grocery store shelves

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that 12 people have been hospitalized and one has died from a listeria outbreak that has been linked to prepackaged salads produced by Dole Food Company in its Springfield, Ohio facility. The outbreak may also been connected to listeria illnesses in five Canadian provinces. The Public Health Agency of Canada said today that it is working with U.S. health and regulatory officials in an investigation of the Dole plant.

On Friday, Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. said that it is temporarily suspending operations at the Springfield facility. They also announced on Thursday that they are pulling from grocery store shelves all Dole-branded and private label packaged salads produced at that plant.

As well as being sold under the Dole name, the salads appear under private label brands such as Marketside (Walmart), Fresh Selections (Kroger), Simple Truth (natural/organic label for Kroger), Little Salad Bar (Aldi), and Presidents Choice, which is sold at Canadian stores Loblaws Cos. Ltd.

The 12 people hospitalized have been from six U.S. states: Indiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. One person from Michigan has died. The listeria reports began July 5. In Canada, seven people have been hospitalized and they also have recorded a death related to listeria of the same strain as is found in the U.S.

Listeriosis is an infection caused by consuming foods that are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Those at particular risk for being severely infected include newborns, pregnant mothers, people with weakened immune systems and adults aged 65 and older. Symptoms include muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms.

According to the CDC, there is no apparent link to listeria and packaged salads produced at other Dole processing plants. Dole said on Jan. 22 that the products being withdrawn can be identified as having a code in the upper right-hand corner of the package that begins with the letter A. They are encouraging anyone who may have the affected products in their home to discard them immediately and thoroughly clean any surfaces they might have touched.

At least one outbreak of listeria has been recorded every year since 2011, and has been linked primarily to prepackaged foods and dairy products. Last spring, Blue Bell Creameries, ranked as the number one brand of ice cream in the country in 2014, recalled all products after a listeria outbreak connected to their product occurred in four states.
Do zebras use their stripes for camouflage? New research says otherwise.

To most modern theorists, the stripes of a zebra are considered to be an evolutionary adaptation, a camouflage technique  however, new research indicates that zebra stripes might have nothing to do at all with camouflage.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, zebra stripes were originally thought to have evolved as a result of a need for camouflage. They were though to have been used for confusing predators, protecting against disease-carrying insects, controlling body temperature and social cohesion, according to the study, which was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Now, however, these theories are being refuted.

The results from this new study provide no support at all for the idea that the zebras stripes provide some type of anti-predator camouflaging effect, said co-author Tim Caro, UC Davis wildlife biology professor.

The new research theorizes that the stripes cannot have evolved to blend zebra into the background because at the distance where a predator might see a zebras stripes, they would have likely smelled them or seen them.

The hypothesis was tested by analyzing digital images that were taken in the field in Tanzania. These images were then passed through spatial and color filters in an attempt to simulate how a predator might see them.

The longstanding hypothesis for zebra striping is crypsis, or camouflaging, but until now the question has always been framed through human eyes, said lead author Amanda Melin, assistant professor of biological anthropology at the University of Calgary, Canada.

The research suggests that the actual purpose of the stripes might be to deter flies. Tying into this idea is the theory that the zebra stripes are used as way to dazzle and confuse attacking predators in part by creating optical illusions.
A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took
Fiona Connolly

By: Mahesh Sarin

A woman was arrested on a charge of racially aggravated harassment after laughing at a woman following an attack by her dog, police in the United Kingdom said.

Now, 43-year-old Fiona Connolly of London, was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment after allowing her dog to attack Candice Legister.

A judge heard that Connolly has been accused of several racially aggravated harassment offenses over the past five years.

Connolly however, denied being a racist, saying that she is half Muslim.

According to the police investigation, Connolly stood by and watched her dog running over to Candice, as they both walked in the Little Wormwood Scrubs park.

The dog chewed on Candiceas dress. When Legister tried to push away the dog, Connolly laughed and said that her dog does not like Muslims.

The following day, when Connolly met Legister at a supermarket, she called her a stupid black b***h.
China revealed their plan to visit to the darker side of moon by 2018. (Photo : Reuters)

Last week, China revealed their plan to visit to the darker side of moon by 2018. According to the news report, China has launched Chang'E-4 lunar probe, an updated version of Chang'E-3 lunar probe, which they send on the moon in 2013.



Tech In Asia has showed in their reports the reasons why one should be careful about this latest news of lunar rover of China. The dark side of moon is facing away from the earth, and there are no human beings or robots that were sent to the dark side of the moon just yet. Recently, according to the publication, China will visit the darker side of the moon by 2018.



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As per Business Insider, the geological structure of the moon's darker side is not yet known. It is said that what people normally see is Maria, which has large smooth plains; however, according to research, the moon's darker side is rough enough with a lot of holes and bumps, wherein humans or even robots will have difficult in landing. So far, the close up landscape comes to view by the Chinese probe.



Connection to the darker side is very hard as the communication with this side is much difficult. The direct satellite communication or radio communication is out of the question from this side, reported by Tech In Asia.



The lunar surface of the darker side is dangerous enough due to the deep penetrated terrain, and if China lands their probe on this side, the idea of this side will be cleared a lots of quarries.



Expert says that the darker part of the moon contains an immense amount of Helium -3 due to the side facing the sun. According to reports, if Chinese probe will be successful in finding out the reality of the moon's darker side, it will definitely be great news as Helium-3 could be used as a great source of fuel by human kind.


Council on Track to Meet Housing Improvements Deadline

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jan 23rd, 2016

Wrexhams Council houses are set to achieve the Welsh Governments Welsh Housing Quality Standard by the 2020 deadline.

This is according to figures which were recently released by Wrexham County Borough Council.

The figures show how much of the work has been completed over the last six months.

The Welsh Housing Quality Standard is a set of minimum criteria, set by the Welsh Government, for the quality and condition of social housing. All local authorities in Wales are required to achieve this standard by the 2020 deadline.

All 11,300 of Wrexham Councils housing will receive the necessary improvement work to achieve the standard over the next few years. This includes installing new kitchens and bathrooms in properties, where required, along with other internal and external improvements such as electrical rewiring, central heating, external insulation and roofing.

The current figures show that, over the last six months:

1,452 kitchens were completed

1,527 bathrooms were completed

382 properties received central heating improvement work

863 properties received electrical rewiring improvement work

357 properties received roofing improvement work

289 properties received external improvement work

Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Ian Roberts, commented, We are making a big investment to ensure that all our properties achieve the standard by 2020. Improvement work on this scale presents many challenges, but it is encouraging to see that we are still well on track to meet the deadline.

The Council is investing over 40m on housing improvement work in 2015/16. This includes a 7.5m Major Repairs Allowance grant from the Welsh Government which is awarded to local authorities to support the achievement of the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.

Local community projects and job opportunities have also received a boost from this investment, thanks to Community Benefit schemes set up by contractors carrying out on the Councils housing properties.

All major contracts now require firms to contribute something extra back to the local community.

This can include taking on local labour and apprentices, funding community projects, refurbishing community buildings and purchasing supplies from local businesses.

Latest figures released by the Housing Service show that in the last 12 months 

at least 61 modern apprentices have been take on,

14 weeks of work experience have been provided

36 employees have been provided with short term employment

34 employees have been given long term employment

63,197 has been donated as cash or in-kind to organisations or projects within Wales

A timetable to show when work is due to be carried out in each area of Wrexham can now be viewed on the Housing Service website: www.wrexham.gov.uk/whqs
IV suite in Wrexham Goes From Strength to Strength

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jan 24th, 2016

The work provided at a suite at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital has gone from strength to strength since opening almost four year ago.

Since the opening of the IV (Intravenous) suite in March 2012, the IV team based in Wrexham Maelor Hospital continue to see an increasing number of referrals, from wards at the hospital and primary care (GPs).

The IV team offers IV administration support both in the suite and in the home environment if required, and is led by an Advanced Nurse Practitioner. Since the service commenced, other IV treatments are also administered, and the team also support the care of patients requiring blood transfusions.

This care can also be supported in the patients own home, care home or community hospital settings.

Jayne Sankey, Locality Matron said: I recently spent some time with the team to gain an update into their workload and capacity, and observed the delivery of various treatments to approximately 30 patients during that day. This included a patient referred from a London hospital and a patient in a residential home setting.

During a recent audit of the service, including ward and medical staff and patients, the service was described as responsive and flexible, with a team of approachable and supportive staff, who help patients to stay at home and enable them to be discharged faster out of hospital. The team have every reason to be proud of their service to the patients.
MP Dismayed as Vote Passes to Scrap Student Grants in England

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jan 24th, 2016

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas has said he is dismayed that a vote to scrap student grants has been passed in Westminster, and is unhappy it came under the new voting system that can limit Welsh MPs voting participation.

Grants for students in England will be scrapped after Conservative MPs voted to get rid of them in a series of votes in the Commons this week. The proposal to scrap grants was the first time a double majority vote has been held, a procedure brought forward by the Conservative party otherwise known as EVEL English Votes for English Laws rules, and the vote itself was declared applicable to England only.

Citing the effect the changes would have on Glyndwr University, which obviously is in Wales, Mr Lucas asked for the proposal for the vote to be double majority to be reconsidered  but the Speaker of the House of Commons denied his request.

Mr Lucas also challenged Conservative MPs during the debate about the proposals, asking a fellow Labour MP: Does my Honorable Friend agree that it is particularly shameful that this proposal did not appear in the Conservative party manifesto? It is being sneaked into the House of Commons and without the knowledge of the people of this country.

Speaking about the vote, Mr Lucas said: Every constituent who has contacted me about these proposals has been opposed to them. I am dismayed they have been brought forward. They are clearly unpopular  and the Conservatives know they are, which is why they did not appear in last years General Election Manifesto.

I spoke against the proposals because they will affect Welsh institutions, such as Glyndwr University. For Welsh students, there are grants still available thanks to the Labour Welsh Government  but, in the Assembly, the Conservatives unveiled proposals to scrap them.

However the decision has been defended by the Conservative Candidate for the Welsh Assembly Elections, Andrew Atkinson who said: I can understand why people would not want to see these changes brought in, but the cost is an issue that needs to be considered.

Currently, more than half a million English students receive a maintenance grant from the taxpayer, which is worth around 1.6bn a year. However, it was predicted that this figure could rise to 3bn in the next decade. The new proposals are set to be rolled out for those starting university in September 2016.

A couple of years ago our Universities didnt have enough money and there were rules put in place by the government, saying certain people couldnt go to university, even if they had the grades, because there wasnt enough money to properly fund the universities.

We have more young people from poorer backgrounds going to university today than at any point in our history. The maintenance grants grew over the years and have been abolished by a previous Labour government for a number of years.

This system moves to far more generous loans, giving students more money to support themselves, and asks them to repay only once theyre earning a decent salary.

We asked Mr Atkinson about the concerns raised about the English votes for English laws, Mr Atkinson said: This is being voted on by English MPs only, because it affects their constituents, as education decisions for Wales are made in the Assembly. I think thats right and fair as something had to be done to address the unfairness in the system and the duplication brought about by devolution.

I support devolution but it cannot be right that one part of the UK can vote on English matters and English MPs cant vote on devolved matters. This is a matter for MPs in England to decide over their own affairs, just as we do in Wales.
To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry.

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Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes.
Court lifts travel ban on the founder of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper; assets still frozen

Giza Criminal Court decided on Saturday to lift a travel ban imposed in November on Egyptian businessman and newspaper owner Salah Diab, who is charged with possessing unlicensed firearms at his home.

Diab is a co-founder of Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read daily newspapers.

On 8 November, he was detained for questioning on charges of possessing firearms; his detention was then renewed for 15 days. However, he was released on a LE50,000 bail after his lawyers presented reports of his chronic medical conditions.

His son was also detained on the same charges, then released with his father on the same day.

Following the investigations, the Egyptian stock exchange froze the assets of the business mogul and 16 others, following an official notice by the Egyptian prosecution banning the businessmen from trading in the market.

Diab is also facing charges of financial corruption.

The Public Funds Prosecution Bureau had received a complaint in 2011 that Diab along with several others had acquired agricultural land on the Alexandria Desert Road from the agriculture ministry at a very low price, and built tourist resorts on those plots in violation of the contract.

The prosecutor-general ordered in November that Diab's assets be frozen along with those of his wife and a number of other associates, including other co-founders of Al-Masry Al-Youm.

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GRANGER, Wash. -- A Catholic priest in the Yakima Diocese has been permanently removed from public ministry by Bishop Joseph Tyson.
An Iranian couple was arrested at the Chennai airport in India on Saturday with fake Israeli passports.

The two, 25 and 35 years old, were arrested while trying to board a flight to London after arriving in Chennai from Goa, where local police says they obtained the fake passports.

Preliminary investigation found that the woman lived in Pune in the past ten years, while the man was working in Goa at the time. After they got married, the couple planned to move to the United States.

Officials at the airport police told media in India that the two plotted to use fake Israeli passports because they are easy to enter the US with them.

It's still unclear who forged the passports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would allow Jewish settlers evicted by the IDF from two houses in the West Bank city of Hebron to return once proper permits were in place.

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About 80 settlers were removed from Hebron on Friday a day after Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon withheld his required approval of their occupancy in apartments in a city where tensions between Israelis and Palestinians run high.

The settler group said it had bought the homes from Palestinian owners. But Ya'alon said the settlers had failed to seek permission from Israeli authorities to move in and were trespassing.





A soldier taking down the Israeli flag during the eviction of the homes (Photo: Reuters)

A Netanyahu aide said on Friday that the prime minister supported Ya'alon's decision to evict the settlers, a step that drew criticism from members of the right-wing coalition government and threats to withhold support in Knesset votes.

But the aide said the settlers could take up residency again after completing the necessary paperwork.

In public remarks at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said his government "supports the settlements" and would expedite an examination of the settlers' case.

"The moment that the purchase process is authorized, we will allow the population of the two houses in Hebron," Netanyahu said, confirming his aide's remarks.

The process of checking is starting today, he added. We will do it as quickly as possible. If, in any case, it is not completed within a week, I will see to it that the cabinet receives a status report.

Meanwhile, the government decided to form a ministerial committee on settlements, based on the recommendations of the 2012 Levy report. The committee's formation will essentially strip the defense minister of his authority to evacuate homes in the territories.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett demanded the committee be formed as part of Bayit Yehudi's coalition agreement with the ruling Likud party.

The settlers being removed from the Hebron homes (Photo: AFP)

Some of the Likud ministers attacked Ya'alon, also a member of Likud, for the decision to evict the homes.

"He caused an injustice that cries out to the heavens," claimed ministers Ze'ev Elkin and Yariv Levin.

"It doesn't make sense that illegal construction in Hebron is enforced, but not in the Arab sector," Levin said. "According to what guidelines was the evacuation done? What are the actions you took before deciding to evict?"

Ya'alon addressed the attacks on him from the right, telling Army Radio that he has "no common language" with Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich and certain critics in Likud.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel referenced Ya'alon's words before a government meeting. "I have a common language with everyone," he said. "You always have to find ways to reach understandings and rather than criticize."

Ariel explained Bayit Yehudi's demand to form a ministerial committee on settlements, saying "it shouldn't be a decision of just one minister but of a ministerial committee that represents the entire government."
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police said on Sunday seven members of an Islamic State (IS) cell had been arrested in a three-day operation carried out across the Southeast Asian country.

The operation was launched in four states on Jan. 22, ahead of Monday's International Conference on Deradicalization and Countering Violent Extremism that Malaysia is hosting.

Police said the suspects had received instructions to carry out attacks in Malaysia by Syrian-based IS members, including Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant named as the mastermind of Jan. 14 suicide attacks in Jakarta which killed seven people.

"All of the suspects are members of the same cell, who are responsible for planning terror attacks in strategic locations throughout Malaysia," Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement.

He said the suspects were also given orders by Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a known Malaysian IS recruiter who had previously been linked to a beheading video in Syria.
Israeli authorities said on Sunday they decided against opening a criminal investigation of an ultranationalist group behind a video that accused the heads of four of Israel's leading human rights organizations of being "foreign agents".

Activists had demanded the attorney general look into the 68-second video by Zionist group Im Tirtzu, saying it was incendiary. But the Justice Ministry said no criminal investigation was warranted because the video did not call for violence. Its main message, the ministry said, was for Israelis to back a proposed law to restrict foreign funding to aid groups.
The 15-year-old Palestinian who murdered Dafna Meir outside her home in Otniel told Shin Bet investigators that he decided to commit the attack after watching Palestinian TV, it was cleared for publication on Sunday.

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In the time leading up to the attack, the teenager watched Palestinian television, where Israel was presented as a country that "kills young Palestinians."

Dafna Meir, left, and the 15-year-old terrorist who murdered her, right

On the day of the attack, he sought to murder a Jew. He chose Otniel for his attack due to the settlement's close proximity to his place of residence.

Dafna Meir, a mother of six, was outside her house painting her door when the teenage attacker assaulted her, stabbing her several times. She fought him off in an effort to keep him away from her children. Her daughter's screams scared him away and he fled towards Khirbet el-Karmil, a Palestinian village on the outskirts of Yatta.

Security forces scrambled to comb the area for the attacker, who was caught two days later by the Shin Bet, IDF and elite Duvdevan forces.

"The serious consequences of the terror attack demonstrate once again the severity of the threat caused by the out-of-control incitement in the Palestinian press against the State of Israel and the Jews, which provokes lone terrorists into committing acts of murder and serious terror attacks," the Shin Bet said in a statement.

Meir, 38, is survived by her husband Natan and their six children : Renana, 17, Akiva, 15, Ahava, 10, Noa, 11, Yair, six, and Yaniv, four.
A National Security officer died on Saturday from injuries sustained two days earlier in an explosion during a security raid on a suspected militant hideout in Giza, bringing the total death toll from the blast to 11.

The explosion initially killed ten people, including seven policemen and three civilians. Ten police personnel were injured, including Major Ahmed Ibrahim El-Refai who died at Cairo's Police Hospital to increase number of slain policemen to eight.

Four civilians were injured in the attack.

A civilian who lived in the building was killed in the explosion, and two charred bodies were found inside the apartment, according to the ministry statement.

The interior ministry said that the police officers were attempting to defuse a time-bomb during the raid on an apartment in Marioutiya, where suspected Islamist militants were believed to be staying.

An ISIS-affiliated group and another militant group called "Revolutionary Punishment" have both claimed responsibility for the incident, which took place days before the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution.

In a statement issued on Friday and published on its alleged Twitter accounts, Sinai-based Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis "ABM" claims police personnel were killed and injured when they entered a "booby-trapped" house.

In recent months, Egyptian security forces have carried out dozens raids on apartments where suspected or fugitive Islamists militants were reportedly either hiding or preparing for terrorist operations.

These raids have often ended with suspects killed by police, who say they were met with gunfire upon arrival at the hideouts.

Police have also reportedly conducted door-to-door raids of dozens of apartments in downtown Cairo ahead of the 25 January anniversary, questioning occupants about their political activities.

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Prime Minister Netanyahu defended the state of the US-Israel relationship at a meeting with his cabinet this morning, and said that the relationship was rock-solid.

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I want to thank President Obama, who has decided to be present at the event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Embassy of Israel, said Netanyahu.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting (Photo: Ohad Tzvigenburg)

The President of the United States has not been at Israels Embassy for many years, noted Israels prime minister. This is further evidence that US-Israel relations, despite differences of opinion that arise from time to time, are very strong and solid.

Netanyahu also addressed statements made by many in the last few years that the US-Israel relationship collapsed over disagreements between the White House and Israel over the Iran nuclear agreement and Israels policies in the West Bank

We heard over the last couple of years talk about the collapse of the relationship, said Israels prime minister. What collapsed was the discussion about such a collapse, and what is going to become clear is that this special relationship is reflected in many spheres.

One of them is of course the memorandum (of understanding) that were trying to establish, which it appears that well finish I hope, in the coming months, with the United States, on the military aid package to Israel for ten years, Netanyahu added.

The current memorandum of understanding in which the US provides approximately $3.1 billion annually in military aid to Israel, expires in 2017. Both the US and Israel have yet to reach an agreed annual amount for a renewed memorandum of understanding.

Netanyahu also said that the close relationship between the US and Israel was expressed in his conversations with US Vice President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State John Kerry at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this week. These relations also came to be reflected in the conversations that I had in Davos with Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry, said Netanyahu.

The Israeli prime minister also claimed that the US-Israel relationship was strong in large part due to Israels strategic importance for the US in the Middle East.

Everyone understands that with this maelstrom in the Middle East, and the rise of radical Islamic forces, ultimately, Israel is the most stable, faithful and strongest ally of the United States in the region, and this is also reflected in the shared values and common interests that we promote, Netanyahu added.
We hoped, we dreamed, we prayed, but Israel again will not be at the next Oscars ceremony. "Baba Joon," directed by Yuval Delshad, won Israel's Ophir Award for best movie and was eyed as a potential contender for Israel in the foreign movie category, but failed to make it past the Academy's nomination process.

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But the fact that Israel isn't at the Oscars doesn't mean that Israelis won't be there. In fact, there will be quite a few present at the Academy Awards on February 28, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg.

The Israelis from 'Ave Maria'

Whether you like it or not, the closest thing to an Israeli entry at this year's Oscars is "Ave Maria," which is competing for the best short movie. Officially, this is a Palestinian production which was funded by France and Germany; however, Hebrew is spoken throughout most of the movie. The roles are played by Arab and Jewish Israelis.

The trailer for 'Ave Maria'

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The director, Basil Khalil, is a Nazareth native and he was joined in the production by an international crew which mainly comprised Israelis, including cinematographer Arik Mizrachi. The film, which is 15 minutes long, was shot in Israel and the territories.

Nomi Talisman

Competing in the category for best short documentary is a name that Israelis may also recognize. Artist Nomi Talisman, whose creation "Last Day of Freedom"  made in collaboration with her partner Dee Hibbert-Jones  is of Israeli origin, although she left 15 years ago.

Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman (Photo: GettyImages)

The film tells of Bill Babbit, a good American citizen, and the dilemma he faces when he discovers that his brother has committed a terrible crime.

"It's an amazing feeling  it's our first film and we didn't expect it to get this far," Talinson, who now lives in San Francisco, told Ynet.

The film will be screened in Israel next March as part of the Epos festival, which Talinson is also excited about. "My family lives in Israel, and I have friends there."

Amitai Kedar

Unlike "Ave Maria," the foreign film category at the Oscars features movies that represent the countries which have sent them there  rather like in the Olympics. "Baba Joon" won't be there, but a Norwegian entry  "Son of Saul"  will be. It is considered the favorite to take the prize.

Trailer for "Son of Saul"

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The script was partly formulated in the greenhouse that is the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, which Jewish director Laszlo Nemes attended. He took with him Israeli actor Amitai Kedar, who wins a little screen-time in the movie and also appears on the poster  most of which is devoted to the hero Saul, a member of the Auschwitz Sonderkommando.

"There's a lot of excitement in this film," said 46-year-old Kedar, who has been appearing in theater productions over the last few years. "It started about a year-and-a-half ago, when the director was in Israel and invited me to act in a film being shot in Hungary. It was an incredible experience.

"I was the only Israeli on set in a cast of actors from Hungary, Romania, Poland and Germany. It was shot in several languages, and my role was in Yiddish.

"There's an insane amount of buzz surrounding this film," Kedar continued. "It's amazing to think that I was part of this creation. My grandparents were survivors and some of my work in Israel involves the perpetuation of European Jewish culture."
In preparation for International Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place on Wednesday, January 27, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett presented the government of Israel with a report detailing a 2015 overview of anti-Semitism in the world . According to the report, the past year saw a record number of Jews emigrating away from Western European countries . The BDS movement is gaining strength in Europe , and is promoting the boycott of Jewish events and representatives, not just of Israel.

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According to the report, 57 percent of French Jews are considering a move to another country. Seventy-five percent of Jewish students in US colleges have experienced, or were witnesses to, anti-Semitism. 2015 saw a 61 percent rise in anti-Semitic crime in London , and the years 2014 and 2015 were record years for anti-Semitism in Britain.

According to the statistics over 40 percent of EU citizens hold anti-Semitic views of some sort. They agree with the idea that Israel is conducting a war of annihalation on the Palestinians, or the idea that Israel is behaving like the Nazis did. EU leadership and its member states have reportedly been ignoring this for over a decade.

French olim in 2015. A majority of French Jews are now considering emigrating. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Eastern Europe hasnt fared much better. Jews in Russia and Ukraine are presented as being of dubious loyalty by the media, and authorities are not making efforts to fights anti-Semitism. The memorial site at Babi Yar in Kiev has been desecrated six times during the past year, with no real response from authorities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that this is a very important and meaningful report. Anti-Semitism still exists and is becoming more and more vicious. I call on the international community to act in opposition to anti-Semitism and harshly condemn any anti-Semitic act.

"Its unacceptable that 70 years after the Holocaust we still see anti-Semitism in full swing. With past events in mind, we need to assure that this disaster will not be repeated, and that is precisely the responsibility of the European Union and UN, who are staying silent in the face of these worrisome statistics. The prime minister instructed everyone involved to strengthen Israels PR and education in opposition of anti-Semitism.
Non-Islamist political parties say that they will commemorate the 25 January Revolution at their headquarters only

On Monday, Egypt marks the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, amid wide anticipation and concern from the Egyptian government about what may happen in terms of protests and violence.

When it comes to non-Islamist political parties and movements, this year won't see any street-based or public activity or commemorations, unlike in previous years.

"The parties of the Democratic Current decided to organise events at their headquarters," Khaled Dawood, official spokesperson of the Constitution Party, told Ahram Online.

The Constitution Party is a member of the liberal-leftist, pro-25 January Democratic Current, as are the Nasserist Popular Current and Karama Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party and the Socialist Party.

The Democratic Current parties are also commemorating the first anniversary of the killing of Shaimaa El-Sabbagh, a leftist activist and a member of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party who was shot on 24 January 2015 by security forces during a rally in Cairo's Talaat Harb Square.

"As the Constitution Party spokesperson, I advise my members not to go to the streets and risk their lives," Dawood said, adding that he believes most Egyptians will stay at home on the day, which is already a national holiday.

"As a group of political parties, we took a decision not to take part in any street action of any kind because we are aware of this state of alertness by the security forces," Dawood said, adding that these parties do not want to be mixed up with Muslim Brotherhood calls for protests.

Aside from the fact that unauthorised protests are illegal in Egypt, Dawood is surprised by what he called "exaggerated actions and alertness" by security authorities.



Many activists of April 6 Youth Movement, the Revolutionary Socialists and Tamarod are currently detained pending investigations, accused by authorities of calling for anti-government protests on 25 January, despite the fact that no non-Islamist group or movement has officially called for any kind of street activity on that day.

Some activists have been accused of joining an allegedly anti-regime group called "The 25 January Youth.".

Security forces also have conducted mass searches of rented flats near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 2011 uprising.

Ahram Online was told by eyewitnesses, including foreigners living in the downtown area, that apartments rented by expats as well as by non-Cairene Egyptians have been inspected by security forces in the past couple of weeks.

"If it (the security crackdown) were for terrorist attacks, well, terrorist organisations are not waiting for 25 January and we have already seen an escalation in their attacks in the past three or four weeks," Dawood told Ahram Online.

Armed forces deployment

The security alertness reached its peak on Friday when the Egyptian armed forces deployed forces to Cairo and a number of governorates to aid police in securing key areas such as highways and public squares, including Tahrir Square.

In parallel, since the start of January, Friday prayer sermons authorised by Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments have criticised calls for protests on 25 January, warning against them.

The only political group that has announced it will go to the streets, without giving any further details, was the Muslim Brotherhood led-coalition, the National Democratic Alliance.

The alliance issued a statement Thursday calling for a week of protests, naming it "We will continue our revolution," while giving no information on the timing or place of protests.

The alliance, which lost a lot of its momentum among Morsi supporters in 2015, has been issuing statements since the start of January calling for protests all over Egypt. However, each week usually ends in protests in a few districts and villages in the North Delta.

Earlier in January, the spokesperson of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Montassar, issued a statement on his Facebook page speaking directly about the 2011 revolution anniversary and giving advice to "revolutionaries."

"We ask revolutionaries, regardless of their ideologies, to take all precautions to secure themselves, especially with the security procedures taken by the regime," Montassar said, referring to the recent security crackdown targeting political activists.

In his message, the Brotherhood spokesperson advised those protesting to change their places of residence and to take measures to secure telephone and online communications.

According to early interior ministry statements, nearly 69 Facebook pages were closed and their five admins arrested for inciting illegal protest on 25 January, as well as inciting violence against the state and spreading the message of a banned group  the Muslim Brotherhood.

Aside from the Democratic Current, no other parties are organising any major commemoration of the 2011 revolution.

The spokesperson of the Free Egyptians Party, Shahab Wagih, told Ahram Online that his party would celebrate the January Revolution by "achieving its goals through work and politics, not through events."

The party, founded soon after the 2011 revolution, won 65 seats in the House of Representatives in last December's elections.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi wondered in a public speech in December why some were calling for protests on the anniversary, although he said he would leave his position if the people asked him to do so.

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An Egyptian lawyer has filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court on Saturday demanding a media gag order on an investigation of corruption claims by Central Auditing Organisation head Hesham Geneina be lifted.

Last month, Geneina told Egyptian media that the value of governmental corruption between 2012 and 2015 was LE600 billion (around $75 billion). He based his statements on the findings of a detailed study conducted by the CAO.

Lawyer Ali Ayoub, who founded an advocacy group to defend Geneina, demanded in the lawsuit that the Central Auditing Organisation and the fact-finding committees reports related to the case be published.

The lawsuit presented to the court is based on Articles 217 and 218 of the Egyptian constitution. Article 217 stipulates that autonomous organisations and control agencies shall notify the competent investigation authorities of any evidence discovered in relation to violations or crimes, while according to Article 218, the state shall fight corruption and competent control agencies and organisations shall coordinate their activities in combating corruption, enhancing the values of integrity and transparency in order to ensure the sound performance of public functions and preserve public funds.

On Wednesday, Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadiq put in place a media gag order on the investigation of the corruption allegations made by Geneina.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ordered a committee be formed to probe the statements made by Geneina. The fact-finding committee is led by the head of the cabinet-affiliated Administrative Control Authority and comprises representatives of various cabinet ministries.

On 12 January, the committee released a report challenging Geneinas claims, saying Geneinas statements and the CAOs study are inaccurate, exaggerated and lack credibility.



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CoreLogic RP Datas newly released Regional Rent Report for the quarter revealed regional housing markets in Australias states and territories saw at best modest growth in weekly asking rents in the final three months of 2015.

For houses, the Northern Territory was home to the strongest growth over the quarter, with weekly asking rents rising 2.1% to $480.

Conditions were mirrored in South Australia and Tasmania, where weekly asking rents for houses in regional markets increase 1.9% to $265 over the quarter.

Victorias regional houses saw a quarterly increase of 1.8% to $290.

Over the quarter, asking rents for houses in regional New South Wales and Queensland both remained unchanged at $350.

In the 12 months to December 2015, South Australia and Tasmania saw the strongest growth, with yearly increases of 1.9%, while WA performed the worst with rents declining 7.5%.

Source: CoreLogic RP Data

For units in regional areas, only regional areas in NSW and Victoria saw asking rents increase over the quarter.

In NSW, asking rents increased 3.1% to $330, while asking rents in Victoria now sit at $250 after a 2% increase.

Tasmania was the worst performing state over the quarter, with weekly asking rents for units falling by 4.2% to $230.

Asking rents for units in Queensland also fell in the quarter, down by 2.9% to $330, while WA saw a 3% quarterly fall to $320.

Asking rents remained steady in South Australia and the Northern Territory over the three-month period.

Over the 12 months to December, NSW easily saw the largest annual increase, with asking rents increasing by 6.5% over the year.

Victoria (2%) and Tasmania (1.1%) also saw yearly increases, while asking rents in South Australia and Queensland are at the same level they were 12 months ago.

The largest yearly decline was recorded in the Northern Territory, with rents down 10.3%, while in WA regional unit rents are 8.6% lower compared to 12 months prior.

Source: CoreLogic RP Data
The World Food Programme (WFP) seeks to recruit a qualified, self-motivated and experienced professional to fill the following position:

Project Manager  HGSF Programme (MNPs)  Lusaka Zambia

Contract Type/level: Service Contract (SC8)

Contract Duration: 12 Months renewable

Background information:

The Country Office is implementing a Country Programme (CP 2016-2020) which is aligned with several national government strategic documents and the United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPF) 2016-2020. The CP has three components- HGSF, Nutrition and Resilience. The HGSFP is being implemented in 32 districts reaching about 900,000 children in these districts. The SF provides children with hot meals five days a week for 180 days in a year. The food basket currently consists of the staple maize meal OR maize grain, pulses and oil. With the high levels of under-nutrition in Zambia (40% children are stunted), WFP has prioritised improving the nutritional value of the HGSFP, as this is one direct way that the education sector can support the attainment of nutrition goals in the country. To that effect, the Home Grown component of the school meals programme will ensure linkages with the agricultural sector for the production of local nutritious foods for supply to the schools. In addition, WFP intends to supplement the meals with micronutrient powders to enhance the nutrition value of the meals as well as utilisation of orange maize in the school meals.

Under the MNPs component, WFP will provide MNPs to 5,000 children in 10 schools starting first term 2016. In view of this, WFP is hiring a Project Officer who will be responsible for the implementation of this project. The Project Officer will work with the Ministry of General Education at the national level, but also the district, school officials and PTA members.

The objectives of the MNPs project are as follows:

Overall and specific objectives

The overall objective is to determine best operational practices for micronutrient powder (MNP) supplementation in the School Feeding Programme in Zambia and contribute to advocacy work around food fortification in the overall nutrition response in the country.

Specific Objectives

Objective 1: To improve micronutrient intake among 5,000 school age children in district A over a school year.

Objective 2: To raise awareness and increase support for food fortification including the use of micronutrient powders in school meals.

Objective 3: To document and share best practice for designing, implementing, and monitoring MNP intervention in schools with government and partners.

Duties and Responsibilities:

a) Micro-nutrient Powders Project

Plan and lead implementation of the project activities in line with the proposal

Liaise with district and HQ staff on matters pertaining to the project

Lead in the design of the Formative Research

Support in the identification of an implementation partner for the project

Participate and lead in the design of the training activities

Provide backstopping to the Implementing Partner

Whenever possible, participate in the sensitization activities of the project

Participate in the development of the IEC materials

Conduct monitoring of the activities

b) Home Grown School Feeding Programme

Responsible for the implementation of the decentralised HGSFP as assigned

As part of the team, the Project Officer will support the implementation of the HGSF led by the ministry, including capacity building of district and sub district level staff

Provide inputs and contribute to the development of a nutrition component within the HGSF Programme

Support the coordination and management of nutrition interventions within the HGSF Programme and other education related activities;

Participate and provide inputs for programme proposal writing to donors and for standard WFP programming relating to HGSF;

Support the design and implementation of WFP and country led assessments to identify the root causes of under nutrition among school going children and make appropriate recommendations to management;

Conduct regular field monitoring visits to implementation sites to provide technical back stopping, identify challenges, follow up on actions and oversight on programme implementation;

Work with the M&E officers to compile monthly statistics and trends on nutritional value intake in school children enrolled in the HGSF Programme;

c) Reports, Data management and budgeting

Provide monthly, quarterly and annual Reports, briefs and standard reports for donors and Government counterparts

Ensure timely follow up with the district on their submission of nutrition narrative and statistical data

Maintain records on programme activities, from formulation stage through completing, by extracting relevant information from reports, project review committees, budget records and other documentation;

Carry out advocacy and information related tasks for project/programme activities such as making presentations in meetings, workshops, seminars, missions, etc

d) Partnerships

Provide technical support to the Country Director and Senior Programme Officer during donor and government consultative meetings;

Support the engagement of government and civil society counterparts at technical level to guide policy formulation and implementation

Participate in the steering committee for the HGSF Programme;

Provide technical guidance to other UN agencies and NGOs on design, implementation and monitoring & evaluation of nutrition with the HGSF Programme

e) Required skills

Project management skills and understanding of the linkages between the nutrition and agricultural sector

Excellent communication, advocacy and networking skills

Demonstrated ability to coordinate project activities, work with multi-sectoral stakeholders in a district

Facilitation of various functions, which should include ability to supervise on-the-ground officials from government and communities that are involved in implementation

Demonstrated effectiveness in providing technical support to various stakeholders including community based organisations and local committees like neighbourhood committees

Excellent computer skills; proven familiarity with MS word, MS excel, MS power point

Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-sectoral team

Ability to write and analyse reports

Willingness to travel within district of assignment

Experience

At least five years working in a similar environment

Qualifications

A degree in social development (Education or Nutrition) or related sector

At least five years working experience in an NGO or the UN

Knowledge of the UN system is an added advantage

Interested candidates meeting the requirements of the post should submit their application letter together with detailed Curriculum Vitae and/or the United Nations Personal History Form (P.11), and copies of academic and professional credentials. Envelopes should be marked as below:

CONFIDENTIAL  Project Officer  HGSF Programme (MNPs)

VA NUMBER: 001/001/2016

The envelopes should be submitted to:

The Head of Human Resources, United Nations World Food Programme Zambia P.O. Box 37726 Lusaka, Zambia. Or; delivered by hand at WFP Offices (Tender Box) Plot # 10/4971, Tito Road Rhodespark, Lusaka Zambia

The deadline for submission of application is 31st January 2016

Women candidates are encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Egypt on Saturday strongly condemned a terrorist attack by Al-Shabaab at a restaurant in Mogadishu, which killed around 20 people.

Five gunmen detonated a bomb on Thursday at a beachside restaurant in Mogadishu, then fired at those inside the venue.

The government expresses sincere condolences for the victims, and supports Somalia's government and people in their fight against "vicious terrorism", a statement by the foreign ministry on the ministry's English-language Facebook page said.

Four of the gunmen were killed and one was captured by security forces.

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Hyderabad: In a fresh development in the dalit scholar Rohit Vemula's suicide case, University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, whose resignation is being sought by the protesting students, has gone on leave, saying he was "advised to be little away from campus" to break the current "impasse".

The HCU website announced on Sunday that Vipin Srivastava, the seniormost professor of the University, will now perform the duties of the vice chancellor.

Rao was under fire for his handling of the issue relating to the suspension of five Dalit students, one of whom, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide on January 17.

Demanding the vice chancellor's resignation, students continued their protest on the campus.

Meanwhile, the university registrar also issued orders today with regard to revocation of suspension of four students. The executive council on Thursday had decided to revoke the suspension.

The students, however, continued their protest demanding the vice chancellor's ouster.

Some political parties here had earlier warned of an agitation if action was taken against two young Dalit scholars who shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday during a convocation ceremony at Bhim Rao Ambedkar university.

The three students - Surendra Nigam, Amrendra Arya and Ram Karan Nirmal - were on late Friday asked to vacate the accommodation provided to them as 'guests' in the varsity hostel. A case has been lodged against them.

They shouted "Modi go back" and condemned the recent suicide of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula. Their degrees have also been stopped and the medal of one of the students has been withheld.

PM Modi on Friday broke his silence on Vemula's suicide, saying he was deeply saddened by the tragedy.

In a speech at the 6th convocation of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow, he choked while referring to the scholar's death.

Hyderabad University, where Rohith Vemula committed suicide on January 17 had announced Rs. 8 lakh as ex-gratia assistance to the bereaved family.

(With Agency inputs)
Patna: Suspended Janata Dal (United) MLA Sarfaraz Alam on Sunday was granted bail after he was arrested on the charges of molesting a woman.The Patna Railway Police arrested Alam on Sunday, who allegedly misbehaved with a woman on the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.

"Sarfaraz Alam has been arrested, interrogation is underway," said District Superintendent of Police A.S. Thakur.An FIR was registered on Monday against Alam for harassing a couple onboard Rajdhani train. He was also charged with misbehaving with the woman passenger.

However, Alam has been maintaining his innocence saying that the charges against him are false and baseless."

These allegations are baseless. I did not even travel by that train. There is politics behind this to tarnish my image. I will initiate legal action. I was in Patna and I went by road and came back. The development work is underway in full swing in Bihar and some people do not like it," Alam said.

Earlier, Alam`s suspension came hours after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assured that action would be taken against, as such `conducts cannot be tolerated` in the party.

The JDU had said that the footage which they had received was damning evidence against the suspended MLA.
New Delhi: Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said that the Centre cannot let Arunachal Pradesh suffer due to the failed governance by the Congress in the state, adding that it has imposed President's rule there only after the lapse of six months period.

"The people of Arunachal Pradesh deserve attention from the Central Government. The Central Government has not intervened prematurely, it has intervened only after the lapse of six months period. Arunachal Pradesh must be protected. We can`t let the people suffer because of the failure to govern by the Congress Government," Rijiju told ANI.

"People of Arunachal Pradesh have been suffering for too long. It`s very upsetting and unfortunate that the Congress Party could not govern Arunachal Pradesh and they have already split into two parts. We wish them to work together, but the Congress Party is unable to run the state," he added.

He further stated that the present state government in Arunachal has lost its constitutional legality to be in power, adding that if the Governor`s decision of the President`s rule is treated as invalid, then there is a `constitutional` crisis.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recommended President`s rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Cabinet`s decision has been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his approval.

The Congress condemned the move and said that it amounted to `trampling of democracy`.
New York: Ten doctors at CHI Health Centre in the Omaha city of Nebraska state in the US are using Google Glass - personal assistant tool to help them take better care of patients by reducing the cumbersome paperwork.

Google Glass allows a remote scribe to take detailed notes for the physician - allowing the doctor to provide more direct patient care, ketv.com reported on Saturday.

The scribe delivers vital information like weight, lab work and blood pressure to the doctor through a projector, the report added.

"I had a hard time with the typing in the room," a doctor said, adding, "For me, if I don't look at a patients face, I would miss a lot of emotions. Now, I don't even have to turn on the computer in the room.

The doctor said she just asks her helper scribe to put information and she gets it in no time.

According to the report, although the patients or the doctors cannot see or hear the scribe, they can see and hear what is going on during the appointment through a projector.

The health centre would soon be give away more devices to 10 more doctors, the report added.
New Delhi: French President Francois Hollande, who will be commencing his three-day visit to India on Sunday, said the Rafale deal with India is on right track.

Hollande, who will be the guest of honour at Republic Day on January 26, spoke about the Rafale fighter plane and said, "The multi-billion dollar Rafale jet deal is on right track but agreeing on technicalities will take some time."

PM Modi, during his visit to France earlier in 2015, had announced that India would acquire 36 Rafale MMRCA, citing operational necessity of the Indian Air Force.

Negotiations between India and France on closing the deal for 36 Rafale multi-role fighters are in their last, hectic phase. India and France are seeking simultaneous inking of the Inter-Government Agreement and Commercial Contract during President Francois Hollandes visit on Republic Day.

Praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his sense of diplomacy, Hollande said, "I congratulate PM Narendra Modi for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination."

The French President also vowed to continue his fight against terrorism and said, "India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism."

He also supported India's demand for action by Pakistan in Pathankot terror attack case and noted that India is right to ask for justice in the case. "India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators," said Hollande.

Francois Hollande will be arriving in India on Sunday on 3-day visit.
Manama: India and the Arab League on Sunday vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a strategy to "eliminate" its sources and its funding as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.

While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab- India Cooperation Forum here in the Bahraini capital, she also warned that those who "silently sponsor" terror groups could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.

"Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more effectively than the sponsor has used them," Swaraj told some 14 Foreign Ministers of the 22-member Arab League grouping, with its Secretary General Nabil El Araby in attendance.

She said that today's meeting marks a "turning point" for India-Arab relations while pointing out that "we are also at a major turning point in history when the forces of terrorism and violent extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to our cities, our people and our very social fabric".

"Equally, we must delink religion from terror. The only distinction is between those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people of all faiths," said Swaraj, who arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit.

The meeting, which was opened by Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, culminated with the two sides issuing a joint statement - the Manama Declaration.

The two sides discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the Palestinian issue, developments in the Arab region and in South Asia, as well as counter-terrorism, Security Council reforms and nuclear disarmament.

The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejected associating terrorism with any religion, culture or ethnic group.

They emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and to develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border crime, the Declaration stated.

In this context, the two sides affirmed their respect to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and non-interference in its internal affairs and rejecting infringement of such principles, strongly condemned crimes committed by all terrorist organisations, especially those committed by ISIS.

They urged the international community to lend to the Iraqi government support on its war against terrorism.

Swaraj cited "India's model of unity in diversity" as an example for the world to counter indoctrination and radicalisation.

Her reference to India's religious and cultural diversity at the world stage assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the intolerance debate that had raged recently in the country, with many writers, artists and civil society members expressing an alarm over the issue.

"We in India have citizens who belong to every existing faith. Our Constitution is committed to the fundamental principle of faith-equality: the equality of all faiths not just before the law but also in daily behaviour.

"In every corner of my country, the music of the azaan welcomes the dawn, followed by the chime of a Hanuman temple's bells, followed by the melody of the Guru Granth Sahib being recited by priests in a gurdwara, followed by the peal of church bells every Sunday," she said.

"This philosophy is not just a construct of our Constitution, adopted in 1950; it is the essence of our ancient belief that the world is family," she said.

Swaraj, in her speech, also quoted from the Quran, saying that faith harmony is the message of the Holy Quran as well.

"I will quote only two verses: La ikra fi al deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion) and La qum deen o qum wa il ya deen (Your faith for you, and my faith for me)," she said in her address to the key Arab nations.

She stressed that dangers of radicalisation and indoctrination cannot be ignored.

"We have seen repeatedly that terrorism does not respect national borders. It seeks to subvert societies through its pernicious doctrine of a clash of civilisations," Swaraj said.

The ministerial meeting comes after the two sides held their second Senior Officials Meeting here yesterday morning.

The Arab League and India also stressed on the importance of cooperation between them in order to enhance confidence among regional countries and resolving conflicts, thereby bringing about peace and stability in the region.

The two sides also called for an "urgent reform" of the United Nations Security Council through expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership to reflect contemporary reality.

They agreed that the current structure of the UN Security Council was not representative of a majority of the people of the world but continued to perpetuate a system that was "anachronistic".

The joint declaration said the India-Arab Cooperation Forum can play an important role in advancing the ties between the two sides and take their relations towards "capacious horizons".

The two sides affirmed the importance of supporting the reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan and expressed their support for a genuine Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and Afghan- controlled reconciliation process towards the emergence of a peaceful, stable and strong Afghanistan.

They expressed concern over the kidnapping of 39 Indian workers in Mosul in Iraq in June 2014 and three Indian workers in Sirte in Libya in June 2015. The Arab side expressed full solidarity with India in all efforts for their early release from captivity, the declaration said.

The Arab League and India supported the efforts of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the earliest.

"The Arab side aspires to an effective Indian role, in cooperation with Arab States, to enhance peace and security at the regional and international level," the declaration said.

The two sides discussed ways and means to enhance cooperation in economic, social and cultural fields.

Before wrapping up her second visit to Bahrain as the External Affairs Minister, Swaraj also called on Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

She also held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and discussed an entire gamut of bilateral ties.

Swaraj's strong push for anti-terror cooperation comes at a time when there have been a spate of terror attacks across the globe from the Paris carnage and the Pathankot airbase assault to the blasts in Indonesia as terrorism has risen as one of the most significant challenges of the world.

"As the spectre of terrorism and religious hatred raises its ugly head across the world, particularly in those cherished cities of history, it is time once again to reach back in time and redeem the essence of our civilizational spirit. We must pledge to halt the physical violence that has spread like a plague," Swaraj said.

She stressed on the need for equally addressing the violence in "our minds, a poison that has been spread by terror groups, harnessing the power of modern technology and social media platforms to infect our youth ? those ideologies and beliefs that regard one's own brother as a stranger, one's own mother as accursed."

"We should not underestimate the power of this illusion, clothed in a false interpretation of faith," she asserted.

The joint statement, significantly, also made a reference to Iran that is not part of the grouping and condemned the attacks against Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Tehran in the backdrop of the rising tensions between the two countries over the execution of a Shia cleric in the Kingdom.

The two sides emphasised the importance that cooperative relations between Arab states and Iran be based on the principles of good neighbourliness, non-interference in internal affairs, respect of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, resolution of disputes through peaceful means, according to UN Charter and International Law, and refraining from use or threat of force.

The joint statement also called on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian "Arab" territories it seized in 1967 and dismantle all the settlements built there including the settlements erected in the occupied East Jerusalem on the basis that, according to the international Law, they are illegal and illegitimate.

It also called for the holding of an international conference for peace in the Middle East and rejecting the construction of the Separation Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, on the basis of the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2004.

The two sides also expressed deep concern regarding the situation in Syria and affirmed the need to preserve the unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability of Syria and the importance of finding a political solution to the crisis there.

Other regional issues such as the situation in Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Comoros and Yemen were also discussed.

The Arab League comprises of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Algeria, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Somalia, Palestine, Djibouti and Comoros.
New Delhi: The intelligence agencies has issued a warning that militant group Islamic State is planning to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Republic Day and they may use suicide bombers aged between 12 and 15 to carry out the fidayeen attack.

The intelligence agencies has issued an alert that children aged from 12-15, specialized in the use of weapons and explosives, might have sneaked into the country from cross-border. NCR police and intelligence units have stepped up vigilance after inputs of possible terror attack in the country, a Times of India report said.

Last year on Independence Day, PM Modi had got down from his car and broke away from his security cover to meet a group of school children, who had assembled at the Red Fort. This year, the ISIS might try to carry out an attack on PM taking advantage of child suicide squad, dressed in school uniforms.

After inputs provided by intelligence agencies, PM Modi has been urged to not break his SPG security on Republic Day this time. Special cell has also been alerted to continue the search operation and keep a close watch on possible suspects.

Islamic State recently launched a video that showed teens being trained to use machine guns and rocket launchers, which are mostly used to carry out deadly attacks.
The attack comes hours before the anniversary of the 25 January Revolution, Monday

Three security personnel were killed and two civilians injured earlier Sunday when unknown assailants attacked a checkpoint located in the Lower Egypt Delta governorate of Sharqiya, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Police investigations revealed that the assailants, riding two motorcycles, attacked a security checkpoint located in Sharqiya's town of Fakous, leaving three low ranking policemen killed and two passersby injured, Al-Ahram reported.

The incident comes hours before the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution and amid tight security measures nationwide imposed by the interior ministry and armed forces.

Several calls for protests to mark the revolution have been made on social media. It remains unclear whether such calls will materialise into demonstrations, which are illegal without prior police permission.

The Egyptian military deployed Friday to assist police in securing state institutions and vital facilities, according to an official statement released by the Egyptian army.

The official army spokesman said in a statement Friday that the military had been dispatched to aid the interior ministry's security apparatus in protecting citizens and securing vital facilities, including main roads in Greater Cairo and other parts of the country, adding that air force and border guards are to secure the country's borders, to stop the infiltration of criminals and outlaws through borders.

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New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 100 secret files on freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose in New Delhi, former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said that few tempered documents were released along with Netaji files purposefully to tarnish the image of Jawaharlal Nehru and Congress party.

Tharoor, without naming anyone in his speech, said, "There has always been section of people in the country who aimed to demonise Nehru after his death, to gain some political mileage...by inventing stories and tales about him....by distorting facts about him."

Tharoor was talking to CNN IBN and said that though it's uncertain yet if Congress would take any legal action over 'Nehru' letter but mentioned that the party would definitely want to launch a probe into the case as the letter has been circulating for a while.

Adding further he said that the Nehru letter has been circulated 'politically' to distract people from the damp squib of Netaji files, which has been released into pieces. "The people behind it actually want to create a drama around Nehru. They want to use historical evidence for current political mileage," he said.

Launching an attack on the Centre government over causing delay to the release of Netaji files, Tharoor said, "Modi government waited for January 23 (Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary) to release the files which caused much delay to the process. Also, the government in Centre should have released the entire file on Bose and not into batches."

Tharoor also claimed that Nehru and Bose were good friends in real life and reports of rivalry between them is completely baseless.

On Saturday, PM Modi released at least 100 secret files of Subhas Chandra Bose, out of which a letter written by Jawaharlal Nehru to the then UK Prime Minister Clement Attlee, stirred a controversy. Nehru, in his letter had allegedly addressed Bose as a 'war criminal'.
Washington: Using sharp language against Pakistan, US President Barack Obama on Sunday said that the Nawaz government can and must take more effective action against terrorist groups that operate from its territory.

Obama also said that the increasing insecurity inside Pakistan is a threat to its own stability.

Further describing the terror attack on Punjab's Pathankot Iandian Air Force base as an "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long", Obama gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif after the attack.

Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region, Obama told reporters in an interview to PTI in Washington during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

Voicing his belief that the Indo-US relationship can be one of the defining partnerships of the century, Obama said that Modi shared his enthusiasm for a strong partnership and we have developed a friendship and close working relationship, including our conversations on the new secure lines between our offices.

Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, Absolutely not.

On the Pathankot attack, Obama said, We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to prevent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families. Tragedies like this also underscore why the US and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism.

Obama was of the view that Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region. After the December, 2014 school massacre in Peshawar he had vowed to target all militants, regardless of their agenda or affiliation.

That is the right policy. Since then, we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups. We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in north west Pakistan, he added.

Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terrorist networks. In the region and around the world, there must be zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be brought to justice, the US Prez asserted in this third interview to reporters.
New Delhi: Former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor has claimed that he has much to say on Sunanda Pushkar case, but is waiting for the probe to end first.

The former lawmaker, who was present at the Jaipur Literature Fest, told reporters that he will talk about the case only after the ongoing probe in Sunanda Puskar death case gets over.

"I am saying this for the last time that I won't comment on the matter until police concludes their probe in the case. Let police do their job and reach a conclusion and let them file a report in the court. I have plenty to say in the matter but it would be wrong on my part to speak anything at this moment," he said.

Last week, the FBI report claimed that Sunanda's death was not natural and happened due to poisoning. The Delhi Police registered a case of murder in connection with Sunanda's death thereafter.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a five-star hotel in New Delhi on January 17, 2004, a day after her much famous Twitter war with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.
Washington: In apparent criticism of the Indian government's crackdown on certain NGOs, US President Barack Obama said on Sunday that civil society groups that strengthen communities need to be supported and not "stifled".

The US has been critical of the Indian government's action against NGOs particularly Greenpeace which was barred from receiving foreign funds and whose registration was cancelled in September last.

Washington had expressed worries about the "potentially chilling effects of such actions".

Obama made a reference to the civil society groups in the course of an interview to PTI while answering a question on his goals for the India-US relationship in the last year of his presidency.

He outlined the areas in which the ties could be put on a "new trajectory for years to come" and "lock in our gains" so far.

The President emphasised that there was much more that the US and India can do together and went on to say "India can be a strong voice in support of the universal rights and dignity of all people, regardless of background or religion.

"We need to support, not stifle, the civil society groups that strengthen communities", he remarked cryptically.
Islamabad: The prosecution is likely to introduce Pakistan former minister Senator Rehman Malik as an additional witness before the court in Benazir murder case against the former President Pervez Musharraf.

Senator Malik has testified that Bhutto was threatened by General Musharraf at a meeting held in Dubai prior to her departure for Pakistan in 2007, reports Dawn.

Sources revealed that Malik has claimed that 'he witnessed Musharraf threatening Bhutto at the Dubai meeting that her future depended on her relationship with him'.

Sources in the prosecution claimed that the testimony of Malik would strengthen the prosecution case against General Musharraf.

The prosecution named four witnesses against General Musharraf in 2010.
London: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"I have received fresh leads from India on the Pathankot attack and we will look and examine those evidences given by India. We could have hidden it or forgotten it but we asserted that we have received the evidences," Sharif said.

"We are probing and verifying that. Once we are done with that we would definitely bring the facts forward. Along with that, we have also formed a special investigating team, they would go to India and collect more evidence," Sharif said here on his arrival from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum.

"I had a word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he had offered every help possible from their side in bringing the perpetrators to justice. We are going on the right lines and I hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon," said Sharif who promised further Pakistani action to combat militants but conceded that progress had often been slow.

India gave "specific and actionable information" to Pakistan soon after the Pathankot attack reportedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 that killed seven Indian soldiers.

Pakistani National Security Advisor Lt Gen Naseer Khan Janjua on January 5 called up his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval during which they discussed "specific and actionable information" related to the Pathankot terror strike.

Doval and Janjua talked about various information and leads, like the Pakistani numbers which the attackers had called and their intercepts with India asserting that an effective action on part of Pakistan was important.

Sharif was speaking days after a deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on a university near Peshawar killed 21 people.

The attack bore a chilling resemblance to the December, 2014 Peshawar school attack in which over 150 people, mostly children, were killed, prompting the government to launch a National Action Plan (NAP) cracking down on militancy.

Sharif said Pakistan would continue the fight against militants. "We will fulfil this responsibility," he said.
Veuntiane: US Secretary of State John Kerry began a visit to Asia on Sunday in which he plans to press China to put more curbs on North Korea after its nuclear test and to urge Southeast Asia to show unity in response to Beijing`s claims in the South China Sea.

Kerry started what will be a three-day stay in the region in Laos, the 2016 chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast

Asian Nations (ASEAN). He will head to Cambodia on Monday night and then on to Beijing for talks on Wednesday with the leadership there.

In Beijing, Kerry is expected to stress the need for a united front in response to this month`s North Korean nuclear test through additional UN sanctions, a senior official of the US State Department said. He will also argue for a tough unilateral response from China, North Korea`s main ally and neighbor.

"It is very important to present a united front ... but that united front has to be a firm one, not a flaccid one," the official told journalists travelling with Kerry.

It was particularly important to "cut off avenues of proliferation and retard North Korea`s ability to gain the wherewithal to advance its nuclear and its missile programs," the official said, and that meant China doing more.

North Korea said on Jan. 6 it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, although Washington voiced skepticism as to whether the device was actually that powerful.

"North Korea is still engaged in illicit and proliferation activities," the official said. "They have very few avenues for conducting business with the international community that don`t in some fashion involve transiting China.

"Despite the determination and efforts of the Chinese government, clearly there is more that they can do."

In Beijing Kerry plans "in depth" discussions on the South China Sea, a source of increasing tension between China and ASEAN countries and the United States due to China`s building of artificial islands suitable for use as military bases, the official said.

CHINESE ALLY

First though in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Kerry will seek to bolster ASEAN unity and the bloc`s resolve to stand up to China in the lead-up to a summit President Barack Obama has called with the bloc`s leaders for Feb. 15-16 in Sunnylands, California.

Laos has close political and economic ties with its giant neighbor China. The Obama administration worries that it might behave as Cambodia did when it held the ASEAN chair in 2012 and was accused of obstructing consensus in the bloc over the South China Sea.

Besides its China ties, as a landlocked country Laos has less interest in the maritime disputes that several ASEAN members have with Beijing.

The US official said he had heard from virtually every ASEAN country that the Cambodian chairmanship had left "a black mark" on the bloc that was not to be repeated.

So far, Laos was off to a good start overseeing ASEAN statements on world events, the official said, adding: "It`s my expectation that the Lao will be a responsible chair for 2016."

Kerry will seek to set an encouraging tone in Laos by discussing increased US aid, including more funding for work to dispose of unexploded US ordnance left over from the Vietnam War. During that conflict Laos became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history as the United States sought to destroy communist supply lines running through it.

The main announcements, though, are expected to come when Barack Obama attends a regional summit towards the end of the year and becomes the first US president ever to visit Laos.

In Cambodia, Kerry will meet Hun Sen, now Asia`s longest serving prime minister, and will draw attention to U.S. concerns about human rights and treatment of government critics by meeting opposition members and civil activists, the State Department official said.
In a startling revelation, pictures of the secret life of Colombian rebel group known as the 'FARC' has come up in the public.

These rare pictures were taken after access was granted inside in one of the camps in Antioquia. As per dailymail.co.uk, the visuals reveal what it is really like for the rebels living in the jungle and their thoughts about the future.

Since peace talks began in Havana in 2012, the two sides have reached tentative agreements on fighting narcotics traffic, on land reform and on reparations for victims. But realizing these agreements will require peaceful collaboration on both sides, and that depends on the willingness of squads of guerrilla fighters to emerge from the jungle and relinquish their weapons.

Notably, the guerrilla fighters still remain armed and live in jungles, despite the signing of a historic ceasefire between President Juan Manuel Santos and one of FARC's top leaders.

In 2012, the FARC made 239 attacks on the energy infrastructure. However, the FARC have shown signs of fatigue. As of 2014, the FARC are not seeking to engage in outright combat with the army, instead concentrating on small-scale ambushes against isolated army units.
Jerusalem: A rocket fired by militants in the Palestinian Gaza Strip enclave hit southern Israel on Sunday without causing casualties or damage, the Israeli Army said.

A statement from the military said sirens sounded throughout communities in the south.

"Initial report suggests rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel. No injuries have been reported," it said.

A military spokeswoman told AFP one rocket had hit Israeli territory.

Since the end of the devastating war in summer 2014 between Israel and Gaza militants, approximately 30 projectiles fired from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave have hit the Jewish state, military data shows.

Sunni militants claiming links to the Islamic State jihadist group have said they were behind rocket fire from the Palestinian territory in recent months, but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all such incidents.
El-Sisi said that democracy takes time to develop so that the state can strike the right balance between security and the rights of the people

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi praised the 25 January revolution during a speech marking the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.



Despite a pro-state media rhetoric that largely vilifies the 18-day revolt that ended the 30-year rule of autocratic leader Mubarak, Sisi reiterated that the revolution was necessary to "revive the values that the country had lost for years".

We celebrate today the anniversary of the Egyptian peoples revolution where the countrys best youth paid with their lives to push for new blood in Egypt, El-Sisi said.

El-Sisi said that the deviation of the revolutions goals came from people who tried to take credit for it themselves by taking advantage of the momentum to accomplish personal interests, rather from the people who started it.

"The people who revolted for their freedom and dignity [on 25 January] corrected the path and vision on 30 June [2013]," El-Sisi said.

Although he didnt mention the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood directly, the president criticised the groups rule of the country, saying that since they were ousted from power, Egypt has turned from a country that belongs to one group to a country for all.

"The fair and objective assessment of what Egypt has accomplished in less than two years is that it turned from having an authority that was hostile to the people and the rest of states facilities, to an authority that now respects people's choices and aspirations," El-Sisi said.

He addressed the youth, describing them as the main element for the development of the country.

"If the Egyptian people are the weapon of the country to face challenges, you [the youth] are its ammunition," El-Sisi stated.

Parliament

Addressing MPs in a pre-recorded speech only a day after he expressed dissatisfaction with the parliaments rejection of the civil service law, El-Sisi said the he will provide support to the House of Representatives.

"Your responsibility is huge. Keep up your duties, and we'll provide our support and will offer a positive and free environment to work in a respectful framework- through the constitution and a division of power," El-Sisi said.

He added that democracy doesn't just happen, but needs time to solidify where the state can accomplish the needed coordination between rights and freedoms.

El-Sisi's speech commemorating the fifth anniversary comes only days after security forces were deployed to protect state institutions and vital facilities ahead of the anniversary on Monday.

Several calls for protests to mark the day have been made on social media, but it remains unclear whether they will materialise into demonstrations, which are illegal without prior police permission.

Government officials have warned citizens against protesting on the day.

In December, El-Sisi questioned the calls for protests.

"Do you wish to destroy your country and the people? Look at the countries whose names I do not wish to recall, they have been suffering for the past 30 years," El-Sisi said.

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The Missile Defense Agency conducts the first intercept flight test of a land-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense weapon system from the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex in Kauai, Hawaii, December 10, 2015. REUTERS/U.S. Missile Defense Agency/Leah Garton/Handout via Reuters (Reuters)

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has stepped up discussions on converting its Aegis missile defense test site in Hawaii into a combat-ready facility that would bolster American defenses against ballistic missile attacks, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The proposal, which has been discussed sporadically for several years, was given fresh impetus by North Korea's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and by recent strides in China's missile technology capabilities, said current and former U.S. military officials, congressional aides and other sources.

A Chinese official in Washington suggested that Beijing would see such a U.S. move as counter-productive to relations.

Aegis, developed by Lockheed Martin Corp for use on U.S. Navy destroyers, is among the most advanced U.S. missile defense systems, integrating radars, software, displays, weapons launchers and missiles.

Setting up its land version -- Aegis Ashore -- in Hawaii and linking it with Aegis destroyers would add a permanent missile defense site to the Pacific, providing an extra layer of protection for the U.S. islands and the West Coast at a time when North Korea is improving its missile capabilities.

Ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California provide the current defense for Hawaii and the continental United States against missile attacks.

The Navy also relies on deploying Aegis-equipped destroyers based on U.S. intelligence warnings about imminent threats. North Korea's development of mobile missile launchers has made it more difficult to predict launches in advance.

To make the test site combat-ready, the U.S. military would need to add personnel, stockpile live missiles and beef up security, at an estimated cost of around $41 million, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

It would also need to integrate the site into the larger U.S. ballistic missile defense system, with control likely shifting from the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency to the U.S. Navy, the sources said.

Story continues

U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, has been engaged in high-level discussions about ways to protect Hawaii, Guam and the continental United States from threats like North Korea, his spokesman, Captain Darryn James told Reuters.

James said no decisions had been made, but the Aegis Ashore site in Hawaii had a "proven test capability."

"Admiral Harris is always exploring options to forward deploy and operationalize the latest advancements in ballistic missile defense technologies in the Pacific, where we face increasingly sophisticated threats to the homeland," James said.

It remains unclear when the U.S. administration could reach a decision, but implementing the changes could be done swiftly, the sources said.

STRENGTHENING THE SHIELD

North Korea's nuclear test in January underscored U.S. concerns that the secretive state has the ability to place a bomb on a long-range ballistic missile that could reach the U.S. West Coast.

Any moves to boost missile defenses could inflame growing military rivalry between China and Washington and its allies.

Converting the site on Hawaii's Kauai island into combat use could rankle China at a time of heightened tensions with Washington over the disputed South China Sea. Beijing has already expressed concern about the possible deployment of the mobile U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea.

Zhu Haiquan, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Beijing believed the nuclear proliferation issue would be best resolved diplomatically.

"All measures seeking to increase military capacities will only intensify antagonism and will not help to solve the problem," he said when asked about the possible U.S. move.

"China hopes the relevant country will proceed on the basis of regional peace and stability, adopt a responsible attitude and act prudently in regard to the anti-missile issue."

Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly objected to the U.S. Aegis Ashore site in Romania, which is due to become operational in the coming weeks. A similar site is due to open in Poland in 2018.

The Missile Defense Agency explored the prospect of putting the Hawaii test site into full operation in a classified report to Congress in September 2014, according to one of the sources.

Congress requires the agency to update its estimate of the cost, feasibility and effectiveness of adding more Aegis Ashore sites this spring.

The Aegis Ashore test site in Hawaii completed its first intercept test in December, using a Raytheon Co Standard Missile-3 Block 1B to destroy a target that replicated an Iranian Ghadr-110 medium-range missile.

Riki Ellison, who heads the non-profit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said the new Aegis installation would in effect give the U.S. military three chances to shoot down a missile aimed at Hawaii, up from one currently.

"If you have the assets on the island, why not use them to protect against possible missile attacks from North Korea?" Ellison said.

The December test proved the Aegis Ashore system could fire two different Raytheon Co missiles -- one inside the earth's atmosphere and one outside -- at an enemy missile.

Expansion of military operations in Hawaii have sparked protests by residents in the past.

But Hawaii Representative Mark Takai, a Democrat and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the conversion is "the best way to ensure we have protection for Hawaiis critical defense infrastructure against increasingly belligerent actors that threaten our country."

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason; editing by Stuart Grudgings)
By David Brunnstrom RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Gulf Arab countries in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks aimed at pushing the Syrian peace process forward and calming their concern about the international agreement over Iran's nuclear program. Kerry began a stop in Riyadh by meeting with representatives of the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. He is also due to have talks with Riad Hijab, chair of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee, which was formed in Saudi Arabia last month, amid uncertainty about whether Syrian peace talks slated to start next week in Geneva will take place. The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition ruled out even indirect negotiations with Damascus before preconditions are met, including a halt to Russian air strikes, contradicting Kerry's hopes for talks to start next week. The peace efforts are complicated by the worsening relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which back different sides in the Syrian conflict, and concern the Arab states have about how Tehran will benefit from implementation of a nuclear deal agreed with Western powers last year. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran worsened this month after Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric triggered an attack by Iranian protesters on its Tehran embassy, leading the kingdom to cut diplomatic ties. A senior State Department official said before Kerry's arrival in Riyadh that Washington hoped Saudi Arabia would restore diplomatic ties with Iran after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's statement of regret this week over the embassy storming. The official said Kerry had emphasized to the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers the importance of reconciliation and that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who visited Riyadh this week, also discussed this with Saudi authorities. However, he said the United States had no plans to engage on the issue of facilitating a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, and that Washington - which has no diplomatic ties with Tehran - was not well placed to do so. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has said in several interviews this month that full relations cannot be restored until Iran changes its behavior and acts like a normal state rather than like "a revolution". Saudi Arabia and Iran each accuse the other of fomenting instability across the Middle East, and Riyadh regards Iran's backing for Shi'ite militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen as a threat to its own security. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, editing by Larry King)
By Frank McGurty and Ian Simpson NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following a day of hunkering down, New Yorkers and Washingtonians surged back into the streets on Sunday after a massive blizzard brought much of the U.S. East Coast to a standstill, bringing a festive mood to both cities. Midtown Manhattan came back to life as residents and tourists rejoiced in the warming sunlight, digging out buried cars, heading to Broadway shows and frolicking in massive drifts left by New York City's second-biggest snowstorm in history. In Washington, where a traffic ban was still in effect, the recovery got off to a slower start, with the entire transit system closed through Sunday. Federal government offices in the Washington area will be closed on Monday, the Office of Personnel Management said. Even so, many people were out in the street. Some skied and snowboarded down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial until security officials moved them on. The entire region seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after the historic storm that left at least 20 dead in several states, even as transit systems in Washington and New York were still working on restoring full service in time for the Monday morning rush. "For us, snow is like a normal winter," said Viola Rogacka, 21, a fashion model from Poland, walking with a friend through New York's Times Square. "It's how it should look like." Theater shows reopened on Broadway after the blizzard forced them to go dark on Saturday on the recommendation of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. We still have some areas that we have to do a lot more work on. But we've come through it pretty well, de Blasio said on ABCs "This Week." I think tomorrow is going to be pretty good. We think we'll be broadly up and running again at the city tomorrow." HISTORIC STORM The blizzard was the second-biggest snowstorm in New York City history, with 26.8 inches (68 cm) of snow in Central Park by midnight on Saturday, just shy of the record 26.9 inches set in 2006, the National Weather Service said. Thirteen people were killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia on Saturday. One person died in Maryland and three in New York while shoveling snow. Two died of hypothermia in Virginia, and one from carbon monoxide poisoning in Pennsylvania, officials said. Reinsurer Munich Re said it was too early to estimate losses from the storm. New York Mayor de Blasio said Sunday would be a major cleanup day. He urged residents to stay off streets so city crews could clear roads. New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo lifted a travel ban on New York City-area roads and on Long Island at 7 a.m. on Sunday. A state of emergency declared by Cuomo was still in place. Most bus and subway services operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were up and running again by 9 a.m., officials said. The agency was working on restoring full service on Sunday. The Metro-North rail line, which serves suburbs north and east of New York City, expected to have commuter train service running into and out of New York by 3 p.m. on Sunday. Commuters who rely on the Long Island Rail Road to get to work on Monday may need to look for alternatives as the railroad works to restore service. Crews were working on Sunday to remove snow from an intersection near train tunnels to Manhattan. A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange said the market planned to open as usual on Monday. City schools also were set to open on Monday. On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, grocery store shoppers picked their way through brown slush and over compressed snow and ice as they balanced their bags in their hands. Drivers tried their best to free cars that were encased in snow, but often found themselves spinning their wheels as they tried to get on the road. Outside the city, suburban New Jersey resembled Vermont. "I'm not sure where I am right now because of all the snow," said Patty Orsini, 56, a marketing analyst from Maplewood, New Jersey, at the nearby South Mountain Reservation. "It's nice to be out today in the sun. Yesterday it was scary to be outside," she said as she clipped on her cross-country skis. RECORDS SET The National Weather Service said 17.8 inches (45.2 cm) fell in Washington, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport notched a record 29.2 inches (74.2 cm). The deepest regional total was 42 inches (106.7 cm) at Glengarry, West Virginia. Washington seemed unready for a return to its Monday routine after its largest snowstorm in decades, with major airports, public buses and subways completely shut down all Sunday. Metro trains will begin limited service starting at 7 a.m. on Monday. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a public apology for commuting headaches caused by the blizzard, which locals dubbed "Snowzilla." She said crews had worked all night and Sunday on plowing main roads and were just now getting to secondary roadways and neighborhoods. Public schools were closed on Monday across much of the Washington and Baltimore region, with some shuttered through Tuesday. The U.S. House of Representatives canceled its voting until Feb. 1. Nevertheless, walkers, sledders, some cars and the occasional cross-country skier ventured into the dazzling white under a bright sun. Paul Schaaf, a 49-year-old helicopter pilot for Children's Hospital in Washington, was biking seven and a half miles to work for his overnight shift and planned to bike back to Arlington, Virginia, on Monday morning. "I have to get into work no matter what. And the best way to do it is on my bicycle with steel-studded snow tires," he said. "Nothing stops me." One Washington food store, Broad Branch Market, opened with a handful of employees, and was trying to organize volunteers to shovel the sidewalks of the elderly and others who needed help. I have a lot of people on the list but I have yet to have any kids sign up to work today, said the owner, Tracy Stannard. At Dupont Circle, hundreds gathered to pelt each other with snowballs. Jomel Nichols, a tourist from Kansas City, Missouri, accompanying three exchange students and her daughter, was plastered with snow. "They all turned on me, as teenagers will do," she told Reuters Television. FLIGHTS CANCELED More than 3,900 flights were canceled on Sunday, and some 900 were called off for Monday, according to aviation website FlightAware.com. Among New York-area airports, John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia were open, with limited flight activity expected on Sunday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. About 150,000 customers in North Carolina and 90,000 in New Jersey lost electricity during the storm but most service had been restored by Sunday afternoon. On Sunday, moderate coastal flooding was still a concern in the Jersey Shore's Atlantic County, said Linda Gilmore, a county public information officer. (Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Cornwell in Washington, David Gaffen, Sam Forgione, Barbara Goldberg and Robert MacMillan in New York, Brendan OBrien in Milwaukee; Writing by Bill Rigby; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Jonathan Oatis)
By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT (Reuters) - Four months of Russian air strikes in Syria are taking their toll on rebel forces, strengthening the hand of a defiant President Bashar al-Assad as the United Nations struggles to get peace talks off the ground. Insurgents in the west are being hit harder, while in eastern and central parts of the country, Islamic State is also under military pressure and is cutting fighters' pay as its oil-smuggling operations are hit by plunging prices. Rebel groups are reporting intensified air strikes and ground assaults in areas of western Syria that are of greatest importance to Assad. The government last week made one of its most significant gains since the start of the Russian intervention, capturing the town of Salma in Latakia province. While recent gains do not appear to mark a tipping point in the conflict, with rebels fighting back and regaining positions in some places, insurgents describe high levels of attrition on the front lines of western Syria. Officials close to Damascus say sealing the northwestern border with Turkey is the priority. A Syrian military source said rebel supply lines from Turkey, which backs the insurgents, were under pressure from Russian and Syrian air strikes. The course of battle underlines the uphill struggle facing U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura as he seeks to launch peace talks. Even with U.S. and Russian endorsement, a new peace process seems detached from the realities of a five-year-old war that may not yet be ready for peacemaking. "Most opposition-held areas turned to defense because of the huge mobilization by Russians troops and the use of a large number of planes with unlimited munitions," said Jamil al-Saleh, commander of a rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) group. While playing down the importance of government gains, Saleh said military aid from the rebels' foreign backers - including Saudi Arabia and Turkey - was not enough to confront offensives that are also backed on the ground by Iran. "These are among the difficulties facing the FSA on the ground especially since the aerial bombing is affecting some headquarters, equipment, cars and personnel and the aid given is little compared to the ferocious attack," he told Reuters. Saudi Arabia's support for the opposition has yet to be translated into the kind of heavier weapons the rebels are seeking, notably anti-aircraft missiles. The military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rebels were suffering from the destruction of their weapons depots, made possible by good intelligence. Their appeals for more support showed they had "lost a lot of field capacities", the source said. MOMENTUM Noah Bonsey, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said levels of attrition remained high on both sides. "But it seems to be the rebel side that is more concerned about the trajectory at this moment, while the regime camp enjoys momentum," he said. "The regime itself never showed much openness for compromise even in its most vulnerable moments, so we can expect its current sense of momentum to further reinforce maximalism as Damascus pushes for a decisive military upper hand." Damascus and its allies are also doing better in their war with Islamic State, which is also being fought separately by a U.S.-led coalition from the sky and on the ground by Kurdish forces. The government has advanced to within a few kilometers (miles) of the IS-held town of al-Bab in Aleppo province. Slumping oil prices have added to the pressures facing the jihadists whose flow of foreign recruits has been choked by tighter controls at the Turkish-Syrian frontier, once a major transit route. Islamic State has also faced setbacks in Iraq, losing control of the city of Ramadi in recent weeks. Of the 3,000 people killed by Russian air strikes in Syria since they began in September, nearly 900 were members of Islamic State, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war. But the group still controls swathes of eastern and central Syria where it is battling to safeguard its "caliphate" rather than reform Syria, which is the aim of the rebels in the west. The Observatory says IS has recently cut the pay of its Syrian fighters. As in the past, IS has responded to the pressure by opening new fronts. Its fighters reportedly killed scores of government loyalists in an attack on state-held areas of Deir al-Zor city this week, one of Assad's few remaining outposts in the east. The groups fighting Assad in the west include FSA factions, Islamists with a Syrian nationalist agenda, and jihadists including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front that have been declared terrorists by the United States. The main non-jihadist groups are part of a newly formed opposition council backed by Saudi Arabia that is tasked with overseeing the hoped-for negotiations. The rebels say they will not negotiate until the other side shows good will by halting the bombardment of civilian areas, lifting blockades of population centers, and freeing detainees. The government meanwhile says it is ready to attend Jan. 25 talks in Geneva, though it wants to know which groups will be deemed terrorists as part of the process, another stumbling block given its view that all rebels fall into that category. "BACK AND FORTH" Rebels interviewed by Reuters acknowledged recent government advances, but insist its manpower problems and dependence on foreign militias including Iranians still give the insurgents an important advantage and the capacity to fight back. The insurgency suffered a major blow on Dec. 25 when Zahran Alloush, one of the most prominent rebel leaders, was killed in an air strike near Damascus. The spokesman for one of the rebel groups fighting in northwestern Syria, the First Coastal Division, said the government side had captured Salma using overwhelming force. "Weapons do not concern it, and ammunition does not concern it, or the death of its troops, or anything else. The only thing that concerns it is that they progress using all weapons, all planes," spokesman Fadi Ahmad told Reuters. A commander in the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group said the government and its allies were trying to advance toward the Turkish border. "They are trying to isolate the Syrians inside from the Turkish border. They are not as concerned about areas deeper in Syria, Hama and so on," he told Reuters. The government and its allies have also turned their focus to the south for the first time since Russia began its air strikes on Sept. 30, launching an attack on the town of Sheikh Maskin near the border with Jordan in late December. Rebels fighting under the umbrella of the Southern Front alliance - a major component of the newly formed opposition council - say the government attack that got underway in late December has been accompanied by Russian air strikes. Abu Ghiath al-Shami, the spokesman for one of the Southern Front insurgent groups, said that despite the onslaught the fighting was still "back and forth". "I promise you in the coming period you will see something different that will surprise everyone in terms of military action," he said. A Western diplomat said the government appeared intent on weakening the Southern Front before any negotiations. "I am surprised by the number of strikes and the number of forces from the regime side, including Hezbollah, and the Russian aerial bombing on behalf of the regime and the fact the town has still not fallen," the diplomat said. (Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Giles Elgood)
A high-profile Russian delegation led by Sergy Naryshikin, speaker of the Russian Duma, will visit Egypt's House of Representatives Tuesday

Egypt's parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al will receive a high-profile delegation from Russia Tuesday.



According to a press release, the delegation, led by speaker of the Russian parliament Sergy Naryshikin, will include a number of prominent MPs in the State Duma (the lower house of parliament of the Russian Federation), journalists and businessmen.

The release said the fact that the visit comes only three weeks after the first sitting of Egypt's new parliament on 10 January testifies to growing relations between Egypt and Russia at all levels.

"Abdel-Al will receive Naryshikin at 2pm Tuesday to boost parliamentary, political and economic cooperation between Egypt and Russia," said the release.

Informed sources said the Russian delegation will also meet with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and other leading Egyptian officials.

Naryshikin's visit comes only few days after China's President XI Jinping met with Abdel-Al last week to congratulate him on his election as speaker of Egypt's new parliament.

Emad Gad, an Al-Ahram political analyst and MP with the liberal Free Egyptians Party, told Ahram Online that "The visits from China and Russia reflect a growing interest on the part of these two countries in fostering ties at all levels with Egypt."

"In the past, we were seeing delegations from the US Congress coming to Egypt, but now it is delegations from America's two rivals  Russia and China who are most interested in visiting Egypt," said Gad.

Gad said that President's El-Sisi moves in his first two years in office to build new bridges with Beijing and Moscow has helped stabilise Egypt's foreign relations. "You are not now relying on one superpower (that was America under the regime of Hosni Mubarak), but have strategic relationships with more than one superpower, mainly Russia and China," said Gad.

After his meeting with China's head of state 21 January, Abdel-Al said President XI Jinping expressed his wish that an Egyptian parliamentary delegation visit China very soon to create greater links with the National People's Congress (the Chinese parliament).

Abdel-Al indicated that as parliament speaker he will not be able to travel abroad before Egypt's membership in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is reinstated. IPU speaker Saber Chowdhury announced 21 January that Egypt will officially rejoin the IPU during its General Assembly meetings in Lusaka (Zambia) on 22 March.

Gad expects that the visit of the Russian delegation this week will help restore the influx of Russian tourists into Egypt after the crash of a Russian Airbus above Sinai last November and lead to further coordination on important issues such as fighting terrorism. 

"The fact that this delegation includes businessmen and journalists shows that relations with Russia have survived the plane crash in Sinai and that Russia under President Vladimir Putin is keen to push relations with Egypt to higher levels," said Gad. 



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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said that he can beat both Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a potential presidential match-up.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that Bloomberg may enter the race if Trump and Sanders become the nominees for the Republican and Democratic parties respectively.

In an interview on "Meet The Press" on Sunday, the Democratic presidential candidate said that he doubted that voters would be interested in electing a billionaire.

"If Donald Trump wins and Mr. Bloomberg gets in, you're going to have two multi-billionaires running for president of the United States against me. And I think the American people do not want to see our nation move toward an oligarchy where billionaires control the political process," Sanderes said. "I think we'll win that election."

With Sanders rivaling former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in key early states, and Trump maintaining his wide lead over the field of Republican opponents, sources close to Bloomberg say that the former mayor is preparing for a potential centrist bid that would provide an alternative to Trump's nativist conservatism and Sanders' anti-Wall Street populism.

There hasn't been any significant polling to support whether Sanders could beat both Bloomberg and Trump, though critics have noted that Bloomberg's potential run as a pragmatic technocrat would likely favor the Republican candidate. If no single candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the president is chosen by the House of Representatives, which is currently controlled by Republicans.

For her part, Clinton said that she doesn't expect a scenario like that to play out.

"The way I read with he said is if I didn't get the nomination, he might consider it," Clinton told "Meet The Press" moderator Chuck Todd on Sunday. "Well, I'm going to relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesn't have to."

NOW WATCH: Fashion designer Nicole Miller reveals what Donald Trump is really like





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By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's government, grappling with a fatal attack in a remote aboriginal town, is very concerned about the "tragic and alarming" conditions in other indigenous communities, a top official said on Sunday. A 17-year-old boy was due to appear in court on Monday, charged with four counts of murder after Friday's deadly incident in La Loche, an impoverished town in the western province of Saskatchewan. Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took power last year promising to tackle high levels of poverty, crime, bad housing and poor health among aboriginals, who make up 4 percent of the country's population of 36 million. House leader Dominic LeBlanc, a key Trudeau ally from the Atlantic province of New Brunswick, told reporters Ottawa would work with aboriginal leaders "to deal with some of the tragic and alarming social indicators in many of these communities". He added: "I have some of these communities ... in New Brunswick. I worry about them a great deal, and our whole government does." Hundreds of people in La Loche, a community of 2,600, attended a church service on Sunday in memory of the four victims. Local Roman Catholic Archbishop Murray Chatlain said recent cuts to school and other services could have played a role in the tragedy, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reported. "I think those things need to be revisited. Our cuts sometimes end up costing more," the paper quoted him as saying. Trudeau last month promised a new "nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples" - a term that aboriginals use to refer to themselves - and said he would increase funding for indigenous communities. The head of a group representing 65,000 aboriginals in northern Manitoba, which borders Saskatchewan, said the tragedy showed the need for major investments in mental health, education and the economy. "I'm surprised it doesn't happen more - not to this level, of course - given the despair we see," Sheila North Wilson said in a phone interview. LeBlanc said improving the lot of the First Nations was "a huge challenge". Robert Nault, who served as aboriginal affairs minister under the Liberals from 1999 to 2003, said real change would take a long time. "So we're going to have to be patient and start ... working on the lack of infrastructure, the lack of housing, to change our relationship as it relates to education and healthcare," he said in an interview. "It is a slow process." (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran is interested in buying over 100 aircraft from Boeing (BA.N), deputy transport minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told Reuters at Tehran's first major post-sanctions gathering of global business people.

Tehran has long said it will need to revamp an ageing fleet, hit by a shortage of parts because of trade bans imposed by Washington and other Western countries. World powers last week lifted sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by William Maclean)
MCDONOUGH, Ga., Jan. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fallas Family Vision is now bringing OptoMap Retinal Imaging to their suite of services. This innovative system allows for advanced assessment of the retina, or the back of the eye, to detect and help mitigate eye disease. An ultra-wide field view of this crucial area allows for deeper medical insights, early detection of disease and more proactive preventative measures than ever before. Dr. Humberto Fallas of Fallas Family Vision explains, We strive to bring the most advanced technology to our patients during comprehensive eye exams and other procedures, and the OptoMap system sets the standard in eye health. This technology fits our high criteria for bringing the very best to patients for eye disease prevention, excellent vision and ongoing health.

In the past, examining the retina has been quite challenging. Traditional methods for viewing this area of the eye could be effective; however, they were also fairly difficult to complete. The optometrist had to look through the eyes pupil and scrutinize a tissue layer on back and sides of the eyes interior. These kinds of examinations are conducted manually and typically do not yield a digital record of what took place. These traditional methods have only revealed about 10 to 12 percent of the retina at once.

By contrast, the OptoMap Ultra-Widefield Retinal Imaging System captures over 80 percent of the retinal area in just one pass. Because the image is panoramic, a total eye assessment is possible. The OptoMap examination takes just seconds, involves no discomfort or pain, and usually doesnt require pupil dilation.

This unique, unprecedented and ultra-wide view of the retina enhances the ability of the optometrist to detect disease at the earliest stage that it can present itself on the retina of the eye. The ability to view most of the retina at one time with this technology affords optometrists the opportunity to review the images thoroughly and educate clients about their options for optimal eye health.

The OptoMap system assists both patients and optometrists in making informed decisions about eye health as well as overall well-being. In this way, OptoMap technology helps to bring eye exams to life. It is safe for children as well; a number of vision issues can start at a very early age, so this technology can be integral in assisting children in receiving proper care.

Fallas Family Vision is located at 1415 Hwy 20 W in McDonough, Georgia. Those in the area who are interested in learning more about the OptoMap Retinal System with an ultra-wide view of the retina to enhance their eye exams can call (770) 954-9898 for more information. They may also visit the Fallas Family Vision website to learn more about the range of services offered by this optometrist.
WARRENSBURG, Mo., Jan. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Jason Lake has been selected President-Elect of the Missouri Optometric Association (MOA). The MOA is a statewide professional organization of optometrists that works to influence state and federal legislation on behalf of Missouri's eye care professionals.



Dr. Jason Lake of Eyecare Specialties is looking forward to his term as President of the MOA. "When you look at the work the Missouri Optometric Association has accomplished, it is substantial. They have been able to get legislation passed that positively affects the patients we work with on a daily basis, to protect their access to eye care and to ensure they continue to get the best care possible," stated Dr. Lake. "In addition, as a member of the MOA myself, I have benefited from its efforts. The ability to network and exchange ideas with my fellow professionals from around the state is always a valuable opportunity for professional growth."

Dr. Lake founded Eyecare Specialties in 1998 after receiving his doctorate from the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, where he graduated with honors. With offices in Sedalia, Clinton, and Warrensburg, and opening soon in Lees Summit, Dr. Lake's practice serves clients throughout Central Missouri. As a member of Optimist International, the Rotary Club, and the Chamber of Commerce as well as serving multiple terms as president of the Warrensburg Park and Recreation board, Dr. Lake has demonstrated a strong commitment to the local community.

To make an appointment or further inquire about their services, contact Eyecare Specialties at 660-747-2020 during regular office hours. Visit www.eyecarespecialties.biz for more information on Eyecare Specialties' hours and locations.




NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- February has been designated National Pet Dental Health Month by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and Nashville's Murphy Road Animal Hospital is acknowledging this important issue through efforts to raise awareness. They will also be offering 20% off pet dental procedures following pre-surgical blood work.

Statistics show that around 80% of pets over age two have dental issues. Pets not receiving regular dental care run the risk of more serious problems in terms of both oral and overall health. Some of the risks include dental disease and subsequent damage to the animals heart and other internal organs. Dental issues are also painful for pets, lowering their vitality and leading to a reduction in well-being and quality of life.

Pet dental issues can have a range of symptoms including bad breath, loose teeth, gum issues, dropping food, excessive drooling, reduction in appetite, and not wanting their jaw or mouth touched. While some symptoms may occur due to minor issues, others can indicate periodontal disease or other more serious dental problems.

Plaque can form in an animals mouth just like in humans, and bacteria accumulation is the result. If not addressed and removed while still soft and pliable, the plaque can harden and form tartar that migrates under the pets gumline, leading to damage of the gum tissue. The best defense against pet dental problems and related health issues is regular dental exams. An annual health screening is recommended. Regular check-ups can assist in preventing plaque buildup, gum disease and helping pets to avoid more serious health problems down the road.

Dr. I. Craig Prior of Murphy Road Animal Hospital explains, Prevention is so important in keeping pets healthy, especially when it comes to their oral health. Dental disease can be insidious, and sometimes the symptoms are difficult to detect. This makes annual wellness exams key to ongoing health. Owners should be vigilant about getting their pets in for regular exams to assist with detecting dental problems early, before they develop into more serious health issues.

The month of February is National Pet Dental Health Month as designated by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). To highlight this important issue, Murphy Road Animal Hospital is offering 20% off pet dental procedures following pre-surgical blood work. Their goal is to raise awareness about pet dental health and lead to healthier, happier pets in the Nashville area.

Murphy Road Animal Hospital is located at 4408 Murphy Road in Nashville, Tennessee. Those interested in learning more about pet dental health as well as the suite of services offered by Murphy Road Animal Hospital may do so by calling (615) 383-4241. The public is also invited to visit the Murphy Road Animal Hospital website for more details.
The station is located in the cradle of the Egyptian uprising that toppled the long-standing autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011

Sadat metro station, located in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, will close its doors to commuters on Monday, the fifth anniversary of the 25 January uprising, a Metro Authority spokesman told Ahram Online on Sunday.

The station will reopen when the metro authorities get "another notification," spokesman Ahmed Abdel-Hady added.

The station is located in the cradle of the Egyptian uprising that toppled the long-standing autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

It has been frequently closed "due to security reasons" but critics said the reason was to prevent masses from reaching Tahrir Square and protesting.

The station was closed from August 2013 to June 2015 -- over 650 days -- to prevent the supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi from setting up a camp in Tahrir Square.

The reopening of the station in June was a relief to passengers who commuted for longer periods of times and had to pay extra fees.

In anticipation of the fifth anniversary of the uprising, Egyptian police, aided by army personnel, have upped security in the face of possible protests.

No established political groups or movements have endorsed calls for protests on 25 January.

On Sunday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi delivered a speech commemorating the anniversary of 25 January 2011.

We celebrate today the anniversary of the Egyptian peoples revolution where the countrys best youth paid with their lives to push for new blood in Egypt, El-Sisi said.

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Security forces raided the house, on the capital's western outskirts, after a tip that it was used as a storage space for improvised explosive devices

Egypts police forces killed on Sunday a "terrorist" in the town of Kerdasa in Giza, after they engaged in a shootout when they were attempting to storm his house, Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Security forces raided the house, on the capital's western outskirts, after a tip that it was used as a storage space for improvised explosive devices, which the police found upon entering the house.

The prosecution has moved to the house to further investigate the matter.

In 2013, Kerdasa was the scene of fierce clashes between security forces and Islamist supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi who dominated the district before police raided it to re-impose state control.

In recent months, Egyptian security forces have carried out dozens of raids on apartments where suspected or fugitive Islamists militants were reportedly either hiding or preparing for terrorist operations.

These raids have often ended with suspects being killed by police, who say they were met with gunfire upon arrival at the hideouts.

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Turkish forces have detained 23 suspected Islamic State (ISIS) Islamist militants along with 21 children who were trying to illegally cross over from Syria, the army said Sunday.

The suspects, whose nationalities were not disclosed, were captured on Saturday as they tried enter the Elbeyli district of Turkey's southern Kilis province.

"Twenty-three people suspected of being Daesh (ISIS) terror group members, together with 21 children, were caught," said the army in a statement, without giving any other details.

Turkey has over the last year been told by its Western allies to urgently step up efforts to stop the flow of Islamist militant across its borders to and from Syria.

After a string of deadly attacks inside Turkey blamed on ISIS in the last months, Ankara has intensified efforts to improve border security, with the army reporting the capture of ISIS militants almost daily.

The army reported on Saturday that it had on Friday also captured six ISIS suspects, along with eight children, who were trying to cross illegally from Syria to Turkey in the same area.

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Moscow (AFP) - France hopes that international sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine will be lifted "this summer," French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday.

"The goal that we all share is to be able to lift the sanctions this summer because the (Minsk peace) process will have been respected," Macron told French business executives during a visit to Moscow.

The Minsk peace deal is a package of measures agreed by the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia in the Belarusian capital.

The accords, finalised in early 2015, effectively brought hostilities in Ukraine to an end after more than 9,000 people were killed in a civil war that broke out the previous April.

However, a ceasefire agreed in September remains fragile.

Last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday held out the prospect of lifting the sanctions if the Minsk agreement is implemented in full.

"With effort and with bona-fide legitimate intent to solve the problem on both sides, it is possible in these next months to find those Minsk agreements implemented," Kerry said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

This would allow Russia "to get to a place where sanctions can be appropriately -- because of the full implementation -- removed," he said.
Iran said Sunday it will buy 114 Airbus planes to revitalise its ageing fleet, in the first major commercial deal announced since the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear agreement.

Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said a deal on the purchase would be signed between national carrier Iran Air and Airbus during a visit to Paris this week by President Hassan Rouhani.

Rouhani will travel to Italy and France from Monday to Wednesday, on his first visit to Europe since the implementation of the deal curbing Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions.

Rouhani has hailed the agreement as a "new chapter" for Iran as its economy returns to global markets.

Modernising the country's air fleet and infrastructure is a top priority, with Akhoundi saying Sunday that only 150 of the country's 250 planes are operational.

"We have been negotiating for 10 months" for the purchase of planes but "there was no way to pay for them because of banking sanctions," Iranian state media quoted Akhoundi as saying.

"We need 400 long- and mid-range and 100 short-range planes," he said.

He said the first batch of new planes would arrive in Iran by March 19 but provided no financial details of the deal with Airbus.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment.

Iran, with a population 79 million, has a good road network but still needs major transport upgrades, which Tehran hopes will boost tourism and trade.

Iran's airports also need $250 million (230 million euros) worth of upgrades in navigation systems, Akhoundi said.

- Talks with Boeing -

Only nine of Iran's 67 airports are currently operational.

Iran has suffered several air crashes in recent years blamed on ageing planes, poor maintenance and a shortage of new parts.

News of the Airbus deal came as aviation industry representatives from 85 companies met in Tehran on Sunday to assess opportunities in the Islamic republic after sanctions were removed.

"It's a really exciting time, there's never been a situation like this," said Peter Harbison, the head of the CAPA consultancy which organised the conference.

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"A whole array of different aviation services and new jobs obviously are going to be created," Harbison told AFP.

"Aviation is one of those industries that creates massive economic flow-on benefits, so tourism will expand, so you'll need more infrastructure growth in hotels and right across the board."

Akhoundi said Sunday Iran was also negotiating with US plane manufacturer Boeing, but provided no details.

He said Iran was in talks with the United States on the possibility of reopening direct air routes, which were cut after the 1979 hostage crisis that ended all diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Rouhani's European tour will see him seeking to restore commercial ties with Italy and France, which were among Tehran's main economic partners before the tightening of international sanctions in January 2012.

Competition to tap the Iranian market has been fierce as it emerges from international isolation.

Meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, Rouhani said the two countries aim to build up economic ties worth up to $600 billion in the next 10 years.

They signed a slew of trade agreements, including a $2 billion contract for China to electrify the railway line linking Tehran with second city Mashhad.

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The Thai military is examining whether a chunk of metal debris washed up on a beach is from an aircraft, an official said Sunday, stirring local media speculation it may belong to missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.

The large two metre (seven feet) by three metre curved piece of debris, was found by fishermen on Saturday on a beach in southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province in the Gulf of Thailand, according to a local official.

Thai army aviation experts inspected the debris, took photographs and agreed it was likely to be from an aircraft -- although further testing is needed to make an official confirmation, Thanyarat Phatikongphan, district chief of Pak Phanang, said.

"It is likely to be a part from the aircraft's nose because there are electronic wires, insulators on it," he said, adding numbers on the panels should help identification.

District police also said the panel was probably from an aircraft.

Although there is no official confirmation it is part of an aircraft, Thai media swiftly speculated that it may have come from flight MH370.

The Malaysia Airlines plane vanished on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

In July last year, a two-metre-long flaperon wing part washed up on a beach on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, several thousand kilometres south of Thailand.

Experts traced it to the ill-fated flight, marking the first concrete evidence that it met a tragic end.

Unlike Reunion, the Gulf of Thailand is not in the path of ocean currents from the remote area of the Indian Ocean where it is believed the plane went down.

Nothing has been found since the Reunion discovery, despite more than 80,000 square kilometres of the seafloor being searched.
The world's latest health scare is a seemingly minor illness that carries a killer wrapped inside: Zika, the mosquito-borne virus sweeping Latin America, usually lasts less than a week, except when it derails a whole life. Zika, which resembles a light case of the flu, is often so mild that people don't realize they have it. But health officials in Latin America say the tropical fever is linked to neurological problems and a surge in microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. The defect can cause brain damage and death. The outbreak has led authorities in some countries to urge couples not to get pregnant, while the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has warned pregnant women to avoid traveling to 22 affected countries. Here are some questions and answers on the virus. - What's Zika? - The virus was first identified in a monkey in Africa in 1947. Its name comes from a forest in Uganda where the first infected rhesus monkeys were found. Within several years the virus had jumped to humans in Uganda and Tanzania, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Like dengue fever and chikungunya, two similar diseases, Zika is transmitted by mosquito species found in tropical and sub-tropical regions: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, or tiger mosquitoes. - How do I know if I have it? - In 70 to 80 percent of cases, the disease goes unnoticed. The symptoms resemble a mild case of the flu -- headache, muscle and joint pain, and mild fever -- plus a rash. Symptoms usually last two to seven days. - Why are experts worried? - The disease is suspected of causing two serious complications: neurological problems and birth defects in babies born to infected women. But while there appears to be a connection with Zika, researchers have not definitively confirmed a causal link. The main neurological complication is Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, causing weakness and sometimes paralysis. Most patients recover, but the syndrome is sometimes deadly. Cases linked to Zika have been reported in Brazil and French Polynesia. Microcephaly and other brain deformities in newborns have also been reported, particularly in Brazil. Microcephaly cases in the giant South American country surged from 163 per year on average to 3,893 after the Zika outbreak began last year. Forty-nine of those babies have died. - What's the treatment? - There is no vaccine for Zika, and no specific treatment -- patients simply take pain-killers and other medication to combat the symptoms. The virus is transmitted through mosquito bites, so prevention entails fighting mosquitoes and avoiding contact with them. Health officials recommend covering up, using insect repellant and keeping windows closed or screened. Authorities have responded to the outbreak by fumigating and cleaning up the standing water where mosquitoes breed. Authorities in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica have advised couples to avoid pregnancy for the time being. In Brazil, authorities have announced a crackdown on mosquito breeding grounds ahead of the Olympics, which will bring hundreds of thousands of travelers from around the world to Rio de Janeiro in August. - Where is Zika now? - The virus was first reported in Africa, Asia and the Pacific before leaping to the Americas last year. It is now spreading locally in some 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries, as far north as Mexico. Brazil has been the hardest hit. Travelers have also brought it back to the US states of Florida, Hawaii and New York. A woman in Hawaii gave birth to a baby with microcephaly after traveling to Brazil. So far there have been no locally transmitted US cases reported, though the Aedes aegypti mosquito's habitat stretches into the United States. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) says on its website that "there is no evidence of transmission (of) Zika virus in Europe to date and imported cases are rare." FURTHER INFORMATION: - http://www.cdc.gov/zika/ - http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/zika_virus_infection/Pages/index.aspx -http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_topics&view=article&id=427&Itemid=41484
Iraqi Shia Muslim lawmakers on Sunday accused the new Saudi ambassador of meddling in domestic affairs after he said the presence of Iranian-backed Shia militias in the fight against Islamic State was exacerbating sectarian tensions in Iraq.

Enmity between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East is at its worst in years as regional conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen deepen long-standing rifts. Saudi Arabia, a conservative Sunni kingdom, executed a prominent Shia cleric this month, infuriating Shia around the region and arch foe Iran.

In an interview with Iraq's al-Sumaria TV on Saturday, Saudi Ambassador Thamer al-Sabhan said the Hashid Shaabi, a coalition of mostly Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary groups set up in 2014 to fight Islamic State, should leave the fight against the militants to Iraq's army and official security forces in order to avoid aggravating sectarian tensions.

The reopening in December of the Saudi embassy in Baghdad, closed in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait, was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against Islamic State, which controls territory in Iraq and in Syria and has claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.

At least 40 people were killed earlier this month and nine Sunni mosques firebombed in the eastern Iraqi town of Muqdadiya in apparent retaliation for two blasts there targeting Shi'ite militia fighters, which left 23 people dead.

"Interference in the Hashid Shaabi, speaking about Muqdadiya, and other issues - it's not his business... he must respect diplomatic customs," said Khalid al-Assadi, a member of parliament's foreign affairs panel.

The rise of the ultra-hardline Sunni insurgents of Islamic State has worsened sectarian conflict in Iraq, which is majority Shia.

Assadi said he had asked the foreign ministry to summon Sabhan to express lawmakers' objections. There was no immediate response from the ministry.

"If such interference is repeated there will be calls to announce the ambassador persona non grata and demand the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia replace him," Assadi said by phone.

Local media published similar comments from other Shia MPs.

"He should be expelled immediately or else he could meet dire consequences," Awatef Nemah from the ruling Shia bloc told al-Sumaria, without elaborating.

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OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Burkina Faso has arrested four of seven members of its dissolved presidential guard who were wanted in connection with an attack two days ago on an armoury near the capital Ouagadougou, the army said on Sunday. Burkina Faso is still reeling from an attack by gunmen on a hotel and restaurant on Jan. 15 that was claimed by Islamist militants and during which 30 people were killed, most of them foreigners. The arrests came hours after the landlocked West African country's armed forces published the names and images of the guards who were on the run in local media. Another guard who had also fled died after a gun battle, the army's statement said. The three men were captured when they tried to cross the border with Ghana, the army said, adding: "One among them opened fire on our intervening forces, leading to a riposte. Gravely wounded, he succumbed to his injuries during his transfer to the hospital by helicopter." Authorities are continuing to search for the two guards who remain at large. The authorities had already arrested 11 members of the disbanded elite guards in connection with Friday's raid, during which army officials said the attackers seized Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers. The elite presidential guard was disbanded after members loyal to former president Blaise Compaore mounted a six-day coup against Burkina Faso's transitional government last September in which members of the cabinet were taken hostage, before handing power back to the government under heavy international pressure. On Saturday authorities also arrested Eddie Komboigo, the president of Compaore's former ruling party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress, according to security sources. It was not immediately clear what the charges against him were but he had previously been cited in a report written by the commission investigating the September coup. Friday's raid is the first time the disbanded guard has carried out an action of this kind since its coup attempt failed. The West African country has been fragile since popular protests in 2014 ousted longtime leader Compaore, who had sought to amend the constitution to prolong his 27-year rule. Roch Marc Kabore was elected president in November, ending more than a year of transitional rule. (Reporting by Mathieu Bonkoungou; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Sandra Maler)
ANKARA (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Tehran on Friday to discuss improvement of economic and political ties after lifting of international sanctions because of Iran's disputed nuclear programme, state TV said. Xi will meet top Iranian officials, including the country's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani. He has also visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt during his Middle East tour, which started on January 19. "A high-ranking political and economic delegation is accompanying the Chinese president during his one-day trip," state television quoted deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour as saying. "This is the first visit by a Chinese president in 14 years." "Total trade between Iran and China stood around $52 billion in 2014. But it dropped last year because of falling oil prices," Rahimpour said. "Some 16 accords including a strategic cooperation agreement will be signed during the Chinese President's Iran visit." The Chinese president is the first leader to visit Iran after international sanctions were lifted on January 16 under a nuclear deal reached with six major powers including China. Muslim Shi'ite Iran and its regional Sunni rival Saudi Arabia, Xi's first stop on his Middle Eastern tour, have been at odds since Saudi authorities executed Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Jan. 2. The execution triggered outrage among Shi'ites across the Middle East. Riyadh severed ties with Tehran after Iranian protesters stormed the kingdom's embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. China has called on both countries to exercise calm and restraint amid their on-going feud. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union privacy regulators aim to agree next month on whether and how data transfers to the United States should continue as the European Commission weighs Washington's latest proposals on a new EU-U.S. data-transfer pact. European data protection authorities will gather in Brussels on Feb. 2 to find a common position on which legal channels companies can use to shuffle personal data across the Atlantic after the simplest system, known as Safe Harbour, was quashed by the top EU court due to concerns about U.S. snooping. The 15-year-old Safe Harbour framework used by over 4,000 firms to transfer Europeans' data to the United States was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Oct. 6 because the court found U.S. national security requirements trumped privacy safeguards. This meant that the data were not adequately protected. Under EU data protection law, companies cannot transfer EU citizens' personal data to countries outside the EU deemed to have insufficient privacy safeguards, of which the United States is one. Revelations of mass U.S. surveillance programs where American authorities collected private information directly from big tech firms like Apple, Facebook and Google riled Europe two years ago, and set the stage for the ECJ ruling. As Washington and Brussels stepped up discussions on a new pact, EU data protection authorities gave businesses a three-month grace period in which they could set up alternative legal systems to transfer data across the Atlantic. These would cover binding corporate rules within multinationals, model clauses between companies or requests to people for their consent. EU data protection authorities also urged the United States and EU to agree a new data transfer framework in the same period, failing which they could start taking enforcement action against companies if they decided that alternatives such as model clauses offered no greater protection against U.S. snooping than the old Safe Harbour did. The United States submitted a package of proposals on a new Safe Harbour deal this week. These included a letter from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker explaining U.S. commitments on the oversight of a possible new framework by both the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, according to a person familiar with the discussions. If acceptable to the EU, a new framework could be submitted for approval by all 28 EU commissioners on Feb. 2 to coincide with the regulators' meeting, the person said. However, further details may need to be ironed out after that. EU regulators have been analyzing the legality of transfer mechanisms such as binding corporate rules and should reach a common position on Feb. 2, said a spokeswoman for the French data protection authority, which will chair the meeting. "It is evident that we will sanction any transfers of personal data which are solely based on the old Safe Harbour decision," said Johannes Caspar, head of the Hamburg data protection authority in Germany which polices Google and Facebook. He said a new Safe Harbour framework would have to include a number of legal safeguards such as an effective judicial review and independent oversight. (Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
The jailed leader of Bahrain's main opposition bloc, Sheikh Ali Salman who is currently serving four years for inciting disobedience, could face new charges over messages posted on Twitter.

The Al-Wefaq chief has been "referred to the public prosecution following violations posted on his Twitter account", the authorities announced Sunday on the official BNA news agency.

Al-Wefaq denounced the move, saying it "violates the Bahraini constitution and national law, as well as international covenants related to freedom of opinion and expression".

The Shiite grouping in the Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom said Salman's tweets "focused on the values of peace and love".

It said they shared quotes by American civil rights leader Martin Luther King "about freedom and justice".

It was unclear whether Salman was himself tweeting from prison, or how.

The opposition chief was sentenced on June 16 to four years after being convicted of inciting disobedience and hatred.

An appeals court is reviewing that conviction, but the prosecution is demanding the annulment of his acquittal on the more serious charge of plotting to overthrow the regime and seeking a tougher sentence.

A ruling on the appeal is expected on March 30.

Al-Wefaq renewed earlier calls for its leader to be released "immediately".

The group once held the most seats in parliament, but its 18 MPs walked out in 2011 in protest at violence against demonstrators during pro-democracy rallies.

Bahrain's authorities crushed Shia-led protests a month after they erupted on February 14, 2011.

The gap has since been growing between the Sunni authorities and their mainly Shia opponents.

Tiny but strategic Bahrain across the Gulf from Shiite Iran is home to the US Fifth Fleet, and on October 31, construction work also began on Britain's first permanent military base in the Middle East since 1971.

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By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's senior coalition party has not held discussions with any independent candidates about forming a government should the current coalition fall short of a majority at forthcoming elections, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Saturday. While Kenny's Fine Gael party holds a big lead in opinion polls ahead of elections, which are expected to be held late next month, its junior partner Labour is struggling and the parties are currently a few percentage points away from re-election. With no obvious alternative coalition, Kenny could lead a minority government if the government parties fall short or they could reach an agreement to form a majority with some of the large bloc of independent deputies expected to be elected. "There is no discussion taking place between Fine Gael and any independents," Kenny told reporters at his party's annual conference. "I've set my stall very clearly, the proposition to the people will be to re-elect the Fine Gael/Labour government." Finance Minister Michael Noonan said earlier on Saturday that there wasn't a "hope in the world" of Fine Gael winning an overall majority, meaning the party needs Labour's popularity to pick up if they are to return as a two-party administration. Ireland has been run by coalition governments since the late 1980s, occasionally successfully relying on deals with independent candidates to secure a majority in parliament. Kenny, who is expected to name the date of the election after his coalition partners hold their annual conference next weekend, added that if he was re-elected as prime minister, he would stay in the position for a full five-year term. "If I'm privileged and honoured to be elected Taoiseach (prime minister), I would serve a full term and that's it," Kenny said. (Editing by Digby Lidstone)
Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party on Sunday reelected its co-leaders Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, as it seeks to maintain support amid the deadly conflict in the southeast.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) unanimously reelected Yuksekdag and Demirtas as co-leaders at a congress in Ankara, the party said in a statement. The party splits its top posts between a man and a woman to promote gender equality.

The charisma of Demirtas -- a top foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- helped the HDP win seats as a party for the first time in the Turkish parliament last year.

But with the government waging a relentless campaign against Kurdish militants in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of the country, the HDP faces a delicate task to build on its support.

Erdogan accuses the HDP of being the political front of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.

The HDP denies this and says it is seeking a just solution for Turkey's Kurdish minority within the framework of the modern state.

The HDP leaders gave their speeches against the backdrop of the Turkish flag, the slogan "common homeland, equal citizenship" and a picture of the PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

In his speech, Demirtas denounced the ongoing military crackdown in the southeast which the army says has eliminated hundreds of "terrorists" but the HDP claims has killed dozens of civilians.

"Is it possible to call this regime in which civilians' freedoms are violated in an uninterrupted way a democracy?" asked Demirtas.

"The prime minister (Ahmet Davutoglu) says that civilian massacres do not happen. But there are babies and women (among the dead). More than 190 dead, is that not a massacre?" he added.

A military operation backed by a curfew has been in place since December 14 in the town of Cizre and the Sur district of Diyarbakir city since December 2, raising alarm about the welfare of civilians left inside.

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David Cameron has launched a crackdown on lawyers pursuing soldiers through the courts over allegations of torture or killing of civilians during the Iraq war.

He has ordered the Government's National Security Council to come up with proposals which will be aimed at restricting the ability of lawyers to bring cases against soldiers.

:: Iraq Torture Claims: 280 UK Soldiers Questioned

Launching his crackdown, the Prime Minister said: "It's clear that there is now an industry trying to profit from spurious claims lodged against our brave servicemen and women.

"It's unacceptable and no way to treat the people who risk their lives to keep our country safe. It has got to end.

"So I have tasked the National Security Council that I chair to produce a comprehensive plan to stamp out this industry."

The National Security Council's proposals are likely to include:

:: Clamping down on no-win, no-fee schemes used by law firms to make money in these cases - known as Conditional Fee Agreements - and the costs that can be awarded through these arrangements so that there simply isn't the financial incentive to pursue these claims.

:: Speeding up the planned legal aid residence test, which is due to come in to force in the summer and will require claimants to have lived in the UK for 12 months; and

:: A broader legislative package to strengthen the investigative powers and penalties that can be used against those firms found to be abusing the system.

The Government says the clampdown on the financial incentives will be accompanied by action against any firms found to have abused the system in the past to pursue fabricated claims:

Mr Cameron has singled out the law firm Leigh Day for criticism, telling MPs in the Commons earlier this month: "I do think that this organisation, Leigh Day, has questions to answer, not least because it was deeply involved in the al-Sweady inquiry, where a lot of claims completely fell apart and there was, it seems, evidence that could have shown that those claims were false."

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Earlier this month Leigh Day was referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as a result of the failure to disclose a key document to the official inquiry into torture allegations in Iraq.

The document showed that the claimants had been members of the Mahdi Army and not the innocent civilians they made themselves out to be.

The Legal Aid Agency has also been asked to review all legal aid contracts to establish whether legal aid should be restricted on an interim basis in relation to any firm under investigation for misconduct, and whether such contracts should be scrapped entirely after disciplinary proceedings have been completed.

A spokesperson for Leigh Day said: "We have a system in this country that enables people to obtain justice if they have suffered abuse, damage or loss at the hands of anyone. No-one is above the law, not us, not the British Army and not the Government. We cannot imagine that the Prime Minister is proposing that this should change.

"We have made it very clear that we refute all of the allegations that have been laid before us by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. We will contest those allegations vigorously before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Our statement in relation to these allegations is on our website and we are unable to comment further."
By Isla Binnie VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis issued a stern reminder of the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage on Friday as a fierce debate raged in Italy ahead of a vote that would give legal recognition to homosexual couples. Next week, the Senate is due to resume debating a bill that would legalise civil partnership for homosexuals as well as for unmarried heterosexual couples. Many opponents say the law is a Trojan horse that would lead to legalising gay marriage. The Argentine pontiff, who generally has taken a more socially progressive line on gender issues than his predecessors, told Vatican judges "there can be no confusion between the family God wants and any other type of union". "The family, founded on indissoluble matrimony that unites and allows procreation, is part of God's dream and that of his Church for the salvation of humanity," he said in an address to members of the Vatican court that rules on marriage annulments. Despite the European Court of Human Rights condemnation of Italy last year for failing to introduce a law on civil partnerships, its passage has been held up by objections from politicians of all stripes. Opposition parties and even some members of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) are incensed by a proposal in the law that would allow homosexuals adopt the children their partners had from previous heterosexual unions. The presence of the Vatican in Rome is often cited as a reason Italy is one of the last major countries in the West not to give same-sex couples rights or protection on issues like parenthood. The bill's author, PD Senator Monica Cirinna, told reporters this week that the ruling party was in a state of "high fever" as the vote approaches and the Church's position was always lurking in the background of the debate. "There has always been a clash between the non-religious and the Catholic members of the party," Cirinna said. "The great dome sometimes casts a shadow," she said, referring to St. Peter's Basilica. Some fear the bill would open the way to loosening laws on surrogate motherhood, which is illegal in Italy. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has said that those who break the law should be treated as sex offenders and sent to prison. The conservative Northern League demonstrated at the Pantheon in Rome this week collecting signatures for their bid to remove the stepchild adoption provision from the bill ahead of the Jan. 28 vote in the upper house. (Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Philip Pullella and Tom Heneghan)
By Barbara Goldberg and Idrees Ali NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A blizzard that has paralysed much of the U.S. East Coast intensified on Saturday, bringing the nation's capital to a standstill and forcing the closure of roads, bridges and tunnels into New York, the largest city in the country. At least 13 people have been killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. One person died in Maryland and three in New York while shovelling snow. After dumping nearly two feet (60 cm) of snow on the Washington area overnight, the storm unexpectedly gathered strength as it spun northward and headed into the New York metropolitan area, home to about 20 million people. With the storm persisting through the night, accumulations of between 24 and 28 inches (60 to 71 cm) of snow are expected in New York City, northern New Jersey and western Long Island, with winds gusting to 45 mph (72 kph), the National Weather Service said. Visibility is expected to be one-quarter of a mile or less. Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the accumulation could be two feet or more "when all is said and done, making it in the top five of storms to hit New York City." New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency as 10 other state governors have done. He also announced a ban on all travel on New York City area roads and on Long Island, except for emergency vehicles, as of 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT). All bridges and tunnels into the city from New Jersey were also closed and would be until the early hours of Sunday, de Blasio said. Subways running above ground and trains operated by the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North halted service at 4 p.m. EST because snow falling at a rate of 3 inches (8 cm) per hour proved too much for ploughs on roads and railways, Cuomo said. The impact of the travel ban on the New York's financial services industry is seen as minimal over the weekend, and it was too soon to tell how much the heavy snow will affect Wall Street's reopening on Monday. On Broadway, however, the impact was immediate. Theatres cancelled Saturday matinee and evening performances at the urging of the mayor. "We're loving it. We definitely want to come back," said Michelle Jones, 46, a mortgage company controller from Atlanta who had tickets to see "The Phantom of Opera" with her daughter. While authorities in New York and New Jersey halted public transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority took the rare step of suspending operations through Sunday in the capital city. "The forecasts suggest that the snow will wrap up late tonight or in the very early hours of the morning," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference. "But it doesn't make it any less dangerous. We expect continued high winds throughout the area which will continue to make the conditions and visibility very poor." More than 10,200 U.S. flights were cancelled from Friday through Monday, according to transportation officials the aviation data and tracking website FlightAware.com. United Airlines said on Saturday that it would not operate at Washington-area airports Saturday and Sunday, and would gradually resume service on Monday. The airline plans to start "very limited operations" on Sunday afternoon at its Newark, New Jersey, hub and other New York area airports. The brunt of the blizzard reached the New York City area after battering Washington, where snow had piled up outside the White House and across the U.S. capital. Some residents said they just could not resist seeing famous monuments frosted with snow. "We haven't made snow angels yet, but we're looking forward to doing that in front of the White House," said Robert Bella Hernandez, 38. "We're just going to walk around, see some snow covered D.C. landmarks. And then when it's unsafe, maybe go back in for a minute." The record high of 28 inches of snow in Washington was set in 1922 and the deepest recent snowfall was 17.8 inches in 2010. HIGHER TIDES THAN DURING SANDY High winds battered the entire East Coast, from North Carolina to New York, reaching 70 mph in Wallops Island, Virginia, late on Friday, whipping up the tides and causing coastal flooding, said meteorologist Greg Gallina of the National Weather Service. Tides higher than those caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago pushed water on to roads along the Jersey Shore and Delaware coast and set records in Cape May, New Jersey, and Lewes, Delaware, said NWS meteorologist Patrick OHara. A high tide of 8.98 feet (2.74 m) was recorded at 7:51 a.m. EST on Saturday at Cape May - slightly higher than the record of 8.9 feet previously set by Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012. A high tide of 9.27 feet was recorded at Lewes, higher than the 9.2 feet high tide recorded in March 1962. Even so, there were only a few evacuations reported along the New Jersey Shore, where thousands of residents had to abandon their homes during the devastating 2012 storm. The barrier islands near Atlantic City were experiencing significant tidal flooding, said Linda Gilmore, the county's public information officer. Officials in the coastal counties of Ocean and Monmouth issued voluntary evacuation notices for some communities and a mandatory order for some homes in the beach town of Barnegat. The next high tide, due at about 7 p.m. EST, is expected to be higher than usual because of the full moon. About 150,000 customers in North Carolina and 90,000 homes in New Jersey lost electricity in the storm on Saturday. The Pennsylvania National Guard has been called in to help clear I-76 in the western part of the state and ensure stranded people have food, water, and fuel for their cars. The storm developed along the Gulf Coast, dropping snow over Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky on Friday. On the coast, warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean collided with cold air to form the massive winter system, meteorologists said. It was forecast to move offshore in southern New England early next week. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles, Barbara Goldberg, Frank McGurty, and Robert MacMillan in New York, Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Writing by Grant McCool; editing by Marguerita Choy and G Crosse)
By Sarah White and Emma Pinedo MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Socialists told the centre-right People's Party on Saturday to form a government or move aside, as politicians jostled for power more than a month after inconclusive elections. The People's Party (PP) won the most votes, but not enough to rule alone and has failed to form an alliance, trading accusations of stalling and delays with the second-place Socialists and the new anti-austerity Podemos party. Four weeks of post-election manoeuvring has left the country little closer to getting a government, fuelling uncertainty that could be damaging for Spain's economic recovery in the long run as key reforms are put on the backburner. "We believe that (acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the PP) is obliged ... to present himself as the candidate to be invested or to renounce his right to do so for good," the Socialists said on their website. They said Rajoy's "wait-and-see" stance was irresponsible and a ploy to ensure his political survival. Rajoy deferred a decision on Friday to bring matters to a head and seek a confidence vote in parliament, saying that for now he did not have enough backing. On paper, that could smooth the way for a left-wing coalition after Podemos offered its backing to the Socialists on Friday. But Rajoy's move also heaps pressure on Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez to try and form a government while he is still not sure of succeeding and before the PP is firmly out of the picture, a conundrum he is now seeking to avoid. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias' angered many leading Socialists by suggesting he should serve as deputy prime minister and putting forward a proposal for the formation of a cabinet, before the parties had held any talks. "It's the first time in my life that I've heard (anyone) offer a deal to form a government that seriously insults the party you want to make a pact with," the Socialists' last leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said on Facebook. Once a candidate seeks the confidence of parliament a two-month deadline for the formation of a government comes into effect. A failure to reach a deal within this limit would lead to a new national election, potentially in May. "DIGNITY" Rajoy has been pushing for a German-style 'grand coalition' with the Socialists and the new pro-market Ciudadanos party, with little success. On Saturday he sought to exploit friction within the Socialist Party by saying it would be indebted to Podemos if the two tried to form a government. "To be the Spanish prime minister, it's not good enough to get there through being mortgaged (to Podemos) or by humiliating yourself, we need a prime minister with dignity," Rajoy told PP supporters at an event in Cordoba, southern Spain. He also had a dig at the Socialists' current leader Pedro Sanchez for shunning dialogue with the PP. As recriminations fly between parties, leaders of all leanings are increasingly defending their attempts to break the political gridlock. Spain's political landscape was splintered like never before in the December ballot amid the rise of Podemos and Ciudadanos, two parties that had no seats four years ago. An economic crisis and frustration over high-level corruption scandals fuelled their success, even as Spain returned to growth under the PP government. The Socialists, Podemos and former communists Izquierda Unida have a combined 161 seats, leaving them still short of a majority in the 350-seat parliament and meaning they would need to woo regional parties for backing to govern. The Socialists, however, have opposed allowing Catalonia to hold a referendum on secession, and this could remain a sticking point as it fights to forge pacts. Parties are due to resume talks with King Felipe on Jan. 27 on forming a new government. (Reporting by Sarah White and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Clelia Oziel)
A massive blizzard with gale-force winds has paralysed the southern and eastern US, forcing tens of millions of people to hunker down at home.

Eleven states have declared emergencies and at least 18 people have died in weather-related accidents. Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power.

Those weather-related deaths were resulting from car crashes, cases of hypothermia, and people attempting to shovel snow.

Winter Storm Jonas had dumped up to 30 inches (75cm) of snow on the Washington DC area by Saturday night, transforming the nation's capital into a wintry ghost town.

Experts have warned the snow and wind will worsen until it peters out early on Sunday.

As lightning flashed and thundersnow rumbled, President Barack Obama was holed up at the White House.

"Find a safe place and stay there," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told city-dwellers.

Some 85 million people in at least 20 states have been in the path of the storm, with a wing span extending from Arkansas to New York.

More than 7,000 flights have been cancelled, and public transit is closed in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey.

The travel disruption is also expected into the start of the working week, with some airlines already cutting their Monday services.

In New York, officials said it was one of the top three snowstorms since records began - with 25 inches (62.5cm) falling by 7pm on Saturday night, and further flurries still forecast.

A statewide travel ban enforced by Governor Andrew Cuomo saw the usually bustling streets of Manhattan come to a standstill, although these restrictions are set to be lifted at 7am this morning (12pm UK time).

Meanwhile, tides higher than those caused by 2012 Superstorm Sandy have been washing through the streets of Jersey Shore towns.

The National Weather Service says hurricane-force winds of 75mph (120km) were recorded on Dewey Beach, Delaware.

The National Guard have been sent to help motorists stranded overnight, including hundreds on Interstate 75 in Kentucky.

Story continues

Here are the main points:

:: The storm knocked out power in many states, including 150,000 households in North Carolina and 90,000 homes in New Jersey.

:: More than 7,600 flights have been cancelled this weekend, according to FlightAware.

:: A Good Samaritan was shot dead by a snow-stranded motorist he tried to help on a North Carolina highway, say police.

:: Virginia State Police say they responded to nearly 1,000 weather-related traffic crashes.

:: States of emergency have been declared in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Delaware, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and the District of Columbia.

It is feared the weather system could wreak as much as $1bn (700m) in damage.

Many stores were left with bare shelves as residents stocked up on food and alcohol, preparing to spend the weekend indoors.

The storm will be among the top five biggest ever for Washington and New York, says the National Weather Service's Paul Kocin.

Jonas is forecast to easily surpass the 2010 storm dubbed "snowmageddon".

It could even top the 28in of snow in January 1922 that was Washington's worst recorded storm.
The Government is considering taking thousands of unaccompanied Syrian refugee children from migrant camps in Europe, the International Development Secretary has told Sky News.

The Prime Minister will decide in the "coming days and weeks" how children who have fled to Europe but been separated from parents can be helped, Justine Greening said.

If David Cameron agrees to take refugee children from Europe it would represent a softening of the Government position.

Britain has already agreed to take 20,000 Syrian refugees but had insisted it would only take them from the refugee camps in the Syrian region - and not draw from the camps in Europe.

:: Let 3,000 Calais Migrants Come To UK: Corbyn

However, pressure from charities and the intensification of the migrant crisis in Europe has prompted a rethink and the Government is considering taking some children from Europe as part of the 20,000.

According to charity estimates, there are as many as 3,000 lone refugee children in Europe.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening told Dermot Murnaghan: "We've steadily evolved our approach as this crisis has evolved, we've been right at the forefront, frankly, of helping children who have been affected by this crisis and will continue to look at how we can do that over the coming days and weeks."

:: Lorry Drivers Call For Guards As Migrants Storm Ship

Labour's shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said: "David Cameron has been found guilty of a real lack of judgement and leadership during this refugee crisis.

"He has been pursuing his own individual demands on EU migration while the rest of Europe has been grappling with the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. He has left Britain looking blinkered and selfish.

"Just miles from our own doorstep, there are hundreds of refugee children in makeshift French camps living alone in abhorrent conditions.

"Britain can, and should, be doing more to give those kids a place of safety and I believe the vast majority of people here would support it."

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Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told Sky News it would be pretty "mean-spirited" if the Government included the number of unaccompanied children in the 20,000 figure.

:: PM Says Migrant Emergency Brake An Option

His comments come after Jeremy Corbyn called on the Government to let 3,000 migrants in the French camps come to Britain - especially unaccompanied children.

Europe continues to struggle to deal with the migrant crisis. EU officials are preparing to meet to discuss suspending Europe's border-free travel zone, drawn up under the Schengen agreement, for two years.

On Friday, the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, warned that the refugee crisis put the future of the European Union, whose key principle is the freedom of movement of people between countries, in "grave danger".
Almost 60 investigations into British soldiers accused of unlawful killings during the war in Iraq have been dropped, defence ministry officials said Sunday.

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), set up to investigate allegations by Iraqi civilians of abuse by British soldiers between the US-led invasion in 2003 and 2009 when British combat troops left, has decided not to proceed in 57 cases.

The military's prosecuting authority stopped one additional case, the defence ministry said.

It follows an announcement by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron of proposals to stop returned soldiers "being hounded by lawyers over claims that are totally without foundation".

Cameron accused lawyers of creating "an industry trying to profit from spurious claims lodged against our brave servicemen and women who fought in Iraq" on Friday.

However Nicholas Mercer, the army's former chief legal advisor in Iraq, said 326 cases had already been settled "on merit", at a cost of 20 million ($28.5 million, 26.4 million euros), suggesting widespread problems.

"One of the allegations is that there was systemic abuse of Iraqi prisoners after they were captured," Mercer told Channel 4 news.

"Clearly this isn't just one or two bad apples, as they have been characterised, this is on a fairly large and substantial scale."

He accused Cameron's government of "hijacking this to have a go at lawyers who are bringing cases against them".

Currently, IHAT lists 1,329 vases under investigation, including allegations of ill treatment while in detention, unlawful killings and accusations of assault.

Proposals to curb lawsuits deemed "spurious" include requiring claimants to have lived in the United Kingdom for 12 months, and curtailing so-called "no win, no fee" arrangements by which lawyers are only paid if the lawsuit is successful.

In December 2012, the Ministry of Defence announced that it had paid 15.1 million ($21.5 million, 17.6 million euros) to more than 200 Iraqi people who had accused British troops of illegal detention and torture.

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The father of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead by an Israeli security guard after allegedly trying to stab him accused the man on Sunday of acting with disproportionate force.

Roqaya Abu-Eid left her occupied West Bank village of Anata northeast of Jerusalem on Saturday and went to the gate of the nearby Israeli illegal settlement of Anatot.

Police said she had been feeling suicidal after a fight with her family, and her father, who had been searching for her, arrived too late at the scene of the attack.

He was released after questioning and was among the hundreds who attended her funeral on Sunday in Yatta, the southern Hebron hills village from where the family originated.

"She was a little girl. There's no reason in the world for her to be shot and killed," her father Eid Abu-Eid told AFP after the funeral.

"The person who shot her could have apprehended her or shot her in the leg -- he didn't have to kill her," he said by telephone.

"It was as though he issued her a death sentence."

Rights groups have called on Israel to stop using lethal force against attackers, and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has accused the Israelli state of carrying out extrajudicial executions.

Asked if he would seek legal redress, Abu-Eid said he had "turned to God" instead, since he trusted no court, Israeli or any other.

*The story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Stringent rules to protect UK exports to China following an anthrax outbreak last autumn have resulted in a two-tier trade in livestock.

It follows a case of anthrax which was confirmed following the death of a cow on a farm in the Westbury area of Wiltshire last October.

It was the first incident of anthrax in livestock since 2006.

See also: Anthrax confirmed on farm in Wiltshire

Although an isolated outbreak, the case has had repercussions for other producers who must now declare their livestock are not from the affected area when selling animals.

Anthrax is an acute bacterial disease which infects cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, humans and some species of birds. Most forms of the disease are lethal.

Following the Wiltshire outbreak, livestock producers must complete a declaration form stating that animals being sold have not come from affected parishes.

The anthrax-free declaration is for livestock movements within the UK and is not an export certificate  but it aims to support the export of hides and animal skins to China.

Cornish farmer Martin Howlett said some producers in south-west England had big issues when it came to filling in the declaration form.

NFU livestock board chairman Charles Sercombe said the anthrax outbreak had caused great concern among farmers and exporters.

Mr Sercombe said he expected the requirement for farmers to fill in declaration forms would remain in place until mid- to late April  six months after the last outbreak.

It has caused a great deal of hardship for some producers and their stock has been devalued which is incredibly disappointing

Charles Sercombe, NFU

There is great nervousness in the processing industry and within Defra about the implications for trade  in particular with China because they are the ones taking these skins.

Officials were keen to stress that absolutely robust processes were in place to ensure that no potentially infected animals went into the skin trade, said Mr Sercombe.

It has caused a great deal of hardship for some producers and their stock has been devalued which is incredibly disappointing.

But it was important for the UK to abide by the terms of trade agreed with China if that trade was to be protected for the future.
Report Back From Palestine

Date:

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Time:

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Event Type:

Speaker

Organizer/Author:

Jay

Location Details:

Niebyl Proctor Library

6501 Telegraph Avenue

Report from Palestine  The Crisis of Occupation

Sunday, January 31, 2016  7pm (doors at 6:30)

Niebyl Proctor Library

6501 Telegraph Ave.  Oakland (near Ashby BART)

$3.00 donation requested



The Palestinian people are forced to live under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, suffering daily violence at the hands of the Israeli army.



The latest war on Palestinians in the summer of 2014 caused the deaths of over 2,000 people and more than 250 children. In the last months, some Palestinians have reacted by attacking soldiers and settlers, leading to even more violence by the Israeli army.



The Palestinians continue to resist, and some choose the path of mass mobilization rather than individual acts. And some Israeli activists join them in this struggle



Join us for a video-interview via Skype with Palestinian and Israeli activists resisting the occupation.
The states new rules actually weaken existing law aimed at protecting Californias precious water supplies from oil industry contamination, said Clare Lakewood, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. California oil officials have dragged their heels for years in proposing new regulations to correct their blatant violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Now theyve released rules that dont fix these dangerous deficiencies and in some ways actually increase the threat oil company injections pose to our underground drinking water.The new rules are part of the states Underground Injection Control program  the same program that failed to prevent the massive gas leak from a gas-storage well near L.A.s Porter Ranch neighborhood.During the Aliso Canyon disaster, its been appalling to see the Brown administration trying to give the oil and gas industry another free pass to endanger our water and our safety, Lakewood said.The Center has identified the following major loopholes and weaknesses in the draft regulations:* Section 1724.10 would allow an operator to inject at pressures high enough to break up the formation rock if the operator demonstrates conclusively that the fluid will remained confined to the injection zone. The regulations do not state what would amount to a conclusive demonstration. This is an attempt to legalize ongoing steam-injection practices that state officials have admitted fracture the formation. It is a step backward because it is currently illegal to inject at pressures high enough to fracture the formation. It is also inconsistent with federal regulations that prohibit injection well operators from creating fractures in the confining zone adjacent to protected groundwater outside the stimulation phase.* The definition of freshwater is overly narrow and will leave aquifers that are protected under federal law at risk of contamination. For instance, the regulations generally require the well casing to ensure that freshwater zones are protected, and require oilfield waste to be disposed of in such a manner as to not cause damage to freshwater aquifers. The narrow proposed definition is an attempt to circumvent protections provided by federal law.* The area of review (AoR) for a steam injection well is the greater of either the calculated AoR or 300 feet. This means that the AoR may be significantly smaller than the standard quarter-mile that we understand is currently being used as the standard AoR for steam injection wells. Steam injection is inherently dangerous, and caused a fatal accident in California several years ago. Lessening the AoR is a step backward, not forward.* Operators would not be required to analyze injection fluid for toxic and cancer-causing chemicals that are commonly used in fracking fluid. The regulations include loopholes that would allow operators to continue to hide even the information that is required if they claim it is infeasible to provide it.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 990,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.Center for Biological Diversity
The aggregate value of seized assets, cash and personal banking accounts that belong to members of Egypts banned Muslim Brotherhood are worth the equivalent of $1.1 billion, according to Ahram Online calculations based on an official inventory announced on Sunday.

The assets include 105 schools (valued at LE283.8 million) and 43 hospitals (valued at LE111 million) nationwide.

However, excluded from Ahram Online calculations were 460 cars and 318 acres of arable lands that were owned by the banned organisation, but have also now been frozen

The state committee, which is tasked with appraising and freezing Brotherhood funds, said at a press conference in Cairo that the seized funds includes bank credits of 1370 members worth LE154.7 million, US$2 million, 435,000 euros, 1.3 million Saudi riyals, 9,000 and 16,480 Swiss franc.

The list of seizures also comprises of bank credits of 1125 non-government organisations worth $64,000 (LE20 million), bank credits of 62 companies worth LE17.4 million, $117,000 and 7,000, according to judge Ezzat Khamis, the head of the committee, which was formed in 2013 under then interim president Adly Mansour.

The committee also revealed that 19 exchange shops with frozen credits of LE82 million are affiliated with the banned organisation.

Cash worth LE5 billion and LE3.5 billion was also seized from the safes of the schools and hospitals, the committee said.

The Egyptian governments crackdown on Brotherhood members and their activities started in 2013 following the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, who hailed from the group.

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Nuclear Shutdown News January 2016 blackrainpress [at] hotmail.com) by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the US nuclear power industry, and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free future.





Patch.com is an internet news network in New York state. On January 6 the network posted a story, "NRC OKs weapons at Indian Point Despite New York Law."



Readers of Nuclear Shutdown News may be familiar with the troublesome 1970s- era twin reactors at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station, located on the Hudson River 40 miles north of New York City.



These reactors experienced multiple unplanned shutdowns in 2015, including one caused by an electrical transformer fire that resulted in oil and other pollutants being released into the Hudson.



Last December both Indian Point reactors suffered unplanned shutdowns.



On December 28 Indian Point Unit 3's operating license expired. Unit 2's license ran out in September 2013.



Despite both licenses having expired, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to allow the reactors to operate (and shut down frequently) while it ponders a request by owner Entergy of New Orleans to extend the now run out licenses for another 20 years.



Meanwhile, New York Governor Mario Cuomo has been fighting for years for the permanent shutdown of Indian Point.



On January 22, Reuters reported "Entergy asked a US federal court to overturn Cuomo's objections to the continued operation of Indian Point."



Going back to the Patch.com story, the network reported "the NRC has granted presumption authority to nuclear facilities in New York and California.



"This will allow security forces at these (nuclear0 facilities to possess and use certain firearms and related devices despite local, state and federal laws restricting their use."



Patch.com also reported this included use of "large capacity ammunition feeding devices."



The nuke plants allowed to use such weapons are "Indian Point, Fitzgerald, Nine Mile Point and Ginna in New York, and San Onofre and Diablo Canyon in California, as well as their spent fuel dry cask and pool storage facilities," which hold large amounts of high level radioactive waste.



By the way, the Fitzgerald nuke in upstate New York is also owned by Entergy, which announced in late 2015 that it plans to shut it down in early 2017.



Ironically, NY Governor Cuomo opposes this move, because he contends it would threaten the state's electric energy supply.



Entergy says that nuke needs to be shut down because it can no longer make a profit.



On the last day of last year San Diego's NBC 7 TV ran a story "Portions of San Onofre May Be Contaminated."



The San Onofre nuclear plant unexpectedly and permanently shut down in 2013. Southern California Edison is the major owner, with San Diego Gas and Electric its minority partner.



NBC 7 reported "San Onofre may be (radioactively) contaminated from activities conducted

by Edison on land where San Onofre sits."



According to TV 7, the utilities have been leasing the shoreline land from the US Navy. The lease is supposed to end in 2023, but Edison and SDG&E want to end it earlier now that San Onofre is shut down for good.



According to the terms of the lease, the utilities are supposed to clean up radioactive or other contamination on the San Onofre site.



NBC 7 cited an October 2, 2011 letter from Edison spokesperson Maureen Brown that states "There is no current radiological contamination at San Onofre."



But NBC 7 Investigates found that "contaminated soil, asphalt, and concrete" on the San Onofre site "was dug up and moved" to another area on site.



"Shipping records show 390 55-gallon drums were shipped off site four years later," TV 7 reported.



TV 7 asked the San Onofre utilities about this information, but reported "multiple attempts to reach Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have gone unanswered."

Sources: Patch.com

Reuters.com



NBC 7.com
Legacy Wall Exhibit Coming to IWU

The Legacy Wall is intended to foster an appreciation for the role LGBT people have played in shared human history.

Jan. 19, 2016

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  The Legacy Wall, a traveling exhibit featuring stories of LGBT individuals who have made a significant impact in the world, will be coming to The Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University Jan. 31 through Feb. 13. An opening reception is scheduled for Jan. 31 from 4 to 6 p.m.

The interactive Legacy Wall features biographies of people who have made contributions in a number of fields. Some of the individuals featured include author Oscar Wilde, U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, British mathematician Alan Turing, and Father Mychal Judge, a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The Legacy Wall exhibit was created by the Legacy Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit intended to inform, inspire, enlighten and foster an appreciation for the role LGBT people have played in the advancement of world history and culture. Victor Salvo, the founder and executive director of the Legacy Project, will present remarks at the Jan. 31 opening reception. Other speakers include IWU Provost Jonathan Green, Equality Illinois Field Fellow Marcus Fogliano, Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner and Rev. Kelley Becker, associate pastor of First Christian Church, Bloomington, representing Not in Our Town, one of the sponsors of the exhibit.

The Legacy Wall is brought to Illinois Wesleyan as part of the Queer Lives Speaker and Performer Series at IWU funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Other Illinois Wesleyan sponsors include the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, IWU Pride Alliance, and The Ames Library. Organizers said awareness of the roles LGBT people have played in shared human history helps boost the self-esteem of LGBTQ youth who are raised without the benefit of historically significant role models. The goal of the Legacy Wall exhibit is to use the lessons of history to spark conversations and to promote a feeling of safety and belonging in the classroom. The exhibit includes data linking the teaching of LGBT-related content in schools with lowered incidences of bullying between students.

The exhibit may be viewed on the entry-level floor of Ames, which is open Sundays 12 noon to 1:30 a.m.; Monday through Thursday 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.; Friday 7:45 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

By Emily Phelps 19
Rafael Olmeda of the Miami Sun Sentinel reports that Broward County prosecutors will not file criminal charges against left-hander Aroldis Chapman in connection with allegations of domestic violence dating back to this past October. Olmeda adds that the Broward States Attorney office will be making an official statement on the matter later today.

Chapmans lawyer, Paul Molle, issued the following statement, according to Olmeda: We are all pleased that the Davie Police Department and the Office of the State Attorney took the time to fully investigate the matter and have concluded that charges were not warranted.

As Olmeda reminds, no arrests were made at the time of the purported incident, with police officials citing inconsistencies in witness accounts. Chapmans girlfriend, Cristina Barnea, told police that Chapman struck her in front of others at a birthday party and also choked her. The initial reports of the incident also alleged that Chapman discharged a handgun eight times in his garage. However, Olmeda writes that Barnea later told police she only heard one gunshot, was not certain who fired the shot and did not wish to prosecute Chapman. He continues, noting that Barnea told prosecutors that she did not remember saying that Chapman had hit her, and other witnesses said they saw no physical altercation between the pair.

Whether or not Chapman will face some form of suspension under Major League Basbealls newly implemented domestic violence policy remains to be seen. That decision will be left up to commissioner Rob Manfreds discretion. The widespread expectation has been that Chapman will face some form of repercussion  likely in the form of a suspension  although the fact that no arrest was made and no charges have been filed seems likely to work in his favor to some extent.

Earlier this offseason, the Dodgers backed out of a trade to acquire Chapman, reportedly in large part due to the emergence of these allegations. The Yankees acquired Chapman from the Reds several weeks later for a package of infielder Eric Jagielo, right-hander Rookie Davis, right-hander Caleb Cotham and infielder Tony Renda.
Museums have historically acted to tether artworks and artifacts to territorial conceptions of place. Meanwhile, as conduits to the flow of artworks across borders according to the imperatives of a globalised market, international contemporary art fairs might seem to obey an opposite logic, operating as de-territorialising forces that uproot works of art from their native geographies.

Yet assigning museums and art fairs neatly to different sides of a binary that pits rootedness against a world of un-homed objects and convergent cultures obscures a more complex and dynamic reality.

If large brick and mortar institutions are restructuring to satisfy new economic imperatives and economies of attention within a global regime of art circulation, exhibition, and consumption, as they proliferate to new locales with less-developed markets, many art fairs are becoming more substantially place-minded.

In addition to shaping themselves according to the context and needs of their host locations, global art fairs are finding new ways to address the geographical contexts and local aesthetic histories of works of art.

As museums of modern and contemporary art dispense with fixed galleries and large, unmoving museum collections in favour of blockbuster installations and flexible holdings that can accommodate the demand for more globally attuned programming, art fairs have begun to assume some of the cultural functions conventionally belonging to museums.

The art world infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates is perhaps a hyperbolic instance of the conflation of the market and older institutional modalities.

This is because rapid oil-driven development and urbanisation has meant the emergence of modern and contemporary art museums only subsequent to the development of both locally-serving galleries and an aggressive, internationally oriented art market.

As the leading art fair in the region, Art Dubai has helped shape the landscape of Middle Eastern contemporary art since its inception in 2007. More than just a marketplace, however, the fair has cultivated its civic face, functioninglike many of the biggest contemporary art fairsas a high quality temporary exhibition that attracts large non-collector audiences, and incorporating long rosters of non-commercial programmes including lecture series, performances, commissions, and non-profit components.

In dealing in art from emerging regions where postcolonial legacies and/or rapid urbanisation have made histories of both modernism and modernity matters of active negotiation and disputehistories hitherto largely ignored by the cannons of modernist art history forged in western institutionsArt Dubai has engaged with local aesthetic history in both its commercial and more public programming.

Yet, while these civic, discursive, and historicising functions may harken to the traditional roles of the public museum, the expedient logic of the art fairs programming is not difficult to decipher; state-funded community outreach, academically inclined discursive programming, and non-commercial exhibitions all serve to create different forms of legitimacy for the fair and the artworks therein.

In a globalised art world in which an understanding of local context and art history is essential for participation in new markets, the production and dissemination of this information is an integral market tool. This expedient logic is not dissociable from the art fairs dynamic architecture. Not unlike the globalised economy that thrives on geographic differencediscrepancies in the cost of labour power and goods, differently valued currencies, disparate laws, skewed urban developmentArt Dubai functions as a spatialised array of different micro-landscapes, each determined by a different relationship to the market.

This variegated topography ranges from the adamantly public, such as the programmes for school children run during the week, to the exclusively private, such as collectors previews or VIP lecture series. Each of these ephemeral zones strikes a different relationship to art, here accentuating arts pedagogical value, there its commodity value. Yet these differences belie strategic relationships between the commercial and the non-commercial, the academy and the market, the emerging and the emerged. In what follows I explore how these entanglements relate to the realm of knowledge-production by looking at two features of Art Dubai 2014, Modern 2014, the inaugural instantiation of the fairs section devoted to modern art from the Middle East and South Asia, and Marker, a not-for-profit program devoted to a different emerging region each year.

I argue that the effects of the markets role in helping consolidate histories of modernism in these regions are deleterious, and I identify a neo-imperialist logic in the discourse surrounding emerging markets. Lastly, I briefly examine Art Dubais relationship to the yet-to-open Guggenheim Abu Dhabi to show how the fairs role in tethering artwork to conceptions of place coincides with the logic of de-territorialisation at play in the museum.

A themed lecture series and discussion forum accompanying each Art Dubai, the Global Art Forum (GAF) is characteristic of the intellectual programming featured by many of todays largest fairs. The 2014 Forum attested to a concern with history among regional artists, scholars, and curatorsa concern perhaps related to the desire to debunk narratives of the spontaneous emergence of Emirati cities and culture from oil-rich sands. Entitled MeanwhileHistory, GAF 2014 prompted invitees to revise historical narratives by focusing on foundational turning points generally left out of conventional accounts.

This historicising impulse was evident in less reflective form in Modern 2014 as well. Galleries participating in Modern 2014 submitted proposals to jurists for a one or two-artist exhibition, making the case for how each artist has proven highly influential during the twentieth century and on later generations of artists." These selections were further substantiated in an education guide that detailed the biographies and historical importance of each artist, and lent added gravitas by galleries that strove for a classic, mid-century feel, distinguished by their tawny carpeting from the white-cube aesthetic of the contemporary galleries, with their polished concrete floors.

Debates over the conditions of cultural modernisation have fueled questions about the constitution of artistic modernism in postcolonial regions. Crucial concerns have included the role of nationalism and the state in supporting modern art as well as that of colonial education and proximity to European modernism in determining aesthetic styles, and how to approach modernisms that strategically revived aspects of traditional styles.

Undergirding these issues is the historiographic predicament of how to assert the originality of postcolonial modernisms without the effects of the colonisers language, colonial education, and aesthetic influenceor the hegemony of western art historical discourseleading to their relegation as imitative, derivative, and secondary. One means scholars and curators use to address these problems is what art historian Prita Meier calls the canon as strategy, or assembling a roster of great artists and arguing for their parity with the canonised geniuses of western art as a means of legitimate[ing] movements outside the west as worthy of study. Meier argues that by foregrounding individual artistic genius as the catalyst for innovative development, those who adopt this strategy tend to ignore the influence of social and historical factors. Indeed, Modern 2014 presented a canon-like assembly of internationally renowned artists such as Sadequain, M.F. Husain, Michel Basbous, and Rasheed Araeen.

These artists aesthetic achievements were described in short, linear, artist-centric narratives in the accompanying education guidenarratives that largely sidestepped complicated questions of migration, class, political flux, and repression.

With Modern, Art Dubai appeared to enter the discourse on modernism in the Middle East and South Asia. The fair enlisted a jury of respected scholars and curators, aligning Modern 2014 with publically oriented and pedagogical discourse. Yet it did so with distinctly commercial aims; Modern attempted to lend greater validation to the contemporary art on view elsewhere at the fair by providing historical depth, yet yielded only palatable, individualising narratives at the expense of a deeper engagement with history.

While it may seem easy to dismiss these histories as mere market contrivances, such neat delineations overlook the difficulties of disentangling marketplace, museums, and the academy in a globalised art world in which art histories are being written alongside a powerfully determinative commercial sphere. It is likely that Modern 2014 attracted not only private collectors, but also the many institutional collectors who patronise the faircollectors working for museums looking to expand their collections of modern art from the foregrounded regions.

If Modern 2014 offers one strategy for consolidating regional art histories, then the fairs Marker section, introduced in 2011, employs another. Whereas with Modern, Art Dubai cultivates its position as a forerunner of art from the Middle East and South Asia, with Marker it promotes itself as a conduit to emerging markets around the world.

Marker 2014 presented contemporary galleries from Central Asia and the Caucuses curated by the artist collective Slavs and Tatars. Like the Modern section, Marker too had an education guide. However, whereas Moderns focused on artists biographies at the expense of more complex questions of site, the guide for Marker focused explicitly on geographical context: alongside artist narratives were profiles of countries where presenting galleries were located, including a sidebar from the CIA World Factbook listing national statistics pertaining to population, industry, arts funding, education, and infrastructure.

An officially non-commercial segment of the fair, Marker 2014 was distinguished from the cool white of the commercial galleries with inviting cushioned benches, bright green walls, and a samovar dispensing hot tea. Press material explained that the set-up strove to emulate a chaikhaneh, or Eurasian tea salon. Yet despite the cozy feel, the logic behind Markers alleged non-commercial status was hardly opaque; the programme serves as an incubator for art from regions that have yet to cultivate a strong international buyer baselocales such as Indonesia and West Africa, to which the two preceding Markers were devoted. In addition to the sections booths and educational guide, Terrace Talks, a series of discussions exclusively for VIPs, included two presentations on private patronage in emerging markets geared toward increasing collector and institutional attention to art from the region.

In contemporary art as in the market more generally, capital has a tendency to flow into high-growth economies, a neoliberal inversion of the less encouraging underdeveloped. Yet emerging markets also present barriers to entry in the form of inadequate cultural and linguistic knowledge, as well as susceptibility to volatility generated by economic flux and geopolitical strife. Emerging markets thus require strategic campaigns in order to persuade foreign investors of their viability. However, these campaigns also seek to demonstrate the novelty of their product in order to capitalise on difference.

Though Marker adopts the language of discovery, Art Dubai also tempers this exoticism with its sensitivity to the art worlds rhetoric of cross-cultural exchange. Yet for all its tastefulness, by strategically packaging these locales for an international audience the fair also enables a more unabashedly speculative approach, whereby art is treated as a financial investment and is subject to cycles of hype generated by dealers and auction houses. For example, immediately following Art Dubai 2014, an exhibition entitled At the Crossroads 2: Art from Istanbul to Kabul opened at Sothebys London claiming to bring new content into this much discussed hot new territory, which included the Caucasus and Central Asia.

While Art Dubai may constitute an art market hub steadily emerging far from the former metropoles of the west, one focused largely on regional art and on cultivating regional collectors, Marker nonetheless suggests that, for all its plurality, the globalisation of the visual arts as mediated by the market is not free from neocolonialist dynamics. Rather than revealing a void of cultural context surrounding the global art object, as fantasies of globalised de-territorialisation would claim, Marker suggests that the unequal distribution of resources, infrastructure, and authority grants some the power to contextualise the art of geographic Others.

Indeed, the expansion of the art market into new regions is usually marked by the appearance of European and US auction houses such as Christies and Sothebys. Despite the proliferation of the contemporary art market, New York and London remain essential stations of market valorisation, together accounting for over sixty percent of imports and exports in the global cross-border exchange of art.

While Art Dubai exemplifies the manner in which the art fair engages history and place as it assumes greater institutional breadth and gravity, many museums of modern and contemporary art have moved away from both territorial and historical classifications, a curatorial shift tied to the museums own increasing evanescence. Museums are opting increasingly for experiential, immersive programming, culturally fluid gallery organisation, and changeable collections over more conventional exhibitions, which are marked by chronological, geographical layouts and large, static holdings.

These shifts in collecting are evident in museum participation in primary markets for modern and contemporary art (as opposed to secondary markets for more established art and antiquities) as driven by a desire to steer museum holdings in new directions, and in an escalation in the controversial and highly regulated museum practice of de-accessioning works of art, or permanently removing objects from collections.

Though most of its collection has not yet been publically announced, there are indications that the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will exemplify the trend toward greater institutional fluidity both in its collecting and installation practices. In conversation, Senior Project Manager Verena Formanek expressed disdain for the antiquated nature of the permanent collection, arguing that such a model does not fit the cultural demands of today. What has been revealed suggests that the museum will deemphasise history and locality for the sake of a collection organised by trans-cultural and trans-historical themes.

According to its curatorial charter, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi aims to move beyond a definition of global art premised on geography, foregrounding generic categories such as Popular Culture and the Mediated Image, System, Process, Concept, and History, Memory, Narrative. While the increasingly popular approach of using trans-historical, trans-geographic themes to bridge the art of disparate cultures can be culturally progressive, degrading Orientalising binaries of East and West, centre and periphery, in practice this strategy can run the risk of a de-historicised aesthetic formalism which can end up only re-inscribing hegemonic categories. A greater danger is in producing categories so general and without substance that history itself is conveniently anesthetised. For example, Seeing Through Lightan exhibition of work partly from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabis permanent collection that opened in November 2014 in a temporary exhibition space on Saadiyat Islandcohered an international array of artists from the permanent collection around the theme of light as a primary aesthetic principle in art.

The Guggenheim may represent the extreme of museum neo-liberalisation, yet its strategies reflect those being adopted by many longstanding European and US institutions as a means of meeting the pressures of a profit-oriented, global, media-saturated world. As the outcroppings of the Louvre, the British Museum, and the Guggenheim soon to open on Abu Dhabis Sadiyaat Island attest, museums are transforming themselves into global franchises in which the cultivation of brand through flashy, starchitect-designed buildings often supersedes other considerations.

While the architecture of the global museum is often irrelevant to increasingly changeable museum content, the architecture of the art fair, with its differing microlandscapes, is integral to the fairs dynamism. The manner in which Art Dubai coheres a heterogeneous array of actors and rhetorics suggests not only its cooperation with different kinds of institutions, nor its simple posturing as civic site, but the coordination of both the permanent and the ephemeral, the civic and the commercial, architectures of the visual arts under a new global paradigm that conjoins fast and slow, global and local, temporalities of cultural production.

In this convergence and in Art Dubais relationship to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi we can perhaps see what sociologist Saskia Sassen might call a tipping point: not the wane of an old order and the ascendance of a new one, but a crucial moment in which the capabilities of institutions switch between one relational system or organising logic and another.

*This article was first published in Jadaliyya

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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The Breast Cancer Foundation in Egypt launches a campaign shedding light on a less-talked-about cancer, which is also dubbed the "silent killer" of women

January marks the month of cervical cancer awareness worldwide  a type among tumors that is highly common, ranking number two among mortality factors in women.

The Breast Cancer Foundation in Egypt (BCFE) has seized the opportunity to launch a campaign encouraging women to know more about the dangers of cervical cancer, dubbed the silent killer, including the long absence of symptoms, the risk factors attributed to it, and what women can do to minimise their chances of falling victim to it.

"It is time to fully understand that early detection through regular pap tests leads to a very high probability of total cure, while currently available vaccines can actually protect the female from a very early age," says Dr Mohamed Shaalan, professor of surgical oncology and head of the Prevention and Early Detection Unit at the National Cancer Institute.

Shaalan says that although the main factor known until now to be the primary cause of cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted virus called HPV, there are four risk factors that should be considered by every woman, and these are:

1. Smoking. This increases the risk by 0.4 percent.

2. Giving birth to three or more children.

3. Having an immunity health problem that leaves the body incapable of fighting infections, among which is HIV, the virus causing AIDS.

4. Having used the contraceptive pill as a means of birth control for longer than five years.

Although it is a very severe form of cancer, women can follow five steps to help prevent the occurrence of cervical cancer, stresses Dr Shaalan. He lists them as follows:

1. Stay away from smoking.

2. Spread the word of the importance of regular pap (smear) tests for early detection, ideally every three years starting from the age 21.

3. Girls ranging from the age of nine to 21 should take the HPV vaccine, which is available at VACSERA Egypt and requires three doses over six months. Another option is a vaccine that can be administered to females as well as males.

4. Women should consult with a physician in case of the occurrence of any abnormal discharge or bleeding.

5. Safe sex is a vital measure of prevention.

According to the World Health Organisation, cervical cancer is the second cause of cancer-related mortality in women worldwide, and the second most common type of cancer. A whopping 80 percent of cases are in developing countries, largely because of a lack of awareness.

In Egypt, there is no national statistics regarding this type of cancer. Nevertheless, according to Spanish Catalonia Institute of Oncology, statistics announced in 2012 sugges that among Egyptian women above the age of 15, 29.48 million are at risk of developing cervical cancer.

In Egypt, Around 866 women are diagnosed each year with the cancer, among whom 373 die from the disease.

Cervical cancer is the 13th most frequent cancer among females and the 10th most frequent cancer between the ages of 15 and 44.

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Timothy J. O'Shaughnessy, successor to Don Graham, at Graham Holdings in Arlington. (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post)

I have wondered since Donald E. Graham orchestrated the sale of The Washington Post to Jeffrey P. Bezos for $250 million three years ago what would become of the rest of the publicly held company.

One of the biggest changes came late last year with the ascendancy of Timothy J. OShaughnessy as chief executive and the successor to Graham, his father-in-law, at whats now known as Graham Holdings.

OShaughnessy was back from a business trip to New York and London when we chatted over coffee on a December morning.

I know OShaughnessy, and I respect him. I wrote about him during the rise of LivingSocial, the Washington-based e-commerce darling he co-founded and helped run for seven years. He stepped down in January 2014 as the young company struggled.

I cannot help wondering whether he is up to this new job, which is expanding the Graham family business and making money for shareholders.

He says it would be disingenuous to think he didnt have his eye on running Graham Holdings, a conglomerate of independently run businesses with their own managers.

I joined [Graham Holdings] when Don was 69 years old and CEO of the business, says the 34-year-old, who is married to Grahams daughter, Laura. Youre obviously going to go and have a conversation around Well, what are your plans? 

OShaughnessys plans are to lead the companys growth.

The new job requires an ability to spot good companies with good managers who will sell at a price that leaves room for future profits. Its called allocating capital, in business-speak. Those qualities fit OShaughnessys strengths.

I like finding good business opportunities, he said. Thats the world, the universe I like thinking about and playing in.

Because each business is run by its own management team, OShaughnessy said, his job is to take a step back and [think], Where do we need to skate to? 

One possible place: podcasts.

No one yet dominates the on-demand world for non-music audio, traditional radio, he said. Every other form of media you can go and pull up right now. Netflix. Audible for books. Spotify for music. But you really havent had that happen with non-music audio, which is a huge space.

Arlington, Va.-based Graham Holdings currently plays in four sectors. First, there is media, with its television stations, the online magazine Slate, Foreign Policy magazine and the online advertising service SocialCode. The second is education, with Kaplan University.

The third sector is health care. Graham Holdings owns two home-health businesses, called Celtic and Residential.

Lastly, the company is in what OShaughnessy refers to as the industrial sector. It includes three manufacturing businesses.

OShaughnessy has arrived at Graham Holdings on the cusp of a new era.

The company is in a different cycle than its been over the last, probably five to 10 years. The Washington Post Company, and then Graham Holdings, for the longest time very rarely did a transaction.

It didnt have to. The newspaper was a profit machine for decades before the Internet came along. Then the company rode its fast-growing education business. Now, its figuring out, What are the things we can do now to what are the businesses? How can we build them for the next 10, 20, 30 years? 

I cannot think of Graham Holdings, a publicly held company, without thinking of Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire is one of the most valuable corporations on the planet and was cobbled together over five decades by legendary investor Warren Buffett.

For years, Berkshire owned the second-biggest chunk of stock in The Washington Post Co., after the Grahams. It was one of Buffetts early home runs. The billionaire is a mentor to Donald Graham and an adviser to Dons late mother, former Post chairman Katharine Graham.

I ask OShaughnessy if Buffett and Berkshire are models.

He was on the board for decades, so clearly the company is going to have some influence from him.

There are similarities, but size is not one of them. Berkshires market capitalization is $311 billion. Graham Holdings market cap is $2.5 billion. It resembles a family office more than it does a conglomerate.

Calling it a conglomerate would be an overstatement at this point in time, OShaughnessy said (italics mine).

Like Buffett, he wants to keep investment as simple as possible and stay within his sphere of knowledge. If OShaughnessy doesnt understand it, he doesnt want to own it.

I dont know the first thing about evaluating new biotech technologies, he said. Thats just not going to be something that well do.

But digital media like podcasts and SocialCode? Bring it on.

I began writing about OShaughnessy several years ago when LivingSocial was the hot local start-up and the daily-offers craze had taken hold. Flush with venture capital and Amazon.com money, LivingSocial went on an acquisition spree.

There were lots of deals that were done as part of that business. We did some good ones. We did some bad ones. I certainly have learned a lot more from the bad ones than the good ones, he said.

Like making sure a potential target ticks all the boxes.

Thats something that I learned some painful, costly mistakes. It reinforced that you have your set of things that you know need to be true when you are evaluating companies. Making sure you have the discipline to maintain that is really important.

He still roots for LivingSocial.

I continue to be a shareholder and hope they do well.

He said everything at Graham Holdings is profitable or has a path to profitability.

One trouble spot has been the once-highflying Kaplan.

Graham Holdings recorded a $230.6 million loss in the third quarter of 2015, largely due to a $248.6 million write-down in the value of its Kaplan Higher Education division.

According to the last quarterly report, Graham Holdings has around $1.2 billion in cash and securities and about $400 million in debt. That nets out to around $800 million.

So he has money to play with.

Graham is 70 now and is still the chairman of the board.

Don isnt gone from the company, nor will he be anytime soon, OShaughnessy says. Its just a shift . . . that will continue to occur for years.

I have always been interested in the dynamics of family-owned businesses and whether someone in the family is really the best person to run the business. One argument for family involvement is the powerful motivation that a family member brings.

The [Graham] family as a collective group is the single largest shareholder of the company. When somebody is invested in that way, its not crazy to think that (a) they really, really dont want to screw it up and (b) theyre probably going to row a little harder because they have that added dimension.

So he rows a little harder.
Four medieval mosques and shrines in Al-Khalifa street have been restored

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty inaugurated four newly restored medieval buildings in the Al-Khalifa area of Islamic Cairo on Sunday.

The monuments include mosques and shrines dedicated to three celebrated women, and one man: the Prophet Mohamed's granddaughter, Al-Sayeda Rokaya; Prophet Mohamed's aunt Aateka; the wife of the Ayyubid sultan Nagm Al-Din Ayub, queen Shagaret Al-Dur; and a relative of Prophet Mohamed, Al-Gaafari.

Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the inauguration of the four sites would help promote tourism to Egypt.

The restoration, which was funded by a US grant of $116 million, was carried out over a year by the American Research Center in Egypt, the minister said.

Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, deputy antiquities minister for Islamic and Coptic monuments, told Ahram Online that the restoration work included the consolidation of the buildings' foundations, columns and walls.

Cracks that have been growing over centuries were restored while salt accumulated in several locations inside and outside the monuments' walls due to the high rate of humidity was removed. Wooden decorative elements were restored while damaged and missing ones were replaced.

"The next phase of the project would involve installing a new drainage system in the whole area in order to prevent the leakage of subterranean water inside the monuments," Abdel-Aziz added.

A new drainage system was installed in the area surrounding these monuments as a first step, and within a year the current inefficient system in the Al-Khalifa area will be replaced with a new one, in collaboration with the housing ministry.

"A development project encompassing the whole area is also set to take place soon, in order to transform empty spaces in the area to improve the lives of residents. The space will then house a hospital, an events building for wedding parties and funerals, a nursery and a school," Abdel-Aziz said.

Al-Sayeda Rokaya Mosque and Mashad was built by Al-Sayeda Alam Al-Amireya, the wife of Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim Bi Amr Allah, in remembrance of Prophet Mohamed's granddaughter Rokaya.

It is located at the western side of Al-Khalifa street, adjacent to the Shagaret Al-Dur mosque. The mausoleum has three arcades and two niches with gypsum foliage elements.

Neighbouring the Al-Sayeda Rokaya Mosque and Mashad are the shrines of Aateka and Al-Gaafari.

The Qubet (dome) Al-Gaffari was built in 1120 AD to commemorate Mohamed Ibn Gaafar, the great-grandson of Prophet Mohamed's cousin Ali Ibn Abi Taleb.

Qubet Aateka was built in 1122 AD to commemorate Al-Sayeda Aateka bent Zeid, Prophet Mohamed's aunt.

Abdel-Aziz explained that Qubet Aateka is very important because it houses the oldest Fatimid dome in existence, while Qubet Al-Gaffari and Al-Sayeda Rokaya Mosque and Mashhad display distinguished Islamic decorative elements.

The Shagaret Al-Dur dome takes the form of a small shrine with three keel-arched entrances. The qibla wall facing Mecca has a prayer niche, and the dome of the building still bears some of its original ornamentation, including fluted lozenges and medallions and keel-arched niches with fluted hoods.

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Marco Rubio, surrounded by family members, holds up a signed document declaring his candidacy in the Florida GOP primary for U.S. Senate in April 2010. (Lynne Sladky/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Marco Rubio had been in Washington just five months when Jonathan Farrar, a career Foreign Service officer, stepped into a Capitol Hill hearing room and into the senators crosshairs.

Farrar, as the top U.S. diplomat in Havana, had overseen some of President Obamas first steps toward easing Washingtons 50-year-old diplomatic and economic freeze with Cuba. A giant ticker that streamed news and political statements that irritated Cubas communist government was dismantled at the U.S. compound in Havana. Offending Christmas decorations were taken down, too.

At the 2011 hearing, Farrar told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that Cold War-era policies had failed and that it was time to come up with new programs for dealing with the island of 11 million.

Rubio just shook his head. He described the long-standing policy toward Cuba as adversarial and aggressive and said he saw no reason to soften it. Why should our country budge, he argued, when there was no improvement to Cubas human rights record?

The Florida Republican, the son of Cuban immigrants, was determined to do more than rail against the change. He had decided to block Obamas nominees to key diplomatic posts in Latin America, starting with Farrar, who needed Senate confirmation to become the new U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua.

I have to be honest, Rubio told Farrar. I am concerned about some of the decisions that you made at the Interest Section in Havana. Nicaragua, he said, is a place headed in the wrong direction in a hurry, and America needs a forceful presence there.

Farrar had stepped on Rubios highly electrified third rail, and his appointment was quickly incinerated.

Today, as the 44-year-old Rubio campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, he holds fast to the same hard-line view on Cuba he offered in a quiet fourth-floor Senate hearing room five years ago. Driven by a political philosophy shaped by his Cuban roots, he is now holding an even more important Obama nomination hostage: the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

At a time when most Americans support a landmark shift in U.S. policy on Cuba, Rubio has positioned himself as that moves biggest foe. He champions a Cold War approach that many think is outdated and that runs counter to his image as the youthful leader of a new generation.

I said, Marco, how can you hit Hillary Clinton for being the candidate of yesterday when you are supporting policies that date to the 1960s?  said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee with Rubio.

But his intense focus on Cuba explains a lot about who Rubio is  and how, as a potential commander in chief, he sees the United States role in the world.

A grandfathers influence

Cuba is personal for Rubio. His parents were born there, and his grandfather  the single greatest influence on his political thinking  despised what Fidel Castro did to his homeland. In his memoir, Rubio wrote that as a child, I boasted I would someday lead an army of exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro and become president of a free Cuba.

He would sit at the feet of his grandfather, a Ronald Reagan-loving, cigar-smoking shoemaker named Pedro Victor Garcia, and listen to him describe how communism destroyed lives in Cuba and how the United States had a unique role to play in the world as the enforcer of freedom.

Papa, as he called him, spoke to Rubio with reverence for Reagans strength and reach, including his controversial funding of the contra rebels fighting the leftist government in Nicaragua. In the fifth grade, Rubio wrote a paper praising Reagan for restoring the U.S. military. His grandfather kept it in old red suitcase, a little treasure the senator found a few years ago.

He was a huge influence on me, Rubio said in a phone interview with The Washington Post while campaigning in New Hampshire. He felt that more countries would become like Cuba if America wasnt the strongest country in the world. So that was instilled in me from an early age.

Today, Rubio often echoes his grandfather when he talks about his support for the use of U.S. military might and his belief in American exceptionalism.

Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho), who also serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Rubio believes it is crucial that other countries know how tough you are and how willing you are to use [force]. And if either of those are gone, you got a problem.

Risch said that Rubio is a leader in the Senate on foreign affairs and that his knowledge and interest in the world stems from growing up in Miami, where what is happening in Latin America is considered local news.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who is also Cuban American and shares Rubios hard line on Cuba, said everyone is informed by the people who surround them. In Rubios case, it is not just that Rubio comes from a state with more than 1 million people of Cuban descent but also that many of those he talks to fled modern-day oppression.

In West Miami, where Rubio first got elected as a city commissioner at the age of 26  and where he still lives  he is surrounded by Cuban immigrants and their children. They were the donors and supporters who helped put him in the statehouse and who piled into a chartered flight to Tallahassee to witness him becoming the first Cuban American elected as speaker of the House in Florida. Last year, in a symbolic gesture, Rubio announced his run for president in front of Miamis Freedom Tower, where the U.S. government once processed Cuban immigrants fleeing the Castro regime.

An emotional blind spot?

But in much of the country and even in Miami, attitudes about Cuba shifted as decades of diplomatic and economic sanctions proved ineffective. Polls show more than 70 percent of Americans support Obamas decision to restore relations and promote other efforts to open up the island nation.

In recent months, Airbnb, a seven-year-old U.S. website that allows people to find and rent lodging, has signed up hundreds of Cubans eager to rent rooms in their homes to the new flood of American visitors.

Even most Cuban Americans support normalization of relations with Cuba  and 77 percent of those younger than 50 support Obamas policy, according to Miami pollster Fernand Armandi. He said those who remain opposed are a shrinking group: older, Florida-based Republicans born in Cuba.

And Marco Rubio.

Nothing gets Rubio going like Cuba. Foreign policy should not be crafted by looking at polls, he declared. I am going to do whats right, not whats popular, he said in the Post interview.

He is not against change, he stressed, bristling at criticism that he is the young guy stuck in the past. Its that Obama cut a bad deal. Cuba remains a dictatorship and all the United States got, Rubio said, is the hope that a flood of American tourists will one day lead to a democratic opening, which I know it will not because it never has anywhere in the world  and it will not now.

When Secretary of State John F. Kerry raised the flag on the U.S. Embassy in Havana in August for the first time in 54 years and called it a historic moment on the evening news, Rubio took to the airwaves himself.

Obama, he told reporters, was rewarding oppression and bestowing international legitimacy on a nation that continues to jail dissidents. Sanctions should be re-imposed, Rubio said, and the embassy shut until there is improvement on human rights.

In his interview with The Post, he also noted that Cuba still harbors fugitives from U.S. justice and plays host to spy stations from China and Russia.

Some wonder whether Rubio decided to stick with being the lead voice in the Senate critical of the new Cuba policy rather than risk being called inconsistent, especially after being slammed for helping craft an immigration-reform bill and then retreating from it. But many believe he doesnt want to turn his back on the donors and supporters who launched his political career.

Maybe its just an emotional blind spot for him, Armandi said.

His friends say he just believes it.

Roulette with your career

There has been no U.S. envoy in Mexico City since August because Rubio is holding up the nomination of Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, who led negotiations with Cuba as the United States moved toward more engagement.

He is trying to stick a finger in the eye of the president over Cuba by blocking her, said Flake, the Arizona Republican.

Flake thinks its a mistake. So do 19 Latino members of Congress who signed a letter to Rubio protesting his hold on her nomination. They argue it has nothing to do with her qualifications and is a slight to Mexico, a key ally and trading partner.

Rubio critics say issues come up every day  including the possible extradition of recently recaptured drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman  that underscore the price of an empty chair in Mexico City. They note that Pope Francis helped broker the new Cuba policy. And they complain that Rubio has a poor record of attending Senate hearings while he is stonewalling Jacobson and running for president.

While I understand Senator Rubio has his own ambitions to serve, he should let the Senate vote and get an ambassador in Mexico, said Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, one of the Democrats who signed the congressional letter.

Rubio said he will delay Jacobsons nomination until he gets answers to his questions about several troubling issues, including what role she played in some of these new arrangements with Cuba.

So she remains in Washington as an assistant secretary of state. Farrar, who couldnt pass muster with Rubio to be tough enough on the left-leaning government in Nicaragua, ended up becoming the U.S. ambassador to Panama.

At the State Department, Foreign Service officers with ambitions to land a post that needs Senate confirmation have hesitated or avoided work on Cuba because they know it can draw fire from Rubio.

If you did, you were playing roulette with your career, said Carl Meacham, who worked for then-Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) on the Foreign Relations Committee. For Rubio, Cuba was a litmus test. It was either thumbs up or thumbs down.

A free Cuba

Asked how he makes decisions on foreign policy, Rubio talked about the importance of prioritizing threats and spotting trouble early.

The majority of presidential energy and detail needs to be spent on issues that have direct impact on both our economic security and national security, he said. That means big geopolitical threats and smaller ones that could grow.

Its not just the ability to see what is in front of you now, he said, but to see what something can become.

Rubio said he saw Libyas civil war was going to create a power vacuum and become a magnet for jihadists, so he voiced support for a bigger U.S. effort there.

The same was true in Syria, he said. I argued that if we didnt find non-jihadists and make sure they were the strongest group on the ground, jihadists would be the strongest group.

Rubio promises that if elected president he will rebuild the military. He tells crowds that Obama has been too weak, too willing to negotiate with dictators, from Cuba to Iran.

The world is a very different place than when he listened to his grandfather as a kid, he said in the interview. But just as in the Cold War, and in World War I and II, he said, the United States remains the only nation on Earth capable of taking the lead against global threats and building coalitions to fight them.

Force should always be the last resort, Rubio said. But sometimes its the only resort.

Elliott Abrams, an adviser to President Reagan who gained notoriety for his role in the funding of the contras in Nicaragua, has spoken with Rubio about foreign affairs. He is clearly an internationalist, Abrams said. He is more willing to use American power than, lets say, [Ted] Cruz.

Abrams said Rubio is particularly interested in defending human rights, from Venezuela to Bahrain. One can postulate that it comes from being a Cuban American, Abrams said.

It was telling, he said, that Rubio brought up Cuba in the final question during the Republican debate in September at the Reagan Presidential Library, where Reagans retired airplane served as the backdrop.

CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked each candidate, How will the world look different once your Air Force One is parked in the hangar of your presidential library?

Rubio said he would fly to our allies  Israel, South Korea and Japan. Then on to China and Russia, not just to meet with our enemies but to meet with the people in those countries who aspire to freedom and liberty.

And ultimately, Rubio said, I hope that my Air Force One, if I become president, will one day land in a free Cuba, where its people can choose its leaders and its own destiny.


Maira Salim puts on makeup in her room before hanging out with friends in Wichita in September. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

It takes two hands, a safety pin and two straight pins to turn a scarf into a hijab. Three pins if the wind is blowing across the Great Plains. Maira Salim stands at her dresser mirror with a pin in her mouth and a bedroom full of scarves. Her long brown hair disappears and then her neck. Maira leans in for inspection, making sure not a wisp of hair is showing.

Different scarves go with different outfits. She likes a black scarf with her red Converse sneakers. Her emerald scarf is nice with the satin dress she wears on holidays, tottering on gold heels as she walks across the asphalt parking lot of her Wichita mosque. The camouflage scarf makes her mother cringe  You look like a boy!  but Maira thinks its perfect with her mirrored sunglasses.

I never wanted to be the weird religious girl, she says.

Without a hijab, she would be a college senior who lives in a subdivision with her parents, two younger sisters and grandfather. Shed be the annoyed oldest daughter who has to pick up her little sister from swimming. Shed be the 21-year-old who works at her fathers used-car lot haggling over Dodge Chargers by a chain-link fence. She would be a business major who binge-watches Quantico instead of doing her take-home exam.

With the hijab, her country sees a Muslim in a headscarf. Grabbing her purse and keys, Maira  pronounced MY-ra  leaves her house already knowing the questions that are waiting.

Do they make you sleep in it?

Is it allowed to touch the ground?

Can you hear me in that?

Does it come from overseas?

Over and over she gives the same answers, trying to be polite and informative when sometimes she wants to say, Really? Are you serious? The lack of even the most basic knowledge about Muslims depresses Maira; it became terrifying in a year in which Americas television was stuck on the ISIS channel. One day she was at a traffic light when a woman rolled down her window and screamed, Go back to your own country. Nothing like that had ever happened before. The woman drove on while Maira sat there, scared and then angry, wishing she had yelled back that she was in her own country.



Maira Salim wears a pin that says I'm Muslim. Ask Me A Question. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Mairas impressive collection of hijabs at her home in Wichita. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

She started wearing a button that said, Im Muslim, Ask Me a Question. But no matter how many times she said she hated Islamic State and everything it stood for, people were never satisfied. With each new terrorist attack, the mood worsened. After jihadists killed 130 in Paris, a Sedgwick County commissioner in Wichita said in a public meeting that hed been politically correct long enough and proceeded to show slides of criminals with the name Muhammed. Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, with 25 percent of the country in agreement.

All the while, there was Maira in her bedroom with a hundred headscarves in a town in the Midwest where she has lived since she was 2, taking family vacations to Branson and roasting halal marshmallows in her back yard.

Americas vigil on the borders looks right past a generation of young Muslim Americans who are here now. By 2050, Muslims will constitute the second-largest religious group in the country after Christians, according to the Pew Research Center. Determining that transformation is Mairas age group, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. Muslim population, enduring the worst spasm of Islamophobia in their lifetime as they decide their relationship with America.

The other relationship theyre trying to figure out is the one with Islam. Maintaining religious values isnt easy in a country where the cultural norm is the magazine rack at Walmart shouting, I Demand an Orgasm Every Time, next to the Almond Joys. No one in the checkout line bats an eyelash. Not the grandmother with her grandchild. Not the man in a Home Depot shirt. Theyre staring at Maira in her hijab.

Maira always notices the stares, but she no longer notices the magazines. She has been in the United States for 19 years, since moving with her family from Pakistan. I grew up with it, she says.

Her imam warns of becoming too assimilated. Her mother preaches the same message. Dont go the easy way, she tells Maira. Meanwhile, her dad would prefer his daughter not wear a hijab. Go big, this is America! he says, urging her on in the land of opportunity. Maira would like to go her own way.



Maira takes a selfie with members of the Muslim Students Association at Wichita State University. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

One night the text goes out: 7 oclock at Kababs. The restaurant is in a strip plaza, mostly empty until three cars zoom into the parking lot. Group photo! someone yells, and Maira lifts her camera in the air. Get closer, you guys, she says. They all squeeze into the frame, lipstick smiles and burgundy pumps and five hijabs.

Oh, my God, I am cheesing hard-core.

I already have the caption!

Maira has had the same friends since they were girls in Islamic school. The Wichita of their childhood has grown from a few thousand Muslims to a community of around 9,000, starting in the 1980s, when Boeing, Cessna and other aviation companies headquartered in the city needed skilled engineers. Now the local Costco stocks halal lamb, and their once-small mosque is an eight-acre complex with a minaret as tall as the grain elevators. Although Kansas was one of the first states to pass an anti-sharia law, Maira and her friends thought of Wichita as peaceful until the hostilities of the past year. Besides the incident at the traffic light, another friend was bashed with a shopping cart in a store and called a sand n-----.

Their parents worry about their safety. But the girls who met in fifth grade are nearly finished with college, and where they fit into the modern Muslim landscape is the search that propels their lives. As observant Muslims, they are supposed to abstain from alcohol, drugs and sexual intimacy of any kind before marriage. Other parts of the Koran are subject to their American millennial interpretation, such as a females responsibility to not attract the male gaze.

If a guy says, Why do you wear makeup? I say, Its not up to you to judge me,  says Rabya Ahmed, a first-year student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Do your part, and lower your gaze.

At Kababs, Maira sits beside one friend who confesses her loneliness as the Muslim at the University of Kansas two hours away in Lawrence and another who vents about problematic white boys who express interest in having a submissive wife, saying, Im gonna marry a girl like you.

Maira listens to her friends, trying not to stress out over the fact that shes the only one at the table who doesnt have a plan for after graduation. Shes also the president of the Muslim Students Association at Wichita State University, a job fraught with potential missteps. When Maira is alone, she asks God for strength, saying the words out loud. When thats not enough, she plays Candy Crush at 2:30 a.m.

Maira, you need to sleep at some point! says a friend at the table.

The truth is they are all stressed.

If a Muslim kid needs therapy, the answer is, Oh, go pray,  says Maha Madi, a psychology major at Wichita State. The answer is always prayer. Or I dont want our dirty laundry aired. I feel like our parents dont understand what mental health is. Were aware of therapy.

My dad is one way, and my mom is another, Maira says. I wore a Free Palestine hoodie when we came back from Canada. My mom was like, Dont wear that, Maira. My dad said, Let her wear it. 

Kudos to you, Dad, Maha says.

At home, Maira goes through her pictures and posts them, a practice that a conservative cleric from Indonesia condemned as haram, or forbidden. His scolding went viral, but it was no match for selfie-loving hijabis worldwide, who responded with outrage (This is BS!) and kept right along exposing their beauty and Muslim pride. For Maira, the background doesnt matter; its the foreground, and from Kababs, five smiling hijabis mug in front of the reflective glass coating of the strip-plaza storefront.

Super Cheesin, she tags a photo.

Beauts, another writes.



Maira walks around the Kansas State Fair with her younger sister Deena, left, and Jenna Farhat. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)



Maira helps paint a mural at her mosque, the Islamic Society of Wichita. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Maira, center, prays at her mosque in September. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Invisible would be the best way to describe Maira on a rare night she ventures beyond her Muslim crew for a party of white female college students. Shes hired to draw henna, a skill she learned by studying the elaborate tattoo designs on Pinterest, and to make a few extra bucks she occasionally draws at bridal parties for Muslim and Hindu women. A friend of an acquaintance contacts her about a gig, and Maira accepts, thinking shes going to a party for Turkish women.

They will have some nice Turkish sweets, her mom says, as Maira puts on her chic leopard scarf.

The apartment complex is a massive sprawl of older units. Maira climbs the stairs with her henna kit. When the door opens, she sees an empty pitcher of sangria on the coffee table and a gurgling hookah pipe. Theres no sign of a Turkish bride or pastries, just several women in little black dresses. Yay! one says, seeing the henna artist.

They are grad students at Wichita State who plan to go out clubbing later with their henna tattoos. As Maira sets up on the table strewn with paper umbrellas, a bottle of Hpnotiq blue liqueur comes out. No, thanks, Maira says politely. Someone asks if she studies at Wichita State. She explains shes majoring in entrepreneurship and that henna is just a hobby.

So, in your country, do people pay you to do this? a woman asks.

Maira tries again. No, well, I came here when I was 2, she says in her flat Kansas speech, and I just do this for fun.

Do you plan to stay forever?

Um, Maira says, starting to draw the swirling patterns on a womans hand.

So, you guys have tattoos? another guest asks.

Actually, in our religion, we cant have tattoos, she answers patiently. Her phone rings. Its her mother checking up on her. Maira makes no mention of the sangria or the Hpnotiq, but she will later because her 10-year-old sister is with her, sent by her mother as an extra set of eyes and ears. Maira settles back down at the table.

The next woman sits down. Youre from Wichita?

Yeah, Maira says, Ive lived here most of my life.



Maira talks to her friend Tiffany Massey after they made dinner at her home in Wichita. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

The church sign in front of Mairas subdivision is flashing a message to love Jesus Christ. The road curves through the dark to a house on the corner where inside the kitchen Asima Salim is holding a serrano chili pepper in one hand and scissors in the other. Its dinnertime in Kansas, Pakistani-style. We have to do it our way, says Mairas mother, snipping the fiery pepper into the casserole dish.

She worries that her oldest daughter is becoming too American. At least Maira wears a hijab, and occasionally she even wears an abaya, the sweeping tunic Muslim women use for modesty. But half the time, the abaya is balled up in Mairas car or she throws it on over her clothes when she doesnt have time to iron. Once she wore it over her pajamas and drove to Walmart.

Asimas main concern is that her daughter seems in no hurry to find a husband. She launched Mairas marriage preparation training when Maira was 9, believing that every woman should know how to cook. By high school, Maira could make a four-course meal. Now, she and her 19-year-old sister, Mehma, create elaborate dishes for their food blog called the Hijabi Chefs, although posting magazine-quality photos of chocolate ganaches is not what her mother had in mind.

Asima tries to lead by example. She gets home from her job as a cardiac sonographer at a hospital, takes off her hijab and starts juggling pans to have a hot meal on the table when her husband gets home from work. While she snips chili peppers in her turquoise housedress, her daughters are downstairs watching I Am Cait.

Maira comes up to help her mother with dinner. They move around the too-small kitchen with deep familiarity, Asima reaching for the salt and Maira bringing down the plates, always ceding the territory. Asima mentions that she would like a bigger house so that when Maira and her sisters are married, they can come stay with their husbands and children. Maira, wearing a Wichita State hoodie with her hair in a scrunchie, points out that her youngest sister is 10.

Her mothers questions are never-ending. What time is your meeting? Who will be there? Should you be wearing that? Is Rabya going with you?

Mairas natural parsimony with language shrinks to nothing. Uh-huh, she says. Im not sure. Okay.



Maira looks at an old photo of her parents at her fathers car dealership, SAMM Motors Inc., in Wichita. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Maira, who is studying entrepreneurship at Wichita State University, works as the director of finance, marketing and sales at SAMM Motors. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

The questions are never-ending because America is right outside the front door. Here you have to be distinct, Asima says, checking the oven. Here everybody wants to look good with the hairstyle. Of course you want to be gorgeous. It makes a big difference if you curl or blow-dry your hair. You look all pretty with your hair showing. With my hair covered, I look a little . . . sober.

When Maira sees pictures of her parents in their early days  they met in medical school in Karachi  she sees happiness. She sees romance. She also sees her mothers gorgeous brown hair. Asima didnt start wearing a hijab until she moved to the United States. The billboards with breasts, the alcohol, the pleasure-seeking; it all sent Asima into religious conservatism to show her daughters that God and family are most important. Now shes super-hijab Mom who belongs to a Koran study group at the mosque.

If you have kids, you have to practice or your kids arent gonna do it, she says. They are going to go the easy way.

The sound of the garage door means Mairas dad is home. I made some chicken, rice, tortillas and palak, Asima says, as he peeks under the lids of the pots she brings to the table. In Pakistan, Salim Sattar was a doctor running a hospital. In Wichita, he became Samm of Samm Motors Inc., a used-car business he started with five used cars. One must adapt is his motto. While Asima taught Maira to cook, he taught her how to run his business. We are not living in Pakistan, he tells his wife. This is America. One thing they agree on: Their oldest daughter needs to get serious about marriage.

Maira doesnt want to be rushed. She also doesnt need help from her parents or busybody matchmaking aunties at the mosque. She wants to find her own soulmate.

You guys can chill out for another 10 years, she tells her parents.



Maira, who is president of the Muslim Students Association, talks to students in the Rhatigan Student Center at Wichita State University during Muslim Awareness Week in September. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

On the afternoon of Sept. 11, bright fall sunshine bathes the rolling green campus of Wichita State. Maira walks alone, wearing a black hijab. Its the one day of the year when the scarf on her head feels more obvious, the fabric more scratchy against her skin. Maira got her first death stare that morning on her way to school when she stopped at Walgreens. Going back home to hide was not an option when you are the president of the Muslim Students Association (MSA).

Even though Maira is too young to remember many details about Sept. 11, 2001  she was 7  shes spent her life in its shadow. She ran for president of MSA to give the 1,200 Muslim students at Wichita State a stronger voice. Mairas shy demeanor and stage fright had to take a back seat to her larger ambitions. Its time for us to tell our own story, she says.

She vaguely knew of MSAs controversial history. Started in the 1960s to give international students a place to worship on U.S. campuses, they were funded with Saudi money that encouraged an ultra-conservative strain of Islam.

For Mairas generation, the old MSA  men only, Arabic only  has been replaced with coed poetry slams to raise money for Syrian refugees and her election as the Wichita State chapters first female president.

But Sept. 11 is a confrontation with every stereotype theyre trying to escape, and in the weeks leading up to it, Maira and her executive cabinet debated how to mark the day. They decided to schedule a Muslim Awareness Week to coincide with Sept. 11. They wanted to host a campus-wide panel on Sept. 11 to discuss how the lives of Muslim Americans have been affected since 2001 until the student vet organization learned of the plan. The vets voiced strong opposition to the university over any such panel.

They think we should be honoring the victims, said Taben Azad, the MSA vice president. Thats fair.

Why do we always have to focus on one side of the pain? Maira said.

September arrived and Maira ran from one event to the next, traveling around with a paper bag of scarves for Hijab Day, geared for non-Muslim women to experience what its like to wear a hijab. In the noisy student activities center, she sat at the MSA booth wearing her Im Muslim, Ask Me a Question button.

Next to her was a booth for LGBT students. Maira has a gay Muslim friend and thought little of the rainbow flag beside the pocket-size Korans on her table. She also didnt pay attention to the six-foot cardboard woman in a string bikini in front of the booth for Twin Peaks, a breast-centric restaurant recruiting new waitresses. What she noticed were the three police officers hovering nearby. Between MSA and her calls to family in Pakistan, she wonders if her phone is being listened to.

Finally its Sept. 11. An offer to co-host a panel discussion with the student veterans group was rejected, so the MSA has joined another event where theyll present two local first responders with plaques of appreciation. Mairas stomach tosses with nerves. Every big-screen TV in the student union carries images of President George W. Bush with a bullhorn on top of the smoking rubble at the World Trade Center. Over and over, the planes fly into the twin towers. Wearing her black hijab, Maira sits near one of the TVs with two other MSA members. Theyre making cards to give to the first responders. With their construction paper and markers, they search for the right words.

They dont have to be sad, right? one says.

They do a Google search for heartfelt appreciations, but every phrase sounds like an apology. One of the young women makes up a poem about ISIS that she wishes she could write on a card.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

You hate them

And we do, too.



Maira and fellow members of the Muslim Students Association present a plaque to first responders during a Global Village Assembly at Wichita State University on Sept. 11. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Maira writes thank-you notes to distribute to the first responders. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Maira asks the group, Can I write salaam aleikum?

In English, one answers.

In Arabic, too, Maira says, writing it both ways. On the next card, she writes, Thank you for your service, with a henna design. On the last card, she fills an entire page with her careful handwriting.

A couple of months ago, my family and I were vacationing in Branson, Mo., she begins. On the drive home, Maira was behind the wheel when a car in the oncoming lane of the highway drifted. The collision sent her family spinning a hundred yards down the interstate, and one of the rescue workers said it was a miracle anyone was alive. At a moment when we felt so helpless, yall made us feel comfort. Thank you. Maira Salim, president of the Muslim Students Association.

When its time for the ceremony, they gather their cards and plaques. The event in Hubbard Hall is called Global Village Assembly: Enemies Within and Enemies Abroad (Domestic and International Terrorism.) Maira and a group of MSA members walk across campus in the dusk, no one saying much. The door to the auditorium is closed, but they can hear The Star-Spangled Banner.

They stand outside, not wanting to interrupt, and then open the door to the sight of a woman in the front row wearing a T-shirt that says, Every second a life was lost. Up the stairs of the amphitheater they go, six women in hijabs and several dark-haired men finding their seats in the crowd of more than 200.

Flanked out in two rows, they listen to the readings, the drums and poems, including one by a blond student that spoofs Osama bin Ladens pornography watching. Go to Twin Peaks or twin towers? he says to laughter.

Maira listens quietly until she walks to the stage. She takes the microphone and then a deep breath. She knows every word will be evaluated. The woman in the T-shirt has her arms crossed. This is not what I stand for, she says of what happened 14 Sept. 11s ago, wishing that after all these years people understood. She says she learned a long time ago that to survive, she could not let herself be defined by the fears of others. You have to show people that there is good in the world, she says, holding the two plaques.

On behalf of the MSA at Wichita State, she thanks all first responders for putting their lives on the line. Theres only one first responder onstage; the second is a no-show. She presents one of the plaques. Thank you for acknowledging this day, the rescue worker says to her, shaking her hand. Thank you for acknowledging a day thats near to my heart.



Maira prays with others during a World Day of Prayer service at the Unity of Wichita church on Sept. 10. (Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post)

Maira gets through Sept. 11, thinking that the hardest moment is over. It hasnt even started.

A few weeks later, a Wichita State alumna discovers that the pews in the campus chapel have been removed. The MSA was one of the groups that had pushed for their removal, arguing that the benches werent welcoming to all styles of worship. The president of the university agreed, but no one seemed to notice last spring when 22 oak pews that had been in the chapel since 1964 were unbolted and warehoused. In October, though, after the alumna learns of the empty chapel, outrage follows and the Muslim students are blamed. A Fox News editorial calls it Christian cleansing, and soon Maira is reading on the Internet that some people in Wichita want her to burn in hell.

The next month is Paris. After that is San Bernardino. Please dont let it be Muslims, she says both times.

In the December chill, Maira gets in a car and drives. She turns the radio up loud and closes all the windows. This was supposed to be her year of claiming what it means to be a Muslim American, and instead she is screaming in frustration. No words or phrases, just raw screams until eventually she drives home and goes downstairs to her bedroom with a hundred headscarves.

Is whatever were doing not even making a difference? she wonders. Is any of this even working?

That night, she says her fifth prayer of the day and checks Snapchat. Her skinny jeans are near her prayer beads from Mecca. Its an uncertain end to an uncertain year, but the next morning Maira will stand at her dresser mirror, deciding between two pins or three.
Rabbi Aaron Alexander touches his 8-day-old son as he waits for the babys circumcision to be performed at Adas Israel Congregation in Northwest Washington. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

In Judaism, a male child must, if at all possible, be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. And not even a blizzard trumps that biblical commandment  especially not when the baby in question is the son of two Washington rabbis.

It is important to us that our son enter the Jewish people in the same way his ancestors who were born Jewish or chose to be Jewish entered into the covenant, said Rabbi Aaron Alexander, 40, whose wife, Rabbi Penina Alexander, 39, had given birth to their third son at 5 a.m. Jan. 17.

But the weather made holding the brit milah, the circumcision ceremony, a challenge. It was scheduled for Sunday morning at Adas Israel Congregation in Northwest Washington.

The babys paternal grandparents flight had been canceled. An aunt who lived in New York couldnt make it on the train. Neither could an uncle in Ohio.

[Blizzard cancellation blues: Its the event of the year. Or it was supposed to be.]

Rabbi Penina Alexander, left, and her husband Rabbi Aaron Alexander prepare for the circumcision of their 8-day-old son, which was performed at Adas Israel Congregation after the blizzard. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

But the most critical attendee was the mohelot, the woman who would perform the brit milah, or bris. April Rubin lived on Capitol Hill, a short distance from the Cleveland Park synagogue, except in a storm expected to dump nearly two feet of snow on downtown Washington. Bus service had been suspended. Metro had closed Friday evening. And Washingtons mayor was asking people to stay off the streets.

The Alexanders, who live across the street from Adas Israel, knew it might take an act of God to get Rubin, a physician, across town.

If she is the only one who can make it, Aaron Alexander vowed, we will do it.

Other members of the congregation also worried about the timing of the blizzard.

When I got the Facebook message the baby was born, I knew the bris would be Sunday, said Sarah Brooks, who lives two blocks from Adas Israel. I had actually been watching the weather.

On Thursday night, Brooks sent Rubin a text offering her a place to stay.

Rubin, who does about 80 brises each year, had planned to stay on Capitol Hill, ride out the storm, then take the subway to the congregation Sunday morning. That was before Metro officials announced the system would close at 11 p.m. Friday.

Rabbi Aaron Alexander wraps his 8-day-old son as his wife, Rabbi Penina Alexander, looks on after the circumcision at their synagogue. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

When they shut the Metro, Rubin said, I called [Sarah] and said, Is that offer still on? 

[Metro to reopen with very limited service on 3 lines Monday]

Brooks said yes, and Rubin went to her house Friday for Shabbat dinner and stayed for the weekend in her familys guest room. On Saturday morning, as the wind whipped, they walked to services together.

The synagogue sent out an email to the congregation saying that if people could make the brit milah, great  but if they could not, they should stay home and stay safe.

On Sunday morning, those who could walked through the snow to get there. More than 50 people made it, sitting on pale green chairs. Penina Alexander held her newborn in the front row, where a table had been prepared for the circumcision.

This little guy has braved one of the greatest blizzards of the century in Washington, said Gil Steinlauf, head rabbi at Adas Israel, predicting the boy will represent incredible strength and justice in the world.

The audience stood and sang as the maternal grandparents, Rabbi Shalom Podwol and Dalia Podwol, who had arrived from California on Wednesday, carried in the still-unnamed baby boy.

Rubin rose, explaining the covenant.

Obviously, eight days is very important, because otherwise we wouldnt be here in the middle of a blizzard, she said. She explained the ritual objects, including a ceremonial chair called Elijahs chair. It is said that Elijah is present at every brit so he can see with his own eyes that Jews are keeping the covenant.

The parents laid the baby on a pillow on a table. He whimpered. The circumcision was very quick. As the congregation sang, a bandage was applied, Rubin wrapped the baby, and Aaron Alexander placed his son on his chest.

Then, during a chant blessing the newborn, Steinlauf revealed his name: Amos Eden.

Aaron Alexander sent a text to his mother in Florida to share the news. No one knew the name except Penina and I, he said. I texted her right away.

Penina Alexander rose and explained that one of the reasons they chose that name was in memory of her paternal grandmother, Mae. The m in Amos is a tribute to the first initial of Maes name.

My Nana Mae was a strong woman who also raised only boys, Penina Alexander said. She was well loved and respected in her community and in her family. And her commitment to her family and to instilling Jewish values of community and of Israel set a great example for us.

Amos was an Old Testament prophet who was special for a lot of reasons, Aaron Alexander added. Primarily, he was able to see people for who they were and see the world the way it was in that time. Amos, like many prophets, railed quite eloquently against false piety, religious hypocrisy and understood that a spiritual life had to take care of those on the outside of the temple walls more so than it did for those on the inside of the temple walls.

It was for that reason that Dr. King quoted from him often and in the I Have a Dream speech. We know this baby was born on the Sunday of MLK weekend; it seemed right.

The congregation prayed, and more blessings were bestowed on the baby.

Sitting near the back was Joyce Stern, who with her husband has been a member of Adas Israel for more than 45 years. Despite the fact that many sidewalks were unplowed, Stern walked with her cane from her home near the Van Ness Metro station, three-fourths of a mile away, to attend the bris.

Im 77 years old, I made it out to Connecticut Avenue and came, she said. God, she added, gave me the strength. I made it, and Im not exhausted. That is a miracle.
The storm that entombed the region in snow may have set records, but utility companies were feeling fortunate Saturday evening that it had not yet delivered a major blow to the power grid.

For the most part, the lights stayed on in the Washington area on Saturday  a relief to millions of people marooned in their homes. It also was a welcome surprise for utility companies that on Friday had warned of potential multi-day power outages that would have resulted in a long spell of darkness in a region that has seen its share in recent years.

There were isolated outages. During the height of the storm, more than 500 Pepco customers in Takoma Park were without power after a fallen tree snapped a line. More than 650 Dominion Virginia clients in Fairfax County had no electricity as of 4:30 p.m. Saturday. And 370 Baltimore Gas and Electric customers in Baltimore were out.

But the numbers were far lower than utilities had feared. Officials were reluctant to claim victory before the storm had passed. In North Carolina, by contrast, 145,000 people had lost power by noon on Saturday. In New Jersey, there were 49,000.

So far, nature has smiled on us, Chuck Penn, spokesman for Dominion Virginia, said Saturday afternoon. The dynamics have combined such that we dodged a bullet.

Most D.C. streets were covered with snow as the city experienced one of the largest snowstorms in its history. (The Washington Post)

The type of snow  not the amount  was a critical factor to the limited damage. Forecasts had called for the wet, heavy kind that sticks to limbs and weighs them down, posing a threat to nearby transmission and distribution lines. But the snow from this storm was lighter.

Thats been hugely helpful, said Vincent Morris, spokesman for Pepco, which provides electricity for the District and parts of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. Were pretty pumped things have held up as well as they have.

The District had fared well most of Saturday. As Morris spoke around 4 p.m., he noted there were only two customers in the District without power.

We usually have a few people without power even on a June day, he said.

Pepco touted tens of millions of dollars in maintenance and upgrades to its system, which covers 640 square miles and serves 2.3 million people. The improvements, it said, hardened the grid to severe weather.

In the past four years, the company said it had trimmed more than 9,000 miles of trees near vulnerable lines. It upgraded 1,300 underground lines and more than 350 feeders, the wires that connect substations and transformers. It replaced old lines with thicker ones that are less susceptible to failure by contact. And it invested in projects to expand the systems load-carrying capacity and to route electricity around problem areas.

Those improvements were little help to the 500 customers in Takoma Park.

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A tree cascaded into a utility pole on Carroll Avenue just before 11:30 a.m., according to Pepco. Officials estimated that the power would be restored after midnight, but it was not clear Saturday if that goal would be met.

Pepco sent more crews than it normally would to that location because it had called in up to 200 outside contractors and 200 tree crews to respond to a potential crisis, said Michael Maxwell, the companys vice president of asset management.

Uncertain about the effects of the remainder of the storm, Pepco officials continued to warn that it could take 24 hours or more to restore power if it goes out.

Most of Dominion Virginias approximately 2,000 outages late Saturday afternoon were in the southeastern part of the state, in Richmond or Hampton Roads.

The snow accumulation may have been historic. But through most of the storm, the outages paled compared to past events. Pepco, in particular, has been criticized for the widespread failures of its grid and its slow response in the past.

In January 1999, for example, an ice storm cut off power to 230,000 Pepco customers, about one-third of its customer base, over five days. During the 2010 storm known as Snowmaggedon, nearly 98,000 Pepco clients were out. In January 2011, a major snowstorm that saw rain and sleet followed by a buildup of heavy and wet snow left 221,000 Pepco customers powerless.

The company had seven major outages  defined as a loss of power for more than 10,000 people for more than 24 hours  between 2010 and 2012. Most of those were in the summer months.

These outages have been minuscule compared to past storms, said Morris, the Pepco spokesman, before adding that even one outage is too many.
In two landmark studies, quantitative data expert Nat Malkus has confirmed the rigor of the most successful high school program of the past three decades, Advanced Placement, and revealed what might be a troubling decline in AP use in small and rural schools.

Malkus is a research fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute with much experience investigating educational finances, school choice and standardized testing. Since, he said, AP courses have become the primary avenue for delivering advanced coursework in public high schools, has the program expanded too quickly and been dumbed down as a result?

The cover of his first study shows the growth of AP students from 330,000 in 1990 to 2.2 million in 2013. That extraordinary surge brought a drop in the percentage of students who passed the three-hour AP exams, which can earn college credit. But the number of students passing AP exams has increased greatly, raising the level of American high school education like nothing else since Los Angeles teacher Jaime Escalante led the introduction of AP to ordinary public schools in the 1980s.

[http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/]

Malkus looked at the scores of AP students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress math tests in 2000, 2005 and 2009 and found no signs that the achievement of graduates with AP course credit had been watered down. He wrote, The extent of the programs growth alone is impressive, but APs apparently effective quality control during a period of extensive growth is much more so.

Malkus then analyzed the differences in AP success between students of various ethnic and income groups and looked at the changes in the number of public schools offering AP. The cover of his second study shows the portion of U.S. public schools using AP was 71 percent in 2000, climbed to 79 percent in 2008 and dropped to 74 percent in 2012. Although the number of public schools using AP has continued to increase, from 9,665 in 2000 to 14,729 in 2014, the recent drop in the percentage of public schools using the program raises new issues.

For several years, critics have said that AP and similar programs were losing support in the best schools in the most affluent neighborhoods. This is false. What Malkus discovered was different, a drop in the percentage of public schools using AP that are in rural areas or that have fewer than 500 students. The percentage of small public schools using AP increased 11 percentage points from 2000 to 2008, then lost nearly all of that gain by 2012. The percentage of rural schools with AP gained 16 points from 2000 to 2008, then dropped five points by 2012.

Malkus says those schools may be cutting their AP programs because their students are not ready for them, though I would like to find such schools  Malkus doesnt identify any  to ask them about that.

In schools that do not have sufficient numbers of students prepared for AP courses, leaders would be wise to focus their limited resources on improving student proficiency in the years leading up to high school, Malkus wrote.

I think he is wrong about that. Districts have no incentive to prepare younger students for AP if the courses are not up and running. Teachers have to gain some experience teaching AP to be ready for younger students learning how to handle long reading lists and analytical writing.

Malkus suggests online or video-conference AP courses as one solution for schools that lack capable AP teachers. He says more data will be necessary to see whether the decline in AP use among rural, small schools is a trend.

But he also acknowledges that because such schools have so few students, their drop in AP involvement has not changed the fact that the number of students in AP and similar programs like International Baccalaureate and Cambridge continues to increase significantly. That means many more students are having challenging academic experiences than when I was in school. That is a good, big trend.
Wendy Marquez Enriquez, 6, and Alex Ulises Martinez Escobar, 8, play outside their Culmore apartment in the cold. (Arelis Hernandez/The Washington Post)

The door to Don Ulises Escobars Virginia apartment rarely stays closed for long. It opens for the local children to run through. It opens for neighbors beckoned by the aroma of his wifes cooking. And it opens for whoever might need the old mechanics help.

Few doors close completely in Culmore, a working-class immigrant community in Fairfax County where the scent of frying tortillas wafts from the apartment buildings and neighbors barge into each others homes to share laughs, share food and share each others needs.

As the winter storm bore down Saturday, residents across Culmores sprawling apartment complexes made this snow day a communal experience, gathering together and sharing what little they had.

Crews of men with shovels worked with assembly line-efficiency to clear sidewalks. Mothers leaned out windows, watching each others children start snowball fights and build giant snowmen. Neighbors pushed vehicles out of snowbanks, marveling at the unprecedented amount of snow the storm had dumped in their neighborhood.

Necessity breeds cooperation, said Escobar, who is quick to hand strangers and friends his business card that reads simply: Ulises, mechanic.

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He added: Most of us here are undocumented and have traveled the same journeys. We know what it is to suffer, so we help when we can.

Escobar has lived in the United States on and off for more than 20 years. He left El Salvador for the last time a decade ago, bringing along his wife, Lupe Escobar, to a tiny two-bedroom apartment. Their son, Alex, was born in the United States in 2007.

In between his odd jobs, neighbors help Escobar by coming to him when they have a problem with their automobiles. He has been tinkering with cars since the Salvadoran civil war when he picked up the skills to survive, he said.

Anguish is something Escobar says he knows well. So when he heard that Noemy Enriquez, a single mother of three, needed a place to stay, he offered her his sons old room. The 36-year-old had left El Salvador with Evelin, 12, one of her three daughters, this past summer, propelled by a desire to earn more to provide for her family.

Escobars family of three grew to a family of seven once Enriquez was able to pay to bring her eldest, 15-year-old Cristina, and youngest, 6-year-old Wendy, to the United States.

Life is hard here, and sometimes you have to laugh to avoid crying, Enriquez said. But I feel free here because I can earn money and I have support.

Escobar made sure to make the girls first experience with snow a memorable one. He teased them with silly stories about the powdery precipitation, gave Wendy a pair of snow coveralls and explained why he thought Bobby Vinton music was appropriate listening for a snow day.

A NASA Center for Climate Simulation supercomputer model shows the flow of the massive snow storm over the East Coast through Sunday, Jan. 24. (YouTube/Nasa.gov Video)

Together with their son, Alex, the Escobars took the girls outside. Wendy squealed with delight almost immediately and stayed out the longest. The 12-year-old, ill-prepared for the cold in her leggings, retreated inside just as quickly as she had ventured out.

Cristina, the quietest of the three, shielded herself inside her borrowed parka and watched the neighborhood children play  without daring to touch the snow herself.

Its beautiful, Wendy said as she let herself fall backward into the snow and waved her arms. Alex informed her that what she had just created was a snow angel. She repeated the words in her accented English. Wendy played so long that she lost her sneakers in the snow and walked inside with her socks caked.

As the day wore on, the family joined the cavalcade of neighbors who had trudged through the snow to the always-open 7-Eleven and Culmore supermarket just off Leesburg Pike. Chicken soup was on the menu for the Escobars, and they needed vegetables.

The convenience store, a popular spot for day laborers on non-snow days, was jam-packed with people warming themselves up with 50-cent coffee. Men walked in regularly for the days special: 2-for-1 Heineken. The supermarkets shelves were fully-stocked with cacti and mangoes, and the butcher was happy to cut beef to order.

As the Escobar and Enriquez families headed home, the cold wind cut at their faces. I cant feel my fingers, Evelin shrieked in Spanish. Im not sure I like snow anymore.

The brunt of the snowstorm had arrived, and Culmore cleared out. Families that had been outside headed in for dinner. Paths that neighbors had cleared were refilled with fresh snow. Latin music continued to boom out of apartments, and everyone in the Escobar apartment sat down to eat and to watch Titanic  dubbed in Spanish.
The Washington region braces for what is expected to be a blizzard, even as area residents struggled with road problems created by about 2 inches of snowfall.

The Washington region braces for what is expected to be a blizzard, even as area residents struggled with road problems created by about 2 inches of snowfall.

A veteran U.S. Capitol Police officer died Saturday after suffering a heart attack while shoveling snow outside his home on the Eastern Shore of Delaware, one of several people who died during the massive snowstorm.

Officer Vernon J. Alston was 44 and had spent nearly two decades patrolling the Capitol grounds. He was known to lawmakers yet so humble about his job that he didnt tell his wife when he chased down and subdued a theft suspect a couple months ago.

He was the type of man who wanted to help people, said his wife of seven years, Nicole Alston, 42, who works at the National Zoo. In his mind, he was a superhero. She also said: He would help you, but he was modest about it. Thats how he lived his life: Being an officer allowed him to come to their rescue.

At least seven deaths in Virginia, Maryland and the District were attributed to the blizzard as of Sunday evening  and that toll seemed likely to rise as residents continued digging out. Most of the deaths had a common thread: They appeared to be linked to overexertion.

[Snowzilla is done with us but the cleanup is just beginning]

Capital Weather Gang's Jason Samenow explains how meteorologists classify blizzards. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

Three men  two from Maryland and another from the District  died of heart attacks while shoveling. An 82-year-old man died in Northeast Washington on Sunday, officials said. On Saturday, a 60-year-old man died in Prince Georges County in Fort Washington, and a 49-year-old man died in Abington, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.

A Leesburg man had a heart attack and collapsed while trudging through waist-deep snow early Sunday. The man, in his 50s, was heading home after working at a convenience store that had stayed open during the storm. A resident called 911 and pulled the man inside a nearby home, but emergency responders were unable to revive him.

If the gentleman had been walking home on a sunny day, he probably would be alive, said Leesburg Police Lt. Brian Rourke, attributing the fatality to the historic snowfall.

Three other deaths were reported in southern Virginia  one of them a car crash and two from hypothermia.

Authorities are investigating whether other deaths are connected to the storm. Prince William County officials said a man who had been shoveling snow Friday collapsed and died.

Another man died in Maryland after he was found unresponsive Sunday in deep snow near a shopping center in Laurel, according to Prince Georges fire officials. They said the man appeared to be homeless. The cause of his death was not immediately clear.

In all, at least 19 other deaths have been attributed to the blizzard that struck some Southern states and Mid-Atlantic regions.

What's the proper technique for shoveling snow? A physical therapist offers specific tips for protecting your back while you dig out this winter. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

Alstons death was announced by the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). For 20 years, Officer Vernon Alston was a fixture on the Capitol grounds while keeping the community safe, Reid said in a statement.

Nicole Alston said her husband was helping neighbors shovel snow in their small town of Magnolia, Del., near Dover Air Force Base, when he came into their home about noon to take a break. He then went into the garage, screamed his wifes name and collapsed. He was pretty much gone, Nicole Alston said.

Emergency workers had to shovel a path to the house, Nicole Alston said. She said that a tow truck had to pull the ambulance so it could reach the street and that her husband was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Nicole Alston said her husband had just begun his 19th year with the U.S. Capitol Police force. She said she worried about her husband doing police work, but she was more concerned about his commute, more than 90 miles each way between Magnolia and the District. She made the same commute as well, to the zoo, where she has worked in administration for 13 years, but their differing schedules meant they could not carpool often.

He was a very genuine man, Nicole Alston said. People looked at him as a counselor. People came to him for advice. He had a genuine love for people.

Nicole Alston first encountered her future husband in 1992 when they were students at Howard University. He would watch me at Howard, she said, though she didnt know it at the time. He told me he had always wanted to say something to me.

That opportunity didnt come until 15 years later, during a chance meeting outside the U.S. Capitol. He was on patrol and Nicole was walking by. They chatted. He remembered me from back then Nicole Alston said. He remembered my face. He remembered what I studied.

They married six months later. He had a son and daughter from a previous marriage and she had a daughter, all of whom are now teenagers. The couple had one child together, Breyden, who is 3.

It is a beautiful story of how I met him, Alston said. He was the man of my dreams.
William Y. Smith, a four-star Air Force general who flew combat missions in Korea, wrote a book about the Cuban Missile Crisis and retired as deputy commander of U.S. forces in Europe, died Jan. 19 at his home in Falls Church, Va. He was 90.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said his wife, Maria Smith.

In retirement, Gen. Smith was a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and for five years was president of Institute for Defense Analyses, a federally funded research center.

What may have been the defining moment of his career occurred in February 1952 over North Korea when his F-84 fighter jet was hit by antiaircraft fire, smashing his right foot and ankle and setting his airplane on fire.

He landed on North Korean mudflats and was rescued by a U.S. helicopter. He spent the next nine months in military hospitals, and his right foot would be amputated just above the ankle. He was fitted with a prosthetic foot and ankle.

Gen. William Y. Smith in 1981. He flew combat missions in Korea, wrote a book about the Cuban Missile Crisis and retired as deputy commander of U.S. forces in Europe. (United States Air Force)

The future general had flown 97 combat missions but would never fly another, he was told. He could have taken a combat disability retirement. Or he could remain in the Air Force in non-flying assignments, but that would impair his opportunities for promotion. He chose to stay and retired in 1983 as deputy commander in chief of the U.S. European Command.

William Young Smith was born in Hot Springs, Ark., on Aug. 13, 1925. He graduated in 1948 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Only in 1947 did the Air Force become a separate service, and he was among the first group of West Point graduates to pick an Air Force career.

From 1954 to 1958, he taught government, economics and international relations at West Point. He received a doctorate in political economy and government at Harvard University in 1961, then came to Washington as a junior staff member with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Council.

He participated in negotiations that led to the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. His experiences during that time became germinating agents of a 1994 book about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, co-written with a Soviet general, Anatoli I. Gribkov, former chief of staff of the armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.

The book was Operation Anadyr, which was the Russian-language name for the Soviet stratagem of placing ballistic missiles in Cuba. Among the points the authors argued was that both sides often relied on erroneous information in making decisions.

Gen. Smith, according to his wife, often told a story of the United States receiving two simultaneous messages from Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, one positive and one negative. The United States chose to respond to the positive message, Gen. Smith told his family.

In 1979 Gen. Smith was posted in Europe as chief of staff for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and remained in that job until becoming deputy commander in chief of the U.S. European Command.

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His medals included the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, the Joint Service Commendation Medal and four awards of the Air Medal.

In 1957, he married Maria Petschek. Besides his wife, of Falls Church, survivors include three sons, Raymond Smith of St. Louis, Mark Smith of Belmont, Mass., and Derek Smith of Falls Church; a sister; and nine grandchildren.

Gen. Smiths avocations included tennis and squash. He was quick and agile in competition. Men and women who did not know were said to have been unable to tell, when he walked along a corridor at the Pentagon, which foot was the prosthetic.
Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the January 25 Revolution. As the years pass rapidly by, we sometimes forget who we were then, and dont recognise who we have become.

The question is whether Egyptians have changed in this short span of history or not. Another pressing question is whether this change, if indeed it occurred, was for the better or for the worse.

In 2011, as Tahrir Square filled to the brim with activists calling for change, the majority of Egyptians, perturbed and distressed, stayed put and uninvolved, preferring to safeguard their homes from marauders and to watch Al Jazeera from the comfort of their homes.

By the time 30 June rolled around, Egyptians were ready to partake in the ousting process, having turned Al Jazeera off for good. Since then, change continues to take place. Today, Egyptians are acutely aware, intensely critical, and exceedingly outspoken, but more importantly they have fallen in love with their Egypt once more.

Prior to 25 January Egyptians had a depoliticised approach. They knew things werent right but hardly ever thought of effecting change; though disgruntled, they accepted their fate as irreversible.

The end result was that they were completely unconcerned with where Egypt was heading. Today these same Egyptians are cognisant of all happenings. This awareness is not restricted to intellectuals, but it extends to the masses: workers, farmers, and tradespeople.

Start a conversation with a taxi driver, and he will quickly respond with factual details. He may be worried about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and about western and north-eastern borders. He may realise how historic the visit of the president of China to Egypt is. He may see the bigger picture, and how some nations would like to mould Egypt to their liking.

In the meantime, he expects the president, government, and members of parliament to be dedicated and loyal Egyptians, fit for the positions they hold.

This acute awareness has its drawbacks, too. As Egyptians hunger for knowledge, they fall victim to fabricated stories and photoshopped photos. And once they dont see eye-to-eye with someone, suspicion prevails.

Today they may respect a person; tomorrow they may consider him, or her, a traitor. Many distinguished society figures were jerked from love to hate, appreciated at one point, but denounced at another.

Egyptians are critical not only of one another but also of officials. If someone is unable to deliver, they cast him, or her, as a loser. With social media offering them a window to fan their criticism, they flag the slip-ups and the blunders. The call for the governor of Alexandrias resignation is a case in point.

One other change that occurred with the January 25 Revolution is how exceedingly outspoken Egyptians became. Today they are bold enough to say what they please about whomever they please, whether they are prestigious presidents or prominent nations.

This, too, has its drawbacksrespect towards those who were once respected is out of the window, and civility has become a trait of the past.

But the most noteworthy change is in the newfound zeal for everything and anything Egyptian. Of course, the faultfinders, those who exude negativity, remain steadfast in their complaints and disgruntlement, but this new breed of Egyptians who focus on the positive, loving Egypt unconditionally, is worth noticing.

Today, Egyptians take pride in all successful stories: the young taekwondo and squash champions; the diaspora who prove themselves abroad; the many esteemed women who joined the 2016 parliament; the non-permanent UN Security Council seat Egypt secured; the exotic beaches and picturesque spots all over Egypt; and, more importantly, the Egyptian armys guarding of borders and fight against enemies.

This stance is not out of nothing; it is the result of many stockpiled events equal to the rungs of a ladder, each rung taking Egyptians a step further up towards the state in which they find themselves today.

The January 25 Revolution initiated the change by giving Egyptians a voice. It allowed them to speak out and demand improvements if nothing else. Then the despair associated with Morsis year of reign told them that they were about to lose the Egypt they knew for good. This utter hopelessness translated to love for their about-to-go-astray homeland.

Two turbulent years were followed by another Egyptian grassroots movement, this time encompassing all EgyptiansJune 30. The exhilaration associated with this victory brought out even more love for Egypt. This love for Egypt is definitely a worthwhile change.

Egyptians are indeed changing, sometimes for the worse, but more often than not for the better.

The writer is author of Cairo Rewind, the First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution



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Fire Chief Gregory M. Dean at a press conference held by Mayor Muriel Bowser outlining the city's plans for the 2016 blizzard. (Kate Patterson for The Washington Post)

As gray smoke rose from the burning condo building on U Street, D.C. Fire Chief Gregory M. Dean circled the block, talking with battalion chiefs and paramedics standing ready to treat anyone who was injured.

He didnt assume command. Instead, Dean kept his eye trained on the grunt work of firefighters, hauling hoses and training water on hot spots. It was a large response to a blaze in a historic part of the citys new boomtown, and, although the scene was smoky, sprinklers had largely extinguished the flames.

But for Dean, 65, a veteran chief from Seattle who started in the District in May, it was another chance to watch his troops in action as he works to overhaul the long-troubled fire department. At first, he didnt venture out much in public. Now, hes ramping up appearances at community meetings, where residents may glimpse a man who does not belabor his time at the podium and balances his low-key personality with high ambitions for his department.

Every fire ground you go to you can see certain things that could be done differently, said Dean, who has won support in the union hall for showing up at scenes and visiting stations to chat with firefighters.

Im not interested in mistakes, the chief said while surveying the U Street fire in December, but how people react to challenges.





Dean has encountered hurdles in his effort to turn around an agency that has struggled with delayed response times, equipment breakdowns and a shortage of paramedics.

[D.C. mayor names Seattle fire chief to lead D.C. department]

The chiefs first big initiative in his plan for change  his effort to augment his beleaguered ambulance fleet by using private ambulances to transport non-urgent patients  has been bogged down in city hall despite council approval in October. And the department came under scrutiny when a man suffering a heart attack died this month after firefighters stopped at the wrong location, mistakenly thought another man was the patient they had come to help and then left without double-checking the call.

Although the chief has blamed some mistakes on human error, he said the departments biggest issue is that it is not equipped to handle a growing number of calls for medical help. From 2010 to 2015, calls for fires have gone up about 10 percent, from 31,560 to 34,924. Calls for medical emergencies have soared 20 percent, from 130,870 to 162,168. On some days, at the busiest times, the District doesnt have enough ambulances to get to everyone who dials 911.

Dean said adding private ambulances will allow city paramedics to focus more on the most serious medical calls. It will also allow time for members to be re-trained, ensuring that their skills are up-to-date and familiarity with department policy. And it will give the system time to upgrade or fix aging equipment.

Ultimately, Dean aims to change a culture among the departments firefighters to enthusiastically and consistently embrace medical calls  which represents 80 percent of their traffic  in the same way they respond to burning buildings and crashes. Its been a department priority for years, yet it continues to bedevil leaders, and there is stiff resistance from some members.

[District failed to implement changes after 2006 death]

Fire Chief Gregory M. Dean talks with Chief of Police Cathy Lanier and DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo.. (Kate Patterson for The Washington Post)

When the bell hits, its the luck of the draw, Dean said. We expect you to go out and do the best you can. Im not buying into the Im just here to fight fire. If theyre here to fight fires, they are about 20 years too late. The business is changing  sometimes there will be those who decide not to keep up, and they will have to make choices.

Mayor Muriel D. Bowser (D) hired Dean early last year to replace the embattled Kenneth B. Ellerbe, who had retired the previous summer and whose tenure was defined by a string of failures. Some in the city council had labeled the department an embarrassment.

The new chief has already made changes. He has broadened the hiring pool to include applicants beyond the high school cadet program, which in recent years had supplied all recruits. He has ordered each of his battalion chiefs to get out of the District and visit other departments to research better ways to perform some tasks.

The chief is also bringing a nationally heralded lifesaving program from Seattle aimed at teaching thousands of residents CPR. Eventually nearly everybody could be able to save their neighbor suffering from a sudden heart attack.

Dean has also responded to shortcomings in individual incidents. When the man died after firefighters stopped at the wrong location, the department tightened policies to ensure calls cant be aborted without additional checks.

[Heart attack victim dies after firefighters go to wrong address]

This month, a firefighter accused of failing to respond to a choking child  before Dean took the job  filed papers to retire before facing possible sanctions. Although a new law bars retirement of firefighters with pending disciplinary hearings, the department said its administrative mistakes meant the law could not be imposed in this case. The department publicly admitted the failure, and Dean ordered steps to be taken so the law could take effect.

We regret mistakes. We have not given up on finding ways to right what was done wrong here, Dean said. We own it. We are disappointed that we didnt take care of business.

Edward Smith, the president of the firefighters union, said Dean has definitely shown a personal touch when interacting with firefighters. He visits stations, Smith said, and he shows up at fires. It means you have a leader who takes the time to show up in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold, to check up on everybody to make sure theyre okay.

Smith said Dean has kept his promise to seek the unions advice on policy, all but ending the harsh back-and-forth rhetoric of the past. He said hes also seen an effort to bolster the ranks.

So far, according to the fire union, there is a new recruit class with 30 trainees close to graduating, with immediate plans to hire another 30 firefighters trained as paramedics. Some have been training and might be able to hit the streets faster than fresh recruits. And, Smith said, a class of cadets  recruits out of high school  is in the works for this year.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), a former chairman of the public safety committee, said he is pleased that Dean seems to have mended the rift with labor.

But, he said, many challenges lie ahead. Mendelson said he has reservations about privatizing ambulances for basic life-support calls, noting he just learned that the program will require the city to make a multimillion-dollar withdrawal from the reserve fund. Mendelson said he supports the move as a short-term fix, but I really think that, in the long term, that function has to stay with [the fire department] and not be contracted out.

[D.C. fire chief, mayor wants to use private ambulances to ease 911 strain]

Still, Mendelson said, the fact the rank-and-file are with the chief, it gives him every opportunity to meet and to overcome the challenges that have been with this department for so long.

Smith said Dean is still learning the Districts bureaucracy, pointing to the delay in hiring a private ambulance company. We needed those ambulances yesterday, he said.

Dean said the process was slowed down as officials came up with funding for the $9 million bill for this fiscal year, which was finalized last week. Although the delay was not ideal, Dean added that Bowser has invested more in reform of emergency medical services than any mayor in recent memory. The city hopes to have the program launched by spring.

Kevin Donahue, the deputy mayor for public safety, said Bowser chose Dean because he had dealt in Seattle with many of the same reform issues facing the District.

The challenges that this department has didnt develop overnight, and he knows that resolving those challenges is going to require time.
A veteran U.S. Capitol Police officer and a fixture on the Hill died Saturday after suffering a heart attack while shoveling snow outside his home on the Eastern Shore of Delaware, according to his wife and law enforcement officials.

Officer Vernon J. Alston was 44 and had spent nearly two decades patrolling the Capitol grounds. He was known to lawmakers yet so humble about his job that he failed to tell his wife when he chased down and subdued a theft suspect a couple months ago.

He was the type of man who wanted to help people, said his wife of seven years, Nicole Alston, 42, who works at the National Zoo. In his mind, he was a superhero. She also said, He would help you, but he was modest about it. Thats how he lived his life: being an officer allowed him to come to their rescue.

Alstons death was announced Sunday by the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). For twenty years Officer Vernon Alston was a fixture on the Capitol grounds while keeping the community safe, Reid said in a statement.

The Capitol Police said in a statement that Alston mostly worked with the House division. Chief Kim Dine described the death as a tragic loss for Alstons family and the police force. Officer Alston was someone who loved his job, and his loss leaves a huge void in the hearts of all of the men and women with the Capitol Police.

Alston was one of several people from the D.C. region who died shoveling snow over the weekend. At least two deaths were reported in Maryland  in Fort Washington and in Abingdon, which is northeast of Baltimore. Police and rescue workers have repeatedly warned of the stress of shoveling snow.

Nicole Alston said her husband was helping neighbors shovel in their small town of Magnolia, Del., near Dover Air Force Base, when he came into their home about noon to take a break. He then went into the garage, screamed his wifes name and collapsed. He was pretty much gone, Nicole Alston said.

Because of the storm, emergency workers had to shovel a path to the house through snow banks. She said a tow truck then had to pull the ambulance so it could reach the street. She said her husband was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly after arriving about 2 p.m.

Alston said her husband had just begun his 19th year on the U.S. Capitol Police force, which patrols the Capitol grounds and extends into residential neighborhoods and the various buildings that include the House and Senate offices.

Alston said she worried about her husband doing police work, but she was more concerned about his commute, more than 90 miles each way between Magnolia and Washington. She made the same commute as well, to the zoo, where she has worked in administration for 13 years, but their differing schedules meant they couldnt often carpool.

He was a very genuine man, Alston said. People looked at him as a counselor. People came to him for advice. He had a genuine love for people.

Alston had first encountered her future husband in 1992 when both were students at Howard University. He would watch me at Howard, she said, though she didnt know it at the time. He told me he had always wanted to say something to me.

That opportunity didnt come until 15 years later, during a chance meeting at First and Independence streets outside the U.S. Capitol. He was on patrol and Nicole was walking by. They chatted. He remembered me from back then Alston said. He remembered my face. He remembered what I studied.

They married in six months. He had a son and daughter from a previous marriage, she had a daughter, all of whom are now teenagers. The couple had one child together, Breyden Alston, who is 3.

It is a beautiful story of how I met him, Alston said. He was the man of my dreams.

Paul Kane contributed to this report.
At the end of a row of abandoned homes in one of Washingtons poorest neighborhoods, its 7:30 a.m., and Chamika McLaughlin climbs out of bed. She dreads this time of day. Its when she has to make a choice between two terrible options.

Does she stay cold? Or does she put her life at risk?

McLaughlin pulls on a blue hat, wraps a black sweater around her slight frame and pads into the kitchen. Hands tucked in her armpits, she shivers in the early-morning chill. School is canceled today, and her 12-year-old son, sleeping in one of the apartments two bedrooms, will soon awake. She has to get the house warmer. So, as shes done countless times over two heatless winters in this apartment, she reaches for the oven dial.

McLaughlin, 30, knows heating her home this way could start a fire  oven blazes kill people every year. But she feels she didnt have a choice. Shes marooned with defective radiators in one of the worst blizzards to hit the District in years. McLaughlin turns the oven to 400 degrees, pulls down its door and watches the coils inside glow red.

I just open it up and let it heat up the living room, says McLaughlin, whos bought space heaters for the bedrooms.

1 of 51 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Deadly winter storm pounds the nations capital View Photos A double-digit snowfall shuts down nations capital. Read the Capital Weather Gang Caption A double-digit snowfall closed businesses and the Metro in Washington. A man shovels a sidewalk along Wilson Bvld. in Arlington Va. John McDonnell/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Interviews, records and official estimates suggest there are hundreds of people  if not many more  living without heat in the Washington region as a historic storm lashes the area. And like McLaughlin, a school-bus attendant, theyre enduring the gusting winds and dropping temperature by using ovens as heaters, setting up space heaters and staying in bed all day.

Trapped, said Tyrone Wise as he stood before his gaping oven door as it pumped heat into a chilly Southeast Washington apartment he shares with his four small children. Public transportation has stalled. Hes stuck in an apartment he calls heatless. We trapped here, he said.

In a city of parallel societies, where elite plot over power and the vulnerable struggle with basic needs, this portrait of living without heat in winter has become a more common reality for the regions impoverished, experts say. As housing prices soar and the quality of housing that low-income residents can afford deteriorates, being poor often means being cold, particularly in the city.

There are significant number of people who are affected by this, said Sandra Mattavous-Frye, director of the Districts Office of Peoples Counsel, which serves as an advocate for utilities consumers. Particularly low income consumers. . . . As the economic situation for low income people gets worse, this problem gets worse, too.

A systemic problem

Living in poverty means constantly balancing competing necessities. Every month, rent is due. Then there are food cost and transportation expenses. The last item on that list is usually paying utilities bills, Mattavous-Frye said.

In the District, utility companies cant turn off the heat if weather forecasts predict that the temperature will drop below 32 degrees in the following 24 hours. In Maryland and Virginia, there is no moratorium on cutting off power, but advocates say power companies are normally hesitant to cut off power in the winter. This often results in a backlog of unpaid utility bills come spring, Mattavous-Frye said. And unless those debts are at least partly paid, she said, the power wont flicker back on when winter rolls around again.

Between 2010 and 2014, statistics show, the percentage of low-income Pepco customers whose power was cut off in the District rose from .07 percent to 2.4 percent. In 2010, only 135 electric customers lost their power. But in 2014, 323 did.

Capital Weather Gang's Jason Samenow explains how meteorologists classify blizzards. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

One of those people got in touch with the Office of Peoples Counsel on Wednesday, agency spokeswoman Doxie McCoy said. A senior citizen, medical expenses had laid her low and without enough money to pay her electric bill. Shes now $1,300 behind and cant get her heat turned on. Another elderly woman, McCoy said, owes nearly $7,500 in electric bills and is afraid to ask for government assistance because she thinks officials will take away her three grandchildren if they learn she doesnt have heat in winter.

Other poor tenants wind up heatless in winter because they live in substandard housing. Many low-income consumers live in apartments built more than 50 years ago, so not only are they old and not properly insulated, but they have malfunctioning [heating] units that are primarily the responsibility of the landlord, Mattavous-Frye said.

Five housing lawyers familiar with affordable housing in the District and suburbs said that it is a chronic problem. These arent isolated events, said Bradford Voegeli, a lawyer with the Neighborhood Legal Services Program. Its more of a systemic problem. There are many housing units across D.C. that arent being maintained properly and heating isnt being properly maintained.

Many low-income residents are behind on rent, so they are hesitant to bring concerns to their landlords out of fear of eviction. People are willing to live through all types of terrible conditions for fear of losing their housing altogether, said Rachel Rintelmann, a housing law lawyer with Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. Getting good data on this would be virtually impossible.

Heatless and hopeless

The apartments of Cascade Park, plopped amid a warren of low-slung houses and boarded-up townhouses in Southeast Washington, has become the latest flash point in a long-running clash between low-income tenants who say they are not warm enough and landlords who say they are saddled with old heating units and failing boilers.

Here, more than a dozen residents, including McLaughlin, have complained in the past year that they dont have sufficient heat  or so little theyre forced to use ovens. At least three tenants filed lawsuits during that time against Cascade or its parent company, Novo Development Corporation, alleging inadequate heating. One woman said the chilliness permeated all rooms.

The suits, which the tenants filed pro se, were dismissed because either the residents moved out of Cascade or for want of prosecution.

Brett Summers, Novo Properties founding partner, said managers have worked on the heating problems for months. Were aware we have some circulation issues, he said. These buildings were built back in the 1940s. Ten apartment units in a complex with more than 130 units have partial, no-heat, he said, and they have been equipped with space heaters. He said McLaughlin didnt get one because there was a belief the issue had been resolved, and he has now provided her with an electric space heater.

A lot of times, its the definition of what is no heat, he said. By city law, Cascade has to maintain the heat at at least 68 degrees during the day. And residents, they want 80, Summers said. . . . Unless they have the exact details, Im not aware of anyone who doesnt have heat.

Christina Osborne, 28, says she was one. She moved into a Cascade apartment last year with her two children after spending five months at the Districts homeless shelter at the old D.C. General Hospital. I was heatless and hopeless, she said. I was so stressed out and so depressed, I was referred to mental health [services] while I was living there.

Osborne said she and her two children huddled together in coats beside the apartments lone space heater, which she said she bought. She ultimately chose to move back to the shelter at the end of summer  and back into homelessness  rather than live another winter in the apartment.

McLaughlin moved into Cascade around the same time as Osborne. Last winter, she couldnt find a way to stay warm. On Jan. 13, she wrote in an e-mail to Novo Development: I have been complaining about no heat for months. . . . The two bedrooms never had heat and it is extremely cold for my son and I. Months later, in November, an inspector with the District Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs dropped by her place. There were 15 violations. Cracked ceilings. Water leaks. And defective radiators  in the two bedrooms, the bathroom and the living room.

The only thing that has changed since then, she said, is that the weather has become colder. She tried to look for another place, but could not find anything. Its hard to find an apartment that can go with my income, said McLaughlin, who pays $950 in rent.

As the storm approached her home on Friday, she looked out the living-room window at the cloudy skies. Theres a long way to go before winter departs. More blizzards may come. The coldest weeks may lie ahead. So McLaughlin tucked her hands underneath her armpits and, as the oven continued to spew dry heat, shuffled into her room and climbed back into bed.
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo imposed a travel ban in New York City. Baltimore banned all traffic except emergency vehicles and plows. But in Washington, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said no thank you.

We want our community to heed our recommendations, our concerns, and get off the road, Bowser said. But more than that, we cannot afford to divert our emergency services to police a travel ban.

Bowser and other officials repeatedly begged residents to stay off the streets so crews could clear snow.

Underlying the stay home drumbeat from District officials is a fear that no one stated explicitly, but was on high on everyones minds: Any pedestrian death would be a terrible tragedy, but killing a wintertime reveler with a city snow plow would be an unmitigated disaster.

Bowser said in an interview that its the walkers  the playful ones in the middle of the street, or others just trudging along  who really worry her in this storm.

They dont see how dangerous it is, Bowser said. Even the number of people we see, there are many thousands more who are taking the recommendations. For those who are not, we hope theyll use tomorrow to catch up on some things in the house.
BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO REPUBLICANS

As the Republican race heats up, so does the Democratic one. The Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns spent the past week lobbing attacks at each other: She says his ideas are unrealistic; he says shes not as committed to the progressive cause as he is. In fact, a few days out from the first-in-the-nation Iowa voting, it can be difficult to remember that the two had a truce last summer. Thats because Sanders is gaining on Clinton in polls in Iowa and has a lead over her in New Hampshire. He still struggles with minority voters when the primaries move south and west, but for Republicans dealing with their own competitive, often negative primary process, any roadblock to Clintons nomination is a gift.

BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRATS

Donald Trump has the clearest path to the GOP nomination. As voting nears, hes looking stronger and stronger. He has pulled back into a tie with Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) in Iowa, is looking better than ever in New Hampshire and leads in virtually every other state that follows. For the Democratic camp  which had a tough week as its two front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), stepped up their attacks on each other  this is good news. A nominee who embodies much of what Republicans think cost them the White House in 2012 gives Democrats a chance to repeat their win in 2016.

 Amber Phillips
WALMARTS DECISION to abandon plans for two additional stores in the District has caused a lot of finger-pointing. Critics say, variously, that the mega-retailer pulled a bait-and-switch by walking away from its promise to serve poorer areas of the city; that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) dropped the ball; or that the administration of the Districts previous mayor, Vincent C. Gray (D), should have secured an ironclad agreement that would have prevented the company from pulling the plug. Reality, though, is more complicated, something city officials need to realize if they ever hope to attract businesses to underserved parts of the city.

The announcement that Walmart was pulling out of projects at Skyland Town Center on Alabama Avenue and Capitol Gateway Marketplace on East Capitol Street caught city officials by surprise. Ms. Bowser characterized herself as blood mad over the decision. That is understandable, given the need for jobs, goods and services in long-neglected neighborhoods east of the river. The city worked hard to clear the way for the projects, including at Skyland acquiring the land and agreeing in the fall to buy out a covenant that might have barred operation of a grocery store. Millions of city dollars were involved.

Nonetheless, it is hard to credit the theory that Walmart never intended to build the two Ward 7 stores  that it held out the promise of those stores as a way to be able to build facilities at three other, more desirable locations. The Ward 7 decision was part of a larger retrenchment: The retail chain simultaneously announced the closing of more than 150 other locations and layoffs of thousands of employees. The fact that it had signed leases for both Ward 7 properties that it will now have to negotiate to be released from suggests the company was serious about its plans. Company officials contend that the order in which the stores were built was dictated by which sites were ready for construction.

Moreover, the three stores now operating created 600 construction jobs, more than 1,000 retail jobs and $15 million in new tax revenue. It is shortsighted to suggest that the city would have been better off without them.

City officials are exploring whether they have legal recourse against Walmart. Good luck with that. It might be more fruitful for them to do some soul-searching about whether they have undermined their own efforts to attract business development. Why have the three Walmart stores underperformed? Has the District created an unstable business environment in which employee pay, benefits and work conditions are decided by popular whim, with little regard for the realities of the business world? Instead of being outraged or trying to affix blame, city officials need to look ahead to determine what steps need to be taken to get development back on track, especially for neighborhoods most in need.
BY ALL accounts, Alexander Litvinenko was a bit of a gadfly in London. He once served in the Soviet KGB and later in the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, but after blowing the whistle on some shadowy practices, he fled Russia, fearing for his safety, to London, where he became a harsh critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and of the FSB that Mr. Putin once headed. Mr. Litvinenko dabbled in private security work in London while also serving variously on the payroll of the British security service and the self-exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky.

Mr. Litvinenkos criticism of Mr. Putin and the FSB rankled some powerful people. Mr. Litvinenko was warned that his life might be in danger.

At a meeting with two visiting Russians at the Pine Bar in the Millenium Hotel on Nov. 1, 2006, Mr. Litvenenko took a few gulps of cold tea from a pot that had been sitting on the table. The tea was laced with a radioactive isotope, polonium 210. Mr. Litvenenko fell ill that night at home and died of acute radiation syndrome Nov. 23 at University College Hospital in London. In his last statement, he pointed a finger at Mr Putin.

Now Robert Owen, a retired British judge, has carefully and comprehensively documented what can only be called an assassination. Mr. Owen concludes that the two Russians who met Mr. Litvinenko at the bar, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, deliberately poisoned him, and also tried to do so earlier, on Oct. 16. Moreover, Mr. Owen found Mr. Lugovoi was acting under the direction of the FSB in an operation to kill Mr. Litvinenko  one that was probably approved by the director of the FSB and by Mr. Putin.

This raises a serious question for President Obama and other world leaders whose governments do not traffic in contract murder. Should they continue to meet with Mr. Putin as if he is just another head of state? The British report does not prove that Mr. Putin ordered the murder. But at a minimum, he has built a state that operates on the premise that his personal enemies can be wiped out anywhere. The brave journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead weeks before Mr. Litvinenko was poisoned; last year, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down near the Kremlin walls.

This is not how normal states behave, and the rest of the world should no longer treat Russia as a normal state. Engagement at working levels has to continue, but the criminality of the Putin regime should disqualify him from the normal interactions of global affairs. He is an outlier in behavior; he should be treated as an outcast.
The Iowa caucuses are a week away. And Donald Trump, the larger-than-life real estate reality TV star, is  still  the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Not only has Trump not disappeared or imploded, as everyone everywhere predicted he would, he appears to be getting stronger in both early-state and national polling as actual voting draws closer.

At this point, Trumps path to winning the Republican nomination quickly is far easier than the one former secretary of state Hillary Clinton must travel to capture the Democratic nomination. That doesnt mean that Trump is a sure thing yet, but he has, without question, the best chance of any Republican running to claim the partys top prize.

Below are my latest rankings of the six men who have a realistic-to-semi-realistic chance of winning the GOP nomination. If your preferred candidates name isnt on the list, its because they, well, arent going to win.

1. Donald Trump: He has had a very good past few weeks. He continues to hone his pitch on the stump and clearly has thrown rival Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) off by raising doubts about his eligibility to run. Say what you will about her decidedly unusual speech endorsing Trump, but former Alaska governor Sarah Palin remains a potent force (and surrogate) among social conservative and tea party types. Trump has pulled back into a tie with Cruz in Iowa  or even into the lead, if you believe a new Fox News Channel poll  and has extended his edge over the rest of the field in New Hampshire. He leads in virtually every state that follows those two. If he wins Iowa and New Hampshire, look out: He will almost certainly be the Republican standard-bearer.

2. Ted Cruz: Cruz has built his reputation on his unwillingness to play nice with the old bulls of the Republican Party. That trait catapulted him to where he is in this race but of late has boomeranged against him. First, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) exacted his revenge on Cruz by adding fuel to the fire over whether the Canadian-born Cruz is eligible to be president. Then, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad urged Hawkeye State voters to back anyone but Cruz in the caucuses. Then former Senate majority leader Bob Dole (Kan.), who really, really doesnt like Cruz, told the New York Times that nominating the senator from Texas would have catastrophic consequences for the GOP. None of these hits are death blows for Cruz, but they each serve as a distraction at a time when he cannot afford to take his eye off the ball.

3. Marco Rubio: The senator from Florida has been the potential candidate for the entirety of this race. Hes the best debater in the field. Hes young (age 44). Hes Hispanic. He looks the part. And yet, theres no early state where Rubio appears to be in position to win or even place. He is third in Iowa behind Cruz and Trump. He is third behind Trump and John Kasich in New Hampshire. He is a distant third behind Trump and Cruz in South Carolina. Rubios path to the nomination has to be third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire and then a win or a very close second in South Carolina  a strategy dubbed 3-2-1. After all, to be the nominee, you actually have to win states. (See Giuliani, Rudy.)

4. Jeb Bus h: Theres a big drop-off between the top three spots and the next three spots on this list. Bush is the best of the rest because he remains the candidate best-positioned of the second-tier choices to emerge in the lengthy primary fight. Bushs Right to Rise super PAC is already laying down money for TV ad buys in states that vote in primaries in March  something that the people ranked below him on this list simply cant do. That said, his polling in Iowa and New Hampshire looks anemic; hes in fifth place in both states, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. The former Florida governor is a more respectable fourth  and in double digits!  in South Carolina, but if he cant overperform expectations in one of the first two states, the pressure for him to end his campaign to help consolidate support behind an establishment pick (likely Rubio) will be immense.

5. John Kasich: Polling is all over the place in New Hampshire, but if you look at the broad stretch of data out there, it seems likely that the Ohio governor is running slightly ahead of the various Trump alternatives in the state. Barring some sort of massive collapse in Iowa, Trump seems well-positioned to cruise in the Granite State, so the real battle will be for second place. If Kasich can get there, it will allow him to stay in the race through Nevada and South Carolina  and probably all the way through the March 1 SEC primary, when a handful of Southern states will vote. The problem for Kasich is I just dont see a lot of obvious opportunities beyond New Hampshire for him to pull off a shock the world-type win necessary for him to become a true contender.

6. Chris Christie: The momentum that the New Jersey governor appeared to have a month ago in New Hampshire seems to have dissipated, if not disappeared entirely. In five out of the past six polls conducted in the state, Christie hasnt broken double digits. If he cant find a way to restart his campaign in the state, Christie has no chance of surviving beyond Feb. 9, when New Hampshire votes. I keep Christie on the list because his persona and the attention he has paid to the state could lead to another mini-surge in the days leading up to the first-in-the-nation primary.
The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clintons rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic nomination.

The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic nomination.

When Bernie Sanders entered the presidential race last spring, he was considered a fringe figure  an unapologetic independent whose political revolution would eschew campaign customs and center around his liberal agenda.

Now, with an upset over Hillary Clinton in next Mondays Iowa caucuses potentially within his grasp, Sanders has emerged as a more combative  and in some ways, more conventionally political  candidate.

Sanders opens his rallies by ticking through the latest polls  an uncharacteristic touch of bravado intended to convince Democrats that he is not only viable in a general election but a stronger standard-bearer against the Republicans than Clinton.

He also is attacking Clinton more directly, not only on policy differences but also on personal character, demonstrating that he has both the stomach and the punch for a political brawl  even one against the Clintons and their defenders.

The Sanders pivot was evident in an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday as he flew on a chartered jet  itself a change for a candidate who used to fold himself into the middle seats of Southwest Airlines planes  from his home in Burlington, Vt., to Iowa for his final week of campaigning here.

Bernie Sanders regularly calls for a "political revolution" in America, but what does that mean? (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Asked about his comments last spring that he had no intention of playing the role of spoiler or weakening Clintons standing in the general election, Sanders turned the question on its head.

Thats a two-way question, isnt it? he said. When Hillary Clintons hit man is throwing garbage at the media, she is in a sense making it harder for me to win the general election.

Our campaign is not going to simply sit back and accept all of these attacks, Sanders added. We are going to win this thing.

In another sign of growing confidence, Sanders has stepped up his talk of the general election. I would very much look forward to a race against Donald Trump, he said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press. In speeches at his rallies, he sprinkles in previews of a Sanders administration.

Over the course of The Post interview, Sanders said Clinton was running a desperate campaign incapable of generating the kind of excitement his has. He raised questions about her motives and character. He said he expects Clinton and her campaign to throw the kitchen sink at him in the coming week in what he described as a craven attempt to avoid an embarrassing loss in Iowa.

[Sanders says Clintons attacks remind him of what Obama got in 2008]

Sanders questioned Clintons association with David Brock, the head of the pro-Clinton super PAC Correct the Record, whom Sanders called a hit man.

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders listen as he speaks at a town hall campaign event at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, on Sunday. (Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)

In recent media interviews, Brock has questioned Sanderss commitment to African Americans and derisively labeled the senator, who self-identifies as a democratic socialist, as a socialist. Brock also reportedly planned to make an issue of the 74-year-old Sanderss fitness for office  and demand that he release his health records. Brock begged off after Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta tweeted at Brock to chill out.

As somebody who respects Secretary Clinton, its saddens me that she would go to a professional political hit man, Sanders told The Post.

He recalled Brocks efforts 25 years ago as a conservative journalist to destroy Anita Hill, after she accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Why do you have to go to somebody like that to run your super PAC? Sanders said. There are honorable people out there.

The intensified scrutiny of Sanders by Clinton and her allies  on abortion rights, health reform and gun control  has had at least part of its desired effect, however, by putting Sanders onto the defensive.

[Clinton allies try to discredit Sanders on womens issues. Will it stick?]

After days of Clinton attacks over his 2005 Senate vote effectively giving immunity from liability suits to gun manufacturers, Sanders reversed his position. Clinton also was relentless in her critique of Sanderss single-payer, Medicare-for-all health plan because it would have been run by the states, many of which are led by Republican governors. Just hours before their last debate, on Jan. 17, Sanders released a new health plan that would be administered federally.

Last week, after criticism from Clinton, Sanders felt compelled to walk back his comments calling Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign, which have endorsed Clinton, part of the political establishment.

Even as he tries to claim the moral high ground, Sanders is stepping up his critique of Clinton considerably. For months, he has drawn sharp contrasts with her over issues, and he vowed never to go after her personally or with attack ads.

But at recent campaign stops, Sanders has decried Clintons acceptance of hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from banking and corporate interests in the run-up to her 2016 campaign. He singles out her payments from the giant investment firm Goldman Sachs.

I do not believe that you can get huge speaking fees from Goldman Sachs and then with a straight face tell the American people that youre prepared to do what is necessary to take on the greed and illegal behavior on Wall Street, Sanders said. I dont think people think that passes the laugh test. . . . Why do special powerful interests give you money? Are they dumb? I dont think so.

Recent polls show Sanders pulling even with Clinton in Iowa and outpacing her in New Hampshire, next door to his home state.

Sanderss crowds are swelling. On Sunday, he drew a boisterous audience of 2,200 to a gym at Luther College here in the northeastern corner of Iowa. Sanders said the grass-roots enthusiasm on display at his events positions him to contend for the nomination over the long haul.

What this campaign is about, and Im seeing it every day, is an excitement and energy that does not exist and will not exist in the Clinton campaign, Sanders said in The Post interview. We have the capability to have a very good voter turnout. When we have a very good voter turnout, we retain the White House, we regain the Senate, we do well in the House, and we win statewide elections.

Sanders has taken to starting his rallies by touting polls that show him with larger leads against Trump and other leading Republicans than Clinton. He is trying to argue that he is more likely than Clinton to replicate the kind of general election enthusiasm that propelled Barack Obama to the White House in 2008.

Clinton says that she  not Sanders  is the Democrat whom Republicans fear the most. She cites recent attacks on her from Republicans, including from American Crossroads, the super PAC run by Karl Rove, the former George W. Bush strategist.

Ive got to tell you, this is perversely flattering to have Karl Rove go collect money from the financial industry to start running ads against me, to try to convince Democrats not to support me, Clinton said Saturday in Iowa.

Her allies, including a battery of party leaders, have gone further, arguing that Sanders atop the partys ticket would be catastrophic.

[Top Democrats, and a little bit of Hollywood, are rushing to Iowa to boost Clinton ]

Clinton is trying to make the case that Sanders lacks the experience, judgment and practicality to be an effective president. In that, Sanders said he sees a parallel to 2008.

He said in the interview with The Post, If you look at the arguments theyre raising against me  dont have enough experience in foreign policy, Im a pie-in-the-sky kind of guy and promising things that are unrealistic  I think if you check it out, thats very much what they said about Barack Obama in 2008.

There are indications beyond his message and strategy that Sanders is assuming the trappings of a more traditional politician. He rides around Iowa these days on a hulking, luxurious bus. His avalanche of low-dollar fundraising has enabled him to roughly match Clinton in television advertising. A few months ago, he begrudgingly hired a pollster. And most of his campaign stops are set up by a professional advance staff, orchestrated to provide picturesque angles for the national TV cameras that now follow him.

Sanders has tweaked his appearance, too. That frizzy pile of white hair? He got it cut recently, apparently to look more presidential. Sanders joked at a recent campaign stop that he did so at the insistence of his wife, Jane.

Enough is enough, he recalled her telling him.

Rucker reported from Des Moines.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry walks into the Landmark Hotel on Sunday upon arrival in Vientiane, Laos. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived Sunday in Laos, where the United States is helping the government clear a countryside still littered with unexploded ordnance dating to the Vietnam War.

Kerrys one-day stop for talks with senior officials marks a rare diplomatic visit. He is the third secretary of state in six decades to visit the tiny, landlocked country in Southeast Asia, with John Foster Dulles stopping in 1955 and Hillary Clinton in 2012.

Relations have been standoffish for decades between Washington and the Communist rulers of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, who last week chose a new leader for the single-party government.

But in recent years, the two countries have started to warm to each other.

Kerry came to lay the groundwork for a summit that President Obama will host in February for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a group that Laos chairs this year. Vientiane, the capital, will in turn host Obama at an ASEAN meeting this summer, when he will become the first U.S. president to visit the country.

All of the high-level visiting to Laos is part of the administrations effort to pay more attention to Asia. On Tuesday, Kerry goes to Cambodia, which boasts one of Asias fastest-growing economies. Laos and Cambodia do most of their trade with China, which is aggressively courting Laos with loans and investments. Kerry is trying to help the United States make more inroads.

He arrives in the middle of a political transition that began to transpire after Kerry left Washington and was already in Switzerland, his first stop on an eight-day trip that takes him to four countries.

In Laos, he is not scheduled to meet with Bounnhang Vorachit, the 78-year-old vice president whom the Communist Party on Friday chose to be its new leader. Bounnhang replaces Choummaly Sayasone, 79, who was both party chief and president. The Communist Party holds tight reins on power in the impoverished, mostly rural country.

Kerry, though, plans to meet with Thongsing Thammavong, the prime minister and a Politburo member. Thongsing did not apply to join a new central committee, suggesting that he, like Choummaly, may be leaving power soon.

Kerry also will meet with Thongloun Sisoulith, who wears two hats as deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

Read more

8-year-old boy dies of rare, vaccine-derived poliovirus in Laos

Fred Branfman, who exposed secret U.S. bombing of Laos, dies at 72

Kerry vows multinational group will press for Syrian peace talks to succeed
A civil defense worker carries a child after a reported government airstrike in the northern city of Aleppo, on Jan. 16, 2016, as regime forces battled the Islamic State in Aleppo province. (Karam Al-Masri/AFP/Getty Images)

The Islamic State is intensifying a brutal siege against President Bashar al-Assads last stronghold in eastern Syria in an apparent show of strength as the group suffers battlefield defeats elsewhere.

The extremist organization has unleashed waves of suicide bombers and other attacks in the push to seize government-held areas in the city of Deir al-Zour, according to monitoring groups. An estimated 200,000 people in those areas are running out of food and medicine after a year-long blockade by the group, with the United Nations expressing concern about possible deaths due to starvation.

The citys fall would mark an effective end to the Assad governments control of the vast expanses of eastern Syria, an area that is now mostly divided between Kurdish forces and the Islamic State. It would also

deal a symbolic but important blow to Russias military campaign in Syria, which has helped Assads forces regain momentum against rebels in the western part of the country.

[Russian airstrikes are working in Syria  enough to put peace talks in doubt]

Moscow says it intends to cripple the Islamic State, but the United States and Syrian opposition figures say Russian airstrikes have mostly targeted other groups opposed to Assads rule.

The Islamic States escalating attacks on Deir al-Zour are about reversing setbacks in parts of Syria and Iraq where the group has been losing territory to U.S.-backed opponents, said Emile Hokayem, a Middle East analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Deir al-Zour, once a sleepy farming town known for scenic views of the Euphrates River, is the capital of an oil-producing province of the same name. Most of the province has fallen to Islamic State control.

In recent months, Kurdish forces in Syria have seized vast tracts of land from the extremist group just north of Raqqa, the capital of its self-declared caliphate. The countrys ethnic Kurds, who have fought intense ground battles against the Islamic State, are exploiting the chaos of war to carve out an autonomous enclave in the northeast.

Last month, Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants out of the city of Ramadi, dealing another blow to the militant group in Iraq.

A U.S.-led coalition has conducted airstrikes to help the anti-Islamic State forces in both countries.

The Islamic State has for a year encircled and gradually taken control of Deir al-Zour, about 280 miles east of the capital, Damascus.

Nelly Lahoud, an expert on political Islam at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that news of ISIS seeking to expand its territory serves as a morale boost for its fighters. Its as if they are resuming their conquest phase, a break from their recent contracting phase. The Islamic State is also known as ISIS and ISIL.

The groups attacks against government defenses in the city have become especially brutal in recent weeks, according to monitoring groups and government media. They have reported a massacre, mass kidnappings and waves of suicide attacks, including against a government air base in the area.

Activists from the city, however, say the government has exaggerated those claims.

But the militants appear to have seized a government arms depot in the area that held antitank missiles, artillery and other heavy weapons.

[Death by siege in Syrias civil war: Hundreds of thousands at risk]

Still, analysts say, losing Deir al-Zour could actually benefit Assad, freeing up resources for the fight in western areas of Syria, which are considered more important to his governments survival. Those areas include the capital and territory that runs along the Lebanese border and western coastline. And that is where U.S. officials and Syrian opposition figures say Russia has concentrated its air raids, backing a government-led offensive since late September against rebels that oppose the Islamic State.

I dont expect the regime to put up a big fight against ISIS in Deir al-Zour, said Lina Khatib, a Syria analyst at the Arab Reform Initiative. But she said losing the city would undermine Russias anti-Islamic State narrative to justify its involvement in the civil war, a conflict that has led to more than 250,000 deaths, displaced millions and empowered extremists. The fall of the city would certainly reinforce the notion that the Russian campaign in Syria is definitely not aimed at ISIS, Khatib said.

[Surrounded by suffering, death in a besieged Syrian town]

Still, Moscow says it has stepped up support to its besieged allies in Deir al-Zour, airdropping dozens of tons of humanitarian aid to government-held areas while carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State militants.

On Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 63 people, including nine children, had died in airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes near Deir al-Zour, the Reuters news agency reported.

The humanitarian aid is desperately needed, says the United Nations, which has struggled to deliver food and medicine to government-held areas of the city because of the siege.

Water is available once a week for three hours, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. A report by the U.N. agency this month cited severe malnutrition and possible deaths by starvation.

Perhaps just as problematic for trapped residents, activists from the city say, is the extortion imposed by government officials. For instance, they charge as much as $5,000 for evacuation by helicopter, a sum that few can afford, said Karam al-Hamad, an activist from the city who lives in Turkey. Officials also have been seizing humanitarian aid and selling it to desperate residents at exorbitant prices, he said.

The people are trapped, and the regime is benefiting from the siege, Hamad said.

Read more:

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Armenta Eaton and her mother, Rosanell Eaton, 94, at their home in Louisburg, N.C. The elder Eaton is a plaintiff in the lawsuit over North Carolinas voter-ID law. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

Rosanell Eaton still remembers the day 70 years ago when she traveled two hours with her mother in a mule-drawn wagon to register to vote at the county courthouse. Before she could, she was forced to take a literacy test.

What are you here for, little lady? Eaton recalls a man at the courthouse asking her. When she told him, he instructed her, Dont miss a word, and speak the preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Without missing a word, I did it, she said.

Now 94, the North Carolina resident has voted in every election since and worked to register thousands of others to cast their own ballots. But last year, because of a new state voting law, Eaton said she and her daughter had to make 10 trips to the Division of Motor Vehicles, drive more than 200 miles and spend more than 20 hours to obtain one of the required forms of voter identification because the name on her identifying document, her drivers license, did not exactly match that on her voter registration.

The photo-ID rules  part of one of the strictest voting laws in the country  will go on trial in a federal courthouse Monday in the first battle over the ballot this presidential year.

[This is why the Voting Rights Act is on trial in North Carolina]

The ID requirements, set to be used in the March presidential primary, were included in a bill passed by North Carolinas legislature that also reduced the number of days of early voting, prohibited people from registering and voting on the same day, stopped ballots cast in the wrong precinct from being counted, and ended the practice of preregistering teenagers before they turned 18.

Republican legislators say they imposed the new restrictions to combat voter fraud and to preserve the integrity of the voting system. In court papers filed last week, lawyers for the state said the groups that have challenged the law have found no evidence that any single voter will be unable to vote under the photo ID law.

Before a 2013 Supreme Court decision, North Carolina would not have been able to enact the voting changes without the approval of the Justice Department or a federal court. Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, North Carolina was one of nine mostly Southern states, along with individual jurisdictions in six other states, that because of their history of discrimination were required to receive federal approval, or pre-clearance, before making changes in voting laws.

Within weeks of the Supreme Courts decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which effectively nullified the part of the Voting Rights Act requiring such permissions, North Carolina passed its new law. The Justice Department and several civil rights groups sued.

[How has voting changed since Shelby County v. Holder?]

What happened in North Carolina and other states immediately after Shelby is an indication of how wrongly decided that case was, former U.S. attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a recent interview.

Last summer, U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder held a three-week trial on most of the new voting law. Schroeder, who is deciding the case without a jury, has not ruled.

But on the eve of that trial, the North Carolina legislature added an amendment modifying the photo-ID requirement in the law, so that section was not part of the case. It is the photo-ID requirement that will go on trial Monday.

Even with the amendment, which allows certain exceptions, civil rights leaders argue that the new rules will disenfranchise minority voters, who are less likely to have one of the required forms of photo ID  and they have compared the fight for voting rights now to the marches in Selma, Ala., during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, which sued the state, called the law an immoral and unconstitutional burden on voters.

We are prepared to challenge this modern form of Jim Crow in the court, Barber said.

North Carolinas Republican governor, Pat McCrory, declined to comment. Thomas A. Farr, a lawyer representing the state, also declined to comment. But in court last summer, he took issue with the Selma comparison.

What is the dastardly thing that North Carolina has done that has been equated to the terrible things that happened in Selma? Farr asked Schroeder. What they did, Your Honor, is they enacted election regulations that represent the majority rule in most of the states in this country.

Suing the state

Four years ago, North Carolina went from one of the lowest-ranked states in voter turnout to one of the highest, after civil rights groups pushed for and won measures to increase voter participation, including the expansion of early voting, same-day registration and the counting of out-of-precinct provisional ballots.

Turnout among North Carolinas African American voters skyrocketed from 41.9 percent in 2000 to 68.5 percent in 2012, Barber said in an interview. The Latino electorate also grew in numbers and political participation, he said.

Given these demographic shifts, and without any prospects of expanding registration among white voters, Barber said, evidence shows that state legislators intentionally sought to restrict opportunities for voters of color to participate, because it makes no sense otherwise.

In June 2013, the Supreme Court, in its 5-to-4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, ruled that it was up to Congress to devise a new formula to determine which states should be subject to the requirements of pre-clearance by the Justice Department. Congress has not acted.

[Supreme Court stops use of key part of Voting Rights Act]

Without congressional action, no states or counties are required to obtain federal approval before implementing new voting laws.

One month later, North Carolinas General Assembly passed the bill. Shortly afterward, McCrory signed it.

Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote, McCrory said then.

The NAACP and other groups sued North Carolina, saying that voter fraud was not a significant problem in the state and that racial minorities would be disproportionately affected as they were less likely to possess the newly required forms of identification.

In September 2013, the Justice Department also sued North Carolina. Because Justice officials could no longer use Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which had given them pre-clearance authority, they turned to Section 2, which prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language-minority group.

[For the governments top lawyer on voting rights, the presidential election has begun]

They pointed to a report released earlier that year by the North Carolina State Board of Elections showing that African Americans disproportionately lacked photo identification cards issued by the states Division of Motor Vehicles.

The right to vote is one of the sacred rights that we hold dear as a nation, said Jocelyn Samuels, who was then acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments civil rights division. North Carolina adopted these changes in a rushed process, despite evidence before the legislators that a number of these changes will harm minority voters.

Reasonable impediment

Eaton, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, lives with her daughter in a rural area of Louisburg, about 45 minutes from Raleigh. After she registered to vote in the 1940s, Eaton became a poll worker and eventually was chosen by the county commissioner to serve as a registrar commissioner and help others register to vote. Over the years, she said, she registered more than 4,000 people.

I think it is because my foreparents or forefathers didnt have the opportunity of registering and voting, she said at a court hearing.

But after McCrory signed the voting bill, Eaton herself had difficulty getting new voter-identification documents.

The spelling of her name on her various underlying documents didnt match the way her name was portrayed on her voter registration, said Denise Lieberman, a senior attorney with the Advancement Project, which represents the NAACP and other plaintiffs. And thats one of the more common reasons that people have these difficulties complying with North Carolinas voter-ID law.

Eatons drivers license had her name as Rosanell Eaton. But the name on her North Carolina voter-registration card was Rosanell Johnson Eaton, a combination of her maiden and married names. In trying to correct the name on her drivers license by going to several DMV locations, she discovered that her birth date on her Social Security card was 1923 rather than 1921. She believed that in order to vote, she needed to correct the discrepancy to match her birth certificate and guarantee that her birth certificate and other legal documents were consistent.

Last summer, before the trial was to begin, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an amendment that allows voters to cast provisional ballots if they are unable to obtain one of the specified forms of identification and if they can show they have a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, including lack of transportation, illness, lack of a birth certificate or work schedule.

Lawyers representing North Carolina say education and training efforts on the new law are robust, according to their trial brief.

But civil rights leaders argue that state elections officials have insufficiently educated the public about the amendment and that there are many unanswered questions about what constitutes a reasonable impediment.

Voters who dont think they have the right documents will be intimidated and stay away from the polls, Barber said.

The right to vote is supposed to be constitutional, not confusing, he said.

Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report.
Over 100 killed in air strikes, clashes with IS militants in Iraq

2016-01-23 23:31

BAGHDAD, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Up to 62 Islamic State (IS) militants and 48 security members were killed on Saturday in U.S.-led coalition air strikes, four suicide bomb attacks and clashes with Iraqi security forces, security sources said.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, three suicide bombers drove their booby-trapped vehicles into bases of Iraqi federal police and detonated them in Kilo 70 area in west of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, leaving some 43 policemen killed and destroying five police vehicles, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a military base and blew it up in Tal Msheheidah area, just east of Ramadi, killing five security members and wounding 11 others, along with destroying two military vehicles, the source said.

Separately, U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out air strikes on IS positions in the desert area in north of Ramadi, leaving at least 53 IS militants killed, the source added without giving further details.

Security forces and paramilitary Sunni tribal units captured downtown Ramadi from IS control on Dec. 28, raising the Iraqi flag on the government complex there, but small parts of the city has not yet been fully secured due to a large numbers of bombs planted by the IS and because the troops wanted to avoid casualties among civilians.

In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, Iraqi security forces repelled IS attacks on al-Fat'ha area, some 40 km north the provincial capital city of Tikrit, when dozens of the extremist militants at dawn attacked the nearby power station after they crossed Tigris River by boats, while dozens others attacked al-Fat'ha area through its main road, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua.

The fierce clashes between the two sides resulted in the killing of at least nine IS militants, the source said without giving further details.

The predominated Sunni Arab province of Salahudin has been the scene of a major offensive by Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, which managed to retake control of key towns of the province from the hands of IS militants, except for the northern areas of the province, including the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad.

Iraq is currently witnessing a wave of violence since the IS terrorist group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions since June 2014.
Abbas: Palestinians coordinating with France to convene int'l peace conference

2016-01-24 13:31

RAMALLAH, Jan. 23, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during an open meeting with local and international media representatives in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Jan. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Fadi Arouri)

RAMALLAH, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Saturday that Palestinian leadership is coordinating with France to convene an international peace conference with Israel, with the support of Arab states.

Abbas said during a meeting with journalists in the West Bank city of Ramallah that the move aims at "establishing a mechanism to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and implementing the Arab peace initiative."

The Arab peace initiative, adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut in March 2002, says Arab countries will normalize relations with Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from Arab territories taken in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and an independent Palestinian state is established with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Abbas also announced that after consultation with the Council of Arab Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Palestinian leadership will go to the UN Security Council "to stop settlement expansion over the Palestinian land, as well as to provide international protection for the Palestinian people from Israel's ongoing attacks, especially by the settlers."

He stressed that "an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, on the borders of 1967, would come true, and we will stay on our land, regardless of the magnitude of the challenges."

Abbas reiterated that he will not accept any signed agreements with the Israeli side if Israel continues to ignore the agreements, and will not accept any temporary solutions which do not meet Palestinian legitimate rights.

Throughout 2015, there were no serious actions to resume the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which had been stalled since 2014. The talks lasted for nine months under the U.S. sponsorship, but it failed in early 2014, due to deep differences between over borders and settlement.

The last four months witnessed the outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. More than 100 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, while dozens of Israelis were killed in a series of shooting, stabbing and cars ramming attacks carried out by Palestinian youths.

Palestinian factions, opposing the peace process, call the wave an "Intifada" or uprising, while the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) calls it a "Popular Blast" and holds Israel responsible for it.

In his first meeting with journalists in 2016, Abbas stressed the need to form a national unity government with the participation of all factions, including the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and to hold the general elections three months after the establishment of the new government.

He stressed readiness to meet Hamas for reconciliation and ending the internal division since 2007 when Hamas movement violently seized control of the coastal enclave.
China's Haier profits rise 20 percent in 2015

2016-01-23 22:25

QINGDAO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's leading home appliance maker Haier said its profits jumped 20 percent year on year to 18 billion yuan (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, despite falling global sales.

Haier's global sales reached 188.7 billion yuan last year, down six percent year on year, due to global economic downturn and business adjustment of the company, said Zhou Yunjie, rotating president of Haier, in the company's annual meeting on Saturday.

Haier is dismantling its traditional corporate structure in favor of building an open platform where people can bring in their own ideas and resources to develop new products and services, said Zhang Ruimin, chairman of Haier.

Over the past decade, Haier got rid of 20,000 middle managers, hoping to transform into an incubator for innovators, according to Zhang.

Haier accounts for over 10 percent of worldwide home appliance sales, according to a 2014 survey by Euromonitor. Earlier this month, the company announced its purchase of U.S. conglomerate GE's appliances business.
The High Court had earlier expunged the remarks by the Kozhikode sessions court that the attire of the survivor at the time of the alleged assault was sexually provocative.
Syrian pro-government forces recaptured Rabiya, a key rebel-held town in coastal Latakia province, on Sunday, building on battlefield advances in the area before planned peace talks this week in Geneva.

Government troops and allied fighters, supported by Russian airpower and joined on the ground by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces, have pressed offensives in Syria's west and northwest in recent months, seeking to reverse gains made by insurgents last year.

The latest advance comes before peace talks originally set for Monday but now likely delayed, partly because of a dispute over which opposition groups will be included in the negotiations. Also, the opposition said that before it joins talks, Russia must stop bombing civilian areas and Damascus must lift sieges of rebel-held areas.

The recapture of Rabiya paves the way for an advance to the border with Turkey, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state television confirmed Rabiyas capture.

Turkey supports insurgents battling the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, who has the backing of Russia and Iran.

The Observatory described Rabiya as the second-most-important base for [rebel] fighters in the northern Latakia countryside, after the town of Salma, which pro-government forces seized earlier this month in one of the most significant advances since Russia joined the fight.

The United States has said it is confident the talks in Geneva will go ahead this week despite continued disagreements.

Lead opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry put pressure on the rebels to attend the Geneva talks in order to negotiate a halt to Russian bombardments, the lifting of blockades and the release of detainees  measures the opposition has insisted must be implemented before any negotiations go ahead.

Kerry came to pressure us to give up our humanitarian rights, Alloush, a politburo member of rebel group Jaysh Al-Islam, told Reuters. There will be a big response to these pressures, he added, without elaborating.

Asked about the chances of negotiations going ahead, he said, We leave this to the coming hours.

Earlier a Western diplomat said talks would be unlikely to begin before Wednesday, with the opposition negotiating team, formed after a conference in Saudi Arabia last month, taking stock in Riyadh until Tuesday.

The United Nations has said it will not issue invitations to talks until major powers reach agreement on which rebel representatives should attend. United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura had been expected to issue invitations on Sunday.

Syrian rebel groups said on Saturday they held the Syrian government and Russia responsible for any failure of talks.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

Washington is waging an air campaign against the group in areas it controls in northern and eastern Syria.

Russia is separately striking ISIL, including in Deir al-Zor province, where, the Syrian Observatory said on Sunday, raids believed to be carried out by Russian jets killed 63 people.

The Syrian conflict, which began in 2011, has killed an estimated 250,000 people and displaced 11 million others.

Reuters
And its not just for the tourists: Every summer thousands of vacationing Swedes, Danes and Norwegians flock to that Scandinavian version of the Renaissance Faire, the Viking market. Norse mythology and the Viking esthetic have provided plenty of fodder for kitsch souvenirs and ideas that we not only sell to tourists but also, to a large extent, buy into ourselves.

It should come as no surprise that the news of a new temple to the Norse gods has drawn such attention: Along with progressive politics and the Nordic welfare model, narratives of the pillaging Vikings and their gods are arguably what make up the total of peoples associations with Scandinavia in much of the world. Its enough to take a stroll down the main streets of Stockholms Old Town  or similar tourist traps in Oslo, or Reykjavik  to realize that Vikings are good for business: Norse-themed dolls, t-shirts, and costumes are for sale at every souvenir store. Horned Viking helmets , sometimes completed with a fringe of blonde hair glued to the rim, are particularly popular. (There is no evidence that the Vikings ever attached horns to their helmets.)

In recent decades, membership in Asatruarfelagi has grown to about 2,400  a not insignificant sum in a country of only 330,000  and has become the largest non-Christian religious community in Iceland. Asatru movements in Sweden, Denmark and Norway are more modest, with members numbering a few hundred in each country, but they are growing steadily.

This current notoriety is a far cry from the humble beginnings of Asatruarfelagi. Founded in 1972 by Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson, a sheep farmer and writer of rimur , a form of epic poetry ( here he is, chanting the poetic Edda), the original congregation numbered just about a dozen souls. Nonetheless, in 1973 the association applied for, and received, official recognition as a faith-based organization with the right to perform marriages and funerals as well as to collect congregation tax. The worship of Odin, Thor, Freya and the other gods of the old Norse pantheon became an officially recognized religion exactly 973 years after Icelands official conversion to Christianity. This conversion was agreed upon at the Althing in 1000 AD; consensus was reached, with characteristic Scandinavian pragmatism, with the help of three compromises: the new Christians would still be allowed to eat horsemeat, abandon unwanted infants in the wilderness and worship the old gods in the privacy of their homes.

High priest Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson has had a lot on his plate lately. He is the leader of Asatruarfelagi, Icelands largest association of followers of Asatru, the Norse neopagan religion, and ever since news hit the international press that his association would soon be breaking ground on the first temple to the Norse gods in 1000 years , his inbox has been flooded with inquiries from foreign journalists . Asatru ceremonies have been disturbed by curious tourists.

No other period in Scandinavian history has become so mythologized. Ideas about our Viking ancestors and our pagan past are inextricably tied to our understanding of our history, culture and national identity. Norse mythology and symbolism has a long history of being used and abused to suit the needs of the time. Interest first surged in the Scandinavian countries during the romantic nationalist period in the 19th century, when it was used in attempts to forge a unified nation and a common ethnic identity. Painters such as Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson explored Norse themes, as did writers such as Erik Gustaf Geijer and composers such as Edvard Grieg. To a large extent, the movement was successful: The imagery and narratives that were developed during this time remain in the popular imagination today.

No less kitsch but all the more troubling is the extensive use of Norse symbols and mythology by Neo-Nazi movements both in and outside Scandinavia. Runic letters and other symbols have become so tied to these groups that their use in any context has become suspect. Excessive interest in Norse mythology carries the whiff of fascism.

Of the Asatru movements that exist in Scandinavia today, however, none have any ties to Nazi groups or espouse racist ideologies. Asatru in its current form developed in the 1970s, and has more in common with other alternative nature religions that sprang up at around the same time, such as Wicca and other forms of neoshamanism. They are largely apolitical, with a progressive, environmentalist bent. In the words of Samfundet Forn Sed, the largest Asatru association in Sweden, they acknowledge all humans as equals regardless of gender, origin or sexual preference and shall also uphold religious tolerance in a multicultural society. Contemporary Asatru seeks communion with nature, eschews religious dogma, does not proselytize and allows people of all faiths to partake in ceremonies. In Iceland, Asatruarfelagi was an early advocate for same-sex marriage.

As such, the modern Asatru followers have probably strayed quite far from the original beliefs and practices of the Norse pagans. The fact is, however, that very little is actually known about these pre-Christian religious belief and practices. What we know of Norse mythology has been gathered from a host of largely secondary sources. Even the Eddas, which remain the major source of knowledge on Norse mythology, were not written down until the 13th century, after couple of centuries of Christian cultural dominance. What we know is so fragmentary that it is not even certain that the different sources describe a single, uniform religion  its an open question whether there is an original belief at all.

High priest Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson takes this substantial lack of evidence in stride, and is happy to admit that his faith is in large part a creative reimagining of an ancient religion, or romantiquarianism, as he calls it. It may well be this very dearth of any certainties is what gives Asatru its appeal: In an increasingly secularized and individualist society, it offers a comfortable middle ground. Followers are able to satisfy their spiritual needs within a framework that feels authentic, true to some kind of ancestral identity, but at the same time is empty and flexible enough to fit in with modern values and concerns.

In most of Scandinavia, Asatru followers have been largely dismissed, either as blood-obsessed Nazis, or as live action role-players who ended up taking their LARP a little too seriously. Only time will tell, but the Icelandic example suggests that there may be space for a more serious movement. Who knows  it may well be that a revival of Norse paganism is the most fitting religion for our time: The ruthless measures of strength and amoral intrigues of the Icelandic sagas a more perfect mirror for our constant competition under global capitalism; a sustainable life in tune with nature our only salvation; and a pantheon of imperfect gods for our fractured, willful selves.
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If you've been on an international flight lately, you'll know that restrictions on carry-on items are easing ever so slightly.

Sure, you still have to put liquids in those zip-loc bags, but it was a damn sight worse a few years ago. However, bringing sharp objects as carry-on for a flight is still considered a big no-no. Unfortunately, someone flying out of San Juan Luis Munoz Airport in Puerto Rico didn't realise it.

In a recent post by the TSA's official blog, they posted a story about someone who attempted to bring a Klingon bat'leth onto a flight. Yes, that sword-thing used by Lt. Commander Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The item, which was put in a carry-on bag, was confiscated by the TSA and posted to their site. It wasn't the first time, either. A similar-looking item was recovered in New Jersey's LaGuardia Airport in 2012 that looked almost identical to the one above.

The TSA also reported that a number of Batarangs - those are the boomerangs Batman uses - were recovered numerous times throughout 2015, making quite an impressive little collection of nerd weaponry.

Via TSA
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A JTA interview with Hershey Friedman, the wealthy haredi businessman who bought Agriprocessors and turned it into Agri Star, makes it seem as if Agri Star's slaughter is now humane. But is it?

Above: Hershey Friedman

The JTA has an interview with Hershey Friedman, the wealthy haredi businessman who purchased the Agriprocessors glatt kosher slaughterhouse after it went into bankruptcy months after the massive immigration raid and criminal the subsequent criminal indictment of the plant's VP (and, in practice, CEO) Sholom Rubashkin. Rubashkin was convicted in federal court on 86 financial fraud charges and lost every appeal of that conviction and of the27-year prison sentence he is currently serving.

Friedman, who renamed Agriprocessors "Agri Star," touts the changes he has made in the old plant to improve animal handling and humane slaughter, and the JTA report cites an article in a meat industry journal, Meatingplace, that seems to back him up.

But does it?

The article was written by Erika Voogd, a meat industry consultant who is paid by Agri Star. While the article cites summarized results of unannounced audits, it does not answer key questions about those audits and about directly related issues unique to that plant  issues that made international news a decade ago because the animal welfare abuse there was so cruel.

Voogd's Meatingplace article was a column, not a straight news report, and that meant Meatingplace wouldn't have fact-checked it like it would if it was straight news.

So I asked Voogd for corroborating information, and I also asked her several questions about the audit process, the plant's rotating pen  and whether or not the plant was still doing a so-called "second cut" in which a non-Jewish plant employee used a meat hook and a regular knife to hack at the throat of fully conscious animals animals only seconds after the kosher slaughter cut had been made by a shochet:

Hi, Erika. I read your Meatingplace article on Agri Star after I saw it mentioned in a JTA article on Agri Stars owner. I have a few quick questions about how the unannounced audits you talk about work, the slaughter/post slaughter process, and some equipment questions. Equipment: Is Agri Star still using the same rotating pen Agriprocessors used? If so, what specific modifications were made to it? Is there a mandated maintenance schedule for the pen that auditors assure is being met? In the past, the issue with that plant and that pen went past how shochets were trained. There was an issue of cutting too deep, which could cause a knife to strike the metal of the restraint and become nicked. That caused shochets to make shallow cuts [which caused the animals to fail to quickly bleed out and lose consciousness]. What, if anything, has been done to change this? Are animals always allowed to become fully unconscious before the rotating pen is revolved after slaughter and before the animals are dumped down the chute to the concrete floor? Second Cut: Agriprocessors used a second cut procedure. Immediately after the shochet cut the animals neck, a non-rabbi worker used a regular knife and meathook to slash inside the shochets cut. This was often done while the animal was still conscious. Is this or any similar procedure still being used today? If so, is it reflected in those audits you cite? Or is it beyond the scope of those audits? Unannounced Audits: How much time elapses from the moment the auditor(s) enter Agri Stars property to the auditors appearance at the slaughter point? Are we talking about 2 or 3 minutes? Or is the time longer than that? Do auditors put on their boots, coveralls, hard hats, and other safety-wear outside plant property and in a place and manner in which Agri Star and its employees are not made aware of the auditor(s) presence in Postville? Or do the auditors don and doff inside the plant? Are you or your consulting company paid by Agri Star or any of its affiliates or owners? Are the other third party audits you cite done for outside groups like the AMI? Or are they all done for Agri Star directly and paid for by Agri Star directly? Which firm does those audits? Id like to see the audits for 2011, 2014 and 2015. Can you share those with me, please?

Voogd responded by saying she needed permission from Agri Star to answer my questions:

I am going to refer your questions to the Agri Star plant representatives and determine how best to reply. My consulting with plants is considered confidential and I would need permission from the plant management to respond.

Shortly afterward Voogd told me she would not be able to answer my questions:

If you refer to the Meatingplace article, you will have details about the program at Agri-Star and many of the plant modifications. They are doing a very good job. This is all I can provide at this time.

The Meatingplace article, which I'm reproducing in full below, does not answer the donning and doffing questions I asked. It also does not address the amount of time the plant has from the moment it knows an auditor is in Postville to the time the actual auditing begins. It does not answer the question about shallow cuts, and it does not answer the question about the second cut.

Temple Grandin, the world's foremost authority on animal welfare in commercial slaughter situations who is cited by Voogd in her Meatingplace article, told me personally years ago that for the Postville plant to be trusted, it needed to be completely transparent. She even advocated for a system that would have the slaughter floor and animal handling areas on live 24/7 video broadcast on the Internet. But what we have at Agri Star is the exact opposite of this.

Should you trust that Agri Star is now "doing a very good job," as Voogd claims?

I wouldn't, especially when you realize many of the same people who presided over the Agriprocessors debacle are still employed in management roles in the plant including, last I heard, at least one Rubashkin family member.

The JTA for whatever reason didn't ask the questions it should have and it misreported one key fact when it wrote without qualification that "in a recent audit, fewer than 2 percent of animals took more than 30 seconds to lose consciousness after their throats were cut  excellent by industry standards, Voogd wrote." That should read "excellent by kosher industry standards." In the rest of large animal slaughter business, animals lose consciousness several seconds (at the most) after being shot in the head with a captive bolt stun gun. (The newer generation of these captive bolt guns have a very low misfire rate. Haredi defenders of shechita like to cite the higher misfire rates of the first generation of these captive bolt guns without telling readers the newer guns are far better. Those newer guns have been in widespread use for decade or more.)

But even in the brief fluff piece, the JTA's Uriel Heilman did manage to call out Friedman for some of his more obvious non-slaughter-related misstatements, like when Friedman claimed all Israelis begin IDF service at age 16 (the actual age is 18 and can even be 19 if a person is still a high school student on his or her 18th birthday) and that Israelis don't pay a penny for university education (they actually pay tuition, and many Israeli university students are forced to first serve in the IDF for almost three years and then work full time while attending university just so they can pay tuition and eat).

Did Agri Star spend millions to improve the plant's animal handling as he claims? The plant flooded during the bankruptcy and had severe maintenance issues for years before that  so severe that much of its equipment was junk and was so worthless, creditors didn't want to repossess it. Millions had to be spent to replace this equipment and repair damage to the plant.

Were those repairs made with animal welfare kept in mind? They could have been, but newer support equipment for slaughterhouses like ramps and chutes already have many of the necessary animal welfare modifications included. That means animal handling pre-slaughter is almost certainly better than it was when the Rubashkin family owned the plant, but it does not address slaughter issues themselves.

The questions Voogd did not answer  especially my questions about shallow cuts and the inhumane second cut  directly related to that and are key to knowing if Agri Star is truly humane or not. Until those questions are answered, take your meat from Agri Star  if you take it at all  with a very large grain of salt.

Here's the Meatingplace.com article reprinted with permission:
The third time was not a charm for South African police, who reportedly tried  and failed  to arrest Breslov hasidic Rabbi Eliezer Berland on Shabbat. But what really upset Berland and his followers is that the police had the help of Hebrew-speaking Jews who violated Shabbat in a bid to arrest him.

Above: Rabbi Eliezer Berland

South African Cops Try But Fail To Arrest Sex-Pest Hasidic Rabbi

Shmarya Rosenberg  FailedMessiah.com

The third time was not a charm for South African police, who reportedly tried  and failed  to arrest Shuvu Banim Breslov hasidic sect leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland on Shabbat, Behadrei Haredim reported. Berland was able to escape with the help of his followers, many of whom are Israeli ex-cons.

Berland is wanted in Israel on sex assault charges leveled by a several female followers (one of whom was minor below the age of consent when the alleged assault took place). He has allegedly been living in a village near Johannesburg since jumping bail in the Netherlands last year. Before that, he fled, was expelled from, or escaped from countries as diverse as Morocco, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands.

Berland jumped bail in the Netherlands after exhausting all legal means to stave off deportation to Israel and disappeared. He eventually allegedly reappeared in South Africa  a country that had twice-previously tried to arrest him.

But this time it was supposed to be different. Rumors of bribes given to South African politicians and police swirled. Berlands people spoke openly of building a new community there and even launched a fundraising campaign for a new yeshiva.

But then Saturday, not long before the end of Shabbat, South African police raided the village where Berland is supposedly living. With police were allegedly Hebrew-speaking Jews there to help get information from Berlands followers. Police and their Jewish helpers reportedly went went house-to-house, police with their guns drawn, looking for Berland. But Berlands followers somehow managed to hide Berland and then smuggle him out of the village to safety.

In Berlands previous stay in South Africa, he twice escaped police attempts to arrest him, one in a way similar to what appears to have taken place yesterday and another time by evading police in high speed car chase.

Today, Breslov hasidim and their supporters in the haredi community bitterly complained about the Hebrew-speaking Jews Shabbat desecration in the latest failed bid to arrest Berland and accused South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein of being behind the incident.

Goldstein had allegedly recently complained to Berlands assistants about weddings and other religious ceremonies performed by Berland without the necessary legal right to do so and without clearing it with South Africas Chief Rabbinate, and Berlands followers attributed Goldsteins alleged actions to jealousy.

"Even the locals come to pray with Rabbi Berland and not with Rabbi Goldstein," some of Berlands followers told Behadrei Haredim.

But Goldstein initially helped Berland and followers when they came to South Africa the first time two years ago. But almost immediately Goldstein soured on Berland and his hasidim after the hasidim trashed parks, vacation resorts, motels, and became a national spectacle while Berland showed a near-complete disregard for that and for South African law.

Related Posts:

All Rabbi Eliezer Berland Posts.
More than one-third suicides in Israel over the past decade were new immigrants, but the State of Israel is steadfastly refusing to fund services for new immigrants that would reduce that suicide rate because the state says it is not a priority."

State Of Israel Says It Is Not A Priority To Fund Suicide Prevention And Mental Health Services For New Immigrants, Even Though One-Third Of Israeli Suicides Are New Immigrants

Shmarya Rosenberg  FailedMessiah.com

More than one-third suicides in Israel over the past decade were new immigrants, but the State of Israel is steadfastly refusing to fund services for new immigrants that would reduce that suicide rate because the state says it is not a priority, Haaretz reported.

Eran, which operates a psychological crisis hotline, reportedly gets about 18,000 calls a year from new immigrants. About one out of every 18 of those calls are from or about suicidal people.

From 2000-2013, 4,806 committed suicide. 1,658 of them were new immigrants, most from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.

The IDFs figures reportedly show that 37% of the soldiers who commit suicide are new immigrants.

But despite the frequent lip service the prime minister and the State of Israel give to aliyah, the state has consistently refused to pay for mental health needs of new immigrants. In 2015, more than 30,000 Jews made aliyah. None of them get mental health benefits from state.

The only help these new immigrants get is from Erans hotline.

Erans hotline gets no state funding even though it runs 24/7 in three languages  Hebrew, Russian and Arabic. (Eran also operates a special service for Holocaust survivors that does receive state funding through the Social Affairs Ministry.) There is no suicide hotline service in Amharic, the language of Ethiopian Jews, or Spanish or French, and services for Russian-speakers are spotty. (Many secular Israelis speak English, although it is unclear whether those volunteering for Eran have the vocabulary to properly deal with an English-speaking caller.)

The past year has seen a major leap in aliyah from France, and Eran asked Israels Immigration Ministry to finance hotlines in Amharic and French, which would cover the two largest unserved immigrant populations. It says it needs 500,000 shekels (about $126,000) to fund those hotlines and train 500 volunteers to staff them.

The Immigration Ministry refused to allocate the money to Eran and even said this need was not a priority for the state, Erans head, David Koren, told Haaretz.

Until a decade ago, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry used to fund us, but they stopped, Koren continued. The immigrants are no longer immigrants, they told us, and they dont need a hotline. According to all the studies and figures, immigrants run a greater risk of suffering a [psychological] crisis, and this situation doesnt end when their absorption money ends. Also, there are no lines in Amharic and French and not enough [trained] volunteers for the Russian language line. Sometimes a Russian-speaker calls and theres no one to answer him and we look for volunteers who can call him back. Telling a person in crisis that someone will get back to him is not an ideal situation. By the time someone gets back to him, he may no longer want the aid [or be dead].

The state refusal to fund Eran bothers Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee Chairman MK Avraham Nagosa of the Likud Party, a PhD in education who is himself an immigrant from Ethiopia.

Its absurd that such a vital service doesnt receive sufficient support from the state. Beyond the general psychological distress that all people may suffer, new immigrants have unique problems like authority crisis, loneliness and livelihood difficulties, Nagosa said after visiting Erans headquarters last week.

Committee member MK Ksenia Svetlova of the opposition Zionist Union Party said she was shocked such an important need isnt even on the cabinet ministries agenda.

Immigration is a one-day thing, Svetlova, who was born in the Former Soviet Union, said, but absorption is for life.

The Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee reportedly decided to hold a meeting with officials from the Finance, Health and Absorption ministries to get money to Eran so it can train volunteers who speak Amharic and French to man its hotline.

The quasi-governmental Jewish Agency also lashed out the state for its refusal to fund Eran.

My whole professional life Ive dealt with immigrants and Im very aware of the lack of services for them, all the more so these days with the increase of immigration from France and the psychological distress some immigrants develop. Its critical that the person on the hotline speaks the callers language. We have no other help for them, the Director of Social Services at the Jewish Agency, Mira Keidar, said.
Above: Remy Ilona. (Credit: William F.S. Miles.)

The Forward reports:

[Remy] Ilonas success [at documenting the Igbo tribes oral history of Israelite ancestry] belies difficult questions that face the Judaizing communities of Nigeriaand others emerging elsewhere. Can these communities, each with their own stories, be accepted by global Jewry as they are? And, in looking for acceptance, where should they turn? Who are the gatekeepers to Judaism today?

The Igbos oral history of their Israelite origin, foundational for Ilonas work, has perhaps posed the most challenges. In one case, detailed in Liss book, which began in 1988, an Igbo man named Chima Onyeuloa one time soldier in the Biafran War, who had also lived in Italytried to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. Regional rabbinical courts in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the Ministry of the Interior and the Chief Rabbinate all weighed in.

The religious authorities told Onyeulo repeatedly that he would have to convert. He wasnt interested. Arguing his case, Onyeulo offered both Igbo and colonial accounts of Jewish customs among his people. (The chief rabbi of Israels Ethiopian Jews also spoke on Onyeulos behalf.) But in 1994, Israels Supreme Court dismissed the case. There are no historical, halachic or national grounds, the court ruled, to view the members of the Igbo tribe as Jews.

[Even so, rabbis from the Conservative Movement (and even one or two from parts of Orthodoxy) have been involved with trying to help the tribe for want of a better term, Judaize, and Kulanu, a Jewish organization which reaches out to groups of "lost" Jews helped the Igbo open a modest Jewish center several years ago.]

In 2006, around 80 Tel Aviv-based Igbos went through a mass conversion, overseen by rabbinical judges from the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic community. But because most of the converts did not hold residency permits, they were kicked out. (Despite deportation, they continued practicing Judaism while back in Nigeria, said Ilona, who was close with one of the men.)

Kulanu has been most active in Nigeria, but Shavei Israel, an Israel-based foundation that supports isolated communities, may also offer a path into the mainstream. Unlike Kulanu, Shavei places a special emphasis on immigration to Israel. Its outreach elsewhere has been fruitful: The organization has helped thousands of Bnei Menashe from India, who hold similar claims of Israelite heritage, immigrate to Israel. Controversially, many were initially settled in the West Bank. This past May, Shavei sent its first emissary to Nigeria.

[Noted academic Tudor] Parfitt, whose scholarly work has focused on such remote communities with Jewish claims, estimates that apart from Jews already ensconced within mainstream Jewry, there are 14 million self-identifying Jews worldwide
Israels Zionist Orthodox-controlled Education Ministry has withheld millions of dollars in funding for organizations promoting Jewish pluralism, despite the fact that funding was allocated and earmarked in the state budget. Instead, the ministry appears to have given the money to Zionist Orthodox and haredi groups.

Above: Naftali Bennett, left; Benjamin Netanyahu, right

Zionist Orthodox Education Minister Withholds Millions Of Dollars From Non-Orthodox NGOs, Gives The Money To Orthodox And Haredi Groups Instead

Shmarya Rosenberg  FailedMessiah.com

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks about Israel being the homeland of all Jews and recognized Jewish religious movements, its unlikely he really means it.

Israels Zionist Orthodox-controlled Education Ministry has withheld funding for organizations promoting Jewish pluralism, despite the fact that funding was allocated and earmarked in the state budget, Haaretz reported.

Instead, the 16.5 million shekels (just over $4.1 million) earmarked for non-governmental organizations that promote religious pluralism appear to have been given to Orthodox organizations.

Those 16.5 million shekels were part of the larger 290 million shekels allocated for Jewish culture. Almost all 273.5 million shekels were already scheduled to go to Orthodox and haredi groups.

The sudden cut in government funding has reportedly caused the organizations promoting pluralism to dramatically cut back their activities and some are teetering on the edge of going dormant altogether.

The impacted NGOs criticized Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who is the head of the right-wing Zionist Orthodox HaBayit HaYehudi Party, of acting out of narrow sectarian interests. Bennett and his aides reportedly declined to comment. But the Education Ministry did tell the NGOs  after months of stonewalling and evasion  that the regulation that allows them to get the money allocated to them in the state budget has been suspended at this stage.

The NGOs are, understandably, upset. First, they wrote a letter to Bennett asking him to release to them the money they were promised and encouraged Bennett to regard this issue from a statesmanlike point of view, as befitting the education minister of all of Israel.

That did not work.

Then, at the end of December they sent Bennett another letter explaining what the lack of funding was doing to their programs and projects, and what it meant for their continued existence. A great investment that was made on the basis of expecting the states support has gone down the drain, that letter to Bennett reportedly said.

Bennett still did not give the NGOs their money.

When Bennett entered office we expected the funding of dozens of organizations that make Jewish culture accessible to Israeli society to continue and even to grow, Michal Berman, who heads an umbrella group, Panim, that represents the pluralistic NGOs, said. To our surprise, not only were our requests to meet the minister denied, but we were told of the cancelation of more and more financial allocations that were intended to narrow the gaps between the Orthodox communities and the thousands of Israelis who wish to choose their Judaism but lack the resources do to so.

The bid to take the earmarked money away from the pluralist NGOs reportedly began late in reign of the previous Netanyahu government when then-Deputy Education Minister Avi Wartzman of Bennetts HaBayit HaYehudi Party refused to approve the regulation necessary to allocate the funds to the pluralistic groups.

Netanyahu has done nothing to date to get the money to the pluralistic groups, despite pledges he made to North American Jewish leaders to support religious pluralism.
THE PHILIPPINE SANTO TRADITION

The devotion of Filipinos to their Catholic religion does not only revolve around the church and its rituals but also on images of veneration known as "santos". Introduced during the Spanish colonial times, santos, often of wood or precious ivory, are sacred to most Filipinos, lavishly processioned during Lent, fiestas and other holidays. Whether they be products of unschooled hands or of trained master carvers, santos have come to be cherished as part of every Filipino family's home. Through new and old santo articles & reprints, vintage photos, personal stories and interviews, this blog honors these treasured images of faith and celebrates the exuberant art of the Filipino santero that still lives on today.
Aldi

Aldi is stepping up its game in the organic-food space.

The grocery chain is expanding organic-food brands, removing some artificial ingredients from its products, and adding more gluten-free items in hopes of attracting more health-conscious shoppers.

Aldi became one of the world's biggest food retailers by offering comparatively very low prices. Its prices for fresh produce and packaged goods are roughly 30% lower than Walmart's, according to a recent price check.

The company's foray into organic and gluten-free foods signals a new direction for Aldi, and an emerging threat to Whole Foods' lower-cost chain, 365 By Whole Foods Market, which is launching this year.

Whole Foods is opening the chain to better compete with the increasingly crowded market for low-cost organic goods.

Aldi has removed certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils, and added MSG from all its private-label products, which make up 90% of what Aldi sells, the company told Business Insider.

Aldi

Aldi is also expanding its selection of fresh and organic meat and produce, including its "Never Any!" brand of meats that contain no added antibiotics, hormones, animal by-products or other additives.

The chain is also expanding its SimplyNature line, which is free from 125 artificial ingredients, and its gluten-free liveGfree brand.

Aldi's milk is already free from artificial growth hormones, but it's now stripping yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, and other dairy products of growth hormones as well.

In addition to broadening its organic offerings, Aldi has started to offer "fancier" foods, like artisanal cheeses, smoked salmon, quinoa, and coconut oil.

The steps will enable Aldi to better compete with not only Whole Foods, but also Kroger, which has been rapidly expanding its organic line, called Simple Truth, and Walmart's Neighborhood Markets.

Aldi

Aldi has about 1,500 stores in the US and has plans to open roughly 500 more stores over the next two years as part of a $3 billion expansion.

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Aldi and rival discounter Lidl have upended the grocery market in the UK, forcing the nation's largest supermarkets to dramatically cut prices and lay off workers to stay competitive.

The CEO of Asda, the UK's second-largest grocery chain, has called the new competitive environment created by Aldi and Lidl "the worst storm in retail history."

"When we set the plan, I don't think anyone anticipated the market being in meltdown," Asda CEO Andy Clarke said in August after the Walmart-owned company reported its worst quarterly sales drop ever.

Aldi

Aldi keeps prices low by limiting inventory to a lean selection of private-label items, versus traditional supermarkets that tend to carry several different brands of a single product.

Aldi also invests far less in customer service and merchandising than traditional grocers.

Most of the store's products are displayed in their shipping cartons to make restocking quick and easy. That means fewer workers are needed on the sales floor.

Aldi also requires customers to bring their own shopping bags, bag their own groceries, and pay a deposit to use a cart. Customers get their deposit back when they return the cart, so Aldi doesn't have to pay employees to round up carts.

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Ralph Lauren

As the mall as we know it declines across America, a new era of shopping is emerging on the horizon.

High-end, futuristic malls in China and parts of the US are upgrading technology, hoping to attract customers with smart shopping centers.

In the US, the malls look exactly the same they did 20 year ago, Deborah Weinswig, executive director at Fung Business Intelligence Centre, said recently in a talk at a JDA Executive Luncheon. Weve got to make it more exciting, and more fun, and more experiential.

Changing consumer tastes and the rise of e-commerce means shoppers are visiting malls less and less, with Weinswig reporting that the average American now visits a mall three to four times a year, as opposed to five to six. To compete with online shopping, malls need to match e-commerce in convenience and create experiential reasons to visit the mall that you cannot find online.

Afternoon leisure A photo posted by Erna (@ernaircitur) on Oct 14, 2014 at 12:53am PDT on Oct 14, 2014 at 12:53am PDT

Touch-screen platforms that provide customer information are becoming an increasingly common and interactive feature.

For example, YunTouch uses face recognition technology to collect and analyze customers past purchases when they stop by a digital display terminal. In the US, Ralph Lauren is testing interactive mirrors in fitting rooms that allow shoppers to change the lighting, request different sizes, browse through other items, or interact with a sales associate.

Pepper Bot

Store are also testing retail robots, like Pepper, Japans SoftBanks four-foot tall, humanoid bot who is fluent in eight languages and can serve as a personal stylist and salesperson. The robot can even follow up with customers using emails and text messages.

Feeling Festive #santa#santahq#scottsdalefashionsquare#fashionsquare#scottsdale#az#arizona#sonystraveldiary#feelingfestive#festival#holidays#happyholidays#christmas#merrychristmas#xmas#holidayseason#christmastime#sonyschristmas#traveling#oldmemories#christmasseason#santaclause#camelback#mall#shoppingmall A photo posted by Sony (@itsmesmv) on Nov 29, 2015 at 1:45pm PST on Nov 29, 2015 at 1:45pm PST

To give customers a reason to visit retailers in person, malls are creating new, futuristic events. Macerich, for example, has partnered with HGTV to create Santa HQ  a holiday pop up that allows guests to play with functions like augmented-reality selfie videos and receive texts when Santa is ready to see them.

Story continues

These new services attempt to give customers tech that they cant access in their own homes. However, the other major shift in the mall of the future is in customers own hands  their smartphones.

#shenzen #china #segplaza A photo posted by mehmet coskun (@mmtcskn) on Feb 26, 2015 at 8:06pm PST on Feb 26, 2015 at 8:06pm PST

With the chance to connect, some malls are now texting shoppers. Shanghais Cloud Nine and Shenzhens SEG Plaza are utilizing social-messaging app WeChat for their news and loyalty programs, connecting with customers even when they arent at the mall. In the US, some Macerich locations allow shoppers to text questions to the malls information desk to get speedy and convenient answers.

Other apps give shoppers a more immersive experience.

#aegeanmall #beijing #followbeijing @followbeijing A photo posted by @baharynur on Oct 30, 2015 at 9:12am PDT on Oct 30, 2015 at 9:12am PDT

The Feifan app, created by Chinese retail conglomerate Wanda Group and Internet-centric companies Baidu and Tencent, hopes to make itself indispensable in every aspect of shopping. The app, which is now available in about 370 major shopping malls, provides promotions, in-store and parking navigation, free WiFi, and restaurant booking services.

Other new mall apps, such as Miaojie, have the added bonus of offering payment options.

"To each according to his needs" -Karl Marx A photo posted by Derrick Wang (@derrick9056) on Aug 22, 2015 at 2:07pm PDT on Aug 22, 2015 at 2:07pm PDT

Apps are especially appealing to retailers, as they can gather more information about shoppers. Shenzhen Rainbow, a company that owns more than 30 department stores and shopping malls in China, recently launched an app that delivers promotional messages, through which the company can gather and analyze shopper data.

New technology helped contribute to the decline of malls in America, as shoppers turned to e-commerce. However, today the tides are turning. Now, with new experiential and smartphone tech, retailers have the chance to use technology to reverse the downfall of the mall.

NOW WATCH: China built a mall that looks exactly like the Pentagon





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Israel Hayom

The most important event is the removal of sanctions from Iran. As part of a process that began when the agreement on its nuclear program was signed, Iran is returning to the world with an American stamp of approval as a regional power. Iranian intellectuals understood this as soon as the interim deal was signed between Iran and the world powers in November 2013 and explained at conferences throughout the world that that recognition was a clear right of the Iranians given their countrys importance, strength, history, and achievements in the region in general and in the nuclear negotiations in particular.

Doubtless, this sense of power and international legitimacy in Iran jumped following the final nuclear deal and the removal of sanctions this week. This means that from now on, Iran will keep growing economically and militarily while living up to the agreement, as least until its economy improves significantly.

During this upcoming period, Iran will behave like a regional power, and anyone who does not accept its status will have to deal with its increasing power and the strength of its emissaries in the region. The American move in making the deal, and its ramifications for Irans stature, serve as a kind of proof for the Sunnis of an American decision to align with the Shiite side of the struggle.

The second-most important event was the response of the Saudis, who executed a Shiite preacher who was imprisoned after a trial (the sentence was handed down a year and a half ago) to send a clear message to the Iranians, as well as to Saudi Arabias own allies in the Sunni world, that they would not give up on their fight against the Iranian Shiites  certainly not when it comes to Irans attempts to attack Saudi Arabias intactness by stirring up its Shiite minority.

This decision was similar in principle to an earlier Saudi decision to employ force in Yemen and battle against the Houthis, whom the Saudis perceived as agents of Iran.

Saudi Arabia has undoubtedly changed its behavior under its new king, Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, and steered by his son Mohammed bin Salman, the countrys 30-year-old defense minister. This means that Saudi Arabia is prepared to take risks and pay prices that it was not prepared to pay in the past. In this case, the price of severing relations with Iran, a step the Saudis decided to take after Iranian demonstrators set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest over the execution of the Shiite preacher.

The Saudis are spearheading a Sunni challenge to the Shiite efforts of the past 35 years, which the Sunnis have thus far been able to check. The results are clear in Iraq and Lebanon, and are the underlying cause of the ongoing war in Syria and the conflict in Yemen.

The third event slipped under the radar of most of the Israeli media. This was an announcement by Pakistan made during a visit to that country by the Saudi defense minister and heir to the throne. The host declared that Pakistan would respond severely to any attack on Saudi Arabia.

Whether or not that is true, the Pakistani threat comprises an interesting development. Thus far, Pakistans nuclear weapons have been portrayed as an element of the conflict between Pakistan and India, and now all of a sudden theyre being used in a Middle Eastern context, in a conflict between the Shiite superpower and the entity who wants to be perceived as its Sunni counterpart.

This is a real change in the balance of power throughout the entire Middle East. If Pakistan moves from a one-time declaration to actual intervention in these tussles, the regional balance of power will change, but past experience indicates that they will be very careful about committing themselves.

What will be the ramifications of the intensifying conflict? First, it is quite clear that it will be much harder to deal with the war in Syria properly. That war is not just a civil war between different factions of Syrian society. It is a war between Shiites and Sunnis, with Iran standing behind one side and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, and Turkey, to a certain extent, backing the other.

Even if there were some agreement in Syria about peace talks, which is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, Iran and Saudi Arabia will not take any steps toward each other, so the Syria war will continue. The Iranians will also seek out Saudi Arabias soft underbelly, probably via the many Shiites in Saudi Arabia and in some Gulf states, and the Saudis will respond with all their strength, mainly through economic and other forms of aid to anyone in the Middle East who opposes the Shiites.

The very possibility that a nuclear nation will join this bitter struggle raises serious questions and concerns about the consequences of a possible deterioration, since its very hard to control endless battles colored by religion.

Pakistan moving its attention to the heart of the Middle East does not bode well for an already complex and conflicted region. A Pakistani change like this one, if it is not a one-time case of lip service for its Saudi friend, could make the regional reality even more complicated and could eventually turn out to be very influential for the region. In the meantime, it appears to be a one-time event, not a turning point, even if it is important in and of itself. It will be necessary to keep constant tabs on whether Pakistan is headed toward that kind of direct intervention.

The lesson Israel should learn from all these recent events is clear: Israel must not be drawn into such a complex and deep-running battle as the intra-Islamic conflict between Shiites and Sunnis, or between the Arabs and Persians in the Gulf region. Israel must take care to safeguard its own interests, including taking a risk if force should be exerted, but after great consideration, without arrogance, and with precision.
LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - January 23, 2016) - Industry experts are anticipating a surge in travel to Europe in 2016. The continued break in airfare combined with a strong dollar relative to the euro makes European tourism an appealing option for American vacationers, with Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and Estonia ranking as the top destinations among travelers according to new survey results. To help holidaymakers elevate their European vacation into a magical and memorable experience, world-renowned resort company Diamond Resorts International is offering essential tips for enjoying the continent of culture.

When crossing the Atlantic, most travelers are excited about experiencing a new culture, but may also be a little unsure of what to expect. To avoid travel anxiety and fully enjoy the journey, the experts at Diamond Resorts International suggest choosing a destination based on personal preferences. Some vacationers may prefer a quiet resort town by the seaside, while others might be interested in exploring the vibrant culture, cuisine and arts of a busy urban center like Paris or Salzburg. Choosing the right location to suit each person can make all the difference. The time of year also plays a major role in making the most ideal travel plans. The Mediterranean is lovely in spring and early summer, although the region often becomes busy at the height of summer when many Europeans are vacationing in the south of France, Greece, and Italy. June-August are the best times of year to enjoy northern European countries like Ireland, Britain and Denmark.

'Vacationing in any of Europe's alluring destinations is truly about immersing oneself in the local environment,' comments a Diamond Resorts International European spokeswoman. There is an abundance of history, art and culture to appreciate. The secret to creating the perfect trip is to establish an itinerary, but remain flexible. A vacation is meant to de-stress and renew, and this is a fundamental belief of the popular resort company. While there is no way to visit every castle, museum and festival on one trip, choosing a handful of must-sees and allowing for plenty of time for relaxation is the best way to fully enjoy and experience Europe. Save the other attractions for the next great European vacation.

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About Diamond Resorts International

Diamond Resorts International, with its network of more than 350 vacation destinations located in 34 countries throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa, provides guests with choice and flexibility to let them create their dream vacation, whether they are traveling an hour away or around the world. Our relaxing vacations have the power to give guests an increased sense of happiness and satisfaction in their lives, while feeling healthier and more fulfilled in their relationships, by enjoying memorable and meaningful experiences that let them Stay Vacationed.

Diamond Resorts International manages vacation ownership resorts and sells vacation ownership points that provide members and owners with Vacations for Life at over 350 managed and affiliated properties and cruise itineraries.

To learn more, visit: https://www.diamondresorts.com

Diamond Resorts (@diamondresorts) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/diamondresorts

Diamond Resorts International - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiamondResortsInternational

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Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAbku03BnuU


donald trump

Donald Trump on Sunday gave an inclination of the Republican strategy for boosting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) in his primary against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

At a speech in Iowa on Sunday, the Republican presidential front-runner initially couldn't help going after Sanders, but noted that it may be better strategically for him to hold his fire and let Sanders duke it out with Clinton.

"This guy Bernie Sanders, give me a break," Trump said.

"We haven't even focused on, I mean here's a guy who's a  they say socialist, but some people say he's a communist," Trump continued. "I shouldn't hit him too hard though, because if I hit him too hard then he'll go down, and it'll be a fight with Hillary, and maybe we want a fight for a while. So I'll say, 'Isn't he a wonderful guy?'"

Trump also said his attacks on Clinton were the reason that Sanders has risen in the polls, particularly in early states.

"They're saying, 'Bernie Sanders is surging. It's amazing.' I did that!" Trump said. "I can hit him. I have stuff in mind. I would hit him so hard he would drop."

A few audience members told him to do it anyway, but Trump demurred.

"No, he's too easy. He's really too easy," he said.

Republicans have increasingly taken Sanders' side in his primary against Clinton.

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove's super PAC has been running television ads in Iowa attempting to tip the scales for Sanders. The Republican National Committee continues to celebrate Sanders' high poll numbers in email blasts, and even defended Sanders' talking points during the last Democratic debate.

Sean Spicer, the RNC communications director, urged Sanders to have a better answer to a question about Iran during the last debate, saying that he was trying to "help" him.

uggggghhh....phone a friend @BernieSanders -- #Iran is the number sponsor of terror.....come on we are trying to help u #DemsDebate  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 18, 2016

For his part, Sanders has frequently touted hypothetical head-to-head matchups that show him beating Trump in a general-election contest, though such early polls aren't generally predictive of races months out.

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"There would be nothing more in this world that I would like to take on Donald Trump," Sanders said on "Meet The Press" on Sunday. "We would beat him, and we would beat him badly."

NOW WATCH: Watch Tina Fey take on Sarah Palin's Trump endorsement speech on SNL





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SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - January 23, 2016) - Healthcare has always remained a contentious issue among citizens in the United States. Branded 'home of the brave', there is a seemingly apparent divide among Americans as to how to approach the concept of federal healthcare available for the public -- regardless of financial status or severity of diagnosis. CEO Erwin Cablayan is a specialist in the industry, has analyzed the history of this precise issue within context of the country, and discusses the current state and future of the possibility for federal healthcare. "It is a difficult one, certainly," he begins. "An opinion that healthcare is a basic human right means that a sustainable system must be put in place to ensure some extent of equity of care."

As CEO and CFO of Healthcare Systems Inc., Erwin Cablayan has personally overseen the methods and practices used among medical professionals when treating the sick and elderly. However, despite the Affordable Care Act making it illegal to deny service to anyone due to economic status, the current mindset of Americans towards the system is proving difficult to combat. "What kind of impact does that have on our health care system when providing emergency care without any sort of insurance coverage? With immigrants who have come in under the radar not paying taxes, what kind of effect does this have on our economy as a whole?"

The 2016 presidential election will be a major factor in the discussion towards future healthcare reforms. Democratic underdog Bernie Saunders has been a pioneer in leading the debate about introducing a fully-fledged federal system to provide unlimited healthcare services to citizens in all 50 states. However, there has been a backlash among more right wing politicians who negatively describe Saunders as a 'socialist'.

There are several controversies regarding the possibility to federalize healthcare, which may jeopardize certain aspects such as the cost, quality, and access for individuals. "There is a historically negative connotation with the term 'socialism' in the United States," Erwin Cablayan explains. "In layman's terms, it simply means that the government would have more regulation over medical and hospital care, resulting in more overall service due to raised taxation from citizens." This socialization is not seen as desirable to many Americans, who usually favor the political ideology of capitalism and an overall reduction of the powers given to large governments.

Erwin Cablayan is the CEO and CFO of Healthcare Systems Inc. and has almost 30 years of experience helping the sick and elderly. He has attended the University of Southern California focusing on Gerontology. After graduating from the University of Seton Hall with a Masters degree in Health Administration, he gained the invaluable knowledge of healthcare across different scales, both macro and micro. He is incredibly qualified and acknowledges the importance of the health system, from government levels down to local care. As well as his work in the field of gerontology, Erwin Cablayan serves as CEO of VetRest, a 501(C)3 non-profit organization that focuses on providing emotional, physical, and spiritual help for United States veterans suffering from post traumatic stress.

Erwin Cablayan - Healthcare Administration Expert: http://erwincablayannews.com

Erwin Cablayan - On How To Make a Difference In a World of Turmoil: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSnMKW38qxJa+1c2+MKW20160105

Erwin Cablayan - Named First Cause's Director of East Asian Operations: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/erwin-cablayan-named-first-causes-221903359.html

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/1/24/11G079951/Images/Erwin_Cablayan_--_Discusses_Socialization_of_Healt-61e911e53561a80c9d219233f547ca3c.jpg


The Twitter logo is shown at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California April 28, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

(Reuters) - Social media power Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) plans to announce the departure of some major executives on Monday, technology news website Re/code reported on Sunday, citing sources.

Re/code said Twitter's media head, Katie Jacobs Stanton, product head, Kevin Weil, and the head of its engineering division, Alex Roetter, were all leaving the company. (http://on.recode.net/1RHgCtc)

It said that Jason Toff, head of Twitter's video streaming service Vine, may also depart, as would its business development leader, Jana Messerschmidt, who has expressed unwillingness to continue further.

Twitter plans to announce the departures on Monday, along with the recruitment of a new chief marketing officer, Re/code said.

Both Weil and Stanton, whose positions will be filled by interim appointments, have no immediate plans to join another company, although they are expected to, Re/code said.

While Stanton's departure is voluntary, Weil and Roetter's departure are expected to be positioned by Twitter as not so voluntary, Re/code said. (http://on.recode.net/1RHlrTi)

Twitter Chief Executive and co-founder Jack Dorsey has become the company's de facto product head, Re/code said.

More executive changes are expected in the future, including the appointment of a new public relations head and the appointment of a well-known media personality as part of the turnover on Twitter's board, Re/code said.

Twitter has come under increasing pressure to boost user growth and ad revenue. It had its slowest user growth last year - it now boasts just over 300 million users - and was eclipsed by photo-sharing app Instagram, owned by Facebook Inc (FB.O), which surpassed 400 million users last year.

In an earnings conference call in October, CEO Dorsey spoke about "hiring and investing in talent" and the need for "bold rethinking."

Since then, Dorsey has launched Moments - a product developed by Weil - which showcases Twitter's best tweets and content; laid off more than 300 employees; given back a third of his stock, about 1 percent, to employees; and hired former Google Inc (GOOGL.O) executive Omid Kordestani as executive chairman.

Twitter could not be immediately reached for a comment outside regular business hours.

(Reporting by Ankush Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
David Einhorn, founder and president of Greenlight Capital, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York in this file photo dated May 4, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - SunEdison Inc (SUNE.N) will give hedge fund Greenlight Capital a board seat after a decline in the solar company's stock price and the departure of some senior officials, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Greenlight, which owned about 8 percent of the company as of Jan. 11, is likely to appoint a director from outside of the hedge fund, the Journal said, citing one of the people.

Billionaire investor David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital first disclosed a stake in SunEdison in its first quarter 2014 investor letter, saying the fund had bought shares at an average price of $15.55/share.

A spokesman for SunEdison declined to comment.

Greenlight Capital could not immediately be reached for comment.

(This version of the story corrects that director will likely be from outside of Greenlight, not SunEdison, in 2nd paragraph)

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
south sudan iran

Earlier this month, the Sudan News Agency reported that the country's National Dialogue Conference endorsed "normal and conditioned" diplomatic relations with Israel.

Khartoum has already switched sides in the unfolding Saudi-Iranian cold war, cutting off diplomatic ties with its former partners in Tehran at the behest of its now even closer Saudi allies.

But diplomatic relations with Israel would be an even more stunning development.

Sudan is one of over 30 countries that does not recognize Israel, and it is a party to the Arab League's official boycott of the country.

Sudan has also been a staging area for Iranian weapons trafficking to armed groups in the Gaza Strip, including Hamas.

Israel is suspected of carrying out attacks on weapons smugglers inside Sudan several times in recent y ears, bombing a smuggling convoy in 2009 and carrying out an attack on Iranian-linked military facility in Khartoum in 2012.

An actively (or at least until recently) hostile state would be opening relations with Israel without any apparent precipitating event  a virtually unknown development in the seven-decade history of Israeli-Arab relations.

Sudanese relations with Israel could be beneficial for both countries. Israel will have effectively "turned" a former Iranian ally that its air has bombed repeatedly since 2009.

sudan map skitch

Perhaps more importantly from an Israeli perspective, ties with Sudan would have shown that improved relations with once-hostile Arab states isn't necessarily contingent on a resolution of the Palestinian issue.

Relations with Sudan  now a notable member of the Saudi anti-Iran coalition  would de-link regional diplomacy from the peace process with the Palestinians, potentially enabling more open relations with countries like Saudi Arabia and creating a precedent for future cooperation with Arab states.

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At the same time, such a development might also give Israel less of an incentive to take steps towards making peace with the Palestinians.

People walk to fill water containers at the Zamzam IDP camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), near El Fasher in North Darfur February 4, 2015. REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

For Sudan's National Congress Party regime, the nominally Islamist dictatorship that has ruled Sudan since 1989 and once hosted Osama bin Laden, a surprise detente with Israel would serve as shortcut to the government's most coveted foreign policy goal: normalized relations with the US, which considers Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism and has sanctioned the government over its human rights record in Darfur and elsewhere.

Diplomatic relations with Israel could the draw the US closer  without forcing Khartoum to dial back its brutal military campaigns in Darfur, Blue Nile, and Southern Kordofan.

Under an optimistic scenario, Sudan could turn into yet another pillar of the US-sponsored regional order, receiving the same kind of military aid, diplomatic cover, and economic incentives Egypt and Jordan enjoy in return for maintaining their peace agreements with Israel and aiding Western security objectives in the broader Middle East.

But would such a diplomatic break though plausibly happen?

Screen Shot 2016 01 22 at 5.46.00 PM

An Israel thaw carries some big internal risks for the NCP, which took power in 1989 and was known as the National Islamic Front until the late 1990s.

"There is no domestic appetite for normalization with Israel," Sudan commentator Ahmed Kodouda told Business Insider. He suggested that news of the discussion of open ties was meant to give the impression that Sudan's political environment is more open than the regime's critics claim: "The government wants to give an ostensible sense that there is so much freedom that it is letting people discuss such a taboo subject," Kodouda says, "when in reality, any such normalization would be a hard sell. "

Alberto Fernandez, current Vice President at the Middle East Media Research Institute and the Charge d'Affaires at the US embassy in Khartoum from 2007 to 2009, agrees that the NCP risks internal blowback if it upgraded relations. "It gains something with the West but it loses domestically," Fernandez told Business Insider, adding that relations with Israel would then "become one more issue that cna cause more turbulence internally."

The NCP has no shortage of those. Sudan is internationally isolated. The government is dependent on revenue from oil that is extracted in now-independent South Sudan but which travels through pipelines in the Republic of Sudan.

Sudan

Oil is down to under $30 a barrel, and in the 5 years since South Sudan seceded the two countries have yet to come to any kind of a stable agreement on how the oil money should be split. Khartoum is still contending with insurgencies in both Darfur in the west and the Nuba Mountains region in the south.

Close ties with Israel might give an exhausted Sudanese populace yet another grievance against an oppressive government. And at the same time, it would highlight the NCP's evolution from an ideologically Islamist regime to a run-of-the-mill autocracy concerned with little more than its own survival.

That doesn't mean that closer relations wouldn't be tempting for Khartoum. According to Koduda, establishing ties with Israel is a topic of "semi-recurring debate among the Sudanese elite." There's plenty of circumstantial evidence that Sudan's government isn't implacably anti-Israel.

A 2009 US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks quotes Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Ghosh as telling US diplomats that he would like to see a halt to the use of Sudanese territory for weapons trafficking. "The Sudanese regime is not seeking a confrontation with Israel," Ghosh reportedly said.

Weapons smuggling across Sudan into Egypt and the Gaza Strip has effectively halted in recent years, to the reported satisfaction of Israeli officials. And the NCP might just be pragmatic enough to open relations  or at least to give the impression that its' considering opening relations  if it saw a benefit in doing so.

"It's a regime which has been hugely successful in one thing, which is remaining in power," says Fernandez. "While they are Islamists, they're also creative and they're looking for ways to stick around."

Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir

If Sudan opted for full ties, it would become the 3rd Arab League country to recognize Israel and the first since Mauritania, in 1995. Israel maintains limited or covert diplomatic relations with a number of Arab countries, and opened a diplomatic office at the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

Fernandez says it remains unlikely that Sudan would take such a bold diplomatic move unless it occurred in concert with understandings bout enhanced relations with the US. Given the domestic risks, he believes the gain to the NCP would be "negligible" if Sudan went ahead and established ties.

And it if happened, it would show the degree to which a formerly anti-western government has now come to believe that its survival depends on closer ties with the United States.

"They're ideological, they're Islamists and they continue to be," says Fernandez. "But they're not blind."

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hillary clinton

The largest newspaper in Iowa delivered a boost to two presidential campaigns on Saturday night.

In a pair of glowing editorials, The Des Moines Register endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for the Republicans.

The endorsements came at a crucial time in the campaign. The February 1 Iowa caucus just days away, and the Hawkeye State is the first to weigh in on the primary process.

For Clinton, the newspaper wrote that Democrats "have one outstanding candidate deserving of their support."

"No other candidate can match the depth or breadth of her knowledge and experience," the newspaper opined.

"Over the course of two meetings, Clinton spent more than three hours with the editorial board, answering questions in a direct and forthright manner. She exhibited an impressive command of the issues, though we'd have liked to hear more from her on the debt and the future of Social Security," it continued. "She was somewhat prickly and defensive when discussing her emails, but overall she was gracious, engaging, and personable."

Clinton's support in Iowa has sagged in recent days as the front-runner's top primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), surged in early-state polls. The Register praised Sanders for being "an honorable and formidable campaigner," and for focusing his campaign on income inequality.

"But Sanders admits that virtually all of his plans for reform have no chance of being approved by a Congress that bears any resemblance to the current crop of federal lawmakers," the editorial board wrote, noting that Republicans are fairly entrenched in Congress.

As for the third Democrat, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), The Register wrote that "he seems better suited to a Cabinet-level job in a Clinton White House."

marco rubio

For its endorsement on the Republican side, The Register didn't even mention the party's front-runner, Donald Trump, who frequently attacks the newspaper on the campaign trail.

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However, there was an implicit shot at candidates who embrace "anger."

"Republicans have the opportunity to define their party's future in this election. They could choose anger, pessimism and fear. Or they could take a different path," the newspaper wrote. "The party could channel that frustration and pursue true reform."

The Register hailed Rubio's modest roots as the son of Cuban immigrants.

"It could be the party in which the son of an immigrant bartender and maid could become president," it continued. "Sen. Marco Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the party, and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American dream. We endorse him because he represents his party's best hope."

The editorial board offered some light praise for some of Rubio's competitors, but suggested they weren't the same breath of fresh air as the Florida senator:

The editorial board also values the executive experience, pragmatism and thoughtful policies of John Kasich, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush. Yet most Republicans aren't interested in rewarding a long resume this year. They want new and different.

In addition to Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also went unmentioned in the editorial. Trump and Cruz poll at the top of the pack in the Iowa caucus, with Rubio placing third, according to the most recent RealClearPolitics polling average of the state.

NOW WATCH: These are the biggest risks facing the world in 2016





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People are silhouetted past a logo of the Airbus Group during the Airbus annual news conference in Colomiers, near Toulouse January 13, 2015. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

By Tim Hepher

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran unveiled an expanded shopping list for more than 160 European planes - including 8 superjumbos - and dangled another big order in front of Boeing (BA.N) at Tehran's first major post-sanctions business gathering on Sunday.

In a sign of Tehran's determination to compete with established carriers across the Gulf, Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi said Iran's emergence from isolation would restore a "natural balance" in the region and urged foreigners to invest.

"I hold your hands in friendship," he told an audience of 300 airlines, suppliers, lessors and bankers at an aviation conference in Tehran.

World powers last week lifted crippling sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions.

The deal also released billions of dollars worth of frozen Iranian assets and opened the door for global companies that have been barred from doing business in Iran.

Akhoondi vowed to banish the middlemen who many say have profited from helping Iran evade sanctions by buying parts, and even whole aircraft, on the black market.

He told investors that anyone who approached them claiming to represent the government in negotiations would be "lying".

A stampede of investors at the CAPA Iran Aviation Summit illustrated the potential for suppliers to Iran at a time when the industry faces concerns over the global economy.

It also paved the way for a potential battle between domestic and foreign carriers to serve Iran's markets, bolstered by tourists and investors touting for business.

Akhoondi told Reuters in an interview that Iran did not fear competition from foreign carriers and enjoyed competitive advantages because of its geography.

"I think it is a very natural position for Iran," he said.

Iran said it would give priority to developing flag carrier Iranair, but would also support private carriers.

GROWING LIST

The number of potential plane orders rose during the first day of the conference, with a senior official telling delegates that Iran was closing on a deal for 127 jets from Airbus, compared with earlier estimates of 114 aircraft.

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Added to the growing list were 40 European ATR turboprops.

Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told Reuters that Iran had provisionally agreed to buy eight Airbus A380 superjumbos, to be delivered from 2019.

It also intends to buy 16 A350s, Europe's newest long-distance jetliner, he said.

Another Iranian official said the talks, which appear to have accelerated as President Hassan Rouhani prepares to visit Europe this week, included about 45 short-haul A320s and as many as 40 of its A330 wide-body jets.

If confirmed, a deal on that scale would be worth more than $20 billion at list prices, though Iran is sure to receive hefty discounts since its purchase includes a mixture of new jets and end-of-the-run models available for bargains, financiers said.

Due to long waiting times for new jets, Iran is also looking at buying four out-of-production long-haul A340s on the second-hand market, which can be placed into service without delay.

Airbus said it was ready to hold negotiations in compliance with international laws and declined further comment.

CALLING BOEING

Delegates said Sunday's barrage of announcements appeared designed not only to underscore Iran's economic potential but also to encourage U.S. planemaker Boeing, whose executives were absent from the Tehran conference, to enter formal negotiations.

Kashan told Reuters that Iran was ready to buy at least 100 jets from the world's largest planemaker.

Boeing said it was assessing the steps needed to deal with Iran, which remains subject to a number of U.S. restrictions.

Industry observers have said Boeing and other U.S. suppliers are partly worried about how to handle opposition to the Iran nuclear deal in Congress and from U.S. allies in the Gulf.

Tehran has long said it will need to revamp an ageing fleet, hit by a shortage of parts because of trade bans imposed by Washington and other Western powers.

But the sheer volume of commercial, technical and legal detail took some of the foreign delegates by surprise.

"Things are going faster than we expected," said Bertrand Grabowski, a managing director at Germany's DVB Bank, adding Iran had set out a regulatory regime comparable to Europe's.

Several airline bosses, however, warned that the growth plans depended on building new infrastructure and boosting training. Akhoondi said Tehran plans to award a contract soon for the expansion of Tehran's international airport.

(Writing by Nadia Saleem; editing by Andrew Heavens and David Clarke)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has struck a provisional deal with Europe's Airbus (AIR.PA) to buy eight A-380 superjumbo planes to be delivered from 2019, the deputy transport minister told Reuters on Sunday.

A deal for 127, mainly new, aircraft which it hopes to complete this week also includes 16 A350 jets, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, deputy transport minister said in an interview on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Tehran.

He also said Iran was interested in regional aircraft including Mitsubishi's MRJ and Canada's Bombardier (BBDb.TO) CSeries and has had some contact with both companies.

Private Iranian airlines are also talking to Brazil's Embraer (EMBR3.SA) and Russia's Sukhoi.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by Nadia Saleem.)
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Further development and consequences of the situation caused by acute respiratory infections was in the spotlight of the society in Armenia last week. Political circles started talking about the possibility of formation of coalition between RPA and ARF factions. The trial over Valery Permyakovs case, who killed Avetisyans family in Gyumri a year before, continued. The situation on the border was again tense. Europe commemorated the 9th anniversary of Agos newspapers editor in chief Hrant Dinks death; some developments related to Syrian conflict also took place. Armenpress introduces summary of the most significant events of last week.

Internal social and political life

By the decree of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, State Awards 2015 of the Republic of Armenia have been bestowed in a number of spheres. State Awards 2015 were bestowed in the spheres of literature, culture, architecture and urban planning, exact and natural sciences. After the award ceremony, the President of the Republic gave a congratulatory speech adressed to all the participants. The Republican Party of Armenia and Armenian Revolutionary Federation continue discussions over the format of future cooperation. RPA National Assembly faction member, Executive Body member Gagik Minasyan told the journalists about this after RPA executive body session. Discussions over the cooperation format are underway, but there are no final decisions yet. And only the coming discussions will make clear the format of that cooperation, Minasyan mentioned. MP of "Republican Party of Armenia" /RPA/ faction Lernik Aleksanyan also referred to the mentioned issue. Speaking about the spreading talks that "Armenian Revolutionary Federation wants to form a coalition in order to hold ministerial portfolios, Aleksanyan said that it is not possible to realize serious projects with 1-2 portfolios.

I think forming a coalition means agreeing with the social-economic policy led by the government. So, one can form a coalition even without any portfolios, as it is not possible to make serious changes by several portfolios. If one political force supports the policy led by another political force, it can form a coalition without asking for portfolios, the MP said, clarifying that the format of RPA-Armenian Revolutionary Federation cooperation has not yet been specified. RPA faction Secretary Gagik Melikyan told the journalists that Republican Party of Armenia and ARF still discuss cooperation prospects, but there is no final decision over the format of the cooperation.

On January 22, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan attended the solemn ceremony dedicated to Feast of St. Sarkis the Warrior held at St. Sarkis church of Araratian Pontifical Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The President of the Republic delivered a congratulatory speech on the occasion

I want to ensure all of you that we never made and will never make the security and defense of our motherland subject to trade. Be convinced that the contribution of those soldiers who served before you and, of course, the martyred soldiers, will serve as the basis for Armenia to become invulnerable, powerful state, the President said, adding that he has asked the Defense Minister to give the soldiers 10-day holiday as a small encouragement for their good service.

Situation caused by acute respiratory infections in Armenia

Head of Institute of Child and Adolescent Health at Arabkir Medical Centre, Head of Pediatrics Department of the Ministry of Health Sergey Sargsyan told the journalists that H1N1 virus has not directly resulted in death of any child in Armenia.

H1N1 rise exists not only in Armenia, but in neighboring countries. Now there is a declining tendency with drop in the number of hospitalization. The condition of patients in a severe condition improves. According to Ministry data, nearly 600 children have been discharged from hospitals, pneumonia was diagnosed for  of the patients, Sergey Sargsyan mentioned.

Armenia Healthcare Ministry informed that despite the ten-day efforts made by the specialist of the intensive care unit, two people died of H1N1 virus on Sunday. The patients turned to the hospital on January 9  with a delay, in critical conditions, with bilateral pneumonia. They were immediately connected to artificial respiration devices. 450-500 death cases connected with pneumonia have been registered in Armenia during the last 6 years  most of which in winter, 2009-2014. 208 people suffering sharp respiratory infections were cured and discharged from hospitals of Armenia on January 18. 162 of them were under 18; pneumonia was diagnosed for 85 of them, 35 of whom were children. 208 people suffering sharp respiratory infections were cured and discharged from hospitals of Armenia on January 18. 162 of them were under 18; pneumonia was diagnosed for 85 of them, 35 of whom were children. There were no patients in critical condition among children and pregnant women. 230 people who suffered acute respiratory infections were cured and discharged from hospitals of Armenia on January 21. 177 of them were under 18. Pneumonia was diagnosed for 120 patients, 36 of which were children. And 322 people were discharged from Armenian hospitals on January 22. Acute respiratory infections were diagnosed for 213 of them, and pneumonia for 109 of them (57 patients were under 18).

Armenian Ministry of Health, Armenian Minister of Healthcare Armen Muradyan informed that the situation caused by influenza and acute respiratory infections is improving in Armenia. 99 percent of the healed without any further health problems is discharged from hospitals. He added that all medical institutions in Armenia, either inpatient or outpatient sectors are provided with needed quantities of "Tamiflu" antiviral medication. Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia Armen Muradyan infrmed that by January 20 18 death cases caused by H1N1 flu have been registered in the Republic of Armenia. The Minister informed that 7 patients suffering pneumonia are switched onto breathing apparatuses at this moment. "94 pregnant women out of the total 124 and 982 patients with acute respiratory infections out of 1230 cases remain under medical supervision. The number of children has decreased by 170. Rapid decline has been recorded; people are discharged from hospitals without any health problems. The number of ambulance calls, especially caused by acute respiratory diseases, has also dropped. I think we can consider that improvement as regularity, he said.

Nagorno Karabakh conflict

Adversary fired more than 300 shots from weapons of different caliber towards Armenian frontier troops in the Line of Contact of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing armies within January 20 and during the night of January 21. The adversary also applied 82 mm mortar in the Eastern direction of the Line of Contact.

On the contact line of Karabakh-Azerbaijan opposing armies the adversary fired over 3200 shots from different caliber firearms and 82 mm mortars during the period of January 17-23. Defense Army front line units controlled the situation and continue to confidently carry out their military duty.

Armenia's Defense Ministry Spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan published on his Facebook page that 57 deaths were registered in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army in 2015, which were mainly caused by rival shooting on the contact line.

Taking into account the different numbers that are circulated and sometimes groundless speculations over them, we decided to present the death cases that occurred in the Armed Forces and their causes. The data is summed considering also the process of investigation, precise qualifications and so on. 57 death cases have been registered in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and NKR Defense Army in 2015, which are mainly caused by rival activities (sniper shootings, subversive and other actions). This resulted in death of 38 servicemen, 2 servicemen died as a result of a car crash, 2 died from disease, 1-murder, 6-suicides, accidents-4, death caused by violation of regulations of military service-3, mine explosion-1, Hovhannisyan wrote.

During the 16th session of Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council held in Brussels headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian EU reconfirmed that the current status quo in NKR conflict is inadmissible. The European Parliament expressed its full support the negotiation process conducted under the auspices of OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and calls on other pan-European institutions and international organization to comply with the statements issued by the Co-chairs.

The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group  Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France issued a statement on the discussion fact of anti-Armenian resolution. The Co-chairs recalled in the announcement that the only acceptable format of the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict is Minsk Group over. The statement referred to 2 anti-Armenian reports included in the agenda of PACE winter session. One of the draft resolutions is authored by British MP Robert Walter on Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The second draft resolution is titled Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water by MP Milica Markovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Anti-Armenian resolutions will be put to the vote on January 26.

Trial over Permyakovs case

The trial of Russian serviceman Valery Permyakov accused of killing the Avetisyan family continued in Gyumri which was postponed till January 22. After the break judge Harutyun Movsesyan asked the accused again on transferring the trial from Russian military base in Gyumri to Shirak Regional Court of First Instance. This time Permyakov mentioned that he feels more comfortable and safe in military base. The court rejected the petition on transferring the trial to the Court of First Instance. Court hearing over Valery Permyakovs case was launched 30 minutes later in 102nd Russian military base. The trial process started by the petitions of advocates of Avetisyans successors over attaching to the Armenian side Russian sides some trial documents and the entire case. Presiding Judge Harutyun Movsisyan postponed examination of the petition arguing that reasonable evidences have yet to be ascertained. This caused the discontent of advocates of Avetisyans successors. Then forensic examination phase was launched. Valery Permyakovs court hearing was carried over till January 29 at 12:00, as the victims successors, namely the daughters of the Avetisyans - Anahit Koshtoyan and Lusine Avetisyan - were not able to participate in the interrogation.

9th anniversary of Hrant Dinks death

An article was published in Agos about Sabiha Gokcen  one of Ataturks adopted children, shedding light to the fact that the first combat pilot of Turkey - Sabiha - was an Armenian woman, moreover one that became an orphan due to the Armenian Genocide and then was adopted by the founder of the Republic of Turkey. After the article was published, Dink was threatened not only by nationalist circles, but also state officials. Dinks friends and relatives not once urged him to leave Turkey but Dink was not one to flee. He used to say that it was his country, as the roots of the Armenians were there  in Turkey, that his ancestors lived there and he had the right to die in the country he was born in. SCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic reiterated her call for a swift and transparent judicial procedure to identify the masterminds behind the murder.

Friends of Hrant started to make arrangements for the commemoration ceremony that were to be held in front of Sebat building at 14.30 on January 19. Remembrance event dedicated to the 9th anniversary of Hrant Dink took place also in Yerevan. A New Awakening NGO operating in Istanbul and Hrant Dink foundation conducted a petition at the Yerevan Municipality aimed at naming one of Yerevan streets after Hrant Dink. The 9th anniversary of Dinks death was commemorated in his homeland Malatia.

Turkish leading Justice and development party rejected the claim on Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's murder investigation. President of the parliamentary faction of the Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Idris Baluken and Armenian deputy elected from Istanbul Garo Paylan presented such claim in Turkish Parliament. On the 9th Anniversary of Dinks death the members of the leading party in Mejlis, who form a majority in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, voted against to the claim which was rejected after that.

On January 21, during the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, head of the Armenian Republics mission, Ambassador Arman Kirakosyan made an announcement on the 9th anniversary of Agos newspapers editor in chief Hrant Dinks murder. Armenian Ambassador shared OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovics expressed expectation in media report of January 19 which read that the organizers of Hrant Dinks murder will be subjected to responsibility which will show the public the significance of the fight against violence towards journalists and freedom of speech.

Syria

The mostly Armenian-populated Syrian town of Kessab was hit by two BM-21Grad missiles at 3:15 and 3:30 pm on Wednesday, Jan 20. One of the missiles, which came from Keless and Mazraat Saraafi regions (approximately 10-13 miles from Kessab) in the direction of the Turkish border, landed approximately 160 feet from the towns mosque, while the other landed in the street behind Kessabs Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical Church, according to Kantsasar.

The missiles reportedly caused substantial material damages. Though no fatalities were reported, one Kessab resident was injured in the incidents. The residents of Kessab, especially the children who were playing outside of their homes, were severely shaken.

Syrian Army liberated a number of villages in Latakia including Armenian-populated Ghnemie village which population left the village for already 4 years because of armed terroristic groups. Armenian Apostholic St. George church is located in Armenian-populated Ghnemie which was built in 1875 by local population. However, according to local adults testimony, 1875 is considered the year of restoration but the church has 300-year-old history.

Before the war in Syria, annual campaigns and excursions were organized in Ghnemie picturesque village.

St. Gevorg Armenian church located in Ghnemie village of Syrias Latakia was partially damaged. The armed groups have downed the cross of the church, the hall of the church has been burnt off, but the church is standing, correspondent of Gandzasar newspaper said.
Robert Gates

Robert Gates hesitated, considering the once out-of-this-world possibility that has become more and more plausible lately.

"Could you imagine a President Donald Trump?" he was asked.

"In all honesty, that's difficult for me," he told Business Insider in an interview earlier this week.

In fact, the entire 2016 presidential field seems to be confounding Gates, one of the most-respected military officials in modern US history.

Gates served as the US secretary of defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and is the only person to have held that position under two presidents of two different political parties.

Yet just more than a week before the first votes are cast in the presidential primaries, none of the current crop of candidates, Gates told Business Insider, stands out as especially presidential.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner with whom he worked in the Obama administration, does not have his endorsement. Some of Trump's rhetoric is not helpful. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Trump's main GOP rival, doesn't know what he's talking about.

"People are making a lot of grandiose promises and pledges to do one thing or another, either on domestic affairs or on foreign policy," said Gates, who is promoting his new book, "A Passion for Leadership."

"But I haven't heard anybody really talking about how they would fix some of the problems that they're describing and how they would actually implement them," he added.

Gates went on to take an apparent swipe at Trump, who has proposed to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and "make Mexico pay for it."

"Some of the rhetoric in terms of how they would deal with problems is frankly totally unrealistic, in terms of making other countries do one thing or another, and so on," Gates told Business Insider.

"So what we're hearing," he added, "is people competing with each other to make ever-broader and more fantastic promises about all the things they're going to change that, in my experience, are completely incompatible with reality."

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donald trump

Gates has been struck by the phenomenon of both Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who has risen as an insurgent challenger to Clinton on the Democratic side.

But he took issue with what he called Trump's "over-the-top" rhetoric, particularly on foreign policy. Trump frequently professes at campaign rallies that his administration would "bomb the s--- out of" the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS. And Trump has been subject to intense criticism for a plan to temporarily bar Muslim tourists and immigrants from entering the country.

"How he intends to deal with issues is pretty unrealistic," Gates said of Trump.

Gates had perhaps even harsher criticism later in the week for Cruz, who has emerged as Trump's main threat on the Republican side. Cruz last year called for "carpet bombing" the Islamic State, an indiscriminate strategy that critics say would lead to large numbers of civilian casualties.

In a Tuesday "Morning Joe" interview, Gates said the tactic would be "totally useless" and end up backfiring on decades of US war strategy.

"Carpet bombing would be completely useless. It's totally contrary to the American way of war," Gates said. "Total disregard for civilians. So, I mean, part of the concern that I have with the campaign, particularly when it comes to national security, is that the solutions being offered are so simplistic and so at odds with the reality of the rest of the world, with the way the world really works."

situation room osama bin laden obama biden hillary gates

Indeed, Gates took aim at some of the supposed fantastical prescriptions to ISIS in a round-robin criticism of the various GOP candidates.

Sending 10,000 troops into Iraq and Syria to combat the group, as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) have suggested, is "unrealistic," he said. So too is the idea of bringing in troops from other Sunni Muslim nations into Iraq, which is run by a Shiite-influenced government.

Gates described the most "workable" strategy as an amped-up version of Obama's current war plan  which includes special-operations forces in Syria and US military advisers helping to train Sunni tribes, Iraqi Kurds, and the Iraqi Security Forces.

"But I think what most candidates don't want to tell the American people is the reality is this a problem that is going to take some time to resolve," he said.

As for one of the officials with whom he worked in the Obama administration  Clinton  Gates had less glowing words than a 2014 interview in which he said he thought Clinton would make a good president.

"I don't think I ever said that," he told Business Insider.

Gates called Clinton's decision to use a private email server during her time in the State Department a "mistake"  a word she has also used. Later in the week, he also told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he agreed with former CIA Director Michael Morell's claim that Clinton's private server had likely been hacked by foreign governments.

"I actually never used email for official purpose  even the government servers," he told Business Insider. "If I was going to direct somebody to use military force or undertake a covert action, I wanted to do it face to face. And I wanted my signature to be on a piece of paper."

NOW WATCH: Former Defense Secretary calls out Trump for 'over-the-top ISIS plan





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Jan 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's low-cost airline Flynas is in talks with Airbus Group SE, Boeing Co and Bombardier Inc about a potential order for 100 new aircraft, after the carrier posted a profit in 2015 for the first time, according to a Bloomberg report on Saturday.

Flynas Chief Executive Paul Byrne told Bloomberg in an interview on Saturday in Bahrain it was considering purchasing or leasing 60 new planes in the next five years with an option for 40 more.

"We're talking to Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier about purchasing or leasing depending on which is the best deal for us," Byrne said. "If we were to change from Airbus to Boeing or Bombardier, that will be a big move for us but it's not as dramatic as it sounds."

Boeing declined to comment on the report while Flynas, Bombardier and Airbus could not immediately be reached for comment outside of regular business hours.

(Writing by Diane Craft; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir attends an emergency meeting of the (OIC) in the Saudi city of Jeddah, on January 21, 2016, following an attack by protesters on the Saudi embassy in Tehran (AFP Photo/STRINGER) (AFP/File)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it does not see a "coming together" of Iran and the United States, which is well aware of Tehran's regional "mischief".

The kingdom and its Gulf neighbours perceive a lack of engagement from their traditional ally Washington, particularly in the face of what they see as Iran's "interference" in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Those feelings crystallised with a historic international deal -- backed by the United States and five other major powers -- which this month lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.

"No, I don't see a coming together of the United States and Iran. Iran remains the world's chief sponsor of terrorism," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"Overall I think the United States is very aware of the danger of Iran's mischief and nefarious activities... I don't believe the United States is under any illusion as to what type of government Iran is," he said.

Kerry and Jubeir spoke after they attended a meeting of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

The top US diplomat said his country "remains concerned about some of the activities that Iran is engaged in in other countries".

This includes Iran's "support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah" in Lebanon.
A city worker walks through the City of London with St. Andrew Undershaft church surrounded by business skyscrapers, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's banks need to dedicate far greater resources toward securing their IT infrastructure and should have a designated board member overseeing the issue, a senior lawmaker said, following a string of high-profile technology failures.

Andrew Tyrie, chairman of parliament's Treasury Committee, also suggested that Andrew Bailey, the deputy governor of the Bank of England who heads its banks supervisory arm, should be tasked with ensuring the banks develop more resilience.

Britain's retail banks have been hit by a number of technology failures in recent years, causing inconvenience for hundreds of thousands of customers and prompting lawmakers to call for more investment in financial technology.

"Every few months we have yet another IT failure at a major bank," Tyrie said in a statement on Sunday. "These IT blunders and weaknesses are exposing millions of people to uncertainty, disruption and sometimes distress. Businesses suffer, too. We cant carry on like this."

Tyrie said someone, probably Bailey, the head of the BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority supervisory arm, needed to take "a leadership role" over an issue that poses systemic risk to the banking system.

"Currently, no one group seems to be directly responsible for developing a full understanding of the risks carried," Tyrie said in a letter to Bailey dated Jan. 22 and published by the committee.

"A group of this type should now be formed with the primary task of ensuring that the banks develop more robust resilience to protect banking and payment systems. The head of the PRA may be best suited for the leadership role."

HSBC suffered an online and mobile banking blackout in January while in 2015 thousands of Britons failed to receive their wages when some HSBC business customers were blocked from making payments.

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has promised to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in its computer systems after a series of high-profile glitches. Some customers at Barclays have also endured problems.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Dale Hudson)
ALISO VIEJO, CA--(Marketwired - January 24, 2016) - Tony Amaradio, inspirational financial expert and strategic philanthropist, urges for an increased amount of stewardship as the new year is upon us. In today's climate, efficient budget planning has become more important than ever as more people are struggling to obtain a suitable balanced income. Finances and economic situations have changed, even for those who had never felt tough times in the past. Amaradio is concerned as money issues account for 22% of divorces in North America, and is determined to educate individuals about the importance of financial stewardship and the keys to achieving it, since he himself started out from an unprivileged background.

According to Amaradio, "effective stewardship starts with everyday spending, something that can be harder than it seems at first sight." By embracing this, individuals can get one step closer to wise budgeting, avoid disagreements on financial matters, and potentially increase their belief in God. Based on his own experience as a faithful Christian, husband, and a successful businessman, Amaradio explains that conflicts surrounding decisions can be eliminated through protecting others, leading to harmony within marriages and families. The Chief Strategist also highlights five keys to how to achieve this.

First, it is essential to define a mission statement outlining specific values, aims, and goals. The next step is implementing a plan and creating a budget to meet those objectives. In his groundbreaking handbook about financial stewardship, Faithful with Much: Breaking Down the Barriers to Generous Giving, which he co-authored with his wife, Carin, Tony Amaradio advises on retirement planning, debt management, investment, insurance, college planning, and more. The third key to this success is developing a balanced, Christian life based on the belief that financial strength begins with spiritual health. "Stewardship is about understanding the brief nature of possessions," states Amaradio. By appreciating that belongings are temporary, while God's love is infinite, individuals may achieve protection through responsibility.

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The fourth element is to save more, thus being able to give more, and ultimately becoming better examples for society. This may be achieved through several strategies that include allocating funds appropriately, financial planning, investment diversification, and tax-advantaged charitable giving. The fifth key is for people to review their current plan, updating it based on their changing needs annually. This would allow those to remain in full control of their expenses. Amaradio suggests that gathering, analyzing, closely monitoring relevant data, and regularly reviewing goals is an essential part of this stage. To help Christians thrive and achieve financial stewardship, Amaradio provides a program named "Faithful with Finances." It offers guidance and important tools to both individuals and churches who help them achieve optimized results.

Tony Amaradio is the Founder and Chief Strategist of two major companies: Select Portfolio Management, Inc. and Select Money Management, Inc. Amaradio started his career after he graduated from University of Michigan with a BBA and then the University of Detroit, receiving an MBA with a concentration in Finance and Taxation. For over thirty years, Tony Amaradio has been assisting clients in establishing, planning, and managing assets, offering services that include the design, implementation, and proactive monitoring of their portfolios. He is a highly sought-after speaker for events, in which he is invited to talk all over the country. Tony Amaradio dedicates time and donates considerable amounts of his income to philanthropic causes, such as the charitable ministry Joni and Friends. Faithful with Much: Breaking Down the Barriers to Generous Giving, is a handbook that educates individuals on how to achieve effective financial stewardship.

Tony Amaradio -- Inspirational Financial Expert: http://anthonyamaradionews.com/

Tony Amaradio -- Shares Valuable Insights on the Principles of Stewardship: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tony-amaradio-shares-valuable-insights-032247130.html

Amazon.com: Tony Amaradio: Books, Biography, Blog: http://www.amazon.com/Faithful-Much-Breaking-Barriers-Generous/dp/1434766160

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/1/24/11G079975/Images/Tony_Amaradio_--_Urges_Financial_Stewardship_is_Cr-daeed5199308aafc8b889f9e7951b7df.jpg

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0jAilnkPg


Katie Jacobs Stanton

Five of Twitter's top execs are leaving the company, Re/code's Kurt Wagner and Kara Swisher reported on Sunday, along with Mike Isaac of The New York Times.

Twitter's product head Kevin Weil, media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, senior vice president of engineering Alex Roetter, vice president of human resources Brian Schipper, and Vine head Jason Toff are all leaving the company, according to the reports.

One person close to the situation told Business Insider that Roetter and Weil's departures were Twitter's decision, but another source said that Roetter and Weil were not being fired and had decided to leave on their own. Stanton had previously been planning on leaving but was convinced to stay for a while.

Twitter will also appoint two new board members soon, Business Insider has learned, one of whom will be a big media name. Twitter will reportedly announce the departures on Monday, in addition to a new hire who is a "well-known exec" and "prominent CMO."

Weil, who had been at Twitter for six years, first joined the company in 2009 as an engineering lead before working his way up to senior vice president of product. Stanton joined Twitter following jobs with Google and Yahoo, and served on President Barack Obama's social-media team during the first part of his presidency.

According to Re/code, neither Weil nor Stanton have secured new jobs yet, and Twitter will temporarily fill their roles while hunting for replacements.

Toff is "leaving to go to Google to work on VR," according to the Times.

Vice president of global business development Jana Messerschmidt is also rumored to be on her way out.

The news follows a rough few months for Twitter, which, since making founder Jack Dorsey CEO, has seen its share price plummet to an all-time low last week before experiencing a rebound, apparently triggered by a false rumor about a tie-up with News Corp.

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Twitter's stock has been under pressure for months, as the company struggles to boost user growth. Its plummeting value has sparked constant speculation that Twitter could become an acquisition target.

Twitter declined to comment.

NOW WATCH: Teens reveal their favorite apps and the winner is clear





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By Orathai Sriring BANGKOK (Reuters) - A piece of suspected plane wreckage found off the east coast of southern Thailand on Saturday was unlikely to belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished nearly two years ago, said aviation experts and Thai officials. A large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district, told Reuters. Villagers reported it to authorities for identification, he said. "Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2 metres wide and 3 metres long (6.6 by 9.8 feet)," he said. The find fuelled speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. A piece of the plane washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 but no further trace has been found. Experts said that while powerful currents sweeping the Indian Ocean could deposit debris thousands of kilometres away, wreckage was extremely unlikely to have drifted across the equator into the northern hemisphere. The location of the debris in Thailand "would appear to be inconsistent with the drift models that appeared when MH370's flaperon was discovered in Reunion last July," said Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor at Flightglobal, an industry publication. "The markings, engineering, and tooling apparent in this debris strongly suggest that it is aerospace related," said Waldron. "It will need to be carefully examined, however, to determine it's exact origin." Other possible sources of aerospace debris included the launching of space rockets by India eastwards over the Bay of Bengal, he said. There has been no official confirmation from Thailand that the wreckage belongs even to a plane, never mind the missing Malayasia jet. "Personally, I don't think it's MH370," Thai government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters. District head Patthikongpan said the debris "could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging from barnacles on it." A spokesman for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the Canberra-based authority which is overseeing the international search for MH370, told Reuters it was "awaiting results of the official examination of the material." The Malaysian transport ministry is in contact with Thai authorities to verify the debris, a ministry spokesman said. Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course. Most of the passengers were Chinese. Lingering uncertainty surrounding its fate has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery. The fragment found in Thailand "just doesn't look like aircraft fuselage," aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told Reuters from near Perth. "It just doesn't make any sense," he said. "I don't think there's any connection with MH370 whatsoever." (Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Manunphattr Dhanananphorn in Bangkok, Siva Govindasamy in Singapore, Lincoln Feast and Jane Wardell in Sydney, Morag MacKinnon in Perth and Praveen Menon in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by Andrew RC Marshall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) The strongest cold spell to hit Taiwan in 10 years over the weekend has taken a toll on the fishery and agricultural industry in southern Taiwan and has caused irreparable damage to 500 hectares of crops in Taoyuan in the north and nearly 200 hectares in Kaohsiung in the south, agriculture authorities reported Sunday.
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Let it be light between us,brothers and sisters from the Earth.Let it be love between all living beings on this

Galaxy.Let it be peace between all various races and species.We love you infinitely.

I am SaLuSa from Sirius

Channel:Laura/Multidimensional Ocean

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:Laura/Multidimensional Ocean
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Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) Snow, which is rarely seen in Taiwan, an Asia-Pacific island crossed by the Tropic of Cancer, wowed people around the island Sunday with the appearance of the white stuff, from the capital Taipei in the north to Pinging County in the south.
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Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) Snow, which is rarely seen in Taiwan, an Asia-Pacific island crossed by the Tropic of Cancer, wowed people around the island Sunday with the appearance of the white stuff, from the capital Taipei in the north to Pingtung County in the south.
Video Feature

Meet the Renewing Our Minds Core Group Leaders: Heather Staff is a director for the youth leadership board of Christians in Politics UK. She is a legal associate with a conflict resolution think tank and a consultant with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. She works on Conflict resolution, human rights, political engagement and rule of law programs. Heather is a regular speaker at events around the UK and Europe and a panelist for national and international media. She is often on Christian media channels UCB, TWR, TBN. Most importantly she is a committed follower of Jesus. Heather Staff serves also in the Renewing Our Minds Core Leadership team. She was also one of the key speakers at the 2017 ROM Gathering in Fuzine, Croatia, and at other ROM events in the past few years. This is what she said about the ROM Gathering 2017.
Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the worldwide, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C. ; and Deciphering the Lost Symbol. His most recent book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and serves as its Associate Director and Treasurer. In 2021, Chris was named as Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana.

Chris is also the co-author with Alice Von Kannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories And Secret Societies For Dummies.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he was named the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33 Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris is a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He remains a regular contributor today, and its Editor Emeritus.

He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

Chris was a commercial filmmaker for twenty-three years with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis. Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed scripts for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in 2017 on America: Facts vs Fiction.

Chris and Alice live in Indianapolis with Sophie the Flying Poodle who has them both answering to basic commands. However, they can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustics in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest book together is RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021.
ASEAN Tourism Ministers unveiled the inaugural Cruise south-east Asia brand on the last day of the ASEAN Tourism Forum at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, and bears the tagline, Feel the warmth'. The brand will be unveiled to the international cruise industry in March when ASEAN member states come together once more to promote cruising in the region at the Seatrade Cruise Global conference and tradeshow in Miami, Florida, United States of America.

The brand emphasises the warmth of south-east Asias hospitality  similar to that of the ASEAN tourism brand  and also references the regions year-round warm waters, which make it ideal for cruising.

With cruise tourism being a regional product that taps on the appeal of the various destinations, the creation of the Cruise south-east Asia brand will further entrench south-east Asia in the minds of both consumers and industry stakeholders. It will also help raise interest in cruising as an ideal way to discover the regions myriad cultures and vibrant combination of history and modernity.

Ybhg Tan Sri Dr. Ong Hong Peng, Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia said, "I am confident the development of an ASEAN Cruise brand is indeed a significant initiative to generate new sources of growth for the region. As such, ASEAN countries can look forward to seeing more cruise ships coming to this part of the world. Towards this end, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia will intensify our support and enhance cooperation to promote and grow the ASEAN Cruise brand in the coming years.

The idea for a unified regional brand was proposed by Singapore in its role as the ASEAN lead co-ordinator for cruise development. It was warmly supported by the other ASEAN member states, reiterating their desire to grow cruise tourism together.

Mr Lionel Yeo, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board said, The launch of the Cruise south-east Asia brand reiterates our regions commitment to band together and harness the growth potential of the cruise industry.
The ten ASEAN tourism ministers collectively launched the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2016-2025 at the Tourism Ministers press conference on the 22nd January during the 35th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) held in Manila, the Philippines.

The vision of the ATSP is: By 2025, ASEAN will be a quality tourism destination offering a unique, diverse ASEAN experience, and will be committed to responsible, sustainable, inclusive and balanced tourism development, so as to contribute significantly to the socio-economic well-being of the ASEAN people.

In keeping with the vision, there are two main strategic objectives to be accomplished. Firstly, to enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN as a single global destination, which will include intensifying the marketing and promotion efforts to present ASEAN as a single destination, while creating unique ASEAN travel experiences and destinations. It is essential that infrastructure requirements be met adequately, which will involve expanding connectivity, upgrading standards for tourist facilities and services, as also enhancing travel facilitation and safety and security. A key factor in achieving this objective will be to attract investment in ASEAN tourism.

The second challenge will be to ensure that ASEAN tourism is sustainable and inclusive. This can come about by reinforcing local community and public-private sector participation in the tourism value chain; improving safety and security; prioritising the protection and maintenance of natural and cultural heritage and increasing the responsiveness of ASEAN tourism to environmental protection and climate change.

Said the Honourable Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr, Secretary of Tourism, Philippines: The new ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2016  2025 will work towards not only the development and growth of the regions tourism, but also in ensuring that this growth is grounded on responsible, sustainable, and inclusive tourism.

In order to achieve the above strategies seamlessly, the ASEAN tourism ministers will provide the policy framework and direction, while the NTOs will serve as the executing bodies to implement the same.

It is anticipated that, if the strategic programmes and projects are fully resourced and implemented, by 2025 the GDP contribution of ASEAN tourism could potentially increase from 12% to 15%, with tourisms share alone of total employment rising from 3.7% to 7%. It is predicted that the per capita spend by international tourists could increase from US$ 877 to US$ 1,500 even as the average length of stay of international tourist arrivals goes up from 6.3 nights to 8 nights.
As many readers would know, ASOPA (Australian School of Pacific Administration) has a very close association with Papua New Guinea.

The Ten Terminal building was built in 1941, one of only two brick buildings of the army in World War II, and is immediately adjacent to the equally important old ASOPA heritage site.

YOU may not have heard that theres a campaign being run in Sydney to prevent the heritage-declared Ten Terminal building at Middle Head being leased for the commercial development of an aged care home.

It educated many professionals for service in the then Territory and later, around independence, provided training for many Papua New Guinean managers.

The Headland Preservation Group is running a campaign against a decision of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to grant the lease, which would effectively remove this important part of Australias  and Papua New Guineas - heritage.

Thus far the HPG has had strong support from a couple of prime ministers Tony Abbotts Liberal Party branches (hes the local member), from one of his sisters and from broadcaster Alan Jones.

There is hope that Mr Abbott, who played a big role in having the Middle Head defence land restored to public parkland, may be persuaded to intervene.

One of the points that stuck in my craw about the leasing decision was the contention by parliamentary secretary Senator Simon Birmingham, who signed the approval, that he could not understand the fuss about a run down old army transport depot.

I recently had a guided tour around the area with distinguished writer and historian Gavan Souter and later wrote a letter to Senator Birmingham that Id like to share with you:

The buildings you have approved for partial demolition and restructuring into a commercial aged care facility for a developers ultimate benefit once housed some of the cream of Australias military and administrative intelligentsia. The School of Military Engineering (SME) did pioneer work in camouflage, anti-aircraft protection and coastal defence. It was later occupied by a Signals organisation and from 1947 to 1951 it became the Australian School of Pacific Administration. Perhaps living in South Australia, you have had no occasion to become aware of the work of Alf Conlon, Sir John Kerr and people like the poet James McCauley who operated out of that building in wartime intelligence functions, and the development of the ANGAU and District Administration field services in Papua New Guinea, which involved people like Hal Wooten and some of the legendary field officers who were trained at ASOPA. If those names are unfamiliar to you, that ignorance is in itself a reason why you should not be so cavalier in dismissing the cultural heritage locked away in the structurally sound walls of these historic buildings. The School of Military Intelligence occupied the buildings from 1958 for almost 10 years. I have heard only hints as to what functions were undertaken during that period of occupancy; but I do know that many who trained at or were trainees of that School will be dismayed to learn that a senior member of Tony Abbotts government thinks it fit to dismiss the issues about the adaptive reuse of the Middle Head 1941 SME buildings as difficult to understand concerns about "a rundown 1950s former military transport building.

One morning last week I walked through the refurbished, low-level old ASOPA buildings.

They look fine; but I saw no signage whatever to indicate that they once housed ASOPA or any indication of the other fine work that was done there.

Those buildings adjoin Ten Terminal buildings, in which ASOPA and Conlons ANGAU training school started.

I took this photo. If you read the words, you will understand why the parliamentary secretary has his facts wrong - even the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust (SHFT) itself doesnt get them right; instead it propagates self-serving falsehoods.

Ten Terminal dates from 1941-42 not 1958; it had 17 years of highly significant operation linked to Australias military and administrative history before 1958; for the Federation Trust to describe it as reusing an old Army depot is tendentious nonsense.

I hope I can stir yur interest and campaigning zeal on behalf of those who treasure the idea that the cultural history of that area should not only be preserved but propagated.

Id encourage you to support an online petition which you can link to here.

To show your opposition to this program of demolition and destruction, you can rally at the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust board meeting in public to be held at 12 noon tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Drill Hall on Cross Street, Mosman. Otherwise you might like to send an email of support to savemiddlehead@gmail.com

Paul Munro is a former industrial advocate lawyer and judge of the Federal arbitration system. He served in PNG from 1961-68 in the Public Solicitors Office and later with the Public Service Association at a critical time. He is now on the executive committee of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia
A Turkish airlines plane has made an emergency landing after its passengers reportedly found a note containing a bomb threat on board.

The Turkish airlines TK34 flight with 207 passengers had been travelling from the Houston (USA) to Istanbul, Turkey. The plane landed in Ireland on Sunday morning at Shannon airport following a bomb threat. A napkin was found in the toilet with the word "bomb" written on it, the airline said in a statement. All of the passengers have been evacuated, according to CNN.

After the plane was searched, it was confirmed that no explosives were found on the plane.
Don Welsh, CEO of Choose Chicago, has been chosen as the new President & CEO of DMAI.

After a thorough search process that included a stellar group of candidates, we are thrilled that Don has accepted this position, stated Bob Lander, Chairman of the DMAI board of directors and CEO of the Austin CVB. We are confident that he will lead DMAI in becoming the premier trade association for destination marketing organizations both in the U.S. and globally.

Welsh is a seasoned tourism executive with more than 35 years of experience in the industry. Prior to his role in Chicago, Welsh held the CEO positions at both the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association. Welsh also brings extensive hotel experience with him having served in various capacities at Westin Hotels, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas.

I am incredibly proud of what the Choose Chicago team and Chicagos visitor industry have accomplished in just five years. Chicago is experiencing an unprecedented travel boom that promises to deliver immense economic benefits, said Welsh. While this is a bittersweet day for me and my family, I remain 100% confident in the Choose Chicago leadership team to continue to move this industry forward. Opportunities such as this dont come along often, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. I share Bobs vision to elevate DMAI to the next level and I look forward to working alongside my global counterparts in one of the fastest growing segments within the global economy.

DMAI is the worlds largest and most reliable resource for official destination marketing organizations (DMOs). A passionate advocate for our members, DMAI is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of more than 4,200+ destination professionals from over 600 destinations in approximately 15 countries.
These notes are for my Religion Class members & friends. I will post my teaching notes. Classes begin Wed. Sept. 2, 2015 at noon at the Layton East Stake Center on the corner of Gordon and Emerald in Layton and Thurs. Sept. 3 at 6:30 pm at the Wells Ward Chapel 1990 S. 500 E. Salt Lake City We will be studying The New Testament Acts to Revelation with emphasis on the Book of Revelation. There will be no charge nor registration.
Following a December election that has left Spanish politics deeply fragmented, People's Party (PP) leader, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's has been unable to secure the majority coalition he needs to rule.



Unless someone has a majority, it is the role of the king, otherwise a largely ceremonial role, to see if anyone can build a coalition. First chance goes to the party receiving the most votes.



Here's a sequence of events with brief translations and a couple of comments from reader Bran who lives in Spain. The clips are from last Friday through today. Links are in Spanish.





Rajoy declines the offer by the king to try to form a government. However the news is later tempered with his words "I haven't renounced the right to be chosen, it is that right now I don't have the votes". Friday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453478212_032444.html

- http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453478212_032444.html During the round of meetings with the king, Iglesias (leader of Podemos) announced without any warning that he would seek to form a coalition with PSOE based on proportional representation of power in the government with Sanchez as president and himself as vice president and ministers also proportionally assigned. Iglesias includes IU (left) as part of the tripartite and asks for a Catalan referendum. Apparently Sanchez was only informed of the offer when he went to meet the king. Friday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453461680_098827.html

- http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453461680_098827.html Sanchez's first reaction was a cautious welcome, saying "Voters would not understand if I and Podemos did not understand each other". He says he will hold talks with Podemos over the weekend. However Iglesias carried on his overt approach by tweeting his position with statements like "the historic possibility that he (Sanchez) will become president is a smile from destiny that he should be thankful." Friday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453464023_797332.html

- http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453464023_797332.html Reactions of the regional heads and ex-heads of the PSOE, including previous party leader Rubalcaba was not favorable. Rubalcaba stated "It is the first time I have heard an offer of accord to form a Government while gravely insulting the party with which you hope to govern with." There is even a new hash tag #Respetoal PSOE "Respect PSOE" Friday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453496560_129777.html?rel=cx_articulo#cxrecs_s

- http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/22/actualidad/1453496560_129777.html?rel=cx_articulo#cxrecs_s Message from Bran on Saturday : "Hello Mish, I'll keep posting through the politics but if you are thinking of writing on it, be careful not to be caught off guard. There are more twists and turns than we might imagine.

: "Hello Mish, I'll keep posting through the politics but if you are thinking of writing on it, be careful not to be caught off guard. There are more twists and turns than we might imagine. Rajoy, having resigned his candidature, but still offering it, launches straight into the offensive from his self-declared position of opposition, labeling Sanchez " mortgaged and undignified " for hypothetical agreements with Podemos politica. Saturday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/23/actualidad/1453545112_869649.html

" for hypothetical agreements with Podemos politica. - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/23/actualidad/1453545112_869649.html Sanchez refuses to pick up the gauntlet, broadcasting that he will not present himself as candidate for now because that right still belongs to Rajoy because PP has the most seats. Sanchez also smacked down Podemos in the process, saying his own candidacy won't be launched by blackmail. The actual word Sanchez used is " chantaje ", which means "story telling leverage ", a bit lighter than blackmail. Saturday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/23/actualidad/1453553795_291625.html

", which means ", a bit lighter than blackmail. Saturday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/23/actualidad/1453553795_291625.html PP says Podemos offer to align with PSOE " causes terror in Europe ". Saturday - http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/politica/noticias/7299394/01/16/El-PP-asegura-que-la-oferta-de-Gobierno-de-Pablo-Iglesias-ha-causado-terror-en-Europa.html

". - http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/politica/noticias/7299394/01/16/El-PP-asegura-que-la-oferta-de-Gobierno-de-Pablo-Iglesias-ha-causado-terror-en-Europa.html Sanchez now says he will attempt to form a government if the king asks him to. Saturday - http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/23/actualidad/1453553795_291625.html

- http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/01/23/actualidad/1453553795_291625.html Rajoy says that PSOE/Podemos coalition will not be able to govern because he will use the PP majority in the senate to block it. Saturday - http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/politica/noticias/7299046/01/16/Rajoy-amenaza-a-la-union-PSOEPodemos-No-podran-gobernar-tenemos-la-mayoria-en-el-Senado.html

- http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/politica/noticias/7299046/01/16/Rajoy-amenaza-a-la-union-PSOEPodemos-No-podran-gobernar-tenemos-la-mayoria-en-el-Senado.html Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece says the troika will tie the hands of a PSOE/Podemos government. Saturday - http://www.eleconomista.es/economia/noticias/7299442/01/16/Varoufakis-advierte-que-la-Troika-ataria-las-manos-de-un-Gobierno-PSOEPodemos.html

- http://www.eleconomista.es/economia/noticias/7299442/01/16/Varoufakis-advierte-que-la-Troika-ataria-las-manos-de-un-Gobierno-PSOEPodemos.html Bran comment on Sunday: "All sorts of covert and overt activity is taking place. For now, all the political leaders reject coalitions that can reach a majority. We will have to see how the PSOE/Podemos relationship pans out, because they will still need to pick up additional seats from fringe parties to reach a majority."

The anti-austerity Podemos party on Friday made an audacious move towards breaking Spains post-election political logjam, proposing a three-way coalition government with the Socialists and the United Left party.



If the PSOE [the Spanish Socialist party] wants it, there can be a government of change, Pablo Iglesias, the Podemos leader, told a news conference in Madrid.



He was speaking after meeting Felipe VI, the Spanish monarch, whose constitutional role includes proposing the next head of government to parliament.



Another complication is that the Socialists, Podemos and the United Left would still not hold a majority in parliament. The three parties together control 161 seats in the 350-seat parliament, meaning they would be 15 votes short of an absolute majority.



To win the premiership and pass future legislation, they would need either the support or the abstention of smaller regional parties, including the two parties that support Catalan independence from Spain. For the Socialists, a party that prides itself on its staunch defence of Spanish unity, it would be a deeply uncomfortable situation.



The proposal made by Mr Iglesias marks the first concrete offer to create a left-of-centre government coalition since Spain went to the polls in December. The election produced a deeply fragmented parliament that leaves neither the right nor the left an obvious path towards a stable majority.



Mr Rajoy, the leader of the conservative Popular party, has proposed a centrist alliance between his own party, the Socialists and the centrist Ciudadanos party. The Socialists have so far rejected the prime ministers offer.

PSOE insists Catalonia stay united with Spain Podemos is open to Catalan elections The third group of fringe parties needed to form a coalition demand Catalonia independence

The Financial Times reports Podemos Proposes Leftwing Coalition to Break Spain Logjam The most likely possibilities are a new election (if no one can achieve a majority), or an unstable coalition of leftist parties.Barring an unlikely last minute miracle, the government of Mariano Rajoy is over. New elections are in the cards immediately, or a bit down the road after an unstable coalition of some sort falls apart.Either way, Rajoy is burnt toast.Mike "Mish" Shedlock
Rose Lee (Floy) Stockseth

BELMOND, IA  On the afternoon of January 21, 2016, Rose Lee (Floy) Stockseth passed away at the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond, surrounded by her family and the watchful eye of Hospice nurse, Jamie. Rose was 76 years old.

Funeral services will be held Monday, January 25, 2016, 11 a.m., at the Day Spring Assembly of God Church, 208 6th Ave. S.W., Belmond. Pastor Mark Pluff will be officiating. Interment will be in the Pleasantview Cemetery, Thornton, IA.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Andrews Funeral Home, 516 1st Street S.E., Belmond, IA, and continues one hour prior to the services at church Monday.

Rose Lee Floy was born in Fertile, IA, on August 25, 1939. She was the 6th child born to Pearl and John Floy.

Rose Lee spent her youth in the Fertile and Clear Lake, IA, areas. She spoke fondly of childhood memories spent with her brothers, sisters, and cousins playing games and getting into mischief together. These early years established the importance of family which Rose Lee carried through her own life and instilled in her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Growing up in Clear Lake going to the roller skating rink was a frequent pastime. During one of these trips she met her future husband, Merlin Stockseth.

Several years after their first meeting they were married in Mason City, IA, on September 25, 1964. At the time of their marriage they became a family of four with their son Perry and daughter Shannon. To this union three other daughters were born, Martie, Chris, and Floy.

Rose Lee and Merlin Stockseth built their home in Belmond, IA, initially on the family acreage, then in 1976 the family moved to Rose Lees dream home. Rose loved to entertain and several times a year would invite friends and family to events at her home. Several of these events included good food, good drinks, and the occasional activities of the house ghost Harry.

Family vacations were very important to Rose Lee. In summer, the entire family would vacation together. When her children were small many of the vacations included extended family members camping and fishing trips. As her children grew the vacations started to include amusement parks with the entire family making the first of 20-plus visits to Walt Disney World in 1973. Rose Lee planned our first trip to Disney at Christmas because she said, It wont be busy because no one will go on Christmas Day.

As her family grew to include grandchildren, Rose Lee continued to plan and vacation with her children and grandchildren and at the end of each vacation she would quickly start asking where should we go next and start saving for that adventure. Trips included the Grand Ole Opry, Dollywood, Las Vegas, Graceland, Duluth, cruises to the Bahamas, Alaska, and the Caribbean. All filled with memories and instilled this tradition in her daughters.

Rose Lee was a homemaker while her children were young. She was involved with community clubs. Later, she operated Second Hand Rose consignment shop initially on the farm and later moved to Belmond, Main Street. Through the store, she developed new friendships with many people becoming as close as family. It was not unusual to have these friends attend holidays and special occasions if they had nowhere to go. The friends became extended family to Rose Lee.

Rose Lee cherished her grandchildren and was a very active and engaged Grandma. Her first grandson Alexander was always viewed as a gift from God to fill the hole in her heart from the passing of her precious son, Perry. Rose Lee babysat Alex in the Second Hand store. Next was Aaron and Grandma affectionately called the boys her A-team. Rounding out the grandkids is Halie and John. Grandma looked forward to making memories with her grandkids including decorating cutout Christmas cookies and being their biggest fan in any activity they participated in.

In 2011 Rose Lee was blessed with her first great-grandchild, Brayden, soon followed by Maddison Rose and Jaelynn. Rose was a very proud great-grandma and always had a smile and special treat for her little visitors. Braydon called her Grandma the Great.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years, Merlin Stockseth, Belmond, IA; daughters: Shannon Paullus (Joe) Hampton, IA, Martie Stockseth, Belmond, IA, Chris Stockseth, Belmond, IA, and Floy Ann (Buddy) Peterson (Stockseth), Belmond, IA; a brother Lehman Floy (Shirley), Scottsdale, AZ; sister-in-law Ida Floy, Clear Lake, IA; her grandchildren: Alex (Alison) Stockseth, West Des Moines, IA, Aaron (Kiya) Peterson, Belmond, IA, John Kohles, Hampton, and Halie Peterson, Belmond, IA; her great-grandchildren, Brayden Peterson, Maddison Rose Peterson, Jaelynn Peterson; and many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Rose Lee was preceded in death by her parents; son, Perry Stocketh; brothers Marlowe and Duane; sisters Mavis Stein and Vida Sutherland; several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law; and grandson Peter Kohles.

Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, IA., 641-444-4474, www.andrewsfuneralhomeandfloral.com.
GOLETA, Calif., Jan. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The La Concepcion Animal Hospital now features endoscopy for animals as a minimally invasive solution for pets that have swallowed small objects and/or have an item lodged in their throat or esophagus. This less intrusive alternative to surgery is safer and highly effective, bringing relief to pets as well as relieving the stress on their owners.

La Concepcion Animal Hospital is a full service small animal veterinary hospital that brings expert care to pets in the Goleta, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria areas. They offer a range of advanced specialized surgical and diagnostic procedures that are usually only offered in specialty hospitals, but with fees that are more affordable to the public.



The professionals at La Concepcion Animal Hospital see an unfortunate number of incidents of animals swallowing objects around the home or yard. This behavior is sometimes accelerated during the holidays and other occasions when small items such as gifts, toys, decorations and other trinkets are more prevalent and may be scattered around the home or property. Incidents of pets swallowing foreign objects are all too common and pose a major health hazard, especially for dogs, shares Dr. Michele A. Everitt. If a pet swallows a foreign object, it is crucial to get the animal to an emergency care center right away.



Dr. Joseph Dalo Jr. adds, We are pleased to now have on hand technology that extracts foreign objects in a minimally invasive manner. Our endoscopy system is a less intrusive alternative to surgery for pets that have swallowed foreign objects. It is safer and less stressful on the animals physical health than surgery. We are grateful to be able to bring relief with this technology.



Other risks to pets around the home and property include hazardous materials like cleaning products, solvents, chemicals, lawn fertilizer, weed killer and poisons for insects or other vermin. Pets may be at risk if these items are left in open or easy to open containers or if they have been spilled or applied around the property.



Whether the animal ingests a poison or a foreign object, professional help will be required to treat the issue and help to restore their health and wellbeing. The professionals at La Concepcion Animal Hospital are dedicated to the health and safety of the pets they serve in the Goleta, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria areas. Some of the other services offered by La Concepcion Animal Hospital include gastroenterology, cardiology, thoracic Services, dermatology, urology and neurology.



La Concepcion Animal Hospital is located at 7126 Hollister Avenue in Goleta, California. Those in the public who are interested in receiving more information about their services may do so by calling (805) 685-4513 or by visiting the La Concepcion Animal Hospital website.
But she is a mother and an auntie and a bubu and knows that her blood runs true. And her heart runs true.

And she gave up her birth daughter Rose to relatives when Rose was just a baby.

So it is with the lapun meri I am privileged to call Mana, Rose's birth mother. She is no leader, she is no expert, she is no linguist  indeed Mana can barely speak English.

But blood is thicker than mauswara. And the blood-ties of mother to daughter can grow stronger over generations.

Auntie has a feud with Uncle, the children don't talk to their parents, mothers and fathers fall out with their loved ones, cliques are formed and gossip wreaks havoc.

Some people in the family call her lonlon, or crazy woman, and she has been put upon and robbed by relatives and outsiders, to their shame.

It is true she has some old beliefs that run counter to modern experience.

Trains are sinak, Ela Beach is a tsunami waiting to happen, a radio is spirits talking and so you must talk back and pray to them, the haus sik is a place where people go to die and Australia is a land of devils. Actually this one could well be true.

But Mana is a beautiful soul, and her heart is open to all.

My recent visit to Papua New Guinea reunited me with Mana. We had been trying unsuccessfully for many months to arrange her travel to Australia to be with Rose.

But, upon reflection, I don't think she would like it. To start with, four hours on a balus would be intolerable. Next, going into a train and a bus would be extremely difficult. I do not mean to be patronising or demeaning - it is just that this is not part of her experience having grown up as a girl in traditional Simbu culture.

Strangely, Mana is very Catholic in her faith (she was the church cleaner in Gembogl in her youth and crosses herself whenever she sees something new).

But she is also traditional in her cultural beliefs, having taken part in many old Simbu ceremonies. She boasts she was once a sexy young girl for tainim lek and all the handsome boys chased after her.

We cannot change Mana, nor should we. She is coming to terms with modern life, but still has her traditions. (Don't touch a frog! Don't point at a baby pumpkin! Don't spit on a tree!)

Mana is the living embodiment of an old Papua New Guinea coming to terms with the craziness of modern life. And I feel for her very much.

Why should Australians and other westerners impose their world-view on such people? Why should a white culture be seen as any better than what 60,000 years of tradition has given us?

I remember seeing Mana use a mobile phone for the first time. She took to it like a duck to water and used up all our credit talking from Kundiawa to her sons in Moresby.

Mana is timeless. And is a lesson for us. When I left PNG in November, she cried, kissed my feet then stood up straight and said, "Peter, you and I must be strong. You go and make a new life with Rose and help her get better, I will remember you always. Please don't forget me". Old Bill once said "age cannot wither her, not custom stale her infinite variety." So true of our Mana.

She may be a silly old bugger, but I love her and will never forget Mana, never.
1 Bookmarks

I like to ask about alumni. You can take it in many directions.



eg if its a student "how much have you interacted with the alumni and how important are they in the job search process?"



eg if its an adcom "how do you reach out to alumni to keep them involved?" etc etc



Also, i think it was helpful that my answers to the basic questions I ususally discussed my sources ie alumni, talking to students, class visits, so by the end of the interview the interviewer actually said something like "you already know so much about our school and have talked to so many people you probably don't have any questions" so I can get away with just asking 1 or 2 questions that are more insightful rather than 4 or 5 'basic' questions.
Re: The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long been debated [ #permalink

3 Kudos
Re: What would be required for successful direct protection of human right [ #permalink

1 Kudos
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Health officials confirmed yesterday that three people in New York State have tested positive for the Zika virus. The mosquito-borne illness causes birth defects and has been plaguing Latin American, South American and Caribbean nations in a recent outbreak.

According to officials, one patient is from Queens, and the other two are from Nassau and Orange Counties. All three patients had recently traveled outside the United States to countries that have been affected by the outbreak, and all three are expected to fully recover.

"There is virtually no risk of acquiring Zika virus in New York State at this time as the virus cannot be spread by casual contact with an infected person and mosquitoes are not active in cold winter months," DOH Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement. "But since this is a time of year when people travel to warmer climates and countries where Zika virus is found, we are urging residents, especially pregnant women, to check all health advisories before traveling and take preventive measures when traveling to affected countries."

According to the CDC, only one in 5 people infected with Zika will get sick, and symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). Severe symptoms and deaths are rare, but there may be a link between pregnant women who've been infected with Zika and microcephaly, a birth defect that causes abnormally small heads. Brazil, which has been hit hard by Zika, says nearly 4,000 babies have been born with suspected microcephaly since October, and U.S. officials say pregnant women should avoid traveling to countries affected by the outbreak.

The CDC has issued travel warnings for South America, the Caribbean, Samoa, Cape Verde, Central America, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

There is no vaccine or medication for Zika.
NOTICE: I am a practicing Catholic, active and in good-standing with my local diocese, who professes faith and loyalty to the Church. This ministry - my "little work" - is strictly a personal expression of that faith and loyalty, and not an officially recognized ministry in the Diocese of Honolulu.

~ Peter, Ministry Administrator




News

VIDEO: 3-year-old Indian boy files police complaint against mother for refusing chocolates

The incident took place in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh, and the child filed a complaint against his mother at the Didalai Police Department, who registered the case to satisfy the child and show that the police were interested in his complaint.
In reaction to these biased stories, the social media was littered with frustration and a good number of Papua New Guineans questioned the facts behind the incident.

Reaction to this story was swift as we read with utter disgust the humiliating description of the victims account and how one British newspaper, The Sun, went to the extreme of describing this as the work of cannibals.

This unfortunate incident, if it is authentic, deserves wide condemnation from the community in Papua New Guinea and abroad.

LATELY there has been a lot in the media about the rape incident involving two foreign tourists on the Kokoda Track.

After a week of horrendous international media bashing, I was relieved to note that the alleged culprits were captured and flown to Port Moresby to face possible criminal charges.

But, in addition, new light was being shed on the story.

Last Monday, the police revealed that the two trekkers, Matthew Lovane and Michelle Clemens, had ignored the roles and regulations of the Kokoda Track Authority. The two trekkers lied about their application and trekked the Track even though they were strongly advised that they lacked the necessary support and equipment.

Increasingly, evidence is appearing that seems to show they also lied about what had happened on the Track. It is beginning to look like it was all a publicity stunt.

If this is true, PNGs image has been seriously maligned.

Prior to this episode, another story that drew wide condemnation was the case involving the brutal rape of four PNG Women from Southern Highlands Province by 20 plus men, mostly from Enga, at Morata Settlement in Port Moresby on 1 January.

The story is heart-wrenching, with accounts of the victims being tortured, abused and raped by men armed with bush knifes and other sharp objects. Fearing for their lives, the mothers and kids broke through the window of the house and fled in all directions.

This incident took place a week or so prior to the Kokoda Track affair. The victims are still awaiting the arrest of the men who took part in the rape. The families are worried that justice may fall short of bringing the culprits, who can only be described as senseless and animalistic, to face the full force of the law.

This is where the government of Papua New Guinea needs to get fair dinkum when addressing rape issues like the Morata case that affects the lives of its people.

While the churches (such as Catholic Bishops Conference) and civil society groups (like PNG Council of Women) have come out strongly urging the government to act, so far it seems very little is being done to address the Morata incident.

The police should ensure that justice is done and that all the culprits are brought to account for their senseless and shameless act that deserves the harshest punishment.

The bottom line is that while we polish the image of the country for the sake of maintaining the tourism dollar, we don't want differing views to prevail about how we treat our own people and foreigners.

Both incidents affected PNG morally, socially and economically and deserve equal attention and justice.
East Helena Public Schools is weighing its options for how to handle its steadily growing enrollment.

A public meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, at East Valley Middle School Library, 400 Kalispell Ave., in East Helena.

The district saw a 4 percent increase in student enrollment from fall 2014 to fall 2015, said school superintendent Ron Whitmoyer.

This is more of a marked increase than weve experienced the last couple of years, he said, although theres been a general increase during that time.

Typically, the increase in students is about eight to 10 students per year, he said, but this past year it was 47.

The number of new homes going up is remarkable, Whitmoyer said, explaining how every time he drives by the Canyon Ridge Subdivision recently, hes seeing new foundations going in.

Its going to be a marked impact on the school system, he said.

Enrollment on Nov. 30 was 1,205 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, he said. Were estimating we can handle 1,300 kids if we reorganize.

The buildings are nearing capacity, Whitmoyer said. To make room, they might have to disassemble computer labs, which would cripple the district because of new testing requirements.

Eastgate and Radley have been forced to reclaim janitor closets, shower rooms and double up gym classes in order to squeeze kids into every conceivable space, Whitmoyer wrote in a December Independent Record letter to the editor.

Music teachers move between classrooms with a cart, he added, which isnt an ideal situation because the sounds from the music class can interfere with teaching or testing next door.

We can handle about 90 more kids, Whitmoyer said, which he estimates gives the district about three more years.

The district is already considering adding modular classrooms, he said, which are inefficient and a really poor way to do business.

Class sizes are typically kept a couple students below the maximum allowed by the Office of Public Instruction, he said, and are in keeping with what the district has found to be instructionally appropriate.

At Mondays meeting, the staff and board would love to hear ideas from the public, he said.

The district wants to make decisions that are academically, socially and fiscally sound.

Ideas discussed so far include a range of options from adding wings onto existing buildings to constructing a new school, Whitmoyer wrote.

My board at every turn has asked, What solutions do we have at the most appropriate cost to taxpayers?' he said. Weve always been fiscally responsible.
At an early age, Don Paul knew he had a choice in life.

His familys dairy farm wrapped around the airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Beyond it were the runways where the roar of commercial and military flights called to him.

The take-offs and landings theyd come right over the house, he said.

There was something really exciting watching them come over, he recalled and remembered asking himself what he wanted to do with his life: milk cows or fly.

It was an easy decision for him.

In the roughly 49 years since Paul applied for his pilots license after serving four years in the Air Force, 1962 through 1966 where he worked in electronics, hes logged 10,000 hours behind the windscreens of some 80 aircraft.

Add in another 5,000 hours as an aircraft instructor.

He had time to talk about flying and his life Saturday as he was preparing for a demonstration of his remote-controlled model airplanes that he built.

Four of them sat on a table at the Jefferson County Museum in Clancy, a former two-room schoolhouse built in 1898. Pauls demonstration that afternoon would show how the remote controls gave life to the aircraft, although none would actually leave the ground.

The display of Pauls aircraft and seven of the 1928 Wright Aeronautical Corp. prints of original watercolors helped tell a story of aviation, as did other enlarged color photographs of Vietnam War aircraft on loan from another person.

The chance to fly for a living lured him away from a steady job with United Airlines repairing aircraft instruments just four years after leaving the Air Force.

I wasnt making the money, but it was Wow. This is neat. I get paid for doing this, he said.

It turned out to be a real love.

A 26-year career with the Federal Aviation Administration as an aviation inspector and other duties that included pilot certification, accident investigation and roles in FAA compliance and enforcement left him with certifications to fly everything from single and multi-engine aircraft to seaplanes, helicopters, gliders and hot-air balloons.

His work took him from one side of the county to the other. It gave him passage to Guam and Saipan, where the detritus of battle could still be seen in the surf of the Pacific Ocean decades later.

At 71, Paul with his graying hair and gold rimmed glasses, hasnt lost his passion for flying.

In an F-16 military jet, you can go like this, he said as he raised a hand and then rotated it to illustrate how the aircraft rose like a rocket and rotated in a corkscrew fashion as it carried him and the pilot years ago.

It was a wild ride, Paul said, his voice soft even if the memory remained vivid.

Medical issues and fewer friends who have airplanes has kept him on the ground in recent years.

But the 32-year resident of Clancy can be found many days out by the Helena Regulating Reservoir when the weather is clear. There on BLM land he and other members of the Helena Flying Tigers will have their remote-controlled aircraft buzzing overhead.

A balsa wood kit to build an airplane can be $75, plus say another $35 for an engine that will carry it along at 25-30 mph, he said. A more powerful engine will rise in price to the $100 range and speed up to perhaps 70 mph.

Aircraft designed for racing will be traveling at between 120 mph and 150 mph.

A nearly ready to fly model airplane complete with motor can be had for well under $200, Paul said.

Flying remote controlled aircraft takes your mind off everything else, he said.

Its kind of exhilarating.

And this is the same word he uses to describe what its like in the cockpit of an aircraft.

Exhilarating.

He struggles for words to describe the sensation, whats been his passion for so many years.

Youre just free to move around, he said.

Some of the scenery that you see that people will never see, its quite spectacular.
BILLINGS -- Northern Hotel head chef Tim Freeman defeated the famous Iron Chef Bobby Flay on the show "Beat Bobby Flay" Thursday night on Food Network. That same night, Freeman announced he will be leaving Billings and the Northern Hotel to work at a hotel and restaurant in suburban Denver.

The announcement came at a viewing party for the TV debut of an episode of the cooking competition show, which featured Freeman taking on and defeating the famous Iron Chef as well as former Boston Red Sox executive chef Steve "Nookie" Postal.

"I tell you, it's an amicable transition," said Mike Nelson, general manager and co-owner of the Northern Hotel. "We loved him, we're excited for him, and we're grateful for the work that he did for us and the way he pushed us to improve."

Freeman has been the executive chef at the Northern since the summer of 2014. The episode of "Beat Bobby Flay" was taped in New York City in June 2015.

Nelson said Freeman informed him of his intentions about three weeks ago.

"Chefs usually have an 18-month to two-year shelf life at a big hotel-restaurant kind of thing," Nelson said. "I've been doing this for a long time, and I've rarely seen a chef last longer than two years. The minute you start getting national attention like that, the offers are going to come rolling in."

Nelson stressed that he does not expect Freeman's departure to affect the quality of the food at the Northern.

"We have two very talented and very well-trained and educated sous chefs on property that have always done the cooking for the chefs," Nelson said, explaining that the executive chef doesn't cook every meal at a hotel but has more of a directing role.

"Nothing has really changed besides the guy at the helm who orders the food and shows us what to do," Nelson said. "The people who cook for (Freeman) are still here, and we will still continue to serve the same great food."

Nelson said a national search is already underway for Freeman's replacement.

We have a number of awesome candidates," Nelson said. "And were just really excited to invite the next guy or gal to come to Billings to teach us more about food and cooking.
Although hundreds of dinosaur fossils have been excavated in Montana, finding ancient footprints from the beasts is a rarity.

Then in the summer of 2013 a Saint Louis Science Center field crew found a 66-million-year-old juvenile hardrosaur track on BLM-administered land in Garfield Countys Hell Creek Formation.

Its an excellent discovery, and we will look for more in the future, said Carl Campbell, the St. Louis Community College-Meramec field supervisor.

Montana yields dinosaur fossils on federal, state and private land every year, attracting paleontologists from around the nation. Field crews find bones, scales, teeth and other remains, even fossilized feces known as coprolites, but its a rare thing to find a footprint.

The impression was likely left by a dinosaur that plodded across some ancient muddy flat  a beach or shoreline along a river delta  during the late Cretaceous period when Montana more closely resembled southern Florida in terms of climate.

Because of the rarity of the find, and its exposure to the weather, the paleontologists protected the track until they could return last summer with the proper tools to extract it from the mudstone where it had been preserved.

The track was discovered by two members of my field crew, Dave Lukens and Rick Poropat, Campbell said. We did not have the correct equipment, such as a concrete saw, so we stabilized it and hoped it would still be there the next summer. It was.

Dave and Rick along with Mark Fedde and Mike Jones worked hard to extract the print in one piece, Campbell said. Its an excellent discovery and we will look for more in the future.

A cast of the track was unveiled to the public in October at a ceremony in the Saint Louis Science Center. The centers collection includes a full-sized, articulated juvenile hadrosaur skeleton. Comparisons between the track and a hind foot from the skeleton matched closely, which gave more credence to the conclusion that a hadrosaur produced the print.

The Saint Louis crew is to be commended for recognizing and preserving a resource that, in less experienced hands, would likely have been destroyed, said Doug Melton, the BLMs Miles City Field Office lead archaeologist and paleontology permit coordinator.

The Miles City Field Office sees between 10 and 15 paleontological permittees working on public lands each year, Melton said. It is always amazing at what they report to us at the end of the year.

For more information on the BLM Montana/Dakotas paleontology program go to: www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/prog/montana_so_paleontology.html.
MISSOULA -- Last month, Doubleday released the investigative journalist Jon Krakauer's book, "Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town."

The book is about a series of sexual assaults in Missoula from 2010 through 2012 and explores the reasons why most victims of acquaintance rape do not report the attack to law enforcement.

The best-selling author is slated to be in Missoula for a forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, and take questions about the book. Doors will open 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree Ballroom for the non-ticketed, open-seating event.

Fact and Fiction bookstore's Barbara Theroux earlier said she booked the event after the publisher reached out to her and said the author wanted to be part of a community forum. A news release from her Friday offered more details about the forum.

Larry Abramson, dean of the University of Montana School of Journalism, will interview Krakauer for some 40 to 50 minutes. Submit questions in advance to the email address above.

Moderators will also accept some written questions at the event.

"After the interview, there will be a brief break, as other people are invited to join the stage for a conversation about the focus and resources Missoula has available for education, prevention and victim support," the news release said.

That conversation also will run 40 to 50 minutes.

The news release describes the event as a community forum, not a press conference: "No books will be sold, nor will Jon Krakauer be signing any books."

Donations will be taken for the Student Advocacy Resource Center and First Step.

The ballroom seats 550, and people will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis. As of Friday, MCAT had confirmed it would offer a live stream of the event at MCAT.org; another stream may be confirmed later, according to the release.
Twin Explosions Kill Two, Injure 10 in Northeast Syria

DAMASCUS -- At least two people died and over 10 people were wounded in twin blasts in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, sources in the Assyrian Christian militia told RIA Novosti on Sunday. The sources added they were attempting to establish the number of casualties from the second blast. "There were two explosions. The first bomb was fixed on a motorcycle. Two people died and over 10 people were injured," the sources said. Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and terrorist groups, including Daesh and al-Nusra Front.
Tim Freeman risked a lot  even potentially being present for the birth of his own daughter  for the opportunity to compete on "Beat Bobby Flay" last summer.

The head chef at the Northern Hotel, Freeman duked it out on the Food Network television show on June 26 last year, despite the fact that his daughter's due date was within days of the trip. The episode, called Strike While The Irons Hot, airs Jan. 21 on Food Network.

The risk was real, but Freeman and his wife, Ailleen, decided the trip was worth it.

"We both talked about it many times, and we thought that it was an opportunity that I couldnt pass up," Freeman said. "Because you know doing something like that will lead to other things."

Freeman speaks Tagalog and Russian, learned from his time cooking in the Philippines and Russia, but English was just fine for Freeman to describe the city heat during his two whirlwind days in New York City last summer.

Hotter than crap, Freeman said. It was hot. Tons of people, you know. It was nice to be in a big city for a while, but I was happy to leave.

The heat followed Freeman inside the old warehouse where the Food Network films "Beat Bobby Flay."

At Freemans stove range on set, his personal wok brought from Billings was white-hot, then bright with flame.

And there was no escape from the heat after the competition concluded. Crammed into an interview booth, Freeman spent four hours after the throw-down verbally dissecting his performance on film. With a bright light shining in his face, little ventilation and no air conditioning, it was more than a little uncomfortable, he said.

While all that heat put a good deal of pressure on the Northern Hotel chef, it was nothing compared to the conditions Freeman has cooked under.

Theres a lot more pressure when you have to do it to keep your job, Freeman said. That was just fun. I mean if you win, if you lose, it doesnt matter.

Freeman is someone who performs well in a loud kitchen, something clear from his preferred cooking music.

The first day I walked into this kitchen (in the Northern Hotel) ... there was no radio in here," he said. "And Im like Hey guys, wheres the Slayer? Theyre like What do you mean? Every kitchen Ive ever been in in my life its Megadeth, Slayer, Slipknot, Pantera, Hatebreed ... angry music, but you put out beautiful food.

But the chef has started taking more quiet time lately. Freeman leads a busy life, and in the past month he's taken to shutting the previously always-open office door for five- and 10-minute blocks during the day to Skype with his wife, infant daughter and 2-year-old son Wyatt. Even his approach to cooking has taken on a more quiet, thoughtful approach.

As Im getting older, the more Im starting to really get interested in the science part of cooking and get away from the day-to-day grind on the line, Freeman said. Why, when you roast a vegetable, does it intensify the flavor? You know, thats the kind of stuff Im interested in as I get older. At the core of my bones, Im still a chef, I just am starting to pick up other interests now.

The stadium seating packed with an audience watching his every move contributed to the difficulty of cooking four dishes with a secret ingredient under a 20-minute time limit  all while dodging slow-footed camera operators.

Freeman at one point warned a cameraman to back up. The advice was ignored and moments later, a burst of flame from Freeman's wok caught the cameras fuzzy audio attachment, setting it alight.

He didnt listen to me, and I just said OK, well, cool man, you dont want to listen?' Freeman said. I just said, 'Ill set you on fire. As soon as I hit my ingredients into (the wok)  because you know theyre a little bit wet and that hot oil ... it creates a fire bomb.

The crew stomped out the fire while Freeman kept cooking.

Battling in the opening round against Steve Nookie Postal, former Boston Red Sox executive chef and current chef at Commonwealth in Cambridge, Mass., for the right to beat Flay, Freeman said his personal wok became an important part of the show. Though he says he doesnt watch cooking shows often, Freeman noticed the quality of the studio-provided wok on Flays show and decided to bring his own.

Freeman's personal wok has sandpaperlike handle  a craft secret, as he called it. When a wok heats up, the metal handle does, too. A chef can wrap a dish towel around it while the handle's hot, and the small fibers singe and stick to the metal, leaving an ideal no-slip grip when the towel is removed.

The wok grip trick came from one of the many Chinese chefs Freeman worked with while in Russia earlier in his career. As it turned out, those Chinese chefs had taught Freeman one more helpful trick for the competition.

Seeing the flatness of his stove range, Freeman knew it wouldnt work with his wok. The woks bowl-like structure is meant to spread heat. Freeman knew that with his wok sitting on the range, heat would intensify in a small spot and a focused point of heat, potentially hurting the quality of his dish.

So I pulled the (grate) out, flipped it upside down and I dropped it back down," Freeman said. "And the bottom of a kitchen burner is a really large metal ring, so the wok was able to sit down on that metal ring.

In an interview, Freeman slammed his fists on a table to emphasize the noise, which at the time of filming was so loud it caught the attention of another chef.

After the show, Freemans grand plans to sightsee in New York evaporated in the afternoon heat. He went back to his hotel room and ordered room service  a strip loin steak done medium, fries and a shrimp cocktail  and then Skyped with his family before resting until his flight the next morning.

I was so exhausted, like mentally and physically, because it was such a long day and the heat of the place kind of zapped the energy out of me, Freeman said.

As luck would have it, the risk was more than worth it. He was still able to witness the birth of his daughter, Madison Mara, on July 2.


Dr.Hossam ElShazly, President & CEO of the CPI International Group Switzerland

W ith the beginning of this century, the strategic option of doing business abroad and expanding operations to different countries away from the homeland turned to be much of an obligation more than an option. In the view of the worldwide economic downturn, the price war declared by the Chinese manufacturers everywhere, firms in Europe and other continents moved away from their home headquarters in a trial to either survive the business hit or to maximise the value creation process.

In this paper, we look at the challenges, opportunities and threats embedded in the strategic decision of going abroad. We will offer a comprehensive analysis to the problem of doing business in a multicultural setting in the view of the model proposed by the CPI International Group Switzerland with business operation and offices on four continents. We will also explore various literature, work and research done in this area and we will try to offer a better model for the process of value creation, strategic development and strategic execution within this multicultural business environment.

Attempting to understand the model proposed by the CPI International Group in the view of the strategic methodologies and approaches provided by different research practitioners and publishers in the field, we will analyse the progress of the process of critical action learning, critical reflection, argument development and strategy development in the CPI group.

Problem Overview

The Challenges embedded in the process of conducting business abroad are immense. The process involves many factors that make the process rather complex and undefined. Diversity, cultural conflict, economic, political, globalisation, business setup; all are factors that intensify the problem and bring many challenges to the process. At the CPI International Group, we are conducting business in three main areas, pharmaceutical, healthcare, renewable energy and education where we are operating in 19 countries on four continents. The company managed via regional managers who report to the CPI headquarters in Switzerland. The challenge of the process involves two arms; the first is the challenge of working with and among different people from a different background, different cultures, and different business environment. The other challenge represented by the cultural gap between employees in the headquarters and others in the operational countries worldwide. This process brings many risks and challenges to the CPI business in various countries, including the risk of business loss, business closure and strategic failure.

The Value Creation Process at the CPI Group - From Blue Print to Critical Action Learning

The conventional wisdom of management education and management training focused on offering participants, and members of the learning set a type of blueprint master plan on how to manage, how to act and how to follow a structured mostly rigid process to achieve objectives. Many scholars including Willmott (1994) discussed these types of traditional theories and explored the deficit and problems raised by these approach in management education.

CPI International Group is an ideal example to illustrate how traditional management theories are not capable of helping business to achieve objectives or to create value in the multicultural environment. At the CPI Group, the management approach is mostly based on the principles of the blue ocean strategy offered by (Kim and Mauborgne 2005). This strategic approach can be defined as a new mental setup that requires the creation of learning set not only in every department or operation but for every situation. The process is fully customised and completely flexible. Members of the learnings set or the management team gather to analyse critical situations, ask fundamental questions and formulate argumentations to reach a unique methodology, action or strategic approach required for every and each situation.

Multicultural Business Setting: The Cost and the Benefit

The process of doing business abroad or in multicultural setting investigated by many management thought leaders, researchers and scientists. From Hymer (1960/1976) to (Kostova & Zaheer, 1999; Zaheer & Mosakowski, 1997) a lot of work was done to offer a better understanding of the liabilities, the risk and the cost involved in doing business in such multicultural challenging environment. However, most of the work focused on the effect of political, economic, geopolitical environmental or mostly external factors influence the process without paying the required attention to the internal business factors influence the process. (Eden and Miller 2001) discussed the process from another dimension when clarified that the negative picture that occupies media and business reports about the process of doing business abroad will not support the required expansion of many businesses to other countries in the view of the economic downturn that hits the entire business world.

At the CPI International Group., we totally realise the extremely high cost of political instability in many regions around the world and particularly in the Middle East. During the last decade, CPI was obliged to close, restructure and move offices and business to other countries, regions and destinations. These decisions were not only the natural outcome of the pre-mentioned political instability but also due to the widespread political and business corruption that prevented the operation from growing healthy in several countries.

However, our experience at the CPI International Group working in 19 countries and four continents confirmed that there is an unlimited volume of wealth presented in the process of expanding business abroad. Our business operation at the group focuses on three major industries, pharmaceutical, healthcare, education and renewable energy. The three wealthy business sectors require a reliable international network of agents, distributors, strategic partners and investors. At the CPI International Group, we can argue that most of our business is done outside our home country in Switzerland. In spite of the fact that our core technology and business know-how originated from Europe, our centre of profit and value creation remains in the Middle East, Gulf, CIS, Russia and Ukraine.

The above facts require a new structured Critical Action Learning based strategy and operation to ensure competitive advantage and profit maximisation in the face of the everyday economic downturn in Europe and USA. Torbert (1999) offered a distinguished theory and approach titled  the Developmental Action Inquiry which is used as a solid base for the CPI Group to face the challenges and obstacles offered by the multicultural business setting. This approach formed the main launch for the established CPI approach and methodology ALSKLS strategic approach Action Learning - Structured Knowledge - Lead Strategy, which I consider as a paradigm- shifting in the strategy development process of the group.

It is also the life fact that outsourcing is another cornerstone in the CPI millennium strategy established at the beginning of this century. Many of the CPI important activities in departments such as marketing, promotion, logistics, recruitment and project management are outsourced to partner firms worldwide. This successful, profitable business model when applied and executed overseas requires another international managerial mindset corresponding to the one offered by Wienclaw( 2015).

Building on our differences in more than 19 countries, we are able to create efficient and marvellous permeant learning sets hosted in the CPI Corporate University- CCU. At the CCU, there is a permeant ongoing critical action learning process, where models of success developed and enhanced to form part of the group learning process. Examples and cases of failures are investigated deeply, and solutions are offered as part of the management training curriculum to avoid similar situations in different regions.

At the CPI International Group Switzerland, we believe firmly in the relation between diversity and innovation Barker(2000), and we strongly believe in the views offered by the UCSF, HR on the importance of diversity as a hub for the qualities offered by different people from different corners of the world. We utilise our extensive management experience in conducting regional critical thinking and critical reflection meetings and workshops. To maximise the outcome of this innovative setup we involve leaders, managers and experts from different background and different corners in the world. In the following section of this paper, I will illustrate more on the techniques and methodologies used in this process inside the CPI International Group and the CCU Corporate University in the firms headquarters in Switzerland.

The Critical Action Learning Model at the CPI

The model of the critical action learning at the CPI offer no difference in its complexity than other models known and discussed in previous publications and literature. It is our argument that the wonderful results achieved within the CPI during the last decades were mainly based on a business model that neither easy to define nor easier to copy or imitate.

The model depends on the abilities and performance of the people involved and their wide variety of intensive skills in practicing critical action learning, critical reflection and business case development and applications. (Thorpe, 1990) and Revans (1982,p. 545)

At the CPI International Group, we developed our critical learning model more than ten years ago and which labeled. ALSKLS Action Learning - Structured Knowledge - Lead Strategy. The model is based on the formation of structured learning sets from the mid-level management team with members from the front line business staff and the higher management. Those learning sets represent the first unit in the development of the business- case package that later turns to be part of the structured curriculum of the programs and the training offered at the CPI Corporate University. The process of the development of such structured work-based curriculum goes back to the first corporate training centre opened by the group in the city of Chur in Switzerland. This centre was the place where our structured knowledge transformed into the structured curriculum by the CPI expert teams, Professors and business development specialists including myself.

One of the very early programs developed using this technique was the MBA program with major in critical thinking. The program was considered as a breakthrough in management education at that time being one of the very early corporate programs structured and developed based on only real business cases with the structured methodology of application and execution. (ElShazly 2005)

At this stage, we realise the importance of various active corporate techniques in coaching, education and training, and we further improved the process of the storytelling as one of the main cornerstones of critical thinking education at the Group. Gold, Holman&Thrope (2002)

The ALSKLS Approach at the CPI Group: When Business Unusual

It is our argument that the outcome and results offered by the CPI ALSKLS' '' Action Learning - Structured Knowledge - Lead Strategy'' Model worth a comprehensive research and investigations. We try to understand how this model helped the group to grow from a Swiss pharmaceutical middle size firm established during early 2000 to an International Swiss group hosts seven different firms doing business in more than 19 countries worldwide in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, education and renewable energy business.

It is with no doubt that the CCU- CPI corporate University played a central role in this story of business growth. At the CCU, we were able to develop curriculums that based on successful corporate experience in specific industries, countries and cultures and to turn these successful models into core parts of the group's strategic- frames and business culture around the world.

The Processes of critical thinking, critical reflection, productive argumentation and collective innovation formed the reactor where the CPI strategies of success are created. (Boyce,1997; Gabriel,2000;Morgan and Dennehy,1997; Phillips,(1995)

These processes turned to be part of the daily management life and operation of the CPI group. There are huge numbers of unexpected outcomes occur during the process and represents both opportunities and threats. The ability of the CCU and the CPI teams to analyse these outcomes, to explore the embedded opportunities and to turn them into structured knowledge curriculums that used for the development of competitive strategies is at the core of our successful CPI business model. Smith (1997)

At the CPI International Group Switzerland, the process of critical thinking is at the heart of the strategic development methodology and the central element in the process of management educations and personal development. ( McPeck,1990; Mezirow,1990; Mingers, 2000; Reynolds,1997)

It is at the CPI group where we view the process of critical action learning as one of the main strategic tools used in the management of the ongoing transformation and change management processes at the Group. Managing this transformation process, we are able to refine our business strategic- frames and to offer strategic solutions that enable us to create sustainable value in a multicultural setting. Sull (1999)

For the complete reference list, please contact Dr. Hossam ElShazly at shazly@liverpool.ac.uk




DALTON CITY  Since they were young children living on a farm between Dalton City and Bethany, Don and Dave Heneberry have been singing. They were often asked to perform at various venues, such as church, plays and high school functions. Singing was kind of like breathing, Don said of his childhood.

After 60 years, the twins have begun singing together again. And they are still just as popular.

Dave and Don retired in Pennsylvania living only 12 miles apart. Both men have been retired for over 20 years, but they decided only last year to step back on stage after answering an advertisement for talent at a local theater. They were an instant crowd-pleaser.

With their list of 400 songs and tight harmonies, the twins have begun to get attention again with songs such as Melancholy Baby and You Must have been a Beautiful Baby.

Although their act has been published in a Pennsylvania newspaper, and they have been asked back to the theater numerous times, neither man sees the popularity. We don't consider ourselves performers, Dave said. We are just in the habit of singing.

Their natural love of singing started at their mother's piano. Like most families during the depression-era 1930s, the Heneberry family was poor. But one way Mary Alice Heneberry entertained her family was through music. We didn't realize how good she was, Don said.

Almost every morning their mother would sit at the piano and play. The family would get together and just start singing, their older brother, Jack, said. I guess we bored a lot of people.

Jack recognized his brothers' talent early in their childhood. They could harmonize, he said. I was never that great at it.

The five Heneberry children would ride the bus to school with classmates requesting songs from the twins. Their reputation continued throughout their high school years and continued when they attended the University of Illinois. We sang our way through school, Don said.

After graduating, the brothers went their separate ways. Dave entered the advertising market, while Don began his career in defense intelligence.

Their brother Jack has remained in Central Illinois, setting his roots in Macon. When visiting old friends he is often asked if his twin brothers are still singing. I guess that's what they are known for, he said.

Now Jack can report they are back on stage.

Dave and Don have started where they left off singing songs they were taught on the farm. Accompanied only by Dave's ukulele, the twins perform singable songs, such as Vaudeville, early jazz and easy harmonic styles. We stopped in 1950s, Don said. We could neither rock nor roll.

Throughout their years apart, the twins had opportunities to sing. But they never considered themselves performers.

We just like to sing, Don said. And we don't mind making fools of ourselves.
DECATUR -- The Macon County Conservation District didn't exactly evolve like planned, but 50 years in, it's hard to argue with the results.

The original idea was to develop the Oakley Reservoir into a conservation area. That never happened. In fact, it took six years from the time the district was first formed in 1966 before it opened its first site  Friends Creek in Cisco.

But 50 years later, the district has 3,200 total acres with more than 35,000 visitors a year and 8,000 to 10,000 school children who either visit or experience a district program at school.

To commemorate those 50 years, an exhibit -- 50 Years of Conservation  will be displayed at Rock Springs Nature Center beginning with an open house reception from 2 to 4 p.m. today at Rock Springs Nature Center.

Admission to the open house reception, exhibit and Rock Springs Nature Center is free. Visitors can view the exhibit in the North Exhibit Hall during the nature centers open hours. Hot drinks and cookies will be served at the reception.

The exhibit will reflect on the history of the conservation district, the people instrumental to its development and major milestones along the way.

"There are a variety of displays, various photos, newspaper clippings, brochures, scrapbooks and newsletters highlighting the successes of the district in the last 50 years," said program services manager Jeff Tish, who has been with the district since 1976. "And there's a timeline that goes back to the late 1950s and early '60s to today."

It was in the late 1950s and early '60s that Americans began becoming concerned with the environment. In response, Illinois enacted the Conservation District Act in 1963, enabling each county to create its own conservation district to preserve and protect natural areas and offer recreational opportunities.

Locally, the Decatur Audubon Society was looking to establish a nature center and the Macon County Board of Supervisors needed someone to manage conservation and recreation land around the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed Oakley Reservoir. Led by Decatur resident Norman Greenburg, a steering committee was formed and that committee decided the best course of action was to form a conservation district.

Creating an additional taxing body is never easy  even with the Conservation District Act, only five of Illinois' 102 counties formed conservation districts. But Greenburg, along with a group that also included Lee Slider and Alice Irwin, began a grassroots campaign.

"They talked to anyone who would listen," Tish said.

It worked. Voters passed the referendum with a two-thirds majority.

"People in the community were forward-thinking  I have to commend them for that," said Executive Director Paul Marien, who has been with the district since 1978. "There were people opposed to getting another taxing body, but the steering committee convinced enough people that the benefits would outweigh the cost."

Through the years, the district acquired land along the streams and corridors of Macon County. Eventually, six conservation district sites, including Rock Springs and Sand Creek, were established, as were several historic sites, including the Governor Oglesby Mansion and Homestead Prairie Farm.
DECATUR  Timothy G. King, a 23-year-old Decatur man, is being held in jail on $500,000 bond after he was arrested in connection with a shooting of a 22-year old man during a drug deal on the city's west side.

At 8:55 p.m. Jan. 12, police were sent to the 700 block of West Leafland Avenue on the report of shots fired.

They found a man lying in the alley south of Leafland, with a gunshot to his abdominal area. He was transported to Decatur Memorial Hospital for emergency surgery.

Two .40-caliber shell casings were located by officers near the spot where the victim was found, said a probable cause affidavit by Decatur police detective Adam Jahraus.

The victim told police he was in the area that night to purchase marijuana from a man he had met in Decatur a week or two earlier.

"He met with a subject in the alley, and once he pulled his U.S. currency from his pocket to purchase the cannabis the subject with whom he was meeting grabbed the U.S. currency from his hand," the victim told police, according to the affidavit.

When the victim struggled with the man who grabbed his money, a second man emerged from behind a nearby garage.

"The second subject began shooting at him, striking him in the stomach," the victim told police.

The two men then fled on foot.

The victim reported to police that he had met the man who shot him, and gave a detailed account of that meeting. He told police there was a police call for service at that date and location, in early December, which might provide information about his identity.

Police records showed that a responding officer at that time and place contacted dispatchers to check on Timothy G. King. The victim's description of King was consistent with his appearance in law enforcement records.

King, who is on probation in a cocaine possession case, was arrested at 7:40 p.m. Thursday. He is due in court for his arraignment by Friday.

In his prior case, King was arrested Oct. 15 by Decatur police Street Crimes detectives after they executed a search warrant at a residence in the 1500 block of North Poole Street. Police found crack cocaine, two .38-caliber bullets and two digital scales.

As part of a plea agreement, King was sentenced to a two-year probation term.
SHELBYVILLE  Retired Shelbyville history teacher Andy Cichalewski knows firsthand the difference a soldier can make in a life.

As a small child in Nazi-occupied Europe, his life could have turned out quite differently without the intervention the U.S. Army.

I wouldnt have been here. Its that simple, Cichalewski said.

Because of his gratitude to the veterans who fought World War II, Cichalewski, a former Shelbyville City Council member, has worked with area groups to help establish the Shelby County Veterans Fund, to help send veterans on Land of Lincoln Honor Flights to Washington, D.C.

Honor flights take veterans at no cost to them to see their respective war's memorials in the nation's capital during a one-day trip. They are accompanied by guardians who usually pay their own way.

The Shelbyville VFW, Moose Lodge, VFW Mens Auxiliary, Fire Department and Opossum Lodge worked with employees of the Shelby Electric Cooperative to raise money for the new fund. Bake sales, cookouts, donations and a $5,000 grant from a bank raised $18,000 in less than six months.

We never imagined how much support we would gain from the local community. It was amazing how everyone pulled together and supported this effort, said Josh Shallenberger, CEO of Shelby Electric Cooperative.

CoBank, one of the cooperatives lending agencies, offers $3 million annually to members for rural charities. Shallenberger said Shelby Electric employees chose the Shelby Veterans Fund.

Veterans Fund organizer Rich Johnson the honor flights try to serve a large veteran population.

We have 14 from World War II, 77 from Korea and 537 Vietnam veterans, he said. Everyone should have a chance to go to Washington and see their memorial. Its only right.
Hey, all you Obama- and Hillary-loving lefties who spit on our fine military folks when they came back battered and scarred, both mentally and physically, from Vietnam.

Are you all proud of yourselves now that our dictator in chief you voted for has sold us out to Iran?

Is Hillary Clinton the best you people could come up with? She agrees with Obama's decision to turn over $150 million to Iran which, like Obama and Hillary, seldom tell the truth about anything. Iran cant be trusted any more than you can safely turn your back on a rattlesnake.

It finally dawned on me recently what has happened to the Democratic Party and the eight or 10 Republicans In Name Only in the Republican Party. Those same cowards who spit on our military folks, some of whom deserted to Canada, most now have kids and grandkids. I suspect most, if not all, these people joined the Democratic Party. I suspect that the far left-wing college professors and teachers in our larger public school systems who are poisoning the minds of our young people with their far left-wing, communist-like, U.S.-hating propaganda, came from this same bunch of cowards.

Obama still has almost another year to further damage this country and our military, which he has downsized to dangerous levels. I hope all you Obama and Hillary voters are real proud of yourselves. You should hang your heads in shame, or better yet, why don't you all just find another country to ruin?

Robert Jenkins

Macon
Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist who thinks the United States needs a "political revolution." His plan to replace our health insurance system with "Medicare for All" is in some ways a dramatic break with the status quo. But it rests on an old and thoroughly conventional formula: Promise voters they will get more and better health care without paying for it.

Simply expanding Medicare to include everyone would be a big enough step. But Sanders' plan is to Medicare what a Tesla is to a Toyota.

It would encompass "the entire continuum of care," including long-term care and dentistry. There would be "no more copays, no more deductibles, and no more fighting with insurance companies when they fail to pay for charges." In sum: Every person will have everything he or she wants in the way of care and will pay zero at the point of service.

Contrast that with Medicare, which doesn't cover long-term care or dentistry. It also imposes a deductible for hospital stays and a copay on doctor services. In 2010, the average Medicare recipient spent $4,734 for out-of-pocket costs.

Such obligations are an inconvenience and a burden to patients, but they serve two useful purposes: reducing what taxpayers have to pay and discouraging care that is only marginally helpful. This approach serves to contain costs. Sanders' change would serve to increase them.

He argues that his system will be cheaper than private insurance because it will cut down on "overhead, administrative costs and complexity." But a lot of private insurers' costs come from scrutinizing claims to prevent fraud, over treatment and unnecessary treatment. Agreeing to pay all charges without review, as Sanders proposes, is an invitation to be fleeced.

One reason he thinks the single-payer approach will work so well is that countries like Canada and Britain use it and spend far less than we do on health care. He takes care not to mention one major tool they use to hold down costs: limiting access to procedures that insured Americans take for granted.

"One in four Canadians reported waiting four months or more for elective surgery, similar to the proportion of patients in the United Kingdom (21 percent) but much higher than in Germany (almost 0 percent) and the United States (7 percent)," the Canadian Institute for Health Information found in 2012. One in 5 Canadians needing knee or hip replacements has to wait more than six months.

The Guardian newspaper reported in 2012 that Britain's National Health Service "has come under growing criticism for making it harder for patients to have operations for routine conditions such as hernia, cataracts, grommets, wisdom teeth, or hip or knee replacement, and denying infertile couples IVF."

Single-payer advocates will argue that such limits are a small price to pay for guaranteeing coverage for everyone. It's a plausible cause that Sanders, alas, is unwilling to make. He would have us believe there will be no limits.

He's hardly unique in pretending we can all get everything we want for a pittance. George W. Bush did the same thing in pushing a new program of Medicare prescription drug coverage without raising payroll taxes to pay for it. It cost the government $78 billion in 2014; only 15 percent of which was covered by premiums from seniors.

When Barack Obama proposed the Affordable Care Act, Republicans charged it would hurt retirees by robbing $700 billion from Medicare. Never mind that the health care plan offered by Rep. Paul Ryan, now speaker, included the same savings from Medicare.

The GOP charge was unfair, but the administration was equally deceptive in claiming that the economies would be wrung out of private insurers and hospitals, at no inconvenience to patients. That's like saying that if you require utilities to take expensive steps to clean up pollution, consumers won't end up paying more.

Obamacare was also supposed to provide more for less, requiring health policies, for example, to cover an array of preventive services at no cost to the patient. This type of coverage, the president insisted, "saves money, and it saves lives." More fantasy: Rutgers economist Louise Russell has found that 4 out of 5 preventive options save less than they cost.

Both parties have long operated on the assumption that, as Oscar Wilde put it, "Nothing succeeds like excess." The United States has the most expensive health care in the world because Americans refuse to take "no" for an answer. Sanders won't ask them to.
Beginning with the Tuesday edition of the Herald & Review, youll notice a few changes.

The newspaper will look different, but it will still contain all of the features and news you enjoy. The differences are largely cosmetic, but will be noticeable. The front page will look slightly different, with the biggest difference being at the top of the page, what we commonly call the flag.

Our headlines will also look somewhat different and the sections fronts for Sports, Life and Money will also have a different look. The Opinion page will also have a different look.

There are a couple of reasons for the changes. First, and most important, is we want the newspaper to have a new, more modern look and to be easier to read. The changes weve made should make the Herald & Review even easier to navigate and it should give readers a clear sense of the importance of individual stories.

In addition, some of the changes are being made to take advantage of technological advances in how newspapers are produced. The changes will allow us to spend less time performing the mechanics of putting the paper together and more time reporting and writing the news stories that are important to our readers.

We dont make these sorts of changes without a lot of discussion. The last redesign of the Herald & Review was launched in 2004. With a few minor tweaks, weve looked pretty much the same for the last 12 years.

All editors enter changes in the newspaper with trepidation. Readers get accustomed to a certain look and feel and often arent happy when things change. Also, there are a lot of details that have to be considered when making these changes. The behind-the-scenes activities that go into creating the daily newspaper include a lot of steps that are important to the process. Many of those processes are changing Monday night, so dont be surprised if we have a few growing pains.

Were interested, as always, in what you like and dislike about the changes youll see on Tuesday. Contact me at the email or phone below to let me know what you think. I cant, of course, guarantee that we can make everyone happy, but well see what we can do. If youd like to give us a few days to work the bugs out, that would be preferable, but Ill discuss issues with readers at any time.

We're dedicated to bringing readers the news and information they need about Central Illinois. We hope you like the new changes.

A CORRECTION: Several retired teachers have pointed out that we have stated in editorials and columns that retired teachers in the Teachers Retirement System receive free health insurance. We were wrong and thats incorrect.

Theres really no excuse for getting it wrong, other than we misunderstood how the system works. Its fair to say that the TRS offers attractive insurance programs for retired teachers, but its not free. Some state employee retirees do receive free health insurance. But retired teachers do pay health insurance premiums.
Cayuga County Clerk Sue Dwyer views herself as a businesswoman.

As clerk, she oversees the Department of Motor Vehicles office, an important revenue generator for the county.

In an interview with The Citizen, Dwyer touted the success of the local DMV office and its 10 employees. She also noted the various issues the agency faces. A lot of those challenges stem from an unlikely source.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles.

It's a situation that has been brewing over the years. With the state's 51 local DMV offices getting the same cut of the revenues they've been receiving for the past 17 years, money is tight.

It doesn't help, at least on the local side, that the state DMV has an award-winning tool in its arsenal  a redesigned website that allows New York's motorists to renew licenses and conduct other DMV business on their computer or smartphone.

THE FEES

County-run DMVs receive 12.7 percent of every transaction conducted in those offices. The same percentage is collected on mail transactions that are sent directly to the local DMVs.

The state keeps the remaining chunk of the funds.

The size of the local share hasn't changed since 1999, when it was increased to 12.7 percent.

Oswego County Clerk Michael Backus, who oversees three county-run DMV branches that employ 18 people, said locals need a bigger cut to help cover payroll and retirement expenses.

"We'd like a little bit of that in return because we still have to do the day-to-day work," he said.

There is a proposal to increase the local share to 25 percent  nearly double the current level. That idea is backed by the New York State Association of Counties and the New York State Association of County Clerks.

Currently, county DMVs get 30 percent of the ID card fee.

"From overhead to staffing, it's unfair to require a county DMV to provide services on behalf of the state and not share equally in the revenue," Ritchie, R-Oswegatchie, said in June.

Ritchie's bill passed the state Senate by a 62-1 vote. However, the Assembly didn't consider the legislation before the end of the 2015 session.

County clerks will again push for an increased share of the fees. They're also advocating for another proposal that would require drivers to update their license photos every eight years.

New York is one of two states that doesn't require license holders to update their photos.

There's a security element to the proposal, but clerks aren't secretive about the potential benefits for local DMVs. Drivers would need to go to DMV offices and get a new photo when renewing their licenses. Under such a guideline, they couldn't use the state DMV website for renewals.

"It's all about the revenue," Dwyer said. "I think it's safer for people to come every 8 years, for sure. While it doesn't sound like a revenue thing for people who don't know it, it certainly is."

THE WEBSITE

The competition between local DMVs and the state agency isn't a fair fight when it comes to 21st century tools. That's because the state DMV has an award-winning website on its side.

The website, dmv.ny.gov, won two national awards in 2015. DMV.com recognized the agency's online hub as the second-best DMV website in the U.S.

"The New York DMV website is very user friendly with a forms search application that is quite handy and a conveniently located 'Save time, do it online' button," DMV.com wrote in its assessment.

In October, the state DMV's website received the 2015 Pinnacle Award from the National Association of Government Web Professionals.

"New York is proud to continue making our DMV website better and more convenient than ever before, saving drivers both time and trips to the DMV," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in October. "I encourage all New Yorkers to take advantage of the easy-to-use services available to them on this award-winning website."

The website, which was redesigned in 2014, is one component of an initiative launched in 2012 to improve customer service at state-run DMV offices.

On dmv.ny.gov and through the website's MyDMV portal, New Yorkers can change the address on their license, renew their license, obtain their driving record or schedule a road test.

Using MyDMV, they can even register to vote.

In 2013, there were 5 million transactions on the DMV's website. That total increased to 5.5 million in 2014.

DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner Terri Egan testified at Wednesday's transportation budget hearing that more than 6 million transactions were completed online in 2015. (Egan also revealed that the website receives 30 million site visits annually.)

Dwyer said local DMVs don't receive a share of any transactions completed online. But a fact sheet provided by the state DMV says county clerks "retain a percentage of the revenue collected by DMV for certain transactions performed over the Internet." The share is based on a formula outlined in the state's Vehicle and Traffic Law.

In 2016, clerks will collect a projected $1 million from transactions completed on the state DMV website.

While the state's website thrives, you won't see counties unveiling their own DMV websites.

Dwyer said there were attempts to launch county-run DMV websites about a decade ago. But the state blocked the idea because county clerks are considered "agents of the state."

"It would be no problem," she said. "It's not that we're against technology. They just won't allow us to do it."

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Whether it's the local DMV office in Cayuga County or the state DMV in Albany, customer service is the top priority.

The state's customer service initiative decreased wait times at state-run DMV offices from an average of 72 minutes before the program's launch to under 30 minutes in 2015.

Locally, Dwyer said the installation of a Qmatic queue management system has improved the DMV experience. Customers take a number and wait for a DMV employee to assist them.

What's key for the Cayuga County DMV, Dwyer says, is the staff.

"The people over in DMV all like their jobs," she said. "They have a good supervisor. This is our motto: Use common sense."

For Backus and Dwyer, getting new customers can be a challenge. But they both found one way they can help boost their offices' revenue: Working with car dealerships, especially in neighboring Onondaga County, which doesn't have a local DMV office. (The county is home to a state-run DMV office outside Syracuse.)

Dwyer said a lot of the car dealers in the area don't want to use the Internet for services like new registrations, so they turn to the local DMV office. The county DMV recently had a dealer appreciation month, where they talked to the car dealers about how the agency can improve its services.

The car dealerships that work with the county DMV have the office supervisor's direct line, which isn't a public phone number.

"That's our bread and butter," Dwyer said. "They're fantastic people to work with."

In Oswego County, Backus said the DMV has a courier who focuses on dealerships within the county and in Onondaga County. This allow the businesses to get DMV services faster, cheaper and more efficiently, he said.

"We're so dealer dependent," he said. "We focus heavily on soliciting dealers."

The customer service at all levels, whether it's the local DMV or state-run offices, has received positive reviews.

Joseph Morrissey, a spokesman for the state DMV, said the agency's three-letter acronym was long associated with "bureaucracy and incompetence." Dwyer mentioned that people once compared the DMV to a trip to the dentist.

While it may take longer for the perception to change, both sides agree they're heading in the right direction.

"Our agency and the county clerks who perform work on our behalf face unique challenges, but we will continue to work toward our common goal together: providing fast, easy and efficient customer service," Morrissey said.
Police in the Netherlands have cracked down on a group they suspect has laundered proceeds, in the form of the virtual currency Bitcoin, from the online sale of illegal goods.

The use of virtual currencies is an attractive way for criminals to launder money, as Bitcoin transactions are not monitored by financial authorities.

On Jan. 19, Dutch authorities arrested 10 people and raided 15 locations in Rotterdam, Zoermeer, Almere, Dortdrecht, Zaandam, Schiedam, The Hague and Putten. Police seized an undisclosed number of luxury vehicles, bank accounts, cash, and chemicals used for the production of the drug ecstasy.

The police operation was conducted with the help of the US, Lithuania, Australia and Morocco.

According to the Lithuanian Financial Crime Investigation Service, the group laundered up to  20 million (more than US$ 21 million).

According to prosecutors, the suspects used Bitcoins via the 'Dark Web,' a part of the internet not easily accessable for the average internet user. The Dark Web hosts a virtual market place similar to ebay.com where people can trade goods anonymously using virtual currencies.

As such, the Dark Web has become an attractive place for criminals looking for a way to launder fundsor sell drugs, firearms and other illegal goods.

Some of the 10 suspects arrested were identified as Bitcoin traders, believed by prosecutors to have acquired Bitcoins by selling illegal goods. Others were identified as Bitcoin cashers, who allegedly exchanged them for Euros, which could later be withdrawn as 'clean money' from ATM machines.

The investigation into the group was initiated after banks notified authorities that large sums of money were being deposited and then immediately withdrawn at ATM machines.

The increasing use of virtual currencies poses new challenges for law enforcement. Apart from illegal trade, the lack of regulation also provides ways for cyber-criminals to blackmail individuals and companies or to steal virtual currency via illegal software.

occrp.org
The Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) said on Friday that it would set operational restrictions on Trasta Komercbanka barring the bank from carrying out debit transactions in any currency, including through online banking, ATMs, and by cash to customers for any amount in excess of  100,000 (US$ 108,000).

According to a news release by the regulators, the restrictions apply to both the bank in Latvia and its branch in Cyprus. Regulators say that the bank is unable to increase its share capital and lacks proper internal controls and action strategies.

Moreover, two of its major shareholders, Igor Buimister and Ivan Fursin, are unable to fulfil their obligations to the bank.

OCCRP reported in a major Russian money laundering investigation that Trasta Komercbanka was the European destination for billions of dollars siphoned out of Russia.

The scheme involved a series of companies and banks funneling the money to Latvia via a complicated maneuver. The fraudsters created a paper trail indicating that one company had defaulted on a loan guaranteed by a Russian company (or companies) and a Moldovan citizen, leaving them liable for the alleged debt.

Moldovan courts would certify the debt obligation, using fake or incomplete documents, and order the Russian company to pay. Every payment was sent from Russia to Trasta Komercbanka in Latvia, allowing the laundered funds to legally enter the European Union.

Trasta Komercbanka was also one of the six Latvian banks used in the Sergei Magnitsky case where a criminal group executed a US$ 230 million tax fraud on Hermitage Capital Management and spirited the stolen money out of Russia.

The commissions chairman Christopher Zakulis said Trasta Komercbanka had been warned earlier and given time to address its issues, however, as the bank has been unable to [improve its operations] within reasonable timeframes the regulator exercised its right to impose restrictions on the bank.

As of this weekend, the bank has not made a public response in regards to the restrictions. Latvias public broadcaster, LSM, tried reaching the bank for comment without response.

occrp.org
The Legend.....

but should danger ever come, then Holger Danske will rouse himself, and the table will burst asunder as he draws out his beard. Then he will come forth in his strength, and strike a blow that shall sound in all the countries of the world.



- Hans Christian Andersen


Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
Arsenic is an ancient poison and also a growing threat to drinking water in Wisconsin. Based on statewide sampling, as many as 22,560 homes may be consuming unacceptable levels of arsenic from private water wells.
A travel ban in place for local and state roads on Long Island and in the New York City will be lifted at 7 a.m. Sunday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A blizzard slammed downstate New York and several states in the eastern United States Saturday. More than three feet of snow fell in some states.

In the New York City area, roughly two feet of snowfall has been registered in the past 24 hours.

Cuomo declared a state of emergency after the storm hit. The travel ban, which covers local and state roads in New York City, the Long Island Expressway, the Northern State Parkway and trans-Hudson River crossings, went into effect Saturday afternoon.

"The travel ban issued earlier today allowed emergency teams to make significant progress in clearing the roads," Cuomo said. "As crews continue to respond to the storm and the severity of weather conditions decrease, we are lifting the travel ban so New Yorkers can resume their daily routines.

"Public safety is of paramount importance and we encourage New Yorkers to continue exercising caution while traveling."

Cuomo also announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will resume limited bus services at 7 a.m. Sunday. Service will depend on road conditions.

The MTA will determine early Sunday whether to restore above-ground Long Island Railroad, Metro North and subway service. There has been limited underground subway service throughout the storm.

Several Sunday flights at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports have been canceled. The governor's office said air travelers should check their flight status before heading to the airport.
My baby turned 40 this month and I think it affected me more than it did him. As I marvel at the man Andrew has become, I am amazed that this child whom I raised made it to this age! My husband Dave and I always teased that Andrew would never have ulcers  he would only give them to us. We celebrate with joy our terrific son and thought youd enjoy some of our favorite Andrew stories.

When he went to Australia to study for a semester abroad in college, he flew to Fiji and stayed for a week. While there, he made friends with people from the island  specifically members of the last cannibal tribe on Fiji. They taught him how to hunt wild boars with machetes and took him on a hunt.

His travels also took him to New Zealand. One day he called to tell us he was going bungee jumping (and was waiting for his name to be called.) As we talked, I thought, Why couldnt he have called us AFTER the jump?

After the Peace Corps, he traveled six months by himself in South America with only a backpack. He told us how he lined his backpack with chicken wire so the bandits couldnt stab and slash his backpack and rob him of his belongings. But just in case, he took a $20 bill, rolled it up thin as a toothpick, and inserted it in the little incision he made in the waistband of his pants.

Then there was the time he went on a solo adventure in Zion National Park. Following a family reunion in Las Vegas, Andrew wanted to hike in gorgeous Zion National Park. He convinced us to drive him to Lava Point (8,000 feet elevation), so that he could walk 20 miles back to the visitors center. He carried his tent and in his backpack he had his food, water purification system, and all of his other belongings. A topographical map showed him the way out. At the time, there were six forest fires burning out of control in the park but the rangers assured us that they were not a threat to his safety. And, since he had registered at the visitors center, the rangers would know how to find him if his safety was at risk.

As we drove back down the mountain, I turned to look out the back window and my eyes filled with tears. There he was, standing all alone, waving goodbye. Behind him, I could see puffs of smoke and an airplane in the distance dropping flame retardant on the fire. I couldnt believe we were leaving him and driving away!

However, I was so proud of his strength and self-confidence, not to mention his skill as a wilderness camper, I finally decided not to worry about his ability to do what he set out to do. Zions magnificent majesty is humbling to say the least and maybe because Zion means The House Where God Dwells, I felt hed be safe and protected.

I have since been reminded that Andrew has gone skydiving, spelunking, whitewater rafting, paragliding, and tried to work on a ship bound for Antarctica.

Oh Andrew! Happy Birthday! We cant wait to see what the exciting new adventures are in your future!
The car breaks down and the repair costs a few hundred dollars. A medical problem leads to a pricey bill. A family emergency means having to buy a plane ticket on short notice.

For college students who dont come from well-off backgrounds, those costs  often just a few hundred dollars  can be more than just a headache, college officials say. They can put students behind in their classes, and even lead them to leave school entirely.

Thats why Madison Area Technical College has made emergency grants available to students who face unexpected expenses, said Keith Cornille, MATC senior vice president for student development. The relatively small sums of money see students through those challenges, Cornille and others say, and can keep them on track to get a degree.

These grants help students who are on the cusp of dropping out stay in school, said Amy Kerwin, vice president of community investments at the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, which helps fund emergency grant programs at MATC and nine other technical colleges in Wisconsin.

Now Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature want to expand programs like the one at MATC by providing $450,000 in state funding for emergency grants at technical colleges and the University of Wisconsin Systems two-year campuses. If the bill passes, experts say, it could make Wisconsin the first state in the country to fund such programs.

The proposal is one of six bills introduced this month as part of a package of legislation Walker and his colleagues say will help make college more affordable for students and their families.

Other bills in the package would increase funding for need-based aid to technical college students, give a tax break to some borrowers paying back their student loans, hire coordinators to connect students with internships at local businesses and require students to attend financial literacy seminars so they better understand the debt they are taking on to attend school.

Officials with the UW and technical college systems voiced their support for the proposals at a meeting of the state Assemblys higher education committee on Thursday.

But state Democrats have called the bills window dressing that doesnt do nearly enough to address student loan debt. They have proposed legislation that would allow college graduates to refinance their debt; that bill has gone nowhere in the Republican-backed Legislature.

The author of the emergency grants bill, state Rep. David Murphy, R-Greenville, countered that the Republican proposals are a better way to fight education loan debt, because they aim to lower the amount of money students must borrow in the first place.

Murphy said expanding emergency grant programs in particular will help students at two-year colleges, who he said are often on a shoestring budget, when they face challenges such as car repairs.

We have students that drop out because they have an emergency like that and cant get to school, Murphy told the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, which he leads. Were looking at increasing that retention rate of students, and were looking at helping our most vulnerable students.

Sara Goldrick-Rab  a UW-Madison professor and frequent Walker critic who studies issues that affect low-income college students  said Democrats shouldnt be so quick to dismiss the Republican-backed proposals.

Those bills wont be enough to stem rising college costs, Goldrick-Rab said, but they will still increase the aid to students who could really use it.

Theres really no question that the need is there, she said. These are back-end band-aids  (but) Ill take the band aid.

This is a good start.

Other aid not enough

Students generally wind up needing emergency money because the grants, scholarships and loans that make up their financial aid package arent flexible enough to deal with the unexpected costs that can emerge in the middle of the school year, Goldrick-Rab said.

The money comes at the beginning of the term, and its for certain things, and its often too little, and it often runs out, she said of financial aid.

People who work in financial aid or student services offices have long known that, Goldrick-Rab said.

When students have faced financial challenges out of the blue, she said, some school officials would help them out informally with a few dollars here or there for gas or groceries.

Over the past decade, she said, a growing number of colleges and universities have made that aid more formal with emergency grant programs.

More than 100 institutions provide emergency money to students, according to a report from the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, where Goldrick-Rab is executive director.

Forty-four of those colleges and universities are funded by the Minnesota-based education philanthropy Scholarship America, which started offering emergency grants in 2004.

At MATC, also known as Madison College, students who need an emergency grant apply to the colleges Office of Financial Student Support.

They fill out a form and must meet with a counselor to receive a grant, which the college pays directly to the third party who is owed money.

Like many existing emergency grant programs, the bill in the Legislature would limit the aid students could receive and what it could pay for.

The bill allows for students to get as many as two grants, worth up to a combined $500, in each school year; the program would bar them from using the money to pay for tuition, textbooks, groceries and other recurring costs.

Keep students in school

Between 2012 and 2015, schools participating in the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporations emergency aid program gave students 2,654 grants, worth about $550 on average.

Great Lakes has awarded $1.5 million in grants to 31 Midwestern colleges for the next three years, including nearly $80,000 to MATC.

The amount of money students request through the grant program might not seem like much, Cornille said.

Critics of the bill say it pales in comparison to the large cost of attending college.

But Cornille recalled a nursing student who was in the middle of her practicum  a mandatory internship at a hospital  when her car broke down. If she couldnt pay for her car repair, she couldnt finish her practicum; if she couldnt finish that, she couldnt complete her program and graduate.

Instead, the college gave her the money she needed, Cornille said, and the student got her degree.

People just need a little help in the moment, Cornille said. Without programs like this, that person stops.

Research on how effective the programs have been is limited, Goldrick-Rab said.

But Great Lakes found colleges retained or graduated 73 percent of students who received emergency loans, Kerwin said, compared to 67 percent retention for low-income students as a whole.

The emergency-grant bill would require colleges to track how students fared after receiving a grant.

Bill would expand support

Emergency aid programs such as the one at MATC are typically funded by donors or grants from philanthropic organizations, not by taxpayer dollars or student fees.

The bill under consideration in the state Legislature would use public money to fund the grants, giving $320,000 to technical colleges and $130,000 to UW Colleges.

Four-year UW System campuses wont receive funding, Murphy said, because he wanted to start providing state support to grant programs at schools where students need tends to be greatest. Funding could be expanded to include four-year campuses in the future, he said.

UW-Madison doesnt offer emergency grants, but its Dean of Students office makes interest-free loans of up to $500 for similar expenses available to students.

Neither Goldrick-Rab nor Dustin Weeden, a senior policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, knew of a program that used state funding for emergency grants, as Wisconsins would.

But Weeden said the programs could become more popular as universities look to make sure they retain and graduate more of their students, and more states base higher education funding on student success.

Institutions are trying to be much more proactive  about student success, and helping students complete their degrees once they enroll, Weeden said.
Near the outset of his State of the State speech last week, Gov. Scott Walker said he often thinks of Wisconsin citizens who are battling serious disease.

Rep. Tom Weatherston of Caledonia, he noted, just lost his wife to cancer.

Tom, we are here for you, and we lift your family up in our thoughts and our prayers, the governor said, drawing applause.

Gov. Walker offered similar support to Rep. Tom Larson of Colfax, who is battling cancer, and Rep. John Macco of De Pere, whose wife is fighting the disease.

He consoled Rep. Beth Meyers of Bayfield, who lost her father-in-law.

Later in his speech, the governor credited former Gov. Marty Schreiber for suggesting ways employers can support families caring for loved ones with Alzheimers. Schreibers wife has the brain disorder that steals memories.

The sentiments were welcome and sincere. What was missing from the 40-minute speech was any mention of President Barack Obamas call a week earlier for a moonshot to cure cancer.

Wisconsin is well-positioned to help find better treatments  and receive even more federal research dollars  because of UW-Madison scientists. Wisconsin also boasts strong health care systems. It has medical experts at hospitals and technology companies across the state.

The day after the governors speech, the Assembly announced it would prioritize a $2 million package of bipartisan bills addressing Alzheimers, including $50,000 for UW research. Thats encouraging.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos also suggested during a recent television appearance that a bill targeting scientific work on donated fetal tissue has stalled. Thats good news, too. The last thing Wisconsin wants to do in the fight against deadly disease is mark itself as needlessly hostile to ethical and promising research.

President Obama announced in his State of the Union address this month that Vice President Joe Biden would lead a stepped-up fight to defeat cancer. Bidens son died from brain cancer last year.

Everyones family, it seems, has been touched by cancer. And the deaths of musician David Bowie and actor Alan Rickman this month have brought more attention to the scourge.

Wisconsin does a lot to comfort, treat and save peoples lives from a host of ailments. But the presidents call for renewed focus and ingenuity is exciting. It should galvanize the nations political leaders, doctors and researchers to make 2016 the year America accelerates toward more breakthroughs.

The president needs to follow through with administrative support, including money. Yet the most difficult part of Bidens new task will be to prioritize what the federal government already spends and demand more coordination of knowledge.

At the same time, the vice president should explore ways to ease the complexity of federal regulations on medical study in the public and private sectors.

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville and the rest of Wisconsins congressional delegation should unify behind the presidents aggressive goal. Debating the specifics of any action or recommendation is fine. What Congress must not do is let election-year politics derail progress.

Cancer attacks the body in hundreds of ways. So it wont be eradicated quickly. But targeting its elimination is an important step toward longer and more comfortable lives, leading to cures.
Rockefellers interest in Russia stemmed from the discovery of oil near the Caspian Sea town of Baku, in Azerbaijan.

The oil field was the largest known oil strike in the world. It was controlled entirely by the Swedish munitions manufacturers Ludvig and Robert Nobel and Tzar Nicholas IIs banker, Baron Alphonse Rothschild.

The Nobel brothers of Sweden launched the Baku oil boom in 1873. During a trip to Baku, Robert Nobel realized the commercial possibilities of the oil wells in this area.

Ludvig was a successful engineer and industrialist with his engineering factory in St Petersburg and realised that there were not the necessary knowledge of technology and materials in Russia.

He had the backing of his brother Alfred known for his peace prize. Alfred had obtained the patent for dynamite, exploiting the principle that if a small amount of explosive could be rapidly exploded, the shock and the heat generated will communicate the explosion to the rest of the material.

This area of Azerbaijan has been famed for its rich oil resources since ancient times. The liquid fire with which Constantinople drove the Arab besiegers from its walls in the seventh century consisted largely of oil that bubbled to the surface unaided along the coasts of the Black Sea and the Caspian.

The Persians called the area the Land of Fire, where priests lit their temples with oil from these natural sources.

Oil blowouts made up the main portion of all oil production in the early days although this was a very uneconomical and environmentally harmful process.

The production engineering level of the crude oil industry in Baku was astoundingly low. The transport of crude oil to the harbor took place in barrels, pulled by donkeys. In America oil producers were far ahead with pipelines, pumps and knowledge of the nature of the oil.

This growth of oil production in Baku was based upon high quality crude oil, cheap available manpower, and the unusually quick and effective development and implementation of technical improvements. The Nobel Brothers put in a pipeline from the oil fields to the shore, and sent out oil tankers.

Brothers Nobel oil company, was headed by Ludvig and the three Nobel brothers were the main shareholders. Ludvig organized the entire system for refining, transporting by pipeline, boat and train, storage and selling and made a number of technical and commercial innovations.

Among these were pipelines for the transport of oil from the oil fields to the shore, and oil tankers built in sections in Sweden and assembled on the Caspian Sea. Nobel was the first oil company to have permanent geologists.

He had good relations with his employees and introduced profit sharing and worked actively to improve working conditions in his factories.

Oil companies owned by the Rothschild family entered the scene in Baku followed by Rockefellers gigantic Standard Oil Company. This heated competition for control of the worlds top producing region. Blowout production decreased as the equipment was improved.

By 1884 Rothschild and Nobel were pumping as much oil from the Baku Oil Fields as Rockefeller was from all of his holdings in the United States. By 1901, Baku produced more than half of the worlds oil.

Rockefeller and Rothschild were competing as the worlds foremost oil and banking barons. Rockefeller was determined to do in Russia what he had succeeded in doing in the United States cornering the refining and distribution of oil.

But the two competitors finally realized that competition was not a good thing. The more oil wells they drilled, the more oil was produced, the more the price of oil per barrel fell.

It was decided that the worlds markets would geographically be carved up, with the two barons, Rockefeller and Rothschild, each having their separate, well-defined shares.

Moreover, limits would be put on oil produced globally so as to keep the market price as high as possible. Under this arrangement, both Rothschild and Rockefeller would benefit.

Of course, all other competition would be squelched, driven out of business, including the Nobel Oil Company in Baku.

The Russian Finance Minister knew of Rockefellers reputation for buying politicians and destroying competition, and convinced the Tzar to keep Standard Oil and Rockefeller out of Russia.

Rockefeller knew the only way he was going to get in was to depose Tzar Nicholas II. As a solution the Rockefeller-Rothschild cartel funded the Bolshevik Communist revolution of 1917 to get control of the Baku oil.

Rockefellers puppets, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, soon reigned over the vast Soviet Russia empire.

In 1918 British forces captured the Baku oil fields. The Allies held the oil fields for two years. When US troops left the Baku oil fields, the 11th Red Army overwhelmed the weakened British forces that were still holding Baku, and took the oil fields back, ending World War I, and creating the reason for the Iron Curtain which would divide East and West for the next 68 years.

Lenin, following orders from the Rockefeller-Rothschild cartel, seized power in Baku and Branobels oil business in Azerbaijan was nationalized.

Hundreds of thousands of residents were slaughtered, especially the families of the oil company executives, engineers, and chief workers. Their luxurious mansions and homes were plundered, wives and children raped, tortured and murdered. The oil derricks and facilities of Baku were set on fire  torched.

Whoosh! Instantly, one of the worlds top oil producing regions was no more. The Nobel brothers fled for their lives back to Sweden, selling almost half of their shares in Branobels to Standard Oil, so they could have the same property rights.

Naturally, the Baku oil assets of Rothschild and Rockefeller were lost as well, but this was according to plan. That plan dictated that Russia would, during the Communist era, not be a world player in oil.

This closing of Baku immediately resulted in an astronomical increase in the global price of oil. Rockefeller and Rothschild were well compensated for the temporary loss of their Baku assets.

Creative Destruction had brought fabulous riches to both Rothschild and Rockefeller.

By Kinderflow
What is a Jubilee Year? The origin of the Christian Jubilee goes back to Old Testament times. The Law of Moses prescribed a special year for the Jewish people (Lev 25:10-14). The trumpet with which this particular year was announced was a goats horn, called in Hebrew yobel  the origin of the word jubilee. The celebration of the jubilee year included the restitution of land to the original owners, the remission of debts, the liberation of slaves and rest for the land, which was left fallow. In the New Testament, Jesus presents himself as the one who brings the old Jubilee to completion, because he has come to preach the year of the Lords favor (Luke 4:18-19).

In the Roman Catholic tradition, a Holy Year or Jubilee is a great religious event, held roughly every 25 years. The Christian Jubilee tradition began with Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Since that time, the church has celebrated 26 ordinary and three extraordinary Jubilee years. A Jubilee is a year of reconciliation between adversaries and a conversion of heart for individuals. Above all, a Jubilee year is a year of Christ, who brings life and grace to humanity.

Why did Pope Francis call this extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy? On Divine Mercy Sunday 2015, he explained, Here, then, is the reason for the Jubilee, because this is the time for mercy. It is the favorable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone the way of forgiveness and reconciliation. Its the holy fathers belief that the present age is an opportune moment of mercy. The Year of Mercy runs from Dec. 8, 2015, through Nov. 20, 2016.

How do we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy? Pope Francis has asked us to steep ourselves in the word of God through reading and meditating on the sacred Scriptures. In order to be capable of mercy the Pope wrote, we must first of all dispose ourselves to listen to the word of God by discovering the value of silence in order to meditate on the word that comes to us. The Sunday scripture readings during 2016 are taken from the Gospel of St. Luke, often referred to as the Gospel of Mercy, which includes well-known parables of mercy such as the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:1-32).

The holy father spoke of the special place of the practice of pilgrimage in the holy year. Traditionally, many pilgrims travel to Rome during Jubilee years to pass through the holy doors of the major basilicas, which are only open during such Jubilees. Unique to this Year of Mercy is that Pope Francis has requested that there be a holy door in every Catholic cathedral in every diocese throughout the world. Therefore, Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester and Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Syracuse have a special holy door designated during this Jubilee Year.

What is a holy door? Since the 15th century, holy doors and Jubilees have gone hand-in-hand. The holy door, or porta sancta, is a ritual expression of conversion. The doors themselves symbolize Christ, who called himself the gate to eternal life (John 10:9). The door finds meaning only when the believer associates the door with Christ. For pilgrims, to walk through the holy door is to walk, in spirit, from sin to grace and from death to life, acknowledging Christ as the only way to the father.

Theres something powerful about a door. Have you ever gone into a room in your home and ask yourself, Why did I come in here? We might think we are having a senior moment. That may be true. But scientists say it happens because going through a doorway creates a different context, which distracts us, and we say, Why am I here? But when we pass through a door of mercy, well know very well why were there: to experience the mercy of God. And when we leave, it is to carry compassion and mercy to others.

In Misericodiae Vultus, the document announcing the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis said, anyone who enters (the holy door) will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope.




IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them.





They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country.





However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia.





"Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination.





Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia.





They should be lovingly helped.





Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948.





To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts:





While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 :

Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell.

The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites.



A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught.



The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers.



Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites."



Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers.









There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks.





This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work.





It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter.





In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam.













In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir.





" The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life."





An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir .





In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance).





Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed).





Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance).









Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam.





It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way.





A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah.





Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs).









Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life".





Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology.





Islam is a supremacist ideology.





Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism.





Islam is a civilization.

Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization.





Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life.

It has a say about every conceivable human act .





Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam.

























The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic.





Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111).





A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44)





Muhammad himself said:

I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30)









Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad.




Volunteers are the mainstay of many organizations. They give their time and labor and expect very little in return. Without these individuals, many of the services so many individuals have come to rely on would cease to exist.

Volunteerism is something very unique to the fiber and values of the United States. From the early days of the colonists, groups of individuals have come together to help each other farm, build their homes, and to survive various hardships, emergencies or dangers. In Philadelphia, in 1736, Benjamin Franklin established the first-ever volunteer fire department. Today, volunteer firefighters continue to play a critical role in protecting lives and property across the country.

Our earliest military members were volunteers. During the Revolutionary War, these soldiers, known as the Minutemen, were well-organized and self-trained in weapons, tactics and military strategy. During this same time, other colonists organized boycotts against British imports or raised funds to support the volunteer militia groups.

Volunteers were very present during the Civil War. One of the most famous groups was the Ladies Aid Societies. While we dont know the actual number of groups formed (estimates range from 8,000 to 20,000), they were instrumental in providing supplies to soldiers on the front, as well as caring for the sick and wounded. Their efforts helped to derail the spread of disease and made battlefield life a bit more bearable. Free black women also formed their own societies to take care of black soldiers.

In 1861, the first female physician in the United States, Elizabeth Blackwell, recruited some 4,000 women to form the Womens Central Association of Relief in New York City. It was her desire that this group would become a national network of trained nurses and other volunteers who would care for the sick and wounded soldiers. While military officials were slow to embrace this group, Blackwells work had a huge impact on improving sanitation and hygiene practices.

In the late 1800s, we see the start of organizations in North America like the YMCA (creating a safe home away from home based on Christian values) and the Red Cross. The United Way was formed in Denver in 1887. Mainstream volunteerism really began to take hold in the early 20th century. Organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis and the Lions Club all formed in the early 1900s.

During the Great Depression, the soup kitchen concept came into being. Bread lines were also popular to assist those in need. These were all staffed by volunteers from a variety of social or religious organizations.

During World War II, many volunteer organizations went to work on supporting both servicemen and civilians in a variety of areas. And in the 1960s, volunteerism focused on issues of poverty, inequality and violence around the world.

National efforts around volunteerism continue to exist. The Peace Corps is an example of a volunteer program run by government. It was established in 1961. Volunteer.gov connects would-be volunteers with the U.S. Forest Services volunteer program.

The Points of Light organization traces its roots back to the 1989 inaugural address of President George H.W. Bush. The group is dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving critical issues through the use of voluntary service. Points of Light was formed in 2007 by the merger of two other existing groups. The merger was meant to strengthen volunteerism, reduce costs and heighten the groups impact.

Today, many businesses engage in corporate social responsibility. CSR is a corporation's attempt to assess and take responsibility for its effects on both environmental and social well-being. Often, corporate volunteerism is a key component of these activities.

Employees state that community service activities make them better citizens and more aware of community issues. Research shows that this type of activity makes them feel better both mentally and physically. They also report that they feel more positive about their employer and its relationship to the community.

Schools and colleges have consistently added increased community service requirements to their curriculums. Students who participate in hands-on service learning tend to do better academically than peers who do not. Volunteering makes students more appealing to employers. These students display stronger problem-solving, team building and networking skills.

Not sure how to volunteer today? Look no further than your computer. The Internet is rich with tools to help you find opportunities including virtual volunteering. The Citizen also publishes a weekly Call for Volunteers in Sunday's Lake Life section, page C3, and Saturdays on auburnpub.com.

Volunteering remains a strong value in ensuring vital communities across our country. For more information on volunteering across the United States, check out the Corporation for National and Community Service at volunteeringinamerica.gov.
Jan. 24, 1936

Mail carriers along rural routes started out today as usual but a few were forced back to the postoffice because of the intense cold and huge snow drifts. Postmaster Thomas C. Richardson stated that the delivery of mail would be made on the East Owasco Lake Road as far as Shirey's, near Koenig's Point, but beyond that point the roads were badly drifted and practically impassable.

At noon Postmaster Richardson received a report that the driver on the Star Route to the north end of the county was forced to a halt near Meridian, because of the high mounds of hard packed snow, so hard in places it was reported that even snow plows were taxed to their utmost.

Jan. 24, 1961

(Pictured)

PRESENT UKRAINIAN FLAG -- Members of the Auburn Branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee presented a Ukrainian National Flag to Mayor Maurice I. Schwartz this week so that the flag might be flown in Richardson Square Sunday in observance of the proclamation of Ukrainian Independence. Left to right in front are Mayor Schwartz, Daria Beresiwsky, Marie Hrycko, Anna Pyrohanych. In back are City Manager George F. Train, Stephen Nayda, president of the branch; Wasyl Trociuk, and Andrew Roche, treasurer. Mayor Schwartz issued a special proclamation.

Jan. 24, 2006

Some residents feel living in Fleming is not anything to brag about. The Fleming Improvement Foundation Inc. intends to fix that situation. The secretary of state approved the non-profit foundation Jan. 19, making it the first of its kind ever registered for any town in New York state, according to Town Councilman John Sroka, who said the organization will attain tax-exempt status "within a few months."

He envisions the foundation as a source to welcome new or prospective homeowners with information concerning the community. It will also institute the opening of health clinics and fire and safety clinics. Senior citizen days are a possibility as well as a "town awareness day," whereby people of the community, "Can meet the people who plow their roads and fix their water and sewer lines, so they're not just a name  people can meet them and see their faces, to identify with those who provide those services," he said.

Jan. 24, 2011

The musical styles were different, but the message was the same Sunday afternoon during a concert for the national Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at SS. Peter and John Episcopal Church. Choirs from six different congregations of five different denominations gathered at the Genesee Street church and sang, each in its own style, as the late afternoon sun came through the stained glass windows.

The ecumenical event is meant to foster understanding and improved relations among diverse Christian faiths, said Rev. Doug Taylor-Weiss, rector at SS. Peter and John.
Sales tax revenue reports for 2015 are in, and they are not what Cayuga County or the city of Auburn were hoping. The county received about $172,000 less last year than in 2014 and the city received about $153,000 less.

The county and city had budgeted for an increase in sales tax revenue, a trend County Administrator Suzanne Sinclair said has been historically the case, at least for the county.

What might be causing this decline?

"The major driver in that is the sales tax on gasoline," Sinclair said. "Gas prices have dropped so much that eight percent of $2 is a lot less than eight percent of $4. It's good for the consumer, so I don't have a personal problem with that, but in terms of county revenue, it's a drop."

The county relies on certain revenue to balance its budget each year. While the county earned more money in a few places, like the unexpected revenue drawn from inmate housing by the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, if funds fall short, more money will be drawn from the county fund balance.

Legislator Mark Farrell said the New York State Comptroller's Office had recommended last year to be more conservative with anticipated sales tax revenue, and to budget for a 1 percent or less increase. Sinclair said the comptroller's office has not released any recommendations this year yet, but there will be a meeting in February where she expects sales tax will be discussed.

For balancing the 2017 budget, Farrell would like to see the Legislature stop relying on potential increases.

"We need to work with more realistic numbers," Farrell said. "I'd rather budget some low numbers and then be surprised with some kind of economic upturn, rather than go high and be disappointed like we were this year."

Laura Wills, comptroller for the city of Auburn, told The Citizen in an email that while the decline in revenue is substantial, it is not so much that the city would alter the budget more than halfway through the fiscal year. Auburn's fiscal year runs July to July, unlike the county, which runs with the calendar year.

The Cayuga County Treasurer's Office is already reporting that this month's revenue is less than January 2015 by about $259,000 for the county and about $202,000 for Auburn. January isn't over yet, but Sinclair said it's difficult to know what will happen with the 2016 sales tax revenue. She mentioned that the county has lost some retailers and gained others. She's also mentioned with the stock market drop kicking off 2016, consumers may be less apt to spend money.
French President Francois Hollande and PM Narendra Modi addressed CEOs of French and Indian companies at a business summit in Chandigarh today.

By India Today Web Desk: French President Francois Hollande and PM Narendra Modi addressed CEOs of French and Indian companies at a business summit in Chandigarh today.

Addressing the India-France Business Summit, Modi said India and France had huge potential to work together in various fields.

Modi pitched for investment in India by French companies, saying India had a lot to offer in terms of skilled workforce and as a market for French products. ALSO READ | India and France vow to fight terror together

"We want to work closely with France...The world has accepted India as a good investment destination. India's talent and the manufacturing (skills) of France can achieve a lot. The trust and friendship with France is an asset for us," Modi said in his address.



Here's the list of agreements signed at the India-France Business Summit:



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MoU between AFD (French Development Agency) and the government of Maharashtra on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development for development of smart city in Nagpur. MoU between AFD and the government of the union territory (UT) of Chandigarh on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development for development of smart city in Chandigarh. MoU between AFD and the government of the UT of Puducherry on technical cooperation in the field of sustainable development for development of smart city in Puducherry. Wind Power Development agreement between EDF JV with SITAC RE India to jointly explore opportunities for development of wind-based power project in India. MoU between EPI Ltd.-Dassault Systems in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-Egis in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-Schneider Electric in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-Thales in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-EDF in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-Alstom in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-SA CAN in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-Lumiplan ITS India Pvt. Ltd. in urban sector development. MoU between EPI-POMA in urban sector development. Agreement between CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and Green Ventures in solar photovoltaic projects in the rural areas (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh). Agreement between CEA and Crompton Greaves to explore opportunities in solar photovoltaic system with storage function for Indian airports. Mahindra-Airbus cooperation to create the new private strategic partner for helicopters within the Make in India initiative.
In a joint operation of the NIA and ATS, five more suspected Islamic State terrorists were apprehended.

By India Today Web Desk: In a joint operation of the NIA and ATS, five more suspected Islamic State terrorists were apprehended.

The NIA had arrested 14 youths, suspected of being sympathisers of ISIS, from different parts of the country, and in the latest development, a major anti-terror swoop by the NIA and the ATS has led to the apprehension of another five.

A 26-year-old man, identified as Imran Pathan, was picked up from Baddi Masjid locality in Vaijapur town in Aurangabad on suspect of his activities, while another suspect was picked up from Indira Nagar area in Uttar Pradesh.

Another ISIS sympathiser was arrested in Sabaya village of Kushinagar. Nizammudin, son of Rizwan, was taken into custody by Kasaya Police station officers. It is said that he had links with Indian Mujahideen and Islamic State.

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Following intel from the Telangana Police, the NIA was able to nab another suspect from Parappana Agrahara area of Bengaluru. During the arrest, the suspect is believed to have attacked and inflicted injury on one of the team members, before he was apprehended. The man was wanted by the NIA in connection with the Ahmedabad blast case.

The Telangana Police and the NIA also apprehended a youth with a rifle, and a map of the Republic Day celebration in Bengaluru. Though he was not linked to the ongoing NIA crackdown, it is believed that he may be in touch with Yousuf aka Safi Armar of Bhatkal, who is now heading the ISIS India chapter.

Also Read:

NIA cracks down on ISIS sympathisers, nabs 14 from 6 cities


By India Today Web Desk: Rafale jet deal on right track but unlikely to be signed in this trip: Hollande

"The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years," said French President Francois Hollande.

Donald Trump says he could 'shoot somebody' and still not lose voters

Trump said that he could push back attempts by his rivals to knock him off his top perch, saying he could stand on New York's Fifth Avenue "and shoot somebody", and still not lose voters.

Clean sweep in T20 series can take India to No. 1 ranking

If India sweep the three-match T20 series, they will vault to No. 1 with 120 points from the current 110, while Australia will plummet to number eight with 110 points from the current 118. If India win 2-1, Australia will slip to sixth and India to seventh.

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Airlift: I don't know how to thank you all for love and support, says Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar's Airlift is based on a real story of evacuating 1.7 lakh Indians in Kuwait in 488 flights over a span of 59 days. Akshay played the role of Ranjit Katyal, a wealthy and powerful Indian businessman in Kuwait, who unknowingly becomes the man who all 1,70,000 Indians look up to for getting them out safely from Kuwait.


By India Today Web Desk: Akshay Kumar's Airlift is based on a real story of evacuating 1.7 lakh Indians in Kuwait in 488 flights over a span of 59 days. Akshay Kumar is back with a power packed performance in his film Airlift.

Akshay Kumar played the role of Ranjit Katyal, a wealthy and powerful Indian businessman in Kuwait, who unknowingly becomes the man who all 1,70,000 Indians look up to for getting them out safely from Iraq attacked Kuwait.

From viewers to critics, Akshay's performance in the film has been praised. The Baby actor is humbled by all the praises and took to micro-blogging site to say thanks:

I don't know how to Thank You all for every ounce of all ur Love & Support for #Airlift, feeling extremely humbled. https://t.co/Ab78ivSosZ Ranjit Katiyal (@akshaykumar) January 23, 2016

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The film is full of emotions, actions, and patriotism and will hold you onto your seats. And Akshay's performance in this edge of the seat thriller might make you say it's one of the best performances delivered by the Singh Is Bliing actor.

Directed by Raja Krishna Menon, the film also stars Nimrat Kaur in the lead role. The film hit the screens on January 22 this year.
Amit Shah was today re-elected as the BJP president. He is all set to start a new term as party chief today.

By India Today Web Desk: Amit Shah was today re-elected as the BJP president. He is all set to start a new term as party chief.

Shah's current term ended Saturday and the new term will be his first full-term lasting three years. His election is virtually a formality, party sources said. In pics



Top BJP veterans including LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were missing during the nomination process and Shah's subsequent felicitation at 11, Ashoka Road headquarters of the BJP in New Delhi.



Shah's name has been proposed by some 20 leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.



Seen as a close confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah was put at the helm midway during his predecessor Rajnath Singh's tenure after Singh joined the government in May 2014.

Party today unanimously elected Amit Shah ji for the second term as BJP President: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu pic.twitter.com/1z4VuvnsIn

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"He is the most capable person, he has organisational ability, good strategies and above all commitment to our ideology," said Venkaiah Naidu.



I have full faith that under #AmitShah ji's leadership, the party will achieve great success-Union Min Rajnath Singh pic.twitter.com/RTWBOKbwK8ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

Almost all BJP chief ministers, besides a number of union ministers, were in attendance when Shah filed his nomination papers.

Under Shah's stewardship, BJP scaled new heights by coming to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir but the quite a bit of the sheen was taken off by its massive back-to-back defeats in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, triggering some rumblings in the party.

However, party sources have insisted that his "energetic and focused" leadership has strengthened the organisation by pushing its membership across the country and expanding its reach in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal where BJP had never been a force to reckon with.

The party president's election in BJP is normally unopposed. Last time, senior party leader Yashwant Sinha had expressed his willingness to contest but later decided against it.

Also Read:

Performance, polls to decide on Cabinet rejig


The Cabinet's recommendation has been sent to the President for approval.

By India Today Web Desk: The Union Cabinet today recommended imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh. The Cabinet's recommendation has been sent to the President for approval.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Randeep S Surjewala said, "Modi government's imposition of President Rule in Arunanchal Pradesh reflects travesty of Constitutional mandate and subjugation of federalism".

Arunachal Pradesh was rocked by a political crisis on December 16 last year as 21 rebel Congress MLAs joined hands with 11 of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two independents to 'impeach' Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia at a makeshift venue, in a move branded as "illegal and unconstitutional" by the Speaker.

Up in arms against Congress Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, 21 rebel party MLAs, including 14 disqualified a day before, with the help of BJP and independent legislators, congregated at a community hall after the state Assembly complex was 'sealed' by the local administration, and 'impeached' Rebia in an impromptu session chaired by Deputy Speaker T Norbu Thongdok.

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27 MLAs in 60-member Assembly, including the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues, boycotted the proceedings.

If this info is correct, I'm afraid it is a very unfortunate political step this Govt is taking- Kapil Sibal, Cong pic.twitter.com/9OrF84EmbgANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2016

A day later, in a bizarre turn of events, opposition BJP and rebel Congress MLAs congregated in a local hotel to "vote out" Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and to "elect" a rebel Congress MLA in his place but the Gauhati High Court intervened to keep in "abeyance" decisions taken at the rebel "session".

A "no confidence" motion moved by BJP MLAs and Independent MLAs was "adopted" with Deputy Speaker T Norbu Thongdok, who is also a rebel Congressman, in the Chair. A total of 33 members in the 60-member house, including 20 dissident Congress MLAs, later "elected" another dissident Congressman Kalikho Pul as the new "chief minister" of the state. The Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and his 26 supporting MLAs boycotted the proceedings terming them as "illegal and unconstitutional".

The Chief Minister later wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking their intervention to "uphold" the Constitution in the face of the "unprecedented murder" of democracy and "bypassing" of a democratically-elected government by Governor Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa.

Angry over the Governor's action in calling a session of the Assembly bypassing the government, the Congress had paralysed the Rajya Sabha for two days during the winter session.

In the High Court, Justice Hrishikesh Roy observed Prima facie the Governor's decision to advance the Assembly session to December 16, 2015 for taking up the impeachment proceedings against the Speaker was in "violation of Article 174 and 175 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has referred a batch of petitions on the Arunachal Pradesh crisis to a Constitution Bench.


AUBURN | Auburn officials have been authorized to refine the details behind a developer's plans to construct a complex designed for several countywide public safety agencies.

Members of the Auburn City Council voted Thursday to authorize lease negotiations with First Response Developers, a private corporation that submitted the preferred proposal for the city's collaborative public safety concept.

The idea calls for First Response Developers to construct a complex with the capacity to house the city's fire and police departments and Auburn City Court services, at least. The project also has the potential to feature several Cayuga County emergency agencies, though county officials have not committed.

The complex would be constructed in the downtown Auburn area, though a precise location  and a project cost  has not yet been identified. These are expected to be disclosed within a few months during developing negotiations, which will be initiated by City Manager Doug Selby.

In light of Selby's recently announced resignation, councilors also voted to allow another individual  as designated by the Auburn City Council  to initiate the lease negotiations. Selby is seeking a termination date of March 4.

In other news

 Officials voted during Thursday's Auburn City Council meeting to authorize the purchase of a new engine for the city's fire department.

The fire engine is one of a pair that will be replaced through a recent series of upgrades for the fire department. Councilors voted in April to purchase the initial truck with leftover funds from past capital projects.

Purchasing the second vehicle requires city officials to bond for up to $500,000.

Officials said they hope to alleviate that cost by selling the preexisting trucks, which were each built in 2008 by American LaFrance. The company went out of business in 2014, making replacement parts scarce, according to Fire Chief Jeff Dygert.

"Their value is diminishing every day due to the lack of dealer and manufacturer support," he said Thursday of the American LaFrance vehicles.

Dygert said the replacements should be ready within around 10 months to a year from when they are ordered.

Thursday's city council vote was 4-0. Councilor Debby McCormick was absent because she was out of town.

 Councilors authorized a settlement to resolve longstanding disputes between the city and the town of Aurelius over utility rates.

The parties have disagreed about water and sewer rate calculations several times over the course of 25-year contract. The city provides these utility services to the town at a rate set by the contract, which was established in 1995.

The settlement sets the billable rate to Aurelius users for city water and sewer services at $2.01 per 100 cubic feet retroactively from Jan. 1, 2014 until the contract expires in February 2020. Additionally, the town will reimburse the city $94,000, an amount parties agreed the town underpaid the city for sewer services between March 1, 2012 and Dec. 1, 2015.

Around $40,000 of that amount will be paid by the city as a credit to the town for sewer services at Bluefield Manor in Auburn, which uses Aurelius sewer laterals, according to Corporation Counsel John Rossi. Rossi said another $20,000, at most, will be set aside for the installation of a new water meter at the Bluefield Road senior independent living facility.

Town officials have already agreed to the settlement, according to Rossi.

 A recently approved employment policy that covers many of the city's department heads will continue through 2017.

The policy  which establishes employment procedures and salary adjustments for around 15 city employees not represented by a labor union  was previously authorized in December, but political turnover through November's general election prevented the previous council from continuing the agreement for longer than one year.
National Conference president Omar Abdullah called for an end to the uncertainty and advocated that elections would be better than the prevailing political situation.

By Naseer Ganai: As the political uncertainty continues in Jammu and Kashmir with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) refraining from approaching Governor NN Vohra for government formation, the Opposition on Saturday called for re-elections to end the stalemate.

"It's been two weeks since 1.25 crore people of J&K were placed under the central rule because of one party's inability to lead. How much longer?," National Conference president Omar Abdullah said. Omar called for an end to the uncertainty and advocated that elections would be better than the prevailing political situation.

National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah was the first to call for the dissolution of the J&K Assembly. Farooq had said if the PDP and the BJP cannot solve the problems of the people, the Assembly must be dissolved and new elections be held.

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The National Panthers Party, which was routed by the BJP in Jammu, has also called for the desolution of the Assembly, stating that there seems to be no possibility of government formation in the state with both the PDP and the BJP not conveying their respective party position to the governor.

The PDP has not revealed its cards so far except asking the Centre that the promises made in the Agenda of Alliance should be fulfilled. Though Union Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal had a meeting with Mehbooba Mufti recently at the latter's residence, there is no official announcement from the Centre on the government formation in J&K. PDP leaders say the party is seeking the implementation of the Agenda of Alliance which they call a sacred document.

Also read:

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's demise leaves a huge void: Modi, others on Twitter

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed dies at 79, funeral at Bijbehara


US Republican front-runner Donald Trump expressed confidence on Saturday that he could push back attempts by his rivals to knock him off his top perch, saying he could stand on New York's Fifth Avenue "and shoot somebody", and still not lose voters.

By Reuters: US Republican front-runner Donald Trump expressed confidence on Saturday that he could push back attempts by his rivals to knock him off his top perch, saying he could stand on New York's Fifth Avenue "and shoot somebody", and still not lose voters.

Nine days from the first nominating contest in Iowa, however, it was Republican rival Marco Rubio who won the endorsement Saturday from the Des Moines Register, the state's biggest and most influential newspaper. On the Democratic side, the Register picked Hillary Clinton.

The endorsements were big developments for both Rubio and Clinton. Rubio, a Florida senator, has been running third behind Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Iowa, while Clinton has struggled to fend off a challenge to the Democratic nomination from Bernie Sanders.

Trump and Cruz, Trump's chief obstacle to a victory in Iowa, held competing rallies across the state while in New Hampshire, other candidates battled for votes in that state's Feb. 9 first-in-the-nation primary for the Nov. 8 election.

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Trump, the New York billionaire and former reality TV star who has been virtually impervious to attacks from his opponents, pushed the limits of his political rhetoric again in Sioux Center, Iowa.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters," he said.

Trump has been a difficult target for criticism from his rivals because not all of his supporters are conservatives and many are most interested in his projection of strength, not where he stands on a particular issue.

The latest Reuters-Ipsos tracking poll had Trump pulling in 40.6 per cent support of Republican voters nationally. A CNN/ORC poll has Trump up in Iowa with 37 per cent to 26 per cent for Cruz, who has led in some other Iowa polls.

Trump did not repeat the "shoot somebody" line at a later rally in Pella, while stressing to the crowd there that he would tone down his rhetoric as president.

Beck backs Cruz

Cruz responded to Trump at an event in Ankeny, where he picked up the endorsement of conservative firebrand Glenn Beck, a counterweight of sorts to Trump's endorsement by 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

"Listen, I will let Donald speak for himself. I can say I have no intention of shooting anybody in this campaign," Cruz said.

Beck was more direct.

"There is one thing to have a healthy ego, there is another to give a man who believes those kind of things, who has a habit of anyone who stands in his way of destruction," Beck said. "To give that man the full power and scope of the office of the presidency is something we will grow to regret."

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley was an introductory speaker at Trump's Pella event. Grassley did not endorse Trump but repeated Trump's signature phrase, saying Republicans have a chance to "make America great again."

During his speech, Trump called Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly biased and said she should not be a moderator at a Fox-hosted Republican debate in Des Moines on Thursday. Kelly's questioning at an Aug. 6 debate in Cleveland had prompted Trump to unleash a series of insults at her.

There was no indication that Fox planned to remove her as a moderator.

"Megyn Kelly has no conflict of interest. Donald Trump is just trying to build up the audience for Thursday's debate, for which we thank him," said a Fox News spokesperson.

Bloomberg considering independent bid

The potential for more chaos in what has been a turbulent race on both the Republican and Democratic sides emerged on Saturday with the news that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might launch an independent run for president.

A source said part of Bloomberg's concern was the problem that Clinton is having in defeating Sanders.

"I hope he runs," Trump told reporters in Pella.

At a First In The Nation forum for candidates in Nashua, New Hampshire, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was notably withering in his criticism of Trump.

He reminded voters of Trump's dismissal of Senator John McCain as not a hero because he got captured during the Vietnam War. McCain spent 5-1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He was a two-time winner of the New Hampshire primary and the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

"It is not strong to insult women. It is not a sign of strength when you insult Hispanics. It is not a sign of strength when you say that a POW was a loser because they got caught. John McCain is a hero," Bush said.

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Also Read:

Growing feud: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz escalate attacks on each other

Woman in Muslim headscarf ejected from Donald Trump rally


On Saturday, police intervened to shift the protesters even as others tried to resist, leading to mild tension on the campus.

By India Today Web Desk: Police, forcibly shifted seven students who were on hunger strike in University of Hyderabad for the last four days. On Saturday, police intervened to shift the protesters even as others tried to resist, leading to mild tension on the campus.

The students were on hunger strike to press for the demand for action against central minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and others allegedly responsible for the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in the University capus.

The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice said three students, who were in critical condition, were admitted to a multispeciality hospital, while four others were shifted to a health centre. There, they were force fed.

The JAC condemned the forceful eviction of the students, said, " the administration is scared of the fight against their Brahminical fascist ideology".

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The umbrella group of various student organisations said it would continue the protest till justice is done to Rohith's family.

Also read:

Rohith Vemula suicide: Protesting students term PM Modi's statement insulting, vow to intensify stir

Modi pays teary tribute to Dalit student Rohith Vemula amid protests


The Himachal Pradesh Police is still clueless about the missing car and murder of the taxi driver.

The CCTV footage released by the Punjab Police zeroing on the suspected terrorists does not help in identifying them.

The Himachal Pradesh Police is still clueless about the missing car and murder of the taxi driver.

Three unidentified men on January 14 had booked a taxi from Gaggal, Kangra to Pathankot. The driver Vijay Kumar had agreed to drop the passengers at a very nominal fare, police sources said on Friday.

Police sources said the suspected terrorists spoke Punjabi dialect and one of them had a limp. Though the police have released CCTV footage, their faces are beyond recognition. While the police have ruled out a terror link, national agencies suspect the culprits to be terrorists as the taxi driver had alleged links with drug smugglers.

Another reason for suspicion is the Intelligence Bureau alert which had cautioned the state police that terror groups can launch terror strikes on Republic Day eve.

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Kangra police is also investigating whether the three men stayed in a Mcleodganj hotel. The motive of murder is still not clear.

The alert issued by the Delhi Police has sent the Himachal police into tizzy as one of the theories now connecting to this incident to a possible terror attack. The security agencies are now trying to ascertain whether Vijay was murdered to snatch the vehicle or the men who boarded the taxi were terrorists.

Sources said the taxi driver was a convict who was previously involved in narcotic smuggling. He was married and has two minor daughters. "He was a sole bread winner. The killers had crushed his head after strangulating him," Vijay's wife Sapna said.

The police are also trying to find out whether the men were known to Vijay or had any rivalry with him.

Though the police has sounded an alert and appealed the people to help locate criminals by releasing the CCTV footage, they are still clueless. "We are taking this matter very seriously and making efforts to locate the missing taxi. An alert has been sounded in Pathankot," Senior Superintendent of Police, Pathnakot RK Bakshi said.

Also Read: Cops hunt for the killers of Himachal cabbie


Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

By PTI: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said India has given fresh leads relating to the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan is verifying the facts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"I have received fresh leads from India on the Pathankot attack and we will look and examine those evidences given by India. We could have hidden it or forgotten it but we asserted that we have received the evidences," Sharif said on a day when US President Barack Obama termed the Pathankot terror strike as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long".

"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terror networks," Obama told PTI in an interview.

"We are probing and verifying that. Once we are done with that we would definitely bring the facts forward. Along with that, we have also formed a special investigating team, they would go to India and collect more evidence," Sharif said here on his arrival from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum.

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"I had a word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he had offered every help possible from their side in bringing the perpetrators to justice. We are going on the right lines and I hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon," said Sharif who promised further Pakistani action to combat militants but conceded that progress had often been slow.

India gave "specific and actionable information" to Pakistan soon after the Pathankot attack reportedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 that killed seven Indian soldiers.

Pakistani National Security Advisor Lt Gen Naseer Khan Janjua on January 5 called up his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval during which they discussed "specific and actionable information" related to the Pathankot terror strike.

Doval and Janjua talked about various information and leads, like the Pakistani numbers which the attackers had called and their intercepts with India asserting that an effective action on part of Pakistan was important.

Sharif was speaking days after a deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on a university near Peshawar killed 21 people.

The attack bore a chilling resemblance to the December, 2014 Peshawar school attack in which over 150 people, mostly children, were killed, prompting the government to launch a National Action Plan (NAP) cracking down on militancy.

Sharif said Pakistan would continue the fight against militants. "We will fulfil this responsibility," he said.

Also Read

Obama backs Modi's move to reach out to Pak, says Pathankot attack example of inexcusable terrorism




Nepal's ethnic minorities have rejected a constitutional amendment, dashing hopes of an end to a political crisis.

Protests at the border have prevented trucks from entering from neighbouring India since September

By Reuters: Nepal's ethnic minorities have rejected a constitutional amendment, dashing hopes of an end to a political crisis that has led to fuel shortages and hampered deliveries of relief materials to survivors of last year's earthquakes.

More than 50 people have died since the ethnic Madhesis, backed by some other smaller ethnic groups, launched protests in the landlocked, Himalayan country's southern plains against the amendment to the constitution.

Protests at the border have prevented trucks from entering from neighbouring India since September, causing fuel shortages and rationing in Nepal. Deliveries of relief supplies to communities hit by earthquakes in April and May last year have also been disrupted.

The Nepalese people had hoped the charter, the country's first since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, would bring peace and stability closer after years of conflict.

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However, the Madhesis, who have close familial, linguistic and cultural ties with Indians across the border, say Nepalese authorities have failed to meet their aspirations for greater participation in government.

The 597-member parliament voted 461-7 late on Saturday in favour of a provision of "proportionate inclusion" of minority groups in all government institutions including the army, and to carve out electoral constituencies on the basis of their population to increase their representation in parliament.

The rest of the lawmakers either did not vote or walked out.

"The government believes that the amendment will address the problems in the Tarai and hopes that the protests will end," Law Minister Agni Prasad Kharel told parliament before the vote, referring to the lowlands bordering India in the south.

Madhesi lawmakers protested and walked out of parliament, saying the changes had loopholes and were incomplete.

"It is a complete farce. It does not address our demands," said Hridayesh Tripathi, a leader of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, part of the Madhesi Front that is leading the protests.

Nepal's giant and influential neighbour India said the changes were positive. "We hope that other outstanding issues are similarly addressed in a constructive spirit," the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

The Nepali government says a political panel will be tasked to redraw the internal boundaries of federal provinces within three months, another key demand of the Madhesis.

It says other demands such as citizenship cards for foreign spouses of Nepali nationals will also be resolved through political consensus.

But the Madhesis are opposed to splitting their region into more than two provinces, as the government plan envisages, saying this would scupper their chances of controlling the provincial governments.

Many in Nepal blame India for quietly supporting the Madhesi protesters, a charge New Delhi denies.

Also read:

Fight for right: Madhesis set Chhat deadline for Nepal govt

Rajnath Singh: India wants cordial relations with Pakistan, Nepal


US President Barack Obama today appreciated PM Narendra Modi for reaching out to Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and described the Pathankot attack as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long".

By India Today Web Desk: US President Barack Obama today appreciated PM Narendra Modi for reaching out to Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and described the Pathankot attack as "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long".

In a strong message, the US president told Pakistan today that it "can and must" take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil by "delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling" terror networks there.

On the Pathankot attack, Obama said, "We join India in condemning the attack, saluting the Indians who fought to prevent more loss of life and extending our condolences to the victims and their families.

"Tragedies like this also underscore why the US and India continue to be such close partners in fighting terrorism."

Obama was of the view that Sharif recognised that insecurity in Pakistan is a threat to its own stability and that of the region.



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"Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region," Obama told PTI in an interview during which he answered a wide range of questions covering Indo-US ties, terrorism and outcome of the Paris climate change summit.

ALSO READ | Nawaz Sharif orders probe into Pathankot attackers' link with Pakistan

Nawaz Sharif: High time to end India-Pakistan hostilities
'The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years,' said French President Francois Hollande.

By India Today Web Desk: Depite that the Rs 60,000 crore Rafale jets deal is on the "right track", French President Francois Hollande indicated today that it is unlikely to be signed during his current visit to India. Hollande will today commence his three-day India visit from Chandigarh where he, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend a business summit and visit various landmarks.

"The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including 'Make in India', for the next 40 years. Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track", Hollande told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning today.

He also noted that Indo-French cooperation in defence "is part of our strategic partnership. It is based on trust, a very strong trust between both our countries."

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India and France are in negotiations for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away conditions since the announcement for the deal was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April during his visit to France.

However, the deal is yet to be sealed as both sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore. A high-level team from France is here and carrying out last minute negotiations.

Hollande said the focus that he foresees is mostly in three domains.

"Highlight will be terrorism in view of the situation we are in at present, state of emergency, military operations in Syria, Iraq and in Africa. Situation in India," he said.

"I congratulate PM Narendra Modi for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism," said Hollande.

Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, "France strongly condemned the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators."

"India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is widespread hate. They want to undermine our democratic values and our way of life. India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism", the French President said in a written interview.

Observing that solidarity between France and India was natural, Hollande said, "I would like to thank once again President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi for their messages after the Daesh attacks in Paris in November. French people have also been very touched by the numerous gestures of friendship received from all over India.

"We engage constantly with India. The Indo-French working group on counter-terrorism met just after the Paris attacks in November 2015. That was the best answer to show our determination in front of jihadism," he said.

Hollande, who will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day parade on Tuesday during his second State visit to India, also appreciated Prime Minister Modi "for his diplomacy reflecting both a sense of proportion and a strong determination. He recently took important steps to engage in a dialogue with the political leadership in Pakistan."

Accompanied by a high-level delegation, the French President and Modi will hold extensive talks here tomorrow during which ways to strengthen cooperation in counter-terror, security, civil nuclear energy and trade will figure prominently.

"I also come to India to strengthen our relationship in several areas: defence, space and civil nuclear energy. As well as education, research, culture. Our cooperation on the fight against climate change and on clean energies has taken on an unprecedented importance," he said while identifying railways, smart cities, food security, higher education and cinema as areas where the two countries can further cooperate.

Also Read:

India's Rafael punch: Deal with France on January 25

Ahead of Francois Hollande's visit to India, French Consulate in Bengaluru gets threat letter

NCR turns fortress ahead of Francois Hollande visit


'I have written a letter to the Sahitya Akademi that I have not reconsidered my decision to take back the award. They are spreading incorrect reports,' Nayantara Sehgal said.

By India Today Web Desk: Noted Indian writer Nayantara Sehgal today refuted the latest media reports which claimed that Sehgal has decided to take back her Sahitya Akademi award.

She had returned her Sahitya Akademi award last year in protest against alleged intolerance in the country.

"Sahitya Akademi has started sending back the awards to the writers... It has already been sent to Nayantara Sehgal. Another writer Nand Bhardwaj has also agreed to take back the award. It would be sent to other writers as well," reported PTI quoting Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

"I have written a letter to the Sahitya Akademi that I have not reconsidered my decision to take back the award. They are spreading incorrect reports," Nayantara Sehgal said.

She also said that the government is curbing the freedom of speech and expression and that they are working on Hindutva agenda.

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"Now they are after actors... see what they have done to Aamir Khan," she said.

"Let me make it clear that I have in no way 'reconsidered' my decision. My protest and that of other writers continues against the continuing attacks on freedom of expression," Sehgal said in a letter to the secretary of the Akademi.

Copy of Nayatara Sehgal's letter.

She reminded the literature body that she had returned the award in protest against the "Akademi's silence over the murder of the Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and earlier of Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare in Maharashtra".

She said it is the literature body which seems to have done some reconsidering since its letter says that the Akademi has no policy of accepting returned awards.

"It is a pity that the Akademi has taken so many months to make this statement of policy. The cheque I sent you in October is in any case no longer valid," the letter reads.

She said if they are returning the now invalid cheque the decision was theirs and not hers.

On the death of Rohith Vemula, the Dalit student who committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad, she said, "What happened in Hyderabad is murder and government is silent".


Among the 100 classified Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files released by Prime Minister Modi on the freedom fighter's 119th birth anniversary one file examines a question about whether the patriot who raised an army to fight the British was ever a war criminal.

By Sandeep Unnithan : Among the 100 classified Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the freedom fighter's 119th birth anniversary is one file that examines a question about whether the patriot, who raised an army to fight the British, was ever a war criminal.

The issue is moot because scholars who have questioned his demise in the August 19, 1945 air crash in Taiwan, have said Bose vanished from the public eye only because he was a 'war criminal' wanted by the Allies, and who risked trial and execution if captured.

The British had briefly examined labeling Bose a war criminal in the closing stages of war, but swiftly given it up. The matter was laid to rest when a British military inquiry in 1946 concluded that Bose had indeed died after sustaining injuries in an air crash in August 1945.

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The theory that Netaji had been declared a war criminal surfaced once again during the Khosla Commission of Inquiry in 1971 that probed the disappearance of the freedom` fighter. One important deposition was one of Shyam Lal Jain, Pandit Nehru's stenographer, who claimed to have taken down a dictation from Nehru in December 1945. Jain claimed that the letter was addressed to then British Prime Minister Clement Atlee.

The deposition of Shyam Lal Jain finds mention in the declassified file 'Disappearance/Death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose 915/11/C/6/96-Pol' from the Prime Minister's Office. This file encloses a 10-page explanatory note on Netaji by author Pradip Bose, in which the reproduces Jain's recollection of the letter that Nehru purportedly wrote to Atlee. "I understand from a reliable source that Subhas Chandra Bose, your war criminal, has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is clear treachery and a betrayal of faith by the Russians. As Russia has been an ally of the British-Americans, it should not have been done. Please take note of it and do as you consider proper and fit."

However, the Congress claimed the letter was fake and called its release is a diversionary tactic by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

The Ministry of External Affairs' File number W1/ 125/ 25/ 98-EW mentions the correspondence between India's foreign affairs ministry and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The correspondence was initiated in 1998 based on an order of the Orissa High Court which responded to a public interest litigation filed by a former MP.

MEA request

British historians from the Imperial War Museum responded to the MEA's request by saying that a list of war criminals was only drawn up only for German and Japanese nationals. British authorities regarded Netaji as a 'traitor and a political figure but not a war criminal', a historian from the Imperial War Museum said.

Bose's fate as the ally of a defeated Axis power, formed part of the deliberations of the British government in 1945 in the declassified 'Transfer of Power' papers, Vol. VI, (Pages 138-139). 'The treatment of Subhas Bose', Viceroy of India Lord Wavell's Indian viceroy noted, would be 'among the most difficult questions that will confront the home department.

On 11 August 1945, just two days after a second atomic bomb levelled the Japanese city of Nagasaki, Sir EM Jenkins, the Personal Secretary to Viceroy, and Governor-General of India Wavell suggested Bose be declared a war criminal. He said this in a letter to RF Mudie, a member of Wavell's Home Department. Mudie replied on August 23 explaining the difficulties involved.

The leader's influence on the thousands of Indian National Army (INA) men and on politics in Bengal was substantial, Mudie noted, suggesting five options for the British - to bring him back and try him as an enemy agent, try him in a court in Burma or Malaya for 'waging war against the King', try him in a military court in India. They concluded that intern him either in India or in a British territory like Seychelles, or, leave him where he is and not ask for his surrender was the best course of action.

Also read:

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose died in 1945 aircrash, says 1995 Cabinet note



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By India Today Web Desk: Three college students have allegedly committed suicide at a private medical college in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district on Saturday.



The three women medical students reportedly jumped into a well to end their lives. The girls have left behind a suicide note in which they blamed the college's poor facility and the indifference of the college management that forced them to take the extreme step.

The letter also states that the students have been charged exorbitant fees and the three who haven't even finished their second year have spent close to Rs 6 lakh without getting the basic education of a medical college.

The young women were undergraduate students of SVS Medical College of Naturopathy and Yoga Sciences in Villupuram.

The letter also alleges ill treatment by the college principle who called these children criminal. The girls, in their suicide note, have said that they have taken this extreme step to bring attention of the nation to this issue in the campus and have also said that there will be a lot of false accusation on them after their death and that no one should believe such false accusation.

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The young women were undergraduate students of SVS Medical College of Naturopathy and Yoga Sciences in Villupuram. A police complaint has been registered and investigations have been ordered in this case.

Suicide note.

More than 20 students have been protesting about the poor facilities that have were provided in the college.

Even though the girls were part of a protest, none of the fellow students from the college or hostel were present at the site. According to the latest reports, the college campus and the hostel is pitch dark and there is no sign of any activity there.



Earlier, the district collector after receiving complaints from the students about the college had set up a special team under the leadership of DRO to inquire into the matter, but no action was taken and the details of the report are still not available.

"It's a very shocking incidents, it shows that it was a very serious matter and that is why the students took this step," said Shamina Shafiq, former NCW member.

R. Ramamurthy, CPM MLA from Vikravandi said, "It is not a suicide but a murder because the three girls had questioned the violations throughout". He also said that the recognition given by Medical council of India to SVS Medical College of Naturopathy and Yoga Sciences should be cancelled.



Also Read:

Rohith Vemula's suicide not due to Dalit vs non-Dalit confrontation: Smriti Irani

Hyderabad Central University V-C Appa Rao on Rohith Vemula's suicide: Wrong to label me as BJP man Parties fight it out over Dalit scholar's suicide



Hyderabad Dalit suicide: It's not suicide, it's the murder of democracy, says Kejriwal



What killed Rohith Vemula? Campus politics, stress or discrimination




JD-U MLA Sarfaraz Alam, accused of abusing a couple on a train, was today arrested by the Railway Police.

By India Today Web Desk: JD-U MLA Sarfaraz Alam, accused of abusing a couple on a train, was today arrested by the Railway Police.

Sarfaraz Alam, son of RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin and a third-term MLA from Jokihaat in Araria district, was earlier questioned by police.

The MLA was suspended by his party on Saturday.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had assured that action will be taken against Alam, as such incidents can never be tolerated. The Patna police on Friday had served notice to the JD-U MLA to appear before it for questioning.

The incident occurred on January 17 when Sarfaraz Alam, misbehaved with a couple on board the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express train. The couple had lodged a complaint against Alam with Patna railway police the next day after which an FIR was registered against him.

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Also Read

Train molestation case: JD(U) suspends MLA Sarfaraz Alam

Case filed against JD-U MLA for misbehaving with woman on Rajdhani Express




Like every other big European city, Vienna is very well connected by its subways and trams. Get hold of a city map that gives you the routes, get yourself to the heart of the city and then do the rest on foot.

By Jhinuk Sen: If I could describe Vienna, or Wien, very simply - I would call it a happier Germany. Don't get me wrong please, I love Germany. My first ever stint in Europe started with Germany and I will forever hold its cold rains, snows, and copious amounts of beer very close to my heart. But after a wintry, sunless week, when I reached Vienna at night, following a 10-hour bus journey from Wuerzburg, I was sincerely hoping for something brighter. Vienna is the capital and the largest city in Austria, therefore it is very easy to get to.



Take a flight or a train and if you are looking to save money, like we students were, take a bus. There are many hostels and hotels to pick from. Wien greeted us with clear skies and sunlight, though horribly windy. Only someone who has not seen the sun for a good few weeks knows the happiness of sighting it again. Like every other big European city, Vienna is very well connected by its subways and trams. Get hold of a city map that gives you the routes, get yourself to the heart of the city and then do the rest on foot.

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An offline map on your phone will also be of great help. We started at the State Opera House (Staatsoper) and walked past the imposing statue of Goethe to the Museumsquartier (The Museum Quarter). Vienna has enough museums to take up your entire day. Starting from natural history, to art, to music - there is hardly an aspect Vienna's museums do not cover.



Also Read: Traveller's guide: Following India's tour of Australia

A walk away from the museums and the host of tourists gathered there is the Austrian Parliament Building. Without the tall railings to keep you at a mile's distance and with dramatic marble statues gracing the front facade, this is a building you cannot miss. The Rathaus (the city hall) and the Votive Church a short walk away are striking with their gothic turrets and stark shades. As a lover of Gothic architecture, Vienna's masterpiece Stephansdom was something I had to see. The towering church in the heart of the city, surrounded by many, many shops, still magically transports you to a place a few centuries away, when you enter its hallowed portals. Vienna moves between the old and the new worlds with ease. Like the Hundertwasserhaus - built on the concept of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser by architect Joseph Krawina. A simple apartment building is like a bright Klimt painting.



Also Read: Travel to Ras Al Khaimah for the authentic Arabian experience

Like most of us, who have lived in cities with historic beginnings, we have seen our home grounds transform into electric capitals where the past lies ensconced in certain nooks and corners. In Vienna, those nooks and corners are just that much bigger. We made sure we went to the Vienna University. The university's main building houses one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever seen. The most perfect dark wood interiors with high walls full of books and soft yellow light-- we felt like pilgrims. But personally, the only place I was looking forward to the most was Berggasse 19. Sigmund Freud's house in Vienna that has now been transformed into a museum. Literature firmly planted a very disgruntled Freud into my bookshelf seven years ago, and the man has stuck around like a psychological itch. What Kafka is to Prague, Freud is to Vienna.

The Freud Museum has maintained the house as it is to give you a sense of how it would have been if you, as a patient, walked in to meet the doctor and lie on that famous couch. The armchair, Freud's mirror in the study, his papers and books are kept just as they were. For those who have read Freud, and then Jacques Lacan, will know the importance of a mirror in psychology. The small mirror hangs exactly at the point where Freud from his armchair could peer into his visage. Story has it that his couch was one object that Freud made sure reached Britain amidst negotiations and flight tax issues with the Nazi authorities. As you wander from room to room, listening to Freud's story playing in your ear, you can't help but get drawn into the mind of the doctor. While there are a lot of things in Freud's works to disagree with, one cannot possibly ignore the vastness of it all. As you explore more of Vienna on foot after you leave Berggasse 19, stroll to the Spanish Riding School, think for a moment that these were the same streets Freud walked on, smoking his cigar, possibly ruminating on oral fixations, masturbations and Oedipus complexes.



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About Me

Name: Infidel753 Location: Portland, Oregon, United States

Individualist, pro-technology, pro-democracy, anti-religion. It has been my great good fortune to live my whole life free of "spirituality" of any kind. I believe that evidence and reason are the keys to understanding reality; that technology rather than ideology or politics has been the great liberator of humanity; and that in the long run, human intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe.

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Dear children, I have called you and am calling you anew to come to know my Son, to come to know the truth. I am with you and am praying for you to succeed. My children, you must pray much in order to have all the more love and patience; to know how to endure sacrifice and to be poor in spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, my Son is always with you. His Church is born in every heart that comes to know Him. Pray that you can come to know my Son; pray that your soul may be one with Him. That is the prayer and the love which draws others and makes you my apostles. I am looking at you with love, with a motherly love. I know you; I know your pain and sorrows, because I also suffered in silence. My faith gave me love and hope. I repeat, the Resurrection of my Son and my Assumption into Heaven is hope and love for you. Therefore, my children, pray to come to know the truth; to have firm faith which will lead your heart and which will transform your pain and sufferings into love and hope. Thank you.
Investigative reporting from the inner city to Wall Street to the United Nations This is the blogspot version InnerCityPress.com
He writes, Even though it released captive U.S. sailors, it remains a source of terror and sectarianism that keeps the region in a continuous and growing death spiral.

There needs to be a realisation on the party of the U.S. that its policy towards Iran has not been able to contain Iranian aggression. Shelton uses the word irony to describe the U.S. Iranian relationship. Across the board, the United States has shown leniency in the face of belligerence and used half-measures to confront adversaries who define extremism in both word and deed. He cites the example of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, saying that he has skillfully leveraged U.S. policy by portraying himself as moderate, despite evidence to the opposite conclusion. He writes, Call it Irany.

To cite another example, in late December Tehran hosted an International Islamic Unity Conference. The Iranian rhetoric was clearly in favour of latching onto Western fears of Islamic terrorism and then spin those fears in favor of its own ends. In the light of such events, how Iran and its politicians can be considered moderate is anyones guess.

Since 2013, Mr. Rouhani he has neither the will nor the capability for promoting a moderate interpretation of Islam. He came to power promising vague reforms, and the west has just been taken in by empty rhetoric.

Under Mr. Rouhani Iran has held the dubious title of the highest rate of executions in more than 25 years. They are the worlds worst abuser of the death penalty. Reports suggest that more than 2,000 prisoners are estimated to have been killed by hanging, many in public. This is not what moderation looks like. Since 2013 there have been many cased of an increased enforcement of Shariah law, criminalization of progressive social trends, and the persecution and arrest of Western nationals and journalists.

What makes it worse is that the U.S. has other options. It does not need to e support and praise a figure like Mr. Rouhani. There is no shortage of other Muslim individuals and groups who steadfastly embody the progressive sort of Islam that advocated a diverse, modern world. Shelton mentions the Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, who has long promoted a 10-point plan for the future of the country, including principles such as free and fair elections, gender equality, and separation of religion and state.

The Iranian opposition is kept at a distance, and the U.S. has turned a blind eye toward attacks on the Iranian expatriate community in Camp Liberty, Iraq. Agents of Irans fundamentalist regime have continued to murder these brave people, who advocate democracy and tolerance not just in words, but in deed.

Needless to say, the reluctance to even protect the innocent in Iraq has been motivated by the desire of the United States and Europe to safeguard the Iran nuclear deal, Shelton writes. However, there is room for optimism. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain has pressed the administration to uphold its commitment to protect these dissidents.

Shelton believes that the Iranian regime, including Mr. Rouhani, should be held accountable for their belligerent domestic and international conduct. Iran is already cheating on the nuclear deal through its missile tests, since the U.N. resolution governing the implementation of that deal also called for restrictions on Irans ballistic missile development and testing, for a period of eight years. The appeasement of the mullahs of Tehran must end.
What You Can't Discuss:

This is a partial list of taboo topics within progressive-left venues around the Arab-Israel conflict. You cannot discuss this material because it undermines the "Palestinian narrative" of perpetual victimhood. This narrative is a club used by the Arab and Muslim enemies of Israel, along with their western progressive allies, to delegitimize that country in preparation for its eventual dissolution.



1) The centuries of Jewish dhimmitude under the boot of Islamic imperialism.



2) The recent construction of Palestinian identity, its connection to Soviet Cold War politics, and how this is an Arab people with a Roman name that refers to Greeks.



3) Arab and Palestinian Koranically-based racism as the fundamental source of the conflict.



4) The ways in which contemporary progressive anti-Zionism serves as a cloak for gross anti-Semitism.



5) The Palestinian theft and appropriation of Jewish history.



6) "Pallywood."



7) The historical connections between the Nazis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Palestinian national movement.



8) The perpetual refusal of the Palestinian-Arabs to accept a state for themselves in peace next to the Jewish one.



9) The progressive portrayal of terrorists as those fighting a righteous war of "resistance."



10) The Arab-Palestinian indoctrination of children with Jew hatred.



11) Human rights violations against women, children, and Gay people in the Muslim Middle East.



12) The fact that violent Jihadis call themselves "Jihadis" and claim to love death above life.



This is only a partial list, so please let us know the many more that we are missing.
The state Department of Health officially launched its medical marijuana program on Jan. 7, a date that should have marked a significant breakthrough for thousands of people suffering from diseases and conditions such as cancer, ALS and HIV.

Unfortunately, as Auburn resident and cancer patient Art Wenzel pointed out last week after trying to work with the new program, there's some substantial glitches in the system that are making it overly difficult for people to obtain this treatment.

Perhaps the biggest one is the physician certification process. The state's medical marijuana law requires patients obtain a formal recommendation from their doctor to use a medical marijuana product. But doctors can't rely on their own medical expertise, research and experience to decide if this could help their patients. They must also go through a four-hour state certification course and pay $249.

Not surprisingly, a tiny fraction of the state's nearly 80,000 doctors have been certified. As of Jan. 21, 265 of them had the ability to make a medical marijuana referral, according to the DOH.

Who are those 265? Few people know. That's because the state has decided the list of certified medical marijuana physicians will only be shared with other doctors. The state said this approach is being taken for privacy and security reasons.

The idea, we can only guess, is that a public list would subject doctors who can recommend this treatment to an inundation of phone calls and requests from people looking to snag some pot.

That's an absurd notion. Medical marijuana in New York state can only be used to treat cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury with spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, and Huntington's disease. Those are not conditions people can easily fake.

The small number of medical marijuana dispensaries that are open so far (nine for the entire state as of last week) is another major barrier that's becoming apparent with this new law. Vast regions of this state, which no doubt have people who could benefit from medical marijuana, have no dispensaries available.

What's the impact these obstacles are having on the program's effectiveness thus far? Consider this statistic: As of Thursday, 295 patients had registered with the state to be in the medical marijuanua program. Health officials had estimated that 500,000 patients could qualify for the program. That's not even a 10th of a percent being reached.

For the sake of the people suffering, this cannot be accepted. The health department needs to make changes to streamline this process, and state lawmakers and the governor should be looking carefully at ways they can improve the program via legislation.
Itongadol.- Yan Gitcelter mixes the ingredients for an Olivier salad (also known as Russian salad) and sprinkles minced onion on top. Seemingly mundane and simple kitchen tasks, but when it comes to this famous dish, every aspect is imbued with much forethought and major cultural weight. Theres the original Olivier salad, which was invented in Czarist Russia, and then theres the Olivier salad of the Soviet period, says the cheerful chef, who was born in Baku and came to Israel in the early 1990s. Czarist Russian cuisine was heavily influenced by French culinary culture. Every Russian noble kept at least three French servants  a cook, a teacher for the children, and a nanny/mistress.

The original Olivier salad that graced the tables of the Russian elite was named for its creator, French chef Lucien Olivier, who worked in Moscow in the 1860s. In the original recipe, this salad contained potatoes, crayfish tails, quail eggs, grouse, delicate homemade mayonnaise, and black caviar for garnish. In the years that followed, except for potatoes and pickled cucumbers, none of these ingredients could be found anywhere in Soviet Russia. So regular eggs were substituted for the quail eggs, the meat and seafood was replaced with doktorskaya  a cheap, common sausage  and it was dressed with the infamous, industrially-produced Soviet mayonnaise. Olivier salad, though there are thousands of different versions, still remains the ultimate Soviet salad, identified with special events and Novy God (the Russian New Year) celebrations. Theres a popular saying that says You know its been a good night of drinking when you end up with your face in an Olivier salad.

Olivier salad is just one component of the zakuski, the array of hot and cold appetizers that precede the main meal, which Gitcelter places on the dining table at his home in Holon. First of all, there is that inseparable companion of the vodka shot  black rye bread, with a tantalizingly tart aroma; theres also yellow butter; pickled tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage; a fresh radish salad; hard-boiled eggs, some filled with red caviar and others with the yolks mixed with butter and dill; and blini crepes with salmon eggs and sour cream. We raise a toast to the main occasion for this gathering  the publication of the first Hebrew-language book on Russian cuisine  and continue to the ukha soup: a marvelous lemony fish broth that dates back to an old male tradition of going out to fish together. No Russian meal is complete without soup, and there is no ukha without at least three kinds of fish, says Gitcelter. You start by cooking the fish heads and bones, reduce it by half, add water, root vegetables and more fish  This time I used mullet, salmon and grouper  strain it again, and then only in the final cooking do you add the flesh of the fish thats going to be served.

Nostalgic food



The people seated around the table are the future creators of the new cookbook, which is currently seeking funding through the Headstart crowd-funding site. Gitcelter is writing the recipes (Like a good Jewish boy, I studied medicine for five years in Baku. When I made aliyah, I became the owner of a textile business, until I decided to do what I really love. I closed the business, I started working as an assistant cook in a restaurant and I learned professional cooking); Kira Kletsky, whose final project in the photography department of Hadassah College in Jerusalem dealt with her familys Russian cooking, is going to photograph the dishes; and two others are in charge of writing the texts: Vadim Blumin, a founder of Generation 1.5  Russian-speaking Young Adults  and a Jewish education instructor for the Jewish Agency; and Rinat Goldberg, an educational consultant whose parents came here from Tashkent in 1978.

Weve wanted to put out a cookbook on Russian cuisine for a long time, says Ofer Vardi, owner and publisher of Lunchbox Books. This local press specializes in cookbooks that include research on the social and cultural background of the featured food. Blumin says he remembers the trip to Israel from Ukraine with his family when he was 11 as a magical experience full of wonders. But then when we got here the whole experience of feeling like a foreign immigrant hit us, along with the realization that there was no turning back. Now, nearly a generation later, with our Israeliness clear and undeniable, we can at least look back nostalgically and reminisce about the past. It began with three Israeli poets of Russian extraction who published books that dealt with the immigrant experience; continued with our group, which also organizes poetry and cultural evenings in Russian, and reached a peak with the Novy God celebrations, and hosting native Israelis at the New Years festivities that were once considered practically a pagan ritual.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the big Russian aliyah, adds Shalom Bugoslavsky, writer of a Hebrew blog called Forget the numbers and lets talk about it and an active member of Generation 1.5. The first-generation immigrants werent concerned with exporting their culture. They were focused on survival, and in hiding and preserving at home the signs of their foreign culture. The people of Generation 1.5  who werent born in Israel but immigrated here at a relatively young age  show different behavior patterns. As children and teenagers they did their best to be Israelis, but by the time theyre in their twenties and thirties, they dont feel like they have to prove anything to anyone. And at the same time they also come to the realization that theyre not just a unique individual snowflake. They have a family and a heritage and, as they can see their grandparents aging, they feel a need to preserve that heritage.



Napoleon in Russia

After the ukha comes the zraze  meat patties filled with hard-boiled eggs and served with spelt; this is followed by a Russian-style Napoleon cake  a five-tiered masterpiece of beautiful flaky dough with rich buttery cream between the layers. All the dishes that were served at this meal, and which will be featured in the book alongside many more recipes, are ones that stir nostalgic longing for anyone who grew up in the former Soviet Union. Though its being referred to as the Russian cookbook, it could more accurately be called the Soviet cookbook.

As part of their attempt to create a single nation, Soviet leaders tried to create dishes that would be a common denominator for all the people of the Soviet Union, says Blumin. Kind of like what happened with the Zionist movement in Israel, which viewed food mainly as a source of nutrition and a tool for re-education. The list of common Soviet foods includes things like plov, which is really a Central Asian dish, and Georgian foods, even if the ethnic origins werent always noted or known, and these are the foods that stir childhood longings in all of us.

In addition to recipes that have become part of the Soviet Russian canon, the new cookbook will include stories written by Goldberg and Blumin about Soviet culinary culture and Soviet-Jewish-Israeli culinary culture as seen through the eyes of the second generation of Soviet immigrants.
And Getting Rid of the Blotches It is a wonderful, but also occasionally painful fact that landscape photography is often at its ...
CHARLESTON -- A nonprofit group discussed its plans Saturday evening for purchasing, rehabilitating and reopening the Will Rogers Theater, which they reported is still in good structural condition.

During an informational meeting at Whats Cookin restaurant, the Will Rogers Project Board talked about the potential for holding community theater performances, recitals and other events using the stage and orchestra pit at this theater. They also hope to eventually show films again there.

Board Chairman Earl Halbe said he and other concerned community members formed the group last summer after hearing that the mortgage holder, First Farmers Bank & Trust, started foreclosing on the nearly 78-year-old theater, located along Monroe Avenue near the courthouse square.

Halbe said the Will Rogers is structurally sound, contrary to some misconceptions in the community. He said the roof is not falling in and the water pipe that burst in 2014 only flooded the basement, not the auditorium.

The whole thing is steel and concrete, which is why it is still in good condition, board member Tom Vance said later in the meeting.

Halbe said First Farmers Bank hired contractors to stop leaks in the marquee and the lobby, and to repair the terra cotta on the front of the six attached storefronts on the property. He later added later that the theaters original decor materials are still intact.

Board member David Stevens said the Will Rogers, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was closed by AMC Theatres in 2010 and sold in 2011 to three investors who also had a movie theater in Streator. The stated goal of these investors was to reopen the Will Rogers, but the theater remained closed.

Stevens said the principal financial investor, who lives in Los Angeles, later stopped making payments. He said First Farmers Bank subsequently sought foreclosure. He said Kathryn Troccoli, one of the other two investors (a married couple from Ottawa, Ill.), has since filed a counterclaim to the foreclosure motion.

First Farmers Bank has motioned to strike Troccolis counterclaim and a hearing on this case is set for Feb. 2 in Coles County circuit court, Stevens said. The Will Rogers Project Board believes that the foreclosure will proceed and hopes to purchase the theater when it is placed on sale at the end of this process, he said.

We are raising money in anticipation of owning the building, Stevens said.

The board estimates that it will cost $100,000-$150,000 to purchase the theater. Stevens said if the board does not raise enough money by the time of the foreclosure sale, they could obtain a loan from a local bank to make up the difference or wait until they have enough money to purchase the theater from First Farmers Bank.

Board member Jim Craig said they estimate it will cost approximately $250,000 with the help of donated labor to rehabilitate and re-open the Will Rogers, including replacing the air handling system. He said they do not have an estimate yet for the cost of fully restoring the Will Rogers.

Halbe said the Will Rogers has two 35-millimeter projectors on site, but will eventually need one to two digital projectors that cost approximately $60,000 each in order to show newly released films.

That can happen down the road. It does not need to happen right away, Halbe said.

Craig said renting out the attached storefronts could bring in money to help fund the rehabilitation of the Will Rogers. He also said city officials have indicated that there is grant funding available from the tax increment financing (TIF) district around the square to help pay for repairs to the exterior of the theater.

The boards campaign has brought in $12,300 so far from the community within just a few months, Craig said. The board also plans to place more donation boxes at businesses, step up its online fundraising, start holding benefit events, and possibly seek sponsorships, among other fundraising ideas.

Its a great theater and it can do some amazing things for the square, and I think people see that, said board member Stacia Lynch. She added later, If we can get something going in there, things happening, it will contribute to the revitalization of the square.

More information about the Will Rogers Project and how to donate to this effort is available at http://ilovethewill.com/ .
CHARLESTON -- A Coles County man now faces federal charges in connection with his alleged plans to distribute methamphetamine last month.

Timothy D. Whitmore is accused of having methamphetamine he planned to sell on Dec. 11, the day he was arrested after what was reported to be a run from police.

Whitmore, 35, whose most recent address in court records in on Teeter Street in Oakland, is also charged in Coles County for the alleged methamphetamine sales plans and with a separate drug offense.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month.

There are currently no court hearings scheduled in the federal case. During a Coles County court appearance this week, Assistant State's Attorney Rob Scales said federal authorities have plans to take him into their custody sometime soon.

Presently, Whitmore is jailed on the state charges in Coles County.

Federal authorities sometimes seek charges against a suspect that are nearly identical to state charges, but which can result in a more severe sentence. Whitmore's sentence if convicted of the federal offense would be based on several factors.

According to Illinois State Police, Whitmore was located and arrested in Hindsboro on Dec. 11. The arrest came about four hours after he reportedly fled from officers with the East Central Illinois Task Force drug investigation unit who tried to arrest him in Charleston.

The Coles County methamphetamine case against Whitmore could be dismissed at some time in favor of the federal charges. The county charge accuses him of having between a half-ounce and 3-1/2 ounces of methamphetamine that he planned to distribute.

The other Coles County case accused Whitmore of having morphine that was reportedly discovered in his possession after a report of a possible drug sale at the Charleston Walmart on Aug. 1.
Ray was born in Sunny Hill, La., and shortly after entering LSU was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in three major combat fronts: N. Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He returned home in 1944 through troop rotation and was assigned to the Inspector Generals office where he met a young Corporal, Mary Phinney. After 1  years of movie going, Ray and Mary were married in the Base Chapel. Soon after, in 1945, Ray was discharged and he continued his education at Seneca Vocational School in Buffalo, N.Y., receiving a degree in Heat Exchange Engineering. He worked as an inspector for Giffles and Vallet in Detroit, Mich., and in 1955, he and Mary returned to her hometown of Cattaraugus, N.Y., where he worked for Chester-Jensen Co., a leading manufacturer of stainless steel equipment.
Could Lincoln's former Novartis plant, now majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline, be looking at another owner within a couple of years? The company's CEO won't rule out the possibility.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty is willing to consider suggestions made by investors to break up the company -- although it may not happen for at least a year or two.

A deal with Novartis AG that closed in March created market-leading businesses in consumer health and vaccines. That gives the U.K.s biggest drugmaker new options once the integration is complete,Witty said in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

By bringing these businesses all to real global scale, it for the first time creates the optionality for potentially different structures down the road, Witty said. We certainly have a year or two more of work to finish the integration.

Some investors have called for Glaxo to split up to help boost a stock that has stagnated over the past year. The drugmaker is currently made up of units focused on pharmaceuticals, vaccines, HIV medicines and consumer-health products.

Theres a lack of visibility on certain areas of the company, and if some of these were spun out, Im sure the value accretion would be greater than the current share price, said Joe Walters, senior fund manager and manager of the Royal London U.K. Income With Growth Trust, which holds Glaxo shares. We would welcome a move by the management to try to add value to the company.

In particular, Glaxo should consider spinning off its consumer-health division, in the same way that it explored the option for its ViiV Healthcare unit focused on AIDS drugs, Walters said. Glaxo abandoned the plan for an IPO for ViiV in May, given the strong performance of medicines such as Tivicay, which blocks an enzyme critical to the spread of HIV.

The consumer-health industry is fragmented and consolidating. Among others, Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC is seeking to expand its consumer-health products. CEO Rakesh Kapoor said in December he would consider acquiring Pfizer Inc.s portfolio were it to come up for sale in the wake of its merger with Allergan PLC.

The consumer division is so big in scale -- it could one day have a life of its own, Witty said at the conference. A spinoff wouldnt happen this year or next, he added.

The consumer healthcare division includes the Lincoln plant at 10401 U.S. 6, which employs more than 500 people.

That plant has seen major ups and downs over the past decade, from an expansion in 2007 that added several products and tripled its output, to a shutdown in 2011 because of quality-control issues to the loss of 300 jobs in 2013 and 2014 to a new majority owner as of last year.

Glaxos shares have tumbled more than 20 percent since mid-2013. With generics snapping at the heels of its best- selling lung drug Advair, Glaxo has been touting new follow-up medicines to Advair and its HIV portfolio, while shunning large-scale acquisitions.

The drugmaker may deliver on its 2020 new-product sales target one or two years in advance, Witty said during his presentation.

U.K. fund manager Neil Woodford also suggested the company split up and divest some portions of the business.

What wed like the business to do is to recognize that it should focus on certain activities in the portfolio and do them better than they have done in the past, and de-merge the bits that they havent managed particularly well, Woodford said in an interview with a BBC radio program earlier this month.

Other investors have said that Glaxo should buy out the minority stakeholders in ViiV --- Pfizer and Shionogi & Co. -- and the consumer-health joint venture with Novartis AG, which hold so-called put options that are limiting Glaxos payouts to shareholders and impeding its ability to grow.

While a breakup would boost enterprise value, separately listing its drugs, vaccines and consumer-health units is unlikely to create more than a 10 percent increase, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli said in a note recently.

Glaxo last quarter beat analysts earnings estimates and has started to demonstrate areas where it can grow, according to Walters. Still, as a result of the poor performance historically, there isnt much room for any further slip-ups, he said.
Lenny Hernoud wants people to know: propane fuel isnt any more dangerous than gasoline, and its much better for the environment.

Of course, convincing drivers to convert their vehicles to use propane instead of, or in addition to, gasoline is Hernouds job. Hes the owner of a Lincoln organization that advocates use of alternative fuels, Clean Alternative Fuel and Energy Nebraska.

But theres another reason he thinks people should consider using propane as fuel for their vehicles.

Propane is way cheaper right now versus gasoline, he said.

CAFE Nebraska has partnered with Otte Oil and Propane in Davey to promote conversion of vehicles to propane. Otte Oil also has established four refueling stations for users of propane in Lincoln: Converse Service, 8201 N. 56th St.; Performance 66, 7000 Vine St.; H.I.S. Autocare, 7000 Van Dorn St.; and Hillis 66, 600 South St.

Jake Otte, operations manager for Otte Oil and Propane, said the company also plans to open a propane refueling station in Columbus soon. The company also has begun converting its own fleet and now has 17 vehicles that can use both propane and gasoline, Otte said.

CAFE Nebraska handles conversions for the partnership and has completed more than 20 over the past two years, Hernoud said.

He said it takes 25 to 35 hours per vehicle to complete a conversion. A conversion can cost anywhere from $4,000 for a 4-cylinder vehicle to up to $6,500 for a diesel engine vehicle.

Just about any vehicle can be done, he said.

Hernoud also completes conversions that allow vehicles to use compressed natural gas, though he doesnt recommend it over propane. He said compressed natural gas conversions cost about $4,000 more per vehicle than propane conversions.

Thats largely because fuel storage tanks for compressed natural gas cost more than those for propane.

He said another reason he recommends propane over compressed natural gas is because a tank full of propane will take a driver farther than a tank of compressed natural gas.

In addition, he recommends people convert their vehicles to be able to use both gasoline and an alternative fuel rather than only an alternative fuel.

Drivers with vehicles that can only use an alternative fuel are limited by the number of places they can refuel, as there are fewer refueling stations for alternative-fuel vehicles, Hernoud said.

The bi-fuel is the smarter way to go, he said. It doesnt limit you as much.

Otte said people wanting to convert their vehicles often can qualify for a rebate from the state, thanks to passage of the Nebraska Clean-burning Motor Fuel Development Act by the Legislature last year. The bill provides rebates to vehicle owners who want to convert their vehicles to use compressed natural gas, propane, liquefied natural gas or hydrogen fuel cells.

The bill provides those vehicle owners the lesser of either $4,500 or 50 percent of the cost of converting their vehicle.

Otte said propane fuel vehicles generate far fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline-powered vehicles and they burn cleaner, which reduces maintenance costs on those vehicles.

He said Otte Oil and Propane serves about 50 customers with alternative fuel vehicles. Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates there are 143,000 vehicles that can run on propane.

There are more stations opening every day, he said.
1. MUSIC: "Celebration of American Song," 7:30 p.m. Monday, Kimball Recital Hall, 11th and R streets.

The program -- written, directed and narrated by UNL voice professor Alisa Belflower -- will feature "The Ladies of Broadway," with UNL music faculty, students and alumni performing songs with music and/or lyrics written by American women.

2. EVENT: Chocolate Lover's Fantasy, 7 p.m. Friday, Pinnacle Bank Arena, 400 Pinnacle Arena Dr.

To celebrate the event's 30th anniversary, Ed Zimmer, the city's historic preservation planner, will "channel" the Russell Stover days at his table. He will be one of 20 professional and amateur chefs creating chocolate goodies for the masses.

3. MUSIC: Chiara String Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Kimball Recital Hall, 11th and R streets.

The third concert of the 2015-2016 Hixson-Lied Concert Series is titled "The Adolf Busch Legacy," and will feature a program of Buschs Quintet for Saxophone and String Quartet with saxophonist Paul Haar and Beethovens String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127.

4. FILM: Oscar Shorts 2016, opens Friday, Ross Media Arts Center, 13th and R streets.

All the short films nominated for Academy Awards come to Lincoln for a one-week run. Theres a package of pictures for each category -- live action, animation and documentary -- and theyre always worth catching.

5. ART: Continuum: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture Alumni Invitational, through Feb. 5, Eisentrager-Howard Gallery, Richards Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus.

The UNL Department of Art and Art History continues its alumni shows with this exhibition that features the work of 25 drawing, painting and sculpture alumni who have received their degrees since 2000.
How could one of the first cities in Nebraska go from being a contender for the capital, voted as a county seat and spawning two universities (one still very successful), and yet end up with a population of around 60? The answer lies in the incorrectly spelled hamlet of Fontanelle, which was named for Logan Fontenelle, and is now in Washington County but was originally settled in Dodge County.

Although the first settler in the area may have been a man named Leister, who immigrated from Germany, a group of men in Quincy, Illinois, decided -- with the opening of the Nebraska Territory in 1854 -- it would make an excellent area in which to establish a town. The result was the incorporation of the Nebraska Colonization Co., with Jonathan Smith elected as president. Smith immediately sent a letter to Nebraskas acting governor, Thomas Cuming, who then lived in Keokuk, Iowa, explaining the idea. Included with the letter was a copy of the companys charter which explained that they would establish a literary institution which shall be known as the Nebraska University and included a request that he become a shareholder.

That August, seven or eight men from the company set out to examine Nebraska and chose a specific site. After crossing the Missouri River at the just-established village of Omaha, they headed northwest to the Elkhorn River. The area they felt offered the best prospects was on the flatland on the east shore of the Elkhorn, which also had the potential of a good steamboat landing. The group then went to Logan Fontenelles camp and bargained for 20 square miles of land. Some accounts say they paid Fontenelle $10, others say each man proffered $10 and another says they gave a total of $100. At any rate, the amount was paid with the understanding that Fontenelle would protect the land for them until they could return with their families and the balance of the company.

That fall a small contingent set out with their families from Quincy on the Steamboat Mary Cole planning to travel the Missouri River to the Platte, then up the Platte and Elkhorn Rivers to their land. Unfortunately the boat sank near Bellevue and though the settlers were saved, their belongings were lost.

An unsubstantiated story said that the families were offered one third of the city of Omaha if they would settle there, as Omaha felt the colonys community would be a strong rival for the Nebraska capital.

The company turned down the offer and set out in wagons on the 30-mile trek from Omaha. On their arrival they elected three of their number as Dodge County representatives to the territorial legislature, as Fontenelle was the only settlement in the county.

A post office was opened but incorrectly spelled as Fontanelle by the federal government, an error which was never corrected.

In March 1855, the just-incorporated Fontanelle was voted the county seat of Dodge County and a charter was granted to a Baptist college for Nebraska University at Fontanelle. In 1856, the congregational church accepted the Baptists charter and began constructing a cottonwood college building for their Fontanelle University at what they termed Collegeview, which opened in 1859 and was optimistically termed the first advanced educational institution west of the Missouri River. The building, when completed, was also used as a public school, church and local meeting venue.

Accounts from that time said that during a legislative debate on the question of the capital, there were two votes each for Omaha, Nebraska City and Fontanelle. The deciding seventh vote fell to Judge J.W. Richardson, part of the Quincy corporation, who inexplicably voted for Omaha.

Fontanelle's loses continues. The legislature began tinkering with county boundaries in March 1858, moving Fontanelle from Dodge to Washington County and stripping the town of its county seat.

In 1865, the college building burned and although a new two-story, 30-by-50-foot building was erected in its place, the school did not succeed and became the nucleus of Doane College in Crete.

Fontanelles peak population of 199 was reached in 1880, when the town had a church, school, post office, general store and blacksmith. By 1920 there were only a few houses and about 150 people, and the post office closed in 1959.

Today, the 1896 township hall is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Salem Lutheran Church calls itself the oldest Lutheran church in Nebraska, and the village reports a population of 61.
The first thing 165 Catholic high school students did after being stuck on a bus for 44 hours was go to mass.

The second thing many did was shower. Or in some cases, sleep. Or in other cases, do homework.

Our teachers still expect us to have everything done by tomorrow (Monday), said Joshua Andreason, a Pius X sophomore who was on one of the buses.

They were returning home from the March for Life event in Washington, D.C., when Winter Storm Jonas stranded them on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Buses departed Washington Friday afternoon -- earlier than planned with the hope of avoiding blizzard conditions.

But some were stuck because of a semitruck pileup on the turnpike. Two buses of high school students were ahead of the accident and arrived back in Lincoln a little after 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Three more buses weren't so lucky and were stranded with hundreds of other travelers.

Buses were rerouted and those students finally arrived in Lincoln around noon Sunday.

They were greeted by friends and family; some had signs welcoming them home.

Shelly Smith had two daughters on the trip  but they were on different buses. Gabby arrived home on Saturday night, and Maddi returned on Sunday. Both were greeted with hugs and tears by a mom who had an almost sleepless weekend.

You find out your kids are stuck for 18 or 19 hours in the snow on a bus and you just hope everythings OK, Smith said.

Smith said she was encouraged by the spirits of her kids, and especially the way they cared for their neighbors.

Theyd see people on the side of the road, stuck in their cars, and theyd share pizza or snacks or water bottles, Smith said. Supplies were already scarce, so for them to do that was amazing.

Smiths daughter, Maddi, said she was happy to finally be home.

"We asked on the bus if anybody regretted going, and everybody said no," she said.

There was a lot of praying, card playing and sleeping on the buses, according to parent chaperone Janel Andreason. They couldnt charge their phones, so they had to come up with creative ways to have fun. On one bus, they had a prom, she said.

They stopped at a gas station, bought glow sticks and danced in the middle aisle of the bus. One of the priests was formerly a deejay, so he handled the music.

Just being stuck on the bus has been a life-changing experience, Joshua Andreason said. We were able to have fun just like people used to before electronics.

He didnt know many people before the trip, and now hes hoping to keep in touch with new friends hes made.

Two more buses with University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Nebraska at Kearney students will arrive at the Newman Center early Monday morning, according to UNL junior Alexa Birkel, who is on one of the buses.

They also were rerouted from I-76 to I-80 in Pennsylvania Saturday, Birkel said. The college students on Saturday night stayed at an elementary school in Bedford, Pennsylvania and left at 6:30 a.m. Sunday for the final leg of their journey. On Sunday afternoon, they passed through Genoa, Ohio.

"We're thankful they let us use their gym," Birkel said. "This whole thing has been a great community builder for us."
This wouldnt be a problem if the young man in Senegal she's helping was named Dennis or Nick, or even Dinh or Nikita.

Trish Croghan could simply stop at the Western Union office and wire money across the ocean to pay for his food, his education, his future. And she could visit the post office to send a box of Husker clothes and handmade ornaments.

But the young mans name is Hassan Ali, and thats a problem.

Western Union wont transfer her money. The U.S. Postal Service wont deliver her Christmas gifts.

I dont know if its something against Muslims, she said. But the frustrating thing is hes not even a Muslim.

Hassan Ali Gatanazi is a student at Cours Sainte Marie de Hann, a Catholic boarding school in the West African city of Dakar. The 20-year-old used to be a Muslim, a student of the Quran, but fled his native Tanzania after he converted.

He feared his father, he said in an email. He feared for his life. He moved to South Africa, but that was still too close to his home, so he kept traveling until he made it to the other side of the country.

Trish and Mark Croghan found him last year on a Christian Facebook page, where hed posted the story of his struggle.

People started sending me friend requests and Trish was one of them, he wrote in the email to the Journal Star. However after that Trish did not become just a friend, she became my family. Her and her husband and son, they accepted me in family.

Trish Croghan, who lives in Seward and teaches in Lincoln, saw something in the lanky young man who filled his Facebook page with Christian prayers and Bible passages and inspirational posts. He was homeless. He needed shoes. He needed help.

It didn't matter he lived 5,000 miles away.

Im a devout Catholic, but I dont believe in giving to the church, she said. I believe in giving to the person.

And it was easy to give, at first. Croghan and her family repeatedly wired him money. They bought him shoes, and they eventually started paying his tuition. She mailed him a box with Bibles and crosses, and she knows it made it to Senegal because he sent them a photo.

But last fall, Western Union started blocking her transfers. The employees she talked to wouldnt say why, and they wouldnt let her speak to their supervisors, she said.

I send it, but they send it back to me. After getting stonewalled, I said, Can you give me a clue? And the person said, 'Dont send to that name anymore.'

She didnt know at the time that Western Union screens the names of wire transfer recipients against federal watch lists of those with suspected ties to terrorism, drug trafficking and other national security and policy threats.

The government keeps multiple databases of people and organizations prohibited from receiving money or goods. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control consolidates many of the lists in a publicly searchable website.

A search of the names Muhammed or Ahmed or Abdullah yields hundreds of results.

A search for Hassan Ali Gatanazi yields nothing. But leave off Gatanazi - and the young man often does, to stay hidden from his father -- and 14 results show up: Hassan Alis in Egypt and Iraq and Iran, Panama, Nigeria and Kuwait.

But none in Senegal.

In most cases, Western Union wont block a wire transfer based on a simple name match alone, said Sarah Meske, the companys director of corporate communications. And it will accept additional identifying information, like place and date of birth, to determine whether the recipient is indeed on a sanctions list.

But Gatanazi said he supplied his visa, birth certificate, refugee papers and school identification. I went to the Western Union agents but they didnt tell me what the problem was.

Western Union looked into the blocked transfers last week but would not give Croghan a detailed explanation.

In an email to her, Terri Jackson-Waller, an executive resolutions specialist, said she had listened to recordings of Croghans calls to Western Union customer service.

Croghan was told the transfer was canceled due to a business decision, Jackson-Waller said. And she didnt hear Croghan ask to talk to a supervisor.

Her company has controls in place to monitor and verify information on all transactions, she explained. Based on the results of the security validation process, your transaction was rejected.

She added that Western Union would try to reach Gatanazi in Senegal to collect information that could allow him to receive transfers.

Croghan isn't buying it. She maintains she asked to speak to a supervisor, and says Jackson-Waller didn't t really answer the question: Was the transfer blocked because Hassan Ali Gatanazi has a Muslim name?

Jackson-Waller responded: The transaction was canceled due to a Western Union business decision, it has nothing to do with your payees name ... Western Union considers this case closed.

And it wasn't just Western Union. In December, Croghan filled a box with Husker clothes and Christmas ornaments made by third-graders at Christ Lutheran Church. She paid $89 at the Indian Village Post Office to get it to Senegal in time for the holiday.

It never made it beyond Chicago. The box came back bearing a form letter from the International Mail Security Office, explaining the recipient name matches a denied party/entity that may not send or receive exports.

Croghan has never met Hassan Ali Gatanazi, but they talk and text frequently. She's certain he's not a terrorist, or even a scammer. Hes never asked for money, she said. She has photocopies of his passport and visa. He also sent her photos of his baptism last year, the young man standing in a wading pool, ready to become a Christian.

Before he converted, he attended Islamic school in northeast Tanzania. He started a Facebook page devoted to the traditional worship of his religion. He posted the correct way a Muslim man should wear a beard, for instance, or why women should remain pure before marriage.

But he hasnt updated that page in two years. He realized he was a Muslim because he was born into Islam, and then raised within it.

Then I decided to find out truth myself, he wrote in an email, and I found the truth in Christianity.

His Islamic education left him unprepared. The 20-year-old is studying at a ninth-grade level at his Catholic school. He wants to be an orthopedist, because he has seen disabled people struggling.

He sends his report cards to the Croghans, who have found a way to pay his tuition despite Western Unions blocked transfers. It's not a lot of money, Trish Croghan said, about $670 every four months. They throw in a little more for food and clothes.

It means everything to Gatanazi, he wrote.

Without it I will stop going to school and I will go back to sleep on street with no food nor clothes.

The family in Nebraska plans to keep sending it, Trish Croghan said.

Until he gets killed, because hes threatened often, or until I can get him out of there.
Youll meet more than just gun enthusiasts at the gun show.

Youll meet historians, seamstresses, hunters, artists, faux presidential candidates, re-enactors, fishers and skinners.

But first youll meet Ardis Moody, the person who helped throw this year's Modern and Black Powder Gun Show together.

Shes the secretary-treasurer for Rock Creek Renegades, the club that sponsored this weekend's event. Shell tell you gun shows are social events.

Shell also tell you that the highest attendance ever was at the gun show Rock Creek Renegades sponsored shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

When that happens, people interpret that as, oh my god, the government is going to take my guns away, Moody said. But everybody here, theyre good, wholesome people who just shoot for sport.

Moody said lawmakers are in a tough spot because people are calling for action, and they think the solution is making more laws.

"But there are more gun laws than traffic laws," Moody said.

President Barack Obamas planned executive action to prevent gun deaths was expected to have little effect on sales at the local show.

Previously, Moody said she supports Obamas decision to broaden the definition of gun dealers subject to background checks to include those that sell at gun shows, websites and flea markets that are not federally licensed.

Gun laws are also being discussed in the Nebraska Legislature. A bill (LB289) by Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete would prevent cities from making their own limitations on gun possessions and sales. It's opposed by Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler, Omaha's police union and four Omaha city councilmen.

While most of sellers at the gun show are licensed firearms dealers, some are private collectors, Moody said.

Moody will tell you that vendors follow the rules already in place: they only sell guns to people with permits.

Then shell introduce you to the most unique characters there.

Jack Bursovsky  informally known as Quick Fire  is a member of the National Congress of Old West Shootists. He and other club members dress up in Western attire anytime theyre together.

And when they are together, theyre usually seeing a Western movie or shooting at their Western-themed range.

We try to be authentic in everything we do, Bursovsky said.

Les Vilda has a foot-long white beard and dresses like Uncle Sam to promote his pretend presidential campaign. Hes from Wilber and the idea for his campaign came one night when he was out with his buddies.

His slogan is, Vote more for Les because you couldnt do any worse!

Vildas been doing this for nearly a decade, and he tries to reach people who dont exercise their right to vote.

It gets people talking about politics, Vilda said. Maybe I can do something to make people think its fun to vote.

Ronnie Hansen is a 77-year-old who sells hides of buffaloes, coyotes, badgers, beavers, skunks, red foxes, silver foxes, arctic foxes and otters.

He knows he aint going to get rich at this, but he just wants people to see the history of our ancestors.

Youll meet Moss Ellis, whose Civil War collection includes 171 antique guns and photos of his ancestors who fought in the war. And Garrett McCall, who makes and sells teepees for a living. And Pam Ogden, who sells concealed carry handbags. And a guy they call Paint Brush, an artist whose favorite piece is an eagle he painted on an old cow skull. And Don Knudsen, a member of the Round House Band, a group that produces 1800s-style music with banjos, guitars, mandolins and fiddles.

They are all characters, Moody said. Theyre hysterical and historical all at the same time.
When the official announcement came that 2015 was the hottest year since record-keeping began scientists were ready with sound bites to drum home the message of just how remarkable the measurements were.

A lot of times, you actually look at these numbers, when you break a record, you break it by a few hundredths of a degree, Thomas Karl, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Washington Post. But this record, we literally smashed. It was over a quarter of a degree Fahrenheit, and thats a lot for the global temperature.

And what does a quarter-degree increase mean?

A quarter of a degree increase is actually huge. Its bigger than weve ever seen before, Kevin Trenberth, a climate researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., told the Los Angeles Times.

For every 1-degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 4% more moisture. Trenbert said. With a quarter-degree increase, that means the atmosphere can hold 1% more moisture in 2015 than in 2014.

The global surface temperature data are collected by 6,300 land-based weather stations, as well as research stations in Antarctica and a network of ships and satellite-communicating buoys in oceans around the world. NOAA and NASA keep independent data sets that dont always agree precisely. NASA calculated the increase at 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit. NOAA calculated it at 0.29 degrees.

Consider:

--Fifteen of the 16 hottest years on record have now occurred in this century, according to NASA.

--Overall, 2015 was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average.

--1988 was a record year for global warming. It now ranks as the 23rd hottest year.

No wonder that everyone from the pope to the U.S, military is worried about the impact of global warming.

In Nebraska efforts are finally ramping up to deal with the impact of climate change, especially its effect on agriculture, which is the mainstay of the states economy.

A new report is expected within a week or two on eight roundtable discussions held around the state. Organized by Don Whilhite, professor and climatologist in UNL's School of Natural Resources, and Kim Morrow, climate change resource specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the roundtables attracted 350 Nebraskans to discuss potential action at the state level.

As Wilhite said in a blog at UNLs Water for Food Institute, As a state that sits squarely in the middle of one of the primary breadbaskets of the world, it is essential for Nebraska to provide leadership in our efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Four hundred years after his death, William Shakespeare continues to hold great influence over theatre, literature and all manner of the performing arts. His collection of plays have been adapted and reimagined dozens of times in dozens of styles and formats, and his sonnets are a mainstay of English programs and lit lovers the world over.

Its no surprise that Northern Arizona University  like a host of many other academic institutions and organizations  are taking 2016 as a chance to honor Shakespeare on the milestone anniversary of his passing.

The College of Arts and Letters are bringing a multi-disciplinary approach to a series of events about the famed Bard of Avon. The individual events and dates appear below. Get more information at nau.edu/cal/events/calevents/.

Our Shakespeare Festival is the result of conversations among faculty in the College of Arts and Letters for over a year, noted Michael Vincent, dean of College of Arts and Letters. Choices were difficult, since there is an enormous amount of Shakespearean material to choose from. In our attempt to find new ways to explore the richness of Shakespeare's legacy, we looked for a blend of the familiar and unfamiliar, a broad range of artistic genres, variety and diversity.

He added, Anniversary dates ending in zeroes are convenient ways to celebrate. Shakespeare the human being passed away in 1616, but his influence is very much alive. This is the idea behind our culminating event, Shakespeare Alive! (April 8), an evening celebrating theatre, music, poetry by Shakespeare and inspired by him.

The Shakespeare Festival also provides a chance to shine a spotlight on the renamed NAU Lyrical Theatre, which is a change from the NAU Opera that ran during the tenure of Nando Schellen. Eric Gibson is the new director of the department.

The change in name to NAU Lyric Theatre is simply a more accurate title for this programs vision, Vincent shared. It has always included a great variety in programming  Mozarts operas of course, but also works by Sondeim, Kurt Weill, Poulenc and many others. Kiss Me Kate (opens April 1), based on Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew, is a brilliant choice in it very well fits our Shakespearean theme and is an extraordinary example of musical theater at its best.

As to why Shakespeare remains relevant 400 years later, Vincent explained, Shakespeare continues to be enormously popular world-wide because, even at four hundred years distance, he stages us. His psychological acumen, linguistic versatility, imaginative depth and theatrical inventiveness are unrivalled.

The events line-up for the College of Arts and Letters starts on Wednesday and it includes:

Film: Taming of the Shrew (Jan. 27): Franco Zeffirellis adaptation of Shakespeares comedy stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as a young suitor and the shrew who must be tamed and married so that her younger sister may find happiness. Film screens at 7 p.m. in the Liberal Arts (Bldg. 18), Room 120. Free.

Concert: Shakespeare in Love (Feb. 14). The NAU Symphony Orchestra Concert over a special Valentines Day treat and falls head-over-heels for Shakespeare in this Romeo and Juliet-themed musical selection. Show is at 5 p.m. at NAU Ardrey Auditorium. Ticket prices vary.

Film: Macbeth (March 2). The celebrated auteur Orson Welles directs and stars in this 1948 adaptation of the Bards great Scottish tragedy, with Jeanette Nolan co-starring as the title characters ambitious and ill-fated wife. Film screens at 7 p.m. in the Liberal Arts (Bldg. 18), Room 120. Free.

Film: Hamlet (March 23). Mel Gibson stars as the Prince of Denmark in Zeffirellis 1990 adaptation, with an all-star supporting cast. Following the murder of his father by a treacherous uncle, the eponymous prince feigns madness and takes revenge on the usurper, with bloody results. Film screens at 7 p.m. in the Liberal Arts (Bldg. 18), Room 120. Free.

Musical: Kiss Me Kate (April 1-3). Cole Porters Kiss Me Kate brilliantly mingles the onstage drama surrounding Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham, actors portraying Kate and Petruchio as a production of Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew. This is a musical theatre gem that will satisfy every viewer hungry for a fun, raucous time in the theater. The musical takes place at NAU Ardrey Auditorium on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices vary.

Theatre: Shakespeare Alive! (April 8). An unforgettable evening of theatre, music, and poetry by Shakespeare and inspired by Shakespeare, featuring the best of NAUs musical and theatrical talent. Takes place at NAU Ardrey Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Free.

Film: Romeo + Juliet (April 19). Cinematographer Donald McAlpine received a BAFTA nomination for Baz Luhrmans retelling of the Shakespeare classic, updated to a modern setting, but retaining its original language. Takes place at Cline Library Auditorium at 7 p.m. Free.

Play: Une Tempete (April 28). This play is a postcolonial take on Shakespeares original, raising questions of race, rebellion, and slavery amidst a backdrop of magic, Yoruba gods, and fraternal strife. Presented in French. Takes place at 6 p.m. in Liberal Arts (Bldg. 18) in Room 136. Free.
The 2016 Nebraska Legislature needs to address the ongoing embarrassment of Whiteclay. It has festered far too long.

For those not familiar with the issue, Whiteclay is an unincorporated village in Sheridan County with a population of about 10. Within walking distance of Whiteclay is the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Even though alcohol is prohibited on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the State of Nebraska has licensed four liquor stores in Whiteclay, knowing that most of the alcohol sold will cross the border into the Pine Ridge Reservation. These four liquor stores sell millions of cans of beer each year.

Frank LaMere of Winnebago has aptly described Whiteclay as a place "where one sees life, but no willingness to live." Intoxicated people often wander the streets of Whiteclay openly drinking beer. Others are passed out and lie scattered about the village as if they were cargo that fell from a passing truck. Lawlessness reigns. Whiteclay has no police force and the county sheriff has limited resources. On the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation, 90 percent of the crime is alcohol related and 25 percent of the babies suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Obviously, Nebraska cannot resolve all the problems that plague Pine Ridge. We can, however, control liquor sales in our state. Liquor stores cannot legally sell alcohol knowing that it will be provided to minors. This prohibition should be extended to liquor stores who sell alcohol knowing that the alcohol will be illegally transported to a dry reservation.

Fellow Nebraskans, we cannot continue to ignore the tragedy of Whiteclay. This is not a political issue; it is right versus wrong. It may be hard for our proud state to admit but we have blood on our hands.

Dennis G. Carlsion, Lincoln
So far, there are three proposals being floated by our state senators which I find destructive.

First, there is the bill attaching liability to groups who help resettle immigrants in our state should someone commit a crime ("Refugee groups would be liable for those from 'high-risk' countries under Kintner bill," Jan. 14). I liken this to throwing the good Samaritan into jail for trying to do a good deed. We're better than that!

Secondly, the attempt to directly elect our judges ("Senator calls for electing judges in Nebraska," Jan. 11). I believe this will only increase the power of money in our judicial system. Judges shouldn't have to raise campaign funds and perhaps be swayed by donors. The system of voting to retain judges seems to be working well.

Thirdly, once again the attempt to make Nebraska a winner-take-all state is, I believe, a sore-loser response to the one electoral vote given to President Obama's election ("Winner-take-all battle ahead," Jan. 16). By any stretch, this attempt will disenfranchise the majority of voters in the Omaha district given that districts 1 and 3 are pretty solidly Republican voters.

Nebraska citizens, please pay attention to your state representative's votes, learn his or her name and make your voice heard. Apathy should not be an option.

Pat Hedglin, Lincoln
BIG SPRINGS  A western Nebraska sheriff's deputy who was shot four times in December by a suspect continues to recover.

Mike Hutchinson's son, Zachariah, says that his father is off of dialysis and antibiotics, and he is walking on his own.

The Deuel County deputy was wounded Dec. 3 while trying to arrest a suspect in Big Springs.

Authorities said the suspect came out of his home and shot Hutchinson before he ever fired his weapon. Another deputy returned fire and killed 66-year-old Neil Stretesky.
It was enough to make the woman uncomfortable.

A physical encounter between a state patrolman and a female prison inmate working in the Governors Mansion last fall didnt rise to the level of a crime, say sources familiar with the incident.

But the situation  and how it was handled by the Nebraska State Patrols top administrator, Col. Brad Rice  has nonetheless raised eyebrows and exposed dissent within the agencys ranks.

Several troopers who spoke with the Journal Star expressed discomfort with how Rice addressed the matter. Those troopers asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

And on Saturday, Rice defended his response.

"It's not about covering my behind. It's about doing the right thing," he said in an interview at the state Capitol.

He acknowledged that he was told about the incident in November but said no specific complaint or allegation was ever made by the inmate or anyone else familiar with the situation.

The trooper involved, who the Journal Star is not naming because he has not been charged with a crime, is no longer working in Lincoln.

He was assigned here for a 90-day job shadow with the patrols executive protection service, the unit that guards the governor and other dignitaries. The detail maintains a presence at the mansion and has an office in the basement.

On Nov. 4, the visiting trooper approached the inmate in the kitchen and complimented her appearance, touching her shoulder. Then he walked out.

It happened quickly, but it was enough to make the inmate uncomfortable, along with a non-inmate member of the residence staff who witnessed the encounter, sources said. The inmate later reported the situation to the Governors Mansion director, who informed supervisors with the patrol.

The inmate did not respond to a letter requesting an interview.

A sergeant and lieutenant who both oversee the detail looked into the report and took their findings to Superintendent Rice.

They wanted an investigation, and they wanted (the visiting trooper) gone, said one longtime trooper with knowledge of the incident.

Instead, he said, the superintendent turned the other cheek.

The source said the colonel instructed the reporting troopers not to file a Form 801, an internal affairs complaint intended to ensure allegations against patrol employees are handled in the appropriate manner.

Rice denied that allegation with a shake of his head and said anyone can file an internal affairs complaint without retribution.

Two days after the encounter with the inmate, the patrolman involved requested an emergency transfer and was allowed to return to his home troop area, sources said.

"The whole chain of command was involved" in determining how to handle the trooper's situation, Rice said. That included checking with the patrol's legal team.

He said the response also included a counseling session between the trooper and his direct supervisor, documented in his personnel file, which is not public record.

"We probably went above and beyond to make sure it was done in the light of day," Rice said.

Several people familiar with the situation said Rice didnt go far enough, accusing the superintendent of providing preferential treatment to a trooper with whom he has a close relationship.

The whole thing has been swept under the rug, and nobody wants to do anything about it, a longtime trooper said.

Rice has spent 34 years with the patrol. He has worked in three of the agency's six troop areas, been a SWAT-team leader and a dog handler, and trained fellow troopers at the patrol academy.

The relationships he built during that career would make it virtually impossible for him to distance himself from every trooper under his command whom he considers a friend, he said.

Rice said his office went to great lengths to ensure the inmate was satisfied with the outcome.

"I have to look out for the well-being of troopers, too," he said.

It is unclear what, if any, punishment the trooper involved in the Governor's Mansion situation could have faced under Nebraska law or patrol personnel rules.

While state law prohibits "sexual contact" with inmates  wanted or unwanted  the definition of sexual contact is limited to intentional touching of a person's "intimate parts" or the clothing covering those parts for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. Intimate parts are defined as the "genital area, groin, inner thighs, buttocks or breasts."

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha led the charge to create that law and said while it doesn't specifically prohibit the kind of contact described at the Governor's Mansion, that type of interaction between a state trooper and an inmate is still inappropriate.

"It's based on the premise of these people being in a vulnerable position. They cannot resist," Chambers said in an interview. "(The inmate) could not tell him, 'Get your hand off me,' or push his hand off.

"State troopers and other law enforcement people have no business putting their hands on any person who is not being placed under arrest."

Patrol policy appears to cover a broader range of interactions than the law: It prohibits workplace sexual harassment, including "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature" that is intended to or has the effect of "creating an intimidating hostile or offensive environment."

The policy, which does not specifically cover interaction with inmates, says harassment complaints should be reported to the superintendent or internal affairs.

An article in the training manual issued to new state correctional officers warns prison staff about the "slippery slope" of eroding boundaries between prison staff and inmates. The article mainly focuses on inmates who seduce corrections employees.

"There is of course another side to the slippery slope issue," it continues. "That is the matter of predatory staff who zero in to exploit vulnerable offenders.

"Such conduct, no matter how infrequent, once reported in the media, makes indelible negative impressions on the public's view of corrections professionals. It tarnishes the image of thousands of corrections staff who do the right thing and who conduct themselves professionally day after day."

Rice has taken heat from outsiders and fellow patrolmen who accused him of pushing his Christian religion at work and playing a role in gender discrimination against a female employee.

Asked what his detractors' motivations might be, Rice responded: "I have no clue. I don't know."
2006: It's become tradition. Senators pass a bill raising the salaries of the governor and other statewide elected officials. And the governor vetoes it. That has been happening for at least two decades. And Gov. Dave Heineman is no exception. Heineman vetoed last year's salary bill and says he will veto any similar bill this year. However, Heineman said he backs raising state senators' salary.

Lincoln travel agents say they have seen growth within the past year and a half of the number of business travelers choosing to drive to Omaha and fly. The reasons are cost (a client can save between $100 and $150 per person) and aircraft type.

Lancaster County Deputy Ryan Schmuecker, with his lights on and siren blaring, drove west on Denton Road at about 80 mph headed to check out an alarm in Denton. Then a deer jumped onto the road, hit the front grill, rolled off the bumper and under the car. The cruiser's air bags popped; the deer died quickly. Schmuecker wasnt hurt, but his car sustained heavy damage.

Note: Our supplier did not list anything prior to 2006 for this week.
RACINE  Ralph Gingras doesnt want anyone to go through what his daughter did.

Stephanie Gingras graduated from Horlick High School last year despite missing some 70 days of school battling Chiari malformation, an unpredictable condition causing her constant pain and sickness.

The high number of absences put her in a tough spot for many reasons, including this one: A student is considered truant under state law if they have been absent more than 10 days, unless they provide a doctors note.

With so many sick days, it was nearly impossible to get a doctors note every time, Ralph said. That made Stephanies absences unexcused, putting her at risk of truancy and missing events like school dances.

While Stephanie made it to graduation, the Gingrases are pushing for a state law change to help other students in her situation. A bill introduced in November on the familys behalf would allow a parent to request an evaluation on whether the child has a disability, which would help cover students like Stephanie battling a chronic illness.

When my daughter graduated, I went forward with this because I knew there were other kids out there in my daughters predicament, said Ralph, 60. They need to know this is out there.

Stuck on 10-day rule

Stephanie, now 18, was sick throughout high school. Early on at Horlick, she was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia, which occurs when the stomach pushes into the diaphragm.

Once that was brought under control, more things came up, Ralph said. She continued to have myriad problems, from migraines to stomach problems.

After an MRI at Childrens Hospital, she was diagnosed with Chiari malformation, which still plagues her today. Essentially, her skull is too small for her brain, Stephanie says, constricting the brain and forcing it downward.

As school absences piled up, the Gingrases grew increasingly frustrated at the rule on 10 absences. He tried talking to administrators, School Board members and anyone who would listen about why Stephanie was missing school.

He got nowhere, he said.

There were days that I took her to the doctor, they gave her an excuse for the day. She could barely even move, Ralph said.

The next day, shes no better, I call her in. Its the past the 10-day rule. Shes unexcused. 

Unified spokeswoman Stacy Tapp said the district could not provide specific information about Stephanie due to privacy rules.

The district follows state statutes on excused days allowable, which requires a doctors note for absences beyond 10 days, Tapp said. She added district support staff is always willing to provide accommodations for students that have health concerns.

For example, if a student needed their locker moved closer to their classes or to rest for 30 minutes in the nurses office, staff would work with that student to make reasonable accommodations, she said.

The district has a Section 504 education plan, geared toward students who have disabilities that affect classroom performance, but Ralph said he found out about it too late.

A guidance counselor eventually stepped in and helped guide Stephanie on classes and let her come to her office she was feeling ill, Stephanie said.

It took a lot of make-up work and retaking a few classes to make sure she graduated, Stephanie said. While she was never cited for truancy, unexcused absences made it more difficult with teachers and catching up on work she missed.

It was pretty hard, Stephanie said. I know I stressed a lot about it.

Not isolated case

Exasperated, Ralph turned to his state representative, Democrat Cory Mason of Racine, on a possible law change to prevent other kids from going through Stephanies ordeal.

On Ralphs behalf, Mason introduced a bill that would allow parents whose child has been excused absent for 10 or more days to request an evaluation to determine if they have a disability preventing them from attending school.

The bill requires the designated school attendance officer  often an administrator  to notify a parent of a child who has been absent for 10 or more days they can request an evaluation.

A child found to be eligible could get an individualized education plan, which may include in-home tutoring or online work, and avoid being misclassified as a truant.

If somebody is truant because theyre skipping school and causing mischief in the community, thats a totally different thing than somebody whos dealing with a chronic illness or disability, Mason said.

What happened to Stephanie is not uncommon. Disability Rights Wisconsin gets calls from parents every year with similar issues, said Sally Flaschberger, advocacy specialist for the organization.

Many parents, like Ralph, arent aware or told of special education options for kids unable to attend school, Flaschberger said.

Thats why the (bill) could be important, because it requires they tell the parent, she said.

A hearing on the measure was held Jan. 14, and a committee vote is set for Thursday. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, supports the measure and hopes a full Assembly vote will be held this session, his spokeswoman said.

Im glad I went ahead with this, Ralph said, because Im helping (other) kids and Im going to help the parents find a way around this 10-day rule for kids that have medical issues.
During his State of the State speech last week, Gov. Scott Walker included his desire to increase internships within the UW System. I am in full support of any assistance the State of Wisconsin commits to a broader scope of internship opportunities for UW students.

At UW-Parkside we are focused on preparing students to meet the regions knowledge needs, today and in the future. The ability to learn new skills, work collaboratively to develop solutions, and deliver results in competitive industries is greatly dependent on community and business connections that enable students to learn in the same professional environments where they will contribute upon graduation.

Across all academic disciplines, we are dedicated to equipping students with both academic knowledge and high-impact learning experiences. Internships serve as a cornerstone on the path to graduation by providing an important set of problem-solving opportunities that accelerate learning. Hundreds of UW-Parkside students who participate in internships and experiential-based learning report satisfaction knowing their projects benefit the community and help focus life and career goals. Here is a recap for this academic year:

More than 400 businesses and community partners in southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois are offering internships, volunteer opportunities, community-based learning experiences, and real-world projects to UW-Parkside students.

More than 1,600 students  a third of all UW-Parkside students  are engaged in direct-learning experiences with business or community partners.

Just over 400 s

tudents are participating in projects through the Ralph Jaeschke Solutions for Economic Growth Center, working with 80 regional clients.

100 teacher candidates in the UW-Parkside Institute of Professional Educator Development are providing more than 3,000 hours of in-classroom service to schools in Racine and Kenosha counties.

1,110 students are participating

in community-based learning courses, a 10-percent increase over the previous year.

While these statistics are impressive, its the story they tell thats important. Every day, UW-Parkside students and faculty are working in collaboration with our business community to develop the talent needed for sustained success. The strategic alignment of faculty, students, businesses, and community organizations creates learning experiences based on real-world challenges.

And, we welcome new business and community partners as we develop internships and community-based learning experiences to prepare students for tomorrows opportunities. Please contact me at chancellor@uwp.edu or our Advising and Career Center at advisingcenter@uwp.edu  or visit uwp.edu/connect/businessandcommunity to learn more.
Examining the bylaws of sibling rivalry, one understands how pleasantries devolve into near blows. The oldest keeps the peace while the others vie for attention. But something eventually has to give.

Such is the case with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the main stage opener of Theatrikos 2016 season. Christopher Durangs witty work takes a page from iconic Russian writer Anton Chekhovs playbook with Easter egg hints scattered throughout.

In a simple twist of fate, the local production opens on what would be Chekhovs 156th birthday, Jan. 29, and runs through Feb. 14. Friday and Saturday presentations begin at 7:30 p.m. with Sunday matinees starting at 2 p.m. To learn more, call 774-1662 or visit theatrikos.com.

Jan Rominger sits in the directors chair for this one, with Jim Dugan as her assistant. Her direction and cast of 2014s God of Carnage received a Viola Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts. Rominger and the ensemble of last seasons musical, The Full Monty, were recently nominated in the same category.

Romingers talent for drawing the most from her players puts this train full steam ahead. The six-member cast is used to sibling rivalry in their own off-stage lives, so their passionate arguments are rooted in truth.

I was surprised that my character mimics my real life so much, said Bryan Wood of his role as Vanya. I dont have Facebook or any of that kind of stuff. I dont even have a computer at home. My life is just kind of slow and I like to stay at home. Ive just come to realize thats how I like to live.

The play revolves around the Three Sisters. Vanya and Sonia, played by Rosemary Groves, are well into their middle-age, and have dug themselves quite a rut as homebodies. Masha is an aging star, played by Virginia Brown, and returns to Bucks County, Penn., after their parents death.

Well, Mashas a movie star with millions of dollars, so of course I relate to her  I wish, Brown interjected, laughing.

With Masha bankrolling her siblings, she vows to settle the estate, and possibly sell the family home.

Three more characters complete the chaotic coterie with Cassandra the cleaning woman who can, at least she says, predict the future. Rob Barnes is Spike, Mashas hunky arm candy prone to shedding his clothes. And Nina, a neighbor and an aspiring young actress herself, admires the silver screen diva and the quiet writer, Vanya.

Alexia Coppell, who will reprise Nina, noted one of Vanyas classic monologues highlights a central theme in the generation gap: what they lose and what they share.

I think we all see that in this cast a little bit, she explained. Were all joking that were typecast, but all these roles are super relatable. Whether you have a diva or you just like to take your clothes off constantly, we all share a little piece of these qualities.

Jessica Richmond, when not on stage, works in film in L.A. Fresh-faced and ready to immerse herself into her character, Cassandra, she does not lend a hint to the fact she is running on barely any sleep having just de-boarded a flight from the coast. However, these factors prove to weigh heavily into Cassandras seemingly wire-thin sanity.

Richmond herself isnt exactly Cassandra, but shes met the people who are. She explained, Sometimes shes actually taken over by the spirit, and sometimes shes playing with it.

Like her namesake of Greek mythology, cursed with second sight and no one to believe her, Cassandra constantly tries to wiggle into the familys circle. While Sonia is all mope and no spunk, Cassandra is energetic doom and gloom, said Richmond.

You cant start a fire thats already started, she said of her characters desire to sew herself into the circle. Cassandra wants to start a fire. If they were people already living passionately, shed have no room to play.

Passion erupts in the moments the siblings blame each other for their mishaps  devoid of children, hemorrhaging cash and any other tiny bicker. From channeling Durang and Chekhov alike for their comedy and pace, the cast is working to find its groove.

This is very autobiographical for him, his character is Vanya, Groves added. On the note about pacing, thats very Chekhov. Hes famous for pausing, and its to make it funnier or not funny at all.

Catching the Chekhovian pace, the family examines the need for change and how they can help each other grow out of their rut.

Pitch-perfect, Groves quipped, Its all their fault.
How long, O God? Will you forget me forever? (Psalm 13:1)





Earlier this week, I arrived in Lebanon from where MCC staff work with a dozen partner groups in Lebanon and Syria. It has been several years since staff has been able to work from Syria or even travel there, but we continue to support relief and peace building work in communities in both countries through partner organizations.





Lebanon has a total population of only 4.5 million people but hosts about 2 million refugees, primarily from Syria. You can imagine the enormous strain this has put on the infrastructure of this small country.





The director of our partner, Permanent Peace Movement (PPM), tells us that MCC was the first outside organization that understood what they were doing and supported them in building peace in Lebanon. Another partner, Popular Aid for Relief and Development (PARD), works in refugee settlements with women, children and families.





We visit a Syrian family in the Daouk settlement, a Palestinian gathering/neighborhood outside of the Palestinian refugee camp, who has been in Lebanon for three years. The father says he has four daughters and four sons and a number of these families are with them in this small three-room apartment. He tells me that, though he owned a large restaurant in Syria, the family left everything behind because he was only concerned about the safely of his children. He says the future of his children has been lost because of the war in Syria.





Last evening, we met in Beirut with three bishops of the Syrian Orthodox Church, one of our main partners in Syria in Damascus and in the region of Homs, about 100 miles north of Damascus. Bishop Selwanos offers us thanks on behalf of the families of Homs who have been assisted by MCC after their town was mostly destroyed by the bombing. He tells us that MCCs help over many years has made him view himself as partly Mennonite! Recent help from MCC has included heaters for use during the winter season, cash supplements and hygiene kits.





Bishop Matta tells us about the situation in Damascus and about the thousands of families who have moved into his community because of the bombing in other parts of the country. He says, every day, the church has to process more than 150 baptismal certificates which are needed before people can migrate out of the country. He tells us that he wants his people to stay in Syria: We love our country and if you want to help us, please help our people stay in Syria.





I asked the Bishops whether, in the midst of the destruction and killing, they feel God has left them. Bishop Matta tells me that they have just one thing left  the mercy of God. He wonders whether maybe God hasnt left them but whether the people have left God. He says that they have lost churches and schools and hospitals, and many people have been killed, but no one can take away the faith in their hearts.





This morning, as I read Psalm 13, I am challenged by the faith of these Bishops, holding fast to their faith in God, even through adversity.





Ron Byler is executive director of MCC U.S. He is in Sarajevo for two months and visiting MCC's programs in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Ukraine from there.








[JURIST] In anticipation of the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising, Egyptian authorities have spent the last week clamping down on dissidents in an effort to avoid further political unrest. At the instruction of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi [BBC profile], Egyptian security forces searched over 5,000 homes, seized activists in public, closed an art gallery, raided a publishing house and arrested a medical doctor in a nighttime raid, all as precautionary measures. Fearing a similar uprising to the one that ousted his predecessor Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile], al-Sisi addressed his critics last month, stating Why am I hearing calls for another revolution? Why do you want to ruin the nation? I came by your will and your choice and not despite it. Speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, an Egyptian senior security official stated [AP report], [w]e are very concerned and will not allow protests. These movements are aimed at polarizing society and mobilizing the masses against the government.

United by social media communication, Egyptian activists took to the streets [JURIST op-eds] on January 25, 2011. Beginning in Cairo, the protests forced [JURIST report] then-president Mubarak out of office. Afterwards, a military junta took over control of the country, installing an interim constitution that promised a fair election of government officials. Mohamed Morsi was elected and became president in 2012, but was ousted [JURIST report] in 2013. Morsis ouster led to the rise of now-president al-Sisi.
[JURIST] The Parliament of Iran [official website, in Persian] on Sunday passed a law defining what constitutes a political crime. Under the countrys constitution, individuals accused of committing public offenses are guaranteed public trials and other legal protections. Prior to this newly passed law, however, the term political offenses was never defined. The parliaments actions are part of a larger reform promised by President Hassan Rouhanis [official website] government, but critics say [Reuters report] that the new law may not go far enough and lacks sufficient breadth. The law offers protection to those accused of political offenses such as insulting government officials, but not for violent offenses or political crimes deemed especially serious, such as attempting to overthrow the state.

The Iranian government arrested hundreds in a crackdown on anti-government activity in the wake of protests over the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June of 2009, drawing criticism from international human rights groups and advocacy organizations. A Tehran Revolutionary Court [official website, in Persian] in April of 2010 sentenced [JURIST report] three prominent progressive activists to six years in prison in connection with protests. The men were high-ranking officials of the Islamic Iran Participation Front [party website, in Farsi], a pro-democracy reformist political party that supported opposition leader Mousavi in the disputed election. Iranian authorities jailed prominent Iranian journalist Mohammad Nourizad [JURIST report] on charges in April of 2010. Also, in March 2010 an Iranian appeals court upheld [JURIST report] the death sentence of 20-year-old student Mohammad Amin Valian, wok part in anti-government protests in December.
[JURIST] A delegation from the United Nations Security Council [official website] on Friday met with [press release] top government officials in Burundi, in an effort to end months of political turmoil in the country. Led by Ismael Gaspar Martins, Samantha Power and Alexis Lamek, the delegation met with Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza [profiles], Foreign Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe, and various other political and civil leaders. The talks were to promote mediation efforts conducted by the East African Community (EAC) [official website] and to determine what the Security Council might do to support a resolution. The meeting comes just days after the UN, US State Department and African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights expressed concern [JURIST report] over human rights violations in Burundi, including forced disappearance and torture.

Violence in Burundi began in the wake of President Pierre Nkurunzizas announcement that he would seek a third term of office, which he was voted into [JURIST report] in July. Earlier this month the UN High Commission for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, warned [JURIST report] of increasing violence in Burundi. Last month the UN Human Rights Council approved [JURIST report] a resolution to dispatch experts to investigate human rights violations in Burundi, condemning violence in the country, use of excessive force by officials and restrictions on freedoms. In November, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted [JURIST report] a resolution condemning the political violence and killings currently afflicting Burundi.
[JURIST] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] on Saturday expressed concern over the delay of Haitis presidential election and urged political actors to reject all forms of violence. The election, which was to be held on Sunday, was postponed on Friday due to concerns of violence, and had already faced past delays as well. The Secretary General further asked [UN News Centre report] political actors to refrain from any action that can further disrupt the democratic process and stability in the country. The countrys constitution mandates that the transfer of presidential power take place by February 7, despite the many delays.

In August, Haiti held [JURIST report] its first parliamentary election in four years, as the countrys parliament dissolved last January following canceled elections in 2011 and 2014. On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck [JURIST report] near Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, rendering the national legal system and government largely non-operational. The earthquake was estimated to have resulted in the death of 230,000 people, the injury of 300,000 people and the homelessness of more than one million people. Last January Amnesty International reported [JURIST report] that tens of thousands of people are still homeless as a result of the earthquake and subsequent government failures, forced evictions and failed short-term relief solutions. In many places such as Canaan, a post-earthquake camp on the outskirts of Haitis capital Port-au-Prince, people are unable to reach the polls located miles from home. Likewise, violence and intimidation deter voters.
If you do not meet the minimum age requirement, please do not enter.

If you do not meet the minimum age requirement, please do not enter.

Have you Kaplowitz'd to-day?

Then thank the fine folks who help to bring you Kaplowitz Media. They're listed both above in rectangular fashion as well as below in a square manner.
In 2008, then 38-year-old Jennifer Teege was perusing the Central Library in Hamburg, Germany, near her home. Out of thousands of books, one dust jacket caught her eye.

Born to a German woman and a Nigerian man, Teege had lived in an orphanage from infancy until she was adopted at 7 years old. She remembered her mother, Monika Hertwig, from brief contact with her and her grandmother as a child. Leafing through the pages of photographs and biographical text, Teege realized the information in the book matched her adoption records.

One glaring truth, especially, sliced through her lifes own pages. In that moment, Teege discovered her grandfather was the Nazi Butcher of Paszow, Amon Goeth. Ralph Fiennes immortalized his deeds on screen in Steven Spielbergs Schindlers List.

Teege is now the author of an international bestselling novel, My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Familys Nazi Past, co-written with Nikola Sellmair. Teege will speak of this polarizing revelation, the search for identity and its positive outcomes at Prochnow Auditorium.

The Jan. 28 presentation, hosted by the Martin-Springer Institute, begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free to NAU and CCC students, $10 for the public. Attendees need a ticket, available by calling 523-5661 or visiting ticketing.nau.edu.

Inheritance

From her home in Germany Teege, now 45, recounted her lifes division into a before and after in a recent interview.

If I look it backwards that I lived in Israel, maybe its a coincidence, but its really such a strange coincidence to pick up this book out of thousands of books in the library, she recalled. I dont overdo it because otherwise it means we dont have power of our own lives  I m not religious, but I do believe in fate.

The very next day she saw her mothers face again when the PBS documentary Inheritance aired on German television for the first time. A battle with depression soon followed, but with the help of a therapist, she began to sieve questions.

Studying in Israel in her early 20s, learning fluent Hebrew and making many Jewish friends, led her to believe her grandfather would have, in fact, killed her. But with time, Teege said shes been able to self-examine.

In the beginning I was very confused, so today this is what Im preaching, that you cant inherit guilt, she explained. Responsibility, yes, but not guilt, because why should I be guilty if I wasnt involved in the war? Just to be a relative of someone does not make you guilty.

Thematically

Writing the book, she said, was not a therapy. First, she explained its two-part structure splices her emotional account with a family chronicle of her mother, grandmother and grandfather within the greater context of history.

What was most important for me was to share my perspective and let people look into my head, make them understand how it feels. This process is something that is so individual and so specific that I thought I had to write it down, Teege said. Its something thats worth to share with a big audience because a lot of people can relate to it.

These humanistic themes have sparked friendships with those who share a love of this multi-layered perspective  even Holocaust survivors.

When I speak with people I try to have a strong connection on all kinds of levels, she explained of these relationships. We talk about daily stuff. We talk about their families, everything, and thats what makes it so precious to me.

And in the same way she approaches conference groups, survivors and her Israeli friends the factor of universal identity becomes apparent. But dark themes of cruelty and betrayal, Teege said, are continually relevant in a world full of extremism, anti-Semitism and racism.

If you do understand more about the Holocaust and the perpetrators, and why people act the way they did, then I think it will eventually help for the future, she added.

Above all, Teege said, is self-acceptance, When I talk about empathy, empathy starts with yourself. Only when youre able to love yourself and know who you are, you are able to love the opposite.

One question, though, still follows her at conferences: Why didnt she just leave her mothers book at the library?

Teege explained one cannot run away from the truth. And you cant run away from your own life. What I learned and what I try to tell people is you are who you are and thats OK.
Tahrir Square, Cairo

Curfew - road-block

Nile sunset

















January 25th is the anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution during the Arab Spring of 2011, so it seems the perfect day to blog about a book telling the inside story of a sequence of revolutions and a Parade of Presidents.Since his first visit to Egypt in 1981, Alexander Murray has been spending a lot of time in the country. He was there when Sadat was publicly gunned down; he witnessed the demonstrations in Tahrir Square, the election and arrest of President Mursi and the rise and rise of General - now President - Sisi. Throughout this time he has taken daily photographs and kept a journal recording the lives of ordinary Egyptians trying to live and work through these turbulent events. The book reveals intense beauty and extreme poverty. If you want an insight into what it is like to live in a country torn apart by political and religious extremes, then this is a must-read. Its written as extracts from Alexanders journal accompanied by lots of photographs, so its also an easy read.Recent events, including the bombing of a Russian passenger jet from Sharm al Sheikh, make this a very contemporary book. My own time spent in the Middle East made it of particular interest to me. I worked in English broadcasting under tight censorship, so the criminalisation of journalists trying to report the truth came as no surprise. Truth is the first casualty of conflict. Alexander Murray risks his own freedom of movement in this account of what it feels like to walk the streets of Cairo and Alexandria under a series of repressive regimes. It's a brave book. I asked Alexander about the process of writing it.It's a place of miracles - the great Nile bringing its life-giving force to a desert land, the vision behind the creation of the temples and pyramids, the indomitability of its inhabitants under all kinds of oppression - whether it be the sun or political regimes of different colours throughout the millennia. It's also the place that first inspired me to travel as a young man and experience, for myself, things that seemed so impossibly out of reach when I was a teenager. I became a man in getting there and being there - you don't forget such things.I've always kept a journal when I've travelled and it was no different when chance or synchronicity took me back to Cairo regularly, starting not long after the 25th January 2011 revolution. A good friend commented that my writing seemed to 'catch fire' when I was there and this coupled with the fact that my visits coincided with nearly all the pivotal moments in the country's recent history plus the fact that I had taken street-level photographs every day made me think that there was something unique and worth sharing.It was more challenging than I thought! The raw material tends to flow easily in my experience; the preparation for publication bringing all aspects of the writer's craft to bear is harder . . . but essential! First of all, I wanted to check that the quality of the writing was of a professional and publishable standard so I worked with a literary editor to give me straight feedback on the manuscript. I have remained extremely faithful to the original entries but many needed polishing to ensure consistency of tone and clarity of meaning. The tooth-comb revision necessary to make the whole read smoothly was painstaking and time consuming but what joy when I could read whole passages without finding anything that jarred, like a word repeated too soon after its previous use.I found my best editing environment was a bookshop-cafe around the block from where I live. The owner was delighted to know why I was spending so many hours at one of his tables (I bought a very credible amount of coffees and sandwiches to justify my presence!) and he introduced me to other published writers who gave me encouragement throughout, often stopping at my table and putting a hand on my shoulder.As I followed the indie route, I also had to set myself up as a publisher under the local tax regime and then recruit a team of book designers, proof readers, photo editors and illustrators. I worked with them virtually using time differences to keep the production preparation rolling. One of the biggest challenges was to pick up my energy when sometimes things went into a lull. I set myself deadlines and the most useful thing of all that I did was to declare to all my friends and colleagues that I was going to publish a book. Having gone public there was no way I was going to fail!Yes. I was bolder than those around me, including my wife, but I still had cold-sweat, middle-of-the-night wake up moments. I'll always remember the night I sat on the edge of my bed in pitch darkness in Cairo listening to the 3 am call to prayer coming through our open bedroom window and wondering what the hell I was doing. I resolved to do a final run through of the manuscript to check for words that were gratuitously harsh or overly assertive that perhaps would unnecessarily provoke the authorities. I spent the rest of the night lying awake in bed revising the text as if on a screen in my mind. When light came I went straight to my local Cairo cafe and made the required amendments, careful to keep the thrust of the message intact. It was clear that the push of a publication button could change not just my life but those of my nearest and dearest, and the fairness of that weighed heavily on me. On the other hand, during the church service we attended in Scotland to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, one of the readings called for all of us to courageously speak up against oppression. At that moment, I knew the only route possible was publication.It was all about topicality of the subject and the foreseen long lead-times through a traditional publisher which, through consultation, seemed to be up to two years. I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. I must also say that the degree of self-direction and sense of hands-on creation of the indie route was very satisfying and empowering.Goodness, I can't remember if there was a moment as such but looking back I can trace an underlying, undeniable and on-going motivation. I still have a school jotter containing compositions I wrote when I was nine. I clearly remember writing one of them which involved the hero sacrificing himself to save a drowning child from a stormy sea. The teacher gave it good marks but was concerned about the subject matter which disappointed me a little! I won the Reid Prize for English in sixth year, due in large part to the creative writing component, and remember long days writing or composing stories in my head as I walked to work in my twenties. And then when I was forty-seven, on top of a very busy full time role as a director of a multinational company, I signed up for an Open University creative writing course that required twenty plus hours of writing per week for nine months. As Maslow wrote, 'what a man can be, he must be' and that seems to be the nature of my relationship with writing. I just wish I had self-directed myself or been encouraged more strongly by others to pursue writing as the main focus of my professional life a lot earlier, before spending five years studying law, for example!I love books of poetic prose - Laurie Lee is an early inspiration especially his tales of adventure and self discovery. I also love writers who paint landscapes as if before a canvas, which vividly evoke an era I can never know, like John Fowles in the opening of Daniel Martin. Books that pivot on the subtlest expression of the deepest of emotions like those by Kazuo Isiguro and Imre Kertezs. Finally, I love books that sweep through generations highlighting endurance, fortitude and unquenchable spirit. In short, books that touch, inspire and show a way forward. I'm all about adventure, freedom and possibilities and maybe it's not surprising that my reading choices revolve around these themes.." Amazon ReviewSome Reviews:-
2 more rhinos radio-collared in Bardiya

Two more rhinos from Bardia National Park (BNP) were successfully collared with radio transmitters on Friday to help track them through the jungle and receive vital information about this endangered species, including the behaviour and habitats.
Jordan kills 12 infiltrators attempting to cross borders from Syria

Jordanian troops on Saturday killed 12 infiltrators in a foiled attempt to cross from Syria into the kingdom, an army statement said.
Nepal-China relations gaining new heights: DPM Thapa

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa has said the multi-dimensional relations existing between Nepal and China have gained a new height.
Northern ties

Nepal should look over the Himalaya for increased investment to boost its economy
Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years.
Political borders of museums

Narayanhiti museum has become a metaphor of confusions surrounding the change-savvy Nepali politics today
Syria conflict: Major rebel town 'seized' in boost for Assad

Syrian government forces say they have seized the last major town held by rebels in western Latakia province.
Thailand reports 2nd MERS case as virus detected in Omani man

Thailand has confirmed its second case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus on Sunday, the country's health minister said.
The purely scientific focus of the annual Mexican gray wolf count stands in contrast to the longstanding, constantly churning and politically charged debate about the effort to recover the species. In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed revisions to regulations for managing the Mexican wolf population in New Mexico and Arizona. The new rule provides for a 20-fold increase in areas within which Mexican wolves can naturally disperse and occupy and a tenfold increase in the area where Mexican wolves can initially be released from captivity.

But it the change has already faced pushback. The nonprofit organizations Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife filed a lawsuit against the plan in March of last year saying it will continue to impede Mexican gray wolf survival and recovery.

Also last year, state wildlife commissions in New Mexico and Arizona voted to prohibit the reintroduction of captive wolves into their states. Those votes, however, can be superseded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services authority under the Endangered Species Act. The service is moving forward with a plan to release and translocate wolves into territory newly authorized by the 2015 rule change, said Sherry Barrett, Mexican wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There werent any successful releases in 2015, Barrett said.

In recent months, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has restarted work on a recovery plan for the Mexican wolves that it expects to finish by the end of 2017. In 2014, conservation organizations sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to force it to come up with that recovery plan within a year.

The agency had started working on the plan in 2010 and a section of the draft was leaked that recommended a minimum population of 750 wolves and the establishment of two new core populations in the Grand Canyon region and in the southern Rockies region.

While environmental groups continue to call for those expanded numbers, in November the governors of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell staunchly opposing expansion, release and occupancy of Mexican wolves north of Interstate 40, saying the area was not historically occupied by the animals. When Barrett weighed in, she said the science really isnt settled on that one.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is starting to hold workshops for scientists and representatives of local, state, federal and tribal agencies to restart work on a Mexican wolf recovery plan, but environmental groups have railed against what they say are the closed door meetings.

The first workshop, held in December, went well and produced agreement on the modeling used to guide recovery planning, Barrett said.

While wolf managers preference is for the wolves to occupy their historical range, factors like climate change may require looking outside of that area to accomplish recovery, she said.
1. Yes. Its important to cast my votes early and avoid the lines on Election Day.

2. Yes. With nearly two weeks of early voting, its a more convenient way to take part.

3. No. Its better to wait until Election Day, in case any last-minute information surfaces.

4. No. Im not planning to vote early or on Election Day. It isnt worth my time.

5. Unsure. It depends on how the campaigns are shaping up. Ill play it by ear.

Vote

View Results
GILA NATIONAL FOREST -- It took only a millisecond after wildlife officials opened the door of his crate for M1296, a male Mexican gray wolf, to dart out onto a smooth sheet of sun-crusted snow.

He started at a sprint but after 30 yards or so, 1296 slowed down to a walk and began weaving and stumbling, looking perplexed. It was as if he had just landed on another planet.

A few minutes later, though, the handsome, tan and cinnamon-colored wolf found his bearings and was off, loping through the ponderosa pines of New Mexicos Gila National Forest.

The behavior of 1296 wasnt surprising to federal biologists watching him. It had been quite the day for the nearly 4-year-old canid.

Just a few hours before, the Mexican gray wolf had been spotted by federal wildlife officials scouting the forest in a helicopter. After a 16-minute pursuit, 1296 was darted, anesthetized and scooped up to be checked, measured and collared as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services annual count of the endangered species.

Its a labor-intensive, multi-step process that the federal wildlife agency, along with tribal and state partners, conducts every year to monitor the progress of the wolves recovery in the Southwest.

Nearly completely exterminated by humans in the early and mid-1900s, the Mexican gray wolf population was down to seven wolves from three lineages by the 1970s. Since then, the number of wolves that roam through about 7,000 square miles near the New Mexico-Arizona state line has grown to at least 110, according to last years count. The results of this count, which runs through Feb. 3 will give the most up-to-date status of the population.

In addition to counting the wolves, the interagency field team also temporarily captures a certain number of the wolves to examine them, give them vaccines, draw blood, measure their bodies and fit them with tracking collars. Doing so provides scientists and wildlife managers important information about where the wolves are roaming, which informs their decisions on areas for future reintroductions. The information also alerts scientists to signs of inbreeding in the wolf population and helps them monitor predation of large game and livestock.

Anatomy of a wolf count

About 20 people from local, state, federal and tribal agencies are helping out on the Mexican gray wolf counts this year. The team is stationed in a cluster of trailers just outside the small town of Alpine in the White Mountains. The counts always happen in the winter because that is when the population is most stable  young wolves have dispersed from their home packs to find a mate and biologists can better determine how many pups born in the spring have survived their first year, said Jeff Humphrey, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Snow also slows the animals down when they are being tracked by helicopter and the white ground cover makes them easier to spot.

Each day, the interagency field team focuses on counting a few packs, or extended family groups, and prioritizes certain wolves for capture. In the case of 1296, biologists wanted to fit him with a GPS collar, instead of one that uses radio waves, said Sherry Barrett, Mexican wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A helicopter and a spotting plane tag team the count and capture effort. Once they spot the wolves, the helicopter flies just above the treetops as a designated biologist, hooked into a body harness, leans out of the open doorway to dart the wolf. It took two eight-minute pursuits with a five-minute rest in between before Ole Alcumbrac, project veterinarian, was able to nab 1296.

After the anesthesia from the dart kicked in, the wolf was muzzled, his front and back legs tied and then he was loaded into Alcumbracs arms to be flown back to the teams Alpine base.

Inside the trailer, where a conference table doubled as the examination surface, the 74-pound wolf was laid down while biologists crowded around. They administered vaccines, took the animals temperature and pulse, drew blood and measured its paws, body and teeth.

While the veterinarians and biologists worked, Julia Smith, a biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, tracked down 1296s history. In 2013 when he was a year old, the wolf was trapped by a hunter in New Mexico. When U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials arrived, he looked terrible, with broken teeth and abrasions, Smith said. She doubted he would survive. But he did and has been roaming across western New Mexico ever since. His first mate died in 2014, but he found another lady friend just this year. Biologists hope theyll mate this spring.

After about 40 minutes, the processing was done and the still groggy wolf was carefully loaded into a crate for the journey back home.

The long drive out to 1296s territory wound through ponderosa pines and meadows dotted with scrubby brush. Cows grazing along the route were a reminder of the fragile balance between the wolves recovery and livestock grazing.

The wolf was released in an opening of scrubby grass and knee-high shrubs close to where he was found hours before. As the canid trotted off into the trees, biologists had a good feeling he wouldnt be alone for long  as the truck carrying 1296 neared the point of release, another wolf was seen running through the trees. More than likely, it was his mate, anxiously awaiting her partners return, Barrett said.
Welcome! You have come to the right place. Khmerization is a home to the Cambodian daily news, which is updated twice daily. Please take a tour and enjoy yourself. Thank you.

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Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, How I sold out to da Man. Robbie Bell again performs: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells and Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to Dancing with the Stars, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.



Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and Big Cat Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).



Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.



Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".



In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word jackass was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.



In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.



Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.



Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!



This is definitely a Beaver production.



Note: Security provided by INS.


Photo : Ramnath Bhat Bhakti means devotion to the Almighty. Bhakti yoga deals with devotion to God and achieving the union with Him. This is the easiest of all yoga types. This branch of yoga teaches the relation between the devotee and the divine. It does not involve any technical or complicated procedures. There is no need of any intellectual capacity to master this yoga. It has appealed to the common man because it gives him a feeling security and develops a kind of reliance and dependence on the object of his devotion.



Bhakti means devotion to the Almighty.deals with devotion to God and achieving the union with Him. This is the easiest of all yoga types. This branch of yoga teaches the relation between the devotee and the divine. It does not involve any technical or complicated procedures. There is no need of any intellectual capacity to master this yoga. It has appealed to the common man because it gives him a feeling security and develops a kind of reliance and dependence on the object of his devotion.

Bhakti yoga assumes that there is a higher power that has created the universe and is all-powerful. This power has the capacity to confer grace and mercy on him and thus protecting him from all the harms and evils. The devotee or bhakta is expected to make himself fit for receiving this divine grace. For this, he has to practice devotion and virtue. His ultimate goal should be to unite with this divine power and rest eternally in happiness and peace. The devotee surrenders all his motives and acts to the Divine Power. He renounces all responsibilities towards the good or bad consequences of all his actions and ascribes it to the will of the Supreme.





assumes that there is a higher power that has created the universe and is all-powerful. This power has the capacity to confer grace and mercy on him and thus protecting him from all the harms and evils. The devotee or bhakta is expected to make himself fit for receiving this divine grace. For this, he has to practice devotion and virtue. His ultimate goal should be to unite with this divine power and rest eternally in happiness and peace. The devotee surrenders all his motives and acts to the Divine Power. He renounces all responsibilities towards the good or bad consequences of all his actions and ascribes it to the will of the Supreme.

Devotion and faith play a vital role in this branch of yoga. The devotee or bhakta is supposed to be highly religious, should adopt a friendly stance towards all the other living beings including animals, read religious texts, concentrate on the symbol of the Divine, think and wish well for others etc. The beauty of this yoga lies in its simplicity. This has made it one of the most appealing of all the yoga types. Following this yoga develops the peace of mind in an individual. A peaceful individual will always think happy and prosperous thoughts and will thus lead a happy life.
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters, left, and SC Bank Korea CEO Park Jong-bok



UK bank advised to expand investment

By Kim Jae-kyoung

SINGAPORE  Standard Chartered (SC) CEO Bill Winters and SC Bank Korea CEO Park Jong-bok are facing the tall task of restoring profitability in 2016, but for different purposes.

Winters is tasked with fixing the U.K. bank's balance sheet through "rebalancing" of global operations to win trust from shareholders, while Park must turn around the Korean unit to show that it is a profitable business.

However, Park, who took the helm in January last year, should feel a greater sense of urgency not just to keep his post but also to keep the group and its chief executive committed to the Korean market.

Although Winters, who took office last June, reiterated in August that SC has no plan to pull out of Korea, the future of the Korean operation is virtually up in the air.

First, the Korean unit is one of the factors behind SC's poor performance over the past few years. Second, speculation is mounting that SC could be targeted by mergers and acquisitions due to a sharp fall in its share price.

SC Korea posted a 3.5 billion won ($2.9 million) net loss in the third quarter of 2015. Its parent SC posted an operating loss of $139 million in the period.

The tricky part is that Park has little time to get the job done because he has already been in office for a year, and Winters has little patience with executives of unprofitable business units.

The first thing Winters did after his inauguration was to throw away SC's growth-focused strategy and overhaul management by cutting out managers he did not want.

The former JP Morgan investment banker is now placing priority on reining in costs and restoring profitability across the group to boost shareholders' value.



Merger speculation

With the business outlook for SC gloomier than ever, the emerging markets-focused bank is becoming a target of speculation that it could be merged with another bank.

This is a bad scenario for SC Korea, because potential buyers will not be willing to take over unprofitable units of the group, meaning that SC may pursue a merger after selling non-core assets abroad.

The most recent speculation came from CLSA, a brokerage firm headquartered in Hong Kong.

In a report released in late December, CLSA expects that SC may attract takeover offers from the Development Bank of Singapore in the event that it continues struggling to turn itself around.

"The bank's road to recovery will likely be a challenging multi-year journey," it said. "The worse the situation gets, we believe the more likely it is that a white knight will eventually emerge."

CLSA put Korea as a non-core asset together with part of SC's $43 billion commodities exposure.

In September, the Korean unit's total assets reached around 63 trillion won ($52 billion), accounting for 7.53 percent of the group's total assets of around $690 billion.

Market watchers say that the merger scenario does not sound implausible because it can be an option to boost shareholders' values.

"The UK bank is in a worse situation than many imagine. They are saddled with rising bad debts and got stuck in overseas markets, such as Korea and Taiwan," a source familiar with SC said on condition of anonymity, adding that it will not be easy to restore profitability for one or two years.

"In that regard, it is possible for SC to sell off its units in Korea and Taiwan as well as parts of Africa and the Middle East and to push for a merger, which I believe can be in the best interests of Temasek Holdings, a Singaporean state investor, which is the largest shareholder of both SC and DBS."

SC and Temasek declined to comment on merger speculation. A DBS spokesperson said: "There is no basis to the report, and it is not on our agenda."

SC's profitability peaked in 2012 and has been sharply declining since. CLSA expects the bank to be loss-making in 2015 and 2016.

"The group has set out their view that the business should be able to generate a return on equity of 8 percent in 2018 and 10 percent in 2020, meaning that the business is unlikely to cover its capital costs for the next five years," CLSA said.



Fully committed to Korea?

Against this backdrop, there is renewed concern over SC's possible withdrawal from Korea.

Winters said the group was completely committed to the Korean market, during his August meeting with Financial Supervisory Service Governor Zhin Woong-seob in Seoul.

However, his pledge of commitment has been called into question by some analysts after the American CEO unveiled a new strategy in November to revamp the international lender.

Under the strategy, Winters seeks to axe 15,000 jobs globally by 2018, restructure or write off a $100 billion risk-weighted asset, close unprofitable businesses and operations abroad, and invest in promising markets, such as Africa.

"The strategy does include taking action across the bank," Sarah Lindgreen, head of group media relations at SC, told The Korea Times. "The strategy covers the whole group and there will be  and has already been  assets impacted in a number of markets."

Unfortunately, under the new plan, Korea is a target of restructuring, rather than a destination of new investment. The group said that it wants to restructure its retail and commercial banking operation in Korea.

This indicates that the group will focus on cutting costs through layoffs and branch closures in Korea, which experts believe will not help rejuvenate the Korean unit.

"Cost reduction alone cannot be a solution," said another source familiar with the international bank, asking not to be identified. "Without additional investment, it will not be possible for the unit to see a dramatic turnaround.

"You have to weed out unprofitable parts, but at the same time you also have to invest more on some key areas to strengthen its foothold and ensure business sustainability."

He said if the group really sees Korea as its key market and wants to dismiss any speculation, it should change its approach.

"The head office, which has little knowledge about Korea, has been trying to run its Korean unit in its own way," he said.

"The Korean unit had been managed by non-Korean CEOs before current CEO Park took office a year ago. During that period, the bank has lost talented employees and VIP customers.

"The group should try to find a solution from the revenue perspective, not from the expense perspective. The most important thing SC should do is rebuild confidence among Korean staff by showing more commitment."

In December, Nice Investors Service, Korea's corporate ratings agency, lowered its rating on SC Bank Korea from AAA to AA+, citing a fall in market share, deterioration in domestic sales performance and a drop in key indicators such as profitability and financial soundness.

The bank's market share in Korea dropped to 2.7 percent in September from 3.8 percent in 2010, while the number of branches decreased from 406 to 250. It laid off 961 employees aged 40 or older, nearly 20 percent of its payroll in December.
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Images of wide open grasslands, a rural village surrounded by lush trees and a group of African children linking arms flash across Good Earth Powers homepage. Bold text talks about technologies and business models that will drive environmentally responsible economic development in Africa.

Indeed, before it was chosen to take over the largest thinning contract on northern Arizonas Four Forest Restoration Initiative, or 4FRI, Good Earths primary focus was on Africa where it has pursued projects in housing, forestry, transportation and sustainable agriculture. Although it had no previous experience logging in the Southwest, the company touted its Africa work as evidence of its ability to complete large-scale forest restoration across northern Arizona, which many see as the regions best hope to save its forests from being wiped out by wildfire.

But company documents as well as interviews with more than a dozen people who have worked on Good Earths Africa projects suggest they have been mired in the types of chronic delays, financial disputes and contractor conflicts that also have dogged its work on Arizonas 4FRI. For example:

Nearly three years after the company began a 1.3 million-acre forestry and agriculture project in rural Mozambique, Good Earth had not acquired the proper zoning permissions to begin work on the land.

A 1-million home construction project the company is leading in Nigeria has been set back by financial struggles and that have caused major project delays. As of now, only a fraction of the structures have been built in an initial 1,000-unit phase that was supposed to be completed by March 2014.

The company has halted its work on several of its other core projects, including an agri-city in Kenya, a food security program in Botswana and a major port and rail project crossing Mozambique and Botswana.

Former contractors and employees with Good Earths projects in Nigeria and Mozambique have been owed tens of thousands of dollars, with several confirming that they are still owed amounts that range from $127,000 to $700,000.

The pattern of project delays and struggles to pay contractors and employees echo the complaints lodged against the companys work on 4FRI. In Arizona, at least eight contractors over the past year have described waiting months to receive payments they are owed by Good Earth, while the Forest Service had logged at least six direct complaints about nonpayment. In June, the timber management company that was working as a subcontractor for Good Earth on 4FRI split from the project and, three months later, sued Good Earth for $3 million in outstanding fees, costs and expenses. In terms of its work in the forest, as of December, the company had thinned about 6,000 acres or 8 percent of the area it said would be completed by this time.

Former managers and investors on Good Earths development work in Mozambique and Nigeria said they were concerned the forest restoration in Arizona is headed down the same road as the projects in Africa.

A different world

Good Earth Power declined to comment or give any explanation when asked earlier this month about the current status of its work in Africa and reported delays on its projects. In previous months and years though, the company has recognized and acknowledged it is behind schedule, citing difficulties in getting paid by clients, challenges dealing with unexpected project changes and struggles to get the proper government permissions to begin development.

In the Nigeria housing project, for example, the client submitted incorrect design plans and changed those plans long after they were supposed to be approved, Good Earth Power co-founder and group chairman Alawi Zawawi, wrote in a December 2014 letter. The clients constant failure to meet its obligations in a timely manner put the project months behind, Zawawi wrote.

As far as projects that didnt work out or were halted, like the Kenyan agri-city, those are normal for any portfolio of business development activities, Zawawi wrote.

Its also important to note that business dynamics in Africa are quite different than those in the United States, said Michael Whitticar, the owner of Ohio-based Blackcomb Construction that has shipped metal framing and other construction supplies to Nigeria for Good Earths housing project.

Its a different kind of environment to work in, things like this do happen where you do just get stopped. Then usually you start back up and finish them, said Whitticar, whose company has been working in Africa since 2010. Most people would get very frustrated. We usually just wait it out.

Slow start in Nigeria

In Nigeria, Good Earth Power was awarded one of the worlds largest construction contracts to build 1 million homes over eight years starting in 2012, according to a company profile submitted to the Forest Service when it was pursuing the 4FRI contract. The Nigeria project also will deliver technologies to provide the communities with clean power, clean water, high speed communications, fresh fruits and vegetables and more, the company wrote.

The first phase of the project, a $65 million, 956-home development in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, was envisioned as a pioneering model for the development of (a) sustainable community, according to a brief written by Good Earth Power Nigeria. The company, which is under the Good Earth Power umbrella, was contracted by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to lead the housing project.

Good Earth estimated the initial phase in Abuja would be completed by March of 2014, according to the company profile.

As of this summer however, building foundations and some of the infrastructure had been completed, but no structures had been built, according to interviews with Good Earth CEO Jason Rosamond and Gimba Ya'u Kumo, managing director of the Federal Bank of Nigeria.

We dont have supplies for even one house, Yau Komo said in an August interview.

Now, nearly four years since it began, construction has started to creep forward with 20 of an estimated 85 housing buildings now standing, said Tarry Rufus, a Nigerian developer and minority shareholder in Good Earth Power Nigeria who was tasked with leading the project.

Along the way, the project has been marked by internal strife. In October 2014, Rufus authored and widely distributed a letter accusing Zawawi and Rosamond of unprofessional management of the project and an inability to provide acceptable guarantees for payments to employees and contractors. Progress on the project was stagnating and it was losing momentum and support, the letter said.

Zawawi responded in December of that year and acknowledged the company still owed contractors and employees almost $2.2 million. In recent interviews, several of those contractors and employees who are owed amounts ranging from $127,000 to $700,000 said they still havent been paid.

Zawawi explained that the delay in payments to contractors was due to failures on the part of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to stick with project plans and make the agreed-upon payments ontime and in the correct currency.

The project would jerk forward for a week or two - and then come to a halt while we waited weeks at a time for a payment, including payments that were late by as many as 85 days at a time, Zawawi wrote. Throughout 3 years on the project  we have only been paid and able to work for 6 months.

At the time of the letter, Zawawi wrote that Good Earth Power International was out of pocket millions of dollars on the project. Requests to get further comment from the company about its recent involvement in the project were denied.

A plan for poverty in Mozambique

The same year that Good Earth started up the Abuja project, the company also began an agriculture, conservation and sustainable forestry project in Mozambique.

Located in the mostly rural and undeveloped western region of the country, the project was envisioned as a way to pull people out of poverty by capitalizing on the areas rich timber and ecological resources.

The reason we took on that project was to try and produce food to feed the country, make them a net exporter of food rather than importer, to teach them about management of wildlife, land reforestation, planting trees, Maya Minkova, Good Earths community development director, said in July

But no work can move forward at this point because the project is in a conservation area, said Fredson Bacar, the former provincial director of tourism in Manica Province, where much of the property is located. The countrys Council of Ministers would need to change the zoning on the land to allow economic development activities, Bacar said in an August interview.

In July, Rosamond and Minkova said they expected that rezoning to occur in August, but in interviews this winter, a former project administrator and a project investor both said that it is still unclear whether any activity is happening on the land.

In addition to zoning difficulties, several employees working for Good Earth in Mozambique allege the company fell far behind on paying salaries.

We got paid everything in delay, finally we got paid not all, a few salaries not paid, said Dany Goldshtein, who was the director of timber operations. He said he is owed about $20,000 in unpaid salary.

Up to this point, the project has been a disappointment, one investor said.

This project seemed really great and interesting because it had the ability to give work to thousands of locals who are living out of nothing, he said. The company made an initial investment, including building a school, but nothing really happened after that, the man said. It was really a great project. It was very sad that it all fell down.

Forest Service review

The timelines of Good Earth Power's work in both Mozambique and Nigeria suggest the company was immersed in project challenges and facing major setbacks at the time that the company began pursuing the 4FRI project in Arizona.

Nevertheless, the company promoted its Africa work in documents outlining its qualifications for the forest restoration contract.

Good Earth Power will leverage its extensive timber / forestry experience from concessions such as our 1.35 million-acre timber concession in Mozambique to fulfill the initial requirements of the contract, the company wrote in documents submitted to the Forest Service in May 2013.

The Forest Service said a review of the companys Africa projects was part of its overall evaluation of the companys ability to complete the 300,000-acre stewardship contract. The agency did not, however, respond to a question about how Good Earths progress on those foreign projects factored into its determination that the company had the financial and technical capability to fulfill the requirements of the 4FRI contract.

While they are continents away, Rosamond and Minkova pointed out several similarities between Good Earths work in Africa and what the company has been required to do to build up sustainable timber operations in Arizona. All are big, complicated projects that require a lot of groundwork before on-the-ground progress starts to show, said the husband and wife team who leads Good Earths work on the 4FRI project.

What we were surprised to find is you actually have to build up infrastructure here just like in Africa, Minkova said. You can't just go and do one thing, like we couldn't just come here and thin the forests. We had to build up our trucking, sort out sales, sort out processing, train people in skills, things that you kind of in a way take for granted.

It is actually quite similar, Rosamond said. I never thought of it that way.
Eitzen State Bank opened its third location on Monday in Suite A at 111 S. Walnut St. in downtown La Crescent, Minn. Its in the same office building as AcenTek.

Like the other two locations, the new branch office offers full-service banking and insurance services, bank Vice President Toby Burrichter said.

Eitzen State Bank began in 1909, and its main office is in Eitzen, Minn. It also has an office in Caledonia.

Kim Erickson is manager of the new La Crescent branch office, which has three full-time employees and is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A grand opening will be held at a later date.

The La Crescent branch offices telephone number is 507-895-2227. The banks website is www.eitzenstatebank.com.

Eitzen State Bank decided to open a La Crescent office in order to increase customer service, Burrichter said. Also contributing to the decision was the fact that Tom Stahl, head loan officer at the La Crescent office, lives in Dakota and has worked as a lender for the past 29 years, including 25 years in La Crescent.

Two law firms, Tlustosch Law Office LLC and Passe Law Office LLC, have opened at 223 N. Third St., just north of Wettsteins in downtown La Crosse.

Attorney Candice Tlustosch opened her office there in December. She returned to private practice after serving as a La Crosse County Circuit Court judge for much of 2015. She had practiced law in the Coulee Region and Minnesota for 10 years before taking the bench.

Tlustosch has a general practice and handles most areas of law, but she focuses on family law, criminal defense and estate planning. Her offices telephone number is 608-345-2121 and its website is www.tlustoschlawoffice.com.

Attorney Nick Passe opened his law office in January after 8 years with Moen Sheehan Meyer Ltd. He is president-elect of the La Crosse County Bar Association and focuses on family law, criminal defense, civil litigation, probate, real estate and estate planning matters.

Passes office telephone number is 608-783-5545 and its website is www.passelaw.com.

The two law practices have parking for clients in the Wettsteins lot, Passe said.

The Buckle apparel store in Valley View Mall opened Monday in a temporary location  the former Victorias Secret space  so that its original storefront can be remodeled and expanded.

The Buckle will return this spring to the expanded space  which will occupy about 6,737 square feet, up from 4,344 square feet previously, said Laurie A. Cafe, the malls marketing director. The expansion will take in about half of the space formerly occupied by Wet Seal.

The other half of the former Wet Seal space became part of the new, larger location that Victoria Secret and PINK moved to this past fall.

The Buckles temporary location is next to The Childrens Place and ULTA. Its original storefront is between Express and Victorias Secret.
Unlike most string trios, the members of Simply Three dont stick to  or even focus on  classical music. Audiences at their concert next weekend at the Marie W. Heider Center for the Arts might hear some Giacomo Puccini, but they are just as likely to hear George Gershwin or fresh and imaginative versions of songs by artists such as Adele and Imagine Dragons.

Simply Three also does unclassical things such as improvise jazz standards while taking suggestions from the audience.

Cellist Zack Clark and bass player Nick Villalobos are the bands founders (violinist Glen McDaniel is the trios third member). Nick and I met in ninth grade when we were both in the Phoenix Youth Symphony, Clark said. We went to different high schools, but we used to hang out at each others houses and talk about the bass and cello.

They kept in touch after high school, and in the summer of 2010, Villalobos was about to move back to Phoenix after working in Utah. Meanwhile, Clark was working at the Bank of America in Phoenix.

I was missing music, and I hated my job, Clark recalled.

Both he and Villalobos occasionally subbed with the Phoenix Symphony (Villalobos still does on occasion), but both wanted to play string music in a different way.

At first they were a duo, but they soon realized they needed another instrument to carry the melody. Thats when they added a violin.

Clark quit his job at the bank and has never looked back. Its been a step at a time, he said. At first we did weddings. Then it was Lets do an album. Then it was Lets do a video.

From those small beginnings, Simply Three is riding a wave of popularity that cellist Clark attributes largely to the Internet.

I think YouTube is the main reason we are as popular as we are right now, Clark said. The last time I looked we had almost 20 million views, and it seems like every week well get a dozen inquiries (about future gigs)  its a great marketing tool.

Clark said hes personally blown away and grateful that the band now tours extensively, sells records all over the world and can be as creative as they want.

Up until now, much of that creativity has focused on cover songs, even though familiar tunes can present quite a challenge in their own right.

Sometimes it seems like its almost impossible to think of a song being done any other way, Clark said, but well say What if we did it slower? or What if we cut the bridge or mashed it up with another song?

Clark says Simply Three will play quite a few pop covers at the Heider Center. Well do Adele and Coldplay and a jazz piece, where we ask the audience to give us feedback while were playing, Clark said. We improvise, and every single time its different and a lot of fun.

The band has its third album of covers coming out next month  people can preorder it at the concert or at the bands website  but Clark said the big goal for the year is to record a fourth album of original songs.

Were checking out studios right now, he said, because recording strings can be difficult since there are so many harmonics and overtones.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Authorities say three inmates who escaped from a maximum-security jail in Southern California cut through half-inch steel bars, got to the roof and rappelled down using a makeshift rope.

The men, including one accused of murder, escaped from the Orange County Central Mens Jail in Santa Ana sometime on Friday.

Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, were last seen during the early morning hours on Friday, according to an Orange County Sheriffs Department alert released early Saturday.

At 9.p.m., jail staff realized they were unaccounted for, and at midnight, it was confirmed that they had escaped, Sheriffs Lt. Jeff Hallock said at a news conference Saturday morning.

All three men were being held pending trial for violent crimes.

The most high-profile is Nayeri, who is one of four people accused of kidnapping and torturing a marijuana dispensary owner who authorities suspect they falsly believed had buried money in a desert.

Prosecutors allege that while driving to the desert, Nayeri and two other men burned the dispensary owner with a blowtorch and cut off his penis. Authorities also say that in an attempt to destroy DNA evidence, they poured bleach on the man before dumping him and his girlfriend on the side of the road.

They took the dispensary owners penis with them so that it could never be re-attached, authorities said.

Nayeri fled to Iran before Newport Beach authorities could take him into custody, but was later arrested by the FBI in Prague. He was held in the jail without bail since September 2014.

Tieu, in custody since October 2013, was charged with murder. Duong is facing an attempted murder charge.
As winter wears on, a few cheap and easy fixes can help keep homes warm while saving energy and money.

The average household spends about $2,000 a year on utilities, almost half of which goes toward heating and cooling, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Luckily, a little savvy can go a long way toward reducing heating bills. Five ideas from the energy experts:

Clean and clear

Check your furnace filter on a monthly basis. If its dirty, it wont function as efficiently as it could, said Lauren Urbanek, senior energy policy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The EPA recommends cleaning or replacing furnace filters every three months.

And Bob McGee, a spokesman for the Con Edison utility company, says, Make sure someone comes in to tune up the heating system once a year. Service contracts are always a good idea.

If youre in the market for a new furnace, opt for an Energy Star-certified model. Some upgrades can reduce heating costs by as much as 30 percent, McGee said.

And remember to make sure the heating vents arent blocked and that everythings cleared out of the way, otherwise youll be heating your drapes or the back of your furniture instead of the room, Urbanek said.

Get with the program

Consider investing in a programmable thermostat to maximize energy efficiency. We recommend keeping it set to between 68 and 72 degrees when people are home, and then down to between 55 and 65 when no one is home and at night, Urbanek said.

The EPA says the thermostat should be set to 8 degrees lower than normal at night and when no ones home.

Some utility companies provide programmable thermostats for free or offer rebates, so its worth calling your energy provider before heading to the hardware store.

Its always a good idea to check our website for existing rebates and promotions, and also call to see what rebates or promotions might be coming up, McGee said.

Even without special offers, most programmable thermostats are under $100, Urbanek said, and will save you an estimated $180 a year on energy costs. A programmable thermostat can cut consumption by 20 to 30 percent, she said.

Put windows, fans to work

Make sure your curtains are open when the sun is out and closed when its dark and cold outside, Urbanek said. And remember that warm air rises, so if you have a ceiling fan, keeping it on low with the blade direction reversed (moving clockwise) will gently bring the warm air back down.

Seal and insulate

If youre doing all that and your bills are still high, the Natural Resources Defense Council recommends checking for air leaks in your home and duct systems. Things like caulking and window stripping are really easy to do, Urbanek said.

A lot of people automatically assume that if your house is drafty or cold you need new windows. Its sometimes true. But in a lot of cases, that might not be the most cost-effective way of keeping warm for less, she said. Air sealing and insulation often gives you way more bang for your buck in terms of savings.

The average household can cut its heating and cooling costs by around $200 per year just by following Energy Stars sealing and insulation guidance (www.energystar.gov) and using Energy Star-certified appliances, according to the EPA.

Consider an energy audit

Many energy companies help customers get professional energy audits of their homes or offer lists of energy audit providers, and some utilities offer financial incentives to have audits done. A professional can pinpoint improvements that can translate into greater energy efficiency and savings, McGee said.
DES MOINES, Iowa  Donald Trump and some mainstream Republicans are engaged in a long-distance flirtation. Both sides are coming to the realization that they'll need each other if the billionaire businessman becomes the party's presidential nominee.

The GOP establishment is no fonder of Trump than when he first roiled the campaign last summer with his controversial comments about immigrants and women. But with voting beginning in just over a week, his durability atop preference polls has pushed some donors, strategists and party elders to grudgingly accept the prospect of his winning the nomination.

"We'd better stop hoping for something else and accept the possibility that he's our nominee and be prepared to rally around him if that's the case," said Fred Malek, a top Republican presidential fundraiser.

Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican nominee who represented Kansas in the House and Senate for decades, said of Trump: "He's got this personality where I do believe he could work with Congress."

Trump, too, has started to suggest that he'd look for ways to work with Republican leaders if he wins.

"I'm a dealmaker who will get things done," he said Thursday during an event in Las Vegas. "There's a point at which  let's get to be a little establishment. We got to get things done, folks, OK?"

However, the establishment's growing acceptance of Trump's electoral prospects so far hasn't manifested itself in tangible support for his campaign. The real estate mogul has not been endorsed by any congressional lawmakers or governors, nor are there any indications of a big wave of major donors planning to get involved with his campaign, despite Trump's assertion that he's received "so many calls" from wealthy and influential Republicans.

If anything, the most visible signs of support for Trump's campaign in recent days have come from those who see themselves as outside the Republican establishment. Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and a favorite of the tea party insurgency, announced her support for him on Tuesday. Amy Kremer, the former chairman of the Tea Party Express organization, announced plans this week to launch a super PAC backing Trump's candidacy.

"The one thing I know for sure is that he absolutely is 100 percent pro-American and he loves this country and wants to restore it to greatness," Kremer said of Trump. "At this point, I really believe he is the only one with the ability to do that."

Much of the mainstream Republican reckoning with Trump is rooted in deep disdain for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the businessman's closest rival. Cruz is seen as more likely to try to upend the web of lobbyists, donors and other power brokers who have long wielded enormous influence in the Republican Party.

Liz Mair, a communications operative who is running one of the GOP's few anti-Trump efforts, said donors affiliated with other candidates would rather let Trump beat Cruz in the early voting states than let their least-favorite senator gain momentum.

"They'd rather that he kills Cruz by winning in Iowa and New Hampshire and then try to take him down," Mair said.

Even as he's taken up the anti-establishment mantle, Trump has made some quiet overtures to GOP powerbrokers. He met with Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson last year and has also reached out to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, though he hasn't spoken directly with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

There are still big swaths of establishment-minded Republican voters and officials who staunchly oppose Trump's candidacy and believe both he and Cruz are unelectable in November. They say there's still plenty of time for a more mainstream candidate to mount a serious challenge.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are all seeking to beat expectations in Iowa, then be a top finisher in New Hampshire. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is also in the mix in New Hampshire.

Having already been endorsed by four senators, Rubio's campaign says it's preparing to unveil a series of endorsements from high-profile elected officials in the coming weeks, part of an effort to push more mainstream Republicans to coalesce behind his candidacy.

"They're not lining up behind Donald Trump," Rubio said Friday on Fox News when asked about Trump's establishment support. "They're just telling people their opinion about Ted Cruz."

Still, John Catsimatidis, a major Republican and Democratic donor, said it's time for the GOP to accept that when it comes to Trump's strength, "the facts are the facts." After donating to several campaigns, including Bush's and a super PAC supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker before he dropped out of the race in the fall, Catsimatidis says he's now talking up Trump, a longtime friend, in conversations with other big money donors.

"He showed his toughness and we need somebody tough," he said.

Trump himself has been a fixture of the New York donor class for decades and already has deep relationships with many establishment players. He often talks about how he's been in politics all his life and has been seen as the "fair-haired boy" showering contributions on both Republicans and Democrats.
MADISON -- Fifty years after a soldiers act of bravery in Vietnam was rewarded with a Purple Heart, the medal was found affixed to an abandoned backpack in Madison, months after its owner discovered it missing from a northern California boarding house.

When the backpack was found last month outside the City-County Building, the medal was almost overlooked. But due to the diligence of Madison Police Officer Mike Brennan and Capt. Zachariah Fike of the Army National Guard in Vermont, the owner of the medal, who has no connection to Wisconsin, has been located.

Specialist 4 Craig E. Hampton  a 69-year-old veteran of Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, depicted in the 2002 film We Were Soldiers  lives in California. Somehow, his Purple Heart ended up in Madison.

Hampton earned his Purple Heart after being wounded in action on Nov. 12, 1966, during Operation Paul Revere IV while conducting search-and-destroy missions in Chu Pong and the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam. He believes his medal made its way to the Dairy State after it disappeared from a boarding house several months ago, Fike said.

Fike, also a Purple Heart recipient, is skilled at returning lost Purple Heart medals  which are awarded to members of the military who are wounded or killed in action  to their owners. He spends much of his time running the nonprofit organization Purple Hearts Reunited Inc., which he founded in 2012.

Purple Hearts are often lost or stolen, Fike said. Purple Hearts Reunited has returned more than 200 of the medals.

The organization gets three to five medals a week, while others are purchased from various auction websites. Posthumously awarded medals can be purchased for about $300 or more if they hold historical value, said Fike, who tries to get as many of those medals as possible and return them to families.

After Hamptons medal was found in Madison on Dec. 9, Brennan, a veteran whose son Josh was killed while serving as a paratrooper with the Armys 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan in 2007, was determined to not only locate the medals owner, but ensure it was given back in a respectful manner.

Being a veteran, and losing our son, this means the world to me, Brennan said. I know what (the Purple Heart) means and the sacrifice that a person made in combat to receive a Purple Heart  you dont just send that in the mail. You dont have them stop by the station and pick it up.

Brennan reached out to Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who in 2010 became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam war. Giunta then contacted Fike.

Its such a small world, said Fike, who met Giunta at a medal reuniting in Denver. There was something about Sal that spoke to me and I knew I would see him again.

Brennan said Giuntas involvement in reuniting Hampton with his Purple Heart is particularly personal, as Giunta received a Congressional Medal of Honor after defending his men in an ambush and trying to save Brennans son Josh, a recipient of multiple medals including three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

When Giunta introduced Brennan and Fike, Fike was not optimistic about finding the medals owner. But it took less than 48 hours to make the connection.

We were able to track him down with some help, Fike said. Once we pulled his military record, we were able to identify that this was the veteran in California so we knew where he was. ... The residence that we found had no working numbers, so we called the sheriffs department to go to the residence to pass a note.

When deputies arrived at the residence in the Apple Valley area of southern California, Fike said, there was no answer to a knock at the door. Being a small town, neighbors came out after seeing the squad car outside. They told the deputies that Hampton had moved away.

Thats when the search for the Purple Heart recipient could have gone cold.

The deputies could have given up and gone back to work, Fike said.

Instead, they went to the Post Office, which had a phone number for Hampton.

Fike and Brennan were able to get in touch with Hampton to let him know his medal had been found.

He was very grateful, Brennan said.

Brennan and Fike are now trying to arrange a reunion ceremony to return the medal to Hamptons safekeeping.

While Fike has been a part of many medal reunions, he said this one will remain special because of the circumstances of the medals discovery and the networking that led to finding its owner, whose son is now stationed at Fort Hood serving in the same cavalry his father had.

Its a circle of veterans, Fike said. You have myself, who is a veteran currently serving active duty, a police detective who is a veteran and a Gold Star Father, a Vietnam veteran who lost a medal, and his son who is currently serving.
A conservative advocacy group is standing by its claim that former Sen. Russ Feingold was warned of problems at the Tomah VA Medical Center and failed to respond, which Feingold  and the author of a memo central to the claim  are disputing.

The group, Wisconsin Alliance for Reform, featured the claim in an ad in the Green Bay Press-Gazette this week and hasnt ruled out running more such ads.

Feingold responded a day later, flatly saying the attack ad is not true.

The Tomah VA center has been in the headlines since an investigation by the VAs Inspector General found deficiencies in care at the facility contributed to the 2014 death of a U.S. Marine from Stevens Point, Jason Simcakoski. The facilitys director and chief of staff were fired last year after those findings were disclosed.

Other lawmakers such as U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, have faced blowback about their offices handling of the matter.

Now comes the anti-Feingold ad, based on a memo written in 2009 by a union official at the Tomah VA facility and marked hand-delivered to Feingold  then a U.S. senator  and U.S. Reps. Ron Kind and Dave Obey. The memo warned that veterans were being over-prescribed narcotics at Tomah.

But the author of the memo  Lin Ellinghuysen, president of AFGE Local 0007, the local union representing most workers at the Tomah VA  changed course last year, saying the document never was delivered to Feingold or his staff.

Feingold noted that in his rebuttal to the ad, adding that his office searched for the memo and had no record of receiving it.

Ellinghuysen told the Wisconsin State Journal this week that she wrote the 2009 memo to a union official at the VA medical center in Iron Mountain, Mich., after the official told her he would testify to a congressional panel about problems at his facility. Before he testified, Ellinghuysen said she told Balkum about her plans to write the memo and that Feingold and Kind represented the Tomah area in Congress. On that basis, Ellinghuysen said she mistakenly assumed Balkum would deliver the memo to them while in Washington, D.C., and wrote that on the document.

Last year, when a reporter contacted Ellinghuysen to inquire about the memo, she said she contacted Balkum to ask if he hand-delivered it, and he said he did not.

Attempts to reach Balkum on Friday were not successful.

The memo became a public document after Ellinghuysen provided it to police when they were investigating the suicide of a former psychologist at the Tomah VA, Christopher Kirkpatrick.

I made a bad assumption, Ellinghuysen said. Russ Feingold did not receive my memo addressed to Ben Balkum.

A spokesman for Wisconsin Alliance for Reform, Chris Martin, asked in a statement why Ellinghuysen changed her story.

Im more inclined to believe what someone wrote down at the time and submitted in an official police report than what they are now saying five years later under immense political pressure, Martin said.

AFL-CIO, which is affiliated with AFGE, has contributed significantly to Feingolds past campaigns.

When asked by the State Journal if anyone urged her to change her story about the memo, Ellinghuysen said no.

Feingolds opponent in the November election, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has faced questions of his own regarding his response to the Tomah VA scandal.

Johnson, who succeeded Feingold in 2011, was criticized after it was reported that his office failed to act on whistleblower tips about problems at the Tomah VA. Johnson later acknowledged his office could have done more to respond.
By the time Bradley Burmeister met his high school science teacher more than a decade ago, concerns had already surfaced about an ancient poison that was appearing in drinking water around their Fox River Valley community. Burmeister never suspected, though, that his familys well would provide some of the scariest data.

High levels of arsenic, a substance used as a poison since the Middle Ages, had been detected in 1989 in several counties in the Fox Valley region of northeastern Wisconsin. In 2003, Seymour High School science teacher Dennis Rohr and his students began a study of private well water samples from the area that would continue for the next five years.

The arsenic level the students detected in the Burmeister familys well was off the charts: 1,650 parts per billion (ppb), or 165 times the federal health standard of 10 ppb. Burmeister  whose experience in the study sparked an interest in science that culminated in medical school  recalls it being the highest level found in the study.

To this day, Burmeisters parents regularly buy a case of gallon-sized water jugs at the grocery store to use for drinking and cooking. Despite the inconvenience, Burmeister said his parents feel it is a more affordable way to address their arsenic problem than drilling a new well or purchasing a water treatment system.

The Burmeisters are not the only family having to find alternatives to turning on the tap; arsenic is a major concern in Outagamie and Winnebago counties. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources designated an arsenic advisory area in these counties in 1993 and implemented stricter regulations for testing and well construction in 2004 and 2014.

But arsenic problems are not confined to northeastern Wisconsin. Levels above the federal standard have been detected in 51 of Wisconsins 72 counties, including La Crosse County, according to a 2006 Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council report.

The most serious health effects from arsenic exposure include a variety of cancers, nerve damage, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Chronic low-level exposure during childhood has also been linked to decreased intelligence.

In a 2014 study, researchers studying schoolchildren in Maine found regular consumption of drinking water containing 5 ppb of arsenic or more was associated with a significant IQ reduction in students in grades three to five.

"The magnitude of the association ... raises the possibility that levels (of arsenic in drinking water) that are not uncommon in the United States pose a threat to child development, the researchers wrote.

Activity can mobilize arsenic

In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered the federal health standard, or maximum contaminant level, for arsenic in public drinking water from 50 to 10 ppb. This step reflected the increasing scientific evidence for the dangers of arsenic exposure to human health and matched the World Health Organizations global drinking water standard.

The highest level ever detected in the state was found in a private well in northeastern Wisconsin. The well tested at 15,000 ppb  1,500 times the new federal threshold.

We have an arsenic hot spot in Wisconsin, said John Luczaj, a geoscience associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Madeline Gotkowitz, a hydrogeologist at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, agreed. Arsenic is a big problem in Wisconsin, and I dont think many realize that, she said.

In 1987, the DNR discovered that the St. Peter Sandstone aquifer in northeastern Wisconsin contains a high concentration of sulfide minerals which, when exposed to oxygen, can break down into arsenic. Knowing that it was the water source of more than 20,000 private wells, agency officials knew this might spell trouble.

Seymour High School rests directly above the St. Peter Sandstone formation, science teacher Rohr said. So arsenic was the main focus (of our water study) as it impacted our local community the most.

The oxygen that sets off the breakdown of sulfide minerals can be introduced by well drilling and disinfection methods, or when the water table  the level below which the ground is saturated with water  is drawn down. This may occur during periods of drought, or be triggered by human use, such as the operation of high-capacity wells.

Because of this interplay between geology and human activity, Luczaj said, private wells whose water previously tested fine for arsenic may lose their integrity.

Patrick Laughrin is all too familiar with the effect of high-capacity wells in his part of the state. He lives in Hilbert in Calumet County, just east of Winnebago County.

The arsenic in our well showed up for the first time when the high-capacity wells came in and dropped the water table, Laughrin said. It makes sense. If you drop the water table, you get more oxygen and that releases more arsenic into your water.

State steps up regulation

In 2004, the DNR introduced tougher arsenic laws in Winnebago and Outagamie counties. With 20 percent of the private well samples there analyzed in 1992-93 exceeding the EPAs new health standard of 10 ppb, this area was thought to pose the greatest exposure threat to the largest number of residents. The new regulation required all drilling and disinfection methods to minimize the exposure of sulfide rocks to oxygen.

For Luczaj, of UW-Green Bay, this was a step in the right direction, but he said it may not go far enough.

The geology doesnt stop at political boundaries, Luczaj said. The area definitely extends into the neighboring counties. Its pretty likely that well see increasing problems as aquifers get drawn down.

A 2013 study of 3,868 private wells from across the state found 2.4 percent of them exceeded arsenic levels of 10 ppb. If that proportion was applied to all of the estimated 940,000 households on private wells in Wisconsin  a calculation endorsed by the studys lead author  residents of 22,560 homes may be consuming unsafe levels of the chemical.

Testing, grants rarely used

The DNR has a well compensation grant program that makes residents whose well water exceeds 50 ppb of arsenic  five times the federal standard  eligible for up to $9,000 to drill a new well. The program can be used to address other types of contamination as well.

However, during the past five years, only 10 or fewer grants were awarded per year. Households whose water contains up to 49 ppb  almost 10 times the amount of arsenic shown to impact a childs intellectual development  have to cover the cost of a new well on their own, or pay for other options that will make their water safe to drink.

To reduce arsenic exposure, people must be aware of its presence in their drinking water in the first place. But with a mere 16 percent of private well owners in Wisconsin estimated to test their water annually, the number of residents who are unaware is large.

Raising that awareness was part of Rohrs goals when he began his water study in 2003. In 2014  11 years after Rohrs study  the DNR revised its arsenic regulation yet again, recognizing the persistent nature of Wisconsins arsenic problem.

This time, the new state law required that arsenic, in addition to coliform bacteria and nitrate, be tested at the time of a property transfer, but only if the buyer requests a well inspection. The same three contaminants also have to be tested after the completion of certain well repair work, such as fixing a broken water pump.

Bad wells replaced by city water

Some communities in Wisconsin have addressed their arsenic problem by offering citizens a switch from private to municipal water. City water is required by law to be tested regularly for arsenic, which takes the burden of monitoring water quality off the homeowners shoulders.

The Stilson family in Oshkosh took advantage of the opportunity to switch in 2000, following several years of having bottled water delivered to their home after the level of arsenic in their well rose to 999 ppb, or nearly 100 times the health standard.

We said, Lets just get city water and get it over with,  Lynn Stilson said.

When drilling a new well is too expensive, a switch to city water not possible, or purchasing bottled water too big a hassle, another remediation option is to install an in-home water treatment system. The most cost-effective method is called a reverse osmosis system, which removes 95 percent of arsenic, as well as other contaminants.

Luczaj said vigilance is the key to avoiding arsenic, since human activity can increase the amount of the naturally occurring contaminant in well water. A one-time test for arsenic is not at all sufficient, he said.
PHOENIX -- A proposal to allow photo enforcement of laws governing stopped school buses would force people who get any kind of photo radar tickets to rat out whoever was driving their vehicle at the time.

The proposal by Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, would eliminate the requirement that photo radar tickets have a picture of whoever is behind the wheel of a vehicle that is clocked speeding or goes through a red light. Instead, the only thing that would be needed is a picture of the license plate.

What that does is tie the violation to the vehicle rather than the driver, similar to a parking ticket. Thorpe said that would prevent insurance companies from raising the premiums of drivers who are caught violating the law.

The other side of that coin, however, is that vehicle owners who get these citations in the mail would no longer be able to escape a penalty simply by showing that they are not the person in the picture. Instead, they would have the choice of either providing the name of who was behind the wheel or paying the ticket themselves.

Thorpe's far-reaching legislation, HB 2366, also would allow schools put photo radar cameras on their buses even as pressure builds to ban the technology entirely.

He said schools have told him there is a problem with motorists ignoring the legal requirement to stop when a bus is loading or discharging students. He said mounting cameras on the buses should help catch violators and potentially deter others.

The legislation comes as Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, has introduced SCR 1010, asking voters to outlaw entirely the use of cameras to enforce traffic laws. And Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, is pushing SB 1241 to keep cities and counties from setting up the cameras on state highways.

Thorpe's proposal also comes on the heels of a vote in Tucson to ban the city from using photo radar. Thorpe's bill would appear to allow schools within the city to put them on their buses despite that vote.

HB 2366 has provoked an outcry among "tea party'' interests who have lashed out at Thorpe and the 10 other legislators who have signed on as cosponsors, putting many of them on the defensive.

"It's interesting that the whole libertarian Facebook crowd is just crucifying me right now,'' said Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, who is on that list.

Finchem said he remains adamantly opposed to the use of photo enforcement, calling it "the sign of an Orwellian state.'' And he pointed out that he also signed on as a cosponsor to Smith's measure for a public vote to outlaw it.

But Finchem said he thinks that the issue with school buses is "a little bit different'' and that Thorpe's bill deserves to be heard.

Arizona law requires motorists to stop when a school bus has its flashing lights on and the "stop'' sign on the left side of the bus extended. A first violation can draw a $250 fine; anyone convicted of three violations within 36 months loses a license for at least six months.

Despite those penalties, Thorpe said people ignore the signs and children get injured.

He said the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice says 24 percent of all school bus-related injuries are from kids getting on and off the bus.

"These injuries occur in the 'danger zone' about 10 feet from each side of the school bus,'' Thorne said. "In these hazardous areas, children are at risk of being injured.''

So he wants to make it optional for schools to take pictures of offenders.

"I have no idea whether any school districts would take advantage of it,'' he said.

Stephanie Boe, spokeswoman for Tucson Unified School District, said there have been "isolated cases'' where there have been problems at a particular bus stop.

"However, we alert local law enforcement so they can take proactive steps and monitor the intersection,'' she said. And Boe said there is another reason TUSD might not opt for photo enforcement.

"Given current funding, I can't see how we would ever pay for something like this,'' she said.

But Thorpe has an answer for that: Schools could work with private companies who would set up and operate the cameras -- for a share of the ticket proceeds.

Thorpe acknowledged the increasing hostility of Arizona motorists to having traffic laws enforced by cameras that often are set up and operated by private companies for a profit. But he said this is different.

"Unlike speeding tickets or running a red light, you've got a flashing school bus dropping off kids,'' he said. "You certainly want people to respect that and protect those kids.''

Thorpe said there are provisions in the measure designed to get the support of those who don't like photo radar. Key among them is the provision linking the ticket to the vehicle.

At the minimum, that eliminates the need to take pictures of the driver -- as well as any chance the photo could become public.

"The other advantage to that is because you're no longer giving a citation to the individual, then the insurance companies cannot add (surcharges) to their insurance policy,'' he said. But there's a catch.

"Now, if you decide not to divulge who the driver of the car, of course you're then stuck with the ticket,'' Thorpe conceded, along with the hike in insurance premiums.

And Thorpe's bill has something else: a cap on fines.

He said current law allows cities and counties, who get to keep most of the penalties, to set them pretty much whatever they want. His legislation sets the fine for most violations at no more than $150.

But there are exceptions.

Those who are caught speeding through school zones or driving more than 85 mph would still face higher fines, as would those who pass stopped school buses.
SPARTA  A Monroe County teen has been accused of making a bomb threat that caused a brief evacuation at Los Angeles International Airport.

Seventeen-year-old Clint O. Terrell reportedly confessed to local authorities that he was the one who called in the Jan. 8 threat that forced the evacuation of Terminal 1 at LAX.

The town of Byron teen said he did it to prove himself worthy of joining an online hacking group, according to the Monroe County Sheriffs Department.

The Monroe County District Attorneys Office has charged Terrell with causing a bomb scare and impersonating an officer, both felonies, and disorderly conduct and using a computer to make a threat, both misdemeanors. He was released Thursday on a $1,000 cash bond and will make an initial court appearance Monday.

Terrell also could face federal charges.

Terrell contacted authorities to confess about a week after the threat, which reportedly was made and recorded through a Skype account on his computer and later uploaded to YouTube.

Terrell reportedly called the airport and identified himself as a federal agent. He claimed there was a suspect, possibly affiliated with ISIS, with a bag of explosives, according to the report.

Terrell identified himself as someone else during the call but refused to give specifics of his identity. He said the airport only had five to 10 minutes to do something and then hung up.

The terminal was evacuated but reopened about an hour later after the FBI found the threat not credible, according to news sources.
MADISON -- A meeting between University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross and student activists pushing UW to create a better climate on campus for minority students drew condemnation from a prominent Republican in the state Legislature this week.

Cross met for two hours on Thursday with representatives from the United Council of University of Wisconsin Students  the same group that held a protest during a meeting of the UW Board of Regents last month.

The students, like those at campuses across the country, have demanded the UW System take several steps to improve the experiences of black and other minority students at predominantly white colleges and universities.

Those demands include mandatory racial awareness training for every student and employee of the UW System, increased funding for mental health services and new evaluations of the Systems diversity plans.

Students have also called for administrators to issue a public apology for what they describe as a lack of progress on diversity within the UW System, and said after their meeting that Cross had agreed to do so.

United Council shared governance chairman and UW-Fond du Lac student Lamonte Moore said the group appreciated the opportunity to meet with Cross, but will need to see more action from UW officials before they are satisfied.

It was definitely a good first step, but we have a long way to go, Moore said.

On Friday, state Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, sent out a press release blasting Cross for wasting time appeasing the political correctness crowd.

Cross needs to prioritize the educational interests of all students, said Nass, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges.

By promising to issue an official apology for unsubstantiated charges of racial injustice, he further damages the systems already tattered credibility with the public and further divides the citizens of this state, Nass wrote.

Moore said Nass statement unfairly characterized the United Council, and said the changes the organization is pushing for will benefit all students by making them more culturally competent.

UW System spokesman Alex Hummel declined to respond to Nass statement.

Hummel confirmed that Cross will issue a statement acknowledging shortcomings in efforts to improve racial climate and plans to continue meeting with student demonstrators.

Hummel said Cross has made similar statements about diversity in the past, including on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We need to do a better job of not only increasing the number of students, staff and faculty of color but also improving their experiences on our campuses, Cross wrote in a statement on Facebook.
In corporate and political America, women just cant win.

If youre tough and take charge, youre pushy, bossy, maybe even a bitch. If you stand aside and let others give direction, youre meek, weak, probably not leadership material.

Sometimes youre accused of being all these at once.

In a new survey of women in technology, 84 percent of respondents said theyve gotten feedback that they were too aggressive. Yet 53 percent also said theyve been told they were too quiet. A full 44 percent said theyve heard both that they were too aggressive and too quiet.

This is hardly the only double bind that women face in the workplace.

If youre a woman and you show emotion, youre fragile, dramatic, crazy. But if youre emotionally restrained, youre cold, heartless, maybe even stupid.

If you take generous maternity leave and carve out time for family responsibilities, youre insufficiently serious about your career. If, post-baby, youre back at the office too soon, youre a poor role model for colleagues yearning for a healthy work-life balance.

If you dont ask for a raise for fear of being disliked, your priorities are misplaced. If you promote yourself and demand that your work be recognized, youre punished for being unlikable and denied opportunities to advance.

If youre not sufficiently well-dressed, youre frumpy. But if youre too dolled up, youre vain and superficial. Witness one infamous tweet-shaming incident, in which a tech chief executive posted a snapshot of a conference attendees stilettos alongside the hashtag #brainsnotrequired.

If youre unattractive or overweight, youll be ignored. But if youre babealicious, youre suspected of getting by on your looks. At a professional event a few years ago, a male journalist Id just met told me I was lucky to be pretty, but not too beautiful. This meant Id go far, he explained, but only because, you know, the rest of the journalism industry is so sexist.

Its not hard to find anecdotes of similarly unattainable standards imposed on American women (and that men, more often than not, are exempted from; can you imagine 84 percent of men in any industry being told they were too aggressive?). Ask your female colleagues if you dont believe me.

Or look to the past few election cycles.

Few women find themselves more tormented by impossible, Goldilocks-like expectations than female politicians, given their very public roles and the huge numbers of people judging them against wildly different benchmarks.

Research has shown that the public expects politicians and other leaders to be tough and strong, while women are generally associated with traits such as compassion and warmth, notes Kelly Dittmar, a political scientist at Rutgers University and a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics. These conflicting stereotypes mean that virtually any female politician, exhibiting virtually any behavior, may be seen as either not woman enough or not politician enough. Or both.

Some manage this delicate balance better than others. Sarah Palin, Dittmar observed, effectively portrayed herself as a pit bull [in] lipstick. Just feminine enough, just macho enough.

Others, notably the always-too-cold-yet-also-somehow-too-emotional Hillary Clinton, have struggled. In a rare moment, Clinton even acknowledged this  during, of all things, a recent interview on Lifetime, the ultimate forum for showcasing ones softer side.

Here is my dilemma, Clinton said. Its really important not to wall yourself off from how you are actually feeling about what people say or how they treat you or how they treat somebody else that offends you or upsets you. But youre also as a woman in a high public position or seeking the presidency, as I am, you have to be aware of how people will judge you for being, quote, emotional. And so its a really delicate balancing act.

She noted that other female politicians also fret over how to thread the needle: We all talk about the same challenges, which is how you navigate what is still a relatively narrow path, to be yourself, to express yourself, to let your feelings show, but not in a way that triggers all of the negative stereotypes.

Its easy to tell Clinton to stop trying to calibrate her image so carefully. And its easy to tell professional women to stop obsessing over how theyre being judged; to cease whining and worrying; to stop expending so much energy fine-tuning every outfit or meeting comment; to stop getting distracted by things that dont matter and just deliver the goods.

Then we look around or watch cable news or hear what a boss or a colleague or a random stranger at a professional event tells us  and we learn something entirely different.
Gov. Scott Walker says tenured professors at the University of Wisconsin should teach another class. Hes wrong  but more on why in a moment.

First, what is tenure? Jump through some publishing and teaching hoops for a few years and you essentially get a job for life. How often have you heard of a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse professor being fired?

Why is there tenure? Because thats the way it has been since 1940, when a bunch of professors cloaked their demand for lifetime jobs as academic freedom.

And once they get tenure, they disappear. I know. I taught at UW-L for more than 30 years. As one told me the day he received tenure, Now I dont have to work anymore.

Last summer, the Legislature removed tenure protections from state law. But according to UW System President Ray Cross, We want to make sure and guarantee that tenure remains as a tenant, as a pillar of higher education.

Heres what life is like for someone wanting tenure at UW-L. You quickly find out the unwritten rule that research and publishing are valued far more than teaching. The problem is it is mostly rubbish, researching everything from extramarital sex to the connection between insects and dreams.

And how to double your publishing. Call a friendly professor at another university  Ill list you as a coauthor of my article if youll list me as a coauthor of yours.

Why is publication more valued than teaching excellence? Because it is an incestuous system set up by doctorates for doctorates. The faculty hires clones of themselves.

How about teaching? He probably teaches three, at most four, classes a semester, and those classes meet Tuesdays and Thursdays so he only has to come to campus two days a week.

Often the professor teaches the same course back-to-back he has taught several times before  no preparation required. She is probably in the classroom fewer than 300 hours each year. PowerPoint presentations and multiple-choice tests are provided by the textbook publisher and are graded by computer.

Many professors receive total compensation of more than $100,000 a year. Do the math, and it turns out to be almost $350 per hour teaching. Sure you can throw in a few office hours, which most just post outside their office door but are nowhere to be found, useless meetings, an all-expense-paid conference, the worthless publications and you might get it down to a mere $200 per hour worked.

Whats more of a rip is when a professor gets release time, which is code for not having to teach a class. Every few years a professor gets a sabbatical to develop individual, social and environmental responsibility. And we wonder why a degree costs so much?

Who suffers with an overpaid, underworked, bloated faculty focused on publishing? The students who have to put up with stale, boring, second-class teaching. Along with the parents and the taxpayer who pick up the tab.

Tenure is a scam.

In March, the Board of Regents will vote on a wishy-washy change in tenure that would allow chancellors to get rid of faculty for poor performance. Chancellors will do nothing.

Whats the real solution?

Fire Cross and everyone on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and every chancellor who wont passionately embrace a student-centered mission, To help every student reach his or her full potential. Hire the best world-class teachers. Let students, parents and taxpayers have the major voice when deciding who to hire and retain  with no guarantee of future employment if they cant continually deliver superior teaching. Eliminate useless research. Eliminate the deadwood that whines like stuck pigs when asked to teach more.

Walker says UW professors should teach another class. Hes wrong. If they are a great teacher, they should teach several more classes. If not, they should go to the University of Minnesota.
The only thing predictable about the 2016 presidential campaign so far has been its unpredictability.

A year ago, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush were their respective parties front-runners and presumed nominees. Now, Donald Trump continues to hold a commanding lead in national polls for the GOP nomination, and Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who is a self-proclaimed socialist, is poised to beat Clinton in the upcoming Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Could Trump and Sanders face off in the general election? What would it mean for the Democratic and Republican parties? What would it mean for the country? Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis think the unthinkable.

Joel Mathis

The fact that were even contemplating a Sanders-versus-Trump election proves one thing: The electorate has started to reach its polarized limits.

Decades ago, both parties spanned fairly broad sections of the ideological spectrum. Its how Democrats could be the party of Southern segregationists and the authors of the Voting Rights Act; its how Republicans could keep middle-of-the-road Dwight Eisenhower in office for eight years and nominate conservative firebrand Barry Goldwater to the presidency just a few years after that.

That meant overlap: The most conservative Democrat in Congress back in those days was often somewhere to the right of the most liberal Republican.

The last few decades have dispensed with that order. Study after study shows that the electorate has sorted itself into increasingly homogeneous parties: If youre liberal, youre a Democrat. If youre conservative, youre Republican. The overlap is gone.

The result? Youre getting to see the parties in their essences. You get to see the fruition of ideas and their logical consequences.

For Republicans, it means that decades spent whipping up right-leaning voters into an angry hysteria  thanks to talk radio, Fox News and online outlets like Breitbart  has paid off with widespread support for a candidate whose appeal boils down to snarling, offense-giving tribalism, the pinnacle of a career spent diminishing the fortune he inherited.

For Democrats, youre seeing a desire to help the poor and middle class live financially sustainable lives. But Sanders heart may be bigger than his wallet: Voxs Ezra Klein says Sanders proposed health care plan would require raising $1 trillion a year in taxes. Paul Krugman, no conservative, says it would probably require higher middle class taxes than Sanders is willing to admit. Its hard to believe the American electorate has much stomach for that.

Its easy, and wrong, to make a fetish of centrism and compromise. In our politics, the best ideas tend to flow to the middle, not from it. But the system gets bogged down without some moderate good sense in the mix. A Trump-versus-Sanders race suggests were dire need of more good sense.

Ben Boychuk

Readers of a certain age and disposition will remember a Marvel Comics series from the late 1970s and early 80s called What If  ? The gimmick was to take a story from the main continuity of Marvels comic book universe and put a different spin on it. What If Spiderman Joined the Fantastic Four? What If The Avengers Had Fought Evil During the 1950s? What If Captain America Had Been Elected President?

The 2016 presidential election feels like a What If  ? story.

What if the Republican Party base revolted? What if the presumed nominee of the Democratic Party collapsed under the weight of her scandalous past and present?

Sanders persistence as a candidate and credible challenger to Clinton is as remarkable as Trumps persistently high poll numbers. The socialist from Vermont has raised more than $76 million for his campaign, mostly from small donors. Shes raised more money, but hes drawing support from a broader base.

You think the conservatives are angry and divided? The fact that Sanders is within striking distance of Clinton in Iowa and looks to be crushing her in New Hampshire speaks to how cranky and dissatisfied the Democrats more left-wing base has become. And with word this week that the State Department inspector general found highly sensitive classified information among Clintons personal emails, her troubles can no longer be brushed off by the campaign as right-wing paranoia (which was always a fib).

Whats interesting about the prospect of a Trump-Sanders election, though, is the reality of the choice American voters would be asked to make. Trump is no conservative. Hes barely a Republican. Hes a nationalist first and foremost. So is Sanders.

A Trump-Sanders matchup would make for a wild What If  ? tale. What if Americans have to choose between two candidates who dislike free trade, love higher tariffs on foreign goods, and want to restrict legal and illegal immigration? What if the choice is between a candidate who would cut taxes and add trillions to the deficit and a candidate who would raise taxes and add trillions to the deficit?

Mister, we could use a man like Captain America again.
The Internet is often accused of fueling conspiracy theories, but it also serves as an outlet for mindless conspiracy bashing.

Some pundits took the start of the new year as an excuse to aggregate, and denigrate, recent conspiracy theories. Alternet published The 5 Craziest Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories of 2015 (subtitle: The indefatigable right-wing loony factory pumped out some doozies this year.). Bustle collected The Most Bizarre Conspiracy Theories of 2015 and National Memo offered This Year in Crazy: 2015 Belonged to the Wingnuts. The Guardians film critic, Peter Bradshaw, wished for fewer smug conspiracy theories in 2016. Nowadays, he lamented, there is always a malign pseudo-sophisticate dunce who can be relied upon to appear out of the online thicket, darkly insisting on a provocateur conspiracy behind everything.

When major news breaks, it doesnt take long for people to come up with conspiracy theories, and it doesnt take much longer for other people to call the conspiracy theorists wacky, delusional and other unkind adjectives. Confirmation bias kicks in; both sides double down on the inflammatory rhetoric.

Whos smugger, really  to borrow Bradshaws word  the theorists or the anti-theorists? The antis should not be so quick to assert their superiority.

You dont have to be crazy to believe conspiracy theories. In a 2013 survey of 1,247 registered American voters, for example, just over a third agreed that global warming is a hoax, and half agreed that there was a conspiracy behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When researchers look at how many people believe any conspiracy theory, the figures come in even higher. As many as 9 out of 10 people acknowledge entertaining one conspiracy theory or another.

Recent psychological research reveals why we are all  yes, all  wired to feel the lure of conspiracy theories. Given a handful of dots, our pattern-seeking brains cant resist trying to connect them.

Faced with events that have significant consequences, for example, we tend to suspect there must have been an equally significant cause. One experiment, conducted long before the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, used the context of a plane crash. If there were many casualties, people felt that big explanations, such as endemic malpractice in the airline industry, were more plausible. If there were no casualties, people were happy with smaller explanations, such as a single malfunctioning component.

Its the impulse to think big  common to everyone  that leads some to believe that mass shootings are a ruse designed to repeal the 2nd Amendment, that an assassination couldnt have been pulled off by a lone gunman, or perhaps that the president is a pawn of the New World Order.

But our built-in biases dont just nudge us toward believing large-scale conspiracy theories; they also shape how we interpret our everyday lives. Consider some defining event in your life, such as how you met your spouse. Youre probably tempted to think theres some deep explanation for it, such as fate or destiny.

Or imagine your child receives a routine vaccination, and he screams and cries for the rest of the day. Weeks later, he shows signs of autism. Given a coincidence like that, its not hard to see why a parent might suspect that the vaccine caused the disorder.

Our biases can lead us astray  plenty of scientific studies have failed to find any evidence that vaccines cause autism. But without them, wed be lost, blind to cause and effect.

Sometimes the dots really are connected. If you eat a burrito for lunch and feel horribly sick later that night, youll probably blame the burrito  and you might be right.

If you had claimed, in the early 1970s, that a hotel burglary was, in fact, a plot by White House officials to illegally spy on political rivals and ensure President Richard Nixons reelection, you might have been accused of conspiracy theorizing. Indeed, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were accused by the White House  and even their own editorial team at The Washington Post  of propagating conspiracy theories.

So if youre one of those people whos certain youd never fall for a false conspiracy theory, consider the possibility that youd never suss out a real one.

A recent study, for example, found that people who reject speculative conspiracy theories (such as evidence of alien contact is being concealed from the public) also are more likely to reject documented conspiracies (such as How likely is the idea that the government has performed mind-control experiments on its own citizens without their consent?  a coy reference to the CIAs very real MKUltra program).

Dismissing all conspiracy theories (and theorists) as crazy is just as intellectually lazy as credulously accepting every wild allegation. The tricky part is figuring out whats reasonable and whats ridiculous, and we can do that only by honestly scrutinizing why we believe what we believe.

Seen from the perspective of psychology, conspiracy theorists arent so strange.

Or, looking at it another way, conspiracy theorists are weird; its just that the rest of us are weird, too.
There is no excuse for domestic violence, and its time we quit listening to people who grasp for excuses for the inexcusable.

Sarah Palin is the latest, but shes by no means the only person to shift blame and grope for reasons.

Domestic violence does not reside in one political party or gender, one socioeconomic class or ethnicity.

And, in every case, its wrong.

For some reason, there are people who just cant accept that without an argument or a defense. Theres no defense.

There are always reasons, it seems. We heard reasons in connection with high-profile cases in Wisconsin involving Supreme Court justices and politicians a couple of years ago.

We hear reasons in courtrooms and on police reports every day.

We hear reasons, but never an excuse.

If you want to blame President Barack Obama for your problems, knock yourself out.

If you want to discuss how to solve mental illness or substance abuse or post-traumatic stress disorder for returning veterans, lets tackle those issues more effectively.

But theres never an excuse for domestic violence.

Its wonderful advice for children, and its wonderful advice for grownups: Keep your hands to yourself. Im tired of hearing justifications for men hitting women.

Palin brought up what she called the elephant in the room during her endorsement of Donald Trump last week.

Her son had just been arrested on three misdemeanor domestic-violence charges, and she wanted to make a political statement.

Thats what politicians do, I guess.

But why not make a statement against domestic violence.

That would deserve a hallelujah.

Why not use the microphone and the audience to say that every nine seconds a woman in the United States is assaulted or beaten, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence?

Why not use your clout to say that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of some physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime?

Whether in the home or the workplace or on campus, domestic violence is inexcusable.

No amount of alcohol or illness or anger provides justification.

Yet, we cant seem to point out the real elephant in the room: People just cant stop trying to find reasons to somehow justify acts of domestic violence.

We might be able to see Russia from our house, but we cant seem to see that domestic violence is always, always wrong.

People of all stripes are more than welcome to grope for reasons.

But there is never an excuse.

Ever.
TORONTO (AP)  Police on Saturday charged a 17-year-old boy with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in a remote aboriginal community in western Canada, officials said.

Police said the male suspect cant be named under Canadas Youth Criminal Justice Act. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Grant St. Germaine said nine people were shot in the school, including a female teachers aide who died at the scene and a male teacher who died in a hospital. He said seven people wounded in Fridays shooting at the school are hospitalized.

Police said two brothers, 17-year-old Dayne Fountaine and 13-year-old Drayden, were shot dead in a home before the gunman headed to the grade 7-12 La Loche Community School. Police responded to a call of shots fired at the school shortly after the lunch hour.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer Brenda Butterworth-Carr said when officers arrived at the school they saw the front door had been shot open. They entered the school, spotted the suspect and gave chase before apprehending him. He is due in court next week.

Police said they were not aware of a motive and declined to say what type of gun was used.

The school is in the remote Dene aboriginal community of La Loche in Saskatchewan Province. La Loche is a community of fewer than 3,000 where just about everybody knows everybody else.

This is a significant event for Canada, St. Germaine said. Its a huge impact on the community of La Loche. Its a part of changing times. We are seeing more violence.

Residents lit candles and placed flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the school.

Shootings at schools or on university campuses are rare in Canada. However, the countrys bloodiest mass shooting occurred on Dec. 6, 1989, at Montreals Ecole Polytechnique.

, when Marc Lepine entered a college classroom at the engineering school, separated the men from the women, told the men to leave and opened fire, killing 14 women before killing himself.
Taiz cut off from aid  SANAA, Yemen  The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen said Saturday that they are seeking ways to ensure unconditional access to Taiz, a city of about 25,000 residents besieged by Shiite rebels who control the capital and have been fighting an internationally recognized government. Only a few shops are open. Food and other basic goods needed to survive are in short supply. Basic services are scarce, including access to water and fuel, UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said in Sanaa, the capital, following a visit to Taiz. Taiz has been besieged for months by Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

10 soldiers arrested over armory raid  OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso  Ten soldiers from a disbanded elite unit loyal to Burkina Fasos former president have been arrested in connection with a raid on an armory outside the capital, an army spokesman said Saturday. The pre-dawn raid at the weapons warehouse on Friday morning exacerbated security concerns in the West African country just one week after Islamic extremists attacked a cafe and hotel popular with foreigners in Ouagadougou, killing at least 30 people.

Airstrikes kill at least 47 civilians, watchdog says  BEIRUT  At least 47 civilians were killed Saturday in airstrikes targeting areas under the control of Islamic State in eastern Syria, a monitoring group said. Jets, believed to be Russian, struck the area of Khsham on the eastern outskirts of the province of Deir al-Zour, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel- Rahman. Those deaths bring to at least 91 the number of civilians killed since Friday in airstrikes in the province, according to the Britain-based observatory. More than 250,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Syrias conflict since it started with peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011.

Iraq seeks more coalition trainers  ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT  Senior U.S. defense and military officials say that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is asking the coalition for more police training, particularly for Sunnis who will have to secure Ramadi and other towns once Islamic State militants are ousted. Abadi specifically asked for more trainers during talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the officials said. Aided by coalition airstrikes, Iraqi security forces retook Ramadi last month.
To the editor:

Flagstaff's Southside community is about to be overrun by the precedent-setting goals of distant and local interests seeking short-term profit from the failed visioning and planning of NAU and the City of Flagstaff.

The Hub demonstrates a complete failure of these institutions to embrace the concepts of community, sustainability and visioning to which they profess. NAU, a place of higher learning, aggressively pursues increased enrollment at the expense of quality education. The City of Flagstaff apparently fails to see or demonstrate an interest in fixing glitches in its transect zoning model that are failing an existing historic community, its pedestrians' safety and already overburdened ability to accommodate traffic.

Developers cash in on the demands for student housing right on downtown's doorstep while NAU waters acres of Kentucky bluegrass on land where sustainable student housing might more sensibly reside. Meanwhile the City of Flagstaff eyes a multimillion-dollar pipeline to provide water to an increasing population.

Where is the creativity, leadership, community, and vision for tomorrow in the possibility of a development like The Hub?

NIGEL SPARKS

Flagstaff
BELOIT (AP)  A 5-year-old boy riding in the back seat of his father's car in southern Wisconsin was killed after an SUV pulled up alongside them and someone opened fire, authorities said.

Police were searching Saturday for the person responsible for the attack, which happened Friday night in Beloit, a city 65 miles southwest of Milwaukee along the Illinois border. The boy, who the Rock County medical examiner's office identified Saturday as Austin Ramos Jr., was shot at least once in the abdomen and died at a hospital.

He died from "firearm related trauma" and investigators were conducting additional testing, the medical examiner's office said in its news release.

Interim Police Chief David Zibolski said the sport utility vehicle had been following the father's car. He said he didn't know long the SUV had pursued the car or if the father was the intended target, but added that the father was cooperating with authorities.

He said investigators hadn't determined how many shots were fired. The father was not hit.

"We really ask that our community in Beloit come forward and help solve this crime," Zibolski said. "We need the support and cooperation of Beloit."

Police said Saturday that they were reviewing surveillance video recorded near the shooting scene.
Lake Nicaragua with storms on the horizon. Photo Jeffrey McCrary.

Colombus and other early explorers to the Americas came in search of a passage to the Pacific Ocean which would permit water access to east Asia. This link counted among the inspirations of diverse adventurers in the Central American isthmus, from Cortes to Humboldt. In fact, Lake Nicaragua , also known as Lake Cocibolca , was repeatedly investigated for the possibilities of a direct water link to the Pacific coast.The shifts in global economies did not lay the issue to rest. Humans had great interest in moving by water from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and vice versa. The Spanish empire, obliged to trek gold eastward by mule from Peru, dedicated many resources to transoceanic route possibilities, followed in the postcolonial period by other powerful European and US efforts to open a canal. Nicaragua became the principal focus of these efforts, given the natural advantages its topography offered.Even without a canal, interoceanic travel in Nicaragua spiked during the middle of the nineteenth century, fueled by the massive human movement toward California during the Gold Rush. Cornelius Vanderbilt developed a system of transport along the San Juan River, across Lake Nicaragua , and then by land to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific coast, which benefited thousands of travelers who wished to circumvent the conflicts between whites and indigenous people along the Great Plains. Mark Twain documented the reverse journal with ample detail on Nicaragua in his Travels with Mr. Brown History was written with the production of a canal across the Central American isthmus, but in Panama rather than in Nicaragua . But this did not end the ambitions of some to create another canal in Nicaragua. Analyses continued through the twentieth century, as pressure continually rose on the already existing Panama Canal's limited capacity in terms of water to move ships and its limited size. As the Panama Canal widened, ever larger ships could pass, yet an entire class of cargo ship was still left isolated from easy movement between the oceans. A further widening of the Panama canal is simply not feasible.Undoubtedly, the world would benefit from another, wider canal, built closer to the US, in which transportation costs for many products could be dramatically lowered and greenhouse gas emissions could be cut. For this reason, near the end of the twentieth century, the Nicaraguan government and civil society developed feasibility studies for potential canal routes in Nicaragua, ranging from a "dry canal" consisting essentially of two ports connected by a highway transited by hundreds or thousands of container trucks or a train, to a dug canal crossing Lake Nicaragua at some point.The canal is now closer than ever a reality. A concession has been awarded to HKND, a venture capital firm located in Hong Kong. Although official canal construction has not begun, an Environmental and Social Impact Study, produced by ERM, has been reviewed and accepted in Nicaragua , which has provided a conceptual approval but many additional studies are pending. GAIA scientists Jeffrey McCrary and Pablo Somarriba participated in the field studies and analyses for this study, moving throughout the route. Dr. McCrary composed several sections of the extensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. As the study progressed, several points of discussion emerged among the public, as well. Although some aspects of the pending canal have been defined, many important aspects must be resolved. GAIA scientists continue to participate in discussions regarding the canal with HKND, the Nicaraguan government, and the civil society, to assure that each anticipated impact and risk be resolved. This is a gargantuan task, for a project which promises to be the largest of its kind in the world, in a country as poor and marginalized as Nicaragua, and crossing such precious natural resources as Lake Nicaragua Numerous arguments have been made to question the viability of a canal in Nicaragua, particularly the concession given to HKND. Some of the issues have been of an environmental nature, such as the emminent, total destruction of hundreds of thousands of hectares of tropical forests and wetlands, as was alleged by Jorge Huete and Axel Meyer in Nature. GAIA scientist Jeffrey McCrary participated with other Nicaraguan scientists to rebut this position in separate communication in Nature . The differences in opinion between different members of the scientific community in Nicaragua and a few people such as Jorge Huete was later revealed in further detail in an interview in Global Construction Review , another in a Swedish journal , and finally, an investigative report in Science Richard Condit from the Smithsonian Institution in Panama wrote a article in PLoS Biology , in which he discusses the possibilities that a canal in Nicaragua can mean, given the century of experience in the Panama Canal.While everyone is concerned about the effects of the Nicaragua Canal on water pollution and effects on nature, others see these problems as technical, with solutions within the grasp of those pretending to undertake such a large project. Differences of opinion about the canal abound, but a few things are certain. The Nicaragua Grand Oceanic Canal could be made wrong, and the economy and environment could suffer by water pollution and various other possible calamities. Another scenario is also looming, however, where things are done right and Nicaragua gains, along with the entire planet. It is a big project, and demands a great deal of attention, but it also holds great promise.
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Southern California NIMBYsthat is, not in my backyardershave always wielded a sizable arsenal in their perpetual quest to slow and stop development in and around the region. Chief in their armory is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), an intensely detailed and sprawling piece of legislation that demands a laborious environmental impact review (EIR) process before a project can begin construction.

Of course, the process is so laborious that developers often skirt the edges, giving land-use attorneys like Robert Silverstein plenty of legal fodder to justifiably halt development projects. Silverstein, along with his trusty backers at the La Mirada Homeowners Association, is responsible for putting the brakes several projects in Hollywood like the Millennium Hollywood Towers, the Sunset-Gordon Apartment Complex, and the Target husk currently lording over the intersection of Sunset and Western.

But Silverstein is not alone in his noble fight against new development in Los Angeles, and indeed has Hollywood company. Michael Weinstein, the president of the Hollywood based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is working ardently to put an initiative on the ballot this upcoming election to severely curtail the ability of the city to build new housing.

Weinstein is a funky character. Aside from this crusade against development, the man is also responsible for engineering the successful Measure B initiative a few years ago, which required porn-actors to wear condoms during shoots, and consequently drove 95 percent of porn production out of Los Angeles County.

Weinsteins current effort, dubbed the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative by the Coalition to Preserve L.A., comes conveniently timed to place a wall in front of Los Angeles attempts to plan the region out of its inevitable traffic gridlock.

Last August, the Los Angeles City Council passed Mobility Plan 2035, a sweeping overhaul to the citys transportation that prioritizes mass-transit and other multi-modal options, like walking and biking, over the personal vehicle. At the same time, Mayor Eric Garcetti is pursuing an aggressive plan to build an extra 100,000 housing units within city limits by 2021 to address L.A.s housing shortage. Much of this new development is centered in the citys already dense population centers, like Downtown, Hollywood, Koreatown, as well as other locations convenient to mass transit. The planning ideology follows that if people live near usable transit options, they wont driveespecially if traffic is terrible.

Weinstein and Silverstein alike have focused their efforts on Hollywood, which, in case you havent noticed, has become a hotbed for stratospheric development. High-rises are flying up left and right, all the while the neighborhoods traffic goes from absolutely insufferable to even more crushingly intolerable.

From his perspective, Weinsteinand Silverstein as wellsee the traffic as a result of the augmented development; more people means more traffic, and for some reason the city just doesnt seem to understand that.

In short, the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative would ban the practice of amending the Los Angeles general plan, freezing most neighborhoods with an archaic document from the 1980s to guide their future development, according to Streetsblog LA. At the same time, the proposed measure would also increase the amount of required parking in new developments to virtually suburban levels.

When it comes to how parking minimums affect traffic, the empirically justified philosophy roughly states that people will drive to a destination if parking is plentiful, even if that destination is located convenient to mass-transit, like, for example, the Target built atop a subway station.

That aside, the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative has drawn some heavyweight supporters. Former mayor Richard Riordan endorsed the measure earlier this month. The former managing editor of L.A. Weekly, Jill Stewart, left her post at the alternative weekly to oversee the Coalition to Preserve L.A, and direct the initiatives campaign.

Supporters like these mean the initiative is, in all likelihood, going to make it to the ballot come November.

It would be unfair, however, to simply classify Weinstein and companys efforts as entirely misguided. Much of what the so-called density-derailleurs argue is rooted in reality, insofar as much of the new L.A. development is being conducted with a lackluster approach to environmental review. Mayor Garcetti and the L.A. City Council offered their blessings to the Millennium Hollywood project, even though it definitely was going to be built directly atop an active fault-line.

At the same time, almost all the new housing being built in the city is hardly what one could consider affordable. While the rest of us are struggling in the nations most unaffordable rental market, wealthy transplants move into their new Hollywood condominiums without a second thought about the $3,500 monthly rent.

Obviously Los Angeles new development is somewhat misguided with regard to the needs of the average Angeleno. But the alternative suggested by the Coalition to Preserve L.A. replaces misguided development with an absolutely counterproductive freeze on city-planning.
Visualize yourself as you looked on a beautiful autumn day last year. There's not much of the picture that survives. Not the hemline, waistline or the shoulderline ... If you're not a Last-Year Girl. You'll like the feel of a longer, fuller skirt flowing around you as you move ... You'll enjoy having hips again - without apologies; and the satisfaction of a small, rounded, tapering waist and of having it show in the snug bodice tops. You can have it all.

Harper's Bazaar, August 1947
The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Vice article. Here are excerpts:

New York state lawmakers voted to legalize marijuana for medical use in 2014, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law last June. The new law just took effect on January 6  but it hasn't made it any easier for sick New Yorkers to get high. Among the 23 states that now allow some form of legal weed, New York's law is among the most restrictive. Only a handful of serious conditions qualify for a prescription, and so far there are only 71 patients in the entire state. The patients are only allowed to use tinctures and oils, which can be vaporized, inhaled, or consumed orally in capsules. Smoking or growing marijuana is still strictly forbidden.

Advocates for the palliative use of marijuana contend that New York's law is far too narrow. While medical marijuana has become increasingly mainstream over the past decade, Keith Stroup, a DC-based attorney and founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said there's still a lingering suspicion by some lawmakers that patients just want to use the drug recreationally. "State legislators tend to think that getting high is something to be avoided," he said. "And they're trying to avoid the appearance of someone enjoying themselves when they were meant to be taking their medicine They don't want to see it turning into another California, where anyone can get a prescription."

New York wields considerable influence over national policy, and Stroup thinks the new law could be bad news for patients in states that have yet to legalize medical marijuana. Stroup noted that when New Jersey set a precedent by becoming the first state to prohibit patients from cultivating their own plants, Delaware, Illinois, and Washington, DC followed suit. Stroup said he expects states in the Midwest and South to follow New York's model by outlawing edibles and smoking when they eventually pass their own medical pot laws. Pennsylvania is currently finalizing a bill that includes those same tight restrictions....

In a letter sent to the New York state legislature, New York Physicians for Compassionate Care  a group that represents more than 650 doctors who support medical marijuana  stressed that numerous scientific studies have shown that smoking cannabis is generally safe and can be beneficial in some cases. The letter also voiced concern that tinctures or extracts  which have higher levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in weed  might prove too potent for patients accustomed to self-medicating by smoking....

Even the few patients who do qualify and are willing to go through the hassle will have a hard time finding a doctor that can write them a prescription. Only licensed physicians whose expertise includes [certin limited medical] conditions ... can prescribe medical marijuana in New York. To do so, the doctors have to complete a special course that lasts up to four hours and costs $250.
The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new Forbes commentary by Jacob Sullum headlined "Legalization Lawsuit Shows Conservative Constitutionalists Have Marijuana-Related Memory Loss." Here is how it starts and ends (with links from the original):

Last week, two days before Mexican authorities recaptured Joaquin Guzman Loera, a.k.a. El Chapo, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt pointed to another drug lord, this one hiding in plain sight: John Hickenlooper, a.k.a. the governor of Colorado. The State of Colorado authorizes, oversees, protects, and profits from a sprawling $100-million-per-month marijuana growing, processing, and retailing organization that exported thousands of pounds of marijuana to some 36 States in 2014, Pruitt writes in a Supreme Court brief joined by Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson. If this entity were based south of our border, the federal government would prosecute it as a drug cartel.

Hickenlooper actually was a drug dealer of sorts before he got into politics, having cofounded Wynkoop Brewing Company, a Denver brewpub, in 1988. But he ended up running the drug trafficking organization described in Pruitts brief by accident. He was elected governor two years before Colorado voters decided, against his advice, to legalize marijuana. Pruitt and Peterson are trying to overturn that result, claiming that it hurt Oklahoma and Nebraska by encouraging an influx of Colorado cannabis. Their argument shows how readily some conservative Republicans let their anti-pot prejudices override their federalist principles....

Last week Texas Gov. Greg Abbott showed what a more consistent federalism looks like. Abbott proposed nine constitutional amendments aimed at restoring the balance of power between the states and the federal government. Number one on his list was an amendment that would prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one State, in line with the original understanding of the Commerce Clause. In a position paper that draws on the work of libertarian law professor Randy Barnett, who represented the plaintiffs in Raich, Abbott argues that the power to regulate interstate commerce is limited to activities that are both interstate and commerce (meaning the trade or exchange of goods). He criticizes Raich at length, asking, What constitutional provision conceivably could allow federal agents to raid a home and destroy plants that were planted, grown, and consumed inside the borders of one State and in accordance with that States law?

Although Abbott does not say so explicitly, the implication of his argument is that federal prohibition  not just of marijuana but of cocaine, heroin, LSD, lawn darts, assault weapons, or partial birth abortion  is unconstitutional insofar as it extends to purely intrastate activity. In other words, even if Oklahoma and Nebraska were right that Colorados regulation of the marijuana industry violates the CSA, it should not matter, because the CSA itself is unconstitutional. When it comes to the Constitution, not all conservatives suffer from marijuana-related memory loss.
Thursday, January 21, 2016

As reported in this local article, headlined "National marijuana group plans Ohio medical marijuana amendment for 2016 ballot," big and notable marijuana reform news keeps on coming in the Buckeye State. Here are the basics and the context:

A major national player in the marijuana legalization movement plans to put an Ohio medical marijuana measure on the November ballot. Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington D.C., plans to propose a constitutional amendment establishing a medical marijuana system similar to those in 23 other states and the District of Columbia, according to the organization's website. The Ohio amendment would allow people with certain "serious medical conditions" to purchase marijuana from retail stores or grow their own after obtaining physician approval. The state would license businesses to grow, process, test, and sell marijuana to approved patients. MPP led successful recreational marijuana initiative efforts in Colorado and Alaska and medical marijuana measures in Michigan, Montana, and Arizona. The organization has also worked with state legislatures to write medical marijuana laws. Grassroots marijuana legalization efforts have struggled to qualify for the ballot in Ohio because they lack the money to hire signature gatherers and run a robust education campaign. Ohio has not been on the radar for MPP and other major funders looking to expand legal marijuana. Last year, MPP quietly supported Issue 3, Ohio's failed recreational marijuana amendment, but did not advertise its support or contribute to the campaign. ResponsibleOhio, the political action committee backing Issue 3, was the first pro-marijuana group to collect the large number of signatures required, spending more than $20 million on its campaign. But the amendment limited the 10 commercial growing licenses to groups of campaign investors and would have legalized recreational marijuana, which divided Ohio's pro-pot advocates and attracted hundreds of opponents statewide. MPP has not formally announced its 2016 effort, but it posted a job opening Wednesday evening for an Ohio-based campaign manager. The posting says much of the campaign will be subcontracted through a consulting firm in Columbus. It was not known Wednesday evening whether that firm would be the Strategy Network, which collected signatures for and ran the Issue 3 campaign. Strategy Network founder Ian James co-founded ResponsibleOhio and was the face of the campaign. James' co-founder Jimmy Gould and Issue 3 author Chris Stock said last week they are not working on any ballot initiatives this year and instead want to work with state lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana.

This job posting on the MPP website provides additional information on what MPP has in mind for Ohio in 2016, and here is a paragraph from that posting:

The 2016 campaign  which is formally led by the new Ohioans for Medical Marijuana (OMM) thats coordinated by MPPs headquarters in Washington, D.C.  is focusing only on medical marijuana, which enjoys a high level of support among Ohio voters. If passed by a majority of Ohio voters on November 8, this initiative would legalize medical marijuana in a manner thats similar to the laws in 23 states and the District of Columbia.

The development strikes me as HUGE news in the marijuana reform arena, not just for Ohio but also for various nationwide interests. My sense has always been that MPP will not get involved in a state initiative effort unless and until (1) it has significant funding to support its work, and (2) it feels pretty confident it can and will prevail at the ballot. So the fact MPP now had resources and confidence for an expensive marijuana reform effort in a swing state in 2016 suggests it believes the Buckeye State is very ready to move away from blanket prohibition.

Not to be overlooked, a big medical marijuana reform initiative effort in swing state Ohio could (and perhaps would) impact voter turn out in significant ways in a state that Prez candidates always want to carry and that has a significant Senate seat in play. Indeed, I am inclined to guess that MPP got at least part of its funding for this Ohio effort not only from traditional marijuana reform supporters, but also from deep-pocketed supporters of Democratic candidates. Interesting times!!

Recent related post:

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/marijuana_law/2016/01/mpp-indirectly-indicates-it-is-planning-to-get-medical-marijuana-initiative-to-ohio-votes-in-2016.html
The question in the title of this post is part of the headline of this effective new International Business Times article highlighting some interesting aspects of the the on-going debate over marijuana legalization in Vermont. I recommend the article in full (especially for students in my marijuana reform seminar), and here are a few excerpts:

As one of Vermonts approximately 2,500 official medical marijuana patients, Robert Gwynn is excited his state lawmakers are considering legalizing cannabis. Born with neurofibromatosis type 1, a tumor disorder that has left him with debilitating nerve pain, limited appetite and ongoing fatigue, the 31-year-old has been part of the states medical marijuana program for the past two years. Medical marijuana, he says, has helped him halve his 14-pill-a-day pharmaceutical regimen, which had left him so mentally disconnected from reality he was afraid to drive. But he thinks a recreational market could encourage the sort of competition, proficiency and price constraints lacking in the states current system of four nonprofit dispensaries statewide. Once a month, Gwynn drives to a dispensary in Brandon, a four-hour round-trip drive from where he lives in Brattleboro, since he says the medicine quality and patient care at the dispensary 10 minutes from his house are so poor, he wont shop there.

If Vermont legalizes marijuana, Gwynn figures it will look similar to programs up and running in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon, where for-profit businesses produce and sell marijuana. He hasnt noticed anyone proposing alternatives. I havent really heard it come up, he says. When people talk about it, I dont think it is something that comes to mind.

Gwynn isnt the only one who assumes legalized marijuana in Vermont, which could occur in coming months, will resemble cannabis markets elsewhere. But drug policy experts say the state is perfectly positioned to go in a bold new direction, one that challenges widely held assumptions about the countrys mounting marijuana movement. Among those options could be a state-run system similar to how Vermont controls the sale of hard liquor within its borders. Alternatives like this could limit the public health impacts of a marijuana market while still generating state revenue  that is, if lawmakers are willing to consider them. And if Vermont isnt willing to deviate from the path set by legalization efforts that came before it, does that mean the only realistic U.S. cannabis model moving forward is a free-market free-for-all?

With recent encouragement from both a former state attorney general and Gov. Peter Shumlin, Vermont lawmakers are actively considering becoming the fifth state (not counting Washington, D.C.) to legalize marijuana, building on a medical marijuana law the state passed in 2004 and a dispensary system it launched in 2011. The states Senate Judiciary Committee is in the midst of three weeks of in-depth testimony and statewide public hearings on the issue, with the goal of voting Friday on whether to advance a legalization bill. Im impressed, says Matt Simon, New England political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, whos based in Vermont. Ive been studying this issue for 20 years, and here you have politicians sitting in rooms, asking the right questions and trying to understand it for the first time in my life.

If such a bill passes in the near future, Vermont would become the first state in New England, much less the entire Northeast, to legalize marijuana. While just 626,000 people live in Vermont, the second least populated state in the country, roughly 2.7 million regular marijuana users live within 200 miles of the state, including those in New York City. That means whatever legalized marijuana system Vermont chooses could have financial and political impacts far beyond its modest borders.

Because Vermont does not have a ballot initiative system like many states, the only way it can legalize marijuana is through the legislative process. And if it does so this legislative session, it will be the first time marijuana ever has been legalized by lawmakers, not voters. According to some experts, this means Vermont has the option of considering legalization models not likely to be floated at the polls. The initiative process is going to be driven by folks who want something to happen, who want legalization, says Pat Oglesby, a tax attorney who studies marijuana at the Center for New Revenue in North Carolina. The legislative process could result in a more moderate, middle-ground approach.

Its why last year a Rand Corp. legalization study commissioned by the state for $20,000 (the rest of the studys $120,000 price tag was covered by the philanthropic foundation Good Ventures) urged lawmakers to consider that marijuana policy should not be viewed as a binary choice between prohibition and the for-profit commercial model we see in Colorado and Washington. Instead, the reports authors, a whos who of drug policy authorities nationwide, laid out a series of alternatives, including a nonprofit-only system, a supply chain overseen by a public authority similarly to how the Vermont State Housing Authority manages affordable housing initiatives and a market only open to benefit corporations, or b-corporations, that have positive social impact. But the report focused special attention on one option in particular: a government-run monopoly model where the state controls marijuana production and distribution.

According to experts, a state-run marijuana system could have several benefits. For starters, government-run cannabis outlets wouldnt have the same sort of financial incentive to promote excessive marijuana consumption similar to how alcohol companies market to heavy users. Instead, government marijuana outlets could focus on the sort of social protections that are a top priority for Shumlin. You would like a system where nobody has an incentive to encourage overuse of a drug, says New York University marijuana policy expert Mark Kleiman. State-monopoly retailing could be a better option if the state officials involved didnt have any incentive to encourage problematic drug use and even better if they had a responsibility to discourage it. Reviews of private versus state-run alcohol systems have found strong evidence that privatization results in increased per capita alcohol consumption, a well-established proxy for excessive consumption and related harms....

But now, as Vermont lawmakers narrow possible legalization, theres little indication the state will deviate significantly from legalization efforts that came before. One of two legalization bills being considered by the state judiciary committee (it will likely end up voting on a hybrid bill containing elements of both) would provide licensing preferences to the sort of b-corporations detailed in the Rand report. But the bills author, Democratic state Sen. David Zuckerman, says the other alternatives proposed in last year's report are likely political nonstarters. I think the extremes on both ends  straight unfettered capitalism and a government-run monopoly  are off the table, says Zuckerman, adding, he believes the chances of a legalization bill passing this year are a little better than 50-50.

Some observers are disappointed. Its kind of surprising, says Dan Rifle, Marijuana Policy Projects former federal policy director, who left the organization over concerns industry interests were taking over the marijuana movement. If theres any state where this should be happening, its Vermont. They commissioned a report, and no one seems to have read it.

But others say options like a state-controlled system arent being considered because they dont make sense. Government-run programs such as this are prone to bureaucratic bloat, and, as MPP's Simon points out, anyone whos seen the billboards just over New Hampshire's state lines advertising the Granite State's tax-free alcohol stores knows government-controlled outlets can still promote heavy use. Plus, adds Simon, theres no indication the legalization models already up and running are broken, so why bother fixing them? We could spend years discussing hypothetical models, but that would be missing the fact that Vermonters are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the worst possible marijuana model right now, he says. We want to move this from the illicit market, and Colorado and Oregon and Washington have already shown that can be done in a responsible fashion....

But likely the biggest reason of all options like a state-run program arent getting more attention is that many people worry having state workers sell marijuana would put Vermont on a collision course with the federal government. If you are thinking about this from a public-health perspective and are still trying to bring in state revenue, the approach that probably makes the most sense is the government monopoly, says Beau Kilmer, co-director of Rands Drug Policy Research Center and co-author of the Vermont report. However, because of the government prohibition, most states arent really talking about this because they dont want to put their employees at risk of arrest....

[B]etween such legal questions and the lack of political will around the issue, its easy to understand why a state-run marijuana system and other alternatives arent getting more airtime as Vermont moves ever closer to recreational marijuana. Some experts say thats too bad, since the state might offer one of the last best chances to take a hard look at what, exactly, legalized marijuana has to look like. It could matter enormously if Vermont does something that nobody else does, says Kleiman. But if it doesnt, and California goes the commercial marijuana route this year, as it probably will, then it might be too late. When Congress gets around to legalizing cannabis, you wont be able to consider models that arent focused on commercial production because the commercial interests involved will dominate the political process.
Sunday, January 24, 2016

The Colorado Supreme Court has recently reexamined the issue of whether an attorney can be held liable to a non-client in a legal malpractice lawsuit. In Baker v. Wood, the court affirmed Colorados general history of classifying claims of attorney malpractice by non-clients as being untenable. Historically, in Colorado, attorneys have been liable to non-clients only for fraud, malicious conduct, and negligent misrepresentation resulting in business-related pecuniary losses. The ruling means that an attorney does not owe a legal duty of care unless there is some sort of an attorney-client relationship. There are many important public policy reasons for having such a strict privity rule. An attorneys liability should not be extended to include an unforeseeable and potentially unlimited number of claims from third parties who they never even represented. The decision by the Colorado Supreme Court can be read here.

See Miles Buckingham, Colorado Supreme Courts Baker Opinion Affirms Narrow Window of Liability for Attorneys, Nemirow Perez P.C., January 20, 2016.

Special thanks to Professor Jerome Borison (Sturm College of Law, University of Denver), for bringing this opinion to my attention.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2016/01/narrow-window-of-liability-for-attorneys-protected-by-colorado-supreme-court-.html


From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

Falling oil prices are one reason leading measures of world stock markets have dropped in value this year.

Yet a United States government official says low oil prices are helping people worldwide.

Treasury Security Jack Lew spoke this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Oil is one of many issues the forums delegates are talking about. Crude oil now is priced below $27 a barrel on the world market.

Lew said that means consumers "have more money in their pockets," to buy products they need or to improve their own finances by paying down debt or saving money. He noted that low oil prices do not have "to be bad for the overall global economy."

Once a year, political and business leaders, activists and others gather in Davos for talks on issues that beyond economics.

This year, another major issue was concern over Chinas economic slowdown. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said poor communication by Chinese economic managers has worried investors.

She said questions about the value of the Chinese currency, the renminbi, are at the center of current fears about the country's economy.

Feng Xinghai, the vice-chairman of China's securities regulator, reacted to her comments. He said, "We have to be patient because our system is not structured in a way that is able to communicate seamlessly with the market."

Jack Lew said the slowdown in Chinese economic growth, the other main factor in falling stock prices, was not a surprise. But he said it shows China needs to press ahead with a "long and difficult transition" to change its economy.

That means the country should redirect its attention from exports to a more consumer-driven economy.

China this week said its economy grew by 6.9 percent in 2015. That was its slowest growth in 25 years.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also spoke at Davos. He called for a fairer share of the gains resulting from progress in technology. He spoke days after the non-profit group Oxfam reported that the world's 62 richest people own as much wealth as half of the rest of the world.

Biden called for the end of offshore tax shelters for the rich. He also urged political and business leaders to create economic opportunities for more people.

Biden asked, "Will we end up creating more of a two-tier society than exists today?"

High-level technology received a lot of attention at Davos because of a robot attendee. HUBO is the South Korean humanoid robot. It won the DARPA Robot Challenge last year. The robot showed its ability to walk and operate tools.

And the Internet of things, electronic devices connected wirelessly by the Internet, was identified as a rapidly developing field. Delegates also talked about three dimensional printing and even implanting phones in the body. These technologies are seen as driving what has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Not all of the meetings deal with business.

Queen Rania of Jordan said short-term solutions can lead to long-term problems. She appealed to rich countries to create a special economic zone for refugees from Syria. Syrian refugees now make up 20 percent of Jordans population.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised the work of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He promised the militant group would be defeated.

Kerry also said the best way to ensure peace in the Middle East is to work toward a negotiated political settlement in Syria.

And thats In The News.

Im Mario Ritter.

This story includes material from reports by VOAs Ken Bredemeier and Zladica Hoke. Mario Ritter adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

offshore  adj. located in a foreign country or territory

two-tier  adj. having two levels or two different groups

barrel  n. the standard measurement of oil

consumers  n. someone who buys good and services

opportunities  n. chances to do or accomplish something

DARPA -- n. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a U.S. agency that invests in technologies for national security

rapidly  adj. quickly

three-dimensional  adj. having length, width and height


Scientists said they have found evidence of a giant planet far out in our solar system.

In a statement, the California Institute of Technology  Caltech -- said this planet travels a strange highly elongated orbit in the distant solar system.

The discovery was made by two researchers at Caltech: Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown. They used mathematical modeling and computer simulations to find the planet.

So far, there have not been any direct observations of the planet.

My jaw hit the floor, said astronomer Mike Brown, the moment he realized there might be a ninth planet.

The scientists said it would take this planet 10,000 to 20,000 years just to make one full orbit around the sun. The new planet, called Planet Nine has a mass about 10 times the size of Earth.

If they are right, the newly found planet would be the ninth planet in our solar system. Pluto had been called the ninth planet until 2006, when it was renamed a dwarf planet.

Actual confirmation of a ninth planet would be very big news.

This would be a real ninth planet, Brown said in the statement. There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third. Its a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system thats still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting.

It is believed that the planet orbits, or travels, around the sun from a great distance. The planet Neptunes average distance to the sun is about 4.5 billion kilometers. But Planet Nine, could be 20 times farther away from the sun than that.

While they did not get a picture of Planet Nine yet, the scientists say they are using the biggestand best -- telescopes on Earth to try to find Planet Nine.

They are also working on fine-tuning their computer simulations. They want to find out more about Planet Nines orbit, and its impact on the outer part of our solar system.

Brown and Batygin reported their findings in the Astronomical Journal. They say that this new planet is so large that there should be no doubt that it is a true planet, once they confirm it.

Robert Massey is with the Royal Astronomical Society in London. He told AFP that planets have been predicted before, and then were not found.

But, he said the work of these researchers is definitely worth following up.

It would be a really exciting thing to find. At the moment its simply a prediction.

Im Anne Ball.

Rick Pantaleo reported on this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

What do you think we might find on another planet? Write to us in the Comments section and on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

solar system n. our sun and the planets that move around it

elongated adj. stretched out

orbit n. path of one body as it moves around another

simulation n. something made to look or behave like something else so it can be studied

fine-tuning v. to make small changes to improve the way something works


British scientists say they have found the oldest known evidence of war.

Researchers discovered the remains of 27 people near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Scientists say they believe the remains are from a Stone Age culture of about 10,000 years ago. The so-called Nataruk fossils show signs of a violent attack.

The dig also uncovered weapons including arrows, clubs and stone blades. The scientists published a paper on their findings in the journal Nature.

Marta Mirazon Lahr was the lead investigator. She is a paleoanthropologist at the University of Cambridge in Britain. She wrote that the victims were people who hunted, fished and gathered plants for food.

She described the 10,000-year-old battle in which they were killed as a brutal attack.

One skeleton was found with a blade of volcanic glass still stuck in his head. A woman in late pregnancy appeared to have been bound by her hands and feet.

Our species arose 200,000 years ago in Africa. Many experts had thought war did not begin until humans started to form settled communities. But the Nataruk people were nomadic hunter-gatherers of an earlier period.

So, scientist Lahr says, the findings raise the question of whether warfare has been part of the human experience for much longer than previously thought."

The remains found included 21 adults and six children. Most of the children were younger than 6.

I'm Anne Ball.

Jim Dresbach adapted this story for Learning English from Reuters news report. Caty Weaver was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

Stone Age  n. the oldest period in which human beings are known to have existed: the age during which humans made and used stone tools

club  n. a heavy usually wooden stick that is used as a weapon

blade  n. the flat sharp part of a weapon or tool that is used for cutting

paleoanthropologist  n. a researcher of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains

brutal  adj. extremely cruel

nomadic  adj. of, or relating to, a group of people who move from place to place instead of living in one place all the time


The first of thousands of Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica have entered the United States.

As many as 8,000 Cuban migrants have been stuck in Costa Rica for several months. They traveled from their homes to Ecuador through Colombia and Panama, and into Costa Rica. Nicaragua then denied the migrants entry.

The migrants left Cuba for the United States. They said they feared that they would miss the opportunity to seek asylum in the U.S. Recently improved relations between the U.S. and Cuba could end a policy that gives Cubans asylum rights if they arrive by land.

U.S. and Central American leaders reached an agreement in December. The deal permits the migrants to be flown from Costa Rica to El Salvador, before being taken to the U.S.-Mexico border by bus.

The migrants arrived in Miami Sunday, after 180 of them first crossed the U.S.-Mexico border last week at Laredo, Texas.

The plan will be reviewed by the Central American governments before it is expanded to allow the other Cubans to leave for the U.S.

Officials estimate it will take 28 airplane flights to get all of the Cuban migrants to El Salvador.

I'm George Grow.

VOANews.com reported on this story. Ashley Thompson adapted this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section and on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

asylum  n. protection given by a government to someone who has left another country in order to escape being harmed
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